Hey everyone. This chapter was alot harder to write than i initially expected, i just hope you can understand what i am trying to explain. Anyway, thanks for the reviews! Hope you enjoy this chapter : )

Chapter Nine: The Forgotten Hero


Tears falling down again,

You fall to your knees,

You beg, you bleed,

Can I be someone else?

For all the times I hated myself,

Your failures devour,

You're hurting every hour,

You're drowning in your imperfection…

From afar she watched him. She watched the way he moved. She watched the way he mastered his sword; the way he handled his bow with strength and accuracy. She watched as he taught those around him with a knowledge and skill far beyond what they could ever hope to attain. For hours she watched him, unable to look away, even for a second. She watched the way he didn't seem to care about anything around him; he was only there to do his job. He taught with only half his mind; the rest was elsewhere, distracted by what Zelda wished she could understand.

Then, from out of nowhere and with no warning, he faltered, dropping his sword. He ripped off his left gauntlet, clutching his wrist as if he had been injured. Zelda was not the only one surprised to see this. The group of guards Link had been instructing stood in disbelief, uncertain how to react. They looked as if they had just observed an immortal die. He clenched and shook his hand as if trying to quickly discard the pain.

Link looked up at the random selection of uniformed guards standing around him. He forced a smile to his face as if nothing had happened, trying desperately to ignore the throbbing pain which had begun to engulf his whole arm. Link was lucky to just be alive after yesterday; if he was anyone else, he wouldn't have been so lucky. He could endure fatal wounds, only to live to endure more. He had never understood why his body was so immune; he thought that maybe over time he had become strong enough to tolerate the pain he felt; that there was only so much he could do to hurt himself before he began to feel nothing; well, not quite nothing, he thought, looking down at the deep gashes in his wrist. He knew he couldn't go on like this.

"I think we'll call this a day", Link began, watching a few of the men retire to the shade before picking up his sword and gauntlet with his capable hand, "Same time tomorrow", he said walking off without looking back. Zelda watched as he left by himself; this was her chance. She removed herself from where she was hiding and headed off in the same direction as Link. She didn't approach him straight away; she kept her distance, making sure to follow him without been noticed. He sheathed his sword, freeing up his hand to pull his sleeve tighter around his left wrist. He soon approached a narrow doorway which fed him back through to the inner chambers of the castle. Zelda followed suit. She soon realised that he was heading back to his room. This time she would not be turned away, he would not ignore her.

Zelda turned into the last corridor just as Link opened the door to his room. She quickly hurried after him. As Link walked through the doorway, he let his gear fall to the ground; with very little energy, he lightly pushed the door, hoping it would shut by itself.

He made his way over to his bed and sat down on its edge. He lifted one leg on to his knee and began to unbuckle his boot, when a thought hit him. He didn't remember hearing the door click shut. He raised his eyes to the door, which was now wide open and to his utter surprise stood the princess.

He watched her with a sense of inevitable dread as she closed the door behind her, unknowingly leaning her back against it the same way he had during their last encounter. Her body language let him know that if he wanted to leave, he'd have to get through her first.

Link knew what was coming. It killed him to think that at the end of this, she would probably end up hating him even more; she would not understand; he didn't expect her to.

She stood there in silence; staring into his handsome yet tentative eyes. It was only days ago that she had sought comfort in his eyes and had felt safe, knowing that they watched over her. When she looked into his eyes now, she felt as if she barely recognised them; they looked so pail, so sad.

Link opened his mouth but Zelda spoke first.

"You know why I am here, Link", she said, trying her hardest not to let her emotions get the better of her. "You know what I want to hear; and you know that I am not leaving here until you tell me." She paused for a moment before continuing, "I will not hold this against you, and I will not tell a soul. I will convince my father to let you go; I will not bother you again." Link lowered his head, forcing an awkward smile to his lips in an attempt to hide the hurt her words forced onto him.

She unlatched the locket from around her neck and let it hang between her delicate fingers so he could see.

"You took something of mine", she began, watching his eyes stare at the locket dangling from her hand, "and I want to know why."

After a moment, he diverted his eyes from her and got to his feet making his way over to the window. He lent his elbows against the frame; his hands covered his face. Zelda waited patiently for him to reply. Keeping his back to her, he raised his head and began to stare vacantly out the window. Finally, with soft words, he spoke.

"If you had something, something that you valued and treasured beyond anything else in world, something so important to you that you would guard it with your life-", his breath wavered, "-and you were to wake one day to find it all lost", he turned back to face her; his eyes captured hers as he spoke, "… would you not do everything in your power to get it back?"

His question surprised her a little; she wasn't sure how to answer; though something told her he wasn't referring to her locket.

"The fact that you no longer had it drove you insane every time you were reminded, and every little thing just served to remind you. Every day and every night your mind would be consumed by thoughts, plaguing your every second. Half of your mind would try to saver what conscious and rational thoughts you had left, trying to convince yourself that the broken cannot be fixed, and that the past cannot be reawakened. The other half, the half which had kept you going all the years, told you not to ever let go."

Zelda shook her head and narrowed her eyes in confusion.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Link let out a frustrated laugh, but not at her, at himself. He walked slowly over to her. Zelda's grip loosened around the chain as Link gently took it from her. He kept his eyes firmly on the metallic object in his hands as he continued.

"I did not find this… nor did I take this from you…" he paused; his expression gave away his uncertainty in proceeding, however, he continued; his words bitter-sweet. "You gave this to me."

Zelda took a step back. She wore an expression as if she had just been offended, glaring at him through narrowed eyes.

"Not only do you lie to me, but you insult my intelligence as well", she spoke to him coldly. "I thought you of all people would at least have the decency to be honest to me", her voice lowered to a near-whisper, "I guess not." She turned to leave but Link put his hand on her shoulder, stopping her mid-step.

"Please… let me explain", his eyes pleaded with her. She wanted nothing more than to brush his hand off her and leave the room. She wasn't quite sure why she didn't. Maybe there was a part of her which wanted to believe him; which wanted to give him a chance. That part of her overpowered her anger; she stayed where she was. Either way, she began to think that moving was no longer an option after letting his eyes captivate her. She inwardly cursed him for having so much control over her.

She turned completely around to face him again, but remained in silence, waiting for him to continue.

"Every word I will now speak to you, I have little confidence you will believe. All I ask is that you hear me out", his voice was desperate. After pausing to consider for a moment, and despite her scepticism, she nodded her head in acceptance. Taking a few steps back, he sat down on the edge of his bed once more.

"It seems like so long ago that you gave this to me", he said, still holding the locket in his hands, "Yet, sometimes it seems like just yesterday", he couldn't help but smile bitterly and shake his head in defeat when he thought about the irony of the situation. "Maybe in another life it was. He brought his saddened eyes to hers.

Zelda, you don't remember me, do you?", he already knew her answer, but he just had to ask her.

Zelda stared at him incredulity. She shook her head, knowing that she definitely would have recognised him if she had seen him before.

"There was once a time when we were so close. Tragedy had brought us together… this beautiful kingdom you will soon rule over was once plagued with war and destruction… the thriving castle town which is now filled with the young and keen, was once a ghost town, inhabited by only the dead… the majestic fields of Hyrule were overrun with beasts sent from the dark lord himself", Link sighed. It was almost killing him to have to retell to the woman he loved, the life that she had forgotten; the memories of seven years which she had spent by his side that had been taken away in one determined flash.

Link ran his finger over the grooves around the edge of the locket, and for the millionth time he tried in vain to open it, but like after every other attempt, it remained shut; it was as if it was being held fastened closed with a force beyond human control; as if it was held by a charm.

"You tell me that you are impressed by the magic I can preform… but during those lost years, I saw you control a magic beyond anything else ever witnessed; you were granted a magic from the goddesses themselves. With this power, we were able to rid the land of this fiend, banishing him to the Sacred Realm, a place unaffected by the normal laws of nature and time." Zelda could do nothing but stare at him as he spoke. She wasn't sure what to think or what to feel. She was finding it almost impossible to believe his explanation, until he mentioned the Sacred Realm. During her many days alone in the library she had stumbled across a shelf of very old Hylian manuscripts, one of which mentioned this realm. She had always believed it was just an ancient legend…

"During those seven years, time had been manipulated almost beyond repair. So much had been taken from all of us; so much time had been lost", he raised his eyes to embrace hers in a tender gaze, "only you had the divine power to return the balance to the land, to give back the years lost in the war. You told me that we could recover the time we had lost; that we could start over; we could have the life that we had wanted… the life which had to be hindered for the greater good. You made the promise that you would remember me; that you would remember us…

Zelda's face started to turn a sickly pail colour as Link continued to speak to her. She didn't want to believe what he was telling her; she wasn't even sure if she did believe him, but there were things he spoke of that she just couldn't ignore.

"The past seven years I have lived twice, but I feel as if dying was a less cruel option. The first time I had spoken to you since waking up an infant again, I saw you amongst the bustle of castle town; you smiled and greeted me. For a moment I actually believed you remembered me. You have no idea how hard it was for me to hear you have to ask me my name. You thought I was just another civilian; just someone being nice; someone greeting their princess. But it wasn't only you who had forgotten those seven years of war, it was everyone.

Do you think it is just coincidence that I am here now, speaking to you; for seven years I have tried to get through to you. Getting myself beaten and locked up was what it took to be able to see you… without hesitation, I would do it all again."

Zelda felt her self starting to sway, as if she was loosing grip on her body and even reality. She knew his eyes were familiar and she just hadn't been able to understand why. Her heart beat began to quicken as she found herself drowning under a wave of sudden realisation. Every thing had been right in front of her all along. He had taken her to the lake because he knew that she liked it there. The woman he had spoken of was her; the reason he had seemed so upset was… She let out a groan and put her hands over her face. Her skin felt so hot and flustered. Her thoughts began to consume her; she felt as if she was going to be sick. She stumbled forward. The last thing she remembered was strong arms catching her as she fell. Her head relaxed against his chest as everything faded to black.


This chapter has a lot of dicontinuities if you relate it back to Ocarina of Time, for it to work, you have to ignore a few things, eg, the sages. Anyway, hope you liked this chapter.

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