More Than A Part Time Job

by Alli-dunno

Link's short on money, so he gets a part time job as a ranch hand for Malon. After a few pitchforks to the head, a confessional to his horse, and a daydream, Link finally comes to a realization...MaLink goodness!

A/n: Hey everyone! I haven't written a one-shot in a long time. Not since February…Geez! Any-hoo, I got the sudden urge to write another! So here I am with more Malon/Link goodness! Enjoy…

Disclaimer: If I owned any sort of famous gaming franchises like Zelda, would I be writing a fan fiction about it?

Being hero sucks sometimes. I mean seriously. You traverse all over from one side of the world to the next, risk your neck against an insane guy bent on total domination, defeat said crazy guy, and save the princess.

But what does the hero get in return?

Nothing.

Okay, so I might be over-exaggerating just a bit. I did get fame and glory and whatnot and so forth. I may have gotten a harem of devoted fan girls (which are a little too devoted, if you ask me. I kind of don't enjoy getting stalked…). I did get the undying loyalty of the Royal Family.

But the one thing I actually need would probably have been money. Hey! I'm broke. A guy's got to have some money. You know for essentials: clothes, inn rooms, food, supplies, etc. Okay supplies also includes pointless gadgets like the little dollar store whirly-gig pinwheels. (But who can pass up two for one rupee deals like that?)

So, I, Link, the Hero of Time, am poor.

And now I just feel like I'm ranting a little too much.

But anyways, now, I must do something to get more rupees. The perfect way, in my mind, would to get a part-time job. But what kind of part time job could the Hero of Time get? I figured that the ranch could use a hand.

But I'd have to talk to Malon about that one. And I know she'd be happy to let me have a job. Though, she'd be my boss. And something about the ranch girl being my boss disturbs me a bit.

Do I underestimate her sometimes? No. I just have the tendency to make her angry. She has the nasty habit of waving around that gargantuan pitchfork around when she's mad.

I know. I have a scar to prove it.

So, here I am, standing outside the ranch now. It's a sunny, happy day. The kind of day where you expect the woodland creatures to pop out singing a song any minute now, it's that perfect and clear. I half expect to look up and see a smiley face on the sun.

But back on to what I was doing. I let out a huge sigh, and then step through the gates of Lon Lon Ranch. Walking in, I smell the usual smell: hay, manure, and vegetables (from Malon's vegetable garden in the corner…If you want to call them vegetables.) It's a rather pleasant smell once you've visited enough, but I nearly gagged and choked up an organ when I first came here. (All I normally smelt in the forest was pine…and mushrooms…lots of them.)

"So…If I were Malon, where would I be?" I said to myself looking around. I know Ingo would be in the barn, whining again about something, like usual. Talon would be in the Cucco pen. So…I went on the wild assumption Malon was in the corral with her bevy of horses. I swear, she was like one of those fairytale princesses with all animals following her and her singing something to them.

So, going with my said wild assumption, I went towards the large corral, where, low and behold, my familiar redheaded farm girl sat, singing to herself and brushing one of her horses. I noticed my horse, Epona, behind her.

"Malon?" I called while walking into the corral. She looked up, blue eyes wide with surprise for a second, before dropping the brush and running towards me at lightning speed.

"Fairy boy!!!" she exclaimed, jumping midair in this super move, and I watched in slow motion as she pounced on me. She latched her arms around my waist and knocked me to the ground. When I regained my senses, I opened my eyes to see her staring at me, huge grin on her face.

"You realize I saw you a day ago, right?" I lifted an eyebrow, surprisingly nonchalant for someone who was death-pounced into submission by a farm girl.

"You should just be happy that I'm happy to see you, dork." Malon countered, still latched on to me.

"I was just pointing it out. You act like I went off to war or something."

"Must you patronize me and my happiness?"

"No. I was only saying it was somewhat unnecessary."

"It was not unnecessary. I could have turned around and cussed you out or something. Or sic my horses on you."

"Epona wouldn't kill me."

"Unless I told her to."

"You'd be cruel enough to use my horse against me?"

"Yes." She smiled again.

"You're eviler than I thought." I stopped for a second. "How long are you going to keep me pinned here?"

"Oh yeah!" Malon blushed a bit and rolled off of me, and we both sat up, staring at each other.

"I came to ask a favor, Mal."

"And what would this favor be, Fairy Boy?"

"I need help."

"That's why you need a favor, dude."

"Oh, yeah." I sighed. "Listen, I need a job."

"A job? Don't you have one already?"

"Being the Hero of Time is more like a title than a job."

"I see. And you're asking me?" She stopped. I stayed silent for a second, waiting for that little light bulb in her head to go off. "Oh! You want a job here at the ranch?"

"That was the initial plan." I lifted an eyebrow, and grinned.

"I could do that. I could pay you weekly, and you could help me with all my chores. But I'd be you're boss. I'm in charge of this stuff here at the ranch, since dad, as he says, sucks at anything that has to do with paying people." Malon laughed a bit. "I've been in charge of giving Ingo his pay since I was twelve."
"That's sad." I shook my head. "But any-hoo, will you let me then?"

She smiled. "It's late morning actually; you want to start the chores now? I always start these now when Ingo leaves to go on his however-long-it-is break!"

"Sure. The sooner the better, I suppose." I nodded in my head, and followed Malon as we got up and walked towards the barn. She opened the door and it made a "creaky" sound and we walked in. After shutting it behind her, we saw Ingo, sweaty, grumpy, grimy Ingo, walking towards us. He stopped, huffed, and went out the door muttering something about "conspiracies to replace him."

"Ignore his under-the-breath ranting." Malon said, walking to supply closet of some form. "He's always thinking we're trying to replace him."

"I see…Wait…I know…" I shuddered.

"Well, catch Fairy Boy!" I snapped back to reality-world and turned to see a pitchfork flying towards me. I caught it, and stared at it.

"You throw a pitchfork at me?" I eyed the redhead carefully.

"Come on. You've had zombies try to suck you're soul out." Malon turned. "I highly doubt a pitchfork is going to hurt you all that much."

"I could." I said, following her farther into the barn.

"For the Hero of Time, you sure complain a lot." Malon rolled her eyes.

"I do not!" I stopped. "I merely am good at vocalizing my opinion more that once."

"That's complaining in a normal person's book." Malon said, flipping her long hair over to one shoulder. "So, here's our first chore! Feeding the cows!!"

"Oh, delightful." I turned. "It stinks in here."

"You get used to it after about twenty minutes in here." Malon went over to a stack of hay bales. "Though too long and you smell like it forever. That's why Ingo always smells like cow manure."

"Yay." I rolled my eyes and went over the bales.

"Just start scooping the hay out of here and into the stables." Malon demonstrated, lifting piles of hay from the stack and into the stables like it was an art form.

"Let's see if I can not screw this up." I said, and I got it right the first time, and continued doing it like a pattern. It went smoothly until something hard slammed down on my head.

"Ow!!!!!" I screeched and turned to see Malon, putting her pitchfork down at her side. "What the hell, Mal?"

"I think three scoops of hay in the stable are enough for now, Fairy Boy." She sighed. "Especially when the stable only has no cow in it."

"Oh." I stopped, and continued to rub my head. "So, I'm not even halfway into my first day, and I screwed up?"

"Yes, but I forgive you." Malon turned. "Put some in that stall." She pointed, and I did as she said, in fear of meeting her pitchfork again. "We have to go feed the cows in the stables at the silo now." She said, throwing her pitchfork over her shoulder like a military officer.

"So, trek to the other side of the ranch?" I said, following the girl out of the barn and into the fields.

"Yes." Malon winked, and we went on. There was an awkward silence until a cucco cawed rather loudly before skittering off. Something slammed harder onto my head that the last time.

"Damn, Mal!" I was on the ground, dazed and head pounding. "What are you trying to do to me? Give me brain damage?"

"No! You stepped on it!" Malon squealed, running over to the cucco in a somewhat melodramatic manner and scooped it up. She cooed to it like it was a child, and the fairytale, woodland animal thing popped into my head again.

"It's a cucco." I said simply, regretting it when she slammed the pitchfork's handle into my head…again.

"It's not just a cucco!" Malon cried. "This is Layla! She's my favorite cucco!"

"You named a cucco?" I threw my hands up in a defense to avoid getting hit…again. "That's a first for me."

"Yes, moron! I named a cucco!" She held the cucco in one, and it just clucked like nothing was going on at all, and in the other she held the pitchfork, glaring menacingly at me.

"It was an accident." I whined. "Don't kill me, please."

"I wasn't planning on that." Malon huffed. "But you have to apologize to Layla."

"Apologize to a cucco?" I said. "Mal, it looks like it really doesn't care that much."

"It does!" She said almost maniacally. "And you will apologize."

"Uh…" I lifted an eyebrow, feeling a bit…awkward. "Sorry…Layla?"

"Yes!" Malon gently placed the cucco down, and turned to me. "Well, now that you've repented for such an action, let's move back on, shall we?"

"I repented for stepping, by accident, on a cucco." I said, thinking I stepped on a cucco. What sin is that? "I feel much better now."

We made it to the silo, and walked inside. It had the same smell as the barn, with fewer cows. These cows just wandered around the silo, in a makeshift pen of sorts, and just…acted like cows, I guess.

"Are these special cows?" I turned to Malon, who was petting one.

"Yes!" Malon smiled. "These are our prize winning cows! They make the best Lon Lon milk in all of Hyrule. We breed them specially and treat the specially!"

"So, we're feeding award winning cows." I said, fingering my pitchfork. "How special."

"Fairy Boy, do you like it when I hit you upside the head?" She turned, a menacing gleam in those pretty blue eyes of hers.

"No."

"Then be quiet, dear Fairy Boy." She smirked and I followed her to a pile of neatly stacked hay, a kind of hay that was different than the others. This was a rich gold color, not a bland tan color.

"So…What's special about this hay?" I said.

"It's a different kind of hay we get from this big farm outside Hyrule." Malon explained, like she was some kind of hay expert. (This, now thinking about, makes sense since she does live in a ranch and all) "It's more…nutritious for the milk-making cows."

"Oh…" I said, taking a stack and putting it in the cows' pen. "So… You give these guys pumped-up, super hay then?" I felt something drop on my head, and realized that she dumped a pile of hay on me. "What was that for?"

"For being sarcastic!" She said in a serious tone, but a smile tugged at her lips. Apparently seeing me covered in hay was an amusing sight or something.

"I wouldn't quite call it sarcasm." I said, taking my hat off and plucking hay out of hair and ears. (For the record, hay in your ears is a very odd feeling.)

"Yes, it was sarcasm, Fairy Boy." She said. "But not worth a pitchfork to the head."

"Stepping on a cucco is, but making fun of hay isn't?"

"Nope. There's a scale, dude." She said.

"Whatever." I said, and nonchalantly dumped a pile of hay on her.

"Hey!!" She squealed. Without a second thought, she dropped her pitchfork and toppled over on me, knocking me into the stack of hay.

In short: hay flew everywhere. At least the cows were officially fed now.

"That was mean!" Malon said in a fake-melodrama.

"Hey, you started it. I was only retaliating." I smirked.

"You!" Malon snatched my hat out of my hands.

"Ah! My hat." I found myself jerking my head up…Though this might have been a mistake…Now I was nose-to-nose with Malon.

"…"

"…"

"Fairy Boy?"

"…Yes…?" I was a little stunned. I'd never been this close to her. And looking at her, she was a lot, a lot prettier up close. I mean, up close she was perfect: flawless skin, hair hanging over her shoulders and in her face, bright, blue eyes sparkling, blushed cheeks. Aside from the hay in her hair, it was like a scene in a romance novel. (What, a guy like me can't read mushy stuff?)

"This is awkward."

"If you want to call it that." I said back, somewhat still lost in my daydream-land. She finally got up and we sat up in our pile of hay, staring at each other. She handed my hat back to me in a bit of a daze.

"Well then." Malon grabbed her pitchfork and started raking the hay into a somewhat reasonable pile. Then, she bent over and started shaking hay out of her hair and clothes. I followed suit and de-hayed my self.

"What now, boss?" I turned, placing my pitchfork at my side.

"The best part of the day!" She cheered, a wide grin plastered on her face. She grabbed my pitchfork from my hand in a swift, speedy movement only associated with ninjas and leaned them against the wall. Then, she scurried over to a shelf, where she started taking off random things. Then, going over to a cabinet, she took out carrots and apples. Soon, her arms were full with a pile of random things: brushes, carrots, apples, etc. "The horses!!!"

"At least they're more exciting than cows." I muttered, but winced when an apple was thrown at my head.

"Don't insult the cows!" Malon glared. I opened my mouth the protest but decided against it. Picking up the apple I followed the enthusiastic farm girl out of the silo and into the corral. She put everything on the ground, and started brushing a horse, cooing and whispering to it.

"I'll go deal with Epona." I grabbed a brush and went over to said horse. It seemed happy to see me…but then again it's hard to tell with a horse.

"You know girl?" I said, petting Epona while I brushed her. "I had this incident in the barn with Malon. We almost kissed, and now I have this funny feeling in my stomach. I wonder what it is." She neighed.

(It's called love, you nincompoop).

"Do you think I like her?" I spaced off again. "I mean…I've always thought she was awesome, and fun, and her clueless-ness and enthusiasm and stuff have always made me laugh. I mean, she's the only person who could get away with throwing things at me and whacking me in the head with a pitchfork." I stopped brushing for a second and glanced at Malon, who was off in her own world, petting a horse and feeding it a carrot gently.

Epona neighed again. (Then you like her. It should take more that a horse to tell you that.)

"Maybe I do…" I stopped again. "I mean, she's the first person I turn to for everything. I often tell her bad things before I tell Zelda! I trust her. And she willingly puts up with me…"

Epona snorted and neighed again. (Must I repeat myself?)

"But when we got in that situation back at the silo, I swear I had this funny daydream, dreaming about how perfect she looked…Kind of like that romance novel I finished the other day about the girl who loves the guy but they can never be together because of duty…Great book…But the fantasy I had was the same…kind of like that."

Epona just continued to snort and neigh. (Two things: You're weird and why were you reading a romance novel?)

"Oh, girl, what do I do?"

Epona neighed. (Let's see here…How about telling her the truth, doofus?)

"Why am I asking you, though." I had the carrot in my pocket and pulled it out while I brushed her mane with another hand.

Epona neighed. (You're guess is as good as mine, buddy. Have I earned my carrot yet?)

"Thanks for listening girl…Wait…I guess." I said, handing her the carrot. She took it, snorting and munching.

(Finally…)

"Fairy boy!" Malon called, snapping me out of my somewhat odd confessional to my horse. I turned and she was waving at me. "Ready for lunch?"

"Food sounds good." With that, we walked by in the house…

A few hours later, at the corral…

I decided we must have been done with chores because Malon and I sat in the corral, horses running around and Epona stationed behind us, neighing.

(Can we get to the point and kiss already?)

"So, Mal." I said. "That was…and interesting meal." I shook my head. The lunch had consisted of Malon, me, Ingo, and Talon all sitting at the table and talking. After making another unnecessary sarcastic remark, Malon chucked a pot at my head, Ingo went on some strange rant about conspiracies again, and Talon just ignored him and stuffed food in his face. He talked about how nice it was having me here and how I should marry his daughter, which was awkward for the two of us. So now, to avoid embarrassing Talon and ranting Ingo, we retreated to the corral.

"It's usually like that." Malon said somewhat sheepishly. "Daddy's always talking about you. And Ingo is usually always going on about how we're plotting to destroy him or something."

Epona neighed. (Duh, Ingo's only doing that because he's off his rocket.)

"Well…Ingo has a few screws loose, if you catch my drift." I said, leaning back in the grass. Malon followed suit.

Epona snorted this time. (Thank you, Captain Obvious.)

"I like him though." Malon smiled. "I have to. I grew up with the man."

"I feel sorry for you." I said, though Malon reached over and pinched me in the arm.

"Ow." I said.

Silence……………

Though this silence was interrupted by Epona…neighing again.

(Arg, just confess it up to her already. If you can confess it all to a horse, you should be able to confess it to her…)

How would I do this? After all this time of her being my, well, best friend, how would I just suddenly blurt out I love her?

I mean, all this time I've trusted her, laughed with her, helped her, saved her, and tolerated her when she hit me, pinched me, kicked me, or threw random objects at me.

I laughed it all off. She dealt with my sarcasm, my complaining, my stupidity…She still called me "Fairy Boy" like she did when we were twelve, and now we were young adults. I still called her "Mal". She gave me Epona, I frequently visited her. I tolerated her weird father, her crazy ranch hand, and her strange vegetables or whatever they were.

I've always called her my best friend. The person I tell stuff too. Malon's the person I've complained to about when Zelda sends me off on a mission. She's the first person I said goodbye to when I left for Termina and the first person I visited when I came back.

She's always sarcastic with me, too. She over enthusiastic, somewhat clueless, determined, stubborn, and has a short temper. She's naive is some ways, perceptive in others. She's hilarious when you get her on an animal rights rant, and scary when you make angry and she has the pitchfork or a pot in her hand. She's always laughing at me and making fun of me when I purchase those strange whirly-gig pinwheels from the dollar shop, and then always playing with them.

Has it been that all this time, when I've visited her and talked to her, and generally lived to come back to the ranch for her presence…could it have been that all this time I thought she was totally and completely awesome for the fact that I loved her?

And it took an awkward situation consisting of falling to a hay pile and almost kissing to make me realize it? It took a weird fantasy similar to a romance novel to realize it?

And I came to terms with it by talking with a horse?

Geez, I suck…

What do I do now? Just come out and say "Hey Mal, I love you!"? I couldn't do that. I'm not that good with words. I can't just do that. But I'm not a real mushy person either unless I'm reading a cheesy, dramatic romance novel.

Wait…If I confessed this love to her, what would that crazy Ruto do? Assassinate her?

But then again, what do I care? I'd do anything if it involved getting her off my back. Screw her…

Well, might as well go for it…We both sat up.

"Mal?" Though I was interrupted by the fact she said "Fairy Boy" at the same time.

Then we're both like:

"I need to tell you something!"

Epona neighed to break the moment, I know she did.

(Finally, we get somewhere.)

"You go first!" Malon pointed, her finger in my chest.

Oh yeah…Make me go first.

"Uh Mal?" I stopped. "Can I tell you something? Will you promise not to scream and/or look at me in disgust when I tell you?"

"Yes, and yes." Malon nodded.

"Good, I feel better." I said. "Listen…Remember today when we dumped the hay on each other and you tackled me to the ground?"

"Um, yes." Malon nodded.

"Well… Suddenly I got this feeling." I explained. "And then I started thinking something…I had this fantasy, or daydream about you. Yes, you. And in this daydream, I was dreaming about how perfect you were. I mean, you had hay in your hair, but that made it all the better. I mean, I was thinking about your hair, your skin, your eyes… and the awkwardness left me."

"Wow…" Malon nodded her head, her hair changing a darker shade of pink.

"And then I was like, 'wait, what was that just now?'" I continued. "Then I came to terms with something."

"…" Malon nodded again.

"So, I have this confessional…with someone." I heard Epona snort. (Yeah, don't give me any credit.) "And I decided… With all this time you've put up with me and my…oddities…I've come to terms with the fact that…I…that I…"

"Link, hold on!" Malon stopped me. "Let me help. I…heard you talking to Epona. It was funny…And then I started thinking about how weird I felt at that moment too. Or how giddy I was that you wanted a job here at the ranch…"

"You heard me?" I asked, and I felt my face grow hot.

"Yeah…" She smiled, actually a genuine smile. "It was cute. But…"

"But what?"

"Was what you said to Epona true?" Malon looked up at me, concern in her eyes. "Do you really think I was perfect? Did you really have this thought?"

"This is where I continue." I held up a hand. "Everything was true. And, Mal?"

"…" She nodded.

"I love you."

"…" Malon looked up at me. Not in surprise or sadness, but in happiness. "Really?"

"Yes."

"Fairy Boy!" Malon tackled me to the ground and before I had any chance to retaliate, she had me in a lip lock.

Can't say I fought it very much though.

After a second, we parted, and she stared at me, her red hair falling in my face and chest. She spoke.

"Oh, Fairy Boy." She smiled. "I've waited for that one for seven years!"

"That long?" I lifted an eyebrow. "I must be slow on the uptake."

"Yes, you are." Malon sighed. "Listen, I love you, too!"

"Nice to know." I smiled. "Though I figured that once you kissed me."
"Good point." She sighed. "Why me though?"

"Why else?" I said. "You're perfect. You don't mine my stupidity, you don't mind the fact that I read mushy novels, you like to play my whirly-gig pinwheels as much as I do, and, in short, you're the most awesome thing in the world."

"But you have every girl in Hyrule after you! Even the Princess!"

"Yeah, I do." I said. "Most of them are just obsessive stalkers, and the Princess is nice and all, but she's more like a sister than anything else. You're the coolest person, Mal."

"But…"

"You're awesome."

"I guess I never thought I was good enough for you. I mean, you're a hero. I'm just a farm girl."

"A farm girl who puts up with the sarcasm and stupidity of the said hero." I smirked.

"…" She laughed.

"I'll repeat myself." I stated. "You're the most awesome thing in the world of Hyrule. One hundred percent nifty. You're so worth the years of pitchforks to the head."

"You went through my temper spats because you like me?" Malon's eyes were gleaming.

"Yes."

"So…The ultimate question, Fairy Boy: Am I cooler than the two-for-one whirly-gig pinwheel deals at the dollar shop?"

"Yes. Much cooler, and that should be considered highest honor."

"I am honored, Fairy Boy." She leaned in closer to me. "Very, very honored."

And with that, we kissed…And for that, I was very, very glad…

I should get a part-time job more often…

A/n: There's my Malon/Link fluff, people! Well, sort of. Link's a bit slow on the uptake in this story, and he has the nasty tendency to make our farm girl angry, no?

How was it? This was more fun to write that My Snowy Valentine!

Review, please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!