*Aaaand I'm late again. =w= See, my laptop hates me, so not only do I not have Word anymore, but MY ENTIRE STORY WAS DELETED. That's right, people! All 200 pages wiped off the face of the internet. Including the chapter I was almost finished. OTL So I had to start this one over. Luckily I had the chance to change some things around for the better, so you can consider this the improved version. (Warning: it's still gonna suck. ;_;) So without further ado, please enjoy this chapter! ^^*

He's not back yet...

Zelda couldn't help but stare at the calander on the wall of her dorm. Karane kept comforting her about the supposed disappearance of Link, but her words didn't help. Everyone was doing their best to make her feel better, and yet the only person who could wasn't there.

She had made a giant red circle around a specific date that was closely approaching: Link's birthday. It may be corny, but she made a gift for him weeks in advance. It was a crude carving of his Loftwing, painted and all. He gave her carvings all the time, so... It was sort of fitting, if not a little embarrassing. But eighteen was a big number! A memorable present would be the best.

However, at this rate, it seemed like he wouldn't be back in time. Zelda wouldn't deny she was a little...irked that he was wisked away by an older, scandally clad woman. But Link, being a little on the ditzy side at times, didn't seem to notice too much, nor did he seem to care. The only thing that ever mattered to him was keeping people safe. Even so, Zelda found herself wishing he didn't go.

Lucky for her, she had the entire acadamy to make sure she was especially happy. They held the door open for her, bought her lots of desserts, took occassional visits to the surface with her... Things like that. Groose was the one most often going to the temple to check on the Triforce as her self-appointed body-guard of sorts. It wasn't like he was going to protect her from much, but if the rare straggling monster came out of the forest, he was skilled enough with a blade to take care of it.

But after a while, everyone began to feel the weight of Link's absense. They all remembered the state he was in right after his battle with Demise. He had several deep gashes and his right arm was broken, but it was his parting with Fi that finally did it. His vacant gaze was fixated on the floor, completely devoid of any accomplishment. It was like he was in permanent shock, everything he experienced coming back to him at once. Zelda had never seen him in such a state. Most of the residents of Skyloft didn't know about his journey until after he returned, so one could only imagine the panic Link's appearance caused.

Eventually he regrouped and was able to appear like his usual self. But Zelda wasn't that blind. During their time in the temple, he was paranoid about everything. Something so small as the wind blowing furiously during a storm made him tense, like it was a demon in disguise. Even if he didn't look it, he was actually a bit weakhearted. There were days when Zelda had to come into his room to make sure he was okay. It was the first time she made an attempt to see him in the middle of the night.

A shudder was sent down her spine, realizing how dirty that sounded. She buried her face in her hands, consumed by embarrassment. But it was true. She had to visit the supposed hero to be sure a storm wasn't scaring him. And, though she'd never actually tell anyone, she didn't mind the outcome of her first attempt to comfort him.

Zelda knew she wasn't getting any sleep. Not tonight. Within her first month in the temple with Link, a big storm hit the forest. She was used to hearing the thunder below her from Skyloft, but seeing the lightening and actually being under the heavy grey clouds brought an air of dread. Her quaint room was repeatedly lit up by the storm, and every time it was a signal for her to shut her ears in fear of the sudden crack of thunder.

Her eyes darted around the bedroom, watching for any signs of lightening. She kind of wished Link was here with her, but the both of them sharing the same room was...

She shook the thought from her mind. It wasn't right to imagine things like that! Yes, she was a teenage girl, so perhaps it was natural, but... It was still embarrassing!

"Goddesses help me," she prayed in a small voice, bringing the bedsheets close to her chin. Zelda wished she could ask an actual god to come help her (Link was a bit off-limits, as mentioned), but it was obvious that wasn't happening. She'd just have to ride the storm out alone...

BAM!

Zelda nearly jumped out of her skin with that one. It was like someone dropped a giant anvil on a slab of metal, leaving her ears ringing even with her ears plugged.

"Oh, screw it," she groaned. The girl swung her bare feet over the edge of her bed and hurried out of the room, ears still covered and protected. Because of the temple's layout, Link's room was all the way across the building. Eventually, she was timidly making her way across the mammoth entrance room. The chamber lit up omminously, causing her to freeze and await the thunder's roar. However, the result was an unimpressive rumble, so she allowed herself to relax a little. She soon made it to the opposite hallway and, proud of herself for making it this far, swiftly walked over to Link's appointed room.

"Link...?" she whispered softly, not wanting to wake him in case he'd fallen asleep. (And that boy could sleep through anything...) "You awake?"

No response.

Zelda peered through the doorway to see her friend completely covered by his sheets, huddled in a ball underneath. She quirked a brow and strode inside. "Link, you okay?"

When it took too long for an answer, she gingerly grabbed the edge of the bottom sheet and pulled it down. And there was Link, knees hugged to his chest and palms pressed to the sides of his head. He shot her a somewhat mortified gaze, but upon seeing she was frightened as well, his embarrassment faded a bit.

"Um..." Zelda stuttered, surprised seeing her usually strong friend in such a state. But this their first experience with a thunder storm, so perhaps fear wasn't a surprise. "Sorry, I was just a little...scared, I guess."

To her surprise, Link mustered the kind smile she was used to from him. "It's fine. I was kind of-"

A loud booming from outside cut him off, but it wasn't the thunder.

"There goes the bird statue," he groaned, mentioning the figure he used to pray before for safety. "Anyway, did you want to stay in here?" Zelda's face turned bright red, causing him to realize what he said. "N-No, not like that, I meant-!"

"I-It's okay!" Zelda stuttered nervously. "I was scared, actually. It's just...I've never been in a storm before..."

"I was once caught in the middle of one," Link told her with a sense of amusement. "But it wasn't really loud or scary. In fact, I think it was the first time I saw rain. I had to stop dead in my tracks and just stand there in it." He couldn't help but laugh at his own words. "Sounds dumb, doesn't it?"

Before she could answer, Link moved over to the side of his mattress and gestured with his head to the empty space.

"Um, I don't think that's..." Zelda felt her cheeks burning at the thought. "Is it really okay...?"

Link's smile quickly faded as his face lost its color. Zelda could feel he was starting to go into that state of alarm again.

"N-No, it's just me thinking stupid stuff," she giggled shakily. Before Link could protest, she hopped into the bed and pulled the blankets over her, finding the courage of keep her hands off of her ears. "See? Fine."

Zelda thought she would be more uncomfortable once she climbed in the bed, but it actual wasn't nearly as bad as she thought it would be. Link, on the other hand...

"W-Well, the storm's dying down, you know? There's no more thunder or anything, so you should-"

"But what if I get scared again?" his friend asked in an overly vulnerable tone, her mischeivous side taking over.

Link opened his mouth of retort, but quickly shut it once he realized he had nothing to say. Instead, he laid on his side with his back to Zelda. He was trembling violently despite the lack of thunder.

"Hey, Link?" she said quietly, shaking his shoulder. "I think the storm's over. The lightening stopped."

"I-I know..." was her unsure answer. "It's just...the wind, I guess."

"The wind?" She glanced outside the window next to Link. Despite the lack of lightening or thunder, the wind was picking up violently. Zelda herself never bothered paying it any mind. "But it's not going to hurt us. We're inside a stone building. Do you want to move away from the window? We can go in the central-"

"I know it won't," Link interrupted, his voice muffled by the pillow.

Zelda tilted her head, eyes filled with confusion. "Then what's there to be scared of?"

Her friend was silent for a long time. He simply laid there, his gaze fixated on the tree branches beating violently against the window. However, at the very moment Zelda was going to give up on an answer, he muttered, "It might be a tornado or something..."

He shoved his face into his pillow, probably to hide his obvious embarrassment, as Zelda have him a long stare. "Um... What's a tornado?"

Link lifted his head slightly to give her a sideways glance. "In your dad's books. It told of ancient times on the surface. No one else on Skyloft knew that time even existed. And one chapter was on different types of weather: rain, hurricanes, earthquakes..."

"And tornados," Zelda finished.

"Yup," he nodded. "It's a giant whirlwind of air that picks stuff up and flings it all around."

Zelda didn't even try to find a response. What he was describing was now clear to her; he was talking about the funnel of wind that dragged them both down to the surface in the first place. She wisely decided not to press the subject further and finally settled into bed, still facing Link. The girl smirked as his cheeks and ears turned bright red, prompting him to face the window once more. The movement was sudden and jumpy, which only made the sight admittedly cuter.

Link's friend entertained the idea of messing with him a bit more. She played pranks on him often, a passtime he was never cross with her for, so he should've been quite used to it. After a few moments of scheming she settled on the obvious course of action.

"Hey, Link?"

He grunted in reply, likely pretending to be half asleep. Zelda knew him well enough to know he was doing that so she wouldn't think he was still frightened.

"You know, I don't think my dad would very much approve of this situation."

She stared at him expectantly. To her genuine surprise, Link's reaction wasn't immediate. She was hoping he'd literally fall out of the bed in shock, but that's not what happened.

Instead, Link slowly turned to face her. She was instantly caught off guard by his sheepish expression. "But, you know," he began, averting her gaze. "Your dad isn't here."

Zelda blinked stupidly at his words. There was a long, awkward silence as Link's reply weighed down on him.

"S-Sorry, I didn't mean-!" he gasped frantically.

"No, i-it's okay," Zelda said, face flushed from embarrassment. She offered him her best attempt at a smile, but she was admittedly shaken by his words. He was usually so shocked when something embarrassing was said, so what was with this reaction? Not only that, but the fact that neither of them could break eye contact made things worse.

Finally, to Zelda's relief, Link rolled himself onto his back. His hands were still pressed to his ears, but judging by their position, he was trying to avoid looking at his friend as well.

"Link," she said suddenly. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "I said it's okay."

"...Define 'okay,'" Link replied. At first Zelda couldn't tell if he was being flirtatious or not, but the slight sarcastic tone of his words proved otherwise. And once she picked up on it, she couldn't help but feel irritated. What was that supposed to mean?

In a spontanious attempt to prove a nonexistant point, she quickly slid closer to Link and laid there defiantly. By the look on Link's face, he was probably close to passing out by now. His cheeks were flushed red and he appeared to be holding his breath for whatever reason.

"See?" Zelda said. She had just now realized she did something stupid, but since it was done, she might as well go with it. "This isn't anything inappropriate. And if you're thinking that way, you've got a dirty mind."

Before she even finished her sentence, Link rolled over to the window again. His hands were away from his ears, now hidden somewhere under the covers. He was curled into a ball again...

"Link, I told you the storm's gone!" Zelda huffed.

She didn't get an answer this time. However, she sort of regretted snapping at him since he seemed to be under a lot of stress at the moment. Plus, he was a boy, so he couldn't really help having thoughts like that.

"...Sorry," she apologized sheepishly. "I guess when I'm embarrassed I...do stuff like that."

"It'sfine," was the hurried she got. Link's words were so run together she could barely make them out.

After a few seconds of silence, she decided on her next statement. "Hey, Link, can I ask you something?" She could've sworn she heard him groan, but went on with asking anyway. "Do you want me to go back to my own room?"

As if on cue, the wind picked up speed violently, causing Link to start shaking again.

I'll take that as a no, she thought in slight amusement. I think I'll just wait here until he goes to sleep. Then I'll go back to bed.

But, of course, that wasn't how things turned out. Zelda clearly remembered waking up the next day still in Link's bed. From what she could recall, she was the one that fell asleep first. When she went outside to the Sealed Ground in the morning, she saw Link with his head in the clouds, smiling like an idiot. Whatever was going through his head last night made him pretty happy...

However, when he finally noticed Zelda, his face flushed red again and he hurried away to do something else. Since she didn't want to embarrass him any further, she never went into his room after that. But as the days went on, Link started to get more disappointed in the morning.

Now in her dorm on Skyloft, she giggled at the thought. She was too annoyed with his behavior at the time to realize that was his inexperienced way of flirting with her. Zelda was admittedly becoming impatient with him at this point. She could only go so long without being around him! They had been together their entire lives and then Ghirahim ripped them apart. She couldn't bear to have that happen again...

"Interesting."

...Huh?

She glanced around her dorm room curiously? "Karane?"

"You must be kidding," the voice groaned. "You think this is the voice of a teenage girl? For the reincarnation of Her Grace you sure are clueless. And not in a cute way."

Zelda leapt up from the stool she sat on stumbled back. "Who are you?!"

"...It's not important, Your Grace."

"Don't call me that. I like being called 'Zelda' now, if you don't mind," she retorted defiantly.

The voice was silent for long moment. "I can't be familiar with you, no matter how any times you tell me. And I think you should be worried about who I am than what I call you, don't you think?"

"I guess," Zelda replied uncertainly. "But at least tell me where you are first."

"You sure you want to know? It might open up some painful memories."

"I'm sure," she answered.

"Alright, then, if you say so."

At that moment, Zelda felt a tap on her shoulder. She spun around in shock, nearly falling back at what she saw. Her mind had been imagining some sort of demon, but instead stood a tall, ordinary man. Well, "ordinary" probably wasn't the right word. His nearly clear blue eyes and pale blond hair set him apart from the rest, making him easily recognizable. His clothes looked very similar to Link's but weren't as thick or layered. They appeared to be more cheaply made, consisting of flimsy material.

"Do you not recognize me or something?" the man asked flatly. "Go on, say it."

Zelda blinked stupidly. "...Say what?"

"Call me an idiot for getting myself killed," he added. "You were so happy when I got out of that battle with Ghirahim alive, but I-"

"What are you talking about?"

The man's expressionless gaze flashed with panic for a moment. "I'm sorry?"

"Um, you must have the wrong person," Zelda smiled apologietically. "I don't know you."

She let out a short shriek as he grabbed her shoulders roughly, leaning over her. "I thought you were Her Grace? Dont tell me I possessed an imposter..."

"N-No, I'm her!" Zelda assured him nervously, holding up her hands. "But if I did meet you, it was probably only for a second. Maybe you're an ancestor of Link's or something? You look like him."

"What the hell are you going on about?" the man asked sternly, clearly becoming frusterated. "I am Link! Not the one from this era, but when you were Her Grace, I was-"

He cut himself off abruptly, noticing Zelda's confused expression. The man let go of her shoulders and shook his head.

"How could you not know me?" he wondered aloud, clearly hiding his anger. "You and I, we-" He stopped himself once more for a more obscure reason. "Whatever, not important. Right now we've got to find out what the hell happened to your memories."

"Nothing's wrong with my memories!" Zelda defended. "I remember everything clearly and there aren't any gaps. And I can say with complete certainty that I've never seen you before."

The man gave her a long glare of irritation, but it was quickly replaced with an unreadable expression. "Let me ask you something. Didn't you have some sort of chosen hero that helped you defeat Demise?" Zelda nodded, seeming to give him hope. "And what did he look like?"

"Oh, well, he was younger than me, probably around sixteen, and had brown hair with green eyes."

"...You've got to be fucking kidding me," the man groaned, clenching his fist. "That's not right."

Zelda furrowed her brows, now becoming angry with his doubtful behavior. "Yes it is! I remember it clearly!"

"No, it's not," he snapped flatly. "That was supposed to be me. I'm sure you didn't get your memories back on your own, so whever helped you gave you false ones too."

"Don't you dare! Impa would never even think of doing that!"

The man's eyes widened as he gave her a hard stare. "Impa?" he repeated bluntly. He threw his hands up in realization. "Of course she'd be the one!"

"I told you she wouldn't," Zelda muttered defiantly.

"Whatever, it's nothing," he sighed. "Not important right now. At the moment we've got to find a way to Cia's dimension."

"Cia?" Zelda repeated. "Isn't that the woman Link went with?"

"Yeah, and it turns out she wasn't as nice as you guys thought. Surprise, surprise. Anyway, he's in deep trouble, so I need you to go help him."

"He's in trouble?! Oh, I knew I should've stopped him..."

The man, for whatever reason, offered her a genuine smile. Zelda froze at the sight of it, but didn't say anything. "Don't worry, he's alive and well," he assured her gently. "But I can't say where he is now. If you come back with me, you'll be able to defeat Cia and help him."

"Me?" Zelda shook her head. "But Link's always been the one to save me... I can't fight."

"Listen to me, Your Grace. Right now, you're the only one who can save him. You're the Goddess herself in the purest form possible. You'll be reincarnated like everyone else, along with your powers, but they'll become deluted over time."

His words didn't shock her much. Like most on Skyloft, Zelda believed in rebirth after death, a thought which comforted her when grim thoughts crossed her mind. So she decided to play along for now.

"Light overpowers darkness," the man continued. "So you should easily be able to beat Cia. Just follow my lead and you'll be alright."

Zelda processed his explination carefully, but couldn't mind any obvious holes. Plus, if Link was in danger, then...

"Alright," she nodded. "Lead the way."

Her agreement caused him to give her another kind smile, an expression that admittedly suited him. "Sorry, but I can't sent you there, physically speaking. I can travel around as I please through possession, but my main 'host' had a dark barrier put on him. I can get anywhere near the kid now."

"Oh..." Zelda went pale with worry. If Link really was in danger, she had to leave immediately. "Maybe my father has some information for. Or at least I hope so..."

"Sounds like as good a starting point as any," the man sighed, obviously disappointed they didn't have a better place to look.

"By the way, I was wondering what I should call you," Zelda said with a smile.

He was silent for a while before he came up with an answer. "I told you my name is Link, but that would be confusing. So you can come up with any name you'd like to call me."

"If you say so," Zelda shrugged. She still wasn't sure if she believed this person was her chosen hero, but he seemed genuine enough. But as of the moment, she had to focus on the task at hand. She quickly rushed out of her dorm and made her way towards her father's study.

*I have good news! If you read the one-shot I put up a few days ago, I thought THIS chapter was deleted as well. But by the grace of the Nintendo and FanFiction gods, IT LIVES! :D

Nayru: You're welcome! ^^

Din: We demand 500,000 rupees and a Link as payment.

Oh, alright. You can take Sky. No one likes him anyway.

Sky: D:

Anyway, I hope this chapter turned out okay. I'm pretty rusty and SS Zelda is hard to write for, but once Hylia's Chosen Hero came up again, it got really easy. ^^ Didn't think you'd see him again, did ya?

Wolf: I wonder how many plot holes this makes...?

Young Link: 875, last time I checked. :3

Oh, shut up. Yeah, the dialogue in this chapter may bring up some supposed plot holes, but be patient and I'll fill them in. :P Until next time!

k bye.

P.S. Also, please check out that one-shot if you'd like! It's called "Tales of a Hero." It's basically the epilogue of a story that never was, which is an Ocarina of Time novel I was working on. I had lots of great ideas for it, but I don't know how many people would want to read it. I still MAY make it, but look at the one-shot if you want to know what to look out for. ^^ (It gets pretty dark towards the end, though... 0_0')

P.P.S. Just wanted to say thank you to all the reviewers that keep me motivated. You're all amazing! :D I hope my later chapters can keep you interested until the end. :3*