A/N: So sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up, but you know I had exams and then Graduation and then work so it took me that long to write this all up, but it's longer then the others so that makes up for a little bit of the wait right? Anyway thanks again for all those who reviewed, it kept me going during exam week smiles Well here's hoping you like this one!
Misty tried to focus on the words in front of her but no matter how hard she tried her mind kept drifting back to the Fire Temple. Hearing laughter erupt from down below she let a smile slip onto her lips.
When they had finally exited the Goron Cavern the sun was just beginning to set, so Navi had suggested they just stay the night in Kakariko village. Remembering the house nearest the graveyard belonged to the cucco lady Link had helped as a kid; they had sought her there and had been greeted warmly.
After getting cleaned up, Link had stayed on the ground level to joke around with the other's while Misty had moved upstairs to sit at the table and read to get her mind off what had happened at the temple.
Hearing the door open, Misty stood up to peer towards it just in time to catch a small glimpse of Link as he left. Frowning some she closed the book she had been attempting to read and pushed back her chair. Pausing for a moment she moved as quietly as she could down the stairs, slipping along the wall and out the door without anyone noticing her.
Once outside she walked down the steps and past an abandoned house, all the while looking for Link. As she passed the archery building and turned the corner, she spotted him standing next to the well in front of the windmill. Stopping again, she folded her arms across her stomach as she observed him.
Like her he was still dressed in his heat resistant tunic, unlike before though he carried not a single weapon, no belt so that the tunic hung loosely over him, and no hat to hide a fairy so she knew he was alone. Taking in a deep silent breath she made her way towards him. She was a few steps away from him when Link turned around and gave a brief smile. He watched as Misty walked up and stopped close to him, and when she looked up at him he met her gaze for gaze and that same odd feeling from before washed over him by being so near.
"Link, why did you do it? Why did you jump after me?" She asked and he could tell that the question meant a lot to her.
"I don't know." He said honestly, placing one hand on his hip, the other moving to run through his hair. "I guess I just didn't think you would be able to handle the pain from the fall."
At those words Misty let out a bark of laughter shaking her head. "We both know I could have handled it, after all I was shot by that phantoms Ganon's dark power."
"Yeah I know, I guess…" He started, leaving his hands fall to his side again as he looked deep into her eyes. "I guess I just didn't want you to get hurt. When you called out my name and I saw the fear in your eyes I reacted without thinking."
"Oh." Misty said lowering her gaze and blushing some, secretly thanking the darkness.
"Why don't we go fishing tomorrow?"
At the very random question Misty raised her eyes back up to him. At first she thought that he was only joking, but there was a sincere look in his eyes.
"Sure." She said giving a soft smile.
"Alright then, we had better get back up to the house since we have to get up early tomorrow morning." Link said moving towards her.
"Oh great." Misty said turning with him as they made their way back towards the house.
"What? It'll be fun." Link said laughing again as he casually placed an arm around her shoulders.
"Of course, because I love getting up that early after going through a dungeon." She said sarcastically, too caught up with the joking and the teasing to really notice Link pulling her a bit closer.
Misty blinked a couple times as she made her way down the steps that lead from Kakariko village back to Hyrule Field, Link already waiting for her at the bottom seated on Epona. As she moved she tugged at her green shorts, both she and Link had changed back to the green since their red clothing was ripped from going through the dungeon, and mumbled under her breath about what time it was as she allowed Link to pull her up behind him.
The sun hadn't even risen as they rode away from the village. As they past over the small stone bridge where Link had first found Misty, his gaze lingered out on the water for a moment before going straight again.
Misty didn't pay attention to her surroundings in the least. Her eyes were dead set on the ground, hands lightly held together around Link's waist, head against his strong back, watching the ground pass by. She watched the grass roll past, saw the edge of a giant boulder, dirt path, corner of a fence, and then more dirt path.
"Better hold on tighter." Link said dragging Misty from her absent state of mind.
Sitting up straight she noticed that they were nearing two large fences, one behind the other, blocking the way to another section of Hyrule. As Epona jumped into a run, Misty wrapped her arms tightly around Link's waist, keeping her back slightly bent. Just as Epona leapt for the first gate, Misty looked to the right at a dark dirt place leading from the main field and wondered where it lead. Her thoughts were jarred though when Epona hit the ground and leaped once more for the second gate. As the horse and riders hit the ground again Link turned slightly in the saddle to speak to Misty.
"You'll love Lake Hylia; it's one of our small wonders."
Misty just smiled back as they topped a small hill, a smile that slipped off to wide eye shock at what greeted the riders.
Lake Hylia was no more, almost completely drained of all her water, storm clouds formed over head, and rain starting to fall to the ground. Link stared at the place in disbelief as he slowly moved Epona towards where the waters edge used to be. Looking around through the rain, he nudged her to go farther, passing the stone structure that lead to Zora's Domain. As he was halfway across the bottom of the lake, he paused and turned his head slightly to speak to Misty again.
"Can you go back to that structure we just passed and go see how the Zora's are? That opening at the bottom will lead you right to their domain."
Nodding her head Misty slipped off the back of Epona and back tracked as he move forward. Even before she got there she knew something was terribly wrong, for the opening he had told her would be there seemed to be frozen over. Her fears were confirmed when she reached it and placed her hand against the cold, hard, thick ice.
"Link?" She called out gently, and had to repeat his name louder for him to hear her. As soon as he rode up behind her she turned to face him. "I have a really bad feeling about this." She said as he jumped off Epona, taking the three steps that brought him to her.
He looked down at her and rose a hand to gently brush away a couple of wet strands of hair that had plastered to the side of her face, giving her a small reassuring smile, but then his eyes focused behind her to see the ice blocking the entrance to Zora's Domain. A wave of unease washed over him as he stared at it, but he gave himself a mental shake when he felt Misty shift. Looking down at her again his expression was grim, and she simply nodded her head, knowing that they had to go to Zora's Domain.
Turning around Link remounted Epona, pulling Misty up behind him. Without looking back they rode the way they had come, and again Misty seemed to ignore the whole trip, or rather most of it. She noticed when Epona pulled left and she looked around to see that they had come to the entrance of Kokiri forest.
"Why are we here?" Misty asked as Link jumped off Epona and lifted his arms up to help her off.
"I haven't been through the direst path to Zora's Domain in a long time. I don't want to bring you through there without knowing what's happened to the Zora's." He answered as she slide from the saddle and into his arms. Misty opened her mouth as if to argue, but he held up one hand to stop her, the other still around her waist holding her close.
"I know you've been through two dungeons without my knowing what was there, but the path was hard enough to go through seven years ago. There are cliffs to jump off of and rivers to jump over and wade across, I just don't want to take a chance, I need you in the next dungeon." He finished and smiled. When Misty closed her mouth again he took that as a sign of acceptance and took her hand and led her across the bridge from Hyrule field into Kokiri forest.
As soon as they entered it he pulled her to the left and up towards the Lost Woods again. This time when they went through Misty could remember the way they were currently taking as the same way they had taken to the Forest Temple before. They came out into the area where they had first met a forest kid who had spoken about a girl named Saria, but instead of leading her through the arch way, Link walked her to the edge of the small, deep pond she had seen before.
"You see that opening in the stone down there?" Link asked her and continued when she nodded. "We need to swim through there, that will take us right next to the path to Zora's Domain, think you can do it?"
At Link's question Misty just gave him an 'oh please' look. Walking to the very edge of the water, she gave a small leap and dove almost the whole way to the bottom. Giving a few powerful swipes of her arms, she was through the opening. The water shimmered around her as she went through a small tunnel, and then suddenly it grew cold.
It was only a moment before she was through, kicking up for the surface. As soon as she broke through the water she noticed that it was snowing. Moving to the edge she pulled herself from the water, stepping from the small alcove the deep pond entered into, and along a small rock path that ran along in front of a waterfall. Stepping along the path she stopped when the ground became stone and looked down at the writing that was there.
"It says: 'Sleepless waterfall. The flow of this waterfall serves the King of Hyrule. When the King slumbers, so too do these falls.'" Link said coming up next to her. Eyes on the waterfall, he pulled out his Ocarina and played a soft lullaby. The water pouring down the falls began to slow almost to a stop and a path right in front of them appeared.
Link jumped across the small gap between the rock path and the path leading behind the waterfall and then turned to help Misty across before the two of them entered Zora's Domain. Once they were passed the cave walls Link stopped dead. The whole place was frozen solid, snow falling from the open cave where another great waterfall fell into a large lake. Misty gazed around and didn't even need to see Link's face to know his pain. She had often come here in her dreams, it had been such a beautiful place and the Zora's had looked so graceful swimming around.
When Link started moving across the rock path that led up to the throne room Misty followed in silence. They walked slowly up the steps dreading what they would find, and their emotions were given reason for what they were when they topped the stairs.
"He's frozen!" Link said wide eyed as he moved up the steps of the small platform where others could address the King of the Zora's. The king himself sat where he had seven years ago atop a small waterfall that was fed by the large lake behind the throne room where the Zora's guardian Lord JabuJabu lived. The King was frozen stiff, encased in what appeared to be some form of red ice that formed something like a diamond shape around him.
As Link stared hopelessly as him, Misty moved along the rock path to the right of the platform, slowly moving upward until she came out near the King. Walking over to him, she extended her hand out to touch the ice. Link suddenly spotted her and what she was about to do and his face paled.
"Don't touch him!" He cried out, knowing from experience that when touching ice, it usually meant freezing yourself at the same time. Turning around he dashed up the path that lead up to the small waterfall and came out right behind her, amazed that she wasn't frozen.
"The ice….It's not cold." Misty said and turned around to look at him. Link moved next to her, placing his own hand on the ice, and sure enough, it wasn't cold under his touch, in fact it was rather warm.
"The waters open." At Misty's next words Link turned to watch as she slowly moved towards the area where Lord JabuJabu lived, her feet starting to slosh through the water.
Moving out behind her, they made their way through the small tunnel and then out into the open where the guardian used to live, Link making his way slowly up the stairs of the dais where he had first met the fish. Where he used to be was now a large ice berg, and Link slowly made his way up that also, careful not to slip on the ice, Misty followed close behind. Most of the lake was still open, with ice bergs here and there. Looking out across it he noticed a cave opening in the wall that he had never been able to reach as a kid.
"The ice bergs lead to that cave." Misty said, having noticed the same thing as Link. He in turn simple nodded and smiled at her.
"One…two…."
"Three!" She shouted out the last number with him, and both jumped from the higher ice berg down to one of the lower ones.
As soon as their feet hit the ice, the ice berg began tilting their way. Slipping some, Link shoved Misty as hard as he could towards the center of the ice to try and balance it out while trying to catch his own footing and stay on the ice. Misty slide across the ice, and as she did so, she took out an arrow and jabbed it down into the ice to slow herself down. Once she had come to a stop and the berg began to balance out she let out a sigh of relief, and then noticed one of the purple octopus things like she had seen in the Forest Temple was staring at her from a couple feet away. It jumped out of the water and shot out what looked like a yellow rock at her. Giving a small cry Misty brought up her arm and closed her eyes on instinct. There was a loud thwack of something breaking apart, and upon opening her eyes Misty saw Link's arm up in front of her with the shield, blocking her from the attack.
"Keep moving." Link ordered wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her to her feet. The two of them jumped from ice berg to ice berg, rolling and dodging the flying yellow rocks the octorok shot at them. Eventually they reached the cave opening, Misty slightly out of breath, and they moved into the cavern.
Misty moved ahead of Link coming close to the corner when Link called to her.
"Be careful."
Misty paused a moment to call back to him.
"Yeah yeah I know." She said and turned around just as a boulder passed in front of her, crashing into a wall. "Oh my God boulder!" She cried and jumped back. Link came up behind her laughing, though he silenced himself when she glared back at him.
"Sorry." He apologized and moved in front of her so she wouldn't get another surprise. They moved carefully along the corridor, the floor covered in snow, being careful to avoid falling icicles as they moved. Finally they came to a large room, the floor completely covered in ice. In the center of the room was some sort of ice sculpture and two spider things that Misty had learned were called Tektite's.
"I'll handle this." Link said and slide into the room. He took one swipe at one of the Tektite's when the statue opened its mouth and blew freezing air onto Link, turning him into a frozen block of ice.
"Oh my gosh Link!" Misty cried. "What is that thing?" She asked Navi as she slid into the room firing arrows at the Tektite's and taking them out.
"It's a Frezzard! Watch out for its freezing breath! Destroy it completely before it revives." Navi answered as Link broke through his ice prison. Quickly he cut through the frezzard before looking back to Misty.
"Thanks." He said.
"No problem, we're a team. I took out the Tektite's and you took out Mr. Giant Freezy." She answered laughing some as they moved on.
The rest of the cavern was very much the same thing, the two of them going through rooms of ice and working as a team. Misty had scared Link at one point, putting her hand through blue fire, but when she pointed out that it was actually cool, Link bottled it and discovered they could melt the red ice with it.
"When we get back to the Zora King I bet we can unthaw him with it." Misty said as they moved down a long corridor.
"Probably can." Link agreed as they moved to a door made of ice. "And now I believe we've made it to the end." Opening the door they moved into another snow covered room, but the walls were the most beautiful thing Misty had ever seen. Moving up to one she placed her hand against it. It was pure black, but over it were snow shaped designs with crystal blues. Hearing a bit of commotion, she turned around to see Link dealing the final blow to a Stalfos, and then a chest appeared.
"How…did I miss that?" She asked as Link opened the chest and pulled out a pair of iron boots.
"The walls enchanted you." A familiar voice answered, and both turned around to see Shiek.
"We meet again Link." He said and the two walked towards him as he continued. "If you came here to meet the Zora's, you wasted your time…This is all there is…With one exception, the Zora's are now sealed under this thick ice sheet…I managed to rescue the Zora princess from under the ice, but…she left to head for the Water Temple…This ice is created by an evil curse…The monster in the Water Temple is the source of the curse. Unless you shut off the source, this ice will never melt. If you have courage enough to confront the danger and save the Zora's, I will teach you the melody that leads to the Temple. 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, the clear waters surface reflects growth. Now listen to the Serenade of Water to reflect upon yourself."
Pulling out his harp Shiek played a gorgeous Serenade with Link joining in. The melody was so soft and sang of remembrance, but again it was over all too soon for Misty.
"Link, I'll see you again." Shiek said backing up and again vanishing.
"Well, out we go then." Link said and the two turned and left through a new path that Link could reach by using the iron boots by means of a water tunnel.
Climbing their way back up to the Zora's throne room, Misty stood next to the King while Link stood on the dais.
"Hope this works." Misty said and opened a bottle of the blue fire, spilling it onto him. The flame fell out and licked up the red ice, and soon it slowly began to melt. They waited a few tense seconds when the ice disappeared before the King slowly began to move again.
"Oh—I've come back to life!" He cried and then spotted Link. "Was it you who saved me? Don't be nervous! It looks like you have a hard time breathing under water. As an expression of my gratitude, I grant you this tunic. With this, you won't choke under water." King Zora finished and handed over a blue tunic to Link.
"Thank you, but what about my friend? She was the one who found the means to save you." Link asked as he took the tunic and pointed to Misty as she came up to stand next to him.
"Oh well….go see the shop keeper and tell him to make her a costume suit. She has the figure to make a wonderful outfit." He said smiling to Misty.
Misty opened her mouth as if to say something but Link wrapped an arm around her shoulders and spun her around, calling a quick thanks. She looked up at him wondering what had gotten into him, but when she noticed that his jaw was somewhat clenched, eyes straight ahead with his arm firmly around her, she thought it was best to let it go and simply smiled and turned to look forward again as they entered the shop.
"King Zora requests that you make her an outfit with the special Zora material." Link said rather curtly.
"It shall be done, please come this way." The Zora said bowing, and lead Misty to a room off to the side.
"Someone's jealous that King Zora noticed Misty had a nice figure." Navi said flying out from under his hat.
"Navi, stuff in." Link said snatching off his green hat and picking up the blue one, opening it up and pointing for her to get in it.
About four hours later Link was really starting to get impatient and was silently cursing that, for the Zora's sake, the outfit had better look darn good. As if they had heard his thoughts, the Zora stepped back into the room and held his arms out wide.
"Presenting Mistress Misty." He said and then bowed as Misty stepped into view.
She was dressed in a pair of skin tight pants that hung low on her hips and ended at the knees, her shoes an odd sight, flat and were flipper's that Link assumed was for speed in the water. Her top was cut up right to under her breast, thin straps going over her shoulders to the back, and as always, she had fingerless gloves that ran up to her mid upper arm.
"All in blue to match you." She said stepping forward.
"So true." Link laughed, having already changed into his blue tunic. "Time to go to that Water Temple." Moving out of the shop they moved along the rock path and out behind the waterfall. Link pulled out the Ocarina and played the serenade of water as Misty wrapped her arms around him, and the three of them were whisked away in a blur of blue sparkles.
They appeared on the island across from the entrance of Lake Hylia and carefully moved down the side of it, falling into the bit of water that was left of the lake. Link slipped on the iron boots so that he sunk down to the bottom, Misty using the flippers of her shoes to stay with him. Taking out his hook shot he pointed it up to the very top of the gate they found at the bottom where a little key seemed to be placed. Hitting it with the hook shot, it slide out of its place and moved upwards, at the same time the gate slowly began to open. Nodding to Misty they made their way inside and up. Pulling themselves out of the water and onto stone, they moved into the temple.
In the center there was a large structure with three different levels, water coming right up to the first level.
"I can hear someone." Misty said tilting her head to the side. "This way Link." She said and dove into the water, swimming down to the bottom and towards an opening to the right.
Link simply shrugged equipped his iron boots again and followed down. Walking to the corridor they moved through it, turning a couple corners, Misty holding onto his arm to keep herself from floating up. As they turned one last corner Link stopped and gasped. There, standing all grown up was Princess Ruto of the Zora's.
"Oh….you…If I'm right…Link!?" Ruto said smiling at him. "You're Link, aren't you?" At his nod she continued on. "It's me, your fiancée, Ruto! Princess of the Zora's! I never forgot the vows we made to each other seven years ago! You're a terrible man to have kept me waiting for these seven long years…But now is not the time to talk about love…I'm sure you've already seen it! Zora's Domain—totally frozen! A young man named Shiek saved me from under the ice…But my father and the other Zora's have not…yet…. I want to save them all! I want to save Zora's domain! You! You have to help me! This is a request from me, the woman who is going to be your wife! Link, you have to help me destroy the evil monster in the temple ok?! Inside the Water Temple, there are three places where you can change the water level. I'll lead the way, follow me, quickly!!" And with that Ruto swam up through an opening in the ceiling, Link following after her.
Misty on the other hand had let go of his arm when the word 'fiancée' had been spoken. She stayed there, one hand up against the ceiling to steady herself and keep from floating up. She felt as if she had just been stabbed in the heart, Link was engaged! Even worse, it was to a fish lady! She was still floating there dumbfounded when Link was there in front of her again, pulling her upwards with him.
As soon as they broke the surface of the water she pulled away from him and climbed out of the water, moving as far away from him as she could.
"Misty before you say anything I'm not actually engaged to her." Link said coming up behind her.
"Well it sure sounded like you were to me." She said bitterly.
"It was seven years ago. She had a spiritual stone I needed but she said it was like the Zora's engagement ring. I was young and I just wanted that stone." Link said moving a hand to her shoulder.
"What ever, lets just keep moving." Misty said pulling away from him and moving through the only door that was present.
"I'm going to prove to you that she doesn't mean anything to me like that, no matter what it takes." Link said softly before following her.
Misty was still mad at him as they moved through the temple, only speaking little hints here and there and that was it. They had gone through a couple rooms and had collected the long shot, and had passed through a room with dragon heads statues they had to hook onto after raising them by defeating three Stalfos. Now they were in a room that seemed more like a dream to Misty. The floor was like a reflective mirror with water spread over it, the walls and ceiling lost in mist, the only other object was a small island ahead with a dead tree on it besides the door they had just come through and another door on the opposite end.
Without waiting for him Misty moved through the bit of water all the way to the other side of the room to the door, where she reached it and sighed.
"Damn, there are bars blocking it." She said before turning around moving back towards the island where she saw a dark figure.
"Link?" She asked softly, seeing that the dark figure looked exactly like him, and not being able to see that he was actually still standing at the other door because the tree was blocking her view. The dark figure turned around with his sword drawn, the only part of his face that she could see was his red eyes. Misty let out a scream as he came at her with his sword swinging with precise aim.
Link, hearing Misty scream, rushed towards the island and around the tree just in time to see her fall backwards, avoiding being sliced in half by what looked like a mirror image of himself. Coming up behind it, Link struck it in the back with his own sword. It disappeared and Link bent down to pull Misty to her feet.
"Link watch out!" She cried, and Link on instinct swung his sword around, but the mirror Link jumped up on his sword, freezing him in place.
Breaking free from the mirror, Link took up the sword fight anew. Striking out at the mirror image, steel clashed against steel as their swords met; every move the true Link made the mirror seemed to copy. Misty gazed at the two fighters, knowing that the fight wasn't getting anywhere fast. Standing up she grabbed her bow from her back and knocked an arrow. She waited until Link noticed what she was doing and with a small nod, she fired her arrow. Mirror Link was forced to jump to the side to avoid being hit by the arrow, and the real Link followed after dealing a blow. Again the two worked together and were soon able to defeat the mirror image of Link. As soon as it fell through the floor the whole room began to change. The mist started to clear, the island and tree disappeared and the floor became less reflective. By the time it was all done the room was rather small compared to what they had first thought, with blue walls ceiling and floor.
Link put his sword away and turned to face Misty thinking that she had forgiven him, but she simply slung her bow over her shoulder, turned her back on him, and moved through the door they had just opened by defeating the mirror Link. Link's shoulders slumped as he sighed following after her, wishing Ruto had forgotten all about him, but obviously she had lived a very boring life for the past seven years.
The chains to the boss room fell to both side as Link brushed them away and opening the door with Misty brushing past him. They had gone through the whole dungeon, were now at the boss, and Link still didn't know what he could do to convince her of something he wasn't even a hundred percent sure of.
As they walked into the boss room the door slammed shut behind them and Misty gazed around the room. It was square in shape, large enough for a battle, spikes lined the walls except in the corners, and the room was mostly filled by a large square pool found in the center with four square blocks in it.
"Be careful you guys, that's' not normal water over there." Navi cautioned.
The two moved deeper into the room, Link jumping to one platform, Misty another. Misty watched as Link bent over a little to look at the water, but instead of doing the same, she was silently cursing herself. She had reacted harshly when she had heard Ruto call Link her fiancée, but now only pride was keeping her from speaking to him.
She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't even notice the long tendril of water wrapping around her until it was too late. She moved to take a step forward but the tendril clamped tight around her, locking her arms to her body and immobilizing her legs. At first she was too stunned to do anything, but as it lifted her off the platform she gave a quick cry of protest, which caused Link to turn around.
He could almost actually feel the blood drain from his face when he saw Misty held in the air by some giant tendril coming from the water. He drew his sword and moved to jump to her, but as it always seemed to happen, her voice stopped him.
"Link this is the boss! Don't let the tendrils touch you stand in the corner and when they lash out to you a reddish pink globe will follow. That's what controls this thing, get it out of the water and destroy it!" She was just able to call out those orders before she was pulled down into the water.
"NO!" Link yelled and ran for the place she had vanished but another tendril came up and swung for him.
Dodging it by rolling to the side, Link got up and jumped from the platform to the main floor of the room, moving himself to a corner just as Misty had instructed him to do. Standing there the only thing that he could think of was Misty being pulled under.
"Here it comes again Link!" Navi warned at the sound of water moving.
Link gave his head a single nod as he pulled out the long shot. Misty had said to get the globe out of the water, what better way was there then to use the long shot?
A long tendril of water came shooting out at him but fell short since he was so far back in the corner. When the globe came out Link spotted it right away and shot it with the long shot. The globe was pulled from the tendril of water and when it reached him, Link turned himself around so that he had it pinned in the corner. Drawing out his sword he began slashing at it with a furry Navi had never seen in him before. The globe tried to bounce past the warrior but Link never let up his attack. Within moments it was all over, the globe let out a monstrous cry and moved to the center of the room where it exploded. The water itself began to rise up in the center of the ceiling, where it seeped through the cracks. There was one last drop that hung from the ceiling and as it fell and hit the floor, a portal appeared.
Link however ignored most of it, having jumped down into the pool as soon as most of the water had drained. Moving around the platforms he searched desperately for Misty. Coming around the corner near the portal, he spotted her lying on her side with her back to him.
"Misty!?" He called to her as he moved down by her side.
Gently he rolled her onto her back, pulling her up to him and holding her close. Misty let out a soft groan and slowly opened her eyes to Link's smiling face.
"Shouldn't we be looking for Princess Ruto now?" She asked weakly, though her voice grew slightly stronger with each word.
"We'll get to that, what matters most to me right now is that you're ok." Link said helping her to her feet though keeping her close.
"Really?" Misty asked looking up at him, cheeks starting to blush faintly.
"Misty, you've come to mean a lot to me." Link answered, and then lowered his head and lifted Misty's chine so that her lips met his.
Misty was grateful that Link had his arms around her because she was sure she would have collapsed when he kissed her if it wasn't for him holding her so closely. She stayed like that for a few moments, her own arm wrapped around his neck, before an irritated fairy reminded them of something.
"Um guys, we have a sage waiting for us."
Link pulled away from Misty sheepishly, having completely forgotten about what they were supposed to be doing.
"Right, I knew that." Link said smiling down at Misty. Taking her hand Link lead her to the portal, the blue crystal forming around them and bringing them to the Chamber of the Sages.
When their feet touched down on the middle dais Misty slipped her hand from Links and took a step back. When he turned to look and see what was wrong, she gave him a small wink to show everything was alright. A blue light shone from in front of him and Link turned around to look back at the dais of the Water Sage to see Ruto appear.
"Link." Ruto said smiling to him. "I would have expected no less from the man I chose to be my husband. Zora's Domain and its people will eventually return to their original state. As a reward…I grant my eternal love to you."
At this Link took a very small step back and Misty had to use all she had not to shoot an arrow at the Zora Princess.
"Well that's what I want to say, but I don't think I can offer that now. I have to guard the Water Temple as the Sage of Water. And you….you're searching for the Princess, Zelda? Hah! You can't hide anything from me! Princess Zelda…she's alive. I can sense it…so don't be discouraged. I can tell that nothing will stop you in your quest for justice and peace….You must take this medallion…take it respectfully!"
With that a blue medallion with the water symbol on it came down in front of Link and Misty before turning into a blue mist and sinking into them, giving them both more strength. As the chamber faded around them Ruto's last words echoed.
"If you see Shiek, please give him my thanks ok?"
Outside Shiek stood and watched as the waters of Lake Hylia rose.
"As the water rises, the evil is vanishing from the lake…Link, you did it!" He said softly and turned around when he heard Link and Misty arrived from the Chamber of the Sages.
"Did Ruto want to thank me?" Shiek asked and continued after Link nodded his head. "I see…We have to return peace to Hyrule for her sake, too, don't we? Look at that Link…Together you and Princess Ruto destroyed the evil monster! Once again, the lake is filled with pure water. All is as it was here."
At Shiek's words Link moved out to the edge of the island they were on, looking out across Lake Hylia. Looking over to Misty, Shiek handed her a small piece of clear red stone. Misty looked at it and gave a small nod of her head in thanks, knowing what it was for. Backing up Shiek vanished from sight, and when Link turned around he asked where he went.
"Oh you know how Shiek is; he can never stay for long." Misty said smiling. "Now about that fishing trip, last one to the building has to cook supper!" She said and dove into the water.
"Hey no fair! You still have those flippers on!" Link called after her before diving into the water, desperately trying to gain ground since he hated cooking.