A/N: Yes, it has been a year and three months. As an excuse, I dare you to write a Skyward Sword fic that truly examines Hylia's plan in detail. It makes no sense whatsoever. Zelda tells Link that she needs to be a mortal to use the Triforce... and then she tells Link to use the Triforce. What? Why did she have to be a mortal then?

Anyway, I think I've gotten around that... it just took me a while, as you can see. Thanks for being patient. I just finished NaNoWriMo on an original story and after such a long absence from fanfiction I suddenly got the urge to finish this off.

Funny enough, this is only half of the chapter. I did indeed finish the whole thing, with the flashbacks and all, but I decided to split it up since that provides me with the opportunity to edit the newer half a bit more while getting something out to you loyal readers immediately. As a result, this is extremely short, but I can guarantee that the next chapter will come within a month. (I... hope that's the right decision... I personally hate short chapters, so I'm sorry if you wanted something more!) Anyway, the part that you'll see here has been edited numerous times over the past year or so, so it should be pretty solid. Please enjoy!

AWAKENING

Chapter 10

Heat.

That was the first thing I noticed: the heat. And gods, it was hot. I would have been impressed if I hadn't noticed the heat first.

My body was saturated in sweat as I laid on the warm, hard tile, my cheek pressed against it and my eyes closed. Something was weighing down my foot. There were several grunts of Bokoblins surrounding me. The last thing I remembered was a blow to my head, and then darkness. I realized with a sinking feeling that there were way too many of those grunts out there for me to even dream of fighting them off.

I reluctantly opened one eye and examined my surroundings. Green and grey stone spread out in front of me, meeting a fence with an elaborate design that surrounded the circular platform. The wall beyond it was decorated with some kind of tribal statue depicting a strange, unfamiliar creature which was illuminated by a flickering light from below. The gurgling noise told me it had to be lava, which I recalled vaguely from my previous life.

No wonder it was so hot.

I... must be in the temple. I couldn't imagine what other location would have such elaborate decorations as what surrounded me and lava at the same time. So those Bokoblins must have knocked me out and brought me in here.

Which probably means... that weight on my foot...

I shifted my gaze down and found a short chain wrapped around my ankle. Of course. I was locked up; I couldn't go far even if I wanted to. They were probably just waiting for Ghirahim to show up.

I took a deep breath, trying, perhaps in vain, to remain calm. I knew the old woman had talked about what to do if I was captured. She was mostly referring to Ghirahim, but I was sure it still applied to this situation. She'd told me not to fight, but to escape as soon as possible. I shut my eyes in frustration. There really wasn't much of a chance to escape now without fighting.

And she'd mentioned the servant of the goddess... I could only wonder where that servant might be now. If there was ever a time that required their help, it was now.

I very slowly started to move my arms to prop myself up, but as soon as I moved, I heard shrieks and several swords were soon pointed at me. I froze as the Bokoblins started muttering something in whatever strange language they had. After a tense moment where I waited, frozen, the swords moved away from me. I let out a sigh of relief and looked up at them. They seemed to be ignoring me for now, but I had no doubt that they'd be on me in an instant if I did anything suspicious.

I needed to get out of here.

I blinked, taking in my surroundings once more, searching for an exit of some sort. There seemed to be a pathway to my right - but it curved so that I couldn't see the end of it. And then there were steps to my left that led to... I leaned over, keeping a watchful eye on the Bokoblins to make sure this wasn't out of my boundaries, trying to see around the steps. There seem to be a ramp of some sort.

I squinted. I couldn't see the end, but it had to lead somewhere... right?

My gaze landed on the manacle chaining me to the floor. If only there was some way for me to get it off, then I could run in whichever direction looked like it had the least Bokoblins and find a place to hide. After all, the Earth Spring was somewhere in the temple, and, with a little luck, the door that sealed the spring would let me in and keep out the Bokoblins. Then I could get my memories and probably make another portal out of here.

But none of that would happen with this chain.

I lifted the shackle, turning it over in my hand gently. As I did so, I suddenly noticed a small slit in the metal.

A keyhole?

My eyes widening, I brought it closer to my face, fingering it thoughtfully, an idea forming in my mind. Maybe... maybe my hair piece would work? I glanced up discreetly to make sure the Bokoblins weren't watching me.

But they were. All the faces were staring at me, suspicion in their expressions. I sighed, letting the chain tumble from my grasp dismally. I could do nothing with them there. Not that I knew how to pick a lock, anyway. Instead, I settled on glaring right back at the Bokoblins. "What?" I snapped against my better judgment. "I'm trapped. I can't do anything. Watching me is a waste of your time."

The truth in those words stung, but at least it made the Bokoblins look away.

I crawled over and slumped against the fence, the flimsy metal rattling with my weight. Though I was beginning to despair, terrified that Ghirahim would show up at any moment and sacrifice me to his king, I scanned the room. I had to get out of here for the sake of the world.

The same feeling of helplessness that had been with me for most of this journey was begin to creep up on me, combining with the despair. Ever since I'd regained my memories as an immortal, everything I did felt so weak. This... this felt like a confirmation of my worst fears. Despite my newfound knowledge, a mortal body was no suitable host for the spirit of a goddess, and there was a great chance that I wouldn't make it out of this alive. As Hylia, I recalled taking down Demons with ease using magic beyond mortal comprehension. Now I couldn't even break a single chain around my ankle.

Something suddenly occurred to me. Of course, I couldn't do anything on the scale of what I remembered from my past life. That was out of the question. But who was to say that all of my power was gone? Hadn't it been the kind old woman who'd told me I would have an affinity for magic?

I need something simple, I thought. Thinking back on past experiences, I remembered one time that I rescued a human family that had been trapped in chains on an island in Lanayru's sea. I closed my eyes, my mind carefully considering the exact way I'd felt as the limitless power had surged through my body, filling me with energy to cut through even the strongest metal in the world. Surely if I had that power before, even mortal me would be able to cut this flimsy thing, right? And it couldn't hurt to try...

Could it?

I pushed my misgivings out of my mind. I had no choice. It was do or die, and I didn't plan on dying any time soon.

Shutting my eyes in concentration, I focused on that memory, remembering the feeling of power arising from within my core. I searched for that same feeling in my mortal body. After a moment, I felt it - the beginnings of something powerful hidden beneath the surface. It was weaker than before, but that was to be expected. I wasn't a goddess anymore...

I seized hold of the power, dragging it up almost painfully slowly. The amount of effort it took surprised me, and I felt my breath grow heavy as I strained against it. It had never been so physically taxing to summon my power in my memories!

Nonetheless, my hands started to glow, and I felt a grin split my face. It was working! Now all I had to do was–

A screech cut through my thoughts with a jolt and before I knew it I'd been yanked painfully to my feet by one of my outstretched hands. The glow vanished immediately as I was pulled up to face the enraged face of a Bokoblin.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! How could I forget about the guards?

My breath caught in my throat as the Bokoblin's yells surrounded me. The creature holding me shook me by my hand, causing me to cry out in surprise. The creature then raised its sword, holding it back as though to strike me, and my eyes widened.

A flash of blue abruptly filled the room, forcing me to gasp and shield my eyes.

I was roughly dropped to the ground as the painful grip on my hand disappeared. The sounds of dying Bokoblins echoed all around me, one by one, as each fell. Then there was an eerie silence that was more than a little unnerving. I finally raised my head to gaze around the room.

A tall, imposing woman with tan skin and white-blonde hair stood there, a glowing orb of bright blue energy hovering above her open palm, and a face that I recognized from another life...

"Impa?" I whispered. As she dispelled the energy and turned toward me, I could see now that she had a strange eye tattoo over her eye that nearly confirmed it. I was suddenly feeling very disoriented, caught somewhere between memories of Zelda and memories of Hylia, unsure of who I was and which reality I was currently living.

"It's good to know that you recognize me, Your Grace," she said. It was dizzying. Incomplete memories kept swimming in front of me where I'd heard that voice and her no-nonsense tone more times than I could count.

"What... What are you doing here?" I managed to say as she walked over and helped me stand. The chains that had bound me fell broken at my feet, cut into pieces by her magic.

"Protecting you, Your Grace, as you ordered." She placed the Goddess's Harp in my hand, which I hadn't even realized was missing until this moment.

"I ordered you to protect me? I don't recall–" A memory, one of Zelda's, sprang to the front of my mind. "Oh, wait a minute, are you the 'servant of the goddess' that the woman at the Sealed Grounds told me about?"

"Most likely, Your Grace." Wow. She said "Your Grace" even more often than the old woman did. "Now, I suggest we hurry. Ghirahim will be here any moment. You need to get to the spring to regain your memories." She silently motioned for me to follow her to the end of the platform with the stairs. I frowned. Her stiff tone of voice made me think she almost sounded... angry. Was she mad at me? Maybe Zelda was a disappointment compared to the power of the Goddess.

I shook my head, trying to clear it. Her appearance had brought on more confusion than I would have anticipated. I'm Zelda, I told myself. Zelda, Zelda, Zelda! I just happen to have the memories of Hylia. I quickly hurried to match her pace as we ascended what I had correctly guessed was a ramp.

I wanted to ask her so many questions, but I wasn't quite sure how I should treat her. As Hylia, our relationship had always been friendly, but as a master and servant. Now, with this unexpected tension, I was at a complete loss. I certainly didn't feel worthy of being a master anymore, when my power was so incredibly diminished from what Hylia had once had.

As we approached the top of the ramp, I finally worked up the courage to speak. "Is something wrong, Impa?" I said hesitantly. "You seem... tense."

We reached the top of the curve, revealing a patch of strange blue plants and, much to my shock and relief, a golden door with Hylia's symbol that looked exactly like the at the Skyview Spring. Impa halted here and turned to me.

"Your human name is... Zelda, correct?"

In retrospect, it was kind of funny how I'd just assumed she already knew my name and everything about me like the woman at the Sealed Grounds did. I was rather stunned by the question and I blinked in confusion. "Uh... yes," I answered at length.

"Then listen to me, Zelda," she said, her voice hard. "I will accompany you throughout the rest of your journey. What transpired here has clearly shown that in your current form, you are not capable of taking care of yourself."

"Hey–!" I began indignantly, but she cut me off.

"There is one thing that I want you to keep in mind above all else, Your Grace. There can be no distractions on this journey. Perhaps that... woman who greeted you at the Sealed Grounds did not make this clear. You must abandon your human life. The world no longer needs 'Zelda'; it needs its goddess. From this point on, keep in mind that you might never return to your old life. No matter what reservations you might have had before this journey, forget them. Focus on the task at hand and remove yourself from your emotions." She paused, and when she continued again, there was a distinct tone of anger in her voice. "And do not forgive failure so easily."

My eyes were wide with shock. Although I remembered Impa as being unnecessarily strict, I had never expecting this kind of cruelty from her. She quickly turned and headed to the door, which vanished to allow entry as she approached, but I remained rooted to the spot for a moment more.

It was difficult to accept that she was merely telling the truth. The idea that I would need to relinquish my old life was a philosophy I had thus followed; I'd successfully managed to avoid talking to Link earlier, and I hadn't returned to Skyloft despite any homesickness I might have possessed. But hearing it out of another person's mouth, hearing that not only would I have to lose my identity but also possibly never get it back... That was harder to accept.

I closed my eyes. Behind that doorway were the memories of an immortal being. Perhaps learning more about her thought processes would help me sort out my own. And upon hearing I might have to abandon my identity as Zelda... drowning myself in memories of another life sounded like just the perfect distraction.

I walked through the doorway and ascended the staircase within.