[He can't help it. He flinches, his own alarm mirroring hers in that moment she catches his wrist. Her fear is not that irrational, after all, though she has no way of knowing that; getting caught like this is the very thing he's had to avoid at all costs all this time. But it's her expression - desperate, pleading - that keeps him from snatching his hand away on pure instinct.
(He stops seeing her, for a fleeting moment. In that instant, there's a boy in her place clad in a green like her eyes, reaching for him no less desperately before vanishing in a flash of light. And he can't stay, he knows he can't stay, it would just make everything harder in the end if he did, but that doesn't stop him from wanting--)
She releases him just as quickly, and he releases the breath that had been caught high and tight in his lungs, simply... watching her as she finally gives voice to some of her thoughts.
And she pities them, the ancestors who could only give her a world with something as vile as "Calamity Ganon" plaguing it. Would she feel the same if she knew the truth of things, he wonders? There must be a connection there - between her Calamity and his King - and it seems like she's come to the same conclusion that only one could follow the other. Certainly, she would have something different to say if she were to speak with the ancient Princess of Hyrule who allowed such tragedy to come to pass, instead of a shadow that will fade into nothing once light shines across all corners of Hyrule once more.
Sheik hesitates, jaw tight and hands balled into fists at his sides, but of course he joins her on the bench. How could he do anything else?]
... You need not pity us, your highness.
[He starts, and it almost sounds like we don't deserve it, but no, soothing her concerns is the priority right now. Fortunately, he's had quite a bit of practice convincing himself that all is not hopeless.]
The Hero lives, and has fought back much of the evil plaguing the land already. And... if you live, then surely the Princess of our time does as well, no? [As much as he burns to fill in the gaps of his knowledge between their times, it's fortunate for him that she voiced her assumption of his place in her past first, instead of having to bring it up himself. Small blessings.] Peace will return to Hyrule... for a time.
[It must. Even if he can't keep the sour taste from his mouth with the confirmation that such peace will only be temporary-- their fight... can't be for nothing.]
no subject
(He stops seeing her, for a fleeting moment. In that instant, there's a boy in her place clad in a green like her eyes, reaching for him no less desperately before vanishing in a flash of light. And he can't stay, he knows he can't stay, it would just make everything harder in the end if he did, but that doesn't stop him from wanting--)
She releases him just as quickly, and he releases the breath that had been caught high and tight in his lungs, simply... watching her as she finally gives voice to some of her thoughts.
And she pities them, the ancestors who could only give her a world with something as vile as "Calamity Ganon" plaguing it. Would she feel the same if she knew the truth of things, he wonders? There must be a connection there - between her Calamity and his King - and it seems like she's come to the same conclusion that only one could follow the other. Certainly, she would have something different to say if she were to speak with the ancient Princess of Hyrule who allowed such tragedy to come to pass, instead of a shadow that will fade into nothing once light shines across all corners of Hyrule once more.
Sheik hesitates, jaw tight and hands balled into fists at his sides, but of course he joins her on the bench. How could he do anything else?]
... You need not pity us, your highness.
[He starts, and it almost sounds like we don't deserve it, but no, soothing her concerns is the priority right now. Fortunately, he's had quite a bit of practice convincing himself that all is not hopeless.]
The Hero lives, and has fought back much of the evil plaguing the land already. And... if you live, then surely the Princess of our time does as well, no? [As much as he burns to fill in the gaps of his knowledge between their times, it's fortunate for him that she voiced her assumption of his place in her past first, instead of having to bring it up himself. Small blessings.] Peace will return to Hyrule... for a time.
[It must. Even if he can't keep the sour taste from his mouth with the confirmation that such peace will only be temporary-- their fight... can't be for nothing.]