A Promise at the Water's Edge
Chapter Three
DISCLAIMER: I own only my ideas.
…Been a while on this fic, hasn't it? Heh, I had this whole elaborate scheme for it on my first laptop…but it decided to play 'screen-meet-desk-edge'. If I would've had half a brain at the time, I would've backed up everything when I could still use my mom's monitor as a screen for it.
…Oh well… Looks like my 'elaborate scheme' went out the window…but it's still going to be a crossover! XD
So… Enjoy!
I'm giving a monumental THANK YOU and a mountain-sized double-chocolate-chip cookie to darkwolflink1 for pulling my attention back to A Promise at the Water's Edge. I hope you guys will thank this reader/reviewer, as well!
(-)(-)(-)
Link and Zyne panted softly as they finally made it back to the top of Ganon's Tower from visiting a mildly-corrupted Great Fairy.
"I thought you said only Goddesses can hurt the Great Fairies?" the blonde asked his darker counterpart as they took a short rest before the last door.
Zyne nodded, leaning his head against Link's before giving a yawn. "Yeah... But I didn't say anything about the land around them, the land that they protect. Did you notice that there's a Great Fairy in all the major areas of Hyrule?"
Link ticked off on his fingers as he listed them, "Zora's Fountain…the Desert Colossus…Death Mountain…the Crater…Hyrule Castle when I was a kid…Ganon's Castle now… Wait, what happened to that one? Wasn't she the same?"
"Just a little off her noodle, though," Zyne replied with a light laugh. "Did you ever notice how they seem to be affected by whether or not their area is at peace?"
The light shook his head. "No, they were usually happy to see me and not trying to kill me while screaming about how long they'd waited…"
(**)
Link choked as an invisible force wrapped around him, feeling like it was squeezing the life out of him.
"I waited so long for you, Hero of Time! I've been so lonely here, surrounded by nothing but darkness and despair!" the Great Fairy nearly shrieked, closing her hand tighter around the thin air and causing the force around the blonde to do the same.
"You're killing him, you insane bitch!" Zyne yelled, trying to focus his own dark power around Link like a shield and push out at the giant woman's magic. "If you've been so lonely, why are you trying to destroy the first ones to come to you in seven years?"
The Great Fairy actually sneered at him as she answered, "It should have been sooner! It should have been before I could no longer withstand the dark tide!"
"And you think it's his fault?" Zyne turned and almost screamed at the dead look that was starting to take over the unconscious blonde. "He wasn't strong enough to reach you! Ganon had this cave blocked by a huge stone, and Link couldn't move it without a special magic hidden within Ganon's Castle!"
The barely-covered woman stopped closing her hand tighter but didn't loosen it as she listened to the purplette's words.
"Ganondorf knew that you'd become the most powerful and most helpful of the Great Fairies! Why do you think he warped this place? It's so that you'd fall victim to it and kill the Hero of Time for him! You think that rotten bastard wants to lift a finger to do his own fucking dirty work?"
The woman slowly released her grip, but she had the magic gently lay the young hero on the marble floor.
Zyne was kneeled beside the blonde, listening for his breath and feeling for a pulse before the Great Fairy even knew what was happening. "Goddesses, no… Please, don't take my hikari… No, no, no…please, no…" he whispered, gently brushing golden hair with his fingers.
"…I am so sorry… I will heal him…"
"Don't you think you've done enough?" the darker warrior would have yelled, but his voice broke as tears escaped liquid-blood eyes.
"I may have lost my senses…but I did this to him… And They are giving me the power to make it right," she answered softly, stepping out of her Fountain as her body shrank to a human-sized one. Reaching up, she gently wiped away the tears staining moonlight-pale cheeks before moving to cradle the blonde she had been waiting what felt like centuries for. "Centuries for me, young one… But a mere night's sleep for you…" she murmured, tenderly touching her cheek to his forehead and her hand to his chest.
"What are you…?" Zyne trailed off as a multi-colored glow surrounded the two before it reached out to him. He had never felt such otherworldly warmth, but he knew it wasn't supposed to happen until the Goddesses Themselves held Link and himself in Their arms.
"I have to call his soul back, dark innocent…" she answered even as she healed the damage caused by her loss of sanity. "I have to pull it through you so as to rebuild the connection…"
(**)
"That was the weirdest, yet one of the best feelings I've ever had," Zyne stated with a little smile as his light wrapped an arm around him and held him close. "Hikari… Be more careful, though, would you?"
Link grinned. "It'll be my middle name."
"You don't have a middle name."
"Exactly."
(**)
"I have something to give both of you… This is from the Goddesses as They know far more about your future than you will even as you live it," the Great Fairy stated, still in her small form as she had used so much power to bring Link back.
"You've already done so much, Great Fairy," the blonde mumbled, helping her stand and get back to her Fountain. "We all make mistakes…"
"How can you forgive one of the Goddesses' Messengers for doing harm to Their Chosen, Hero?"
Link smiled as he said, "I forgave you before you did it. You weren't in your right mind – and believe me, ma'am, try going through the Water Temple and see if you keep your right or left one!"
She giggled as she sat in the water that symbolized her never-ending power. "I have a gift for you…" she repeated, holding her hands out and channeling her magic to them to cause two small orbs, one golden-white the other purplish-black, to appear in her palms. "The Sun's Armor and the Moon's Armor… May they protect you as the Goddesses Themselves will," she added before the orbs flew to their respective owners and disappeared into the teenagers' chests. "Rest before you leave, young heroes, and be safe…"
(**)
"Enough reminiscing about my near death, Zi," Link said with a groan as he stood. "Time to kick His Green Highness's ass!"
"First things first…" Zyne murmured, pushing his light against the wall and capturing soft, tanned lips in a heated kiss that felt as though it lasted for days instead of mere seconds.
It was with a smile that they walked into the room to meet their destiny…
And to have our ears bleed from a fucking pipe-organ! Link thought as he barely resisted wincing and covering said ears.
(-)
Normally opposing sides held tightly to each other as Zelda finished playing her tune on the Ocarina of Time. The tear that wanted to escape the woman's control was halted by shock when the two still stood before her.
"I'll take that back, thank you very much," Link grumbled, snatching the musical instrument from her slack fingers while still holding tightly to his shadow.
It was then that her power decided to snap around them, banishing the air from their lungs with the force of it before green, blue, and red lit around them and they simply vanished.
"You gave Our Chosen that Ocarina of Time, Princess Zelda… You aren't allowed to take it back."
The Goddesses voice held a distinct tone of amusement.
"Where did You send them, if I may ask?" the royal woman wondered, still in mild shock of what had just happened.
"It is a place where each one will be loved and where they will be allowed to love each other. The prejudice of dark and light…wrong and right…will not follow them so doggedly."
Thinking of how unlike brothers and more like lovers that the two heroes were, she realized the wisdom of the Goddesses' decision. "It isn't my place to question you, my Goddesses… I was merely curious."
"Be sure that Hyrule remembers the sacrifices of Our Chosen Heroes, Princess Zelda. Be sure that Hyrule never forgets what they lost in return for their home's freedom. …Be sure that Hyrule will bear the mark of greatness just as Our Chosen Heroes must bear it."
Zelda nodded and said, "It will be done, my Goddesses."
(-)
"Sonuvabitch!" Zyne nearly snarled as he sat up, rubbing his head with the hand that wasn't holding tightly to his light's green tunic. Opening his eyes to get a good look around, his mouth dropped open in shock. "Uh... Hikari…!" he almost squeaked, frantically shaking Link's shoulder to wake the blonde.
"Mmnnh… Wha'zit, Zi?"
"Open your eyes and look!" To his shame, his voice was still unnaturally high-pitched, but the darker ignored it in favor of getting Link up.
"A-are these…buildings? They're taller than the Great Deku Tree!" Link exclaimed, though his tone held awe instead of his lover's – adorable, he filled in – squeak. "Come on! Let's check this place out!" He pulled Zyne behind him by the purplette's black-gauntlet-covered hand. "Excuse me, can you tell us where we are?" he asked the person walking toward him, taking note of how her ears were rounded like a Gerudo's but that was the only thing she had in common with the female-warrior race.
It was at that moment that she walked through him as though he were a ghost.
Zyne watched with alarm as Link's face drained of blood before the blonde shivered. "Yes, I saw it, too…" he muttered when Link gave him a questioning, somewhat-frightened look.
They had just noticed that there were multiple people walking through them and a weird contraption that was a bit similar to a cart had just passed them.
"…Ooookay, this place is strange as fuck!" Link finally stated before a grin broke out on his face. "I wonder what other stuff we can pass through!"
"You can be such a chiiiild!" Zyne retorted, the last word being drawn out as Link pulled him across the hard black surface to another grey one like the one they'd just left.
"But you love me anyway!" Link retorted as they continued down the strange grey surface and passed many buildings that were among the tallest things they had ever seen.
"Mika! Mika!"
The two warriors stopped dead at the frightened shout of a man's voice, turning to see a small girl chasing after a puppy in front of one of the cart-like contraptions.
Zyne didn't have time to think before Link was rushing toward the child. "Link! We can't touch them! Remember?"
Maybe… If I want it bad enough, I can… Goddesses, whatever's happening, please let us protect this girl and her dog! the blonde thought, knowing that his lover heard it when he felt his shadow's presence right behind him.
A moment later, Link and Zyne, both, had small burdens as they nearly danced away from the many incoming contraptions and back to the grey walking area
Unknown to them both, their images were flickering in and out of focus, and people were staring as the event unfolded.
The little girl lifted her face from Link's chest and looked up at him with watery, chocolate-colored eyes. "A-are you an..an-" she worked her tongue around the word before saying, "angels?"
The puppy in Zyne's arms gave a tiny bark and wagged her tail.
The little girl's eyes filled with tears as she recalled what had almost happened.
Link gave a small smile. "Don't worry, little one… You're safe," he murmured, carefully cradling her as he gently ran his fingers through her soft, auburn hair. "Shh, shh…" he hushed gently as she cried into his tunic.
"M-Mika…!"
"Daddy! The ang…angels saved me and Frizzy!"
Link and Zyne both looked at the puppy and realized that she did have quite a frizzy coat of fur.
But we're not angels… Zyne murmured, staring curiously at the girl.
For this child, we are, Link replied as the purplette stepped over to him and handed 'Frizzy' to the girl.
The darker grinned when 'Frizzy' licked a clear path from Link's chin, across his left eye, to his forehead.
The girl giggled at the blonde's pinched expression before the young hero chuckled with her.
"Good girl," Zyne complimented as he scratched the puppy's ear.
"How…How can I ever thank you young men for saving my daughter and Frizzy?" the man that came up to them asked, gratefully holding his child when she reached for him.
Link and Zyne smiled and reached over to each wipe away the tears from one of her cheeks and scratch the puppy's ears. "Seeing her smile," they murmured together, "Seeing her smile is more than enough," before they vanished from sight, their drive to protect Mika and Frizzy the only that had been keeping them from fading back to intangibility and invisibility.
Mika smiled up at her father and said, "They're angels, Daddy!"
Frizzy barked in agreement.
(-)
"Hey, look! We're on the moving-picture-box thing!" Zyne stated, pointing at it as they passed a building that looked to be selling the strange things. He then noticed that many people stopped to watch as he and Link suddenly became visible in the picture in their daring rescue of Mika and Frizzy, going through the point where they vanished again before a woman was kneeling before the child with a strange ball on a stick and speaking into it.
"What can you tell us about these young men who saved you and this darling puppy?"
Mika smiled as she said, "They're not men, Miss… They're angels! And Frizzy agrees with me, don't'cha, girl?"
The puppy yipped before her tongue lolled out as her tail wagged.
"And there you have it! Were those young men ghosts who wanted to protect a helpless child? Or do angels walk among us as this lovely girl says?"
Zyne smiled. "I kinda like the thought of being called an angel… What about you, Hikari?"
Link gave his own smile as he answered, "We'll be that girl's angels for as long as she lives."
They didn't know how true Link's statement was – the girl would continue on in life, having her own children to tell her story of how the otherworldly angels saved her and Frizzy.
(-)
"I finally caught up to you!"
The heroes, also known as angels, blinked and turned to face a boy that couldn't have been older than themselves.
"We didn't know you were looking for us," Link stated politely. "Can you tell us exactly where we are? Oh, I'm Link, and this is my lover and darkness, Zyne."
"Pleasure to meet you," the shadow greeted, though his tired voice certainly didn't make it sound like such a pleasure.
"You're the ones who saved that girl and her dog, aren't you?"
Link and Zyne gave little smiles as they answered, "Yeah, that was us."
"Did you sense something from her? Something that made you want to go after her?"
The purplette raised an eyebrow. "What kind of questions are those? We saved them because they would've been hurt or killed otherwise!"
The boy gave a small, strange sort of smile, but it helped the two relax from their ready-for-anything tenseness all the same. "Sorry, but I had to make sure you weren't going to go on a killing spree or start sucking out people's souls."
They blinked again before the blonde asked, "…And we'd do that why exactly? …Wait… How can you see us…hear us…? Much less, talk to us?"
"…You're ghosts. Why wouldn't I be able to? …But you have a weird facial shape compared to other people I've seen…and your ears are pointed?"
"Hey! As far as we're concerned, you are the weird-lookin' one!" Zyne retorted, pointing at the boy in the strange bathrobe-looking clothes.
"Okay, okay… No need to get all testy, sheesh…"
Link placed a fingertip over Zyne's lips before the purplette could get riled any further. "Why don't we try this again…? I've already told you who we are…so who're you? And where are we?"
The other teen gave an apologetic half-smile before answering, "You're in Hollow Central, better known to the living as Karakura Town. I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, but you can just call me Ichigo."
"Okay, Ichigo… 'Hollow Central'?"
"Why don't I take you to Mr. Hat-n-Clogs and explain a bit on the way? He can tell you more than I can ever hope to," Ichigo answered, turning to lead the way before his eyebrows furrowed in a confused way more than a 'I-am-stuck-like-this' way. "What's wrong? You comin'?"
"Never seen a sword that big, that's all," Link stated as he and his lover caught up with Ichigo.
Zyne grinned as he rubbed his elbow into Ichigo's ribs and stated, "Looks like you're overcompensating for something."
After his face went tomato red, Ichigo grit his teeth together and ground out, "I. Am. Not!"
The purplette grinned even wider. "Really, now? Sure looks like it to me! See, check mine out!" he said and pulled out the Shadow Master Sword.
Link groaned as the two continued to argue a fourth of the way, and he received no answers. To put a stop to it, he shocked Ichigo into silence as he pressed Zyne up against a wall and kissed him roughly and heatedly enough to leave him in a daze for about a half-mile. It was then that he finally got a good handful of explanations, and Ichigo got a few from him, as well.
(-)
A couple of weeks had passed, and the two heroes had learned nearly all they could about how the world of the Shinigami worked. They had listened as Ichigo recounted how he became a Shinigami, lost his ability, gained it back, went to Soul Society, and even saved a few friends along the way. They could also tell that, when Ichigo spoke about his Hollow, it wasn't with hate or scorn as everyone else believed.
It had also taken them those two weeks to get their ability to be seen and touched under control to the point that they could do it at will.
(-)
"…Hey, Zi?"
"Yeah, Hikari?"
"What do you say to going to visit Ichigo? …I want to know more about that Hollow he has…"
"More like you want to know how much Ichigo really cares for his Hollow, ne, Hikari?"
"Aa…" Link sat up from where he was laid back on Urahara's roof, watching the sky change colors. "…Maybe I should call first, do you think?"
"It's polite."
"Yo, Urahara-san!"
"You two are picking up on our speech quite well for being from another world. We shouldn't have even been able to understand each other."
Zyne snagged the shopkeeper's fan before the blonde could flip it out and hide his face.
"Don't question the Golden Three, Urahara-san…" Link said in a playful, yet warning tone. "Remember what happened last time?"
"…" Urahara was silent. Yes, he did remember. It was hard to forget when one's hat spontaneously sets itself on fire while on the owner's head. "Anyway, I overheard you-"
"Eavesdropping is rude, Urahara-san," Link interrupted with an annoyed look.
"-and I brought you the phone-"
"You actually have a phone?" Zyne wondered.
"-so that you can call Ichigo-san," Urahara finished, a furious tic developing in his forehead.
Zyne and Link grinned as the blonde swiped the small, handheld machine and pressed Ichigo's number.
"Hello, Kurosaki Clinic, Kurosaki Ichigo speaking, how may I help you?"
"Mind if Zi and I come over?"
"Link? Yeah, sure! You'll have to excuse my dad… He's having one of those- GAH! FUCK, DAD! WHAT THE HELL'S THE MATTER WITH YOU? CAN'T YOU SEE THAT I'M ON THE PHONE!"
Link wondered if Ichigo could feel the glare he was giving the machination in his hand. From the shudder he could hear, he supposed so. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say…he's having one of his 'pounce-and-maim' days," he stated, already seeing the nod before the teen would realize that the blonde couldn't see him and gave an affirmative. "So… It's alright that Zi and I come over?"
"Yeah…and thanks for calling beforehand. Gives me some time to try and straighten up Dad- FOR FUCK'S SAKE!"
"I'm sure you'll understand this, Ichigo," Link quickly half-muttered before pressing the 'END' button. "Urahara-san…" the blonde called as the man made to leave with his telephone. "Do you think it'd be a good idea to invest in a Soul Mobile for Ichigo?" he asked with a little grin, receiving one from his fellow blonde in return.
"It might be."
(-)
Zyne held Link in front of him as they arrived at the Kurosaki Household, careful of what dangers could lurk beyond the door – especially with the way Kurosaki Isshin was known for greeting his son.
Link chuckled softly at how silly his lover was acting before finding out that aforementioned lover's fears were very grounded as he barely dodged a flying kick, pulling the purplette with him. Twisting around the doctor to see the orange-haired teen behind the strange man, the Hylians gave little smiles at the apologetic look gleaming in the bronze-chocolate eyes.
"Oh, we have guests! Ichi-nii! Why haven't you invited them in!"
"Aa, Yuzu…" Ichigo gave a small smile to his little sister before kindly kicking his father out of the way and moving to the side for them to enter. "Sorry about my dad… He's normally not prone to attacking guests…" The teen ran a hand through his hair in irritation then introduced the young heroes to his little sister. "Karin's asleep… She came down with something a couple of days ago, and her fever just recently broke."
"That's why you look like you haven't slept in a week…" Zyne mumbled, brushing careful fingertips under the tired eyes. "You've got bags under your eyes the size of Urahara's insanity…"
At the very-mildly-amused look that came over Ichigo's face, Link gently cupped the barely-shorter male's chin and tipped it to where he could clearly see the tiredness that the Substitute Shinigami too easily hid. "You're about to fall asleep on your feet, Ichigo… Why don't Zyne and I come back at another time? You need rest."
"No, no… S'alright," Ichigo mumbled. "Yuzu, we're going up to my room. If you need any help or anything…"
"Talk with your friends, Ichi-nii, then sleep… They're right. You're dead on your feet," she replied with a small, sweet smile. "Karin-chan… She'll be okay, Ichi-nii… You don't have to protect us all the time… Daddy and I will take care of her."
Ichigo smiled at the insight his youngest sibling had – it still surprised him, sometimes. "Come on… Just up the stairs… So," he paused when they entered, locking the door before stretching some strange material over it. "Dad and Yuzu are really bad about eavesdropping… This is some odd stuff that Renji gave me that's supposed to prevent the sound waves from passing through the door."
The Hylians nodded, giving one more strange gaze to the material before taking the seat Ichigo offered them at the foot of the orange-haired teen's bed.
"So…why'd you guys come over? It can't just be for the fun of it," the eldest Kurosaki sibling wondered.
Link, blunt and straight to the point, questioned, "You care for your Hollow, don't you, Ichigo?" in a gentle voice that was more statement than query.
Eyes wide and more alert than they had been the entire day, Ichigo simply stared at Link before soft laughter bubbled up in his throat. He barely stomped on the need to burst into hysterical cackles. "Are you serious, Link? Why would I-"
"Don't lie to me, Ichigo. These ears of ours are for more than only hearing our Goddesses."
"Don't'cha know ya can trust 'em, aibou?"
"Sh-Shiro!"
Zyne smirked. "You were overcompensating for something with a sword that huge, weren't you?"
The bleach-white, near-copy of Ichigo grinned, gold-on-black eyes flashing. "I like this one!" he informed with a little laugh as Link and Ichigo, both, rolled their eyes.
"How'd you know?"
"I knew what to look for when you spoke about him to us. I knew you couldn't hate him as much as you make everyone else believe."
Ichigo gave one of his very-rare smiles. "…That's good… I don't have to hide when I'm with you guys…"
"Quit worryin' 'bout what other people think, and ya wouldn't have'ta hide 'round anybody, aibou," Shiro murmured, unable to recall how many times he'd said that very same thing to the teen.
"I can't do that, Shiro! Soul Society would kill both of us!" Ichigo retorted, spinning up from his chair to face his Hollow. "…I can't do that to us…or to Dad, Karin, and Yuzu… I can't, Shiro…"
"I know, Ichigo…" the Hollow replied, leaning forward to softly kiss his Shinigami.
Once they had pulled away from each other, Zyne gave a smile and said, "At least you have us to talk to… Like you said, Ichigo: you don't have to hide around us."
"Something else is really nice, though…"
"What's that?" Link asked as his and his shadow's fingers twined together almost subconsciously.
Ichigo let another tiny smile curve his lips as he said, "Having another couple around who're two halves of the same soul."
(-)(-)(-)
End Chapter Three
Ugh… I didn't think that one was ever gonna end…but I couldn't just leave you guys hanging when they warped away or when Ichigo introduced himself. That would've pissed me off royally if I'd been a reader of this fic…so thankfully, I'm the writer. I can make it so that my readers don't get royally pissed at me. :P
Reviews make me happy!
