"Link!"
Zelda's eyes widened in horror as she stood over the Hero of Time, his body sprawled out against a flat rock in the shallows of the sea.
His hat was missing, his tunic was tattered and torn, and there was a bloody lump on the side of his head, turning his normally sunshine-yellow hair into a sad sunset orange.
Her small mouth opened in shock at the sight of her hero beaten down and defeated by the cruel waters. She clambered upon the rock, Impa's boots giving her a little extra traction, and stumbled clumsily upon his chest.
"Please… please…" She moaned, frantically putting and ear to his chest. She couldn't hear anything.
"No…" She thrust her cold fingers under his jaw. Sure enough, the blood was still doggedly, but feebly, coursing through his arteries.
"Ohh…" she whimpered, throwing herself upon his chest and clinging to him desperately. She lifted herself and jammed her hands under his arms from behind, using all of her feminine strength to lift his motionless body. She managed to drag him a couple of feet before her arms begged her to put him down. She did so, but she kept her hands gripped tightly around his arms. She dragged him a few more feet and was forced to drop him again.
She managed to drag his body all the way to the castle's back gates when Impa finally found her.
"Zelda! Is that…?"
"Yes!" Zelda cried desperately. "He's bleeding and he may be—he may be dying! Help me carry him!"
Impa complied without another word, dashing out and wrapping her arm around the hero's chest and under his right arm, supporting his head with her shoulder.
"Get his feet," Impa ordered, and Zelda quickly obliged. They carried the unconscious man into the castle recovery room, alerting a few guards on the way in.
They set him down upon one of the soft beds and the nurses and healers took over. Zelda, refusing to leave him, sat upon the bed with his head in her lap. Her eyes were filled with worry as she stroked his wet, blonde hair.
"You're home now… I'm here…It's going to be all right, Link, you'll see…"
xxx
Link awoke once more, his eyes adjusting to the bright light of the room. A look around told him that he was once again in the Harkinian castle. He almost shook his head, but the throbbing pains told him to move slowly.
He glanced down at himself and saw that he was wearing a fresh set of clothing: a plain, black, long-sleeved tunic and dark blue pants. His feet were bare. He lifted a hand to his head to find that his wound was covered with wrapped bandages. He looked around the room and saw two beds: his own, and another that was occupied by someone else. Someone with long, flowing, gold hair…
"Zelda?"
She jumped awake as if she had been stung.
"Oh, Link! You're awake! How do you feel?"
Link touched his head again automatically. "All right, I guess…"
He barely had time to react when the teen princess's arms latched around his waist.
"I missed you," she whispered to him. His eyes swam with moisture and he closed them, wrapping his own arms around her small frame.
"I missed you too, Zel," he murmured. He truly had come home.
Zelda often said afterward that it was the best moment of her life.