Sit down, my child, and let me tell you the true history of our people.
Before time began, before spirits and life existed, four golden goddesses descended upon the chaos that was Hyrule.
Din, the goddess of power. Nayru, the goddess of wisdom. Farore, the goddess of courage. And Ona, the goddess of kindness.
Din, with her strong flaming arms, cultivated the land and created the red earth. Nayru poured her wisdom onto the earth and gave the spirit of law to the world. Farore, with her rich soul, produced all life forms who would uphold the law. Ona gifted her heart which would link all life together on the deepest level.
The four great goddesses, their labors completed, departed for the heavens. Golden sacred triangles remained at the point where the goddesses left the world. These triangles fused into one, the artifact we call the Triforce. Since then, the sacred triangles have become the basis of our world's providence. And the resting place of the Triforce has become the sacred realm.
But the wise among men know that should the Triforce be sundered, Hyrule's destruction would ultimately follow. Over time the true legend of Hyrule's creation dwindled into obscurity. What did Kindness matter when there was Courage, Wisdom, and Power to be had? It was the beginning of the end…
Malon woke to sunlight streaming through the high barn windows. She squinted through the dusty golden glow and sat up. Her heart was still racing from a nightmare, but as she tried to remember it the details slipped away. All she could cling on to was the impression of a face. Tousled blond hair, soulful blue eyes, pointed ears. The face that had snuck into her dreams for years.
She shook her head, forcing herself to focus on what was in front of her. Link was a hero. And not just any hero, he was the Hero of Time who had saved all of Hyrule. He wielded magic, the triforce of courage, and the master sword to boot. He had crossed Hyrule in its darkest hour, awoken the sages, dueled Ganondorf, sealed him away, and rescued the princess. Not only that, but he had done it all in the future and then come back in time to warn Princess Zelda. Ganondorf was executed and Hyrule was protected from a threat that had never even happened.
Link could have any girl in the entire kingdom that he wanted. Why would he want Malon, the ranch girl who had nothing to offer? Besides, he had left Hyrule after his last visit. Nobody knew where he was, or if he would be back. He might not come back at all. It had been seven years. But maybe, just maybe, he would return soon. And maybe he would come visit the ranch.
"Snap out of it," Malon muttered. She stood, picking bits of hay out of her red hair. "There's no time for daydreaming. You've got chores to do. No time to waste dreaming about boys."
And so her work began. Running Lon Lon Ranch was hard work, but not nearly as hard as it had been when Malon was growing up. As a child her father had been lazy, leaving the work to Malon and their assistant Ingo. That didn't change until Link told her father how in the dark alternate future her father had disappeared and Malon had been forced to work under Ingo. Malon shuddered, pausing while brushing the horses as she was filled with memories of the nightmares she'd had after Link's stories. For seven long years Hyrule had been plunged into darkness. The people had been cursed, turned into monsters or frozen or filled with darkness, and Hyrule had been on the edge of destruction.
But then He had arrived.
Link, the hero of legend, saved everybody. It didn't matter to Malon that she hadn't been there to see it. It didn't matter to her that nobody had seen the alternate dark future Link told them about. Link was a hero. Why would he lie? Why would he know stories filled with such horror and darkness if it hadn't been real? Princess Zelda believed Link, and she convinced her father to execute Ganondorf when it was discovered he had the Triforce of Power. That was good enough for Malon.
Malon started humming to herself as she brushed down the last horse and gathered the milk pails. Tomorrow would be the Festival of Time, a yearly occurrence honoring the triumph of Link. All different kinds of people would be there. Even the zoras and gorons would make the trip. Malon and her father would have a stall selling their famous Lon Lon Ranch milk, but maybe Malon could convince her father to let her explore the festival a little bit. As Malon loaded the milk into crates she ran through the conversation in her mind. I'm twenty-one, I should be allowed to walk through the Festival of Time on my own. You don't need my help with the stall. I want to visit the Temple of Time and see where it all happened. No, she couldn't use that one. Father didn't need to know about Link, or how Malon felt about him. There were some things dads just wouldn't understand.
"Malon?"
Malon dropped the crate she had been holding, sending jars of milk rolling in all directions. She spun around, heart in her throat, staring at the barn's entrance. It can't be him. There's no way. But it was. Standing there in the mid-morning rays was Link. He was back.