It seemed odd, standing there knowing that it was over. It was finished. Link certainly had never felt so relieved in all his life.
It was finally over.
He smiled to himself, then at Zelda, who was smiling so hard it looked like she might actually cry. And she did. The silvery tears ran down her face, dripping onto the stone ground beneath her feet. If anything, this wasn't sad. This was happy.
"Zelda," Link whispered, reaching out a hand as she buried her face in her own. He placed it on her shoulder, smiling reassuringly – it was so like her to get emotional at times like this. Zelda looked up, her pale cheeks stained red and her sky blue eyes puffy.
"Link, I…I'm sor-ry," she choked, throwing herself at him, burying her head in his chest as her stream of tears continued.
Standing still for a moment, Link looked down at her, crying into his soft, forest green tunic. He smiled softly, stroking her long blonde hair.
"It's OK, right? We beat him – we did it. Everything's OK," he said, lifting her head up. She smiled through tears, nodding.
"Thanks,"
It was then that Link's sword glowed, the violet light radiating from the Master Sword's hilt.
Almost dancing out of the blade, Fi twirled into existence, bowing gracefully as she always did when she left the sword, before floating above them both as she surveyed Link and Zelda with her cold, flat, emotionless eyes.
"Hylia, your Grace…" Fi began, violet and blue cape fluttering in a non-existent breeze, "Or perhaps you prefer 'Zelda'. It pleases me to know you are safe," She thought for a moment – however, this was ultimately impossible. Fi was just a machine – a spirit that lived in the sword. She could not feel. She could not think. She lived to serve Link.
Her flat, monotonic voice continued.
"…Master, I must speak with you," Fi looked to the room behind them, up the flight of steps, leading to the pedestal. Link frowned.
"Zelda…I'll be right back," he said, following Fi as she flew ahead of him, his leather boots echoing off the stone steps. He felt odd – like something was going to happen.
Link watched as she reached the top of the stairs, standing to the left of him as he reached the pedestal. Walking up, he clenched and unclenched his fists. He remembered a lot about this pedestal. The sword on his back was proof enough.
Fi began, her words holding no hint of feeling – she was stating fact. She always had done.
"Master Link, you have successfully protected the goddess reborn and defeated Demise, fulfilling your role as the hero of legend," she stopped, making Link turn to look at her with his ocean blue eyes.
"I couldn't have done it if you hadn't been there, Fi," he said lightly, smiling at her. Fi could not smile, either.
Ignoring him, she continued.
"My purpose here is complete,"
Link looked up at her again, previously reading the runes engraved on the pedestal's base.
"Huh?" he said, like he was five years old again.
"Therefore, I ask you to dissolve our arrangement as master and servant,"
Link glanced at the pedestal, in particular the hole in the middle, meant to hold the blade.
"Drive the sword into the pedestal before you, and I will return to the sword to enter a sleep without end,"
Link gasped, looking up at her.
"But, Fi, what-"
"Master, you have achieved the purpose you were chosen to fulfil," Link opened his mouth to say something else, but Fi cut through him.
"Please set the sword in the pedestal and bring the goddess' mission to an end,"
Link noted that he almost saw a smile pass her lips. He dismissed it.
Her next words cut him.
"Now, Master. It is time to conclude our necessary companionship,"
Link looked at her, eyebrows knotted together in a frown.
"Our…necessary companionship?"
Fi nodded, before jumping up and spinning into the violet ball of light, circling behind him. Link craned his neck over his shoulder, watching as she re-entered the sword. Stumbling on his feet as she disappeared back into the blade, Link toppled over, almost onto to the pedestal. Standing back up carefully, he watched as the last few sparks of light from Fi drifted into the air. He pursed his lips. This seemed very unfair. Fi had always been like that – very cool, calm and collected, but with no sense of emotion or understanding of human feelings. She was simply a machine, created to guide him through his journey.
Somehow she had been more than that.
A friend. A companion. Someone to rely on. Link wished that it wasn't so hard to say goodbye.
He looked behind him, glancing at his back. He sighed, lowering his eyes to the ground.
"Fi," he whispered, so only he could hear. "I wish you …never mind," he said, then realized that someone was standing behind him. Turning to the side, he saw Zelda, standing at the foot of the steps, a frown on her face. She bit her lip, glancing down at the floor. Link furrowed his brow.
"Do I-"
Zelda nodded, closing her eyes. No words were needed.
Link sighed again.
He nodded back at her, almost half-heartedly, letting his thick, dark blonde hair fall into his eyes. The tightness in his chest was getting worse.
Turning away, he faced the pedestal. Reaching behind him, he grabbed the hilt of his sword, unsheathing it. It came out with a metallic shing, before lifting it above his head. For the first time, he studied the blade. The hilt was an intricate working of violet, blue and turquoise - green, threads of colours of the sea crisscrossing their way down the handle. Violet wings sat out just before the shining, slender silver blade, the end sharp as a needle. It was like he had never used it. And come to think of it, he remembered every single swathe of enemies it cut through, the blood splattering along the blade like sea spray. How many times had he drowned Fi in their blood? How many times had he thrust the sword into the ground out of pure frustration and anger at this quest?
How many times had he told Fi to leave him alone, and stop telling him things he already knew? Did he remember every time he had said sorry to her for it?
Yes. Yes, he did.
It was just that he wished she would say sorry to him, for leaving him.
Forever.
Swinging the blade around in an arc in front of him, he gripped the sword in both hands, he breathed in deep, lifting it above his head. With a yell, he thrust the sword down into its place with all his might, the vibrant, blue and violet sparks flying off the blade as it slid into place. They were absorbed back into the blade, and it lay still, dormant now, for eternity.
Link's hands dropped to his sides, breathing heavily. He could feel the tears coming.
Forcing them back, he closed his eyes.
"Fi, I know you can no longer hear me, but…" Link said under his breath, "I'm sorry you had to go. It would've been nice to stay with you a bit longer," He could hear the cogs of the Gate of Time slowly churning behind him, the silence deafening as he stood there.
Smiling sadly, he turned away, beginning to go down the steps.
That was when he heard the music.
Fi would always come from the sword with a beautiful sound, almost like a flute. Link gasped, whirling around to stare at the sword. It was pulsating with a faint, violet glow.
She had minutes.
"Link…" the sword said, Fi's voice emanating from the blade. Looking around, Link searched for her. Where was she?
"Link, hear me. My purpose was to obey the command of the goddess and lead you, the chosen hero of this land, on your quest,"
"Fi, where are you?" Link said shakily, looking around. "Fi, please…"
"When I first awoke and began this task, I perceived it as merely serving my function as a servant to Her Grace,"
"Fi, you're not just a servant," Link muttered hastily, voice cracking, taking a step towards the pedestal, even when he was a good few metres away from it.
"However, I have come to consider the information corresponding to our time together among the most precious I have on record,"
Link stopped, opening his mouth. Had Fi just said that?
"Fi…"
Link walked up the steps, smiling, seeing the face he had thought he would never see again.
He stopped, one leg on the step above him as Fi floated down to meet his face.
She leaned forward.
"I do not have the capability to fully understand the human spirit, Link…" she paused, as if to take a breath, "But now, at the end of my journey with you, as I prepare to sleep within the Master Sword forever, I experience a feeling I am unable to identify," Link smiled. The tears were coming now – they had to be. Why did she always have to sound so technical?
"Fi, you can't feel…" Link said, smiling sadly, walking up onto the next step.
"I lack sufficient data to be sure of my conclusion, but I believe that this feeling correlates closest to what your people call…happiness,"
"Happiness?" Link asked, his eyes now watering. Dammit all he thought, laughing inwardly. Of all the times to get emotional…
"Our partnership is at an end, and even as we speak, I feel my consciousness fading away. Before I enter the sleep that calls me to the sword, I wish to relay to you the words that I recorded many times over the course of our journey,"
Link didn't speak.
"Many have said them to you thus far, but I now wish to say them, for myself…"
Link breathed in.
"Thank you, Master Link," Fi said, for the first time ever emphasising her words with just a little more thought than she had ever done.
A tear trailed down Link's cheek, dripping to the ground. He wiped the next one away, breathing shakily. Reaching up a hand, he put it against her cheek – she was as cold as the Master Sword's blade.
"May we meet again in another life…" she finished, and Link's hand dropped, nodding to her. He closed his eyes for a second, making sure to keep her voice in his head for as long as he lived.
Fi, he said to himself, I will never forget you. May the next hero heed my wish, and keep you safe.
As he opened his eyes, he breathed out, looking up to where she had been.
Fi was gone.
The faintest of breezes blew in from the doors behind him as the last violet light of his companion disappeared, absorbed into the sword as it lay quiet.
Link gazed at it, his tears still falling. Fi had been a wonderful companion, and he realized just how much he would miss her. It would take time. He would look at that sword every day, knowing she was in there.
Somewhere.