I do not own The Legend of Zelda games. Link, Zelda, Impa, the Sages, Malon, and other characters from the games are owned by Nintendo.

I have published this story once, and removed it for revision, to make it easier to read. This story has one following it, Link's Last Task, and a sister story from Zelda's point of view, The Return of the Hero.

COMING HOME

"Link?"

I sighed. If I had heard that soft voice once in this trip, I had heard it a hundred times. The Princess was trying so hard not to be afraid, and she managed most of the time, but every time I tried to leave, she got that scared sound in her voice. I knew the ordeal she had been through. When I faced a monster, I had a sword, a shield, or other weapons, and magic, and I was scared spitless. To face that kind of horror with no defense..."Yes, Your Highness?" It was still slightly dark, right before the sun rose.

"It's just one more day. Just to the castle. You'll come that far, won't you?" I turned to look at her. She was standing in her tent opening, and giving me that appealing look. I could barely see it in the dawning light. Why I call it a tent, I don't know. Somehow it was too fancy for that, being as big as most barns I've seen, and housing not only her, but her guardian Impa and half the soldiers in her escort. It also included me, though I generally managed to sneak out and sleep somewhere else. There were just too many people in there! She was pretty, I guess, as girls go. She had porcelain white skin, big blue eyes, and a well-shaped face and body, and she wore nice clothes. I looked her exact opposite, a boy in my Kokeri outfit of green tunic, pointed hat and leather pants, and sturdy boots. I have yellowish hair that I hid under my hat because it's always messy, and blue eyes. I'm tanned, from being outside most of the time, and I'm small but I have muscles where most boys my age don't. I've been fighting since I was twelve, and worked with the child-like Kokeri before that. The Princess Zelda and I were the same height and it seemed we were about the same age. She had twenty men in her escort, and Impa, her guardian, but I was the one who rescued her from Ganon.

"As you wish, Your Highness. " I have to say in her favor, she has a pretty voice. I don't. When I speak, my voice grates. I speak as little as possible, to the point that some people believed I was mute and ask me only yes or no questions so I can nod or shake my head. I prefer that, because when people think you're mute or if you don't talk much, they tend to think you're not real bright. They talk to you the way they would talk to a pet or something that can't talk back or argue. It's great for getting information. It's also great for being underestimated. Both have been useful in my adventures. However, it didn't help me on this trip. The Princess's escort treated me well, but they were also eyeing me in a way that made me nervous, and Impa definitely had something in mind when she looked at me. If I had known what, I would have tried harder to stay out of the Princess's sight. There were some incidents on the trip where they saw me fight, and they heard the stories in Labrynna. Impa and the Princess Zelda have insisted that I ride with them in the carriage, after that last Goddesses- thrice -damned outlaw attack, and I'd been so bored I'd been telling the Princess stories of the dark time. I told them in the third person, but the Princess is not the holder of the Triforce of Wisdom for nothing, and she and Impa finally asked questions until it was pretty clear who the Hero was that I was talking about. I tried to get her back by telling her who the mysterious Sheik was. She thought it was great. Impa didn't, but they both wanted to hear the end of the stories. Then around the campfire one night, while I was avoiding the Princess and Impa, the Sergeant asked if I knew the one about the Hero who stopped the moon falling on the clock tower in Termina. I told about that, and that was when they really started to act funny and started watching me. In fact, I was outside when the Princess showed up in the tent opening, out of sight of the night guard, and getting ready to slip off. The outside guard thought I was inside, and the inside guard thought I was outside. I was only obligated to stay until the Princess was in Hyrule. By this time, the rest of the camp was waking up, and my opportunity was gone. I resigned myself to finding a way to slip off unnoticed before we got to Hyrule Castle.

Let me clarify a few things here. Until I was twelve, I lived in the Kokeri Village in the Lost Woods. The Kokeri are the children of the Great Deku Tree, who never grow up and who have fairies who guide their lives. I was the only one without a fairy. When I turned twelve, a fairy, Navi, came to me and summoned me to the Great Deku Tree and my destiny. That was the beginning of the dark times. The Princess and I had to stop and banish the evil Ganandorf, who killed Zelda's father and got into the Sacred Realm, turning Hyrule into a place of dark and despair. We opened the Temple of Time with the Ocarina of Time and the three stones of Forest, Fire, and Water to stop him, and he turned it on us. I was held in stasis for seven years until I was large enough to handle the Master Sword and fight for Hyrule. The Princess wasn't that lucky. She had to hide for seven years until I was released. She did so by disguising herself as Sheik, a boy of a lost race. When Ganandorf got into the Sacred Realm, he wanted the Triforce so that he could rule the world, not just Hyrule, but the Triforce split into three pieces, one for power, one for courage, and one for wisdom. He got the one for power. I got the one for courage. Zelda got the one for wisdom. She and some others guided me as I released the Sages and all together, we banished him. Then Zelda took the Ocarina of Time and banished those years. Ganandorf was still banished, and I retained my memories and the Ocarina. Zelda and I retained our pieces of the Triforce. The Great Deku Tree and Saria, my Kokeri friend and now the Sage of Forest, remembered. No one else did, in Hyrule. The other kingdoms knew. They started the Hero of Time stories, which were, thank the goddess, wildly wrong. These were expanded when I went to Termina and stopped the moon from falling on them, in three days that repeated over and over with the help of the Ocarina. I managed to get home after that, but got summoned to the Temple of Time and was sent somehow to Holodrum to rescue the Oracle of Seasons, after which I had to go to Labrynna to rescue the Oracle of Ages and the Princess Zelda.

Up to this time, I would finish the adventure and go on. For a time I tried to find out who my parents were, but the Great Deku Tree had very little to go on, as my mother died shortly after her arrival in the Lost Woods, and all I had was an empty locket from her. Several families wanted to take me in after I helped them, and I was tempted, but most were not in Hyrule, and Hyrule was home. The closest one I was willing to stay in touch with was Talon and Malon Lon at Lon Lon ranch, because Talon was both too easy-going and too lazy to try to keep me permanently, and a large ranch can always use some extra help. He had offered to make some kind of adoptive arrangement, but he didn't push it too hard. I had rescued the ranch from an ambitious manager named Ingo, but that happened in the dark time and they didn't remember. They did remember that I found Talon for Malon before that happened, and they were kindly disposed. Especially when I bought Epona, the horse that only Malon and I can handle. I leave her there most of the time. They house her in return for my agreeing that they can breed her and keep the results. Between adventures, I went there a lot. Malon was a good cook. She got married to a blacksmith right before I left for Holodrum, but the blacksmith was used to me by now. Anyway, no one could hold me. All I had to do was leave. All I had to do now was leave, but this was the first time a large group of adults was keeping an eye on me. Something about a boy my age on my own bothered Impa. Having to explain what happened to the Princess bothered the soldiers, plus the fact that I was too young to be on my own. By this time I was certain they would stop me from leaving. I might be the Hero of Time, but my magic is drained after each adventure, and while I was able to fight monsters, vicious outlaws, and dark magicians, I was not willing to fight good soldiers doing their jobs. Besides, I'd have a hard time with these seasoned soldiers. I might be strong for my age, but I'm still fifteen. If that- fifteen was a guess. Neither the Kokeri nor the Great Deku Tree was big on counting years. So I helped with the camp chores, as usual, and got my gear together. I insisted on having it with me all the time. After all, with the special pouch I have, that's keyed to me and only to me, and that holds a lot in a small space, I can carry almost all I own without much trouble. I have a deposit of rupees with a banker in Termina, and both Saria and Malon keep some stuff for me, but most of what I need I carry.

I figured it would take most of the day to get to Hyrule Castle and we would stop on the way, as we usually did. I tried to get out of riding in the carriage, as usual, but this time it was Impa who was firm about my coming with them. I didn't want to talk. I was too busy watching where we were. Pretty much all of Hyrule is familiar to me, and this road was no exception. I kept thinking where the next stop might be. I didn't think that everyone was just as ready to be home as I was. We went faster than usual, and we did not stop. I was thinking of all the curses (most of which I understood only vaguely) I knew as we got into the town. Then we were in front of Hyrule Castle, and I remembered how I slipped past the guards to see the Princess when I was smaller. As soon as the carriage stopped, the Princess jumped out and ran for her father. Impa was right behind her, trying to make her be dignified, and I got out and started back while everyone was watching. I swear I was past the guards and almost into the crowd when the Sergeant turned to see where the Princess was pointing and the soldiers suddenly surrounded me . I've never had so many eyes on me at once. I stood up straight and tried to look adult, wishing I could sink into the ground and disappear. A big man dressed like the soldiers but better, came up and in a kind voice told me to come with him. I went, hoping my knees would hold up, until we were close enough that the King could see me. He looked at me, then at Zelda, and said we all needed to rest and he would see both of us tonight.

"Come along, lad," the big soldier said, putting his arm against my back and leading me into a part of the Castle. He called up the escort as well. I heard them call him Captain. When we got into the Castle, he took a good look at me, noting my age, my clothes, and the way the escort was quietly making sure I couldn't get near the doorway out without going through one of them. He told the Sergeant to get me something to eat and bring it to his office, and he walked me there after telling the others to get to the mess and be ready for debriefing. He told me to take off my weapons, as only the King and the castle guards carried weapons in the Castle, and at the look on my face, promised that they would be set aside for me. He did let me keep my pouch, thinking that it was too small to hold a weapon. He sat me down in a little room with high windows, a desk with more paper on it than I'd ever seen in my life, and some other furniture. When he noticed I was squirming, he showed me his indoor privy. He got my name and that I was an orphan and did not live with a particular adult before the Sergeant appeared with a full plate. The Captain put me in a corner and left to talk with the Sergeant while I ate. He left a soldier by the door. They came back while I was chewing on the last piece of bread. Then he talked to me. I answered his questions. He wanted a lot of detail. At some point a soldier showed up with a stout lady carrying clothes, and he sent me with them. They let me bathe myself with the soldier in the room, but the water was warm and there was soap, which I like but rarely have. They tried to take away my clothes, and I only let go when they told me they would be washed and returned. The clothes the lady carried were for me, because I had an audience with the king and I had to look better than I did now. They were a soft blue cloth that would be useless to fight or work in, and there was no hat. Then they insisted on cutting my hair, which I normally keep in my hat to keep it out of the way. When they finished they were smiling. They said I looked like a handsome young man, and when the soldier took me back to the Captain, he said the same thing. Then I was embarrassed, because the Captain asked where I got all those scars. I didn't want to tell him because I knew by now that no one wants to believe the Hero of Time is a teen-aged boy, not even if the boy in question had a lot of help. He asked questions until he got at least some of the answers, and I could tell he had been talking to his men. He wanted to know how I learned some of my fighting techniques. They must have told him about the outlaw attack, as the soldiers had not been around when I fought Ganon for the princess.

The Captain was not quite sure what to think about the young man--this was no boy-- sitting in front of him, looking extremely uncomfortable in his new clothes. Link was well muscled, with rough hands and a way of moving that spoke of a fighter. He was also handsome, with clear blue eyes and the wavy blonde hair. In fact, except for approving his good looks, most eyes would pass over him in a crowd. But this was no normal young man, according to his soldiers. They reported that the Princess and Impa both said that he single-handedly defeated a dark magician and that the word in Labrynna was that he was the Hero of Time from Hyrule who rescued their Oracle and their Queen. The word also went that he had rescued the Oracle of Seasons from Holodrum. In Labrynna, there was speculation that he had been the Termina Hero as well. The Sergeant's report said that when they asked the boy about the stories, he knew realistic details that the stories did not have. He also said that getting a full tale out of the boy was like pulling teeth from an uncooperative dragon. They had heard the Hero of Time stories from Labrynna as well, but those were not believable. The soldiers told of the outlaw attack, how the outlaws had some kind of large crow helping them and the boy had gotten them down with a flying stick, and that he had good aim with a bow as well. When the birds were gone, he had helped fight the outlaws on the ground, and he could fight like a demon. Once four of the outlaws surrounded him, and they thought he was a goner; then he was standing and the outlaws were down. They told how they had had to set up the tent that night and the boy had to coax the princess out of the carriage, and how he had been very gentle and spoke to her quietly until she was in the tent and Impa had her. When he turned and saw them watching, he turned bright red and bolted. For a while they thought he had left them, but he did come back with damp hair, and said he wanted some privacy to bathe . He was good about helping with the camp chores and could hunt and gather with the best. He would sit and listen to their war stories, but seldom spoke unless they asked questions, and then he would leave if he could. He did tell them he was an orphan, and that he lived in the Lost Woods. After the incident with the outlaws, they started making sure someone kept an eye on him, as they knew that an explanation was needed and he was the one to give it, but he would not want to. Neither did they; they wanted him around to give the full story.

"Wild," they said. "He's been on his own a long time." They were agreed that the boy needed to be put somewhere and trained. "He's a bright kid," they agreed. "You can see it. Knows his way around the woods, knows how to take care of himself." But he had gaps in his worldly knowledge. "He wasn't sure what an uncle or grandparent was," they said. "It was as if he'd never lived in a town or village for any length of time."

The Captain agreed with a lot of what his men said, especially about getting Link to talk. He did not agree about Link never living in a village, but wondered if he had lived mostly in an orphanage of some kind. He could cooperate with people, but was wary, as if he were unused to or afraid of adults. The Captain could understand his men's fears that Link would slip away given half a chance. The answers to the questions were often fantastic, and Link was aware of that. According to Willie, who was detailed to help clean the boy up, he had a multitude of scars on his back, chest, sides and arms, all cleanly healed and white, and he did not want to talk about how he got them.

Link speaks

I went with the Captain to the room where the audience was to be held. I had no idea what to do, and waited at the door when we arrived and the captain announced that we were there. The Princess, who looked twice as well dressed as she had when we were traveling, got up and walked over to me. She took my hand and led me to her father. When we were close enough, she took my right hand and held it up by her own, so that the Triforce marks were showing. The King took in a deep breath when he saw that. She whispered to me to bow, which I did as well as I knew how, and sat back down by him. The King looked past me and I felt magic wrap over me. Then he started asking questions about the Princess's rescue. I talked, and talked, and talked, as both he and the Captain asked question after question, or, after an answer, would say, "And?" After what felt like the entire night, he sent for a chair and a drink. They wanted to know everything, from the dark times in Hyrule to the forever three days in Termina to the events in Labrynna and Holodrum. At one point, when my voice started to fail, they questioned the Princess instead, while the Captain put a drink in my hand that must have been mostly honey. Then they came back to me, and kept me going until my voice failed me totally. The tingle came back twice. Finally the king said," Well, young Link, you have given me a great deal to think about. I owe you an apology and my deepest thanks. How shall I express them?" I was still under the spell and I tried to answer, but I could only coughJust then that was the only reward I wanted was to get out of there, go home, and never, ever go near the castle or the royal family again. I felt like he had sucked me dry of words and drained me of energy. "Think on it," he said, when I stopped coughing. He told the Captain to be sure I had what I needed, and the Captain took me out.

We were in the hall when the Princess called out. She came up and said quickly, "Link, please don't leave tonight. Not until everything is settled. Please." I looked at her in the dim light, not wanting to make the promise and knowing that I had no choice at all, and nodded. She turned and walked away with her normal grace.The Captain cleared his throat and said with some swiftness that I would be glad to see my bed, and he got me to it. To their credit, the room was a good size, and had a door and window, both to the garden. I could see my belongings, except my weapons, on a table near the bed. There was a long white shirt on it, which the captain told me was a nightshirt for sleeping in. There was a drink on the table as well, for my sore throat. I drank it, changed into the nightshirt, and lay down, thinking I would not sleep at all, when I heard the Captain say to sleep well and dreamlessly all night, and see him in the morning. That damn spell must have still been working, because I closed my eyes and did not open them again until the sun was shining in the window. There was a knock on the door and I answered it, to find a soldier outside with another set of clothes. I decided that the Captain did not like my Kokeri clothes, and dressed. These at least were better for working in. I discovered the reason when I followed the soldier to the Captain's office. Breakfast was waiting for both of us, and when we finished, he showed me where my sword and shield was and took me to the training grounds. There he passed me to an instructor. I got a testing as extensive as any I got in a temple, without the threat. At first all I did was defend myself. After a time, the instructor called a halt and told me, with some extensive profanity, to hit him. "Give me a bruise, boy," he roared. I wasn't impressed. He was tough, but I did manage to give a bruise, or two, or three. He didn't get me. After a time, the Captain called him off and the Sergeant took me to the archery field, where he let me choose a bow. I always hit the target, but not always in the black part. He started asking about other weapons I had seen or fought with when we came inside. There was more food there, and I nibbled on it.

The Captain reported to the King and the Princess that young Link was tested for sword fighting and archery and that he was impressed. "He hit Fredrick three times," he said, "and Fredrick didn't get him once. He hit every target in the range, and most of them in the black. He's all right as long as he's outside, but inside he's constantly alert. He doesn't like attention. I think he's staying only because the Princess asked, and because," here he smiled, "I'm keeping food around. Boys his age are always hungry." The King nodded and dismissed him, then turned to his daughter. "The Princess's request?"

She explained how Link frequently tried to leave the party and stayed on her request. "I was afraid unless he was around," she admitted sheepishly. "He beat that magician in front of me, and until I was home, I kept thinking it would come back." She shrugged. "If I hadn't asked, he would try to leave as soon as he got an opportunity."

The king sighed. "I have to agree. I'm wondering what kind of arrangements to make."

"He just wants to go home, Father. He hasn't asked for anything, and I don't think he will." She looked at him clear-eyed. He hated to break the truth to her, but he had to make her see.

"My dear, we cannot allow Link to run wild in the woods now that he is the Hero of Time without dispute. He could not have lied; Russo renewed that spell twice and checked it again this morning. Having rendered such a service to Hyrule, he must be visibly rewarded. We have three other countries watching us, to whom he has also rendered service, and they will wonder why we have done nothing. Also, when the word gets out that the Hero of Time of the legends has surfaced, our own people will be looking as well. I would grant him lands and set up a wardship, but I just cannot think of anyone who could deal adequately with him."

"Land doesn't mean a thing to Link, Father," she told him. "And if you tell him he has to live with someone he's never heard of, he'll go, and the first chance he gets, he'll be gone, and he'll take care that we never see him again. I don't think that will help your political situation much."

"No," he admitted, his eyes twinkling at his bright daughter's words.

"We need to find something he wants. Let me talk to him."

"My dear, you do know you cannot have romantic notions about..."

She laughed. "Link is still a boy that way. He stayed with me because I was scared and he understood why. Now he's scared, and I need to help him. I'm the Princess. I hold a piece of the Triforce, as he does. It's nothing more than that. "She smiled. "I get to rescue him, for a change. I like that."

Her father smiled, amused. "Find out what he wants, then, besides to go home."