The topic of the Door of Time had never arisen between the two ever since they had gotten over the hysteria of finding a way to be together, but in the back of the young lovers' minds they both knew in their hearts that they could not change fate, and that they had merely bought themselves time with each other. Was it written in blood that they could not be together? Then why would they have fallen so deeply in love, why would the goddesses purposely cause them such heartache? But the two kept these questions to themselves, shoved at the back of their thoughts. The Princess and Hero remained adamant that they would always be together… but these questions were beginning to not just only daunt them, but to frighten them…
Zelda awoke early that morning, feeling Link's arms gently enveloping her as she glanced out the window, noticing it was still pretty dark out. She thought for a moment, closing her eyes again and letting her head rest against the young soldier's chest. She listened to him breathe, softly, slowly, as she thought of the events of the previous night. She might never again be able to bury herself in his warm tunic again like this, against his powerful chest, listening to his breathing, his heartbeat…
She started when she felt his fingers gently run through her hair. “Zelda,” he said, his voice smooth and comforting, “what time is it? 4:00 a.m. all ready?” He glanced out at the window, somehow being able to tell. “Must be…I've trained myself well! Oh…” He yawned then, sliding his fingers from her and sitting up, stretching. “Stay up all night with my beautiful Zelda, sleep for two hours, get up before the rest of the world and sneak away to the Temple of Time, all in all making it back just in time for a bowl of sugary cereal as my little 10-year-old self. You know, most mothers would go crazy if they knew their little boy was going seven years into the future every other night, only to sneak past a thousand or so guards into Hyrule Castle and then spend the night in the same room as a female.”
The princess giggled, she too sitting up. “Yes, I…I can see why…”
“Ah, I guess that's just about the only benefit of being raised solely by a talking tree…I can imagine it's a bit difficult for him to even realize I'm gone…” He smiled, taking her hand as she sat beside him.
“But do you ever…do you ever miss them?” She turned to look at him, blanching at her own words and shuffling her fingers.
“Of course…I miss my parents...my family…but I never allow myself to feel sorry…I just remind myself that I've got…you.” He faced her, “Zelda, I love you…and there isn't anything that can ever change that. Even if,” He started to get choked up, “even if we aren't together in person, or even in time, I'll love you…and I'll never forget you.”
She knew exactly what he meant, feeling tears beginning to form in her eyes. “It's the only way to make things right… we shouldn't have…we shouldn't have tried to change fate…”
She fell into his arms then, letting herself cry softly into his tunic. He let his arms fall around her, not saying a word, simply holding her, letting his fingers stroke her back in a soothing massage. They remained like this for what seemed forever, until the young man's fingers lifted her face from his chest.
“I have to go soon…the sun will be up shortly…I…I'm sorry…” He slid his hands from her, slowly, gently, and lifted her chin to face him. “Will you be alright?”
“Y…yes, I'll be fine…” She forced herself to look into his deeply concerned eyes.
“We…we'll do it in three days' time, then. We can…we can each come up with some excuse to be away for that time…that way we'll be able to spend an entire day in each of our times together. Then…we…we'll go on the third night.”
Zelda nodded, Link pressing his lips to hers once more.
“All right,” He said after a few long moments, “I…I'll see you tomorrow.”
Nodding again, she walking over to open up her window. She gazed at the beautiful sunrise for a moment before forming her magical stairway to the ground, and then watched her lover as he scurried down it and blew her a kiss, quickly disappearing.
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