The Jewels of Heart
By: Ashlee
Chapter 17: The Rebirth
In Link’s palm, the jewel shook violently. It jumped into the air and was suspended just out of Link’s grasp. Much to his horror, the jewels on his chain also lifted up to join it. When the chain caught them, they seemed to melt right through it and went up to join the other jewel.
As he stared at it, Link suddenly felt himself rising. It felt weird as his feet lost touch of the ground, and even weirder was that he didn’t know what was going to happen next. He looked around and saw a light similar to the one that enveloped Zelda surround him, and he became anxious.
The light shrunk around him and began to seep into him until it came to his chest. It stopped, and glowed brighter. With a bright flash, Link felt a piercing, intense pain shoot through his chest, and was suddenly gasping for air. A green jewel rose up from him and joined the other four, as he was lowered to the ground.
His vision blurry and darkening, Link realized that he was dieing. He didn’t even feel how hard he hit the ground as he landed face first into the soil. His heartbeat was slowing, as was his breathing, and he had every intention of giving in to the darkness.
At least, he did until an overwhelming power took over him, and gave him strength he had never known before. He stood up, perplexed, and looked above him. Hovering in the air was a giant, clear jewel about as big as his palm. Light from it showered around him, and he realized that it was keeping him alive.
He felt tugging at his tunic’s pocket, and he looked down to see his Ocarina also going up to join the gem. Link stared in wonder as the jewel imbedded itself into the Ocarina, and it seemed to change not only its appearance, but also what it actually was. For some reason, he couldn’t stop the name Ocarina of Resurrection from coming into his mind.
Weird.
The ocarina slowly made its way towards Link, and stopped in front of his face. Taking it as a sign to do something with it, Link reached out and held it with both hands. He brought it to his lips, and began to play a melody that he had never heard before.
All around him, he saw things growing from the ash that lay below him. Plants took the place of that which was dead. The tune was a mystical one with many notes. As it was played, Link felt life spring all around him. At the same time, though, he felt as though his own life was being taken from him. His energy was leaving him, and he felt overwhelmingly tired. He wanted to stop playing the ocarina, convinced that it was draining energy from him, but his fingers and mouth wouldn’t let him. It was as if he was under a spell of some sort.
After some time of this, he finally stopped. The ocarina fell to the ground that was covered with fresh, soft grass.
Link followed it in unconsciousness.
Zelda’s eyes twitched, and she moaned softly. After stirring a little, she finally opened her eyes. She squinted against the sunlight that invaded her vision. Sighing, she propped herself up on an elbow and looked around.
“Where am I?” she moaned, pressing a hand to her throbbing head. Then a flood of memories came to her, and she realized that she was where she had died. Of course, she didn’t feel dead now. She felt quite alive. But the question was, how?
She shook her head, and felt somehow different from how she was before her death. She didn’t have the same knowledge she did before. Her jewel must have been taken.
She smiled fondly at the thought that maybe Link had taken her motivation and did what he was supposed to. Yes! That was it! Link’s destiny had to be to revive Hyrule. Along with it came Zelda.
Now, where was Link? She didn’t expect him just to come out of nowhere to see her when he had his home to visit and people to see. Still, she wanted to make sure he didn’t take her last word too seriously. She grimaced at the thought that maybe he didn’t want her if she was alive because of that last word.
No, he was smarter than that. He and Zelda had a certain understanding of each other. That she was sure of. He just had to know that she didn’t really mean the thing that she had said. He was anything but a coward.
She got up and began to walk through the woods to see where she could go. She had no idea in accordance with Hyrule of where she was, but she didn’t think it would do her any good just to sit there like a bump on a log and wait for her beloved to come to rescue her. Link probably wouldn’t ever show up in her life again.
The thought depressed her, so she shoved it out of her mind. She was not about to let something like that get her down. Not when she was alive, and needing so desperately to see him again. Even if he didn’t want to see her, she would see him, talk to him, and tell him all of her worries, and all that was on her mind. It was only right.
She soon came to a clearing. It was quite big, with a hill on top of it, overlooking a large valley. It reminded of a hill she had often went to as a child to clear her head. Even as a child she had much to think about. Come to think of it, she thought to herself, not much has changed.
Fond of her memories, she sat down with a happy sigh on top of the hill, feeling the breeze embrace her as it did when she was so young. She stared off into the sky, remembering a time when all was right with Hyrule. It was when she was small, but she remembered it. Her father was more caring then. The country was more intact. And there was less to worry about.
She hugged her knees to her chest and looked down the hill. She was sure that she would have enjoyed the view more if Link was there to enjoy it, too.
Link’s arms hurt.
And back. And shoulders.
Heck with it, it all hurt. He probably would have got up in an instant after waking up if it weren’t for that simple detail. Instead, he lied on the ground, staring up at the sky, trying to summon the power to just get up. After trying to raise his head and finding it useless, Link looked around. Everything was as it was before the thing with Sufforsite. It filled his heart with joy, but he still didn’t know if everyone would be alive, or if it was just the appearance that had changed.
He spotted something on the ground near him, and squinted to see what it was. Reaching out slowly, he touched it. It was smooth, and it radiated a certain power that Link couldn’t place. He lifted it up with his hand, and found himself no longer in pain.
Duh, he thought. It’s the Ocarina. He lifted himself up from the ground and sighed, taking a look at his surroundings. It was beautiful. He looked down at the Ocarina in his hands, and was filled with a new determination.
He had to find Zelda.
He placed the Ocarina to his lips and played yet another strange tune to him, but he didn’t stop until a light took him and transported him to where he needed to go.
Zelda sighed as she plucked a flower from the ground. She gazed at it softly, her eyes exploring every inch of every petal. The coloring was a soft shade of red, and its stem was perfectly green. The flower was the most beautiful thing she had seen.
She smiled, and began picking more. She found some with blue in them, and soon had a whole bouquet of flowers. She tied the stems together with a rather large piece of grass, and held it close to her bosom, inhaling the sweet scent that they gave off.
As she began to stand up, she heard ruffling in the trees nearby. She turned around to see what it was, waiting for it to reveal itself. As the trees ruffled some more, she took a few steps toward them warily. The ruffling got louder, and she heard foot steps along with them.
Soon, she saw hands appear from the thickness of the trees. There was something familiar about those hands. They pushed back a few branches, allowing a foot to go through, then a leg, and then a whole body.
She stared at the person who had come out of the trees, and he stared back. She felt tears stinging her eyes as a flood of memories came to her mind.
Link couldn’t do anything except for stare at Zelda. Words didn’t even come to mind as she took a quaking breath at the sight of him. There were only a mix of emotions. Link saw a bunch of flowers that she was crushing against her breast. They seemed to make her look even more heavenly.
“Link,” she whispered with a shaky voice. A tear trailed down her cheek as she spoke. What she was crying for, he didn’t know.
He took a hesitant step forward. That tear seemed like an invitation to touch her velvety cheek and to hold her once again. But should he? The last word that she had said to him echoed through his mind.
Coward.
He stopped suddenly and looked away from her. He had to gather his thoughts. No, he wasn’t a coward to her, was he? He was stupid to just leave it like this. She wasn’t dead anymore, so why linger on things in the past?
Looking back into her eyes, he saw emotions a lot like his own. Sorrow, regret, pain, confusion, and one more. One more that made him wonder. One more that made him sure what they felt was real.
Love.
She didn’t want to cry. She didn’t want to appear to be weak at the sight of him. She wanted to remain strong. But she couldn’t. The tears were flowing quicker now. Why wouldn’t he say a blasted thing? She couldn’t trust her own voice, so they just remained silent, looking at each other like a pair of idiots.
Not knowing exactly what she was doing, or why she had done it, or how she had gotten there, Zelda ran up to him and threw herself into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably onto his shoulder. His arms pulled her closer and cradled her softly for comfort.
“I didn’t know when I’d see you again, or if I’d see you again,” she sobbed. “Oh, Link!”
“Shh,” he whispered into her hair. “It’s alright. I’m here now.” He held her tighter and put a hand to the back of her neck.
“I’m so sorry, Link,” she cried. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t worry. Everything’s all right,” he said softly.
“Really?” she sniffed, looking up at him.
“Yes,” he smiled warmly. He cradled her cheek with his large hand. “Everything.”
He lowered his mouth toward hers and brushed her lips with his. He kissed away the tears from her eyes, and held her until she had stopped crying.
“Link, I’m sorry about—“
“Shh. I don’t want to hear a word about it,” he said sternly, yet lovingly. “It doesn’t matter now.”
“No,” she said, smiling as she pulled in towards him. “I guess it doesn’t.” Their lips met and all the world melted away as they held each other tightly.
Breathless, Zelda finally pulled away, and whispered, “I want to stay the rest of my life with you.”
He didn’t say anything. He was tired of words. They seemed meaningless when he could reply in a much better and direct way. He pulled her in another time roughly, and kissed her for all he was worth. They didn’t pull away, and with every second their lips were together, the kiss deepened further and further.
As Zelda’s arms moved around Link’s neck and her mouth moved restlessly against his, they both realized that this wasn’t the end, but a new beginning.
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