Ta-daaaaaaa! Chapter three is here :D I've been working hard to make my chapters longer, so this took a little longer to write, but I think it turned out well. Enjoy! Oh yeah, MERRY CHRISTMAS! :DD


Silent. It was all the inn had been for hours. It set a somewhat peaceful atmosphere in the inn, but was the very thing tormenting the princesses, making them anything but peaceful. Zelda from her chair, and Midna from the shadows watched and waited for their hero to come to consciousness, and give them a sign – anything – to let them know he would be okay. Link lay there breathing slowly, the only sign of life he had given them, and the only hope the princesses had of him waking up.

The sun rose, signalling the beginning of a new day. Somewhere outside, a stray Cucco yelped a startling wake-up call. Just as Zelda was going to doze off once more, sounds of waking children roused her. Oh yes, Zelda remembered, the village children Link was so fond of. He had spoken to Midna a great number of times about how much he loved them, especially a young boy by the name of Colin.

Colin; the boy Link saw as a brother. The brave, caring, kind boy Link had talked about so often. He must have been very important to Link, for he had been one of the things that made Link continue in his quest during the hardest parts.

On a trip back to Ordon Village, Link had stopped at his house. There were numerous pictures on his walls: the village children, Epona, another man about his age, and the goats he spent his time herding before he became the hero. He spent the night there, got some much needed rest. It was too dangerous to get a full nights' sleep in the dungeons and lands he had been exploring. Here he could finally rest in peace. When he got up he had taken one of the pictures down. Zelda noticed they looked hand-drawn. Link had been quite the artist. He sketched one of the children into a book, a journal, perhaps, ripped the page out, and put it in his adventure pouch, though Zelda didn't see which one he drew. His next destination was Arbiter's Grounds. After being stuck in that dungeon for about a week, Link was about to give up hope. He was injured, dehydrated, and hopeless. He had many bites, all over him, from when those rats jumped on him, and attacked. One bite on his neck was bleeding the most. To heal the bites, that were very prone to infection, Link had looked for his last red potion. He finished it, and just as he was about to put it back, he noticed a slightly crumpled piece of paper sticking out of his pouch. Upon taking it out, he saw it was a picture of a familiar young boy. Smiling, he folded it neatly and put it back in his pouch. She remembered him saying 'You're right Colin. I can't give up. Not while you're waiting for me.' before getting up to finish the rest of the temple. That boy meant the world to Link.

There was the pitter-patter of bare feet on the on the wood floor. A young girl, no older than twelve poked her head in through the door. She had pale skin, with large cyan-coloured eyes. Short brown hair framed her rounded face, and there was a splash of freckles above her nose. Her ears were rounded, unlike Link's, surprisingly. Zelda had always thought Link had come from Ordon Village, but it seemed the people of Ordon had rounder ears than the Hyrulians. Perhaps he moved there, and his parents were from Castle Town, though Zelda didn't know; Link seldom talked about his past.

"Hey, is that…?!" the girl began, stepping in front of the doorway now.

"What is it Beth?" came a quiet voice. Zelda had to check twice to make sure she wasn't seeing double. The boy looked like Link. A lot like Link. He had the same stormy blue eyes as Link, peachy skin, arched eyebrows, and determined look. The only difference between them was their hair – Link's hair was slightly darker and longer, but blonde all the same– and the shape of their ears. By the gods, he even wore the same shade of green as Link's tunic for his pants. They looked like brothers, and if Zelda had to guess, she would have guessed this boy to be the one Link was so fond of; Colin. He must have taken after Link, she laughed, even though she knew they weren't really related.

The girl Zelda inferred to be Beth, covered her mouth with her fists, like she was trying to suppress a million ideas from just bursting out of her. She seemed to dance on the spot in excitement, and squealed, "LOOK! It's Princess Zelda!" The young girl gasped before turning red and dipping into an awkward bow. Zelda smiled at her antics. No wonder Link loved these children; they were so kind and energetic. They lifted her spirits, and made her forget her worries for a minute.

A third child ran to the door to see if what Beth had said was true. He looked to be about eleven, and very energetic. He had a small smirk on his lips, and even had slightly toned arms. Impressive, for an eleven year old that is. He had large green eyes, the colour of a green field in the midst of spring, and arched eyebrows that seemed to exaggerate his excited look. He had full cheeks, and a bright red bandana tied around his unruly brown hair that draped down his right cheek. His blue pants were worn and ripped, as if he had been recently embarking on an adventure of his own, and he dragged a wooden stick with him, that Zelda presumed to be a make-shift sword. His over-all look gave a rough and brave feel. Maybe he took after Link too. He was a great role model after all. Perhaps he was pretending to be Link.

He skidded to a stop and backtracked a few steps after he stopped sliding. He stared in bewilderment at the formally dressed woman in the room. "WHOA! It is the princess!" He continued to gawk and point at her, obviously forgetting the rule about it not being polite to point, let alone at a princess, but Zelda didn't mind.

"Talo," the shaman, who had just recently been downstairs, said. "Do not yell, or you'll wake Link." Colin ran up to the beds that were lining the wall. Each had a curtain to separate between them, so the boy ran to the only one with the curtain drawn. Once he pulled it back, he saw a very pale looking body. There in the bed lay Link, clad only in his pants, but was sweating until his bangs stuck to his forehead. The bandages wrapped around various parts of him were beginning to soak through again. Multiple bruises covered his body, and it was obvious that he had broken bones because of the cast he wore on his leg and the extensive wrapping on his shoulder.

The boy sadly moved Link's bangs from his forehead. Resting his palm on Link's forehead, he checked for a temperature, in hopes that his brother, as he saw Link, was merely sick; something that could be cured. "No one told us Link was here." Colin stated quietly, almost wishing Link wasn't here, and that he didn't have to see him like this.

Zelda's heart ached for the little boy. He looked so sad to see Link this way that she felt guilty for not being able to heal all of the Ordonian's wounds on the battle field. Colin began to cry, as his hand recoiled from Link. His temperature was much too high to just be a fever. The shaman had long since run out of potions. Without the proper medicine he could...

Link shifted slightly in discomfort. It was a miracle he hadn't woken up yet, as Link usually was over-alert to his surroundings. It helped him survive on his quest. It was how he survived. He must be in desperate need of rest if he were still asleep.

"Is he dead?" a small boy mumbled. Zelda looked at him; she hadn't even noticed him come. He was small and chubby, and looked considerably similar to that loud boy, Talo. His eyes and hair were the same colour as Talo, though he had much less hair than his presumed sibling. His clothing was too big for him, probably hand-me-downs, but they were unusually clean and bright. Expensive looking, though Zelda didn't know where a five year old would get enough money to buy it.

"Hmph. Probably already is."

"Shut up, Malo!" Beth cried, obviously upset that he could say such a thing, "How would you know? You're probably too short to even see him!"

Malo just huffed at her, and then turned away from Colin who was crying even harder, while holding Link's hand.

"Children," Renado scolded, "Link will be fine, so long as he gets his rest." Renado's tone, however slight, wavered at the end, as if he was uncertain, but then continued, "Malo, do you have any red potion left at the store?"

"No," he mumbled, "Those soldiers and Colin's dad bought all of it. Said they needed to go back and find Link." Walking away he mumbled to himself, "…going to be out of stock for…"

Zelda watched intently as the young children protested having to be sent away, when they could help Link get better. Zelda smiled at their innocence. They loved Link, just as all of Hyrule and the Twilight Realm would once they heard of his good deeds. The Twilight Realm. Zelda knew of Midna's plans regarding the Twilight Mirror. She looked to Link's shadow sadly, which shifted uncomfortably at Zelda's gaze.

If only there were another way, I would…

After pulling the children away from Link, and out of the room, Renado shut the door. "Princess," he said as he handed her a bowl of porridge, and dipped his head respectfully. The princess accepted the food graciously and smiled at him.

"Thank you,"

"You must rest. You are weary of these recent events. Please, help yourself to a bed and rest. Luda will be up with new sheets and a change of clothes."

"Thank you Renando. Your kindness is greatly appreciated." The shaman took this as his cue to leave, closing the door gently, and leaving a very tired princess in his wake. A few minutes later, Zelda was settled into the bed beside Link's in a fresh cotton gown.

It was a very simple peasant gown; a soft blue, with long sleeves, square neckline, and a matching blue ribbon to tie her hair up with. It felt nice to be out of her normal attire; this felt so cozy. Within minutes Zelda was fast asleep, the stress of the whole situation sinking away with her consciousness.


It took a while for his eyes to adjust to the darkness in the room. Link blinked a few times before trying to prop himself up into a seated position. He bit into his lip until he drew blood at the sudden pain exploding all over his body. Link gasped before sinking back down onto the bed and groaned as the pain reminded him of his wounds. His head ached, bandages were soaked through, his chest was bare (except for the multiple bandages), but he was sweating, his right arm was burning, as if it were on fire, and he couldn't move it, he felt weak, and his left leg was wrapped tightly and propped up on a stool. It even hurt to breathe. Shivering, he reached for a blanket with his good arm, but found there was none.

"Hey, take it easy!" Midna chimed, as she appeared from his shadow. Link opened his shut eyes – it was his way of dealing with pain – and gazed at her. It took a while before he registered that Midna was indeed the woman standing in front of him, and not still an imp.

"Am I really that beautiful?" Link smiled and wondered how she always was able to read his expression like that in the dark.

"How long…" he found it hard to speak, and tasted something bitter in his mouth.

Midna laughed, "You've been asleep for one day," and noticing the disgusted look on his face, she continued, "and Renado gave you some alcohol as a pain killer."

"Yuck!" Link said, making a sour face, as if he'd eaten a lemon. He had never been one to drink, and never planned on it.

"So," Midna began, changing the subject, "how are you feeling?"

"Could've been better," Link coughed. Truthfully, he just wished he could chug the whole bottle of alcohol, despite its vile taste, and drift back off into a painless dream-land again. Now talking was becoming difficult too.

Changing the subject yet again, Midna said, "I…I just wanted you to know that I'm so proud of you. I really…enjoyed our time together." Her voice cracked, and she mentally hit herself for finding this so hard to say to the man she owed everything to. He had saved Hyrule, the Twilight realm, the citizens and her, yet she couldn't spit out a simple thank you. Of course, she knew this was more than just a thank you, but a sort of good-bye too. Luckily for her, Link already seemed to be drifting off to sleep, and didn't notice her wavering tone.

"Don't be so sad," he paused to yawn, "I'll visit you in the Twilight Realm…and you can come here too…"

"Link," she said quietly, as tears filled her eyes. "I-"

The door creaked open, and Midna dove back into Link's shadow without finishing her sentence.

"Link," Renado called softly, unsure if he was asleep or not.

"Hmmm?" Link's sleepy voice answered. He looked up at the shaman, half-asleep.

"Good to see you awake," Renado said, trying to engage the young man into conversation, so he wouldn't fall asleep. He brought a bottle of hard alcohol to Link's lips, and forced him to drink it. After a few sips Link began sputtering and choked on the strong substance. After Renado helped him up, Link finished the drink. "How are you feeling?"

"Mmm okay…" Renado began unwrapping the wet bandage around Link's torso, as Link's speech became slurred from all the alcohol he had.

"I'm sorry I don't have any potions to heal you with. I used them all on the soldiers that came here. You know them don't you? The resistance group. Rusl said that they made it out of the castle before it blew up, except for Auru. He…didn't quite make it out in time, but they went back to look for you."

"Oww," Link whined in his delusional state, oblivious to what Renado was telling him. "That hurts!" The shaman continued to sterilize, and then stitch back together, the gash across Link's stomach, despite his protests. They had been stretched, and a few broken. Renado sighed; Link must have been trying to get up. Stitches didn't usually break that easily, but then again, this was just normal thread. The shaman had used the better quality thread on the soldiers that had come here. He had thought that Link would go to the Castle Town doctor, or even Telma's Bar to be treated. After all, wasn't the battle with Ganondorf fought at Hyrule Castle? In fact, Renado didn't understand how Link got here in his current state. He could barely stay awake, let alone make the long journey from Hyrule Castle to Kakariko Village to be treated. All Link could do was grit his teeth, as the sharp metal weaved its way through his skin.

"Ungh…" Link grunted when the shaman proceeded to sterilize his shoulder too. He dug his head into the pillow his head was resting on, to relieve the pounding in his head. Sensing Link's discomfort, Renado made him drink some more of the strong alcohol, and before long, Link was fast asleep. After tending to Link's other wounds, the shaman wiped the sweat from Link, and left to go get him a blanket. Sweating but cold... Renado wondered, perhaps he is sick too. He made haste to get Link his blanket.

"Oh Link," Midna cried, emerging from his shadow. She gently traced where a single tear had escaped Link's eye. He had been in so much pain, even though he was quite out of it from all the alcohol he had been forced to consume. She couldn't begin to imagine what it must have felt like to get so badly injured. "I'm so sorry. For pushing you past your breaking point and hurting you even more. I'm sorry I was so selfish. I-I'm sorry for using you. I'm sorry for all I did…and what I'm going to do." Midna continued to sob quietly, wetting the Ordonian's chest, but not waking up Zelda. There was so much more she had to tell him. So much to thank him for, but she uttered not a word. It wouldn't matter after this, anyways. She was lost in her own guilt. Submerged in the sinking feeling that all she had done was hurt him, and all she would continue to do is hurt him. She was drowning in her own failures.

She didn't hear Renado come in. He stood, frozen at the door, shocked at the sight of a third… something, whatever it was, inside. He grabbed his dagger; he always had one on him in case of an emergency, and slowly made his way over to the weeping…thing. Midna turned at the sound of footsteps, and screamed when she saw a blade coming down at her.

"Stop!"

The shaman stopped just inches away from Midna. He turned to Zelda, who had just awoken.

"Princess?"

"Renado. Put down your weapon." Zelda said sternly, but calm. "This is no enemy."

"Forgive me, princess, but this thing is a monster. How can you trust it? "

"Do you not trust my judgement?"

"I'm sorry, I –"

"Don't scold him Zelda," Midna cut in, "the scene must have looked very misleading. He must have thought that I was here to harm Link. After all, I don't exactly look human." She added the last part in an attempt to make light of the situation, but Zelda didn't laugh or even smile.

Sighing Zelda said, "You're right Midna." She looked at the shaman and continued, " Renado, this is Princess Midna, rightful heir to the Twilight throne."

"A Twili," Renado mused, setting down his blade, earning a sigh of relief from the Twilight Princess. "So then, the rumours are true about the Usurper King of Twilight invading Hyrule?"

"Yes,"

"I am terribly sorry for my rash behaviour…Princess Midna. I assumed you were one of Ganondorf's minions, here to finish Link off while he was sleeping."

Smiling at him, Midna replied, "It's okay. It is good to meet you in person. You've healed Link so many times on his journey. He probably wouldn't be alive if it weren't for you."

Link began shivering again, and stirred in his sleep. Renado got up and wrapped Link's body as gently as he could, in the blanket and thanked Midna for her kind words.

Suddenly serious, Renado said, "Princesses," his voice was filled with remorse, "I fear Link may not survive this time. He has lost too much blood, and I think his wounds have been infected." Zelda's eyes went wide, and filled with tears. Her mouth opened slightly to say something, but Midna got to it first.

"No. That can't be. Link is Link, he never gives up!" Midna shouted, crying now. She didn't want to believe the words she was hearing. After all they had been through he couldn't just die on her now.

Zelda…

The princess grasped at her head. Power surged through her, and it left her with a massive headache.

"It's okay Midna…" Link managed in a raspy voice. He must have woken up when she began yelling. "I'm ready this time…"

"NO! You are not giving up on me Link!" She squeezed his left hand tightly, almost to reassure herself that he was still there. He squeezed back weakly.

"I've done my job. Everyone is finally safe."

"Link, don't talk like that! You'll be fine!" Tears poured down her face, and she looked to Zelda for assistance. Zelda just watched Link sadly, and let the tears slide down her face too.

"I'll be –" A wave of pain rocked through his body, effectively silencing the rest of his sentence. He moaned loudly, and squeezed Midna's hand with all the strength he had left in an attempt to stop the pain. More tears spilled from her eyes at the agony he was in. Link took in a sharp breath and continued, "- fine."

Remember your powers…

Zelda gasped at the pain exploding in her head.

Link's breathing sped up, and he started sweating from all the internal turmoil he was going through. Knowing that it wouldn't be much longer, Link smiled, "Good-bye…" Slowly, the pain began fading away, and he felt… peaceful.

"LINK!" Midna screamed. His hand lost its grip on hers, and slid down. His smile was still there, but his eye lids drooped shut. "Don't do this to me Link! You can't die!"

Zelda… The Triforce…

Her hands began glowing a bright blue. Zelda had been able to use a tiny fraction of the power entrusted to her before, but nothing like this. Hearing the beautiful voice call her name once more, Zelda knew what she had to do.


Sorry if you are confused about the point of view. I won't be writing in first person very much, if at all. I like writing in third person, but from the perspective of one person. At the beginning of the story it is in Zelda's perspective, but in third person, so you see what Zelda what sees and notices, but not in first person.

The way I tried to portray Zelda, was as an observant and smart person. So I described how the children looked, because this is the first time Zelda is seeing them (well, at least in her own body) and this is what she noticed. And, because I wanted her to show her wisdom (being the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom and all) I made her infer who was who, and how old the children were.

As for the voices in italics, the first one is Midna, talking from the shadows, and the second is for you to find out :P I think it is kind of obvious, but I'll be leaving clues along the way to hint at who they may be. BTW Zelda was worried about Link while he was dying, so don't worry, she wasn't just some self-centered princess worrying about a simple headache while the hero was dying beside her. She was getting some...divine messages. Some important divine messages :P

Sorry there wasn't much Midna in this chapter, there will be a LOT more of her soon, and less of Zelda, so I just wanted to give Zelda some time to shine.

About Link's house... I was playing Twilight Princess, and got the idea to add in something about his house. I remember seeing a diary or journal on his table that had drawings inside. So, Link draws. He also has pictures on his wall of Beth, Colin, Talo, Malo, Fado, Epona and the goats. Well, its in not like they had camera's in Ordon, so I figured Link drew them. He does draw in his book too, so why not? I would have added in some more detail about his house, but to do that I would have to be able to go inside Link's house, and I can't. As it is, I'm stuck in Lakebed Temple, and can't warp out (even though I do have Ooccoo) because I can't figure out how to leave the Lanayru province :/ So I'll figure it out, add the detail later. I didn't want to keep you waiting for another chapter any longer, so I just left it at that.

Thanks to veggiefruit, CupcakePride101, Selphie Kinneas 175, and Angelsong2001 for reviewing. Reviews make my day! :DD

Also, thank you veggiefruit, genericperson, Lady Isludis, 14shadowrose, Angelsong2001, and CupcakePride101 for favouriting and following my story!

veggiefruit, thanks for your advice and kind words! And, what do you mean by "snoehead"? Are you referring to Snowpeak? If so, I think Snowpeak is part of Hyrule because Snowpeak is park of the Snowpeak Province, so it should be.

CupcakePride101, thank you, once again, for reviewing. It makes me so happy to know that I have consistent readers, especially one that reviews every chapter. :) Thank you!

Angelsong2001, thanks for your compliments. I was having a bit of writers block, and then I got your review; it brightened my day! Needless to say, you helped me over it :P Thank you! It's also nice to know that my writing can make you feel an emotion, like sadness. Luckily, now I do have a lot of inspiration ;)

Thanks for telling me I have improved Selphie! You have no idea how much it means to me, coming from a great reader like you. Also, thanks for pointing out that error with Renado's name. I can't believe I've been mispronouncing his name all this time .