Twenty Nine: The Dream

(quick clarification for the music part: Only Link's words matter. The italics are sung lyrics, the plain are spoken by the lead singer of Van Halen. The name of this song is "Hot For Teacher". Enjoy!)

Somewhere in the background, there was the heavy beat of drums. Funny, Zelda thought. It sounded like the engine of a bus…

She walked down the halls of the high school. It was the first day, and she was the new teacher. Funny that she should be hired to teach when she'd never even been to school.. oh well.

A guitar began to wail as Zelda stepped into the classroom, looking around. All around was the sound of chatter, rustling papers, laughter. And then out of a distant corner, she heard:

"Oh, wow, man, I said
Wait a second, man
What do you think the teacher's gonna look like this year?"

And then Zelda heard a crude, cursing exclamation. She rolled her eyes and set down her briefcase on the desk, preparing for the first difficult day of class. And that was when the speaker stood up.

It was Link, Zelda noted dimly. What was he doing in her class? Last she'd seen, he was off trying to save the world from demon chickens, back when they lived together as children in Cherry Lawn. And Link wasn't young enough to be in high school- he was at least three years older than her. That was far too old for her class.

And then he began to sing with the guitar and drums in the background, and began to dance, too. Now this was downright strange to Zelda, as Link had always told her that dancing was obviously for stoned penguins. But that was back on the farm when they were growing up together. And still: why was Link in her class? She began to tell him to sit down, but he interrupted her.

"-T-teacher stop that screamin', Teacher don't you see?" He did a little spin and leaned back, tugging on his shirt as he smirked at Zelda. "Don't wanna be no uptown fool."

"Link," she began to protest, but he cut her off by jumping onto one of the desks.

"Maybe I should go to hell," he jumped to the next desk, just in front of Zelda, "But I am doing well," he smirked and put his face in hers, his hot breath streaming across her cheek, "…and Teacher needs to see me after school."

He jumped off the desk and began to eye Zelda raucously as he walked in a circle around her, stating musically, "I think of all the education that I've missed," the guitar hit four sharp ascending notes as Link yanked Zelda to him, "but then my homework was never quite like this!" And then he was off, dancing down the aisles and leaving Zelda gasping, from anger or infatuation she wasn't sure.

"I've got it bad, got it bad, got it bad," Link continued, licking his lips. "I'm hot for teacher."

"Link, sit down this instant or I'll…"

"I've got it bad, so bad," he howled, "I'm hot for teacher…."

"Link, I'm warning you…"

He dropped like a rock into his seat and put his chin in his hand, looking bored and as though nothing had ever happened. Zelda cleared her throat.

"Ahem. Welcome, class, to…"

"Hey, I heard you missed us! We're back!"

Zelda ignored him. "…to introduction to medieval mythology…"

"I brought my pencil!"

Zelda sighed. "…I am you teacher, Miss Harkinian…"

"Gimmie something to write on, man!"

Zelda whirled. "Link, would you shut up?"

"Woah," he stated blankly, and then fired a paper wasp at her, jumping up.

"I heard about your lessons, but lessons are so cold," he sang. He leered at her as he whirled past a poster of Elvis. "I didn't know about this school. Little girl from Cherry Lawn, how can you be so bold?"

"Link, sit…"

"How did you know that golden rule?"

"What golden rule? Link, I'm trying to teach…"

"I think of all the education that I've missed," he said again, sliding up to her on his knees, "but then my homework was never quite like this!" He stood, beginning to dance, and the rest of the class got up and began to dance with him, reminding Zelda vaguely of a bad Broadway show as they whirled through a horribly coreographed routine.

"I've got it bad, got it bad, got it bad, I'm hot for teacher!" He pulled her to him as though she were a dance partner and ran his hands down her side. "I've got it bad, so bad! I'm hot for teacher!"

He did a cartwheel over the desks and sat down, as did the rest of the class, and there was silence, save for the crazed guitar riff in the background, which "teacher" ignored. Zelda began her careful orientation, and talked through most of the period. Astoundingly, there was silence the whole time. Perhaps Link had decided to be nice. Dubious, Zelda declared to herself- he was probably planning something.

She was right.

She heard the ominous musical theme and knew she was in for it as Link raised his hand and then opened his mouth- "aw, man, I think the clock is slow."

"Shut up dude, you were late," said Link's friend, who Zelda didn't recognize. Link looked at his friend, astounded.

"I don't feel tardy."

The bell rang and everybody stood up, mumbling and collecting their papers, leaving the room. As they exited, Link howled "class dismissed!"

He was on Zelda in a second once they were alone. "Ooh yeah! I've got it bad, got it bad, got it bad, I'm hot for teacher." He pushed her up against her desk, leaving Zelda powerless. She couldn't fight back. But, a voice said deep within her, she probably wouldn't if she could anyway.

Wait a second, this was Link! Her old friend, Link, the slayer of demon chickens! What was wrong with him?

"Got it bad, got it bad, got it bad, I'm hot for teacher," he repeated, pressing Zelda all the way against her desk.

"Get off me, Link," Zelda stated. He ignored her.

"Ooh! Oh yes, I'm hot!"

"Link, get off me. Now."

"Oh yes I'm hot!"

"Link," she yelled, wrenching one of her arms out from underneath him and slapping him smartly across the face. "Get off."

"Oh my god!"

As the guitar hit five last long notes, Zelda slapped Link again, pushed him out the door, slammed it in his face, whirled the lock in the key, and sank down against the cool wood, slamming her head back against the door as the song ended.

"Link," she asked softly, "what's happened to you?"

&-

It was after her disastrous first day and Zelda was sitting in the library, staring at something on the wall that looked like a stained glass window with pirates on it, but the librarian had told her it was a book. So she stared at the light floating in through the book in fascination, wishing that she could reach it And yet… it was so far away.

Link sauntered over out of nowhere. Zelda ignored him.

"Sour about yesterday, are we?"

"Go away, Link."

He wryly noted with his impossible blue eyes where she was looking, and focused on the stained glass himself. "Sure you don't need my help reaching that window up there?"

"The librarian told me it was a book."

"Well, the librarian told you wrong. Do you want me to give you a boost?"

"You're going to look up my skirt." She was wearing pants.

"You're wearing pants. And I won't look up, I promise. I've been wanting to see what's behind that window myself, actually," he stated, obviously thinking deeply. "Now I just have someone to go with me." He turned to Zelda, grinning and holding his hand out. "Wanna go?"

This was a little more like the Link Zelda knew, or had known so long ago. But could he really be trusted? Yes, her heart told her. He could be trusted.

"Sure." She took his hand and he boosted her up to the window. She opened the casement, and saw through it another land. And then suddenly she was falling, falling, falling…..

&-

The first thing that she noted was a pair of blood red eyes. This fact was bypassed, however, by the feel of strong arms around her. Link must be wearing contacts. And he must have caught her when she fell through that strange window. Relief flooded her. Thank goodness they were both alright!

"Link, where are we?"

"I'm not Link."

"Yes you are. I know you are. Your arms are just like Link's."

"I'm not Link. My physique is based off of his image, or how you thought it might be. I'm not Link."

"Stop lying." Zelda was beginning to feel grumpy. "You obviously are Link. Who else could you be?"

"I am your loyal subject, highness," said the voice, and Zelda noticed that it wasn't like Link's voice so much at all- it was deeper, darker, jaded, a lethal river: it carried an undercurrent that spoke of anguish and eternal wisdom.

"Who are you?" Zelda looked up, the feel of arms around her alien and yet safe, and saw those blood red eyes again, eyes that mirrored her, and yet mirrored so much more.

"I think you know," he stated softly.

"Sheik," Zelda replied quietly. "You're… you're here?"

"I am always with you wherever you go, majesty," he said with a bow. "I have sworn my eternal allegiance to your mother and yourself. I do not leave you when you are in trouble."

"You're not acting like you, Sheik."

Sheik shrugged. "Merely because I have not yet awakened, highness. Come, they're waiting for you at the palace."

Those red eyes made her feel so strange, they were piercing and glowing and they never left her. Somehow, though, Zelda didn't want them to. She never wanted his eyes off her, because she knew that even with that uncomfortable ruby gaze on her, she would always be safe. Always. And if she were in those strong arms, she'd never have anything to worry about.

She knew him, inside and out- of this Zelda was certain. Sheik wasn't her creation, and yet he was still as much a part of herself as an arm or a leg. He was necessary: she couldn't live without him. She spoke then, suddenly, blurting her thoughts out in almost the exact words. "I couldn't live without you, Sheik."

A pained look crossed his face. "Don't say that, highness."

"Why not, Sheik?" Zelda clung to him, her fingers twining into the soft, tight fabric of his cat suit. His eyes searched hers for a moment as his bandaged hands came up to hers, and then he disengaged her from his clothing.

"You tempt the fates of things that can never be," he stated simply, and then whirled. "Come. They await you at the palace."

&-

"Mother, I'm confused," Zelda complained as she laid with her head in her mother's lap. They were sitting underneath the pink blossoms of a cherry tree, even though cherry trees were definitely not native to Hyrule. Still, though, there was something eternally relaxing about the pink blossoms.

"Oh?" Aileen ran her hands through her daughter's hair, braiding it carefully. "And what, pray tell, are you confused about?"

"My shadow," Zelda stated plainly. "As much a part of myself as I am, and possibly even more- for even when I am dead, the shadow will be wrapped around my bones in the grave."

"I see." Zelda's mother continued to braid her daughter's hair, and then spoke. "Have you heard the legend of Narcissus?"

"Mmm," Zelda sighed, thinking. "Wasn't he the man who fell in love with his own reflection?"

"And wasted away," Aileen confirmed. "For want of his own reflection. Do you know why it was that he fell in love with his image?"

"Why?" Zelda asked, curious.

"Because he felt that he knew the face, knew what laid behind it. And he did know the face, as it was himself."

"Mmmhm…"

"Don't waste away for want of your own reflection, daughter," Aileen stated simply as she tucked a flower into her beloved child's hair. "It will only bring destruction."

"I won't, Mother," Zelda stated sleepily. "I promise."

"Attack!" a guard rushed into the courtyard, startling both Zelda and Aileen. Except, looking at the woman who had a moment ago been Aileen, Zelda saw an aging queen, a portrait she'd recognized that had been painted not long before Zelda III's startling premature death. And then Zelda knew herself that she was sitting in the courtyard with her soul-mother, in a sense; she was with the woman who had created the other half of herself, the other half of the queen, and yet the other half of the princess. Zelda gulped as Sheik swooped from nowhere, an arm encircling Zelda's waist.

"Sheik, hide my daughter," the queen stated regally. "I shall lead the troops to battle in the stead of the king."

"My lady, I will join you," Sheik said. "I will see her into the care of a young knight who yet cannot ride to battle, as his wrist is broken and he can hold no blade."

"See it done," the third Zelda, most famous queen of all commanded, and then turned to her soldier- "lead me to the armory."

"Mother!" Zelda howled. "Mother, please…"

"I love you, Zelda. I will return from this battle, I promise you. It is not yet my time to join the legendary hero in the realm of the goddesses."

"Please mother, come back!"

"I will!"

Sheik carried Zelda away, swift and silent as a shadow, leaping through the palace with alarming speed. All the while, Zelda sobbed inconsolably on Sheik's shoulder- she feared that, despite what her mother said, the queen would not return. She feared that she would never see her mother again.

"Ho, young knight!" Sheik hailed the angry-looking young man- or at least, Zelda assumed he was angry looking from the waves of anger he radiated. She couldn't see much, as her world was blurred by tears of sorrow. "I have for you a task of the highest importance. Speed her grace away, hide her, spirit her far beyond the reaches of the dark one. The queen will live through the day, of this I am certain, but the castle will fall soon."

"Give me but a minute and it will be done," stated the knight. Through blurred eyes, Zelda caught a glimpse of wheat gold and green and shocking bright blue.

"Hurry, knight. The fate of the royal line rests upon your shoulders."

"And what do you do, shadow warrior?"

"I stay with the queen, as is my duty."

"Come quickly, princess," said the knight, and suddenly Sheik was gone. Drying her eyes of her tears, Zelda allowed herself to be pulled onto the back of an unassuming horse and hauled quickly away from the castle, out behind the lines of battle and to the forest.

"I fear it is the dark lord's return," Zelda stated into the back of the knight, though she didn't know why. "My mother sealed him in the sacred realm long ago with the hero of time- and immediately afterwards, the hero departed our world forever without a trace. Mother said she sent him to the place that would make him happiest, and that she would not be surprised if he went directly to the right hand of the goddesses themselves. I know she loved him, too, as much as she loves Sheik, who is a shadow of both her soul and my own. And yet she married my father. Is our line cursed, knight? Are you as afraid as I am?"

"Everything will be fine, princess. Even if the dark lord has broken the seal of the sacred realm, we are protected by the goddesses. Sleep- our destination is a while yet."

And Zelda did.

&-

She awoke on a soft bed in a dim room. There was a tiny dying fire in the fireplace, and then a flickering candle on the squat circular wooden table in the center of the small room. There was a figure sitting at the small table, hunched over the small candle. His back was to Zelda. Slowly, Zelda sat up, allowing the sheets to slide off her. She was still in her over-ornamental palatial garb of the day before.

"Awake, highness?" asked the figure, and Zelda was reminded of waves crashing against the shore as he spoke. She peered at him through the gloom, but shadows hid his eyes.

"I am. Where are we?"

"My father's house. You'll be safe here from Ganon's hoards. We're deep in the center of the lost woods. Though it is small, this cabin is one of the safest places in Hyrule. My father took great care in this house and its defenses."

"Defenses?" Zelda was interested now. She swung her feet out of bed, touching them to the wooden floor.

"You won't be able to see them," said the knight. "Or the really strong ones, anyway."

"Am I….?"

"There is no malice in your heart," said the knight. "You are safe here, and protected by this forest."

"I see…"

"Would you like me to show you where the spring is? You can bathe and change into clothes that are better suited for this place. That skirt will snag on brambles."

"I… suppose, yes. Show me to the spring." Zelda didn't want to know how long she might be at the cabin with such cold company- possibly forever. She hoped not.

"Come, highness." The knight stood and faced her, and yet Zelda still could not see his face- it was too dim in the cabin.

"Knight, why is it so dark in here? I assume it is daylight outside?"

"It is just before dawn, highness. Our path will be well lit for us, however."

"How?" Zelda asked. Though she couldn't see him, Zelda heard the knight's smile as he took her hand and led her across the small cabin and out the door.

"See for yourself."

And see she did- hundreds of glowing lights flowed through the air, whirling, twirling, swirling, buoyed by the bubbling eddies of the air, the sea of baubles stretching forever into the woods in either direction. Zelda looked about in awe. It was the most beautiful sight she'd ever seen.

"What are they?"

"Fairies," explained the knight, tugging on Zelda's hand and leading her through the woods. "Protectors of the forest. These beings will watch over you and ascertain that you come to no harm."

"I see."

Zelda allowed the knight to lead her along by the hand through the forest, smiling as fairies landed on him, covering his body. The knight led her around a thick grove of trees to a beautiful bubbling spring, lit by a pale blue glow from the bottom, illuminating the pristine rocks. There were, astoundingly, no fish in the pool. It was as though it was sacred, sanctioned off for life, and Zelda's body within the water would be a sacrilege of such a beautiful place. The knight, however, apparently did not share these thoughts- he pointed to a flat rock behind them, just out of view from the spring but screened from the cabin by trees: "leave your clothes on that rock. I'll bring you something else to wear, and take your things and wash them for you. Bathe as long as you'd like- there is little to do here except wait, so take what simple pleasures you can."

The knight turned and left her. Zelda realized that she still hadn't seen his face well. She watched his fairy-covered back as it made its way around trees and out of sight, and then began to strip off her clothes, only to find that she, too, was covered in fairies. Zelda laughed, shaking them off her, and stepped out of her clothes and into the cool spring, diffusing the fairies from where they'd attached to her hair.

It was total bliss, heaven on earth to Zelda as she soaked. The water was cool, but not cold- a soft, sweet tepid, flowing, almost the same temperature as the gentle morning air. Her muscles unwound as she relaxed into the spring.

&-

She was walking back to the cabin, dressed in a soft, loose brown tunic and brown leather jerkin, dripping hair tied out of her way by a leather thong she'd found with her clothing on the rock. Fairies were settling all over her as the sun rose, and Zelda noticed that their presence was distinctly comforting. Fairies…

She entered the tiny cabin, only to find herself standing in a temple. She turned back for the door, thinking she'd taken a wrong turn, only to find that there was no door. Zelda turned back around to face a bent old woman.

"You must learn to love to break the curse, child."

"Curse? What curse?"

But then the old lady was gone and everything was dark. Somewhere far off in the distance, Zelda heard a worried voice- "highness, highness, please wake up… please, highness, wake up… you must wake up."

She struggled for the surface of the water of her mind, fought for that beautiful voice. And then she broke through, finding herself in her body, and slowly opened her eyes to see the most handsome and worried face above her that she could ever imagine.

"Link?" she asked slowly. The knight's eyes widened. In a second, Zelda had latched onto him.

"Link, I was so scared! We went through the window and I found myself in a strange place, and there was a man named Sheik who is supposed to be a part of me, but he frightened me, Link, and then I forgot who I was except for I thought I was a princess, and there was a queen, and a battle, and then a strange knight…"

"How do you know my name?" his voice sounded choked, as though there was a lump in his throat. "Highness, how do you know my name?"

"Zelda," she whispered quietly. "Please, call me Zelda. Link, don't tell me you don't remember… we were at school, but you were being awful and disrupting my class, and then we went through the window in the library, only the librarian told me it was a book…"

"Zelda…"

"Link."

"Zelda."

"Link!" Zelda clutched tightly to him. "We have to get out of here!"

"I don't know how, Zelda. I don't know how we can get out and get back to our world…"

Zelda looked up at him, tears shimmering in her eyes. His face was determined- "I'll protect you though, Zelda. I'll keep you safe."

"Thank you, Link."

They remained sitting together like that, and then Zelda turned to Link again, looking up at his distant eyes.

"You said this was your father's house. Who was your father, Link?"

"A vanquished hero," he replied. "Battered, defeated, broken. I was the result of his single coupling with a whore. Nine months after that night, he found me on his doorstep, and raised me until I was six. Then he died, and I left for the castle to train to be a knight."

"But what about the other world?"

"You were the princess of the castle, and sometimes we would play together. Then one day, we found a window and thought it would be fun to see what was behind it. And then we were in class. And then we were back here." His countenance was puzzled, perplexed- "I don't understand it."

"Neither do I. Link, just don't let go of me. Maybe we'll be fine that way."

"I won't let go of you, Zelda." He gazed into her eyes, his own sparkling blue eyes intense. "I promise."

"I trust you," she murmured, and their faces came together slowly, slowly, slowly…

The kiss sparked passion all throughout Zelda's body, and tentatively, she wrapped her arms around Link's neck. Something hard hit Zelda's side and she looked down suddenly and saw Link's right hand in a splint.

"What happened?"

"I broke it my wrist in my fall through the window," he stated, and gently tipped her head back to him with the fingertips of his left hand, warm digits trailing across her skin . "Don't worry about it. It doesn't hurt any more…"

As they are about the kiss again, the fairies began screaming all around them as a dark black shadow flowed over the land like rolling dark water, engulfing both Link and Zelda.

Zelda was screaming then, too, as Link was torn away from her, shouting his name frantically: "Link! Link!". And then the screaming was all around her, outside her ears and inside her mind as she was sucked underneath the shadows, drowning in her own nightmare.

And then she woke up.

&-

uploadedSunday, June 05, 2005

10:43 PM

A/N: Oookay! A little strange, I know, but I wanted to do some weird things. For those of you who were sorely let down by this chapter, my most sincere apologies. I'm going to try and go back to the weekly updating thing, as I'm well on my way with the next few chapters, but this may not be possible. We'll see. So for those of you who want the deeper synopsis of that dream, here it is.

Zelda is feeling confused about the academic(teaching), musical(Van Halen), and even romantic(Link) aspects of her life. Link is an enigma to her in a complicated world- his behavior never ceases to confuse her and astound her, and she is uncertain how she should feel because of the many different faces he shows her. When Zelda learned about the Triforce and her heritage, she was sucked into a world of nightmares, distracting her from all else and making her forget herself, falling in love with the first set of strong arms that catches her- in the dream, Sheik, obviously, but in her life, it was Sterling. The comfort that was provided lulled Zelda into a false sense of security, causing her to act rashly. Furthermore, Zelda's newfound bond with Sheik serves to boggle her brain, mostly subconsciously as there have been few real encounters between the two as of yet in the story.

The woman who appeared in the dream is a resonation of Zelda III, or the Zelda from Ocarina of Time (but NOT Majora's Mask). This particular segment of the dream takes place roughly on the alternate timeline, after Link has been sent back in the past. Link does not exist in this world, or didn't for a long while. This actually ties in with a bit of story history: the Hero of Time "vanished" from the land of Hyrule, and thus it was able to be conquered by Ganondorf, but where he went was to the other timeline in the hopes of finding Zelda and making her his wife. Zelda, however, had just married, and the curse was placed upon all of the descendants (in BOTH times) of Link and Zelda. The embodiment of this curse is the blackness that swallows Link and Zelda, the horrors of the past that keep them apart.

To jump back a little because I jumped ahead to the end, the battle is, of course, Ganondorf's conquering Hyrule. I say that on the other timeline, he engaged in conquest and subjugated all of Hyrule, and then destroyed it before hopping through the portal to the other time and flooding that particular Hyrule. Complicated, yes. Very. But that's what happens.

Link DID have a son in the alternate world, as I said: his sole night that he spent in another woman's bed (just after he found out about Zelda, actually, and he was very upset) resulted in his son, who mysteriously vanished during Ganondorf's first conquest of the castle of Alternate Hyrule and never reappeared. In actuality, he was shot down by goblins. In the dream, however… well, you know.

The Lost Woods is hope, as are all the fairies. Really, this particular piece of the dream puzzle is Zelda's remorse, then awe, then rebirth and contentment. Up until the shadow (else wise known as the curse on all the Zeldas and Links) tears them apart, that is, and here's my reasoning on why the curse tears them apart: Zelda and Link can't break the curse until they discover themselves.

Lastly, the old woman in the temple. This isn't entirely a dream, actually- more a prophetic message that Zelda won't fully realize for a long while yet (sorry, people). The old woman is Zelda III's restless spirit waiting for absolution in the form of the curse being broken. The temple Zelda finds herself in is the Temple of Time, actually before the altar of time. This won't be realized for a while yet, either, but when Zelda does discover all these things it will be a very moving scene.

I think I've covered everything. I know there are some other loose ends in other chapters, but I'm going to explain those later. If I missed anything or you have questions, drop me a line and I'll answer it in the next update for everybody else.

Until then!