Author's Note: To those who may have read "Time's End", this is very much alike, and this is mainly because Time's End was going to be the story; I think so anyway. Still, please pay close attention to the Extra Note beneath, as it is necessary that you understand how this story came to be, because I don't want to take all of the credit for writing this.

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

Extra Note: The concept of this story does not technically belong to me. "Legionary Prime" was the one who suggested the idea to me not long after the completion of a previous story of mine, Ancient Roots, and therefore any credit should go to them rather than myself. They allowed me to write this story, as they believed that they would not write it in the near future, so go check them out.

"We throw ourselves into the journey and when it's done, even while having learned that all experience involves the loss of something beloved, what is left in the residue of memory is love."

~Aidan Harley~

Girl of the Dream

Chapter 1: Separated

"So... you've finally decided to leave this land of Hyrule, haven't you?" I spin on my heel, gasping in shock and releasing the reigns of my horse suddenly, causing them to snort in response and kick lightly at the drawbridge beneath our feet. He stands before the edge of Town, just as content as he always is, even if I am choosing to leave him here no matter how long for. He steps forwards, and I force my stiff limbs into movements. Dawn barely lights up the world around us, the grass rustling and beckoning for me to flee

"I..."

He smirks a little, patting my horse tenderly. "I'm surprised that you didn't leave three months ago when they first introduced him to you, in all honesty. If you're ready to make a point, you do it as fast as possible, not wait until the moon crashes to the earth." I swallow thickly and bow my head, seeing the truth radiating out from him. His grin softens into a simple smile as he forces my chin up. "I'm not here to stop you."

I take a step back, wrenching myself from his grip. "You aren't? I thought that you would be the first to object."

He strokes my arm a little, sending a warm feeling through my chest. "Even though it was a short time, I have known you for what feels like forever, and that means that I know you enough to understand what you're like." He clarifies, shrugging a little. "I'll never forget the days that we spent together in Hyrule, but I believe that we'll meet again someday. Though hopefully in a few days time when your Father sends the search party out and sends me to the dungeons because I knew." He pauses. "Unless I come with you."

I laugh lightly, yet we both know that it's clearly forced upon me. "You know that I can't do that." His kind hearted smile drops, causing my stomach and heart to do the same. "I'm only leaving to prove that I don't want the chains of my duty to be tightened through a law that was long forgotten about. I will claim the throne without one at my side, and we both know that I won't go down without a fight."

"Where will you go?"

I exhale, ready to leave and be free from such an interrogation. "Wherever it takes in order to prove my point. My life is all ready solitary enough, and I don't want it to be even worse than it all ready is." Without hesitation, I mount my horse no matter how much he tries to stop me. He stands in front of my horse, and I can feel the world awakening. I need to leave, flee, do whatever it must to prove that I am grown up and must take care of my own situation, no matter what my status may be. "Stand aside."

"Not until you take this." My eyes widen when he removes an Ocarina from his pocket and hands it to me. When I push it away, his eyes steel over and he forces my fingers to wrap around the delicate instrument as it sparkles in the morning glory, my longing solidified in the single object in the palm of my hand. "If something should ever happen to you and you can't come home, then remember the Song that reminds you of us."

My stomach twists up, and I can feel the heat stinging at the edges of my eyes, not entirely from the sun's rays. "I... I will."

His hand clench into fists, then open up again as he sighs. "If you do not permit me to follow you, then I will carry on my duty to serve you and this country here; alone. You may discard me, refuse your care for me, but I will still choose to follow beside you." I start to protest, straight away not wanting to accept his sharp words, however he steps in immediately. "The Goddess of Time is protecting you wherever I cannot, and I pray that your journey be safe, and that you return with the ability to treat me as a friend and not a slave."

He steps aside, leaving the way ahead completely clear. I stare out into the open world, taking his hand into my own and not daring to look at the cobalt eyes that demand an answer from my lips. "I... I'm sorry." I squeeze it once, then kick my horse into a gallop, tears streaming down my face as the shadows of morn submerge him, leaving me alone without anyone to stand at my side.

~*O*~

It is the sunlight that pierces my eyes which wakes me, drawing me to the conclusion that my cheeks are moist with tears. Rapidly blinking my eyes, the world around me comes to life as the dream drifts to the back of my mind. I cautiously sit myself upright, wiping away the tears from my face without a care in the world. The dream brushed against my consciousness, but I feel like I know that snippet from somewhere.

I know you, Link...

Shaking my head, a sudden gust of wind cuts at my side, causing the grass to tickle at my legs as I stand. The sun barely rises over the horizon of Ikana Canyon, highlighting the death and decay that drifts in from that specific region. The warm breeze blows against my dark skirt, the sunlight hot against my skin. Despite my attempts to ignore what I had seen in my slumber, my mind and heart does not want to.

That dream sends chills across my body every time that I think about it, and yet I can't seem to forget the concept of it. I feel, deep down, as if it has connected to me in such a way that any old memory (or old scar) would, leaving me with a deep sense of yearning and passion. I hold a hand over my hand, staring down at my bare toes in the grass. I remember Link as a childhood friend, however not his fate and how we came to part in such a way, but if what I saw was true: it was not a pleasant experience.

I stare out at the Fields around the me, the wildflowers content as they shake in the breeze, them and the grass caressing my skin. I kneel down and pluck a flower from the ground, sniffing it. Within a fraction of a second, am I transported to the same Field that had been in my dream, though it had been very different compared to Termina Field. A variety of colours had been sprawled across that plain of beauty, and yet it is nothing but a figment of my imagination.

"I'm not here to stop you."

When I look back up, I still see what I had seen in my dream. Every time that I blink, it flickers between Termina Field and the one that does not exist.

I... I must go... Staggering backwards, I choose to turn away from Termina Field. I pick up my feet and spin around, looking over my shoulder once to see if he stands in the Fields, but I am severely disappointed. Shaking my head, I step back towards the eastern gate leading into Clock Town, where I have stayed for many years now. As I pass through, a guard there acknowledges me. "Morning, Miss." I smile and wave as I slip on through the gateway, returning to the home that I have known for many years on end now.

Winter has not long since passed, leaving a lingering chill to the air that clings to nature, refusing to release itself far too soon and allow Spring to take over. Clock Town was beautiful when it snowed, lost in a sheen layer of white like a veil. Thankfully it has long since passed for the time when the Carnival of Time is to begin, leaving us with the ability to stay outside underneath the glowing sun all day and all night in order to pay full homage to the Four.

The Carnival of Time takes place once a year when the sun and moon come into alignment (also known as a Solar Eclipse), and the people of Termina pay homage to this never ending cycle of nature through this celebration in order to request prosperity for the year to come. In the modern years, it has begun to become customary to also pay homage to the Four by wearing handmade masks that resembles them.

"Miss! Hey, Miss!" I feel a tug on the hem of my skirt, causing me to turn around in curiosity. I smile down at the young girl whose dark hair is tied back, their grey-green eyes sparkling in the afternoon light. One hand is tucked behind their back, the other clasped around a small piece of paper that waves as they bounce across the balls of their feet. I kneel before them, though am not allowed any time to speak before she has placed the piece of paper in my hand and ran back off to who I presume is her mother.

I can't help but tilt my head at the sight in my hand.

The drawing is done in ink, I think, and depicts me next to the Clock Tower on a sunny day much like today. However, what I wear is extremely different to what I wear at the moment. A long pink gown flows down my figure, my blonde hair left down instead of drawn back across my scalp, a golden crown sat atop the peak of my skull. Something has been drawn onto my left hand, though I discard it as nothing more than a smudge, staring as the little girl stares back at me before skipping off towards North Clock Town with her mother.

I smile a little more and fold up the drawing, placing it into my pocket. Children and their imaginations, I can't help but think as I move on, shuffling past Madame Aroma's dog. Keeping to myself, I pass through the large courtyard and towards a building tucked away into the Town, pushing open the door gently. The warm early spring breeze ceases as I close the door behind me, the sounds of clattering cutlery ringing through my ears.

The Stock Pot Inn has been my home for the past couple of years, as the young woman who helps to tend this place allowed me to stay here when I had arrived in Termina. Those experiences had been rather fuzzy and disorientated, although I was told that I had been found stumbling out of the Clock Tower before falling unconscious. I don't know why, nor can I awaken any thoughts when I return to the Tower, but the feeling in my gut that there is something else to it.

"Zelda, my dear!" I snap my head over to the main desk in the lobby, watching as the same young woman who had found me appears from the kitchen and leaps up onto the desk, swinging her legs over so that she can sit atop the table. Her dark hair falls around her face perfectly, blue eyes glimmering with happiness, though are clouded with a sense of loss that the entire Town knows about. She would be married at this time four days from now, however her fiancé, Kafei, has been missing for at least a month now.

"Anju!" I break into a forced smile and move forwards to meet her, clasping my hands together as my dream is completely forgotten about. "Have you heard any news yet?" Her solemn glance at my eyes is all that I need, and I swallow thickly, regretting saying anything at all. "But that's all right, as I'm sure that he'll come back for the big day. You've all ready got enough on your plate with sorting the Inn for the Carnival, so if you need me to help you in any way at all then I'll be fine to do so."

She smiles too, but that too is darkened by the lingering shadow of sorrow. "It's all right, I—"

"Anju!" A shrill cry radiates out from the kitchen, immediately followed by a crash of ceramics. The both of us cringe at the audacity, then Anju sighs as she leaps off of the main desk with a forced grin that she plasters on for the guests. "We need to prepare the food for the Carnival, and I can't have you slacking off so close to the big day!" It is her mother, from the elegance in her tone, yet she seems more stressed than Anju ever could be, which is something to marvel at.

I shrug and hug Anju before she leaves, though before she leaves she does manage to whisper in my ear: "I'm glad that I found you."

Watching her hurry away, her figure shrinking into the shadows of the Inn, I am desperate to run after her, but I know fully well that I can't disturb her, nor can I ask her to expand on something that I all ready know about. Reeling backwards, I press the back of my skull against the wallpaper that peels off of the wall by itself, a sign of the decaying spirit in this place. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Anju's Grandmother knitting outside of the kitchen, watching me intently.

"So desperate to remember." She mumbles, smiling sadly as her eyes flicker between me and her knitting. "So desperate to return to the light. It's a shame it won't happen..."

The rest of the day is spent laying on my bed or aimlessly walking about Clock Town when I become too angry with staring at the same four walls over and over again, my dream no longer evading my thought process. I bump into the Terminans more than often, muttering what I can do of an apology before hurrying off again, returning to my room before it was too late. No matter where I go, I keep seeing him as if he were with me now, like a scar that just keeps coming back and making me want to scratch at it constantly.

But I don't want to. I don't want to keep seeing the pain of our parting over an over, a parting that only existed in a dream and did not physically happen. I know nothing of "Hyrule", nor what my once duties were, though it was me, and I know that boy from somewhere. My heart is desperate to know, and will not let it go until I have no choice but to. "So desperate to remember." With an angry cry, I throw my book across the room, the pages spiralling out of control as it smashes against the ground, the spine taking most of the impact.

As I reach down it pick it up, the setting sun reflects onto a page that I had not noticed before. It depicts numerous instruments, one that I recognise instantly. It is the same Ocarina that he had given me in my dream, one more blue than the deepest oceans or brightest skies in existence, and with a strange insignia near the top of the mouth piece. I tilt my head, even more perplexed as I snap the book shut and return it to the shelf, pouring water into the fireplace once coming to terms that the sun is pretty much set.

Once the sun sets, I take on my new identity with ease.

I clamber up the walls surrounding South Clock Town with relative ease, using the bricks that jolt out of place as my supports to aid me in my climb. The walls dominate over Clock Town, even if the Clock Tower itself still ambushes the walls by its sheer height, leaving me with the only perfect view of the rest of Termina that exists around here. I recall the guards panicking when I had first began to set my territory up here, believing that I was attempting to take my life, however have soon grown used to the existence of the "Girl on the Wall".

Pulling free my telescope from my belt, I allow my legs to dangle over the edge of the wall and point the telescope heavenward, using one hand to support the main body and the other to wrap around the focus tube. Peering into the lens, the sky comes to life around me. My lips tug upward as the fabric of the sky reveals the gateway to another world, one that exists only in my imagination.

I recall what Professor Shikashi, the leader Observer at the Astral Observatory on the outskirts of Clock Town, had told me once about star gazing. "Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels." It hadn't taken me long to understand his concept, and it had taken even less time for his words to come true before my very eyes. Along the horizon did the stars rise into the sky, and they do the exact same tonight, almost like a show for one.

Twisting the telescope, the stars glisten as I search across the sky. I tilt my head as some of the stars brighten before my eyes, and I manage to draw out the shape of a triangle in the sky. Something tugs at the back of my mind that screams to be remembered, but I can't grasp it enough to feel the memory that I want to see so badly. I shake my head and stare further into the design in the sky, most of the common constellations such as Four's Belt darker compared to the other stars.

The triangle like the insignia on the Ocarina.

"So... you've finally decided to leave this land of Hyrule, haven't you?" I pull away the telescope from my face and turn, finding no one there despite the sensation of him whispering the same thing in my ear. "I'm surprised that you didn't leave three months ago when they first introduced him to you, in all honesty. If you're ready to make a point, you do it as fast as possible, not wait until the moon crashes to the earth."

I peer back into the glass and point my gaze up to the moon in the distance, strange shadows across its formation scaring me. "But you aren't here to stop me, are you?" I whisper, begging that I am not loud enough to be heard. "Chains of duty bound me, and so you cannot come with me." I lower the object, shoulders slumping. "I never saw you again..."

"The Goddess of Time is protecting you wherever I cannot—" I shake my head more violently this time. No... stop... "—and I pray that your journey be safe, and that you return with the ability to treat me as a friend and not a slave."

"I know who you are, Link, but not where you are from, nor who I am to be!" I cry out suddenly, pushing myself to my feet and staring down the skies. "Four Guardians of this land, please hear my plea! I may not know where I had come from before I came here, for I know that there was another time bound to me before this one, but I do not want to suffer. I do not want him to suffer! He is not my slave, and all I ask is that I return to him, no matter what happens in the future."

My words carry far off into the distance, and I pray that my words fly on far enough to reach the ears of the Four. Slumping to the ground, I sit down on my knees atop the walls, silent tears dropping down my cheeks as the wind picks up without warning. I don't understand why I have been chosen to forget such things, nor why I have a feeling that I am forgetting something in the first place. I could stay here, content with what life I have, and leave it at that.

It is the guards that ask me to return to my home, and I drag my feet along the cobbles as I trudge back towards the Stock Pot Inn, the sensation expanding more and more, blossoming from my heart and infecting the rest of my system. I just know that I have to had remembered at least one memory from my childhood, whether it be positive or negative, and not have just a hazy fuzz in place of it. I hug my body close to myself as I pass the doors of the Clock Tower, angry and terrified for the future of this meaningless life.

The sound of large doors groaning open startles me, and I gasp in shock when a sudden voice speaks out to me, shadow of a head peeking around the doors to the Clock Tower so that they can speak to me. "Ah, it seems that you've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"

~Interlude~

Impa knocked once, then again when no response came, exhaling deeply and attempting with all of her will not to simply break down the door entirely and break inside. The boy hadn't even bothered to step outside of his chambers for twenty four hours, the supposed protector of Time discarding his duties for his country in order to follow a concept that would lead to nothing. The Sheikah's patience was wavering thinly, leaving her with very little choices left to make.

"Don't make me come in there, kid. I've all ready had to have made more than enough excuses for you absence, and I can't afford to make any more." She pounded once more against the door, which, in turn, headed no physical response. Impa huffed one last time before forcing her body against the door and breaking the lock open, stumbling inside and readying herself for anything other than what she actually saw.

The room was completely dark, the only light permitted to shine coming from the soft candlelight on the desk. The entire floor was littered with cold, dead ends and meaningless conspiracies that held no significance to anyone in the ordinary world, even if it was not an ordinary world. And yet, he sat in the midst of it all, body hunched over piles of theories that were nothing but that. Impa closed the door behind her, crossing over and pulling the curtains open.

Spinning back around, she noticed how the boy simply did not react to the sunlight, merely bending even more over his work in a silent state. The Sheikah, narrowing her eyes, knelt down and grabbed his shoulder, spinning him around in order for him to fully meet her gaze. It was obvious that he hadn't slept in a few days at the very least, his eyes blurry with wilting focus. "You're driving yourself insane..." She whispered, only realising now how serious the situation had taken.

Ever since the Princess had left and never returned, it seemed that there would be no hope for Hyrule. There was no heir to the throne, only a King who was close to his deathbed, and therefore no one who protect the fine Kingdom when danger would strike; and it would. It was the Hero of Time who stood up and volunteered to take on whatever duties that he could before destiny called for him to arise again. After that, he was never seen walking the grounds of Hyrule as he was known for doing, locked away in order to work on what he could.

What the Kingdom failed to realise, however, is that he had spent all of that time searching for the true heir to the throne.

Impa leaned over his shoulder, squinting at the tiny writing on one of the sheets that she actually recognised. It showed part of a map that most likely was translated from old parchment due to its simplicity. In the north stood a large mountain, one that resembled Death Mountain, to the south stood a swamp that stretched far across the land, to the east lay a deep valley, and the west was covered with a coastline that was not like the edges of Hyrule. The Sheikah recognised it instantly. "Termina is a myth, Link, and—"

"And a Sheikah story that isn't a myth whatsoever, because people have been there and come back before." He retorted near immediately, cutting Impa off before she could finish. He whirled back around and gestured to the map, spreading out the pieces of paper beneath it that revealed more secrets about the land of Termina. "If the Princess went through there, then I may be able to bring her back from there too."

"Do you not understand that you may befall the same fate of the Princess if you embark on such a place?" The Sheikah immediately retorted, a glimmer of anger and fear crossing over her crimson eyes. "There are numerous legends about the supposed mythical plain of Termina, and if the name didn't unnerve those who connected it to "terminal" all ready, then the stories would work just as well. For the few who have been said to escape, they either died a slow and painful death alone, or suffered physical and mental torture as they drastically went insane."

"But no one can prove that. If anything, it's something to scare the children."

He was sent a harsh glare. "I've seen first hand what that plain has done to the poor old Souls who had ventured there, and I don't want any more people, not even you, to even step in the direction of Termina." She paused for a moment. "And besides, you have more than enough duties that you volunteered to take up in Zelda's place. You know fully well that you have larger duty to this country that she would want you to focus on."

His eyes narrowed. "I am not finding another and ruling this country when there is a woman far better at doing such a job. I am the Hero of Time, not King of Hyrule, and there is no chance that I can be both. With all of the potential Queens that have been thrown at me, especially those who are only here for the power of the throne..." He recalled Cia in particular, grimacing at the thought. "I don't want this duty, because I protect this country in my own way, and ruling it is the job of Princess Zelda, not of me. I'm the only one who seems to think that."

The Sheikah suddenly grabbed the boy's shirt and hoisted him to his feet, drawing his face within millimetres of her own. "Do you not think that us Sages have been working ourselves to the ground to find her?" She growled, tone laced with venom. "If you weren't so caught up in your own little world, you would have noticed that the Sages haven't been together once over the past two years, and this country has been falling into decline because you can't do what you were chosen to do."

His face paled, devoid of all colour. "But I..."

"If you want to go and find Death, then I won't stop you, you ignorant fool!" She continued without hesitation, eyes glittering with anger. "If you want to leave this country and everything that you fought for just so you can die in vain, then go on right ahead, because you don't understand that none of us want to see the both of you gone. It doesn't matter what duties either of you have, as we don't want you to die because of them."

He bowed his head, deeply ashamed. Then, without hesitation, he finally met Impa's eyes with a renewed courage. "I'll save Hyrule from what it now faces, Impa, I promise."

Less than twenty four hours later, everything changed.

It was no surprise that when the sun rose again to signal the dawn of the next day, Impa entered the boy's room to find nothing but an empty space, all weapons cleared away, one or two mementoes and clothes that were unnecessary left on the desk. The bed was cleanly made, the only time that it ever was, as if no one had slept in it that night. Impa stared on, filled with rage at first, then soon came to her about what he had promised the day before.

Impa crossed over to the desk, eyes locking onto the half melted candle from the day before, then onto the single Light Arrow that lay atop the desk, almost like a sign for Impa. The Sheikah picked up the Arrow and studyed it, the golden Arrow shining in the light of dawn. Gritting her teeth and releasing acry of both anger and sadness, she whirl around and threw the Arrow across the room, hearing it snap when it collided against the wall. It fell to the floor with a quiet sound.

The Princess was missing, her Hero gone to save her. The Sages had nothing left to do but pray that Hyrule did not enter another dark hour without their Chosen to save it.

Author's Note: Well, I hope that this was all right and a little different to Time's End. I would like to note that if this does become a full length story, then Zelda does remember Link, however does not remember how she was Princess of Hyrule, nor any of the Sages or her life there, not even that he was the Hero of Time in one part of history. All she remembers is that he was a friend to her, and they have parted somehow, and the dream/memory is linked to it.

Please drop a rate and review if you haven't all ready, and please note if you would like for this to become a full length story, because I would like to know.

*The quote that Zelda mentions: "Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels.", is from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie.

~RandomButLoved~