Part Five

Link had finally fallen asleep in Mikomi's arms, but no one else had been blessed with such a gift. Navi sat in Mikomi's hair, and Impa sat nearby, watching over Zelda Hime. Zelda had thrashed once before Link had started screaming, Navi told her. Now her body seemed colder than before, but her pulse still beat normally. Impa didn't know what to do, so she sat there, beside her princess, as Mikomi asked questions.

"How long has he been having dreams like this?" Mikomi questioned anyone within the room.

Impa sighed. "I'm not sure. Maybe since the last time you saw him."

"No." Navi fluttered down in front of Mikomi's face, her eyes downcast. She was looking at the boy, and reached out a tiny hand to pat his hair. "For awhile, now, Link-kun has been behaving strangely. Maybe as far back as two years. Since...since he defeated Ganon."

Impa shook her head. "That's impossible, child. Ganon has been gone for two years. He disappeared from the palace, and hasn't been heard of since. Not since I took Zelda away for...wait. When...did I take Zelda away?"

Mikomi sighed. She was wondering when she would need to explain this. "Link is the Hero of Time. He did defeat Ganondorf two years ago, although, not like you would think. What you are doing, Impa, is remembering memories that should have been locked away when Zelda Hime-sama retrieved the Ocarina of Time back from Link, and sent him back here, to when he had left."

"I...I don't understand."

Navi turned around and started explaining. "Two years ago, Link came to the palace to talk with Zelda Hime-sama, am I correct?"

"Y-yes."

"And that was the last time you saw him?

"Yes...no. The last time I saws him, I was taking the princess from the palace...wait, no. Why...why would I do that?"

"Because Ganondorf was trying to take over, and you and the princess were escaping with the Ocarina of Time." Navi was beginning to think Impa would never understand.

Impa held her head in her hands. "I'm confused. Ganondorf disappeared two years ago. I remember!"

"Because he did," Navi piped. "Two years ago, Link-kun found the three Spiritual Stones, and used those to open the Gates of Time, and retrieve the Master Sword. Once there, Ganondorf used Link-kun's portal to take over the Sacred Realm. But Link-kun was too young to use the sacred weapon, so Ganondorf ruled Hyrule for seven years, until Link-kun awoke and could wield the Master Sword. That is when he defeated Ganondorf. In the future. After that, he returned the Ocarina of Time to Zelda Hime-sama, and she in turn returned him back to this time."

"And in doing so, Link rewrote history. However, all those involved as Sages remembered what happened. Everyone else forgot, including you."

"Why did I forget?"

"I don't know. You are a Sage as well." Mikomi shifted a little, since the weight was hurting her legs. "Maybe Zelda Hime-sama wanted it that way."

"But we'll never know, if she doesn't wake up." Leaving Link, Navi fluttered over to the sleeping princess as she talked, but Impa grabbed her out of the air, her eyes angry.

"Don't say such things! She will wake up! Do you understand me?"

Navi gulped and nodded. Impa released her, and Navi glided down to the ground, rubbing her shoulders and wings. "That hurt, ya know..." When no one noticed her obvious disgruntlement, Navi walked over to Link and curled up in a ball on his shoulders, where she fell asleep.

Impa ignored the sprite and lifted Zelda's head so she could give her something to drink. The warrior protectress was glad of one thing during this whole nightmare: although the princess had yet to wake from her unnatural slumber, she would drink and eat, albeit slowly, without any help other than that someone hold the nourishment before her mouth. Impa sighed as Zelda slowly swallowed the cool water. At least that hadn't changed since the night's events.

Mikomi noticed what she was doing, and laid her son on the ground as gently as she could, then stood and stretched as she walked to Impa's side. Once there, she placed a cool hand to the princess' forehead.

Impa didn't look up. "Do you know what's wrong, Mikomi?"

Mikomi shook her head, and removed her hand from the girl's sweaty forehead. Arranging her skirts beneath he, she sat down and clasped her fists in her lap.

"I'm dead, remember?"

"You know what I mean. Can't you...see things?" Impa made a strange motion with her hands, as though she was trying to cast a spell. "You know, know what's going on at places where you aren't?"

Mikomi shook her head. "No, it doesn't work that way. Actually, I shouldn't even be here." She looked up at the ceiling, as though she could see the sky through it. "I should be there, with my husband. I shouldn't be a ghost." She looked down at her suddenly clenched hands.

"What's it feel like, to be a ghost?" Impa asked as she continued to feed Zelda.

Unclenching her hands, Mikomi shrugged. "Strange. I can feel that I'm here, but not. I don't know how to describe it. It feels like...like my body is incomplete. That's as good as I can describe it. I'm sorry."

Impa shrugged and laid the princess back down, so she could sleep in peace. "It's all right. I shouldn't have pried." Looking up, Impa noticed Mikomi looking at Link. "Does he know?"

"No, and he can't. You promised, remember?"

"Yes." Impa thought back to when Mikomi had first appeared, when the castle was burning. Back to when she had made that promise.

* * *

The scream of Zelda Hime made Impa drop the saddle she had been holding, and the horse beside her nickered. Patting the creature and yelling to the stable hand, Impa ran out of the stables, and was suddenly confronted by waves of fire from the castle. Inside, the horses, smelling the smoke, screamed in panic, but Impa had no time to worry about them. Zelda Hime was still inside, beyond the throne room, trapped within the walls of the palace.

Impa ran through the palace inferno, trying to get to the room Zelda Hime was in. Crumbling walls and firewalls impeded her, but she had to save the children.

"Over here! This way!"

Impa turned and just barely noticed a young woman running through a corridor to her left, and followed. Lost in the maze of burning walls and suffocating smoke, she would take all the help she could get.

The fire raged on as Impa followed the strange, half-seen girl. Not thinking much of it, with only the burning urge to save the two children from harm, Impa followed blindly, coughing from the smoke and heat. Her lungs burned and her skin was fiery hot, but she kept going.

Many times Impa thought they had reached the room where the princess was, but each time the girl would fly past her on fast legs, shaking her head no. Each time this happened, Impa would feel a tear in her heart. These delays could mean the princess' life.

And yet other times, fire blocked the quickest way. Twice Impa could see the door that they needed from the far end of the hall, and both times the ceiling collapsed in a fiery display. Impa became more and more anxious, and was ready to run through the death flames. Bu the girl would hold her back, her strangely cool hands a jolt of reason to the Sheik warrior's frightened mind.

Finally, though, they reached the room the princess had gone into with Link, but Impa stopped dead in her tracks. The door was blocked by most of the adjacent wall. Feeling hopeless, Impa fell to her knees. After all the hard work, all the close calls and near deaths to get here...

"Zelda Hime..."

"Here, I can help."

Impa looked up, and noticed the girl again. She had often disappeared for long stretches of time, while Impa ran through corridors and tore through holes in walls. Upon closer inspection, Impa seemed to remember her. Also upon closer inspection, Impa noticed that nothing on the girl's person was singed in any way. Looking at her, no one would know she was standing in a burning corridor. Impa's eyes narrowed in suspicion, but she did nothing as she stood, side by side with the pale girl.

Reaching out a gentle hand, the girl touched the rubble blocking the door, and closed her eyes. Her eyebrows scrunched together, and Impa could tell she was concentrating hard. Finally, the girl opened her eyes, and the rubble seemed to disappear. Turning, she smiled down at Impa, whose eyes were wide and her mouth hanging open.

"It won't stay gone for long. We have to hurry. You grab Zelda Hime-sama, and I'll take the boy." Her voice was soft and sweet, and unaffected by the harshness of the air around them.

Nodding, Impa jumped to attention, her surprise at the girl's powers overcome by the need to save the children in the room. Barrelling through the now unblocked doorway, she saw the princess on the ground, ran to her, and watched as the other woman picked up Link, rubbing his back and looking at him with sad eyes. Picking the unconscious Zelda off the floor, together they ran from the room, just as the rubble reappeared.

It was much easier to find a way out of the castle than it had been to find a way in. Many of the walls had already collapsed, making convenient openings to the outside. Covering the children with their bodies, the two women ran through the fires blocking the exits, relief surging through them each time they came out the other side unscathed.

Once outside, Impa breathed in the cool air deeply. The late summer weather felt perfect against her heated skin. Before she could revel in the feel of the air, however, the young woman directed her towards the distant grove, and started running. Following, Impa ran up beside her so she could get a better look. She had suspicions about a girl who could walk through fire and not get burned in any way. Impa herself could feel the skin of her hands burning.

They ran together for a while, then, after moments of silence, the girl spoke. "Is there something wrong with me?" She never looked anywhere but forwards.

Impa was staring. "Mi-mikomi?"

The girl looked at Impa out of the corner of her eye, then continued to stare before her. "Yes?"

Impa stopped dead. She couldn't believe this. Mikomi ran a few yards beyond her, then slowed as well. "But...you're dead!"

Mikomi sighed. "Yes. And so will these children if we don't get them someplace safe. Now come on."

Not knowing what else to do, the Sheik warrior followed, her mind running through many more questions than could ever be answered.

Once at the grove after an eternity of running, Impa set the princess down and collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. Mikomi set the boy down a little ways away from the panting Sheik. Link seemed to stir, but Mikomi hushed him with a hand to his cheek. When he was sleeping again, Mikomi left his side, grabbed a branch from nearby, and returned to her son. There, she started working on making a splint.

"You should be dead." Impa sat back, her breathing finally normal again.

"I am dead."

"Then how-"

"Am I here? I don't know. I really don't. Something is happening, something evil. Maybe that's why. But Impa, you have to promise me something." All the while she was working on her son's left arm. Impa hadn't noticed it before, but it had a huge gash running from shoulder to forearm. Trusting Mikomi to her work, Impa answered.

"Yes?"

"You can't let anyone know about me."

"Why? Because you're a ghost?"

Mikomi nodded. "That, and I don't want Link finding out. I have a feeling, that if anyone knows...I'm, I'm not sure what will happen. But you must not let anyone know I was here."

Impa nodded. "I promise." She never questioned her acquiescence.

"Thank you." Mikomi smiled at her best friend, and returned to knitting up her son's arm.

* * *

"What ever did make the castle burn, anyway?"

Mikomi turned back towards her living friend. "What was that?"

Impa shook her head. "Nothing."

Mikomi sighed. She was still staring at her son. "I heard what you told him. I think you have an over-inflated opinion of us." By her tone, Impa could tell "us" implied Mikomi and Aylen. "I did expect a lot from him, though. We both did. I think...we weren't disappointed." She smiled, but dropped her gaze after a minute.

Impa placed her hand over Mikomi's, but pulled back quickly. She couldn't feel anything. Mikomi didn't seem to notice; that, or she didn't care.

"I want to talk with him, you know. It's difficult, just being here. I'm so close, but..." She reached her hand towards the sleeping boy, but let it fall. "At least, when I was with the Goddesses, I knew I couldn't be with him. I could watch, and I did, but...it's difficult, now."

Impa wanted to say something, but Mikomi stood quickly and looked down at her.

"You have to promise to watch him. Something weird is going on, and it's messing with his mind. I can feel it radiating off of him in waves." Mikomi placed her delicate chin in her hands. Her child-like face was creased with worry. She seemed to have trouble expressing her next thought. "Have you noticed, he's been acting strangely?"

Impa refrained from telling her friend that she thought her son was losing his mind. "Yes."

"Be careful. I don't know what's happening. This is a strange enemy, totally unlike Ganondorf. Let us pray it's not as bad. But..." She shook her head, as though she was remembering something painful. "I've seen it, in his dreams. And it feels evil. Not insane, or power-hungry, just...evil. I've tried to warn Link, but..."

Just then, the boy in question began to stir, rubbing his eyes and yawning as he rolled over, facing away from them. He looked cute, just like a young wolf cub. Mikomi spared a moment to smile warmly at him, then turned to leave.

Impa didn't try to stop her.




Link opened his eyes, then squeezed them shut. He didn't want the tears to spill out. He also didn't want anyone to notice he was awake.

"I heard what you told him. I think you have an over-inflated opinion of us. I did expect a lot from him, though. We both did. I think...we weren't disappointed." Even though he couldn't see, Link had the feeling the speaker was that strange girl he had thought he'd seen.

There was a pause, then:

"I want to talk with him, you know?" The woman's voice caught. Link thought she might be about to cry. "It's difficult, just being here. I'm so close, but... " There was a pause. "At least, when I was with the Goddesses, I knew I couldn't be with him. I could watch, and I did, but...it's difficult, now."

Link tried not to sniffle. He was sure of the voice now. Sure of...who it was that was talking. Fresh tears welled up under his lids, but he forced them down and controlled his breathing. They couldn't know he was awake! If they did, then...she would leave.

Suddenly, her voice changed. It was still sad, but more determined.

"You have to promise to watch him. Something weird is going on, and it's messing with his mind. I can feel it radiating off of him in waves." Link's breath caught in his throat as she took her own breath. "Have you noticed, he's been acting strangely?"

"Yes." Impa seemed sad. Link couldn't tell why. His eyes stung, he had to wipe them clear of the tears soon.

"Be careful. I don't know what's happening. This is a strange enemy, totally unlike Ganondorf. Let us pray it's not as bad. But..." Again, she paused, and this time seemed to shudder. "I've seen it, in his dreams. And it feels evil. Not insane, or power-hungry, just...evil. I've tried to warn Link, but..."

Link couldn't take it anymore. He rubbed his eyes clear of the tears, and opened his mouth to let out the cries that had been burning in his throat. He rolled over, so they couldn't see; so they couldn't tell that he was really crying, not waking up.

"Mother..." The whispered plea died in his parched throat.

It was true. It was all true. His dreams suddenly leaped back at him, fully real and just as terrifying.

He saw Saria, his best friend, standing above him, a bloody knife held in her tiny hands. A dark shadow, sitting on a throne, laughing as his double-him-tried to kill the princess. Zelda Hime, lying in a broken bloody heap, her blank eyes staring straight through him. They were all real.

Impa was right to think he was crazy. Even his mother did.

Everything. Everything bad that was happening...

Link didn't hear the girl-his mother-leave. His mind was wracked by one thought, and one thought only.

It's all my fault.








LINK NO MIKO'S LITTLE CORNER OF TALKINGNESS


Hola! Been a long time, ain't it? Well, tis chapter five, it is. And like promised, I am also changing the blurby thingy below mine title. The prize goes out to....*dramatic music* STARHEALER. Thankees to your contribution. And that's all you get, too. ^-^x

Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this too-short-by-my-standards chapter. I wish I could make them longer... But that's for later. See ya then.

Biee.