Hey guys, sorry about the brief delay! Just needed a little extra time with this one :)

Thanks so much to Alice-Ann Wonderland (Thank you so much, I'm so glad you enjoyed!), NerdAngel410 (*gives tissue* :) Thank you!), and Ninxeldwin (That means a lot to me, thank you!) for reviewing! You guys are all amazing for sticking with me this far, and I hope you enjoy the last proper chapter of Malicious Intent, as well as the epilogue that will come next week!

With that, on with the chapter!

~ Chapter 25 ~

Link's head hurt.

Granted, it had been doing that a lot lately, so he really shouldn't have been surprised, but the severity of the pounding migraine still caught him off guard a bit. He felt as though a dagger had been driven straight into his skull and was being constantly hammered in further until it exited the other side.

In fact, his entire body ached. He was drenched in sweat from some forgotten exertion and a dull soreness permeated his entire being. It reminded him of a time he had climbed a steep hill in the rain, made one false step, and ended up slipping and tumbling back down to the bottom, bruising practically every part of him in the process.

And yet amidst all the pain and exhaustion, also present was a strange sense of calm. As Link's eyes blearily slid open, slowly adjusting to the bright sunlight he was met with, he got the distinct feeling that a thick darkness he had long carried with him had suddenly lifted. Despite his body's weariness, his mind and heart felt lighter than they had in a long time.

The first thing he saw was two tear-filled pools of green.

Zelda.

Merely looking into her eyes was enough for him to forget about his pain, to let it slowly ebb away into the background as he stared up at her. He wasn't sure why, but her face was covered with tear tracks and each breath she took came out more like a barely restrained sob.

"W...Welcome back, Link…" she whispered, her voice weak and higher pitched than usual.

It took Link several seconds to realize that he was lying limp in her arms, cradled close to her chest. His weary, sluggish mind was barely capable of processing his current physical position, let alone the fact that Zelda's face was suddenly drawing closer and closer to his own.

Then, before he knew it, she was kissing him.

Her tears dripped onto Link's face as she desperately clung to him, as though afraid he would turn to dust in her grasp at any moment. His eyes stretched wide with shock for several seconds before finally sliding shut once his brain finally caught up with what was happening. He returned the kiss with equal fervor, weakly lifting his arm just far enough for his hand to rest on the back of her head, suddenly struck with a longing to keep her as close as possible.

Vague memories of bloodshed and violence lingered in the back of his mind. Though he no longer felt the malicious intent bubbling inside him, he had a sinking feeling that, whatever had just happened, he had been the cause of a significant amount of pain.

For a few seconds, though, Link let himself forget about that.

Amidst the scarlet-tinted images his mind relentlessly conjured was a gentle, golden light. Her light. He let the light wash over him and lingered contently in her arms, his lips pressed tightly up against hers. His fingers, aching as they were, curled gently into her hair, the softness against his skin reminding him that, no matter what nightmares lingered in his head, she was what was truly real.

For those few seconds, everything was alright.

Then, a light cough sounded from off to the side. Evidently, the knight and his princess weren't alone after all.

Link's eyes opened at the same time Zelda's did, and she jerked away from him, blushing deeply. "P-Purah!" she yelped, and Link followed her gaze to where the Sheikah scientist was casually strolling towards them. "U-Um...i-it's not..I just...I mean I didn't realize that I - "

Purah held her hand up to silence her, a wide grin on her face. "No worries, Zee," she replied nonchalantly. "I mean come on, it's not like any of us didn't know you two had a thing going on. Thanks for winning me a few hundred of Robbie's rupees, by the way."

Zelda's only response was a soft squeak of a whimper as she dipped her head to hide her red face. As she mumbled a few more flustered, half-coherent excuses, Link smiled fondly. In his case, he was simply too tired to share in her embarrassment.

"Anyway…" Purah drawled, dropping down to Link's level and peering into his eyes. "So, Linky...how're you feeling? Any pain? Headache? Fever? Murderous intent?"

Link's stomach dropped.

It must have shown on his face, because Zelda's sheepishness suddenly faded as she snapped, "Purah! Stop pestering him, the Malice is completely gone! And besides...don't word it that way!" She quickly turned her attention back to Link. "No one has died, don't worry! There were...a few injuries, but nothing fatal!" The princess gave the Sheikah scientist a stern look. "Right?"

Purah sighed and nodded. "Right, right, everyone's fine, relatively speaking. Teba got the worst of it, I'd say, but even he's not in any danger of dying from it. Symin's patching him up inside now." She gestured at the doorway to the lab, where Link now noticed Sidon was kneeling, a hand clamped over his bandaged thigh. "Sidon took a blow too, but it's not too deep. He was even able to stumble all the way to the door with me when we heard all the commotion, so...he'll be fine. As for Yunobo…" She glanced behind her at where Yunobo was sitting, sporting a few new minor burns on his chest. "What about you, kid? How're you holding up?"

"I-I'm fine, goro!" Yunobo assured the three of them with a lopsided grin. "Just a little singed, that's all! Though…" His smile faded a bit as he looked down at the Champion's cloth in his hands. Holes had been burned through it in several places, and though the Malice that had obviously marred it was gone, the fabric was practically in tatters. "I...I guess I can't really say the same for this…"

"Don't worry, Yunobo," Zelda told him warmly. "I'll make a brand new Champion's garment for you. Given your bravery today, I'd say that you've more than earned it!"

The Goron youth's face lit up at her words. "R-Really, goro!?" he exclaimed, beaming. "I-I...thank you so much, princess! W-Wow!"

"There, see?" Purah put in, with a pointed glance at Link. "Everyone's okay! Sure, Teba, Sidon, Riju, and Yunobo all got hurt a little bit today, but it's nothing too serious for any of them, so they'll be alright in no time. And the rest of us? I'm fine, Symin's fine, Paya's fine, Impa went down to the village anyway, so obviously she's fine...and of course, Zee's not hurt either, is she? So if I were you, Linky, I'd let go of that guilt complex of yours for a little while and just enjoy the fact that you're Malice-free!"

Though his mind still reeled from seeing all the injuries he'd caused, Link couldn't help but release a short, strained laugh.

"I-I...haven't even said a-anything yet," he rasped with a slight smile. "A-And you're already lecturing m-me…"

The Sheikah woman rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well...you must be losing your touch in the stoicism department, Linky, because I read you like a book just now. It's all over now! You can finally relax!"

"Oh, leave him alone, Purah," Zelda cut in, rolling her own eyes as she absently brushed a tangled strand of Link's hair out of his face. "I'm sure he'll be able to rest much easier without you scolding him like this."

Purah stared incredulously at her. "Scolding!? I'm not - !" She brought a hand to her face, pinching the bridge of her nose and screwing her eyes shut tight. "...okay," she relented after a deep breath. "You win, lovebirds. I'll back off. For now."

Raising both hands in a placating gesture, Purah stayed true to her word and took a few steps back to give Link and Zelda some space. None of the others stepped up to fill it either, though they were more than willing to voice their joy and relief from where they currently stood.

"M-Master Link!" Paya squeaked, clasping her hands together. "I-I'm so glad y-you're alright! O-Oh, but princess...I-I'm so sorry I let that Y-Yiga get the best of me! I-It was my fault they were able to take you, p-please forgive me, Your Highness!"

"Paya, it's alright!" Zelda exclaimed over the other girl's nervous ramblings. "The Yiga took all of us by surprise...it's not your fault, nor anyone else's, I promise you."

Paya didn't seem fully convinced, but she nodded timidly, seemingly unwilling to start an argument with the princess.

"Princess Zelda is right," Riju agreed matter-of-factly. "No one is to blame for any of this - no one but the Yiga Clan, of course. At any rate...it's over now." The young chief turned to smile at Link. "And I'm sure I'll be exacting my height-based revenge on you soon enough, Link! Seal-iously."

Link returned her smile. "S-Seal-iously."

Next, it was Yunobo's turn. "Link, goro! I-I always knew you would pull through! Y-You're really strong, after all! Just like the Great Daruk!"

The weary knight laughed sheepishly. "I-I...I don't know if I-I'm that strong…"

He certainly felt particularly weak at the moment, at least. The way he was now, it was difficult to imagine that he would ever return to his former strength.

"But you are, goro!" Yunobo insisted. "I saw you fighting back and making the Malice hesitate when it tried to kill me! A-And you held it back enough to not hurt any of us too badly, goro! I just know that the Great Daruk would be really, really proud of how amazing you are, Link!"

Though he'd never admit it, Link suddenly found himself struggling to hold back tears. Fearing that his voice might crack if he attempted to speak, he merely gave a slow, uncertain nod in response.

"I concur, Link!" Sidon called out, limping a few steps forward, away from the lab's doorway. "I, for one, am certain that my sister would also be quite proud of you!" His golden eyes grew distant for a moment, eyeing Link's freshly healed scars. After a few seconds, however, the Zora prince shook his head and resumed his signature sharp-toothed grin. "And I must add that I too am relieved to witness your recovery! I'm certain you'll be back up and running about in the wild, fighting Lynels and setting Bokoblin encampments ablaze again in no time!"

Link gave a mildly embarrassed chuckle. "H-Heh...I hope you're right…"

Though, was "feral arsonist" really the impression he gave off?

"Heh. Hylia help us all if that's the case," came Teba's wry voice as the Rito warrior hobbled out of the lab, leaning heavily on Symin's shoulder. Many of his white feathers were ruffled and one of his wings was stained red from being clamped against his wound, but his abdomen had been wrapped tightly with clean bandages, and he didn't appear to be currently in danger of death, or even unconsciousness. "I would hope Hyrule would get at least a few weeks' respite before we set the wild knight loose again."

"Or rather, Link deserves a few weeks' respite," Symin added helpfully. "He's been through a lot recently...he needs plenty of time to rest and recover."

"What's this I hear about resting?" Impa's voice was added to the group as she ambled back across the hilltop to join them. Upon seeing Zelda, fully present with a still-breathing Link in her arms, the old Sheikah smiled. "Well, then...it seems I've missed a bit of excitement, haven't I?"

Zelda offered a sheepish smile of her own in return. "Just a bit."

Link was silent as his eyes slowly crossed over every individual present on the hilltop. Impa. Paya. Riju. Yunobo. Sidon. Purah. Symin. Teba. Zelda. They were all there, they were all alive, and they were all relieved that he was okay.

They weren't only glad that the Malice was gone, he realized. Their joy didn't come from a place of merely caring about their own survival. If that had been all they were concerned about, they could have simply killed him a long time ago and saved themselves all of the strife they'd faced on this day.

But that was never really an option for them, was it?

None of them had been primarily focused on destroying the Malice. They had, very specifically, wanted it out of Link. And most importantly, they had wanted him, at any cost, to survive the process.

Once again, he had to force himself to hold back the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes. Instead, he gave another soft laugh, drawing the attention of all of the people gathered around him.

Of his friends.

"W-What did I ever do…" he whispered fondly, just barely loud enough for everyone to hear. "...t-to deserve friends l-like all of you…?"

Riju laughed. "Where do we even start with that?"

"You've helped literally all of us in more ways than we can count," Teba pointed out.

"And on top of that, you're always so nice, goro!" Yunobo added. "And amazingly strong!"

"You're a truly compassionate soul, my friend!" Sidon declared enthusiastically. "Always willing to lend a hand to help, an ear to listen, or a shoulder to support!"

Paya nodded quickly. "I-It's true, Master Link! Y-You're...a wonderful person!" She blushed deeply, but didn't look away.

"Snap, how much are we going to stroke Linky's ego today?" Purah snorted with a roll of her eyes. After a moment, however, she too smiled. "Though...I guess I can't really disagree with anything you all have said."

Symin chuckled slightly. "It would seem we're all in agreement, then…?"

"That would appear to be the case," Impa confirmed with a knowing smile. "Master Link...after everything you have done for us, and for the very land of Hyrule itself, you deserve as much support and time to rest as you need. I believe I speak for all of us when I say...we will always be here for you, should you need us."

This time, as Link's gaze swept across all eight of his friends' smiling faces, a tearactually did manage to slip from his eye, streaking down across one of the tear-track scars the Malice had left him with. Said scars might mar him for the rest of his life, but he suddenly found that he didn't care. So long as there were people there beside him to help him shoulder his pain, a few old wounds would hardly matter. Granted, after a lifetime of stoicism and pretending to be unfazed by anything, relying on the others for support would not be an easy task, but given time, Link figured he could manage - and with this stubbornly helpful group in particular, he doubted he really had much of a choice.

The young knight's eyes wandered down to his own bare abdomen, where the Yiga eye had been carved into his flesh. Though the sight was admittedly disturbing, Link was able to glean some small amount of satisfaction from seeing that the carefully cut inverted eye was now more than halfway obscured by burn scars from what he assumed, even with his foggy memory, was Malice that had covered and seared his skin. In a way, it felt almost symbolic.

Try as they might, the Yiga Clan had not broken him. If anything, they had only strengthened his resolve, and the next time they decided to regroup and show their masked faces, he would be ready to stand against them - and he wouldn't be wearing their damned eye on his chest.

Satisfied with this thought, Link now turned his gaze upward to meet Zelda's seafoam eyes once more. The tears on her face had long since dried, and she looked down at him with the most brilliant smile he had ever seen.

"She has a smile like the sun," the Great Deku Tree had once told him. Such a description couldn't possibly have been more apt for his princess.

"Link…" she murmured, her voice weary yet relieved, soft yet thick with emotion. Zelda gently brought a hand to his face, tenderly swiping a thumb across his scarred cheek before leaning down and kissing him. She did not bother to straighten back up before she quietly spoke again, instead remaining at his level, pressing her forehead against his. "Are you ready to go home now…?"

Home.

An exhausted but content smile spread across Link's face.

"Mhm...l-let's go."