A/N. Uh, yeah. Let's just get started XD! Enjoy, and don't forget to review (I know you're mad at me….)

I was torn between dragging my feet and dashing for it when school was out. Reuben was probably playing hooky, and his gang kept giving me dirty looks, which I had returned with a smile, because they didn't dare get near me. I didn't feel like smiling, though. After all, the mixture of the mysterious Crown Flame and the horrifying dream still rather had me shaking. And I had been picking feathery down out of my shirt all day. The Ttvo'cha was not the most convenient transportation in the world.

The moment I noticed the odd winds blowing the grass around in circles round my feet, I smiled in spite of myself once more; perhaps I was relieved. "Hi, Link."

"Anni, don't you ever look up?" Link said, scrambling up the side of the fence. "Whenever I see you, you're staring at your boots."

"They're nice boots!"

Link laughed. "You'll miss everything interesting," he said teasingly, swaying back and forth like a reed in the wind.

I was amused, even though I was blushing. "Like what? Clouds?"

"Birds,"

"And nothing else."

He laughed again. "And you say I have a fine way of amusing myself. Seagull- feathers!"

I didn't say anything, but watched him pluck a bit of the sweet long grass that grew next to the whitewashed picket fence and stick it in the corner of his mouth to chew on. I leaned on the railing beside him and tweaked one of his ears. "So, why are you here this time? Surely Auntie doesn't have any more errands for us."

"Well, it's partially La'vi." It was then that I noticed that Link was gently pressing down on a small bulge in the front of his tunic, and that a little avian head was poking out just at the tip of its V-neck.

"What about him?"

"Well, look at 'im." He gently picked La'vi up and set him on the shoulder nearest me. "When I went to see him this morning, the little fella was tearing off his bandages." He gave the gull a playful nudge with the tip of his nose. "And there was nothing underneath." He was right. It seemed as if there had never been a wound on those feathers, so pristine white. "I reckon it was fairies; that's what Saigon said it might be."

"Fairies? Really?" I didn't doubt their existence; I just had never seen one before. Link nodded.

La'vi made an alarming squawk and leapt to the top of Link's head. There he climbed as far forward as he could, and stuck his head out between the boy's eyes. He cocked his head, and looked at Link for a moment. Then the cloth of the hat gave beneath the tiny talons, and Link had to catch the bird and put him back in the front of his tunic. "He's a clumsy little bird, isn't he?" Link smiled. "I don't think he knows what to do with himself most of the time."

"Can he fly yet?"

"I dunno, he hasn't really tried. Mind you, that's a little weird, him being a seagull and all; they love flying more than any bird, except maybe the tern."

La'vi made a little sulky cheeping sound, muffled by Link's tunic. "What'sa matter, buddy?" Link looked up at me. "He seems pretty sad most of the time, but I can't see why. I mean, I feed him and stuff…"

"I dunno. My mom could probably tell you, but, y'know…"

We both stared into the sky a moment.

"The moon is strange here," Link remarked. "It seems so close all the time, like I could touch it if I climbed the highest peak of the Jags."

"Bouu'n vii d'imar," I murmured, staring up at it. Near this point in the late summer, the moon did seem close, wide and spanning the sky. The Tournament Moon was the brightest night of the year because the moon was at its largest.

"What?" asked Link.

"Ask Medli," I smiled. "Boulviddar was named from those words. I think Saigon once told me that it means 'place where the moon once touched'."

"Hmm," he murmured, his seagull wriggling comically down his front. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure that it has something to do with the Masked Boy and the War Under the Moon," I replied, leisurely picking a wildflower and strangling it tightly between my fingers. A sweet-smelling liquid soon covered my hands.

"Hmm, the Masked Boy," Link said, stretching. "He's what this Tournament's all about, isn't he?"

"Yes, the little stranger boy with a knack for getting into trouble and magic flowing through his veins." I nearly laughed, for he seemed so similar to Link when referred to in this way.

"Tell me about him,"

I sighed. "It's a right old kids' story," I hesitated.

"If you're saying it's an impossible legend, then I've seen it all before."

"I s'pose so. You would've, wouldn't you?"

"I dunno." He shrugged, and winced as somewhere behind his tunic, La'vi pecked him. "But, you do owe me one after the yarn I told you last night, don't 'cha?"

Here we paused, as I recalled a bit of the story.

"No one really knows what his intentions were coming to this place- he obviously was from somewhere distant and strange- but he showed up right in the nick of time. The War Under the Moon was just beginning, the many ancient races battling each other, sometimes so suddenly that the farmers in the fields were forced to go fight with nothing but their gardening tools- that's how Boulviddarian fencing began.

"There was a cause for all this trouble, of course. The envy of the moon, a spirit long thought to have been trapped in a mask for eternity, had returned to mortal lands in the form of an imp who did the most wretched things to all the races in the land, spreading anger and despair wherever he walked."

"Not a nice guy, I'm guessing," said Link, watching a cottonwood fluff float by.

"Too right." The fluff came by my nose, and I puffed at it so that it swirled on the wind. "They say that the Masked Boy had things thieved from him, strange and magical things- this was all the imp's doing, of course- and so he vowed to chase after him, not knowing that the snitch was, in fact, possessed by the Moon Spirit. The boy only got so far before the creature cursed him, and turned him into one of the living Shrubs of the forest."

Link wrinkled up his nose in his comical sort of way, and I laughed at him.

"He didn't despair, though," I said, still grinning. "He was a right little troublemaker himself, they say, and he soon gained knowledge that our once peaceful land would soon be destroyed; not by the Moon Spirit, but by the Moon itself, in its envy. In three days, the Moon would crash down into the center of the world, and everyone would be thrown into oblivion."

"BOOM," said Link, and I tweaked his ear.

"It isn't funny, stupid," I laughed.

"Ouch."

"No more jokes now. C'mon," I reminded him, poking his shoulder. "You got me into this, now you've gotta sit it through."

"Yes, I suppose I did, didn't I?"

I ignored him. "The Masked Boy pursued the possessed imp by moonlight, when it could be seen, chased him to the midnight of the third day; and just as the moon was about to hit, he reacquired his strange magic from the wretch and turned back time. That's the common theory, anyway.

"After this, he became human again, and then he carried his first mask. There are many stories about his fantastic masks, which allowed him to do magic; transform, speak with the dead, stir loyalty from animals, reunite those who had forgotten they were in love..." I sighed. It was all so extraordinary. If one, just one mask remained, was real… Oh, what a person could do! "No one quite remembers what he looks like, really. The glyphs and tapestries show such a great variety of characters, but in the end, they are all labeled the same.

"He roamed about the land, pursuing the imp, chasing adventure. He was not seen for a long time, but he was always there." I looked at Link. "They say each race had their own stories, but the races are gone now… The rock-eating Gorons, the fish-people Zoras…"

"Like out of the 'LZ'," Link mused.

"I guess so, huh? Maybe it was written around the same time period."

"Maybe,"

"Hmm…" I paused. "When he returned from the hills, on the Final Third Day, (for no one ever knew how many times he had set back time), he brought with him four friendly giants, the Guardians, with him. They held the Moon up from the earth in the fatal hour, and angrily, Majora threw aside the imp, which had played as a puppet all these days. The Moon swallowed the Masked Boy, they say, but then they say he went willingly. The rest is history. Some stories say he never returned, and you can see his constellation in the sky, and some say he appeared every once in a while to those in need, as an angel. What we do know is that Majora was defeated, and the mask became an empty shell.

"It will all be reenacted during the Tournament; the giants and things, anyway. Lanir plays the part of the Moon, for he can work many illusions… When the Masked Boy is chosen, he will go with Lanir and return dressed in white garb and paint as a guardian war-angel… The Fierce Deity costume, they call it."

"But Lanir is dead…" Link said, realizing the gravity of this now. I remembered the words of the Chichimara.

"But… But he… No way!" I fought back a sudden torrent of tears behind my eyes. "Lanir was our friend, our guardian, and now, dead!" I turned to Link rapidly. "What have we got ourselves into, may I ask!"

Link shrugged solemnly, then winced as La'vi struggled his way to his shoulder again, spread his wings and let out a piteous cry. Then he scolded us and eyed us rather angrily. "What, boy, are you hungry again?" Link looked to me. "I suppose we should get along home. And we need to tell someone about Lanir. The Tournament will be nothing but chaos this year, I think." His fists clenched, whether he knew it or not. "Holy Din, Anni, this just keeps going downhill, and I can't put up with it any longer."

"Too right…." I cursed.

Link and I began to walk alongside the fence. I crushed the wildflowers spitefully beneath my boots, wishing that I was like Tetra, and could burn things up with my rage.

I was not in any way special.

I was simply caught up in something that I never remembered wishing for; a tale from some wretched book, that someone could read and laugh, knowing in solace that these things would never, could never happen to them. Even the Tournament now was ruined; an ancient tradition that had never met with any despair since the days it had started. The Sheikah part of me burned and spoke, while inside I knew I was a fool.

"Link," I said, shuddering inwardly.

"Huh?" He was quite caught up in his own thoughts, too, behind foggy eyes.

"I… You better get that Chichimara soon."

He cocked his head, his lopsided smile appearing ever so slightly at his lips. "Really, then?"

I swallowed hard, but that part of me wasn't quite finished. In fact, it was stronger now; boisterous, even. "Yes, and if you don't manage it, I give you such a punch in the nose that it'll be crooked and bleedin' till the next Tournament Moon, y'hear me?"

He let the smile spread across his face.

I couldn't believe that'd just come out of my mouth.

I looked away from him, and hot blood pulsed once behind my ears, as if to remind me of something I'd long forgotten.

Suddenly I became very worried about Tetra.

"Link, what about Tetra? Is she okay?"

Whatever remained of his smile drained slowly from his face. He put his hands behind his head and sighed. "I dunno, Anni. She's still all shook up- Saigon even made her some special soup with herbs, and she wouldn't eat it; she wouldn't even come out of your room, after a while."

"Does she still think you're gonna be… y'know?"

"Of course she does- and it's starting to scare me a little, too." He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "It's gonna be a little difficult to punch my face in if some monster's already swallowed me, you know. But then, we've all had a bunch of crazy dreams lately, haven't we?"

I nodded.

"I think we should just go and see this through- there's no way of knowing what's gonna happen in advance."

I nodded again as we came upon the gondola dock. We stood there and waited alongside the worker as he waved for our boat.

"Now, you say La'vi was only part of why you came to see me. What else is there?"

Link tapped his boots impatiently on the platform as he shifted uneasily. "Uh…" he murmured, "It's a surprise." I raised an eyebrow amusedly.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really," he said matter-of-factly, just to taunt me.

The gondola worker made small talk and laughed a bit with his buddy, who had brought the new gondola from another canal. I sat down inside the boat and grabbed the oars.

"Well, C'mon then, Link. We haven't got all day."

When we arrived at the Spilled Goblet, the first thing I noticed was a difference in the smell of the air. It was strange- it was as if there was something in the kitchen that hadn't been there before. There was no other way to describe it.

Link insisted I come through the front door. I stammered a quick hello to Lona as he dragged me past her into the main dining room. She winked at Link and laughed. "Honestly, Anni, that boy's taking us on some real adventures!"

"What?" I asked, craning my neck to look at her while stumbling across the floor.

"Don't tell her! You promised!" Link yelled back. He dug desperately in the front of his shirt, held out a squawking La'vi in his fist, and set him down on a windowsill before dragging me away.

She brushed her bangs away from her eyes amusedly. Putting her hand over her heart and batting her long lashes, she replied; "Wild horses couldn't get it from me, honest." The last I saw of her was a quick, lipstick-red half smile, and then I was dragged around the corner.

"Link, what's going on?" I stammered as he pushed me on the heels of my boots across the varnished floor into the dining room.

"Stay there," he said, pointing at a chair and vanishing behind the kitchen door.

I sat down, hung my bags behind me, put my chin on my hand and sighed, smiling at the hopelessness of it all.

"He's… a little excited," said Komali, who was sitting nearby.

"I can see that." I moved a lock of hair from my eyes, and noticed a thin trickle of smoke billowing from the top of the kitchen door, and then the murmur of urgent voices. "D'you have any idea at all what he's got planning? It looks like he's trying to blow up the kitchen."

"I just hope Medli isn't burning her feathers off. She kinda tends to bristle them when she concentrates too hard…" I glared at him hard. "Oh, right," he smiled guiltily. "They're cooking, that's what they're doing behind the door."

"Hmm… Like what?" I asked, craning my head, trying to peek through the opened crack of the door as the smoke billowed out more violently. I clearly heard a 'whoops' from Medli. "Does it involve burning it?"

Komali shook his head. "No, not if you're any good at it. All you really have to do is boil water."

"And it's just Link and Medli?"

"Yes, but Lona was helping them earlier before Link left to get you, and My'chel was too, but he left because..."

I slapped my hand to my forehead, shocking Komali so his feathers sprang up on his arms. "Holy Din, you combine the cooking knowledge between them and you could burn water!" I made a move to rush to the door and rescue my kitchen, but suddenly Link kicked the door open and stumbled out, Medli close behind, along with a roomful of smoke.

"We…We survived!" he cried, coughing and wiping ash from his face. In one hand he held a fork with something white and slightly charred speared on the end. One of his sleeves was burnt almost up to his elbow, and the hem of his tunic had burn spots as well. Medli carried a sauce pan which now resembled a large brick of charcoal with a handle. I licked my fingers and put out a small flame that was burning at the tip of her ponytail. There was a small silence as everyone took everything in.

We burst out laughing.

"My gosh, Link, you guys look like you lost a fight with a dragon."

"Isn't that what you call that thing in there with the fire and the smoke? Seagull- feathers!"

"Guys, you better not have wrecked my kitchen, or-"

"It's fine, Anni." My'chel burst through the door. "I was helping them out."

I turned to Komali. "But you said…"

"It's all right." My'chel continued. "I left because Medli accidentally lit my shirt instead of the fire wood, so I had to go put it out and get another one, and while I was gone, they dropped their giant spider or whatever into the coals, and Link was trying to get it back into the pan with a magic wand and a metal spoon that he got from the cabinet. And you know what happens when you put a wand in with the fire- the explosion? - it wasn't pretty." He said it all as if they'd done nothing more than drop a bucket of water- calm and carefree as he always was.

"That was a wand? It looked like a tong to me," said Link, examining the burn on his sleeve.

"Oh, Anni, I'm so sorry. We were just trying to surprise you," said Medli, shaking her head and placing the pan on the table. Her face was very red.

"Oh, believe me, you did," I laughed. "Are any of you hurt? Are you okay?" The three of them had small minor burns, but nothing serious. Even My'chel was nearly unharmed, and he had had to go jump into the rain trough to put himself out. "Now what in Din's name were you doing in there?"

"They were cooking the giant spider," said My'chel.

"It's not a giant spider!" Medli and Link chorused. Medli continued; "It's a crab."

"You mean it was a crab," murmured Link, pointedly reaching into the pan and grabbing what indeed looked like the leg of a giant spider; it crumbled to ash in his hand. "I managed to save this bit though, before it really burnt up- and it was quite a feat, too- I had to break the shell and everything." He waved the fork.

"And he was halfway inside the stove, too." Medli added, not without a hint of pride.

"You guys tried to boil water inside the stove." The two of them immediately realized that they hadn't done it right just from the tone of my voice, and nodded sheepishly. I shook my head and smiled. "What am I for?"

"Cooking, obviously," Komali answered, absolutely serious.

We laughed again.

"You know," I gasped, wheezing for breath. "If I had any control over it at all… I would make sure that neither one of you ever got near fire again… But that's impossible, isn't it? Medli's friends with a dragon, and… and Link simply fights monsters." I put my arms around both their shoulders and brought them close. "Do I hang out with a strange pack of people or what?"

"Oh, shut it," laughed Link, thrusting whatever was on his fork into my mouth. I obeyed and chewed slowly, letting the strange new flavor sink in. It certainly was foreign to me, rather bland, but very rich. It was mild, but strangely sweet with an odd sour undertaste and the looming flavor of fish. "D'you like it?" he asked.

I took a moment to decide. "Yes." It was a pity the rest had been wasted; recipe ideas were springing up all over in my mind.

"Good!"

I turned to My'chel. "Why'd you let them try to boil water in the stove, fer Din's sake?"

"Foreign recipes, Anni, I don't know nothing about no wacky foreign recipes."

"It's partially our fault, Anni, mine really," said Medli, staring at the pan. "We're so used to cooking things over a pitfire on some island. We don't have stoves on Dragon Roost."

"Grandma did her cooking at the fireplace," added Link. "But to tell you the truth, I didn't really get the concept then, either."

"And we had no idea there'd be a magic wand in there somewhere too, or what it would do," Medli went on.

"And-"

"C'mon guys, really, it's all right. I'm just worried about you'sall," I took Link by the wrist and stood up. "Now let's go get that sleeve of yours fixed, Link, and I'll put some salve on those burns, there. An' those spots in your clothes should come out real easy."

After maybe an hour of fixing everyone up, Link and Medli and I went to discuss things in the library. I had replaced Link's sleeve up to the elbow, but you would never be able to tell unless you could smell the magic holding it together. I had neatly trimmed off the tip of Medli's ponytail, and healed the burns in seconds. Even My'chel was tended to, having cooling ointment rubbed into the burns on his shoulders. I gave him a hard time all the way, but it didn't bother him at all. He had been just like Daystar when they were both human, and they had been good friends. They were known around the restaurant for carrying cheery hearts and not listening to a word anyone was saying. When I was finished, you wouldn't know anything had happened, if it weren't for the smell of the burning that followed them around.

"Thanks Anni! You really have a way with that magic," said Link, rubbing his sleeve.

I felt my face redden. "Oh, it was nothing. And I should thank you for going through all that trouble for me today." I smiled amusedly.

His ears went pink. "Holy Din, you girls never let me get away with anything without teasing me for ages afterwards."

Medli batted her lashes. "Oh, it's just because you get mad at us, that's what makes it fun."

"Yeah, you look pretty goofy when you're mad," I added.

"What!" He did the cuckoo sign at us. "You guys are crazy. Beyond crazy."

Medli and I broke into a fit of giggles, punctuated by Link shouting "What's so funny?" over the top of us. Komali walked in to find out what the noise was all about.

"Oh, c'mon guys, two against one isn't nice," he laughed.

"Would you rather make it two against two then, Prince?" Medli said, at her most alluring.

Komali shrugged. "En garde." He plunked down next to Link.

Link smiled, sighed a little, and put his chin on his fist. "Man, Tetra would love this, wouldn't she?"

That changed the mood very quickly. The rest of us nodded slowly. Of course she would.

"Where is she, Link? Still in my room?" I asked. I had become very worried about her.

He sighed again. "Yeah, but she won't let anyone in. I tried picking the lock and she threw her sandal at me."

"With me, it was a teacup," murmured Komali.

"She spilled my feather oil everywhere when I tried," Medli added softy.

"And you should see the pirates." Link said. Medli and Komali shook their heads. "The lot of them has their share of bruises, too. She just locked the door again when Saigon came around."

"And Lona."

"And My'chel."

"Even Daystar, and he's more or less a dog." Link tipped his head into his hand and ran his fingers through his hair. "I just don't understand it."

"And you can't stand outside the door and talk to her either. She does that obnoxious humming thing." Komali turned his attention to messing with a small feather near his wrist.

"You know, guys, maybe I should try to talk to her." I didn't really feel like having stuff thrown at me, but I was the only person left who hadn't tried.

"'S your funeral." Link shrugged. Obviously, he was not going to escort me. The other two didn't look interested either.

I hauled myself off of the couch. "C'ya later, guys."

"Bye," they murmured half-heartedly.

I walked off slowly down the hall. It was as forlorn and silent as it had been last night. I breathed the hot dusty air, felt my footsteps lost in the thick, rich rug beneath. I came upon my bedroom door. I had never been as reluctant to enter as I was that day. My hand paused in midair over the doorknob, and then I turned it as quietly as possible. It clicked as it caught. The door was locked. There was a loud thunk directly on the other side. "What do you want?" came Tetra's muffled voice, torn by anger and grief.

I thought a moment before I spoke. "I… I wanted to talk to you about the Tournament." There was another thunk, this one much more enthusiastic.

"If that's you, Link, I'm not listening."

"It's not. It's Anni."

"Anni." I heard her sigh.

"Yes, it's me- May I come in?"

"Are the rest of those idiots with you?"

"No, I promise."

I waited a moment for a reply. The lock clicked, and the door opened a crack. I squeezed through with some difficulty and shut it behind me. Tetra had left my room in ruins. There was a brass oil lamp and one of my old boots blocking the door where she'd thrown them. She'd picked up her sandal, but indeed there were shards of a cup all over the floor, and Medli's pinkish feather oil was staining the carpet and dripping off the cabinet. Things in here were strewn around near the door, and the wallpaper, ceiling and bedposts had all felt the tongues of Tetra's Crown Flame. She sat at the bench near the window, staring out.

I wouldn't, couldn't feel any anger about her wrecking my room. It was a small thing, an easy thing- in the long run, anyway. The normal me would've been horrified, but I was taken over by something wiser, it seemed, something gentler. All I cared about at the moment was the wreck that was her. "Why did you let me in, Tetra?" I inquired after a moment's silence.

"Because… Well, you asked, didn't you?" She paused again. Turning She looked demolished herself; her bun was loose and half- hearted, so separate strands of her golden hair frizzed out. Her bandanna hung loosely around her neck, and her face seemed tearstained. Turning, she took a look at me from the corner of her eye. "It's strange, Anni, how you of all people don't believe in the dreams."

"Well, I don't know about that, but…" I sat down next to her.

"Well, I mean it's strange you even have the dreams, to be honest."

"I don't understand."

She stared out the window again. "Remember that first night, when you had that one about Link?"

"Yeah, with a ranch, and horses. We spoke some bizarre language."

"Yeah, well, the first night after I met Link, I had a weird dream too." She sighed. "I told you about the castle walls? He and I were both worried about something, but we'd just met- and that language? It's Ancient Hylian."

"How do you know?"

"Medli told me about hers, too."

"She had one?"

"Yeah, she said she didn't hear gibberish like we do. In hers she was surrounded by cascades of water, and Link rescued her somehow." She moved her hair behind her ear. "And in Makar's, they were surrounded by a forest, and they were seeing eye- to- eye. Makar wasn't short, I mean to say."

"So what was Komali's?" This was getting strange- everyone began to sound, in a way, connected, even more so than I thought- and the weird thing was that I was involved as well.

Tetra shook her head. "Komali didn't have one, and neither did the pirates."

"That's strange." I felt my heart stirring strangely, as if waiting for Tetra to say something that would remind me of some great important thing I should be doing.

She put an arm over my shoulder, and I felt the warmth of her breath as she spoke. "It isn't, though. Komali and my stupid pirates- they may be our close friends and allies, but they have nothing to do with… Well, the protection of the Triforce."

"The Triforce…" I breathed with regret. I knew almost nothing about it- or the Master Sword. "I don't understand."

"Well," She looked at the ground nervously. "Medli and Makar have to pray for the Master Sword to be able to banish evil- that's why they were taught their sacred songs. The Master Sword is hooked, in a way, to the Triforce."

"Yeah, but what is the Triforce, anyway?"

"After the goddesses finished creating our world, they flew off into the heavens. At the spot where they disappeared, they left behind three shards of their energies; Din's power, Nayru's wisdom, Farore's courage. They've been protected by many groups over many years, separated. The power of them all together can make a wish come true- an evil one will bring the world to downfall, and a peaceful one will bring prosper to everyone- We need to be careful about those evil ones." She rubbed her forearm absently. "Only the one who is destined to hold the Master Sword can hold the Triforce of Courage, and vice versa."

"Link," I whispered, and she nodded. This couldn't be true, how could I be believing this, how could this mean anything at all… But it did.

"When the Master Sword is in its place in its shrine, it keeps the Triforce safe in its place. It's also a key to the barrier between our world and the banished one. Like Link was saying earlier today, when the sword isn't in its place, any of the banished that discover the opening can return to our world through the portal."

I took this all in for a moment. "But Tetra, have the pieces of the Triforce ever actually come together?"

She paused. Several answers played upon her lips, and, carefully, she chose one. "Yes, they've been known to."

"How?"

"Well, let's say Link came into contact with the right people, at the right time, at the right place- That's when it would happen."

"Who would get the wish, then?"

Tetra shrugged. "Whoever was first."

There was a silence.

"Anni, I let you through that door today because somehow I knew you were one of us who would be protecting the Triforce- and you didn't know it yet. And there's something else as well." I felt her shiver. "There's something about you that's comforting, Anni. I feel like I could tell you anything, and it'd be safe with you… Do you understand?"

"Not really… But I can feel it too." There was no reason to feel hot and embarrassed, or frightened about anything. It was just the strange power that I realized was destiny. "Who holds the other pieces of the Triforce?"

"Ganondorf held the Triforce of Power. He's the one we're protecting it from- he's horrible, greedy and power-hungry. And my clan, the clan of Nayru that Saigon spoke about today… We've held the Triforce of Wisdom for years." She eyed the back of her hand, deep in thought. I shuddered inwardly as something cold and Sheikan seemed to stab me, and I realized it was because Tetra wasn't telling the full truth about her destiny. Even so, I remained strong- It was not for me to know as of this moment.

"Tetra, what role do I play in all this?"

"I'm not sure, but we're bound to find out soon… I… I'm sure it's about the Chichimara."

"Now that I know how important the sword is, I know we have to get it back." The prospect scared me, but it was true.

"Yeah, we don't really have much choice…" She closed her eyes and furrowed her brow. "But I just can't get rid of this feeling- This dream, it's telling me that Link's going to die that night." She shuddered. "Some people wish their dreams would come true, but I've spent a lot of time hoping that mine would never come to be. I feel so torn…"

"It's like you can save the world, or you can save Link." I felt my throat constricting, too. Sadness has a way of being contagious, passed along by a breath, a choking voice, a despairing sigh. "Is this what destiny is like? Does it have so many sacrifices?"

"Yeah. The last person to wish on the Triforce… He could've chosen to make his country live again, chosen to make himself reign again instead- but he wished for us, Link and me and the rest of us, to go out into the world and find a new place for the new generation to flourish. That's what we were doing when we found you- we were on a voyage to find a new world. He was… The King of Red Lions." I looked at her suddenly, confused. "It sounds strange, but really- He was more than Link's trusty boat, he was the ancient king of Hyrule, underneath the waves." She sighed. "I don't know… I mean, I love Link, and all the rest of them, but I can't just… I don't know." Putting her face in her hands, she shook her head.

"It's a lot to live up to."

"You have no idea," she mumbled. "I just don't want to let him go… Or watch this dream happen again. It always makes me sorta faint to see him get hurt, and to sit there and watch him be… Oh, man!"

"He doesn't seem scared at all, you know."

"Yeah, but he's an idiot sometimes too. He fights so hard to please everybody that one day, he's going to get himself killed, and no one's going to be happy at all. And I'm afraid it's going to be soon."

"Tetra, maybe the gods didn't give him any reason to worry. It's like… Oh, Din… Look, once, I heard that it's impossible for dragons to fly."

"What moron told you that?" she growled through her hand, raising her eyes to mine. "Of course they can fly."

"No, see, aerodynamically, a dragon can't fly- his wings are too small, and he's way too heavy- but he can. Why? Because he thinks he can. He doesn't know it isn't possible, he just pulls away from gravity and soars. I think that's the way Link is. Maybe if he just goes ahead and fights the monster, he can overcome it without being aware that it can't be done. Do you understand?"

She nodded, wiped a tear from her eye. "Then I shouldn't try to worry him, should I?"

"Yeah, I guess so." I put my arm around her shoulder and let her cry for a while on her own. It was strange. Inside, she seemed so small, so worried, even though she tried to act tough out on her own. It felt good just to be sitting there beside her, drinking in her worry, protecting her."The Tournament starts this Saturday. Are you going to come with us? We're sure to have tons of fun, Chichimara or not."

She smiled softly. "Alright."

I stood up. "Tetra, I know you know him way better than I ever could, but please understand that I'm a little afraid for him too. Only the goddesses know what's to come. We'll just take what comes, good or bad."

She nodded, still smiling.

I waved goodbye and shut the door behind me. I felt sort of guilty for not telling her about what had happened last night, but that probably would've worried her worse. I walked back down the hall, smiling and immersed in my own thoughts, of my strange twisted fate and of Tournament Day. Suddenly I bumped into someone.

"Link!"

"How'd it go?" He looked worried. "Is she going to be all right?"

"Link, she's just fine." I walked on past him to help close up for the night. "Good luck on that Tournament, alright, boy?"

Poor Link looked genuinely confused. But he'd figure it out. We'd all be learning about our luck soon, when Tournament Moon came around.