This fic is dedicated especially to Sorceress of Shadows, for it is her birthday present! Happy birthday, meine liebe!

oO8~8Oo

The Water Temple was a cold place. The water-filled rooms served only to immediately chill any semblance of warmth that entered. And yet two people still remained within, unable to bring themselves to leave.

For the princess of the Zoras, the place was an asylum of sorts. She had been driven nearly mad by the disappearance of her beloved those years ago, and now she sat in wait for the day he would return, her knight in shining armor, to save her from the cold of the temple, and the icy heart of her captor. Yet in the back of her mind, she felt as though he did not want to be there, as if he were being ordered to keep her in that horrid place. So she stayed not only for her love, but for the young man she had been left with.

For the shadow of the Hero, it was a prison. He had never asked to be placed there, never wanted to even enter. Yet he had been forced to protect the place, made only to keep the Zora princess from escaping. But a small part of him felt that even if he left her all alone, she would not leave. It was as though she was willingly there, waiting for some sort of miracle. He could not fully understand it, but he thought it was something worth protecting. So he stayed, even though he did not truly need to.

Over time, it seemed as though no one would ever come to save them. It had been at least five years since the two of them had been left there all alone, with no one but each other. And they had begun to spend their time with each other. Grudgingly at first, reluctantly. But over time their meets had begun to be the most exciting times of their life.

Eventually, the temple was conquered by the Hero of Time. Its monsters were slain, and all of its inhabitants removed. The Zora princess knew she should have been thrilled, now that her knight had come to save her from the cold loneliness of her prison. But she had come to like the cold. And she had never really been lonely.