Disclaimer: Zelda: It ain't mine.

Alarmed by the stern look on the Goron's face, along with his size, Link wished he could turn around and leave, or even say something in his own defense—"please mister don't eat me", perhaps—but as usual, he had no control over his own body.

"What do I have to do to talk to this guy?" First Voice asked, oblivious as always to Link's suffering.

Deep Voice immediately responded with a long, rambling explanation of what First Voice was apparently supposed to do next, but Link didn't hear it. His eyes were glued on the stern, unmoving visage of the leader of the Gorons. The guy didn't even blink, and it was making Link incredibly nervous.

When he finally tuned back in to what Deep Voice and First Voice were discussing, he was surprised that they were being even weirder than normal.

"…And there's a shortcut on, like, the second level of the city, so you can get there and back really quick—" Deep Voice was saying.

"—Wait. Crap. What time is it?" First Voice cut in.

"Ten twenty, why—OH. Geez. Here—"

It was at that point that Link's world went black.

When he woke up, the Goron leader was leaning over him.

"All right, little messenger? You gave us a scare." he said gruffly, pulling Link to his feet with a single muscular arm. "Perhaps the Death Mountain heat was too much for you?"

"No, this is just a typical day for me, really." Link replied in exasperation, brushing off his back side.

Approximately four seconds later, he realized what he had just done.

"You have a message from my brother, the king?" Darunia continued, unaware of Link's personal revelation.

"Oh!" the young Hylian gasped, still stunned by his sudden free movement. "I'm supposed to fetch the Goron's Ruby! For the Princess!"

Darunia frowned. "We can't just hand that over, it's the heart of Goron tradition. I wouldn't give it to a mere boy, anyway. You think you can prove yourself a man?"

Link listened to the elder Goron's challenge in pure amazement, and when he was done speaking Link ran out, absurdly pleased. Every little movement, from the blink of his eyes to the wiggling of his toes, made him feel as giddy as that one time Saria had kissed his cheek. He had never thought he would take things as simple as free movement and speech as special, but now he thought he would always be grateful for the simple ability to move.

As Link, nine years old and back in charge of his destiny, ran towards the Dodongo Caverns with a new sense of excitement, his two controllers were embarking on their on destinies.

In a world far away from Hyrule, two teenaged girls went through the motions of unplugging and putting away a strangely shaped black device. The device went into a flimsy plastic bag, and two months later the bag would be put into a box where it would remain untouched for an indeterminable amount of time.

Deep Voice and First Voice would never visit Hyrule again, but Link would always be there to save it.

END

Yes, this is the end. My roommate and I now live hours away from each other, and I took back my copy of Zelda when we parted ways. I felt like I needed to bring an end to this story, since I know I'm not going to do any more updates. Although, really, I had intended to stop it after Jabu-Jabu's Belly, anyway—for about the last two weeks that we played regularly, my roomie was stuck there. I'm not sure how many people were seriously following this fic—if you were, I'm sorry for the long delay—but I hope this conclusion gives you warm fuzzies and a sense of completion, because it kind of did for me. Thanks for reading.