Link drew the Master Sword from its sheath, sweat and blood glinting from his face. The Hero of Winds whirled the blade in his hand and whispered, "It ends here, Ganondorf."

The two began to parry, fighting vainly in a struggle of life and death. Water splashed all around them, the Great Sea caving in around them. Link knew he didn't have all that much time.

Link stumbled back as one of the King of Evil's vicious scimitars slashed across his shoulder. Gasping in pain, Link raised the Master Sword to bring it down on Ganondorf.

OoO

But he had wasted a second too many. Ganondorf brought down his twin scimitars. It took all of his ruthlessness to murder a wounded child.

What happens after the villain triumphs and slays the only one capable of destroying him? He continues his dastardly deeds. People use his name as another word for evil.

"He was pretty Ganon…" The phrase gets repeated over and over again, rolled around in different forms until the origin is forgotten.

What happens to the Princess that the Hero so longed to help? She gets made the wife of the Evil King, the child-bearer. Generations of evil children are formed, until the name "Zelda" is a word for someone who tried so hard to conquest and failed dismally, having to suffer the consequences that are not death.

"Trying to do that turned out to be a Zelda…" The voices cry out the phrase. They try to remember how in the world someone thought about it, but it is no use. It is forgotten.

And the Hero? The name "Link" is recognized as someone who was a valiant warrior, disregarding his safety for the wellbeing of others around him, but who got killed when he tried to defeat evil.

"He's a good fellow, but a Link at that…" They don't remember that there really was a Link, a young boy who went out into the scary world to protect his sister.

Only one carries on the legend, the truth, the reality. Aryll of Outset Island, sister of Link of Outset Island. She stays on Outset Island, going insane with guilt at the thought that her brother died because she was captured and her grandmother died of grief. At the age of seventeen she threw herself from the sheer cliffs of Outset Island.

Her body was found a few days later, washed up on the beach.

Ganondorf took over and lived his life in leisure. He had seven children with Zelda, and two children with at least half of the female population of the Great Sea. He believed that he deserved to have this wonderful life in payment of his terrible life in Gerudo Valley.

OoO

Link shook the horrid thoughts from his head as he darted away from Ganondorf's twin blades. He was not going to be slain by Ganondorf, his body swallowed up by the sea, his name used as a sort of joke, mocking his efforts. Zelda would not be forced to give birth to the children of the King of Evil. Ganondorf would not triumph and rule the world. Aryll would not kill herself. She wouldn't!

Link leapt out of the way and slapped Ganondorf in the back. Then, he leapt with all of his might and drove the Master Sword into the King of Evil's head.

Link stood there, panting. He had done it. The results, of course, would be different, but Aryll would be alive. Zelda would not have to marry Ganondorf. He was dead.

Link felt heavy guilt at murdering Ganondorf, but he knew that this one slaying could – and did – prevent many that the Evil King would have done.

The King of Hyrule sent Link and Zelda up to the surface of the Great Sea. As he slid out of consciousness, Link knew that no matter what happened, life would get better with Ganondorf dead. Link set goals for himself: help Tetra and her crew. Help Aryll have a normal childhood and cope with the ordeal she had to go through.

When Link's eyes closed, it was with a smile on his face.