A/N:

Yeah, I finally updated with another chapter. Like before, this chapter was written a lot sooner than planned but only because I was waiting until after I updated on my other story. I will say I wrote a lot on the other story during the weekend, and this chapter only took me one day. I'm still not finished, but almost there. So due to my success at almost finishing a chapter for my other story, I give you guys another chapter here. So…

Enjoy!

Chapter 3: Within her Heart

No reason well…only because he's my father.

Did she hear this right?

…only because he's my father.

She found it hard to breathe; swallowing was impossible.

Malon stood frozen in the doorway; her arms and legs were stiff. She slowly took a couple of very small breaths. She finally blinked, but still was too shocked to move. What if she had a heart attack? She knew she wouldn't, but if anything else so unexpected like this happens, there was a good possibility.

Malon finally forced herself to move, but only resulted in letting go of the bottle. Her eyes widened as the bottle fell to the floor, shattering into pieces. She bit her lip, happy that none of the sharp ends had stabbed her exposed legs. Her eyes watched as the nozzle slowly rolled down the hallway stopping right in front of her room.

Durnal jumped, startled at the sound and slowly sat up resting his bare feet onto the cold wooden floor. His mouth slightly hung open as he switched glances from the broken bottle to Malon. He wondered if he should help pick up the pieces, since Malon seemed too hypnotized to move. Durnal's legs still felt weak, but he had to do something.

" M-Malon…" Durnal gulped. " Are you…alright?"

"—I'm fine." Malon reacted to the sound of his voice.

She bent down retrieving the glass. Her face slowly flushed; embarrassed by her actions. She refused eye contact from the boy, as she carefully finished picking up every last piece, without cutting her hands. She was reacting too seriously by his statement. After thinking, she found that what he had told her was impossible. She didn't want to believe what he said, and didn't know if she should believe herself.

" Please, lay back down. I'm fine, you need your rest."

" I just…"

" I'm fine Durnal!" She whispered harshly, closing her eyes tightly.

Durnal did as told and laid back down in bed, watching her carefully. He felt his body cringe as hurt developed inside him. He turned so that his back was to her, listening to her sob before exiting the room. Durnal had found himself sob as well, for he quickly wiped away the single tear rolling down his cheek.

Talon lifted his head from the table as he heard his daughter stomp her way down the stairs. His eyes widen as he saw her carrying the broken pieces of the bottle. Talon didn't know what to say, so stayed quiet as Malon walked outside disposing of the garbage.

He cleared his throat once she reentered the room walking over to the table, taking a seat right next to him. She sighs before burying her face her arms, thinking through everything Durnal had told her. Talon wasn't in the room with them, but did know when his daughter was upset or miserable over something. This was taking it to a higher level. Her actions, and mood gave him all of the answers that he needed. Something happened between the two.

" Malon…"

Talon lightly touched his daughter's hand. Malon pulled away making a fist, having no desire to show him her face. Talon licked his lips thinking of a way to reason her into talking with him. She always found a way for him to speak; now it was his turn.

" Something's bothering you."

Talon had the guts to reach for her hand once more. This time she gave in and he began to rub her soft cold skin. He lightly patted it a couple of times, before she finally lifted her head. Malon sat up and brushed the large portion of her hair out of her face. She wasn't crying, but her eyes watered; the tears were building up.

" What happened?"

Malon took a deep breath keeping her gaze at the table. " The boy's name is Durnal. He told me that he was looking for his father."

" I would too, if I was lost." Talon interrupted.

" No father, I mean—his father is Link…" It hurt hearing herself say those words.

" Link…" he repeated, reminiscing. He snapped his fingers once the memory came back to him. " You mean the young man who stopped Ganondorf and left with your horse on some secret business of his?"

Malon nodded, " Yes."

" Well, that's nice—the young man found someone."

" Father!" Malon snapped. " You're not getting my point."

Talon raised his eyebrows stunned by Malon's mood. He couldn't find a reason why she was so disappointed. There was something that he was missing.

" Then please tell me, since I'm going in a different direction."

" Do you remember when he left?"

Talon nodded, going back on that day. " Yes, it was…um…eight years ago."

" Yes, and I was…?" Malon dragged on, hoping he would finish the sentence.

" Ten years old."

" Yes, and Link was…"

Talon paused understanding now, what Malon was trying to tell him. They both were ten years old, when Link had left. A total of eight years had passed, Malon was eighteen and so was Link.

"…He was ten as well."

" Exactly." Malon felt relieved the problem was out. " Link is the same age as me. There's no way that little boy is his son. It doesn't work out."

Talon nodded, now a little concerned the boy was staying here for the night. It was already hard enough to take care of all the animals on the ranch; a young kid like him fits right in with them. Of course, they were jumping ahead of themselves. The boy could have memory loss or something along that line, but by his age and Link's, there was no way Link was the father.

" Either the boy is confused or crazy."

" That's mean…" Malon spoke softly.

" It's true. It doesn't matter anyway I'm taking the boy with me to Hyrule Market in the morning."

" What?" Malon almost fell out of her chair after hearing what he had told her.

Talon nodded. The serious look on his face, gave her the impression that he wasn't lying. Malon remember when she told Durnal that he would help her find his father. Before she knew it was Link, of course. He wanted to stay here with her, because he felt safe. Malon felt special. She couldn't let her father take him to Hyrule Market.

" Me and Ingo talked about this earlier. The boy can stay here for the night, but tomorrow I'm taking him to Hyrule Market. We're busy as it is, he would just get in the way."

" He's nine or tens years old, he's not a baby."

" Malon, I understand your feelings, but…"

" I'll take care of him." Malon replied sternly. " I'll feed him and do all of that stuff. He wanted to stay here."

" Does he have any say in this?" Talon asked upset he's arguing with his daughter.

" Father please!" Malon shouted, forgetting that Durnal was probably sleeping.

Talon leaned back in his chair and sighed. He crossed his arms, knowing that there's not going to be another way. Malon really wanted the boy to stay, and if he did take him to Hyrule Market, she would probably never talk to him again. With no parents, there's a good possibility the boy is an orphan. When did Malon ever want to take a motherly role?

" You win…" Talon gave in.

Malon smiled in relief, actually glad her father agreed. She was going to take care of him and would do anything. The main reason behind all of this was because she wanted to know if the boy was right or not. Link was going to come back; she knew that. Once he does, she was going to find out the truth, even if it kills her.

" Thank you, thank you, father!" Malon jumped up from her seat and wrapped her arms around her father's neck. She kissed his forehead and turned heading back to her room.

Before she had reached the stairs, a small shadow stood from the top step and ran back down the hallway.

Malon clutched on her doorknob ready to head off to bed. She stopped once noticing that the door leading Durnal's room was cracked opened. Malon raised an eyebrow remember that she had left the door open.

As she proceeded closer to the door, Malon heard soft whimpering and numerous sobs. She lightly opened the door to find, that Durnal was crying. She remembered that she had shouted at him and probably hurt his feelings. Now the guilt came back to her. He was only trying to help, and she snapped at him.

Tiptoeing closer to his bed, Malon found that the whimpering had stopped. She moved the blankets up, so that they were covering him and leaned over so that she could see his face. His eyes were closed and many tears rolled down his soft red cheeks. Malon warmly smiled as she wiped the tears with the back of her hand, Durnal flinched by her touch.

Sitting on the edge of the bed Malon began to stroke his hair, as she softly sang Epona's song. All of her worries about earlier seemed to fade. She knew she could count on the song her mother taught her, to make her feel better. If her mother was here now, Malon knew that her mother would have made the same choice as she did.

Being lost in her song, Malon had failed to notice the smile that appeared on Durnal's face. When she looked back down at him, she saw him sleeping, now in another world. Malon widely smiled as she leaned forward giving him a light kiss on the forehead.

" Don't worry…everything will be okay." Malon stood walking back to the door. Before leaving she turned back to the peaceful young boy and smiled once more. " I'm sorry…"

Once the door had closed and Malon's footsteps were heard down the hall, Durnal opened his eyes and lightly touched the spot where she had kissed. He smiled feeling another tear roll down his cheek, the tear of joy.

" Thank you."

A/N:

I had written this chapter very late at night so I hope this is good. I wasn't tired when I wrote it, and I found that I usually write pretty well when there aren't too many distractions. The only big issue I had while writing it was the heat. Even at night temperatures were up there, around low 90's or high 80's, something like that.

I was originally going to make this chapter longer, but I liked the way it ended so, I just stopped there. I'd say nothing really happens in this chapter, so it probably wasn't as exciting as the previous two.

What happens next? Well, you'll just have to wait and see.

Until next time!