Well hello there, everybody! I'm back again, much sooner than I usually am! I am ashamed to admit that this is because I rushed through the chapter in the hopes of getting to the next one, which I have been itching to write for a couple of weeks now. I've already got the dialogue planned and everything; it was driving me crazy to be at a different point than the story. ...So my apologies in advance for what I consider to be a not-very-good chapter. And now, I have some news for you all! I have discovered a truly amazing Ocarina of Time fic, written by Ruthie of the Wildcats. It's called "Temple Guardians," and I LOOOOOVE it! If ever you're bored and want something to read, I reccommend you check it out!

Also I would like to inform you that what I said in the last chapter about needing OC's is no longer a valid statement. I don't write this story anymore; it writes itself. And it's decided that OC's are no longer a nessecity, which is a good thing, as no one seemed to have any ideas. However, I do have a oneshot floating around in the vast emptiness of my mind that requires an original character. If you can think of a female character, her appearance, and her attitude, I'd love to hear about her so I can finally type the aforeentioned onshot. It's been drifting about in my brain for over a month...

As always, review replies will be at the end of the chapter, after a few other things... And now, thank you to Kiarra-chan, frostclaw88, and my beloved fellow tormentor, lilydavi09! Now, I hope you all enjoy the chapter... and the little extra I've included.


Everything was quiet during the time Angel took to let her vocal chords heal. Link, who had a tendency to be taciturn anyway, said next to nothing during the fortnight of silence, preferring to watch Angel draw, her new favorite pasttime.

Once, though, he had to speak in order to keep her from getting upset. It started like this: Link, who had been outside chasing Ari through the snow, came into the house. Finding Angel hard at work on another sketch, he peered over her shoulder... and looked away immediately, blushing profusely.

The girl's shoulders began to shake with inaudible laughter. The pencil fell from her hand, creating an unwanted mark on the drawing. She gasped and tried frantically to erase it, her giggles ceasing and turning to tears when she realized that it wasn't coming off.

"It's ruined..." she whispered.

Feeling his face heat up from embarrassment, Link glanced at the illustration. "No it isn't!" he exclaimed, and Angel frowned, confused.

"But..." she began.

"That's supposed to be there! Haven't you ever noticed it before?"

She shook her head and examined the Hylian, leaning in very close in order to see better. Link turned ten shades of red, each brighter than the last, until finally Angel backed up, a smile on her face.

"You're right!" she said, again in a whisper so as not to strain her voice. "There is a little scar right below your hairline!"

Link let out a sigh of relief when she went back to her piece of paper. He tugged at his shirt collar; he hadn't cooled down yet. Casting a glance at Angel, who was completely absorbed in her artwork, he stepped outside, welcoming the icy winter wind that caressed his face. He took a few deep breaths, feeling his heart slow back to its normal speed.

"I'll be glad when she can talk again, so she'll stay away from paper and pencils..." he muttered. Poor Link... He was unaware that pencils were among Angel's favorite things. Right next to them on the list, of course, was paper. At least she didn't *really* plan to use these items for sketching anymore. No, she had something else in mind, something that she inquired about soon after regaining her ability to speak.

"Link?"

The blonde looked up from something he seemed to be carving and quickly hid the object behind his back. Angel raised an eyebrow at this suspicious behavior, but shrugged and continued.

"While I was in Hyrule Castle Town, I saw all kinds of signs and stuff, but I couldn't read them. I thought I'd get weird looks from people, but nobody seemed to find it odd at all."

Link didn't seem too surprised. "There aren't a whole lot of people in Hyrule that can read, and most of the ones who can aren't women. It's actually quite unusual for a girl to be educated."

The Earthling's eyes narrowed.

"Well, it's true!" he said defensively.

For a moment, Angel didn't say anything. Then, she sat down in front of Link and handed him a piece of the paper and one of the pencils she'd bought. "Make me even more unusual than I already am, then. Teach me, Link."

"Me too, me too, me too!" Ari shouted, dashing into the room. She'd been doing that a lot lately when something interesting came up in conversation; her comrades had begun to wonder if she was listening in on them, and if she was, just what she was hoping to hear.

"Come on, Link, teach me too!" the little girl begged, giving him the puppy-dog face. Link tried, thinking that it would be difficult to instruct the ten year-old, but he just couldn't resist the power of the face.

"Alright," he said, sighing. The Hylian began scribbling symbols down onto the paper, explaining as he did so which letters they stood for, how to move the pencil to create them, how to see the subtle differences between M and W...

"You two are fast learners," Link remarked three days later as he watched Ari write simple words and Angel write simple sentences. "It took me a week to get to Ari's level and about two to get to yours," he told the older girl.

"Yeah, but you were younger, Link," she argued. "Not to mention I already know how to read and write, just not in Hylian."

The blonde stared at her. "You can't even take a compliment!" he exclaimed. "You know, sometimes, I think you'd argue with a fencepost!"

"It's happened before," she said seriously.

Link wasn't sure what to say to that one.

Giggling, Angel changed the subject. "If it's so weird for people to be literate here, how come you know how to read and stuff, huh? And where did this language come from? I mean, whose ideas were all these little symbols?"

"Well,-"

"Well what?" Angel demanded.

Link chuckled. She really amused him sometimes. "Saria and the twins taught me," he said, and Angel raised an eybrow.

"How did they learn?"

"They helped create the alphabet."

"....."

A laugh escaped Link this time. "You did know that Kokiri children are immortal, right? They never grow up-"

"I'll never grow up, either," Angel interrupted.

The blonde rolled his eyes. "Okay, they never grow old. How's that?"

"Better."

"Good. Anyway, the Kokiri have this festival once a year, and-"

"What's that got to do with the alphabet?"

Link somehow resisted the urge to bash his head into the wall a few times, but he couldn't help twitching. "If you would be quiet for a minute, you might know."

Angel became silent and pushed a few stray hairs out of her face, a sure sign that she was giving him her full attention. Link had noticed that if she was only pretending to listen, she would leave her hair in her eyes so you couldn't see the glassy look in them.

"Thank you. Now as I was saying, the Kokiri have a festival every year to celebrate the coming of their favorite season, spring. Everyone either sings or plays an instrument, and absolutely everyone dances. As they're all children, they run around and yell and scream alot, like Ari and Ahre did when they were playing. By the next morning, all of them are hoarse, so they can't talk to one another."

She couldn't help herself; Angel simply had to interupt again. "So they made up all the letters so they could send messages to eachother, right?"

"Yep."

Slightly more confused now than she had been at the beginning, Angel began questioning Link again. "Well, if the Kokiri are the ones who created the written language, and they aren't allowed to leave the forest, how did it get spread all over Hyrule? ...Unless... People from the outside world are allowed to go into the forest, aren't they?"

Smiling, Link nodded. "Yes. One of Hyrule's ancient kings came to the forest one day, saw all the signs that the Kokiri had made, and begged to be taught how to write. The children were more than happy to oblige, and... Well, there you have it."

Silence reigned for a moment, broken by a giggle from Ari, who had of course been listening in. "So that's why it all looks like little squiggles!" she exclaimed, and her companions bursted into laughter.

~Not Very Many Days Later~

"Alright, peoples, snow's off the ground! Let's get goin'!" Angel said loudly, clapping her hands.

Link sat up and looked at her groggily. The seventeen year-old had woken up not two minutes prior to this exclamation, and was still half asleep. "S'too early..." he mumbled, yawning. "Two more hours..."

He laid down again, but jumped up almost immediately. "W-what d'you think you're doing?!" he stammered, staring wide-eyed at a snickering Angel. She had quickly and quietly slunk behind the Hylian as he complained, then begun tickling him.

"Getting you up by way of the tickle torture I used to use on my cousins," she replied. An impish grin spread across her face. "Need I continue? Or are you awake now?"

"I'm up," Link said shakily, and Angel snapped her fingers, looking dissapointed.

"Darn! I was so looking foward to seeing you freak out again..." She glanced up at Link and erupted into cackles upon seeing the expression on his face. It clearly said 'You big meanie!' "But I guess that makes up for it!"

A little yawn was heard from the doorway leading to the bedroom. "What's - haaaah - going on?" Ari asked sleepily, looking back and forth between Link and Angel. "Did I miss something?"

"Not much," Angel said with a shrug. "Now come on, gather up whatever's yours and let's get going! That means you, too, Link," she informed the blonde, looking over her shoulder at him as she danced across the room to retrieve her weapons.

Grumbling, Link snatched his things up as quickly as possible; he wasn't in the mood to be moving just yet, so might as well not drag it out. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Angel pick up the Master Sword and Hylian shield. She looked at them for a moment, then shifted her gaze to him, a strange twinkle in her green eyes. When Link returned her stare, it became a bit of a contest. After a few moments, Ari jumped in between them and babbled something about them being slowpokes and 'Hurry up!'

Angel cast Link what would have been a lasting glance, had Ari not poked the elder girl to get her attention. If the child had not interfered, things may have gone differently. As it was, Angel didn't give Link the Master Sword. And he didn't ask for it back.


"Alright, Ari, which way?" Angel asked. " 'Cause I don't have any idea, and neither does Link." The trio was outside now, and the horses, saddled and ready, were getting restless. Both were eager to be moving again, and could not understand why their riders refused to get astride them.

"...."

"Ari?"

"Ummm.... That way!" Ariela pointed in a random direction. "...I think..." she added in an undertone.

"You think?!" Angel screeched. "You need to know, child! I do NOT wanna get lost out here in the middle of nowhere!"

The irate fourteen year-old made to shout something else, but cut off when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. "Calm down, Angel," Link said with a little laugh. "It doesn't really matter if we get lost."

"And why not?" she demanded, swatting his hand away and putting her hands on her hips.

The blonde smiled. "You can read now, remember? There's sure to be a sign somewhere, telling people which way to go to reach the village."

"Yeah, but what if we don't find the sign?"

"Well.... Then I guess we'll just have to search for it the old fashioned way," Link repiled, shrugging as he walked over to Epona and swung himself into her saddle.

Growling in frustration, Angel followed suit, practically throwing Ari up onto Shadow before climbing on. "Alright, which way did you say?" she asked, trying not to sound as aggravated as she had become.

"Umm... That way, towards the mountains," Ari said, sounding a bit uncertain. "I'm pretty sure the village is that w-AAH!"

Angel dug her heels into Shadow's flanks. The stallion reared up, taking off immediately afterwards. Rolling his eyes at Angel's impatience, Link gave Epona a slap on the hindquarters. With a loud whinny, she broke into a run. At last, they were off, knowing exactly where they were going... and having no clue how to get there.

~About A Week Later~

"Anything?" Angel asked despairingly. "Do you recognize anything?"

"Umm... Ahaha, ha, ha. Uh..." Ari hung her head. "No," she whispered.

The palm of Angel's hand hit her forehead. She sighed. "Well, I guess we just have to keep going, then, even though we have ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE where we're going. And yes, Link, before you say anything, I do think we should get one, but since Ari doesn't know where she is, we can't."

Link looked pityingly at his companion. "You're stressed," he said.

"No duh, Sherlock," Angel hissed, shooting him a venomous glare. Link recoiled, and Angel groaned, letting her head and hand collide once more. "Sorry, Link..." she muttered, sighing again.

He smiled. "It's alright," he said in a light-hearted tone.

Although it was rather weak, Angel returned his smile and pushed herself to a standing position. "Looks like it's that time again, y'all," she announced, walking towards her faithful steed.

Ari hopped up from the ground and bounded over to Shadow, who nuzzled the now giggling child. "Shadow, quit!" Ari laughed, pushing the stallion's nose away. She let out a surprised squeal when Angel lifted her onto the horse's back.

"If we're going, let's get," Angel said with a yawn. "We gotta take off now, or I''ll end up taking a nap..."

"No naps allowed!" Ari said, putting one hand on her hip, as she was using the other to hang onto the saddle horn.

"Then let's ride!"

Shadow's ears pricked up at the word, and he began to canter foward. Epona followed his lead, and in no time the two were galloping across the countryside.

As they rode, Ari kept her eyes peeled for any landmarks that might tell her where she was. Sunset came, and the child had almost given up on ever knowing which way they should go. Just as she prepared to announce this, something shimmery caught her eye.

"Look!" she cried, pointing to a cave they had almost passed up. Angel and Link pulled back hard on their mounts' reins. The mare and stallion whinnied reproachfully, but obeyed their masters' commands to turn and gallop in the opposite direction.

"Alright, Ari, what's so special about this cave that you had us come back to it?" Angel demanded upon dismounting and seeing nothing spectacular about the cold, gray stones except perhaps for their crystalline appearance.

Ari shrank. "I... I thought I saw..." She hung her head. "I guess I was wrong. There's nothing here." She glanced around the cavern, sure she had seen something glimmering a moment ago...

Outside, the orange glow of the setting sun was fading. Night was fast approaching, and before the travelers had time to scrounge up enough wood to build a fire, it was upon them.

"Great, now we're gonna be stumbling around in the dar-" Angel began, but broke off, looking about in awe. "Wow..."

The cavern had illuminated itself, coming to life in the inky darkness. Glows all the colors of the rainbow and several shades in between were emitting from the crystal walls and ceiling, lighting up the grotto.

Little Ariela danced with pleasure around her awestruck friends, chanting, "I know where I am now! I know where I am now!" repeatedly in a sing-song voice. After a couple of minutes, she stopped and tugged on Angel's sleeve. The elder girl looked down. With a cheshire grin, Ari reported this: "I know where I am now."

"Alright then, " Angel said. "Where's the village? Which way do we go from here?"

Ari's smile vanished. "That way..." she whispered, pointing back in the direction they had come. She closed her eyes and waited for the shriek, but it never came. The ten year-old chanced a peek at the elder girl and was surprised to see that Angel was nodding her head. This was a positive action, but the look on her face clearly showed that, despite what she was saying, (Okay. That's okay...) it was not okay.

"I'm sorry!" Ari cried, offering Angel an apology hug. "Nothing looked the same, seeing it backwards!"

"It's okay," Angel repeated, patting Ari's back in a comforting manner. "It doesn't matter how long it takes, just so long as we get there." There was a tightness in her voice that suggested she was trying not to let her aggravation show. So far, she was doing an excellent job.

Angel took a step closer to the crystal walls and ran her hand along them. "I wonder what makes them glow?" she pondered aloud. Then, "Is it all just one big, shining mass, or is it made of individually twinkling crystals?" She turned to look at Link. "Get over here and help me find out, would you?"

Instantly he was by her side, awaiting further instruction.

"Try to get one of the crystals off the wall with the Kokiri Sword," she said, pointing at the aqua-colored wall in front of them. "I would suggest using the Megton Hammer to break the wall, but then the cave might collapse, and I'm not in the mood to get buried under a bunch of falling rocks right now."

Link obeyed, chipping away at the wall with the Kokiri's prized weapon. Thank goodness they weren't here to see what he was doing! Mido would have attacked him.

It took some time, but finally, the wall relinquished one of its incandescent gems. Grinning triumphantly, Link presented the jewel to Angel, who flashed him a dazzling smile.

"My questions have been answered!" she exclaimed, and handed the precious stone to Ari, who squealed in delight and held the gem to her heart.

"YAY!"

With a giggle, Angel looked back at her green-clad companion. "Thank you for getting that," she said. "It did answer my questions. ...And made Ari's day."

"Do you want one?" Link asked, hoping to please her.

Angel started to say no, as she could see no reason she would need it; it would simply be excess baggage. Somehow, though, she found that she could give him no answer but yes. Link immediately set about freeing another crystal, a deep cerulean in color this time, giving Angel a moment to think about the journey that would start the following morning. However, her mind was not on such things. Her thoughts were centered around the Hero of Time.

Dawn arrived. The sky was a light shade of what Angel and her father, who were famous for making up crazy words, referred to as purkle. This color cannot be described by anything other than the name given it. If you have never seen purkle before, you must begin watching the sky for it. Now, it just so happened that Angel was the first to rise and see this. She was slightly amazed; the Hyrulean sky had never revealed that it was capable of displaying these pigments.

Link and Ari should see this, she decided, and looked at her comrades, supressing a giggle when she saw the blonde. Link was sprawled out on the cavern floor, snoring.

Suddely feeling very mischeivous, Angel grinned and crawled over to where he lay. Slowly, she stretched out her finger and began tickling his pointy ear. Link frowned and swatted at her, but did not wake. Still trying not to snicker, the Earthling poked his nose. Again, he smacked at her hand, continuing to sleep.

Hehe... This is NOT the smartest thing to do, but I can't resist... He's so going to freak out!

Angel moved her hand along Link's arm in a way that make him feel as though a giant spider were crawling on him. She waited for the spaz attack she felt sure was coming... And waited and waited AND waited! All that happened was that Link frowned again and rolled over, out of her reach.

"Come on, Link," she called, moving foward and shaking him. "You need to get up now. It's time to go."

He didn't respond.

"Link," she called again, leaning down close to him. "Link, wake up!"

"... ... ... .....Huh?" The seventeen year-old's eyes fluttered open. "Angel?" he asked, yawning.

"It's about time," she said jokingly, and rose to her feet. "Get up, Link. We've got a lot of ground to cover - rather, REcover - so we should get an early start. ...So get up!" she commanded, seeing that the Hylian was still lying there.

Sighing heavily, Link rose to a standing position. He yawned again, and fell a little to the right, resting his head on Angel's shoulder. "Can't you give me five more minutes?" he begged. An elbow to the ribs and a rather irate sounding "Get off me!" were his reply.

Link gave another sigh as Angel walked to the other side of the cavern to wake Ari. "Smooth, Link," he muttered sarcastically. "Now she's mad at you. ...I need to quit talking to myself."

Now that the party knew which way they were going, they made much better progress, and in the week or so it had taken them to get to the cavern, they had passed up their original starting point. Ari saw something every day now that she could identify, which let them know that they were on the right track, and most likely getting very close to their destination. But, as all of you well know, things never go quite the way you plan. There's always something...

They were sailing. Sailing across a very large body of water that would have looked like an ocean had land not been visible in the distance.

Link looked up at the blue sky, where dark clouds were beginning to build. "Looks like there may be a storm on the way," he warned his friends.

"Let's hurry, then," Angel said. "I don't wanna get stuck in it."

Try as they might, the storm was fast. It was impossible to outrun, no matter how hard or fast Link and Angel paddled. Ari took down the sail, so that the wind wouldn't be able to push them all over the surface of the lake.

Rain pounded the travelers. Lightning flashed, and thunder crashed. Large waves attacked the small boat, threatening to push it over and spill the Hero and his companions into the churning waters.

"I see ground!" Ari shouted suddenly, pointing. And so she did.

"Oh, thank heaven!" Angel cried. She and Link doubled their efforts, trying to reach the water's edge before someone was tossed overboard.

Ari was rescued first. Angel lifted her out of the boat and set her down in the grass, scrambling out the boat then herself.

"Come on, Link!" she called, offering him her hand. He reached for her, but lost his balance and dissapeared under the waves. The boat drifted backward without Link's weight to hold it in place.

Gasping for air, Link came to the surface. "Take my hand!" Angel shouted, trying to reach him. He grabbed onto the edge, and started to do as she said, but something shining caught his eye. He pushed off and headed back to the boat despite Angel's demands that he "get back here this instant!"

The shining object, whatever it was, was retrieved, and Link swam against the current back towards the edge. He reached up to grab Angel's hand... and was pushed under by a humongous wave. Tears mixed with the raindrops cascading down Angel's face as she watched bubbles drift to the surface, then drift no more. Her shrieks echoed through the air.... "LINK!!!"

The thunder crashed loudly. Link, kept awake by the storm, glanced outside. Thank goodness they had found another cave to spend the stormy night in! Storms would likely be coming every evening, now that summer weather was beginning to set in. He saw another jagged streak of lightning. He anticipated the thunderclap that followed, but the scream, he had to admit, caught him off guard.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

The Hylian jumped and stared at his Earthling companion. She was sitting straight up, her eyes open wide.

"What is it? What's the matter? Are you alright?" Link asked, moving closer to her.

Angel stared at him fearfully for a moment. Then, "Link?" she whispered shakily. "LINK!" she shouted, and fell towards him, sobbing. Wondering what in the world could be wrong with her, Link caught Angel in his arms and held her close, trying (and failing) to shush her.

"Hey, now, calm down. Calm down. It's okay," he cajoled. "Come on, calm down. I promise, it's okay."

Ari's sleepy voice came from behind him. "Whazza matter with her?" the child questioned, yawning.

"Bad dream, I think," Link answered. "Go back to sleep, Ari."

" 'Kay..."

Despite his efforts to stop Angel's crying, there was no change in her behavior.

What am I supposed to do? he wondered, completely at a loss for ideas. Or was he? Maybe... Maybe I can turn her own methods against her!

Link cleared his throat. "Come stop your crying, it will be alright," he crooned, hoping he had remembered the tune. He glanced down at the fourteen year-old burying her face in his shirt. She seemed to quiet a bit. Encouraged, Link continued the song he had once heard her sing for an upset Ari.

"Just take my hand, hold it tight. I will protect you from all around you. I will be here, don't you cry..."

Her sobs were ending, becoming sniffles.

"For one so small, you seem so strong. My arms will hold you, keep you safe and warm." Link hugged her tighter, as if to prove this. "This bond between us can't be broken. I will be here, don't you cry... 'Cause you'll be in my heart, yes you'll be in my heart... From this day on, now and forever more, you'll be in my heart no matter what they say. You'll be here in my heart, always..." (1)

A giggle came from behind him. Apparently, Ari hadn't fallen asleep yet. "Hee hee hee... I didn't know you could sing, Link!"

Link smiled, although he knew she wouldn't be able to see it. "Neither did I," he replied. He waited a moment, expecting Angel, who had a tendency to be a touch-me-not, to pull away and lay back down. However, no such thing happened. He wondered why, until he realized that she had fallen asleep in his arms.

Link wasn't quite sure what to make of this, but as he didn't want to wake Angel, he went along with it.

Weirder things have happened, he reminded himself as he tred to get into a comfortable position without disturbing his cling-on. Although most of them have been unpleasant. This is more like it...


"You're sure about that?" Angel asked.

Ari nodded her head rapidly. "Yeah! We'll be there today!"

At last, they were nearing the end of their journey to Lynna Village. Soon, Ari would be back home where she belonged, among her family and friends. As always, though, there was a catch.

Angel put her hand on her hips and glared at the lake that had dared to position itself between her and her destination. "Do we have to cross this, Ari?" the fourteen year-old asked, hoping the answer was no. She was getting a feeling of foreboding from this body of water, though she couldn't quite say why...

The child nodded. "It's the fastest way to the village. I mean, we could go around it, but just look how far it stretches in both directions! It would take forever to get there."

Thinking that she'd much rather deal with spending another night out in the wilderness, Angel nodded in agreement. "Right," she said, defeated. "...But how are we supposed to do this? You don't expect us to swim, do you? Not even Link has enough stamina to make it all the way across!" she exclaimed, gesturing to the frowning Hylian standing beside her. This didn't quite seem right to him, either.

Ariela giggled. "There's a boat right behind you, silly," she snickered, and ran to the small craft excitedly. "This is the one we crossed the lake in last year when we came to visit Grandma!"

"Uh-huh..." Angel said slowly, eyeing the tiny sailboat distrustfully. "So how'd it get back to this side?"

"Well obviously, we put it back!" Ari said, crossing her arms. "We had to cross the lake again to get home!"

"Ari, this thing has been out in the weather for who knows how long! I don't like the idea of getting out in the middle of the lake and having that thing start leaking or something like th-"

Ignoring the elder girl, Ari pushed the boat into the water, hopped in, and began putting up the sail. She was going to leave them!

"Hey, wait for us!" Angel shouted as she and Link sprinted toward the almost runaway.

~Angel's POV~

Well, so far so good. Nothing's happened to us... yet. I hate to say that, but I just can't shake the feeling that something bad's gonna happen... There wasn't a whole lot of wind for the first little while. Good thing this boat had paddles instead of just that sail.

A few minutes ago, the wind started picking up. Wonder why? What there's a tornado or something that's on its way here? Oh, carp, I- Stop it! Stop freaking yourself out! It's fine. It's fine. We're fine. We-

"Looks like there may be a storm on the way," Link said, bringing me out of my thoughts. I glanced up at the sky, where dark clouds were building.

"Let's hurry, then," I replied, paddling faster. "I don't want to get stuck in it."

Now where have I heard that before? Something about this whole thing seems so... familiar, even though I've never been here. Even what Link and I just said seems like....

Oh my gosh.

OH MY GOSH!!

I gasped, and nearly dropped the paddle into the water. The dream! We're living that dream that I had the other night! But... But that means...

LINK! I wanted to scream. I knew we should have taken the long way! I couldn't lose Link. Lily was already gone, maybe gone gone. As in... well... you know. If all went according to the dream, Ari would be alright. That was all fine and dandy; I cared about her, too. But I couldn't lose Link. He... Really, at this point, now that Ari would soon be home and safe, Link was all I had. I couldn't let him go!

I surveyed the clouds. They were moving fast. Really, really fast. Oh, carp. We wouldn't be able to outrun the storm, no matter how hard we tried. That, too, had been in my prophetic dream. But why was I shown what was to come if there was nothing I could do about it?

"Link, faster!" I cried, increasing my own speed.. To my dismay, he heard the desperate tone I had used and turned to look at me.

"Are you alright?" he asked, worry etched onto his face.

"No! Now paddle faster! That storm's gonna hit any second now!"

He was clearly confused. "How do you know that? I might not do anything."

"Oh yes it will! Please, Link, just trust me!"

I knew he didn't understand, but I was so thankful when he did as I'd asked. Maybe, just maybe, we'd be able to get a little further before-

"AAH!"

Ari squealed as the first of the large waves began to try and push our little boat over. The water had turned a very dark, unpleasant color. The wind was whipping my hair around wildly, and I could feel raindrops begin to pelt me.

Please. Please, let us make it through this! All of us, I added, wondering if I neglected to say that in the dream.

I felt something slide out of my pocket as the force of a wave knocked me backward, but paid it no mind. I had far more important things to worry about than a lost trinket.

Moments passed. Each was a struggle to keep the boat upright and all of us in it.

"Ground!" I hear Ari shout, and saw her pointing finger appear. "I see ground!"

Unlike in my vision, I did not thank heaven. I couldn't. Not when I was afraid that heaven might be recieving someone I had begun to care quite deeply about... That thought was quickly shooed away. Link was my friend, and I must only care for him as such. But this was not the time for these thoughts! Concentrate on getting us all out of this mess alive!

Before I knew it, we had reached the shore. Well, I call in a shore, but this side of the lake must have formed in a very strange way. There was not a slope that led from the bottom of the lake back to dry land; it was simply an edge. Vaguely, I wondered how that happened, but I wasn't very concerned about it. Throwing my paddle down into the bottom of the boat, I seized Ari and threw her out of the boat, scrambling out myself immediately afterward.

Link made to follow us, but a wave shoved against the boat, and he lost his balance, falling into the cold water with a loud SPLASH!

My heart was beating a million miles an hour as I waited for him to resurface. It nearly stopped when he did; his sudden movement had startled me.

"Link! Link, take my hand!" I hollered over the roar of the wind and rain. I thought I was gong to have a heart attack when, just like in the dream, he pushed off the edge and went back to the boat to retrieve whatever was shining in the bottom of it. I recognized it as the crystal he had gotten for me back at the "Color Cave," as Ari had named it. (2)

"Are you crazy? Leave it!" I commanded. He ignored me, but I was determined not to let things end as they had in my vision, and somehow managed to grab one of his hands. I tried to pull him back to Ari (who was screaming her head off, by the way) and myself, but he fought against me. Realizing after a moment, though, that he couldn't win, he stretched out his other arm as far as he could and latched onto the boat, pulling it towards him as I pulled him towards me.

"Get out of the water, Link!" I yelled, trying to pull him up.

"The crystal!" he yelled back, and tried to snatch it.

I felt tears falling down my face, mixing with the rain. "Leave it! It doesn't matter!"

He stubbornly refused to do so. I watched helplessly as he tried once, twice, three times to get hold of it. Finally, on his fourth attempt, he closed his hand around the gemstone.

There's no time left! I cried in my thoughts as I tugged on Link again. This time, he was more than willing to climb out of the icy lake, and I struggled to help him. I couldn't let him go. Ari helped, too, rushing over to the edge and yanking on Link's other hand with all her might. Which wasn't a whole lot. But it sure helped.

Without Ari, I think the prophecy would have come true. I believe this because, just as Link was pulled out of the water, I saw it. The giant wave that would have taken him away from me.

The three of us sat there by the water's edge as the storm began to clear, as though it had been sent to test us. Now that we had passed the test, it saw no purpose to linger.

A waterfall of different emotions fell over me as I looked at my two companions. My gaze came to rest on Link, who I sort of... attacked. I knew I was crying as I lunged at Link, but I didn't care. "You idiot!" I screeched, beating on him. "Don't you ever do anything retarded like that again!"

Link pushed me off of him roughly, and I thought that perhaps he was angry, which I could completely understand. But no, he was smiling at me, albeit rather weakly. "I promise I won't," he said sincerely.

That was about it for me. I broke down, and threw my arms around him, burying my face into his soaked shirt. "You idiot," I said again, my voice muffled by the wet fabric. I heard Ari giggle at my antics, and pulled myself away from Link to glare at her. "Next time I tell you something's not safe, will you listen to me?" She nodded, and I gave her a hug.

"Well, would you look at that?" Link asked quietly.

"What?" I asked, and he pointed to a sign that I hadn't even noticed. "What does it say? I can't read it from here..."

Ari skipped over to it and, after peering at the symbols for a moment, turned around and grinned at us. "Lynna Village just ahead!" she said happily.

I almost couldn't believe what I'd just heard, but it was true. We'd made it.


(1) I dreamed this the other day! No joke. I dreamed that Link was singing You'll Be In My Heart by Phil Collins. It was scary! I couldn't resist putting it in here.

(2) As I mentioned earlier, I'm not in control of this story anymore. It was my original intention for the crystal to be left behind, as I didn't see it as being very important. However, the story thought otherwise, and told me I'd let Link retrieve it if I knew what was good for me.

Kiarra-chan - Thanks! That's just the kind of encouragement I need to keep me going! Hehe... Panic At The Disco. That band has some severe problems. Just look at the title of one of their songs: There's A Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered, Honey, You Just Haven't Thought Of It Yet PROBLEMS!!!!!!

frostclaw88 - *takes a bow* Thank you very much! There will be more Lily in the chapters ahead, so you'll get to see more of her lovable evilness. ^^

Don't go away yet, readers! It's time for that extra I promised you! This really shouldn't exist yet, but inspriation struck me the other day, and I just had to type it up. So here you go! A little something for you to look foward to when this story ends...


It was a cold, windy day. The sun, while attempting to shine, could do nothing to burn away the dark storm clouds that threatened those scurrying about in the crowded marketplace. North of this bustling town stood an imposing castle, inside which flustered attendants rushed around, thinking of nothing but the flogging they would recieve should they fail to finish their assigned tasks.

Up in the highest tower, a young girl no older than fourteen stood in front of a large window, staring into the outside world with a dismal expression on her face. For days now she had been here, gazing at the horizon, waiting for someone very important to appear. Her once unshakable faith was beginning to waver, and now, with each passing moment, her hope was dying.

She hardly felt the tears that spilled onto her pale face, leaving wet traces of their paths down her cheeks. As of late, she felt little but the sadness that filled her entire, otherwise empty being.

A promise, she thought, turning away from the window to fix her stare on the portion of cold, gray, stone wall next to the ornate wooden door. Intricate designs danced along the cherry boards, depicting the treasure she was duty bound to protect, as her mother before her had been.

A promise that was never meant to be broken. But it has been.

The maiden attempted to take a step toward the door, to see if, perhaps, the last guard to visit the tower had forgotten to lock it. She stepped on the hem of her dress and tripped, falling to the hard floor, but managing to catch herself with her hands.

Tears again began to fall from violet eyes that betrayed no emotion. She did not sob, though she very much would have liked to. But that would show weakness, something she refused to do. She would not yet give the evil one the satisfaction of knowing how shattered she was inside.

The girl pushed herself onto her knees, then rocked backward to sit on her rump. Off came the heeled shoes that had been her literal downfall, and were tossed to the other side of the richly furnished room. Her prison was quite elegant, but no matter how exquisite, a prison it remained.

Determined to make sure she would not fall again, layers of soft cerulean fabric were ripped from the bottom of her gown, creating multiple frayed, ragged edges. The maid either did not notice or simply did not care. It wasn't as though anyone would see her to comment on her appearance. Ready now to attempt once more, she stood up, the stones of the tower floor cold against her bare feet.

...What was that? That noise, what was it? The sound of heavy footsteps and armor clinking reached the girl's ears. The evening guard was coming. Blast! She'd missed her chance.

"Dinner," the sentry announced through the door.

The young girl's voice was but a whisper. "I'm not hungry."

Concern was evident when the soldier spoke. "Princess, you must eat somethi-"

"Leave me!" she ordered, irritation lending her voice strength.

Silence reigned for a moment. Then, "As you wish, Princess," he said. "But I shall leave it here. Should you want it later, just reach through the slot..." The man's voice and retreating footfalls faded away.

Once sure he was gone, and she was alone again, the princess let out a shriek and slammed her fist into the wall. As the sentinel spoke, she'd heard the klunk! of the big, iron key turning in the lock. The door had been open! She could have escaped!

Her whole body shook with the racking sobs she was holding inside as she made her way back to the window that overlooked her kingdom. With a shuddering sigh, the young princess rested her frail, delicate frame against the window's pane.

As she watched, the storm clouds that had been threatening her for the better part of three hours unleashed their fury. Wind and rain lashed at the glass separating her from the rest of the world, as if trying in their own way to free her. Their attempts were in vain, and after a moment, the princess turned her attention from them to the horizon.

"You promised me," she whispered, inaudible over the raging tempest. The once great Princess Rikkali wept, wrapping her arms around herself to fend off the chill that had entered the tower.

"Crisom... Where are you?"


Hehe... Behold, the prologue of the sequel! ...Well, one of the sequels. I have found that two of my endings leave room for more, instead of just one as I had originally thought. If you wish to review this prologue, I would prefer that you do so on its actual story page. This is titled Lithium, as I was listening to the Evanescence song of the same name while writing it. Oh, and something I forgot to mention. I told you all in an earlier chapter that the romance in this story would be one-sided. This is quite obviously no longer correct, though Link's feelings are much stronger than Angel's at this point. Just thought I'd let you all know. Now, as I find my ramblings finished, I release you all. You are free to return to your lives. ...Hahaha! ^^ XD

Alright, see you guys later!

-destinykeyblade