The Desert Colossus had changed since Link first visited. The dusty hallways and grand, cavernous chambers that bespoke an eternal isolation now exuded the stench of death. The echoes of his footsteps that could once be heard clearly throughout the spacious chambers were now muffled by the corpses of monsters.
He had been gone for three days, or so he thought. Zelda had told him nearly an entire year had passed since he left Hyrule. Considering what he had done to Time, Link supposed he should not be surprised.
But not even a year was long enough to be gone from the Gerudo Desert. It had not been an hour, and already sand had found its way into every opening of his tunic. The chafing alone would not have been so horrible, but the sun was fiercer here than anywhere else in Hyrule, and his tunic had soon grown soaked through with his sweat. It was all he could do to maintain his stoic demeanor against the wet, coarse grains that ground against his body with every movement.
He entered the central chamber. It was larger than he remembered. A square pillar dominated the center of the room, supporting a large platform whose shadow left him squinting in the darkness.
"Nabooru?" he called.
There was no answer.
Donning his gloves, he began the long climb up the stone ledges that were hewn into the side of the platform. He feared something had happened to her, but he was also afraid that she was alive and waiting for him.
"So the little boy has come to play once more. I should have expected you." Her low, thickly-accented voice echoed through the musty air. He could not tell from where it came. He stopped climbing, hanging meters above the ground. She could very well be lying in wait to slay him at the top.
"It has been a year, and the princess wishes a celebration," he yelled, projecting his voice as far as it would go. "Hyrule would see their savior."
For a long moment, all he could hear was his breath, rasping out in deep gasps. Then, her head appeared over the ledge above. The orange gem that had once adorned her forehead was absent, leaving a diamond impression that was slightly paler than the rest of her face. Her long red hair, covered in dust and sand, fell in thin strands about her shoulders.
"The little boy seeks my aid again." She laughed a deep, throaty laugh that made Link cringe. "After the triumphant success of his last campaign, who am I to deny him? Perhaps he should come up here and face me as the Hero of Time instead of dangling like a monkey."
Link had no choice but to continue his climb. He could feel her eyes on him, wide and unblinking. A half-smile crept upon her face.
Finally, he stood at the top, eye-to-eye with the Sage of Spirit. The year since the war had not been kind to her. Her scant clothing hung loose about her gaunt frame. Link shuddered at the sight of her clearly-visible ribs.
"You've changed," he said.
"And you are the exact same little boy as before," she replied. "One wonders how it is possible."
"Time has been unkind to us both, though she seems to take more of an interest in me."
"Of course she does." She exhaled bitterly through her nose and bent down so her face was at his level. "And should I take an interest in you as well?"
"You should take an interest in the land that you saved, or at least the temple that you guard. Its halls are filled with the same corpses from the war, rotting now, befouling your home with their vile stench. You have grown frail. Could you defend the temple from a new enemy? Could you even defend it from a keese?"
It was not Nabooru who stood before him. The survivor of the Gerudo was a strong woman, and proud. More vicious than a desert storm and beautiful as the red dawn. Who was this shadow that now resided in the temple?
"Not keese. Bokoblins from the east," she hissed. Nabooru limped away from him, slightly favoring her left leg. "The curse gone, their scouts trickle in to die by my blade. But who can hold them back now that Ganondorf's power has failed? Who will stand up to their hordes?" She whirled and glared at him. "A storm is coming, and no power in this world will hold it back."
"I will hold it," Link promised, "and all who stand with me. You have not yet seen my full strength, Nabooru."
She laughed again, until she fell wheezing to her knees, hands clasped around her belly.
"You could not even save Ruto," she said. The accusation stung, but he did not let it show.
"I have learned much in the year I was gone, and not least of all the value of friendship."
"There are no friends out there, nor anything else for me."
"If you believed that, you would have hidden yourself away and let me pass by. If you believed that, you would not have bothered to save our land."
Withered hands grabbed at his tunic, yanking him down on top of the sage.
"You left me to rot," she screamed at him. "After all I did for you, you left me to die. What were you doing, prancing about your forest? And now you come back only for a stupid festival."
She rotated her hips, and before Link knew it he was on his back, Nabooru straddling him. He tried to restrain her, but her ferocity overpowered him, and she beat at his face with all of her scant weight.
"You don't care, you never cared about the Gerudo! Did they deserve to die for their king's sins? I hate you!"
Her words hurt far more than her hands. He had no defense for her accusation, no words to soothe her anger. All he could do was wind his hands around her back and pull her too close to hit him. Had she been in her full strength, he could not have even managed this meager defence. He held her until the violent strain of her back against his arms turned to the shudder of wracking sobs.
"I will not leave you again," he promised. "Hyrule is my home now. Let it be yours. Live."
"No. Not for you. Not for anyone." She pushed herself off him and stalked to the edge of the platform. "You may spend the night, but you will return to your princess in the morning, little boy."
"Is there no hope then?" Link asked.
"Not while he still lives," she hissed. Then she dropped off the pillar and was gone.
Link, for his part, sat long in the chamber, thinking on what he had learned.
He couldn't sleep. The temple creaked with strange noises, and the cold stone was rough against his skin. He had come too close to death too many times in that place to ever feel comfortable. After stretching out the kinks in his back, he ascended to the roof. If he was lucky, there would be a calming night breeze.
He found Nabooru already sitting there, staring transfixed at the luminescent mirror.
"Such a small thing. Such a magical thing," she muttered. "One wonders if it is safe. One wonders if it has all been for naught."
"It is the safest place we know," Link said, reaching up to place a hand on her bare shoulder. "Only the Sacred Realm is more secure, but we dare not forever seal away the Master Sword."
"Only when he is dead will Hyrule be safe from my king," Nabooru promised. "Come, hero. Show me this strength I know not and slay him for good."
"I cannot," Link said. "I dare not. By some divine prank, he has Power once more, and we know not how to remove it."
He still remembered the scene as if it happened last week (and by a certain reckoning it had). A flash of unspeakable magic, and in an instant the full force of Courage had returned to him. By the time he had recovered from the shock, Ganondorf's chains were broken, and the Sage of Water lay dead at his feet.
"Then you merely leave him for another people of another time to deal with. Does that comfort you, hero, knowing that it is not you but your descendants whom he will slaughter?"
"Mine is not the gift of wisdom," he said slowly, "nor the gift of lore. But this I know for certain: though Ganondorf is my equal, I have not the strength to slay Ganon. The dark beast is a power greater than I can even comprehend."
"Then all is for naught." The Gerudo sank to her knees. Link knelt in front of her, forcing her to look at him.
"Zelda told me that when the first Hylians came to this land, those that remained behind scoffed at their efforts. The world was too big. We would get lost in its depths. We could not possibly survive away from our home.
"And yet, we taught ourselves to ride horses, making the world smaller. When cliffs stood in our way we learned to climb them. The land was overrun with hordes of monsters, and yet we held them off. Though we had no architects, we learned to build, and soon the glorious castle of Hyrule stood over the river to hold off any invasion. We took the bomb flower and improved it. We invented potions of remarkable quality. We even grew so powerful as to subjugate the Gorons during the Great War.
"We have elaborate locks guarding the Master Sword, a temple of light floating in a place we know not, a portal to another world that we formed in defiance of all the laws of nature.
"We have grown strong indeed, and we will grow stronger still. If someone from the birth of Hyrule could see what magic we now possess, they would scarce believe it. How much more powerful will we then be a thousand years hence, nay even a hundred years?
"One day there will come a man with the strength to slay the beast. Until that day comes he will remain safely locked away in the land of eternal twilight.
"I swear on my blood as a Hylian, and on my blade, and by the goddesses, that your sacrifice was not in vain."
He turned, and they gazed at the mirror - reflecting the endless starry night - together. Somewhere beyond in space unknown lay the Twilight Realm. Would Ganon be writhing in pain, suffering for all he had killed? Link doubted it. They had not served justice on that day, one year ago. They had saved Hyrule for a time, nothing more. Other threats would arrive, and Link would stand ready to face them.
"It is beautiful," Nabooru whispered. "More vast than magic, more grand than the great temples."
"Then defend it with me," Link prompted. "Defend the beauty of the world from those who would seek to mar it. The Hero of Time is merely he who fights together with the sages. I need you, Nabooru."
She was silent. Atop the desert tower, time seemed to slow, leaving the two in a moment of perfect stillness, surrounded on all sides by the white sands and black sky.
"I will go with you to Hyrule," she said at length through clenched teeth. "I do not promise to stay."
Link clasped her hand. "That is all I ask."
A/N: Thanks for reading. As you can see, I tried to imply the backstory rather than outright explaining it. I'd really like to know how it worked. Did you get what was going on? What parts were confusing? I'd love to hear from you!
Also, thank you to ArchAngelleofJustice for beta-ing