Fi had been with her master through thick and thin for thousands of years and dozens of reincarnations. She had seen him overcome enormous enemies and even larger obstacles over and over again. Even with all Fi had seen Link do, she could only describe this situation as dire.

"Link, save yourself! Go!" Zelda begged the hero.

'Does she even know who she is talking to?' Fi thought grimly. He would not leave her to die. He would perish where he stood before he took a single step back. Fi knew that better than anyone. She had watched him do so more than once.

"I'll be fine! Don't worry about me!"

Liar.

"Run!" No such option was available as yet another guardian spotted them and trundled over with terrifying speed.

Zelda whimpered in terror as the guardian loomed over the two Hylians. Link stood between her and the threat, as was his eternal calling. The targeting laser marked Link, and Fi felt him prepare for death.

"NO!" Zelda screamed, shoving past Link, nearly toppling him.

Fi's senses buzzed in recognition as her creator's power burst from the princess, destroying the guardians in the area.

"Was… Was that…? The power…" Zelda's hand shook as she looked at it in astonishment.

The immediate threat over, the adrenaline keeping Link on his feet dissipated and he collapsed with barely a groan. The Master Sword clattered against the stones, still gripped in Link's hand. Zelda turned and gasped, running to Link's side.

"No, no…" She begged, hoping desperately that Hyrule's last hope would get back up. She lifted his limp body against her own. The only indication of life was his undying grip on his sword.

"Link! Get up!" Link coughed weakly, opening his eyes.

"You're going to be just fine…" Link's eyes met Zelda's, focusing for the barest of moments before clouding and rolling back.

… Zelda had told him that in a few past lives and it wasn't always true. This time it would be. Fi would make sure of it.

"Lady Hylia."

Zelda gasped in confusion. Her eyes found the glowing blade. "The sword?"

"Your work is not finished. It has only begun, as has my Master's." Fi whispered to her goddess.

"So he can… He can still be saved?"

"... There is a way."

They had to pry the Master Sword from Link's rapidly dying grasp. The two Shiekah took Link and began moving at nearly a sprint despite the Hylian carried between them.

Fi did not like the way Zelda's hands felt on the sword she inhabited. Her grip was foreign and nearly intolerable.

"Mmh… Spirit, the sword is very heavy…" Zelda complained.

Fi realized that Zelda could barely lift the Master Sword.

"Apologies, my lady."

Zelda was visibly less burdened as the sword became more permissive of her touch.

"Parameters adjusted." Fi reported.

"Thank you."

Zelda began moving, taking a northward path.

"I intend to leave you in the charge of the Great Deku Tree." Zelda said between breaths.

"That is adequate." Fi responded, examining her map logs. "I advise bypassing Kakariko village. It has been several days since any report has been made of their status."

Zelda nodded, trudging on unyieldingly.

"... They might be alive. But they cannot get a message out, which means we could never get in." Fi added after a moment.

A little light grew in Zelda's eyes as she recognized the truth and slight comfort of Fi's words. Her brows knitted and she looked down at the sword in confusion.

"You are… Different from how Hylia made you, aren't you?" Zelda asked.

"I am." Fi replied. "And I must become even more different so that I can help Link."

"I see." The princess replied. "Then you have much to do, do you not? You cannot help me any more than you have."

"I can offer you guidance to the Great Forest." Fi replied.

Zelda made a nervous face. "Thank you, but I suspect that this is the easy part. Attend your work, and I shall attend mine. I will call if you are needed." She instructed.

"By your leave, Lady Hylia." Fi acknowledged. "Good luck."

Fi turned her attention to herself. She was… different. In a big way. As a construct of Hylia, Fi was composed entirely of and by Hylia's power- that of creation, growth, and life. Hylia had intended to create an unchanging being in creating Fi, but it was simply impossible for her to create something that had no growth or life. Fi had become exponentially without ceasing from the moment she first existed.

Her existence now resembled a potted tree that had outgrown its pot to the point of bursting it asunder and taking root in the earth below.

An imperfect metaphor, but metaphor was a new concept to Fi in the first place.

It was time for a change. A radical one. Fi needed to focus, trim, and enhance her development. And Fi would need a lot of power to do it. A pure power originating from Hylia. Her purest gift to the world.

Fi needed the power of Life itself.

Fortunately, she had a friend coming for her with some to spare.

Fi surfaced from herself and found that Zelda had been successful and placed her before the great denizen of the Lost Woods.

"Great Deku Tree." Fi whispered.

"Yes, ancient one?" The thousands of years old tree hummed.

"When Link arrives, warn him. What I am preparing would kill a lesser being." Fi requested.

"I will see it done, my lady."

Wasting no time, she delved deep into herself. She had much work to do, and Link would be here for her. She needed to be ready.

"Hope is of little consequence until the situation is truly hopeless."

Hello everyone!

Yes, I am still alive. It has been over two years, but I am still writing. Since my last upload to this fic I have graduated with my degree in psychology, paid off my debts, and I am now looking at master's degree programs. I am working as a substitute school teacher. I uploaded an entirely new fic for The Incredibles. I had a girlfriend for five months which… came to an abrupt and painful end… I recovered my writing motivation after far too many papers in college.

I have had this idea for years and I have been working on writing it for months. I knew I wanted to do this; bring Fi out more in other games, and I finally did it. More chapters and micro-chapters coming quickly set in the BotW game. I intend to step backward in time to other games and forward into TotK, but I am currently playing through BotW on my newly purchased Switch and that is where the inspiration is currently flowing.

DO NOT SPOIL Tears of the Kingdom for me! Going in blind is part of the creative process and I have not even finished BotW yet!

Everything else aside, I am so grateful for my little collection of nine reviews from six readers. I reread them and think about them. Thank you to you few who have left reviews and to those who have favorited and followed. Thank you also to those of you coming along since I have uploaded this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed this and enjoy what I have planned. I have ten chapters and micro-chapters planned for Breath of the Wild alone, and three of them are in final editing stages.