A/N: I've had this idea for awhile now, along with many others, and I finally got to typing this one up after a very slow writing process. I've been working on She Plays a Broken Lyre, which I'm about finished with, so I took some time to get the first chapter up of this! Well, I'll let you get on to the story. I hope you enjoy it!

DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I do not own Link, or any other Zelda characters. I do own a few video games though ;) .

Even If I Can't See Your Face

Chapter 1: Thoughts of You

I was woken from my nightmare filled sleep by the sounds of urgent voices shouting outside of my room. It was early in the morning; I knew because outside my window I could see the slightest peach-colored light rising over the snowcapped mountains. For people to be up at this time of the morning usually meant something bad had happened. In fact, just a month ago, a man tried to break into the castle! Unfortunately for him, he broke into Link's room. After that, the man seemed to be deathly afraid of Link.

Link…

My father recently took him into the castle to live. He felt obliged to allow Link to stay here since he's done so much for our kingdom. I, of course, was elated by the news, and Link also seemed to be rather pleased by the jovial turn of events. Father didn't know it, but Link and I had been in a relationship for quite some time before his staying. This relationship of ours was, of course, hidden to everyone, and we pretended to be only friends. It's been going smoothly, especially since Link is near all the time, but there's a majority of my time that I spend trying to prevent myself from saying anything that would pinpoint any signs of us having a relationship. There's also a lot of…well…sexual tension, I guess you could say, between the two of us. Being so close, but unable to do anything is a bit daunting at times. Although, Link has been absent for the past two weeks, so the tension had lessened. Now, though, it's been replaced by constant worry. I hadn't heard much about what Father told Link to do, but I had picked up that something was happening with the Gorons. What little bit Father told me was that some monster of some sort was eating a certain type of rock that served as the Gorons' food source. So the Gorons asked Link to help them, and now here we are.

I was left alone for another dark night full of terror filled dreams. Sleep was scarce because I spent most of my nights thrashing about in my half-asleep state. If only I knew that Link was safe I could rest. It was just not knowing where Link was, or how he was doing that plagued my mind.

Suddenly, there was another shout from outside my room, and then heavy footsteps running quickly past my door. As the sounds began to fade, it was replaced by a very soft rumbling sound that came from beside me. I sat up and peered through the darkness. With my hands I shakily patted around my bed, trying to find what was causing the noise. My fingers brushed up against something warm and fuzzy and I gasped, bringing my hand back quickly. Even though I was slightly startled by what I thought may have been some small monster, I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that it was only my little kitten, Serenity, who was sound asleep. The blob of snow white fur continued to sleep like a rock. Link had given her to me for my birthday, and since then I've teased him that he got me a broken present. Serenity slept a lot. On top of that, she could sleep through almost anything, (which I envied her for). Every time I looked at her, I was reminded of Link because he also slept soundly as she did.

My memories of Link were interrupted as the door to my room burst open and Impa popped her head in. She held a lantern in her hand, the flames illuminated her face with an orange glow. Impa, who loved Link to pieces had, somehow, found out that Link and I were together a couple weeks ago. She always found out about things I wanted kept secret, but even so, she was like a mother to me. My own mother had died when I was five, and Impa had been there then and had been able to console me. Father never remarried, so Impa was the only person that served as my female role model. She helped through my teen years to cope with the growing experiences, and also trained me in the way of a Sheikah.

"Link's been injured!" Impa exclaimed frantically. Her face was filled with worry. "A guard recently told me that he's not in good condition. Please stay here until things settle down." Impa then quickly fled back into the hallway, shutting the door behind her.

For a few moments I just sat, wrapped I my silky sheets, but then Impa's words seemed to hit me hard. Link was injured, and Impa expected me to stay here until things settled down?

Yeah right.

There was no way I was going to sit here while I didn't know what was happening to Link. I immediately jumped from my bed and rushed towards the door. Everyone was so busy that they didn't even notice that I was out of my room. Guards and nurses rushed passed me, some absently greeting me, but no one asked me to return to my room. If everyone was this worried, then I could only imagine what had happened to Link. My mind began to explode with worries. I quickened my steps, wanting to reach Link as quickly as possible. Maybe Link was dying. What if he was suffering a long, painful death? I didn't want to imagine him in any pain, but my thoughts were overwhelming. My own heart felt pained by the thought of Link suffering.

Suddenly, I was pushed, and I lost my balance. I looked around my surroundings to find that I was outside of the infirmary. A doctor had passed by me and bumped into me which had brought me out of my worries. There seemed to be many doctors and nurses coming in and out of the room, each as hurried as the last. When the flow of medical professionals slowed, I carelessly entered the infirmary without checking who was in there first. Of course Impa and my father were both standing square in the middle of the room. Impa saw me immediately.

"Zelda, I told you not to leave your room," Impa scolded me. She then whispered soft enough so that my father couldn't hear, "Link isn't in good enough shape for you to see anyway."

My father, who stood beside Impa, looked at her quizzically, but then let it pass. "You should have listened to Impa, Zelda. Now isn't a good time for you to be nosing around the castle," Father said, giving me 'the look'.

"I'm sorry, Father, Impa, but I need to talk to Link," I casually said. The two gave me unbelieving looks, so I decided to add a little more to my story. "I'm going to tell him that I'll take Navi off of his hands. You know, she's pretty talkative, so I thought taking her with me would give him some quiet."

Everyone could understand that, although it was a lie. Father gave me an approving nod along with a motion to go ahead, but Impa eyed me suspiciously. She could see right through me. I trusted that she wouldn't tell Father anyway, so it didn't bother me and I scurried over to where a majority of the doctors were standing.

As I came over, the doctors glared at me, and I could tell they really didn't want me there. They really couldn't kick me out since I was the Princess of Hyrule, (which sometimes has its positives), and I was going to talk to Link even if the doctors didn't like it. Now, if Link was dying, I would tell him that I love him and get out of the way so the doctors could work on saving him. I was really hoping that he wasn't dying because I wouldn't be able to stand that.

"Excuse me, Doctor, if I could, I would like a word with Link," I said, looking over to Link's bed. I couldn't see him because nurses were hovering over his bed.

The doctor I spoke to wrote something down on a clipboard, and then looked up at me. "You need to be quick," the doctor mumbled, a tinge of annoyance in his voice. He called the other doctors away from Link and left us alone. I slowly made my way towards Link. It was almost a scary feeling as I walked nearer to Link. Before I actually spoke to Link, I closed the curtain that went around Link's bed and finally went to speak to him. I leaned over his bed, and his cerulean blue eyes stared right back into mine. One of his eyes was bruised and slightly swollen. His tunic was off and I could see his tanned bare chest. The skin around his rib cage was purple and blue; I guessed that he had a couple of broken ribs. His left arm-his sword arm-was burnt and blisters were beginning to form on his perfect skin. I imagined his legs weren't in the best of shape either, but I couldn't tell because he had a blanket covering from his waistline down.

Link looked like he would be absolutely miserable, but when I looked down at him, he smiled in spite of it all. That's what I love about Link. How he can always be so positive. Even though he was so optimistic, he had to be suffering. I couldn't even imagine the pain he had to be going through.

"Are you hurting, Link?" I asked, sitting down in a wooden chair beside his bed. I took one of his calloused hands in my own to try and comfort him.

It took a few seconds for Link to get the energy to speak, but he finally managed. "It's definitely…not good," he managed to spit out. His words were a raspy whisper. He sounded terrible. I wished he had never had to suffer through all of this.

My last thought made something click in my mind. I could prevent this from happening. I could prevent Link from gathering the spiritual stones, the medallions, and even prevent him from fighting Ganondorf. The only problem would be the cost of it all. It wouldn't cast rupees, it wouldn't literally cost my life or his. I would have to pay the price of never meeting Link; I would never be able to look into his eyes and hear him say, "I love you." It was a price that I wasn't sure that I wanted to make, but if it helped Link…then maybe it would be worth it.

Link seemed to notice that I was thinking hard about something, because I felt his hand tighten around mine. "What's wrong?" he asked. There was another trait that I loved abut Link. He was constantly caring.

As he looked me in the eyes I couldn't bear to tell him what I was thinking…plotting. "I'm just worried about you, Link," I whispered. My thoughts began to go ramped once again. How was I going to make this work? I only knew the gist of my plan. I was going to go into the past and prevent Link from ever meeting me. But what would I say?

Once again my thoughts were interrupted by Link asking me what was wrong. "I know you're hiding something form me. If you want to say something, say it!" Link looked at me one last time before turning his head away. He was getting aggravated, I could tell, and I couldn't blame him.

I stood from the chair and walked over to where Link's head was facing. "Link, I love you so much," I began with tears forming in my eyes. Link was probably guessing that I was going to break up with him, which in a sense, I was. Before finishing my sentence I dipped my head down and kissed Link on his wonderfully soft lips. "I'm going to prevent us from ever meeting. That way, you'll never go through all of this," I finished, taking a step away from him.

Link's jaw dropped, "What?" He asked like he didn't understand what I had said.

I turned myself away from him and exited through the curtain around Link's bed. I didn't want to see the hurt in Link's eyes. Doing this would be better for him, right? Even through the hurt, at least Link would be free from all that I had put him through.

As I passed by Impa and my father, I faked an overly happy smile. Father smiled back, clueless to my hurt, but Impa looked at me in question. I just waved and walked quickly through the doors of the infirmary. Outside, in the hall, I ran as fast as I could towards my room. Tears began to run down my face, and I began to ask myself what I was thinking. I knew it was for Link's benefit, but I loved him so much.

And it hurt.

It hurt just thinking about what I was about to do. I didn't have to do this, but Link looked so miserable. He probably wished he hadn't met me anyway. If this worked, maybe Link would be happier. Maybe he didn't even love me. That thought hurt too. There was just that possibility that Link just pretended to love me so that he could gossip that he was with the Princess of Hyrule. There were so many normal girls that Link could really love. I was only one out of millions.

I found myself at my bedroom door. No one was around, and I just couldn't get myself to open the wooden barrier. Instead, I cried at my door, hitting it with my palms as I fell onto it. There were so many memories of Link that I didn't want to forget. How he used to sneak into my room just to see me. When he gave me our first kiss. How he gave me Serenity. Memories that would be another serious cost of my insane plan.

I slid down my door and to my knees crying. My hand slowly inched its way to the golden doorknob of the mahogany bedroom door, and it finally grasped the cool round knob. I turned it slowly, and the door creaked as it opened. In the darkness of my room, I heard Serenity meow as she ran towards me and began to rub her head against my dress. I picked her up softly, and then numbly entered my room.

Out of my window the orange sun was beginning to peak over the mountains in the distance. It illuminated my room slightly, but I still couldn't see well. Serenity impatiently wriggled out of my arms, and I began to fall apart once more. It took me awhile to get a hold of myself, but even then, I was sniffling, the aftermath of hard crying. My sniffles were loud and hard to hide, but I forced myself to hold my breath when I heard a knock at my door.

"Who's there?" I choked out. I realized then what I had come to my room for, and I rushed over to a chest that sat on the foot of my bed. It was engraved with the symbol of the triforce and was made of dark wood. I opened the musty chest before the person on the other side of my door replied to my question.

"Zelda, it's me…" Link's voice hoarsely coughed out. I saw my door begin to open and light from the hallway spilled into my room. Then Link entered, using the door to balance himself. From the little light in my room I could tell Link was pale. I could hear him breathing heavily form the short trip to my room.

Before Link spoke to me again, I squinted in the darkness and began searching through the chest for the sapphire blue lyre Impa had given me for easy transportation after I had finished my Sheikah training. My finger brushed a string and it rang lightly for a few seconds.

"What are you doing, Zelda?" Link asked, taking a few wobbly steps towards me. I quickly grabbed my lyre and turned away from Link. I knew that if I looked at him I wouldn't be able to go on. Link would capture me in his warmth, and I wouldn't be able to leave his side.

Suddenly, I felt Link's hands fall on my shoulders. "I'm sorry, Link," I stopped to hold my breath so I wouldn't sniffle, but I ended up shuddering instead, "I have to do this for you." My body was beginning to shake, not form cold, but nervousness. Then I felt Link's warm muscular arms wrap around my waist.

"Zelda, please, this is foolish. I want to be with you no matter what," Link whispered, resting his lips in the crook of my neck. He made a trail of kisses up my neck, and stopped when he reached my cheek. His legs were beginning to shake from weakness and I felt him wobble behind me so I turned towards him and helped lead him to my bed.

"I'm sorry, Link, that's the problem, you would do anything for me, and it only causes you to get hurt," I whispered, still avoiding eye contact with him. I took a step away from him and held my lyre up. Impa had taught me Time's Melody, an extremely secret song that only a few people in all of Hyrule knew. The song allowed you, depending on which way you played the notes, to go forward or backward in time. It was actually a taboo to play the song unless there was a dire enough situation for it to be used in. I decided that my situation was dire enough, so I began to play the song backward

"Wait!' Link yelled at me. He grabbed me by the elbow and brought me down towards my bed where he was sitting. I tried to look away from him, but he moved my head so that I was looking him straight in the eye. "Zelda, please…" His head began to descend towards mine, and I couldn't conceal the tears that began to fall down my cheeks. If I changed out past I would miss out on these moments: these sweet kisses.

I felt Link's lips fall onto my own and it reminded me of how much I wanted to stay with him forever, but before I had a chance to return the kiss, I heard my father's voice.

"Zelda," Father said, opening my door, "Navi was never with Link." I watched my father out of the corner of my eye as he talked idly and I knew I needed to move, but it was like I was frozen still. It was like everything was in slow motion except my father. He turned towards Link and I, still talking.

"Have you seen Link? The doctors couldn't find him after you talked-" My father's sentence was cut off when his eyes fell upon Link and I. His mouth fell open in shock and I felt myself push away from Link. I could tell Father was about to say something, but I didn't listen. Instead, I fell to my knees and finished playing Time's Melody. As my transportation began to take place I felt my body become cold. I could no longer feel anything. And then everything went white. I lost sense of direction, time, and touch.

It wasn't long, though, before my senses returned to me and I could see my surroundings. There were people everywhere, and stands were selling fruits, jewels, meats, and all sorts of miscellaneous items. I saw a large fountain spraying water up into the air and it fell gracefully back into the pool below it. It wasn't until I looked up and saw the Hyrule Castle looming in the distance that I realized where I actually was.

I was standing in the center of Hyrule Market.

Ahhh, 3421 words later, and the first chapter is finished! I ask that you please review so that I can tell if I should put another chapter up or not. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, and I would love to write more for anyone who enjoyed this!

Serene-Moon-Princess