A Second Chance

by The Time Stop Corporation

A third and final form; Ganondorf, Gannon, and now Gannondorf. Link, caught unaware, is knocked off to his...death? With a second chance, Link might finally save Hyrule without losing himself and the ones he cares about.

14. Chapter 14

Time Stop: Sorry this took so long compared to our past two chapters. It is harder than it looks to describe what goes on.

Shadow: smirks Yeah, we took some creative liberties, a lot of them.

Wang: crying in the corner Wah!

Shadow: He's been like that as we deviated more and more from the game.

Wang: Wah!

Time Stop: We don't own Legend of Zelda, but we do own all of this extra stuff!

Chapter 14: Mido

Link and Nadai left early the next morning. Link blushed horribly recalling how awkward it was for him and Nadai to be in the same room. He stayed up all night as Nadai slept in the bed next to him. Of course, Nadai couldn't sleep at all while Link was sleeping in the bed next to her.

So, tried as they were, they weren't about to walk all the way down to Kokiri Forest. Link took out his Ocarina, and Nadai watched as Link played the Ocarina of Time. Over the horizon, Epona neighed, and came into view.

"Link, you saved her?"

Link smiled, pride swelling in his chest. "I didn't do anything, Epona was the one who did all of the work." He said modestly. Epona nudged him forward, causing him to stumble.

"So, what do I ride?" Nadai asked. Link was half on Epona when he realized that there wasn't another horse. He fell of, and picked himself up from the ground.

"Um, you ride Epona."

"With you?"

Link blushed a horrible blush. "Uh, yeah."

Nadai sighed in annoyance. As much as riding with Link sounded enjoyable, she didn't want to that close to him as of the moment. "I'm just worried about Epona. I don't want to burden her under two people, that's all."

Lin frowned. "I didn't think about that." Epona nudged Link aside, and knelt next to Nadia. She climbed upon the horse, but when she didn't get back up, Link and Nadai blushed in what the horse wanted. "Epona? You can carry us both?"

Epona shook her head, indicating Link would have to get on the horse. Link climbed on, and tried not to hold onto Nadai where it would make it too uncomfortable.

For the three hours it took for Epona ride there, Link and Nadai tried not to touch each other, nor did they try to come in contact with each other. So, that made Nadai leaning against Epona's head, while Link tried to stay upon Epona's back without falling off.

Epona snorted, Hylians.

Link touched down in front of the Kokiri Forest. Nadai slid off Epona. She landed, but her legs were so numb from riding she almost fell. Link, whose legs were spread further apart because he was sitting in the back, tried to stand up erect but he failed. Link tried again, and grimaced past the pain. He finally stood straight, but one glance at Nadai and he fell again.

Nadai did little better, and she was the first one to stand and remain standing. Link took another few minutes, seeing how Nadai's presence made him lose balance.

They finally both made it so they could stand again, though Link was still a bit sore from the ride. They headed into the tunnel, which would lead them into Link's childhood world. When they entered they didn't believe what they saw.

The forest was burning. Every home that Link had ever known was on fire, and no Kokiri was around to stop it. Only one possible explanation could be caused by this tragedy. Gannondorf, he had struck again.

Link rushed forward to the waterfall he swam in while as a child, but he was blocked off. Monsters had come to Kokiri Forest. Deku Babas, thrice as tall as the last time Link met them, attacked from the reeds of the pool, and the sides of the houses. Link was forced back, but a cruel light came into his eyes.

"Is nothing good anymore?" Link shouted. "Is no where safe anymore?" Link cut through the Deku Babas like they were parchment. Nadai was about to join in, when she saw Deku Scrubs, Mad Deku Scrubs, dancing in the firelight. She reached for her Slingshot, but found that it was too small for her hands. She took out the new toy that Link had gotten. She held onto the handle, and squeezed the weapon.

She had found that the weapon reacted to a squeeze on the handle, which is exactly what she did. Nadai fired upon the Mad Deku Scrubs, and a chain shot out. It reached and struck one of them in the head, killing it. Nadai fired again, but the next one was too far back.

She moved forward to attack, but they ran off. She chased them around, firing her weapon as to mess them up. Of course, that was until Link was free from the Deku Babas. Once he had killed them, he was able to focus on the retreating Mad Deku Scrubs, and made short work of those that Nadai missed, which wasn't a lot.

Link leaned on the Master Sword, while Nadai puffed against a building. "Where are the Kokiri? They should be here."

Link nodded. "I'll go by the Lost Woods, maybe Saria led them there. You try where the Great Deku Tree was, they might have gone there." Nadai nodded, and ran off. Link headed in the other direction.

Nadai entered the place where the Great Deku Tree had lived. Inside, she could see better, for the smoke couldn't enter. Around the place, the Kokiri and the Skull Kids and the animals waited nervously. Some held Deku Sticks as weapons, but all held rocks.

"What are you doing here?" One of the asked. It was Aston, the Kokiri who was the guard from a long time ago.

"I'm from a long time ago, no time to explain."

"You're a Gerudo, never trust a Gerudo!" Aston and the other Kokiri and came closer to the former Gerudo.

"Wait!" Nadai whipped out her daggers. Seeing the mystical daggers that have been part of the Gerudo Legends of Terror and Mystery, they backed off. "Now, listen to me. I came here a long time ago, you all probably don't remember me."

"You," one of the Know-it-all brothers said. "You are the Gerudo that killed the Great Deku Tree."

Aston nodded. "That is her, she killed the Great Deku Tree with Link the traitor."

Nadai faced down Aston and the other Kokiri and the Skull Kids. "Look, Link and I are the Heroes of Time, and we defeated the monster in the Village." The Kokiri and the Skull Kids stopped their bantering. "You can save the Village, only if you work with me to do it."

Aston stamped his foot in frustration. "I don't want to work with you, Gerudo, and it frankly isn't my decision if we do or don't. But, since Mido and Saria are gone, I am in charge." He turned o his peers. "Alright everyone! We help this Gerudo, listen to her!"

"Form bucket lines! Work on those houses closest to the waterfall, then go on from there!" Nadai took Aston to the side. "What do you mean that Mido and Saria are gone?"

Aston shook himself from her grip. "I mean what I said. One day, about a few months ago Saria disappeared. Mido left a few days later, looking for her, leaving me in charge."

"Do you know where they went?"

Aston pointed to the Lost Woods. "I know Mido went there, but so many monsters are in the Lost Woods, that it is useless." Aston's face fell. "Even Saria with her wisdom and Mido with his strength cannot beat them."

Nadai glanced again at the Lost Woods entrance. "Link can, he has to."

Link entered the Lost Woods. Inside, he met a few Deku Babas. With a few strokes of his sword, Link slew them. "The Lost Woods used to be peaceful," Link said. "What happened to it?"

Navi shined a bright light in the dark. "Gannondorf's power has grown from the Temples. He must have grown so much in power to afflict everyone."

Link grimaced. "Navi, I don't think these woods are the same anymore. I think the evil of the Temple has changed the very positioning of the openings." Link danced among the opening, waiting for the familiar music of Saria's Song, but he couldn't hear it. Navi was the only guide, and with her help, Link found his path through the Lost Woods.

He found his way to the old shortcut, the one between Zora's River and the Lost Woods. There, he saw one Kokiri, a lone Kokiri. Mido.

"Mido!" Link rushed up to the Kokiri. Link for the first time realized he grew greatly, and he had to kneel to be the same height of Mido.

"Hey, Mister." Mido's voice was so sullen Link forgot it was Mido for a second. "How did you get past the Monsters?"

"I killed them. Mido, where is Saria and the other Kokiri?"

Mido turned to the exit. "She's over there, as far as I can tell. The other Kokiri, I don't know where they are."

"Mido, what happened? I need to know where she is."

Mido looked down. "You know, Mister, I used to have a buddy, I wouldn't call him a buddy, but he would for me. His name was Link. He disappeared about seven years ago, off on some adventure with a Gerudo. I don't know where he is, but he can do this, but I can't do it. Saria is on the other side of these monsters, and I can't defeat them. I don't even own the Fairy Slingshot; Link has that.

"Saria...Saria liked him. I didn't see what it was that she saw in him. He, he isn't even a Kokiri, he didn't even have a Fairy. But, I love Saria with all of my heart. So, if you see Link, tell him I ask for his forgiveness, would you?"

Link blinked, and Navi blinked.

"Um, Mido, I will tell him." Link said. Navi smacked him in the head.

"What!" Link hissed at her as soon as they were a good distance away from Mido.

"This is the one chance to tell Mido the truth. If you do, he will be ready and able to support your cause."

Link sighed then returned to Mido. "Mido, I haven't yet told you the truth, but Navi told me the tell you it, and I agree. The truth cannot wait. I am Link, and I forgive you."

"Link, no, but how? You...you were a Kokiri, not a Hylian. You, you cannot be here. You, you are the one who killed the Great Deku Tree."

"Mido, listen to me. You have to believe me when I say that Gannondorf killed the Great Deku Tree."

"Impossible!"

"Mido, I am one of the two heroes of time, Nadai is the other one. In order to save the Village and save Saria, you have to help me. You have to become the Kokiri leader, not in name, but in heart."

Beside Mido, his Fairy agreed. "Link is right, Mido. You told the truth to Link before you knew who he was. Now accept the truth, and go and save your village. For years you led the Kokiri as best as you can. They need you now more than ever. Aston cannot do it alone. You need to be that leader."

"Some wise old guy once told me that I was the Hero of Time. I am still skeptical. But when I hold the Master Sword in my hand, I feel as if I can do anything. Those Kokiri out there need to believe in you because you are the only one that they can believe in. Saria is gone, and I am no Kokiri, they won't follow me. The Great Deku Tree is dead, and only Nadai and myself can stop Gannondorf. We need the Kokiri to hold the Lost Woods and the Kokiri Forest. If Gannondorf holds on to this place, then we have lost. If he holds onto anyplace we are lost."

Link paused to breathe. "Mido, we need to work together, it is the only way."

Mido sighed. "Alright, but I need to tell you what I know. Beyond this place is the Sacred Meadow. I don't know what lives in the maze now, but they are bigger than you, and they run so fast they can knock you back. You need something long ranged in order to defeat them."

Link and Mido returned to the Village, where progress against the fire was underway. But even with the direction of Nadai, the Kokiri were losing the fight. Link jumped into the Waterfall, helping the cause. Mido came into view.

"Come on! I don't know about you, but I don't want to sleep outside where I live. Let's go!" With renewed vigor, the Kokiri and the Skull Kids worked harder. But even that wasn't enough.

Link was tiring in the waterfall, passing buckets to the Kokiri. "Mido! We can't keep up with this fire, it's too strong!" One of the Kokiri said. Her arms were burned, and her face smudged with sweat and smoke.

"I know! We have to try though, how can we give up when we live her? Where will we live? No Kokiri can leave Kokiri Forest. There is evil out in Hyrule, we have to stay here and try to fight. We owe at least that to the Great Deku Tree." But that did little to help the Kokiri, tired as they were. The Skull kids were almost unconscious from their labor. They couldn't do anything much than splash water from the pond to the closest building.

Splashing. Nadai took a trip down memory lane and remembered how they first received magic. It had been a long time since they had tried it, but if they could try what she had in mind...

She went over to Link, and quickly told him her plan. She positioned herself in the water, almost directly under the waterfall. Link climbed as high to the bank as he dared.

"Mido! Get them back! We need room to work!" Link called.

"What do you plan to do?"

"Something I hope would work better than what we are doing already." Nadai said.

Nadai started to hold her blades at a twenty-seven degree angle. Holding her breath, she sought her will. On the bank, Link held the Master Sword parallel to the ground, and focused on his will. They focused harder, and the blue glow entered their weapons. Then, the blue turned to red, and they focused harder and harder. They needed as much will as they could into their weapons.

"Now!" Nadai shouted. They started to spin. Because of Nadai's angle, she started to pick up water with her attack, forcing the water into the air, and pushing it to Link. Link's sword picked up the water, and it held on for a few circles, before it started to spray out.

With the sprinkler effect happening from Nadai and Link, the fire was feeling attack from every side. The fire was starting to wilt. The Kokiri grabbed their buckets, and went to the second small pond, and started to pour water on the failing fire. With the combined efforts of the Kokiri, Skull Kids, and the Heroes of Time, the fire finally was defeated.

When Nadai finally stopped spinning, after ten minutes, she fell into the water. She was so dizzy, she was content to sit in the water until the world stopped spinning. Link had to stick the Master Sword into the ground in order to keep his balance standing.

However, when he saw Nadai, he found the downfalls of water. The water had soaked into Nadai's clothes, though she hadn't noticed yet. He shifted his eyes to the side, and watched Mido come to him, flanked by the tired Kokiri.

"Link, you have been named Traitor to the Kokiri. You are guilty of killing the Great Deku Tree, and guilty of leaving Kokiri Forest. Your judgment is hereby chosen. You will be banished from Kokiri Forest and the Lost Woods from hereby on. But, in light of your heroics against the fire and against the monsters that resided here, you may redeem yourself."

Link stood straight, towering over the Kokiri. Nadai joined him. Together with Navi hovering over their shoulders, they made an impressive force. "What is it?"

"Find Saria, and restore peace to Kokiri Forest and the Lost Woods. If you do that, then you will be forgiven."

"We will. We have to. We will leave at dawn."

"Done, you will be confined to your home. After, after you have eaten with us." Mido cracked a grin, something that seemed to Link so foreign to Mido's face.

"Done."

That night was a feast like no other. That night, Link and Nadai feasted with the Kokiri and the Skull Kids. They ate and ate, and sang songs of old. Nadai sharing some of the Gerudos, and Link doing very bad renditions of some Kokiri folk songs.

Nadai laughed as Mido and Aston sang a song with the know-it-all brothers. Link couldn't sing a lick. However, when one of the Kokiri pulled out an ocarina, Nadia and Link stole the show with their musical expertise; which might have been trumped by the exotic nature of the Skull Kids' music from their Ocarinas formed of wood.

However, once they started to play music, they also started to dance. Link couldn't dance, nor could he sing. He ended up playing music as Nadai, as graceful as she was, dance with the Kokiri. Link couldn't keep his eyes of her. In the shadow of the Great Deku Tree there never so much of a feast, so much of a celebration.

In the morning, Link woke with a slight headache. Kokiri Snap Shots were hard liquor, and Link never had one, much less five, until last night. He looked around his house, the most damaged of all the buildings. Though the roof now leaked, and the walls were scorched black, this was his home. Beside him, Nadai woke with her hair and her mind muddled.

As soon as they got their bearings, and a cold wash-up in the waterfall, they entered the Lost Woods. With Navi leading them on, they made their way to Sacred Meadow. No monsters held the beginning of the Meadow, in fact, all was quiet, not even the birds sang.

"Mido warned us of a new monster, one he has never seen before. We need that new weapon to fight them." Link reminded Nadai.

"Well, let's see what they are then." Nadai rushed forward, but Link stopped her. Pulling her back, he un-slung his shield.

"Whatever it is, let me go first. I have a shield, and will be able to defend myself better than you can." As Nadai humphed her annoyance, Link walked into the maze. An angry snort caught his attention. As he turned, he pushed his shield in front of, him, deflecting the spear aimed from his heart, so it his shoulder. He was pushed back, struggling to halt his attacker. Then, he felt his feat leave him, and he landed in a hole in the ground, a hole filled with water and waste.

He spluttered out, and watched as the monster snorted at Link. He thrusted his spear at Link again, but Link deflected the attack back with his shield. Nadai rounded the corner, taking out the weapon. Aiming, she fired the weapon until it hit the monster in the back. He slumped, and the piggish monster fell dead.

Link climbed out of the water. He shook himself off. He felt his shoulder for any puncture, and was glad that his body was clad in a chain mail shirt. "That weapon is useful, very useful."

"Right, but what to call it?"

Link thought for a second. "Hookshot, call it that." He glanced at the wall.

Nadai got the idea. "Give me boost up." As Link cupped his hands together and assisted with Nadai rising up, he blushed as she was close to him, extra close. He watched as she slipped onto the maze wall. "Link, get ready to work on distracting the guards."

Link sighed, and rubbed his shoulder. It hadn't pierced his shoulder but it had hurt. He went around the next corner, and deflected the spear thrust with his shield. He cut the monster on the arm with his sword, but it was deflected off by his armor. The next moment killed the pig-like monster with a well aimed shot to the back.

They completed the process with the other monsters in the maze. They then entered the last hallway before Saria would be. In the middle of the hallway, there was a monster, a giant by the looks of him. He held a huge club, with which he pounded the ground. The pound sent an earth wave in a straight line until it hit Link in the chest. He was knocked back, and he rolled to evade the next attack.

Nadai had better luck, and dodged the attack and hugged the wall. The monster attacked on the left, forcing Link and Nadai to go back to the middle. He then attacked the middle, and the Heroes of Time split in two, one on the left and one on the right.

"Link. We need to stop him!" Nadai said, dodging the left attack. Link had started to run forward already. He dodged an attack from the right, and moved to the center with Nadai before he went to the left and she went to the right. They charged, until Nadai tripped and was knocked back into the wall. She slumped, and she struggled to her feat. She was knocked back again, landing her on her back. Vulnerable, she could only roll out of the way of the next attack.

Link jumped over one of the attacks, and stopped the club of the monster from slamming into the ground, making Nadai safe. As the blow sent him to one knee, Link snapped the Master Sword off to one side, and whipped it across the legs of the giant.

The giant tried to slam into Link with his club, but Link deftly moved into his reach, and got in close enough to evade the club attack. Link stabbed rapidly, cutting the giant. He slashed once, twice, thrice! He stabbed the monster in the gut, stopping the swing of the club.

The monster slouched back, and fell down, holding its stomach. With a grim move, Link swung the Master Sword, and cut off the monsters head. As Nadai got up, she saw Link bloodied by the monster, standing there above a headless body. He was as beautiful as he was fearsome in that moment. Nadai shook that thought away from her mind. This wasn't the time nor any time was the time to think of such things. Perhaps, maybe when all of this was over...

They rejoined past the body, where Link wiped his sword on a piece of white cloth. "That was...that was amazing."

Link blushed. "I just felt something moving through me, causing me to fight like I never have fought before."

They moved to where Saria would have been if she were there. If she were there.

Link stared at the old stump where Saria sat and played her Ocarina. She wasn't there; she was always there. Saria...she was gone.

A small sound sounded from the side. To Link, it was the sound of a leaf dropping, but to Nadai, who trained with the Gerudos, she knew it was sound of someone dropping to the ground. She turned her head, and saw Sheik dropping down on the ground.

Link turned his head, and watched as Sheik came closer. "The flow of time is always cruel, its speed seems different to each person but no one can change it." Link stared blankly at the stump. "A thing that doesn't change is a memory of younger days. In order to come back here again, play the Minuet of Forest." Sheik took out his harp.

Link took out his ocarina, and Nadai her flute. They followed Sheik in his simple tune, one that was recognizable, and had a distinctive Kokiri flavor to it. Link could detect the same music in his Ocarina, melodious and soft. A wind picked up, and the notes of the song could be heard upon it.

"This wind...it will help you." Sheik put away his harp. He started to back up slowly. "Link, Nadai, I'll see you two again." With a snap of his wrist, Deku Nuts sparked on the ground, blinding Link and Nadai. When they could see again, Sheik was gone.

"So," Link broke the silence. "How are we going to get up there?" He pointed to the Temple opening, high above them, a good twenty-five feet above them. "Maybe, if I threw you while you jumped off my hands, then you could reach it. Do we have any rope?"

Nadai shook her head. "Even with that I don't think we can make it work. I don't think that I could jump that high."

Navi sighed, and fluttered around Nadai's belt, where the Hook Shot hung. "Don't you two get it? It is called the Hookshot for a reason. If you shoot a monster with it, you can seriously damage it. If you shoot an inanimate object, and it catches, it can catch hold and pull you to it." Navi fluttered by a large branch over the small platform where the Temple entrance was. "Shoot the branch, and you will be able to make it there."

Nadai aimed the Hookshot, and fired on the branch, and it held. As the Hookshot started to pull her away, Link grabbed on, placing his hand over Nadai's. "You're not leaving to take all the fun for yourself." Nadai blushed as she realized how close Link was to her. Just as Lin realized it to, the Hookshot whirred, pulling the two of them to the branch. Upon impact, Link let go, and went to his knees as he landed.

Nadai held on to the Hook Shot as she impacted against the branch, and the weapon detached itself from the tree. She landed next to Link, who stood up. "Well, um, that was interesting." He mumbled. They both blushed. Link looked at the Temple entrance.

"Well, let us get this on." He rambled. Link and Nadai strode into the Temple. Navi sighed to herself.

"Great Deku Tree. What you had in mind for Link is not what is happening. I have seen the truth, and this isn't supposed to happen this way. Link isn't supposed to fall for Nadai, but for Malon or Zelda. Link is supposed to be the Hero of Time, not with Nadai. Great Deku Tree, I wish you were here, for I need your wisdom. Great Deku Tree, I wish Link didn't have to make this decision. I wish he chose the other one, in which case all of this would not have happened."

With a heart heavy of truth, Navi shook herself. "But, perhaps, it is better this way. Perhaps it is better for Link to have this adventure. It will never be the same, never again."

Navi fluttered to Link and Nadai, waiting for her, her guidance.

Shadow: Some of my finer works, I have to admit.

Time Stop: How I ever listened to you about Navi...now Wang is starting to hit himself with a large stick, declaring blasphemy every couple seconds. That is why he is upstairs, and not with us right now.

Shadow: Well, everything is going topsy turvy. Next up, the first Temple, where our Heroes of Time face tougher challenges, new bosses, and new...situations.

Time Stop: Shadow, don't you dare...

Shadow: Please Review!