Chapter Text
Link has seen a lot of things, more than he honestly wished for. Given how many adventures he has been on, it's only natural that every once in a while, something will come up that will remind him of a moment long gone. He greets those memories with either a nasty scowl, or a softening of his eyes depending on if it’s a tricky puzzle he does not want to do again, or a reminder of a companion he had once traveled with. Despite his feelings on the matter, Link has to remember.
And that he does. One has to, in order to survive as long as he has in this field. One has to memorize tiny details about every monster they meet, the best path to take, the best hiding spot. One tiny slip up could be fatal. What’s this monster’s weak spot? Its attack patterns? What does each room in this dungeon contain? What’s the best route to get through this cave? Remembering the rules that each dungeon followed helped him with future ones. It was just how it went. It doesn’t matter if he will never see the place again, or if it's from a land far, far away. Link has to keep that information burned into his brain.
Of course, there are things he would rather not. There are things he wishes he could erase from his memory. The smell of stinky sewer water combined with blood, the sight of four shadow beings charging at him with their swords, the frenzied thoughts that came with a knight nearly getting his head, and even more he can’t be bothered to think of right now. And Hytopia. Definitely Hytopia. Link still shudders thinking about it.
Point is, there are a lot of memories in Link’s (very tiny, as some of his loved ones might say,) brain. And not all of them are created equal. There is a particular set of memories, from a place so precious to Link’s heart, that makes his eyes water like nothing ever could and pulls and twists at his heart whenever he thinks about it. A place too good for this world.
Link remembers it clearly. It was a time when, instead of glaring at world through hardened eyes that came only with the wariness of seeing so much so young, he saw it as a place that could still be trusted. In that island, that beautiful, beautiful island, Link saw the world- as fake as it had been there- as bright, full of life. Like how it was before his hero career started. Oh, how misses it...
Link had loved being there.
He had loved the feeling of sand sifting around his feet as he spun with a girl his age, singing voices raised high, blonde and red hair twisting round and round as the smiles on their faces glowed in the afternoon sun.
He had loved dashing through the island with his pegasus boots, following a path he had long mapped out by then with how much he wandered around.
He had loved the random people he met, demanding some random item that led him around in a wild goose chase of tracking down some other random person.
He had loved the villagers, how they would carry out their daily routine with a smile on their faces. He had loved the parental love of Mamasha and Papahl, the odd situations that kept finding Tarin, the eccentric nature of Madam MeowMeow and her beloved Chain Chomps, the Shopkeeper who he totally didn’t try to steal from, the Trendy Gamester who took many of Link’s rupees as he continued to have terrible hand-to-eye coordination, the quadruplets he still, to this day, struggled to differentiate, the old lady name named Grandma Yahoo who went “Yahoo!” as her name suggested, and Old Man Ulrira who, as shy as he was, helped him out so much in navigating the island and its dungeons. But most of all, he had loved her, and their little spot on the beach.
And he still does. Love them, that is. He loves them so much, that… it pains him to remember, after how everything went down. His brain cannot focus on their joyous laughter. He cannot focus on the lovely people he had met, on the song that sounded suspiciously like barks and meows every time he listened too closely to it. No, his brain focused on what he had done. What he did to them.
He had read that mural, and it felt like his world had come crashing down.
He had talked with the people of this island, saw them begin to question everything they ever knew.
He had continued clearing dungeons, despite the warnings the Nightmares screamed at him.
He had listened to the Owl, despite the doubts swirling in his mind.
He had watched her sing her ballad, in an attempt to relieve the burden placed on him. It didn’t work.
With a heavy heart, he had climbed the mountain.
He had taken out his ocarina, pressed it to his lips to play.
The Ballad of the Wind Fish rang out. He had loved listening to it before, a sweet song of dreams by his beloved, but now…
He dreaded how it sounded.
The Instruments of the Sirens he had collected joined in. The Full Moon Cello, the Conch Horn, the Sea Lily’s Bell, the Surf Harp, the Wind Marimba, the Coral Triangle, the Organ of the Evening Calm, and the Thunder Drum.
It was a beautiful melody, but it was haunting to him.
The egg cracked.
He felt something inside him crack, too.
He doesn’t want to remember what happened after that.
All he knows is that he destroyed them, Marin, and their perfect Koholint.
...
Link will never forgive himself for that.
And so, he has to remember, because that is the least he can do for them. He can never forget. He will never forget, for as long as he lives. He will keep all those memories locked away in his mind, hidden but never, ever forgotten. He is the only one that knows them. He can’t forget. He won’t. He… needs them to stay alive, in his mind at least. Because to forget them is to kill them, and Link will not be able to live with himself if he does that again.
He doesn’t seek out things that remind him of the island. A part of him feels guilty. He knows that he should be doing more to remember them, but it just hurts so much. Looking at the beach, at the friendly waves so different from the ones that got him there in the first place, makes him feel like his heart is about to explode. Looking at hibiscus flowers and at seagulls makes it feel like it stopped all together.
He cannot stop the rare smile that blossoms every time he sees something that reminds him of the island, however. As much as he wishes to avoid, he remembers, and those memories will always be painted with rose-tinted glasses. But still, they squeeze his heart until he feels empty inside. Oh, what he’d do to see them all again…
Link’s on a new quest once more, with a group of heroes from across time. He goes by Legend now, since they all share the same name. He vows not to let himself get close to his new traveling companions. It all ends the same, one way or another, and he will have to say goodbye. He doesn’t think he can take that again.
Despite himself, Legend begins to grow closer with the other heroes. They manage to worm their into his heart, and at this point, Legend doesn't care enough to stop them. They’re all worrywarts. There is no way to stop their worrying. Trust him, he’s tried. He begrudgingly begins calling them his brothers. Emphasis on the begrudgingly.
They call him the Veteran, among other things that Legend claims he is not (soft! A hoarder! They’re all liars at this point,) for his experience. He tells them information about weapons, monsters, dungeons, and stupid stuff because Goddess knows they are lacking the most basic common sense (he is too but shh) because, as always, he remembers.
It seems that that has come to bite him back in the bottom during this adventure. Legend can’t stop looking at his brothers and thinking, Oh, it’s all so much like- like- He stops himself there. He refuses to cry. They’ll worry for a second before realizing it’s nothing, and Legend is not about to let them, especially Warriors, get new teasing material about him being a softie. Nuh uh, not going to happen. Anyways!
It’s not helping that Wind’s Hyrule is one giant ocean, or that he always smells like the sea. It’s also not helping that Wild’s long hair is built just like hers, except the color is all wrong, and Legend is desperately trying to stop himself from asking to braid it and then placing a pretty flower to top it all off. And oh, don’t get him started on Malon. Despite some differences he cannot ignore, she is what Legend imagines she would have grown up to be like if he hadn’t been a massive idiot and doomed an entire island and its people.
Oh Goddesses strike him down. End his misery!
(They hate him too much to do even that, he laments.)
(What’s Legend’s life even about anymore?)
Case in point: he remembers. He remembers that island and he always will, and apparently, Hylia has decided to make that her problem. Because every so often, this Goddess-forsaken quest will decide to throw something at him that reminds him so much of wounds barely healed that it just makes Legend want to scream. Which he doesn’t, of course, because he has an image to keep, but he very much wishes to do so. Just like how he wishes the tugging at his heart would stop and that his eyes would feel dry for once.
He still smiles though. A private little thing, meant only for him and them. Legend promised he will never forget, and he won’t, even if his soul aches with poorly contained hurt.
A girl his age once told him he was the kindest boy she’s ever met. He’ll smile for her, even though she’s long gone, so she keeps thinking of him that way. He’ll remember everything and anything, for his dear Marin.