A/N: The end of these revisions is so close I can almost taste it, I'm so excited!

Revised as of 14/4/14

Chapter 27: Strengths and Weaknesses

"Hey! I've been waitin' on you two! Take a peek at this!" Barnes hollered the moment he saw us enter the bomb shop. "I finished my water bombs! These little fellas are so advanced, you can even use 'em in the water!" he continued, lifting up a water bomb onto the counter for us to look at. It looked like some sort of demon-piranha with a giant black rock in its mouth.

"And...you've tested them? In water?" Link asked skeptically. I nudged him in the ribs.

"They're reliable, and handy, considering where we're going next." I said quietly.

"Oh, they'll come in handy, guaranteed. You gonna buy some?" he asked. I nodded my head.

"But, there's one little thing. How much will it cost for me to buy another bomb-bag? We only have one right now." I asked, leaning my elbow on the counter.

"Well now, I'll give you the same offer I gave your friend last time he came here. I'll give you the premium kit. One bomb bag, full of bombs, for 120 rupees." he offered. I pretended to consider it for a moment, and I nodded my head. I'd have ended up getting them anyways.

"I think I can afford that." I said, pulling the right number of rupees from the wallet, and he handed me the bomb-bag with water bombs in it. That was one issue solved, and I felt pretty good about that.

Then there was another one: putting the Zora Armour on. No way was I gonna ask Link to help, so I turned to the next-best people: the girls in the village. I didn't want to bother Ilia, so the ones that ended up helping me were Carmen, Bethany, and Telma. To my knowledge, Link was either doing it himself, or he was getting my brother's help.

The armour itself was complicated, because there were so many small parts to it, but we pretty much got it in the right order. From the smooth bodysuit to the leather guards on the thighs, to the metal scale-like mail armour, to the blue overclothes, to the leather gauntlets. Then, y'know, my pouch, sword, and my shield. I wasn't going anywhere without those.

Wait! I forgot the most important part! I got a long dangly hat like Link's, and it had the Zora headdress thing on it. I wanted to wear my normal boots, at least until we reached Lake Hylia. Then I would put on the flipper-boots.

I giggled as I swung my head side-to-side, amused by the feeling of the hat swishing around behind me. I spun in a circle and suddenly stopped, seeing the end of the hat swaying and feeling it brush on my back. I grinned at Telma, and she laughed quietly.

"No matter how old you get, you're still amused by the simplest little things." she sighed, smiling fondly. "That's all, then? You're ready to go?" she asked. I could tell that was Telma-talk for are-you-sure-you-want-to-do-this. I nodded my head.

"Renado removed the stitches this morning. Six nights undisturbed let everything heal up okay. I just can't strain it too much." I explained, knowing she was worried about the wound re-opening. Honestly, so was I. She nodded her head, a little more at ease.

"Either way, take it as easy as you can. We don't wanna lose you, honey. 'Specially since you just found your mother and Roran."

I recalled the voice from my strange dream-world, the one that said 'Our mother can't lose you again.' And I knew Telma was right. It would tear her apart to lose me again, so soon after we found each other.

"I'll be a bit more aware of my surroundings. We'll be fine." I reassured her, strapping my pouch around my waist. Suddenly I found myself trapped in a hug. From Carmen.

"If you die I'm gonna kill you.." she mumbled. I could tell she was still half asleep, not quite used to waking up as early as we did this morning. I hugged her back tightly.

"I'll come back. I may not always be in the best shape when I get here, but I'll always come back alive." I promised.

Then it was time to leave. I descended the stairs, to where Link was waiting. He was in the Zora armour as well, but he wasn't wearing the hat. I grinned at him with a wave when he saw me.

"Hey there." I greeted cheerily. "You ready to go?" I asked.

"Yeah." he said. "You?" I shrugged at him, and Renado approached us, with a bag in his hand. A glance inside revealed a few days' worth of provisions.

"If you do not know how long you will be gone, you should be prepared." he said, handing me the bag. I took it and tucked it into my pouch, watching as it got shrunk down. I didn't think I'd ever get tired of watching that.

"Thank you, Renado. We'll try to come back as soon as we can, and we'll be careful." I promised, taking Link by the wrist and leading him to the door. Epona was waiting for us, and it seemed she was packed with a pair of bedrolls. It was reasonable, since we were going at an easy pace. It had taken us awhile just to get from Castle Town to the bridge, and hours afterwards to get from the bridge to Kakariko last time we travelled. And that was going at a breakneck pace, trying to get there as quickly as we could. Now, we had time to spare. And I wasn't gonna pass up the peace and quiet very easily.

"Link?" I whispered. It was night, now, and we were right beside the bridge. We were going to go down to the lake first thing in the morning.

"Yes?"

"What happened to your family? I mean, you can't have lived by yourself in Ordon, right?" I asked. I'd been thinking about my family, how I missed my father, my brother and my mom, and I felt the need to ask. I knew playing dumb was wrong, that I shouldn't be asking this, but I couldn't stop myself. There were so many theories on earth about Link's family, I wanted the real story.

I heard him breathe heavily from where he laid beside me, and I rolled onto my side, propping my head up with my elbow so I was looking at him.

"I did, once." he whispered. There was a sad look in his eyes. "I had my parents, and... I had a sister." I remembered Rusl telling me that monsters had attacked the village, that Link's family was lost. I regretted asking now. "Her name was Aryll. She was only seven when it happened."

"I'm sorry, Link. I.. I shouldn't have asked."

As if he was taken from a trance, he quickly wiped his eyes, looking embarrassed.

"It's okay, Rose."

That did nothing to make me any less guilty about bringing up bad memories like that. With a shrug, I rolled over so I was laying on my stomach, my head on my arms. It was the only way I could get comfortable enough to sleep, apparently even here.

"Good night, Link." I murmured, just as I felt myself drifting off.

"Good night Rose."

Link was awake for quite some time after Rose fell asleep, the sting of the old memories stabbing at his heart. A part of him wanted to be angry, but he knew he wouldn't.

'There was no way she could have known.' he thought. He went back into his memory, back when everything was still normal, and happy. His eyes closed as he reached one particularly happy one.

"Link, Link! Daddy's back!" seven-year-old Aryll yelled excitedly, jumping on her sleeping brother. Well, he wasn't sleeping for much longer, actually. He jolted awake, surprised at the sudden noise and motion.

"What?" he asked groggily, rubbing his eyes. Aryll grinned.

"Daddy's back from hunting!" she squealed. A happy grin lit up Link's face as he followed Aryll out of his room. They both ran outside, disregarding the dusting of snow that was pricking their toes, and threw their arms around their father. Right before winter would settle in, it was a tradition that their father, along with the other men of the village, would go hunting for the village, so their food would last through the winter.

"Hey, there's my beautiful little girl, and there's my brave boy!" their father exclaimed, hugging them tightly. They laughed happily.

"How much did you catch, daddy?" Aryll asked.

"Oh, we got enough to last the entire village the winter, Aryll." their father assured her.

That was when things had been normal in Ordon. Happy. Then the monsters had come, less than three months later. So many people had died that night, Link's family among them, as well as Ilia's mother, Bo's wife Elaina. The only ones left were Rusl and Uli, Bo and Ilia, Jaggle and Pergie, and Sera and Hanch. And Link. They rebuilt what they could of the village, and they moved on as they could. A few months passed, and things were taking on the semblance of normal. Soon Colin, Beth, and Talo were born, and Malo followed a few years later. They were finally moving on. And then this happened, upturning that normalcy once again.

Link's last thought before falling to sleep was that he hoped if he ever had kids, that they wouldn't have to go through what he did.

I was in the Ghostly Either. Jethro was here again.

"Hello dad." I greeted, hugging him. I wrinkled my nose at the pinching feeling I felt on the arrow-wound. It was like touching a sore bruise.

"Hello, Rosalie." he greeted in return.

"Daddy," I whined, falling into a childish tone "We talked about this." I reminded him, fake pouting. He chuckled.

"So we did, Rose. Now, I have something important to talk to you about." he said..I gave him a confused look.

"What is it?" I asked.

"The extent of your magic." a new voice replied. I turned to see the Hero's Shade standing there. My eyebrows pulled together slightly, as that made me just a little more confused. What was he doing here?

"We're going to help you extend your magical capabilities." my father added, seeing my confusion. I nodded, that made sense.

"Cool. Let's get started." I said nonchalantly. The Shade nodded.

"Very good. We shall strengthen your hold on Nayru's Love. Nayru's Love greatly depends on your ability to concentrate and focus. We will not need to train with Farore's Wind, as that ability strengthens on its own over time."

I nodded my head, knowing what would happen (*cough*again*cough*) if I lost focus in a battle.

"If I don't properly envision the barrier, my lack of focus will make the shield as breakable as glass." I explained to myself aloud. The Shade and my father nodded.

"Exactly. So, he is going to conjure a ball of magic, and send it towards me. At the same time, I will be battling with these." I looked to where he gestured to see a fake bunch of those monsters Link and I had fought in the Twilight. The riders. "Your test will be to create a protective barrier between me and them, as well as the magic."

I nodded again. This couldn't be too difficult. The Shade threw the ball of magic at my father, and I imagined a thick barrier forming between Jethro and the oncoming threat. The shield seemed to be holding well until the magic impacted with it. A large crack sounded, the noise following the growing crack. I tried to mend it, but I felt myself panicking, even though I knew the monsters were an illusion.

"Rose, focus." the Shade urged. I put all of my focus into mending the barrier, and the crack sealed up.

"Did I do okay, for my first try?" I asked hopefully.

"You did well, child. You simply have to keep your focus." The Shade reassured me. "That can be achieved through practice. But now, there is another explanation in order, regarding your confusion on how you came to bear a piece of the Legendary Triforce."

Ah, right. The supposed Triforce of Unity.

"Yeah. That still doesn't make sense to me. The TV called me the 'Bearer of the Triforce of Unity' right before I fell into Ordon." I said, disregarding the fact that they didn't know what a TV was.

"So then you know who the other three Triforce-bearers are, correct?" I nodded my head at Jethro's question.

"Ganon, Zelda, and Link." I answered easily.

"That's right. There have also been previous incarnations of all three, as you well know. But, you are the very first of your own incarnation; the Bearer of the Triforce of Unity. See, the third-bearer was never meant to be Ganondorf. He gained the Triforce of Power through some sort of divine trickery."

"So, had Ganon not stolen it, I'd have the Triforce of Power?" I asked, not quite getting it.

"No, Rose. Ganon or no Ganon, you would still bear the Triforce of Unity. I will explain that now."

The Shade conjured an image of the Triforce to help explain. The top triangle was highlighted red, the one on the left was blue, and the one on the right was green. I knew which was which, easily.

"Power, Wisdom, and Courage." I pointed them out. "But where does Unity fit into the equation? The only triangle left is the-"

"Neutral space, here." Jethro finished for me, and the center upside-down triangle was highlighted in gold.

"Everybody in Hyrule knows the legend of the three Goddesses. But in actuality, as I have recently discovered in the afterlife, the legends are flawed. There was a fourth goddess. The baby sister, if you will. Hylia, who held the other goddesses together as a divine family as they created the land we call our home. In truth, there has always been four pieces to the Triforce, but the legends were lost ages ago. And now they have returned." he continued.

I was shocked into silence. No, beyond shocked. I was baffled, awestruck, dumbfounded, every word in the book. It made sense, actually, which made it just a little bit crazier.

"So...Hylia chose me?" I asked, my shock clear in my voice. Jethro smiled slightly.

"Yes." he answered simply. Then he looked to the sky, as though someone had called him. "It appears our time is up." he said. I felt my face drop into a pout. I wasn't ready to leave yet.

"Remember your training, Rose. Practice with your magic as often as you can." The Shade reminded me, and everything started to go dark, and fade away.

"I will."

"Rose, you cannot be serious."

I was, though. I was completely serious. We were around the middle of the bridge, and I was sitting on the edge above the water, fully intending to jump. Was I insane? Probably.

"It costs twenty rupees at that guy's place just for him to get out of the way. That, and what better way to get over my fear of heights?" I said, pushing my side of the argument at the same time I pushed back my instinctive fear from sitting on the edge of a bridge. I wasn't looking down, but even voluntarily doing that was a big step.

"I know, but this is crazy! You could get hurt!" he exclaimed "Jumping off a bridge isn't safe!"

"Duh, but that's what makes it fun." I said with a grin, before letting myself slip off the edge.

"Rose!"

I let out a scream, mixed somewhere between terror and exhilaration, and I waited until I was just a few metres away from the surface of the lake before using Nayru's Love to soften the landing. I stayed below the surface of the water for a few seconds, marvelling at the fact that I was able to breathe underwater, before swimming to the surface. I let out a giddy laugh. I could see why Bethany was such a thrill-seeker back on Earth.

"Come on, Link! The water's fine!" I shouted teasingly. But, he decided to take the long and pricey way, and I met up with him at the cannon. He looked mad.

"Are you out of your mind?" he demanded. His anger didn't affect me, though. I just grinned at him, still giddy from the adrenaline rush and the fact that I'd just jumped off a bridge.

"Maybe a little." I said with a giggle. "C'mon, let's get down there." I said, pointing to where the entrance to the Lakebed Temple was, before diving into the water.

"Yer lady-friend there seems to be pretty reckless, there, sonny. Better keep an eye on her." Fyer, the cannon-operator, warned Link. He sighed. That was putting it lightly.

"Don't I know it..." he muttered, before diving in after Rose.

A/N: Not much else to say, except I hope you liked it! Leave a review, maybe?