"Why aren't they back yet?"

The question was accompanied by the puppy-eyed stares of the group of children, and aimed at the teenage maiden who stood amongst them. The tallest of the bunch, thanks to a healthy difference of years, looked almost matronly as bent down and picked up the child who had asked the actual question. Raising his face to hers, she winked an azure eye and smiled lightly.

"Don't worry about them, they'll be home soon." She gently brought the boy back to level ground before crossing her arms and putting an a show of exaggeration. "Besides, they must be alright; after all, they have Link with them!"

This instigated a rousing round of cheers and exclamations, as the children proclaimed how cool and strong their Link was. Zelda couldn't help but smile herself. Really...she thought, if that boy only knew the effect he had...

But perhaps that was one of Link's greatest attributes...his ignorance of his extraordinary character. Despite being heralded with the all-encompassing title of "The Coolest" by the children, Link had a kept a level head. So level, in fact, he didn't even seem to realize how much they cared for him. How much anyone cared for him...including a certain teenage female.

"Look! Look!" cried one of the boys, shaking Zelda out of her reverie. "They're back!"

As Zelda peered out into the horizon, she could see emerging silhouettes on the ruined highway from her vantage point on the outskirts of Faron City. Finally, as they drew closer, familiar shapes became apparent. There was the "leader" in the middle. To his left, the stolid figure of Impa, her guardian. And on the right stood a youth who walked almost nobly, a large sack slung over one shoulder, and another hanging from his opposite hand. His mess of black hair whipped around in the wind, as did his naturally blonde bangs. Behind the three proud figures walked the rest of the party, a good deal of the city's men, joking and slapping each other on the back, each carrying a sack of their own.

"Come on, Zelda!" chuckled the boy who had first noticed them. He began pulling on her hand, eager to meet the returning party. "Don't you wanna go see your boyfriend?" He grinned, in a way a bit too mature for his age.

Zelda blushed, blinking furiously. "Oh, really now...you know he's not..." But the boy took her surprise as an opening, and tugged hard enough to make her take a step forward, and used this to get to her to run behind him, still holding her hand in his.

Chuckling away her blush, Zelda ran after him, slightly hunched over thanks to the boy's short stature. Her tattered skirt, as well cared for as she could manage, flailed about lightly in the wind, unknowingly giving the some of the group of boys and girls following them secret snickers.

"Hey! It's the princess and her entourage!" laughed one of the men as he caught site of the welcoming party. "Coming to give us hard-working men a nice look at - "

"Anymore and I will rip off your head..." growled Impa, glancing back with a fierce red eye. The men clammed up, looking sheepish. Impa always managed to intimidate even the most manly of men; from the way she carried herself, it was evident that she could grind any of them into a bloody pulp.

"You're a lucky boy, Link...to have her waiting for you..." muttered one of the men, too low for the boy in question to hear it. Impa, however, caught the statement, and held back a comment.

It's true...you are lucky, Link, she thought to herself. But then, I can't think of anyone more worthy of protecting her than you...

Finally, the two parties met, just outside of Faron's borders. Zelda stood, a lighthouse rising above the sea of children, and smiled at the group. Folding her hands in her lap, she bowed lightly. "Welcome home!"

The leader nodded, smiling over his stubble. "It's good to be home, especially with a welcome as lively as this!"

The children ran over to Link, who had been staring at Zelda out of the corner of his eye. "Link! Hey, Link! How'd it go?"

Link turned his full attention to them, smiling lightly. "It went fine, guys...we've got enough food for at least a month here," he answered, hoisting the sack in his left hand.

Noticing that the teenager carried two sacks, one of the boys spoke up. "Hey, Link, let us carry one of those! We wanna help!"

Chuckling, Leave raised an eyebrow. "Geez, I don't know, you guys...you think you can handle it?"

Another of the boys stepped forward, rolling up his sleeve and flexing a pathetic muscle with a grin. "Look at this, Link! I've been training!"

"Alright, you've convinced me," smiled Link, and gently dropped one of the bags amongst the group of eager boys. Straining, they all grabbed a portion of the rough material and hoisted it over their heads, aiming for the city with a staggering path like that of a drunks.

As the newly united group continued back towards the city, Zelda managed to casually stroll over to Link's right. Glancing at him with a smile, she opened her mouth to speak.

"Princess."

Zelda blinked, her speech halted by one word from Link, seemingly out of nowhere. "Er, what?" she managed, taking away from what she had hoped to be a cute first word to the newly returned youth.

"Princess," he repeated, turning to look at her square in the face, a grin on his lips. "That's what the men called you. I kind of think it fits, you know?"

To be honest, Zelda didn't know, and managed to hold back a blush at the flattering compliment. She sighed, smiling into the distance. "I wish I were a princess...Then I'd be able to make sure we were all cared for, in a beautiful castle!" She glanced down, almost bitterly. "Then we wouldn't have to live like this..."

"Is it that bad, though?"

Looking up slowly, Zelda's widening eyes met the warmth in Link's own jade orbs. There seemed to be such honest in face, almost simplistically so. He was...content.

"...I suppose not," she answered, smiling in return. Some things, she thought, make it all worth it.

-----------------------

Later that night, Link sat alone on a pile of rubble situated right before a down-sloping road leading to the more developed area of Faron City. This particular band of survivors lived only on the outskirts, in an area closer to a suburb than a city. Here and there, grass peaked through the harsh concrete, and struggled to live and grow. The buildings were of fewer stories, the highest being what apparently used to be a five flight apartment building, which the group had made into their own living quarters. It was a quite little area, though they had used up all of the local resources, leading the groups of men to venture out along the highway, searching for the remains of rest-stops and small towns. Each trip, they had to go further and further out, for longer and longer times. Pretty soon, they'd either have to move, or venture into the city proper for goods.

There, chaos reigned. Anarchy was law, and vicious gangs of tech-laden cyberpunks ran rampant through the streets. Although they had a good amount of supplies and some running production plants, it was not worth the struggle to survive down there. Life expectancy was so short...it was rare to find children among the cracked streets and dilapidated skyscrapers. Not to mention the Hyrulian forces occasional "peace-preserving" raids, where a random number of city goers were captured and, most likely, subjected to the ruling city's horrid experiments. It was Hyrule that was responsible for the vicious mutants that roved the lands or festered in some ruined city. Hyrule...the fallen city...

"I thought I'd find you here..."

Link turned around slowly, finding a beautiful figure lit only by moonlight. Zelda smiled, taking a seat next to the boy on his pile of rubble. Luckily, the darkness concealed both of their blushes, leaving them to sit in silence as the looked out at the city.

"What's it been, now? Ten years?" Zelda asked, still gazing outward.

Link glanced at her, confused.

"Since you first came to us, I mean...it's been nearly ten years to the day."

Link understood now; she was right. His "birthday" was tomorrow. Well, it wasn't his true birthday, since he didn't remember that. As far as anyone could tell, though, tomorrow he'd be of seventeen years. Almost ten years ago, he'd been found in a ruin of a gas station, crying hysterically. The current denizens of Faron were moving from their prior home in the city of Ordonia, and they had stopped to see if there was anything worth salvaging at the station. An exploring Zelda had come across the dual-colored hair of the crying body, dressed in rags. The town leader had hoisted the boy, and asked him his name. The boy had sobbingly responded with "Link," but seemed unable to answer any more questions about his past. Questions that, to this day, still remained unanswered.

The leader, a kind-hearted and haggard man named Jonas, had taken Link as his own, and raised him like a son. Once a member of the Hyrulian army prior to the city's takeover, Jonas had been a warrior of high caliber, and trained Link on a daily matter. The boy was young, but had shown a natural grace in the way of combat, and was slowly closing the gap between teacher and student. Jonas knew of his potential; in fact, only he and Impa knew just what the boy's potential was...

Link was pulled from his remembrances by Zelda's words. "You know...I'm glad I found you..." Link looked up at her, forcing her to look down with embarrassment.

Still, she continued. "You make everything bearable...Even amongst the squalor and hunger, you're always a...a beacon of hope, of kindness..." Her blush was of the deepest scarlet, still shielded by the darkness of night.

"Zelda..." came the soft reply from Link. Words were not his forte, for he was a man of action. As such, he could never explain how she made him feel, how she always looked so poised and beautiful, so strong.

Taking in a deep breath, he began to lean in towards, eyes melting softly into pools of emotion. At first, Zelda kept her ground, shocked, but she closed her eyes and leaned in suddenly, waiting for the feel of his lips against hers.

It did not come.

After a few seconds waiting, she opened her eyes. "Link, what's..." She stopped as she saw his head frantically glancing left and right, eyes narrowed.

"What - "

Without a word, Link flung himself over Zelda, forcing her body off the rubble pile and onto the ground. A red light pierced the darkness as a beam of energy flew over the two, dissipating a few yards after it passed by. Brow furrowed, Link felt along the ground for a weapon. His fingers lighted on the cold metal of a lead pipe, and his fist tightened over it.

As the pair got to their feet, Link stood in front of her, holding the pipe like a sword out in front of him. He tried to see their attacker, but the darkness was too thick.

And then the backdrop erupted in flames.

Link's eyes widened as the city caught fire. Screams filled the air, as did mad cackles of laughter. Surrounded by the amber of fire stood a silhouette, his right arm glinting like metal in the firelight. Though Link could not see, he knew the man was grinning.

"I'm here for the Princess," came the harsh and arrogant voice. Link knew this meant Zelda, though at the moment, he didn't care why she was being referred to as a princess. All that mattered right now was that this man intended to take Zelda from him, and was destroying his home.

Gripping the pipe tightly, Link raced forward without even a negative response, and leaped into the air, attempting a downward slash. His pipe collided with the man's raised right arm, and the clang that followed revealed that it truly was metal. This man had undergone cybernetic enhancement, that was for sure.

Still in the air, Link tried to force the arm down, to no avail. Grinning furiously, the man whirled his arm back, throwing Link to the ground. As he skidded along the rubble, he felt some of his skin tear. He did not care; the man was starting towards Zelda, and that was not allowed.

Getting to his feet again, Link dashed forward, swinging the pipe low, causing the attacker to block low his arm.

"You fool, don't you - "

The man's taunt was cut off as Link's right fist crashed into his jaw. Shocked, the man took a step back, recoiling from the surprise attack. His face, still mostly clouded by darkness, contorted with rage, and he grabbed Link's neck with his metal hand, raising him up as he started to choke him.

Link began to cough as he struggled to squeeze air past his constricted windpipe, but the effort was fruitless. The man's red eyes burned with hate. "You bastard! No one has laid a hand on me in years! I'll fucking kill you for this!"

"Stop it!" cried Zelda, racing towards them. "I'll come with you, so please, just stop hurting him!" She reached the pair, looking up at the attacker with tears in his eyes.

Smirking, the man, smiled. "I could take you, anyway...but I suppose this way, no accidental damage will be done. The Master will be pleased..." Glancing at Link again, he throw him a good couple of yards away. Coughing, the boy struggled to reach his feet, but failed.

"Come then, Princess..." he sneered, using the royal title more like that of a prostitute. He began to walk towards the flames.

Zelda turned towards Link, sadness and fear evident in her eyes. The last thing the boy saw before the darkness rushed in was the tears spilling down her beautiful cheeks. He wanted to brush them away, make her smile...

His head hit the ground softly as his body gave out, and Zelda too began to walk towards the flames.