In the words of Frodo Baggins, "it's done."

Well this has been quite a journey. Thanks for reading guys, and for your support and encouragement. It means a lot.

I'll probably do an epilogue, but I want to start and original story next year. I need to plan better though, map it out so updates don't take a million years.

Anyway, thanks again for sticking with me, hope you've enjoyed :)

Chapter XXX

Fortitude

"Do… not… think it ends here!" Ganondorf reached for the Master Sword sheathed in his head, rivers of blood running down his neck.

I was astounded by his will, nay his desperation to live… all for the sake of tyrannical power. I moved back toward him with uncertainty, not knowing if I should put an end to him once and for all or let him die slowly. But I was stopped by the sound of Impa's pleading cry.

"Lady Zelda!"

I turned, finding Zelda summoning a bright golden light, shielding her from Impa's outstretched hand. It shot forth, throwing Impa back against the wall unconscious. The golden light descended upon Ganondorf, encircling him entirely. He screamed from the pain of its purity, his hands forced away from the hilt of the Master Sword.

Yet still he tried to stand.

"Melevar, istelo anen nethavin, rulia vendar wei quenmar hadathen!"

I understood not the words Zelda uttered, but the ancient Hylian rang through the chamber with perfect clarity. The golden flame about her then burned sapphire, and sprang forward, swallowing the golden light in its wake. The sapphire flames engulfed Ganondorf, driving the Master Sword deeper into his skull and knocking him to the ground.

Again, Zelda spoke words of ancient Hylian, and the earth began to quake more intensely than ever. Pillars cracked, stones fell all around us, and the floor shifted and split. I moved back further, nearly losing my footing when suddenly, a void of utter blackness formed around Ganondorf's body. He let out a haunting bellow, blood running freely from his fearful eyes as the windows shattered and the floor beneath him gave way. The void drew him in, mist-like hands clawing at his flesh and as his screams began to die, his yellow eyes met mine.

"You will never be rid of me!" He raised his marked hand into the air, calling upon his Triforce, but as he sank further into the black, particles of crimson light emerged from him and faded into the air. He coiled into himself, trying to keep the power contained but as the last of the light left him, his body arched back, silencing his growls of objection. The air seemed to still as his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and a ghostly dark energy emerged from his chest.

"My curse is eternal, my hatred knows no bounds. I shall rise again and conquer the Power of the Gods!" The dark energy took the form of a large black demon with flaming hair and piercing golden eyes. As I looked upon the demon, my hair stood on end, and for a moment… I was afraid.

With a chilling, sinister laugh, the demon spirit was swallowed by the black chasm, binding him back into the underworld. As the sapphire light died away, the chasm disappeared, leaving Ganondorf's ragged body in a twisted heap. It caught flame, burning crimson and violet flames. Quickly, I pulled the Master Sword from his burning body and staggered back from the smoke. I caught my breath, my knees shaking violently, unable to believe what I had just done, what I had just witnessed.

Ganondorf was finally gone.

And I had killed him with my own hands. Yet the golden eyed demon that possessed him, that had awakened Zelda's foresight and caused this destruction, would live on.

I fell to my knees, exhausted; I had pushed my body too far. I tried to clutch the Master Sword but even my grip went limp. Dark blood was stained upon the steel, and upon my hands. I had done what I had to do, yet still, I felt tainted.

As Ganondorf's remains disappeared, embers began to descend from the smoke, and small particles of crimson light broke forth from them, absorbing into my skin just as falling rain. A surge of power coursed through me, mending my wounds and giving me strength to stand. Wiping the blood from my hands onto my ragged tunic, the sudden glow of two Triforce essences appeared on the marking. I furrowed my brows in confusion and turned to find Zelda.

But as I did so, my heart seized in fear as she collapsed in the rubble.

I rushed over, clearing the gaps in the floor effortlessly. I came upon her, finding blood trickling from the corner of her mouth and the wound in her chest bleeding once again, soiling her tattered white gown further. The panic mounting within me became nigh unbearable as I fell to her side, discarding the Master Sword without thought. Holding my breath, I gingerly took her into my arms: her skin was white, her lips pale and her warmth stolen away.

"...Zelda..." I whispered unsteadily.

She did not move.

This feeling of dread that consumed me was entirely different from when I held her unconscious body in Calatia; I was frightened ten-fold.

"Please, open your eyes." As I wiped the blood from her mouth, her chest rose and her lips curved into the slightest smile.

I cleared my throat. "Zelda, you must awaken!" Desperation coated my voice.

Then the smallest calling of my name.

I exhaled, closing my eyes in relief yet...

Her cold hand glanced my fingers before falling across her waist.

"Be still, save your strength," I said gently.

Her eyes opened slowly, twin reflections of violet shining back at me. "Link." I tried to silence her but she moved her head to the side ever so slightly in objection. "It matters not now."

"Do not speak such things! Impa can heal you—"

"My time wanes, Link," she said brokenly, tears dripping from her lashes.

"You are going to live!"

"Hyrule suffers because of me. I hearkened not to the warnings of the Goddesses and unified with an unworthy crown."

"'Warning?'" I questioned. "He forced you to wed him!"

"I must atone for my mistakes. Only with my death will Hyrule be purged of the sin committed."

"…Should a righteous heart and an evil heart join under the crown, chaos will reign across the lands."

The ground then rumbled, and I thought I heard the echoing cries of the people in the city.

"…Once set in motion, the destruction cannot be undone."

"What have you done?" Insurmountable fear chilled me, and I drew her closer.

"Already you know," she breathed.

That she sacrificed her life to defeat him; that she fades before my very eyes. I could only stare at her in disbelief, realization stirring me to my core.

"You must take my Triforce before—"

"Stop this," I fiercely shook my head. "I will not take what keeps you alive. Your death is needless! Please…"

"Ganondorf robbed me of my lifeforce, and his blood runs in my veins; the connection must be severed."

My eyes began to burn. I could feel my resolve losing against hers, knowing she spoke the truth. My heart shivered with deep dread, yet I refused to give up. "N-no… you… you cannot leave me! He is dead, there is nothing! Zelda, I beg you!"

"I now am the only thing keeping us from peace: my life in exchange for Hyrule… for you, I will gladly give it."

"I vowed to always come for you; do not go where I cannot follow!"

She suppressed a sob, her brows drawn in pain as she closed her eyes. "Link," she spoke weakly, touching her hand to my heart. "I have chosen my destiny."

My lips trembled and I could not breathe. "Do not do this."

She moved her hand, resting her palm against my dirt and blood stained face. "How I wished to save you back then… now I can." Gazing deeply into my eyes, I could see the regret, the fear; I could see her love for Hyrule, the people… for me.

"…Zelda…" Tears fell freely from my eyes onto her white cheek. "I… I cannot be without you."

"Nor I you," she wept. "Yet even unto death, I will love you." She then pulled herself to me, pressing her lips against mine. My eyes widened as I felt a warmth travel from her lips to my body, rushing through my blood to every part of me. My hand burned brightly for but an instant, glowing with the mark of three Triforce essences; its completed form.

No…

I broke away, watching the light in her eyes fade with my hope.

Her hand fell away from my face, and she shuddered with a weak sigh. "Forgive me," she whispered. Such unspeakable sorrow filled her voice, I was overcome. I held her neck, clenching my teeth, unable to draw breath. Her violet eyes then slowly fell closed, the last of her tears slipping into her hair.

"Zelda!"

Her head fell against my arm… and her heart ceased to beat.

I held her to me, pleading for her to wake, my voice raw with emotion. I could feel darkness closing in about me and I desperately kissed her cold lips. "Hearken to me!" I cried. "Come back!"

I shook with disbelief, with anger, sorrow… madness.

There was no warmth to be felt, there was no light to be seen.

The world held no meaning for me.

I was alone.

"I'm sorry," I whispered into her hair. "All I wanted was to protect you."

I fell against her chest… and wept.

I was nothing without her.

"Goddesses, do not take her from me!" I clutched Zelda's lifeless body, feeling my world, my entire being, fall apart. My heart ravaged within me, unable to quell the agony of my soul being torn from hers.

I wished to cry, to scream, to cast myself into the abyss, to rend the flesh from my bones and rid myself of this harrowing grief. It was like poison, plaguing me with bitter coldness and hurtling my mind into blackness… a suffocating blackness with no reprieve. I mourned I would never see Zelda smile again, see the starlight in her eyes; hear her laughter, her shy words of tenderness; feel her skin graze against mine, smell the roses in her hair…

I mourned the future we would never have.

"I did as you commanded!" I screamed to the heavens. "Why?! Why her?!" Within the throne room, my voice echoed back the infinite loneliness that now racked inside me.

Why…?

Taking a haggard breath, I kissed the drying tears from her lids, murmuring words of regret.

I was not—am not strong enough.

How could I go on living without her at my side? Everything I had been through was for her. She was my purpose, my air, my sun, the only true love I had ever had… I would ever have.

Forgive me, Zelda.

"You granted a way to save her, Nayru, Din, Farore," I muttered. "Yet you have forsaken us! Your crowns of glory are nothing but deceptions!"

In that moment, I felt my Triforce mark burn and I glared at it with contempt, wanting to rip my own hand off. It does not matter if I possess the Triforce. Nothing will bring me peace. I want nothing more to do with it or the Goddesses.

"Thou dost forget thyself," a familiar voice spoke suddenly.

I looked up slowly, finding a blinding whiteness filling the room. The shadows cast away, the three Goddesses manifested before me in piercing glory.

Farore bowed her head. "We feel the achings of thine heart, Link."

"But thou wast not deceived; thou didst save the Daughter of Wisdom."

I stayed silent for some time, trying to find the will to answer. "I do not understand," I replied brokenly. "She redeemed herself with her life."

"Rememberest thou not the words of the ancient prophets?" Din asked.

I met her fiery eyes, at a loss for the answer she wished.

"'It is assumed that there may be a way to redeem the righteous heart that committed the folly.'"

Her words sparked an old memory, a memory from my life before Zelda knew of my affections: the day I read that ancient text in the library before Spring Moon.

"'The blood of courage and wisdom bonded together can conquer the calamity of evil power, but righteous, unwavering hearts are required of both redeemers,'" Din finished quoting.

"This hath come to pass," Nayru said gently. "Your hearts were righteous and unwavering in your duty."

"And by love, by a kiss were thee and Zelda bonded," Din nearly whispered.

"Dost thou see, O Wielder of Courage?" Farore prompted. "The essences of wisdom and courage alone cannot overcome power…"

"…Only together can they prove victorious," Nayru added.

I hung my head, looking back down to Zelda's body in my arms. "She could have lived… if only she had taken my Triforce. Hyrule needs its queen, not a lowly soldier."

"Had the evil king not bonded his blood to hers, her death would not—"

"This why you have come: to comfort me despite this fate? To assure me her death was a needful recompense?!" I nearly cried. My chest tightened and my throat caught. "You torture me so." I closed my eyes to hide the newly forming tears.

"Zelda chose her destiny, Link," Farore reasoned. "We do not rule your destinies."

Nayru then stepped towards me. "With her sacrifice, others shall be given life."

"She followed you blindly, prayed with faith I could never hope to have yet still, this is her destiny for such fealty: to lie in a cold grave whilst her kingdom suffers without its sovereign!?" I asked under my breath.

A hand rested upon my shoulder, but I did not look up.

"Thou seest us as unloving deities, yet assuredly, my sisters and I are precisely the opposite," Farore spoke gently. "We have come before thee to inquire of thy wish."

I furrowed my brows. Wish?

"Through thine unmatched courage and support of wisdom, thou overcamest evil, proving thy worth to bear the Triforce of Power."

"And through the eyes of wisdom, Zelda granted thee her Triforce, and thou wast found worthy to bear it," Nayru smiled.

"Thou hast obtained the Triforce, Link," Din proclaimed. "One who holds the Triforce in its entirety is granted one wish."

My mouth fell open. I knew not what to think, what to believe… yet one wish…

…Zelda…

With one wish I could…

"Wisdom, Link. Remember, use wisdom in all things," Nayru said with caution. "Let not thy grief blind thee."

The fleeting, perhaps forbidden, thought passed from my mind and I sighed, thinking upon what Zelda would wish for.

But I already knew.

I touched her face, wanting to hear her voice to direct me. "I wish for Hyrule to be healed, to return to a state of peace, and to rid the land of the evil that still roams freely." Wiping my eyes, I looked up to the Goddesses and they nodded.

"As you wish."

Suddenly everything became a blur. The world spun and the wind howled all about us. A pillar of divine light shot down from above, encompassing Zelda and I. I clutched her body close me to protect her and buried my face against her neck.

Only I did not feel her in my arms. Her body began to fade, forming into white lights, glimmering like stars.

No… not yet!

The lights flittered around me before ascending into the sky.

I am not ready to say goodbye!

The last light graced my hand, emitting a soft warmth that caused my heart to stir with longing, yet was a balm to the endless aching.

Then the ground quaked beneath me, and the floor gave way. I became weightless, feeling as if I were once again falling into the ravine in Calatia. I could hear familiar voices all around me, see flashes of the past; the memories of my life were reliving themselves.

Zelda and I in the gardens as children.

"Strange, your name sounds familiar…"

Zelda's chilled skin beneath my fingertips as she lay ill.

"There is nothing I would not endure for your sake."

The black mask of Raven.

"…You know nothing of the world, so I will teach you of its cruelty."

The Scarlet Crag.

"You have mocked me enough, never do it again; I died that day!"

Ganondorf stealing my lifeforce.

"You shall regret your defiance for no man will ever suffer as greatly as you will."

Darkness…

And…

"…My heart aches unendingly and stills when you are near!"

Crushed by the guilt that grew within me at these memories, I wondered what more I could have done to prevent this.

"… I died that day."

How cruel I had been to question her, for now I understood. She had thought me dead for four years, and I mocked her as Raven. Fresh tears burned in my eyes; I despised myself. I had never been worthy of her, of her pure love.

But I could not change the past… and my future…

Just then, the blurring memories subsided and everything came to a halt. My vision focused, and I found myself lying in the throne room, staring at the now mended creation paintings upon the ceiling. I sat up, inhaling deeply as I looked around. The castle had been restored, no damage to be found anywhere. All was silent and a near eerie peacefulness had settled about the land. Though I was relieved of this, that my wish—Zelda's wish—had been granted…

Her body was nowhere to be found.

I cannot do this.

The Goddesses appeared yet again before me, this time, their forms ghost-like in appearance.

"Where is Zelda?"

I already knew.

They looked to one another before Farore stepped forward. She knelt beside me, and took my face into her hands. I stared into her eyes, finding strange comfort in their deep emerald color. "Those with born with the Spirit of the Hero have always chosen to protect Hyrule and its princess, descended from the guardian Goddess Hylia. Despair not, Link, for love transcendeth time. With every meeting, a parting doth follow, yet that parting need not last forever. A parting may be forever or merely a short time. Nevertheless, 'tis up to thee." With a small smile, she stood and returned to her sisters' side.

"Thy wish hast been granted," Din stated. "Hyrule is at peace."

"The Triforce hath completed its purpose," Naryu nodded. "And after centuries in a fragmented state, is whole once more. We shall finally return it to the Sacred Realm."

I looked down, sighing haggardly. Evil had been eradicated, Hyrule was safe, the people no longer would suffer, but I could not be glad.

"All hope hath not been lost, Wielder of Courage," Din softy. "Though suffering is inevitable, ye would not know joy without it. Lo, the dawn cometh; thy path shall be made clear." Lifting a hand, she pointed to the Master Sword sitting upon the throne. "Hyrule shall always need its hero."

I…

"Believe in thy strengths, Link," Nayru encouraged, her voice fading away.

Their words comforted, yet stung my heart and I hid behind my hair.

"Believe."

And then they vanished.

With the warmth of their presence gone, the chills of grief came upon me once again, and I was weighed down with the harshness of reality.

…In what?

Believe in what?

How could I continue on with my life? What was I without Zelda?

I am not a hero, I am…

I looked at my hand, the marking no more than a faint scar now. The Triforce had gone, severing the only connection I had left with her. I slammed my fist into the ground, anger melding with the anguish. They had taken her body too soon. I was not ready to say farewell. And Impa would never get the chance to.

I must tell her.

I forced myself to stand, and did so unsteadily. As I stepped forward, a flicker of light from the long windows caught my eye, and I looked over, seeing the sun rise in the east through the glass. Then I remembered that morning…

The sunrise reflecting in her eyes as I held her freely for the first time, feeling her breath as we promised ourselves to one another.

"I have told you at every reply… that I love you."

I bit my tongue to stop the weeping that tore at my throat and rubbed my eyes to stop the burning, to try and become used to the sun. Blinking slowly, I looked back up. There beneath the rays of light, a white figure began to form.

My breath stilled and my eyes widened.

It cannot be…

I moved forward unthinkingly, tears beginning to roll down my face without provocation. My mind screamed it was impossible, yet my heart quickened with every step, fighting to rekindle the lost hope. I fell to my knees at the figure's side and as the rays of light filled the room…

I saw her.

"Even death will not take me from you."

Zelda lay before me in perfection, blood and scars gone, clothed in an ethereal gown. Casting the disbelief from my eyes, I gathered her into my arms hesitantly, afraid she would disappear at my touch. I called to her, emotion flooding through me as her name passed my tongue.

"...By love, by a kiss were thee and Zelda bonded."

I brushed her lips, no longer cold from death, and kissed her tenderly.

And her chest rose.

The sound of her breath shattered the darkness and despair within me, the bitter coldness retreating as the sunlight shined upon us. Color returned to her skin, light to her violet eyes, warmth to her hands within mine. I was born anew just as she.

"…Zelda…?"

The dawn paled against the beauty of her smile. "Link."

I wept with unspeakable joy at the sound of her voice, wishing for her to never cease speaking. I pressed my forehead against hers as I silently thanked the Goddesses for granting this mercy. "H-how? You… you were…" No words could describe the overwhelming relief and gratitude that swept through me, of the simple truth that grew stronger each moment:

She was alive.

A lifetime of prayerful thanks would not be enough.

"Your sacrifices… and mine, stirred the Goddesses. They lamented how many times they had witnessed Hyrule's hero and princess torn apart, and did not wish for it again," she said barely above a whisper, smoothing the tears from my face. "Destiny can be kind." She then entwined her hand in mine, fingertips lingering on the Triforce mark.

I smiled, holding her to me fervently as I cherished the beat of her heart against mine. At that moment, I knew deep in my soul we would never be parted again. "It matters not if it be destiny, for still I would yearn only for you," I spoke into her hair. "And if we are indeed born again, I will always come for you."

"…As you wish."