Chapter Eleven: Last Nights

Title: LoZ: The Time Keeper

Chapter: 11

Author: Hikari no Vikki

Genre: Romance

Parings: Link x Zelda / OC x Shadow

Disclaimer: Long story short: I don't own it.

Description: Previously known as Divine Impurity. Following the events of Ocarina of Time, a girl with a legacy she knows nothing about joins the fight against Ganon. She falls in love with the Hero's shadow, and finds herself caught up in a war that seems impossible to win.

Author's Notes-

Wow, getting close! I've never felt so close to completing something since Shadow Watcher for a long while!

Oh, I don't know if I answered your question properly, Nekoi, so here it is. The purpose behind Link and Shadow's yami/hikari bond is something of a secret, but you will definitely see it during the final battle, though more than likely you'll see it in Part II and not Part I. But their bond does have a purpose! Whether it can actually be justified is up to the readers, though.

EDIT: Added more meat to the conversation between Victoria and her mother. Some things are explained and whatnot that Victoria mentions after the battle that I felt should be explained. There's only so much I can chalk up to 'Cronos knowledge' you know. And some grammar issues, too, like usual.

This time Shadow was the first to awaken. He sat up slowly, propping himself up with his left hand pressed onto the cold stone of the platform behind him, his right hand wiping the sleep from his eyes. It was strange, he realized, how close they were as friends, and in Victoria's case, more than that. Perhaps that was what traveling together did to you. Hmm.

As he looked across the sands that lay before the Colossus, shimmering brilliantly in the dusty dawn, he felt a sense of calm about him as well that he knew hadn't been there before.

He wasn't anxious about the upcoming battle he knew that they would have to attempt one of these days. Or would it be today? He frowned. Honestly, he was sure it wouldn't happen today. On the other hand, however, there was still some unfinished business that they had, all of them. They were all hoping to seal up some things before they started to march up to their would-be deaths. They didn't want to leave anything incomplete.

"It's strange, isn't it?" said a voice that didn't surprise Shadow in the least, "How can we feel so calm when we know the hardest challenge is yet to come?" Shadow looked back over his left shoulder and half shrugged, meeting Victoria's curiously tranquil eyes.

"I'm not sure. Emotions are bound to heat up, when we fight, at least. This sense of peace we're feeling must be natural, a sort of coping mechanism. Well, it's got to be that, if not the work of the goddesses." He smiled, his eyes wistful. She nodded, drawing her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs and setting her chin on top.

"Wait."

Shadow's head half turned to the right, and Victoria's gaze slowly swept the stone until they found Link. He was awake, a wild but tame feeling emanating from his fierce spirit, his blue eyes gleaming in the rising sun's light.

"There's still things we need to do. A few things we need to finish."

Victoria nodded, unclasping her legs and letting them lay against one another, her knees pointing towards the direction of the two young men. "There's someone I want to see," she said softly, absently, "several, in fact. Though they're all in Kakariko. Only one should be a little difficult to find, seeing as the last time I saw him was seven years ago."

She thought of Sam, her long-forgotten friend of a past that seemed so distant now. She longed to see him safe, and wondered, strangely, how much he'd changed since his childhood.

Neither of the two young men knew what she was talking about. Shadow had an inkling as his thoughts occasionally brushed hers, but nothing more.

They simply assumed she was getting her thoughts together, and speaking them out loud was the most common way she had of going about it. They had a lot of things they needed to get together.

"I have someone to see too," said Link, "but only one. Perhaps I could give Malon a hand for a day, too, just for old times sake." He laughed. It wasn't quite a bitter laugh, but there was a hint of bitterness to it, Victoria could tell.

"Old times… perhaps that's what they are. I don't want to go back, not really." Link was doing much the same as Victoria, speaking to organize his thoughts, though it was more or less part of the transparent conversation that was going on that would only become solid for a few moments before wavering again.

"I can't go back," Victoria sighed, "my mother's power won't allow it. Her powers are quickly catching up with me, and sometimes it's painful. Those nightmares I've been having… her powers are the cause. To go back and try to be a child again… perhaps it might be possible but I'd be in… so much pain. At best I'd still only have the nightmares, but I'd probably have them every night, unlike the occasional ones I'm getting now." She shivered. Going back also meant going back to that empty house, alone.

She really didn't want to do that.

Shadow's head turned in her direction. He knew exactly how painful and terrifying her nightmares were, and the thoughts that went unspoken in her head. She was remembering the previous one now, at this exact moment, and he was catching glimpses of it. It wasn't a pretty sight.

"I don't know where I would fit into it all." He said at last, hoping to provide them a momentary distraction. "Ganondorf murdered my parents and had my curse placed on me before the door of time was unlocked. Where would I be? Still in the desert, being raised by the Gerudos, but with no Ganon in the picture? At best, that's all I can come up with, and I don't even want to think about the worst." He shuddered, and both Link and Victoria sent waves of comfort towards him, though he could truly only feel Victoria's. She seemed to sympathize with him very much on that front. That creeping loneliness. She inched closer to him and threaded the fingers of their hands together. For now, at least, they didn't have to be alone.

Link watched the sun slowly begin to creep up.

"We should leave soon. I've learned that the day passes quickly in the desert, and the nights are long. It would be nice to get moving so we can make it back before twilight, at least."

The others agreed.

.oOo.

And so they made it back just before twilight like they wanted, in time to receive a hearty welcome from the Gerudos.

"Namali!" Shadow exclaimed, "We don't really…" Namali, Nabooru's now bright, spunky second-in-command, had to insist. "You've freed the temple from its darkness. Leave it be, I tell you, just let us give you this." She laughed under her breath shakily. "The other Gerudo need it too, but really, you're just the excuse."

Shadow scoffed, while Victoria laughed softly and Link was staring at Namali with a strange skeptical glare.

"Well isn't that nice…" Shadow muttered. Victoria took him by his left arm and giggled. "Come now, Shadow, this ought to be fun! I thought you wanted to show me one of the desert dances anyway, right?" She took a quick stock of the atmosphere and sighed contentedly. Something about the air seemed very welcoming, congratulatory, almost. She liked feeling this way, as an adult. It was the closest she'd ever come to feeling truly herself.

Shadow, realizing he was trapped, had to submit.

"All right, all right, I'll show you. It's kind of hard to explain, though. Really, if you just listen to the music and let it take you…" His eyes already had this excited, far-off glaze that Victoria couldn't help but wonder at. "Hello! Come back to Hyrule for me will you? You haven't even shown me yet!" He shook his head to shake off the pre-glaze of the desert dancing and took her over behind the boxes.

"Now, now," he said, catching her mischievous look, "this is not what you think. I'm only giving you as basic run-through as I possibly can, all right? The rest you have to do on your own. That's what makes it so…fun is the only word I can think of. Interesting might be better." He took her hands and held them out in front of them, the two standing only a single pace apart.

"Now, unclasp your hands, and hold them behind your back. Tap your left foot along with the beat to get yourself started. Or right. It doesn't really matter."

Victoria did and closed her eyes. Shadow was doing it too, she could hear.

"Now once the music starts up, start swaying left and right, giving it just a touch of… ah, personality. But not enough to let anything on. It's just for show."

She could hear his voice as though it were coming from far away, very distant. Music hadn't even actually started but somehow, deep in her bones, she could hear it. But she wanted to show everyone she could do it. She forced herself to come back, back to his velvet voice and flickering blue-red orbs.

"I, I think I got it," she said, out of breath, "let's go dance."

Shadow grinned. "You sure? All right. Let's go dance." She paused, holding up a hand, when she went over to one of the Gerudo, who led her into a room and walked out after a moment. "And you can keep them if you want! It's not like we'll ever use them."

When she came back out, Shadow blinked, stunned. Somehow, her Sheikah garb had become a lovely scarlet, sashaying set of skirts, and a simple white over shirt tucked into the waistband. "Wow," he whistled, completely taken aback. She laughed, shyly taking his hand and blushing fiercely. "I wanted to look the part for a dance. Like my mother always used to when she danced with my father." Shadow was still speechless. The magic of the dance of the desert had taken him in. She looked better this way, he thought, more at home than he'd ever seen her, about to perform for an audience, albeit a just as taken mob of dance magicked Gerudo.

As the music started up, the drums beating and the various other instruments starting up and joining, she even started to sing as they twirled around and around, stamping their feet together as one, and not stopping. They were too far-gone with the magic of the music, and even Shadow was laughing. He had not danced in a very long while, never had he been so exhilarated.

Link, however, was not dancing. He was in an all right mood, but dancing just wasn't his thing. At least dancing alone wasn't, and he wasn't comfortable with dancing with someone he didn't know, like some could be. So he was standing at the cliff that was above the passage into the camp, his arms folded and his blue orbs staring into the large, bright moon.

"Not the dancing type?" a familiar voice asked.

Nabooru walked up beside him, much to his surprise. "I didn't think you could come out of the chamber," he said, still staring at the moon. She smiled. "We can. We just need to be there so our powers that we've given to you can have the most effect. So, not the dancing type? You should be enjoying yourself, kid."

She had put her hands on her hips and was throwing a smirk his way. He laughed shortly and turned his head to her. His smile was a small one, but it was there. "Not really, no." Nabooru nodded, still grinning. "At least, not alone?" He nodded, his mouth stiffening, but in an agreeing manner. "Yeah, pretty much." Then she chuckled. "But you could dance with someone else… you don't always have to dance alone. Or is there simply someone in particular you'd rather dance with? Like say… the Princess?"

He coughed, momentarily choking on his own spit, but regaining his composure quickly. He had been mulling over that very thing just a little while ago, but his fantasies were surely not something he wanted to discuss, especially with Nabooru.

"You're blushing, kid. You're paler than death so even in moonlight it's quite easy to see. You like her, don't you?"

He sighed. "More than I should. She's a princess. And, well, I only saw her once or twice, and we were just kids. I don't know what she looks like now. And me? I'm no one. I'd never be able to…" The words 'marry her' didn't make it past his lips, for his unbreakable courage had faltered for a single moment, locking his brain and making speech impossible.

Nabooru erupted into a fit of laughter, not stopping for several minutes. "You're really something, kid. Tell you what, take this, and come back when you're ready to thank me." A bottle of sweet smelling desert liquids appeared in her right hand out of nowhere and she thrust it into his unwilling hands.

"What?" He turned the bottle to get a better look at its contents and his face burned. "Nabooru, I can't…" She shushed him. "Keep it, kid. I mean it. Otherwise I'll just keep coming back and returning it to you. Get past the fact that you've only seen her once or twice and you were a kid then. You. Like. Her. And you are someone, so just keep it." Her grin grew wider, if it was at all possible. "And when the time is right; use it."

And then she just left; just like that.

Link was staring out into space for the longest time until a very ruffled-looking Shadow came up to him and brought him back to Earth. "Hey man, I saw. Nabooru can really be pushy can't she?" Link shook his head and blinked, stuffing the oil into his hat. "Yeah, yeah she can be."

Shadow laughed. "You've really got it bad, man." Link sighed. "Yeah, I know."

.oOo.

The next day found them at the forest, where Link insisted he go in alone.

"I'll be back soon so we can head to Kakariko. Or would you rather we go to the ranch and help out a little?" Shadow shrugged. "Would be nice to do something that doesn't involve fighting for a change. Kakariko can wait, can't it, love?" Victoria nodded. "It's not going anywhere."

Link nodded back and entered the Kokiri Forest.

He was able to sneak past the Kokiri, who were playing and laughing as usual, unaware of the dangers of the outside, chattering over how cute the Deku Sprout was, etcetera.

"It really hasn't changed, much," he mused, "whereas I would've been growing up while everyone stayed small. I wonder where I would've gone after that…" He slipped into the Lost Woods with little to no problem at all. Listening for the loudest music, he made his way to the clearing with the pond that led to Zora's River.

There sat a depressed Mido, mulling over the kid he'd bullied a while back.

"I wonder if he knows I'm sorry…" he said to no one in particular.

Link chose that particular moment to speak. "I do know, Mido." Mido spun around, not expecting anyone to reply. He had been sitting Indian style with his legs crossed, so to whip around his right hand had to grip the grass rather tightly.

"Oh, it's you, Mister." He said, still not getting it. "You know her song so you can go on ahead." He turned back from Link to watch the fish in the pond swim around and around each other.

"Mido," Link said softly, walking towards him and crouching down, "look!" He took one of Mido's hands, so much smaller than his own, adult hand. "It's me, Link!" Mido turned and met his eyes. His bright yellow-blond hair fell in front of them, but it didn't matter. The fairy fluttering around his green-hatted head told it all.

He gasped.

"It is you!" For a few moments, there was no sound except Link sitting down on the ground with his long adult legs in front of him, the bottoms of his boots just barely touching the water. Dirt flaked off and disappeared in the liquid, sullying its clearness for a few moments, but coming back in the end.

It was Mido who spoke first.

"I didn't realize that you were…" "Hylian? Perhaps that's what you saw in me that was different." Link knew he was talking to a child. A very old child (though he wasn't sure how old) but a child nonetheless.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry for all that. You're…" A small smile played on his lips before his head shot up and his eyes sparked with light. "You're really cool, Link! You're my hero!" Link smiled. Mido was the only one he didn't mind calling him Hero. As long as he was his hero and not a hero.

"I'm honored, Mido. Thank you for telling me that." Sensing his visit was over, he stood up. Looking down, smiling, he said finally, "You look after yourself, okay?" And he left, Mido looking after him, blinking.

.oOo.

Link made his way back to Victoria and Shadow, and they set off for Lon Lon Ranch. When they arrived, there seemed to be complete chaos, only to find Malon had it under control.

"Easy there, Talon," Link eased, "it's just a loose cow, right? Malon can handle it… right?" Talon shook his head. "Tempered cows aren't the most dangerous things in the world, but only I know how to calm 'em. This 'ere is Malon's first try. I'm just worried."

Victoria cocked and eyebrow. "Why would you be worried? She the strongest woman I know. And she is your daughter."

Talon sighed. "That's why I'm worried. Un-tempering the cows was about the only thing I actually did around here before, cause Malon was too young or inexperienced. I'm suspecting that even Ingo did it when he kicked me out, since, well, he pretty much had my little girl tied up…"

Link nodded, watching Malon and the bucking young cow. "Reminds me of Epona when I first tried to touch her. Would Epona's Song work on the cows? Or do we just watch and wait?"

Talon shrugged. "That song's a last ditch attempt. Malon can whistle it if she 'as to, but she wants ta do this the proper way and that's why I'm afraid she's gonna get hurt." Victoria nodded. "I getcha now."

Link thought that something was going to happen that would have him intervene but it never happened. The cow calmed down and Malon got off.

"Hey guys!" she said, waving, "Why are you here at this time of day?"

Link shrugged. "We wanted to know if you needed help with anything. Moving hay bales, cleaning stalls… or are you fine here?" Malon rubbed her chin. "As a matter of fact I do think you can help us with something. Papa? How 'bout we let him have a go at Star? You know, the one I couldn't tame?"

Talon shrugged again, scratching his burly, hairy arms.

"Well, it depends. Say kid? Has Malon ever showed you how to break a yearling?" Link scratched his mind, remembering a time when a younger Malon showed him.

"They'll buck and buck but you can't show weakness. All ya really gotta do is show 'em whose boss."

Link nodded, blanching at the memory. "Yeah, when we were younger."

Talon brought them in to see the yearling. Shadow gasped. "Well that explains it. This horse has desert breeding. No wonder you couldn't tame it. Let me have a try." Malon tilted her head. "Desert breeding? How can you tell?" Shadow traced the long legs and prominent high cheekbones in the air with his finger. "The legs are for walking on sand, and the cheekbones place the teeth in a better position for chewing desert grasses. This is a desert-bred horse. I wonder how you people found it."

Malon shrugged. "She just wandered in like Epona did. Maybe you can tame her before the sun fades."

And that's just what he did. He was a little bloody and bruised, but Victoria cleaned that up in no time. "I can't believe you did it." She said. He laughed. "Nothing to it. I don't know what I am or where I come from, but I'm a desert boy, no doubt. Always will be."

Later that night after they'd eaten, Victoria found herself back in the stables, sitting on the board that ran the south side of the building, her arms folded gently over one another. The moon was shining brightly through the window she was looking through, up at the light, but it was of no notice to her. She wondered many things, about her mother, whom she desperately needed to talk to, her boss, who she still didn't know what she was going to say to, and her friend. Not Link, Sam. Was he even still alive? Was he still in Hyrule? Perhaps the Potion Shop would be a good place to start.

She heard the door of the stables open, the quiet creaking making her right ear twitch. She didn't need to look to see who it was. It was getting easier to tell now.

"You look like you've got a lot on you mind." Shadow said. Then he laughed. "Wait, I know you do. Your thoughts are so…concentrated. It happens when you're worried, too, I've noticed."

Victoria didn't really want to say anything. Except perhaps to whirl on him and tell him to hurry up and put his arms around her waist already. There was another laugh. "All right, all right. If that's what you really want… you could listen to me talk for forever couldn't you?" A smile began to creep into her lips and she blew through her nostrils in a quiet chuckle.

"I suppose," she said softly, "It really depends on what you're talking about." He sat behind her, spooning against her back, his arms wrapped around her tight. "Does it now? So I could talk forever about my life seven years before this, my attendant in the castle whom I'm not sure is alive or not…" Here he paused, gripping her tighter. She smiled, leaning back and melding her neck against his.

"Tell me about your attendant," she whispered. Then she kissed the back of his ear ever so gently, pulling back around to meet his eyes.

"Well," he began, "his name was Arthur. He had these strange, red-violet eyes, kind of like yours." Shadow looked back. "Actually, they were a lot like yours." He blinked. The facial resemblance between them was so similar, but it was still mostly her mother. "He always said he had a daughter who would be about my age, if he knew she were alive. I think he showed me a picture, once. He was a good artist so he must've painted it himself."

"What did he do for you? Was he a servant?" she asked, merely curious, neither knowing that they were talking about her father.

"Yes," Shadow said, nodding, "he was. He cleaned my rooms, made my food when I wasn't eating with Ganondorf, which was, as the years wore on, quite frequent. Now that I'm thinking back, I remember his hair was very much the same color as yours, though he kept it long and bound in a ponytail so it wouldn't get in the way. He looked as though he could've once been someone dangerous, but had been forced to change and learn humility." He laughed. "I once asked him why he never cut his hair and he told me that it was simply because he couldn't find anything sharp to cut it with. He didn't let it grow to his waist, as awesome and funny as that might've been, but he kept it mid-shoulder blade length, simply because he could. He must've been some kind of magic user, I think. He couldn't have been able to keep it that length otherwise."

Victoria watched Shadow as he talked about this Arthur, who Victoria couldn't figure out why she felt seemed more like an old friend than someone she was only just now hearing about. Shadow was laughing and moving his hands about – he was very animated with his hands when he spoke – until finally a familiar dark presence began to creep inside his eyes.

"But, you see, I don't know what my leaving has done to him. Was he punished just because he spent the most time with me, or worse, was he killed? I can't… I can't even think about it."

A mental image brushed between their minds as she asked him what was wrong. The image was of the rugged but refined servant with red hair and red-violet eyes, and a wise, chiseled face. It was an impossible picture that Victoria couldn't believe that she'd seen. No, he was dead, she saw him die, hadn't she? She shook her head. Now it was Shadow's turn to ask if she was all right.

"Really, I'm fine. I just saw a picture in my mind – it must've come from you – and it reminded me of someone, that's all." Then she chuckled softly. "You know, the closer we get the better we have to restrain ourselves from looking into each other's minds. We need some ground rules on this heartline issue." Shadow nodded. "Right. And you have them all laid out, I presume?"

She laughed. It was as if a light and lit up and glowed from her whole being, or perhaps it was just the moonlight.

"Well, maybe I do, maybe I don't." She knew she was being… what was it? Coy. That was it. But she didn't mind the carelessness with which she teased him. It seemed very natural to her, though it bothered her slightly that it did. Still, she remembered what she'd told herself the moment she'd decided to pursue a… romantic relationship with Shadow. She'd agreed to move away from being a child, and take on the responsibilities of the adult she could sense that she was quickly becoming.

Still, it saddened her at what she was to lose.

Oblivious to her train of thought, Shadow smiled. Somehow, he knew what she'd meant. The longer they spent together, the more they talked and laughed with each other, the deeper their love grew. He could feel that his heart beat only for her, as cheesy as that sounded, and it wasn't just the heartline magic talking.

"So what are they?" he asked her, running his gauntlet-covered fingers through her hair, her silky tresses brushing against wherever skin showed. She forced herself to remain in the conversation so Shadow wouldn't notice anything amiss.

"Well, I'd like our minds to be kept as separate as possible. Kind of like a 'you stay out of my business and I'll stay out of yours' thing. But our souls are another matter." She lay against him, feeling his warm, comforting heat.

"They can be as close as they like."

"Souls are even more intimate than our physical beings. Marriage is just a physical front for the world, though it is also a very intimate experience you should only have with that one person or not at all." She reached up to twirl her fingers through his hair, which was beginning to return to an all black hue. The yellow-blond bangs were disappearing, though they were still there, as were the chocolate brown tips, though they were more present still.

"You really believe that?" he asked her in a curiously surprised voice that was more curious than surprised.

She nodded with conviction. "Yes. Don't you?"

He wasn't sure, to be honest, but for her sake, he'd tell her the truth. "I don't really know. I wish I could lie and say that I did, or even better, I wish I could say it and mean it, but… I don't." His stroking was still going on, she observed, which was a good sign, though his soul was shivering with uncertainty.

"It's okay," she said softly. "At least you have the good intentions of not spoiling me for marriage, even if it is eventually to you. I suppose that counts." With a short happy sigh of finality she looked back at the farmhouse. "Let's go get some sleep. Good sleep. For if these are our last nights of living, let them be great ones, right?" Shadow couldn't agree more.

.oOo.

It was the next day, and Link and Shadow were leaning against Composers Flat and Sharp's graves, while waiting for Victoria to finish speaking to her mother.

She'd already visited her boss – what a story they'd had to tell him – and he understood. "I'll find someone to fill for ya," he'd told her, "don't you worry. Ya know, I think most people know that you three are our only hope 'ere. Good luck to ya, okay?"

She would take that luck to heart, surely.

"Mother?"

Victoria tip toed quietly into her mother's chamber, still wary of the coldness that the room contained. It bothered her none, but she felt it very odd to watch one's breath flow out into puffs of vapor, yet her skin was as warm it it might've been on a fine summer day.

Sylvia sighed a little, but managed to keep it to herself. "Yes darling? Is there something you wanted of me?"

Victoria frowned, walking as close as she dared to the stream of light Sylvia stood in and sat down in front of it, curling her feet underneath her skirts. "I don't actually know. I suppose I wanted to talk to you about a few things… namely about the decision to, er… stay." She reckoned that she looked terribly uncomfortable asking this particular question. She did not know her mother as well as she had her father to be so familiar with her, but her adult character was so forward with her words it was hard not to withhold them from Sylvia.

"Stay?" Sylvia wondered, quite perplexed at her meaning. "What do you mean by that?" For indeed, the question had many meanings.

Victoria slowly turned her head towards her mother as she sighed deeply. The intensity her gaze held was much different than the childlike stare she'd given throughout her last visit here. It was harder, more concrete.

"I understand that my question means a lot, but I think I can sum it up pretty neatly in just two points." She held up two fingers to emphasize her words. "The first is… you." She frowned, frustrated. "I don't know how to explain it, really, other than the fact that you stand before me now, though you've explained to me clearly that you're no longer alive." Sylvia laughed. "Well, it's not really a question more than it is a statement, but I can give you an answer. I appear before you now through a magic of my own devising. It is crude, but I'm sure you could perfect it in such a way that does not require the presence of a physical place, and instead, turn it into an object, like a mirror."

Victoria raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying that you bound yourself to this place so that I would have you available to me whenever I needed you?"

"In a way," her mother assured her, "but not so clear-cut as that. The moment you set foot in the corridor that leads here, I instantly appear here. I cannot always be here, because I have duties in the Kingdom. But I do come here when you have need of me. It would be better if I had an object to speak to you through, but I don't. I didn't have the time, and the magic's already set. That's why I hope you'll perfect the spell, so that you could use something portable to talk to your Princess through, when you come to be Queen."

Victoria frowned. "I should hope that day is very far from today.'

"As do I," Sylvia sighed. "At least I had you before my death. I would not wish the decision of choosing someone else to take on this terrible mantle."

"Terrible? Is it really so?" Sylvia shook her head. "No, but I was born into it. It's different for someone who it is thrust upon, as I'm sure you must feel." Victoria shrugged. "At first, but it got easier to wrap my head around as the days passed. Anyway, we're getting away from things… you've answered my first question, but my second…" she trailed off, silent.

"Go on," Sylvia pressed gently.

Victoria waited a moment, as she put her thoughts in order. "If we do defeat Ganondorf, how real is the possibility that Princess Zelda will want us to turn back the years so that we can regain the time that we've lost?" Sylvia is quiet. "Well, she'd better not propose such a question!" Victoria blinked. "Mother, are you all right?" Sylvia blinked, and took stock of herself. She shook her head slowly.

"Forgive me, even though I do not know her as well as I know you, she is still my daughter as much as you are. But, to purely answer your question, I am certain it will be the first thing out of her mouth once Ganondorf is defeated. She will feel guilty for the weight she pressed on the Hero, and will want to pay him back for her personal crimes."

Victoria nodded. "But I would think that the consequences of that would be… bad. I don't know why, I just feel that way." She seemed awkward as she said this, quiet and reserved. Sylvia frowned.

"And it is right that you should. Let me tell you this; there are links in the universe that tie the laws of it together. A few of them are called links of time, and one of the greater ones runs directly through the Sacred Realm. Her plan, I believe, is to imprison him there, but such a dark will, if he finds that link, will cause a terrible destruction on Hyrule, if not the universe, should he come across it. You wouldn't be able to repair the damages as a child, not with the nightmares and the magic that would tear it your insides until you could no longer hold yourself together…"

"I would… disappear? Cease to exist?"

There was a distinct high pitch tone to her voice, and her sun-kissed skin had turned a sickly shade of white. Tears prickled in her eyes and the child-like quality from before had crept back into their depths. Sylvia wanted nothing more to console her child, but she had to tell her what must be done. Then she would comfort her.

"I'm afraid so, darling. Not only that, but the universe would begin to fall apart, unless one of the other Keepers found a way to keep it together. And me, for all my status, well, I have no power here. I could do nothing but watch it's destruction until it ate me, too. My sweet child, whatever ideals you hold for the Princess, they must cease to be at the moment she brings that idea up. To avoid a universal Armageddon, you must refuse her command. You do, technically outrank her. Once she realizes the truth of it, I'm sure she'll understand, and will put the idea out of her mind."

Victoria seemed to be comforted by that. She would make the Princess see reason, wherever she was. She was good at that.

"Just remember, child, that whatever happens, happens, and as long as you have a will, there too, is a way." Sylvia knelt down, and opened her arms to her daughter. Victoria took the opportunity, and Sylvia took her little girl in her arms. There was no warmth – a symbol of her out-of-this-world-ness – but it was not the alien kind. It was more the not dead but dead kind.

It didn't really matter. It was the gesture that counted. Victoria nodded. "I see. All I really needed was that, I think. Just to be reassured." She separated from her mother and stood up, wiping dirt from her skirts – the very same skirts she'd danced in at the desert, though they had been washed.

"Thank you, mother." Sylvia shook her head as her daughter walked away.

"No, little one, I thank you. I am happy to a have answered your questions."

Victoria smiled to herself as the door closed behind her.

In no time she was up and out the hole, brushing the dirt from her hair. "So, that's it?" Shadow asked her. "Yeah. I just need to hear something I already knew. It'll be fine. Now… where could he be?" Link's eyebrows furrowed. "Who exactly are we looking for?"

She turned to him. "Do you remember Sam? Samuel, really, but I called him Sam? He was the potions master's apprentice. I wonder where he is…"

Shadow smiled. "Did it ever occur to you that he could be in the exact same place you left him?" She scowled. "The thought did cross my mind. But I last saw him disappear into a fire; I hadn't thought it was a likely possibility." Shadow did see her point there. He flashed another, more tender smile. "Well, it couldn't hurt to check, love."

So she did. They walked around for a little while to actually find the place (the entrance was somewhat hidden) and suddenly she found herself at the door, her knuckles poised to knock. But she found she couldn't. "I haven't seen him in years… what if he's forgotten me?" Link laughed. "How could he? How could anyone forget you?"

She scowled again, this time in a playful manner. "Stop that now…" she teased. But then she shook her head. This had to be done.

The knocks were slow and deliberate. When the door finally opened there stood a tall, well-built man with straight, stiff, shoulder-length black hair and ice blue eyes in a white coat. "Sam?" Victoria asked quietly, "Is that you?" The man's eyes furrowed. "Yes, I am called Sam. More often I'm Samuel, but yes. And who might you be?" She sighed.

"Don't you remember, Sam? It's me, Victoria! We grew up together!"

Sam's eyes looked off, as if remembering something, and then a light went off in his mind. "No… you can't be… you – why, you went missing ages ago!" She grinned. "So you do remember. And I've been back for quite some time, or have you not noticed?" Sam shook his head, laughing through his teeth.

"Well I ah, don't go out much. I usually send my apprentice to do grocery runs, but… well… where are my manners? Come in, come in! I do keep the place clean, you know." Victoria laughed. "Always the neat freak. I don't know if it will be for long. I just want to tell you some things." Sam ran a hand through his hair. "What kind of things? You sound like this is going to take you a while."

So she explained everything. It did take a while.

Sam was chopping some onions for a soup while Victoria chattered on. Link and Shadow were talking to his apprentice, a short girl with vivid green eyes and bright blond hair about the events that had passed the last seven years.

"So that's where you were," Sam said softly, "the whole time. But your body was-" "-taken care of. My mother assured me that. Without a soul or a heart, I was just a shell. My mind still functioned, but I've yet to access any memories it may have recorded. Not that I want to see them. But you do understand now, yes? What we have to do?" Sam nodded firmly. "I only just now got you back…" He sighed, chopping slightly faster. "All I can do is hope that you'll win. And if you can, escape with your life."

She smiled, leaning on the counter. "You do understand, Sam. I know you do. You simply shimmer with it." She put a hand to his left shoulder. Her eyes were clear and held a certain calm that hadn't been there before. She was different, and yet she was still his best friend.

"Yes, I do." Her smile grew. But he waved the knife as he spoke, done with his chopping. "But that doesn't mean I don't want you to go!"

She just laughed.

.oOo.

Later, back at her father's house, Victoria lay spooned against Shadow in her parents' bed. Link had opted to take the couch instead of the dusty guest bed she'd found. She told herself she's have to clean it with a quick spell in the morning.

Shadow was asleep, of course, but she obviously wasn't.

The memory of that image still haunted her. Somehow she knew she'd seen her father's face, and that she would see it again very soon. But she was quickly taken into sleep's arms, and so passed her possibly last night of living.

That last bit is simply just to end it. From the ending of Link and Mido's meeting onward this chapter simply drug on. I mean, it was like walking through mud with a headache. (I actually had the headache.)

It kind of sped up a little during Victoria and Shadow's heart to heart, but not much. Ugh. I just wanted to update because I won't be able to for a week. I'm leaving for my cousins house this weekend, but, you see, I don't have a laptop and I don't want to hog his all day by writing, so… yeah. But, well, I'll still be able to draw and such, so maybe when I get back I can upload stuff to deviantART.

If you could that would also be nice.