Chapter 8 – Swordfights

This may never start
We could fall apart
And I'd be your memory
Lost your sense of fear
Feelings insincere
Can I be your memory?
So get back, back, back to where we lasted
Just like I imagine
I could never feel this way
So get back, back, back to the disaster
My heart's beating faster
Holding on to feel the same
This may never start
I'll tear us apart
Can I be your enemy?
Losing half a year
Waiting for you here
I'd be your anything
So get back, back, back to where we lasted
Just like I imagine
I could never feel this way
So get back, back, back to the disaster
My heart's beating faster
Holding on to feel the same
This may never start
Tearing out my heart
I'd be your memory
Lost your sense of fear
I'd be your memory
Feelings disappeared
Can I be your memory?
So get back, back, back to where we lasted
Just like I imagine
I could never feel this way
So get back, back, back to the disaster
My heart's beating faster
Holding on to feel the same
This may never start
We could fall apart
And I'd be your memory
Lost your sense of fear
Feelings insincere
Can I be your memory?
Can I be your memory?

- "Memory" – Sugarcult

Link opened his eyes. He sat up slowly, half-waiting to hear screaming once again. When he heard nothing but birds singing from the balcony, he fell back against his pillows once more. He stared up at the canopy above him.

He had rocked Princess Zelda in his arms, humming songs that he had learned on his ocarina over the years, for what seemed like days. Her head had lulled comfortably against his chest, her soft hair pressed against his bare skin. The feeling in and of itself was pure heaven. Several times he had the itch to kiss the crown of her golden colored hair. He ignored the itches. He knew that being half naked in her room was wrong enough.

As he had watched her sleep, he had contemplated on how angelic she looked. Her skin was radiant even in the shadows. He longed to run his fingers along it, to brush his thumb along her cheeks. Her cheeks seemed to hold the memory of a blush that had grown faint. He wondered if perhaps he could bring the color back. But he knew better. That would require the princess feeling anything for him in return.

And yet…she had been screaming his name. She could have called out for any person and she had called for him. She had clung so desperately to him, as if she were afraid he would disappear at any moment. He had felt her fingernails in his back, but had been so focused on the princess cementing her body to his that he had forgotten.

Very carefully, he had taken one arm from around the princess. His fingers found the cuts in his back. The touch brought back the stinging. He could feel dry blood. But he still didn't mind, securing his arm around the woman in his lap once more.

He was content with her sleeping in his arms. It felt right. It felt like a piece of him that had been missing his whole life had been found once more. He smiled.

It had been at that moment that Impa had decided to show herself. Link didn't know how long she had been hiding in the shadows, but what he did know was that when she finally revealed herself…she was angry.

"What are you doing here?" She hissed quietly, seeing that Princess Zelda was deeply asleep. Her eyes were narrowed, her glare piercing Link clear through.

"I…I heard screaming." Link stood slowly. He held the princess. He noticed that she snuggled her head further into his chest. Butterflies fluttered like mad in his stomach, making it increasingly difficult to draw breath.

"You should not be here." Impa was at the bed in a flash, pulling back the sheets with one hand while she signaled Link with the other. He obeyed, not wanting to get himself in anymore trouble that night.

Princess Zelda seemed reluctant to be as obedient. Her arms were like a vice grip around Link's neck. She seemed to whimper in her sleep, her face distorting from that of the peaceful look on her features just moments before. Impa had to go to Link's side of the bed and pry her off of him.

"Wait for me at the balcony." She commanded, laying the princess in the bed.

Link had waited in the moonlight. He fidgeted with his britches, curling and un-curling his toes against the cold cobblestone beneath his feet. He looked down at his hands, first his palms and then he flipped them over. It was then that he became puzzled. There appeared to be a triangle glowing on the back of his right hand. It would grow faint and then become very bright. Link looked up at the moon, thinking it was a trick of the light.

Impa roughly grabbed Link's hand. His attention was jerked to her face. She looked very stern, but not as angry as she had appeared before. She flipped his hand over and pressed his hookshot into his palm.

"Go back to your room Link. From now on, let me deal with things like this." She folded her arms over her chest, waiting for Link to do as he was told.

Link threw back the sheets, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He yawned, running a hand through his messy hair. He must have looked like some sort of beast to Princess Zelda. But then again, women didn't latch themselves onto beasts.

Just stop thinking about it. You made a big mess last night and you need to fix it. Find the princess and apologize. Promise her that it won't happen again. Link nodded in agreement with the voice inside of his head.

He found his clothes folded neatly on the chest at the foot of the bed. He dressed quickly after attempting to clean the cuts on his back. They stung when the water touched them but Link didn't mind. He'd had worse.

Once he was dressed and equipped with all of his weapons, he set out to find Princess Zelda. He hoped that she wasn't too angry with him. He prayed that she didn't have him thrown in a dungeon somewhere.

The guards had gotten used to Zelda using them as practice. What they hadn't gotten used to, however, was the savageness of the princess. She turned into a completely different person when she fought. They often joked that had she been born a man, she would have made one hell of a soldier.

When Zelda used her sword, she allowed all of the coldness she felt to take over. It was easy to mow someone down when you didn't care. She knew that it was a terrible thing to think but then again, she had seen battlefields soaked in blood when she had served as a nurse during dark years. It was something that soldiers didn't admit to, but she knew that they took on the same kind of thinking when they went to war.

She had begun using a sword when Impa had started teaching her at the age of thirteen. Impa was a skilled fighter. Zelda had never beaten Impa in a match. However, Impa never found an opponent that tired her out as much or came so close to defeating her.

Zelda was terrible with a bow. It was as if she wanted to take the arrow and use it to stab someone instead of letting the bow do the work.

That morning, Zelda had decided to spend an hour or two practicing. She dressed appropriately, letting Impa tie her forever long hair into a loose braid. It always moved from the center of the back of her head more towards the right.

She wore a burgundy colored vest made from leather with matching gauntlets. They were laced up with ribbons – Impa's touch. Her white skirt was long and flowing, only revealing the tips of her boots. There was armor covering her shoulders.

She had already defeated two of the six guards she was matched up with. They sat watching from the sidelines, tending to bumps and bruises they had gained during their own fights.

The rules were simple: two at a time. Once one is down, one runs in to take his place. Zelda was fighting two at that very moment. One was about ready to fall over; the other had just gotten started.

The tired guard could barely keep up with Zelda's blade. He breathed heavily while the two swords danced together, creating a song each time the blades met. She used the stab suddenly, catching him off guard. The force of her sword against his armor sent him flying. He was glad to be out as he heard her battle cries. Whenever she started using them, she was really getting into the fights.

Another guard entered the fight to replace the last. Zelda flipped out of the way of his hasty move. Before her feet barely touched the ground she leapt towards him, high into the air, and came down with her sword with a cry. The blade met with his helmet, knocking him down to his knees. She pressed her blade to his bare throat.

"Yield." She snarled under her breath. She didn't wait for an answer, seeing the other guard creeping up on her out of the corner of her eye. She swung violently at him, barely missing his neck. The other guards looked on worriedly.

He fell on his back. Zelda jumped on him, straddling his torso. She ripped off his helmet, holding the tip of her sword just beneath his chin. She glared down at him, breathing in and out quite shakily. He looked up at her with fear in his eyes.

"Zelda." Impa put a hand on her shoulder. She had already sent the guards away. They had refused to go any further, insisting that one day Zelda was going to kill someone. One of the guards had gone away with a handprint on his face after calling her psychotic. "Come on let him up."

Disgusted, Zelda got up off of the guard. She chucked his helmet at the castle wall, practically growling in frustration.

"Is there no one?" She asked, glancing around the courtyard. The guard had already run off, leaving only Impa and Zelda.

"I will go and get the archery targets." When she was met with groans, Impa raised an eyebrow until Zelda was silent. "You need practice."

Zelda spun around to face the window. She could see into the throne room. She heard Impa sigh heavily and then her footsteps fading. When she was gone, Zelda pressed her forehead against the windowpane.

Though she had been fighting hard, she was still freezing inside and out. The window wasn't anywhere near as cold as she was. Her skin might have frozen the glass and shattered it.

The courtyard always made Zelda feel even chillier than normal. It was disturbing, for the courtyard was always sunny and filled with lovely flowers of every shade. Zelda mused that perhaps that had something to do with the hostility that ran through her veins when she fought.

Zelda heard footsteps returning. She was about to turn when she caught sight of green in the window. Impa was not wearing green. She never did.

Without another thought, her sword was spinning with her body. But to her surprise, her blade met with another. The sound echoed throughout the courtyard. There was then silence, save the sounds of two people breathing.

Link didn't seem surprised, only curious. He held his defensive stance, keeping Zelda's blade at bay. He tried to look into her eyes but found that they were guarded. Heavily. He cocked his head to the side as he continued to stare at her.

"How did you do that?" She asked. She hadn't even bothered asking what he was doing sneaking up on her. She was interested in how he had unsheathed his sword so quickly and blocked her blow. All without making a sound.

"I don't know. I've been in a lot of situations where I've had to be quick. I guess it just sticks." He offered a smile but could see that he wasn't going to get one in return. Not knowing how to break the second wave of silence, he went to sheath his sword once more. Zelda's blade blocked his sheath.

"Don't." It wasn't a command, but a request. Link could sense begging in her tone. He couldn't deny her. He nodded and he again saw the ghost of a smile on her lips for a brief moment, the same as he had seen the day before.

I listened to "Freak On A Leash" when I wrote this. I recommend listening to it.

Link took a step back. He raised his sword to hers, the blades clinging together. He couldn't help but be reminded of Zelda the night before. But the thought passed quickly as she lashed out. His blade met hers and the fight began.

Zelda was very impressed with his skill right away. He was able to get down the stairs with his back turned from them while fighting off her attacks. She was driven to fight harder, however, because his every move seemed so effortless.

Once they were on the grass, they had more room to move about. She steered clear of the walls for fear that he might try to corner her and he seemed to do the same. She rolled suddenly, between his legs, attempting to surprise him from behind. But she was surprised herself when he spun and back flipped gracefully just in time to miss her stab.

She lunged at him, but every attack was blocked. He was one step ahead of her. Usually, she would have been highly annoyed with Impa when she did this. But Zelda couldn't help the overwhelming feeling to smile.

It was her own fault for letting herself get caught up in the feeling. She hadn't been paying attention. She stepped backward into the fountain and slipped. She landed on her rear in the fountain, water spilling out from the top falling in waves on her head.

And she laughed. The sound came out naturally, which surprised her ears. She expected her laughter to sound dusty and covered in cobwebs. But it was as if Link had been making her laugh her entire life.

"Princess Zelda are you alright?" He asked, trying to keep his own building laughter inside.

"Oh shut up." She laughed, using her foot to hook around his ankle. She tripped him, pulling him forward. He landed on his face in the water beside her.

When he surfaced, Link was barely breathing through his laughter. He sat up, waves of water falling onto his own head. He removed his hood and began to wring it out, which only made Zelda laugh harder.

After some time had passed, and the both of them were giving their aching ribs time to rest, Link stood up. He stretched out a hand to Zelda. She looked at it questioningly, but only for a moment.

But when their skin touched, something happened.

"What are you doing Zelda?" He asked, trying to see around her.

"Well since I have a tiara, I figured you should have a crown." She presented him with a circlet made of flowers, giggling infectiously as she placed it on his head.

Zelda let go of his hand quickly, pressing hers to her head. She closed her eyes and felt hot tears rising. She felt the same way she had felt last night. In her dreams, Link had held her in his arms and when she her skin had touched his chest, she had seen things.

"Princess Zelda…?" She opened her eyes in time to see Link lifting a hand to touch her. She backed away. Her tears had disappeared.

"I'm fine." She moved her fingers through her dripping hair. It had come out of its braid long before she had fallen into the fountain. She offered Link a fake smile. "You fight well."

"As do you princess." He returned her smile with a fake one as well.

"I should go change." She said suddenly, turning to leave. She fisted her skirt, lifting it up over her boots to make running all the more easy. But she was stopped.

"Princess Zelda…about last night…"

"What about last night?" She turned, curious.

"You know…you were screaming and I-"

"I-It's quite alright Link. No harm done." She then began running from him. As she ran, her mind raced. Why had Impa told her that Link being in her room was a dream? Why was she seeing Link each time their skin touched? And how and why had she been dreaming of him all these years?

If Impa wasn't going to help her get away from the castle, then Zelda was going to leave by herself.