A tiny, glowing blue fairy zipped around the head of an annoyed-looking teen, who was busy slicing through a zombie on Hyrule field. "Link, Link! Hey, hey listen!" He raised an eyebrow, turning to the fairy as he sheathed the Master Sword. The zombie behind him crumbled, bursting into flames. Navi sighed; when you talked with Link, it was like talking to a wall most of the time... "I'm worried. I think we should talk to Saria," she said, buzzing by Link's head.

He followed her movement, "why?"

Navi blinked, and smacked Link's head, "I don't know! It just feels like we should talk to her!" Link rubbed the back of his head and sighed, nodding. Navi tended to have a magical sort of sense about this kind of stuff…

He glanced around, spotting Epona grazing on the field nearby. He whistled, and she trotted towards him casually, still chewing some grass. He mounted her quickly and smacked her rear, heading off toward the Lost Woods. They weren't too far off, luckily. He'd talk to Saria and spend the night there. He had been neglecting to visit for the past few months, and he missed his old friend. He listened to Navi chatter away, talking about things he knew he didn't care about. But that was Navi, the chatter box…

~*~*Outside the Lost Woods*~*~

Link dismounted Epona, patting her head as he entered the Lost Woods, walking through the large, wooden tunnel. He came through on the other side, glancing around. Looked like everyone was turning in for the night, he realized. A few Kokiri saw him and waved before they headed inside to sleep. It was around nine at night or so. The Kokiri tended not to be night owls. Linked smiled a little at the familiar place, sort of meandering toward Saria's house. He ducked inside the little house and looked around. She wasn't here…

"Saria, Sariaaaa…!" Navi called, buzzing around Saria's room. Linked sighed, turning to exit. Where could she be? The Lost Woods, probably…

"Hey guys," Saria turned the corner and nearly ran into Link. She looked up at his tall figure, "what brings you guys here?" Link shrugged, taking a step back and glanced at Navi to explain.

Navi sighed and flew over to Saria, "I swear, he's like talking to a wall!" she complained.

Saria giggled, "Link, you really should talk more. Else people will think you're mute!"

Link sighed, "just explain, Navi."

Navi gave out a mock gasp of shock, "it speaks!" Link rolled his eyes. Navi sighed, "guess that's the best we can hope for, huh?" She turned back to Saria. "I dunno, I just feel like maybe you had something to tell us." Navi flew at Saria's face, hovering just an inch or so in front of it, and asked suspiciously, "do you?"

Saria leaned her face back a little, glancing at Link for a moment, "well, actually, I have been a little worried about the Temple of Time, but it's not like I have a good reason or anything. Just a hunch, I guess you could call it. " She blinked, "I suppose it can't hurt for you to go check up on it next time you're in that town, though."

Navi zipped around Saria's head, "I knew something was off!" She cried, fists pumped into the air, "who's the best?!" She demanded, flying around the room, "I amm!!"

Link sighed, "why do I deal with this every day, again…?" He glanced up at Saria's ceiling, addressing no one.

Saria giggled, " well, I guess that's it, huh?" She watched Navi zip around the room, still celebrating the fact that her hunch had been dead on. "Are you guys gunna stick around or are you off to do all that hero stuff, still?"

Link laughed, smiling a little, "we can stay for a bit, but I need to visit the Gerudo's soon." Navi gasped in fake shock again, and Link sent her a playful glare, "we can visit the Temple on the way, though," he added. Something about Saria always made him a bit talkative. He rarely got that way anymore, the whole, 'being the hero' thing had sobered him up as the years progressed. But he still opened up to the select few he felt comfortable with. "I don't mind making some time to catch up with an old friend."

Saria laughed, "sounds like a plan, then." She smiled, "do you think you still fit in your bed?"

Link snickered, imagining a little, "we'll find out." The two old friends continued their small talk, laughing and chatting as Navi celebrated. Later on, Link would indeed find out the answer to that question. It was a definite, 'no.' And yes, ohhhh yes… he was sore in the morning…

~*~*Outskirts of Hyrule City*~*~

Link dismounted Epona and gave her the accustomed pat on her head as he led her into Hyrule city. A familiar stable-boy took her. Epona snorted, but followed. Link glanced back at Epona. Even after several years, Epona was still skittish around anyone else but him. He sighed and entered the town, trying to avoid being seen by anyone. Today, he was lucky. No one bothered him, and only the town troublemakers waved cheerily at him. He waved back weakly, heading toward the Temple steps.

"What do you think we'll find in there?" Navi demanded, zipping around and around Link's head as he walked up the steps to the Temple. He rolled his eyes and shrugged, pushing open the door. He glanced at the three spiritual stones. They were still there, like usual. He sighed, only slightly relieved. Other than that, there wasn't much valuable to a robber in here… He stepped around the alter holding the gems, going to visit the pedestal where he had first pulled the Master Sword.

Link pulled out the royal families ocarina, a present from Princess Zelda herself, and began to play the song of Time. Slowly, the door rumbled open and Link stepped inside, Navi zipping alongside him. He and Navi both stopped dead. There, they spotted a girl, clearly knocked out, draped over the pedestal. Linked opened his mouth, shocked. How had she gotten in here? It was sealed!

Navi buzzed over to her, floating around her head as she yelled, "Hey, hey you! Hey, listen! Wake up!" The girl didn't stir. Link walked over cautiously, bent down, and poked her. The light stream from the single window in the room bounced off her inky black hair. The blackness of her hair was so intense it seemed to give off an almost blue hue... He'd never seen hair that color before. Only blonde, red, and brown, as was commonly seen in Hyrule.

Whoever she was, she wasn't from here, he concluded, spotting her rounded ears. The exposed top-part of her ear was intricately pierced with tiny, golden hoops, each one only a few millimeters apart, but the rest of her ear was obscured by hair. She wasn't even Hylian, he realized. Who was this foreigner and how did she get here, of all places? Navi buzzed around Link's head, "wake her up, Link!" Link glanced at Navi, eyebrow perked as though to say, 'how'?

Navi rolled her eyes and whapped Link over the head lightly, "the sonata of Awakening, of course!" Link blinked and stood up. While annoying, Navi was not only almost always right, she always seemed to know something about everything… or at least had a handy idea. In other words, she was useful as hell in his travels, Link had found.

He brought the ocarina out of his pocket once more, letting the melody slide from his fingers. Slowly, the girl stirred and groaned, eyes fluttering. She looked up to meet his shockingly blue orbs with her own pitch black ones. Link took a step back in surprise, taking a moment to realize that she had actual irises, and that they were just pitch black, like her hair. He blinked; it looked like her pupils were fully dilated. It didn't help that the ring of dark, forest green around the edge of her iris just seemed to enforce his first conclusion. He'd never seen someone so exotic looking before. It was weird…

She flushed a little as he stared, clearly looking her over. He wasn't exactly subtle about it… She sat up and tucked her hair behind her left ear, giving Link a full view of the ear this time. Link studied it briefly, interested. The entire ear, from top to bottom basically, was pierced with the tiny golden hoops that overlapped each other slightly, giving it a surprisingly… streamline, or perhaps waterfall-like appearance. His imagination had dulled over the years, he realized, as he gave up trying to describe the foreign piercing. It gave a rather tribal feel to her, he concluded, leaving it at that. "…What?" she questioned nervously.

Link paled a little, a sweat drop forming on his brow. Oh, crap… He had no idea what language she spoke, "Uhh… hello?" he started weakly, watching as she mirrored his expression, coming to the same conclusion he had.

Navi zipped around her head, wailing, "she doesn't even speak our language, Link!"

Link nodded, silently, "I know." The dark haired girl sputtered slightly, pointing to Navi as if to say, 'what the hell is THAT?!' she turned to him for an answer, and spotted his ears. She gaped slightly, pointing at his ears. She retracted her hand, closing her slightly opened mouth and felt her own ear for a second, as if confirming something. She reached out hesitantly and touched them. Link froze as she touched his hyper sensitive ears. He flailed strongly in pain when she pinched them lightly, "OUCH!" He grabbed her hand and yanked it off.

She looked shocked for a moment and said something, looking sorry. Link blinked and let her hands go. She rubbed her wrist a little, glancing around. Link flushed as he watched her rub her wrists, embarrassed. Had he grabbed her wrist that hard? Oops… Navi buzzed in front of her face, studying her quizzically. The dark haired girl blinked, leaning back a little. "Uhmmm…"

Link pulled Navi away by the wings, holding her up, "you're making her uncomfortable," he stated bluntly.

Navi snorted, "well, sorry, Mister Prim and Proper." She struggled and Link let her go. She turned to him, her tiny arms crossed, "what do we do with her?"

Link looked down at the foreign girl, who was still looking around the Temple quietly. After a moment, she glanced up at him. He resisted the urge to jump back. Her exotic eyes were going to take some getting used to…

He coughed and extended a hand. After a moment, she took it and stood up, looking out the door to the rest of the Temple. Link glanced at Navi, "She must have been sent here for a reason… but by who…?" he muttered to himself as he tapped his chin, thinking aloud. And by who, he meant which Goddess… or by what mysterious force? Why would they send a foreigner? Did she have some kind of unique power or something? Or, could it be that this was all some kind of... mistake? The possibilities were endless.

Navi shrugged, "how're we going to do anything with her, though? We can't communicate!"

Link glanced at her as her words brought him out of his own little world, "teach her our language."

Navi gaped, "what, us?" She flailed a little, "you think US, of all people can teach her?"

Link glanced at her, then the foreign girl. He nodded and walked toward her. "Hey," he said. She turned toward him, eyebrow cocked. He pointed to himself, "Link." He pointed to Navi, "Navi." He pointed to her and cocked his head.

She stared at his finger, mulling over the words for a few seconds. Slowly, she nodded in comprehension, "Roe." Roe glanced back up at Link, waiting for… something. Anything.

Link blinked, what a strange name… he chalked it off to her foreign heritage. He coughed a little and glanced around quickly. How was he supposed to go around teaching someone a language, exactly…? He pointed to the floor, "floor," he said bluntly. Roe nodded, making a gesture for him to continue. Link sighed slightly before beginning to name off everything in the room, eventually moving out of the room, and into the city slightly…

~*~*Much Later*~*~

Roe groaned slightly, running a hand through her roughly shoulder-length hair, feeling a little more relieved as the ends spilled onto her shoulders again. She glanced around at the fading sun, and then back at Link and the Navi. She sat down on a crate as Link looked around for something else to name. She rubbed her temples, trying to sort out all the information. It was the multiple names for one thing, specifying things, she realized, that was confusing her. While she had been taught three other languages, this was probably the most… erratic method that she'd ever seen. Had he ever taught someone a language before?

Link scratched the back of his neck and glanced at Navi, "anything else we haven't named yet?"

Navi shrugged, "How should I know?" She turned her head to watch the sun, "hey Link, the sun's fading. We should find a place to sleep."

Link sighed, glancing around again. This was even harder than he'd figured it would be… His gaze slid back to Navi as she spoke. He nodded in agreement, but frowned, "shoot." Navi raised an eyebrow. Link sat on the crate next to Roe's, chin resting on his palm, "remember, Navi? We had to restock on arrows and bombs earlier today. We're almost broke…"

Navi snorted and flew over to him, giving him a smart smack upside the head that surprised both him and Roe. "Link, you're the HERO OF TIME!" she screeched, "like you need rupees to rent a room for the night in some inn!" Link pressed his lips into a thin frown, not liking the idea of playing the 'I'm the Hero of Time' card. Navi rolled her eyes and yanked at his tunic, "c'mon, Link! Before all the rooms are rented!" Link sighed and stood up as Navi pulled him along. He glanced back at Roe, offering his hand. She got up without taking it, raising a hand in a 'no thanks,' kind of gesture. He shrugged and turned, following Navi.

Roe's mouth twitched in slight annoyance, not used to being around well-mannered gentlemen like Link. Were all men here like this? She wondered… she shook it off and trailed after Link and Navi. Where to now…? She'd caught the word 'inn,' she was pretty sure. She racked her brain, trying to remember what that was. Ugh, it was a building, she was sure of that much… She gave up and followed him quietly as he opened the door to a rather large looking building.

Oh, that's right. This was the 'inn.' She chewed her lip a little as she entered, glancing around as Link started discussing something rapidly with the old, grouchy woman behind a counter, Navi buzzing angrily behind his head. Whatever was being discussed, it didn't seem to be boding well for them…

She clasped her hands behind her back nervously. It was weird, feeling so out of place, so… useless. She was unable to communicate with anyone, and on top of that, people kept staring at her all day long. Did she look that different? Maybe it was her ears… or her dark clothing that was attracting so much attention. She watched Link sigh dejectedly and dump out some brilliant looking jewels from his bag, her eyes widening at the precious gems. He looked up dejectedly from the blue and green rupees at the grouchy woman, holding up two fingers weakly. She crossed her arms, snorted, and handed him a single key.

Link sighed and trooped toward the stairs, gesturing half-heartedly for Roe to follow. He snorted and glanced at Navi, "so much for not having to pay… that lady bled us dry!" he complained. He turned the corner into the hall and glanced at the number engraved on the key, fourteen. Blinking, he realized this was another opportunity to teach Roe. He paused and glanced up, having already reached the room the three of them would apparently have to share.

Turning to face Roe, he pointed to the key, "key," he said. Roe nodded. He pointed to the number engraved onto it, "fourteen. Number." Roe blinked and leaned a little closer to key to study it. She glanced up at him before softly taking the key from his hand to examine it.

She turned it over in her fingers, running her finger over the engraving. She glanced up at him, and then at the wooden panel of the door that was marked 'fourteen.' Recognizing the symbols to be the same, she pointed at it, "fourteen, number." Link nodded, smiling slightly. Taking in the information slowly, she nodded and glanced at some other doors. She figured 'fourteen,' and 'number' were more of this specific stuff… but which was which? She pointed to a door marked 'sixteen,' "fourteen?" she questioned.

Link shook his head, "sixteen. Number."

Navi sighed, "c'mon, I wanna go inside already!" Link rolled his eyes and gestured for Roe to return the key. She did, and Link opened the door, closing it after she went inside. He sighed and turned back to her.

Roe tapped her chin thoughtfully as she absorbed the information. She pointed to a different door, marked 'seventeen,' "number." Link nodded, adding the specific number that it was. She grinned and pointed to the number markers on a few different doors, recognizing them all as numbers.

Link sighed happily, "twenty-two," as she reached the last door. Roe nodded, content. "hmm.." he was still unsure she really knew what numbers were. He chewed his lip thoughtfully for a moment before pulling out five arrows from his quiver. He held one up, "arrow." Roe nodded, he'd already taught her this… Link nodded and held it up again, "one arrow." Her dark eyebrows furrowed slightly, but she nodded.

Link paused, and pointed at the first couple doors and named them off as just a number, and then their specific number. Roe nodded slowly. He held up the single arrow again and repeated the process. She nodded. The blonde held up two arrows. "two arrows." Roe's eyebrows furrowed again. After a moment, she nodded. By the fourth arrow, Roe had realized what he was doing. Now, she knew what numbers were. Link replaced the arrows back into his quiver with a half-smile.

He stepped quietly back toward their rented room and opened it after a moments hesitation. Link swallowed and scratched the back of his neck as he glanced at her, looking… apologetic? He gestured for her to enter first. Roe blinked and filed in, spotting the glowing Navi. At least there were two beds… wait. She blinked, realizing that Link must have been unable to rent two rooms. The gems… a single one should have been incredibly generous pay for two rooms for a night, but… maybe not here? At any rate, she realized, he was embarrassed at not being able to rent two rooms for them. Was something like this such a big deal here?

Silently, Link closed the door behind him, waiting for her to pick a bed. Roe sat down on the bed next to the window, unlacing her heavy, black, metal-tipped boots. Link sat down on the free bed and took off his hat. He winced as his hand found a painful knot in his hair, but worked through it. He glanced behind him at Roe, who was leaning against the windowsill, looking quietly out of the window.

The black night blended seamlessly with her hair, so she almost looked to melt into the night sky, the cool moonlight that bounced off her dark hair was the only way he could tell whether what he was looking at was hair or night sky. The silver light cast a contrasting light on her tan skin, as well…

It was like a painting… a pretty painting. Only, the painting wouldn't be pretty without her in it. He whipped around and faced the wall quickly, cheeks a little flushed. Had he really just thought that? He shook it off, blaming his hormones. He barely even knew the girl and he was already feeling the pull of attraction! He grumbled a little, sort of wishing he really was a Kokiri… then everything would be so much less complicated. It would be nice to live in an easier world. He sighed, having accepted that, for him, that would never really be the case. It was the downside of being everybody's hero.

Roe rubbed her arm slightly, resting her head against the glass as she stared out the window absently. It was colder here than back home. Home had been, for the most part, borderline uninhabitable desert. Vaguely, she wondered if it got cold enough to snow here…? She'd never seen snow, but she'd heard stories… frozen water would be interesting to see, even just once. Her eyes were half-lidded, but not from being tired. She glanced at Link, who was staring intently at the wall. Raising an eyebrow slowly, she blinked. She smiled a little at the strange boy before returning to stare out the window, letting her thoughts drift.

Link sighed, vaguely wondering just what Roe was like. Maybe, once he taught her enough, he could start learning about her. To him, she was tall, for a girl, dark, mysterious, exotic-eyed, pretty-NO WAIT STOP WHAT? His mouth twitched some. He knew this was going to be a bad idea… He sighed and flopped onto the bed, his back to her. Maybe if he just tried to forget he was sharing a door with a girl he barely knew, much less one that wasn't his wife… oh, crap. He closed his eyes, realizing that unless something was done, he'd probably do something… ungentlemanly. He frowned at the thought. This was why he wished he could really have been born a Kokiri sometimes…

But if she wasn't just so damn mysterious and exotic looking, then he'd be fine, he convinced himself. He sighed, realizing he was being childish for blaming her. It was his problem, and it wasn't like she meant to, but… ugh. He pulled the cover over his body and closed his eyes, determined to make it through the night without a hitch. Slowly, he managed to will himself to sleep.

Roe listened quietly as both Link and Navi's breaths slowed. Were they really that trusting? For all they knew, she could just up and rob them while they slept, and be miles away before they ever knew! She chewed her bottom lip. Truly, this seemed to be a paradise, filled with innocent people who had decent intentions… Would've been nice to grow up in a place like this, she figured. She blinked and smirked a little, shaking her head at her own childish thought. She drummed her fingers on her knee lightly, which was drawn up to her chest. Roe doubted she'd get much sleep tonight. Too much had happened today, and coupled with the face that she tended to be an insomniac… it just didn't seem too likely.

~~Cod Fish~~

Well, that's quite a nice little start to this, I think… but, what I think is only a tiny little piece of the puzzle. What matters is what do YOU think? Comments? Questions? Suggestions?

R&R!