A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
A Pair of Time
Chapter 47- Serenade of Water, Part 4
Water Temple; Day
Okay, I'm sorry! Navi apologizes desperately in Link's mind.
I almost gotten myself killed in there… Where were you! Link demands. He still is left in the dark about Navi's whereabouts during his near-fatal showdown with his dark side.
I'm sorry… I… I was… afraid… Too afraid…
Navi, we've been through everything together… Queen Gohma, Barinade, King Dodongo, Volvagia… even Phantom Ganon. And you assisted me even with your fear. Why is my dark half so different for you?
I… Link… I haven't told you everything, have I? Link… You see, I'm… different from the other fairies… Very different… I… I had a brush in with… darkness back then… I couldn't… do anything… I was helpless… hopeless… It… It happened to be a stroke of luck that led the Great Deku Tree to save me from the darkness… I… I haven't been the same since… I'm scarred, Link. I hold forever the scar of darkness on myself…
You… Navi… I never knew. But… that doesn't… make you any different… You're still my fairy.
I'm so sorry. I… I really can't help you when it comes to darkness and shadows. Every time I do… darkness covers me… my vision… my body… and… I feel so cold… It's the darkness, Link… I can't forget about it. I can never forget… It left its hold on me, and I will never be able to rid of it, even when I… when I die. It will never let go… I'm always afraid of the dark… I try not to be. I mean, I… I had to try very hard when you guys went to the Graveyard those times. But… I don't know if I can hold my fear back any longer…
Navi, you got me. You're… You're my fairy. I can't just… leave you like this. Navi, look… if you're ever afraid of the darkness… just know… I'm there for you… always.
Link… I… Navi's voice begins to break. I… Thank you… You're… the greatest friend a fairy could have… Thank you, Link…
"FAIRY BOY!" Malon turns Link away from his warming conversation going on in his mind. "WHY IN THE WORLD ARE YOU STILL HANGING ON? PULL US UP!"
Link, having snapped back into the physical world, put his might in his arms and pulls himself and Malon wrapped around his waist onto a dry platform. After acquiring a useful upgrade of the Hookshot, known as the Longshot, Link couldn't help but smile at his new gadget. It has the thing he needed; twice the chain length so that he could shoot at things farther away. Malon still doesn't see the excitement in such things, especially when the only thing that changed is that they can grapple from farther off. As so, she lets the Longshot holder to be Link. Like when he was ten-years old, Link couldn't get his mind off of this cool spring-loaded mechanism.
"Goddess, these vortexes are a nightmare…" Malon mumbles.
In a chamber below the Longshot treasure room, Malon and Link situate themselves in crossing the chamber. The problem is that a fast-moving current carves through the place. Worse, it's filled with vortexes leading down to black holes. And the only way to cross them is to edge their way with only the Iron Boots to weigh them down against the sucking water. They just barely made it to the small platform at a corner turn.
"All right…" Link surveys the area. "There seems to be a chest there, behind that grate. And I think that trigger up there should get it up."
"Okay…" Malon draws her bow, then places an arrow on the shaft and string.
"Hold on." Link prepares his Longshot, then takes Malon by the waist. "Okay, there."
"… Do you ever think that it bothers me when you seemingly grab my waist a lot without my permission?"
"No."
"What about you?"
"Doesn't bother me. You don't complain about it. Does it bother you, then?"
"… No… I'm… I'm just asking… to see if you… care."
"Um, like how?"
"Well… like… No, never mind."
From Link, he tells the truth when he confessed holding Malon like that never really arouse any… thoughts. From Malon, however, she's not so strong-willed. And she would definitely react with what's on her mind if Link ever let his arm move up or down from her waist. Quickly pushing these thoughts to the back of her head, she aims her sight and pierces the trigger's eye, opening the grate. Immediately, she hears the familiar metal sound of the hook being shot out of the Longshot, and then feels her waist being led by Link's arm. In just a second, her feet again lands from air onto the ground.
"Heh heh, I like this Longshot." Link grins, marveling at the item. "It never gets boring with this."
Malon just couldn't understand how Link could drool over his new toy, but not over the fact that having his muscular arm around her slender waist could provoke a secular thought from him. "Oh, this is a unique one…" Malon sighs silently. "Maybe he's just too sweet and innocent to let such things happen… Instead of chasing a naked woman, he would rather chase birds, bees, and butterflies… or springy tools in this case…"
After using the Longshot to reach places inaccessible before, they transverse into the northern section of the Water Temple. Passing through a large pool created by two currents and some more vortexes, Malon and Link continue on, finding a room that needs a block on an underwater switch to raise the water level. Bombing an obvious and then a not so obvious wall, they succeed with no problem.
Obtaining the Big Key (after difficulties reaching it), the Heroes of Time return back to the 3rd floor. Unlocking the main monster's door, they quietly step into an undisturbed chamber. A still pool of unnaturally blue water sits in the middle, with four clean-cut platforms protruding from the liquid.
"Why can't the monster just be there when we come for once?" Malon sighs worryingly. "They just hide, then surprise us when we least expect it…"
"What's with this water?" Link finds himself staring at the pool fixedly. "I've never seen such… blueness and stillness before…"
"It's still water. What's so interesting? We've been walking underwater for a league now! Why now do you find this pool of water interesting?"
"I don't know… It just is…"
Link's feet lead him to the pool's edge. He leans down to study the water a little closer. The water is a very deep shade of blue, and is so still that it looks like solid ground. However, the water does not show… Link's reflection. Not only that, but it seems almost opaque. The bottom is hard to see through the water.
"Link! Look out!" a voice calls out. "That isn't normal water over there!"
"What?" Link quickly stands up, then scans his surroundings.
"Ruto?" Malon finds the voice familiar.
"What… What does she mean that the water isn't…?"
"Guys, stay alert!" Navi appears for assistance. "We aren't alone here! Check the room thoroughly!"
With this order, Malon and Link split up and survey the area. Nothing seems out of place, nothing except the now accused abnormal water. Link, heeding the warning, jumps to one of the platforms and takes a definite scrutiny at the liquid. Not a lot to be reported as strange. Though, the water now begins to tremble a good amount, releasing its hold on perfect stillness.
Malon, on the other side, couldn't find a thing. She spins around to see if Link has any luck. Unfortunately, Link has the worst luck right now.
"Oh, goddess!" Malon sights a being made of the water itself rising from its depth and is about to make a move on the unsuspecting Hero of Time. "L-L-Link! Behind you! Look out!"
Oh, why me! Link cries in his mind as he realizes he fell for another 'monster sneaking behind your back' trap. Turning around in a reflex, Link stares dumbfounded at the monster. The water creature seems to shape shift, using the water as its composition. Inside the ever-changing body is a round, slimy red object.
"Oh, man!" Navi takes a dreaded tone. "It's the giant aquatic amoeba, Morpha!"
The monster rears its aqueous 'arm' back and nearly slams Link. He jumps away, heading for the walls for distance.
"A what?"
"Morpha! This… thing has absolute control of the water!" Navi explains. "Pull out its nucleus and attack it!"
"What!" Link again splits on his spot to dodge another slam.
"See that red thing? Use your Longshot to grab it!"
Obeying the command, Link aims down the red nucleus in the water with the laser from his new weapon. The slight problem is that the nucleus is on a high-speed orbit, greatly disabling Link's chance of grappling the thing.
"Wait until it comes out of the pool!" Navi suggests. "Look! It's creating an arm for itself! Just move and wait for it!"
The amoeba is indeed doing something. It seems that orbiting around an area lets the nucleus control that part. Link immediately jumps to a platform, then prepares his shot. The new 'arm' emerges from the pool and extends, expecting to find a victim on the now empty spot. The nucleus travels to and fro in the arm, holding its influence over the water. A sudden jerk shakes the red object as the Longshot makes contact with it and pulls it out of the arm and towards Link. Quickly, Link cuts a fresh wound on the organelle. It shudders, then retreats by hopping with maneuverability into the water.
"Keep baiting it out! And watch your back!"
"Malon!" Link calls to her across the water. "Be the bait!"
Malon, snapped out of her firm gaze that lasted a moment, yells. "NO! I am NOT going to be grabbed by that slimy thing! Do you even know what it can do to me!"
"I got to concentrate! I have the Longshot! Just move when you start to see the red thing make an arm!"
Ah, heck no, Malon grimaces. The nucleus stumbles next to her, then starts to form an arm.
"Over here, Link!" Malon waves hastily. "You better be ready!"
She flees from her spot, while Link gets close up and aim. Soon, the arm protrudes from the water and starts groping around the dry surface. It dissipates as soon as the nucleus is snatched from the liquid and takes a slashing. Again, like any other monster, it falls back to safety, which is the strange water now to be figured as its invincible body. Repeat and conquer, that's the best strategy Malon and Link ever encountered during their whole adventure. So, sticking to the plan, they cycle through the steps, cunningly leaving bleeding marks on Morpha's nucleus. However, even the simplest of living organisms can adapt…
"Mal! Watch out!" Link calls, horribly spotting a second arm sprouting out of the water and closing around her.
She turns around, but only manages to catch a second's glimpse before a strong, tightening grip circles her body and renders Malon unable to move.
"Aaahhh!" An overwhelming pressure of Morpha's grip squeezes pain out of Malon's body slowly.
"Malon!"
"Link! Help! Agh!"
Taking itself for a spin, Morpha lurches the arm around, causing more torment to Malon. She screams to each twist and turn as they add more to the crushing embrace.
"Help me…!" Her voice sounds as swaying as the movement.
"Damn!" Link aims at the nucleus, holding very still while it manipulates the arm. "Hang on, Malon!"
Just when the hook ejects itself from the Longshot, Morpha's arm throws Malon off to a wall. Nearly missing a deadly spike, Malon slams against the wall with a dire sound, echoing the room. Her body falls down, all limp and nothing but an everyday feeling she has to experience all over her body. She tries to move, but her body cries no. All she could do is groan loudly to her dismay.
Link only manages to catch a sight of the near-unconscious Malon before his attention turns him to the retracting red nucleus. When it reached him, he is more than ready to cut the thing in two because of what it did to his best friend. Leading the vibrating Master Sword down on Morpha's nucleus, it shudders again, but now with much more shaking. Link knows it's over; he could feel the nucleus squirming helplessly and losing life to his magical sword. In a flash, it bursts into an explosion of water. The nucleus is gone. Without it, the amoeba would not be able to live on any longer. Desperate, Morpha tries to suck up itself, turning into a long, elongated form stuck on the ceiling. It is useless, though, as the large cell begins to die without any nucleus to direct itself. It begins to dry up, losing its matter composition and turning into the material it once was made before. One last drop of itself remains, then it falls down onto the dry floor, leaving a large PLOP! Morpha is no more.
"Mal! Malon!" Link darts to her, still groaning from her dramatic experience. "You alright? You took quite a beating there."
"Oh, that hurts like heck…" Malon sits up with Link's assistance. She grabs her stomach. "I'm gonna… feel that in the morning…"
"Don't worry about it. I took care of Morpha just in time." Link lifts her up. "C'mon, the blue light should be down there…"
"Ah…" Malon kneels before the incredible spasms of pain occurring in every part of her body. She drags Link down. "I can't… I can't walk…"
"C'mon, you can do it."
Malon abruptly sucks in air. "Ow… I'm sorry, fairy boy… Just… Just carry me… will ya?"
"What? Carry you? But, I-"
"I'm just asking you to carry me, that's all!" Malon snaps. "I'm not implying anything, okay? This really does hurt!"
"Well, okay…" Link rolls his eyes.
Lifting her onto his arms, Link finds Malon to be of a nice weight. Then again, the last time he had to carry her like this, she didn't weigh much at all. Link is about to move when he suddenly feels Malon's head leaning against his upper arm and shoulder, almost… fondling. She feels the iron-hard, yet soft feeling of Link. Dismissing this off as nothing more than needing a friend's comfort, Link quickly walks toward the transporting light.
"Maybe…" Malon said quietly to herself, and maybe to Link if he can hear it, "I was implying something…" she finishes as Link steps into the blue light.
Chamber of the Sages
Again, Malon and Link revisit the Chamber of the Sages, to meet the Sage of Water. The fountain still shines ethereally as ever, as the Heroes of Time stand before the platform of the Water symbol. A blue light enshrouds the Sage ascending, then gives way to… Ruto.
Oh, no… Link and Malon both thought as they realize Link is still holding Malon, her being rather comfortable in his arms. Ruto, however, looks on… in indifference.
"Link…" Ruto calmly said. "Ah-hem… I… Well, I know you're carrying her because she's injured."
"Uh, bu-bu… Right." Link nods.
"Y-Yeah!" Malon agrees. "I… I can't stand."
"Link…" Ruto says his name again. "I would have expected no less from the man who I chose to be my husband."
"You…" Link finds many different meanings to this. "You mean destroying the evil in the Water Temple… r-right?"
"… Yes. You were… very brave. A fiancé of courage and justice… I could not have asked for anything better… I have known it ever since I saw in your eyes that you wanted the Zora's Sapphire… I thank you for helping me… Zora's Domain and its people will eventually return to their original state."
"We do it… not only for the Zoras… but for Hyrule."
"Yes… Yes, you are, Heroes of Time… Link… As… As a reward… I will… I grant my eternal love to you."
This comes such a shock to Link that he steps around a bit and trips accidentally. Malon falls down on him, wincing a groan as she feels renewed pain.
"Oh, Link!" Ruto didn't expect this. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she hears his response.
"Shows how much you care about me when I'm the one in pain…" Malon's voice speaks out.
"Ruto…" Link stands up, leaving Malon to sit on the bright, rather warm ground. "I… I… Your… eternal love…."
"Ah, Link…" Ruto's face turns away for agony, staying on longer this time. "My love… My fiancé… I… I would… I would grant you my love forever, yes… But… that cannot be so… I want to say it without any restraints… but I can't." Her face then turns back to him. "I have to guard the Water Temple as the Sage of Water…"
"Ruto, I… I know, and-"
"It's not just that, Link… That's not why I can't give you my love… You… You don't share the love I have for you, do you? You don't… love me… You never did love me… even when we were engaged… Why must this be…? Am I… not beautiful?"
"No, Ruto, it's not that, it's… it's…" Link is a rock when it comes to things like this.
"Is it… because I'm a Zora, and you're… a Kok… no, a Hylian?"
"It's not that either! I just… I can't…"
"No… It's because… you… love someone else… don't you? You… love someone else… That's why… you don't have love for me… You… love somebody else… not me…" Ruto again turns her head away, this time to let tears fall. She sobs quietly and still.
It all falls to this very reason of Link's. Sometimes, he wished that he wouldn't be involved in love. "I… Ruto… I'm… I'm… sorry. I'm sorry…"
Ruto reacts by staring at Link again. "No… don't be. It was foolish of me to think of such things back then… I only met you once, and you're only bound to me… because of my mother's stone… I was foolish to love somebody that was forced to marry me… No such thing could come out of it."
"I… I don't want to hurt you… But…"
"It's all right… I wouldn't… I wouldn't be happy if you weren't… I shouldn't force you to love me… It's a delicate, tender thing… love… And you… love… love…"
"Don't… Don't say it… if it hurts you so… I know… who that person is…"
Malon couldn't stand not being of this. She forces her legs up, painful as they are. "Ruto… I'm sorry… that Link doesn't… love you. I know how much… this hurts for you…"
Ruto turns to her. "Redheaded Hylian… No, Malon… I know what you're talking about… and I understand… But… you're… you're not me… And… Malon, you… you're the… I'm sorry, but I can't bear to say it."
"Don't, then, Ruto…" Link advises. "If… it pains you this much… I don't want to see you like that…"
Ruto now gazes at the two, seeing how close they are. It causes her heart to break over and over again, but… she's used to it now. Ignoring the catastrophic stress of her emotions, she begins to restore confidence in herself.
"I see, Link… You… You would have made… a fine, caring husband… forever in your life… That person… That woman that… loves you dearly… is… very fortunate to have you…" Ruto's face now releases the sorrow. "And… I can tell that nothing will stop you two in your quest for justice and peace… You must take this Medallion… Take it… Take it respectfully!"
Ruto's arms go up to the air, summoning a medallion of a deep blue shade from the black eternity beyond. On it bears the emblem of the Water.
The Water Medallion…
The power of the Water by Ruto…
"If you see Sheik," Ruto asks through the after effect of white vision, "please give him my thanks, OK?"
Lake Hylia
Undisturbed the water lays in the depression of Lake Hylia. However, a change in the atmosphere somehow brings on the presence of a new day. With the Water Temple purified, and now constantly guarded, Lake Hylia seems to have the evil air over it disappearing by the moment. The sky is clear, for the large clouds of long rain have vanished. The sun once again touches the lake like a long lost friend after those many years. Things seem to be going back to normal for the lake, too. Even the birds are chirping, and not just the annoying Guays.
Once things reached a certain level of peace, the water level suddenly shakes. In a second, it starts to rise, filling the lake back to the glory it once had before. Now Lake Hylia begins settling itself in peace.
"As the water rises, the evil is vanishing from the lake…" Sheik comments, standing on the far middle island of the lake. He looks on to the returning light, and a smirk breaks through his face. "Malon, Link, you did it!"
Turning around, Sheik finds a blue pillar of light appearing on a stone platform nearby him, revealing the Water symbol. Descending from the light are Link and Malon, just as he expected.
"Hey, Sheik!" Malon greets. "What… What are you doing here, anyway?"
"Examining," he answers. "As I can see, your progress has achieved peace to this beautiful lake. The evil shall no longer dwell here anymore…"
"By the way, Sheik…" Link said. "Ruto… She wanted to thank you for saving her from under the ice."
"Did she? I see…" Sheik crosses his arms. "We have to return peace to Hyrule for her sake, too. Don't we?"
"Yes… For her, too."
"… Look at that… Look at Lake Hylia…" Sheik gestures his arm at the water. "Together, you two and Princess Ruto destroyed the evil monster!"
Malon, with a little help from Link, limps toward the edge. The lake is almost full. Malon can see the comely image of the lake she knew before seven years ago. It still hasn't lost the astonishment that first greeted her when she was little. She's not going to forget about Lake Hylia so soon, or at all.
"The lake…" Malon pulls back a strand of her hair away from her eye. "It just… look so pretty… like when I first saw it as a little girl…"
"Once again, the lake is filled with pure water," Sheik said. "All is as it was here."
"It is as if Ganondorf had never touched it…" Link gazes around Lake Hylia, noting things are back to normal. "We must stop him, before he does such evil things to these places again…"
"Yes… Be as you are, Heroes of Time…"
Sheik sneaks a quick glance at the two, staring deeply at the lake while holding each other. He allows another smirk to himself, seeing his cue. Stealthily, he steps back, leaving neither sound nor disturbance in the air. He is just a few meters away from the large, bare tree. Just a little more, and-
"Huh?" Malon's head turns left and right. "Fairy boy… Where's… Where's Sheik?"
"What?" Link turns around. "Sheik?"
They find that nobody but only the two of them is occupying the island.
"Where did he go?"
Sheik, however, is still in their presences. He watches them from high on top of the tree, satisfied that he left them without their knowledge. Seeing as the two should be fine, until their next encounter, he turns to the bright, blue water lighted by the shining sun. With no hesitation, he nimbly dives into the lake, disappearing into the depths below.
"What the…?" Malon notices the splash, but is too late to catch a sight of Sheik. "Link, did you see that?"
"Uh… I sort of…"
"Was that Sheik? Did he just… dive into the water?"
"I don't know… Shouldn't you be annoyed by this?"
"Ugh, well… I'm in too much pain to even care…"