THE SOUND OF TWO HEARTBEATS
"You've almost got it," Kin told him for the tenth time. "You need to loosen up. Try and feel the notes."
Link growled, tempted to hurl the flute into the distance and watch it sink into the ocean. I swear, if she tells me to 'feel the notes' one more time... he didn't bother to finish the unspoken threat. Frustrated, he brought the instrument back up to his lips and tried the scale one more time.
As he'd predicted, their night had been undisturbed, though both Link and Kin still found it difficult to sleep with visions of ghosts haunting their dreams. After a short breakfast, they resumed their circuit of the island, hoping that Navi would sense whomever Valoo had sent them to find while they walked the island beaches. To pass the time, Kin had resumed Link's music lessons.
"Gah!" Link yelled. "Why must this be so difficult?!"
"You can take a break if you'd like," Kin suggested.
"No, I want to get it," Link replied, already focused on trying to produce a stronger sound from the instrument.
Kin giggled. "Alright then, control your breathing. Do not blow so powerfully; in this, you must be gentle."
Link's progress was painfully slow. He was thankful, though, that Kin never showed any frustration or disappointment. In fact, it almost seemed like his difficulty with the instrument pleased her.
The rest of the day progressed much the same, with no luck from Navi in finding the 'warden of the waves.' That evening after they returned to the camp, Kin busied herself experimenting with different arrangements on her harp. Link barely listened, still engrossed in mastering the basics of his own instrument, but whenever he glanced over, he saw she would play for a bit, shake her head discontentedly, and then try again. Occasionally, she scribbled some figures and odd looking diagrams down on a piece of parchment.
That night was again mercifully uninterrupted by unseen eyes.
The next day passed the same way, then the next. The day after that, they finished their circuit of the island, and began exploring the interior for a cove or secret lake. As they walked, Link would struggle with his flute, and Kin would lose herself in her own thoughts, occasionally offering advice on his progress. Then, each night, Link would prepare dinner, sometimes fish for an hour or two if they craved fresh meat, and practice his instrument while Kin sat down with her harp. He couldn't help but wonder what she was working on.
As the days passed, Link was surprised to find he was actually making progress with his flute. By the time a week had gone, he was able to get a strong sound from the instrument nearly every time, and he had even begun learning a simple ditty from Kin.
"What's this song called, anyway?" Link asked as they returned to camp after yet another fruitless day of searching.
"The Man with Two Asses," Kin replied with a straight face.
Link sighed. "Of course it is."
For the first time since they'd arrived, Kin did not dive straight into her harp, instead helping Link prepare their evening meal. Link's thoughts turned inward as they ate. Finally he said, "If we don't find anything tomorrow then I'm setting sail for Hyrule. There's no purpose in wasting any more time here, no matter what the dragon said."
"Are you sure?" Kin asked, uncertainly. "Valoo believed this would be your only chance to save Princess Zelda."
"Maybe. But I cannot save her if she is already dead, no matter what we might have discovered here."
"What about Malon?" Kin asked quietly. "The Sands of Time. The key."
Link lay back onto the grass, gazing up at the clouds as they passed above him. Their slow movement across the sky made the stone spire they sat beneath appear to move. "I don't know," he finally admitted. His voice was strained. "I would sacrifice the entire kingdom for her, and she would hate me for it." Link cringed. "Or at least, I want to think I would, yet when I consider it, my hands shake and my stomach turns. Perhaps I cannot have what I so desire. Perhaps I don't deserve it."
He hid his face in his hands, not wanting the bard to see his pain. Above all else, one thing gripped his heart and tore at his spirit. It was the reason for his fall to drunkenness and the source of his cruelty.
"I cannot see her face."
The words ripped at him, burnt him as though his skin was set afire. He hated it. He hated himself. "It is like she is shrouded in fog, and I'm terrified that one day she will fade from my mind entirely. I think, even after all I've done to her – after all the pain I've put her through – I could live with myself, but this..." his voice cracked. "I cannot face her like this! I can't, and I was a fool to think I ever could! I cannot even remember her face!" His hands fell away from his eyes, revealing the quiet tears that fell from his cheeks. "I am a coward, and a beast. In my heart, I know I rush to Hyrule only to avoid my own wretchedness. And to avoid her."
Pain radiated off of Link like a furnace, his agony as real as the wind. Kin's eyes glistened like a mirror, and she watched the swordsman with a heart of sorrow and pity. For a long time, they sat in unbroken stillness.
"I have something for you," Kin said quietly. "Don't speak, just listen."
Slowly, she brought her harp to her chest. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and softly allowed the music to escape.
What came next was an ocean on fire. It was all at once a gentle kiss and a thunderous typhoon; a whisper and a crashing drum; a dandelion spore caught by the breeze and a passionate oak tree reaching toward the sky.
A heartbeat. Two heartbeats. They were familiar.One was his, he could feel the echo resonate and quiver. Thrum thrum thrum againsthis chest, and in his chest. It shook him, and part of his mind began to drift free.
Chord became color, his memory the canvas. An arpeggio splashed the opus, and there was light. Melody became form. Bass became shadow. Vibrato became a wisp of hair. Tempo became a blush in her cheeks.
Thrum thrum thrum. The other heartbeat. Suddenly, there she was, a phantom in his mind – a spirit within the song. For a time, he became one with the music.
'Malon.'
Together, they sat along the end of the dock. Their feet tickled the glass surface of the lake, the water set afire by the dying sun.
Her soft brown eyes held him, caressed him. 'Link,' she whispered. 'I am here. I have always been here.'
In his hand he felt her own. The gentle ridges of her fingerprints floated along his palm. 'No,' he replied. 'I had forgotten you. I let your memory disappear.'
She smiled. 'I could never leave you. I was only hidden away, buried in your heart to dull the pain.' A soft breeze rustled through her autumn hair. 'But no more.'
'I'm afraid of the pain," he whispered. 'I'm afraid to let myself hope that you can come back.'
Malon lovingly reached up and ran her hand through his long, wavy hair. 'Look at you,' she said. 'Look at how much you've grown.' Her fingers brushed his cheek. 'You are a hero. You are my hero, no matter what happens.'
'Please,' Link pleaded, 'do not make me choose the kingdom over you.'
She met his eyes sadly. 'In your heart, you have already made that choice.'
'No,' he wept, 'I need you.'
'I do not know what the future holds,' she said softly. 'But we will be together again, in this life or the next.'
'I love you,' he said. 'I wish I could have told you.'
'I already knew.'
The vision faded away into silence. Kin's fingers lay motionless upon the strings.
Into the stillness, Link wept.