OK, so a few things before we begin... Apparently... has been having some issues with their email notification systems, meaning that some of you guys who have already followed/favorited (thanks for doing so by the way!) might not get the update that this chapter has been posted. Its also the reason why I've waited to upload this chapter even though its been done since last week... sorry... But that's just a minor concern.

In other news, I hand-drew the next cover for this story myself, so I encourage you to take a closer look! I plan on putting up on my DeviantART account soon, so you'll hopefully be able to see it there too!

Also, thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! Keep 'em coming! I love them! So... I speed ran through Wind Waker HD with my best friend this past weekend and let me just say it is about 1 million times better than it was before (and it was already incredible to begin with!) And I don't really have that much else to say! Please enjoy the chapter and leave a review as always! :D

Chapter 1: Worlds Apart

"When you said your last goodbye,
I died a little bit inside,
I lay in tears in bed all night,
Alone, without you by my side."
-All I Want, Kodaline

Great Sea, near Outset Island, five years later

The skies over the Great Sea were always their most magnificent at sunset. During the hour of twilight, they were painted a glowing mix of differing shades of violet, orange, pink and blue, all while the ruby-like sun sank over the reflective waters. The air was warm, though there was a slight chill in the wind, which was only natural as autumn was approaching. This slight breeze wafted through the sails of the pirate ship, slowly pushing it along towards its intended destination.

As was the norm, the main deck of the ship was empty at this hour, as its crew was chowing down on dinner in the galley. All of them were enjoying a well-deserved meal after a hard-day's work, save for their captain, who was alone within her densely quiet quarters, her mind swimming in thought.

"Five years..." Tetra muttered to herself solemnly as she paced around her room. She kept her gaze to the ground, watching her feet as she walked. Rather, she watched her one real foot and the wooden substitution for a lower leg that had replaced her real one two years ago, when it was practically severed in a fight. But her lost leg was the last thing on her mind on this particular evening. Her thoughts were placed instead on something that had happened five years ago to this day, back when she was a largely innocent twelve year old, rather than the scarred and bitter seventeen year old that she was now.

Tetra let out a heavy sigh as she walked over to her dresser, atop which she kept her most precious treasures: a box of jewelry that had once belonged to her mother, a set of matching stones, known as pirate's charms, that held magical communication properties, and, something that she considered to be both dear to her heart, yet painful to it at the same time. A long, thin white metal baton with delicately curled handles. The pirate captain picked it up gingerly, like she always did, and slowly ran a finger down its straight side.

"Tonight's the night..." she whispered, staring at the thing with a piercing gaze. "I'm finally letting go of you... and I'm finally letting go of him..."

It had been five long years since the incident with the Ghost Ship and ever since then, Tetra had always blamed herself for what had happened. She knew that if it hadn't been for her childish challenging and her lust for treasure, Link would have still been alive. But no; the pirate captain had put his life in danger without a second thought and he had been the one to pay the ultimate price. Chances were Tetra would always feel guilty on some level for the tragedy, but she intended to put the pain that it brought her out of her head tonight, once and for all.

The first several months had been the hardest. In fact, the very same week that the accident happened, Tetra had refused to leave her room altogether, and she had hardly touched any of the food that her crew had brought her. She had felt ill, but not in a normal sense. She had been sick with feelings of guilt, sorrow, mourning and regret. Up until that point, she had not cried since her mother died, but the tears fell like rain over the fact that the hero was gone forever. But she dared not let any of her crew members see; despite her pain, she still had a position of leadership to uphold among them. But all the same, she had stayed reclusive and quiet for those first few months, even after she finally decided to venture out of her room. But even so, she rarely ever spoke, except for when she needed to give an order or answer a question. She would eat alone in her room and she never took part in leisure activities with the rest of the crew like she used to when Link had been around. The only times she would leave the ship at all would be when there was someone trying to attack them; everything else, from treasure hunting to stocking up on previsions, she left up to the responsibility and discretion of her crew. She never smiled, she never laughed and the sparkle that used to appear in her dark blue eyes when she was excited had vanished, leaving them dim, empty, and often red-rimmed from crying.

Despite the fact that Tetra tried her hardest to hide her inner grief from them, her crew had certainly taken notice. Their captain used to be so passionate and fiery, but now she was morose and brooding over something that they all agreed was a horrible accident. Often times they would try to coax her out of her miserable mood, only to be rebutted with angry glares or harsh commands to leave her alone. They all knew better than to bring up anything having to do with the hero at all, lest they be tossed off the ship altogether. Of course, there were rare times when Tetra would seem to act her old self once more, days when she actually succeeded at suppressing her old memories and heartache, but there was always something that would throw her into a depression once more.

The first, and perhaps the worst time was only a few weeks after the tragedy itself. Tetra had begrudgingly agreed to her crew's suggestion of sailing to Outset Island in order to deliver the news of Link's passing to his family, as it was the only right thing to do. But even so, Tetra could not bring herself to even step foot off the ship along with the rest of her crew because she knew just how they'd take the news: in the same way that she had. So instead, she had simply watched from the crow's nest as Gonzo solemnly delivered the heartbreaking story to the hero's grandmother and little sister and forced herself to look away in shame as the two of them tearfully embraced in grief and sorrow over their loss. It was then that the pirate captain realized that not only had she been the one responsible for the death of perhaps her closest friend, but she had also torn his family apart as well. And it was at that moment, that she realized that this was all too real and that there was no going back to the way things used to be.

And so, Tetra had spent the past five years in largely the same manner of mourning and regression. Though she could put on a face of normality and calm, inside her mind was always dwelling on thoughts of Link and his cruel end. And she hated it; she hated how she had been the one to send him on that cursed ship, she hated how all she had been thinking about was treasure, she hated how there had been nothing she could have done to help him, she hated that he had met such a tragic fate at such a young age and most of all, she hated that out of anyone she knew, he was the one person who deserved it the least. He had saved her life and the entire Great Sea, and meeting his death upon that same sea was his ultimate reward? It just didn't seem fair to Tetra. She knew that should have gone on the Ghost Ship in his place; a brutal, thieving, feared pirate was much more befitting such a harsh way to go out than a brave, selfless, kind hero.

But even more than that, Tetra had lost someone who she knew was important to her once more, only this time, the pain was so much worse then it had been when she lost her mother. Together, her and Link had faced a great evil when they were but mere children and in they end, they had committed themselves to the task of finding a new land to reestablish Hyrule within it. Through the few months that they had spent together, they had found a way to bond and they had even formed an actual friendship, one that Tetra treasured dearly as it was the first time she had ever been friends with someone her age. Back then, she hadn't appreciated the brief time they spent together as much as she should have, but now she fully did. Yet all the same, she hardly looked back on those memories with fondness. More than anything else, she wanted those simple times of peace and friendship back, even though she knew they were long gone now. Often she wondered what it would be like if Link was still around and how their friendship possibly could have evolved over the years. There was no denying that they had been fairly close friends; if fate had permitted them to have more time together, how much could their relationship have really grown?

As much as she wanted to imagine what their future could have been like, all of her built up pain and sorrow over the situation kept her from even trying. There was scarcely a day when she didn't shed a tear over the hero's death and beyond that, her mind haunted her with constant reminders of the past. At night, her dreams, or nightmares rather, were always filled with visions of him, his death and the glaring fact that it was all her fault. Many nights she would find herself waking up to a soaking wet pillow if she was lucky; if she wasn't so lucky, she'd wake up screaming from some of the more horrifying and painful images of his death that she was forced to see.

There was no question that she was damaged from it all; it had left her broken on the inside, hopeless and alone. And the worst part of it all was that she didn't want to be like this. She wanted to be how she used to be; fearless, brash, strong-willed and outspoken, not weak and sniveling. She had clung onto the pain for five long years and she had relished this feeling of remorse for too long now. And so, she had recently decided that she was going to cut herself off from it altogether, once and for all. She was going to let anything that that had to do with the hero go, both physically and mentally. It was the only way she could move on with her life.

It was for that purpose that Tetra had given her crew the rest of the night off on this particular evening, on the fifth anniversary of the day that she had lost Link. She didn't want any of them knowing what she planned on doing, lest it bring her any more shame that she already had. She was going to Outset Island, the very place they had first met more than five years ago and she was going to say her final goodbye to him. And then, she was going to try and stop thinking about him and for all. No longer would she sit in her room alone and cry herself to sleep over him. No longer would she keep herself away from all human contact. No longer would she be weak and sensitive. She was going to be the real Tetra once more, the brave, fierce pirate girl, who was no longer a girl now, but a woman. She was going to be her old self again... She was finally going to forget...

But she knew that in the end, there were some things that she'd never be able to forget. How could she forget his warm smile and easy-going laugh? How could she not remember their long, deep conversations and how they used to playfully argue? How would she able to not think how much she really had cared about him, despite her persistent claims that she hadn't? These were things that in her heart, Tetra didn't want to forget but she knew that if she ever wanted closure, she would have to let them go too, just as much as she needed to let go of the Wind Waker that rested in the palms of her hands.

"Its the only way..." she whispered as she opened her door to go above deck as the ship made its approach on Outset. "The only way I can ever be free..."

Waters of the World of the Ocean King, also five years later

In a world apart from the Great Sea and all of its many islands, laid the vast waters that rested under the protection of a spirit known only as the Ocean King. In many ways, this place was like the Great Sea; the sun shone upon both oceans in the same way and in a similar manner, both carried the same flow of time, but they differed in many ways as well. The World of the Ocean King was certainly smaller, with less islands dotting it and even fewer inhabitants living upon them. And beyond that, these waters were brimming with a great power, one that dwelled within every living being, known as Life Force. And it was because of that great concentration of Life Force that in years past, the world had come under the attack of a vicious monster that had one goal alone: to consume all of the Life Force it could.

Despite the fact that the monster, known as Bellum, had been defeated four years prior, the waters of the Ocean King were still feeling the repercussions of his onslaught. The Ocean King himself had been weakened a great deal thanks to the creature and even four years later, he had still not regained all of his power. The waters of the ocean themselves were not as blue and vibrant as they used to be, even with the light of the late afternoon sun shining down upon them. A small yellow fairy took note of this fact as she flittered over the water beside a red and white steamboat that plowed through these same waters, having no set destination in particular as it sped along.

The fairy sighed in disappointment as she flew back onto the main deck of the ship, her tiny body coming to rest on the shoulder of a young man, who stood leaning against the ship's prow, looking out across the passing waves contemplatively.

"So," the fairy said in her bright and trilling voice. "The water's still not as bright as it used to be... You know, before Bellum attacked, they used to shine like you wouldn't believe!" The sprite sighed, thinking back to days long past. "Wouldn't it be great if the Ocean King and the sea got back the rest of the power that was stolen from them by Bellum? Then everything would be just like how it used to be! Don't you think?" She asked the young man, who didn't offer a reply as he was completely lost in thought.

The fairy huffed a breath of annoyance with him, knowing that he did this too often. "Hey!" she chirped, gliding directly in front of his face to catch his attention. "Link, are you listening to me?!"

"Huh?" the Hero of Winds blinked, his train of thought now completely broken. "Oh, sorry Ciela. What were you saying?"

The Spirit of Courage rolled her eyes at him, placing her tiny hands on her hips. "It doesn't matter..." she said, noticing the look of slight melancholy on his face. "You're thinking about her again, aren't you?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"Who?" Link asked, even though he knew exactly who she was talking about.

"You know who," Ciela said pointedly. "Tetra."

"Oh..." the hero sighed as he glanced out across the waves once more. Scarcely had a day gone by when he didn't think about the pirate captain who he had been separated from five years ago. Of course, the circumstances that had brought him to the World of the Ocean King and kept him there for the past five years were certainly strange. Even after the Ocean King himself explained everything to him sometime after Bellum's defeat, it still didn't make much sense.

For at least the last decade, Bellum had been terrorizing the waters of the Ocean King. He had risen up from the dark depths of the sea and had been slowly but surely draining the Life Force from its inhabitants and nature itself, growing stronger and stronger as he did so. In an attempt to stop Bellum, the Ocean King opposed him in battle, but ultimately lost to the beast's great might. The ruling spirit of the sea barely escaped from the demon's grasp, but at the expense of both his powers and his true form. To survive, the Ocean King was forced to into hiding, taking on the appearance of an old man under the alias of Oshus. Bellum even subdued two of the Ocean King's servant spirits, Neri, the Spirit of Wisdom and Leaf, the Spirit of Power, who were imprisoned within the strongholds of monsters that the demon had brought to life. The only spirit to escape was Ciela, the Spirit of Courage, who fled to safety with the Ocean King. Bellum went a step further by cursing the Temple of the Ocean King, a sacred place built as a tribute to the sea's ruling spirit, but defiled by the monster's life-draining power. And with the World of the Ocean King completely at his mercy, Bellum began to drain unlimited amounts of Life Force from it, dimming its former beauty and gradually weakening its unknowing inhabitants.

But even still, the demon was not satisfied. He craved even more Life Force and in his never-ending thirst for it, he created the Ghost Ship, designed to lure people with rumors of treasure and wealth on board, into a trap so the beast could drain them of their Life Force. According to the Ocean King, around five years ago, Bellum had sensed two great sources of Life Force within the waters that acted as a gateway between the World of the Ocean King and the Great Sea. And so, Bellum guided the Ghost Ship into that area, where it encountered the pirate ship and came across both of those sources of Life Force at once: Link and Tetra. Since both the hero and the pirate had once held pieces of the Triforce, which alone permanently increased the power of the Life Force within each of them, they were both prime targets for the force-lusting demon. In truth, Tetra, Link and her crew did not find the Ghost Ship; the Ghost Ship found them.

The moment Link step foot on the Ghost Ship, Bellum knew that he had what he wanted. However, the demon was infuriated that it was unable to drain all of the hero's Life Force away, due to something the Ocean King only referred to as the strength of the "hero's spirit", which Link apparently possessed. Infuriated over his dashed plans, Bellum brought the Ghost Ship down with the young hero on board, but not before cursing him by turning him to stone until the demon could find a way to take the rest of his Life Force away.

The monster carried the statuefied Hero of Winds to the World of the Ocean King, hiding him away within the bottom of the Temple of the Ocean King, where the demon made its lair, and where Link remained in a state of froze slumber for quite some time, totally unaware of anything that happened in the outside world. The only things he was aware of were his dreams and nightmares of both his past and present. Occasionally the would feature memories of early childhood on Outset, of his little sister Aryll and his grandmother. Other times, they'd be about his journey upon the Great Sea and the people and beings he met during it, including Medli and Prince Komali of the Ritos, the Korok Makar, the Great Deku Tree, the dragon Valoo and many others. Some of his more darker visions had to do with the lost kingdom of Hyrule, buried beneath the waves forever, along with the remains of Ganondorf and the hero's former trusted companion, King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, otherwise known as the King of Red Lions. But by far, he dreamed the most about Tetra. He'd dream of the adventures upon the Great Sea that they had been on together, the late night talks that they used to share and sometimes, he'd simply dream that they were together in a comfortable silence, doing nothing but enjoying each other's company. But only when he dreamed of Tetra could he hear a small voice that only ever repeated the same command: "Wake up..." And, as days turned into weeks and weeks wore on into months, that voice only grew louder and clearer until he knew that it unmistakably belonged to the pirate captain. And as he came to that realization, Link knew that he had to find a way to follow her command and wake up, despite not knowing what he was trying to wake up from.

On one particular day, the pirate girl spoke these words to him directly within his dreams, her face looking sad and her voice pleading. "Link..." she said earnestly. "You have to wake up now... Please... This world needs you... Our world needs you..." A small tear slipped down her cheek as she began to fade away. "I... need you..." Watching her leave threw the young hero into a sudden panic as he chased after her. He knew that she was only a dream, but he didn't want to be apart from her any more. But what he really wanted was the real Tetra, not just faded glances and memories of her. He wanted to escape from this dream world that he was trapped within and return to all of the people he had been missing for what seemed like an eternity. And he knew the only way to do that was to wake up, just as the girl had said.

By summoning all of his determination and will power together, Link managed to break out of his stone prison, but all was not well. Even though he was now awake and fully mobile once more, he was still trapped within the depths of the Temple of the Ocean King, a place that, like the Ghost Ship, slowly drained the Life Force of all who entered it. From the very moment the young hero broke free, he could feel his energy begin to wane, but he was determined to make it out alive so he could return to Tetra. After all, she had said that she needed him and he had no intentions of keeping her waiting any longer.

And so, Link fought through floor after floor of the temple, growing ever weaker with each step. He had no idea where he was or how long he had been frozen for, but he was able to tell that it had been quite a long time as his physical appearance had changed. He was still just a boy, but he looked older now, somewhat more mature in his height, build and features. As he struggled through the temple he wondered just how long he had been incapacitated, and how much had changed during that amount of time. But all the same, Link wouldn't have made it through the temple at all if he had not happened to stumble upon an item simply known as the "Phantom Hourglass", which somehow kept his Life Force from being drained as quickly. However, even with the hourglass's help, the young hero barely made it out alive. No more than a moment after he dragged himself out of the temple and saw the light of day again for the first time in a long time, he collapsed, exhausted, drained and on the brink of death.

Fortunately, the boy was found and aided by old man Oshus and Ciela, who kindly nursed him back to health and provided him with answers to many of his questions. They were quick to reveal their true identities as the Ocean King and Spirit of Courage to him and they told him all about Bellum. Oshus explained what the monster had been looking for and how he had gotten a great deal of it from Link. According to the old man, the hero had been imprisoned in stone by the demon for a little over a year, much to his surprise. A whole year had passed and he had not been aware of anything that had happened during it. He realized that upon awakening, he was no longer twelve as he had been when he first leapt onto the Ghost Ship, but rather he was thirteen and chances where, that in a world away from the one he now found himself in, so was Tetra.

Recognizing the young hero's courage and strength for surviving his prolonged imprisonment and making it through the temple alive, the Ocean King asked Link to defeat Bellum and save the World of the Ocean King, with the promise that if he succeeded, he would able to return to the Great Sea once more. The Hero of Winds accepted this task and set out with Ciela to find the other two servant spirits first. Along the way, they recruited the help of the greedy Captain Linebeck, owner of the proud vessel, the SS Linebeck, which he reluctantly agreed to let the hero and the fairy set sail on in exchange for the promise that he would get treasure in the end. The trio traversed the waters of the Ocean King and eventually recovered Leaf and Neri, the other two spirits, who had been trapped by Bellum's monsters. From there, their next goal was to acquire the three Pure Metals, which together would be able to make a blade capable of defeating Bellum. After finding and forging the three metals together into the Phantom Sword, Link made his way through the Temple of the Ocean King once more, only this time with much better results. With righteous fury, he faced the beast that had captured him and trapped him for an entire year and emerged victorious thanks to his own courage, the help of the three spirits and most of all, the heroic contributions of Linebeck, who, despite his previous cowardice, leaped into the thick of the battle to help unexpectedly.

With Bellum destroyed, Oshus returned to his true form as the Ocean King and peace returned to the waters of the realm. However, not everything was fixed. Because Bellum had consumed such great amounts of Life Force, quite a bit of it had been lost completely upon his defeat. Though enough Life Force returned to the World of the Ocean King for it to sustain itself once more, the Ocean King himself had lost a great deal of power and was unable to follow through on the deal he had made with Link and send him home. Upon this discovery, the hero was dejected and thoroughly upset. After all, he had risked his life to defeat the monster, but in the end, he was still stuck within the World of the Ocean King anyway, unable to return to the Great Sea and to Tetra. And, by the way the Ocean King had explained it to him, chances were that he'd never see either of them again.

But all the same, despite his circumstances, Link made the best of things. He didn't mope over the fact that he couldn't go home; instead, he decided to start a new life within the World of the Ocean King. He and Ciela eventually decided to set sail with Linebeck, searching for adventure and treasure, along with any new lands they could possibly happen upon. Over the course of the past four years, life had treaded into a normal routine for all of three of them as they explored just about every corner of the seas of the Ocean King.

It was a life that the young hero had settled into nicely and it was one that he was rather content with, but something was missing. And he knew exactly what that something was: Tetra. Not a day went by when Link didn't miss her, when he didn't wish to see her again, even if it was only for a moment. Even though she used to deny it all of the time, the two of them had grown to be close friends, and he had a feeling that if they were still together, their relationship would have definitely grown beyond that. Whenever he thought about her, he'd not only look back to the past however. He would think about the present as well. He wondered how she was doing and what she looked like now. He wondered if she had told his family or anyone else what had happened. He wondered if her and her crew had found a land that could be the next Hyrule. And he wondered if she ever thought about him, or if, in all her stoic, brash ways, she forgot about him altogether and resumed the rough life of pirating that she had led before the two of them met.

Despite the fact that he hadn't seen Tetra in five years, Link still remembered everything about her: the sharp, yet pretty features of her face, her firm, commanding voice, her sly, flirtatious wink. But those were all simply from memory. The only physical thing from her that he had left was her red scarf, which she had given to him for luck right before he jumped onto the Ghost Ship. He always kept the precious strip of scarlet cloth with him, securely tied to his belt at all times. It reminded him not only of the pirate girl he missed so much, but also of the home that he was certain he'd never be able to return to. And on this particular afternoon as he stood upon the SS Linebeck, riding along like he always did, he unceremoniously untied the scarf and held it in his hands, staring at it longingly as it flittered in the breeze.

"You really miss her, don't you?" Ciela asked him as she slowly glided around his head.

Link sighed, clutching the scarf even tighter. "Yeah..." he said quietly. "I do..."

"'Hoy, you two!" Linebeck's gruff, yet chipper voice called out as he emerged from below deck with a map in his hand.

Ciela turned to face him, as did Link as soon as he had tied the scarf back to his belt. "'Hoy Linebeck," he said, though with not nearly as much enthusiasm.

"Hey now, kid!" the captain said, noticing the hero's lack of his usual fervor. "What's with the long face?"

"He's thinking about 'you-know-who' again..." Ciela cut in, much to Link's aggravation.

"No," Linebeck said blankly. "Who?"

"Oh, come on!" the fairy bounced up and down in annoyance with his ignorance. "You can't be this dense! I'm talking about Tetra! You know, the pirate girl that Link used to travel with before he came here?"

"Oh, right! You should have just said so, Sparkles!" he exclaimed, using the nickname he commonly referred to Ciela by. "Listen kid..." he started, speaking to Link this time.

"You don't have to keep calling me 'kid' anymore, you know," the hero said in irritation. "I am seventeen after all..."

"Thirteen, seventeen, what's the difference?" Linebeck said avertedly. "All the same, you think about that girl too much. One might even call you down-right obsessed! Talk about living in the past... You're just like Jolene!" The captain rolled his eyes at the thought of the pirate woman who had been continuously stalking him for the past several years over a longstanding grudge she held against him. "You gotta move on, kid! I'm sure she already has!"

"Maybe you're right..." Link said with a half-hearted smile.

"Maybe?" Linebeck scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous! I'm always right! Now, let's get down to business. Take a look at this!" He unfurled the map of the sea that he was holding, pointing to a position within the southwest quadrant. "See where we are?"

"Yeah," the hero nodded, examining the map along with Ciela. "Near Spirit Island. So what?"

"So..." the captain grinned proudly as he rolled the map back up. "I was checking the astral charts earlier and I found out that something BIG is supposed to happen around here TONIGHT!"

"Like what?" Ciela asked skeptically, hoping that this wasn't another one of Linebeck's wild ideas.

"Its something that is rumored to happen only once every one hundred years!" he said, his blue eyes alight with somewhat greedy excitement, which always happened when he spoke of treasure. "They say that on this special night, these mystical things called "Force Gems" rain down from the heavens. Apparently, they're powerful enough to grant any wish at all!"

"What?!" Link exclaimed, his eyes growing wide upon hearing this. "Any wish?"

"What did I just say?" Linebeck asked sarcastically, though it was easy to tell that he was still excited. "They can grant any of your heart's desires! Or more specifically, my heart's desires, 'cause I'm gonna use them to wish for mountains and mountains of treasure and rupees! I'm gonna be filthy rich!"

Link was hardly listening to the captain go on about his desire of wealth as he started to formulate a plan of his own for what he wanted to wish for. If these Force Gems were as powerful as Linebeck claimed, then certainly they would be able to do what the Ocean King couldn't and send him home, back to the Great Sea. The prospect excited him greatly. If this worked, then he'd be able to see Tetra again after five long years of separation.

"I know what you're thinking..." Ciela whispered to the hero as a wide smile claimed his face. "And... are you sure you really want to leave...? I know you miss Tetra, but who knows how much your world has changed since you've been gone? You have it great here and besides... if you left, I'd really miss you, Link... You know how much I worry about you..." She spoke truthfully. During their mission to defeat Bellum, the Spirit of Courage had acted as the hero's guide and companion, a role that she continued to uphold even after the monster was gone. She truly cared about him and every time he put himself in danger, she would fret and worry herself sick over him. The very idea of him leaving and going back into an unknown world made her heart sink.

He smiled kindly at the fairy, understanding her position. "Then why don't you come with me, Ciela?" he offered. "You'd love the Great Sea. Its just like this sea, only-"

"Only its where Tetra is..." Ciela cut in somewhat dejectedly. "Link... I don't think... the Ocean King... he... I... Well, I'm the Spirit of Courage... and..." The fairy sighed, unsure of what she was really trying to say. "I really want to..." she gave him a slight smile as she pondered the matter for another moment. "But... Are you sure this is really what you want?" she asked Link.

The hero nodded immediately, taking a brief glance down to Tetra's scarf. "Yes," he said firmly, imagining what it would be like to meet the pirate captain again after so long. "Its the only thing I've wanted for the past five years..."

Later that night, SS Linebeck drifted loftily in the waters near Spirit Island as the bright moon shined down upon them. Link, Linebeck and Ciela all kept their gazes locked onto the starry skies above, each of them trying to catch their first glimpse of the Force Gems.

"Oh, I can smell the treasure already!" Linebeck said, savoring the thought of riches untold. "What are you gonna wish for, kid?"

Link smiled, still scarcely believing that he had finally found his chance after so many years of waiting. "I'm going to wish to go home," he said, absentmindedly stroking Tetra's scarf gently.

"What?!" the captain exclaimed, his jaw dropped in surprise as he stared at the hero in disbelief and concern.

"You heard me," Link said, using the same soft sarcastic tone that Linebeck often used with him. He didn't smile though, knowing that he'd miss the old curmudgeon of a captain, who had become something of a father figure to him over the past few years.

Linebeck was still staring at him with wide eyes before he caught himself, looking away and brushing aside any signs of caring. "Well... yeah..." he said, trying to hide the slight despondency in his tone. "Its just... I can't believe you're not gonna wish for treasure! I mean, something like this only happens once every one hundred years, and you're gonna waste it just so you can get back to your old girlfriend!? Haven't I taught you anything these past four years?!"

"Tetra's not my girlfriend!" the hero protested before breaking out into a smile. "You're gonna miss me, aren't you Linebeck?"

The old captain was silent for a moment before turning further away from his young traveling companion. "No," he said stoutly, crossing his arms and gazing up into the sky with a sour look.

Link and Ciela exchanged a brief glance before the fairy flew over to him. "You know, Linebeck..." she said in her bright, tinkling voice. "As much as I think you're a pain in the neck... It'd be great if you came with us... So... Will you?"

Linebeck was quiet for a moment before turning to the fairy with a bitter scowl on his face. "Please!" he scoffed. "You think I'm gonna wish my wish on something as stupid as going to some far off sea that probably has no treasure to speak of when I can have all the treasure in the world delivered to me in one swoop!? Dream on, Sparkles!" Ciela backed off and came to glide near Link once more as the hero looked at the captain with a frown.

"Aw, come on, kid..." Linebeck rolled his eyes with a sigh. "Don't give me that look! You know that the whole "stepping out of my boundaries" thing just isn't me. And besides, this is your dream, not mine."

"Is treasure really your only dream then, Linebeck?" Link asked, raising a critical eyebrow at him.

Before the captain could answer, the night skies above them suddenly lit up brilliantly as millions of triangular shaped objects began to rain down from the heavens. They were all of different sizes and colors and they fell slowly, so one could admire their bright radiance as they came down.

"Force Gems..." Linebeck whispered in awe as all three of them stared at the mystical objects in wonder.

"They're beautiful..." Ciela chimed as she flew up close to one to examine it better. Eventually, the Force Gems made their way down to the surface of the world, most of them landing in the sea, but a few of them touching down on the SS Linebeck, where they floated slightly above ground, their iridescent glows not fading away.

Holding their hands out in front of them, Link and Linebeck each caught their own Force Gem, each of them about as large as a head as they hovered over their palms. The trio was completely silent as they stared at the beautiful things, before the hero looked up at the captain expectantly.

"Well?" he asked, catching Linebeck off guard. "Aren't you going to wish for your treasure?"

The captain frowned, though he quickly turned it into a casual expression. "Yeah, yeah..." he said in his usual fashion. "You make your wish first, kid. I don't want you thinking you can make off with any of MY treasure and take it back to your world or whatever..."

Link couldn't help but smile at Linebeck's enjoyably paranoid ways. "Well... even if you're not going to miss me, Linebeck, I think I might miss you just a bit," he said sincerely.

"Don't get all mushy on me now, kid," Linebeck said somewhat sharply, before letting out an exasperated sigh. "But I guess this is goodbye so... You're a good kid, Link... Don't go home and turn out be a screw-up like I was..."

"You're not a screw-up," Link said reassuringly.

"Yeah, I am..." the old captain said, glancing down at his feet sheepishly. "But I have a feeling that you're better than that. You've got guts, but you've also got brains, which is a combination not many people have. Your pirate girl will be lucky to have you back."

"Thanks Linebeck," the hero said graciously. "For everything."

The captain nodded with a slight grin. "Yeah, yeah," he said, feigning impatience. "Now get on out of here and go back home. You too, Sparkles."

"I hate to say it..." Ciela said, flying up close to Linebeck. "But I think I'm gonna miss you too, you salty old sea-dog." With a slight giggle, the fairy glided in and gave the captain a quick kiss on the top of the head, much the embarrassment of both of them.

"Well, I guess this is it," Link said with a resolved smile. "Goodbye Linebeck..."

"'Bye kid," Linebeck said with a soft, actually warm smile. "Who knows? Maybe we'll see each other again someday... Now go on, make your wish... You've earned it..."

The hero nodded, taking one last look at the captain before gazing down at the green Force Gem in his own hands. Ciela tucked herself away inside of his cap to make sure she would not get left behind. Taking in a deep breath, Link closed his eyes and concentrated, thinking of nothing but Tetra as he made his wish. "I wish to go back home..." he said firmly as light from the Force Gem started to envelop him, granting his wish. "Back to the Great Sea... Back to Tetra..."

So, what did you all think of my really long and expansive chapter 1? hahaha, I have to say that I personally love the heck out of this chapter and it has me so excited about writing the rest of this story! And the next chapter's also gonna be great because in it, Link and Tetra are going to see each other again for the first time in five years! What's gonna happen? I don't know (yes I do). Review and maybe you'll find out... Next time!