I froze when I heard the Deku sprout mutter my name: my real name. The truth was, my name wasn't Maple. Leah had been the name given to me by my adoptive parents, when I was an infant. I had adopted the alias of Maple years after my curse had been set upon me, as a way to stay hidden.

"I - I think you're mistaken," Link said after a few moments of silence, "This is Maple. You remember her."

"Ah, yes, this is Maple. But Leah, as well."

Damn you, I thought to myself. Leave it to the Deku Tree to be honest...even if he knew I wasn't ready for it...

"W - what is he talking about?" Link asked me, turning to look at me with eyes large with confusion.

I ignored him for the moment. "Nice to see you too, Deku Tree. I - I must go, however. Seems as if I have some...explaining to do here..."

The Deku sprout bowed slightly. "Good luck, old friend."

"M - Maple?" Link said, his voice oddly high.

I sighed and walked toward him, grabbing his arm and pulling him back toward the forest. "I'll explain everything."

We stopped when we reached a small pond outside of the meadow. This section of the forest was quiet, and I motioned for Link to sit down. I took off my shoes and dipped then into the cool water.

"So, are you going to explain?" Link asked after a few minutes of silence.

I closed my eyes and sighed. "My name...isn't Maple."

"I figured that much." I didn't miss the hurt and anger in his voice.

"My real name is Leah. Maple is a name I take every ten years or so, so I can hide from curious eyes easier."

Link was quiet for a long moment. I looked over at him to see he was deep in though. "What do you mean...'every ten years or so'?"

I was quiet. My heart was pounding loudly in my chest. I didn't know if I was quite ready to reveal my secret to him, yet. But, whether I was ready or not, it was clear that I couldn't hide it from him anymore.

So I told him...everything. I told him about how I was raised in a small tribe far outside of Hyrule. How, when I turned twelve, I ceased to age. How I was eventually forced to leave my tribe and search for a new home. How I came upon Hyrule and learned about the Royal Family, how I met the Great Deku Tree when he was much smaller and younger, and how I eventually gained the trust of the Royal Family. How they had kept me safe for the last few hundred years... I explained how every ten years or so I would change my name, so as to not draw suspicion from people who might have recognized me.

The only thing I didn't tell him about were the Dark Interlopers... How four light spirits had asked for my help to create a parallel world in which to banish a group of evil-doers...

By the time I was done, the sun had disappeared behind the trees. It was then I realized that we must have been in that temple for a lot longer than we suspected. When we had come out, the sun had been in relatively the same place in the sky, and since we had been there for more than just a few minutes, it meant that we had been there at least twenty-four hours. Now it was dark again, and suddenly I was very tired.

I stood up, Link oddly quiet next to me, his feet still in the water. "I'm going to change, really quick, so I can wash my things. You should do the same."

I changed behind a large tree, into a shirt and pair of shorts. When I came back to where Link was still sitting, I noticed that he hadn't moved at all, clearly still deep in thought. The only difference was that his legs were pulled up to his chest, and his chin was resting on his knees. I suddenly felt scared, looking at him. Did he hate me? Think I was an abomination?

... Would he still love me?

"You should..." I couldn't continue.

Link seemed to snap out of it and looked up at me, his eyes oddly blank. When he saw that my dress was folded over my arm, he nodded. He then stood up and, not even bothering to hide, took off his tunic, the shirt underneath, his hat, and his gloves, leaving on only his pants. He set all his equipment by a nearby tree. For just a moment I stared at his extremely toned chest, my curiosity finally satisfied. But, for some reason, I really didn't care. All I cared about was if he hated me or not...

Link sat back down, scooting closer to the water as he dropped the clothes into the water. I sat down next to him and handed him half of my soap, and he scrubbed at his tunic, saying nothing. I used the other half to scrub the blood and sweat from my dress.

After about five minutes, Link suddenly huffed and slapped his slightly submerged tunic, the sound making me jump.

"Why the hell didn't you just tell me?" He yelled.

I froze, not looking up at him. This was exactly how I had feared he would act...

Suddenly I dropped my dress and dove into the water. It was deep enough that my toes barely skimmed the bottom, so I threw my weight down, so that my bottom touched the floor. I used my magic so that I had no need to breath, and I wrapped my arms around my legs. My hair kept trying to make me surface, since there was so much and all of it floated, so it took quite a bit of effort to stay that way, but I did. I didn't move until I felt the water ripple around me, the water pulsing. I looked up to see Link, just as he grabbed my arm and pulled me to the surface.

"Are you trying to kill yourself?" He exclaimed the moment my head was above the water. I noticed that he stood easily in the water, while I had to tread in order to keep my head above the water properly. Link noticed this at about the same time, for he grabbed my elbow and held me up.

"No..."

"Then what the hell is wrong with you?" His grip tightened on my elbow because of his frustration and I flinched. He quickly loosened his grip and took a deep breath. "Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, now calmer. I still heard the anger...

My eyes burned. "I... I didn't want you to hate me."

I felt my body heave slightly from a sob that broke through the surface, and I dropped my head backwards, trying to hide my face from him. But his hands were suddenly on either side of my face, pulling it back up so that I was looking at him straight in the eyes. At first his hands were rough, angry. But I knew that my now red eyes gave away my tears (the tears blended with the water on my face), because his grip was suddenly soft, and the anger in his eyes suddenly dimmed.

"I... I could never hate you," he said, softly. "I just don't understand why you felt you couldn't trust me..."

I sobbed again but I closed my eyes, calming myself so my voice wouldn't shake. Link's thumbs caressed my cheeks.

Quite suddenly, Link's lips pressed to mine. My eyes shot open in surprise. My heart jumped up into my throat, my cheeks burned. But then, his timid lips were gone and he was staring at me.

We just stared at each other, his eyes just as shocked as mine. But then, that all to familiar smirk knit its way across his face and his eyes smoldered.

"I could never hate you," he repeated.

The shock wore off and suddenly I was elated! He had kissed me!

I smiled and pulled my face from his hands, pushing myself on top of the water so that I was floating on my back, staring up at the now starry sky. All I could think about was his kiss, how sweet and timid it had been... How it had seemed too short... I found myself reaching up with my hand, touching my lips where they still tingled from his...

I turned slowly in a circle, until I could turn my head and see Link sitting back on the bank, watching me with that ever-present smirk. Even Navi had wandered out of his hat and was resting on the ground next to him.

"What're you thinking about?" He asked when he realized that I was looking at him.

I smiled and looked back up at the sky. "You..."

I heard him chuckle and I felt the water ripple as he slid back into the water. His face appeared above mine and I felt his hand lightly caress the spot between my shoulder-blades. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to shop the shudder that had threatened to shake my body.

"How do you do that?" He asked, his voice soft but clearly curious. "I'm a good swimmer, but I've never seen anyone float like that before..."

I smiled, opening my eyes to look at him. "Practice."

"Can you teach me?" He asked.

"Someday..."

"Why not now?"

I giggled. "I want to clean off; I'm filthy after going through that temple. That, and I'm exhausted. Not good conditions to be in to teach."

Link smirked and the hand that was on my back increased in pressure, pushing me upright. His hand then cupped my cheek. "Then clean up and stop messing around..."

I nodded and then used the soap on the bank to clean my face, arms, and legs, floating in the water the entire time. Link did much the same with his soap, and I tried my best not to sneak peeks over at him and was highly unsuccessful. We then sat next to each other, our clean clothes hanging on a low branch nearby. Link leaned back, his arms behind his head, elbows pointing out on either side. I laid back as well, closing my eyes.

"So, about this 'curse'," Link suddenly asked after a good long moment.

"Yes?"

"It's obviously broken, because you're not twelve anymore..."

"Yes..."

"What broke it?"

I shrugged, looking over at him. "I don't really know..."

He stared up at the sky for a long moment. Then his eyes widened as something hit him (not literally, of course...). "'It's gone'..." He whispered.

"What?"

"That's what you said when we met. 'It's gone'." He looked at me. "It was me! Something about me broke the curse, huh?"

I smiled and looked back up at the sky, closing my eyes again. Before I knew it, I was out.

The next morning, I slowly felt myself coming to. As I did, I realized that my arm was wrapped around something that was breathing and something was crawling through my hair...

I sprang up, horrified with an image of a spider moving around my hair, my hands springing up to my head to yank whatever it was out. I then realized that the thing my arm had been wrapped around was Link, and his arm was frozen in such a way that told me that it hadn't been a spider crawling through my hair...it had been his fingers.

I was horrified all over again when I realized that the hair under my fingers was frizzy and tangled, sticking up every which way; a complete mess.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, and I immediately turned and dunked my head into the pond we had fallen asleep by, letting the water soak my head and hair. I then reached into my pouch and pulled out my brush, brushing through the now tangled mess.

"Aw, I thought it looked cute..."

I froze in mid stroke, suddenly remembering that Link was still laying there. I had completely forgotten. His arm was tucked back behind his head again, instead of frozen above where my head had rested on his chest. I felt my cheeks flush as I went back to taming my wild hair. Once it was done I used my magic to quickly french-braid my hair: I wasn't in the mood to use four hours of the day doing it myself.

Link sat up and stretched and I realized that his chest was still bare, his muscles distracting me as they moved. He then stood up and walked over to where our clothes were hanging, long since dry. He pulled on his shirt and tunic, strapped on his sword and quiver. I took my dress and, while he was preoccupied with donning his equipment, hid behind a tree and changed into my clean dress. By the time I was done, Link was shifting through a bush, yanking at it every once in awhile.

"What're you doing?" I asked.

He stood up and, tucked in a cloth he had found in the pouch I had left by the tree, was a large assortment of berries, along with the bread I had brought with us.

"Getting breakfast!" He smiled, and I noticed that he had seeds in his teeth and his lips were blue: apparently he had eaten a few blueberries already

I laughed, walking over to my pouch and pulling out an extra cloth, getting it wet and using it to wipe his face. His cheeks reddened, but he smiled and held out the cloth now full of delicious looking berries... Link had even managed to find a couple of apples.

We sat and ate, talking and laughing. I was absolutely euphoric; he knew about the real me and didn't care! He still looked at me the same, still kept grabbing my hand at random intervals to stroke it with his thumb. It was as if nothing had happened.

When we were done eating we left the forest, fingers entwined as normal. There was a strange intimacy about it, however, that made both of us blush whenever we locked eyes.

Out in the field, instead of heading back to Kakariko, I led him toward the ranch. Since Talon had moved to the village, I had been worried about Malon and the horses. Now that we had a short moment, I wanted to check on them... Link didn't ask questions and just followed.

By the time we had reached the ranch, the sun was on its decent, and the sky had turned a bright pink. We walked up the trail, the sun getting steadily lower. When the house and barn were in view, I immediately walked into the house, noticing that it was deserted. We then walked into the barn, where Malon was on the floor with a bucket of soapy water and a rag, which she was scrubbing the walls of the stalls with. Link and I just looked at each other and walked back outside.

When we got closer to the corral, I realized that it was fenced off. Standing in front of it was a creepy man, who was extremely lanky with greasy brown hair and bulging eyes.

"Hello there. This here is Lon Lon Ranch," the man said, with an air of superiority. "I am Ingo, the owner of this ranch. I run this place much better than that lazy fool, Talon." He then looked between the two of us. "You want to ride a horse? Ten rupees for ten minutes! Otherwise, get out of here!"

A thought suddenly crossed my mind. Was this man a gambler...?

"We want to ride," I said.

Ingo looked at me. "Do you? That'll be ten rupees, then!"

I pushed Link forward. "Go ahead," I muttered.

Link gave the man ten rupees and we started to walk in.

"Hey!" Ingo yelled. "You can't ride unless you give me some - "

"I'm not riding," I said sternly, cutting him off. "He doesn't know how to ride so I'm going to teach him."

"No going in without paying!" Ingo yelled, spittle flying everywhere, his mustache quivering dangerously, as if it was going to fall off any moment.

I grumbled and handed him fifty rupees. "There! Total of sixty rupees! That gives us one hour!"

Ingo took the money greedily and then turned his back, pocketing the gems with an odd look on his face. "Thank you so much! Heh heh!"

Link was a fast learner, although he had much room for improvement. By the end of the hour, Link understood how to steer the horse and make them run faster.

"Time's up!" Ingo suddenly yelled.

I ran up to him and handed him another ten rupees. "Just a little longer..."

Ingo nodded and then stood next to the gate, watching.

"What's the point of this?" Link asked as he hopped down from the horse he was on. I slapped its rear-end and it neighed and ran off.

"Ingo can't pass up a good wager," I said, a smile spreading across my face. "I bet if you can get on Epona, he'll challenge you to a race. He might bet the horse you're on."

"So, you're trying to win me a horse?" Link asked doubtfully, confused.

"Yes. Now, play that song!"

"What song?"

"That song Malon taught you! The one Epona like so much!"

Link's eyes light up as he pulled out his Ocarina. He played the tune and suddenly a mare, who had been hiding in the far corner of the corral, ran over to us, neighing happily.

"Now get on and strut around Ingo!"

Link did as I said, getting on Epona and taking off. She was definitely much faster than the other horses had been.

After a few minutes, like I had suspected, Ingo approached Link. They were too far away for me to hear what was being said, but from the looks of it, it involved rupees.

Link trotted over to me, still on Epona.

"You were right! He challenged me to a race!"

"Did you agree?"

"Yes! But, he didn't bet Epona. Just some rupees..."

"Well, do it. Trust me."

I watched from inside the corral as they started the race. Ingo put me in charge of the countdown, and when I screamed, "GO!" they took off.

Epona was so fast that it wasn't even a challenge. Link pulled away, running around the fence of the corral, and crossed the line well ahead of Ingo.

They hopped off the horses and Ingo screamed, pulling at his hair. "Sh - shooooot! If the great Ganondorf found out about this humiliation... Hey, you!" He suddenly screamed, pointing a finger at Link. "How about another race! If you win... You can keep...the horse!"

"Alright."

Link and him shook hands.

They were soon back on the horses, me still inside of the corral. As I started to count down, Ingo, in his desperation, took off before I had said so, and Link growled, kicking Epona to make her go.

This race was dirty, Ingo trying to knock Link off of Epona the entire time. But Epona was smart, dodging the man's attempts with ease. Then, as they neared the finish line, neck-to-neck, my heart pounding, Link slapped Epona's rear, sending her forward and over the line first.

"YES!" I screamed, jumping up and down as I opened the gate and ran over to Link, who had jumped down from Epona. I threw my arms around him, squealing, and then someone screamed.

We turned and realized that Ingo had abandoned the horse he had raced with and was now standing next the barn, near the gate.

"What's up with that horse?" He yelled, pulling on his hair. "Is that Epona? How did you tame that wild horse right under my nose?" He was now so furious that he was ranting. "I was going to present that horse to the great Ganondorf... But I bet it on the race and lost! Shooot!"

Ingo suddenly laughed madly, a wild look coming over his face. "Hah ha hah! As I promised, I'll give the horse to you... However... I'll never let you leave this ranch!"

Ingo then suddenly swung closed the large gate, blocking the only way out.

Link looked at me, his eyes wide. "What do we do?" He asked.

"Get on."

Link put his foot in the stirrup and pulled himself up. Once he was up, he lowered his hand and pulled me up behind him.

"See how the ranch is completely surrounded by a large fence?" I asked, pointing to the fence I was talking about while grabbing ahold of his waist.

"Yes."

"Jump it."

"What?" He yelled.

"Just go!" I reached back, slapping Epona, and she reared and took off, straight for the fence.

I could feel the tension building higher in Link as we neared the fence. Both of us knew that the ranch was built on a giant cliff, and jumping from that high up wouldn't be pretty...

Epona suddenly jumped into the air, soaring into the air. The movement jerked us both, and we held tighter, Link to the saddle and I to him. Just when she was about to land, I threw out my hand, casting a spell that slowed the decent...

Epona landed, soft and smooth as ever. She then reared and neighed happily.

Link looked back at me, his eyes wide.

"Congrats!" I said. "You just won yourself a horse!"