Please read the A/N at the end. Thank you!

Chapter 2: Red Hair and a Blue-Eyed Stare, Part Two

The rain continued to pour down on Link as he traversed the ruined ranch. Everywhere he went now, flickers of a memory or images of the past would appear in his head. They were small, nothing similar to what he had just experienced at the entrance.

Whiffs of hay and animals floated past his nose as he passed what appeared to be the remains of a stable. Sounds from different animals rang in his ear every so faintly, like lingering whispers. Yet everywhere he looked, he saw flashes of red and green. They were brief images that the hero couldn't make out fast enough before they vanished. It was then as he examined the front of the ranch that he heard it.

It was faint at first, sounding like the low beat of a drum. As he walked further into the ruins, however, it picked up in volume and tempo. The noise's intensity continued to pick up as Link closed his eyes to focus on the sound. Ever so tentatively, the hero walked every which way, trying to determine where the noise was the most intense. Stepping forward and then back, then forward once more, Link realized the sound was coming from somewhere in front of him.

As the hero continued walking forward he quickly picked up on the familiar sound: it was the beating of horses' hooves. Continuing to walk forward, Link began hearing small whinnies and… that song: the one he had heard in the first memory. It was Epona's Song, Link recalled. It began to rise in volume along with the other noises before they all rose to a fever pitch. Only then did Link open his eyes.

He realized that he was in the middle of the corral. The hero examined his surroundings, hoping to find something that would trigger another of these memories. When he found nothing significant, he let loose a deep sigh. Maybe it was just his imagination playing tricks on him. After all, nothing around him was triggering a memory that wasn't his.

So, with the noises still playing out in his head, he began to walk back towards Epona. He was wasting his time here. Every second he wasted was another second Calamity Ganon would use to become stronger, and another second that Zelda had to fight him alone. Besides, they weren't his memories, so why should he bother trying to search for them? Link wasn't even sure why he tried in the first place. Something just told him to follow the sounds, so he did. His instincts had never failed him before, after all.

"What a waste of time," the hero muttered as he made to exit the corral.

Wait.

"Huh?

Link whirled around, swearing he had heard someone speak. There was no one behind him, however, only the ruins of the corral. He squinted his eyes, trying to pick out anything out of the ordinary. Eventually, wisps of red hair began to appear more clearly than before, and a young boy in a green tunic stood in front of her. The hero fully turned to face the scene.

Then, just as before, his eyes widened as the apparition again spoke:

Wait.

It was then that another memory began playing out in the Hero of the Wild's mind.

"Wait, Fairy Boy."

It was the pleading in her voice that caused Link to stop in front of Epona. He turned around to face her. Immediately, he regretted it.

Tears stung the corners of Malon's eyes, tears that she struggled to hold back with all of her might. A look of loss and hurt was etched onto her young face. Her nose and cheeks were both equally red. Whether this was because the young farm girl was angry or for some other reason, Link couldn't guess. All he knew was that Malon was hurt, and just by looking at her, Link shared in her pain.

"Malon," the young hero began, not entirely knowing what else to say.

"Why do you have to leave?"

It was a question that the young farm girl had asked him numerous times since his announcement to go on a journey a week ago.

After Talon had hired Link only a year prior, the young hero had worked hard around Lon Lon Ranch. He tended to much of the manual labor that was required of a ranch hand. Malon would even go so far as to say that he did more work in a day than her father did. Ingo would say that he did the most work, but the disgruntled ranch hand usually complained that Link wasn't doing something right instead.

So, when Talon and Ingo heard that their young ranch hand was leaving for an unknown amount of time, their faces immediately lost color. Most of the work around Lon Lon Ranch would once again fall to them. Once the initial shock passed, however, the owner of Lon Lon Ranch began to feel a sense of loss. After all, Link had been like a son to Talon. Losing him would be like losing a family member. What's worse, his plans for Link and Malon to be married seemed to be completely dashed away by this announcement.

Yet Talon understood. After all, he left the ranch on his own journey when he was younger.

However, it was Malon who was hit hardest by the announcement.

Once Link had announced he was leaving, her entire body went numb. She stared blankly at him as Ingo and Talon started talking about his journey and the work on the ranch. Malon's eyes met Link's. She tried to search them for some sort of joke, or something to tell her that this wasn't happening, that Link wasn't leaving Lon Lon Ranch. But as she did so, Link, like many times during his year at the ranch, read her mind. He knew what she wanted to hear, but all he could do was shake his head.

It was then Malon finally understood what Link's eyes were saying. They said, 'I'm sorry.'

Over the past year Link and Malon had developed a close friendship. Fairy Boy, as Malon called Link constantly, was quiet at first, but slowly opened up to the young farm girl. It wasn't until Link rode Epona for the first time, however, that he finally showed Malon who he was. After he gained Epona's trust, he began trusting Malon as well.

Link told Malon his story not much later. The young farm girl had asked the young hero many times about his earlier life, and where the blue fairy that followed him around had gone. Whenever she asked him about either, Link immediately changed the subject. So, when Link asked Malon to meet him out at the corral one night after dinner, she was curious.

There, under the clear, starry night sky, Link told Malon his story. He told her about the three jewels he had to collect around Hyrule; he told her about confronting Ganondorf for the first time and drawing the Master Sword, thus allowing the evil Gerudo to gain control of the Triforce of Power; he told her about freeing the seven sages across Hyrule and searching for Princess Zelda; and he told her about Navi. He told her everything.

By the time he had finished speaking, it was well into the night. Malon had no clue what to say, but she knew one thing: she believed him. As the farm girl watched the Fairy Boy tell his story, he didn't waiver and told it with conviction. His eyes were far away as he recited his tale. All of this, plus the idea of such an adventure, almost forced Malon to believe Link's story was true.

With almost nothing to say, Malon asked Link the one question that had been on her mind for some time.

"Who was Navi? You talk about her a lot."

This brought Link back to the present. All he did was smile and shook his head.

"A friend," he responded simply. "But I'll tell you about her another time, okay?"

Malon, now smiling as well, nodded her head. "Okay!"

From then on, Link and Malon met in the corral almost every night after dinner. Sometimes the young hero would regale his friend with tales of the past and stories about Navi. Other times, Link would play the ocarina and Malon would sing. While other times, they just laid in the middle of the corral and watched the stars.

These nights were the true starting point of Link and Malon's relationship. They learned many things about each other quickly, causing them to become close friends.

Yet now that friendship was over, or so Malon thought as she stood there in front of the departing hero.

"Why do you have to leave?" Malon repeated.

Link turned his attention to the ground, unable to work up the courage to look Malon in the eye. He simply mumbled, "For Navi."

"Oh," was all Malon said in response.

The answer did not surprise Malon in the slightest. Every word Link had told her about the blue fairy had been filled with longing and loss. The Fairy Boy had missed Navi more than anything. Though young, Malon knew that Link had to find the fairy. She was his closest friend, after all.

A silence fell between Link and Malon as they both retreated into their thoughts, unsure of what to say next. After what seemed like hours of silence, the young farm girl asked something that had been on her mind ever since Link had told his story to her.

"What was I like in the future? What… were we like it?"

Link's head immediately snapped up to face Malon. She eyed him with conviction, unwilling to back down this time from her questions.

When the young hero had told Malon his story, he glossed over the details of her, Talon, Ingo, and Lon Lon Ranch. All the young farm girl really knew about her future self was that she let Link borrow Epona.

The young hero smiled softly. The rest of his features calmed as well. Then, taking Malon by surprise, Link hugged her. After not knowing what to do for a split second, Malon hugged her friend back. She finally couldn't hold back her tears anymore, letting them fall freely down her face.

"I'll make you a promise," Link whispered into Malon's ear. "When I return, I'll tell you what you and I were like in the future."

"You promise?" Malon hiccupped in between her tears.

"Yes."

"Okay."

Malon gently left Link's arms and rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hands.

"You better be back as soon as you find Navi, understand?" Malon lectured after wiping her tears away.

"I understand," Link said with a chuckle. His smile disappeared. "I'm going to miss you Malon."

The young farm girl, feeling a rush of courage, surprised Link with a kiss to the cheek.

"I'm going to miss you, too," Malon replied, her cheeks becoming increasingly red.

Link, likewise, was blushing from the sudden act of affection. He was stuck in his spot, several incoherent thoughts bouncing back and forth in his head. Malon giggled at her friend's reaction.

"Now go, Fairy Boy. I want to hear what happened to me in the future."

The young hero only nodded in response before mounting Epona. He ushered the chestnut filly forward. As the duo approached the exit to Lon Lon Ranch, Link turned around to see Malon and Talon waving good-bye, while Ingo had his back turned to the scene. The young hero waved back before urging Epona into a gallop.

As Talon and Ingo went back to work, Malon stood unmoving from her spot. She stayed that way for a while longer before realizing the sun was setting. A sole tear trailed down her cheek as she left to go start dinner.

With one last glance at the entrance to Lon Lon Ranch, the young farm girl muttered, "Please stay safe out there, Fairy Boy."

The Hero of the Wilds opened his eyes as he left the unfamiliar memory. He raised his hand to his head, a small headache beginning to form. Past memories hadn't given Link a headache before, but then again, these weren't necessarily his memories. It was safe to say that seeing these outside thoughts were having an impact on him.

The headache passed shortly after the hero regained control of his body. Once it had, he began searching for other familiar sites or people. He turned around, examining each ruin to see if any of them triggered another memory. That was when he saw him.

Link was taken by surprise, at first. Seeing another person this close to Hyrule Castle was rare. However, once his shock had passed, the hero noticed something familiar about the figure.

As he walked closer to Link, the hero could pick out more details about the figure. It was a man that much was certain. He had blond hair and blue eyes, much like Link. He wore a green tunic that appeared similar to the description of the Hero's Tunic of old. And covering his head was an odd green cap.

It was then Link realized who he was staring at. Though older, his appearance was extremely similar to that of the young boy he saw in the memories, and his facial features were eerily similar to Link's. The Hero of the Wilds didn't know how it was possible, but the figure had to have been…

"She's a wild one, isn't she? Always was," the man spoke fondly, catching Link off-guard. He didn't realize the figure was that close to him. "It's… good to see her again, after all this time."

After only receiving a blank stare in response, the figure gently smiled before realizing he had forgotten to introduce himself.

"I'm guessing you already know who I am, but to clear things up: yes, I am your ancestor. I am the Hero of Time, Link."

A/N:

Here's the second chapter! Hope you guys like it!

Also, I got some suggestions for other characters to do with this fic. Now, before I continue, if anyone else has a suggestion for interactions between past Links and a major character, let me know! But what I also want to know is if y'all would want this fic to focus on one Link and character then move on; or switch stories in the middle of other stories. It'd cause confusion, but it would be a lot more of the different Zelda characters being showcased.

Anyway, let me know what y'all think! Leave a review, a follow, and a favorite! Also, told y'all I'd be back to writing!

Thank y'all for reading!

Peace,

nickdaman6