Zelda began her tale by telling Malon that after peace had been restored to Hyrule, she had hoped Link would remember her. He did. His life had been changed dramatically since he became Hero of Time. He wasn't even who he thought he was -- he had been raised as a Kokiri and treated as an outcast because he never got a fairy, only to be told in his later years that he was really a Hylian, left in the Great Deku Tree's trust by his dying mother during a war.
Link and Zelda grew up together. When they became teenagers, Zelda said that he began to travel more. He had a free spirit. No one could tame him. He stopped home once in awhile to catch up with the friends he had there, including Zelda and Malon. But his visits grew shorter and more infrequent as he travelled to distant lands Zelda could never dream of going to.
After two years of life on the road, Link came back to Hyrule to stay. He made a home in Kakariko Village, and there he did all sorts of odd jobs to make some money. He worked as a carpenter, blacksmith, anything he could. Over this time, his friendship with Zelda continued to grow. He visited her at the castle nearly every day, and he took her to all corners of Hyrule, from Lake Hylia to Gerudo Valley. They would ride Epona together and swim and laugh.
Malon, listening carefully, nearly shuddered at the idea of Zelda riding her horse with her fiancee.
It wasn't before long that Link confessed to Zelda that he was falling in love with her. But with sad eyes, Zelda told Malon that she simply did not share his feelings.
"I see him as my brother," she said. "Nothing more."
A little less than a year ago, Link got down on one knee and asked Zelda to marry him and declared his love for her, as the sun set behind them. He told her that he had loved her all his life. Despite his good intentions and the beautiful setting, Zelda declined. This put a damper on their friendship. Distraught, Link forced himself to move on. This led him to his next choice: Malon. He'd hoped Malon would help take his mind off Zelda, whom he still believed was his one and only love.
During the time he courted Malon, he still frequently went to the castle and tried to convince Zelda to marry him. Zelda tried to be polite. She tried to save their friendship. But nothing worked. And when Zelda found out that he was seeing Malon when he wasn't repeatedly asking her to marry him, she grew angry.
"I told him, 'You cannot come to see me when you have another woman at home,'" Zelda said. "Eventually, I was fed up."
Malon nodded numbly. She clutched her tea cup.
Zelda went on to explain that she told Link off after enduring a few months of this, and a few days later she heard the news of his and Malon's engagement. Zelda knew that this was his last attempt to make Zelda jealous and realize her own feelings for him. This only made the princess angrier. She ignored Link when he came to call on her, and when she did agree to see him, it was out of politeness. She didn't want her people to think ill of her, she said.
And that was how they got to where they were today. Link was never home because he was spending time at the castle, trying to catch Zelda when she was off guard and confront her again.
"Malon," Zelda said, after finishing her story. She saw the other girl's face, so pale and sad and hurt. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have told you all this. It's too much."
"No," Malon said faintly. "It's alright. I...appreciate it," she said. But she wouldn't make eye contact.
Zelda sighed. She felt heavy with guilt. But in a way, she felt she had done the right thing. She reached out and touched Malon's hand. "Everything will turn out alright," she said, trying to be reassuring.
Coming out of her trance of shock, Malon asked in a shaky voice, "What do I do now?"
Zelda grimaced. "Whatever your heart tells you," she said.
Riding home that night, Malon was lost in thought. She didn't know what to do with herself.
Link didn't love her. All along he hadn't loved her. He loved Zelda. In her heart, she felt she had always known this, but avoided it. Why else would he be so distant and angry? Because the girl he truly loved didn't love him back. Because he was settling for a woman he didn't really care for.
Maybe Zelda was wrong, she thought. Or maybe she was lying. But deep down, she knew Zelda would never lie about such things. She had no reason to.
Should she call off the wedding and leave Link behind? No, she didn't think she could do that. Link was her life. She loved him. The fact that he didn't love her didn't change that. He had been all she needed for happiness for so long, and she couldn't give him so easily. There is always hope, she told herself. Maybe once they were married, things would change. They could move far away, so far that Zelda wouldn't even be a distant memory to haunt him.
Malon arrived home as the sun was setting. Dinner was on the table, and, of course, Link wasn't there. She ate with her father and Ingo, and both men noticed her silence as they ate. But they didn't press her for details about what was bothering her.
Link came home as Malon was preparing for bed. He seemed in better spirits, and Malon's heart lifted. As they laid down, she said, "What do you think about leaving Hyrule? We could find a home in the next town over. Termina, isn't it?"
Link's head shot up. "No," he said. "We're not leaving." Malon swore she saw him glare at her, but fiercely tried to reassure herself that it was her imagination.
"Why?" she asked, trying to sound merely curious. "You've always liked to travel. Maybe we could use a change. Make lives of our own."
"I said no!" he shouted, startling Malon. "We are not leaving Hyrule! There's too much for us here. That's all there is to it!"
Curling up in her bed, Malon felt her eyes fill with tears. True realization began to set in. Link didn't love her. And he wouldn't even have a thought of leaving Hyrule, the place where the one he did love resided. They would stay in Hyrule forever, unhappily married. He would pine for Zelda, and she would pine for him.
She cried herself to sleep.
