Bridge Across the Sea- Part 2

By Reid M. Haynes

Legend:

( ) Denotes thoughts

The inside of the small cave was both sparse and cluttered at the same time. Filled almost entirely with half-completed paintings and art supplies, there was only a bed and nightstand for its occupant's comfort, A single window broke the drabness of the room, its sill supporting a small, flickering candle. That candle gave off a strange, blue flame that washed all in a cerulean shine, bringing out elements in the paintings one would never know was there.

"There's not much other than my work, but make yourself at home," Roam was saying as he wheeled himself in, Link following just behind him. Link stepped carefully around the paints and pastels that cluttered the floor, hoping he wasn't trampling any of his old comrade's works. He stared with awe at all the various easels and stands, each one surrounded by its own collection of supplies. It was like he had entered a one man art show, like something he would find at a Kakariko Village festival.

"So you're an artist now?" Link said, propping himself up against a wall. "I never would've guessed."

"There's more to my family than just warfare, you know," the young man responded, picking up a brush and twirling it between his fingers. "After landing on this isle, I found it a perfect place to practice my ancestors' craft." He moved on over to one of the easels, stopping just to the side of it so Link could see the painting. "Dragon Roost Island is filled with history that goes beyond even known Hylian lore. For example: this."

Link peered close at the painting that Roam was showing, and gawked. It was not known how the young artist had gotten the correct vantage point to create such a picture, but there was a perfect image of Dragon Roost Island, with just a touch of romanticism adding to the flair. Most astonishing about this painting was the large, red dragon that perched on high the volcano. Though it was obviously roaring in fury, there was the spark of intelligence within its eye, as if it was the island's keeper rather than simply a leech.

"That's Valoo," Roam said, before Link had the chance to inquire about the beast in the picture. "He was the island's guardian from long before our time. Now, he is gone, like so many other things in this world. But his memory lives on in the hearts of the Rito."

"Amazing..." Link murmured, once again taking in the proud image of Valoo in all his glory. He then turned back to Roam, who still had a sort of modest look on his face. "I still can't believe you're alive," he said, causing the young man to raise his head in confusion. "How did you escape the Dark World?"

The question took him by surprise for the moment, but he quickly recovered with a sort of wistful look on his face. "When you and Zelda made your wish to the Triforce, all those trapped within the Golden Land were brought back to Hyrule," he said, staring off into at the distant sun. "Miraculously, I was left alive after my lunge against the phantom Agahaim, but the blow had left my spine severed in the middle. Imagine my shock when I discovered I lost both my wings and my legs."

Knowing how much he had enjoyed his Dark World form, Link had nothing to say in response to this. He simply waited for the young man to continue.

"Not wanting to shame myself by returning to the knights, I decided to leave Hyrule forever for distant lands. With the help of a friend, I managed to make my way to Dragon Roost Island to start a new life. The Rito were very kind, and I resolved to make my living doing the craft of my grandfather and his grandfather before that. My art is what gives me my wings now."

Link was quite shaken up by the bittersweet tone in the man's voice. "Roam..." he said, restraining himself from putting a hand on his ally's shoulder; it would've insulted him. "I never knew the journey was so much for you."

"Which reminds me," Roam said, changing the subject with a rather shrewd look in his eye. "What exactly are you doing here? I have heard how you washed up on shore, but why exactly were you out to sea to begin with? Are you not head of the Knights of Hyrule now?"

"I...that is..." Link stammered for a moment, trying to get his thoughts in order. Once he had everything together, he then proceeded to tell of his journey in the Great Sea at the insistence of his countrymen's worries, about how he had washed up here after the shipwreck. He left out his adventures at Koholint thought, since he felt that would be too fantastical for this moment. He had put his hands on his hips as he finished, knowing he finally had a worthy tale in the eyes of Roam.

"How pitiful."

"Wha...?" Link gasped, almost failing to register the spite in the other's tone. He whirled back to his former ally, with something akin to anger on his face. "What did you...?"

Roam's face was twisted into a macabre mix of stark amusement and capricious contempt. "Pitiful," he repeated, not breaking his gaze for even a moment. "You can't possibly expect me to believe that cockamamie story."

"How can you say that?" Link shouted out, his own hotheadedness getting the better of him. "I told you exactly how it happened!"

Instead of answering the boy, the long-nosed youth wheeled off to the side, like a prosecutor badgering the witness. "You left Hyrule, it's true, but not at the insistence of your countrymen," he started up, peeking violently up at Link from the corner of his eye. "You had felt the magical bond between you and Zelda break the moment you set foot back in Hyrule again. As she hid behind protocol, so you did with your knighthood. But though the telepathic union was shattered, your feelings for the queen remained."

"Instead of confronting her about it, you opted instead to leave your kingdom, and get as far away from her as you could. Under the pretense of a grand exodus for Hyrule, you ran with your tail between your legs for the Great Sea, perhaps with the intention of never coming back. Never did you think that there was another to resolve your feelings. Stubborn and foolish, just as I thought."

So overcome with shock by the magnitude of Roam's words that Link was unable to launch a counterattack. He just stood there and took it. He couldn't admit it, but the young man's speech had unbalanced him with its sincerity and energy. At how close to home it was hitting, yanking at his heartstrings like a dentist pulling out one's teeth.

Roam looked back towards the boy, shaking his head with disdain. "Running, running, like the squirrels in the depth of the Lost Woods," he chanted poetically, letting his artist mentality carry him through the last phase of his speech. "Never knowing the sweeter berries lay just beyond the threshold of danger. I had thought you better than this after watching you take on the fire dragons in Turtle Rock. Perhaps Zelda would have been better off with me, after all."

"Says the guy who left the knights to doodle on an island!" Link bit out, a surprising amount of wrath coming from the Hyrulean hero. His entire body was quaking with built up anger and frustration, hotter perhaps than the depths of Dragon Roost itself. "You creep!"

And with that, he forgot himself completely and threw a punch straight at Roam's jaw. Roam, however, had not forgotten himself at all, and swung an arm upwards to catch the fist an inch before contact. Yanking the arm back, he twisted Link around to that he couldn't do anything but flail around. Soon, Link found himself even more handicapped than the man who held him.

Link looked back in shock at being so easily detained. Then, he took a good look at himself, and his own actions. What was he doing, attacking a man in a wheelchair? "Roam, I..." he cut himself off, the hint of shame beginning to take over his facial features.

The young man sneered. "Pathetic." And with a twist of the wrist, Link was sent spiraling away to the other side of the room, where luckily the bed happened to be placed. Crashing into the pillows, he went head-over-heels on the feather mattress, rumpling up the otherwise straight sheets. He groaned to himself, rubbing his head free from the stars that had developed from his brief ride. He had grossly miscalculated when he determined earlier that Roam had lost his fighter's edge; wheelchair or not, the guy was a brick.

Staring down at him from the wheelchair, Roam waited for the boy to gather himself up again. "Care to try again?" he asked wryly, folding his arms in a self-satisfied sort of way.

Link looked up from his spot to the bed with a dazed expression. "Not really," he moaned wearily, rubbing the back of his head in a tired manner.

Roam nodded briefly to him, and wheeled back to the center of the room. "Link, when at first you don't succeed, try try again," he started. "The Knight's Code clearly states when one has lost a battle, he is always welcome to attempt a rematch. It is in this way of trial and error that we train the best knights of the kingdom. Such must be the way in love as well."

He then moved back over to the door. "You can no longer rely on magic to secure your place in Zelda's heart," he told Link sagely. "Now you must create the bonds of love with your own heart. Show me the hero I saw on Ganon's Tower." He gave Link a hard stare. "Show me that you can do more than wallow in your own grief."

With that, Roam turned his wheelchair around so that it was facing the door. With his back to Link, he then started to move on out to the winding caverns, taking a collection of paintings under his arm. "It's the busiest part of the day for my trade," he said behind him, feeling Link's curious stare on his back. "I'll be leaving you now." And with that, he went down to the busy halls of Dragon Roost Island, disappearing behind a bend in the rocky wall.

Link stared transfixed at where Roam had gone, following the shadow on the wall until it, too, vanished into the curve of caves. All of his anger had fled from him, and he was left with only an empty feeling in his heart. Lifting himself from the now-rumpled bed, he stood up with a strangely perplexed expression on his face. "The bonds of love..." he whispered to himself softly, his hair ruffling in the small breeze flowing in through the window.

With a small puff of smoke, the blue candle went out.

A single small stone penetrated the placidity of the lagoon, sending a milky ripple across the waters and scattering the fish in all directions. It bounced several times before plopping down into the depths of the pool, disappearing almost immediately beneath the murky waves. Even the ripples seemed to dissipate quickly, and soon there was no evidence that anything had been thrown at all into the calm lagoon. It was an endless, timeless body of water, and none seemed able to effect change on it for very long.

Link sighed into the open night air, resting his back on one the few trees that had grown in the area. Unimpressed by his successful skipping, he simply picked another rock, this one much rounder than the other flat one. Not even worrying about whether it skipped or not, he listlessly tossed the stone into the lagoon. An unsuccessful toss it was, for this one penetrated the water on its first go, falling out of view into the soft sea bed below.

Link put his hand to his chin in frustration, looking down at his crossed legs to the boots on his feet. Roam's words were weighing heavier on him by the minute, and he had been thinking about them almost the entire day. Did he really run away from Zelda? Was he being a coward?

It was true that he had wanted to alleviate the villagers' fears by showing he was ever vigilant on the fight against evil, but the primary reason was indeed to create distance between Zelda and himself. The gulf between them seemed to be stretching every day, and he wanted to extend it so that he couldn't see her on the other end. Out of sight, out of mind, that was how the old saying went. But did it really hold true for him?

Ever since he had left Hyrule, his mind had always been on the princess-turned queen for as long as the days were short. Many a night came where he had groused over the brief time he had spent with her, and how many things were left unsaid and undone. Even while drifting in the dream isle of Koholint, her face had been in his vision, encouraging him to break free of the nightmare's clutches. She had always been on his mind, as a dream within a dream...

Link raised his head, a thought suddenly coming to him. Was it not possible that Marin herself was created by his own desires for the golden-haired princess? Marin had been everything he had wished for Zelda to be: all of the beauty and mystique, none of responsibilities and weight. Both of them free to pursue their own personal joys.

Free to be together.

The boy looked at the last stone he had picked up, a rather fragile piece on bedrock about to tear into fragments. With a clench of the fist, he crumbled the stone into dust, which blew off on a breeze into the distance. He could ponder these points all day if he liked, but he would never get anywhere unless he did something. It was time to stand up, and take destiny within his own two hands.

There was no more reason to be here. He'd learned all he needed to know from the Great Sea. It was finally time to return to Hyrule. Time to return to his queen, and make one last shot at repairing their broken bond.

Right now.

And with that, Link straightened up, and took off running from his post by the lagoon. Down the beach he went, kicking up an impressive sheet of sand behind him.

The caverns of Dragon Roost rushed by in a blur, the startled faces of the Rito all peering curiously at him. He paid them no mind, and kept running down the halls, only slowing down in brief increments to avoid crashing into anyone. The tunnels were getting narrower and narrower and he gut further and further away from the main hall. Soon, he had arrived at the other side of the island, where the shipyard and docks were.

"Katair!" he shouted out, upon recognizing the young Rito in the distance.

Katair turned from the yacht he was working on and regarded Link with a curious stare. "Do you need something?" he asked patiently, putting down his wrench on a small worktable next to him.

"Is..." Link paused for a brief moment to catch his breath from the winding jog. "Is the offer still open?" he asked, a bit too quickly to be polite. "You know, for a ship home?"

The Rito smiled kindly. "You are ready to leave now?" he asked in turn, folding his arms together in a rather gentle manner.

Link nodded his head. "Yes," he said, strength and determination filling his voice for the first time since leaving Koholint.

Katair took in the boy's valiant expression, then nodded and stepped aside. "Then it is all yours," he said coolly, waving his arm back towards the yacht just behind him.

"...what?" Link was taken a back by the sudden offer, and the crisp, shiny boat waiting for him. "You mean it's ready now?" he asked, taking a closer look at the yacht.

The Rito merely chuckled in response to this, and stepped aside to reveal the boat's name: S.S. Hylian. "We had heard from the Artist that you are wishing to head back to your homeland as soon as possible," he explained. "With a few Rupees to speed the process along, we pulled some strings and got this new craft for your use. It is ready to go as soon as you are."

Link just stood in shock, taking in the full sight of the magnificent yacht as best he could. Walking over to the boat's side, he ran his hand over its sleek gold finish, relishing in the feel of it against his palm (Roam knew I was going to go back to Hyrule the minute we were done talking,) he thought to himself, marveling at the man's foresight. (And...he did all this? For me?)

Katair noticed the hesitance in the boy's manner, and sobered up considerably. "Have we made a mistake?" he queried, a small frown coming to his avian features. "Are you not acquainted with the Artist after all?"

Link looked at the Rito curiously for a moment, then quickly shook his head. "No, we've met," he said, a wistful smile coming to his lips. "He is...a friend."

Katair blinked a little at this comment, then let a slow smile crawl back onto his face. "I see."

From his perch high above the boatyards, Roam silently watched his ally go, away from Dragon Roost Island and back to his queen and country. He smiled down at the distant ship, a soft feeling taking hold in his heart. Link would never know it, but he had been touched when the younger one had called him friend. He had few of those in his line of work, and he was surprisingly proud to call the hot-tempered, stubborn hero one of them.

With a final smile, Roam turned away from the shipyards and rolled back towards the caves. Then his eyes sought out a rock pillar a little to the right of him. "You can come out now," he said out into the open. "He's gone."

"Hey!" A high-pitched, chipper sound voice rawked back at him from behind the pillar. "I wasn't hiding!"

Roam smirked slyly at the mysterious person, brushing a lock of hair out of his eyes. "Then why do you keep peeking behind that pillar like some sort of Bombchu?" he taunted mercilessly, folding his arms like a real wise guy.

A young girl of about sixteen tromped out from her hiding place, fists clenched hard at her sides. "I'll have you know I could care less about that princess-loving, fairy-forgetting goat!" she exclaimed, shaking a slim finger at him. "Always running after Zelda and leaving me to hang!"

Roam laughed at the girl's antics, spinning away from her. He then propped his arms up on the side of his wheelchair, looking off to the sparkling sea. "You really liked him, didn't you," he spoke quietly into the wind. "That's why it's still hard for you."

Epheremelda looked down at the chair-bound man, then started twirling a lock of springy gold hair in her fingers. "It's not like I didn't want to see him," she amended, her irritation dropping a mite from its previous level. "I just wasn't ready to face him yet, ya know? It's been so long since that stuff in the Dark World, I wonder if he'd even remember me. Besides," Here, she made two round, sweeping motions at the back of her shoulders. "I think he knew me better when I had the wings."

"I doubt there's be a problem remembering you," Roam said offhandedly, trying to keep a smile from coming to his face. "Hardly anyone could forget such a pugnacious individual."

"Hmph!" Epheremelda snorted, folding her arms like a ten-year-old brat. "Even after I saved your keister at Ganon's Tower, you still make fun of me!"

"Because it's fun," he replied, adopting an mock-innocent expression as he looked towards the ceiling.

The onetime-fairy blinking a few times at Roam's manner, then let a smile form on her lips. "You're weird," Epheremelda chirped, walking over to the artist. Then she wrapped her arms around his shoulders from behind. "But that's why I like you."

Roam smiled gently, sliding one on his hands on top of her own.

The beautiful sight of Hyrule Castle shone by starlight, and bathed in the ever-enchanting glow of the moon. Its spires stood proudly in the night sky, like the spears of the Royal Guard. On the tallest tower, there were the remains of a hot air balloon, testament to a hero's ingenious friends. And in the west most window, the gentle light of a lantern shone, the only light so late at night.

Inside the west-most window, the lonely queen sat on the king-sized bed in her nightclothes. Her eyes were weary with fatigue, though her hair was not a strand out of place. It had been a long day taking care of the every struggles of the kingdom of Hyrule; taxes, budgets, and what not. Rest was a rare treat for her now, and this brief slumber would have to hold out for the trials the upcoming morning.

Slowly rising from the bed, Zelda strode over to the window and took the old lantern by its handle, bringing it away from the window. Placing it on a table next to some wax fruit, she next knelt down on the floor so she could regard it more intimately. The young woman contemplated the flickering light held within its iron frame, and how it seemed to push up further at the slightest weakening of the flame. But soon, she reached to turn it off: it had been kept shining long enough, and light was too precious to waste at such a time at night.

Just as she was about to shut it off, Zelda suddenly felt a shock overtake her system, nearly causing her body to double over. She drew her hand away instantly, wondering if she'd been somehow burned by the flame. No, her hand was untouched by the fires, and remained as pristine as ever. So what was it that had caused her to draw away suddenly, as if her entire soul was aflame?

The last time she had felt such a flow of energy was when she had been in the clutches of Ganon, and was communicating telepathically to the various heroes in hopes of a rescue. A surge of panic flowed through her heart just then. Was that it, then? Had Ganon somehow returned?

No, the shock was somehow less threatening than those related to any instance of Gannondorf. If anything, this was a shock like a boy might receive upon opening his favorite birthday present. The feeling entered in like a fresh breeze to a coal worker, a sweet salvation to anyone under the ground for so long. It felt like...

"Link!" she suddenly shouted out to herself, bolting upright from her place on the floor. Nearly knocking over the table that held the lantern, she whirled in a half panic, not knowing quite what to do. That kind of telepathic burst only occurred between him and her, when one was thinking of the other so strongly. It meant that the Hero of the Master Sword had finally returned, and was coming to her.

Gathering herself together once again, she quickly made preparations for the journey. Throwing her nightgown over the vanity, she quickly slipped into her old blue dress, throwing a cloak over her shoulders for good measure. With pen and ink, she quickly jotted down a note in case any of the guards were wondering where she was. She grabbed the lantern from the table, stuck the note in its place, and was out the door.

Running down the elegant halls of the castle, Zelda was a flurry of blond hair and blue skirts. None of the knights were currently very alert at his time of night, so she had no one to answer to in her mad dash. Making her way to the stables, she quickly sought out her favorite white stallion, who was quite surprised to see his mistress arrive at so late an hour. Without even taking the time to put a saddle on, she straddled the horse in one leap and kicked it softly in the side, taking off for the countryside and leaving the splendor of Hyrule Castle behind.

In just twenty minutes, she had made it all the way past Lake Hylia to the coast of Hyrule, where currently a high tide was in effect. The moon shone vibrantly on the surprisingly clean-looking waters, casting a bright circle that rippled and fluctuated with the waves. The beach was clean of the monsters that had populated it during Agahaim's rein, and only a crab or two broke its serenity. And a single sand dollar lay uncovered in the crisp sands, waiting for some lucky soul to discover it.

Getting off of the horse, Zelda brought out a length of rope and quickly tied her steed to a thin tree about three feet away. After making sure the knot was secure, she then strode over to a small stump that the Lumberjacks had no doubt a hand in. She lowered herself onto the stump and gathered her knees up in her arms, feeling the crickets and bugs jump alongside her. Shivering slightly in the wind, she brought a steady vigil unto the shoreline, making sure she had a good view of the ocean from where she sat.

For a while, it seemed nothing was to happen. A small shadow was all that the sea cared to show, and an unimportant looking one at that. Slowly, though, that shadow suddenly started to form into a shape that caught Zelda's eye, a short yet sturdy shape, made for a single man's long distance travel. And then it was clear: a single yacht was sailing the waters, and closing in on the shore of Hyrule.

Paragraphs and paragraphs could be written about the young queen's thoughts and emotions as she waited those agonizing moments for the vessel to land. Suffix to say that the ship indeed dropped anchor at a small pier a little ways away. Zelda was at that pier within moments, hustling as fast as her legs could carry her. With a nervous and anticipant eye, she looked up the wooden hull, smiling like a child coming home after a week long trip at school.

From the deck of the ship strode a young man about sixteen years of age, wearing a crisp green tunic and a pair of white tights. Adorning his head was a distinctive floppy hat, which was blowing so hard that it threatened to fly right off his head. He was perhaps a bit taller and a bit broader than he was when he had first disembarked on his journey, and his face spoke of new quests completed and trials overcome. But the shock of honey-kissed hair and those vibrant, blue eyes to him left no mistake on who it was.

Link had returned at last.

Moving briskly from the mast of the ship to its stern, the boy regarded Zelda with a strange mistiness in his eyes, as if deciding if the girl in front of him was real or just another dream. Soon though, he was gathering up a strange parcel in his hands, the insignia of some sort of bird race sown just below the opening. With a brief leap, he made the transition from ship to shore, and Zelda took a step back to allow the boy berth to land. There, they met face to face for the first time in half a year.

For awhile, nothing was said between the two. Then, remembering their positions, Link dropped his bag and quickly knelt down on one knee, as a knight must do for his queen. "Your Majesty," he said in reverence, lowering his head so that his hair covered his eyes. There, he closed his eyes and waited patiently for Zelda to tell him to rise.

But to his surprise, Zelda knelt down right along with him, bringing their gazes back on the same level. Reaching out with a gentle hand, she tilted Link's chin so that she could look him in the face. Upon the intimate contact, his eyes slowly opened to stare into hers, something in between confusion and hope on his face. "You may rise, young hero," she said serenely, letting the first real smile she had felt in ages pour out of her soul, bright as the night was dark.

Link stared transfixed at the unusual radiance coming from the queen, not sure on what she was insinuating. His heart has suddenly picked up his pace as he felt the old feeling he had whenever he was around Zelda. He stared deep within her crystal eyes, finding only himself reflected within. Then, his face upturned into his old boyish smile, as it dawned on him that he was finally home, and someone indeed was waiting for him.

Zelda's smile widened even more as she saw that the feelings were returned, two-fold. Unable to restrain herself any longer, she threw herself at the boy's chest, practically knocking him over. "Link..." she sighed, her voice muffled slightly in the cloth of his tunic. And her arms embraced her hero tightly, squeezing him like he was more valuable than the Triforce itself.

Link almost backed away from her, as if she was just a phantom and none of this was really happening. Then, slowly, his arms wrapped around Zelda as well, pulling her slightly shivering body closer to his slightly damp one. A single tear fell from his eye to land on the young woman's shoulder as he was awash in closeness he had not known since his Uncle had died. "Zelda," he breathed into the air, finally letting himself relax from his spiritual journey; from the kingdom of Hyrule, to a dreamy wonderland, to the land of the Rito, and back again.

Together, the couple lay like this, entwined in each other's arms as if they would never let go. Two souls, brought together by magic, kept together by their own hearts. The moon cast their embracing forms as a shadow almost the entire width of the beach. After many sleepless nights, it was finally shining on them, now and forever.