"You... Curse you..." Link was standing next to Zelda, after the battle with the Gerudo king Ganondorf. "Curse you... Zelda..." They watched, as the sages trapped him and sealed him in the void of the Evil Realm. "Curse you... Sages..." Ganondorf was cursing all of them in his hatred and lust for revenge. "Curse you... Link!" Link flinched slightly at the mention of his name, he had severe wounds after the battle. Both cuts, burns and bruises. His breath was staggered because of his broken ribs, and he was leaning heavily on Zelda, as he was unable to support himself on his broken leg. He had won, but barely. If it hadn't been for Zelda, he would be dead by now.

"Some day... When this seal is broken... That is when I will exterminate your descendants!" Link looked at Princess Ruto as he said this. Their eyes locked. They had been in love since they were reunited in the Water Temple. He had intended to keep his promise of marrying her after all of this was over. "As long as the Triforce of Power is in my hand..." He was cut off by the seal closing around him.

Link gasped as he felt his wounds heal, his leg snapped back in place and his ribs mended themselves. He stood up normally, and Zelda turned to face him. "Thank you, Link." She smiled. "Thanks to you, Ganondorf has been sealed inside the Evil Realm." She took a step back. "Thus, peace will once again reign in our world... For a time." She bowed her head in shame. "All the tragedy that has befallen Hyrule is my doing... I was so young..." She sighed. "I could not comprehend the consequences of trying to control the Sacred Realm."She looked up at him. "I dragged you into it too. Now it is time for me to make up for my mistakes.

"You must lay the Master Sword to rest and close the Door of Time. However, by doing this, the road between times will be closed." Link blinked. "What?" Zelda sighed again and reached her hand out. "Give the ocarina to me, Link." Link hesitated. "Why?" Zelda shook her head. "As a sage, I am able to use it to return you to your own time." Link looked at Ruto, he could see a tear glistening in her eye, he looked back to Zelda. "Give me a minute." Zelda nodded.

He walked up to Ruto, and wiped a tear from her eye. "Stay with me." She whimpered and buried her face in his shoulder. Link looked at Zelda, who shook her head, a tear glistening in her eye as well. "I'm sorry, Ruto, but he can't stay in this time." Ruto began crying, Link hugged her tightly and whispered in her ear. "I will find you, when I get back. I promise."

"Link..." Zelda calmly called out to him. "When peace returns to Hyrule, it will be time for all of us to say good-bye." Link reluctantly let go of his loved one, and turned to face Zelda. "Can you send her back as well?" Ruto looked at Zelda. "Please, Zelda, I beg you! Send me back with him!" She fell on her knees, begging Zelda to allow her to stay with her lover. Zelda shook her head. "I'm sorry, Ruto, but I can't do it." Ruto, still crying, stood up, and hugged Link tightly.

Link handed his ocarina to Zelda, and hugged Ruto back. Zelda started playing, and after the song was finished, Link vanished from Ruto's arms. Ruto sat on the ground and cried. She didn't stop until she had run out of tears to shed, and nothing Zelda or any of the other sages said could comfort her. Yes, Link would find her, in his own time, but in this time she would remain alone, her first and only love having literally disappeared in her arms.

Link was returned to his own time, as a child. He had once again gathered the three gems. And returned them to Zelda, and they both hid in Zora's Domain. Link had lived among the Zoras for seven years, and grown up along with Ruto, until he was ready to open the Door of Time, and draw the Master Sword. Now that he was old enough, he was ready to fight Ganondorf, who was unable to use his full power, because he lacked the Triforce of Power. Link effortlessly defeated him, and shortly afterwards, he was executed, and Hyrule lived in peace for years to come.

Zelda had returned to her throne, and Link had stayed with Ruto in the Zora's Domain. Soon after, they married, and about two years later, a young, Half-Zora daughter came to the world. Her name was Alela. Young Alela had a natural skill with a sword, however, she would under no circumstances use a sword fit for her small size. She wanted a sword the same size as that of her father, and so, she was trained to use a sword of normal length and weight. Even when she was grown up, she would prefer using a sword normally too large for someone her size, so Link took her to Death Mountain, where the master smith, Biggoron, made a sword for her. While waiting for the sword to be made, they spent a few days in the Goron City. Where Alela met the young Goron Toko. The two quickly became friends, and when Alela's sword was finished, they went on several adventures throughout Hyrule together. And this is where our story begins.

Two years later, Alela, at the age of 16, and her friend Toko, at the age of 18, had just left Lon Lon Ranch after a nights rest, and had continued on their latest adventure, toward Kokiri Forest.

"Alela! could we stop for a rest? I'm getting tired!" Toko was walking lazily a few feet behind his friend, the hands on his long arms dragging across the ground. Alela shot him an annoyed glare. "We woke up just twenty minutes ago, and you're already tired? I thought you Gorons were supposed to be tough." Toko grunted slightly. "I can be tough when I'm not tired." He yawned loudly as to prove his point, and then curled up. "Oh no you don't!" Alela rushed over to him and started pushing and shoving with all her might. But to no avail. Even though she had inherited the abnormal strength of her father, the young Goron was simply too heavy for her to move. She sighed in frustration, and crawled on top of the rock like creature, and sat there, waiting for him to wake up.

As she sat on top of the sleeping Goron, she saw silhouette riding on horseback not far from her. She couldn't see the person clearly, because of the morning sun in her eyes, she could tell the stranger was headed in the same direction she was, to Kokiri Forest. "Toko! Toko, wake up!" She tapped the Goron, hoping to wake him up, but he didn't move. "Toko!" She planted a firm punch on top of her friend, but this didn't wake him up either, it only resulted in Alela hurting her own hand. "Ow! Oh for Din's sake, Toko! Just wake up already!" Alela slid off her sleeping companion, and formed a round flute with her hands. She tried to remember the correct tunes, and then she blew into her hands, playing the song that would call her father's loyal horse, Epona, to her.

The horse in the distance stopped, and Alela could almost feel the eyes of the rider locking with her own. The rider steered the horse toward Alela, and it didn't take long before she could see the colors of his clothing. Soon after, she recognized her father, dressed in a green tunic, similar to the blue one she would usually see him in. "Alela? What are you doing here?" Link brought Epona to a stop next to his daughter, and slid off the saddle. Alela shrugged. "Toko and I are just out exploring Hyrule, our own homes are getting kinda boring after sixteen years." She looked into her father's blue eyes. "But what are you doing here, anyways?" She asked. Link sent her a coy smile, and shrugged as well. "You're right, staying in your home for years does get boring. I was on my way to visit an old friend of mine." Alela blinked. "You're friends with a Kokiri? How did you manage that?" Once again, Link shrugged. "I spent most of my childhood in the forest, even though I'm not a Kokiri myself. My mother, whom I never knew, left me there in the care of the Great Deku Tree." Alela stared at him. "How come you never told me that?" Link was about to shrug for the third time, but stopped himself and just shook his head. "You never asked. Besides, I don't know much about it." Alela sat down on the ground and leaned against the sleeping Goron. "Tell me what you know."

Link told her the story the Deku Tree Sprout had once told him, of how Hyrule had been plunged into a civil war after the death of Vaati the Wind Mage, and how his mother, mortally wounded, had hidden in the Kokiri Forest, where she left her son in the care of the Great Deku Tree. When his story was finished, Alela sat there, thinking about what she'd heard. "Who told you this?" Link had intentionally left out exactly who had told him his story, as it would raise too many unwanted questions about his time traveling adventure. He shrugged. "The Deku Tree." Alela nodded. "Well, Toko and I were on our way to the Kokiri Forest anyways, so I might as well see if I can meet this tree of yours." With that, she leapt off the Goron, and held a hand out toward her father. "Can I borrow one of your bombs?" she asked him. Link hesitated slightly. "What for?" She nodded toward Toko. "Gorons are hard to wake up once they fall asleep, but a sudden, loud noise should do the trick." Link pulled a bomb out of his bag, and handed it to his daughter. After doing so, he climbed onto Epona. "I suppose you know the way?" Alela nodded. "I'll see you there." Link kicked the old horse's flanks, and rode off toward the forest.

…

"Next time you feel the need to blow something up, Alela, make sure I'm not that something!" Toko was walking next to his friend, an annoyed expression stretched across his face. "My ears are still ringing." Alela sighed. "You're the one who chose to fall asleep only twenty minutes after we left the ranch." Toko grunted. "That doesn't justify trying to blow me up! Where did you even get that bomb?" She smiled. "My father gave it to me." Toko blinked. "Your father came by here? What is he doing in this side of the kingdom? I thought he wanted to spend the majority of his time with your mother." She shrugged. "He said he wanted to visit one of his old friends." The Goron raised one of his thick eyebrows "In the Kokiri Forest?" Alela sighed and gave him quick rundown of her conversation with her father.

About twenty paces behind them, crouched down behind a rock, a figure was watching the two friends as they made their way to the Kokiri Forest. The figure bowed its head. "I will avenge you, my king. I will take from the hero, what he took from us. I will take his future and his legacy, his love and his friends. And when he is completely crushed by sorrow, I will take his life."