Thanks so much to CuddlyMakani, lalalei, and MexicAmerichick6 for reviewing! I'm happy to know that you're enjoying it so far :)

Now, on with the chapter!

~ Chapter 3 ~

When Zelda and Link's bodies reformed atop the hill overlooking Hateno Village, the first thing the princess noticed was the blinding sunlight that heavily contrasted the darkness of the cell beneath the Yiga hideout. Before squeezing her own eyes shut, however, she pulled Link forward so that his face was pressed into her right shoulder, hoping it would shield his eyes effectively enough. If even the dim light of a torch or the Sheikah Slate caused him to flinch, she didn't want to subject him to the sun's direct light just yet.

The last thing Zelda wanted was to cause Link more pain than he'd already been through.

The second thing the princess noticed, once her own eyes had adjusted to the light, was the small group of Sheikah (plus one Goron) gathered near the entrance to the tech lab. When they noticed her and Link's arrival, they each began to hurry towards the two of them, one by one.

Purah was the first to reach their side, kneeling down to examine Link's wounds with wide, owlish eyes. Despite having finally been convinced to make use of the age-boosting rune she had developed (though she still refused to age herself up any further than her twenties), Purah still reminded Zelda a bit of the six-year-old version of herself that the princess had met when she had first come to the village after the Calamity was sealed.

"Snap…" the Sheikah scientist breathed as she tilted her head to catch a glimpse of the Yiga eye symbol carved all across Link's chest and abdomen. "Linky, what did they do to you…?"

Link still remained silent, so Zelda answered quietly in his place. "In a word...torture. I don't know all of the specifics, but...well...you can see most of it for yourself." Her voice nearly wavered as anguish gripped her heart once again, but she swallowed hard and continued. "Let's get him home...he'll be more comfortable there, and...a-and we can take care of him…"

Purah nodded firmly. "Say no more, Zee. We've got this covered." With that, she stood up and called over her shoulder to the others present. "Yunobo! Over here, double time! Linky's not much up for walking right now, so you're going to have to carry him! And take it slow, okay? Wouldn't want to move him around too much in the state he's in."

"Right! On it, goro!" Yunobo quickly replied, seemingly trying to suppress the shake in his voice. He hurried over to where Link and Zelda knelt on the ground and, with the princess's help, gingerly eased Link into his massive arms.

"Careful…" Zelda murmured, reaching up and gently tipping Link's head to the side to hide his eyes once more. "He's been in the dark for a long time...he's not used to this light…" Yunobo hastily nodded in response, though he was particularly careful not to jostle the knight in his arms.

"Paya!" Purah was calling out, causing the girl in question to jump with a startled squeak. "You've got medical supplies, right?"

"Y-Yes!" Paya stammered, holding up a satchel. "G-G-Grandmother and I brought them!"

"Great! You and Symin, come with me!" Purah instructed. "We're gonna run ahead and get everything set up at Link's house so that we're good to go when the others get there. Impa, you stay back and give Zelda some moral support, will you? Poor girl looks like she's about to fall right over."

For a moment, Zelda considered objecting, but she knew that no one would ever believe her. She had barely slept at all since Link had been captured, and it almost certainly showed.

Besides, even if she had wanted to speak, Purah never gave her the chance.

"Everybody got it? Good! Now come on, snap to it!"

With that, Purah, Paya, and Symin began swiftly descending the hill that led down to the heart of Hateno Village, leaving Yunobo and Impa to tend to Link and Zelda.

The princess was only able to watch them go for a few seconds before her gaze inevitably slid back over to Link's bloodied, battered form. He looked so small and fragile in Yunobo's grasp that it was almost difficult to believe that this was the same boy she had witnessed single-handedly felling Silver Lynels without breaking a sweat. Once again, a wave of sadness washed over her, tears welling up in her eyes.

The feeling of a gnarled hand gently gripping her own drew her away from her thoughts. Zelda looked down to see Impa standing beside her, a solemn sadness present in her own eyes - though hers appeared to lack tears.

"He will be alright, princess," the old Sheikah woman assured her. "Now that he is here, we will take care of him. You, meanwhile...you must allow yourself to rest, child. Leave everything else to us."

"I don't know that I can rest, Impa…" Zelda responded, her dampened eyes trained on the ground. "We've gotten him back, but...he's still hurt, badly...and who's to say that the Yiga Clan won't come back for him again…?"

"Let us worry about that," Impa said firmly. "He will be protected at all times, as will you. I know it is frightening…but you cannot continue to run yourself ragged like this." She looked up at Link, who appeared to have been dragged back into unconsciousness by his exhaustion. "Consider this...what do you think Master Link will say when he discovers how little you've slept while searching for him?"

Zelda forced a small smile onto her face. "He...he'll probably tell me off," she admitted. "He'll insist that I put more time into taking care of myself...even though I know he would have done the same had our positions been switched."

Impa gave a light chuckle. "I believe you're right," she agreed. "The two of you...you are quite alike in many ways. Both of you possess great amounts of bravery, loyalty, strength…" The old Sheikah woman's eyes glittered with humor as she smirked. "...all of which are only outweighed by the stubbornness that the two of you share."

The next smile that touched the princess' lips was a bit more natural than the last. "I would argue with you, but...I suppose that would only prove your point, wouldn't it?"

"Heh heh...it would indeed," Impa replied, amused. "Enough of that, though...come. Let's bring Master Link home."

Zelda took a deep breath and nodded. "Right." She looked up at Yunobo, who had been patiently waiting in silence while she and Impa talked. "Make sure you're careful with him," she reminded the young Goron. "Hold him steady, but not too tightly. Remember to be mindful of his injuries!"

"And while you're at it, try to be subtle about carrying him," Impa added. "The whole village has been asking about what happened to the Champion for days now. If too many people see him like this, we'll be swarmed before we can get to his house."

Yunobo quickly nodded. "R-Right...that won't be a problem, goro!" He carefully shifted his arms in such a way that their mass largely blocked Link's small form from view. "Is that good…?"

The princess smiled. "Perfect, Yunobo. Thank you."

"Yes...it'll do," Impa agreed with a nod. "Now...we should get going immediately. Master Link has suffered much...he will need treatment as soon as possible."

Zelda found herself strongly agreeing with the sentiment. She trusted that, combined, the four Sheikah present would possess enough medical knowledge to help Link, and acknowledging as much was enough to calm her a bit. The nightmare that was Link's capture was nearly over. Once they had him safely home and settled into bed, the healing process could finally begin. Her knight was going to be okay.

She refused to acknowledge the hushed voice in the back of her mind warning her that nothing was ever quite that easy.

()()()()

He woke up in an unfamiliar place.

There were several clues that told him that he wasn't in his usual cell at the moment. First, there was the absence of a hard ground beneath him. In fact, it felt almost as though he was lying on a bed. Though, for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why that would be.

The second clue was that there was sunlight streaming in from...somewhere. Perhaps there was a window in the room? If that was the case, then he certainly couldn't even be anywhere near the cell he had been in before - that cell had been underground. Still, though, it was difficult to really tell where the light was coming from. He could barely see at all, thanks to both his blackened, swollen eyes and the fact that he was accustomed to total darkness. Was this a new form of torture they had planned for him? If so, it was working.

The final clue was that there were no longer shackles clamped around his wrists and ankles. He was not chained to his cell's back wall any longer. Naturally, that meant he was somewhere else.

And it also meant that he was free to fight back.

There were a few of them in the room with him. He could hear their murmuring voices and their footsteps as they moved around him, though he could never quite focus on what exactly they were saying.

A shadow fell over him as one of them stepped closer. They said something, but he couldn't discern what it was. His ears twitched. Their voice was too high, too loud. After the silence he had been accustomed to, it was enough to make his head pound.

Then, without warning, they reached out and grabbed his wrist.

Almost instantly, he sat bolt upright, ignoring the lurch of nausea in his stomach. He yanked his arm out of their grasp (far more easily than he had expected) and swung out with the other, his fist colliding painfully with the side of their face.

His broken fingers flared with excruciating pain, but the sound of that person yelping and hitting the floor made it all worth it. Not willing to waste any time, he lunged forward, tumbling out of the bed and taking the blanket with him.

This was his first chance to escape since he had been captured, and it would likely be the only one he ever got. He absolutely had to make the most of it.

Unfortunately, though he tried to clamber to his feet and run, a wave of dizziness washed over him, causing him to stumble to the side and hit a wall. He could still barely see a thing, though he heard several panicked voices coming closer and closer to him.

Acutely aware of his heart pounding in his chest, he staggered blindly forward, arms out in front of him, desperately searching for something he could use as a weapon.

Instead, he found a railing.

That was it, he realized. That was his escape route. He had no idea how high the drop would be, or where it would lead to, but all he cared about was getting away from wherever he was now. If he could get away, then he could figure something out. He could escape for good. Gritting his teeth, he began to pull himself up over the railing.

Suddenly, there was a pair of arms wrapped around him, pulling him back. His first instinct was to fight, to kick, to scream, to do anything he could to incapacitate his attacker.

But then, he heard her voice.

"Link, please! It's alright, you're safe now! You're home!"

He froze.

Safe? Home?

Was that possible?

"It's me, Link, it's Zelda! Please, please try to calm down...I promise, everything's okay! We got you out, remember…? You're at home, now, you're safe, you're going to be alright...I'm here…"

Gradually, the fight drained out of him, and his whole body slumped, becoming dead weight in her arms. Yes, that was right...her. She was there with him. She had come to get him. She had saved him. It hadn't been a dream.

He was safe. He was home.

As she gently pulled him away from the railing, he felt his clarity begin to return to him. He still couldn't see in the bright light, and his mind still felt foggy, but for whatever reason, when she spoke to him, he couldn't help but trust her.

If she told him that he was safe...then it simply had to be true.