Author's Note: Sorry I've been falling behind. I got caught up in other things of late.

Where are Mudora's reviews? I see many a hit to my story. Doesn't that mean how many people have been looking at it? Why am I not getting reviews? Is Mudora that bad? Please tell me if my writing stinks! I want constructive criticism! Hmm… Oh well. Thanks to those of you who do review! I know I've got one or two regular R&R'ers (Rarawrawr…) and Mudora appreciates his readers!

So now to the main point: Why in Hyrule are Impa and Zelda in Kakariko! Well, it really brought the story in a direction you may not have expected, but it brings us a lot closer to the goals I have for Princess' Destiny. And I've already received word that certain readers are intrigued…

Why wasn't the Ocarina in the castle? Well, it brought you an interesting and unexpected chapter, but it also incorporated characters like the Royal Composer Brothers and Redeads that I really wanted in here earlier than Link's adulthood. I felt the Sun's Song quest would be unnatural and unimportant to Hero's Path, but it is an excellent addition to Princess' Destiny and a nice introduction to the Ocarina of Time, or at least I feel so. On to the story!

A Princess' Destiny

Chapter 7: The Princess' Destiny

"Remember this song," Link said. He stood in the Temple of Time again and played the same sad song on the same Ocarina, which she now recognized as the Ocarina of Time. Zelda really tried to memorize the sound of it. Suddenly, the Door of Time behind Link opened, and there stood Ganondorf, holding the Hundred Years Peace Treaty. It burned in his hand, then formed three golden triangles, the image of the Triforce. Zelda's vision panned out of the Temple as Ganondorf laughed, then she saw Hyrule Castle Town. It was in complete ruin and the very zombies she'd seen in the tomb roamed Town Square. It was dark and gloomy, and in the background behind the Temple she saw Death Mountain burning. She now stood at the entrance to the town. The drawbridge was in shambles and pieces clung to the banks of the Zora's River. She looked down in the murky waters and saw a reflection. But it wasn't her reflection. The image she saw in the river was that of a man, whose countenance was hidden by bandages. One brown eye was visible through his long, blond bangs. In this eye she saw a weathered soul, born of years of war and trouble.

It wasn't Link, that much she knew. She vividly remembered Link having beautiful blue eyes, even in her vision of the man, Link. Something about this man in the water echoed the name "Sheikah". Yes, this man was not only a Sheikah warrior, but the very essence of the Sheikah arts. His eye, his hair, both were beautiful. The good part of him was visible. And all the fighting and death that he's dealt with was kept under bandage-wrap and remained a mystery to onlookers, only to be seen by his enemies. All this could be read just by seeing him.

Who was he? Where did he come from? Why did he appear in Zelda's reflection, in the midst of all this pain and suffering? All this she wondered as she gazed at him for mere seconds, though it felt as though she'd been staring at him for years...

She awoke in her cot at Impa's house, suddenly. Light wasn't shining in, and Zelda remembered how late she and Impa were out the night before. A constant pitter-patter on the roof let Zelda know it was raining outside. Impa was cooking something in the oven.

"Are you awake, Princess?" she asked.

"Yes," Zelda said. "What time is it?"

"Almost midnight."

Zelda sat up in bed. "Are we becoming nocturnal, Impa?"

"If we must." As Zelda pondered that statement, Impa said, "I've baked some bread."

She pulled a loaf out of the oven. "Let it cool a little, Princess, then we can eat."

As they ate their meal, Zelda relayed her vision to Impa.

"I have few answers and many questions myself, Princess," Impa said after Zelda had finished.

"What do we do?"

"What any Sheikah would do in search of answers. Meditate."

They left for the graveyard after eating.

"Why must we do this in the graveyard, in the rain, in the middle of the night, Impa?"

"The graveyard is peaceful, and home to many Sheikah, Princess. As for the timing, Dampe has gone to bed and will not disturb us. The rain is just untimely."

They went and sat in the graveyard, cross-legged. For once, Zelda took it seriously. The question was one she knew was most important to understanding the visions. Who was the mysterious Sheikah?

Then she remembered a part of her visions that had not entered her thoughts in the past few days: Sheik, the Sheikah. In previous visions, before the appearance of Link, Sheik was always saving Zelda from the horrors brought about by Ganondorf's treachery. Now he appeared in her reflection, as a Sheikah like Impa had before.

So was Sheik representative of Impa? Thinking back at the escape from the castle, and their adventure in the tomb, Zelda realized she had saved Impa from Ganondorf recently, not the other way around. But these things had happened since the appearance of Link. If Sheik was representative of Impa before Link, a guardian to Zelda before she could defend herself, why would he reappear in her visions?

Then it made sense, as she remembered possibly the most important part of the vision. Sheik was in Zelda's reflection. If Sheik was Impa, why would she see him as the image of herself?

As time wears on, and my visions of Hyrule's future come to pass, Impa won't always be able to protect me, she realized. At some point, I must protect myself. Perhaps this Sheikah, Sheik, is the image of my own future as a Sheikah.

The reflection isn't her image, but her spirit. Her true self...

But she wasn't a battle-hardened Sheikah, she was just a little girl.

"This is where many Sheikah fledglings spend whole years of their lives," Impa's words resounded in her memory. "You must find inner calm, and face your true self."

How could young Sheikah face their true selves, when they haven't reached their full potential? They don't know who they are, because they haven't lived their lives!

I may not be a true Sheikah, I may just be a little girl, but I haven't lived yet. I haven't reached the apex of my existance, my true self. I am Sheik.

Now there was only one way to test her finds. She made the shadow symbol with her hands and felt the energy channel through her body.

I am Sheikah, she thought. Releasing the symbol, she felt something. Or rather, she didn't feel anything. No change. The energy, ki, didn't leave her. She still had it, without continually letting it flow through her body. She kept it inside her.

"Impa!" she said, and it dissipated. It didn't matter. She didn't have it anymore, but she had. She had kept the ki in her body several seconds after she had cancelled the hand signal.

Impa started from her meditation. "What is it, Princess?"

"I did it."