**This short story was inspired by the idea that Link is actually a shell shocked war veteran in the body of a ten year old, but it sort of strayed from that idea into a short friendship fic. Hope you enjoy it**
In the dead of night, at the base of the Great Bay Laboratory, a bright white orb formed. In the blink of an eye, it disappeared and was replaced by a small boy in green and an even smaller fairy.
"Link, that was really sweet of you to help them," Tatl floated over Links shoulder as he started up the ladder to the balcony overlooking the bay. Link sat down on the edge of the balcony, his short legs dangling off the side. He took out a silver mask, and sat it in his lap. The mask had no features, except a strange design. "Link? What's wrong? Why did we warp here?" Tatl hovered in front of Link, her tiny face contorting in mild anger. Link didn't answer immediately, he slowly looked up to the giant moon looming so low in the pre-dawn sky. "I came here to think," Link said looking to Tatl, and then looking to the moon "I also want to know how it ends," Tatl looked at her companion, confused and shocked, until it dawned on her and she spun around to look at the looming moon. Tears swelled in her eyes as she turned to look at Link "Your just giving up?! Just like that?!" Her small tears fell onto the Couples Mask that sat in Link's lap "Your just gonna let everyone die?! You, me?...That couple, Anju and Kafei?...The Skull Kid…..My brother…." With the last word her voice broke and she covered her face with her hands, slowly floating down to rest on the mask in Link's lap. Link looked down at the weeping fairy and patted her on the head "I never intended to give up" Link said, a comforting tone to his voice "I just wanted to see the end…before I set things right." The last word he spoke made Tatl look up at him and, to her amazement, she was seeing Link as the hero that she always assumed he was trying to pretend to be. She wiped her eyes and stared at the east, the sun just barely below the horizon "So, will we be going back?" Link nodded and continued to look to the east "I just need to see this. This will strengthen my resolve," he grabbed the Couples Mask and put it away, picking up Tatl in the process, and stood up. He sat Tatl on his shoulder and stared at the moon, now red with the glow from the sun. Tatl's eyes widened as the moon made contact with the clock tower in Clock Town, the red wave of destruction coming slowly closer. "Link…?" Tatl asked, looking to Link, his face a determined mask. Her heartbeats grew steadily faster and louder and her breathing quickened. She couldn't stand to look much longer and covered her eyes with her hands "LINK!" She shouted, her voice desperate. As the tears of fear rolled down her cheeks, over the sound of her heart, the sweet sound of Link's Ocarina, playing the song she had grown used to. 'This time, I don't think we're going back' were Tatl last thoughts.
The bright morning sun rested on Tatl's small body. 'This is it, I'm dead', "Tatl, you can stop hiding like that, we're back" Tatl gasped at Link's voice and looked up to see the busy street outside the clock tower in Clock Town. She turned her face to meet Link's grinning one. "I-I wasn't hiding! I was-uh-bracing for impact, incase you weren't quick enough!" Tatl floated up to meet Link's face, greeting it with a sour expression. "Always with the tough guy act…" Link grinned wider and started walking into the street, as Tatl followed with out hesitation. Link stopped just short of the festival tower and turned to look at the moon, now hanging further away in the sky. His face was set in the same way Tatl saw before, the face of the hero. Link held three fingers up to the sky and shouted "THREE DAYS!!! THIS TIME WE PLAY FOR KEEPS!!!" He earned many strange looks from the passerbyers on the street, but he earned a look of admiration from Tatl. As Link ran off to prepare for the Third day, Tatl followed without question. "I think I've got a good title for him" she whispered to herself later that night "The Hero of Time. It doesn't suit him now, not really, but I think he'll grow into it. I just know it."
**Thanks for reading, and please review**