This story is set at the time between the last temple and the Final Battle with Ganondorf in Ocarina of Time. Link is trying to find Zelda, but has so far failed, and is taking his time about it. WARNING! This is a MaLink story. If you don't like it, please don't flame me!

Link woke up to Navi's constant shouts of "Hey!" more than he did to the fairy hurling her tiny, lightweight body full-force against his head. Letting out a groan of annoyance, he rolled off his bed and onto the floor.

Ever since his bed in the Kokiri Forest had become too small, he stayed in the home of a kind, if homely, woman in Kakariko Village. She has taken to him at once, and although Link had only asked for a place to sleep, she insisted on cooking him meals as well. "You're as thin as an anorexic stalfos," she had said, despite his protests. He wasn't thin; he just used up all his body fat with fighting. Now, Link lay still on the floor of the lower level of the house, next to the bed closest to the cooking stove. He waited a minute, blinking the sleep from his eyes, and then sat up.

"You're finally awake, I see," Navi said, seeming quite amused. Link couldn't really tell her expressions apart visually, because she glowed so brightly, only her wings were visible. But the tone of her voice and the way she casually flitted to and fro, gave the Hylian the right clues.

Reaching for his hat, gauntlets, tunic, belt, and boots, he quickly dressed and stood. "Is Mandy gone?" he inquired. Although he loved the food she gave him, he tried to avoid it whenever he could. She had given him so much that he was beginning to become plump despite his vigorous activity. Navi bobbed up and down to confirm this. He was just headed for the door, when Navi squeaked, "Hey! Aren't you forgetting something?" Blushing with guilt, he reached under the bed and pulled out a small box wrapped in brown paper and tied with twine.

As he approached the door, before he had a chance to turn the knob, Mandy, the woman who had let him stay in her house, swung it open, letting it bang on the adjacent wall. She had several bags of groceries in her arms, but it didn't hinder her from pointing a meaty finger at Link. "Well, where do you think you're going?" she barked, "Aren't you going to wait for your breakfast?"

"I could do without," Link muttered poking his stomach. It almost made him shudder at how much of it gave way before hitting his abdominal muscles.

"What was that?"

"Er, I said 'I have to go out'." Holding up the package, he smiled in what he hoped to look like sympathy. "I told the person this is for that I would come early today."

"I swear, if this is another means of avoiding my food..."

Link held his hands up defensively. "No, I wasn't trying to. It's this person's birthday today, and I wanted to spend some time with her."

"Her?"

"Yes, ma'am."

He was promptly shoved out of the house, and the door barely missed his feet as it slammed behind him. Turning to Navi, he said, "What was that all about?"

--

Malon of Lon Lon Ranch sat at the junction of perpendicular roofs on her barn, quietly humming her mother's song, occasionally deciding to sing choice lyrics. Today was one of her happier days, for it was her birthday. And she knew that Link would try today of all days to come, trying to make up for his lost time. He still never told her where he was all along, but she never pressed him for information; when he wanted to tell her something, he would. Until then, she was content to just spend the days with him, especially if was just the two of them. Then, all of a sudden, she heard a familiar whinny, and nearly broke her legs as she jumped from the roof toward the sound. For she knew that Epona had returned.