‘Do you trust me Link?’ Link gazed into her subtle blue eyes, full of honesty and faith, yet framed with a ring of wisdom that at the same time made her so naďve. He wondered about what mistakes would be made on the road ahead, for he knew there would be many of them.

   He gazed through the stain glass window at the armour-clad man with the fiery hair and dark skin. Link hadn’t seen a Gerudo yet, and he was faintly surprised at the rich brown of his skin. But that couldn’t make him evil.

   He looked back at Zelda. Maybe he was going to say the idea was far-fetched but he never really knew what he was going to voice. For as he looked back into the deep blue eyes he saw her need. He saw how she believed her story with all her heart and knew he couldn’t let her down. And he had felt it too. He hadn’t recognised it at the time; he was so used to peace.  But after the Great Deku Tree died he had felt a feeling of incurable unease and as he set off across Hyrule Field it became more pronounced.

   He hadn’t realised this was fear. He had heard Saria and the other Kokiris talk about the dreaded word but they had never come closer than that to encountering it.

   He rummaged around in his pocket and brought it out. The gleaming, shining emerald. Zelda smiled.

   ‘Yes I trust you Zelda.’ And in that one moment, that one insignificant little moment, Link’s fate was decided. But not at his own hand. He placed his life in Zelda’s.

    

   Zelda found tears blurring her eyes. Seven years older, she could see now what a fool she had been. She had snatched away his youth, his care-freeness, and his life. He no longer made his own decisions.

   She had watched him, oh yes. She had seen him struggle. Bound by his promise to her, yet bound by his friendship, he had writhed in agony under his task.

   She ran her fingers over the blue ocarina. Then she looked up at Link.  Now seventeen, he was a man, with a proud deep chest and with a swift, silent sword. His eyes were sad. He had spied his fate before she had opened her mouth. She took in a deep shuddering breath. Down below her lay campfires, music and happiness. He was gone. They would never be taunted by Ganondorf again. But above, where the real heroes stood, there was nothing but pain.

   ‘I must set things right Link. This was my entire fault.’ Link gazed at her sadly but said nothing. She began to raise the ocarina to her lips.

   ‘I will always remain loyal to you Zelda.’ Link had spoken. Simply but with a loyalty deeper than a mother and daughter have for each other. Zelda lowered the ocarina and looked at him softly.

   ‘You will have to do that in your dreams, dearest Link. For now you will have forgotten me when you wake up. Go regain your lost time.’ And before he could say a word she had pressed the ocarina to her lips and fingered the mystical notes that would send him home. A strangle blue light encircled Link. Then he was gone. She was alone. They were now in completely different places. She, in the future, he in the past.

   ‘Impa?’ Impa stepped forward.

   ‘Yes Zelda?’

   ‘Prepare Moondance.’

   ‘Where are you going?’ Sadness pricked Impa’s heart. Zelda was the

   closest thing she had had to a daughter, and wherever she was going now, she couldn’t go too. She had to stay with the other sages.

   ‘I am a danger to everyone here. I do not want them to remember this dangerous time. Besides, Ganon is still here. He will be after me.’ Impa nodded, though her heart was breaking.

   ‘I will miss you, my Zelda.’ Zelda looked fondly at Impa.

   ‘Look after him will you? Reassure him. I shall miss him more than I can say.’

    

   Upon her white horse Zelda gazed back at Hyrule. Yes I trust you Zelda. Yes I trust you Zelda. Yes I trust you Zelda. Yes I trust you Zelda. His words rebounded in her head. She looked with unease at the forest, but urged Moondance on.

   ‘Goodbye Link.’ She said softly into the night. Moondance broke into a gallop.

   Zelda didn’t know. She didn’t even hope. But Link had not forgotten.  Bound by time he gazed angrily around him. He then gazed up at Death Mountain, the very place that, exactly seven years later, Zelda would escape from. Link stood up. I made a promise to you Zelda, he thought. And I shall keep it. And with that he walked slowly to the entrance and vanished through it without a word.

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