Soul Dancing (TP! Link x Reader)

05 | Monachopsis: V

She readied the supplies on her lap and pressed on my shoulder gently for me to lay down. I did as she needed me to and allowed myself to relax on her couch, getting comfortable on the pillows they had there. Assisting me in lifting my waist, she gently but hastily began unwrapping the old bandage.

I barely winced since it no longer hurt, but it hurt enough for me to grit my teeth just a bit.

She finished up, lifting the final piece slowly as my skin began unsticking from the fabric in an audible, unpleasant, moist sound. It caused discomfort for only a moment. When she finished it off she rolled it up within itself, placing it beside her on the floor meanwhile. She then damped the rag in some alcohol.

"Fado came around asking for you, you know," she broke the silence, beginning to clean around my wound. I could barely begin to think about what she told me before I hissed in pain just a bit, clenching just one fist to endure it. She continued talking to me, "he was real worried. But he said you didn't have to worry about losing your opportunity there or anything." I sighed in relief, "I'm glad, I'm just remembering how he told me to show up as soon as I saw Link off."

I felt a feeling of pain further than just on my wound, but in my heart.

You know, I hated him.

I hated him for preparing to leave and not telling me, I hated him for avoiding me, I hated him for not talking to me, I hated him for showing me so much compassion as if he were an older sibling, and then abandoning me. But how much hate can a heart hold? If the heart is nothing more but for love.

It was as visible on my face as the 5 stages of grief are visible on a person of great desperation. How can I hate him if he is now gone? I never got to thank him, or question why—no, all I was capable of was keeping my silence. As much as I want to believe in him, I also don't want to hold onto false hope. But I'll let myself for only the next couple of days. Until then, Link is alive to me.

"Y/N," I heard Uli speak in a soft, yet concerned voice. I had not noticed that I was tearing up until she called and so I sniffled, wiping a tear. "I know this is very hard," she kindly comforted, motioning for me to lift my back up again since she was gonna wrap the new bandage around. "It's hard for all of us, and we wish nothing more for Link, Ilia and the children to come back," she began wrapping it around, taking a short pause in her words to hold back any spill of emotions. She only wrapped it about two or three times before cutting it off at the end and tucking it.

"But Y/N," she began again, placing the bandage roll on the ground and focusing her attention to me. She took my hand in hers, "please don't lose hope, for the both of us. For my son, please."

She gave me a pained look, "for Link."

I looked down at our hands, my brows furrowed in sadness. My lips quivered a bit before I looked back up at her, "yes, of course."

She gave me a last smile, taking a moment to ponder while she stared off to something on the floor. Then she stood up, walking over to a pot atop her fireplace. I assumed that's where the smell came from earlier. "Do you think you're ready to head home?" she asked me from afar as she poured soup into a tinier pot. I definitely didn't want to burden her any further so I said yes. Uli let out a subtle laugh and closed the tiny pot off with a lid, walking over to me with it. "In that case, take some of this. I hope it helps soothe you," she beamed, her eyes closed in delight with both her hands on the pot. She stretched it out to me for me to grab.

I looked at the pot that looked almost like a vase, made of the same ceramics. It had a bunch of beautiful swirls around it, and was of a peculiar brown color.