Hey everyone. My main story is on hold right now so I'm taking time to do some other things. This is a short one-shot based on a dream I had last night. It really meant something to me, and I wanted to share it with everyone. Of course I made it fit with Zelda bc I love Zelda, so I put Link in place of myself, and Midna serves as the thing in dreams where you just know things even there's no obvious explanation as to how you know, if that makes any sense. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy. R&R.

Just a Dream

Link and Midna had been travelling hard all day. They had just returned from the Arbiter's Grounds, and were now on their way to Telma's bar so that they could decide their next move in their quest to recover the shards of the Mirror of Twilight. Telma's bar had seemed like the best place for that because it was generally quiet and they would be able to rest there.

"Great," said Link downheartedly. "It's getting ready to rain." Sure enough, it began to rain. In a matter of moments, Castle Town was being pelted by a massive downpour, with raindrops the size of cobblestones.

"We'd better hurry," said Midna from within Link's shadow. "You'll be soaked in no time!"

Link began to run through Castle Town, doing his best not to knock anyone over. The rain was coming down hard, so hard in fact that Link was having a difficult time seeing anything more than a few feet in front of him. Finally he resigned himself to walking at normal speed. I'm already soaked to the bone, he thought. Who cares at this point?

As he passed through Central Square, he stopped short of his goal, because what he saw there made his heart pang with sadness. Standing just off the main street was a girl, no more than fifteen, looking utterly lost. She wore a dirty brown tunic, and her black hair hung in matted, waterlogged strands down her pitiful face.

Midna came out of Link's shadow, barely visible through the torrent. She floated next to Link, unable to take her eyes off the pitiful girl.

"Link," she said softly, "she looks miserable."

"I know," he replied. "I can't let her stay like this." He walked over to the girl, who seemed not to have noticed, and he put his arm around her shoulders. She was just tall enough that when she leaned into him, her head fit into his shoulder comfortably. Whether it was instinct or something else, she wrapped her arms around his midsection, drawing herself close to him. For a moment Link fretted over what someone might say if they saw an underage girl hugging a stranger, but right now he didn't care. This little one's well-being was all that concerned him at the moment. Without taking his arm off of her, he led her to Telma's bar. Even though she was underage, he knew that Telma would take pity on the poor thing. She could get warm and dry there, at least.

Finally they reached Telma's bar. Link opened the door and ushered the poor girl inside.

"Who is this?" said Telma, furrowing her brow. "You know I don't let minors in here." Link left the girl next to the door and went over to explain the situation to Telma.

"She's freezing," he said, looking back over his shoulder to look at the girl, "and I don't think she knows where she is. She hasn't said a word since I found her in Central Square, and she didn't seem to know where she was then, either."

"Well…" Telma considered the girl for a moment. "I guess I should do the right thing. I'll go fix her a bed. I guess it can't hurt to let her stay here." She strode across the room and led the girl to a room off to the side.

Just then Midna floated out of Link's shadow. "Link," she said, "did you notice something strange about her?"

"No," he said. "I mean, she didn't seem to want to talk, but I can understand that. I mean, she was probably in shock."

"Link," she whispered in his ear, "she was blind."

The rain is beating down around me. Rain…the sound, like a million tiny drums being beaten; the texture, sometimes soft and gentle, and sometimes, like now, sharp, painful, unforgiving…I wonder what it looks like.

I don't know where I am. I hear the rain, I hear people all around me hurrying to find shelter…I don't know where I can find any, and no one will help me. Does no one care? I suppose not, and why should they…an urchin like me…

What's this? Someone here to help me? I feel an arm, a strong arm, around me. I don't know this arm, and I should be distrustful of its owner. I know I should, but right now, I don't care. He is a saint, the one who comes to my aid now, when no one else cares. My arms are around him now. He feels strong, solid…I'm safe with him.

We're moving, but to where, I have no idea. Even though he's leading me somewhere, he still keeps a tight hold on me. I don't know why he's doing this, I don't know why he cares, but it doesn't matter. I'm safe, and that's all that matters.

Where has he gone? It's warm wherever we are, but he's left me, and I don't know where he's gone. I can hear a voice, but I don't know if it's him or someone else. I don't know what he sounds like. He is a silent hero. Now a woman is leading me somewhere else. She has a kind voice, like the kind I think a mother should have.

I don't know if any of this is real or not. I have never known kindness, or charity, or even pity. Occasionally begging will get me a meal, but usually I am not so lucky. These people don't realize how lucky they are, that they can see. Day in and day out I hear about good deeds and kindness, but they have no idea. They are not like my hero. He is truly kind. Maybe it is those people who are really the blind ones. It seems too good to be true. Perhaps it isn't true after all.

"I wonder, hero," I say to myself as I feel myself drifting away, "are you just a dream?"