Sorry again for the weird computer input stuff from last time. Don't know what happened there.

In case you are wondering, the artwork I mentioned that inspired this fic belongs to Z-Raid on tumblr (I think they have a deviant art account too.)

Something I should of mentioned: I think Impa was a little too hard on Link in Skyward Sword. It's scary when someone is mad at you to the point that you can't speak or think of anything to say (I've been there.) but jeez!

Anyway, in this chapter, we really jump ahead of certain parts of this portion of the game. (Not much happened inside the mining facility anyway: plus, the music gets on my nerves.)

Chapter three: sand is boring, but Link is badass

As Ghirahim explained to me about the Lanaryu mines, I couldn't help but feel that this place was haunted. Like the sealed temple, this place was proof of a civilization long since passed away, and I couldn't help but wonder if it were still able to thrive if we hadn't left to the sky.

I told Ghirahim as much.

"Ah, yes. Such is the fate of those abandoned. In this wasteland, there is a strange poetic atmosphere that we both can feel to our very core."

I decided that there wasn't really any time to get to in depth on such matters. "We should try to be a lot quicker this time around."

"Agreed."

That strange atmosphere followed us when we reached the desert and it gave me this horrible feeling, as I imagined what could happen to Skyloft if we were to abandon it. What would we leave behind, for the future generations to come if we no longer dwelt in the heavens? Of course, I didn't say anything, because I was pretty sure that my companion had enough of my depression to last for the rest of the way. I just had to stay positive and keep foreword.

"You know," Ghirahim sighed and dramatically flipped his hair out of his face. " For the sake of time, and the fact that the whole terrain has far too many obstacles for my liking, I think we will do a little... cheating."

-Hook Beetle-

"Oh great, so it's got pincers now. Is it going to pinch your enemies to death?"

"...Wait what?"

-some time later-

We reached the area where Ghirahim believed Link was, thanks to what he called 'cheating' which was actually teleporting across the otherwise treacherous Lanyaru Desert numerous times: I don't know why he called it that.

Except, there was a problem. Thanks to Gorko, the traveling archeologist, it was confirmed that Link and the woman had entered the Temple of Time, but the entrance was destroyed and filled with rubble before he could even get in.

"No problem, we can just teleport our way in, right Ghirahim?" I asked, much to Gorko's confusion.

There was an unusually long period of silence.

"...Ghirahim?"

Just as Gorko was looking at me as if I were some sort of insane person, I heard a long growl in my head that sounded more like a feral animal than an intelligent human.

"Uh, G-

"THAT ACCURSED DOG OF A WOMAN!" His voice almost broke my eardrums "I'M GOING TO SNAP HER IN HALF THE NEXT TIME I LAY MY EYES ON HER STICK OF A FRAME!"

"...Translation?" I meekly asked over his rant. I could hear him panting inside my head and when he spoke, I could hear that he was trying really hard to suppress himself.

"I apologize my mistress, but we are going to have to do this the long way around."

The feeling was mutual but while I was unable to reach his level of outrage, I felt there was only one way I could calm him down. "Do you need me to kill something for you?"

Long story short, thanks from the help of the robots, and 'cheating' we gained access into the Lanaryu Mining Facility. Ghirahim was unable to 'cheat' in the facility because of reasons he said he wasn't allowed to do so, which didn't make any sense to me.

He did have the courtesy to tell me that Link's traveling companion casted a protection spell on the gate that kept everything out.

Even though I understood why she did it, I was still too angry over the earth temple: Ghirahim was more than happy when I took out my frustration on some unassuming bokoblins.

-Gust Bellows-

"It's just a mere jar that shoots out wind! How is that even possible?!"

I paused in my attempt to blow away a pile of sand in order to make a pathway to get to the next part of the facility and glanced at Ghirahim. "Uh, wouldn't you know about how it works?"

"All I'm saying is that there must be a source of magic built in to make it work. There's no amount of technology that can make a reverse vacuum that powerful without any magic."

You know, I think I'm sensing a pattern with this.

-Thereisn'tmuchtowriteaboutthisplacethemusicwasannoyingthough-

I could hear the Ballad of the Goddess playing as I walked up the steps to the outside world.

I glanced around to see the temple of time in what little glory there was left: there wasn't much beyond the bridge over a seemingly bottomless chasm, apart from the strange three triangles above the symbol of the god. However there was a curious trio of blue gears: the two on top were missing a majority of their shape, but still moved, and the big one had large symbols on it. I was immediately reminded of those time shift stones we saw throughout the desert.

And there, with the strange woman and playing what looked a lot like my harp, was Link.

I ran towards them as he finished playing the song and I yelled "HEY!" When I was halfway across the bridge. In turn, when Link saw me, he didn't hesitate for a moment to come running towards me, harp still in hand.

We met about halfway, and though he was able to slow down to a stop, I was unable to do so and wrapped my arms around him as tightly as possible when I collided into him.

"Finally!" I cried. "It's about time!" I buried myself into his armor covered chest before I gave it a good pounding with my fist. "You jerk! Why did you ditch me at the earth temple?!"

"I didn't want to!" Link protested as he pushed away from my fist but still kept a hold on me. "Trust me, I wanted to stay, but-"

"Ah forget it!" I shook my head and let out a breathless laugh. "I'm just glad you're ok."

I glanced at the harp. "I thought I lost that!" I recalled losing it in the tornado, but it hadn't been too much of a concern then, until I had more time to dwell on it later on.

"Oh yeah!" Link grinned as he held it out for me to take. "I held onto this for you, so I think it's about time I gave it back."

"You don't have to." I shook my head and smiled, but he still held it out.

"Trust me, you actually might need it."

I didn't know what he meant by that, but I didn't care. "So," I asked instead as I eyed his new clothing: and I admit, I was really taking it all in, since I thought Link looked rather handsome to begin with. "What's with the outfit? It looks like the knight's uniforms back at the academy. I'm not going to lie, you look... awesome... but what's with the sword?" I took a glance at the hilt of said sword sticking behind Link's back. From what I had seen of it, it looked like two long blades entwined together, and it was so large that it was almost as big as Link himself! It looked like it would require both hands to wield it!

-while this conversation was occurring... normal POV-

"So," Impa heard a voice filled with a combination of irritation, mixed with anger, dollop of sarcasm, and a sprinkle of murderous intent as a hand roughly descended upon her shoulder and tightly gripped it with more than a warning. "Is she late this time?"

Impa turned her face until she could see the snow white haired man and tried to jerk away from his grasp, but he kept a firm hold on her.

"It was pure accident that my mistress was separated from His Sire, she had quite a lot to deal with, and it was not her fault that she had to go through two temples designed in the most complex of fashions by Hylia himself... and you had the audacity to say that she was late?"

Impa growled. "You speak highly of her, for one notoriously known for his taste for bloodshed."

Ghirahim slowly grinned. "So, you're catching on as to what I wish to do to you, servant of the god. My mistress already suffered from self doubt before you added salt to the wounds." He stuck out his tongue and, in a slow, drawn out fashion, licked his lips. "So, pray, tell me why you block the path leading to her spirited warrior? I promise I won't make the pain too unbearable."

"For the same reasons you were chosen as a replacement, demon!" Impa spat as she finally tore Ghirahim's hand off of her and darted away from him. However, she had been a little too loud, and the reunited pair paused in their conversation to watch the little drama unfold.

That's when everything suddenly went to hell as the rubble blocking the entrance suddenly exploded.

"To repeat my question." Ghirahim asked as the dust formed, before returning to the sword at Zelda's back. "Was she late?"

-now we return to our designated show... I mean POV!-

The sky darkened as a familiar figure gracefully soared over the dust and perfectly landed into a kneeling position in front of Link and me. As if on instinct, Link shielded me away from her with his arm thrown out in front of me, and, though I was able to handle myself somewhat, I appreciated the gesture.

"His Sire," Fi cooly greeted as she lifted her head up and then slowly moved back into a standing position. "It's been far too long."

"I'm not in the mood for this." Link growled as the sword at his back began to glow, before he pulled it out and held it with both hands. "You know what I'm capable of."

Fi merely stuck her sword out. "Capability is acknowledged, but for the sake of the situation, it is ignored."

Link let out a roar and swung the sword at Fi, sending a burst of some sort of blue mass of energy out of it. Fi quickly made a tremendous leap away from the energy, but Link sent another one that she dodged in turn.

I watched in amazement as Link and Fi played a strange sort of cat and mouse game, with Fi dodging every swipe throughout the temple, before she finally had the chance to target Link dead on with lighting fast speed and head towards him. I moved out of the way as Link blocked he sword with his own, and the two entered an intense fight.

"I sense you are holding back." Fi suddenly spoke moments later as she reached for Link's torso, but Link blocked it with a diagonal cut.

"I don't want to hurt you Fi!" Link growled as he blocked her vertical cut by holding his sword horizontally with one hand pressed against his blade. "What happened to you was all m- it was Hylia's fault! I can still save you!"

"I don't need saving." Fi calmly stated before she suddenly vanished into thin air. Suddenly, I felt two arms cross themselves over my chest and I could see two blades out of the corner of my eye. They were mere inches from touching my face.

I stared at Link in horror as he could only stare back, but he looked more terrified than I seemed to be.

"How much does Hylia's chosen hero mean to His Sire?" I could hear Fi behind me. "One false move, and her head will be seperated from her body."

Time seemed to stop, and I couldn't think. I shut my eyes, and prayed to Hylia to not let this end where I die, and Link would live with the guilt. I didn't want my father to lose me, after losing my mother. Please don't let me die... I don't know what to do... what do I do?!

"Hello again... Lady Fi." A seemingly divine voice with the intent of a demon spat.

Fi suddenly let out a strangled noise and dropped her swords, but this gave me the chance to run to Link, who ran towards me as he placed his sword back behind him.

"We have to go now Link!" the woman yelled behind me.

Link, who had only just looked so relieved, now cringed and rushed past me.

"Link?!" I asked in confusion as I watched him raced towards the gate.

"Zelda, use the harp!" He yelled back to me as soon as he reached the gate and a ball of energy formed in the woman's outstretched hand.

"Go to the old woman at the Sealed Grounds Zelda!" The woman yelled to me. "Tell her what happened here! She will know where you must go!"

"I'm sorry Zelda!" Link yelled. "We'll see each other again soon! Promise!" He added before the woman shoved him into the gate and dropped the ball of energy.

There was a flash of light, and the next thing I knew, the gate of time was no more.

I turned from the rubble to see Fi kneeling at the ground with Ghirahim standing above her with a sword in hand. I couldn't tell what he did to her, but the way Fi was covering herself up with one arm while her free hand moved from her back and tossed something over the bridge gave me a hint.

"...I misjudged you again, Zelda." Fi slowly panted. "I should have taken you out of the equation when I had the opportune moment, but even your mere presence was enough to cause a great delay in my goal. That is my fault for being what your kind refers to as 'soft' but even applying a proper punishment to you now would be an unnecessary addition." Gingerly, she stood back up. "You will come to regret this, and I have a one hundred percent guarantee that you will feel it." She bitterly concluded before she disappeared in a flash of light.

As the ghost of Fi's words echoed in my head, I walked up to Ghirahim. "I don't want to know what you did while I wasn't looking, but thank you." I told him.

"No one lays a hand on my mistress." He hissed as his sword disappeared. "That was a low blow, even for someone like her."

"You know her though, don't you?" I realized. "You spoke as if you've met. Also that woman said something about being a replacement-

"I don't want to discuss the past right now." Ghirahim curtly held a hand up as he glanced over towards the ruins of the gate. "I'm afraid I can no longer sense the presence of your Link in this world."

I took the harp out and looked at it. Did Link give this back to me because of some great mission? Or was it because he knew how much it meant to me? This harp that has been handed down to my family for generations and looked after? The harp that my mother used to play for me and taught me how to use before she died?

I was crushed when I thought I lost the harp in the tornado. A part of me secretly hoped that it survived, just as I prayed that Link survived and that he was doing ok. To know that he had the harp this whole time, and that it meant more to him as a reminder of me than an instrument in a higher purpose gave me feelings that was hard to convey beyond thankfulness.

We grew up together, we understood each other, and I knew that Link, though he could be lazy at times, was the bravest and kindest soul I ever knew. And no sacred mission or hardened body guards would tell me otherwise.

"It's ok." I smiled as I put the harp back. "He's fine. We'll just keep going from here on out.

Yeah, there wasn't much to write about Lanaryu desert, and I think that Link would have had many reasons to be ticked off at Impa.

Also, I gave the scene at the temple of time more time (bad pun, I know) because I wanted a little more development, and give Link the dignity of still being a badass. (at the expense of Zelda unintentionally falling back to her old role as damsel in distress.)

...Of course it only happened thanks to Ghirahim's 'cheating.'

Well, you all know what happens next time. Jeez, I remembered how much of a paradox it will be. And don't worry: Zelda will eventually get to be more of a badass herself by the time she comes a knocking on the final boss's door.

PS: Looking forward to Hyrule Warriors! JUST TWO MORE DAYS UNTIL THE MOON FALLS!