The Brightside of Darkness: Alternate Epilogue

This is the second epilogue as was promised. It's closer to what I had planned for the original ending. Well, I hope you like it. Please read and review.

My fingers dug into the rough stone of the window sill as I tried to peer around the wall of guards that blocked my view of the main hall. There, I thought as my eyes zoomed in on black armor and red hair. Ganondorf was kneeling before my father with his copper eyes focused on the marble floor. Three other Gerudo obsequiously knelt beside him, all the pure image of loyalty and obedience. I knew better though. I could see right through their ruse. For months visions had been haunting me. Dreams filled with dark, boiling clouds on a distant horizon flashed through my mind every night as I slept. Sometimes they would be filled with great forked streaks of lightning, but the lightning was never white or silver. It was always copper, sometimes bronze. It was the color of the desert man's eyes. There was no doubt in my young mind that he was the thing that my dreams had been warning me of.

As I stared at him, I felt something pulling at the back of my mind. I couldn't figure out what it was exactly, but I felt like there was some great piece of me missing. I continued to watch him intently, trying to detect the slightest hint of foul play. While I studied him, my mind continued to work on figuring out what was absent from me. Slowly, I began to realize that I didn't hate him as I thought I had. I couldn't hate him. I knew that he was going to do something horrible, but I couldn't bring up those previous emotions. There was nothing in their place, and I knew that there should have been. Frowning, I turned away from the window and sat down with my back against the wall.

A breeze blew through the ring of yellow flowers in the middle of the courtyard and made me cross my arms over my chest to keep away a chill. Something soft and warm brushed against my chest on the inside of my dress. My hand dove down the front of my dress and pulled out a small leather book.

"What is this?" I muttered to myself as I read the title.

Then I remembered. There is a great difference between remembering and recalling. Recalling is when you think on it with only vague, half-formed memories and emotions. It carries no true weight, only information. Remembering, true remembering, is to be reabsorbed into the moment or instant. It is to feel all of the heaviness of that time all over again.

Seven years worth of memories washed over me, leaving me stunned and speechless. My hands flew up to my temples as I sank onto the bench and pressed my forehead to the cool marble. Tears gathered in my eyes as I relived the sensation of pressing my forehead to his and saw the life seeping out of him. Images of events that had never happened raced and swarmed through my brain like bees around a hive. My head pounded as if someone had clubbed me. A gasp squeezed out of my throat as I was confronted with emotions that my ten year old self had never experienced: my all-consuming anger, my vast bitterness, the war that had constantly raged within me, and the reluctant love that I had developed for him. It was jumbled and mashed together and banging against the inside of my head.

This is a nightmare. This is madness. I've finally lost it. People have always thought I was crazy, maybe they were right. None of this is real. It can't be, I pleaded in my mind.

Memories were filling me up like water in a cup, and I felt like I was going to burst. I could almost feel my bones cracking from the pressure of it. I stayed there for what felt like hours as events continued to play out in my mind. Finally, they receded and faded away all together until they were only dim echoes. I shakily sat up and leaned over the side to vomit. I heaved a few times before wiping my mouth with my sleeve.

With a great deal of effort, I managed to peer through the window again. Ganondorf and the other Gerudo were still there talking with my father. It seemed like not much time had passed. Watching him, I knew that the memories were real. I had lived seven years that had never actually happened. It was daunting to say the least.

The small book was lying innocently on the bench beside me. I picked it up and skimmed through the pages; occasionally, stopping to read a paragraph or two. The book reaffirmed my decision that my memories had been real. Much of what I had remembered hearing him say was written down on the pages in front of me, and I knew that I'd never read it in my entire life.

So what did I do now? I had to stop it from happening. I'd been given a second chance. I couldn't just let the same thing happen all over.

I was busying biting my nails when Link walked quietly over the grass and stood a few feet in front of me. I looked up and stared at him.

"I remember," he said solemnly.

"Good," I whispered as I stood up, discreetly tucking the book into one of the many pockets in my skirt. "We have to stop this from happening. He's still planning to storm the castle."

"How? Are we going to turn him in?" Link asked.

"No," I said harshly.

Link gave me a skeptical look.

"I know you're not going to believe me but. . .," I took a deep breath, "Ganondorf isn't what you think he is. He's going to do this because there is a drought in the Desert and they need food and water badly. They need help, and I plan to give it to them."

The former Hero of Time blinked slowly once as he processed what I had just said.

Eventually, he spoke, "What did he do to you while he had you locked up?"

I frowned at him. "You don't believe me? Fine, here take a look at this," I took the book out from my pocket and flipped through the pages of the memoir, stopping when I came to the point where he explained his motives for the coup of the castle. I shoved roughly it into Link's waiting hands.

He lifted an eyebrow at my behavior but said nothing as he started to read the page. When he was done, he flipped through the book to read on. My hands itched to take it back from him, afraid he'd tear it up or burn it.

He looked up from the book and tossed it back to me, his expression grim. "You think he's telling the truth, that he's not just trying to trick you?"

"I know he's telling the truth. I'm not an idiot," I replied defensively, folding the book back away into one secret pocket.

He nodded. "Alright, but I don't see how it makes a difference. How are you going to stop this without giving him away? How do you even know that he won't go through with it should he get the aid he needs?"

"He won't. Just trust me on this. Despite his many flaws, Ganondorf is only cruel when necessary. As for getting his help without giving him away, you leave that to me. You go along with whatever I say. It'll look better if there are two people saying the same thing. So are you going to help me?"

His mouth turned down into a frown as he thought it over. He impatiently dug a hole into the ground with the toe of his boot.

I glanced back at the window. I could see them still talking. There was no telling how much longer they would be there. We might only have mere minutes.

"Are you with me or not?" I asked anxiously.

"Fine, but how are we going to get in there? I doubt they'll just let us walk right in there," he mused.

"I'm going to pretend to faint, and you're going to call a guard," I said as I laid myself out on the ground.

"Are you sure that's such a good idea? What if they think I knocked you out? They'll throw me in prison!" he exclaimed as I settled my skirts out around me and laid my arms out to my sides.

"That makes no sense. If you knocked me out why would you call a guard?"

"It doesn't have to make sense. If you haven't noticed your guards aren't the brightest soldiers."

"All the more reason why they'll believe you."

He growled in frustration, but I heard him start yelling frantically as soon as my eyes were closed and I made my breathing quick and shallow. I knew this would get me into the castle.

"Someone help! The Princess! She's hurt! The Princess needs help!" Link cried.

Within seconds, I heard the jangling of armor as several guards came running from the gardens to the courtyard.

"You, boy, what happened here?" one of them demanded. I counted roughly four from the sound of the pairs of feet I heard.

"Sh-she just passed out," he stuttered in his weakest voice. "I was just standing there and then her eyes rolled back into her head, and she passed out!"

A guard knelt down beside me and gently pressed his hand to my forehead. "Princess," he whispered softly.

I fluttered my eyelids a bit.

"Princess, wake up. . ." he cooed.

I mumbled something and cracked open my eyes a bit.

Relief flooded his face as he waved for the others to join him. The captain continued to question Link about the situation. He played the part of the bewildered and frightened foreigner beautifully.

"Wh-where am I?" I asked pitifully.

"You're at the castle, Your Highness. You passed out," breathed a guard on my right.

"Oh. . . where's the boy from the forest? Where is he?" I made a show of struggling to sit up. They quickly stopped me and eased me back down to the grass.

"You mean the lad in green?"

I nodded.

"He's over there with the captain," said the guard near my foot, he nodded in their direction. I rolled my head over to the side to see Link gazing down at the ground, spreading his hands helplessly.

"I need to speak to my father. It's urgent," I tried to sit up again, and this time they helped me.

"Yes, Princess, we'll see that it's done," and with that said, one of them scooped me up in his arms. It felt odd to be carried. I resisted the urge to squirm out of his grasp, knowing it wouldn't be conducive to my act.

"I think I'm strong enough to stand," I sighed.

"Are you sure, Milady?"

I nodded, and he slowly set me down on my feet. I wobbled a moment for good measure while they hovered around me nervously, their hands ready to catch me the moment I fell.

"The boy must come to," I said, tossing a glance back at Link who was still being grilled by the captain.

"But the captain is interrogating him. He looked very suspicious."

"It's important," I stated, letting some strength and anger creep into my voice. I wasn't in the mood to play nice right now, and I'd pull rank if I had to.

"Of course," one of them demurred.

Link was soon at my side with the guards flanking us as we marched to the main hall. My heart was in my throat as we strode past the other guards surveying the gardens. A sweat broke out over my body as my mind raced with the possibilities of what could go wrong. I still wasn't sure of my exact plan. All I knew so far was that I would proclaim I'd seen the troubles of the Gerudo in a vision. From there on I would just have to make it up.

We reached the end of the gardens and walked through an archway that led into a parlor. Sunlight filled the room through high windows and illuminated the noble women reclining on pillows and working on their embroidery. For a moment, I was taken aback by the scene. I'd forgotten that my mother's ladies in waiting were still present in the castle, awaiting the day they would become my ladies in waiting. Right now the ten year old girl was sleeping somewhere in my mind, and the eighteen year old fugitive who'd never existed was in control. Despite my weaker and softer body, my mind was still hard and focused. I wasn't accustomed to such sights as civilized as seeing women sew.

They looked up with startled expressions from their hobby before they gracefully bowed their heads to me. I could almost hear the whispers starting as soon as the door shut behind us. That was one thing I would never forget about royal life: everyone gossiped about everything.

I jumped when I felt a hand slide into mine. My eyes darted over to Link who walked beside me and offered a simple smile. A sigh escaped me as I smiled back and squeezed his hand. Maybe I had been wrong all this time. Maybe we were closer than I thought. I'd always thought of mine and Link's relationship as being a bit distant and cold. He was a friend in some ways, but a stranger in many. I certainly would have never suspected him to try and comfort me in any way.

"Thank you," I mouthed as we walked down the hall together. He nodded and looked straight ahead.

The guards guided us around a corner. At the end of a hallway I could see a set of double doors. I knew that behind those doors my father and Ganondorf waited. A few more steps and I would have my opportunity to rectify things. I swallowed and my heart beat doubled.

"Can you do this?" Link said so softly only I could hear him.

"I don't have a choice," I answered.

One of the guards pushed open the doors, and we walked through. The guards fell back behind us as Link and I stepped forward. The line of guards blocking my view of the King stepped aside when they saw me. One of them held a spear out in front of Link and shook his head.

"Let him through," I ordered in my most authoritative tone. The guard hesitated for a second but then dropped the spear. Link hurried to my side.

My father stood on the steps leading to the throne speaking with Ganondorf. The King of Thieves was still eye to eye with my father though he stood two steps below him.

"Zelda," my father greeted with reproach in his voice.

I ducked my head at his gaze. It didn't matter that my older, tougher self was in control now. He was still my father, and I still respected him more than I had anyone else in my life.

"Father," I said as I curtsied. Link bowed deeply at the waist, not sure of the required protocol.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were out in the courtyard," he said in his smooth voice. He was angry. I could tell by the lines around his eyes and mouth. His eyes were another thing that gave him away. They were not their usual warm brown. They were chilly as he looked down at me, his black brows furrowed.

History may paint my father as some fat, old man with a great white beard and mustache, but he wasn't that at all. The King of Hyrule was only in his late thirties with a head full of pepper colored hair and a nose like a hawk's beak. I focused my eyes on his tanned, weathered hands that rested comfortably on his belt. I'd always loved my father's hands because they seemed to be the strongest part of him to me.

I lifted my head, making sure to keep my chin held high. "I had a vision," I said confidently, loud enough for the whole room to hear.

His mouth thinned into a grimace. He didn't like my talk of visions. My father was a very practical man and talk of the mystical annoyed him. He couldn't silence me now. Everyone had heard, and even if he didn't buy into my visions, plenty of other people did.

"Can't this wait, darling?" he muttered as he bent down in front of me and prepared to usher me away.

"No, it's about the Gerudo," I stepped away from him and turned towards the crowd. Ganondorf's eyes followed me. We locked gazes for a moment. It was all I needed to know that he remembered everything as clearly as I did. I moved my eyes over the crowd, making them as big as I could. The Gerudo behind him were fluttering nervously. Ganondorf simply folded his arms over his chest and waited to see what would happen.

"I have seen great troubles on the horizon for both our peoples," I said ominously. I was starting out dramatic to grab their attention. People are naturally fascinated by disaster.

The Gerudo were getting fidgety. I saw them flashing each other looks from the corner of their eyes.

"Something bold must be done to ensure the survival of the Hylians and the Gerudo. We must learn to work together and unite under a common cause. There is great strife among the Gerudo. I have seen it in my dreams, the struggles that they face," I turned my stare onto them. The tension in the room mounted.

"He has seen it as well," I gestured to Link who stepped forward and nodded.

"Who is he?" an angry soldier from the sidelines asked.

"I am a messenger of the Great Deku Tree," he stated without my prompting. "He has sent me to warn you of the danger that lies ahead."

This set a flurry of whispers among the Gerudo. I heard the word prophecy breathed more than once. Link was about to speak again when one of them lunged forward with a sword in her hand.

"He knows, he knows," she screamed as she swung her sword at him. Link ducked beneath the poorly aimed slice and rolled away.

Though he came away unharmed, the damage was done. The other women drew their weapons as well as soon as the Hylians formed a tight circle around them. A group of soldiers was restraining the would-be assassin.

"He'll destroy us. He'll ruin everything!" she wailed as the guards forced her unto her knees.

I turned around in dismay as I heard the clanging of steel on steel. The Gerudo were now fighting with the ring of Hylian guards. My father stood there shocked for a moment before he drew his sword and stepped away from the melee. Ganondorf had been backed into the ring of his Gerudo. He stood in the center of them cursing. His sword remained in its sheath. I could hear his deep voice ringing out over the clash of weapons. He was trying to calm the Gerudo into putting away their weapons. They weren't listening. This was a younger Ganondorf. He did not hold the same authority and power that he had when we were older.

I just stood there with my mouth hanging open like a fish on a hook as I watched the situation unfold. My body was rigid with fear and surprise. I hadn't intended to drive them into this. I had only intended to build the drama of the moment so that I might hold everyone's attention. Link must have sent her over the edge. They must have heard of the prophecy as well. At Hyrule's greatest hour of need, a boy from the Forest shall arise to defend her against her darkest foe, I recited the lines to myself over in my head. It was centuries old and most people had forgotten about it. Apparently, the Gerudo hadn't. She must have linked him with the boy from the prophecy.

My courage was dying inside my chest as my hands gripped the skirts of my dress. The Gerudo were heavily outnumbered. They had no chance of winning or breaking through, but still, they fought on. I might have found it admirable or inspiring if my stomach hadn't been churning. I felt like I was going to throw up again. As the Gerudo were slowly succumbing to the superior numbers of their opponents, I felt my knees grow weak. They gave way beneath me, and I hit the cold floor hard. I rested my hands on my knees and batted away tears.

Finally, the skirmish ended with the Gerudo on their knees and their hands behind their backs. Ganondorf was in the midst of them, his head held defiantly high. He looked at me for a moment. Everything about him seemed young except for his eyes. They were as old and worn as the Desert herself. There was a profound sorrow in them that mirrored my own. We had once again played into the hands of Destiny.

"I do not know what treachery you were planning," my father rumbled, "but you will pay dearly for this. Take them to the dungeon. They are to be questioned immediately. Use whatever methods you deem necessary."

I closed my eyes against his words. I knew what that meant. They would use torture if they had to. It was a dark secret of the Hylian monarchy. We liked to think of ourselves as being above such barbaric tools, but when the time called, we would resort to them like any other kingdom would. I heard the scuffing of boots as the Gerudo were dragged away from the hall and led into the dungeons. None of them resisted or protested. Perhaps they were hoping for mercy if they went along quietly. I felt Ganondorf pass by me as he left. I did not look at him.

Three agonizing days passed as the guards interrogated the Gerudo. During those days, I did not eat or sleep. I grew thin and pale. Link was given a room in the castle in honor of revealing the evil plot. He was seen as a hero by the rest of the nobility. My father even had plans to give him a medal. He was uncomfortable with the attention since the results had been the exact opposite of our intentions. He was quiet and nervous around me, like I was some wild animal that might flee or fight if he made any sudden movements. Maybe he thought I blamed him for this fiasco. I didn't. I blamed myself. I should have used more control. I should have thought of another plan. I should have done anything but what I did.

After the three days passed, the verdict was read. The Gerudo had confessed to a conspiracy against the crown. They identified Ganondorf as the leader who planned the coup. In return for their information their lives were spared. They all simply lost one eye, one ear, and their tongues. Ganondorf was sentenced to death. I was bitterly reminded of the fact that he had spared my own life when I attempted to escape the castle. I pleaded with my father to overturn the ruling, but he refused and attributed my begging to madness caused by the violent scene.

I will not relay the details of his execution to you for those can be found in any history book. I will simply provide some information about my own thoughts on the horrific event. I attended it by convincing my father that it would help to end the nightmares I'd been having. I told him that knowing Ganondorf was dead would help bring me peace. The truth was that I felt it was my duty to go. I had brought this about through my own carelessness, and I knew it owed at least this to him. I would be nothing more than a coward if I didn't go. So I went.

It was held in an arena that had once been used by the Gerudo for chariot races and archery contests. My father decided to choose the arena as the site for the Gerudo King's execution because he planned to build a new prison around it, one that would harbor Hyrule's most dangerous criminals and traitors. It would be christened with Ganondorf's blood.

I recall that it was a very hot day as to be expected in the Gerudo Desert, but the wind was unusually violent. I was pleasantly numb emotionally. I had wrung all the tears that I could from my eyes days earlier. There was nothing left in me but a great hollow.

The sages were the only real thing that managed to illicit some sort of emotion out of me. I was shocked by their ghostly appearance. They were only vapor and air. I assumed it was because they had not awakened in their physical forms. Still, I was filled with disgust as I watched them shiver and moan pathetically. Where was Rauru's wisdom? Darunia's strength? Impa's steadfastness? Nabooru's energy? Saria's compassion? Even Ruto's stubbornness? Where were all those things that had made them great? I could see none of those qualities in these pitiful ghosts.

They sparked a flicker of anger in me when they lifted the sword over head and prepared to drive it into him. To kill him with his own sword struck me as blasphemous. I remembered seeing him wield it with such skill that my heart contracted for a moment. Then the Triforce of Wisdom resonated in me. The relic told me that I had to act. I had to save him. It was what fate demanded, and for once I was happy to oblige her.

So as the sword flew towards its target, I altered its course by drawing on the Triforce of Wisdom and using its power to nudge the blade aside a hair's breadth. It wasn't enough to be visibly noticeable, just enough to make sure the sword didn't strike any internal organs. Miraculously, my aim proved true. It went through him and clean out the other side without hitting anything vital.

As you well know, the sages were stunned when he lifted his head and laughed. History books now attest that his amazing survival was due to the Triforce of Power. Goddesses knows what they would think if they knew the truth.

With my help, he lived and then the Triforce of Power possessed him just as it had when the castle toppled down on him. The thing that attacked the sages and was locked away in another realm was not Ganondorf, not my Ganondorf. It was a shell of him, a tool of the Triforce of Power. I believe that it has something like a will of its own, and it will make a vessel out of whomever its owner happens to be. Maybe that is why it's called the Triforce of Power, not because it grants power but because it exerts it. This just my theory though and goes on nothing more than my own experience.

The rest of my story is history. You could read about it any historical tome you choose. I recorded this part because no one else will. No one else but the three holders of the Triforce recall those seven lost years. It is important that you know about those lost years for I am certain that will he will make good on his promise and come back. I don't know when it will happen, but he will return to find me. And you must be prepared to face him, and he will expect you to remember these things that I have recounted.

So whoever you are, whether you are my great granddaughter or my great-great-great granddaughter, I wish you luck and courage in your journey. You're going to need it.

Zelda cringed as she scrawled out the last word and dropped her quill with relief. She groaned softly as she massaged the swollen knuckle of her gnarled and veined hand. The Queen studied her knobby fingers in disbelief. It seemed like only minutes ago they had been long and limber like they used to be and capable of wielding a chain or a gripping a knife. She'd had to give that up nearly twenty years ago when her arthritis got worse. Now it was only her iron will that gave her strength to write over her pain.

"At least, it's done," she muttered softly to herself as she closed the small leather book she'd been writing in and set it on top of another. "I do wish I'd thought of a better ending though. Whoever reads that deserves a better ending, but I was never good at those." She smiled bitterly at her own words as she ran one leathery finger tip along the spine of the bottom book, taking comfort in its familiarity.

The bottom book was old and worn. Its binding was falling to pieces from being read so many times and being tucked under a pillow for years. Despite the wear and tear though, one could still make out the title of it if one squinted. The words The Brightside of Darkness glinted in gold on the front cover it. The rest of the words were harder to read and had been rubbed away by time.

The Queen sighed and tied the books together with a red ribbon. For good measure, she took out a thin strip of parchment and scribbled on it: "To my great granddaughter and her descendants." It would make an odd gift but appropriate for her first great grandchild who the doctors said would enter the world by morning. Something inside her told her that this child would be a girl.

Yes, I have a feeling she's going to be very special, the old woman mused to herself. Zelda got up from the chair at her writing desk, wincing as she felt her knees pop, and hobbled over to her soft bed. Tonight she was feeling her full eighty seven years. The retelling of her tale had driven a weariness into her that reached the marrow of her bones. She couldn't remember the last time she felt this tired. She needed rest and sleep. Yes, I'll just have a nice long sleep tonight, she thought as she crawled into bed beneath her blankets.

The next morning Queen Zelda I was found dead, lying peacefully in her bed. The news was delivered to her granddaughter only minutes after the Princess's daughter was born. In honor of the deceased queen, the new baby was named Zelda II.

Seventeen Years Later

Zelda threw back the hood of her cloak and looked to the sky. Where am I? she thought as her eyes followed the curls of colors that swirled on the canvas of the sky above her. She could see no sun anywhere but strange amber light filled the place. Ripping her gaze away from the heavens, she looked out around her to find nothing but tall grass. It went on forever like the sea. There were no trees or bushes or houses, just grass. There weren't even any mountains in the distance.

The Princess shivered on the inside of her cloak, but it wasn't from the constant breeze that stirred the grass. It was the sorrow emanating from this place. It seemed to be seeping from the ground beneath her feet and flowing into the air. It was all around her, pushing itself into her lungs and blood. Despite the sorrow, there was a sense of peace as well. Peace isn't the right word, she pondered, it's more like resignation. It was the feeling that you got when something terrible happened, and you knew you couldn't do anything more than pick up the pieces and move on. The Princess hated that feeling more than anything. She hated not being able to take action or do anything. She hated being helpless.

She had no idea how she'd gotten here. One moment she'd been sitting in the castle with Link and Midna. She shuddered when she recalled the imp's pale face and ghastly wounds. The next she'd found herself lying flat on her back in a field of grass, staring at a sky that looked nothing like any sky she'd ever seen.

She replayed her last few moments in Hyrule Castle over in her head. For some reason, it was hard to remember everything. She had healed Midna. She'd felt very tired after that, and then she'd just faded. I'm dead, she thought as she whirled around in a circle. Zelda suddenly remembered thinking that she was going to die when the strength drained from her. She just hadn't expected the Afterlife to look anything like this.

Bewildered and confused, Zelda mustered her courage, squared her shoulders, and set off to the west. The Princess had no idea what laid ahead, but it was better than just standing around doing nothing.

As she walked, her mind began to play tricks on her. She thought of people, places, and events that she'd never seen before. An image of a woman with grey hair and red eyes flashed through her mind. Her hand curled into a fist as she imagined herself holding a length of chain and swinging it over head. Zelda fought with a sword or a bow. She'd never used a chain in her life.

Her heart hammered in her chest as a set of golden eyes stared at her furiously in her mind, daring her to fight. She shook her head free of the thought and took another step forward. Then suddenly, she was in a dingy alley in the back of Hyrule Castle Town. Her heart was racing in her chest as she peered around a corner. A pack of shriveled corpses were ambling towards her, moaning as they took another step. She shut her eyes and dashed down the alleyway. Shrieking tore through the night, and three giant lizard-like creatures stood in front of her with swords clutched in their claws.

I'm dead now, she thought to herself as she frantically looked for a way out. She was blocked on both ends. With surprising grace and agility, she leapt into the air and grabbed onto a post sticking out from the side of one the buildings. Rocking her body back and forth, she picked up enough momentum and let go of the post. For a few thrilling seconds she was flying through the air, and then her fingers were clutching at a drain pipe secured against the wall. Down below her, she saw the angry Lizaflos snapping their jaws and waving their swords around angrily. The Redeads were just shuffling around in slow circles. She took a few deep breaths before a grin split her face, and she stuck her tongue out at them. One of the lizard men took a swing at her, and she went scurrying up the wall of the building like a spider.

"Try and get me now you asses," she yelled out as she hopped from one rooftop to the next.

Princess Zelda opened eyes wide as the vision ended. The breeze stirred the grass at her knees. She took in a deep breath. She was still there. It'd just been a . . . memory. It had been her but it hadn't. She'd never done anything like that. She'd never even seen those lizard things, and Hyrule Castle Town looked nothing like that. Where had that come from? Who was that girl? It was familiar somehow. She knew that place and those things though she'd never seen them with her own eyes.

That girl's name was Sheik, she thought to herself. Except that wasn't her real name. She was just pretending to be Sheik to hide from someone. Yes, I know where that's from now. It's from those weird books that my mother gave me for my twelfth birthday. She said they were from my great grandmother, Zelda I.

Zelda's mother had handed her two leather books on her birthday. The Princess had thought it was strange to receive birthday gifts from her great grandmother since she'd died the night before she was born. Her mother had then explained that they'd had them since she was born, but thought it was better to wait until she was older before they were presented to her. After that, she'd immediately run up to her room to read the strange manuscripts. Even then, she'd loved books and the stranger the better. These were different though. Both of them were like biographies, but one of them only told part of a story. She recalled that she'd cried after she finished them, which was odd because Zelda never cried after she read a book. The strangest thing was that they were written about something that supposedly never happened. She'd checked the archives later for any sign or proof for what was written in the books, but nothing showed up. Just like her great grandmother had said there wouldn't be.

When the young princess had asked her mother about their contents, the older woman had simply smiled, patted her head, and said, "Dearest, my grandmother was very old when she wrote those. We think she finished them on the night of her death. She was a brilliant woman, but she was probably going mad and forgetful when she wrote those. Don't put too much stock in them. I'm sure they're just half jumbled stories she'd heard and old memories." Then she'd gone back to sipping her wine.

It must be something that I read in those books, but then again, they never mentioned anything like. I read those things a thousand times, I would know if something like that was in there. She continued to think on the matter as she walked slowly and steadily across the plain of grass. The landscape never changed and sometimes it was hard to tell if she was even moving. Still she kept going, and as she went along she remembered more and more things and details that had been left out of the books. She didn't just see them in her mind. She heard, tasted, smelled, and felt the memories. Quickly, she was filling in the gaps in her mind. The spaces between the fragmented memories were growing smaller as the whole story began to unfold before her. She was beginning to understand the meaning of it when the monotony of the landscape was broken by a single figure in the distance.

A black horse and rider were charging towards her. She could hear the jingling of the bit and bridle as the animal galloped ahead at full speed. She could see its black mane and tail whipping out behind as it surged forward. The rider was wearing black armor and a red cape that was nearly the same color as his hair. His expression was neither furious nor insane like the history books described. It was calm like she remembered.

Instinct told her to dive out of the way before the horse made her into road kill, but if she was already dead then it wouldn't hurt. Besides, she knew he'd stopped before he reached her. Just as she predicted, the rider pulled sharply at the reins two feet in front of her. The horse screamed in surprise and stopped, pawing irritably at the ground.

The stared at each other across the small distance, their gazes locked in a silent battle of wills. It didn't feel like nearly a century had separated them. Finally, he ended the contest with a smirk and dropped the reins into his lap.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked in that achingly deep voice.

"If I was blind and deaf I would know you," she answered as she took a step forward and rested her hand on the neck of the horse.

"Still as sure of yourself as ever," he laughed as he dismounted beside her.

"Have I really not changed that much?" said Zelda, her voice humorous as she thoughtfully stroked the horse.

"You've changed a little," he murmured as his hand cautiously tucked a strand of brown hair behind her ear.

The Princess knew that she should be feeling surprised, horrified, bewildered, confused, and a number of other emotions at the moment but she couldn't. She was relaxed and calm, even happy. It was like the past century hadn't happened.

"You're still wearing that cape, I see," her fingers plucked at the gaudy piece of fabric.

He shrugged. "I see you've changed your taste in clothing. I remember when you hated wearing dresses. Now look at you. You look like an honest princess. Who'd have thought?"

She scowled at him playfully. "What can I say? Royal life has made me soft. What did you do to your hair though?" she questioned as she studied the gold wire running through his red locks.

"I thought I'd try something different. You don't like it?"

"I prefer it straight, without all of this," she waved her hand in the air above her head.

"Can't please everyone, I suppose. It still looks better than your hair did all those years ago," he quipped as he took a step back from the horse.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she said as she followed him, her hands on her hips.

"It looked like a rat's nest. People would think you'd never heard of a brush before."

"Ha! You're still a bastard I see," she fired.

"And you're still an ill tempered child," he shot back.

For a moment, they were silent as they let the sting of their words settle into the air. Then her face split into a smile.

"I've missed you," she whispered as she walked to his side and wrapped an arm around his waist.

"And I you," he murmured against her hair as he pressed his lips to the top of her head.

They took a seat together in the grass and watched the colors the sky ebb and flow like the currents in a river.

"What is this place?" she asked quietly as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"It's part of the Sacred Realm. It's the place between life and death," he said as he stared up at the sky.

"So I'm not dead then? Saving Midna didn't kill me?"

"Almost but not quite," he murmured. "That's why you remembered all those things."

"What things?" she mused sleepily.

"You're past life. That's why you can remember what happened between us. This place is allowing you to recall all those memories," his voice grew quiet towards the end, and Zelda knew he was holding something back.

"So what will happen when I leave this place?" she asked, suddenly more alert.

"You will forget everything. It will sleep in your mind once again like it did before," he said softly.

"What? No, I don't want to forget. I want remember those things," she protested, sitting straight up. "What about the books? Won't they help remind me of all this. Wasn't that the purpose of writing them so that I would remember?"

He shook his head slowly and began to pick at the grass. "No, they will become stories again. You might feel strange around them, but I doubt you'll remember anything. Even this will seem to be only a dream."

Her face fell, and she looked out wistfully over the ocean of long grass. "Why does it have to be this way? We just found each other again, and now we're being pulled apart. Why are you even doing this again? Why are you going through all of this trouble again? Playing the villain once wasn't enough for you?" Her voice grew strained towards the end, like it might crack and break into a thousand pieces.

"I am doing this because it is my role," he answered grimly, tearing more grass from the ground and tossing it away.

"So, you're going to go through with it?" she said in disbelief.

"Hyrule needs balance. It needs to know terror and fear so that it might know glory, hope, and heroism. These are the things that keep the threads of fate twining together. The Goddesses are the weavers, and we are the weft and the loom," his voice was low as he spoke, barely a whisper.

"But why us? Let someone else play the roles. There will always be boys longing to be heroes. There will be other princesses born. There are other men who crave power. It does not have to be us," she reached out and took his face in her hands. Tears glittered on her cheeks.

"I don't have the answer to that. We are simply part of a cycle that I do not know how to break. I only know that we will meet again and again. I will find you and lose you over and over," he breathed as he leaned closer to her.

She gave a soft sob and blinked back more tears as she stared at him. Then he leaned in and kissed her. It was sweet and simple, meant more to comfort than inspire lust. After a few seconds he pulled away and got to his feet. She sat there in the grass with her hands sitting listlessly in her lap.

"Come," he said as he offered her his hand, "we mustn't dwell on what will be. We still have time before he finds all the shards of the mirror. Let's not waste it crying over things that can't be changed."

"I guess you're right," she sniffed. She looked up at him and took his hand. He hauled her to her feet, and they set off hand in hand talking and reminiscing about the past that never happened and the future they didn't have.

There you have the second epilogue. This one is a lot sadder than the last one and closer to the original ending I had planned. I hope you liked it. To clarify some things that might now be very clear, I did not decide to make the story into Zelda's memoir until the last minute. That's why the punctuation isn't what it should be, and everyone is speaking with double quotes instead of single quotes. The basic ending is that the Zelda from Twilight Princess is the reincarnated form of her great grandmother Zelda from Ocarina of Time. The last scene between her and Ganondorf takes place after she sacrifices herself for Midna when she faces Zant and he kicks her butt. And the moment that she remembered with the redeads and lizaflos isn't particularly significant in any way. It was just meant to be an example of the kinds of things she was remembering and serve as proof that she wasn't just remembering parts of the books that she read. I hope that clears up any questions you guys might have about this epilogue. It's confusing I know but thanks for bearing with me. Please review and let me know what you think. Oh and by the way, how do you feel about Greek literature and this pairing?