Chapter 8

Somehow in the direst of situations, we can understand things we could never grasp before, and it was at that moment when something in Marin's mind clicked....

The bow. It was cast on the ground beside her, a single arrow still fitted into its curved body. She bit her lip, mustering all of her courage and taking it into her hand. One chance, an absolute gamble, a final hope. So many thoughts flew through her mind, but the actual event took mere seconds. Marin swallowed, aimed the bow, closed her eyes, and shot it.

Ganondorf's scream was macabre, absolutely appalling to the ears. Her eyes opened just in time to see the great, twisted sword fall from his hands and drop to the ground below. The arrow pierced his armor as if it was made of nothing but air. Link shot up, fumbling for his sword in the increasing darkness. As the man crumbled to the ground in agony, Link rose above him.

"This is for Hyrule. This is for Tarin. And most of all this is for Koholint," Link raised his sword slowly, allowing fear to seep into Ganondorf's mind in his final moments.

"No, Link," Marin stopped him gently, taking the sword from his hand.

"No?" Link gaped at her.

"He is mine to kill," she whispered, her eyes narrowing, "Not yours."

She encircled him, keeping her eyes fixated on him at all times. Link couldn't fathom Marin wanting to kill, even someone as minacious as Ganondorf. "And this," she said pointedly, "Is for Link."

Marin drove the sword into his chest, letting it pierce his heart. Correction...he hadn't a heart, only emptiness where one should have been. Though it was a lurid sight, she found that she could not take her eyes away, as the Gerudo began to choke on his own blood. She winced. It was almost pathetic, but she would never have the least bit of pity for him.

"You may have killed me," he choked out, "but I will take you all with me." With his last ounce of strength he raised his great, metal clad arms, summoning forces beyond their control. "This island will...sink...." he slurred his words unable to keep his life for another minute.

Marin blinked her eyes. Ganondorf was dead. And she was the one who killed him. She turned to Link searching for her voice, her soul once more.

And she watched as the hero of time broke down.

"There's nothing we can do. We're insignificant. I'm insignificant...." he sobbed harshly.

"Link," she whispered, putting out a hand to comfort him, as he'd so often done for her.

She didn't finish her sentence as she looked out over Koholint. It looked eerie, dark rolling mists and churning waters...Marin lowered her head sorrowfully...

The waters

The tossing ocean.

The black seas.

She gasped, realizing that she was knee deep in the frigid waters. Ganondorf was gone, but soon they would all pass too, Koholint would be but a memory, and not even a dream...

"I knew it! No matter what you do you can't change fate! We're all gonna drown!" Link screamed, his voice racked with hatred, racked with regret...

Regret that it was going to end like this. Regret that he'd never led a normal life. And regret that because of him...

Koholint would die too.

"Don't say that," Marin murmured, her voice tranquil yet somehow hurt.

Link looked back at her, captivated by her every word. She was the only one who could find hope in certain death. The only one who could find light in the darkest of nights. He shivered as he felt the ocean swirling about his waist. He felt his body going numb with the icy coldness of the water.

"Don't ever say that," Marin said again, "because it's a lie."

Link swallowed his words, there was nothing more he wished to say. Except to Marin, if only to tell her that everything would be okay. He trudged heavily across the rising waters, every inch feeling like a mile, every second an eternity.

"I know it, Marin," he whispered, "and we'll live through this."

"No, Link," she said quietly, her eyes shimmering with tears, "we won't. But we'll make it through this."

He couldn't think of anything to do, anything to say, but he wrapped his arms around Marin, a feeling of determination surging inside of him. He couldn't explain it, define it, know what it was but...he could feel it.

"Would you do anything to save Koholint, Marin?"

"Why...of course," she choked out softly.

"Is that a promise?"

"I'd do anything to save my island and its people," she replied glancing at the sea, now splashing against her chest, quickly rising to her shoulders.

"Then I guess this is goodbye," Link whispered.

"What?" Marin's voice was like an echo of himself.

"I caused this. And I'm the only one who can end it. Marin, if I leave, Koholint will be saved," each word cut into her, sharper then Ganondorf's sword ever was.

"You can never come back..." she tilted her face upwards, the water licking her neck, stinging her still open wounds with its salt. "You're not just anything Link...you're different..."

"You promised, and I won't let you back out."

"You said you's never leave me," Marin whispered, hot tears mixing with the cold ocean that was now engulfing her entire body.

"I said I never wanted to leave you, and I don't...Marin, I want to stay with you forever."

"You'll awaken, Link. And I'll never be a part of you again..."

Link felt a single tear caressing the side of his face, "Just remember me forever," he murmured, pressing his lips urgently against hers.

Marin felt the waves crashing against her body, she felt the cold water rising steadily past her chin, but most she felt Link all throughout her, feeling his tender hold on her very soul. And she found her strength.

"Don't forget me," she backed away feeling the ocean lifting her momentarily off her feet.

"Never. Marin..." Link paused, "I love you." He fumbled in the dark waters, reaching into his tunic, matted to his body, and he handed her a single orchid. Its petals worn and tattered, its color so pale it looked white...

And he dove down into the turbulent seas.

For a moment he felt an urge to just soar back to the surface, the thought of breathing in the water surrounding him was so frightening...but he had to for Koholint, and most of all, for Marin.

Link felt his entire body going into shock. Many times, he'd looked death in the eyes, and yet never before had he tasted it in all its horror. He felt his body going rigid, his mind fading into total oblivion...then everything went black...

* * * *

Link groaned, his eyes fluttering open. The air was cool, soft crickets chirping out into the night. Outside, he could see the dark green silhouettes of the trees, the golden life that was in everything in Hyrule swirling past in the subtle breezes. He opened his mouth, coughing up salty water mixed with his own blood.

He was back.

Never before had he remembered Koholint, but he knew he'd never forget it again. He knew he'd never again return, and never again would he see Marin. At the thought his soul was ripped in two...but he couldn't be ruined by a dream...

"It's a dream," he muttered, his mind controlling his voice. Yet somehow that was wrong...

"Maybe it's not though. Maybe it's reality, and can only be reached through your imagination," he breathed, allowing the realization to seep in.

Allowing the truth to seep in.

Never again did Link return to the island of dreams, though on many restless nights he could still feel the warm sea air caressing him in its folds. And of Koholint's fate, he never knew what happened, but deep inside he felt he'd somehow saved it. Sacrifice had a whole new meaning from that day forth. Not of life, not of death, but of giving the most precious thing in one's life...to him, Marin.

She'd given him back his life, and in his time back with her he'd learned what it truly meant to simply love. She'd returned his soul, that he now knew he'd left at Koholint so many years before. And as he lay on his bed his mind drifted...

To Koholint...

To the splashing of the waves against the shore...

To Marin's sweet voice trilling across the sands...

And he knew he'd never again be alone.





The End ^_^ Please tell me what you think, I really appreciate all the lovely reviews I've gotten! Thank you. And if anyone has any idea for my next story...e-mail me!! Hope you enjoyed it.