Author's Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda. I am earning no profit from this story other than the enjoyment of writing it and sharing it with others. I hope you all enjoy reading it! Feel free to let me know what you think by giving this chapter a review.

The sound of a door opening made Link freeze. "Link?" Malon's voice called. "Where are you? We brought dinner home!"

Talon's voice followed. "He might've gone to bed, Malon. You know how he is. And thinking about the castle might've been too much."

"I'm going to check on him," Malon decided, and Link heard her footsteps approaching his closed door.

Link cleaned up the mess he'd made as quickly as possible, throwing all of his old weapons and items back into the bin they'd originally been shoved into. He buried the Fierce Deity's mask underneath all of them and promised himself firmly to never open that bin again. What had he been thinking? While it would be nice to make sure that Termina was alright, he couldn't just risk the safety of Malon like that. Heck, he'd be risking the safety of everyone! If he lost the fight against the mask, who would be there to stop him the way he stopped Skull Kid? No one, that's who. And Hyrule would likely fall and Termina would too. So much for making sure everyone was alright. Link shook his head slowly. Good thing Malon and Talon had gotten home when they did. Perhaps the goddesses were still looking out for him.

In any case, Link forced himself to smile when Malon opened the door. She grinned at him, seeing him standing in the middle of his room awkwardly and decidedly not in bed. "There you are! Father was afraid you'd fallen asleep and forgotten dinner again."

Link shrugged. "No, I didn't. Not this time."

"What were you doing in here? It's all dark."

"Just…just thinking," Link lied.

Malon's smile faded. She cocked her head slightly and gently took Link's hand. "Don't think too hard, alright? All that's over now, yeah?"

Link had to pry his eyes off of the bin with all his stuff in it. "Yes…over…"

Malon squeezed his hand reassuringly. "Come on. Let's go eat dinner."

Link nodded. He followed his best friend out to the table where Talon had already begun eating. The two children took their place on either side of him, across from each other.

"Glad you decided to join us," Talon quipped.

"Me too," Link agreed.

The rest of the meal was eaten mostly in silence. Malon seemed to understand that Link was being bogged down by his own thoughts. She tried to be kind to him, but it got to the point where it felt like talking to a brick wall, so she just shut up. She knew she could never even pretend to understand half of the things Link had gone through. She knew she didn't remember the other timeline he had described to her in great detail, the one where, according to him, 'everything went wrong, and it was all my fault.' She did her best to talk to him gently, to never make loud noises around him because he was really jumpy, to never bring up reminders of his time as a hero on purpose, but sometimes it just didn't work. Sometimes he accepted her help, allowing those memories to almost dissipate from his mind and allowing that smile that she was so fond of to force its way onto his face, the light of happiness shining through the depths of his troubled blue eyes. But other times, like tonight, he just stared at whatever was in front of him despondently, nodding to show he was listening but not receiving, his mind way too far down memory lane to pull him back to reality anytime soon.

Those times were the hardest. Malon hated to see him like that. Hated that a twelve-year-old like herself had been almost through hell and back. Hated that he'd seen things no one should ever have to see, done things no one should have to do, heard things no one should have to hear. But the thing she hated most of all was that he felt he needed to bear it all alone. No matter how many times she insisted she was there for him, that she was willing to listen, that she wanted to understand, he never willingly brought it up. He promised her that he knew she wanted to help but couldn't bring himself to unload the kind of pain he carried on her. In his mind, she was pure and innocent, and he never wanted that innocence to fade.

When dinner was over, Link muttered a quiet goodnight before climbing into bed. He still couldn't get the stupid mask off his mind. He stared at the bin it was in for hours, never daring to so much as blink. He couldn't hear it anymore. He wondered if he'd even heard it at all. Maybe he was just going crazy after all this time. Maybe he was hearing things. With all he'd been through, it was entirely possible.

Link arrived at the conclusion that he was not going to be sleeping tonight after his third or fourth hour staring at the bin pointedly. By now, it was dark outside. He could hear the gentle hoot of an owl somewhere outside the house. He forced himself to try and focus on the gentle sound, trying to time it with his own breathing.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

It sounded like an ocarina, now that Link was really listening.

No.

Stop thinking.

Go to sleep.

But he couldn't. He just couldn't do it. His mind was far too active tonight to go to sleep. He threw his covers off of himself and stood up. He should go take a walk. Clear his thoughts. See Epona. Maybe she could help.

Link passed the bin, his eyes still staring at it.

Can't sleep, little hero?

"Go away," Link muttered. He forced himself to keep walking. "I don't want to talk."

Well, I do. And you're the only one who can hear me.

"Shut up. I'm tired."

If I recall, you used to go weeks without sleep. Has the mighty Hero of Time become dependent on a good night's sleep every night?

"No. I can stay up. I just don't want to. I was going for a walk anyway." He was standing in front of his door now, his hand hovering over the doorknob. Open it. It's not that hard.

Well, in that case allow me to join you.

"I am not carrying you out there."

You don't have to. You can hear my voice no matter how far you go. We're connected, in case you weren't aware. Our time spent as one has joined us together, to a degree.

"I have nothing to do with you! We are not connected, we were never one! You are a liar!"

I'm not, and you know it. If my words did not ring true in your ears, you wouldn't be listening to me still. Go on. If you really think I'm that much of a liar, go on and leave this room.

"I will!" Link cried. He forcibly grabbed the doorknob and yanked his door open. He almost ran down the hall with his head in his hands, trying to force the mask's voice out of his head. He needed to get away. He didn't know how far he had to go, only that he needed to escape.

Don't you see? You can't run from me. I am part of you.

"No, you aren't!" Link screamed, still running. He wasn't watching where he was going and nearly crashed into the dining room table. He kept running, searching for the door to the outside, but his vision was going blurry and he couldn't find it. The mask was laughing at him now, the sound grating in his mind and drowning out all his senses.

"…Link?" someone's voice called. "What are you doing up at this hour?"

Link didn't know who it was, he could only hear the mask's suffocating laughter. He needed to get out. He needed fresh air. He couldn't breathe. "Go away," he muttered. "Go away, go away, go away!"

"Link!" the voice called again. It sounded hurt. "It's just me! Malon! Are you…are you okay?"

Malon…Malon, Malon, Malon. Sounded familiar. Then someone was tapping him on the shoulder and his vision cleared and the laughter vanished, and his head quit pounding. Malon was standing before him, a hand over her mouth. Her other was on his shoulder. "What's happened to you?"

Then Link realized what he'd said and what she'd heard and felt absolutely terrible. He'd rather have taken a direct blow from a lizalfos's blade than have said that to her. It's not like he had been talking to her. But he knew that's what she'd heard. She couldn't hear the Fierce Deity. It must've sounded like he yelled at her!

"I wasn't talking to you," Link mumbled hurriedly. Malon remained seated beside him, despite the hurt evident on her face. The two were curled up in the corner of the dining room, Link pulling at his sleeves angrily. "There was this…this thing talking to me. In my head." He sighed, heaving his shoulders forward and resting his head in his hands. "That sounds crazy. Maybe I'm crazy. I don't know. I'm sorry for waking you up."

Malon took Link's hand, stopping him from running his fingers through his hair almost nervously. He resisted for a moment still wanting fidget numbly, just for the sake of giving his hands something to do. But he forced himself to relax and give into her gentle touch. "You aren't crazy, Link."

Link coughed out a laugh. "Yes, I am. I'm the only one who remembers half of my first adventure. And, technically, now it didn't even happen!"

"You need to calm down, Link," Malon went on softly. "Argue with me if it makes you happier, but I don't think it does. I don't know what's gotten into you tonight, but please let it go. You are not crazy, no matter what that stupid voice in your head has to say."

As usual, Malon was right. Link was being childish. And throwing a fit. Not particularly heroic. He suddenly felt ashamed of himself. "Sorry…let's go back to bed."

Malon smiled tiredly. "Okay."

Link helped Malon stand up. The pair began walking down the hall towards their respective rooms, but Link paused in Malon's doorway. "C-can I stay with you tonight?" he asked quietly, almost shamefully. "I don't want to be alone with that thing again."

Malon was stunned. The idea that her presence would be enough to comfort the Hero of Time himself was more than baffling. He'd told her stories of his triumph over dragons, giant spiders, ghosts, and other terrible creatures she couldn't even begin to fathom. And she'd seen with her own two eyes the way he could stare down charging and angry horses, making sure to roll out of the way at the last available second and pull himself onto their backs to calm them down. He was brave. Strong. Powerful. She knew he kept tons of forbidden and dangerous items in that one bin in his room. The bin he never let her open. The bin he stared at with clear contempt and even hatred for. The bin he longed to forget.

So tonight, as Link stood in her doorway looking for all the world like he was trying not to cry, Malon couldn't help but wonder what he wasn't telling her. Something really bad must've happened tonight. And that voice in his head…surely it had done more than just talk. Insults and twisted words wouldn't do this to him. He was better than that. He'd heard it all before.

But whatever had happened, whoever that voice was, Malon hoped the bad guy hiding behind it was ready for some serious pain. Because while Link was the Hero of Time, he was also Malon's best friend. And no one messed with Malon's friends. Not demons, not gods, not evil kings. That baddie better watch itself.

But Malon couldn't begin enacting her revenge tonight. And she knew she shouldn't tell Link what she was thinking. Then he'd just get worried about her, the way he always did whenever something relatively negative happened around the ranch. She nodded instead. "You can sleep in my chair. Its super comfy. Father got it for my birthday two years ago. I'll put a blanket on it, and you'll be all set."

Link nodded sheepishly, fidgeting again with his fingers behind his back. "Thanks." Then, after a moment or two, "Sorry."

Malon sighed. "Yes, how dare you want to spend a night with someone else after hearing some creepy voice in your head. What a terrible person you are."

A ghost of a smile pushed its way onto Link's lips. And that was good enough for Malon. She finished setting up the chair, even going so far as to give Link one of her extra pillows for the night. Then she bid him goodnight and climbed into her bed. She was asleep within minutes.