Malon's Epic Cow Delivery

by The Additional Pylon

Ever wonder how Malon was able to deliver a cow to Link's house? Or why Hyrule Field seemed so empty of monsters? Here's your answer. Witness the mind-boggling "meanwhile" story of OoT!

19. Farewells and a New Beginning

Well, it's been over three months since I last updated but I finally managed to get it out at last. I guess I could write a five page explanation as to why it took so long to post this chapter but I think this one sentence will do the job: This is the last chapter of Malon's Epic Cow Delivery. Yes, you read that correctly. After nineteen chapters of insanity and randomness, Malon's journey across Hyrule will finally come to an end in this epic finale. Now, before you start pulling out your torches and pitchforks, just know that while Malon's Epic Cow Delivery will come to an end, the story won't end here.

Yep, you guessed it. There will indeed be a sequel. And no, this isn't a joke. In fact, I've been planning this sequel since Ch 5. After brainstorming some ideas for the battle against Cloud, I realized that the war scenes themselves could make up an entire story. As such, I decided to make a sequel to contain all the action and epicness that I planned. The sequel will still be relatively funny but the overall feel of it will be more darker than its prequel. The reason for this is because the sequel will be based on Majora's Mask; much like this story was based on Ocarina of Time. It won't be a meanwhile story but I promise I'll work hard to retain it's humorous and random roots. After all, the last thing I want is for my sequel to end up like Naruto Shippuden :P

Speaking of which, the sequel will have quite a few non-LoZ characters in it but don't let that bother you. I'll do my best to describe the new characters as thoroughly as possible and you can always just google image them if you want a better picture. Besides, most of them will be so OOC that you can just regard them as OCs. Man, that's a lot of O's and C's in one sentence...

Anyways, I'll put out some more information about the sequel in the epilogue so don't give up on this story just yet. I should have the epilogue out in at least a month so be sure to keep an eye out for that since it'll be the connecting link between this story and the sequel.

Also, check out my new and improved profile after reading this chapter. I've had to keep some secrets to prevent spoilers but I feel I can release them now. There will also be a poll on who your favorite characters were in Malon's Epic Cow Delivery. I'm interested to see which characters you found to be the most interesting or funny so that I can put more characters like them in the sequel.

Finally, I thank each and every one of you who's followed my story up to this point.I know most of you have heard this over a billion times already but I'll say it anyways: this story wouldn't have gotten this far if it wasn't for all of you. Also, thanks to everyone who's submitted a review. Even now, I can hardly believe that this story has over two hundred reviews. And to those of you who have actually reviewed every single chapter, just know that you're all awesome. You guys get a virtual high-five and an imaginary piece of the Triforce! :D

Okay, let's get this party started. Without further ado, I present to you the stunning conclusion to Malon's Epic Cow Delivery!

---

"Every story must have an ending." – Auron, Final Fantasy X

Malon's Epic Cow Delivery
Ch 19: Farewells and a New Beginning

"Moo! I still can't believe what you just did."

"Give it a rest Yuna. I only did what I had to do in that situation."

"You strangled that vampire with his own intestines before turning him into dust with a Kamehameha…."

"Okay, so I went a little overboard. So what? You wanted that abomination dead just as much as I did."

"Okay, good point. But I have to ask, where the hell did that Kamehameha come from?"

"Where else? The author gave me access to pretty much every ability known to him so I could kill that sparkling monstrosity in the most painful way possible."

"That would explain your force-lightning usage right before you ripped out his intestines."

"Yep."

With this interesting dialogue out of the way, Malon and Yuna continued to follow the yellow brick road towards the Great Deku Tree's Meadow.

After a few more minutes of walking, Malon noticed that the atmosphere around the woods was slowly beginning to change. The ominous, forbidding feeling that had hung over the place like a dark cloud was soon replaced by a more cheerful and livelier vibe as the two continued to walk further in. After a while, even the sound of birds and other woodland creatures could be heard as the gloominess finally faded away altogether. As if to highlight this dramatic transition, the trees around them slowly parted to show the clear blue skies above as sunlight filtered down and lit up the now, lush green forest. Mysterious trails of light also began to take form as they danced their way across the air. In the background, a very upbeat melody began to play from an unidentifiable source. Malon remembered Link playing the exact same song on his ocarina during one of his visits but she couldn't remember what he had called it. Either way, the woods suddenly seemed a much more hospitable place than it had a few minutes ago.

"This is starting to look promising," Yuna said in a mildly impressed tone. "I had my doubts about this Kokiri Forest place but it looks like it just might fit my standards after all."

Before Malon could answer, the yellow brick road suddenly disappeared as the two of them came upon a wide-open meadow with a giant tree in its center. Realizing that they had finally reached their destination, Malon and Yuna hurried over towards what they presumed to be the Great Deku Tree. Unfortunately, the two of them were met with a very unpleasant surprise as they realized that the tree was dead, as apparent by its withered and decaying husk. As expected, a certain irate cow lost her temper right then and there.

"Moo! Are you freaking serious? Of all the trees in the forest, are you telling me the one whose help we needed is dead? This is absolute bull-shit! Honestly, I've had it with this world! It's just one thing after the next! If it isn't some crazy assassin trying to kill us or a psychotic science experiment tricking us into taking over an alternate dimension, it's a stupid dead tree that's going to turn our entire journey into a gigantic waste of time!"

While Yuna continued to rage at the world, Malon quietly went over to the dead tree as she tried to make sense of the situation.

"That's strange," Malon muttered to herself as she inspected the dead tree. "From the looks of it, I'd say this tree's been dead for quite some time now. And come to think of it, I'm pretty sure Link once told me about how the Great Deku Tree died right before he left the forest. But if that's true, why did the Happy Mask Salesman talk about it as if it were still alive? Hmm. There's something I'm missing here but I just can't figure out what."

After carefully examining the dead tree one more time for anymore possible clues, Malon slumped down next to a small, round tree in defeat. Yuna soon joined her as she grew tired of shouting angrily at the world with no apparent response.

"So now what?" Yuna asked in a surly tone. "With that stupid tree dead, I doubt we'll be able to get into Kokiri Forest now."

"Maybe we can ask the author again for help?" Malon asked hopefully.

Don't count on it.

"Drats. Well, it was worth a shot."

"Ugh. Why do these things always happen to us?" Yuna complained as she started kicking the small tree next to Malon to relieve her pent up frustration. "I honestly can't imagine anyone having a worse day than us right now."

"Try being repeatedly kicked in the face by an irate cow," an angry voice suddenly called out. "That'll ruin your day pretty fast."

Malon and Yuna immediately snapped to attention as they tried to figure out who had just spoken. Much to their confusion, however, the meadow was just as empty as when they had first entered.

"Okay… Is… umm… anyone there?" Malon hesitantly asked as she continued looking for the mysterious speaker.

"Down here," the voice replied again from right next to the two.

Malon and Yuna quickly turned around and noticed the small sprout next to them. Much to their surprise, they found that the sprout had a face on it as well as two small branches sticking out of its sides like little arms. To add to the tree's already strange appearance, a small twig stuck out of its mouth like some kind of cigar. Normally, one might've called the sprout cute but as of the moment, the small tree was glaring at the two of them with its arm-branches crossed over its head/body.

"So you finally found me," the sprout declared in an indignant tone. "Now that that's settled, would either of you please explain to me why I was getting kicked in the face earlier when I was just innocently taking a nap?"

"Oh… umm… Sorry about that Mr. Tree," Malon quickly apologized. "We didn't realize you were actually alive."

The small tree gave an exasperated sigh before answering the farm girl.

"Okay, first off, all trees are alive. It's just that most of them aren't as talkative as me. Second of all, don't call me Mr. Tree. That's the name of my stupid movie star brother. Lastly…"

"Wait," Malon suddenly interrupted. "Are you telling me that trees can actually become movie stars?"

"Yes," the sprout replied with a roll of his eyes. "You've probably seen my brother in quite a few films. From what I know of, he came out as an Ent in the second Lord of the Rings movie. Apparently, he's the one that the Orcs set on fire during the invasion of Isengard. Man, I wish I could've done that to him in real life. Anyways, I'm also pretty sure he made an appearance in one of the Narnia movies as well but seeing as how I'm not much of a movie fanatic, I never really saw that one myself."

"…"

"Anywho… Care to explain why the two of you are trespassing on my meadow?"

A stunned silence fell over Malon and Yuna as they slowly realized exactly who the sprout was.

"Wait. Are you saying you're the Great Deku Tree?" Yuna finally asked in surprise.

"No duh. How many other magical talking trees do you know?"

"Well, there's the Maku Trees from the Oracle games," Malon pointed out. "Plus, there's that brother of yours that you just mentioned."

"That was a rhetorical question…"

"Speaking of questions, why the hell are you so pathetically small?" Yuna asked as she looked at the sprout with a skeptical gaze. "For a super-powerful nature spirit, you sure don't look like much."

"That's because my old body was destroyed by a giant spider queen," the Great Deku Sprout answered as he pointed at the dead tree behind him. "Apparently, Ms. Gohma lost it big at one of my casinos and decided to take her anger out on me. Of course, I wasn't going to take this lying down so I sent in Link to annihilate her. In hindsight, that probably wasn't the smartest idea seeing as how that idiot burned down most of my major organs while trying to find Gohma. I probably could've recovered from Gohma's attack if it wasn't for that. Oh, well. At least that little fiasco gave me the perfect excuse to finally kick him out of the forest and send him away on his magical little adventure."

"…"

"But enough about me. Who in Din's name are you two?"

After taking a few seconds to recover from the Great Deku Sprout's excessively lengthy speech, Malon finally introduced herself to the guardian of Kokiri Forest.

"Oh, right. I'm Malon LonLon and this is…"

She wasn't able to finish her sentence as the Great Deku Sprout's twig-cigar dropped to the floor as his mouth fell open in shock. As Malon continued to stare at him with a confused expression, the small tree desperately tried to stutter something out as his branches started to shake in fear.

"Oh, no... Don't tell me… You… You're Din's daughter, aren't you?" the Great Deku Sprout finally managed to say in a terrified voice. "She… she sent you to collect my debts didn't she?"

"Umm… what are you…?"

"Please don't kill me!" the little tree suddenly shouted out in panic. "I've been meaning to pay back that loan, I swear! It's just that I've been busy paying off that casino loan that I got off of Farore first! Just give me a few more months! I promise I'll have the money by then! I beg you!"

As he said this, the Great Deku Sprout tried to bow before Malon, nearly uprooting himself in the process.

"Whoa! Hold it! I'm not here to collect any debts!" Malon quickly said, fearing that the little tree would end up killing himself if he managed to complete his bow. "I was just trying to get into Kokiri Forest, that's all."

"So… you're not here to collect the money?" the Great Deku Sprout asked hesitantly from his near horizontal position.

"No. I'm just trying to set up a new home for my friend here. I heard Kokiri Forest was a nice place to live so I brought her here."

Hearing this, the Great Deku Sprout let out a sigh of relief.

"Whew! I thought for sure that you were going to turn me into firewood and roast marshmallows over me! After all, Din threatened to do the exact same thing to me if I didn't have the money the next time she visited. Anyways… umm… would you mind straightening me out? I think I pulled up quite a few of my roots just now."

Malon gave a small sigh before heading over to help out the Not-So-Great Deku Sprout.

"Heh. It sounds like your mom's quite the loan shark around here," Yuna told her companion with an amused look on her face. "This is the second person we've run into that's in serious debt with her."

"Yeah, no kidding," Malon grunted as she tried pulling back the small tree into to his original position. "At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if the royal family is in debt with her."

"Ow! Ow! Hey, easy on the roots! They're very sensitive!" the Great Deku Sprout complained as he was put back in place. "Sheesh! Are all your family members this rough with their subordinates?"

Malon didn't bother to reply as she focused on replanting the young tree. After a few more complaint-filled minutes, she finally succeeded in putting the Great Deku Sprout back in place.

"Well, that's that," Malon said as she dusted off her hands. "Now then, would you mind letting us into Kokiri Forest now? I've wasted more than enough time here."

"Yeah, fine," the little tree muttered as he twisted around his body to make sure he was firmly secured to the ground. "Like I really have much of a choice at this point."

As he said this, a cluster of trees behind them suddenly shifted to reveal a pathway leading into what Malon and Yuna presumed to be Kokiri Forest.

"Most of the Kokiri should be taking a nap right now so try not to wake them up," the Great Deku Sprout told the two as he continued to stretch his replanted body. "I don't want them freaking out over a random Hylian walking into the forest, so try to keep a low profile. As for the cow, you can drop her off anywhere you want. I'll get the Kokiri to look after her so no worries there. Once you're done with your business here, just head west and you'll see the exit."

"We'll keep that in mind," Malon called out as she and Yuna began walking towards the newly revealed path. "And thanks for all the help!"

"Don't mention it. Just make sure not tell your mom about what happened today. I don't think she'll be very happy if she finds out that I still don't have her money."

"Sure thing."

With that, Malon and Yuna turned a corner and the Great Deku Sprout disappeared from their view.

"Well, that was certainly… interesting," Yuna commented after a brief silence. "Though I have to say, I never imagined the Great Deku Tree to be such an annoying little runt."

"Oh, come on. He wasn't that bad," Malon replied with a smile. "I thought he was rather funny."

"Yeah, you would think that," Yuna said in her usual sarcastic manner. "Anyways, there is one thing I didn't get though. Why weren't you surprised when you heard that the Great Deku Sprout knew about you and your mom? You usually freak out whenever that happens."

"I guess I'm getting used to it. Plus, I was already expecting the Great Deku Tree to know about me. I assumed that most deities like to keep up with what the other higher beings are up to."

"Right. So according to you, all the deities have some sort of social network where they can check on each other's private lives. I find that kind of hard to believe."

xxx
Pokémon Universe, rift between the space-time continuum…

"Hey, Palkia! Are you wasting your time on Godbook again?" Dialga asked as he leaned over to see what his roommate was doing on his oversized computer. "I swear, you spend more time on that stupid site than most people do living their pathetic mortal lives."

"Shut it," Palkia retorted while keeping his attention fixated on the screen. "You're just jealous because I have more friends than you."

"Whatever. If you ask me, terrorizing lesser beings is a way better pastime than reading about what Nayru had for breakfast or some other stupid nonsense like that."

"Funny you should mention Nayru. One of the Great Fairies just sent me a video about that diva a few minutes ago. I haven't seen it yet but the Great Fairy said it was 'epic lulz'. Want to watch?"

Dialga thought about the proposition for a few seconds before giving a shrug.

"Eh, why not. I haven't got anything better to do for the time being. Scoot over so I can see."

Once his roommate was properly seated, Palkia opened up the video and the two of them stared at the computer expectantly.

"I'm not seeing anything interesting," Dialga complained as the camera opened up to show an apparently empty room. "This better not be another dumb video about… Is that Nayru and Farore with dual flamethrowers in their hands?"

"Oh, this is going to be good," Palkia said as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "It's been a while since I've seen a good catfight between these two."

After five minutes of nonstop, explosive action involving flamethrowers, nukes, narwhals, and a giant spicy burrito, even Dialga had to admit that he was 'mildly amused' by the video.

xxx
Back with our main characters…

"Looks like we made it," Malon said in awe as she dazedly stepped into the destination that took her nineteen whole chapters to reach. "We finally managed to make it to Kokiri Forest."

Ever since Link had first told her about Kokiri Forest, Malon had wondered exactly what the place looked like. Now that she was able to see the place for herself, Malon had to admit that the village was even more beautiful than she had imagined. Surrounded by numerous trees and tall cliffs, the place felt like a safe haven separated from the troubles of the outside world. A sense of timeless wonder radiated from the village as if personifying the eternal youth of its inhabitants. And indeed the entire village itself seemed to be ageless. The various plants living within the forest were all lush and flourishing as if they were all in the prime of their life. A crystal-clear spring flowed through most of the village, its musical sound blending flawlessly with the surrounding nature. The strange trails of light that Malon had noticed before were found throughout the village as well, covering the entire place with its mystifying glow. Even more astounding however were the various tree-houses scattered throughout the village. Every single one of them seemed to be actual trees that had been magically shaped to look like small homes. All things considered, Malon had never seen such a spectacular village in her whole life.

"I never thought I'd say this but this place was totally worth the nineteen chapters of pure torture," Yuna commented, clearly impressed by what she saw. "Seriously, I can't believe I'm getting my own house in a place like this. Most people don't have vacation homes that are this nice."

Upon hearing this, Malon suddenly got a guilty look on her face. Yuna immediately noticed this and gave a tired sigh.

"What now?" Yuna asked in an annoyed tone. "Whenever you get that look, you either start telling me long-winded backstories or confess to doing something extremely stupid. And I'm getting the feeling it's the latter in this case."

"Well… umm… there's something you should know before we get to your new home."

"If you're going to tell me that you're actually just delivering me as a present for that idiot boyfriend of yours, don't bother," Yuna interrupted in a matter-of-fact voice. "I've already known that since the beginning. I heard you telling him about some kind of present right before you dragged me into this crazy misadventure so it wasn't all that hard to figure out what you were really up to. Of course, I just wanted to get away from the ranch at the time so I didn't bother complaining."

Malon stared at Yuna in surprise when she heard this. However, her shock quickly faded away into embarrassment when she realized what Yuna had just implied.

"Link's not my boyfriend," Malon replied in a flustered way. "He's just a guy who happens to be my friend."

"I've heard that one before. And besides, you're blushing."

"N… no I'm not!" Malon shot back, her face becoming almost as red as her hair. "You're just seeing things!"

"Am I? Well, either way, I don't really mind living in that idiot's house. From what you've told me, he hardly comes here anyways. And if he does decide to visit, I'll just kick him out of the house or something."

Malon wanted to tell her that there was something wrong about kicking someone out of their own house but decided against it. Instead, she began looking around the village for Link's house before Yuna could start teasing her again. Luckily, Malon already had a vague idea about where the house was thanks to Link's past recounts of his life in Kokiri Forest. As such, she managed to find the correct tree-house after only a few short minutes of searching. However, a new problem presented itself as soon as they laid their eyes on the entrance.

"Moo! You brought me to a house that's placed at the top of a tree?" Yuna asked incredulously as she saw the ladder leading up to the entrance. "What do I look like to you, some kind of giant bird?"

"Hey don't blame this on me! I didn't know what the house looked like either!" Malon countered. "Link only gave me a vague idea of what his childhood home looked like when he told me about this place! I mean, whenever he mentioned Kokiri Forest, it was usually just to brag about how he set his childhood bully's underwear drawer on fire every week!"

"I did not need to know that…"

"Regardless, we need to get you to your new home. We went through too much to simply turn back now."

"And I suppose you have some genius idea on how to get me up… oh, no," Yuna trailed off as she saw the sudden gleam in Malon's eyes. "Don't you even dare think about..."

"Too late," Malon said as she lifted up Yuna in one hand and started climbing up the ladder.

Several swear words later, Malon and Yuna were both safely inside Link's house.

"Moo! How many times do I have to tell you to stop carrying me around like some kind of handbag?" Yuna angrily yelled at her companion. "I don't think you realize this but it's very degrading to be carried around like that!"

"Whatever. The important thing is that you're now finally inside your new home."

Yuna simply gave an irritated sigh in response before turning around to take a look at the room. The first thought that ran across her mind as she scanned the area was how boring the place looked. Aside from the scenic view of the village from the door and window, there was barely anything else worth noting about the place. A lone bed and a few tables littered the surprisingly spacious room making the entire place seem rather empty. In the corner, a large bale of hay could be seen along with several empty buckets. However, the one thing that surprised Yuna was how clean the place looked. Even after being deserted for seven years, not a single speck of dust could be seen anywhere in the house. After pondering about this for a few seconds, Yuna came to the conclusion that the Kokiri had been taking care of the place over the last few years.

"Well?" Malon asked anxiously once Yuna had finished inspecting the house. "What do you think of the place?"

After a brief silence, Yuna gave a nonchalant shrug before answering.

"Meh. It's nothing special but… I like it."

As soon as she heard this, Malon couldn't stop herself from cheering out loud.

"Woohoo! Yes! Mission success! Nothing can stop my awesome delivery skills!"

"Whoa! Calm down!" Yuna interrupted while trying to conceal her own smile. "You might wake up the entire Kokiri tribe if you continue on with your little celebration!"

"Oh, oops," Malon said with a sheepish grin as she quickly regained her composure. "I guess I got a little carried away there."

"You think? And here I was thinking that I'd finally get some peace and quiet."

"Sounds like someone's getting old," Malon replied with a mischievous grin.

Yuna merely rolled her eyes and gave another sigh as Malon began giggling at her own joke. After a while though, Malon's laughter faded away as an awkward silence fell between the two of them.

"So…," Malon finally said in a hesitant way, as if she was unsure of what to say next. "I guess this is where we part ways then."

"I guess so," Yuna replied in an equally uncertain way. "You know, I never really thought that we'd make it this far."

"Yeah. It's kind of a strange feeling really. I was so focused on getting here that I never really thought about what to do afterwards."

"What's there to think about? You just have to go back to your ranch and I'll live out the rest of my boring existence in this place. Seems like a fairly simple plan to me."

"That's not what I meant. I just… I mean… after all we've been through… it just seems weird that we'd have to go our separate ways now."

"Well, that's life for you. It's just like that mask salesman said. Whenever there's a meeting, a parting is soon to follow. Besides, it's not like…"

Yuna didn't get to finish her sentence as Malon suddenly ran up and hugged her. The sudden embrace took Yuna by surprised but her shocked look soon faded away into a small smile.

"Hey, no need to get so emotional now," Yuna said in an amused tone. "It's not like we're saying good-bye forever. I'll be staying right here so you can visit me anytime you want."

"I know," Malon replied, her voice muffled by her embrace. "But I'm still going to miss you. Aside from Link and Anju, you're the only other friend that I have. You always try to act cold and indifferent but I know that deep down you care for me and that's all that matters. Yuna, you're the best friend that a girl like me could wish for."

Upon hearing Malon's words, a somber expression suddenly fell on Yuna's face.

"Trust me, you don't want me as a friend," Yuna said in a quiet whisper. "A failure like me doesn't deserve to have the friendship of someone as kindhearted and courageous as you."

"Hmm? Did you say something Yuna?"

"Nothing," Yuna quickly said as she tried to hide her troubled look. "I was just saying how much I'll miss you as well."

After a few more minutes, Malon finally let go of Yuna and tried to quickly wipe her eyes before her friend noticed the tears.

"I guess this is really good-bye then," Malon said as she tried her best to put on a smile. "I'll miss you Yuna."

"You already said that," Yuna said bluntly as she tried to avoid looking at the farm girl. "Now get going. I need to get some sleep after everything I've been through."

"Alright. Make sure you take care of yourself now, okay?"

"Yes, mom," Yuna replied sarcastically as she continued to look away from Malon.

With a final sad look, Malon turned around and began heading towards the door. However, she had barely set foot outside the house when Yuna suddenly called out after her.

"Hey, Malon! Thanks… for everything. It's been a while since anyone's treated me like an actual person instead of some stupid animal."

Malon turned around to find Yuna looking at her with a genuine look of sincerity and gratitude.

"No problem," Malon replied with a smile. "I… wait a second. Did you just call me by my name instead of 'farmer girl'?"

"Don't get used to it," Yuna quickly said with a slightly embarrassed look. "No matter what you do, you're always going to be the same ignorant farmer girl to me."

Malon gave a small laugh at this before giving her friend a mock salute.

"Good thing I have you to guide me, Lady Yuna."

"Just get out of here," Yuna said with a tired sigh. "You're starting to give me another headache."

"Alright. I'll be leaving for real this time. If you have anything else to tell me, say it now."

"I've already said my part. Now get going before it gets dark. The last thing I want is to spend an extra night with you in this place."

Malon gave a smile at this before she turned around and began climbing down the ladder. Yuna continued to watch from the door as the farm girl made it to the bottom of the tree-house and began making her way towards the entrance to Hyrule Field. As Malon's retreating form disappeared from view, Yuna suddenly got the strange feeling that the two of them wouldn't be seeing each other again for a very long time.

"Be careful Malon," Yuna whispered out into the suddenly silent woods. "Don't let your story end up like mine."

xxx
Organization VII HQ, Cloud's room…

"Cloud! Cloud! Cloud! Cloud! Cloud! Hey, Cloud! I'm baaaaaaaack!"

"What the…? Yuffie!" the self-styled leader of the Final Fantasy universe shouted out in a mixture of surprise and irritation. "How many times do I have to tell you to knock instead of just barging into my room?"

Standing behind Cloud was a teenage girl with short black hair and a black headband around her head. The girl was wearing a navy blue tank-top with a dark-gray vest over it along with a pair of khaki shorts and knee-high boots. In her hands she carried a large shuriken that was almost as big as her. As mentioned earlier by Cloud, the girl was none other than Yuffie Kisaragi, one of the Grand Seven and the organization's top infiltrator and thief. At the moment, however, she seemed more like an annoying younger sister than anything else as she glared at Cloud for shouting at her.

"You're the one who told me to repot to you as soon as I got your precious little information," Yuffie pouted with her arms crossed. "You're such a whiny bastard at times. No wonder Vincent's always complaining about… what's wrong with your hair?"

Apparently, Cloud had been in the middle of grooming his hair before Yuffie had unceremoniously burst in and interrupted him. As a result, half of his usually spiky hair was lying flat on his head like some kind of dead raccoon while the other half was still in the process of achieving its maximum spikiness. As if to add to this comical scene, a gigantic jar filled to the brim with hair gel lay next to Cloud. Yuffie immediately noticed all of this and smiled mischievously.

"Don't… you… dare," Cloud said in a dangerous tone as he realized what Yuffie was planning to do.

"Too late!"

Before Cloud could stop her, Yuffie whipped out her phone and snapped a picture of him. Cloud immediately prepared to blast her to pieces with an energy blast but stopped when Yuffie started waving the phone tauntingly in front of him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Yuffie said with a mocking smile. "All I have to do is press this button here and everyone in this entire organization will know the truth about your Chocobo hairstyle."

Using every ounce of willpower he could muster, Cloud stopped himself from summoning his sword and overkilling Yuffie with it.

"What do you want?" Cloud asked through gritted teeth as he slowly lowered his hands.

"Same as usual. However, I want a chocolate cake instead of a blueberry muffin this time. Also, I want this entire week off. I don't know about you but this month's been plain exhausting."

"We're on the brink of war!" Cloud shouted out incredulously. "You can't seriously expect me to give you a week's worth of vacation at a time like this!"

"Oh, well," Yuffie replied with the same mocking smile. "I guess everyone's going to be seeing this picture then. I wonder what Aerith will say when she realizes that her boyfriend uses more hair products than her."

"Argh! Fine! You can take your stupid vacation!"

"Now that's more like it! I knew you were smart enough to pick the right choice!"

Cloud closed his eyes and tried going through his recent anger management sessions in his head. Of course, this really didn't help him that much, mostly due to the fact that he had killed his therapist after their first few hours together.

"Hello? Cloud? You still in there?" Yuffie asked as she started waving her hand in front of Cloud's face.

"Just give me your report and get out of here," Cloud eventually said in a barely controlled voice as he opened his eyes.

"The report? Oh, right! I knew I was forgetting something!"

Noticing that one of Cloud's eyes was starting to twitch, Yuffie finally decided that it would be a smart idea to quickly say her report and book it out of there.

"Okay. First off, Marluxia's dead," Yuffie casually stated. "He was apparently eaten alive by a bunch of chickens. Yeah, don't ask. Second, that girl you wanted me to tail doesn't seem to have the MM at all. I got a reading of the energy signature around her and they all turned up negative."

"Then what about the data from before? She apparently used a power almost identical to the MM's during that fight in the desert!"

"I think I might have an explanation for that," Yuffie interrupted. "This Malon girl apparently has an author helping her out. It's more than likely that our energy detectors mistook the author's powers as the MM's."

Upon hearing this, Cloud gave an irritated sigh before heading over to the large office desk in his room. Once he was comfortably seated in his premium leather chair, he rested his head in his hands and remained silent for a few minutes as he began contemplating on the current situation.

"This complicates matters," Cloud eventually muttered to himself. "Without the MM, my fangirls won't have the necessary power to completely annihilate those Nintendo fans."

"Does it really matter?" Yuffie asked as she pulled out a cloth from her pack and began cleaning her shuriken with it. "With all of your fangirls attacking them, I doubt those Nintendo fans will be able to interfere with the main invasion force anyways."

For once, Cloud actually seemed to agree with Yuffie. After finalizing the details of his grand plan (and fixing up his hair using the emergency bottle of hair gel he always carried around with him), Cloud reached over and pressed a button on his desk. Almost immediately, six holographic screens appeared and arranged themselves in a semi-circle in front of Cloud so that he was in full view of all of them. One by one, the screens slowly activated until a total of six distinct figures were staring back at Cloud.

"Well isn't this a surprise?" the person wearing a blood-red cloak commented as he continued to polish the large gun in his hand. "It's been a while since all of us were called up like this. Aside from our little trip to DK Island that is."

"Wait a second," the girl with dark-brown hair interrupted. "Where's Yuffie?"

"Hi guys!" Yuffie piped up as she leaned in front of Cloud so that the others could see her. "It's so nice to see all of you again! Well, except for you, Sephiroth. You're still an ugly creep."

The man with long, silver hair gave a low growl when he heard this but showed no other response aside from that.

"Get out of the way Yuffie!" Cloud grunted as he tried to shove Yuffie to the side. "I didn't call everyone so that you could say hi to them!"

"You're no fun," Yuffie said as she moved out of the way. However, she returned moments later and stuck her head back in front of the screen. "Hey, Tifa! Are we still going to the mall on Thursday? Because I found this adorable little vest at…"

"GET OUT!" Cloud shouted as he shot an energy blast at Yuffie. This finally did the trick as she was forced to jump out of the way to avoid the attack. Unfortunately, the energy blast continued to travel forward after Yuffie had dodged it, resulting in Cloud's collection of Chocobo dolls being turned into a pile of ashes.

"No! My Chocobos!" Cloud cried out as he rushed over to the remains of his precious dolls.

"It seems in your anger, you killed them," Yuffie said from the side in a very badly done impression of Darth Sidious.

"Noooooooooo!"

"Ahem," Sephiroth interrupted, his patience obviously running thin. "If you're little comedy act is done with, I'd like to know why you bothered to call us here in the first place."

After a few awkward minutes involving Cloud carefully sweeping up the ashes of his dolls into a small jar (which he intended to bury later), the leader of the organization sat back down in front of the screen and faced his associates with a serious face.

"There's been a slight change in our invasion plans," Cloud announced as he arched his fingers on his desk. "It turns out that the energy readings for the MM was a false alarm. As a result, we'll have to start the attack without it."

"About time," the burly-looking man with a Gatling gun in place of his right hand declared. "All this sitting around and plotting doesn't suit me at all."

"You'll get your chance to see some action soon enough," Cloud said with a wave of his hand. "Anyways, I'll send in my fangirls first to distract the Nintendo fans. Even without the MM, those Nintendo idiots should still have their hands full with a billion fangirls swarming over them. Of course, without my fangirls in complete control of their capitals, we'll have to expect more resistance from the Nintendo army than we originally anticipated. However, this shouldn't prove to be much of a problem, especially since we have the Call of Duty sector backing us up."

"I still don't trust those damn CoD soldiers," the man wearing goggles and a pilot's scarf commented as he lit up his cigarette. "They may look like grown-up men but those bastards act like a bunch of ten-year olds. I don't know about the rest of you idiots but I'm not exactly enthusiastic about giving a bunch of kids their own personal AK-47s."

"There's nothing to worry about. Those CoD soldiers might not be the brightest beings in the universe but they hate Nintendo almost as much as us," Cloud explained. "Besides, if they do try to turn against us, it's a simple matter for me to wipe them all out."

The man with the cigarette merely crossed his arms and gave an annoyed grunt in response.

"Very good. Now then, we'll begin the attack tomorrow at 0600 hours. I'll expect all of your forces to be prepared by that time as well as…"

Cloud stopped short when he noticed Yuffie suddenly waving her phone in front of him. Suddenly remembering the deal they had made, Cloud cleared his throat and turned to look at the rest of the Seven with an almost embarrassed look.

"On second thought, we'll begin the attack one week from now. I… umm… have some businesses I have to attend to before we start the invasion… and… umm… end transmission!"

xxx
Lon Lon Ranch…

After spending a few uneventful days traversing across Hyrule Field, Malon finally managed to reach her home. However, she soon realized that she had a surprise guest waiting for her as soon as she entered the front gates.

"Come on Navi! Can't we stay just a little longer? I need to give Malon something before we set out for the final temple!"

"No! We already wasted enough time here! Besides, you'll have plenty of time to see that farmer girl after you finish your quest!"

Turning the corner, Malon found (without much surprise) Link and Navi standing around the stables as they continued to argue. Deciding that it would be a good idea to end their argument before Navi brought out a mace and smashed Link with it, Malon walked forward to make her presence known.

"Malon!" Link called out happily as soon as he saw the farm girl. He immediately tried to run up to her only to trip and fall facedown onto the ground.

With a sigh, Malon walked up to help Link while Navi just shook her head from the side.

"So… I heard you were looking for me?" Malon asked as she pulled Link back to his feet.

"Yep! I wanted to see you as soon as I came here but Talon said you were out on some kind of delivery."

"He got that right," Malon said with an exhausted smile. "In fact, I was actually out delivering the present that I owed you to your house."

"Whoa! You actually went all the way to Kokiri Forest?" Link asked in surprise. "I didn't know that regular people could even get in there!"

"Well, I had some help along the way."

"So, what kind of present did you deliver all the way to my house? Was it a motorcycle? Because it would be so cool if I could start playing childish card games on a motorcycle!"

"…"

"Oh, right! Speaking of presents, I got something for you as well!"

As he said this, Link pulled out his item pouch and began digging through it. After a few minutes, he eventually found what he was looking for and pulled it out.

"Okay, close your eyes and hold out your hand," Link told Malon as he quickly hid the mystery object behind his back. "And don't peek! I want this to be a surprise."

Knowing Link's tendency to collect some very strange (and mostly dangerous) items, Malon was rather reluctant to follow his orders. However, she eventually relented after looking at his expectant face. Hoping that his "present" wasn't going to blow up as soon as he gave it to her, Malon held out her hands and closed her eyes.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now!" Link said as he dropped what felt like a small stone into her hands.

Malon slowly opened her eyes and cautiously looked down at the gift that Link had given her. Much to her surprise, however, she found a beautiful, crystal pendant-necklace looking back at her instead of some killer creature. The crystal itself was diamond shaped and light blue in color, all of which seemed to glow with a strange light when she stared at it. The chain that went through it was pure gold and looked like it was made by a master craftsman. All in all, Malon had never seen such a beautiful piece of jewelry in her whole life.

"What do you think?" Link asked proudly as Malon continued to stare at the necklace with an open mouth. "I found the crystal in the Water Temple and thought you might like it. Of course, I thought it'd be weird if I just gave you a crystal shard so I took it to Kakariko Village and asked one of the jewelers there to turn it into a necklace."

"It's… it's beautiful Link," Malon said in awe as she looked back at her friend. "But… what's it for?"

"Silly Malon," Link said with a laugh. "It's your birthday present! I wanted to get it to you on time but I was stuck inside the Shadow Temple that day. I know it's late but I hope the quality of the gift makes up for it."

"You actually remembered my birthday?" Malon asked in disbelief. "Even though you were on an adventure this whole time… you actually bothered to remember it?"

"What are you talking about? Of course I'd remember! After all, how could anyone forget their best friend's birthday?"

Malon looked back down at the necklace in her hands before suddenly running up and embracing Link. The hero in question merely stood there with a surprised look on his face until Malon eventually let go of him.

"Thank you, Link," Malon said as she faced Link with a look of utmost gratitude. "This is the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me."

"Oh… umm… no problem," Link finally managed to say as he tried to recover from the sudden embrace.

The two friends continued to stand around like this for a few more seconds as an awkward silence fell over them. Of course, the silence didn't last for long thanks to a certain annoying fairy that had been completely forgotten about.

"Well," Navi said as she flew in front of Link's face. "Now that that's out of the way, I think we should get back to saving the world now."

"Huh? What?" Link asked as he finally got back to his senses.

"I said we should leave now," Navi repeated in an annoyed voice.

"Oh, right. Well, I guess I'll be seeing you Malon. Once I'm done with this journey, I'll be sure to come back here and tell you all about it. Oh, and tell your dad thanks for letting me stay here for the last few days."

"Of… of course," Malon stuttered out as she tried to regain her composure. "I'll tell him as soon as I get the chance."

With a final smile and wave, Link turned around and headed for the front gates. However, he had barely gone five feet before he somehow tripped and landed face-first on the ground again.

"I'm okay," Link's muffled voice called out as Navi face-palmed and Malon sweat-dropped.

"Why does he have to be such an idiot?" Navi asked out loud as Link slowly picked himself up. "I mean, he's a nice kid and all but it's like he has some sort of brain damage that prevents him from doing anything logically."

"Have you asked him if he remembers anything that might have caused it?" Malon asked as she watched Link head out of the ranch. "Maybe he fell on his head when he was kid or something."

"I've asked him about it once but all he says he remembers is something about a piñata. And from what I know of, none of the Kokiri ever used him as a piñata."

"Not even Mido?"

"Not even Mido."

After seeing Link walk out to the field, Navi gave a short sigh before turning around to head out as well.

"Guess I should be going too. The moment I let him out of my sight, he's bound to do something incredibly stupid again."

"Umm… wait," Malon called out hesitantly before Navi could leave. "I know this is rather sudden but could I ask you to do me a small favor?"

"What is it?"

"Can you tell Link to come visit me once all of this is over? I'd like to hold a celebration for him once his journey's over and I'd really appreciate it if he could attend. Also, let him know that he's… umm… welcome to stay at my place afterwards. I'm pretty sure he won't be able to go back to Kokiri Forest seeing as how none of the Kokiri even recognizes him so…"

Navi remained silent for a few seconds before answering in a serious tone.

"I'll tell him about your invitation but I'd advise you not to become too attached to him."

"Why not?" Malon asked with a confused expression.

"Because the story of a hero rarely ends in happiness. More often than not, they'll be dragged from one adventure to the next for the rest of their lives. Very few manage to settle down and enjoy the peaceful life they deserve."

"But this is Link we're talking about here," Malon argued. "He's not really your typical hero you know."

"Nevertheless, I get the feeling that this journey won't end the way we expect it to. Call it a fairy's intuition, but I believe that all of this is just a precursor to an even bigger adventure for Link."

Before Navi could say anything more, a huge explosion was suddenly heard off in the distance followed soon after by the sound of Link screaming something about a bunch of rabid Deku Shrubs.

"That would be my cue to leave," Navi said in a tired voice as she turned around to do just that. "Knowing Link that was probably the sound of the Deku embassy being blown up just now. Anyways, I'll be sure to tell Link about your invitation so try not to look so down. Even if things don't end up the way we want them to, I'm sure you'll always hold a special place in Link's heart."

With that, Navi flew out of the ranch, leaving a heavily blushing farm girl behind in her wake.

xxx
Malon's room, few days later…

Malon gave an exhausted sigh as she flopped down onto her bed in a heap. After spending the entire day repainting the numerous fences around the ranch and then cleaning the entire barn by herself, Malon was ready to call it a day.

As it turned out, Talon wasn't too happy about his daughter's month-long absence and had charged her with finishing up an entire list of chores that had piled up while she was gone. As such, Malon had spent the last six days doing some of the most tedious jobs around the ranch. Even to a super-powered demi-goddess, the dreary farm work was anything but easy. In fact, there were times when Malon would've preferred going toe-to-toe with the assassin again instead of trying to clean out the Cucco's pen or chasing out the mole-men that had tried to take up residence in the barn. All in all, the week was a long one for Malon.

Just as Malon was contemplating on whether to get up from her bed and get something to eat, a flash of blinding light suddenly illuminated the room. As soon as the light vanished, Malon noticed with a fair amount of shock that a familiar-looking woman with flames cloaking her entire body had appeared near the corner of her room.

"Mom?" Malon asked hesitantly, hardly daring to believe that her mother had finally decided to show up after all these years.

Upon closer observation, however, Malon soon realized that the woman standing in her room was wearing an office-style blouse and skirt. As it turned out, the mysterious visitor turned out to be none other Farore, who, for some strange reason, was covered from head-to-toe in fire.

"Ugh. I hate it when people mistake me for my idiot sister," Farore grumbled, seeming to not notice the flames surrounding her. "Honestly, aside from our physical resemblance, there's about a hundred IQ points separating the two of us."

"Oh, hi Aunt Farore," Malon said, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice. "It's been a while since I've seen you around here. By the way, what's with the new fire motif?"

"I got into a fight with Nayru," Farore said in a dismissive way. "Anyways, I'll get straight to the point. What do you want for your birthday present?"

"Umm… you do realize that it's been over a week since my birthday, right?" Malon asked with a confused look.

"Don't you think I know that?" Farore answered in an annoyed tone. "If Nayru hadn't bugged me to give you something I wouldn't have even bothered to come down here in the first place. Now hurry up and tell me what you want. I haven't got all day you know."

"Oh… umm… Can I have a few seconds to make up my mind?" Malon asked as she tried to quickly think of something before Farore decided to leave.

"You have exactly thirty seconds."

Knowing that her aunt was probably counting down the exact seconds, Malon desperately tried to think of something meaningful she could ask for. However, the suddenness of the offer had caught her off-guard and she found it extremely hard to come up anything even remotely practical. Just as the last of her thirty seconds were about to run out, Malon noticed the crystal necklace that she was wearing. Remembering her meeting with Link and the conversation with Navi, Malon immediately knew exactly what to ask for.

"I want you to cure Link's brain damage," Malon told her aunt with a serious look. "Navi told me he sustained some kind of head injury as a kid so I want you to fix that for him. He always gets into trouble because of his poor judgment skills and I'm worried that he'll get himself seriously hurt one day because of that. If what I'm asking for keeps him safe during his adventure…well, that would be the best gift that I could ever asked for."

If Farore was surprised by her niece's request, she didn't show it. Instead, she just remained silent as she stared at Malon with a look of mild curiosity. After a few awkward minutes, Farore finally broke the silence by giving an amused snort.

"You're an interesting girl, Malon," Farore said with a hint of a smile on her face. "I thought for sure that you were just as egocentric and arrogant as your mother but it seems that I was wrong. I guess you really can't judge a person from their heritage."

"So… you'll do it?"

"I'll probably have to fill out a ton of paperwork for this but I will. Technically, I shouldn't be helping out Link any more than I currently have but I think an exception can be made just this once."

As she said this, Farore raised her left hand and snapped her fingers before turning her attention back to her niece.

"It's done," Farore stated simply in answer to Malon's confused look. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go check up on my troops."

"Wait, what? Troops? Are you telling me that you actually have some kind of army?"

"Of course. Aside from the Grand Nintendo Army that the Council is in charge of, every major Nintendo world has its own separate division under their control. Currently, my sister's and I are in charge of the army for this sector. However, it seems that a majority of our forces were recently redeployed to some base at the edge of Nintendo space by Din. I don't know what's going on but I get the feeling that Din's planning on doing something extremely stupid again."

Before Malon could inquire any further, a small beeping noise suddenly came from the watch that Farore was wearing.

"Oh, great," Farore mumbled as she glanced at the time. "I'm late for the Professor Layton convention."

"Didn't you say that you needed to check up on your army?" Malon asked as her aunt began charging up her energy for a warp jump.

"Yeah, but there are some things more important than keeping track of your armed forces," Farore quickly said as she summoned a brown top hat and put it on. "Besides, Professor Layton's going to be making a guest appearance today. I wouldn't miss this convention even if there was a war going on. Okay, I think I have everything I need. Top hat. Check. Ticket. Check. The actual Diabolical Box that I stole from the last convention. Check. Alright, I'm off. Take care Malon."

With that, Farore disappeared in a flash of green light, leaving Malon to seriously question why her aunts' were so weird.

xxx
Kokiri Forest…

"What's with the sad look? I haven't seen you this depressed since our original journey together."

"…"

"Again with the silent treatment? You know, people might start thinking you've gone mute if you keep acting like this."

"… How… how can you be so relaxed? I mean… By this time tomorrow… we'll probably all be…"

"So that's what's bothering you. I guess I should've seen this one coming."

"So you're not afraid? You're not even the slightest bit worried about the future?"

"Are you kidding? Of course I'm afraid! If all our people weren't depending on me right now, I'd probably run away without even looking back."

"Then how can you be so calm?"

"… Because I knew in my heart that one day this dream would end… our dream of a free world… where all of us could live in peace… I knew it wasn't possible… not so long as that tyrant ruled above us all... That's why… that's why I have to face him... Even if it means my death… even if it means losing you… I have to make sure that at least a small piece of our dream will survive… and give the future hope."

"…"

"Heh. Now I'm sounding like some cheesy playwright or something. Oh, well. I always did want to write a book about our adventures anyways."

"I…"

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Just… promise me that we'll be together… No matter what happens tomorrow… Promise me that we'll always be together… even to the end…"

"…I promise… Yuna…"

Yuna woke up from her dreams with a start. For a few seconds, she was confused as to where she even was. However, it didn't take long before she regained her senses and realized that she was inside of Link's tree-house.

After spending a few moments trying to calm herself with a few deep breaths, Yuna closed her eyes and tried to push the thought of her dream away. When that failed, she walked over to the doorway and stuck her head outdoors. As she had hoped, the crisp morning air helped clear her head as she stared out at the silent village below. It was still about an hour before dawn so all of the Kokiri were still fast asleep, giving the usually lively woods a very empty feeling. And empty was just how Yuna felt at the moment.

Ever since Malon had left, Yuna had fallen into a state of depression. However, she knew that there was no real reason to be depressed. The Kokiri had been taking great care of her just like the Great Deku Sprout had promised. In fact, all of them had treated her with respect and kindness whenever they visited to bring her food or clean the house. Life in Kokiri Forest was exactly what Yuna had been searching for this whole time: an isolated paradise free of any and all worries. And yet… it just didn't feel right, as if she had left something important undone.

Of course, Yuna had a pretty good idea about what the problem was. It was those damn dreams that had been haunting her over the past few days. No matter how hard she tried to suppress it, they always seemed to make their way through and torment her with flashes of her old memory. For the dreams were really nothing more than memories. Memories from a long-forgotten past that meant nothing to her now. Or at least that's what she kept telling herself to believe. The truth was, Yuna knew that she was still rooted to her past and had never been able to make peace with it.

Yuna's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of a branch being stepped on. She immediately looked around to find the source of the noise and was surprised to see the Kokiri known as Mido heading out towards the Lost Woods. From what Yuna had heard from the other Kokiri, Mido had been spending most of his time in there ever since a friend of his had gone to the Forest Temple and didn't return. Even after the Great Deku Sprout had told him that his friend was now a sage and wouldn't be coming back, he still kept guard over the place in memory of her. Seeing the determined look on Mido's face as he walked across the village, Yuna couldn't help but feel both respect and pity for the kid. Respect for the loyalty and bravery he showed in upholding the memory of his friend. Pity for the sheer hopelessness of his actions. Yuna knew that no matter how long he stood guard over the woods, the fact would remain that his friend wouldn't be coming back. The only thing he would find by dwelling on the past was misery and despair. That was the bitter truth which Yuna knew for a fact.

As Mido's form disappeared as he walked into the Lost Woods, Yuna noticed a sudden flash of red light behind her. Not knowing what to expect, she quickly turned around to see what was going on. What she found gave her quite a bit of shock.

"Malon?" Yuna asked in surprise as she stared at the woman in front of her. However, she soon realized that the person was actually a lot older, not to mention taller, than her friend. Also, the woman was wearing a red dress rather than the blouse and skirt that Malon favored. Aside from these differences though, the woman bore a remarkable similarity to Malon. She had the exact same youthful appearance, headstrong demeanor, and hairstyle as the farm girl. In fact, she even wore a yellow scarf around her neck just like Malon did. Noticing all these similarities, it didn't take long for Yuna to figure out who her mysterious visitor was.

"Let me guess. You're Din, right?" Yuna asked, her voice changing back to its usual callous tone.

Instead of answering, Din (for it really was the Goddess of Power) simply summoned a small communicator that looked like a compass and spoke into it.

"Found her. She's inside Link's old tree-house."

"Got it," the person on the other end replied. "I'll be there in a few minutes. Damn magical barriers are interfering with my warping abilities."

Din gave a sigh at this before disappearing again in a flash of red. A few seconds later, she returned with a rather disheveled looking Happy Mask Salesman standing next to her.

"Would it kill you to give a guy some warning before you drag him halfway across the world?" the mask salesman grumbled as he straightened out his shirt and backpack. "You know that warp jumps are extremely unsettling if you're not prepared for them!"

"Shut up," Din said in a serious tone that immediately silenced the Happy Mask Salesman. "We have business to attend to"

"Hold on a second here," Yuna suddenly interrupted. "What the hell are you two talking about? In fact, how the hell is the creepy mask guy even here? The last time I saw him, he was engaged in a death match with some mystery spellcaster in the middle of the forest."

"We can put all that aside for later," Din cut in before the Happy Mask Salesman could say anything. "The important thing now is to take care of the matter at hand."

"And what exactly is the matter at hand? For some reason, I doubt a goddess would come all the way down here just to meet with a plain old cow like me."

"Indeed," Din answered as she stared at Yuna with a piercing look. "However, I'd say it's well worth the effort to come all the way down here if the cow in question was actually an enemy summoner. And especially if that summoner's name happened to be Yuna Braska."

Yuna became silent when she heard this. However, she immediately burst into a fit of humorless laughter seconds later, much to the confusion of Din and the HMS.

"Might I ask what's so funny?" Din asked as Yuna's laughter subsided.

"Really now. I thought I already told everyone that I'm not that Yuna. From what I know of, the Yuna you're searching for died during the final days of the Era of Strife. As for me, I'm just a regular cow who wants nothing more than to be left alone by a pair of imbeciles who thinks I'm some sort of big-shot summoner from another world."

"There's no use hiding it," the Happy Mask Salesman replied in a severe tone. "We know for a fact that you're really Yuna Braska. You're a member of Organization VII as well as the leader of the Final Fantasy X division."

"Right. And my guardian was a giant, blue panther who could walk on two legs," Yuna said sarcastically. "If the two of you are done spouting nonsense, I suggest you leave. I still have some sleep that I need to catch up on."

The Happy Mask Salesman was about to retort angrily to this when Din stopped him with her hand. After giving her associate a sharp look to keep quiet, the goddess turned to look at Yuna straight in the eye.

"If you really aren't the Yuna we're looking for, then I guess it wouldn't matter to you when I tell you that Organization VII has been resurrected," Din stated in a surprisingly casual manner. "Oh, and did I forget to mention that the one leading them is none other than Cloud Strife himself? It turns out that he's not so dead as everyone thought him to be."

Dead silence fell over the entire tree-house as Din and the HMS stared intently at Yuna for any sort of reaction. Much to their disappointment however, Yuna merely continued to glare back at them with absolutely no change to her annoyed expression.

"I grow tired of wasting my time with you idiots," Yuna finally said, breaking the awkward silence that had formed. "Honestly, I've heard five year-olds tell better stories than what you two jokers came up with. Cloud Strife resurrecting Organization VII. Pfft. What a joke. If you had told me that Yuffie or Godzilla had resurrected the organization, I might have actually believed you."

"We're not lying," Din quickly replied, her patience starting to grow thin. "Cloud really is alive and he's planning some sort of major invasion against Nintendo."

"You people are hopeless," Yuna said with a large sigh. "I don't know where you got your information from but it's obviously wrong. Besides, if everything you said really was true, then why would I even be here? Don't you think Cloud would've pulled me away from the front lines if I really was a high-ranking organization member?"

"That's where you're wrong," the Happy Mask Salesman said with a sneer. "We know that you led an uprising to overthrow Cloud and take control of the Organization for yourself. More than likely, the coup failed and you were banished to this world. Knowing your kind, you've probably been gathering information for your glorious leader in the hopes that he would pardon you and give you back your former rank. Hmph. Typical organization scum. All that matters to you is power and glory. You probably didn't even give a damn about your people when you led them to their deaths with your little uprising. Their lives didn't matter as long as you got what you wanted. You would sell out everyone you ever knew just to…"

"Shut up," Yuna suddenly said in a dangerously low voice. "Shut your damn mouth right now."

"Ha! I knew it!" the HMS shouted out in triumph. "So you finally admit to being an organization member! You Final Fantasy fools are all the same! You take a jab at their obsession with power and they all rise up in denial! It's no wonder all of you praise Cloud so much! You're all as arrogant and power-hungry as…"

The Happy Mask Salesman didn't get to finish as Yuna tackled him to the ground. The sudden attack caught the HMS completely off-guard and as a result, he ended up staring up at an enraged cow as she raised her front hoof to flatten his face. Luckily for him, Din managed to create a protective barrier around him just as the hoof came crashing down. The barrier managed to shield the HMS from Yuna's attack but that didn't stop her from continually beating down against it in her crazed frenzy.

"I'll kill you, you son of a bitch!" Yuna screamed, tears streaming down her face. "How… How could you say those things? How could you compare me to Cloud after everything I've lost fighting for your freedoms? Do you even know the pain and suffering I've had to go through? Everyone I ever knew and loved… they all died that day! We all put our lives on the line so that you Nintendo bastards would even have a chance of defeating Cloud! And after all that, you have the gall to insult their sacrifices? I'll never forgive you! I'll kill you even if I have to take you down with me! I'll…"

"Enough!"

As she said this, Din sent out an energy wave that knocked Yuna off her feet and sent her sprawling to the other end of the tree-house. Silence once again enveloped the room, broken only by the sounds of Yuna's sobs as she lay in a pitiful heap across the room. After taking some deep breaths to calm herself, Din walked over to the Happy Mask Salesman and offered him a hand. He ignored the gesture and picked himself up, all the while glaring at Yuna with a look of utter contempt.

"I thought I told you to keep your personal grudges out of this," Din told the HMS with a criticizing look.

"She's the one who started it," the mask salesman replied lamely, his eyes never leaving Yuna. "If she had just told us the truth from the beginning, I wouldn't have…"

Din cut him off with a stern look that made him lower his head in shame.

"I'm sorry," he stated in a quiet voice. "I don't know what came over me. I just… I remembered the war… and… well…"

"I know," Din replied with an understanding nod. "However, I don't think I'm the one you should be apologizing to."

With a large sigh, the HMS walked over to the now-motionless Yuna with Din following closely behind.

"Sorry," the Happy Mask Salesman stated curtly before turning around with his arms crossed.

Din just shook her head at this before turning to face Yuna with an uncertain look. On one hand, Din was sure pretty sure that the ex-summoner wasn't lying about the grief she felt about her people. Yuna's sudden outburst of emotion was good enough proof of this. On the other hand, Din still had a hard time believing Yuna's motives for staging an uprising against Cloud. As far as the goddess was concerned, one would have to be either insanely courageous or entirely blinded by their lust for power to even think about taking on a Class 5 war criminal and his entire army. Din didn't perceive Yuna to be a power-hungry fool but neither could she believe that an entire division would rise up against their leader to help their mortal enemies. Whatever the case was though, Din knew that Yuna would prove to be a powerful ally if she could be persuaded to join them. Even if her knowledge on the organization was outdated, Yuna was still the only one who had ever worked under Cloud before. As of the moment, she was the only one who could provide inside information on Cloud's strategies, his tendencies, and the overall way his mind worked. She was their hidden ace to potentially winning this war and Din wasn't about to pass up that opportunity.

"Look, I don't know what you're story is but the fact remains that we could really use your help," Din stated in a matter-of-fact voice. "If what you said is true, then now is the time to finish what you once started. Help us defeat Cloud so that we can protect the freedom that you and your people bought for us. If Cloud is able to achieve his goals, then all your sacrifices would've been for nothing."

Unfortunately, Din's words didn't seem to have any effect on Yuna. The former summoner merely continued to lie there with her head buried underneath her hooves as she remained as unresponsive as ever. After staring at the motionless cow for a good ten minutes, Din began to lose her patience. However, before she could say anything, Yuna suddenly spoke up in a voice devoid of any emotion or feeling.

"You don't get it, do you? Freedom means nothing to me now. What good is freedom when you're the only one left to enjoy it? I've lost everything and nothing I do is going to change that. Cloud can destroy the entire universe for all I care. None of it matters to me now."

Din stared at Yuna with a look of disbelief and anger after hearing this. Just as she was about to shout at Yuna for being so callous, Din realized that angering the ex-summoner probably wasn't the best way to persuade her to join their cause. With that in mind, Din managed to suppress her anger and decided to reason things out with Yuna.

"You can't seriously mean that," Din said, trying to keep her voice calm. "You said you lost many of your loved ones during the uprising but there surely has to be at least one person remaining that you care about. At the very least, isn't there anyone left that you feel indebted to help? Someone who you believe deserves to be spared from Cloud's madness? Isn't there anyone at all that you'd fight to protect?"

The moment Din asked her this, Yuna's thoughts suddenly settled on Malon. Yuna didn't know how or why but the memories of their journey came flooding back. As she looked back at the time they spent together, Yuna realized with a fair bit of surprise that their journey had been the only time when she had been able to fully escape the shadows of her past. With all the craziness happening around them, she had been too busy to dwell on anything else. And… there was also Malon herself. The farm girl had treated her with kindness even though Yuna had always acted so cold to her. No matter how much Yuna had tried to distance herself from her, Malon would always refer to her as a friend. And as a result, Yuna had ended up thinking of the farm girl as a friend as well. After all her years alone, Yuna realized with a fair amount of surprise that she had finally been able to find someone that she genuinely cared about.

Yuna remained silent as all of this went through her head. Unfortunately, Din interpreted the silence as an act of indifference and began to grow desperate. The goddess knew that if Yuna refused to help them, their chances of defeating Cloud would drastically decrease. As a result, Din decided to put everything on the line in a last ditch effort to gain Yuna's aid.

"Listen. I know facing your past isn't an easy thing to do but there are too many lives at stake for you to run away now. And… I need your help in stopping this war so that my daughter can be safe. I know you spent some time with her so you should know the type of person Malon is. She's a kind-hearted girl who wouldn't want anything to do with this war. Unfortunately, the fact that she's my daughter would make her a target nonetheless. It also doesn't help that she identified herself as a threat to the organization by killing one of their assassins. The only way that I can fully protect her now is to take down the organization as soon as possible. Please… I implore you to help me defeat Cloud for my daughter's sake. No… I beg you for your help."

As she said this, Din did something that greatly shocked Yuna. As the former summoner watched, the most prideful goddess in the entire Nintendo universe knelt before her.

Silence fell over the room as Yuna tried to comprehend everything that was going on. She had expected Din to try something crazy to get her to help but this act of humility definitely caught her off-guard. As Yuna continued to stare at the astonishing sight in front of her, the words of the mysterious shopkeeper that she met in Termina suddenly came floating back to her.

There will come a time when Malon's life will be in your hands. When this day comes forward, I want you to ask yourself whether or not you truly consider Malon to be your friend. The answer you choose will not only affect Malon but also the fate of the entire video game universe as well.

Now that moment of truth had arrived, Yuna finally realized just what the shopkeeper had been talking about. If she decided to help Din, then the outcome of the upcoming war could drastically change and Malon would be safe. However, that meant Yuna would have to face her past, something that she had tried to avoid ever since her banishment. All her pains, all her sorrow, she would have to face them all if she decided to help Malon. And yet… Yuna already knew what her choice would be even before she thought about it. No matter what the cost, she wouldn't let another one of her friends suffer at hands of Cloud. And with this realization, she knew exactly what she needed to do… just like the shopkeeper had predicted.

"Very well," Yuna said in a quiet but determined voice as she got up and faced Din. "If you promise that Malon will be kept safe… then I shall offer you my assistance."

"What?" Din asked in surprise as she raised her head. "Are you serious? Are you really going to help us?"

"As I've said before, only if Malon is kept safe," Yuna replied with a serious look. "Make sure she doesn't get involved in any of this and I'll give you all the information and tactics you need. And get up for Yevon's sake. Having a goddess kneeling in front of me is starting to make me feel uncomfortable."

Upon hearing this, Din realized that she was still kneeling in front of Yuna and quickly got up with a slightly embarrassed look on her face. The expression didn't last long, however, as the goddess faced Yuna with a questioning look.

"Would you mind telling me why you care so much about my daughter? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you've decided to help us out and everything but what exactly is your story with Malon?"

"It'd take too long to explain everything right now but just know that Malon's helped me out more than you can possibly imagine."

Din gave a curt nod at this and didn't inquire any further. As far as she was concerned, Yuna was deciding to help them under the condition that Malon was to be protected, something that Din was prepared to do anyways. Just as the goddess was about to contemplate her good fortunes, Yuna suddenly spoke up once more.

"Just one thing though. I still have a few questions regarding that assassin that attacked me and Malon in the desert. From everything you've told me so far, it seems very likely that he was an organization member. If that's the case, would you care to explain to me why Organization VII decided to attack Malon even before they began their war? After all, I doubt Malon's exactly at the top of their hit list."

"Oh, that," Din said, quietly relieved that Yuna hadn't decided to make any more demands. "Well, my first assumption after learning all of this was that the assassin was sent here after you. After doing a little more investigation work though, it turned out the assassin was hired by Ganondorf and Morpha. The two of them were apparently trying to stop Link by using Malon as a hostage."

"Wait a second. I thought Organization VII was keeping a low-profile up to this point. If that's the case why would they allow one of their members to engage in some low-level mercenary work in one of Nintendo's core worlds?"

"From what my… associate… has told me, it seems there were some authority issues within the organization during the past month. Apparently, one of their members sent an assassin into the Nintendo worlds preemptively to take down a handful of our high-ranking officials. As it so happened, the assassin chosen for the job was apparently an old acquaintance of Morpha and Ganondorf. In a rather unlikely twist of events, Morpha contacted the assassin just as he reached Hyrule and hired him to kidnap Malon. After that… well, you know the rest."

Yuna remained silent as she went through all of this information in her head. Remembering the assassin's final words to her in the desert, Yuna began to have a faint idea on who the guy was. During her final years as an organization member, Yuna had personally taught a young boy who had shown great potential to be one of the organization's top soldiers. After all these years, Yuna had all but forgotten about him but vaguely remembered him to be a kindhearted boy who had wanted nothing more than to protect the world he had come from. As she remembered all of this, Yuna's hatred for the organization increased ten-fold. Just like he had done with the rest of his minions, Cloud had twisted the innocent kid with his propaganda and lies and turned him into a heartless monster.

Luckily, Yuna managed to calm herself before she let her emotions show. Knowing that telling Din all of this would only lead to unnecessary questions, she decided to keep all of this to herself. Instead, Yuna decided to ask a different question that had been bothering her.

"What are you going to do about Ganondorf? For all we know, he might be sending out more of his goons to capture Malon."

"I already got that covered," Din replied with a slight smile. "I wiped his entire memory of anything that had to do with Malon. As of now, he doesn't even know that LonLon Ranch exists. That's the benefit of being a goddess: You can do cool stuff like this with just a snap of your finger."

"And what about Malon? How are you planning to keep her safe from all of this?"

Din's face became serious again as she answered the question.

"I've thought about it and decided to keep her within a separate timeline. As you probably already know, this world has a number of alternate timelines running through it. My plan is to leave Malon in the adult timeline once Link travels back to the child timeline. Seeing as how nothing will really happen in the adult timeline for the next thousand years, Malon should be perfectly safe."

"But what are you going to do if Cloud decides to destroy Hyrule?" Yuna interrupted. "If he succeeds in his conquest of the video game universe, he's sure to destroy all of the Nintendo core worlds. Once that happens, he'll make sure to wipe out every last timeline that Hyrule has."

"That's why I'll separate the adult timeline from this dimension entirely. Farore's experimented with this kind of thing before so it should be perfectly safe. Of course, the people of the separated dimension tended to turn into weird cartoon freaks after a few hundred years but that'll be generations after Malon so no worries there. However… this also means that we'll probably never be able to see Malon again either. Time will start to run independently from one another once I separate this timeline from the rest of the universe. That means… Malon will probably have already lived through her entire life in about three months of our time."

Silence once again fell over the room as Yuna tried to take all of this in. If she allowed Din to go through with this plan, then the chances were that she would never be able to see her friend again. On the other hand, Malon would be able to live her entire life away from the destruction and chaos that was sure to come. After deliberating on this for a few minutes, Yuna broke the silence by giving a small sigh.

"I'm assuming you're okay with my plan then?" Din asked uncertainly in response to this.

"I think you should be the judge of that," Yuna said as she gave Din a criticizing look. "I may be Malon's friend but you're her mother. If you go through with this plan of yours, you'll never be able to see your daughter again. More importantly, she won't be able to see you again for the rest of her life. I don't think you've ever noticed but Malon's been waiting for your return since the day you left."

Din became silent again when she heard this. However, instead of looking surprised at the news, Din seemed to understand exactly what Yuna was talking about.

"I know," Din eventually said in a forlorn voice as a pained look crossed her face. "I've been keeping a close eye on her since the day I left."

"Then why didn't you go see her?" Yuna questioned with the same criticizing look. "I know you're a busy goddess and all but there surely must have been time to at least say hi to your family once in a while."

"That's not the problem," Din said after a brief silence. "The reason I tried to distance myself from her was so that she could have a normal life. I didn't want her to live a life where she was constantly pressured by the fact that her mother was a goddess. It was only a matter of time before the higher-ups of the Nintendo Council learned the truth about Malon. Once that happened, they would've recruited her and dragged her into all of their petty troubles. If that came to pass, she would've been forced to live her entire life being viewed as nothing more than a replacement for me. As such, I decided the best way to prevent this future was to remove myself from Malon's life entirely."

Yuna became quiet after hearing all of this. On one hand, Yuna understood exactly what Din was talking about. During her days as a summoner, Yuna had been constantly under her father's shadow as well. As a result, she knew exactly how it felt to be viewed as nothing more than a fill-in for someone else. On the other hand though, Yuna still felt that leaving behind one's own daughter wasn't the right choice, even with the given circumstances.

Before Yuna could say anything, however, the goddess's communicator began to ring. As Din summoned the communicator to her hand and looked at the caller ID, her already tired face darkened. With a look of apprehension, Din answered the call.

"Din here. What…"

Commander! Our forward base in the Earthbound sector is currently under heavy fire by an unknown army! I've ordered my men to stand their ground for the moment but I doubt we'll last long! We need immediate support or… Watch out!

A massive explosion was suddenly heard in the background before the line went dead.

"Shit," Din swore as she saw that the connection had been lost. "I didn't think they'd attack this soon. Still, I might be able to save our base if I send…"

"Don't bother," the Happy Mask Salesman suddenly said as he appeared next to Din and Yuna with his communicator in hand. "We've got bigger problems at hand right now."

"What the…? Where were you this whole time?" Din asked in surprise.

"I was outside checking all of the major Nintendo communication channels while you were busy talking with our summoner here," the HMS replied, refusing to look at Yuna as he said this. "I heard her agreeing to help us so there's no need to fill me in. Anyways, it's not just the Earthbound sector that's being attacked right now. Here, you should listen this."

The HMS held up his communicator and activated the speakers so everyone could hear what was going on across the various Nintendo worlds.

Mayday! Mayday! We're trapped by an army of Call of Duty soldiers! They've got us surrounded near the Fountain of Dreams! If you can reach us, please help!

Team Bravo, Echo, and Delta have gone dark. I repeat, we've lost all communications with…

To anyone hearing this message, we're pinned down near Viridian City! Please assist!

This is the Lylat Fleet! We're under heavy fire by an unidentified armada! We're completely cut off from… They're coming around! Watch the flank!

We need immediate support! Hostiles all around us! Is anyone out there?

This is Meta Knight reporting from the NES Halberd! A fleet of unidentified ships just fired at us without any warning! Does anyone know what's going on?

Where's command? I've got Call of Duty soldiers coming out of my…

Our ship is on fire! Repeat, we've lost all thruster power!

This is Sain reporting from Pherae of the Fire Emblem sector! We've got monsters attacking us from all sides! There's too many of them for us to… Wha… what the hell is that thing? Everyone back! Everyone fall… Ahhhhhhhhhh!

The communication ended there as the sound of static filled the entire room. An eerie silence fell over our heroes as the three of them stood there with mixed looks of shock and horror at what they had just heard.

Din was the first to recover as she picked up the HMS's communicator and turned it off. She quietly handed it to her associate before facing Yuna with a grave look.

"Now's your final chance to back out from all of this," Din said in a grim voice. "If you're not fully prepared to help us out to the end, then I suggest you quit now."

Yuna hesitated for a moment but quickly recovered as she shook her head and regained the determined look in her eyes.

"I've already made up my mind on this. As long as you keep up your end up the bargain, I'll do whatever I can to help."

"Very well," Din replied with a nod. "Under the given circumstances, I feel that the only way to keep Malon safe from all of this is to go through with my plan. Once Link goes back to the child timeline, I'll separate this timeline from the rest of the Nintendo universe."

"Like I said before, that's your decision to make," Yuna simply said in response.

"Wait," the HMS suddenly cut in. "If you're removing Malon from this dimension, then what's going to happen to the MM?"

"It'll be locked away in the adult timeline with Malon," Din replied. "If my assumption is correct, then the ones who tried to steal the MM from me nineteen years ago was none other than Organization VII. If so, then there's no doubt that Cloud will be after it this time as well. The only thing we can do with the MM at the moment is to prevent Cloud from getting his hands on it."

"What in the world are you two talking about?" Yuna interrupted, annoyed at being left out of the conversation. "What the hell is this MM that you're talking about?"

"Hmph. How could you not know what the MM is?" the HMS said with a scoff. "Every organization member must've heard about it at some point. After all, it's probably the most powerful artifact in existence."

Yuna was just about to retort angrily at the mask salesman when she realized what Din and the HMS were talking about.

"No way," Yuna said, disbelief etched over her face. "You seriously can't be talking about…"

"Indeed we are," Din replied with a nod. "The most powerful relic left behind by the Creators themselves: the Meme's Mask."

At the mere mention of the artifact's name, a feeling of enormous power seemed to pass over the entire group. Yuna couldn't help but shudder at this eerie sensation before turning to stare at Din and the Happy Mask Salesman for any sign that they weren't being serious. However, their dead serious face made it apparent that they were speaking the truth.

"You've got to be kidding me," Yuna eventually said, her skepticism quite obvious. "The Meme's Mask is nothing more than a myth. A simple legend used to entertain kids. How could something like that actually exist?"

"That's what I thought too at first," Din answered in a grave voice. "However, approximately nineteen years ago, my sisters and I received a tip-off that someone had found an artifact radiating some form of otherworldly energy. Needless to say, my sisters sent me to retrieve the artifact while they decided to do nothing. As it turned out, some traveling salesman had found the mask while out for a walk. Of course, he didn't seem to have any idea what he had in his possession and offered to sell it to me for practically nothing. After a series of rather strange events, I managed to hand it over to the HMS here. After some testing, he managed to figure out that the artifact was actually the Meme's Mask itself. Knowing that there would be trouble if people found out about it, we decided to hide it before word got out."

"And you decided to hide the most powerful object in the entire universe by giving it to your daughter?" Yuna asked in disbelief.

"Not really. I needed someplace where I could hide the MM in plain sight yet not lose it. After much thought, I decided to cover the artifact with a magical barrier so that no one could detect its energy signature and then transformed it to look like a small pendant. Afterwards, I gave the pendant to Malon as a birthday gift. Knowing Malon, I knew she'd probably wear it everywhere she went and therefore, never misplace it."

As Din said this, Yuna suddenly remembered the Bowser-shaped pendant that Malon always wore over her scarf.

"You made the Meme's Mask into an accessory shaped like Bowser's face?" Yuna asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, I was happening to be looking at a news story regarding Bowser when I was deciding on what to make the pendant look like," Din answered in a flustered way.

Yuna face-palmed at this comment while Din gave an embarrassed cough and turned away. After a few seconds, Yuna broke the awkward silence by asking another question.

"There's one thing I don't get though. If you actually have the Meme's Mask in your possession, why don't you use it to defeat Cloud? If the legends are true, can't the Meme's Mask give you the same powers as the ones living in the Creator's universe? You'd be able to control the very power source that fuels the authors. The power of the internet would be at your fingertips."

"What a fool," the HMS said with a patronizing sigh. "Look, if we could access the power of the MM, don't you think we would've used it by now? The things under some kind of seal that neither I nor Din can unlock."

"What do you mean?" Yuna asked in a confused tone.

"It means that no one can use the MM until the seal's broken," Din replied. "Problem is we don't know what needs to happen to unlock it. That's why we need to be extra careful about not letting it fall into the wrong hands. If Cloud manages to gain possession of the Meme's Mask and the thing activates… well then, it's game over for us."

An eerie silence fell over the room as Din said this. After a few minutes though, the Happy Mask Salesman cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"We're wasting time here. I say we should head off to Romani Ranch like our mysterious contact told us to. I don't exactly trust him but I say he's our best bet in finding out more information at the moment."

"Agreed," Din replied with a nod. "However, I got a little mission for you before we set off. I want you to keep an eye on Malon until Link travels back to the child timeline. Notify me as soon as he does so that I can remove the adult timeline from this dimension."

"I should've seen this one coming," the HMS grumbled as he adjusted his backpack. "Nintendo's at war with its mortal enemy and I'm stuck behind babysitting for you."

"You'll get your chance to fight," Din said with a dismissive wave. "For the time being though, I'd say enjoy the peace and quiet while looking out for Malon. Once you get involved in this war, I doubt you'll be getting much of either of those things."

"Whatever," the HMS said with a sigh. "Just hurry up and warp us over to Romani Ranch. I'll get on with this bodyguard business after we meet with our contact."

Din gave a nod at this and prepared to warp the three of them out of the tree-house. However, she suddenly stopped as she seemed to realize something.

"By the way, why are you still in that form?" Din asked Yuna with a puzzled look. "There's no need to stay in that ridiculous disguise anymore you know. After all, we already know who you really are."

Yuna gave a despondent sigh at this before answering.

"Cloud cursed me into this form before he banished me. I seriously doubt either of you can undo his spell so you should get used to me being a cow for the time being."

Din became silent when she heard this but quickly recovered.

"Well, I'm sure there's some way to return you to your regular body," Din said optimistically. "After all, the HMS here has some skill in the shape-shifting department."

From the glare that the HMS was giving her, Yuna doubted that the Happy Mask Salesman would do anything to help her even if the goddess ordered him to do so. However, Yuna kept this to herself and just nodded. Seeing this, Din began to concentrate her energy for the warp spell.

However, Din was interrupted once again as Yuna suddenly remembered something.

"Wait. I have a small request that I'd like to make before we set out."

"Ugh. Hurry up. We're already late as is," the HMS said in an irritated voice.

Yuna ignored him and turned to face Din with a slightly embarrassed look.

"Can you… umm… transport a cow into this place once I leave? Malon sort of brought me here as a present for Link and I don't think she'll be very happy if he tells her that his present's missing."

Din gave a small smile at this before starting up her warp spell again.

"I'll send one over as soon as our meeting's done. In the meantime, brace yourself for this warp jump. Like our friendly little companion here reminded us, warp jumps can be quite unsettling."

The Happy Mask Salesman merely grumbled something incomprehensible at this before moving into range of Din's spell. Yuna followed suit as she stepped into the aura of red light that had appeared around the goddess. Just as Din activated her spell, Yuna looked out at the open doorway in front of her. Far away in the horizon, the sun had finally begun to rise. As its dazzling rays settled over the forest, Yuna thought she heard a familiar voice speak to her from the light itself.

Our dream rests in your hands now.

Yuna blinked in surprise when she heard this. However, the warp spell activated before Yuna could give it anymore thought. As her form disappeared from view, Yuna managed to form a response in her thoughts.

Tidus… No matter what happens… I promise I'll turn our dream into a reality…

And with that the three heroes vanished from view, leaving the tree-house empty once more…

Or so it seemed.

Moments after Din, Yuna, and the Happy Mask Salesman vanished, the mysterious shopkeeper turned off his invisibility spell and came into view with a wide grin visible beneath his hat.

"It looks like all the pieces have finally fallen into place," he said to himself with a small laugh. "Now this is where things start to get interesting. Let's see how all of this plays out now, shall we?"

And with this mysterious comment, the shopkeeper vanished once more.

xxx
Temple of Time, several weeks later…

Link stepped off the Pedestal of Time as the blue light around him faded. As soon as he did so, he looked down and saw that he was once again a child. With a sigh, he realized that Zelda hadn't been kidding when she said she was going to give him back his childhood. After being a teen for so long, Link didn't know if he could stand being a kid again. Now that Ganondorf had been sealed away, that meant…

"Oh crap," Link suddenly said as he realized something. "Ganondorf's still at large in this timeline. Does that mean I'll have to go through the entire adventure again?"

"Please no," Navi groaned as she popped out from underneath Link's hat. "I don't think I can stand another world-saving quest. I need a vacation dammit."

Link became silent as he began thinking of what to do. A few weeks ago, this might've given Navi a heart attack but after seeing him solve all the puzzles in the Spirit Temple and Ganon's Castle by himself, Navi had become accustomed to the sight of Link thinking.

If there was one thing that confused Navi more than the whole time travel business, it was definitely Link's sudden ability to think logically. A few days after they had left LonLon Ranch, Navi had noticed that Link was acting decisively less stupid than usual. At first, she thought he was just trying to goof around with her but soon realized that for some unexplainable reason, Link had just gained about a hundred extra IQ points. Of course, he still did some weird things occasionally but Navi guessed that was just his strange personality at work. Either way, Navi's faith in Link had been steadily growing since then. Now, with their journey done and the world saved, she couldn't help but feel that Link had proven himself to be a true hero.

"I got it!" Link suddenly exclaimed as an idea struck his head. "We'll simply use the light arrows to snipe Ganondorf when he comes over to visit the castle! After that, we'll be able to… oh wait. We don't have the light arrows anymore. Hmm. Then how about we unleash that herd of angry elephants that we captured in the Gerudo Desert? Ganondorf will probably be crushed by the stampede… along with half the castle... Never mind. That's a stupid idea. Okay then, why don't we just throw a Pokeball at him? That is, if Pokeballs even exist in this world."

Navi quickly retracted her last thought as she face-palmed for the five billionth time in her life.

"You know what?" Link said after a brief pause. "I'll just tell the Zelda of this timeline about what'll happen in the future. I'm sure she can figure out a way to arrest Ganondorf if I do that."

"You know, that's actually a pretty decent idea," Navi commented after giving Link's idea some thought. "The only problem with that plan is finding an excuse to arrest Ganondorf with."

"I'm sure we can think of something. If we're lucky, maybe we can dig up a parking ticket he never paid off or a library book he never returned. Whatever the case is, I'm sure we can find a reason to execute him."

"Heh heh. For some reason, I can totally picture Ganondorf being executed for littering on the streets. After all the trouble he's caused us, I would love to see him meet his end like that."

"As long as Ganondorf doesn't gain the Triforce of Power during his execution then we should be fine. Of course, if that did happen, then he'll probably be banished to some alternate dimension where he'll meet a psycho usurper king who'll help him take over Hyrule a thousand years later."

"Okay…"

"Well, whatever. Either way, I say we finally earned ourselves a little rest," Link said as he sat down on the pedestal and pulled out a bottle of milk from his item pouch. "Here's to having a peaceful life from here on out."

As Navi watched in amazement, Link began to drink the entire liter of milk in one go. For some strange reason, Link seemed to be the only person that was immune to the milk's alcoholic effects. Navi had seen him drink gallons of the stuff and be perfectly fine while most people passed out after the first glass. Although she couldn't say for sure, Navi had a sneaking suspicion that the Triforce of Courage was the one responsible for this rather amazing phenomenon.

"Ah! Now that's some refreshing milk!" Link exclaimed as he finally put down the glass. "You know, I guess it was a good thing I decided to visit Kokiri Forest before we left for the final battle. Otherwise, I never would've been able to see that awesome cow that Malon delivered to my house. Man, I would've loved to have known how she actually managed to drag a cow all the way to Kokiri Forest. That must've been quite an interesting journey she had."

At this, Navi realized that she had forgotten to tell Link about Malon's invitation to the ranch. Realizing that telling him this would only cause him unneeded despair about not being able to go back to the future, Navi decided not to tell him. She knew she was breaking her promise to Malon but as things currently stood, her decision was for the best.

Link interrupted Navi's thoughts as he suddenly began humming along to the Song of Time that echoed throughout the temple walls. As Navi watched him do this, she couldn't help but notice how much Link had grown. He was still physically a child but mentally he seemed to be more grown-up than ever. Navi couldn't quite explain it but she felt that Link had finally reached the point where he could set off on his own. Of course, she still had some lingering doubts about his abilities but deep down she knew that he no longer needed her guidance. After everything he had accomplished, it was quite obvious that Link was no longer the bumbling idiot that she had started this whole adventure with in Kokiri Forest. Link was now a fully-grown hero and it was time for him to walk his own path in life.

"Well, I guess we should get going then," Link said after his lengthy break. "Come on Navi. Let's hurry up and get to Zelda before it gets dark."

With this, Link stood up and proceeded to walk out of the temple. However, he soon stopped when he realized that Navi was still floating near the Master Sword.

"Hey, what's with the hold-up?" Link asked with a smile. "Did you sprain your wing or something?"

Navi didn't answer as she just continued to hover over the pedestal. Link's smile slowly faded as he looked at his companion with a confused look. After a rather drawn-out silence, Navi finally looked up and spoke to Link in a sad voice.

"I'm sorry Link, but I'm not going with you. Not this time."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Link asked in surprise as he started walking back towards Navi. "What do you mean you're not coming with me?"

"It means you no longer need a fairy telling you what to do," Navi explained in a surprisingly gentle voice. "I was assigned by the Great Deku Tree to look after an idiotic kid who couldn't even put his hat on straight. And from what I'm seeing now, that kid doesn't exist anymore. The only person I see before me now is a brave and accomplished hero."

"Don't be silly," Link said with a serious look as continued moving towards Navi. "Even if I did become a bit smarter, that doesn't mean I don't need your help."

"It's time you chose what path you take for yourself," Navi said in the same calm voice. "I've guided you for as long as I can. Now it's time for you to shape your own future."

"Navi…"

"Don't look sad Link. The fact that I'm telling you all of this means that you've finally earned my trust. After all, I wouldn't leave you if I didn't believe you could take care of yourself."

"But I…"

"I'll miss you Link," Navi interrupted as she started flying up towards the ceiling. "The time we spent together… I'll never forget them. You always said I looked angry, but those were the happiest days of my life."

"No! Navi!"

As Link tried in vain to reach out to her, Navi flew up towards the large window near the top of the temple. As she neared it, Navi could feel her body slowly disappearing. Just before she completely disappeared, she managed to look down one last time to see Link.

Goodbye… my son... With you as its beacon of hope, I'm sure the future will be a bright one…

And with that, Navi, the former Queen of Hyrule, disappeared from the world.

Link continued to stare at the now-empty window with a mixed look of shock and sadness for what seemed like an eternity. With his friend's sudden departure, Link didn't know what to say or do. After a while though, he came to realize that Navi had left believing that he could truly forge his own path ahead. With this in mind, Link suppressed his sadness and turned to look up at the window with a new, resolved look on his face.

"Navi…I promise I won't let you down," Link said in a determined voice. "I'll be sure to walk my own path as a hero no matter what challenges await me. Just you wait Navi, I'll be the most legendary hero in all of history!"

With his newfound resolve, Link turned around and began to walk out of the temple to begin his new life…

Only to stop short when his stomach started growling like an angry Wolfos.

"Crap," Link groaned as he realized just how hungry he was. "Looks like that milk wasn't enough to cover for three whole days of starvation. Man, I knew I should've gotten something real to eat before I went over to Ganondorf's castle."

Realizing that he wasn't going anywhere until he had something to eat, Link reached for his wallet so that he could visit a restaurant on his way to see Zelda. However, he soon realized with a start that his wallet was missing.

"What the…? What happened to my wallet?" Link asked aloud as he began to frantically look around for his lost money bag. "I surely couldn't have lost it while time traveling. Where did I…?"

With a look of shock, Link remembered that he had given his wallet to Navi for safekeeping just before his battle with Ganondorf.

"Oh, come on! I had over nine thousand rupees in that wallet!" Link shouted out into the empty halls of the temple. "Navi, get back here this instant! I want my money back, dammit!"

And so, the search for Navi began…

xxx
LonLon Ranch, few days later…

True to her words, Malon immediately began planning for a party as soon as word got out that Link had defeated Ganondorf. At first, she had thought to only invite a handful of people from Kakariko Village but that soon changed when her dad found out about her plans. By sending word to some of his old contacts, they were able to invite practically everyone in Hyrule. With so many guests coming over, everyone at the ranch had to work overtime to get the place ready for the party. For the next several days, Talon, Malon, and Ingo were all busy moving the animals, preparing the food, cleaning the entire ranch, and setting up the decorations. All of their hard work paid off though when the party finally got underway.

It probably went without saying that Hyrule had never seen such a huge celebration before. Every race in Hyrule had gathered together for the sole purpose of celebrating the end of Ganondorf. After most of the guests had arrived, Malon used some of her aunt's old presents to create a magical, multicolored bonfire which everyone began to dance around. Meanwhile, Talon and Ingo started a drinking contest as a large crowd gathered to see the showdown. Off in the corner, Anju was busy entertaining some of the kids by juggling some of her genetically engineered Cuccos. As the musicians began to play an upbeat tune, a handful of the Gerudo began to do the Can Can. Ironically enough, the carpenters stood practically next to the warrior-women as they served as the chorus for the musicians.

However, the real party began when some of the more interesting individuals in Hyrule appeared. Soon after arriving, Biggoron joined in on the dancing as well, causing the mountains to shake as he began doing the Macarena. Much to Malon's surprise, King Zora managed to make it to the party as well. Needless to say, the twenty unlucky Zoras who had to carry him had to sit out the entire party due to back problems. Even more surprising, however, was the fact that the Kokiri actually managed to show up. Apparently, the Great Deku Sprout had used his powers to allow the Kokiri to temporarily leave the forest and enjoy the party. Unfortunately, the Great Deku Sprout himself couldn't make it to the party. According to one of the Kokiri, he was currently busy fending off an evil chipmunk that wanted to use him as an acorn cache.

Guru-guru arrived soon afterwards and was immediately swarmed by the Kokiri. They apparently found his weird phonograph to be quite interesting as they all tried to grab it. As a result, Guru-Guru soon found himself spinning around in circles while being held upside-down by the Kokiri. However, he really didn't seem to mind that much as he continued to play the phonograph for the kid's amusement. A few hours into the party, a trio of very strange people came in on a giant flying carpet. One was an old man who Malon recognized as the professor that Anju usually talked about. The person next to him looked like a sumo wrestler and was constantly snacking on a bag of… something… which never seemed to run out. The strangest of the three, however, was the one in the center. His entire body was overshadowed by an enormous hairdo that extended over his back like a giant cloak. After getting a look at this strange guest, Malon was amazed that the man wasn't being crushed under the weight of his hair. Malon had little time to ponder about this, however, as the sound of Talon and Ingo's singing reached her ears. Apparently they had gone a little overboard with their drinking contest. As such, the two of them were standing arm-in-arm near the bonfire as they began singing like a pair of drunken sailors. A group of various shopkeepers joined the two as they gathered around them and began dancing to their off-key singing. As she glanced at this sight, Malon thought she saw the Happy Mask Salesman within the dance group. Before she could look more clearly though, Anju appeared and started dragging her to the center of the party. As it so happened, Anju had told everyone about Malon's superb singing abilities, causing quite a lot of people to gather as they waited eagerly for her to perform. Deciding not disappoint her fans, Malon agreed to their request and began to sing a livelier version of her mother's song. The carpenters soon joined in, causing the night air to resound with the sound of their singing.

The rest of the evening passed by like a blur to Malon. She had trouble keeping track of everything that went on during the party but some of the more memorable moments definitely stuck by her for years to come. Anju showing off her new dancing chickens, the running man's ill-fated decision to race a rolling Goron, the Kokiri putting up a skit about Link's victory over Ganondorf, the multi-colored shooting stars passing across the night sky… these were all parts of a treasured memory that Malon held dear. And yet… the one person that she wanted to share these memories with wasn't there with her.

Late into the night, Epona suddenly showed up and ran straight to Malon. Seeing the horse, Malon felt a faint flutter of hope in her heart, only for it to be immediately crushed when she saw that there was no rider. Not wanting to spoil the party for everyone else, Malon kept her disappointment to herself and tried her hardest to enjoy the night.

After a while though, Malon couldn't keep up the act up any longer and quietly snuck out of the ranch. As she stepped out, the cold night air greeted her. After taking a deep breath, she sat down on the grass and stared out at the vast expanse of land that lay before her. As her eyes traveled across Hyrule Field, Malon couldn't help but remember her travels with Yuna. Looking back on it, Malon was amazed at how far they had actually traveled to reach Kokiri Forest. In hindsight, all they really had to do was travel directly east from the ranch and they would've been able to reach the forest in a few short days. Instead, they had taken the long way around, having to go through practically every major location in Hyrule… just like Link did on his adventure.

Malon shook her head at this as she tried to quickly move her thoughts away from him. If he hadn't bothered to show up after this long, the chances of him ever arriving were close to nothing. Of course, there was always the possibility that Navi hadn't told him about the party but Malon doubted it. More than likely, Link was just dragged away into another crazy adventure and was too busy to show up. After all, Epona wouldn't have returned unless she knew for a fact that Link wasn't going to be coming back.

As she continued to mull over all of this, Malon heard someone approaching behind her. She immediately raised her guard but soon relaxed when she realized it was just her dad. Apparently, he had finally recovered from his drunken stupor and had come searching for his daughter after realizing that she was missing.

"You feeling alright Malon?" Talon asked as he sat down next to her. "You might catch a cold if you continue to sit out here any longer."

Malon didn't say anything to this as she continued to stare blankly ahead.

"Not very talkative today, are you?" Talon mused as he began gazing across the empty field as well. "Would you mind telling me what's eating at you?"

Malon remained silent as she pulled in her legs close and rested her head on her knees. After a few minutes of silence, Talon suddenly gave a small laugh as he looked out at the western regions of the field.

"That place sure brings back a lot of memories," Talon said in answer to Malon's questioning look. "You know, Hyrule might've changed a lot during these past few years but the field looks the same as ever. That place over there is where I found the entrance to the underground platypus kingdom during my army days."

"Dad, I hardly think now is the time to be telling your old war stories," Malon said in an exasperated voice.

"Oh, this isn't just some old war story," Talon replied with a smile. "You see, that's where I met your mother for the second time after our rather… interesting… first encounter."

Malon immediately looked up in surprise when her dad said this. Ever since her mom had left, Talon had refused to talk about her unless it was absolutely necessary. Until now, Malon had always thought that her dad was mad at her mom for leaving them, but the casual way he spoke of her now showed that this wasn't the case.

"I thought you said you met mom for the second time while battling a giant, three-headed platypus that could shoot flaming waffles from its mouth," Malon commented with a confused look on her face. "You never told me anything about an entire underground platypus kingdom."

"You were just a kid back then. I didn't want to scare you into believing that a platypus army would suddenly rise out of the ground and take over the surface world. Needless to say, this was exactly what those things were planning to do before we stopped them."

"Wait. Are you telling me there's an entire race of platypus-men living underneath our feet as we speak?" Malon asked skeptically.

"Well, they used to at least," Talon explained. "You see, while the three goddesses were creating Hyrule, Farore had the smart idea of creating a race of platypus beings just for the sheer fun of it. Of course, she forgot all about them after they all went underground a few hundred years later. Unbeknownst to her, the platypus slowly evolved in their underground homes and began preparing to take over the world above them. According to your mom, they tried to invade Hyrule once before but were stopped when some giant statue landed on top of them just as they finished digging their way out."

"…"

"Yeah, I was a bit confused by that as well. Well, either way, your aunts apparently took notice of these platypus-men shortly after my first meeting with your mom and ordered her to take care of it. As for me, I was just returning from another mission when I accidentally fell down into a tunnel that lead straight to their kingdom. After meeting up with each other, your mother and I decided to work together to get rid of the platypus-men. Long-story short, we managed to collapse their entire kingdom before getting out of there ourselves. Unfortunately, one of their mutant super-soldiers managed to survive the collapse and came out to attack us."

"I'm guessing that was the three-headed platypus that could shoot waffles from its mouth?"

"Yep. I tell you, if Din hadn't been there, I don't know how I would've managed to make it out of that one. On the plus side though, Hyrule enjoyed an excess supply of waffles for the next five years after that battle."

Malon couldn't help but laugh when she heard this. Her dad soon joined in and the sound of their laughter echoed across the silent field. Malon could hardly remember the last time she had laughed so hard as the two of them continued to fill the night air with the sounds of their laughter. After a long while, they finally calmed down and stared out at the field once again.

"Dad?" Malon asked after a long pause. "Do you… I mean… are you mad at mom? You know, for leaving us and all?"

Just like Malon had expected, Talon didn't immediately respond and remained silent for a very long time. Just when Malon thought he wasn't going to answer, Talon suddenly spoke up.

"Nah," Talon said as he faced his daughter with a smile. "I'm not mad at her. After all, she didn't exactly leave because she wanted to. Even though we're her family, it still doesn't change the fact that she's a goddess. It's her responsibility to take care of this world and I'm sure as not going to hate her for doing her job. I mean, I would like it if she didn't have to be away for so long but I guess it's just something you have to deal with when your wife's one of the three great goddesses. Besides, she promised to come back to see us one day so I'll believe in her and continue to wait. I don't know how long that'll be but I know for sure that she'll keep her promise."

Hearing Talon's words, Malon began to feel guilty about blaming Link for not coming to the party. Just like with her mother, Link had his responsibilities as a hero and it wouldn't be fair for everyone else if she kept him from fulfilling his duty. And besides, he did promise to come back to tell her all about his adventure. All she had to do was believe in him and trust that he'd come back.

"Umm… dad?" Malon asked after another brief silence. "If you weren't mad at mom, then why didn't you want to talk about her until now?"

"Hmm. That's a tough question," Talon thought aloud as he tried thinking of an answer. "Well, I suppose it was because I didn't want to keep looking at the past while I waited for her to come back. You see, soon after your mother left, I began slacking off to daydream about our old times together whenever I thought of her. As a result, the ranch began to fall into disorder. The animals weren't being fed correctly, the stables were a mess, and the barn began to look like a dump. After a while, I realized that if I kept thinking about the past, then I wouldn't be able to accomplish anything in the present. With that in mind, I decided to keep moving forward so that when your mom did arrive, everything would be in tip-top shape."

As Malon went over everything her dad had told her, she looked down and saw her mother's pendant and Link's necklace hanging around her neck. As she held these two mementos in her hand, she could feel her hope building up again. She didn't know when her mom or Link would come back but she knew that she couldn't bother to waste her time thinking about the past. Just like they had their responsibilities, Malon had her own things to do as well. And as her dad had said, she had to keep moving forward to accomplish them.

As if to personify Malon's new hope, the sun began to rise far away in the distance. As the first rays of the sun reached her, Malon clenched her hands tightly over the necklace and pendant and resolved to aim for the future as she waited for her mom and Link to return. She didn't know if it'd be days or years but she knew that they'd eventually see each other again. Until that time, she would continue to take care of the ranch so that when they did come back, they would have a home to return to. And with this new goal in mind, Malon stood up to begin the next chapter of her life.