Written as a challenge to write a fanfic out of boredom. Not particularly good; I ran out of ideas about halfway through. It was 3AM. Don't judge me~~
It was a wonderful, sunny day in Hyrule. People were bustling around the market, happily going about their merry lives. Amongst them was a green-clad boy, standing on a balcony, looking down at all the bustle from above. He shifted from one leg to another.
"Yet another woefully boring day..." - Link mused, using his hand to prop his head up on the bannister. After returning from Termina, it seemed everything was like this. Days seemed to stretch on for far too long and bring about as much excitement as breathing. It was as if someone played the Inverted Song of Time and the world couldn't get unstuck.
Wondering what to do today, he moved his hand from one arm to another, making his head now face the other part of the market, which caused the Hyrule Castle to come into view. He quickly looked away disgusted. The last time he tried meeting Zelda, she denied having any knowledge of him. Granted, it was probably because he didn't consider the fact he was getting a bit too big to get through the back entrance - and thus had to be rescued by the castle guard after getting stuck in it - but still. He'd never live down the embarassment.
Suddenly, a door opened, and the Happy Mask Salesman pittered out. For a moment, their gazes locked, and Link quickly averted his eyes from him as well, shuddering. Bad memories.
Really, he didn't really want to think about any of his past. It just seemed like one giant screw-up after another. A crappy childhood, living as the third wheel to a village of forest children. Then, what seemed to be him finally amounting to something, just to turn out entirely pointless. Then, well... something that'd scar the most hardened of warriors for life. Just his luck.
Kicking the bannister slightly, he decided he had enough of the cheeriness around the market for today. Not wanting to return home yet, he decided to visit the Temple of Time. Sure, the place reminded him of the utter nonsense that the whole Ganondorf ordeal turned out to be. Still, it seemed to soothe him a bit whenever he stepped in. It was quiet inside, and he knew no one would bother him.
He made it around the fountain and walked past the potion shop, pointedly ignoring all the gaudy advertising ("BUY TWO POTIONS, GET A THIRD FREE!") and overly loud people in the area. A strong draft met him as he stepped into the grassy bend that led to the ancient building. He looked around. Not a soul, as usual.
He ran up the steps, and just like that, he was looking at the Gate of Time - or what was left of it.
After being sent back by Zelda at the end of his first adventure, he quickly closed gate before Ganondorf discovered it was open, and hid the Spiritual Stones away. After a while, the King of the Gerudo decided to cut the pretenses and force his way in. Big mistake. No one was sure what exactly happened when he tried to brute-force the gate down, but apparently there wasn't much left of the guy to jail when the royal guard arrived at the scene.
If only Link knew to do that the first time around.
He plopped down next to the Master Sword, gazing up at the blade. He still remembered how excited he felt the first time he pulled it out of its pedestal. No other weapon seemed as good to handle since. He proceeded to take out his Gilded Blade out of the sheath on his back. It was decent, but with the two swords next to each other, it just looked like a cheap knockoff.
Suddenly, his musings were interrupted by a faint glow enveloping the sword. Wisely, he stood back, watching the light intensify. After a moment, it seemed to take shape and after a moment, it disappeared. Left in its wake was a taller green-clad man, with a face much like his own, clutching the Master Sword tightly. He seemed confused about something, but let go of the blade and looked around. Two gazes met, and Link was already advancing on the man with the sword he was holding.
"What the... ?" - the man shouted, but didn't have time to complete the exclamation. The smaller boy swung his blade at him and he was forced to back away. He checked around his own sheath, and realized, horrified, that there was nothing in it. All he could do is back into the wall and look at the tip of the golden blade pointed at his throat.
"Well, I see the process has gotten better since last time..." - said the boy, who the man quickly realized looked like his younger self. The boy looked a bit older than what he was used to looking at in the mirror, however.
"Process? What are you...? No, wait, just who on earth are you?!" - older of the two spat, trying to inch away from the dangerous weapon.
"Surely you didn't think anyone would be fooled just because you're not completely black this time? You're not even the same age!"
"What are you on about?! Let me go!" - the man looked around frantically trying to find some way to escape, but there was nothing he could do, backed away into a corner.
"Oh? Well, do humour me, then, guy. Who are you?"
"Name's Link. And I believe I asked you the same question!"
The child smirked.
"Well, that's a pretty stupid thing to say. You really should've made some other story up, at least."
"Huh?"
Suddenly, a tiny ball of light fluttered out of the older man's pocket.
"Link, watch out! I'll try to distract him, you get away!"
The younger Hylian of the two looked confusedly at the new arrival, and lowered his blade.
"Navi?"
Immediately spotting the opportunity, the taller man seized the golden weapon. He proceeded to spin his younger counterpart around and held him tightly close to himself, bringing the sword up to the child's neck.
"Alright then, now let's try this again. Who the hey are you?! How do you know Navi?"
"Look, I do believe there has been a misunderstanding..."
"Misunderstanding? You nearly cut me in half!"
"Well, I didn't. Look, just let me go and I think I'll be able to explain what's going on..."
The younger boy felt the hold loosen and squirmed out of it. His older counterpart looked warily at him, still holding the sword up.
"Alright, go on, then. Start by saying who you are."
The younger rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Link, I'm you."
The older blinked.
"Well, not to repeat what you said or anything, but 'that's a pretty stupid thing to say...'"
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, you're very clever indeed. 20 rupees for you. Circumstances have changed, however."
The boy looked at the master sword which was reflecting the faint light shining through the windows.
"Say, you wouldn't happen to have been plunging that thing in back to its pedestal, to, I don't know, to travel back in time from an apocalyptical future, would you?"
The older Hylian's eyes widened.
"How do you know about that?!"
"Oh well, I've done it a few times myself, you know. And it looks like something screwed up this time."
"Screwed up?"
"Do you usually end up still being an adult when you do that?"
"...No, I guess not."
"And, there you have it. Looks like it's brought you back, body and all."
"So you mean... ?"
"Yes. Plus, it seems like you ended up at the wrong time, anyway."
The older man seemed to ponder this for a moment.
"How do I believe you?"
"I don't really care whether you believe me, to be honest. I just know it to be so, now. All because of your little fairy friend."
That seemed to puzzle the older Hylian.
"Let's just say that her voice is absolutely unforgettable and impossible to recreate. Basically proves you're not some sort of evil shadow, like I thought you might've been."
The man finally lowered the blade, but still looked unconvinced. After a moment, he brought it up.
"Well, why not. Prove it on your side, then. Get Navi out, let's hear her speak!"
"I'd gladly do that, if not for the fact she decided to leave me the very second the adventure was done."
The older man looked outraged.
"She wouldn't do that! She's... she's my friend!"
"Psht. Oh yes, she would. In fact... " - the boy looked at the fluttering fairy - "Say, Navi, do you intend to stay with boy-o over here once the whole Ganon thing is over?"
It was quiet for a while, but the fairy did eventually respond.
"Er, no? Why would I? I'm only here on the orders of the Deku Tree..."
The younger Link smirked, while the older looked at Navi horrified.
"Well, there you go. Proof enough for ya'?"
They looked at each other in silence for a bit. The older man looked put out and increasingly distressed.
"Hey, it's not all bad. Believe me, after a while you'll relish not having to listen to her scream out obvious nonsense."
"Don't talk of her like that! She has been very helpful..."
"Oh, indeed? What was the last time you really used her advice? Maybe back when she instructed you on the sacred art of opening doors?"
"I... "
"Or maybe it was back when she notified you that volcanoes are, indeed, hot inside?"
"Well, she...!" - but he didn't really seem to know how to follow that up.
The boy grinned.
"Oh come on, just face it. She was the first friendly thing after Saria you could open your face to, so you clung to her like a Zora to water. Otherwise, she's about as useful as a wet deku nut."
The fairy seemed to get increasingly more incensed as the younger Link spoke, and the last bit seemed to be the last straw.
"Why, you... ! I was trying my best! I bet you would be completely lost without me!"
"Oh, shut it. Believe me that I'm not above shoving you into a bottle and using to heal when I get pecked by a Cucco or something equally life-threatening like that."
"Why are you so rude? I thought you were... uh, over her, anyway." - asked the older Link, outraged again, finally out of his stupor.
The boy shook his head and looked down.
"You would be rude too, if went through all I did."
He started pacing.
"You know, it took me a while to realize, but really, fairies are the main cause of problems in my... our life!"
"Er, what?"
"Oh, well. Let's look back, shall we? First, they all refused to partner up with us while we were in Kokiri Village. Result?" He smiled. Ostricization by the whole society."
"Well, you were Hylian!" - shouted the fluttering light.
"Oh, of course, my bad. Racism is a very good excuse."
Navi had no response to that.
"And then she comes in one day. 'Hey, you oaf, wake up, there's an adventure to do'. And so we went. And boy did that do a lot of good."
The boy stopped pacing. He looked into his counterpart's eyes.
"Do you want to know how it all ended up?"
"S... sure?"
"Back at the start, of course. Yes. All I had to do is not let Ganondorf access nearly infinite power through the ancient, impenetrable protection, and, weirdly enough, he wasn't that scary anymore. So, yep. Could have stewed away in Kokiri Forest for as long it wasn't painfully obvious I didn't fit, and everything would solve itself. Wonderful, huh?"
"...Oh."
"I guess it wasn't all that bad, though. It meant not having to listen to Mido moan all year about how big of a brouhaha he is, which made it all worth it, really."
He smiled wryly.
"But, no, that wasn't the worst part. Then she just flies away without a word, and expects me to just accept it like that."
"Do you think I just accepted it?"
"...Well, probably no..."
"I was desparate, you know" - the boy cut off his older self and looked at the fairy with a sad look on his face - "I thought I did something wrong. I wanted to apologize, and I didn't even know what for."
"So yep, there's me, trudging around the woods, asking every single fairy where you might be. I didn't even notice when I got so completely lost I didn't know which way was up."
He crossed his arms and nodded.
"And so I landed in a parallel dimension. Lucky me."
"Wh...?"
"Basically? Two other fairies had to show up and ruin the day."
Younger Link looked away.
"Well, alright, not entirely their fault, maybe. But, hey, they sure played a role. Worst four months of my life, y'know, and that includes that time the Kokiri decided that they really needed an extra storage shed and I should go live under the forest bridge."
The older one winced.
"I almost forgot about that, thanks for reminding me."
"As bad as that was, at least it wasn't spiced up by another annoying voice, which this time was not only unhelpful but also rude and uncaring. 'Oh, you just saw hundreds of people die? Get over it!'". That's on top, of course, of the stuff I daily see in nightmares."
There was a pregnant pause. Faintly, a bell could be heard in the background, signaling noon.
"Um, right. Well, I'm all sorry about that, I guess, but I think we've got to go..." - Navi said, finally regaining her voice, not sounding sorry in the slightest.
The older Link looked at her conflicted. The younger one spoke up again.
"Yes, I imagine you should, yeah..." - nodding along - "Just pull the sword again. Someone up there should realize something's wrong."
The older Link hesitated, but stepped up to the pedestal.
The soon-to-be Hero of Time was swept away by blinding light, and Young Link never stepped into the Temple of Time again.