Hero Mode

A/N: My first fanfiction, so I don't guarantee any quality, though it was very fun to write. I loved Skyward Sword so much I had to play it again, so I decided I'd play Hero mode. Without knowing what it entailed. Heh. It inspired this little one-shot. Without further ado, enjoy!

"What about you Link? What will you do now?"

He smiled back at her, the future full of possibilities, happy now that they were together once more.

"You can play again in Hero Mode using this save data. Continue?"

"Yes."

"Your progress up to this point will be deleted. Are you sure you want to play Hero Mode?"

A hand shaped pointer moved toward one of two choices presented upon the large screen, an ominous smile spreading across the mysterious figure's face. The clear button, an "A" inscribed within the circular shape, was pressed.

"Bring it on."

Everything went black.

Link felt a strong sense of déjà vu as he walked through the dark forest. He was vaguely aware that this was all a dream. He correctly named the area as the Faron Woods, near the Sealed Grounds, but the familiarity of the area failed to register. The ground rumbled beneath his feet, and he saw the large and frightening figure of the Imprisoned rise from the ground, unleashing an unholy roar upon the landscape.

He heard an inhuman but vaguely feminine voice, and inwardly smiled. He would recognize her guidance anywhere – it was Fi, his companion, but she was supposed to be in an eternal sleep within the Sealed Grounds, guarding the consciousness of evil…

Link woke with a start, Zelda's Loftwing spitting her letter onto his face. As he opened the letter and read her words, a foreboding sensation began to sneak its way into his gut.

He recalled his dream in the Faron Woods, and realized that he had seen that dream before, memories flashing before him. Running through those very woods to meet the Water Dragon. Collecting pieces of his spirit, scattered and hidden in various crannies. A vast desert, busy robots with sharp tongues, yet occasionally helpful tendencies, and deep purple and profoundly magical stones. Planting a tree to save the old, wise thunder dragon. And a huge volcano, spewing lava due to the immense power of the Fire Dragon deep within. Defeating the personification of true evil and hate, and saving the land from destruction. All for one purpose: to be reunited with his Zelda, after so much effort to find her again.

He looked back to Zelda's letter.

"Rise and shine, Link! Today's the Wing Ceremony…."

Something was wrong.

As he rummaged through his things, he managed to find the various treasures he'd accumulated through his adventure, as well as what remained of his bug collection, after selling many to Strich.

It couldn't have been a dream! The proof is right here…

He recalled Zelda's summons and decided he would investigate the mystery later. Her requests were more important. Though, he would never have a chance to fully investigate, for he would be sucked back into the vortex of the Goddess's will.

Link went through the motions, quickly finding his Loftwing by memory and capturing the bird statuette, correctly predicting that Groose and his gang would intervene the first time he tried to grab it. At this point, he knew what was coming, and tried to refuse Zelda's offer to go for a flight, but it was as if some unknown force was making decisions for him and forcing him into actions.

The sky darkened, and he knew what was coming. He cursed Ghirahim under his breath and tried to grab Zelda's hand, but the inevitable tornado ripped her from his grasp, and he cried out in despair as he watched his Zelda fall to the surface below. He tried to follow once again, but knew that it was hopeless – he would wake up in his room, and Gaepora would ask him what happened to his daughter…

They were so close to happiness, Demise had been defeated. What went wrong? Why was he being forced to relive this, to do it all again?

Link was woken by Fi's voice, and he feared the worst. He left his room and walked into the hallway, a look of sadness crossing his features when he saw his most trusted partner, Fi, lead him toward the door. He knew where they would go, but it shouldn't be possible. She should be in the Sealed grounds, sealing Demise away, he lamented.

He followed the Master Sword's personification to the goddess statue, where he pulled her from the stone and set out on his quest to find Zelda.

It wasn't until he met the first deku baba that he realized something was very wrong. He had thought everything would be the same, but the unintelligent enemy proved him incorrect. It lunged its hideous head toward him, and he dodged left – too late. A searing pain ripped through his stomach, far worse than any damage he'd sustained from one of these simple enemies before. If he had to name a similar experience, the head-butts of Moldarach seemed equal in damage to his health.

The mysterious figure scowled as two hearts were knocked from the gauge in the upper left hand corner.

Link searched the nearby grass and bushes frantically for hearts, trying to regain his health, but to no avail. Even the cheerful heart flowers were nowhere in sight. Link sighed, and wondered if this were, perhaps, the goddess's punishment for failing to protect Zelda in the beginning of his adventure, the 1st time around.

Despite knowing exactly what would occur, and clearing the unforgettable dungeons in record time, he still arrived at Zelda in the same moment as before. All hope seemed lost to the Chosen Hero. He had no access to the common healing items – hearts – and all enemies did significantly more damage than before!

Though, it wasn't as if that would stop him from finding Zelda, anyway. After all, he knew how the story was supposed to work out.

He smiled and chuckled, as if remembering a joke, as he thought about how he would surely fight on for the sake of his Goddess, his Zelda. No, she wasn't using him, he was quite willing.

He eventually managed to piece it together. The strange additions to certain dialogues, like Fi's comment after he obtained his first Heart Medal. (After which he began to see the missing heart flowers and found numerous hearts in the grass)

This "Hero Mode" that was mentioned numerous times… It entailed him reliving the sources of his nightmares, recompleting each dungeon, each challenge, to be reunited with Zelda once again. All at a higher difficulty – the enemies did twice as much damage, and the hearts were gone – at least until he found the Heart Medal.

It was a tough challenge, and he wasn't sure if he would make it. But he would try, just to see her happy again. Because she wasn't only his best friend, she was his reason for living, and he would always attend to her first. Her Chosen Hero, Her Knight.

"What about you Link? What will you do now?"

He smiled back at her, the future full of possibilities, happy now that they were together once more.