He crashed through the surface of the frigid, icy water. Within seconds, he knew he would never forget the feeling of complete and total numbness. Then again, he was not even sure he would make it out of this alive.
The instantaneous shut-down of his limbs. The sudden desensitization to everything around him. The murky, green darkness that so suddenly surrounded him, and would have filled him had he not instinctively clamped his jaws shut. The realization that took ahold of his mind, the knowledge that there was just about no chance of him swimming back up to the surface to breathe in the precious air his starved lungs were desperately screaming for already. The constant repeat in his head of I am going to die. I am going to die. I am going to die.
He almost did not mind the thought. He was only seventeen, and he was already so, so tired. He had not asked for any of this; all he had ever wanted was right in Ordon, and that had all been taken away the moment those cursed monsters attacked, those cursed monsters that stole away all his hopes and his dreams. Those monsters that had stolen his friends. Those monsters that had ripped any shred of innocence from him in a mere instant. Those monsters that were the very cause of him being here, in this field of ice and snow, this brittle and broken field of ice and snow, drowning in this lake of ice and snow.
He really did not mind the thought.
That is, until he thought of her.
Until he thought of the way she used to smile and laugh at him and his jokes, however bad or good they were. Until he remembered the way she would take care of him when he was ill, even though her father pleaded that she at least take a breath of air so she would not catch whatever he had, and the way she would comfort him selflessly, even if he was being a bit needy after a long day at work. Until he remembered how even though they fought and butted heads and did not see eye to eye some of the time, she would still always be there, and she would always be ready to pick up where they momentarily left off. Until he remembered how warm he would feel whenever she was near, and how he would fight tooth and nail – both in his true form as well as his alternate – to keep her safe. Even though right now, she did not even remember him, or even her own name. He would do anything for her.
She was the only reason his head burst above the surface of the icy water.
Edit: Woops, totally forgot to copyright this. My bad.
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and any of the characters within it (c) Nintendo