Link made his way through the castle, remembering which way he had to go from his last trip. It took very little time to reach the final destination, the door before the final step towards the throne room.

"That didn't take much time," Midna observed. Link shrugged. He wanted to tell her what was going on so badly, but he didn't think this was the right moment. Link drew his sword and was glad to feel that his arm pain from after the fight wasn't there yet. He inwardly frowned. Of course it didn't hurt, he hadn't done anything yet. Despite his efforts some of his emotions must've made their way to surface, because Midna seemed concerned.

"Come on, Link. Something must be wrong. First the crying, now this. If you're worried about what we're about to do, I don't blame you."

I already know what's going to happen, Link thought. But instead he said, "Yeah, it's a lot, but we've faced worse." That was a lie. Link closed his eyes and the ingrained images of what was about to happen made themselves visible. He shuddered but ignored the now familiar feeling of dread, and opened the door to the final challenge.

———

The same events transpired as the first time. Link listened carefully, trying to find any difference in anything, but it was all the same. Despite doing it all once before, Link found it a challenge. His left arm screamed in pain from the intense dead man's volley match against the possessed Zelda. Link gritted his teeth and carried on, into the next fight, the one against Ganon. Instead of messing around with firing arrows into Ganon's forehead to weaken him, Link cut to the chase and transformed into his wolf form so Midna could help him throw Ganon to the floor.

Soon enough, Ganon was laying on the floor, presumably dead. But Link knew better than that. While Midna and Zelda had their brief reunion, Link cautiously approached Ganon's body wondering if he could strike him down again before he changed forms. But he wasn't fast enough. Ganondorf's new form was somewhat simple, as it was a phantom-like head. Link knew it was still dangerous, and remembering what happened next, looked back at Midna. She was furious. Link had just enough time to reach out an arm to try and stop her before she warped him and Zelda outside.

Link's arm was still reaching out for Midna when he could resume motion. He stumbled forward a bit, and looked to where he knew Ganondorf would appear. Zelda didn't know what she was looking for yet, but looked there as well, trusting the hero's instincts. After a moment, a figure appeared over a hilltop.

Link wanted to scream when Ganondorf appeared on horseback crushing Midna's signature helmet. Rage shook his entire being, and deep down somewhere, Link was looking forward to killing Ganondorf again. It was a dark thought, but Link didn't regret it. Ganondorf was to blame for all the pain Link and his friends went through. He should pay a thousand times for his crimes.

Of course, Link would have to weaken him before they could really duel. He glanced over at Zelda, almost expectantly. She began to pray to the Light Spirits for aid in defeating Ganondorf. As Ganondorf rose towards them with sword in hand, Link and Zelda were teleported to another plane. The four Light Spirits transformed themselves into the wondrous light arrows. Zelda received them then turned to Link.

"Link... Chosen hero!" she started. "Lend us the last of your power!"

Princess Zelda bowed to him. They were equal now, but Link felt numb. As much as he liked the feeling, he wished he didn't have to relive any of these events, good or bad. Link remembered what he did the last time that this happened, and held his hand out for her to hold like clockwork.

They returned to the world and Link was almost too eager to pursue Ganondorf on horseback. He called Epona with the instrument Ilia gave him.

"I'll try to slow Ganondorf with my light arrows!" Zelda informed him. "You target him and keep him within range of my arrows!"

"Hyah!" Link already knew all of this and watsed no time as he spurred Epona forward to chase Ganondorf and avoid the ghostly riders summoned on the field. After a few tries, some of Zelda's arrows hit their target. Link practically jumped off of his horse for the opportunity to kill Ganondorf again.