open 🌻 a relatively more welcome return and some other nonsense

[multidisciplinary]

Who: Zelda and OPEN
Which: Open log, backdated to November 9
Where: Plaza, Lakeside, Dreamscape
What: November catch-all kind of thing. Zelda returns to Song (again) after trying to go home and do [spoiler] things, gets leafever and experiences a day in the life of a sylvari, and dreams about fashion
Warnings: Minor Tears of the Kingdom sidequest spoilers dreamscape prompt. (opt out of TOTK spoilers here.) Threads with major TOTK spoilers will be marked.



1. a not so welcome return the redux

Like most new arrivals, Zelda awakens in the Plaza. When she opens her eyes, she sees... nothing. Darkness, muted colors, like the insides of one's eyelids. Her heart skips a beat. Has she done it? Has she finally returned to Hyrule and fulfilled the plan she has so ardently strived for? Is she free from Songerein?

As if in answer, the wind picks up and gusts over Zelda. The darkness rustles loudly all around her, like dried leaves in an autumn breeze.

...

The princess sits up abruptly, shedding leaves from the pile that has formed on top of her. Wait a moment. What are all these leaves doing on the ground? It's still summertime in Hyrule. Zelda looks around, casting her gaze over the nearby Plaza, abustle with activity as dreamwalkers patronize the many shops surrounding it. This doesn't look like the town near the castle. Then that must mean...

She's back in Songerein.

Zelda slams her hands down in the leaves and screams out a curse at the top of her lungs. Back in Songerein? Already? But she only just left! Last night, she snuck out of the treehouse home she and Link share and went to the Wishing Well. She planned to use three of her baubles to go home. Link came to stop her—

Her mind stops abruptly as the memory plays in her mind—Link, stepping between Zelda and the well, kissing her...

A hot flush rises to Zelda's cheeks. She shakes her head roughly to get the image out of her mind. Stop getting distracted. Focus!

The princess roughly digs herself out of the pile of leaves (more of which have accumulated in the mere minutes she's been sitting here) and gets to her feet. Time to go to the Plaza and get some answers.


2. dryad ailment

It's been four or five days since Zelda returned to Songerein and she's been feeling... pretty terrible, actually. Somehow, waking up in a pile of leaves in the Plaza has caused the princess to fall ill. For days, she's been laid up at home or at the clinic, suffering fevers and body aches and the worst case of dry skin anyone has every experienced. Her body has become strangely plant-like, with skin like bark and hair like yellow leaves. If not for how miserably she's been feeling, Zelda would be fascinated by the changes.

But today, she inexplicably feels... fine. No, better than fine. Wonderful, actually. The moment she steps outside and the cold autumn sunlight shines on her leafy hair, Zelda feels her miserable affliction vanish. Her lethargy fades in an instant and she suddenly feels more energized than she's felt in days—no, in months. Suddenly, all of the worries Zelda normally carries around fade from her mind and all she can think about is soaking up more sunlight, drinking clear, cold water, and finding some delicious nutrients!

Zelda can be found at the lakeside all day, romping about in a state of undress unusual for the cold weather and uncharacteristic of the princess. She might be conversing animatedly with the nearby trees, wading knee-deep in the icy lake waters, or even (ugh) eating dirt. Really, you should have a taste of this dirt. The flavor is exquisite!


3. Interactive dreamscape - Hyrulean haute couture

Intentionally or unintentionally, tonight's dreamwalking has brought you to a town on the outskirts of Hyrule known as Hateno Village. Once a sleepy little village, Hateno has grown into a bustling township in the century since the Great Calamity, on account of its distance from Hyrule Castle. In the four years since they defeated Calamity Ganon (and when they aren't busy traveling the kingdom), Zelda has lived in Hateno Village with Link. Hateno is the 'home' she thinks of whenever she hears the word, so its little wonder that a homesick dream take place there.

Lately, Hateno has been buzzing with excitement, ever since haute fashion designer Cece opened her shop there and began selling her latest designs. Fashion-forward Hyruleans from all over the kingdom have flocked to Hateno to get their own Cece-brand clothes. Though Zelda may not be a fashionista, she isn't immune to the charm of Cece's unique designs.

That's how you find yourself inside Cece's shop, trying on the hottest new style—mushroom couture. Zelda, also dressed in a full mushroom outfit, stands before you, carefully scrutinizing your outfit.

"No, I think it needs the hat," she says. "The ensemble simply isn't complete without it."


4. the wildcard option

Want a different prompt? Feel free to surprise me or plot with me on plurk (knighted), discord (triforce1960) or DM.

Also, feel free to reply in brackets instead of prose if you prefer.

Comments

[sagesurvivor]

[The surprise is expected. As is the tempest that becomes of her mind a moment later, clear as day to one who has experienced that same storm twice over. Sheik watches her reactions closely regardless, an interest in her feelings regarding another Zelda's presence that remains no matter how he tries to smother it with duty or denial.

But he did not predict it being the era he mentions that would trip her up most of all. His head lists to the side as he recalls the conversation he had with the girl in the labyrinth, strange and circular as it was.]

... I suppose there is a possibility that she has instead come from a time where Hyrule has since ceased to exist... [Perhaps that could explain away some of her incogruencies, but... no. He shakes his head.] But I do not believe that is the case.

[Call it a gut instinct. He's relying on it quite a bit more here than he did when he first met the girl sitting across from him nearly a year and several lifetimes ago, but every time he tries to consider the alternative, it just sounds... wrong in his mind. Like the sour ringing of a bell out of tune.]

She - and her Link, she said - hail from a land she called "Skyloft," and only seemed to recognize what you or I would call Hyrule as "the surface."

[He was... a bit too preoccupied to ask what in Nayru's name she meant by that, he realizes now, and he's kind of kicking himself over it, but he also can't shake the feeling that if he had asked too many follow up questions at that time his brain would have actually exploded. He is but one overthinking pseudo-Sheikah, and honestly he's still trying to figure out what he's going to say if and when someone notices their harps are extraordinarily similar, alright.]

[multidisciplinary]

[ Like Sheik, Zelda immediately writes off the possibility that this mysterious newcomer could be from a world where Hyrule no longer exists, shaking her head as he posits that possibility. Just the thought of it curdles in her stomach. Hyrule will persist beyond her era... even though she won't be around to see it. (The knowledge sits just as sour inside her as the thought of the kingdom's downfall.)

At first, the land called "Skyloft" elicits no reaction from Zelda. She's never heard of such a place, not in all her studies of Hyrule's ancient histories and even more ancient legends. But when Sheik mentions "the surface," all of the pieces immediately click into place. ]

"The surface?" [ Zelda's eyes go wide and she shoots forward in her seat. ] Then, she is a Zonai?!

[ The princess's mind takes off without even waiting for conformation from Sheik. Another Zonai... and one who bears the name 'Zelda?' Then she would have to be one of Rauru and Mineru's predecessors, hailing from a time even earlier than the founding of Hyrule by its first king. ]

[sagesurvivor]

I, uh.

[Ah, it's been a while since this side of her has surfaced. Sheik startles at the Princess' sudden exclamation, having very clearly been left behind at the station of that particular train of thought. It takes him a moment to recall the description she had previously given him of the precursor race that supposedly aided in Hyrule's founding; he generally tries to not think too much on those particular details of her story, and how they somehow sound so much like fun-house mirror reflections of his own.

A beat later, and he shakes his head once again.]

I... do not think so, though you would know better than I. To my eyes, she appeared very Hylian, with long, golden hair she's quite proud of and sky blue eyes.

[Did she look like me? she had asked him, and he tried to say no, grief from her departure nestled in his heart like a thorn. What he told her was not a lie, but it was exactly as much the truth as it was not. The two could be mistaken for sisters.]

... There is also the fact that she seemed to recognize the Sheikah as her protectors, despite not openly laying claim to any royal title herself. [That was weird, and not very "Zonai-like" from what he can tell.]

[multidisciplinary]

[ Visibly deflating, Zelda sits back in her chair again. She probably shouldn't be so disappointed that the newcomer who shares her name isn't a Zonai, but she is anyway. Her time with Rauru and Mineru was so short; there were still so many things Zelda wanted to ask them, so much history she wanted to learn from them. Their great civilization has all but vanished from Hyrule's history, and yet the kingdom owes so much to the Zonai—not least of all to Rauru's sacrifice of his own life to seal the Demon King.

But the princess stops herself from dwelling too much on what might have been and focuses instead on picking out the facts of what is. And what is is a Hylian, one whose appearance reminds Zelda of her mother, the late Queen Zelda of Hyrule. (She also wonders, tangentially, whether this "Zelda of Skyloft" shares the same stature as the Hylians of the princess's era or more like Sonia's.) A Hylian living in the era before the founding of Hyrule is not in itself strange, but that's where logic seems to stop and incongruities set in. ]

That... does not line up.

[ Zelda's expression settles back into a look of concentration as she tries to fit together all the pieces of this puzzle. ]

I traveled to Hyrule at the era of its founding. Before Rauru and Sonia established the kingdom, the different regions of what we now know as Hyrule existed as their own sovereign nations. Rauru thought to unify our peoples as one kingdom for the safety and security of all. I attended court a few times before the war began and met the representatives of the different nations, but I do not recall the Sheikah clan ever being present in any capacity. I did not have suitable opportunity as Rauru or Sonia about their exclusion and written records of Sheikah history are few and far between, as I am sure you know, so I am left to conclude that the Sheikah clan favored isolationism over unification with the new kingdom.

[sagesurvivor]

[As Zelda speaks, Sheik, pulling down his cowl, lifts his own teacup to his lips and drinks down the lump forming in his throat. Civil war, unification, a fraught peace so easily and decisively broken... each and every beat recounted so familiar and yet so foreign at the same time. Should he tell her she's fortunate that she was old enough to know not to break court etiquette by asking if the Goron chieftan was her uncle now, if he had become sworn brothers with the King?

Probably not. Whatever he's feeling now, he doesn't imagine embarrassment would be much better.]

... Had you traveled to my era, that would be explained by there only being the two of us at the time. [Well, one, technically, but obviously he can't say that.] However, I doubt even the most charismatic of historians could spin our time as one of Hyrule's "founding," despite the frankly uncanny similarities between it and the one you witnessed. That does not line up, either.

[But that's just being petty. He takes a deep breath, centering himself once more on the more relevant matter at hand.]

I can only speak to what my own eyes have seen, and that is that the very first thing she asked of me was if I knew where Impa was. [...] ... Perhaps - as one who shares her name - she will speak more openly with you about these things.

[If the implications around that statement sound a little sulky, no they don't.]

[multidisciplinary]

[ Only two Sheikah? That little factoid gets a flash of surprise from Zelda. How could that be possible? The Sheikah have always been a small clan, but a sizeable one. And in the distant past, before the great schism within the tribe that resulted in the Yiga clan, the Sheikah were of even greater numbers. How could they, in an era sandwiched between two populous times in their history, fall to near extinction? Curious that she is, Zelda won't dwell on it. Let it be yet another mystery of a kingdom that may be as old as time itself. Indeed, as they've both concluded, the facts of his, Zelda's, and the newcomer's eras do not line up.

As he continues, Zelda catches what sounds an awful lot like a hint of sourness in Sheik's voice. She quirks a brow, searching his face for an explanation. Zelda has rarely known Sheik to unintentionally allow any breath of emotion escape his carefully guarded visage. Thankfully, years with Link have given the princess ample practice in reading those slight shifts in tone and expression that most people might miss. ]

Why do you say that?

[ It's as much a question about his tone as it is about the implication that this "Zelda of Skyloft" would be more inclined towards forthrightness with the princess than a member of the Sheikah tribe. Just because they share a name? There have been as many Princesses Zelda as there are stars in the sky—and innumerable more maids, mothers, sisters, stablehands, and women of every walk of life to share the name. Since the defeat of Calamity Ganon, the princess has attended no fewer than four christenings for Hylian babies whose parents asked the honor of naming their daughters after their beloved princess. It has been the same with the name Link, shared by heroes and farmhands for generations, and, apparently, with the name Impa as well. ]

[sagesurvivor]

[The problem here is this: there's a piece of information she's missing; a card he categorically refuses to pull away from his chest, let alone put it on the table for all to see. Because, he knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that "Zelda of Skyloft" is not some unrelated girl entirely incidental to their cycling stories, even if she doesn't claim any kind of royal lineage. If she were, then there would be no way that her harp would find its way into his hands, carefully preserved throughout the ages like a precious treasure. Their stars form a constellation, though he is not yet able to see the lines that connect them.

But that truth remains hidden, another to add to the hoard he's kept from her. When they meet (and he's sure that they'll meet, now that she's here), he's certain the Princess before him will come to a similar conclusion, even if they don't reach it the same way.]

When I mentioned your previous presence here, she was quite saddened by the thought that she would not get to meet you. There is something that she owes you, she said. [His fingers drum against the table idly as he answers the question she voices and not the one she does not.] She would not tell me what she meant by that. Only "it's something between us Zeldas, that's all."

[... One could mistake his sullenness as simply feeling left out, and one wouldn't be entirely incorrect.]

[multidisciplinary]

[ Indeed, 'feeling left out' is the impression Zelda is getting from Sheik—the way he tries to play at being unaffected, yet taps his fingers as though impatient to move past this subject. There's a question of 'why' in Zelda's mind (why does "something between us Zeldas" have him so disgruntled?) but it begs an answer that Sheik probably won't provide.

But that isn't the only part that catches Zelda's attention (which, thankfully, allows her to maneuver the conversation in a slightly different direction). ]

She feels she owes me something... [ Zelda repeats, musing aloud. ] I cannot imagine what she could possibly owe me, given that we have never met.

[ She looks down into her teacup, holding it in one hand and swirling its contents. (Not very good manners, her father would chide.) ]

What do you make of her? [ Though the question seems to be directed at the teacup, Sheik will know it's to him. The real question is unspoken: does Sheik believe this 'Zelda of Skyloft' and her tales? Although Zelda would like to trust another Hylian, war has taught her to be more cautious. ]

[sagesurvivor]

[That's the million rupee question, now, isn't it. What does he make of her, considering everything? He remains silent for a moment as he turns that question over in his mind, and only briefly does he allow his thoughts to alight upon regret that the girl in front of him now sounds so much like he did that very first night in Songerein, when his mind was consumed with the fear of deception and illusions.]

She seems... nice.

[He begins, and then winces at how flat his words sound to his own ears. He doesn't mean to damn her with faint praise, not really.]

What I mean to say is— she's quite friendly, perhaps overly so at times. She makes demands easily, and seems to enjoy lightly teasing those around her. I would not be surprised to hear that she has a large social circle where she is from.

[Yet there's an undercurrent of tension to his description as he makes it, bleeding into the quiet as he pauses there. Dissatisfaction creases his brow, but it's hard to know how much of his suspicions he should speak aloud. The Princess before him seeks his opinion, but a lifetime ago, it was a princess' suspicions that ruined everything. What if her mistakes are repeated here, with this girl whose fate seems to follow those same beats?

Ultimately, he decides upon a half measure, keeping the worst of his reservations to himself.]

I do not believe she is any sort of threat to you, just... there's something a little strange about her, I suppose. She does not always react in the ways one would expect. For all that she seemed fascinated by my descriptions of Hyrule, she seemed... unfazed that there are a myriad of princesses that share her name, and concerning herself more with having the opportunity to speak with each one. I cannot make any sense of that, either.

[There, that's fair enough, isn't it? Maybe if Zelda meets her and finds herself having a similar uncanny feeling, then he can admit to sharing it, but until then... better to let her make her own opinion first.]

[multidisciplinary]

[ It's a good thing Sheik decides to elaborate because Zelda was just about to fix him with a mean look. Instead, she notes all the little details he gives and tries to paint a picture in her mind of what sort of woman "Zelda of Skyloft" might be. Nice, friendly, demanding, teasing—she does sound like something of a social butterfly, someone who would have a wealth of friends. She sounds—dare Zelda think it—almost normal. Not like the line of princess who have shared her name.

Zelda nods along as Sheik speaks. Her thoughts fall rather along the same line as his, that there is something strange about Zelda of Skyloft. She is not a princess herself, not a member of the Hyrulean royal family—and has never heard of Hyrule, for that matter, which would then imply that there is no Princess Zelda of Hyrule in her era. And yet, although she hails from a land in the sky, she is most assuredly not Zonai. No matter how Zelda lines up these puzzle pieces, she can't make them fit together at all. ]

That sticks out to me as well, her interest in other Princesses Zelda despite her lack of connection to Hyrule or the royal family.

[ Zelda sets down her teacup on the saucer. ]

Well, I had best meet her then, hadn't I?

[ She makes an attempt to smile, but there is worry behind her eyes. Although she is not fearful, not suspicious like Sheik, the princess feels... unsettled. Is it the incongruities of the facts Sheik has shared about Zelda of Skyloft, coupled with the facts Zelda knows about the Zonai and the founding of Hyrule? Or is it something else, a faint but palpable tug, like a fishhook caught in her heart? ]

[sagesurvivor]

[The Princess smiles, but it's weak and lacking in its usual warmth, falling as flat as his initial description of the topic of their conversation. He doesn't know what she's thinking, not really, but that hint of anxiety within her statement of resolve strikes a chord in him, sour and dissonant, and as if possessing a mind of its own, his hand finds hers on the table, callused and taped fingers cocooning around her own.]

You don't have to, if you do not want to.

[He says, quickly, before pausing, his words racing out before his thoughts for once. But this... this is surprisingly important to him, for some reason. His head tilts down, his bangs veiling the conflict in his eyes as they land upon some indistinct point near their joined hands.]

... I did not tell you all this to pressure you, your highness. I meant merely to warn, so you are not surprised as I was. [Beneath his cowl, his lips purse, as though tasting something bitter.] Regardless of what she desires, regardless of who she is, you have no obligation to her besides those that you create for yourself. Please remember that.

[Is it because he doesn't want her to look that way should she ever learn of the Princess of Destiny? Or is it his guilt that demands he absolve her of any responsibility she might have to the ancestors that could only give her a world she feels she must sacrifice herself twice over to save? A mix of the two, perhaps, along with a dash of projection, but it's not as though it truly matters in this present moment. Just something else to ruminate over in the dead of night later.]

[multidisciplinary]

[ When Sheik goes to cover Zelda's hand with his, the princess startles at his touch, surprise splashing briefly across her face. It is rare for Sheik to instigate any kind of physical contact. Zelda still remembers their tumultuous first meeting at the masquerade ball, the wild panic in his eyes when she grabbed his hand to stop him from leaving. Since then, she has left it to Sheik to make the first move; which he has done, albeit infrequently.

So Zelda is primed to give Sheik her fullest attention when he speaks, her sharp green eyes locked on his face, even when he looks away. Though his words and his expressions are so often muted, controlled with the utmost precision, the princess can catch the slips in his mask here and there. Even the absence of expression, averted eyes, or pregnant pauses, can give her some clue to his innermost thoughts.

"You have no obligation to her besides those that you create for yourself." Zelda purses her lips (much like Sheik, although his expression remains hidden from her view). Maybe those words would carry more weight if it was the Princess of Destiny sharing them with her descendent. The burden of their shared heritage—their mirrored fates, even—would lend greater credence to those words than a man of the Sheikah tribe ever could, no matter how Zelda values his opinion. Because the princess has learned twice over now that there are some matters only a daughter of the royal family can handle. Whether Zelda of Skyloft is one of those matters, well that has yet to be seen. But if there is more between the two women than just a name, then the princess needs to find out.

Doubtless, Sheik can probably read Zelda's reaction plainly without her needing to say a word. Her face is so often an open book of her thoughts and feelings. But she doesn't want to leave it like that, because she does value his words. She does value the escape he has offered to her, the door he has left open, should she choose not to pursue a meeting with this mysterious new arrival. Even though she won't step through it, his care to offer it at all means everything. (Goddess, how is she supposed to leave people like him behind for all eternity?)

Zelda rotates her hand underneath Sheik's so that their palms can meet and curls her fingers lightly around his hand. There's barely any pressure at all, plenty of space for him to retract his hand, should he find the gesture unwanted. ]

Thank you. [ She lets those words hang in the air for a moment. ] But I think you understand why I still feel I must.

You served the royal family of your era, did you not? [ He knows the song, after all, the one he said they guard as a secret. ] Then you know that we must always perform our duty. Often, we are the only ones who can.

[ Is she even talking about Zelda of Skyloft anymore? Or will Sheik pick up on the double meaning of her words? ]

[sagesurvivor]

[Will he, whose very nature is duplicity, pick up on the double meaning of her words?

He hears them, and recalls a princess who had only just grown tall enough to comfortably see over the top of her father's desk as she spoke to him of her vision foretelling their kingdom's ruination at the hands of the man they had been entreating. A prophetess who thought that by seeing the strings of fate, she could become their master, but only to save the country she cherished so much, despite seeing little more of it than what she could view from her bedroom window. Why else would the Goddesses have blessed her so, if not to protect their creation from evil?

The results of that girl's folly rests in Zelda's hand, cradled so delicately within her fingers. A shard of the divine, splintered off from her sisters, carried into the present moment by one who threw away their name to protect it. She could take it, if she wanted to, if she knew it was there. He might even let her, if she did. There are surely worse ingots to reforge a sacred blade with.

Does Sheik pick up on the double meaning of her words? Of course he does. And that is why his expression is drawn ever tighter with each syllable that passes her lips, teeth grinding, stomach churning, his entire being a taut rope pulled to the point of fraying until—]

... that doesn't mean they are not capable of making mistakes—!

[His voice erupts out of him, raw and unbidden, the force of it pulling him up from his seat and rattling the silverware as his hand clenches firmly around hers. The fury he simply did not bother to hide before, he wears openly now, but she will find, that as their teacups settle back in their saucers, the prevailing emotion writ upon his oft inscrutable expression is grief.

The silence of the next moment is deafening, the echoes of his outburst in the quiet cafe ringing in his ears as though it's the only sound he'll hear for the rest of time. Regret, as he predicted, slips easily into the emptiness left behind, and as he falls back into his seat, Zelda will see all that emotion once again absorbed into the shadows from whence it came as he affixes the stoic mask he wears back into place. He'll release her hand, unless she stops him, to cross his arms over himself once more, though he looks more like he's trying to keep himself contained than guard against anything external for the effort.]

I... Forgive me. I've overstepped.

[He is a Sheikah, a servant. Nothing else. No one else. He must remember that.]

Your time here is yours to do with as you see fit. Duty - and destiny - will both wait regardless. That... that is all I mean to say.

[She was frustrated that her plans were foiled once again by Songerein's pull, but... she should know now that they wait for her, just as his own do for him. If he can allow himself a modicum of appreciation for the time that has been stolen for him, then, as one whose destiny he mirrors, can she not do the same?]

[multidisciplinary]

[ Although Zelda can see the anger bubbling up inside Sheik, she still isn't prepared for it when it suddenly boils over. The force of his outburst makes her flinch, jerking back and instinctively raising her arms to shield herself... only to find one hand caught in grip.

That's the position Sheik will find Zelda in when he falls quiet—her arms half-raised in reflex, her expression stricken with alarm.

In the silence that descends, both deafening and heavy at the same time, Zelda's eyes find Sheik's. And it's what she sees there, in this moment, that she will carry with her after today. It's not the sharpness of his anger, the suddenness of his outburst, or even his words themselves (though she will remember those too), but the unmistakable grief displayed plainly upon his face. Like the hollow look she saw in Link's eyes when they reunited this summer past, the sheer anguish in Sheik's expression will haunt the princess for a long time to come.

Zelda's eyes drop from Sheik's face to the table, her gaze finding her half-full teacup. When he retracts his hand, she doesn't try to stop him. She almost doesn't seem to notice at all. The palpable weight of the silence enveloping the cafe bears down on on the princess like a heavy blanket, muffling her surroundings and dulling her senses. She can hear Sheik's next words just fine, but they pass between her ears unnoticed.

His outburst is still ringing against the walls of her mind: "That doesn't mean they are not capable of making mistakes—!" He's right... isn't he? She feels certain that he must be. It is on no rare occasion that the princess has questioned kings, gods, and the cycle of fate itself, questioning them all on the wisdom of their decisions and their propensity for fallibility. Are Zelda's choices above reproach? Are they irrefutably the best she could be making?

Sheik will find his words met with silence on Zelda's end, stretching out for long minutes that probably feel much longer than they actually are. It probably seems as though she is not listening to him at all. But her pensive expression, the deep grooves in her forehead, are proof that his outburst found its mark, whether he intended it to or not.

Finally, she stirs, pushing herself to her feet and collecting the Master Sword with one hand. ] The hour is late.

[ A look outside any window will show that it's not—there are probably still a few hours left of daylight.

Zelda drags her gaze up from her teacup, its contents long cold, and forces herself to look at Sheik. Guilt and shame are plain upon her face. ]

I shall... consider your advice. [ Her word choice is careful, but honest.

She hesitates, lips twitching as though she wants to say more, but she can't find the words. The only words in her mind are his, playing over and over on repeat. ]

Until next we meet.

[ Without giving Sheik a chance to reply, Zelda nods her head in a polite goodbye and leaves the cafe. ]