"Link, slow down!" The hero's ears almost twitched with irritation as Zelda's exclamation reached his ears for the eighth time. The walk down the stairs wasn't even that hard, and yet the princess was lagging behind. Sure, they had just woken up. Sure, they had nothing to eat that morning. But seriously, they were going down the stairs. It wasn't like they were climbing up a long, never-ending flight of stairs.

It was Link's idea to leave early in the morning. He simply didn't see the reason in going out during the day only to get dried up by the sun. It was cool at dawn, but not frigid like the night. The time to travel was perfect. Besides, they had brought no provisions with them. Already Link could feel fatigue creeping into his body. Little by little, by tiny amounts, it was getting increasingly harder to move. If they didn't make it out of the desert by the end of today, they were screwed.

Despite this fact, the princess was taking her sweet time down the stairs. He didn't get what was taking her so long. For a second he was tempted to leave her behind, but he decided against it. If he did that now, he would probably get tried for treason or attempted murder and be burned at stake or something. Which most likely would not be pleasant.

He turned around and waited patiently for the princess to catch up. A few heartbeats later, she was at his side, panting lightly. "Th-Thank you for waiting. It's just that I'm very tired and―"

"Yes, yes, I get it." He began to walk again. "Just try your best to keep up, okay? If you fall behind and get captured by a monster, I may not be able to pull through the fight."

Zelda sighed. Not again! She tried her best to walk next to Link, picking up her skirts to increase her speed. His hurried pace reminded her of the way a wolf ran; tenacious and . The way he never seemed to get tired intrigued her even further. How could he keep this up for so long? And with no food nonetheless.

But what if that was just another one of his masks? What if he was really strung out and exhausted inside? What if the previous events had scarred him beyond measure? She knew an eternal parting with a dear friend could distort emotions. This knowledge suddenly triggered new feelings in her. What if he was hiding a suicidal longing inside? What if, inside, his feelings were raging out of control? She was scared for him.

During their descent, Link casually looked over his shoulder to check on Zelda. He was very surprised to see that she had a frightened look on her face. When their eyes met, she looked away, but Link was well aware of what she was thinking.

"Is there a spider on me," he asked, feigning innocence. With one hand he reached over and pretended to feel around the back of his tunic. "I don't feel anything."

The princess shook her head. What was she thinking? She couldn't let Link know what she was thinking about. "No, no spider. I just. . .uh, thought I saw something."

"Ah." Link seemed to ponder that for a moment, and then started walking again. "Well, let's keep moving."

Silence.

Awkward Silence.

After a while, Link dug around in his heart and found enough courage to start another conversation. "Do you like spiders?"

The question was so out of the blue and random that Zelda was almost dumbfounded. Did he really just ask me if I liked. . .spiders? Luckily for her, her brain had an emergency supply of answers ready. Without hesitation, the princess vigorously shook her head.

"Me neither. Then again, who does?" He chuckled.

"Heh heh. . .yeah. Spiders. Who likes them?" Zelda nervously laughed. "I certainly don't."

Silence again. Only this time, they were staring at each other, and it was becoming physically uncomfortable. Probably because they were climbing downstairs, and it was hard to look at someone and walk at the same time. Even though the princess wanted to look away, for some unknown reason she didn't dare to.

They were so intent on having their unintentional staring contest that they did not realize they had reached the end of the staircase. The sudden change in terrain caught Link off guard, and he tripped. With a dull thump he landed spread-eagle on the floor, trying his best to stop the embarrassed blush rising to his face.

Zelda screeched. "Are you alright? Oh Nayru, this is all my fault―"

"No, I'm fine." Link's reply was blunt. Mortified, he got up. With one fluid motion of his hands he brushed himself off and looked up at the princess, forcibly smiled, and turned away to avoid anymore happenings.

They were in the room of the entrance. The hero gazed at his surroundings silently, trying to find a way to the other side.

The quicksand that was greedily sucking at the platforms even now lapped over the edges, threatening to suck the two in at any moment. Link knew that no matter how terrifying it seemed, the quicksand would not hurt them as long as they were on the platform. Still, the thought was unnerving.

He turned to the princess and ran a hand through his hair. "There's no way that we can both wade through this quicksand," he pointed out.

Zelda nodded.

"You see those grates on the walls?" This time he literally pointed.

Zelda nodded.

"Well, I have these clawshots here. It'll latch onto them and we'll be well. . .shot across. But in order to do that," he cleared his throat. "You'll have to grab me. Tightly. N-Not in that way!" Link cried as he saw the insulted blush appeared on the princess's face. "I swear! If your grip is too loose you'll slip off and fall into the quicksand, and I won't be able to pull you out."

Zelda sighed and nodded again.

Link frowned and took this to be her way of saying I understand, but the instant you start taking advantage of my situation I'm going to stab you.

Instead of asking why she was wasn't talking, he decided to equip his clawshot. When he felt the thick coating inside the contraption snugly fit around his arm, he opened and closed the claw a few times to see if it was still fully functional. Relief washed over him as the claw obeyed without any squeaks or complaints. For some reason, it felt weird to use the clawshot when Midna wasn't hovering around him. He shook his head. No. He couldn't think about her anymore. That would only cause more problems.

Silence.

"So then, uh. . .Shall we be on our way?" Link asked nervously.

Zelda hesitantly walked over and wrapped her arms around his torso. She found it surprisingly soft unlike the rough, muscular body that she was expecting. Her shoulders drooped a little as she relaxed, but the tension returned when a large wave of quicksand spilled over the edge of the platform. With a soft splat it stretched across the cobblestones as if they were nothing and reached Zelda's shoes, almost as if it was wanting to pull her in.

With a screech of fear she tightened her grip on Link. The young man gasped for breath as he felt the air in his lungs rush out of them. "P-Princess, can't breathe. . ."

She looked up to see the pained expression on his face and loosened her grip. "Sorry."

He gave a sigh of relief. "That's fine. Honestly, this place of gives me the creeps too, you know? Let's just be on our way and put it behind us."

After feeling around the inside of the clawshot, the hero felt the little trigger that would activate the claw. Turning his arm so that it was aimed toward the grate, he fired.

The ringing of the chain echoed throughout the room as they sped toward the side of the wall. It didn't affect Link very much, mostly because he had done this so many times. It was an entirely different matter for Zelda, however. First, the earth underneath her disappeared without warning, and if that wasn't bad enough, she felt as if she had forgotten her stomach back on the ground. There was nothing that she could do but close her eyes and hope for the best, and that was exactly what she did.

It was all over as suddenly as it had started. The claw had successfully pulled them toward the wall, and Link had placed himself between the wall and Zelda so that he would receive most of the impact. To his surprise, he noticed that they were still shaking.

Panicked, he inspected his clawshot to make sure any vital parts weren't rusted. When he found none, he realized that it was just Zelda trembling with fear.

"Erm. . .princess. We're done now. Well, I mean, we still have to do this one more time—"

He was cut off when she whimpered rather loudly.

"With that grate over there. . . Nevermind. I'll just get it over-with, okay?"

Without warning, Link fired the clawshot once more. It wasn't as terrifying this time for Zelda, as she was mentally prepared for what was coming. This experience was much shorter, and in the blink of an eye, the hero released his grip on the grate and gently fell toward the ground.

Zelda was extremely grateful for feeling solid ground underneath her feet. As she released her hold on Link, she promised herself that she would never take it for granted again.

"We're finally done here," Link sighed. "Now all we have to do is take the long walk home."

As soon as they stepped out of the entrance to Arbiter's Grounds, they were met with an intense heat and a blazing light that was uncomfortable. With almost inhuman speed, Link gave a cry of pain and shielded his eyes.

Learning from her partner's mistake, she covered her eyes in advance before standing beside the hero.

"Oh great Din, that hurts!" He moaned. "It's like someone took a needle and stabbed me in the eye."

"I'm sorry," the princess answered. She really was.

The lack of emotion in her voice made Link turn around. He raised an eyebrow at her, as if silently inquiring if anything was wrong.

"I'm fine. Really."

He let his gaze linger on her for just a moment more before shaking his head and trudging on.

The faint crunch of the sand underneath their feet was all that accompanied their endless walk through the desert. With each step the sun seemed to get hotter, with each breath the air became drier, and with each each blink the land around them was bathed in a supreme bright light, bleaching the earth of its color. It didn't bother either of them at first, but what was once unpleasant was now unbearable.

After a few hours of walking, Link gave up and sat down on a nearby boulder. The way it abruptly jutted out of the sand made Link think of an island surrounded by a sea of sand.

He breathed heavily as he wiped the sweat off his brow. "There's no way that we're going to get out of this desert by nightfall," he said. Zelda wordlessly watched him talk to himself "We're gonna have to too, because there's tons of dangerous stuff out here at night." Despite the cold, he shivered at the thought of fighting the scythe-wielding Poes without his wolf-senses.

They had to leave the desert! They had to! Deep in thought, Link placed a hand under his chin. Zelda noticed that he tended to do that whenever he was thinking about something.

On foot maybe, we won't make it. But we have—no. She never came here before. . .but back then, Ganondorf was still alive. Oh well. Can't hurt to try, can it?

Standing up, Link rummaged around in his pack until he found the Horse Call, remarkably still in good shape after being thrown around in so many battles. After brushing off the dust that had settled on it, Link raised it too his lips and blew.

For a brief short moment, the three high-pitched notes pierced the silence of the desert as if it were a substance-less arrow. When the echoes subsided, the land seemed to be holding it's breath and waiting along with the hero for his steed to arrive.

As if in answer, there was a distant rumble of thunder. Link was disappointed until he realized that the sound was too soft for thunder. In fact, it actually sounded like the thumping of horse's hooves.

To confirm his thought, he heard a cheerful neigh, and a few heartbeats later the swiftly approaching figure of his beloved steed appeared in the hazy horizon.

"Epona!" Rider and horse alike seemed to share the same joy as they saw each other for the first time after the battle. The flaxen-chestnut mare reared in happiness when the hero approached her.

"Oh, Epona. Girl, I've missed you!"

The horse nickered softly and nuzzled him aggressively, causing the hero to stumble a bit. When he regained his balance he laughed. He continued to stroke the horse until remembered that Zelda was behind him. Then he turned around and smiled. "Sorry, princess. I haven't introduced her to you yet have I?" Without waiting for an answer, the hero turned back to the horse and lead her by the rein, right in front of where the princess was standing.

"This is Zelda," he told Epona. "Epona, you remember Zelda, don't you? She rode with us when we were fighting Ganon."

Zelda couldn't tell if the horse understood or cared, for all it did in reply was look the princess up and down and give a nonchalant snort.

"Oh. Well then. . . uh, nevermind. Come on Epona! Let's get out of this dreadful desert, shall we?"

He's very collected when he talks to that horse, Zelda thought. It's almost as if they're close friends. I suppose that I should be happy for him. After losing a friend, he needs comfort from those he's close too. But still, it is quite sad that his closest friend is a horse―

"Princess?"

Link's voice pulled her away from her thoughts. When she looked at him, he was wearing an irate expression while trying to keep Epona calm, who was nervously pacing back and forth.

"Do you want to sit there and continue thinking?"

It took her a while to comprehend what he was trying to say. "Oh," she finally said. Now she was guilty for spoiling Link's good mood. Without saying another word, Zelda hoisted herself up on the saddle and sat behind the hero. When the reins were snapped without him giving her any warning, the princess knew that she had upset him and was too scared to do anything. That was a first. She felt something.

The rest of the long ride was spent in silence. At one point, the tension was so thick Zelda leaned forward to start a conversation with him, but when she saw his angry demeanor, she decided to keep her mouth shut.

To pass the time, the princess tried to focus on the thudding of the horse's hooves and write a song to the rhythm. When it wasn't successful, she tried to create pictures out of the one, tiny cloud that was in the desert sky. Needless to say, that failed too. Finally, when she had managed to collect all the scattered bits of courage in her heart, she managed to utter a single sentence.

"So. . .how much longer until we're there?"

Link didn't answer, and at first, she thought that he didn't hear her. But her assumption was deemed incorrect when the hero flatly said, "We are here."

"Don't be ridiculous! We― Oh."

They were indeed in right front of the bridge to Castle Town. Zelda mentally slapped herself. Did she really zone out for that long?

"Are you going to get off?" The hero was obviously trying to be polite, but the tartness that sneakily crawled into his voice was like a bad note that stuck out in a harmony. It struck the princess's nerve.

She tried her best to answer equally. "Yes. Of course. Thank you. For the ride I mean." She couldn't recall a time when she had ever wanted to be off a horse as this. With one swift motion of her feet, she swung off and landed gracefully on the ground. "If you come with me, I'll tell every citizen of Hyrule what you've done―"

"No. That's fine."

"What?" She sounded indignant. "How are we going to thank you for saving our lives―"

"You just did."

"Link―"
"Look, princess," Link placed a hand behind his head and scratched, letting out a loud sigh as he did so. "If you haven't noticed it yet, I'm trying to forget that all of this happened." When Epona began pacing again, Link pulled back on the reins. He murmured something gently into the horse's ear, and she stilled as if under a spell.

"Well if you come with us, we have spells in the castle that can help you."

"I'm going to do this by myself this time." He had a tone of finality in his voice. "The reason why I'm so torn up now was because I kept depending on people."

"Well, at least come back with us and rest. You must be exhausted after everything."

"In case you have forgotten, you don't have a castle anymore." The words came out of his mouth before he could stop them. "I mean―"

It was too late. Link didn't even have enough time to prepare himself. One moment he saw a blur of white in front of his eyes, and in the next a blossom of pain erupted on his cheek. Zelda had slapped him. After muttering a rather offensive Hylian curse, she turned around and stormed off toward the castle.

The hero was about to chase after her and apologize, but he stopped. Seeing that she was a princess, all she had to do was give the order and he could be hanged. It was best to just flee the site and forget that it happened. Forget that anything happened.

Epona seemed to have more concern for Zelda. Looking at her retreating form, she nickered and started to follow her.

"No girl. It's fine. Let's just go."

It took a while, but Link finally got the horse to turn around and headed for Ordon.