Thanks so much to Luine Mercury LWG and MexicAmerichick6 for reviewing! Glad you both enjoyed! :)

Now, on with the chapter!

~ Chapter 2 ~

It took every ounce of strength and self-restraint in Zelda's body for her to resist bursting into tears herself once Link leaned into her and began quietly sobbing. Her eyes misted as she held his bruised, battered form close to her, putting no thought whatsoever to the blood that was surely now all over her clothes. A lump formed in her throat as she thought of his bloodstained face, his wild, matted hair, his broken, mangled hands.

The sight of the Yiga eye carved into his chest made her want to scream.

But for his sake, she held her tongue and fought back her tears. Now was not the time to break down, not when Link so clearly needed her to be strong. She had spent so long already leaning on him for support. Now, it was her turn to support him.

How long had it been since Zelda had last seen him? Less than two weeks, surely, but it looked to her as if Link had already been through an eternity of hell, even in that short window of time. She could say with absolute certainty that she had never seen him like this before.

She had once watched him die, and yet even then, he had not looked nearly this broken.

Still, she forced herself to maintain composure as she held him tightly. She looked over her shoulder to where the Zora prince, Sidon, stood bent over in the doorway, holding aloft a torch and silently watching them. The prince's yellow eyes were filled with a quiet horror that Zelda was sure her own eyes mirrored.

"He…" Zelda's voice nearly broke with emotion, but she quickly cleared her throat and tried again. "He's chained up...I...I need help…"

With no further persuasion needed, Sidon nodded and handed his torch off to a Zora soldier standing behind him - Rivan, she thought his name was? - before making his way into the cell, ducking low to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling. He knelt down beside the princess and her knight, seemingly trying not to stare too much at the array of scars and bruises that covered Link's body.

"Link?" the usually boisterous Zora asked softly, keeping his voice as low as he could manage for the wounded hero's sake. "I'm going to try to get these shackles opened, alright…? Can you give me your hand…?"

For a long moment, Link didn't move.

Zelda shared an anxious look with Sidon before she spoke gently to Link, carefully stroking his tangled hair. "It's alright, Link…" she practically whispered. "You're safe now...Sidon is your friend, remember…? He's only going to help free you...he'll be sure to be careful not to hurt you at all…"

Even as she spoke all of the reassuring words she could muster, Zelda felt her heart twist in her chest, making it difficult to focus. She was speaking to him like he was a child. She was speaking to the Hero of Hyrule, the Hylian Champion, her knight, Link, as though he was nothing more than a scared toddler who lacked the ability to comprehend the current situation.

Though, idly - despite the fact that it made her heart sink even lower - she wondered if there was any truth to that thought. In all honesty, she couldn't be certain if Link was aware of much of anything at the moment. He had spent so long locked up in the dark with little more than pain to occupy him...she figured that she shouldn't be surprised if he had been rendered disoriented and lost by the whole experience.

Sidon seemed to come to the same conclusion. He softened his voice even further, kneeling down lower so as to not tower too high over the much-smaller Hylians. "That's right, my friend," he told Link quietly. "I will not hurt you. I'm just going to take those cuffs off of you, and then we will take you straight home, alright?"

Just as before, the word "home" seemed to cause Link to stir a bit. He gradually lifted his head away from where it had been pressed into Zelda's shoulder, squinting even in the dim torchlight as he hesitantly looked up at Sidon. After a few moments, he slowly nodded and carefully moved his right arm closer to Sidon, allowing the Zora prince to access the manacle on his wrist.

Sidon's movements were equally as slow and deliberate as Link's, having shed his usual boundless enthusiasm for a more subdued, gentle demeanor. He cautiously fitted his claws into the thin gap in the metal and tugged at it until finally, the shackle opened and released the knight's right wrist.

Link flinched slightly, but said nothing, gingerly pulling his injured hand back close to his chest.

"Now the other one, Link…" Zelda gently reminded him. "Then the ones on your ankles…then the neck..."

The process took more time than it likely should have, given Link's clear reluctance and Sidon's extreme cautiousness, but soon, all five of the cuffs that had previously restrained the young knight lay opened on the cell floor. At last, Link was free.

Zelda, however, was hesitant to ask him to move just yet. As much as she wanted to wrap her arms around him and pull him far, far away from the Yiga Clan's hideout, she feared what his reaction would be should they rush him out. The princess was forced to keep reminding herself: Link was clearly wounded, and not just physically.

However, just as she was contemplating what she could possibly say to him next, Link lifted his head ever so slightly and spoke.

"Th...The Yiga…" he rasped, staring up at her through his bangs. "W-Where…?"

Though his question remained unfinished, Zelda understood. "They're not here," she answered, gently moving Link's hair away from his face. "The Gerudo, Zora, and Rito soldiers took down half of them and sent the rest running. Riju and Teba are practically tearing the place apart searching for stragglers, and I'm sure Sidon would be doing the same if I hadn't asked him to come with me. Don't worry, Link...you're safe now, I promise…you trust me, right…?"

For a brief moment, she worried that he would say no. That he would lower his head, shrink away from her, and shut off his emotions like he always used to. At this rate, it wouldn't have even surprised her.

Instead, though, the barest shadow of a smile made its way onto her knight's face. "Y-Yes…" he whispered, leaning back into her shoulder. "...I t-trust you…"

Zelda felt her heart melt in her chest. "Good…" she whispered back.

At the very least, he still seemed comfortable with her. And really, what more could she have asked for?

Above them, Sidon cleared his throat quietly. "Princess, perhaps you should take him back to Hateno Village right away…?" he asked, once Zelda had looked up at him. "The others will be there to help you with him, I'm sure...for now, I'll rejoin Lady Riju and Teba, and once we're done here, we will go to Hateno as well."

Zelda nodded slowly. "Yes...yes, we can do that." She removed the Sheikah Slate from a clip on her waist and opened its map screen. A part of her was tempted to join the soldiers instead and pelt whatever remained of the Yiga Clan with as many remote bombs as she could spawn, but the greater part of her mind reminded her that at this point, Link needed her more than ever before. He was far more important than revenge.

"Link," she said softly, taking note of the way he seemed to flinch away from the light of the Slate's screen. Had he been kept in total darkness this entire time? Her blood boiled at the thought, but she kept her voice low for Link's sake. "We're going to warp back to the tech lab in Hateno Village, alright…? Purah will be there, with Symin, and several others said they would come as well...Impa, Paya...even Yunobo promised to be there. Are you ready to go…?"

He started nodding before she'd even finished her question. "Y...Yes…" he whispered in a voice that was barely there. "P-Please...let's leave…"

Zelda nodded and carefully drew him closer to her, silently thanking Purah for modifying the Sheikah Slate so that it could warp more than one person at a time. Before tapping the Slate, however, she looked up at Sidon a final time, noting his uncharacteristically anxious fidgeting.

After a moment, the Zora prince awkwardly cleared his throat and said, "Princess...I hope you will forgive me. If I had even a fraction of my sister's healing ability, I - "

"It's alright, Sidon," Zelda interrupted gently, giving him as much of a reassuring smile as she could muster. "You've already helped more than I can ever thank you for just by coming here with me and finding him. He'll be alright...I'll make sure he's properly tended to the moment we return to Hateno Village."

Sidon didn't look entirely convinced, but he nodded all the same. "Alright...if you are certain," he said. He took a deep breath and stood, though the cell's low ceiling forced him to remain bent at the waist. "In that case...I will see you soon."

"Right," Zelda agreed. "See you soon."

Without even waiting for Sidon to make it to the door, she tapped the icon representing the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab on the Slate's map. A soft blue glow filled the dreary cell as Zelda and Link's bodies shone, then deconstructed into thin strands of light that rose up into the air, passing through the ceiling to reach the outside world above.

The glow soon faded, and the princess and her knight were gone.