A/N:

Hey! This chapter was summated a lot sooner than imagined. I guess for the readers it's a good thing. It may seem a little long, but the only reason for this is because there's much dialogue. I don't really know if it's a good or bad thing, but o well. Here it is!

Enjoy!

Chapter 2: A Faithful Meeting

" Saria!"

Saria turned as she watched Mido walk across the bridge over toward her. She smiled softly, as she quickly put the wooden Ocarina away.

" Everyone has looked everywhere," Mido crossed his arms. " The boy isn't around."

" He left the forest…" Saria answered looking down the tunnel that leads to Hyrule field.

" How long have you know?"

Saria chuckled. " A while…"

" Well?" Mido raised an eyebrow tapping his foot. " What now?"

" Nothing, everything is fine."

" How can you say that? The boy was weak, and you let him go off on his own."

" He's going home." Saria placed her hands on the rope as she looked down below.

" Home?" Mido was confused by her statement.

Saria faced him and smiled. " Yes, the boy—he is fine now."

Malon cheerfully smiled as she lightly patted the cows once finishing milking them. She struggled and carefully, trying not to knock over the full bucket, carried it to the other three in the corner. After wiping her hands with the white rag, she threw it on her shoulder and left the stables heading back to the house.

It was her morning to cook breakfast. Her father had gone to Hyrule Market to complete his deliveries, while Ingo sat outside with the horses. Due to them being short in assistance, they switched off the jobs to do daily, so one wasn't stuck doing the same thing for the entire week. Although, Talon was the only one who always made the deliveries. Malon remembered when she was a child that he would always go to the castle, leaving her alone. She would always wait in Hyrule Market, for him, knowing he had fallen asleep again. Lately, she's shocked her father has actually been active. To her, it's not the same—she's used to seeing her father being indolent.

Malon had gotten right to work fixing breakfast for the three of them. She was hoping that her father would make it back in time, so all of them can actually eat together. She can sense that her father would be too tired to eat, usually after he comes back from the castle, he heads right to bed. It's his typical morning routine; nothing has ever changed.

As Malon had set the table, the front door opened, as Ingo walked into the room. He licked his lips eying the food that was served. Malon watched carefully as he quickly pulled his chair out and sat down about to eat. He hunched over his food, his mouth open ready to take his first bite, but froze at the sound of Malon's cough. His eyes rose to find the young woman in front of him, her hands on her hips with a striking glance her in eyes.

" What now?"

" Did you wash your hands?" Malon crossed her arms. " Honestly, you just got finished with the horses. You'll get sick, you know?"

" When did you become a mother?"

Malon raised an eyebrow; she wasn't one to mess with. Ingo sighed deeply and stood, refusing to get in an argument with her. Every morning is the same thing.

" Fine!" Ingo stomped back outside.

Once she finished cleaning her hands, Talon walked in rubbing his throbbing eyes. He yawned and bypassing the table heading right upstairs to his room. Malon hurried after him and grabbed his arm pulling him back to the table. He moaned, giving her a clue that he wasn't in the mood for food. Malon knew that he was going to act this way; it was his typical thing. She noticed that he hasn't eaten a lot lately; it's probably the reason as to why he's so tired. Not that he never was.

" Please, just a little bit," Malon urged as she grabbed her bottle of milk.

" Oh, Mal, I'm not in the mood…" Talon explained politely.

" But I've never seen you eat anymore…" Malon sighed. She sat her cup down on the table knowing that she wasn't going to win. Maybe a small talk will get him to take a couple of bites. When in conversation, her father tends to forget about what he's doing. " So, how was the trip?"

" Same as usual," he answered slowly. " Nothing knew."

" How's the Princess?" Malon sat down across from him, twirling the ends of her hair around her index finger.

Talon shrugged, " She's fine." He blinked looking as if he remembered something. " Although, many people were talking about the bright light we witnessed two days ago."

" What did they say?"

" Nothing really interesting, except that the light may be the start of something."

Malon was silent for a moment. Her thoughts went to something evil, something dangerous. Hyrule doesn't need any more danger; the threat with Ganondorf was dreadful enough. Especially with Link, missing…how would Hyrule cope?

" You mean, something…evil?"

" Who knows?" Malon formed a small grin, as she watched her father take a small bite of his eggs. He failed to notice. " We better keep our eyes out. I'll listen around some more when I head back. To see if any more news appears."

" I hope Link returns soon…" Malon spoke softly, mainly to herself.

" What was that?"

"—Nothing." She replied quickly. " I—I have to finish working…"

Talon nodded, as Malon got up heading back outside. As she headed back to the stable, Ingo showed her his hands, letting her know that they were clean. She laughed and smiled happy to find herself cheering up.

" I'm finally finished!"

Malon wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. A small laugh escaped her lips, as another day was finally completed. There was no vacation for her, but she didn't mind. There wouldn't be any places to really go, except Lake Hylia. She had dreams about that place all the time. She imagined herself there…with Link.

Outside, the temperatures had dropped, as the wind slowly picked up its pace. The sun was slowly setting, as it cast a light red and pink color into the sky. Malon stopped at the end of the house, admiring the beauty and scenery. The horses ran around the ranch freely, before being put back into the stables. They know when it's time to head in, they could tell by the location of the sun.

" …h-elp…."

Malon slowly turned around from the sound of the weak voice. Her eyes fell upon a body that laid at the entrance to the ranch. Malon tightly bit her lip, not scream, but a tiny screech surprisingly appeared. She covered her mouth as she slowly stepped closer to the body, her heart racing, pounding against her chest. Her mind can't help but wonder if the body was alive…

She found that the body was a little boy; he looked no older than ten. He laid on his stomach, light bruises covered his arms and face. He was breathing, but very heavy. He was weak, and Malon found it surprising that he came to the ranch. He was alone, where was his parents?

" Dad!" Malon cried as she ran over to the boy.

" Malon! What's wrong?" Talon ran outside noticing his daughter picking up the unconscious boy. " W-who? W-what?"

Malon hurried inside running past her father. " Not now! Fix up some food! Hurry!"

" What…where am I?"

After moments of being in darkness, the young boy opened his eyes to find himself looking up at a white ceiling. He blinked a couple of times, to see if everything was real. He was laying the most comfortable bed he's ever been in. He felt safe being here, but his mind raced as the same question appeared again and again.

Where was Link?

He examined his arms to find that his bruises had faded. The small pain in his joints had ceased, but he still felt weak. His vision was a lot better than he remembered, although he still had no clue where he was. After some thought, the answer came to mind. The room…it had looked so vaguely familiar. After hearing the cows in the stable and the cuccos outside, he knew where his location was.

"…I'm home…"

" Excuse me?"

At the door, Malon slowly walked into the room carrying a bottle of Lon Lon Milk. She opened the door wider, as she stepped in and walked closer to the young boy in bed. His eyes watched her carefully, as a small grin formed in his lips. She noticed the way he was staring at her, but didn't question it. She was just glad, that he was okay.

" Here, drink this."

She sat down at the edge of the bed, watching the boy finish the milk in seconds. He wiped his mouth with his arm, and handed back the bottle. She took the empty bottle and sat it in her lap, noticing that his stare had returned. Malon felt herself blush, really wanting to know why he gave her such a look. She was determined to ask him, but when she opened her mouth to speak, she said something totally different.

" You really scared me, when I saw you lying on the ground. I thought something had happened."

" You were worried?" He asked, she noticed his voice hasn't cracked.

" Of course, you're okay now, right?"

He nodded, " Thanks for the milk, I needed it."

She laughed, " Only the best in Hyrule." The room was in dead silence; Malon was lost at words, and questions. She didn't want to overload the kid with many things, so started out slowly. " What's your name?"

" Durnal…" He answered quickly like he knew she was going to ask it. " And you're Malon, right?"

Her eyes widened as she refused eye contact with him. " You know?"

" Yeah, well lucky guess."

Malon was little shocked, and was starting to get anxious. She looked up at him and found him smiling. For a second, he resembled Link in a huge way. She felt her heartbeat picking up pace, when she noticed it. The only difference between them was the hair color; everything else was completely the same, especially his eyes. She wished that Link had actually looked at her the way Durnal does.

Durnal stood still, as Malon's eyes fell upon his necklace. She slowly reached her hand out and lightly rubbed the crystal ball. She had seen the same necklace at Hyrule Market, one time when she was over there. It was the most beautiful necklace she had ever seen, and had wanted it badly. The only problem was that the necklace had cost a fortune of rubees. A lot more than what she would ever make. It was strange, a little kid like him, had it.

" Where did you get the necklace?"

" This?" Durnal looked down at his necklace. " Oh, my father gave it me, as a gift. He said that it was very special, so I never take it off."

" It's a lot of money…" Malon pointed out. " Where is your father?"

The boy shrugged. " I'm looking for him…"

" Oh, do you want me to take you to Hyrule Market tomorrow? We could possible find him there." Malon suggested. The kid shouldn't be far from his family.

" No, I know he's not there." Durnal answered solemnly. " Besides, I'm safe here, with you."

Malon was confused by his words. The boy was looking for his father, but knew that he wasn't at Hyrule Market. Then he says that he's safe with her, she didn't understand what was going. There's something strange with Durnal, but she couldn't guess what.

" Malon!" Her father called from downstairs.

Malon stood, and lightly placed her hand on his head. " Well, you should rest…I'll check up on you in the morning."

Durnal nodded, " Okay…"

Malon smiled and turned walking to the door. She felt Durnal watching her again; the feeling was bothering her. She felt like Durnal was special to her, almost like she was made to look after him.

" Um…M-Malon…" Durnal called.

Malon stopped and turned back to him. Automatically a smile formed. " Yes?"

" Have you seen Link?"

She felt her heart stop, her mouth becoming dry. Durnal was looking for Link…could Link be…

" No…I haven't seen him in a long time." Malon answered, surprised it came out.

She turned and grabbed the doorknob, about walk out, but something prevented her. She just had to know.

" Why do you ask?"

Durnal laid back down in bed glancing up at the ceiling. " No reason, well…only because he's my father."

A/N:

Wow, that's a big one folks! I don't really think the ending is such a surprise, because I kind of told you this in the summary! Ha! Now the only question people might ask is, who is his mother? Well, if you're not stupid you can easily guess. Not to be mean or anything.

Greki: Thanks for the review! Hopefully it will get better.

Zeldafreak123: Yes! I believe that it's a good plot too, hopefully no one else, previously thought of something like this. I'm very proud of what I come up with, and the things I do. Thanks a lot.

One more thing, this chapter, because I wanted to write it badly, was finished a lot sooner than I thought. Now, even though I have a pretty good idea on what the next chapter is like, won't be written for a while. I have other stories that I have to write as well, and I don't want to disappoint any of my readers, especially on " Tournament of St. Locke." People are waiting for the tournament to being, so I must give it to them. I will assure you, it won't be long before the next chapter is up. (That is, if work doesn't tire me out.)

And Link will make his grand appearance soon, I promise.

Anyway, until next time!