Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Zelda or any of the characters in the Zelda series (if I did, I wouldn't waste my time here). I'm not making any money of this and if I forgot anything else in this disclaimer I did or didn't do that as well.

Chapter 2 – A new beginning (not what I had in mind)

Link turned and fell out his bed. He slowly sat up and looked around. The room was smaller than he remembered. Of course, in the time of his memories there wasn't a cow next to his bed and he was a lot smaller. How did Malon ever got a cow up here anyway, it was a tree house. Link shrugged his shoulders and put on his green tunic. He walked outside and stretched. Down on the ground he saw the Kokiri children play around like nothing ever happened. He watched them for a few seconds and saw they were playing tag. Mido was being chased by three kids and was ready to be caught. This wasn't right! Mido was the unofficial leader of the Kokiri, their protector so to speak. If he were to be tagged, it would be because there were no more free Kokiri and now there were still four kids who weren't tagged, including Saria. Just as Mido was to be tagged Link jumped in front of the kid who was scared shitless because of the big guy who suddenly appeared right before him.

"Hey Mido, care if I join?" Link said with a smile.

"Of course Link, you can always join." Saria said with a smile when Mido didn't react.

Mido grunted and started to run again. Link did a backflip, turned and ran away from the taggers.

A little hour later was the game finished (Mido won) and Link left Kokiri forest after promising to return sometime. Link felt in his pocket and his hand rested on Zelda's ocarina. He shook his head and decided to leave Epona with Malon and run to Hyrule Castle. A few hours later he arrived at the castle gate, which was repaired? They repaired the drawbridge and the gate in one night? Or did he sleep longer, in all the excitement he forgot to ask Saria or Navi how long he had slept. He had left Navi in the forest, he didn't think he would need her again. The drawbridge was closed although it was daytime. Link stopped before the gate and shouted. A guard came looking who was there and signalled to lower the drawbridge. Link ran inside and stopped next to the guard. He saw the guy only had a helmet and wasn't a real guard.

"You already fixed the bridge?" Link asked.

"Of course, sir, it's been three days since you killed Ganondorf."

He slept for three days? He was tired when the fight was finished but he didn't think he was that tired. Although that explained why Navi always had such a hard time waking him up every time after Zelda had send him back in time.

"Uhm, nice uniform." Link said.

The guard glanced at his clothes and shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm one of the new guards, and they didn't have any armours left, so I just got a plain uniform and a helmet. But no complaints here, I'm just happy to be alive and serving queen Zelda."

"Queen? Way to go Zelda."

The guard nodded and started to rise the drawbridge.

"Is that really necessary?"

"There are still a few monsters left and some would even dare to attack during broad daylight."

"And there aren't yet enough guards." Link nodded.

"Correct sir."

Link said goodbye and ran towards the castle market. The carpenters were still fixing up some of the houses but commerce was starting to return. He looked around if he didn't see Malon by any chance but no luck. He quickly moved on and ran towards the castle. Ganondorf's tower had disappeared and the old castle was returned. There was still some damage but nothing that couldn't be fixed. There was however a wooden bridge instead of the old stone one, but the old one was completely torn down. Link nodded at the guards and ran inside to see Zelda. He really was looking forward living here. As long as he got a nice yard with trees to play in.

Link entered the castle courtyard and asked where Zelda was. After a few minutes and many pointless directions he finally found her in the throne room looking at some blueprints of Hyrule market place. He was ready to go up to her when he saw some guy standing next to her, standing closely to her, with his hands around her waist kinda close. Link thought about this. He wouldn't lie, he thought about him and Zelda together, but he had spend more time with Malon and knew more about her. In fact, he knew more about Nabooru than of Zelda. If he wasn't mistaken, Nabooru had said she liked Link, or at least that she liked the way he looked. Anyway, Link had been away for 7 years, so to speak, and Zelda was somewhere in hiding and not trapped like Malon was by Ingo. It would be perfectly be understandable if Zelda was somewhere else and met some guy. Link came closer and saw the markings of the Sheikah on his tunic. Ah, they had met at work. Link smiled a bit at his little joke.

"Hey Link, what's so funny?"

Link looked up. Zelda stared back at him.

"Oh, uhm, nothing," he mumbled, "just thought of something funny, wouldn't interest you."

Link saw now the guy was a kid, he was younger than Link.

"So, where do you wanna live?" Zelda asked.

"You got a place with a lot of trees somewhere?"

Zelda laughed.

"We can't expect you to live in the garden. Do you want to live near the market place or in the castle?"

"I don't like crowds, so get me a castle room, with a view o..."

"That's better, you'll be closer to the guard quarters."

"Guard quarters?" Link raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, so you can train them."

"Train them?"

"Yes, who better to train them than the Hero of Time?"

"But I don't want to fight anymore."

"You give up the title of Hero of Time?"

"No, I'll come back when I have to, but when it's not necessary, I don't want to fight. And I don't want a room looking out on the courtyard, I was raised in a forest, I want to see some trees."

Link was getting mad, because Zelda didn't listen to him. Yes, she knew more than him concerning Ganondorf, in the beginning at least, but now he was back in charge of his life so no one had to say what he had to do.

"I'll give you back the Master Sword and your ocarina, but you've got to leave me live my own life."

"But where will you live? In the forest again? Like some savage?"

"Fuck you," Link reacted, this was a personal assault, "just because the Kokiri don't have your luxuary, you consider they're savages, they're even happier than many people I know. Just because you're the queen you think you can be the boss of me, well let me tell you something. I found out I missed out on a lot of things because I grew up in Kokiri forest and because I had to fight Ganondorf, but thanks to him I learned a lot in Clocktown. Did you know I spend days there just doing nothing? I just played around with the bomber's gang or Romani, played my instruments and learned life's lessons from, if you would ask them, complete strangers."

"You played around when things were dire here? How long were you gone to fight this Majora anyway?"

"All together? Five days, if I'm not mistaken, in fact, I think I'll take a little trip to Termina now just to see if I can find someplace nice to live."

"Link, wait,..." Zelda said, but Link raised his hand and apparently threw something on the ground. With a sudden windburst he vanished in a green light.

Author's note: I'm not really satisfied myself with this chapter, I think it moves a bit too fast, but then again, you all want me to skip to the good stuff, don't you?