2-2-13: ...Ugh, I realized when I accidentally reuploaded this chapter I uploaded a snippet of a one-shot I was planning to write. It was very crappy and cheesy and I apologize to anybody who saw that.

HOW EMBARRASSING. ;A;

She blinked.

Once, twice maybe. More than that.

Her vision was hazy; blurred. She could hear noises; strange noises, strange shapes in front of her. She blinked again and everything came into view.

Above her, the darkness had faded. Sunlight streaked down, warm and welcoming.

Zelda's head hurt. There was a dull, persistent pain in her chest. Every breath came out ragged. It hurt. It hurt to live.

She found herself in someone's arms.

"You're awake." Somebody laughed; a strange, choked laughter. Like they were happy-mixed-sad laughter. Zelda thought it was strange. Her head spun, her chest hurt, everything was a mix.

It felt weird. She felt light. Like this wasn't reality. Like it was a dream. Like nothing mattered anymore.

Memories came flooding back. Of knives and lions. Of antidotes and towers. Of dreams.

Did they succeed?

Zelda struggled to sit up, but the person holding her pressed her back down gently.

"You're not strong enough yet." The voice was soft. Kind. Zelda stared up into cerulean eyes. Link.

"The antidote," she said. Or at least, she tried. Her voice was raspy and dry in her throat. Her chest heaved. It hurt; so much.

"I got it. Everything's okay." Link soothed her. Zelda realized that bandages; linen, blood-stained bandages were wrapped all around her. Around the horrible wound. Absent-mindedly, he ran his fingers through her hair.

Once again, everything felt weird. She felt so light-weight.

Zelda couldn't comprehend what was going on. It hurt too much. Nothing made sense—the antidote.

"The disease? Is it gone?" Common sense was returning to her; slowly. Steadily.

"It's gone. Everything's gone. You won." His voice was strained with emotion. Zelda blinked her heavy eyelids and stared up towards the sky. Pieces of the roof had fallen away; creating rubble. And up in the sky, the sun smiled down at her. No darkness. None at all.

A smile spread across her face. And then, pieces of common sense slid together once more.

"Captain," she told him jokingly, "what's our status?"

He laughed. It sounded hollow, yet happy at the same time. Her tired mind couldn't understand how that was possible.

"Marth's wounded. He's got a few bruised ribs, but he'll live. Snake and Samus have a few broken bones, but they're alive. Everything's in good condition. They're gone."

He didn't need to explain what was gone. She knew. She just knew. The disease-everything.

"Good..." Her sentence trailed off. Everything trailed off.

And then the breathing got harder, the pains increased, everything spun, her mind ached, and everything went black once more.

Link was in hysterics. She was awake. He had her. Almost. But now...

"Peach!" He cried, shouting for the blonde nurse. Peach shuffled towards him, limping because of a sprained ankle. She saw Zelda and she shook her head.

Peach kneeled beside Zelda's body.

"Will she be alright?" Link's questions bombarded Peach. Not now, not when everything was over. She couldn't die now.

"She'll live," He could barely hear the nurse's voice, "but the question is..."

"...do you want to live?" Zelda blinked. She sat up, and wrapped her arms around herself. She was sitting, on grass. Clouds roamed lazily above her.

Somebody was standing in front of her. Red eyes, blonde hair. Gentle smile. Sheik.

She couldn't speak. Her mouth was frozen.

"Sheik?" She stammered.

A smile.

"Do you want to live?" He repeated. "It's your choice. Life or death. Your mission is over. Everything is over. You can go here—"He gestured towards a staircase. "The Sacred Realm..."

Where was she? The in-between? In-between life and death? Hazy. Still so hazy.

"...or you can go back there." He pointed to another staircase. Zelda couldn't understand. Her emotions were explosive. Sheik. Her brother. Alive. In front of her. Not a monster.

"I—"She trailed off.

The world down there. There was still so much. They were starting over. Anew. The disease was gone. Everything was gone.

"I..."

Link closed the door behind him. Zelda was resting, or at least, her body was. They still didn't know if she was dead or alive. There was a pulse, of course, but she seemed to be out cold. Peach's statement resonated in his mind. Chilling.

"Does she want to live?"

Of course Zelda did. Zelda wouldn't leave him behind. Zelda wouldn't—

He was being selfish.

People, all around him, were standing up. People that used to be Followers. After he'd placed the antidote in the tower, everything exploded. Smoke, everywhere. He couldn't see anything. And then he saw this. People, children, women, men, standing up. Normal people.

Everything was over.

He laughed. It seemed so surreal. Link, a Warrior. Zelda, lying in her bed, half-way dead.

A little girl pulled on his shirt and he looked down.

The girl had two blonde pigtails and a curious gaze. A woman who appeared to be her mother came trailing after them.

"Is everything gonna be alright?" The girl was so cute. He realized the question was directed at him. With the blonde pigtails and the cute manner, she almost looked like...

"Aryll?" He wondered aloud. The girl looked at him strangely, and he smiled, ignoring the burning shame. Of course the girl wasn't Aryll.

"Don't worry about it." He squeezed her hand reassuringly. The girl smiled.

"I had a dream," she told him, "about these pale creatures and darkness and bodies...It was scary." She shivered.

Link smiled at her fondly.

"It was just a nightmare. Everything is okay now."

The girl seemed to brighten up at his words and she popped a finger into her mouth, still staring at him with her wide, vast eyes.

"What's your name, mister?"

The smile never faded from Link's face.

"Link."

"Mine's Saria."

"Where are you planning to go now, Marth?" Link sat with Marth. There were bandages wrapped around Marth's ribs and his legs. Link realized it was a lot of work for Peach.

"I don't know." The blue-haired man shrugged, and winced because it hurt to do so. "I really don't."

"You could stay with us." Link said automatically. But what exactly was 'us'? The other members of the Alliance were probably returning home. To their families, who had most likely recovered. Those who used to be Followers reverted to humans. The dead never rose, but it was good enough.

And he realized the other members didn't have family. This was their family now. They'd stay together and—

"I think I'd like that." Marth smiled.

As Link made his way back to Zelda's room, he couldn't describe his feelings. Everywhere, people coming back to normal. It was amazing. Apparently, to these people, everything had just been a dream.

He wished.

But as much as he hated to admit it, the disease had changed his life. He had met Zelda. He had met some of the most courageous, most skilled fighters he had ever known. And he had changed.

Warrior. Courage.

He opened the door, peering inside. Zelda still lay on the makeshift bed. She was so still. Small, little breaths came out in a steady rhythm. She almost looked like she was sleeping.

This woman willingly put her life up for him. For the world. And now, when everything was over, she was finally willing to let go.

"Don't let go," he whispered, and held her hand tightly. It was cold and surprisingly small.

And then, the small hand warmed up and grasped his as well. Slowly, she sat up, and stormy eyes stared back at him. There was a smile in those eyes.

"Not yet."

- FIN –

Wow, guys, it's been a blast. I loved writing this story. I really did. I doubt you loved reading it as much as I loved writing it, but PLEASE review! My original plan was to kill Zelda off (just for angst) and then I was like, NAH...

As for LLB and Psychic Prince, I hope you liked it.

Thank you to everyone for supporting me till the end. It was really, amazingly, truthfully fun to write this story. What a major accomplishment for me—nearly 25,000 words in two months? :D

Please review! And good luck to me in the contest, haha.