A/N: Okay, now, it's at the part where I just need to edit. No more rewrites, hopefully, save for a few chapters later. Enjoy!

Revised as of 9/4/14

Chapter 19: Unexpected

"Hey. You can go back to sleep if you want."

Link said this after I yawned for the third time in the last two minutes. We'd left in a bit of a hurry, barely giving me time to wake up and say a quick goodbye -and Happy Birthday, in Bethany's case- to my friends before we were leaving. Now, about an hour later, I was having trouble staying awake. That, and I felt like a bad friend for having to leave on my best friend's birthday. She was practically my sister.

In response to Link's words, I nodded my head.

"Yeah, but what if we run into monsters or something while I'm asleep, or what if I fall off? It's better for us both..." I paused, unable to keep away another yawn. "..to stay alert."

"Yes, because you passing out when there's actually a threat would be so much better." Midna spoke sarcastically from the shadows. I thought for a moment, before shrugging.

"I suppose a little snooze wouldn't hurt." I decided. I didn't like the idea of falling asleep on a horse, as much as I'd grown to love Epona. The worry that I would fall stuck with me, though my eyes were already drooping closed. With a little sigh, I let them close and leaned backwards so I was resting on Link.

"This isn't awkward...right?" I suddenly asked, worried.

"No, it's alright."

I had a niggling, paranoid thought that I was making him uncomfortable, but allowed myself to doze. I was briefly reminded of my father teaching me to ride, such a long time ago now, but the memory felt fresh. The memory lulled me to sleep, erasing any worries of falling from my mind for now.

"Impa, just a few more minutes, please?" Rosalie -my younger self- pleaded. I instantly recognized that name, Impa, both from my own past - the memory I was seeing - and from a few other Zelda games I'd played. Impa was supposed to be in Skyward Sword and Ocarina of Time.

"That was what you said near an hour ago, Rosalie." an older female voice chided amusedly. Rosalie whined. "Now, off to bed before your parents return, I doubt they would be very pleased to see you awake so late, child."

"Mother, what are we going to name the new baby?" Rosalie asked. I saw Lilliandil seemed to think for a few seconds, though I was pretty sure she and Jethro had decided on names before then.

"I think, if it's a girl, Saria."

"After the sage of the Kokiri Forest?" she asked, smiling wide at the thought. Lilliandil nodded, returning the smile. I remembered how much I'd loved reading, vaguely remembered a book completely full of information on the ancient sages. I wondered if it was still in the library, or in my mother's home.

"Indeed. And if it's a boy... Roran." Rosalie considered the names for a few seconds, before her lower lip pouted out.

"I'm not sure if I want a little brother or sister now..." she muttered. Lilliandil laughed.

"Perhaps you won't have to decide. Your father and I may still have another child."

"Daddy, what's this thing on my hand?"

This version of me was younger, I saw. Perhaps six or seven? Years before the attack where I was sent to Earth. Jethro looked up from the book he was reading -which, I saw, was a volume of information on ancient powers, deities and gifts of the goddesses- to see what Rosalie was talking about. My younger self pointed to her hand, to the golden triforce I so easily recognized.

Clearly, this was my father's first time seeing it. I heard a whispered curse from his lips before he stood up, running up the stairs to where I assumed my mother was. Rosalie looked shocked and confused. The memory followed Jethro upstairs as Rosalie did, where the two of us listened at the door.

Jethro was not happy, that much was clear.

"The Triforce, Lillian. As if our child is not in enough danger already! On top of Astaroth searching out the damned Spiritus-"

"Jethro, calm yourself." My mother's soothing voice interrupted. "The Triforce is of little concern, the Goddesses would not call upon our child so young, and Ganon has been imprisoned. What we need to focus on is finding more information on the Spiritus Potens."

What was that? Was that what Astaroth wanted from me, that led to him leading a siege on Castle Town so long ago? Well, if that was the case, at least I had a name, if nothing else.

Neither of my parents spoke for a long moment. Jethro's was the voice to cut through the silence.

"Why her? Why did the Goddesses have to choose our daughter, when she already is in so much danger..." The anger had severely diminished from my father's voice, giving way to hopelessness. I yearned to comfort him, memory or not.

The dream faded quickly after that, and I returned to the waking world still riding Epona.

"How long was I asleep?" I asked as I stretched my arms out to the sides.

"Around four hours, I think." Link answered absently. A glance backwards saw he was surveying the field around and behind us. Probably watching for monsters, like I'd mentioned earlier. The Bridge of Eldin was much closer than it had been when I'd fallen asleep. Maybe the distance between the village and the bridge was shorter than I thought? But then, Epona was moving at a fast trot, it made sense that we'd come so far.

"We're making good time. Hopefully meaning I won't be staying up for two days straight like last time. Well, one can hope, anyways."

We took a break when we reached the bridge, and Link offered to spar with me for a little while. Aside from the first round, there was a definite improvement in my fighting skills from last time.

"We should leave Epona on this side." I said to Link when we made to cross the bridge. "Shadow Beasts are gonna show up on the other side, and I doubt we can bring her to the Twilight with us. I don't want her to get hurt." I explained.

Link nodded his agreement, and we started across the bridge. I found that I was constantly getting the urge to look over the edge, just a little thing. I didn't want to, though. Who knew how far down the gorge below went, and heights like that tended to have adverse effects on my mental state. I did not like heights, as comfortable as I may have been growing in Kakariko.

However, the abundance of open sky around us when we reached the middle of the bridge was refreshing, after being surrounded by valleys and mountains.

Unfortunately, all good things end at some point. The moment we reached the other end of the bridge, I saw the portal appear above it, sucking up the center of the bridge and dropping three shadow beasts.

"Link, run!" I yelled when the three noticed us and began to sprint towards us. I kid you not, it looked like they were having a freaking race to see who could reach us first.

Link took out his bow and arrow, which I saw had been outfitted with a bomb, and shot it at them. I was pretty sure it wouldn't work, but it couldn't hurt to try. Unfortunately I was right, it didn't work.

"Run!" I reiterated.

We used another bomb arrow to blast away a pile of rocks that had been blocking our way to the Twilight, and narrowly escaped before the beasts reached where we had been. As the adrenaline flooding my system tried to settle, we headed towards the Twilight once again.

"Well, here we are. You guys ready?" Midna asked, her shadowy form looking from the wall to us. We both nodded, but I held up a hand to stop Midna.

"Could you maybe be a little gentler about it?" I asked hesitantly. She shrugged. She wasn't. We were both yanked in as forcibly as the first time. It felt like being yanked through a wall of molasses, seriously. Only none of it stuck to me.

"I suppose not." Link muttered just before falling onto all fours, the twilight converging in on him. When it faded, he was a wolf again.

"Sorry. Really, I mean it. The barrier of Twilight is too powerful. If I went slower, not only would you be pushed back out, but the barrier could kill you." Midna apologized, landing harshly on Link's back.

"Well you have no excuse for that..." I muttered.

'I'm fine.' Link said instantly. I rolled my eyes at how automatically the words came to him.

"Yeah, and I'm the queen of England." I retorted sarcastically. "Anyways, let's go. We've got Twilight to dispel." I said, mustering a small amount of enthusiasm.

"Link, take a look at this!" I called to the wolf, who seemed to have fallen behind a little bit. He trotted up to me, and I gestured to the small bag that sat in front of me. He sniffed at it, and his eyes widened marginally.

"What is it?" I asked, even though I already knew.

'Ilia.'

"Let's go." Link nodded to me and we took off at a run.

Well, we didn't run for long before we encountered a problem; and that problem came in the form of monsters. Not Twili-bulblins, something else entirely.

"Oh no..." my eyes widened when I realized what they were. "Those aren't supposed to be here, they're supposed to be dead, or imprisoned, something! Not here!" The volume of my voice quickly increased as fear took hold.

Had my bow not broken, I could have taken out the riders. There were four, I counted, rapidly approaching. Definitely not Twilit bulblins or their mounts.

'What are they?' Link asked as I drew my sword. My hand was visibly shaking, I knew, and I struggled to stop it.

"There isn't time to explain, just get ready to fight!" I snapped, stress getting the better of me. They were nearly upon us, now wasn't the time for talking.

The beasts surrounded us, and I listened carefully, to their growls and panting breaths, waiting for one to lunge. I wasn't expecting one of the riders to speak. It pointed at me, looking to the others.

"The mistress wants her alive." the largest of them said, stressing the last word. I nearly shuddered at the implication that 'alive' merely meant breathing. It tossed a disdainful look at Link and Midna. "Kill the others, we have no need for them."

Link snarled at them, ready to attack. The first creature lunged at him and Midna, but they seemed to be holding their own. I had my own problem, in the form of another mount on its way to tackle me.

My first instinct was to raise my sword, and I did so just in time. The beast yelped as it's weight landed on my sword, effectively having rushed into its death. The rider was not as easily taken care of. I had to dodge several swipes of its sword before I could end it.

I felt a force at my back pushing me to the ground; I fell, but halfway to the ground the weight on my back was thrown off. Rolling so I landed on my back, I tried to see which was my attacker and saviour.

Link had pushed me to the ground, or attempted to, but the third of the attacking creatures had tackled him away.

He was sent flying sideways, and landed on the ground harshly with the monster on top of him. I glared at Midna, who I could see hovering some feet away, looking concerned.

"Don't just stand there, help me!" I yelled, uncaringly slashing at the beast that was about to leap at my exposed side. She nodded, and with a bolt of black and red energy, the imp dispatched of the beasts and their riders in a single blow. I shot her a furious look.

"Are you kidding me?! You could have done that this whole time?!" I shouted angrily, running over to the still-down Link. As I reached him, he tried getting to his feet, but couldn't. I went to examine the wound, see if anything was broken, but froze the second I saw; there was no need for a closer look.

There were three long gashes, from the creature's claws, in his side. Tears stung my eyes as Link's blood stained his fur and the ground beneath. I lifted my shaking hands in front of my face, seeing my fingers covered in crimson.

"L-Link..." I whimpered, looking to the wolf.

'It's not as bad as it looks...'

I scoffed, anger sparking. "Not as bad as it looks? If we don't find some way to fix this, you'll die!" I screamed hoarsely. I tried to hide the fact I was crying as I thought of a way to save Link.

At the very thought, I felt something stirring in the back of my mind. Almost like a guiding presence, though I didn't know where it was coming from. I followed what it wanted me to do, reaching my hands out to Link's wounds, hesitating a moment.

"What's wrong? If you're going to do something, do it!" Midna yelled. I couldn't even find the will to glare at her.

I felt a hot, tingling sensation in my hand, and I saw the Triforce beginning to glow. "Please, let this work..." I whispered, gently putting my hand against the gash. The tingling grew hotter for a moment. The inside force was willing the torn muscle and flesh to mend beneath my hands, and I felt the energy slowly leaving me. When it was finished, the presence in my mind faded, and I removed my hands from Link's side.

In that single second, the strain from my actions -or the actions of whatever had guided me to heal Link- crashed over me, and I felt my shoulders slouching.

'Are you alright?' Link asked, and I could see the concern in his gaze. Midna looked awed.

"How did you do that?" she asked. I shrugged weakly.

"Something did, I don't know what. I'm fine." I answered them, getting up onto shaky legs. From how weak my body felt, it was like back in the forest temple when I'd overused my magic.

'Are you sure you're-'

"I can take care of myself." I sharply interrupted Link. We went off again, more cautious of our surroundings, and at a walk instead of the run we'd been going at earlier.

We followed Ilia's scent into castle town, surprised that the rain hadn't washed it away, and it looked much gloomier than when last I saw. I couldn't think of it much, but I felt a heavy ache in my heart when we went past the place where I grew up.

Link panicked when we followed the scent to the doctor's place, but seemed relieved that it reappeared outside a little ways away from us. We followed it down the cobblestone streets, and my mind flickered between past and present as the rain pelted against my face. Once we reached the market area of castle town, I led the way, going past all the familiar venues and down an alleyway. At the bottom was a sign, indicating that this was Telma's Bar, and that it was currently open. I went down the second staircase, and continued to move as a memory flitted through my head.

"Telma, where are you?" I heard myself call, only it was the voice I had as a child.

"What is it, honey?" Telma's voice came from my right.

"Daddy went to fight something. He got hurt, and now mommy's looking after him, but the doctor said he might not make it!" I wailed.

I ran my hands over the familiar wood of the bar, looking around as I let the memory in.

"Now don't you worry, honey, if I know your father - which I do - he'll pull through just fine in no time. Hey, look at me," she instructed."Your father is a very brave, strong man, and he will make it through this. He'd better..." she muttered to herself.

"Hey! Wake up Ms. Warrior!" a voice drew me from the slightly unpleasant memory. I brushed my matted wet hair away face with my hand, looking to Midna. "We're going to Lake Hylia." she stated. I nodded quietly.

'You okay?' Link asked for the hundredth time. Or so it seemed.

"Yes, I'm fine, Link. I'm a big girl, and I can take care of myself." I sighed.

'Rose, how did you do it?' Link asked some time later. We were making our way through and around the spirits roaming Castle Town, the voice brought me from my memories.

"I already said, I don't know. I just thought that I needed to find a way to save you, and then there was this...thing, in the back of my mind, guiding me. It was sort of... using me to heal you, I guess. It's gone now, and we're both fine, so..." I trailed off.

'You're not curious?' he questioned. I shrugged.

"Of course I'm curious, I mean, I've got a theory, but... I'm not saying it doesn't matter, but I don't think we need to worry about it right now. Maybe... whatever it was, knew how much you mean to me and just... decided to help?"

Wait. I hadn't meant to say that. No, this wasn't very good at all. For one, I wanted to try and keep any kind of dramatics out of this adventure as much as I could, which included falling for Link. This wasn't good. Link was supposed to be with Ilia, or Midna, even Zelda. Not me.

Besides that, it was way too soon to be thinking about stuff like that. I'd known Link -in person- for little more than a month, and I was fifteen. He was two years older than me.

Realizing this in the space of a second, I quickly amended my previous sentence. "To the Goddesses, how much you mean to the Goddesses, and the quest and all that."

Well, now I'd definitely made things awkward.

A/N: That's that. I think it's an improvement from the original, what do you guys -who've read the original- think? And as for the new readers, I'd love some feedback!