A Second Chance

by The Time Stop Corporation

A third and final form; Ganondorf, Gannon, and now Gannondorf. Link, caught unaware, is knocked off to his...death? With a second chance, Link might finally save Hyrule without losing himself and the ones he cares about.

36. Chapter 35

Shadow:Chapter 35, filled with…expectations.

Wang: We did it, we did it, oh yeah yeah yeah!

Time Stop: A little later than we would have liked, but we wanted a spin on it that we couldn't word properly for a while.

Static: We don't anything.

Chapter 35: Mother

"-hard." He landed on his back. All of the sudden, the room about him was much, much bigger. Beside him, Nadai landed on her feet.

"We're back." She whispered. The giant door before them was closed. She took a step, almost faltering from the sudden change in her body. "Navi, can you do that thing again?"

The fairy nodded, flying up to the window high up above.

"What do you mean?" Link covered his mouth. His voice, even that was different!

"She checked the weather outside, and was able to find out what day it was from the cloud patterns. When we first came back, we had returned the when we first went into Dodongo Cavern."

Link got to his feet, loving his arms experimentally. "You mean we aren't when we first left? The day when…"

"Right." Navi came back to them. "If I remember rightly, right around now you two got sucked into Jabu-Jabu."

"I see." Nadai drew her daggers, twirling them in her hands. "I think that the Goddesses are helping us go back to certain points, so that we don't meet the same people."

Link nodded. "That would cause a problem in the time line, wouldn't it?"

Navi shuddered. The words the Goddesses gave her implanted deep into her memory. "It would. It's best we don't run into anyone we would recognize right now."

Nadai sheathed her daggers. "Well, we need to go to the Desert Colossus. We need to get the Silver Gauntlets."

Link took a step forward, getting used to his new body. He drew the Kokiri Sword. It felt so light to him now, after using the Master Sword and the Megaton Hammer. He still had the Deku Shield, though it was scorched from the blast Gannondorf had hit him with.

"We should hurry; we don't have a lot of time."

Nadai sighed. "But if we play the Requiem of Spirit we can return right there." She took out her flute and brought it to her lips. "And mother…" The flute dropped.

"Don't worry." Link put a hand on her shoulder. "If we meet your mother or not, we can still go inside the Desert Goddess."

Nadai nodded. "It feels so weird to be like this. To be a kid again…"

"You're telling me." Link sighed. "We need to hurry, we don't have any time." Together they played the song, and were whisked away.

Out in the desert, the sand was blown away from a burst of wind. Below a stone pedestal showed itself. They landed upon it, and covered their faces from the wind. It was bright out; the Desert Colossus didn't do much to provide any shade. A lone figure stood outside of it, pacing back and forth. Occasionally she would turn to the Desert Godessess and shake her fist.

"Nabooru." Nadai whispered. She would recognize her mother anywhere. She was frozen in fear. She hadn't seen her in, well, a very long time. And the last time they had spoken, it didn't go well.

"It's alright. Let's go."

They trudged through the sand, heading for the Gerudo.

"Stupid little son of a-"

"Mother?" Nadai ventured.

Nabooru swung about, her eyes instantly noting everything around her. A single curved blade rested against her hip. One hand went to her eyes to protect from the sun, her other hand resting on her hilt. She was crouched low.

"Nadai?" Her voice soft. "Is that you?" She relaxed. "What are you doing here?"

"I-"

"And you're supposed to be on that mission. What did I- Who's this?"

Link gulped. "I'm Link."

Nabooru paused. "So you are Link. And a Kokiri to boot."

"He's my friend."

"Friend?" Nabooru walked away, beckoning them with a single finger. "Come with me."

They followed her inside, and she sat them down on the dusty steps. She paced back and forth several times, her eyes darting to the two entrances behind the young kids. Finally she stopped, and looked down at them.

"Listen. We don't have a lot of time. Gannondorf is onto me and our plans. We need to be swift. Some dang scorpion took the Silver Gauntlets from me while I was asleep. It crawled away into that little hole, and I can't get into it. Inside the other side of the Temple we can be safe from harm; Gannondorf won't be able to get inside from there. I need you two to get in there and retrieve the Silver Gauntlets for me."

"Mother, I-"

"Now!" Nabooru whirled around. "Kotake and Koume can arrive at any minute. Those two are too strong for me alone."

"Then I'll fight too!" Nadai drew her daggers.

"You are too young!"

"We've faced more than dangers than we can count."

Nabooru closed her eyes. "I don't have time for this. Nadai, go into the tunnel. Now."

"I-"

"Now!" Nabooru calmed herself down with a few deep breaths. "When you get back we can talk."

"I-I already know."

"How-"

"Mother! You're a sage!"

"You cannot know that."

"It's true, we-" Link cut her off by pulling her back into his arms. Nadai was silenced immediately. Even though they were seven years younger, being in his arms had the same effect as it would have seven years later. She quieted down, and blushed immensely.

"We'll go now." He responded in the silence. "Navi, take her first."

While Nadai was still in a daze, she followed the fairy into the crawl space.

"Wait, kid." Link turned about. "We need to talk."

He stood his ground as Nabooru came closer to him. "About what?"

"You have a thing for my daughter, don't you."

He smirked. "What gave it away?"

"You're pretty cheeky for a Kokiri."

"If I was a Kokiri. I'm like Nadai. Adopted in."

Nabooru went pale for the briefest of moments. "How'd you know?"

"It's complicated. But she read that letter you left her at the bridge."

"What letter? There's no letter."

Link panicked. "Alright, listen here. In the future, the near future, you wrote a letter to Nadai explaining everything. You then buried that letter with the Sacred Daggers at the foot of the bridge on the Hylian side."

"Why should I listen to a kid like you?"

"Kid?" Link had to pause. He was a kid right now. His mind had adapted and grew older to become seventeen, to become a man. Now he was ten again. But his mind was the same. "I suppose I am a kid. But listen to me. Nadai is right. You're a sage. Nadai and I'll be back later to help you."

"And why should I listen to a kid like you?" Nabooru gave him a dangerous smile. "I can take you down right now."

"You wouldn't."

"And why is that?"

"Because Nadai would have a hard time forgiving you."

"I'm her mother."

"Her foster mother. Yew died all those years ago. Pani did as well."

"H-How-"

"Listen. I don't have a mother. She has you, and that's way more than I have. She's already lost family on this journey. She…she wouldn't survive to bear the thought of one of us dying too."

"You think you can kill me kid?"

"Right now? No. I'm nowhere strong enough right now. Give me seven years, give or take, and I can give you a run for your money."

"Is that a threat?"

"Work with me here. Nadai's in a rough spot right now. You are all the family she has left. She needs both of us right now. Something happens to you in the future. We're going to rescue you. But we need you alive. We can't have you doing something stupid on us."

"You think that I'll lose?" Nabooru smiled. "I'm the strongest of the Gerudos."

"Save for Gannondorf, Kotake, and Koume." Link watched her face flinch at those names. "Hold out. Nadai and I can beat them all."

"What can a bunch of kids do!"

"Kids? We can save Hyrule, all of it."

"Hyrule? This land isn't part of Hyrule."

"But we are all a part of this world, aren't we?" Link shouted. "I was raised by Kokiri but I am a Hylian. Nadai was raised by Gerudos but is a Hylian. We are from the opposite sides of the spectrum, and yet we can work together to save her."

"'Her'?"

"Er, Hyrule."

"Do you love my daughter, Link?"

"Yes."

"You would die for her?"

"In a heartbeat."

"And can you protect her?"

"When she needs protecting. She's far better at combat than I am. At least, currently."

Nabooru cocked her head to the side. There were coming. "Kid. Go on. I'll buy you some time." She spun about and drew her sword.

"You don't have to do this."

"If I can't buy you some time, then they can beat you. If you are a strong as you say you are, then you just might be the last chance she has. Protect her for me."

Link nodded. "Of course." He crouched low and slipped into the tunnel, crawling as fast as he could.

"There you are, what took so long?" Nadai asked. Navi was resting upon her shoulder. "I was about to go back to get you."

"We need to hurry." Link grabbed her hand. "Nabooru is going to buy us some time. Kotake and Koume are here right now. We need to hurry."

Nadai glanced at the hole. "We can help."

"We're kids again, we can't." Link clenched a fist in anger. "We're not as strong as we are seven years from now. We need to get the Silver Gauntlets."

"And restore the power to the Sacred Daggers." Navi reminded.

"Right." Nadai whispered. She glanced again to the tunnel.

"We work together until we get to the spot you guys need to perform the ritual at. Then I'll go on and get the gauntlets from there."

"Assuming we don't already have them."

"Of course. Navi?"

The fairy shook her head. "I wasn't really informed of the inside of this place. The Great Deku Tree didn't think we'd have to go here."

"I was on this side before." Nadai shook her head, trying to clear it off cobwebs. "I can lead us on."

Link nodded. "Then let's hurry!"

Navi hovered over to sit on Link's shoulder. In truth, she really didn't know much about this place. When Link had first done this, she had been accidentally left behind in the future. He had completed this alone, she had no idea of how long it would be before they would finish this particular part of the temple. Her only knowledge of the place came from Link when he returned, as he answered all the questions she had for him the best he could. But from she gathered from him, he really didn't even know what he had done in order to complete this next part of their journey.

Now, the other side of the Spirit Temple was another story. She remembered each and every step on that side since it happened to recently to that final battle. And, as things were right now, with Nadai frozen solid, things weren't looking that good.

"What's wrong?" Link asked.

"These monsters, they don't belong here." Her voice was soft, distant.

"What do you mean?" Link cut down a Fire Keese as it flew at him. He shook out his arm. He didn't like this, having a shorter blade than the Master Sword.

"I mean what I mean." Nadai stepped around the razor things that zipped about the room. "When I went through here before there wasn't any monsters. It was as empty as day at Hyrule Field."

Link took out a Bomb from the Bomb Bag. He tossed it absently at the Armos that stood in the center of the room. "So it's going to be a little more difficult this time, so what?"

"But what does that mean for the ritual?"

Navi shrugged. "We should be fine. As long as we take care of any monsters before-hand we should be set." The Armos exploded off to the side, leaving the room bare save for the three of them. She glanced about as Nadai led the group on. Just how strong were these two? Were their levels in strength exponentially growing that fast? How? Navi watched Link easily defeat the Stalfos in the next room, while Nadai used the Boomerang to activate the crystal so that the bridge could fall so they could walk across to the other side. She shook her head and hurried after them.

Then she had a thought.

If Link and Nadai were Wanderer and Lost who had stayed the seven years instead of traveling through time, then what if this happened? Link and Nadai were this strong now, maybe that was because their strength remained unchanged while their bodies didn't. So if they retained their strength from whenever this was over, and then relived the seven years going through puberty and all that, then they would be strong. As strong as Wanderer and Lost. Which came up a second question for Navi: was Wanderer and Lost keeping their strength in check?

"What's that?" Link shouted, bringing Navi out of her thoughts. He had just jumped out of the way of a few blasts of energy, which scorched the pathway that they stood on. That small pathway winded circularly over a dark abyss below. Before them was a mummified figure, floating by its own power. The wrappings were well faded and dirtied from time, and it still was wrapped tightly around the creature.

Nadai ducked below another energy blast. "It's an Anubis!"

Navi flew up high above, to get out of the firing range. "Those were said to be long extinct." She muttered to herself.

"How the heck do we fight that thing then!" Link had already tried deflecting the energy back at the Anubis, but it had instead absorbed into his sword and shocked him.

"Fire." Navi whispered. "Use fire!" She screamed out. "They are vulnerable to fire!"

Nadai's fingers reached to the Fairy Bow, which would have been on her shoulder if she was an adult. Without fire arrows at her disposal, she needed Link for some magic. She leapt out of the way of another blast and reached for Link's hand. He understood instantly, and concentrated. Closing his eyes, he sought the place in his mind that would hold his magic reserves.

Then it all went south when he screamed out in pain. There was something there, something in his mind! He clutched at his head, screaming, and ended up tipping forwards, straight into the abyss. Nadai was just fast enough to reach down and grab his foot, keeping him suspended. Squatting, she couldn't move from her spot. The Anubis hovered there, staring at them for a second. Then energy started to manifest around it; the precursor to its attack.

They would die if nothing was done.

Nadai narrowed her eyes, cold fury enveloped her sight. "No one else is going to die!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. Something inside of her snapped, and grew exponentially. Navi watched as Din's Fire was cast by Nadai. Anubis was engulfed by the flames, and was soon nothing more than ash.

This left Nadai trembling, squatted down, and holding Link's leg. She was frightfully pale with sweat beading across her brow. Link was no longer clutching his head, but he was obviously in shock as he didn't move. Navi swallowed down the lump that had formed in her throat.

"So she can do it." She whispered. She flew down and got to Link's eye level. Whatever had caused Link to act like that, it looked like it was over for now. "Nadai, swing him side to side!"

Nadai grunted, and slowly started to move. Navi sighed then slapped Link as hard as she could.

Link's eyes snapped open. Why was his back hurting, and why was he staring at a wall? He panicked then stopped as he saw Navi come into view. "What happened?"

"Tell you in a second. You need to work with Nadai and swing yourself back up to the ledge."

Link grunted. He swung back and forth with Nadai, and eventually he could grasp onto the edge. Immediately Nadai let go, lying down on her back. He scrambled up, before doing likewise.

"What happened?" Nadai finally asked when she felt some time had passed.

"I really don't know." Link answered truthfully. He sat up, and stared at the charred remains of the Anubis. "One second I'm trying to access my magic, and the next second I'm upside down off the ledge."

"Well, you did clutch your head and screamed. That's when you tipped forward."

"I don't remember." Link gripped the Deku Sword in his hand. "It feels like I'm forgetting something important."

Navi, who had been hovering above them, gasped softly. He could remember. He could at least remember that he was missing memories.

"Like what?" Nadai asked.

"Like something. It's happened before." Link stared off into the abyss below. "In the Forest Temple I had a memory, but it was weird. It was like I had done it before or something. We were at the block where we needed to play the Song of Time. Only, it was Navi and myself, I didn't see you at all." He stood up, his hands grasping at something just out of reach. "And right before the Shadow Temple, when we had gone our separate ways. I had this mental shock when I had played this song."

He turned to Navi. "Before the Fire Temple, you said something, that you had to bear the burden on your own. What was it?"

"I can't tell you."

"Please." He closed his eyes. "I feel like I'm missing half of my mind. What is wrong with me!"

Navi closed her eyes, letting the tears drop silently to the ground below. Maybe she could say this much to them. "Remember when you and Nadai first met?"

"At the bridge?" Nadai answered for them. "We had fought. It was the first time someone remotely my age could beat me in combat. But I did get a good hit on you, on your…"

"That's right. His head. Link, if I remember correctly, you were a little fuzzy after that. You didn't exactly behave the same after that."

"I…didn't?"

"Well, you exactly take our word for it. We had only met you right before it happened. But, if I had to guess, that when Nadai had hit you in the head, you lost some of your memories."

Link opened his eyes. "But that doesn't explain everything."

"I don't know everything!" Navi shouted. The tears fell as she lied. "I have some vague ideas on what is the problem, but if I utter them… If I utter them I would be breaking a promise."

"A promise with whom?" Link asked.

"Beings very, very powerful. They swore me to never tell the truth. Well, at least what they told me was the truth."

"What would happen if you did break that promise and utter those words?" Nadai asked. She too got to her feet, and placed her hands on Link's shoulders.

"They said that the very world would be destroyed." Navi breathed in deep, steadying her nerves. "It's just like what I told you before, Nadai. We really can't interfere with anyone in the past when our past selves are already there. That's why we have had to warp instead of walk out of the Temple of Time. That's why we come back at specific times. If we didn't we could run into ourselves or something like that and everything could be destroyed."

Link let a tear slide down his cheek. Now wasn't the time to be crying. "It's not the time to cry. We can do that later." He looked pointedly to Navi. "One day, the world be damned, I want the truth."

"Then I'll give it to you. The whole truth." She swallowed.

They steeled themselves, wiping away tears and stretching their muscles. "We need to hurry. Nabooru doesn't have a lot of time." Link reminded them. "Lead on." He motioned for Nadai to take point. He followed closely behind as she went into the next room. Navi took her regular place on his shoulder, staying quiet, her thoughts to herself.

In the future, Nadai had faced a similar obstacle before. Five silver rupees were scattered across the room. She went straight for the first rupee, ignoring the shadow that followed her. She didn't have to worry. Link had her back. Navi hardly noticed when he defeated the Wallmaster. She hardly noticed when they grabbed a small key from the chest that materialized from thin air. She hardly noticed when they backtracked through the temple to get to the next area.

Her thoughts of what Link had said frightened her. She didn't know if she could tell him, even after making that promise. Because the moment he uttered those words became the moment that shook her nerves to the core. It reminded her of the man he could have been. Cold and daring, like cold fire taken form as man. The Link from the past was like that, a man who didn't give a damn about the world. How so much had changed because of a single woman. Perhaps if Link finally retrieved the memories that were lost to him, he might be thankful for Nadai.

If only…

Link's jump caused her to shift on her seat. She glanced up to see the Lizalfos striking at him, which he blocked with his shield. She glanced at the room around her. There lay a dull sun in the middle of the floor, and the door was blocked. Now here was something she knew. She flew off of Link's shoulder and hovered by Nadai.

"That sun there, it needs light. That's the only way to open the door."

"How do you know?"

"The sun is dull. Wouldn't it be shining bright? Besides, it's not dull because there's dust on it. My guess is magic."

Nadai nodded and looked around. A large crack was on one wall, extending all the way up and down. She dug into her pack and brought out a Bombchu. While the Bombs were too heavy for her without the Goron's Bracelets, the Bombchus were designed with Hylians in mind. She could easily lift them up. She angled the Bombchu expertly, and set it on the ground. Upon contact, it roared to life zooming forwards. Its fuse was its travel distance, so when the Bombchu reached the crack, it exploded.

Light shone in from the hole, and it landed roughly on the sun. The sun glittered, and spun its rays. The door opened, whilst simultaneously the room brightened up. Seconds later, Link took down the Lizalfos with a final cut from his sword.

"So why are Lizalfos here?"

"They prefer the warm." Navi explained. They followed Nadai into the next room as she explained. "Dodongo's Cavern and the Desert are two very warm places. They thrive here more than others."

"Interesting." Link muttered.

They came into a giant of a room, a stone statue depicting a woman with her hands held out wide to either side dominated the room. A small platform with two unlit torches on either side sat before it. A door lay opposite them.

"This is it." Navi whispered. "This is where we perform the ceremony."

"Here?" Nadai asked.

"Yeah. Link, you'll have to go on without us."

He nodded. "I'll grab the gauntlets, don't worry about me." He walked to the other door. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

They watched as Link left the room, the door swinging shut as he went through. Nadai took out the Sacred Daggers, holding them almost reverently in her hands. "So, what do we do first?"

Navi thought back a little, trying to remember word for word what the Goddesses had told her in the memory. "There are three steps. The first is to prepare the Sacred Daggers. The second is to spill the blood of a killer. The last is to baptize in fire."

Nadai blanched at the second one. "What does it mean exactly by 'spill the blood of a killer'?"

"It means that we have to let the daggers soak themselves in the blood of someone who has killed another." Navi turned to the young Gerudo and pain was etched across her small face. "That means we need to use your blood."

She blanched again, swallowing the nervousness in her throat. "Alright. I'll do it." She glanced down at the daggers. "What's first?"

"We need to prepare the daggers. Do you have your cleaning kit?"

To which she was referring was the often used maintenance kit that Nadai would use every night to give proper maintenance to her daggers. She took it out, and laid it on the pedestal with the daggers.

"You are going to have to clean and oil the blades very carefully." Navi settled down to rest on her shoulder. "Then, you'll need to have the pedestal free of all dust. As best as we can manage."

Nadai set to work. Using her hands, she cleaned off the dust as best she could. Wiping and blowing; the dust went into the air, causing a fine layer of cloud to hover around them. She then used the oil cloth to wipe down her blades. She had to hurry; she had no idea when Link could be coming back. And, she needed to hurry to help her mother. However, this was a delicate process. Taking care of a blade took time, and a careful eye.

She wasn't going to mess up.

As soon as she was done, she put away her cleaning kit and lay the daggers on the pedestal. They gleamed in the dim light of the room. "What's next?"

"The blood." Navi replied. "They need to be baptized in blood."

She picked up the daggers and held them carefully. "Anywhere?"

"They just need blood."

Without hesitating, she brought the daggers down, sinking them into her midriff. She gasped in pain, her eyes wide. Slowly, she brought them out, letting them fall to the ground. She clutched her stomach, holding in the blood that would leak from her.

"What in the name – What are you doing!" Navi flew to hover in front her Nadai's face. Her eyes were closed, her mouth open in a soft "O" that didn't let sound out.

"Something stupid." She muttered. "Fire, fire is next, right?" Her voice was already faint.

"Yes. Listen, you cast Din's Fire earlier. Normally Link and you would need to cast it together. But you can do it by yourself. You can do it. It's possible; you just need to do the same thing as before."

"But what if I can't." Nadai coughed, and blood came out.

Navi gritted her teeth. "I know you can do it. Find the power inside of you. You can cast it."

Nadai searched her mind. The power was inside of her, somewhere. She needed to do it. She calmed her breathing. She ignored the pain inside her gut. It threatened to ruin her concentration. She ignored the blood that came up when she coughed. She wouldn't be beaten by a wound like this.

But as the minutes passed, the harder it came to concentrate. With such a fatal blow, it was lucky she was still alive even now. Her hands shook and trembled, her body was awash in blood. Her gasps came out in short gasps. Blood trickled from her mouth.

More time passed. Link hadn't returned yet, and the ritual wasn't completed yet. Din's Fire had yet to be cast. Navi could only hover back and forth, pacing through the air before her. It had been at least an hour, what was going on?

"Don't you dare give up on me!" She cried out for the fifth time. "It's inside you, you just need to find it."

Nadai opened her eyes, anger and fear coursing through her veins. "But I can't!" She whispered. Tears fell from her eyes. "I can't!"

"You can!" Navi shouted back. "I know you can!"

Nadai grit her teeth, and spat out a large wad of blood and spit. "I can't!" Her voice was louder.

"Don't you dare give up!"

"I can't!"

"You can!"

"I can't!" Nadai shouted out. The sound reverberated in the room for several long moments, quieting Navi. Then something happened. Fire circled around Nadai. It slowly expanded until it filled the room, releasing fire into the air. The two torches beside the pedestal lit on fire, giving the room proper light. The fire hung in the air, radiating warmth. However, the next part was quite spectacular. As Navi or Nadai have never seen this particular ritual before, they didn't know what to expect.

The daggers collected the light and the fire and the warmth. It collected it all into the blades. The blood boiled away leaving them clear. In fact, even the wounds Nadai suffered for the ritual closed magically. However, two hideous scars remained.

Navi sat down on Nadai's shoulder. They stared at the daggers. To Nadai they didn't look at all different. For Navi she could see the same aura that they possessed as before. They both sighed. It had worked!

Just as Nadai had gotten up, Link burst through the door that he had entered only over an hour ago. "We need to go, now!" He stopped in his tracks at the sight of Nadai drenched in blood. "What the heck?"

"It's a long story. I -"

"Tell me later." He grabbed his Ocarina. "We don't have time before they come here."

"Who?" She bent down and grabbed her daggers.

"Kotake and Koume."

Link played the Prelude of Light, and whisked the three of them away from there. They landed on the pedestal, and Link let out a sigh of relief. Nadai and Navi stared at him with wonder. What had happened in the past hour?

Let's take a trip back in time an hour, back when Link had first walked through that door.

Link wasn't the smartest of the Heroes of Time. That would be reserved for Navi. Nadai was the fastest and the most agile. He was strong. But, when he entered the next room, leaving Navi and Nadai behind, he entered a puzzle which required his missing allies.

First off, it was a large square room, large blocks dominated the middle. Unlit torches dotted the outside of the room. Five silver rupees adorned various positions, and the ground held several razor things zipped about unpredictably. A small hole in the opposite wall of his entrance led to a small spot of light upon the ground.

"What the heck am I supposed to do now?" Link muttered. He stayed where he was, just observing. "I don't have a lot of time, how do I do this?"

What would Navi do? What would Nadai do? He glanced about at the different rupees. He should start with those. He stepped forward, and reached out his hand. The moment he touched it, it disappeared. He looked at the others. "I should get those too."

He climbed upon the blocks in the middle, using those for a height advantage to reach the ones too high for him to normally reach. That's when he noticed the dusty, pale sun placed square on one of the blocks. What Nadai and Navi had done earlier sparked a memory inside of him. "I should push that into the light. But can I even do that?"

He ignored that for now. He needed to focus on the silver rupees for now. He jumped through the air, snatching one. He landed on his feet, instantly darting to one side to avoid a razor thing that darted at him. He had one more to go. He waited a second, so that the razor thing would move out of the way, and climbed upon a block. He touched the last one and it disappeared.

Instantly, a torch next to him lit up. He glanced half-expectedly at the other torches around the room to see if they would light up as well. He frowned when they didn't. Of course, that would be too easy if they did. He took out a Deku Stick, and twirled it in his hands. From his vantage point on the block he could map out a path to take. With the razor things in his way, it would be a hard run to make it in time. Of course he figured that the torches had to be lit within a certain time limit. It would be too easy if it were anything other than that.

He jumped down and landed softly. He waited a second, avoiding the razor thing that would have cut him if he had moved forward. He sprang forward, lighting the Deku Stick with a flick of his wrist. With as strides as long as he could manage in a ten year-old body, he raced across the room. He jumped when necessary, over razor things that seemed to burst with new life as he neared them with fire. Within the minute all of the torches were lit. He rested out of harm's way when it was finished.

Now came this difficult part. How could he move those blocks? They had to be as heavy as the ones he and Nadai had to work together to move. He tentatively pushed on the block. It didn't budge. He rested his head against the block in front of him.

"How?" He asked himself. He stayed like that for a little bit, resting. He closed his eyes.

Maybe it was his conversation with Navi early. Maybe it was the stress his body had taken over the past several days. Maybe it was the song he had played all that time ago. For whatever reason, he had a memory at that moment.

He watched himself in this exact same room. No one was in sight other than him. He watched as he moved the blocks by himself, using only brute strength.

As quickly as it came it went, leaving him breathless.

"What the hell was that?" He muttered. "What is this? Memories? But I haven't done this before. And even if they are memories, where's Nadai and Navi?" He clutched at his head. He screamed in pain as it throbbed. "What the hell is wrong with me!"

Stubbornly he opened his eyes, forcing back tears. He inched his hands from his head, and touched the block in front of him. With a sudden shove, he pushed as hard as he could. The block slid back a foot, before succumbing to friction. He growled, pushing again. The block slid back even more.

He could do this! He would do this! Bit by bit, he would push on the blocks. Bit by bit, the block with the dusty sun atop would move closer and closer to the sunlight. After what seemed like forever, the sun slid into the sunlight. The door to his left opened.

Link gasped for breath, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Alright. Now what?" He stepped around the razor thing in his way, and walked through the doorway to the next room.

He entered into a throne room of sorts. Large columns of stone held up the ceiling, lining the red carpet on either side. At the end was the stone throne. Upon its seat sat a metal statue of sorts. The door yonder was closed and locked; Link could tell that much from his angle. He stepped forward, glancing at the shadows.

Where are the enemies? His eyes reverted to the statue before him. Could that be it? He walked up right to it, the Kokiri Sword drawn. The statue didn't move. Link poked at it with his sword.

The metal monster reacted swiftly, kicking out with its leg and knocking Link back several yards. He landed on his back, and he squirmed to his feet. The inanimate object before him got up, and drew a mighty sword. It easily was twice the length of his current body's height. It swung the sword at him, and Link dodged to the side.

With his current body, he wasn't strong enough to hope to block the attacks from that metal monster. And, he wasn't strong enough by far to hope to cut through the thick, metal armor. All he could do for now was to dodge the attacks from the metal monster and wait for an opening.

He dodged out of the way again, using his shield to cover his head from the chunks of stone that were knocked his way from the impact on the ground and the sword. The monster swung again, and Link went flat on the ground to dodge under the horizontal slice. The pillar behind Link was cut in two, and it fell forward towards the monster. Link rolled to the side and the monster took the full force from the pillar.

It was stunned, the broken bits of stone crumbling about it. From his position on the ground, Link could see the cracks in the armor. The Kokiri Sword wasn't as strong or as big as the Master Sword, but it certainly was thin enough to slip through those cracks. Before he could take advantage of the monster's stunned state, it got moving again.

He scrambled to his feet, and put his back to another stone pillar. "Over here!" He shouted, waving his arms. The metal monster wasn't especially bright, and it repeated its horizontal slice again. This time, Link rolled to the side, coming up in a crouch. He darted forwards, sticking his sword as far as he could into the metal monster's chest.

He didn't expect for the monster to react as fast as he did. It was faster, certainly faster now that it was injured, and it slammed Link back. Fortunately, he had the Deku Shield in front of him and it took most of the force of the damage. Unfortunately, the shield splintered and cracked form the blow. It shattered into shards, flying across the room. Weaponless and defenseless, Link slumped to the ground a dozen or so feet from the enemy.

He sat up, slightly stunned. He didn't have a chance to catch to breath or to process the aching pain in his chest. He had to move, and fast. It took all the speed he had left to dodge from the dancing blade before him. A vertical slice into a diagonal cut into another vertical into a few stabs, the metal monster was unceasing in its assault. Link crawled backwards, unable to get up, until he backed against a pillar. The monster stabbed once more, and Link bent double to avoid the blow.

As luck would have it, the sword got stuck in the pillar. However, Link could do nothing else but watch as the metal monster struggled to free his blade from the trap. As the sword wormed its way free, the pillar started to topple. It dropped suddenly, falling squarely onto the hilt of the Kokiri Sword. The simple fact that the sword managed to stay intact after the pillar fell on it was testament to the blacksmith whom had crafted the weapon. The metal monster fell backward, its sword falling to land on Link if he hadn't crawled away.

The dust hung in the air for a second, suspended and directionless without any airflow. In the middle of this dusty cloud Link stood back up, stretching out his back. He coughed several times, trying to clear his throat. The dust moved as the breeze came in. Link watched the dust as it flew outside the door that opened up behind the throne. He reached into the rubble and pulled out the Kokiri Sword. He sheathed his sword and cleared his throat.

Cautiously, he didn't know what would happen next after facing that thing in there, he crept to the door and snuck through. He found himself outside. The sun shone, though in the immediate area it was dark. Despite the strange darkness, he found what he was looking for. Sitting on the ground in front of him were the Silver Gauntlets. That's when he noticed where he was. He stood on one of the giant hands of the Desert Goddess. Across from him shone something, but from his current positioning and age, he couldn't jump the gap to reach whatever it was.

That's when he heard the screams.

"AAAGH!"

Link peaked his head over the edge of the hand and looked towards the sound.

Nabooru was trapped inside sand. She had her upper half free, but she couldn't appear to escape. Kotake and Koume flew about in circles overhead, cackling in laughter.

"Damn you!" Nabooru shouted. "Let me go!"

Kotake and Koume cackled even more. "If you had only decided to follow Gannondorf instead of going against him this wouldn't happen." The one who spoke had fire red hair.

"I'll never give in, never!"

"Oh don't listen to her, Koume. She'll need some persuasion." Kotake smiled evilly. "There's no need to bring this matter up to our king."

"That's right Kotake," her sister laughed. "We can take care of this lone wolf ourselves!"

That's when Nabooru saw Link. Despite the darkness, his green attire was conspicuous in the hands of the Desert Goddess. Her head was almost under the sad by this point. "Link!"

The other two Gerudos swiveled their heads at hearing his name and beaded their black eyes on him.

"That boy, what is he doing here?"

"Never mind that Kotake. We'll kill him next."

"Link! Use their own power against them!" She reached a hand out through the sand at him. "Protect her!"

"Her? Who is this her!" The blue haired witch snarled at Nabboru.

"Never mind her Kotake." Koume stopped her sister from attacking. "Let's go after that boy now. End this once and for all!"

They entered the temple. Link watched for another second as Nabooru was whisked away under the sand. "I promise, I will." He whispered.

He turned around and he was off. He didn't know if Kotake and Koume could shrink themselves or take another route, but he didn't have time. Ritual complete or not, he had to get Nadai and Navi and himself out of there now!

Link burst through the final door. "We need to go, now!" Relief flooded his face when he saw Nadai standing. It looked like the ritual had just ended. Then he noticed the blood that covered her, and he stopped moving. "What the heck?"

"It's a long story. I -"

"Tell me later." He interrupted. As much as he wanted to know what had happened, they didn't have any time. He thrust his hand into his pocket and drew out his Ocarina. "We don't have time before they come here."

She bent down, grabbing the two daggers before her. "Who?"

He heard them coming at this point, a whishing of the wind. "Kotake and Koume."

He played the Prelude of Light, whisking the three of them away from there. As he played, he saw the two witches enter the room in futility. He landed on the pedestal and let out a sigh of relief. They had escaped. He glanced at Navi and Nadai as they stared at him.

"I assume you want to know what the heck just happened."

"Yeah."

Quickly, Link and Nadai recounted their adventures to each other. By the end, Nadai was still with anger. "Kotake and Koume." She repeated for the tenth time. "Navi, they'll be at the Desert Goddess?"

"Supposedly. I believe the Great Deku Tree told me that there was their new base."

"Then we go." Nadai stood up. "We have the Silver Gauntlets now. Nabooru is there, I can feel it. We know our enemy. Let's get them!"

Link nodded. He went up to the Master Sword. "Let's go back to the future."

With a mighty pull, he tugged hard on the sword and pulled it free. Blue light captured them, and a second later they stood again as adults. Link swung the Master Sword a few times, glad to have its weight and strength again in his arms. Nadai spun the Goddess Daggers in her hands. Navi was glad to see that the power was restored to them as before.

Link sheathed his sword. "Let's go."

Wang: Dun dun dun duuuun

Shadow: Will you shut up already!

Wang: Dun dun dun duuuuuuuuuuun

Time Stop: This is the third time this week. Oh dear.

Static: Please Review.

Wang: Dun dun dun duuuun

Shadow: slumps head on desk