A/N: Silly profile poem aside, I've noticed that by coincidence my two main stories are dipping down into a rather dark pool. They are meant to do so, but not in unison. Eh, anyway, this is just a one-shot to test the waters, so to speak. If it hurts, tell me. It's meant to pull tears, but I highly doubt it'll do that.
Remember Me.
When they forgot, their memories were taken away cleanly and swiftly. Nothing lingers, nothing burns. They were people who were people, not creatures tormented by fear and death and hunger.
---
He was always a funny kid.
"You always complained that your dad was late, and that he should work harder. I remember how angry you got when he didn't return one day."
Ignore him, many people will say. He's just a little wrong in the head, others would supplement. It is the words of her elders, so that's what Malon does. She ignores him.
"Do you mind if I play with your horse Epona? You taught me the song, remember? She's not afraid. She's my friend."
Malon doesn't know how to respond to that. How he knows of Epona's temperament, and of her song, she doesn't know. So she does the only thing she assumes she can do: she stops ignoring him, and asks him to leave.
"Aw, Malon, aren't I your friend? Come on, you know I don't have many places to go."
She ignores that part. She asks him to leave.
He leaves. He never returns.
---
They were happy people, functioning members of a society that wasn't being unravelled, ripped apart or threatened. Some may have complained that life for them was a daily chore, but they were satisfied. There was no space for a boy who knows.
---
They ask why he wants to scale Death Mountain. He's just a kid, after all.
"To see the Gorons, of course! I have a few friends there."
The guards don't believe him: in the past twelve years the Gorons haven't left their mountain. No Hylian has scaled Death Mountain for twenty years. His first encounter with a Goron would have happened before he was born.
He was always a funny kid, after all.
"I can list their names if you want! There's Darunia, Big Brother and Sworn Brother, and Medigoron and Biggoron and Link – wait, Link shouldn't be born yet. But three's enough!"
So the adults just roll their eyes and answer patronisingly, and tell him to play elsewhere with the other children.
He has nowhere else to play. He has no one to play with.
---
A boy who knows: sometimes he wishes he forgets, that he isn't the only one who remembers the future, a place where he was valued, needed, acknowledged. For no one in this new world knows of him, for no one in this new world needs him.
---
She asks how he managed to get past the guards, how he knew of this garden's existence.
He smiles sadly, but doesn't answer that question.
"You sent me back. You sent me back to live a childhood you thought I lost. You sent me back to a place where no one remembers me."
She asks him what he is talking about.
He laughs, part in anguish and part in madness, but doesn't answer that question.
"You don't remember me. Malon doesn't remember me. Talon, Ingo, Ruto, Nabooru, Darunia, Impa, Dampe, Anju, they all don't remember me. Navi doesn't know who I am. Saria thinks I'm mad. They all think I'm mad. That's because no one remembers."
Zelda thinks he's mad as well. She asks him who he is.
He answers that question.
"I am Link. I come from the forest. I had a friend called Navi, a horse called Epona. I've fought many things, seen many monsters, bled many times. I'm left handed, and know how to read. I don't know when my birthday is, but I'm eleven years old. I can wield a sword, a bow, a whole array of weapons no one else uses, and I play the ocarina. I'm not sure if I can grow up, but if I do I'll be a musician."
Zelda doesn't know what to do. So she does the only thing she assumes she can do: she calls the guards.
"Remember me. Remember me for where I'm from, who I know, what I did. You've sent me back, but only I remember. I wish I forgot. This is the only thing I ask from you: remember me. Just remember me. Please."
The guards take him away after making sure the Princess is alright. Impa watches and later confirms that he's left the Palace compound.
He was always a funny kid. Just a little wrong in the head.
Zelda soon forgets.
---
Zelda did not intend for him to remember. The spell she cast included him. But their memories were taken away cleanly and swiftly. His memories' removal will be slow and crippling. Whether because of Time or any other machination, he forgets more than just the seven years.
---
The guard stared at the little boy crossing the bridge. She raises an eyebrow when he inspects the sign blankly before approaching her. He's a strange kid to be nowhere near his parents.
"Hello, where am I?"
He's a strange kid, alright. "Sign says you're at the Gerudo Fortress. It also says no one is permitted to enter. Can't you read, kid?"
He stares blankly for a while, before scrutinising her red hair, gold eyes, high nose and white lipstick. He smiles, and then frowns.
"Do I know you? What is your name?"
She performs a short hand signal: taps her middle finger against her thumb twice. Another guard approaches. The new guard glances at the kid in question. "Where're your parents, kid? Where are you from?"
His frown stiffens in thought. Suddenly he smiles brightly, pulling out a wooden ocarina. He holds it for them to inspect: it certainly is of quality higher than any normal musical instrument.
"Do you like music? I have this ocarina, but I can't play very well on it. Can you play it? I don't know why, but when I think of music, I think of frogs."
The two guards frown at him. There's little else they can do. "What's your name, kid?"
He smile dies for a moment, before picking up again. Placing the ocarina back in one pouch, he pulls out a small note.
"I have kept this with me for a while. I don't know why. Could you read it out for me?"
The first guard looks at it, and snorts. What game is this kid trying to play? She slaps it into the second guard's palm before ushering the boy away.
He's just a funny kid.
"You two carry swords. I have a sword too, but a man took it away from me. I also have a bow. Can you use a bow? My aim's not very good."
The second guard watches the boy walk away from the bridge before reading the note.
My name is Link. I am from the Forest. Remember me. Please, remember me.
---
When Malon sees Link next, it is through the window of the Castletown orphanage. He's smiling obliviously, drawing a picture of a giant pig as an adult is teaching him how to read. The other children stay away from him.
Malon nods once and turns away. He's just a little wrong in the head.
He's just a funny kid, after all. No one worth remembering.
---
A/N: Feeling your tear ducts swell at the injustice? Feel like pitying Link, screaming at Zelda and Malon? Does the world suddenly feel like a much gloomier place? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it.