Chapter Twenty-One

In one sweeping motion before he could turn back, Link grasped the door handle, turned it, and pushed it open to reveal what was inside. Max was shaking like a leaf in the wind, and her heart was racing a thousand miles a minute. Upon opening the door, they were met with an uncanny sight. Ganondorf had his back to them as he played noisily upon a large organ. Way above the organ, hanging stiffly from the ceiling, was the pale pink crystal with Zelda held captive inside.

Without having to turn around to know they were there, Ganondorf began to laugh. "You've come to save the Princess, young ones – just as I expected. Unfortunately, there's something I need you to hand over before I can let the Princess go..." Link looked down at his hand immediately, as the golden Triforce of Courage had begun to glow. "Yes, that's it... I must complete the Triforce if I hope to gain complete control of Hyrule."

"That's not going to happen!" Link growled, gripping his sword's handle on his back.

At once, Navi and Jazz started to bob up and down with anxiousness. It wasn't until now that Max had realized their fairies hadn't given them much advice, if at all, since they were children. Maybe in the grown-up world there wasn't always someone to guide you...

Ganondorf laughed heartily. "It's good to see you haven't lost your spunk, kid."

He had his hand out, a purple ball of light growing more powerful in his palm by the second, when Max interrupted its growth by pulling out the bow and striking him with an arrow. "You're not going to hurt him! And we're not giving you anything, you evil, power-hungry maniac!"

"Aren't they fussy when they don't get what they want...?" Ganondorf said mockingly. "Well, if you want to do things the hard way, it's time to play nasty!"

Once more, Ganondorf held out his palm and built up an energy ball, but before either Link or Max could stop him, he flung it across the large chamber. It just missed Max, but Link was keeled over on the ground, hoping to Farore he would be able to get up and continue fighting.

"Link!" Max shouted, rushing over to him and pulling him to his feet. "We can do this."

"We don't have a choice," Link admitted sternly. He pulled his sword from its sheath and wielded it with both hands. "Bring it on."

Ganondorf shot another ball of purple energy toward him, and without really putting much thought into how to counterattack, Link swung his blade at it. To both of their surprise, the ball went shooting back toward Ganondorf, who collapsed and his breathing went ragged. Max shot another of her arrows at him while he was down.

Getting angrier by the second, their enemy's cape rustled and the next thing they knew, he was high in the air, floating circles around them. He created another orb, this time black – Max figured this one was more powerful than the first, by the look of rage on his face. When he hurled it at Max, Link stepped in front of her and used his sword once again to send the energy force back at its maker. Ganondorf unexpectedly used the large staff he was carrying to bounce it back at the duo, sending it back twice as fast. With one more swing of his blade, Link sent the black orb back at Ganondorf, who crumpled to the ground; his fall was harder since he was further up this time. This gave Max a good opportunity to shoot him a few times with her arrows.

It seemed as though he couldn't get up. The Dark King tried to get to his feet, but instead, he reduced himself to nothing and vanished at a black wisp of smoke into the air. As he disappeared, Zelda was released from her rose prison and scurried as fast as she could in her heels toward the pair of them.

"That was too easy..." Max thought aloud.

Zelda acknowledged her statement, but first decided to address the fact that she was free once more. "Thank you both, you have helped save..."

"I may be dead, but I'm not gone," said the voice of Ganondorf from beyond. "If I can't have Hyrule under my decree, there will be no Hyrule!"

Just then, a rumbling could be heard as though some volcano off in the distance were erupting. As the sound grew louder, the three of them realized they were in serious danger.

"He's bringing the castle down!" Zelda's mature voice squeaked with fear as a piece of the roof started to crack and cave in. "We have to get out of here... follow me!"

They sprinted out of the room and shut the door just in time; once it was closed, they could hear everything turn to rubble and crash to the floor. "Hurry!" Max shouted. Both Link and Zelda had been stunned by the loud sounds, but Max was already taking the spiral staircase two at a time. They ran and ran, until a large piece of rubble blocked their path.

"Where do we go now?" asked Link in a panic.

Zelda searched the room just outside the centre pillar of the castle and pointed toward a door. "There!" What they didn't know was that the door led to a balcony at least twenty feet off the ground. "We have to jump!"

"Jump?" Max said. She thought back to their very first mission inside the Great Deku Tree and how neither of them wanted to jump first. Things seemed easier then. Now it was the very same task, but everything felt a million times harder. The weight of the decisions in their lives held a lot more at risk than they could have imagined.

"Jump, yes, jump!" Without thinking twice about it, the Princess threw her legs over the railing and leapt from the balcony. Her landing lacked grace, but at least she didn't look too bruised up. When she staggered to her feet again, Zelda looked back up at them, cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted. "Hurry!"

Link turned to Max and said softly, "I'll jump first..."

"I can't hear you!" Max yelled. Even though they were right next to each other, the sound of stone and wood collapsing around them drowned him out.

"I'll jump first!" And without looking back, he was easily hopping over the rail to meet with Zelda on the other side. Then he shouted back to Max, "I'll catch you!" She was hesitant to take the leap, but a large piece of rubble that nearly crashed into her scared her enough to throw herself over. On the way down, Max only hoped that Link was there for her; she hadn't planned her landing very well, and if she hit the ground, her spine could get seriously injured. Sure enough, Link held out his arms and acted as a cushion to her fall. They both tumbled to the ground, but neither of them was hurt.

It didn't take long before the entire castle had turned to a pile of stone before their eyes. Max sighed and looked around. "Is it over?" But of course it wasn't. Rising from the rubble was a huge, monstrous creature that looked like some kind of bull. At the sight of this beast, Link rushed toward it. Before Zelda or Max could catch up, a ring of fire formed and cut them off from him.

"This must be a fight the Hero of Time must battle on his own," Zelda said calmly.

Max hated sitting on the sidelines – especially watching Link slice the gargantuan monster all on his own. She could be helping him, but then she took into account what Zelda had just told her. This was Link's journey in the first place; Max had done all she could to get him to Ganondorf, and now it was his time to be the Hero. A few times, Link was in fatal danger, and all the two ladies could do was hold each other and gasp, or close their eyes until they heard Link's grunt when he next thrust his sword; the sound made them sure he was still alive.

With one final blow to his tail region, the monster fell to its side noisily and then became motionless. "I... I did it?" Link said questionably, as if to ask if the whole thing was really over. "Is Ganondorf gone?"

The fire died down enough to step over, Zelda headed toward Link, looking around the site. "Yes," she said, "I don't feel his presence anymore. It's done." The three of them exchanged looks of hesitant ecstasy, and Zelda's voice went from mature to excitable. "It's done!" Max, Link and Zelda all dashed at each other, meeting in the middle for a group hug, only to find that once they touched, a bright white light emitted from them and sent them reeling off their feet.

When they came to once again, Max couldn't believe her eyes. The two friends before her had reverted back to their child-like state, which could only mean she had done the same. Link looked somewhat strange now that he wasn't as tall and handsome as before, but instead a happy youth with his rosy cheeks. Zelda's long, blonde hair had gone back to its short length under the headpiece, and her catlike eyes were once again round and playful. Max had grown so used to being an adult; it felt odd to have shorter legs and slim hips after all that time.

"It's over," Link said in his prepubescent voice. "We did it!"

That night, a Hylian party was thrown in their honour at Lon Lon Ranch. A large bon fire set the mood and everyone they'd met or helped on their journey was there – except the Great Deku Tree, of course, who still rested in their memories. Darunia, Ruto, Impa, Malon and Talon, Saria, Nabooru, and a face that was oddly familiar to Max... She looked over her shoulder and noticed Zelda was speaking very intently with Link, so Max wandered over to the boy she recognized. He couldn't have been more than twelve years old.

"Hi," she said to him, making him beam. "Do I know you? You look so familiar. My name is Max..."

"I know who ya are, miss," said the boy, issuing to the banners hanging everywhere that donned hers and Link's faces. "But I'm kinda surprised you can't tell who I am."

It was the accent that made it all click for her. "Bill?"

"Yup," he grinned. "That boy from the fishin' hole – now you're rememberin' all that time we spent."

"But, but you seemed so much older to me back then."

"You were still a child inside, why, I don't blame ya for thinkin' of twenty as old!"

"Oh. That makes sense."

"Did ya want to grab a bite to eat with me?" Bill asked, his smile not leaving his face.

Max didn't have to think twice before responding, "Yes. But can you give me a minute?" She noticed Link had finished speaking with Zelda and wanted to see what was going on. "I have to talk to my friend."

"Yeah, sure, miss. I'll meet ya over by the grub!"

Max approached Link from behind and tapped his shoulder. "Hey you!" she whispered in his ear, making him jump.

The Link she knew growing up in the Forest would have gotten cross with her, but after their grand adventure, he just spun around and hugged her as tightly as he could manage. "Max!"

"How'd the talk with Zelda go?"

"She thanked me for everything. Then she told me the gods have to reassemble the Triforce, so if I feel any powers trying to get it away from me, I should just let them take it."

"Oh, well that's good." Then Max got the courage to ask the question she'd been wondering about. "Are you and Zelda... together?"

"Together?" Link asked. Then he responded in a way Max didn't expect in the slightest; he burst out laughing. "Max, have you already forgotten we're eleven years old again?"

"I know," she sighed exasperatedly. "But you know as well as I do that we've both matured a lot since the last time we were eleven years old."

"Well, we're not 'together'."

"I don't care if you are. I was just wondering. Anyway, I think I like someone."

"Oh yeah?" Link asked with a smirk. "Who?"

"Bill."

"Who's Bill?"

"The boy who taught me to fish while you were fighting in the Water Temple."

Link smiled as he looked over at Bill and waved at him, earning a wave in return. "It looks like he's waiting for you."

"Wait!" They both turned to see Zelda running up to the pair of them. She clutched her chest and breathed deeply once she was close enough to have their attention. "Link, Max, wait! There has been an incident in Clocktown and they need your help!"

Link and Max smirked at one another and nodded. "Bring it on."

Author's Note: Thanks so much to all the reader's who have followed this story since the first chapter. I really appreciate it. Hopefully you give some of my other stories a chance in the future. Best wishes to all of you, and don't forget to R&R!