The familiar heat of a Hylian afternoon embraced Malon as she carefully made her way across the corral of Lon Lon Ranch towards the exit. She had just finished feeding carrots to the last few horses, but there was much more work to be done. Of course, her father always seemed to have something else to add to the long list once most of the tasks were complete. This was how she had lived her whole life, though, and by now, work seemed more monotonous than tiring. Wiping the sweat from her forehead and giving a sigh, she brought up a mental list of her remaining chores for the day before being interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Malon, sweetheart! Are ya done with the milking yet?"

Her father. Right. Because he was getting old, he didn't do as much around the ranch as he did seven years ago, back when Malon was just a little girl. Nowadays, Malon was the one who had to go to market every day to sell milk in addition to her regular daily routine. She understood Talon's condition, though, and she made sure to take care of him when he needed it. It was only fair as a way to repay him for taking care of her for so long.

"No, Papa! I just finished feeding the horses! I'll get to it real soon."

Malon heard her father give her a quick thanks and then the sound of a wooden door closing. The old man hadn't even left the house to ask the question. Well, that explained the yelling.

It seemed like most of her time as of recently was spent either on the ranch, traveling across Hyrule Field with the heavy milk cart, or standing around in the market square of Castle Town. It was the same cycle every day. While the work wasn't as tiring as it could be, Malon could only pray for a day when a prince would descend from the night sky and whisk her away to somewhere else. What was it like to travel to places where few people had been before ? A certain friend of hers had described marvelous things to her about lands far off, where the "people" weren't human; where huge monsters lived in harmony and ate rocks; where hordes of female bandits raided temples and thrived in the desert; where there was a tribe of fish-people that worshipped a living whale deity…

Alas, it seemed like today was not a day for grandiose adventure. Her prince would come another time. Right now, it was time to retrieve a bucket for milking. She made her way to the barn on the far right side of the ranch. As she approached, a nasty scent filled her nose, and she let out a small "eugh" when she finally reached the barn doors. The smell only worsened as she opened the door and entered the small building. Inside, the cows were standing around, not doing much at all, it seemed.

"I wish I could laze around like y'all sometimes, you know." Malon remarked to the cattle. They all simply stared at her, except for one which gave a half-hearted moo. She chuckled a little at that.

In a few seconds she had grabbed a bucket for milking and a stool to sit on from a small wooden closet in the back left corner of the barn. Resting on the right side of the closet were a pitchfork, which she used for scooping hay or grass, and a shovel, which was used for… well, she didn't want to think about it. It wasn't a stretch to say it was part of the reason the barn stunk so much. Malon quickly shook off the thought and surveyed the cattle in the room. It would be best to start with whichever cow looked ripe for milking, since she needed to get to market as soon as possible. When she decided upon one that looked ready, she set up her stool and got ready herself.

"Now, don't you worry, old girl. This won't take long." She gave the cow a pat of assurance on its side. She liked to treat the animals with as much kindness as possible. For some reason she couldn't explain, she found it comforting to talk to the animals as she worked, so she did just that.

"You know, I've been feeling a lot more… what's the word I'm looking for…'bored' lately? Nah, nah, 'bored' isn't the right word. I just feel like I need a break, you know what I'm saying? Like, I want to do somethin' I haven't done before, go see somethin' I've never seen, maybe meet some new people!"

She got a moo in response.

"Ah, you're right. What's the matter with me? I'm not usually like this."

The cow gave another moo, but this time, it seemed alert.

"What's the matter? Is there somethin' going on?" Malon looked up at the side of the cow's face. Its eyes seemed locked on towards the door to the barn.

"Did someone knock, and I just didn't hear it? It's probably Papa. Hold on."

After cleaning her hands off quickly with an old, dusty rag, she walked over carefully to the door, making sure not to disturb any of the other cows.

"Yeah, Papa? What is i-" She started as she opened the door, but was cut off by sheer surprise.

"Hey there, Malon! I heard you talking inside that barn just now. It's kind of sad that you feel that way, but, lucky you! I was actually going to ask if you wanted to spend the day with me."

Malon gave a laugh of sheer joy and threw her arms around the newcomer's chest.

"Fairy Kid!"

Link grinned and returned the hug. Malon blushed as he gave her a small squeeze.

"It's been so long since I've visited, huh?"

"Definitely! How've ya been? You look mighty fine today, but then again, you always do."

Link was a little flustered now, but he laughed that off too.

"I've been alright. You look great too, Malon."

"Thank you kindly."

"Say, I was wondering if you wanted to join me on my way to Kokiri Forest! Normally, I would go with just Navi, but I figured going with a friend would be a lot nicer. What do you say?"

Malon couldn't have asked for anything else right now.

"Ya mean like on an adventure?"

"Well, I wouldn't necessarily say so, but if it makes you happy, I don't see why we can't call it that!" Link answered before messing with the hair on the side of his head, as if nervous.

"I would love to go! But, ah…"

Malon turned back to look at the inside of the barn again. There was still a lot of milking to do, and even after that, her list of chores was long.

"I'm kinda busy today. I'm sorry, Link."

"Don't worry about that! I already asked your father if it was alright when I first got here. How do you think I knew where to find you?"

"Did ya really? I still want to check with him first. Hafta see whether he thinks I'll be able to make up the work later without getting too far behind."

"That's fine with me."

With that, Malon nodded to Link, then returned to where she had been milking earlier. She quickly stored the stool back into its closet, then dashed to the barn door.

"Pardon me, Link! I gotta get some bottles to put the milk in before we go. Do ya mind scooting aside for a second?"

Link backed up to give Malon space. She thanked him, then ran towards the house where her father had called from earlier. He would probably have been asleep by now if Link hadn't shown up and talked to him. Nonetheless, she would ask him about spending the day with Link while she grabbed some bottles. Less time spent on the ranch meant more time spent with Link, and for some reason, she was set on doing whatever she could to get more time with him.

Panting slightly, she threw open the door to the house as soon as she was close enough. Talon jumped at the sudden noise, then spotted his daughter in the doorway.

"You're breathin' a storm, Malon! What's the rush? Did ya hear from Link? He just came by and asked me if it was alright for ya to go out with him. I said it was alright with me, as long as you're back before sundown."

"Yeah, Papa. I just need to - wait, did he say 'go out' when he asked?"

"Yeah, like going out for a walk."

Though she didn't want to admit it, Malon's heart sank the tiniest bit with that.

"Oh, okay. B-but listen, Papa. I still gotta bottle up some milk, but I never got to finish the milking entirely, and I've still got a lot to do 'round here. Is it really gonna be fine if I go for the whole day? I'll have to make it all up."

Talon shook his head, then stood up from the chair he had been sitting on when Malon first arrived. He walked over to his daughter, then set both his hands on her shoulders.

"Sweetheart, don't worry about all that. I'll take care of it. You've done a lot of work this week. I can do whatever it is that needs to be done. Just go and enjoy yourself."

"Aw, Papa. Thank you."

Malon gave her father a big hug, then, with a start, rushed over to where empty milk bottles were lying on the floor. They were strewn about, with some lying on their sides, some upright, and some stacked on top of each other. Malon chose two at random and carried them, one in each hand.

"I'll bottle up the milk I got earlier, then. It's the least I can do before I go."

"You're such a generous daughter, Malon. Thanks."

"No problem, Papa. I'll see ya later!"

Malon then left the house and met back with Link at the barn. She filled the bottles she had brought as quick as possible, cleaned the bucket with the same dirty rag from before, then threw the bucket and rag into the closet. All of this was done so fast that Link didn't even have to wait for a minute before Malon shut the barn doors and was standing next to him.

"Ready when you are, Link!"

"Are you sure?"

"Surer than the Sun risin' over the sky every mornin'!"

"Alright, alright. Just try to relax, though. You're sweating a lot."

"D'aw, sweat never hurt anyone!"

"Still, we're going to try and just take our time while we're out, okay?"

Link used his thumb to wipe off a drop of sweat from Malon's face as a friendly gesture, but he couldn't keep himself from looking into her eyes while he did so. They showed signs of weariness, but there was something of a hopeful glimmer in them too. Link's hand trailed a little longer until it met Malon's hairline, causing him to play with her hair a little. He found it to be particularly gorgeous. It was such a nice auburn color - one that gave him the impression of warmth. He must have slipped into a daydreamy mood, because when Malon spoke, he shuddered a little.

"Link? You okay? You've been playin' with my hair."

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I didn't make you uncomfortable, did I?"

"Nah, you're fine! I just thought maybe your mind had left this here Earth and traveled to some kind of dreamland."

"Maybe," Link admitted, then cleared his throat while blushing again. "Are you going to get those bottles you left in the barn?"

Malon gasped.

"I forgot about 'em even after all that fuss! Gimme a sec!"

She was in-and-out of the barn in less than ten seconds with the two bottles in her hand.

"Okay, now I'm really ready to go."

"Aren't you going to store those somewhere?"

"I'll drop 'em off on the way out. The milk cart hasn't been moved from where it usually rests near the house. No worries!"

"Alright! After you, miss." Link offered as he stepped aside and gave Malon a bow. She giggled in response and then started her way towards the exit to the ranch, Link trailing close behind.