"Get behind that rock!" yelled Link as he was spotted by single Guardian.

The two had ended up in Ash Swamp, their luck slowly running low.

Zelda ran behind cover as Link stared down his enemy. The Guardians eye targeted Link with a red stream of light, beeping faster and faster as it prepared it's attack. He had fought Guardians along the way, yet, in a quick moment of exhaustion, Link paused a second too long.

Link's readied sword was no match for the explosive laser that followed, as the impact hurled Link into the air, making him land quite hard on his right side on the wet ground.

Powered by pure adrenaline, Link put all his energy into getting up and facing the beast again, charging forward and continuously swinging his sword at its' steel plating and magenta-colored innards until it was defeated.

Link watched the Guardian power down and explode into purple smoke as he panted heavily, clutching the side he landed on with his left hand.

Link staggered to join Zelda behind the large boulder, still clutching his side.

As soon as his back met the rock he heard Zelda's sigh of relief be followed by,

"Oh my gosh, you're okay!"

"You?" Link made out between heavy breaths as he looked at Zelda with concern.

Zelda nodded.

"Thanks to you," Zelda said as she gave a small smile.

Link peeked his head around the boulder, checking for more Guardians.

"I think I killed that one, and I don't see any others…for now."

Link returned his tired gaze to Zelda.

"You're holding your side," Zelda said, concerned.

"It's fine."

"You're hurt!," said Zelda as she came closer.

"It's nothing."

Zelda started to gently remove Link's arm to investigate.

"Zelda, there's no time for—"

"Ssss…" Link hissed, wincing when Zelda touched his right side.

"Your rib, it's broken. We have to get to Kak—"

Zelda was silenced by the sound of another Guardian, prompting her to rush back to sitting against the rock as Link peeked around the cover again. Zelda stared at her knight attendant, her Link, with a genuine fear for his life, a concern for his well-being, a guilt for her role in it.

"Link…"

"What?" Link asked, still looking out at Blatchery Plains.

"If we don't make it out…"

"Zelda…"

"I'm serious."

"No, I'm serious," Link said as he turned around to face her, grabbing both of her shoulders, "Don't worry about me. I will not let you get hurt. I can't. No matter what. You have to trust me."

"No, Link, that's not it…I…"

But a sudden beeping brought them out of it. Link turned around with wide, panicked eyes to find that a Guardian had targeted him.

Without a moment to think, Link ran away from Zelda, shifting the Guardians' focus away from the princess and allowing Link to dodge the destructive lasers.

As Link ran to Blatchery Plains, he was faced by an onslaught of Guardians, and he had no choice but to fight.

Zelda slowly peeked around the cover, her face horror-stricken to see Link facing two guardians at once while several others roamed the plains in the distance.

Zelda stepped out, focusing her terrified gaze on Link fighting the guardians with every ounce of his strength, every ounce of his courage. She shuddered to think of the pain he must have been ignoring, the suffering he had to endure, and she caused all of it.

She wasn't watching him fight, she was watching him die.

As the two Guardians powered down, she watched Link stab his sword into the ground, knelling as he put all his weight into the hilt, and breathing heavily with his head down.

Zelda ran over, stopping behind him and placing her hands on his shoulders to say,

"Link, save yourself! Go! I'll be fine! Don't worry about me! Run!"

But Link didn't listen.

He leaned on the sword to stand again, yet he barely could. He stumbled backwards as he withdrew his sword from the ground and just stood there, panting.

At the sight of another guardian towering over the both of them, locking it's targeting eye at Link, he did all he could do, all he had the energy to do, and that was stand, in front of the princess.

He was insistent on protecting her, his determination blocking his fear.

He was willing to die for her, and as the beeping quickened and red light began to widen, he quickly accepted that he would.

"No…not him too," Zelda thought, standing there defenseless, useless, overwhelmed.

"I need him."

"I love him."

"I'll die for him," Zelda thought as she pushed Link aside and exclaimed,

"No!" just before the Guardian would have claimed Link's life.

Zelda had pushed him aside and out of the outstretched the palm of her hand came of a wave of golden, glowing light, neutralizing the Guardians in all of Necluda.

Link sat, crouched, leaning on his sword as the slightest glimmer of pride in his eyes looked upon the golden silhouette in front of him.

"Was…" Zelda started, staring at her right hand in amazement of the symbol she just saw and the power that had come from it.

"Was that…?"

"The power…"

"Huh?" She retorted as the thud of Link collapsing to the ground turned her to her fallen knight.

"No, no…" Zelda said in desperation, running to sit by his side and supporting the backs of his shoulders to see that he was still alive.

"You're going to be just fine…" said Zelda, leaning in closer.

The agony in his eyes told her otherwise, and with his last remnants of energy spent on protecting her, his last words were left in his thoughts, asserting themselves in one final glance before Link couldn't hold on any longer.

Zelda exhaled at the sight of his eyes closing and the weight of his head no longer supported by the muscles in his neck. She felt as if someone had ripped her heart from the very depths of her chest

"No…" Zelda whispered as she buried her face in Link's chest and clutched his mud-soaked blue tunic, crying into the fabrics that clothed the boy she loved, the boy she lost.

A sudden chime pulled her focus to the sword that was still held by Link's limp hand.

"Your Grace, he can still be saved," Zelda heard from an ethereal, almost ancient voice, her eyes widening at the revelation.

"The sword…?" Zelda replied, barely believing her ears, "So he can…He can still be saved?"

"Princess!" A distant voice yelled before two Sheikah came into view, kneeling in front of the princess.

"Princess! Are you all right?!" Said the Sheikah on the right.

"Take Link to the Shrine of Resurrection," said Zelda, ignoring their inquiry, "if you don't get him there immediately we are going to lose him forever! Is that clear?! So make haste and go! His life is now in your hands!"

Zelda took one last look at the face of her knight attendant without his blue eyes, without his sweet smile.

At the thought of having to say goodbye, unable to shake the feeling that it would be a long one, she acted out of pure lust, gently placing her hand on his cheek and kissing him on the lips before taking his sword into her own hands.

"Go!" She exclaimed, her voice almost breaking as the left Sheikah drooped Link over his shoulder like he was a limp doll.

Zelda watched the two Sheikah run west as her vision began to ripple from her watery eyes.

Tears began to stream down her face as she looked out at Dueling Peaks in the distance, thinking about the lives she had cost, drowning in the thought that he could be next.

Yet, two gentle, warm hands placed on her shoulders prompted her to turn around to find Impa, who had most likely followed just behind her brother, Robbie, and the other Sheikah. Her warm, red eyes welcomed Zelda to stand up and meet her eye line.

"Now there," Impa said, wiping away Zelda's tears, "Everything is going to be okay."

Zelda sniffled her nose and nodded as Impa placed her arm around the princess, guiding her to a slow walk North.

"What do you say we get you somewhere warm? Kakariko is just over that ledge."

Author's Note: Technically a one-shot because it's so much shorter than the others, but it spans over three chapters, so...a three-shot?

Anyway, welcome to Zelda's Awakening. It's not perfect, but I'm proud of how it turned out and I hope you enjoy the rest of it.