The forgotten hero passed through the narrow tunnel, his companion close behind, soon coming out into a large field with a walled-in town directly in middle. He was now in his early thirties and his green tunic was replaced with golden armor with red painting. He no longer had his hylian shield and now wore an eye patch over his right eye, though the scar came down a little past his cheek.

He looked up to the sky; it was probably only a few hours after noon, plenty of time before days end. He looked back to the town and just as he was about to walk towards it an imp jumped out in front of him, causing the mare beside him to rear up and almost stomp him the small imp.

The knight calmed her quickly, rubbing his hand soothingly across her neck, he then turned towards the imp who stood shaking his head, his eyes glowing vividly against his blackened face, "I suppose Epona still doesn't like you Skull Kid."

"It's been so long! How does she remember me?" He asked as he looked over to Epona who just neighed at him and knocked her head back.

Link smiled faintly, "She remembered me after seven years when I was only with her for a short while," He stated then looked back up to the town, "Have you made up with the town's people? Also where is Tatl and Tael? I would have thought they would be with you."

"Oh, I said sorry to them and we've been friends since, and my fairy buddies are back in town," The imp bounced up and grabbed Link's hand, "Come on! I am sure they will be happy to see you!" He said cheerfully as he dragged the older hero along, Epona reluctantly coming along as well.

Leaving Epona outside, they went inside the town. Skull Kid took a tour through the city to show Link around once more. It remained mainly the same besides a few extra houses built, probably for the increasing amount of people, and several new shops opened in the center. It was also livelier and obviously there wasn't a rather intimidating moon lingering above threatening to destroy the town. Soon Link was led to the Inn, which had grown larger as well and when the two entered they found a rather familiar woman standing at the desk that turned to them with a gentle smile, but was quick to notice Skull Kid and turned to walk out to the two.

"Who is this you brought here Skull Kid? I haven't seen him in Clocktown before," The red haired women asked, glancing between Kid and Link. "He's Link, the one that saved the town."

"Link? But he Left so long ago and-" She stopped mid-sentence as she took a close look at Link then almost broke out into tears.

Link smiled once she realized, "Hello Anju, it is nice to see you are well and it has been quite a while since I was last here, how is everything been going?" Anju smiled brightly and hugged the armored clad, soon pulling back, "Link, it's been 20 years! You should have come and visited us! All of us in Clocktown were saved because of you and you never visited after you left."

Link chuckled softly, "Well I tried in an earlier year but it was by accident that I got here in the first place so I couldn't find the way back till I came back to the forest yesterday, though I had a few difficulties finding the way here then as well," He explained.

Anju stared at him for a moment then smiled again, "Well it's so good to see you again...Oh that reminds me did you find the friend you were looking for all those years ago?" She asked though soon regretted the question once Link dropped his gaze.

"Unfortunately not, after a while of searching in the forest I gave up and headed back to my home," He looked up and noticed Anju's saddened expression, "Oh but it is fine. I knew I couldn't stay with her forever anyways. More importantly, how have you and Kafei been?" He asked, attempting to change the topic.

Anju could easily tell he wasn't quite alright with it but just went along with him, " Oh right Kafei. Here follow me, I am sure he is in the back room with our children," She turned back around and walked down the hallway, Link following behind.

"You two have children? How old are they?" He asked, coming up beside his old friend.

"Our son is 13 and our daughter is 11, they both help with the inn and Kafei just tries to keep them in order. They can be a handful, especially our daughter," She said as they got to the back room and opened the door, finding three people, Kafei being one, scrambling around the room. Kafei and a younger boy were running around trying to catch the small girl who was running away with multiple room keys in her hands. "As you can see, it is always quite lively with these three, sometimes I wonder if I only had two children," She glanced at her husband, giggling to herself.

The young boy had shorter purple hair much like Kafei's but a few tones brighter with bright red eyes while the girl had brunette hair that went to the middle of her back and deep blue eyes.

Soon Kafei noticed the two standing at the door and stopped, "Hey honey..." He said innocently then noticed the man next to her. "Who is that?" He asked but was quick to recognize who was standing there and ran up to him, "Link, old friend, where have you been all these years? It's been such a long time since you were here."

Link smiled, "I couldn't exactly get back for a while," He stated, getting a surprised man hug then a rough pat on his shoulder. "You should have come back sooner. You save the town then wander off for 20 years, that's not quite alright with me."

"Your wife said a similar statement," Link glanced between the couple.

"Not surprised about that since it's true," He mumbled, "Anyway what have you been doing these past 20 years, and what happened to your face?"

"I have a son and a wife, though they aren't home right now since my son wanted to go exploring and my wife decided to go along with him. Also on the topic of my eye, I would prefer not to talk of it at the moment," He answered.

"What's your son's name? And is your wife hot?" Kafei asked, whispering the last part in his buddy's ear, "I'm jesting honey," He defended quickly as he pulled away when he got a glare from his wife.

"My son's name is Ordon, he's almost 10 years old now," The hero said, scratching his cheek. "What are the names of your children?" He asked, looking at the two behind him who were still running around the room.

Kafei looked back then to Link again, "We named our son after you since you saved Clocktown and our daughter's name is Zelda. He's 13 and she's 11." He told him.

"You named you daughter Zelda?" Link asked, rather surprised.

"Yeah, I thought you would be more surprised at the fact we named our son after you then of our daughter's name," Kafei said.

"Oh well not quite, I have another friend that named his son after me, but I have a very dear friend who is also named Zelda," Link took a glance at the small girl then back to Kafei.

"Oh what is she like?"

The knight paused for a moment, "Um, she is very chatty and friendly however because of her status in our homeland we can't really spend much time together since I am only a knight, but we have been through a lot together...Well during that time she wasn't exactly herself but she was still there."

"Who could a knight not be able to spend time with? What is she, a princess or something?" Kafei asked jokingly.

Link stared at him a moment then rubbed the back of his neck, "She is, or well actually she is a queen now. She did offer me the position of being her bodyguard a while back but her court wouldn't accept me being around her so much so she allowed me to become one of the royal knights. Though I am stationed out near the castle gates and don't get to see her much," He explained, getting shocked expressions from the couple.

"Wait, you're a close friend to a queen?!" The two said almost in unison.

He nodded, "We went through a lot together during our younger years, and because of all of that we became pretty good friends. You two probably wouldn't believe me if I had told you the story of what happened before I came here," He thought over it, "Actually, knowing what you two have seen when I came here, it might not come as such a surprise."

"Yeah, knowing that probably not. You need to tell us later, kay? How long are you staying in Clocktown anyways?" Kafei wondered.

"I have probably a day or two. Knowing the normal guards around the castle, the royal family would be in trouble if anything were to happen. Those guards aren't very good at doing their jobs. I also have my family to take care of, my wife gets upset when I wonder off for more than 5 days or so." Right when he finished Link got a puff of yellow struck to his face.

"Link! You're back, I missed you! What have you been doing?" The fairy asked happily, backing away from his face a little.

"Tatl, it's nice to see you too. Where is your brother?" He asked, not seeing the purple and red pixie with her.

"Oh he is still up in our room. Since we didn't have anywhere to go with Skull Kid, Anju allowed us to stay here in the inn and now we help out around here...Well Tael and I help up front and since Skull Kid usually scares people, he stays in the back room organizing keys and such, helping behind the scenes I guess. When he is around that is, most of the time he is out and about," She turned to look towards Skull Kid who stood behind the group.

"Chatty much Tatl?" Link asked before she could continue on.

Tatl paused, "Oh sorry, it has become a habit of mine since..." She stopped herself, "You know what, I am just going to go back to help Tael again, see you in a bit Link!" With that the yellow fairy flew through the door again.

Shortly after she left, the kids finally noticed the group gathered at the door and stopped running then walked up on either side of their father, examining the unfamiliar man who stood before them.

The young boy then looked to his father, "Father, is that the man in the stories you told us, the one you named me after?" He asked.

Kafei nodded, "Yes, this is the man that saved Clocktown and brought your mother and I back together after the incident with Skull Kid," He said, looking back to Link, "Link this is my son, Link Jr."

"Ohh, so you're Mister Link that Mother and Father told us about." Said the small girl, the room keys held to her chest, "You look much different than what I imagined."

Link chuckled softly, "Well that's probably because when I came here I was around a year younger than you, Zelda. I have changed a lot compared to when I was here the first time."

"What? You were a kid when you saved ClockTown?!" The adolescent boy exclaimed, looking at him with wide eyes.

"Yes, I was around ten when I came here. Did you parents not include that part in their stories of me?"

The two children shook their heads then looked up to their father.

"We thought they probably wouldn't have thought of you as great of a hero if they knew you were a kid when you saved the town. We didn't tell any lies of your adventures, we just omitted the kid part," Kafei shrugged sheepishly.

"Oh well, at least someone thinks of me as a hero," Link muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, but on another matter, do you have a room I could stay in? I know the inn isn't booked as it was when I came since the festival isn't coming up so I was hoping I could get a room. This armor limits my movements quite a bit and I wish to take it off," He asked.

Anju jumped, "Oh right, that is my job after all," She crouched down, "Zelda, can you go find the key for room number 23 and put those keys in your hands back in their places?" She smiled gently.

"Yes Mother," The little girl said then obediently walked away from the group. Anju watched her then stood back up.

"But I haven't paid-" Link begun but was quickly interrupted.

"Once she gets the key for you, you can head up to your room and settle down. I have to get back to the front so I will see you later. Also dear, please keep things in order back here, we can't have people coming in and not being able to give them the keys," The women told the two as she heard a bell from the front room and turned to leave.

The two men watched her leave then back to each other, Kafei smiled slightly. Link was about to say something when Zelda interrupted him.

"Here you go, Mister, this is the key to your room," She said, holding the key up towards him.

"Oh, thank you Zelda, I appreciate you finding this key for me. I'll be going to my room then, see you in a bit Kafei," Link grabbed the key from the young girl then turned and left, leaving Kafei and Skull Kid with the children.

His room was located to the far side of the inn on the upper level. Once inside he noticed that his room was one of the more expensive ones since it was larger and had more furniture that was adorned with intricate designs. He sighed, he should have expected such a room, but decided to stay in it nonetheless since he knew by experience that arguing with women on any matter would be a waste of time.

He went over to the table near the window and started taking off his armor, taking up all of the area of the table. After he changed cloths he went back downstairs wishing to help with check out but Anju refused saying that he was a guest and should just relax. Instead he walked to the back room where Kafei and Skull Kid were attempting to reorganize the keys after, what seemed like their kids threw them all about until Tatl and Tael distracted them.

"Any way I can help Kafei?"

Kafei turned towards him, taking a moment to think before answering, "Would you be willing to take the kids out for a bit so we can clean up here and actually help with the inn? As you could guess, it is incredibly difficult for us to do that with very energetic kids running about."

Link nodded, not even able to say anything before he got dragged out of the room by the two energetic children. When he was out on the street he looked back, glancing Kafei and Anju discussing something as they watched the three, but quickly looked to each other once they noticed his gaze.

The kids led the hero around, showing him the town once again, though most people would retreat back into their houses or nearby buildings once they saw them. Link thought it was odd but continued on with the kids anyways. Eventually they made it outside the town walls, Link then stopped and pulled out the familiar blue ocarina and lifted it to his lips, playing a song he had played multiple times before. Soon after he finished the song a whinny of a horse was heard and a large chestnut draft horse soon appeared.

Link took the two children for a ride around Termina Field for awhile before they stopped and just sat on a log, the kids asked him all sorts of questions about his adventures and of Hyrule. After about an hour they decided to head back into town, to the inn once again.

Once they got there Zelda and Link both excitedly ran in, the former hero soon followed. As he got in the couple came up to him, skull kid, Tatl, Teal, and the kids were behind them. "Link, do you mind coming with us? We're all going out to do some shopping."

Link tilted his head but nodded anyways. He followed the family to the clock tower plaza, which surprisingly was incredibly quiet, besides the brown dog that was running around parking... There was always a dog, always an annoying one at that.

He asked why it was so quiet but they all just continued on, then stopped in the center. He was confused, looking around, but then everything went black.

After a moment he realized that his eyes had only been covered and when he went to uncover them someone grabbed his hands. He heard scrambling, as if people were hurrying around, the dog continued to bark, and he could just barely hear hushed voices every now and then around him.

Once a good amount of time had passed his blind was removed from his eyes. After his eyes had adjusted back to the light he saw almost everyone in Clock Town in front of him then.

"Welcome back!" They all cheered in unison.

"What?" Link said absently, staring around to everyone. "Why is everyone here? I thought we were shopping." He asked, confused.

"We have been planning this for around a week now, but we just didn't know when it was going to happen. Ever since Zelda told us you were coming, everyone was eagerly waiting for this to come and they were ready when it finally came." Anju explained as she walked back up to him.

"How would Zelda know that I was coming?" The former hero wondered, glancing to the small girl.

"In her dreams she can sometimes see future events, at least to an extent. She saw your return so we prepared for a welcoming celebration."

Link was taken back from what he was told, 'She is exactly like my Zelda, I wonder why this is happening?' He thought to himself, but didn't have long to think it over before Anju nudged him.

"What are you spacing out for? There's a celebration going on for you and you're just standing here. Go have some fun for once." She ordered, pushing Link into the crowd.

He was overwhelmed with compliments, words of people's utmost gratitude and many handshakes and friendly quick hugs from people who had known him then. Once almost everyone had their turn, they all begun doing the usual things that people do at celebrations, drinking, dancing, singing, messing around, the kids played their games apart from the adults. This went on about the same until the shadows of night begun to overtake the town, though the noise never ceased. Then a large bonfire was started in the center of it all, taking a couple minutes before it begun to send it's burning embers to the stars that had begun to shine in the growing dark sky. Link hadn't been to a celebration since the war ended, at least not to one as lively since then, he had gone to Zelda's wedding and her coronation, but royal events aren't nearly as...Happy. When it came to around probably midnight, Link was able to inch his way out of the large group of people who were still out. He leaned back against a building at the far side of the clearing, watching as the adults continued with their celebration without the need to care for their kids, having put them up for the night.

He smiled faintly, it was good to see that there was those who knew him as a hero, and appreciated him. Soon after, Kafei walked over and leaned against the wall to the left of Link, bumping him on the shoulder.

"Are you alright Link?"

"Yes I am, I am just not used to such praise and festivities, to be realized as a hero."

"Are you not a hero in your homeland?"

"I was before." He said as he lowered his head to look to his shoes.

"What do you mean before?"

"The times where I was hero have been forgotten by all, except for one person, my queen. It was a price to pay in order to save my homeland." Link told him, lifting his gaze back to the fire. "But I suppose, my efforts and the prices I had to pay was not enough to keep the land safe for long."

"What happened?" Kafei asked, then realized it probably wasn't appropriate, "Oh sorry, you probably don't want to talk about that."

The blonde remained silent for a moment then pointed at his eyepatch, "You wanted to know about my eye right?"

"You don't have to tell if you are uncomfortable with it Link, I was just worried about it."

"Well, I'll tell you. You see, before I had come here, my homeland had just started fully recovering from, um," He stopped, trying to think of how to describe something that technically didn't occur at all, "I suppose a war in which I ended alongside my queen and a few others. However, another war soon ravaged the land, once more by the same man who caused the previous one. This was the time that I stumbled upon this place, since I was unable to take part in the war, I left, searching for a friend. When I had returned after a few years, the war was still going on, it did not take long for it to end with my fight with that man once more. That's how I got this scar across my eye... I... Lost that battle..."

"If you were defeated how are you here?"

"He-That man couldn't kill me, even though he so wished to."

"What do you mean by that?"

Link hesitated, "I-I don't want to talk about that. You wanted to know about my eye, and I told you that, the rest is...Sensitive."

"Oh...I apologize." Kafei said honestly, lowering his arms to his sides.

From that moment on they said little, only sharing a couple other things before Kafei excused himself for the night to find Anju to return to their house. Link stood for a while longer after most everyone had left, just watching the dwindling bonfire. He then returned to the Inn, coming into his room he collapsed into the large bed, being engulfed in blankets and pillows. He stared at the ceiling for a long while before being taken by his demanding exhaustion.

The next couple days went peacefully, people soon returned to their normal activities, most just because they are not being able to leave their businesses for too long. Link enjoyed the peace, he remained mostly with Kafei and Anju, talking and helping out with the Inn. The last day he was there he sat up in front of the Clock Tower, observing the kids below in the center bazaar, playing with the dogs that ran around. Eventually Link made his way back to the Inn, going to his room to gather his items so he could start getting back to his wife and son. When he walked out from the Inn, he found Kafei and his family standing in front.

"So you are leaving then Link?" Anju asked, wrapping her hands around her children's necks.

The hero nodded slowly, "My wife would be mad if I stayed any long, so I need to get back. And my queen will probably be needing me back on duty soon."

"Well have a safe journey back. Remember you can come back anytime, all four of us will be very glad to see you again." Kafei spoke in this time, gesturing to his whole family.

Link nodded, "Will do, I will have to try to persuade my wife to let me go again, so it might not be for a little while, knowing her."

"Well just make sure it's not another 20 years, you might just get pummeled by this lady here if you do." Kafei joked, a smiled spread across his face.

Smiling slightly, he nodded again, "I doubt it will be that long again, but I'll try to get back soon."

"You better." Anju said, almost demanding.

As Link turned to leave, he felt small arms wrap around his legs, turning he saw Zelda hugging tightly onto him.

"Thank you for everything Mr. Link."

He just watched her before running his hand over her head. "You're very welcome, Zelda." He then moved away once the girl released her grip on his legs and returned to her mom's side. "I'll be back eventually, so it's only goodbye for now."

Link said his farewells before walking through the large gate, the guards tipping their heads as he went by, a gesture he returned as he disappeared into the darkened path. Coming out on the other side, he found Epona where he had left her, just staring at him then neighing in response. Smiling, he climbed up into the saddle and settled himself into the curve, he then turned Epona around, rubbing her neck. "Let's go back home, Alya is going to get irritated if we stay any longer." Urging his steed into a trot, following the path in which he came, finding the entrance. Stopping, he looked back to the clock once more, he sighed slightly then clicked Epona's reins, moving forward and leaving the town behind, going on the journey back to his home...