Voids Time Cannot Fill

Written by: Pinguicha

His steps echoed through the dim halls of the Temple of Time. The three Spiritual stones still shone with their characteristic glows above the altar that had once been empty. One, two, three steps down the small stairs and he was facing it, something he could swear he'd just seen moments ago.

But it had been seven years since he'd been there, hadn't it?

The Emerald from the Deku Tree; the Ruby from the Gorons; the Sapphire from the Zora. Three artefacts he'd got for her, to help her save them. But from what Rauru had told him, they had not saved anyone. By making something as foolish as trying to be heroes, they had doomed Hyrule and all its inhabitants instead, condemning them to Ganondorf's malicious reign of deceit and lies.

And not, it was up to him to unmake the evil they had done. She, as always, was not there to help him. She never had been. She had not been with him when he had been burned by a dodongo; she had not been with him when he had been swallowed by a giant fish; she had not been with him when he distracted Ganondorf from his pursue. It was nothing but futile of him to think she'd be with him now.

He turned to the door, squinting idly at it. Seven years… He had lost seven years of his life. But most importantly, he'd lost his entire childhood, as he was left in that deep, cruel slumber within the Chamber of the Sages. She'd had those seven years, at least. She knew what she looked like. He… he didn't. Sure, he knew he was different, but… he just hadn't seen what he really looked like.

He withdrew the Master Sword quietly and looked at the image reflected upon its icy blade. He was not that different, to tell the truth. His cheeks had hardened; a light, barely noticeable stubble was forming on his chin; his hair was bigger and his ears were pierced. His eyes however… they had darkened. No longer was the blue which coloured the orbs light; it was dark, just like the seven years he'd spent inside the Temple. Seven years he'd spent without seeing any light…

Seven years of loneliness he'd spent. Seven years he could've spent in a better, self-indulgent way. If he only hadn't met her, if he only had been normal, nothing would've happened. But again, he wasn't even a Kokiri. Even that had they kept hidden from him. No one had ever told him the truth, no one. He had been left alone in a dark path with just a dim light at the end, a light whose only purpose was making him pursue it; so he'd find the path they wanted him to take. Is he only weren't afraid of the dark…

The dark had always scared him. And it was surprising that he, even now, seven years older, was still scared of it. Even though years had passed, he still remembered the times when he awoke from his nightmares during the night, scared of them, and with nothing but the dark to greet him. It made him think there was nothing around him, or that he'd been swallowed by a void because he didn't have a fairy to protect him.

He hugged himself, cold shivers running down his spine.

He had a fairy now, that was for sure, but it felt… unnatural to have it following him. He was not supposed to have one. He was not a Kokiri and would never be one, so why did he have Navi with him? And why did he have to go save everyone, when no one had ever truly cared for him? Why did he have to save people who had scorned him? And why did he have to risk his life for people he hadn't met?

Selfishness…

"Navi, do we really have to go?" he asked, his voice wavering in a mixture of fear and confusion.

"You're the chosen one, Link. Only you can save us from Ganondorf." Navi answered, her little eyes focused on him, not understand the confused tone of his voice, "Why?"

Link didn't even condescend to answer Navi's question. He didn't want to save them. All he wanted was to be out of all this, to feel Hyrule's weight lifted off his shoulders, to be… free? Yes, he definitely wanted to be free, but with that wish denied, all he wanted were his stolen childhood back. It was all that he had lost with those seven years, nothing else.

And maybe if he saved everyone, he would have it back.

"Huh… what would you expect? People don't mature when they're left unconscious in a Temple, waiting to be old enough to awaken." Another replied, "We all know there are certain voids in one's mind time only cannot fill. Those empty spaces are left open until the right emotions come to fill them. And he… he didn't have any emotions these past seven years, and that's why he feels the way he feels. And I fear for what can happen due to that." Her eyes were focused on the ground, fearing for the fate of the land she'd help to create.

"We left him there so he'd be old enough to save Hyrule and we only ended up feeding the child within him." The first one whispered in regret. A heavy silence surged after her words.

After a while, the third one spoke, "All he is, sisters, is a child with the body of an adult. And with what we did, we shouldn't have expected something better than that." Her words lingered between them after they'd left her mouth.

The three Goddesses looked down to Hyrule, afraid for its possible future that now laid in the hands of a child with the body of an adult.

A/N: I think that the part of the Ocarina of Time game that struck me more "violently" was the fact that Link was still a child, even after those seven years. This was intended to be a part of my other fic, The Darkness Within, because there's this whole "Oooh, my childhood was taken, I hate you, Zelda!" deal, but ended up becoming this lovely one-shot. Oh, well, please review! )