Chapter 0: the lonely Hero
Link felt a pang of regret as he watched Tatl leave with the skull kid. He had wished that they might have been able to stay together after saving Clock Town, but she had chosen instead to resume her travels with her and her brother's friend.
Alone once again, Link returned to the clock tower. The heavy door at the bottom of the interior seemed to be taunting him, with his world just out of reach behind the massive stone panel. It was a futile wish, anyway. Even if he could make his way past the door, he would have to find a way to navigate the massive columns with his horse, Epona. The evil power of the mask that had sent the horse to Termina was no more, but Link had to admit to himself that it would have been handy if he could have just used the ancient power of the mask to blast though the door.
Thinking of the power that had been held by Majora, Link thought about the other powerful masks he had encountered throughout the time he had been in Termina. Most of his masks had been given away to the children of the Moon, but Link still retained his four most powerful masks. One of them was the last remaining evidence of the curse that had been placed on Link, while two others contained the spirits of people who had given their lives against the power of Majora.
The final mask worried him the most. Given to him by Majora itself, the Fierce Deity's mask had no trace of the benevolent spirits within the other three. Instead, putting it on filled Link with rage and agony, so much that he had resolved after defeating Majora that he would never put it on again, unless in a dire emergency. As much as he wanted to pass through the stone door separating him from his homeland, he was afraid that putting the mask on would cause him to lose control of his sanity and restraint. In the busy region of Clock Town, such loss of control would be disasterous.
There was no guarantee that the Fierce Deity had the power to break through the stone, anyway. The power of a goron hadn't even left a dent in the door, nor had anything else Link had tried. He had been on the verge of detonating a powder keg underneath the clock tower, but something held him back. Even if he could somehow find a way back to Hyrule, there was nothing he could do there. Ganondorf would spend the next seven years conquering Hyrule, and nothing Link could do that he hadn't already done would stop that, literally. He didn't fully understand the concept himself, but in order to ensure his own success in the future, he couldn't interfere in any way while the evil king took control of Hyrule.
As he walked back though the streets of South Clock Town, Link decided that he would find his own way back, alone. There was nothing urgent waiting anywhere for him, and if he should happen to find a lead on his quest while he was searching for a way to return, so much the better.