"You can let me die, you know," Link said easily, though his voice was raspy from the crushing fingers of the Demon King.

Zelda took a deep breath, wishing that were true. It would spare him so much pain later. And she couldn't deny that she already liked the spirit of this soldier, endearing him to her almost immediately.

"You were a soldier for the Royal Family?" she asked, not looking at him yet.

"I was, yes."

She bit her cheek. "Then I can't leave you to die. I'm sorry."

He attempted to smile, but it turned into a pained grimace. "Who'd have ever thought that sentence would be uttered as a negative thing?"

She finally turned to him and crossed her arms, heartache and anger for the poor thing flushed her skin. She could barely see what he looked like with how dirty and caked in blood he was. "What did you really do to deserve such horrible treatment? There are other soldiers in here, but they aren't chained to a wall or covered in their own blood. And it can't be because you just stabbed him."

This time, he choked out a laugh. "I personally fought the Demon King during the final battle for Hyrule and injured him pretty badly. I was just here to deliver a message to the castle commander from where I was stationed, and all hell broke loose."

"You injured him? Where?"

"His left leg. But he had far too many followers, and I didn't stand a chance. He wanted me to suffer."

Though she tucked away that piece of information in her mind for now, Zelda let out a harsh sigh. "I'm so sorry this happened to you."

"Don't be," he said. "I'd do it all again, even knowing where I ended up."

Backing over to the pile of things that had been dumped into the cell, she saw an apple, the water, rags, and something that looked both edible and inedible at the same time. "So, which do you want most? Water, the apple, or to get some of that blood off you?"

His foot tapped as he stared at all of it. "As much as I'm dying for a drink, I haven't eaten in a while."

"I can bring both over," she said with a soft smile. The longing in his voice was obvious. She dropped them both on the ground and held the ladle to his mouth. "If you don't drink first, you might choke."

"I won't argue," he chuckled, drinking greedily.

She grabbed the apple and held it up to him, watching his eyes widen at the sight, but he turned away. "You go ahead."

Shaking her head, she didn't move her hand. "They fed me this morning. Eat the whole thing."

He eyed her suspiciously. "Yeah?"

"Yes, so please."

Taking a bite of the juicy apple had Link's eyes rolling into the back of his head as if it were some aphrodisiac. He let out a low moan as he chewed, savoring every bite.

"How long have you been here?" Zelda asked, watching him.

"Is time still a real thing?" he asked, swallowing. She held out the apple again and he made a face at her. "I'm sorry you have to do this." He shook the chain above his head for good measure.

He took another bite and she shrugged. "I don't have to. But I don't mind. It's not as if I have somewhere else to be."

He chuckled and rolled his eyes in agreement.

When he was finally done, she tossed the core to the ground and wiped her hand against her skirt. She wasn't wearing anything regal, and it was easy to mistake her for a common, but pretty, peasant. Even her hair was wild and tangled, not the neat, straight, styled look she usually appeared out in public in. She lacked the wear and weather of a real peasant, but in the dungeon lighting, she was passable and unrecognizable to anyone who hadn't seen her on a daily basis.

When she went to grab the rag, she heard Link grumble a protest.

"You don't have to. I've been like this for a while. I don't even notice. Besides, we'll need that water, and it'll take far more than two buckets to get this off of me."

She held up the rag. "Well, I don't want to look at your bloody face at least, if that's okay?"

He sighed. "Sure."

She dumped as much water into their drinking-water bucket as she could and then dunked the rag into the lesser-filled one before pressing it to Link's face.

He closed his eyes and let out a harsh sigh. At first, she thought she'd injured him.

"Sorry, I haven't felt water in some time. I forgot."

"Oh," she said, continuing when she was sure he wasn't in pain.

"I'm sorry," he said again. "This can't be fun for you: food, water, blood. I swear, I d—"

She shushed him. "Stop apologizing, please. Believe it or not, I'm actually used to this, so don't think yourself special."

"You've done this before?" he asked skeptically, looking pointedly at their surroundings.

She grinned at him, but her face fell as she remembered. "Yes. I volunteered to go out to Hyrule Field when the fighting first started. Though I'm no surgeon, I was taught to stitch and clean a wound, clean the blood and grime off of soldiers, feed those who couldn't feed themselves, and get them drinks when their lips had gone raw. I did that for the entire length of the war until I was forced to… return home. Admittedly, you're looking pretty bad, but you're not the worst I've seen. You did give me a fright when you first came out, though. I wasn't expecting it."

His expression softened. "In that case, I know you've seen far worse than anyone should ever see. The last few battles on the field were massacres."

She hummed her agreement and continued in silence, focused on her work, though she could feel his eyes on her.

"You look familiar," he said finally.

She didn't falter. "Were you ever stationed on Hyrule Field? Perhaps you saw me there."

He scoffed. "I think I'd remember you. I was on the Field the whole time, but I never ended up injured enough to get to a medical area."

"Well," she tried again, dunking the rag, "I lived just off of Castle Town. Did you live there, or did you ever go there?"

"I was there often," he admitted, his expression suggesting that he'd resigned himself to that as his answer. "Who are you?" he asked this time. "Why is Ganondorf himself interested in you?"

This one had her smile tighten. "I lived in the castle, actually. I technically worked there. Hyrule Field was not my real job, just a place I volunteered. I'd imagine he needs something from me, given my closeness to the Royal Family." No lies there.

Stepping away, she could finally see his face clearly. He was surprisingly handsome under the blood. There were still deep cuts on his face that she'd taken care to clean, but it didn't diminish his attractiveness. In any other situation, she might have found herself self-conscious beside him.

With a half-smile, she dunked the cloth again and looked pointedly at his chest then back at him, silently asking permission to continue her work.

"No, you really don't have to."

"I swear, I've done this for far more injured men than you. Unfortunately, I've seen more blood than this. And your wounds really should be cleaned."

He narrowed his eyes and shook his head.

Crossing her arms, she raised an eyebrow. "Is it your pride? Or, could you possibly enjoy being covered in your own dry blood?"

"Shut up," he jested and rolled his head away with a nod, allowing her to help.

She couldn't help but smile a little bit. He was uncomfortable, and it was clear why when her finger accidently brushed the skin of his abdomen and he sucked in a sharp breath, stifling back a soft groan, keeping his eyes off of her before he could manage a muttered apology.

She shrugged it off. Not the first time that's happened either.

As much as she tried to focus on this one soldier in front of her, her mind raced back to the hundreds she'd helped attend to. She was no warrior princess, but she had seen battle.

There was one particular man she remembered vividly. He'd been shorter, thinner, younger. Someone who physically wasn't meant to fight. He was about to lose what was left of his arm, and all he kept was to return to the fight. The least she could do was hold him down and whisper the kindest words she could find through his screams.

Releasing Link from his mild torment after she'd nearly finished, Zelda tossed the rag into the bucket and took a step away from him. Though he was still fairly covered in blood, she could tell he needed to breathe without her near him.

"You look much better," she admitted. Truly, he did, and he had the body to match his face. When not covered in blood, his body was so clearly that of an active soldier, if a bit thinner than usual. His arms betrayed him as well, despite being chained above his head. She wondered, if they could find the leverage, if he had the strength to pull his chain straight from the cell wall. He looked like he could have in the past.

"Do you know how to pick a lock?" she asked, eyeing the iron chain that went from the wall to his wrists."

He followed her gaze and shook his head. "I was a soldier, not a spy." After another moment of silence, he cleared his throat. "Thank you. I don't know what I can do to properly thank you for your kindness."

Zelda shrugged and sat down, gazing out the cell's bars. "Honestly? I've been in isolation for some time now and I thought I was going to go absolutely insane. I spoke with my guards, but most of them were… violent. So if you want to thank me… a simple conversation is good enough."

"Okay, Zelda," he said easily, drifting as far forward as his chains allowed. "Tell me something about yourself? What's your favorite color?"

She scoffed. "Is that the most interesting question you could come up with? It's purple. What's yours?"

He repaid her kindness with a conversation that lasted for hours. It ranged from every topic under the sun until Zelda had drifted off to sleep. And Link realized that a simple conversation wasn't just a kindness to her, but to him as well.