Author's Note: This really wasn't expected of me to do, but I managed to write this in two days after getting a basic idea, and so I'll present it to you now. This isn't a typical story of me, and is rather sad in all honesty, but I want to see what you guys think of it. I'm going to dedicate this to "Artizaptres101", as she was the one who pushed me to get back into my writing, and I owe it all to her that this came to be in two days!

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to The Legend of Zelda, only the rights to any OC that I create.

Extra Note: I will make reference to the Ballad of the Goddess in this, and is written in phonetics, however I do recommend listening to the Ballad of the Goddess/Zelda's Lullaby Vocal Cover by "Nanami0406", as that is the version that Zelda plays throughout the story, as a reference.

"There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing."

~Brian Tracy~

Lyre Strings

The first time that Link had heard the sound of lyre strings was exactly three months before the Wing Ceremony, in his darkest hour.

It was a main custom on Skyloft to use music in order to express emotions that could not be easily passed on between people, for music was commonly known to be a gift from the Goddess herself. Because of this, the main basis of the sky isle as a whole was the different harmonies formed from the instruments that the islanders created for themselves. It seemed that Zelda was no different. Though Link had heard Zelda play numerous instruments before, nothing seemed to compare to the power of the Goddess's Harp.

Even though Spring had come to an end not long before, Summer bubbled over the horizon of the cloud barrier and bought an omen with it. As Skyloft blew away the chills of Winter, the brown leaves fell from the few remaining trees on the island and splattered across the crunchy grass, gliding away when the Goddess sent the wind to blow the sky island into Spring. The flowers bloomed, though the chills lingered, desperate to cling the trees for another day, another month, another season.

And yet, when the sun rose to signal the first day of Summer, Skyloft exploded into the island that it was known for across the Sky Realm, other than for being the isle that the Goddess had lifted into the sky. Bright colours did not only come from the blossoms and flowers, but the clothes of the islanders, the bright banners and newly painted homes too – the entire atmosphere on the island brightening. The land bloomed into life, the nights finally shorter and the days longer.

Link and Zelda, who were seventeen and sixteen at the time, were extremely close childhood friends and had been since they were small. They hhad been merely celebrating the first few weeks of Summer by spending as much time as they could out underneath the sun's radiance. As Zelda skipped on ahead, the gorgeous afternoon sunlight illuminating her hair, she barely noticed the fact that her friend had been slowing down until he stopped completely. She turned, tilting her head with a raised brow at his sudden shift in energy.

"What's wrong?" Zelda questioned as her friend leaned heavily against the nearby tree, energy suddenly drained. He did not reply, causing Zelda to come to the conclusion that he was simply messing around most likely trying to cover up a smirk that she could not see from such an angle. She placed her hand on her hip, a common trait in her, deep blue skirt flying around her legs from the breeze. "If this is some kind of ploy, Link, then it's not working. You got over your flu last week!"

Her irritated grin faded, however, when he slumped further against the tree and rasped: "I'm not joking..."

Hours later, the Goddess glossed her hand over the skies, leaving behind a brand new palette of colours to disguise the true events that were happening at the time. The sky seemed to turn a shade darker than usual as the sun dipped low below the horizon, clouds shifting from holy white to pumpkin orange highlighted with an ominous black, combining into one large mass of clouds that blotted out the light as night descended.

The two friends returned to the Knight Academy, the only school on the sky island that provided an education and accommodation for the students present until they graduated, quickly after Link had slowed down. While he reassured that he was all right before retiring to bed early, Link's words were not heeded. Zelda notified her Father, the Headmaster of the Academy, of what had happened, and he rushed down to the boy's room at a fast pace.

"There can be no doubt. It is the same as before..." Gaepora exhaled, his tone deep and grave as his aimed his words at Link, who had not slept anyway because of the amount pain that he was in. He sat upright, propped up against his bed as he listened intently to the Headmaster, attempts to assure everyone that he was all right in vain as he held Zelda's hand with a comforting squeeze. "It is the same illness that has claimed many on this island, your mother included, and has most likely lay dormant inside of you until now; just like with her."

Zelda, unable to hold it back for more than a few moments, broke into tears and held her friend closely, begging to the Goddess that it was nothing more than a dream. It had been over ten years since Link's mother had died, passing away after battling a sickness for three years that had morphed from simple influenza to a terminal illness. Some others on the island had developed the illness too; however research into it proved that the sickness was "caught" through genetics, and nothing more.

The chances of surviving such an illness were slim to none.

The two friends held each other close long after Gaepora excused himself, distraught after having to pass on such news, the only sounds elicited being their unsteady breaths mixed with Zelda's sniffles. Unlike Zelda, Link felt too numb to cry or show sorrow, indulging in the near silence will all that he had. At some point in the night, long after Skyloft had fallen asleep, Link had requested for one thing. "Can you sing for me?"

Although she was reluctant to leave his side, Zelda agreed and excused herself briefly, promising to be back in a few moments. She scurried to her room, nearly throwing all of her belongings upside down to find the one thing that she was looking for in particular, but also being mindful for those asleep too. She felt a tiny smile tug at her lips when she had acquired what she had wanted, despite how she felt, and returned to Link, cradling the object in her arms tighter than ever. She begged that the tighteness of it would wae her from such a nightmare, but to no avail.

She caught his attention when she softly clicked the door shut, and they both sat cross legged opposite each other atop the bed. In her hands was a beautiful golden instrument, eight slim strings delicately held in place by the metal around it. Feathers and wing designs were carved into the gold, two birds attached to either side of the instrument. Her Father had given it to her a few weeks before, yet she was too busy with her education to use it often.

"W-What do you want me to sing?" While she knew the answer, she wanted to hear his voice, one that hadn't been used in the past few hours.

"The one you always sing to me."

She noticed the faintest smile crack his complexion, but it was clearly forced and sad. Zelda, desperate to help him in any way that she could, rested the instrument against the crook of her elbow and recalled the song effortlessly. It was an old folk song that had been forgotten over the generations, and the two of them had found the lyrics in old runes in the Library. It didn't matter that students all around them were asleep, as the instrument was quiet and her voice was soft.

"En daʃeʋu no be ʃondʊ, tʏe ʃʊtʊ keuænu sale. En daʃeʋu no be dʊʃʊ, tʏe ʃʊtʊ no be dezu dotʃe." The ancient words slipped from her tongue as if the Goddess herself sang with Zelda, even when she changed the entire song, dragged her slender fingers down all of the strings and proceeded to play the song backwards twice before returning to the original notes and lyrics. Her eyes were shut, silent tears slipping through her dark lashes.

As her finger released the final note, silence befell the room, the impending darkness looming around them ceasing from their minds for a tiny minute. Zelda opened her eyes, meeting Link's gaze perfectly as the tears continued to fall. Through what seemed to be a trick of the light, the instrument seemed to glow a little in response to the old song, brightening as the notes returned to reality from being lost to the ages. Their eyes met for a single moment, sapphire on sky blue, and the two leapt into each other's embraces, time trying to tear them apart.

"There's something that I have to do." Link murmured through the darkness, eyes intent on the wall, their only light being the dying flame on the desk that had been lit upon Gaepora's entrance before. "In case I don't see next year..."

"D-Don't." Zelda scolded sternly, yet the crack in her voice did not project the strength in her emotions.

Link shook his head, resting his chin atop the crown of her head, eyes flickering down to the instrument in her hand. She had shown him the instrument before, dubbing it as a "Harp" that had been handed down through her family for the past number of generations; however that was the first time that he had heard the sheer beauty of what it created. "I want to compete in the Wing Ceremony, and I'm going to win it."

"But won't you be too weak to—?"

"I'm not going to let anything stop me." He cut through, not wanting to hear the reality that he didn't want to face. "If I can finish my studies by the end of this month, then I can still participate. After all, they still need to find someone to play the role of the Goddess." Their eyes met again, and his expression softened. "And I want you to be there with me when it happens."

She sniffed again, wiping back her tears with her free hand. "I will be. I'll be at your side to help you in any way that I can."


The next few times that Link had heard the sound of lyre strings was on and after the Wing Ceremony, in Zelda's darkest hour.

Leading up to such an event, news of Link's illness was kept between Link, Zelda, the Headmaster, and the Instructors. Three weeks before the Wing Ceremony, a time when Link's energy fell into decline, Pipit, a close friend of Link's, was desperate to know what his friend was hiding and found out the same night. He solemnly swore not to tell anyone, for Link only wished to live out the rest of his shortened life as normally as possibly, but it didn't mean that neither of them mourned such a fact. Pipit had been one to help Link a lot after his mother's passing, and to experience such thing again with him instead was too much to handle.

On the day of the Ceremony itself, Link's Crimson Loftwing was missing at the hands of Groose and his two friends: Cawlin and Stritch. The trio bullied Link often in his childhood, mainly because of how close he was to Zelda (for Groose was incredibly attracted to her, but she did not care for him in that way) and because he was given one of the rarest Loftwings in existence by the Goddess.

"Maybe it was a premonition of sorts." Link had noted one evening to Zelda, who constantly remained at his side through sickness and "health". "The Goddess gave me a rare Loftwing as a sign for the future, or she pitied what she had created." Though Zelda was angry at his words, she could not help but notice the sadness and gravity in his tone. He still did not cry over what he had inherited, but he mourned when he was reminded of the reality that he wished did not exist.

And yet, through this sorrow, the Crimson Loftwing was found and Link still managed to participate in the Wing Ceremony; winning. Zelda had volunteered the morning after Gaepora delivered the news of Link's illness to play the role of the Goddess in the Ceremony for that year. This meant that she would bestow a gift to the victor of the race, and this Ritual would be incredibly powerful because it was to be completed atop the Statue of the Goddess on the island to celebrate twenty five years of the Wing Ceremonies.

Link was surprised when Zelda chose to perform the song that she would always sing to him in the Ritual, as he had very little knowledge on the Ritual itself, asking her as they watched over the entirety of Skyloft from the hands of the Statue. "I wanted to honour you in more ways than one, and today is your day to fulfil your wish. It is your song after all." She had responded simply, hugging her Harp close. Though Link tried to disagree on the fact that it wasn't his song, she ignored him. "If people remember this song in the future, then they will carry you with them."

But, the Goddess sent forth another omen on what was perceived to be a joyous day.

The two had decided to celebrate further by isolating themselves from the rest of the festivities on the island by flying out into the Sky Realm by themselves, extremely happy to be in each other's company. However, during their time together where their true devotion to each other was about to be declared, a Black Tornado appeared out of thin air and separated the two of them entirely.

Zelda, with her Harp, was dragged into the wind storm and down towards the cloud barrier, Link sent back into the opposite direction towards Skyloft. Anyone who had hit the cloud barrier either died instantly from impact, as all records stated that people threw themselves from the island or fell from their Loftwings, or slowly and painfully as they were returned to Skyloft barely breathing. If Zelda had been thrown towards the cloud barrier, then she would be gone before he was.

Whether it be due to his illness, or the shock of being thrown backwards by the Tornado, Link stayed unconscious for three days before Gaepora delivered the news that his daughter was still missing, sobbing whilst trying his hardest to stay calm for Link's sake. Knowing that she was still gone reduced Link to silent tears once he had consoled the Headmaster, his mentor, begging to understand why the Goddess tortured her people so.

He was awoken on the fourth day by a twinkling voice, and carried through the night in order to follow such a sweet voice laced with hope. He was directed to the Statue of the Goddess, where the feathers from Zelda's Loftwing still remained in the courtyard beneath it, and then inside. While he believed that he was dreaming at first, what happened next somehow managed to show him that the Goddess was protecting him all along in a strange sense.

Fi, the Spirit of the Goddess Sword that was lodged into a pedestal inside of the Great Statue (a place originally inaccessible to all), explained that everything that had occurred was all a part of the destiny of which he and Zelda and been intertwined into. The Goddess's Mission would send both he and Zelda to the Surface, a place barred by the Goddess through the cloud barrier during the Great War of legends, where they would need to battle the great abomination that threatened both Earth and Sky.

The idea of finding Zelda and returning her safely to her Father before his sickness took him is what drove him onward to the Land of Myth and straight into danger. Carrying the Goddess Sword on his back, his presence was lost from Skyloft, the only one knowing about Link's journey to the Surface being Gaepora. Link travelled down to the Land of Myth, the Surface, and battled his way through the "Faron Woods", only to find that Zelda was not present, but being hunted.

It took Link four days to then climb the entire Volcano, he started to come to terms with something himself. He did not care for the Goddess's Mission, as he only cared for returning Zelda to Skyloft before anything happened to either of them, determined more than anything to survive whatever the Goddess and proclaimed Demon Lord was to throw at him, especially the latter after he would realise that Link lived on to hear his friend's voice. Despite Fi's concerns for Link's health, he pushed onward.

His pace quickened when he heard that Zelda had been captured by Ghirahim's supposed "Army", running through the Earth Temple and enduring the worst temperatures and burns possible to save her. He crossed paths with the Demon Lord, who sent a large beast at him once expressing his disgust over the fact that Zelda had managed to escape somehow, and it was Zelda's soft voice that reduced the pain from any life threatening burns that he faced from the monster, her power providing him with the strength to kill "Scaldera".

And, after ten days of searching, Link heard the caressing sound of Zelda's Harp once more, the girl's voice with it.

They spoke for only a minute, though, before they parted ways again by force. Impa, Zelda's protector and a part of the Sheikah Exiles, scolded Link for being late, uncaring for the illness that Zelda had apparently told her about before. However, Link did not falter, for he allowed his injuries to be tended to before flying towards the "Lanayru Desert" in hopes of finding Zelda quicker.

The Lanayru Province took six days for Link to traverse, and another three for him to make his through a Mining Facility and to the Temple of Time where Zelda's presence was just as strong as the one that he had felt while in the Skyview Temple. Even though their reunion was cut off by Ghirahim's attack to take Zelda from him, resulting with Zelda being forced through a portal that Impa destroyed after Link had protected her from the Demon Lord's wrath.

And yet, he had the Harp that Zelda played every day after the news had broken three months before, and he was more than grateful.

So, by the time that Link had returned to Skyloft and collapsed before Instructor Horwell's eyes, he lost consciousness with a half smile as he clutched the Harp in his bloodied hands. Because of his sickness taking over, he stayed unconscious for five days, and then delirious for another two. Both Instructors had tended to his electrical burns and bites, while the Headmaster was nearly distraught over what both Link and Zelda were and could have been going through.

When his head was finally clear, he awoke to the sound of the Harp again, though a different voice sang the song that Zelda always would. "En daʃeʋu no be ʃondʊ, tʏe ʃʊtʊ keuænu sale. En daʃeʋu no be dʊʃʊ, tʏe ʃʊtʊ no be dezu dotʃe." It was not Zelda, but Karane, another student who was going to graduate the next year, who was singing, even if it did not have the same affect on him. "Zelda once told me that if she wasn't here, I should play this for you." That was her only reason, and the only one that Link needed.

After Karane had left at Link's polite request and Pipit had visited, finally allowed inside, only Link and Fi remained in the room. He managed to sneak out from his room and into Zelda's, where her scent still remained all over. Sitting on her bed, Link felt compelled to speak to someone like Fi, who would say everything bluntly. Others had coddled him after the news broke, and he wanted someone with cold, hard facts.

"Fi?" The Spirit of the Goddess Sword flew out from the hilt of the blade that rested against the bed post, hovering above the ground perfectly with one leg tucked behind the other, eyes intent on him. "Why did the Goddess choose me instead of someone else?"

"There is a high probability that you were chosen to complete the Goddess's Mission because of your attributes that make you the perfect candidate for being a Chosen." She clarified stonily, her gaze almost uncomfortable. Link bowed his head in a silent question. "From my calculations, the Goddess chose you because you are determined to find the Spirit Maiden, the one that you know as Zelda, and hold an unbreakable spirit that is required to endure such challenges in her Mission."

Link sighed, yet said nothing for a long time. He held the Harp close to him, feeling Zelda's spirit circling her form around him and plucking at the strings. The Spirit of the Goddess Sword did not shift, pushing Link to express his thoughts. "If the Goddess... knew what was going to happen to me, why did she still choose me?"

"I am unable to decipher fully what the Goddess's intentions were for choosing you other than what I was programmed to recall; however I calculate a high chance that your confidence will altar no matter what answer you were provided with." Breathing out a small laugh over Fi's strange dialect, he smiled a little and nodded. "Do not despair, Master. The Goddess would not have chosen you because she wanted to mock her creation. She chose you because of your strength of will and determination."

Those words would remain with Link for the rest of his shortened life.


The next few times that Link had heard the sound of lyre strings throughout Goddess's Mission, in the Surface's darkest hour.

Link was sent forth to forge the Goddess Sword through the Sacred Flames in order to create a portal to the time and place where Zelda resided: the Gate of Time. He travelled through the Ancient Cistern in Faron Woods, then the Sandship in the Lanayru Province, and then the Fire Sanctuary in the Eldin Province, discovering were each Flame burned on through the inky blackness of fate.

The Seal around the abomination had to be strengthened once again before the Gate of Time could be formed into the world of reality, permitting Link to traverse the very flow of Time itself and follow its embrace to the past; six months after the Great War came to an end. There he met Impa once again and finally climbed up the steps of the Temple of Hylia, the Harp tucked under his arm clattering against the floor at the sight before him.

Zelda, the Spirit Maiden, the Girl with the Harp.

After so long of searching, she spun around with a gasp, ready to defend herself. However, when her eyes locked onto his, her lowered her arms and covered her mouth in sheer shock. Minutes passed, and Zelda lost the elegance put there by her own journey, rushing towards her childhood friend and drawing him into a tight embrace, tears all ready flowing. "I thought that I would never see you again..."

For the longest of time, they simply talked. Zelda's first question was obvious: how are you feeling? And, of course, Link immediately lied. "If I have been able to make it this far, then I can finish this, can't I?" He knew that he had been growing worse throughout the Mission, and was the whole reason why he was taking longer to move around because his energy was barely at a minimum constantly, and no amount of sleep would change that. He remembered how his mother was before she passed on, and she was just the same.

But she lasted five years after diagnosis; he most likely wouldn't last the year because of the Goddess's Mission.

And yet, Zelda still accepted the request to play for Link one last time, secretly hoping to the Old Gods that it was not the last time that they were together. "En daʃeʋu no be ʃondʊ, tʏe ʃʊtʊ keuænu sale. En daʃeʋu no be dʊʃʊ, tʏe ʃʊtʊ no be dezu dotʃe." After that, she encased herself into a large crystal, locked in a sleep that was never going to end until the Triforce was found, as Zelda's life now depended on it as well as his; it always had.


The final time that Link had heard the sound of lyre strings was after the downfall of Demise and the end of the Goddess's Mission, in the Surface's brightest hour.

The two stood in the courtyard of the Statue of the Goddess, scanning the horizon and staring up at the great Statue that watched over the Surface, the Golden Power returned to the Sacred Realm. Smiling wistfully, forgetting all for a moment, Zelda made a resolve as she stared at the face of who she once was as she spoke. "I... I think I want to live here. I always want to feel solid ground beneath my feet and see the clouds above my head." Her smile grew at she turned, cradling her Harp. "What about you, sleepyhead? What will you do?"

Her smile, however, faded when he sank slowly to his knees, too weak to even stand. With a startled gasp, Zelda raced forwards and caught him easily, lowering down to the ground with him. She held him close, the Harp lying forgotten on the ground beside the two of them. Link passed her a tiny smile, soft and genuine. "I want to stay with you..."

She smiled in response, but there was no doubt over what was happening. While Link's mother had barely lasted three years, he was never going to last nearly as long if he refused treatment and then kept going to all limits throughout the Goddess's Mission. He saw how badly his mother felt during her treatment, and wanted to live out the rest of his life as happily as possible. His life would have been shorter and more painful, yes, but at least he didn't feel as badly as his mother did.

"I-If you can hang on a little longer, then we can go back to—" She whispered, silent tears rolling down her cheek as Link suddenly grabbed her wrist. Their eyes met once, and he shook his head, knowing that there was no time. She glanced up once at the skies above, now open when the Triforce destroyed the cloud barrier that she had made, and then back down at her friend. Her emotions drove her into one action, and he did the same.

The two, love driving them forwards through everything that they had been through, leaned forwards and pressed their lips against each other. They held each other close as time went on, slowed in order to witness such a sight.

Minutes passed before they finally drew away, tiny smiles unable to mask the tears that they shared. "I-I love you." Zelda whispered, choking out a sob over the reality that she refused to face, but had no choice in the future.

His smile grew as he rasped: "I... I love you too..." He paused for a long time, and then guided his eyes down to the Harp on the ground, making sure that Zelda saw where he was looking. "Can you sing... for me? The song that... you always sing..."

Zelda didn't refuse. Brushing some hair out from his eyes, she reached over and rested the golden instrument against the crook of her elbow, as she had done the night that the news broke of such a tragedy, though did not want to close her eyes as the memories of younger and happier days flooded over her. She plucked the first few notes, then began. "En daʃeʋu no be ʃondʊ, tʏe ʃʊtʊ keuænu sale." Her tone was shaking the entire way through, yet she endured for Link's sake, knowing that this would most likely be the very last thing that he would ever hear: his song.

Her voice reflected across the courtyard as she elegantly sang the ancient melody, eyes focused on the boy as he glanced around the courtyard. As she hummed to the tune in a trembling tone, the words forgotten, Link no longer saw the skies above him as if he were on the Surface, but around him as if he were in the courtyard of the Statue of the Goddess when it was still attached to Skyloft.

Entranced, Zelda dragged her hand down the Harp, tears staining the Surface as she played the song backwards, the sounds and smells of Skyloft returning to not only Link, but the girl too. The sun beat down as it would on any Summer's day, sound of grass and trees rustling in the distance but a simple symphony that they loved. Colours and images blurred together from tears and weakness, the sound of the song all that remained.

"En daʃeʋu no be dʊʃʊ, tʏe ʃʊtʊ no be dezu dotʃe..." Zelda raised her finger from the last string, the note echoing around the entire courtyard before ceasing. Her breath hitched as she turned her gaze back down to Link, whose eyes were glazed over and barely open. Raising a shaky hand, she placed her thumb and forefinger over his eyelids and pulled down, closing them before breaking down from hysteria. She whispered apologies and declarations of love, but cried out for input of the Old Gods that she knew more than anything.

But that that point, she was no longer Hylia, but a distraught girl from Skyloft who had lost the boy that she had loved from the very first day that they had met.

The same day she had returned to her home with Link in her arms, the news of his sickness finally reaching the rest of the island. Joy over the return of the girl was blotted out by the eternal sadness formed from the loss of another and the secret that he had held for months on end until his death. As a community, they mourned and wished to honour the boy for all that he was and became, even if he was buried on the Surface at his request.

Zelda had renamed his song as the "Ballad of the Goddess" for two reasons. A ballad was any light or simple song, especially one of sentimental or romantic character, and she was the Goddess Reborn, something that she would not reveal until there was a time for it to be said; it would not happen for a long time. Her mourning would never be over, for it would last as long as her love for him: eternally.

"If people remember this song in the future, then they will carry you with them."

So, when the entirety of Skyloft stood in the courtyard of the Statue of the Goddess and celebrated his life, a lone spirit stood in the distance, a small smile upon its face. Zelda, through Hylia's Soul that had been returned to her after Demise's downfall, had the ability to see things that most mortals could not, and was the only person present who saw the lingering spirit. She was startled at first as the chant was about to begin, her Harp there to become the melody behind the magnificent song, but her mouth broke into a large, sad smile.

They both stared at each other as both her and the spirit sang the Ballad together with the rest of Skyloft, tears streaming down both of their faces as their hearts ached to to be together; just once more.

"En daʃeʋu no be ʃondʊ, tʏe ʃʊtʊ keuænu sale. En daʃeʋu no be dʊʃʊ, tʏe ʃʊtʊ no be dezu dotʃe."


Author's Note: Well, that certainly took a different turn than what I had expected for it to be. At first, I had wanted it to be a moment when Link first heard the Harp's song, then there would be a moment with Zelda in Lanayru, then with Link after the showdown at the Temple of Time, and finally a happy ending where they were together again through the power of the Goddess's Harp. Damn, I feel like a bad person for doing this. Anyway, please drop a rate and review to tell me what you thought of it, and I'll go and cry in a corner.

~RandomButLoved~