Now that this is the last beginning Author's Note, I guess I ought to remind everyone of that whole disclaimer thing, right? Right.
RRRP:
ChangelingRin & ChangelingRin disguised as a guest (FF): Doriyah is the funny dialogue Ganondorf says whenever he uses his sword in Smash Bros. The crab was another rejected BOTW Guardian that I forgot about when writing, and only remembered back when I introduced them in chapter 8. Thank you so much for doing this for me! It's not drowning in Malink, if that's what you're worried about. Ivan is everyone's favorite character, myself included! I will take your statements with me into everything I do! Again, thank you so much!
MarkOfThree (FF): Oh god, I'm so sorry… this chapter/epilogue/whatever covers Termina…
RandomFFnetUser (FF): Alas, it is. No hard feelings. And you are giving me FAR too much credit if you assume THIS is the best fic on the site. Clearly you've never sorted by 'Favorites', because there's some works on there that I genuinely could not hope to top.
Thank you so much! I have a few ideas regarding what's next, but it won't be out for a while. I had an idea for a wholly original Zelda story (no hand-holding from MQ or TOM) with a really cool villain, but that got scrapped in development because I don't really have any idea of how to get it to start… I might just upload the final boss fight without context. After that, there's a 1K word blurb wrapping up TOM that I'm going to upload in about a month, and then I have two really weird crossover fics lined up with post-MM Link (not post-TOM Link, I'm done with him after that little ficlet) and some weird stuff. It won't be quite the same flavor as TOM, but it'll have my flair, if that's what you're looking for. If it comes out. Don't hold your breath. I write all of these beforehand so I don't have to have hiatuses, and I only upload when the whole thing is done. And for one of those crossovers, especially… I'm hardly a tenth through the "Source" material, if you know what I mean. The other one is already about halfway done, so expect that in a few months… or years… some point! Anyways, fic time.
DISCLAIMER: This fiction is, as the name suggests, fictitious. All LoZ characters, and even Ivan to an extent, belong to Nintendo. Everyone else belongs to their respective owners, who I'm too lazy to name. Is that enough? Good.
Also, yes, I decided to name this Chapter 30 for noteriety's sake. But it's still not really a chapter and more of an epilogue. Deal with it.
Chapter XXX: To Begin Again
Link was taller.
The transition from the last year to this had been a slow and methodical one. But he could mark his physical changes rather easily as he walked through the gate leading up to Hyrule Castle. He'd grown about a quarter of a brick since the last time he'd been here. He'd also finally finished going through other smaller evolutions, such as the loss of whatever thin layer of fat still clung stubbornly to his face. He was essentially a scaled-down version of how he'd appeared in the future past- a bit more healthy, granted, but otherwise proportionally identical. He'd even had a better longsword made for him by Biggoron, who fortunately didn't need eye drops this time around. He still called it the Stygian Light, but it lacked the dark magic that the first Stygian Light had.
The guards casually opened the gate, although they had looks of mild confusion visible underneath their helmets. Link had visited the castle consistently, once a month, making his way from the new province of Ordon all the way to Castle Town. Ordon technically existed within the Kokiri Forest, but it was out of range of the magic-draining energies of the Lost Woods proper. He lived there with Malon and Ingo, who had practically adopted the homeless Hero as soon as they realized that he had nowhere to go. It had once been the frontier village of Norwich, but as time passed, it had spread all throughout what was now called Faron Woods.
This visit, however, was different. Ever since Link had been informally knighted by King Daphnes- unofficially, because his physical youth and supposed heritage still drew hesitation from the Court- he had visited every month, delivering information on the state of the Ordon province, and then meeting with the other knights and the Princess. He'd arrive at daybreak and leave at sunset, never earlier and never later. Nonetheless, it was nearly noon, which was already an oddity. And even then, Link had visited just a week prior. The strangest thing was that Link was just as confused as the other knights. He'd only gotten a message from Zelda telling him to come to the castle posthaste, and then proceeded to veritably sprint out of Ordon straight to Castle Town.
Link walked briskly through the opened gate and ascended the rolling hills that led up to the majestic facade of the castle. He didn't take the time to appreciate the beauty; he had questions to answer.
Some time later, he finally found Zelda. Interestingly, Impa was also present. That put Link on edge; if Impa was there, it had to be extremely serious.
"Link," the Sheikah greeted quickly. "As you know, the Sages took Ganondorf to the Arbiter's Ground in the Gerudo Desert to properly, ah… execute him."
"Yes," Link replied. "I know of this… did something go wrong?"
Impa looked at Zelda, slightly tense.
"Ganondorf has been stopped," Zelda assured him. "It's… something else. Do you, perchance, remember the object that Demise summoned in the decayed timeline?"
"It was called Ghirahim, wasn't it?" Link tried to remember. "And it was originally housed in the Shadow Temple?"
"Exactly!" the princess replied. "Wait, how did you know that it was housed in the Shadow Temple?"
"I saw the statue it was supposed to be connected to in the future past," the Hero of Time explained. "It was missing."
"Missing-?!" Zelda began, throwing a hand in front of her mouth. "But that would mean-"
"That Ganondorf has nothing to do with its disappearance, as I said," Impa finished. "We will have to look elsewhere. If anyone managed to break the seal holding Ghirahim in that mask… who knows what sort of chaos could envelop Hyrule."
Link and Zelda shuddered just thinking about it.
"Is there any way to… destroy the mask?" Zelda asked hesitantly.
"Not without killing Ghirahim first, which is nearly impossible."
Abruptly, a flash of bright light filled the room, forcing Link to throw his arm in front of his face to shield himself from the spark. Impa and Zelda, however, remained completely unaffected. In the space behind Impa, another Sheikah had materialized from the gloom, dressed similarly to how the guise of Sheik had appeared in the decayed timeline. Of course, there was a myriad of smaller differences between Sheik and this ninja, namely the lack of swaddling around the facial area, which revealed a rather fancy moustache.
"Salutations, Princess and Hero," he greeted. "Impa, I have news regarding the whereabouts of Ghirahim."
"Explain," the Sheikah woman demanded.
"The Happy Mask Shop, a recently-established mask vendor, has been abandoned not long ago," he explained. "Furthermore, the owner of the shop was seen entering the Kakariko graveyard while you were away attending Ganondorf's execution, and was then sighted entering the Lost Woods, north of Ordon. Eyewitnesses reported feelings of tension and unease emanating from the man, who seemed wholly immune to it."
"Then he stole the mask," Impa declared. "It must be retrieved at all costs. The safety of the world depends on it."
Link made a choice.
"I'll do it," the Hero of Time declared. "I know the Lost Woods, and I have experience battling with dark magicians, including ones that bore the Triforce of Power. If anyone is going to do it, it's me."
Zelda looked like she wanted to argue, but didn't. "You… Take this. I want you to have it." She procured the Ocarina of Time itself from behind her back and offered it to Link. This tiny blue instrument had wrought so much pain in his life- more than two lifetime's worth. And now it was being placed in his hands like a gift. He didn't want it; it was a reminder of everything that he had lost.
But what had he lost that he didn't have now? He had family in Malon, and even Ingo this time around. He had a sense of belonging in this Hyrule that he'd been lacking his entire life. He had more friends than he could have possibly imagined just a short time ago, even though in reality it had been almost two years. He had everything he could possibly want.
He took the Ocarina and placed it in his pouch. And despite his charge, he was happy.
!0*0!
The trees were more gnarled here, away from the protective and nurturing care of the Kokiri. Ivan had always liked it here; he said it was how a forest really looked. Thinking about his deceased guardian put a damper on things, provoking Link to hang his head depressedly. As if sensing his discomfort, Epona snorted, rousing the Hylian from his thoughts. It also sparked happier memories to swirl about in his brain. The kiss he had shared with Malon in the decayed timeline, for one, stood out particularly prominently, but it was slowly outshined by the one he had shared with her in this time. He loved Malon, but he lamented the fact that the Malon of the future past and the Malon he was in love with now were completely different people. A part of him even wondered- feared, really- that he only loved Malon because of his memories of her from the future timeline. Those thoughts, even though he knew they weren't true, only served to depress Link further.
If Ivan had been there, he would have told Link to pick his head up and focus on what was still good.
He never got the chance to try.
A bright off-white light and a dark purple one collided with Epona's snout in unison, prompting her to rear up on her hind legs. Link was thrown from his position above the mare and collided with the ground neck-first. Pain flooded his body as he remembered no more, vision sluggishly fading away to black.
He came to slowly, making sure he didn't make a sound in case whatever had attacked him was still there. He first took stock of his surroundings, and noticed that Epona had recovered. He also saw those two lights that had spooked the filly earlier floating next to a Skull Kid, holding the delicate blue of the Ocarina of Time in its wooden hands.
Link froze, fear etched into his awoken face, as the Skull Kid threw an errant glance behind him, revealing the heart-shaped, multicolored, spiked mask attached to its face. That was it. Ghirahim's mask. Somehow, one of the most powerful ancient artifacts imbued with the power of a literal Demon Lord had fallen into the hands of a forest imp with the mind of a small child. It took the Skull Kid a few instants to realize exactly what it was seeing, in which it whirled around and hid the Ocarina of Time behind its back, as if Link lacked the object permanence to remember that it was there.
"Skull Kid… take off the mask… it's evil-" Link said, attempting to coax the lost child into giving him the mask peacefully.
"No way!" it snapped back. "Tatl, Tael! He wants to take the mask!"
The two fairies looked at each other, nodded, and collided with Link, in a similar fashion that they had with Epona. They were less effective, though, as the Hylian was able to brush the fay aside and instead dove for Skull Kid. The lost child was more agile than it looked, though, and before Link even hit the ground, it had somehow managed to leap onto Epona's back, spooking the rust-colored horse once again and causing her to bolt. Link snatched the Skull Kid's leg as his equine companion sprinted through the trees. Unfortunately, his Stalfos Hand wasn't strong enough to endure the constant forces of being dragged along by a horse, and he was forced to let go. Epona darted through a tunnel etched into a tree, and Link gave chase at a full sprint.
The interior of the tree was dark and shadowy, and the Hero of Time failed to realize that there was a massive cliff until it was too late for him to slow down. He tried to stop himself, but he ended up tumbling into the dark abyss. He saw a vast array of multicolored symbols he didn't understand before reality suddenly returned to him. He collided with some kind of flower at the bottom of the fall, which felt squishy and bouncy to the touch. The Hylian came to the realization that he wasn't dead, and quickly got to his feet. He was prepared for anything, but he was still caught off-guard when he realized that Skull Kid- still wearing Ghirahim's mask- was casually floating in front of him with its arms crossed, as if bored.
"What's with that stupid horse of yours?! It doesn't listen to a word that's said to it…" it monologued. "There's no point in riding a thing like that, so I did you a favor and got rid of it… hee hee…"
Link said nothing, only changing his expression into one of raw disdain.
"Aw, boo-hoo. Why the sad face? I just thought I'd have a little… fun… with you," Ghirahim continued.
"I will destroy you," Link vowed quietly.
"Oh, come on," Skull Kid groaned. "Do you really think you can defeat me as I am now? Fool!"
"I know who you are, Ghirahim," Link spat.
Skull Kid stiffened. "What did you call me?"
"I called you what you are," Link replied snarkily, and with a bit more pomp than what was necessary. If he could coax the mask into a fight right now without it running away, he could rip it off of the Skull Kid. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Link. I believe you've met my predecessor. You know, the one that killed Demise?"
"You…" the mask sputtered. "You! I will make you suffer!"
Skull Kid started shaking his head violently from side to side, as dark magic spewed from the demon's mask. Pure agony ripped through Link's body as his skin twisted, thickened, and tightened into something that was so inherently not Link. In his mindscape, he was surrounded by a seemingly infinite number of those Mad Scrubs that had once infested the path to the Sacred Forest Meadow. Then he was running, trying to sprint away from an enormous Mad Scrub that always seemed to be gaining on him, no matter how often he redoubled his speed.
The scene vanished, and Link stared into the water in front of him a wholly changed being. Gone was the Hylian youth, the Hero of Time. In his place was a Deku Scrub, which seamlessly mimicked Link's every action as he tried to convince himself that none of this was real. Interestingly, his Stalfos Hand had also been warped by the conversion; instead of being bone, it was represented by what appeared to be barkless, withered tree matter. Eventually, he accepted that this new form would just be something that he'd have to work around.
"Hee hee! Now, that's a good look for you!" Ghirahim laughed, kicking Skull Kid's legs about in the air in sadistic glee. "You'll stay looking that way forever!" Then the sealed demon lord floated backwards, still laughing, towards a door that had suddenly unlocked. Link forced his wooden legs to move him forwards, and he found that it was just as easy as running as a Hylian. But that golden Fairy merely butted him backwards, allowing the Skull Kid to escape. And the door slammed shut, keeping Link away, but also separating the fairies from each other.
"Whoa, whoa! Skull Kid, wait for me! I'm still here! Tael, you can't leave without me!" the fairy, evidently named Tatl, hollered before whirling about to stare at the cursed Hylian. "You! If I wasn't dealing with you, I wouldn't have gotten separated from my brother, you little cyclops freak! Well, don't just stand there, Deku Boy! Do something!"
"So you're telling me that I ought to help you because you stopped me from trying to uncurse myself?!" Link demanded, hating the sound of his new Deku Scrub voice. "In case you didn't know, that mask Skull Kid is wearing is possessed by the right hand man of the fucking God of Death! And I've been sent here specifically to destroy that mask, or at least secure it! And you're asking me for help?"
Tatl was just staring at him, slack-jawed. She obviously hadn't expected such an outburst, not to mention the raw truth dripping off of Link's words. Then again, who would have seen this coming from a child?
"C-could you just open that door? C'mon, a helpless little girl is asking you! So hurry up!" the sprite ordered. In that, she was even worse than Navi. "Ohhh, Tael… I wonder if that child will be alright on his own?"
"Considering that he's wearing a possessed mask… no," Link responded.
"Can it, kid," she demanded.
There was no way to go but forwards. So he went.
"Hey, wait for me! Don't leave me behind!" Tatl hollered, darting in front of Link's wooded exterior. "So, uh… that stuff back there… I, um, apologize so… So take me with you!"
"Excuse me? Weren't you just complaining that I'm the reason you got separated?"
"I already said sorry!" the fairy replied shrilly. "Look, you wanna know about that Skull Kid who just ran off, right? Well, I just so happen to have an idea of where he's going. Take me with you and I'll help you out. Deal? Good, so then it's settled!"
Link blinked.
"Now then, I'll be your partner, or-"
"No!" Link objected in a strangled gasp. "Don't you know anything about energy drain?"
"Of course I do!" Tatl stated. "I'll be keeping my distance and whatnot. Although… that was very con… siderate of you… how do you know about energy drain?"
"Later," Link said dismissively, biting memories of Ivan rising back up in his mind.
"Anyway, my name's Tatl, so, uh… it's nice to meet you or whatever."
Link chuckled, or at least he tried to. Being made of wood understandably put a damper on things. "I'm Link. The pleasure is mine." He tried to keep the sarcasm out of his voice and failed miserably.
"Okay, can we get moving now? The more time we waste, the more time Skull Kid has to get away. If I figure something out, I'll tell you. Hopefully, you'll manage to get by without until then!"
Link thought on it more. She had no reason to like him. She blamed him for being separated from her brother, although he was sure that she'd see that it was less him and more Ghirahim. In hindsight, taunting the psychotic mask was probably a bad idea, but he couldn't resist. Nor could he possibly predict the ramifications of doing so. He just shrugged and moved on.
!0*0!
Despite the fact that Skull Kid had called it a curse, Link was quickly discovering the perks of having a Deku Scrub's body. He could twirl to increase his speed and fire off little bubbles at the cost of magic power, and perhaps most interestingly, he could burrow into Deku Flowers not unlike the one he'd landed on earlier and then spring out, floating all over the place with an adorable pair of flowery parasols. He could have done without the flowers, as his Hylian form was mildly allergic to them, but it would do.
He walked through a twisted tunnel, not unlike the gravity-warping one in the Forest Temple. It filled him with nausea, but he swallowed the feeling down and carried on. The gloom soon dispersed, and Link was greeted with a massive gear steadily rotating in place within a stone room. A door slammed shut behind him, sealing the path back to the forest. Thoroughly confused, the Hero of Time jogged up a small wooden bridge and up a small flight of stairs, seeing a door and grabbing the handle.
"You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"
Link whirled at the sound and was suddenly affronted by none other than the redheaded Happy Mask Salesman. Instantly, his face warped into an expression of pure and unadulterated fury. This was the man that had stolen Ghirahim from the Shadow Temple and allowed it to be stolen by the Skull Kid. Anything that would happen was his fault. Tatl appeared equally distressed, although for probably different reasons, as she tried to hide behind his head.
"I own the Happy Mask Shop," the salesman introduced. "I have searched far and wide in search of… certain masks. During my travels, a very important mask was stolen from me by an imp in the woods. Now I am at a loss… and now I've found you."
Link said nothing, too consumed by rage to think quite straight.
"Now, don't think me rude, but I have been following you…"
Oh, that's not rude, Link thought. That just makes you a stalker.
"... for I know a way to return you to your former self."
That caught Link's attention. Being a Deku Scrub was interesting, to be sure, but he'd hopped through a child and adult form enough to be uncomfortable in anyone else's skin.
"If you can get me back the precious item that was stolen from you, I will return you to normal. In exchange… all I ask is that you also return that precious mask from the imp."
How does a longsword to the midsection sound?
"What? Is that not a simple task?" The Salesman inquired, looking pensive. "To someone like you, it should by no means be difficult…"
Link didn't know what to think about that.
"Except… the one thing is… I'm a very busy fellow… and I must leave this place in three days. How grateful I would be if you could bring it back to me before my time is up…"
Link was hit with a disturbing sense of foreboding.
"But yes… you'll be fine. I can see that you are young and have tremendous Courage. I'm sure you'll find it right away. Well then, I'm counting on you…"
Seeing that the Salesman was finally done, Link turned around as quickly as he could and darted out of the door.
"That guy was creepy," Tatl decided.
"I'm not giving him that mask," Link said. "I'll get the mask, sure, but as soon as he gets rid of the curse, I'm going to stab him through the gut."
"Link?!" the fairy squacked, shocked. "That's immoral!"
"You want immoral?" Link snarled. "Try breaking into an ancient Temple specifically designed to protect that mask, and then letting it be stolen from you by a Skull Kid with no possible means of controlling the raw dark power within it. That's immoral."
Tatl said nothing.
Link sighed. "Sorry," he said. "It's just that I was sent here to get that mask back by the caretaker of that Temple, who also happens to be the handmaiden of Princess Zelda. I'm understandably really pissed at that creep."
"You know Zelda?" Tatl demanded. "Why?"
"It's a long story," Link said dismissively. "One that only brings back memories, most of which are painful. I'd rather not talk about it with someone I just met five minutes ago."
The sprite looked like she wanted to object, but didn't.
Seeing that the conversation was over, Link turned back to the scene in front of him. He'd somehow stumbled into a civilization that looked awfully similar to Hyrule Castle. Even some of Anjou's father's carpenters were hauling massive planks of lumber. That gave Link a headache. Vaguely, he wondered if they were preparing for something like Summer's Day.
Then he made the mistake of looking up.
!0*0!
"Okay, that guy is demented as well as creepy," Tatl decided.
The Hylian she had teamed up with nodded in agreement. He was a Hylian now, having just removed the Deku Scrub curse that Ghirahim had put on him. Link had also been brutally shaken about by a furious Salesman when he realized that Link didn't have Majora's Mask. Apparently, Ghirahim had taken a new name over the millenia.
"Now you see why I don't want to give the mask to him."
"You've proven your point," she relented. "We'll try to not give him the mask when we defeat it."
Link nodded, stretching his newly re-acquired Hylian limbs as he made for the nearest gate. Then he stopped, and looked up at the grotesque moon glaring down at Clock Town.
"Tick tock, Ghirahim," he stated, before continuing on his way.
At the beginning of each Cycle, Link would repeat those words before setting off to continue his quest to stop the moon, and save as many people in this realm of Termina as he could in the process. Every time Link played the Song of Time, that progress was lost. He should have been more fazed by it, as Tatl helpfully and repeatedly pointed out. He guessed he was used to people forgetting who he was by then, but the fact that most of the Terminians shared the faces and appearances of the Hylians that he had come to love should have nullified that. In fact, he nearly choked on his own surprise when he first entered Romani Ranch, something that Tatl had never let him live down.
Regardless of where he was, however much time he had left before the moon fell, or how hopeless it seemed, Link pushed on.
!0*0!
After what seemed to be an eternity later, he won.
He really couldn't have done it without the aid of the Fierce Deity Mask, an artifact he'd been forced to purchase in exchange for almost all of his other veneers. It gave him the powers of a god in Link's own form, equipped with spotless armor and a double helix broadsword that rivaled the length of the Stygian Light. He had no idea why Ghirahim had let him get it, but it had mentioned something about doing their final battle 'properly', whatever that meant.
Skull Kid had had his redemption with the Four Giants, who had hurled the cataclysmic moon into space. Clock Town was bursting with fireworks, celebrating the fact that they weren't all dead more than the Festival. Everyone was happy, and that was all Link wanted.
Unfortunately, 'everyone' happened to include the Salesman.
"Oh… so the evil has left the mask after all," the man said, dejectedness dripping off of his voice. Link whirled, and saw the husk of Majora's Mask sitting casually in the palm of the Salesman's hands. Strangely, that pervading feeling of unease he had associated with Ghirahim still lingered. "Well, now… I finally have it back. Since I am in the midst of my travels, I must bid you farewell."
He stalked between Link and Skull Kid, and Link took the opportunity to make a dive for the Mask. He'd heard everything the Salesman had said, but he didn't trust this particular psychopath half as far as he could throw him. The redhead stopped, and turned to stare at Link.
"Shouldn't you be returning home as well?" he said coldly. Link then realized that the strange sensation he felt wasn't coming from the mask, but from the Salesman himself, not to mention the fact that the feeling was severely diminished from how it had felt fighting Ghirahim in the moon. That confirmed it; the evil was gone, and there was no immediate threat. "Whenever there is a meeting, a parting is sure to follow. But that parting need not last forever… Whether a parting be forever or merely for a short time… that is up to you. With that, please excuse me… But, my, you sure have managed to make quite a number of people happy. In more than one world… This is truly a good happiness. You wouldn't want to squander that, child."
The threat couldn't have been more obvious. If Link tried to follow the Salesman, the Hero would die, and that would hurt an incomprehensible number of lives. The realization kept Link in a stunned shock just long enough for the Salesman to vanish into thin air, never to be seen by the Hylian again.
"The evil was… gone," Tatl said, in a voice that hardly sounded like Tatl at all. Tatl was more sarcastic and argumentative. "That man wasn't lying."
"Still, if I ever see that little shit ever again, I'll seal him in the Shadow Temple," Link vowed. And then I'll let him rot, beat him down, and when all that's done, I'll burn him alive. I'll salt the ground where he died so that nothing will ever grow there again. Maybe I'll feed his charred corpse to the rats, who will then die and be eaten by other rats, so that he can spend eternity as rat food."
"Have I ever told you how scary you can be, kid?"
She had. Link had told her the whole story of his first adventure in Hyrule over the course of the first few dozen Cycles or so, but had omitted the second one, because remembering Ivan still stung too sharp for him to recount. This decision led to an awkward conversation in the Knife Chamber, when Tatl learned about Link's preceding fairy partner through the Hylian's nightmares. Apparently, he talked when he slept. He'd then been forced to tell the golden sprite all about the second excursion, with all the pain that it brought him.
"Anyway… since our parts are done… I guess this is goodbye," Tatl finished. "Good luck, Link."
"You too," Link replied. "Make sure Skull Kid doesn't steal any more creepy masks from morally incorrect salesmen wandering the forest, okay?"
The last thing he heard was the sound of Tatl's lilting laughter as he played the Prelude of Light, warping himself and Epona to the Temple of Time.
!0*0!
The transformation masks that Link had borne throughout his sojourn in Termina slowly faded away into the air, but the Fierce Deity did not. Link liked to imagine that this disappearance translated to the souls within being freed and finally put to rest, but because the Link-esque mask didn't have a soul within it- that he knew of, anyway- it couldn't just disappear. Putting it on, however, revealed that it had no effect on his form.
Ordon was beginning to come into full view, and already, Link could make out the lights of New Lon Ranch. He left this ranch caught between a child and an adult, although he seemed to lean more towards the latter, but his quest in Termina changed that. He was fully matured, no longer trapped between his mental and physical ages. As Cremia had said, being an adult was about how one carries themselves, and that made Link an adult in her eyes. The hug was nice, too.
He summoned his Stalfos Shield and peered into its semi-reflective surface. For some odd reason, he wanted to see how he looked before he went into the farm again; he figured Malon would probably comment on it. He looked haggard; massive bags had accumulated under his eyes, he'd grown thinner from running himself ragged all across Termina Field, and the haunted look in his eyes had only been accentuated. On his childish figure, they were disturbing. But had he been the adult he saw himself as, it would have hardly stood out.
So he didn't care all that much.
Movement began to make itself known within the Ranch, and soon Malon was standing outside to greet him. "You're back," she stated. "What was it that Zelda wanted to talk to you about?"
"Nothing," Link replied, his voice hoarse. "Nothing important. All that matters is right here."
He threw himself into Malon's grasp, tugging her into an embrace. That embrace was reciprocated, and in that moment, he knew that no matter what came next, he would be happy. At journey's end, he was finally home.
No, I'm not writing Majora's Mask. Partially because that would be brutal, but mostly because I don't have enough experience to be able to write anything good on it. Please don't kill me. If you want MM for this fic so bad, write it yourself. Really.
NMMTD: Nothing.