Blessed

Chapter Seventeen: Shoulders

A/N: Oh, come on. The wait wasn't THAT long.

And suddenly, Link was standing in the middle of the temple, staring directly at the Master Sword, where it taunted him from the pedestal.

He stepped up to the blade, his left hand trembling as he rested it on the hilt. His knees gave out beneath him, and he leaned on it as he cried, pushing away the pain from his back and severed limb just far enough to be able to mourn.

Now wasn't the time, but he couldn't go on. Not like this. Not when everything had suddenly fallen apart, and he had lost his best friend.

He sobered down when a flare of pain spiked up his back, and in an instant the sword was drawn from the pedestal. He mustered all of his strength into his legs and left arm, and he started running. He felt precariously unbalanced, but he couldn't do anything about it.

As he ran, he pulled a potion from his belt and chugged it down. It didn't do anything for any of the wounds that pained him, but it helped him recover his energy. He stuck the bottle back in his pocket and kept running.

Eventually, he made it to where Volga and Zelda still fought Ganondorf. The Master Sword hummed with energy, eager to encounter its old enemy once again, and they fought.

It was a rush. None of the battle stayed in Link's mind - all that he could think of was that he had to stay alive, he had to make it through today so he could see tomorrow. He had to defeat Ganondorf so he could hug Ghirahim after this battle, even if he only had one hand to do it with. He had to win so that his legend would finally be over, and he could live the rest of his life in peace.

Zelda and Volga vanished from sight, but he knew they were there. It seemed as though all of Hyrule was watching in collective silence.

Shocked at the pure power on display, resonating in the air between Link and Ganondorf. It was the same as always, and yet it seemed to stun people every time.

I can do this. I have to do this, Link thought to himself, though his mouth didn't move.

He received taunts, plenty of them, but there was one that caught his interest.

"You're the Hero," Ganondorf snorted. "You're a being of Light. You aren't capable of hatred, so there is nothing that can defeat me. You're the only creature in Hyrule with the strength to seal me away, but you can never truly defeat me."

Link's left arm trembled even though the Master Sword was lighter than Fate. Ganondorf merely laughed.

"So physically strong, yet so pure. No one like you can defeat me. Only a child birthed knowing hatred as his ally may destroy me."

The blonde forced a laugh past his lips.

"Then you can thank the princess for teaching me what true hatred was in my last life."

With an impossible power behind him, despite having only one arm to work with, he charged the Gerudo King. The battle ended with a sharp crack as the Master Sword drove straight through Ganondorf's skull.

Link wished it was Fate's blade he was holding, and not the sword he had wished never to wield again.

Ganondorf fell, dead at last, his vengeful soul shredded at the hands of his greatest strength. Link tossed the Master Sword to the side and looked over the landscape, his breaths coming in gentle pants of air.

The battlefield was empty and bloody. Gone were the sounds of war, but he felt the gazes of his allies on his back. Footsteps approached him, and a gentle hand alighted upon his left shoulder. It was Zelda.

"Where's Ghirahim?" he asked, his words void of emotion.

"The medics are taking care of him, but he's still conscious. Follow me."

She offered support beside him, but he refused. He forced his legs to stay steady. He stood before an entire kingdom of soldiers that waited on his every word with bated breath. He didn't want them to see him as someone who fell after every fight.

The medics had just finished bandaging Ghirahim's side when Link arrived, pushing through the crowd of soldiers.

Ghirahim asked before Link could. "Are you okay?"

"I'm less bloody than you are."

"Yes, but I currently have more appendages than you do." He leaned his head back, hissing softly as they applied disinfectant to a wound. "So...are you okay?"

Link sighed heavily. "This time... I will be. Just don't die."

"Same goes. Get that wrapped up."

He smiled, but it was bitter. "As you command."

"Don't you dare pull that on me. It's been a hundred years." This invoked a few laughs, which Link knew was his goal. He wanted to make it seem lighthearted, like everything was going to be okay.

It was...wasn't it?

"Go. I'll be fine," Ghirahim insisted.

A medic lightly rested a hand on the shoulder that still carried its full weight, and the Hero sighed.

"Okay."

He lightly pressed a kiss to Ghirahim's forehead, then followed the medic over to a broken wall, where he sat and waited as they took rags, dabbed them in water, and tried to clean up the blood that poured from his arm. Eventually, it was wrapped up - or, at least, what was left of it was. He glanced once at it and turned away. Although his days of bearing a shield were long gone, it would be nigh impossible to perform as well in combat as he once had. His left hand felt weak without the right, which he had always taken for granted. He hadn't thought it was important until he lost it.

He returned to Ghirahim's side as the people left. Only medics remained, and after a quiet cough, they, too, departed.

"What do we do now?" Link asked softly once everyone had gone and started making their way back to Castle Town. Zelda and Volga waited in the distance with a few medics, but there was no one else.

Ghirahim sat up gingerly, rising to his feet and standing shakily at Link's side for a moment, but refusing to lean on him. "I don't know. We return to Lunada. We build a new life there. Or, we could stay here, and live as legends. But I think I know what option you're going to pick."

The shorter male shakily wrapped his arm around Ghirahim's waist, burying his head into the demon's chest. "I want to go home, Ghirahim."

"So do I, Link. Let's just trudge through one more day in Hyrule. Then...we can leave. Hopefully for good."

As they started towards the others, Link pulled the purple crystal from his pocket and held it flat in his hand, tears dripping from his eyes.

"Do you want this, or do you want your earring back?"

"I'll leave it up to you. She was your friend before she was mine."

Link pulled Ghirahim's earring from his own ear for the first time since he had received it and passed it to the demon lord with two fingers. Brown eyes met blue, and the taller male accepted it hesitantly, attaching it to its rightful place in his earlobe once again. He gently took the violet jewel from Link's hand, magically attaching a hook to it, and putting it in for him before the Hero had a chance to struggle with it.

It was then that he let himself sob, his shoulders hunching forward in a gesture that made it clear to Ghirahim that he didn't want comfort. The demon shakily strode ahead of him, cautious of his own wounds, and spoke in whispers to the group awaiting him, then returned to his side and merely walked next to him as they headed back.

"Are we almost there?" Link asked after a little while. He hadn't looked up from the path under his feet, not once.

"The city walls are just a couple hundred meters away," Ghirahim replied, taking the fact that he spoke as a cue to rest a hand on his shoulder lightly. "Are you alright?"

The Hero let out a long, shaky breath, then wiped away any evidence of his tears, straightened his posture, and brushed his hair out of his eyes. "I'm okay."

Somehow, it was harder to walk with a straight back when the scabbard strapped across it was empty.