The sun's bright rays seep through my eyelids and wake me from my peaceful, nightmare-less, and thunder-lacking sleep. The faded yellow and blue tones paint the sky, which is a beautiful sight that most people don't know how to appreciate. Strung above me is the tarp from last night, which seems to have kept out all the rain by some miracle. Puddles form little pools that reflect the clouds around us.

Last night is something I'll never forget-the night that I possibly overcame my fear of thunder and lightning. Frantic booming and spastic flashes mean little to me now. I couldn't even see them when I was in Link's chest, and... Oh crap.

Link held me and kissed me last night. It was only on the forehead, but still-holy crap. My heart starts to pound again as I remember what happened last night. Not only that, but he gave me his hat-his hat! Wow, nice job looking like a total wimp in front of Link and Midna; not to mention Fi.

"Awake already?"

"Gah!" I muffle a shriek, and my neck swerves to Link, who appears to have taken watch again.

"How are you feeling, Neri?" he asks, the barely masked concern reflecting in his eyes.

"You mean about last night? I'm fine. Sorry you had to see that, by the way..." I add sheepishly, and rub the back of my head.

"No, it's fine. I'm just happy to see that you aren't panicking anymore." Phew, he hasn't mentioned the kiss. "But, we should probably begin our search for the Water Crystal, shouldn't we?" Link suggests. I get up from under the heavy blanket and straighten out my hoodie, then plop down next to Link and grab the riddle. I read loud and clear,

"In a place where there is no sky,

Is where the Water Crystal sank and lies."

The blanket beside us shuffles, then tiny hands tear it away. "Ugh, it's too early to be solving the next riddle."

We ignore Midna and carry on.

"So if it is the Water Crystal," Link continues, "it's probably some place with water in or around it, correct?"

"Probably. Or else it wouldn't be called the Water Crystal."

Midna stretches out her small back and stumbles to sit beside me. She rubs her eyes and leans over my lap, retorting, "The only place that has lots of water is Lake Floria. Once something sinks there, you can kiss it goodbye because you're not getting it back-unless you're a Zora. But they don't do charity."

Link runs his hands through his straw-coloured hair. Right, I'm still wearing his hat.

"Here," I take it off and hand it to him.

He nods, and murmurs, "Thanks." Once Link's managed to smooth out his hat the way he wants it, he states, "But the place where there is no sky part is confusing me. You can see the sky from anywhere, can't you?"

I stand up, and start to stretch my quads and arms. "Let's just go to Lake Floria, and figure it out once we're there."

Link and Midna agree, and we begin to pack up. After everything has been thrown away or placed in Midna's storage realm, we start walking. Sadly, it's about an eight-hour walk.

When I was in my world my family camped all the time, and we would go for a six-hour road trip sometimes, which I can sadly admit that I could barely handle. The constant silence was enough to drive me insane, and my butt always fell asleep for the last two hours, and for some reason I always got hot or got a headache; one of the two. But once I'm back home that'll seem like nothing compared to these extreme walks we've been doing. Who needs gym class when you can just live the daily life of a Hylian?

When we arrive at 3:37PM, you can just barely see the sky turning a bit dark if you look really hard. But I'll admit, what stands before us is pretty. The huge falls of Lake Floria, with the reflection bouncing off the water just right. Wait a moment...

When I received a real great gash through my middle, this is where Link and I washed up and where Midna found the cave that Fi was in-no wonder it seems familiar. However, that doesn't matter.

"So, it's somewhere here?" Midna asks monotonously.

"Yup. We'd better get searching," I say, with equal enthusiasm. Link just stares at the waters beside us, probably biting his tongue so he doesn't complain in front of us and lose his 'cool guy' image. Yeah, sure.

"Hey! Hey Link! Look over there!" I yell, and point to a tunnel. It looks like it's been carved out of the side of the falls, only making it even more eerily awesome. You can't see that far in, but it looks really dark.

"Yeah, that's pretty cool. What's in there?" Link asks, his hands on his hips.

I shrug. "I don't know, but I'm going to go in! You want to come?" I offer, before I run away like one of those wild greased pigs.

"Sure!" Midna says, and follows me.

It's pretty dark, but the farther we get in... The lighter it gets, as weird as that sounds. You can see the rock walls, and the stalactites and stalagmites. I always forget which one's which. The drops falling from the stalactites echo through the limestone cave behind the falls, and there's even little glow-worms latched to the roof. Maybe that's what is lighting up the cave.

"Hey Neri, look at that!" Midna gasps, and points in front of me. I follow her turquoise finger to equally turquoise water. A deep pool with mixed hues of bright blue, dark purples, and sea foam greens all mold together into the pristine pool. It takes up almost the whole cavern, and it's huge. Completely circular, but huge.

Right at that time, one water drop slides off a stalactite and hits the water, rippling it through the glass surface until it reaches the edge near our feet.

"Whoa," is all I can say.

"Yeah," Link agrees.

"Cannon ball!" Midna screeches, and runs for the pool. She jumps and curls into a tiny ball, and smiles like a kid on Christmas morning. Seeing her do so reminds me of how long it's been since I've gone swimming, and how much I love doing exactly that-swimming. I swim all the time, and my swimming form is impeccable. Anyways, her expression turns from happy to terrified and her body unravels.

She belly flops, and Link and I flinch when we hear the large slap accompanying it. I shield my eyes and Link looks away, but then we both look back with confusion all over our faces.

Midna's laying on her stomach (barely conscious, but still breathing) on the surface of the water. She didn't even break the top or make a ripple; like it's ice. But it can't be, because the water ripples when drops fall.

"Ow..." Midna mutters as she slowly gets to her fee, clutching her oversized mask. "Holy...!" Looking down, she realizes why we're so speechless: She is standing on the water.

Link walks over and bends down to thoroughly inspect it. He moves his hand to scoop it up, but his knuckles knock against something. Wait a moment, I have an idea-it may be late, but I was still the first one to think of it.

"Link, do you think this is the home of the Water Crystal?" He looks like a light bulb just went on above his head, and he smiles

"Yes, it has to be! We've found it! And... I guess caves don't really have skies, do they?" He peers up at the ceiling filled with glowing dots of worms and dripping stone. "Well, we know it's either you or Fi."

Water, my element-the only place I'd rather be instead of land. I bend down to scoop up water like Link, and the water splashes and my sleeve gets wet. I grin and stand up, unzip my hoodie, and-

"Neri!" Link yells, and I turn around. "What are you doing? Don't undress in front of me!"

"Link," I sigh, and remember. This is Hyrule, which is seemly in a very old time period. A bikini would be considered undignified. "I'm not naked. Turn around."

He slowly turns around and peeks through his hands. By then, I've already stripped my jeans and shoes. The tips of his ears grow pink and his eyes widen. He's probably never seen something so revealing in all his life. I giggle at his reaction and clutch my sides, watching as the red tones begin to spread to his face.

Link tries to ignore my bikini, and says, "By the way, you won't be able to take your sword. Fi won't get through-but take your bow." Midna makes my oak wood and gold-handled bow appear, along with all my arrows in the quiver. I nod and wrap it around my back.

"I wish you luck, Mistress," Fi's voice sounds from the sword as I lift my sheath off my thin shoulders and hand it to Link. I wave and turn around then stride towards the pool to prepare to dive, but something stops me.

"Wait."

"Huh?" I see Link's hand on my shoulder, and slowly turn around. His head is down and his eyes look at the floor. I whisper, "Link?"

He looks like he wants to say something, but can't decide what to say. Finally, he settles down.

"Just... Make sure you come back to me." His arms wrap around my shoulders, pulling me into a tight hug. A protective, tight hug. At a loss, I awkwardly wrap my arms around him too. I feel his hands move and put something around my neck, and he backs up. When I glance down I see a beautiful necklace, and my hand holds the charm on the end.

It's two small wolves carved from wood. They sit with their backs together, howling. One is made from dark wood and has a lighter wood forehead and belly, and the other is made of the light wood with dark wood forehead. I gasp, and I feel faint as I hold it. This must have taken forever to carve.

"Link, you... You made this?" I ask, and look up at him. He gives me a sad smile, and nods.

"It took a while, and I wanted to wait for the right moment to give it to you," he says.

I smile, and a warm pink blush creeps across my cheeks. "Thank you, Link."

I turn on my heels, take a deep breath, and run at the water. My stride dive propels me feet below the surface, and I start a dolphin kick. There's a dark tunnel below the water, so I start kicking towards it. It leads down and then up towards an air bubble, and by the time I crawl up, I've almost lost my breath. I gasp as I claw the stone and pull myself up.

It looks like the inside of the Lakebed Temple in Twilight Princess-dammit. Out of all temples, it had to be this one. This one was probably the hardest temple ever, but I did finish the game without using walkthroughs for reference. I roughly remember what to do, but this will still be a hell of a lot harder because I don't have a map.

So, I begin. I was actually completely wrong-this place is absolutely nothing like the Lakebed Temple. It doesn't have a main room where you can change the routes you take, nor any pulleys to bring down. But, this might be a great benefit.

Fighting in a bikini is hard, and I do get a lot of injuries. I got a nice slash across my stomach, which hurts like hell and won't stop bleeding. My bikini that was white with splotches has splashes of red decorating the front and back. Some of the blood is mine, but most isn't. When I say fighting in a bikini is hard, I wasn't kidding. You have to be on guard because so much flesh is vulnerable (and I don't have a shield), and all I had was my sword, but now that it's gone I've been stabbing those mutant water-striders with the pointed gold tip of my bow. I feel sort of bad because now even my bow is covered in red, and Link worked really hard on it. But so far, I've kept the necklace of him and I completely spotless. After hours of being lost, I find a map.

It helps, but not nearly enough. Finally, about several hours later, I've thoroughly solved this dungeon. I even found a chest containing a dagger. Because I had nowhere else to put it, I just slipped it into the side of my bikini bottom. It has a gold hilt which matches that of my bow, and a silver blade that is about as long as my hand, from my wrist to the end of my middle finger. Not bad.

All that remains is the boss.

Exhaustion makes my eyelids droop and hunger cramps my gut, but I don't want to risk 1) sleeping here, and/or 2) cooking and eating one of those spider-legged monsters.

I stand in front of the door that towers above me, playing with the small key in my hand. I shake off my uneasiness and jump around to get the blood flowing to my fingertips again. When I crack my neck the tension in my back fades soon after. After giving myself a short pep talk I shake out my wet hair and thrust the key into the hole, and step inside.

This can't be the end for me. I promised Link I'd come back. With that thought, my fingers start to gingerly twirl the twin wolf necklace. This room is very dim--and moist and disgustingly humid.

If I have to wait any longer to find this boss, I'm going to-

I scream as the footing beneath me disappears, and I walk straight over the edge into a pool of water.

That certainly took me by surprise. I didn't even seen it because it's so dark in here. I can't see how long this pool goes on for because it's about as well lit as any Hollister store. As I try to climb back up the ledge, my hands scrape against the cold rock. The ledge is too high and I can't reach it-how am I supposed to get up now?

The only direction I can go now is down, so after taking a deep breath, I plunge my head underwater in a surface dive and start swimming down. The deeper I get, the more my ears pop and I cringe in discomfort. Taking me by surprise (again), torches light up on both sides of me to outline a cavern. How is that possible? Fire, underwater? Well, whatever. I don't even know which way is up anymore.

I'm about to head back when I touch something slimy. Ew... My head turns to see what I've touched, and it looks...pinkish-green, as pleasant as that sounds. I move my hand away, but as soon as I do, an eye snaps open in front of me. A giant, red, yellow, and orange eye that glows like magma.

Shrieking, it wraps around my body and starts dragging me through the water. This is not good, not good at all! My bones feel like they'll break. When I scream, the last of my oxygen drains. Now I'm guaranteed dead. After all I fought through, I never even got a crystal out of it. This is an incredibly crappy way to die. I even-

Wait... I'm breathing. I'm breathing under the water. I can breathe in this water? You know what, nothing is even surprising me anymore; no matter how crazy it is. At least I can't drown, so...hoorah. Now I can die in a more painful way-how exciting.

Now that I know I'm not dying yet, I reach down under the tentacle suction cups that feel like they're ripping the skin off my bones, and grab my dagger. I stab the thing, but the injury is so insignificant that it doesn't even care. For all I know, this thing could be as tall as five double-decker buses and that injury was comparable to a paper cut. I can almost clearly see the ten other tentacles, all connected to a ginormous head with a giant eye and... No way... It couldn't be...

This thing is a Kraken.

It cries a terrifying sound that is a million times worse than nails on chalkboard; and throws me into the stone wall. I see stars, and some blood sprays from my mouth when my ribs contract. I have deep purple bruises already from the suckers on my stomach and left arm, and my a few cuts across my legs. I can't see my back, but I'm sure it's in a bad state as I can feel the bits of rubble stuck in my flesh. Sinking, I can see the entire creature. This Kraken is nothing compared to the legends-it was this thing that spawned the legends. This thing is the mother of all Krakens.

A tentacle reaches down for me, and picks me up again. It shakes me around, and I feel something in my left ankle tear. My mouth opens in a scream as my vision clouds over from the pain, but nothing comes out. The incredible torture that radiates from my ankle almost makes me throw up what I had for breakfast this morning.

The Kraken throws me to the wall again, but this time the whole pillar that was standing there is obliterated. My poor, poor, spine... I'm going to miss being able to walk.

It grabs me by the arms and I feel my right shoulder pop, and this time I do shriek in pure agony. There's so much pain, coming from so many places, that being impaled by a sword was almost less painful than this. It holds me up as a battle trophy, and holds me tight. I try reaching to my dagger by my hip even though my hands are bound, but it shakes me.

I'm shook so much in fact that my dagger slides out of my hip and sinks into the abyss. No! I mentally yell. That was the only chance I had-I can't use any arrows underwater, and my dagger is gone forever... I'm not in that great of a spot here. Just for kicks, the Kraken decides to throw my limp body around. I sink and come back down, and it catches me and throws me again. This is one arrogant piece of calamari.

When it throws me a fourth time I try kicking, but my torn heel protests and burns like hell. I scream again and clutch my ankle, but then my dislocated shoulder acts up too. I'm going to die here.

Finally, it grabs me with four of its tentacles. Each tentacle grabs for an arm or a leg and then begins to torturously pull outward. I'm going to be torn to death. Wailing in pain, I see the water around me starting to fade. This pain is unbearable, and I'm sure tears would be falling like crazy if I wasn't underwater.

My promise... I promised Link I'd be back. I may be slightly irresponsible, but I always keep my promises. I can't die without seeing him one last time. With one final scream, I arch my body, and pull with all my might. I promised Link I would come back-and I will come back! My shriek echoes through the water, and I can almost see the sound waves fazing the water.

The Kraken screams at the high-pitch my cry was, and lets me go. That's all I need. I ignore the throbbing torture in my ankle and arm, and start to kick, and pull myself with just my left arm. The thing continues to scream and wave above, and flail its ten tentacles everywhere. Every time one skims past, the current pushes me violently to the side and tears my ankle a new one, but I get going again.

It stops the screeching and reaches for me again, but I use the current to my advantage, and out-swim the arm. I'm doing it-I'll do it! Just a little farther and I'll attack the Kraken!

A tentacle swings again, but this time it gets me. One small, singular sucker at the very tip of the tentacle attaches to my foot. All my adrenaline has run dry, and my breaths are coming to me ragged and uneven.

I haven't got the strength to continue... I give up... I'm so, so, sorry, Link...

If I was not myself,

And you were someone else

I'd say so much to you,

And I would tell the truth

'Cause I can hardly breathe

When your hands let go of me,

The ice is thinning out,

And my feet brace themselves

I'm there in the water,

Still looking for you

I'm there in the water,

Can't you see, can't you see?

Those lyrics ring through my head as I sink limply, with my arms still reaching towards the ceiling. The Kraken brings me through the water at break neck speed right next to its red bloodshot eye, and inspects me. What is there to inspect? Just finish me off.

My gray and gold eyes close and I relax slightly. The unbearable suctioning pain of its tentacles fades, and I feel my breaths slow down. The throbbing in my ankle fades, the taste of blood in my mouth dulls, and the misty pain surrounding my shoulder begins to weaken. My fingers uncoil themselves from the fist they make, and I begin to feel the squishy flesh under my free arms diminish as my sense of touch fades.

I take my last breath.

Then my eyes shoot open.

I'm right next to its eye-the weak spot. But what can I attack with? Out of the corner of my eye, I see light reflecting off the gold of my bow. I can use that.

I grab the shaft with my good hand and thrust forward with all my might, right into the eye. So much blood spills out that I have to shield my eyes, and it cries like a screechy violin. My hand flies to my ears and I scream along with it.

I'm there in the water,

Still looking for you

I'm there in the water,

Can't you see, can't you see?

I'm dead in the water,

Still looking for you

I'm dead in the water,

Can't you see, can't you see?

Finally, it lets me go and starts to back up, but then charges right at me. I can't move it time, but if I hit the current just right...

It gets closer and closer at seemingly hundreds of miles per hour, and then I kick with all my might and the current pushes me away, a millisecond before the Kraken crashes into the wall and a deadly crack echoes through the underwater arena, which I assume was his skull-the Kraken is dead. It falls limp, and sinks. The body turns up as it sinks, and something squishes out of the bloody eye. A treasure chest.

I slowly float toward it while not using my dislocated right arm or torn ankle, all the way to the bottom where it finally lands. The incomparable malady that shakes my body makes me wish I was dead. In the sand not far away is my dagger so I pull it out and tuck it back into the string around my hip. I then swim back to the chest and slam open the lid without a care, grabbing the crystal and stuffing it on the other side of my bottoms. I don't even look at the godforsaken thing.

The swim through the tunnel again was torturous but the ledge I slipped on before lowered, so I climb back up with one arm, which takes a few attempts. My body is more soaked from sweat than water, and I sluggishly limp through the temple, back to the tunnel and out of this air bubble. Right as I walk out of the cubicle where the boss door was, I have to lean against a wall as the room spins and I feel faint. Before I can stop it I lean over and begin to heave, vomiting whatever is left in my stomach. I cough and sputter, and when all is said and done, I roll away from the stuff and lay on the ground. The ceiling becomes a kaleidoscope when I see multiple lights dangling above me.

I pass out for who knows how long, and wake when I am scared of being attacked. When I ascertain that I'm alright, I use the wall to pull myself back up and begin to limp again-but it's only so long until my legs give out again.

The huge lacerations and deep gashes on my sides are nothing compared to my completely purple stomach, which has been bruised over from the suckers. My back probably isn't much better, and I can hardly bend it from being smashed into the wall so much. After about an hour's walk, I reach the air bubble.

I suck in a breath as I lower myself into the warm water, careful with my ankle and shoulder. When I feel like I'm ready, I take a deep breath and try my best to stroke with one arm and one leg to reach the cave pool before I run out of air. I can see the stalactites, and my pace speeds up. My head breaks the surface, and I clamber up the ledge.

My limp has worsened, and my wounds have all started to bleed profusely and ache again. The way I stand is enough proof that just a poke could knock me down. My head looks up just a tiny bit to see a large green blur and a smaller blackish blur in front of me. "I'm back..."

The last thing I see is Link and Midna's horrified faces as my eyes roll back and my limp body slaps against the cold floor.