Heads up from author: This is an original timeline/AU. I know LoZ has a very complicated canon that I haven't strictly kept up with, so I apologize if anything conflicts with canon.
There was once a boy who lived in a village near Hyrule. He was an average boy who played with the other children and made bread to sell in his grandfather's bakery. His name was Link.
Nobody knew where Link came from originally. His grandparents, who had adopted him, had found him in the forests. They knew something about him was special and he never learned to speak, but as far as they were concerned, he was no different from the other children. To them, he was just as loved and cherished.
Link spent most of his time with his granddad, Grrad, who's auburn hair had silvered with age and who's skin was the color of ash and onyx.
There was a window that aired out the bakery which was often left open. Sometimes, the other children hung around this window to see if they could get dough bits or end pieces. One day when Grrad was out, the kids came by. There was Endo, a tall brunette boy, and his best friend named Henry. Henry's sister, Isabella, also tagged along.
"What do you want to be when you grow up?" Endo asked Link as he perched his elbow on the window sil.
"Shh, don't ask him that!" Isabella scolded as she saw Link's brow furrow. She knew they had been teasing him lately.
"Yeah no need to ask. We all know he wants to be a mom when he grows up! Just like his grandad before him." Henry piped in, getting a swift elbow in the ribs from his sister.
Isabella frowned apologetically, nose still wrinkled at her mouthy brother. "Don't listen to him, Link. That's just a stereotype." she corrected as her brother snickered weaselishly.
She then smiled, "Besides, I saw Grrad fight a golem with his BARE hands."
"You're such a liar!" Endo laughed.
Hemry didn't say a word. He knew his sister always told the truth...
"I'm not a liar!" Isabella defended and swiftly turned to Link, who looked more surprised than ever. "Gramps protected us when we needed him, and he bakes cakes all day. What do you think he would say?" she questioned.
Link never was sure whether to believe Isabella's story, but her words stuck with him as years went and the kids continued to tease him. He never was the strongest, biggest, or most masculine-looking young man around, and baking didn't help. He tried to stick with it, though, even as Endo and his friends learned swordsmanship for the first time.
Grrad was in the kitchen working alongside Link that day. There was often a comfortable silence between them, which he broke with a suggestion after having seen the way Link looked out that window. "I like it when you help out with the shop, but, I don't need you here. Go out and learn swordsmanship." he said, wanting Link to take the day off.
Grrad laughed as he saw Link's eyes avert away from the window in a hurry, however.
Such a loyal kid, even when he didn't need to be.
"Well, if you don't want to, why the longing stare?"
Link gave Grrad an amused smile as he continued to shun the window.
Grrad could sense a conflict in the boy and scratched his beard. "You know, I wasn't always a baker." he said, bending over to get a bowl with a grumble at his back. He grabbed a stool, hating the damn thing, but guessing he needed it nowadays.
Even he was looking at that window now, a small spark of longing itching its way to the front of his mind. Even if just barely. He did miss being a young swordsman.
"You're old enough to keep secrets now, right?" he asked suddenly as he leaned on the table, catching Link off guard.
The time had come for them to have a talk. He continued to work as he went on. "I'm not just a dark-skinned Hylian. My people live in the desert these days. Didn't used to." he said with a sideways smile. "They're a tribe known as the Gerudo. Bunch of rotten thieves. Don't trust them. I used to lead them, though. I was the only man." he said and kneaded more vigorously than usual, frowning as he nearly broke the board with his strength. He proceeded to work more more carefully after that.
"Gerudo women are fierce warriors... but I was the fiercest. There were things I didn't agree with, so I left that life behind. I married your grandma and never regretted it." he said with a look of satisfaction as he set the dough to bake.
Grrad didn't want to be found by his old tribe, so this was the secret Link never told.
With that secret later came an offer from an old king.
It was late one night when Grrad told Link that he would pass down what he knew of swordsmanship to him.
He had seen the way the other kids bullied his son, and he was determined to teach his boy how to punch their jaws out—and then bake a cake to celebrate.
"You have to be respected. Be feirce. I'll give you something to show off with and keep those kids in line," he promised that night as he cracked his knuckles.
And Link swore he heard the thunder crack outside along with them as a storm rolled in. He looked up and nodded with a spark in his eye that matched the flame in his grandfather's gaze.
Grrad then slowly turned away, closing the window. "Uhh... After the storm passes, though."
Link was taken aback, but then laughed and dipped his head in a massive nod. He was more excited than ever!