A/N: soooo, its been a while. i doubt anyone would believe how little time i had to think about this the last 6 months. literally, no time. i had to re-read the story myself, (so many errors, at least its mostly consistent, and why, i think i even sensed a plot in there somewhere!). this mini-chapter is my attempt to kick start myself back into things. we'll see how it goes. thanks to those who sent along encouragement!

Chapter 13: A Dream to Kill

Zelda paced the middle ring of the Finon Circle. Sweat was beginning to sting her eyes as the morning sun climbed above the inner walls. She could feel the heat of the sun on the top of her head, and she noticed Link squint for a moment. NOW! The thought and action were finally simultaneous, and she lunged forward immediately, her right hand shifting to the bottom of the slender sword handle, pushing forward. Her eyes were locked on her target, an imaginary golden triforce that shimmered like summer sun on his chest. A short grunt from Link and the resistance of her sword rewarded her. Dropping her practice sword she raised her fists to the sky in triumph, spinning about to excite the imagined crowd. She was wearing a loose skirt that reached just below her knees, the traditional garb of young Sheikah female warriors, and it blew up a bit too much as she spun about. Blushing fiercely, Zelda kept her back turned and smoothed out the matching blue blouse that Impa had provided.

Her beloved opponent fell to the ground and Zelda frowned as she heard his exaggerated flop. "Oh come on, don't ruin this for me by playing hurt! I never landed a hit before!" Zelda turned slowly to look at her fallen love and froze as his warm blood ran over her suddenly bare feet. A sparkling silver blade with a blue handle, unlike any she had ever seen, stuck out of his chest at an angle, bent towards him as he gripped it in his right hand. His beautiful blue eyes were filled with tears, imploring her for help. Blood trickled from his nose and mouth, bubbling to the surface as a newly uncovered spring. She didn't know if she screamed for help or not, she thought she did.

Running to his side, she ripped the blade from his chest, and summoned all the healing magic she knew inside her. There was no time for panic, whatever had happened, she could fix it, she could… What had happened? Zelda stared at her arms as she realized that she was dressed in the white formal gown she favored for official court appearances. Link coughed, and red blood speckled her dress. Closing her eyes, closing off the entire world, she tried to push herself into him through their bond, to find all his injuries, to fix this terrible accident. Nothing happened. Concentrate! I need to concentrate….please Nayru, help me. She took a deep breath and put her hands on his wet chest, her finger tips on feeling the fresh wound. He groaned softly, coughing up more blood. She started to push her consciousness into him again when two rough hands gripped her from behind, and drug her away. "NO! NO, STOP! I HAVE TO SAVE HIM! I'M THE PRINCESS, STOP!" Her polished nails broke on the stones, squealing shrilly as her bloody hands dug into the ground.

She struggled against the unknown assailant, finally managing to pull herself away, falling hard on her elbow in the process. Tears were already stinging her eyes as she rubbed feeling back into her arm. Staring into the sun, it took a moment to recognize the outline of Jaser. His sneer seemed impossibly large, his teeth too white against his shadowed face. He bent to the ground, gripping her chin in his palm like the slave traders inspecting "merchandise" Zelda had read about in stories. "Thank you for taking care of the competition Princess. I knew the rumors that you let such filth into you bed chamber couldn't be true…"

Zelda spit into his face in disgust, and turned back to Link, attempting to get up and sprint back to him, but she tripped over her suddenly voluminous dress. Her face landed in patch of mud, and she cried more as she wiped it away. When the dirt was cleared, her heart sank further; standing over Link was a young Gerudo girl with white-blonde hair and clutching his head was Alysa of the Bohdan, and Malon. All three turned to look at Zelda, Alysa and Malon with tears and hate in their eyes. The young girl walked slowly to Zelda, her captivating large eyes were red as her hair should have been, but they were not filled with tears.

The sun was now setting behind the girl when she reached Zelda. Try as she might, the Princess found it impossible to move, her arms quivered with shame and her knees ached, but she just couldn't move. The little girl smiled, and wrapped her arms around Zelda's neck, her dark forehead coming to rest against Zelda's, her red eyes filling Zelda's vision. "It will be worse when you kill him next. Do not fail him. Do not fail me."

Link did not move as he awoke in the dark of his room. He didn't remember climbing into bed; it had been sometime after he felt Zelda succumb to sleep. I need to get to Zelda…Link could feel her panicking. This had not been the first time he had shared her dream, as Impa had promised, but it had never been this…powerful. Nothing in the dream had felt real, far from it, but watching her fight himself, while also feeling himself fight her , it was too surreal. What he did know, and what he suspected Zelda felt was when he had been dying in her dream, was that he could really feel that. Even now his chest ached as he pulled a tunic over his naked chest.

Link slipped silently out of his room and through the sparsely lit hallways of Hyrule Castle, not bothering with his boots. At this hour, only one in four torches were kept alight. A few servants could be heard scurrying about behind closed doors, and there were still soldiers posted at regular intervals. Even those who did not know him had seen Link wander the halls late at night enough not to question it. There had been more than one sleepless night for Link since he had come to the castle. He waved to the guards as he padded along down the stairs, and out into the gardens. The entire trip he had been attempting to contact Zelda through their bond, to calm her down, but she was too panicked. It was impossible.

Once in the open gardens he appeared to wander aimlessly through the hedge maze as he distanced himself from the guards posted as the entrance. Zelda had mapped out a route for him from her balcony that first night, over and through hedges, one that would avoid all of the guard routes and line of sights. He didn't even break a sweat as he scaled the last wall that separated the private gardens from the common ones. The Princess' balcony overlooked the Royal Gardens. Link grunted a little as he moved the statue of Queen Amelia the Bold. Underneath was the small hole they had dug together, and there was the tightly wrapped climbing rope and hook. Link took one look around before throwing up the hook, and winced as it clanged on the marble. A minute later he was striding into Zelda's bedroom.

A single candle was lit beside her bed, flickering and fading with the change in the air as Link walked through the curtains. Zelda was curled up in the corner, her bare arms wrapped around her legs, her quivering chin on her knees. Dark tears stains stood out against her pale blue silk sleeping gown. She didn't move as Link entered the room, her eyes staring straight ahead, through the walls. The corners of her eyes were red from tears, and she sniffled a bit as Link settled down beside her. He didn't say anything, there wasn't any need.

Gently he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her into his chest. She started to shake as held her tight, her arms weakly going around his waist. Her voice cracked as she tried to speak. "I…I'm sorry. I don't… I don't…I'm so sorry Link." Fresh tears started to flow as he smoothed back her hair.

"It was just a dream. Just a dream." He kept repeating it, as Zelda cried well into the morning, hoping that if he said it enough, they could both believe it.