Continuing directly after the events described in "Time - Part I".

Please read aforementioned story if you have not done so already. There are many allusions in this that will have a more, significant affect if you are familiar with Part 1.

The story is already finished on my end, so new chapters will be posted frequently.

Bright light is all Link can see as he wakes.

Finally, when it fades away and he regains his vision, he realizes where he is.

The Temple of Time.

He is terribly confused, and looks down at his body.

Have seven years passed? It must have been a long time, he thinks, that he has been trapped here, for he is much taller and larger somehow.

His head is cloudy and he struggles to remain conscious, and Link stumbles forward, not sure at all yet where he is going to.

There is no one at all in the Temple of Time as Link walks slowly down the cathedral-like hall.

The ceiling stretches on forever, reaching into darkness. His solitary footsteps echo and permeate off the cold stone walls. Light streams through the large narrow windows, suggesting early morning outside.

It is rather uncomfortable and all very silent, and Link thinks to himself that something isn't quite right.

He examines himself and notices muscles and a hardened body, and he wonders how he could have obtained such a physique while being trapped somewhere, asleep for all these years. He speaks a soft, "Hello?" which echoes throughout the room.

His voice is much lower than he was expecting.

He feels something quite odd then tugging at the inside of his brain, like cobwebs muddling its interior, and has an uncanny notion that there are things there, that he can't pull out to the front of his mind. It is almost like a dull ache, and Link squints and looks up as he mulls over this feeling. What began as nervous energy then starts to grow into an uneasy knot in the pit of his stomach.

'This is so odd.." he thinks to himself. And he stands still in the entry way to the Temple of Time, dumbfounded and unsure of what to do.

A thoughts dawns on him then.

"Navi?" he questions aloud.

No fluttering of wings, no vocal response, nothing at all.

"Navi?" he yells louder this time.

The fairy is gone.

He looks all around him, twirling anxiously from side to side, front to back, even so much as running back into the pedestal room searching for any sign of his fairy friend.

He then notices something else, something quite strange indeed.

Walking forward he surveys the altar at which he had placed the Spiritual Stones, to open the doorway to the Master Sword, many years ago as a child.

And there were no such stones at all.

Link makes an expression that words cannot convey, a facial expression of such confusion and so many feelings compounding at once. He lifts a hand to his hair and grabs a bit of it, furrows his brows, scratches his head, and curses and then sighs dramatically, if all of that is possible in such quick succession.

A thought comes quickly into his head suddenly, and he has no idea where it came from, as he has never thought of it or said anything like it before. For some reason, he hears a voice along with it in his mind, a memory of a voice, from someone he cannot recall.

'Past, present, future... The Master Sword is a ship with which you can sail upstream and downstream through time's river...'

He stands still for a moment or two, thinking about this thought that came into his mind, until his mouth opens slightly for a quick breath of surprise and realization as he says aloud to himself,

"There has been a mistake."

The sky is bright and the grass and flowers grow healthily outside the temple, Link notices as he makes his way through the courtyard and down the steps to the market. Birds are chirping happily, butterflies fluttering about the flowers.

As he nears the lower level he hears many voices, yelling and creating quite a raucous.

In the center of the marketplace, he sees it crowded with many people. He walks slowly and quietly into the gathering, slinking through the bodies until he can makes it through to the front. The crowd seems to have made a large circle, leaving a somewhat wide space open in the center, where three people stand. A woman is one of them, wrists bound together.

He stands still and listens.

"This woman knows the entrance to the Sacred Realm!" says the male perpetrator.

The crowd murmurs, questions being asked back and forth between the surveyors.

A woman in the cluster speaks up. "How do you know this?" she asks loudly.

The man in the center walks confidently around the bound woman, eyeing her, then turns around again to face the crowd. "I have seen her speaking to the Golden Goddesses! She goes night and day to the fountain of the Great Fairy near the castle. I saw her just this morning myself, and as I listened to her she spoke of The Coming!"

Loud gasps and inaudible words echoed forth from the crowd.

A second man next to the bound woman grabs onto her, spinning her and shaking her violently. "Do you know of the Triforce, woman?!" he yells to her.

The woman sobs. "I am innocent!" she manages to say.

The man laughs. "You seek allegiance with the Goddesses in secret, speak with them even, while the rest of Market Town prays in hope for our lives? You are a spy!" He grabs her by her throat.

And as he rattles her, the crowd loudly dispenses onto the woman, smothering her with violence until she is seen no longer.

Link is left standing alone, now clearly visible to the two men who had begun the angry mob. He begins walking forward.

"Halt!" Link yells.

The violence continues.

"Stop this at once!" he yells again, this time making his way through the ravaging bodies, pushing them aside one by one, until he finds the broken woman in the center. She is badly hurt, bleeding and the beginnings of bruises show evidence of shattered bones. She remains crumpled and hiding in a ball on the ground, covering her face with her hands.

Link looks around in horror. "What is the meaning of this?!" he asks loudly in anger and crouches down to the young woman, checking for signs of life.

One of the men from before walks briskly over to Link and pulls him up and around, grabbing him by the collar of his tunic. "And who are you, forest boy? Are you in with this woman?" the man asks with suspicion, loud enough for the citizens to hear.

Link quickly removes his sword from the sheath behind his back, and whisks it out, face-level and pointing straight in the eyes of the angry man, mere centimeters away. He stands firm, Master Sword outstreched.

The crowd gasps.

Link grabs the man's hands and rips them away from his tunic, and sizes him up. He twists his arm to the left slightly, and the sword glistens in the sunlight as it remains poised for action.

"This is no way to treat a woman."

The man laughs nervously, gulping.

"You will release her," Link demands,and he shakes his head in disgust and dismay as he slowly turns around to pick the fragile woman up into his arms.

The man then notices a break in Link's defenses, and rushes forward and onto Link, but unsuccessfully, as in that very moment Link sees this, and he turns around to face the man, punching him hard in the jaw. The man goes reeling backward.

"You son-of-a-bitch!" the man yells, covering his mouth in pain. And the crowd again begins to get violent, but with one another, as everyone starts to punch and kick and yell.

Link turns back again to the woman, quiet amidst the fray, who is now sitting upright and holding her ribs in agony. She looks up at him, and in her reddened water-stained eyes, without words she expresses her sincerest gratitude for saving her life.

"Can you stand?" Link asks, outstretching his hand toward her. His blue eyes radiate and he smiles slightly, genuinely, the sun beaming from behind his form.

The woman quickly surveys her injuries. Quietly she says, "I can try."

And as she tries to stand, she finds she cannot. She topples over, but Link rushes in close and holds her. Without another question he lifts her up gently, and into his arms.

He looks at her, and she looks at him, and as she does so, she cries and touches his face with her right hand.

"You.." she begins, "You are so familiar to me. I feel like I know you, somehow.." she trails.

Link looks at her questioningly. "I do not think that is possible," he answers, softly. Yet the woman is odd to him too, with striking blue eyes that peer deep into his soul.

As he begins to walk with the woman in his arms, she speaks to him again, abruptly. "I need you to take me to my home, quickly. I have a child.."

"A child?" Link reaffirms. "Yes, of course." And he listens to her directions, silently escaping the mob, until they find a small door located in the sunny alleyway of the market. At this point Link has had time to digest all of the visual information around him, and he has noticed many different things about this place than before - it is the same, but it is not. Older, somehow.

As they enter the small, darkened room, Link notices a crib to the left, and a tiny sleeping form inside it. He then wonders how he will carry both this woman and a small baby out of Market Town. He eventually devises a plan, and puts the baby in the woman's arms and the woman in his own, and he carries them to the stables near the entrance to Hyrule Field.

The woman is in very poor shape, her weakness becoming stronger as each minute passes, and she sits, slightly falling onto a stack of hay. Link runs over to a horse and begins preparing it for the quick journey.

"We must ride to a healer. I cannot tell you it will be a pleasant experience, but you must sit behind me and stay strong," Link says in haste.

The woman nods slowly, incoherency taking hold. She tries to cradle the baby in her arms as best she can.

"The forest.." she manages out.

Link turns around to face her. "The forest?"

"Take me to the Great Tree. Please. You must... I.. don't have much time."

And Link knows just what she means, so he asks no questions in fear of the time that seems to be dwindling away, and placing the woman and child first atop the steed and then himself, they take off carefully to Kokiri Forest.

The sun had set and dusk had already enveloped the field once the trio had made it safely inside the forest. It had been a days journey and the woman was barely hanging on. It was a miracle.

In front of the Deku Tree, Link gently lifts the woman off the horse, setting her down to lay on the fresh grass, baby in her arms. Fireflies dance nearby in the tall grass, and all is peaceful here. Hidden in the depths of the forest, the area is preserved in a state untouched by time, and how this woman knows of it, he is unsure. He kneels down to her level, looking at her for a moment, and then at the baby. The child is quiet, large blue eyes open to the world, absorbing everything.

"L-Link," she stammers out.

"Yes?" he answers quickly, although very curious to know how she knows his name.

"His name is Link.." she continues. Her eyes are shut. "He.. will do great things for Hyrule, one day. Please.. take care of him for me." She smiles bravely as her face then contorts, visibly in much pain and suffering.

His eyes open wide, realizing then just who the woman is, laying on the grass beside him.

And as he tries to think of something to say, she fades from the world.

He reaches out to her face, and brushes his fingertips across her cheek.

'Time passes, people move...' he thinks to himself, the thought from somewhere subconscious.

He looks at her, blood-stained and battered, still clutching onto her baby's form, and he stands up and yells. He yells in anger, in confusion, in sadness. He grabs his hat, pulling down tightly on it, almost as if it could somehow cover him completely and take him away from this world.

He reaches down and picks up the baby, resting him in his arms. He looks at the child, and is fearful, for he knows not what would happen to one who comes upon their past selves. Regardless, the situation is what it is, and Link walks forward with the baby to stand in front of the Great Deku Tree.

"You must watch over this child!" he yells. "It is his mother's request!"

Silence.

He tries again. "Please!" He is feeling tired and defeated.

And more silence for a moment or two, until a tiny bright light appears near the leaves of the Great Tree and comes floating down, making its way to Link. It stops an inch away from his face, and he can make out fluttering wings and a tiny body.

"How is this possible?" the fairy speaks.

"Navi.." Link says.

The fairy backs up and puts a hand to her face. "You know my name, but we have not met before. For some reason though, I feel like I am destined to meet you some day." She bounces over to Link and talks into his ear. "But it is not this day. The Great Deku Tree, he tells me that this is a child of destiny," she flutters close to the baby and then looking back up at Link says , "and yet, so were you. How strange."

"I could not agree with you more," Link replies.

Navi peers behind Link, to see the fallen woman on the grass.

"We will take the child, and he will grow up here, in the forest as a Kokiri."

Link thinks for a moment. "But he is not Kokiri.." he remarks, sadly.

Navi stares at Link for a moment, somehow, someway, understanding him. "He is, in spirit."

And so soon after the baby is then taken into the care of the Deku Tree and that of the fairies, Link and Navi and a few other forest sprites prepare the forest floor to lay the woman to rest. It is there, under the canopy of the tree nestled beneath the grassy knoll that she is placed, watching over her son as he will grow, buried in secrecy.

Link sits there for a moment, hand resting atop the freshly covered, earthy mound. He never knew she was buried here, in his time, if she even was. How much damage he is causing? He picks a yellow flower from beside him, and places it atop the soil resting place. He thinks then, what it would have been like to have known her, and he cries then at the thought, because he wonders with guilt if he could have done more to save her.

'Not enough time..' he thinks. 'Never enough time.'

"Head into the Lost Woods and take the entrance into Goron City. From there you can make your way to Kakariko Village. There is someone there who posses a great deal of magic, and may be able to help you.

Try not to talk to people on your way there, as your presence here may have negative effects. Good luck."

Navi's advice is at the forefront of Link's mind as he steps into the Kokiri Village. How Navi knew of his predicament, he wasn't sure. But the fairies are otherwordly creatures, wise and intuitive. He walks, head bowed, avoiding eye contact passing the various homes and shops and people. Some of the Kokiri watch him in surprise, most scowl at the intrusion of a Hylian. They stop and stare silently as he treads onward, feeling their penetrative gazes at his back.

He enters the Lost Woods, and begins the lonely trek through the maze of passageways. Thankfully, he remembers them.

He reaches into his pouch, and feels an object that makes him stop and think.

'My ocarina..'

He pulls it out and looks at it for a moment. He learnt certain songs as a child, but one in particular came to his mind just then, from where he did not know. The melody tugs at him to be played.

He plays the first six notes, and stops.

'How..' he wonders, 'how do I know this?'

He plays the same six notes again. A feeling of déjà vu rushes over him, a feeling so strange it makes him cold all over. He notices then that he feels like he's waiting for someone to play those same notes back to him, in response. Yet there's nothing, and the silence weighs heavily, a sound in its own right.

He brushes the feeling off, for no answer could come to him, and he continues onward playing the melody that issues forth from the back of his mind.

He walks and he plays. The birds listen and chirp as the green-clad Hylian strides through the Lost Woods as if he has walked it in his sleep, filling the maze with notes from the Minuet of Forest.

Now Link is not usually the most introspective of sorts, but he has his moments, and in this particular one, he mulls over his current predicament. He is saddened by the loss he not too long ago experienced, the actuality of it not quite setting in, and is feeling very lonely. He wonders why he has aged but isn't seven years in the future. He wonders what time he is actually in. He saw himself as a child, his mother, so this must be..

'Almost twenty years ago..?' he thinks.

He contemplates the seven years he spent unaware. What had happened to him then? He still feels that tugging at the back of his mind, that things are there just needing to be pulled out. He tries unsuccessfully, in between ocarina breaks, to shut his eyes and focus. Eventually he sighs and gives up, returning the ocarina to his mouth.

At the entrance to Goron City, he walks in slowly and quietly, sneaking his way through the corridors and the myriad of levels the city is built upon.

Some of the Goron people stop and look, wanting to speak, ask questions, but do not. Others continue rolling about their business. Link is thankful for most of their disinterest, for he does not want a difficult conversation. However he would very much like to stop and look at the Goron's city from many years ago.

Not too long after he arrives at the exit, he continues his path down Death Mountain Trail, heading towards the entrance to Kakariko Village.

He stops at one point, high on a cliff where the horizon spreads far beyond the eyes can see. He bites his lower lip and looks down as a thought came to him. 'This doesn't feel right.' And he wonders to himself that he shouldn't really be here - or shouldn't be in this time, more importantly.

He thinks then about Zelda, but quickly realizes she too would be an infant or worse yet, not even born. And there's no way the King of Hyrule will believe Link's ramblings of time travel gone wrong.

If he were even King at all.

The loneliness then penetrates his heart and subconscious, and making matters worse, this is when he finally arrives at the gate to Kakariko Village, finding all is not what it was.

Night-time stars are illuminating through the sky as Link, dusty and tired from his long walk, approaches the guarded entrance.

These are no Hylian Guards however.

Link walks hesitantly towards them, taking notice that they wear cloaks with daggers instead of armor and spears. Their mouths are covered.

He stands before the gate, and speaks through an opening between the metal poles.

"Excuse me.. Hello?" he asks, with trepidation.

One of the guards looks around curiously, and then focuses on Link's form standing on the other side. The guard walks over, and raises its spear in defense. Link raises his arms, signaling he means no harm. He wonders why they are so protective of the village, for how Link knows it and remembers, it was a small and simple town.

He is able to peer further on into the village, noticing tents and torches along with many small huts and homes, very different from the Kakariko Village he knew as a child. He sees many people sitting around fires, some even seem to be dancing. Music can be heard just slightly through the air.

"Who goes there?" the guard asks.

Link thinks of what to say.

"I am in need of food, shelter. I am just a traveler."

The guard lowers its spear, only slightly. Its head shifts to the right. "You will have to go elsewhere tonight, traveler."

Link furrows his brows and gazes to the left in thought.

"I can play music," he suggests, raising an eyebrow.

The guards look at eachother for a moment. They whisper. One of them shrugs.

"Don't cause any trouble," one says, and opens up the gate.

Link releases a breath he didn't know he was holding.

Downward he walks then, onto the steps leading into the village. He can hear the same music and now soft laughter, voices talking. The whole area is dark, but the festivities seem to light up the atmosphere. He can't help but notice however, that these aren't the Kakariko villagers he was accustomed to. Certainly not. He feels a little overwhelmed at that moment, the day and all that has preceded it thus far, settling in.

These people, he sees as he continues his walk into the busy area below, are tightly clothed, faces half covered - mouths hidden under fabric, wrapped loosely. He notices a large fire burning smoke and embers up into the sky from spaces between the crowd, and he makes his way towards it.

Some of the people begin to take notice of Link, as he can hear whispers and see mouths leaning towards others' ears in secrecy.

He suddenly feels as if the whole place knows he is there, and begins to feel unwelcome.

Out of nowhere, a hand grabs onto Link's arm and pulls him close.

"You're causing a scene.." the voice warns, without malevolence.

But before Link has a chance to respond, he is pulled through the crowd by the mysterious figure. They veer through the crowd, hypnotic music pulsating from instruments being played from somewhere further ahead.

He notices a crude bench near a smaller fire, and he is pulled towards it. He is forced to sit, and when he looks up, the figure is gone. A voice though, from behind him whispering into his ear, tells him otherwise.

"Sit and remain unnoticed," the voice says.

Link turns to see behind him, but the figure has already moved beside him, sitting down in close proximity. Red eyes glance at him from beyond lightly colored hair; they glow in the firelight. The figure quickly looks away as eye contact is met, and stares into the crowd, changing the subject non-verbally.

Link is nervous, his heart racing as he sits in a place among people unknown to him. The whole situation seems foreign to him. So he decides to sit and watch, quietly, as the figure suggested him to do.

He looks again to his right, and assesses warily. The figure is blonde, hair worn a bit longer, intense, red eyes covered mostly by the strands of it. The mouth is covered too, by fabric, which the same seems to also be wrapped around the arms, fingers, legs, and head. He looks at the figure's body, which is dressed in a very tight-fitting suit, deep blue. The figure is also definitely, male. On his chest..

The Sheikah. The eye.

Realization came crashing down on Link, as it dawns on him exactly whose company and village he is in. The Sheikah lived in this village.. years ago! He sits straight up, eyes opened wide, mouth closed tightly.

"Something the matter..?" the Sheikah asks without looking. He had brought out an instrument while Link was contemplating his situation, and is strumming it, nonchalantly.

"N-no.." Link manages out, but is halted by a tug in his brain. "That instrument," he starts and points toward the Sheikah, "what is it called?"

The other man stops playing, and holds the instrument in his hands higher, gesturing. "This?"

Link feels a slight pain in the middle of his head. Almost as if his brain is floating in murky water.

"Yes," Link says dazedly, "I've seen it before."

"That is odd indeed. For only few know how to play the lyre," the man replies quietly over the voices of the party.

"The lyre.." Link trails. He sits forward a bit, and motions towards the Sheikah. "May I see it?"

The man is very still for a moment. He locks gazes with Link, and stares deeply for a minute or two. He tilts his head, almost in affirmation to himself, and leans forward slightly as well, presenting the instrument. The Sheikah is quiet as he observes.

Link takes the lyre gently and holds it in his lap. He traces its shape with his fingertips. His face, lost in confusion and intrigue. Without a word, he takes the instrument in his right hand and cradles it, and with his left, he begins strumming notes.

The Sheikah's mouth drops open, but no one can tell. He swtiches gazes between the instrument, Link's hands, and Link himself.

Link plucks the strings with his eyes closed, his fingers moving by their own, playing a melody from a subconscious realm. The song he plays, bold and intense.

As he finishes, he stares back at the lyre and says almost to himself,

".. dedicated to the power of the heart.."

His eyes linger for a moment somewhere and nowhere at the same time, and finally he looks up, locking his gaze with the other man seated next to him.

The Sheikah waits for a minute, and says, " Matters of the heart..." He pauses and then adds, "The song you played.. a bolero? It is a powerful crescendo of emotions." He reaches towards Link and takes the lyre gently. "You should be careful who you play that to."

Link blushes, unsure why, and he changes the subject quickly, a bit uncomfortable.

"It's strange," Link murmurs, "I have never played a lyre before."

The Sheikah shift his legs up and underneath him, sitting cross-legged. He stares at Link. His expression is odd.

"Are you sure?" he asks in a lower tone.

"I... " Link trails, the Sheikah's tone eliciting an uneasiness within him. He then realizes they don't even know each other's names. He reaches a hand out cautiously. "I'm Link, by the way."

The Sheikah almost retracts a bit at the sudden gesture. "Link," he repeats, raising an eyebrow, the name slipping out, velvety. He takes hold of Link's outstretched hand, and places his own in it tentatively.

"Who am I?" the Sheikah asks Link curiously, staring at their hands, and then up at Link. He looked, unblinking. Forceful.

"Um.." Link stammers, unsure of how to answer such a strange question.

"I see," the Sheikah responds, an unreadable fleeting expression in his eyes. He hesitates a moment, seemingly thinking very deeply.

"You may call me Sheik."

"Sheik," Link repeats, closing his hand firmly around Sheik's.

He must have surprised the Sheikah with his grip, because the other man tenses slightly.

And after the moment when their handshake should have ceased, they remained, hands together. Link, eyes glazing over, brows furrowing. A look of deep internal thought.

"Sorry," Link says, releasing his grip, slightly nervous. "I was somewhere else, for a moment."

Sheik pulls his hand back slowly.

"Thank you-" Link begins, trying to cease the tension.

"It's not necessary," Sheik replies, for he knows that the other man was meaning to say.

A figure then walks up towards the two men sitting, and gestures towards Sheik.

"Sheik, it's our turn." A woman's voice.

Sheik stands up quickly, gracefully, and with a quick glance towards Link, he moves into the center of the crowd, disappearing. The woman looks at Link for a moment with an unreadable expression before following.

The woman and Sheik stand beside a large bonfire situated in the center of the party. Link, hesitant to be seated alone, gets up and moves closer to the crowd to see more clearly. He notices the woman has red eyes as well, but her hair is deeper in color, with more of an orange hue. Longer as well, as it comes over her shoulders on either side.

Sheik kneels low, one leg outstreched in front of him, the other in back, chest horizontal to the ground. His right arm extends out, palm facing upwards. He gazes upwards to the crowd.

"Midna and I would like to share a prophecy," he starts, white flame appearing in his hand.

The crowd is silent as some begin to sit around the crackling fire. And then, a lone instrument starts, an ancient, almost eerie melody.

The woman named Midna leans over and with her left hand, tantalizes the flame in Sheik's hand. It sparks and grows larger, and in it, something appears. An image.

"The Coming of the Hero of Time," he continues and opens his palm wider. The flame dances and then sits still, a figure appearing in the flame. Sheik finds Link's gaze through the crowd, and from his position, stares up and into Link's eyes. He keeps them there, penetrating.

And in the flame Link sees a warrior, dressed in green.

And Sheik looks at the traveler, dressed in green.

Not wanting to cause a stir of any kind, Link breaks eye contact and moves nervously out of the crowd and onto the sidelines, fading into the darkness of the village.

He can hear Sheik and Midna continue their tale, reminding the Sheikah's of the Hero's return and something called the Hyrulean Civil War. Link gathers that the Hyrule he is in now, is at war. With themselves.

Yet this "coming of the Hero of Time" wouldn't happen until seventeen or so years from now, this Link knew, and the Sheikah tribe did not. However, he senses that Sheik may be aware of who he is, and he worries now, just how much trouble he could be in.

Chapters will be added frequently, so please follow this story for updates!

Also, I would love to hear from more of you, so please kindly leave me a message below.

Many thanks to those who reviewed Part I - you are appreciated.