Link woke for the third time that night.

The first time, he'd felt Zelda roll into him in her sleep, and then promptly hit his face with her hand as she tried to scoot herself back into place. He'd tried to keep from laughing and couldn't wait to tell her in the morning that she'd attacked him in her sleep. A little exaggeration never hurt.

The second time he woke, it was because his hand slid under one of the pillows under her head and had brushed something. As carefully as possible, he traced his fingers around it, realizing quickly that it was the knife he'd given Zelda, and she'd put it under her pillow to grab.

But this time, he woke up to find his hand still inches from the knife, but his other arm was draped over Zelda, as she'd apparently rolled against him again in the night, but hadn't moved away. He could feel her chest rising and falling, and much to his surprise, he could feel her light fingers had intertwined with his at some point. Link smiled to himself, nestling closer to where her hair was already tickling his face.

Only this time, he realized that he'd woken up for a reason. His eyes opened, and he kept still, hearing the commotion in the hall, the frantic footsteps moving back and forth. Link's fingers gripped the knife under the pillow, waiting. If this was nothing serious, there was no point to waking Zelda, but he was ready.

The creak of the door on its hinges was barely perceptible, but Link slowly moved his arm out from under Zelda's head so he could move faster with the knife. The door didn't make another sound, but there was a nearly undetectable step into the room, and that was all Link needed.

Pulling the knife out, he sat up, eyeing the intruder. Zelda gasped and joined Link, staring at their guest.

Maryse was standing just inside the room, her eyes puffy and pleading.

"Ellie is gone. She's not in here, is she?"

"What?" Zelda muttered, catching her bearings. Her eyes were on her knife in Link's hand, and she pressed her palms into her forehead to stop the throbbing headache she still had. "Ellie?"

Link looked around and set the knife on the blanket, not out of reach. "She's not here."

"Is she anywhere on the property?" Zelda managed, yawning.

"No, we looked everywhere first. Oton and I have been searching for near an hour. It's still the middle of the night. I don't know where she could have gone."

Link turned to Zelda, already sensing what she was about to say.

"We have to look for her, too. We'll be right out to help."

Maryse bowed her head in appreciation and closed the door. Link lit the nearest candle, wincing as he remembered how tender some of his body still was. Though, admittedly, the potion had worked wonders in the night, and many of the wounds looked like they were nearly a week into the healing process.

Springing off the bed, Zelda grabbed the new clothes that Ellie had left out and turned to Link with urgency. "Move, Link. We have to find her."

"She might be fine," he said, though he grabbed his things as well.

"I know, but she reminds me of my sister. Link," she said, stopping to grab his arm. "I couldn't save my sister. I can't leave Ellie alone out there. I have to save someone from this mad apocalyptic world we're living in."

Link pulled on a combination of his old plain shirt to go under his chainmail and pulled on the new shirt from Ellie over it. "You saved me, Princess, in more ways than just helping me escape. I know I'm not your family, but don't think that you haven't saved anyone."

She wanted to say something, to tell him that despite herself, a part of her was considering him as holding a place in her heart beside family. Something about him was familiar, like she'd known him for ages rather than weeks or however long they'd been imprisoned. She loved how easy it was to talk to him. He was the only person who didn't just think of her as the Princess, that she had a spirit all her own that didn't belong to her title. But she figured that revelation would be a bit too aggressive for him.

"Don't turn. I'm going to change," she said instead, hearing him grab the new pair of pants Ellie had left for him and the belt with his sword.

Zelda threw on a white shirt with quarter sleeves that poofed out, and pulled a long brown skirt up over it, tucking the shirt in above her waist. Ellie had left her some more accessories, but she simply grabbed the boots and turned back to Link.

"Okay, let's—" Zelda scoffed and crossed her arms. "Did you look at me?"

Link smirked and followed her eyes to the mirror in front of Link that aimed straight at her. Shaking his head, Link fought back a grin.

"I don't know if I believe you," Zelda said, narrowing her eyes.

He stood and handed her the knife. "You'll just have to trust me then."

"Fine," she said with a playful roll of her eyes as she slid the knife into her belt. "I can do that. Now let's go."

Maryse was waiting for them in the kitchen. "We're riding out. She's not here. Will you come?"

Link deferred to Zelda. This wasn't his choice or his call. Zelda nodded, though she grabbed Link uneasily. "We have no horses."

"Here," Oton said, leading the three remaining horses from the barn. "The three of us will split up." Only one had a saddle, and Maryse jumped onto that horse and spurred off without another word.

"Thank you for your help, strangers," he said, pushing a brown horse towards them as he pulled himself up on his own horse and joined Maryse down the path from the house.

"Link!" Zelda said, shaking him. "I don't know how to ride without a saddle. Do you know how to get one on? The stable hands did that for us."

Swinging himself onto the horse and taking a moment to let it calm down, Link stroked her mane and gave her an affectionate pat before holding his hand out to Zelda. "Just hold on to me. I used to ride wild horses in Hyrule Field when I was a kid."

"My skirt?"

Link wriggled his fingers at her, encouraging her to take his hand. "I'm sitting in front of you. I can't see you. You can go change if you want. I can take the time to saddle this horse. Or we can just go."

Zelda muttered to herself before taking his hand. She felt him lift her up as she scrambled to mount the horse behind Link, quickly wrapping her arms around him. "I just want it stated that I'm a very good rider, but I have never done this before because it was considered a safety hazard, therefore, I will absolutely not be able to let go of yo-u!" She yelped on the last word, sliding off to the side against the horse's hair.

"I don't mind," Link laughed, pulling her hands tighter around him. "Just don't let go and you won't fall."

When Link took off, he didn't ease into it, laughing even harder at Zelda's high-pitched squeak as she tightened her grip on him.

"Oh gods, this is insane!" Zelda giggled, enjoying the ride far more than she thought she would. But she quickly remembered why they were out there and her excitement wore off in an instant, looking through the encroaching woods, calling Ellie's name without any degree of success.

Zelda didn't know how long they rode, but she knew that the sun had moved a fair distance in the time they'd been out. But time became little more than an illusion when a scream echoed through the trees. A young girl's scream.

Link spurred the horse on toward the voice before it was cut off. He stopped just when he noticed the figures in the distance walking back and forth, though there was little more that he could discern at that point. Swinging his leg over, he hopped down and held his arms out to help Zelda.

"I can't leave you this far away," he muttered to her. "Just stay behind the trees."

"You're still injured," Zelda noted as they started to walk.

"It's much better than yesterday. Don't worry."

As they approached, Link gestured to a wide tree, but Zelda stopped and gasped.

"Aelia…"

Link turned to Zelda, mouth open to say something sympathetic to her, knowing that when she saw Ellie, she was seeing her own sister instead, but he didn't have time. Zelda was on her feet, sprinting into the clearing where Ellie was tied to a tree surrounded by five of Ganondorf's soldiers.

"No!" Link tried, but found himself following on Zelda's heels as she ran for the girl.

"Zelda!" Ellie cried.

Zelda stumbled over a large root but made it to Ellie just before the nearest soldier noticed anything amiss. She pulled her knife from her belt and quickly sawed at the ropes that bound Ellie.

"It's them!" one of the soldiers howled. "I've seen her before!"

Zelda spun to the soldier, remembering all-too-well the face of one of the guards who'd kept watch over her cell. "Oh, Goddess," Zelda muttered, realizing her mistakes. They were out searching the woods for them, and she'd led her and Link straight into the arms of five soldiers.

Link had a tight grip on his sword and turned to glance at Zelda. "Do you have her?"

"Yes," Zelda said, gripping Ellie's hand firmly.

The guards were rushing at them, and Link pulled Zelda and Ellie with him as he began to run back the way they'd come. He didn't lead them far before pushing Zelda ahead. "Get on that horse and ride away."

"No, I can't—"

"Go!" he said, forcefully shoving her towards the horse as he stood his ground.

Zelda bit her lip and pulled Ellie away from the guards.

Link took a deep breath as the five guards from the palace approached him quickly, and he wished he had an arrow or two to stop them, but his sword would have to do as it clashed hard against the first guard. He struggled to keep them from flanking him, and was trying to move up the hill, the only direction he could go, when he stopped, stunned.

A horse charged straight into three of the soldiers, sending them flying off their feet. Link froze, watching as a figure was flung from the horse as it skidded to a halt. But he took advantage of the mutual distraction to quickly run his blade across one soldier's neck, and in the same motion, into the gap just under the armor of the other soldier, piercing him in the heart. Moving quickly, Link ensured the other three were dead before rushing over to the fallen rider, hoping to the Goddess that it was a kind stranger, or even Maryse, Oton, or Ellie. But of course, that would have been too good for his selfish self.

Kneeling down beside Zelda, he grabbed her hand and glanced behind him at the approaching footsteps of Ellie before returning his attention to Zelda. "What was that for?" he asked, though his tone was light for her sake.

"Y-you couldn't take five of them. It was my fault." Her eyes were fluttering, and Link ran a hand through her hair to keep her attention on him. He could see some blood in her hair, but also on his own hand. He wasn't sure who's it was.

"It's not your fault. Did you hit your head when you fell?"

Zelda nodded once, trying to keep her heavy eyes open. "What's another concussion?"

"That's not funny," Link muttered, looking over at Ellie when she reached them. "Do you know where we are?"

"Yes, I was following the road. I know they didn't take me far."

"Why did they want you?"

"They were looking for an… an escaped prisoner. A young woman." Ellie's eyes darted between Link and Zelda. "Her?"

Link grabbed Zelda's hand as she breathed heavily, still winded from the fall. "Is Aelia okay?"

Glancing first at Ellie, Link leaned closer to Zelda to look at her eyes. He'd seen several of his friends sustain head injuries, and he was at least familiar with some signs to look for. But the blacks of her eyes appeared normal.

"She is. You saved her."

"I did?" Zelda turned to Ellie and smiled. "Hey, how are you?"

Link gave Ellie a warning look, one that said not to question Zelda. Ellie smiled back in response. "I'm okay."

"Ellie, take the horse and follow the road home. We followed the path directly. When someone finds you, bring help. Something to lie her in, like a cart, so we can get her back. I'll stay with her. Can you do that?"

Nodding, Ellie backed up and grabbed the horse, getting into it much easier than Zelda could.

"You know you can't do that," Link said through gritted teeth as Zelda's attention turned back to him. "You're the princess. You have a kingdom to think about, and we just have to think about you."

"I don't want you to die, Link. If I can prevent it, even if it means a little…" she winced as if on cue, "…injury."

He glanced at their joined hands and he rolled his eyes in relief. "Just try not to throw yourself off a horse again."

"I told you I'd fall."

He grinned slightly. "If you weren't holding on to me."

"I think I need to learn to ride bareback when this is all over."

Running his other hand back through her hair, specifically feeling for any type of wound, he found himself doing it again, even though he'd found nothing. And then again, his fingers ran through her golden locks.

"You were right," Zelda said abruptly.

"I usually am," Link jested. "But what about?"

Zelda laughed once and closed her eyes, turning into Link's hand ever so slightly. "You do have rough peasant hands."

Rolling his eyes and snorting, Link stilled his hand. "Sorry. Hey, keep your eyes open for a while, though."

She forced them open. "I didn't mean you had to stop. I was just… I don't know what I was doing. I mean, you can stop. It's not an order either way. You can do… whatever you'd like."

Link smiled softly at her, returning his hand to her hair and resuming the comforting motion. "You're usually the one who has me all flustered."

"You caught me on a bad day." She sighed and glanced around, already feeling some of the pain subsiding after the shock of it all had worn off. "I put us in danger. Ellie just… she reminds me of… of… Aelia."

"I know she does," Link said in a low, soothing voice. "I've done similar things to this. In the wake of loss, we try to make up for it, especially when we blame ourselves."

Zelda turned slightly to look at him. "May I ask… who you've lost like that?"

Link stared out at the trees for a while before answering. "My parents weren't my family. But the soldiers I was with afterwards were. And I lost a good few in the war. My close friend Hala died when she tried to get a message to me about Ganondorf's troops. She fell in our camp with three arrows stuck in her back. My closest friend, Beorn [Kayne], betrayed us when we were set upon by moblins. A part of me hopes he's dead, and the other part prays to the gods he's alive. Elosa was found beheaded after a battle. Finn was with me when we reached Ganondorf, so I doubt he made it… or he was also thrown into the cells. I don't know."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked," Zelda said apologetically.

"No, it's really fine. I don't mind talking about them. It's our line of work. We sign up knowing that we could all die. Many of the soldiers I was with were like me. Their families weren't at home, but amongst ranks. We had no one who'd mourn us except our own brothers and sisters, but sometimes it's still hard to face when the moment arrives."

"Link," Zelda said, letting go of his hand so she could angle herself better to look in his eyes. "I'd mourn you. So, don't think that you have no one. You have me."

This time, he couldn't help the warm feeling that spread though him at her words, and he smiled, though it betrayed his tiredness. "That's worth quite a lot. But it's not worth you getting thrown from a horse for me. Can you try not to nearly die for me next time?"

"No promises, Link. No promises."

Zelda could only remember fragments of the rest of the night. She remembered Link distracting her with stories about friends he'd never talked about in the past. She remembered how he'd never let go of her, even when Maryse, Oton, and Ellie returned to bring them back. She remembered drinking the most disgusting potion of her life, and hearing some chastising words directed from Maryse to Ellie about running off. But beyond that, she didn't quite remember much more than that.

She woke up back in the bed, feeling significantly better. Link was beside her, sitting up, above the blankets, but with his head slouched over onto his shoulder, breathing steadily. She turned to see that there were several things packed up in a knapsack, ready for them to take away for the road.

The sun shone through the window fiercely, betraying the later hour, and Zelda sat up, realizing that someone had put her into a nightshift.

"How are you today?" Link muttered, though his eyes stayed closed.

Zelda almost doubted that he was actually talking to her until his eye cracked open to look at her. "I'm feeling much better. Thank you."

"Thank Maryse. She made us both some strong stuff. My injuries are little more than scars, so I was hoping it would be the same for your head."

"I think it is," Zelda said, realizing just how 'okay' she felt, despite the gaps in her memory.

"Do you remember much?" he asked, as if he could read her mind.

"No."

Link nodded and sighed, standing up. He handed her some clothes, something nearly identical to what Ellie had laid out before for her. "You kept calling Ellie by your sister's name. I managed to pass it off as her looking like the Princess, but I figured you should know. She knows that we were prisoners and that our stories are faked. The soldiers told her as much, though it seems that they were looking for you, not me."

Zelda groaned. "I put us both in so much danger by going after Ellie. If we'd been caught…"

Link rolled across the bed so he was sitting beside her and put a comforting hand on her knee, though he moved it away quickly when he realized how sheer the fabric of her shift was. "It means you're someone who cares, even for strangers, more than she does for herself. I think that's an admirable trait. Of course, I'm a soldier, so I would say that. But either way, it happened. It's past. Move forward. We don't ever have to help another child. Or, we can help every person we pass and risk exposure. There is no black and white, right or wrong choice here."

Zelda smiled ruefully. "That's easy to say when you haven't been raised knowing that every decision you ever make will come back to haunt you in one way or another. I once chose to wear my hair in pleats, and suddenly, half the kingdom called it the newest fashion and me an 'icon.' I couldn't wear my hair a certain way without it affecting people."

Link stood up and crossed the room, hovering near the door. "You're not the Princess here, remember? You're just a traveler. You can be anyone, even if that means you're just being yourself."

Once they had packed their things and were ready to leave, Zelda stood outside the farmhouse with her arms crossed, wishing they could stay. This place was safe, it reminded her of home.

Maryse closed the door, bringing Ellie outside wither her as they made their way over to Link and Zelda. "There is nothing I can give you that repays my gratitude for saving my daughter, but I hope this will do."

Oton walked around the corner of the house with the horse they'd ridden, a bridle attached to it this time, though only with a blanket over its back. "For you. We cannot afford to part with her saddle as well, but for Ellie's life, we can part with one horse."

Zelda shook her head. "We can't accept this. This is how you earn a living. You don't even know us. And you repaid us tenfold with your hospitality and your potions. You've fed us and given us clothes. We're healed."

"Take her," Ellie said. "The guards in the woods want you. You'll need a horse to get away."

Link leaned into Zelda. "She's right. When this is all over, we can return the horse."

Zelda eyed the brown mare. "I'll repay you for this one day."

"There's no need."

"Still," Zelda muttered. "You have no idea how much this means, and I'll repay that someday."

Ellie grinned. "Thank you. Take care of Epona."

"Epona?" Link said, stroking the horse's muzzle affectionately. "The name fits."

Link hopped up and held out his hand for Zelda. She rolled her eyes, displeased with their lack of a saddle again. But this was a blessing from the Goddess that they never expected.

As they trotted down the path with a wave back, Zelda stared off into the trees. "We can get to my cousin now."

Link nodded. "We'll find a town first and see if we can figure out where he is. Sound good?"

Zelda signed contentedly. For the first time in a long while, she took a breath, and felt herself filled with unrestrained hope.