I took a few moments to steady myself before running outside after Link.

"Link, what-" He hissed sharply at me to be quiet, and in my surprise, I clapped my hands over my mouth. From the corral, one of the horses whinnied.

"Get inside Malon." Link sprinted past me to the field, pulling the Master Sword from its sheath and tossing the sheath to the ground in his haste. I stood frozen for a moment, unsure if I should follow, or if I should return to the house. Ultimately, I decided to listen to Link, and ran in the house, closing the door behind me.

I stood, facing the door with my palms flat against the wood for what seemed like several minutes, thinking of what could possibly be outside. Or, what if it was nothing at all, and Link only wanted an excuse to get away from me? Would he go to those lengths? I sighed.

As I turned, my eyes shot open wide in fear as a pair of dirty hands wrapped in tattered rags pressed against my mouth and pushed me against the door. I tried to scream, but the man's hands were pressed so firmly against my face, that I couldn't force any sound to come out.

"Shh. I don't want to hurt you, girl." From his voice, I recognized the man from Hyrule field. He had frightened me then too. His hair was an ashy blond, and underneath the rags that wrapped his head, it was knotted into a long braid. His eyes were bright red and around one of them, was a tattoo of a dark purple eye-like design that I didn't recognize. He had small scars about his face and neck, one on the right side of his mouth. I tried desperately to pull his hand away from my face, but he wouldn't budge. He just stared into my eyes as the time stretched between us. Inexplicably, I began to feel calm. I slowed my struggling and he dropped his hand from my mouth.

"Who are you?" I managed to ask, as I attempted to catch my breath. He held my arms to my side, and my back against the door.

"Please. I need help." His voice was coarse and his words caused me to inhale sharply. He smelled like dirt and.. Metal? I looked down and saw drops of blood puddling on the floor.

"Oh!" He fell away from me, collapsing onto the floor. I stared at him in horror for a second, before wrenching the door open and running outside. "Link!" I called out, and Link appeared almost immediately. "Inside, he needs help!" Link's blue eyes darted behind me to the shadow on the ground through the doorway.

"Who?" He demanded, not waiting for an answer though, he marched inside. When he laid eyes on the injured man on the floor, Link gasped and dropped his sword.

"Zelda?" He gasped, before dropping to his knees near the man, passed out now on the ground.

Zelda? I thought, my mind racing. How could this man be… The Queen?

:::::::::::

Shortly after, we had the man cleaned up and bandaged, lying atop a pile of hay with some extra blankets over it. His breathing was labored, but otherwise he seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

From the man's bedside, I looked back at Link, who was rubbing his temples with his eyes shut. "Link?" I practically whispered his name, but he heard, and opened one eye to look at me.

"Yeah?"

I stood and faced, him, fiddling nervously with a loose thread in my dress. "What did you…" I started, but then I realized that I didn't know what I wanted to ask him. Why did he call this strange and frightening man by the name of the Queen? Or, what was he thinking earlier, before the sun finished rising, and the haze of the night wore off?

"Don't" He sounded like he was going to say more, but decided against it, and left the air silent, with only that word to linger. I nodded and walked outside to care for the animals.

It was pretty late in the morning already, and the animals were restless from being cooped up all morning. Each of the horses immediately galloped off to run some laps and graze when I let them out, and the cows mooed eagerly to be milked.

As I busied myself with the milking, I thought back on the very early twilight, with Link in our room. My stomach twisted as I recalled his rough hand on my neck, and his warm lips on my skin. I used to think about Link in that way all the time, before my father died, and before Link came to stay with me at the Ranch. But since he'd come here, my thoughts of him had become more domestic. I appreciated his help, and conversation, and company so much, that any other teenaged thoughts fell by the wayside. I guess for him it was probably the opposite. Before, I was just a farm girl he was friends with. Now, I could only guess how he saw me. I let out a heavy sigh.

Then, what about the strange man? Why would Link call him Zelda? I didn't understand it at all. And after we'd finished treating him, Link had become very quiet. More than usual. Something seemed to really bother him about this whole situation with the injured stranger.

After some time passed, Link came out from the house. He had washed up and seemed to be in a much better mood than before.

"Malon." He called out to me, jogging across the length of the ranch to where I was, combing one of the horses' manes. I looked up to see him smiling lightly.

"Link, how are you feeling?" Even though he seemed to be more cheerful, I still felt a little nervous. I didn't know what he was thinking, or feeling. I could only imagine, and my imagination could get away from me.

"Tired." He laughed and stopped walking a few steps away from me. A few seconds of silence passed between us, with me avoiding eye contact, before he continued. "So, I'm sorry about before. I was just so surprised to see that man…" By the tone in his voice, I could tell that he still hadn't made out what was happening with the strange man yet either.

"Who is he?" I asked, relieved that Link had chosen to explain this event, rather than the preceding one.

"His name is Sheik." Link glanced backward toward the house. "When Ganondorf was in power, Zelda took on his appearance to hide. I… Didn't realize he was real." Links eyebrows furrowed as he thought about Sheik.

"Really?!" I was shocked. I didn't expect Link to be so forthcoming about whatever history was between them.

"Yeah. I want to talk with him, after he wakes up." I nodded, looking at Link. He had his thumbs hooked into his belt, and was digging the toe of his right boot into the grass, staring fixedly at the ground after a passing second of eye contact. "I'll actually go wait for him." He then turned and walked back to the ranch.

How long would it take for him to behave normally around me again?

Hello again! So, opinion question readers. I was thinking of switching up the POV every once in a while for like.. A side chapter. I'd like to write from either Link or Sheiks POV from time to time, even though most of the story is being told as Malon sees it. Do you think that'd be a good or bad thing for the flow of the story? The story would continue moving forward, just certain events would be told from the other perspectives. There wouldn't be much in terms of recapping something that already happened from another person's experience. Blah blah, I'm rambling.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy, and don't forget to leave a review! I love your opinions :)