Chapter 1: The Future

The wind blew across the open field. It gave the gift of flight to the many leaves of the trees that danced in the wind. The happy wind. It echoed song that had rung across many billions of years. It toyed with the hearts of many a young child, causing laughter as they ran in the breeze. Today, the laughter that rang through its midst was of a young girl out playing on her sweet sixteen. She had beauty beyond imagination. Her hair was the color of the night, and her ocean eyes twinkled like stars. Her skin was soft and fair, with rosy cheeks, hence her name...Rosemarie.

Her long blue dress skimmed the grass as she twirled round and round. It was made of the finest of silks. It silhouetted her graceful figure. The loose sleeves exposed much of her arm, ending right below her elbows. Silver sunflowers raced across the pale blue sky of her dress. The fluttered in and out as she spun round and round.

"Rosemarie!" A call echoed in the distance. In an instant, Rosemarie stopped spinning. She raced over to the source of the sound. She smiled. Running toward her was a girl of equivalent beauty. Her hair was a cascade of golden locks, her eyes the color of lavender. She had fair skin and a slim figure. Her name was Zelda.

"Hey Zelda," Rosemarie yelled back. Her friend finally caught up with her.

"Happy Birthday, Rose!" Zelda said, hugging her best friend.

"Thank you, Zelda. Did you run all the way here to tell me that?"

"No, I thought you forgot what time it is!"

"Time?"

"Yes, of course, Rosemarie. As in, it's the start of the evening, which means..."

"Oh my Goddesses! Prince Link will be..." Without another word, the two raced off. They arrived back at Hyrule Market Town just as the gate closed behind them. With a sigh of relief, they headed to the inner streets.

The market was as lively as ever. Even though it was nearing dinnertime and it was practically dark, the stores had brightened their lamps and invited a festive mood. There was no reason to wonder why. The prince of Hyrule always visited the commoners. Rosemarie and Zelda hurried to the center of the Market where the fountain always played. Hopefully, Link would come by there.

The two girls had learned all about the prince in school last year (their favorite unit because Prince Link's portrait was displayed in the head of the classroom). Zelda had always thought his name didn't sound like a Hylian prince's. Rosemarie had researched the matter. She figured out that Prince Link of today was actually the great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandson of the legendary Hero of Time! That's why he was named Link. And the Hero of Time's wife had been the legendary Princess Zelda of the past. Of course, learning that, Zelda was very thrilled and always kept boring Rosemarie with the idea that she might be destined to marry Link. To Rosemarie it was all boring history.

That was until she discovered something she found very interesting. While roaming though the Hyrule Library, Rosemarie came upon the diary of the Hero of Time's very own Zelda. She was reading it in the lounge chair, leaning back a bit, when she saw her name in the diary. She fell backwards.

After being embarrassed as everyone watched her get up, she quickly went back to the place she saw her name. It was as clear as the nose on her face. In the neatest cursive known to Hyrule, her name was printed in blue ink...Rosemarie. Puzzled, she read on. She figured out that the Rosemarie in the diary was the servant of Zelda. Though her position was very low, she was Zelda's best friend. Rosemarie was very excited with the news. She had an ancestor related to Zelda! Or hopefully, that was her ancestor. After all, it fitted perfectly well.

Rosemarie turned the next page and kept reading. Hoping for more information on her "ancestor", she flipped to the last entry in the diary. The words she found were "I miss Rosemarie. She was brave." This confused the present Rosemarie. She flipped back a few pages. She tried to look for any clue to where the past Rosemarie had gone. She found it.

A few pages from the end of the diary was a page written in shaky handwriting. It did not match any of the beautiful script in the other pages. Clearly someone who was shaking had written it. Rosemarie read, as best as she could, and got to the part where she realized what had happened. She read aloud,

"Now she's gone. After she intercepted that blast, Link managed to defeat the man. But the cost was too much for me. Now, I would trade my soul to have Rosemarie back again. I wish she didn't depart. I just hope she finds good luck wherever she goes. But, I cannot live without her."

Rosemarie gasped. She flipped back to the end. She read the last words again. She looked up at the date. She flipped back to the front and read that date. Only two years separated them. What had happened to Zelda? Eager to find out, Rosemarie rushed to the bookshelf. She found some books that could explain. She had never quite gotten to this part in her research. Finally, she found it.

"Rosemarie! Snap back to the future!" Zelda yelled. Rosemarie zoomed in from her flashback.

"Sorry, I was just going over something in my head."

"Yeah, but look," Zelda pointed to a crowd of people huddled around a figure on a horse. No doubt that was Prince Link. His blonde hair fell around his face and his blue eyes pierced his surroundings. He had a warm smile to all those who welcomed him. Children squeezed their way to him and older girls stood in the corner, gazing at him and giggling. Link got up and embraced the children; he loved kids. He waved to everyone, including the girls in the corner, who blushed and giggled furiously, some of them waving back shyly.

Rosemarie and Zelda were seated on the fountain rim, both gazing at him. Zelda held herself as well as a princess. Rosemarie knew she was a bit of a klutz and wondered if she should sit somewhere else. She supported herself by leaning forward but it was too uncomfortable. She leaned back a bit and her hands gripped the side. She knew how dangerous this was but it was the only comfortable solution. Maybe if her dress didn't have so many ruffles...

"He's waving at us!" Zelda squealed, startling Rosemarie. She fell backwards off the edge and plunged into the ice cold water.