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Zelda pulled the ocarina from her pocket and ran her hands along it. It had been nine years since it last saw use, years since she sent Link back to his childhood, leaving her with a broken future that wanted no part in the monarchy that had run it to ruin.
She found solace in the Temple of Time, listening to a distant song from her memory echoing off the walls and filling it with a brilliant hymn that sang closer to her soul than any other. Most feared the Temple of Time and anything close to the ruins of Market Town, preferring to stay in Kakariko or to the remote parts of Hyrule the population had fled to. The seven years of death and destruction was not something easily forgotten, even in the years that followed evil's defeat.
Every now and then, Zelda would see construction happening in Market Town, most beginning with cleanup, the people swore the town was haunted by poes hellbent on collecting the souls of any who dared to trample their resting ground.
Zelda lived in one of these abandoned buildings, having found little to fear since staring evil in the face and winning. Every day she would move some debris and had since cleared one of the alleyways n the back roads of Market Town, but she alone dwelled in any of the houses. Even the poor refused to move back, refusing to set foot in the cursed town. And fewer still had trod upon the remains of Hyrule Castle, though the ground had cooled and was now stone once more as opposed to the burning lava that had heated the castle from the very depths to the top.
The Temple was falling into disrepair. Zelda did what she could, but she was not a trained mason and could not repair the cracks in the stone as age withered them away. With magic sealed inside the sacred realm instead of seeping out, the building had begun to age more rapidly.
Zelda sat at the altar where the three spiritual stones still sat untouched in the years since Link had placed them there. They gave her an odd sense of comfort, like he was there with her. She knew that she had done the right thing, no matter what he thought of her decision. He was able to live out his lost years while she was trapped in a future that looked less and less likely to recover from the horrors they'd lived through.
Her fingers tapped against the holes of the ocarina before she laid it in the lap of her pink dress, one far more practical than she'd worn years ago. She looked around, remembering a time when she was a child when the temple was filled with prayers to the Goddesses waiting for them to be answered. She remembered holding her father's hand as he led her to the altar to pray.
And for a long, selfish moment, she wished to use the ocarina to let herself return to that time when she was just a girl, before she was a sage responsible for guarding the kingdom and all who dwelled within. Her hand ran along the ocarina again, praying to go back. Wishing. Dreaming.
How she wanted to see Link again, how she longed to have Impa hold her during a storm, or her mother to tuck her in at night. How she longed to have a purpose and a cause. Instead of whatever she'd become in the years since Ganon. She'd become useless, listless, desperate to call together the sages in an attempt to make people see that Hyrule was ready to move forward and be rebuilt. But even that was not within her power.
The ocarina called for her, a silent song that could only reach her ears. She listened to it's melodic sound and raised it to her lips, gently caressing the air with the tune of her lullaby that Impa had played for her so long ago. She recalled the nights of their exile, of times when Impa's humming was all that had kept her frightened child self safe in the embrace of sleep at night. She thought fondly of her protector, who gave all to keep her safe and train her in the art of stealth and combat, ignoring the call to sagehood as long as she could to watch over Zelda until the day they were forced to part ways.
She was forced to part ways with those she loved far too often in her life. For once, she longed to get someone back.
Her tune changed as a tear flit down her cheek, and she found herself closing her eyes as she listened to the song of time, a comforting melody she'd taught to Link all those years ago in a memory entrusted to the instrument. She played it low, a soft whisper in the echoing building until she could no longer hear the echo, but only the sharp resound of the notes in her ears. A breeze soothed over her face, pushing stray hairs back from her eyes, cool wind steadily increasing from a breeze to a gust before quietening altogether.
And when her blue eyes opened, she was outside in a grassy green field sitting on a mossy rock.
"Oh dear," she muttered to herself before glancing at the ocarina. "What song did I play by mistake?" For the field was not the forest nor the mountains, nor the sea. It wasn't in the middle of a graveyard or in a temple of any kind. There was not a trace of sand nor marble. Only grass and trees, but it was no grove leading to a forest sanctuary.
The air was remarkably clean, almost as though it had never been breathed in or out before in all of time. It was certainly unlike the tainted air of Market Town, still fouled by evil and uncirculated by life. Here, she was only breathing in freshness.
And then, a figure caught her eye.
A medium height man with messy blonde hair and a green tunic stood over at the edge of a cliff, looking out at something beyond her sight. But she could sense it even from here.
"Link?" she gasped, and the man startled at the sound of his name. He turned to her, watching as she walked closer to him. But when she saw his blue eyes, she froze.
They weren't familiar.
They were wider, a different, lighter shade than what she had gotten used to staring back at her as she'd guided him through Hyrule. This man was taller, older. He was no seventeen year old boy, perhaps closer to thirty, just slightly older than she was. And the longer she stared at him, the longer his face looked, the more gaunt his cheeks, the straighter he stood, the unfamiliar way he put his weight on his foot, his brows shaped just differently, a different part to his hair, messier, handsome in a different way. She admired the long red cape around his neck that fell to his ankles. He wore chainmail beneath his tunic. He wore pauldrons on his shoulder. His cap sat further back on his head.
He wasn't her Link.
"Hylia..." he breathed, voice lower and more mature than her Link's had been. "You're... you're not her."
"I'm not." Zelda stepped slowly in his direction, like he were a rabid animal to exert caution around. "Who are you?"
He cocked his head, mouth dropping open before he could find the words to come out. "Link. Who are you?"
The closer Zelda inched, the more confused she got. He felt like Link. She could feel his courage as he stood his ground despite a great fear that had settled in the air around him. She could sense things about him, things that she'd come to associate with her own Link. Things she couldn't even begin to describe, things like his goodness and kindness. She held her hands at her side to show she meant no harm. "My name is Zelda."
"How did you get here? I was alone."
"I wish I knew. I played a song and I... and I was here."
"The Goddess's spirit works in mysterious ways."
"They do."
His brow raised in confusion before taking his own cautious steps towards her. "Zelda. You knew my name."
Zelda put the ocarina in a pouch at her hip. "I mistook you for someone I used to know many years ago. His name was also Link."
"Did he die?"
Zelda looked away. "I don't know what became of him. I sent him... away."
Link took another step closer. "Because you have the power of the Goddess in you. Did she lend you her strength? Was she already reborn? Are you her?"
"I don't know what you mean." She covered her hand that had been branded by the power of the Triforce.
Link turned away from her and sat on the edge of the cliff, feet dangling over a great chasm. He swung them like a child, carefree and unafraid of the fall. "I know her. I feel her in you."
Zelda took the place beside him, curling her legs beneath her. She wasn't keen on falling at the slightest brush of wind. "And I know my Link. And I feel him in you."
"Odd."
Zelda craned her neck over the chasm and looked down as far as she could see. "What happened here?"
"War. A great war that will not let me rest."
"Are you a soldier?"
"I was the Goddess's chosen hero."
Zelda's ears perked and her head shot towards him. "Her what? You can't be. Link was my partner..."
Link glanced down at Zelda's hand and took it in his, flipping it over to expose the Triforce. "You bear it, too." He showed her his own left hand. "She marked me with it when she thought I was dying, promising that my spirit would be reborn. As would hers."
Zelda's breathing sped up and she pulled her hand away, clutching it to her chest. "Where am I?"
"You're in Hyrule."
"Yet, you do not know who I am? Where are we? Are we near the castle? The ranch?"
"We're near Faron Woods."
"Faron Woods? What is Faron Woods? Kokiri Forest?"
"I don't know what K-Kokiki Forest is. We're outside the sealed grounds. At the spot where the Goddess rose the land to the sky aloft."
"Skyloft? That's a legend."
"It happened only last year. How far away is Kokiki Forest?"
Zelda clutched at the pouch on her hip. She had played the song of time. And it had taken her to Link. "Thousands of years away."
"Pardon?"
"I'm not of this time. I'm from a time thousands of years from now. You said 'Hylia'. She was here... in the flesh? Then the Golden Goddesses were not even long before her."
Link raised his brow and shook his head. "When I was released from prison, I was ready to curse the world that had condemned me to a fate of eternal imprisonment for a crime I did not commit. I had endured their mockery and their jeers. But I never lost faith in the goodness of their hearts collectively. I fought in a great war to save this land from evil, and just when I thought all was lost, a Goddess appeared, flying down from the heavens with unimaginable power to save her land. Before then, I'd have thought you crazy. But I have seen a God and a Goddess pitted in a hellish battle. Nothing is beyond me now. You are from a distant future because Hylia willed it to be so."
"You believe rather strongly in her."
He sucked in a breath and turned away. "I must. It is the only way to explain what has happened here."
"What?"
Link smiled slightly, just the tip of his lip. "You remind me of her. More than your spirit. She was curious about the people that she had created, and eager to learn whatever she could in the time she was down here. I didn't know her for long, but our spirits intertwined. I fought for her as her champion against the ultimate evil, darkness incarnated: Demise. She was able to prevent him from stealing the power of the Triforce by safely splitting it into three. One, Demise held tight to. One, she sent to me for protection. And the third..." He gestured to Zelda's hand. "The third she spirited away to her people in the sky, far out of reach of Demise. She made herself mortal so that she might wield her piece, for no God or Goddess can use the Triforce. And she left me to die so that the world might be safe with my passing, taking the Triforce out of reach. If you're truly from the future, then her plan worked. Only since I am not dead and she only sealed Demise away... then she is dead. At last, I know what became of her." He looked around quickly, as though he had forgotten where he was. "Some of Demise's creatures still wander the land. I have been traveling this past year trying to erase what influence he might still hold."
Zelda pulled her dress over her legs and rested her chin upon them. "When I was seventeen, I helped my Link... your future spirit bearer, the wielder of your Triforce piece, to defeat an evil just as great as the one you say. It destroyed my lands. I was it's Princess... the one who governed the people. But when I was a child, I was taken away to be hidden so that this evil man could not use my powers. He stole what power he could and used it against the world, hoping to engulf it in darkness. But after a seven year struggle, we won. His power corrupted him into a horrible beast, but with my divine powers and his courage, we subdued him and brought peace to the land. Link and I traveled together for a time as we sought to allow six sages to unlock their own powers. He did not know me as me, but much like yourself, our souls were intertwined."
"You said earlier that you sent him away. What did you do?"
"I stole his childhood so that we might save the world, so I sent him back to his past, allowing him to save the world before that awful power could be unleashed and gifting him a life that I had stolen in the first place. It was the same song that sent me back here... to this past."
"You don't seem concerned for your predicament."
Zelda patted her pocket with a smile. "I've faced great odds in the past. If I want to go home, I'm sure I can manage it. After all, the Goddess' gifts are strong."
Link pushed himself to his feet and held out his hand. "Well, since you're here, allow me to show you what your lands once looked like."
She gently placed her hand in his and let him pull her to her feet. "I'd be honored."
Zelda did not choose to go home right away. Instead, she let Link show her around. She went with him to the Sacred Temple first where he showed her where he had been staying for the past year. She stayed and watched over the chasm with him that night as the moon rose and they explained the rest of their stories to each other. The next day, he brought her to see the kikwis, where they hid from her until he could convince them that she had no intention to eat her. Many of them had been scarred by the war where they'd been torn from the ground and killed by the army of darkness, so afeared that more would die that they'd taken to hiding from anything larger than them. Zelda earned their trust by untangling some of the faux grass on their back that allowed them to camouflage. And they showed her a secret tunnel at the base of the great tree where many had sought shelter during the war.
They slept under the stars that night, and it reminded Zelda of her time as Sheik, with the stars as the only light to guide her way in the night and the only company to keep.
They stayed there another day, splashing in the waters carefree with a joy Zelda hadn't felt from herself in some time. For years, she'd been alone. It was... nice. She enjoyed having company during the day, conversations with kikwi and playing with them in the grass, and at night, she found a companion in Link where he started a fire far from the frightened kikwi's camp and slept across the flames from her.
There were no signs of the dark army, not even a rogue keese. Link explained as they headed away back for the temple that it was because he'd taken the most time to clear out the Faron Woods the past year. He didn't want to leave the defenseless in the hands of an enemy when he knew the others in the land had helped fight in the war and could protect themselves. It didn't hurt that the kikwis were close to his home.
They headed out from the temple that same day, and he told her about the towns that had been lifted into the sky, with the largest being outside the temple. Every now and then, she'd see him wistfully look up, and she could see the dream behind his eyes: a dream where he hadn't chosen to be left behind.
She'd grabbed his hand and offered it a reassuring squeeze before letting go, and he smiled thankfully at her.
"You know," he said the next day while he stripped from his clothes at the foot of Lake Floria. "Parella can live to be over two hundred years old."
Zelda raised a quizzical brow. "Oh? How much wisdom have they imparted on you?"
He untied his cloak and then pulled the shirt over his head and tossed it aside before kicking off his boots. It wasn't the first time she'd seen him strip. They'd been in the waters by the great tree just days ago. But today, she really looked at him. There were scars littering his chest, one particularly large one at his left hip where it was clear a near fatal blow had nearly killed him. It still looked to be in the healing process, despite the year's time it had been since the war. His muscles looked strong still, but she could see that they were succumbing to a thinning out as Link foraged for food rather than ate the prepared meals of a war camp. Still, she imagined it had to be better than the slop he had been force fed during his years in prison. He was broad, with shoulders that seemed like they were skeletally made to be wide, though a morbid thought crossed her mind and she wondered if years of chains had actually altered his skeleton a bit. She couldn't help but compare him to her Link, who, despite his years of sleep, was fighting fit despite his smaller frame. And her Link bore far fewer scars. War hadn't been kind to this Link.
"They told me a great deal of the tides," he said, oblivious to her observations. "Did you know the moon has an effect on them?"
"I didn't. I didn't study water a great deal." She stood up and pulled her own dress off, standing unabashedly in her slip. She watched his eyes scan over her before he looked away and pulled his pants off, leaving him in his undergarments. He kicked his pants towards his boots and dove into the crystal blue water. Zelda smirked and jumped in after him, tilting her head back so her hair was submerged completely. "Did you know the last time I was around this much water, it tried to kill me?"
His hand hastily dipped below her back to support her. "Did you nearly drown?"
Zelda laughed, a freeing feeling. "No, it literally tried to kill me. I saved a Zora princess and the water was cursed. It dragged me under with her and I managed to free her before I got myself free and got her out of there."
"A what?" Link chuckled. "A Zo-ra and deadly water? You live in a terrifying land."
"Zora are friendly to us, and the Princess was a friend of mine in my childhood. And the water was a result of Ganon's dark power spreading across the land. Like one of Demise's army."
"Frightening."
"Are you a good swimmer?"
Link nodded, and Zelda dove deep under the water, her talent for holding her breath and swimming great distances not lost to the years, and grabbed Link's leg, preparing him before she pulled Link's leg until his head splashed under. She watched him carefully to make sure he didn't panic, but he stayed calm, turning towards her with narrowed eyes. Bubbles emerged from his nose and he grinned before going up for air. Zelda followed him.
"That's what it was like with the demon water," she said innocently. "But much further and faster."
"Is it my job to slay the demon water?" He splashed her and she laughed aloud.
"If you can catch me, you can certainly try."
She dipped under and swam deep down, watching him try to flip his buoyant self so he could swim after her. But she kept herself smugly out of reach, barely struggling to stay under while he flailed. He popped up for air and returned under while Zelda crossed her arms tauntingly, allowing herself to float up, but even so, far from him. When he went up again for air, she finally surfaced.
"I concede to the water," he said, huffing it out through his nose. "You've bested me. The demon king rises again under your presence."
Zelda chuckled. "The water never stood a chance against Link. If you were on the surface, I'm sure you'd have beat it like he did."
"Your confidence in me is inspiring, thank you."
Together, they splashed in the water and together they laid out in the sun to dry, all the while talking, reminiscing about their individual lives.
They stayed there with a fire under the starlight until morning when they set off again back to the temple. They stayed put for several days there, returning to the kikwi for a time where Zelda told stories about majestic creatures called horses and how beautiful they looked with their tails whooshing about in the air. Even Link was captivated by her tale. And she told stories of ghosts haunting a well and the way hands rose from the ground to grab her feet and arms, to hold her down while she tried to rescue her dearest friend. They hid in horror, and Zelda felt bad, so she told them of children called kokiri and how they never grew old. She caught fireflies at night and told them about fairies.
All the while, Link watched on, his face growing softer and softer with every story she told.
Suddenly, spending his life in the forest fighting off remnants of Demise's beasts didn't sound so horrible.
But he tried, how he tried, to remember that Zelda was not from here, and that she would go back. But the hole in his heart where Hylia had left was being sealed slowly and carefully by this girl from the future. He tried to remember that this was not permanent, that it wasn't forever with her. She would leave him one day, and he'd be alone... only now, there would be two holes in his heart, and one was growing larger the longer he spent with Zelda.
Zelda, on the other hand, hadn't even considered the notion of going back. A new world was far too fascinating for her to simpIy go back to the world that didn't want her. A world where she was nothing more than the reminder of the kingdom's failure and the death that was wrought upon them for seven years. She was the one who abandoned her people to live her life as someone else, to save the world without them knowing. But to them, it was the same as abandonment.
No, Zelda simply wanted to see what a mogma was.
The way to Eldin was more difficult and much longer. Link offered Zelda his hand over steep rocks, and Zelda took it with a smile despite knowing how fast she could climb these rocks if she were alone. Link took the long road around, a steeper road, but one with fewer rocks to traverse across. Both of them were huffing and puffing by the time the reached a plateau and took a rest out in the hot sun, offering little relief but to catch their breath.
"It's only going to get hotter the nearer we are to the volcano," Link warned.
"Have you ever been inside a volcano? I have. That was actually the worst time of my life. Forget years of hiding, it was the few days I spent inside Death Mountain."
"With a name like that, it's no wonder."
"You're right. Eldin Volcano has a much kinder ring to it." She laughed and pushed her hair back. It was long enough that she could use a strand to secure it up out of her face, knotting it a bit in the process. She'd regret it later when her hair started to frizz in such a knot, but for now, her neck thanked her.
They continued the trek towards the volcano, and true to his word, the air only became warmer and warmer.
Zelda happily pulled on Link's sleeve when they rounded a corner near their destination. "Link! Link, stop!"
"What?"
She pointed. "Gorons!"
Link smiled. "You know them?"
"Yes! There are hundreds of gorons living in Death Mountain alone in my time! Are they friendly here?"
"They helped Hylia fight her war. They should be friendly enough."
Zelda grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the gorons.
"Hello!" she said, far too eagerly. But the gorons seemed as excitable as they were in her time.
"Hello, goro!"
"My name is Zelda, and this is Link. We're travelers. Is there a place to rest nearby?"
The goron nodded and pointed at a pool of lava. "Our camp is just past there, goro! We're on a hunt, goro. Tell them I sent you, and they'll let you rest a while, goro."
"Thank you!" Zelda beamed back at Link and pulled him along, her hand sweating in his but still she held him with her. "Link, they're just the same! Even their patterns of speech!"
"I'm happy you've found something familiar, Zelda."
"They're my people back home. Some of the few who fought directly against Ganon's evil. They're brave and kind. Darunia was their leader before he... before he ascended to a higher power," she said, trying her best to describe sagehood. "You know, I hear there are some gorons who can survive in a cold environment. It doesn't get that cold in Hyrule, so ... well... my Hyrule... so I've never seen their adaptations. Their bodies are made up of solid rock, so those more used to hot environments have been said to simply freeze over in the cold. We once had a meeting that my father allowed me to sit in on when I was a child that discussed the possibilities of extreme disasters. Kakariko would be undeniably uninhabitable if Death Mountain were to erupt, which is why it was so important that Link save the gorons who were trapped in there. It was so maligned with evil that it came close to errupting, like a body's way of flushing out toxins."
Link smiled wider at her. "You really loved your people."
Zelda's smile softened. "I think I could have made for a good queen one day, had the world allowed for it. But when Ganondorf took over, they saw the royals as weak and unable to care for their people. My parents were murdered shortly after Ganondorf assumed control of the kingdom and the people were left to fend for themself in the darkness that followed. I can't blame them for not wanting a return to monarchy. But it did leave me a bit aimless when the fighting was done."
Link had no chance to respond when about ten gorons turned to face them, wondering why they were in their camp. "Hi. The goron at the entrance sent us back here to rest."
"Oh! That's not a problem, goro. My name is Gordon, goro. You're not the first guests we've had here today, goro. It's a good thing we made camp while rock hunting, or we never would have made so many friends, goro!"
Link gently tapped Zelda's shoulder and nudged her to look to her right. As she'd done with the kikwis, her mouth had dropped open and she covered it to maintain some level of decorum. Long armed creatures sat about, some dug in holes and others lying in the rocky ground. "Oh, hello," she managed. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"You too," one of them said. "I thought all the humans left us. It's been a long time since we've seen any of you."
Link whispered 'mogma' in Zelda's ear before stepping forward. "I've been here and I live close to Faron. My name is Link. This is Zelda. She's not from around here, so we're travelling so she can see some of this place. The rest of the humans are scattered or left for the skies."
Like a flash, it hit Zelda. Link had been by himself for a year when she found him. A year with no one but kikwis to talk to and monsters to kill. A year since his beloved had died. How lonely he must have been. Zelda realized her hand was still in his and she held it tighter, feeling his responding grip, though he didn't know the thoughts in her head. It made her blush slightly that he would react to just the simplest touch with his own enthusiasm.
"Figures, those humans didn't stick around." The mogma looked guiltily at Link. "Well, most of them."
"Take a seat, goro," one of the gorons said, pointing to a free rock.
Zelda hurried towards it and sat down, staring at the mogma beside her. "How do you do?"
"Uh... good?"
His very response put a giddy smile on her face, and Link stepped around her to take his place at her side. Link leaned into her, pressing his body against hers as he whispered in her ear. "They're shy, but brave. They helped Hylia more than they'll ever know."
Zelda leaned into him as well, reveling in the pressure of his shoulder against hers. "They seem brave. Stealthy, even. I could learn a thing or two from them."
Zelda paused a moment, letting herself enjoy his presence before she could feel him leaning away. "Link?"
He stopped and leaned back into her. "Yes?"
"Do you regret not being in the sky with the others?"
His mouth set into a firm line. "Sometimes. I know I did my duty, but to be left with no one... it's hard. You understand."
"I do. Better than I'd like."
"You spent more years alone than I."
"And I was a prisoner far less time than you were. It's not a competition. We've both suffered for doing our duty."
Link looked at the ground, staring intently at a small pebble. "Would you bring your Link back, if you could?"
Zelda swallowed thickly. "No. No, I may wish I wasn't alone, but I would never wish the world I left on him. It is a broken world. And to him, a stolen one. Years of his life taken at my doing. He deserved to live them out. Even if it meant I lost him."
"You're brave, Zelda. That's a sacrifice worthy of being recognized."
"It's not. My feelings are not worth that sort of admiration."
He grabbed her hand again and pulled it into his lap, his thumb soothing slowly over her skin. "I meant your whole life. You lost years as well, lost in a different way. You should have been a ruler, and yet you lived in secret and trained to be a hero. Any slip up could have cost the entire kingdom, but you made it your life's work to prevail. That's noble, and a sacrifice."
Zelda blushed and looked away. "I had to do it to save my people. Even in a world where they despised me for their ruin."
"That's even greater a sacrifice. Admit it, Zelda: you are brave and remarkable."
"I'll admit to doing my duty and nothing more."
He smiled at her. "Remarkable."
"Humans!" a goron yelled, running towards them. "You must hide! There are monsters headed this way! We're only rock hunters, we cannot fight."
The mogmas dipped into their holes, covering the tops, and the gorons curled into tight balls, blending in with the rocky terrain.
Link was on his feet with his sword in hand, Zelda beside him. "We can." Link turned to her. "We can share my sword."
Zelda pushed her hair behind her ears and hiked up her skirt so it was out of her way. "I don't need it. I prefer knives anyway. They're faster."
"You don't have any knives."
Zelda patted Link's cheek and gave him the pretense of a polite smile, confidence masked just below the surface. "I'll be fine."
The grin that lit up his face was barely contained, and he swung the sword in his hand. "I look forward to seeing you in action."
"You as well," she said, walking with him towards the edge of camp with her own smirk on her face, watching him as they walked. There was a swagger to both their steps, a confidence that was sprawled out in front of them with the ease of years of practice. Like knowing the difference between right and left, they knew their skills.
They walked just outside of camp before spotting four beasts in the distance. Zelda blanched. "I recognize lizalfos."
"I take it they're just as friendly where you come from?"
"Where is their weapon?"
Link squinted, his sword ready. "Weapon? Their tail, their arm, their claws."
"Oh... I'm used to fighting them with their own swords."
"Pleasant."
"Quite. What's that on their arm?"
The group of lizalfos spotted them and began to charge forward. Both hunched into their stances. "Armor. It hurts."
"Oh good."
And then, they were on them.
Link went for the lizalfos in the front of the pack, raising his sword only for it to be deflected by the lizalfos' strong arm. It let out a taunting screech and Link pivoted his foot around, pushing the arm off the sword and letting the blade collide with its armored chest.
Zelda ran towards the back, letting the remaining three turn their attention on her. She dodged their attacks for several long moments, gauging the way they fought, before kicking out, her foot connecting with one's head, and rolling away from the other two as they sought to strike while she was attacking. The Lizalfos she hit stumbled backwards and grabbed its head.
"Link!" Zelda yelled, moving on to the next lizalfos.
Link spun around his assailant and thrust his sword out into the distracted lizalfos Zelda had kicked, dropping it to the ground in an instant before returning to his own beast.
Zelda spun into one of the creatures and twisted its arm, sending its own sharp claws raking along its chest. She kneed it in its new wound and again in its chin as it doubled over. She watched the other creature carefully and as it swung it's sharp tail out, Zelda threw the wounded lizalfos into the spiked tail, watching as the lizalfos was flung to the ground and bled out.
Link swung his sword several times, meeting with precision blocks by the lizalfos every time.
"Zelda?" Link called, swinging again and again to no avail. The creature was too fast. But Zelda was faster. She pushed her lizalfos backwards and ran to assist Link, jumping into the air and kicking the lizalfos far off balance and stumbling as she landed harmlessly on her feet.
Link, at last, was able to fake it out and he caught its skin in a side swipe that slashed a hole into its belly.
And Zelda punched out, connecting with her final lizalfos, though it managed to certainly bruise her knuckles when she caught it twice against its shielded arm. Her kicks were well timed, and her strikes far faster than the lizalfos could manage, both of them moving at high speeds and keeping the other on their toes. But Zelda moved with deliberate steps until she'd backed the lizalfos to the end of a cliff and kicked it in the chest, sending it flying to it's demise.
She turned to Link, only slightly out of breath. "And you thought I needed a weapon."
"I beg your pardon," he chuckled. "My mistake."
“And don’t you forget it.”
Link pushed his hair back and sheathed his sword before grabbing Zelda’s hand. “You are a wonder to see. Your skill is impeccable.”
“I had years of training. The amount of fighting I did before we defeated Ganondorf was immense.”
“It shows. You’re good. I trained for years as a knight before I was set up and I’ve never seen anyone fight the way you do.”
Shrugging innocently to hide her red cheeks, she dove into the logistics. “You use the enemy against themselves. It’s essential for close combat, as you know. My style just takes it a little farther.”
They arrived back at the camp just as gorons uncurled from their balls and mogmas popped out of their holes. “Is it safe?” one asked.
“They’re gone,” Zelda assured them.
“Thank you, goro!” The nearest goron grabbed Zelda’s hand, then Link’s. “You give a good name to humans, goro!”
"Think of it as our return for your hospitality."
The gorons and mogmas smiled happily and made room against some of the rocks before eagerly asking them where they learned to fight like that. Stories were passed both ways, stories about their activities during the great war, Link's exploits as a soldier, Zelda's time as Shiek (though she carefully passed that off as though she'd fought in the great war against evil as well).
And when everyone was well and truly asleep for the night, Zelda stood restlessly and made her way towards the edge of camp so she could stare at the unfamiliar stars. A part of her longed to find the star of Din, which should have been just overhead, but the sky was so different from the stars she knew all those years later that she couldn't find it anywhere near where it belonged.
She heard footsteps behind her.
"The world turns differently in my time," she said into the darkness, not needing a light to see Link take his place beside her.
"It must be strange still."
"I'm here yet not here. I exist between time."
Link shifted closer. "For what it's worth, I'm glad you're here."
Zelda smiled. "As I'm glad you're here with me." She pulled at a strand of hair fallen in front of her face and twirled it round her finger. "But I cannot stay here forever."
His hand pulled hers towards him and her hair fell against her face. "You could."
"I have my people to think about."
"I thought you said they don't want you there?"
"They don't. But just because they don't want me doesn't mean my job is done. The people here are recovering well from your war. My people still live in crowded homes they share with once strangers while I live in an empty city they deem haunted. I've done a fair bit over the years to clean Market Town up, but I need more help. The only people willing are the zora and the gorons but the zora and gorons are too far away and they're dealing with their own reconstruction. Some gorons are still afraid of leaving their homes after a monster nearly ate them all, and zora are suffering long term effects from being trapped in the ice. There's the Zora King, but he's secluded away where Hylians would never listen to his rule. It's a mess there. They need someone willing to walk through the mess with them, whether they want me as a ruler or not."
"That's a lot to deal with."
"It is. It's why I have to go back some day soon. My people are my purpose."
Link squeezed her hand. "I envy you. For all your hardships, you have a purpose. Mine was to serve my goddess... and she's gone now to a place I cannot follow. I fight keese and live in a temple that was devoted to Her. I do nothing of importance."
"Think of what you do for the kikwis alone."
"And when I'm gone, how will they take care of themselves? I'm ruining them. You said yourself there are no such thing as kikwis when you come from, so perhaps my need to do something has led to their extinction."
"I doubt that. It's just been years."
Link dropped Zelda's hand. "I'm selfish. I do things for myself. Even now, a part of me longs to beg you not to go back. I want to hold you here in this time with me. And yet I know I cannot ask that of you. I want you to stay. You're becoming my reason for waking up in the mornings, Zelda. I don't know what I'm going to do when you're gone and I had to let you know how I felt before you depart."
Zelda turned to him in the darkness, light shining down on his face from the moon and stars above. She placed her hand gently on his cheek and felt him lean into it, his lips brushing her palm. "You mended my heart. Every day with you is a blessing and if I didn't have a struggling kingdom to get back to, I would take you up on your offer to stay. There is a quiet and a calm here I haven't known since I was a child and I long to bask in it every day that remains in my life. But when I was a child, my father took me aside and told me my life was not to be lived for myself, but for my people. He told me that I was their future and their hope. I saved the world from a destruction that my family brought upon itself when they let Ganondorf in. I saved the world Link went back to through sacrifice after sacrifice and I would love to revel in selfishness and indulgence to stay here with you. But I just can't."
"I understand. I do."
"My heart wishes otherwise, Link. My Link."
"In the time we have left, then, let me worship you more than I ever have a goddess."
There wasn't one who moved first, but both at the same time, lips meeting in a single collision. There was nothing held back; it was a kiss that they knew would have to last through the ages. Years of pain and loss from the loved ones that could never be were poured into this moment where their hearts were finally whole once again with a love they never thought to recreate. It was different than what they'd each felt before, something stronger, built by the countless days Zelda had spent day in and day out with Link, growing to know one another with a bond that would have to span centuries, if not millennia.
His hand was in her hair, at her neck. Her hand brushed along light stubble on his chin that he had been neglecting to tame on their trip through Eldin. They broke only for breath and to make sure they were safe in the area outside camp. And they stayed entwined in a desperate embrace until the sun rose and sleeplessness led them groggily through camp with sly smiles on their faces as they engaged in pleasantries and politely declined a breakfast of rocks.
"You look tired, goro."
Zelda chuckled and shrugged innocently. "I didn't sleep much last night."
"Must be the rocks, goro. Comfy for us, but maybe not for you, goro."
Zelda smiled. "Must have been it."
"... and this great ocean spans Lanayru."
"I wonder if it's as large as Lake Hyrule?"
"Bigger, I guarantee. Bigger than anything you've seen."
Zelda brushed the hair out of her eye as she and Link stepped over a branch through the woods as they made their way back to the Temple of Hylia. "It's a big lake."
"This whole stretch of forest we went through isn't big enough to compare to it."
An impressed look settled across Zelda's face. "That does sound bigger. I'd love to see an ocean."
"Stay longer and I'll show you," Link said, pulling Zelda's hand to stop her. "Stay a little longer."
"If the ocarina doesn't work, I'll be staying forever." She laughed as though the idea were ridiculous, but a part of her hoped the ocarina wouldn't hear her song and would let her rest here until the end of her days. But her face sobered quickly, unable to make the joke last. "If I don't leave now, I will stay for more months and then years and it'll become harder and harder to leave. I have to go now, while I still can."
She let go of him and moved ahead so he wouldn't see the pain in her eyes. The thought of losing another was growing on her with every step towards the temple. Was the name 'Link' simply a curse she was meant to bear? To carry one in her heart until it was torn from her?
She stopped and took a breath as the temple came into view. The walls loomed over the forest and Zelda pushed open the doors without waiting for Link and ran over to her things that she'd left in the corner of the great room.
"Goddesses, grant me strength," she muttered, grabbing the ocarina.
They'd said their goodbyes the night before and agreed that there would be no lingering. Get it over with.
Her heart raced as the door opened behind her, and she clutched the ocarina tighter, feeling the brush of a tear down her cheek.
"Zelda, wait!" Link ran towards her. "Wait, please!"
She turned to him tearily. "I thought we agreed."
"How powerful is your ocarina?"
"What?"
Link grabbed her hand, covering the holes of the ocarina with his other. "Can it take two?"
"What?"
"You can't stay here, but I don't have to. My people are safe with their goddess in the sky. There are few creatures down here the locals can't handle themselves. If it can take two, let me come with you." He breathed deeply and pressed his head against hers, reveling in her breath. "If you want that."
"My Hyrule was ravaged by war. You want to come with me there?"
"I want to come with you, no matter where."
Zelda glanced down at the porcelain in her hand. "I don't know if it can. I've never tried. I suppose... it did take Link and Navi..."
"Try. If it fails, nothing changes from what we said last night."
"I don't know if you'll ever be able to come back. This could use all the power it has left. We might be able to travel freely between times, or we might get stuck."
Link shrugged. "If we can move freely, we can come back here any time. If not, I'd rather be trapped in your time with you."
"Your things... your life..."
"A few shirts and trinkets. I don't need them."
Zelda sucked in a breath. "Hylia?"
"She's not coming back for me. She can't. Just like your Link can't come back for you."
"Okay," Zelda said, feeling Link move his forehead more forcefully into hers. His hand moved from over the holes and held fast to her wrist while she closed her eyes and placed her mouth over the mouthpiece, praying to the goddesses and to Hylia that this works.
The melody came out softer than she'd expected it to as her breath shook with nervous energy. She poured her heart into each note, feeling desperate tears on her cheeks, though she dare not open her eyes to see if they were hers, or Link's falling onto her.
Coolness breezed around her, lifting her hair as though a wind passed by, and her heart raced frantically as she felt the sensation of falling suddenly and then slamming to a halt all at once.
She opened her eyes to see the Temple of Time.
She was back.
"Link?" she called, setting the ocarina down beside the spiritual stones. There was no time to process that she was back. She had to know.
"Link!"
She was met with silence.
Goddesses, she cursed, feeling the tears immediately reach her eyes once again as his loss hit her like the loneliness she'd carried for all those years had doubled in weight and suddenly sagged her down to her knees.
She'd lost him. Again.
Staring up at the ceiling, Zelda asked the goddesses why they wouldn't grant her the peace she so longed for. but again, she was met with nothing but the air around her as her.
She stood wearily and grabbed the ocarina, clutching it to her chest as she walked, ready to return home and see what she'd missed in the time she'd been gone, if she'd missed anything at all. Though she'd spent weeks with Link, perhaps no time had passed here. Time was an unknowable truth she would have to face soon, time without Link, time for her heart to heal again.
Her steps were dragging as she trudged towards the door, eager to leave but her body unwilling to help her move any faster. She was in no rush to go back to her home alone.
Her palm was flat against the door, ready to push when she glanced over her shoulder once more.
The room was still empty. She sighed and opened the door.
The town still looked to be in shambles, so at least she knew that no one had come to clean it while she'd been away. She wondered if any of the townspeople noticed that she hadn't made any provisional runs and had come looking for her to see if she'd died. She wondered about so much.
She was so lost in her thoughts that she could hear her own name whispered in Link's voice in her ears. "Zelda... Zelda..."
She blinked.
"Zelda?"
Link stood in front of her, his red cape flapping against his back as though he'd just run to her. "When I appeared, you weren't here! I thought it had taken me without you!"
"Link?"
"It's me! It worked! Zelda, it worked!" He pulled her into a kiss, wrapping his arms excitedly around her waist and lifting her into the air before setting her down and running his hands through her hair. "I was so scared it didn't work."
"Link..." Zelda breathed, his name all she could think to say to express her relief.
"We're home."