melodiesoflife | The Missing Link...

Entry tags:

The Missing Link...

Who: Zelda & OPEN
What: Link is gone. [ooc: Feel free to run into her wherever.]
When: Feb 7th: Return from Chocobo Trip and then onward.
Where: Home (A-16), Hospital & Finally Old observatory.
Warning: Just Tears.

At first everything was normal, Zelda walked into her home with her travel bag slung over her shoulder. She was tired and was looking forward to a bath and a bed but there was something she wanted to do first. With a soft thunk she placed the bag down and then worked to unlace her riding boots. Once they were off she slipped out of her jacket and then pulled off her muddy stockings. She stepped inside and wiggled her toes against the clean floor with a smile.

“Link?” She called his name lightly as she moved through the house, her fingers laced through her hair and began to pull the loose strands of blonde into a tight pony tail. “Link?” Her tone shifted from a light tone to a worried one. She stepped through the house peeking into his room and then hers. She checked the kitchen and then the family room before walking back towards the front of the house. He wasn’t home, except that she had told him the time and date she’d return. Link would be here.

---

Her heart pounded heavily in her chest as she pulled on a lose pair of brown work boots, leaving her jacket behind as she bolted from the house. Over and over again she heard like a round in her head.

He can’t be there. He can’t be.

The words repeated again and again becoming an ominous chant in her thoughts as she ran towards the hospital. Everything ached and she felt exhaustion creeping through her limbs as she ran. The cold air bit at her exposed arms and legs but she didn’t care, she couldn’t feel it. The only thing she felt was a sharp twist in her chest as she ran.

He can’t…

She didn’t stop at the hospital steps; she took them two at a time and then raced up to where the heroes were kept. She bolted passed those who guarded the door earning her dark glares from the men who now constantly patrolled the room where the heroes were kept.

Her feet skidded to a halt, her eyes fixed on the familiar crystal shape and she felt her heart tear apart at the sight. He’d wake up again, he had too. Just because he was here now didn’t mean he would be trapped forever. She felt the presence of the others trapped, like Link, in a veneer of stone. She felt herself crumble to the ground as warm tears spilled down her cheeks. She tried to stop them but she had been trying so hard not to cry that everything just spilled out all at once. She cried and cried until there was nothing left inside of her, her soul felt empty and drained. Then she slept, her body reaching its point of exhaustion as she lies at Link’s feet.

---

A few days later Zelda can be found in the Old Observatory. She had refused to go back to the empty house, unwilling to see the home she had created with Link. Kopula began doing more work and calling in a few of his friends insisting that Zelda rest.

Zelda didn’t want to be alone with her thoughts; she wanted to keep moving, to fight of her fears and nightmares with hard grueling work. Her work consisted mostly of physical labor, letting Kopula take care of matters of state using Zelda’s signature. She had washed the floors, cleaned the stables, scrubbed down the kitchen, shook out and washed the bedding and then rearranged a few of the rooms. She was never out of things to do because once something was clean she’d then clean it again.

She didn’t smile, her expression was blank as if content with the mindless tasks that she set herself to. He’d come back and it would be fine. She just had to believe that but losing your best friend, the closest person too you, was hard; even for what might be a short time.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

While Duster didn't consider Aqures Ixen to he his home, the city where a room especially reserved for him waited was something to look forward to after weeks exploring the Lost Continent. Apart from the housing district, he was unfamiliar with most of the buildings here and took these few days to finally explore the place he would be living. Zelda had mentioned this old observatory to be a gathering place for heroes, and if there was one place he had to visit, it was here.

The doors creaked open and his shadow covered the hallway. It was cleaner than he expected, not that it was a bad thing, but it looked like it was cleaned recently. Was there a gathering he wasn't notified of? He couldn't hear any voices, but...

He stepped in and closing the door with an arm as he looked around the entranceway. "Hello?" His uneven steps echoed through the building, and the rooms were getting darker as the day began to end. The sound of furniture being moved grabbed his attention, and he followed the sound to find Zelda, aggressively rearranging the furniture and focused on nothing else.

Duster leaned against the doorway, watching her hard at work for a minute before finding a moment to speak up. "Do you need help?"

Graham's bad a busy week, most of which was spent in jail and being a complete thorn in the side of all the police officers within earshot of him. Bailed after a few days by his employers (who've taken a month's pay in retaliation), he was on the loose again and looking for something to do. Might as well pick up the motorcycle from the Observatory, he figures, even if it's too cold to be riding. He was Chicago born and raised, and a little cold never bothered him.

Finding Zelda there wasn't surprising, but he was no less glad to see her. What was surprising, though, was her deadened expression. He stood against a nearby wall for a few moments, watching her work, arms folded and expression puzzled. Not that he can stay quiet for long.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you weren't yourself. But I actually don't know better in this case, so that was just a guess. Probably a good one, if I do say so myself."

Kaji has been seeking Zelda out, the person he wants- no, needs to talk to after what they've all been through is Zelda. But his timing is shit. Because of course he knows who's missing.

But he's here anyway, because this is the absolute last time that Zelda needs to be alone. Especially alone with the burden of leadership that she has on herself.

Kaji is cautious as he enters the Observatory. "Miss Zelda?" Respectful. He doesn't look to good, himself, hasn't been shaving, as if trying to make himself look even sloppier than normal. "Might I talk to you?"

He puts down a small metal tin that he was holding. Looks like something from his kitchen.

Sweat dotted Zelda’s brow as she looked up from her work. She had actually moved the furniture in this room four times now and no iteration made her happy enough to stop. She was tired and the dark circles beneath her eyes suggest that she hadn’t been sleeping well. She released a puff of air as her water gaze landed on Duster. Her eyes had lost a little bit of their glow from when they met in the music shop.

“No, I’m fine.” She forced herself to smile. “Do you need anything?”

She remembered telling him to stop but if he had any questions or was in need of her. The furniture wasn’t very important since she’d most likely rearrange and clean it once more tomorrow.

At this point in the day Zelda was finishing up her second pass on the floors. Her golden hair was tied up and there were stains of dust and dirt on her dress. Her feet were bare and cold but it was easier to clean with her shoes off. She hadn’t actually noticed Graham watching her work however at his comment she paused and looked up.

A soft breath fell from her lips and she pushed at her bangs as if she hadn’t realized the time or what she had been doing.

“I guess you’re right then.” Her tone was soft and dead. She wasn’t dismissive but her tone missed its hopeful cheer and her sentence didn’t prompt for a longer conversation.

As always Zelda had been working on something. She looked up when she heard Kaji’s voice, not realizing he had been there before then. Her bright blue eyes looked dulled and there were dark circles beneath them. She pushed at her eyes with the palm of her hand as if she had been drifting to sleep in the middle of cleaning.

“Of course.” Her voice and expression was even and without her hopeful tone. She placed the broom in her hand against the wall and then moved deeper into one of the rooms.

“Would you like tea or Wine?” She wanted to keep herself moving or her hands occupied and cups helped. She usually drank tea but Asheila had left a collection of wine at the observatory.

His look goes from confused to quizzical. This wasn't much like Zelda.

"I... I'm not sure I like being right in this case. What a weird feeling. And what a sad story! What's going on?"

Graham takes notice of how much she's been working, from the looks of her clothes to how spotless the Observatory looked. Arms still folded, he walked over to get a better look at her, as if the answer was going to be written on her face.

She didn't look fine at all, and that wasn't just how tired she must be from moving desks and tables around. Duster walked to the opposite end of the table Zelda was moving and slid his fingers underneath its top.

He looked up at her with an unsmiling face. "Let me help you finish this first." Once the room was reorganized, he planned to sit down with Zelda and talk.

He shifted his weight onto his right leg and pulled his end of the table higher. Thankfully, the Monk job allowed him to retain some of his strength, but the balance issues with his bad leg remained. The table was not too heavy, however, and Duster was fine with dragging it across the room.

"Where do you need it?" He grunted between steps.

Vincent had been slightly surprised when Kopula had sought him out, but when he heard the reason... Ophelia was coming with him, as she'd flitted to and fro chattering in nerves, talking aloud to try and think of how she might help Zelda. Fretting herself, until Vincent calmed her. Offering suggestions, as well as his own plan.

Which is how they found themselves now at the old observatory looking for her. Ophelia was carrying a smaller box carefully, so that the hot tea in the kettle inside wouldn't spill. Vincent was carrying a bag, with one of Ophelia's red scarves looped around it, that bore food. Likely enough that Zelda, if Kopula's state was any indication, wasn't taking care of herself. Sandwiches, fried rice, dried fish and some fruit. Things that would keep.

Searching out the golden haired princess. They weren't close, but Vincent well understood loss. Whether temporary or not in this case did not matter.

It is so very tempting to fall into drink at a time like this, but Kaji shakes his head, "Tea will be fine. Ib'll give me that look if I come home smelling like alcohol," he tries to smile but it doesn't get very far.

Kaji follows Zelda while he tries to put his thoughts in order. He casually picks up the tin he brought along, but its contents aren't going to be the first topic of discussion.

"I wanted to ask if you needed any help around here," Kaji jabs a finger into the table, indicating the Observatory. "Ashelia, she was handling a lot of stuff behind the scenes that I know we were not all privy to. We're all reeling from her absence, but probably no one more than you."

"I'm offering help, you don't have to ask. And, I need to be getting more involved anyway...for Ib's sake."

Zelda looked away from him as he stepped closer. The answer to his question was most likely plan as day if he were to look at her face and she didn't want him too. A knot twisted in her chest at Garham's insistence and she suddenly felt even worse.

"It's nothing." Though her words didn't sound so convincing.

She didn't want him to worry considering their last conversation.

Zelda reached out to try and stop him. "You don't have to. I haven't decided yet besides I could use a break."

She nodded towards another room that was off to the right, the door currently was hung open. "We can sit in the meeting room if you want to talk." She didn't want to pull him on her random moving furniture escapades.

As evening fell Zelda felt her limbs ache at the rough treatment she's been giving them. She laid awake with her eyes on the ceiling. She thought that there might be something to read which lead her out of the small bedroom and out towards the center of the old observatory where she had kept a few books about Crystal.

She saw Vincent's figure as he stepped into the now dark observatory. Zelda was easy to spot, her hair shined even in the dimming light from outside. Her face was pale and her expression one that screamed exhaustion. Her eyes moved from him to Ophelia, she knew the little moogle better than the hero and she tried to force a smile on her lips.

"Do you need something?"

Zelda looked over at Kaji as he spoke. She nodded her head as she moved preparing tea for the pair of them to drink. "Ah, yes. She was handling more than a few matters of state. Other things have been passed off and handled." Mostly the assassins guild with Kidd, which Zelda wasn't about to speak about with another other than it's organizer.

"Any help would honestly be wonderful." She waited for the tea to steep looking over at Kaji as if measuring him. "Are you used to these sorts of things? It's a lot of paperwork."

When the time was set Zelda poured them both a glass of steaming tea. Her eyes while dull were still curious as they watched Kaji. She can't say she knows him well which was perhaps why his offer was so interesting.

"Very used to it," Kaji tries to assure her. He reaches out gratefully to take the tea, bringing it to his lips to blow air across the steaming top.

"Most of you don't come from worlds where things like 'administrative assistants' or 'public servants' are too common. I'm way more of a people person, but I've had times where my whole job was paperwork."

Kaji carefully sets the cup down for a second. "And I need- someone to keep an eye on me, I think." A bit more honesty than he's used to saying. "I." Sighs. "I didn't like what I saw in that vision. What I saw of myself. I know I'm not even close to alone in that."

Ophelia also knew Zelda well, and quickly passed the box to Vincent, before she was zipping closer to the princess and hugging her. "Zelda-kupo!" Sniffles, and not quite able to say anything else, just hugging her friend tightly.

"We wanted to be certain that you knew you are not alone." Vincent said quietly, holding out the proffered bag of food and the box bearing tea-kettle and cups. "We also brought tea, and some food. Sometimes...the hardest thing is taking care of oneself." Something he knew all too well--the pain of losing a loved-one, and how it tended to make one neglect themselves.

Even if he hadn't lost his loved one in the same way...

Graham has little in the way of respect of personal space, so he does try to get a closer look at her. She doesn't usually shy away from him, so something was definitely up. After a moment of up-close scrutiny, Graham suddenly turns around to march around the room, as he tends to do when he's worked up.

"Nothing? That's a lotta something for nothing. I think I could derive a whole thesis on how it's something, but if you say it's nothing, who am I to argue? Can one single, solitary mortal man possible wrestle out the true feelings of a goddess? Is such a feat even possible? David defeated Goliath alone; Odysseus made it through his journey despite the intervention of all manner of gods and creatures. Surely, then, I could sway the mind of one deity standing in front of me?"

He still hasn't forgot that point about Zelda. He stops his pacing and gesticulating to look at her again, and gauge her thoughts.

Zelda nodded her head, her thin pale fingers wrapped around her tea cup for warmth. "I didn't like what I saw either." Which she had admitted in her letter. "I think the heroes should hold each other accountable and I'd be honored to do so for you." She paused and then forced herself to smile.

"And Ib. You mean a lot to her."

The young girl meant a lot to a few people. Zelda for one, always had an eye on her however she didn't want to stop her from making her own choices. Ib had to make mistakes and grow on her own.

"I can understand not wanting something like that to happen." More so for someone else.

Zelda wasn't sure what to say. It was true that she was here alone since Ashile had left and Meteor, which were the two people who regularly spent the night in the old observatory. Now she was here alone and the empty building often pressed on her shoulders.

Her arms wrapped around Ophelia, pulling the clever little moogle in for a warm hug. "Thank you. I wasn't..." She wasn't expecting anything like this and she's still at a loss for words.

"We can sit in one of the meeting rooms if you'd like." The walk would give her time to think and process. She tried to smile but it felt forced and weak.

Zelda usually didn’t mind Graham’s tendencies; however she wasn’t feeling up to listening to one of his rants. She noticed that he was saying less than usual as if to encourage her to respond and for that she was at least a little bit grateful.

“I’m not just a goddess Graham.” She looked up at him now, tears rising to the corner of her eyes. “I’m myself too.” Somehow it hurt more, Link also saw her more as a goddess than a person and considering it’s a fact she only recently learned about herself it is difficult to come to terms with. She wouldn’t change anything about herself but that didn’t make her wonder if some were more interested in the goddess than Zelda herself.

“It isn’t nothing…” She continued softly. “I just don’t know what to say.”

Sephiroth is -by far- not a regular at the Observatory. On the handful of occasions he graced the old stronghold with his presence it had been undertaking some extension of his work. Whether it be to discuss some things with Ashelia before she had slipped away, or something to do with Mograma's supervision.

However, upon return from the expedition to the Mysidian Tower, Sephiroth sought out the archives that were stored; to refresh mostly what they knew -as a collective- about the Ancients. It had never been a topic that had been particularly high on his 'need to know' list but he figured refreshing his knowledge with what others had reported might help his own report on the Tower they had visited; by lending a little more context.

It was noticing more moogles flitting around inside the building that urged Spencer, ever at his side, to inquire why. Not so very long afterward, had Sephiroth at one of the doorways to a room Zelda were rearranging; just watching her from the doorway for a moment as she tried to move a closet that had to be entirely too heavy for her to do on her own.

He stopped his journey and looked up from the table. Well, if Zelda hadn't decided yet, it wouldn't be fair to move it somewhere right now. Duster lowered his arms, then let go of the table, which landed on the cleaned wooden floors with a loud thunk.

"That's fine." He rubbed his hands on his dusty bright red pants. The silky texture made for a poor wiping cloth, though Duster had nothing on his fingers after touching the underside of the table. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and reminded himself to have these pants cleaned sometime soon.

Duster followed Zelda's lead into the meeting room. He had never been inside, and the number of chairs and tables was astounding. "Everyone fits into this room?" He hoped he didn't missed any important meetings while he was gone.

"Ah, sorry. Let's sit by that couch." It was close enough to a window that they could view the sunset while sitting.

Ophelia snuggled in close, and chrrr'd at Zelda in a worried tone. "We know you weren't. That's why we're here kupo!" Pulling back, dark eyes narrowed and glaring pout on her face. "And where-ever you're most comfortable kupo. You need to not be alone right now." A firm nod, but the moogle was still holding her in that hug.

Easy steps despite the packages, Vincent's pace measured and hardly making any noise. "We didn't come, expecting you to play host. Or Princess." Quite firm in his tone there, crimson-eyes seeking out blue. "I know what it's like." Even more quiet, voice low--almost intimate. But making it clear hopefully that yes, he knew what it was like to go through this kind of loss.

"I...know I do. She's a good kid." Kaji looks down slightly, but he can't hide the tiny proud smile that comes to his face.

"When I first got here, I would have told you that Ib was better off with anyone but me. But." How does he want to put this? Kaji sips his tea, suddenly remembering the talk that he and Ib had in his office.

"I was angry. Angry that whatever is bringing people here chose her for a role that seems to involve a lot of fighting. Because I've seen so many children that weren't allowed to be children. And I realized that if I didn't stay with her, she might up with someone who wasn't angry. On her behalf. Who just accepted that she should fight. And so the best thing that I could do was to give her as much of a childhood as possible. Home-cooked meals. A garden out back. A pet penguin?" Kaji laughs a little.

"I don't know how much of that she had even before she came here."

Graham catches sight of those tear-filled eyes and looks horrified at the thought that he might be their cause. He grabs his head and paces in a quick circle, agitate and upset himself.

"Of course! Of course you are. But it's part of who you are, and shouldn't you be proud of that? Not a lot of people can say that about themselves. I sure can't, I'm pretty much the opposite! The lowest worm crawling in the dirt under the boot heels of humanity! Can a worm like me even comprehend the thoughts and actions of his closest peers? No way!"

He stops pacing, and turns to Zelda with one hand to his chest and the other outstretched to her; just another overdramatic gesture.

"But it's not nothing! It could be the biggest something! The biggest something in the history of everything. But it's nothing to you. It's something to someone else! Something big and obvious and being broadcast to the heavens with all the light, sound and fury ever generated. And all of it is hitting me right in the face, but I'm somehow completely blind and deaf to it? Worms can't hear or see anything, you know!"

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 1 of 5

The Missing Link...

Old Observatory

no subject

Observatory

Old Observatory

no subject

Observatory

no subject

Old Observatory

Old Observatory, evening.

Re: Observatory

no subject

Old Observatory

Old Observatory, evening.

Observatory

Re: Observatory

Re: Old Observatory, evening.

no subject

Observatory

Old Observatory, evening.

no subject

Old Observatory -- after they return to Aqures; 12th Feb

Old Observatory

Re: Old Observatory, evening.

Re: Observatory

no subject