Work Text:
she remembers you
for so long you feared she wouldn’t, but she does
she does
not everything, she says, sorrow tinging her sweet voice
there are gaps
many of them bigger than the memories themselves
but there is enough
enough for love renewed
love reborn
love reclaimed
and truly, it could be so much worse
you know because you feared the worst
you never slept in that golden prison
you could not
no matter how much you wanted to
to slip into a gentle oblivion
that would let you escape
for even just a little while
but you could not
mired in wakefulness, you were always aware
of everything
barred from any escape
trapped with a beast and a princess behind a door you could never unlock
trapped with your memories, your fears
your hopes
trapped for a hundred years
each moment in that gilded cage felt like a century
the century itself like a thousand years
ten thousand
a prison as long as the life of the monster it was built to contain
seasons changed
the world turned
the stars wheeled lonely and high
and still you remained
forgotten by so many who walked the land you sacrificed yourself to protect
you wondered if she would be one of them.
so often you thought of her during that long quiet
you thought of little else
you thought
you remembered
you wondered
you worried
you prayed and you hoped
for an answer you could not decide
if you deserved or not.
it was her hands that restored you, after all
her life that hung in the balance after saving yours
her blood on your palms
even though you did not choose to make the wound
you did not strike the blow within that divine construct
but you also could not even stop her
you have been told it was not your fault
yet still your grief and your guilt tore at you
one hundred years, without relenting
without relief
your hope was for remembrance
for reunion
your remorse told you it was not a thing deserved
yet here
you both
are
here she is.
she remembers days, moments, feelings
what her mind cannot recall her heart fills in
she smiles at you like she used to
takes your hand with ease
holds and kisses you like you yearned for those hundred lonely years
you weep sometimes with the relief of it
the guilt still gnaws, but her love helps you to forgive
if not forget
this new world you’ve awoken in is not the same
even the dawn itself seems to hold new colors
you are disoriented
lost
it is a journey in itself, to become reacquainted with it
just as you two are becoming reacquainted
rekindled
and each time you fear you will never find your way
there she is
there she is.
she takes your hand
and she smiles
and you know
and you remember
that no matter what
as long as she is here
you will always be anchored
it will always be okay
you already have all you need to navigate these uncertain waters
you
and her
together
he came back to you
you feared he wouldn’t
you prayed he would
you hoped
oh how you hoped
and it was hard
so hard
hope has never come naturally to you
but this time you fought for it
you fought and clawed and scraped
for every last speck that you could cling to
fear told you it would not be rewarded
fear told you it would be crushed
fear told you your heart would be broken
fear was wrong.
for here he is
here you are
here you both are
in a world reawakened
in a world reborn
it is not the one you grew up in
it is not how he remembers it
it is so wholly new to you
you, who have been robbed of so many memories
so much of who you used to be
but it is okay
it is okay.
this new world is hurt
scarred
can never be the same
had so much taken
so much lost
but the sun still rises
the sun still sets
color lights the days
a million stars shine at night
rain falls and tides wash in
the moon sheds her pale glow silently
plants grow and trees sway
and the people keep on going
so do you
you found the way to wind the clock
you found the way to make it never stop
time, once borrowed, now unfurls
a sail unpunctured evermore
the monster gone, a kingdom saved
what peace, what life, shall flourish now?
you turn these thoughts over as you walk
as you ride
as you lie in beds both plain and fine
beside the one you searched for
who waited so patiently
so faithfully
so fearfully
for you
here you are
here he is
here in Hyrule.
you stayed in waters calm and true
a home carved out of stone so blue
till restless feet and wondering mind
called you forth again
to see all that there is to see
places you know
places you don’t
friends old and new and not yet met
you had so little time, you see
time enough to save each corner of the map
time enough to conquer each Beast
time enough to see wondrous things
wondrous places
wondrous beings
yet not enough to linger
to wander
to drink it all in as you longed to
your curiosity roused in that cave and unwilling to return to slumber
now it does not have to
you are free
free to roam as you will
where you will
as slowly as you desire
with the one you love and fought for
so you do.
together you take to the roads
for the most part going slowly
you bring him to places you know
he takes you to places you don’t
like this little town
cupped so gently by the hand of the shore
nestled in the sand
shaded by towering palms
and ever soothed by the warm salt sea
an inn welcomes you
dark wood and orange lights and bright cloths
shelves full of books beside the soft bed that beckons you at the end of each long day
he sleeps beside you there
wakes beside you
holds you
kisses you
creating new memories in your heart
your mind
your body
you sail and you swim and you walk
you laugh and eat and play and run
and when the night draws down
he takes your hand
or you take his
and together
you slip between the linen sheets and hold each other tight
till dawn calls once more
today you are elsewhere
he’s told you of an old legend
a rumor
a tale
a whisper he’d heard a hundred years ago
but never investigated
see, he murmurs, his warm hand on yours
as he turns the pages of a book
sand crusted in its spine
it speaks of the story he’s telling you
of water clear and fresh
a shape he traces on the page
drawn by an artist you will never meet
a shape he says blushingly is in your very face
you cannot help yourself
you kiss him
you taste his lips
the salt water
the sugar
and when you breathe
and he can speak
he finishes telling the story
of a pond where lovers meet
for the first time
he has never been there
for when he heard of it
he already had you
you had embraced in a lotus-strewn pond
and spoken words of love
binding yourselves together
who then, could he meet
in a place designed for such things
when he had already made his choice
yet here you are
he cannot meet his true love here
nor can you
but you wish to see it anyway
as does he
and so
rising before the sun
you took your horses
one named for a jewel, the other a fruit
and you rode
the sloping mountain path took you up
and up
and up
as dawn broke and painted the sky with her hues
look now at the blue in the heavens
at the pale lace of fleeing clouds
at the reflection of the fading pink
in the heart-shaped waters
look at your love, standing before you
waiting at the pond’s edge
look at his hand, as you extend yours
reaching for him
reaching for each other
hear the gulls wheeling overhead
hear the breeze soughing through the tall grass
hear the sound of his voice as he whispers your name
you speak his back to him
you speak
in one single word
in one single name
of all the things you wish to say
of all the hopes you held so dear
come to blissful fruition
at long last
yours is a story unlike any other
you met
you loved
you parted
years passed
and it happened again
you met
you loved
you parted
a hundred years slipped by
in the blink of an eye
and when you woke
you remembered him not
not at first, at least.
yet here
you are
and here
he is
it has happened again
you have met
again
and you love
again
but this time
you shall not part
again
he is here to stay
and so are you
you meet in the middle of the heart
and stand
together.