Chapter Four

A bright blue light shining over her head was the first thing she noticed when she had woken up. It was bright and as she tried to open her eyes wider, they burned. She fought the sensation, opening them as wide as she could until her head had its own heartbeat. It sounded strange like she could hear her own heart pumping blood to the rest of her body.

As she dared to look around the room, the beating only grew worse until it was pounding. Her head throbbed with each beat and Zelda closed her eyes, finding that it had begun to get painful.

Where was she? Had she been asleep, and if so, for how long?

But as she asked herself all sorts of questions, the pounding slowly faded along with her consciousness.

*~oOo~*

There was a soft fabric that cradled her body when she shifted. Over her was a fabric of the same texture, but it felt different, heavier than what was under her. It felt like a weighted blanket, and it provided her with a warmth that she was both thankful and uncomfortable with. Her skin was sticking together with sweat.

To her right, she heard two voices in the distance, but she couldn't understand a word that they were saying. It was as if her brain was too slow and incapable of unscrambling each syllable that they said to one another and forming them into complete sentences. The longer she listened, the more panicked she felt.

Zelda peeled her eyes open a little and the blue light shone in her eyes. Her head began to pound as if a sledgehammer was being repeatedly beaten against the back of her skull. As she turned her head, hoping to catch a glimpse of the individuals, a wave of nausea washed over her and she quickly shut her eyes, wishing for the feeling to go away.

What was happening to her body? Why had it become so unbearable to do anything?

As the nausea subsided, Zelda slowly opened her eyes again, squinting at the voices. Just as she had thought, there were two figures in the distance, but she wasn't able to make out any sort of details about them. All they looked like were coloured smudges.

The pounding in her head became too unbearable to fight anymore, so she shifted to her back. Pain stabbed through her whole back and she hissed, her body arching, not expecting it to have been so sharp. Tears burned in her eyes as the pain slowly faded away.

The voices raised a little, suddenly alarmed and one of the figures rushed off.

When she felt the presence of someone leaning over her, she dared to open her eyes. Still, she could not make out their face.

They gently touched her shoulder and tried to roll her onto her side, but now even more panicked, Zelda tried to force herself to sit up. Her head pounded in protest, but she ignored it, desperate to know where she was and what was going on.

As most of her body left the comfort of the blankets, she felt herself sway, everything turning and spinning so much that she was unable to think straight.

"Princess, please, you must lay down."

"W-what's going...?" She pressed her eyes shut and then opened them, desperate to focus. "What's happening... to me?"

"You have been seriously injured and need to give yourself time to heal."

The longer she stayed sitting up, the more clearly she felt nausea creeping up on her. Still, she refused to lie down. She needed answers.

"Injured? How was I...?"

"Do not worry about that now," the blue blur said, pushing back on her shoulders. "You need to take the time to recover."

"I need to know... What happened to me."

"Princess, please!" Hearing the distress in the woman's voice, Zelda slowly moved to lay herself back down.

After all the spinning, the nausea finally caught up to her. She quickly sat up again, making it worse as she then heaved, soiling the blanket that covered her legs and the old shirt that she wore as well.

Her throat burned as if she had tried to swallow lava from Death Mountain and her body trembled violently.

With the spinning as worse as it was, she reached up to cradle her head, praying that the remaining nausea would fade. There were tears in Zelda's eyes as she shut them tightly, refusing to look at the mess she had made of herself.

The individual who had told her very little of what was going on yelled something that she wasn't able to comprehend all of a sudden, and just trying to focus on it made her head pound that much worse.

She didn't have the strength to cry, but the pain was enough to make her want to. A tear rolled down her arm, hot but not hot enough to stop her body from trembling.

More people hurried into the room –Zelda could tell by the sudden increase in voices– and began preparing something on a tray beside her. The instruments that they used made so much noise that it made her ears ring, so she pressed her palms against them, hoping it would block out some of the noise.

As the ringing and pounding worsened, she noticed that she could no longer hear herself crying. She could only tell from the heat in her eyes and when her damp lashes grazed her cheeks.

"Please, stop..." She whimpered, making her body small as she curled up. "It hurts..."

A hand gently rested on her shoulder, but she dared not to look. If she moved her head even a little, she knew that it would make her feel suddenly sick.

It grazed a thumb over her shoulder, gently and she felt her body wrack with another shiver.

Someone in the room yelled and then an argument began. Zelda grit her teeth and dug her fingers into her hair, gripping it with all the strength she could muster, which wasn't much.

"Stop it... Please, stop."

The hand moved from her shoulder to the side of her head, covering her ear. It muffled the voices a little.

There was an exchange of words somewhere nearby, the voices softer. Moments later, multiple people left the room, taking their argument with them. The room fell silent.

Slowly, the pounding in her head began to fade and the nausea retreated, waiting for its opportunity to emerge. Zelda's breath shuddered and she loosened the grip she had on her hair, letting it fall and graze her shoulders.

"Zelda?"

The voice sounded familiar. Zelda lifted her head a little and her eyes were stabbed by the blue light. She squinted, hoping it would at least help her make out his face.

Slowly, her eyes managed to focus enough that she was able to pick out his blue eyes. They looked at her hopefully.

His voice, his eyes, his hair... Everything about him seemed familiar, but she couldn't put a name to the face. Perhaps if she stared at him a little longer...

"How are you feeling?" He asked, his brows slightly pinched.

It bothered her that a name still wasn't appearing in her mind.

His hand fell away and he pressed his lips together. "You don't remember, do you?"

When she shook her head, it was more violent than she had intended and the dizziness made a reappearance along with its friend, nausea. Her whole body swayed and she fell forward. The man was there before she could even catch herself. His body was warm as it barely pressed against hers.

"It's going to be okay," he whispered into her ear. Goosebumps crawled up her neck. "The Zora promised they would take care of you."

Finally, a name came back to her, and when it did it felt like a slap to her face. How horrible of a person was she to forget the name of her best friend, her knight.

"Link," she breathed, putting her arms around him. "I remember now."

Zelda shut her eyes just as he pulled her closer, the dizziness creeping up on her again.

It was emotionally overwhelming to be within his reach again. After everything that had happened, everything that she had done to get rid of him simply to protect him...

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, pulling him closer as fresh tears caused her eyes to sting. "I shouldn't have said those horrible things to you, I shouldn't have yelled at you. I said it all because..."

She pressed her face into his neck, stealing his warmth only to sweat it off again. Temperately confused, her body trembled.

"I fear that I'm going to lose you."

Before he could say anything in response, she closed her eyes with a soft grunt, feeling the bile rising into her throat. Zelda slowly released him as she pulled away.

"Zelda?" Head spinning, she weakly pushed against his chest. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head and tried to give him a harder shove, but it was too late.

Once again, she re-soiled her clothes, bedding and even Link's boots.

Embarrassed and sweaty, her face burned red. Her throat was almost no different.

"I... I'm sorry." Her voice was hoarse and her mouth felt dry, "I just..."

He leaned down and brushed some of her hair, which was damp with sweat, out of her face.

"Don't worry, they can be replaced," he replied. "You, on the other hand, can't be. So, just focus on getting better, okay?" His eyes glanced down before lifting back up to hers, giving her an awkward smile. "I'll go ask for some clean blankets, but as for clothes..."

Zelda looked down at herself and wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"I'll look for some too."

When she lifted her gaze, she couldn't help but smile at him. He really didn't have to go the extra lengths to make her so comfortable, but she was really grateful for it nonetheless.

Before he could turn to leave, she grabbed his hand. Link turned to her.

"Thank you, Link."

A smile eased its way onto his face before he nodded silently and slid his hand out of hers. Zelda watched him go until he was out of sight.

"He has not left your side much." Zelda startled and turned too quickly. Her head stabbed. A Zora woman with blue scales was standing at the foot of the bed, preparing something in vials. "The only way we could get him to go was by forcing him out and locking the door behind him. Even then we were afraid he would knock it down."

He hadn't left her side? Not even to take care of himself?

Her smile was small as she looked down at her hands. No matter how many times she had scolded him about taking care of himself, he still wouldn't listen.

"He is quite stubborn, sometimes." She blinked, realizing her vision was going blurry again. "He keeps almost dying for me."

The Zora hummed and came over to her, now holding a roll of gauze pads in her hand.

"Princess, if I may. I would like to check the wound on your back."

She nodded and slowly turned, weary of making any unnecessary movements.

Carefully, the Zora lifted her soiled shirt and gently touched her back.

"Your dressings will have to be changed. Perhaps we should move over to the stool beside the bed."

Worried, Zelda was about to speak up before the Zora cut her off.

"Do not worry, princess. If anything happens, I will be right here to help." Again, she nodded. "Shall we?"

The Zora assisted Zelda out of the bed and sat her down on a small stool beside it. It was more than obvious that she still wasn't able to stand on her own without the risk of collapse.

Once her shirt was pulled up past her shoulder blades, she was told to hold it there. The metal doctor's implements were placed into a tray and produced a sound that caused Zelda's ears to ring a little.

"First, I'm going to remove your current dressings, then I am going to clean the wound with some disinfectant and then I will redress them with clean gauze. Does that sound okay to you, princess?"

Despite the fact that her heart was pounding and her hands were shaking with nervousness, Zelda nodded.

"Sounds okay to me..."

Having the dressings removed wasn't as bad as she had originally thought it would be and it only took a matter of seconds. But when it came to disinfecting the wound, she grew nervous.

"It's going to be a little cold and it's going to sting a little."

Before Zelda could reply, a cotton swab was pressed against the small of her back. Immediately, searing pain shot through her nerves and she clenched her fists.

"Deep breaths, princess. It will be over soon."

But not soon enough!

"How large is it?"

"Is what, princess?"

She bit the inside of her lip. "The wound. How big is it?"

"Length? Or width?"

"Length."

The Zora touched a cotton ball in one place on the lower part of her back, near the elastic of her leggings and her finger touched a spot just under her right shoulder blade. It was a clean diagonal gash that crossed her entire back.

Zelda's breath shuddered, "Oh."

"It was lucky, extremely lucky. If the lynel's blade had gone any deeper... you could have been paralyzed."

"Or dead."

The cotton swab hovered over the sensitive skin around the wound. Zelda took a breath, steeling herself.

When the disinfectant-soaked swab made contact with her skin, she cried out, the pain so sudden and intense that she was unable to contain herself.

"Deep breaths, princess."

With a nod, she took a breath and clenched her fists a little harder.

"Zelda! Are you okay? I heard–" Link froze in the doorway with clean blankets slung over his arms.

"Master Link! Is it possible for you to provide us with some assistance?" The Zora said, looking at him.

Worry clouded his features. "Of course..." He made his way over to them and set the blankets down. "What can I do to help?"

"Princess Zelda is in need of support. Cleaning her wound is going to bring her a lot of pain and with her head still as it is..."

"My hands are yours," He said immediately, slipping his hands in hers.

Zelda smiled gratefully.

"Okay. I'm going to apply the disinfectant now."

With a nod, she squeezed his hands. "I'm ready."

She hissed once the disinfectant touched her back. Tears gathered in her eyes. It felt as if her entire back was being dipped in a pool of acid and each time it was it hurt that much more.

Eventually, there came a point where she couldn't find it in herself to continue and was on the brink of sobbing.

"It's almost done, it's almost over, I promise." Link rubbed his thumbs in a circular motion over the back of her hands. "Only a little more."

"I can't..."

"You can, Zelda. You can." Gently, he squeezed her hands, "Please."

She wiped her eyes, clearing away the tears before she looked him in the eyes. They were pleading with her to stay strong, to keep enduring the pain until it was over. After everything she had put him through, it was the least she could do.

Adjusting her grip, her palms sweating uncontrollably, Zelda swallowed and nodded.

"Please, make it quick. I'm starting to feel dizzy again..."

Link nodded firmly and glanced behind her at the Zora. He nodded again.

The last couple of touches hurt the most, but she clenched her jaw, staying strong. Link had promised that it was almost over and she believed him.

"There. Now I will just put some gauze and bandage over it."

"It's all over now," He smiled at her and grazed his thumbs over the back of her hands. "You were amazing."

Zelda smiled shakily back at him, feeling quite drained of energy. Although her back continued to throb and sting, she was glad that the worst of it was over.

*~oOo~*

She jolted awake with her whole body shivering so violently that she accidentally opened her eyes. She groaned, the blue light above her head was three times brighter than it had been earlier, thus, harsher on her eyes.

Zelda hadn't realized that she had begun to cry until a tear rolled down her cheek. The pain in the back of her head refused to stop raging, stabbing her brain and the back of her eyes until it was almost too much to bare.

Why had it started pounding so suddenly? By the time she had changed into fresh clothes and slipped between the clean sheets of her bed, she felt almost completely back to normal. But after catching a few hours of sleep and being abruptly shaken from it, she felt as if her condition had only worsened.

When would the pain finally go away for good?

She had considered sitting up, but determining that it would only make her head pound worse, she decided against it and remained with her head against the pillow.

"Is it your head?"

Soundlessly, she nodded. Her lashes fluttered as his thumb brushed over them.

Link pressed his lips together, frustrated. "I wish there was something I could do."

Zelda swallowed and tucked her arm closer to her body. Even with the blankets pulled up to her shoulders and tucked tightly around her body, her body trembled. She nuzzled her face further into her pillow.

While she drifted away in her thoughts, her eyes snuck a glimpse of Link who was sitting on the stool next to her bed. His usually alert eyes were closed, his dark lashes touching his cheeks.

"Link." His eyes opened and gazed at her in a daze. "You need to sleep too." She scooted over and folded the blankets back, making room for him. "It's nicer sleeping here than on that old stool."

Suddenly he was wide awake. "No, princess, I can't... I'd be intruding–"

"Don't be silly," she smiled. "You won't be intruding if I invited you. Please?"

It took him a couple of moments to decide what to do, but finally, he stood and carefully sat on the edge of the bed.

Zelda felt the mattress sink a little as he made himself comfortable, swinging his legs onto the bed and sliding them under the covers.

Because she had watched him for so long, the luminous stone architecture managed to worsen the pounding in her head. So, she closed her eyes again, more content now that he was within reach.

Blindly, she reached out and placed her hand against his chest which was firm under her touch. His heart beat soundly under her palm.

"Thank you for staying," she whispered.

He placed his hand over hers and gave it a squeeze.

For a long while they sat in complete silence, slowly drifting off together. Zelda listened to the sound of waterfalls in the distance, their constant murmuring soothing enough to lull her to sleep rather quickly.

When her body trembled it was because she had imagined how cold it would have been to go swimming at such a time of night. Even with the sun out during the day, Lanayru's bodies of water were never warm.

Link shifted beside her and she peaked through squinted eyes. His eyes were closed but it didn't stop his arm from lifting from his side and looping around her shoulders.

Although she was slightly surprised, Zelda gave in to his touch and pressed herself against his side. Carefully, so as to not wake him, she slipped her arms around him.

"I don't want to hurt you," he murmured, resting his head back against the bed.

It was sweet of him to be concerned about hurting her, but with everything part of her body already hurting as it was, what was left for him to possibly harm?

"You won't." Zelda huddled closer, clutching the fabric of his tunic. "You would never hurt me."

He hummed a response, obviously close enough to falling asleep that he was no longer capable of carrying on a conversation.

Amused by this, Zelda smiled a little and squeezed his torso before she, too, fell asleep.