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It had been so long since you'd seen Link, not since you caught a glimpse of him at the Temple of Time before being ushered along by Impa. You’d managed to send him your harp, but that was it. No words. No smiles. Despite the current circumstances that led Link to be before you now, you were still genuinely glad to see him. You stood on ancient ground, a temple so rooted in the past it had faded to myth in your own time, but through it all, he had still come to see you. He cared.
And you’d been waiting for him. Impa was there for you too of course, but you would’ve waited for Link for eons on your own if it came down to it. She knew to give you space, and while she was still within earshot, waiting for Link’s arrival was the loneliest you’d been since you’d first fallen from the skies.
You heard the footsteps.
He was there.
You waited on a pedestal, the light filtering in from above caught the ambient dust to bathe you in a warm, glittering sunbeam. You looked like the goddess you now understand yourself to be, but he didn’t know that yet. To him, you were still mortal, just a girl from school all those many moons and ages ago. That made it even sweeter once you turned toward him and finally saw the blank disbelief on his face. There was trepidation in his footsteps that filled the quiet chamber, like if he gave in and ran into your arms like you know he would then you’d disappear into a cruel puff of smoke.
He didn’t think to look for the divine.
He simply saw you, and for him that was enough.
It wouldn't last, but you wished you could savor it just a bit longer. Another moment where you both were still just school children together from above.
“You’ve come so far, Link,” you said, the memories of your time spent together bringing your smile to your eyes. “I’m glad you made it.”
It rooted him in place. He stood slack-jawed in the center of the chamber like your presence was an event to be observed with the best possible view.
“I imagine Impa filled you in on everything. We’ve traveled very far from home…to the distant past. In this era, the wounds inflicted on the land during the battle between the goddess and the demon king known as Demise have not yet healed. All the fairy tales about that war we heard growing up in Skyloft… Incredible as it may seem, they appear to be all too real. I think it’s time you learned the whole story. Let me try to explain…”
Giving him another faint smile, you turned your face to the sky. The golden light was a comforting muse. Though you’d rehearsed this conversation countless times, both to yourself and to Impa, this was the real deal. There was no pressure to get it perfect–Link would appreciate it regardless–you still wanted to give him the best version of the story–your story–that you could.
“The old gods created a supreme power that gave anyone who possessed it the ability to shape reality and fulfill any desire. They called it the Triforce. In his thirst to make the world his own, Demise readied a massive army of monsters for war. He sought to take the Triforce for himself by force. The goddess feared for her people. She used her power to send both them and the Triforce into the sky on a slice of earth she cut away from the land. This floating rock became the new home of our people. In time, it came to be known as Skyloft.”
You could no longer contain your grin as you clasped your hands in front of your chest. It was such an odd feeling, recounting memories when not that long ago they’d simply been myth from an age long past. But they were your stories now, even if they had been all along. You were the one to save your people.
“After a long and fierce battle,” you said, savoring the pride swelling in your chest. “The goddess, Hylia, succeeded in sealing away Demise. However, soon after the demon king was imprisoned, it became clear that the seal would not hold long against his fearsome power. Hylia had suffered grave injuries in her battle with the demon king.” Your voice filled the entire chamber, your audience of one completely enraptured. “She knew that if he broke free again, there would be no stopping him.”
You dropped your head in reverence of the weight your words held. “And if the demon king were to free himself,” you continued, “”it would mean the end of the world for all the beings of this land.
“In order to put an end to the demon king, Hylia devised two separate plans and set them both into motion.” You took a deep breath to steady yourself as you turned to face him again. He gasped as you took your first step toward him, like any movement at all was enough to break a spell on him. It was as if he was finally accepting that the two of you were together again.
For real.
Not a cruel trick of the light, or an unfortunate disappointment, like seeing each other for mere seconds before being whisked away. It was just the two of you now. Together. How it should’ve always been. How it would’ve been if there were any other way.
“First, she created Fi,” you continued as you descended the steps of the pedestal. “She made the spirit that resides in your sword to serve a single purpose: to assist her chosen hero on his mission.
“Her second plan,” you said, cringing at how your breath hitched in anticipation of the words. “Was to abandon her divine form and transfer her soul to the body of a mortal.” You descended the last of the steps, leaving you at the base of the pedestal. You did not run to embrace Link like you’d imagined, nor did he draw nearer to you. Your words hung between you both, like a hurdle you had yet to overcome. “She made this sacrifice, as you have likely guessed, so that the supreme power created by the old gods could one day be used. For while the supreme power of the Triforce was created by the gods, all of its power can never be wielded by one. Knowing this power was her last and only hope, the goddess gave up her divine powers and her immortal form.”
You did your best to keep smiling, this moment was about him after all. You’d had days to absorb this story from Impa who’d told it better than you ever could, but Link was getting all of it here and now.
Here and now. Better to think of this moment than what you knew was yet to come. Link deserved to hear this story in full, not half of it because you couldn’t finish.
“You’ve probably figured it out by now, haven’t you, Link?” Whether he had or not yet, you couldn’t tell. He was smart enough to put clues together under normal circumstances, but here he was more shell-shocked than anything. But that didn’t matter. Not when you knew you’d be spelling it out for him anyway. “You are the chosen hero, and I, Zelda,” you said, pausing again. There would be no turning back from your next words. You’ve cherished your relationship deeply, but very soon there’d be no going back to how it once was.
“I am the goddess reborn as a mortal.” The words hang in the stale, stagnant air, but as soon as they were said they cleared. You could close the gap.
“The day of the ceremony, Ghirahim’s tornado tossed me out of the sky and down to the world below.” The soft clip of your sandals against the rough hewn floor echoed Link’s boots from before. “I was nearly captured by the demonic forces, but I was rescued at the last moment by the old woman who lives in the Sealed Grounds. I had no memory at all of my existence as Hylia, but she explained it to me. She helped me to remember who I was and what I had to do. I set out to pray at the goddess statues located in each temple across the land. Each statue stirred up memories within me. After I visited them all, Impa, an agent of the goddess, led me here…to the past.”
You stopped walking, staying just out of arms reach. Any closer and the practiced, calm demeanor you were relying on would crack, shattering into thousands of shards to never be put back together. “All of this is part of the same great effort to prevent the revival of Demise. Stripped of his true physical form by the seal that binds him, he takes the shape of an abomination. But even in his hideous state, he’s more than capable of devouring this land if we allow him to do what he desires. We must stop him from freeing himself from the seal that imprisons him. At any cost.” Your last words drifted off in the air. If Link noticed their weight he made no move to show it. But Link wouldn’t hide anything from you. Not then, not now, and you hope it stayed that way after your words of divinity sank in.
But your words would have to break his heart first.
You shook your hands to distract your nerves–though you were divine, you were still frustratingly human–and you couldn't delay any longer.
“That is why I intend to remain here in this time and place,” you said, unable to fend off the burn rising in the back of your throat any longer. “To sustain the seal as best as I can. As long as I continue this vigil, we may be able to prevent the demon king from fully revising himself in our own time.”
It took a moment for your words to register, but he still doesn’t speak. Simply a gasp was all you got from him before his expression went blank. The same expression he always had when called on in class and didn’t have the answer. When you were simply a student, you’d loved whispering the correct answers to him as he was lost in deep thought. He was thinking now, but you dreaded the answer you had yet to give.
“I must maintain the seal that Hylia–rather, that I–created so long ago and keep it strong for as long as I am able. With the memories of my former life returning to me, I can see now that this is my purpose.” Years ago, when you thought of your future you longed for a quiet life surrounded by those you loved. Link wasn’t a part of those daydreams then, but now you couldn’t imagine them without him. While you were proud of your divine accomplishments, you’d need to mourn the death of the mundane to continue to achieve them. Maybe someday you could have the quiet life you’d always wanted.
But those days wouldn’t be soon.
For either of you.
“Link,” you said, looking to change the subject to one that wouldn’t lead to tears too soon. “The goddess created Fi and the blade she’s a part of for very specific reasons. For the task of standing against Demise in the monstrous form he now assumes rests solely on your shoulders. Back in our own time, you’ve already driven him back into his prison twice now. I can’t thank you enough for that, Link. During your long journey, you’ve grown so much. You learned wisdom from solving devious puzzles and traps. You gained power by honing and tempering both yourself and your sword. And by overcoming the trials set before you by the goddess, you’ve found true courage. Now that those qualities reside in you, you are worthy of wielding the power the old gods left behind for our kind. You can claim the Triforce.”
Shakily, you held out your hand for him, palm up. He paused too before taking it, finally resting his hand in yours. Finally enjoined here with you. You lock eyes for only a moment where he tries his best to return the smile you gave him at the beginning, but he knelt as soon as his eyes watered.
He knelt not out of a divine reverence, not because of any command or compulsion, but out of a simple respect. Though you were one and the same, he would not bow to Hylia before he’d bowed to Zelda first.
You were still Zelda.
And he still loved you. He bowed his head so you couldn’t see his face, but he squeezed your hand to let you know.
“Valliant hero,” you prayed to improvise a ceremony. Though you’d be the one to answer, the familiarity of the ritual was a comfort. “You have endured many hardships and journeyed far in your quest to reach this place. Along your travels you have found wisdom, power, and courage, and for this I shall bless your sword with the goddess’s power. May it give you and your sword the strength to drive back the abomination that threatens this land!”
Your voice reverberated through the chamber, the power in it charging the room. Like a command, the back of his hand glowed with a symbol you were very familiar with. The Triforce. You’d known this was coming, but you still felt the surge of pride as it appeared. Link was a hero. The Link that saved Kikwis and Mogmas from bokoblins, and collected the Sacred Flames. The Link that didn’t let a girl like you go missing beneath the skies. That Link was a hero.
Your Link.
Your Link was a hero.
“The mark you see upon the back of your hand is proof that you are the hero of legend and that within you dwells sacred power. It is the mark of the Triforce. Stand now, Link,” you said, now a command. He was loyal to Zelda, but he’d serve Hylia well. “Draw your sword.”
He looked up at you for reassurance before the determination set his jaw. He rose as you removed your hand, standing as tall as he could. The Master Sword glinted in the golden light as it was drawn, gleaming as it was pointed skyward. The purple wings of the guard unfurled, finally achieving the height of its potential like Fi herself wanted to impress you. It glittered like she wanted you to be proud of her. You were. You had to be, Fi had been at Link’s side when you couldn’t have been. If anything, you wanted her to be proud of you in turn. It was complicated being a goddess and a teenager at the same time.
It was a triumphant moment, a celebration of what would lead to the destruction of evil. But it too wouldn’t last. You turned away before he could see the tears welling in the corners of your eyes because you still had more to say and if he acknowledged them you’d strumble over your words.
“Link,” you said, taking a breath to steady yourself. “Before I say another word, I feel like I owe you an apology. You see, the mark of the Triforce on your hand is a symbol of the greatest power in this world. If you can obtain the actual Triforce, we will have the power to vanquish Demise once and for all. The problem is, among the countless souls in this world, only a select few–those with an unbreakable spirit–can wield its might.” The Gate of Time turned like clockwork behind you, each rotation of its gears filling the silence before you took steps back toward the pedestal once more. Link shuffled behind you, but he did not follow.
You knew he wouldn’t be able to follow where you were going. Where you had to go. You wished you could explain you were doing what you had to do, but if he knew what was about to happen he never would’ve allowed it to pass. He would’ve found another way to keep the seal on Demise to hold for eons, or at least he would’ve tried. You’d already thought it over, examining every possibility. There was no other way.
This was how it had to be.
“It’s impossible to know the true reason why the old gods created the Triforce. But I have a theory of my own. The gods created the Trifforce, yet they specifically designed it so that their own kind could never use its power.” Your feet were at the base of the pedestal again. Though Link still was only a few paces away, you could already feel the gap between you widening again. “Somehow, I think that may have been their way of giving hope to all the mortal beings of the land. …Which brings us back to,” you paused, wishing you could bring him closer one more time.
One last time.
“You. To face Demise and give the land hope, the goddess, Hylia, needed someone with an unbreakable spirit. That someone in you, Link. But spirit alone wasn’t enough. You had to overcome many trials and awaken the hero within yourself so that you could wield that supreme power. And so Hylia… I mean, and so I… I knew that if it meant saving Zelda, you would throw yourself headfirst into any danger, without even a moment’s doubt…
“I…” you said, unable to fight off the way your throat burned in shame, desperation, and agitation any longer. “I used you.” You finally made your way up the pedestal, like removing yourself from him was for the best. So your selfishness wouldn’t be able to corrupt him, to hurt him any longer. It was a nice thought, even if you knew it couldn’t be true.
Link could not be corrupted.
But he wouldn’t be leaving this chamber until you’d hurt him again.
“I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am for pulling you into all of this, Link.” That much was still true. You are both Zelda and Hylia, but that doesn’t stop them from hating each other sometimes. Hylia wants to stop Demise, and Zelda simply wants a life with Link. Unfortunately, those wishes cannot be reconciled. No compromise could be reached that hurt no one, not even Link. “But you have to understand this is a war, and the fate of the land hangs in the balance. I need your strength to tip the scales in our favor… All that may be well intentioned and true, but it doesn’t mean it’s right… and it doesn’t excuse my actions.” You stepped into the center of the pedestal, the golden light from above catching your hair like a halo. You steeled yourself for the next words you knew you had to say, the ones that couldn’t ever make things right but could come as close as you could get to true justice.
“But I’m prepared to pay the price for what I’ve done. To ensure that the seal holds, I will remain here in this time… deep in sleep for thousands of years.”
You turn to face him, knowing it will be the last for as long as you described. The tears finally fall, hot onto your cheeks and the smile you forced for his sake. The smile was strategic, a maneuver you hoped he could forgive you for too. Link was still shellshocked, too overwhelmed with information of the past to think about the next few minutes of the future. Your smile was the last bastion, as soon as it fell he’d be at your side, but you knew he could not interfere with what you had to do.
You had to stay.
He had to go.
“Link… I can’t say it enough. I’m so sorry for the way I had to involve you in this. But until my memory of things before our lifetime returned to me, I had no idea we were fated to carry such a heavy destiny.” You knew what was about to happen, how you were going to stay here, but that didn’t stop your hands from shaking as you felt the latent power of the goddess Hylia course through your nerves.
Your power.
It surged and grew, like how the sky darkens before a storm. You were the storm you never asked to be, but have since spread to each corner of the horizon. Though you enjoyed being a source of gentle rain, you had the power to split the sky open if you so wished. You just wished your lightning didn’t have to strike Link.
Your smile shook.
Only a few words left to go.
“Before all this, I was happy just spending my days hanging around with you in Skyloft. I wanted that feeling to last forever.”
The light–your light–flooded the chamber as at last your smile faltered. It was warm as it poured over you, like the time you spent planning this encounter was trying to offer physical comfort as a consolation. Link was the only one you truly wanted comfort from, and while he’d desperately clambered up the pedestal the second he realized something was wrong, the light was a barrier.
You were encased in light.
It solidified around you like a cocoon of warmth. Though you wanted to be anywhere else, anywhere you didn’t have to see Link suffering because of your choices, at least you wouldn’t have to suffer yourself in your amber crystal.
Not physically at least.
Link was pressed as close to the crystal as he could get, his cheek smooshed into the barrier as his open palm slammed into it in desperation. The two of you had always been together, paradoxically even when you’d spent time apart. Thoughts of him still lingered in the back of your mind even when you two were separated, and you knew it was the same for him. He’d followed you all the way to prehistory after all.
For the first time, not even thoughts could be enough to keep you two together in spirit. Not when yours would be ceasing. You knew you were about to sleep for thousands and thousands of years, but goddesses don’t dream.
But if Link was going to have to go on without you, the least you could do for him was to not break down. Only a little bit longer before oblivion. Your tears slowed, not because they quit falling but because they’d frozen to your cheek. The cocoon of light was hardening around you, each limb feeling like it was wading through curing resin. It thickened with each passing second, preparing to preserve you for a day less than eternity.
Link kept slamming his palm against the barrier, rattling the crystal less and less each time as you felt your soul start to withdraw.
“While it’s true that I am Hylia reborn, I’m still my father’s daughter and your friend…” Your words trailed as your mind drifted, caught in the limbo between Zelda’s will and Hylia’s. The two being one and the same didn’t help matters. “I’m still your Zelda.” There it was, the one truth you hoped was able to cross the impenetrable divide between you.
He’d finally stopped banging on the crystal with all his might, instead resting his forehead near your own like he knew these would be your last words. He was wrong. You’d speak again, but not for a very long time.
A very, very long time.
But Link needed to know that.
“When Demise is finally gone,” you continued, with just enough hope for the future that you could muster a final smile. “There will be no more need for the seal that binds him, and then I’ll be able to wake up. So I’m going to ask you a favor, sleepyhead. Ever since we were kids, I’d always be the one to wake you up when you slept in. But this time, when this is all over, will you come to wake me up?”
Link’s breath shuddered, his words a shaky whisper. “I promise,” he said.
And that was all you needed to hear. With one final flash of light, your heart and lungs crawled to a stop, your body freezing into place despite the warmth.
You slept, but you did not dream.