William tried to see into the plaza before Ashei even turned the corner.

Silence greeted them. And before William could understand what happened, he saw a couple of unmoving soldiers who covered their mouths in shock. He got off the horse but Ashei remained on top of the animal, maybe she sensed something before him. William's feet moved to where Link was, he was hugging Zelda. It looked innocent enough, it looked beautiful enough. Link and Zelda remained still in the center of the plaza, with traces of golden magic surrounding them. At the back of his mind something started to wake, but William supressed it. Zelda's feet weren't holding her weight. Link was whispering to Zelda's ear in a broken voice.

And William stopped walking. His voice came out weak, still holding onto the slimmer of hope he couldn't let go, "Link?"

It was as if Link woke up from a trance. The sword lay at his feet, but he didn't even bother with it. His face was smeared in dirt and tears and William didn't dare utter his name again. Link moved Zelda's body with care, he brought her legs to his right side and supported her head on his left shoulder. She didn't move a muscle, but she was breathing.

When Link started walking towards the Castle, William remained by his side. No one said anything. Ashei got off of her horse and walked behind them, Epona in tow.

Link never faltered, but the silence unnerved him.

Link was not getting enough sleep.

"The doctor said she was all right, yeah?" Link was sitting in the corridor outside of Zelda's room, surrounded by Shad and Robert. William looked at the group from a couple of steps away. "Her body is fine, it's just a matter of time before she wakes up."

Link was not listening to her. As soon as the door opened to let the doctor out, Link stood.

"May I see her again?" he asked to no one in particular, but it was Kafei who stood next to the door who signaled for him to go in.

Dotour whispered with the doctor down the corridor and a maid whimpered nearby.

William shadowed Link and Robert kept his head low as he entered behind the group.

Leela was rearranging the bed clothing on Zelda, her eyes where bloodshot and she only dipped her head once as a greeting.

Link stood beside Zelda's bed, looked at her once, he sat on her bed and grabbed the hand the doctor had probably used to check her pulse. Link's intimacy with the Princess of Hyrule made everyone want to look away. And when Link brought Zelda's hand to his mouth, everyone averted their eyes but William.

Link let Zelda's hand down with care and then stood, he walked to the window in the room and looked to the sky. His body seemed to tense and grow as he breathed in.

"She's gonna be fine," Link said as he turned. William would have let him go if Link's body language wouldn't have screamed mission.

Link looked at Leela in the eyes, "She'll be fine, but I need you to take care of her for a while."

The moment Link left the room Leela was left alone with Her Highness. "Of course you will be all right, isn't it so, Your Highness? We will take care of you until you wake up."

William was sure Link didn't even notice the little entourage that followed him. Kafei jogged to catch them, while the other Council members looked tired or disapproving.

"What's going on?" asked Kafei.

"I don't know."

They passed Dotour and the doctor, "Tell Link to stay put, the doctor said-"

"The doctor said she should be awake." William thought about how ridiculous they all must look following Link around, "There's nothing wrong with her body, and she has never reacted like this to stress or illness."

Kafei stopped and William stopped a few steps farther.

"So what are you doing?"

William pointed the Link and the group that followed him, "Making sure he doesn't do something stupid."

"He can manage, you should stay here, when people hear about this..."

William turned his head and saw the group dissapearing in the corner of the corridor. What good was he going to be following Link? If he was asking that, what good was Shad for that matter? Ashei and Robert he could understand. But himself?

"I have to check something," William blurted. Kafei shook his head.

"I'm staying here."

"Good. I was going to tell you that."

As William tried to catch up to the others he tried to make an excuse to use when confronted again. Why did you follow him that time? I was making sure he had a good head on his shoulders.

Why was William so eager to follow him now? He could feel an adventure.

Shad met him halfway down the next corridor. "Ashei tasked us with getting provisions to travel, we'll meet at the barn in 10 minutes."

William started to make a list to complete in his head, "Where are they now?"

"Getting something from Robert's room."

"Robert's?"

Shad nodded back.

"Link's something?"

Shad raised his shoulders, "I don't know more, Link is pretty private about his stuff."

When they were waiting in the barn, William raised his voice again, "Do you know where we're going?"

Shad snickered once, "Not a clue."

When Link entered the barn his eyes were clearer, his body was less tense and he looked at Shad and William with interest. He then looked back at Ashei and Robert.

"Are you all coming?" his voice was less strained too.

Ashei spoke before anyone, "Yes," and it was final.

Link got on Epona and smirked, "Fine, but I'm more than enough."

Shad had to defuse Ashei's temper with small talk. Robert looked a little paler than usual and Link had a new bag on his belt.

It clicked late, but Willliam was glad he could understand at least. "It's magic, isn't it?"

Link looked surprised for a second, "Yes, it is."

"What are we doing then?"

Link cocked his head, "You are doing nothing, I'm... doing something."

"Magic related?"

Link cocked his head the other side, "Yeah," he sounded unsure.

"Is it safe?"

"Pretty much."

"What's the much about?"

"It may take me a while to come back, that's about it."

William frowned, Link seemed almost elated, "Why are you so happy?"

Link had the gall to smile, "Oh, well, it's just-" he grabbed the bag around his belt and felt its presence, "Now I know I can fix this."

William looked back and Ashei was listening intently, "Care to explain?" Had no one ever asked Link for answers?

Link remained silent a couple of seconds, "Well, at first I just thought it was magic exhaustion, I've never seen Zelda use so much magic in so little time, and from what she told me she had never done so either," William felt a pang of jealousness his curiosity drowned, "so I figured, given enough time she would recover. But she did not, in two days, no change whatsoever, so I got worried, and well, when you fight with magic you have to be wary, so I thought, maybe there's some magic at work here?"

William was confused, "Then how do you know for sure?"

Link huffed, "Well, uhm, I smelt it on her."

Robert looked as baffled as William felt.

"Excuse me?"

Link spurred Epona towards the center of the meadow outside Hyrule, "You'll know soon enough."