A Promise at the Water's Edge

Second Shot

DISCLAIMER: If it's not copyright or owned by someone else, it's mine.

(--)

Waking up was quite an affair for Link. He was used to waking on his side with one hand under his head and the other on the wrist of the arm with the hand between his face and the ground. Normally, Navi was nestled in his tunic on the side that wasn't on the ground. Other than that, he would wake on his stomach with Navi between his shoulder blades, again, snuggled into his tunic. The blanket was usually cast off two feet away from him.

As he awoke this specific morning, he found himself to be surrounded by warmth with his own arms wrapped around something, or someone, as the case happened to be. When his unmatchable-crystal-blue eyes opened, the sight of the midnight-colored hair and the palest healthy skin he'd ever seen brought back the memories of the night's activities.

He bit his lip as a fierce blush worked its way to his face. At least my blood is getting to my entire body now, he figured before his eyes widened at this thought, getting a mental laugh out of him.

Shut up, blondie, I'm tryin' ta sleep… At the voice, he laughed aloud. "Link, hush."

"I'm sorry, Dark. I'd thought it was all a dream…but I'm so happy that it wasn't that I can't help but laugh," the blonde replied, his warm laughter dying down to a warm smile. He tightened the hold his arms had on the dark-violet-haired, red-eyed man.

"Never pictured you as a cuddles person," Dark replied though wasn't complaining.

"And I never would've pictured you to be less knowledgeable about sex than I," Link retorted with a grin, displaying a straight row of pearly-white teeth. The grin was swallowed by a kiss from his shadow. "I love you, Dark…and I mean it."

"I love you, too, Link, truthful as I can be," Dark replied, kissing Link again as if to seal the proclamation. "Mmm…Isn't…there something…we're forgetting?"

"Ack! Shit!" the blonde shouted, sitting up abruptly and causing Dark, who was laying half on top of him, to bend uncomfortably and in a way he didn't know he could. "I forgot about my mystery contact! Rauru told me to go to the Temple of Time! YESTERDAY!!!" Dark only watched Link as he ran around the little cave, in all of his birthday-glory, trying to gather his stuff and only succeeding in throwing it all over the place. "FUCK!"

"Whoa, kinky-master!" the midnight-purple-haired man finally yelled, causing the blonde to stall his movements. "If you'd just calm down and go about this in a rational manner, you would happen to notice that you're making more of a mess than there had been."

"Yeah…you're right…" Link said quietly, calming slowly but surely. Running a hand through his hair, he found Dark's arms wrapped around him from behind. "Dark?"

"You are entirely too energetic after the mind-blowing sex last night," the red-eyed man stated with a straight face. The lighter chuckled softly as he placed a hand over one of Dark's. "C'mon. Let's clean up and then go take a bath. After that, we'll worry about the person who's supposed to be at the temple. Sound good?"

"Sounds good," the blonde answered softly. He, calmly, dressed, collected his things to put back in his pack, and took the Master Sword as Dark handed it to him. Wait a tic… "Dark… Did you just happen to do what I think you did?"

"That depends on what you think I did."

"Well, I think you did happen to just hand me my sword…my Master Sword…"

"Well, I think you would just so happen to be correct. See? Told ya I wasn't evil." A sudden pout came over Dark's face. "And you didn't believe me!! Even after we screwed each other into the ground!"

"Must you put it so…gruesomely?" Link asked quietly with a funny expression on his face. Dark merely shrugged before kissing his light with a grin. "And yes, thank you very much, I did believe you because I could feel it. The reason why I asked is because we now have evidence of your…dark innocence, I suppose." He raised an eyebrow to himself before shaking his head in a dismissive manner. "Ah, fuck it. We know you aren't evil! That's all that matters!"

"Here, here!" the darker of the two shouted comically, pumping his fist in the air with his syllables. "C'mon. That bath is calling me."

"Myself, as well," Link confessed.

--

An hour later, Navi and Ivana had joined them as Link withdrew his Ocarina of Time. "Off to the Temple of Time for us, I suppose. And, Dark, be careful when we get there. You, too, Ivana. I don't know who we're meeting and I have a bad feeling of what might happen if he or she reacts badly to you. I don't want either of you hurt," Link said to the dark individuals. Thinking about that sentence got the lighter to wondering if his shadow would take up another name so as not to confuse everyone so much.

"I like Zyne (Zign)."

"Huh?" the hero had been lost in his thoughts for a few moments.

"Zyne. I like that name," Dark repeated his answer to Link's unspoken question. "Sounds mysterious to me, I guess."

"If that is what you want to be called, then that is what I shall call you."

"It is."

"If I said Zi for short, would you be irritated?"

"If I called you Li, would you get pissed?"

"I thought I was hikari?"

The newly-christened Zyne merely shrugged before glomping Link in a hug. "Nah, I wouldn't mind at all," he answered the first question with a smile as his purer half played the Prelude to Light. Navi and Ivana landed on their respective partner's shoulders before the sparks of light whisked them away. "That first step's a doozy…" Zyne mumbled though it still echoed around the temple.

"You'll get used to it, don't worry. Just about the only way to travel if you're in a huge hurry-"

"Which you should have been!" a voice suddenly cut across them. The abruptness caused Zyne to rip his sword from its sheath on his back as Link drew his bow and a Fire Arrow, both poised to do serious damage to the speaker. "Whoa. Calm down, would you?"

"No. It's not healthy to sneak up on people," Zyne answered, cutting across his light as the blonde opened his mouth.

"So I see."

"Sheik? What are…why are you here? I thought you were only to guide me to the Sages?" Link asked as he stared at the Sheikah.

"Yes, but I am meant to give you the last of what you shall need to face the Evil King," the blonde male answered, casting a suspicious eye to Zyne and Ivana. "But first," he continued, "Who are they and why do you look so much alike?"

"We-"

"-are two halves of-"

"-the same soul," Link and Zyne answered. "Same for those two," they added in sync, pointing to their respective fairy partners.

"Anyway, what do we need to know before we fight Mean and Green?" the darker asked, getting a glare from Sheik before the blonde went on to state that a person had to have Power, Wisdom, and Courage valued equally in his or her heart if the person touches the Triforce to obtain the entire artifact and all of its strength. "That would be an awesome sight.

"But people don't stick with all three," Zyne cut in before letting the red-eyed man continue. Along with what the Sheikah stated prior to the interruption, if a person who didn't have the three valued the same, then the one that the person valued most would stay with them while the other two sought out two people worthy of their representations. "Okay so…basically, Ganondorf tried to take the Triforce and, since he wants Power most, that's all he got." Sheik nodded at the summary, a little put off that it could be summed up in one sentence. "So…where's the other two?"

"As the purple-haired one stated, Ganondorf has the Triforce of Power," the Sheikah stated. "The Triforce of Courage is…in you, Link." The blonde hero had a shocked and disbelieving look on his face but was waiting for Sheik to finish. "And the Triforce of Wisdom belongs to the one who will rule them all…" The red-eyed blonde lifted his right hand in front of his face, the Mark of the Triforce glowing fiercely on the back of his hand before a flash encompassed them.

"Oh…sweet…Goddesses…" Link mumbled as he stared at what had become of Sheik. "Can't…can't be… Impa wouldn't…too dangerous… Not really here…"

Zyne smacked him upside the head. "Cool it," was all he said before turning back to the person before them.

"Yes… I have been Princess Zelda all along. I know it has been far too dangerous for me to help you, Link, but I couldn't sit idly by while you risked life and limb to save my country.

"When I threw the Ocarina to you that day, seven years ago, I never could have fathomed that this would happen… That you would be sealed away for seven, long, difficult years. I had no inkling that you could have been the fabled Hero of Time and could have actually drawn the Master Sword from the Pedestal of Time.

"But I digress. We are wasting valuable time on things that cannot be taken, or given, back." Zelda stepped closer to the Medallion Disk the two were standing upon. "I have something to give you which I have kept for all these years." She lifted her hands in front of her, magic gathering around them before forming into a cylindrical, thin object. It floated over to Link, who took it reverently. "This is called the Light Arrow," she explained. "It can pierce even the fiercest of darkness…even to Ganondorf's heart.

"Your battle will not be easy. I will be with you to help as much as I ca-" The temple suddenly rumbled, as if an earthquake happened to be ripping through the land beneath it.

"I never would have figured that the holder of the Triforce of Wisdom would have been directly under my nose this entire time! How foolish of me," a deep, malicious voice mocked. "And, lo and behold, my favorite experiment is coming back to me as well."

Zyne growled, bearing his fangs to the invisible menace. "I'll never come back to you! My place is with my hikari!" he shouted, red eyes glowing radiantly in his anger.

"Kid, I'll be keeping the Princess," continued Ganondorf as if Zyne hadn't interrupted him. A pink crystal appeared around the woman, getting a gasp from her as it rendered her immobile. "If you want her back, come to my castle.

"I just can't believe I underestimated you, kid…but it was the power of the Triforce sleeping within you that crumbled all of my plans to dust. I never would have realized that the Triforce of Courage would have chosen you." Mocking laughter echoed as Zelda was lifted into the air, just out of their reach, before she and her prison vanished into thin air.

"Dammit!" Link shouted as he slammed his fist into the floor, the amount of helplessness he had felt when Zelda had been captured having caused his knees to give out beneath him. "DAMMIT!" he nearly screamed, throwing his head back. "I'm supposed to protect her…" he added softly. "Impa told me to protect the Princess in her absence…and when the Princess needed me the most…I couldn't do anything…"

Navi perched on his nose and lightly kicked it. "Snap out of it, Link!"

Zyne stepped over and lifted the fairy from her larger counterpart. "Why don't you go rant at Ivana. She looks lonely," he offered, getting a huff from the blue light before she flew to the red ball of iridescence. "Link… Navi's right," he said to the blonde in a soft voice as he knelt beside him.

"Have you ever felt so utterly hopeless…? Like everything you do is in vain?" the hero asked quietly.

A grin crossed Zyne's face as he answered, "Yep! All the time! And I never let it wear me down!

"Now get the fuck up off the floor! We've got a Princess of Destiny to save!" Link merely looked at him from his position on the white tile of the Temple of Time. "If we don't hurry…Ganon'll….he'll…eat her or something!" The comical way that it brought a small smile to Link's face. "That's it, Link. Smile. As long as we still draw breath, the battle isn't lost."

"You're right… Thanks, Zi," the lighter said softly before capturing the darker's lips in a tender kiss. It was deepened by Zyne's tongue entering his mouth. "Well…let's get the Princess back…and save Hyrule while we're at it."

"That's the spirit!" Zyne shouted before a grin stretched across his face and they ran out of the temple toward Ganon's Castle.

Dodging the Redeads was easy enough for them. When reaching the castle, however, Link couldn't help stopping to stare, yet again, in slight horror at it. "I can't believe he did this…" the blonde whispered before remembering something he figured to be wholesomely important. "The Great Fairy! I hope she's all right!" Taking a quick trip through the destroyed gateway, he found it to be blocked by a heaping amount of boulders. "Dammit!" Taking out the Megaton Hammer, he worked his way through them, lifting the ones that wouldn't be destroyed with his Silver Gauntlets.

"Whoa, Link! What are you after? Great Fairies can't be killed by mortals! Only the Goddesses can hurt them!" Zyne informed him just as he finished making a path to a huge column of black stone. "Link! Listen to me!" Stomping up to the hero, he pulled him away from the stone and his, currently, one-track mind. "Link. She's fine. You can't lift that stone at the moment. Come back when you have the means to do so and, take this from my personal ventures in Ganon's Castle, it's in there."

"All…all right… I'm okay…" Link took a calming breath before a fierce determination came stole over his face. "Let's get this done," he said with a soft smile to Zyne, getting a passionate kiss from the darker of the two, then they made their way to the chasm blocking them away from the castle.

"O…kay?" Zyne asked, an eyebrow arched up his forehead. "Now, just how in the name of Hell are we supposed to get across this? Just…-POOF- and appear there? Or is this some 'Leap of Faith' type deal where a bridge magically appears after we're falling to our deaths?"

"You make this sound simple enough that I just might try that," Link replied dryly before a voice he knew well boomed through his mind, causing him to wince slightly. Rauru?

Yes, Hero of Time, it is I. You have freed six Sages, thus returning our full strength. We now use our power to create a pure pathway to Ganon's Castle. Go forth, Hero of Time, and draw out the power within yourself to end this feud!

Yes, sir, Link replied, knowing that Zyne had heard what Rauru had said to him. Lights flittered from the sky to whirl around the two before bursting outward then swarming in the gap between the land and the castle's entrance. After a flash of white light, a bridge of rainbow colors was formed. Stepping forward carefully, Link found it to be as solid as Zyne's skull.

"I heard that!" the shadow shouted at him, getting a smirk from the hero before his hand was seized in a warm grip and he found himself pulled toward the bridge. Cringing in wait for the stomach-in-throat feeling that came with falling, he was pleasantly surprised when the creation of light supported him. "I love you, Link," he spoke softly and abruptly.

"I love you, too, Zyne," was the equally tender reply as Link laced his fingers with his other half's. "Come on. Ganon's not going to kill himself for us."

"It'd be nice if he would. I want to screw you senseless on a soft mattress instead of the hard ground."

With a chuckle, Link retorted, "The sand wasn't all that horrible, was it?" as they stepped into the castle, right into the waiting sight of a Beamos. "HOLY MOLEY!" the blonde shouted, jumping into the air before his foot could be zapped. "Damn hunk of junk!" he yelled at it before pulling a bomb from what seemed to be nowhere and chucking the explosive at the creature. "His Green Highness has to put everything from machinations to the fucking demons from the furthest reaches of Hell in my way! Why can't the molded bastard just DIE?!"

"You all right?"

"Yeah…makes me feel better." They continued on. Meeting with a barrier around the next doorway had Link ranting again, but with mumbles about moldy skin, huge noses, and the worst fashion sense he'd ever be subjected to. Collecting the silver rupees in the chamber beneath the Forest Medallion was simple, though the hero was still muttering profanities at the Evil King. Seeing Saria put the blonde in a better mood, though she questioned about Zyne, as everyone else, Link was sure, would do.

Darunia was ecstatic to see them, the happy, warm smile staying on his face as he found that his Sworn Brother finally found someone to care for him. Ruto was a bit cold to Zyne for stealing her 'fiancé', but he merely stuck his tongue out at her with a grin. Impa, never one to be shaken, took it in stride and congratulated them. Nabooru was something different and had Link blushing seven different shades of red.

"Needed that oil I gave you, did you?" she asked with a sly wink and grin, getting a blush out of Link and a dreamy grin from Zyne. "I'll take that as a 'yes', kid."

"I don't think I'm much of a kid, anymore, Nabooru," Link replied, his blush gone in favor of a smile.

"You beat Molded Holiness, then we'll see if you're still a kid or not," she retorted with a laugh. "Take care of that rotten bastard, Link."

"Don't leave me out! That fucker made me hurt my hikari!" Zyne declared vehemently, his voice a low, dangerous growl.

"I like you, Darkie," the Spirit Sage said with a smirk.

"The name's Zyne, Desert Rat."

"And mine is Nabooru; nice to meet you. Link," she stated, catching the blonde's attention with his name. "Quit daydreaming about the fun you two are going to have and hurry. Ganon'll kill Zelda without a second thought if he has more time to take the Triforce of Wisdom from her."

"I understand," he replied before the Leader of the Gerudos used her power to send him back to the main room. He and Zyne watched as the barrier started to expand as the power sources were cut away from it. "Oh shit."

"Took the words right outta my mouth," Zyne stated before they were slammed against the wall from the force of the barrier stretching outward and away from the next passageway. "Damn…" the darker groaned as the other coughed, trying to get air back into his lungs. After slowly standing, they made their way into the main tower of the castle. After a couple of hours of battling their way up the tower, the two took their time in a stairway. "Okay…that makes Keese, Lizalfos, Stalfos, Wolfos…what next? Iron Knuckle?"

"Two of them," Link answered as the door opened for them. A groan was Zyne's reply. "That's what I want to do right now," he added as he drew his bow, aiming an arrow at the armored enemy on the left. Letting it fly, the Iron Knuckle was efficiently awoken. He ran up to it, slashing it with his blade before it could swing at him.

Something unexpected happened when he ducked, causing Link to find himself adding another scar to the ones his back had suffered. The Iron Knuckle's blow had smashed into the other, waking it, as well. Gritting his teeth, the blonde picked himself up from the floor as blood ran freely from the long gash from the right side of his belt to his right shoulder blade.

"Link! You idiot!" Zyne shouted as he jumped forward, occupying the second Iron Knuckle. Why didn't you wait for me?! Defeating his enemy as quickly as possible, he looked over to his light to see how he was fairing against the other. …He's hurt worse than he's letting on, the darker realized with widening eyes as Link tried to lift his shield, hoping for it to take most of the unavoidable blow, but was flung across the room with another crushing slice in his flesh. "Link!"

The young warrior slammed into the wall before slumping to the ground on his bum. Trying to lift his head, Link looked through his slightly-blood-soaked hair at the Iron Knuckle running toward him. At least…I got most of its armor off… he thought to himself as black took over his vision and he passed into unconsciousness.

Zyne heard his light's thoughts as he ran as fast as his feet could carry him, jumping at the Iron Knuckle to bury his blade through its back and chest. "You won't hurt him anymore," he growled next to its helmet before pulling his sword up to slice the head of the monster in half. The creature of evil collapsed and dissolved back into the evil magic that had summoned it as Zyne finished his run to the blonde. "Link…? Please be all right…" he whispered as he lifted the teen's face, seeing the cut over the right eyebrow before surveying the rest of the damage.

The midnight-purple-haired warrior dug around in his lover's pockets and pack, looking for anything to help. With a relieved smile, he withdrew a Red Potion. Tilting the blonde's head back, he tried to get him to open his mouth, finally succeeding when he pressed his forefinger and thumb into each jaw between his teeth. After pouring the crimson liquid into Link's mouth, Zyne closed it and pinched the teen's nose closed. Growling a bit at the fact that he wouldn't swallow it, the darker massaged the other's throat, eventually getting the revitalizing mixture into him.

"That's it, Link… Come on, hikari… Swallow it for me," he mumbled gently as the Red Potion slid down Link's throat, doing its job quickly and efficiently. Breathing a sigh of relief, he pressed a soft kiss to the blonde's cheek then sat beside him, settling in to get a bit of a doze while waiting for him to wake.

"Z…Zyne?" Link asked softly as he came to, slowly lifting his head to look around. Where…are we? he wondered. Where's Navi and Ivana?

"Ganon's Tower, Link. They're fine, too," a voice that was more disarming than his own answered his thoughts. Suddenly, he found himself pulled into a gentle embrace. "You're an idiot, hikari… You almost died, too."

"I know… I'm so used to fighting almost alone that…well… I'm sorry." The blonde looked down and away from his yami, biting his lip when the darker sighed. "I…"

"Look at me, Link, please?" the violet-haired man requested quietly, a slight frown taking over his face when Link didn't. "Come on, Link. I'm not mad or anything like that, I promise."

"Zi…you should be. I forgot about you being able to fight for yourself-"

"It's called a protective instinct, Link, and I'm honored that you'd go that far for me, honestly. I just don't want you killing yourself over it," the red-eyed warrior interrupted, cutting Link off before he could make himself feel guiltier. "It's not your fault, all right?"

The blonde bit his lip again before looking up at his darker half. "All right," he said with a smile, his blue eyes reflecting it as well. Zyne pulled Link into a tender kiss before they stood, the darker supporting the lighter for a moment as the hero swayed on his feet a bit. "I'm okay," he reassured.

"Are you certain?"

"Yeah."

"Then…we've got rotten bastard waiting for us," was the reply as Navi and Ivana flew around them, coming out of warm tunics with no small amount of grumbles. Link pulled Zyne back to him holding him tightly as he kissed him, easily slipping his tongue into his shadow's willing mouth. "Heh, love you, too."

"Of course I love you, Zyne. It's certainly not the cuckoo lady that I went all the way to Lake Hylia from THE Gerudo Fortress for." Zyne smirked at him as they opened the Boss Key chest and made their way up the staircase. "Here we are…" Link whispered softly as he sighted the lock and chains of the main monster within the obstacle-filled castle. Lifting the Key, the blonde carefully slid it into the lock and turned it, watching as the gold-colored creations fell to the ground and faded away.

"Wow," Zyne stated sarcastically. "If this is where we're supposed to fight Ganondorf and his demon self, I don't know how he's gonna fit!"

"D-demon self?" Link echoed, getting a look from his shadow that stated, quite plainly, 'you'll find out'. "All right…there's another huge door over there."

"Wait!"

"What?"

"We forgot about the Great Fairy!"

"Shit."

--End Two—

As you can blatantly see, there's gonna be another chapter to this one. I might make another, but don't get your hopes up. If I do, it'll probably be REALLY short and only touching on the important stuff as a conclusion or something… Unless I make a crossover!!! XD

Drop a review on your way out, would ya?