Epilogue
"Of sorrow will he be reborn,
Of despair will he prevail,
The demon slain, the cycle restored,
His loss will mark his tale."
"It—it's over?" Zelda whispered from behind Link. Still in a daze, Link spun around and wobbled uneasily over to the stone figure that was Malon. The Master Sword fell out of his fingers onto the ground, and he dropped to his knees. Leaning back, he gazed helplessly up into Malon's lifeless stone face.
"She wasn't supposed to get hurt," Link muttered. He did not cry, for he had no tears left to shed, but his voice was tinged with misery and regret. Zelda, having regained her posture, glided up behind him and lay a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Can't you do anything to save her?" Link asked desperately. Zelda shook her head.
"Only the Goddesses have the power to overturn death," she said sadly. "I'm sorry." Link was silent. He couldn't admit that she was really gone, but somewhere deep inside of him, he knew that he had lost her.
Link knelt there for as long as he could, silently mourning for Malon and the times that they would never again experience. Eventually, Zelda walked around to kneel in front of him.
"Link, I must now return to my own time," she said. Link blinked in surprise.
"What? How?"
"The Ocarina of Time can send me back to the age that I left," she replied. "Link, my people need me. I left them without any means of protection against the evils that still plague the land."
Sadly, Link nodded, pulling the sky blue ocarina out of his pocket and placing it in Zelda's open hands. It had been this same ocarina that he's found in his hand almost a month ago after having a vision of the temple he was now in. It had been this ocarina that had released Ganon and Dark Link, letting them run freely through Hylia. This ocarina…
Surprisingly, Link was relieved when Zelda took the ocarina from him. It had been like a weight on his mind, a reminder of what he'd seen and experienced. Without it, he felt like he was starting over again. Zelda brought the ocarina to her lips slowly and gracefully.
"Wait," Link blurted out suddenly. What am I doing? he asked himself, unsure about what he was about to do. "Take me with you." Zelda's eyes widened in shock.
"Please," Link pleaded. "I can't stay here like this, pretending that nothing ever happened. I'm the Hero of Time. I need to be protecting Hyrule wherever…or whenever it needs me."
Zelda knelt there, staring at Link for a long time. Finally, she nodded.
Without a word, she brought the ocarina back up to her lips and blew. The sound that erupted out of the ocarina was both powerful and beautiful. It colored the temple around them, arousing Link's emotions in a maelstrom of love, sadness, and joy. The feelings tore unchecked through Link's mind, threatening to drive him mad, but the ecstasy that soared within him was more powerful, and more beautiful than any fleeting passion.
Time seemed to shudder, and the temple around him faded away in a flash of blue light. He was falling, falling toward a new time, a new beginning. Link closed his eyes.
I am the Hero of Time!
"O' rejoice! Nation unawares!
O' lament! Hero of Time!
May he find the melodious tune!
May he find the Sands of Time!"