Work Text:
Sonia would never, in a million years or longer, have expected for two children to literally fall from the sky in a flash of golden light. Additionally, she wouldn’t have expected for one of them to be her own flesh and blood from far in the future. Finally, she never would have expected to form such a bond with children she equally hadn’t expected to exist in the first place, let alone in just short of a month.
And yet, here she was, gently shaking Zelda awake on the top half of a bunk bed. It was early, right before the sunrise, and Sonia and the two children were going to spend the morning out. “Zelda, darling? Wake up, sweetheart!”
The little girl stirred slightly with a groan, then blinked awake, turning to meet Sonia’s eyes with a smile. “Goo’ Morning, Sonia!” The last word faded into a yawn as Zelda rubbed her eye with a fist.
“Good morning, my dear,” Sonia whispered. “It’s time to get up so we can see the sun rise, alright?”
“Okay!”
“Now, you go get dressed while I wake Link, alright?”
“Mhm!” Zelda reached out with both hands, and Sonia picked up the girl by the armpits and placed her on her feet on the floor. Zelda scampered off with a giggle, feet pattering on the polished wood floor. With a slight grunt of effort, Sonia kneeled to greet the little boy who lay asleep on the lower bunk.
Rather than shake the boy, as she’d done with Zelda, Sonia instead carded gentle fingers through Link’s long, wild, golden brown hair, gently rubbing her thumb over Link’s forehead. “Link, sweetie. It’s time to wake up.”
It took a minute or two before Link stirred, rolling over in bed and digging further into the pillows with a slight grumble. Sonia chuckled, and the defiant gesture sparked some warmth in her chest.
Initially, Link was… concerningly stoic. He would wake at the crack of dawn, wandering around the castle as if on watch, and was constantly searching for a job to do or a need to fulfil. It was as if he was playing at being one of the castle guards, imitating them down to the fighting stance. Upsettingly, she discovered that fact on the day she had met the two, when the boy had brandished a tarnished, broken sword towards her and Rauru.
To see the boy both sleeping later and actively showing emotion were two things that left Sonia with the warm feeling of pride in her chest. She chuckled slightly to herself as she continued to rub Link’s hair. “Come on, buddy, it’s time to get up! Remember we’re going to go on that picnic?”
Link mumbled unintelligibly into his pillow for a moment before he rolled onto his back, blinking blearily awake. He yawned, blinking before he reached up a single hand toward Sonia. She obliged, pulling Link up toward her and into her arms. “Alright, can I take a look at your arm?” Sonia asked. Link nodded, and Sonia set Link on his feet. She placed her hands gently on a bandaged right arm.
Link winced slightly at the touch, but didn’t say anything as Sonia unravelled the bandage. The arm underneath had been deeply wounded when Link had arrived alongside Zelda, withered with some kind of draining magic Sonia shuddered to even think about, but over time, and with a number of sessions with Sonia’s secret stone, she’d been able to reduce the damage. There was still some healing to go, but even still, Link’s arm was becoming healthier and more whole by the day.
Today was no different, and Sonia worked briefly to spill the light of her secret stone over Link’s arm, slowly pulling it back to when it hadn’t been so harmed. After about two minutes and some visual progress, Sonia gently wrapped the arm back into its soft bandaging, then helped Link get dressed into clothes suitable for their morning picnic.
When Zelda was ready along with Link, Sonia took each by the hand, (Link on her left side, Zelda on her right,) and they made a small trip to the kitchens of the Castle. Rauru stood ready to greet them, picnic basket in hand.
“Good morning, you three,” Rauru greeted. He passed the picnic basket over to Sonia with a peck on the cheek and a “have a good time,” and after telling the children to be good, they went their separate ways. The queen and her two charges made their way out of the castle, across a drawbridge, and over to a large grass field, where they stopped and spread a blanket out underneath a large tree.
The sun had just begun to rise, accompanied by golden pinks and oranges painting the sky as the three of them watched. Sonia unpacked a breakfast of croissant sandwiches, grapes, and apple slices, which Link and Zelda ate slowly and carefully and ravenously, respectively.
The sun rose more, and before long, Link had woken up more completely and got up to run around the field, stopping every once in a while to pick a flower or stop to observe an insect or the like. Zelda remained snuggled up to Sonia’s side, comfortable and warm against the dewy morning.
“Uh, Sonia?”
“Yes, Zelda?”
“Did, you, um. Did you know that um, that Butterflies, when they go into their criss’leses, that they, um. They turn into a liquid before they turn into a butterfly?”
“I didn’t! That’s very cool!”
Zelda squirmed in happiness at Sonia’s praise, and snuggled up closer in. Soon enough, Link’s energy burned itself out, and he pattered up to Sonia, holding a book. “Read please?” he whispered, in his hoarse little voice.
Who was Sonia to deny a face that cute? She took the book gently from his hands and patted at her side, where Link snuggled up against her side, eyes slipping gently closed.
“Once upon a time, three goddesses worked together to create the world…”
Sonia continued on with the children’s tale, not stopping when both her children had fallen fast asleep at her side. She continued reading until the story was finished, brushing gentle fingers over Link’s hair, or rub slowly over Zelda’s back. Both of them woke around noon, and they packed up their basket and headed back to the castle. Link and Zelda trotted on ahead, Zelda jabbering about butterflies and frogs to Link, who nodded and pointed out little details in the landscape in turn.
Her son and her daughter were happy. And if they were happy, then Sonia was too. She was so glad that fate had handed her these two strange, wonderful children from the future. The sunlight shone down on her skin, warm and light, and Sonia was happy.