Chapter 1 - Link Returns

Reluctantly, he held out his arm, the ocarina clenched tightly in his first. The climax of his life was certainly taking its time to sink in. It went by so fast, but he knew it must have taken near an hour to finally finish the battle. His head spun and he was exhausted. The words of the princess were almost too much for him.

He rejected her apology as soon as it entered the air. Hyrule's poor condition had nothing to do with her. If not for her, wouldn't the land still be in ruin? General thoughts of disbelief crept through his mind and danced on the tip of his tongue. He would have offered her encouragement or forgiveness, after all, it wasn't her fault. As usual, though, he said nothing. They were running out of time. And he was so very tired... He was always so tired...

She placed her hands around his, but could no longer find the strength to look him in the eyes. He sighed. She was really going to do it, wasn't she?

"When peace returns to Hyrule... It will be time for us to say good-bye..."

With that she slid the ocarina from his fingers. She didn't want to do it. She REALLY didn't want to do it. But she needed to.

She had put it off for far too long already.

She finally looked at him, and saw the foolish ignorant obedience. Needless to say, it didn't help.

He doesn't even realize... and he never will. His innocence only made her feel worse. She had put everything at risk for her own safety. Everything. Link didn't deserve all this. Why was the responsibility his? She couldn't help feeling a bit guilty.

Oh, well. It was all over now. Confidently, she tried to convince herself that it was for the best. Her motives were not entirely selfish, right? It was for the good of the kingdom... Yes. Where Hyrule is concerned, right and wrong are not. You couldn't blame a princess for trying to protect her own kingdom. But you can always blame yourself. Inwardly she sighed. It just wasn't fair.

She would have to do it quickly. So Link could get his life back. So she wouldn't make her terrible mistake. So that maybe somewhere... this would have never happened. That's right, focus on the positives.

"Now, go home, Link. Regain your lost time! Home... where you are supposed to be... the way you are supposed to be..."

She put the ocarina to her lips and closed her eyes. Blue light surrounded Link as she played. Home... he was finally going home... He looked up and felt his body rise away from everything. Navi twinkled over his head. It made him smile to see her. Occasionally he forgot she was there. She always was, wasn't she? Thankfully, she had not spoken the whole time Zelda was talking. For some reason, he felt happy to see that she was coming with him. He closed his eyes, and with a picture of home in his mind, he allowed himself to slip away.

At the moment of his departure, Zelda let one more doubt slip into her thoughts. He could've died. He could've died and then there would be NO peace and it would be all your fault. Suddenly she had a vision of Link's final battle with Gannondorf. You wouldn't have been able to stop it. What good would your good intentions do you then? She heard his laughter in her head.

And then it stopped being a vision and became real. The clouds turned black and thunder struck all around in the sacred realm. Link was long gone, but a new figure appeared to take his place. An enormous figure.

"Thank you... Link..."

"Good-bye..."

That night in the field, all the people of Hyrule gathered and celebrated the end of terrible times. How quickly they forgot their troubles when promised peace. But the faster your worries are left behind, the faster the evils that you fear will come back to you.

While the people danced and sang and forgot what they did not care to remember, not a one of them knew what they had in store. And while they did forgot the last seven years of madness and terror, it was not all they forgot. Not a single one noticed what was missing. How blind they made themselves to the truth. Their brave hero of time would live on only in legends, while the people he knew... forgot.