Title: Moment of Steel
Author: Dodongo Dislike
Summary: A lesson in love.
Based on: OOT, mostly. Pieces from other games were used as needed.
Note: Well...eventually.

Chapter Six

Of all the many traits that the Hero of Time found both admirable and annoying in the Sage of Water, the one that stood out the most was her directness. So when she swept into the room, surveyed the scene, and announced, "This is intolerable!" Link was amused. And when she stormed over to the bed, grabbed Zelda's chin in her hands, and, upon a close inspection of the princess's face, declared, "Insupportable!" Link was annoyed. And when she spun around to point a finger directly in his face and demanded, "What are you going to do about it?" all he could do was hold up his hands helplessly.

"I offered to start slicing people up, but she won't let me."

Ruto sniffed and turned her baleful gaze on Zelda. "Please don't tell me you've gone soft. I'll be so disappointed."

Zelda smiled, the first genuine smile Link had seen from her since this nonsense had begun. "It's not kindness, Ruto, it's good sense." Holding up her hands for Ruto to see the swath of bloody bandages wrapped around them, she continued, "If I left him run off now, who will help me tie my boot laces?"

Ruto rolled her eyes. "For this, she steals my beloved. Very well then." Shoving Link out of the way, the Zora princess plopped down on the bed beside the Hylian one. "Shall we discuss what we're going to do?"

"How much do you know?" Zelda asked.

"I know what Impa told me. The rest-" she gestured at Zelda. "The rest I can guess now that I see you. And him."

"And me," Link agreed, rising to his feet. "She stole me for more than one reason."

Zelda, however, would not be diverted by their teasing. "Impa told you? Through the Sacred Realm or..." she trailed off, hope burning feverishly in her eyes.

Concerned, Link stepped forward only to be waved back by the Water Sage. "In this realm, darling," she said, meeting Zelda's gaze directly. "The Zora are honored that she concerned our Domain a safe place for her charge. And my tadpoles are delighted to have a friend to play with." Her laughter splashed across the room, sparkling like the waters or Zora's Fountain. "They're teaching him to dive."

Exhaling a breath that he hadn't even realized he had been holding, Link said, "If the Scrub comes back with any silver scales..."

"Don't worry, darling. Royalty needn't bother with scales; we have a tunic already made for him." Turning back to Zelda, who in turn looked like she had at long last remembered how to breathe, Ruto said, "Now that we have the important information out of the way..."

"Have you heard from the other Sages?"

"Darunia, Rauru, and Saria, yes."

"And what is their opinion of the situation?"

The Water Sage sighed and shrugged. "As I said: it's insupportable. Though no one is entirely sure of where Aeron got his pet wizard...or where the wizard got him."

Zelda sighed. "I had wondered if Impa had guessed."

"Very little escapes the notice of our sister of Shadow." Wrapping an arm around Zelda's shoulders, Ruto continued, "She said she was suspicious of that little man all along."

"It would have been nice if she had said so."

"Shadows and secrets," Ruto smiled, "And never, ever wrong in hindsight. However, it was I who correctly determined where you would be found."

Link couldn't help but chuckle at the sheer torrent of haughtiness in Ruto's tone. "You've always been a genius."

"Ah, flattery from the man who spurned my love. How pathetic. Yes," she continued, maintaining her pompous affect, "it was I who thought this place was most logical and swam through the tunnel from the Domain to contact you. And it will be I who will return with news of your plans and well-being." Taking one of Zelda's wrists and glowering at the bloody bandages, she added, "However poor it may be."

"I'll be fine, Ruto."

"Hmm." The Zora woman's purple eyes rolled towards Link's. "Will she?"

Again, Link found himself shrugging. He had not had a chance to quiz the professor adequately as to his princess's long term prognosis. "Probably." He had not dared leave her side. There had been so much blood... "She usually is."

"Hmm," Ruto said again, clearly skeptical. "It's a shame most of the fairy fountains have dried up. We could toss her in and be free of worry."

"Worry for me?" Zelda asked, "Or worry that Impa won't be pleased with your news?"

"The latter, of course. Only a fool or a Gerudo does not fear the Great Impa."

In other circumstances, the laugh the princesses exchanged would have been genuine. Under the current circumstances, it was marred with a hint of hysteria.

Link, however, was not tempted to laugh. If Ruto had been able to guess their location, then there was no reason why Aeron's men wouldn't, eventually. They had to leave. Medical talent and low profile to plot. And secure enough for her to recover in safety while the Hero of Time was taking care of business. But if the bridge to the Valley was out... "What about Nabooru? Have you heard from her?"

The women both started, as if they had forgotten he was even in the room. Ruto's mask of effusive geniality fell away, and her expression turned grave. "No," she said quietly, "And that troubles me."

"Why? Besides the obvious." Besides the obvious, indeed. Link could never bring himself to believe that the great lone wolf thief would ever fall to anyone. Nabooru had learned her lesson from Ganondorf all too well.

Ruto opened her mouth, seemed to think better of it, and closed it. After a long moment and a sigh, she finally said, "I realize that I'm setting the hook before the line has even been cast, but...I worry that there may be no help from the desert." Raising her hands to stave off Link's protest, she continued, "I know, I know. And I trust Nabooru. Don't forget that as a Sage, she is my sister. But I can't say that Nabooru is representative of all Gerudo. She may help. Her people may not."

"This isn't their fight," Zelda murmured.

"In the most basic sense, no, it's not."

"In the most basic sense, it's no one's fight except mine."

"If it's true that all Aeron wants is to depose you, then yes."

The conversation was beginning to drift far too close to Zelda's lingering guilt over Ganondorf for Link's comfort. "Forgive the hired muscle's stupidity, but I'm failing to see how an attempt to depose Zelda doesn't involve everyone in Hyrule."

Ruto's eyes met Link's. "Because a unified Hyrule subject to one monarch is a relatively new thing."

"So?"

"It's barely been a generation since the civil war," Zelda pointed out. "The races of Hyrule swore to my father, but those oaths were only a few years old when Ganondorf killed him"

To hell with her father. "They swore to you."

"Don't look so grumpy, darling, of course we did. But those bonds are still relatively new and untested. Of course we'll fight for Zelda; of course we'll fight for Hyrule. Even if we had no honor, the Zora would fight for their home and the monarch who has kept it safe. So will the Gorons. But the Gerudo?" Ruto shrugged. "I worry. And until Nabooru tells us she has her warriors ready, I will continue to worry."

Well, Link was worried, too, but not about the Gerudo. As an honorary member of the tribe, he had spent enough time in the sun-bleached reaches of the Valley to know how much the warriors admired the woman who had stood against Ganondorf, rebuilt a fractured kingdom, and suppressed both foreign and domestic interests in removing her in favor of a man. Even Zelda's part in Ganondorf's defeat had earned her no small measure of grudging respect. It was one thing to worship a man like a god; it was another entirely to challenge him. Or, as a warrior he had once known in a rather carnal sense had told him, "She's not a complete weakling." High praise, considering the source. Years later, Link had told Zelda about that. "Now pay attention so you can learn how to show her some respect...assuming you ever decide to be a real man," the warrior had also said. Link hadn't told Zelda about that.

Though, to be fair, he had paid attention. And what the warrior had taught him had come in quite handy once he'd decided to man up.

But back to his original train of thought..."So now what?"

"Now we pool our resources and try to find out what manner of wizard we're dealing with," Zelda said. Seeing Link's exasperated expression, she raised a hand to stop him before he could argue, "I don't want anyone rushing into a fight with him until we know who and what he is. There's no reason to take foolish risks when it's likely he has an easily exploitable vulnerability."

"Leave that to us," Ruto said, rising to her feet. "The sages will learn what to do about this annoying little bari of a man. And when we do," she made a fist and smacked it against her palm, "our beloved will smite him!"

With these two women united against him, Link didn't stand a chance. He decided to accept defeat as gracefully as possible. "Yes, that's right; leave the smiting to me. In the meantime, do Zelda and I sit and practice the ocarina?" And where would they do this? "I'm assuming we'll head for Zora's Domain, too."

"No," Zelda said, just as Ruto said, "Of course."

"No," Zelda repeated, more forcefully, "We will not."

Well, at least I'm not alone this time, Link thought as Ruto's eyes rolled towards him, as if she were waiting for him to take his turn. It was so unlike her that he was momentarily thrown. "Why - " he started.

The world reverted to normal as Ruto decided not to let him finish. "Whyever not?" she demanded, before proceeding to count off her arguments on her fingers. "It's perfectly safe, we can all be in one place to plot, and, most important, Nohansen will have his mother back."

"And that is precisely why I will not go," Zelda retorted, eyes alight with determination. "A foreign power has led a coup against the ruling family; I will not have its only two members in the same place until the threat to our house is eliminated."

He ought to be taking this more seriously, Link realized, but the combination of Zelda's proclamation and Ruto's looked of outraged horror in response to the proclamation was just too much to ignore. "A redundancy system, huh?"

Now it was his turn to be the recipient of Ruto's outrage, "It's not funny, darling. He's a little boy who should be with his mother."

The little boy's mother was equally adamant. "He is a Prince of Hyrule, and that trumps all else."

This was a fight Ruto was not going to win. Link knew it, Zelda knew it, and even Ruto knew it. And, after another long, glowering moment, she gave in to it. "Fine!" she said, throwing her arms into the air. "You have to be stubborn, and I will have to accept it. But where exactly do you plan to go?"

"Where we'd planned to go originally," Zelda said, settling back into the pillows as if the brief clash of wills had never happened. "There's a wayfarer's cabin just south of here. You, Darunia, and Saria try to learn a little more about this wizard and blood magic. I'll review my memory for similar information, and we can discuss via the Sacred Realm." Here she paused, thought for a moment, then laughed softly. "Assuming the Sacred Realm is behaving itself."

Ruto laughed, too. "Rauru looked like a purple octorok when last I entered the Realm to speak with him. I hope it's just the Goddesses having a bit of fun at our expense." Sobering, she bent down to once again take Zelda's chin in her hand. "You are our leader, darling. We shall follow your orders until the end. Just let us settle this soon so we can both go back to lounging on our thrones."

"That was the essence of my plan," Zelda admitted, and that was the end of that.

Later, as they were watching Ruto dive into the silvery waters of Lake Hylia, her lithe body silhouetted against the setting sun, Link would reflect on the strength and spirit that ran through all of the Sages. They were, as always, rallying behind their kingdom and their monarch, but doing so without question and with high spirits. He couldn't imagine another group of people so willing to face adversity.

Then again, he couldn't think of another group with so much practice at it.

Beside him, Siona tossed her head in impatience. Perhaps, he thought as he ran a hand up and down the mare's neck to soothe her, this time the Sages would not have to stand alone. If Malon had in fact managed to corral members of the citizenry...well, that would be a first. In all the times before, it had just been the Sages standing between Hyrule and destruction.

And standing before the Sages was Link himself. And his princess.

He looked up at her where she was seated on Siona's back. She did not return his gaze, as she was staring intently into the distance, in the direction of the underwater tunnel that led to Zora's Domain. The golden light of the sunset masked the pallor of her complexion and the shadows beneath her eyes, though Link was well aware of both. He was also aware of how the clothes she wore hung off of her - partly due to lack of food during her confinement and partly due to the fact that they had been made for the more spectacularly curvaceous Malon.

Zelda's own gown had been ruined beyond repair - beyond even reuse as scraps of rag, covered as they had been in blood and other bodily fluids. Link had had one of the professor's apprentices burn them before the princess could see them. While Zelda was practical enough to accept that there was nothing regal or pretty about being bound and locked in a dungeon for days, she was still proud enough to be embarrassed by any physical reminder of it. Link saw no reason for her to feel even the faintest hint of humiliation about it. Not while her hero lived and breathed.

He was jolted out of his reverie by Zelda's voice. "I should have asked Ruto to send someone to Lon Lon."

"Lon Lon?"

She looked down at him, clearly amused at having caught him off guard. "To let them know that we are well and that they must be patient." She paused. "That is, if Malon truly has inspired a rebellion."

"I heard she once inspired a riot."

"That was just the Gossip Stones having fun with you, Link."

"How could a bunch of rocks invent the Great Milk Riot?"

"Someone used the Gossip Stones to have some fun with you, then." Laughter danced in her bright blue eyes, lifting Link's spirit, until she abruptly sobered and said, "If you want to-"

"I don't."

She sighed. "I just feel badly about you having to play nursemaid for the next few days."

"You said yourself, Princess, it would be stupid for me to go running off into the warm embrace of an unknown enemy. For one thing, I don't run very fast any more." Gesturing to the house behind them, he added, "And for another, do you really expect protection from an old man and two kids while you're crippled?"

Glancing down at her bandaged hands, which she had rested in her lap for lack of anything better to do with them, Zelda said, "If we're so old and crippled, Malon's rebellion may be our only hope."

Interpreting this as a sign that it was time to go, Link drew Siona's reins through his hands, preparing to lead her into the forest. "And may the goddesses have mercy on us all."

"Oh, I think they will." Zelda settled back into the saddle as the mare began to walk forward, exchanging a tired smile for Link's encouraging one. "They always seem to enjoy a good show."

Link snorted and turned his attention to the path before them. A few days, a few weeks...he was prepared to take as long as necessary to let Zelda and the Sages figure out how to deal with the wizard. The Hero of Time would be ready when they did. And if, in the meantime, the citizens of Hyrule rose up to create some helpful chaos, then so much the better.

About time they got into the spirit of things.

He led the mare into the darkness of the woods, bemused by the emotion that had begun to take shape deep in his chest. It felt a lot like hope.