A/N: This was my very first go at a Legend of Zelda story, and therefore, not my best. It has a lot of fans, however, and I'm rather attached to it myself for nostalgic reasons, so it stays. I hope you enjoy reading my first attempt at an LoZ one-shot :)

Disclaimer: The story below contains intellectual properties from Nintendo Co., including, but not limited to, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and The Legend of Zelda franchise, and are in no way owned by myself, nor do I claim ownership of any of the events that directly correlate with previous installments made by Nintendo Co. in the franchise The Legend of Zelda.

Revised as of 2/26/12 - Polished, minor errors and typos fixed.

Anticipation

By: Selphie Kinneas 175

.:.

His arms were so tired; he couldn't believe that he had been practically flying – soaring from one peahat to the next. Although, it wasn't as if he had a choice, it was really the first thing that had popped into his mind when the dragon started spewing fire at him from atop the towers, where else was he to go? It seemed like common sense to him.

It was unbearable, the amount of muscle strength it took to hold himself up from one arm to the next, to the next, and back and forth for hours. Then to latch onto the back of the dragon and strike it multiple times, then not to mention holding on for dear life as it plummeted to the ground. He thought he was tired before, when he had to lug around the ball and chain for days in the Snowpeak Ruins, that was nothing compared to this.

"Wow…" Midna stood in shock, "Link… you just defeated a dragon!"

It had always been passed down in fairytales and storybooks, whether you were from the Light world or the Twilight world, that the knight in shining armor would come riding up and slay a mighty dragon in order to save the princess and the kingdom. She couldn't believe that a fairytale was playing out before her eyes – although she was sure that the term 'fairytale' was the farthest thing from Link's mind.

"Mm," Link grumbled, letting his sword clank to the ground. He wasn't trying to ignore Midna or anything, he just couldn't believe the pain that panged throughout his body. His arms felt like jelly, he had burns from when he wasn't quick enough to miss the dragon's flames, and he took some real damage from as many times as he had fallen – he had been really high up!

His muscles began giving out on him, and he let his body slink to the floor.

Midna swooped over to him immediately, "Are you okay?"

He flipped himself onto his back, his eyes shut tight as he asked hoarsely, "Do I look bad?"

She looked him over, of course he looked bad. His tunic was scorched off in some places, revealing the protective chain mail beneath, but there were also burns to his skin in places that the chain mail did not cover. Midna took note of multiple places that were slightly deformed – there must be broken bones there.

"You look awful," she never was one to sugar coat anything.

Link mustered a chuckle, "I feel awful."

He tried to move but pain shot throughout him, causing him to wince, gasping out loud as he did so, "Midna… I think I've broken something," he moaned.

"I bet, you got knocked off from those peahats so many times. So reckless!" she teased in her usual manner but Link didn't seem amused.

When he coughed up a little blood, Midna began to really worry, "Don't you have a fairy? Or a potion?"

"It's too painful to move… please look for me…" he mumbled softly.

Midna began searching through his pack, "No fairies, how disappointing. But you do have a red potion," she began fiddling with the cork. "Take it," she demanded, pressing it to Link's lips.

His face contorted, "I just can't get used to the taste of those things."

Midna placed the bottle back in his knapsack, "Now let's just wait a few minutes for that to heal you a little bit. I don't want you blasting yourself out of that cannon back to Hyrule and getting yourself killed."

Link laughed slightly, "This is nothing," he lied.

The small imp sat next to his motionless form, trying to comfort him.

"You know Link, I knew you would be brave considering you hold the Triforce of Courage and all that, but your level of courage is… unbelievable! I mean, I can't believe some of the monsters you take on, and without even any hesitation."

Link blushed, "I don't have much of a choice now, do I?" he said with a chuckle.

"I know I wasn't so nice to you at first… but I've come to realize what a selfless, caring person you are," she smiled down at him, hoping he realized just how difficult this mushy stuff was for her, "I wish our worlds had more people like you."

The beaten hero still kept his eyes closed and he smiled slightly, "Thanks… Are you trying to butter me up for something?" he joked.

"No!" she spat back, "Can't I give you a compliment?"

Link laughed at his companion's temper. She quickly cooled down and continued to look down at him, making sure he was getting better. He opened his eyes and looked up at the clouds.

"You know… I really miss Ordon. I wonder how everyone is doing…" he began, "I can just picture them all, back before this journey, running around going about their day, completely oblivious to the world outside the forest – so was I. Ahh… ignorance truly is bliss, wouldn't you say?" he chuckled, Midna doing the same as she thought of the immense truth in that statement.

Link closed his eyes, "I can barely remember the scent of the ranch, the yells of the children as they call me outside, the early morning sun coming in through the treetops as I herd the goats… I like to remind myself of lying in the middle of the ranch, on top of the soft grass, looking up at the clouds, making out shapes and things in the sky, thinking about how simple life was along with the simple beauty of the world around me. I like to remind myself of those things as we've been on this journey, I like to try and imagine that I'm actually back home, amongst my loved ones, but then… I open my eyes," he did just that, frowning, "and I'm always somewhere unpleasant, far from home, and frightening. I mean, we're in the heavens for Farore's sake, I can't get any farther from home than that," he tried to make a joke of it, smiling slightly as Midna did the same.

The Twilight Princess loved that Link could open up to her like that. When she had first met his true, Hylian form, he barely spoke, and she noticed that he was the same way around many people that he was not close to. She noticed that he wasn't a shy individual, just that he often times found no need for words, especially around those that he had just met. It took quite some time for Link to speak openly with Midna, and she was so glad that that time had come. She remembered the first time he really opened up to her – it was while they were trekking through the Gerudo Desert. Link found himself very uncomfortable and out of place there; he was very put-off and weary about crossing the desert, and he relayed all of his feelings to her one early morning. That was when their friendship truly began to blossom.

"You want to know something, Midna?" he asked, the small imp nodding in response.

He looked up at the clouds, thinking about all the days that had gone by, "If I've kept track of the days correctly… I believe today is my birthday," he whispered.

Midna's eyes widened just before sadness took over her features, "Burns, broken bones, and a beaten body…" she sighed, "Sorry I couldn't get you a better present."

Link looked up at her, his eyes slightly lidded, "I'm saving the people that I care about… that's the best present I could ever ask for."

A tear slid uncontrollably down Midna's cheek and she quickly wiped it away, trying to hide her sadness from him.

He looked back up at the sky, wincing a little from the pain.

Noticing his discomfort, the Twilight Princess spoke up, "How are you feeling, birthday boy?"

Link chuckled slightly, shifting in his position, "Truthfully? Like hell." He looked up at the peahats and towers that he had been flung from the top of, noticing how unbelievably tall they were, "I can't believe I fell from that high, what was it… three times?"

"Four," Midna laughed.

Link pained a smirk, "Four times… and I still got up and did it again. And I'm not dead yet," he chuckled.

"That's not funny!" the hot-tempered imp yelled. She did not like hearing such words, even if it was meant as a simple joke; she didn't find it amusing.

Link laughed quietly at her, "I was only kidding."

She stared down at him, as he closed his eyes again. He let out a grumble as he felt something warm on his stomach. Unable to lift his head and look down at himself because of the pain in his body, he placed his right hand where he felt the warmth. He held his palm in front of his face – it was covered in blood.

He stared at it for a moment and Midna noticed it too. She looked down at his torso, blood quickly soaking his tunic. Link sighed as he let his bloodied hand fall back down to the floor.

"I don't think that red potion is helping too much," he mumbled sarcastically, stifling a whimper as Midna placed her dainty hand on his wound, examining it.

"I-I'll be fine…" he stammered painfully, "I remember now how I got it. When I was on the dragon's back stabbing it, as it was flailing about-," he winced, "-it either slashed me with one of its talons, or one of its wings, I'm not sure which one."

Midna frowned, "It doesn't matter how you got it but that you did get it and you're losing a lot of blood." She began searching through his pack again, looking for something to staunch the bleeding.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she found some bandaging cloth in the bottom of Link's knapsack, pulled it out, and got to work.

Link flinched as the pressure was applied to his wound; there were possibly broken bones in that area as well.

"Don't squirm," she demanded, applying the bandage over the rather large gash in her hero's middle.

He obeyed with much difficulty. He kept his eyes closed, but his mind was reeling, as was Midna's.

"It's pretty deep," the princess began, "that dragon put up quite a fight, huh?"

Link scoffed, "It is a dragon after all," he sucked in an agonized breath.

He had endured deep slashes like this before on his journey, they both knew this, what really caused Link pain and Midna worry was his beaten body. Never had she heard of anyone having fallen from such a high place and lived to tell the tale, let alone four times in a row. The terms 'fairytale' and 'knight in shining armor' popped back into Midna's head. She then thought about how ridiculous all those childhood storybooks were. They always made it sound like the 'knight in shining armor' completed his task effortlessly. 'He laid the dragon to rest and rescued the princess from the high tower,' or something along those lines. Never did the fairytales speak of the knight's hardships in defeating said dragon or the injuries he harbored or how his body ached simply from the journey there, before even counting in the battle. The more she thought about it the sillier it all sounded.

Something had been plaguing the young imp's mind for quite some time, yet she never thought it was a good time to ask. Now they both laid on the floor, not going anywhere for a quite some time – she figured now was as good a time as any.

"How do you keep going?" Midna asked without hesitation, not looking up from her work of bandaging his wound.

He looked up at her through slanted lids, his brow furrowed in slight confusion.

"On this journey," she continued, "Saying it's a tough and grueling journey don't even begin to justify it, I know. I've just been wondering how you keep going through it all. Like, how you find the courage to stand up to huge, scary monsters… Or, how you find the strength to pick yourself up again in the middle of an agonizing battle when you already have wounds the size of Lake Hylia."

She noticed his face contort in pain and decided to keep talking, figuring he wasn't able to respond through the pain in her touching his injury, "For example, just earlier with that dragon. How could you possibly get back up after being scorched and falling from that high? I just don't get you…" she trailed off.

Link moved his gaze back up to the clouds, taking a moment to think about his answer.

"All I ever hear… from people, from the light spirits, from you, from Zelda… is that I'm the only hope. They all say that I'm the Hero chosen by the Goddesses and I am the only one that can defeat Ganondorf and bring peace to the world," he scoffed, "No pressure or anything. Realizing that I have the lives of everyone in Hyrule and even everyone in your world on my shoulders makes me keep going. Even when I'm exhausted or bleeding to death or anything, even when my mind is fading and begging to rest, I just keep going because I know in my heart that everyone is relying on me. I hold everyone's lives in my hands and if I don't succeed… who knows what would happen to everybody…"

Midna frowned, just listening to him utter those words made her angry. If she was in Link's shoes she could just picture someone coming up and telling her, 'You're the only hope! We all need you!' and she knew what she would say back, 'Why me?' Link never did that. She remembered, in the very beginning of their journey, sitting in Link's shadow and listening as he talked to his friends that lived in his village – the parents of what she considered to be annoying children. She remembered them all telling him, 'Please! Save the children!' 'Find the children!' 'Protect the children!' 'Bring them home safe!' She also remembered thinking, 'Why doesn't he tell them to shove it?' Of course, that was when she still despised all of those in the light world and didn't know Link's personality. If it were her, she was sure she would have said, 'They're your children, why don't you get up and look for them?' But Link always graciously accepted everyone's requests for help and managed to fit in what everyone asked of him while completing his journey at the same time.

Shaking away her thoughts, she finished bandaging Link's stomach, "Done," she stated dryly, "Feel better?"

He shifted, wincing, "Not really, but it will do," he sighed as he attempted to sit up, but to no avail. He gasped out something awful in pain and slid back down.

"Hey, easy, don't go hurting yourself more. Be a good little wolf," she joked for old time's sake.

Link gave her a pained, crooked smile and closed his eyes tight.

After laying there for a few minutes with no conversation, Link's mind began running rampant. He reminded himself that he had just obtained the final mirror piece, and after this he was off to face Zant, and after that, Ganondorf. Fear fluttered in his heart just at the thought.

Even though his eyes were closed, Midna knew him well enough to see that something was plaguing his mind.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked inquisitively.

"Mm…" Link groaned, "Nothing really," he didn't want to worry her by letting her know that he actually felt nervous.

"Oh please, I can read you like a book. What's bugging you?" she questioned again, folding her arms over her chest.

Link let out a pained sigh, "Honestly, Midna, I'm scared. I'm terrified of going up against the two evils that have been hell-bent on destroying our worlds."

Midna's jaw fell open slightly, just ever so slightly; she didn't want to gawk and make him feel worse about feeling afraid, she was just shocked. After all the things she had watched him go up against until this point, now he was afraid?

"Why are you afraid now? You've fought so many things up until now; you have no reason to be scared, Mr. Hero chosen by the Goddesses," Midna smirked, trying to joke.

Link didn't smile at that like she had thought he would, "It's all on me, if I fail, then there is no hope for Hyrule or the Twilight Realm. It's very frightening knowing that Ganondorf fought my ancestor, the Hero of Time that everyone knows about so well, and yet, he's still managed to come back. How am I supposed to fight such a being?" he looked to his companion.

For the first time, she was at a loss for words. Noticing this, Link returned his gaze up to the clouds, "It's an awful feeling, knowing that the future of the world is on my shoulders. Everyone is counting on me to defeat Zant and Ganondorf, and if I can't, supposedly no one else can," he sighed, placing his marked hand on his injured torso, flinching as he did so.

Midna took a moment to think about her next words, "Link… you have valid reason to be afraid, don't be ashamed of that. If it were up to me I would most likely still be wandering around the forest temple," she chuckled slightly, Link joining her. "But, then you have to remind yourself, you're Link! You hold the Triforce of Courage and even though you might get scared before a battle, once you're in that battle you always know what to do."

She placed her small, dainty hand on top of his, smiling down at him warmly.

He returned her comforting gaze, "Thank you, Midna…" and his eyes began fluttering.

"It's okay, let your body rest. We can keep going once you wake up. You'll need all the sleep you can get," she smirked.

And with that, Link closed his eyes and drifted into unconsciousness in anticipation of what was to come when he awoke.

End.