Chapter 3: What Is And Never Was

"And make sure it reaches the King as soon as possible. His eyes only, understand?"

"Yes. Lady Impa," The Shiekah scout gave Impa a respectful nod, taking the sealed scroll in his hands. "I won't let you down."

Impa returned the nod. "Good. Now go." She watched the man run off towards the village exit. Once he was around a corner and out of sight, she allowed her shoulders to slump, a wave of exhaustion washing over her. She looked up at her surroundings wearily.

She'd been the one to suggest stopping at Kakariko Village on their way to Korok Forest. It was in friendly territory, perfect for them to restock for the journey ahead, and an easy way for them to send Zelda's missive without drawing too many questions. But when they finally came into sight of the village… Impa felt like her very soul was being torn in half.

Walking through the streets, she constantly fluxed between nostalgia and sorrow. Chronologically, it had only been a few weeks since her last visit. But with her old memories now freshest in her mind, she felt like she was walking through a dream…

Or a nightmare.

Buildings and bridges that should be worn and aged stood freshly built. The trees were smaller than they should be, or still stood where they shouldn't. The people she passed were far too young, some she barely recognized, others she didn't even remember. Children that ran past her playing games, she remembered as young men and women. People she had watched grow and later taught, only to watch them fall to sickness or monsters.

Part of her felt an earth-shattering relief. So many of her people had died during the Calamity, even more trying to survive the hellish new world that came after. She could save them from that fate, and Kakariko could remain the flourishing beacon she now walked through.

But then she'd pass a familiar face, and couldn't help but remember all the people connected to them. Partners, children, grandchildren, all born from lives tainted by the calamity. She'd think of the lives that came together, the hardships that brought them closer… and how she, Link, and Zelda were going to prevent those hardships… and all that came with them.

She thought of her children from another life. She thought of her granddaughter Paya… sweet, wonderful little Paya… and she wanted to cry.

"Impa?"

Impa jerked back with a gasp, her eyes flying open. She hadn't even realized she'd closed them. To her embarrassment, her vision was swimming. She rubbed the tears from her eyes, averting her gaze.

Link frowned at her, concern plain on his face. He looked around at the village, taking in its large size and the many Shiekah strolling the populated streets. His expression tightened. "It's hard seeing it like this, huh?"

Impa turned back in surprise, then felt foolish for doing so. Link may not have lived a lifetime in Kakariko, but he stayed with her family for weeks after his resurrection and visited consistently in the months leading to his fight with the Calamity. He knew how the Sheikah village had looked a century from now, and could now see just how much of a shadow of its former self it had been. She allowed herself to show the weariness she felt, leaning back against a nearby tree. "Yeah. I…" She took a deep breath, forcing herself to speak as she slid down the tree's trunk to the ground. "I keep thinking I'll see Paya run around the next corner any minute," she admitted quietly.

Link stiffened, shock flashing briefly across his face. He let out a tired sigh, pulling off his cap as he sat next to her. "Yeah."

She could hear the curiosity in his voice, but when she stayed silent, he thankfully let the matter drop. They sat there for a few moments, just letting the peaceful ambiance of the bustling town wash over them.

After collecting herself, Impa looked over at Link, finally registering his change in attire: leather boots and bracers, tan pants and chainmail under a familiar green tunic, a matching cap laying in his lap. She smirked faintly at him. "You managed to piece together that get-up?"

Link met her smirk with an honest grin. "There's a caravan passing through town. They had a little bit of everything. Zelda said it was missing something, though." He playfully threw the end of a blue scarf over his shoulder, showing the Hyrulian royal crest stitched into its side.

Impa gave a light laugh. Then her expression turned thoughtful. "So… I'm just going to get this out of the way. Are you and Zelda together again?"

Link paused in straightening his scarf. He looked at Impa warily, only relaxing when he saw honest curiosity in her eyes. He frowned lightly, considering. "That's up to her," he admitted after a moment. "We've fallen for other people in a few lives, but more often than not we're drawn to each other. And if this works, and this is really our last life?" He looked up at the clear sky, watching the birds flit from tree to tree. "Yeah… I'd love to be together at the end of all this."

Impa smiled softly at the warm light in Link's eyes, even as she felt a small twinge in her chest. "Let her settle a bit more. She remembers just as much as you do. She'll come around." Her smile then shifted to a sly smirk. "Though you might run into some trouble getting people's blessing."

Link rolled his eyes. "I'm not scared of the King. It's nothing I haven't dealt with before in our other lives."

Impa's smirk sharpened. "I was talking about Urbosa." She nearly burst out laughing at the sudden panic that flashed across Link's face.

"...huh. I didn't consider that…" Link admitted, putting a hand over his eyes. "That'll be a fun conversation." His shoulders then slumped, an uncomfortable look overtaking his face. "Though honestly… I'm more worried about Mipha."

"Mipha?" Impa's brow rose in surprise. "What does she have to do with any of this?"

Link shifted awkwardly, fingers playing with the end of his cap. "She's in love with me," he admitted softly.

This startled a disbelieving scoff from Impa. "Wow. Think highly of yourself, huh?"

"She made me betrothal armor."

"...oh." Impa's face went slack, all mirth fleeing at Link's melancholy tone, sensing his mood dive.

Link huffed a humorous laugh. "Yeah. King Dorephan gave it to me after I freed her spirit and Vah Ruta. Except, thanks to my memory loss, I had no idea of the significance until Sidon explained it to me way later."

Impa winced in sympathy. "I didn't even know you two were together."

"We didn't really start getting close until… well, right around now, when she started training to be a Champion. Mipha hasn't said anything yet, so she's likely trying to work up the courage to do so. And…" He closed his eyes, hanging his head in resignation. "I'm just not the guy she fell in love with. Not anymore, at least."

As Link fell into a depressed silence, Impa let her head fall back against the tree with a firm thunk! She was aware of the odd looks she and Link were receiving from the passing Sheikah, the princess' Royal guards seemingly lazing about with Zelda herself nowhere in sight. But she was past caring. With all the world's problems weighing them down across the centuries, they were entitled to break for a few minutes before they pulled themselves back together. "Well," she sighed after a few minutes of companionable wallowing. "This sucks."

Link barked out a laugh, deep and loud in a way that warmed Impa's soul. "Took the words right out of my mouth," he grinned at her.

Impa chuckled lightly, shaking her head as she climbed to her feet. "Well, I doubt you found me just to share in the misery. We ready to leave?"

"We should be," Link said as he took her offered hand, letting her pull him up. He then smirked. "Assuming Zelda's done haggling over prices."

That brought Impa up short, her disbelief plain. "Zelda? Haggling?" She tried to imagine the soft-spoken princess arguing over money of all things. "How… why… it's not like we need to save money! She's the princess!"

Link snorted as they started towards the marketplace. "I think this little bit of rebellion against the King is bringing out the Tetra in her. Getting coin out of that woman was like pulling teeth."

Impa remained dubious, the image just not seeming feasible, until the rows of market stalls came into view. A small crowd had gathered loosely around a weapons cart, bemused murmurs broken up by faint snickering as they all tried and failed to be inconspicuous. The two guards arrived just in time to see Zelda daintily hand over a small handful of coin, a satisfied smirk on her face as a harried and befuddled Zora wearily handed a sheath blade over the counter along with a matching sword belt. The Little Guardian looked frantically between the princess and the Zora, its legs angled low like it was slumping.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Zelda nodded as she turned to leave.

The Zora watched her go with a baffled look. "If you say so…" he muttered, frowning dubiously at the coin in his webbed hand.

Link grinned as Zelda approached, stifling a laugh at her cocky smile, so alien on her kind face. "Got a good deal, then?"

Zelda's smile grew a tad sharper. "Just a bit," she said airily, a knowing tilt to her words as she fixed the sword belt around the waist of her blue travel coat.

Impa simply stared in disbelief. She let out a huff of a laugh, part in shock and part in hilarity. "And, um… why do you need a scimitar, if I may ask, princess?"

"Not a scimitar. A cutlass." She drew the blade out a few inches, showing the faint blue glint of Zora-made steel. "Good quality, too. And…" The confidence slowly faded from Zelda's face, the prim and proper princess Impa recognized returning as she looked at the blade in borderline shock. "I-I'm not sure. I just happened to see it and… my side suddenly felt lighter without it on my hip. I-I don't know what came over me."

Link's grin widened, looking over the dispersing crowd in amusement, noting the Zora weaponsmith talking with the amused Goron in the next stall over. He opened his mouth to comment when he caught a glint in the corner of his eye panning across the stalls. He did a double-take, his brow rising in surprise. "Probably the same thing that's hitting me right now." He held up a finger at their curious looks, already moving away. "I'll be right back."

The girls watched him go in surprise, towards an unassuming stall filled with seemingly random odds and ends. Impa brushed it off as Link following a deserved whim, instead turning back to Zelda, who was inspecting her new blade with baffled fascination. "Planning to take up a new combat style? Or… resurrect an old one?"

Zelda dipped her head bashfully, sheathing the blade fully. "Perhaps?" Her cheeks tinted. "I remember taking up swordplay in a few lives, the styles and combat. But… I've no training in this life. No muscle memory." She gave a huff of frustration, pinching the bridge of her nose. "How foolish…"

"Hey!" Impa cut in before Zelda could get worked up. "If practice is all you need, then you're already years ahead of most people. We can spar on the road if you want. Honestly, it would probably be good for both of us. There are a few techniques from my old lives I want to see if I can replicate now."

Zelda frowned back down at the blade, still uncertain. But there was a spark in her eye Impa recognized from this life, usually saved for investigating Sheikah tech: excitement for overcoming a challenge, for gaining new knowledge. "Maybe…"

"Bwoop-Bwoop?"

The two looked down in surprise, finding the Little Guardian tapping curiously against the tip of Zelda's scabbard trailing just above the ground. This was the first sound it had made since they left the spring.

Feeling their eyes on it, the Little Guardian looked up in surprise. It let out a startled bleep, skittering back a few steps and averting its gaze.

"Oh, Little One…" Zelda knelt and tried to reach for the Guardian, only for it to skitter further back, refusing to look at either of them. Zelda pouted at it, sighing sadly. "Little One, we're not mad. I swear!"

The Guardian glanced up at her briefly, only to let out a disbelieving note, keeping its eye on the ground.

Zelda let out of frustrated breath, looking up at Impa helplessly.

"Don't look at me." Impa put her hands up, frowning at the Guardian. "The little guy wouldn't let me near it when it was in a good mood."

Zelda slumped, looking helplessly at the Guardian. "I just wish we could make it feel better. Giving us back our memories is a good thing, Little One. You showed us the truth of what we have to do."

"It also heard us screaming bloody murder when we got our memories back, Zelda," Impa pointed out gently. "And now we're acting differently than we were before. You can't blame it for being skittish."

Zelda's frown deepened. "Still-" She paused abruptly as a low drone cut through the village ambiance. Her head snapped up at the familiar sound, her heart skipping a beat. The Little Guardian perked up, twisting its body to look behind itself, Impa following their gaze.

Link stood at the shop stall with his eyes closed, his hands brought up to his mouth. He held a smooth blue object to his lips, his fingers moving across its various openings slowly, changing the notes filling the air as he ran up and down a scale. The old man behind the stand rose a curious brow as Link slowly picked up speed, playing a quick little tune as his confidence grew.

Zelda and Impa started when the Little Guardian suddenly repeated the tune, its full attention on Link.

Link opened his eyes in surprise, pausing in his playing. His eyes fell on the Little Guardian, raising a brow. He looked over it at Zelda and Impa. His lips quirked in a wry grin, and he brought the ocarina back to his mouth. He played a brief tune, then looked expectantly at the Guardian. It repeated the tune back, raising its little body a bit straighter. Link played again, quicker and more complex. When the Guardian matched him, Link beamed.

With little preamble, Link launched into a sustained series of notes, and when the Guardian went to play it back, Link repeated the verse, the two playing in tandem. The Guardian skittered closer to him, listening as Link moved to a different verse, the two playing it together on the repeat. On and on they went, Link starting a verse and then both of them finishing it, until Link suddenly began the song from the top, playing it as intended with the Guardian following as accompaniment.

Zelda watched, mesmerized, as Link's feet slowly started to move, he and the Guardian circling each other as the tempo increased. She jolted as someone took her hand, finding Impa giving her an amused smile as she was suddenly pulled closer to Link and the Guardian. She stumbled slightly, Impa catching her other hand to steady her, and she suddenly found her feet moving to Link's notes, stepping in time with Impa's movements with practiced ease. A memory flashed to the forefront of her mind, and she could suddenly place the song. She remembered a ballroom in a different Hyrule castle, with a different Impa towering over her, smiling gently as a single royal musician remained to play the playful tune after the rest had left, her formal dance lessons done for the day and Impa indulging her in a dance just for fun.

Zelda laughed as she came back to the present, joining in the dance with more gusto as Link played on. It felt much more natural now that she and Impa were the same height. Impa laughed back, giving the princess a small twirl during a particular fast part of the piece.

The song reached its end before long, Link and the Guardian building to a flourish. He lowered the ocarina with a gasp, beaming as he tried to get his breath back. The Little Guardian skittered excitedly around his ankles, chirping happily as if asking for more. Zelda and Impa came to a stop, smiling brightly as their arms hung loosely around each other.

All four of them flinched at a sudden explosion of cheers and applause. Enthralled with the music, none of them had noticed that their impromptu performance had drawn quite a crowd. Link cringed at the sudden attention, bowing sheepishly at the shouts of praise. Zelda and Impa, realizing their position, awkwardly broke apart, drawing a whistle from somewhere in the back. Zelda's face reddened at the sound, Impa glaring in its direction, garnering a few scattered laughs. The Guardian just looked around at the commotion, tilting its body in confusion.

Link turned back to the stall owner, an apology already on his lips as he started to hand the ocarina back. The old Hylian stopped him with a raised hand, an amused grin on his face. "Save it, son. I've been trying to sell that thing for years. Consider the performance payment."

Link dipped his head awkwardly, smiling thankfully as he tucked the ocarina away. He turned to the girls as the crowd dispersed, clearing his throat. "So, uh… we ready to go?"

Zelda grinned at his awkwardness. She glanced down at the Guardian, who skittered around the three with its usual enthusiasm. She shared a knowing grin with Impa. "I believe so."

"If we start moving now, we should reach Korok Forest by midday tomorrow," Impa mused, slinging her and Zelda's packs over her shoulder. Link and Zelda nodded in agreement, moving towards the town exit. Impa started to follow, then turned back, taking in the site of Kakariko as it now stood, full of happy people enjoying a peaceful day. She felt a part of that peace settle within her as she turned to follow the Princess and their Knight, vowing to, if nothing else, ensure that peace lasted.

The Next Day.

At the southern end of Korok Forest, a narrow strip of mountainous land formed a natural bridge across the moat-like river surrounding the vast woodlands, known to locals as the Lost Woods. As the only path to enter the forest, the foggy strip of land was a breeding ground for Hyrule's monsters, a perfect place to just wait for a meal to come to them. Bokoblins meandered around the crumbling ruins in search of food or treasure, their Moblin leaders occasionally smacking a pair over the head to prevent any infighting over whatever scraps they found.

One particular group was making a round exiting the woods, perhaps to 'borrow' from the spoils of their nearby brethren, when the Bokoblin in the lead took notice of four figures approaching through the dense fog: two Hylians, a Shiekah, and a strange metal egg with legs.

Jabbering in excitement at the prospect of fresh meat, the Bokoblin fumbled for its hunting horn, calling all its nearby brethren to come running. The four figures paused at the sound. Taking this as a sign of fear, the Bokoblins readied their spears and clubs, charging forth with reckless abandon.

Link watched the approaching Bokoblins with mild bemusement, slowly drawing his blade. "You think they have any clue what they're in for?"

Impa snorted lightly, bringing her hands up in the beginning of a hand sign. "Doubtful."

Zelda took a slow steadying breath. "Link. Impa."

She raised a hand to the sky, her Triforce blazing as she closed her eyes, focusing. A golden glow enveloped her hands as she mimed drawing back an arrow. The glow coalesced into a spiritual bow, an arrow of pure light at her fingertips. Weapon fully formed, Zelda's eyes snapped open, shining in determination as she zeroed in on the charging monsters.

"Let's finish this quickly."

A/n: Three weeks, three chapters. I think I might finally be getting my groove back.

Hope you all liked it. Remember, reviews and comments are the spice of life for an aspiring fanfictioner!

See you at the next one!