Am: I'm giving this a double check, since this kitten is the most annoying thing in the world. Last chapter in Zelda's point of view…!

-Zelda

I had not lost consciousness. My eyes were open. I could see what was happening to me, but I might as well have been out cold. That's how useless I was being. I let the Big Blin carry me without struggle. I wasn't even trying to calculate a way to escape or a plan to attack. I was thinking of nothing.

My mind shut off as my body tried to compromise the pain. It wasn't really my physical trauma that had paralyzed me so badly. That wasn't the reason why I couldn't breath. I don't think I was really all that hurt. I was in shock.

The pain was residing, but I was afraid to move, like it would cause more damage to the already doomed life inside me. I waited for my body to try to expel the fetus from it. It was dead. It had to be.

Yet it did not. I wanted to look. Maybe the blunt impact wasn't as bad as I originally thought but I was also afraid to, and I couldn't just look underneath my dress as the Big Bling carried me. So I stayed still, and held my pregnant stomach as if holding the baby inside of me would keep it alive.

Already in the bleak walls of what was once my castle, I still could not bare to ask my mind to think.

The worse case scenario, the baby was dead. One death. One sacrifice. I was still alive. I could have another heir. Things were not over. As long as I was capable, I would continue to protect this country and its people. One little sacrifice would not stop me.

Yet it had been a baby.

It had been my baby.

The Big Blin had been carrying me with one arm, cradling me almost like an infant. How ironic. I had been clutching myself in a fetal position, waiting for the expel of the body inside me.

Of course, maybe, somehow, the baby could have survived. I couldn't be wasting more time crying about it if I was letting it die. I needed to escape so I could see medical help immediately.

I slowly brought my hands up to my face. They were shaking badly but the Big Blin took no notice of my small movements. I gasped in a breath, clenching my fists and squeezing my eyes shut. At first I wasn't sure if I could even do it.

A flame flew from my fingertips and I pressed my hand to the flesh of the Big Blin. It felt that and dropped me. I landed hard on the stone floor of the castle and let out a cry of pain.

The Bokoboblin spun around instantly at the commotion. It didn't matter that they were all on me at once. I was too angry. My adrenaline and anger caused the magic to almost rip out of me painfully, sending all of their bodies in whichever direction, not stopping until they hit a wall or something else solid. The force of it was enough to crack bone and kill most of them, the others, to injured to move.

I pushed myself up and looked for the Big Blin, the murder of my baby. The anger was boiling within me, starting from low, underneath my unborn child, and bubbling up to my eyes. No thoughts with words came to me. Just a searing white light.

I didn't see what happened to the body of the Big Blin. I didn't see the severing flesh or the gallons of blood, just the white light.

Other's were coming. Of course we weren't alone now that I had let them take me inside the castle. I should have acted sooner.

I blocked the first few enemies with a shield, before picking them up and throwing them into others that were coming at me. Each of my attacks were too powerful, killing anyone instantly. My adrenaline made me move with ease. I didn't feel any pain. Just the white light. I also wasn't able to feel how much magic I was burning up, though I was slightly aware of it; I didn't care.

After a moment of the mindless killing, I felt my mind ease slightly, and the burning white light leave me. Seeing the carnage I had created before me made me feel slightly better.

I needed to get out of here. For all I knew the baby could even be saved. It needed to come out of me right now so that it could be treated medically. I needed to go see a doctor.

I was about to use Farore's Wind when I saw some flickering movement down the dark hallway I was in. At first I thought it was the shuffle of leaves, but I'd be damned if there were leaves in my hallways! There was also no wind here inside, and no windows.

The fluttering of black scales morphed together, and three rows of bright white teeth came at me.

I knew what it was instantly, and a sudden, very old memory of Hylia's formed a spell in my head. I raised my hands to it, feeling an enormous amount of magic shoot through my fingers.

The sealing spell went through the beast, as the beast went through me.

Ha, what a clever trick, Demise. It was an illusion, but I had no time for this. I had to get back as soon as possible. Maybe my baby could be saved.

I had already started performing the spell to take me, impatient to get back, and not looking around me. I hadn't realized that some of the enemy had caught up to me. I wasn't even too sure what hit me. A blunt object, something like a club. I was so close to escaping, I could even see the green and yellow ribbons of magic floating in the air, trying to conform into energy.

Yet I could not see the finish product, for I blacked out.


I opened my eyes slowly. The rest of my body was even slower to respond. As my eyes focused, my brain was beginning to recognize the walls of my bedroom. I stared hard at them, forgetting almost all of the recent events that had happened from the confusion of the familiarity of those walls.

I knew it hadn't all been a dream. I was in too much pain for it to have been a dream. The more I became aware of myself, the more pain I felt. My dull head ache, the sharp pain from when the Big Blin had hit me, the soreness of all my limbs...

Before I could comprehend if my body had any other further damage than it had before I blacked out, I knew I wasn't alone in my room. I didn't need the warm throbbing of my right hand to tell me who it was either. The air in the room demanded my attention to look upon the imposing figure sitting by my window.

Though Ganondorf may have been the largest man I had ever met, over seven feet tall, wide shoulders and muscular, he seemed less so than I remembered him, as he brood on one of my chairs that was a little too small for him. I guess compared to Big Blins, dragons and other horrors I had to deal with recently, Ganondorf didn't seem like much of a threat to me now.

He was only a familiar face. I was almost happy to see him. I was also glad he had somehow attained his original form back and wasn't some mindless pig creature roaming around in a mass of destruction. I don't know why I was happy about this. Ganondorf as an intelligent man was way more dangerous.

He must have felt my eyes on him, for he turned his gaze from the window onto me. His expression was at first sour, some unpleasant thought to him must have passed through his mind, before he grinned a very cold and cruel smile.

Any gladness upon seeing him soon faded away, for nothing was ever good when Ganondorf wore that smile.

"We meet again, dear Zelda."

I forgot how much his deep voice annoyed me. I didn't have much strength to speak myself so my face settled into a small frown instead.

"I hear that you're Queen now in this life. Congratulations."

He stood up and walked over to me, his shadow blocking the little light that my curtains allowed into the room.

"I have to say, you're even more beautiful as a woman than as a girl." He looked down at me, as if just noticing my glare. "You're mad at me."

I was finding Ganondorf's behavior very strange, and I think my expression was a mix of my confusion, disbelief and still that little bit of disdain.

He knelt at the edge of my bed. "Please forgive me," he said lowly.

I finally found my voice. "And which one of your sins am I forgiving you for?"

He heaved a sigh. "Then don't. It means nothing to me anyway, but I am no longer interested in playing your little game anymore, your Highness," he hissed between his teeth.

"Well excuse me but I don't remember inviting you to play any games. In fact, I don't remember inviting you into my home either."

He laughed then, the booming cackle that I had always imagined was the first laugh to ever exist that held no happiness. "And why do you think I've invited myself into your lovely home?"

"For some infinite prize that will gain you your every ambition in a hope it would appease your selfish desire."

And then he laughed harder. The loudness of it unnerved me and sent my pounding head pounding more.

"The Triforce?" He laughed. "That ridiculous toy?"

I said nothing to his rhetorical questions. I waited for him to explain himself in why he always thought he was more clever than I.

"I would like it, yes," he admitted. "There's certainly nothing stopping me from taking the Triforce of Wisdom from you now, except I would have yet to attain Courage and I feel letting you hold the piece is the best way to keep it safe. Yes, the Triforce is a useful tool, but it's only a tool and I certainly don't need it for what I came here to do."

I heaved in annoyance and it hurt to do so. "And what is it that you've come to do?"

The look Ganondorf gave me was by far the strangest. Guilt, like he had just been caught for doing something, and there was a hint of fear that crossed his face. He didn't answer right away, and when he did the words came out in whispers.

"He always hears me, you know. Not that it makes any difference. He's in my head. He sees my thoughts and wants."

I was never going to claim that Ganondorf was ever a sane man, but it seemed like he had visited a new form of crazy. I saw my chance of attempting to reason with him. It never seemed to work in the past but I was a fool in trying. I pushed myself up a little in order to talk to him better.

"Who's in your head?" I asked cautiously.

He glared at me. "You know very well who he is."

Yes I did. "We could defeat him you know. Together."

Again with the booming laughter. "You cannot defeat a God!"

"Demise is no God," I said. "He is only a demon."

"Is that so?" Ganondorf asked, standing up to his full heigh once again to look down on me. "If he is not worthy of a being, then who is? Hylia? Is Hylia worthy? You? I always wondered that, you know? If you were really the Goddess or just someone like me who was infinitely plagued by one."

I lifted my chin slightly. "I am only Zelda," I said.

Ganondorf leered over me, trying to see if I was lying or not. "He doesn't seem to think so."

"Well he is wrong. He is often wrong. He thinks he's far cleverer than he is, and that's why he always fails. You've picked the wrong 'God' to accept your power from. How do you ever expect to actually attain what you want with his help?"

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA OF WHAT I WANT!" He shouted at me, pounding his chest. My eyes widened in slight fear as I watched him huff over his outburst. "I no longer want that insignificant golden triangle. I no longer care to rule or have power. I have no care about my dead people, my legacy or my goals. I don't give a damn about you or your annoying little boyfriend or about destroying everything you care about." His yellow eyes gleamed down at me as if seeing me for the first time. "All I want now, is to break this ratchet curse."

My heart was still pounding as I tried to decipher what this all meant now. If Ganondorf freed himself from Demise, it would not be the end. Demise could easily find someone else, but Ganondorf on our side would be an extreme help. He had the Triforce of Power after all. All three Triforce pieces acting together would be unstoppable, and even a challenge for that foolish Demise. I almost laughed a little to myself. How it would bug the demon if he lost his only piece of the pie.

But all of that was for naught as I realized Ganondorf had a far different plan in breaking the curse.

"I've had this conversation with you before, Your Majesty," Gaonondorf said as he walked away a little and leaned against a wall. "Other reincarnations of you. They're always the same. All of them behave in rather the same manner."

I was starting to become nervous again. Of course I've had many talks with the King of Evil in many lives. He could have been talking about anything but I wasn't remembering exactly what he was talking about. Actually I had no memory of Ganondorf admitting to me that he wanted to break the curse before, if that was in fact what he was saying.

"At first, I would try to reason with you," he laughed, "but it soon became apparent to me that you are just as much to blame for the curse as Demise is.

"What?" I snapped.

"Demise may have placed the curse to begin with, but you made it so it would last, didn't you, your Holiness?"

"I don't have the slightest clue on what you could possibly be talking about!"

"Don't you lie to me!" he shouted, coming closer to the bed and gripping the frame. "You made it so! You made it so that we would be reborn, and never die, never be at peace!"

"I believe you are mistaken," I told him calmly. "I've wanted you to die many times."

"And yet here I am, my dear!" He stretched out his arms to present himself. "Here I am. I've survived, despite the pathetic attempts of you and that foolish boy. Lifetimes of attempts, timelines of attempts." He shook his head. "Were you even trying? Or did you just want to continue the cycle? I bet it's easy for you. You already know immortally. For me and the boy, it's different."

That was a blow to me but I did not let it show. I don't think Ganondorf even intended for the statement to hurt so much. "Link bares his burden for as long as evil and you roam the realms. Link and I are reincarnated to stop the likes of you! How about you stop coming back, and then we'll see what happens!"

"Let's see what happens…" Ganondorf crossed his arms and eyed me. "If I destroyed the two of you for good."

"Ha!" I laughed. "And how would that do anything? You have had just as many attempts to do us in as well, and here we are! We are still here! We've always defeated you, Ganon." I refused to call him by his human name to his face, for we were no longer talking as if we were human.

He clenched his fists and for a second I thought he was going to swing at me but he seemed to calm down and run a hand through his sparse hair instead, and then he paced some, at the foot of my bed. I was surprised that he controlled himself. "It never has been quite fair, has it? Two against one but it no longer matters. I will break the curse." He looked at me. "I don't need the Triforce, but Demise wants it, so I supposed if it suits me I will give it to him."

I fidgeted slightly away from him. "Why give it to him? Why not keep it for yourself? Why not use it to break the curse?"

He grinned, that cruel grin again. "Because I don't need it," he said as he leaned on the footboard. There was a long pause, with just the two of us staring at each other before he finally asked. "How is the baby?"

I clenched my jaw.

"I noticed you didn't look too well," he continued. "It'll be a shame if the baby didn't make it."

"Even if you destroyed me now. Even, if somehow, miraculously you figured out how to get rid of Link-"

Ganondorf chucked. "Maybe the little bastard will get away this time, but if you're gone, my dear, doing him in in the next lifetime would be oh so easy."

"But you're forgetting something, Ganon." I pushed myself upright a little more with my arms. "I've split the timelines, even if you destroy this world, end it so none of us are reborn again, we will still be reborn in other timelines. You can't end it!"

And then Ganondorf looked at me sadly. He looked sad. "How do you think I came to be here, Zelda?"

I didn't know. So I said nothing.

"When you split the timeline, I was never whole again. I was split too. I've come to the conclusion that this is the reason why I never seem to succeed after that."

I was going to say something but he put up a finger to stop me.

"Don't argue. You have to admit, it wasn't too hard to defeat me each time. I was mainly split into threes; spirit, body and mind. My mind remained in the timeline that you and the boy tried to intervene with, the one you tried to stop everything from actually happening. You did for a time, until I returned and I was killed. You have been reborn the least amount of times in that direction in time. Do you remember? Or not remember?"

"I remember killing you."

"It was the only time that you actually succeeded. My body was no more but I was reborn and I remembered things. It took awhile. I was sitting inside the Four Sword when I suddenly remembered. And you had made a mistake. I was using a being I created calling himself Shadow Link. You dispelled most of them, but took pity on one. Do you remember?"

It seemed like such a trivial matter that I was having trouble remembering.

"Because of your pity and kindness he sacrificed himself to shatter my Dark Mirror, but parts of him remained. I mean literally parts and since parts are not complete, there was a part that simply did not remember you, or your kindness or his sacrifice. All he remembered was his hatred, and even though he equally hated me as well, he freed me to help him with revenge on human kind. I dispatched him of course. I had no use for minions with their own plans, but before I did, I told him that we needed an important artifact. At this time, all my memories of my past life were with me again, and there was this thing that I just couldn't get my mind off; that silly ocarina you once had. You remember that now don't you, dear?"

The sacred relic had been lost in this timeline, and as Ganondorf continued with his story, the sick pit in my stomach grew, because I was beginning to realize what had happened to it.

"I had giving it to Link. He wouldn't have lost it!"

"No, your Majesty. He simply just died. It was quite easy to dig up his grave and find it."

"You dug up his grave?!"

Ganondorf rolled his eyes. "Please. You do know that he has thousands of graves. He's died thousands of times. Because of you."

I glared at Ganondorf an he continued his awful little story.

"My body was weak, though I was free, and I knew that it was dying. The Triforce of Power wasn't in this body. I needed to find my original body in order to have it again and continue living.

My original body was what prevailed when I killed the hero, but without my mind and spirit, I was unable to go back into the form of a man. Instead, I ruled the kingdom as a monster, or ruled it as much as I was able to but with each hundred years or so, I felt my intelligence lessen and lessen until I was no more than an animal.

But my mind was calculating in the other timeline, and, using the Ocarina of Time, I tried to go back in time to retrieve my body. Not knowing exactly what I was doing, I instead found myself in another timeline.

But even with all that I told you, I wouldn't have been able to even make the first move without my spirit. My spirit was here, in this timeline…"

Ganondorf paused for a moment and stared at something across the room, tugging a little bit on the collar of his shirt. "Though I've often wondered, if this so called spirit of mine was ever mine to begin with, or it was just always his spirit." He let go of his shirt to stare at his hand. "This desire, to destroy so much, I feel has out lived me." He shook his head. "I do not remember this so called spirt of mine possessing Cole's body. Apparently the spirit can easily merge into new bodies when the one it was in is no longer useable. Mine had turned into stone. It merged with Cole, who later woken the Demon King, Malladus. Cole merged his body with Malladus, as with the spirit. When Malladus was defeated, he was no more than a spirit himself, and with my spirit-his spirit, who was much more older than Malladus, he was consumed.

The spirit needed another body to enter, by chance it came upon the creature known as Dark Link. I'm sure you've met him by now. Isn't he an odd thing?"

"I'm sure you are quite proud of that creation," I answered.

"Oh no, I didn't create that! In fact, for almost an eternity I was completely unaware of him! He's not one of mine."

I laughed. "A being of Dark magic not yours? Surly he's Demise's work."

Ganondorf shook his head. "No, neither did he recognize him. His being is created by the boy himself. We found out when our spirit tried to possess it. He is why your precious hero seems so damn perfect all the time," Ganondorf sneered. "Humble, giving, charitable, quiet, obedient… What mortal man can voluntarily be that way for endless lives?"

"Link can," I answered confidently.

"Only because his negative thoughts and feelings leave him to manifest into that thing. How else could our spirit experience every tragedy the boy had ever had, once entering the being? I know what that thing is." Ganondorf stared me right in the eyes. "That is what's keeping him going. Without that, poof!" He waved his arms. "Link would be no different than me."

I laughed. "I doubt it. I pity you Ganon. You've experienced no love from this world."

"And you think the boy has? He only has artificial love that lasts as long as he's needed."

I shut my mouth.

"Now back to what I was saying. My spirit possessed Dark Link. It was difficult. The creature had been hiding, nursing all of his emotional wounds that he would magically attain from his real self. He had grown quite strong with pain, and hadn't done anything about it in so long. We were really only able to control him for as long we did by reasoning with him. Dark Link wanted to kill. He wanted to kill Link, and by killing Link, kill himself but he also had quite a disdain for you as well. We told him if he could get us to the old Hyrule Castle, he would have just the chance. There, we found the ocarina, for you had never given it to Link in this timeline and it was locked safe in the castle by the King. Dark Link had a knack of getting around dark places, and under the ocean, everywhere is dark.

And of course, in the old castle, is where the Triforce still remained."

"Dark Link wasn't worthy enough to hold it, so it returned to us three," I finished.

"Correct but that's not the end. Remember what I was saying what was happening in the other timelines? The Triforce of Power tried to reside in me even without my body, and I was able to use its power to activate the ocarina to take me to the timeline which had my mind. When I arrived, I lost my memories momentarily after fusing with my mind, but the spirit is what caused them to eventually reawaken and activate those changes of events I stated previously.

And that was how I figured out where to find and how to use the ocarina again, and entering the other timelines in which I could piece my body back together."

I looked at the window, trying to decipher the time by the little light I could see. Ganondorf always did like to hear himself talk. I wondered if there was a way I could slip away while he was so lost in his memory of his great achievements. I slowly dug one of my hands underneath my pillows. There was a knife hidden there between the bed and the headboard.

"Demise let me do all this, so I could help him defeat you and get the Triforce, but truth is I am tired of this, so that was when I decided to proceed to break the curse."

"And how do you think you're going to go about that?"

"It's already done. Demise is in here." He pressed his fist to his chest. "And I've been keeping him there. I've been letting the two of you become reincarnated to stop him, but there's nothing to stop, because I've been keeping him out of trouble," then he said in a low whisper, "and then I've been going through each timeline, and killing off each and everyone of your decedents."

I went cold. I couldn't breath, and suddenly, I started to remember again. I started to remember those horrible memories.

Ganondorf looked at the clock on my wall. "Looks like it's about time. Is it coming back to you now?"

I gasped, bring my hands up to my face. I remembered. I remembered them dying. "No!" I moaned, before leaning forward to press my head into my knees.

"Oh, don't cry," Ganondorf murmured softly. I did not care for his weird sentiments. He moved over to me and sat at the edge of my bed. His weight tilted the mattress so that I was forced to lean against him. I was so lost in my mourning that I didn't even care that he put a huge arm around my thin shoulders. "There, there. Do not weep. It's sad, I know, but it's better this way. We will all be at peace soon."

The strangeness of Ganondorf's comfort was helping me compartmentalize myself from the other selves that lived in the other timelines. I tried to forget the other children that never existed in this world. Yet I was having trouble, the images of their tiny lifeless bodies flashing before my eyes. I was trembling so much, that I grabbed onto the fabric of Ganondorf's shirt in an attempt to make it stop. "How could you?" I asked in a whisper.

"It's been done," he said. "We will no longer be in the other timelines. The people there are in fact save from this bloody bullshit."

I blinked, my tears sticking to my eyelashes. "Demise is gone from those timelines? You are sure of this?"

Ganondorf lifted his arms, palms up. "Would I lie to you my Queen?" I bit back my retort. "We are whole. Demise is in me."

I shook my head. "I cannot believe that. What of the Triforce? Does the Triforce still exist in the other timelines?"

Ganondorf shrugged. "Why does it matter?"

"For as long as they exist, Demise will want to go after them!"

"And that is why we just simply give him the Triforce in this timeline to keep him happy. One more sacrifice. Just one flow of time to give up. The rest of your people in the other timelines will stay happy and free. This is the only way Zelda. Give up this life. Return to the heavens and let Link and I go."

I leaned back a little, resting on his arm and let go of his shirt. I stared directly ahead of me as I let my arms fall to the side.

"Perhaps that is the best thing to do." I slipped my arms under the blanket, and very slowly edged one behind me. "But how would I know for sure? What if you missed something in the other timelines, or you are somehow wrong? We would sacrifice this time, and all its people, for the one purpose of ending the curse, only to be reborn again anyway?"

"I am not wrong. I've succeeded in this before. There was another that used to be trapped within the webs of our curse. Perhaps you had taken too much of a liking on her and forced her to return with you in each life. She had been my experiment. I killed her off first just to see if I could do it. I can. It can be done."

My fingers finally clasped around the knife I had been looking for. "You killed Impa?"

"Impa. Right. That had been her name. She was difficult. Even in her old age, she always seemed to know how to handle herself. Dealing with her was when I first realized it. I wasn't supposed to be concentrating on her, but the children."

It was a clumsy attack, but I didn't care. I raised my arm with my knife, slicing through Ganondorf's cheek and nose before trying to scramble off the bed and away from him. I heard him roar with pain. I got to the door, and pulling it open I was amazed that it was unlocked. But the entrance was blocked by a surprised Moblin. My surprise left me faster than it and I was about to kill him, but the pause was enough for Ganondorf to catch me and put one huge arm around my much smaller body. He then wrenched the knife away from me.

"What is it?!" he growled at the creature. I could feel the warm blood dripping from his face onto my neck. My heart was beating rapidly against the muscle of his arm. I stayed still, waiting for another opportunity. It was quite obvious Ganondorf planned to kill me, and staying alive was the top priority.

"The Shadow has killed again…" stuttered the Moblin.

"I don't give a damn about who he's killed! Just find a way to control him!"

"It's not one of ours!" The Moblin quickly said. "It was Hylian. And it was with 'you know who'."

"Where is Dark Link now?"

The Moblin shrugged. "They fell off one of the broken towers."

"Hmm," the noise rumbled deep within Ganondorf's throat. "Leave us be. Find that boy and keep him busy." Ganondorf shut the door. "As predicted, he's coming for you."

"You better hurry up and kill me now before he gets here. Or do you plan to wait and do it in front of him, like a coward weakening him emotionally because you know you can't possibly win?"

Ganondorf chuckled. "Oh, Zelda if you only knew… I'm not going to kill you." He clasped his big hand lightly over my throat making me think otherwise to his statement. "Have I ever harmed you before, my dear?"

I realized in horror that he had never physically harmed me before. Ganondorf had killed so many people, so many people that I loved and cared for, destroyed so much, and though he had abducted me a number of times, he had always left me untouched. The realization of it, I was finding extremely disturbing.

I felt his breath in my ear, and he moved his hand from my throat to his chest. "He's obsessed with you. He wants the Triforce and to bring you back to whatever hell or heaven the two of you came from. I don't know if his desire is love or lust or some other unknown reason, but it's there. And that, I know is all Demise, for I hate you, and would relish in the glory of having your blood all over my hands."

I leaned away from his mouth. "Demise can fuck it."

"Yes, yes! Let's just fuck everything! Nothing matters anyway!" He moved the arm around me so that his hand pressed my shoulder tightly to him. "I see you have left your bed. You must be well rested now. Care to go for a walk?" He wrenched opened the door and shoved me through with him. "Let's see if we can find your friend!"

We walked with me firmly pressed to his side. I couldn't move my arms, which would have been essential in order for me to cast any spells.

"You know, they use to call me the "King of Evil". I liked the name. It made me feel important." I didn't know where we were going. I scanned the halls around us, searching, hoping Link wasn't too far away. "But what is evil? Selfishness? Wanting something more than anything, so much so that you'd do anything to attain it? I wanted… power. I wanted all the power in the world! I was willing to kill anyone I had to. But you…"

I was trying to ignore his words. I stared dully at the stone walls of the hallway.

"You were willing to keep anyone alive, forever, for your selfish desires. Which is actually worse?"

I had no responds.

"Link hates you for it. I know. I've been inside his mind. In fact, I've never come across so much hatred before. It rivals my own, you know? That's why I find him and I so much alike. Both of us forced into immortally, chasing a prize we can never obtain." Ganondorf paused. We were next to one of the conference rooms. It was the smallest of them, reserved for only the most serious and secret conferences and that was why it was up so high in the castle. The room was used so sparely that it seemed like it was stuck up there because few people had the energy to climb so many stairs. "It doesn't seem we've come across him yet. He's too hard to find. Let us use your ocarina!" He ruffled in his pocket. Then he pulled it out. My ocarina was still the brilliant blue it always had been. "It doesn't matter what tune you perform," he explained to me. "He comes to it no matter what you play."

And he put my ocarina to his foul lips and blew a single note. We waiting for another moment. "I cannot kill you, but I know someone who's been dying to." The temperature suddenly dropped and Ganondorf opened the door to the conference room. The room was pitch black, for it had no windows. The only light was what came in from the hallway. I could see the little table with its chairs around it. I saw nothing else.

Ganondorf and I stood in the doorway, and I was starting to get impatient with him. If it wasn't for a subtle movement, I wouldn't have had any idea that there was anything in that small conference room at all. There was someone sitting on a chair but it was too dark to make out who.

"Ah, there you are. I've brought the Queen for you. I understand you've been trying to get in touch with her for some time now," Ganondorf said before he roughly pushed me into the room. "Are you done nursing your wounds?"

The figure gave Ganondorf a rude gesture with his hand which Ganondorf ignored. Then the person got up slowly from his chair, like he was wearing, before standing tall and straightening his shoulders. Then he cocked his head slightly, peering at me.

"Link?" His movements were so familiar that I couldn't help myself. Ganondorf then laughed and shut the door behind me, concealing everything around me in black.

I quickly clapped my hands together, creating and orb of light that I flashed quickly around the room to locate the door. Ganondorf undoubtedly had locked it, but there were a lot of locks, magic or not, that I could undo.

Yet as soon as my magic orb shown its light over the door, a long black sword blocked my path. I didn't know a shadow sword could glint in the light, but the black metal did so. I sighed. "I see," I turned to the creatures dark face. "You plan to fight me."

I watched him study my features. His black face and red eyes were strange to look at, but that's not what made him look so alarming. I realized, all of his movements, mirrored Link, from the simple way he twitched each and every muscle, to every small gesture or expression.

He put his sword arm down, leaning on the metal with the point on the ground, before looking up at my ball of light, shielding his face with his hand. He ruffled around his pack for a moment, before pulling out a small slingshot. Then he proceeded to shoot the light out. All it did was flair a bit, sending sparks to rain upon us.

"Sorry, the lights are going to have stay on."

He tossed his slingshot to the side carelessly before looking at me again. I felt my fists clench, readying myself for his next move.

He didn't lift his sword. Instead he took several slow steps towards me, letting the metal drag loudly against the stone floor. I took a few steps back as well, but didn't do much more. I should do something. I had to do something. He then swung his sword. It made the same noise, whooshing through the air, as the Master Sword.

I barely had enough time to put out a magical shield. I only had the shield big enough for it to block the sword, trying to conserve my magic and energy. Dark Link swung again, and I blocked with the shield. He swung the sword easily and without care, while I was pushed back several inches from each blow.

I shot out a small burst of magic with my fingertips that he easily dodged. I couldn't get a good mental hold on him because he blended to well in the dark, and even with my magic light, he was very good at keeping in the shadows. I was without a weapon besides for my magic, and I had been relying on it for too long now, without replenishing it.

In a quick decision I summoned my rapier, even though I knew I had no chance against Dark Link in sword play, and once I was completely out of magic the weapon would disappear. It would help conserve the little I had left. Dark Link was surprised to see me pull the thin golden metal from the air, but his surprised seemed to turn into a very pleased expression, which was making me think better of my decision to try to fight him this way. We struck with our swords, though I didn't try to block his, for I was far weaker. Instead I went with his movement and twirled away. If I kept moving, it would be harder for him to catch me. Dark Link was fast, but so was I.

I was able to tare through his sleeve and bite into flesh. I was using this technique because it was keeping me a safe distance from his deadly sword, but the effectiveness of this fighting style relied on the enemy to eventually bleed out. It did not appear Dark Link bled.

And it involved too much energy, for I was moving constantly. As my muscles stopped obeying me, I was starting to have to rely back on my magic, using it a little to defect the sword when I felt myself lose control of our locks and clashes, or a small zap here or there in hopes that it would be distracting, and as an extra shield when everything else I did seemed to fail.

As the fight continued on in this fashion, my lungs burning from my efforts, I felt my calm resolve struggling to keep itself. The best I had to hope for was that I could fend Dark Link off until help arrived; until Link saved me. But how did he know where I was? Why would he think we were in this small council room that never seemed to get used anymore?! I could hear my breath coming out so hard and fast, that each gasped sounded like a little scream to me. I began to panic when I realized I was going to die here.

Dark Link had just been toying with me now. I was fighting the Hero. I was fighting Link. I was foolish to have even hoped I had a chance of surveying this.

No, this wasn't Link. This was only a shadow, and I had to destroy it like I would a shadow.

With my magic running on critical, I raised my arms to light up the room with a flash of light. I saw him, pressed against a corner in a vain attempt to escape the light. I then targeted him, and sent the last remaining of my magic, concentrated at that one spot, willing him to burn up in the light. I heard him scream in pain. It was Link screaming in pain. I cried out too, if only to muffle out the noise. As the last of my power left my fingertips, I felt myself start to fall forward onto my knees. But I never made it there.

I didn't see Dark Link move. He grabbed me around the throat and slammed me against a wall. The great light went out. The only thing that lit the room now was my small orb from the beginning. I could barely just see him breathing heavily from the pain. In the dark I didn't notice his lack of color or the red in his eyes. He looked hurt though I couldn't see any physical damage on him. He was hurt on the inside. He let out a loud shuttering sigh before going back to his heaving. He then raised his free hand, clenching his fist, and I thought he was going to hit me with it but instead it made contact with the wall beside me. With what almost sounded like a sob, he looked down, his hair hanging over his face. I couldn't speak, for his grip on me was too tight, but I could move my arms. I lifted both my hands to place them gently over the hand that held my throat. I felt his grip loosen.

"Li-"

He drew his sword and impaled me.

His grip on my throat had loosened just enough for me to scream.

He looked up at my face as he twisted the sword and dug it in a littler deeper, as if he was trying to cut the baby inside of me out. I was running out of breath to scream. I had to take in another breath. Tears ran down my face as I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block everything out. I felt his face up against mine, the hand that was on my throat moving to stroke my check as a lover would do, yet his sword still twisted, ripping apart my intestines and I had no doubt cut into my swollen uterus.

I opened my eyes, but couldn't make out anything. I could feel Dark Link breathing in my ear, his lips against my skin. Why was he doing this? Why? Did Link hate me because the baby wasn't his? Or did he just want me to die for making him live forever.

Or was it because I didn't love him?

For all I knew, none of this meant anything. I was believing Ganondorf's words. Ganondorf's. Dark Link could have just been doing what Ganondorf wanted.

He pulled the sword out of me slowly, the metal wet with my blood and most likely my baby's blood as well. I cried as he showed it to me.

There was an explosion. I had thought it was the Goddesses reining down from the heavens to punish me, for I had failed, in every way possible. Bits of wood were showering upon us, and the light, there seemed to be so much light.

I was released from Dark Link, and I crumbled to the floor. It took me a moment to realize the light was coming from the hallway, for the door had been obliterated. I laid on the stone floor, bleeding with my eyes open. I could see Dark Link fighting someone, another Dark Link. It took me even longer to realize that that wouldn't make sense. Why would Dark Link be fighting himself?

Because he was fighting Link.

The fight I witnessed seemed unreal. Both Link's were completely equal, and both were devastatingly terrible. I watched them from the dim light of the highway, spinning and twirly, leaping over chairs and the table. They would fight for an entirety. I would die here, and Link would be stuck here, fighting, forever. The Goddesses would be coming for me soon. I imagined their disappointment. I wondered what sort of punishment awaited for me. Maybe they would simply replace me, and make me watch as Link had to work with another, succeed with another, fall in love with another. Someone better than me. Link had been better than me.

I don't know how long I laid there and watched the gruesome fight. It seemed like for hours, but with the wound I had sustained, I surly would have bled out before then, so maybe it wasn't that long at all. There were no signs of the fight ending. I couldn't tell if either one of them were wounded or slowly down. I thought I could tell which one was Dark Link. The one that seemed crueler in his blows, taking more risks, wanting nothing more than for the kill and cared far less for his own well being. Of course he would. Dark Link couldn't be wounded.

As I finished that thought, I watched Dark Link, in one quick and unexpected movement, decapitate Link's head from his shoulders. The head was soon gone but the body was still standing, and Dark Link drove his sword into Link's heart, as if that wasn't enough. Still with inhumanly speed he pulled the sword out and continue to slash at the dead, standing body, until eventually, gravity won and pulled it to the ground.

No.

That was when I realized what my true punishment from the Goddesses would be. To destroy my Link. He had done nothing wrong. He had always done everything correctly, but he would be rid of because of me. I cried and weeped, hoping the energy it took to do so would make me die faster.

Dark Link started to come back to me. I thought maybe he wanted to finish tearing out my baby from my body. "No! Don't! Please! Please stop!" He knelt in front of my face and put his hand on my shoulder and I cried out. I was too weak to move away, but I tried anyway.

"Zelda! Zelda! Shh! Shh!" He scooped my shoulders up with one arm as his wide blue eyes quickly scanned the rest of my body.

Oh sweet Goddesses… I couldn't stop staring at his beautiful face. The same face that I had been staring at moments ago, but filled with beautiful color, dirty and scraped up, and warm. His face looked warm. I wanted to touch it.

He put his other arm underneath my legs and picked me up easily, quickly taking me out of the horrible dark room. We were in the hallway, he turned a corner, looking around for enemies before going down a short corridor with a dead end and a window. I thought it had been day since any light I saw seemed so bright, but it was the blue moon light that lit our way.

Link immediately fell to to the ground, propping me up with one of his knees, and pressing his hand hard against my wound. He dug in his pack with his other.

"Oh, Link!" I sobbed "I'm sorry!" I was trying to breath, but my diaphragm was pushing on something that was internally damaged. It hurt so much.

"Sh, don't talk. You're gonna bleed out faster." He found what he was looking for which was a red potion. He uncorked it with his teeth before bringing it to my lips. "Drink." I couldn't drink. I had too much to tell him and I was running out of time.

I turned away from it. "The baby's dead."

"I don't give a fuck. Drink the damn potion!"

I did a little to appease him, before I began to cough, for he was being a little too forceful. He took the bottle away to let me finish coughing, pressing harder on my wound and the coughing stopped. "Ganondorf has the Ocarina of Time," I gasped. "He's been going through the timelines... and killing our decedents. We're the last ones. We-"

"Then it's a good idea to shut up and rest," he cut me off, before making me drink more. I couldn't keep it down. My body was convulsing too much to have it stay in my mouth. I knew theses were potions he had brought for his battle with Ganondorf. And now I was using them all up.

"Here," he placed my own hands over the wound. "Keep applying pressure." I was too weak to do much of that. He leand back a little to remove his sword, shield and belt, then pulled off his tunic, using that to bind the wound tightly. Then he pulled out another potion.

"It's not going to do any good," I told him. "I have too much ... internal damage for the potion to go through my system."

"Then what are we going to do!?" He snapped.

"Link," I said weakly, raising a bloody hand to cup his face. He moved away and picked me up, not saying anything more. He grabbed his things and moved quickly with me in his arms. He was mad at me. Of course he was. He hated me. I didn't know where he was taking me, but I didn't care. I was in so much pain, but I didn't care. I felt so much comfort being in his arms, even though he hated me. I was so grateful that he had found me in time. I still needed to tell him so many things, but he kept me firmly pressed to his chest and I could say nothing.

I was eventually placed on a table. Staring up at the ceiling, I recognized the tile from the medical wing. I could hear Link rummaging desperately though supplies. There wouldn't be anything here. Everything was taken in our hurry to evacuate the castle. The table was hard and cold, and I still couldn't breath without shooting pains that were unbearable. I kept gasping, and getting no air, I'd gasp harder and faster, causing the pain to become even more severe. I felt myself hyperventilating and felt utterly alone without Link's arms around me.

Link was suddenly back, stabbing a syringe into my chest. Within seconds I could breath easier. I took a deep breath of air. Morphine.

"Tell me how to fix you," Link pleaded. I could hear the desperation in his voice, and it touched me so deeply that he cared, "I could only find one of those." It was a miracle he found anything at all.

"Most everything was taken to the camp," I breathed. "There's nothing here."

"Tell me how to fix you with magic then."

I shook my head. "I can't. I don't have any left."

"Tell me how to do a healing spell."

"I can't. I can't just tell you. You have to learn it through training."

"Shit," Link scooped me up again. "We need to get you out of here. You need medical attention."

"Link, please stop," I whispered. I didn't think he heard me, my voice was so weak. "Please let me tell you. I need to tell you."

"I don't care about the baby, Zelda!" Link said frustrated. "You need to stay alive. You have to stay alive!"

I reached out weakly with my trembling hand to grab the collar of his undershirt. "Please," I cried. "Please listen to me." Tears where rolling down my cheeks once again. I was so sorry.

Link stopped walking and sighed in defeat before crumbling to the floor against one of the walls of the hallway, holding me tightly against him. "What is it?" he asked in a low voice.

It was hard to talk. I was crying so much. "It's my fault." Link shook his head at me, blighting his lower lip. I tightened my grip on his shirt. I soaked his neck with tears. He smelled like blood and sweat, but there was still the faint scent of trees on him. "I chose you. I forced you into this position. You can never have a normal life. You keep reliving the same fate over and over. I'm sorry."

"Zelda, what are you talking about?! That's not important right now. Is there any emergency magic somewhere else in the castle? You could use Farore's Wind."

"Don't you see? I was the Goddess Hylia. I picked you. Not the Goddesses. I started this." Link paused at that. I knew he didn't really remember that far back. I've always heard him cursing the Goddesses, when it really wasn't their fault. It was me. I remembered how happy he was to die for me, and I made him live for me instead.

He seemed a bit shaken by the news. "I don't really care about that anymore."

He was just saying that to ease my fears. My sweet, sweet Link. "I'm so sorry. I was so selfish. I felt like it was my fault that Demise killed you. I wanted you to have another chance to live. I wanted to be able to experience your life beside you, but even after that, it wasn't enough for me. I wasn't satisfied. I made it so you would repeatedly be reborn, so you could never leave me. I should have just told you and had it done with."

"Zelda, I don't care!" He kept trying to reassure me.

"I love you. I denied it. I pretended I didn't. I emotionally belittled you, like I was above you by refusing to acknowledge its existence. You did everything. You gave me everything, and I couldn't even-" My rant was interrupted as Link pressed his mouth to mine. I didn't realize how cold I had gotten until I felt the warmth of that kiss, full of life and Link's love. Tears were flowing from my eyes so fast that I knew if Link's steady mouth wasn't there pressed to mine, I would have fallen into hysterical sobs.

He pulled away, his face in my hair. "I love you, too." He took in a shaky breath, holding me tighter. "I forgive you, okay? I forgive you, so stop worrying about all that shit. I don't care. But I won't forgive you if you die on me. I can't do this alone. You have to be there too. You can't leave me alone. If what you say is true, and you die tonight, I'll be reborn without you. Please don't do that to me. Anything but that."

I shook my head, clenching my teeth together. "Link, I can't. I-"

"You can! Just keep thinking you can, and we'll get through this. Tell me how to save you."

I didn't know how much morphine Link had given me, but it had left me so numb, and until now, I hadn't noticed the liquid that had slowly pooled around us. Link hadn't noticed either. I was staring at it, noticing the liquid was too thin and diluted to just be blood, though quite a bit of blood was mixed into it.

Link noticed my attention on it. Only when he lifted his head did I realize he had been crying. "Shit!" Surely he had come to the first conclusion as I that it was simply more blood.

"My water's broke."

"What?!"

"I'm going into labor," I said. It sounded like I was calm, but I simply just didn't have the energy. "My body's expelling the fetus."

"Or you're just giving birth," Link stated. "Your wound could have missed the baby."

It could have. The sword had plunged high in my middle, above the baby. Yet it could have still have torn into my uterus, and in that case, blood would have filled up in the womb. "Get the baby out," I said quickly.

Link gave me a look of utter disbelief, most likely thinking that getting the baby out should be solely my job. The morphine was starting to wear away and I was only now starting to feel the contractions. My breath returned to its shallowness as the pain returned as well. Active labor was a few hours at the very least. The baby had already been swimming in my blood for who knew how long. I had been bleeding for so long. "I can't," I gasped. "I can't go through with the labor."

"You have to!" Link cried. "You can't just not do it!"

"Link," I reached up to him with a half laugh, half sob that hurt so much I wished my body hadn't done it. "I'm dy-"

"No!" His face was twisted in anguish before he pushed it into me.

It hurt me more than all the pain I was experiencing to see him like that. I gently ran my fingers through his hair. "It'll be okay. If the baby is alive, I'll return in the next life. All isn't lost yet. But I will not last long enough to …" I paused as I felt another painful contraction, splitting something externally more. "… to give birth. You have to save the baby. You have to get it out."

"How?! I can't! I don't know how."

"Just… Just do the best you can."

"I'm not a doctor, Zelda. I don't even have any equipment!"

Another contraction. I screamed.

"Zelda?"

"Cut it out!"

"With what?!"

"Anything." I looked over his shoulder where I could see the hilt of the Master Sword.

He saw where my gaze went. "No Zelda. I'd kill you."

Each breath I was taking was a sob. My wound was bleeding more profusely now, soaking right through Link's shirt. There was new blood coming from my dilated cervix too. "Losing… time… It could be dying."

"What if its already dead! No, Zelda," Link sobbed. "Don't make me do it. I can't kill you. There's gotta be another way!"

"If its already dead… I'll return to the Heavens. I'll watch over you though. I'll do all I can. I'll find someone to replace me. And maybe… I can finally put a rest… to your curse."

"No…" Link shook his head, causing the tears in the corners of his eyes to fall.

Something shifted and I screamed. The sound of it got Link to move and he quickly drew his sword. But that was as far as he got, for he let it clatter to the ground beside us, and scooped me up instead, holding me tightly to his chest. "Forgive me," he whispered hoarsely.

My vision was fading. My body was going numb. I wasn't feeling pain anymore. I could vaguely feel contractions, but there was no pain with them. Just my body convulsing every so often. I didn't have the strength to do any pushing. The baby would die with me.

It'll be okay. My time as a mortal had ended. I would return to finish my work as a Goddess.

I'm sorry Link. For leaving you behind.

Link was kissing me. I realized he was giving me more potion and I quickly swallowed. The potions hadn't been working, but the buzz of it kept me conscious a moment longer. I didn't remember losing consciousness or for how long, but I could sometimes hear Link pleading with me to keep pushing. I did what he asked, for how could I keep denying him? I couldn't feel anything so I had no idea if I was actually pushing. I tried anyway. I was no longer on Link's lap. I was on the floor. I couldn't see Link very well at all. I wanted to see him.

Something was tugging on me. I only knew because I would move ever so slightly. I heard my blood splatter onto the floor. I was surprised I still had blood to leave my body.

I still wanted to see Link one last time, so I tried to crane my head around my body to see him. Link moved closer to me, holding something. "See?" Link said to me. "I told you you could do it."

I stared at Link and the thing uncomprehending. Link was cleaning it very carefully with his hat, that had been turned inside out, for the outside had been dirty. He was concentrating hard in what he was doing and eventually, I could hear the shrill cries of a newborn baby.

"It's… it's alive…?"

Link very carefully cut the umbilical cord with his sword. "He's a boy," Link answered.

"You got him out?!"

Link laughed. "You got him out. You did it, Zelda."

I reached out my arms to them. "Please…"

Link scrambled over to me, placing my baby in my arms before sitting me up and returning to his spot behind me. "He's so healthy looking!" I exclaimed. "How? I was hit by a Big Blin. And Dark Link's sword. I thought for sure…"

"You protecting him very well," Link said.

"Maybe it was the healing potions. Maybe they helped him."

"Maybe." Link's arms were underneath mine, helping me support the baby. I tried to loosen my blouse for the baby to suckle but I didn't have the strength for it. Link had to do it for me. "Let's rest for a little while," he said. "And then I'll get the two of you out of here. It's not the most cleanest place. I don't want him getting sick."

I didn't say anything. I wouldn't be returning with them. Just because the baby was born didn't mean I wasn't dying anymore. I could feel Link's heart behind me, beating slow and calmly. I could feel the baby breathing and suckling in my arms. I resting my head in the crook of Link's neck, exhausted and at peace. The last thing I felt was Link moving his head to nuzzle mine.

It had made me smile.