Link's reveal didn't happen until almost a year later. It was a week after Malon's fourteenth birthday. Nothing caused it or led up to it. He just sat down beside her one afternoon while Talon was away.

"Hey Malon..."

"What's up?"

He shifted his weight uncomfortably, still a little unsure of what he was about to do. He had thought about telling her his secret for so long, but now that it was happening, he didn't know what to say.

"Remember a while ago when I said I'd tell you my big secret one day?"

Her heart skipped a beat. She fought very hard to keep the thrill out of her voice. She had waited so long for this moment. "Of course I remember. Are you sure you're ready?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

He began to tell the tale of his life.

"I guess I'll start with this: I was raised in the Kokiri Forest, even though I'm not a Kokiri. I'm sure you probably figured out that I'm a Hylian by now. Even when I was a baby, my mother could sense that I was special. So, when she fled from the Hylian Civil War, she brought me to the Forest where it was safe. She begged the Great Deku Tree, the forest deity, to raise me alongside his Kokiri children. Even though it broke the Law of the Forest, he agreed. He could sense a great power in me as well. My mother died from her injuries shortly afterwards.

So, I was raised to believe that I was Kokiri. I had a nice childhood, even though it was built on lies. When I turned ten, I started having strange dreams. I would dream of a dark shadow engulfing Hyrule Castle, even though I had never seen the castle before. Cloaked figures would warn me about this darkness, saying that I was the only one who could stop it. I only learned later that most of those dreams weren't actually sent by the goddesses. Most of them were fabrications sent to motivate me into leaving the forest. The one who sent me those nightmares was none other than Princess Zelda.

One day, the Great Deku Tree sent me and my fairy friend Navi out on a quest. He spoke of an evil man from the Gerudo Desert, and sent me to meet Princess Zelda so we could stop him together. When I got there, Zelda already knew what was going on. She sent me to collect the two Spiritual Stones while she kept an eye on Ganondorf's actions.

What we didn't know was that Ganondorf was keeping an eye on us as well. As soon as I was gone, he staged an attack on the castle. He murdered Zelda's father right in front of her, then ordered his soldiers to kill her as well. Zelda was able to escape, but many others were not so lucky. With no one left to stop him, he claimed the Triforce. This gave him magical powers beyond your wildest dreams. He could topple mountains, summon flames from thin air, he even learned how to control people.

I was too late to stop him from taking over the castle. Zelda told me to go to the Temple of Time and take a weapon called the Master Sword. But when I drew the sword from its pedestal, something happened that I could never have imagined. Here's the thing, the sword isn't just a weapon, it's a living entity. When I touched the sword, the Spirit looked into my future. It foresaw that if I fought Ganondorf with my current power, I would die. So, the sword sent me into a deep sleep until I was old enough to stand a fighting chance.

Do you want to know how long I was gone? Seven years. The sword took away seven years of my life. What hurt the most was that Zelda knew. She knew this would happen and she kept it from me.

When I left the Temple of Time, I stepped out into hell. Ganondorf had spent the last seven years treating Hyrule as his personal playground. Demons and monsters roamed wild attacking anything that breathed. His soldiers occupied every town, stamping out every spark of rebellion. Countless innocents were killed or enslaved. He made life miserable for everyone besides himself.

I knew that I had to stop him. Even though I failed to save Hyrule before, I had to try again. I traveled to each of the five Elemental Temples to awaken the Sages. Even though I could defeat Ganondorf in a fight, the Seven Sages were the only ones who could strip him of his power and seal him away. That journey took me almost a whole year.

I can't even describe how horrific that year was. How lonely it was. Sure, I had Navi and other friends along the way, but I was the only one willing to fight directly. Being the chosen hero forfeit my right to a childhood. I had to grow up in a matter of months. I was a child trapped in an adult's body, with no one to look out for me. I had to survive all alone in a world that was falling apart.

That wasn't even the worst of it. The things I saw in that world were beyond the worst nightmare you could ever have. I watched children taken away from their families to become slaves. I watched houses set on fire with people still inside. I watched monsters destroy an entire village while the Gerudo army did nothing to stop it. I watched people turn on each other just to survive. I saw so many things that I wish I could forget.

Eventually, I was able to awaken the last Sage we needed to fight Ganondorf. That's when Princess Zelda re-entered my life. Do you want to know what she was doing while I was risking my life for her kingdom? She was hiding. She hid from the horror of the world while she threw me headfirst into it. She manipulated me into doing everything for her while she barely lifted a finger herself. She used me and then expected me to be grateful for it!"

At this point, Link was in tears and consumed with anguish. He shouted those last words with anger and spite. He tried to continue, but choked on his tears. Malon wrapped her arms around her friend in comfort. Her head was spinning from everything he was telling her. She had barely even begun to process it all. After a few minutes, Link wiped the tears out of his eyes and continued.

"Where was I? Oh, the Sages. The Seven Sages and I went to fight Ganondorf. We found that he had gone mad from his own power. He was so far gone that he actually destroyed Hyrule Castle to try to kill us. That madman demolished his own castle with his people still inside. We...we couldn't save them, those poor slaves and brainwashed soldiers. They died under the rubble of the castle.

But in the end, we won. I wounded him enough for the Sages to hurl him into the Sacred Realm and retake the Triforce. Zelda used the Triforce to undo some of the damage done to the land. But even that power couldn't bring back the thousands of lives that were lost.

With my mission complete, Zelda used the Ocarina of Time to send me back in time. I was returned to the day before I met Zelda. Then, there was nothing left to do except return the Master Sword and warn Zelda's father of what was coming. Then, I was finally free to live my own life. I tried to resume my life in the Kokiri Forest, but I felt too much like an outsider there. I couldn't stop thinking about how I was going to grow up while everyone else stayed young forever. I couldn't be happy living like that, so I left."

"So why did you decide to come here? I want the real reason this time."

"The truth is, I've known you and your dad much longer than you've known me. I guess that doesn't make much sense. What I mean is that I spent a lot of time with both of you in the future. You would let me stay at the ranch when I needed somewhere to sleep. I didn't know you as well as I do now, but both of you were always very kind to me. This ranch has always been a second home in my heart. That's why I came here."

Link wasn't sure how he felt after finally telling someone about his secret. He had been afraid that she wouldn't believe him, or that the truth was so terrifying that it would scare her away. But here she was, totally believing him and still not running away. Her soft and gentle eyes ignited a spark in his heart. He had laid all his emotions before her, and she gave him a warm smile and a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Oh Link, I can't even imagine what you've been through. You endured so much pain when you were only ten. You shouldn't have had that much responsibility on your shoulders. I'm so sorry that happened to you."

"Me too."

"You saved the world, but nobody even knows it? That must hurt a lot."

Link nodded. "It hurts like you wouldn't believe. I wanted to talk about it for so long. To tell someone, anyone how I feel. But I never could. Even the few people who know what happened, I could never talk to them about it."

"Why not?"

"Well, I'm sure as hell not talking to Zelda after what she did to me. I don't know if I'll ever forgive her. As for Navi, it's complicated. She's been such a good friend to me. We went through a lot together. But, she feels partially responsible for what happened to me, and for lying about who I really am. Every time I tried to show her how much I was hurting, she felt so guilty. I didn't want to make her feel that way, she wasn't the one who hurt me. So I just stopped telling her how I feel. Eventually, she stopped asking. I think that she thought I became closed-off."

"Wait, I'm confused. If you wanted to tell someone so badly, why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Honestly? I was afraid that you wouldn't believe me. You've grown up sheltered from magic and all of that. And even if you believed me, I was scared that you wouldn't want to hear about such depressing things. But I think I also got used to internalizing my feelings."

"Well, thank you for telling me. Your honesty means a lot to me. I always knew that you had dark secrets that you wanted to share. I've always wanted to help you, and now I can. So, how are you feeling right now?"

"Right at this moment? I'm...mixed. Thinking about it always makes me sad. But at the same time, I feel happy that I told you. For so long, I thought that I would have to live the rest of my life without telling anyone. That thought scared me. So yeah, that's how I feel right now."

Malon thought about his answer for a moment. "I want you to know that everything you feel is valid. You should never be ashamed of the way that you feel, and you should never be ashamed to talk about it."

He broke eye contact and looked up at the clouds. "I know that," he said unconvincingly.

"No, I don't think you do. You're only human, Link, you can't be so hard on yourself. If you can't accept yourself, how do you expect anyone else to?"

He sighed heavily. "I spent so long denying how I really felt. I thought that if I pushed my emotional pain out of sight, then it would eventually go away. I never tried to work through my trauma because I don't know how. Besides, heroes are supposed to be strong. I had to smile and be brave because so many people depended on me. Now, all I know how to do is pretend that everything's okay."

"But you're not okay, are you?"

"No, I'm not. Living here has helped, but the pain is still there. It will probably be there for the rest of my life, won't it?"

"It probably will. But you can learn to coexist with that pain. You can try to push it away, but it will always come back. Instead of fighting it, you have to accept it and move forward."

"You sound like you're talking from experience."

"Yeah."

There was another long silence. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it was strange. They both realized that they were more alike than either of them thought. They had both suffered and tried to deny their own pain. At that moment, they understood each other perfectly.

And there you have it, part one of the reveal is over. I wanted to keep the story of Ocarina of Time as close to canon as possible, with a few dramatic embellishments. Writing Link's opinion on the events of the game was a really fun undertaking. Please stay tuned for the next chapter!