Beginning of the End

A hand wrapped around Zelda's neck and she was lifted up from the ground. The princess tried to gasp in the air that was escaping her. Ganondorf held back his right hand and charged up a purple swirl of energy. Zelda's hands grabbed onto Ganondorf's hand desperately trying to pry it open, she struggled to get out from his grasp but to no avail. Her body began to numb and her arms fell to her side.

"I thought you would put up much more of a fight, Princess," Ganondorf said. "You put up a great fight against that hedgehog and dragon yet you really disappointed me. And not just you-" He turned his head and faced the bounty hunter who lay on the ground behind them. "Your girlfriend too. Maybe you should learn not to fight without your suit."

Samus raised her head from the ground and spat out blood. She stammered onto her feet and picked up her pistol that lay in front of her. She felt a horrible sharp pain around her abdomen and breathed out. 'The warlock punch from earlier must still be affecting me. Not only does Ganondorf have the strength, he has abilities like Zelda to give him a little more boost into his power.' Samus stared at Zelda, seeing the princess' breathing nearly end. 'If I don't do something soon….' She stood on her feet, swaying side to side.

Meanwhile, the others stood observing the match. Expressions of either sternness or fear upon their faces.

Peach, who could barely stand to watch the duo suffer like this, finally spoke up, "This is bad..."

Link had no trouble hiding his anger towards Ganondorf. He clenched his fists as he muttered angrily, "That bastard..."

"This is getting out of hand," Marth replied, watching the match carefully. "Why isn't Master Hand stopping this?!"

Peach shook her head and hid her face within her hands. "I don't know...but I can't watch."

Link sighed harshly and turned to Peach. "I'll stop this match. Master Hand just wants us to suffer. Just because he thinks that we'll recover once we beam back to the waiting hall that we'll be fine after sustaining any damage whatsoever. I hate this."

Marth nodded in agreement. He then told the swordsman, "I'll be watching in case you need any back up."

"Thanks," Link said as he hurriedly rushed out of the room.

Marth then turned his attention towards the Mushroom Princess, who seemed close to tears. He placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. "It'll be okay. We'll have Dr. Mario look at them, okay?" He told her.

She didn't say anything, but nodded slowly.

Back at the arena, Samus was thrown down to the ground. Her body remained motionless on the cold pavement and her expression was blank. Zelda's eyes rolled to the back of her head and lost consciousness. Ganondorf laughed.

A light suddenly enveloped Samus, Zelda, and Ganondorf. Their bodies dispelled into little particles and were teleported out of the arena. The particles soon came to teleportation room, and formed back into the three fighters. Ganondorf merely smirked as he saw Zelda and Samus unconscious on the teleportation devices. A bit of the bounty hunter's blood leaked onto the floor.

"Pathetic." The King of Evil snarked as he prepared to leave. Right before he could reach the doorway; however, Link stood in his way.

"What in the name of the goddesses is wrong with you?!" Link shouted, stepping towards Ganondorf. "You nearly killed them!"

"Nearly." Ganondorf replied with a dark chuckle, "But I didn't."

Link slowly began to reach for the Master Sword on his back as he muttered, "Why you...!"

Ganondorf simply smirked more and said, "If I were you, I'd focus my attention on your friends here. They're not dead, but they're close."

Link's eyes widened for a split moment, but returned to angry glare as he lowered his arm.

"Good choice, Hero." Ganondorf taunted, saying the word "hero" as if it were garbage. He laughed as he pushed Link aside and left.

Link grunted as he saw Ganondorf leave, but turned his attention back to Zelda and Samus. He rushed over and began looking to see the damage.

"This is bad..." He muttered.

Suddenly Peach's voice cried out, "Link! Are they okay?!"

He turned and called back, "Get Dr. Mario. NOW."

...

"When are they going to wake up?" a faint frail voice echoed.

"Shh, you need to let them rest," a more deeper voice called out.

"Mmm..." Zelda whined softly. Her eyelids fluttered but did not open.

"Guys, I think she's beginning to wake up," a voice different from the first two said.

The Hylian princess began to open her eyes, the room's bright light blinded her and she shut them tightly once again.

"Zelda! Oh Zelda!" a feminine voice called out.

Zelda felt a pair of arms wrap around her body and felt the life squeeze right out of her again. Zelda gasped.

"Peach stop! You can't do that to her right now!" Marth shouted.

Zelda felt the arms around her release her. She began to catch her breath as she opened her eyes once again, but she blinked a few times before finally seeing the world clearly. When it was clear again, Zelda saw the faces of Peach and Marth. Marth having an expression of relief and smiled calmly. Peach on the other hand was smiling with relief as well, though her eyes looked a bit puffy, probably due to crying.

"Good morning," Marth said, "How are you feeling?"

Zelda slowly sat up.

"Zelda! You should probably stay down, don't get up at all..." Peach told the princess who ignored her.

"Where's...Samus?" she asked those around her.

"She's in the other room right now. Link's with her." Marth answered.

"I need to...I need to see her..." Zelda murmured as she attempted to get out of bed. Peach quickly placed a hand on her shoulder.

She frowned, "Zelda you're in no condition to walk right now! Besides, Samus is still asleep. I promise you'll see her once you've both recovered."

"But-," The Hylian Princess started to protest.

Marth interrupted, "Please, Zelda. She's right. Just rest okay?"

Zelda frowned, but decided that Marth and Peach wouldn't let her go. So she simply sighed and sat back down on the bed.

"What even...happened?" Zelda asked. "I remembered that we were fighting Ganondorf...and he grabbed me...and then..." She held her head.

"Easy..." Peach told her. "It was a nasty fight...both you and Samus took a lot of damage from that monster!" she tried to hold in her rage. Remembering what Ganondorf did to her friend filled her with so much anger.

"I see..." Zelda sighed, "I thought if it was two against one, we could beat Ganondorf but..."

Marth shook his head, "There's a reason they call him the King of Evil."

Zelda looked down at the blankets. That had been a foolish decision to fight Ganondorf. Perhaps there were some foes that were too much for even the strongest duo. One thing was certain, she would not challenge him again anytime soon.

"...How bad were the injuries...?"

Peach sighed sadly, "Pretty bad. It took Dr. Mario hours to fix you up. I'm glad he did though."

Marth smiled at Peach, "And I suppose having a princess who's a bit part nurse helped a bit too."

Peach let out a small laugh, "I guess."

Zelda tried to smile but she couldn't. As much as she tried to feel happy about this, she couldn't not when Samus is in the other room with who knows how worse the injuries were. She should have known that Ganondorf was too much. She was caught up with how her victories were going to even worry or care.

Zelda closed her eyes and turned her head away. Marth and Peach took noticed this.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Marth asked.

Zelda didn't look at them, but said in a soft voice, "I was so foolish..."

Peach softened her eyes, "Oh Zelda..."

"Where is she?!" A familiar voice called out.

The three looked up in surprise and turned their attention to the doorway. In it stood the blonde bounty hunter, wearing an infirmary gown similar to Zelda's. A look of concern on her face, though she caught sight of the princess, faded into a smile of relief.

"Oh thank God!" Samus exclaimed as she walked over.

Peach frowned, "What are you doing out of bed? I told you to rest! Gah, no one listens to me."

Marth gave a nervous laugh and patted Peach's shoulder in a comforting way.

Link slowly walked into the room as well and sighed, "Sorry guys. I tried but I couldn't stop her."

"Sa-Samus?" Zelda exclaimed as Samus staggered towards her. The huntress fell forward and Zelda quickly caught her. "Sa..Samus...why are you-"

Samus breathed out. "Hey...I wanted to see if my...my girl is okay. If I'm going to rest, I'm going to rest...here."

Zelda's eyes filled with tears and she held Samus as tightly as she could with whatever strength she had left. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry."

Samus shakily rose her hand and ran it along Zelda's hair, "Shh...shh..." She cooed, "It's okay...it's okay..."

Zelda shook her head, "I was so stupid...I'm so sorry..."

Samus assured her, "It's okay, really. L-Listen...it's my fault...I should've...should've known it was a bad idea."

Link slowly pulled a chair over, "At least sit down so you don't collapse."

Samus nodded as Peach walked over and helped her sit down. The bounty hunter and the princess still holding each other tightly.

"Come on guys, let's give these two some privacy," Link told Marth and Peach as he urged them to the door.

"Aww! But I wanted to see those two make up and make out!" Peach groaned. She saw that Samus and Zelda were both giving her an annoyed look. The pink princess giggled nervously. "I'll show myself out."

With that said, all three friends exited the room leaving the two women alone.

Samus returned her attention to Zelda her eyes gazing and studying the princess. Zelda looked exhausted. She was almost killed so of course she would feel tired. As her eyes settled on her lover, Samus noticed a purple color spread across Zelda's neck.

She brought up her hand to Zelda's neck and the princess cringed.

"He left you a bruise," Samus muttered.

"What?"

"You have a bruise, maybe it didn't settled in until after they patched you up." Samus traced the bruise with her fingertips causing the princess' breath to hitch. "This shouldn't have happened."

"It wasn't your fault..."

Samus shook her head. "Well it wasn't your fault either."

Zelda clasped her hands on Samus' catching the huntress' attention and smiled down at her. "Well, then it is both of our faults. I should have known what he was capable of and you should have reminded me."

"Then you must be right since you seem to be right about everything." Samus leaned in a gave Zelda a quick peck on her check right when she saw Zelda blush from the statement.

"I just realized..." Zelda raised her head and stared into Samus' eyes. "It won't be long until this...the mansion, the fighting-" she cut herself off and felt the tears stinging her eyes. "It won't be long until us...are over."

A/N: This is coming to a close. It's coming, but I do not know when. I'm not going back after it's done no matter what.