The Reason He Fights

Chapter 4

It seems that the news of Link being injured had travelled quickly within the rebellious circles of Hyrule. The quiet village of Kakariko was now buzzing with noises as each races Link had help were now helping back. As the group approached the hut, Midna swiftly disappeared in Ilia's shadow, hiding from the new faces. Turning the corner, Ilia recognized two Zoras, each one carrying blue clay jars filled with soup made by the Yetis, well-known for it's healing powers, as Renado explained while they passed them by. The leader of the Goron tribe was instructing two of his best soldiers to guard the young Ordonian at all cost against anything that seemed suspicious to them. She also noticed near the pound, at the village entrance, one Hylian caring for a reddish mane horse that she instantly recognized as Epona. They were about to enter the hut when its door opened, Telma walking through it with a small worried frown. So lost in her thoughts, the bartender didn't even noticed the young woman in front of her and nearly crashed into Ilia.

"Hey! Watch it!..." she barked before looking down: "Oh!...Hey there Ilia, darling." She smiled softly, hints of sadness lingering in her eyes.

"You're going to visit Link?" she asked, putting a comforting hand on the younger woman's shoulder as she nodded: "...Be strong, darling." Telma looked back at the hut's door: "He's going to need it..." she added as she walked away towards the Hylian, shaking her head slightly.

Ilia looked at her for a moment, confused by her words. Her thoughts were cut short as Renado called her, leading her in the hut before him. As soon as she was in her room, she felt the heavy atmosphere surrounding Link. Colin, Talo and Beth were by his bedside, silent and looking grim. The young man looked up at the new visitors, and Ilia was taken back by the emptiness of his gaze. The blue eyes once filled with determination and with courage, were now glazed with defeat and self-doubt. As if Link had guessed the stab of sadness Ilia felt the moment their eyes met, he quickly looked away, almost in shame. Colin stood up from the chair he had sit in, looking at his feet before looking up again at Talo and Beth. He took the girl's hand and started to pull her away from the blond man's bedside.

"We should let Link rest." he softly said to his two friends and they nodded back at him, somehow relieved to leave the heavy atmosphere in the room.

"We'll be back tomorrow" Beth added as she gently nudged Talo to walk out of the room.

The older brother looked at Link as if he wanted to say something, but bite his lower lip instead, and he hurried out of the room, but not before he quickly squeezed Ilia's hand in comfort. The young woman swallowed hard, a myriad of questions coming to her mind, all concerning Link's sudden change in demeanour. But she walked in silence to his bed, wondering what she should do now. Renado was on the other side of the bed, checking carefully Link's bandages, noting those that needed to be changed.

"The wounds were not too serious," said Renado as he reached for healing water and clean bandages, "And you should be able to bear arms again in a week or so. Your shoulder has nothing damaged beside skin and muscles, so you might be sore at first." the Shaman added as he unwrapped Link's right arm. The young man nodded, seemingly lost in thoughts, and visibly winced when Renado lightly pressed his forearm.

"The broken bones should be mended by tomorrow night, but it'll be very weak for a while. I'd strongly suggest you work it out before holding your shield again". The last comment made the young man frown and Ilia stopped herself from scolding him. Was he already thinking of his next battle? She tried to muster her most sincere smile as she fluffed his pillow:

"You were very lucky, you know..." The young man didn't seem fazed by her comment, and kept looking at his hands in his lap. It was Ilia's turned to frown, wanting to shake Link until he reacted, or at least until he realized what terrible fate he had flirted with two nights ago. Renado looked up from his healing work, sensing Ilia's anger:

"Ilia, would you mind preparing a bed in the hot spring inn? I'm sure you are eager to have your own bed back and if Link is better enough tomorrow, we could move him there."

Ilia looked down at Link again, his hands now closed into fists. Her heart sank in her stomach and she lifted her gaze to meet the Shaman's. She opened her mouth to protest; she didn't want Link to think that he was a nuisance, but Renado's head shake changed her mind.

"Ah...I'll go wash a set of sheets..." she sighed before she left the room, taking with her Link's bloodied tunic. If she was to do laundry in the middle of the night, might as well make it worth.

Ilia pushed the green shirt underneath the water, sighing as the foam turned pink again. She couldn't believe how much blood the fabric was holding. She felt her heart squeeze as she wondered if the blood was all Link's. The thought of the young man made her frown and she threw more soap on the washing rock before she rubbed the tunic hard against it. Her arm's muscles were aching from washing the bed sheets, but somehow she could find energy each time she thought of Link's reaction a moment ago in the hut.

"Tsk. There's no need to add more holes in it you know" Midna smirked as she revealed herself from Ilia's shadow. The young woman yelped in surprise and threw the tunic in the water basin, glaring at the creature:

"Do you always have to sneak on people like this?"

"Your reaction is worth it..." Midna answered with a chuckle, "beside, Link never complained about it. Maybe you should relax or something..."

Ilia groaned at the comment and picked up the Hero's clothes again. She started to rinse it thoroughly and stopped with a sigh, her mind definitely somewhere else. She looked up at the creature again. It was looking back at her, the only visible eyebrow raised, as if it was waiting for the question burning on Ilia's lips.

"Can...can you tell me what happened to him...to Link?" she finally asked after a moment. She didn't want to pry, but Link's change in behaviour was worrying her more than she would have wanted to admit. She might not know him well, but she was deeply convinced that he wouldn't have let defeat sink in that easily. And never in her life she would have believed him to get reckless. Something was wrong, and she could only think that something more than injuries had happened the night Link appeared in the hut.

"Hum...well, first he received a slash to the stomach, and then his shoulder was pierced and he dropped his sword. That wasn't very smart from him, and all he had to defend himself was the shield and then..." started Midna, one finger over her lips as she seemed to recall the events of that night. She looked sideways at Ilia and caught the impatient glare from the young woman:

"No...you know exactly what I meant...What truly happened to Link?" she asked again, emphasizing each word this time. The creature sighed and floated to the rock by Ilia, sitting down before looking right in her emerald eyes.

"Evil is what happened to him."

"Evil? But...but if he was cursed or poisoned, there is a cure, no?" asked Ilia, her heart swelling with hope. But the creature's head shake washed it away:

"He was not cursed nor poisoned or spellbound. As you might have realized, Link is..." Midna stopped for a moment, searching for the right words, "pure-hearted. But Evil has finally tainted it. He has seen...lived so much in a short period of time, more than one could imagine going through in one lifetime, that it has taken a toll on him..."

There was another moment of silence between the two females, both caught in their own thoughts. When Ilia finally looked back up from her hands to Midna, she knew the story didn't end there.

"But Link is resilient, he is determined to make this place a better world for everyone. However, he wanted to make it better for one person in particularly. But Evil took the one person he held most precious over all, and since then, he has never really been the same...Link... is heartbroken..." Midna slowly said, realizing how deeper Link's wounds were as she put words on what she had seen and lived with him.

She realized that it had not started with Ganondorf's battle, but Link's decline went back to the moment he had learn of Ilia's lost memories. The signs were subtle, she recalled, but they were there. 'I shouldn't have been so hard on him.' she regretted, 'what a friend I am to him...' She then felt a warm hand closing over hers. So lost in her thoughts, she had not noticed Ilia getting closer to her. She took her hand away and floated farther from the human, not caring in the world if she had hurt her feelings.

But Ilia's was too troubled by the knowledge of Link being heartbroken to take offence. Having his heart broken meant that he loved another woman. She felt sorry for his loss, but she also felt something else. Something that made her heart ache, her throat dry, her eyes prickling with tears. It tasted like deception on her tongue and a part of her wanted to laugh at the innocent thought she had entertained ever since Link had helped her and Telma in getting safely to Kakariko Village. Why did she dare hope it made her special in his eyes? After all, he helped so many before and after her. No one else was special for him except for the one he had lost. Somehow that thought was the most hurtful one, and Ilia quickly squeezed the water out of Link's tunic, suspending it with the bed sheet before jogging away from the spring, away from the hut. As she felt the creature following, undoubtedly wanting to hide in her shadow again, the young woman turned around to face it:

"Please...I'd like to be alone..." she said, her voice breaking despite her efforts to hide her sorrow. The creature stopped to float in mid-air, and as Ilia moved forward again, she knew it was watching her intently. She didn't care what it could think of her, or what comment it would make on her infantile behaviour. Ilia couldn't stand to be around anything that would remind her of Link. She followed the path to Death Mountain, wanting to be as far as possible from him. When she finally stopped, she sat down, curling herself against the red rock, hoping the thick wall between her and those captivating blue eyes would lessen the sadness in her heart. But when tears rolled down her cheeks, she knew it was impossible...