Happy New Year, my dear Readers!

There have been a lot of new readers to this story since I posted the last chapter, so Yay! and Welcome to the story peeps! For all those who have been reading since the beginning, I thank you; and for all those who have left reviews, I thank you from the bottom of my heart! Those have helped me so much in writing this story that I wish I could give you all a big warm hug! *hugs* Have cookies too and may God bless you all with a wonderful year! (even if you don't believe he exists, I love you all!)

Enjoy the first chapter I've posted in a year! (lame joke, I know.)

I do not own Legend of Zelda, the pic, or "The voice" song...unless they are all willed to me by their rightful owners and I just have no idea!

Constructive Criticism and Questions are always appreciated!

-X- different point of view

Thoughts


Zelda hummed happily to herself as she peeled an apple, swishing her skirt as she swayed her hips in a little dance to the beat of a song that she could remember faintly.

"Mmmm, hmm, mm. Du-du-duuu, hmm, mm. Buuuu-du-du, mm, mm, mm, hu-mmm."

The melody repeated itself over and over in her head and she gladly sang along. It made her feel safe and warm, which was appropriate because today was the first day after the week long apple harvest that she had enough time to do something that could only happen during this specific time of year: making fresh apple pies. She loved cooking and while everyone in the village knew how to make apple pies, they all said hers were the best.

Link had worked especially hard on this harvest and while everyone seemed to think that it was merely because he has fully healed now, Zelda thought that he was really trying to make up for all the care that they had given him. He had clearly eaten apples before though and she had seen him sneak one or two to eat during breaks throughout the week, munching on them up in trees or tucked away in some tall grass where it was hard to spot him.

She doubted that anyone else knew about these snacks because even Mayor Bo had found nothing to complain about in Link's helpful and hardworking behavior in the harvest. It wasn't for Bo's lack of trying as he still did some complaining, but it was about old problems he had with Link.

She was about halfway done peeling the apple when she felt a shoulder brush hers, and a piece of apple that she had already peeled and cut was out of the bowl in front of her before she could react. Surprised from her thoughts, she jumped and seeing who it was, blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Link! That's for my pie!"

He paused with the fruit bit hovering just outside his open mouth and stared sideways at her, waiting to see what she'd do. Ears burning from the last not-so-intelligent-thing she had just said, she couldn't make herself look into his deep blue eyes and stared instead at his blue earring.

"Put it back please."

He didn't move and she waited a few seconds to see if he would do as she asked. After he didn't move for another few seconds, she set the knife down on the counter next the the apple she had been peeling and turning to fully face him. He looked quite comical standing there, frozen in the act of eating the apple and she had to fight hard to not let loose any giggles at the sight.

His eyes had an extra glint of light in them as she held out her hand, and that light grew as he saw her struggle to keep a straight face.

"Give me that please."

He looked down at her open hand and then back to her eyes, a serious expression on his face, but mischief now glittering his eyes.

He extended his arm to place the apple piece onto her hand, but pulled the bit just out of her reach as she went to close her fingers around it. She blinked at him and again tried to take the apple piece from his hand, only to have him pull it just out of reach as he did before. He was smiling slightly, but she could tell that he was watching her face closely. Instead of getting mad, she felt giggles welling up inside and adopted a playfully indignant expression.

"Hey! Link, give it to me!"

She lunged at the apple and he smoothly backed up three steps so that the apple stayed the same distance from her hand as it had been before she had lunged.

"Give me it, Link!"

She demanded as a little giggle slid out of her mouth, perfectly ruining her attempt at a threatening tone and the grin on his face widened as he evaded her again. He didn't seem to care about how she was talking to him, he didn't care if it sounded rude and for once neither did she. He spun and leaned out of her reach as she twisted and dove after the apple, her sounds of laughter filling the empty room around them.

She kept up her large lunges so that he really had to move to avoid her, not seeing that she was carefully driving him into a corner until he was practically in it. He glanced at the walls of the counter and looked back at the gleam of triumph in Zelda's eyes as she closed in for the apple. He spun around so his back was facing her, but before she could even contemplate what he was doing, he had run up the wall two steps, flipped backwards over her whole body and had landed right behind her.

She froze in surprise and then gasped as his muscular arms wrapped around her, pinned her arms to her sides. His head appeared over her shoulder so she could see his broadly smiling face and he could see hers, then he lifted his hand up till the apple bit was clearly visible.

"Why you!"

She exclaimed laughingly as she struggled to break free from his strong, yet gentle grasp to get the apple. She realised that he was too strong for her to break out of his arms and started trying to kick him, not too hard, but just enough to let him know that she hadn't given up quite yet.

"That's cheating! Running up walls is no fair, Link!"

She got him once on the side of his calf before he hooked her leg with his and used her skirt to trap her legs together, effectively stopping her from being able to kick him.

Struggling to get free and to catch her breath because of all her helpless giggling, Zelda was completely trapped and she knew it. But she didn't feel trapped and she was only halfheartedly fighting his hold now that she had used all her air for laughing. She felt warm and happy, she-

"What in Din's name are you two doing?!"

Ilia's voice from the doorway caused them both to look over, Zelda's laughter dying in her throat at the scandalized expression on her friend's face.

"I-Ilia!"

"What are you two doing?!"

Ilia asked again in an even louder voice and Zelda was suddenly very aware of how closely intertwined she and Link were.

"Link, please let me go."

She whispered as her ears burned under Ilia's wide eyed gaze and he let her go as soon as she asked, even helping to untangle her skirt from their legs as she attempted to redeem the situation in her friend's eyes.

"We were just goofing around, Ilia. I had been working on making a pie and-"

"I need to talk with you."

Ilia interrupted, marching over and grabbing onto Zelda's arm.

"Of-of course, Ilia! Let me just-"

"No, now Zel."

Ilia practically dragged Zelda towards the front door she had just entered through, with Zelda giving Link a pleading look to not interfere as he made to stop Ilia the instant she had grabbed Zelda. He restrained himself, but held a strange look in his eyes as he watched them walk to the door.

"And you!"

Ilia barked, turning around to lean back through the doorway at him.

"Stay. Here."

She held up a stopping hand and then pointed down to the ground with a single finger like she was talking to Talo's dog.

"Got it? Don't you dare follow us!"

And with that, she slammed the door closed. She walked Zelda over to the path that led to the Sacred Spring and didn't stop marching until the sand surrounding the pool crunched loudly beneath their feet. She released Zelda's arm and turned to face her, eyes blazing with anger and worry.

"What do you think you were doing, Zel?!"

"I'm-I'm sorry Ilia, but we were just goofing around like I sai-"

"Do you have any idea what you looked like? What if I had been my Father instead of your best friend who opened the door on you two back there, huh?!"

"I-I, I don't-"

"You don't what, Zel? If that had been my Father, he would have been yelling at you two in a heartbeat! He'd have been so furious that he would have banned that boy from the house and would be telling everyone about what he thought he walked in on. They would believe him too, even Rusl and Uli would have been outraged at the way my father would tell it, and then it would end with kicking that boy out of the village for good like he sh-"

"We weren't doing anything!"

Zelda yelled, cutting Ilia off mid-word and leaving shocked expressions on both of their faces. She had never yelled at Ilia before and certainly never while interrupting her, because Zelda never yelled or interrupted anyone.

"He- he didn't do anything to me, I swear, Ilia. We were playing, I was just trying to get the apple bit back and it kind of-"

"It didn't look like you were just playing,"

Ilia said, looking away.

"-not with how close you two were standing."

"But we were! I was just-"

"He's always standing too close to you, Zel."

Zelda paused and furrowed her brows in confusion.

"W-what? I must not have heard yo-"

"He's always standing too close to you, Zel. He had no respect for your personal space and is constantly brushing or bumping up against you."

"I-I- Is he?"

Zelda said, lowering her eyes and shifting uncomfortably at this sudden new direction the conversation was taking. She saw Ilia legs step closer and felt a gentle hand rest on her shoulder.

"I think that you should stay away from him, Zel. I'm really...worried about you hanging around him and I don't want anything to happen to you."

Zelda blinked and looked at Ilia hesitantly.

"W-what do you mean, you're worried about something happening to me?"

"Well, you can't deny that he's a bit of a freak."

"Ilia!"

Zelda gasped, hand flying up to her mouth as her eyes grew wide.

"Well, it's true. I've been watching him and besides seeming to have no concept of personal space, he's constantly staring at people. Doesn't he understand that that's incredibly rude and creepy? And he does it all the time, to everyone!"

Zelda was speechless for a few seconds, just staring at a clearly waiting Ilia until she found her voice again.

"Ilia please, this isn't very kind of you. He doesn't really know anyone, but I know he is trying and genuinely wants to become closer to everyone. He even-"

"Zel, he barely talks to anyone and when he does it's always in a simple, short manner, like he doesn't want to be talking to them."

"He's not used to talking to people all the time, Ilia, because when he was working on the wall, I don't think that-"

Zelda clapped a hand over her open mouth, horrified.

"..I wasn't supposed to say anything."

Ilia crossed her arms and rolled her eyes as she spoke.

"I already knew about all that stuff about him. Do you really think that my father could keep something that big from me? A few well placed worried words here and a casually voiced question while he's distracted there, and then all I have to do is piece it together."

"...Why are you saying these things about Link if you know about what he's been through? How is that fai-"

"Because it's no excuse for the way he has been behaving towards you, or anyone else for that matter! Whatever happened to him before is over and nothing bad is happening to him here, so why is he always seeking to be right beside you?! Why not have me be honest with my best friend and let her know exactly what I see in how he's behaving?"

"...And what do you see, Ilia?"

Zelda asked in a small, strangled voice after a few long seconds.

"I see that my completely inexperienced with boys best friend, who is also a renowned bleedingheart, is in danger of becoming...infatuated with a complete stranger! A uncivilized, cursed, shapeshifting stranger who is undoubtedly the most dangerous thing that has ever been brought into this village! And don't you dare say that he isn't because if he deciding to do something to you, do you think that there's anyone here who could stop him? He killed eight well armed and trained Bulblins with his bare hands and teeth, so what do you think a couple of unarmed and inexperienced villagers are going to be able to do to him?! Huh!? Rusl is the only one here who has been trained for combat and my father is a big guy who may have also has some training back in the day, but do you think that they could have beat those Bulblins by themselves? I don't; and that makes that boy some kind of freakish monster to have been able to do what he did-"

Zelda was shaking her head and looked on the verge of tears, hands up to try to simultaneously plug her ears and brush away the liquid from her eyes before it could fall.

"S-stop! You- you're wrong, Ilia. He would never hurt me, or you, or anyone here in the village. Be he in a wolf form or not. What he did to the Bulblins he did to save us from being attacked by them. I- I know that he cares about all of us, he just has some trouble showing like you and I do because of what happened to him before he came here. And he's not a monster, why would you even say that?! He's been hurt because of that fear of his curse, hurt by a thing that he had no control over having but can control when it forces him into a wolf. I-I know that he behaves a little strangely, but does that make him so dangerous that we can't even treat him well or become his friends? I can see that he's trying to change to fit how we live here because he can tell how his behavior affects us, but he's still always kind to us despite how we feel about him and his own struggle to let himself trust us."

She looked down again, amazed at herself and wondering where these words and feelings were coming from as she twisted the cloth of her skirt in her hands before quietly going on.

"I'd like to hope that if people had forced me to work on a huge wall and chained me up that I could still be as kind as he is. Isn't that what's important, that he tries his hardest and truly cares?"

"..Nobody would ever chain you up, Zel, there's nothing wrong with you. And as for what you said, it- it definitely counts for something, but only behaves a little strangely? I saw him snarl at Fido the other day, snarl Zel, actually snarl like a wild animal just because Fido was coming out of his house as that boy was passing."

"I didn't heard about that. Are you sure that there couldn't have been some reason as to why he-"

"It happened sometime in the morning of the second day that that boy was allowed to go around the village, but regardless that's not normal, Zel. He also walks into everyone's houses whenever he feels like and just messes around with things that catch his eye without asking. But you know, Goddesses forbid if you shut him in a room by mistake. He's over by that door and throwing it open like you were going to lock him up in there or something, staring at you like you're the crazy one! He's like some kind of once domesticated animal that's gone wild, then was captured and brought back to live with people again. You'd think that he would at least look like he'd fit in, but every little thing he does just seems to add to the fact that he doesn't."

"Oh Ilia, don't say that! There must be a reason as to why he did that thing to Fido and saying that he won't fit in is so unkind because he's trying to!"

"So you say, but mightn't the reason perhaps be that all his time experiencing...whatever has messed him up inside and now he can't fit in with normal people? After all, isn't that what the curse on the Sheikah is supposed to do? Make it so that they can't hide with normal people?"

There was something strange in Ilia's eyes, a distanced cold like she was talking about how to deal with rats in the goats barn. It was Ilia's words that struck the warning bell somewhere inside Zelda though as old fears and worries started slipping up to whisper to her horrified mind.

"I-I think that's what Rusl said was the reason for it, y-yes?"

"So doesn't it stand to reason that the curse would do more to them then just curse them into a scary form every once and awhile?"

"I-I guess..."

"So then there might be things that the curse might make him do that would be unpredictable or dangerous even."

"I- I suppose.."

She looked at Ilia with pleading eyes.

"But he would never hurt me! You've got to-"

"How do you know that?"

"He-"

"How do you know?"

Zelda froze at her friend's forceful tone, her eyes still pleading but were now becoming tainted with confusion.

"He-he never has before and he's had opportunities...he's never seemed angry at me for anything, even though I'm sure I have made lots of mistakes. But Ilia how does one prove they kno-"

"Surprisingly, I don't think you have made that many, Zel. I think you only feel that way because you were unsure how to act given his weird behavior, it's nothing wrong with you, trust me."

Zelda looked away from Ilia, she could feel something stealing over her like the shadow of a cloud blocking out the Sun's rays. She didn't know what it was, but she started feeling afraid even though she was in the one place that she had never truly felt afraid in before. Link liked it here too, he always came here to meet her even as a wolf.

"But he really liked it here at the spring, Ilia, and because it's blessed he must be of good character to like being here. Evil can't stand being here because of the feel of it, so he can't be bad at all because even the curse didn't stop him from wanting to be here and that means he is good...right?"

"Well, Zel, I can tell you that I've never felt anything special about the air or water here or whatever. So you might not want to base your judgement of character on how being here affects people, maybe judge it based off something like, oh I don't know, how they behave. Afterall, they can help that and it's something in their control."

"But people can't always help how they behave."

Zelda replied in a small voice as the dark deepened.

"But they can most of the time though, so I think that it's still a pretty solid way of going about deciding this."

Zelda didn't reply this time and after a few long seconds Ilia pulled her into a tight hug.

"Hey, I'm not doing this to be mean to him or anything, I'm just worried about you and don't want you to do anything stupid or let him take advantage of you. Just promise me that you'll think about what I've said and not let him do whatever he wants like you have been, alright? You may view him as a friend, but you don't really know anything about him so keep your distance until he starts behaving normal, ok?"

"I...understand, Ilia."

Ilia released her from the hug and beamed at her.

"Great! Now that that's over with, I think that we can go back to our day. Lots to do and think about before we hit the hay tonight, so I'll see you at dinner later, Zel!"

"Bye, see you later, Ilia."

Zelda said quietly to her friend's retreating back as Ilia raced down the path towards the village. Zelda moved slowly after her as she tried to reason out what she should do, she was scared and she didn't want to leave the spring but at the same time couldn't bear to stay. So she walked back towards the village slowly, mentally struggling with what had just happened and didn't even really see any of her surroundings until she nearly walked straight into the front door of the home she shared.

She hesitated as she went to open the door, terrified that the thoughts of Ilia's might be more objective about Link than hers...A soft breeze pushed her towards the door, blowing her hair and skirt with guiding hands until she turned the knob and pushed the door open.

Link had been staring at the solid wood as she pushed it out of her way, no doubt having heard her outside, and gave her a quick assessing look before grinning from where he stood at the counter she had been cutting the apples.

"Link, what have you been doing to my apples? Did you ea- Oh!"

He stepped out of the way so that she could see the apples were all sitting neatly in their bowl, completely peeled and cut for the pie.

He walked over to her and held out something to her on his right hand, still smiling slightly as he did. Tears sprang to her eyes and a trembling happy smile spread across her face as she stared down at the fruit bit she saw resting there. She slowly took the bit from his proffered hand and continued staring at it as her mind sped through her conversation with Ilia.

Guilt, sadness, hope, and a sudden peace flashing through her till they were all replaced with something lighter than happiness yet stronger than steel, and she closed her hand gently around the apple. Clasping both hands in front of her chest to hold in her swelling heart, she lifted her face to smile at him.

"T-thank you."

-X-

Creeping through the quiet house to Zelda's high room after night had fallen and everyone had gone into their respective dennings for sleep was far more difficult since Ilia had walked in on their playing around yesterday. She had taken to staying up late, checking locks on the windows and doors before bed, but the most troublesome by far for Link was that she started leaving her door open as to hear when Zelda came down the ladder in the morning.

The ladder creaked when one went up or down it, so he had to close Ilia's door before going up and then had to open it again before he left in the morning.

He didn't want there to be anymore trouble between Zelda and her, but Ilia was mistaken if she thought that he was going to stop seeing Zelda just because she didn't like him. Ilia's door now closed he crossed over to the ladder and climbed up to the little door at the top. He pushed it open to see warm lantern light dancing on the walls and upon fully entering the room found Zelda sitting on the floor with her back against the side of her bed, head bent over a familiar green-covered book.

He froze, not quite knowing what to do as Zelda had never been awake when he arrived before. She looked up after a few seconds and smiled at him.

"Hi, Link. I know I'm not normally awake when you get here, but I just finished translating a whole entry and was about to read it...Do you want to hear it?"

He nodded and taking this as an invitation to continue, he climbed into the room and took a seat next to her by the bed. She cleared her throat and begin reading in her soft voice...

"History was a tad boring today due to it being about the original treaty with the Zora. I told my teacher that we had already covered this and even had the notes to prove it, yet she insisted that we had not covered it in enough detail and then proceed to give me the same lesson that I remember having before. I think perhaps she doesn't truly believe that a ten year old such as myself could remember these important things about how we created the alliances and peace that Hyrule has. She seems to feel that she must repeat the important points until they have been hammered into my mind by mere repetition.

I do understand how these alliances were forged. Despite this, I tried my best to focus on the lesson out of respect for this teacher, but my mind wandered of its own accord back to my dream. Then a funny thing happened, my triforce symbol glowed slightly. At first I thought it a trick of the sunlight through the windows, but no. It was truly glowing itself and I could faintly make out the two other parts of the triforce on the back of my hand.

I raised my other hand, interrupting my teacher midflow, and asked about the historical trifecta of the Triforce. She didn't even close the book she had been reading from, simply looking over the top of it at me as she answered.

"In times of great danger to Hyrule the two other parts of the Triforce would appear. Now if we could return to the signing of the great-"

I raised my hand again, determined to get real answers.

"Why do the Triforces of Power and Courage appear only in those times of danger, but the Triforce of Wisdom is in every generation of Hyrule's leaders?"

She inserted a marker and closed the book with a thump before looking at me with her undivided displeasure at the interruption to the planned lesson.

"Hylians are the Goddesses carefully crafted people and the place of our chosen kingdom is where we feel the strongest connection to their holy power. Legend tells us that the guardian Goddess Hylia marks the true leader of Hylians, and all races that came about after them, with the gift that is most needed to rule: Wisdom. Therefore, your Highness has the the right to rule because of your marking of wisdom, but knowledge is needed to have true wisdom so if we could kindly return to page 235-"

"Would not Courage and Power also be needed to rule? Courage is needed to stand up for what you believe is right and to not back down even under pressure, while Power is a core aspect of might and is needed to get things done, correct?"

"While simplistically correct, that is not how it works in reality, your Highness. If Power or Courage were the most important aspects of what would be needed to rule, than Tyrants would become kings as well as Fools. No, the power to rule is maintained through intelligent political maneuvering and the support of your people; likewise courage is too akin to arrogance, rashness, and stupidity to be of any real service to a ruler. If one has the support and confidence of the people, then one should never have to worry about such things as you said."

"If that were so, then why are there times that this fails and the other two parts are needed?"

I knew it was rude of me to say such things, and I could tell that it was taken as rude by the way her eyes flashed as she stared at me over her glasses.

"It is not that this prime method of ruling is flawed, as your Highness may have been hoping to claim, but that in these instances you speak of external forces of another Triforce having disrupted this balance."

"Why is the Triforce of Power always bore by a foreigner if we Hylians are the Goddesses favored people?"

"The Goddesses wills are often mysterious to us and there is no certain way of knowing, however, the Gerudo of the desert only worship Din and seem to despise what they view as the weakness of the other two. This makes a higher devotional rate to Din, the giver of Power, among the Gerudo than among us Hylians who worship all three Goddesses because of the balance that they brought by working together."

"If Courage is not really needed by a ruler, then why is there a whole section of the Triforce devoted to it?"

Her nostrils flared a bit at this question, but I am not really sure as to why.

"Courage is the most ambiguous of the three parts of the Triforce, as was Farore the most ambiguous in her contribution to creation. Courage is needed far less than Knowledge because courage without wisdom or intelligence is heavily prone championing poor causes. Knowledge is the key to true power and you have been blessed with the greatest of the pieces of the Triforce. Now, unless you have anymore important questions, we shall return to page-"

"Actually I do, Professor, why does the Triforce of Wisdom only ever come to women? I have met and read about men that have been very wise, but it is always a woman that has the Triforce of Wisdom and rules the kingdom. It even appears in a house other than that of the old royal family if there are no worthy women among them, changing the noble class positionings several times in history."

"It is good to see that you pay attention to at least part of your kingdom's long history, and the simple answer is that men are not capable of having true wisdom."

"How is that possible? They make up half the population of Hylians."

"They are too swift to fight without thinking of the consequences, too prone to deciding what is theirs and how to take what they want if it is not. Wisdom is to have perspective on matters, both big and small, and that is a skill that only women have seemed able to possess in great quantities according to the goddess who gives this power."

A door suddenly slammed below, causing them both to jump and Zelda to drop the book. There was a violent rattle of the ladder shaking accompanied by a loud "Zelda!" that had her scrambling over to the trap door. She opened the small door and looked down at Ilia, who he was sure was standing at the foot of the ladder.

"Yes, Ilia?"

"Why are you still awake, girl?! Do you have any idea of how late it is?!"

"I'm sorry. I got lost in translating part of my Past book and just completely missed-"

"Oh, not that book again, Zel! Your sleep is way more important than anything that's in that book."

"Well, I-"

"Who were you talking to just now anyway?"

"N-no one, Ilia. I just finished translating that part and was just reading it out loud. Did I wake you, Ilia?"

There was a long silence from below and Link was sure it was because Ilia was trying to tell if Zelda was lying or not.

He reached out and picked up the green Past book with a finger inserted onto the place that it had fallen open to. He flipped it over as conversation resumed between the girls, but instead of seeing Hylian lettering like he had expected he saw a drawing. It took up two whole pages and was extremely detailed, but detailing of what he didn't know. He heard the trap door close and a few seconds later Zelda took her seat beside him again, looking down at the open book in his hands.

"Oh you found the map."

"Map?"

"Yes, this is a map of what was once Hyrule. This is the key that tells us what direction is what, North, South, East, West, and the sub directions are the smaller points between them. We're here right now."

She tapped a finger tip to a tiny black dot on the very southernmost edge of the map where a huge light area started melding into darker shadings.

"Why is it darker around us?"

"That's the representation of trees, these dark squiggles. It shows that we're in a forest."

"What about this lighter area here?"

He tapped a finger against the large light area.

"That was once Hyrule Field, but I don't know what it's called now that Hyrule doesn't exist anymore."

"Gannon's Plain."

He said in a quiet voice, eyes fixated on a small black squiggly line right along the edge where forest met flatland. He pointed to it and saw her shift uncomfortably out of the corner of his eye.

"That's how much of the wall they've put up, Link...I listened carefully to when Rusl was telling Uli or Bo about where it was, how long, and such, then plotted it out on the map the next chance I got. I'm sorry."

He was staring in horror at the map, not because the wall was there, but because of how small it was compared to the rest of the Field. So many people... Just in this one place... Zelda's words registered and he looked up at her with his normal expression.

"Don't apologize, you did nothing wrong."

She blinked back at him a couple times and then looked down with a reddening of her cheeks. He stared at her for a few more seconds, wondering what he had done and then looked down at the map again.

"What's this?"

"Faron Woods, they're to the northeast of us."

Even more people...

"There?"

"Goron Mountains, that biggest one is called Death Mountain."

"What are Goron?"

"They are a large, tough-skinned people that only live there in the mountains. They are supposedly very heavy, are much bigger than you and I, and eat rocks."

His eyes widened and he looked up from the book to her eyes.

"Rocks? And they still Hylian?"

She started giggling and pressed a hand over her mouth to muffle them before answering.

"No, Silly. They're not Hylians, the Gonon are something completely different and that's why they can eat rocks."

He looked back down at the book and mentally added more people.

"Here?"

"Lake Hylia, I don't really know much about there though."

"Here?"

"Zora's Domain."

"Zora?"

"Another race that are not Hylian. They can breathe both air and water, are normally silvery blue to match the waters they live in, and were the guardians of Hyrule's waterways. I don't know if they still do that or not now though."

He was starting to feel slightly sick as he pointed to another place on the map.

"Those are the northern mountains and I think that those were also the Zora's? I don't know for certain."

"Here?"

"That's Gerudo's Desert, I don't really know much about there either."

He didn't want to know more about that place or its people, and a small part of him was happy that Zelda and this village didn't know much about these things.

"Here?"

"That's the old Castle Town, but when the palace was destroyed seventeen years ago and new palace was built farther north right here. A new town sprung up around the new palace and that place is now called Castle Town."

He stared down at the map, mind locked to what this simple drawing represented and the people it held within its boundaries.

"This was all once Hyrule?"

"Yes...It was a rather big place once, wasn't it?"

He could tell that she was looking at him, but he couldn't tear his eyes from the pages. He started tracing the lines and curves of the landscapes with a finger. Ordon village...the families of the Field...Faron's fairies...Goron mountains...Lake Hylia...Zora's waterways...Castle Town...Gerudo's Desert.

"Link? Is something wrong?"

He stopped tracing and looked up at Zelda, she looked tired and her eyes were full of worry. He stared at her for a few seconds, taking in her face and deciding what to say.

"I've never really looked at a map like this before, it's surprising to see how large it all is."

She stared back at him and then looked down at the pages he had just looked up from.

"I cried the first time I looked at this map."

She said while tracing a finger over the woods near the village.

"It scared me to think about how big the world was and how small I am in it."

He saw tears glistening in her eyes and lowered his head to try to catch her attention, but she put on a smile and looked up at him.

"But I know that I'm safe here now so I don't really think about such things anymore."

She was still sad, he could see it behind her smile, but he didn't know how to help. He wanted to help her, he wanted to help this village of people who cared for a stranger they had never seen before without a moment's hesitation, he wanted to help all the people who were trapped in this map. All strangers to each other because of what Gannondorf had done.

"What do you think about when you make that face? I've seen you make it before."

"How I could help, I suspect."

Her eyes widened and he had the feeling that she could read his thoughts through his eyes. She twisted around and blew out the lamp, then practically leapt into bed. He sat there in the semi-dark for a few seconds, completely mystified as to why she did that. He hadn't said or thought anything wrong, did he? He twisted his head around to look at the blanket covered lump that was her, but didn't move from his seated position.

"Zelda?"

"I'm s-sorry, L-Link. P-please, I- I can't-"

She reached out a hand from under the blanket and rubbed a few small circles on the smooth top of her glowing mushroom-thing. Its greenish color swirled to a light pink, to blue, to finally a soft purple and gentle music started drifting through the air from it. Link instantly recognized it as the song that Zelda was always singing when she was happy, and he looked back at the small bump that he knew was her head.

"Mmmm, hmm, mm. Du-du-duuu, hmm, mm. Buuuu-du-du, mm, mm, mm, hu-mmm."

The melody repeated itself over and over as he stared at her, then he closed her book and laid it down on the small shelf carved into the bed's headrest.

"Goodnight, Link."

Came hesitantly from under the blanket, as if she was worried that he was angry. He smiled at her even though he knew that she couldn't see him and replied quietly as he lay down in his normal place.

"Goodnight, Zelda."


A big Thank You to everyone whose gotten this far in the story! Love ya!

ZeldaPotter29 : *munching on your cookies with happy tears in my eyes* I think you're stuck with me as a friend for life now, ZP. You reference Avatar tLAB in your sign-ins to reviews and quote me Lord of the Rings when I'm feeling down. You're just the best, buddy! I thank you and my other writing teachers for my improvement in the writing of this story, I couldn't do it half as well without ya! ;) Because you are a kind person who loves the art of good writing, that's why! :) I hope that Bo will come to his senses too, and if anyone can knock some sense into someone, it's Uli. XD How is school going for you now that you've had a bit of a break to distance yourself from the horror of it? XP

LuisAM21 : I'm about as close to abandoning this story as I am my own heart, neither of which are going to happen. ;) I'm happy that you like it so far, let me know how you think I'm doing on this if you can, alright? I'd love hearing from ya. :)

FCL : * hugs you back* I'm always happy to see you, buddy, no matter how long is was since I posted the chapter! *makes half of a heart with fingers and puts it to the screen* My friend, your reviews always come at exactly the right time for me. You gave me the idea because of you saying that you pictured Zelda looking at Link and Colin, I wasn't happy with what I had originally written for that part and the image you gave me was just what I wanted! And yeah, that little part you inspired was one of my favorites to write for this story, so Thanks! Always happy to help my fellow writers, buddy! ;) I hate hurting characters, but it's all going to urn out alright in the end...maybe. Mahahahah! Let me know the next time you need to be described and I'll think of something like that for ya! X) Yes, Link is nothing if not totally un-suspicious and writing him is such fun because of it! XD She just don't think he's dangerous to her, and no, it is never a good idea to break into the house of somebody who doesn't like you. I smell a cute little side story from that thought there, buddy. I can't imagine why you wouldn't want to tell him that to his face...XD I know, children are so fun to write, and...it might get that bad...brace yourself, buddy.

Write a review and I'll thank you here too!

Best wishes till next time!