Chapter One

"Who are you?" asked the blonde boy of the blonde girl. "Wait…Zelda?"

Annabella gaped at Link for several long moments before she regained her composure. "Zelda? No, definitely not Zelda…I'm…Annabella…oh my God!" Annabella shook her head. "Please…tell me…are we…am I…"

Link's expression turned kindly. He sat regally on Epona, who was also eyeing Annabella curiously. "Listen, maiden – you look confused. How about you climb on Epona and we ride to Lon Lon Ranch? Malon can take care of you and give you some new clothes. Then you can have a cup of tea with Malon and I can check in you?" The last phrase was a question, not a statement; he wanted to check in on Annabella, but was not sure if it would be okay with Annabella.

"Wh-what…um…okay," whispered Annabella. Link climbed down from Epona and caught a glance of the cobalt item in Annabella's hand.

"The Ocarina of Time!" yelped Link in surprise, glancing sharply from the ocarina to Annabella's face.

"I have…an Ocarina of Time…" replied Annabella. The shock of all of this was making her knees shake badly.

"Umm…okay, just tell me about that later. We should get you to Lon Lon Ranch. You look totally exhausted." Link gave Annabella a very suspicious and strange look before helping put the girl on Epona. He climbed on afterwards and gave the mare a gentle kick, and set off towards Lon Lon Ranch.

OoO

"…yeah. She was just in these clothes, and I think she said her name was Annabella…she looks an awful lot like Princess Zelda, doesn't she?"

"There is a creepy likeness, I shall admit to that…Annabella, eh? That her name? I never heard it before. It's a weird name."

"That it is."

"Where could she be from, Link? Oh my gosh – what if she's a Gerudo!"

"Goddesses, no! Gerudos have red hair, tanned skin, and a piercing look to their eyes. Plus, Gerudos might dress as skimpily as Annabella did, but they carry weapons, have peircings in their ears, and do not faint. And…I don't know. There's something…nice about her, I guess."

Annabella swayed between the realm of sleep and the realm of awareness. She heard those disembodied voices, but did not understand them. It was not processing through her mind. The complete and total shock of finding herself in Hyrule had weakened her. Or was it Hyrule? Maybe it was another dream? If it was a dream, she wouldn't think it was a dream…would she? Once she realized it was a dream, she would have to wake up…right?

Annabella blinked her eyes cautiously, and then realized that she was in Malon's bedroom. Someone – hopefully Malon – had stripped her of her pyjamas and dressed her in a flowery nightgown.

Annabella slipped out of the bed and found her feet had been clad in warm slippers. Annabella made her way towards the door silently and opened it. She walked down the stairs to see Link and Malon sitting at the table, discussing Annabella in low, terse voices. They immediately hushed when they spied her, giving wide, fake smiles.

"Are you alright, maiden?" asked Link. "It's…Annabella, correct?"

"Yes," Annabella whispered in reply, self-consciously pushing a lock of golden hair behind her ear.

"Are you frightened?" asked Link, giving a wry grin. "You shouldn't be frightened of us, maiden; we're just here to help."

Annabella nodded. "Yes…I know that. You wouldn't hurt anyone, would you, except for Ganondorf, but he's just plain mean – "

"Ganondorf?" repeated Malon with a surprised look. "Um…who is that?" She shot Link an inquiring look. "I've heard that name before, though…oh dear! The Gerudo King!" yelped Malon, fright flashing through her pretty eyes.

Link stood up, fear and suspicious hardening his green eyes. "What are you talking about, Annabella? I never hurt anyone – not even Ganondorf! I've never fought him!" Link sounded angry at Annabella's slip of tongue.

Annabella realized the mistake she had made. Link and Zelda were the only ones who preserved the memories of Link's roller coaster of a futuristic past – well, every teen on Earth who had beat Ocarina of Time also had that memory, but Link did not know that he was the main character of a popular video games series.

Annabella let words stumble out of her mouth as she tried to think of an excuse, "Dream. I must've dreamed it. Hallucination? I see people in dreams and things – yeah, um…yeah."

"Poor dear," murmured Malon. "You must be exhausted. Where are you from?"

"Dorchester," replied Annabella.

"Oh, I've never heard of it," muttered Malon. "Is it far away?"

"Erm, yes, I…yeah. It is." It was all she could think of saying. Her humble house in Boston, Massachusetts, was pretty far away.

"How…how did you get here?" asked Link, but truly what he was asking was "how do you know about my past?" His eyes were also questioning about how Annabella came to possess the Ocarina of Time.

Annabella shook her head slowly. "I…I'm not sure. It's all…very confusing. Um…sir?" Annabella did not know how else to address Link. "Would you help me back upstairs? I…I need more rest. Then maybe I can, um, answer your questions more clearly."

"I can help you into your bed, Annabella!" chirped Malon, half-rising from her seat.

"No!" Link's voice held one note of harshness, but then he swiftly softened it, along with his eyes. "No, Malon. Please, get some milk, and it might help our guest regain her health."

Annabella smiled as Malon agreed to get some milk from the cows and exited the house. Annabella made her way back up to Malon's bedroom, followed closely by Link.

"I do not doubt you when you call yourself Annabella. But Dorchester is not a place I am familiar with," Link informed Annabella as she settled down comfortably in Malon's bed. "And how do you know…about Ganondorf?"

"I know every detail, Link," replied the girl in a whisper. "Your dreams. Trying to defeat the curse in the Great Deku Tree, but woefully failing. How you snuck through the garden to get to Zelda, and she showed you Ganondorf, when you two were younger. 'nd then you helped the Gorons, and the Zoras. Zelda gave you the Ocarina of Time, and you pulled out the Master Sword, and slept for seven years, and – "

Link held up a hand. "Enough, maiden! Enough. How do you know this? And how did you come across the Ocarina of Time?"

Annabella struggled for words. How could she explain to Link? And why should she? She was probably hallucinating, dreaming, whatever…

But it did not matter. She had to tell Link the truth, no matter how much trouble it got her into. She felt as if she owed it to the Hero of Time.