Day 138 ;; Open

[forhyrule]

Who: Princess Mopesalot Zelda and OPEN
Open: Open
When: Day 138
Where: the Memorial
What: Zelda is paying her respects and being lost in thought again
Format: Action
Warnings: Zilch

--

[ Zelda had finally left the hospital a couple days ago and taken her scant belongings to one of the empty apartment rooms instead. Rather than lay abed for the entire day, Zelda was forcing herself to develop some sort of daily routine. It began when the cloudiness of "nighttime" subsided, at which time Zelda went to the memorial to pray. ]

[ There were no relics related to Hyrulean religion for Zelda to pray to, but she prayed anyway, kneeling solemnly. After her prayers, she sat on a wooden bench and began to write in a blank diary she had picked up at the Lost and Found. Anyone who sees her writing will be unable to read such a strange language. ]

[ Please interrupt her, whether during prayer or while she writes. ]

Comments

[forhyrule]

[ She nodded. ] Those struck by the Calamity whose bodies aren't lost with the rest of their world. They are turned to statues, which crumble to dust when touched.

[ It wasn't something that she wanted to tell him, but she suspected that he would go find out for himself if she tried to keep the truth from him. That's what she had done, after all. ]

[lamentingly]

[ He expected it, but at the same time, he wished he hadn't heard it. Not because he didn't want to know, but because it caused his heart to ache. He was already struggling with having survived the androids, given he was supposed to be completely dead. But what if he found statues he was familiar with out there? What if he found his mother? His grandfather? What if he found Bulma? Or... Trunks?

How was he supposed to deal with that? ]

... I see. [ He didn't know what to say, he really didn't. All he knew was that the potential of finding a familiar statue out there left him with a cold sweat. ] ... Thank you for telling me, miss...

[forhyrule]

[ She suspected she knew the internal battle he fought, to decide whether or not to search for ash statues of his loved ones. It was a battle between the longing for the familiar and the fear of watching that familiar crumble. Not knowing if his loved ones were out there was surely the worst, as it would have been for Zelda. ]

Zelda. [ She supplied at his behest, then added. ] Formerly, Princess of Hyrule.

[lamentingly]

[ Gohan already knew anything familiar to him had already crumbled. If it wasn't the Calamity, it had been the androids. That wasn't a feeling that he was unfamiliar with. But all the same, he didn't want the confirmation that everything he had left was dead. He needed some sort of hope, something to look forward to. And in all honesty, he was already having a hard time finding it. ]

... Gohan. [ He answered, idly scratching the back of his neck. ] Just Gohan.

It's nice to meet you, Ze-- uh... princess, I mean.

[forhyrule]

Formerly. [ She corrected him. ] Simply 'Zelda' will suffice. [ It wasn't that she didn't like the title, but that she felt she had no right to use it anymore. ]

The pleasure is mine, Gohan. Circumstances aside.

[ And it really was nice to meet him. It was nice to know that, even though her heroes had died, others lived on. Small details like these gave her a little bit of hope to hold onto, a little bit of familiarity to cherish. ]

[lamentingly]

... Zelda then. [ Gohan said with a smile, if only to get used to saying her name. Although he couldn't help but glance down afterward, taking the skewer that he'd eaten his meat with, and poking at the fire a bit. ]

Listen, um... I'm... sorry if I made you uncomfortable with my rambling. [ He paused, trying to collect his thoughts. ] I haven't really had the chance to just... talk these things out, and it just sort of started spilling out after a certain point. Not that I regret talking about this, I just...

[ He was used to dealing with things alone, was what he wanted to say. ]

... A-Anyway, thank you. I know we just met, but thank you.

[forhyrule]

[ She tilted her head at the unexpected combination of apology and appreciation, neither of which she felt were particularly merited, but she certainly wasn't going to be rude and point that out. ]

It is my pleasure to listen. [ She said again, but truly it was. ] It is my belief that, to share one's thoughts is to accept others into one's life. One need not face the end of the world alone.

[lamentingly]

[ Gohan didn't look up at her as she said that. Instead, he continued to poke at the fire and watching the embers float upward. He heard her clearly though, something he made obvious as he smiled softly. But it was nowhere near a full smile, despite how much he wanted to muster up the energy to at least reassure her.

He didn't have to face this alone. He knew he didn't have to face this alone. He'd always been able to face anything with the help of his friends. So then, was that why he was so weak now? Because he had no friends? Because he lost everything and was left with nothing?

... Gohan wasn't sure.

But maybe, just maybe... that meant there was nothing to lose by letting someone in. ]

I'm glad you think that...