Never Without You │ BOTW modern AU fanfic

Hyrule University vs. Karusa Valley

"Er..."

"Just ask him," Impa whispers to Zelda, nudging her with her elbow.

"Well," Zelda straightens her back and lifts her chin. "I was wondering something... Are you suing Karusa?" Her question is followed by silence. A lot of silence. "Father?" She asks. "Are you there?"

"Yes," he answers, and it's not clear which question he's saying yes to.

"You are suing him?" Zelda asks surprised. I lean in to listen closely. "Why are you suing Karusa? Why now?"

"This is nothing recent," he tells her. "I have been in touch with my lawyers for a few months now." This still doesn't answer her question though. "Zelda," he sighs. "How did you attain this information?"

Busted...

But Zelda doesn't hesitate to tell him the truth. "I found the documents on your desk."

"You entered my office without permission?"

"Evidently," Zelda says with a frown.

"That is a penetration of my privacy," he says and Impa stops herself from laughing at the irony. "This will have consequences when I get back."

"I advise you to avoid speaking to me as though you hold the upper hand in this conversation," Zelda warns him. She is fierce and doesn't show an ounce of fear. She used to be scared of her dad's opinion and power, but now she's just impatient with him and that's kinda entertaining to watch. 

Her father takes a few seconds but then he quietly growls through the speaker. "Excuse me?" He doesn't sound angry necessarily... I can't really put my hand on it but he sounds a little disarmed.

"Why are you suing Karusa?" Zelda presses. "You made a promise to me. You said you weren't going to tell anyone..."

"I did not tell anyone about your sexual assault. I intend to keep you out of this entirely. This lawsuit is–"

Zelda quickly turns off the speaker and looks at Impa in shock, which makes me look at Impa too, who also looks a bit shocked. Nobody says anything besides Zelda's dad, but nobody's listening to him anymore.

Zelda looks like she wants to say something to Impa, and Impa looks like she's going to puke but swallows whatever it is that's sitting in her throat. 

Neither one of them says anything and if the mood wasn't so strange right now I'd probably point out that Dr. Hyrule is still talking to an empty audience and that one of us should probably pick up the phone to hear what he has to say.

"Sexual assault?" Impa asks Zelda with a mixture of disappointment, sadness, and resignation.

Now Zelda is the one who looks like she is going to puke, and instead of explaining what happened between her and Karusa, she chooses to leave the office as fast as she can.

Impa is speechless. She hits me with a demanding look as if I had the answers to her questions.

"Link?" she says with big eyes but I stay silent. It's not my place to talk about Zelda's assault, and when Impa realizes that I won't talk, she leaves the office to find Zelda.

I stay behind. It's best if I let them talk in private. I know Zelda has a hard time talking about the assault and who knows how Impa will react to it. Maybe it will be good to talk to a girl about it all.

The downside is, with Zelda and Impa gone, I'm left alone with Dr. Hyrule, who must have noticed by now that nobody has been listening to his rant. I walk to the desk and pick up the phone.

Zelda's POV

When Impa opens the heavy doors to the library, a hush falls over the grand space adorned with towering bookshelves, a frescoed vault ceiling, and ancient globes. I am sitting on the stairs by the window, the dust particles dancing through the sunlight that filters through stained glass.