Author's Note: Been on a Zelda kick recently, so it's given me some time to think of how I want this story to continue. I may go back and finesse the earlier chapters, but for now, just trying to grasp onto the few threads of inspiration while I have them.

Link did nothing to suppress the yawn that forced its way past his open mouth. He was in the corner of the lavish ballroom, where he made himself as invisible as possible. He held a drink, even though he didn't care for the taste of alcoholic beverages yet. After all… It was less than a year ago that he was… he tried not to think about it. After all, thinking about it did nothing but depress him. But he couldn't help it. His nightmares tormented him every night. Always with the same unanswered questions and always leaving behind scars. Scars of battles fought, and near deaths that were just barely avoided if it weren't for the fairy friends he carried with him. And so much fear… half the time, he didn't feel all that courageous. Just… driven.

He looked around the ballroom, and looked at the various familiar faces throughout the crowd. Many of these people were from the villages. There were some Zora and Goron ambassadors as well, but no Gerudos. Link wondered why. He was shaken out of his thoughts when a random arm was draped over his shoulders. "Well hey there, Chosen One! Long time no see!"

Link looked at the drunken man and recognized him instantly as the inn keeper who threatened to evict him for caring for an injured wolf. "Yes, indeed." Link drawled. Clearly not long enough.

"You know, it's been so nice and quiet now that this whole mess is over with. *hic*"

"Yes, I know."

"Better late than never, am I right?"

Link tensed and bristled. "I'm sorry, I wasn't aware there was some sort of time limit. Next time the land falls into disarray, I'll be sure to be more efficient."

The man laughed as though Link made the best joke in the world. This brought over more men. "Hey guys, look who I found! The man of the hour!" The body leech called to his equally drunken friends. What they didn't notice was Link's demeanor growing increasingly darker as he recognized each one of these men. The ones who laughed and guffawed at his expense. Who couldn't be bothered with the fact that he was putting his life on the line for their ungrateful asses.

"Hey hero! Thanks a bunch, by the way! Thanks to all of this business being over, my trade routes are better than ever!" One of them said.

"No kidding! I can finally sell my prize winning Cucoos. And not to mention the wealthy merchants that come through the town now. Yes sir, business is sure booming!" All of the men in the general vicinity cheered and raised their goblets. All men… except Link. The grip on his goblet was so tight that he was sure he was going to shatter it.

"Yes…Things are going much smoother now that all of the cowards can come out of hiding."

The men didn't know if he was making a joke or not. Some of them even tried to laugh, but it was clear even in their drunken addled minds that there was a sudden tension in the area around them.

Link continued as he shrugged off the arm that was still draped around him. "After all, no one even tried to figure out how to rid the land of evil. You all just expected someone else to do it. The one whose name was drawn from the 'pot of destiny' as they say…" He said in a dark tone, pointedly eyeing the man who dared say something similar all those months ago. He drank calmly from his cup, trying to calm his nerves, but he only just started as the area grew silent. "I bet not one of you knew that I was locked in a magical coma for seven years. I may have had the body of an adult, but my mind was still very much that of a child's… So really, if I was able to rid the land of all of it's evil, it should really show how useless you all are. After all, it was so easy… a child could do it…" He laughed darkly as he finished his drink. He grabbed another off of a nearby tray and turned back to his attentive audience.

They stood silently as though this was the first time they were seeing him, and didn't know what to make of him. Link stared them down, starting with the Inn Keeper who started this oh so very pleasant conversation. "The wolf you were so afraid of was actually a powerful wizard who cast a spell in order to keep your villages safe at night. If I had killed him, like you wanted me to, you would now be dead. All of you would now be dead…" His voice was rising, and more and more people stopped their own conversations in order to listen. He glared daggers at the men, who began to tremble in their drunken stupors. "Maybe I should demand some compensation from each of you…" He said as he advanced on them. "After all… business is going sooooo well. Business you wouldn't have had without me. Not to mention the fact that each of you made it your business to poke fun at the fact that I 'wasted my time with a wolf', and that I should 'hurry up and clear the temples so that you can carry on with your lives.' Well then… what will you give me? To show your gratitude?" He switched his gaze to each of them. He turned back to the Inn Keeper. "The least you can do is pay me back all of the money you took from me on my journey. After all, I kept you alive, didn't I?" Link's tone and manner kept the man quiet. He didn't speak, but the man did start to sweat. Link leaned in further, dropping his voice to menacing levels, "If you were afraid of a Wicked King who stayed in his castle and kept to himself? Imagine how much you would fear a Guilded Hero who has lost his patience with a cowardly Inn Keeper…"

Link finished his second drink, and laughed humorlessly again at the audience he was acquiring. "There is not one person here who was even worth saving! What did I owe any of you? What have you ever done for me in order to deserve my protection!?" The alcohol was making Link both giddy and borderline raving mad. "He was right…" He said to no one in particular, "Nothing but a Kingdom of idiots…" He said as he made his way out of the hall, tossing his empty goblet carelessly behind him. He avoided looking at anyone else, and no one dared stand in his way as he made his way towards the entrance. Once he was in the quiet halls, he could feel how loud his own mind was. He was angry… beyond angry… he's killed monsters, ghouls, and powerful demons. What really is stopping him from losing his moral fiber, and killing men? He scared himself with that thought. Was he really capable of such cold-heartedness? He didn't think so, but he almost took pleasure out of seeing the man's fear. He needed to clear his head. As he continued down the corridor, he heard a familiar set of footsteps rushing up behind him. It wasn't long before the voice to those steps followed, "Link! How dare you cause such a scene! I demand you come back and apologize to everyone!"

"Sorry Princess, but they aren't getting any apologies from me until they are throwing themselves at my feet begging for my forgiveness." He said calmly, not even slowing his pace.

"How can you say that? Those people have done nothing to you!"

"Exactly. They have done nothing. Not one… damn… thing… While I was trapped, no one did anything. The first half of my life ended up being a lie. The second half I was put in a magical coma. And I just spent months fixing everyone else's problems while no one lifted a finger to help me."

"I helped you!" Zelda shouted back, appalled.

"You taught me songs to play on the Ocarina. Woopdy doo. Sure, being magically teleported to places really helped save time. Time of which, again, no one else was doing anything. You might have spent that time training in order to get ready for the so called 'big battle'," He made a gesture of quotation marks in the air without slowing him pace, "But as soon as you put on a little show and got yourself all clean and pretty, you ended up getting captured two seconds later. Is it just me, or did you just become useless once you were in a dress? Was that really the best time? Show up at the end and act like you were beside me all along. I was on my own besides a fairy that's not even mine, who didn't even stick around after I purged my guardian of his curse, and a horse I borrowed. So excuse me princess if I seem a little bitter! I spent enough time in the villages. I heard what they were saying behind my back. They. Did. Nothing!"

"They're just villagers…"

"That is no excuse!" Link rounded on her, cutting off her advance as well as cutting off her words. "I was a child! Do you think I knew how to fight? Do you think I had time to have years of training like you did? Let me remind you that I met you less than a year ago! The world may have moved on, but I have not! How can you defend them when you are guilty of the same crime?"

"What!?"

"Seven years I was trapped, and you decided to play vigilante. You were not there for your people. You did not give them the comfort and reassurance they needed in their hour of need. All you did was run away from everything, and wait around for me to come along and fix everything. You abandoned your people!"

Zelda remained speechless.

"What were you doing when your people were frightened out of their minds? I was in a coma. What was your excuse? You did nothing!"

"How dare you!" She shouted back. "I did what I had to do! What do you know? You have no idea what I went through! What I had to endure! Don't you dare say I did nothing! For years, I had seen the signs. You were the one who needed to save Hyrule! Not me! I wasn't allowed!"

Link pinched the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes. Letting out an exasperated sigh, he spoke, "You were imbued with the elemental portion of Wisdom by the Goddesses themselves. Yet that is the stupidest phrase I have ever heard. 'You weren't allowed'… It's taken me a long time trying to figure out why I was given the segment of Courage from the Goddesses. I never particularly felt courageous throughout this whole journey. Do you think it's really courageous to do what you think everything and everyone expects of you? I was scared half out of my mind! The other half was just trying to survive! I barely knew how to fight. I almost died several times. All the time, it was what I had to do. That's not strength. That's not courage. That's being a pawn in someone else's game. Nothing more. Courage is me, an ordinary man, telling a Princess… that she is wrong…" With that, Link turned his back on the baffled Princess, and walked out of the castle.