It was quite windy that night.

The blowing wind made a deafening rumble as it hit the dark walls of the mansion. The halls inside were dark, lit only by a few flame torches here and there. Many of those who lived inside had made their way to bed, the wind causing too much noise to carry normal volume conversation. Others relaxed by fires or read books.

Pit made his way back to his room, tired from training and the endless flight race he shared with Metanight. He'd only just got done after starting at 12:30 in the afternoon, and it was currently 11:22 in the evening.

Pit yawned. He was so tired; everything in his sight was blurry. And though he was happy that he'd gotten so much done today, he was a bit irked that Metanight had kept up throughout the race. His training had made his muscles sore as well, making his trek tough as he winced here and there. He sighed when he finally found himself in front of his door.

A noise caught his attention from inside, and he froze for a moment before narrowing his eyes. He opened his door cautiously; looking around to make sure no one was in there. Seeing no one, he moved quickly to various places he knew would be good spots to hide, making sure no one was in them. Again he saw no one.

Silently, he sat down on his bed, eyes wide and alert. Nothing was around him, but he couldn't hide the suspicion in his demeanor. Though the silence called to his tired body and soon he was fast asleep, his wings spread out behind him and hair sticking at strange angles.

Zelda was strolling to her own room, having finished reading the 104 chapter book she'd started two weeks before. She wasn't very happy with the ending, which left the reader wanting to know what happened. She also knew there was no hope of a sequel, as the book had been written twenty years before that.

Things had been routine recently; everyone doing basically the same things over and over to keep themselves busy. Which gave Zelda the chance to read her book, but now she was thinking about how bored she was.

As she walked, she thought about her home in Hyrule, and how she missed sitting in the gardens. But then she reminded herself that she was bored there as well, which had lead her to coming here. Link then entered her mind.

She sighed as her mind drifted to her feelings for him. She loved him; everything about him. Except the little fact that he didn't feel that way for her. Young Link did, and made it well known however, always clambering in her lap and flirting shamelessly. The older Link just didn't feel the same, and he told her that when she tried to instigate a relationship with him one recent night.

"I'm sorry Zel… You're… my best friend. In fact, you're my sister. I will save you whenever you need, and I'd do anything for you… But I'm sorry… I just… Don't feel romantically involved."

His words had been broken, and stabbed her with their sharp meanings like glass. She had cried herself to sleep that night and had not done anything the day after. But she steeled herself and moved on as best as she could, avoiding Link as much as she could until her pride healed.

So, she started reading that book, which was sappy and lovey-dovey and romantic and sweet and she wished it was her own life. The ending really annoyed her, because the couple talked to each other, and he proposed. After that, nothing was there.

She sighed as she wished she could be with her hero… every night, sleep in his arms and look into his eyes every moment that passed and lose herself. She had to shake herself, knowing she was sounding like an angsty teenager rather than the princess of a prestigious land. But really, she couldn't help it at all. She couldn't tell her heart "No" to the way it felt towards him…

Stopping, Zelda turned and looked across the hall at Links room. He was right across from her, next to Pit and Sonic. She was next to Peach and Samus, herself. The hall seemed darker than normal though, and her nerves were set on edge as she tried to sense anything amiss in the area. A dark aura surrounded the hall for seemingly no reason and she felt nervous as she glanced around.

She gasped when a figure in white was suddenly thrown through the door leading to Pit's room. Pit groaned as he sat up, trying to regain his senses. Zelda could only look at the scratch on the angel's face, blood dripping carelessly from the wound, and his wings, which turned pink in some spots. She quickly moved toward him to make sure he was ok.

A loud roar made them both jump, looking toward Pit's room, where a dark shadow was lurking. The thing looked like billowing smoke was its entire substance, with glowing purple eyes and hard, white claws on what looked like arms of sludge. It looked quietly at them, before what looked like sharp teeth made themselves known and it jumped at them.

Zelda vaguely wondered why no one was coming to see what the noise was, as the roaring was loud enough to wake the entire mansion filled with stubborn sleepers. Yet no one emerged into the corridor, nor did they run in from various places to help.

It was only her and the angel.

"Pit! What is this thing!?" she exclaimed to the angel who stood quickly to block the attack coming. His bow deflected the claws trying to embed within him, and threw a good spin attack to make it back off. He threw a confused look to her as if to say "Like I have any idea!?" and he attacked the thing in return.

Zelda turned inward, "Sheik! Can you help Pit? That thing looks dangerous!" she said in her mind to the other in her body. Sheik however, seemed unresponsive, forcing her to believe something strange was happening. 'Not even Sheik is coming to our aide… What is going on here!?'

Her hands took a blue-ish glow as she focused her magic, wondering if anything would affect the smoky creature. As Pit jumped away, she threw forth a powerful blast of energy, sending the creature back into the room. It emerged a second later however, and threw its own burst of red energy toward her.

She brought up a shield quickly and watched in amazement as her shield disappeared easily. Zelda jumped away to avoid being hit by another blast, and she saw Pit do the same. 'This thing isn't going to stop easily… What do we do?' she thought as she readied another shot of her energy. A sudden ache on her left arm and the warm sensation running down it let her know she'd been hit by something, and her arm was now unresponsive as she jumped away over and over.

Pit suddenly pushed her backward, and Zelda found herself hitting the floor roughly. Looking up, she watched the angel take a dark energy blast. But instead of leaving a wound, the darkness went through him, and he screamed at the feeling. The momentum of the shot threw him back, making him slam into the wall, his head bouncing slightly, and slump to the floor.

The shadow creature made what looked like a smirk before making a screeching sound and lunging at Zelda. Zelda in turn mustered what she could of light energy and sent it forward, the creature and the light colliding half way. Stopping, the shadowy thing screamed itself before turning into Pit's room and exiting through the window.

Shocked and exhausted, Zelda collapsed.

Zelda jerked awake at the feeling of a hand on hers and a hug around her shoulders. "Gah!" she exclaimed, throwing the attachment off of her. Young Link jumped to the ground quickly to avoid being thrown to the wall.

"Easy Zel! It's just us!" Link's voice said quickly, helping the younger one back onto the bed. Zelda gaped at them before rushing into apology. Link held up a hand before looking concerned.

"What happened Zelda?" he asked.

For a moment, she herself was confused. The room was white and smelled of sterile surfaces, and she realized she was in the infirmary. Her eyes widened as she looked at Link, who sat straight, not liking the look in the princess's eyes.

"Where's Pit?" she asked loudly, looking around. Young Link gave a funny look.

"He's in another room," Link said carefully.

"Is he alright?"

Young Link scoffed with a smirk on his face, "You kicked the shit out of him."

Zelda's eyes widened even more. She hadn't touched the angel! "What do you mean?"

Link answered, "We found you both out in the hall after we heard a window break. You guys had quite the scuffle eh? What happened?"

"What!? I never touched him! That thing attacked him!" Zelda exclaimed, not believing they could think she and Pit had fought in the hall. Both Links gave a confused look.

"That shadow thing! It attacked us! Wait… You didn't hear anything before the window breaking?" Zelda asked quickly.

'Zelda? What shadow thing are you talking about?' Sheik asked in her mind. That confirmed her thoughts. The shadow either did something to affect the others. Or maybe only the two of them.

Perhaps it was only meant for Pit… but she'd been in the right place to be affected.

"That thing attacked us! We didn't touch each other, until Pit pushed me out of the way of the final attack. Is he ok? That blast literally went right through him!"

"Zelda," Link said quietly, looking down, "Pit's going to be ok…"

Something in his voice told her otherwise. Young Link finished his sentence however, before she could say anything, "He just hasn't woken up yet, and he moves a lot…"

Clarifying, the older Link stated, "He's in a lot of pain, and no one can figure out why. His wounds heal faster than the rest of us, yet he still moans in pain, and shifts constantly. Mario said he's occasionally gone into convulsions, and he's worried Pit's not going to wake up to tell us what's going on."

Zelda blinked before focusing her energy and teleported to Pit's room in the infirmary. The room was dark and quiet save for the small sounds of whimpering. Thinking about that last moment of battle, she hit the light switch without noticing. Pit's wounds had healed, the cut on his face was gone, and his wings had turned white again.

"Pit?" she asked. The angel turned toward her, making her wonder if he could hear her. She sat down on his bed, putting a hand to his head and concentrated. She could feel Sheik becoming curious, though he tried to hide it.

'Zelda?' he asked, 'What're you trying to do?'

'Nothing, I'm just trying to be here for him.'

'Why?'

Zelda chose not to answer. She didn't know why she was doing this at all. She just knew how alone she felt when even Sheik didn't come in their time of need. Initially she'd felt betrayed, but now she wondered, hearing Link's idea of what had happened, if they were even aware of the time that passed.

Pit moaned suddenly, his blue eyes shooting open. A small raspy scream escaped his lips as he sat up quickly, clutching his abdomen. Startled, Zelda withdrew, standing up and taking a step back in surprise before realizing the angel was in fact awake, and in pain. She rushed to him, putting her hands on his shoulders, causing the angel to focus an eye on her.

"Pit… breathe alright? It'll be over soon…" she said to herself as well as Pit. But he kept taking raspy breaths, making small groans, telling her it wasn't stopping, though he was trying to hide it. Even Sheik was perplexed by the situation.

"Z… Zelda…?" Pit ground out. He couldn't take in enough breath to properly talk through the pain.

Zelda shushed him, still holding his shoulders. She really had no idea what to do at all. She'd played by ear moments before, but now she was winging it as best she could. "Hang on."

"It… It won't… go away…" he said. Zelda nodded sadly, putting her hand back on his forehead. The angel continued to gasp for a bit before he passed out, slumping on the bed. His moaning however never ceased.

'Sheik? I am at a loss. What is wrong with him?'

Sheik was confused as well, 'I have no idea princess. It is new to me as well. I myself woke up with you, though I missed your apparent battle with a shadow. The image you describe however is frightening.'

The door suddenly burst open, revealing Young and Older Link. Both were shocked when Zelda disappeared from the room they had been speaking to her in, and rushed to Pit's room to find her, knowing she'd end up there.

"Zelda! You aren't supposed to leave your room!" they both exclaimed.

"I am fine you two, don't pester me about bed rest," she stated darkly, looking back at the angel, who was curled in a ball, and it hurt more to see tears rolling down his face. She didn't know why however, and Sheik was silent to it, which she was thankful for.

"I refuse to stay stuck in bed when the worst of my injuries is a scratch on the arm," she said again, and both Links winced, knowing they did that as well. "You said Pit hadn't woken up…"

Link jumped, blinking a moment, "No, he hasn't."

"He just did."

"Kiddo, go get Mario," the older Link said, looking down at his younger self, who pouted, but ran off. "Zelda?"

"Yes?"

"Don't push yourself, alright?" he said, hesitation in his voice. Zelda turned to him and smiled.

"I won't. I know better than that."

"You're a step above me then."

Mario hurried in after hearing the news from Young Link. "You say he awoke?" Zelda nodded quietly, grabbing the angel's hand.

"He was in a lot of pain…" she explained, eyes dropping, "He couldn't talk much, and he was holding his abdomen. Is there anything you can give him to make him feel better?"

"Perhaps. I didn't want to-a put him on-a meds unless I knew he was still in-a pain," the plumber said, going to a sterile cabinet. "You should be in-a bed princess."

"I refuse."

Her response made Mario chuckle. All of them in the mansion were like this, and there was nothing anyone of them could do to make the others listen. They were always in a stalemate. "Understood."

Mario took a syringe and made his way back to Pit, pulling out an arm and injecting it into the angel's system. A minute later, Pit's moans quieted slightly.

"I'm going to give a small amount of morphine here and there. I don't want to give too much, as he'll become immune to it. But this should help. I must-a go now. Don't push yourself Zelda and I will check on you two later."

Zelda nodded as the three of them took a seat next to the angel. She would follow that rule at least.