Dodging falling debris, Link forced his way down the hall. He crashed into a wall rather unceremoniously, dodging an onslaught of rubble falling from the unstable ceiling. A sickening crack ripped through Link's ears as he realized the very wall behind him had just given way. At first he pulled back, not wishing to cause the tower to collapse any faster...but upon further investigation, realized that there was a room behind this crumbling wall. In his grief, the thought of a trap door had not occurred to Link. Now, with desperation gnawing at his very soul, he shoved into it desperately.
The wall broke in two, crashing into a dark cell.
And there she was.
The room seemed rather frozen in time. Though the the heavy and rending sounds of the tower collapsing still echoed behind Link, the room had nothing falling in or from it. The loudest sound, he found, was his own panting.
She was some distance from him, and virtually unrecognizable from the ethereal princess he sought. She hung from a pair of thin and bruised wrists, head lolling limply against her shoulder. Her back was to him...she wore the beautiful dress she had been captured in, but it was torn open in the back, and sides. As he gazed closer, he realized her back was stained with blood, gashes and welts standing out in the pale light of a dying torch. Under all that blood, she was unnaturally pale. Her hair hung partially in front of her shoulders, partially behind...stained with her blood just like the small lock Ganondorf had shown him. He swallowed breathlessly.
Had he come back to rescue her...only to come too late?
He approached her slowly...whispering her name softly, then louder, until he was crying out for her to wake up. She wasn't moving...she gave no indication of life. He turned around to look at her from the front. Her pale...almost gray face was bruised from what Link could only assume was Ganondorf's own hand. He reached out to lift her head, a tear dripping down his cheek.
"Princess...wake up!"
She didn't move...and her face felt so cold under his fingers. Unbelievable grief threatened to crush Link in its grasp as he tried to shake Zelda's shoulder. Nothing.
There was little he could do for her, not with the tower collapsing. If he lingered, then he would die in this room as well. Making a swift decision, Link unsheathed the Master Sword and slashed at her chains. They cut cleanly, her limp body falling into his arms. He held her for half a second...looking into her cold features as her head tipped lifelessly over his left arm. Noticing her dress's rather immodest rips and tears, Link swiftly drew one of the spare tunics he carried and cut it down the middle, draping it over her thin frame...both to keep her dignified...and in a futile attempt to warm her.
For a fraction of a moment, time froze as Link gently wrapped her in his tunic. He gently laid it over her chest, tucking it against her neck and smoothing her blood-stained hair back gingerly. He pleaded with her silently to wake, pulling her limp body close to his. He pulled the tunic's collar up to her throat, taking a shy moment to stroke her pale, bruised neck tenderly before pulling himself together.
He stood slowly, gazing down at her bruised and battered body. A tear flowed down Link's left cheek at the sight...at the knowledge that this princess suffered because of him. He hesitated for a long moment, giving a soft, gasping cry of grief before pushing his emotions back. He had to get her to safety...even if it was too late.
Link rushed down the innumerable stairs. He held his shield over Zelda, unable to staunch the flow of tears from his eyes.
Upon rushing out of the collapsing castle...he fled to a piece of land that looked safe...and quietly rested Zelda's lifeless body down. As more tears flowed from his eyes, he raised a hand to caress her cold cheek, when Navi cried out.
"L-Link!"
Link raised his head in time to see a deep shadow looming over him.
Ganon.
No longer a man, but now a beast, Ganon snarled at him. How unfair it was that Ganondorf had survived...yet Zelda...
Forcing his emotions out of his mind and cooling his thoughts, Link engaged Ganon in battle.
~*~
Awaken, Sage of Time.
A pair of cerulean eyes opened to darkness, crushing, black, thick darkness. A gasp tore itself from parted lips only to find there was nothing to breath. Yet no panic gripped the Sage. This felt natural, somehow. She began to grasp at her bearings...and realized, simply, that she was surrounded by evil. Slowly, she began to glow faintly; a small candle burning in a universe of darkness. As the light began to pour from her, she realized she was standing on a small pedestal marked with the Sacred Pyramid. It too glowed beneath her.
She gazed upward and felt the evil around her jolt with her presence; a fearful and paralyzed jolt. She knew it, now; it was her time.
Pooling every ounce of power within her the Sage mustered a powerful burst of light that cascaded from her, piercing the darkness like lightening. Further and further it splintered until she was certain the evil was frozen under her grasp. It jolted and struggled beneath her light, yet it could not break free.
Six circles opened beneath her; six sages of all elements appeared in circle around her, awaiting a single command. There was only one key missing.
The Sage of Time closed her eyes, allowing her mind to search out the Hero of Time. She felt her strength waning under the effort...weakness beginning to flood back to her.
Use the Master Sword to send him to the Sacred Realm.
The darkness cracked further under the Sage's strong light; all at once, the evil drew together in one constrained sphere before it imploded within the sages' seal.
The Sage of Time barely had a moment to register the victory before she fell from her pedestal and back into darkness.
~*~
After one swift decisive blow, Ganon fell to his knees. All at once, the beast of evil began to glow, as if pierced in place by a thousand points of light. A thought, not his own, passed through Link's consciousness, a sole command: Use the Master Sword to send him to the Sacred Realm.
All at once, the sword in Link's hand began to glow, a fierce and sacred light flowing from it. With a strong hand and a loud cry, Link plunged the Sword of Evil's Bane deep into Ganon.
~*~
Link stood for several moments upon the empty battle-field as a cold wind whipped past him. The evil that plagued Hyrule was finally gone...but the knowledge did little to lift Link's heavy heart as he began to walk back towards Navi and Zelda.
The small fairy hovered over Zelda's body, just as Link requested she do. Now, as he gazed down at the princess' pale face, he felt nothing but grief. He slowly dropped to his knees, lifting his hand to caress Zelda's cheek. She felt icy now. A tear dropped onto her lips as helplessness and hopelessness began to cloud Link's thoughts.
Drawing a deep breath, stealing himself away for at least a moment, Link softly whispered his apology to the lifeless princess below him.
"Princess Zelda...Highness...I...I am so sorry...I did not come sooner." With his soft apology still on his lips, he leant to kiss her, hoping in some convoluted fairy tale manner that the princess would awaken.
Upon allowing the kiss to linger, Link felt something warm upon his lips...and glanced down. Barely...ever so slightly...he could feel breath.
~*~
Consciousness was a gift, thought Zelda, though she cursed the goddesses for forcing it upon her when she was so comfortably close to peace. The heavy black mist had begun to lift. Little by little, questions began to rise.
What...? The first question that surfaced...incoherent and foolish.
Where am I? The second question was ridiculous—Zelda had no way of knowing anything about position...she still felt so drowned in that black fog...
What is that? She felt something warm against her presence...as if someone was hovering over her...then it began to register that someone was touching her....
What is that noise? She was hearing something...something soft at first...sad, really. The louder it got, the more she recognized it. Crying...sorrow.
Why sorrow? The question softly begged, and Zelda strained now to hang onto her consciousness, despite its pain. She could now hear what sounded like words...soft words.
"I...I am so sorry..."
Why are you sorry?
"...I did not come sooner."
Oh...well, you're here now, aren't you?
The hand moved slightly...and before Zelda could question further, she became aware of a vague warmth on her lips.
A kiss?
But then, the brief allowance of consciousness left Zelda, and the black mist swept in and drowned her in a heavy black warmth.
~*~
Link knew it was wishful thinking, as he cupped her cheeks in both hands. He was unwilling to voice that Zelda might be alive—could he possibly take her death twice? Yet...
With shaking hand, Link gently laid his left hand upon Zelda's pulse.
Nothing. With a sad sigh, Link felt another tear drip from his cheek. He looked down at her pale face...moving to ready himself to stand.
Thump.
Link froze, pressing his right fingers gingerly against Zelda's lips. Was his mind teasing him? Ever...ever so lightly...he felt the slightest press of air against his fingers.
An eternity passed, then...
Thump-thump.
"Princess?"
At his voice, her heart picked up a little...giving a rhythmic, but weak beat every few seconds. With quivering hands, Link drew the Ocarina, weakly and shakily playing his horse's call. Link paused, waiting until he heard a familiar whinny, then gazed down at Zelda's lifeless body. Silently, he gathered the princess' broken from into his arms, pausing for a moment to gaze at her pale face. Another tear dropped from his cheek and splashed into her hair.
He held her like that, for several moments, raising a hand to shyly caress back her hair from her cheek. As Epona slowed to a stop a few paces from Link, her gleeful expression turned to one of solemnity, her long ears flicking back as she approached near reverently. Slowly, Link gazed back at Epona before easing Zelda's broken form onto her back. He mounted swiftly, holding her gingerly to his chest.
"Gently, Epona..."