CHAPTER 9

Taking a bottle from his saddle-bag, he carefully filled it with water from the pool, then placed his miniscule friend inside. Ruto stared through its glass in apparent horror. "Link, what are you doing?!" she demanded to know.

"I'm taking you to your father," he replied, "and we're going to get you back to your rightful time and age. I'll deal with whomever's done this afterward."

"No!" Ruto squealed in protest, just as Link was about to seal her bottle shut. "Please, my father – my father must never see me like this, either in this era or my own!"

As much as it pained him to admit it, she had a point. King Zora was particular enough about one Ruto. Two Rutos from two different points in time would drive him into conniptions – especially with one being far younger than she ought to be. As long as the Ruto of this era was safe and sound with her father, he had no reason to grieve the King with the sight of her future self in this condition.

"I'll take you to Dr. Mizumi, then," he resolved, sealing the bottle closed. "Well. . . . . . . . .as soon as I remember the way to his laboratory, that is. He'll work out how you've gotten. . . . . . . . ."

"THERE'S NOTHING TO WORK OUT!" Ruto screamed with enough force to shatter the bottle, before leaping back into the pool and swimming to the bottom again.

Stunned, Link gathered the glass shards (lest they should injure Ruto while she swam about), then turned his attention to Ruto herself. She'd curled up into a cat-like position once again, trembling.

"Ruto. . . . . . . . .it's all right. I'm only. . . . . . . . ."

"Leave me."

Leave her? Why would he ever do that – especially when she clearly needed his help?

"Just leave me, Link," she pleaded. "For your own sake. Just leave me here and forget everything. Forget that you ever knew me. Just – just go. . . . . . . . ."

"No. . . . . . . . .Ruto, I'm not. . . . . . . . .I can't. . . . . . . . ."

Unable to complete this thought, he instead reached into the pool and stroked her back again. This time, she barely acknowledged his touch – in fact, she didn't appear to be aware of her environment at all, and she certainly wasn't responding to his voice anymore.

He needed the ocarina.

Fetching the Ocarina of Time from his saddle-bag again, he kept his azure eyes purposefully fixed upon Ruto as the Song of Healing emerged from the instrument. The tune's tranquil notes echoed serenely through the surrounding trees, and slowly-but-surely, her diminutive frame uncurled. A few more minutes passed before she became fully attentive and gradually swam to the surface again, absolutely entranced by the comforting song.

Link continued to play for a couple minutes more, until he'd safely transferred his friend from the rain-water pool into another bottle. This time, she didn't bother to protest.

Concluding the song and putting the ocarina away, he locked eyes with the Zora princess. "Ruto," he asked carefully, "what happened? Who's done this to you. . . . . . . . .and why?"

Despite the relative lack of space, Ruto swam a lap-or-two around her bottle. Then she responded, her voice shaking and barely audible:

"Nobody, Link. I've. . . . . . . . . I've done this to myself."