FicWad

That night, Zale had only begun to scratch the surface of the trials he faced. After reading and combing through the will, they had just enough time to assemble an emergency meeting before Salvatore forced him to bed. Messengers left to call back the Generals since they were important members of the court. Zale hated making them return before they settled at home, but they deserved to be a part of the future of the kingdom.

After Zale fell into a fitful sleep, Lila woke in her own bed. Nothing had changed since Zale had been there, except a new glass of that strange drink. The only light came from the moon outside, and the only sounds were distant partying. Most people were asleep this early in the morning, but that didn't seem to be enough to stop their jubilee. She stretched under the sheets, feeling every broken bone, every little sore, especially in her hand. Her left hand - her dominant hand - was crushed by Ganondra right before she could defeat her. She hoped she'd be able to use weapons properly in the future.

There was an unusual sound that interrupted her musing. It seemed to have come from outside. She decided to act with stealth, curious as to its source, and pretended to be asleep. Someone, or something, climbed carefully through the window. Lila could barely hear them; they must be trained. She sensed more than heard the intruder come near. They got close. Too close. And too close to her sword.

With the speed of a snake, Lila shot out her hand to stop the thief. She grabbed a wrist and opened her eyes, glaring. Whoever it was had his fingers almost touching her sword, but the darkness hid the figure in shadow. From what she could tell, he was Hylian like her.

Lila yelled, "Guar-mm!" The intruder covered her mouth with his free hand, but it didn't matter. Two soldiers had been assigned to watch her room at all times, so they easily heard her shout. Before the intruder could do any more, the door slammed open and he was restrained. He didn't give up, however.

"Let go of me!" he shouted as he was dragged into the lit hallway. "That sword belongs to me!" The light illuminated his face and Lila gasped.

"Wait!" she said.

"We've got this - hrn - my lady," one guard grunted. "You can go back to sleep."

"But--" The door closed on her protest, leaving her back in the dark. An uncontrollable shiver overtook her body. She had a hard time believing what she saw, but there was no denying it. She had seen his face before, but not on him. The intruder looked exactly like herself.

Lila couldn't sleep even if she drank the medicine. She sat up in bed despite her pain. Her mind reeled, wondering how someone could look just like her. Plus, he had claimed the Master Sword belonged to him. Maybe...? No, he couldn't be, but who else would it be? Maybe this mysterious person was none other than Link, one of her... ancestors? How was that possible? Then a thought came to her. If she had a doppelganger, maybe Zale had one, too.

Lila ripped the covers off and collected her things. Then she crept out the window, across the roof, and climbed to the ground. It wasn't easy, but Lila's heart raced, and her whole body felt tensed like a spring. The mystery was all she needed to keep her going.

She looked for tracks, but there were too many footprints to guess which belonged to the intruder. She remembered he didn't have anything on him, no weapons or bags, probably to aid his silence. Then she thought about where she might hide her own stuff if she were to enter the castle the way he did. Her instincts told her to check the forest, and she didn't hesitate to follow.

Several minutes later, her instincts proved true. Lila found a small structure made of leaves and sticks from the forest. Light spilled out of small holes, giving it away. She walked around it slowly, looking for a door. When she found one, she opened it cautiously.

Someone attacked her... in a hug. The someone had fine blonde hair just like Zale's and wore an armored dress. The girl said, "Link! Thank the Goddess, I thought you'd been caught."

Lila didn't return the hug, so the girl pulled back to look at her face. The girl gasped and jumped away.

There was silence. Lila could hardly believe her eyes. If it wasn't for her encounter with the boy earlier, she probably wouldn't believe it. Same as that boy, this girl was a doppelganger of Zale.

"You look just like him," Lila let out.

The girl looked scared yet calculating. "Same goes for you. You look exactly like my companion, Link. Who am I to you?"

"You look like the prince, Zale, and his... never mind." Lila wondered if she was allowed to talk about little Zelda yet, but it was too late.

"His what?"

Lila sighed. "His little sister, Zelda. You could be her from the future."

The girl gasped. "That's my name! I wonder... do the two of you possess pieces of the Triforce?"

"Yeah," Lila said, "but my hand is bandaged from an injury, so I can't show you. Actually, talking about it is making it tingle."

Zelda offered her right hand. Three triangles glowed with gold light, the same as Zale's Light Crossbow and their own Triforces. The triangle near her thumb glowed brightest.

"I bear the Triforce of Wisdom, and Link bears the Triforce--"

"Of Courage," Lila finished with a nod. "So do I. You can probably guess what Zale has."

"The Triforce of Wisdom. I don't know how this is possible. How could each piece be split in two? Wait, who has the Triforce of Power?"

"It was the chieftess of the Gerudo, Ganondra, but I defeated her a few days ago. She's the one who broke my hand."

Zelda pondered to herself for a minute. "Hm... could Rova have it? I've never seen..."

Lila cleared her throat. She smiled at Zelda when she looked up. "Come to the castle. I'm sure Zale will be able to help. Plus, Link is there."

"He is?"

"Yeah. He, um, he's kind of, um, in the dungeon right now."

Zelda gasped again. "Why? What happened?"

Lila shuffled her feet. "Um, it's my fault. Because it was dark, all I knew is that someone was stealing my sword. The guards didn't stop even though I told them to wait when I saw his face. So, he's most likely in the dungeon. Sorry about that."

Zelda shook her head in a kind way. "I'm sure it'll work out just fine. Let me grab some things, and you can lead the way."

It was still dark when they left the makeshift hut, so Zelda kept her lantern lit. Lila hoped it wouldn't attract monsters but figured the two of them could handle it. Lila had trained with her off-hand growing up, and Zelda was probably at defending herself as Zale.

As they walked, Lila asked, "Have you been to Castle Town before?"

Zelda replied, "I have, but not in this time."

"What do you mean?"

"Link and I travel through time with our mentor, Rova. We've gathered several things from history as well as the future. We never really had a place to call home..."

Lila felt sympathy for her, but something clicked in her mind. She remembered an encounter with a mythical race before the battle. The Children of the Forest gave her an ocarina and asked that she return a different one that had special properties. Aloud, she said, "The Ocarina of Time."

Zelda gawked. "How did you know?"

"It went missing recently. I guess I know where it went." She pulled out her wooden instrument and showed Zelda. "Does it look like this?"

Zelda's face lit up, and she shuffled through a bag. "Yeah. Here, take a look."

She handed Lila a round object that was the same except it was painted blue. Some of the paint had chipped and its gloss was gone, but she knew it was the same one depicted in tapestries that told the story of the Hero of Time.

Lila handed it back to her and asked, "Do you know how to play?"

Zelda shook her head. "I never learned. Link takes care of that."

"You should, it's pretty easy. Do you play any other instruments?"

"No." She paused. "But if I did, it would be a harp."

"Like the Goddess?"

"Yeah, like the Goddess."

The girls shared a smile. Zelda put her ocarina away, but Lila asked, "Do you want to hear a forest song?"

"Yeah, sure!"

Lila put the mouthpiece to her lips and blew gently. She played the three notes she knew of the song a couple of times and then tried out some more. The melody stumbled from time to time, but gradually it became clear. She smiled, thinking of the green village and beautiful fairies. For a moment, she lost track of her surroundings.