In the morning, my arms ached. I could barely lift them without wanting to cry. Link had to forcibly grab my arms and stretch the muscles for me, letting me bite into some fabric so I would not scream. He squeezed the muscles, rubbing deep into their cores with his thumb. I nearly hated him for how much it hurt, until he was finished and I found out how much it had actually helped. I gave my arms a final stretch before getting up. Link had some cold rabbit meat left from last night, and we ate what little there was before climbing back up on the horse. Again, he wrapped his arms around me. I wondered why he wouldn't just let me ride behind him with my arms around his waist instead, and he could have a closer grip on the horse's mane. But I wasn't actually bothered by being pressed so close to him, so I chose not to ask him why we rode this way. The thought that it was for defense also came to mind. I closed my eyes and let myself enjoy it. We settled much closer to the castle that night. I could actually see some of the turrets, although not much of the damage. As Link built a small fire to cook the fat little pheasants he caught, I stared at my former home with sadness.

"It'll be about two more days b'fore we're at the castle," Link said. He'd taken a cooking pan from his home, and we plucked the two little pheasants together, Link skinning them with a small dagger. I felt my heart lurch. I had to tell him. But not tonight. "An' then two more days, we'll be at Death Mountain." I nodded and handed him my plucked little bird. "After we eat, if ye want, we can do more sword practice." I shrugged my shoulders. "Only if it doesn't bother you."

"Not at all! I actually… well, it's better'n us just sittin' around an' doin' nothin', an' I don't mind it. Not a bit."

"Just don't wear out my arms this time," I warned, shaking my finger at him. Link smirked and shook his head. "Nah, nah, it'll be easier now that you've had a day." So we ate, and cleaned up, and as the fire was burning low and the moon got more full, we practiced with swords again. I watched him sitting by the glowing ash as I lay on the ground, trying to fall asleep. It wasn't fair, I thought. When did he get to sleep? "Link, I would be happy to take over watch for a night. You never rest, and that is all I do."

He looked over at me and smiled. "It's alright."

I sat up with a frown. "No it's not. It's so much strain on you. Please, I insist." I got up from the cloaks, pulling mine off and pointing to the spot where I'd been.

Link sighed and shook his head. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Yes."

He crawled over to the cloaks, laying down. "Wake me up if you hear or see anythin' suspicious. Promise?"

"You have my word."

Link curled up on his side, and I gently wrapped my cloak over him, before taking up a watch by the dying fire. It was more peaceful than I'd expected. Now and again there was the soft hoot of owls, or the high-pitched chatter of bats overhead. I did feel a little sleepy at parts, but when I did, I would pick up my sword and start to practice my moves. I was not going to stand aside and be a passive girl. I was going to fight, be a battle queen. Hopefully, Link would be by my side. When the sun was coming up, and the sky was still soft and grey, I looked over at the object of my affections. He was completely out, breathing softly. His eyebrows were knitted with worry. I crept over, kneeling next to him. When he wasn't focusing his gaze on me, it was easy to rehearse what I wanted to say. I sighed and stood up, stretching my legs to keep me awake. As the sky turned pink and gold, a new day, I smiled. I took up Link's bow and arrow, and snuck into the brush, trying to keep low.

Link woke up while I was trying to skin the animals. He sat up, rubbing his eyes and looking over at me. I tensed and scratched a spot under my eye, finding with disappointment that it was now wet with blood. "Ye've never done this before," he said immediately.

I shook my head. "Am I that obvious?"

Link shook his head. "No, I just suspect it because, after all, you're a queen. This sort o' thing is a little… low class, isn't it?"

I frowned and leaned back. "What does that matter? I'm hardly a queen until Ganondorf is dead. So why do I care about activities that are low class?"Link bit his lip and looked away. I stared at the grass, and my kill. "I don't care about class difference. I never have. I've always tried to do the best thing for all my people." I flexed my hands and straightened.

Link took up the small dagger and started to skin the squirrels I caught. "I know you have, Zelda. That's why you're a good queen."

"I'm NOT-

"Not yet." He stood up, staring me down. "You will be queen again. I will do everything in my power to make that happen." Link stepped forward, stopped, hesitating. He looked away and went back to the food, stoking the fire and relighting it with a flint, using grass to feed the small flames. I sat down near the fire, wiping the blood on my hands off onto the ground. "For what it's worth, I think that learning how to swordfight and prepare animals are more useful skills than dancing or learning the proper fork to a meal."

Link looked over at me and chuckled. "They certainly sound more useful."

Again, the endless running. As we got closer towards the castle, the land got even more grey and cracked. Grass grew sparser, the land dried out. Food would be the hardest to find yet. I could feel Link's heart pounding against my back, smooth and steady. I closed my eyes. I could lose myself listening to that heartbeat. That would be true peace. "Some day, I want to be done with all this running," I murmured.

Link leaned forward, his lips near my ear. I shuddered when I felt them brush the edge. "What did you say?"

"Nothing. I… I'm just tired of running in circles."

"So'm I," he replied quietly. Link sat back, and I sighed. And there we were, skirting around the edge of the castle. We were still far from it though; the guards that crawled its perimeter were dark smudges. Link wrapped himself protectively around my body. "Steady, girl," he muttered. But I wasn't sure if he was talking to me, or the horse. I watched the dark figures that milled around the broken and battered walls. I felt tears in my eyes again, and I held my breath. My beloved home, how I worried about it.

"It's not my home anymore," I whimpered, putting a face to my hand.

Link put a hand on my shoulder. "Don't do this to yourself. This will be your home again."

I wiped my eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm bloody sorry, I'm just panicking."

"Stay calm. Stay. Calm."

We passed the castle fast, giving it a wide berth. It would add time to our travel, but it was necessary. Link's heart was racing against my back. He was nervous too. It was connecting, in a strange way. Listening to his heart, knowing that he wasn't just a tool of the Goddesses, but that he was very much a human, like myself. It'd been keeping me from telling him how I felt. It was easy to put him on a pedestal when he came up with the plans, killed and cooked our food, saved my life. But he was just as nervous and scared as myself. It was humanizing.