Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda world and its characters belong to Nintendo.

Author's Note: Enjoy, and thanks for reading! I appreciate every review and enjoy knowing what you guys think, so please keep them coming!

As the late afternoon sun faded, Link realized the dull and ever-present pain in his side had relented. Pulling up his shirt, he saw that the bruise had almost entirely disappeared.

Ruto had gone for her lessons, so he sat by himself on the roof of the Lakeside Laboratory. This was where their tour earlier had ended. Ruto had asked Link a myriad of questions to get to know him better, among them what his favorite color was (emerald), his favorite food (pumpkin), and eventually about his parents and how he ended up in the Kokiri Forest. As the day had progressed, Link felt lighter.

That was, until Ruto had gone. Alone and in relative silence, save for the birds chirping and the water flowing below him, he began to think of Navi, his mission, and all the things that pulled at him with urgency. Whenever he had considered leaving the Zora Domain before, he had not felt sad so much as guilty. Would he be seen as shirking the Zora hospitality? Now he found that he felt reluctant to leave the girl who had been nursing him back to himself, little by little.

As the sun lowered almost beneath the horizon, Link stood and began his descent from the roof. It was time to meet Jireto.

The Zora warrior was already waiting for him on the island. He drew his sword as Link approached. "You weren't too cowardly to show. Impressive."

Link drew his own Kokiri sword, stopping to stand several feet from Jireto. "Courage is my middle name. Are you really sure you want to do this?"

Jireto laughed, showing off several of his pointed, sharp teeth. "Are you asking me or yourself, Outsider?"

"You can't decide for the Princess. Even if you win," Link answered.

"She is a child, an unwise child. She needs someone to make the decisions that she can't. And that person won't be you or her father."

Link moved just in time to avoid Jireto's attack. The duel had an undeclared start, but luckily, Link was used to his opponents "surprising" him. Jireto came at him again, more forcefully this time, but Link was too close and got hit despite his attempt to parry. Recovering, he made sure to keep his distance.

There wasn't much to Jireto's style, Link realized. He was a passionate fighter and put his anger into his attacks. His strategy seemed to be to get as many attacks in as he could; eventually, his opponent would either be too slow or too close. After enough time, though, Jireto would tire as well, and as focused as he was on the offense, perhaps his defense would be weak…

Their swords clashed and clanged until the night darkness enveloped them, the faint glow of the moon and stars their only source of light. Link dared not take his eyes off Jireto, for every second counted when his opponent jabbed like a madman at him, but he sensed eyes upon them from a distance. He hoped it would be no one who would report back to King Zora, certain that the ruler would frown upon duels in his domain.

As he sensed Jireto tiring, Link tested his theory about the warrior's defense from a safe distance and found that he was right. Within minutes, he had knocked Jireto's sword from his hand and had him on the ground. Turning his head, he saw that Ruto had been watching them. She stood close to the water, and to Link's shock, Navi circled above her head.

"Navi!" Link called, and she trailed to hover just above his shoulder. He breathed a soft sigh of a job well done, then went to retrieve Jireto's sword. He offered it to the Zora warrior by its hilt.

"I am… defeated by a child." Jireto ignored Link and the offered weapon, staring blankly up at the sky.

Link was starting to get tired of everyone's preoccupation with his youth. What did age mean, when one was to be the rescuer of all Hyrule, delivering it from doom? Being a child had not hindered him before. He found being an adult harder, perhaps because his adulthood was tinged with so much darkness and despair. The realm he knew and loved would become nearly unrecognizable in the next seven years.

Besides, Princess Zelda had taken no issues with her hero being young.

He forced himself to swallow his rude reply and instead said, "I've had practice. Don't be so down on yourself."

When Jireto still did not accept the sword, Link shrugged and placed it down next to him, then turned to Ruto.

"Link! Are you hurt?" Ruto ran to him and placed her arms around him before she examined him for cuts and bruises. "I tried to get here before you started, but Zephyra wouldn't let me go early."

"Nothing but a scratch, Princess. How did you find Navi?" he asked, after returning her embrace. The fairy fluttered in circles around his head, her familiar sign of affection and happiness at being reunited.

"Ganristian brought her. He brings news to my father. Goron City was raided…"

"What!?"

Navi spoke up. "Ganondorf thinks the Gorons are hiding you. All they have to go on is that Darunia named his newborn son Link, but that seems to be enough."

Link felt guilt rising from the pit of his stomach. Things were getting worse and all because of him. He tried to push those feelings back down. "Where were you? I woke up here and you weren't with me anymore."

"I'm sorry, Link. Ganon's men had exceptionally dark auras about them. They were using magic after they knocked you unconscious – cowards, to still try to hurt you when you were already down – they blasted me with it and blinded me. By the time I came to, you were gone, and I felt… so weak. It took me time to recover enough to come find you."

As Link listened to Navi's explanation, Ruto went to try and rouse Jireto, but he continued to lie there.

"It's alright, Navi. I'm glad you're back now." Link turned his attention to the two Zora. Ruto's attentions were proving fruitless in the attempt to emotionally and mentally revive Jireto. At first, Link did not understand this. He asked, "Did I hurt him? I didn't think I hit him at all."

"You did," Ruto told him. "You wounded his pride." She sighed and sat down next to Jireto, lightly stroking his forehead and whispering soothing things to him. Link could not hear all of what she said, but now he felt jealousy stirring to top off his guilt.

"You're quite the nurse," Link told her.

"I have my hands full, with the both of you," she said, smiling despite her words.

Link watched her, realizing that his first impression of her had been mostly wrong. Yes, she could be selfish, insufferable, and bossy when the situation called for it. She could also be gentle, loving, and brave. Now, he realized, she could be kind even when the recipient of her kindness did not deserve it.

Jireto had said some cruel things to her, yet here she was, trying to comfort him in his defeat. Link thought of her Water Light, how she had lain next to him the entire night he felt weak, and he realized that even more complicated feelings were working at him. Some of these, he could not name.

Suddenly, he felt a pleasant warmth in his side. It was difficult to see, but by the moon and Navi's light, his wound was entirely gone. He could see no more of its crescent-shaped bruise. He could feel no more of the darkness that had driven him to that tavern, none of the hopelessness that had nagged at him since that day at the Kakariko Village Well with Sheik.

"Link? You okay?" Navi asked, pulling him from the depths.

He nodded, turning to crouch by the water and splashing his face with it a few times. "Never better," he answered after a pause. "I seem to be free of the black magic."

"Really? How did you do it?"

He turned again, glancing at Ruto. "I… honestly have no idea. I don't think I had much to do with it at all."

Navi caught his meaning. "Oh, Link. We can't stay, any more than we can take her with us."

"I know."

Ruto tugged at Jireto's arm. "Are you just going to stay out here all night? Jireto, come on. Link is a great swordsman – you should feel honored that you got the chance to fight him. He could beat anyone. Well, almost anyone, as long as they don't cheat."

"I, the great Jireto, am no longer great. And this outsider has stolen you from me."

"He didn't steal me. I chose him."

This seemed to get through to Jireto. He blinked, then opened his mouth to speak. He seemed to reconsider what he was going to say and fell silent. Then he asked, in almost a whisper, "Why?"

Ruto glanced at Link, considering her answer. She knew she was in love with him, but to say that would only hurt Jireto. Instead, she said, "Because he listens to me. He treats me like what I say is important. He's selfless. He saved me without knowing I would give him anything in return."

She had a feeling her answer might be lost on Jireto. He continued to stare at the sky. Ruto stood and looked at Link again, gesturing helplessly toward where her ex-fiancé lay.

"I'm not sure what to do with him."

"He will come around," Link offered, though with some doubt. "We don't seem to be helping."

"Let's go, then." Ruto took his hand and pulled him toward the water.

"Ruto, wait."

Link still felt guilty about what had happened to the Gorons. He worried something similar would happen to anyone else found to be allied with him.

Ruto dropped her grasp and watched him. Something in his gaze worried her.

"I have to leave," he said. "It's only a matter of time before they realize I'm here, magic or no magic. And I don't want what happened to the Gorons happening here. I don't want to endanger you or your people."

"Then I will go with you." She took his hand and again tried to lead him forward as though the matter was settled, but Link's feet remained planted firmly in the grass.

"You can't."

"Why not?"

Her eyes held a spark in them now that Link could see, even under the faint light. She was getting angry.

"It's dangerous. It might mess things up."

"What do you mean, mess things up? I'm supposed to be with you."

Link hesitated, having difficulty with what he needed to tell her and aware that Jireto could be listening. "Your place is here, with your people. Things are going to happen, Ruto. You won't be in any real danger, but you have to trust me."

"What, so you're some kind of Seer now? I can't believe you're going to leave me again! After all this, I thought you… I thought…"

But the Princess couldn't tell him what she thought, because her vision was clouded by tears, her throat tightening. All she understood was that Link wanted to leave, that he seemed to have convinced himself it was for the best, and that he did not seem nearly as sad about it as he should be. And what was all this about the future? How could he possibly know what would happen?

"Hey, hey, there's no need for that." Link hugged her tightly to him. It hurt him to see that she was hurt. He pulled back to see her tears flowing freely and hugged her again, losing his resolve to talk to her about leaving anymore. After what seemed a long time, Ruto hugged him back.

It was odd how the emotional quickly gave way to the physical. Link felt his body responding to her proximity, her beauty, all the things he had been feeling about her through the course of the day. He didn't want to ruin the moment, but he had to pull away, still painfully aware that Jireto was nearby. He wanted nothing more than to be completely alone with Ruto, and it felt wrong to want that when he was going to end up leaving her for a time.

"It's late. We ought to get back before your father starts to worry about you," Link said.

She only nodded and looked back at Jireto. "You coming?"

"No."

"Suit yourself."

Ruto turned and, with Link and Navi in tow, made her way back to the domain.