Scarlet Sensations-The Sea

by Cosmic Sky

This second life of hers hadn't been so bad. Irene would say it was the world of Hyrule, but the truth was it was Link. He was a great companion. Most importantly, he made her feel things she hadn't felt in centuries. Out by the water, she realized it wasn't just the ability to taste or feel, but something deeper. Ironically for a dragon, it was a knight who made her feel loved.

Hello, everyone. Welcome to another LoZ story of mine, although to be more specific, a crossover story. A Zelda/Fairy Tail crossover, to be precise. This story is unconnected to my ongoing Link/Mirajane story, although it did spring from the same general idea. Over the summer, I decided since I wasn't going to get to a particular story idea any time soon (though I've been finalizing more details and layout), I could go for something shorter like a One-Shot.

This being the year of the dragon, I resolved to write for several of my favorite draconic characters across fiction. That's included a whole lot of Fire Emblem, though there's another series that I feel does dragons justice, incredibly so. Thus, here I am with a Fairy Tail story featuring the inventor of Dragon Slayer Magic and Queen of Dragons, Irene Belserion! As I said, I've had a story idea similar to my currenting Hero and Demon story featuring her, but as she's one of my favorite characters I just wanted to write for her during this year. Coming across a certain piece of art (the thumbnail) strengthened the urge and even though it's late into the summer, I decided why not give it a shot.

As far as setting and continuity, it's best to think of them as a mixture of Ocarina of Time and Tears of the Kingdom. As you read on, that'll be revealed, and I hope you'll all enjoy the story!

I do not own anything.

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Scarlet Sensations-The Sea

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"Link! Link! Link! Dammit, wake up! I have not seen you through all this just to have you die in the aftermath of a victory!"

He clawed his way toward the voice, aided by the constant pressure on his chest. Something was leaving his lungs, something wet that made it hard to believe. As it existed, he found the climb made easier. A crimson light danced atop the darkness, and with the lightening of his lungs, he reached for it. "I-I-Ir…ene," he called out. "I-Irene…" He probably would have called her name again if his gag reflex hadn't kicked in. The sensation of water passing through his throat was now conscious. Link shot upright, continuously gasping as the taste of sea water lingered in his throat despite his attempts to expel it. His hands went to his chest where he felt the phantom sensation of hands there, helping push the water out of his lungs.

Opening his eyes, he was greeted to the endless expense of the sea. The pristine blue color brought relief to him, more so as he scoured the waters and found not a spot of vile purple or black sludge. Finally, his gaze turned to the right where he spotted a flickering red mass of light. It was a sight that brought greater relief than the clean waters of the Lanayru Sea.

"Irene," his tired voice whispered with a smile.

Though the fairy had no face, he could tell she was smiling back. He certainly heard her laughing in amusement, and relief, alongside him. "Yes, me. You weren't expecting me to be washed away, were you?" The scarlet glow that surrounded her body flickered in a manner he was familiar with. She'd used her magic to save him, perhaps to help pump the water out of his lungs to prevent him from drowning on land.

Realizing that, Link finally turned his gaze to his body. His good mood dissipated as he took in the extremely damaged state of his armor, the Zora Armor that'd allowed him to breath underwater. The pristine blue and silver was cracked and even tainted black, although the color was rapidly turning to a pale white. Like the sea, Mucktorok's death had stopped the corruption, but not before the water demon had destroyed most of it. Memories came back to him, one after another like a barrage of arrows. The armor had seen him through most of the fight, but not the last stretch of it; Mucktorok had managed to destroy near eighty-percent of it. He remembered the poisonous muck the creature produced seeping into his skin through the damaged armor, but he remembered something else counteracting it as he fought through it.

Chuckling, he fell back into the sand, arms spread out. "Thanks for saving me, Irene."

As she laid beside him, the flicker of her fairy body became more consistent. "I believe this makes eighteen."

"I thought I was past twenty." Link laughed.

Irene joined him. He liked to imagine her human form laying beside him, the tide kissing their feet as it flowed in and out. She probably imagined the same thing, or at least Link hoped she did. "I'm just as surprised as you, but you are not completely inept, Link." Their laughter went on for several more minutes before dying down. The now peaceful lull of the ocean filled their ears, or Link's ears. Still, Irene could hear it just fine. In fact, her hearing seemed to be on par with Link's own honed hearing. The same went for her sight, which could downright exceed Link's despite having no eyes. He was sure she could see further out into the water then him, even without any of his items like his binoculars. It went without saying a second set of eyes, ears, and a nose came in handy.

She'd been lucky that her sense of smell wasn't quite as good as his, otherwise she'd have had to deal with the muck produced by Mocktorok. He'd told her how lucky she was, and she whole-heartedly agreed. Instead, she just had to deal with the sight of the monster's pollution stretching across Hyrule's waters, including the sea. She, as well as he, had seen more than enough of that when they finally confronted it in the bowls of the Water Temple.

It was hard to believe they'd ended up on the beach from there, but then again, probably not. After all, much of the kingdom's water ways, especially those in the Lanaryu Region, led back to the ocean in some way or form. That especially went for the Water Temple-it'd been constructed by both the river and water Zora that'd came together beneath Hyrule's banner centuries ago. They'd mutually decided to build ways for the lake-based temple to lead back to the ocean. Conversely, that meant anything something that affected the former could affect the latter and vice-versa. Mocktorok, or rather, Ganondorf, had taken advantage of that. It wasn't enough to corrupt the land, he had to go for the sea-it was inevitable given his exceeding greed and malice.

The black sludge that (formerly) polluted the sea was testament to that.

"Well, for starters, Ganondorf doesn't exactly need clean drinking water like most organic beings. And certainly not the Zora. So, he doesn't exactly mind poisoning all the fresh water in the kingdom. Not to mention it forces everyone to further capitulate to him."

Link groaned as the pieces came together, "Either submit or no clean water."

"A remarkably straight forward tactic. That alone would be worrisome, but least we not forget the periodic volcanic eruptions stirred by a rampaging fire dragon, the forest turned prison, the dead rising from the earth, and last but certainly not least, occasional blood moon that strengthens monsters and constantly resurrects them. I've met some control freaks, but I must say, this Ganondorf is a truly unique blend of genocidal conquest and wanton lust for destruction." Irene's amused tone exceeded Purah's. Naturally, it darkened the already heavy mood, albeit Purah found it in herself to laugh as well. That simply left Link as the sole voice of silence in the room. Unlike the two ladies, he simply couldn't find it in himself to joke about the situation. Perhaps being a knight, one of the last knights of Hyrule, had something to do with it.

Purah was the first to get her self-mocking laughter under control. It could only provide her so much comfort. "An apt description, Irene." She spoke. "Being the monster he is, Ganondorf cares little for if he rules a decimated wasteland or a prosperous kingdom like he claimed to envy. Honestly, just look at Castle Town." A thick shadow fell over the room as the state of Hyrule's capital was brought to the trio's minds. Brought back. Even Irene, a mere fairy, seemed sullen at the reminder. "I've been monitoring the situation across the country, and as Rauru said, it's dire all around. We only have a limited supply of drinking water here in Kakariko Town. By my estimate, we've got enough to last us for another two months. While some settlements have the same, others have much, much less."

Link knew that meant they were on a timer, not that he and Irene didn't already know that. When he'd woken up from his year-long coma, he'd spotted Death Mountain erupting more violently than it ever before in his lifetime. His jaw practically hung on the ground as it spewed forth molten fireballs that cascaded across the land, both Hyrule and across the border into Holodrum. And that was before he'd learned about the ancient fire dragon that'd been unsealed from beneath the volcano. At least thirty-percent of Holodrum had been burnt by Ganondorf already, and the rest of it was set to burn as well. Even after submitting to him, he kept the threat of burning down the whole country on the table.

The threat of fire seemed to stand opposite of the water problem Hyrule was facing. Disgusting sludge that'd appeared in nearly every major waterway in Hyrule, especially Lake Hylia and the Lanayru Sea.

Just as lakes and waterways had been marred by black sludge, the same want for the sea. Nowhere was the corruption more evident than there, in the black sludge that marred the crystalline waters of the Lanayru Sea. The salty smell of the sea was gone, replaced by the shit-like smell that permeating the lakes and rivers on the land. Thanks to the wind, the smell was carried deep inland, especially when it picked up.

Now, no more.

Like their previous battles, the fight against Mocktorok had been anything but easy. Ironic considering its diminutive form, at least, it's first form. The second form was more fitting of a monster that'd poisoned Hyrule's waters, as well as a monster that'd stirred the sludge-filled waters into a raging storm.

Link hadn't seen the sea while he was fighting Mocktorok. Had the clouds gathered to accommodate the waters turning into a raging whirlpool? There didn't seem to be a cloud in the sky, just clear, beautiful sunshine. It was still a welcome sight, especially since the sun dried him up. He'd been soaked to the bone, not to mention he felt like he'd seen enough of water for a little bit. Looking to his right, he almost wondered if Irene had begun to feel the same. Her ball form rested beside him, her damp wings resting on the sand just as his arms were. Link had long learned she could get exhausted just like him, and she'd been pushed to her limits just as he had over the course of their adventure.

"Let's just say…I have my reasons to make the most of this body I've been given." When she told him she wasn't originally fairy, that she came from another world, Link became curious. His curiosity had persisted as she'd proved a remarkable ally, and companion.

"Something on your mind, Link?"

Like that. She always seemed to be able to sense when he was thinking hard about something, or someone. Namely her. Getting a direct answer out of her could be a different story-especially when it pertained to her.

"While I was down there…you protected me, again." He simply said.

"And that is of interest to you, how? Last I checked, I was assigned to look after you." It'd taken some time, but that snippy tone had become genuinely playful. She'd grown to accept him. "Were you expecting me to falter in that after clearing three temples so far? I'll admit, this quest was the most…unpleasant so far, but as I promised you, I'd see it through." Her body emanating that trademark scarlet glow as she floated up. Apparently, she'd finished drying off and had some of her energy back. "And you've been keeping your promise, Link."

Another chuckle. "Thanks." It was his turn to sit up. While dried off, his clothes still felt heavy. The Zora Tunic he'd worn beneath the Zora Armor had been damaged as well. It was practically hanging onto him by a few shreds, a simple tug and it'd come undone leaving him shirtless. Looking out toward the water, he realized he'd practically been in perfect condition to go for a swim, provided he hadn't had his fill of water for a while. He remembered he'd felt the same way about fire and lava after braving Death Mountain to not only awaken the Sage of Fire, but confront Volvagia, the fire dragon. Amazingly, his Goron Tunic was still intact after the battle, despite Volvagia's ferocity far exceeding Mocktorok. He had Irene to thank for that, just as he had her to thank for being able to slay the dragon.

"Link," Came Irene's voice a second time. Looking up, he saw her floating right in front of him. Not for the first time, he felt a pair of eyes on him, watching him with a smidgen of concern that she would deny if he spoke of it. "Whatever it is, just tell me. Are you feeling better now that we've freed the waters of Hyrule…or is your courage wavering?"

"Not even close." He resolutely declared. "I was…well, to be honest, I was thinking about you. Just now, I was thinking about Volvagia. You protected me against the fire just as much as all the anti-fire equipment I had with me. Most importantly, you enchanted my sword with your magic." Reaching forward, he cradled her in his hands. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but he could have sworn he felt something solid, flesh-like, as he did so. The last time he'd done so, Irene had pulled away from him, but not this time. He was happy for that, incredibly happy. "You did the same against Moctorok, except you used lightning. Against so many enemies you've helped me out, it's kind of left me wondering is there any magic you can't use. Even in this fairy form?"

"As I told you before, I'm…limited in this form."

"Sometimes I find that hard to see."

"That's because you never saw me in my prime." There was a sense of longing in her voice, not the first time he'd noticed it. He knew that her "reward" at the end of this quest was going to be her getting her original body back-her original human body. Irene had told him a fully functioning human body had been something she'd been obsessed with, dangerously so. "I have barely a quarter of my original power in this form, but…it has fortunately been enough for you and Hyrule. And fortunately…you have been a sufficient partner, something that I've found I'm happy to lend my services to. You're shaping up to be quite a hero." The glow of her fairy body grew brighter. Link could have sworn he felt her in her human form, whatever that was, staring back at him, with intensity. "You may have failed before, but you're here, righting that wrong. Accomplishing what an entire army has struggled to do."

"Irene," Link whispered. She was an adult woman, one with a lifetime's worth of experience he'd found himself drawing upon. As far as he was concerned, that was just as important as the power she lent him on his quest. "Well, I think you've been-"

"LIIIIINK!"

Amused laughter spilled from Irene's unseen lips. "You'll have to hold that thought, Link. Your beloved is here to congratulate you."

Looking beyond the scarlet fairy, he saw that was indeed true. A flurry of Zora were swimming toward him, one faster than the other. Irene floated aside as he rose to his feet. In what seemed like a flash, he was lying on his backside, something wet and warm lying on top of him, and a pair of arms wrapped so tightly around his neck that he felt like one of Mocktorok's tentacles was wrapped around his neck again. His first impulse was to pry it off, or try to.

"A-Am-Am-Amphi! A-A-Amphi! I-I-I-"

"Oh, I knew you could do it! I just knew it! Only a true hero could have defeated that monster, and you did it! By Nayru's Love, you saved my people!" Every word was a shout, so when they all came together, Link could have sworn his ears were damn near close to popping. Suffocation and his eardrums blowing thanks to the Zora princess whose people he promised to save from Mocktorok in the first place, talk about ironic. "Oh my, Link, your face!" She shouted.

"Princess Amphi, while I'm sure Link is eager to bask in your gratitude, you might want to release him. He's still recovering from his battle against Mocktorok." Looking over, he saw Irene floating nearby, and he could have sworn she was smiling. And laughing. Any second, he could have sworn she was going to burst out laughter. He knew he would have in her position.

Irene's words got through and he found himself able to breath again, albeit Amphi remained atop of him. That he could make do with. Besides, he didn't exactly consider having the bluish-silver Zora atop of him to be an entirely bad thing. Her overzealous nature aside, she was still a beautiful woman. Link was certain that any man would have been jumping for joy at the thought of being her fiancé, but he wasn't that man. Not that he'd found it in himself to tell Amphi that. He knew now certainly wasn't the time, so he'd just have to wait, again. Sighing, he simply laid back and allowed her to continue hugging him, albeit with a lighter hold than before.

"And so, the hero slays the monster and wins the princess' affection." Irene chimed in.

"Oh, he earned my affection long ago, but now he has undoubtedly earned my hand in marriage!" The Zora exclaimed. Irene howled with laughter while Link merely gave a croaked smile. Amphi sat up and looked first to Irene, then to Link with a sheepish smile. "I mean…after you've finished your quest, that is. Which I am absolutely confident you will succeed at, and in doing so free Hyrule from that tyrant's grasp. You've calmed Death Mountain and now, you've reclaimed our waters. Thank you, Link. Words cannot express how grateful me and my people are to you, how grateful we will always be."

"It was…I just doing my duty as…" His duty as a knight, that's what he wanted to say, it's what he would have said. Link had said it so many times it was almost automatic, but this time he couldn't get the words out. As he wondered why, his eyes drifted from Amphi to Irene, still floating nonchalantly to his right, watching the scene unfold. No more laughter, but her focus was still on him. " We did it, Amphi. Me and Irene. The two of us, together." No face, but if there was one, he had a feeling eyes widened. Link smiled as Amphi's attention was redirected to his fairy companion.

As usual, she didn't miss a beat in responding. "Link did his duty as a knight, and I did mine as his companion and partner. We were happy to do so, Princess Amphi." Such a casual way to play things off, Link was envious. If she had a head, would it have turned away to complete the casual dismissal? Was he reading too much into things?

"A-Ah, I see. Then we shall honor you both!" The rest of the Zora that'd crowded around them echoed their princess' statement. This led them to turning to Irene and singing her praises as well, which she took in strides as she did with every compliment. Much like with the Gorons, she was enjoying the fact that as a fairy, she was too small to hoist up or hug. She'd become content in watching those things happen to Link, and this time was no exception. Spying her amidst the crowd of Zora, he wondered how she'd react to it. He found himself wanting to see it, amidst other things. Like seeing Irene's true face-seeing her laughing, smiling, and being able to feel the water beneath her feet as he had.

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"Those are our terms, Irene Belserion," Din spoke. As the goddess of power, her voice carried a rumbling quality that shook the mountains she claimed to have fashioned. If she wanted to, she could force her into agreement, but it seemed she truly wanted her to make this choice on her own.

Far from alone, her green-clad sister echoed her statement. "We shall not renege on them, nor shall they be altered without cause."

Finally, the goddess of wisdom, the apparent leader of the Golden Goddesses finished things off. "The choice is yours to make."

There was a part of Irene that was ready to say no, to rejection the offer of these gods of an alternate world. How could she take their word? Could she take their word? Why not play it safe and say no. Have them return her to her world's afterlife where she could finally know peace. Perhaps even there would be a chance at reincarnation in which she'd finally be able to have all of her senses again. Moreover, where she could finally live a normal life. The possibility was right there, and all she had to do was just say no to these foreign gods. Despite her ingrained weariness and hostility, she had a feeling that they wouldn't violently reject her decision. Not even Din, whose very being radiated power the likes of which she'd never felt before, even from other dragons and Zeref himself.

"…I…accept."

And thus, here she was, in an alternate world so different from her own, yet similar in some ways. It was a world in direr straits thanks to a madman who seemed to resurrect himself every few centuries, usually in response to a princess and a hero forever fated to do battle with him. Enemies chained to each other by fate. What in the hell had she been thinking getting herself involved in such a battle? Worse, not as her original self, a senseless yet still powerful master enchanter and dragon, but as a severely depowered fairy. What in the hell had she been thinking?

The fairy form hadn't been mentioned to her, and when she saw her reflection in the nearest pond she came across, Irene was torn between laughing and screaming in shock. A fairy. A fairy, just like the namesake of her daughter's guild. Just like Erza…

Nayru, Din, and Farore knew her life story, they'd recounted an abridged version of it to her as her ghostly form stood before them. They knew she'd waged war on a guild full of fairies, including her own daughter. How she'd tried to kill her with her own hands after abandoning her. They knew all that, and yet…

Farore's words made her bristle despite their gentle nature. "Irene, we stand here not in judgement of you nor your past actions. Nay, we stand here to offer you a chance at redemption for them. Should you choose to reject our offer, that is acceptable. We shall not condemn you, to our inferno nor your world's."

They'd laid all their cards out on the table. A cynical voice within her argued that was because they had all the power. Even if she wasn't a deceased spirit, Irene doubted she'd have been able to match them. One look at the three golden women and she knew she stood before gods whose powers were beyond anything she'd ever seen. These were beings on par with Ankhseram, the very god who'd cursed Zeref, and Mavis Vermillion, with the Curse of Contradiction. Somehow, someway, however, these deities were far kinder than the Mildian god was. Such beings choosing to take pity on a person like her? Giving her a chance at redemption? A chance to be reincarnated into a flesh-and-blood body with all the proper senses? It was downright laughable, and yet…that's how events had played out.

She stared at her reflection in the water. Two blurry spheres, one silvery white and the other scarlet red-Irene herself. Perhaps the sole thing she found appropriate about her new fairy form was the color, bright red just like her hair. It made her stand out compared to other fairies, and especially Link.

A laugh tumbled from her unseen lips thinking of the teenage boy she'd been asked to guide and aid. Red and green were complementary colors, so maybe that'd played a part in the Goddesses seeking her out. Not to mention they apparently formed the classic pairing of sword and sorcery.

A second chance, and all she had to do was guide and aid some young warrior destined to save the land? Practically a fairy tale come to life, although a part of Irene felt like it wouldn't be that easy. Of course, that side of her had been somewhat right.

He came from a distinguished lineage, even beyond the Faraday Family's record of service in the Knights of Hyrule, Link was the latest reincarnation of the so-called Hero of Hyrule. It was a fascinating thing, yet Irene also saw the blatant horror of it-a soul continuously reincarnated to do battle against an equally reincarnating evil. Oh, and the princess, the mortal incarnation of the Goddesses' lower-ranked proxy, being thrown into the mix as well. Irene worried if the goddesses were simply too lazy to do something about it, or if the cycle was beyond their power. And again, she'd chosen to get involved in all this instead of simply heading off to the afterlife and taking her chances with whatever fate awaited her.

"No point in regrets…not like I've accumulated many." Irene muttered to no one but herself, the sea, and the moon. All three were at peace and in harmony with each other, a balance that hadn't been present before. Of course, the waters had been stained by inky-black sludge that left an absolutely rotten odor in the air. It actually made her grateful she didn't have access to her dragon form or a human form, the smell as a fairy was bad enough. And that wasn't even getting into the magical taint it bore. Cleaning it up was something she found herself actually looking forward to doing. Not the first time she'd felt personally motivated on this quest; Irene knew it wouldn't be the last because she knew what was happening to her.

Freeing Rauru, the Sage of Light, had been a purely professional venture. He was the first sage they had to awaken, which turned into a full-blown rescue and eventual prison break. It'd been fun, but Irene had been largely dispassionate about the whole thing. She had fun though. The same went for Hestu, the Sage of the Forest and his associated temple.

But then came their next quest, awakening the Sage of Fire and rescuing the Gorons…from a dragon.

She'd done her best not to let it show, but Irene had a feeling Link had noticed. He was a perspective boy, and he knew she took the quest personally. It was personal for him as well, seeing as he knew the Gorons and was friends with them, but for Irene, it was truly the past coming back to haunt her.

It didn't matter that the Gorons were a race of rock-people. Seeing them being terrorized, devoured by a dragon brought back all the awful memories of the dragon wars in Ishgar.

"Tell me right now, Link. Do you have what it takes to slay that creature? Yes…or no?" Her voice trembled with so many things, rage, regret, longing, and perhaps a hint of excitement.

Link had looked to her with eyes hard as steel. A stark contrast to the fear-tinted orbs with which he'd watched Volvagia razing half the Lost Woods to the ground as well as two whole towns. Thousands dead, and it was only a sliver of what the beast was capable of, what it would bear against him if he chose to face it down. Fear was an entirely appropriate response, but she wasn't expecting fear from this boy destined to be a hero.

No, it wasn't destiny that led to his response.

"Yes, I do. I'll do it…or die trying."

He didn't ask for her help, not that he knew she could enchant his weapons with the power to slay dragons. Irene looked back on the shock on his face when she did so with a giggle.

"W-Wait, could you always have done this, Irene?!"

"Hmm, I believe so, but I wanted to ensure you were worth of it first, Link. Heads up, he's coming around again!"

"I see him!"

One that day, little over a month ago, Link Faraday became a dragon slayer, and someone whom Irene found herself truly growing to respect. That was also the day she perhaps felt a personal drive to save Hyrule begin to take root.

The Zora had been in the same dire straits as the Gorons, along with the rest of Hyrule, but their suffering was front and center. Being an aquatic race, the pollution Ganondorf had wrought was slowly, and painfully killing them all. It was a torment contrast to what the Gorons had suffered, yet Irene found her heart going out to them, just as Link's did.

"Damn that kid, going and reminding me…reminding me…reminding me what empathy feels like!" He'd been asleep several yards from her, heedless to her cursing him. Her cursing him for showing her kindness that was in turn triggering something within her. This whole damn quest had stirred something within her that she thought buried, even destroyed for good.

"We know that you once fought to save a kingdom in peril. We Goddesses of Hyrule ask you to do so once again." Nayru had simply came out and said it, and Irene stared at her like she'd spoken some ancient, untranslatable language.

Long had the sun set, but the moon and stars were out, and for the first time in over a year, they were reflected in the water. No mounds of sludge and no wicked monsters patrolling the waters looking for their next meal. While Irene knew the latter were there, they'd no doubt fled to deeper thoughts, or swam further out. After Mocktorok's defeat, Hyrule's shores were closed to the beasts of the depths, at least until one of them became bold enough to test their luck. Should they try, it would be the Zora, now able to fight at full strength, who'd stop them. That, or Link would do it himself. Over the four months of their quest to save the Kingdom, he'd morphed into quite a monster slayer. No, that wasn't right. He'd morphed into an incredible one-he was already good at it, good enough to impress her.

Feeling daring, she channeled the magical power that still lay within her. It'd been two days, long enough for her to recover her strength. Beneath her, the ocean water dutifully obeyed. Towering pillars rose around her, the bottom portions painted red by the increased glow of her body. At first, they rotated around her in clockwise formation at a steady mace. Once Irene had enough of that, she increased the speed, all while maintaining delicate control of the water, keeping each pillar separate while they rotated. It was a task of fine control that she feared she'd lost. Not entirely, but it had taken her some time to get used to this fairy body the Golden Goddesses had stuck her in.

She still wondered if it was some hidden malice of theirs showing or their way of trying to be kind. Irene would have taken the former over the latter in a heartbeat.

The water pillars morphed into spheres, all six the size of boulders and held in steady rotation around her. Each one had the side facing her colored red by the continued glow of her body. After several minutes, she lifted them up above her while calling forth more water from the sea. Irene maintained the rotation while shaping the latter into a mirror, perfectly reflective as fine-tuned by her magic. The human equivalent would have been lifting a weight in one hand while holding one's self up to a mirror. An act of self-fulfilling vanity, but Irene never said she was a humble person. She might have been at one point in her life, but that was a lifetime ago. That person was supposed to be gone…but she'd been wrong about that. She'd been wrong when she chose to take her own life out of guilt and horror at what she'd done, as well as the possibility that she might continue to harbor those urges so long as she lived.

Irene knew some, many, would have called it ironic that the form she'd taken in this world was that of a fairy after what she'd done to Erza. Staring at herself, a crimson mass of light with two sets of fluttering insect-like wings, she'd found herself chuckling at the irony several times. It was far cry from her humanoid form, and certainly a far cry from her dragon form. To boot, she was drastically weakened compared to either form, even if that'd steadily been changing over the course of their adventure.

She'd speculated several reasons for that. The foremost was the goddesses didn't quite trust her as much as they claimed. At her full power, Irene was willing to bet she could match Ganondorf and his whole armies. Many of them were poultry compared to the above-average wizards in Earthland thus they would have been easy-pickings for her. Sure, Ganondorf's lieutenants might have afforded her more of a challenge, but Irene doubted she'd need anything beyond forty-percent of her power to deal with them. Ganondorf himself might require a smidgen more, what with his raising the royal castle into the air and turning the whole of the capital city into a nightmarish parody of itself. When they met, through one of his phantoms, Irene proudly boasted of who she could tear him asunder, but was content in watching Link do it. If she could take Ganondorf down, then that would make her one of, if not the strongest being in Hyrule. The kingdom would be hers to do as she wished, including ruling it in a tyrannical manner similar to the Gerudo King.

The idea tickled Irene, though she knew deep down she'd never go for it. Tyranny simply had never been a part of her makeup. Sadism, yes, but the kind of country-wide oppression Ganondorf indulged in wasn't for her.

So, she moved onto the next possibility-for all their power, perhaps the Golden Goddesses simply didn't have enough strength to restore her to her full strength. It'd seemingly taken a great deal of theirs to pull her across dimensions, potentially exceeding whatever authority they possessed. Maybe they'd angered the gods of Earthland, who could be quite wrathful, as her former emperor had discovered in his youth.

The third one was one she'd formulated after learning more about this new world she'd been sent to. Not only were fairies far more common, they were beneficial, aids, guides even. Before the Koroks, the forests were inhabited by a race of mystical children called the Kokiri, each of him possessed a fairy companion. Link's ancestor, the Hero of Time, had been raised amongst them, but he was not one of them. He had no fairy partner, at least not until he was made aware of his true identity and set out to save the kingdom as his great descendant was doing. He did so with the aid of a fairy companion, Navi.

Irene had laughed at the immediate wordplay, a fair guide named Navi. It was either hell of a coincidence or the goddesses had a sense of humor.

Her control wasn't as fine-tuned as she believed it to be. Right before her, the water mirror she crafted transformed into a shape, a humanoid shape. Irene mentally smiled at the impulsive slip of control. In thinking of the ancestor, she'd thought of the descendant, whom she'd become quite close to.

She'd guided him after he awoke from his year-long coma. He needed to get used to his body again after just waking up from spending a year in a healing slumber. Thankfully, he'd regained motor controls fast, and even better, he'd lost none of the combat skills he'd gained during his childhood training.

Watching him had reminded her of Erza, more so as she saw more of his skills. He was a physical fighter, at his best when wielding a weapon, namely a sword.

Now consciously doing so, she shaped the watery replica of her companion into new forms. She gave him a sword and shield, then a spear, an axe, and a bow and arrow, all weapons he'd wielded with incredible skill. Irene gave him enemies to slay and people to cheer for him. He was a shy boy, but Irene had found that was part of his charm. Humility was a rare trait for one such as him, but it made him all the more heroic in the eyes of the people whom he brought hope to.

"He's becoming quite a young man, isn't he?" Rauru had said to her. The old sage was perspective, no doubt a trait he'd picked up from his seventy-years of living.

Laughing, Irene chose not to play coy with her views. "I would say so. Sure, he's not immune to stumbles, but at his age, who isn't."

"Then it is fortunate that he has such a companion to guide him." A certain flicker of amusement shined in the light wizard's eyes as he smiled at her. "And perhaps, it is fortunate that said companion has someone as vibrant as him as her partner."

Could he have at least tried to disguise how much he was hinting at her growing fondness for the boy? No, that question ultimately lay with her. Those like Impa and even Princess Zelda had begun to see her taking a growing likeness to Link, even if she fiercely downplayed it. While not cold, he was still a means to an end. Help him save his kingdom and she gets a new body and a new life.

Somewhere, in the back of her mind though, she'd begun to give more thought to that. That hypothetical new life, what if she wanted it to be here in Hyrule? Freed of Ganondorf's tyranny? Free of the dragons and demons and warring nations (most of the time)? What if…she wanted to continue to watch over Link as she'd been doing?

Shaping the water into new monsters and beasts, Irene found herself coming back to an old question-how long cold she tolerate this fairy body? She could feel it in to an extent. The warmth of the sun was welcome after spending four-hundred-years feeling as cold as a rock, yet she knew this wasn't right. It wasn't what she truly wanted.

She wanted to be human, or at least she wanted a humanoid body. She wanted to enjoy the beach as she'd seen Link and countless others do when they defeated Mocktorok and cleansed the waters. She wanted to taste Link's steadily bettering cooking. Whenever she could, she ducked out, not wanting to be reminded that she had no mouth to eat anything. For substance, she found she simply absorbed ambient energies, coincidentally, quite like Earthland wizards did. Like a sage dragon did.

"Irene…what did your…original form look like?

"Simply dazzling, Link. My hair reaching down to my waist and as red as a ruby, just like my eyes."

"Sounds…impressive." Irene giggled at the clear wonder on his face. Though she'd only given him a sliver of a description, it was enough for him to run with. She wondered what he was picturing, perhaps something surprisingly close to her human form, often remarked as the most beautiful in the Alavrez Empire?

Her vanity had been aroused when they met Princess Amphi, who boldly, and somewhat correctly, proclaimed herself the most beautiful Zora in Hyrule. Link had apparently met her before, but a year's worth of growing had done the girl wonders. Despite that, she was able to see Link wasn't as enamored with her as she was with him. Nor was he romantically attracted to Zelda.

What would he think of your human form? Irene had finally found herself asking.

Watery spheres above her, a replica of Link to her front, and finally to her side, she created a model of her human self. The figure of an adult woman with flowing hair. With a sprinkle of magic, she colored that part scarlet red as it was meant to be.

But what if he sees the real you? The dragon you? The monster. What if he-

"He is not Rung." The words were swift and merciless, brimming with anger simmered within her nonexistent stomach. All around her, her watery creations dispersed, guided by the sudden surge of emotions. With them came memories that reminded her of what she'd been through-who she was. She wasn't this noble co-savor. She wasn't this wise and noble guide Link believed her to be.

She was a…

The sound rolled over her like one of the many breezes. Irene was at a loss for it until her self-loathing faded like a fire in the rain. The song was the rain, quelling the blaze as it tried to burn her from the inside out. Just as the rain replenished the land, Irene found it replenishing her, soothing her. As recognition filled her mind, so too did an immediate sense of longing. Turning around, she saw him potentially a quarter mile on the shore. He was sitting there playing his ocarina without a care in the world. Serenity enveloping her, she flew back to him, leaving a trail of scarlet sparkles in her wake as she always did.

He could fight, he could ride, he could cook, he was kind, and he could play music. What was Link Faraday, the embodiment of knightly charm?

At the moment, he didn't particularly look like a knight, not unless one took into account the visible muscles and scars on his arms. No armor or weaponry of any kind, just gray pants and green (his favorite color) sleeveless tunic. His five-foot-ten figure sat hunched over as his played the ocarina. Irene recognized the melody, one of the songs he would play to young children and those in need of calming down.

Was my discomfort that obvious? Or…have you just learned to sense me out, Link? The thought intrigued and frightened her. Whatever the bond they were developing was, Irene didn't want it going past a certain point. For her sake and his.

Even as she floated in front of him, eventually moving beside him, he continued to play. The song was for her, and she was more than happy to let it play out. She always enjoyed his music, as did countless others.

Time seemed to slow to a miniscule of a second as he played. Irene was more than happy to remain in the lull, but she knew it would eventually end. Even when it did, she still found herself lost in a sea of tranquility. Though the song stayed with her, it was the presence of the man who'd played it that continued her sense of comfort. She came to rest on his shoulder, a favorite spot of hers when she felt like being more intimate with him.

"How'd you find me?" She questioned, only half-caring about the answer.

"You've been teaching me the ways of magic, including how to sense it." He responded with a smile. Irene chuckled at the reminder. She had been doing that. Unlike in Earthland, magic fighters were a bit of a rarity in Hyrule. "The first person whose magic I learned to sense was yours. Every time I picture it, I see red, I just followed that here. Don't you do the same when it comes to me?"

"Heh, yes, supposed I've taught you well." They stayed together in a blissful silence, just as they had two days before. It wasn't quite as distant as their previous battles, but enough time had passed that Irene felt the distance to it; she wondered if it was the same for Link. Thinking about the battle made her recall one aspect of it, namely the aftermath that neither of them had spoken of. Irene believed she'd thought of it more so than Link.

Dealing with Mocktorok had started out more frustrating than anything. Unlike Minos, Gohma, Phantom Ganon, and Volvagia, the creature was far from threatening. Most of the danger came from the sludge monsters it created, and thanks to having a year's time to itself, there was a lot of it. Once that'd been dealt with through liberal use of purified water, Link had gone for the beast, which fled through the aqueduct connecting the Water Temple to the ocean. Out in open water, Mocktorok had taken on a new, far more monstrous form, one worthy of the title kraken. More sludge attacks, flailing tentacles, attempted devouring, and finally a whirlpool created by highspeed spinning. As he had before, Link had persevered through it all. Stabbing the Master Sword into the beast's skull and then splitting it in two had resulted in a thunderous underwater explosion. Mocktorok seemed to make one last attempt to kill them with an underwater twister.

"Irene! Irene! IRENE!"

She wished she had hands so she could have reached for him. She wished she had magic left to save him. She wished she wasn't still recovering her original power. Irene wished she had the power to save Link, yet it'd ultimately been him who'd saved her. Grabbing her and holding her against his chest as they were tempest tossed to the surface. He dragged the two of them toward the shore before collapsing-that was when Irene saved him. Mustering what magic she could, she drained the water from his lungs while calling his name. She couldn't lost him after that, she just couldn't.

He'd held her in his arms against the crashing waves. So devotion, so dedication…all to a woman whom there was so much he still knew so little about.

It's because he's a kind boy. Perhaps too kind, but there in lies his strength. Be they Hylian, human, Goron, or whatever, he will show them compassion. It's just…who he is.

"Whatever it was you were thinking about, you can tell me…or not. Just…I just want you to know that I'm here for you, Irene. You can tell me what's on your mind. I'll always be here ready to listen to you."

Startled by his voice, she flew from his shoulder to right in front of his face. While there was a whiff of embarrassment, it was overshadowed by the soft determination that blazed in his green eyes. Irene was taken back by it, even though she'd seen it before. It felt stronger this time, yet there was something deniably welcome about it. She found herself pulled into the knight's strong yet compassionate gaze like a vacuum.

Scrambling to respond, she pieced together what could have led him to say such words. It wasn't exactly hard to do; he'd played that song on the ocarina to calm her down, so he must have known she was in distress. Sighing, she bit the bullet and asked him. "How much of that…did you see?"

His smile was a welcome sight, even if she did feel a bit of embarrassment at losing herself to her emotions in front of him. "I don't know. One minute I saw you manipulating the water like the master enchantress you are, and then the next it all just came crashing down. Even though I couldn't see you, I just had this feeling that you were feeling down, so I…tried to fix that."

It was thanks to the cover of night he hadn't been able to make out the exact details of her watery creations. Befitting a master archer, Link had incredible eyesight, but only when he could see, and he hadn't quite mastered seeing in the dark. She'd been meaning to teach him a spell for that. As much as she'd like to say this made her hesitant to do so, she remembered they still had three more sages to awaken, the goddesses knew how many more monsters to slay, and a power-crazed madman to kill. Being able to see in the dark was probably going to come in handy, especially if she wasn't around to back Link up.

In-between all that, what could happen? What more could he learn about her? What more could she reveal about herself to him? What if they encountered another dragon? She heard Ganondorf's lieutenant in Holodrum was actually a dragon, and Irene was confident they were going to face him at some point. Would she get as emotionally as she did when facing Volvagia?

Seeing the stormy horizon that was her mind, Irene sighed in self-annoyance. What the hell was it about this kid that set her off? That got her so riled up? Was it the world? The air? Or was it simply herself, an outsider to a world not her own, yet fighting to save it. Finding herself liking it, assimilating to it.

"I was thinking about my past…and…how much I desired to be human again. To have a body that could truly feel. Link, I told you that I…I did many things I was not proud of to make my wish come true."

His kindly expression didn't change. She imagined if she told him the full truth, it would, so she stayed her tongue. Selfish of her, but she didn't want to lose his kindness just yet. "Yeah, you told me, and I told you whatever it was…I'd listen. I'd accept you."

"Don't say that without having an inkling of what I've done."

"Based on how mopey you can get, something pretty horrible." Kind as he was, the boy was not a wallflower. Even with her. She actually enjoyed his occasional quips. "You're right, I don't know your past…but one day I'd like to. Even so, I want to tell you whatever you did, it's in the past so…don't let it drag you down too much." Those sky-blue eyes looked out to the horizon. Waters calm and clean thanks to them, stretching on ad infinitum while reflecting the starry sky. Such a beautiful sight, one would even say an optimistic one. Even if one became lost to see, all they had to do was look up and see the moon and stars. "You've helped me learn you can move on from the past, whatever failures or regrets you have…you can push forward. There's something ahead waiting for you."

"…If you learned about how numerous and grave my sins were, would you say the same?"

With that unwavering firmness, he answered, "Yes. And if you don't feel like it, I'll help pull you forward. Even if your hands are as red as your hair."

A short burst of laughter on her part, but she appreciated him remembering her description of her hair. She may or may not have made a point to remind him of it.

Coincidentally, that's what seemed to be on his mind. "As for your body, I swear I'll get it back for you. Either through the Triforce or…I'll figure something out."

"Link,"

"I'm serious." She could tell through his voice. If she had eyes, they'd have widened at the depth of the seriousness in his. It was the look of sheer determination, the look of what would be, through his blood, sweat, and tears. "One day, you'll get your original body back. Then…" The unbreakable texture of his face cracked. Irene was so startled she barely had time to laugh. That came after he found it in him to finish his statement. "Then you can…enjoy the beach like a normal person."

After a second of comprehending her words, laughter exploded from her lips. Sweet, amused laughter that left the seventeen-year-old a blushing mess. Which just made her laugh even harder. Link looked away, further exposing the redness of his cheeks. It almost rivaled her hair, almost. All he needed was a little push, or perhaps a tug, to get there. Mentally grinning, she had just the idea.

"Link," she called in a tender voice. Ocean water rushed forward, shaping itself first into hands, then an entire body. She kept the details of the face vague, only giving it feminine features with a flowing mane of hair she painted light red. With those watery hands she gently turned his face so he was looking at her. Her watery face alight with her fair form at the head, she flashed him a seductive smile, the first she'd given him and he could see in some form. "Link, are you saying you want to walk on the beach, with me?"

His mouth dropped yet no words came out, only nervous gasps that left her giggling all the harder. Finally, his face reached the same redness as her hair, and it was a beautiful sight to see. "I-I-I…I-I…I-I-Ir…I-I…I-Ire…" It seemed he could make up his mind between referring to himself or her. "I-I-"

"It's been ages since I've walked on the beach with someone. Felt the sand beneath my feet or the water. Especially the water. Oh, how good I'm sure it'll feel. My ankles, my legs, my waist, oh, my whole body, submerged in these crystalline waters that I can now see for myself. I can hardly wait, but to share them with someone…hmm, that would indeed be quite something." Her construction body was on top of him, subtly soaking into the fabric of his clothes. Irene had made sure it had all the weight of her original body, that included the size and feel of her breasts-which were gently bearing down on the knight's chest. He was aware of it, as well as the rapidly decreasing distance between their lips. "Do you want to be that someone, Link?"

His heartbeat was a thunderclap in her ears, one after another she found herself taking joy in. How long had it been since she flirted with someone like this? The fact that technically speaking she was doing so with a man over a hundred years younger than her didn't bother her as much as she thought it should have. Helping out, maybe, just a little bit was the fact that she did find Link to be a handsome young man.

Spiky hair as radiant as gold, eyes blue as a clear sky, and a youthful face free of scars despite the lifetime of training and fighting he'd lived through. As she'd seen several times before, his physique was jaw-dropping, such she didn't blame ladies such as Amphi and numerous others for becoming smitten with him. As she awaited his response, Irene began to consider the possibility perhaps she'd become a touch so with her knightly charge as well.

Believing she'd tortured him enough, Irene made ready to dispel her watery clone, but Link beat her to the surprising punch. "Yes."

Shock swept through her, though not enough to break her concentration. Her surprise showed on her watery avatar. "W-Wha-"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his hands twitch-they wanted to grasp her hips. Even if it was just a construct, he wanted to feel her. While his cheeks remained scarlet red, his eyes had regained that steely focus. Coupled together, it made for quite a combination, one that made Irene's spiritual heart quicken. "Yes, I…I would like to be that guy, Irene. If you don't choose me, then…I'd understand. The point is, I want you to be able to feel the water, the world, like a real person."

There'd been times she was glad she didn't have a face to show. She'd tease Link with the inability to see her smile, she'd tell him he was better off not seeing her face twisted in anger or cruelty, and finally she preferred not to have him see her lost in thought. Namely, lost in her past. This time, she was glad that he couldn't see the blush that would have spread across her cheeks. Irene could see it though, she could practically see herself sporting a red streak that was unbecoming of a woman like her, of her age and stature. Despite that…there was a part of her that wished she had a face for Link to look at. Her face, her eyes, he could see it all and drink it in as she could hers.

Her water avatar pulled and collapsed, wetting the sand instead of Link as she'd originally intended. With it gone, she returned to her constant place, just a little away from Link's right shoulder. He looked to her, then smiled in comfort. There was probably a lot he wanted to say, but he recognized her throwing her walls up again. He was patient with her, more so than she could be with him sometimes. The boy was truly a fountain of compassion mixed with warrior skill that made him feat to be called a hero. Though he still had a long journey ahead of him, Irene was going to stick with him on it to the bitter end. And maybe, perhaps…see what lay beyond it.

"…Thank you, Link." She whispered.

"You're welcome, Irene."

They were back to watching the waves, a Hylian and a fairy. Irene wished that wasn't so, she wished that sometime in the future, it wouldn't be so.

She wanted it to be a Hylian and a human woman with scarlet hair. She wanted her to be sitting beside the Hylian, perhaps even laying her head on his shoulder, just as she pictured herself doing now.

---

"Crap, Irene, heads up!"

Without even looking up from her piña colada, or moving a figure, she reacted. A crimson red magic circle appeared at her side, halting the rogue wave in its tracks before it could so much as lay a drop on her. It rapidly reshaped itself into a tightly condensed water ball, which shot back at the wave creator with all the speed of a cannonball.

"H-H-Hey!"

"I told you not to disturb me, Link. Or rather, whatever you gave out, I could dish back threefold." Irene stated while remaining near perfectly idle on her pool ring floatie. There was no need to look as far as she was concerned, she could hear just fine. Either Link would take the hit or he wouldn't. One or the other.

"Look, I'm sorry! I got a little over excited!"

There was a splash, but no sound of someone getting hit by a watery cannonball. Which was just what Irene hoped for.

Smiling while her pink lips remained fastened to the straw, she further manipulated the sea water around her. Above her sunhat-covered hair, five water balls materialized.

"H-Hey, Irene! Come on, I'm sorry!"

More splashes, but no sound of an impact. For a second, Irene thought she'd have to try a little harder, but she decided to keep taking it easy. The sound of the wind and the pulsation of magic continued. Though content to let things be, she was still in the mood for some games. Thus, more water balls, none bigger than the average beachball-her knightly partner had dodged far worse in the past.

The experienced showed in how he moved. Even without using her mind's eye, she heard practically every movement of his body, the way he twisted and turned, in some ways aided by the wind. He'd truly made it his element; Irene would even say he might have been as good as her. Either that, or almost.

After several water balls, she decided that it was probably time to up the stakes a little. One eye opened, and with it a magic circle appeared beneath her floatie. Around her, the sea water rose up and took shape, but not as a merely another water ball, but as something greater. That waters shook as the dragon roared, its yellow eyes honing in on the Hylian several yards away. Her dragon rapidly closed that distance in less than a second.

SWOOSH!

And it was split in two, the severed halves dissipated and returned to the sea from which they'd came. Giggling, Irene returned to her drink. She was down to half, so it was probably time she considered getting another. Maybe she should have asked if Link would have liked a drink as well, particularly after all that splashing around he'd done.

When she next opened her eyes, the Hylian was gone from her sight, but not quite from her other senses. Both eyes opened just as he attempted to burst through the water. Smiling, she moved out of the way, just as the blond shot up through the water. The cyclone of water and wind remained around him, the former glistening in the sunlight as he temporarily hovered several feet in the air.

Irene's red eyes drunk in the sight that she knew women across Hyrule would have given anything to see, and more to have had to themselves as she did. Chiseled abs and muscles that glittered with the remnants of the sea that clung to the knight's body. They raced down the scarred and unscarred flesh alike, knowing no difference. Irene saw no difference herself, to her, it was all Link, and all of him was beautiful in her eyes. Especially dressed in nothing but dark green swim trunks; the bright green of Farore's symbol stood out on the left side. Nothing new there, but they were amongst his favorite, just as her black bikini had become a favorite of hers. Oh, and she knew it was a favorite of his as well-he agreed with her that black and red went together.

And as she'd found, so too did red and green.

His face was stretched in an ear-to-ear grin, a contrast to her smaller but no less content smile.

Many considered it amazing, as did Irene. Countless battles, countless weapons and monsters all aiming for his face, a handful succeeding, yet no scars. He'd managed to keep both eyes as well, and those eyes were on her.

"I-Irene…you're…you're…"

"Beautiful? Gorgeous? So breathtaking you're speechless?" Given the fact she was wearing no more than rags, she knew she had him caught hook-line-and-sinker. The fact that they were technically in the middle of a battle (or one's aftermath) mattered little to her. Not only had she done crazier things, she was back at full power. Irene could feel it in every fiber of her now mortal body. She felt not just the return of all her senses, she felt something else, something she once loathed, but Irene realized in slumbered within her.

The light of the unified Triforce had begun to dissipate, but to Link, she was still shining bright. In her eyes, he was shining too. This bloodied, beaten eighteen-year-old who'd fought tooth-and-nail to wrench Ganondorf's hands off the completed Triforce and put his on it, to make a wish on it, a wish for her. Not for Hyrule, not for himself, but for her.

He fell toward her, just as he did that day. Irene's bravado half vanished as she caught his tired form. She embraced him as tightly as she could, feeling the blood and grime on his body.

"You…YOU MEDDLING BASTARD! THAT'S IT! THIS TIME, I'M GOING TO TEAR THE TRIFORCE OF COURAGE FROM YOUR ARM, THEN YOUR HEAD FROM YOUR NECK!"

She turned to Ganondorf, the light gone, replaced with cold fury. The wounded king stopped in his tracks as he felt the full force of her magical power. Not a smidgen of it, not a fraction of it. All of it, which she quickly amassed in her mouth.

Holding Link against her, she threw her head back, trails of red-colored energy surging into her mouth as she inhaled. The air grew heavy as the short calm before the storm.

When Irene threw her head back, her rounded pupils were silts, feral, reptilian silts . "Sage Dragon's Roar!" It seemingly resembled fire, but it was far too red to be such, yet the air was superheated as it shot forward. Ganondorf stared in shock at the ever-expanding blast of magical energy that shot for him. He barely had time to throw up his hands to form a barrier, but it was too late. His screams were lost as her breath attack overtook him, launching him across the charred battlefield.

Irene wished that'd been the end of it, but Ganondorf was one tough bastard, even while wounded. Granted, he was out of commission for weeks afterward-weeks Link used to recover as well, and get used to her new, her true form.

Creating a magic circle to hold her drink, she held her arms out as her knight approached her. A hug, a big, warm, intimate hug. He'd more than earned that.

Fooosh!

Blinking in shock, she realized she'd lost sight of her Hylian lover. A moment later she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders, hands pulling her backward. Seconds before she could gasp, she was underwater. She turned about and found herself staring into those same blue eyes, flickering with mischief. Any pretense of anger vanished the moment she saw them. One of these days, she was going to build up some resistance to them, and that smile of his.

Today wasn't going to be that day.

Her sunhat drifted along the water along with her (now upside down) floatie) as they broke the surface. Now she was dripping wet just like him. Oh, and smiling despite her leisurely rest being ruined, as were her plans to give him a hug.

"As you can see, I'm keeping myself sharp." He boasted.

"Yes, I can see that very well, Link." Irene laughed. "And here's your reward." In retrospect, a hug was better than a kiss, for both of them. Link's lips were much more enjoyable than her piña colada.

-O-

He got her a new drink to make up for the half she'd lost thanks to him. Link just couldn't help it, though she seemed to enjoy his mischievous acts. Irene made indulged in hers, and often he found himself amused as well. Even when her stunts resulted in him running for his life or dodging magic bolts. Link had come to accept it as part of being in love with a beautiful, dangerous woman like Irene Belserion.

"Fucking hell, Link, you've fallen for a femme fatale!" Trevor had exclaimed what seemed like a lifetime ago. The end of the war had seemed so long ago, yet it'd only been two months ago. Still, it'd been such a adventure, such a maelstrom of events that it might as well have been a lifetime ago. His life was so different from then. No more running around Hyrule fighting monsters, no more dungeon crawling, no more foraging, and finally…no more Ganondorf.

Just helping rebuilding Hyrule, him and…Irene.

Link stopped dead in his tracks and watched her diving in and out of the water. He must have done this close to a hundred times by now, but he knew he probably wasn't going to stop. Today wasn't going to be the day he stopped gawking at the beauty that was Irene Belserion, the Scarlet Fairy, the Scarlet Angel, the Archmage of Hyrule…and his girlfriend.

She told him she'd always been a decent swimmer. Not as good as the Zora, nor as good as he'd made himself into. Watching her move so gracefully through the water, Link felt that notion being challenged. Maybe she was trying to improve herself. She'd done so much of that since coming to Hyrule.

The first time she'd jumped into a body of water, it'd been into a pond, no the ocean or a lake. Just a regular old pond formed by the rain. She'd ran out into it and spread her arms out, feeling every droplet against her skin. Upon spying a steadily forming puddle, she threw off her shoes and jumped in without hesitation. Some people would have thought it strange, scratch that, people did think it was strange, but Link knew why she was doing it.

Four-hundred-years of not being able to feel a thing, then another year of having half your senses as a fairy made you eager to experience every little thing your five senses could experience.

Apparently, she'd also gorged herself when the battle at the Pyramid of Power was over with. That one, he didn't blame her, nor did anyone else. For Irene, she had the added reasoning that she was technically being able to taste food for the first time in four centuries.

Did breaking that suffering make him feel like a hero? Link personally didn't know, he just cared about the fact that he was able to keep his promise to Irene. He didn't care that it'd came at the cost of him being beaten to within an inch of his life. That'd happened before, but Link didn't do it for Hyrule…he did it for Irene. He was more than happy to die giving her a true new life. Not exactly suitable for a knight of Hyrule, especially one charged with saving the kingdom, but he was still a person. He had wants and desires, amongst them was making the woman who'd been beside him through thick and thin, who'd lifted him up and held him up, happy.

Splashing in the water, whipping her scarlet hair about, spitting the salty sear water out with a smile, he could tell she was happy. Happier than she'd likely ever been in years. Of all the accomplishments he'd achieved, Link rated that one amidst the top.

Before he knew it, that smile was right up on him, close enough he could touch it.

"H-Huh?" It wasn't just his imagination. The feeling of Irene's breasts on his chest, her arms around his neck, and finally her leering smile, all of it hit him like a slap to the face. Irene had actually done that to rouse him from his stupors, or his gawking. Link felt his heart leap into his throat as he stared into those dark red eyes of hers. Purple nails glided against his skin, heating his whole body down to his core. "S-S-Sorry, I-I-I was staring again."

"Hmm, I told you I didn't mind that." To prove her point, she closed the distance between their lips. He was only dimly aware of her taking the Blue Hawaiian from his hand, otherwise he'd have spilled it over the sand. With his hands free, Link wrapped them around her waist, deepening the kiss. Irene recuperated the sentiment, just as she had the time before, and the time before that.

Her lips tasted fruity, what fruit it was he couldn't place it. His brain was a bit too fuzzy for that. He was able to focus on her, particularly her laugh. She raised the Blue Hawaiian between the two of them.

"What do you say we share this, Link?" She offered.

"Great idea." He wished he didn't sound so lovestruck, but for this woman four centuries older than him, wiser than him, it sounded endearing.

She'd brought a lot of floaties, in different shapes and sizes, including ones that seated two people. With a cupholder. Irene did tell him compared to Hyrule, Earthland was a touch more advanced, in some ways more so than others. That apparently included cupholders. He wondered if that was an addition she made-she did love enchanting things to suit different needs.

They floated about several meters from the shore, not that it made much a difference. They could be further out and they'd still find a way back to shore, albeit preferable without Irene having to assume her dragon form.

"I never did this back home." She confessed. "Even after I joined the Empire, I could pretend well enough, but…enjoying the beach was something I just couldn't bring myself to do."

"Irene, I don't think that's a bad thing at all. Sometimes…it is important to fake it, but…sometimes it's important to be honest with yourself too." Looking at her, Link had a feeling that trying o take being able to feel or taste the water, or any beach time refreshment, would have just been bad for her mental health. That was probably a major reason why she didn't go. He looked down at their interlaced hands, noting how warm hers felt. A moment later and he felt the loving grip of hers. "What were the beaches of Alvarez like?"

"Varied, but several were indeed quite beautiful. One of my comrades came from a kingdom called Mintaqa. Though a desert region, it had some truly stunning beaches. That made it partially desirable for assimilation into the empire. They went reflectively peaceful."

"That sounds good." She laughed, more so at his lack of hesitation in speaking. As she'd opened about her past, he'd learned to accept the savory and unsavory things her nation had done. Like many things in her world, it was wild beyond imagination, an empire so vast and composed of five-hundred of her world's magic guilds. At least this story didn't involve violent annexation like some others had. "That comrade, I think his name was Ajeel, right?"

"Yes, that's him. Specialized in Sand Magic, and I'd honestly say he's the best in the whole empire. Not that I ever told him that, the last thing I wanted was for his ego to get even bigger." A short laugh ensued before she continued. "As I told you, everyone in the Spriggan 12 were masters as their respective magic. It was practically a requirement to earn membership."

"Including that fellow called August…who basically copied other people's magic, apparently."

Irene's laughter was deeply amused. She'd spoken fondly of August while describing him as her equal, and thus an absolute terror as an enemy. Having witnesses her own fearsome power, Link shuddered to imagine what he was like. Coincidentally, she remained confident that like her, he'd probably been defeated by the wizards of Fairy Tail, somehow, someway.

"Suppose you could say August's magical aptitude is what helped him copy so many people's magic, provided it wasn't Holder-type magic. Even then, he could be a formable opponent."

"…Do you wish he and the other Spriggan could see you now?"

She turned her head to him, their oppositely colored eyes meeting. He saw her deeply contemplating the answer. Throughout her recollections, Irene admitted she'd never been overwhelmingly close to her fellow Spriggans. Save for one, it wasn't out of persona distaste for she harbored little of that toward all of them. Amongst them, she apparently got along better with Invel due to his cutthroat attitude, which she cheerily compared to Impa, especially the fierce devotion to their liege.

When she looked back up to the sun, Link felt like he had the answer to his question. Still, Irene put her feelings into words so all could be clear. "I envied them. For all their flaws and personality quirks, I still envied their ability to taste and feel, all the things I couldn't. That was why I always tended to bow out entirely or early when it came to social gatherings. Seeing them enjoying themselves always tried my patience. Hehe, it's not like I'd go off at the drop of a hat, but…I just took steps to keep what sanity I had left intact. More importantly, I made sure none of them knew the truth about me. We all had our secrets, some we discovered on our own. That was how it was." Her voice wasn't sad, but Link saw the flicker of regret in her eyes. The Spriggan 12 were the strongest of the Alvarez Empire, but they weren't a close-knit force. Irene might not have had a problem with that before, but bonding with the Sages and the rest of the "resistance" had no doubt left her wondering of what could have been. Perhaps it would have helped ease the pain in her heart. Not erased it, but eased it.

Irene raised her right hand up to the sun. Link wished it was her left so he could join hers with his, but he recognized the gesture. It was a subconscious habit she'd held onto since her "rebirth." Ironic that it'd happened in the Gerudo Desert, the most desolate part of Hyrule, but as the saying went, you emerge from your toughest ordeals stronger than before. In Irene's case, the strength was perhaps more emotionally.

Her hand would rise to the sky to feel the weather: the sun, the rain, the wind, and the cold. She wanted to experience it all after going without it for so long, yet she was also confirming to herself that it was all real. Likewise, she'd dip her hand into water and feel along the earth. There'd been mornings Link awoke to that, as well as nights he'd silently watched her feel around the ground. Those nights he kept watch over her, even well past midnight.

"Link, your question…I…I think I would like it if they could see me now. Perhaps most importantly, I…wish that Zeref could see me now. I…I'd want him to see me having finally gotten my wish. I'd want to tell him that for the first time since he transformed me back, I'm…I'm…I'm truly happy." Her soft voice gave way to cracks. He'd expected it, at a moment's notice he was ready to reach across and wipe a tear from her face. Months after getting her true body, she was still grappling with it all-the ability to taste and feel again. No strings attached, just her being able to well and truly live a new life.

He'd hoped he'd made that new life enjoyable.

When she turned to him, Link saw the soft core that Irene so long hid away. She'd opened it up to him just as much as he'd subtly pried it open. He always handled it with care, and now was no different. "I'd also want them to see you, Link. As my partner, my knight, and my lover."

"Irene," he whispered feeling that oh-so-familiar thumping in chest.

In his next breath she was on top of him, her bikini-covered breasts pressing against his chest. His mind flashed back to little over a year ago, when they were on the beach and she projected a watery avatar to tease him when he let slip his true feelings. This time, he grasped her hips, her womanly, wholesome, warm hips. Her hands rested on his shoulders as her scarlet strands dragged across his chest; she leaned close, panting hard.

"I'd want them to see the man who freed me, saved me…and I'd want them to know that for as grateful as I am to his majesty, I would choose this man over him and the empire." She declared looking down at him with unwavering eyes.

While she may have snuck up on him before, he perfectly reacted to her kiss. A mutual push that resulted in their lips colliding as well as their tongues. They rolled against each other as if it'd been ages since they last had contact instead of only a few minutes. Still present on each other's lips was the delicious aftertaste of the Blue Hawaiian they'd mutually enjoyed. For Link, it mixed with the already fruity (strawberry?) flavor of Irene's lipstick. His hands leisurely roamed her side while he felt her perfectly manicured, pink nails lightly digging into his shoulders. They were subtly egging each other on, a fact they acknowledged when they opened their eyes. The question was who'd make the first move, her or him.

Breaking the kiss by barely a centimeter, Irene smiled. Link's body immediately reacted having gotten accustomed to that smile.

"Ahhh~" the knight and wizard sounded off in unison. Just like on the battlefield, they were in synch with each other, thrusting their hips simultaneously. It yielded a white-hot shot of ecstasy that immediately circulated through both their bodies. Their hot moans left an echo while their bodies smoldered in the aftermath of their mutual provocation.

The Sage of Magic sat up straight and looked down at Link with ravenous eyes. Though they hadn't taken on their draconic form, Link had a feeling they were a stone's throw away from doing so, not to mention he knew what was about to come next.

He met her amorous smile with one of his own.

Irene had always been a private person, in her first life and in this one, perhaps more so in the latter. People knew her as the companion to the Champion of Hyrule, the Scarlet Age, the kingdom's Archmage. Such noble and fanciful titles, yet they could all come crashing down if they learned her true past. On a less serious (to a point) note, she valued her privacy regarding her personal life. Her deeds and eventual physical appearance had built up a mouth's worth of intrigue around her; such intrigue included romantic attention she was content to bask in, but that was it. There was only one man whose affections she cherished and returned.

Link kissed her like it was their first time doing so, little over a week after their showdown with Ganondorf at the Pyramid of Power. It'd been a hell of a week, his forces being driven back, thanks in no small part to Irene using her newly restored power to do so. She'd still been there when he woke up after a week-long rest. All the tension that'd been building up between them exploded that afternoon with her kissing him. Her kissing him, this gorgeous, powerful, incredible woman kissing him after telling him how much he meant to her. Link again thought he'd still been in a dream, but seconds passed and it dawned on him it was real. Irene had her original body back, and she kissing him, and she loved him. She loved him.

That love, mutual love, made every kiss feel like the first one.

They laid on the white and green-colored towel with him lying on his backside. She enjoyed being on top, but she wasn't immune to being on the bottom. Irene had subtly coaxed Link to take charge, to let out the inner dom that she guessed slumbered within him. Not once had she been disappointed, nor had she left him disappointed when it came to sex. This time was shaping up to be no different.

The kiss broke with Irene sitting up, panting hard while continuing to leer at Link with that amorous smile. She was perfectly aware of the erect in his pants, she was sitting right on top of it. With a shake of her hips, she strengthened it, making Link groan. As horny as she could be, Irene was also one hell of a tease; he'd discovered that long before she got her body back.

Though they'd dried off from their swim in the water, her body still glistened in the afternoon sun above them. She'd chosen this spot likely specifically because of that. Looking up at her, Link felt like he was beholding a goddess in human form, a goddess of beauty and magic. Compared to her, he was nothing, yet his hands greedily ran along her sides, only feeling the feathery-soft flesh beneath his roughened fingertips. They were such a contrast to one another, yet here they lay, a perfect fit.

Smiling, she reached down with her hands and guided his up. He'd have gotten to her breasts eventually, but it seemed she was in a bit of a hurry. Blood rushed through every part of his body, particularly his manhood, as he felt those huge, watermelon-sized breasts. Link would have been lying if he didn't admit those were amongst the first things he noticed about her human form, both clothed and unclothed. Wearing a sexy x-strapped bikini top with a humongous cleavage window? Goddesses, his jaw had dropped to the floor when she shrugged off the floral-pattern shirt akin to his own to reveal her choice of swimwear.

"Feels good, doesn't it? To have these all to yourself knowing the rest of the kingdom would kill to be in your position." She teased.

His response was immediate. "Yes, dammit, yes, Irene." The pulsation of his manhood traveled up to his hands, squeezing the round orbs through the black fabric. Irene let out a shuddering moan while rocking her hips again. It was an erotic cycle, the movement of her hips, the stirring of his cock, and the squeeze of his hands-one feeding into the other without end. Except Link knew it would end, something was going to have to give, and he had a hunch what it was going to be. "I-Irene," Breathing hard, he gripped the top edges of her bikini top and pulled.

"Ohh, that actually feels rather good." Just as his cock was hard, so were her nipples. Irene sighed feeling the touch of the warm, salty sea air tickling her nipples. Just another wondrous sensation she'd been eager to feel again-and it was topped by the feeling of Link's fingers gripping her twin peaks. "Yes, Goddesses, that feels good, Link."

He was always happy to hear that. His hands weren't like hers, arguably inevitable given she was a sorceress and he was a warrior, albeit she could fight hand-to-hand with skilled with the best of them. Still, his hands were worn and chiseled from the physical labor he subjected himself to, be it fighting or handiwork. Despite that, people routinely said he had gentle hands, including Irene. With that supposed gentleness, he felt up her chest as he'd done several times before. Such was a privilege afforded only to him.

Pink lips opened releasing an elongated moan as those mountain peaks were pinched. There was a temporary break to the cycle as Irene's body shook yet remained still. Her cheeks were almost as red as her braided hair. With closed eyes, the wizard basked in the jittering ecstasy that raced through her body from the stimulation. Amidst his heavy panted, Link smiled; he had the advantage on his draconic lover and he happily seized it. His hips were the ones that thrusted upward. She'd sharpened his manhood, and now it was time for her to see the fruits of her labor. The hot blush on her face and long, drawn out moans showed she was enjoying them, greatly.

A new cycle began, one with Link firmly in control. His hips thrusted causing Irene's boobs to bounce, during which he squeezed her nipples. Hot moans escaped from the draconic wizard's mouth as her whole body shuddered atop him. Link would have sworn he felt those pleasurable shivers traveling through his body-they were addictive, so he ensured they continued. While he still felt the growing tension between his legs, he was content to play this little game. For how long, he didn't know, but Link knew he was having fun, and so was Irene.

Her hands were practically wielded to his, dimly following their every move. Beneath her bikini bottom he was sure a wetness was forming between her legs. He wanted to see it, feel it, taste it, but he kept his focus on the stimulation of her breasts. The first time they'd had sex, he promised he'd make her feel every wonderful, sensual thing she'd missed out on. He held true to that oath even now, and he promised he always would.

"Link!" Her hands broke from his to his shoulders. Pulling herself down, she crashed her lips against his. He didn't mind the force. As he kissed her back, he gave her tits the tightest squeeze possible. She moaned against his mouth while grinding her hips against his. They were feeling the suffocation of their swimwear, but the current kiss was too consuming for them to do something about that.

The kiss stretched on for what could have been hours. Link and Irene were out of breath when it broke, lips red as they rapidly inhaled and exhaled. Blue and red stared longingly into each other as their chests rose and fell in tandem with their breathing. Irene remained consciously aware of Link's hands still on her chest, holding her twin mounds in what was now a gentler grip. She enjoyed their tender feel, but a rising voice demanded she move on, that she feel another part of him. Pulling herself together, she heeded it.

Silently, she scrambled down to her boyfriend's waist. In a single move, she did away with his swim trunks, revealing the Hero of Hyrule's manhood, hard and ready as a knight's sword should have been. Still, Irene believed it could use a good sharpening. Licking her lips, she reached out with her purple-colored nails and began to give it such. Hot groans burst from Link's mouth as he felt the numerous jolts of ecstasy her touch brought. Smiling, she leisurely dragged her nails up his mast, listening to the sounds that left his throat up to his increasingly racing heart. He didn't have time for one word of surprise, it was all groans and gasps as she worked her silky fingers against his cock.

Then, she added her tongue.

"Ohhh~!" His yell echoed across their little spot. Irene forced him to make another as she licked his cock again and again while continuing to stroke his dick. She steadily moved her hands down toward the base of his member freeing up the upper portion for her tongue and mouth. Her usual pattern, and it never failed her. "I-I-Ir…ene…ahhh~! Aaahhh~! I-Irene~!"

"Mmm, I can taste the sea on your cock, my precious little knight. I wonder if you cum will have an altered flavor as well." She purred.

Gripping the towel, he pooled all his concentration to make eye contact with the redheaded archmage. "There's…only one way to find out, Irene."

She laughed at his audacious challenge. It was certainly something about him that she loved.

"AAAHHHH~!" Screamed the Emerald Hero as the whole of his cock was taken into the sorceress' mouth. Those strawberry colored, and scented, lips, fastened around his manhood and greedily suckled on it. "I-Irene~!" His hips involuntarily jerked upward, pushing his dick deeper into her mouth. A moan of approval sounded from her muffled mouth. Plus, the lewd sound of her sucking rose in ears like the tide in a storm. "Aaaaaaahhh~! O-Oh, Farore's wind, I-Ireene~!"

"Mmmmmm~! Mmmmmmm~!"

"AAAAAAHHH~! OOOOOHHHH~!"

The clear sky became marred with colored spots as Link stared at it, or at least he did so one minute. In the next he was looking down, eyes locked on the scarlet mass of hair buried between his legs. From it emitted lewd suckling the kinds of which he'd heard of in passing brothels. Irene had teased him about that as well. Personally, he'd have stayed away from them if their quest hadn't forced them near such areas. Despite his insistence otherwise, he'd always quietly wondered what it'd feel like to be serviced by a woman.

Everyday for the past two months he thanked the goddesses Irene had showed him what it was like, and that he could call her his woman.

Panting, he reached down and gripped her hair-covered head, and with it, thrusted his hips upward. Another muffled moan of bliss; grinning, Link began a rapid series of thrusts. Each one hit the back of the Scarlet Angel's throat, her mouth tightening around his cock while her tongue ran over it. He let his head fall back as more groans of pleasure tumbled out.

She'd been so playful and he'd been so nervous during their first time. A natural given Link was a virgin and Irene wasn't. It was something she'd held over him, and used to arouse him. He'd in turn proclaimed his wish to make the experience as enjoyable as possible for her, because she deserved it. Overall, Irene was proud to say her first time with Link was miles better than her wedding night with Rung. Not to mention the Hylian proved to be far better in bed than her former husband, amongst many, many other things.

Irene always sucked Link's cock with an eagerness that left him twisting and squirming wherever they did it. That included public places where she'd happily pull down his pants and take his cock into her mouth. Sometimes she'd use magic to conceal them, while other times she wouldn't, daring him to remain silent as she got him off. As enjoyable as those games were, they couldn't compare to when he screamed her name, such as he was now.

His hips moved like a piston-just how Irene liked it. Her own mouth was an oven crossed with a cyclone, sweltering heat with her wind-like tongue batting his manhood from all sides. Link shook and groaned and screamed, continuing to thrust his hips into her oral hole. She appreciated the work he was putting it, but Irene was determined to do the same. In fact, she knew Link love it when she did. After all, she knew exactly how to make her Hylian lover feel good.

Her mouth broke from his cock, granting Link a second's worth of a reprieve. He gasped for breath, though he also readied himself knowing what was about to come next. As he'd pleasantly discovered, Irene's breasts weren't just for show.

"OOOOOOHHHHHHH~!"

"Heh, I've been meaning to do this pretty long myself." She confessed while already hard at work pumping his eight-inch dick with her breasts. The mounds the knight had fondled had taken over for her hands, and the change was immediate. Link howled even louder, his voice rolling across the beach while his back arched up. Grinning, she squeezed his raised cock even more, intensifying his blissful scream. "Yes, that's it, scream for me, Link!" Despite her sexy priding, it went both ways. She felt the steaming hot hardness of his member between her tits. Yet another feeling she'd been sorely missing, especially with a big, strong cock to play with.

Link's breathing increased as his dick twitched at a greater rate. The tipping point was her wrapping her tongue around the protruding tip, lashing it with a fervor. Then, she simply took it all into her mouth. His hips moved again, pushing his cock far up; Irene's nerves flared with ecstasy feeling the hot friction. Her pussy watered as she briefly pictured his cock driving its way into her cunt. For the moment, she focused having it between her breasts. Big breast pride was something she had in spades, and times like this were exactly why.

"I-Irene~! Irene, I-I-I'm going to cum~!"

A triple squeeze, her tits and tongue. The twitching reached its zenith, as did his thrusting. Link squeezed his eyes closed while gripping the towel so hard his knuckles turned white. Inhaling air, he let out another loud, echoing scream.

"AAAAAAAAHHHH~!"

Sweet, warm cum exploded from the knight's tip, and straight up into his mystic lover's mouth. It splashed against the roof of her mouth before cascading down her throat. The blessing of her returned taste buds hit her as hard as Link's orgasm did. Tears of joy streamed down Irene's face, although they became lost when she broke her lips from his erupting cock to allow its contents to spray across her face. Having developed a "sensory kink" feeling his semen spray across every inch of her fast was absolutely incredible. Irene's euphoric moan ran beneath Link's loud yell as he continued to cum on her face.

When he finally stopped, he lifted his head up and took in the sight of his semen dripping from Irene's face, again. Just like that first time, he was speechless, too shocked for words at the sight of such an angelic beauty being covered in his cum. And smiling at it. White stains dripped from her scarlet hair, though she never minded. She'd used magic to clean it up, but she never did so regarding the cum on her face, that she scooped up with her hands to lick away. The lewd sounds she made while doing so stirred his heart and his cock, which quickly became hard again while watching her.

Despite its readiness, Link knew it was his turn to pleasure his lover, and to have a taste of her juices.

Catching his eye, Irene giggled as she lunged for his lips. Catching her in his arms, he rolled them over while greedily taking her lips. First, he gripped her face, feeling the lingering heat of his cum, completely cleaned off. Their tongues batted against one another in a heated battle ending in mutual withdrawal. Afterward, Link moved his hands to her hips while Irene did the same to his face. They went back and forth, a flurry of short and long kisses exchanged in an unknowable window of time. Once the storm of intimacy passed, they took a second to admire the splendor of one another's blushing faces.

Irene shivered in delight feeling Link's throbbing cock pressed against her. He could have simply plunged it into her, but by the way he moved to kiss her cheek and neck, she knew he wasn't quite there yet. She smiled in anticipation for when he finally returned her treatment of his manhood.

The knight's lips moved down her right side, from her cheek to her neck to her chest. A purr morphed into a moan, then a scream as he took hold of her nipples with his mouth. His canines tenderly bit into the right summit while her left was tended by his fingers. He obviously hadn't lost his touch. The redhead was the one seeing spots in the blue sky, her arms stretching out and gripping the towel. Every lick and flick of Link's tongue shot ecstasy straight into her veins. The feeling was just as incredible as it'd been the first time. As best she could, she encouraged him, whispering sweet encouragement and moaning in loud joy. She hardly noticed when she switched, not that it mattered.

Only when he withdrew completely did Irene realize something had changed. Panting, she looked down to see Link staring at her. Those blue eyes had taken on a feral quality similar to her own. The sight set her blood ablaze. Sensing that, the Hylian grinned, then proceeded to kiss his way down her belly. As always, he stopped to kiss the scar on her stomach, the lone imperfection on her perfect body.

Irene knew it was a subconscious desire that recreated it when the Triforce reconstructed her body. She didn't want to forget Erza, even with all the heartache it brought.

Link had accepted her decision without complaint-he loved her all the same. He loved her after she told him her story. He loved her when she transformed into a dragon. He was the kind of man she sorely wished she'd married in her first life, but as the saying went, sometimes you just have to give it another try.

Her bikini bottom fell away, and with it her legs opened. The crimson spot of hair above her pussy was breathed over by her pointy-eared knight, whose hands softly caressed her thighs. It was teasing, the kind of sensory play that she'd grown to enjoy, as had Link. Their eyes met one another in a mutual gaze just before he dove in.

"Ohhhhhh~!" He dove into her cunt with vigor, flicking his tongue over the already wet entrance. Then, he shoved his tongue right in. Wet, warm, and inviting, just like before. Link pushed deep, flicking his tongue from side to side. Her vaginal walls reacted instantaneously, but that just made it more fun for him. Link felt Irene's shapely legs close around his head; he kept his hands fasten to her thighs. Every time they shook, he felt it from two sides, through his cheeks and through his fingertips.

"Aaahhhh~! Aaaaahhhh~! Mmmmaaaaaahhh~! L-Link, y-you've…gotten better!" Such praise was music to his ears, as well as her continued moaning. For only a second, Link pulled his tongue back and planted a quick kiss on his girlfriend's outer lips. "Ahhh~" She felt it, and she enjoyed it. "M-My-! Ohhhhhh~!" Of course, he went right back to eating her out. This time, he went faster, smacking his tongue against her walls while pushing deep into her vaginal tongue. "Liiiiink~!"

He knew for a fact her legs could shatter solid rock and even steel like twigs. There was something oddly tantalizing in knowing that yet still having them wrapped around his head. The fear of her losing control was nonexistent to Link. Both confident and addicted, he pressed on, literally. Irene's screams grew louder as he did so, her body thrashing yet her legs kept their hold around his cranium.

Somewhere amidst her screams and panting, she began to rock her body along to the rhythm of his tongue. It was a gesture that proved to be the final tipping point she needed.

"AAAAHHHH~!"

Delicious white shrouded his face. With an open mouth, Link swallowed as much as he could, which he was glad to say was more than before. As his girlfriend had said, he'd gotten better; his improvement had been for the both of them. The things one did for the people they loved.

Her orgasms still hit her hard, not that Irene would have liked for that to stop. She lay flat on her back, panting while feelings of white-hot ecstasy fell over her. Her legs collapsed against Link's shoulders. Her pussy continued to spew feminine nectar straight onto his face, and he continued to lap it up. Irene was proud of the fact she had more than enough for him to drink his fill, and then some.

He had a look of utter fulfillment on his face when he rose to face her, and she managed to keep her eyes open. Those blond spikes were dripping wet, just as her red braids and hoop earrings were. They shared a mutual laugh at how the tables had quite happily turned.

Link's face was cleaned several minutes later, during which his cock continuously throbbed in a howl for attention. Irene let her eyes wonder to it, her smile growing. Temptation raged within the knight whenever their eyes met-he clearly knew what she wanted, and what he wanted as well. It seemed to make him hurry up; she was glad that he took the time to lick up all the cum instead of simply diving into the water to wash it off. The moment he was finished, Irene beckoned to him with a lone finger. With a wild grin, Link scrambled toward her face.

She did take the time to kiss him. Quite intimately. Nipples and abs were squeezed together as they aggressively grinding against each other, feeling the burn of that erotic fire within them. That fire swept through them, albeit Irene didn't let it rob her of all her senses. As Link positioned his member to enter her, she felt it flash bright within her.

"W-Wha?! I-I-Irene!" Cried the blond knight who found himself looking up instead of down.

The Sage Dragon giggled as she relished her position atop her lover. "I just couldn't help myself." Her hips came down upon his member, which effortlessly slid into her snatch. Irene let her head fall back with a pleasure-laced moan.

Link's hands shot to her hips, holding her steady as he began rocking his hips up and down. Irene's moans continued, louder and deeper as she felt the constant thrusts. She called for more and he was all too happy to oblige. A day's worth of swimming not to mention his previous orgasms and he still had tons of energy to burn. He was more than happy to use every drop of it to pound his lover into oblivion as they'd chosen to do for today. It was just about them enjoying the beach and each other.

"Haaa~! Haaaa~! HAAAA~!" her head fell forward along with her hands. They lay splayed out against Link's chest. Through her fluttering eyes, she made out the diagonal scar that ran up his chest. Irene moved her eyes from it to Link's face; her heart melted as she saw the passionate life ablaze in his eyes. Not only that, but the love as well. She feared both had been lost forward when Ganondorf pierced him with his trident, but the indomitable strength he possessed allowed him to power through the attack, and even break that trident in two. That same strength was being used to fuck her, a far more enjoyable use of it, not to mention less life-threatening.

Then again, Irene knew some would have had reservations about letting a dragon ride them. Luckily, Link wasn't one of them.

"HNNNNN~! L-LINK, HARDER!"

"HERE…YOU…GO, IRENE!"

Once again, her back arched, breasts bouncing. Rather Link saw them or not was irrelevant, her pussy was squeezing his member with an iron vice, and he loved it. Not that it stopped him from continuing his fierce thrusts into her. Each thrust was a shockwave on par with one of her earth spells, traveling up her body and ringing her insides. They grew stronger and stronger, hastening the orgasmic release that Irene knew was inevitable.

"KEEP GOING, LINK!"

"GLADLY, IRENE! YOU WANTED THIS JUST AS MUCH AS ME! SO HERE IT COMES!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHH~! HHHHHAAAAAAAHHHH~!"

The squeeze of her vaginal lips grew, reaching new heights as his thrusts did the same. He knew he was going to cum, he felt it in the bowels of his very soul. Irene as well, he knew this level of tightness. Grinning, he gave her a single, powerful thrust that caused her to let loose another piercing scream. One more and she screamed again, walls tightening even more as the orgasmic explosion they desired came closer. His struck him like divine arrow, and with it he screamed out his response for her and her alone to hear.

"IRENE~!"

"LINK~!"

His seed shot straight into her, thick streams of masculine seed that she welcomed. Every shot was felt and savored; her walls exploded around his gushing manhood, showering it with her feminine juices. Irene felt the two mixing within her womanhood, an incredible feeling that words couldn't describe, even now after she'd experienced the full feeling of an orgasm a dozen times already. She never got tired of it, and she knew she was never going to. Not with Link, not with the way he held her during and after their climax.

She fell forward against him, even as their hips continued to twitch with their ongoing release. His arms wrapped around her, holding her in such a tender embrace even as they continued to exchange juices. He consciously moved his hips, thrusted them, against hers. Irene moaned and responded in kind. It wasn't long before they were moving their hips in unison, reinvigorating their orgasm as it was running its course. They slammed their lips together, muffling the orgasmic screams that would have gone with their continued fucking.

Irene rested her head on Link's shoulder at the end of it. Her scarlet braids softly swayed in the summer wind. Link ran his hand through them, finding they still had a little bit of moisture from the seawater. Running his hands through her red strands had become one of his favorite things to do with her; Irene had told him he was the only man who had that privilege, and Link was proud of it. He kept his arms wrapped around her shapely waist while she laid hers to rest atop his shoulders. Every breath she took tickled his neck.

He waited until her breathing had calmed before rolling them over. Irene chuckled at the switch up, having seen it coming. She gave a low moan at the removal of his cock, causing a torrent of cum to gush from her womanhood. Want immediately manifested in her eyes as she looked up at him.

For all her teasing and stimulation, he saw the hint of nervousness in her during their first time. The last time she'd had sex had been with her husband, and the less said about him, the better. "I'll be good to you, Irene. I promise." Link had declared before pushing his manhood into her, swiftly and powerfully. Irene had felt the intrusion down, howling in ecstasy as she was filled with a cock for the first time in centuries. Her doubt was scattered like dust in the wind.

There was no doubt or fear in her eyes, only deep longing that Link answered when he thrusted into her. Irene gave a quiet scream at being filled up a second time. Arms and legs wrapped around, locking him in as he began a new series of thrusts. She felt those erotic tremors once more rocking her insides. Link groaned at the steaming hot squeeze around his manhood. Waves of euphoria slammed into him from all sides; more followed as Irene ran her hands through the back of his hair. Her loving touch was always enough to get his heart racing, and the feel of her lips put fire into his veins. She needed no magic for that, just as he needed no sorcery to do the same for her.

Their bodies moved in tandem, having synchronized during their kisses. Perhaps that was one of the truest marks of their partnership, on and off the battlefield, their ability to synch up with nary a word being spoken between them. They simply knew what the other wanted and acted.

Lips pressed together while their bodies furiously grinded against each other, hips smacking together in a roaring chorus. Their erotic rhythm far outpaced the mellow waves of the ocean they'd been swimming in. At the rate they were going, odds were, they weren't going to be returning to the water for some time, not that it bothered either of them.

Link groaned feeling the familiar drag of her nails dragging across his backside. Those too he'd seen shred seemingly unbreakable substances like tissue paper, yet their touch brought nothing but excitement to him. When she pressed down, he answered with a hard thrust of his hips. Irene screamed, pleading for more, and like a loyal knight, he answered her. The feeling of another impeding orgasm welled up within him, and her as well. Slamming his lips against hers, he endeavored to hold it off for as long as he could to prolong the ecstasy of their fucking. Ther redhead did the same, storming his mouth with her tongue. Chuckling as best he could, Link challenged her with his; their bodies continued the intense smacking that'd rapidly filled their secluded beach spot.

"Link…that was…that was…that was amazing. You were amazing."

"Heh, thanks, Irene."

"I'm serious, Link. That was…the best sex I've had in ages. No, that was the best round of sex I've ever had in my entire life."

"Irene, I…I'm so happy to hear that. I'm happy I was able to make you feel loved."

"Oh, Link, you've made me feel that long before this moment. Frankly, I'm happy that you chose me over all the other girls."

"Frankly, none of them could hold a candle to you. Irene, you're the strongest, smartest, and most beautiful woman I've ever met. My virginity, my life, my everything…I'm happy to give it all to you."

She kissed him with the same fervor she had as when she heard those words. Tears once again slipped from her eyes, tears that were wiped away by a gentle thumb. The only difference was they were still fucking each other, but that was about to come to a temporary end. Irene felt the eruption accumulating within her, more powerful than Death Mountain's numerous bellows. From how her lover's cock throbbed within her, he was about to have one of his own. Eyes flashing, Irene tightened her hold and slammed her hips against Link's, her walls tightening one final time.

He pulled out, shocking her. It was short-lived as the eighteen-year-old warrior slammed back into her, puncturing the rapidly crumbling wall between her and orgasmic release. It was a self-destructive attack as his own restraint came crumbling down as well.

"HAAAAAAAAAHHHH~!"

Once more, a cock exploded within her, filling her with honey-like semen that had Irene crying tears of orgasmic joy. Her own juices burst forth, splashing the intruding yet welcome cock, mixing with the masculine seed inside of her. With a grip on her beloved's head and backside, Irene arched her back up, deepening the union of their bodies. Link gave a small but forceful thrust on his end, strengthening their orgasm.

Link's hard chest squished her breasts, though it was a pressure Irene delighted in just as much as him. After all, she kept her hands wrapped around him, maintaining his body's position on top of her. He maintained his hold around her waist as well, gently rubbing her sides. Cum continued to leak from her stuffed pussy; she moaned when he shook his hips, pushing his member a smidge deeper into her. Irene's hips shook around his while his cock throbbed. Link let it sit there for several minutes before he finally pulled it out, and when he did, another river of cum flowed from his mystic lover's cunt. As he turned over onto his backside, he reached out and wrapped an arm around her.

Irene was more than happy to cuddle up to him. They lay together naked underneath the sun with the whole of the Lanayru Sea stretched out before them. It was hard to believe over a year ago it was marred in putrid sludge that made swimming in it unthinkable at best and literally sickening at worst. Thanks to their efforts, the curse had been reversed. Looking out over it, Link and Irene couldn't help but feel this serenity they were enjoying was the real reward for their efforts.

"So," Irene began. "You want to go for another round, or up for another dip in the water, Link?"

"Hmm, now let me think." He replied with chuckle.

"Take your time, darling, we have all the time in the world." She comforted while placing a kiss on his cheeks.

The sea wasn't going anywhere, and neither were them. Not from each other's side.

Fin

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I'll leave it up to your imaginations if they went for another round or went for a swim, I feel like either are entirely possible.

This story was a blast to write as I finally got to put a couple of ideas I've had bouncing around into words. As I said at the beginning, this story was a vastly trimmed down branch off of a full-length story akin to my Hero and Demon fic, except staring Irene as the main heroine and Link's eventual love interest. Given her extremely dark and complicated past, as well as her personality, the story would have a heavy focus on facing the past and redemption. The scene with the Golden Goddesses would be how it started with Irene's soul ending up in Hyrule courtesy of them instead of her reincarnation in 100 Year Quest. When conceptualizing the whole thing, Irene being reborn as a red-colored fairy like Navi was amongst the first ideas I had. Akin to games like OoT, MM, TP, and SS, she'd be Link's guide and companion, but one able to actually fight since she wouldn't be entirely deprived of all her power. Over the course of the story, she would regain her strength until something (in this case the completed Triforce) fully restored her back to her true form, coupled with all her senses returning as well.

As you probably gleaned from the story, the setting was a mix of various games. The basic premise was similar to Ocarina of Time, but with elements of Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, and Twilight Princess. In fact, I'd say Twilight Princess was a big inspiration since I envisioned, and tried to write, Link and Irene's relationship following a similar trajectory as TP Link and Midna's; the manga version was a strong influence where they're very much shown to be falling for one another. Since this was a summer/beach themed story, Mocktorok got a bit of some spotlight, and an upgrade from the rather laughable yet dangerous shrimp it was in game.

This being a greatly condensed love story, I tried to show Irene gradually letting her walls down with Link, who became increasingly smitten with her. I didn't include full-on flashbacks, but I did try to show snippets of the past to help explain what was happening in the present. Writing it left me eager to just go ahead and write the full story, but I've got feeling that's still long ways off. Still, I hope you all enjoyed it. Irene had one hell of a traumatic life that I'm sure with stick with her even if she got a second chance, and because of it, a part of her would be hesitant to think she even deserved it. Fortunately, she found that special someone who not only helped give it to her, but made that second life worthwhile. Being the quintessential selfless hero, Link was that someone, plus, I got to visit a few favorite dynamics of mine such as sword and magic and knight and dragon. As it happens, green and red are also complementary colors, so they go well together.

So, again, this is a story I wanted to get out there and I hope you enjoyed it. "Ballad of the Hero and the Scarlet Angel" is probably a long ways off, but I might write another story in this continuity since I really enjoyed it and I want to flush out more of Link and Irene's adventure and relationship. Let me know what you all thought of it (or if you have any ideas), and until next time, readers!