A/N:

Short warning for brief mentions of non-graphic sexual assault.

Other than that, enjoy.

The wall shattered. That intangible mental wall broke down, and years and years of memories flooded in, and once it ended, Link's eyes snapped open, staring down at the Master Sword, clutched tightly in his hands, glowing with pure magic, its tip mere inches above the pedestal.

For a moment, euphoria flooded his mind. Their plan had worked. He, Linebeck, Midna, and Ghirahim had all cheated death. Their plan had worked perfectly, and they'd fooled that damned shadow for two whole centuries.

Link shook with the force of his memories, his breath caught in his chest while he stood like a statue as he carefully sifted through the memories of his own past. So much. It was so much. He'd been alive. He was always the hero. He, Linebeck, Midna, and Ghirahim- they were that group from two hundred years ago, having cheated the way of nature and death and returned to finish their original job.

A slow, shuddering breath escaped his mouth. He'd finally figured it out- his first, unforgotten question of who created him? He laughed. He couldn't help it. That question had been answered the moment he'd been found months ago in the junkyard, so soon after waking up. Of course Linebeck was his creator. The answer had been right in front of them the whole time! Of course- they should've figured it out earlier, what, with how Linebeck was always the only person who knew how to fix or tinker with Link.

Linebeck...

Out of the corner of his eye, Link saw the engineer fall to his knees, clutching at his head. Link stumbled away from the pedestal, sword in hand- Ghirahim had a horrified expression, and Midna was turned away from them, tightly hugging herself, crouched in front of the pond surrounding the small, stone island.

Dread spread through Link's body, and he stared at the sword in his hands. They'd failed. They'd been unable to stop Hyrule's destruction. And in the process, Link had been killed, Zelda had been lost to the shadow, the Sheikah turned on the Yiga, and Linebeck...

"You didn't want to get your memories back," Link rasped, staring at Linebeck, who was trembling violently, kneeling low to the ground, his hair hiding his face.

As he found himself the only one able to fully process his memories, Link pulled the scabbard that the Yiga had given them from his back. He paused, staring at it, a distant sense of nostalgia making his limbs tremble as he stared at the sword and scabbard next to each other. With shaking hands, Link pushed the sword into its matching scabbard, and left it on the ground, approaching Ghirahim first.

"Ghirahim, Ghirahim-" Link grabbed the demon by his shoulders, and they stared at each other for a long moment. "Are... Are you alright?"

"I... need a moment." Ghirahim let out a long breath, peering past Link. "Oh, goddesses... we've always known each other. We've been around for two hundred years- we were there when Hyrule City was torn apart. Midna and Zelda summoned me, we all gained Linebeck's trust, we started working as a team, went out into the desert, fought Aganhim... we've done so much together. And the shadow erased it all- how are our memories back?" Link was about to admit that he had no idea, but a new clarity entered Ghirahim's dark eyes. "The Master Sword."

Link frowned, but Ghirahim continued. "We... all grabbed the Master Sword before everything... ended. This... seems stupid, but maybe the sword somehow preserved our memories? Or maybe that's stupid. The Master Sword is a powerful magical artifact. I wouldn't be surprised if our old connection to it was enough for it to unseal our memories just by being near us as it was drawn. But then, I wonder if it would've unlocked our memories no matter what... Oh, goddesses, there was no way for us to predict what had happened to us..."

"I assume that shadow's immortal," Link breathed. "I mean, Zelda today looks the exact same as Zelda two hundred years ago, so I assume it persisted for that long, holding reign over Hyrule. We... should've done a bit more research back then, I guess."

"We assumed it would live forever," Ghirahim growled. "Just not that it would be able to puppet a mortal's body around for centuries."

Link looked sadly over at Midna, still crouched over the pond. "I can't imagine what it must feel like. To fall in love with someone, then have them torn away under your nose and deceive you. Not to mention, she fell in love with Zelda again, after she woke up... but this time, at least, she seems to have moved on."

"...Let's go home."

Link almost didn't hear Linebeck's quiet words. He and Ghirahim shifted, staring down at him. He sitting at the edge of the pond, peering into the clear water. It was a stark difference from how he'd been doubled over, inches from the ground. "Let's go home," he quietly repeated. "I want to see Damien. You guys have work to do. We have a lot to discuss."

"Are you alright?" Midna's words were just as quiet, and when she turned her face to him, they could all see tears streaming down her face. "You... that's a lot of trauma to have forced back upon you in such a short amount of time."

"It's okay," Linebeck sighed. He reached and grabbed a lily pad, stroking the top of it. "The worst of it had been dealt with. You guys were very nice to me, even though I didn't deserve it. Every incident was short. They're all gone; I got revenge on them all." Linebeck sighed, staring up at the soft light above them. "What happened then... the only thing I lost was a perfectly good shirt and my tolerance for being touched." His listless eyes flicked to each of the three of them in turn. "I never got a chance to tell you."

"Th-that's good," Ghirahim stammered. "Are you alright t-to go-"

"No." Linebeck stared back up at the light. "I didn't want these memories back, but now I'm conflicted. It hurts. And I don't know what to do. I... had already been dealing with the... symptoms, if you will, so now I just have the causes." He paused. "I killed her. But she scarred me. I wish I had made her death much slower." He pushed himself into a sitting position, raking his hands through his hair. "Let's go home. Please. I need time. We all do. But I don't feel safe here. And I'd rather think through all of this in my room. With all of you. And Damien."

"Let's go home, then," Ghirahim mumbled, walking over to Linebeck. "Can I-"

"Don't touch me," Linebeck hissed, twisting away and scrambling to his feet. He stared at Ghirahim with wild eyes, then stumbled past him. "Come on. I want to get out of here. Don't forget the sword."

Link silently picked the Master Sword up from where he left it and shared a worried look with Ghirahim and Midna before trailing after Linebeck. Link jogged up to his side, and Linebeck flinched away when he noticed him. "Wh-what?"

"...Thanks," Link mumbled. "For everything. Past and present. You've been an asshole, but you've also been more or less incredibly important."

"Y-yeah. Thank you, too, I guess. Them, too. I, uh, don't know what I would've done without you guys at any point." Linebeck staggered off to the side and the four of them walked down the hall. "Which, uh, way are we gonna take out?"

"Let's go to my corridor," Link mused. "There wasn't much of anything to be worried out there. Come on, I'll lead the way."

They quietly strode down through the small room Link had waited in. Not a work was spoken, not even as they noticed Linebeck slowly falling behind, dragging his feet as his gait became less and less steady, until they realized they didn't hear his footsteps any longer. All three of them stopped and turned, finding Linebeck collapsed on the ground, shuddering as he sobbed into his arms.

Ghirahim started to surge forward, but Midna dashed towards him and grabbed him holding him back. "Not now," she whispered. "I understand you want to help him. But this is delicate stuff. I understand that we need to get home, but... we can't help with this. Like I said in the past, all we can do is support him; we can't solve anything for him."

"Then we should be able to support him now, right?" Link asked, walking over. "I... it's painful. We didn't do very much in the past, did we?"

Midna sadly shook her head. "No, and there's no way to know how he dealt with it on his own, in the medical wing or in his room at the Yiga hideout." She lowered herself to the ground, sitting, and Link and Ghirahim did the same. "Listen," she quietly murmured. "I'll be honest; It's going to be rough, but not in the way it was in the past- he was more cut off from us, and he didn't have the time to wrestle with this. But now, I... it's up to him. I believe he's in a good situation right now: we're heading back home, and he'll be around us and Damien, and, hell, even that little lizard he adopted when he found Link." She went quiet, then stood, motioning for Link and Ghirahim to stay.

For a few moments, all Link could hear were Linebeck's pained sobs, and Bellum quietly talking- he'd almost forgot about the rude little AI. He watched it hover beside Linebeck's head for a moment. That little thing was harsh, but it was a part of Linebeck. The tension in Link's chest eased for a moment. Bellum would certainly be instrumental in helping Linebeck.

Midna walked carefully over to Linebeck, and crouched in front of him. She quietly spoke to him for a few drawn-out minutes as the sobs slowly subsided, until Linebeck silently lay on the ground, occasionally nodding as Midna spoke. She held a hand out, but Linebeck got to his feet on his own. "I'm fine," he murmured, loud enough for Link to head. "L-let's go. I..." He rubbed at his face, then smiled at them. There were still tears in his eyes, but his smile was genuine. "I'll be okay."

Once again, they all got up and continued down the corridor, out the room, through the dark hall, and finally back to the outside of the temple.

Whatever Midna said, it must've made Linebeck more confident in himself; he was steadier and walked closer to them. While they walked through the outside ruins, he cleared his throat. "When I was in the Yiga hideout, it was the worst," he admitted. "But... the Yiga were kind. And... so was Bellum." He smiled weakly. "I've been through a lot of shit, huh? But I've survived it all in... more or less one piece. And I... survived that." Linebeck reached up and rubbed at his eyes again. His voice quavered. "But I still don't want to be touched, okay? I'm not fully okay. But... I think the worst of it was dealt with when I was working with the Yiga. And the castle medical staff. They were very nice, too. They believed me."

"You've probably been through more than all of us," Link quietly said, peering up at him. "You should rest, okay? You deserve it."

Linebeck shook his head. "No. No, I've been way too rude to you guys, especially you, Link. I've been nothing but rude and harsh and I've blamed so much on you guys, and it can't be excused anymore. I-I've got to make it up to you guys!" He looked down at his feet while he walked, wringing his hands. "I'll... spend all my time working on new stuff for you guys! Link, I'll finish up the rest of that Sheikah armor! I'll- I'll- I'll do shit like make you guys breakfast and take care of the plants outside and collect the water after every rainfall and do all of the laundry and perfect your weapons and-" He straightened up, catching everyone's eyes. "D-don't say that I don't have to! I want to, at this point! I need something to do to help me think. It'll be better than sitting in my room and stewing in my misery."

"You've grown up a lot," Midna commented, unable to hide her smile.

Almost all self-pity on Linebeck's face was wipe away, replaced by an indignant scowl. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? I've been mature!"

"You're still the youngest of us all, even if we're all technically over two centuries old," Midna teased. Her smiled softened. "But seriously. You can get through all of this. We all can. We've got the Master Sword now. All we need to do now is take down that shadow. I... don't think we can save Zelda. She's gone and there's no denying it. But we know the truth now! We have all of our memories back, and we can save Hyrule with the help of the Yiga! The only thing we need now is a plan."

"After we rest," Ghirahim grunted.

"Yes! After we rest."

Ganondorf was waiting for them at the temple stairs, watching the sunset. He glanced over his shoulder, his eyes brightening as he spotted the four of them. "Oh, good! You got the sword! It took a bit longer than I expected, but we can not properly fight back against Zelda and the Sheikah."

Link stepped forward. "I-I'm sorry, but how does the sword help you so much?"

Ganondorf shrugged. "It's a powerful sword, and helps you fight against magic, and with it, Zelda will be more willing to trust you! The plan is that you four infiltrate the castle and get her trust, and we can attack once she fully trusts you."

"When will we do that?"

"Soon, or, well, whenever the party that Zelda just announced takes place."

"...Party."

"Yes, a ball of sorts. Zelda actually announced it about an hour ago. She's throwing it to celebrate Link's appearance as the hero. She'll have more of a reason to throw it, now that you have the Master Sword. We'll create a plan once the date is announced, but there is more information yet to come. Until then, I'll gladly take you four wherever you want to rest until that time comes."

"Yes, yes, we need to rest," Link sighed. "Can you take us back to our home?"

"The 'Rain Keep'? Of course, gladly. Damien is still there; he's been holding down the fort for you guys."

"We thought he would." Midna strode past Link, holding a hand out to Ganondorf. "We'd like to get home a quickly as possible."

Not a single extra word was spoken as they all grabbed on to each other to some degree, ranging from Link willingly holding Ganondorf's hand to Linebeck holding onto the end of Ghirahim's cloak- it all worked. There was a moment of disorientation, and the five of them were standing in front of Rain Keep, the simple sight of the humorously named building bringing a sense of peace to Link's mind. He hadn't expected to be so relieved to see it, but he allowed himself to smile weakly.

"I'll return if we find out more information," Ganondorf murmured. "I've given Damien some time off to help you four, but I may need him for some short excursions. Get some rest. You've all deserved it at this point." With that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke and crimson paper amulets.

None of the lights were on when they walked into the building, but the windows were open and the chairs were shifted as if someone had been shifting them around. Link sighed, walking up to the living room table, and started pulling off his gauntlets and grieves. "...What should we do now? I need to get... readjusted to the Master Sword, but what about you guys?"

"Oh- oh, you're back!" Damien's voice caught them all by surprise, and they all turned to watch him jog down the stairs. "That didn't take as long as I expected. You got the sword! I assume you've heard about Zelda's party thing, so we've got some time before that..." He strode past Link, grinning at them each in turn. "I think this might be the first time you guys went into a dungeon and then came out with Linebeck in one piece." Damien went to place a gentle hand on Linebeck's shoulder, but his smile faltered as Linebeck flinched away.

Link shifted the Master Sword on the table. Midna looked down at her feet, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Ghirahim was the only one who quietly spoke. "Y-yes, we got the Master Sword, but... We know what... happened." He hesitated for a moment. "Link drawing the sword somehow restored our memories."

Damien paled. "All of your memories. All four of you?"

"Yup," Linebeck quietly muttered. "It's a good thing, really. So much has been cleared up- we know what the deal is with Zelda, we know how Hyrule had been destroyed, we know why Link was created and by who... All four of us had been alive back two-hundred years ago. We have... been friends for a while. I'm the reason we all survived for the past two-hundred years- We've finally gotten answers for all of our questions." With a shaking hand, Linebeck reached and took Damien's hand, letting out a long breath. "Our theorizing was pretty on-point, but we can talk about it later. For now, I just want to rest." He sheepishly glanced at Link and the others. "B-before I start making up for everything."

Link nodded solemnly. "You two deserve some time alone for a bit. Tell us if you need anything, but we won't make you do anything you don't want to."

"Thanks," Linebeck mumbled. He gave Damien a small smile, tightly holding his hand. He leaned in, murmuring something to Damien, the carpenter reacting by tilting his head and pressing his temple against Linebeck's shoulder. They exchanged a few quiet words. Linebeck lifted his head and cleared his throat. "It would be nice if you guys cleaned up my work room a bit."

"I'll do that," Link offered.

"We'll make dinner in about two hours," Midna added. "We'll let you know when it's done."

Linebeck and Damien left the three of them in the living room, and none of them spoke until they heard the door to Linebeck's room close. Ghirahim cleared his throat, shifting his weight. "Well, we should get on with some chores. Check the blueberry plants, the windows, the doors... we haven't been home for a while, and our time here earlier wasn't long enough for us to check those things." He rubbed his hands together. "I'll check the plants."

Link gently set the Master Sword on the desk in his room, leaving it there as he put away his old weapons. The setup of their rooms was eerily similar to how it had been two-hundred years ago- Link's room, then Midna's then Ghirahim's, then Linebeck's. He gazed out the window, seeing Hyrule City in the distance. The buildings were taller than they had been, but the city was smaller.

Ghirahim was tending to the plants outside and had also volunteered to check the potions that helped them grow, in addition to gathering water. While Damien and the rest of the Yiga did take care of the place while they were gone, Midna decided to check all of the walls and windows and doors and fix cracks and plug any holes. Even now, Link could see her inspecting the outside walls with tools.

With a quiet sigh, Link straightened up and stretched. He left his room and lingered in front of the door to Linebeck's room for a few moments before knocking. The muffled talking immediately stopped, and Damien was the one who opened the door. "Yeah?"

"I've finished tidying up Linebeck's workshop... T-that's all." Peering past Damien, Link could see Linebeck sitting at his desk in front of his lizards' small enclosure. "...I want to quickly talk to Linebeck about something, if that's alright. Just... stuff about our past. Nothing bad."

Damien set his jaw, but Linebeck shrugged. "Sure. Make it a bit quick, though. You can come in." He reached his hand into the lizard enclosure and stroked the top of the little creature's head with a finger. "You can feed Rusty if you want."

Link grinned. "I forgot that you named it. That's cute."

"You also seem to forget that I found him wedged in between your organs. Come on. I thought you wanted to be quick."

Linebeck held out a small jar as Link shuffled into the room. Link carefully tugged the lid off and sprinkled some dead bugs into Rusty's enclosure; he frowned at the jar after. "He eats bugs."

"Lizards eat bugs. I thought you'd know that. Maybe that's something that got left out when I was programming extra information into you... What do you want?" Linebeck leaned back in his chair, glancing back at Damien, who was hovering besides him. "I'm fine," he murmured, taking Damien's hand. "You don't need to worry, okay? I'll be fine."

Damien sighed quietly and nodded. "Y-yeah. Sorry. I-I just... I'll explain once Link leaves. Just..." He sighed again, then rubbed at his face. "I need to take a short walk."

"Yeah, go ahead." Linebeck dropped his hand and ran his fingers through his hair while Damien left the room. He stared morosely at Rusty for a moment, watching the lizard snap up the dead bugs. "...So, uh, what did you need, Link?"

Link blinked. He felt as though he was no longer welcome. "...Uh. I just wanted to ask... since you have your memories back, what's the point of our eyes flashing when we make eye contact. You... never explained that."

As he tilted his head, a distance look entered Linebeck's eyes. "If I remember correctly, it was just to make it so we could know there was something between us. It's pretty arbitrary, and it really only exists to be mysterious." He laughed briefly. "I can remove it, if you want. It's all in you; I did nothing to modify myself."

"Maybe later. After all of this. How are you holding up? I-it seems like things are a bit weird between you and Damien or something."

Linebeck sighed and leaned forward, raking his fingers through his hair. "Well... I've explained all of the big stuff to Damien- how the four of us met, our quest, what happened with Zelda, how Hyrule got destroyed, as well as the whole deal with my father and that guard." He scowled to himself, scratching at his beard for a moment. "I love Damien dearly, as I'm sure you all know, but he can be a bit overprotective. We each have our own shortcomings, me more so than Damien, but his overprotectiveness has caused problems. Like when you broke my leg. He was a bit too harsh. Of course, I was, too, but he never really tried to be a voice of reason.

"I've really got no problem with him protecting me in fights or going out of his way to harm people who tried to harm me, but he crosses the line sometimes. There were times, after we started dating, that he was more or less fighting my battles for me if I ever got into arguments in the city or had to deal with monsters or muggers. I can fight. Not well, but I know enough about anatomy to know how to injure or kill an attacker with a knife."

Link grimaced. "Overprotectiveness doesn't seem as bad as having a severely broken moral compass."

"Yes, well, the difference in this context is that I'm aware that my selfishness and low empathy has ruined my sense of what's good and bad. Damien isn't aware that he's overprotective most of the time. Hearing about what happened to me upset him, obviously, but I followed it up by telling him that I'm alright and that I didn't want him to get overprotective about it."

"So, he's irritated," Link guessed.

"More or less. He's frustrated; I haven't yet given him much detail on what happened with the guard, so he... doesn't know that nothing actually happened." Linebeck crossed his arms, glancing out the window. "I assume he's probably gone to the city to wander around for a bit. Everything will be alright, but I need to properly explain things."

"Yeah," Link quietly murmured. "It's all cuz he cares about you, huh?" Linebeck nodded silently. "Yeah, I'm sure things will be alright."

"Mhm. We're planning on going and spending a day in the city, maybe tomorrow."

"That sounds nice."

Link sat on the kitchen countertop while Ghirahim and Midna discussed what do make for dinner. It appeared that while the Yiga had taken care of their home and Linebeck's pet lizard, the food that they had stored away was left to rot unless it had been specifically preserved. So they had little more than some frozen meat, the freshly picked blueberries, as well as some rice.

"Damien's gone to the city," Link offered. "Maybe he'll pick up some stuff while he's there."

"I doubt it," Ghirahim grumbled. "Besides, we can work with this. We could... just fry up the meat and cook the rice and just have the blueberries on the side. Simple. We can make something nice when we get a chance to go shopping."

Midna shrugged, tossing open some cabinet doors. "Let's get started then."

"Linebeck and Damien are gonna go to the city soon," Link announced. "I could ask them to pick some stuff up while they're there."

"That's a good idea. For now, help us with dinner. Pick some more blueberries, we'll deal with the rice and meat- what kind of meat do we have, Ghirahim?"

"Beef. It's not a lot, but we can do strips or something similar. It's a shame we don't have any kind of sauce for it, but I think we've got some salt... maybe some garlic powder..."

Link crouched in front of a blueberry bush, basket down at his feet. He plucked the ripe blueberries off the branches and dropped them in the basket, the sun slowly lowering towards the horizon in the distance. Even as it became dimmer outside, the heat remained, and Link knew he would be sweating if he was still human.

He moved from bush to bush, slowly gathering the berries, and as he moved to one of the last bushes, he saw Damien walking back to the house. Link waved at him. Damien waved back.

Once finished picking blueberries, Link checked the machinery above them and refilled reserves of growth potion. With any luck, the plants would be once again fully-grown within a week. With the basket in hand, Link walked back into the building, rolling his shoulders.

It had been, what, two and a half months since he woke up? And just over two hundred years since everything really began. He'd been buried by the ruins of old Hyrule City, and everything slowly came back together.

There must've been some kind of irony to the fact that it had been Linebeck who found him, scavenging around for cheap materials and instead coming across an old friend. And then the three of them very quickly decided to enter him into a robot-fighting competition. That certainly had to be irony; Link and Linebeck had first met at a robot competition.

Link hesitated while he set the basket of blueberries on the kitchen table. Had Zelda always known that they survived? She- or, well, that shadow- must've recognized them, and took advantage of their missing memories, sending them off to Zora's Domain and Rito Village and Goron City to collect the three pendants and collect the Master Sword- if he still could, Link knew he would've paled.

That was her plan, then- manipulate them into getting the Master Sword for her, so it could be used in the ceremony that had failed. But she also needed the Triforces of wisdom of power, both of which were missing. All he knew about them was that neither Ganondorf nor Zelda had them.

The Ganondorf of present times was most certainly a descendant of the Ganondorf from two hundred years ago. Zelda was unchanged- the shadow was certainly immortal and had clung to her body for the past two centuries. Link couldn't help but shudder at the thought.

He watched Ghirahim and Midna make dinner, idly straightening out the chairs and trying to puzzle out how they would get a fifth chair. "I can use my desk chair," Link finally decided out loud. "That's a good idea, right?"

Midna shook her head. "Don't do that. We don't know if they'll eat with us. For one, I'm going to eat in my own room. There's not much of a point to eating together tonight, since we're all still processing what we've all learned. Why don't you get some plates out for everyone, since we don't need your help with cooking."

"R-right. Damien came back, right? Where did he go?"

"Upstairs. He's back in Linebeck's room. These are some nice blueberries."

"It was a good batch."

Link shifted from foot to foot as Ghirahim set the fully cooked meat out on a plate. "Sometimes I wish I could still salivate. Should I ask Linebeck to try and give me that feature?"

"That's gross," Ghirahim muttered, giving him a look of mild disgust. "Take your food and go. You might as well bring food up to Damien and Linebeck if they don't come down within a few minutes."

Link nodded obediently, holding his plate out to allow Midna to spoon rice onto it. "I hope they're doing good."

"Why wouldn't they be?"

"They had some kinda disagreement earlier. I think it's okay now." Link poked at some of the meat and set one cut onto his plate. "This smells good. What's the last thing we ate? It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Feels like it's been a few months since we entered that temple," Midna mumbled. "I think we had some food at the Yiga hideout. We had some potions in the temple. Ghirahim tasted Linebeck's gloves while he was fixing his jaw."

Ghirahim winced. "His gloves are nasty. I'm glad he fixed my jaw and all, but I think I managed to taste every single little particle on his gloves. He barely ever cleans them."

Link chuckled, mostly to himself, and set his plate down on the table. "I'll bring Damien and Linebeck their food real quick. Ghirahim, do you want to eat with me?"

"Sure thing." Ghirahim moved aside while Link made two extra plates, cautiously figuring out how to hold them. "Careful."

"I'm a robot, it'll be easy for me to be careful," Link mused. He trudged up the stairs, walking with Midna. She left him to enter her own room, and Link silently lingered outside of Linebeck's room for a few moments. It didn't sound like they were talking. With his hands full, Link knocked on the door with his foot.

Damien slightly opened the door after a few seconds. He and Link peered at each other for a heartbeat before he asked, "Are those for us?"

"Yeah. Dinner. If you guys want it."

With a slight nod, Damien opened the door and took the plates from Link. "Thanks," he murmured. He set both plates down on the desk besides Rusty's enclosure. Leaning in through the doorway, Link got a quick glance of the rest of the room. The curtains were drawn over the window, so the main source of light was the bedside lamp and a small desk lamp. The room looked a bit cleaner than before.

Linebeck was curled up on the bed, his hair covering his face. He seemed to be asleep; Damien bent over at the bedside and gently shook his shoulder, whispering something. Linebeck stirred, responding after a few moments, then pushed himself into a sitting position while Damien pulled the desk chair aside.

Link backed out of the doorway and quietly shut the door. He headed down the stairs, a small smile on his lips, and was met with a curious-looking Ghirahim. "What?"

"Are things better?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure. Linebeck was napping when I saw him, and Damien woke him for dinner, everything seems alright."

"Awesome. I'll try to catch them before they leave for the city tomorrow morning. We really need some food, among other things."

"Make a list," Link suggested, sitting at the table. "What should we do while they're gone."

Sitting across from Link, Ghirahim shrugged. "We've still got a lot to figure out for ourselves, but I think we should start planning how we'll get rid of Zelda as soon as possible. Maybe we can spend most of tomorrow planning with Ganondorf, and then spend the rest of our time resting."

"Planning without Linebeck or Damien?"

"We can create a base plan and then have them amend it once they get back." Ghirahim stabbed at his food with his fork. "Simple." He grinned at Link, shifting in his seat. "Maybe we could spar a bit. It's been a bit since either of us have seen the Master Sword in action, huh?"

"Shut up," Link grumbled, shoveling a forkful of rice into his mouth.

"It's been two centuries. I want to see that magic sword in use again."

Link rolled his eyes while he swallowed his rice. "Tomorrow. I want to get some sleep. I'm sure you're more tired than I am." Leaning back in his chair, Link tilted his head to the side. "We've all got a lot to think about. But now we have our memories back, we have the Master Sword, and we know what we're really up against. That's good, right?"

"It's better than how we started. We've got a proper chance now."

"That damned shadow won't know what hit it."