A House Full Of Ghosts

Here Is The Place Where I Love You

Link drifted through the darkness like water, sometimes sinking deeper, sometimes rising closer to the surface, almost close enough to break through. The closer he grew to the surface the more he could feel, the more he could hear, the more he could sense of the environment that surrounded him. But he could never quite reach the surface, couldn't break through to reach the world above.

He drifted through the inky blackness for a time that seemed both infinite and brief. In and out and in and out he went, able to only grasp at snippets of the world above, hearing everything through a thin veil, sound coming through in a distant and tinny way. There was warmth, and then there wasn't, there was someone holding his hand, then there was voices speaking, soft and loud, worried and angry, exhausted and sad. His heart hurt hearing their pain, but no matter what his did he couldn't pull himself from the darkness.

Then, suddenly, he jerked awake and sat up abruptly, looking around the empty room. It was still dark, the only light that of a fire and the little moonlight that shone through a window. He could hear voices from outside as he quickly scrutinized his surroundings, trying his best to determine where exactly he was. The decorations were minimal and almost rustic; the only thing in the room beside the bed he lay on was a desk and a stool that was sat adjacent to his bedside.

One of the voices, one that seemed oh so familiar, that make something in Link's chest ache, raised. The second voice, something soft and comfortable, responded in a placicating tone, and Link strained his hearing to try and make out what was being said, to no avail. Not long after, the holder of the first voice left, and footsteps approached the room. A flap of cloth that served as a door was pushed aside, and Mipha walked in.

"M-Mipha?" Link croaked out, his voice rough and throat screaming. He only just now realised how dry it was. Mipha poured him a glass of water from a pitcher that had been sat on the desk, handing it to him wordlessly. He took it gratefully, drinking most of it before speaking, "What happened? Where am I?"

"What do you mean, what happened?" Mipha responded, her voice taking on a dangerous edge as she plopped herself down onto the stool with an aggravated sigh. Link felt awful almost instantaneously as he realised how tired and stretched thin she seemed- all because of him. "You almost got yourself killed- walking out into a snowstorm unprepared? You of all people should know how dangerous that is! You of all people should have been prepared."

Her voice drifted at the last sentence, and Link reached over and grabbed her hand, holding it in a comforting manner. "I'm sorry... I never meant for this..." Link said softly, his voice feeling like gravel in his throat. Mipha only shook her head, wiping a few stray tears away with the palm of her hand.

"You had hypothermia, and you were almost frozen solid. We could barely hear a heartbeat. Link- we thought we had lost you for good." Mipha said, with a shaky sigh, then added, "So, please, when I ask you this, be truthful. Did- did you do it on purpose?"

Link stared at her, at a loss for words. He found himself hesitating for a moment, unable to answer, unknowing of the answer himself. Finally, after a very pregnant pause, he came to a conclusion, "Not... Consciously, no. I couldn't leave you all."

Mipha nodded, staring at Link in a way that seemed that she already knew that that was how he would have answered. She then stood, placing a hand on his bare shoulder and pressing him gently back down to the bed. "Please, get some rest. You're going to need it, for tomorrow."

Link stared at her, confused by the vague and somewhat threatening statement, but she only smiled and walked out with a wave, leaving Link with his own thoughts. He stared up at the wooden beams that made up the ceiling for some time before he finally fell back asleep, although this time it was only fitful.