A/N: Thanks to InkWoven, Purestrongpoem, CartoonGurl201m, AnriMia24, Gray-Chan Fallen, Pandora151, Seth Darkcloud, tswift1fan, and Legionary Prime for reviewing!

Chapter 25: Forest

"Come—"

He slammed his body against the door—

"On—"

He did it again—

"Already."

When Link did it once more, he didn't bother to detach himself from the door for a second. He simply remained there, out of breath. He lifted his head slightly and turned it to survey his cell in the chances of finding anything that could be useful in helping him escape, but like the last couple hundred times he'd checked, there was nothing but stone.

Finally he resigned himself to feebly touching his fist to the wall. "Crap."

This wasn't good. At all. Ganondorf was out there in Smash City, Krystal was a traitor, Zelda was likely extremely worried about him, and here he was, trapped in the Hyrule Castle dungeon, with no idea how he was supposed to get out. Honestly, at the rate this was going—

"Link?"

Link's head jerked upward. He looked from side to side. Did he really just hear—

"Psst. Link."

He turned around to see a quite familiar little blue fairy slipping in through the barred window.

"Navi," he said in disbelief. "Is that—" he sighed and lowered his voice. "I'm glad to see you here."

"As am I," Navi said as she flew over to him. "I flew over to find you because I forgot to tell you something, but when I did I saw you lying on the ground at Ganondorf's feet. He made it look like you were dead when he defeated you. Krystal bought it, but I didn't, especially after he teleported away with you. So I flew over to Hyrule Castle as fast as I could."

"What about Zelda? How is she?"

"I don't know. But if what he told Krystal is anything to go by, she probably thinks that you're dead."

Link clenched his hand into a fist. If that was true, then that would mean that Ganondorf was causing her to suffer yet again.

"That settles it, then," he said. "The sooner I can get out of here, the sooner she'll see I'm alive."

He took a couple of steps away from the door and analyzed it with a keen eye. "The question is, how?"

Bare skeletons of ideas came to mind only to be buried when he deemed them implausible. Then he got an idea.

Link looked over to the fairy again. "Navi, you got in here undetected, right? See if you can continue to be undetected."

"What do you mean?"

"You're small enough to get out of this cell, so go out there and just perform a reconnaissance. Report back to me when you're finished. It's not exactly a plan, but then we'll be able to find out exactly what we're dealing with, and maybe even use something to our advantage. Then a proper plan can be formed."

"But—But what if there are guards?"

"Oh, dear Goddesses above—honestly, I'm the Hero of Time. What's Ganondorf going to do, just leave me unguarded?"

Link then sighed and offered Navi a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I trust you. You can do it."

Navi didn't respond for a second. Then she fluttered over to the window as Link gave a silent thank you.

Before she reached it, she stopped for a moment. "But. . . What do you intend to do about Zelda?"

He furrowed his eyebrows. What sort of question was that? "I intend to get back to her."

"No, I meant about—well, it's as I said. She probably thinks you're gone. After this, do you want me to go back to her and inform her that you're alive?"

He was shaking his head before she even finished. "No." And then, just as Navi started to say something in protest, "Because I want to personally see her face when she sees me."

The forest was one of the best places Zelda thought of to go, no matter how painful it might be.

She stepped deliberately, noticing how the yearning sunrise spread its newborn light across the treetops. She could hear the rushing of the river, its sound becoming louder and louder the closer she drew to it.

Once, she'd come here with him, after both of their victories, watched over by a starry sky and feeling freer than she had been in months. Now, she'd come here with her face shrouded by a mottled cloak, accompanied by nothing save the milk she held in her hands.

She'd remembered how he'd said that there was a place that served excellent milk, and then she'd remembered how happy he'd looked when he drank it. She'd never tried it, so, keeping a low profile, she'd gone into the restaurant for the second time and bought a simple milk bottle.

She didn't regret the purchase in the slightest. She felt a little bit closer to him now.

Zelda sat down on a log and lowered her hood. She gave the milk bottle a lingering glance before opening it and lifting it to her lips. She opened her eyes after she'd taken the first swallow. She'd never seen how one bottle of milk could be too different from another, but Link was right. This milk was rather good.

She began drinking again and continued to consume the white liquid until the last drop was gone. She looked back down to the milk bottle. Instead of being filled with the drink, it was nothing but a hollow glass shell. Now that it was gone, she felt as hollow as the bottle itself.

A twig snapped.

Zelda raised her head, suddenly alert.

She set the milk bottle down and yanked her hood back up. She looked all around, trying to find where exactly this intruder was all the while readying herself for battle—

"Zelda?"

Her heart skipped a beat. She whirled around, prepared to attack—

Only to lower it when she saw the newcomer. "Peach?"

Peach smiled. "Hello, Princess."

Zelda relaxed and sat back down. She lowered her hood once more.

"I've been trying to find you for quite some time, Zelda," she said. She walked closer to her. "After—Ganondorf, is that his name?—infiltrated the Smash Arena, I've been wondering what you have been planning to do next. Then you were nowhere to be found in the aftermath, so I was worried. But now I've found you, so. . . what do you plan to do next?"

She shrugged. "I have no idea," she said quietly.

Peach sat down next to her and looked at her with concern. "But there must be something you can do, right? I mean, Hyrule needs you—"

"Except I have no idea what I can do for Hyrule." Zelda looked up at her and met her eyes. "I was unable to find all the new Sages, so I can't seal Ganondorf back in the Sacred Realm, and Link is dead, so—"

"Wait, Link is dead?" Peach's eyes were the widest she'd ever seen them.

She nodded. "I refused to believe it at first, but then there was reason to. And now, with him gone, I don't know if I can ever physically defeat him. I managed held my own against him yesterday, yes, but it was with luck and the power of the Goddesses in the form of a Light Arrow."

Zelda clasped her hands in front of her and looked down on them sadly. "Ganondorf is one of the most powerful men in the world. With Link gone, I honestly don't know how I'll be able to triumph over him next time."

"But Zelda, you're one of the most powerful women in the world."

She didn't move her head, but her eyes flickered up to see the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, who reached out and placed a gloved hand on Zelda's.

"You're one of the best Brawlers around. You even managed to defeat Snake! He may hold the Triforce of Power, but you hold the Triforce of Wisdom. He may be the King of Evil, but you're the leader of the Seven Sages. He may have taken over Hyrule, but you have the power of the Goddesses on your side. I honestly don't see why you're degrading yourself so much, because if there's anyone who can defeat Ganondorf, it's you."

She considered her words. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that it was true. Zelda had wondered how she wouldn't be able to defeat Ganondorf before, but that was while Link was still alive. Now. . . well, maybe Peach was right. Maybe it was still possible, even with Link gone.

If Link were seeing her right now, what would he think?

She knew what he would think.

Zelda raised her head and looked at Peach.

Then it hit her.

Zelda studied her: her long blonde hair, her little crown placed at the top of her head, and the way she sat so regally. "It was always you, wasn't it?"

Peach tilted her head. "It was . . . always me?"

"I'd always told myself that it couldn't be, that it would give you far too much responsibility." She stood up and looked around the forest as though she were seeing one for the first time. How fitting for it to be the place where it was about to happen. "But now. . ."

Zelda turned to face her and said quietly, "It was always you."

And then Peach understood. She nodded before lowering her head. "Do it."

Zelda took a deep breath.

Then she placed her hand on Peach's head and allowed the power of the Forest Sage to flow down her arm and into Peach's body.

She detached her hand. Peach subsequently gasped and placed a hand on the log to steady herself.

Zelda took a deep breath.

Ike, the Sage of Fire.

Pit, the Sage of Light.

Marth, the Sage of Spirit.

Meta Knight, the Sage of Shadow.

Krystal, the Sage of Water.

Peach, the Sage of Forest.

And herself, the Princess of Hyrule and the leader of the Sages.

Each of the Sages had now been ordained.

"So now all we need to do is gather the Sages," she said. "And then . . . and then it'll be time to—"

"Zelda!"

She looked quizzically at Peach, and then realized a second later that that wasn't her voice.

She turned around to see none other than Navi speeding toward her at the speed of light.

Zelda took a step back. "Navi, what—"

Suddenly she remembered the last time she'd seen the fairy.

The last time she'd seen Navi had also been the last time she'd seen Link.

Which meant—

"Hey! Zelda! Listen!" Navi said. "Listen, this is urgent, Link's alive!"

All of a sudden Peach was filled with energy once more. She sat up straight and gave Navi all of her attention. "Wait, what?"

Zelda could only stare at Navi. "But . . . how. . . Krystal said—" She looked around wildly, as if looking for a way out.

Or looking for a way for Navi's words to be true.

"Ganondorf only made it look like he was dead," Navi explained rapidly. "I'm not entirely sure why he did it, but I knew that he had to be trickier than that, so I flew over to Hyrule Castle and . . . and . . . at first he wouldn't. . . he wanted to see your face. . . but. . . it failed, it failed but he's alive!"

Did she dare to believe it?

Did she?

Could she?

In the back of her brain, a light appeared, small at first, but then it grew and grew and grew until it was burning bright and there was a broad smile on her face.

"He's actually alive?" Zelda asked. She already knew the answer, though. Tears pricked her eyes. "He's actually. . ."

She could see him again. By the Goddesses, she could see him again!

Link, the Hero of Time, a top-notch Brawler, the one who loved milk and the one she trusted more than anyone else—

Alive.

But. . .

He wasn't here.

Maybe he was alive, but that didn't mean he was okay.

Zelda's smile slowly fell as the gravity of the situation became clear. Her eyes hardened. "Tell me what happened."