Wheee, it's the last chapter already. There's also a REALLY short prologue. This chapter is longer to compensate!
And hey, there's a little bit too much plot in this one. Oh well. On with the story!
Darkness, then light. Consciousness came slowly.
Zelda reflexively tried to raise her arm to shield her eyes from the sunlight that monopolized her vision. It wouldn't move. It was pinned—no, tied—under her.
A shadow against the glare. Shaped like a man. The shadow kissed her gently but quickly on the forehead and cut her restraints, and she fell with a cushy thud to the pillowed interior of the badly wrecked cannonball.
"How are you feeling?" asked the suspiciously Hamlet-shaped shadow. "You've been out for hours, but it took me that long to get myself free from my own harness… Did you hit your head on something?"
Zelda shrugged. "I guess. I don't actually remember blasting off so it must have been during. What was it like? Where are we?"
"You're better off not knowing what that was like, trust me. As to where we are…"
He hooked his arms under hers and gently dragged her out of the capsule. She looked around as he propped her up against the scorched and damaged hull.
"Well, at least we're still in Hyrule," she said. "But if I had my choice, I probably wouldn't have landed on Death Mountain."
"I'm still not sure about the geography around here. This is where the Gerudo live, right?"
She chuckled a little. "Gorons. But you were close."
"Well, hopefully I'll have time to get to know the surroundings better. Can you walk? Do you know your way around here?"
She pulled herself up and steadied herself on Hamlet's shoulder. "I've been here once. We're right outside of the Goron City." She pointed at a nearby cavern entrance. "We should make sure the Goron crew got back safely. I know they're impervious to lava, but…"
Hamlet had picked up that semi-telepathic ability that lovers have to finish each other's sentences. "…but there are worse things than lava around there." He shuddered. "It's the least we can do for them, considering that they got us out of there safe and relatively sound." He offered his hand to her, half from affection and half from a need for physical stability. Zelda's legs still hurt like hell, and Hamlet was limping a bit, but she took his hand and they began to wind their way down the steep mountain path.
There were a few random creatures milling around, but the couple ignored them completely, and were ignored right back. The Goron city wasn't far, and the cavern in the wall of the path was well-marked enough that Zelda didn't need to lead Hamlet through.
The quiet was the first sign that something was wrong, and it was the only sign that Zelda needed. Gorons were cheerfully noisy people, and even a Goron doing nothing but walking around was about as subtle as…well, the usual sarcastic saying was "subtle as a Goron," so she couldn't think of an apt comparison. Nonetheless, Gorons were noticeable, and it was painfully obvious that there were none of them here.
Hamlet looked back at her. He hadn't had as much experience as she, but he still suspected. "It's not supposed to be this quiet, is it?"
"No, it really isn't." She saw no need to actually go in. Either the Gorons were all dead, or they were all away doing goddess knows what. Either way, there was not a lot they could do. Zelda, suddenly feeling very small and helpless, grabbed Hamlet's hand for a small feeling of familiarity.
They didn't start up the path right away. Hand in hand, they stared out off Death Mountain over the scarred and blighted land of Hyrule, each of them lost in their own thoughts. Zelda, for one, had the lowest self-esteem she had ever had in her life. She had failed as a princess, failed as a rebel, and part of her mind was insisting that she had failed as a lover, too.
Suddenly, though, something in her mind shut that all away. She didn't have time to mope, not with the horrible things that Ganondorf had apparently done over the past day. She only had time to survive, and keep Hamlet safe. She had to find the rest of the resistance movement, she had to find the Gorons, she had to set things right. The royal blood that pumped through her veins would not allow her to do any less for her people and her country.
Just after she resolved to go out there and make a stand again, there was a flash of light, concealing the sudden entrance of a large Sheikah woman about ten feet in front of her. Hamlet drew a small dagger out of his shoe and dropped into a reasonable facsimile of a battle stance, but Zelda recognized this woman immediately and gaped. "Impa!"
Impa allowed herself a small smile at seeing that the princess was okay. "Hello, little one."
That irritated her. Zelda had been called "little one" by Impa up until the day her nursemaid had disappeared, shortly after the Door of Time was opened and all hell came out of it. She had had to build up a militia all by herself, and command the respect of her troops without fail, all while going through the trials and tribulations of adolescence. Seven years it had been since she had been a "little one."
But now was not the time for berating Impa. Rather, it was the time to bombard her with every question imaginable. "What are you doing here? Where were you? Do you have any idea where the Gorons went?"
Impa answered quickly, counting off the responses on her fingers. "Helping. Somewhere other than Hyrule. I didn't know they were gone." The intimidating Sheikah turned her attention on Hamlet, who was still crouched with sword drawn and a very confused expression on his face. "Who might you be?"
He stood up a little sheepishly, letting the blade droop in his hand. "Um, Prince Hamlet of Hyrule. I'm Zelda's….err…"
Zelda took the opportunity to answer for him. "Royal advisor and close personal friend." It felt good to finally be able to stand up to Impa. She knew that the guardian was just looking out for her well-being, but independence was still a good thing. "Hamlet, put the knife away. She's with us."
He did so, without complaint, and Zelda turned her attention back to Impa. "I take it you've already talked to the resistance movement."
Impa nodded, then frowned, the lines on her face belying how ancient she really was. "What's left of it, anyway. It's just Hylians now. All of the Gorons came back here, and all of the Zora went back at the urgent behest of their king. They said something about their god dying, and they all vanished without a trace. Furthermore, not one of them has reported back, and it's been well over a day. I was going to check on them next, but… something else came up. Something far more important."
"Ganondorf's been busy in the past couple of days, hasn't he?" interrupted Hamlet. "Killing gods, darkening the sky…" He trailed off, staring upwards and lost in thought.
Impa ignored him. "The hero's back. The Temple of Time is active again, and the Hero is back. The Pedestal of Time has the direct connection to the Sacred Realm again, and there's already a barely visible silhouette of Link in it."
Zelda knew she should be shocked, but somewhere in the back of her mind she knew she'd have to deal with this sooner or later. The Prophecies were too sacred to be put off by Link's death. Sure, she had accepted the fact that he was dead, but she knew with every part of her that Destiny was not mutable. "I should go meet him, tell him what he has to do, with the Sages and all. It's my duty, after all; I'm his Princess."
"That would not be prudent, Zelda. Think about it. He's suddenly seventeen, with all of the hormones that that entails. And you…" Impa looked her up and down thoroughly. "Who knows what he might do? Besides, I take it your…advisor…would rather Link keep his heroic mitts off of you."
"Yes, please," Hamlet and Zelda said in unison.
"So you have to use a disguise. The disguise." Impa looked at the princess significantly.
"What?" Zelda couldn't quite figure out what Impa meant.
"THE disguise. Sheikah magic."
Comprehension dawned on Zelda, and memories that she thought she had successfully repressed came flooding back. "No. That spell… I don't think it works any more. I mean, back when I wanted to go play with the other boys on the castle grounds, it served me well, but… Impa, I have curves now. And breasts." She ignored Hamlet's slightly perverted leer. "It's not going to be enough to cover it up, is it?"
Impa grinned slightly. Zelda could tell she was enjoying this a little too much. "You don't put enough faith in Sheikah magic. Besides, you invented that spell. It should be attuned to you anyway. Give it a try."
Zelda shoved away the conflicting feelings she always got whenever she became her other self and looked to Hamlet. "Darling…forgive me for this." She clasped her hands, closed her eyes, and muttered the arcane words of power to bring forth the transformation.
…and nothing happened. Then she remembered something. "Oh. I'm out of magic."
Impa wordlessly (but bemusedly) pulled out a small green bottle and handed it to Zelda. Zelda opened it, drank the contents, and handed it back. "Okay, now that I've ruined the dramatic moment, I'll just get this over with…" She simply said the magic words this time, without all the ceremony and mystery and with rolled eyes.
She felt something tug at her mind, pulling it in all directions at once and nowhere at all. She was surrounded by a sparkly white fog for a moment—a by-product of the spell that she knew very well.
Then she screamed as a jolt of pain wracked her entire body. THIS wasn't something she was used to. She could acutely feel her anatomy being wrenched around, toned, altered, tailored, molded like clay. The magic was not gentle at all, and Zel….Sheik was sure he was going to pass out by the time it stopped.
He was on his hands and knees on the ground, coughing. As the numb aftereffects of the torture subsided, he became aware of his surroundings again, Impa staring at him with interest, Hamlet gaping at him in utter and complete confusion.
Sheik stood up unsteadily, and began to console the befuddled prince. "Hamlet, it's still me. I'm still Zelda on the inside. Well, except for these feelings…that's new." He paused for a bit, poking at his abdomen. "But this is only temporary. I'll only be male for as long as I need to train Link without him getting all hormonal on me. And dear sweet Goddesses, Impa, you were right about the hormones." He shook his head, as if he was trying to clear it of something. He was suddenly having very lewd thoughts about his female alter ego, and that, along with the fact that he was now thinking of himself in male pronouns, was scaring him a little.
Hamlet laughed, the confusion falling away from his face. "No, I figured all that just from what you two were talking about before. What I want to know is why you changed clothes."
"Oh. Uh, I don't know." He absentmindedly tugged at the Sheikah garments covering him. "Anyway. Thank you, Impa. Hamlet, we need to go. I have enough magic left for a Farore's Wind. But… um…."
"Yeah, I know. Skin contact." Hamlet reached out and grabbed Sheik's hand in what Sheik noticed was a much more platonic way than he had earlier. Sheik, frankly, didn't blame him. He much preferred being female, and he knew that Hamlet DEFINITELY preferred women.
"Let's go, um…" Hamlet pursed his lips in consideration. "What do you call yourself now? Zeldin? Zeldo?"
"As unimaginative as my real name is," Sheik laughed, "it's not as bad as those, Call me Sheik." He raised his hand up and gathered the magical energy for the spell. "FARORE'S WIND!"
It was just as quick as before. The green column of light shot up and whisked the pair off to the Temple of Time. There was no interception this time; they simply found themselves at the front steps of the temple, bathed in a pallid glow from within. They walked in slowly, side-by-side, not knowing what might await them.
Sheik looked up as he entered the antechamber. The high ceiling caused every step to reverberate. He knew it was a holy place, instilled with the reverence of the Goddesses, but that didn't make it feel any less like a crypt.
He looked down to see that Hamlet was staring straight at him. "What are you talking about?" Hamlet asked quizzically. "I'm awake. And why did you sound like you were crying?"
Sheik blinked in confusion. "What? I didn't say anything."
"You just said, 'Please, please wake up!' …didn't you?" Hamlet looked at his hand. "And why am I transparent?"
He was, Sheik noticed with a start, transparent. Even through his torso Sheik could dimly make out the smooth stone walls of the Temple. "Hamlet! Are you okay?"
"I'm hallucinating and disappearing. I think it's safe to say that I'm not okay." Hamlet buried his translucent face in his translucent hand. "No, I know what's going on here," he said with a note of resigned sorrow in his voice, "I'm being called home. That wasn't your voice. It was Horatio's."
"No, dammit," Sheik swore desperately. "I can't lose you now. I can't! Not without a goodbye kiss…"
Hamlet smiled sadly. "I don't think I really have a choice. Maybe he has something to do with it." He pointed in the direction of the brightly shining cylinder of energy surrounding the Pedestal of Time in the next room. "Or maybe it was that teleport spell you used. Or maybe it was… Oh, Zelda, I don't know. I just wish I could have left you when you were still female."
"I do too. A last kiss would have been nice, but…" Sheik paused to wipe the freely flowing tears out of his crimson eyes. "But I doubt you'd want that, not from Sheik."
"It's a moot point anyway, my love." Hamlet reached out, grabbed his gender-bent lover's hand, and grimaced as his fingers passed through it like smoke. "I'm not really here any more."
By this point, Sheik could barely see him. The time for final goodbyes had come, and he was sobbing too hard to say anything coherent. He felt like the only good thing that had happened to him in the past seven years was being ripped away from him, and at the worst possible moment. In between tears, he managed to speak what he hoped beyond hope were not the last words. "I love you…"
"I love you too, Zelda." Hamlet's words were faint, as if they came out of the bottom of a well. "No matter what happens, I will devote the rest of my life to getting back to you. I won't let this be the end…but if it is….fare….well…"
He was gone. The man that Zelda had fallen in love with, even for so brief a time, was gone before Sheik could properly say goodbye. And what goodbyes he could make were made as a man. They had been a couple for less than a half of a day, and yet there was a piece of Zelda's life missing.
And Sheik, tour guide to the Hero of Time, didn't even have the opportunity to dwell on it. He had to cobble together an appropriately cryptic speech for the homecoming hero, and he had to go find out what happened to the Zoras. No rest, no time to reflect.
Sheik wondered what Link would think of his tear-reddened eyes…
Darkness, just like before. There was no poison this time, only a broken heart. All things considered, Hamlet preferred the poison.
This time he knew where he would wake up. Lying on the ground, in front of the castle where he had lived his whole life and died. The place where every important event in his life happened…all but the most important.
His eyes snapped open, and he easily found the strength to sit up and speak to a shocked Horatio. "Hello, friend. It's been a while."
"What… but you… how…" Horatio's pale eyes were red from tears not so long dried. "You were dead! For five minutes!"
"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio… Oh, we've already had this discussion. You've already seen the dead walk, don't act so surprised."
Horatio nodded sagely. "So what happened? Why do you look so sad to be back in the land of the living? Are you a spirit now?"
So Hamlet told him the story—of his arrival, of training, of the attack, his imprisonment, and his return…but mostly he talked about Zelda. He talked not only to inform his friend but also to reinforce his own memories. Memories were all he had left of her, and he couldn't bear to lose them.
Horatio, ever the patient and trusting friend, did not dismiss the claims as a dream or question Hamlet's judgment at all. He simply said one thing after the story was over. "I know where you're going with this, and the answer is yes. Yes, I'll help you go back, if I get to come along. There's nothing left for either of us here, and everything at stake for you." He grinned a little, to cheer up both himself and his liege. "Maybe for me, too. Would you say they're more accepting of…my type there?"
Hamlet pulled himself to his feet, and dusted himself off. "I'd guess so. They seem very progressive there." He extended a hand to the kneeling Horatio. "Well, get up, my friend. We need to find someone who can take us away from this place. Do you know where we could find a wizard?"
And there's the end! Like I said, there's a prologue of storts coming. Also look out for my next longish Zelda fanfiction, Waves.
Please review! My ego craves it!