She turned around, and beheld a young boy clad in a green tunic. He was standing at the base of the steps that led up to the platform that she stood upon to peer through the window. Her hand went to her mouth in surprise.
For a few moments, there was nothing but silence between the two young children. Then, one of them spoke.
"Who!?" Zelda gasped, having finally found her voice. "Who are you? How did you get past the guards?"
Link's shoulders drooped dejectedly. He had been sent back in time to before the point that he had met Zelda.
Zelda was visibly trembling, but was attempting to appear composed. "Get out! Get out, or I'll call the guards!"
Link began to whistle.
At first, the young princess was completely baffled.
After three notes, her eyes grew wide. No, it couldn't be...could it?
After six notes, her suspicion was confirmed.
Zelda stared intently at Link, in confusion and disbelief. However, the longer Link whistled, the less threatened she felt. The song did not completely put her at ease, but it did soothe her, as it always did.
Link finished whistling Zelda's Lullaby.
"...How did you know that melody?" Zelda asked. "Only members of the Royal Family are supposed to know it..."
"I know the secret of the Sacred Realm." Link said. Zelda's eyes became even more wide. "The goddesses put the Triforce somewhere in Hyrule. The fate of Hyrule depends on who makes a wish using the Triforce, so the ancient Sages built the Temple of Time to protect the Triforce from those with evil intentions."
Zelda was trembling again, but now from surprise. "How do you know these things?" She asked.
"Through that window..." Link began. "...You were looking at a man with evil eyes, weren't you?"
Zelda froze, and then posture suddenly began as straight as a board. Her face became red, and her eyes became aflame with anger.
"How dare you say that about my father?!" Zelda hissed.
Link nearly took a step back out of shock. His plan had backfired.
He had assumed that Zelda would be looking through the window at Ganondorf...but he had guessed wrong.
"Answer my question!" Zelda snapped. "How did you know about the song and the Triforce? If you don't tell me, I'll tell my father that you know, and he'll imprison you for stealing royal secrets! And if I tell him what you said about his eyes, he'll imprison you forever!"
Anxiety swept over Link quickly. He tried to save the situation. "Have you had a strange dream lately?" He asked.
Zelda seemed annoyed by the question. "What? Don't ask me weird questions!"
"Dark storm clouds, billowing over Hyrule? A ray of light shooting out of the forest, parting the clouds? A green figure holding a shining stone, followed by a fairy?"
"You're just babbling about nonsense!" Zelda said.
Link became even more worried. He had hoped that by repeating everything he had learned the first time they had met, he would be able to prove that they had met once before. But now he had made himself look like a stealer of royal secrets and a babbling idiot.
"I'm very sorry, Princess." Link said sheepishly. "Please forgive me. I never meant to alarm you or scare you. I didn't come here to hurt you. I didn't mean to say that your father had evil eyes - I thought that there was someone else past that window."
Zelda seemed less apprehensive, and somewhat relieved, but was still displeased. "How did you know the song and the secret?"
"...You told me."
"...What?"
"There was an evil man named Ganondorf who planned to take over Hyrule using the Triforce. You and I...together, we stopped him. The Sages banished him into the Evil Realm...it seems that in banishing him, he was removed from all time. This is why he's not past that window...why you didn't have a dream that told a prophecy about him. You used the Ocarina of Time to send me into the past...You told me to 'go home'...to 'regain my lost time'...I didn't know where to go, so I came here. ...I'm sorry for upsetting you."
Zelda was silent.
"...Do you believe me?" Link asked.
Zelda was still silent. It seemed to take an eternity for her to speak again.
"I'm not sure." She said. "What you're saying could be true...or maybe you're a thief and a liar."
Zelda's words hurt Link far more than any injury he'd sustained in his journeys. The pain showed on his face, and Zelda felt a bit of guilty. She may have been apprehensive, but she was not apathetic. The boy had shocked her and frightened her a bit, but he had done her no wrong.
"...You don't seem like a bad person, though." She admitted. Link remembered Zelda saying that she could 'sense' Ganondorf's evil intentions. If this was so, she would sense that he had no malicious intent. "Maybe we should start over."
Link smiled and nodded.
"I never had a chance to properly introduce myself." She bowed her head slightly, and smiled. "I am Zelda, Princess of Hyrule. What is your name?"
He told her his name.
"...Link... " The Princess repeated, a curious look on her face. "...Strange...it sounds somehow...familiar..."