A/N: This may or may not be updated a little…sporadically. I apologize in advance if it is, but I'm afraid I haven't quite worked out an ending yet. However, I know that in time and after writing on it for a bit, it will come to me. Until then folks, until then.
His hands and jaw both ached from clenching; as the light that glowed around him dissipated, Link slowly peeled his now soft, childish fingers from the hilt of the Master Sword. He looked down at his hands and let out a long, heavy sigh, unsure of what to make of himself in that moment. His eyes, wide and blue, averted to the sword that was now stuck stiffly and upright in the Pedestal of Time, no longer begging for him to hold it in his hands and be the hero. Link tore himself away from it, turned his back, and walked out of the Door of Time once and for all. He did not, could not look as the door sealed itself shut and the precious Spiritual Stones surely disappeared. Heart as empty as the hollows behind him, Link trudged out of the temple and stepped into Hyrule.
Link glanced up at the sky above him; the sun was high, not a single cloud blocking its rays. He could see the white ring of clouds suspended over Death Mountain, no sign of evil in them at all. He whipped around to gaze upon the holy temple he had just left-it looked strangely younger, seven years so in fact-and he saw himself in it. He felt a strange attachment to it now, as if it were a kindred spirit to his own, for it had seen what he had seen, and he, just like the noble building in front of him, would never forget them. Even now with his feet planted firmly in the present, his spirit was in the future; he felt displaced and split apart, detached from a reality that no longer was and never would be. With his own two hands-firm, adult hands-he had changed it, delivered it from darkness and evil, but that was all over. Link had been sent back to regain his time lost, his timely escapades over, with nothing but an ever-growing hole long for adventure in his chest.
Link left a part of him behind in that temple as he walked away from it. He bit his lip, not daring to look behind him a second time, as he realized that his future had suddenly became his past. The truth of it all confused him and rattled his thoughts around his head like a snow globe. His mind had still not settled by the time he entered Castle Town, which was loud and bustling with activity and Hylians as usual. He walked past them all, not paying attention to who they were or what they were saying without Navi the fairy flying about and point them out. As he circled around the fountain, he caught sight of the tall, towering Hyrule Castle nestled in the hills in the north. Memories, all at once, flooded his mind; ones of himself slaying darkness with the blade of evil's bane and rescuing the Princess of Hyrule, Zelda, began to play before his eyes. Thinking of her sparked a different memory, one of approaching her in the garden where she probably stood now, once more peeking through the window to the castle to see the business going on inside.
It was then, all at once, that Link felt the weight lift from his heart. An idea sprouted inside of him as he looked the castle; he had not figured out to forget, but he had thought of a way to lessen the pain of remembering. He sprinted now, eyes set on the castle that was as forbidden as always to him, and left the rest of Hyrule in his wake. He could see Zelda clearly in his mind, standing on her tiptoes trying to get a good view in the castle; she didn't know it, but she was waiting for him. He would slip past the guards like he had already done, step into the garden once more, and wait for her to turn around. Link had already sacrificed things; it was time he didn't leave a part of his broken up future behind him.