AN: Wow, this must be an all time record for me for most reviewers in one chapter! Thank you everyone so much for reviewing, it really makes a difference to know whether people like what I write, or on the other hand don't like my ideas. I hope this chapter will be as good as the last.
ayachan21: Here it is! The update you've been waiting for . I'm glad you like this enough to nag me about updating. No one's ever sent me two reviews for one chapter before ;;
Berlin'sBrownEyes: Can I quote you on that? It would be cool to have a quote
zeldaqueen: Thank you! I find writing in 1st person is a lot easier than writing in 3rd because I find it comes a lot more naturally.
LainieG304: I hope so, because it's going to be a mighty hard task to accomplish what I plan to achieve in this story. If I pull it off, I'm sure it will be as great as you hope it will be :D
MidnightStarfire: Thank you so much! I totally agree with you on the first chapter issue. The first chapter is everything!
Chapter 2 - Destiny's Love
Zelda's POV:
The Ocarina of Time…That had been the same pale blue instrument that had handed to me in my dream, and Link had just played the exact tune that had been blown from my lips upon those drifting clouds of nothing…
Consciousness was beginning to return to me as the darkness behind my eyes grew hundreds of shades lighter. Groggily I sat up; a weight in my head whirling in heavy circles before I blinked several times so my vision could adjust to the streaming light. I opened my eyes slowly, feeling the dull thump gradually dissolve into nothing inside my skull, but something all the more uncomfortable suddenly suffocated my senses as the sweltering volcanic heat of Death Mountain washed over me like a rushing tide of baptising flames. I wanted to breath, and inhale air before the heat drowned me, but I felt something mask the lower half of my face. My fingers scrambled around what felt like a soft material and as I looked down, my eyes widened and I suddenly felt scared hiding behind the jagged rocks that littered the stony ground. My fingers were bandaged, as were my arms, and I recognised the symbol on my front as one of the Sheikah that my attendant Impa had once told me about.
'What in Hyrule is going on?' I thought to myself. The urge to pull down the dull, white ruff clinging to my face was all too tempting, but for reasons unknown to myself at that time, I knew that I couldn't fall into temptation…
A sudden click reigned through the caverns that became quicker and louder as the seconds ticked by. It had been the sound I had been waiting for.
"We meet again Hero of Time." A voice said gently. I gasped at the sudden intrusion, although the material around my mouth muffled the noise that had escaped my lips. I looked around frantically to see whom the voice belonged to, but my legs began to move and I peeked through the dripping gaps of the rocks and spied the Hero that had been spoken of just moments before, run determined through the heat of the magma. Subconsciously I realised that it was Link, but my body automatically began moving again, leaving me with no control over the graceful and elegant steps that appeared to me as more of a dance than a walk. Words were then born into the air from my mouth, startling Link as he turned around, yet they belonged to the same voice that had spoken before.
"A feeling in the heart that becomes even stronger over time… The passion of friendship will soon blossom into a righteous power and through it, you will know which way to go…" The words kept coming from this unknown source of riddles and poetry, but I could feel the mysterious voice echoing from the depths of my mind.
As I spoke, I looked up at my companion, seeing that the hazy warmth had dirtied his golden skin slightly and his tawny hair drooped, falling into his piercing blue eyes, but nonetheless his entire aura was one of strength and power. In his gauntlet adorned hand I saw the legendary Master Sword, clutched tightly within his grasp. But my time was short with the Link as I soon drew back into the rising flames, out of sight once again. I heard him call after me with a name unfamiliar to me.
The scene suddenly shifted and the colours of the hot red walls and dark black crevasses merged into the peaceful blues of the sky and the earth tones of the grass. I was standing on a small pedestal of land high above the vast Lake Hylia; Guays crowing in the morning dawn as the waters sparkled and glittered in the sunlight. Link stood in front of me, his back turned, and again I began to speak these foreign words as I walked forward to join him watching the sunrise.
"Time passes, people move…Like a river's flow it never ends. A childish mind will turn to noble ambition. Young love will become deep affection…"
He turned to look at me and smiled, the water's glistening surface reflecting in his eyes. I thought that my cheeks were burning as I cautiously glanced at him through short strands of my blonde hair, but he was looking elsewhere. As the sun shone down on us, his light honey coloured hair waved back and forth in the breeze, full of life and vitality as he looked cheerfully out onto the lake, a smile gracing his lips. No longer was he the somewhat scrawny boy of seven years ago, but a fine and handsome young man…
'The future Hero of Hyrule.' I thought absent-mindedly, abruptly feeling myself blush once again underneath the white cloth. Deciding that my time here was over, my borrowed body retreated from Link's company and climbed the old, torn tree that lay alone on the island completely unnoticed. From the top branches I saw Link look frantically around, realising my absence, and I smiled. Closing my eyes, I dived from atop the tree and awaited the cool and refreshing waters to embrace me as I fell through the renewed air that Link had restored.
Just as I felt the cool liquid splash against my face, my eyes sprung open once again and I found myself back in my own room, the lilac covers strewn in heaps around me. Bringing a hand to my face, I half-expected the white ruff to be wrapped tightly around it, but I only felt the trembling of my own skin and the short breaths emanate from my mouth. I didn't know who I had been, or why Link had appeared in my dream, but it seemed so familiar to what Link had told me about his own dreams. He and I were there…taking part in this epic adventure that neither of us remembered. Yet while I slept…I had full knowledge of the past, present and the future, my host's memories and my own…
But that wasn't the only thing that was bothering me…
As I had gazed at him on the shores of Lake Hylia, I had felt my heart quicken, racing inside my chest. My breathing had become nervous and as I spoke my eyes fidgeted, not staying fixed in one place, but recklessly darted to and fro from Link to the ground beneath me feet. Somehow I knew he didn't know who I was and that I had passed off myself as a Sheikah, but the princess inside me gazed upon him fondly, eager for the time when I would reveal myself to Link. The longing that had been alive inside my heart frightened me for now, I couldn't think of Link anymore than a dear friend whom I had literally grown up with over the long years. He was my best friend, a kind but timid young man…not this courageous hero whom I supposedly…loved.
But then again, I could remember that day when I had first met Link as if it were yesterday. Something in my heart had told me that this boy was special, and even to this day, I never truly understood why. Impa had told me many times that Link had a destiny linked with the Royal Family, but I hadn't pushed the matter for in my heart I knew that she was right. Over the years I had forgotten the exact reason why Link had been accepted into the castle, but then it hadn't mattered. He had no family and no home, and nothing except the Great Deku Tree's advice to seek me for help.
'Why am I wasting time thinking about the past?' I thought angrily. Finding I was still in my dress, although creased from my sleep, I rushed outside and ran as fast as I could toward Link's chambers. My thoughts were flying wildly along with me as I wondered if Link had been there too, whether he'd been inside the other Link's body, what he had felt… and so many questions were burning on my tongue. As I rounded a corner, I suddenly collided with someone and I hastily apologised, not turning to even see whom I had so clumsily crashed into. But my hand was caught, pulling me backward a few steps.
"Zelda," the hand's owner said and my head jerked upward, my eyes holding a thousand questions.
"Link!" I gasped. "What just happened? Do you have the same dream too? Were you there like I was?" I said without pausing for a breath, my hands unconsciously finding their way to Link's arms where they held his sleeves tightly within my fingers.
"Princess, calm down!" he said, trying to hush the babbling sentences running out of my lips. "D-Did you…It was you wasn't it? There, at Death Mountain and Lake Hylia, it was you." His voice became quieter and quieter as he looked into my eyes, finding the answers he wanted.
"Yes," I said, barely a whisper, as my heart began to quicken. Something in his innocent stare was driving my thoughts mad with unspoken confusion, and I felt exposed and vulnerable in this new found stupidity. I suddenly realised that his hands too were holding my arms as I felt them tremble for a mere second. But I couldn't tear my eyes away from his, however much I wanted to look down. His blue pools of uncertainty were locked with mine in this invisible fortress, silent words dashing back and forth between us. Despite the fear building rapidly in my heart, trying to block nearly everything that was happening, I could see clearly that he too had felt this weird and alien desire that I had felt for him in my dream…
His breathing was becoming more laboured, as was mine. I suddenly felt his hands claim a firm hold my shoulders and I gasped, somewhat afraid of what was about to happen next. As I continued to hold his gaze, he now asked the questions with his eyes, and felt utterly powerless to do anything but nod my head ever so slightly. Then cautiously, as if to give me another chance in the matter, Link moved his head slowly down toward mine. Even though I wasn't tired, my eyes began to droop, and despite being completely awake, those feelings of longing and love flourished and blossomed inside my heart at that moment like a blooming flower. My grip on his sleeves relaxed slightly, but Link made suddenly stopped in his tracks, hurt flashing across his eyes as he withdrew, inches from my face.
Before I knew what was truly happening, Link had turned to leave. But I grabbed his hand, confidence flowering, and pulled him round to face me as I leaned up and touched his lips with my own in one swift movement. They were warm, ablaze with long, hidden emotions that would have never dared to surface before now. I felt that they had been dormant for some time, sleeping restlessly underneath the earth of Link's heart, wanting nothing more than to sprout and grow.
Leaving the comfort of his proximity I drew away, looking up into his startled but happy eyes. I smiled, my hands resting on his taut shoulders. I didn't care that only a few minutes ago I had only thought of Link as a friend. This love, I felt was here to stay, and thinking about it more and more, I was beginning to see from my dreams exactly why I had fallen in love with Link.