She Bears A Triforce

A/N: I would just like to say, thanks to all who have reviewed and I’m sorry I haven’t gotten this chapter up sooner. Take it from me, being a college student with a job SUCKS!!! Thanks for the patience and as ever let me know what you think.


Chapter 7

To say that Aurea was irritated would have been a gross understatement. At the moment she was sitting in the very center of her cramped dungeon cell, because she did not trust the moldering bed of straw, nor the corners of the small space; she was reminded of where caged animals usually chose to relieve themselves, and also she didn’t like to think what vermin was probably residing there as well.

At least the guards watching her had given up trying to bait her patience. This was primarily because whenever they tried, the young woman would either glare indifferently, or else bite out some remark that was almost completely random and had nothing to do with whatever had been annoying her. More than once she’d said something like, “Who am I? I’m the one who’s gonna kick your phony gold-brickin’ ass, THAT’S WHO I AM!” And at one point she stated, “Nuke ‘em ‘til they glow, and shoot ‘em in the dark.” During these outbursts, her face was not the comical display of insanity, but rather she was fairly calm looking. It was unnerving, and the guards had taken to talking to each other in whispers; they had an irrational fear of the young prisoner overhearing them.

At the moment, Aurea was just sitting here with her knees up to her chest and her arms folded around them. Her folded arms hid the lower half of her face, and the sharply green eyes stared out just over her bare forearms.

“Looks like a cat, doesn’t she?” the first guard commented in a low tone.

The other guard nodded. “Wonder what she’s thinking.” He said quietly. But apparently not quietly enough. They both saw the eyes sharpen ever so slightly, making them look even more feline.

“Life dose not start and stop and your convenience you miserable piece of shit.” She said in that cool, matter-of-fact voice she used. That seemed to have been the sanest thing she’d said at all since they locked her in that cell. They had not seen her lips move, since she was still half-hidden behind her own arms, and the result was that they saw only the change in her eyes and heard her voice, as if she could tap into their minds at will.

The two guardsmen exchanged one deeply uncomfortable look before they got up from their chairs.

“I’m going for a pint.” The first said and made hasty steps towards the door to the stairs. The second gave Aurea one last glance.

“Uh, me too.” And he was on his comrade’s heels before he could be left alone with this strange woman. The heavy door slammed behind them, and there was the sound of a key scraping in the lock and the tumblers falling into place. There the heavy footfalls retreated up the stairs, and Aurea heaved a sigh.
To her credit at least, she was not nearly as crazy as she had let them to believe. But she knew that odd, outlandish behavior would throw them off their focus, even scare them. It had worked and now she was alone to think, to maybe find a way out of here. Alright, the door to the stairs was locked, the cell door was locked, the bars were too close together to let her squeeze through, there was no window in her cell, and she had not hair bin or anything to pick the locks.

“Oh bloody hell.” She muttered dispiritedly. She couldn’t have just had so much as a bobby pin, or a sewing needle or something to just work with. “Damn it all.” She grumbled and tried something different, thinking that maybe the hinges on her cell door would be simple and just require enough force to lift them off. But she never found out one way or another. They young woman went absolutely rigid when she heard something jogging down the stairs. Whomever, or whatever it was, stopped just outside the heavy, bolted door. Not wanting to get caught at an escape attempt, Aurea quickly sat back in her original position and arranged her face in what she hoped was the moody expression it had been.

Just then the door swung open, and banged stiffly off the wall. And Aurea found herself glaring at a green-clad figure with scruffy blonde hair, and eyes like an ocean storm. Link! Her mind jumped, quite as fast as the rest of her body did. She hadn’t even registered the fact that she was now on her feet and pressing into the bars of her cell, eager to be out of it, wanting to be that much closer to him.

Link used the key he had just lifted from the guards, which now lay on the stairs, bleeding and out cold, to coax the cell door open. It gave way, and creaked in protest as it opened. Link blinked a d found his air-passage obstructed. He had to take a step back as well. Aurea had practically jumped on him when there was enough space for her to get out. And now she was hugging him just a tad too hard around the neck, her face somewhere against his shoulder. All he could really do was try to breathe carefully, and pat her on the back of the head and between her shoulder-blades, trying to calm her down enough to loosen that death-grip she had. When she finally did ease up, he had a slightly idiotic, lopsided grin on his face.

“What?” Aurea asked, not quite defensively, but rather in a concerned way.

“I should let them lock you up more often.” Link replied, still smiling that ridiculous smile. His remark was met with a sharp punch to his right arm.

She stomped off, up the stairs muttering something like, “You smug bastard,” as he followed her.


“This is your fault; I don’t know HOW, but I know it is.” Aurea growled as she tried her best to stay afloat in what was quite possibly the slimiest place in this world.

“Yeah, because clearly the maniac who kidnapped you had nothing to do with it.” Link replied coolly, while keeping his head above the waterline, which was really more like a sludge-line.

Compared to where they now were, getting out of the dungeon and past guards had been a cakewalk. Negotiating the gardens had not been quite so simple. While inside the castle, they only had to make sure to take care when dodging between pillars and behind statues and whatever made a convenient hiding plaice. But in the garden, there were far too few statures and visual obstacles to provide proper cover. As a result, they had to shuffle through tall flowerbeds on their bellies; and by the time they had worked their way, not quite unscathed, out of some thorny rose bushes, Aurea was swearing if she ever got her hands on the Emperor, she’d make sure to tie him up none too gently with them. That had made Link smile. He had imagined Aurea doing just that, and it made a very funny picture to think of the Emperor wincing as she tightened a prickly rope around him. The maniac deserved it.

But there had been no way of getting past neither the walls, nor the big wrought-iron gates, because both were heavily guarded. The Emperor was a paranoid man, and no wonder. The only way in or out was to try and flatten about twenty Imperial Guards at once, and then there was the alarm, which would have surely been sounded. Unless you had one hell of an army, it was a foolhardy enterprise. So, there was just the one way left, through the well in a far corner, reached by scrambling under those infernal roses.


After much grumbling, complaining, and general profanity, from both of them, they at last emerged from what Area now called,”The Viral Breeding-Ground.” And neither one had to tell the other that a bath was in order. Unfortunately, that meant taking turns keeping a lookout while the other one scrubbed the grime out of their skin, as well as their clothes.

“We’ll never get the smell out.” Aurea remarked as she bent her head to sniff carefully at the shoulder of her shirt; she made a face of disgust.

“We can get some other clothes.” Link sighed as they trudged back towards the Inn, so as to retrieve Aurea’s belongings, as well as some of his own, not to mention Epona.

“Maybe you can.” There was her impatient bad temper again. “Everyone and his cousin is probably looking for me.” Well, alright, she had a point there. “And by now those idiots you knocked out told everyone what you look like and what you’re wearing. They’ll be after you ass too.” Link paused in the act of easing the back door to the Inn open, and looked over his shoulder at her with one arched eyebrow. “Not THAT way!” she hissed, and looked around hoping no one was there to hear him or her. “Get your head out of the gutter for once!” She added as she followed him inside.

“Please tell me you didn’t just suggest that I’ve gone funny.” Link said as he peered into Room 3 before entering. All of their belongings that had bee left there, were still right were they had been hours ago. Link picked up his belongings, which were fewer in number, and fixed them into place on his person.

“Now what are you doing?” Aurea asked in a tired kind of exasperation.

“Going to get you some new clothes.” The Hero of Time sounded at if she should already know all of this.

“I’m not wearing a dress.” Aurea said, sounding like a stubborn little kid.

“You are if you don’t want to get caught again.” Link shot back, more sharply than he had intended. He regretted it when he saw her startled and hurt expression, but the look only lasted a second before she was surly and stubborn again.

“Fine,” she said, resigned to it. And as he was just at the door he was stopped again. “Wait a minute.”

Link turned around, now clearly annoyed. “What?” he asked shortly then looked puzzled as several different colors of rupees were shoved into his hands. “Uh, I’m not buying you a ball-gown am I?” It would’ve been funny if not for the wiry grim smile on his friend’s face.

“Just make sure to get two dresses, and uh, one of them has to be huge okay?”

“What for?” This request for two garments of different size had him wondering what game she was about this time.

“Just trust me on this!” she snapped as she turned him back towards the door, giving him a shove to make him move. “I know what I’m doing; now get a move on!” It was almost funny how her mood and expressions and all of it could shift so quickly. If Link hadn’t known better, he would have thought she was pregnant or something. Of course he couldn’t be entirely certain, but he knew her well enough to know what kind of person she was. He had thought on this before of course, and still stuck to the conclusion that she was probably a virgin, given how she could act, especially around the opposite sex.

Not much time had passed when there was a knock on the closed and locked door or Room 3. Link heard quiet feet padding over to the door.

“Who’s there?” Came a low rasp of a voice, Aurea’s whispering voice.

“It’s me.” When he got no answer, he elaborated a bit. “It’s Link.” There was another pause, then the lock slide back. But the door didn’t open. The soft feet retreated back to the opposite side of the room again, and went silent. Link pushed the door open and poked his head in. He could have screamed if he had been in the habit of losing his head in a situation like this. Standing on the opposite side of the room was Aurea, her long brown-and-gold hair down, with her bow strung, and one slender arrow notched into place. Well, one thing was for certain, her aim had improved. If she had released that arrow, he would have been dead within a minute, seconds even. But she relaxed once she saw for sure that it was he.

“You scared the hell out of me.” She breathed, clearly paranoid of anyone else hearing her, even after he had entered and closed and relocked the door.

“I scared YOU?” He said somewhere between fright and recovery there from. Needless to say, he was not used to finding himself on the wrong end of a weapon; at least, not one held by a friend.

“Sorry,” she mumbled to the floor. “I’m high-strung.”

“I hadn’t noticed.” He said dryly, handing her both dresses. They were simple, and would cover a lot, thank the heavens. That was what they were both aiming for, since it would be that much harder for her to be noticed in a crowd. Nobody would notice some handmaid, or farm-girl leading a hoarse out of the gates.

“Turn around.” She said as she turned to the bed and laid the dress down. Link did as he was told, thinking that he’d have rather kept one eye on her, and knowing full well that she would have probably blacked that eye for it. He grimaced at the thought, and focused his gaze on the door, even though it was firmly latched shut. He tried not to hear the rustle of clothes, or the sound of bare feet on the floorboards, tried not to how she looked with her hair down over that bare form. A shiver coursed through him, and he shifted his weight from one foot to the other and back again. “Okay, you can look now.” Aurea’s voice did not entirely draw him out of his thoughts, and he turned awkwardly towards her. The skirt of the dress fell to the floor, not allowing any indecent exposure of ankles. The bodice hugged her form, but not so much that she couldn’t breath, and clearly not enough to show anything that the local male population would want it to show. The sleeves ended at the middle of her upper arms, showing that she was a working girl, probably of low birth, and therefore below anyone’s desire as her for a bedmate, so to speak. This would work well. Her ears stayed hidden as usual under the handkerchief, and with her hair loose, it only helped to cover the fat even more. There was only one problem. They would see the mark, the red Triforce on her right hand.

“We’ll have to put a bandage or something over that.” Link pointed out as he gestured to her hand, and the mark.

“Yeah, I know.” She sounded dismissive, but her face told him otherwise. He didn’t have long to think in this however, not when she was hading him the other dress. “Go on, get changed.” She said impatiently, turning around to give him privacy. Link looked at the garment and then at his friend’s back.

“You can’t be serious.” He said, hoping to the goddesses that he was right. But life had taught him more than once, that he was not that lucky.

“They’re gonna be looking for you, even if you’re wearing different clothes.” She said, trying at patience.

“So what? I can wear a hood and-.”

“And be caught when they pull it back to get a look at you.” It was clear he was not going to win this argument. And all the time he spent changing into clothing that was more than obviously not meant for him, Link kept thinking things like, This is madness, and, Nobody’s that gullible. But there, as it happens, he would be proven wrong.

Once he pronounced himself decent, although embarrassed, Aurea turned around again to face him. She gave him a quick glance from head to toe before a wry expression took hold of her face.

“Diagonal-boobs, you wanna fix that?” Link looked down at his own chest and noticed that, sure enough, one rounded ball of stuffing was heading south. How women ever dealt with having breasts, he could only guess and hope that he never had to relive this ordeal. Once properly done up, so to speak, they walked out to the stables with their belongings in hand. Their things had to be disguised, so as not to draw attention. That part at least was fairly easy, since everything could be covered with burlap sacking-clothe and tied to Epona’s back. Also this meant that they would have no trouble keeping her saddled so as to make a faster run once out of sight. The burlap and the ropes tying it would hide the saddle, the girth, and the stirrups, nobody would notice. They could leave the bit and reigns on her since, again, no one would question it. There had been a minor problem with hiding Link’s ears, so Aurea didn’t look entirely out of place again, but that was easily solved by another one of her handkerchiefs. It hid his ears and the length of his unruly blonde locks quite well.

“Quit sulking, you look cute.” Aurea remarked at one point as they made the way towards the gates to the Castle Market Place.

“This is cruel and unusual.” Link muttered, praying no one but her could hear.

“Yeah, but it’s not punishment.” Aurea shrugged, as Link glared at her. “Think of it as a necessary evil.”

“You’re evil.” He said flatly.

“I’m not the one usurping the natural order of things here.” Aurea said. “And keep your voice down.” She added.

“Natural order of things” MY ASS! Link wanted to shout but held his tongue. It would do no good whatsoever to have everyone find out he had now been coerced into cross-dressing. “Remind me how this is necessary?” Link whispered as they passed a group of men, eyeing them none to guardedly.

“It’s necessary because the government is evil!” She hissed back, and that was that about that. He silently agreed with her, just not the methodology.


They passed the gates without much incident, unless one counted the wolf-whistles and the Hero of Time getting a firm, open-palmed smack to the rear by a guard. Half a mile out from the Castle Town, he was still grumbling incoherently about getting revenge for that. Aurea could only smile, and try to keep her tongue firmly pinched between her teeth to stop herself from laughing.

After even more time, it was getting late, and Link pointed out that it was dangerous to stay out in the open at night, the argument of “Strength in numbers” not withstanding.

“You realize you’re changing your clothes out in the open right?” Aurea remarked as she kept her back to him again. She didn’t want to think about what he might look like with not shoes, no shirt… NO SERVICE! Her mind screamed at her to keep her thoughts PG-13, but it was damn difficult. She was a healthy young woman, and Link was, undoubtedly a healthy young male. He’s not human. Her sense of reason tried to remind her. And this of course only prompted further curiosity as to just how much the Hylian and Human races differed physically.

“I’m well aware, thanks.” Link’s voice broke her from her thoughts, and made her blush. Aurea was glad he could not see her face just yet. She needed another moment or two to compose herself and get her mind on something – ANYTHING – else.

One more argument and a few more hours later found them nearing the entrance to Kokiri Forest. Link was now happily in his usual green tunic, though a newer one. Aurea on the other hand was still in the dress, but it was not only this that pecked at her sense of irritation.

“You’re not going to fall off.” Link sighed for maybe the eighth time since they had started riding. The young woman was gripping him quite hard around the waist, her other hand holding onto the saddle. His arms, of course, were around her so as to both keep her from falling off, and also to direct Epona.

“You and your damn chivalry.” She bit out, by now quite grumpy. There was only so much nerve-racking she could take damn it. “And don’t tell me it’s ‘Proper for a woman to ride side-saddle,’ when we both know it’s impractical.”

“Customs.” Link shrugged.

“Have we passed that rock, what, six times now?” Aurea asked as they passed a large boulder that rested to their right.

“No.” Link said simply. Whether she knew it or not, Link was quite sure of the way to his own childhood home. Hell he still lived there, so he better be sure of it. And in a few minutes there was the big hollow log to the Kokiri forest, and the Lost Woods as well. The young Hylian dismounted, and Aurea tripped as she tried to do the same.

“I told you so.” She said, her words muffled against his chest, because Link had just barely prevented her from a complete fall.

“It wasn’t while we were riding.” He commented as she regained her balance. Not that I minded her falling for me. But he wisely kept that remark to himself. The guilt that had been so strong at first, now seemed diminished, though it still pecked at him, like a crow to a slowly rotting corpse.

Aurea also had a rough time passing through the tunnel, due in part to her state of dress.

“It’ keeps snagging!” she stated in a tone of supreme frustration, and Link half-expected to hear a ripping sound any second.

“We’re almost out.” He hoped this would pacify her sense of irritation, but alas…

“You said that three snags ago.” But this time he was right. Link somersaulted out of the wooden-log-tunnel and stood upright again. It was twilight by now, and the first stars had started to pick the sky with their pinpoints of light. The crescent of silver that was the moon was still so low in the east that he could not see it clearly for all the trees. Aurea rolled out too, though not quite so gracefully, and ended up sprawled on her back. Link merely looked at her with a bemused expression. “You totally suck.” She pouted as sat up, then stood up, and brushed grass and dirt from her backside.

“Need a hand?” Link couldn’t resist asking.

“That depends,” Aurea said pausing in her actions.

“Depends on what?” He almost didn’t want to know.

“Do you need a swift kick in the butt?” Well, that answered that.

“Uh, no thanks.”

“There you go.”

Most of the Kokiri children were still out and running around, and every now and then one or two would pause to look at the pair of tall people. Aurea could tell, much to her chagrin, that she seemed to be the center of attention, more that her male companion. They seemed used to Link strolling around in their midst, but that was probably to be expected since he even dressed like them, at least in part. Aurea stood out by comparison, not only because she was taller than the Kokiri, but also her state of dress was of a different color of wheat, a blouse like flour and patterns of yellow flora on the garment. Yep, she definitely looked different. At one point she looked back over her shoulder and, sure enough, there was a little knot if midgets following about ten feet behind. She tugged at the shoulder of Link’s tonic to get his attention and muttered, “We have an entourage,” when he looked around. The Hero of Time could only grin a sheepishly. He knew full well that the Kokiri had always been like that.

But now the little crowd was parting and one of them-- who was slightly taller and easily wider than the rest—stepped forward, chest puffed out, and glared up at Link.

“You brought in an Outsider!” He shouted, apparently trying to sound important.

“Stuff a sock in it Mido.” Link remarked as rolled his blue eyes heavenward.

“What’d you say?” Huffed Mido as he rolled up the short sleeve on his right arm.

“You know,” Aurea said thoughtfully, and effectively breaking the fight before it even started. “I just love children, but I could never eat a whole one.” She pared the last remark with a twisted grin, the kind you NEVER want to see someone giving you. Mido backed off a step or two, but refused to go any further.

“You threatening me?” the brat snapped at her. Aurea gave Link a look that sad, “This kid’s an idiot isn’t he?” Link could only smirk and bite cheek. Damned if this wasn’t funny! Mido was so used to getting his way and throwing his weight around that it no doubt floored him when someone stood up to him like this. Plus there was the fact that both he and Aurea had easily three feet on Mido. It was probably a knock against the kid’s pride that he had to literally look up at the two adults. Eventually Saria showed up and basically told Mido to shut up or she really would stuff a sock down his throat. Grumbling, the taller child stomped off to many a laugh and pointed remark. Once the clear bully of the place had been disposed of, the others started to crowd in a little closer, asking questions, tugging at her clothes to get her attention, and soon causing her to sit down because of it.

“Where are you from?” Asked a girl.

“Are you Hylian?” Asked her friend.

“Why are your eyes green? Are you a really old Kokiri?” a smaller boy asked.

“You’re really pretty.” Said another boy, blushing as if he had a fever.

“What happened to your hand?” Another asked, pointing to the small reddish triangle on her right ring finger.

Link and Saria merely watched and listened as Aurea tried her best to answer one inquirey after another. For his own part, Link found it rather amusing that she seemed to think of the Kokiri as children, when in reality they were older than him. In a way, they still did have a child mentality, but that was coupled with wisdom as well, though they had yet to show it to her.

“So how long are you two staying here?” Saria asked Link in an undertone.

“Just the night.” Link replied. “This place isn’t a fortress, it’d be dangerous to stay here any longer than tonight.” If he was right in his thinking-- and he was sure he was right—then the Imperial Guards would be out looking for them by now. They had some advantage, since most didn’t know anything about Kokiri Forest, and couldn’t reach it anyway, not with all that bulky armor on. Even so, he would not have them storming the place and most likely killing all the Kokiri, it simply wouldn’t happen, he wouldn’t allow it.

“Where are you going to go?” Saria said skeptically, and Link bowed his head. His long, scruffy bangs shielded his eyes for a full minute as he thought about this. Hyrule Castle Town and Kokiri Forest were off limits for obvious reasons. Zora’s Lake would have been a good enough hiding place, and so would Death mountain; but apart from the extreme temperatures, if they were spotted at any point while in route, neither domain could really protect them. So there was only, logically one place left, and Link would have given just about anything to be barred from that option.

“Gerudo Valley.” He finally muttered.

For a long moment, Saria just looked at him, then heaved a sigh. “Well, it’s probably the safest place right now.” Her tone of voice had the same resignation that Link was feeling. He’d probably live a happier, healthier life if he stayed away from the place, but what could they do? It was really the best, if not the only, option.

When it had started to get really late, and little forest-people should be in bed, Link lead his guest to his own tree house. Most wisely, Link had adjusted the ladder up to the doorway, so that it would be pulled up whenever he wanted. At least going through the awkward phase of puberty had yielded something. Once inside, they knelt down at the too-small table and ate a modest meal, a thin stew made of some vegetables, a coupled of dried roots and nuts and a few bits of dried out meat that softened in the hot water. They hardly exchanged words during the meal. The young woman seemed deep in thought, and Link didn’t feel the need to bother her about it. The only real talk they had was when it was time for bed.

“There’s no way we could both fit on that.” Aurea said pointedly as the jabbed her thumb in the direction of the bed, which was clearly meant for a child.

“I’ve been sleeping it for years.” Link said as he removed his sword and shield, setting them against the wall.

“Yeah, if you sleep in the fetal position.” Aurea said dryly.

“Try laying down.” Link said, now removing his boots. Aurea humored him, if only to prove him wrong. She sat on the bed, pulled off her shoes, and laid down. She stretched out as far as she could and only just felt the tips of her fingers and toes touching the head and footboards. She sat up in the bed and stared. She fit quite comfortably in a bed that was more than big enough for her.

“Have I shrunk?” she said as she looked to Link, who still seemed as normal-sized as ever.

“Nope. The bed just does that.” He said as he pulled the covers back and slipped in. “You coming?” he asked and smirked. “Or are you going to just lie there and freeze?”

Grumbling something about, “If you try anything…” Aurea slid in beside him. Despite what she said, Link had the feeling she had grown use3d to sleeping next to him, mostly because she had quickly dropped off to sleep once she’d settled down. She even rolled over so that she ended up half-on him, her right arm resting haphazardly across his ribs. Link only laid still for a moment, then smiled when it was clear Aurea would not wake up for a time. For a long while, his mind stayed awake, working on any other possibilities besides Gerudo Valley. But the facts were the facts: that fortress was the only real stronghold that could keep the Emperor out. He sighed again and his gaze wandered to her hand, to the dark triangular mark, which sat there as proudly as if it were a ring. As he curled in a little closer to her, he hoped that it was not an ill sign.


The next day dawned softer than the others had, the light not reaching those in the forest until it could finally peek between the outstretched leafy arms. Birds perched outside windows and on the edges of roofs, twittering their songs to the new light of another day. Aurea was woken by the light, almost musical notes, but quickly came to the conclusion that she was far too comfortable to get up, and relaxed against the warm, breathing thing. Against her will, or so it seemed, her consciousness surfaced and reminded her that pillows, no matter how warm and comforting, did not breath. With a kind of mental grumble, she looked at what she’d been sleeping against. Her eyes registered Link’s chest, then carefully drew up to his face. There was a slight blush in the cheeks, but other than that he looked peaceful.

He’s like a teddy bear sometimes. Aurea couldn’t help thinking, and she smiled. He had not caught her cuddled up to him this time. As she made to sit up, an arm came around her and clamped her body firmly to that of the arm’s owner. Deja Vu. The young woman thought dryly, while resisting the urge to just sock him. It was too early at the moment, not that that had really stopped her in the past, but it was different now. She didn’t know how, but it was. Pushing her hands against his chest did nothing to loosen his grip, and if anything made him hold on tighter. Well, there was another option, but she’d have to be fast in order for it to work. One hand was placed on his bicep, the other on his forearm. She gripped hard with both hands and shoved herself out. She was now free to breath without effort again, though it had considerably ruffled her hair in the process. But the discomfort of the male—who still lay sleeping—was apparent when his face frowned and his arms clamped nothing to his chest. His whole form tightened and curled in a bit on himself. Then, one eye peeped open hazy as the morning mist over a blue sky. Link blinked both eyes slowly and focused on Aurea, who was just sitting there looking down at him. He visibly relaxed, but the soft blush in his cheeks had not gone. Aurea reached out a hand and felt with her bare wrist against his forehead. There was not fever, so that was one good thing at least. “I’ll make breakfast.” She said gently, and had to climb over him to get out of the bed. Link on the other hand, didn’t think it was such a good idea to get up just yet, so he pulled the pillow from under his own head, and clamped it in his arm just as he fell back to dreamland.

Needless to say Aurea was surprised when Link didn’t wake up again, even when the tempting scents of a good morning meal were wafting his way. She took a seat beside him on the bed and just watched him sleep for a moment. It was almost hard to wake him up and tell him to have some breakfast, especially when he looked so contented and—did she dare think it?—childlike. Aurea hadn’t bothered changing into other clothes yet, she had the feeling that it would just be generally easier for the time being if she stayed in the dress; plus, she didn’t entirely trust Link to resist the urge to be a pervert.

After breakfast, and many a confused question from Aurea, they had packed up and said their goodbyes to the Kokiri. Back through the hollow-log-tunnel, Link had used that odd little musical implement to whistle out some tune. A pounding gallop later, the red-and-white mare, Epona, was waiting for them, saddled and ready to get a move on. They did not get going immediately, mostly because Aurea refused to sit in front of him, and ride sidesaddle again. Link would have argued with her sitting behind him, and more over hiking the skirt of her dress a bit just so she could ride the same way he did. But speed was the necessity now, and a fight would only give their enemy more time to catch up. So he let it go and let her ride however she wanted, not that he really minded the feel of her hands hugging at his stomach.

With the cover of the forest now long behind them, Link’s mind wandered a bit.

What would it be like if Zelda were here, holding onto me like this? The thought stung him deep down. Given that she was royalty, it was a great deal that he was allowed to spend any time with her at all. Going off riding with her, or to a picnic, or really anywhere beyond the safety of the castle walls had been out of the question. Safety. He thought dryly. After all was said and done, nothing had stopped her death, she had not been safe at all; and she should have been.

This thought process continued as far as the grasslands turning thinner and more prickly until it finally gave way to a wide-open sand-scape. Epona’s hoof-beats changed from clobbity-clobbity to thubbity-thubbity with the shift in terrain. They had only gotten maybe twenty yards out into the desert when Link pulled back on the reigns.

“Why are we stopping?” Aurea asked, somewhat alarmed. Without an explanation, Link shushed her and looked back. So the dull far-off thundering hadn’t just been his imagination, nor was it a storm. Although there was a dust-cloud some distance behind them, it was a clam day, with no wind to raise anything of the sort. It could only mean an army, closing in fast.

“Hang on!” Link shouted as he turned back to face their intended destination. They young woman was about to ask why when her arms clutched hard around his middle as he kicked Epona into a full gallop.

There was the Gerudos’ fortress, maybe three or four miles ahead. But the company of what could only be Imperial soldiers was closing in and gaining all the time. About two-and-a-half miles now, and unless his eyes were acting funny, the gates were opening, just a little, not enough to allow more than one or two riders in. One mile left to go, but the distance was suddenly wiped from his mind. There was a splitting scream mixed with the hard ring of metal on metal, and he felt the young woman’s fingernails dig sharply into his skin, even beneath the clothing he wore. And he was horribly aware of Aurea’s crying against his right shoulder, and something very red running down her left arm—which was now limp—and slowly down his left leg.

It was only dimly that he registered where they now where, inside the fortress, the gates closed and barred again, loud thuds coming from the other side, as though large heavy bodies were plowing relentlessly into it. There was yelling, lots of it, but not just from the would-be intruders. Looking distractedly up to the high walls of the fortress, Link could see the Gerudo archers firing fast, one dart after another at those who dared to try and assault them. Something wet was on his right shoulder and he looked around, his wits finally breaking the surface of shock again. Aurea was leaning her head on his shoulder, tears falling fast from her rigidly shut eyes, her pretty pace twisted hard in pain. What had caused this was not immediately clear, until he noticed the long shaft and fledging that still stuck out the back of her left shoulder. His eyes went as round as the face of a clock and he yelled for help much louder than he had even guessed he could yell. He hadn’t noticed that help was already on the way before he’d shouted. Five of the Gerudo Thieves were prying the young woman’s working arm from around Link’s waist and attempting to remove her from the saddle. Aurea did not go easily. Every time there was any significant movement, she would cry out again, and it seemed that the blood flowing from the wound refused to stop. Shouted orders to take the girl to some infirmary never quite reached the Hero’s ears. All he could do was stand there and watch as the other women carried her away from him, a trail of red following behind them, like the torn and tattered remnants of a red carpet.

Link was not even aware of making the conscious decision, but his legs started to move anyway, carrying him along the splotched red path. A hand on his shoulder stopped him and he looked numbly around. He recognized the face, but for the moment, the memory of names failed him.

“You’re a sight Hero; riding in here with the Emperor’s stooges like that.” Said the woman, and now he remembered her name.

“Nabooru?” He still wasn’t entirely sure.

“Took you long enough.” She remarked with a half-smile. Link opened his mouth, but never got out what he was about to say. “Don’t worry about your little girlfriend.” Nabooru said, starting to walk off. “It’s just an arrow, she’ll be fine.”

“FINE?” Link spluttered. He stomped up to Nabooru, who kept walking anyway. “Where is she? I want to see that she’s alright!”

From the perspective of the Leader of the Gerudo Thieves, Link now sounded rather childish. “She’s been taken to the infirmary and the arrow will be out soon, so stop worrying.” She said coolly.

“Which way?” Link demanded, stepping in front of her to make her stop and face him. “I want to see her!”

“Which way do you think?” Nabooru remarked waspishly, and pointed a finger at the ground. Link looked down, to see spots of blood staining the stone floors. He looked around and found the path, though it was clearly thinning now; the amounts lessened the farther he went.

Nabooru heaved a sigh, and couldn’t help thinking, somewhat irritably, Adolescence finally caught up with him.

Link, meanwhile, was again having problems of his own. He had found the infirmary, but was barred from entering.

“The IDEA is IMPROPER!” Snapped one of the women standing guard outside the door.

“I don’t give a damn about your impropriety!” Link’s voice was by now, practically ringing through the long twisting stone halls. Even so, the refused to let him pass, and had to go so far as to pin him to the ground to keep him from just barging in. The weight on his back and awkward positioning of his arms not withstanding, Link was in a kind of torture. His sensitive ears picked up every pained gasp, every cry from behind that door. And although he wanted to believe, had to believe that Aurea was alright, right now it was damn near impossible.

Time passed and the sounds that turned his gut so, quieted and eventually stopped altogether. And now Link was in a worse state than before. Before he had at least been sure she was alive, even if in a great deal of pain, she would still recover from that. But now there was nothing but the mutterings of others behind that door, and he did not recognize any of the voices as belonging to the one he wanted to see. The door opened and several women, and conversations, stopped upon seeing the Hero of Time pinned chest-down against the floor.

“Let me up!” He growled and again tried to move, without much success. The pressure on his arms increased until it was quite painful. “I want to see her.” He choked out through the knot that was forming in his throat.

“It’s alright. Let him up.” Nabooru’s voice ordered. The sharp pressure on his arms was instantly lifted and Link was on his feet again with one foot through the door before he was halted yet again.

“Damn it all…!” The rest of his cursing was lost to their ears

“Enough!” Came the hard cutting command. “Release him. Let him go and see her if he wants.” The word of the Leader of the Gerudo, was as good as law here, so they did as they were told. Link didn’t spare so much as a backward glance as he darted inside. For once, all the beds in the little recovery area were empty, save one in the far corner of the room. Area lay on her back, her left arm in a sling, the shoulder wrapped snuggly in a bandage. It was apparent from a glance that the women had undressed her because her shoulders were completely bare accept for the dressings. Only a sheet covered her up enough to keep some measure of decency. At least there was no blood soaking through it, that was surely a good sign, even if she did look pale. Link chose the right-hand side of the bed, so as to avoid accidentally injuring her further, and sat down. He was surprised when those impossibly green eyes opened and looked straight at him. And for a moment, they just stayed like that, each staring at the other, not saying a word. But the awkwardness was broken almost as quickly.

“Hey.” Said the young woman, and her voice was a bit scratchy, from the screaming and crying, he suspected.

“How’re you feeling?” Link asked quietly, praying that she wouldn’t hate him. Aurea frowned for a moment, but it was a thoughtful one, not an angry one.

“You ever heard a paper-cut is the worst kind of pain?” Link merely looked puzzled in response, but nodded anyway. “WRONG!” she said in a long loud groan. He would have smiled, even laughed, if the situation hadn’t been so serious. The best he could manage was the corners of his mouth turning up slightly, a very week shadow of his usual cocky grin. He didn’t say anything though, mostly because he didn’t know what he could say. Aurea seemed to be in much the same frame of mind, because for a long time, she said nothing else.

The sun was setting and sending up burning shades of red, orange and yellow as it sank far past the edges of the desert, where the world probably ended. Link had busied himself with unbraiding her long hair, and was now just sitting there stroking it absently, and staring out the long windows. Aurea was looking at his face, and not really paying attention to the hand that ran through her long tresses as though she were a pet or something. She watched the expression on his face, the faraway gleam to his eyes, the deep golden hue the setting sun lent to his skin and hair; and she heaved a heavy sigh, and he looked at her.

“I can’t ever go home, can I?” She said, and this caught him way the hell off guard. Whatever he had thought she might say, that had certainly not been it.

“I-I don’t know.” He stumbled over the words that were the plain truth. There was a long, not entirely unwelcome, pause.

“Link?” He looked at her again, and tried to ignore the feeling like over-large worms writhing and wriggling around in his stomach. He could see the tears that longed to fall from her eyes; he could see that she was stubbornly refusing to let them do just that. Her right hand came up and stopped the hand that had been running through her hair. Aurea gripped his fingers hard with hers, and he gripped back. “I’m scared.” She said quietly. Still those tears did not fall, still she remained calm. But the look in her face, the tremble in her strong grip, stung him as deeply as anything ever had in his life. The last time he had felt like this, was when he had known— really known-- that Zelda was dead and beyond his reach. Link laid down on the bed next to her and put his arm around her waist. His left hand brought her uninjured right one up to his face, and he planted a gentle kiss in the center of her palm. As he nuzzled the side of his face into her hand, he brought the arm that had been on her waist up to her face and cupped her cheek.

“I’m sorry…” Link’s voice sounded so distant and sad.

“You didn’t do anything.” Aurea protested calmly, flexing her hand against his face, letting him know she didn’t blame him in the least. It wasn’t as though he had shot anything at her. Hell, he’d been protecting her pretty much from the start.

“That’s just the point!” His whisper was a harsh one, and he felt the lump rise into his throat again. “I should’ve be able to protect you! I shouldn’t have let them get anywhere NEAR you!”

“Link,” Her tone changed, and although her voice was still hoarse, she sounded absolutely serious. “If you keep blaming yourself, I swear I’ll beat some sense into you literally, as soon as I’m on my feet.” That, he could tell, was not meant as a joke in the least. Whether or not she would really do as she said, the necessary point was made. “Now can we please just go to sleep?” She said more quietly now. For a long time, he didn’t dare say a word. Then he gave a very slight smile.

“Sure.” Link said. He sat up and removed his hat, gloves, and boots. He didn’t stop though, and peeled his white tights, or leggings or whatever they were off and let them lay in a small heap on the floor. Aurea could see why, with the red stains so stark against the white fabric. The Hero of Time laid back down beside her after pulling the thinker blanket up over both of them. His arm found its place back around her waist again, and Aurea snuggled into the warm body next to her.


As ever: Readf and revewi. Please note if yu feel the urge to flame me, do so at your own risk. take it easy everyone.