Closed to [miphasgrace]

[gluttonforpunishment]

The Champions are alive. Their souls freed from the Divine Beasts, their bodies from the Calamity. Link's injured, bleeding freely from a gouge along his ribs - and several of those are broken besides, but he's still on his feet, sword in his hand still alight with energy. He looks them over: Revali, Urbossa, Zelda, Daruk... Mipha.

He's exhausted. Even with their help, Ganon had not gone down easy. It had been hours of fighting and then so long on horseback with broken ribs, every draw of the Bow of Light excruciating. He's exhausted physically, and mentally, and he's not sure what's keeping him on his feet. Maybe just the stubborn refusal to collapse.

He's shed his helmet already, and he wants to sheathe his sword, but just the idea of lifting his arm makes him more tired - his arm feels like lead, he might have broken his arm as well...

Link smiles weakly. His voice is gone - dry and hoarse, so instead he just smiles and bobs his head. He's glad they're alright, he's glad Ganon is gone, but if they'll excuse him, he needs to sit down. Or maybe collapse.

His legs start to go, and it's Daruk who gets to him first, lowering him gently to the thick grass, trampled and scorched and muddy. "Easy, buddy," he says, bracing Link semi-upright.

"Are you alright, Link?" That's Zelda, hurrying to him. He's glad to see she's unhurt after her ordeal. Her dress is clean, though her sandals and feet are muddied. He nods, though he really definitely isn't alright. But he's alive, and they're alive, and Ganon is dead - or at least gone.

He looks up, past Daruk and Zelda, to Mipha. She's fine as well. He finally takes his hand off the hilt of his sword and signs - his arms are jelly, but they're stronger than his voice, "I'm really tired." He sags against Daruk. The Goron is warm even if he's a bit too hard to be comfortable to lean against. His hands fall into his lap and he blinks tiredly. He's not sure even Mipha - if she's even strong enough yet - will be able to heal all this, but he doesn't care. He has time to recover.

Comments

[miphasgrace]

[?? you're good, dw!]

The little jump he makes catches her attention once turning to Otoh after it looked like he was ready to rest again, but she takes it as part of the discomfort of having his sore legs touched.

But then the fidgeting starts, and Mipha tilts her head slightly to the side with mild confusion. Her smile wanes as his sluggish hands fail to produce a comprehensible sign.

"Hmm? Is something the matter, Link?" She straightens her posture a bit and concern starts seeping back into her expression. He looks troubled, and that might mean a deeper pain he's hesitant to point out again. Despite having just cut off her own form of treatment, the hands that lay folded in her lap look just as ready to spring to help again. "Has the tonic not taken full effect somewhere?"

[gluttonforpunishment]

"No, it's not that!" Link hesitates, shrugs his shoulders a bit. He takes a deep breath then lets it out. "Just, I'm... not sure....." He stops again, not sure how to say what he should say. "A girl, in the village... likes me." He loks up at Mipha, hoping she'll understand. Hoping she knows that even when he thought her gone forever, he still loved her, and nothing could change or affect that.

sorry! it was my turn to reread our thread

[miphasgrace]

"...O-oh..." Mipha blinks a few times owlishly, a hand coming to rest on her chest in surprise. Even though it was his confession, she's the one who blushes in embarassment. She doesn't know why - it's not jealousy, something she did have toward Zelda for a time. Maybe it's...understanding.

The look on his face reads troubled to her, as though he's worried about her reaction? "I see..." She ducks her head, cheeks flushed. "Well, I...I can certainly see why."

[gluttonforpunishment]

"Paya's not the only young sheikah in the village to have a crush on Link," Otoh says, and she's smiling. She rests her hand on Link's knee to steady him, but her attention is more on Mipha. "She's Lady Impa's granddaughter, and has quite the infatuation.

"But it's nothing to worry about, Princess. Link's only had his heart on you this whole time, even before he remembered you."

[miphasgrace]

Though she listens everything Otoh says, the latter part stuns her a little bit. Before he even remembered me...? Her embarassed smile widens with warmth, still looking at Link even though her head was tilted downward. Her other hand, the one not resting above her chest, reaches out for Link's nearest and gently holds it.

"Were-- ...Are you... afraid of what I might think...?" But even without an answer, her smile is already reassuring.

[gluttonforpunishment]

"Uh, maybe," he starts, then pauses again. "She's um. Very young, too..." His hand is slightly sweaty but still warm in hers, and his fingers twitch against her palm - his hands are callused and strong, but not rough. There are scratches and cuts a day or two old on his forearms, gotten from scraps with the castle's monstrous denizens, but nothing to worry about.

[miphasgrace]

Mipha glances down, thumb lightly brushing back and forth against his hand. His had looked like for nearly as long as she'd known him, the only exception being when they first met and Link was a little tyke. Hers are the polar opposite, smooth even if a little bit cold and clammy. She hopes they provide comfort even as the healing aura is absent.

Her mind tries to imagine this girl, resulting in many different images, though she assumes they'd meet soon enough. "So are you," she says with a tilt of her head to the side. Did he mention that because of their obvious age gap? Even so, it's hard not to feel a tinge of jealousy in the back of her mind just as she did with Zelda years ago, although now...now things are quite, quite different.

"You know...that I could never be angry with something such as this......don't you?"

[gluttonforpunishment]

"It's not...like that..." Link squirms. "I know you won't, but I'm... Not interested in her."

"He doesn't know how to let her down without hurting her," Otoh says quietly. "She's smart, though, I imagine she'll understand without having tiny be told." There were few other ways to interpret the way Mipha and Link acted around each other.

[miphasgrace]

A quiet sound escapes her, one of somewhat pained understanding. For a long time, Mipha struggled with the thought of unrequited feelings, due in large part to her inability to spit out her own, too frightened of what the consequences might be.

"Ending up hurt is...inevitable, I am afraid..." Hopefully not toward Link, but then again she doesn't even know what kind of person this is. Otoh's words don't fall flat to her, though. "Is talking to her something...something that you would like to do?"