Zelda washed her hands for perhaps the two hundredth time. It wasn't that she'd seen two hundred soldiers, but somehow, if she so much as looked at one of them, they seemed to get their blood on her.

The rush had calmed down significantly, though several people still came in. She was left to the simpler tasks unless both Nim and Shad were busy, so as she finished her millionth stitch, she sat back and wrung out her fingers, glancing at the entrance to the tent for the billionth time, waiting for Link to come through. And again, she was met with the face of a stranger.

"That's the last of them," the soldier said, setting down a young woman.

"Zelda?" Nim asked, gesturing for her to take the patient.

But Zelda couldn't move her legs. "Wait! The last? There's no one else out there?"

The soldier who'd carried her in shrugged. "None alive. We're all back here now. Are you looking for someone?"

That moved Zelda to her feet. She hurried outside and glanced around at the weary warriors, many of whom were simply resting, or sitting by the fire, chatting of something far happier than all that they'd just witnessed.

She moved with a speed she didn't know she had, ignoring Nim and Shad calling out for her to return to her patient, deaf to the soldier repeatedly asking her who she was looking for.

"Ma'am!" the man finally said, pulling her arm to stop her from running around. "Who are you trying to find? Let me help. You look… well… you're likely scaring some of the soldiers."

She looked down at herself, forgetting that all but her arms were covered in blood. Even her face was barely clean, smears that had come from her wiping away sweat or an itch were still evident on her forehead and her cheek.

"Link Forrester. But I don't see him."

The man put a hand on her arm and gently pushed her in the direction of the medical tent. "I'll go see if he's anywhere, or if anyone knows where he might be. He could have taken someone into the village. You never know."

Zelda knelt down and ran her hands along her face. Had she done it again? Had she made the wrong choice? What if Link was injured? Worse, what if he was dead? What would she do?

And in that moment, she realized that her brain wasn't asking how she'd get to her cousin, or who would escort her, but what would she do?

Link had so quickly and so fiercely become a part of her life, and though she'd known him for mere weeks, it felt like a lifetime. Every day she'd spent it by his side. Every night, she'd been close to him. They'd been each other's sole companions during most days, and they'd talked the other to sleep most nights. And the realization that all this might stop, that there was a possibility he'd never actually return hadn't dawned on her until that moment.

Sure, they'd mentioned it, but everything seems unlikely until it happens. Zelda never thought her parents would be usurped and murdered. She never thought she'd outlive her kid sister. She never imagined being trapped in a hole in the ground, left to wait for an inevitable death that seemed like it would never have come. So the thought of Link genuinely dying had never crossed her mind.

She felt like someone had grabbed hold of her, threatening to squeeze her arm too hard and break a bone, but equally threatening to let go, and leave her empty. It was a feeling she never got to experience with her family. They were dead before she could even process that they might be killed. But Link was gone.

"I heard you two talking," someone said, coming up to her. "Don't get your hopes up, little lady. There was a slaughter on the field. You look like you've already seen most of it. We won, but it was not without heavy losses. If you can't find him now, you shouldn't expect to see him again."

The world came down to Zelda breathing. It was all she could hear, much like when she'd been imprisoned in her isolation cell. She found herself walking blindly back to the medical tent and on her knees. She'd gone behind the tent so there was some measure of privacy, and she took Link's knife out of her boot, staring at it. With a sharp breath, she drew the blade lightly across her palm, just enough for some blood to come out. She let it drip into the grass and closed her eyes, lowering her voice in a prayer to the Goddess.

"Goddess Hylia, grant me the strength that I cannot wield. Close my eyes when I cannot sleep. Move my feet when I cannot walk. Lead when I cannot follow. Your blood was shed, take mine. Your body is gone, direct mine. And guide those back to me whom I have lost. I beseech you this in an hour when you are most needed. Take all I can give, and offer it back."

When she opened her eyes again, her hand had stopped bleeding. It had been so long since she'd uttered the words that she wondered if the Goddess would even still listen to her. She'd missed the chance to intercede for her family. She'd be damned if she was going to lose Link without a fight.

Standing back on her feet, Zelda went back into the tent, her eyes going first to Shad, who was over the patient she was meant to take. "Are you alright?" he asked, his gaze flickering up before looking back at his work.

"I don't know."

Nim handed Zelda a bloody knife. "Whatever it is, take your mind off of it by helping to clean everything off."

Though Zelda wanted to run out to the field and look for him herself, she knew that she still had to be careful. And everyone knew where to find her from the tent.

Later in the night, the man who'd gone searching returned with news that the battlefield was officially clear of all Sarian soldiers. There were only Ganondorf's forces left. So if Link wasn't in camp…

Nim and Shad had given Zelda a drink for her efforts, as well as a decent pocketful of rupees. All the soldiers were receiving some, but Zelda was no soldier, and she looked between them both.

"You did good work," Shad finally said. "Despite volunteering, we though you should have something to show for it."

And though she'd taken both the drink and the coins, she was most relieved to take them up on their offer to let her sleep in the medical tent and to wash up entirely. They sent for her and Link's things from the inn. She slept on a bedroll they'd provided, one that offered barely more comfort than lying in the dirt. The physicians were in the adjacent tent with far nicer accommodations, but she was beyond grateful.

She could feel her face tickling, and her eyes shot open with a bizarre thought that there might be a rather large spider on her face. But it wasn't a spider. It was a hand.

Blue eyes gazed down at her. His hand moved away just enough so that she could see his whole face.

Zelda had to blink a few times, to see if she was still dreaming. "Link?" she asked cautiously, her groggy brain catching up quickly. He nodded, and Zelda found herself sitting up before she could even remember moving.

She took a moment to look him over. He had some blood stains on his shirt, but they were old and dry. He had a layer of dirt on him, like he'd been rolling around in freshly dug ground. There were a few scrapes on his face, but nothing that wouldn't heal. His other hand was wrapped up in a shoddy white gauze with some blood on the bandage, but otherwise, he looked perfectly fine.

Which led her to feel safe enough to throw her arms around his neck.

"Whoa!" he laughed, catching her as he fell backwards. He'd been kneeling in front of her, so the fall wasn't far, but he was surprised with her fierceness as she toppled onto him. "Excited to see me?"

Zelda couldn't even bring herself to respond, burying her face in his neck, relishing the feeling of his pulse through his skin.

He sat up, still holding her, but balancing on elbow. "Zelda? Zelda, hey, what's wrong? What happened?"

She could suddenly feel her breathing hitch again and again as she realized that she was crying tears of relief.

"You're not dead," she finally managed, though she was aware she was speaking too loudly for someone in a crowded tent with healing patients in the middle of the night.

Link leaned back to look at her, confusion written all over his features. His eyes softened, and he wiped away one of her fallen tears. "I'm not dead."

"They… some of the soldiers came back hours ago saying that there was no one left alive, that only Ganondorf's people were there. They said they'd brought in all the bodies. I looked at every face. I held most of their hands as they died. They all told me that it was over, that everyone was gone. Where were you?"

Link smoothed her hair back, enjoying the sensation just a little too much to only do it once. "About twenty of us broke off to take on a separate force of dinofols and Hylians loyal to Ganondorf. We ended up far off from the main battle. That's all."

"What happened to your hand?"

He leaned back only enough so he could bring his hand between them, unwrapping it. There was a decent gash against his wrist, but it didn't look as bad as she'd thought.

"I didn't realize that you thought we'd all died. I'm sorry."

Zelda shook her head, bringing both her hands to rest behind his neck. His eyes practically glazed over at the sensation of her nails tickling his skin and hair. But she barely noticed, still focused on the fact that his heart was beating, not how fast it was beating.

"Just don't die on me again, okay?"

"Mmm," he managed to croak out.

"Forrester? Everything okay?" came a voice, entering the tent.

Both Link and Zelda looked over, and Zelda felt her cheeks flush when Nim entered the room, glancing several times between her and Link.

Zelda turned to him and bit her lip. "She means me. I may have used your name."

Link's eyes widened mischievously, glinting with words that didn't need to be spoken to be heard.

But Nim didn't wait for Zelda's response. "Is this that guy you've been looking for?"

"Yes," she said simply, feeling her face heat up every time she had to talk.

"He's hot. No wonder you were trying to find him."

Link sniggered and Zelda rolled her eyes. "He's alright."

Link's smile was huge when Zelda turned back to him. "You were looking for me?"

"I thought you were dead. I didn't do it to boost your ego."

Rising to his feet, Link bent down just over Zelda and gently lowered his lips to rest on her forehead. Her eyes fluttered closed, enjoying the moment, however short. He broke away and rested his own forehead against hers, his nose lightly brushing her skin as he looked down at her before standing up straight once more.

Zelda scrambled to her feet, her heart absolutely pounding through her chest. She grabbed his arm, stopping him from going anywhere… though he wasn't actually moving.

"Let me look at your wrist," Zelda said, motioning for Link to sit.

It really wasn't a bad injury at all, but she grabbed the disinfectant and a fresh bandage before kneeling in front of him, pressing the wet rag to his wrist as he winced. He'd given up on objecting to her help, as he realized it was a futile effort.

"So," she said, trying to calm herself down and to distract Link from the burning pain in his arm, "You've been injured often. Which was your worst injury?"

Link looked up. "My worst injury?" Zelda nodded. "Hrmm," he said, thinking for a moment. "There's a few. A couple of these cuts weren't pretty, obviously, but broken ribs weren't fun either. You can't breathe without being in pain. Same with a broken jaw. That was up pretty high up there. Oh, I dislocated my elbow once. That one physically looked the worst. My arm looked like there were no bones left. I have to say though, you'd think those are bad, but the worst is probably whenever I get hit… uh… you know where."

"What?" she asked, looking up from the bandage she'd nearly finished wrapping.

Link snorted and gestured down with his eyes. Zelda's mouth dropped in realization, and, despite herself, she realized she'd begun to laugh.

Link smirked as he watched her, his eyes sparkling with contagious humor that radiated off of her. "Well, at least that got a smile out of you."

"I'm sorry!" Zelda said, though her face said she was anything but. "I wasn't expecting that as one of your answers. You're a soldier with all these battle wounds with an incredible life story; I didn't think you'd admit your great weakness was something so human."

With a dramatic gesture, Link sat back when she was done with her work. "I am just a man, Zelda. Metaphorically and physically."

"Goddess, and to think I missed you!" Zelda laughed again.

Link stood and winked at her, clutching his side. When he noticed Zelda watching him, he pulled his shirt up slightly so she could see. "It's just a bruise. You don't need to attack me with another needle today."

"Hey, Forrester! You still in there?" a voice called.

Zelda didn't recognize it and turned to Link. His hand was instinctively on his sword, but he relaxed it when the figure came through the tent flap.

"Hey, you find that girl ye-?"

The man stopped mid-sentence and turned to Zelda, nearly choking as he did.

Zelda grabbed Link's arm as he reached again for his sword. "No, Link, wait. Sir Reese?"

Reese's voice lowered to a shocked whisper.

"Princess Zelda?"