Author's Note: Well, this is not exactly what I would have chosen for the second chapter of a fic that is decidedly not centered around a romance. But I think it turned out pretty well even so. I actually ship Link and Zelda, but it makes sense to me that Link would have a crush on Malon for a while. He is a teenager, and the only Hylian girl his age he has any contact with at this point is Malon. So I took this opportunity to write a good heart-to-heart between Link and Navi. I think that Navi's wisdom extends farther than advice on how to fight monsters.
Timeline: Adult; after Water Temple
Theme 2: Love
It was a relaxing afternoon. They'd just finished their business in the Water Temple and were making their leisurely way back across Hyrule Field. Link seemed to think they deserved a break, and Navi was inclined to agree. The Water Temple had been the hardest one so far, and she had a feeling things would only get tougher as they continued. Besides, they didn't even know where to find the next temple, so they could afford to visit some friends and stock up on supplies in Kakariko Village.
With Link sitting in the shadow of a tree and Epona grazing nearby, Navi was content to curl up under his hat and doze. She was about to drift off when Link suddenly broke the silence that had fallen ever since they'd left Lon Lon Ranch that morning. "Navi...how do you know if you're in love?"
Navi's eyes popped open. She zipped out and hovered in front of his face, eyeing his vacant expression and stupid little smile with alarm. Following the direction of his gaze, she understood immediately. "You think you're in love with Malon?" she asked, trying to keep her voice neutral.
"Just...hypothetically speaking," Link said hastily, though his blush gave him away.
Navi sighed and settled onto his knee, where she could more or less look him in the eye. This was going to be a long conversation, she could already tell. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised—Link was seventeen, after all. Being in an enchanted sleep for seven years had left him a child in an adult's body, and Navi had been relieved that he hadn't seemed any different after he'd woken up other than suddenly speaking with a deep voice and standing a lot taller than before. But it seemed the time had finally come that his mind and heart were catching up to his body.
"You know I'm not exactly the best person to ask about this, right?" Navi said, crossing her legs and trying to get comfortable on his bony knee. Fairies weren't like humans. They were formed from the will and essence of the Great Fairies, who in turn were offshoots of the goddesses' power. So even though fairies had genders, they didn't reproduce like the other living creatures of Hyrule. The Great Deku Tree had spent many long hours trying to explain to Navi how it all worked, and she still wasn't sure she understood why humans liked this whole business so much. Friendship seemed so much less complicated than romance.
"Yeah..." Link muttered, plucking a blade of grass and running it through his fingers, staring at it rather than her. "But you're the only person I can talk to."
She supposed he was right about that. He couldn't exactly ask the object of his affections, and most of the people they knew who cared about him and were smart enough to answer his questions weren't...available right now. Navi briefly wondered what Princess Zelda would say if she were here, but quickly brushed that thought aside. Human women tended to get a bit prickly on the topic of romance for some reason.
"Well..." Navi said awkwardly, trying to figure out how to talk about something she barely understood. "What makes you think you're in love with her?"
His eyes drifted off in the direction of Lon Lon Ranch again and he smiled that stupid smile. "I just...she's so pretty. With her red hair...and the way she sings...and when she looks at me and smiles, my insides feel all..." He struggled for words, picking at the blade of grass until he finally decided on, "Hot and squishy."
Refraining from pointing out that his insides were hot and squishy all the time anyway, Navi slowly said, "Okay. So say that means you're in love with her. What do you want to happen if you tell her?"
After considering for a moment, Link said, "I want to touch her hair."
Nearly losing her perch on his knee, Navi spluttered, "You want to touch her hair?"
"Yeah..." Link raised a hand as if he was already doing it. "It's so red...and it looks so soft. I want to run my hands through it...and then..." He fell silent, but his fingers brushed against his lips, and Navi was pretty sure she knew what was running through his mind.
Navi twitched her wings in annoyance. Somehow, despite the Deku Tree's subtle warnings, she'd expected her boy to escape some of this frivolous nonsense. He wasn't just some jug-eared stable boy; he was the Hero of Time. He was supposed to be special. Different.
But it turned out he was still human.
"Here's the thing, Link," Navi sighed. "All that stuff is fine...but it's not love."
Finally, he ripped his gaze from the distant hills and focused on her for the first time. "What? It's not?"
Navi shook her head with a gentle tinkle. "Love isn't just about the way you feel. Love is wanting what's best for someone else. It's putting someone before yourself—no matter the cost, and no matter whether they do the same for you. So the question you should be asking yourself is, 'What is best for Malon?'"
Link turned his gaze in the direction of Lon Lon Ranch again, but this time there was no stupid grin or sappy glaze to his eyes. Several long minutes passed in silence as the warm breeze rustled through the leaves overhead. Navi waited, watching Link's pensive expression until he finally leaned his head back against the tree, closing his eyes.
"What's best for Malon is that I do my duty," he said in a low voice. "The best thing I can do for her is to defeat Ganondorf and bring peace back to Hyrule. And...I shouldn't tell her how I feel. Because I can't stay with her, and it'll just make her sad if I...well, if I die..."
Navi had been hoping that the young Link she had first met would return once he wiped that goopy expression off his face. She realized now that he looked older than ever. He wasn't just a kid running around in the forest anymore. He wasn't an awkward teenager trying to get used to his body and these new feelings. Now he was a man.
Opening his eyes again, Link smiled slightly at Navi. "How is it that you know so much about everything?"
Navi sprang to her feet and put her hands on her hips. "I was born of the Great Fairy of Wisdom, I'll have you know! Intelligence runs in the blood!"
She fluttered up to his cheek and planted a brief kiss there. "Besides," she murmured, tweaking the point of his ear as she zipped back under his hat, "I want what's best for you, too."
