***....?

(We interrupt this usual author's note for a brief scene in Authoress Land, also known as SZ's brain.)

April: Hn.

SailorZelda can be seen running amuck and laughing her head off in a rather scary fashion.

April: Yep, she's finally lost it.

SailorZelda: *Cackles*

April: She'd like to tell you lovely readers that these next four chapters, which she has been looking forward to writing for a long time, are going to be exceedingly interesting. Of course, she has been on a rather sadistic streak lately, so...

SailorZelda: MEMORIES!!!!

April: *Blink* No, don't even ask...

SailorZelda: *turns creepy* You didn't need to tell them that. *Cackles*

* * *

"So what is the point?" Link asked her.

She blinked. "I'm not sure, exactly."

Link started at her almost incredulously.

"Beside saving the world and all that. I mean, the obvious."

"Ehe, yes, of course beside the obvious...."

'Good going, April.'

But Link suddenly looked like he was trying to figure out what he had just asked her, as if he hadn't been the one that had voiced the words. She was curious, as well, as to why he had asked the question in the first place. Her immediate thought was why was she the one that had to do this, instead of Zelda. But of course, that was silly. She hoped he wasn't having second thoughts about the whole 'quest' idea.

"I think the point is that, seeing as I've seen something through my dreams, Fate has pretty much pegged us. We have to do this because Fate and I don't want Ganonjerk ruling Hyrule. But basically? Because we have to. You mess with Destiny, you're screwed."

'Now where did that come from?' Two identical trains of thought.

There was a silence.

April was the first to break the tension. "I think these visions are going to my head..."

She laughed and was joined by the young future-hero.

"I didn't mean to sound like I didn't want to help you, Zelda," Link said, almost apologetic.

She shrugged it off. "I can't expect you to believe everything I tell you."

"Oh, yes you can. You're royalty."

A nervous giggle.

"Yeah, that..."

"And beside," Link began. "Getting two rocks sounds a lot easier than defeating some deformed spider to remove a curse from a deity."

"If you only new the half of it..."

She stopped herself, while Link, not exactly sure what the Princess meant by that, was suddenly not as sure of himself as he had been a minute earlier.

Their 'interesting' conversation, however, was interrupted as Ruto walked through the crowd to make a "crowd" of the current group of two.

'Ruto...'

*Ruto.*

A blink.

"Hello?"

A hand waving in front of her face.

"Oh, yeah."

A finished melody. A stopped waterfall. Jump, and then-

"I asked you what the point was of having me hold the Ocarina for you, Zelda. You didn't answer."

She blinked again, and answered slowly. "Just kind of spaced out there..."

'Yeah...'

That memory had been of the first day she met him. That first day when she had gotten one of the few private moments with Link at the banquet. Vaiya's stated question of "What's the point...?" had lead her mind down memory paths that she had forgotten were there. Because when she thought about him, it hurt.

Currently, though, April and Vaiya were walking down the short, dark pathway that lead into Zora's domain. Vaiya's visions had lead her to believe that the Zora Princess, Ruto, was their next target: The Sage of Water. April, of course, already knew this. She also knew that this would involve asking the headstrong Ruto for her help.

But she was looking forward to seeing the fish-girl nonetheless.

As they reached the end of the path, April was most impressed with the scenery, and showed this in a rather eloquent.

"Holy crap!" she shrieked in awe, staring at the gigantic empty space that was Zora's Domain. "You could fit freakin' Desert Colossus in here!!"

April thus proceeded to run to the edge of the path, at which point she looked over the edge to the giant bowl of water below.

"Helloooo!" she called out childishly, giggling slightly when she heard the echo.

But what she didn't expect was an echo that was actually a response to her call.

"Hello?" said the nearby Zora who was standing two yards or so behind Vaiya. She Seer was startled into whirling around, while April nearly fell off the edge.

She regained her composure, however, as she turned around to greet the new voice.

"Ah, yeah. We're here because.... I knew you were there..... Hi!" the Princess stuttered.

Vaiya simply looked at her, unbelieving in the fact that the heiress of Hyrule was such a ditz.

The Zora on the other hand, walked forward to examine the two intruders skeptically. "I do not recognize either of you. You must have some business with the Zora, otherwise you would not have come here. Am I correct?"

April found the half fish's speech and attitude rather annoying, but chose not to voice this thought.

"Ah, we request an audience with your Princess," Vaiya began, respectfully. "I-"

But before she could continue, the Zora interrupted her. "What is your business with Princess Ruto?"

At this point, April fumed a bit. "Hey, if you have such a problem with us being here, then let me talk to the King. I'm sure he'll listen to me, after all, I am Z-"

"Zelda!!"

This new voice was accompanied by a half-girl-half-fish who ran into April, hugging her and nearly knocking them both over at the same time.

While April tried to catch her balance for the second time in five minutes, Ruto held the Hylian Princess at arms length and looked her over.

"You're alive! And taller than me, finally!"

April smiled, glad to be so warmly received by at least someone in this watery place.

"Ruto!" she exclaimed. "It's so great so see you! People I know are so scare these days..."

As she trailed off, Ruto began to speak excitedly. "But how are you!? You look so much more mature! We hadn't heard at all anything that had happened in Castle Town, only that the Gerudo invaded! My father an I worried for your lives!"

"It is true that the Gerudo invaded the Castle, Princess Ruto," Vaiya stated. "It is also true, however, that at this point in time, the Royal Family is Zelda only, and Castle Town is deserted."

Ruto's face fell.

Not wishing to damped her mood too much, April began explaining their motives for coming to the Domain.

"Actually, Ruto, we're here because we came to give a possible hope to you and your people."

"Really?" Ruto asked, perking up again. "Do tell!"

"Well..." she began, laughing a bit nervously. "I'm not sure how the Zora are about this, but it involves a bit of magic-"

"Oh, magic!" the Zora Princess exclaimed. "What could we possibly do that involves magic? I don't even know any! But go on!"

April blinked and started again, dully noting that the irritating Zora who had first greeted them was still standing off to the side, behind Vaiya. "So, you know a bit about Ganondorf, right?"

The Zora Princess's face scrunched up at the mention of the name, but before she got a change to say anything, April continued.

"Well, he was the one behind the Gerudo invasion, obviously. And my... assistants and I have been lead to believe that he wants to rule Hyrule, and maybe more. I haven't seen the Castle, and really have no clue what is going on there now, but that isn't the point." She took a deep breath. "Okay, the Temples in Hyrule have powers that not many are aware of. If we keep them safe while there is no one to awaken their Sages - You know about the Sages, right?"

"Of course, I am one," Ruto said, as if it were obvious.

April started, eyes widening a bit. "Really?"

"Yeah. I've known for a while now. My mother told me the legend of the ancient Sages, and she told me that she had a feeling that they would be awakened again soon." She paused, as if searching for the words. "I had a dream about... something I don't really remember, but I have a strong suspicious that I am a Sage."

"Oh," April replied simply.

She turned to Vaiya. "She seems to know so much, already... Can I tell her about-?"
"Go ahead," Vaiya said, also intrigued by the seemingly informed Zora.

"Okay, Ruto. Since you know that, you know that each Sage has a Temple. Well, these Temples need protecting until they can be purged of evil by the Hero of Time, so the Sages can be awakened." She took another breath. "And since the Hero of Time isn't around yet, we need to wait. The Hero of Time is Link."

As soon as the name was mentioned, Ruto's eyes nearly doubled in size.

"Link's alive!?!?" She seemed to grab onto this piece of information. "Where is he!?"

"Well, there's a problem there..." April was afraid of crushing the Princess's spirits again.

"Link is currently imprisoned in the Sacred Realm," Vaiya said. "He will not awaken yet for approximately four years from this point. The Temples need protecting, and we're the ones to do it."

At this, there was a fire in Ruto's eyes. "Then what do we need to do!?"

"Go to the Water Temple." At this, however, April winced. "Which is on the other side of Hyrule... oh, no..."

"No problem," Ruto stated. "There is a passageway right over there." Ruto pointed in a vague direction before turning back to the intrigued pair. "It'll take us less than a minute. We can leave at once!"

As she turned to lead them down to the water, however, someone cleared their voice behind the Princess. The young Zora girl turned around, a frightening expression on her face as she addressed the Zora. "Yes?" she said, almost cryptically.

The Zora fidgeted a bit before answering. "Highness, I do not think the King will approve of-"

"I don't care if my father approves!" she interrupted with a wave of her hand. "Go and tell him that I'll be back by dinner!"

"But, Highness..."

Ruto fixed the unfortunate Zora with a death glare, and he was silent.

"Onward!" Ruto exclaimed, and was followed by a bewildered April and Vaiya.

They arrived at the great bowl of water in a few minutes time, seeing as they couldn't simply dive over the edge into the water as many Zora usually did. There was a small stretch of land that the three young women were standing on, and underneath this was the passageway Ruto had mentioned.

Unfortunately for the two non-fish, this passage was under water.

Ruto started downward for a minute, a thoughtful expression on her face. "You can hold your breath, right?" she asked.

April sighed. "Yeah."

"Due to the fact that we have no other choice in the ways of getting to Lake Hylia, this will have to do..." Vaiya conceded.

"Um, okay. Hold on then..."

Ruto made as if to jump into the water, and the other girls followed suit. A moment before April hit the water, she suddenly realized that it was going to be cold indeed. Although, even when she did sink to the bottom, she didn't have time to contemplate the temperature.

She flailed around madly, trying to see around the billowing clock that was currently blocking her view of the passage. She felt Ruto grab her hand, and she was pulled in a direction she hoped was not the wrong one. The sudden pulling sensation from every angle cued her mind to the fact she was indeed going through the warp hole.

A certain phrase crossed her mind an instant before a bright flash of light assaulted her eyes, though she oddly enough could not remember where she had heard it.

'How far down does the rabbit hole go...?'

She was sucking in a breath of fresh air before she realized what was going on. She felt the other who girls moving around her, and suddenly found herself standing in waist deep water as she tried to clear her eyes of the water are obtrusive hair presently in her face.

"That's lovely," she muttered, as she slipped out of the dreadfully heavy, soaking wet cloak, revealing that even her Sheikah garb underneath was completely drenched. "Yeah, and it's not enough that we have to travel underwater to get here, oh no..." Her mutterings became darker by the moment. "And I have to be wet and not be able to walk in my so-called disguise..."

It was about six in the evening by that point, which meant that the sunset was coming soon. April hoped at least something she was wearing would be dried by then. Of course, Vaiya didn't fare much better in the incident. Ruto was lucky in the fact that she wasn't wearing anything that could get wet.

As the three stood together at the side of the lake, they turned almost choreographic to Lake Hylia.

"Well that's interesting," Vaiya said, after a moment of silence.

April was the next one to venture to speak. "Now, I don't remember ever being here before, but does that look wrong to you?"

Wrong it was. The lake looked like a glass half drained of liquid.

"Wha...?" was the only thing Ruto could think of to say. She looked to be in shock.

"Now, what do you think is going on here," April said sarcastically. But before she gave anyone a change to answer her inquiry, she continued. "I can only think of one idiot that could be behind this. Ganondorf and his hoard of minions."

"There is no time to loose, then," Vaiya said. "If we don't perform that seal now..."

She trailed off as she looked toward the water, which could actually be seen to be lowering in level. It wasn't quick at all. But the fact that, to April at least, it looked like someone had taken a giant straw to Lake Hylia, was a bit unnerving to all of them.

"I'm guessing this has something to do with whatever creatures Ganon has placed in the Water Temple," Vaiya said with a sigh. "This has to have taken weeks to get down to this level."

"We can stop it though, right!?" Ruto said, speaking for the first time in a few minutes.

"...I'm not exactly sure what the Seal can do to aid this situation, I'm afraid."

April turned purposefully toward the lone island at the lake's center, which held the stone carving they would need for the Seal.

"Should we get started then?"

There was no voiced answer, but a mutual consent between the three as they walked toward the bride to the island.

"You guys should remind me not to get completely worked up over these things," Ruto said, almost comically. "Because then I go doing rash things, like getting myself swallowed by a giant fish deity or nearly drowning the Princess of Hyrule." The last bit was added with a smirk.

"Bite your tongue," April said acidly.

* * *

The Zora King had indeed not approved of his beloved Princess venturing out of his domain at random hours of the evening, only to come back hours later and with two soaking wet escorts whom he did not recognize. But when he had learned that his 'precious Ruto' was safe and sound, he had turned immediately to thank the two mystery girls.

Not only did he thank them, but he invited them to stay for dinner. As the Zora usually didn't sit down to eat, as other races usually did, they accompanied Ruto in sitting on the raised platform before King Zora. A few Zora brought out plates upon plates of dishes, a few of which still had things moving on them. Said plates April refused to touch.

Right before they left, the two Princess exchanged a brief farewell.

"I'm going to miss you, again," Ruto said.

"Yeah..." April agreed. "You sure that you will be okay?"

Ruto scoffed. "I can handle myself."

April grinned. "I thought so."

"You'll have to tell me when our dear Link wakes up."

April smiled. "I wouldn't dream of forgetting."

In the back of her mind, she was sympathizing with Link.

By the time the pair were on their way out of the Domain, they were quite fat and happy, and were for once not having an insightful discussion on the ways Hyrule worked. There was a peaceful quite between the two almost-sisters.

When they had gone back through the Shadow Temple, which still gave April nightmares, and the Mirror, they were both extremely tired from the long day. Both could feel the drain in magic and energy, and April didn't think she could handle anything until she had had a long night's sleep.

Of course, Fate isn't always so kind.

As soon as April's head touched the her pillow, she reared back up in pure horror.

"Oh, no!!" she called out, unintentionally.

Oddly enough, it was Sheik who first came running into her room.

"What!?" he asked her, afraid of the cause of her sudden outburst.

The Princess turned to him, eyes wide with fear. "She isn't going to be there!!"

Sheik blinked, looking her over to see that she was safe for the moment. "What's going on, now?" he asked, a bit less panicked.

"What's wrong?" came Impa's voice from beyond the doorway.

"The next Sage, Impa!" April continued. "Nabooru! She isn't going to BE there!!!"

* * *

***(We now return to the scary scene of the authoress's mind.)

April: *dryly* Well, that was enjoyable, wasn't it?

SailorZelda: *cackles*

April: WILL YOU STOP DOING THAT!!??!??!?? *ahem* Anyway, she wanted to end the chapter like this because she thought it was a bit to calm. She's having too much fun writing this upcoming part of the story, let me tell you... The next three chapters for you guys should be fun. She also used a bit of a different style in this chapter-

April winces because of the crash caused by SZ knocking over her gigantic Maneki Neko statue.

April: ...and apparently is still out of it...

SailorZelda: I SHALL CONQUER THE ONE-SHOT! CONQUER, I TELL YOU!!!! *Cackles*

April. -_-() I don't even wanna know. I guess she thinks she has to talk in capitol letters.

Ja, minna-san!

~ SailorZelda's unfortunate brainchild April, signing off for her