Chapter Four

Aegri Somnia
"A Sick Man's Dreams"

The Princess of Twilight lifted the form of the Hero from the bed. His body was hot and shaking, sweat dripping from the pores as he lay in her arms. This scenario was all too familiar, yet their positions had been reversed then. She remembered when he had tenderly held her impish figure once she broke the barrier covering Hyrule Castle not long after the defeat of Zant. At that time the Princess had merely fainted from exhaustion following the use of the dark and ancient powers she wasn't used to, but this… this was different.

Midna prayed to their ancestors that he would survive.

Through the halls of the palace she ran, bare feet striking the stone floor as the Twili headed to her room. Luckily it wasn't very far from that of the Hero's. A convulsion traveled through Link's frame as she held him. Looking down at his pained face she saw his canine press sharply against his lip, drawing a drop of ruby blood, the color of which matched his wide vacant eyes that were staring into nothing as she made her way down the passages of her castle. Midna didn't know why she brought him with her, only that she knew she couldn't leave him like he was.

Once the Princess arrived at her chambers, she placed the Hero on her bed then immediately rushed to get water from the basin in the corner of the room, for Link's had been empty. Midna cupped her hands, dipping them into the pool and quickly returning to his side as not to spill much of the precious liquid. Carefully and gently she poured some of it into his mouth, his rapid breathing slowed and she used the remainder across the Hero's forehead. Link's hollow eyes drifted closed as the water slid down his pained face.

The Princess crawled into the bed next to him, lying on her side while watching his body quiver. The Twili knew he needed to break the fever, unable to stand seeing him like this. Hopefully what he was going through at the moment would be the worst of it for now, but she knew it was only the beginning if they didn't find a way to prevent what was to come. Although it took much time to be triggered, there was the risk of the progression being quick once what was happening took hold of him.

Midna scooted closer to Link, wrapping her arms around the sickly Hero and drawing him close, ignoring the sweat that stuck to their bodies. She gripped him compassionately, fearing that without her touch, he would forever slip away into nothingness. The Princess had never been this intimate with him. Although much time passed, she had just barely started to take action, still unable to summon the courage needed to tell him the three simple words she felt. Midna had thrown out the occasional hint, but Link's reactions were unreadable on every occasion. The Twili couldn't tell with certainty if he felt the same way about her, but until now she hadn't fully realized just how much he meant.

She couldn't risk losing him.

The Princess placed her hand on the back of the Hero's head, hair matted from his sweat as she leaned his forehead against her chin, making sure to still give his face room to breath fresh air while she held him in the embrace. She quietly cooed in his ear, whispering hollow words of comfort that she had no way of backing up with truth.

Link whimpered like an injured wolf, and in a way he was one.

Midna's eyes began to water. She hadn't shed a single tear since the day she shattered the Mirror in Hyrule. The Twilight Princess was a strong ruler, and on top of that, she was so very happy that the Hero was by her side, but seeing him in this pain was near impossible to tolerate. She would do anything to make sure Link returned to normal… if that were at all possible.

She shook the dreadful thought from her mind and kissed Link's forehead tenderly as her tears slid off her face and joined his sweat that was soaking into the bed. He trembled in her grasp. From the effects of the fever, pain, or a nightmare… she didn't know. The Twili hoped his temperature would break soon, or he would at least calm some and then she would carry him back to his bed, tucking the Hero in and letting him sleep till morn. Midna didn't want to make Link feel awkward with her closeness, just as she feared she had done with her display of affection, but for now she would hold him tightly and comfort his pain, her own in the process as well while she still desperately hoped everything happening was all part of a dark and horrid nightmare.

The Hero's frail body reminded Midna of the time she had been drained of her powers by Zant not long after obtaining the final piece of Fused Shadow, as well as the events that followed his defiant actions. The Princess of Twilight recalled mere minutes upon tumbling into the her realm how she jokingly said Link was simply the messenger to Zelda, who had really saved the Twili's ailing impish shape, but in truth the Hero deserved much more credit. Without him, she would have died that day. Link had saved her.

And now it was her turn to save him.

Link awoke with Midna's warm form wrapped around him. He remembered nothing of the events that led up to this situation, but he enjoyed it nonetheless. The Hero was still drowsy and it took him a moment for the possible conclusions as to why the two shared this previous unthought-of closeness to surface in his mind.

Blood rushed to his face at the idea of what might have come to pass the previous night. Link dismissed the notion, as there was more evidence pointing away than towards the fact, relieved to find that he was still fully clothed and, for some reason, quite sweaty. Link was well aware that their relationship was far from that level of intimacy anyway, and he knew the two of them weren't they type to blindly rush into that sort of matter, if she indeed felt the same way about him. The Hero was still surprised Midna had kissed him the other day, thinking it might have been a dream, just as this had to be, as she never spoke of it after the event came to pass. Was all this merely a mental manifestation of his desires? Of late it seemed Link was having difficulty telling what was real and what wasn't, some things a vivid dream, and some dreams an unusual reality.

Nonetheless, Link was waiting for the ideal chance to tell the Princess something that had been on his mind from long before he even knew of her identity and merely saw Midna as purely a traveling companion and later an accomplice. It was something very important, but he was unable to put into words what he felt.

He loved her, and that feeling was only growing ever stronger with each memory they made together.

In truth, Link had hated the imp upon their first meeting. Her snarky attitude and harsh actions towards him made the Hero feel inferior and misused, yet he had little choice but to go along with what she said, following her commands. It took him some time to realize that what she did was for his benefit, remembering how she had tricked him into gathering the sword and shield from Ordon as weapons to use once he returned to his true form. After that they slowly started to develop a mutual trust, unspoken words passing between the two as she learned to read his cues when a wolf.

As the days of their journey passed they became closer, understanding that one couldn't survive without the other by their side. They learned to stand back-to-back, fighting through thick and thin. The concern they held for the other was genuine, knowing that without their cooperation Hyrule and the Twilight Realm would never return to normal. True, more than once Midna left him to fend for himself, such as the time they were hunting tears in Kakariko Village and things got a bit out of hand in Barnes' bomb storage shed. Only upon later reflection did he realize that Midna was simply making sure Link pushed himself to his limits, testing the Hero in hopes that she hadn't made the wrong choice as to who she picked to save the worlds of Light and Twilight.

Yet at some point over their time with one another, Link had come to realize that she meant something more to him than simply an associate. He vividly recalled her face the moment the Sages revealed she was the Twilight Princess, a title Midna mockingly referred to Zelda as upon his first meeting with the Light ruler. Her expression at the declaration of truth that the guardians of the Mirror spoke of was an image Link knew he would never forget. The way Midna talked of her people was sorrowful, and her tribe's past wrought with strife. As she slowly exposed the history of her society and herself, Link began to better understand her initial demeanor towards the Hero.

She didn't want to get involved with him and only did so reluctantly.

It was something she proved when she attempted to leave him behind the day the Mirror shattered. Link still wasn't entirely sure what had possessed him to cling to Midna, leaving everything he had come to know behind, understanding that the world of Light may be a place he was to never again walk. All he knew was at the time it would be something the Hero wouldn't regret. Over the past months though, he had come to think differently, as he had begun to miss his homeland, the world of the Twilight Realm the exact antithesis of what he had always known, just as Midna had so eloquently explained. In addition to that, the nagging feeling of dread over his failure to uphold his parents last wish had only gotten stronger since he read their letter, almost having memorized it word for word by now.

Though Midna's recent actions reinforced Link's initial thought that maybe his choice was right. He had to let go of the past and live in the moment with her. Yet at this time he was uncertain of how she saw him, never again bringing up her sudden display of affection towards the Hero that so drastically contradicted her previous demeanor towards him. He continued to ponder the actions of the Princess, but his mind was quickly brought back to their time together in Hyrule.

Link was unable to identify the exact moment his emotions for Midna changed from ones of mere friendship to those of a deeper fondness.

The Hero felt foolish. Link had never thought on the subject this much and although the Goddesses deemed him the most courageous in all of Hyrule, he still couldn't confess his true feelings to the woman he adored, using the frail excuse to tell himself the reason why was because he didn't want to hurt her. After all, Midna was royalty and Link had grown up an orphaned ranch hand. Even if his birth parents were…

He forced himself to rid the thought from his mind. It was something Link never wanted to address, although he knew he had to face it at one point, reading the letter over and over again wasn't going to solve anything. He didn't wish to face it at this time though, simply wanting to embrace what he had here and now. The gaze of the Hero focused on the Princess before him, thoughts of his past fading away as his sight traveled along her beautiful Twli face. Seeing Midna's peaceful expression as she held him in her sleep let Link know she was contented.

Cautiously as not to wake her, he shifted in her embrace. The hair of the Princess was loose and messy around her exhausted but happy look. He guessed she removed the shackle that bound it as she slept. Link pulled one arm free from her grip and lifted his hand, pushing aside a few strands of her fiery locks to better see the face of the woman who lay holding him kindly.

His hand froze and a chill rushing through Link's body at the sight of his own skin. Black markings crawled along the skin of his pale arm.

The Hero inhaled sharply, tensing at the foreign sight. He squirmed until his other arm was free and gently drew his fingers across the lines that resembled veins. These veins of a sort were a dark contrast to his blanched skin, and geometric, turning at sharp right angles. The resemblance was vaguely similar to that of Zelda when the Demon King had possessed her body during the final battle. Midna awoke at his movements.

"Link! You're awake!" she spoke, eyes wide with shock. She hugged him tightly as they lay on the bed, crushing his face into her neck and in the process cutting off his supply of air.

"Mrrff!" He struggled to speak. The lack of oxygen felt all too real, disproving his earlier dream theory. The Twili immediately pulled away to give him room to breath once more. Link inhaled deeply, looking to his limbs again as his eyes frantically darted about the patterns on his skin, all earlier thoughts fading into obscurity at the sight before him.

"What… Midna, what's going on? My arms…" he struggled to find words as he focused on the inhuman markings.

Midna looked at the one before her. The lines crawled along not only his arms, but up his neck as well. Some just barely peeking over the sides of his chin and onto his face. Link's eyes drifted to hers, the red in them had retreated to the edges of the irises, blue now partially returned yet still not pure.

"Your body is fighting itself in a way," she spoke sadly. "Link… you're very ill."

A/N: I'm so sorry about your pain Link, and Midna, I know you fear for your Hero. Link's past is slowly surfacing! It will prove pivotal for his wellbeing. Can he tell Midna the truth in time? Or will the Hero take his secrets to his grave?