"Do you know what this is?" asked he.

"No, I don't," said she. "But, whatever it is, it's very powerful."

"Have you felt this way before?"

"Oh, I thought I knew…"

"Do you know that I love you now?"

"Oh, yes I do."

"Love is…"

You've got the softest lips…

"You know that I cannot stay," said he.

"Yes, I know," said she.

"It has nothing to do with you or with love…"

"Oh, yes it does. Do not call or come around here. Do not tell…"

"You know that I loved you then!"

"Oh, well… Love is…"

You've got the softest lips…

"Love is…"

The touch of your fingertips…

"Love is… knowing you won't let go…"

A shadow moved about Sara's house, and Link was quick to notice it. They had been quietly speaking about the mysterious way in which Link had ended again on the shores of Koholint Island, and how the tale of the Wind Fish was naught but an old wives' tale to the people of Mabe. Sara had even sung some songs about these tales and others and was even willing now to teach him how to follow her, even with his voice rather than with his ocarina. Link was amazed at how her cheerfulness could lift such burdens from his heart as the ones he bore at the time, and the memory of that dream (for he had slept during the afternoon, against her liking) still hung from his mind. He quietly asked if she was expecting somebody, even so late at night.

"No," she answered. "But many folk like to come to my house, even at night, whenever they're in for a song or two. Unlike you, the people of Mabe love to sing."

"So if there were anyone lurking about your house it wouldn't be anything strange?" said Link as he looked out from the window. His hand, as if moved by its own will, strayed to the hilt of his sword.

"No, it wouldn't," said she. "So don't feel your sword like that and quit worrying. I wouldn't be surprised if someone knocked right now."

And a knock came through the door. She smiled and rose to open it, even as Link's sight hardened a bit as it met the knob.

"Who is it?" she asked before opening the door.

"Tusk," sternly answered a man's voice. Link felt amazed as he saw Sara's smile drop.

"Oh," she said, almost whispering. "Do come in."

She turned the knob and swung the door open, slowly. A man with curly, dark hair and a beard of many days stood at the entrance, with a stare so cold that even Link could tell why Sara did not seem so fond to greet him.

"Please, do come in," Sara said again, and the man came in. Sara said while she closed the door: "You must be tired. Sit down."

"Thank you," answered the man. "I'm not as tired as one might guess. I'm thirsty, though. Have you anything to spare?"

'How rude,' Link thought. But he also thought that they seemed to have known each other for a while.

"Let me see," she said, almost in a cold voice. "I think I still have some of that wine old man Ulrira gave me for my birthday." She pointed at Link. "This is Link, a cast away."

"The cast away?" asked the man. "Folk have been talking about him all day."

"Really?" said Link sternly, but even if he would not feel too friendly, he had no reason dislike the man too much as he thought at first. "About what?"

"Stuff folk talk about," said Tusk with a sigh. "Nothing that matters. I actually came only to deliver a message to you, Sara." He turned his face at her ere saying: "You're already late, and the old man is not pleased."

"You could try to be nicer," she said. "And you could try not to forget that it's not only my fault that I'm late."

"I didn't come here to debate with you over why. It is as you like to say, it's not important to wonder why."

"Still, one wonders…" she said as she gave him a small cup of wine, staring at him. "This is the very last bit. I'll have to wait till my next birthday."

"Thank you. I'm sure it's delicious."

He drained his cup at once.

"Now I must leave. I understand that perhaps it was not your fault. But that doesn't mean that the Sorcerer will be pleased." He gave the cup back to her and stood up.

"Sara," he said, looking at Link, "perhaps the Cast-away would like to hear you sing…" Tusk seemed to ponder about this for a while. "But I'm sure he has already. How silly of me."

"He has, indeed," said she. "But perhaps he would like to hear you play the guitar?"

"Perhaps," Tusk said, not too keenly. Still, he turned to Link and said: "Would you like to come to my house tomorrow? I am most surely not as good a singer as Sara, but I have other skills in music. And I see that you play the ocarina, that's nice."

"Tusk, I found him lying on the beach just today," Sara said earnestly. "I did not mean for you to speak so soon!"

"I was speaking to him, Sara; therefore, perhaps you could let him speak his mind?"

Link could see how it was as if an unhearable, yet angry, answer was coming from his friend, and he could also see how the man seemed to toss over her all of his disdain with a single sight. A thick blanket of silence fell over the room.

"Forgive me then," said she at length. "I'll leave you alone."

"Do not bother," said Tusk. "I must go now. Would you kindly show Link to my house if he ever wants to visit?"

"Yea," she said.

"Thank you."

He went to the door, opened it and left. The door creaked as the wind closed it.