"No." Malon whispered as she saw the ranch burn.

"Come on!" Link shouted as he nudged the horse into full gallop towards the towering inferno. Even Epona could sense the urgency of the situation and seemed to gallop faster than ever.

"Please be okay dad." Link her Malon choke. The sight of the burning buildings were hurting her severely on the inside. The lump in her throat caused her to choke. When they were close enough the two jumped off the horse and ran toward the flaming structures, even though they were already beginning to fall apart. The large wooden sign fell down, causing the two to dive forward to avoid being crushed and burned. "He has to be in the house!" She made way for the burning farmhouse.

"Malon, wait!" Link ran in after her. The two of them burst in, their eyes darting around. The ceiling was already charred, the flames licking the blackened beams. There was no way that it was going to hold for very long, Link could tell. Malon didn't care. She ran for the stairs to save her father. The hero saw the ceiling shift and begin to break. He quickly followed Malon and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back before her foot reached the third step. "We cant stay here!" He pulled her close and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her with him back out the door before the roof caved in. Anything inside was now buried under flaming wood and straw.

"Daddy!" She struggled to break free of Links hold.

"We have to put out the fire first! You could get hurt!"

"I don't care!"

"I would care, your father would care." He snapped. Hearing this seemed to calm her down enough to where Link could finally let her go. Quickly, the hero pulled out his ocarina and started to plat the Song of Storms. Instantly after the melody dark clouds hovered over the ranch and rain began to pour. The raging flames rapidly died down. Soon nothing but soaked blackened wood littered the ground. With the wreckage now cool to the touch the two began to move beams out of the way, looking for any signs of Malon's father.

"Dad?" The redhead worked faster and faster, hoping to find her father alive. After lifting up a split wood plank she gasped at the sight of her dads burnt shoe and started digging faster. She finally uncovered her father lying in the wreckage, his clothes singed and ripped. Bruises covered his face and hands. "Oh my God. Link!" She called to him. He came up next to her. After seeing the farmer lying down on the ground he had to check, he placed two fingers under the mans jaw. He swallowed the lump in his throat before looking to Malon beside him.

"I'm sorry, hes gone." There was a silence from her, obviously in shock. She just sat there, her hands in her lap as she looked at her fathers lifeless body. She narrowed her eyes before finally shutting them tight and letting a few tears stream down her cheeks. Link knelt down beside her and held her gently. He wanted to say something to try and comfort her, but nothing he could think of could be said to help her. He just held her tight as her body silently heaved with each sob. Malon didn't know what to do, her mind was numb. She had no family left and the only home she had ever known was gone. Whoever was responsible for this had to pay, and in the back of her mind she knew who that being was. Dark Link wanted to punish Malon and her father for giving Link shelter and food, keeping him alive. She gripped the ground at her sides before taking a deep breath.

"He needs a popper burial." She muttered as she wiped the tears away with her palms. Malon god down on the ground and began to dig in a open part of the wreckage with her bare hands. Link, without a word, pulled his metal shield off of his back and used the pointed end as a shovel to help dig. Without actual tools it took them three hours to dig a properly deep hole. Link grabbed Malon's hand and helped her out of the freshly dug grave. Finally they wrapped Talon in a partially burnt blanket that managed to survive the fire. The two worked together and gently lowered Malon's father into the grave. After filling in the hole with the upturned earth they stuck the fractured board in the ground as a marker. The farm girl tried her best to wipe the mud from her damp clothes but she eventually gave up. She looked again at the wooden marker. "Its not fair." She whispered. "Dad didn't deserve this." She was trying her best to hold herself together, she focused on the one responsible. "Dark Link is going to pay."

Link nodded. "He will Malon. I'll be make sure of it."

"Daddy, I swear I will avenge you." She spoke to the upturned earth before turning to leave the ranch. Link was close behind with a sorrowful look blanketing his face. He felt guilty about this, that he was responsible. If it wasn't for him Dark Link would not exist to attack the ranch. Epona trotted up to them and allowed both riders to mount her. Finally they started off toward Kakariko at full gallop. Link tried to focus on making the trip but he couldn't help but realize how calmly Malon was behaving. She seemed to get over her fathers death fairly quick, one would think she would have taken more time to grieve She had to have been bottling up as much of her emotions as she could.

"I was hoping to get up to the Gorons caverns before nightfall." Link called to her over his shoulder. "However, we spent a lot of time at the ranch. Its too dangerous to climb death mountain at night so we are going to have to stay at the Kakariko inn again."

"Fine, but we start fresh first thing in the morning." She hollered back. Link nodded in response and continued on to the small village. As they walked through he door a few minutes later they were greeted by a familiar raspy voice.

"Well look who came back." The old woman greeted.

"Hello again." Link replied, Malon, however remained silent. "Do you have a spare room."

"Plenty hun. Haven't been getting very many customers because of the monsters that have been popping up. Nobody wants to deal with that."

"Yeah, I can understand that." He nodded as he stepped up to the counter and was given a room key.

"Same room as the last time you were here sweetheart."

"Thank you." Link smiled as he lead Malon up the stairs. Once in their room the green clad hero put his supplies down just the get the extra weight off of his back. Malon just sat down on the bed, not even bothering to lighten her current load. The redhead simply rested her elbows on her knees and stared at the wooden floor. Link still couldn't help but feel horrible for his friend. Hopefully she will feel better after a good night sleep. The blood strolled over and sat next to her on the old mattress, placing a gentle arm around her shoulders.

I'm fine Link." She said blankly. "I know you didn't mean for this to happen but it did." She let out a heavy sigh. "It isn't the first time I've lost a parent."

That's when Link realized why Malon seemed to be able to cope so well. "When did you loose your mother?"

"I was six, so I don't remember much about her. Just the little things." A slight smile began to spread across her face. "She would always hold me as I rode the baby horses, never letting go. I would hide in the straw and wait for her to come milk the cows so I could jump out and scare her. We would sprinkle seeds around daddy while he was sleeping so the cucco would all flock around him and wake him up." With each memory Malon's smile grew just a little bit bigger. It made the blond hero happy to see her smile.

"Sounds like she was an amazing woman." He commented. Malon turned to him and nodded. "That explains where you got it from." He smiled. That's when she placed her hands on his leg and leaned in to give him a soft kiss on the lips before wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Thanks Link, for cheering me up." The hero silently nodded and held her close to him as he felt her body relax. The beauty yawned loudly as she kissed his neck lightly.

"Getting tired?"

"A little."

"Well come on, you cant very well sleep wearing your swords." So Link proceeded to help her remove her heavy equipment and laid her down on the bed. He then covered her with the blanket at just sat on the edge of the bed to watch over her as she slept. After a minute he began to stand up, but a hand reached out and grabbed his wrist. He looked over to see Malon looking up at him with one eye hidden by the covers.

"Don't go." She muttered. Link nodded before climbing over her tired body and laid down on his side behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close to him, letting his face submerge in her long red hair.

"Good night Malon." He whispered, not sure if she even heard him.