Siegfried had heard tales of the infamous Heishiro Mitsurugi when he had been imprisoned within Nightmare. The Samurai was known for taking down armies upon armies of experienced fighters without so much as batting as eyelash. He did not take kindly to mercy and not one of his opponents was ever given such a greatly desired luxury. He went all out, regardless of who was across from him in a fight or how weak his opponents must have been. Sometimes that brand of fighting would lead to a dead body.

The knight and young elf had been given the rare opportunity to meet the samurai with a vicious reputation during their travels. Given what he knew about the older man, Siegfried was reluctant to let him get anywhere within two feet of Link. The teenager could undoubtedly take care of himself. He did not need to be treated like a child. But still, the young blonde was too trusting. He was still optimistic about the world and he still possessed that childlike innocence newborns had no choice but to posses.

If the two of them were to stay even within walking distance of the Japanese fighter, they were more than likely to see more than their fair share of death and despair. Those were matters in life that still upset Link. He did not like death. He did not like seeing young warriors cut down in their prime. It didn't scare him per say, but it did manage to kill a bit of his soul every time he saw it happen.

Against his better judgment, Siegfried had allowed the samurai to tag along with them for a little while. He had anticipated regretting that decision not to far down the road, but Mitsurugi had surprised him. They had encountered dozens of enemies during that leg of the journey. Some of the fights were easy going. Some were cutthroat bloodbaths. Siegfried had done his best to shelter Link from most of the destruction, and surprisingly so had Mitsurugi. It appeared that he had quickly gotten into the habit of keeping his 'victims' alive whenever Link was likely anywhere near the premises.

Whether or not the Samurai had chosen to keep that habit was up for debate. However, even if he did not, it was obvious that he still never went easy on any of his opponents.

From this distance the knight was unable to determine just how much damage the men were taking. Almost all them, actually all but one at this point, had been knocked down to the floor. They were motionless, but whether that was unconsciousness or…something else was something he could not decipher at the moment. But either way the men must have certainly been in unbearable pain before they went down. He would not be surprised if some of them stayed on the ground to avoid being hit again. If any of them were still conscious that is.

Siegfried momentarily forgot he was in a rush, and had no time to waste thinking about the past. Once he realized that that was exactly what he was doing he rid his mind of any unneeded thoughts and attempted to run over to the swordsman. However, he was surprised when a delicate hand gripped rather tightly onto his arm.

He turned his head to glance at Zelda, who he now realized was holding him back. "What do you think you're doing?" Maybe he had been unclear when he told her that the unusual civility between them had been a onetime event.

"Is it wise to interrupt?"

Now that he thought about it, no. No it most certainly was not. Mitsurugi was bound to chop off Siegfried's arm in retaliation to such a thoughtless interruption. And that was if he was in a good mood. "I have no time to wait."

Still, the princess kept her hands clasped tightly around the knight's arm. "You're going to get yourself killed."

He almost burst out laughing. How many times had he told Link that same thing? How many times had he tried to dissuade the teenager from doing something as stupid as what he was trying to do right now? How many times had he felt the elf struggle against his grip? And how many times had he heard that bright eyed boy say the exact same thing?

"Don't worry," Siegfried repeated form memory. "Destiny's got too much in store for me. She won't kill me just yet."

Several strings tugged at the princess fragile heart. She, too, could remember those words. Those somehow sweet words tied together with a smile that whispered a promise of a safe return. For a split second, perhaps less than that, it was not Siegfried trying to rush off into danger. It was Link. Zelda knew that the image before her was not real and she knew that it would leave as quickly as it appeared. But her heart refused to listen to her head, and she found herself unable to stop her memories from rushing into the forefront of her mind all at once. And in that one vulnerable moment she let go of the knight's arm.

Siegfried took advantage of the opportunity, and made a dash for the battle ridden samurai.

He had expected to have to have to dodge furious batches of vicious sword strikes-he was eager, not stupid-and he had mentally told himself to prepare for the inevitable onslaught. But after he had gotten about seven feet away from where he started, he heard an angry voice call,

"Stay out of this Schtauffen!"

Siegfried, once again, became rooted to the spot he was standing on. He could not deny that that voice was utterly intimidating. Two years ago it had been enough to freeze Hell over about a dozen times over with one word. Even now, years after he had gotten used to it, it was still enough to stop the German dead in his tracks so quickly it was almost enough to make him topple over. He knew all too well, after all, that upsetting Heishiro Mitsurugi meant almost certain death.

Still, even though he was partially scared out of his mind (Like hell he would ever admit that), he knew that time was crucial at this point. He could not afford to waste another second. "I hate to interrupt, but we need to talk."

"Two years and now you need to have a talk." He blocked an oncoming attack with the hilt of his blade. "I don't feel like talking."

Siegfried knew that he had done it now. It was his own fault, really, that the samurai seemed upset with him. After all, after Link had left Siegfried had up and disappeared. He had simply woken up early one morning, something extremely taboo for his normal nature, and left without saying a word. He had then cut all ties with his past teammates and wandered around his country like a shadow. Apparently some still held a grudge over is impromptu disappearance.

"Look, I know I screwed up back then. I should have told you that I was leaving."

"You think?" Mitsurugi said in just about the most demeaning voice he could muster. "You are the most selfish bastard I've ever met. Did you think you were the only one who would miss him? Or did you just not care about how much pain the rest of us were in?"

That wasn't it. "Okay, I deserve that."

The samurai stepped to the side to avoid another strike. "No kidding."

"But I didn't come here to talk about me."

"Then whatever it is, it can wait."

Siegfried growled in frustration as Mitsurugi turned his attention back to the fight. The Japanese man could have ended this bout long ago. Now he was just stalling for time to tick the German off. "It' not about me, but it's really important. It concerns someone you know fairly well."

"I know a lot of people."

"This one you actually care about."

The other scoffed. "Who is it?"

"It's…" Siegfried was still hesitant about saying Link's name out loud. Call him paranoid, fine. But he had no intention of shouting the elf's name when there was still a chance that someone was hiding deep within the shadows. "Someone I can't talk about right now in a situation I can't explain until later."

Had Mitsurugi been a bit less preoccupied, he probably would have laughed. "Sounds serious."

"I'm telling you we have a problem."

"No, you have a problem."

Now the knight was starting to get impatient. He had forgotten just how stubborn this man could be. "Mitsurugi,"

The samurai refused to acknowledge him.

"Mitsurugi!"

He received no indication that he had been heard.

"Mitsurugi!" When he got no answer the third time, Siegfried could not help but blurt out, "Link's in trouble and he needs our help!"

That declaration had not come out the way he had intended. Not at all. In fact Siegfried had anticipated breaking the news rather gently, preferably when the two of them were away from open spaces.

But now, that was very much an impossibility, and he was pretty sure that the entire forest had just heard him.

But on the bright side his accidental outburst had gotten Mitsurugi's attention. The samurai was quick to end his fight with a massive whack to his opponent's collar bone, an act that left the poor guy sprawled out on the floor. After which Mitsurugi quickly walked over to the young German. There was a scowl on his face, and clear concrete panic in his eyes.

"What do you mean he's in trouble?"

"Just what I said. I can't go into detail right now, but believe me when I say this is a matter of life or death. His life and hispossible death."

"How do you know? Who told you this?"

There was no way the man was going to move an inch until he got some answers. He had always had the stubbornness of an enraged bull, and nothing was ever likely to break that iron will. Still, the knight was not comfortable speaking about such a delicate subject out loud. He had only blurted out the first part of the situation by accident. There was no way he could convince himself to do such a thing on purpose. He figured the Japanese fighter would just have to settle for a small token of proof. At least until they were out of earshot.

Siegfried turned to Zelda and beckoned her forward. She hesitated, sensing the obvious hostility in the air surrounding Mitsurugi. She almost looked afraid of him. She had every right to be. He was a very frightening man when he wanted to be.

Siegfried called to her again, trying to assure her, without words, that there was nothing to be afraid of right at that moment. She was still suspicious, but walked over to Siegfried's side anyway, and waited for his instructions.

"Pull down the hood."

She quickly locked eyes with him. Siegfried could see the doubt beginning to cloud over light blue irises.

But he could have none of that. Not now. "Its fine, we can trust him."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Just forget what he said."

The other eyebrow was raised.

"Listen," The knight growled. "You can take it off yourself, or I can rip it off by force."

Her intuition told her not to trust the samurai. Maybe it was because she had been warned of him beforehand. Or maybe it was because she had seen precisely what the man was capable of. Either way, her head was telling her to turn and run. But her common sense told her she had no choice.

It was an awful feeling really, being between the proverbial rock and hard place. As a princess she was used to always having some sort of backup plan. Her line of work, as well as her people, required careful planning in order to be led to success. She could not afford to have just one plan, nor one way of thinking. If one were to fail she, as well as her country, would be taken down by its enemies before Hyrule even got the chance to think of getting back up on her feet.

Had she been an ordinary girl she would be used to dealing with situations she could not have control over.

But she was not just an ordinary girl. She was a princess, and because of that, she had the resources to formulate multiple plans and move into another phase of things if something were to ever go wrong. She liked control; it meant she had a way out of something potentially dangerous.

But she was not in control here. They were. So despite what she may have thought about the men standing before her, she lowered the dark brown hood of her cloak.

Mitsurugi looked on in a sort of morbid interest as the young lady's head was finally uncovered. Golden hair, silky blue yes, and most importantly, pointed ears. His face remained steady, but his eyes had started to shake. It was a subtle movement, something that Siegfried had almost failed to catch, almost. "Is she?"

Siegfried nodded. "Zelda, the princess who had ordered Link to journey here two years ago."

"And where is Link?"

Siegfried was silent. His eyes fell to the floor while his fists tightened inside leather gloves. He could not bring himself to speak. He could not stand to lock eyes with the older samurai. His eyes, his face, would give away the truth that was too painful to whisper out loud.

Mitsurugi was quick to understand what that horrid silence met. "You're not joking are you? You're completely serious."

The German nodded.

"What happened?"

Siegfried could not bring himself to open his mouth. The words that were in his head refused to reach his lips. They stayed in his mouth, bitter copper tinting his taste buds, torturing his throat with facts that could not be said. "I can't tell you." He saw the other about to argue. "Just not here," He said almost desperately. "Not now. Please."

Mitsurugi forced his teeth to clamp over his tongue. The sound of the younger man's voice spoke volumes for how grave the situation was, even though an explanation had yet to be announced. If Siegfried sounded that miserable, that heartbroken, then this was most certainly not the time for an argument.

"Very well then, let's go somewhere a little less out in the open."

"Here,"

The blonde handed the bag over to an elderly man sitting Indian style in front of a gallant mansion.

The home he sat in front of was rather rustic in design with vines flowing down like water from the higher bricks of the building. There had been no attempts at trimming the vines that sat atop the roof, nor had there been any attempts to cut the overflowing grass along the property of the building. Some of the bricks had begun to crumble and it was likely that the basic foundation was the only thing that was relatively new about the place. It almost seemed as though it had not been used in a few good decades.

But if one were to glance inside the dusty windows, behind the satin curtains, they would see brand new furniture being moved into different areas of the home. They would see, if they were to look a bit closer, new carpets being cleaned while shimmering artifacts are moved out of the way to avoid damage. The house was certainly old on the outside, but it was everything but decayed on the inside.

The old man smiled thankfully, and took the bag from the knight's hand with great care. "My sincerest gratitude young man."

The German waved it off. "Where's my horse?"

"In the stable with the other ones. You don't have to worry about her well being. She has been well taken care of."

"And our deal?"

"You can take your pick of one of the stallions in the morning."

Siegfried took notice of the sun in the sky. It was still out and about, as cheerful as it ever was, but it was still beginning it's decent onto the horizon. Since it was summer it had been given more time to enjoy splashing its light on the people below. The extra hours had been, expectantly, fun for the bright shining orb, but now it had exhausted its welcome. The moon would soon be rising, giving a splendid introduction to the darkness overcoming the world. It occurred to the knight that they had no place to stay.

"Would it be too much," He said politely. "To ask for a place to spend the night? We won't need that much space. A room with three beds and a decent bathroom will suffice."

"If you must." The old man said casually. "But I wouldn't recommend taking anything." He gleefully held up the bag in his hands. "This was supposed to be used for rat poisoning, but I can easily turn it into something else."

Siegfried smirked in spite of himself. He liked the old man's spirit. "I'll keep that in mind."

From beside him he could hear Mitsurugi chuckle. It was a soft quiet little noise, but after hearing nothing but the wind for hours on end Siegfried's ears were sharp enough to hear it. Even Zelda managed a dainty little laugh at the old man's obvious attempt at a threat. The threat was not particularly funny in itself, but the old man's rather cryptic joke was just enough to lighten the tension that had surrounded the three unlikely traveling companions.

The three were soon ushered into the mansion without any sign of trouble. Servants old and new welcomed them warmly offering anything that their hearts might have desired.

The first thing the three asked for was a decent meal. Siegfried had grown tired of the too often stale food recent inns had offered him -it was partially his fault, seeing that he had picked the worst looking places he could find just so he could torture the princess with him- and Zelda visibly brightened at the thought of eating food she was accustomed too. Mitsurugi had not cared one way or the other. He was hungry and therefore glad to receive any type of food they had.

During dinner Siegfried asked for quite a few bottles of heavy alcohol to be delivered, an act that did not go unnoticed by the Japanese samurai. It was rather suspicious behavior for the German. Especially since none of these bottles managed to appear on the table. Mitsurugi had wanted to ask why, but the question he wanted to ask died on his lips when he saw the German attempt a somewhat truthful smile while trying to come up with a topic to speak about.

Then they were all invited to take a bath. Each had a separate room to bathe in, a quiet space to just let loose and relax. Once again Zelda was thrilled. Mitsurugi was once again content with just getting clean. Siegfried however, was rather uncomfortable and downright embarrassed with the situation. He had never had people waiting on him hand and foot, and he never really had the option of someone catering to his every whim. He had always done things for himself and had always been alright in doing so. Having other people do things for him was not something he was used too, or enjoyed very much.

He tried to get the servants in the lavished household to understand that. He could run his own bath water and he knew what types of lotions and shampoos to use while he was in there. He could get his own towels if they just pointed him in the right direction and damn it he knew how to undress himself! Siegfried was perfectly fine serving himself and did not want any of the servants in that house doing what he could do himself. Especially when it came to him dressing or undressing.

He was not cruel about the matter. He told them as clearly and politely as he could, but they seemed just as uncomfortable about not serving him as he felt about them serving him in the first place. He considered not taking the stupid bath at all at one point, but when he was reminded of the last time he bathed properly, he simply chose to grin and bear the constant attention total strangers wanted to smother him with.

With that part of the evening safely tucked away, and ready to be forgotten in the German's subconscious, the three were taken to their rooms. The bedrooms were all set up in a neat little line with a washroom set directly across the hall. That was a relief. The obvious attempt at keeping them together meant that their host wanted to avoid separating them. Though more for his good than theirs, it meant the old man was not willing to make a move unless they did so first.

Zelda was the first to stroll into her room. She was obviously tired, both from the stress of the day and Siegfried's relentless attitude. Mitsurugi was prepared to follow her example, but he was fully aware, even in this tired state of mind, that Siegfried still owed him an explanation. So he waited until the princess closed her door and silently followed Siegfried when the German began walking in some unknown direction.

"I hope you know where you're going." The samurai remarked casually, hoping to get some type of conversation going.

But Siegfried seemed less than eager to talk. "A servant showed me the way." He said after a moment. "I know where I'm going."

There was something very wrong with that tone of voice. It seemed hollow, yet somehow filled with dread about something forthcoming. The young knight was afraid, or at the very least highly upset, about the talk the two were about to have.

He had noticed it earlier when Siegfried had been so adamant about not speaking in public. About 10% of that hesitation was thanks to paranoia, the overly frightened thinking that some unsavory character was watching your every move at every moment. But the other 90% of that hesitation was pain. A cruel, thoughtless, pain that refused to let the blonde speak a word of what was so desperate to leave his tongue. Such a realization made Mitsurugi almost hesitate to hear the story. He wondered if it was not better to be left in the dark than see what kind of mess Link had gotten into.

"We're here."

The samurai looked up passively, showing no sign of discomfort or concern. There would be no need for those kinds of emotions at this point. They could only make Siegfried hesitate, and apparently they needed no such distraction. The knight had said so himself. Time was of the essence.

He silently followed Siegfried into what appeared to be a private library that had been built into the estate. In the center of the room was a small table with two chairs on opposite sides. On this table was a generous amount of alcohol with two semi large wine glasses placed against each other.

'That must have been what he had asked for at dinner.'

Well, at least he wasn't planning on drinking by himself. That meant he wasn't too deep in depression. That was a somewhat good sign. But did he really need all of those bottles? As far as Mitsurugi knew the boy had never been much of a drinker. He'd never be able to hold that much liquor.

Still, he said nothing as the two of them seated themselves and Siegfried began to pour himself drink after drink after drink. It was a bit unsettling to see him swallow glass after glass without even stopping to breathe. He did not even bother to offer his companion a cup. His entire focus appeared to be on finishing every bottle in the place in one sitting. The Samurai thought of suggesting some sort of break, but then Siegfried started talking.

The words were stiff at first. They were rigid and difficult to remove from the young man's throat, and if Mitsurugi was not mistaken they seemed almost painful. The knight seemed close to tears at certain points, and then he drowned himself in another glass of wine whose bottle was quickly becoming empty.

Mitsurugi soon figured out why the blonde felt the need to drink so heavily. Since he had never been a drinker, the effects of alcohol were still very potent to him. He could drink and allow the tempting poison to overtake him. At this point it still could overtake him. He could actually drink and get drunk. That meant he could spout out horrible stories without conscious decision, and not have to worry about being able to remember it in the morning.

The samurai wished he could say the same. As he listened to the story coming forth from slightly slurring lips, he wanted, more than anything, to erase the immunity he had to the drinks Siegfried was gulping down. Hell, he couldn't even get tipsy anymore. Trying would be no use.

He felt his heart breaking with every detail that came out of Siegfried's mouth. He kept calm for the sake of the younger man in the room, but he dreaded coming to the end of the story. He internally built up so much tension in his mind in the hopes that his imagination was worse than what had really transpired. Alas, it was not.

Link was a prisoner of a demon sword they had tried so hard to destroy. All thanks to the princess who had sent him to this world in the first place, the woman who was responsible for both giving Link to the people of this world and then just as easily taking him. Mitsurugi didn't know whether to thank her or to slap her. But he did know one thing.

He looked at the saddened German laying his head on the table. His arms were holding onto the other, forming some sort of makeshift pillow. His eyes were still open, filled with the pain of the story he had just told. Mitsurugi could see the suffering, and even though it would be forgotten in the morning, it was fairly obvious that it was hurting him now.

With a heavy sigh, and a gentle hand, he reached out to the young men's eyes and gently closed the tired lids.

"Sleep young one." He said softly. "And forget everything you have just said," He poured himself a drink. He knew it would do no good, but perhaps he could fool himself into thinking it could. "Do not think of something that seems to be ending. Dream of what was once just beginning."

Siegfried's breaths slowly evened out, mind lulled to sleep by surprisingly soft words.

Link had been upset for a while now, and for the life of him, Siegfried could not figure out why. There had been no change of routine, any lack or increase of the usual behavior, so nothing different could have occurred in their daily lives to cause such a drastic change in his friend's attitude. Life had been very quiet recently, so Link had been spared the agony of seeing peoples pain and suffering. No one had said anything particularly nasty about the teenager's ears or clothes or basic appearance, so that could not have been the problem. Link would have mentioned something like that happening anyway.

It only made the German wonder exactly what it was that was so horrible that Link was refusing to speak about it. The blonde was usually quick to tell Siegfried if something was wrong or bothering him. Unless, of course, Siegfried was what was wrong. Then it made sense that Link would refuse to say anything, for fear of offending or hurting Siegfried, and simply choose to wallow in his despair. Which could only lead the poor boy down a road of misery that would only end in extreme pain regardless of much of a true angel Link really was and--

"Did I do something wrong?"

Link kept his gaze out the window, his body fixed in an Indian style sitting position on the bed he had claimed as his own. He had been there since early on that morning, just staring out into the emptiness of the dawn. Now evening was fast approaching, and there was still a solemn expression on his face that had been plastered on those gentle features for almost a week.

It drove the knight crazy. "If I did something to offend you, let me know so that I can apologize properly."

Link shook his head but kept his eyes on the scenery outside. The sun was setting beyond the horizon. Soon all that would be seen were the stars and full moon. "You didn't do anything."

"Then what did?" The knight was desperate to solve a problem he knew nothing about. "Did someone say something to you? Did you get hurt?" Maybe he had missed something when they had crossed over to the next town. Maybe someone had said something, or tired to take a swing at him.

But Link shook his head again. "Nothing's wrong."

Siegfried could not help but snort. "You've been walking around like a lifeless corpse for days. There's obviously something wrong. Or at the very least, something's not entirely right." He ventured over to the side of the bed. His strides were gentle in an attempt to show the elf that he meant no harm.

Link was still facing the window, lost in a daze that he could not break himself out of. He was surprised when he felt a pair of strong arms twist his body around. Sky blue eyes gazed into his gentle sea blue irises. Warm breath danced upon his lips and he could feel soft skin touching his forehead. It took a second for his mind to register what exactly was going on, but his heart knew the situation all too well. Siegfried's forehead was upon his own, Siegfried having kneeled down on the floor once he had turned Link around, leaving the two face to face in a very close proximity. Needless to say, it did not take long for Link's face to heat up like an open flame.

Siegfried frowned for a second. "You're hot."

Link's eyes widened. "WH--what?" He scrambled back until he felt his spine hit the window sill. "What did you say?"

Siegfried blinked, stood up from his spot on the floor, and continued to wonder why his friend was acting so strangely. He almost seemed afraid of Siegfried. The knight reached out a hand and softly placed it on the 18 year olds forehead. "You're hot, warm, feel as though you might be sick." A heavy sigh left Link's lips, leading Siegfried to believe that he really was the problem.

But Link smiled at him. His face was still flushed and he refused to move from his spot against the window sill, but he was smiling. That was a definite improvement. "Oh. That's what you meant."

Siegfried raised an eyebrow. "What did you think I meant?"

Maybe it was Siegfried's voice that was beginning to unnerve the blonde elf. It seemed as though every time he opened his mouth Link instantly became uncomfortable. Maybe he should consider going mute?

"Uh-well-I-um…"

For about five minutes Link tried to force some decent sentences out of his mouth. From the looks of it, Siegfried had no idea what he was saying and was obviously having a hard time understanding what the elf wanted him to hear. Link wanted to make sense, he really did. But words, it seemed, did nothing but fail him. When that realization finally hit him, he chose not to fight it. It would be no use anyway, since nothing would come out but jumbled masses of words and pigments of speech. So for the sake of keeping whatever pride he had left intact he simply decided to lean into the German's warm touch. "It's complicated."

At least he was speaking coherently again. "Are you sick?"

Link thought of shaking his head, but that would cause the hand on his head to move. He did not want that to happen. He wanted the contact to last for as long as possible. "I'm not sick."

"Then what's the problem?"

Link wanted to tell him. He just didn't know how to.

"Please." It amazed Siegfried how close he was to begging. Him, a once proud and renowned knight, was close to getting on his hands and knees and begging the younger elf for an answer to his questions. Just what type of person had Link reduced him to? "I can't fix it if I don't know what's wrong."

Link turned red again, but there was a soft smile on that gentle face Siegfried had grown to love so much.

'Wait a second,' The German blinked. 'What?'

"I'm sorry if I made you worry Siegfried." Link said softly. "I just don't know what to say." He admitted shyly.

"Say about what?" The knight removed his hand form his young friend's forehead.

"I know what's wrong, but I'm not sure how to say it. I don't think it would make much sense."

"Try me."

The elf placed a gloved hand over his heart. That same depressing aura appeared to take over him once again. He looked as if he was in pain. If Siegfried didn't know any better, he'd have thought the other was injured.

"It hurts." Link said after a moment. "I don't know why, but it hurts."

Maybe he was injured after all. "Do we need to take you to a doctor?"

Link shook his head. "It's not that type of pain." The fist clenched. "It only hurts when I…" He thought about it for a second. "See certain things."

"What kind of things?" Maybe he saw something that upset him.

"Friends, families, groups of people," He bit his lip. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

Siegfried let out a sigh of relief. With a smile on his face, the German took a seat next to the elf and began ruffling the younger ones hair. Once again, Link leaned into his touch.

"That's normal Link." He chuckled. "You're perfectly fine."

Link tilted his head to the side. "You know what's wrong?"

Siegfried nodded. "You're homesick. You must be missing someone very much. You're girlfriend maybe?" He teased.

Link let out a laugh. A soft, joyful, almost musical, laugh. "Siegfried,"

The knight feigned innocence. "What?"

The smile remained even though the laughter soon faded. "I don't have a girlfriend. Stop teasing."

Siegfried held up his hands in mock surrender. "You're right, my apologies." He pretended to carefully look over the boy next to him. "A guy like you?" He grabbed the younger's chin and examined the elf's face. "You must have at least five."

Link playfully shoved him away, trying, but failing miserably, to put a scowl on his face. Siegfried continued to take the 'abuse' with a sly smile. This was the Link he was used to. This was the happy-go-lucky elf that had saved him from the darkness. This was the adorable angel that he had come to adore.

'Hold on,' He mentally told himself. 'What did I--'

"It still hurts a bit." Link's voice broke Siegfried out of his musings once more. "Not a lot, just a little.

Siegfried could not help but think that the elf looked completely adorable. He sounded so clueless and innocent, almost to the point of helplessness. It was enough to make the German smile. "If you want, I think I know something that might help."

"Really?" He tilted his head again. "What?"

Siegfried once again took hold of Link's shoulders and turned him so that the two were facing one another. "Promise me you won't freak out."

"I trust you." The amount of trust he put into the German was incredible.

Siegfried greatly appreciated it.

As swiftly as the blinking of an eyelash, and just as gently, the German enveloped his elvan friend in a firm yet comforting embrace. Link involuntarily released a surprised gasp when he felt a hand on the back of his head and on the base of his spine. The elf was stunned for a second, but luckily his hands responded faster than his mind and wrapped themselves around the German's waist.

"Siegfried?"

"My mother used to tell me that the only way to lighten the load of depression is to allow the pressure of a softer burden."

"That sounds pretty." Links voice was so soft, so quiet, that he was surprised that Siegfried was able to hear him.

The knight chuckled, sending little vibrations throughout Link's body. "I think it was just her fancy was of saying, if you feel bad ask for a hug." Link felt surprisingly gentle fingers run through his hair. "Still, it was always enough to make me feel better. Does it help?"

Link tightened his hold on Siegfried's waist. "It helps." He then felt the other about to pull away, and could not help but attempt to hold on tighter. He hoped his grip was not hurting the other male. "No."

The firmness of his voice took Siegfried back a bit. "Pardon?"

"Can we stay like this?" He almost sounded like he was begging. "Just for a little while, please?"

It was at this point that the knight felt his face heat up. He knew for certain that his face was flushed, but he made no more attempts to pull away. "Sure Link, whatever you want."

He could have sworn he felt something nuzzle against his chest. "Thank you."

He must have been sick. They both must have been terribly ill with some rare disease Siegfried had no clue about. There was no other explanation for why his heart was beating so wildly against his ribcage. No other reason for why his face was burning brighter than the sun. And he could come up with no logical answer as to why, despite how new and strange this was to him, Siegfried never wanted to let go.

StormBlitz: I want to slap you, and yet I want to shake your hand.

MistressOfTime1218: What do you mean by that?

StormBlitz: You managed to make me sad for Siegfried and angry at you for making him sad in the first place all at the same time.

MistressOfTime1218: Should I take that as a compliment?

DarkMist: I think it's the best you're going to get.

K-Chan: So what was with that whole, 'Do not think of something that seems to be ending, dream of what was once just beginning.' thing about?

MistressOfTime1218: You didn't get that?

K-Chan: Not really.

StormBlitz: I was curious about that as well.

DarkMist: Come on Warena fill us in.

MistressOfTime1218: Hmmm, well I guess I could mention it in the next chapter.

DarkMist: We're never going to get our answer.