I'd do anything for her. Anything. Including this.

I had to go back. Trust me, I understood. I had to if I was ever going to erase what that evil man had done. Lives would never have been lost, the dark cloud that cursed Hyrule would never have been cast, and she could regain her childhood. After all, her life didn't go as planned either.

Everything would go back to normal. Well, at least almost everything.

I would still have all my memories of this time, still have the knowledge of all that once was and never will be. But I was fine with that. Honestly I was.

Sure, I missed out on seven years (albeit arguably the worst years of anyone's life), but that didn't matter to me. All I cared about was saving my country and her.

That's the one thing that hurt about this arrangement. I wouldn't have her, at least not this version of her. This part of her would always exist, maybe not in the history books, but in my heart.

As she took the ocarina from me her hands lingered and I caught myself staring into her big beautiful eyes. She really was beautiful, she always would be. But right then I saw pain in those eyes. I could tell that she was afraid of hurting me. She blamed herself for all that happened, for taking away those years from me, but none of this was her fault. I would have done this over and over again for the rest of my life if it meant saving her.

I was never very good at words. I just hoped she could see through my eyes, know how I felt, and know that everything would be alright.

She played the song and she was gone in the flash of the blue light. Just like that. Next thing I knew I was a kid again; the Master Sword back in its pedestal, and Navi was gone. That was it. It was over. I had my chance at childhood; at least that's what I kept telling myself.

There was only one thing left to do.

Running through Castle Town I saw that everything was back to normal. People communing in the streets, music in the air, and the vision of the castle off in the distance. These people had another chance.

The guards were still patrolling the castle and, once again, I had to dodge through them. This was never very hard. I should warn her about that…

I came to a garden clearing in the middle of the castle and there she was, peering through the window at that evil man, completely oblivious of what I had seen.

And then she saw me, no recognition in her big beautiful eyes. I felt my heart crumble under that gaze, but I had a job to do.

She needed to know about the future, about him, but she could never know how I felt about her. That was all in the past (or future depending on the point of view, whatever). But I still had all of those memories, she had her future, and I had this time with her.

She would always be my princess and I her hero, no matter what.

I figured I should write one up for Link, too. I've always imagined what was going through his mind at this point, so here's my take on it! Thank you all for your time and for reading my little story.