Legend Of Zelda Fan Fiction / Other Fan Fiction ❯ Back In Her Hands ❯ A Big Problem ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Back In Her Hands
a Legend of Zelda romance fic
Chapter 3: A Big Problem
6-21-2004
by Grey

Disclaimer: I don't own the Zelda series or any of its characters; Nintendo and the series' creator Shigeru Miyamoto do. So don't sue me or anything.

This fic is dedicated to CubedCinder128, for what I hope are obvious reasons.

******

Panic-stricken, Saria ran through the Kokiri Village. She could sense that something was wrong, that something had just happened to Princess Zelda. All the Sages shared a sort of bond that let them all know when something happens to one of their number. Saria had no way of knowing exactly what it was, but the sense of fear, confusion and utter shock was unmistakable. Something was wrong at the castle, and someone had to go find out what it was right away.

So she headed for Link's house, where Link was still sleeping. He had decided to spend the night there, for old time's sake. It was quite a shock for Saria when he had finally returned home after so many months, and the other Kokiri were shocked as well when he told them just who he was. Mido didn't even believe it at first.

Saria hurriedly climbed the ladder leading up to Link's house and ran inside. There he was, still asleep in his bed. Only thing was, he had grown so much that it wasn't big enough for him anymore. He was essentially sleeping in a uncomfortable-looking sitting position. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Saria couldn't help but to smile.

"Link, wake up!" she cried repeatedly, and she saw his eyes slowly flutter open.

"Oh, hey Saria," he said lazily. Then he noticed Saria's worried look. "What's wrong?"

"Something at the castle, that's what," replied Saria, getting straight to the point.

That got Link's attention. His eyes were wide-open with worry and he stood up, asking, "What?! What do you mean?!"

"I'm saying that something bad just happened to Zelda; I sensed it through the bond we share as Sages," explained Saria.

The mention of something happening to Zelda really got to Link, and it showed. "Do you know what?"

Saria shook her head, saying, "Only that I sensed a overpowering twinge of fear from Zelda - other than that, I don't know anything. That's why I woke you up, because I'm sure you...."

But Link wasn't really even listening anymore. He had already taken out the Ocarina of Time and began playing the melody that would transport him to the Temple of Time. He had vanished in a swirl of glittering light before Saria had finished that last sentence.

Saria looked around the empty house. "She really does mean a lot to him," she muttered to herself in a sorrowful tone, trying to fight back feelings of envy. She had suspected it all along, but it didn't make it any less painful.

******

For a while, silence lingered in the room. Impa just stared in disbelief at Zelda. This was impossible, incomprehensible - by the Godesses, people don't just spontaneously grow overnight! But here she was, sitting in the middle of her room, at least twice her normal size, not to mention her clothes somehow grew with her too.

Impa eventually managed to find her voice and finally say something. "P-Princess, is that you?"

Zelda, still crying, simply nodded.

"Wha-what happened to you?" Impa asked.

Zelda shook her head violently. "I-I don't know," she managed to get out in between choked sobs. "I-I just woke up like this!"

Impa continued looking at Zelda, still not entirely believing what her eyes were telling her. Eventually, Zelda spoke up again. "I-Impa, I-I'm scared! I... I don't know what to do!" Then she started crying again. This was just too much. For a while, it looked like she was getting her life back together; peace was restored to Hyrule, and Link had finally returned. But now, somehow she had become giant-sized overnight! *I can't live like this!* she thought to herself, looking down at her body. *I-I'm a freak! And everyone will be afraid of me!*

Zelda heard Impa walking toward her. She turned her head to look at her, and Impa reached out to wipe away the tears from her face. Zelda couldn't help but to think about how small Impa looked to her now. All her life, she had thought of Impa as one of the toughest people she had ever known, but now she looked so tiny and frail....

"Hush, Princess," Impa said softly, still wiping away Zelda's tears. "Don't let yourself drown in despair. We'll find a way to undo whatever's happened to you, I swear it." Impa's words made Zelda feel a little better; she could always rely on Impa, no matter what. Zelda wanted to hug her, but she was afraid she would accidently break her in half if she tried.

For a while, silence lingered again. Then another sound broke it: an odd sound, similar to the rotating fan blades in the Shadow Temple. "What's that...." Zelda began to say, but before she could finish her sentence, something came flying through the window. A tiny Deku scrub (tiny especially from Zelda's point of view) holding flowers in both hands, which were rotating like propeller blades.

"Who are you?! Why are you here?!" demanded Impa, drawing her dagger again as the scrub discarded his flowers and touched down onto the floor. The scrub ignored Impa and turned to look at Zelda. His sad, little amber eyes comically bugged out at the sight of her, almost popping out of his head.

Impa started to advance on the intruder, but Zelda, as gently as she could, reached out with her hand and grabbed her, pulling her back. "Impa, don't," Zelda told her, then turned her attention to the Deku scrub. "Link, that's you isn't it?"

The scrub reached up to his face, and then its form changed to that of Link holding a mask of a Deku scrub's face. "Yeah," Link said weakly, still staring at Zelda. Of all the things he had been expecting, THIS certainly wasn't one of them.

Zelda looked down again, feeling tears well up again. Link was the last person she wanted to see her like this. What if he thought she was a freak? Would he leave her, after just admitting he had feelings for her last night?

"Saria said she sensed something was wrong, but didn't know what," Link said, trying to accept what his eyes were telling him. "Zelda, what's happened to you?!"

Zelda couldn't speak; she buried her face in her hands and started crying again. Impa answered him instead. "She has no idea. She said she woke up to find herself like this."

"This is nuts," said Link, shaking his head. "Zelda, please, you have to think. SOMETHING must have happened last night."

If Zelda heard him, she didn't show it. She continued crying uncontrollably. The sight of her crying like that made Link's heart sink. He walked up to Zelda and, with some effort, pulled Zelda's hands away from her face so that they were looking into each other's eyes. "Zelda, please, don't cry. It kills me when I see you cry."

Zelda stared at him. By the Goddesses, he looked so small too! She was sitting down, and still he was barely at eye level with her! Where before he looked so tough and powerful, now he looked so small and delicate to her. If she could have stood up, he'd barely come up to her waist! Still, she wanted to hug him, to hold him close to her, but as with Impa, she was afraid she'd accidently kill him.

"Zelda, don't cry," Link repeated. "I-I'm here now. I'll do whatever I can to help you. I'm here for you." Zelda sniffled again, but now she was fighting back the tears. "Zelda, please, I know it must be hard to think right now, but...."

"But nothing unusual happened last night," said Zelda, anticipating Link's question. "After I saw you off in the market town, I came straight back here. Nothing happened, except...."

"Except what?" asked Link, a small glimmer of hope in his voice.

"I found one of your old masks in the town; I figured you dropped it," replied Zelda. "But that couldn't be it. It didn't DO anything!"

"Uh-oh," was all Link said.

"What?" asked Impa impatiently.

"I think I may know what's happened," said Link darkly. "Zelda, where's the mask now?"

"I threw it over there," said Zelda, pointing over to the far side of her room. Link ran over to where she had indicated, and picked up the melted, mutilated remains of a metallic mask.

"Uh, Zelda, what did you do to it?" asked Link.

"I tripped and it fell in a pot of metaldissolve. But I didn't think it was a big deal, since I tried it on and nothing happened," explained Zelda, still fighting back tears. "Why, what.... what mask IS that anyway?"

"The Giant's Mask," was all Link said.

Zelda stared at him, agape. Impa spoke up, asking, "So, I guess it's just like the name implies?"

"Yeah," replied Link. "It makes the wearer giant-sized. But it only worked once, and only in one place. I never thought that...." He examined the mask, and spoke up again. "My best guess is that the magic somehow leaked out and into Zelda."

"H-How do we undo it?" asked Zelda desperately, but she knew what Link's answer would be even before he opened his mouth again.

"I'm sorry Zelda, I have no idea," he answered her glumly, his head hanging in defeat.

"Well, I guess we'll have to get help from someone else, then," said Impa. "Maybe that crazy doctor who lives by Lake Hylia. I'll go fetch him, and tell everyone else in the castle NOT to come in here while I'm at it." She gave Zelda a reassuring look, then she left the room.

"D-do you think that doctor can h-help me?" asked Zelda through choked gasps, trying desperately not to cry for Link. He had asked her to be strong, for him.

Link shrugged his shoulders. "It's worth a try," he said, taking another good look at Zelda. The room looked terribly small with her sitting in the middle of it. She had grown so much, her head almost touched the ceiling, and the only way she would be able to get around was by crawling, since the room was so cramped for her now. And though he wasn't afraid of her, he had to admit she looked VERY intimidating. She could easily dwarf the bulldog-like Moblins that once prowled the Sacred Meadow, the Ironknuckles that guarded the Spirit Temple.... and by the Goddesses, she was probably strong enough now to tear them apart too! And she looked so heavy! Link guessed she weighed about half a ton; it was a miracle she didn't cause the floor underneath her to collapse!

Zelda noticed Link was staring at her. "Link, don't," she told him in a sad voice.

"Don't what?" asked Link, confused.

"Don't stare at me like that," she replied. "Like I'm some sort of sideshow freak." She looked down at herself again, noticing again how everything around her looked so small compared to her. "This... I can't live like this. I feel like I've become some ugly monster."

"Zelda, NO!" shouted Link vehemently. This jarred Zelda and made her look up at him again. Link was walking toward her, saying, "Zelda, don't think things like that! You're not a monster, and you're not a freak."

Link was standing beside her now. He reached down and took her huge hand into his, softly rubbing the top of her hand with his thumbs. Looking up at her, he said, "You're not ugly. You still look the same, like the beautiful princess I came back for. You-You're just bigger, that's all, a-and I'm sure we'll find a way to return you to normal."

"What if we can't?" said Zelda panickingly. "What if I'm stuck like this forever?!"

"Doesn't mean I'd love you any less," said Link, bending down to kiss her hand.

Despite her depression, Zelda felt her spirits rise (and her cheeks blush) , and couldn't supress a smile. She had been afraid Link would think her a monster, but now she saw those fears were groundless; Link would stay by her side, no matter what.

Zelda reached out and placed her hand behind Link, meaning to pull him closer to her. But she stopped herself, and Link noticed something was amiss. "Zelda, what's wrong?" he asked her.

"N-nothing," stuttered Zelda, but the look in Link's eyes told her that he didn't believe it. Sighing, Zelda said, "Well, I want to... hold you close, but I'm afraid I'll kill you."

Then Link did something Zelda didn't expect: he laughed out loud. "Please, Zelda, I'm a bit more durable than that!" he cried jokingly. After all I've been through, I'm sure a little hug from you won't hurt," he said with a smile.

Zelda's heart leapt again from Link's encouragement. She reached out for him again and gently pulled him as close as she could to her, and then she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tightly. At first, Zelda was afraid she was hurting him, but instead of a yelp of pain, Link just let out a soft moan, and he too wrapped his arms around Zelda. Still, Zelda had to ask, "Link, I-I'm not hurting you, am I?"

"What? No, no, not at all," was Link's reply. "Actually, it feels nice." Zelda chuckled, scooting backwards and leaning against the wall, still holding Link tightly. She may have just gone through a bizarre transformation - becoming bigger, stronger, and heavier than any other living human - but at least she could still enjoy the good things in her life, such as holding Link close to her. She looked down at him. He looked so adorable there, snuggled up against her giant body....

"Link," she said softly, snapping Link out of his relaxed state and causing him to look up lazily into her eyes. "Last night, when you kissed me.... w-was that the first time you ever.... kissed a girl?"

Link looked shocked by this question at first, but after a while he muttered, "Yes. Why do you ask?"

"Oh no reason," said Zelda, smiling. "Just that you're a REALLY good kisser." She leaned down a little. "Can-can I kiss you again?"

"Uh, sure," said Link, and then he noticed Zelda leaning down, bringing her face closer to his. Soon her lips touched his, and Link felt Zelda's hand against the back of his head, pressing him closer to her. Then she started kissing him again - light little pecks at first, but soon her kiss became more forceful. She began to pry open his lips with her tongue like before, forcing her way into his mouth. This wasn't anything like before, now that her tongue was bigger. It was indescribable. Link felt completely overpowered, being kissed by this gigantic woman and held so tightly by her.

But he felt overpowered in a GOOD way.

Neither Link nor Zelda knew how long the kiss lasted. It only ended when Zelda broke away and looked down at Link with a sheepish expression on her face. "Link, I-I didn't get, um, carried away, did I?" she asked him.

Link laughed again. It was rather amusing, being held by this gigantic, powerful woman, and yet she was constantly worried she was hurting him. "Zelda, you worry too much," he told her, bringing up a hand to her face and rubbing her cheek gently. "I know you won't get carried away, and that you won't hurt me. I trust you, I know you better than that." Then he leaned up and gave her a quick peck on her lips. Link could see Zelda's cheeks turning red, then she leaned down to kiss him again.

And so, for the next hour or so, Link and Zelda spent the entire time in each other's embrace - or to be more specific, Link spent the entire time in ZELDA'S embrace. Something they hugged, other times they kissed, but Link stayed with Zelda, never leaving her side. Thanks to him, Zelda despairing thoughts lifted, and she almost forgot that anything was wrong with her, now that Link was there to comfort her.

It was only when they heard approaching voices right outside the door did they turn their attention away from one another. One was Impa's, and Link recognized the other as the Lake Hylia scientist's.

"Honestly, was it necessary to drag me here like this, without even telling me the nature of the problem?" came the scientist drawling voice from behind the door.

"You'll see soon enough," said Impa, and then the door opened.

"But I cannot imagine, if it's not life-threatening, why I must...." continued the researcher, but then he turned and spotted the giant-sized Zelda and fell silent for a moment. "Oh, I see."

"Now do you understand why I said this must be kept secret, why she couldn't go to Lake Hylia?" spat Impa, clearly losing her patience with the old man.

"Completely," he said, but then he shook his head. "But I doubt I can be of any help. I mainly deal with potions and herbal medicines, and dabble in marine biology. I've never encountered anything like this," said the researcher, staring curiously at Zelda.

"But you'll try, won't you?" asked Zelda softly, embarrassed about someone else seeing her in her giant state.

"Of course of course," he replied, waddling over to Zelda. "Hmmm, please Princess, let me see your hand."

Zelda held out her hand, letting him examine it and take her pulse. Meanwhile, Impa walked up to Zelda as well. "So, you two lovebirds enjoy the time alone?" she asked with a smile.

"Shut up," snapped both Link and Zelda.

The scientist ignored the little argument, and asked, "Now Princess, please back away from the wall a bit." Zelda did as she was asked, and the scientist grabbed a chair and walked up behind Zelda. Standing on the chair, he leaned his ear against Zelda's back, and for a moment listened to her breathing and heartbeat. Eventually, he got down and walked in front of Zelda again.

"I'm sorry, but there's not much I can determine. As impossible as it seems, you indeed have doubled in size, and your body as functioning normally from what I can tell," explained the researcher.

"I know that already, what's your point?" spat Zelda, irritated that he had not told her anything she didn't already know.

"My point is that it's scientifically impossible for your body to be functioning normally at a size like that. You should have trouble breathing, circulation problems, stuff like that.... but you're as healthy as any of us, which makes this even more mysterious. And again, I know of nothing that would cause someone to grow like this, to increase in size and yet stay prefectly in proportion. What exactly do you think caused this anyway?"

Link picked up what was once the Giant's Mask and showed it to him. "This. It's supposed to make the wearer giant-sized, but stuff got on it that dissolved the metal, and we guess the magic seeped out into Zelda," Link explained.

"Hmm, yes, I see," said the scientist, taking the remains of the mask from Link. "I've never heard of anything like that. I'll have to return to my lab.... perhaps I can find some information in my library.... perhaps contact some friends outside of Hyrule, see if they know anything." He turned to face Zelda. "My apologies Princess. I wish I could have been more helpful, but I promise you I'll give this job top priority." Then he left, leaving Zelda alone with Impa and Link again.

"Oh that went well," said Zelda sarcastically.

"It was worth a try," said Impa. "And besides, he may find something," she said as she headed for the door.

"Hey, where are you going?" demanded Link.

"To the kitchens. I need to have the cooks prepare something for Zelda to eat." She caught Zelda's worried look out the corner of her eye. "Don't worry Princess, I won't tell anyone anything. I'll simply tell the cooks to prepare enough food for three people," she said reassuringly.

And about ten minutes later, Impa returned with a cart that had enough food for FOUR people. At first Zelda felt a little guilty about how all this food was meant for her, but she hadn't eaten anything for quite a while and was hungry. She gobbled down the food ravenously, not bothering with proper etiquette since her hands were too big to use utensils. And soon, she had eaten all of it. She was surprised how quickly she went through it all; enough food for four meals, and she had devoured it all in mere minutes!

As Zelda sat back and let her food sit, she looked around at her room, which was way too small for her now. "I can't stay here," she thought out loud. "It's way too cramped now, and someone else will come in and see me sooner or later. Probably panic and run screaming about a giant," she said sourly.

"There's plenty of other places in Hyrule you could stay until a cure for your giantism is found," said Link. "Maybe one of the temples...."

Impa shook her head. "I doubt it. Sure, the temples are big enough, but still wouldn't be the best places for her to stay right now. The Fire Temple is way too hot, the Water Temple's always flooded , the Shadow Temple has invisible, sharp objects all over the place...."

"What about the Forest Temple?" said Link brightly. "Deep in the Lost Woods, and the only one who really goes there is Saria to check up on it. And she already knows something happened to Zelda, and I'm sure she'll let Zelda stay there. And with all the plants growing inside, there'd be plenty for Zelda to eat."

Zelda took a moment to think about what Link said. "I.... guess it's a good as place as any," she said. "But are you sure Saria wouldn't mind having a house guest?"

"Sure I'm sure!" cried Link, obviously shocked that Zelda would ask such a thing. "I grew up with her; she's one of the nicest people I've ever known! I can't think of a reason she wouldn't let you stay in her temple."

"I can," said Impa quietly.

"Huh? What are you talking about Impa?" asked Zelda, clearly curious.

"Nothing," said Impa quickly.

"No point in staying here then," said Link. But then he looked around, and realized it might not be that easy. "Uh, how are we going to get Zelda out of here?" he asked sheepishly.

"I think I can take care of that," said Zelda, smiling. She grabbed Link and pulled him toward her again. Then she concentrated and uses Farore's Wind. Within seconds, both she and Link had vanished from the room.

"Didn't even bother to say goodbye," Impa said to no one in particular. "Probably too anxious to be alone again," she added coyly.

******

OK, that's all for now. I was thinking about writing some more, but decided it'd be better if I used it for the next chapter. Don't wanna give away too much just yet! :P

So long,
Grey