Hey y'all!

Here's the first chapter, as promised! I'll have chapter 2 up next week and get started on writing up ideas and chapters for part 2 of this fic. Hm... nothing much else to say for once. Oh well, enjoy the story, folks!

Shout out to my beta DragonRing for, again, helping me out with this chapter!

I do not own, nor ever will own, the rights to the Legend of Zelda or any of the characters, objects, creatures, etc. Nintendo owns all rights to this franchise.


Chapter 1: What's that About a Celebration?

No doubt that put a little bit of a hop in my step. After all, Malon and her father always threw a pretty good celebration for me every year, so why wouldn't that make me happier? Plus, the amount of food that would be served made me drool instantly. Ordon pumpkin pie, Kakariko ale, and, best of all, fried cucco. Little bastards… served them right after all the grief they gave me over the years. I messed with them one time and they still haven't forgotten it.

The sound of Malon giggling dragged me away from my internal pouting. From how I had my arms crossed, the irritated look I had on my face, and the bit of drool that hung from the corner of my mouth, she knew what I was thinking.

She always had that gift, being able to read me. More like a curse with how she used it to her advantage whenever she could, though.

"Thinking about the fried cucco, Fairy Boy?" she taunted as we walked side by side out of the barn. We began making our way towards the corral where most of the horses were grazing about for the afternoon. "The amount of satisfaction you get from eatin' them is definitely not normal. You can be odder than a rainy summer day sometimes, ya know that?"

Stretching my arms behind my head, I replied, "There's nothing that odd about it, they taste really good. Isn't that what people are supposed to feel when they eat something good? Besides, those stupid, white, flightless evil masterminds deserve it."

At that moment, we passed the small part of the land where most of the cuccos gathered during the day. I stared at them, watching to make sure they didn't chase after me for the one-hundred and sixty seventh time, but who's counting. I swore one of them stared back at me and looked like it was about to charge. But it lost interest and, once I was sure the cucco and its buddies wouldn't do anything, so did I.

Malon put her hand to her mouth, trying no doubt to stop herself from laughing. Of course, she failed.

"See? That can't be healthy, Link," she said in between small bouts of laughter, trying to calm herself down.

"Well they have it out for me, so I have to keep an eye on them. Trust me, if you were in my boots, you'd do the same." Then I mumbled to myself, "One time… I accidently step on one of them one time and I'm suddenly their mortal enemy." This didn't help end Malon's soft laughter.

I took up a very knightly and polite demeanor, knowing exactly what would get her to stop her giggling. "I dare say, Miss Malon, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're actions are very unladylike. My, what would your…" I paused for emphasis and to get her attention. By how she suddenly stopped laughing, Malon knew what was coming. "…knight in shining armor say?"

Immediately her face went beet red. Now, it was my turn to laugh.

"H-hey! That's n-not funny…!" she stuttered in reply, folding her arms across her chest and trying to hide her embarrassed face. "And stay out of my diary! How do you keep getting into it?"

"Because I know all of the ways to tease you, just like you do with me," I said tauntingly as I relaxed. "Besides, this makes us both weirdos in our own ways."

Halting outside of the corral, Malon calmed down and let a sheepish grin form on her face. "I guess so. And I have to admit, Fairy Boy…" She got very close to me very quickly at that point, causing me to take a step back and look down at her as she looked up at me. "If I'm gonna be stuck with a fellow weirdo…" she inched her face closer to mine.

At this point, my heart was beating rapidly.

What the hell is she doing? She's never done this before! Is she trying to…? Um… what do I do, what do I do, whatdoIdo, WHATDOIDO?! I screamed internally.

Before I could even act on my thoughts, she pulled my green cap over my head, rendering me blind. Again, she giggled. I lifted my cap up to see her at a more comfortable distance now. Inwardly, I breathed a sigh of relief. I was definitely not ready for that, and Malon knew it.

"… then I'm glad it's you," she finished her previous sentence and giggled. She held her hands behind her back and began walking to the ranch house. As she did she turned around and waved at me, saying, "Now finish your chores and there'll be some pippin' hot fried cucco waitin' for you, ya hear? See ya later!"

With that she turned back around and disappeared beyond the wooden gate separating the main grounds of the ranch from the barn and house. All I could do was stare at her as she walked away.

Was she…? No, she couldn't be, could she? She's never shown any interest like that before… Man, girls are weird.

I shook my head, regaining my senses and chuckling to myself. Heh, no, she was still waiting for her knight in shining armor, whoever that might be. Besides, she always did like teasing me a bit too far. Same old Malon.

Shaking my head again, I let what had happened pass. That is, until someone rushed up behind me and put me in a headlock.

I began squirming inside the arm, trying to squeeze out of it. From the laughter, I could tell who it was immediately and that he didn't mean to cause me any harm. Even if my face was slowly beginning to turn blue from lack of air.

But that didn't matter to Jo, all he kept doing was laughing and said, "That a boy, Link! I knew from the very beginning you and Malon had something special. You two seem a little too young to be in love, but who am I to judge? After all, my wife and I met at your age too!"

Gasping for air, I finally made it out of Jo's grasp by pushing against his body, throwing me flat on my back.

"Heh, sorry about that Link, sometimes I forget about my own strength," Jo said apologetically and rubbed his head in embarrassment. "But really Link? You and Malon? You dog!"

Going straight back to it, huh? Should've known. Jo could be a bit of a block head, but under that curly brown hair of his there was still a brain. And it was really good at getting what it wants to know.

"It's not like that, Jo." Grunting as I stood up, I chuckled and tried to wave the subject off. "Me and Malon? We're just friends."

Instead of dropping the subject, he wrapped an arm around my shoulder and led me into the corral. Some of the other ranch hands, including Ingo, were working, while several of the horses Lon Lon Ranch owned galloped and grazed around the fenced-in area. For a brief second, I watched them just run around freely with each other. But only for a second.

"Don't be so bashful, Link! You and Malon make a great couple."

And then he me pulled back into the conversation.

"Thanks, but really, we're just friends. I promise, but…" I thought back to what happened just a moment ago as I felt a small blush forming on my face. No, no. That was just Malon playing with you, teasing you. Remember? But what if…? "No. No, just friends. Yup."

Jo gave me a playful smirk and looked around the corral, eyeing all the ranch hands who were now watching us. His smirk disappeared as he turned back to me. He spoke again, this time in a hushed tone.

"Listen, Link, if you're afraid to be more than friends with Malon because of the others, don't worry about it. I'll keep them straight." He gave me a thumbs up, causing me to smile in the process.

I shrugged off his hand.

"Thanks for the reminder about them, Jo" I pointed at Ingo behind me – knowing he was as interested in the conversation as the others – and hoped to earn some sort of reaction from him. From the commotion going on behind me and his yelling at the other ranch hands, it seemed to have worked.

It was true, most of the ranch hands saw me as an outsider or someone who just wanted to weasel his way into the family since most of them had been working there since they were kids. Not to mention, many of them – including Ingo – had some sort of crush on Malon. The fact that I was her best friend and lived with her family didn't sit well with most of them. Jo was one of the few who, along with Talon and Malon, always made me feel like I had a home. Like I had friends. So the behind-the-back-talking and name-calling really didn't affect me.

Besides, none of them could dish out what Mido and the rest of the Kokiri had done to me. At least they did me one favor, giving me a thick skin and all. Heh, ironic.

"And thanks for the help," I continued, after enjoying the anger attack Ingo had just had. "But I can handle myself. Trust me, these guys are nothing compared to the assholes back home. Besides, if they do try anything, they'll be out on their asses looking for a job."

"Or I'll just put them in their place," Jo finished with his arms crossed and a reassuring smile on his face. It wasn't a question, but a statement.

Fights had happened before with some of the ranch hands trying to prove they were stronger than one another. But most times Jo proved he was stronger than both of them combined. It was pretty funny to watch actually.

"Oh trust me, I know." Both of us laughed at this as I began walking away from our conversation. "Anyway, I need to tend to Epona since Malon's busy with getting dinner ready for tonight. I'll see you around, Jo."

He waved back, saying, "Good luck with Malon, Link! My wife and I are rooting for you!" I rolled my eyes, but grinned at his antics as I made my way to the lone, brown horse separating herself from everyone else in the corral.

As I approached Epona, she turned her head and tensed, ready to gallop away at a moment's notice. However, when she saw it was only me, she relaxed and went back to grazing. While she continued eating, I pulled out the brush from my pouch and started grooming her.

Taking care of Epona was a calming practice that only the two people she trusted on the ranch could do: Malon, who had raised Epona from when she was just a foal and had recently lost her mother; and me, for whatever weird reason that horses decided to trust someone. Well, that and being able to play Epona's Song on my ocarina. That could have helped out a lot too.

I smirked, letting the memory of when I had learned that song take over as I continued to brush Epona.

It was actually only a week after I had arrived at Lon Lon Ranch. I was sitting on the corral's fence, watching the horses go by. My injuries were still healing, so I was taking it easy. Over the past few days I found myself watching the horses run freely around the corral most of the time. For some reason I found it… cathartic – I think that's the word? Relaxing, anyway, I was usually joined by Malon at one point or another. That was how we started becoming friends, really. Just spending the late afternoon chatting away and watching the horses.

One day, as Malon and I met up as we usually did, a brown mare trotted up to the fence, nudging her. She laughed, petting the horse gently and producing an apple to feed it. While the horse munched loudly on the snack, Malon sang a comforting song.

I was mesmerized by the wordless tune. It was simple, yet beautiful. The horse seemed to be in a trance and calmed down as well. For another moment I just watched this odd ranch girl continue her tune. Then, feeling a bit left out, I joined in.

I pulled out the ocarina that Saria had given me – letting my mind wonder what she was doing for just a second. Putting the mouthpiece of the ocarina to my lips, I listened one last time to Malon's song, making sure I had the notes down in my head. Her and her horse didn't seem to notice me. That is, until they heard the notes coming from my ocarina match her singing.

A tiny hitch could be heard between the notes of her song as she heard my ocarina blend in with her voice. No doubt she was surprised that I could pick up the song so quickly. It was quite simple, to be honest, but what can I say? I've gotten quite good at playing Saria's ocarina over the years.

I smiled at her surprised face, and she smiled at me in turn while her horse's ears twitched at the sound of my ocarina. That seemed to get its attention.

Halfway through our duet, the horse slowly walked over to me and nudged my hand, causing both Malon and I to pause. Lowering my ocarina, I raised my hand – slowly – towards the horse, letting it smell me before I petted it. It seemed like a timid creature, so I proceeded carefully.

My hand was so close to petting the horse. Just a little more and I-

The horse snorted and stepped back. It neighed loudly, then sprinted away from the fence, leaving me with a blank look on my face and a smile on Malon's.

That was how I met Epona. Since then, I joined her and Malon at the fence daily, both of us playing Epona's Song and many other tunes that we both knew. Over time, Epona came to trust me as equally as she trusted Malon. Eventually I started riding her, once my wounds healed.

I smirked, coming back to the present as I groomed Epona. The look on Malon's face when I saddled that horse for the first time was priceless. She definitely looked amazed and even a little bit jealous. After that, it wasn't just Epona and Malon, but all three of us for the past three years. A pair of friends I hadn't had since leaving Kokiri Forest.

"Well look it here, if it isn't Link the Leech," someone snickered from behind me with a hint of, what I assumed was supposed to be, threat in it. I rolled my eyes, turning around to face Ingo and a pair of his lackeys. No doubt they wanted to have a few words with me.

Putting my brush away, I couldn't help but smile as I said, "Clever Ingo, took you all night to come up with that one?"

"Hmph, smart ass, you think you're so special don't you? We see the look you give us when you're with Malon. Don't pretend like you think she's yours!" He pointed his lanky finger at me, as if accusing me of some crime. Perfect, another rant. As I expected, he then took up his 'I'm better than you' stance.

I suppressed a laugh. This was going to be good.

"She belongs to someone on the ranch, someone who can provide for her and run the ranch better than her lazy excuse for a dad. A man from Lon Lon," the ranchers behind him cheered. "A man who could run this ranch like a proper business," again, his lackeys cheered behind him. "A man who could love her." This caused his pawns to burst into applause, each of them thinking that their boss was talking about him. Guess stupidity is contagious.

"So everything you're not, Ingo?" I chuckled as his face turned red, looking like Death Mountain ready to explode. Turning back to Epona to continue my work, I ended the conversation. "I'll just go back to work and let you think over what I said. Sound good, boss?"

Before I could even pull out my brush again, Ingo grabbed my shoulder and turned me around violently. At this point I wondered if I had finally pushed him over the edge. His bloodshot eyes and beet red face, coupled with him grinding his teeth made it seem like it. After all, if there was anything Ingo hated, it was his 'underlings' back talking to him, ignoring him, and turning their backs on him. Lucky for me, I did all three.

"Now listen here you little twerp!" He shoved his finger into my chest, once again trying to look threatening. And once again failing. "I'm in charge here! You think Talon or even Jo runs this place? No way! It's all me! So show some respect to your superior, you little, ungrateful, excuse for a-"

A loud neighing came from behind me. Everyone turned their attention to Epona, who had reared up on her hind legs. Once she returned to all fours, she charged right at Ingo and the two ranch hands behind him. Unfortunately, they all dove out of the way just in time. Damn shame.

"What the hell is with this crazed horse?!" one of the ranch hand's yelled as he stood up.

"It's playing favorites with that hick, we gotta get outta here, Ingo!" the other screamed, running away with his partner before Epona could come back.

"Hey! Get back here, you noodle spine cowards! It's just a wild horse!" Before Ingo could even chase after them, Epona came back around for another charge, her path aimed straight for the obnoxious weasel.

I don't think I've ever seen a grown man run faster than Ingo did from Epona. I didn't even run away that fast from the cuccos.

"I'll remember this Link!" he yelled as he jumped over the fence of the corral, stopping Epona from chasing him any further.

Epona snorted once in Ingo's direction before trotting back over to me. She nudged me with her nose, looking for the carrot she knew I had on me.

"Alright, alright," I laughed, reaching into one of my pouches to produce a couple of carrots, giving them to her before she bit my hand off. Epona munched on the treats loudly in the way she always did as I took out my brush and continued grooming her. "There you go, you wild horse. Payment for a job well done."

It wasn't until the sun began setting that I had finally finished all of my work, ending the day by herding all of the animals back into the barn with some of the other ranch hands. After that, the ranch hands returned to their homes in Lon Lon Village, while I went to Malon and Talon's house on the ranch, having been given a room to stay in when they gave me my job.

Passing by the fireplace as I entered the house, I could smell some of Malon's cooking. Suffice to say, if I wasn't hungry before, I was practically starving now.

I looked around the room. The coast was clear.

Noticing that no one was around, I dashed into the kitchen and grabbed a leg of the cucco roasting on the spit of the fire place. With my prize in hand, I bolted up the stairs of the house into my room at the end of the second story hallway.

"And the hero successfully rescues the cucco from the fire. Such a helpful person I am." Victoriously, I took a bite out of the cucco I had saved, relishing in its taste.

For a few moments I laid out on my bed, munching on my cucco for a few moments. Once there was no meat left on the bone, I sighed disappointedly and threw the bone out the window before going over to my sink across the room.

I looked in the mirror and saw a thin layer of dirt covering my face. Using the water in the sink, I quickly washed it off and tried to make myself look somewhat nice.

Just fix my hair a little bit. Make sure I don't look too tired or anything. Wash off the leftover cucco around the corners of my mouth… Agh, forget it, I'm just going to go in my work clothes. After all, this party was being thrown in my honor.

So, that was what I decided, waltzing out of my room and putting my cap on top of my head.

I walked down the stairs, thinking about the rest of the food Malon cooked. What else could she have to eat? Well, guess I'll have to find-

"Surprise!"

I yelped and nearly slipped down the rest of the stairs, grabbing on to the railing at the last second. After gracefully saving myself, I looked to see what had caught me off guard. Standing before me was Malon, Talon and Ingo, all with a smile on their face – save Ingo, who wore a bigger scowl than usual. He was definitely still pissed at me for earlier.

Talon and Malon laughed as they came up to me.

"Happy three years, my boy!" Talon smacked me on the back with one of his burly hands. Caught off-guard, I jolted forward a bit, catching myself before I could fall to the ground again. Not seeming to notice me nearly falling, Talon continued. "Can't believe it's been that long since we found ya passed out in Hyrule Field. Feels like it was only yesterday, don't ya reckon?"

"More like a century," I heard Ingo mumble.

Malon came up and hugged me before I could say anything back to the oily, ratty man. Lucky for him; could have made him look like a fool twice in one day.

"Happy three years, Fairy Boy!" she said into my ears.

"Happy three years, crazy… horse girl?" I tried to come up with something clever like she had for me for years. This was my latest attempt and damn, it was probably one of the worst.

"Three years and you still can't come up with something for me?" Malon broke our hug and rolled her eyes, swatting me on the chest at the same time. "Keep trying, maybe you'll have something one day."

Rubbing the back of my head, I said, "At least I'm getting more creative. It's better than grasshopper."

"True, I still don't know why you called me that."

We walked over to the table as I began to list off my reasoning. "You're energetic, musical and can be annoying at times."

"Ha ha ha, very funny," Malon gave me a fake pouty face, causing Talon to laugh loudly as we sat down.

"That's enough, ya love birds. Save the bickerin' for when y'all are married." Talon wore a big grin on his face, not seeming to notice how his daughter blushed up a storm. Yeah, Talon was a big hearted, kind man, but I would be lying if I said he wasn't oblivious most of the time.

"D-dad!" Malon was no doubt embarrassed by this, even after she and I had heard the same thing at least a hundred times before. But for some reason – and I would later kick myself in the ass for not realizing why sooner – Malon always seemed to immediately become defensive whenever Talon brought up the subject.

"I'm just teasin' Malon. No need to get your neckerchief in a bunch, darlin'." And like so many times before, Talon realized he had crossed some sort of line with Malon. All I could do was sit back and try not to laugh, finding the situation funnier than I should. While simultaneously ignoring the voice in my head asking why Malon became so defensive on the subject and a lot of other questions revolving around that train of thought.

No, Link, no, snap out of it.

Luckily, I didn't need to stop myself much longer as the fourth guest at the table finally decided to speak up again.

"Can we eat now?! I'm starving over here, you damn cowboy." Ingo sounded as irritable as ever as he reached for the food on the table, taking generous helpings for himself and scarfing down his food without even waiting for us.

Talon rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. "Oh, right. Of course, Ingo. Well, everyone, dig in!"

I didn't need any more coaxing and immediately began devouring what I still think was the best meal I have ever had.


"Oh, I'm so damn full. I don't think I can… take another… step…" I collapsed face first onto the ground and relished in the comfortable grass of the ranch's corral. "Ah, now this is living. Just kill me now, I don't think life will ever get better than this."

From above I could hear Malon giggling, causing me to turn around onto my back and flash her a small smile. "Want me to go get Ingo? I'm sure he would be happy to oblige," she threatened as she sat down next to me.

Again, I don't know why she thought that threat worked on me. It never has.

"Nah, then who would be around to keep him on his toes?" Placing my arms behind my head, I looked up at the stars and started to gaze at them. That is, until Malon's face came into view and blocked them with her red hair. Her beautiful, flowing… No, Link. Stop that.

"Well, I'm sure I would make a good replacement," she said with a laugh.

I shook my head and sat up. "Maybe. It's a full time job. It's not for the faint of heart. You might even make it – goddesses forbid – onto Ingo's list." My hand covered my mouth in mock surprise and horror. "Could you imagine the daughter of Lon Lon Ranch on Ingo's list? What a scandal that would be!"

Malon couldn't help but laugh, and neither could I. For a few minutes, that was all we did; laughing at dumb jokes, making stupid comments at Ingo's expense and just acting like two idiot teenagers.

Then, we fell into a comfortable silence as we stared at the stars. Sometimes we pointed out a constellation to the other, listening to the story that accompanied those imaginary connect-the-dot pictures in the sky. And I had to say it, this was definitely a good way to start my fourth year.

After that, everything went completely silent. No stories, no laughter, just Malon and I enjoying the moment. That is, until Malon broke the silence.

"Um… Fairy Boy?" It sounded like she had a bit of hesitance in her voice.

"Yeah?"

I turned to face Malon to see she had pulled her knees up to her chest, hiding the bottom part of her face.

"Ever since my mom died so many years ago," she began, now sounding a little choked up "it's been rough on the ranch. I mean, I always felt like I belonged here, but… No one ever treated me like me. All the workers on this ranch always try to woo me, and my dad just treats me as his daughter. I was lonely. It was only me and Epona. That is, until we found ya." She lifted her head up and let her chin rest on her knees. For a few seconds we sat in silence again, allowing me to truly understand what Malon was saying.

"I'm glad we took ya in those three years ago," she finally said. "After we found ya out in that field and you decided to stay at the ranch, I finally felt like I had a friend. And I mean a real friend, not an animal friend like Epona or family like dad. Ever since you played Epona's Song for the first time, I knew I found someone I could trust, someone I could always lean on. A true friend. What I'm trying to say is… um… thank you, Link. For stayin' here and befriendin' this odd, head in the clouds, rancher's daughter."

All I could do was stare at Malon in awe. No words came to mind that I could say in response to that. Nothing, not a single word. Why couldn't I say anything?

It seemed that Malon had noticed that too, as she started physically withdrawing herself little by little. Afraid she said something wrong. Here she was, spilling her heart out to me on how much I meant to her and I was making her feel bad for saying it.

But that's when I realized it. That me and her were the same, trying to find someone who could accept us for just being us. Someone who wanted at least one person to make them feel like it was okay to be themselves.

Before I could stop myself, I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a side hug. I don't know why I did it, but I just let instinct take over and that was what happened. Guess it was supposed to happen then.

But I still couldn't say anything.

It didn't seem to matter though, because I could feel Malon relax. The smile I saw on her face out of the corner of my eye also hinted that I needn't say a word.

"Thank you, Link," she said one more time.

We sat there for what felt like hours that night, only a small fraction of it letting us show what our friendship meant to each other. It wasn't long before we broke away from our awkward hug and made our way back to the ranch house. After all, we had an early day tomorrow. Plus, Malon chiding me for making sure I got enough sleep forced me to get up from my spot in the corral. Guess she would never change.

Later on, I would look back and realize that this was the beginning of the changing point in our friendship. Testing it, no doubt, and seeing what would come out of it in the end. Because today would be, for a long time, my last day of freedom; tomorrow, destiny would take back the life it left behind ten years ago with a little boy who still dreamed of one day becoming a true Kokiri.