Disclaimer: I do not own the legend of Zelda game series or the characters.

Hello, everybody! Thanks again for reading my story! This has been my favorite story to work on so far! I'm enjoying every minute! Every review/favorite/follow that I get inspires me to write more! Thank you so much for your enthusiasm! :DDDD

Sorry it's been so long since I've last updated. I have been busy. (Gee, ya don't say?) I was also struggling with this chapter because I didn't know how I wanted to write it. Don't you just hate it when you have an idea that comes to mind and you don't know how to convey it? I spent extra time on this chapter to get it just right, and I hope you enjoy it!

Every review/follow/favorite I have recieved inspires me all the more to continue writing! Thanks so much!

If you haven't sent me a review yet, you totally should! Tell me what you think about this story! :DDD I'd love to hear from you!

Without further adieu, here's chapter fourteen! Enjoy! :)

Chapter 14: Memories

Sally stopped smiling and continued to look out in the distance. "Are you doing alright?" I asked her.

"Yes." She replied, not looking at me. She closed her eyes as the wind blew, gently tousling her hair.

"I'm glad to hear it…" There was an awkward moment of silence.

"…About my real mother…" She looked at me and I returned the gaze. "…I suppose you may be curious about her?"

I grinned. "You could say that."

She smiled. "And why is that?"

"When I first met your stepmother without knowing that she wasn't your real mother, I kept on telling myself that there was no way she could truly be your mother." Her left brow creased in puzzlement. "You're far kinder than that bitch." I coughed and mumbled under my breath, "Excuse my French…"

She giggled. "No problem. It isn't like most would disagree with your opinion of her…"

"Okay…because I was worried that you'd be mad about my cussing…" I said. She looked at me in disbelief. "Yes." I winked. "Very worried."

"Rrriiiggghhht." She elongated the word. She was quiet.

"Ahem." I coughed loudly. "Did you forget about your story?"

"No!" She laughed. "You've got to give me some time, that way I can make it more DRAMATIC!" She put the back of her hand to her forehead and leaned back slightly.

I chuckled. "Like mankind needs more drama from women!"

"Oh, shush you!" She tittered. "Now how should I begin this tale?"

"I'd suggest you start it with the beginning and not the end. That way it won't be confusing." I teased.

"Oh, very funny, wise guy!" We laughed together. She looked down at the water. "My mother's name was Charlotte. She was born and raised in Britain until she was 15." She looked down at her feet moving in the water. "My grandfather wanted to start life anew, and so they moved with my grandmother to Hyrule."

"How soon after did your parents meet?" I questioned.

"I'll get to that. Let me tell the whole story." She smiled as I rolled my eyes. She paused briefly. "My mother told me that it was about 4 months after moving to Hyrule and three weeks after she turned 16 when she first met Curtis. He was a swordsman for the Hylian Royal Army and had lived in Hyrule his whole life. She had lived in Britain, as I said, an avid lover of piano music and ballet. They met in Castle Town on a rainy afternoon in July. She was sick with a cold, for it had been an unusually cold summer that year. She was walking alone with groceries when he tapped her on the shoulder from behind."

"Creeper…" I snickered.

She huffed. "Can't you let me finish?!"

"Alright." I sighed. "Go on."

"He offered to help her carry the groceries." She said. "And she took the offer. He opened an umbrella and held it over her, saying that he didn't want her to get sicker than she was. They got married two years later."

"Lovely story." I said. "But it still didn't explain a lot about your mother."

"I'm not finished!" She shouted. "My point is that she was a wonderful mother to me…" She beamed and twiddled her thumbs. "Whenever we went grocery shopping we would walk through town hand in hand and browse the shops…She bought me a doll with red hair and blue eyes that I still have…" She paused again as tears came to her eyes. "…But what I loved the most was when we'd play the piano together at home and when all three of us would sing songs out of piano and hymn books." She looked up dreamily at the blue sky. "She'd always tell me that 'music can lift the spirits and bring joy to almost anything.' I still adamantly believe that…With her, I never wanted or needed for anything. She took good care of me and loved me unconditionally."

I grinned. "That makes more sense now…that you came from a family that was kind and loving…"

She smiled. "One thing that she and I both really loved was Christmas time." She laughed. "We would go caroling with a group of people from our church and take part in at least one play at the House of the Arts every year. I have always loved singing because of it."

"So that's why you have such a beautiful voice?" I accidentally said out loud. I looked away.

"Huh?" She said with shock. "Did you just say that?"

"Say what?" I lied, hoping she'd drop the subject.

"That I have 'a beautiful voice'?"

"Shit, she didn't…" I tried to think of a good lie as she looked at me the whole time waiting for a response. "…W-what are you talking about? Maybe this mission's going to your head? Maybe I should take you home and continue on my own?" "That sounded convincing, right?" She looked at me with confusion. "God, who are you kidding, Link?"

She shook her head. "You're lying. I know you said it, I heard it with my own two ears!"

"You're mistaken!" I blurted.

"I'm not going to give up on this mission that easily. I'm not going home! So you'll just have to put up with my company!"

I rolled my eyes, feeling a blush rise on my cheeks. I looked away from her again.

She stared at me for a second, and then her mouth flew open. "You like me, don't you?"

"Oh God, no!" I yelled. I calmed down after a minute. "I was thinking about Zelda. Something you said reminded me of her." "Please, believe me!"

She bought it. "Oh…I…I'm sorry…I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like that…"

"It's alright." I said. I began to come to terms with myself that I liked her. I hadn't liked anyone since Zelda, and it felt strange. She kept on kicking her feet in the water, probably embarrassed about her accusation. I didn't know if it was because of her looks, her voice, her demeanor, or all three aspects of her, but looking at her now doesn't feel the same as when I first met her…and it scares me…

"Do you…want to talk about it?" She asked. "I understand if you don't want to…"

"I don't really want to talk about it…" I said to her.

She nodded and stood up. "Where's our next destination?"

"I can grab the map." I stood up and fished into my pocket for the bag. I enlarged it with my communication orb long enough to get the map out, and then I shrunk the bag again. I looked at the circled destinations where there were reported monster sightings. "Snowpeak would be the closest destination to here." I said. "So I suppose we should start there." I continued to look at the map. Sally didn't say a word. "Sally? Is everything al—" I looked towards her. She was looking at me with her eyes widened in fear. "What?" I looked behind myself to see a huge Shadow Beast. "Haven't I defeated these things?!" I tried to draw my sword as it shrieked. Its large hand came swooping down and pushed me to the ground. Sally gasped as it let out a shrill. It stared right at her and opened its hand, wrapping its fingers around her and clutching her in its fist. I struggled to get up, but I was soon standing.

"What does it want from me!?" She shouted.

I drew my sword and ran towards it, stabbing it from behind. "Hasn't your mother ever told you not to pick on a lady!?" It wailed in pain and dropped Sally. She came down to the ground with a crash. It turned around and grabbed me with its fist, squeezing me until I was beginning to feel crushed.

"Link!" Sally screamed. She grabbed her bow. "I'll help you get free!" She began to load an arrow on her bow.

"No, Sally! Run!" I hollered.

"I'm not going to leave you behind!" She yelled. "It'd be inconsiderate!"

"Quit joking around and run!" I shouted.

"No!" She said with determination. "We're in this together!" She tried to shoot it with her bow, but she was captured by another shadow beast. The two shadow beasts threw us both to the ground. Both of them then proceeded to beat us. Sally was knocked unconscious. I tried to get free from my shadow beast, but its grip was too strong. It threw me to the ground once more and I lost consciousness.

All I could see in my state of sleep was blackness. I felt like I was trapped in a world of ruthlessness…without any light or mercy. I was on my knees and breathing heavily from exhaustion. I swore I could see Marcus standing in front of me, and so I stood up and wiped the sweat from my forehead. "M-Marcus…" I whispered.

He walked slowly towards me, each step he took graceful and silent. "…Wake up…" He said.

"I'm trying, but I can't." I replied.

"You have to try. Please…" He said desperately. He was now directly in front of me, his expression very serious. "Promise me this…"

I looked at him and nodded for him to continue.

"Protect Sally. Do anything that you can to protect her. You must promise me that you will." His eyes were full of worry.

"I promise." I said earnestly.

"Now, please wake up." He requested.

Everything was black again and I opened my eyes. The shadow beasts had taken us both to the frozen lake in Snowpeak. It was bitterly cold, snow flying everywhere. I looked over to the shadow beast that still had Sally in its arms. I looked at her, seeing that she was still knocked unconscious. The monster holding me started walking towards the icy water and lifted me into the air, preparing to throw me into a watery grave. I noticed in time to break free by punching and biting. I flipped over its head and landed in the snow behind it. I tried to push it into the water from behind, being successful only because it was so taken by surprise. The other one that held Sally walked towards the water and began to lift her up. "Open your eyes, Sally!" I wanted to scream at her. "No." I said quietly. I started to run towards her. "NO!" I shouted. My pleas were in vain, for the monster threw her into the water shortly before I could reach her. Without hesitation, I dove into the frigid, dark water. I could barely see a thing, but I continued to swim, hoping that her blonde hair would make her easy to spot. Seconds later I saw her, slowly sinking like a lifeless rag doll. I took hold of her and swam to surface, hoping that she hadn't been in the water too long and that she'd survive. I surfaced and carried her to shore, heaving us both out of the water and onto the snow. I looked around to see if the shadow beasts were still there, but surprisingly they weren't. "Damn cowards!" I thought to myself. That didn't matter though; I needed to get Sally someplace warm, but I was so cold myself I could barely move. I didn't know what to do, so I just laid there in the snow, so exhausted from the bitter air stabbing at my wet frame. I sort of wished I was sleeping like Sally was. Was she feeling the pain and numbness I was feeling? I felt her arm to reassure myself that she'd be okay. To my despair, she felt like ice, and I felt like crying.