"What is the meaning of this?" The old woman demanded with a severe expression.

"Hello, Impa." Link greeted, trying to act as casual as he possibly could in this situation. He was surprised he actually got to speak before Ghirahim had, but one glance at the demon, and he immediately knew why. He looked tense, of all things. The hylian knew he shouldn't be surprised about things like this anymore, but he still was anyway.

"I know how this looks, believe me. But I think—"

"You!" But the agent of the goddess wasn't listening to LInk, instead whirling on the demon in their midst, too caught up in her protective anger to notice his differing demeanor. "You are not welcome here!"

Link may be a courageous hero, he had to be. Nevertheless, even he was panicking internally. Ghirahim had hurt Impa before, when he knew what his mission was. There was no telling how he would respond to the woman's aggression now.

Several expressions form on Ghirahim's face in a matter of seconds: surprise, indignation, sadness? Fear? Before a solemn resignation takes center stage, and he nods slowly, bloodied bangs covering both his eyes. "Very well. Though I do not remember what I did to warrant it, I shall respect your wishes. Good day, madam." Then he does the most awkward little bow LInk has ever seen in his life, and begins walking quickly away. Definitely not one of his finer exits…

Out of everyone there, the one who least expected that kind of reaction was Impa. Any anger she had seemed to vanish instantly, replaced with pure bafflement.

She stood there, motionless, mouth agape, making the tattoo on her cheek look odd. Uncomprehending of what, exactly, had just happened. It would've been a comical sight if it weren't for the heaviness in the air. Or what happened next.

The silence was soon broken when Impa let out a gasp and stumbled a few steps, before spontaneously collapsing to the ground, fading away a moment later.

"Impa!" Before he could stop her, Zelda had flung herself from LInk's shoulder and was stumble-sprinting to the place the old woman once stood, which was now empty ground with no sign that she had ever been there. "No, no, no!" The young girl begins to sob, her blue eyes filling up with rage and sadness. "He killed her!" She yells brokenly.

Link felt like crying himself, at this point. Everything that his mission entailed was already taking a large tole on him, and now this? Still, as angry as he'd been at the demon in the past, he couldn't find it in himself to blame him for what just happened. Yet he also couldn't find it in himself to try to convince Zelda of it. She clearly wasn't thinking straight at the moment, not that he could blame her.

The poor girl cries for a few minutes, before she stands up on shaky legs. Link tries to support her, but she moves away from him. "I'm going home," she says, in a flat tone that could give Fi a run for her money.

"What? Zelda—"

"Link, please!" Her tone didn't have the same sharpness in it from earlier, but the brittle quality of it forced LInk to keep his mouth shut. "I… I can't deal with anymore, right now. I just want to finally return to Skyloft. To my room… to Father. I need to get away from all of this. You don't have to come with me, but just, don't do anything stupid, okay?"

And before LInk can say or do anything else, Zelda has already called for her loftwing and flown away.

To Link, it felt like he'd just lost Zelda all over again. He knew it was completely irrational; if he wanted to, he could call his loftwing right now and follow her. But he wouldn't do that, at least not now. And both of them knew it.

At least the hero could comfort himself knowing that she was going of her own free will this time, and didn't appear to be in danger anymore. As difficult as it was right now, the hero knew he had to count his blessings and try to remain positive.

So link takes a deep, shaky breath, resigning himself to his fate.

"Fi?"

The sword spirit, as always, appeared immediately when he called. "Yes, Master LInk?" She actually sounded slightly somber.

Link drew the Master Sword, preparing to begin dowsing. But before he could even ask, Fi had already anticipated what he wanted.

"Ghirahim has not gone far. I will lead you to him."

"Thank you."

"There is a one hundred percent chance the following information will be helpful in your… endeavors," Fi explained as LInk began walking forward slowly, sword held aloft. "I intended to divulge it earlier, before you were knocked unconscious. The aura of evil I had been detecting on him has almost completely dissipated. Only slight traces remain."

Link freezes in shock. He'd known Ghirahim had changed his behavior a lot and hadn't shown any signs of aggression towards him or Zelda since the unexpected conclusion of their battle, but this? "S-So… he's not evil anymore?"

"He is still a demon," Fi clarifies. "However, almost all malice has been eradicated from his being, which I estimate to be an unintended consequence of the exposure of the Master Sword to his gem. Originally, I believed his aura to be caused by his behavior and intentions, but now I calculate a seventy-eight percent chance it is the other way around."

Link's mind was blown. This changed everything! "So, you're saying that…"

"The malice tainting his being could have been influencing his behavior, and clouding his judgment. If that is the case, then there is a ninety-nine percent chance that this was intentional on the part of Demise."

Link couldn't help but just stand there dumbly for a while, processing all of that information. If what Fi guessed was the truth, then that meant Ghirahim might not have been loyal to Demise willingly, at least not completely. If all of this was true, that meant Ghirahim wasn't just a villain. He was also a victim.

A/N: I swear I don't hate Impa, guys. But this had to happen for further developments in the fic to work.

Also, if you reread chapter one, you will notice that the part about a gash on Ghirahim's temple has been rewritten with the blood coming from his cheek. That's because it makes a lot more sense narratively for what I'm planning (yes there is a specific plot I'm going for) while the gash didn't really make any sense at all. You'll understand what I mean better when I actually write those parts.