Hey… my first attempt at a Zelda story, I think it's going to be alright.

Summary: What if at the end of Ocarina of Time Link hadn't kept quiet, and had decided he didn't want to be sent back? What if Ganondorf had a child who's plan was to take over Hyrule 16 years ago, and prevent Link from ever being born? What if Link and Zelda had to travel through time to keep the inevitable from happening? Could they do it? Would Link be erased forever? Read, and reply.

Main Characters: Cast of Ocarina of Time, some new original characters

Ages: Link: 16, Zelda: 16, Saria: 16, Malon: 16

Spoilers: Ocarina of Time

Genre: Adventure, some Romance

Rating: PG for now, may increase in later chapters

Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Zelda, Shigeru Myamoto deserves all the credit!

Chapter One: A New Destiny

It was over.

The battle between Ganondorf and Hyrule, namely Link, was finally over, and Ganon's castle had come crashing down.

He had stood there, facing her for a few silent moments. It was a bit awkward, but comfortably so. He never really got the chance to know her, but of what he did know, he had liked. Surely she was a princess, and he was nothing but a forest boy, but it didn't matter to him. She was beautiful, in every sense of the word. And in a moment... he had somehow drifted into her. She was speaking... something about regaining lost time, but he was only partially listening, his thoughts were elsewhere, until she said...

"Link, give the ocarina to me. As a Sage, I can send you back to your original ti-"

"What?" Link finally snapped out of his reverie, and said, "You're just going to send me back after everything I've done?!" Link was getting anxious now, and almost angry. "Zelda, you don't understand... my life wasn't great as a child. I couldn't go back and be happy, and surely not without y... without what I've been through, I don't want to go back. There's nothing in the past that can satisfy me, as much as what I'm living for right now. Please."

She looked into his eyes… almost with compassion it seemed… or perhaps… it was just understanding. He had hoped for compassion.

"Al… alright," she said, sighing. "I'll give you a week to think about it... I've decided to throw a celebration for Hyrule. Meet me during the party and tell me your decision."

She had been so formal with her words, it was almost as if she were a magician, speaking to her apprentice. He nodded at her, and she swiftly walked away. He was standing alone, in a vast, empty area. The sky had since cleared to a beautiful pale aura, but what had remained of Ganon's castle was barren land. He had no choice but to go back to his home in Kokiri Forest.

One week later…

The week had gone by painfully slow for Link. Every waking moment had seemed like an entire hour. He had done a lot of thinking, and had decided that he definitely wanted to stay (as if he didn't know before.)

He stretched and yawned a couple of times, finally deciding to hop out of bed. He looked in the mirror at himself… he never really got a good look at himself as he was traveling. He remembered well what he looked like as a child… a carefree nine year old. Looking now he noticed the same handsome facial structure, but most of the childlike innocence had faded away. His face was smooth and chiseled and he grinned with bright white teeth. His hair was getting a bit long, falling just below his eyes and bleached by the sun. With sparkling gray/blue eyes and platinum blond hair he was a definite sight to behold. He smiled once more, and grabbed a towel made of forest fibers to take a bath down at the Kokiri spring.

While he was washing his hair, he heard laughing. He was sure to have come down here way before any of the Kokiri would have woken up… but that laughing sounded extremely familiar. It wasn't just any Kokiri. He quickly jumped out of the water, threw his towel on, and turned around.

"Saria?" Link said, astonished. "What are you doing here? I thought you were guarding the Forest Temple in the Sacred Realm!"

She continued giggling and said, "I am, but I came down here to see you, I had to stop by to give you some things. Besides… it's only for a while, nothing's going to happen."

She reached into her bag and pulled out ten new, freshly pressed tunics. One white one, one gray, one silver, two blues, a red, and four blacks. "I figured you had enough green tunics from the forest kids, but I had to get you these. Don't worry, they weren't too expensive, Hyrule Market was having a sale today."

Link just stared, still surprised, and very happy. He knew he needed new tunics. He had four green forest ones, but only a blue Zora and red Goron tunic otherwise. He was almost worried about not looking good for the party today, and chose a black one.

"Try it on," Saria said. "I want to see how it looks."

"Do you expect me to change right in front of you?" Link said. "Turn around." She did, and he dressed.

"Done yet?" Saria said, and turned back around. "Wow…" she said, "perfect fit." She tugged at his collar. "You look hot!"

Link blushed and looked into the mirror Saria had provided. He had to admit, he did look good. The black matched perfectly with his hair, and a silver clasp the shape of the Triforce on his belt was the perfect accessory. With a nice new set of black boots and silver cufflinks Saria gave him, his outfit was complete. He was sharp, now all he had to do was his hair back at his house.

"Thank you so much," Link said to Saria, "I was really worried I'd have nothing to wear. Are you going to stay for a while?"

"Unfortunately I can't stay long," Saria said. "But I'll help you finish up back at the house."

"Alright, fair enough," Link said, and they headed back.

"Well…" Saria said, sitting on his bed and watching him fumble with his hair in the mirror. "I think it's time for a hair cut, what would Zelda think?"

"I agree," Link said, and pretended to ignore the Zelda comment. "I don't want you to cut too much off though."

"I know, I think the top length is good. Falling just below the eyes looks fine, but we need to get rid of those sideburns and trim the under length," she said. She took out a pair of sharp scissors and started cutting. It didn't take too long because she didn't want to cut too much off. He looked in the mirror…

"Holy shit!" Link exclaimed. "I can actually see my face, and it's not too long underneath and no more side burns and damn…"

"Don't swear, Link. You do look good though. Zelda is a lucky girl."

He blushed again, still trying to get Zelda out of his head. "Oh come now Link," Saria said. "You can't hide anything from me… but fine, I won't say anything. I have to go though, I'm already late to return to the Realm. Let's hope Raura isn't too upset." She kissed him on the cheek and climbed down his stairs. "I promise you I'll come see you again, bye!" He said goodbye to her, grabbed the ocarina, and left.

It seemed like a long time since he'd been back in Hyrule field even though he was just here a week ago. Perhaps it had seemed longer because he hadn't really seen the true beauty of it in seven years. The grass was rejuvenated, the sky a blue, and Zora's river was flowing freely. He smelled the sweet fresh air and ran as fast as he could to the castle, he didn't want to waste any time.

He waited for a few minutes outside Hyrule castle gates just thinking. He contemplated many things like… what if she didn't want him to stay? What if she didn't want to see him? What if she didn't want… him? He shook his head to get it out of his mind, and talked to the guard. The guard let him through and he entered the castle door. Walking through the Hyrule Castle halls he recognized many people. He snickered at Honey and Darling kissing in the corner, and the twin boys laughing again at something. The ghost of Dampé was also wandering the halls. Perhaps he had waited around a while to talk to Zelda because he wanted to look around, or maybe he was just nervous. It was probably the latter. He also supposed it didn't matter which, because either way he was still waiting around.

"Well…" he said. "Here goes nothing," and walked through the ballroom to talk to her.

-END-

Letter to Readers: Thank you all so much for choosing to read my story! It's not to good yet, but I promise it will move along in further chapters! Review!