Work Text:
Warriors wakes up to quiet music. Softly smiling to him self he turned around and snuggled Wind closer to his side
Wait a minute, who is playing music in the middle of the night?
He softly pushes Winds arm from his middle. And carefully, not to wake Wind or any of the others, gets up from his bedroll.
Aside from the music that is still playing, the camp is quiet.
Wild had made himself comfortable pressed in Twilight’s side. Sky had pulled Four into a sleepy embrace. Hyrule had clamped himself to Time, which was something new, but surprisingly Time seemed ok with it as he had an arm lazily slung around Hyrule’s shoulders.
There in the middle of the camp, Legend sat hunched over himself next to the fire. In the soft glow of the lazy dancing flames, he could just make out a simple pink ocarina, that the Veteran cradled in his hands.
He walks over “Well I would have never taken you for a musician Vet.” He taunts, a smirk on his face. Legend startles and looks up, big tears are rolling down his cheeks, his eyes are puffy and his nose red. Seeing the terrible state his friend mutual hero is in slaps all victorious feelings out of him.
What has gotten into the I’ll-die-if-I-show-any-emotion-other-than-annoyance-Veteran to get him to break down like this?
“Hey… Leg.” he says cautiously “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine, go away” legend snarls, but the captain isn’t having it.
“Yeahh, no. you are clearly not fine. I’ve seen this enough with my soldiers. You’re going to tell me what’s plaguing your thoughts.”
“‘said it’s nothing, go back to sleep.”
Warriors doesn’t say anything and sits down.
They sit like this, in silence watching the flames of the soft fire dance in the wind, for a long time. He almost wants to give up and go back to sleep when Legend breaks the silence
“it’s... just… I miss her...” although he wants to ask who, he keeps silent and waits for him to elaborate.
“It’s has been so long since I washed up on that island, so long since I’ve last seen her, that I’m starting to forget.... starting to forget her smile, the colour of her hair, the colour of her eyes when they reflected the sun, the way she would laugh if I did something stupid again.”
Legend lets out something between a pitiful chuckle and a sob.
“I'm so worthless. First, I couldn’t keep her alive, I knew it would kill her and I still did it. And now… now I can’t even keep her memory alive. The only way she still exists, and I can’t remember.”
He looks up to Warriors and continues in a voice to small for his liking.
“She only lives in my memories, and I'm starting to forget. Please Wars, I don’t want to forget. Don’t let me forget, please, I need to remember, don’t let me forget. Please, Wa-Wars, plea-please don’t- don’t let me forget…”
He is now full-on crying, sobs wrecking trough his body. Warriors pulls him to his chest, and surprisingly Legend lets him.
He is repeating how he doesn’t want to forget, and doesn’t deserve to be called a hero, for failing to safe ‘her’. All the scarfed hero can do is hold him tighter and softly shush him, so he does. It doesn’t take long for the pinked haired hero to fall asleep, a silent “thank you” is all Warriors hears before the boy in his lap is unconscious.
When he hears rustling Warriors looks up. His gaze is met by his, not so little anymore, brother. Time gets up from his bedroll and sits on the log on the other side of the fire. He does not question why his big brother has Legend sleeping in his lap, but just nods and stares at the flames. Warriors adjusts his scarf, so it is covering both him and Legend, rests his head on top of Legends and lets sleep overtake him.
It has been two weeks after that night, or how Legend put it ‘the night you will never speak about if you treasure your hair and toe-bones’, they are back at bickering and playfighting as if nothing ever happened.
Although Warriors is pretty sure Wild has snapped a picture with that slate of his, when he woke up to prepare their breakfast.
The chain found themselves in Warriors’ Hyrule again and while Time was securing them all a bed at Castletown inn, Warriors turned to Legend
“Hey Vet, you want to come to the bar with me? There will be dancers and a special guest tonight.”
“Yeah no. I am not in the mood to see you get drunk and embarrass yourself in front of girls, thank you.” Legend scoffed
''Excuse you, I would not do no such thing, ever." Warriors squawks. "Besides, it would be good for you, takes your mind of stuff. And maybe you could experience fun for once in your life!"
“Fine, fine, I'll go. But, if you get drunk, I'm leaving you to Time."
Legend had to give it to him, the captain had not yet embarrassed himself to any girl, in fact he had not yet really talked to any besides the bartender.
Legend honestly had thought the captain would go get drunk and flirt and ditch Legend for the first girl he came across, but to his pleasant surprise Warriors had stayed with him at their table.
A beautiful Gerudo dancer had claimed the stage, swirling over the wooden planks the podium, her feet rapidly striking the floor to the fast rhythm of the music.
She dances off the stage and makes her way between the tables, she dances towards their table. She takes the hands of legend and slowly sways backwards and let them slip out of her hands.
When she dances further Warriors looks at legend, with a smug grin on his face. Legend lets out a grumbled huff and sips his drink as he slumps down in his chair. "Come on Vet, have some fun" Warriors laughs.
The host of the evening steps into the spotlights
“And now ladies and gentlemen, our special guest of this evening, a beautiful girl with an equally beautiful voice, she is singing the ballad of the Windfish for us tonight please welcome the lovely Marin of Koholint island!”
Wait. What!? Legend sits up in shock. There is no way he heard that right, it can’t be Marin, Marin is dead, he killed her.
His shock must have been noticeable, because warriors looks away from the stage and asks “Are you alright Vet? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
But Legend doesn’t hear him. The only thing he can focus on is Marin. Is it truly his Marin? How did she get here? How was she still alive? He destroyed the island and her with it.
Yet there she was, looking exactly how he remembers. The light blue dress with the pink bow, the brown sandals, and her signature hibiscus in sunset red hair.
Legend rises to his feet as she starts to sing the song that haunted his dreams for so long.
"Vet. Vet! where are you going?" Warriors hisses but he doesn't hear him.
It's her, it's truly her.
Slowly he starts walking towards the podium, his eyes unblinkingly fixed on the redhead, as if she would disappear again if he didn’t look at her for a moment.
"Marin?" his whisper small and unsure. She stops singing and looks at him. Goddess he had missed those big brown eyes full of wonder, wishes and dreams.
"…Link?...” She says with a uncertain voice “Oh, Link it's you!"
She jumps of the podium into legend arms "It's you, it’s you! I found you. It's really You! I’ve missed you so much. Where were you?”
“hey Vet, this isn’t a good place, we’re getting too much attention.”
Warriors is suddenly by his side, with a hand on his shoulder, guiding him to the door.
Warriors leads Legend and, his long-lost girlfriend? Marin outside to the fountain on the town square. He had a lot of questions for Legend. How did legend know Marin? why did he react that way? what is Marin to him? what is going on?
But before he could voice any of his questions, Legend had swivelled around to face him, and punched him.
Hard. In the face.
Warriors who had not expected that -to be fair who would expect their friend to punch them them in their face after reuniting with a long lost loved one? - stumbled, and in a futile attempt to regain balance stepped backwards and fell into the fountain.
“Legend! What in din’s name!?” He exclaimed.
"You!" legend snapped, "You! You knew. You could've told me! Why didn't you tell me!? Did you like my despair? Is that why you didn’t tell me? Because you don’t care about me.”
“No, I-, no of course I don- “
"She was here the whole time, and you didn't tell me! I told you something I never told anyone, and you did not even tell me-"
"Vet, listen! please, I didn't know.” Warriors finally breaks trough Legends’s rant.
“I didn’t know. How was I to know? You never told me who ‘she’ was. You could have been talking about anyone”
“Link. Link listen to him. He couldn’t have known. But we’re here now so please let it go”
Legend seemingly deflates upon hearing Marin's kind voice.
"I'm Sorry... I thought I killed you. For five long years I thought I was responsible for the death of you and your island, and now. you're here alive in this world and I-“
“I know dream boy, I know, but I'm here now, aren't I? and I don't plan of leaving you again any time soon”
"Vet! Captain!” a shout interrupted the moment.
Twilight came to a halt a few steps away from Warriors " by the light spirits, You two are hard to find. Time wanted to know where you two had gone to-. Who's this lady? Your girlfriend Captain? He interrupted himself when he took notice of Marin. To his surprise the captain only gave a knowing smile, and it was legend who adverted his gaze. Oh, now he saw the intertwined hands of legend and the girl.
“Hi, I am Marin, legends girlfriend, nice to meet you” she said happily
Legend blushes profusely and Marin’s chiming laugh filled the evening sky soon joined by the laughter of the two other men.