sleep, wake, dream, break

Chapter Three


Faces. Swimming in and out of focus.

Light. Shoved into his eyes until they watered. He squeezed them shut, hiding behind the darkness and calm and quiet...

And someone was shaking him. He opened his mouth, tongue slow to form the words he wanted. Sounds rolled from his throat, and unable to shape them properly, they remained unformed.

Stay with us now, a cool, authoritative voice. He evaded it, already feeling himself slipping back to the floating state of being that was normality. In the distance he could hear a familiar chain of notes, low and calming, and felt as if he were listening to Time. As it gradually enveloped him, he saw the frantic chaos of beginning and the soft puttering-out of the end. He barely noticed the thin tendril of music threading its way into the weave of the song. Soft and lulling, it slipped between the notes until all he heard was this new song. He fought, struggled, as it took firm hold of him and pulled him up, all the way up until his eyes watered once again in the bright lights of before.

He discovered that he could not do much more than move his eyes. His attempt to lift his head resulting in little more than a brief, quivering tension in the front and sides of his neck. So he stole glances as far as his vision would allow, seeing things he could not understand, nor comprehend. Figures rushed all around him. This is blue, he told himself, looking at the colour many of them were swathed in. This is red, he thought, as the hair, pulled back from a pale and open face, tumbled free of its bindings.

This is life. I am here. I am...who? Fear made him cold. He felt an uncomfortable drumming in his chest, spurred on by the great, gasping breaths he sucked into his lungs, an impossible void that he couldn't seem to fill. The blue figures around him began rushing around faster, faster, shouting. Loud.

Because he could remember nothing. Nothing at all except the song that called him to dreamless sleep, and even that was fading. Struggling, he grasped for it, for it was familiar even though he knew it would drag him all the way down this time.

'Orderly! Hold his legs! You there, hold him down!'

Now there was weight on his chest. Pressing down. Suffocating. Dimly, he heard a loud crash, and the tinkling of glass as it rained down on the polished floor.

'But he shouldn't have the strength!'

And then...

This is violet, he thought, startled by a solemn and reassuring gaze, the warm, slender hand upon his arm. Calm and benevolence flowed into him, and he finally felt like he could breathe again. His struggles ceased. His muscles disengaged with a painful twang as he fell back onto the bed. Through this, eyes never left the girl's face, tracing the line of her jaw, held tight with tension and worry, the slight knit at her brow, and once again, those eyes. They seemed too large for her face, the colour so intense that they scarcely seemed real. Courage, they seemed to say, Courage. Then she blinked, breaking the spell.

'I don't know what you're doing Miss Daphnes, but keep doing it,' a woman said, moving into view.

The girl turned towards the source of the voice, dark blonde hair falling over her shoulder. 'Okay,' she breathed in reply. Then the woman turned to a woman beside her and he heard a barrage of sound, words he did not understand.

'Hello there,' said the girl. 'You may not know it, but we've been waiting for you.'

The lights were bright, though not as bright as before.


Zelda wasn't sure what she was feeling. Relief, so intense it made her giddy. Amazement that she was here when it happened. Or perhaps fear. Fear of the unnatural strength the boy had shown when he shouldn't have been able to move.

She had discussed it with Malon, what it would be like if Link woke up. The nurse had admitted that she would be surprised if he did, but that she often thought of it. He would have no strength of course, being a long term case, with an even longer road of extensive therapy ahead of him.

When the orderly had been flung away as he held Link down, crashing into a cart of glass vials, there had been a moment of disbelief and shock around the room. Zelda, hovering on the edge of the scene, was frightened by the sudden violence. Then the boy had thrashed in such a way that his gaze fell upon her, and she, drawn by the pain and confusion she saw there, had immediately waded into the fray.

And so she sat on the side of his bed, stoking his arm and murmuring reassurances, while Dr Impa ordered tests and scans to be carried out, EEG's and CT's and other names which went straight over her head.

"I need Navi in here too," Impa muttered. "Page her, will you?" Another nurse, who was not Malon, nodded and hurried off.

Minutes passed, and Malon rushed into the ward again. "Doctor," she said hurriedly, "We should move him."

Dr Impa nodded absently, looking at the patient's chart. "With restraints," she amended, obviously remembering the way the orderly hit the cart. The arm beneath Zelda's palm tensed, and she wondered at the strength she felt there.


"You sound done in my girl!" her father bellowed down the phone line. She pictured him now, neat salt-and-pepper moustache contrasting quite shockingly with his boisterous manner.

"Long day," Zelda explained.

There was a crackling silence. He expected her to go on.

"I was at the hospital."

"Again? To inspect the work I presume? And how is the Noah Daphnes wing shaping up?"

Zelda blinked. Had it been that long since she last called? "Daddy...er, dad, that was finished a couple of months ago. It looks very good though, and I'm sure the people there appreciate your generosity."

Saria chose that moment to wander past, pulling a face when Zelda mouthed the word father.

"You want a job there then? You know, I changed my major a few times back in the day! There's nothing wrong with a little indecision...I mean, history is all very well and good, but will it pay the bills?" her father said, completely missing the point.

Zelda shook her head, despite the fact that he couldn't see her. She chose to ignore the obvious barb about her chosen degree. "No, that's not it. Just visiting a...friend actually. Just woke up from a coma while I was there. It was quite amazing really."

"A friend huh? Well isn't that nice! Anyway, your mother and I are going on a little trip, important clients and all that. We leave next week."

Zelda felt her heart sinking. She wasn't normally taken on these trips except when Noah Daphnes wanted to impress someone, parading his family and success until they were overwhelmed. It was so far off from the confined, life-or-death world of the hospital that she cringed at the very idea. Also, she thought guiltily of Link, and the connection they had made. She had managed to calm him down today, before he managed to hurt someone, but there was no way of knowing what would happen on other days.

She swallowed nervously, her words already forming a lump in her throat. The excuse already sounded plaintive and childish. "Well, dad, you know I'm very busy with uni right now, and-"

"Zelda," a thread of steel entering his tone, "I expect you to attend."


Ilia wasn't at the front desk this time, and Zelda found herself missing her easy charm. A dour-faced woman gave her a suspicious glare when she signed the book and asked directions to Patient HL93541's new room.

"You don't know the way? There's a sign, and a map. Over there," the woman said brusquely, jerking her head in the general direction. Immediately, her eyes dismissed her, lip curling at Zelda's ignorance.

"Thank-you," Zelda managed to say sweetly. This was how she responded in these situations, enjoying the way the rude person was caught off-guard.

A nurse, obviously in a hurry, gave her a few terse directions, apologising that he didn't have time to take her there herself. Zelda then followed the corridor to the end and rounded the corner, coming upon Link's new room. She peered inside, hoping it was the right one.

"Okay, you're doing great!" said the unfamiliar voice, speaking slowly and carefully. "Now I'm going to lift up your arm, but I want you to try and stop me, okay?"

Link, half sitting up, half slumped, was being tended to by an energetic woman in yellow scrubs. As warned, she lifted his arm, and a knot of concentration formed on his forehead as he attempted to prevent the movement. And failed. Disappointment clouded his features.

The woman reached over and ruffled his hair, giving a rueful smile. "It's alright, you know."

Then, to Zelda's surprise, the patient began to speak. Slowly, tentatively, as if every word had to be constructed meticulously before entering the world.

"I...can't...do...anything."

The woman, most likely a physical therapist, sighed. "Hey, it's gonna be okay." Link made a strangled sound. "Hey, listen! You're on a journey. You're only taking the first steps. Don't expect to be at your destination straight away," the woman said firmly.

"I...can't...walk...around. Can't...talk!" his voice was getting louder now. "This-is...isn't even...my voice!"

The woman turned to a nearby nurse. "He's getting agitated. Give him something."

Zelda saw Link's hand clutch at the sheets, bunching it up in his hand. "I...d...DON'T-"

She quickly strode into the room. The boy's gaze immediately met hers, and he relaxed. "It's alright. No one's going to give you anything," she said, as slowly and carefully as his therapist. The woman nodded her assent. "If you'd rather not, Link, then we won't give you anything."

Zelda looked up, startled. "Where did you get that name?"

"From Malon. She's a nurse here, you know? Since he can't remember."

There was a sound from the bed. "I...don't...mind. The nnn-name."

Malon entered the room, laden with a clear, plastic box of equipment. "Alright, I found it Navi, now could you – oh Zelda, how are you? I'm glad you're here, really. Link seems to have taken a shine to you, especially since yesterday! You should come more often."

Zelda felt oddly protective of the coma patient she had all but adopted, which is why she hated to leave him so soon. She shook her head. "I'm leaving on a trip next week."

The woman called Navi looked concerned. "Are you sure that's wise? Travelling I mean? Especially with things in the west-"

Zelda cut her off. "It's a family thing. my father doesn't seem to think the Gerudo are much of a threat, although I hate to leave," she said, feeling those last words more acutely than she had thought she would.

"Ss. Zssh." He had trouble with z's. She could imagine the sound buzzing around in his throat, as it did in hers. "Z...selda."

"I'll be back soon. Just a week. I'll come visit then." She tried to smile, wondering at what had taken shape, the day she wandered into the ICU, the day he had woken up, only to find himself lost and without a lifeline to hold.


She was dreaming again.

The sky was fully clouded now, smoke rising from the ground to join with the sky.

"It's time," said a voice. "The threat has been taken care of. We can prevent them from returning, or, we could simply...kill them. This land is in the palm of my hand. I can kill them all, on a whim, if that is my wish."

Then laughter, horrible, twisted laughter.


A/N - A new chapter! May you all enjoy, and let me know what you think of it. Thank-you to my reviewers, favouriters and alerters. You make me excited to write more:)