Epilogue: Reparations

Climax Arc – Birth of the Enlightened

Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda; this is just a Fan Fiction

Featured Music: "Ranked Amongst the World's Best" The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass OST. Chapter Briefing.

"Credits" – The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap OST. Scene 1 (First & Second Halves) & 2 (First Half).

"Dearly Beloved" Kingdom Hearts II OST. Scene 2 (Second Half).


In an incredible clash, fit only for the gods themselves, Link and his raven-haired rival Raynard rail one another brutally in the last set of the world championships; the grand finals themselves. In the grand finals, Link at long last manages to get through to his once-close companion Raynard and, with it, the two finally finish their five year-long feud with one another. A fight that ends in victory, not for Raynard this time as it had been in the explosive end of the Hylian Hyrax national championship, but for the well-deserving Link himself.

In every national championship since travelling across the great expanse of the lovely Aurelian continent, Link himself came extremely close in each one, having won second place in every single competition he ever participated in; a hard-won feat that even the most well-experienced martial artists around the world can't help but be impressed at. Finally, however after all of his sweat and toil and struggles with the Shinzui-et-Sanmiitai, the former Hero of Time at long last achieves the title of 'world champion' and, more importantly, manages to finally be rid of his attachment to the Shinzui itself and the second demonic side of himself the satanic power is linked to; Kage Narumono.

Although he has failed in his initial goal of his five year-long trek in finding and locating his old companion Navi, a sentiment he shared across the foreign lands of Termina, he now takes solace in the fact that he knows now he has no need of reliance on outside assistance to control his baser instincts; a hard and simple fact of growing up.

Sometimes it is best just to let go.

With this under his belt it didn't take very long for the menacing Scaverin to finally put his own five year-long tactics into action; with Divinity, Judgement, Domination, Torment and Enlightenment, the five aspects of godhood, Scaverin decisively achieves what he set out to do in the first place – to successfully succeed the old bible stories of Alphanion, the Absolute and even the Sorcerer of the Divine Divide himself… and becomes a god, or at the very least, a demi-god.

He sets his newfound god-like powers on the party of heroes and, even with Raynard now joining them permanently in tow, they are easily swatted away like the flies they seem to Scaverin himself. It is only when the group realise their only hope is to channel their Aegir and powers into one vessel, Link, that they finally and somehow manage to overcome Scaverin's imperfect ascendance to godhood and put an end to him, once and for all.

Now with Scaverin having been defeated definitively and Link's goals having all been successfully met with, the young Hylian finds himself at a crossroads with his life. Indeed, now having grown up finally both mentally and physically, even after coming back from his own time and era, Link thinks to the future and spends one last day with all of his friends from opposing corners of Aurelia before returning to his trusted homeland of Hyrule…


Scene 1

"This is a bad idea."

"I told you; it'd be fine, you're just anxious that's all."

The listening Raynard managed a nervous-sounding huff out of his mouth as he stepped forward into the open doors of Hyrule Castle's throne room, joined by the smiling-faced Link and Zelda themselves. Although his two on and off-again companions were as supportive as always, Raynard still couldn't help but feel the angry and resentful stares of the other Hylian people within the confines of Hyrule Castletown marketplace; an age-old anger as far back as he could remember.

As he stepped up the marble stone staircase to the large double doors leading to Hyrule Castle's throne room, Raynard attempted with great effort to stifle the massive incoming bout of sickness that threatened to overtake him; a powerful sensation of nervousness mixed unhealthily with uneasiness, especially given his clan's previously bloody history with the royal family.

As he passed by each stone-faced Hylian soldier standing guard on either side of one another, a total of six of them, Raynard kept his gaze focused firmly forward on the seated king himself, joined by the smiling-faced Link and Zelda following closely behind him. When he at last made the final approach, the frowning-faced Daphnes atop his throne upturned his expression into a light-eyed smile, nodding down at the youth as he dropped down on one knee nervously and unsurely; a surprisingly humble look for the young man.

"Ah… young Van Garrick… please, stand…,"

The listening raven-haired youth nodded in a light wince, standing to his feet as he cast the much-older Hylian a simple-faced frown, both clenched hands resting at his side.

"I, my daughter and her good friend are pleased to see you well," Daphnes began again in his well-to-do smile, uncoupling his own large hands from sitting on his throne's arm rests to join together as he spoke. The listening Zelda and Link in reaction cast their own smiles forward to join their father and king respectively. "They tell me many great things about you."

"Y-Yes I um…"

"Many great… and disturbing things."

Raynard, stopped mid-track, could only widen both chestnut-brown eyes back at the newly-frowning Daphnes; feeling tricked and somewhat betrayed, he swung his half-annoyed look on the zig-zagged faced Link before soon re-facing Hyrule's king ahead of himself.

"We all make mistakes, my son," the older man smiled a second time however, managing somehow to put the inwardly-sighing Raynard's nerves at ease again, just as quickly as they rose. "I'm glad my daughter and her friend were able to help you."

Raynard, nodding forward as he re-bent his knee to display respect to Hyrule's king, briefly shutting his chestnut-shaded eyes as he did. "I am too… your um… your m-majesty…,"

It felt odd for the young man to finally show respect to the man and the clan with which he was attached to, after having previously despised them with every fibre of his being for the words he was given by his former mentor Scaverin.

"I really am…" He added in a somewhat saddened frown, re-opening his eyes if only a little in his bent-forward position, staring down at the ground as if in deep thought.

"I always saw potential in you," king Daphnes smiled on warmly, tilting his white-haired head down at the youth as he did. "It was just as our Hero of Time once said… 'he's a good person. I believe in him'."

Somehow shocked again by the older man's words, Raynard shot up his head before 'rounding it behind him, only to find the grinning-faced blonde himself flashing an encouraging thumbs up back at him. The watching raven-haired rival could only upturn his shock-faced frown into a slow-changing smile, appreciative and glad. When he found the smiling-faced Daphnes stand up from his throne and reach for an ornamental sword handed to him by one of the ever-frowning soldiers on his right, Raynard bent back down on one knee, holding back a wince as he did.

"In the name of Hylia and of all her followers, I grant you, Raynard Van Garrick, a full pardon of any crime you may have been involved in across Aurelia… and the title of Hylian Vanguard."

As the old Hylian spoke, Raynard felt the man's ornamental blade touch both shoulders gently before turning it 'round carefully so that the hilt of it faced the youth.

"I dub thee… 'Sir' Raynard."

The listening Raynard could barely believe his small Hylian ears; his wide-eyed stare burned the marble floor and the beautiful red carpet below him powerfully, not daring to raise his raven-haired head as he did.

"Now… rise… Sir Raynard."

At long last the strength returned to his knees and his body; the last surviving member of the Van Garrick clan stood to his feet and, as he did, cast the Hylian king before him with an appreciative-faced smile of his own.

"Thank you…," Raynard began appreciatively, nodding back at the white-haired king before revolving his head 'round to face the smirking and nodding-faced Link, as well as the smiling and nodding Zelda herself. "Thank you all… I… I don't deserve…"

"Of course you do," king Daphnes smiled on as warmly as he carried himself, raising up a strong arm to rest on the youth's shoulder as he did. "I always thought you were a diamond in the rough… and now you've proven it these past five years. If it weren't for you… we would have lost our Hero of Time," he began again, nodding his head in the grinning-faced Link's direction. "Or perhaps even… my darling daughter."

Raynard's eyebrows lifted and, as he revolved his spiked-haired head to get a look, sure enough the similarly-smiling Zelda nodded back at him and a pang of guilt flew through his spine.

I don't deserve any of this, he thought to himself.

"I'm just glad things didn't get too out of hand with you…,"

The group swung their heads 'round to the interruption's source, only to find the firmly-frowning Impa, folded-armed and ever-stern, joined by the smirking Barkner and the similarly-frowning Alwyn on either side of her at the door's entrance. Raynard's initially-worried frown relaxed and his frown settled as the smirk on Link's own face grew as the trio began to march toward them all.

"You stood up to help us all in the end… in spite of how things started," the Sheikah bodyguard began again as she made the final approach, joined by the grinning Goron and the frowning Zoran on either side of her. Zelda nodded in her and Alwyn's direction as Link exchanged a brotherly fist bump with the grinning-faced Goron; wordless exchanges that elicited no real response from even the nearby-standing soldiers around them all. "We'll always remember that."

The rare smile, however small on her face was enough to give Raynard a small smile of his own, coating the area in a further warm atmosphere that left him feeling grateful and thankful.

After the stories told by Link not that long ago in Draerith's world championship grand finals match-up, Raynard was more than happy to share a smile with the group he now considered 'friends'.

His smile up-turned into a half-amused smirk and he shut his eyes, briefly shaking his head as he did.

"It still feels strange to call them that…"

"We just made history today!"

Calling him directly out of his deep-seated thoughts with an exuberant tone to his voice, the grinning-faced Link leapt into frame, wrapping a sociable arm 'round the older Hylian's shoulder. Raynard widened both chestnut-brown eyes in genuine surprise before re-setting his shock-eyed frown into an amusingly half-annoyed one, eyelids quickly half-lowering as he did.

"You should be proud!"

Raynard swung his mockingly-irritated frown in the smirking-faced Link's direction, drawing out further amusement from the blonde youth.

"No other person from your clan's achieved the kind of things you have!"

The young man's listening friend lowered his eyes and put on a genuine-faced frown, his eyelids lowering thoughtfully as he realised the gravity of his companion's words.

He's right, he thought.

An odd feeling of pride welled up within the raven-haired rival; a mixture of strange satisfaction meshed with a cognizance of his family's past and his own future, both of his own time and of his rival's.

"I'd say even they're proud of you," Link further added on in his confident-eyed grin, nodding at the youth on his shoulder. "Your parents too."

A smile slowly spread across Raynard's face as he listened on in appreciation.

"Yeah…"


"So I guess this is it!"

Barkner's ever-exuberant call made the walking group all halt their progress as they left the drawbridge to Hyrule Castletown Market, turning 'round to face him; the friendly Goron stood next to the firmly-frowning form of Alwyn, folded-armed as he was next to the younger man, the Goron's own right arm resting across his hip, the other hanging at his side as he flashed his grin at the group before him.

"Five full years together…" He began again, drawing out a rolling-eyed grin from the listening Vassia across from him.

"Even if we all spent most of it apart from one another…" She spoke lowly again in her rolling-eyed grin, turning her stare 'round on the half-smiling Link next to her.

"With good reason I'm sure…"

Link held back a grunt as he felt the half-annoyed Malon yank him back in her direction, pulling light laughs and chuckles from the on-watching group around them.

"I'll miss this."

The group swung their heads 'round, only to find the source of the mezzo-soprano as the frowning-faced Veronika, still suited in her Stralanavian dress, bracelets and jewellery making light noises as she joined her small hands at her centre.

"I don't think I've ever met a group of people as colourful as you all before… and I'll…," she began again, light-brown eyes facing the grassy ground below. "I'll miss you all so much…"

"We can always visit one another though!" The ever-sociable Barkner shot back into the conversation with, leaning forward to ring one of his muscled and rocky arms 'round the initially-surprised Veronika's shoulder; she settled her open-mouthed frown into a warm-faced smile as she rose her eyes to face his. "After all it's what friends are for, right?"

Link, facing the Goron, cast his own smiling nod his way in response. "Always."

The listening Raynard next to him, a newly calming-faced frown of his own adorned on his complexion, lowered his own eyes in brief thought as a smile slowly spread across it.

'Friends', he thought.

An odd feeling of warmth spread through him; an alien feeling that left him even strangely more comfortable. He shut his eyes, shook his spiky-haired head and breathed out air through his nose in a noticeably-amused increase to his smile. The watching Link, curious, double-took in his direction, turning to face him in a light chuckle of his own.

"What?"

His raven-haired rival re-faced the blonde youth, shaking his head a second time in his way this time, his smile growing as he did.

"It's… nothing."

"Yo Zel, Vickie, Malon, Vass…,"

The girls all swung their heads 'round in the smirking-faced Barkner's direction, waiting for the inevitable joke coming their way.

"Looks as though you all got another friggin' rival!" The Goron laughed out, pulling his head back to cast his laugh to the beautiful-blue skies above them all. While Malon, Raynard and Vassia rolled their similarly-hardened eyes in frustration, it was Zelda, Veronika and the smirking-faced Link that cast their amused looks in the Goron's way, drawing out a half-amused smile from the watching Impa and Alwyn.

"Well… at least we get to stay here for a few weeks," the newly-smirking Vassia spoke again, regaining her usual superior tone of voice. "A thousand thank you's to king Daphnes for granting us places within the lavish capital of Aurelia…"

Genuinely surprised by Vassia's sudden increase in humility, they all near double-took in her direction as she bowed to the frowning-faced Zelda, drawing out a half-satisfied smirk from the Palashian princess.

"I have manners, you all know…" She began again in her thick Palashian accent with a notable chuckle on her smirk.

"I suppose this does mean we can all see each other a bit more frequently… even if it's just for this period…" Veronika spoke up a second time, eyes lowered to rest on her thinly-joined fingers below her at her centre, a small smile on her facial expression.

"And more," Link shot back into the conversation with, a light smirk of his own dotting his complexion; a reminder of his old overconfident expression and one the group knew and loved him for. "Me, Saria and everyone are all around the country; we ain't far."

Realising that he was situated in the south-eastern forests of Kokiri, Barkner in the northern mountains of the Gorons and Alwyn in the eastern waters of the Zorans, Veronika smiled at them all when she managed to trace the difference between Hyrule Castletown, Lon Lon Ranch and their locations; a thankful look on her face as she did.

"I think fairy boy's first stop will be Lon Lon," Malon began, a light smirk gracing her own countenance as she leant toward the blinking blonde boy. "We have to go check on our baby… after all…"

The listening Vassia held back from spitting out in in a mixture of sheer shock and rage, pulling out light laughs from the rest of the group. Link himself rolled his oceanic eyes when he soon realised she was talking – and indeed teasing him – about the Cuccoo they once purchased five years prior during the groups' stay in Stralanavia.

"As much as I'd like to Mal I gotta go back home," he responded to her with, a kind of light-faced frown on his own countenance, drawing out a half-disappointed turn to her own frown. "Can't keep Saria waitin'; it's been over five years now."

"I've yet to meet this 'Saria'!" Vassia spoke up again, re-folding her gloved arms at him interrogatively. "From the sounds of things, she may as well be your-"

"Mother."

The group swung their heads 'round to find the source of the soft-voiced interruption as the frowning-faced Zelda; she rose her blonde-ponytailed head to face them all and exchanged looks with them all, soon realising their stares were on her. She smiled sheepishly back at them all before re-opening her mouth.

"What? She is!"

Link cocked a grin back at the Hylian princess, nodding. "Yeah…," he responded, chuckling. "I guess she is kinda like my mom."

"I thought… you were an orphan. Like me?" Raynard surprisingly spoke up again, raven-haired eyebrow rising up in genuine curiosity to the youth's left.

"Yeah… I am," Link smiled back at the older Hylian next to him. "Saria raised me from birth. She isn't my birth mom but… she may as well be." He chuckled again, his small smile growing as he thought of his closest childhood friend.

"We'll have to meet her then, won't we fairy boy?" Malon smiled in the youth's direction, drawing out a lighter look from him in response.

"Most of you already have," Link fired back, his smile growing a little before he re-eyed the newer members of their group since leaving Hyrule. "But it can definitely be arranged."

When he received similar smiles of encouragement and anticipation, it was the ever-exuberant Barkner that spoke up again, bringing further light to the conversation.

"I still can't believe you beat down that Scaverin guy with only one blow," the Goron admitted, shaking his rocky-skinned head in sheer disbelief spiced with what seemed to be an odd sense of pride. "After the beating we all took…"

"I suppose it wasn't all that impressive when you think about it…," Alwyn threw in rationally, slim blue arms ever-folded as he briefly eyed his close Goron companion on his right before soon re-facing their similarly-close Hylian friend ahead. "You'd been training with-?"

"Sun Hui-sifu, yeah." He answered the experienced Zoran with a smile and a nod.

While he used his last mentor's work name and refrained from using her real one, it left him no regret.

Especially after suffering under her brutal yet firm and absolute tutelage; to even reveal something as minute as her name would tantamount to insult.

And an insult in Liling Xiang's name and reputation was a road that often resulted in death.

"In the end I was only able to do all that because of you guys," Link spoke, choosing to smile as he cast his gratitude amongst his closest allies and companions, all of which had travelled with him across Aurelia one way or another. "Even when my own back was against a wall in Gylomecia… you guys saved me." He claimed again, briefly turning his grateful-eyed smile on the half-surprised Zelda; a look that told all she needed.

The watching Hylian princess' smile slowly upturned as memories of their life-or-death struggle came flooding back to them both, knowing of her critical role and their five year-long life connection due to it.

"I owe you guys everything."

"No you don't…"

Surprised to find the source of the voice coming from the frowning-faced Raynard on his immediate left, Link double-took in the older Hylian's direction before rising both blonde-haired eyebrows at him.

"If anything… we owe you," he added, this time in a rare-faced smile, drawing out well-intentioned beams and smaller smiles from the rest of the listening group. "Or, at the very least, I owe you."

Link's own smile grew back into the confident smirk he was always fond of in his earlier youth and he leant an arm 'round the older finalist's shoulder in a brotherly-like fashion, re-opening his mouth to respond as he did.

"Party at Ray's to celebrate then?" The blonde grinned on, drawing out amused chuckles around them. While Raynard let out a small smirk of his own it soon fell in a sad-faced frown when he realised he was essentially homeless.

"Ah… I…"

Quick to catch it, the watching Zelda blinked before regaining the well-meaning smile on her own expression, re-opening her mouth as she did. "That can be arranged."

The frowning-faced Raynard rose a curious-eyed eyebrow, swinging his spiky-haired head in the princess' direction. "But I don't stay in-?"

"You do now," Impa spoke up on the youth's own left, pulling a shocked frown from him in response. "You're officially a knight of Hyrule now and your place of residence is in the castle itself."

Unable to even fathom a single word in response, Raynard could only open up his mouth in sheer shock and disbelief, eliciting laughs from the watching Barkner and Link.

"Hey, I guess she's right!" The grinning Goron shot out with, lightly leaning a rocky-skinned arm to hang and rest on his close Zoran companion Alwyn's right shoulder; the former Zoran soldier, still folded-armed, rose up a half-annoyed eyebrow and briefly turned to eye the cheeky Goron himself mid-speech. "You a Hyrule regular now bro!"

Raynard swung his surprised-faced frown in Barkner's direction only to briefly lower his chestnut-brown eyes, his frown slowly upturning into a warmth-filled smile, small and restrained. "Yeah…," he answered, lightly turning his eye on the nodding and similarly-smiling Link, nodding back as he revolved his raven-haired head to face the previously-speaking Barkner again. "Yeah." He reiterated, much more boldly this time, his smile growing.

"Well… until we all meet again… I suppose this is it." Veronika spoke up again, a saddened frown adorned on her pale complexion, small hands still joined at her centre.

"Don't fret," Impa responded soon enough, a rare-faced smile upon her usually-firm exterior, her own arms also folded. "With the week you both have staying close-by in Hyrule Castle we're all but a few minutes away."

"Hours for us maybe." The grinning Barkner interjected with, arm still resting on the frowning Alwyn's shoulder; the half-annoyed Zoran turned his frown in his close friend's direction only to find the Goron nodding his head in the older man's way, eliciting a shut-eyed and head-shaking smirk, obviously referring to their own respective homelands within Hyrule.

"It's just a shame I won't be able to greet you in the morning… mon amour."

The listening Link still couldn't help himself from shuddering on contact with the ever-bold Vassia's touch to his skin, holding back a wince as she stepped closer toward him and purred in his small Hylian ear.

I wish she wouldn't do that, he thought to himself anxiously.

Feeling as if he'd betrayed Zelda, Veronika or Malon's trust somehow, he re-rose his zig-zag-faced frown to briefly eye them all in a careful apologetic look. While he received a smiling, head-shaking nod from the kind-eyed Zelda and Veronika, he got an annoyed brow-focused frown from the clearly-disapproving Malon.

Even in spite of his guilty feelings, it made a small part of him grin inwardly at the angered look in her eye.

"Well… I guess this really is it…," Link began again, lowering his smirk into a light-faced smile as he re-eyed the rest of his friends. "At least until tomorrow." He shot into the conversation with another grin, oceanic eyes briefly shut as he did.

"We simply must do something tomorrow, all of us." The smiling-faced Zelda spoke warmly, clapping both small hands together softly as she did.

"Sounds good to me! I can easily roll back down Death Mountain any time. In fact…," Barkner began with a smirk, arm still ringed 'round the frowning-faced Alwyn's shoulder. "I was thinkin' of seein' my boy's home for a day or two!"

Alwyn, realising he was talking about Zora's River and Zora's Domain, let out a half-annoyed frown and roll of his eyes, eliciting a laugh from the rest of the group.

"You've never been Bark?" Link fired back in his light-eyed smile, drawing a smirking head-shake from rock-skinned Goron.

"Nope! Should be interestin'."

Raynard re-opened his mouth, adopting a humorous-eyed smirk of his own. "Whatever you do, don't fall in the water up there."

Link pulled his head back and laughed at the banter, pulling another head-shake from the listening Barkner, smirking and knowing.

"Go say hi to king Zora and Ruto for me guys." The laughing Link responded to the pair before him, drawing out a smirking and frowning-faced nod from the pair respectively.

"So when are you free tomorrow fairy boy?" Malon poked and prodded the blue-tunic youth, drawing out a light smile from him as he 'rounded it on the young woman on his left.

"I dunno, I mean… I gotta go see the guys in Kokiri Forest and, well…," he began again, upturning his smile into a light-eyed smirk again. "'Mom' too… I guess."

"Well, come here… I'll miss you."

He blinked back at her as she stepped closer to embrace her light arms 'round his broad body, leaving him half-surprised as he returned the embrace.

"I'll only be gone a day Mal," he laughed back in response, patting the small of her back. "And besides I'll only be a couple of minutes away."

"You have to understand mon amour…,"

He let out another surprised sound, this one a bit louder as he was spun 'round to face the speaker, only to find her lips mashed with his and her gloved hands wrapped 'round his cheeks. At first he attempted to struggle against the ever-bold Vassia but soon rolled his eyes and endured the experience; soon enough she let go with a powerful smack of their lips, leaving him and the annoyed-looking Malon particularly miffed.

"For us, a day is a long time…" The Palashian princess uttered in her satisfied-looking smirk. The frowning-faced Link watched her in disapproval before sighing through his nose and relaxing his expression into a half-amused smile, shaking his blonde-haired head before he turned 'round to face his other friends. Like magic, the similarly-smiling Veronika stood before him, raising up her own small bandaged hands to take his softly into her own.

"Thank you…," the young-looking Stralanavian began back toward him, her smile growing a little as she pulled him in for a simple embrace, much like Malon's. "Thank you for meeting me…"

Link cast her a half-surprised frown before smiling back as he returned the hug, patting her platonically across her back as her midnight-blue scarf rolled around his shoulders. "Don't… worry about it." He laughed back nervously.

As Veronika pulled back from him, almost as if she did so for the next one, Link turned his blonde-haired head only to cast his well-to-do smile on the similar-eyed Zelda, now directly in front of him. The two opted not to speak with one another and, much like with Malon and Veronika, it was he instead that opted to initiate the hug; she reciprocated fairly quickly and the pair embraced one another – an old sign of friendship across two timelines.

Even in the embrace itself, Link could still feel the pull of his very own Aegir, still remaining dormant within her after their accident in Gylomecia, and the emergency surgery used to save her life with his own. It was a strange set of circumstances that saw the pair inextricably linked, much like they were in his original timeline.

The two pulled themselves back and, as they did, he caught her smile growing stronger as she faced him; a look he knew all too well.

When he eventually released himself from her grip, he left only a single hand resting across her slim left shoulder, smiling back at her as he nodded. "I'll see you soon again… Zel."

He turned lightly to face the ever-frowning Impa on his left and Zelda's right, casting her with the same light-eyed smile he did the rest of his friends.

"Impa-sensei…," he began in a half-amused chuckle, relaxing one side of his facial expression as he smiled over and up at her. "Thank you for teaching me… for being my sensei."

The last of the Sheikah, opting to let a rare-faced smile grace her complexion, shook her silver-haired head back down at him as she lowered her armoured palm to affectionately rub at his blonde-haired head. "I am proud of you," she began in genuine response, nodding down at him. "Truth be told I didn't think you'd survive Sun Hui's teaching five years ago but, as always, you seem to prove me and many others wrong."

He couldn't help but grow the smile on his face into the old overconfident smirk he used to love wearing in his earlier youth, drawing out appreciative smiles from the rest of the watching group.

"You really were somethin' else pipsqueak…,"

Link, surprised by the light interruption, swung his curious-eyed stare on his back, swinging the long ponytail of blonde hair he carried with him, only to face the similarly-smirking Barkner staring back at him. Now having taken his arm off the frowning and folded-armed Alwyn's shoulder, Barkner folded his own rocky-skinned arms at the youth, re-opening his mouth to continue.

"If I knew just how much of a man you'd become I'd have introduced you to some of the girls on Death Mountain!" The Goron shot in with a humorous-faced grin, eliciting a shut-eyed smirk of amusement from the listening Alwyn next to him. Link shut his own, briefly shaking his straw-haired head as he did.

"Bark… Al…," the former Kokiri began again, re-raising his head to face the pair; two of his closer companions in his first adventure. "I owe you both so much," he spoke out this time, his smile slowly dipping into a sad-eyed frown. "For all the trouble I've given you both, not just here, but…"

"Hey,"

He re-rose his oceanic-eyed gaze of guilt into a wide-eyed frown of surprise, finding the light interruption's source coming from the ever-passive faced Alwyn.

"You don't owe us anything," the former soldier reiterated strongly, his frown almost conveying a powerful level of disapproval; something that made the watching Link lower his eyes again in guilt and self-disappointment. "You're our…,"

Link re-rose his eyes a third time, eyebrows shooting up expectantly and almost disbelievingly. Barkner too, similarly surprised, could only swing his frown in Alwyn's direction.

"Friend," Alwyn at long last admitted, his hardened and stoic frown softening into a light-faced smile. "You're our friend."

"Yeah… 'sides… it don't suit a legend like you now, don't it?" Barkner added on in a similar-eyed smirk, tilting his head at the young Hylian.

Link, his eyes beginning to leak tears at the thought of his companions from his original timeline having died due to his own mistakes, could only hold back a choking laugh as he leapt forward into a sudden embracing hug, wrapping two of his broad and muscular arms 'round the surprised Barkner and Alwyn. The Goron and Zoran respectively issued one another a half-surprised frown before returning the embrace and patting the youth on his back.

He pulled back and, as he did, let out a single sniff of effort as he ran a hand over his leaking eyes as if to put himself into a presentable state, casting his smile up at two of his closest friends.

"I'm sorry… Link,"

The named youth blinked and held back a gasp, 'rounding his frown to his rear, only to find the firmly-frowning faced Raynard behind him, eyes boring a hole into the beautiful grasses of Hyrule Field, a kind of guilty look of his own in his chestnut-brown gaze.

"I know you were looking for a friend of yours… a woman was it?" He began again, re-rising his tree-shaded eyes to briefly furrow his brow at the younger Hylian. "And I just… I got in the way and…"

Link couldn't help spreading his frown into an understanding smile, shaking his straw-haired head back at his raven-haired rival. "Nah… you didn't really, it's okay," he answered simply in a light chuckle. "It was my guardian fairy I was looking for… Navi."

Finally having answered the question on everyone's mind the last five years, all eyes were now on the youth expectantly, curious and carefully-quiet.

"She was the only one that had the power to stop me when Kage Narumono took me over," he answered again, casting his own smile on the ground as he thought of her. "I don't know what exactly it was… or how the Great Deku Tree knew of it… maybe he's the one that created her for that purpose, but… either way… it's fine," he began again, re-facing the youth above him. "I got what I needed; I found the answer I was looking for," Link spoke, re-opening his mouth one final time. "I'm now free of the Shinzui."

Raynard's own saddened frown soon upturned into a light-eyed smile of his own, nodding back in approval. "Well… if anyone here owes anything… it's me to you."

Link's own smile dropped curiously. "Wha-?"

"If it wasn't for you, I'd have been dead, just like the Raynard of your timeline," the surprisingly-wise youth explained briefly. "You helped me, believed in me when no-one else would," he began again, this time in a hardened-eyed frown. "I'll never forget that."

The watching Link opted to flash the frowning-faced Raynard a grin – an old expression they used to share with one another well – before he stepped forward and rose up one of his free gauntleted arms.

SLAP

The sound of their palms slapping together, powerful and echoing, made the pair of youths exchange their knowing and well-intentioned grins; a look of competition and hunger that they loved to wear in their earlier youth.

"Don't worry about it," Link merely shot back with in his light-eyed grin. "Just keep yourself available!"

Raynard cocked up a raven-haired eyebrow in expectance. "For a rematch?"

"Always!"


2

The scent of trees and forests filled the air as he stepped on through the large tree trunk leading the way to Kokiri Forest, washing over him in great waves of nostalgia. The great weathered white duffel bag Link carried over his left shoulder, hanging over his blue tunic back, was barely enough for the surrounding young children all scattered 'round about the forest to even take notice of. All it took was one in the end.

"Who's that?"

"Is that… Link…?"

"Link!"

In an instant the smiling-faced youth was soon surrounded by old faces and friends alike; the Know-It-All Brothers, Fado and, of course, Mido. Around them all were curious-eyed Kokiri Link had never even met before, even in his own time, seemingly having joined those who recognised him.

"I can't believe it's you!" The grinning young Mido called out with a thrusting finger in his direction, rushing at him.

The surrounding Kokiri all stepped aside as if to make way in a path for him, eliciting the smiling-faced Link to drop his duffel bag in preparation for the next greeting they'd gotten used to since returning from his original timeline; the former Kokiri himself lowered his right fist and, running up to catch it with his own outstretched fist, bumped them both together as he came in contact with the older youth.

"Just look at you!" The self-proclaimed 'boss' of the Kokiri called out in an excited grin, clenching both fists at his sides, posture held lowly as if to ready for an altercation. "You got so tall!"

Link's smile grew a little as he tilted his blonde-haired head down at his former bully, re-opening his mouth to speak as he did. "Hey Mido."

"We all saw you on the Gossip Stone next to your house!" The little auburn-haired Kokiri grinned up at him, re-opening his mouth to continue. "We had no idea you were fighting in those tournament things!"

Link's smile grew a little in response as he nodded back at the youth, lowering himself on one knee to the eternal children's' levels. "Honestly I'm glad I did," he began in a light-faced chuckle. "I learned so much about myself."

"Are ya staying finally?!"

Link's smile grew a second time as he nodded back down at the auburn-haired Kokiri.

"YES!"

Like a light, the group of Kokiri children surrounding him all erupted into cheers and excited cries, eliciting a look of appreciation and thankfulness.

This felt like a return; a true return.

Almost like his initial homecoming in his original era, only this one under much happier circumstances.

Suddenly he was a lot more thankful for his timeline's Zelda's decision to send him back.

"Yo!"

Link, briefly blinking out of his stupor, re-turned his oceanic-eyed gaze Mido's way, only to listen further in.

"Did you get those-?"

Realising exactly what his old friend was referring to, Link's frown soon upswung into a knowing smile before he reached down to his lower left, pawing at his weathered white duffel bag. Opening it up he smiled on as he withdrew a number of pastries, presumably having picked them all up from Hyrule Castletown Market.

"All right!" The excited little Kokiri exclaimed out, fist clenched at his side as the rest of the Kokiri around him all exclaimed in sync. Link smiled on down at the eternal youth, grateful for their friendship. "Oh!"

Link's smile briefly fell in favour of a curious-eyed frown.

"Saria was lookin' for you!" He called out mid-eating, his words somewhat muffled as he turned one of his fingers to point directly in his house's direction. "I think she's waiting for you up there!"

Link's frown soon upturned back into the grateful smile he wore so well, nodding back as he reached down for his weathered white duffel bag, swinging it up and over his shoulder. "Thanks… Mido."


"Home sweet home…"

Link at long last dropped his used up duffel bag to the ground of his comfortable and familiar floor, running his oceanic-eyed gaze around the inside of his recognisable walls. He couldn't help but smile as he found himself looking upwards at the ceiling, once being a tower in his youth and now much closer in his (second) growth to adulthood. The hardwood table in the centre of the room, the mirror overlooking a second table in the eastern corner of the room with a sink of water inside, a third table in the western corner littered with brown-shaded pots and other utensils.

He stepped across and over the room to a comfortable spot, a spot many would consider his beginning…

His bed.

Link cast down another smile at the seemingly recently-made quilt covers below as well as the noticeboard on the left; another sight that did his heart well to see. He double-took however, his smile devolving down into a half-surprised frown when he seemed to see something else sighted on its stature. Aside from the usual scribblings he'd written down as a child, he clocked new words, not of his own handwriting. First he read his own; the memories of former youth coming back to him.

Link's Records:

Spiders squished: 100

Largest fish caught: 24 pounds

Marathon time: 00:50

Horse race time: 00:25

Horseback archery: 2,000 points

Under his old handwritten records were new memories; these he did not write. A fact he was able to confirm by noting the handwriting; although it was familiar to him, it wasn't quite as messy and bold as his. The neat and tidy formation it gave off made him realise it was feminine and belonged to someone quite dear to him.

Hylian Hyrax: Runner up

Winner: Raynard

Palashian Premier: Runner up

Winner: Vassia

Kaioh Bio: Runner up

Winner: Ragnar

Skirmish in Stralanavia: Runner up

Winner: Veronika

Nation of Domination: Winner – World Champion

Runner up: Raynard

"I can't believe she…"

His disbelieving murmur, so soft and shocked, echoed out quietly as he lowered one of his fingers to paw at the carefully-laid handwriting below him. He was ready to comment further when he double-took his shock-eyed gaze again, further writing below it.

I miss you Link

His frown raised up a little, trembling as he held back a wince, running one of his calloused hands over it softly.

"I missed you too… Saria."

CLUNK

He held back a shocked gasp, swinging his blonde-haired head 'round to his rear and the source of the noise's direction, only to find the similarly wide-eyed Saria standing in the doorway. Cleaning tools, such as a mop, brush and bucket sat on her sides, and the young-looking Kokiri wore a bandana-like piece of clothing across her emerald-haired head, as if to protect it from the cleaning chemicals she was presumably about to use.

The two found themselves staring deep into one another's eyes for the first time in over five years; a shocking sight for the both of them.

A smile slowly spread across the pair's cheeks and, on instinct, the smiling Saria dropped her cleaning tools and rushed at him, crashing into him as he knelt down to catch her in a sudden and yet expectant hug.

"Welcome home…" She spoke her soft-voiced soprano, leaving him in a similar glassy-eyed state, a smile of his own sense of nostalgia spread across his face.

"Saria… I'm sorry I've been away for so-"

"Shhh…,"

He held back a gasp as she very gently silenced him, pulling back briefly from the embrace to lock her deep-blue eyes with his own. She shook her forest-green hair back at him, tears beginning to stain at the sides of her eyes as she re-opened her mouth.

"You're home…," she laughed quietly and gratefully. "That's all that matters…"

Although the listening Link chose to smile back at her, it faltered somewhat when his memory went back to one of the most important things he said to her before setting out five years ago; the very reason he left, not just for his tournament run, but for his adventure across Termina.

"Saria… I…," he began again, lowering his eyes guiltily. "I still couldn't find Navi, I… I don't know if she's gone, or…"

"It doesn't matter…," she merely responded with, her smile as strong as before. "She's a forest spirit Link; she's alive somehow or other," Saria explained briefly, bringing out a raised-eyebrow from the listening Link. "She was watching… I know she was,"

Link's oceanic-eyed gaze widened back at her, almost as if he hadn't even considered the notion.

"And she was proud," Saria laughed back at him, nodding, holding back a sniff. "Just like Mido, the Kokiri and… me."

Link breathed a laugh through his throat, her light tears of joy beginning to tug at his own.

"Welcome home Link…," she repeated again, her soprano breaking a little in the sheer emotion she conveyed to him. "It's so good to see you."

He held back tears of his own as he reached forward to embrace the only maternal figure he ever knew, cerulean eyes shutting as he thought of Navi and the Great Deku Tree in his own timeline.

I finally have my answer, he thought.

And it's all thanks to you.

"Thank you… Navi."