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.

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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.

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.

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.

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 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.”

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!"

"Is it something to you Graham?"

Her voice was soft and she turned to face him unsure what else to say. It hurt and she knew that while Graham would understand the sting of losing a best friend, he might belittle the feelings rising in her chest. Words cannot fight away the loneliness that's taken root within her soul and there are some things the goddess didn't feel like she could hear.

"Can you tell me who I am?"

She's always been proud to be her fathers daughter and ever since she was young she's loved the goddess. Now she felt lost.

"Nope." He folds his arms and shakes his head adamantly. Leave it to Graham to get right to the point at the weirdest times.

"Only you can know who you are. Only you are the one able to figure it out. People can tell you or force things on you or act like there's only one road to travel. But you're the only one who can forge ahead, so what does all of that other stuff mean? Nothing! If you give in to others' demands, then you're not you, your sense of identity goes away and you're left as nothing but an empty husk!"

To Graham, this sounds almost scary. He snaps his fingers as it makes him think of something. "Which is why I gave up the identity of a Hero. Forced upon me, I lost all track of my own being, and I was spiraling down into an unending void of depersonalization. I don't even know if that's a word, but it sounds really good."

His attention goes back to Zelda, as he points at her. "This is who I am, and you are who you are. Whatever it is that you want to be and what will make you happy, is what I want!"

Zelda felt her lips twitch into a smile. It was hard for her to remain said or at least ignore that small glimmer of hope that began to fill a piece of the emptiness in her heart. She shook her head after listening to everything that Graham said.

"You're right. Thank you." She smiled a little wider. "I'll try and be happy but it might take a little bit of time."

Zelda didn't know if that would comfort him so she continued. "I even feel a little bit better now."

Graham smiled too, thinking he was finally on the right track. Women really were complicated, but maybe he was getting the hang of this after all. He spins in place for a moment, on one foot, happy with his progress.

"You should! You should feel the whole spectrum of emotions, as people are supposed to do. That's what makes us alive! That's what makes you you, too! Ha! It sounds kinda dumb when you say it like that. But that's okay, isn't it?"

Hands on his hips, Graham looks around the room. "And I think you can stop cleaning before you scrub the floor into infinitesimal pieces and it disappears forever. It's as sterile as a hospital in here, like you could perform heart surgery right here! On the floor!"

Zelda let out a soft laugh as she looked around the room. She might have been cleaning too much and yet somehow drawing attention to it made her want to cry. She hadn't thought she made such a close friend while she was here and yet somehow Graham found a way to become that sort of person.

"Thank you and I'll stop cleaning so much."

She took a step forward and hugged Graham. It lasted only a second before she pulled away with a wistful smile. It would still take time but she felt as if she could finally heal now.

"I'm really lucky you were around." She paused, her eyebrows furrowing. "What were you doing here? Were you looking for me?"

Hugs were good. Graham so infrequently found people who didn't just shy away from his frequent encroachments of personal space, let alone initiated their own.

When asked that question, a devilish grin flashed across Graham's face. "Directly? No. Indirectly? Yes."

With that, he darted off for the back door of the Observatory. If Zelda followed, by the time she gets there, she'd hear the familiar sound of the engine of Graham's motorcycle revving. Graham had taken it from winter storage and was ready to go.

"Engine maintenance is key in the winter! You have to keep its blood pumping or it might freeze solid and never thaw. If I let that happen, I could never forgive myself. And since today was clear, lets take her out and make her heart race!"

Zelda followed him feeling the insistent pull of curiosity as Graham walked towards the back of the Observatory. She paused when she saw the bike and felt a soft smile pull at her lips.

"I don't know much about bikes." She admitted softly before joining Graham at the machines side.

"I don't see why we can't take her out."

"You're right, there is no reason we can't go. We're free as we ever were, and today we'll feel more alive than ever as we test the limits of our bodies in this chilly air! The thrill of the ride will keep our blood pumping like we'll be keeping the oil flowing through this machine. A symbiotic relationship teetering between the edge of life and death!"

Now he's really making now sense, but he's really riled up. He drops down on the starter, and the bike manages to come to life with only one try.

"See? She's all ready to go right off the bat!"

Zelda laughed softly, looking at Graham with a fond smile. She was very thankful right now though she wondered if he knew how thankful she was. She stepped up next to him, only to pause and tie back the long streaming flow of golden hair. With that out of the way she slipped behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Where will we go?"

Her voice was loud enough to be heard over the bike but not to loud. She spoke almost directly into his ear not wanting to shout.

Zelda gets handed a pair of goggles as Graham hops on the bike. He answered her question as he revved the engine and took off.

"Ladies choice! You're the one with something weighing you down, so we'll go to wherever will make you feel the lightest."

Zelda slipped the goggles over her head making sure the strap was beneath her ponytail. As he took off her arms wrapped tightly around him, a surprised giggle escaping her lips. It took her a moment to respond since she needed to talk directly into his ear.

"Can we go to the ocean?"

It wasn't that far depending on what part of the sea he drove to but it would be up to Graham.

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The Missing Link...

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