First Encounters

Hitomi Hyuga

"'Are you sure this is right way?'

'Of course I am! Look, we can see the castle from here! It's just a little ways more and we'll be on our way to meeting the princess of destiny that the Deku Tree told us about.'

Navi crossed her arms. 'I know that the castle is right there. I just think that there might be monsters.' She shook a little out of fear.

I shook my head and patted her tiny blue head. 'Silly Navi, a few monsters won't keep us from seeing the princess! Even if they try, I've got this!' I drew and brandished my Kokiri sword. 'No one's gonna mess with us, unless they want to taste my blade!' This seemed to calm her down a bit, so we continued onward.

Soon we came to the drawbridge that leads into the castle. Navi looked around nervously as if something was about to pop out at us. She flew up into my hat, still shaking. I rolled my eyes at her and walked into town. I tell you, it was an amazing place for a little eleven-year-old forest kid. I'd never seen so many people in one place before. I wondered around for a while, taking it all in.

'Shouldn't you be going to see the princess?' snapped Navi.

I scoffed. 'She isn't going anywhere! She'll be right there waiting for me whether I go today or tomorrow or next week!' I puffed my chest out, and you could kinda see my muscles through my shirt. 'I'm a man now, and I'm gonna explore the town!' Navi retreated back up into my cap, clearly terrified of the people in the town.

Before long, I found myself in the center of the town enjoying the view. Lots of beautiful women were around that day, and they would glance my way as they walked by. But then, out of nowhere, I heard a loud scream coming from near the Happy Mask Shop. I jumped to my feet and followed the direction of the scream. When I got through the commotion, there was a pretty redheaded girl being held captive by three thugs. They were big, tough-looking guys, all with swords. The girl looked very scared, but she swooned when she saw me.

'Let her go,' I demanded.

'Yeah? Or else what?' he sneered at me. He tightened his grip on her, making her whimper in fear. I knew it was time, so I withdrew my sword from its sheath and made sure he got a good look at it. Immediately they began quivering in their boots as I unleashed my wrath on them with my sword. They didn't stand a chance, and soon I had them piled together, unconscious. The girl was finally safe.

'You're my hero!' she said, kissing me on the cheek. And little did I know that the pretty girl I saved all those years ago would one day be my beautiful wife."

…

"…Link, um…is that actually how it happened?"

Link scowled. "Of course that's how it happened, Ingo! You can ask Malon herself!" Everyone in the room turned toward the girl in question, who could only shake her head.

"You are lying through your teeth, Fairy Boy!" said Malon. "I've never been jumped by thugs in Castle Town, and even if I did, do you really think they'd be afraid of that little cheese knife you wielded back then?"

"And I resent the way you portrayed me! Why was I a coward? I was always right there with you in the thick of it when we were adventuring together! Who do you think helped you all those times?!" Navi was a tiny, livid ball of light dancing around Link's head, trying to land a few tiny punches to his face.

"I have to admit, this story does seem a bit far-fetched," said Zelda. Impa nodded at her side, and the other sages (all present for the celebration of Link and Malon's wedding) seemed to agree.

"Fine then! Malon, you tell the story," muttered Link.

Saria laughed and patted his shoulder. "Oh, quit pouting. For what it's worth, it was an interesting story!"

Malon cleared her throat. "Now, for those of you who want to hear the real story, allow me:

It was a market day, when dad and I would take our wares to town to sell. Today was special because we were delivering milk to the Royal Family. While dad was delivering the crates (and he fell asleep during the walk there, mind you), he told me I could explore the town as long as I met him in front of the Happy Mask Shop at noon. I'd walked around town by myself before," she said with a hard glance at Link, "so I wasn't afraid of getting lost or anything bad happening.

Today, for some reason, I decided I would explore the back alleys. There weren't any shops back there, but it was a good place to get away from the crowds at the market. As I walked along, I heard sobbing. Curious, I followed the sound of the crying until I found a little boy wearing green.

'Excuse me, are you alright?' I asked him. He looked up and me with his snotty nose and puffy eyes. 'Do you need something? I might be able to help.'

'I'm lost!' he blubbered. 'I don't know where to go!' Snot dribbled down his nose as he talked.

'Don't worry, I'll take you somewhere you can be safe.' I helped him up and he wiped his nose.

'Thank you, miss!' he said through tears. And who would've thought that I'd marry that little crybaby years later?"

"Malon! That's not how it happened either!" exclaimed Link.

"I dunno, that sounds like you, Link," said Ruto. "You cried just like that when you were trying to rescue me from Lord Jabu Jabu's belly."

"Yeah, I could believe it," said Rauru, barely disguising a chuckle. All the guests, even Navi, murmured their agreement.

"That sounds like my son-in-law, alright," chuckled Talon.

"No! I did not cry when I first went to Castle Town!" said Link, crossing his arms. "I was way too excited to be scared!"

Malon smirked. "Call it revenge for your story about me." The guests had a great laugh; even Link had to join in.

Once all the guests had left for the night, Link sat in front of the fireplace nodding off. Navi was already sound asleep, curled up in Link's cap. Malon walked over to her husband rubbed his shoulders affectionately, something he couldn't help but melt into. He turned his face up to her for a kiss, which she gladly accepted.

"You're cute when you're embarrassed," she told him.

He chuckled. "You're cute when you're mad at me for trying to embarrass you."

"I think we can agree that we'd both be beyondembarrassed if we'd told them what actually happened."

"Oh, there's no doubt." They both cringed a little. "There's no way that wasn't your first trip to Castle Town."

"It wasn't! You can ask my dad, he'd been taking me there since I was little! It was my first time in the back alleys, though, so that would explain why I got us lost." She laughed as the memory of that day came flooding back to her. "You did cry, though."

"Only because Navi was yelling at me! I don't like it when people yell at me, I get really upset," he said sheepishly. "You did a good job yelling at that guard, though."

"Well, he wasn't being helpful! It would've worked if he hadn't called his guard friends on us to arrest us and take us to an orphanage or something."

"Man, my first real day in Hyrule and I was already a fugitive. It's been an adventure since day one with us, hasn't it?"

She smiled and kissed his forehead. "It certainly has. But the real story stays between us, deal?"

"Deal."

Merry late Christmas, Allie! After putting it off for months, it's finally up! Hope you like it :)

Enjoy!