And within a split second he was gone, leaving only the ghost of a song in his wake.

"Link..."

She had to hold on, she just had. If he lost her, he wouldn't know what he would do. He'd probably go berserk all over again. Running as fast as he could, Link reached the borders of the castle ground within seconds, before the mere sight caused him to stop dead in his tracks.

It was burning, the very sign of Hyrule's prosperity.

Hyrule castle was burning.

Deep down, he knew that she was in there, that she couldn't possibly have escaped the castle in time, but his mind just refused to believe it, so he started running as if his life, not hers depended on it. No, he ran as if her life depended on it, because he cherished hers and didn't care about his. And he would die if he lost her, he was sure of it.

The voice in his head tried to reason with him, but he just blocked it out. He simply didn't have the time to stop. Soon, his lungs burned because of the lack of oxygen and his muscles ached. After all, who would get thrown to wall and not feel it the next day?

Yet he didn't feel it, he only felt fear. All consuming fear. The hero of time, the bearer of courage had never been more afraid.

He was going to lose her, and if he was, he wasn't going to survive the hurt.

I want you to run, to go somewhere safe…

Why oh why couldn't she just have listened to him, just this once?

Guards were yelling at him to get away, they were trying to block his way, but he wouldn't have it. How could they act that way when Zelda, his Zelda, their princess, was in there? After he drew his sword, never slowing down his pace, they finally left him alone.

Driven by fear so absolute, so complete, he threw down door after door, ran up staircase after staircase and ran down hall after hall way. He no longer could see a damn thing, but he knew the way to her chambers by heart.

His body was screaming at him to stop, that it really did need oxygen once in a while. And just when he had had enough, he felt her presence. With his last strength he swung her limb body over his shoulder, nearing falling down by exhaustion. It may seem like a seemingly useless thought, but right before he swung his arms to the left and trusted farore's wind in the air, he couldn't help but think that Zelda hadn't always been this heavy…

Only the flames witnessed what really happened that day.

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

"Don't. Ever. Do. That. Again. Do you hear me?"

He tried to open his eyes, but they seemed way too heavy for him to lift.

"It's no use, he's still unconscious."

He tried to hide from the voices, they seemed way too loud and his ears and head hurt.

"He's moving"

Suddenly, he was pulled up into a sitting position. He knew that he didn't like that, so he tried to bat hands who were keeping him up away, but whoever it was that was holding him was too strong for him. Something hard and cold was pressed against his lips. The object also seemed rather wet.

"Here, drink something"

Like a sick child, he let the voices hold him up and feed him some water. The liquid felt cold and soothing in his sore throat. He wanted more; they were giving him not nearly enough to quench the thirst he hadn't known he had. Using a great deal of his strength, he grabbed hold of the glass and tipped it over, which of course in his state resulted into a serious couching fit.

"Greedy little fellow, aren't you?"

"You do know Nayla, that once he wakes up, he's going to kick your ass?"

"He's going to kick my butt you say? In his condition? He's not even fit enough to kick your butt, let alone mine."

Slowly, ever so slowly, Link opened his eyes. Though his sight was still blurry, seeing was better than not seeing. As far as he was concerned, he was in a room, with people who seemed familiar, who seemed to care for him. His warrior instinct instantly relaxed, leaving Link subject to his much needed rest.

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

Flames were blocking every possible exit, and smoke filled his nose and rendered his eyes useless. He had to find her, he just had. But everywhere he looked, she wasn't there.

"So you've come to save the princess? How amusing…"

A tall shadow was all he could see of the voice's origin. The flames, the smoke and his brain were probably just playing a trick on him.

Again.

"Did you even come to save the princess? Or did you come to save your whore? Because that's what she'll be if you side with me, and me alone"

"Take that back! I'm make you take that back!"

And suddenly his body contacted something hard and cold.

"Fuck…"

A sudden sound started him even more and when someone wrapped his or her arms around him, he freaked. Suddenly the room seemed at least 15 degrees warmer.

"Relax, you're save from the fire, no one is going to hurt you"

And suddenly, he could see the faces of two women. Saria, and Nayla. In one split second, all of the events of the previous day flashed before his eyes, and he felt the same terror he had felt when he found Zelda's body all over again.

"Zelda, how is she? Is she….?" Hopeful as he was, he was suddenly very aware of the arms wrapped around him.

"I'm fine, you dolt. Do you really think you could rid of me that easily?"

He wasn't thinking, he knew he wasn't thinking, and before his mind/manners/sense of duty kicked in, he turned around, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her.

"Don't ever do that to me again, you promise?"

"Funny, I said the same thing just seconds ago." Wrapped in his feelings as he was, he had failed to notice Dark's entry. Soon, his arms were around both Link and Zelda, squeezing them as tightly as he could.

"One moment, we were gang beating poor old Morpha, and one second later, you're gone, leaving this really cheesy song in my head. Rutela and I searched the room for at least an hour."

"Rutela?"

"You know, cute blue zora chick, about a head smaller than us, who guided us in the temple, who we saved from some water turned bad, who became the new Water Sage just minutes after you vanished without a trace."

"How is she?"

"Good considering the events of the last 24 hours."

"Um…" Zelda nervously broke the tense silence "Could I… Have…A moment with Link? Alone?"

"Yeah, we won't get in the way of your kissy kiss moment, will we Dark? I think it's time for the spar I promised you. Be prepared to have your ass kicked."

"I was going to take a bath anyway"

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

"You kept your promise"

After everyone had left, Zelda had given Link the room to move back into his bed again.

"Were you surprised?"

"Well kind of. I mean, lately, you haven't been one to keep them"

"I'm trying to break the habit"

Midsentence, Link pulled Zelda closer. It felt so good to have her against him, again. He could still feel the terror he had felt when he thought he had lost her.

"You know, I'm not going to let you out of my sight again."

"You don't have to, I'm not going anywhere".

And while all seemed dark and bleach, their love for one another gave them the hope and courage to face another day.

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

A/N; wow, I actually wrote both chapters today. I'm on a roll: D

~~destiny's charm~~