Seven Years Forward, Eight Years Back, 1/?
(Oooookay, second attempt at zeldaing here. Ocarina of Time again. Time travel for fun and profit- or just to prevent the destruction of the world. Eventual triforceshipping.)
The princess and her hero stood on the burnt and blackened field, surrounded by rubble and the last flickering embers of the demonic fire that razed the land. The monstrous form of their foe lay still at last only feet away, and Link couldn’t help but keep casting sideways glances at the carcass, searching for some sign of movement. But the beast lay still on the scorched earth, never to rise again in this lifetime.
Finally satisfied with this observation, the hero sank down to rest against a pile of rubble, head hung low and sword slipping from his grasp as he willed his heart to stop pounding. Navi fluttered anxiously around him as if checking for injuries. Princess Zelda stood nearby, gazing at the destruction with a serene sort of regret.
"So what happens now?" He asked softly, and steadfast Zelda nearly jumped backward in surprise.
"I… We rebuild the kingdom, I suppose." She spoke calmly, but he could hear the slightest hesitation in her voice, as if she hadn’t truly expected them to get this far. He couldn’t blame her; neither had he.
Both were silent for a long moment, both unsure just what to say. Zelda moved closer to Link and sank down on the ground beside him, as if the exhaustion from the battle were finally catching up to her as well.
"You know… Forgive me for speaking so bluntly, but I didn’t think you could talk. Anymore, I mean. I was afraid that being sealed in the sacred realm… Being asleep for so long might’ve done more damage that we’d thought."
"You don’t know how scary it is to hear someone else’s voice come out when you talk."
Zelda fell silent at that.
"…If it’s anything like almost forgetting what your own face looks like without a mask, I think I might."
Link looked over at her and smiled sadly. They’d both lost so much of their lives, his to time and hers to shadows and disguise. Part him longed to rail and rage at the unfairness of it all, but that part was lost in the tide of exhausted relief that consumed him. He was beginning to feel he could collapse right there on the stone when Zelda’s voice roused him.
"I could send you back, I think. Back to your original time. You could forget all of this, grow up normally. Would you like that?"
Link thought about this. The thought of returning home should have thrilled him, and yet… It didn’t. The forest seemed ages away from him now, from who he was. Besides, if he went back he’d grow up eventually, and have to leave… And what then? And if he was sent back to the past, would all that had transpired in the future stay the same? He thought of all those he’d met and helped since he awoke in the temple of time. Did he truly want to lose that? At the same time, how many times on his journey had he wanted nothing more than to wake from this as if from a nightmare, safe in his bed with no further worries than how to spend his endless forest days.
Navi continued to flit around his ears, her movements ringing like soft pealing bells.
"Could you only send me back to the same instant? Or could you go further?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean… Before all this started. Before Ganondorf took over and you had to leave, before castle town got destroyed. Could you send me back to then?"
"I… Possibly. But to break free from the flow of time created by the master sword… There’s no guarantee you’d be able to get back."
"That’s- that’s ok. I just need to try something."
"Try what?"
"Try and fix all this, without anybody getting hurt."
"Link…"
"I mean, look at this! Yeah, we saved Hyrule, or what’s left of it, but after seven years? Seven years and however many people dying? Just because I wasn’t old enough… It’s not fair. I think I can change it… Will you let me try?"
Zelda watched him for a long moment. The most words she’d heard from Link since she’d known him, and spoken with a vehemence she’d not known he’d possessed. It was times like this when it was so painfully easy to remember that the apparently grown man before her was little more than a child within, a child forced to face all the horrors of war and death. It was no wonder he was desperate to change that, and that he was still idealistic enough to believe he could. Seven years ago Zelda herself would’ve likely shared his faith, but now… Now she was unsure.
"Link… Forgive me for doubting you, but just how do you expect to manage that? To stop all this without bloodshed… It would take more than a miracle."
"Well we sure don’t seem to be short on those lately." He gestured at the defeated form of the demon beast. Insurmountable odds really didn’t seem so bad when one makes a living by surmounting them.
"But how, Link… To just blindly rush into this is hardly the best course of action don’t you think?"
"I… I think I’ve got an idea. There was a woman I met in the Gerudo desert. She seemed to know a lot about Ganondorf’s power. Maybe I could, I don’t know, stop him taking over? Or at least warn everyone…" Link fell silent once again, before continuing again in a whisper, "I’m sorry. Maybe you’re right; there’s not really anything I can do now…"
"I never said that." Zelda interrupted and Link looked up to meet her eyes, still bright with green fury leftover from the battle. "I just don’t want to lose you again, that’s all."
"Zelda…" They were both incredibly conscious of the fact that this was the first time the hero had spoken her name. "If I can do this, then neither of us will ever have to lose anyone."
"When you say it like that I feel like you can do anything." Zelda smiled. "Alright. If you’re sure about this, then it’s worth a try."
Link simply nodded, his former reticence slipping back into place with his newfound purpose. He stood, shakily at first, and Navi took this moment to interject.
"Link! Do you really want to do this? Like Zelda said, there might not be a way for you to get back…"
Link turned to look around him at the charred rubble that was so long ago a verdant field, at the twisted monstrosity that not so long ago had been a man. He closed his eyes and nodded again, his will painfully clear. If this was the only future he had… He wasn’t sure he wanted to return to it.
"Alright- Link! We’d better do this now; there’s still enough residual magic in the air here that I should be able to break free of the time stream. Just how far back will you need to go?"
"How far can you take me?"
"Very well. Let me see…" Zelda raised her hands, eyes fluttering shut as she felt for the limits of her power. "…I can’t do much more than what the master sword could, I’m afraid. Perhaps eight years instead of seven."
"Eight years should be enough." Link replied, sheathing his sword. It would have to be.
"Alright. Come stand before me then, and I’ll send you back." Link did as she asked, but he paused when he came within arms length of the princess.
"Wait-" the hero dug into his pockets for a moment before coming up with something wrapped in tattered cloth. "You should take this back first, I think. If I can do this right I shouldn’t need it anyway."
Zelda took the parcel and carefully unwrapped it, somehow unsurprised to find the ocarina of time pressed into her hands. She almost protested, as taking this back from her hero seemed somehow to be blasphemous, but when she thought of his intended destination… She dreaded the thought of the ocarina falling into the wrong hands should Link not succeed. She silently tucked the item away and readied her stance to cast the spell. Here it was Zelda’s turn to pause, staring intently at Link.
"I still don’t understand… After all the fighting you’ve done, why would you want to continue? You could be through with all this, you could go back and live in peace…" She fell silent as she was met with Link’s sad smile.
"I guess I’m not done fighting yet." He said.