My computer at home was acting weird as I was rewriting this chapter, so there might be a few mistakes.

Chapter Two

Melody yawned softly as she opened her sea blue eyes. Sunlight streamed through the window, causing her to squint. 'Why hasn't anyone woken me up?' she thought to herself. She slowly sat up, pulled the blanket off her and realized that she was still in her mourning dress from yesterday. Groggily, she changed into a green tunic and walked downstairs.

"Hello!" Melody called out, but nobody answered. 'They must all be outside.' It was then that Melody glanced at the table and saw a plate of eggs and bacon. She sat down and, without a second thought, devoured the plate's contents.

After she was done eating she headed outside to look for the others. She didn't have to look very far, they were all in the garden tending the flowers. Pain welled up in Melody's chest as a seemingly distant memory came flooding back.

'If Mother was here she would be tending the flowers right now,' she thought. In her minds eye she could see her mother reaching down and picking a pair of dandelions from the soft earth to throw in the pile of weeds.

"About time you're up," Annie said as she glanced at Melody.

She broke from her trance and saw her two sisters running to greet her, followed slowly be her father.

"We thought you were going to sleep all day," Zelda said.

"Stop harassing her." Link walked over to Melody, carrying an empty basket. He kissed her softly on the forehead. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes. Why didn't anyway wake me?"

"Can't we let you sleep in without being questioned?"

"Sorry." 'There's something I've forgotten about, but what?'

"Could you gather some grapes?" Link asked.

"Okay," Melody answered as she took the basket from him. She headed out into the woods behind the house. She knew a special place in the forest where the most delicious grapes grew. It took her a quarter of an hour to reach the spot. It was a small glade with a stream running through the center of it. Vines sagging with the weight of purple grapes surrounded the glade. Melody picked grapes till her basket was full, which didn't take very long, considering the amount of grapes around. She set the basket down, walked over to the stream, and got a drink of the cold clear water. Melody picked a few grapes from the vines and ate them. She closed her eyes, savoring the flavor. A few minutes later she took another drink from the stream. Smiling, she picked up her basket and slowly walked home.

It was oddly silent when she arrived home. 'Where is everyone?' Melody thought as she looked around. 'Maybe they're inside.' She opened the door and entered the house. As she walked into the kitchen the door eerily slammed itself behind her.

"Guys!" Melody shouted. "Where is everyone!"

Annie jumped out from behind the kitchen counter as Zelda and Link burst out of the hallway. "Surprise!" all three of them shouted.

Melody looked at them, stunned. "What's goin' on?"

Annie giggled. "Have you forgotten?"

"Forgotten what?"

"Today's your tenth birthday," Link said.

Melody laughed as she set the basket of grapes on the table. "I can't believe I forgot my own birthday."

"Happy birthday." Annie walked over to her with her hands behind her back. She brought them forward, a pocket sized doll in her hands. The doll's head was too big and hung lopsided. It looked kind of like Annie.

"I made it myself," Annie said. "It's not very good, though…"

"It's wonderful!" Melody exclaimed as she took the doll. "I love it!"

Annie smiled as she took a step back. Zelda came forward holding a light blue wooden flute. She handed it to Melody.

"Thank you," Melody said as she took the flute. She played a scale, listening to the clear beautiful notes. She had learned to play the flute from a friend of hers and had loved it, at the thought of her friend Melody felt a twitch of sadness. Her friend had perished in the fire that had taken place several months ago.

Her dad came forward next. He held out a book that was the size of her hand. The book's cover was dark blue, but there was no title or author written on it. She took it from him.

"It has pictures of the country, facts and other things in it," Link said.

"Thank you," Melody whispered in joy. She placed her presents on the table, and then hugged Annie, Zelda, and her father.

"Time for the cake," Link said. "I know I'm not as good of a cook as your…" Link trailed off as he grabbed a strawberry cake off of the counter. There were ten candles on the cake. "Din's Fire," he muttered and the candles lit.

"Happy, happy birthday to you. Happy, happy birthday to you. Happy, happy birthday Melody, dear. Happy, happy birthday to yooooooouuuu," Annie, Zelda, and Link sang.

"Make a wish!" Annie exclaimed.

Melody thought hard about this. She thought of wishing her mother back, but knew it was a foolish idea. She glanced around the room for an idea of what to wish for. As if guided by fate, her eyes fell on the book. Then she knew, she made her wish as she blew out all of the candles in one breath. 'I wish I could go on an adventure.'

"What did you wish for?" Annie asked.

"It won't come true if she tells you," Zelda said.

Link set the cake on the table and cut pieces for everyone. He served Melody first. After eating the cake they played games. Zelda had made a piñata in the shape of a horse and had filled it with candy. After they broke the piñata they played tag, hide and seek, and an adventure game. In the game Annie played Ganondorf, Zelda played the legendary princess, and Melody was the legendary warrior, Link. Annie would kidnap Zelda and Melody would rescue her. They had a blast.

"Kids, time to come in!" Link shouted at sunset. Melody, Annie, and Zelda raced towards the door.

"I win!" Melody shouted as she ran into the house. Zelda was next, closely followed by Annie.

"Zelda, Annie, go to bed. I want to talk to you, Melody," Link said as they entered the kitchen.

"Goodnight!" Annie and Zelda said as they headed to their beds. Link gestured at a chair and Melody sat down.

After a minute of silence Link said, "Melody, I have two important things to tell you."

Melody looked up at him. "What is it?"

"Well..." Link sighed softly. "I'll do the easy thing first." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a necklace. Melody gasped in wonderment and joy as Link handed it to her. A sapphire hung down from a golden chain.

"It's beautiful!" Melody managed to say.

"A gift from your mother."

"Really?"

"Yes. On the day you were born she told me to give it to you on your tenth birthday. She also said to warn you never to use it for personal gain."

Melody turned the sapphire over. On the back were some strange symbols: 'I wonder what the symbols mean. I don't think Father knows.' Melody slipped it over her neck. "Is that supposed to mean that I can't sell it?"

"No. It has ancient magic in it. In time you may learn to use it, and if you do you must never use the ancient magic lightly."

Melody nodded. "I understand."

"Good."

"You said you had two things to tell me. What's the other one?"

"Well..." Link sighed softly. "This isn't easy to say. I thought that since I'm not ever going to have a son and the other girls are too old..." Link trailed off as he stared in Melody's eyes. "Seeing that you like adventures so much… You could try to become a hero, like the Hero of Time, but-"

"Really!" Melody exclaimed, cutting her father off.

"Really, really." Link held up his finger before Melody could interrupt him again. "It will be a very difficult road to travel. You will have to find someone to teach you because all the schools for training boys are only for boys. You will travel all over the land protecting people, if you are worthy to bear the title Hero. You will be hungry at times, you could be injured and you could even be killed. Do you still accept?"

Undaunted by this, Melody stood up, grinning broadly. "It would be an honor to serve my country."

Link stood up and walked over to a cupboard above the stove. Melody knew what lay there; that was where Link stored his things from his Hero days. Link opened up the cupboard and pulled out a tunic, a sword and a shield. He walked over to Melody and set everything on the table, except the tunic, which he handed to Melody.

"Try it on."

Melody took the tunic, ran to her room and quickly changed into it. She walked back to the kitchen dressed in a pair of white pants, a light green undershirt, a green over shirt, a long green hat, a pair of brown boots, and a black bet with a yellow buckle.

"It's perfect," Melody said softly.

Link hugged Melody tightly, tears in his eyes. "My baby girl is growing up."

"It happens to everyone."

Link picked up the sword, which was in its scabbard. He kneeled and clipped it on Melody's belt.

"The sword doesn't weigh anything!" Melody exclaimed in surprise.

Link grinned as he handed her the metal shield. The shield's border had once been white, but years of use had turned it brown. The rest of the shield was cover in blue. On the top part of the blue were three yellow triangles that formed an even bigger triangle. The three triangles stood for the Triforce. The Triforce was made up of wisdom, courage, and power. The lower part of the blue had a red bird on it that looked like a phoenix. The shield was about three feet long and two feet wide, but it weighed nothing, just like the sword.

"It is said this very same sword, shield and tunic were once the Hero of Time's. The sword and shield are weightless because of a spell Princess Zelda placed on them, but the spell only works if certain people are holding the sword and shield."

"Why only certain people?"

Link smiled. "I'll explain everything tomorrow. It's time for you to go to bed."

"But-"

"No buts. It's late."

"Alright," Melody said as she yawned.

"Goodnight. Remember to guard your sword and shield with your life."

"I will. G'night." Melody walked to her room. She set the shield and sword next to her bed. She changed into her blue nightgown and crawled into bed. The second her head hit the pillow she was asleep.

I'm sorry this chapter was late, but I was really busy with school work, 4-H, and church. I will try to get the next chapter done as soon as I can. Also, my computer at home is really bad. It takes about five minutes to open a document, I'm not exaggerating.