A/N: Hello everyone! Just thought I'd let everyone know this is my first time posting here, so I'm trying real hard to get used to how everything works, so sorry in advance for anything stupid I do. I want to ask for that if you read this, please leave a short (or long if you want to!) review of any sort.

Due to the encouraging reviews I have received, I may decide to make this story longer than I had intended. I was originally just testing ideas, but I like how this has started and I might try to go somewhere with it. Thanks everyone!

By the way, I kind of forgot a disclaimer, and I don't know if it's necessary or not, so just in case, I don't own any original Zelda themes or characters. The only thing I own is any new characters or ideas I use.

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The pounding of the horse's hooves seemed to beat in rhythm with the rider's heart. The foam developing around the horse's mouth matched the sheen of sweat along the youth's brow. Raising a battle weary hand that was covered in a golden gauntlet, the man shaded his eyes from the setting sun in front of him. Seeing the great lake ahead the man rubbed the horse's side and slowed her to a trot.

"That a girl Epona, we can rest now."

When the horse came to a stop next to the lake the youth slid gracefully from her back like one who had much practice doing so. Kneeling on the bank he stripped his gauntlets away, wincing slightly as they rubbed over a deep wound on the inside of his left arm. He carefully submerged the arm in water, allowing the gentle current to rinse away the remains of dried blood. Sighing, he turned his wrist over to reveal the glowing triangle on the top of his hand. He stared at it a moment before rising to attend to his horse.

He tried to brush aside all the memories of what had happened in the past hour. It was just too much to handle at one time. Going through the normal motions of rubbing down Epona he let his mind wander elsewhere, to happier times. He remembered when he was just 9 years old, living with the Kokiri children, completely oblivious to the outside world. He also remembered the fateful day two years later when his life changed forever with the appearance of Navi. Who could've thought such a small ball of light could carry such life altering news? Afraid of where his thoughts would lead him, he brushed the memory away as if it was an annoying fly.

Suddenly, he sensed a presence behind him. In the blink of an eye, he drew the legendary blade, the Master Sword, from the scabbard on his back. Spinning around, he was posed and ready for an attack. However, when he saw the young woman in front of him he relaxed his grip and replaced the sword to his back. Without acknowledging her, he turned back to the lake, and sat by its edge staring into the water, sparkling from the rays of the setting sun.

The woman was obviously exhausted, he normally shining gold hair was tangled and matted; her once smooth, cream-toned skin smudged with a combination of mud and blood. Her normally sparkling violet eyes seemed dark and sad. At the moment those dark eyes were focused on one thing, the man sitting before her. She said only one word, "Link."

His only response was to toss a stone into the still waters, causing ripples to disturb the lake surface. With a heavy heart the young woman approached Link and, hesitantly at first, she placed a gloved hand on his shoulder. She felt him soften slightly at her touch and she took this as a sign of encouragement. Gracefully she sat down next to him on the soft sand, and carefully removing her white sandals, she slid her tired feet into the water.

They sat there in quiet for a moment, both seeming to gather their thoughts. As she sat waiting for Link to speak, she looked carefully at the man sitting next to her. His short blonde hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat from the hard ride and blood from the wound reaching from his brow to the peak of his forehead. His deep blue eyes that seemed to reflect the colors of the lake before them were clouded with pain that he would never admit to. Her eyes moved down the rest of his body, the emerald green tunic that he always wore, the white tights that outlined his well muscled legs, and the dark brown boots covered in dirt from the recent battle. She finally gave up on him speaking first and raised her hand to his face, gently touching a bruise on his cheek. Trying to coax him into talking, she simply stated the obvious, "You're hurt."

Sighing once more he drew his legs to his body and rested his chin on his knees. "Not badly, nothing that can't be fixed." As if was the most natural thing in the world, he gently took her soft left hand into his calloused one and began to rub her fingers with his. They both watched as the golden triangle on the back of her hand began to glow. Finally looking into her eyes he quietly admitted, "Zelda, I was so worried about you."

Her expression softened and she turned to face him completely. "Link...I..."

Before she could finish he raised a finger to her lips, his eyes silently pleading to let him finish. She closed her lips and nodded for him to continue. He brushed his fingers through his hair, a habit he had developed when he was younger. Composing his words he looked back into her eyes and smiled for the first time in weeks. "Do you remember when we first met? How I snuck past all those guards to meet a girl who I knew nothing about. It was only a fun adventure then...before Ganandorf..." His smile quickly faded as the recent events came crowding into his mind. "Zelda, I came so close to losing you. When I saw you trapped in that crystal in Ganandorf's lair...I...I was more scared than I had been in any of the temples. It's kinda crazy how I feel so protective of you and I still barely know you." His eyes glazed over as he seemed to be reliving the huge battle that had taken place shortly after he saw Zelda trapped in the floating crystal.

Zelda herself was recalling it

Being in the air she had quite a good view, though at times she hadn't been able to see through the tears streaming down her face. It had been a terrible fight, Link seemed to have gone down countless times, taking numbers of blows, but he had always seemed to bounce back on his feet. The battle had raged on for what seemed like hours, which actually only totaled to be fifteen minutes. Finally, Link had made the final thrust right through Ganandorf's chest. She would never forget the look of shock and anger on his face as he fell to his knees. Then, at that moment the crystal around her had burst into millions of pieces, and she had fallen with a single scream leaving her throat. As if by magic, Link had been right there, catching her before she hit the ground. For a moment she thought that he was going to kiss her. Staring at her with his ocean blue eyes, his face had seemed to loom closer before he had gently set her down on the floor. He had then gently cupped her cheek and whispered hoarsely, "Sorry, I have to go."

She had seen him mount Epona from the castle window and watched as he skillfully maneuvered through the wreckage that had once been her private courtyard. Once he had disappeared past the rocky cliffs surrounding the castle she had stood there in shock until she realized that she was bleeding. The shards from the crystal had cut her in numerous places and there was blood seeping from each one. She had moved from the window and started towards her old chambers in the castle from when her father had been king. She got about halfway there when she felt a sudden pull in her heart to be with Link. She had never had such a feeling and didn't really know how to respond. Then like an electric shock it hit her that she had to go to him, that he needed her.

For a minute she had been confused as to where he might be, then her piece of the triforce had began to glow and she sensed that he was at Lake Hylia. In a flash she had used her magic to transport her to the Lake where, sure enough, her hero was right before her.

Link had been having similar memories up to the end of the battle and to the moment when he had caught Zelda falling.

He remembered leaning close to her face, gently lowering his lips to hers...then he realized that she was the princess of Hyrule and he was only a parentless child from the forest. He set her down; he had only one plan in his mind, to get away from the woman who had stolen his heart. It pained him to leave her there, but he was afraid of what he might do if left alone with her. The entire ride to Lake Hylia his heart had been pounding painfully over the loss of a love he desperately wanted to pursue, but he held on to the thought that it was impossible for her to feel the same way.

Such were the thoughts of the Hero of Time and the Princess of Destiny as they sat so close to one another; yearning for a love they thought was only felt by their selves. They sat like that for a while, both lost in their own thoughts until Zelda began to shiver with the cold. Link looked over to her and noticed for the first time what shape her clothes were in. Her silky white dress was extremely thin and it was ripped all over. He quickly jumped up and walked over to where Epona was grazing on some grasses. After digging through her saddle bags he finally found the green cloak he had been looking for. He walked back to the now standing princess and positioned it around her body.

Once he had wrapped it around her body he seemed to freeze in front of her with his hands resting on her shoulders and his eyes becoming lost in hers. Before he could stop himself, he was leaning towards her and gently brushing her lips with his.

Zelda was surprised when Link kissed her but quickly recovered and put her arms around his neck. Suddenly he broke the kiss and leaned back as if burned. "Zelda, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that, it wasn't right of me."

Looking hurt and feeling as if she had done something wrong, tears began to form in Zelda's eyes. When he had kissed her she had been sure that he had felt the same way she felt about him. For those few milliseconds she had thought that her wildest dreams were coming true. But when he had pulled back so abruptly every dream she had ever had of falling in love with the perfect man were shattered like the pink crystal that had held her only an hour earlier.

"Link..."

"No Zelda, I...I need to get you home, come on you can ride Epona with me." As he turned around he didn't see her wiping her tears away. He extended his hand and pulled her up as she grabbed her sandals, too distraught to put them back on. They walked to the waiting horse together and he carefully helped her up before sliding on behind her. When he reached for the reigns his hands happened to touch her arms. It felt like little flames along his palms. Ignoring the burning desire to kiss her again, he took up the reins and turned Epona in the direction of the once great Hyrule Castle.