Zelda: For All Time by Jen South Through Time Farore's Wind left him without the usual burst of light and off balance landing that signaled a warp. He hadn't been sure what to expect. Instead of setting the warp in a place, seven years ago he'd centered it on a person. Now he found himself in a windowless round stone walled room, darkness broken by softly glowing lanterns and a dying fire. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting. After all, she was in hiding but she was also the last surviving member of the royal house. He'd been prepared for almost anything. A fight, another dungeon, Poes. Even Impa. But all that greeted him was a simply furnished bedroom and a softly whispering glow from the fire. "Bit anti-climatic" he thought, lips quirking in their corners, threatening a grin. From the look of the form on the bed, even his "damsel in distress" was soundly sleeping through his arrival. He moved over to the bed that took up a good portion of the room and not so much because it was a large bed as it was a small room. Her back was to him and the first thing he noticed was her hair. It had lost its white blond color of childhood. Now it was a richer color, like gold wheat shot through with reds that caught the firelight. The second thing he noticed was that, even with the blanket pulled around her, she was still fully dressed. Other than the lack of doors and windows, it was the first concession to the fact that things weren't quite as they should be that he had seen so far. He rested a hand on the overhead bed frame, used it to support his weight as he leaned forward to get a better look at her. Inhaled sharply. Skulltulas! She was beautiful. He should have expected it he supposed. She was royal family after all, as much known for their beauty as their rulership. She had been a cute child. But somehow, in his mind, when he had thought of her, all he could ever picture her as was a child of ten, head piece carefully in place, spider web thin hair caught back and half hidden, round cheeks, wide purple eyes even wider in excitement, hints of wisdom flickering through them. They'd had some fun those evenings, so long ago. Shared dreams, thoughts, foreshadowings of a future they both saw. For such a proper princess she had been awfully prone to mischief. The thought made him smile now as he leaned over her, watched her sleeping face as he decided what he should do next. He moved lightly as he sat on the bed behind her, propping himself over her with a hand. In almost the same move, he gently clamped his hand over her mouth. She came awake instantly, maybe even as his weight had settled onto the bed and she went as stiff and still as stone. But he knew her too well to think that that would last once she collected her thoughts. Before her eyes could snap open, before she could remember that her fingernails made good claws or decide to bite, elbow, kick or otherwise bruise him, he leaned down, brought his lips close to her delicately tapered ear and whispered: "Guess who?" She shouldn't have recognized his voice. This was, after all, seven years later and his voice had dipped considerably since he was ten. She did anyway. "Link?!" It was a whisper that held a world of sound. She sat up as he took his hand away and eyes as bright as the dawn met his. When her face was expressive like this; when she was awake, 'beautiful' didn't do justice to how alive she looked. "Link!" Still soft but her joy poured through it loud and clear as she threw her arms around his neck in a fierce, welcoming hug. He had to stifle his laugher at her open enthusiasm as he returned her embrace. All the strangeness, all the hurt and horror he'd had to deal with since waking up after seven years in a nightmare future in a body he still wasn't quite sure of washed away in a moment. Here, with her, was home and friendship and familiarity, every piece of his land that he loved and that had been lost while he slept. He hadn't realized how starved he'd been for something he recognized until this moment in time. Her body, warm and soft against his, felt incredible too. More than incredible. "You made it" her breath feathered out against his jaw, against his throat, hopeful and bright and honest as the rain on a Spring day during his childhood. "Couldn't stay away forever" he murmured into her hair. "I had to bring your ocarina back." She laughed almost silently against him but he felt the way it moved through her body. "My Hero of Time" she teased gently, chuckling as she drew back just enough to look at him. The laughter and lightness fled her then as she saw the bruises on his face. Her eyebrows drew low over suddenly pain filled eyes. "Things are bad." He nodded, didn't say anything. He would have been kinder if he'd lied to her. But even when they'd been children he'd never been able to do that. She looked into his eyes, searched long there before she shut her own eyes, pressed her face back into his shoulder. "I hate not being able to do anything more" she confessed softly. He tangled the fingers of his free hand in her hair, pressed a kiss to the side of her forehead before he realized what he'd just done. He'd just kissed her! The ten year old in him reacted in shock but the growing seventeen year old side of him simply pulled her closer and stroked a hand through her soft silk hair. "Shhh" he whispered. "You give them hope, Zelda. Hope that tomorrow will be better than today was." "Hope won't defeat Ganondorf" she answered, voice tight. "No" he stated softly. "That's my part. You start worrying about rebuilding our land after I'm done." "Oh" the breath of a laugh escaped her then and he felt the tension wash out of her, felt her body relax against his. With a sigh she tucked her face against his throat and jaw. "Thank you, Link." Her breath was warm against his throat. "I needed to hear that from someone other than myself." She paused, twined her arms more completely around him and snuggled closer. "Its been such a long seven years." A long seven years he'd missed. He could only imagine what they had been like. "I've missed you" she confessed in an almost silent whisper. It shot straight through his chest like a crossbow bolt. For a moment he couldn't find his voice, could only tuck her closer against him. The way he felt about her was the same way he had seven years ago and yet it wasn't the same at all. He lowered his head so his face was close to hers, gave her the truth because he still couldn't lie to her. "You were in my dreams. Always." He wasn't in such fine shape the next time he warped into her tiny room. A fight with some weird phantom Ganondorf had left him badly hurt. Consciousness had been rapidly fading. He'd had time for a single thought. Luckily it hadn't been wondering how Malon's gift cow had managed to make it up the ladder to his house. He lurched forward out of the warp, heard her gasp in surprise. Prayed she was alone and he hadn't just picked visiting hours as the best time to make his 'heroic' entrance. His knees buckled and he pitched forward onto them, started to slump forward, dimly hoping he didn't split his fool head open when he hit the stone of the floor. Gentle, surprisingly strong arms caught him just before he did and he found himself enveloped in the soft feel of her, the delicately teasing scent of her. His eyesight, already seeing only blurry grays blacked out all together. Her hair fell suddenly loose around them and she pulled him into her arms, half supporting, half cradling him. Sun gold warmth filled her hands where they pressed against the fabric of his shirt. It burned just short of pain and that warmth slowly flowed through the muscles of his back, flowing forward to pool in his chest, running down the sore muscles of his legs. The burns he'd suffered slowly soothed and his open wounds went numb and then began tingling as they knit. It felt as if every muscle in his body had just had hot oil poured over it and a long slow breath escaped him. His head cleared as energy began pouring back into him in a gradual steady flow. His arms rose, wrapped warm around Zelda's slender figure. By the Three, she felt incredible. Her breath whispered out of her in a sigh and her body went soft against his. He shifted and now it was his turn to draw her into his arms, onto his lap. She breathed out softly, snuggled closer as she rested her head against his shoulder. She looked a bit pale, a bit tired. "You've gotten stronger" he murmured, shifting so his back rested against her bed before drawing her closer. "You mean I don't pass out when I work High Magic these days" she laughed quietly against him. He laughed with her. It was impossible not to. "Lets just say that I'm not on the verge of panic this time." "You're saying I'm not exciting anymore?" she teased and he swallowed a laugh. "You think visiting you here, in the middle of Deku knows where, isn't exciting enough for me?" He said it with a smile but it sobered her. "I can't leave here without risking being caught. Ganondorf has hunted me since childhood. Here, under the Temple of Time, is the only place that's shielded from him." Softer but stronger as well, she added: "You can't keep coming." "He might follow me?" Link had made that mistake once. It had cost him almost everything that he loved. But she shook her head. "No." She raised her face so that her sad eyes met his. "Because Ganondorf knows I'm here. Somewhere near the Temple. One day, he will find me. And when he does, you mustn't be here." "Sounds to me like that's the perfect time for me to be here." Her eyes widened and he saw concern and a hint of real fear move through their depths. "No." Her hand on his chest curled slightly, catching the fabric of his shirt. "Until you have the power of all the Sages, you won't be able to defeat him. More than anything, until that time, you must stay away from him." He hated the thought and it must have shone in his eyes when they met hers because her face softened and she raised a slender hand, touched his cheek with gentle fingers. "He wants you, Link. Because he hates you, because you defy him. But he also wants what you have." She shook her head slightly, eyebrows knitting. "You are the Hero of Time, Link. If he were to catch you before you were strong enough, before you are ready -" Her eyes met his, held deep there for a long time before she spoke again. "Our world would lose its only hope. And I would lose all I love in this life." She said the last so softly that it almost wasn't spoken and he felt his heart turn over in his suddenly tight chest. How could he leave her? Knowing what was only a few footsteps behind? But how could he finish his quest and free Hyrule if he stayed? "I hate leaving you here" he ground out between his teeth. She gave a quiet laugh, drew back from him enough to twine her arms around his neck and her eyes softened. "Ah, that's the problem with warping isn't it? Only you can come and go. Just the kind of freedom men always want in a relationship." Her eyes were starting to sparkle again, as bright and beautiful as the Zora's Sapphire, and a smile was curling the edges of her lips as she teased him. She looked - Skulltulas! couldn't he come up with any new word other than 'beautiful'? It made him chuckle and her soft laughter joined his. They had to be insane to be sitting here laughing in the middle of all the dangers that threatened them. It wasn't a bad kind of insanity though. He finally stood, gentle as he picked her up, held her in his arms for a very long moment. She sighed, pressed her face to his throat and he felt her lips move as she murmured: "My thoughts are always with you." Link decided it was a good time to sit back down and so he did, settling onto the edge of her bed, still holding Zelda in his arms. She raised her face, ran gentle fingers along his cheek. He caught that hand, brought it to his lips, pressed a fervent kiss against her fingertips. What was he? Ten? Seventeen? Somewhere in between? He'd never held a girl before. Certainly never kissed one. His lifestyle hadn't exactly been condusive to that sort of thing. Fighting as a boy, sleeping through adolescence - which he supposed he should be grateful for - and then fighting again as a man. But each day he spent in his new body he noticed the changes in himself less and less. His old weapons and tools felt awkward now. Unfamiliar. He looked down at her, saw tiredness in the depths of her eyes. She gave him a soft smile. "I must be up past my bedtime" she teased in a whisper, looking the part. He grinned, shifted so he could lay her on the bed. "Not to mention being in a very improper, compromising situation for a princess" he agreed, took her playful fist on his shoulder before he leaned over, very gently tucking a blanket around her. Her deep eyes watched his face as he did. "When I was little, Papa used to stop whatever he doing to come and tuck me in at bedtime." She gave a soft, sad smile, eyes filled with memories. "He would tuck me in, kiss my forehead, and tell me that 'tomorrow, everything will be even better than it was today'." She smiled up at him, reached out and laid slender fingers over his heart, unwittingly stealing its beat. "Do you think things will be better tomorrow than they are today?" she whispered. "I promise it" he swore quietly, leaning over to press a kiss to her forehead. A near silent noise whispered from her parted lips and Link didn't think. He simply lowered his lips to cover hers. For a first kiss it wasn't over very quickly. Her arms came up, wound around his neck, and her lips answered his, sweeter than the amber honey from the hives near the Deku tree. He wrapped her in his arms in answer, careful to take his weight on his elbows instead of crushing her and his fingers tangled in her hair. He was tender, gentle with her and the kiss was a slow one, a full one, as he took it for all that it was worth. When he finally drew away from her it was slowly. His eyelids felt heavy and he almost left them closed. Except that he wanted to see her face, concerned about the expressions that might move across it. Her face was beautiful - there was that word again. But she was. Beautiful. Her eyes blinked open slower than his and a smile spread, slow as sunrise across her face, starting out shy and then growing brighter as her eyes found his. Her whole face softened then, like candlelight and she raised a hand, touched his cheek before her fingers brushed his lips. And Link had the sudden thought. The life of a princess, protected from the common world, and then a life on the run. A slow smile of his own started to spread. When would she have had time to be kissed? More likely this was a first for both of them. "Get that satisfied grin off your face" Zelda tried to admonish him but her lips kept quirking into a smile and a blush was busy dusting her cheeks with its color. Link leaned forward, wrapped her in his arms again and burst into laughter. She pressed her face into his shoulder and joined him in it. "What a pair we make" he managed. "We do, don't we?" she agreed, voice softer, face clear as water as her laughter gently faded away. With gentle fingers she touched his cheek again, as if reassuring herself that he was real. Laid her fingertips, feather soft, on his lips again and that slow, shy smile danced around the edges of her lips. He shifted his weight, raised a hand and caught hers with it. Eyes steady on hers, he pressed a warm kiss to her finger tips. The way her lips softened, smiled almost without moving, was an intimacy. "You'd better go." Her voice was low, soft. "I will." He kissed her forehead again, drew back to brush a stray lock of hair away from her face. His eyes met hers, held there. "But I'll be back." She sat up to watch him as he stood, looking young and innocent with the blanket falling around her. He drew out the Ocarina of Time, grinned at her before he played the song that would warp him back to Kokiri Forest and the Forest Temple. The vortex swirled green around him. Before he stepped through though, he looked back at Zelda over his shoulder. Their eyes met and he saw layers of emotion in hers. "Next time I come, I'm taking you with me when I leave." He promised it, meant ever word of it. Because he never lied to her. In Another Time, In Another Place "Then lets finish this elsewhere, brother." Link's dark water version spit it out and a gleam appeared in his eyes that set Link's every muscle on edge. "Let's finish this where the real battle ought to be fought." The whole Water Temple seemed to lurch to the side sickeningly and darkness rose out of the madly tilting lake to cover the world's eyes. Link tried to lurch to the side, hands tightening on his weapons until his knuckles hurt. The ground disappeared beneath his feet but the world had gone so wild that there was no down to fall toward. Link squeezed his eyes shut, opened them again and grit his teeth. Somewhere in this crazily lurching world was his duplicate and at any minute Link expected to feel the bite of a sword through his back. Put an enemy down any way it takes. How often had he had that exact thought. And this Link, this shadow twin, was that thought and every other black thought Link had ever had. Sudden light blasted across his eyes and the floor quickly approached him from his shoulder. He twisted at the last minute, rolled smoothly, careful not to impale himself with the Master Sword as he did so. He lurched into a crouch, shield held at the ready, and did a quick search for his enemy. Who was nowhere to be found. Instead, Link found himself in a comfortable room. A warm fire softly died in the fireplace. Wide windows opened to the outside night sky. Colorful carpets merrily splashed across the marble floor and, past the cushioned chairs and deep oak table set near the fireplace, the floor rose a single step's level to frame a large, velvet covered bed. There was a figure in that bed, asleep despite the noise he must have made and it drew him toward it as sure as the moon draws the ocean's tides. He was careful as he took the single step, smelled the fresh breeze from the windows that set the wind chimes tingling with soft music. His sword and shield felt out of place here. The room echoed with deep peace and contentment. He glanced around the room one last time, caught a sudden glimpse of the shield that hung over the bed, a shield that seemed to mirror his own. And then the figure on the bed gave a soft, near silent sigh and shifted. Link looked down. By the Three! It was Zelda! If anything her flowing hair seemed even longer and brighter than the last time he had seen her only a few days ago under the Temple of Light. But this wasn't her room from the Temple. And this certainly wasn't the bed she had been sleeping in. She wore a robe of purple silk that would have matched her open eyes and she lay on her side as he'd seen her sleep before. Except that instead of having her hand curled near her cheek, her arm was stretched out across the empty bed, covering, reaching across the space of satin and velvet. From the way she was laying, she looked for all the world as if she had had a partner next to her and was now, even in her sleep, reaching across the emptiness for him. Link felt as if he'd just been kicked in the stomach by a horse. His sword and shield dipped, suddenly almost too heavy to hold. Even the air felt heavy. Absently he touched his chest with numb fingers, almost surprised to feel his heart still beating there. She stirred then, brilliant violet eyes flickering open under their lush covering of dark lashes. She propped herself up on an elbow, shook her hair absently back from her face and it hung in long waves across her shoulders, washed down her back to pool on the pillows and sheets below. Link forgot to breath. She must have sensed him, because she turned her face, glancing over. Wide eyes flew even wider. "Link?" He'd surprised her. Which didn't surprise him from the way things looked. But he couldn't think of a single word to say, not even a greeting came to mind. She was moving now, not seeming to notice his hesitation as she rose on her knees, threw her soft arms around him. He didn't know what to do, how to react. But if Link didn't know, his body seemed to. His shield arm came up, wrapped around her, drew her closer. He felt her warmth, the soft fall of her hair where it touched his skin, the way the silk of her robe slid against his callused fingers as she moved. She raised her face, looked up at him, eyes shinning. "I didn't expect you back so soon. The Gerudo Fortress is so far away." Her eyes were as clear as rain water when they met his. There were no shadows there. His head spun. They never talked about where he was going next when they were together. And he hadn't been headed for Gerudo lands the last time they'd been together anyway. She must have felt it, a stiffness, a shift, because her eyebrows started to knit as she looked at him more closely. "Link? What is it? Did I miss a messenger?" Messenger? He dropped his sword down on the bed next to her, though still in easy reach. Gently, he took her shoulders in his hands. "Zelda, what are you doing here?" "What?" She was surprised, and her slender brows started to knit in earnest now. "You're not making sense. Did something happen?" He felt the way her hands, resting on his chest, tensed. But even this way she was more relaxed and at ease than he had ever seen her in her room under the Temple. Something was going on but he couldn't wrap his hands around it. Not yet. He looked into her deep eyes, searched there. Felt as if he could drown there if he wasn't careful. And at any other time, he wouldn't have minded. "Zelda - " he began, not quite sure what he would say. "Zelda! Get away from him! He's not me!" They both turned in unison toward the shout. From a voice that Link found far too familiar. Link's dark water twin burst from the shadows near the door. Looking and sounding, for all the world, just as Link would have if he had found Zelda in such a dangerous position. Link looked back down at her, heartbeat painful in his chest. Her eyes widened and she looked from Link's dark twin back to Link himself. He knew they were identical in every way. Right down to the bruises and scrapes. Right down to the dents on their shields. Her brilliant eyes met and held his. Confused. "Link?" Her hands tightened on the fabric of his shirt. "Who is he?" It knocked the breath from him and he heard the pain and anger in his shadow double's cry as he rushed toward them. Link caught up his sword, wrapped his shield arm tightly around her again, pulling her off of the bed and against him just as his dark duplicate cleared the step in a single leap. Link twisted, swung to the side as his double's sword slid through the air where he had been. "He's me" he managed, clearing the stairs, putting distance between them and his dark twin. She moved with him as easily as water flowed across smooth rocks, raised wide eyes. "What?" It was reaction. She didn't expect a response. Not while his twin was closing the distance with a sword swing. Link raised the Master Sword, caught and deflected the blow. He couldn't use his shield, not when that arm was around Zelda. But he wasn't about to let her go. Not with a dark version of himself nearby. Not if that dark version was in anyway like him at all. He blocked a low blow, parried another. Managed to get the oak table in the way for a moment's peace. "Link. You have to let me go." Her voice was low. He shook his head, continuing to circle. His dark twin seemed momentarily content to circle as well. He hoped that meant that it was reluctant to risk hurting Zelda in a wild attack. "Link." Her voice was still soft but steel was beginning to form behind it. "Let me go. I will stay behind you." He hated the idea. "Zelda - " "Link, please. I will be safe. I promise I won't do anything foolish." He still hated the idea. But he couldn't win this fight if he couldn't go on the offensive. And he couldn't go on the offensive with only one arm and slowed movements. His chest felt cold but his movements were quick and efficient as he slide his shield off his arm. "Stay behind my shield" he warned. She didn't answer with words, simply took it from him as easily as if it was something she did every day but her touch lingered. He risked a quick glance at her. "How do you know who I am?" A quick smile flicked at the corners of her lips. "How could I not know my own - " Link's shadow twin took that moment to attack, vaulting the oak table and coming down with his sword whistling. Link responded immediately, bringing his sword up in a flash of reflected fire. The crash was as sharp as lightening. Link gave ground slowly, reluctantly, knowing Zelda was somewhere behind him. Hopefully, her definition of foolish and his were close enough to agree. "Link." Her voice behind him and somewhere by his shoulder. "Get us to the fireplace." "Zelda, please" Link's shadow twin's eyes reflected his pain so strong that Link himself almost felt it. "Come away from him." "Fireplace" Link confirmed. His double's face twisted in anger and its eyes focused hot in him. "She's not yours. Not now. Here, she is mine." It squeezed a fist around Link's heart. Zelda's voice cut through it, clear and calm. "Ridiculous." The pain flickered like flame as it mixed with the rage in the dark twin's eyes and he lashed forward into a flurry of blows with an angry cry. Link parried them, feeling the way they jarred, dodged without moving far. Angled them toward the stone fireplace. He finally felt its light heat against his back. Heard her movements against its stone. His double's sword swing flew through the air inches from him and he jumped back. He felt her touch him then, her hand stretched and spread against the knotted muscles of his back. "Here." Her fingers moved, curled around his empty shield arm. In instinct as much as thought he moved with her, felt her slide his shield back onto his arm. His twin swung again and he reacted , swinging his shield up and blocking the blow. The shadow duplicate jerked back and a surprised look danced across his face before it contorted into rage again. He vaulted backward and every muscle in Link's body twisted into knots. "Zelda!" His sword arm reached backward and she was there, hand curling around his shoulder, body pressed soft against his. His dark twin gave a cry of rage and frustration and slung his sword back into its sheath. Link's eyes snapped wide. "No!" His dark shadow let loose with a blast of fire that disintegrated the oak table and one of the chairs, roaring toward them like an angry dragon. Link pressed back, felt Zelda against him as her back found the wall and he turned his face, catching the full blast of the magic fed fire on his shield. But the fire didn't burn around the edges of the shield. It didn't even heat the shield. Instead it reflected back toward the surprised duplicate who caught it right in the chest and flew backward. And afterward the shield glowed. But not from the heat. Eyes huge, Link dared a quick glance at its surface. Fire moved under its silver surface like water under crystal. "Skulltulas!" "You don't recognize the Mirror Shield, do you?" It was Zelda's voice, warm near his ear. As if she had expected him to not. Her slender fingers warmed as she asked it, sending healing tendrils of heat down through his tight muscles. Fire flashed from his dark twin again with a cry as he rose and Link pulled her close as he crouched behind his raised shield. She buried her face in his shoulder. "But you are my Link?" her voice sounded young. A question but not of whether he was or not but rather 'how'. "Always yours" he murmured into her hair, arms tight around her. "Always." "Leave her alone!" It was the dark Link's voice and it tore from his throat as he dodged his own fire. His cry of rage turned into a howl and he brought both hands, glowing with fire and power, crashing down against the smooth stones of the floor. The world spilt in two. "oh!" Zelda gave a cry that was a much surprise as anything else as the floor tilted under them, sent them sliding toward the gapping fiery maw that now ran across the middle of the floor. "Hold on!" Link tightened his shield arm around her, tightened his grip on the Master Sword as well. Aimed their slide as best he could. His feet hit a lip of upraised stones, sent the impact all the way up his legs. But it stopped their slide. Just inches from the tear in the world's center. He was breathing hard and Zelda's hands were knotted in fists in the fabric of his shirt. "You all right?" She nodded against his shoulder and he exhaled a sigh of relief. Not that it was quite time to relax just yet. Not while they were both still in such an unstable, dangerous position. "Zelda! Take my hand!" They both looked up then. Link's dark copy sprawled out on a ledge above them, only slightly more stable then they were. Zelda looked away, pressed her face back into Link's shoulder. She felt so soft against him, so sweet and innocent. "Zelda" he began softly. "No." She cut him off with a shake of her head, voice muffled as she didn't even raise her face. "I promised you that where you went, I would go too. Until Time's ending and beyond." She'd never promised him that. Not in his time. But he was beginning to suspect that they weren't in his time. Not yet at least. "I love you." He whispered it, throat too tight to say it louder, meaning every word of it. Finally free the words begged to be said again. And again. He felt her smile against him. "I know." She whispered it in answer and her voice sounded as tight as his throat felt. But not because they were saying good bye. He caught a sudden view, a glimpse of something through the crater's rim as the fire retreated. Just a glimpse. But it was enough. He knew what he was looking at. Hope. "Trust me" whether it was question or statement didn't matter. She simply nodded against him. He took his time, measured his distance and angle carefully. For himself he wouldn't have been so cautious. But this wasn't about him. He tightened his hold around her, carefully sheathed the Master Sword. And then he shifted to the side and they both slid down into the crack's mouth. Dark Link cried out above them. And then Link was tucking his shoulder. The surface of the ledge he had seen below them caught up against his back and shoulder with a thumping impact and they both slid. He rolled with it, careful to keep Zelda protected between himself and the shield. A wall stopped them, his back slamming hard into him, but he ignored it. Propping himself on an elbow he glanced down at her. Skulltulas! she was beautiful. And he had to be an idiot for noticing at a time like this. Zelda opened her eyes, and their bright depth met his. A slow smile slipped along the edges of her lips. Her loose hair pooled in smooth tangled waves around her, curled along the arm he had tucked under her. Color was dusted across her cheeks and those beautiful eyes of hers were shinning like a night sky full of stars. Gently, Link raised her so she was sitting, and she leaned against him as he knelt next to her, resting her head against his shoulder. He did a quick survey of their new room. The platform he had originally seen turned out to be what was left of a floor and it stretched wider than he had expected. Even in chaos, the room had obviously been a main kitchen of some sort and several doors lead elsewhere. He glanced down at her, wonderful and trusting as she watched him from the shelter of his arms. With a free hand he reached over, gently brushed a smudge of rock dust from her smooth cheek. She turned her face into his touch with a blissful sigh, dark lashes flowing closed over her jewel bright eyes. Her skin felt so soft against his fingers. Her body was such a wonderful warmth pressed against his. Gentle, reverent, he touched her cheek, traced down to her chin. Tipped her face lightly toward him. She raised her face and one of her hands left his chest to curl along the back of his neck, slender fingers woven in his hair. He shouldn't. He should be getting her out of here. But - just a moment of time couldn't hurt. Slow, he lowered his face to brush her lips with his. Her response was even sweeter and more welcoming than he remembered. Link's dark twin hit the kitchen floor with a thump then and rolled to his feet as smooth as water. The rage was gone from his face and his voice was level, almost calm, as he simply stated: "Now I'm going to kill you, brother." Link stood, raised Zelda to her feet with him. Her hand was warm in his. Something solid and sure settled into his chest and for the first time since he'd turned to find his twin standing behind him in the Water Temple, he drew in a deep breath. He brought Zelda's fingers to his mouth, kissed them, and met her eyes with his. The slightest smile touched the corners of her lips and her eyes were clear. Unworried. Deep wells of wisdom and soul. "I will wait here for you, Hero of Time" she told him, gave him a soft, small smile before she stepped back. Link turned, drew the Master Sword from its sheath across his back as he walked toward his double. "Let's get this over with." There was no more fire, no more circling or careful calculation. They both knew the other's strengths and weaknesses. Dark Link mirrored each of Link's moves, anticipated each attack and retaliation. Each time, the shadow double shifted, Link recognized the move, blocked or dodged it. Link's mind ran through his options, searched for one that would work. What advantages would he have that his copy wouldn't. The fire his twin had been spouting hadn't been Din's Fire, it had been something darker, smaller and more concentrated. Link raised his shield, caught his double's jump attack, retaliated almost without thought. Heard his own sword ring against the shield that wasn't his. A thought only half formed, he stepped suddenly backward, traded the Master Sword for his Biggoron, tossing the Mirror Shield aside. Power beginning to build, he drew in a deep breath, felt energy pouring into his sword arm, into his sword. Quicker than thought, he dropped low, channeled that growing power into his spinning sword attack, whirled. His dark twin cried out in surprise as much as pain, staggered back with a useless shield arm, duplicate shield split in half. Link was only slightly less surprised, but quickly followed through, calling up Din's Fire. Dark Link staggered back, fire burning across his skin. Quick as sound, Link leaped forward, sword whistling with residual power humming through its length as Link brought it down. It found its target and a sudden pain shot through Link's chest. A moment of regret for a creature that had been the closest to a brother he would ever come. The dark twin's wide eyes met Link's for a moment of time. And then he simply dissolved, returning to his original water form and splashing wet across the broken stones of the floor. Link stood, watching the water pool around his booted feet. Then he looked across the room. Zelda's face looked as drawn as his felt. "Link" she took a step toward him and he lowered his sword, its tip dipping forward with a splash. And then the water began to move, shifting. A blue light tinted it and it began to widen and deepen. Wide eyed, Link jumped backward, looked down. Far below his feet he saw a familiar island with a single tree on it, almost hidden by the mist. The Water Temple. Where all of this had started. He looked back at Zelda, saw that she had stopped moving, stood watching him with deep eyes. Their eyes met. Held. "Will I see you again?" he asked, feeling the ground beneath his feet giving way. Dark water rose, closed over him, pulling him back to the Water Temple and his time. Back to his unfinished quest. But just as the water covered him, her sweet voice, steady and sure, carried across the distance, sounding impossibly far away. "For the rest of your life, Hero."