Chapter Text
Everything about the scene in front of her told of a fight that had been going on for ages, the green tunic one of the combatants wore already stained red by blood, but the figures still moved with the strength and fury of someone who had only just picked up their sword moments before, ready to deliver the killing blow the moment their opponent would lower their guard a centimetre, metal glinting in the brief glimpses of light that would fill the world as the grey sky around them continued to rain down bolts of lightning, crashing alongside their swords.
Moving forwards with a series of feints, finishing it off with a jab that his opponent barely managed to avoid, ducking under the blade to roll aside, already back on his feet by the time the next attack came swinging down in the form of the razor-sharp blade of the Master Sword, there was not much of the person she had come to know over the months to be seen in Link’s grim expression, his eyes focused on nothing but his target as he let out a yell, leaping up into the air to gain more momentum, the stroke blocked at the last moment. Gone was the smile and the way he would chuckle at some reference she did not understand, all signs of him being about to pause for a minute to reach out to offer a helping hand to the person across from him replaced with white-hot anger that, for a moment, made Zelda pause, the hope in her chest she had worked so hard to finally find flickering like a flame in the wind before she clenched her fist. She had made her decision and knew about the risks. Now, she would have to go through with it.
Looking over at the last person inside the void they had been taken to, Zelda forced herself not to stop with looking at him, to look past where his hair had become flames that ran down his back, past how the sword in his hand, wide and with jagged edges, glowed dark as he swung it, the tide of battle slowly turning to his advantage, instead searching for a sign that it was not too late yet.
With how they moved, faster and faster, one attack leading into the next, a long series of strokes being parried every time as the hero moved around Demise, searching for an opening in his defences, it should have been an impossible idea that she could see the traces of her friends behind it, and Zelda could feel how the influence of the room washed over her, carrying with it the memories of the time that had gone before, her arms being pushed against her sides as she saw it all through a layer of amber, panic filling her mind for a moment before she was able to breathe, slow down, and hold on to the memories that were her own. Closing her eyes, Zelda could almost recreate the moment the ground had begun to shake in her mind, recall how Ganondorf had got them all out of the way moments before they would have been crushed by the falling debris. Dwelling on the moment she had realised that he had just saved both of their lives, Zelda opened her eyes again, and this time, she saw the cracks in the lie.
Raising up her hand, breaking free from the crystal she had been trapped in was as easy as realising that it was not there, that she was still herself and not the goddess or any of her ancestors as the amber shattered around her, allowing her to once again find herself standing on the ground, the water this time retreating before it could soak her boots, revealing itself to be as fake as both the prison around them and the idea that she would have to follow the course that had been set for them all those years ago.
As she once again looked towards the glint of swords meeting in the air, Zelda saw through the illusion, the image of Demise and the hero fading away to let Ganondorf and Link take their place, both of them looking at the other with nothing but hate and contempt in their eyes, and for a brief moment, the hope wavered, Zelda looking between them without seeing a way to bring it to an end.
Swinging his sword down, Link let out a grunt as it was met by an equally vicious stroke, the sparks flying as the swords collided. Zelda could see what was about to happen before it did, see how they both moved to the side, the water flying around them as they fought with everything they had, their swords becoming a blur of grey as they both looked at the other and saw the enemy and a kind of hatred that had been great enough to fuel the cycle for millennia. It was inevitable that the battle would come to an end, and still, Zelda’s heart skipped a beat as she saw Ganondorf step back, his foot slipping in the water, sending him flying backwards.
For a second, she could see the clarity in his eyes, the sword in his hand clattering against the ground as he fell backwards into the water, all air being knocked out of his lungs as he looked up to see how Link was standing above him, but then it was gone, instead replaced with the rage of someone who had felt a hate strong enough to let it follow their enemies long after their deaths.
Time was running out, both for them, Zelda growing increasingly aware of how Ganondorf and Link were growing weaker and weaker, already having to fight to see them rather than the hero and Demise, and for their last chance of bringing an end to the cycle, their imminent failure reflected in the light that illuminated the world Link as he raised his sword, preparing himself for the killing blow.
She acted without thinking, the world shifting on its axis around her until she could almost hear Dorian’s voice in her ears, his order for them to focus on her as well ringing in her ears as she threw out her hand. “Stop!”
Light, softer and gentler than the harshness of the thunderstorm around them, filled the void, the water evaporating beneath their feet as Link froze, the sword still raised, every muscle of his body still tensed in preparation for the end. Her heart beat furiously in her chest, and Zelda could hear how her breathing was growing hectic, but she could not let go of the little sliver of control she had been given, not when she could already feel the cycle pushing against her, trying to make her falter and give in to the temptation of knowing that if she only allowed it to take hold of her, she would be led to victory. It would have been a hollow triumph, one she would lose herself in and one that would allow everything to repeat anew, so even though Zelda could feel every last bit of the world they had found themselves in push against the control, the lightning in the background rolling in against her mind in waves, she held on as she continued forwards, keeping her gaze fixed on Link, seeing how the image of the hero blinked in an out of existence as he turned to look at her, the puzzled look in his eyes revealing that he did not remember her.
“Stop.” Zelda repeated the word, her voice growing louder, joined by the wishes of the voices around her as she reached out towards them. “This is not what you want to do.”
She had misjudged. The mistake was clear in her mind, but still, it did not leave her with any chance of mitigating the consequences.
With a roar, Ganondorf rolled to the side, rising from the ground to reveal that there was not the tiniest hint of the person she had come to know as her friend left in his eyes, his hair becoming fire once again, the wound in his chest glowing bright as he turned towards her, his eyes looking like they were made of pure hate and malice as he pointed the tip of his sword at her. “You. The goddess Hylia who hid the Triforce from me. What does it feel like to know that all you misery was for nothing? You lost your hero and your divinity, and now, you will see that you have cursed your descendants as well, trapping all of us in a cycle without end.”
The words moved through the air, Zelda feeling how they wrapped around her to once again try to draw her into the destiny that had been given to them long before they had been born, carrying with them memories of a war she had never been part of but still felt familiar to her as the memories appeared in front of her eyes, war after war, catastrophe after catastrophe, one assassination attempt after another, all of it bleeding together. From around her, Zelda could hear the pained screams of those who had already been trapped inside the cycle, the different princesses rising to the front of her mind as their own demise played out in front of her eyes, Zelda seeing them try to run away from it but ultimately returning to fight back against the reincarnation of Demise’s hatred.
And then, with a voice that was barely more than a whisper, Zelda heard the familiar sound of the princess who had refused all of that, saw the smile she sent her while she reached out towards her as she opened her mouth. “You can be more than that. As long as you don’t allow yourself to be swept up into the cycle, you all can. Do you understand?”
She did. Finally, Zelda knew what she would have to do, so even though her instincts told her to move, to try to make him see reason, she did not move, did not try to flee as Demise drew back his sword, Link screaming her name from somewhere far away, the world around her becoming bathed in the light of the lightning bolts as Demise moved forwards, using his own momentum to put more strength into his attack.
It hit her directly on the shoulder, Zelda falling to the ground in an instant, feeling like her body had been set alight as she scrambled backwards, the world reduced to shadows as she looked up to see that Demise was walking towards her, a smile that spoke of how he was already envisioning his victory clear on his face as he let his sword touch the ground, looking almost bored for a moment before he raised it up again.
Standing there, he looked almost like the monster Ganondorf had feared he would become, the demon who had been the cause of the cycle in the first place, but where it should have made her look away, accepting that she had failed, that she had been wrong to think that they were not too late to stop destiny from taking hold of them, as Zelda looked up at the hate shining in his eyes, the only memory that went through her mind was how Ganondorf had looked back when he had told her about his fears of becoming the person described in the legends. He had been in despair, overwhelmed by the thought that perhaps that really was who he was meant to become, and though Zelda could not see Ganondorf through the image of Demise and the allure of giving in to the cycle as well to let them all be swept up in a cycle without end that would at least provide her with someone to call her enemy rather than having to fight a friend, she could still recall the conversation she had shared with the princess and the Ganondorf and Link of her time. Friends, that was what they had described themselves as, their friendship being what they had named as the source of the strength that had allowed them to refuse to fulfil their destinies.
Above her, Demise smiled down, the grimace looking like it was threatening to split his face in half. “Do you have anything to say, Hylia? Any last words you want to say to your hero before my curse is solidified for good?”
Zelda had a thousand things she would want to tell them before dying, a million more things she would have liked to have tried, a home she would have tried to create around herself if she had got the chance, but in that moment, none of the words that spilled over her lips were meant for Link, Zelda unable to even look towards him to try to make sure that he had understood, that he had been able to tear himself away from the temptation of losing himself to the hate, as she instead looked directly up at Demise. “Think about Riju, Ganondorf. Think about everything that has happened, about everything we have seen and experienced. Think about that time you leapt in front of Link without hesitation. Think about all the time we spent together and how many times you have saved us by now. That is what I have to say to you.”
For a moment, it looked like her attempt at getting through to him had been in vain, Demise still being all she could see as he snarled at her, drawing his sword further back, but as Zelda forced herself not to close her eyes as she waited for the last attack, instead staring directly into his eyes, she could see how long lines began to run over the surface, the lie beginning to crack to reveal the truth both to herself and him.
It looked like when she would turn a page in her book over and over again, the image of Ganondorf flickering in front of her, growing in strength until she could almost hold on to it before once again being replaced with Demise and the glint of the lightning reflected in his blade as he shook his head, letting go of his weapon with one hand to clutch at his head.
“No… no, you are not!” his voice broke on the last word, the image of Demise growing stronger, forcing Ganondorf to retreat into the background as he once again turned his attention towards her. “I admire the attempt, Hylia, but you are not going to win this last battle. That victory belongs to me and me alone.”
She was not given the chance of responding before a roar filled the air around them, a single glance to the side being all it took for Zelda to see how Link was sprinting towards them, sword raised as he once again disappeared back into his role as the hero.
There was no time to think about the idea or what end it might lead to. Gritting her teeth and summoning everything tough in her to keep herself from passing out as pain shot through her arm and chest, Zelda threw her hand out towards him, the barrier forming in a matter of seconds, glowing golden as the hero crashed against it, falling to the floor but having leapt back onto his feet a moment later, banging his fists against the wall she had created to separate them.
It had got Demise’s attention as well. Casting a long glance towards the golden glow of the barrier, something akin to intrigue passed over his face as he turned to face her again though it was soon replaced with the same kind of endless hate that had been present for the entirety of the fight, his voice rough and derisive. “I have to admit it, Hylia; I had not thought that self-sacrifice was your thing. I thought you were more inclined to let children fight your battles for you. Still, if you wish to keep the hero from being able to come between us out of some misguided hope that you will be able to stop what I began the moment I first cast my curse I will be the last to try to stop you. After all, you and I both know that this battle has always been between the two of us. All those little feints, you trying to form the perfect hero, putting him through tragedy after tragedy to strengthen his soul, and the swords we created, those were only distractions, weren’t they? I certainly know that it will be easy to bring an end to their existence once I have killed you, and now, you have just prevented the one willing to die for your cause from jumping between us.”
Even with how Zelda knew what he was trying to do, how he too was trying to fight back by pulling her in the direction he wished to move towards, trying his best to force her to accept the role of the one who shared the blood of the goddess, it was still nearly impossible to continue to fight the urge to give in to the righteous anger that waited for her behind the memories of her past, but she had to do it, if not for herself, then for the fact that she could still remember how Ganondorf had smiled as she had returned his pictures of Riju to him and how he had looked at Link while talking about Aryll, the pain clear in his eyes. If she allowed him to kill her here, Zelda knew that the last little glimpse of him that might still be in there would be gone for good, so even though her world consisted of nothing but pain, she pushed herself to make one last attempt, forcing the words out of her mouth. “Ganondorf, I know you are in there. I can see it in the way you move, how you speak; every last bit of you is telling me that you are still in there. I trust you. You will be able to break through this.”
“No, I am not!”
The light glimmered around her as the sword came down, and although she had sworn to herself that she would not let it happen, Zelda could not stop herself from blinking as the blade approached her face.
The world shook around her, but where she had expected to feel a sudden pain and then nothing, Zelda felt how the rumbles originated in a point centimetres away from her head.
Slowly, she opened her eyes, almost expecting to see the blade still being swung her, her fear having made it all slow down around her, but she only saw how Demise stumbled, moving backwards, away from her, clutching his head in his hands as he let out a scream. Pushing herself up from the floor, Zelda cast a glance towards where the sword was lying on the ground only a few metres away from them, the ripples in the water around it showing how it had slid across the ground.
The conclusion was right there in front of her, Zelda only having to reach out to accept it, but it still took her another moment to let out the breath that had pressed against the back of her throat, the shaky exhale catching Demise’s attention.
Letting his hands fall back against his sides, he stood up, but where he had been towering above her only moments ago, now, while still more than a head taller than her, he looked almost small, the last remnants of Demise falling away to leave Ganondorf behind.
“Zelda? No, no, no…” whispering her name, he looked away from her, towards where the sword had been left on the ground, his eyes widening in horror, sending him backwards as she tried to reach out for him, his gaze shifting from the sword to her face before coming to rest at a point near her left shoulder, Ganondorf shaking his head as he repeated the word over and over again.
Letting down the barrier, Zelda heard how Link ran over to join them, coming to a sliding halt, opening his mouth as if to say something before seemingly losing the words necessary to do so, instead staring at them as Zelda tried once again.
“Ganondorf, I am fine, I just—”
“No you are not!” it was as if Ganondorf had not realised that he had yelled before the words had already left his mouth, the tears making his eyes shiny as he pressed a hand against his mouth, still not looking away from her. “I… I did that. I could have killed you, and I just—he did not care at all. No,” he shook his head, the motion reminiscent of the man Zelda had spoken with moments before in how it made his hair fall in front of his shoulders, “he wanted you dead. He wanted both of you dead. More than anything else, he wanted for the two of you to die right here. I… you should have done it, Link.”
That made Link speak up, the sound of him sheathing his sword filling the air alongside his voice. “No. No, I should not. You and I both know that I would never have forgiven myself if that had happened.”
“I don’t care about you having to forgive yourself! I care about the fact that I came seconds away from killing both of you, that Zelda is probably still going to die, and that you did not honour my wish of bringing an end to it when you had the chance! I saw that you hesitated, I saw that you were able to break free of it for a moment, and I promise you that there was not some hidden part of—of him that was not prepared to use that second of weakness against you! You should have done it, Link, for all of us.” Ganondorf was barely able to reach the end of the sentence, already sobbing halfway through.
There was nothing to do other than to walk forwards, Zelda trying her best not to make it any worse as she closed the gap between them, slowly taking one step after another towards Ganondorf, acutely aware of how he looked at her, his eyes flickering between horror, fear, and exactly what she was hoping to find, that little glimpse of someone who could see a tiny bit of hope in front of them as she reached out towards him.
He pulled his hand away from hers the instant they made contact, and although it was what she should have expected, Zelda had to fight to keep the disappointment from showing on her face, pouring every little bit of energy she still had left, the memories she had seen while talking with the princess, how they had become friends against all odds, holding on to their friendship as fate tried to tear them apart, into keeping the flicker of hope alive. If they could do it, Zelda had to believe that they could as well, that they would not wake up to find that this was what it had come to, the three of them coming so close to bringing an end to it all that she could almost feel the freedom against her fingertips if she were to reach out, only for them to fail in the end.
She allowed her arm to fall back against her side, hearing how Link slowly walked over to stand next to her, the two of them both looking over at Ganondorf.
He was crying. He might have tried to hide it, but as the tears continued to stream down his face, there was nothing that would have been able to keep it secret from them, his entire body shaking with sobs.
“I am all right,” Zelda repeated, not looking away from him for a moment as he finally met her gaze, “I promise you that I am all right. Even if I had not been, it still would not have been your fault.”
“But it would.” shaking his head, Ganondorf still refused to accept what she was saying, tearing his arm away from them as Link tried to place a hand on his elbow to instead cradle it against his chest, the skin covered in little cuts, mirroring those that ran up and down Link’s arms. “I should have tried more; I should have been better at pushing away his influence and to refusing to give in. Don’t you see? I gave in. We went through so much, we fought the Yiga Clan and did everything to stay alive, training with Dorian and Impa, and in the end, you almost died because I was too weak to continue to fight Demise’s influence.”
“We both lost the battle against the cycle,” Link said, making the next attempt at getting Ganondorf to realise that all would be all right in the end die in Zelda’s throat as she looked over at him to see how he too was looking down at his booths. “Gan, you were not the only one who wasn’t strong enough in the end to continue to fight against the influence of the cycle. If you had been, then there would never have been a fight at all. This happened because we both lost the battle. I know what you must be telling yourself right in this moment, that you are horrible because you did not have the strength to continue to fight against Demise, the hero, the goddess, all the things that would have made us each other’s enemies, and all I ask for is for you to look at me and tell me the same things. Look into my eyes and tell me that I too am a horrible person for the fact that I wasn’t able to let my sword remain at my side when we first came here. You and I both remember it—I was the first of us to draw my sword. If you are going to hate yourself for this battle, then you have to blame me as well.”
“No… no, I don’t.” but even as he spoke, it was evident how the conviction in his words faltered, Ganondorf looking from Link and over at Zelda. That was when it all fell away, however, his gaze coming to rest near her shoulder once again, Ganondorf looking at them with strength behind his words as he continued. “Perhaps you drew your sword, but I was still the one to let Demise’s hatred draw me into the cycle. I was the one who turned against the two of you. I was the great evil from the legends—don’t try to argue against it, Zelda; you and I both know that I am right.”
He had interrupted her before she had got the chance to do more than to open her mouth, still not having said a word, but as Zelda saw how he took another step away from them, she knew that she would have to ignore the plea. Making sure that her shoulders would not rise to reveal how, towards the back of her mind, she could still feel the tether of the cycle leading into the future, Zelda shook her head. “I am sorry, but you can’t ask that of me. I know that you are a good person, Gan. I know that. All of what happened here—it was not your fault. If you want to blame anyone, then blame Demise. Blame the one responsible for having placed the curse on us in the first place, the one who was capable of feeling such rancour that it would follow the descendants of his victims into the future and capture innocents along with them. All I need is for you to stop blaming yourself for what you had no control over.”
With a laugh that sounded closer to breaking into a sob than it resembled joy, Ganondorf shook his head again. “No, that is what you don’t understand, what none of you understand—I did feel what happened. I was still there, it was not like I suddenly found myself outside my body, unable to do anything but watch as he moved me forwards, trying his best to lead the sword to hit you, I was still there. I was the one who tried to murder you, Link, using the fact that you could not bring yourself to kill me when you had the chance, and I was the one who almost took your arm off, Zelda.”
“My arm…?” Zelda repeated the words, the world suddenly appearing distant to her, like the flashes of light that had illuminated the world around her and the pain that had come to fill everything in her mind had all happened to someone else, feeling like the memories of a bad dream as she looked down, expecting to see that it had really been just that. Instead, the memory of incandescent pain whirled through her mind once again as she took in the sight that met her.
The world tilted around her, bile rising in her throat as she saw the deep gash, a bit of bone making it seem like it was shining up in her face as she closed her eyes, already feeling her legs threaten to give out beneath her. Taking one deep breath after the other, Zelda was aware of the effect her reaction would have on her attempt at making Ganondorf see reason, but even then, the guilt still felt heavy in her stomach as she saw how he looked directly at the wound despite speaking to her, looking like he forced himself to continue to stare at it long after he should have looked away, reliving the moment over and over again to find new reasons to blame himself.
“Yes, Zelda, your arm.” only a few minutes ago, Zelda knew she would have heard the words spoken with contempt as she glanced up to see Demise prepare to kill her, but now, Ganondorf sounded like he would have traded places with her in a heartbeat, taking on the wound himself. “I caused that, and don’t you dare to tell me that you cannot feel it. I know that it would be a lie.”
“I… I actually can’t feel it.” Zelda looked back down, expecting for the pain to rush against her the next second, but it never came. Instead, she found herself looking back up at Ganondorf, seeing how he wavered between being about to tell her not to lie, that he knew that she was bound to be in an indescribable amount of pain, and the part of him that still wanted to believe her. Desperately hoping that it was not too late to appeal to that part of him, Zelda continued. “I mean it. I truly cannot feel it.”
Finally, a little of the pain in Ganondorf’s eyes disappeared, allowing him to look back up at her face and then over at Link, his mouth forming the silent question before he was able to ask it out loud. “But how? How can you not feel it?”
That was a question Zelda did not know the answer to, but as Ganondorf continued to look at her, keeping his eyes on her face rather than at the steady stream of blood running down her arm, Zelda knew that she had to do something to keep it that way, so, trying her best to plaster a smile onto her face, she tilted her head to the side, the idea striking her from one moment to the next. “I am not sure… can either of you feel any of your wounds?”
At first they looked at her like they could not believe the question, Zelda seeing how they were about to interrupt one another with their answer of there being no doubt that they could feel the sting and the pain of their numerous cuts and wounds, but then, almost like a gust of wind swept past them, stealing away all sounds, they fell silent.
It took only a fraction of a second for Zelda to realise the reason for the silence as she followed their gazes.
Link frowned slightly as he looked down at how the jacket he had borrowed from Ganondorf after falling into Deya Lake all those days ago seemingly closed the tears in the fabric itself, the fabric soon appearing whole again, the bloodstains disappearing into thin air, Ganondorf reaching up towards his cheek where a gash had run from just next to his right ear down to his chin only to find his hand brushing over smooth skin, continuing up to touch the earring Link had given him after narrowly escaping the Yiga Clan as the two of them turned to look at each other, their wide eyes revealing how they were waiting for the moment where it would fall away once again, showing them how it had been nothing but an illusion created by their own minds and wishes to see everything come together again. A heartbeat passed before they both looked towards her.
Zelda could feel how the jacket she had been wearing since before they had fled from Kakariko Village, stained with both blood and mud, disappeared from around her, the familiar red and green pattern of a shirt instead taking its place as her skin closed around the gash in her shoulder little by little until the only sign of how the sword had been brought down to inflict the wound was the way Ganondorf was looking at her, his expression letting her know that he could not believe what he was seeing.
“How?” Ganondorf whispered the word, reaching up to press his hand against his mouth.
That was when Zelda saw the answer to the question they all shared, finding it in the glowing symbol on the back of Ganondorf’s right hand.
“The Triforce.” she was barely able to say the word, but they still heard her, Ganondorf turning his hand, the mark casting a golden glow up onto his face as Zelda gestured towards Link. “Link, yours must have begun to glow as well.”
A simple tug at the sleeve was enough to confirm it, the glow of the lower right piece of the Triforce reflected in Link’s eyes as both he and Ganondorf looked at her.
Zelda knew what it had to mean, was able to connect the dots between how their marks had glowed golden, having seemingly healed their wounds, and the fact that she too stood there, the deep gash in her shoulder completely gone, but even then, she did not dare to look down, too scared of what she might see, how the illusion would come crashing down around her if she were to look down and see bare skin on the back of her hand.
“Zelda…” Ganondorf said, because of course he would be the one to say it, a tiny bit of hope finally showing on his face as he gestured towards her hand, “your hand.”
She could do it. Taking a deep breath, Zelda reminded herself of how even if she would look down to see nothing at all, at least they were all still alive, at least they would be able to spend their last moments in the company of each other while the cycle gained the last bit of momentum it would need to completely bring an end to their world. With the voices of those who had come before her echoing in her ears, Zelda slowly raised up her hand, turning it around.
The glow of the Triforce filled her field of vision, momentarily blinding her. Blinking as her eyes adapted to the sudden light, Zelda found herself looking down at the same mark that decorated the back of Ganondorf’s and Link’s hand, albeit with the lower left triangle being the one that had been filled in, leaving the other two blank. It was right there, and yet she had not felt a thing, giving her no way of determining when it had appeared, what had made everything change around her.
However, as Zelda looked back up, seeing how both Link and Ganondorf were finally willing to look at her, she knew that it did not matter. The exact moment she had achieved what had been her biggest goal only a day ago did not matter, not anymore, not compared to how she took a step forward, waiting for the moment where Ganondorf would realise what she was about to do and return the gesture by backing away.
The seconds passed, and though he must have guessed her intentions, surprise passing over his face to be replaced with first trepidation and then a fragile smile, one of a person who was not sure if what they were seeing was really happening, Ganondorf did not turn from her, did not try to convince her once again that he was responsible for what had already disappeared. He did not pull her in for the hug the way he would have done before, but there was no need for that. As Zelda closed the last bit of distance between them, it was more than enough that he was there, that he did not try to move, allowing her to wrap her arms around him as she leant into the embrace until he finally returned it, his arm hovering above her shoulders for a moment before he, applying the least amount of pressure as he could possibly do while still coming into contact with her, returned the hug.
Turning her head to the side, Zelda could see how Link was looking over at them, a smile gracing his lips, and, pulling her arm free from the embrace for a moment, she held out a hand towards him, the question left unsaid between them as he placed his hand in hers to let her pull him in, Ganondorf loosening his embrace for a moment to wrap his arms around Link as well.
They were there, alive and well, Zelda finding herself at once breathing in the familiar smell of the sweater she had first seen Ganondorf in as well as the clothes they had spent the last few weeks in, and for once, they could allow themselves to breathe out fully. They had done everything they could do. What would happen next was out of their hands. The idea of being powerless to stop what would happen next should not have felt like a relief, and yet, Zelda could not bring herself to worry about it.
It happened slowly and in the blink of an eye, all at the same time, the feeling of being pulled away from herself, of having something fastened to her soul give way like the string that had kept it tethered to her had been cut in half, washing over her, the sensation of being connected to something outside her own consciousness, mind, body, and soul fading away.
As Ganondorf broke the embrace, stepping away from them, Link reaching up towards his head, a puzzled expression on his face, Zelda knew that they had felt the same, but even then, they all looked at each other, the air between them feeling almost electric as the question came to fill it.
“Did you…” still looking almost like he could not believe it, Ganondorf glanced from Link to Zelda. “Is it really gone?”
His tone, hopeful but still weighed down by the fear that he would be wrong and that the answer would turn out to be no, revealed how was talking about more than just the immediate threat of the world coming to an end, Zelda seeing the fear of what might have happened if the battle had been allowed to continue for even a second more before he had regained control shining in his eyes alongside the hope that they had not failed like those who had come before them, passing on the curse and allowing it to grow stronger in their attempt at sparing themselves from having to experience it.
Breathing in properly for what felt like the first time in her life, the only answer to the question Zelda could think of was yes, the strange feeling of weightlessness coming to fill the space that had been occupied by worries about being the one who would keep them from being able to save the world, the one who would turn out to have doomed them all by having failed to unlock her powers. As the voices faded away, Zelda could only barely make out the last goodbye, the princess pouring her gratitude into that last show of support before she disappeared for good, and though it would have been her worst nightmare only a day earlier to be able to hear what they were saying only to lose the ability again, the panic did not set in as silence filled the air around her. Instead, it allowed her to look back over at Ganondorf with a smile. “Yes, I think so,” Zelda said before noticing her mistake and rectifying it, “no—I know that the cycle and the curse are gone for good.”
There was no celebration waiting for them anywhere, nothing at all other than the endless void around them, but somehow none of that seemed to matter as Link let out a laugh, running back over to envelop Ganondorf in a hug, the momentum behind it almost making them both lose their balance, Ganondorf stepping back to steady them with a laugh as Link, still with one arm wrapped around his waist, looked back over at Zelda, beaming at her, making everything seem bright and happy around them as he gestured towards her hand. “See, you really were meant to have that!”
Zelda could only look down at where the Triforce of Wisdom was glowing up at her and see how it sent ripples of light across her skin as she watched, the tendrils moving up her arm towards her heart.
“Here.” Zelda moved without thinking, acting on sheer instinct as she held out her hands. “I need you to come closer to me.”
For a fraction of a second, it seemed like Ganondorf and Link would draw back and ask her what she was trying to do, how she could stand there and act like she knew what they would have to do, but then, the warmth blooming in her chest in response to their smiles, they reached out to take her hands, Link closing the circle by also reaching out towards Ganondorf.
The light beneath her skin grew in intensity, and as she looked around, Zelda could see that it was not only her, that Link was also glowing, his eyes seemingly transformed into pure light, Ganondorf looking back over at her, cautious joy shining in his eyes as the tendrils moved up his arms, reaching his heart in a matter of moments, blocking out everything around them.
Feeling how the world disappeared around her, Zelda should perhaps have been scared, but she was not. Holding on to Ganondorf and Link, she waited as the feeling of warmth grew stronger around them, the very last echoes of thunder fading away.
The next time she opened her eyes, it was to look at the point directly between them where a tiny source of light grew in front of her eyes, twisting and turning as it solidified, taking on a solid form as water began to pour down from above them, held back by an invisible force to form a dome around them as Zelda watched the Triforce appear in front of her eyes, the light growing to become the three triangles.
With one final coruscating bolt of lightning that illuminated the room around them, the Triforce let go of its hold on them, the tendrils that had kept her from moving once again disappearing into thin air to leave the triangle to float in the air in front of them, each of the triangles spinning gently as they watched it.
Everything that had happened, all the weeks of wishing that they could go back to change what had happened, every conversation in Kakariko Village, it all seemed like it had led to that moment, Zelda finding herself taking an unconscious step forwards to bring herself closer to the Triforce, still not letting go of Ganondorf and Link as they did the same.
“It… it is really here.” at her side, Link whispered the words that went through all of their minds, Zelda and Ganondorf looking towards him as he tore his gaze away from the gentle glow of the Triforce. “We—we could wish for anything in the world and… it would grant us that wish.”
“We can.” Ganondorf looked between them, a little tug pulling at the corners of his mouth as he appeared to see what they were both thinking. In that moment, it certainly felt like Zelda would be able to reach out and hold on to their thoughts if she were to try, so perhaps it really was what happened as Ganondorf looked back towards the Triforce. “We are all wishing for the same thing, aren’t we? To restore the world and bring back what was lost?”
“We do.” Zelda told the truth, but where the joy of their triumph should have made her leap up high into the air, she could hear the hollowness in her own voice as she looked from the ultimate power towards her friends, the full extent of what would have to happen now dawning on her. “But…” she could not bring herself to finish the sentence, could not look at them and bring up the fact that, with the cycle gone, if they were to reverse what had happened, they would have no way of ensuring that they would meet again, that their memories of each other would not fall victim to a cosmic attempt at righting the universe around them.
Zelda could not say it, but as Ganondorf’s smile grew fainter, she knew that he had guessed what she was thinking, the joy in Link’s eyes dimming a bit as they all looked at each other for another moment.
Then, finally, Ganondorf broke through the silence. “Look, we have no way of knowing how this is going to work. Maybe it will merely bring back all those who died and allow us to keep our memories of what happened. Maybe that is how it will interpret our wish.”
It was wishful thinking, and for as much as Zelda wanted to cling on to the hope of that coming true, looking at the Triforce, she could not bring herself to fully believe it for even a moment.
Evidently, the same was the case for both Link and Ganondorf, all three of them standing there, so close to the Triforce that they would have been able to touch it if they had let go of each other to reach out, finally having the power to restore balance and life to the world in before them, but feeling more removed from it than they had ever done before. Still, they would have to do it. The image of Deya Village, full of life, Paya sitting inside one of the homes, her parents talking to her from the adjoining room, Purah once again trying her best to convince the headmistress that she had everything under control despite how the state of the classroom said something entirely different, Impa, trying her best to rebuild Kakariko Village, Dorian and his family, his wife kneeling down to embrace Cottla, Urbosa and the way she would always wait in the door when coming to visit, refraining from entering the house until she had given Zelda a hug despite Zelda’s father’s protests, they were the people and the memories she would have to do it for. But even then, Zelda still found herself unable to look away from Ganondorf and Link, holding on to their hands so tightly that it felt like she would never be able to let go.
Maybe she would never have to do that. Looking from them and towards the Triforce, the idea formed in an instant, hope once again blooming in her chest as she brought an end to the silence. “We will do it together.” Ganondorf and Link seemed confused for only a second before Zelda saw the idea dawn on them as well, the light returning to their eyes as they all faced the Triforce, Zelda tightening her grip on their hands and taking a deep breath, sensing how they did the same, as she continued. “As long as we do this together, I know that no matter what happens, we are going to meet again. Just breathe, focus, and—now!”
They stepped forwards, neither of them letting go of each other as they let their clasped hands touch against the sides of the Triforce.
It quivered beneath her touch, pure energy shooting through her, and for a fraction of a second, Zelda saw it as if she was looking down at the scene from above, far removed from her body as the universe shifted around her, the pressure finally disappearing for good as the force that had been holding back the water above them gave way, sending waves crashing down around them, all three of them closing their eyes for the last time as the Triforce exploded, the golden light washing over them along with the water as the world around them became dark.
+++
She opened her eyes to find herself looking up at the brilliantly blue expanse of the sky, the sound of her breathing for a moment the solitary proof of her existence against the backdrop of the distant sound of children playing, Zelda only registering the joy in their voices, the exact words escaping her, leaving her to lie on her back and feel the warmth of the sun on her face for another moment before her breathing was joined by the echo of two others next to her.
They lay there, looking up at the sky, neither of them turning their heads to the side to confirm that the others really were there. There was no reason to. As Zelda closed her eyes, she knew that in her heart that it was true.
They had made it.