Back to the Start

a songfic by Angela M.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Zelda or any of its characters,I only own this fic. The song is called "The Scientist" and it's done by Coldplay, not me.Please read and review!

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This fic takes place at the end of Wind Waker, so if you haven't finished the game, there are some spoilers here. I did alter quite a bit though. I was also quite tired at the time of writing this, but I'd like to know what you think anyway! .

---

Lost. Empty. Faded. Slipping from my grasp.

Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry
You don't know how lovely you are

I swallowed the knot that had been forming in my throat. My eyes flickered painfully in rhythm with the sun's rays, dancing atop the surreal blue of the ocean's surface. The end of their world was inevitable, and the time of ours passed by in fractions of seconds. A red boat. Strange feathers. Dying trees. A sun-kissed and oblivious village. Home.

For a moment, my frantic eyes paused beneath my eyelids. I could faintly remember the hearty scent of my grandmother's stew drift under my nostrils. The gentle rush of whispering leaves under the spring breeze caressed my ears, though it had only still been late autumn at the time. Winter nudged the season impatiently. I heard stories of winters so long ago, of tender flakes shimmering under grey skies, and the groan of snow under heavy boots. I couldn't remember such things. I only remembered the familiar shiver of cold.

I had to find you, tell you I need you
Tell you I set you apart

There was a weight of their glances on my face that burned uncomfortably. I didn't want to leave the comfort of my mind's eye and the numb darkness behind my closed lids. I didn't want to wake from this dream. As winter nudges the dying leaves of autumn, I was reminded,so winter must arrive and carry out its purpose. That was the way of life. I could already feel the warmth escape me, a cloud of vapor entering air.

The chill returned without hesitance. My eyes flickered open, blurred, soon revealing a smiling man with a crown. A red boat. The same wise smile that had guided me through tower, cave, and battlefield..the nudge of winter. I could see the snow gathered in his great white beard as he continued to grin somewhat painfully.

Tell me your secrets, and ask me your questions
Oh let's go back to the start

"It is time, Link," he declared, nodding his head. The rumble of his voice shook the small quarry of stones nearby. As they crumbled slightly, I felt as though I was looking into a lion's face.

The metal clank of the Master Sword brought me to my knees. "I left my memory once," I muttered, shaking. "I can't do it again. Do you know," I continued with growing intensity,"what this means to me?" My desperate fingers reached beyond me and pointed into the distance. Hyrule was not the fresh green landscape it once had been. Even through the pulsing waters that crashed around us, I could see the hills that had taken on a sienna glow, and trees bent sadly where they once stood fully upright. The voice of the Deku Tree echoed in my mind, and I was suddenly very tired of the ocean.

"You have always loved Hyrule dearly," the King replied. "I gave you your memory so you could understand who you are, who you have been, and most certainly, who you will continue to be. What you have held close to you, even for once, is never lost." He stroked his beard thoughtfully, with a contemplative air that, in addition to everything else, I couldn't understand for the life of me.

I fell back in shock as I felt a different cold hit my nose; it melted quickly in the same place it touched. Another cold. Another. I stumbled backwards, collapsing into a pair of hidden arms. I glanced upward, confused and dazed. It was Zelda, wearing the same painful look as her father.

Running in circles, coming up tails
Heads on a science apart

"..it's snowing.."

Snowflakes stuck to her hair delicately as they continued to drift from above. The sun shone through,just as it had flickered brightly earlier, as I ran my fingers gently over her golden yellow locks. I stood back, surprised, as the flakes melted under my touch.

"Link," the King continued, gazing towards the water's surface, "you can't change the seasons of the earth. Nobody can. Still.."

His gaze shifted from the surface to the landscape of Hyrule behind him. No longer were the hills and trees a warm sienna, but they were as white as the king's beard. I felt another snowflake hit my neck, and I shivered slightly. The cold was strong.

Where are the leaves?

I could not part the curtain of still pouring water..and yet, I saw a lone leaf tremble in an icy wind near a dormant tree. It was a brilliant red, a stain of blood against the pure white blankets of snow. The King's lips curled painfully again.

"It's time, Link."

Nobody said it was easy
Oh it's such a shame for us to part

The landscape quickly faded away, replaced by the thrashing scream of water that seemed to close in on us. All snow had vanished, all of Hyrule becoming a sudden blur. I looked helplessly into the eyes of Zelda, frightened and blue.

"Come with us," I managed to choke out. "Take my hand!"

Like a sharp rock in the face of tides, the King merely stood. His only response had been the painful grin he wore in regret, painted in sacrifice.

"Take my hand!" I cried, feeling a small bubble of air form around Zelda and I. I could not stop to ponder the complexity of his plan. Waving my hand to him naively, I felt the waters finally come together, merging chaotically. As we drifted towards the surface, I did not stop waving, even as Zelda held firmly onto my right arm.

The last seconds of my time, submerged, were spent as I gazed into the fading dream I once lived. Hyrule, the greatest kingdom of the land, was now a lost empire of the sea.

Lost. Empty. Faded. Slipping from my grasp.

Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said that it would be this hard

"KIN--"

I gasped. A fresh burst of air entered my lungs. We were at the surface.

Another gasp. Who...?

...Tetra. Her earring sparkled in the strong glare of the sun. She too fought to gain her breath.

"Kin.." What had I been trying to say? The air escaped my lungs so suddenly. I felt desperate and worried, though I wasn't quite sure why. "Kin.." I repeated, lost in my newfound curiosity. A shining yellow triangle beamed lively in the middle of my hand as I raised it slowly. Enclosed in my palm was a brilliant red leaf, the color of blood, with a texture that crisped as I held it to the sky.

"Link?" Tetra called out, looking mildly concerned.

I looked up, almost forgetting she was there next to me. "Yeah, Tetra?"

She tugged gently on my arm, nodding toward shore. It was a most familiar touch. "..let's go."

I paused to hear the quiet tread of water as we looked ahead to the coast, and felt a distinct warmth as I held the small leaf in the palm of my hand. And for that small moment in time, a time we lived apart from the past and one away from painful regret..I could not feel the cold.

Oh take me back to the start

The End(?)