Choices

-0-Crimson-0-Nightshade-0-

Disclaimer: I do not own The Legend of Zelda… or the awesomeness that is Dark Link.

Summary: Zelda must make a decision, a decision that she must make for the good of Hyrule. But how will the best decision sit with her heart? (DLxZel)

Note: I would like to thank those of you who wanted this to continue. Especially Caladchbolg for giving me the idea to extend this in the first placeAnd I want you all to thank my wonderful Beta CrimsonKaoru!!! Let's hear a big hand for her!! I would like to apologize for the ENORMOUS wait for this. I've been having a lot of school stuff to do. So… yeah… sorry:blushing smile: Ummm... I'd also like to thank those of you who have waited for this story to be updated. Thanks for waiting for so long!

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Seven years ago, life hadn't been this difficult. As the Princess of Hyrule thought back to that simpler time, suddenly, she was ten years old again and looking though the window in the castle courtyard. She always kept a tight watch on Ganondorf, especially when he visited her Father, which was becoming a common occurrence.

She glared through the window at the green-skinned Gerudo. Why didn't anyone believe her premonition? Zelda, at least, could see that Ganondorf was an evil man. That boy in the green tunic with the faery–Link, wasn't it? That little boy in green was the only one that believed her in the kingdom. And our only chance at peace, she though darkly.

At that moment, she thought she heard footsteps on the grass behind her. She immediately brightened, expecting it to be Link back with the Spiritual Stone of Fire. Zeldaspun around with a cry of, "Link! I'm so glad you're…" She trailed off, surveying the garden.

There was no one there.

Zelda frowned; she was sure she had heard something.

Instead of pursuing the sound, she turned back to the window—just in time to see Ganondorf present a long, curved blade to the King. His three female Gerudo guards didn't look very pleased with him giving their weapons to a man, and Zelda chuckled; the Gerudos seemed unhappy whenever Ganondorf even spoke to a man. As she watched Ganondorf explain what the weapon was used for in gruesome detail, she heard another step in the grass.

This time, the princess was ready. The moment she heard the sound, she spun with a shout of, "What do you think you're doing?!" only to be again surprised by the sight before her. There was nothing there but the flowers.

Now she was getting worried. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as she looked around. She tried to calm herself; It could have been the wind. Zelda began to turn back to the window. Or she was imagining things. Nodding, Zelda decided, That must be it. After all, she was watching the man she believed could destroy Hyrule. It was more than likely for her to get a little paranoid.

Then she heard someone step right behind her on the stone steps.

Knowing she couldn't have imagined that, she squeezed her eyes shut. Spinning around, Zelda threw a punch directly behind her. She expected to finally hit the prankster, but she hit nothing but thin air.

Zelda sighed in relief and opened her eyes, thinking that there was nothing there.

Instead, she found her hand through a boy's chest.

The princess of Hyrule stared in terror at her fist. She opened her mouth to either scream or vomit― she had just killed a boy! But, before she could do either, an extremely annoyed voice growled, "You know, that's really rude. Even if I am just a shadow."

At this, she looked up and, to her surprise, found two enraged crimson eyes staring back at her. She looked back down at her hand and quickly jerked it back. The hole in the boy's chest disappeared as if it had never been there, and he crossed his arms as if to keep her punches at bay.

He wore a black tunic that was a bit too big for him and a hat that seemed moments away from falling over his eyes. His face was a bit plump; not all baby fat had vanished yet, and his expression was positively livid. He wore a small shield and what appeared to be a smaller version of the curved blade Ganondorf had offered to the King on his back. The two things that Zelda kept staring at were his skin, which was a similar grey to his tunic, and his bright red eyes.

As he glared at the princess, she realized with a jolt that he looked exactly like the little green-clothed boy who had agreed to help her.

She stared at him, realizing that she could see the garden behind the boy. Her eyes widened as she watched the flowers behind him wave in the breeze. Abruptly, she closed her mouth and tried to look calm as she remembered her manners.

"Wha… who are you?" she asked, realizing just in time that asking 'What are you?' would be rude.

The boy smiled crookedly and raised a hand crying out, "I am…" But then he paused, looking lost. He stared into the distance, as if confused about what he was saying. After a few seconds of silence, he muttered, "I don't know who I am."

"Well, that's silly," Zelda protested, causing the boy to begin to glare once more. "Everyone knows who they are!"

The boy raised an eyebrow, giving her a sarcastic smile. "Well, I'm not everyone."

This startled a laugh out of the princess. The boy was so frank that it was funny.

The 'shadow', as he called himself, stared at her, confused. He had never heard someone laugh—truly laugh—with joy before. Usually, if he had acted like that—before his Father, for instance—he would have been cuffed around the ears. Her reaction was so different that he managed to giggle a little himself.

The princess recovered and looked at him seriously. "So, you don't know who you are?"

The boy shook his head, now looking a little sad.

"Well then," Zelda said, smiling, "let's figure it out! Let's start with what you are. Are you a Hylian?"

The boy rolled his eyes. "I already told you; I'm a shadow!"

"A shadow?" she asked bluntly, raising an eyebrow. "If you are a shadow, then shouldn't you be on the ground like most shadows?"

There was silence in response, and Zelda flinched, realizing she was being rude yet again. "I-I'm sorry! I don't know what's gotten into me," she murmured apologetically.

The shadow shook his head. "It's okay. You misunderstand what I mean by a shadow. You see, I was created by Ga―" He froze, not sure if the princess could know that his father was the Gerudo King. After a moment, he decided that it couldn't hurt her anyway.

"Ga? You were created by Ga―"

"By Ganondorf," he cut in, a small smile on his face."To destroy the Hero of Time. In a way, I am his shadow."

Zelda stared at the boy, shocked—almost terrified. The boy, seemingly unaware of her change, looked at the ground and smiled, murmuring, "I suppose you could call me Dark Link."

At this, her breath caught in her throat. Link, that sweet little faery boy, was destined to become the legendary Hero of Time? She paled as she realized what this boy, what Dark Link was saying.

He was going to kill her only chance at saving Hyrule.

Suddenly, the princess felt hot, dizzy, and nauseous all at once. She caught a fleeting glimpse of the ground rushing towards her, and the sensation of arms wrapping around her before she was passed out.

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The moment the Princess began to fall, Dark had run forward to catch her. Inwardly he kicked himself for telling her so much. Ganondorf had only told him to come to the garden to kill the Princess.

But when he had arrived, he had paused, forgetting his orders. Instead, the little shadow had watched her curiously. He had never seen a Hylian before, his father being a Gerudo― the Gerudo King in fact.

By the time he had reached her, and she punched him, he had decided that he might just let her live.

When she had asked about his identity, he had frozen. Ganondorf never called him anything but 'spy' or 'shadow'. Dark knew that those weren't proper names, so he decided to see how she would react to his unknown identity. When she decided to help him, Dark had decided all together not to kill her.

But now, he had gone and opened up his big mouth about his father.

Dark knew that if Ganondorf werehere, he would probably be unconscious for talking so much.

He shook his head free of such troublesome thoughts and turned to the problem at hand. He looked down at the unconscious princess in his arms. Dark's eyes widened as he examined her face. Without the look of terror on her face, she looked so calm. So serene. So…

"Beautiful…" Dark breathed. The moment the word left his lips he looked around the garden nervously, wondering if Ganondorf was watching his every move. He shook his head; Ganon trusted him enough to let him have solo missions; the Gerudo King had better things to do then watching him all day.

Dark stood up and walked over to the small stream that circled the garden. He bent over and scooped up a handful of water. The shadowwalked back over to Zelda and splashed the water in her face.

The shadow bent over her to see if she would wake up. By the time her eyes opened, his face was less then an inch from her own. Instantly she shrieked and punched at him, hitting him squarely in the jaw. This time, he hadn't had enough time to faze out of existence. The shadow flew backwards and landed in the water.

"Owch! Wha- what was that for?!" he snapped, his hand on his mouth.

"What were you planning on doing to me?!" Zelda yelled as an answer.

"Nothing! I was seeing if you were all right! By Din, that hurt!" Dark stood up shakily and dusted himself off.

"Seeing if I was all right?!" Zelda asked shrilly. "If I was all right, what were you planning on doing to me?!"

Dark turned a bright red. "Oh! So just because I live with a bunch of women, everything I do has to do with…" he paused, turning a deeper shade of crimson, "…with having children?!"

"Women?! If you lived with respectable Hylians, I wouldn't be worried. But you live with a bunch of Gerudos!" Shocked at herself, the princess immediately clapped her hands over her mouth, knowing she had gone too far.

Dark began to shake with rage. "How… how dare you insult my father's people?! For your information, the Gerudo women are amazing." He looked down suddenly, blinking rapidly. "Although, I really wouldn't know. Father never lets me see any of them… so… what you say couldn't be true anyway." He swiped at the angry tears running down his face.

"Oh," Zelda murmured, looking down, "I'm… I'm sorry."

Dark looked away. "You should be." He murmured breathing heavily. Zelda looked away as he continued. "You know, not many people could insult my people and live."

Zelda gasped and held a hand over her heart. "You… you wouldn't!"

Dark shook his head. "No, I wouldn't. Princess," he looked down as Zelda breathed a sigh of relief, "I'm the one that should be sorry. I… shouldn't have exploded like that." He looked over at the shadows behind him, thinking once again of his mission. Dark shook his head and looked back at Zelda. "I should really be going―"

"Wait!" Zelda called softly.

He turned, surprised. "What is it, Princess?"

She paused, as if looking for the right words, "You aren't really going to kill Link?! Are you?" Zelda blurted, eyes teary. She clapped her hands over her mouth, hoping against hope that no one had heard her.

Dark looked away from her. "I can't promise you anything."

"Why not?! Why do you have to kill him? He's just a little boy!"

Dark spun around fast, eyes flashing. "It's my purpose! It's the only reason that I'm alive at all!"

Zelda looked at Dark, shocked. "What would happen if you," she avoided his eyes, "didn't kill him?"

Dark's face softened. "Father would kill me if I didn't kill the Hero." Zelda's eyes widened. She hadn't expected it to be that dire a consequence. "What do you see in that boy anyway?" Dark asked suddenly. "As you said, he's just a little boy."

"He believed my premonition. He decided to help me…" she paused, "to help me save Hyrule."

Dark looked away, trying not to exclaim something about helping her as well. He thought of his hatred for the Hero he had never met. He thought of the horrible sadness on Zelda's face when he had told her he was to kill him. But mostly, he thought of Zelda not being afraid of him. Of Zelda, becoming his friend. He had never had a friend before, just hundreds of Gerudos bowing to him.

Without thinking, Dark suddenly blurted out, "Princess, what if I promised to avoid the Hero? I can't… fulfill my purpose if I can't find the Hero, right? And technically, it wouldn't be my fault." What am I saying? Dark thought as Zelda's face brightened, I… I want the Hero dead… don't I? But… to see her sad… even after this short time…

"Look, why don't we meet tomorrow? We can get to know each other as friends. I won't mention my father," he added quickly, seeing the look on her face. "Look; I can't help being Ganondorf's son anymore than you can help being a princess."

Putting it in such plain terms was a shock for the princess. The shadow boy was right. And besides, if he was anything like his father, he would have killed her when she was unconscious.

She smiled softly at him and nodded. "Maybe you won't turn out like your father. Maybe, you'll be good. I'd be glad to meet you tomorrow."

Dark smiled at her and backed towards a shadowed wall. When he reached the darkness, he became a part of it, and vanished.

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End chapter

WOO!! Another chapter done! Sorry again about the wait. Heee we'll be in the past for the rest of the fic. Maybe, I'll even make an epilogue, so you'll see what'll happen to Dark, Link and Zelda in the future. Hope you liked it!!

Sorry about the titanic chapter. It'll prolly be shorter next time.

Next time:

Decisions

See you then!