28) Death, Contest Submission Thread

[Existence: DENIED]

Thread for submitting all drabbles under the theme 'Death' .

[SirJoshizzle]

Category: Death
Setting: AU—present-time Tokyo, Japan
Point of View: Limited third-person: Link
Tense: Past
Word Count: 1079


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Omoidashite Kudasai
SirJoshizzle


“Zelda?”

Zelda looked over to Link and smiled sweetly, rolling on her side to face him. “Yes?”

Link wanted to badly to tell her. She had a right to know, after all. They’ve been together for three years, and have known each other years before that. She of all people needed to know… that he was dying.

Two months earlier, he was diagnosed with an incurable cancer. And for those two months, no one but him and the workers at the hospital in Bunkyo knew. Not his family, not his classmates, not his professors at Keio University… not Zelda.

Time was running out. He met with his doctor earlier that day, who told him that he had less than forty-eight hours left. He then decided that the first—and probably last—person he’d tell was Zelda. It had to be her. It needed to be her.

But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. They sat together in his dormitory and for five minutes he opened his mouth to start talking, only to close it after not having the courage to do it. For five minutes he went on like that. Until it somehow evolved into yet another consummation of their love for each other. Of course it relieved his overwhelming stress and made him feel wonderful, just like it always had… But the fact that he had only a matter of hours left---and that he could possibly be gone the next morning while he lay peacefully in her arms, her oblivious to the whole thing—was horrifying.

He stared into her violet eyes that shimmered with the bliss of afterglow, her golden hair that shone in the moonlight and slightly stuck to her glistening peach skin… It was just too much.

…I can’t tell her, he silently cried inside. He diverted his gaze away from her. He stared at his closet doors, his poster of L’Arc~en~Ciel live at Tokyo Dome, his pile of dirty clothes… anything but her face.

“…Remember when we spent the whole day at Hello Kitty Puro Land?” He smiled weakly.

“I sure do,” she giggled. “It was my idea after all. You didn’t want to at first because you didn’t like the idea of a grown man at a ‘girly theme park’ like that.”

“Yeah,” he chuckled. “But I had fun… Or when we first met in seventh grade?”

“I’d never forget something like that, Link,” she shakes her head. “We bumped into each other in the hallways on the first day of school. I thought you were really cute, and when you offered to help me up, all I did was mumble and babble, and before you could say anything else, I ran away.”

He smiled nostalgically at the memory. Through middle school up until they began going out in their last year of high school, Zelda was always, well, “ditzy” around Link, for lack of a better term. She’d always trip over her own words or say something completely irrelevant.

“Why?” She asked.

He glanced at her with a raised eyebrow. “Hm?”

“Why the memories all of a sudden?” She rephrased her question.

…Because soon, they’re all you’re going to have left, was what he thought. And it couldn’t be more true.

“Just because…” He shrugged, avoiding the truth for the billionth time in two months. “…Besides, isn’t this pillow talking!?” He reached over to her and tickled her rib cage and stomach. It caused Zelda to laugh in a high-pitched voice and writhe and squirm into the bedsheets.

“No!” She squealed, swatting his hands away from her. “Stop!”

Link just shook his head with a grin and stopped before pulling her close to him, pressing her body against his.

“Zelda,” he whispered into her hair.

“Mm?”

“All those memories… All of our laughter, tears, and nights together… And me, especially.” Their entire relationship flashed right before his tear-brimmed eyes.

“Yeah?” She tightened her hold on his torso, closing any gap between their front sides. She felt his heartbeat against her cheek. Its soothing—and slowing—rhythm gradually lulled her to sleep.

“…Omoidashite kudasai.” He murmured to a sleeping Zelda. He kissed her on the forehead one more time before closing his eyes.

…

Link slowly opened his eyes, gradually taking in his surroundings. His room.

…I’m not dead yet? He mused. He looked down, and there Zelda was, sleeping silently, a peaceful smile on her face. Her hold on him was much more loose than when they both were awake. He smiled warmly at her sleeping form and pressed a gentle kiss against her soft lips.

He slowly wriggled out of her grasp, successfully doing so without waking her. He slowly got off the mattress and stood to his feet. He stretched out his limbs, softly groaning as he did so.

Link reached for a white Egyptian cotton bath robe hanging on his computer chair and covered his naked body with it and walked around the bed to sit on his armchair. He reached over the side of the chair for a photo album containing pictures of Zelda and him he collected over the years.

He smiled as he flipped through the pages, something chuckling silently to himself at some. There were so many memories they shared, and every single one of them were in his opinion more valuable than even his own life.

He turned the page and was met with a portrait sized photo of Zelda and him, both in yukata, kissing each other softly underneath a sky streamed with fireworks. That was the Weaver Festival: the day they first kissed each other; their friend Malon took the picture in secret, hiding in a sakura tree thanks to the sakura-patterned yukata she was wearing that night.

Tears slowly ran down his cheeks as he smiled at the picture, running his thumb over the contours of Zelda’s face. He pulled it out of its page protector to get a better look of it without the glare of the plastic. He looked up to watch Zelda sleep peacefully, slightly shifting under the covers.

“I love you Zelda,” he whispered as he felt a heavy feeling sweep over him.
As he went in silence, the photo in his hands slipped out of his limp fingers and glided gracefully to the carpet, next to his left foot.

The last words that came out of his mouth as he closed his eyes for the last time:

“Omoidashite kudasai.”

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Omoidashite kudasai: "Please remeber." In the story's context, it's implying, "Please remember me after I'm gone."

[gr33n_sl33ves]

Title: The End
Theme: Death
Wordcount: 949
Genre: War
Setting: Future Hyrule
Rating: PG-13 (blood)

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...burning fire pain can't breath choking...

It was the feel of something large crashing to the ground that roused Zelda from her semi-conscious state, and it took exactly two seconds for her to wish she would just black out again. She felt as though she had just been hit by an explosion, which, coincidentally, she had.
Actually, it was no coincidence. It was quite deliberate. But now, with all the pain she was in, she rather wished she had gotten out of the way. Her left side felt as though someone had stomped upon it while wearing red-hot boots, and her throat felt as though she had been deep throating a toilet brush.
She gave a dry, hacking cough at the imagery her pain-riddled mind came up with, and regretted it immediately because laughing made the pain worse.
Cracking her eyes open, she found herself on the torn turf of the battlefield. But something was off. Everything seemed too bright, too fast, and her ears didn't seem to be keeping up with her surroundings, for everything sounded as though she were listening through a wall. She could see just fine, despite the unnatural brightness, and it appeared as though soldiers were rushing towards a large, squirming mass, some distance away.
Her survey was interrupted when she suddenly felt as though she were going to be sick, and sure enough, an upsurge of fluids soon vacated her esophagus.
Zelda retched, spitting out a gout of blood. Probably not a good sign, health wise, but it had the sticky, warm effect of cough syrup on her torn throat.
She would have liked it better if it had tasted of cherries, instead of metal.
She looked down at her injured side, and was shocked (but not really) at what she saw. Her entire left side, from tip to toe, it seemed, was burnt and torn. There was a steady flow of blood coming from somewhere around her stomach, and a sharp pain and another upchuck of blood let her know that a broken rib had punctured a lung.
Zelda didn't have to be a doctor to know her injuries were fatal.
She tore her eyes away from her injuries, desperate for something to distract her from her obviousley rapidly approaching fate, when she caught sight of something blue.
Blue eyes, as sharp and clear as sapphires were staring back at her. Link was staring back at her, and by the look of him, he was just as mortally wounded as she was.
It was instinct more than anything else that drove her tortured body into motion, dragging herself inch by agonizing inch towards the only person, after her parents had been killed, she could truly depend upon.
Link met her half way, and the two of them lay side by side for a while, catching their breath and suppressing the pain.
"Well, that was certainly a treat," Link joked, his voice unnaturally raspy.
"Let's just avoid moving for the time being," Zelda replied, her voice just as raw.
An inhuman scream sounded where the soldiers had all run to, and both Link and Zelda felt something burn on the back of their dominant hands.
"He's dying," Zelda whispered, staring at the Triforce burning on her right hand. Link gave a snort of laughter, holding up the hilt of the now broken Master Sword.
"I would hope so," he said, "What with the blade still inside him and all."
Despite the total lack of humour in the situation, Zelda couldn't help but laugh.
"You know, I think this is it," Link said thoughtfully.
"Was it the fatal injuries that tipped you off?"
"No, I don't mean right now," he explained, "Well, I suppose I do, us being dying and all, but what I mean is that I think this is then end for the whole thing,"
"The whole Us against Him thing," Zelda supplied.
"Just think about it," Link continued, "All throughout history, there have been stories of an unnamed darkness sweeping the land, only to be driven back by various heroes and whoever happens to be ruling the land at that time. You and I have both had dreams where we were experiencing these historic events in details the history books don't go into. Hell, we aced our History exam with those dreams alone! The Master Sword, the Sword of Evil's Bane, said to be the only thing to drive back the darkness is now broken, with most if it still inside the thing it was meant to kill. I think this is it, the end, no more reincarnations for us."
And as Link finished, Zelda knew he was right. Her instincts were telling her the same thing.
Zelda rolled onto her side, facing him. She then held out her right hand to him, saying, "I suppose now we get treated to an eternal rest?"
He rolled over to face her, twined the fingers of his left hand with hers, replying, "Yeah, I don't think Angry McRageypants is going to be disturbing our sleep again."
And as the screams from the supposedly eternal monster began to die, they watched as the Triforces on their hands gradually faded into nothing, the burn of their destiny cooling.
It was a comforting lack of temperature, rather than an empty one. Like a loved one laying a cool cloth on a fevered brow.
"Promise you won't let go?" Zelda asked weakly. Link gave her a tired smile, saying, "Since when has death ever stopped me before?"

It would be several hours before the soldiers would find them, hands intertwined, as bound together in death as they had been in life. As they had been throughout time.

[Angel Zelda]

Zelink Theme #28: Death
Title: A Vision in the Forest
Words: 190

Zelda made her way through the thick tree branches of the forest. She wasn’t really sure how she had gotten there, but that wasn’t the issue at hand. The issue was finding her way out of the forest as soon as she could.

Finally, after what felt to be hours, Zelda found herself at a clearing in the forest. She stopped, as she thought she saw someone standing in the middle of the clearing. Zelda took a closer look.

It was a young man with blond hair, wearing a green tunic and a green cap to match. His back was turned towards Zelda, but there was no mistaking...

Link! The fact that Link had been dead for months now didn’t seem to register in Zelda’s mind as she raced forward, tears filling her eyes.

“Link, I can’t believe it’s...” Her voice trailed off as she found that Link was no longer there.

The fact that Link was dead reentered into Zelda’s head. Her tears of joy turned into tears of sorrow as Zelda sank to her knees, weeping openly into her hands.

[Alantie]

Theme #28: Death
Words: 346
Title: A Tragic Event

It was a tragic event for them both, and one they were completely unprepared for. The blond had sobbed in his arms and he had comforted her the best he could. It was his first time dealing with such a thing himself, but he had made a promise to be brave and strong for Zelda.

“It’s gonna be okay, Zellie,” he assured her courageously, though he was fighting back tears himself. “Jabu has gone to a better place.”

She sniffled pathetically, lifting tear streaked pale cheeks. “How do you know?” she whispered sadly, scrubbing her sleeve across her damp face.

“That’s what Mom says,” Link told her stoutly. “She says the Goddesses take care of all living creatures and bring them to heaven when its time. Why wouldn’t they do the same for Jabu?”

Wet forget-me-not blue eyes turned down to the little white box that rested on the front porch beside them. “Do you believe it?” she asked, a slight note of hope in her despairing young voice.

He nodded earnestly, taking her small hand in his own. “I do.”

Zelda sniffled again, but managed to give him a watery smile. “Thank you Link,” she murmured. She hiccupped, then picked up the little box. “D’you want to come with me?” she asked timidly. “To say goodbye to Jabu? It’ll be his funeral.”

“Of course,” Link responded, still holding her hand as he clambered to his feet and followed her inside. “He was my friend too.”

Zelda’s mom greeted the two six year olds at the foot of the stairs. “Are you ready now, sweetie?” she asked, reaching down to smooth the girl’s tousled locks.

At the little girl’s silent nod, the three progressed upstairs to the bathroom where they carefully lowered Jabu’s still form into his watery grave. Zelda let out a little sob as her mother flushed the toilet and they all watched him slip from sight.

Link kept his arm tight around Zelda’s small shoulders. “Jabu was the best goldfish ever,” he told her softly. “The Goddesses will take good care of him.”

[LZ Angel]

Word count: 391

Zelda was on her knees in her favourite garden, sobbing. She had received some truly horrifying news this morning, and it was all she could do to stop from going hysterical. Her golden hair fell around her shoulders as she buried her face in her hands and wept.

Several minutes later, she heard hurried footsteps enter the garden, and heard someone walk over to her. “Zelda? Zelda, what’s wrong?” a concerned voice asked, and Zelda felt a hand on her shoulder.

She sniffed, slowly removing her hands from her eyes. “It hurts!” she managed to say before crying again.

“What hurts Zelda? Zelda, tell me what’s wrong?” her companion asked again, sounded very worried now.

She tried to brush away her tears. “He’s gone!” she wailed.

The hand on her shoulder tightened. “He’s gone? What have you not told me? Zelda, who is gone?”

She blinked, still trying in vain to wipe away her tears. “Link!” she said before bursting into tears again.

The almost painful grip on her shoulder loosened at that, most likely in sympathy. “Link’s gone?”

“Yes! I was just told this morning! And I did nothing to save him! And now he’s gone!”

The next thing she heard was a loud cough. “Umm..... Zelda dear, although I do appreciate your sadness over my demise – it shows how much you care – I would like to inform you that I am still here and very much alive at that,” Link said, still sounding amused.

Zelda sniffed. “But he’s gone!” she wailed, apparently not having heard a word he said.

Link raised an eyebrow. She seemed to be upset over some trivial thing, if he could read her mood correctly. Exasperated, he continued. “Zelda, what are you talking about?” he asked.

She whimpered and turned around, showing him the dead flower in her hands. Link stared at it for several moments before groaning. “Zelda, for the love of the goddesses, please tell me that that flower is not the reason you ran out of council crying this morning,” he said, sounding slightly impatient.

She sniffed again. “But he died....I was sad...”

Link just stared at her. “So wait, you named this flower after me?”

“Yes.”

“So you were pining over the death of a flower with my name?”

“Yes!”

Link just stared some more and sighed. He’d never understand girls.

[HyruleMaster]

Theme #28: Death
Word Count: 300

Blood.

Link looked like an angel with fallen wings painted crimson. Zelda leapt toward him as he crawled through the castle walls leaving a trail of thick ooze behind him. She fell with him as he collapsed and clutched him with her shaking arms, trembling with aching muscles. More blood fell from Link’s mouth as he groaned, and Zelda gasped, quickly moving her hand to his face.

It was then when Link finally opened his eyes—and with his head on Zelda’s lap, he could see her twisted faces coated with sorrow. Zelda moved her other hand to the gaping wound on Link’s side and winced as she touched it.

For a moment nothing was said. Yet there were so many things that Zelda wanted to say, but nothing could come from her mouth. Link’s body was getting colder and his eyes grew fainter. The time that Zelda had waited for to tell him so many things had suddenly vanished. Her heart yearned for him… but she had not told him yet. Zelda twisted in pain as her eyes stung, letting tears freely fill them. Link breathed deeply, his chest moving prominently up and down. Suddenly he flinched and Zelda thrust herself forward toward him. Of all the words she wanted to say, she only chose four—

“Link, I—”

Zelda was suddenly interrupted by the beautiful and faded gaze from Link. Her jaw froze as he opened his mouth, scarlet blood flowing from it, to speak. He froze. A long exhale passed his lips and Link grew limp. She touched his lips and felt the ice shoot through her fingers. His eyes were his last words—and Zelda fell down to his face and wept when she understood.

I love you… was what his eyes, now dimmed, had said.

~~~