Anyways, this was how I had originally planned on ending the story. I'm personally quite glad I didn't end Fantiality this way. The ending I finally settled with actually works better, though this one could have easily happened as well.

Read'em and weep. And please, let me know all your sarcastic remarks, I want a good laugh. And I got all these other deleted scenes as well if you're interested. Just let me know. If I get enough people hankering to see the stuff I deemed unworthy to post, I'll post them up and pretend they don't humiliate me. It has lots of pointless, stupid, overdone fluff and...yeah.

The palace gardens were as beautiful and enchanted as ever. I watched from my branch, wanting to be alone. In the distance I could hear the bells of the Temple of Time ringing, and wondered to myself if it had happened yet. Through the castle windows I could see people running about with last minute preparations—plates of food, extra streamers, ribbons, and bouquets of flowers—and I wondered to myself if this was what Link had wanted. The whole kingdom would be there…

Except me.

I was never a Hylian, nor was I ever a part of this kingdom. And for a small part, I was glad. It meant I wasn't obligated to attend the wedding. I didn't want to see. I didn't want to watch Link swear himself to the glorious, beautiful Princess Zelda. I didn't want to see his face as he made vows to someone else. Half of my pain was that I saw it coming. I had always known he would choose Zelda. I was not meant for him. I wasn't meant for anything.

Though the bells rang in my ears, I tried to tune it out. I tried to tune it all out and kept my eyes on the rustling leaves around me. I was in a world of green, high away from all that. I was of another world. I could be distant.

Clouds, fluffy and white as snow, drifted past. The sky was a heart-breaking blue. I told my soul and my mind to be silent and sat still, focusing on the feel of the wind, smelling the scent of the flowers and water, tasting the crisp warmth. I was far away, I told myself. I was of a different world. I didn't need to concern myself with this. I could be disconnected if I wanted to.

Amanda came to my mind. For a moment, I called her to my side, waiting as the faint form of her figure came besides me on the tree. When I had woken up from Miyamoto's attack and Amanda hadn't, I considered suicide to join her, especially after the news came to me that Link had accepted Zelda's proposal and would be marrying her in the Temple of Time in two weeks. But then, to my amazement, she had appeared for me in an almost ghost-like form that only I could see, explaining that she was watching over me back home. She was supporting me still through writing a story.

"I'm still here in the same way Miyamoto is," she had said, "for we share a story now. I can't interact anymore with Hyrule, due to my body has died, but I'm here. I'm okay. When I died I came back home, but I sort of…returned. Went half way back. I had to, you were still here. And as I said, we share a story. I can't fully return without you." she smiled. "Take your time. Be careful too, Kara. You don't know the consequences of suicide."

She sat next to me now, visible, but solemn. She was listening to the bells as well.

"That jerk." she said, swinging her legs below her.

"We're just watchers now, Amanda." I told her. "We're not a part of the story. We never were."

"Oh, we were, for a time." she said. She lifted her hands to the leaves and watched as it passed through.

"For a time." I agreed. It was easier to be in that mood of disconnection with her around. Amanda and I were of the same kin. We were the same story and the same world. I didn't have to be alone disconnected. And I knew the moment I awoke from my state of zen the pain would strike me down again, squeezing the breath out of me. The fact that Link would never be mine. That Link could never be with me.

"Why am I even still here?" I asked.

"Curiosity? Maybe it's just difficult to leave the things you love without knowing if you can return, no matter how painful."

My lungs constricted, but I took a steadying breath and blew it out, imagining I was blowing all of Hyrule away.

"Yeah. Maybe it's that."

"He's still a jerk."

"You've been calling him that for the past week."

"That's because he is! What kind of guy says he loves you and then turns around and marries someone else?"

"He probably didn't mean it, Amanda. He probably just said it to keep me from running off and leaving his precious Hyrule behind."

"Still, he's an ass."

I watched as sunlight danced through the leaves. "Besides, I'm not even a part of the story. We weren't meant to be."

"Hasn't any of this taught you anything, Kara? It doesn't matter! The only thing that matters is your choices—and he knows that as well. That's why we fought this whole thing!"

I looked down at my feet. Through the branches below I saw the ground far away.

"It doesn't change who they are though. And it doesn't change who we are either."

"I think he just has a bad guilt complex he's letting rule his life. Shadow was awesome. He didn't let anything get to him."

I sighed. "His name is Demetri, Amanda. You should know that."

"Oh…right. I hang out with him now and then when you're busy. He's still awesome."

I stared at this, shocked. "Are you saying you hang out with the dead?"

She smiled wryly. "Where do you think I went? Hyrule's dead got to go somewhere."

"What's it like?"

"Well—"

"Kara!"

We both looked down. A man stood at the bottom of the tree in white clothing. A blue cape came off of his shoulders, and gold and silver threads wound throughout the cloth. Even from this height I could see the familiar, stormy blue eyes.

"We'll have to talk later, Kara." said Amanda. "Give him a knee in the nuts for me, will ya?"

"Cya," I whispered, not wanting her to go. The figurative egg of calm I had wrapped around me was cracking. I didn't want to talk to him. I didn't want to see him. Yet nothing could have kept me from climbing down to meet him.

Link stood waiting for me. His gleaming gold hair was capless and tied back in a small ponytail. Instead of gauntlets, he wore white gloves and white boots. Though he looked like a Prince more than ever, he looked awkward, misplaced. He stepped up to me, his eyes sad and lacking that fire I had loved so much. Once unconquerable he seemed defeated, now, hands left dangling at his sides.

"Kara, I'm…I'm going now. I didn't want to go through it without seeing you."

I didn't say anything. I didn't have anything to say. What could I say?

He stepped forward, somehow beseeching.

"Kara, I…please, why do you look like that?"

"I should ask you the same. You look like when you got your butt whooped by Demetri." I always made sure to refer to Shadow by that.

He looked away.

"I am the only one who can help Zelda. I'm the only one she'll accept, or who she believes will accept her. I can't get her to believe otherwise that she isn't unwanted. And…" he took a long, slow, shuddering breath, "I am Hyrule's hero. I need to protect and help Hyrule by protecting and helping her Queen. But…I feel so…"

I waited, but he didn't complete his sentence, looking as defeated and deflated as ever. When his eyes turned on me my heart didn't race, just ached. Even though those clothes were horribly mismatched with everything that made Link, he was still beautiful.

"And there was so much I feel I'm never going to do. There's so much I wanted to show you, Kara, so much I wanted to say."

"It's okay," I felt myself breathe. "I don't belong. You weren't ever meant to have me in the picture."

"That's not true."

"Give me a reason why it isn't." I demeaned, suddenly angry. I didn't want him here. How dare he even look at me! To my satisfaction he took a step back, finally affected by my rage. It quickly began to disappoint me though that he had been so beaten down.

He bowed his head.

"Give me one reason why I belong? Zelda despises me now, Demetri is gone, the people consider me a witch, everyone knows of my powers—"

"Kara, please—"

"And even then I can't do anything with them! Hardly anything!" I could feel my throat tightening, burning. "Not anything that I really want! And in order to go ever go home I have to…I have to…" I trailed off, humiliated. I hadn't meant to explode like that. I was trying to be disconnected. I must find my barrier again, I must not care. This wasn't my world. This was the world that rejected me, although I had risked my life to save it.

"Kara…"

"Will you stop saying my name like that? You're getting married today, have some respect."

Finally, a spark of emotion came to his face other then the sad, wet puppy he had become. I saw the glint of determination; a faint trace of the spirit of Link. He came forward swiftly, grabbing me roughly.

"There is one thing I have to do before I can do this." he said, his eyes burning into me. Then he pressed me tightly to him and kissed me—kissed me desperately and passionately. Instantly Zelda came to my mind and what she would think, but then I realized I had stopped caring what she thought the moment she stopped caring what I did and kissed back, wrapping my arms around his neck.

He broke away to take a deep breath. His arms held me a moment longer.

"Kara James…" he seemed lost for a moment, as though unsure. Then, something in him woke him up to reality, and he quickly let me go, his face hard once more.

"I'm sorry, I have to go." And he straight out ran from me and out of the garden. I stood there dumbfounded with the feel of his kiss still tingling on my lips. I felt fragile, vulnerable. I could've just been ransacked and robbed of something precious, left to stand naked and cold in the open. Then, once it fully hit me that he was gone, what all of it was coming down to, I shattered completely.

"What the hell did he just do!" I heard Amanda roar from behind me. "He kisses you and then leaves? To get married? How insensitive can you get? Doesn't he get what this is doing to you? Kara?"

But I was already running. Shards of myself flew off as I ran, leaving being emotional pieces of me as I went, never to return. I ignored the flouncing of my skirts.

"Kara! Where are you—"

I flew around a bend, sprinting as hard as I could around the grounds of the castle to the stables. I had to get away. I had to, before the beast of my own emptiness caught up with me and destroyed me. I imagined Epona galloping to me and heard a neigh as she came crashing out of the stables, stable boys strewn left and right.

I imagined that I could before I flung myself unto her bare back. Something had released the barrier between reality and my powers. I could feel the ability of creation thrumming in my arms. I may not be able to affect this world extensively, but I could believe in myself. I kicked Epona into a furious dash, smashing flowers and bushes, tossing aside spare guards in the way. The speed was exhilarating. I held her white main assuredly in my hands. I could do anything. I would flee this hell and become free. A furious sort of tragic rage filled me. How dare he? How dare he? How dare they?

Epona's hooves flew as though they had wings. I had never before fully appreciated the majestic strength of this horse until now. The wind whipped at my hair, the ground shook, and the sky felt like the only boundary.

"Kara! Where are you going?"

Amanda had appeared behind me. She clung onto me for dear life, though I couldn't understand why if she was already dead.

"I don't know—I don't care! Away!"

"You can't just fly anywhere. Don't you have a plan?"

"Why would I have a plan!" I screamed, feeling hot tears being flung off me the moment they were born.

"Go to the Gerudo." she said. "They're not all cruel. I had some friends there who helped me escaped. You can hide there, far away from Link."

"I don't care about Link!"

"Just go," she soothed, "your powers would be useful there."

Epona thundered through Castle Town, people diving out of the way barely in time. In a blink of an eye Hyrule field was rushing beneath us, still wet from the shrinking river.

"The Gerudo, Kara. I'll watch over you. I'm with you."

"Hiyah!" I cried, and Epona put in a new burst of speed. Her flanks heaved under my calves.

Why can't I just kill myself now? Why can't I just jump off a cliff and go home? Why am I still here?"

Because, a voice said in the back of my head, a voice I was familiar with but never really knew; you have yet to reach the end of the story.

The story. I was so sick and tired of the story!

I slipped off of Epona right into the middle of the Gerudo fortress. The sun was setting over the tan cliffs and Epona was heaving with exhaustion. Sharp spears surrounded me, each wielded by a veiled, suspicious Gerudo. There yellow eyes watched me as I dropped to the ground, aching from the long ride.

A familiar, beautiful woman stepped in front of me.

"What are you doing here, girl?"

I lifted my head, looking her straight in the eye. I had nothing to lose. I didn't care who I offended. I didn't care about myself.

"I have been rejected wherever I've walked. I belong nowhere. I come here to ask if I can join the rejected of Hyrule, maybe be allowed to finally belong on the simple basis that I am a woman." I did not cry anymore. My face was dry. I lived and pulsed off of rage and pure pain alone. "You know who I am. You know what I can do. I swear, if you allow me in, I will be the greatest thief, warrior, maid, whatever it is you desire. I only wish to belong." I clenched the dirt. "I am an outsider."

Nabooru met my eyes, her expression unreadable. The sunset gleamed off of her red hair and the jewels she wore about it and her throat.

"You've changed from the wide-eyed child I saw in the Sacred Realm."

I said nothing. Epona nickered weakly behind me. Nabooru jerked her chin to the mare.

"Did the Hero give you his horse?"

"No." I said. Her eyebrows rose. In them I thought she saw much more than I was saying in the hardness of my eyes. She nodded curtly.

"If you can live up to the standard you've set yourself, you're welcome. Life in the desert isn't easy, though. It is not for the faint of heart."

At this, I couldn't help a cold smirk move to my face. "I'm actually from a desert. I'll be right at home."

"A desert eh?" she returned my smile, but far more warmly. "Come inside. You look like dirt."

First they clothed me in the same poofy pantaloon pants and short shirts as them, roughly scrubbing me clean, not caring for my privacy, before shoving them on me. The ritual was long and awkward as they led me along like a child, tying my hair up so tight I thought my eyes would surly pop out. They brought me forth to a fire where I was allowed food, finding myself famished. The other Gerudo watched me warily, not forgetting the huge winged creature that had escaped them before. But I had grown numb and ignored their stares. Amanda stood beside me, but said nothing. Nabooru informed me that in the morning I started my training—which would be vigorous, she warned me. Just like the desert my initiation would not be soft and pleasant. If I truly desired to be one of them, I would have to endure. I sat patiently, feeling no fear or anxiety, though I felt a faint relief. Perhaps here I could find home in Hyrule.

"Once you have successfully finished the obstacles set in place for you," she told me before a room of wary, amber eyed women, "you will be given a new name, and a new identity. Are you sure you wish to do this? If you fail or disgrace us with your wishy-washyness, we will throw you out into the desert—or even worse, back into Hyrule to whatever tragedy you are running from."

I nodded. I could still feel the potential energy clustering in my arms. I could do it. I would do it.

Amanda kept me company until I fell asleep, although I didn't feel like talking much. She said many things that were sweet to the broken heart, like how she would haunt Link's nightmares and figure out some ghostly powers to drop hot pots on his head, but the pain never left, and I forced myself to turn cold to it. I would become a Gerudo and say good-bye to whoever I was before. I would start a new life. Again the idea of suicide came back to my mind. The thought of Cheyanne, Michael, and my mother appeared in my head. My family. Why wasn't I dead by now? If only I were dead I could return to them, return to my silly life of a seventeen year old girl. Amanda and I could continue with our daydreams and pointless studies.

Because, answered the same voice, you want to see the end of the story. You also are afraid to leave behind a world you can never return to, no matter how cruel.

I closed my mind to it and rolled over, listening to the sounds of the sleeping women around me. If I was lucky, the trials would make the choice for me and bring death to me, effortlessly and on a golden platter.