An Anchor for a Weary Soul
Chapter 1
Link falls ill with the aftershock of Ganon’s ghostly spell, leaving Zelda to pick up the pieces. Faced with upturned truths, both hero and princess must navigate new waters together, least either of them get lost to the tide.
(In other words, a sick-fic giving the LOZ Animated Series a second chance.) =D
Author’s note: This fic takes place right after The Legend of Zelda: The Animated Series and has specific spoilers for episode 7 "Doppelganger," ep 12 "The Missing Link," and ep 13, "The Moblins are Revolting." Those three are the only episodes really referenced in this story, so give 'em a check if you're interested on YouTube or the wiki. Otherwise I think I summarized them enough so you can read the story without knowing the show... but it's worth at least one watch, ha! [This story is also a present tense writing challenge to myself wahoo] Hope you enjoy!
Fic Masterlist | Link to Chapter 2
(💙Please comment and like directly from the og post in case Tumblr does weird things again! Tumblr reblogs are ok but never repost, thanks! <3)
>>><<<
Zelda trudges her way up the tower steps, letting her boots echo loudly against the hard grey stone. Secretly, she hopes that her clatter will shake awake the castle's guardian hero, who is presumably fast asleep at the top of the stairs.
Imagine. Snoozing the day away when he should have been up hours ago! A "hero's rest" he calls it. Hmph!
Zelda's heels clack against the landing as she stops in front of the old tower door. Three short knocks are all the warning she gives before raising her voice. "LINK! Up and at ‘em, hero! It's 10:30!"
She expects to hear the crash of a frantic swordsman struggling to untangle himself from his bed sheets.
She does not expect silence.
"There's no way..." mutters the princess. Link loves his sleep and can doze off on a dime, but he isn't a deep sleeper. He can't afford to be, sleeping right next to the Triforce of Wisdom as its last line of defense. He most definitely heard her, which can only mean...
Zelda pinches the bridge of her nose. "Link, you get your lazy butt over here right now and stop ignoring me!"
She can practically hear the sleepy, "Do I get a kiss for following those orders, Princess?" sliding out of that smug, stubbornly handsome face of his…
Except those words never come.
Zelda bites her lip. This is either one of Link's silly practical jokes, or something is actually wrong.
"Link?" she pounds the door again. "You better answer me right now, what's going on in there?"
Worry begins to soak through her chest. This has to be a trick, she argues with herself, wise to all the ways Link can fool her. But as much as she wants to turn tail and avoid embarrassment, she can't shake the unsettling feeling creeping up her spine. With the lives they lead, anything could lie on the other end of that door. A stolen Triforce, a missing hero... a grave injury.
The flash of crimson crosses her mind and flings her body into action. In an instant, Zelda's hand is on the door and she's bursting into Link's room like a hurricane.
She finds no battle, no bloodstains, no empty Triforce pedestal. Everything is as it should be... save for the wilted form of her hero, clinging to his bedpost and staring blankly into the distance.
"...Link?" Her voice is quiet now, her heart twisting in knots. He doesn't appear to have noticed her. His eyes remain glazed, haunted, and still, eerily fixed somewhere on the opposite wall.
"Link," she tries again, sitting beside him on the edge of his bed. "Link, what's the matter, are you sick?"
She puts a hand up to his scalding forehead, answering her own question but hardly earning a response. Gently, she lifts his head from where it leans on the bedpost, letting his cheek rest in her palm instead. His eyes drift to the floor.
Slowly, hesitantly, his eyebrows dip into a crease. "Z… Zelda... is that you?"
Zelda's heart quickens at his gravelly voice. "Of course it's me, Link!" More worriedly, she adds, "Can't you see me here?"
Link reaches for her hand on his face, but he misses it entirely. He grasps the air just under his own chin, moving with such sluggishness that it’s as if he can't feel his own body.
His next words stab Zelda's heart.
"Is... this real? Are you... am I real, Princess?"
This is wrong this is wrong this is wrong! The words pound in Zelda's head as she fumbles to catch his groping hand.
"Link... Link can't you feel me? Can’t you hear me? I'm right here, what's wrong? I've seen you sick, t-this isn't—" She cuts herself off when her voice starts to shake. She is beyond terrified at this eerie behavior, but Link doesn't need more panic from her. He needs a cure for... whatever this is. Great Hylia, grant her wisdom. What must Link be feeling?
Something ripples in the back of her mind. A presence, cool and calming like a stream, flows across her worries and clears her head. The room glows a soft, underwater blue as the Triforce of Wisdom blankets them in its all-encompassing magic.
Fear not, dear child of wisdom and light.
Your presence has pulled him from the worst of the night.
"But... what is this night you speak of? What's wrong with—"
A cacophony of chimes breaks Zelda's question in half. Speeding like a dragonfly, a ball of pink light shoots through the window, swerving just in time to avoid hitting the wall.
"Zelda!" shouts the tiny voice of Spryte. "What’s the hold-up? Is Link giving you trouble or someth—"
The fairy's speech trips when she catches sight of the withered hero. "...Link?"
Her wings quiver. She drifts closer, her bright pink magic fading into a dull glow. Softly, she lowers herself onto his shoulder, placing her impossibly small hands on Link's face. He doesn't bat an eye.
"W-what’s the matter with his magic, Zelda?"
The princess has never heard Spryte this scared. It almost distracts her from the fairy's wording, but she questions it anyway. "What magic? Link's not from this part of Hyrule, he never learned..."
Spryte shakes her head. "It's there. All Hylians have a little, even if they can't feel it without items to channel it with. But fairies can feel it. And you and Link have the strongest inner magic of them all! All warm and powerful. Well, normally. B-but now h-he's..."
Zelda's chest tightens as the fairy starts to shake. With featherlight care, the princess uses her fingertips to rub circles into Spryte's back. "Easy, Spryte. Easy. We can't give up hope yet. I know it's hard, but I really need to know what you see."
Through the fairy's hazy glow, Zelda can see Spryte gulp back tears. "It's his magic—his spirit, it's all... all..."
"What?"
"Blurry! Skewed! Misaligned? Oh, Zelda, it's like..." Spryte's face twists as she fights for the right word. "Oh! Like a reflection in a pond! After someone's thrown a stone in. The reflection doesn't quite match the person it's reflecting anymore. But why? What happened to him?"
Zelda's mouth opens, but nothing comes out. Drawing a blank, she walks her mind back to the prior evening, searching her memories for anything that could explain this episode.
Link was fine last night, all smiles and corny jokes. Did he eat less at dinner? Zelda wishes she could remember anything past their silly table argument over the value of bows versus swords. Bless her poor father for sitting through that one.
But then, hadn't Link left the table early? And wasn't he quieter than normal before wishing her goodnight? She had assumed he was up to something, and was just about to call his bluff when he’d winked and opened his palm.
"Figured since you love me so much, I should make you something to remember me by, my heroic princess. Just in case you ever get lonesome for my presence."
There in his fingers was a hand-twined bracelet of Zelda's favorite wildflowers. Before she could even process how he remembered she liked those flowers specifically (or that he even was paying attention), the bracelet had already been tied to her wrist by his warm, calloused hands. Then, in a blink, he was gone, hopping away like a buck in the springtime.
Perhaps she should have been more concerned he didn't ask for a kiss goodnight. If he had... in the heat of the moment she's not entirely sure she would have refused.
Ugh, if he could only read my mind right now, she thinks, feeling warmth spread across her face. He'd pop out of his bed and start prancing around like an idiot. He'd be even more insufferable than when Ganon turned him into a ghost!
Zelda gasps, turning that thought over in her brain.
A ghost. A ghost! Can it be?
"What is it, Zelda?" Spryte asks, watching the wheels spin in the princess's brain.
Zelda lifts her chin high and turns towards the pedestal in the center of the room. "Triforce of Wisdom!" she demands. "Lend me your sight. Is this curse on Link's soul an aftershock of Ganon's spell?"
Blue light flows across the ceiling and rains down the cobbled walls as the Triforce begins to glow. Its mournful, feminine voice wraps around Zelda like a mother's hug, and though it sounds remorseful, it does not keep the princess from the truth:
Though Ganon's curse has come undone, its power lingers still.
Beneath the water's surface lies a violent tidal chill.
Now free to snatch, the waters sweep the hero's ship away,
But if given an anchor, he will be spared today.
The silence that follows the answer feels like it lasts an eternity. Zelda knows that dark magic's favorite hiding place is in loopholes, but Link had just seemed so... fine in the past months. Normal. Annoying, but normal. To think, this entire time, there was cursed magic lying in wait for Link to be weak enough to seize—
It's my fault crosses her mind before she can stop it, embedding in her heart like an ice arrow. Memories of a magic force field appear before her, and in slow motion she can see the curse bounce off her magic and hurtle towards her friend. He leaps away too late, face contorted in a scream of agony as his spirit and body are ripped in two.
Ganon's spell was a simple teleportation spell. It only went wrong because of the deflection. This only happened because I... It was meant for me, not...
Zelda's chest seizes up. Deftly, she can feel Spryte alight on her shoulder, her little arms hugging the distraught princess's face. But as much as she wants to scream, to crumple, Zelda doesn't let herself cry. For the sake of her sanity and Link's health she stuffs the suffocating dread far, far down, a problem to deal with later. An apology for later. She has to make up for this in action now.
"An anchor..." she speaks slowly, forcing herself to sound calm. "We have to be his anchor."
"H-how do we do that?" Spryte asks.
Zelda wraps an arm around Link's back, holding him to her. Letting him know wordlessly that she's here now, and nothing will take her away.
"Oh, Link... how do we keep getting ourselves into these messes? We just never seem to catch a break, do we?"
No answer. She didn't really expect one, but Zelda tries again.
"H-ha, hey, hey look at me, do you remember last week? When Ganon's goons actually overthrew him and tried attacking the castle themselves?" She pulls him closer, trying to see past his distant gaze. "They were so funny, trying to all lead at once! We laughed and laughed, remember? They kept foiling their own plots!"
...And then Ganon's Triforce was right in front of me and I didn't think to grab it, her mind adds unhelpfully. Oh Link, I got so upset at you for messing around that I missed our chance to save Hyrule for good. My fault again. Was I too harsh? I wish you could hear me, I wish I could say how sorry I am, how much I—
Link gasps.
Zelda jumps back in surprise. Her heart soars as she sees his eyes flutter, as if some part of him is finally fighting back.
"Link!" she shouts, a bit too loudly. "Link, Link, that's it, you can hear me, can't you? Fight this, Link!"
Link's breaths are uneven, his lip twitching with words unspoken. His brow twists in confusion or maybe pain, and his eyes squint shut.
"...Link?"
Just as Zelda is sure he's about to speak, Link falls forwards, hands tangled in his hair and breaths coming heavy.
Zelda moves quickly. She reaches under the bed, pulling out the (thankfully empty) chamber pot and placing it between Link's trembling knees. She and Spryte are just in time to pull back his long, thick hair before his body shakes with a retch.
Somehow, she's not as bothered by the action as she thought she'd be. Her concern for her friend... maybe more than friend... drowns out her repulse.
When her hero coughs nothing but dry air, she wordlessly motions for Link's washcloth. Spryte understands, flying over to rinse it in a nearby bucket before floating the towel back. Zelda lets the cool water wash over Link's face, studying his expression.
"There... how does that feel?" she asks, surprising herself with how small her voice sounds.
Link is even weaker than before. Shaking, he nearly drops the chamber pot before Zelda catches it and sets it on the floor. He starts to tip backwards. The princess takes the shoulders of her ill, swaying hero, guiding him to lie back on the bed. She tucks him in, murmuring gentle assurances that she hasn't left his side, but nothing she says can unclench Link's white-knuckle grip on the front of his nightshirt.
"What’s the matter?" she asks, trying aimlessly to open his fist with her own.
Link's mouth makes a series of jumbled sounds before he can breathe out, "F-falling..."
Zelda pushes violently against a torrent of panic. "Falling? No, no, you're just laying down, here with me, Link!"
"F... falling... can’t... 'm falling... Zzzel..."
Spryte is flying at dizzying speeds above their heads. Her chimes are warnings in fairy-speak, but they cannot help here, and only make the princess queasier.
"Link!" she cries, abandoning her shallow attempt to seem calm. "You're not... you're not...!"
The Triforce's light flows against Zelda's back, and all at once, the princess feels her body awash with its presence. Her desperation melts away as quickly as it came, and in its place, a seed of hope is planted. And so is an idea.
"Actually... yes. You're right, you are falling."
Spryte rings frantically, "WHAT? Princess—"
"You're falling... like a feather," says Zelda, brushing a strand of dark hair away from Link's face. "Floating, gently. Just as a feather sails from a bird's nest, never in any danger."
Her heart leaps as his breaths begin to slow and deepen. Spryte glows brighter as she catches on.
"Zelda... it's working! Keep going!" the fairy whispers.
The princess nods slowly, circling her thumb against Link's cheek. "You float down, slowly, right onto your bed..."
A memory of Link's longing voice flickers through her head, and she amends her sentence, "Right onto a bed of leaves and moss, surrounded by a forest blanketed in light."
A sigh escapes her hero's lips, deep and content, and his eyes slip shut in bliss. His fingers on his chest loosen and twitch, seeking something he cannot grasp.
Zelda winds her fingers into his, her other hand still brushing away his tangles. "I'm right here with you, Link. Can you feel me here? Spryte's here, too, just by your head. We're all together. Can you feel us?"
Spryte's wings flicker in that nervous buzz all fairies do, and through the ball of magic light, Zelda can just make out tiny hands braiding Link's hair.
"We're not going anywhere, either," Spryte chimes, determined as ever. "You rest up now, Linkie!"
Just as it seems Link is almost asleep, something pinches in the hero's brow, and Zelda knows him well enough to see a complaint is coming.
"Th... T... Triforce..." he breathes weakly, hardly louder than a whispering fairy.
The princess’s chest tightens. Call Link what you will—boastful, headstrong, maybe a little cheesy—but that hero's spirit was a fire in him that would never die.
Zelda swallows away her worry. "It's here, Link. Here in the forest with us. It's safe, we're all safe. We're all safe together, and that's real."
His hand squeezes her own, and after a long, breathless moment, his frantic heart begins to slow.
"Safe..." comes his breath, "...w' my girls... All safe..."
Zelda can't help but smile at his wording. It's such a "Link" thing to say, and she's more than relieved that some part of him finally sounds as it should.
After a few careful minutes, Zelda turns to Spryte. "I think we're finally out of the woods here."
"Shh!" Spryte whispers. "Don't say that in front of him, we just got him into the woods! Besides my arms aren't big enough to block his ears."
Despite herself, Zelda laughs, the quiet bounce in her chest warming her entire body. "No, no, you're right. We should let him get some proper dreams."
Spryte watches Zelda's hand stroke through Link's hair again, and the little fairy rolls her eyes. "Should I grab you some food and books while you're up here pining after him, Princess?"
Zelda's face flushes. "Spryte! Really, you know I can't leave him alone like this. It doesn't mean... I-I'm not... I'm just taking care of him!"
"Riiiiight," Spryte twirls in delight. "Sooo... books and snacks? Yes? No?"
Zelda covers her blush. "...Yes. Thank you. Oh, and please tell my father and the guards what's happened, and why I'll be absent today."
"Can do!" Spryte floats over to hug Zelda's head, then over to Link. She pecks the sleeping hero on the forehead, whispering, "Get well soon, Linkie. We miss you!"
After the fairy has flown away, Zelda lets out the biggest sigh of her life. Her eyes trail over Link's sleeping face. It's so relaxed, so different from the eerie numbness that once consumed it, and she reaches out to it again to make sure it's real.
His breath warms her wrist as he exhales, ruffling the wildflowers still tied there.
He's ok. He's ok, she assures herself. Not back to normal just yet, but I'll get him there. That's the least I owe him after all of this.
Overcome with relief—and after she's made sure Spryte isn't spying on them—Zelda lets herself lean down to gently kiss her hero's forehead.
Somewhere in Link's sleeping face, Zelda sees the ghost of a smile.
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Fic Masterlist | Link to Chapter 2
Author's Note: Some of this was slightly inspired by a few scary fevers some of my younger brothers had when they were kids. A few got so bad they started hallucinating, and as a bystander it feels awful knowing there’s not much you can do but care for them and wait. Also magical side effects/illness is a fun writing trope to mess around with >:)
Extra Note: I am a children’s book/family friendly author, so please keep all comments Safe For Work (no swearing please!) I want to do my best to make this a place for everyone. Have fun!
(💙Please comment and like directly from the og post in case Tumblr does weird things again! Tumblr reblogs are ok but never repost, thanks! <3)
