Zelda watched hopelessly as the Master Sword was knocked out of Link's hand. It soared past Ganon's ring of fire and impaled itself in the grass close to the Princess. Link turned to see where his weapon had gone, and he didn't see the danger behind him.
"Link, watch out!" she tried to warn him, but it was too late. Ganon struck Link, and Zelda knew at once it was a fatal blow.
"No!" she screamed. Power welled within her, and without really knowing what she was doing, she banished Ganon to the Sacred Realm. It wasn't a permanent solution; Ganon could easily make his way out through the doorway at the Temple of Time. Perhaps with the power of the other sages they could lock him in the Sacred Realm, but those plans would have to wait.
"Link," she collapsed on the ground next to him. "I'm sorry; I'm so sorry."
"It's my fault," he coughed, ignoring Zelda's pleas to conserve his strength. "Stupid thing to do."
"It's not your fault," she cradled his head in her lap.
"Just make sure Hyrule is safe for me," he looked up at her, his eyes already seeming to cloud over.
"I will," she nodded, unable to hold back her tears any longer. "I will, Link."
He took his final breath, and Zelda began to sob.
Time passed strangely in the Sacred Realm. By the time Zelda arrived at the Temple of Light with Link's body, Ganon had only been in the realm for a few minutes.
"Your Highness," Rauru bowed. "What has happened?"
"Link has died of wounds inflicted by Ganon," she squared her shoulders. "Our only option to ensure the future of Hyrule is to seal Ganon here in the Sacred Realm and close off the doorway in the Temple of Time forever."
"Can we really do that?" Princess Ruto asked.
"We must," Zelda nodded. "We will go to the Temple of Time and seal the entrance to the Sacred Realm. Returning the Master Sword to its pedestal should help strengthen the seal."
"But Your Highness," Rauru frowned. "In time the seal will weaken. Ganon will eventually return to destroy Hyrule."
"We can only hope that a new hero will be born to stop him," she replied.
"And Princess," Rauru added, but Zelda would not meet his eye.
"Zelda?" Saria tilted her head. "Are you keeping something from us?"
"After we seal Ganon, I plan to travel back in time."
"Princess, you can't," Impa protested immediately.
"But I will," she stared at them all. Her grief had turned to anger, outright fury at this injustice. "Link's life should not have been taken so easily. I will go back in time and ensure that Link survives."
"As you wish, Your Highness," Rauru conceded. And with that, the others' protesting ceased.
They successfully sealed Ganon in the Sacred Realm. Zelda's tears fell again as the doors to the Sacred Realm closed with Rauru on the other side. He vowed to fight against Ganon in the Sacred Realm for as long as he could, but she couldn't help but weep at his loss.
"Are you sure about this, Princess?" Impa asked as Zelda raised the Ocarina of Time to her lips.
"Yes," she bowed her head and played the Song of Time.
Her world turned white, and she felt as if the world was rushing past her despite standing still. When she opened her eyes, she was a scared nine-year-old girl being shepherded down to the tunnel below Kakariko Village by Impa. They had just escaped from Hyrule Castle, and Zelda had just sent Link to fetch the Master Sword and begin his seven-year-long sleep.
Zelda spent a long year in the tunnels below Kakariko Village. Impa thought that Ganondorf would eventually give up on his search for the Princess, but Zelda knew he would never stop looking for her. But she would not sit and hide for seven years this time. Zelda convinced Impa to train her in the ways of the Sheikah. She taught herself the harp and set out to discover the hidden warp songs that would bring you to each of the sages' temples. She took on the name Sheik and dedicated the next seven years of her life to ensuring that everything would go smoothly for Link when he returned from his slumber. He would not die again; she would not allow it.
And then that day came. She waited at the Temple of Time ready to send Link on his quest to awaken the other sages. He returned to this realm in a glow of blue light, and the breath left her body. He was just as handsome as she remembered, and it almost brought a tear to her eye to see him alive once again. But she could not cry; she had a mission.
Whenever Link had a break or was stopping by in Kakriko Village, Sheik would seek him out to give him extra training. She helped him increase his endurance, perfect his spin attack, and practice wielding magic. She even tried to train any weaknesses out of him.
"Never turn your back on your enemy," she instructed as she held her kunai in attack position. "Ganondorf will not hesitate to strike. He is not some mindless monster you have encountered in the temples and around Hyrule. He will cut you down with your back turned."
She disarmed him later in their training session and nearly started yelling when Link's attention left her as he turned to retrieve his fallen weapon.
"No," she said. "When you are disarmed, your first instinct should be to dodge the next attack and find another weapon to use. I know you have plenty of others besides the Master Sword. Use them until there is a true opening to retrieve your sword. Now let's run that again, and do not take your eyes off me."
They ran the drill until Sheik was satisfied that Link would be able to transition well to not using the Master Sword in his final fight with Ganon. Link only had two temples left to clear and two sages left to awaken. The final battle would be soon.
It didn't surprise Sheik when Link eventually kissed her. It was a little childish, a quick peck on her lips over the cowl she used to conceal her face, but it was sweet all the same. It almost made her reconsider the plan she had been toying with since before she saw Link fall to Ganon all those years ago. She could keep him here with her. She didn't have to send him back in time like she had sent herself. Sheik never knew it would be this difficult to choose between what was right and what was easy.
She met with him as he left the Spirit Temple, gave him a healing fairy in a bottle and some final words of advice before instructing him to go to the Temple of Time. Sheik revealed herself as Princess Zelda there, and as predicted, Ganondorf captured her. The events played out like she remembered and far too soon she was standing in Hyrule Field separated from Link's fight with Ganon by a ring of fire. She watched, desperately praying to the Goddesses that history would not repeat itself, that Link would win this time. And then the Master Sword was thrown from his hands, just as it was before, but this time, Link did not turn. He dodged Ganon's next attack with a roll and pulled out a giant hammer to fight with instead. Zelda let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding. She had done it. History had been changed, and Link would win.
But it was the next part that was the hardest. As she stood with Link in that cloud filled space where time didn't exist, she still hadn't made up her mind of what to do. Send him back in time to stop all of this destruction and chaos from even happening, or keep him here with her. In her mind it was an easy decision, but in her heart it was extremely difficult.
"I love you, Link," she eventually whispered. "And I would do anything for you, but as a Princess I must also do what I can for my county."
Link somehow looked both happy and confused, "I, I love you, too." He hesitated, and Zelda spoke before he could continue.
"I'm going to send you back in time, to when you were eleven so you can warn the young Princess Zelda of what the future entails. Then you can actually live out your childhood and Hyrule will be saved from this calamitous future," she reached out to take his hand. "Can you do that for me, Link? Can you please go back and stop my foolhardy plan before it starts?"
Link pulled her into a tight hug, "I will, for you."
Zelda allowed herself one final act of selfishness and kissed Link before holding her hand out for the Ocarina of Time. He left as he appeared, in a halo of blue light, and Zelda cried as she lost him for the second time in a row.