A/N: I got a review for my last chapter! That means you guys get another chance! But don't think that now that I have that review, you're allowed to get lazy again. If I don't get at least one review on this, I'll get dispirited again. From now on, I'll try to update on the weekends, but I just can't promise that everything will go as planned. (Like I have plans on Sunday to hang out with my friend, and I'm missing homecoming to write this... not that I wanted to go, but it makes a good example.) And one review is a bit depressing, after a while. Oh, sure, when I first got it, I was ecstatic. There was actually someone reading my story! But I'd rather have a lot of them. Wouldn't you?

Okay, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to RebelX, the reviewer who kept my hopes up while on this story. See, someone out there thinks that it's not trash.

A warning for this chapter: lots of fluff. If that annoys you, turn back now. But nothing too major, and there's a bit of excitement after the next bit. You'll get to see what I have christened "The Mellie Chapters." Don't worry, this is a short chapter.

Chapter 9

I'm running very fast. I turn to watch my pursuer, and am surprised to see Mellie running behind me. It should be the leader of the brotherhood. I look again, and realize that it's not Mellie, but a boy who looks like her. I turn a corner, and run into Zelda. Or is it Navi? I can't quite tell... I turn around, and the boy who looks like Mellie fires an arrow into my leg. I watch as a thick, green substance oozes out. It kind of looks like green oatmeal... I watch as Zelda, or Navi, who looks like Mellie now, runs along beside me. I'm carrying my sister on my back, who jumps off and says promptly to Mellie, "Beat that!" I look at the boy who looks like Mellie. He's aiming at the two girls, who have stopped to have a magic competition. They don't see him. I run toward him, and manage to rush him. I'm sitting on top of him, but he aims the crossbow that he's somehow still holding at me, and shoots an arrow through my middle. He dumps me off of him, and advances on the two girls, leaving me to lie dying in my own fluids...

I awake with a start. I'm drenched in cold sweat. I look out of my window. It's still the middle of the night. I think about my very strange dream, and the boy that looked like Mellie. He had the same cold, uncaring, gray eyes. I shiver. No, Mellie's eyes aren't like that at all. They're warm and alive when she wants them to be, and she's been deciding to be warm and alive a lot lately. No, his eyes weren't like Mellie's. I think he was the only part of the dream that even remotely made sense. I get up, and walk out of the room. The castle's practically deserted. I wander the halls, looking up at murals on the wall. There's one of Zelda, and there's one of all the races of Hyrule. I stop at a particularly large mural. It takes me a while to really see it. It's a mural of the sages, Zelda included, and they're standing in a circle. It's not them that catch my eye, though. I'm looking at what's inside the circle. It's a picture of me fighting Ganondorf.

I lived this...

Something sparks at the back of my mind, but it's gone before I can think about it. It's immediately replaced by a much clearer thought.

I have to do this again... I have to play the hero again...

I look around. In the middle of the room, there's a statue of me, holding the Master Sword in the air. I smile inwardly. I have a statue. My sister would be so jealous. My sister...

I hear footsteps from behind me. Whoever it is doesn't realize that I'm here. I hear a voice singing. It's sweet, like a breeze on a summer day.

"When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears, When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears, And I've held your hand through all of these years, But you still have all of me,"

I try to get a better view of whoever's singing. I look across the room, but whoever is singing doesn't see me.

"You used to captivate me, With your resonating light, But now I'm bound by the life you left behind, Your face it haunts my once pleasant dreams, Your voice it chased away all the sanity in me,"

I listen, mesmerized by the beautiful voice. I try to see whom it is singing, but they continue to stay in the shadows.

"These wounds won't seem to heal, This pain is just too real, There's just too much that time cannot erase,"

I listen as they sing, absolutely lost for words. Then I recognize the song. They sing the chorus again.

"When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears, When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears, And I've held your hand through all of these years, But you still have-"

"All of me," I finish the song, and they gasp.

"Who's there?" I recognize the voice at once.

"It's just me, Princess." She steps out of the shadows.

"Oh, Link, you scared me. I didn't think anyone would be here at this hour. What are you doing up anyway?"

"Couldn't sleep." I choose not to tell her about the nightmare.

"Same." She looks around the room. "Funny that we should both wander here, of all places."

"Really." I look around the room, and at all the murals, depicting the epic battle between good and evil. I sigh.

"Link? Is something the matter?" Zelda asks.

I sigh again. How am I supposed to tell her? "Zelda..." I stop. There's no way she'll understand. "I'm going to bed." It's a lie. There's no way that I'm going to get to sleep again tonight.

"You can tell me. I won't tell anyone."

I look at her. "Zelda... I want to go home." There, I said it.

She looks surprised. No wonder. I'll bet she wasn't expecting that.

"I should've known you'd want to go home. It's wrong of me to keep you here. I just, well, it's your decision." She's suddenly very diplomatic. "Well then. I'll have to contact the sages in the morning. We have no choice but to send you back if you want to go." She's looking at me like she can't decide whether to kick me or just ignore me. She seems to choose the latter. Too bad. I'm not gonna let her ignore me.

"Princess?" She turns around, and looks at me like she detests me. I give a start. I wasn't expecting this.

"Yes? What do you want?" She makes no effort to keep the bitterness out of her voice. I'm stung by her words. I don't say anything. I think it's safer that way. Tears of hate and bitterness roll down her cheeks, and I want to comfort her, to let her know that it'll be okay. Only I know it won't be.

"If you don't need anything else, then I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning." The hate is plain in her words. She hates me...

I stand in the hallway, watching her walk away, and that thought runs through my head.

She hates me...

-----------

A Very Brief Interlude

She turned on her heel and stormed out of the room. 'How could he do this?' she thought. 'He's doomed us to a fate worse than death. He's just guaranteed Hyrule's destruction.' She marched back to her bedroom. She felt as though her stomach had been turned inside out. 'And to think that I loved him...'

-----------

I'm walking in the castle grounds. I don't know why I'm out here in the freezing cold. It's nothing compared to the empty feeling in my stomach, though. She hates me...

I march to the market. It's very deserted. I look to my left, and see the Temple of Time looming up in the distance. I think about my quest. Hyrule's fate lay in my hands. I've just cast all of that aside because I miss my family. She has a reason to hate me...

I think about my family. I really miss them. And who's to say that Ganon will be satisfied with Hyrule? He could come after earth next.

I don't want her to hate me...

Ganon. This all comes down to him. It's his fault that I'm here and not with my family. It's his fault that Zelda hates me. It's his fault that my life is a living hell. I'm absently walking toward the entrance to the market. I know the bridge to Hyrule field will be up, but I don't care. I arrive there, and stare at the bridge, as though it's the bridge's fault. How am I supposed to get out of here now? I walk over to the wall, looking for some place to get through. A voice calls from behind me.

"Hey, kid. What are you doing?" I jump at the unexpected noise.

"Looking for a way out. Is there another way or something?" He gives me a strange look.

"What do you need to do at this hour anyway?"

"I just need out. I need to get somewhere." He looks at me like he's wondering if I'm telling the truth. He must decide I look trustworthy, because he walks over to let the bridge down.

"You'll never make it out there without a horse. Do you have one?" I look at him. He's right. I need a horse.

"No. I don't have one."

"Borrow mine. Go to Lon Lon and ask for one of theirs. I'll get mine tomorrow."

People around here sure are friendly. "Thanks! I appreciate it." He brings his horse out from around a corner I didn't notice before.

"Take good care of her."

"I will." I mount, wondering for a moment how to make it go, but I suddenly get a burst of insight from I don't know where, and dig my heels into the hindquarters. I ride off into the night, my destination unclear. Here we go...