While Elder Cologne was flying back to the desert on her broom, she was deep in thought. She knew her great-granddaughter and her new friends were stubborn, but now that she faced them directly, she was able to see the resolution in their eyes. That was not just mere defiance, they really believed in what they were doing. And, after all, they did defeat Ganondorf's phantom and the fire dragon.

But all of that would not be enough against the dark lord of evil.

And when she heard the words of the blonde youngster... the one with the Master Sword... she really couldn't help but ponder about her current situation.

Did she want Hyrule to be under the rule of this tyrant? No, most certainly not. She only wanted the best for her tribe. She wanted to rebel against the arrogant Hylians and Zoras, true, she wanted an easier life outside of the desert... but she never wanted to cover the world with chaos and darkness.

And now, Ganondorf was neglecting his own people more and more. He enslaved those who didn't agree with him... turned them into fearsome monsters and mindless slaves. And Cologne was forced to agree with him...

If only the other elders weren't a pair of insane old hags, then she would be able to...

To what? Cologne asked herself. To fight against Ganondorf? What was unthinkable. His army was too dangerous, even if every Gerudo would start to rebel against him. And now this small group of adventurers tries to defeat him without any help.

Why do they believe they would ever win?

But then again, she could understand them. There were only two possibilities for those that were Ganondorf's enemies: Either give up hope and surrender to his cruelty, or to do whatever may be possible to bring him down.

And Cologne had to admit, with the Master Sword in the boy's hands and the Sages on his side, there was a slight chance that he could do it. A truly abysmal chance, but it was there.

This was the first time that she wondered if there was anything she could do to raise that chance.

Her own thoughts frightened her at first, but the longer she thought about it, the more she started to believe that it was worth the try. And she didn't have to help them directly... if Ganondorf and the Twinrova witches never found out that she was helping them, she wouldn't have to be afraid of their wrath.

But what if they found out? Ganondorf's spies were everywhere, and even Cologne herself didn't know all about his magical powers and the abilities the Triforce of Power was giving him.

She was just going to dismiss all of these thoughts, when the image of her granddaughter Nabooru appeared in her mind... trapped in that bulky, iron armor, cursed to forever do as Ganondorf ordered her, always aware, but never able to do anything.

Cologne was already feeling guilty that she allowed this to happen to her... could she do the same with Shampoo?

She believed her great-granddaughter to be strong enough to survive the trials of the Water Temple, maybe she could even win against the more powerful servants of the king of evil. Yes, there was even the possibility that one day, she might defeat the dark general Onox.

But against Ganondorf himself? Cologne shook her head. No, Shampoo would never be strong enough. Ganondorf would crush her in no time. Or, even worse... he could torture her... enslave her like he did with Nabooru... or even worse things Cologne dared not to imagine.

She knew she would not be able to convince Shampoo to follow her husband and the Hero of Time. And Cologne knew she could never let anything happen to her. So, there was only one thing left to do.

When she arrived in Gerudo Valley, the Elder of Winds landed directly in front of the Gerudo Training Ground, the obstacle course used by the younger warriors to hone their battle skills. Only the strongest warriors were able to reach the end, where they could salvage the well-earned prize...

The young guard in front of the entrance gate saluted when she saw the old witch approaching her.

"Elder Cologne! An honor to see you again! What brings you here?"

Cologne smirked. "Oh, I just thought I'd try out the old training course once again. It has been such a long time... I just have to see if I still can keep up with you youngsters." And she cackled in an amused voice.

The young Gerudo stared at her in surprise. "B-but Elder... you are one of the most powerful witches of all times. Truly we would never be able to perform as well as you. I would say that you could reach the end of the course in no time."

"Let's just say I am feeling nostalgic... and I need some time to unwind. Leading a whole tribe can be tiresome at times, girl... surely you understand that, don't you?"

"Y-yes, of course!" the girl stuttered nervously. "Please, go right ahead!" And she opened the gate.

While Cologne entered the Training Grounds, she took a deep breath.

'Cologne, old girl, you just took your first step in defying the great king of evil... and if he ever finds out what you are about to do, you are a dead Gerudo.'

Still, she kept on walking, always thinking of her great-granddaughter.

'You may kill me, Ganondorf... but I'll be damned if you hurt Shampoo.'

There wasn't much she could do without attracting the attention of his minions, but one thing she knew was that the Hero of Time was the best candidate of doing what she would not able to do herself: Defeating the tyrant and bringing peace to Hyrule.

And that's why she was trying to bring him the ancient Gerudo treasures that would be most useful on his quest: The Ice and Fire Arrows!

Ukyo sighed. "Another flooded room? I've just had it with all the water in here..."

"Well, duh, I guess that's why it's called the WATER Temple," Tatl remarked.

"Ah, it's just a little pool we have to cross, nothing else," Link said confidently. "At least we don't have to dive down a shaft... or run along an underwater tunnel. I don't even need the Iron Boots.

Ruto looked across the pool to the door on the other side. She then looked at Link. "Say... those Iron Boots... how can you carry them if they're so heavy? I mean, every time you wear them, every step you take is so slow... and now, when they're in your bag, they don't slow you down at all. And they don't even pull you down when you swim... how come?"

Link shrugged. "They only get heavy when I put them on my feet, that's all. Is that so surprising?"

"Well, of course it is," Ukyo remarked. "After all, they are Iron Boots... why would their weight change if they aren't on your feet?"

"Hey, I'm no schoemaker, okay?" Link shot back. "How am I supposed to know?"

Ranko sighed. "Look, can't we just go on already? We have no time to lose."

"All right, but it still bothers me how every time we enter one of these temples, common sense gets thrown overboard..." Ukyo grumbled.

She, along with Shampoo, climbed into the water and swum over to the other side. Ruto dove in as well and overtook them in the middle of the room. Ranko wanted to follow her sister, but hesitated when she noticed that Link was still standing at the edge of the water.

"Hey, aren't you coming?"

"Just a moment," Link winced. "I just realized that the wound those nasty Shell Blades gave me turned out to be worse than I thought... give me a second to cure it with a fairy, all right?"

"Okay, but hurry!" Ranko said before jumping in herself and swimming after her sister.

Link reached into his bag and took a bottle.

"Hey, you big brute, I demand that you let me out of here right this..."

Link ignored the constant nagging of the Poe girl and closed his bag. He opened the bottle, and the pink fairy fluttered out.

She smiled at him. "Hi! Thanks again for freeing me from that pot earlier. It was so dark in there, it was scary."

"Don't mention it," Link grinned. "As long as you help me by curing my wound..." And he gestured to his bandaged arm.

"Ah, I see," the fairy nodded. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it..." She flitted around the arm and sprinkled the wound with fairy dust. Within seconds, the wound was healed.

Navi sighed. "I wish I had learned how to use heal magic as well..." she said with envy.

"Well, what am I supposed to say?" the pink fairy asked her. "After all, you are the guardian fairy of a... well, not a Kokiri, but of a mighty handsome boy, if I may say so." She grinned.

Link blushed. "L-look, thank you for the help... but we still have to go on, so if you'd excuse me..." And he jumped into the water to follow his friends.

The pink fairy grinned. "Aw, he's shy. That's so cute..."

"He sure is," Navi giggled. "You can find the way out of here by yourself?"

"Hey, no problem! After all, no monster has ever attacked a fairy before. Good luck on your quest!" And she flew out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Navi flew after Link. On the other side of the pool, his friends were waiting impatiently.

"Hey, slowpoke! Get a move on!" Ukyo shouted.

"Hey, give me a break here!" Link shouted back. "How would you like to be injured by a Shell Blade?"

That's when it happened.

Link only felt a sudden pull on his legs, and all of a sudden, he was dragged underwater. He looked down and only saw that somehow, a hatch had opened at the bottom of the pool, and a powerful suction pulled him down.

"Link!" Ukyo shouted. "Dang, how did that happen?"

"I'll get him!" Ruto shouted and jumped into the pool. "Hang on, love! Help is on the way!"

"Sis, wait..." Ranko gasped.

But it was too late. Link and Navi got pulled into the shaft underneath the pool, and just before Ruto could reach her would-be fiance, the hatch closed in front of her.

"Oh, fishsticks!" she swore. "I was so close..."

Ranko came swimming up to her and took her hand. "C'mon, sis," she said, bubbles rising from her mouth. "Maybe if we're lucky, we'll find a way to catch up with him. He's a strong fighter, so I wouldn't worry too much about him. Let's go... maybe we'll soon find a way to help the other Zoras."

"Yeah..." Ruto murmured sadly. "Link... take care of yourself..."

Link was lucky that he was wearing his Zora Tunic, otherwise he would have drown for sure. While he was pulled through the twisted shaft he wished he could reach his bag to take out his Iron Boots, but he never got the chance. Next to him, he saw his guardian fairy twirling through the water. Her little body, even more than his own, wasn't strong enough to resist the powerful current, so he reached for her and carefully pulled her close so they wouldn't lose sight of each other.

Suddenly, the shaft made a sharp turn, and then, he and Navi were spouted out of the water, into a huge room. Link rolled over the floor and shielded Navi's body from the impact. Slowly, he stood up.

Navi blinked and raised her head. "We're not dead, aren't we?" she asked in a frightened voice.

"No..." Link replied. "But we got separated from the others.

He let go of his fairy friend, and Navi fluttered up into the air, where she looked around. "Where are we?"

Behind them, the water came shooting out of the shaft and created a powerful jet of water that was shooting upwards. The whole floor of the room was covered with it, so Link was wading through ankle-high water.

But the strangest thing was: This room didn't seem to have any walls. All around them, they could only see the shallow water, and nothing else but a small island of sand that was rising out of it. In the middle of the island, a single tree was standing.

"Do you... do you think we aren't even in the temple anymore?" Link wondered.

"Does this look like Lake Hylia to you?" Navi asked. "Look on the map, we're still in the temple. But something is strange... according to the map, this room shouldn't be endless..."

"So what do we do now?" Link asked and turned around. "I don't see any exit... and I don't think we can go back the way we came." He looked over to the huge water spout.

"I don't know for sure..." Navi murmured. "But somehow I have the feeling we need to go over to that island... maybe we can find some hint there."

Link sighed. "Fine, as long as there's nothing else we can do..."

He walked towards the small island, but just after he had taken a few steps, he felt that something was wrong.

He then realized something. "I'm the only one around here... except for Navi... so where are these other footsteps coming from?"

Indeed, while he was walking, he had heard the splashing of feet directly behind him, as if somebody was following him. He turned around... and saw nobody.

"There's no one here," he sighed and looked down at his mirror image in the water. "But I could have sworn I heard something..."

"Maybe you're just tired," Navi suggested.

Link was about to reply something, when all of the sudden, his mirror image grinned at him. And it wasn't just any grin... it was an evil sneer. And then, his mirror image slowly rose up... but when it came out of the water, it turned deep black, and its eyes were glowing red.

"Finally!" his dark double hissed as it pulled its black sword out of its sheath. "I've been waiting for this moment... murderer!"

"You!" Link shouted and drew the Master Sword. "You're the monster who did all of this! You froze the Zora..."

"Actually, that was Morpha," Dark Link pointed out with a grin. "But since I'm the one who's in charge of the creature, I guess that kind of makes me responsible."

"Kind of?" Link grumbled. "You bastard..."

"You have no right to talk back to me like that!" Dark Link hissed. "You are the one who killed me... without you, I would have never been forced to take on this vile image..."

"What are you talking about?" Link shouted. "I've never seen you before!"

"But you will!" his doppleganger shouted back. "I don't see how I have to explain myself to you... all I want is revenge!" And he raised his blade and charged at the Hero of Time. "Prepare yourself!"

"Oh great..." Link grumbled and welcomed his dark double with the Master Sword. The two blades met in a clash of steel, and the fencing duel between the two warriors began.