A man with glasses stepped into her shop. Fanadi, the fortune teller, perked up in her booth. She rustled in her chair to wake herself up, and blew the dust off her crystal ball.

"Hello, there. My name is Shad. Pleased to meet you." The man greeted, extending his hand. Fanadi grinned from ear to ear, and shook it.

"What brings a nice young man like you into a place like this?" The voluptuous woman

remarked, looking Shad up and down. The bookworm was uncomfortable, and ignored the gypsy's unsettling advances.

"I'm looking for someone to get some information for me..." He said, hoping that she'd follow. Fanadi clapped her hands together, and rubbed her crystal ball.

"Honey, that's my specialty. What're we looking for today, hm? The future of your career? The exact coordinates of your special sweetheart?" She prodded in the usual areas, and though it was tempting to learn about who he might fall for one day: he had a mission. A mission of knowledge.

"How far back can you show me?" Shad asked. Fanadi was taken aback.

"Sweetie, I know you boys like to get frisky early on, but we've barely just met." Fanadi harassed, giggling. Shad was thoroughly embarrassed. This fortune teller obviously fancied him, and the feeling was anything but mutual.

"I mean how far back in time." Shad clarified, pushing his glasses up. She went silent. It wasn't often that a customer asked her to do so. The lady rose from her seat, and shuffled to the back. She began to sift through her old belongings until she came upon a blue crystal ball. Shad was startled when she thumped it onto the table, replacing the old one.

"This is made from a very ancient and delicate material. In other words, no touching!" Fanadi ordered. Shad silently agreed, fascinated with the new ball. "This stone allows me to see into the past, but I usually never use it."

"Why not?" Shad inquired.

"You can't make money off of this sort of stuff. The only times I bring it out is when wives are paranoid about their husband's last outing to Telma's bar." Fanadi explained.

"How much do you want?" Shad asked.

"How far to you wanna go back?" Fanadi countered. The young man reached in his pocket, and revealed a rather large rupee purse.

"Very far." He replied. Shad removed a notebook from his pouch, and opened it to show her their desired destination in history. It was a depiction of the Hero of Legend battling the Great Ganondorf. "Take me here."

"You don't understand how this works. I need specifics. A half-baked drawing from forever ago isn't gonna cut it." She complained. Shad drew upon all his scholarly knowledge, and finally came up with a date.

"Take me back 1,000 years." Shad commanded, slapping the rupee purse onto the table. Fanadi shrugged.

"Can't say no to cold hard cash; here we go." She announced. "Etavitca srewop levart emit!"

In a blinding flash of blue light, the room went dead quiet . Shad's vision blacked out. All was silent until Fanadi clapped her hands with great force. Suddenly, the scent of oak invaded Shad's nostrils. The trees were dense, and the sun could barely shine through the thick canopy. On the ground lied a young Hylian boy. His tunic was green like the shrubbery around him. It didn't take long for the scholar to realize who this was: The Hero of Legend. Only one more question consumed his mind: why was he sleeping in a forest?

THE PAST

A pony clopped over to the sleeping hero, and muzzled his face. Link opened his eyes, and surveyed his surroundings.

"It was… all a dream…" Link mumbled as he came to. "Termina… The Mask… It was all a dream…" A glum expression spread across his face. Peace covered the land, but inside his heart was a tumultuous storm of mixed emotions: the Hero of Time knew that he had lost his hero-dom once again. Before it was the Ocarina that sent him away from his well-deserved recognition, but now it was a cruel joke from his own mind. He'd saved Hyrule and Termina, but now he was just a boy. A fairyless boy once again seeing as Navi had left him. Link got up, and brushed the leaves off his trousers. "Come on, girl, let's go home."

The Lost Woods were a treacherous place to reside, but the young Hylian knew his way. He and his trusted steed Epona trotted down the dirt road to Hyrule Field. It was a lonely life that this traveled hero would lead, but the first question was: where is he gonna stay the night?

LATER

"Thanks a ton for this, Malon." Link said, tying his horse to a wooden post in the barn.

"No problem! I wish we had more room in the house, but Papa said that we're all filled up for the winter." She told him. "Do you want a blanket or something?" Link shook his head 'no'.

"I'll be ok, thank you. I'm used to sleeping outdoors, so a roof over my head is a plus by itself." He said. She giggled.

"Of course you are, tough guy. We'll be in the main house if you need me or Papa." Malon said, closing the barn door.

It was getting a little chilly with the summer ending and all. This would mark the first time he spent a cold season outside of Kokiri Forest… He could've gone back, but they probably hadn't forgiven him for 'killing the Great Deku Tree' yet. Saria probably wasn't there anyway. This was a different timeline, but she was still a sage. Link's duty was over, but hers never would be… He could have gone to see Zelda at the castle. She might give him a place to stay for awhile… but Link had seen enough of royal families and sacred Triforces. Besides, the Princess had no care for him. It wouldn't be a good long-term situation.

Lon Lon Ranch was the best place to go. It was Epona's home after all, and Link knew both Talon and Malon decently well. Above all, they were kind. That was more that could be said than for the Kokiri or the Hylians in Castle Town. He knew the stable girl would let him stay. The young boy didn't plan to just mooch off of them, though, he would go to work as soon as Talon would let him. The Hero of Time: plougher of fields… it had a nice ring to it. All this was a lot to process, and he knew better than to make big decisions when he was exhausted. Link blew out his candle, and laid his head down to rest.