The Price of Sins

Hi everyone! OH RUDO'S JOY! It's the last chapter before the (I hope) stunning conclusion XD Anyway, this chapter is sort of an exposition and I threw someone else's theory in here on the Gerudo's relations which will be related to TLoS.

Korra: *reads SC's profile with horror stricken face* Oh goddesses, you've GOT to be kidding me! I'M GOING TO BE THE MAIN CHARACTER IN A #$%&* TRAGEDY NOVEL?!

SC: Oh don't be so dramatic about it in that way. My readers love you so now you get your own story :) You should be thankful.

Korra: But now I'm going to go through even more HELL than in this story!

SC: I'm going to (incoming spoiler to prevent tragedy haters from hunting me down) write an epilogue to give it a happy ending that will take place in this era so you don't need to fret that much.

Korra: I don't believe you.

SC: Read the last chapter of TPoS.

Korra: *raises eyebrow before reading chapter* *jaw drops* Nabooru. Is. RUDO?!

SC: No no! Not that! Keep reading! *mutters to self* Darn it! I ruined the surprise for her :(

Korra: *continues reading* *jaw drops* I. inspired. RUDO?!

SC: *beams* Yes!

Korra: Enough about her, I wanna know who this OC you're gonna pair me up with is like! XD I'M GONNA HAVE A BOYFRIEND! *squeeeeeeee that shakes the earth*

SC: *ears ringing* Um… sure… yeah… right after I thank my readers.

AreiaCananaid: Oh goddesses I'm so SORRYYYYYY! I'm only halfway through your second chapter and you already posted a NEW ONE! GAAAAHHH! Kominesai! (Wait, wrong language) Enschuldegung! (*face palm* That's German Scarlet!) Whatever language I say it in, I'm sorry. Not just for not R&Ring, but because the reason why your first review didn't come through is because I set up my account so that I can read and moderate guest reviews before allowing them to be displayed. I don't think the same happened for the past occasion or two though and that really was something wrong with the technology. I thought the earliest you would become suspicious of her being Rudo would be chapter 9 when Nabooru mentioned that she had a vision like a memory since you would have picked up that the 'other woman' was Rudo. (did you?) Yeah, it's been quite hot down here but we haven't been to the beach yet. We went to our local pool (HC embarrassed me to death by hissing and snarling at this guy who goes to me high school): I'm glad you liked the depth and the humour; I was pretty proud of myself for the jokes I came up with in that chapter :3

tetraforce theory: I'm a sophomore in Aus too (had to look that up in the dictionary to understand). Thanks again for all the great advice and anime recommendations. Hopefully you'll watch some of the faves I mentioned :) I actually feel quite guilty since I'm barely using any of your ideas but I do consider the pros and cons before making my judgement. Yeah, I'm fourteen. HEY WORLD! I'M A FOURTEEN YEAR OLD! Now everyone knows :O Btw (and I added this just after reading your latest PMs), OMG OMG OMG! I FOUND YOUR STORY! *humongous squeeeeeeee* Yeah, that's the thing that sucks about the internet huh? You can't give hugs :( I feel so happy now, I could cry for joy c':

Da Amazing Po-Po-Pony: WELCOME BACK! I've missed you but I guess I couldn't blame you because of your surgery. Have you received my PM? I don't really feel like repeating stuff. I was confused by what you meant by 'Nabrudo' at first but I just figured it out :D Great name; I'll be sure to use it in the future…. this is taking forever, the future is too slow. HEY EVERYONE! HERE'S A SPOILER; THIS STORY CONTAINS NABRUDO! I feel so refreshed after using my fave button on the keyboard. One more thing, from what was typed in your review, I could tell that you do your head banging on your keyboard really well for some reason, I don't know why.

Icetail38: WHAAAAAA! I'M SO SORRYYYYYYYY! I had your name typed, ready to thank you and I STILL skipped you! It wasn't about your phone, I was just careless and stupid and VGBHGHJHJU *banging head on keyboard* Alright, in reply to the review I missed, YES! YOU SHOULD BE WORRIED! Sakia is most likely running around as a woman Darth Vadar now because I think she fell for the cookie bribe. As for the trivia, it makes sense. We also have my Grampy who is really good at it. We would have lost by miles if it were not for him. In reply to your latest review, I'm glad you laughed. I can tell you now though, reading from a Nokia phone is WAY worse than a Galaxy and I can't even log in! One more thing; CONGRADULATIONS! YOU GET A ONE-SHOT WRITTEN BY ME DEDICATED TO YOU! I may have sent you a PM about this to you so please reply, telling me what you want me to write about as well. If not then PM me anyway.

Spookuni: As stupid as your suggestions are, I still love them. It's nice to stay in contact with you over the holidays since we don't get to see each other anywhere else other than school or walking up towards Garbo to catch our buses. Sorry for being mean to you last chapter, but that's what you get for attempting to make me get sued. I love it when Link ALMOST dies but doesn't (with the exception of OoT Link but I never really felt all that attached to him). What is with you and smiting anyway? *sigh* At least you can expect more violence in future stories.

This A/N is practically two pages long! *jaw drops* Just… just read okay?

P.S. I didn't end up adding an extra scene but I might sometime in the future.

Chapter 29 ~ Solving the Riddle

As soon as the Hero of Time had left, I too, began to disappear. It was a warm, gentle magic, very unlike my past few encounters where it was bitter and cruel. But what was stolen by those previous spells could not be returned. Seven years, seemingly lost in an instant…

~†~ The Price of Sins ~†~

Nabooru raised her hand to knock on a wooden door bound with brass when Fi stopped her. "I think it would be best if you return to your… um… 'Nabooru' form?"

The Gerudo stared at her with confusion and looked down to see the white clothes she was still wearing and blushed. "Oh… right! We can't have Doctor Mizumi know about me being Rudo Incarnated and all."

Fi watched as her body emitted the same white as when she first changed into her… erm… 'Rudo' form. When it faded, Nabooru was wearing her normal clothes, still stained with the blood of her enemy, her lover and herself. The Gerudo wrinkled her nose at the smell before raising her hand to finally knock on the door.

They heard footsteps and the turning of a doorknob. It was opened by Zelda and she smiled warmly at the two. "Link's fine, he's awake now."

They both gave a sigh of relief and walked inside. The spirit and Gerudo looked over to the bed to see him smiling at them. Nabooru's heart gave a jolt of guilt at the many bandages covering the majority of his torso and his right arm.

Fi turned to the doctor who was staring at her with great interest at her unusual form but ignored it. "If you please Doctor Mizumi, we have both private and confidential matters to discuss."

He continued to stare at her, "What are you? Some kind of robot?" he asked.

Fi exploded with anger, "I AM NOT A ROBOT YOU #$%&* IDIOT!" she screamed, causing him to back into a wall in fear.

"Y…yes! Of course! F… forgive me if I have offended you… er… who are you?"

"That's classified information." Fi replied, "Your apology is appreciated. Please leave us in peace."

"But…"

"NOW!" Fi yelled again at the doctor who whimpered and scurried out of the room as fast as he could for a man his age.

The spirit turned to her friends to find them all death staring her. "What?" she asked innocently.

"You could have asked him a bit nicer you know!" they all scolded together.

"Oh please, he was taking forever to leave himself!" argued Fi.

"Great! Now you sound like Hylia!" said Nabooru.

"How?"

The Gerudo walked over to the spirit and whispered something in her ear. Fi's eyes darted to Link nervously then back to Nabooru before saying, "Right! I'll go apologise to the doctor right now!" and striding over to the door when Nabooru stopped her.

"We have more important things to worry about Fi."

The Sword Spirit's blue cheeks glowed red with embarrassment. "O… of course!" she squeaked nervously.

"What did you tell her?!" asked Link to Nabooru.

She stared at him darkly, "Oh believe me; you don't want to know."

The two Hylians swapped confused glances. Nabooru and Fi strode over to take a chair each and pulled them over to sit beside the bed.

"I guess it's about time you both know everything." said Nabooru, "You do not know the full history of the goddesses." The princess seemed the most shocked to hear these words. Being a member (or, more accurately, the only member) of the royal family, she was expected to have a knowledge of the goddesses more comprehensive than everyone else. Then again, she thought, the Hylians have ignored the Goddess of Life and her significance.

The Gerudo began her eplanation, "You see, when Demise attacked the old Hyrule, Rudo had the responsibility of ensuring the force of life remained balanced when his army attempted to destroy it. Unfortunately, Rudo was unable to save the mines when the demons choked it of its water. Because of this, it dried up completely and became the desert the Gerudo now reside in. This devastated the goddess as the robots working there suffered greatly but even more so when she had failed to protect the Gerudo who were forced into the desert formed by her carelessness."

Nabooru paused for a moment; these were the sins of a goddess, piled atop her own. That one moment when she discovered who she really was; she realised that she had far more to repent for than she thought. As if all the weight she already had on her shoulders wasn't enough!

She took a deep breath before continuing, "When the Demon King was defeated, his followers no longer had a master and their civilisation began to collapse. However, one of the Sheikah tribes decided to try and reform the broken strings between them and succeeded in becoming close once again. For a whole century, they lived together peacefully and some even fell in love. The descendants of the Sheikah and demons had a completely different appearance to both races due to a combination of the genes and thus, the Gerudo Tribe began." (A/N: Breaking 'new person, new line' rule because of Nabooru's extended dialogue.)

"Rudo wished to repent for her sins and made a promise to Hylia that someday she would become reborn as a mortal to find a way to break the curse and live as a Gerudo so she may understand their suffering and have the influence as one of them as well as being a goddess to convince them to unite with the rest of Hyrule and end the millennium long hatred. This is the duty I was born to fulfil."

She turned to the Sword Spirit, "I know you've been dying to tell them for weeks Fi; why don't you continue?"

Her face lightened up and she grinned from ear to ear before flinging her arms around the goddess and squeezing her tightly. "YesyesyesyesFINALLY!" she squealed with delight.

"Erm… Fi?"

She quickly withdrew as soon as she heard Nabooru's voice and blushed again, "Um… sorry Nabooru." she apologised before turning to a very surprised Link and Zelda, "Being the Goddess of Life, Rudo was the source of life for all the land meaning that by becoming a mortal, she would still have the force of life within her but if she were to die then every living thing in Hyrule would also."

Link raised an eyebrow at Nabooru, "Weren't you a reckless goddess. Not only do you become a mortal, but you get yourself into heaps of life threatening situations."

"Hey! I never knew I was Rudo back then and Hylia took the same risk when she was incarnated!" she snapped back.

"Still, everything almost died three times already."

"Four Link." Fi corrected him (Nabooru death stared her). "I have not yet finished my explanation."

"Yes," agreed Zelda, "You still haven't told us why you had to keep this a secret from us."

Fi felt the guilt rise inside her, "When I realised who Nabooru really was, I was faced with the most difficult decision in my entire existence; I had to choose between either betraying my goddesses or… lying to my friends. If I were to tell you of Rudo's spirit resting dormant inside Nabooru; that information could potentially fall into the wrong hands like what happened with Ghirahim when he almost succeeded in resurrecting Demise with Hylia's spirit. But I felt as if you all had a right to know because of everything you were doing and deserved to be informed on the real jeopardy of the situation. However, as the purpose of my existence was to follow the orders of the goddesses, I had to hold their wishes high above what I wanted and therefore remain silent about the issue. When I first learned of Nabooru's capture, I knew that if you were to be defeated during this final battle and if Ganondorf obtained the full Triforce, then he would no longer have any use for Nabooru. I calculated a 100% probability of her…" she gulped nervously before continuing, "… termination."

Fi's hands clenched into tight fists and she even trembled a little, "These past few weeks have been like hell," she said, "There was one other, more devastating secret I had to keep; when Rudo was reborn as a Gerudo, she inherited the curse like everyone else. Then she met you Link, and became too close, so the curse awoke inside her and began to take effect. When I sensed her aura for the first time; I dearly hoped I was wrong because of the curse's last resort."

Zelda and Link's eyes widened with shock as they connected the dots; Nabooru had the force of life within her, she had fallen victim to the curse, Zelda would attempt to break it and it would be forced to resort to killing Nabooru and everything would die with her meaning…

"It can't be broken." said Zelda with disbelief.

"It can, but at a price." Fi replied.

Nabooru's hands clenched into fists and she hung her head low, trying to fight back her tears.

Link tried to meet her eyes to find an answer; he had a very uneasy feeling about this 'price' Fi spoke of.

Finally, Nabooru found the courage to open her mouth and explain; her voice trembled as she forced the words out but at the same time, they flowed like a river and part of her felt as if she were no longer in control of her own mouth but the other still had to will for the answer to escape her lips. "The only way to save Hyrule and the Gerudo, the only way we can free my people and spare this land from total destruction, is if I end my life as a mortal return to the heavens as a goddess."

Her own words stung her as she said them. They clawed her and tore her apart, armed with her emotions. They showed no mercy.

They hurt Link just as much as they did Nabooru, perhaps more, because he had almost lost her on multiple occasions. She had almost died and many attempted to rip them apart; deceased Hylians and living Gerudo alike.

"I'm so sorry Link," Fi said as, for the very first time, she began to shed tears, "I… I used you; I used you and it was the most painful thing I ever had to do. I knew… I knew if I let you believe you were going to have a future with Nabooru, there would be a 100% chance… you would fight even harder to protect her and… I knew Hylia would have done the same. She did do the same to the Goddesses' Chosen Hero but there was still hope for them to be together in the end. I still remember the words she had said to him back then, 'All that may be well intentioned and true, but it doesn't make it right.' What I have done to you is still betrayal Master, and I have chosen my loyalty to the goddesses over my loyalty to you. I cannot express how sorry I am for all of this; I just hope I can make it up to you somehow. I never want to be forced to make the same decision ever again."

The spirit's glistening tears trickled down her glowing cheeks and landed on her tightly clenched fists. Now she had finally done it; she had finally told her friends the truth but she hated it far more than she did all her secrecy and lies. Her lies saved the feelings of her friends but ravaged upon her with the deepest guilt but the truth crushed the hopes and dreams two of her dearest friends had been fighting for.

"I had no idea you've been feeling this way for these past few weeks Fi."

Her eyes widened with shock at Link's words. He continued, "I do not question your judgement or your loyalty; I admire you for it. Your decision, despite hurting us more, has helped us to protect Nabooru, goddess or not."

She smiled, "No matter what lifetime it may be, you still ignore your own pain to help others. From when we first met many centuries ago, you haven't changed a bit." she said.

He did not say anything in reply. Instead he turned to the Gerudo sitting next to Fi who was still avoiding eye contact. "Nabooru, look at me." She slowly obeyed his command even though she knew how much more it would hurt to see his face. "I just want to say, I'm really sorry about this. You've had to suffer great pain because of me and now the curse is forcing you to leave."

Nabooru shook her head, "Stop blaming yourself for this Link. You had no idea about the curse or its existence. I knew about it and I still allowed myself to act on my feelings. I knew the consequences and for one moment I couldn't stop myself from holding back because my feelings for you were just too strong. This could have all been prevented if I was more careful around you from when we met at Lake Hylia."

"Actually, I think it's a good thing you came to care for each other so much." said Zelda.

Everyone stared at her; what she said seemed quite inappropriate for such a time of sadness, but she merely smiled and continued, "One of the reasons I have gotten over the death of my lover so quickly is because I was glad that, when he was reborn, he found someone else to love. Every time I saw you together, I knew you belonged with each other far more than I ever could have with the Hero of Time. Seeing his reincarnation happy made me happy as well because, even though you are two different people sharing the same spirit, all that mattered was my hero having a happy ending, and that is why I will not let Nabooru leave us for the heavens."

"But it's impossible to break the curse any other way!" protested Fi.

"Is it really?" asked Zelda, "You're forgetting one very important detail you told me when the curse had first awoken in Nabooru."

"For the curse to break, it must first be weakened. This would require somehow countering the hatred of both the living and dead Gerudo. From there, Nabooru may be able to free herself from it with her mind but it still may prove to be too much for her."

The spirit's eyes widened with shock, "No… you can't seriously… it's too dangerous to try!"

"I have no doubt in my mind that Nabooru will succeed in besting the curse with her own strength. She has controlled powerful magic taking possession of her before and I know this time she will battle against it harder than ever." She turned to the goddess, "I promised myself I would never let you lose the one you loved and I intend to keep that promise no matter what price I may be required to pay. You both deserve a future together and I refuse to allow anything to stand in the way of that ever happening."

Fi smiled at the princess, "I'm in no position to disagree with you Zelda, because I trust Nayru's judgement meaning I trust yours as well."

"Thank-you Fi." said Zelda gratefully, "I appreciate it that you believe in me and I'm sure Nabooru is glad of you feel the same for her."

Nabooru nodded in agreement, "One of the traits of being mortal is being selfish. It was this which caused the curse to awaken inside me in the first place and cause Link to suffer from the consequences of it. But to become a mortal was a risk that Rudo made, not me, so why should Nabooru suffer from Rudo's decision? I think she has a right to be selfish and risk her life to stay on this world."

"But what if… what if you do die?" asked Link, "Goddess of Life or not, I'll never forgive myself."

She smiled, "Against all odds, you kept your promise to me. Now it's my turn Link; I won't die, I swear it."

To be selfish is not always a sin, it is a part of life and we cannot exist without it…

~†~ The Price of Sins ~†~

"Do you think they're alright Impa?" asked an anxious Korra, "It's been a few days since Ganondorf was defeated. Surely they would be back by now."

"I wouldn't worry Korra; I'm sure they're fine." the Sheikah replied.

"But why would they keep us waiting like this if something hadn't happened to at least one of them. It doesn't make any sense."

"Perhaps something has happened to them but I seriously doubt any of them will die. They all have a very important reason to continue living; Zelda has a nation to lead, Nabooru needs to stay for her people's sake, Fi has only just created a heart of her own and Link has a promise to keep. For each one of them, death is not an option."

Korra just hung her head. As much as she wanted to believe Impa, she still could not help worrying about them. Then again, Zelda had promised to return safely with everyone and who was she to mistrust her?

All of a sudden, the Gerudo around them started chattering excitedly and rushed outside the fortress. The fast flowing crowd swept the young teenager along and she squeaked but luckily Impa grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her back.

"What's going on here?" she asked a passing Gerudo.

"Haven't you heard? They've returned!" she replied with a grin.

An expression of relief and excitement spread across Korra's face and she ran outside with Impa not too far behind.

Outside the fortress it was already packed but Impa was tall enough to see over everyone's heads unlike poor Korra who had to keep on jumping to catch a glimpse of anything beyond the crowd. Impa actually considered leaving her there because she looked quite cute doing it but thought otherwise. She dug her hands underneath the girl's arms, causing her to shriek from surprise, and lifted her onto her shoulders.

"Aren't you heavy?" the warrior teased with a smirk.

Korra giggled, "What do you expect from a fourteen year old who's too big to ride on someone's shoulders?"

"I just didn't want you to miss out on the homecoming of our heroes."

"I appreciate your concern." said Korra with a smile.

Just then, some of the Gerudo started pointing to the distance and chattering excitedly. Korra used her hand as a shade as she squinted her eyes in search in of her friends. Finally, her sight came to rest on three shapes blurred by the heat of the sun. As they came closer, she could make out two horses with riders and a hovering blue and purple shape between them.

"There! I see them!" she exclaimed gleefully to Impa and the surrounding Gerudo while pointing in the direction of the approaching group.

Everyone began cheering and ran over to them. They could see Fi hovering, her capes fluttering gracefully, beside Zelda riding one of the horses, her silvery armour sparkling in the sun. On the other was Link, he was not wearing his tunic due to the hot desert climate so everyone could see the many bandages covering his torso. Sitting behind him with her arms wrapped around him for support was some stranger wearing white with the red hair and dark skin of a Gerudo. It was not until the spectating women had a proper look at her face when they realised…

"It's Nabooru!" someone exclaimed. This was followed by much curious chatter from the crowd.

Korra stared at this mysterious woman, now assumed to be Nabooru, and wondered out loud, "Why have her clothes changed?"

She did not get an answer because Fi asked, "Can everyone please gather at the front of the fortress? It is almost time for the Her Grace to reveal herself."

Everyone began moving to fulfil her command except for Impa and Korra. She lifted the Gerudo off her shoulders and watched as she ran to greet her friends.

By the time the teenage girl had reached them, Zelda had already dismounted her horse. She smiled and embraced the princess. "Thank-you," she whispered in her ear, "For keeping your promise to me. I was so worried when you hadn't returned soon after we found out about Ganondorf's defeat."

"I'm sorry to keep you and the others waiting," Zelda apologised, "But I'm sure you can guess why we were delayed."

They stopped hugging to watch as Nabooru slid off the horse to soon be followed by Link. He landed with a little more force than normal and winced from some kind of pain as he clutched his side. Nabooru came over to help him. "Link, don't push yourself." she said.

"Don't worry; I'm fine." he assured her.

Korra looked to Zelda. "How come she can touch him now?" she asked.

The princess looked away, "I don't know; the curse hasn't had any effect on Nabooru since the final battle. I have a bad feeling about this."

Zelda had an idea of course; the curse was conserving its power. It gained far more from the Gerudo's hatred, fuelling it like the wind does for a mill. However, the more the power is used, the more it is drained. The curse could sense that Nabooru would be able to revolutionise the Gerudo's perspective on Hylians and possibly cause many more to rebel against it, meaning the curse would have to use up more of its power to prevent anymore relationships. As the Gerudo would no longer have a burning hatred for her race, its energy would be drained until it had only that of which was part of the curse was when it had first been cast.

The princess smiled to herself; the logic of magic was this spell's downfall. Once the curse had been weakened enough so only the power of the Hylians who cast it remained, it would be used up and destroyed by Nabooru and herself.

"I guess I should be making my speech about now." said Nabooru to Link.

"Yeah, I should probably be joining the crowd." he replied.

She shook her head. "No, we're going to try and break the curse soon; I need you there for me."

He smiled, "How could I refuse a goddess?"

"Link, Nabooru; I hate to break up this little moment but the Gerudo are waiting for Her Grace." said Fi reluctantly.

"She's right," agreed Nabooru, "They all deserve to know and I just can't wait any longer."

"It's alright, everything will be over soon and nothing will be able to stop us from being together."

She couldn't help smiling and blushing a little after he said that. "Come on, we have a gap to cross."

~†~ The Price of Sins ~†~

The Gerudo's excited conversation began to die down when they saw Nabooru approach the edge of the top level of the fortress. Standing a few metres behind her and slightly off to the side was the princess, spirit and hero.

She raised a hand to silence the last of the noise and took a deep breath before starting her speech. "My people, today is the day when we shall take a large step from our past and towards the future. Today we shall shatter the barrier preventing us from continuing as a race and soon we will be allowed what has been denied to us for almost a thousand years. However, the final decision is yours and I know you are all eager to witness the descent of Rudo from the heavens, but I do have one thing to disprove; she is here already."

More whispering and gasps of shock arose from the crowd. Nabooru patiently waited for the Gerudo to die down and they did so quickly in eagerness to hear an explanation. "You see, she has been among us for many years, living as we do, suffering from scorching hot days and freezing cold nights, stealing from others in order to survive and being seen as a traitor by many."

Once again, everyone started murmuring as they figured it out. "So it appears you know already," confirmed Nabooru, "It is true; I am the Goddess Rudo reborn amongst her people."

"How could you be? You served Ganondorf willingly for many years!" one of the crowd called out.

A dozen other Gerudo shot her dirty looked and one even scolded her, "How dare you speak back to the goddess like that!"

"No, please," said Nabooru, "You all have a right to know why. However, I will deny one thing; although I have served Ganondorf for a long time, I never did so of my own free will. In fact, I have seven years of my life missing, the very same years during which I served him without question." and she told her tribe of her attempt to stop Ganondorf's plans, her capture by Twinrova, her mind imprisonment, her rescue by the Hero of Time and her enlightenment when awoken as the Sage of Spirit.

"I apologise for keeping this a secret from you, but there are many things you still do not know." She told them, "Look around you, what do you see? Today it is a desert but once it was a thriving green field of rich soil and as many colours of flowers as there are now grains of sand. Beneath its beauty was a special stone of great power giving energy to the robots working to mine it and other resources for the land to one day become known as Hyrule. These robots were blessed with a very special gift, an advanced technology crafted by a sacred dragon who once resided here. Although their hearts were man-made and incomplete, although they still regarded their purpose above everything else and were programed to perceive their work in a positive way, what they felt was still emotion. In reality it was fake but to them it was real and it was all that mattered. From there, upgrades became available so their synthetic emotions became closer and closer to that of us humans. Then, just when that goal was almost reached, disaster struck. The army of the Demon King attempted to banish the force of life flowing through everyone and everything living. One goddess had the responsibility of keeping the force strong while the enemy slaughtered, burned down forests and drained the water from springs. But, there was one place the goddess failed to save. By some miracle, the demons succeeded in choking all the water in and around the mines, including an entire sea, leaving it to rapidly dry up. The green grass dulled to brown, the rich soil became unsuitable for many kinds of plant life and all the flowers shrivelled up to break down into nothing. As for the robots, as their surroundings became the sand filling this desert, they shared the same fate, 'dying' with their home."

The sorrow in Nabooru's voice clearly expressed the tragedy of the tale and the eyes of many listeners shed tears while those who did not cry as easily comforted them.

Fi contemplated on the story Nabooru had just told everyone; those robots were so close to having a heart before the hopes were crushed by the hordes of demons plaguing the land. She, on the other hand, was a created being like them and she had a heart but it was one she had created herself. Those synthetic beings of the desert, their 'hearts' were made for them and were programmed a certain way, their personalities and attitudes controlled. Although Lanayru, the guardian dragon of the mines and constructor of these unusual machines, demonstrated some creativity in their characters from time to time with models such as the good-mannered Skipper, great sailor of the now gone sea, and Scrapper, rude towards 'Master Shortpants' but a willing servant to her, another servant.

Her heart was different but, in a way, she too was programmed; that was merely processing data, making calculations and acting as an encyclopaedia. She had no personality until she began processing the data collected from reactions her master and others had to particular situations or exposures to certain objects, sensations or people.

Nabooru continued her speech, "This Goddess of Life, she had failed them, and she had failed another race too. My people, for so long you have served Rudo without knowing of her true powers. She deals with such a complicated matter; the spirit. She reincarnates them, she gives parents children and she gave us offspring when we could not reproduce ourselves. Rudo, our guardian deity, is the Goddess of Life."

By now, everyone was used to these surprises so the reaction was not as large as previous ones.

"When your ancestors were banished to the desert she had allowed to exist all those years ago; it pained her greatly, but even more so when the Hylians had cursed them. She made a promise to Hylia of sacrificing her divinity to live amongst you to understand your pain and suffering. She refused to fail her people again and planned on breaking the curse. But even then, scars cannot heal. The ones inflicted by the Hylians are especially deep, but when they fade, they hurt less and less each day. Please, when the curse is broken, I ask you to forgive the Hylians and continue onwards, to the future where we may be happy, to a future of freedom!" Nabooru raised a fist in the air as the crowd erupted with cheering, whistling and applause. She smiled, Thank-you, she thought with the deepest gratitude, Thank-you for believing in me, and thank-you for allowing my deepest desire to be granted.

Zelda strode over to the goddess. "Is it time?" she asked.

Nabooru nodded, "It's time."

The land of Hyrule is an unusual place. Events that scarred the hearts of many also visually appear on the land. The gap isolating the Gerudo physically exists too; the valley…

~†~ The Price of Sins ~†~

Korra: *fire eyes* I KILL U! *chases after SC with Golden Viper*

SC: *screaming in panic* SAVE MEEEEEEEEEE!

Nabooru: Why does everyone keep on stealing my axe?

Zelda: What did you do this time Scarlet?

SC: *still running* I. *pant* may. *pant* have. *pant* given her. *pant* a small. *pant* spoiler for TLoS.

Zelda: The tragedy novel that I don't have to be in? *sniggers* Sucks to be you Korra.

Korra: *looks at Zelda with intense rage* Quit being insensitive, shut up, and let me beat the living #$% OUT OF HER!

SC: Mind your langua… *face drains of colour* uh… Never mind! *turns to run away from a killer-crazed Korra*

Readers: What happened to Korra's sweetness?

Nabooru: What about Zelda's sweetness?

Next Chapter: DA GRAND FINALE! The battle with the curse begins, things are resolved and issues for the sequel are raised. THERE WILL BE TONS OF LABINKU! As well as a heap of other goodies such as humour and a songfic :D

Darcy: NOOOOOOOO! NOT ROMANCE! (I told Storm Skyress about your OCs Po-Po and she pointed out how much Darcy would hate it so I just HAD to throw her in }:)

I also want those who I haven't told yet to go check out my profile AGAIN since I've added a new section dedicated ONLY to TLoS. It includes HEAPS of new info (WAY over 1000 words!) and is organised way better than it was crammed into that little paragraph. It is still constantly being updated (mainly the 'Progress Update' area) but contains no spoilers (unless you know of the Shugo Chara love triangle but even then it's very minor) except for tragedy. (Another thing to know is that I need to edit over it and fix up errors since one of my sentences miraculously has four or five 'and's in it which is so unlike me :P)

I look forward to hearing how excited you are for the final chapter (I hope) which might be posted early because I have a Girl Guides camp starting on Friday but I'm not entirely sure when. The day before that I'm going to the city to hang out with some of my friends so if I do update early, it will be Wednesday. I'll make a deal, if all my loyal reviewers (Spookuni, tetraforce theory, tr1pp89, AreiaCananaid, Icetail38 and Po-Po) review before Wednesday, I'll update regardless of whether I'm free to or not. You'll then have a week after that to review and I'll post the Author's Words the following Wednesday if I can.

XD ONLY ONE MORE CHAPTER OF TPoS LEFT! *squeeeeeeee*

Korra: *sweet smile* Hello Scarlet Curls! *evil grin* Reveeeeeeeenge!

SC: *screaming* HOLY NAYRU!

Korra: Shut your trap! *post*