pfp art is @turippy on twitter!

It scratches at the edges of her skin. The cold feeling of pure malice that tried its best to worm its way past her defenses and into her heart. Into a heart she protected over a hundred years until she was saved by Link.

Oh how the hours bled into years, and how she lost that track of time as she kept Calamity Ganon right there in Hyrule Castle. Safe away from a ruined Hyrule so it could live on.

But it had affected Zelda. How could it not have? All those years spent being the silent shield against ruin. All those years she spent fighting for all the people she lost before she started this endless fight.

Zelda has to remember that that fight is over. Her fight is now to rebuild Hyrule and lead. It's no longer to focus on keeping the darkness of malice at bay, to keep it from taking everything again, or to keep it from ruining her. She is safe and she is home.

In spite of all that, the memory of that darkness chases her into her dreams. Where it reminds her over and over again with how it tears at her, blames her, and reminds her of everything she is not.

It's always after that part of that recurring dream when Zelda wakes, and she always wakes with a panicked start. Sweat dots her skin and her heartbeat is erratic in its pace. It takes her a few moments to remind herself of where she is and who is sleeping next to her by her side.

And she seeks your warmth, your safety, by laying back down and entangling herself with you and your limbs. Zelda breathes a sigh against your chest and it barely calms her own.