The ice slowly melted, and the sleek form of the Zora queen was released from her cold prison, just like the fatter form of her husband.
Nodoka blinked. "What... what happened?"
"MOM!" Ranko shouted with joy and she embraced her mother. "It worked! It really worked!"
"R-ranko?" Nodoka stuttered. She was a bit overwhelmed by her son-daughters sudden show of affection. "What's going on?" she asked. "I just remember the sudden cold..."
Ranko let go of her mother and grinned. "We freed you! The Blue Fire! It actually worked! We used it to melt the cursed ice around your bodies. See?"
"Oh my..." murmured King Zora as he looked at the still frozen surroundings of his throne room. "This has never happened before... why didn't Lord Jabu-Jabu prevent this?"
Ranko sighed. "I... I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but... he's gone. As is Ruto... and all the others are still frozen, just like you were."
"What?" the monarch gasped. "My beloved daughter Ruto, missing? Where could she be?"
"In the Water Temple," Link explained. "Some evil creature is holding her prisoner... and we believe that creature is also responsible for the ice."
"Yes, a young warrior named Sheik told us that the monster has cursed your kingdom," Ukyo nodded.
"But the Blue Fire... can't it save them all?" Nodoka wondered. "There has to be SOMETHING we can do!"
"Well, there's just one blue flame in the ice cave, No-chan," Genma explained. "And we don't have enough bottles that we could unfreeze the whole kingdom... besides, I doubt that it would work for the whole ice if it's a curse we are dealing with."
"Don't worry, Mom!" Ranko said. "We'll go to the Water Temple, save sis and beat that monster."
"But most parts of the Water Temple are flooded," King Zora frowned. "And your friends are no Zoras, they cannot breathe underwater."
"Yeah, that's why we need some Zora Tunics from the shop," Ranko nodded. "We brought a third bottle of Blue Fire to thaw the shop's entrance, I'm sure the shopkeeper will give us three of them."
"Just three?" Nodoka wondered.
"Yes," Shampoo nodded. "One for Shampoo, one for spatula girl and one for green boy."
"We fairies don't need tunics, ma'am," Tatl winked. "We have our own magic."
"I wasn't talking about you," Nodoka frowned. "I was talking about my ex-husband!"
She looked over to Genma... and sweatdropped when all she saw was a winged bear that was playing with a big fish. 'I'm just a cuddly little Moosh!' he signed.
Nodoka sighed. "Figures... but Ranko, you'll be careful, okay? Do you even know what kind of monster is waiting for you?"
"Well, he looked like some sort of evil spirit guy..." Ranko said and scratched her head.
"Yeah, and he also said I killed him," Link grumbled. "Which is strange, because I certainly don't remember killing anyone..."
"Come, Airen, Shampoo help you unfreeze shopkeeper, yes?"
Ranko nodded. "Yeah, okay! Ucchan, Link, you two coming?"
"We'll be right behind you," Ukyo shouted.
She and Link followed Ranko and Shampoo. Navi sighed. "They look so happy together... I think they are a good match."
"Well, it is a bit weird that they are both girls right now..." Ukyo murmured. She still was getting used to the concept of love, especially because of the big amounts of hate she had felt towards Ranma over all these years. But now, she just hoped he and Shampoo would be happy with each other.
"Ranchan is my childhood friend after all," she said. "He deserves to be happy."
"Hey, I don't think that will be a problem," Tatl smirked. "He has his fiancee, his sister, his parents, his martial arts and a place he can always return to... all we have to do is to make sure that Zora's Domain isn't cursed anymore. Isn't that right?"
Link sighed. "It must be nice... having a family..."
Navi smiled. "Aren't we your family, sort of? And Saria and the other Kokiri?"
"Well, sort of," Link nodded. "You're my best friends, that's true! But still... I sometimes wish I knew my real parents..."
"Hey, cheer up!" Ukyo smiled. "One day, you'll find out who they were."
"Maybe..." he sighed. He recalled the weird dream he had just before they entered Hyrule Town for the first time... and the gentle voice he had heard. He didn't know why of all times, he remembered it now, but he was certain that it meant something.
'The three great goddesses, their labors completed, departed for the heavens. And golden sacred triangles remained at the point where the goddesses left the world. Since then, the sacred triangles have become the basis of our world's providence. And, the resting place of the triangles have become the Sacred Realm.'
These were the words the voice had spoken, he remembered them clearly. Maybe it had been one of the goddesses who spoke to him... or maybe it was a ghost from a past long ago...
If he only knew why that voice seemed so familiar to him...
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(Posted Mon, 11 Feb 2008 15:29)
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