Okay, so, change of plans. Given the amount of positive feedback I got from the prologue of this story, I've decided I am actually going to update this a little more regularly (although for those of you who follow me, my story updates are always slow, so…). That said, this story isn't really a side project anymore. I guess that makes it one of my main fics? Maybe? Oh, I should shut up. After all, I have a story to tell.


"Link, why all the secrecy? And who is that, anyway?"

Link hated being dishonest with Zelda, but it was necessary. There was absolutely no way she'd believe him if he told her the truth up front. So when he asked her to follow him and Kafei, she didn't hesitate, but began to be suspicious of Link's motives. Which Link hated. A lot.

Of course, if it were up to him, which it wasn't, he wouldn't even be following Kafei himself. But no. The goddesses had to go and make him the Hero of Time, and Navi had to go and run away, and he had to go and save Kafei's life, and now he was going back to a place that made his blood run cold and his heart ache. And he was dragging Zelda along with him. Great.

This day was just getting better and better.

"This is Kafei," Link told Zelda with as much patience as he could muster, though at this point it was wearing thin. "He's an old friend of mine, from seven years ago. I kind of saved his life. And his wife's, too."

Please, please, please don't ask where he's from. Don't make me tell you where this is going. Just five more minutes, and we'll be there, he thought. They were already deep into the Lost Woods, and any minute would emerge into Termina's Lost Woods parallel, the Woods of Mystery. If she could make it that long without-

"He doesn't look like he's from Hyrule, Link. Where are we going?"

Of course. She had to ask.

Any trace of Link's dignity and patience completely vanished in that moment. He screamed, howled, stomped his feet, and pretty much acted like a two year old having a temper tantrum. Did he care? No. Did it bother him that he was acting like a toddler in front of the Princess of Hyrule? Nope. And did it scare that if Zelda let anyone know that this is how the Hero of Time acted in his free time, his reputation would crumble to ashes? Not in the least.

He told Kafei, who, poor boy, had a confused and slightly shocked expression on his face, to go on ahead. Kafei spurred his horse and galloped into the woods, leaving Link satisfied. Then he turned to Zelda, who just looked numb.

"Link… I'm- I'm mortified!"

"Okay, fine! You want the truth? Here it is: we're going to a cursed land that just happens to be Hyrule's parallel world and I saved from certain destruction seven years ago. Apparently it's in danger. I didn't have a choice but to go, and I'm sorry you have to come with me. But there's really no other option," Link complained, nearly out of breath from his rant. He gasped, "and by the way, it's called Termina. Kafei is from Termina."

"And you had to embarrass yourself, and me, in front of your friend, because you don't want to do something that you feel obligated to?"

"Wow, Zelda. With that kind of talk, you could be a psychiatrist!" said Link, in the most obnoxiously sarcastic way he could manage. Zelda couldn't understand why he didn't want to go back. She'd never get that every day he had to repeat, he had to constantly make the hardest decisions over and over and over and over again until finally he felt trapped in a seemingly infinite cycle of endless days, in which people cheated, lied to, hurt, stole from, argued with, and even murdered each other over a petty squabble about whether or not the moon would fall in three days, two days, one day. And only Link knew that their argument wasn't really petty at all. He also knew that the only thing he could do to change the outcome was to perpetually repeat the process for so long.

And then, just like that, it was all over. And did he get any recognition for any of the excruciatingly painful and hard work he did?

Not until the people of Termina actually needed him again to do more of said work.

Yes, it felt great to be a hero.

"Link," said Zelda, "I can understand why you're upset-"

"Oh, save it, Zelda! Nobody can even come close to understanding what I had to go through. Not even you. While I was out busting my butt to save some world nobody from our land knew existed, you were doing what?" Link pretended to be hard in thought as he tapped his pointer finger to his right temple. "Oh, that's right! Sitting on a throne for seven years, living in absolute luxury, not needing to so much as lift a finger to do ANYTHING AT ALL!"

"And I was still as miserable as you claim to have been," Zelda snapped back. Link looked at her in defiance and crossed his arms.

"Oh yeah?" he said. "How?"

"Because you were gone! You don't know how long three days can feel like when you're waiting for something to end. It felt like an eternity, waiting for you to come home," Zelda said with tears forming in her eyes. Link did not mention to her that yes, he did in fact know how long three days can feel. He knew better than anybody. Still, it felt sort of nice to know that Zelda did care about him. Sort of.

"Each night, even after you came home, I'd just lay there in my enormous bed, with my cotton sheets and down mattress, and my feather pillows, and every other luxury available to me, and none of it felt good as long as I didn't know how you were doing. And then I'd see you the next day, and you would seem so distant, and the cycle would just start anew. All the time I just wanted to reach out to you, to help, but after you came back..." Tears now streamed down her face. And Link still didn't care. "You never came to see me, never talked to me, always seemed off in your own little world. And I hated that. Link, we were friends since childhood, and suddenly my closest friend seemed to be more of my worst enemy."

"Zelda, you don't have a clue what it was like."

"And I never could, because you'd never open yourself up!" Zelda cried. Her sobs really began to make Link start to feel bad, but he still kept a stern, angry expression on his face. She was wrong, and he was right. He was right. Wasn't he?

"Link, I remember," said Zelda, very quietly. Link looked at her. She dismounted her horse and sat down on the ground.

"I remember," Zelda continued, "the other seven years. The seven years where Ganondorf seized the Triforce and destroyed everything we knew and loved. And all that time, neither one of us ever stopped fighting him. What did you fight for?"

Link fumbled for words. What had he fought for? And how did she remember that time? He dismounted Epona and sat down next to her.

"I like to believe you fought for me, the way I hope I fought for you," she told him. "But now I don't know where we are, both now physically as we're lost in a forest and emotionally as our relationship is crumbling. Link, I want to be your friend. Honestly, I hoped you would be more than just my friend, but that won't ever happen if you don't learn to open up. Whatever you're going through, I want to go through with you. Whatever you're fighting, I want to fight it alongside you. And whenever you're alone, lost, and scared, I want to be with you. Can we try that?"

Link was silent for a long time. He finally said, "Okay, I guess we can try being friends. From now on, I'll be more honest with you. And we'll do everything together in Termina, as partners. But it's not going to be easy, by any means. Are you ready?"

Zelda nodded and grinned, drying her tears, and she said, "Absolutely, partner."

And together, they walked into the forest, their horses following them close behind.

Zelda said, "I'm glad you're back, Link."

"It's good to be back," he replied.