"Three hundred people lie dead…"
"I will wage war on this land…"
"I will kill everyone else…"
"All because of you…"
"The end is here…"Link awoke screaming, drenched with sweat. The memory of what had happened in the Temple of Time flooded his mind. Ganon's voice was all his mind could focus on. Eventually, he regained some of his composure, and tried to sit up. A splitting pain shot through his side, and he remembered the broken ribs Skorn had handed out to him. He touched his side gingerly and found them bandaged, and the ribs no longer felt broken, just bruised. The discovery of the bandages confused him; he should have been dead, or lying in the rubble of the Temple of Time. He tried to sit up again, slowly this time, and surveyed his surroundings.
He was lying in a soft, white bed, in a very spacious bedroom. Light filtered in through the high windows, and he was surprised to find seven chairs of various shapes and sizes encircling his bed. "I must be in the castle, in my old room," he thought, "But what's going on?"
"Link!"
He turned his head towards the door just in time to see a red headed blur dart towards him and practically jump onto the bed beside him. Their lips joined and she held him close to her. Link groaned sharply through the kiss. Malon released him and stared. "What's wrong? I'm sorry I did that, but…"
"No, the kiss was fine Malon," Link said, forcing a smile across his lips. "It's just that you were crushing my ribs."
Malon giggled a little, and kissed him a little more gently. "I'm so glad you're finally awake. We've all been so scared, there's always been at least one of us at your side the entire time."
Link looked at her, a puzzled look on his face. "Who's 'us'?"
"Meaning me, silly." A younger, but just as mature, voice appeared behind Malon, and Saria came up and wrapped her small arms around him. "Zelda and the other's have been here a lot too, but with all the talk of Ganon and war, they've been kept busy managing their own people. Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending how you look at it—the Kokiri aren't going to be of much help, so I've been able to spend a lot of time here with you and Malon."
Link looked from face to face. "War?" he said. "What's happened? How long have I been out?"
Both girls looked down uncomfortably. "You've been unconscious for over a week," Malon finally said. "We were worried you wouldn't come out of it."
"A week," Link repeated, shocked. A whole week had gone by since he had pulled the Master Sword. "Please," he asked, "Tell me what's happened."
Saria began the tale. "We found you in the wreckage of the Temple of Time, with the Master Sword clutched in your hand. Kaepora was right beside you, his wings mutilated. We brought you both back here to the castle to recuperate. Kaepora came out of it a day later, but he's been slipping in and out of consciousness ever since, and we haven't been able to get any straight answers.
"The day after, Ganon sent us a message, scratched into the skulls of ten Hylians. It said 'Prepare yourselves, for this is only the beginning. See you soon'. Since then we've been getting news of his army pillaging and destroying towns and villages in western Hyrule, from the Gerudo Valley up to Barsmill. He now controls that entire area, enslaving or killing everything he finds. He's stopped there, though, waiting for us to make a move."
Link just stared blankly into space. All he could think of was, "This is all my fault. The dragon, the plague, the forest…and now this…because of me…"
"It's not your fault, Link," Malon said forcefully, as if reading his mind. "Even Princess Zelda didn't foresee this until it was too late. You can't blame yourself."
Link didn't reply, and the room was silent for a long moment. Finally Saria stood up and said quietly, "I'll go tell the others you're awake," and left the room. Malon and Link just sat there for a long while. Finally, as usual, Malon broke the silence. "Link, I told you before that you'll never feel any better if you don't talk about things. I know this has been a hard time for you, but the same holds true. Not to mention the fact that in the past week I've seen three hundred dead bodies in our land's most sacred structure, seen ten skulls with a threat etched into their foreheads, and been privy to the knowledge that half of my homeland is in the hands of a genocidal maniac. I think you had better tell me what's going on before I join you in your insanity and needless guilt."
Link looked into her eyes and couldn't help but smile. "Get comfortable Malon," he said. "This could take a while."
* * *
Link had just finished telling Malon about his last battle with Ganon when Saria returned with Darunia, Ruto, and Nabooru. Link took one look at his best friend's smile, and wasn't so sure that the timing was pure coincidence. Nevertheless, he was soon bombarded by well wishes and several more painful hugs, including a bone shattering embrace from Darunia.
"I'm happy to see all of you too," he finally managed to say. He smiled sadly at them. "I wish it was under better circumstances, though. I'm sorry for all the pain I must have caused you…"
"Nonsense!" Nabooru interjected forcefully. "Once again, because of you, Darunia and Ruto still have homes and people to return to. And as for what happened in the Temple…well…"
"No one blames you Link," Ruto continued. "There was no way you could have known pulling the Master Sword would release Ganon. None of us knew until it was too late, and even then it was only Zelda who put the pieces together."
Link nodded, not at all relieved of his guilt. Then something occurred to him. "Where is Zelda? Is she all right? How's the king?"
This caused the others to pause and look down uncomfortably. Link looked from face to face, wondering what was the matter. "What? What is it?"
"Perhaps," Darunia offered, "It would be best if we left Brother Link to his rest. I'm sure Sister Malon will be able to keep him company."
The others agreed and exited the room, once again offering their best wishes to a very puzzled Link. Every time he woke up from a coma, it seemed, he always seemed to miss something important. Darunia was the last to leave, and closed the door with a meaningful look to Malon and a parting smile at Link.
"Will you please tell me what's going on?" Link asked when they were alone.
Malon shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "When we brought you back to the castle, they wanted me to tell them everything that had been going on. Princess Zelda asked what you had discovered about your father, and…"
"Oh no…" Link groaned.
"I'm sorry! I didn't want to tell without you there, but she made me, and…"
"It's not your fault, Malon, I'm not blaming you," Link assured her, taking her hand in his own. "This is just what I was afraid of though. Is she mad, or depressed, or…I don't know, what is she?"
"I don't know," Malon said. "No one does. She's been so busy trying to keep the country together this last week that no one's seen much of her. I think she's avoiding everyone to keep them from knowing how she feels."
Link once again nodded. This was the last thing he had wanted to happen. Since coming to the conclusion that King Jax was indeed his father, he had been wondering how to break the news to Zelda, his sister. He had been afraid that she would do just this, burry herself in other problems and shut herself off from everyone else until she had time to deal with the news on her own. Link knew from hard experience that that approach only led to more pain. He had been in a similar state after he had discovered he wasn't a Kokiri as he had been raised to believe. He had had Navi to help him through it; now it was his turn to be there for Princess Zelda.
"I have to go talk with her," Link said, trying to sit up. The effort was rewarded by more pain.
"Not right now you won't," Malon ordered. "Saria and the others managed to use their magic to fix your bones, but it's still going to hurt for a while."
The pain shooting through his side was enough to convince Link that she was right. He settled back down onto the pillow. "So," Malon said, trying to change the subject. "You were asleep for seven years. Do you consider yourself eighteen or twenty-five?"
Link couldn't help but laugh. "Personally, I prefer eighteen, but you'd have to ask the Master Sword to be…" Something suddenly occurred to him. "The Master Sword! Where is it?"
Malon smiled and pointed to her feet. Link peered over the side of the bed, and sure enough, on the floor by her feet, laid the legendary blade. "We left it where you dropped it," she explained. "No one could lift it, not even Chief Darunia."
Link nodded in understanding. "I'm the only one who can lift it. Apparently, it was created thousands of years ago for me to use when I was ready." He bit his tongue, keeping back any sarcastic comments he might have to say about 'ready'. Instead, he looked up at her beautiful face. "Malon, about what happened in the Forest…"
Malon looked away, embarrassed. "I figured this might come up. I'm sorry I kissed you, Link. I know you probably still think of me as a silly country bumpkin with her head in the clouds, but when the roof collapsed and I'd thought you had died before my eyes…"
"No Malon, no," he interrupted, lifting a hand to stroke her face. He ignored the pain the movement brought. "I was going to apologize for losing my temper with the Deku Tree like I did. I was wrong, and you shouldn't have had to see it." A smile crossed his face. "Besides, this 'fairy boy' couldn't have asked for a better first kiss then the one he got from that 'country bumpkin'."
Malon's face brightened, and she returned the smile. "Your first kiss?"
"My first."
"Wow," she replied. "Mine too." She giggled softly. "It was pretty good, if I do say so myself."
Link laughed in return. "Actually, I was opening you might do it again."
"I kissed you less than half an hour ago, silly."
"I know."
They smiled at each other, and Malon leaned over once again. Though the last week had been a nightmare, and the palace was in disarray, one room remained at peace.
Neither of them wanted to think of how long that peace may last.