Okay. Let me start off by saying that I have no idea where this came from. I was playing Zelda (almost religiously) and then all of a sudden I was hit with this. It's probably horrible, I'm still getting used to this (side notes) style so it may not be the best.
I guess you could call it a compainion piece to my other LoZ fic Fairy Boy, which is supposed to be a sequel to My Mother's Song, but pretty much can stand alone. I would suggest reading that first or the ending may seem a little odd. If you want to create your own story about how Link got back (you'll see at the end where I'm talking about) and what happened while he was there, then by all means skip my other fics and just enjoy this one.
oOoOo
The first time you sense how dangerous (how epic) this quest is really going to be isn't until you're in Kakariko Graveyard. You're standing in front of the royal tombstone, wondering off handly why the Royal Family isn't buried somewhere closer to the castle, and you raise the ocarina to your lips. You know there's a secret inside this tomb, one that will help you on your quest. And you're young and eager and can't wait to save the world, so you jump at the chance to acquire anything that would help. You don't exactly have all the time in the world, you hear the Princess' voice in the back your mind, urgent (nagging), asking you to bring back all the Spiritual Stones. So, asking forgiveness from the gods, you are desecrating a tomb after all, you begin to play Zelda's Lullaby, sure that this secret will be like all the rest you've uncovered.
But suddenly the sky is dark and lightening flashes. There's a bright surge of energy growing at the base of the tomb, unlike anything you've ever seen, and, for the first time (Gohma was just a giant spider after all) you are truly frightened. The energy pulsates dangerously for a moment before there's an explosion and your thrown backwards into the ground. Your eyes are closed and you think for one terrifying second that you have made a horrible mistake. When you open your eyes however, aside from steady (ceaseless) rain, everything is back to normal.
Except for the hole in the middle of the ground where the giant headstone had once stood. There are scortch marks around the hole, the only sign that something might have been on top of it at all. You peer into the vast depths and shudder. You've taken a few mighty plunges before (there was no other way to break that web inside the Deku Tree), but this time you can't see the bottom and there's just no way to see who (what) is down there waiting for you.
But you're still young and eager for an adventure, so you take a breath and jump into the dark, knowing (hoping) that you'll land safely at the bottom.
oOoOo
The first time you realize how beautiful (frighteningly beautiful) this quest is going to be isn't until you're standing at the end of the Ice Cavern and watching Sheik as he plays the Serenade of Water. He finishes the song and instinctively you bring out your ocarina and begin to imitate the melody. The music surrounds you, amplified as Sheik begins to play again as well. There's a chill in the air that has nothing to do with the fact that you're surrounded by ice. It has everything to do with the eerie black walls and multicolored diamonds that seem to stretch on forever. As you stand alone in this room that is breathtaking (but so empty of any feeling) with Sheik you can't help but shudder. You are strangely connected to this boy, you almost feel as if you've met him before (you have). But you first met Sheik two months ago inside the Temple of Time, while you were still adjusting to your new "grown up" body.
The song is over and, after a few words that you barely register (the awe is too great), Sheik is gone in a flash of light that tingles somewhere in the back of your mind (it's too familiar) and your standing alone in a room that sends chills down your spine even though you've long gotten used to the cold. You've faced countless of things that you'd never suspected possible. Ghosts, Phantom's, the living dead (those Stalfos had disturbed you most of all, skeletons. . .shouldn't be moving), none of them took your breath away as much as this small room tucked away in the back of Zora's Fountain. It was too much to comprehend, even for someone who grew up in a world with legends and fairies and children who never grew up.
You pull out the iron boots (no where near the strangest item you've picked up on your quest) and move over to the hole of icy water that is waiting for you. You play the Song of Time to remove the ill placed blue block and marvel once again at the power in the notes (music moves the soul. . .but blocks?). The iron boots are heavy and make walking somewhat painful but you've still got the heart (mind) of a child so you're willing to endure a little (a lot) of pain for an adventure. Not to mention that saving Hyrule and world seems like a worthy cause.
You take one look at the hauntingly beautiful room (and see a flash of hauntingly beautiful green eyes) before taking the last step off solid ground. It's not until you feel the cold wetness hit your legs that you wonder how you'll be able to breath underwater.
oOoOo
The first time you realize how much faith this quest is going to take isn't until your holding the Hover Boots and listening to the small voice of Navi explain how they work. You study the boots carefully. They don't look like anything that could hold up the weight of a human body. The Iron Boots were logical (they at least worked with the laws of physics), but you're sure it's going to take a lot of faith to put on nothing but boots and walk on thin air. You've traveled through time several times (sometimes you just miss the way Hyrule used to be), you've battled the physical form of your inner demons, and walked underwater without needing to breath all because of a piece of cloth. Walking on thin air shouldn't scare you. The very idea shouldn't have you shaking (quaking) in your boots. But it does.
You think perhaps it's just this whole place. The Shadow Temple is beneath a graveyard for heaven's sake! The smell of death and decay is all around and you just know that hidden in the shadows, in a darkness so thick and complete that even the lens of truth can't see through it, something is waiting to get you (something truly evil). There's very little light in this place, and what does exist comes from the odd blue flame that you've only seen once before. It does little to actually light the place, but it sends the shadows spiraling (dancing) outward until they're everywhere. The silence swallows up any noise you try to make and you've never been in a place so quiet (deathly quiet).
There's something unnerving you think, about being in a place where not everything is visible to the naked eye. You've had to search for things before (whoever created these temples certainly didn't leaves keys lying around in the open, you're sure of that), but it's never been invisible before (you're beginning to realize just how big of a difference that really is). It's only the second time since you've begun this quest that you've ever truly been afraid (it's also the first that you've ever felt truly alone). There's no one here but the reminder that everyone is mortal. And you realize that just because you were predestined for great things doesn't mean you where predestined to live through them.
You look across the first (and not the last) vast open space of nothing but empty air that beckons you to take that giant (literal) leap of faith. The silence of the dead surrounds you (the sound of giggling that has long since been silenced flits past your ear), but you hold your breath and take the first step, wondering what it'll feel like to walk on air.
oOoOo
The first time you realize just how much is really weighing on your success (is this how Atlas feels?) you're standing in front of the room where Gannondorf is waiting for you (the piano music is frighteningly loud). This is the final moment; you can feel it in your bones (and the shaking fairy above you). Zelda (you just knew Sheik seemed familiar) is inside that room too, you're sure of it, held prisoner by Gannondorf. It's your job (the Hero of Time) to save her, to save everyone, and you suddenly feel like that's an awful lot of responsibility for a seventeen-year-old boy.
You've been fighting and fighting (endlessly) for almost seven months (eternity) and you're tired of it. It was exhilarating as a young boy, eager for an adventure, but now you just want someone to tell you to knock it off (you're an adult now dammit!). You can walk on air and travel through time but that's one miracle you know is never going to happen. This is the end of the road and someone is not walking away from this castle alive (you hate the very real possibility that no one could walk away) and it's the most frightening thought you've had since you had to walk on air with nothing but faith and your trusted Hover Boots (so much as changed).
But all the children in the Kokiri Forest, all the Zora's at Zora's Domain, all the Goron's at Death Mountain, and all the poor people who fled Hyrule Castle Market for the (semi) safety of Kakariko Village are counting on you and you know it. There is no turning back from this quest, no matter how frightened you are, no matter how unfair it seems, no matter how much you want to run away to the only place you feel safe (the sound of horses neighing). This is the moment that you'd been waiting for as a little boy and the moment you're dreading as a full-grown man (months of saving the world can do what seven years asleep couldn't).
You unsheathe your sword (miracles have happened, but there's nothing wrong with being prepared) and take the final step towards the door, pushing it open. The man inside the room turns and grins at you (an evil grin that sends shivers down your spine) and you know there's no turning back. One way or another, you've reached the end.
oOoOo
The last time you ever think about your (epic, beautiful, frightening) quest isn't until the day you wake up (once again) on your seventeenth birthday. You wake up to the smell of horses and hay, cows and cuccos, and nature and freshly squeezed milk. You hear laughter outside your window and know that Malon, Talon, and Ingo are already up for the day. You would be too, except it's a very important day and they wanted to leave you be. You take most of the day to reminisce about a journey that seems far too impossible to be real and far too vivid to be a dream. You fought, Gannon fell, and you were returned to the time you supposedly belonged in (you don't really belong in either time, but you were far more comfortable there). So you returned to the one place you still felt safe (you hear the giggle and see the eyes) and now, seven years later, you awake to find yourself the same age you were seven years ago (time travel had never been confusing until now).
The sound of your door opening brings you out of your thoughts and you smile at the three people standing before you. Malon holds out a cake and grins at you. Happy Birthday, she tells you (fairy boy is still painfully absent). Talon and Ingo both give you their wishes as well and you sit with the friends that have become your family (your family in the forest never grew up, how could you possibly go back) and maybe something more (a flash of red and mother's song) and you realize that you couldn't be happier (almost).
You tuck your memories away for now and promise yourself not think of them again. You're quest is over and all the frightening (impossible) things that you accomplished (defeated) are years and another reality away. And while you've grown accustomed to that reality (you miss the adventure), but you certainly won't shun this one. You accepted Zelda's decision long ago, as you'd slip out of the castle courtyard, still adjusting to your old "young child" body. And if you're the only one (of those who really matter) who remembers that reality than so be it. It made you the person you are today (sans weapons) and you wouldn't change a thing.
Because what's dangerous can be strength giving, what's frightening can be beautiful, what's impossible can be faith instilling, and what's frustrating can be healing. You've walked on air, breathed underwater, lifted things ten times your size. You've conversed with fairies, withstood the heat of a volcano, and raced the dead (twice). You never realized how important it all was until it was over and (seemingly) didn't exist anymore. The people you met (a fish fiancé, who'd heard of such a thing), the things you learned (you can leap without looking and land just fine), and the fact that, despite all the horror and pain you endured, you still found a reason to smile (fairy boy!).
And if, by chance, someday the world remembers, you know (just know) they'll be smiling too.
oOoOo
And that's the end. Like I said at the beginning, I have no idea where this came from, other than I've always been intrigued by the first two scenes I described. I restarted my Zelda game (I'm on a hunt for all the skulltulas and am only missing two and I cannot find them) and was watching the scene where you first enter the Royal Family's tomb and it got me thinking. Not anything coherent of course, as I'm sure you can tell, but I never could resist the urge to just write.
Well, drop me a review and tell me what you think.