As I said in the last chapter, everything will be explained in this chapter (how Zelda got hurt, why Link is going on a guilt trip, that sort of thing) so this chapter will be substantially longer than the first. So…enjoy!

Oh…and the enemies mentioned in this chapter are called ogres, but picture them as the enemies you have to fight in Twilight Princess, which looked like ogres to me.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zelda could only stare into the blackness of night through her window, praying that the next time she saw Link he would be back to his spirited self again. What he had said had not completely missed her, because she could understand a few of his points; he was feeling guilty because he hadn't gotten to her in time when she needed him to, so she ended up getting hurt, but the wound wouldn't have been fatal, even without the healer that had been in the village next to the battle scene. Why he felt so much self hatred over such a minor wound was a mystery to the princess of destiny, though no matter how much she wanted to solve that mystery herself, it was nearly impossible for her to physically search for Link (the damned guards would recognize her instantly and haul her straight to the king). She considered using her Sheik disguise…after all, it worked wonders on even Link when she used to use it frequently, and no one was able to recognize her when she was in the Castle Square so long as she didn't bear the triforce symbol on any of her clothing. She walked over to her wardrobe, pulling back the mahogany doors a moment before fumbling deftly through the many articles of clothing she owned.

Upon further searching, she came across her black cloak and grey-silver short commoner's dress. Satisfied with her findings, she quickly changed out of her current gown, which –if she left the castle wearing- would have been like tattooing 'PRINCESS ZELDA' on her forehead. As beautiful as she felt in such an elegant gown, it practically screamed her title of status. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that it hardly registered in her head that she had competed the task of changing clothes. She turned and inspected herself in the mirror. She looked simple enough, just enough that no one would recognize her straight away. Her brows knitted together in a frown. Though it was an improvement, anyone within three feet of her would know who she was. So, she lifted her hood on the cloak to shield her eyes from view. Her frown was replaced with a smirk. Now that her hood was properly adjusted, no one could distinguish her from any other commoner unless they looked under her hood in the proper light (which there was none, thankfully) so now she was all but free to do as she pleased, though her only focus right now was on finding Link.

Subconsciously, she closed her eyes, her hand reaching up to hover just above where her heart was beating rhythmically in her chest. She needed to find Link before midday tomorrow, or else one of the maids (though it would most likely be Impa) would come in to her room only to find that she had long since left. If the king ever found out about this…even though this was the hero of time we were talking about…he would be infuriated.

Link…Link…can you hear me…?

She had to reach him…she just had to. It would hurt too much to let Link go like this. The both of them are hurting because of his guilt and admirable protectiveness of her. Though Link was trying to forget that they were childhood friends, she refused to lose him so easily, especially when she would be losing him to himself.

---

The forest was a blur of colors to Link as he ran further and further away from the castle. He needed to stay as far away from that place as possible when he wasn't needed there. He wasn't sure of where he was going, or where he would end up, and he vaguely realized that the darkness had nothing to do with that problem; he had the night vision of an owl and the instincts of a wild beast, but right about now he only wished he could call upon those skills to aid him in healing his heartache. The pain was slowly consuming him, the talons of guilt slashed at his heart mercilessly, causing him to clutch at his chest subconsciously as he continued to dart and weave through the forest. A tree root that had long since been uprooted from the ground caught his foot, and he fell to his knees just as he felt something in his chest throb painfully. It didn't physically hurt, but the sensation of another being so close to him spiritually, having another aura wrap around him, knowing who that aura belonged to, made his heart hurt worse.

Link…Link…can you hear me…?

Oh he could hear her alright. How could he not? Her soothing voice was resonating off of the walls of his very soul. He couldn't help but notice how vulnerable he felt (which he had not experienced in a long time) and how ridiculous he knew he must have looked. Not that anyone else was going to see him, but he still felt like an idiot for acting so foolish even when she wasn't physically there.

"Zel….." he mentally cursed himself for slipping up. Her aura had calmed him into that lax feeling he always had when he was around Zelda, either physically or telepathically. "…My lady…what troubles you?"

Link, you know what is wrong. What you said earlier is completely false. You don't have to ignore the fact that we are best friends, and my injury was inflicted at my own fault. Don't you remember…?

He cringed. He did remember. That moment had been haunting his every thought no matter how hard he tried to forget…to forget his failure…

She had been there to greet him at the front gate when he cantered Epona inside the castle grounds, much to Link's surprise. Zelda was usually not allowed to leave the castle without at least half a dozen guards with her, but it's not like Link was necessarily complaining about it; this meant he actually got to spend some time with Zelda alone other than his night time trips to her window. She smiled her greeting at him before turning her attention to Epona's chestnut brown coat, frowning at the blotches of dried mud that clung to her usually glittering fur. The black fur on her legs appeared more of an ashy grey from dust that had been kicked up in her wake. It had honestly looked like Link hadn't bathed his horse in days (and upon further inspection of the said hero, he hadn't bathed himself, either). Her thin brows knit together in a small frown of disproval.

"Neither of you have bathed in a while, have you?" It seemed more of an observation than a question, but Link felt he had to say something in his defense (no matter how pathetic the excuse would be).

"That we haven't; keeping Hyrule safe takes up a lot of our time, eh, girl?" Link patted Epona's neck affectionately, to which the steed snorted an agreement. Zelda could only laugh and shake her head at the hero of time. She opened her mouth to reply, but a sudden commotion in the castle's main hallway caught both her attention, as well as Link's.

"By the goddesses…what is going on in there?" Zelda cried in confusion. Link already had the Master Sword drawn in front of him as he charged at the great doors.

"You wait here!" He called from behind him as he raced into the castle. Zelda, who either hadn't heard or acknowledged his demand, hardly hesitated a moment before drawing her own blade and hurrying in after Link had disappeared through the doors. The sight that welcomed the two teens was unbelievable. Blood stained the otherwise glistening marble floors in massive puddles, the bodies that blood belonged to lie mangled and spread across the floor, some missing limbs, or heads, others had weapons drawn through them, either stabbed or decapitated was probably the easiest way to describe the dead corpses that dotted the hall. The walls were blotched with splatters of blood that had sprayed from their original bodies they had sustained. Those few soldiers who were alive had not entirely gotten off scott free; some had decapitated arms, others bore minor bruises and/or cuts. The one's responsible for such a heinous act appeared to be a pack of what looked like at least two dozen renegade ogres that had escaped the mountains and were now rampaging throughout the hall. For what purpose they were here was beyond anyone, but it was a dilemma that still needed to be dealt with, no matter how ridiculous it seemed.

Giving off a cry of anger and rage, Link charged into the maw of snarling beasts and brave knights, working his way into the center of a crowd of half the group of ogres before he spun on his heel an entire three hundred sixty degrees with his blade held firmly at arm's length. The attack sent eleven of the beasts reeling backward to their deaths, the twelfth, however, had managed to survive the blow (mainly because it was indirectly hit) and stumbled backward enough to fall on his back. Seeing his opportunity, Link leapt into the air above the dazed ogre lying on the ground. Before the monster even registered what had happened, the Master Sword was lodged firmly into its chest, finishing off one of the twenty-four of those ogres that had befallen the castle.

Zelda was fairing just as well as her protector was. On the opposite side of the battle, she had managed to catch one of the monsters from behind and stab him in the back- an almost instantaneous kill. She whirled around just in time to parry and oncoming blow that would have split her skull; an ogre tried using her same methods of killing from behind with its axe, but Zelda was not to be underestimated as a woman. She pushed the axe blade off of her sword, and before the ogre could retaliate, she sliced the wooden handle just above the ogre's hand, rendering the –now amputated- axe blade absolutely useless. Another swish of her sword in the opposite direction had the ogre decapitated cleanly. Just as she turned toward Link to see his progress –in which time he managed to eliminate two more ogres as the knights left all but two ogres standing- she almost failed to see the ogre charging at her from the side. The said beast knocked her in the side with its shield, throwing her onto the floor at Link's feet.

"Zelda-!" Before he could see if she was alright, another ogre hurled himself at the two fighters. With a growl of annoyance, Link shoved the attacking menace away from the princess and stepped between the two, quickly dispatching the ogre. Zelda's sudden cry of pain made Link wheel around, his eyes widening in horror.

He had ignored the other remaining ogre.

He had been careless.

Because of his foolishness, the ogre's blade now stuck out of Zelda's side, a dark crimson stain beginning to blossom on her light pink dress. Her eyes grew blank as they stared ahead of her, seemingly to see right through Link and gaze into the wall behind him. A knight managed to decapitate the final ogre just after it removed its blade from Zelda's side, but the damage had already been dealt.

"Zelda…!" Link managed to whisper as she tilted into his arms before her legs gave out underneath her from the shock. "Zelda…I told you to stay away-!" He spoke much more urgently now, his arms tightening around her shoulders, mindful of her wound. She looked up at his worried face and managed a warm smile.

"It's alright…it's just a flesh wound…that's all…" Her voice trailed off as she rested her forehead against his shoulder. Her eyelids fluttered shut as she seemed to lean more into Link's arms. At this point, any numbness was replaced with the complete panic that swept over his body. "ZELDA!"

---

He had remembered lifting Zelda into his arms –despite her faint protests- and ran out to Epona to ride out to Kokiri Village to seek out a healer, for the doctor in the castle was off on a summons to the knight's quarters tending to the sick from a plague that had befallen the soldiers of Hyrule. The blooming crimson on Zelda's dress continued to spread slowly, and with each shade that the stain grew darker, the more guilt and panic was drilled into Link's heart. The healer had told the hero that the wound was not fatal, and that Zelda was only going through lightheadedness from blood loss, but the doctor was certain that Zelda had been right in saying that it was only a flesh wound. The princess herself had insisted that she was fine after Link had bandaged her side and cleaned the blood off of her flesh around the puncture area, but he had insisted that she not move for at least a day until he even considered moving her. He sent word by Epona to the king as to why his daughter was in Kokiri Village being treated for a wound. Though the king assured Link that it was not the hero's fault, and that he was just relieved that nothing worse had become of this, Link could not be consoled. The fact that Zelda's blood had transferred somewhat onto his tunic hadn't helped convince him otherwise, as he washed the green article of clothing in the stream, trying not to show anyone the tears that fell from his ocean blue eyes.

Do you remember…?

"Yes, I remember."

It is not as if you were the one who had done that to me, and it would have been worse if you hadn't killed the other ogre in front of us. You fought valiantly and tried your hardest, Link, and nothing you can say will convince anyone otherwise. You are my best friend, and you always will be. So, please…call me by my name, alright?

Something in the back of his mind suddenly clicked, and there, kneeling in the forest thicket, Link actually understood why Zelda had been so forgiving toward his failure; he had tried. Unlike so many of the Hylian guard who panicked in the face of danger, he had stood his ground to defend her at all cost. It was then that he understood that he couldn't protect her from everything, and that things were going to go wrong, but so long as he tried his hardest, and pushed even beyond his limit, no one would hate him, and he shouldn't hate himself for trying.

"Thank you…Zelda...for everything." The corners of his lips tugged upward into a soft smile, and he was almost sure she could see it, could feel it.

And thank you, Link.

"Zel-" Before he could even finish speaking her name, he felt something hit the back of his head, and he was sent reeling forward and into the darkness of unconsciousness.

Link…Link? LINK!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, I swear this isn't the end, and yes, the ending will be happy, so stick around!