A/N: Yeeaah... next chapter is here.Sorry, it's short, but upcoming chapters will be longer.I've almost finished this fic, but I've been having trouble lately because I've been busy with school and the five different band programs I'm involved in now, not to mention the release of the wonderful Phantom of the Opera movie and my new obsession with the anime Fruits Basket:) But anyway, I'll try harder to get back into Zelda mode and finish this thing. Thanks for the awesome reviews, and keep them coming!

Dark Poison

A few days passed, and I soon forgot about the eerie dream I had had. For some reason, Ganondorf had barely spoken to me throughout this time period. Gone were the constant reminders of how hateful Link was and how weak my mother was. I vaguely wondered what had become of the dark magic training that my father had promised to give me. However, I shrugged it off, merely assuming that he had his reasons behind it, and that in time, everything would return to normal.

But then came the day that my mother fell ill, and a foreboding sensation implanted itself in the back of my mind when I first learned of it.

At breakfast one morning, I sat across from Link at the table. Leora had already finished her meal and had been excused to attend her lessons. Link waited until she left to speak of my mother's condition.

"She been sick to her stomach for days now, and she refuses to eat much," he said quietly, his eyes staring off into the distance. "She fainted while dressing herself this morning. I'm thinking about contacting Impa."

I frowned. "Oh, I'm sure it's not that serious," I said quickly. "You certainly don't have to bother Impa. You're too worrisome." I had no idea what made me say that, but I had said it nonetheless.

He glanced at me before shifting his eyes away. "Maybe you're right," he reflected. "But just to be safe, I think I'd like her to come and check it out."

I did not reply, suddenly feeling uneasy. I let him handle the situation in his own way and retreated to a private corner of the library for the majority of the day.

That evening, as I passed by the throne room on the way to my bedchambers, I heard Link's frantic voice within and could not stop myself from eavesdropping. Peering inside, I saw that he and Impa were the only occupants of the room.

"What? Do you know what's wrong? What is it, Impa? Tell me!" Link demanded.

Impa's voice remained calm. "Sit down, Link."

He paused, and a pregnant silence filled the air. "I'll stand, thanks," he said. I could hear the trepidation in his voice.

"Zelda… was poisoned. Something she ate or drank…" Impa trailed off.

"P-Poisoned?" Link stuttered. "Can you… remove it somehow?"

"I already tried. There are ancient Sheikah techniques for just this sort of ailment." She sighed. "It failed."

"What do you mean it failed?" Link asked slowly.

"If it were ordinary poison, we would have been able to extract it from her body well before now," Impa told him. "I'm afraid it's something else. It seems to be feeding off of her, slowly draining her strength away until..."

I held my breath as I waited for her to continue, but she remained silent. I heard Link's voice next.

"Will she make it?" he asked apprehensively, his voice quivering. "No half-truths," he added firmly. "Tell me what's going to happen to my wife, Impa."

I heard her sigh deeply. "Link, I'm sorry," she said, her own voice sounding somewhat unstable. "We've done everything we can for her. She will not make it." A pause. "It's only a matter of time now."

I then heard a sound that haunts me still to this day. Link cried out, the pain and agony in his heart clearly represented. For the first time in my life, I witnessed the Hero of Time weeping. The scene before me was unfathomable, yet there it was. The Hero of Time is human after all, I remember thinking.

A loud bang forced me out of my reverie. Link had slammed his hand against the wall in exasperation.

"You mean to tell me that Zelda is in there, at this moment, dying, and there's absolutely nothing I can do about it?" he asked, the volume of his voice rising. He didn't wait for her reply. "How can this be!" he shouted.

"You have protected her, done everything to help her and Hyrule ever since you met her," Impa told him gently. "But you are merely one man. You cannot perform unprecedented miracles. No one has that power, except the Goddesses themselves."

I heard Link begin to pace back and forth across the room, muttering to himself.

"What could it be?" he asked. "Who could have done this to her?"

"I don't know, Link," she replied. "I just don't know."

Deciding that I could take no more, I tore myself away from the doorway and escaped into a dark and seemingly empty corridor, where I paced anxiously. Taking deep breaths, I tried desperately to calm myself, to no avail.

Dying? She was dying!

My throat closed and I began to choke on the air itself. No, no, no… this couldn't be happening! My worst, unconscious fears were coming true right before my eyes. I grabbed my head and nearly ripped my hair from my scalp. All I could think was one thing.

The dreams I had been having… they weren't dreams. I fell to my knees as I finally came to a realization.

I had poisoned my mother.