Author's Notes
This fic was kinda inspired by reading My Inner Life. There were so many things about it that could be improved, so I decided to give it a shot. This isn't directly a rewriting of MIL, but more a "What would I do if I were to write that kind of story" thing with my own self-insert.
Link, Princess Zelda, Malon and all of the other Zelda characters belong to Nintendo.
Rebecca belongs to me.
Another Life
Chapter 1
The Hero of Time
Spring had found its way into the land of Hyrule, and brought with it all of the colours and scents the people had been deprived of during the winter months. Waking up in my small room at LonLon Ranch was a joy at this time of year, as the first rays of the rising sun fell through the window and tickled my nose. I got up and put on my dress, apron and shoes before heading out to help Malon feed the animals. As always, my friend was already up, smiling at me as I approached.
We had been friends ever since we were children. I grew up in Hyrule City, and she had always stayed to play with me when her father went to the castle to deliver milk. When I was eighteen, she offered me a job as a farmhand at LonLon Ranch since it had been expanded and now there was too much work for her father, their other farmhand Ingo and her. Since it had always been my dream to work on a farm, I had taken her up on her offer, despite protests from my family who had wanted me to marry a rich man and social climb on their behalf.
The work was hard, but very satisfying. It always felt good to spend so much time with my friend and all of the animals. This life filled with the kind of peace you can only archieve by doing good, honest work.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Malon was currently opening the coop of the cuccos to let them out for the day.
„Good morning Rebecca!", she greeted me cheerfully and grabbed a bucket full of cucco feed. „Did you sleep well?"
„As well as anyone could", I replied with a smile. „It's always nice when spring arrives. Like everything comes back to life."
„My, aren't we poetic this morning?"
Malon liked to poke fun at me for being so dramatic, but I knew that it was all in good fun. After all, she had once gotten pretty mad at Ingo for making fun of it in a much less benign way.
We went to the stables together to lead the horses onto the pasture. I looked at the empty box where Epona used to stand. Malon had explained to me that she had gifted Epona to a friend of hers. A friend who, appearantly, hadn't had the time to visit for a while.
Malon seemingly gave horses as gifts to all of her friends. After all, my horse, Morning Glory (Glory for short) had been a gift from her as well.
Speaking of which; my dappled grey mare nipped at my shoulder as she trotted past me, following the other horses.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
After that, we mucked out the stables, fed the cows and then grabbed some bread, cheese and dried meat to have dinner on the pasture.
We watched the horses peacefully eat grass and clovers as we tore off chunks of the bread and cheese and ate that.
Suddenly, Glory raised her head as if she had heard something. Then, a loud whinny tore through the air as a familiar rust-red horse came cantering onto the farm. The other horses surrounded her and her rider, a young man in a green tunic with mid-length blonde hair.
Malon jumped up. „Fairy boy!"
„Fairy boy?", I asked. What kind of name was that?
The „fairy boy" came closer, on his face a bright and earnest smile that would have beguiled the most hardened of women. „Hello Malon. And... uh..." He grew a little pale. „You're new here, huh? What's your name?"
I smiled bashfully. „I'm Rebecca. I've been working here as a farmhand for about a year now."
He extended his hand. „I'm Link."
Link... a strange warmth flooded my stomach. What a lovely name. We shook hands and he turned to Malon again. „I was just in the area and thought you might want to see how Epona is doing."
„Ah, yes. I can see she's doing great." Malon walked over to Epona and patted her on the neck. „Hello Epona. Did you miss me?"
While Malon was talking to Epona, Link turned to me. „So how did you come to work here?"
He was obviously just trying to make smalltalk. I twisted a strand of my hair around my index finger and answered:„Well, Malon and I are childhood-friends. I used to live in Hyrule City, and when I had to decide what I wanted to do for a living, she offered me this work."
Link grinned. „That sounds like her alright. I don't think I've ever met someone as eager to help others as Malon."
Our conversation trailed off into silence, until Malon approached us again. „Epona is doing even better than I thought. You sure take excellent care of her, fairy boy."
„I told you so many times, Malon... my name is Link."
„Say that as much as you want. To me, you'll always be the fairy boy I met on the marketplace." She pointed to the spot where we had been sitting. „We were just having dinner. Would you like to join us? I'll run over to the house and grab some more bread and cheese. Oh, and milk! You still like our LonLon Milk, right?"
„Absolutely", Link said with a wide grin and sat down in the grass as we watched Malon scurry over to the farmhouse.
„She could have just asked me to go get the food, though", I said quietly. „She is technically my boss, after all."
„Your boss, but also your friend, as you told me", Link gently reminded me.
I blushed at the sound of that. Call me weird, but the first thing that attracts me is a person's voice. And Link's voice sounded especially nice. Not too high or too deep, but a comfortable middleground. And when he was keeping it gentle like he was at that moment, it felt like the downs of a sweet songbird caressing my ear.
Just then, Malon returned with another basket in her hands. Her eyes were shining with mirth as she saw us. „It's good to see the two of you getting along." Then she put the basket down between us and sat down on Link's other side. „So, how have you been doing, fairy boy?"
Link grabbed a bottle of milk and, while opening it, told her:„I've been travelling a lot lately, and that's why I haven't been here in a few years. You see, I've been trying to find my fairy, Navi. It's been kind of lonely ever since she left."
Malon hummed in sympathy. „That's right, I remember it. One day, you showed up and she was just... gone. I never dared to ask you why."
„I guess the Great Deku Tree decided that I didn't need her anymore", he said glumly, sipping his milk.
„That's so sad", Malon sighed. „And did you find her?"
„Unfortunately not. I travelled all the way to another land, but couldn't find her. I only turned around because I got pretty homesick after a while." Link swiveled the bottle around a little, watching the white liquid splash around within its transparent prison. „I lost far too many friends in the last few years. The Sa-..." He broke off. „Nevermind."
Malon appearantly knew not to ask, and I followed her example. It was appearant that it was something Link either couldn't or didn't want to talk about. And besides, I barely knew him at that point, so it would have been very rude to ask any further questions on the topic.
We ate in silence for a while, until Malon got up. „I have to get back to work. How about you keep Link company for a while, Rebecca?"
„Are you sure?", I asked. „You two have known each other for so much longer. Maybe I should be the one to-"
„No", Malon said firmly and grinned at me. „You need a few more friends, Becca. Don't be such a loner."
I looked at her for a moment longer, and then shrugged in defeat. „If you say so..." Then I bit my lip, almost hard enough to draw blood. Damn, why did I say that? Link must think I don't want to get to know him!
But he smiled at me as if he hadn't heard what I said. „Do you have a horse of your own, Rebecca? If so, we could go for a ride."
I nodded softly and got up, whistling for Glory. She came cantering up to me, shoving her muzzle against my face. I turned to Link. „This is Morning Glory. Though I usually call her Glory."
„A lovely name", Link complimented and got out his ocarina. It was a lovely instrument with a light brown and green colouring. He played a familiar melody on it, the very song Epona loved so much. Upon hearing it, the rust-red mare came up to him, much like Glory had to me.
Link looked at Glory again and raised his eyebrow. „No saddle?", he asked.
„I never use a saddle", I explained and swung myself onto Glory's back.
Link mounted Epona and together we left the farm.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
The air was warm and filled with the scent of flowers and the sweet sounds of singing birds. Link and I rode along the road leading to Lake Hylia. We didn't intend to ride there all the way, as that was at least half a day's journey.
As we passed the side of LonLon Ranch, Link looked up at the massive wall and mumbled with a fond smile:„This is where Epona and I escaped."
I rode closer to him. „Escaped? Escaped from what?"
His head snapped up, like he was woken from a dream, and he looked at me. „N-nothing. It's nothing."
We continued, the silence slowly becoming uncomfortable, until he spoke up again:„Has anything happened in Hyrule in the past few years? Anything... unusual?"
I leaned forward. „Not that I'd know of. Everything has been pretty peaceful. Princess Zelda does a fantastic job at governing us."
Link smiled once more. „I bet she gives it her all. She always did."
His voice sounded strangely nostalgic when he said that. Almost as if he knew the Princess.
After another while of silence, he softly said:„By the way, I really like your necklace."
My hand wandered to the simple wooden pendant around my neck. My grandfather had carved it for me when I was a kid, and I had worn it ever since. It was a small, round plate of polished wood with a tree carved into it. What an odd thing for Link to point out. „Uhm. Thank you. My grandpa made it for me."
He looked at the pendant as if it was scaring him. „He had very skillful hands, then."
After another while, we decided to turn around, riding back to the ranch. The sun was already slowly approaching the horizon, turning the sky into a vibrant shade of orange. Malon was already waiting at the entrance to LonLon Ranch.
„There you are!" Her demeanor was as chipper was ever. „Did you have fun?"
I wasn't quite sure how to answer that question. Link and I had barely found a topic to talk about. And during our little snippets of conversation, he had acted so strange... as if there was something he desperately wanted to talk about, but couldn't.
Maybe something happened to him during his travels, I thought as I let myself drop to my feet next to Glory.
As a child in the city, I had seen the way war-veterans usually acted, and found a lot of that resembled Link's demeanor. The way he frequently drifted off and seemed to be lost in memories. How he seemed to force himself to appear happy.
He dismounted Epona and extended his hand to me. „It was nice talking to you, Rebecca."
I shook his hand. „The pleasure's all mine. I hope I'll be seeing you again sometime."
Malon gleefully clapped her hands together. „It's time for supper, you know. Would you like to join us, Link?"
He scratched the back of his head. „I'd really love to, but I want to reach the city before the sun has fully set. Maybe some other time."
„Oh..." She seemed a bit disappointed. „Well, okay. It was really nice seeing you and Epona again. Goodbye."
„Goodbye!" With that, he walked off, leading Epona by the reins, waving to us until he was out of sight.