A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

A Pair of Time

Chapter 48- A Woe/Ode to Quietude

Hyrule Field; Day

Malon just had enough. She couldn't bear to have Epona do much running for them. Last time they rode her, Epona almost collapsed, and Malon urged Link to return to Lon Lon Ranch to let the horse rest for a while. After a day, Malon decided that maybe Epona should be out of action for a day or two. Link, however, objected, because he believed that Epona is fully well.

"It's because Epona isn't tired; she's too obnoxious to run."

"What! How could you say that, fairy boy? Epona is too sweet to do such a thing. She's really tired, so let her rest!"

"I'm telling you, Epona's faking it!"

"And how do you know?"

"Because I know! I know these kinds of things!"

"Epona is not a liar! She would never lie!"

"She is! I just know it!"

"No, she isn't! Take that back, Link!"

"No! Epona is a liar!"

SLAP!

Epona, nearby in her stall, snorts quietly (Heh heh heh… I can't believe it actually worked… I fooled Malon!).

Anyway, resolved as it is, Link submitted to Malon's retorts. He learned pretty much the hard way of arguing with Malon, and he has tender, red cheeks to prove it.

I swear, they HURT a lot… Link thought as he rubs his new layer of stinging pain.

Next stop, the Spirit Temple, Navi said. It's the only one left in a recognizable area Navi knows of.

"It's somewhere beyond Gerudo's Fortress and the Haunted Wasteland," she points. "It's to the west of Hyrule."

And so, Malon and Link start for Gerudo Valley, far west of Lon Lon Ranch. It might take a day to reach there, they figure, so they left the ranch quickly. The two of them, traveling on foot to somewhere. The Heroes of Time journeying to the desert to awaken the Spirit Sage.

And it got boring very fast.

"So…" Malon starts off, but couldn't finish.

"So?" Link simply responds.

"Um… lovely weather, huh?"

"Yeah, sure." Link looks up to see a clear sky. "Nice day."

"Yep…"

It slips back to silence. And Malon just happens to be one of those people that cannot dwell in nothing for longer than a minute.

"So, fairy boy, who do you think is the Spirit Sage?"

"I don't really know… We don't know anybody from the desert that could be that Sage."

"Oh… Then… um… yeah…"

Total silence. It's like a box keeping in Malon's growing pressure until it explodes.

"Um…" Malon rapidly goes through ideas, "say, I don't know much about… um, Navi. Do you think she would talk about it?"

Nice going, Malon. She forgot Navi is a shy fairy.

"Navi?" Link's eyebrow lifts. "Uh, sure…"

In a moment, the bluish-white fairy separates herself from Link's spirit. "Uh… yeah? Malon, do you want to talk?"

"Oh, well, I… I was… just wondering if you want to talk about your past life."

Navi pauses for moment. "… No."

"Um, why?"

"I… I rather not… I'm sorry, but I just rather not talk about my past."

"What's wrong?"

"I… I…"

"Navi, do you want me to tell her?" Link asks.

"Please do."

"Malon, Navi… Back then, before Navi was chosen to my fairy, she was a victim… to darkness."

"A victim? To darkness?" Malon repeats.

"Yes. It wasn't her fault, but she still had darkness around her. The Great Deku Tree saved her some time later, but…"

"… But?"

"The darkness will never leave me alone…" Navi fills in. "I have been touched by it, and it left a permanent part of itself in my spirit… I'm not… the same as I was before… It's almost like… losing myself. The darkness… It tortures me… every night. Everyday, I wake up, and my spirit is wounded… It will never go away. Never, for it stays with me forever… I'm always in constant fear… whether by myself, or when I'm entering a gateway of darkness."

"Navi… I… I didn't know…"

"It's okay…" Navi lightens her tone. "I try my best everyday not to let it discourage me… I always try to be helpful. Always performing my duty to help you guys. It's hard to ignore the darkness swirling around inside of me, but you two… really help me live through the day… Thanks, guys."

"Oh, it's no problem. Don't want a friend of ours to suffer without us to help you."

Maybe this explains why Navi is so shy most of the time.

Navi hovers around Link for a moment, then over to Malon, staying in distance from her face. She then decides to rest on her head.

"Your hair is very… smooth and soft," Navi comments right before Malon could protest.

"… Really?" That erases any objections. "I do take care of my hair sometimes…"

"You and the Cucco lady seem to be the only red-haired Hylians I've ever seen in my life."

"Well, redheads are a rare sort, I heard."

"The only other people I know that has red hair are the Gerudos. All of them have that color. For desert-fitness reasons, I think."

"Oh, okay…"

Malon wishes she didn't finish with that. Now, she goes right back to silence. Sure, maybe hearing Navi's cruel past is enough, but she just cannot live in such quietness.

"Hey, fairy boy…"

"Yeah?"

"Um… wanna… play a game? You know, to past the time?"

"Sure."

"Okay, let's see if you know what I'm looking at. I see… a bush!"

"Over there." Link quickly points at a specific bush among twenty others.

"Wha… How… How did you know… so fast?"

"Because… I know."

"Huh… Well, then…"

NO! NO, NO SILENCE!

"Um… Link… do ya… like any girls?"

"Now, why would you ask me that?"

"No reason… No reason at all."

"Well… what do you think?"

"… Uh, maybe?"

"Who, exactly?"

"Aw, forget it…"

"What about you?"

"Huh? Uh… Nobody. No… other guy I like."

"Are you sure?"

"Well… maybe one."

"Really? Who?"

"None of your business." Malon giggles.

"Oh… Okay, okay, I won't ask." Link puts his hands up for peace.

Malon knows they're just playing around with that talk. At least, she hopes that Link is.

Some quiet moments later…

"Do you like… being a knight?"

"Yes… and no."

"Why?"

"I'm a hero, but look at all the stuff I have to do. Knights are supposed to fight all the time, and here, we're going to these temples and solving puzzles. That sounds more like a problem-solving thinker than what knights are supposed to do."

"Right…"

Other quiet moments later…

"So, Navi…" Malon still feels the warm, round fairy on her head, "how's it going?" Isn't it nice to have another girl to talk to? Maybe Malon didn't do so well seven years ago with the ones in Hyrule Castle Town, but Navi certainly is the best and closest girl she could talk to.

"Okay," answers Navi. Then again, Navi is shy, a rather noticeable thing when talking to her. If only Malon could find an educational interest she could share with this unique fairy.

"Nothing… much?"

"No."

"Do you want to talk about anything?"

"Not really."

"Do you like keeping to yourself?"

"Yes."

"Oh… Well, let's see… Were you happy before you… you know."

Navi didn't respond, leaving Malon guilt for asking such a question.

"I was…" the fairy finally replies. "I was happy before then… with my friends, of the same species. I was like any other fairy, anxiously waiting for my Kokiri mate for life. But then, I lost all my joy of my… former life. And there was nothing I could do to change it."

Malon did NOT want such a brooding response. "Oh… um… let's… let's change the subject! Say, Navi… do fairies… love? Like Hylians?"

She suddenly feels a rustle as Navi shuffles herself uneasily against her hair. "Well… we… I… I guess you could say that…"

"So, fairies love?"

"… Yes. Fairies, like other civilized species, do experience emotions like that of Hylians. Besides reproduction, a fairy can have a loving and caring mate."

"Um, sure. Do you like anybody, Navi?"

"Malon…" Navi now feels nervous. Malon could feel the warmness go up in temperature, "don't ask me such a thing."

"Oh, why not? It's not like Link's listening." Malon gestures to Link some meters ahead. "Just us. A girl conversation, nothing more."

"But… I don't feel… comfortable with this."

"It'll be a secret, then, okay? Just between us."

"Well… you… promise?"

"Sure! A promise is a promise."

"But, are you sure you want to know?"

"What? About who you like?"

"Yes…"

"Well, who is it, first of all?"

"I… I… I like… I like… No, I can't say it."

"Aw, come on. It'll feel much better if you say it."

"No, it won't."

"Who's this person, then, that's making you uncomfortable to even say his name?"

"… Link," Navi blurts out.

Now, it's Malon's turn to wrestle with silence. "… Oh… I see…"

"But… I'm just… a fairy. And Link… Link likes…"

"Don't say that, Navi. Link cares for you. Even if he doesn't love you, he cares for you very much. You're his fairy, Navi. Don't forget that. I bet somewhere in his heart he has a spot for you."

"I don't know… but, I guess. I guess he does… for me." Malon could now feel the fairy cooling down. "Thank you, Malon, for not… well, you know."

"That's okay! Don't worry about it. Feel better?"

"I do, very much."

This is a riveting conversation, but it ends all too soon for Malon. Sure, she may know Navi's crush on Link, but has it really past the time that easily? Switching her attention to Link, she quickens her pace to catch up, to where she's almost right beside him.

"So, are we there, yet?" Malon asks.

"Nope."

"How far is Gerudo Valley?"

"Beyond that jutting cliff." Link points at a very distant landmark in front of him. "Then, we'll go up the hill that'll lead us into the ravine."

"How long until we reach there?"

"Um…" Link pauses to calculate. "Until tomorrow… I think."

NOOO! It is too long for Malon.

"Great…" Malon sighs.

So continues the quiet gaps between a few sentences.

"Do you like… helping people?" Malon could not believe she had to resort to that.

"Yeah," Link answers, no matter what.

"Okay…"

More quiet moments later…

"Do you like… all of this? This adventure? This traveling?"

"Same thing as whether I like being a knight or not."

"Oh…"

Even more quiet moments later…

"Do you like… me?"

"… Like how?"

"Well, let me hear your answer."

"… Yes, then. I like you." Is it really not safe to say?

"Oh, uh… I… I like you, too. As… As…"

Stop trying to say, 'as a best friend'!

"As a best friend!" Malon forces it out.

Darn.

"Oh…" Link nods slowly. "Okay. I like you as a best friend, too."

Aw, man!

"I mean… I… I… I like you as… as…"

A LOVER! She doesn't feel guilty at all that this could affect Navi.

"As a best friend!" Malon again forces that completion.

STOP SAYING THAT!

"Okay…" Link replies. "You said that already."

"N-No, I mean…"

"If it's best friends, then you don't have to say it three times to get it through to me. I know, okay?"

"Okay…" Malon lowers her head. "I like you… as a lover… my love…" she mumbles quietly to herself.

"What?"

"Oh, uh… Nothing."

"I think this is the main reason why it's hard for me to like Link, Malon…" Navi said when Link is out of earshot.

"Oh, I'm sorry…" Malon apologizes, realizing Navi eavesdropped on her quiet sentence of love. "I'm very sorry, Navi."

"That's okay. I… I don't mind, actually…"

"You don't have to-"

"I… I'm fine… really…" Navi's voice cracks. "I… don't mind… at all."

"How come you didn't feel hurt during all those times when me and Link had those… special moments together?"

"I… I just started having these feelings, okay!" Navi snaps with the same broken voice. "Leave me alone…"

Malon sighs. This is turning out to be the worst day of traveling. And then the silence. Yet even more quiet moments later…

"Do you like breasts?" Malon asks subconsciously while thinking it.

Link stops as soon as he hears the last word. "… What?"

Oops. Why did I let that slip out of my mouth?

"I mean…" Malon tries to find retaliation, "do you like… a woman's body?"

"Okay, you're scaring me, Mal… Why in the world did you ask me that?"

"I'm… just curious."

How is Link supposed to answer yes or no? "My… moral forbids me to answer that question."

"… What?"

"I'm not going to answer," Link puts simply.

"Why?"

"Because you're curious. I'm not going to give you my answer."

"I just wanna know what you think."

"Whether or not I like a woman's body. Yes, you, a lady yourself, is asking me whether I would like to look and touch a lady's body. How do you think this sounds?"

"Well, don't answer it as a guy to a girl thing. Answer it as a friend to friend thing."

"No."

"Come on. I wanna know!"

"It's like me asking you if you like a man's body or not."

Oh, I never thought of that…

"Do you want to answer that?" Link questions.

"Um… Fine… I'll stop pestering you about that."

"Look, Mal, I know it's going to be a long time before we reach the valley, and that this is going to be a long day. But, please, maybe you could stay quiet… for a while?"

"But…"

"Just some peace and quiet, that's all I'm asking. Do you think you can do that, Mal?"

"I…" Malon sighs. "Oh, fine. But don't blame me when I burst from boredom."

Link sneaks an appreciative smile before walking on. Sometimes he wonders why the Goddesses ever stuck him with the strangest girl he's ever met and a female fairy with a tormenting past. A normal guy to talk to would have sufficed. It's great and all to have a best friend to share his thoughts with, but that person just happens to be a girl. Link would have probably bored Malon even further with his list of one hundred reasons why his Longshot is cool. And it would have been the same reversed, with Malon killing him with her 'correct' view on romance. Luckily for her, she has Link's fairy, Navi, to talk to about girl things. Even though the social skills-lacking fairy responds simply or nods, Navi's a girl herself. Link is plainly a knight traveling around with two girls behind him muttering something about what the Goddesses or Princess Zelda look like.

He has high tolerance, though. So what if Link is by himself if the three of them were classified by gender? He can hold his masculine sanity, so long as Malon (and maybe Navi) doesn't do anything that will flip his mind over. He can keep his thoughts to himself. He doesn't have to change them for Malon and Navi, nor does he have to answer them when they ask such bold questions about his masculinity. If he fancies his Longshot, he doesn't have to throw it in the pack because the girls don't like it. If they ask who he likes, he doesn't have to say anything. If Malon asks Link whether he likes breasts or not, he can just not answer. It's fair enough to Link to make up for the lack of a male companion. Anything to make sure he can keep his sense of being a man from being replaced.

Knowing all this, Link now realizes with a shock that this must be what the book had called it: hormones. His reasoning is being controlled by his manhood, and Link doesn't know if this is a good thing or not. He's not used to it, yet he is. A man, that's what he is now. Knowing wise things a boy doesn't know… or does he? He sure doesn't feel any smarter. But, he does feel he has an easier and firmer grip on reality and his life. Maybe that's what separates a child from an adult. Not of age, but just knowing such things. Life to him is grimmer, but he accepts it so easily. If he were ten-years old again, he would have freaked and rebelled. A boy with such a naïve view of the world, now a man with a truer perspective. Link figures this must be how a boy… no, a child of any gender, turns into an adult. They become adults themselves, no matter what age, when they realize the truth that will change them forever. A child and an adult doesn't mean age or size, but of knowledge. Link sees that, and this is how he knows he's a man.

A man's body… Malon couldn't erase this from her mind now that she's heard it. Somehow, it's sticking like butter that's hard to scrape off. I should not be thinking of this. I should not… I WILL not.

Yet, it's there. Malon couldn't help but remember all the defining physical features of a man. The book described them all, and their relations to adult explanations. Malon shudders a little, but feels… unusual and rather comfortable by thinking all of this. All of those good-looking pictures of men. One of those nice things that a man should have is broad shoulders. Strong, wide ones. Malon carefully tilts her head, to make sure the sleeping Navi on top doesn't fall off. She wonders what perfect shape the shoulders would be. Something large, but small enough to put her hands on easily. Those would be the ones that she would like on a man. Very much. How would such a shape look like? Round, yet a little square-ish. Wide, but not too much. High, but low enough to comfortably reach. Yeah, those shoulders Malon would like.

Then, she realizes she's been staring and describing… Link's shoulders. She almost gasps, finding his shoulders to be… perfect. On the dot. Right down to the positions of this body part. His shoulders… Malon couldn't help but gaze with desire at them. Then, it goes on as her eyes begin to wander about Link's body and examine all the parts the book has told. Link's back is a delicate curve. His covered arms are slim, yet they hide noticeable muscles underneath. Nicely done muscles, too. The legs… Very toned, but oh so slender and smooth. Even behind the white suit, Malon could see the shape of a good outline of an athletic leg.

Why are you staring at his legs! Malon's voice of sharp reason interrupts her. STOP LOOKING AT HIS LEGS!

She almost tripped trying her best to look away. Link glances back at Malon, hearing the small sounds of her unsettling feet. Malon quickly pulls off a nervous smile, then waves slowly. Link takes this in and does nothing more than blink before turning around and continuing on.

Nothing more… Nothing more… Fairy boy doesn't have to know I've been goggling at his legs… and… his nice… round… rear… WHAT? I meant shoulder, not… not…

Malon feels the redness coming back, an old friend she's not too fond of. She urges herself not to look down below Link's waist, but her eyes are pushing down her vision through his back at a terrifying rate. Her eyes have betrayed her. They are now boring at Link's rear with curiosity and eagerness. It's covered by his green tunic, but a definite shape of some sort can be seen. If it weren't for the fact that Malon suddenly had the temptation to rub Link at that spot, she wouldn't have gasp loudly and abruptly turn her head away. Navi falls off, but stops midway with her fluttering.

"What…? Malon, are you okay?" she asks.

"I'm okay. Nothing's the matter," Malon answers hastily.

"Oh, then…" Navi flies back on her head.

Wrong. That was very WRONG, Malon repeats. Wrong, wrong, wrong! I cannot believe I just did that!

Then, other images related to this start to appear. Things about her best friend she does NOT want to think about. Such as thinking what Link looks like underneath the green tunic, or bed scenes that are heresy to Malon's principles. Two best friends that are having se-

NO! NO! NO! HECK NO! Malon shakes her head, fiercely determined to clear her mind. Darn that book! ARGH! Naughty, Malon! Naughty! YOU ARE NAUGHTY! STOP THINKING OF SUCH THINGS!

"Malon!" Navi shouts frantically, hovering next to Malon's face after flying off.

"I'm sorry!" Malon looks at the fairy with helplessness in her eyes.

"What's going on back there?" Link turns around.

"Nothing!"

"… Well, if something's bothering you…"

"Nothing! Nothing, okay?"

"Well, okay, then…" Link rolls his eyes. "Why are girls so weird…?" he adds quietly.

"I'm sorry, Navi. I… I'll try not to shake my head next time."

"Well, be careful, then, Malon." Navi flies back to the spot.

Malon sighs. Maybe Link is right. Maybe she should just keep quiet for the rest of the way. Maybe she should just not think of anything at all. But, what to do to occupy her? She could hum her mother's song. That'll do something for her. Why hasn't she thought of that before?

Naughty Malon. Naughty…