Chapter 15: Home

Zelda, Impa, and Link escaped the ruins of Hyrule Castle as it completely fell. No longer the sign of nobility that it had been for centuries, it was now reduced to smoldering rubble.

Immediately, Zelda whirled around. "Sonic!" she cried. "Hurry!"

Silence was the response she got. Then, a whirring sound from within the rubble became louder and louder until something shot out of it, skidding along the ground until it came to a halt at Zelda's feet. Her throat constricted when she saw what it was.

It was the Wind Blade.

"No," she whispered, kneeling down and picking it up in her hands as though it were a sacred sword. "It can't be." Water brimmed in her eyes. "Sonic...please, no…"

Despite her attempt to hold back, she couldn't stop herself. The tears flowed down her face as she quietly sobbed. Link, Impa, and the rest of the soldiers stood there, quiet but somber.

"I don't believe it," Impa said after a moment.

"We didn't think he could be a hero," Link said quietly. "But he ended up being a greater hero than I could ever hope to be."

One by one, the soldiers left the threesome, going home to their families and other things. Soon Impa, too, left. Link started to leave, but he stopped and turned back to the mourning princess. He put a hand on her shoulder and leaned down to her level. She looked up as her tears subsided. They stood up together, holding each other's hand. Then, in one swift move, they embraced each other tightly.

"Link," she whispered.

"It's okay," he said, stroking her hair. "We're alive and well."

"And he," she whispered, "he is gone."

"No," came an ethereal voice. The two of them looked up without breaking their embrace to see Nayru standing before them once again.

"Nayru!" Zelda exclaimed.

"You need not weep, Zelda," she said. "Though you are correct. He is gone, but he is alive."

"What do you mean?" Link asked.

"You called him from another world to fulfill a task that the Hero of Time could not. Now that the task assigned him is complete, he has gone home."

As Zelda took this in, a smile broke out on her face. She buried her face in Link's shoulder. He chuckled and held her tighter, while Nayru faded from view.

In the heart of a dark cave, a sinister being scowled to himself as he stalked around, bemoaning his failure. A red orb sat in the center, glowing ominously and showing him the heroes as they celebrated their victory.

"Victory?" Ganondorf chuckled to himself. "Oh, no...that was no victory. With Hyrule Castle gone, what shall stand as a beacon of hope for the people? Nothing." He turned away from the image. "But I can live with them rebuilding it. Let them do so. Soon, I shall become more powerful than any hope they could hope for. I'll –"

He stopped abruptly. "Wait...that didn't make sense. Hm...oh, well. It makes little difference what happens now," he sneered as the image in his orb changed.

The Wind Blade stood upright in a pedestal, polished so that it shone brightly. Many people from near and far in Hyrule hustled around the rubble that Hyrule Castle had become, tools and pickaxes in hand. Impa was in the mix as the foundation for a new castle was being laid.

On a cliff overlooking the castle stood Link and Zelda, watching as the sun rose, signalling a new day.

"Our home," Link sighed as he watched the construction.

"It will never be the same," Zelda agreed. "But it will still be our home." She feathered her hand into his. "No darkness can take that away from us."

He put his hands around her waist while she put her arms around his neck. "No," he smiled. "No matter how strong it may be, the darkness cannot take it away." With that, their lips connected as they shared a passionate kiss.

The rising sun accentuated everything that happened in Hyrule: from the construction to the love that went into it.

"So let me get this straight," Amy Rose said, folding her arms and staring at Sonic with a subtle but deadly glare that he didn't notice, "you've spent the past week in Camelot fighting some evil overlord who wants to take over and nearly getting killed in the process?"

"Amy, I told you, it's Hyrule, not Camelot," Sonic rolled his eyes. "And yes, that's where I've been. Whew! Who would've thought I'd become a legendary hero of that sort?"

"That's the lamest excuse ever!" Amy suddenly snapped in rage. "You just forgot about our date!"

"What?! No, no! It's true, I'm telling ya! YIKES! No, Amy, wait! Ack! Not the hammer!" Sonic cried, panicking as he ran off.

"Get back here, you lousy, good-for-nothing…!" she continued to shout at him angrily as she chased him while he protested. In their hyperactivity, they didn't notice that they ran by two teenagers sitting on a bench, eating chocolate out of a box sitting between them.

"Huh?" one of them, a raven-haired boy wearing a red cap and a blue jacket, muttered. "What's gotten into Amy?"

"Must've been that date that got arranged for them," the other one, a brunette girl wearing a red bandana and a red shirt, said as she put her head in her hand. "I knew that was a bad idea."

WWWWWWWWHAM! Oh, man...I've been looking forward to writing that stinger ever since I started this story.

Anyways, this ending got kinda rushed, but I hope it's satisfactory. Truth be told, this story went in a number of different directions that I didn't plan. But hey, that's what happens when you let your writing run free!

That being said, my next story will be a return to my FF roots.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to rate and review, but no flames please! Special thanks to KHSonicFan29 for all the reviews.