Link felt an odd sense of déjà vu when he woke up in the middle of the night to find Zelda wrapped in his arms. He smirked, liking the feeling. His arms were wrapped around her from behind, and she held his hand.

But even Zelda wasn't enough to help him get through the night without waking up. Or, maybe she was the reason he couldn't sleep through the night anymore. He was hyperaware of her, and of everything around them.

Which is how he was able to react so quickly.

His ears had just perked ever so slightly at a noise. It wasn't a footstep, and it wasn't a voice. It was almost as if the air was making a noise, because there was little else that could have stirred him in the silence. And it was close, like a breath on his ear, only there was nothing.

Without knowing why—and perhaps it was that gods and goddesses that instructed his body to move—he rolled on top of Zelda and immediately let out a harsh cry of pain. As something dug into his flesh once, twice, three times.

Zelda shrieked, trying to sit up, though she was pinned down by the weight of Link's body as he dropped onto her.

Zelda reached around him to try to stop the fourth thrust and felt a sharp blade push against the side of her hand as she knocked it away. She managed to push Link off her, to roll him just away from the knife's point, and grabbed the hands, trying to force the knife out of them, but it wasn't necessary.

Link spun around, running solely on adrenaline through his pain, and slammed his fist into the attacker's mouth before collapsing again, writhing as he spat blood from his mouth.

The attacker was on the ground as well, stunned and down. Zelda wasn't surprised when she saw Reese's face and scrambled for his knife to push it from his reach before he could recover. "You're with Ganondorf!"

"I'm not! Not anymore! This is a mercy, Princess!"

Bodies burst into the tent, several soldiers who'd heard Zelda's scream, and Shad, who'd been asleep in the next tent over.

"Zelda!" he called, rushing for her as she crawled towards Link.

She pointed to Reese. "He's with Ganondorf, and he's delusional! He came in here and tried to stab me, calling me Princess like I was the bloody royally dead princesses!"

She clenched her hand around Link's as she fought back the bile that came from her own words, but she knew Reese would say something, and she had to speak first.

"Grab him!" a soldier yelled.

Reese squirmed. "She's a liar! I'm not with Ganondorf! And she IS the Princess Zelda!

"If she's the princess, why wouldn't we believe her about you, then? And if she isn't, why would you try to kill her?"

"I was with her all day," Shad said, though his attention was on Link. "She's not the princess. I would know. I've met the Princess once before." His eyes flickered up to Zelda's briefly before looking down again.

"Let the commander decide what to do with him," one of the guards said, hauling Reese to his feet. "We don't abide traitors. Thank you for your input, Shad."

"Anytime," Shad said with a familiar nod.

Zelda bit her lip nervously before reaching over Link. Shad grabbed her hand and shook his head. "You don't treat your family, Zelda." He said her name in a way that sent a shiver down her spine. He knew.

But that wasn't the immediate problem. Zelda bent down closer to Link. "You okay?"

He spit out some more blood that had pooled in his mouth and nodded.

Nim ran into the tent, skidding to a halt as she looked around. "What happened? Shad? Forrester?"

"Help me out here, Nim," Shad said, scooting over to make room. "This is Zelda's…"

"Oh," Nim said, moving a little faster when she saw Link. "The guy you were looking for. What happened?"

"Three stab wounds to the lumbar area of his back. Looks like all three missed vital organs, but there's heavy bleeding and he's expelled blood from his mouth."

"Let's get a better look, then." Nim turned to Zelda. "What's his name?"

"Link."

"Okay, Link, we're not going to try to sit you up. We're just going to cut this off you so we can get to your wounds."

"No," Link groaned. "Can't afford another."

Zelda rolled her eyes and covered his hand with hers. "I was compensated for this. We can afford another, so let them help. Actually, you don't have much of a say in this position, so I'm telling you that they're going to help you."

She watched him cough out a laugh, relieved that he could do that much.

Shad ran a knife along Link's shirt, tearing it down back and pulling the two pieces aside for a better look. But it was Zelda who groaned.

"Oh, Link…"

"Bad?"

She glanced at him, then back at the wounds. "These are going to take a while to heal."

He let out a long sigh, closing his eyes. "Take Epona and ride hard until you get… home. I'll stay here."

With an annoyed expression, Zelda bit back her tongue, aware of all the ears on her.

Shad noticed and cleared his throat. "Let's get you to my tent. It's more private, and this will take some time."

"What?" Nim scoffed. "They're in the medical tent. Why move him?"

"Privacy."

"Why?"

"Because, Nim, they're clearly arguing. Look at her face."

Nim made a disgusted sound, standing to leave with an annoyed huff. "No wonder everyone comes to my practice instead of yours."

"Can you get up?" Shad asked, offering Link his hand. "It won't feel pleasant, but trust me, you'll want some privacy."

Zelda eyed him suspiciously, but watched Link shakily push himself to his knees, his arms shaking from the effort as he let out a harsh breath. She reached out to help him, though she knew she didn't have enough physical strength to do much. She slid under his arm and was pleasantly surprised to feel him actually relying on her for some support.

"Still have that rock in your boot?" he asked in a low voice.

She wriggled her foot, feeling the forgotten knife, glad she'd slept in her boots as she always did when she felt like she might be required to move quickly, like in the case of an emergency patient.

"Yes."

"If it bothers you, take it out."

"I will."

He nodded once and the three of them made their way to the next tent over.

When they were inside, Shad helped lower Link to his knees. "Don't lie down. I'll be right back."

Link used Zelda to keep himself upright, feeling the room spin. "You have to leave me here. You know that."

Zelda glanced behind her and lowered her voice even softer. "Everywhere we've gone has had an attack. We're still inside the heart of Ganondorf's territory. I can't make it safely without you."

"Find another soldier you can trust then, but you have to go."

"No."

Link grimaced. "I just took a knife for you. Can't I have some say?"

"No, you can't. I'm the Princess," she said, barely a sound, "and I'm not leaving you."

"That's right, you are. That's why you have to go. I'm nobody. Get to your cousin and end this. I'll… catch up when I can."

Zelda ran a hand through her hair, sitting back. "You're not 'nobody' to me, Link. I… I care about you. You must know that."

He nodded, blinking away the dizziness again. "I know. And I feel the same. But look where it's gotten us. You won't leave to save your kingdom. That's bigger than either of us."

"I've sacrificed everything for my kingdom. I think I'm allowed to have one piece of happiness in my life, and I'm not letting him stay here to die. Because Link, Ganondorf will send more monsters here and you'll either end up fighting them again while you're still injured, or they'll take the town eventually, and you'll have to fight them injured. You're tough, Link, but you can't stand against an entire army on your own. So, you're coming with me, or I'm staying. I'll get you out of here if there's another raid."

"I can't fight right now," Link said, gripping her arm tighter as he started to slump forward.

Just then, Shad reappeared with a bag over his shoulder and bent beside them, looking at Link's whitening skin. He lifted the flap of the bag and pulled out a small bottle.

Zelda gasped, covering her mouth from making any noise or betraying her absolute surprise. "We can't afford that, Shad."

Shad set the bottle down, and Link squinted to see it, to see the small light bumping the inside walls in angry rage.

"A fairy?"

Shad turned to Zelda, his hand on the lid of the bottle. "I met the Princess of Hyrule just about a year ago in a tent just like the one just a few feet away from us. She was composed, and far more competitive in medicine than I'd initially given her credit for. I wasn't stationed with her, but there was a rush of injuries on the south side of Hyrule Field, so I was called to assist for the day. I could be killed just for taking this, and Nim will figure out it was me, so I might not be long for this world," Shad said, holding up the fairy. "If you're who I think you are, what was the name of the lead physician of the South Hyrule Field medical center?"

"I won't cost you your life, Shad. Put it back."

But Shad's hand was on the lid still. "I'm not asking for your permission. I'm asking you to ease my conscious for when I turn my wrist."

Zelda eyed Link, seeing him shake his head slightly, though she honestly couldn't be sure if it was an objection, or his body beginning to convulse.

"He went by 'Owl' most of the time because he could see things none of us could. Or would you rather know that his full name was Kaepora Gaebora, and that he had a son, Rauru, who worked as an assistant with me?"

Shad sucked in a deep breath. "It's an honor to work beside you again, Princess."

"Don't use my title."

"Did you marry this man in secret?"

Zelda leaned against Link, feeling him going more limp to the point where her arms weren't enough. "He's my guard and my most trusted ally. And believe me, I wouldn't ask you to risk your life in any other situation, but we cannot stay here. We both have to keep moving. But I know how rare fairies are and—"

"I figured as much. There are few I'd die for in this world, but you are one of them."

"Link?" Zelda asked into his ear. He hummed a response. "Have you ever had a fairy before?"

She doubted it. They were so rare that even the palace only had two on hand for dire emergencies. Clearly, it wasn't enough for her family. It was confirmed when he groaned out a "no" into her shoulder.

"It's going to hurt. A lot. You may pass out, but if not, just be prepared for it. You're stuck with me for a while longer, okay?"

He let out a groan first as his arms rested limply against her side, like he was trying to push himself upright but couldn't. But he could manage just a few words, and she was sure she could hear the smirk in it.

"Then do it."

A/N: I lowered the rating to T and I put a warning in the intro that it's a little more violent at the end. I think this fic overall is T quality. Tell me if I'm wrong at ANY point though because I honestly have no sense of T vs. M on Fanfic.