When the pair neared the island, Link surprised Mila by telling her to turn right. "I thought the whole idea was to arrive on the island, not sail right by it."

"Just do as I say," Link snapped. Mila stuck her tongue out at him and obeyed. They gracefully sailed past the island, much to Mila's confusion. Link lowered the sail and turned to his companion. "Can you switch places with me?"

"Sure," she said as she moved. She watched as Link grabbed the rudder and guided the boat next to the stone wall of the island. "Why are you doing this?"

"I want to go see my grandmother. I want to tell her goodbye. I owe her that much."

Mila gave him a look. "I don't blame you for that, but you have to be practical here. What if your grandmother tries to stop you? Or what if someone else sees you and tries to stop you as well?"

He remembered the contents of Aryll's letter, and wondered if what he was doing was worth it. Link narrowed his eyes. "That won't happen, not when you and Aryll are here waiting for me."

Mila sat down in the boat. "Alright. Be careful. I can't wait to meet Aryll."

Link gently climbed into the ocean and swam toward the portion of the beach under his Grandmother's house. It felt like he was here yesterday, even though it was actually almost four months. As he swam toward the shore, he saw a familiar blonde girl run towards him. Aryll. Link smiled. She probably saw him out of her telescope from her watch tower.

Link didn't even make it out of the water when Aryll tackled him with a huge hug. "Brother, I missed you so much!" she whispered into the folds of his tattered shirt. She released her hold on him and looked at him. "You look different. Your hair is longer and messier than ever. Your clothes are really messed up. And I think you got taller!" She cocked her head and beamed at him, youthful innocence radiating from her. "I'm glad you're okay. You came back sooner than I thought."

Link smiled at his sister. She looked different, too. She traded in her youthful pigtails and was now wearing her hair down. It had grown longer, too; her hair was now grazing the top of her shoulders. Aryll's light blue dress with flowers was still the same, but the top was more elaborate. No doubt it was changed so that it would still look decent on Aryll when her body began to develop into a more womanly shape. "I know. I'm glad; I really missed you."

Aryll looked into his eyes and frowned. "You're hiding something from me. Is something going on? I thought I saw a person in the boat with you when I saw you in my telescope."

"You're way too perceptive." Link stooped down and grabbed Aryll's shoulders. "Listen to me, Aryll. There's been a change of plans. We are not going to Windfall, if that's what you thought. We are going somewhere else. The girl in the boat will explain it to you. Her name is Mila and she is really nice. She has helped me so much in the three and a half months I've been at Windfall. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here right now. I want you to swim back there and get in the boat. I'm going to go talk to Grandma and make things right. I'll be fine. Just focus on getting to the boat and to Mila. Trust me on this.

Aryll nodded. "Okay. I trust you."

Link hugged her close to him. "Good. See you in a little bit. Oh, and happy very late birthday." Aryll climbed into the ocean and swam to where Link directed. Being the protective older brother her was, he watched Aryll until he was sure she was within reach of Mila.

Link took a deep breath and walked up the island, hoping nobody would see him. He wanted to get in there, tell his Grandmother he was sorry and not to worry, and leave. He didn't want anyone else involved. This was supposed to be only between him and Aryll, and yet it was already involving many other people.

He approached the door of his grandma's house and raised his arm to knock when he realized that this was still his home. He didn't have to knock. He slowly opened the door and walked in. All of the sights and smells hit him with a wave of nostalgia. This was the place he grew up in, and he was about to leave it behind for a long time.

"Aryll? Have you finished your chores?" called his grandmother from the kitchen. Link didn't realize how much he'd missed that voice.

"No, Grandma, it's me," he said calmly. He heard the sound of pottery breaking. That wasn't a good sign.

"Link? Is it really you?" The prodigal boy walked into the main room of the home. He looked at the floor, where a puddle of water and shards of purple stone laid in front of his Grandmother. He looked up at her and noticed she was gawking at him, crying tears of joy. At least she wasn't angry with him. She walked forward and wrapped her grandson into a hug. "Oh, Link. I'm so glad you're okay. I thought you were kidnapped!"

Link felt immensely guilty, putting that kind of strain on his own grandmother. How heartless of him. "Grandma, who would want to kidnap me?" he asked in disbelief.

She wiped away the tears. "Oh… ah… I was just being paranoid." She reached up and held Link's face between her hands. "My dearest grandson, where have you been? You've been gone so long; I didn't know what happened to you! You could have been dead!"

Link broke free of her grasp and looked away. This was way harder than he imagined it to be. "Grandma, I… I ran away. I'm so sorry. Forgive me."

"It's alright. You're safe and you're home, and that is all that matters. Oh, where's your sister? She'll be overjoyed to see you. She was so devastate; I know you two were close, but…"

The young boy closed his eyes for a moment. This was the hardest part, right here. "Grandma, listen. It's not alright. I may be home now, but I don't plan on staying here," he admitted sadly.

The old woman frowned deeply, the lines on her face becoming deeper. "Why do you want to leave? Do you not like it here?"

"Yes. Well, no." Link sighed. "It's complicated. I really love it here, this is my home, but I just feel like I'm meant to see the world. Aryll and I have discussed this many times and she feels the same way as I do. That's why I'm here right now. I came to tell you goodbye and to bring Aryll with me."

Grandma frowned even deeper, her expression bordering anger. "So Aryll knew where you were all along. It was an all an act!"

Link hung his head in shame. "Yes. I'm so, so sorry. We wanted to tell you so you wouldn't worry about me, but I didn't know how. How does a child tell their parents they're going to run away? They don't."

"I still don't understand why you left in the first place."

He shook his head. "Like I said before, it's complicated. I just... I feel like I'm supposed to leave this place. And I think I'm old enough by now to see the world on my own. Aryll isn't, so that's why she will stay with me."

"I see." His grandmother sighed and sat in her chair. "Deep down, I suspected this would happen one day. You and your sister are definitely your parents' children, all right. You're just like your mother, and she is just like her father. I guess I can say this is to be expected."

Link's dark green eyes went wide. "My parents? The ones I barely know anything about?" His eyes glittered. "Grandma, can you tell me more about them?"

"No, I'm sorry. You're still too young to know."

He closed his eyes, trying to hide his disappointment. He didn't even know why he tried. Every time Link or Aryll asked about their parents, they were always shot down. "Grandma, I'm sorry, but Aryll and I are leaving. Please do not worry about us; we'll be okay. We won't be gone forever. I promise I'll come back and visit you. You've taken care of Aryll and me for all of these years, and nothing can change that. I love you, Grandma, and I know Aryll does too."

Grandma had tears in her eyes. "Link, please don't go. It's best if you stay here. It's nice here, and I'll take care of you and your sister."

Link had to fight unrelenting guilt inside of him and the crippling urge to cry. "I'm sorry, Grandma; I won't stay."

A tear escaped from her eyes that were always squinted shut from old age. "Please stay. You're making a bigger mistake than you realize. Trust me."

Link frowned and wiped his eyes quickly. He had to stay strong. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. This is my destiny." He stole one last look at his Grandmother and dashed out, not looking back. The last thing he heard was his Grandma breaking into sobs. He tried to cast the heartbreaking noises out of his head as he jumped over the balcony of the house onto the sand below and swam as fast as he could back to boat. He had to get away. From what, he did not know exactly. He just had to get away.

He quickly climbed aboard the boat and sat in between his sister and Mila, panting heavily. When his breathing slowed, Mila wrapped Aryll into a hug and smiled at Link. "So, can I adopt your little sister? She is the cutest thing ever." Aryll beamed at her. Of course Mila liked Aryll. It was impossible for anyone to dislike such a sweet girl like Aryll.

When they noticed Link's sad face, they stopped smiling. "Link, what happened?" asked Mila.

"What did Grandma say?" asked Aryll as soon as Mila was finishing speaking.

Link looked away. "She said… she said was I was making big mistake. She was crying a lot, too."

"It's okay," said Mila. "At least she knows you're alright."

Link disregarded her statement and locked eyes with his sister. "Aryll, she said that I'm just like Mom, and you're just like Dad. She also hinted at the fact that either Mom or Dad ran away from home when they were young, too."

"Woah!" the little girl gasped. "What else did she say?"

The boy frowned and looked away sadly. "Nothing, as usual. She probably just fed me those lines to try and get me to stay. She knows we want to learn about our parents, so she's using that to try and get us to stay." Link shook his head and looked at his sister and his friend. "But it won't work. I've gone fourteen years not knowing a thing about my parents. I can afford a few more."

Aryll pouted. "Yeah, but I want to know."

"We'll find out one day," said Link as he ruffled Aryll's hair in a loving gesture. "Right now, we need to get going. This boat is meant for only one person, and we are a team of three. So, any suggestions as to how to make this work?"

"How about we did what we were doing earlier, but Aryll sits on the top of the dragon's head? She's small so I think she'll fit."

"Absolutely not," said Link. "What if she falls off? I almost fell off earlier and you got all upset."

"Calm down, Mister Overprotective. It's okay if she falls, because you can just drop the sail and stop the boat. If I have to, I'll jump out and get her. It's different if you fall out, because nobody would be able to stop the boat and you'd be stranded in the middle of the ocean while we sail away to our doom.

"Well when you put it that way, fine. Just try not to fall, okay Aryll?"

Aryll nodded. In on smooth motion, she grabbed the dragon's horns and kicked the side of the boat to hoist herself above the bow. "So, we're going to Greatfish Isle? How long are we going to stay there?"

"I don't know. A year or two for us, maybe?" responded Link as he began raising the sail. "Mila will probably stay a lot longer."

"That's a really long time, Brother."

He paused. "Aryll, if you want to stay here, that's alright. Don't feel like you are obligated to come with me."

"No," she answered firmly. "I want to leave this island just as badly as you do."

"Okay, great. From this point on, there is no turning back." He readied the sails. "You two ready?"

"Yes," answered Aryll.

"Let's go," said Mila.

Link kicked the stone walls of his home island to push off. Once the boat hit the wind, it slowly took off. "The wind's going in a bad direction for this trip." He took out his sea chart and looked at the square that Mila marked as Greatfish Isle. "This will take a while."

"Oh, Brother, do you remember how Orca told you to find a girl named Sue Belle for a place to live? Well, after you left, she came to the Outset for a surprise visit and ended up moving in. Orca felt terrible. Where did you stay if she wasn't there to help you?" She looked at Mila. "Did he stay with you?"

"Don't worry, I found him a place to stay," she answered Aryll. Link was thankful she didn't mention to his sister that he had been sleeping outside for the few nights. Aryll wouldn't have liked that.

"So what did you on Windfall for these past few months?"

Link told her the first half of the story, explaining how his boat broke (which upset Aryll greatly), how he met Mila and Zunari, and how he worked two jobs. He cut out a lot of the details of his job with Doc Bandam to make it sound like he wasn't doing dangerous work. Mila explained the other half of the story, telling her how she and Link became friends and he discovered Mila's "other identity", which led to Mila to explain her past in full to Aryll. She then told Aryll why they were going to Greatfish, and what they did to leave Windfall.

"You're going to reunite Mila with her mother? That's so sweet, Link!" announced Aryll.

He shrugged. "It's the least I can do for her. What about you, Aryll? What did you do what I was away?"

"The same old thing. It was really boring after you left. Nothing really changed, routine wise."

"Routine wise? So some things did change after I left?"

"Well, the postman started to come every day, and that unusual golden postman I told you about in my letter visited every so often to talk to Grandma. I still never found out who he is, but I think he was searching for you."

"That's strange," remarked Link. "Why would a Rito be looking for me?

"Maybe they were helping your grandmother?" Mila suggested.

"I guess, but what would be their motive? Grandma has very little money to offer."

"Who said anything about money? Maybe they were doing it to be nice and help a poor old woman."

"Whatever. It's not like it matters anymore."

Mila shrugged away Link's response as the boy tilted the sail to get the ever-changing wind to hit it properly. The boat picked up speed, but only for a moment. The wind immediately changed again. Link let go of the sail and groaned. "The way this wind keeps changing, we won't get there until nightfall."

The freckle-nosed girl leaned forward in anticipation. "Are you serious," she half-asked, half-stated. Link nodded and she leaned back with a huff. "Well this sucks."

Link grinned. "I think you mean this blows." She smirked and hit him across his upper arm playfully.

Aryll erupted into a fit of childlike giggles. "You haven't changed, not in the slightest," she remarked. She yawned and stretched her arms outward, similar to the way her older brother always did it. "I think I'm going to take a nap."

"Go ahead, if you can manage to sleep up there," commented Mila. "Then again, you are related to Link, who can fall asleep anywhere…"

She curled up into a tight ball and began to doze off. After a little while, Mila followed her example. Link was a little annoyed since he needed Mila awake to give him proper direction, but he didn't have the heart to wake her. He sailed for another hour until night broke. No longer having the sunlight to help him, Link nudged Mila gently with his foot. She growled drowsily at him.

"Sorry for waking you, but I have no idea where this island is. I've been sailing north like you said, but there still no sign of it."

The girl sat up and leaned over the edge of the boat, scanning her rich blue eyes over the dark horizon. After a few moments, she pointed in a southeastern direction. "There. See that tiny black silhouette? That's it. You were slightly off course so you passed it up."

Link moaned in frustration as he lowered the sail. "Move the rudder to turn us towards the island," he instructed as he began to move the boat slowly.

The sudden change in momentum woke up Aryll, who sat up blearily. "Are we there yet?"

"Not quite," said Link. "We should be there soon, though, because I can see the island's silhouette."

Mila sneered. "We're not close at all, what are you talking about?"

"But I can see the island, so we must be close!" he argued.

"That only works for small islands. Greatfish Isle is huge. We're actually pretty far. It'll probably take another hour or two to get there at the pace we've been going."

Link merely hummed in annoyance as he set up the sail again. Since they were now turned around, the wind was now conveniently blowing in the proper direction for their journey. As the boat got closer to Greatfish, Link realized that Mila was right. The island was bigger than he thought was possible. Aryll thought the same, too, for she was sitting straight up and watching the island with great fascination swimming about her green eyes. "How is this place so big?" she asked.

"There is an old legend that says that before our land was flooded with the waters of the Great Sea, Greatfish Island was once a fearsome volcano that was home to some of the most stubborn people."

"That would explain your personality," Link said teasingly. Mila stuck her tongue out at him indignantly.

"It is also believed that these people were made of rock, so when the flood happened they all sunk and drowned."

"That's sad," Aryll piped up from the front sadly.

"It's just a legend. It's probably not true," Mila offered.

As they neared the island, Mila explained to Aryll the difference between the Iron District and the Golden District. She also pointed out the river that divided the two sections and directed Link on where to dock the boat. They both decided, after a bit of arguing, to dock the boat on the tiny, polluted beach area that sat on the edges of the Iron District's metropolis.

The three children stood on the sand and stared at the grand sight before them. Buildings were everywhere, and even though it was nighttime, there were more people outside than either Link or Aryll ever saw at one time.

It was time for a new adventure.