DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE ORIGINAL CHAPTER FOUR!

I do not own the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask. They belong to Nintendo.

Using this chapter may have ended the story right here, or at least cut it down substantially. There are a few things I could have done with this (a prison romance? a daring rescue by the princess?), but they all sounded trite.


"The.. Ocarina of Time...?" Zelda took the shining blue instrument in her hands. "Play it." She thrust it back at Link.

"Um, play what?"

"Anything."

Tenderly, he placed the mouthpiece to his lips and began to play the solemn tune that was the Song of Time. As he played, Zelda closed her eyes and seemed to drift into a light sleep. When he reached the last few notes, she awakened, her powdery eyes sharper, brighter.

She stood up slowly, not bothering to take the ocarina from his hands, but to stand in front of him and stared into his eyes. "I've missed you." Zelda tentatively took his face in her hands and brought her lips up to his. She pulled back after a few seconds, "I've wanted to do that since I very first met you."

Link stared at her, a baffled expression painted on his face. "Since Tuesday?"

Zelda giggled, "No, since we were ten, way back in the courtyard, remember? You were the only once who didn't think I was crazy! Wow, that was, what? Eight years ago? Or would you count is as, say, fifteen?"

Had she just remembered? Just like that? How could it be true? Link stared at her, trying to note a difference. It took him only a few moments to spot the change in her eyes. The darker, more intense irises caught his attention. He was thrown into a flashback, trying to remember which eyes were right.

I stand in the middle of the Temple of Time. I see Sheik there. He descends from the stairs and stands on a slightly raised platform. "I think it's time I confess who I truly am," he says, his voice expressionless and emotionless. He takes a strong stance and holds out his left hand. A triangle, the Triforce, glows.

I stand back as the light fills the room. Could it be? It was impossible... but it is! Where Sheik had stood only moments earlier, the stunning Princess of Hyrule now stood. I walk closer to her, one step at a time. I take her in. "I should have told you, but I had to keep my identity a secret, for my safety, and the safety of my country."

I cannot control myself. I take her into a quick embrace. It is so good see her alive and well. I look at her, her brilliant and intense blue eyes shining...

He should have been happy to see that she was herself again. He should have been bouncing off the walls to know that Zelda remembered everything. Instead, Link dropped his arms and turned away. The back of his neck tickled. Something was off. Something was very off. He turned to her again, and put the ocarina to his lips and began to play the Song of Time again. Maybe, just maybe, this would reverse the reaction.

Again, she fell silent, her eyes closing, breaths regulating. Link rushed the end a bit, and hoped he didn't ruin the magic of the tune with his impatience. Just as she had before, Zelda's eyes fluttered open as the final note drifted off into the city. The change was immediately apparent. The eyes he had seen for a fleeting few minutes were clouded, gone from existence. She frowned.

"I believe this belongs to the castle," she whispered, taking it from his hands. "Please, come with me. Impa," she called, and her nursemaid appeared in a flash, "please escort him back to the castle. He must be tried for thievery. I believe he has stolen this most sacred artifact." Impa seized the towheaded boy, and he watched his princess walk alone through the slums of Hyrule Castle Town, away from him.

And as she walked, she wept.