set years after the events of ocarina of time and majora's mask.
Zelda jumps into the water, her golden hair floating behind her like seaweed, her white dress transparent enough to expose her skin. She closes her eyes, moves her legs to stop herself from sinking, feels the nothingness overwhelming her, the clearest blue takes her in as if the lake has been her home for years.
She holds her breath-she's always been good at hiding underwater, and when he jumps after her, she opens her eyes. Handsome and worried, his hair a vibrant color, covering his face for a second, his tunic a dark shade of green. He shoots her a questioning glance but she smiles and swims towards him and like a nymph, she crashes her lips against his, takes pleasure in the way his arms instantly grab hold of her.
She presses her body against his as he returns the kiss; quick, soft, good. Holding her steady, they swim back up to the surface where she takes in a breath, safe in his arms.
"You're crazy," he says, his mouth close to hers, and she giggles, her cheeks a little red.
The fabric of her dress clings to her figure, porcelain skin glistens under the moonlight. She can see a scar on his neck, pearly white, fully healed. She closes her eyes again and rests her head on his shoulder. They stay like this for a long while, floating in the middle of the lake. Warm water clashing with the chilly air of the night, they hear nothing but the sound of their own breathing.
"You'll catch a cold," he says, concern seeping through his tone.
Her heart skips a beat, she moves to look at him. "Just a little more," she pleads, convincing him. "Let's stay here."
Helpless and in love, he can't resist her, can't do anything but obey. His fingers twist the fabric of her dress, her eyes glow, she's something else, something ethereal. His princess. He's forgotten by everyone else but she knows the truth, knows him, it's enough even if she doesn't remember but, who can remember events they have not lived before?
It doesn't matter, he wants her all the same.
"Come with me," she pulls him under. The lake is dark all around them but there is no fear. He kisses her first this time and she holds on to him, one of her legs in the space between his. Underwater, they swim together until they reach a spot closer to the shore and then they come back up again.
A girlish smile on her lips, she asks:
"So I'm crazy, Hero?"
The word takes him by surprise and hearing it in her voice makes him melt. Tilting his head to the side, he smiles and caresses her face with the back of his hand, traces her jawline and then drags his thumb across her bottom lip. She gently bites on it, looking at him, waiting for his response and completely aware of the effect she has on his entire being.
"Well, you did sneak out of your own castle in the middle of the night just to take a dip in the lake," he explains.
She runs her fingers up and down his chest, draws an imaginary line on his clothes. "Is that the only reason I sneaked out?"
"I don't know," he lies, teasing her. "Is there another?"
Biting the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing, she playfully punches his arm and he chuckles, wrapping his arms around her.
"Dork."
"Your dork."
"My dork," she confirms, voice muffled from burying her head on his chest. When she leans back to look at him, her wet hair is messy, a few strands sticking out that he promptly fixes, runs his fingers through her hair, and then plants a kiss on her forehead.
"You know," he whispers. "Sometimes, when I look at you I have the feeling we've lived together through a hundred lifetimes," he pauses, suddenly taken by a strange melancholic hesitation. "As if you're meant to be my princess and I'm meant to be by your side, over and over again."
She knows what he's talking about for she feels the same way. She's connected to him in a way that goes beyond love, and it scares her, the uncertainty of their fate in this life, the wavering fear inside her that tells her their future is not that bright, that there's still too much to lose.
His princess.
"Do you-" she looks away for a moment, watches an owl perched on a tree branch on the shore. The bird's penetrating stare reminds her of something she can't quite understand now. Finding courage to continue, she says: "Do you think that's bad?"
"No," he says, shaking his head. "If I'm right, if there's any way that could even happen, then I'm glad. I'm glad we get to meet every time."
"Link, if you ever leave, you'll come back, won't you?" her eyes locked on his this time, her question leaves no room for doubts. "You'll come back to me."
"I will," he answers without missing a beat. "I promise."
They're not kids anymore and believing in forever doesn't strike them as plausable but it's the only thing they have in a world where things change in an instant. Time is cruel, this much they know, and some wounds don't heal, they just stop hurting as much. Holding on to each other is all the can do to keep going. So maybe that's why she smiles from ear to ear, lets go of him and swims farther into the lake, going back to where they were just a few minutes ago.
"Hey," she calls out to him. "Come here and give me a kiss."
They're both lost in the belief that their fates are forever interlocking, that they're bound to each other no matter what and so he complies, of course he does, catches up with her as she splashes him with water, both laughing until finally he kisses her, his own destiny suspended in time, his life in her hands.