Chapter 14

I hear a yelp and a thump upstairs. I recognize it… I start walking up the stairs.

"Father?" I walk over to the door and I'm about to knock when I manage to hear, "-me making my daughter take up the Master Sword so that she can kill Ganon." That's definitely Father's voice.

I hear another voice. Sounds like my uncle I just met… "That, is different. It's part of her fate," He says something there but I can't really make it out. "What that boy's parents are making him do is horrible. I'm confident that's not what the gods chose for him," More very difficult speech. "And the fact that Ganon is using his son to kill you, that just… That damn coward…" What…? I step back a little. That can't be true…

"Please settle." Father's voice again. "You know Ganon as well as I do, you know he wouldn't have done any of it if he was in his right mind." They both knew Ganon… "Because of the evil inside of him, he lost control."

"There was evil inside me, too, remember?!" My uncle was evil…? Well kind of makes sense since he's basically Father's dark side. "I overcame it as a little kid because I cared for you too much to let anything hurt you!" Uncle is shouting now… "Rather than kill you myself, I became your protector until you remembered who you were and were able to protect yourself. You know all of this. If Ganon truly cared, he would have fought it too!" Ganon once was… No way… All three of them… it's like me, Runa and Jaaku almost… Runa is the shadow, I'm the hero and Jaaku is the… no! He's not! He can't be evil! There's no way! Jaaku wouldn't be… He's… I step back more. Then… why does… I can't make sense of any of this… I don't understand anything… My uncle's loud voice breaks me from my thoughts, "He almost killed you for Gods' sake!" Ganon was once good and was friends with my father… then… Does that mean…

I can't listen anymore! I turn and run back to the stairs, going down them as quickly as possible.

"Is something wrong?" I look up at Jaaku as I make it to the bottom of the stairs. I feel myself start to tear up. "Link, what's wrong?" He steps up close to me. I step back. "Link…" I see in the corner of my eye Runa sitting up and looking over at us. "Talk to me, please."

"No… No…" Jaaku puts a hand on my shoulder. Runa walks over.

"What's going on?" He asks.

"I don't know…" Jaaku replies.

"I can't believe what I just heard…"

"What did you hear?"

"Father… and my uncle… They were talking about Ganon… By the sounds of it, Ganon was once their friend and betrayed them… Jaaku…?"

"What is it, Link?" He sounds so concerned. Tears start rolling down my cheeks and I hug him tightly.

"Promise you won't betray us too…" I start sobbing… Honestly, this is a bit embarrassing. I don't often cry in front of people, especially not this hard… Jaaku hugs me back, he's hugging me very tightly.

"I promise with all my heart that I will never betray you. I am not like my father, that's a promise too." I feel one of his arms being removed and I feel a second warmth, I'm assuming that's Runa. "You two are my greatest treasures and I'd rather not lose either of you to anything. I know that sounds rather cheesy, but hey, there's nothing wrong with cheese. Cheese is good." I start giggling. I can't help it. He's too goofy sometimes.

"Especially sharp cheddar, on over easy egg sandwiches. With a side of spice noodles. It's delicious." I laugh at Runa's comment also. We all pull apart. "You know, you're not alone in this fight, Link. I'll help you every step of the way for as long as I'm able." He put his hand between me and Jaaku. "What say you, Jaaku?"

"Did you purposefully make that rhyme?"

"Maybe…" Jaaku shook his head and put his hand on top of Runa's.

"I'm in. We've got to protect our princess and be there for her, no matter what." I look back and forth between both of them.

"Are you guys sure you want to help me with this? It's really dangerous."

"Danger? Ha! You should know me by now, Link."

"We know it's dangerous, but who cares. It'd be even more dangerous if you were alone."

"Well, that's true." I put my hand on top of Jaaku's which is on top of Runa's. "I guess this means we're a team."

"A team forever and always." Runa says, he smiles impishly which I find rather familiar. Why is it he seems so familiar? It makes no sense.

"You guys are weird." My cousin, Daiki, says in the background. Runa does a backbend which even I find rather creepy.

"Better get used to it. You're probably going to see your cousin more often and that means us as well." Runa stands back up straight.

"You couldn't have just turned around to look at him? You just had to show off your flexibility."

"Of course. You're all muscle and lack being flexible."

"Meanwhile you lack muscle. Link is more muscular than you."

"Eh, so what? It doesn't really matter, does it?"

"Not really." I say. And now my head suddenly hurts. Maybe it's just from all the crying. It's probably nothing.

"Pancakes are ready!" My grandmother announces. I'm suddenly not all that hungry either. Ok, something may be wrong. I'm always hungry. Then again, I just heard something very crazy. I start walking to the kitchen with the others. For some reason, the sight and smell of the food is making me nauseous. "Are you ok, sweetheart? You're looking a little pale."

"I'm always pale."

"She's right, Link. You don't look so good." Runa says. He places a hand on my shoulder. "Are you feeling ok? You're not sick are you?"

"No, I'm fine. I promise. I'm just a little freaked out from what I heard. I didn't expect it, you know?" He doesn't seem convinced.

"The Hero of Twilight was a known liar when it came to his health you know?" My headache is getting worse. I have this overwhelming sense of fear to go along with it. My heart is starting to race. My vision is going blurry. "Link?"

"Something's wrong. Someone go get Raven, now!" Jaaku orders. My hearing is going weird.

"Seems like a panic attack. Sit her down, the poor dear's about to pass out." I feel an arm grab me and I hit it away.

"Don't touch me!" Gods, what's wrong with me?!

"Link, we're trying to help you. It's me, Jaaku. You know I'm not going to hurt you, don't you?" Everything's wobbly. I feel myself falling backward. I feel a pain on my head. Did I hit something on the way down? Everything's going dark, yet now I feel calm. I don't think that's normal.

"Link!" Who was that? Sounded familiar…

Everything feels warm and cozy. It feels nice. I like it. Better than feeling like I'm being burned at the stake. Where even am I? I open my eyes and I see someone next to me. Who is that?

"Link, are you alright?" His voice is deep. He's familiar. He reaches a hand over and brushes the bangs off of my face. "You gave us quite the scare, kiddo." Another face comes into view. It's an old woman. She's not familiar, but she does have some resemblance to the man beside me.

"Who are you?" The man's eyes widen and he looks toward the older woman. I look at her and she has the same look of surprise on her face. He looks back at me.

"Do you know who you are?"

"Yea, my name's Link." I start to sit up but my arms are weak, I must not be over my sickness completely.

"But you don't know who I am?" I shake my head.

"Where am I?" I'm so confused. Last I remember, I was in Ordon village. It was all hazy, but that's because I was sick.

"You're in Faron province. In my mother's house. My name's Raven." I manage to sit up and rest against the back of what seems to be a couch.

"And how do you know me?"

"Link, what's the last thing you remember?"

"I um, I was lying in a bed of blankets. I was really sick. Then everything started to go dark, not like normal sleep, but I felt calm, then I heard a voice call my name. Now I'm here." This is weird… "Now, how do you know me?"

"Well, uh, it's rather difficult for me to explain. First off, this isn't the world that you know. What you talked about, being sick. You, you had died." What…? "I remember seeing it happen." If I died then how am I here? This doesn't make any sense… "You then reincarnated. As did I. Usually reincarnations don't get the memories of their past lives. I am one of the few who has. Now, it seems you have too, but you don't seem to remember your life here in this world. I don't understand why really." My ears perk back.

"Are you drunk?" He sighs shakily. He seems to be upset. I hope he's not mad.

"No. Though, I'd understand why you wouldn't believe me. It's rather unbelievable."

"Yea, definitely." He moves back and stands up.

"Are you hungry?"

"A bit, yea." He turns to look at the older woman.

"Do you have anything that he can eat?" She nods.

"How does some cheese pasta sound?"

"Cheese pasta?" I don't think I've hear of such a thing. Sounds good though. "Sure, I'll give it a try. I love cheese."

"Knew you would. Come along, child." I nod and swing my legs over the side of the couch. I um, I'm wearing a dress. A frilly little red dress with flowers on it.

"Why am I wearing a dress?"

"That's part of your recent past. You reincarnated into a girl. There was a fire and all your clothes burned up. We went shopping and I convinced you to get that dress because you used to love wearing them as a little girl." I was a girl!? Raven chuckles a bit and offers his hand to me. I take it and he pulls me up.

"Is there anything I can wear besides this? I am not a girl." Raven turns and looks at his mom again.

"Do you have any of my old clothes still?"

"Of course. They're all up in the attic."

"Ok." He turns to look at me. "Come on. We'll pick something out for you, kiddo." I nod again and follow him upstairs.

"Raven, how did I get here?"

"Well, Ganon is after you and some friends of yours in this life. I didn't know where else to go, so I brought you all here."

"Why care about us though?"

"Because, I… I'm an officer of the law. What would be known as a Knight in the time you remember. It's my job to protect." I nod, though he can't see since he's ahead of me.

"And my supposed friends, where are they?" We get to the top of the stairs and go through the hall.

"My brother thought it'd be best to get one of your friends out of the house and show him around the local area. The other is lying down in a guest bedroom very sick."

"And how do I know you're not making this all up and are some sick freak who kidnaps and plays dress up with their victims?" He stops and turns to look at me, he seems very serious.

"Because a sword wields no strength unless…"

"You're the gold wolf…"

"Exactly. Not only that, but I was your ancestor. That's why I care for you, Link."

"Ok…" He looks down then turns back around. He starts walking again and I follow. Something seems to be troubling him. Maybe it's the fact I don't remember him. He seems to know me well. We start going up another set of stairs.

"This must be a lot for you to take in, huh?"

"Yea."

"It was for me too. I thought I was just a normal boy with a normal, everyday life. Then, one of my friends attacked me. Turns out, he was the reincarnation of my past life's enemy. He remembered his past and attacked me. That's when I remembered mine. I had hoped you wouldn't remember yours. You had a rough life. I watched you grow up, I kept you safe until you were ready to accept your fate as the hero." We made it to the top of the stairs and he opened a door.

"You protected me?"

"Of course. I wasn't going to let my only descendant die on me. Though, there was nothing I could do for your sickness, and I'm sorry." I grab his arm. He turned to look at me. Now I recognize the look in his eyes, the gold wolf always looked serious, I could barely tell what was going on in his mind.

"You aren't at fault. I was careless. Telma told me to rest, but I didn't listen, partly because I didn't care. After I lost everything I knew and loved, I just didn't care anymore."

"And now?"

"Well, you said I reincarnated. That means I'm needed again, aren't I?" He nods. "Then I will stop at nothing until I complete what it is I was sent here to do." He pulls me close and wraps his arms around me tightly.

"I'm so very proud of you, Link, but I don't want anything to happen to you. I'm scared that we won't be able to stop this and that I'll lose you." This doesn't seem like him at all.

"You're not going to lose me, I promise. Why would you think such a thing? Ganon is no match for us." Raven lets me go and looks me in the eyes.

"Because, I already lost someone very important to me because of him. He died that same day, but his spirit still remains and I don't know how we can stop him, he's already made an attempt on both our lives."

"We'll be fine. I'm sure of it. A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage. The spirit of the hero is unbreakable." He nods slightly.

"You really are something, kiddo. To have such faith even when you don't know completely what you're up against."

"I never know what I'm up against most of the time, so winging it is a common thing for me. Now, those clothes."

"Right." He turns and looks around the attic. He walks away and over to a box. He opens it up and smiles. "Here we go. Take a look inside." I walk over and look and see a bunch of clothes. Ok I can probably find something. I look through it. Green shirt, looks nice. I set that aside. Looking through the box, I find some short leggings, they're black. The shirt is going to be baggy. Ok, this will work.

"You had some good clothes in your youth it seems."

"What, I don't now?" We both laugh. He seems to be a nice man. I used to dislike him, he was so serious and stuck to the task at hand, though I understand why. Now, he seems almost fatherly. Might just be my imagination.

"Would you like some more pasta?" The old woman offers, I learned her name to be Claira.

"No, I think I should probably stop. My stomach will probably hate me enough as it is because of how much I stuffed myself." She laughs and stands, grabbing my plate.

"I'll leave you boys to talk while I clean up." Claira walked out with our plates.

"She's an amazing cook."

"Most definitely. The only thing that tastes horrible are her herbal teas." He sticks his tongue out to make his point. I smile and he smiles back. It's a very loving smile. It's more than just ancestry. The way he hugged me, the way he looks at me. There's something up and he's not telling me. I think I'll hold off asking. For now, I think I'll ask about…

"I was a girl before, right? Any reason why I wouldn't be a girl now?"

"I have no clue to be honest. I mean, I never met anyone who changed gender because they got their old memories. You were most definitely a girl when you were reborn, I changed your diapers, so…"

"Yea, that's probably proof enough."

"You were a tomboy though, you hated being called a girl. Even got mad at a boy once for calling you miss."

"Really?"

"Yep, on your sixteenth birthday, you got in trouble with your teacher, though I excused you, since well, it was your birthday. It's kind of funny, you turned sixteen not that long ago and already so much has changed."

"I'm sixteen again?"

"Yep. That's the age most heroes awaken. I don't know what triggered your memories or your gender swap though, usually there's a trigger. A severe trauma or fear that brings it on. Without your memories of your current self, we have no way of knowing what happened before you blacked out."

"I'm not sure, I felt calm before ev-" There's a loud noise and I hear footsteps, they're quick. I see a boy about my age step in the door frame. He looks curiously at me. He seems to be very confused. Is this one of my friends Raven told me about? He looked in Raven's direction, clearly he was scared.

"Where is she?"

So Link has amnesia and that's not the only thing that's happened with her, or him now. I kind of borrowed that idea from my friend Sky. She has a story a little similar to this one, though a different story line, somewhat similar plot. You'd just have to see it for yourself. She's Sky Rinku. It's not done though, fair warning. Feel free to review if you so wish.

Warning about next chapter, I plan on doing another couple of chapters about the past, more precicely Raven's past, back when he was Link, back when he was a child, what happened to cause his twin to remember his past, what caused Ganon to remember, and how the Ganon and the twins met and how it ended. I might not do it. I'm not sure yet. If you guys want me to, I can.

See ya,

-Twi