Okay I'm back and you're back so let's get cracking!

Disclaimer: Never underestimate a girl with an Ocarina and a music studio! She will not see the light of day until she had figured out all the know Zelda songs of Ocarina, guitar, and piano by heart!

Chapter Two: A Silent Past

In the following months, Link and Navi cleaned, saddled, washed, dusted, swept, unsaddled, and feed the horse, cows and house whenever Malon or her father couldn't get to it. The father-daughter pair went to Hyrule Market every afternoon to sell Lon Lon milk and shop for food necessities with the money received. Link even went down to the Zora River to catch some fish occasionally. They lived content until Talon started to notice how mute Link really was.

"Why don't ya ever talk, boy?" He asked at dinner one night.

"Oh, papa! Don't ask him such a personal question!" Malon said. "You want some more milk, Link?" she asked, turning to him. He nodded and held out his cup.

"I'm serious! He doesn't say nothing but screams and cries of battle fury! I'm startin' to wonder of your history." Link froze with a piece of fried fish halfway to his mouth. He looked at Talon with questioning eyes then cast them down into his lap.

"What do you mean by that?" Navi asked.

"I mean, where'd he come from. I know you was raised in Kokairi but if you ain't Kokairian then who are you parents?" Link slowly lowered his fork.

"I don't mean to pry but ya do all these wonderful heroics and then ya got no ma or pa to greet ya home." Navi and Malon had seen the change that took place in Link and had stopped eating but Talon just kept going.

"That's gotta be hard on a kid, I'm sure, especially on your age. What kind of parent leaves their kid behind to live a lie? That right there is what I call bad parentin'."

"Papa… please stop," Malon said quietly.

"What is it, baby?" Talon asked her. He set his food down and placed his hand on the girl's shoulder. "Did I say somethin' I shouldn't have?"

Malon didn't speak Navi did. "Yes, you did! Now look what you've done to poor Link." She floated over to his cheek and tried to comfort him. But he just sat there, hands in his lap, head down, staring at the floor. Navi tried to settle in his lap but Link shoved, sending her to the back wall, stood, and ran to their room.

The room was silent. After a few minutes, Malon got up and started collecting plates and silverware, trying to resume the night. A heartbroken Navi flew from the wall over the table and blew away the crumbs with her wings, trying to help. Talon was left to stare at Link's seat with remorse for what he had said.

Link had closed the door and was now on the bed, hugging his knees. Talon was right and he knew it. No matter how hard it hurt, he knew what was said was true. This wasn't the first time he'd thought about his parents. For a long as he could remember, he had been on his own. Before Navi, even before Saria, the feeling of emptiness and loneliness had been a part of his daily life. He used to talk, too. But soon after he could as a very young child, he also got friends. Those friends, three older Kokairi boys, had only his worst interests in mind. Playing a dirty trick on him, his 'friends' changed Link forever.

"Okay listen up," they told him one sunny afternoon. "We aren't supposed to be telling you this but we like you so we'll let you in on a secret." The oldest of the boys leaned in towards Link ho was sitting on the grass "You want a girl, right?"

A younger, talkable Link replied, "Um… well… I never really thought…"

"Oh of course you do!" he cut him off. "Every guy wants a girl to call his own. You just haven't realized you want one yet. So…" he glanced back at two other boys with a smirk, "because we like you so much, we'll help you get one."

"Okay…" Link wasn't really sure he wanted 'a girl' as they put it but he was young a naïve and needed someone to look up to, so he trusted them.

"Hush! Now, repeat after me." The oldest boy motioned for him to stand and he did. He also cleared his throat and so did Link.

"Your ass…"

"Your ass…"

"is so huge…" The boy stretched out his arms to their full extent, expressing the size.

"is so huge…" Link made the same gesture.

"I wish I could…"

"I wish I could…"

"move my house…"

"move my house…"

"on it…"

"on it…"

"but sadly…"

"but sadly…"

"my house…"

"my house…"

"doesn't have wheels."

"doesn't have wheels."

As Link finished reciting the line, the boys looked so pleased in his eyes. What Link only found out looking back was that they weren't pleased with him but with themselves and were trying their damnedest not to laugh.

"Your ass is so huge I wish I could move my house on it but sadly my house doesn't have wheels." The oldest made Link repeat it over and over until he was sure the victim had it down.

"Now," he said, "let's try it out."

"But wait," Link protested. "If I say that to a girl, won't she be mad at me?"

"What? Naw!" The boys reassured him. "Girls love it when you even slightly suggest living with them. Come on, we'll show you." The oldest took Link under his arm and scouted out a girl. "You see that girl over there?" He pointed over a stream to a girl with green hair off by herself, sitting on a tree stump. Link knew her only as Saria and the girl he had had a crush on since seeing her. But he wasn't near brave enough to go up and talk to her.

"Yeah…" Link said, reluctantly.

"Go over there and say that line. You two will be inseparable, we promise."

"I don't know. Are you sure about this?"

"Positive. Now go!" The boys pushed him in the girl's general direction. Link stumbled and fell right into the water! He pushed himself up and looked back to the boys for support. They quickly stopped their snickering and gave him 6 thumbs up. He turned back to find Saria looking at him. She smiled and waved. He smiled and waved then made a made dash across the water to stand in front of her. Her green eyes and hair were even more radiant up close.

"Hi," she said to him cheerfully. "My name's Saria. What's yours?"

"I… my name… is…"Oh gosh! I can't believe I forgot my name!

As he stood there infront of the person he liked most, his hands went clammy and his voice began to shake.

"My name…" Oh come on, think! Blink? Kink? Stink?

Link was so terrified of talking to her that he had forgotten everything about himself, including the line.

Pink?

All the while Saria sat, patiently waiting.

Zinc? Link? Link!

"My name's Link!" he yelled. And with his name came his name the line.

"Well, nice to meet you, Link. I hope we can be friends."

But Link didn't want Saria as a friend. He wanted her to be his girlfriend!

"Your ass is so huge I wish I could move my house on it but sadly my house doesn't have wheels!"

The area around the tree stump was quiet. Link felt really bad after he said it and seeing Saria stunned into silence only made him feel worse.

"I'm sorry Saria," he said quickly. "I just thought I didn't ant your friendship but your hea…"

"Don't you ever," she said, slow and controlled but hotly, "never ever ever say anything like that to a girl again." And with that she got up, walked closer to him and slapped him across the cheek. Hard enough was the slap that he would have a red handprint across his face for the remainder of the day. His heart sank as he watched her walk away and ever farther as he saw the three boys who he had thought were his friends laughing hysterically at him. But the silence around him seeped into his mind and he didn't hear the laughing. He didn't hear anything. He had thought that maybe Saria was right, that maybe he shouldn't say anything to a girl, no anyone, ever again. All it causes is hurt and sadness when I say something so if I don't say anything I won't cause any harm. That is what he thought at the time.

But so deep went his longing for love of any kind that the slap had not only penetrated Link's young body and conscience but also his subconscious. His mind felt the blow as an attack at his voice and to prevent from farther attacks, Link unconsciously muted his own voice. The silence that surrounded him at that very moment also permeated the deepest reaches of his mind, adding to Link's internal need for protection. Once he found out he literally couldn't talk to anyone, it was too late to fix. The damage had been done and now Link only yelled as a feeble attempt to reverse his own curse. Navi didn't even know how it had happened. She knew him as a mute, brave and interactive child and she didn't mind or question it one bit.

End Chapter

Yeah, I know. Why did I have to have it be a psychological answer? But I'm a 'Sybil' kind of girl and I kind of like the idea of being traumatized into muteness. R&R your thoughts on my explanation of Link's voice and comment on how I'm doing so far. Come again!