pre-work: this chapter was hard to write, particularly the section regarding Link's placement in time
title: Hestia
summary: Throughout the years, Malon will always give the Hero of Time a home to return to. — post-OoT, Link/Malon
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He is nearly eleven when news of a failed Gerudo coup reaches Lon Lon Ranch.
Talon returns home one day, looking slightly shaken. Link presses him as casually as he can for more information, his own stomach turning over at the thought of Zelda being pursued by Ganondorf once more.
"Luckily, it seems like the Royal Family is fine. Rumor has it someone warned them in advance of a possible betrayal," says Talon, a slight smile on his face. Link keeps his face as impassive as possible, turning to tend to the fire.
"Did you hear anything about the leader of the coup?" asks Link calmly, straining his ears for Talon's response over the crackling of the flame.
Talon looks up and ponders the inquiry.
"I was told that he was captured and thrown in the dungeon."
Captured, not killed. This wasn't good. Link frowns, adding another block of wood to the hearth. With Ganondorf's prodigious strength and magical prowess, no dungeon would hold him forever.
"What's that dark look on your face for?"
Link doesn't hide his surprise well at Talon's question, but Malon's father only chuckles and pats the boy on the back reassuringly.
"Don't worry. You're far from the castle. Malon and you will be just fine."
As if on cue, the redhead enters through the front door, a bright smile on her face. There are flecks of hay in her hair, as she had just finished bringing all the horses back to the stables. Malon places herself next to Link cheerfully, as Talon ruffles her hair affectionately.
"Fairy Boy, will you tell me another story tonight?"
The hero nods silently.
Link tells her a story about a hero who saved the Zora from being eternally frozen. The redhead's eyelids flutter with fatigue towards the end of the story. Soon, her breathing grows slow and even.
He slips out of the house with nothing more than his sword and shield. The castle wasn't far off from the ranch, and if he rode hard atop Epona, Link could easily infiltrate the castle before sunrise. Although Talon had reassured him once more after dinner that they were perfectly safe at the ranch, Link wasn't convinced.
Ganondorf was still alive, and that alone was reason enough to leave.
Gingerly opening the stable doors, Link notes that this is the first time he'd be returning to Castle Town since being spirited back to his childhood from the final battle. The blond doesn't remember much, but he remembers certain sensations: the fatigue and pain aching in every fiber of his body, the soothing whisper of Zelda's time magic, the sharp sorrow in his heart as Navi fluttered away—
The hero blinks quickly, eyes glassy for a moment. But duty calls, and Link draws closer to Epona, whistling her favorite melody softly.
Epona nuzzles into his hand, and Link recalls the mystery of figuring out exactly what point in time Zelda had sent him back to. There he was, sitting on the cold marble of the Temple of Time, laying out all of his possessions on the ground in an effort to triangulate his position in the timeline.
Given the presence of the Spiritual Stone of the Forest, he had already taken care of the infection festering within the Great Deku Tree. The comforting grip of his Fairy Slingshot helped solidify his theory that Gohma was gone. However, the lack of the other two Spiritual Stones meant that he had not yet ventured to Death Mountain or Zora's Domain. The lack of a well-worn bomb bag and his boomerang further confirmed his theory.
But perhaps the most important clue he had found among his various belongings was a strange-looking egg. After a moment of thought, Link realized it was the same egg Malon had given him the first time they had met. The fact that it was still safely incubating meant that he had met the farmgirl in the market earlier that same day, but hadn't yet woken up her father in the castle grounds.
Thus, Zelda had sent him back to a point in the timeline right after he had entered Castle Town with Navi, but before their first meeting. He still isn't exactly sure how the princess transported him to the Temple of Time specifically, but the magic of time had always been somewhat mysterious for the hero.
After solving the mystery of his temporal displacement, Link's memory of infiltrating the castle was tinged with adrenaline from avoiding the castle guards and pure shock that he'd made it back to his childhood at all. Waking up Talon with the Cucco a second time was an afterthought.
Speaking with Zelda had been somewhat unnerving — her form as a child was a sharp contrast to the war-weary princess of his past, but Link remembers getting his message across quite clearly. His further demand to speak to the King himself had been met with serious doubt from Impa.
He still remembers the way her red eyes narrowed in suspicion, but upon displaying his Spiritual Stone and raising the back of his left hand, the hero had been granted an audience almost immediately.
Regardless, Link concludes while saddling Epona, it seemed that his ominous and very specific warning to the Royal Family was not completely successful. The fact that Ganondorf had not been immediately apprehended at the time had been troubling, to say the least.
They just didn't know how dangerous the Gerudo was, Link thinks, as he mounts Epona and heads for the ranch gates.
After all, no one knew what was going on at Death Mountain or Zora's Domain when Link had arrived. The King of Thieves had blocked off the Gorons' source of food and placed a monster within Jabu-Jabu's belly, but it wasn't common knowledge that a crisis was transpiring at all. And even if those crises were common knowledge, there was no way to prove it was Ganondorf. Imprisoning the leader of an important tribe based on some child's word was akin to a declaration of war — even if said child did have an important spiritual artifact and the sigil of the Triforce on his left hand.
Still, Link wasn't going to let Ganondorf usurp the throne a second time. He might stuck in a child's body once more, but the power of the Triforce was still present within him, a constant wellspring of magical energy lurking just underneath the surface. But doubt plagued the young hero. Indeed, the holy power of the goddesses had helped him greatly in dealing with Dodongo and Barinade once more, but Ganondorf was a cunning warrior, no mindless beast or force of nature. If Link couldn't stop him, even with the power of the Triforce...
If worse came to worst, Link resolved to pull out the Master Sword again.
The hero tries to stifle the shudder that runs down his spine when he thinks about spending another seven years in stasis. The Blade of Evil's Bane had been his greatest weapon in his fight against Ganondorf, but leaving it in the Temple of Time had felt cathartic, as if the weight of Hyrule had finally been lifted off of his shoulders.
Link was not eager to take on that responsibility once more.
With clammy hands, the blond urges Epona to gallop faster into the night.
The summer night is cool, crickets chirping in the distance. Slipping through the gates easily, Link notes that there are hardly any guards on duty tonight. Had the failed coup had such a devastating effect on Hyrule's garrison?
But Link hears a murmur nearby and quickly ducks behind a bush. The hero presses his face to the ground and scans the area quickly. Two pairs of feet. One of them is more heavy-set than the other. Link listens intently for any useful information.
"When's your shift?"
"I have to head down to the dungeons for guard duty now. A bit strange that they're keeping the Gerudo alive if we're just going to cut their heads off in a couple days, isn't it?"
Link nearly sighs aloud in relief, his heart no longer clenching itself tightly. So the death of Ganondorf and his followers was imminent. Still, it wouldn't hurt to make sure that the kingdom's precautions were adequate.
The two guards exchange pleasantries before the heavier-set guard sets off for the lower levels of the castle. Link becomes a shadow, tailing him down to the dungeons. At one point, Link can't decide whether or not he's irritated or proud that the guard is making frequent checks around the corners for potential wrongdoers. But he ultimately decides on pride: after all, these are the people protecting the princess when he's not around.
Link lets the guard walk far down the hallway before making his way to the inner sanctum. Despite Ganondorf's bastardization of the castle in the future, if the layout of the castle was roughly the same, the Gerudo were probably held within the deepest—
Quick footsteps cloaked in shadow.
Link pulls out his sword without a second thought and parries a blow aimed for his jugular. He attempts to bash the assailant's wrist with his shield, with enough force to crack bone. But the attacker is lithe and fast, deftly stepping out of the way. Link shifts the momentum of his shield bash into a quick spin and aims his sword just above the abdomen, a stab right in the chest— is that a Sheikah eye?
He pauses, and so does Impa, her red eyes crinkling in amusement. Her own right hand, armed with a knife, is aimed at Link's neck once more. The hero sheathes his blade, before scanning the Shadow Sage's face.
"I'm glad such a fierce warrior is on Hyrule's side," chuckles Impa, knife disappearing as she crosses her arms. "But I am curious, isn't it past your bedtime, young Hero?"
Link sighs and stares exasperatedly at her. The Sheikah did not look a day older from when Link had first met her in either timeline. Silver hair and sharp red eyes. Impa brushes a strand of hair back into place and taps her foot at the young blond, apparently expecting an answer.
"You know why I'm here."
The Sheikah crosses her arms once more, smile fading from her face.
"I have a feeling it has to do with a recent coup, does it not?"
Link nods.
"Come. You have nothing to worry about, Hero."
The sun begins to rise on Hyrule's skyline. Streaks of red and orange peek above the horizon, lighting the hero's line of sight. Epona gallops happily through the open green fields towards home.
The wind blows through his hair, and Link smiles to himself — his worries had been for nothing! He had forgotten that Ganondorf didn't have his own piece of the Triforce to augment every aspect of his being. His fighting abilities were impressive without the ancient magic, no doubt, and were enough to stage a surprise coup in the other timeline. But against a forewarned army, a retainer of prepared Sheikah, and the Sage of Shadow herself?
They stood no chance.
Ganondorf's followers would be publicly hung soon. The King of Thieves himself would be executed at some point, when they could figure out how to properly restrain his magical abilities. Under Impa's close watch, he would eventually meet his end. Without Ganondorf's piece of the Triforce, the danger of an apocalyptic future would never come to pass.
Link comes back just after the sun fully rises. He's definitely missed most of the morning chores, and Malon is waiting for him at the stables, eyebrows furrowed and lips drawn into an angry pout. There are dark circles under her eyes, curiously. Didn't he put her to bed just before leaving for the castle?
"Where did you go? I spent the night looking for you! I was worried sick, Fairy Boy!" exclaims the redhead, stomping her feet for added emphasis.
Link leads Epona back into her stall. "I had a hard time sleeping. I wanted to go for a ride," he lies. It's almost disconcerting to him, how easily falsehoods spill from his mouth now. Malon continues to frown, arms crossed. Her eyes soften before she turns away from the hero. The redhead walks over to an opening in the stables.
"It's dangerous out at night. You could've gotten hurt," she says gently. "Or worse."
"Don't you think this Fairy Boy can take care of himself?" snorts Link, leaning his back against the opening. Malon frowns.
"I know you're good with a sword and a bow, but we're still just a couple of kids."
There's a moment of silence. Link tries to keep his face as impassive as possible. Epona nickers, as if sensing the redhead's displeasure. He scans her face. Malon looks tired. Guilt pricks at him when he imagines her frantic search for him in the dead of night.
Link sighs.
"Malon, you're right. It was wrong for me to leave so suddenly. Next time, I won't just slip away if...I have to go somewhere. I'm sorry I worried you."
She takes a deep breath. The frown disappears. "You're lucky I didn't tell my father. He'd let you have it if I told him that you let me do all the chores this morning.
Link smiles sheepishly. "How can I make it up to you?"
The redhead looks up thoughtfully, before turning to him with a bright sparkle in her eyes.
"Tell me a story every night for a month!"
He laughs. "A month? You drive a hard bargain. I don't even know if there are that many stories for me to tell." Of course, that wasn't true. Link could probably tell her enough tales from his adventure for a year if he really wanted to.
Malon pouts again, but there's no real anger in her face. There's a puppy dog quality to the way she looks at him now, and Link can't help but smile.
"Okay, if that's what you want," agrees the hero. Satisfied, Malon grins and links her arm through his. Her skin is warm, he thinks, as she starts walking him towards the house.
"Come on, breakfast is waiting."
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notes: sorry it took so long for an update. after maybe one or two more chapters, i have no idea where this story is gonna go. lmk if you have any suggestions!
update: fixed some scenes to make it more canon-compliant — ganondorf had already cursed the gorons and zoras by the time link arrived in the past. and it makes it easier to write future scenes if Link made a second pass clearing through the dungeons once more.