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Chapter XIII - Time Itself ("Atlantic" - Keane)
"Zelda? Zelda! Zellie, come on, where are you?"
She heard Luke's voice echo from the front of the library. She checked another book title, deemed the book worthless, and tossed it to the side, off the shelf. A pile of books, now creased and folded in unnatural ways, was forming around her. There had to be something. Something.
"Zelda!" he yelled, hearing her racket. Two more books flew. She was still wet from the rain.
He came around the corner formed by the bookshelves.
"Zelda, I've been looking everywhere for you! Where have you been? You have to stop disappearing! You have to stop this!"
She looked at him, her face red, then continued pushing books off the shelves.
"Zelda, stop that!" he yelled, grabbing her arms.
"Let go!" she cried feebly, pulling away.
"You can't continue this! You have to move on! I know you're upset. We're all upset! There's nothing you can do about it! And you're only fueling Link's behavior!"
She was surprised by his attitude. He had officially exploded, and she was right about there, too.
"Well, excuse me for feeling like this! Excuse me for having the constant urge to…to off myself! Excuse me for having a hole in my heart! I'm trying the best that I can, but he's not making it any easier! I am not fueling him; he is fueling me! And I do not need you to tell me how to feel! I will deal with this my own way! Just leave me alone! I do not even want to speak to you right now. I'm busy!"
Another book flew off the shelf.
He was silent for a few moments. She leaned forward, her head against the aged, dark wood. She took deep breaths.
"I'm sorry, Zelda," he said quietly. "I shouldn't have said those things. I'm just worried about you. I'm worried about Link, too. I'm worried about Hyrule. It needs you."
"I know," she whispered.
"I cannot do what you can, Zelda. You know this country backwards and forwards. I'm still learning. And you have to forgive me. I forget how much of his pain you truly feel. I imagine it's far worse than…empathy. I don't understand it, even though I try to. I shouldn't try to tell you how to feel."
She was silent.
"There has to be some way…" she murmured. The world just couldn't keep going downhill.
He stepped forward and put his arms around her waist. She was wet.
"Zelda, you can do everything else, but you can't turn back time. We just have to let it keep flowing. Eventually, time will heal everything." He paused. She was still. "Damn it, Zelda, I miss her…"
But she had stopped listening at "but you can't turn back time."
And it was like a rush of wind, a tornado in the library as she realized. She knew. She had to tell him. He could only last so much longer…and she felt that every moment she wasted was another moment he didn't have left. She dropped everything, pushed Luke away, and spent the last of her drained energy trying to find Link, lost within the Lost Woods. She finally noticed him in an inconspicuous corner, covered by tall grass. He'd truly turn into a stalfos at this rate!
"Link, you can still save her," she told him. He faced the other way, staring into the thick wall of trees. "You truly can save her. Our hero, our savior…Hero of Time, listen to me!"
He wouldn't respond, as though he hadn't even noticed her. She grew frantic. She breathed heavily.
"As long as you hold the Ocarina of Time and the Master Sword, you hold time itself in your hands..." she said strongly, so he could hear.
Something clicked in his slowing brain. Where had he heard that before? Someone had told it to him, once long ago. It seemed like a dream, though. He moved, ever so slightly, letting Zelda know he had heard.
Then, he understood.
"But be warned, this course of action will create another split, another timeline that will still continue this way. Your conscious mind, however, will never know that dimension…"
Zelda walked away, certain he knew what to do now. He would know. She would be stuck in this time, stuck forever, but at least he could be saved…this time, for the first time, he could finally save himself.
He was the Hero of Time. Hence, he was time itself.
His weak, unfed body rose from the ground, turning and finding Zelda gone already. Where had he put the Master Sword? He swayed as he stood, trying to regain balance. He felt light headed and his vision blacked out for a few seconds when he stood. His mind worked mechanically as his thoughts gained hopes, hopes that he felt like he'd never had ever before.
Where was it? The Temple of Time? His body moved with reason now, unlike it had in what seemed like forever. He finally remembered, with Navi hovering around it, shouting his name, that the sword was only a few feet away. He'd had no use for it.
But now he did.
He fell to the floor to grab it, feeling the power of it in his hands once again.
He felt warmth overtake his body. He closed his eyes, raising his sword skyward, focusing on where he wanted to go. Where he needed to go.
The thoughts in her head swirled outside her body, attacking her, hurting her. She couldn't stand the thoughts anymore.
The thoughts that she'd never see him again, the thoughts that she'd be stuck here forever. The thoughts that she was crazy. That people actually lived through things like this. The thoughts that she couldn't, even if she really tried.
Why was it so hard? She nearly cried out, refusing to let his face in again.
Knocking at the door, calling to her.
She wouldn't answer. Better make it quick…before they come in.
She held her breath as she imagined how to do it. She'd died already, so it shouldn't have been hard for her to recreate that.
They begged, they pleaded. No. Don't come in. You won't want to.
On the floor…
Lights swirled around her, everything blurring and she was unsure. This was it…it gripped at her, pulling her this way and that, threatening to rip her to shreds. She remembered this feeling, something someone her age probably shouldn't be remembering for the second time around.
It was relief.
But she didn't remember hurting herself. In fact, she was fairly certain she hadn't moved an inch.
She was upright again, the shock making her nearly lose her balance. The world around her finally came into focus, slowly at first, like time was quickening, back up to speed.
Soe was in her hand, and she knew where she was, but again? Why?
This was a dream…
Ganon in front of her, with a contemptuous face and surprisingly good mood as he spoke to her.
"There they are!" he called in a frenzy, crazed, pacing from one side to another. "Now let them grow a bit closer, so they can see, then! Your dramatic death!"
What was this?
And then, everything was suddenly back to a normal speed.
She was suddenly awake; unlike she had been. She knew where she was, what to do, who she was, though she wasn't sure why. She stood as straight as she could, ignoring some twinge of pain in her shoulder.
"Ganon!" she screamed, back in her delicate and graceful form. She swung madly at the green-faced, disgusting thing before her. He swung at her, too, but she blocked his blows.
She heard crashes to her right; the maze of glass rippling as farther layers shattered and fell to the floor.
Zelda was beside him, a maze of glass before him. His sword was still in his hand, but he felt strong, not weak like he had been. His mind was clear, working, hurried. He wouldn't make a mistake like last time. He had another chance, this time…
The walls of glass came down violently before him, shattering into thousands of tiny pieces and clearing his way. Soon he could see her, and one more break and he could be with her.
As the last wall fell, her face was clear to him, like something out of a fairy tale. Painfully beautiful, she fought violently. His insides melted.
He thought he'd never see that face again…
He wasted no time rushing to her aid, Ganon almost surprised at his timely arrival.
Meghan stood back, breathing hard, just as Link and Ganon's swords clashed, Link's anger flaring. He was fierce and protective, beating Ganon into submission. He would not lose her again. Ganon could find no opening in Link's determined fighting. Sheik went to her, her hands on her to heal the wound in her shoulder, asking if she was all right. She still breathed heavily, watching Link with Ganon's death before him.
It was over in a moment, and Sheik sealed the body quickly, but neither Meghan nor Link paid any attention to her.
Both dropped their swords where they stood and ran to each other, tears already gathering in their eyes. Meghan grabbed Link so hard, embracing him so tightly she never wished to let go. Her hands gripped at his clothing, pulling herself into him, so tight she wished she was bonded with him for all eternity.
They both sat on the floor, so weak because they were finally together. Meghan was buried deeply into Link's chest, her haunting sobs echoing through the room. He kissed the top of her head and put his hand behind it, pulling her closer to himself, his own tears falling into her hair.
"Meghan…" he finally managed to say.
"Link…" she breathed.
"You're here," he said, smiling, disbelief making him delirious. He laughed.
"Yeah…I'm here…"