hc — princess zelda & how it has affected her
Regardless of how the majority - if not all of the female members of the royal family seem to be dubbed Zelda, Tetra is not her. Even after founding New Hyrule and ascending the throne, Tetra will not take up the mantle of Zelda. It is a name she refuses to use, for she is her own person and will not be stripped down to a title. A name, and the history that is associated with such.
On the topic of how Tetra feels about her royal lineage, one of the constant complaints I see about Tetra's development in Wind Waker is how she lost her spunk after becoming the princess. But… honestly, can you blame her? I myself do not see the reveal scene as the pirate losing her fire in order to become the princess. I see it as her realizing that her entire life has been a lie; that she is not the simple pirate she was happy to be for the remainder of her days. Her ancestors were not just royalty but the royal family of the kingdom that once ruled the land. The necklace she swore to protect was not a trinket whose value was more sentimental than sacred. Her life, one a forsaken king now sought, and had been seeking for weeks as all those girls she'd witnessed in the fortress were proof of. Girls kidnapped from their homes because of her, however indirectly.
In a single moment, her entire life has been turned upside down. It’s hard enough news for an adult to hear, but a teenager? Who’s previously lived a carefree and, in some eyes, morally wrong life? She is stunned and speechless. She did not lose her fire with the transformation, but at the same time she still lost a part of herself. Life, from that moment on, would never be the same and she knew it.
Even now, post Wind Waker, she does not want to be a princess. She never dreamed of it as a little girl, never wanted it. It may be in her blood, but that is not who she is. Personally, Tetra would be happiest to remain a pirate sailing the seas. Yet, to rebel would be selfish. To abandon the winds of fate would only doom many others. As the last living member of the royal family, she feels a responsibility to pursue a new home for the people of the Great Sea, for it was her bloodline that ultimately doomed them to it in the first place. It's not a burden she wants, but one she feels she must bear. And it, admittedly, is suffocating at times.
Tetra has accepted what she must do, yet not fully what it means. She has no idea what she's going to do once a home is found, when she must play princess, and it weighs heavily upon her. She would never call herself a child, but she is young, and the crown is heavy. She was not raised into this life, and thus does not know the first thing about it. She can captain a ship, but an entire kingdom?
Post WW, she has not dealt with these feelings. Such thoughts pushed aside in favor of focusing on the present. Not that she would admit it, but the future, it terrifies her. A part of her almost hopes that there is no such land out there, but she doesn't fully mean that. She is just… afraid.
She is grateful for her crew and Link, for without them their goal would be impossible. Yet even so, it is her who must lead the future onward.