Chapter 29- The Lovers Music Box Sings One Last Time

Everyone remained still. The full moon set over the hill beyond the mansion and the silence hung in the air.

Zelda turned around, her eyes on the floor. "It's over everyone… Let's go back inside and…" she didn't finish her sentence. Link was at her side in an instant and once again, Impa was gone. Scarlet touched James' arm, but when James didn't move, she just let go and turned to walk back inside.

Everyone had a reunion in the large den room in Peach's Castle.

Marth and Peach were in an embrace and Mario and Link shook hands. Vulga and Romeo walked up to each other, their faces emotionless. Blood red eyes met pitch black. They stood inches apart, not daring to move or breathe until Romeo made the first move. Her grabbed Vulga's face and pulled her lips to his. Caroline let out a small giggle, but paused briefly to see Ike staring at her from across the room. She tilted her head at him and Ike cursed under his breath.

"Screw it all, I'm going," he hissed. Ike strode over to Caroline and the brown haired beauty watched him walk over with widened pink eyes. Without waiting for her to say anything, he picked Caroline up in his arms and kissed her. "Dammit, Caroline. I missed you so much."

Roy leaned back on the sofa, his arms crossed, and a smile large on his face. "That's my boy."

Caroline's eyes widened in surprise and a cloudy veil behind her pink orbs lifted. She smiled as their lips parted. "I remember you," she whispered.

Hugo and Evangeline chuckled. Hugo's hand slid into Evangeline's and the surprised grey-eyed beauty looked down at their hands. She smiled and looked back up at the embracing couples.

James was about to step out of the room, but Sebastian caught sight of him. Sebastian's eyes narrowed dangerously and he pulled himself away from Edward. "You."

James posture slumped and he turned to face the enraged Sebastian.

"Seb!" Scarlet cried out.

Too late. Sebastian's fist had already connected to James' jaw. James held his face in his hands and winced when Sebastian began to shout at him.

"YOU! YOU SENT HER TO THAT INSANE ASYLUM!"

"I didn't send her there! My parents did! I had no control over what happened-"

"You were old enough to defy them and protect your sister! And now that she's gone, you're all Mr. No-One-Touches-My-Sister-And-Gets-Away-With-It! WHERE WERE YOU WHEN SHE WAS EJECTED OUT OF THE ASYLUM? WHERE WERE YOU WHEN SHE WAS RECOVERING AND ATTENDING SCHOOL AGAIN! WHERE WERE YOU WHEN SHE GRADUATED!" demanded Sebastian demanded.

"I WAS IN THE BACK ROW!" shouted James. The room became silent. "…She had a beautiful speech... So many people supported her when I was there to… I didn't come back to talk to her afterwards only because I was ashamed of what I had done to her… I was there, at my parents' house, nagging them and demanding that they release her. I threatened them by taking them to court, but they had too much evidence against her… I couldn't help…"

Sebastian was caught off guard. He didn't expect James to say that. James' head was hung low and Dark Link blinked.

"You're... you're Freesia's brother?" asked Dark Link. Better be... this guy looks almost exactly like her... minus the fact that he's a dude and she's a woman...

James looked up into the red eyes and nodded. "You must be the Dark boy that she was talking about. I'm truly sorry that I didn't believe her…"

"What do you mean 'believe her'?" asked Dark suddenly.

"It the reason why Freesia stayed back with me. The conversation on the balcony? She was put in an insane asylum shortly after she left this world a year ago. Her parents thought she was crazy and for about three months she stayed in that mad house. I was lucky to still find her alive there," Sebastian explained as he carefully watched the realization dawn on Dark Link's face.

Dark walked over to the wall and smacked his head against it. "Oh Goddesses am I an idiot…"

"And while we're still yelling and hitting people," muttered Link, stepping forward. He spun Dark around and smashed his fist into Dark's eye. "THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR NOT TRUSTING FREESIA!"

Everything when silent again and Samus let out a nervous cough.

Peach scoffed. "Wow… That was awkward."

Marth couldn't help but nod in agreement.

~…With Impa…~

The Sheikah surveyed the wreckage for hours, her violet eyes full of sorrow and grief. She walked across the broken boards, the tattered curtains, the paintings and old photos of the once living owners of the mansion, and broken chandeliers. Impa continued to walk until she stepped on something that crunched beneath her feet. She looked down to see the black cover of Ganon's once whole book. Impa picked it up between her thin fingers and held it in the palm of her hand. Staring at it for only a moment, she then crushed it easily between her hands. It turned to ash. Impa let the remains fall through her balled-up fist like sand and smacked her hands together to remove the remaining specks. Walking on, she spotted a box underneath some rubble.

Ah, yes. This was the Lover's Music Box Link spoke of when he had returned to witness the birth of his children.

The old woman picked it up and opened the lid. Link had said the music was beautiful and the loving dancing couple within was truly entrancing.

Impa sighed. The music box no longer played. "Must've been damaged when the house fell," she whispered to herself. She gently set the box back down, the lid still opened, and stood at full height. Impa had desperately tried searching for Freesia's body, but it seemed that she was buried too deep… Impa couldn't find her. "May the Goddesses be with her," Impa whispered, letting a single tear fall. She turned away from the box and pulled out a deku nut. Wiping away the tear, she pulled off the shell in her shaking hands and threw it hard onto the floor. With a loud 'snap', she disappeared back to the castle.

Little did she know, two seconds after she had left, the music box began to sing.

~…In the Wreckage…~

Freesia's spirit arose from within the rubble to the top and there, sitting expectantly nearby the open and singing music box, was the ghost girl and her boyfriend. Freesia stared at them, not quite used to seeing them in an actual human-sized form.

"Hello Freesia Strike," greeted the ghost girl softly.

Freesia's eyes widened. "Y-you spoke!"

The ghost boy laughed. "Of course we did! We can speak freely to those who are like us, you know."

Freesia didn't understand what they meant until the memories of her before-death flooded in her mind. "Oh."

"Don't be very disappointed, Freesia!" the ghost girl laughed. "Be happy! Laugh!"

The ghost boy stood. He wore a dusty, faded tux and his eyes were a deep grey. "My name's Dusty."

"And I'm Odette!" the ghost girl included, standing as well. She wore a faded old-fashioned dress that buttoned up to the bottom of her neck. Her hair was pulled up into a bun and her face was small and almost baby-looking.

Dusty seemed to be eighteen and Odette looked like she was only fifteen.

"You look… so young," Freesia spoke softly to Odette.

The young girl smiled. "I was only fourteen when I died. To think, I fell in love with Dusty- and he was only eighteen!" Her laugh reminded Freesia of small bells clanging together. "But that's besides the point… We and the other ghosts in the Mansion owe you a large debt, Freesia! You've saved us all from Ganon's evil clutches, as well as your brother James!"

"JAMES IS HERE?" burst Freesia. She couldn't believe it! James was here too!

"Well, he's still alive, so he's technically speaking, he's not here yet , but yes. He was here. He helped destroy Ganondorf," Dusty confirmed.

"Destroy Ganon…? Hold on a second," Freesia shook her head, "you're going to have to explain this to me from the beginning."

Dust and Odette smiled. "Of course," Odette agreed, "since we have all the time in the world."

~…With James…~

The palace door was being knocked upon and a toad left to answer it.

It was a very exhausted Impa. "I looked all over the wreckage, Princesses, Princes, Kings, and Queens," Impa bowed to everyone in the room. "But there is no remaining trace of Freesia Strike." Impa glanced at Dark and James and her eyebrow rose. "What happened to you?"

James' brown eyes rolled. "Don't ask." There was suddenly the sound of a loud vibrate.

Eyes widened, gasps were heard, and swords were drawn. Sebastian couldn't help but laugh his head off at everyone's reactions.

"What is that!" asked Peach, covering her ears in fear.

James pulled out his cell phone from his pocket. "Oh, hold on, that's me." (A/N: I swear to God, if anyone remembers where that quote came from I will give you the biggest hug you've ever had…) James' phone slid out and he pressed the receiver to his ear. "Hello?"

"JAMES STRIKE WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN! We were expecting you for dinner and we arrived at your apartment with the door broken in!"

James jumped and held the receiver a few inches away from his ear. "Bloody woman's going to deafen me," growled James in irritation, before he pressed it back to his ear firmly.

Sebastian's face grew red. It was Freesia's mother.

James cleared his throat and replied sweetly:"Ah… Well, mother, something has… come up."

"Come up? What could've possibly come up today of all days?"

"Uhh, hold on a sec mom," James said quickly. He pressed the speaker against his t-shirt and gave a glare at Sebastian. "Doesn't this stupid place block cell phone calls?"

Sebastian chuckled. "Buddy, your asking me this is a world where this is supposed to be a video game. Do you honestly think I would know the answer?"

James opened his mouth to retort, but he stopped himself. "You have a point there…"

"JAMES!"

James grit his teeth and continued the conversation. "Yes, mother?"

"I WANT YOU BACK HERE IN AN INSTANT!"

"But I can't mom, even if I wanted to!"

"Why not?" asked the voice of Freesia's mother incredulously.

"Because I'm…At a friend's house."

"You're at a friend's house?" asked the mother's voice sarcastically.

James paused. He was caught in the lie and he knew it too. Thinking fast, he began to talk again. "… I'm sorry mom, what? No… no! I can't hear you mom, are you breaking up on me? Hello, hello?" James asked in a fake, worried tone. Without another pause, he clicked the 'end call' button and pulled out his phone's battery. "That'll shut her up…"

Sebastian let out a laugh. "I must admit, that must've been the smartest thing you've ever done- among other things, I'm sure."

James cracked a grin that was all too familiar to Dark Link. His insides cried out in pain and he turned away from the crowd. Everyone watched Dark walk out to the balcony and he stood there, looking up at the stars.

"Goddesses… why her?" Dark whispered, letting out a forlorn sigh as he tilted his head towards the sky and let his elbows rest against the stone railing. Dark looked down at the very distant ground and let one last tear fall.

Everyone exchanged saddened glances to each other. There was nothing they could do.

~…With Spirit Freesia…~

"So… Everyone's okay?" asked Freesia.

"Give or take a few broken hearts," Dusty shrugged.

"And I'm dead… so I can't go back…"

Odette's back straightened. "What? Yes you can! We're just filling you in on everything!"

"But… you can't resurrect me, that's impossible! I mean, you guys can't be dead and resurrect another dead person."

"Remember, Freesia, we owe you a large debt. Every one of us," Odette informed her, spreading her arms out to elaborate the whole group. As soon as her arms stretched out, the transparent ghosts that were trapped in the Mansion appeared. "And the Goddesses have allowed us to have the honor in allowing you to go back to your living state."

"Are you ready to leave us, dear one, and live you life to it's fullest extent?" asked a voice.

Freesia peered through several ghosts' spirits to see Madame Clairvoya, waving her fingers and smiling at her. Freesia looked around at the other ghosts and nodded.

Odette and Dusty looked to each other, smiling in joy. Their fingers entwining with one another's, they looked back to Freesia and nodded.

"Farewell, Freesia Strike. Your name will go down in history! May the Goddesses bless your heart!" Odette called to Freesia.

A bright white light blinded Freesia and before she knew it, she found herself breathing in her human body, a light amount of rubble resting on top of her body. Pushing herself up and off the ground, she dusted herself off and looked forward to see a new sun rising. She looked over to see the Music Box still singing, but when the sunlight hit the old cedar, the music box stopped playing.

The Lovers of the Old Music Box (including the other imprisoned ghosts that had been chained to the Mansion) had been freed.

A/N: Please R&R and excuse all of the misspellings in here! I'm kind of in a hurry myself right now. LOL ^=^