Chapter 1

Author's note: Taking the advice of my gracious reviewers (bows to all who reviewed) I took the liberty of scrapping the first chapter and rewriting it. Hopefully it's better now.

It was late, the bright moon shone defiantly through the parted window coverings. She crept quietly down the stairs, a small bouquet of flowers was clutched in her petit fist and a small lantern was in the other. Occasionally she would stop and listen for the sounds of someone stirring in the house. When none was heard, she continued on to the front door where her red cloak hung so proudly on the hook. She slipped in to it and opened the door as quietly as she could.

She held her breath as the door creaked loudly, half expecting her father to come thundering down the steps, demanding to know where she was going. But there was only silence. She slipped out of the door and smiled as a gentle breeze caressed her colorless cheeks. Still clutching her flowers, she made her way over to a lone tree that stood next to the storage shed. Underneath the tree was a gray headstone. Carved into the stone was: "Lela. Beloved mother and wife. 1025-1057."

It had been nearly fifteen years since her mother died. Malon could barely remember her face but she was a constant visitor to her grave. Talking with her and informing her of the latest news. She got to her knees and began pulling away stray grass and weeds. Then she picked up the old dried out bundle of flowers and replaced them with the fresh ones.

The girl sighed and settled back. "Hello Momma… I'm really sorry," She whispered, "I meant to visit earlier today but dad…he fell asleep feeding the cuccos again. I had to finish for him," She scooted closer to the grave, "Guess what: I'm going to be 17 tomorrow. I'm really excited to find out what Dad got me. Oh and Link visited today. Said he was on his way to Termina. We laughed and reminisced. But after dinner, he left again. He's always leaving," She said, laughing bitterly, "But I guess it was pretty foolish of me to think he was going to stay."

There was silence for a long time. Malon was staring off into the distance, thinking of her friend. The autumn wind swirled around her, brushing her copper hair against her face, bringing her back to reality.

"Anyway, dad's leaving too in a few days. Says there's a big order from Ruto Town. Needless to say, I'm not going. He said he wants to make sure I get all the way better, since I've been sick the past three days," She hugged her knees close to her as the gentle breeze slowly intensified but not enough to alarm the girl, "He's leaving me here with Ingo," She continued, "I'm not sure I like that though. I like Ingo I really do, but lately…he's been acting really weird, like he's angry with me or something. I don't know, maybe it's just my imagination…" Her voice trailed off as a single tear slipped down her cheek. It splashed on her wrist where a dark blue and purple hand print had embedded itself into her skin, "He grabbed my wrist though…and yelled at me. That was the first time he had ever…"

Meanwhile, in the dark, silent house, Ingo's eyes opened as he felt the cold air seep through his window. He stood to close it but stopped when he noticed the faint orange glow from the corral. He squinted his eyes and could make out the outline of the girl. It certainly wasn't Talon, the frame was entirely too small. He pushed the window up and leaned on the sill. He watched the girl move from the grave back toward the house. Everything about her made him angry. It wasn't a normal anger, a feeling that usually passed. This was like an eternal fire that burned deep within him. Everything about her was irritating, the way she walked or talked. The way her eyes lit up when she smiled, or the way her hair bounced when she walked.

He had lashed out at the girl when he felt she was tardy with his dinner earlier that evening. It was a simple action. He had grabbed her wrist and twisted it slightly. Nothing too traumatic and yet she acted as if he had committed murder. He scowled at her when she took notice of him watching her from the window. She lowered her head and quickened her pace to the front door. She slipped back into the house and up to her room.

Latching the door, she crawled into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. For the next couple of hours, she lay staring out the window at the moon and stars until finally sleep crept in and took over. The next morning, she woke to the door knob jiggling, "Geez Malon! Do you always have to lock this blasted door?" said a muffled voice from the other side.

"Sorry dad," She said jumping quickly from bed and opening the door.

"Hurry up and get dressed. Breakfast is ready," He replied, disappearing downstairs.

She gathered her work clothes and ran into the bathroom. A large basin full of warm water was waiting for her. She scrubbed herself down and dressed quickly. Then she took off down the stairs, tying her apron as she ran. Her father and Ingo were sitting at the table eating silently. She took her seat across from her father and began munching quietly on her simple breakfast of bacon and eggs. "You need to take some eggs and milk down to the market today," Talon said looking at her.

Malon bit her lip, debating whether or not to mention her birthday, "Do you remember what today is?" she asked peering up at her father.

Talon chewed for a few minutes then answered, "No."

"Dad!" Malon whined.

He chuckled and set his fork down, "I'm just kidding," He said placing a small chest down in front of her.

She opened it and examined the contents. Inside were ribbons all different shades of blue and pink.

"They're real silk. Took nearly a week's worth of wages to buy them all. But I knew how much you were admiring them," Talon said as he saw his daughter's face light up with delight.

"Thank you dad!" she said excitedly, closing the lid.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. There's something else in there," He said motioning for her to open the box again.

She obeyed and reached in. She felt around the bottom of the chest and pulled out a gold chain with a blue stone. "Dad…"

He got up and helped her place the necklace around her neck, "This was your mother's. She wanted you to have it but you be extra careful with it. That stone is real Zora Sapphire," He explained as he fastened the clasp and sat down, "It looks really good on you. What do you think, Ingo?"

Malon's wide smile faded as her eyes traveled to Ingo. He was glaring at her, increasing the tension between the two. "It's nice," He said coldly, gathering his dishes and walking into the kitchen.

Talon glanced after him and shook his head, "Always moody about one thing or another," Talon muttered. He stood from his seat and smiled at his daughter, "I gotta finish milking the cows," He said, leaving the house whistling.

Malon wrapped her fingers around the gem on her necklace and smiled. It was nice to know her mother had worn this around her neck. Malon stood and began gathering what was left of the dishes. She picked up an armful of plates and turned around. She collided with a hard chest. She shook her head to recover and found Ingo standing directly in front of her. "Y-yes…" she stammered.

His hairy hand traveled up to her neck and he wrapped his fingers around the charm. She could feel him tug on it lightly. "…Don't think for a minute I'm going to let you keep this," he whispered gruffly.

"This was my mother's! And my dad gave it to me. You have no right to take it away!" She said, trying hard to mask her growing nervousness.

He smirked at her naïveté, "And my dear who do you think gave it to your mother? Certainly wasn't that lazy ass, Talon."

Malon's lip trembled, "You gave this to her?"

"Of course I did. And I won't sit by and let you wear it," His grip on the necklace tightened and it felt as if he was about to yank it from her neck, but just like that, he stopped. He let it fall back down to her neck and he left. Malon stood breathing deeply. He had given her mother this necklace? How? Why? She didn't understand and something deep down inside her wasn't sure she wanted to.