The boy in the skull mask shook continuously with fear as he sat in the seat. Ganondorf didn't blame him. He was, after all, in unfamiliar surroundings. He was used to a simple life, and now, surrounding him on every side, was grandeur. It was, understandably, a bit much to take in at once.

"Hey there, Skull Kid," he said with a smile, addressing him by the only name anyone knew. "How are you? You remember me? I'm the one who gave you that mask."

The masked face bobbed up and down.

"You've had it hard, haven't you? Well, how about this? Would you like to live with me?"

Again, the mask nodded.

"Well," Ganondorf said, "I'd love to. On one condition. You have to do a few things for me first. You think you can do that?"

The Skull Kid hesitated a moment, before finally nodding once more.

Ganondorf gave the kid his most disarming smile. "I thought you might. Now, here's what I need you to do…."

"Do we really need to be here?" Navi whined.

"Of course we do," Link told her. "Senator Zelda told me that we're meeting our contact backstage."

"But do we really need to sit through the whole concert?"

"Don't you like the Indigo-go's?"

"Not really, no."

He looked at her. "Tough. We got in free, so we're watching the show."

It was the first time he had ever seen the band live. Evan, Tijo, Japas, Lulu, and Mikau…they were all up on the stage. They didn't have very good seats, but he would actually be meeting the band backstage later. He was actually going to meet the Indigo-go's. He couldn't believe it.

He closed his eyes, listening closely to Lulu's voice. When he heard the Zora sing, he could remember her more clearly. More importantly, it wasn't painful when Lulu sang. It somehow managed to bring him peace.

They finished with "New Wave Bossa Nova," quite possibly their most famous song. Navi squinted at him after it ended. "Are you crying?" she demanded.

Link shook his head, wiping his eyes on his coat sleeve. "Nah," he said. "Eyes are just a bit dried out. Come on, let's go."

A large, burly Zora wearing a "Security" t-shirt grabbed his shoulder as he pushed through the crowd and approached backstage. "Hey, buddy, you can't go in there," he said.

Link froze. He hadn't really expected anything like this. "I'm…um, We're going to meet the band…."

The Zora chuckled. "Yeah, no you're not."

"It's okay, they're with me," came a female's voice. Link and the security guard turned to see a Zora woman in a black half-shirt and jean shorts, leaning casually on a doorway.

The guard shrugged and let go, going back to standing near the stage and looking intimidating as Link jogged past. Navi followed, rolling her eyes. "You must be Ruto," he said.

She grinned. "Yep. I'm your contact here."

"So can I ask what you do with the band?" he asked as she led them backstage. "Costuming and makeup?"

"I'm on the tech crew, believe it or not."

"Really? Never would have guessed."

"Yeah, it surprises most people when they first hear it. Anyway, I got a tip from Senator Zelda that you'd probably like to meet the band."

"He won't shut up about it," Navi groaned from behind them. Personally, Link found it a bit hypocritical.

"She mentioned something about that, yeah. I still can't believe that I'm actually getting to meet them, though."

"It's all right with them. Senator Zelda and I are good friends. She and my father got along well, and once I become queen of the Zoras, We'll both be senators."

Link looked at her quizzically. "You're going to be queen?"

"Wait, you seriously didn't know who Ruto is?" Navi asked. "Really?"

"Navi, do I look like the sort of person who cares about politics?"

"I'm just saying," she said, shrugging.

Link looked back to Ruto, who was shaking her head and chuckling. "So you're seriously going to be queen someday?"

"Probably. My father's the king of the Zoras, so he's Lake Hylia's senator. I'm first in line for the throne once my father gives it up."

"And…you're doing technical work for a band?"

She shrugged. "I like it. Why shouldn't I do what's fun? Besides, I'm just his daughter. I don't have any sort of power yet."

She stopped at a door. "Well, Link, are you ready to meet the band?"

"No," he said.

She laughed. "Of course you are. They're really great people, and not at all intimidating."

Navi groaned. "Come on, Link, you've faced Ghoma and King Dodongo. I can't believe you're being such a wimp about meeting a band."

Link took a deep breath. "All right, I'm ready." The door opened on the Indigo-go's, casually lounging around. Japas stopped plucking his bass strings and looked up. "This him?" he asked. Ruto nodded.

"Hey, buddy," Mikau said, grinning at him. "Love your hat."

Japas shook his head and returned to playing his bass. "Don't mock him, man."

"No, I'm serious. I kind of like how it looks. Besides, it's green." He looked over at Lulu, who was sitting beside him. "Wouldn't you say that green's my color?"

"Whatever you say, Mikau."

Japas laughed. "Don't you let him think that. His fashion sense is bad enough. Hell, remember that time he tried wearing that skirt at the concert?"

"It was a kilt!"

"Could you guys please keep it down," the piano player asked. "I'm trying to listen to the feedback for the concert."

"Ah, relax, Evan, ya stiff," Mikau groaned.

"Um, guys, the, uh…the guy's still here," Tijo, the drummer, said. "Shouldn't we be, um…talking to him or something?"

Evan nodded, bounding down to shake his hand. "Link, isn't it? Thanks for coming. Ruto's told us that you work for Senator Zelda."

"Something like that, yeah," he said. "I'm…wow. It's—it's just so great to meet you all."

"Well, Ruto insisted.," Mikau told him. "Great girl, Ruto. Don't know where we'd be without her."

Ruto shook her head. "You guys flatter me too much."

"No, seriously, you're—wait, who are you?"

Navi crossed her arms, leaning against the wall. "I'm with him," she said, jerking her thumb at Link. "Don't worry about me."

He shrugged. "Anyway, Link, I'm expecting you'd like autographs?"

Link hesitated. "Actually, I have a request. Could…could I play a song with you guys?"

They looked at him a moment. They all still had their instruments out. "I…I suppose," Evan stuttered. "Which one?"

He pulled out his ocarina. "Ballad of the Windfish. I'm pretty sure I've got it down." He was positive he'd got it down, actually. He had managed to learn it and had played it every night since receiving the ocarina. After all, it was their song. It was her song.

He closed his eyes as he played, allowing the memories to wash over him. It was tough, but it was worth it to be with her one more time. For just a few moments, he was back with her, taking walks along the beach, feeding the seagulls. And then, as the music died away, so did the dreams. She was gone again.

"Goodbye, Marin," he whispered to himself.

He shook hands with the band again, then headed outside to meet with Ruto.

"I knew it!" Navi said as he passed her. "You are crying! You're freaking crying!"

"Shut the hell up, Navi," he growled. She froze. "Look, I'll…I'll explain later. I promise. Just…just give me a moment for now. Stay with the band. I'm going to talk with Ruto alone."

As the door shut behind her, she turned awkwardly to the band. They all stared back at her.

"You didn't really like the concert, did you?" Tijo asked.

She hesitated. "Not really, no."

They all shrugged and went back to talking amongst themselves. Evan looked at her. "Excuse me, but what exactly about our performance fell flat?"

"I just don't like jazz."

Evan made a little noise, as if he pitied her for her shallow music tastes, and went back to his keyboard.

"Link," she muttered under her breath, "I am going to kill you for this."

"So, you have a tip for me?" Link asked Ruto once they were outside. "Senator Zelda told me that you had a tip."

"Oh, I have better than that," she said. "Here, follow me."

She led him to a dark room and flipped the lights on. "This is my office."

"You've got an office?"

"Yeah, well, head tech staff and all. We practice here quite a bit, and the band members don't live too far away. Anyway," she said, rummaging through a desk drawer, "here."

She reached in and pulled out a small blue orb on a string. The Pendant of Wisdom.

He stared at her for a moment. "Okay, what's the catch?"

"No catch," she said. "Usually, there should be, and I don't exactly feel right just giving it to you, but Zelda told me herself that it would be better this way."

"Are you sure?"

She led him into the hallway, locking the door behind her. "Of course I am. I trust her." She stopped, looking a few feet down the hall. "Hey, there, kid. Are you lost?"

A small boy turned to face her. The first thing Link noticed was that he wore a skull mask. The second thing he noticed was that he was really, really quick, noticing almost immediately afterwards that he had snatched the Pendant of Wisdom and was halfway down the hall already.

The fourth thing he noticed was the blue-clad ninja, who had appeared out of nowhere and was already hot on the heels of the masked kid.

"Later! Thanks for the help!" he yelled to Ruto as he shot off after them.

Navi looked around the room for the fifth time. The band paid her no notice.

"So, um…I'm gonna head to the bathroom…." she said.

"Two doors down on the left," Mikau said offhandedly.

"Okay, well…see you guys later," she said, slipping quietly out the door. As soon as she was out, she leaned against the wall and sat down hard. "Praise Din," she muttered. "Pretention-free air."

A small kid shot past her, followed by the ninja she and Link had seen while fighting Dodongo.

"What the hell?" she muttered, standing.

"Navi, run!" Link yelled from further down the hall. "Don't let them get away!"

"What the hell is going on?" she demanded as she struggled to keep up. He grabbed her hand, pulling her up onto his back in an impressively fluid motion. "Ow!" she whined. "I landed on your sword!"

Link said nothing. She felt kind of guilty. Whether she was on his back or on foot, she was still slowing him down. He was fast, but not as fast as the kid or the ninja. The two of them slipped through the crowd easily, but she and Link were slowed by the bustle. By the time they pushed through the crowd and made it outside, it was dark, and there was no sight of either person they were pursuing.

"I'm sorry, Link," she said as he set her down.

"It's…it's okay, Navi. I should have known that something like this would go down. We just…we just start from square one again, I suppose." He gave a forced chuckle. "It's not like the goddesses are supposed to be on our side or anything." He kicked a rock on the ground as far as he could. "Of course not. Why the hell would they help us? It's not like they helped Marin. It's not like they helped Aryll and Colin." He fell on all fours and started punctuating his rant by pounding on the ground. "We couldn't just get one stroke of luck now or then, could we?"

She couldn't stand to watch him when he was like this. She had decided to travel with him because he was strong. She had decided to travel with him because he could take anything that was thrown his way. But now, seeing him on the edge of despair? She couldn't watch. She turned away.

"Uh, Link?" He looked up at her. "Um…look." She pointed off. A masked figure appeared out of the darkness. It was the ninja.

Link stood. "What's going on?"

The ninja turned, gesturing for them to follow.

"Okay, question," Link said. "If you're taking us to where the pendant is, why didn't you just bring it here?"

The figure turned, raised blonde eyebrows and annoyed red eyes seeming to say "look, are you going to follow me or not?"

Navi looked up at Link. "Think this counts as a stroke of luck?"

He shrugged. "I don't know yet, Navi. But we'll see."