It was a beautiful sun shiny day. Link was walking around on Hyrule Field, enjoying the sunshine and peace. Navi was with him, since she really had nowhere to go anymore with the Deku Tree gone and so on. Link looked up at the sky, and smiled. It was clear and bright blue, not pitch black. The air smelled fresh and beautiful. As Link neared the edges of Kokiri Forest (and thinking about whether he should go say hi or not), he listened to the beautiful birds… the refreshing wind… and the loud coughing… wait, loud coughing? Link looked to his right, and saw one of the bushes shuffle a little bit.

"Navi, did… did you hear that?" Link asked, looking at his fairy slightly nervously.

"Yah, someone coughed, right? What's the big deal? It was just a cough." She said.

"The big deal-"Link started, as he looked back at the bush, "is that there's a piece of black fabric sticking out from underneath that bush."

"Oh, so the person's wearing black, big deal!" Navi said, not really paying attention.

Navi wandered off to look at some of the flowers on the ground a few meters away from Link. 'The big deal…' Link thought, 'is that I don't think that this is just a normal person, I have a bad feeling about this…' Link walked slowly forward, and knelt down, as he peeked behind the bush. Huh? That's strange, nothing was there. Link shrugged and walked back to Navi. As the sun started to go down, Link and Navi started walking back to Hyrule castle for dinner.

"Navi, slow down!" Link said, running after his fairy that was flying un-usually fast. "Why are you going so fast?"

"Because it's fun!" She yelled back, giggling.

"UGH, you go ahead I'll catch up with you later!" Link was becoming rather lazy. He wanted to just relax for a while. He watched the glow of his trusty flying friend get smaller and smaller, until it disappeared all together. He smiled silently at the thought of her. She had been quite tired and down when they were trying to defeat Ganandorf, I guess it really takes a lot out of a fairy. He had never seen her so happy before.

*cough cough*

Link spun around, eyes wide. He looked left and right, but it was really hard to see anything with the sun down now. He thought he saw some shadows move, but he wasn't sure. Off in the distance he could hear the closing of the drawbridge. He cursed silently at himself, he should've hurried up. He was just glad that the monsters in Hyrule Field had stopped appearing at night ever since Ganon was gone. He didn't have much of a choice, so he just plopped down on the grass, right where he was. He leaned back on his hands, lowered his head back and looked at the sky. The view was breath taking, all those stars up there. It was beautiful. He smiled again, as he was pretty content. Getting mentally prepared for trying to make himself fall asleep on the cold grassy ground made him feel like he was on another adventure… or quest. His smile faded, when he noticed fog. Oh? His fog, from his breath. 'Fall? Already? But the leaves haven't even changed colour yet...' Link let out a sigh. He lay back on the ground on his back, spreading out his arms and legs, and closing his eyes, trying to ignore the slightly cold wind that was nipping at his cheek. Wait a second. That wasn't cold air. That was hot breath.

Link sat up with a start and looked around. He saw nothing, nobody. What was going on? It almost felt like someone was following him… a certain someone. He lay back down, trying to forget the image that had nudged his way into his mind. Em… 'it's' way into his mind. Link sighed again. It was no use. For some reason, a certain villain he had killed on his quest kept on popping into his mind… every little thing made him think of him, and he couldn't understand why. Was it pity? The villain was a lot like him, after all. And he couldn't have had a very good life, since the sole purpose of him being created was to destroy Link and all. And this 'monster' was so human like… erm, hylian like. He didn't seem like a monster at all. He just couldn't get one picture out of his mind.

The image of the person's eyes as he breathed his last breath.

The more Link thought about it, the more he realized that they weren't full of vengeance or anger… they were full of sorrow.

Link's chest started to hurt.

Link sat up, and took a few deep breaths, slowly, and calmly as he tried to get rid of this new pain he had never had before. But it wouldn't go away. He didn't have any marks there, no scars or bruises or wounds of any kind. So why was it hurting? He decided that he would go see a doctor tomorrow morning.

But he never did get to sleep after that.

Link stood outside the giant drawbridge, as the sun rose up, waiting. His eyes felt like lead, heavy and stiff. He didn't get any sleep that night. He was thinking about the hylian the whole time. What an annoyance, he was. Burning such an image into his mind…

The drawbridge landed with a loud thud, and Link walked across it, and headed towards Hyrule Castle.

When he got there, a bunch of soldiers ran up to him, telling him he had to go to Princess Zelda immediately and that they were glad to see he was safe. They called him 'Sir Link'. 'Huh… weird…' Link thought.

Since there was no mention of Ganon, it couldn't have been that severe, but still Link was lightly jogging instead of walking through the long, stone covered hallways towards the Princess' room.

He knocked. No answer. "Princess? Princess, are you there? It's me, Link. I was told to come see you im- WOA!" The door whipped open and before Link had a chance to say anything he was pulled in by the front of his shirt and the door was shut behind him. It took Link a few seconds to realize that arms were wrapped around his waist. He looked down, only to find the Princess clinging to him like her life depended on it (which, just about a week before, it did).

"P-princess! What's wrong?" Link exclaimed, shocked at the Princess' strength as he was now finding it hard to breath. She squeezed tighter and started whispering, close to tears. "Where were you?" "I got locked out by accident because I didn't get inside before the draw bridge closed… so I just spent the night on the field and came here first thing... is something the matter?"

Zelda let go and looked link right in his eyes like he was an idiot, tears brimming in the corners of her eyes. "You just don't understand a girl's feelings at ALL, do you?" "….uh….. w-what?" Link asked nervously. "I had no idea where you were! I thought you were killed or something, Navi didn't even know!" Zelda clinged onto him again, nuzzling her head into his neck. "Uh… I… Princess, I think…. Well I spent weeks on the fields on my quest to defeat Ganon, I think I can handle one more night… I was fine… sorry to make you worry…" Tears started to stream down Zelda's face. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME? Don't you EVER do that again! EVER!" Link started to get somewhat creeped out. "…..err…. I couldn't really… I was on the other s-"

Before Link could finish his sentence, he was cut off by the pressure of Zelda's lips against his.

Link didn't reject, he was afraid he would get in trouble-she was the Princess of Hyrule, after all. But he didn't like it. He didn't kiss back, either. He was as still as a stone. He supposed it probably should've been an honor to be kissed by the princess so passionately… but something was wrong. He didn't think of her that way. And when he thought about it, shouldn't he? The whole thing in fairy tales about the hero saving the Princess, then running off to get married. They should've been a perfect match, but in Link's mind, they really weren't.

After what seemed like forever (even though it was about 8 seconds), Zelda parted her lips from Link's, looking into his eyes and breathing softly. "Please… call me Zelda." She wrapped her arms around his neck and held onto him softly, instead of strangling him like before. Her face was all red from crying and blushing, and Link knew it was mean, but she looked ridiculous, and he felt rather bad about what he was about to tell her…

He could feel her heart beat against his chest. It was fast, and steady. In fact, the Princess was almost trembling. Maybe now wasn't the best time, but would he ever get another chance?

He slowly wrapped his arms around here, but barely even resting his arms, just kind of holding them there. "P-…. erm… Zelda…" Zelda pulled back and looked up at him with lustful eyes. "Yes?" Link couldn't look her in the eyes. He turned away and focused his attention on her wooden dresser instead in the corner. Zelda was rich and a Princess, yes, but she wasn't interested in the fanciest furniture or food or even clothing (except for her dress), so most of the castle looked like someone took all the villager's houses and smushed them together in one place, except for the fact that most of the castle was made of stone.

That person popped into his mind again.

Link's heartbeat sped up, and he suddenly felt like he was betraying the dead hylian. Why? He didn't understand. All he knew was that every single thing about this situation was making him uncomfortable and he needed to do ANYTHING to get out of there right now.

He finally managed to choke out a "I don't-", as a lump had formed in his throat thinking of the expression that might appear on Zelda's face once he told her he wasn't interested and he never would be.

Zelda let go and took a few steps back, looking at the floor. "Link… I understand. That's all I need to hear. Please…" Her voice cracked. "Don't finish the sentence."

Link looked up, sad as he saw more tears run down her face, for a different reason this time.

"Please… just… leave…"

Link nodded, not saying one more word, as he slipped out the door, closing it behind him and leaning his back against it. He let out a big sigh, at least glad that that was over. But would this affect their friendship? Probably. The thought of it made Link sad. He slid against the wall downwards, until he was sitting against the door. He pulled his knees to his chest, feeling terrible about doing that to the Princess. But what else was he supposed to do? If he didn't feel it… he just didn't feel it.

A shadow swept across the floor.

Link looked up, but nobody was there. How was there a shadow there when there wasn't anybody in the hallway? He looked back at the floor, and the shadow was gone.

'It's just my imagination…' Link told himself over and over again in his mind until he finally started to believe it. He got up slowly, and started walking to the other side of the castle, where his room was located. He didn't know why it was located so far away from the Princess', since she liked him and all, but he guessed it would probably have something to do with her father not wanting anything to go on in the middle of the night if the Princess suddenly felt… 'urges'.

It wasn't that long of a walk, but still long enough for Link to clear his head a bit. When he arrived in front of his door, he reached for the doorknob.

"Link."

He froze. It was a whisper, low and cool, and it was the voice of the dark hylian's voice. He was sure of it. Well, OK, mostly sure. All he had ever heard him say was 'HIYAH' and 'YAH'. Oh and also 'AHH'. Link looked, down, feeling sad as the picture popped into his mind again. He looked up, and turned around. Nobody was there. He turned around again, and as he reached for the doorknob again…

"Link."

This time he spun around, and seeing nobody there, burst open his bedroom door. He looked around frantically. Nobody was there. He slammed the door and plopped down on his bed, peeling off his boots and kicking his feet as he looked at the floor and thought. He let out a sigh. This was so weird. How did he keep hearing his name, and all of the other things that have been happening? He swore that the spirit of the dark good-looking hylian was haunting him.

Link's eyes went wide at what he just thought.

No, no, this meant nothing, he reassured himself. It was very normal for one guy to respect another guy's looks… even if they were dead…..

"Link… Link, can you hear me?"

Link snapped his head up again. He turned around and threw himself face first into the pillow on his bed, lying on his stomach.

"I can't… I can't hear you…" he managed to whisper.

This was so stupid… he thought. There's no one here, he's just talking to himse-

"Yes you can. I know you can, because you replied."

Even if Link was talking to himself… maybe talking to himself would make the voice go away, right?

"…what do you want?"

"What do I want? It's obvious, is it not?"

"Not when I don't know who you are, and when I can't see you…" he said, voice muffled in his pillow.

"What do you mean you can't see me?"

The lights clicked off.

"Turn around, Link."

Link moved his head so it was resting on the side of his pillow, facing his door, and his eyes widened.

Two red eyes were staring at him from beside the light switch.

And even though it was pitch black, he could swear to the gods that he saw a smirk on Dark Link's face.

-END OF CHAPTER 1-