Chapter 45: Dreams of a Hero
The boy blinked three times and turned in a circle, confused by his surroundings. They seemed familiar somehow, but if he had ever been here before, it must have been in a dream or vision, because the memory was too vague just then to be certain. A moment ago, he had been holding a sword that was almost as long as his body; now it rested where he had placed it: in a pedestal marked with three stone triangles. From the window above, the sun shone down on that pedestal as if to welcome the blade home.
"Where is this?" The boy noticed something floating in the air beside him. He shook his head in hopes of clearing it. "Navi? Navi…the fairy?"
The thing spun around him so fast it made him dizzy. "Link, you remembered!"
"Remembered?" He took a few tentative steps away from the sword, heading for the door opposite. Suddenly, it all crashed in on him with the force of a typhoon. "Ganon. Zelda. The Sages!"
Navi giggled. "We did it, didn't we?"
He lowered his head. "Yeah. But she sent us back through time. We could be the only ones who know what happened."
"Then you can tell them about it."
He stopped, frowning. "You mean we, don't you?"
"I did what the Great Deku Tree asked me to do, Link. Now I have to go back where I came from, too. Back to the forest."
"What if I want you to stay?" He looked at her, biting his lip. "You might be annoying sometimes, but I've gotten used to you."
"A fairy isn't supposed to be away from the forest for too long, or it might die. But we can be together if you come to live with us again. In your old house."
"I'm not a Kokiri, Navi! I mean…" He hesitated, searching for the right words. "I am a Kokiri in spirit. Saria and Mido helped me believe that. But I'm also a Hylian. There are things I want to do here among my own people."
"I know." Navi sagged in midair. "I was just hoping…"
"I'm sorry." He cupped her small body in his left hand. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I couldn't have done it not having someone to talk to the whole time and give advice. You know, things like 'hey, listen,' and 'look out!'" He smiled. "I mean it. You were a great help…and a great friend."
With a fluttering of wings, Navi drifted into the light shining on the Master Sword. "Thanks." Her voice began to fade the higher she rose toward the sun. "Goodbye, Link. We'll miss you…"
She stood alone in the courtyard, looking in through a window on the throne room as her father conferred with a delegation from the Gerudos. One of the women bowed to the King, and a porter called out the name Nabooru, Queen of the Desert. Her father returned the bow, and the two of them retired, together with their retainers, to discuss a much-rumored peace between their peoples.
The Princess of Hyrule frowned. It was everything her people could have hoped for, but something about the event seemed strange, as if it had occurred before with different faces and a very different result. But this was the first time a Gerudo Queen and the King of Hyrule had met in such a way, as far as she knew. She sighed and began puzzling over the dream that had come to her the night before.
Disjointed images rose before her. She had watched as an unnatural twilight invaded Hyrule, bringing with it dark creatures from another realm. Other segments of the dream had shown Hyrule flooded by rain, with only the tops of mountains remaining above water. She had also seen lands that were unfamiliar: one where the moon had collided with the earth, and one where a great fish lay sleeping, surrounded by eight beautiful instruments.
It would have all been compelling in and of itself, but what puzzled her most was the face she had seen again and again through each segment of the dream. It was a boy dressed in a simple green tunic. Several times, he had aged in front of her, his face and body changing a little with his environment. But always, always he wore that tunic with a sword and shield at his side as he struggled with the Darkness.
Suddenly, the dream vanished, and her eyes widened as she realized that same face was staring back at her from the throne room window, reflected from somewhere behind her, in the courtyard.
With a gasp, she spun around to face him, holding a hand beneath her chin delicately. The boy didn't speak, and though she tried to do so, for a long time she could only gaze back as he stood there and she stood there, communicating on a level far deeper than words.
And she began to remember.