Hey everybody. I'm back. I know it's been a while... a bit over two weeks? Longer than usual. Ah well. This week was pretty stressful. First competition for my cheer team AND the cheer team I coach. Whew. Also, I'm glad that everyone liked last chapter so much. A few of you said it was your favorite one. Also, about half of you were surprised by Link and Malon's hidden marriage, so I am satisfied with that statistic.

Thanks for all the reviews again, make me so happy.

This chapter is named after the song, The One by Meg & Dia. Phenomenal group.

FoxyMonday: Yup, you're thinking of the right story :) Glad you liked it and glad you liked Zelda. Hopefully all of your questions are answered in this chapter?

Renegador73095: Thanks again for your kind words! I'm so happy you're liking it so much. I agree, I didn't want to make Zelda easy to hate. I wanted there to by conflict between who you felt bad for ;)

dippychick16: I'm sorry! Everything will start to unfold soon. Good, I'm glad you felt bad for Zelda. Goal achieved!

Fae: Thanks for sticking with the story :) Yes! Glad I could change your mind however slightly about a character. You're such a great review...er? I love getting your reviews!

savinglifelessness: I'm so glad! Initially I had started the story at the beginning (part of that story actually makes an appearance in our flashbacks today) but I decided to take a spin on it. I'm glad it's paying off.

Hoenn Master: Zelda does deserve someone good, I agree! So I was too lazy to ask my friend. So let's see how accurate google translate is, yes? "May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands to the praise and glory of his name to our good, of all his Church."

Alright, let's get this show on the road.

I lay with my head nestled into his shoulder, my elbows pulled in tight to my body with one hand resting one his chest. His heart beat has slowed down again, his breathing steady. He has one arm carefully draped around my waist, the other is mindlessly toying with a strand of his hair, his eyes far away.

His fingers draw lazy patterns on my ribs, small goosebumps forming on my bare flesh from his touch, but also because the covers are only pulled up to our hips. It's one of those rare times when, despite the fact that I am as vulnerable as I'll ever be, I feel impervious to the demons.

The snow is still gently falling outside, the light changing as snowflakes flutter before the moonlight, shadows trailing down Link's body and over my arm. It's so quiet, the only sounds are the popping of the firewood. I know I should tell him what I told Zelda. I know that I should. "Link?" I ask softly.

"Yeah?" he asks me even quieter.

"I told her," I say, keeping my eyes down, following the drifting shadows on his skin.

"Who?" he whispers.

"Zelda," I murmur, "I told her that we were married."

He remains silent, his hand still tracing along my ribs. "What did she say?" he asks after a long time.

"She said she was happy for us..." I begin, unsure if I should let him know about what I heard afterward.

The silence filters back in between us. "Was she upset?" he asks again after a few moments.

I swallow, nodding against his shoulder.

Slowly, he lets go of me, pulling his arm out from beneath me and sitting up, bending his knees and resting his elbows on them as he clasps his fingers around the back of his neck. I sit up beside him, pulling the blankets up to my chest and feeling a pang of guilt again. "I'm sorry," I offer, finding it hard to speak.

"You did something I couldn't," he mumbles, "thank you."

I lean my head against his arm, trailing my fingers over his neck. "I know why you didn't want to," I say. I know it wasn't about the publicity, for her at least.

"It doesn't matter now," he whispers, his voice muffled, "I'm glad that she knows."

"Are you?" I ask hesitantly.

"Yes," he murmurs, letting go of his neck and turning his head to face me, "I regret not telling her. It would have been easier if I'd told her after I proposed to you."

"Do you remember what I said to you that night?" I ask as I lean my face into his arm, pressing my lips to his shoulder.

He shakes his head.

"I asked you, why you came back... after Ganondorf. I asked you why you came back from the castle, from the Princess, why you turned away the money and kept on living with us like nothing had changed," I remind him.

He nods as if he's remembering. "I told you because none of those things I left behind included you... but I think that what I said isn't entirely true... I think I turned all of it down so that our wedding, our life, could just be about me and you. It didn't have to include the Princess, it didn't have to involve the whole country. I just wanted you out of our wedding. I wanted you while not changing anything else. And that's not possible. It's selfish."

He lays back down, his eyes on the ceiling. I take my pillow and hold it close to me as I lay on my stomach, looking up at his eyes, reflecting the dark blue within them. "I wanted that too."

He finally looks towards me, swiping the side of his hand along my cheekbone and then slipping his fingers beneath my jaw. "I'm sorry we didn't have a big wedding. I'm sorry that we couldn't buy you a big beautiful wedding dress, and I couldn't buy you a diamond ring."

"I didn't want that. I told you I didn't want that," I reply quietly, covering his hand with mine. "I don't blame you for not telling her. Because you were just trying to give me everything I wanted."

He looks unconvinced, "I wish my motives were entirely selfless..."

I inch closer to him, leaning down and brushing my lips to his ear, "Let me tell you a secret... sometimes your motives don't have to be selfless to be right."

I bring my eyes back level to his, I wonder if he sees right through me.

"Will you hold me?" I ask, gently smoothing his bangs off his forehead.

He nods, folding me back into his shoulder and cradling my head with one of his hands. "Tell me a story," he says so quietly, the low whir of his voice vibrating against my ear pressed against his skin.

I close my eyes, my smile hidden from his view. This had always been my demand, but he is leaving this time when he doesn't necessarily want to. I am the one that needs to be comforting him.

I readjust myself, finding a comfortable place for him to wrap his arms. "Okay... it's starts with a girl, and a boy, like many stories start. She is not like most children, but neither is he. And when they find each other, they are not like most friends. But that is why he never strays far, that is why she never forgets him in her prayers, and that is why after seven years apart, she falls in love with him as though not a day has gone by."

"I like this story," he interjects softly, his voice only faltering under his hushed tone.

I grin, keeping my eyes closed as my limbs start to feel heavy. "Bad things happen... they both know that bad things happen. But they find the good they wish for in each other, and so they survive the bad... they survive the bad," I murmur, fatigue slurring my words.

It's quiet for a long time, his chest rising and falling slowly beneath my cheek, both of us being lulled to sleep.

Half-unconscious, I remember something, something that pulls me abruptly back. "Link," I say louder than I need to.

He doesn't reply, I'm only greeted by his quiet breath.

"She wants to tell him something," I whisper, closing my eyes once more, finally feeling brave enough. "She wants to tell him that she loves him. That she'll love him even when he's far away. Even when she's far away."

"Dad?"

"Malon," he says, his voice crumbling into a sob.

My lips are quivering, my eyebrows pulling together as I feel myself falling into his waiting arms. "I missed you so much," is all I can manage to say, feeling once more like a small child.

He sucks in a ragged breath, crying as he pets my hair, "I'm here now, baby, I'm here."

"I was waiting for so long," I cry, my words garbled by tears as they spill out. All of the sorrow I'd suppressed after he left bursting through, flooding my mouth, "I didn't think you were going to come back."

"I'm not going anywhere now, I'm here," he repeats.

"Don't go again, please don't go again," I plead, my voice muffled in his shoulder.

"I've gotcha," he murmurs, "I've gotcha."

I pull back, his hand cupping my cheek gently. I laugh, tears still in my eyes as I gaze upon his face, the only changes evident from the years gone by are the fan of lines in the corner of his eyes, the slight wrinkles on his forehead. "You were gone so long, you seemed so far away..." I trail off.

"I love you even when I'm far away... even when you're far away," he whispers.

I close my eyes, tears slipping down my cheeks. "I know."

He nods, his lips quirking into a smile beneath his mustache. "Do you remember that boy that used to come by the ranch?"

My heart stutters, "Link?"

He nods, his eyes wide with excitement, "He found me. He told me to come back here and find you, that everything had changed."

I nod to confirm what he'd been told, "It wasn't Ingo that wanted you to go. It wasn't him. It was like he was sleeping and one day he just woke up."

He shakes his head, "I don't understand." His eyes drift upwards, past my shoulder to find something at the top of the stairs, his eyes harden. I turn to find who he's looking at, Ingo waiting at the top.

They stare at each other for a few moments that seem forever, shifting gazes between the two of them, I wait in silence.

Ingo finally clears his throat. "It's good to have you back," he grumbles.

Dad's eye flash down once as he nods. Ingo turns back around to re-enter the room he'd come out of, my room at the top of the stairs where we had been eating breakfast.

I turn back to him, smiling gently, "Where did you go?"

He lets out a deep breath through his nose. "I was only in Kakariko... I didn't know where else to go. I tried to write you..."

I shake my head, "I didn't-"

"Just as well, I didn't expect that Ingo would've given em' to you," he cuts me off, waving his hand. "I'm... I'm so sorry I didn't come back for you."

"I know he threatened you," I mutter, "I heard him yelling at you that night."

"He threatened me with you," he explains softly, the regret not fading from his voice.

I nod, "I know." I always knew it wasn't his fault... though that didn't ease the sense of abandonment I fell victim to so often. I remember something suddenly, something I need to undo. "I'll be right back, okay?"

He smiles, "Okay, pumpkin."

I leave through the door we'd left open into the warm morning air, the darkness in the sky lifting somewhat. I cross the gravel path between the house and the barn and hide myself away on the other side of the barn door. I rush towards the piece of paper folded in half with Ingo's name scrawled on the front, pinned to a wooden post of one of the horse's stalls. I rip it from it's place and crumple it in my hand, discarding it within my pocket.

I look down, glad that it's words won't ever have to be read.

That's when I see something out of the corner of my eye, something out of place.

I find that I'm not alone.

Link is curled up in the corner of the barn on a low pile of hay, his mouth hanging open slightly, his eyes fallen shut. He came back after all.

I grin in relief before a momentary fear takes over. He's so still... is he breathing?

I watch him closely, kneeling by his side when I'm near enough. I lay my hand on his arm. Please be okay, I think anxiously before I speak.

"Are you alive?"

I wake once while it's still dark, though a lamp is lit on a table beside the bed, Link is putting his clothes on. I'm too tired to ask what time it is, I'm too tired to reach out to him or even say his name. I just watch him go quietly with exhausted curiosity before I drift off once again.

The next time I wake is when the door is closing again, though this time as he returns. The light that filters through the window now is cold, blue, but it's light. The sun is up, maybe hidden behind grey clouds, but it's still there.

"Is it still snowing?" I ask quietly as he wanders over to me, sitting down on the edge if the bed.

"No... just rain. It's still cold out," he murmurs.

"Where were you?" I ask.

"Speaking with Zelda... she thought that maybe if we spoke early enough... we could leave maybe... today," he says, his voice growing quieter as he goes.

I let out a breath, my eyes falling to the white sheets. "Today..."

"I know it's soon," he says. "If we leave by noon... we can make it to our first destination by sundown. But..."

"But what?" I ask.

He slips his fingers beneath my cheek and turns my eyes towards his, "But if you say you don't want me to, I won't go."

I shake my head, "No. I understand. I knew that whenever you left it was going to be hard."

"I don't need to go, I'll tell her that I can't," he urges.

"Go... and then after you come back we can go back to a year ago and start over. I'll be better once you come back," I say as encouragingly as I can muster.

"How can I know that you'll be better?" he asks.

"You have to trust me," I whisper.

"I do, sweetheart" he says almost as quietly. He leans down and kisses my forehead, "but this is something you can't control."

"But neither can you," I point out.

He sits back up straight, turning his eyes away from me. "You're right." He bends over and draws something off of the floor with a single finger, and I recognize my nightgown that had been mindlessly left on the ground the previous night. He takes the soft folds of cotton in both of his hands, his brow furrowing as he gazes down at the cream fabric. "Here," he murmurs, turning his upper body towards me.

I sit up, still clutching the covers close to me as his fingers search out the hole for my neck. He gently slips the dress over my head and pulls it down my body as I let go of the sheets, the nightgown taking their place. It's cold from laying on the ground.

"Zelda wanted to talk to you," he says, his voice just above a whisper, "whenever you're ready."

"'Bout what?" I ask.

He narrows his eyes as if in deep thought, then he rolls on top of me, grinning down upon my face. "Probably about your banishment from her kingdom, I'd expect," he jokes, "or perhaps the fact that she decided she wants her gown back."

I smile, his easy humor holding my soul up above the dark clouds, "Good thing you told me. Now I'll be prepared."

"She's just in her office," he says with a forced half-grin, "one of the maids will take you down there."

I nod. "Kiss me in case I don't come back," I joke lightly.

He smiles, craning his neck to touch his lips to mine. Something about the fact that he did worries me.

"He'll come back."

I jump, whirling around to see a figure hiding beneath the shadows of evening. I squint, trying to make out a face, unsure if they are a man or a woman. "Who are you?" I ask uncertainly.

They step forward, a tall lean man appearing under the light spilling from my window upstairs. He is cloaked in tight blue clothing, a white scarf draped around his face so that all I can see are his eyes, bright and crimson, they match the one on his chest that has a teardrop spilling from it. "My name is Sheik," he says. His voice sounds younger than he looks.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, my heart thudding as I assume he is one of Ganondorf's followers, perhaps carrying out what Ganondorf didn't the last time he was here.

"I'm here to tell you that I've been watching the Hero. That I will watch out for him. He'll come back," the boy, Sheik, repeats.

"You'll make sure he isn't hurt?" I ask, my palms sweating as I ring them together.

He nods once. "He's on his way to the Fire Temple, he will return once he's completed his duty there. Until then you needn't worry."

I look towards my feet. I'm trying very hard to stitch together Sheik's words and Link's parting words to me. Trying to make sense of it all. He must be doing it after all, he's saving us.

"Thank y-" I begin to say, returning my eyes to Sheik, but he isn't in front of me. I whirl around, but I'm alone again. He's disappeared. Silently, I go back into the house finding my bed, but not finding sleep until the early hours of the morning.

"Why aren't you eating?" Ingo asks me hoarsely, his mouth half-full with oatmeal.

"I'm not hungry," I reply quietly.

"If this is about your father-" he begins.

"It's not about my father," I interject.

"Because I'm going to get him back as soon as I can," he assures me.

I nod, remaining silent as I stare down.

"Where's that boy?" he asks,

"He left... said he had things to do," I tell him though my voice sounds hollow.

"Hmm," he murmurs indifferently.

"I think I'll start my work early, if that's-" I start to say but am interrupted by a knock on the door. Is he back already? Was Sheik right? I look down my shoulder, waiting until I hear the knock again to make sure I'd actually heard anything at all. "I'll get that," I say, standing up and leaving Ingo alone at the table.

My heartbeat starts to pick up in pace as my feet carry me down the stairs, a grin already spreading upon my lips. I reach for the doorknob, my palm sweating as I take a deep breath before swinging it open.

But who is on the other side isn't who I was expecting.

But at the same time, this person is just as perfect, if not more so.

"Dad?"

"Malon, I'm glad you came," Zelda says warmly, gesturing for me to sit down.

"Thank you," I say quietly, sitting down in the chair on the other side of her desk.

"I... I suppose the reason I... I wanted to talk to you was so that... you could maybe, I don't know, have more of a say," she begins, fumbling over her words.

I wait patiently in silence, my hands folded tightly in my lap.

She bites her lip and shakes her head, "You see, I wouldn't have taken Link from you so often... if I had known... I feel terrible, I really do."

I shake my head just as quickly as her words spill from her mouth, "No, I understand why you wanted him to come-"

"But he didn't need to. I have no right to take a man away from his wife," she says, her eyes pleading with me to understand.

I look down, my eyes burning as I hush any words of argument in my throat. I want to say them because I feel guilty. I feel guilty that she lost one of the people most important to her because of me.

"So I'm going to ask you, and I will respect any decision you make. I'm going to ask you now if you want him to stay. If you say yes, then he will go back home with you, and I will respect your wishes. But if you say no, then we'll leave today. The choice is yours... and yours entirely," she finishes.

I look up, finally meeting her eyes, earnest and true. "I need him to go with you," I say without hesitation.

She narrows her eyes briefly. "I must be honest with you, that wasn't the answer I was expecting."

"I know," I say.

"But... why?" she asks hesitantly, confusion distorting her usually composed features.

I look down at my hands, "Do I want him to go away for so long? No. Do I want to turn around and go back home alone? No. But do I need him to go... yes, I do."

"I'm afraid I don't understand," she says, still unable to follow me, though I don't exactly blame her. My reasons for wanting this haven't been spoken of to anyone, they've sat inside my head, keeping quiet.

Instead of answering her directly, I give her a gentle smile, "You are very kind, Princess. Far kinder than I had expected of you."

She purses her lips. "I spent seven years in hiding, trying to be a hero... mind you, not a hero like Link was, but something I could be to help. Those seven years were supposed to be spent learning how to speak, learning how to stand, to sit, to look, to eat, to ask questions, to answer them... my being kind is a weakness, or so they tell me."

I frown for less than a second and reach my hand gingerly out to hers resting on the desk. I lightly touch my fingers to the back of her hand, trying to reassure her of my words. "Kindness isn't a weakness. And I appreciate your kindness greatly," I say softly, pulling my hand back quickly.

She leaves her hand where it was though her arm tenses, her eyes glazing over for just a moment before she closes her eyes, squeezing them shut for a second as she clenches her hand into a fist. "I – I'm sorry," she says, seemingly shaken up.

I remain quiet, waiting apprehensively.

"I just... it was like I saw something... but it was too quick to make anything of," she says softly, her eyes down.

"Was it bad?" I ask, a feeling of worry twisting in the pit of my stomach, worry for Link.

She looks up finally, her eyes softening as a relieved smile turns her lips just barely up, "Oh, no. No, it was nothing to worry about. Sometimes I just see images... flickers of something I don't know."

"What did you see?" I ask.

A knock on the door presses the answer on Zelda's lips back within her mouth. She calls for them to enter, and soon after a guard pokes through the door. "Highness," he regards her stoically, "shall we prepare the carriage?"

Zelda glances from the man at the door to me, asking me if this is really what I want with her eyes. I just offer a small smile. Her lips seal into a tight line as if she doesn't want to go along with my desires, as if she wants to disregard them. She nods in approval to the guard.

"I'm sorry," she says again, still seemingly at war over my decision.

"I asked you to," I say.

"No, not only for this... I'm sorry for taking him away so many times before," she admits.

"You didn't know, you couldn't have known," I offer, feeling weak as I try to fight her, the guilt on her tongue.

"I think in the back of my mind I always did know, though," she begins quietly, "I... I saw you that day. I had come to tell Link something, I saw him kiss you. It was silly of me... but I thought since so long had passed since then, and he hadn't mentioned anything happening between the two of you, I told myself that nothing happened, but only because I didn't want anything to have happened." She covers her mouth with her fingers then, as if she's said too much.

I purse my lips, feeling slightly uncomfortable with her confession. "I know," I say, the only way I feel I can answer. "But believe me when I say that he didn't keep it from you to keep you in the dark."

"He did it because he wanted to protect my feelings... I know. I know it wasn't because he thought I'd betray his trust," she says. So she's figured it out, too. "Regardless... I should ready myself for the day... He'll come back, I promise you that."

I smile, the words sounding familiar from her mouth. "I know."

"If there's anything you need, please let me know."

I nod, biting my lip before I say, "Actually, I need to ask you something."

"Where are you going?" I ask.

His eyes shift down, "I have... things to do."

"You're sick. You can't go yet," I argue, desperate for him to stay.

He glances up at me for less than a second and then back at his feet, "You're Malon... aren't you?"

"Yeah, it's me," I say softly, glad that he remembers.

"You look different... but the same," he murmurs.

I feel my lips twitch, I want to say anything that'll keep him here for just a moment longer. I just need to know that he's real so that after he leaves I won't have to second guess myself. "How so?"

His eyes soften somewhat, "You're taller." I almost laugh softly, though I'm glad I don't as he continues, "your eyes... they're sad."

My smile fades, my eyes mimicking his observation. "A lot has happened."

A crease appears between his eyebrows, "How... how long has it been?"

"Seven years."

He looks straight ahead, towards the entrance of the ranch though his eyes look lost somewhere far past, a ghost flitting through them. He swallows once, his adam's apple bobbing, "It doesn't feel like seven years."

"I know," I whisper.

"I came here yesterday before I went to the forest," he says as if just remembering, "I didn't see you."

The forest? Of course, that's where he lived when we were small... though the last I heard, the forest was overrun with monsters. Maybe... maybe he's doing what he said he was going to, so many years ago. "I was working," I tell him, "but I heard you play the song."

"Where's your father? I saw Mr. Ingo... he was acting strange..." he mutters.

A cold pang like a sharp needle punctures my chest, an aching to know the answer to his question. I shrug my shoulders, looking down as I cross my arms in the hope that he won't see everything on my face. "He's alright now," I say, purposely avoiding having to address my father, "After you took Epona it was like he woke up, like he was dreaming. I think Lord Ganondorf did something-"

"Don't call him that," Link interrupts.

I'm startled by his abruptness. "What...?"

"Don't call him Lord Ganondorf... he doesn't deserve that title," he says, finally meeting my eyes for more than a fleeting second.

I nod once. He looks so forlorn, so empty. I want to hold him and tell him that things will be alright. Mostly I want to know where he's been but I don't want to have to ask.

"Thank you for taking care of me," he says so gently I can barely hear, "I made you something a long time ago... I never gave it to you." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a a small wooden pendant hanging on a frail chain. I take a step closer and he lets it pool in my palm. The pendant is a carving of a song bird, a song bird just like he used to call me.

I smile softly, the bird in my palm becoming foggy behind a window of gentle tears. "I'm glad I could see you again," I say, "I thought for a long time that you... that you had died. When I saw the smoke from Castle Town..."

"I'm sorry I didn't come back," he says, not meeting my eyes. "I told you I would."

He climbs onto Epona's back then, glancing at me once before lifting his face to the horizon, ready to depart once more for who knows how long. I lurch forward, my hand flying out as if I want to catch him and hold him back. "Wait!" I call.

He pulls up on Epona's reigns, staying her while he turns around back to me. I stumble forward and try to steady myself as I look up at him.

"Will you come back this time?" I ask, my voice weak.

He watches me for only a moment before he nods. "Of course I will."

A tear falls from my eye, but he's turned already so that he doesn't see it. I watch with my hands folded at my heart as he turns the corner, leaving me alone once more. I can only hope that this time he will come back for me, that I won't have to wait seven years again.

He doesn't come back the next morning, he doesn't come back at night either, and it doesn't do me any good that I spend most of the evening staring out the window past my reflection waiting for him, the pendant held tightly in my fist. He doesn't show though, not as the last of my candle glimmers off the glistening streaks of water on my face, not when I'm laying in my bed waiting for the sound of hooves.

I can't do this any more. I want my Daddy, I want my friend. I want everything as it once was.

I quickly scribble a note to Ingo, explaining to him that I have to find my Dad, explaining that I will even if he won't. Just like Link once did, I'm going to do something when I feel I have to. I creep from the warmth of my bed and down into the barn, pinning the paper to a post, knowing that he'll find it there. I'll wait until tomorrow, and though I wouldn't admit it out loud, I only want to wait because I'm afraid of what is on the other side of the Lon Lon Ranch gates.

I wait outside our front door for a long time, believing wholeheartedly that if I close my eyes and listen close enough, I'll be able to hear the bated breath of Epona as she carries him back.

I try not to raise my hopes, but there is this nagging need for him to be here. For me to know that he's safe.

"He'll come back," a voice says suddenly.

Startled, I jump to find the source of the voice. I can't see in the dark who they are, or even if they're a man or a woman, but this stranger has given me something, just a glimmer in the distance to hold onto.

I know that he is the one this stranger speaks of, that Link will come back. I hold onto those words until I find my voice, and then even after that.

"You write me, alright?" he asks me, holding my body close to his. I can't feel his heart beneath all of his thick clothing. I wish I could. "If anything happens, anything, you tell me immediately and I'll be home."

"Okay, I will," I murmur into his shirt, closing my eyes and breathing in his smell, trying to hold onto it for those nights after the smell of his hair has faded from his pillow. I know that it won't last long. I pray it will still be there when I get back home. "Hey, do you remember a long time ago, you wrote me a note about the rock beneath the floorboards?"

His chest rises against my cheek, a simple laugh. "This was after I kissed you," he says.

I nod, "That letter has always meant a lot to me... but now it means even more, after everything's that happened to us over the past year, it means so much. So I wrote you something back, just something small... but then maybe you can remember it when we're apart."

He rests his hands on my upper arms as I step back, reaching into my pocket and taking out a folded piece of paper. I settle into his breast pocket and smooth it over with my fingers as he gazes down at me. He covers my hand with his own, his other hand drifting up my arm and his fingers slipping beneath my sleeve. "Is it still there? The rock?" he asks me.

I smile, "I think so, unless someone moved it. But you and I are the only ones who know about it."

"That little rock was such a big deal when we were small, it seemed like such a big secret," he murmurs with a vague smile.

"It was," I agree, "when we were small."

He pulls me back in, pressing his lips to the corner of my eye. "You won't forget about me... right?" he asks, only the faintest hint of joking in his voice, the rest is dominated by reluctance, hesitancy, minute pain.

"I haven't yet," I remind him, "I won't ever."

"Right," he mutters, like he's afraid to believe me.

"I won't. Just be safe... please," I murmur against him.

"I will be," he says just as softly, "Zelda says we'll most likely stop back through on our way around... so as soon as I can be, I'll be home... okay?"

"Alright. I'll be there," I say quietly.

"Be careful on the way home, okay? Stick to the road, ride hard," he says, taking my face in his hands and piercing my eyes with his. My heart contracts as I look up at him, the grey blue swirling like a dark storm. They look so different when he's anxious – it's the difference between the sky when it rains, and the sky when it bears thunder and lightning. "I know you think it's faster to not take the road, but don't stray far from it," he continues, an unsure grin touching his lips.

"I'll be careful," I assure him, touching my finger to his chin, "don't worry."

"I don't worry about you getting hurt, I just worry about being apart from you," he says, echoing my words before he left to come here the last time.

"I love you so much," I say, winding my arms around his neck.

"We'll be fine... right?" he asks.

"Right," I whisper, trying to hide the longing in my voice.

"I love you, too," he says, his voice just above a whisper. He doesn't say goodbye, and neither will I.

"Will Dad come back now?" I ask.

Ingo glances up at me for a brief moment and then back down. "Malon..." he begins with hesitation, "I... I don't know where your father is... when I sent him away, he didn't say where he was going... so I don't know how to find him."

The smile quickly fades, tears of sorrow filling my eyes now. "What?" I ask in disbelief.

"I'm going to do my best, Malon," he attempts.

I stand up quickly, shielding my open mouth with the back of my hand, trying to keep the angry sobs inside. I exit the room as quickly as possible, nearly tripping down the stairs and out the door into the cool night. I stand with my back against the door, my face towards the murky black sky, and with the safety of a wall between Ingo and myself, I cry, praying for my dad to come back to me.

I'm quickly shaken from my reverie though as I hear the clipped step of hooves against the ground, coming up into the ranch. I squint in the darkness and see that Epona has returned, panting as though she's just run full out for some time. But she's not alone, there's a figure on her back.

I take a step towards them, the person slumped forward though he's still conscious. He looks up wearily and meets my gaze for just a moment, but it's enough.

The blue eyes, the gold hair, the shimmering ball of winged light that accompanies him. Those same silly clothes from all those years ago. For a second I question myself, but it must be him... his face is still so much the same. He is one of the few people who stayed with me even after I didn't see them anymore.

"...Fairy Boy?" I ask hesitantly, my eyes wide.

His eyes roll back and close, his head lolls to the side, carrying his body with it as he collapses off of Epona's back and onto the ground. Epona whinnies desperately, shaking her white mane as she skitters away from him. I suck in a sharp breath and hurry towards them, placing a calm, steady hand on her face that immediately mellows her, and crouch beside him, face down on the ground.

I roll him over and see his face clearly for the first time, the soft cheeks he used to have hardened into sharp cheekbones, the full lips parted slightly in unconsciousness, his soft hair grown out so that it falls in front of his eyes. I slip my hands beneath his arms and start towing him towards the house, kicking on the door until Ingo comes down and opens it.

"Who is that?" he asks, his voice rising in volume in shock.

"It's Link, that boy who used to come here when he was young," I say, directing him to take the upper half of his body while I attend to his feet as we haul him upstairs.

"He's the guy that took Epona," he says, pushing open the upstairs door with his foot.

"That's why she trusted him, he knew the song," I say, heaving him onto my bed.

"What happened to him?" Ingo asks, taking a step back.

I place a hand on his forehead and find it burning, he's coming to, but he's shaking violently, his teeth chattering together as he shivers. "I'm not sure... he has a fever. Get a bowl of cool water and a cloth," I command him.

"Sure," he says, rushing back downstairs.

"Link..." I mumble, quickly searching his body for any signs of wounds, and though there are a few bruises and minor cuts, he seems unharmed. "Link," I repeat, holding his face in my hands and sweeping the damp hair off his forehead, "Link, can you hear me?"

His eyelashes flutter as he tries to open his eyes though all I can see are the whites. He's trembling in my hands, his breath rushing in and out. He's shivering so hard that he can't speak.

Ingo returns then, walking so quickly that he sloshes some of the water out of the bowl. I pull a chair from the table over to the bed and hold the bowl in my lap, dabbing the cold cloth on his face and neck. He flinches away from me but the tense lines on his forehead smooth slightly as I proceed, his eyes showing some signs of the strain being released.

"What do you think is wrong with him?" Ingo asks, watching carefully.

"Well, he could have an infection though I don't see any serious wounds, it could be a virus, but from what I can tell, he's got some serious heat exhaustion and fatigue.. See, his lips are cracked and dry, his skin is red and hot, his muscles are tensed... we need to get him some food and water," I say.

"Right," Ingo says, "like what?"

"Anything, bread, cheese, whatever you can find," I say with a hint of impatience.

"Of course, I'll be right back," he says, rushing back out.

I continue to mop his forehead with the cloth, trying to murmur soothing words to him. After a few moments my mind starts to kick back in, trying to think of ways I learned to treat heat stroke. I take off his hat, green tunic and boots, and loosen the ties his undershirt have around his neck, having little help from him and try to dampen his neck and chest with the cloth. He coughs out a pained whimper, trying to search for my face with glazed over eyes.

"Link," I say firmly, putting my hands on his face and directing his eyes to me, "Link, look at me."

His eyes soften for a brief moment when they meet with mine, and for just a second I see the little boy that used to come here and play with Epona and me. My heart catches in my throat as I watch him, a cold sweat forming on the back of my neck.

Ingo bursts back through the door then with a jug in one hand, a glass tucked under his arm, and a platter with bread and fruit on it. I stand up to meet him and settle the things on my bedside table, pouring him a glass of water before sitting on the bed, trying to prop up his head.

"Here," I murmur, "drink this."

He opens his lips as I press the glass to them, gently allowing a thin stream of water to flood his mouth. He swallows what he can though he chokes and ends up sputtering up the rest. It's no use, he can't even hold up his own neck.

That's when I decide to take matters into my own hands. I will not watch one of the only friends I ever had die, especially not when I thought I'd lost him all these years and now he's right here. I climb onto the bed behind him, lifting his upper body so that his back rests against my chest. Now that he's elevated enough, I take the glass in my hand again and put it back against his mouth. It's easier for him now, and after a while the glass is empty. I refill it, intent on filling his body with as much water as possible.

"Here, Link. Do you think you can eat something?" I ask gently. I reach across to the beside table and take a piece of melon that Ingo had cut up. I place it on his lips before he envelopes it into his mouth, his tongue touching the tips of my fingers. For some reason I feel a hot blush on my cheeks, only made worse by the fact that I realize Ingo's unchanged presence since he last entered, watching us with his hands in front of him, wringing them together.

"I think he'll be okay," I whisper to him.

Ingo nods and then motions his chin towards the door, asking permission to go. I nod once and he's gone. I finish feeding the pieces of melon and small sections of bread to him before returning to my spot beside him on the bed, continually bathing his body with cool water.

My eyes start to grow weary, threatening to close on me. I settle my hand on his chest over his heart, feeling the pulse grow steadily slower, not rapidly like it was before, and close my eyes, just for a moment. But sleep overcomes me, my other arm making a pillow for my face, and soon I'm with Link in unconsciousness.

It's hot when I awaken, warm light coming through the windows. I blink a few times, sitting up with stiff muscles and a sore neck to find the bed I rest my head on empty. My heart sinks remarkably when I realize that he's gone, though the impression in the bed left by his body is still warm.

I lift myself onto my feet and rush to look out the window where I find a familiar clothed boy leading Epona to the entrance of the ranch just below, the sun still fairly low in the sky, the morning still early. I rush down the stairs, past Ingo sleeping against the boxes downstairs, and throw open the door, startling him into turning towards me. I won't watch him go again. I won't.

"Where are you going?"

I ride hard just like he'd told me to.

I ride hard until I can see the ranch.

I let my horse slow into a trot, and then stop all together.

I breathe deeply, looking back at the castle, knowing that he isn't there any longer. Then my eyes drift towards the ranch. I know he isn't there either. For a moment, I realize what I've done, I've sent him away, the man that I love more than anything. I've sent him away so he won't have to see me suffer. But in doing so, I've chosen to suffer alone, without the man that I love more than anything.

The realization hits me hard.

Before I can think to stop myself, a sob bursts from my chest. How am I supposed to do this alone? Maybe I was wrong to let him go. Link, what have I done? I cover my mouth with my hands, feeling the demons flocking around me, even in the light of day.

It's too late to change my mind, it's too late to find someone to hold my hand... even when I desperately need it.

Even when I'm staring into Death's eyes.

What does that mean? Well, you might just have to review to find out :)

Second thing. If you want to find out what Malon wrote to Link, the answer is on a picture I recently added to the blog. It's not huge or life changing or a spoiler, but if you're curious, check out the picture I recently colored in that I drew of the two of them. Her reply is on it. Also, I colored a picture I drew of Zelda and put it up too, so check that one out as well :) leavenodoubt1432 dot tumblr dot com