Well my plans to get this chapter posted by Friday kind of went out the window…considering I didn't even start writing it until Saturday :P. I blame work. Maybe people will start reading and reviewing things more with the upcoming summer break (for us northern hemisphere-ers, anyway) and that will motivate me to write more often. It probably won't, but who knows?

Disclaimer: Refer to chapter one

Comfort, Discomfort

Days turned into weeks and before long it had already been just under two months that Link had been staying with the ranchers. The general weather conditions were beginning to warm up for the hot season in Hyrule, though there was still the odd spell of rain once or twice every couple of weeks. For the most part, however, the skies were clear.

It was not uncommon to hear lively events going on in either Hyrule Town or Kakariko Village. With Lon Lon Ranch located on the plains between both locations, sounds of festivals or special markets going on would often make their way over, whether carried by the wind or simply from the sheer volume.

Link sighed as he leaned on the fence stopping one from falling off of the plateau Lon Lon Ranch was built upon. He did not have any particular interest in going to one of these festivals, but it would certainly be a change from getting hot and sweaty with the animals all the time. With his fingers just about healed, he figured that now would be the best time to go off and have fun, though perhaps it made the least sense with productivity being down.

"All done your work?" Malon's voice called from somewhere behind him.

"Yeah, I was just taking a second to breathe," he sighed, turning around and grabbing the pitchfork he'd been using to replace the animals' hay.

The redhead tilted her head to the side, a questioning look coming over her face. "Are you okay, Link? You look a little tired or something."

"It's nothing, I ju–"

"You aren't getting heatstroke, are you?! Oh, geez, you should've said something! Let's get you into the shade!"

Without giving him a chance to explain that that wasn't it, Malon firmly grasped his wrist and pulled him towards the closest source of shade: a tree. Practically forcing him to sit at the base of the trunk, she dashed off and quickly returned with a pail of water and a cloth.

"I know you feel bad because of your fingers, but you don't have to overwork yourself in the sun," Malon reprimanded, soaking the cloth and slapping it onto his forehead without wringing it out.

"I-It's not the sun, really," Link spluttered, wiping the streams of water that flowed down his face. "I seriously was just taking a break for a minute."

Apparently, Malon was too concerned with what she thought was his deteriorating health to pay attention to what he was saying. Running around to put the pitchfork and other tools away, she immediately came back to tend to him again.

"Y-You're really overdoing it," he said, shutting his eyes as she reapplied the soggy cloth to his head. "Why are you so concerned about me?"

"Why? Because…well, b-because…"

It seemed that those were the key words that clicked her back into reality. For a few minutes, the two of them stared at each other, their deep, blue eyes trying to figure out what the other was thinking. Link had to blink a couple of times as the water droplets flowed toward his eyes, but neither broke their focus until Malon suddenly removed the cloth from his head.

"Well, because you're a member of our household now!" she stated firmly, dropping the cloth back into the water. "I would do the exact same thing if my dad suddenly–"

"Decided to take a break? I'm pretty sure he does that all the time and I've never seen you rushing over to him."

Malon didn't seem to appreciate Link's dry joke, as she grumbled something incomprehensible and began storming off to wherever she had been before. However, she only made it a short distance away before Link noticed her begin to stumble, and he was on his feet the instant he saw her start falling over. Rushing over to her, he was able to catch her before she hit the ground. Taking one glance at her reddened face, the hero did not think twice about rushing her over to the shade and giving her the exact same treatment that she had unnecessarily given him.

"See? This is what happens when someone overworks themselves," Link chuckled, wringing out the cloth and gently placing it on her forehead. "You got all worked up tending to me when you didn't have to, and now the tables have turned, except that you actually need this."

Malon puffed up her cheeks at him but did not make any sort of retort; after all, she wasn't in the best position to do so. Without any imperative tasks to complete at the moment, Link took a seat beside the overheated redhead, thinking it best to stay with her at least until she cooled down to a reasonable temperature.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, with Link reapplying the wet cloth to her forehead and the back of her neck every now and then. Listening to the sounds of livestock, he could distinctly make out the boom of some sort of drum coming from one of the towns. If he had to guess, he would say that it was coming from Kakariko Village, as he had heard that some of the Gorons would be coming down from Death Mountain to join in for the festivities.

"I guess you aren't really interested in any of the festivals, huh?" Link mused, turning his head slightly towards Malon.

"Not especially," she responded quietly, playing with the ends of her hair. "I used to go sometimes as a kid, but most of the time they're just big outdoor markets. I don't really have a lot of use for fancy clothes or material things, so most of the appeal is lost to me."

"Makes sense," Link said with a shrug. He figured that her reasoning would be like that, though he still had a slight interest in going to see what it might be like.

"We can go if you want," Malon said as if she had just read his mind. "There's going to be one at Hyrule Town tonight, so if you wanted to see…"

Link pursed his lips a bit as he thought about it. Honestly, Malon didn't sound all that enthusiastic about going, though she also didn't seem put off by the idea. He didn't want to be the only one having fun if they went, so he would have to try to show her a good time. Not that doing so would be overly difficult, but he had never really had to convince someone that something was fun when the idea of it all already was.

"Well, if it's not too much of a hassle…"

"Heehee, you don't have to be shy about it. If you want to go, then we can go."

Feeling the slightest bit embarrassed, Link only nodded and stretched out his limbs.

Without any work to do, killing time until the evening would be somewhat difficult. Glancing around, the hero realized he had not seen Talon in quite a while, and determined that he was probably snoozing away somewhere. To be fair, the warm air induced drowsiness fairly easily, and Link let out a wide yawn just thinking about it. Maybe it would be a good idea to take a quick nap so that he would be fully awake tonight.

Turning his head to say something to Malon, he stopped when he noticed her deep, slower breaths. It seemed that he was not the only one feeling sleepy, as the redhead was comfortably napping against the base of the tree. Smirking, Link laid her down flat so that she would not wake up with a stiff back and neck. Removing the damp cloth from her forehead, he used the back of his hand to check how her temperature was. Satisfied that she had cooled down, the blond simply dropped the cloth back into the bucket and did not bother reapplying it.

Leaning back against the tree trunk, Link propped one of his knees up and comfortably rested his arm against it while he gazed up toward the sky. Sighing, he wondered what might occur if he fell asleep right now. As strange as it seemed to be, his continuous dream of being on Koholint Island had yet to cease, even after all of this time. From what he had discovered, the time of day in his dream would always oppose the time of day in the waking world, so if he were to sleep now, it would be the middle of the night there.

Unable to suppress another yawn, Link blinked a few times to clear his vision. Seeing Marin every time he went to sleep was not such a bad thing, but knowing that she was not actually real weighed more and more heavily with each day that he awoke. The hero had since given up on trying to forget about her, figuring that it would be a futile effort if his subconscious constantly returned to her with each evening.

Had losing her truly been so traumatizing? He had only stayed on Koholint for a few months, which was not much more than he had been staying here at Lon Lon Ranch for. Thinking about it rationally, his feelings for Marin seemed rather contrived, as his relationship with her had come into being almost out of nowhere. He did care about her, even now when he knew it made no sense to, but he could not help but think that his feelings for her had been born from the unfamiliar sense of belonging that he had not had the chance to experience before. Perhaps that would explain why his relationship with Malon had grown more naturally…

Running his right hand through his hair, the hero glanced at the sleeping redhead beside him. What was Malon to him? She had very clearly told him that he was a member of their household now, but he had no idea what to think of her. Was she only a friend, or had their relationship become more familiar than that? Seeing her smile every morning was like a wave of nostalgia, one that made him feel both welcomed and vulnerable at the same time. Did she mean something to him, or was his psyche simply trying to replace Marin? He hated the idea that she might only be a replacement to fill the void, and yet the possibility was too great to deny.

Allowing his drooping eyelids to close themselves, Link let out a deep breath and leaned back into a more comfortable position. The only thing he could do at this point was let things continue to run their course the way they had been. Perhaps if he was lucky, then an answer would come to him, though the thought of going crazy before an answer appeared seemed more likely than anything…

∆V∆V∆V∆V∆V∆V∆V∆V∆V∆

Just as expected, Link slowly opened his eyes to see the moonlight shining in through the window, illuminating the dark room in an eerie, pale glow. Insects buzzed about outside, interrupted only by the sound of Tarin snoring from the bed across the room.

Sitting up in his bed, Link glanced over to see Marin calmly sleeping in the bed beside his, her trademark orchid placed in a small vase on her nightstand. Only able to frown, the hero swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood himself up, wincing slightly from the pain in his left hand's fingers. It was hard to remember that his injuries from the real world carried over into his dreams.

Silently as he could, Link crept across the room and stealthily exited the house, wanting to step out to think. Luckily, there would not be many interruptions at this ridiculous hour, so he did not have to be overly cautious about sneaking around outside. Even Bow-Wow the Chain Chomp did not seem to notice his presence as he carefully snuck past its post.

Stopping by the house where he often saw children playing, Link sat down by the edge of the cliff and allowed his feet to dangle over. Looking down, he remembered the time he and Marin had fallen down the hole hidden by the tall grass below. At the time, it had been rather painful and not much fun, but it was now a funny memory that he associated with his time on Koholint. Of course, there was no need to think of it in such a way any longer, as he could easily hop down there anytime he fell asleep in the waking world.

Lying on his back, Link sprawled his arms out in a T-shape and stared up at the cosmos. The stars here did not twinkle, and while it was never something he had really thought about before, the brightness that they elicited was almost unnerving. It was rather insignificant, but this was only one more reminder to him that this was not a real place, adding to the collective number of things that seemed to accumulate the longer he spent in this never-ending dream.

"Ah, I was wondering who was stargazing at this hour, but it's just you, Thief."

Tilting his head back a bit, Link spotted the somewhat creepy-looking shopkeeper approaching him with some sort of pack on his back.

"I wish you'd stop calling me that," Link sighed, turning his gaze back up to the sky as the bald man sat next to him. "I paid you back with interest, didn't I?"

"Doesn't change the fact that you stole my goods in the first place, though I guess I went a little overboard, firing my death beam at you when you came back to pay for it."

"…I still never understood why you would have something like that… I guess things don't have to make sense in a dream," he muttered to himself.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing."

Rather than asking what the shopkeeper was doing so far from his house at this time of night, Link opted to stay silent and continued watching the stars. They weren't exactly friends, anyway, just neighbours on the island.

"So, Thief," the shopkeeper broke the silence, "what are you doing out here so late? Marin's going to be in a panic if she wakes up and sees you gone."

Link shrugged, his voice rather nonchalant as he spoke. "I doubt it; this wouldn't be the first time I haven't been there when she's woken up in the middle of the night. Besides, I could ask you the same question."

The shopkeeper chuckled, his squinty eyes squeezing even tighter as he did so. "You could, but I wouldn't have a very interesting answer for you. I was just out collecting some ingredients that only appear at nighttime."

Link didn't bother asking what possible things he might be using as ingredients right now, as the man was already creepy enough. Resting his hands beneath his head, the blond took a deep breath of the cool, salty air.

"It's not really my reason for being out here," he began slowly, hoping that he wouldn't end up weirding out the shopkeeper, "but what would you say if I told you this island was a fake."

"I'd ask you if all your screws are in tight enough," the shopkeeper responded flatly.

"I figured."

"Heh, well, I think you'd have to be an idiot to expect any other kind of response. But you've piqued my interest; what's this all about?"

Link hesitated for a moment. This would probably be his only opportunity to tell someone from here about what was going on. While the shopkeeper wouldn't have been his first choice, Link had been having trouble telling Marin, so he would have to make do with this guy since he was actually willing to listen.

"Let's just say that, hypothetically, this entire island and everything on it, including the people, were nothing more than a dream that the Wind Fish was having."

"…Okay, doesn't really make sense since the Wind Fish hatched and flew off, but I'll humour you…"

Another expected response, but Link continued anyway.

"Well, after the Wind Fish woke up, everything on the island disappeared except for me, because I wasn't actually a part of its dream. Instead, I returned back to the real world, and the only reason you and I are talking right now is because this place appears in my dreams every time I fall asleep in the real world. Basically, everything here is nothing more than a figment of my imagination, a mental projection of the place I wanted to call home."

Allowing the silence to stagnate the air for a bit, Link waited for the shopkeeper to laugh at him or make some sort of quip, but the bald man did not say anything. Curious as to what he was doing, the hero briefly glanced up to look at the man, only to see him with a hard look on his face.

"Hmm," the shopkeeper hummed. "Not too sure what you want me to say here, Thief. Normally I'd just tell you to stay out of Tarin's mushroom stash, but something about what you were saying just gave me chills all of a sudden. It's too stupid for me to believe, but you don't sound like you're just screwing around with my head."

Turning around, the bald man faced Link and opened his eyes almost enough that Link thought he could see his pupils.

"I'm probably not thinking straight because it's so late, but let's just say that I believed your crazy story. If this is all some kind of dream, then what are you doing in the real world?"

Pausing for a moment, Link sat up so that he could speak to the man more easily. Not wanting to face him when they were sitting so closely, he looked down below in the general direction of the hidden hole. "For the past two months I've been working and living on a ranch with this old man and his daughter. They've been really kind to me, giving me a place to belong and treating me like family. It's like I found a Tarin and Marin in the real world."

"…And this girl is roughly the same age as Marin?"

"Huh? Yeah, I guess so, though I don't really know what that has to do with it."

Link glanced to his side when the shopkeeper sighed and clapped a hand to the blond's shoulder. "Listen, Thief, you have a really roundabout way of explaining things, but I think I've got the picture now. I know you aren't the most morally stable person around, but you should probably break it off with one of them because things will definitely get ugly if you keep seeing them both."

Link cocked his head back, confused by what the man was trying to say to him. "Wait, what?! I don't know how you interpreted what I was saying, but it sounds like you've got the wrong idea!"

Unfortunately, the shopkeeper said nothing more as he shook his head and walked off. Watching him leave, Link groaned and fell back once the man was out of sight. Just what could he have meant by that?

Of course, it only took a few minutes of going over what he had said to figure out what the most likely misinterpretation was. Slapping his right hand over his eyes, Link let out an exasperated breath and mentally berated himself. Of all the ways to misunderstand, he had basically convinced the shopkeeper that he was cheating on Marin with Malon. Even though this was a dream, he didn't want Marin to find out about Malon and the real world through some gossip around town, especially if it was all a misunderstanding!

After going over his best courses of action, Link slowly got to his feet and began making his way back to the house. Brushing some of Marin's hair off her face when he got back in, the hero quietly got back into bed and shut his eyes. The only option he would have would be to explain everything to Marin the way he had with the shopkeeper first thing in the morning. She probably wouldn't believe him, but at this rate he wouldn't have much of a choice. If he wanted to avoid any misunderstandings, then this was the only option he had.

Turning on his side, Link calmed his racing mind and allowed the sound of someone calling his name to soothe him into slumber.

∆V∆V∆V∆V∆V∆V∆V∆V∆V∆

"Link… Link, wake up…"

The hero stirred as he felt his body being lightly shaken. Rubbing his eyes open, he looked to see Malon with a big smile on her face as she removed her hands from his shoulder.

"'Morning," he said groggily, yawning as he sat up.

"Hmhm, I'm not sure "morning" is the right word to say right now, but sure, good morning to you too."

Malon was correct, as the sky was painted with a mixture of reds and oranges that slowly faded into a violet colour as the sun set further on the horizon. A breeze blew by, and the redhead put her hand up to her head to stop her hair from flowing into her face. In the glow of the sunset and at the angle the light was currently hitting her, Link gulped at how pretty she looked. Even with the bits of grass stuck in her hair from lying on the ground, he could even say she looked beautiful.

"It'll be dark soon," she said, standing and picking the grass out of her locks. "We should probably bring the animals back inside and wash up before we head to Hyrule Town."

Accepting her outstretched hand to help him up, Link also got to his feet and nodded in agreement. At Malon's insistence, he somewhat reluctantly headed back to the house to wash up first while she went to put the horses back in the stables. Wiping his boots off on the doormat, Link stepped inside, noticing Talon still half asleep on the rocker in the living room.

After quickly bathing and changing into some clean clothes, Link came back down, ready to go, though he still had to wait until Malon had gotten ready.

"So, where are you two off to tonight?" Talon said to him from the spot he had been in before.

"The Hyrule Town night festival," Link said plainly, shrugging as he did so. "I kind of wanted to check it out, so Malon said she'd take me."

"Did she now?" the moustached man mused, scratching his chin as he did so. "I haven't taken her to one o' those in a long time. I'm sure it'll be a hoot an' a half for you two."

"I hope so," Link said as he leaned against the back of one of the kitchen chairs. "She didn't sound excited about going. I mean, she wasn't against it, either, but it just seemed like something she wouldn't normally do."

"Mal's a simple girl," Talon said with a shrug. "We make our living without all the big, fancy stuff that goes on around here. I think the only times I've ever had to get all dressed up was for my weddin' and the odd time I have to deliver to the castle, but even then I usually jus' stay in my normal clothes."

"And it's completely unbecoming when you do," Malon said as she entered the house. "We're supposed to carry ourselves like professionals in front of important business partners, Dad."

"Wahaha, you make it sound like no one else matters at all," he hollered as she climbed the stairs to get ready.

Malon was ready to go surprisingly quickly, and the two of them were out the door before Talon had a chance to make any sort of comment (or if he did, they didn't hear him). Because Hyrule Town was so close to the ranch, they did not need to take a horse to get there before it got dark. Link realized this when he first saw Malon come down the stairs in a dress as opposed to riding gear. Walking at a steady pace, the gate came into view shortly, and the sounds of the festival starting began to lift Link's spirits.

Crossing through the entry gate into the city, Link's eyes lit up at the sight of the lantern-lit streets. Hundreds, possibly even thousands, of paper lanterns dangled from strings that hung across the streets, illuminating the city in a multitude of colours. Children ran about gleefully, waving lit sparklers around like magic wands. From all directions, street vendors called out to passersby, advertising the game or goods they were selling and fanning the scent of their snacks into the crowds.

"Is there a specific theme for this?" Link asked curiously as he turned to Malon.

"I'm not really sure," Malon said, glancing around to see if there were any common elements. "If I had to guess, I'd say it has something to do with fire or light, but don't hold me to that."

Satisfied with her answer, Link led the way down the crowded, stone-paved streets, taking in all that the festival had to offer. While this was certainly not the first festival or celebration the hero had taken part in, he always found it easy to get caught up in the general mood of the crowd. Stopping in front of a street performer, he laughed as the man magically juggled some sort of glowing, fist-sized balls of light and made them twirl around Malon's body. The redhead seemed a bit shy of all the extra attention it garnered her, but everyone watching seemed to enjoy it.

Continuing to wander through the streets, Malon pulled Link over toward a game booth where the player had to knock things over with a slingshot to win a prize.

"You know, I'm pretty good at these kinds of things," Malon said confidently, handing a blue rupee to the operator.

"Oh? Why don't you show me what you're made of," Link taunted.

Giving him a challenging smirk, the redhead picked up the slingshot and one of her three deku nuts and carefully scoped out her target: a stuffed cow hiding away in the top right corner. True to her word, Malon lined up the shot, pulled back and released, sending the nut hurtling toward the target in front of the cow. The shot barely missed its mark, grazing the edge of the target and only causing the cow to wobble a bit.

"Shoot!" she said, grabbing another deku nut, only to miss the shot once again. "Okay, those first two were just practice shots!"

"Heh, whatever you say," Link chuckled, watching as she took a bit of extra time to line up this last shot.

With a concentrated look on her face, the redhead quickly sent a glance his way, with a message reading something akin to "watch this." Flicking her eyes back on her target, Malon released the nut, allowing it to fly across the gap and connect with its target, easily knocking the stuffed cow off of its shelf. Smugly accepting the toy, she turned to Link and stuck her tongue out at him.

"See? I told you I could do it," she chanted, hugging the soft toy against her chest.

"I never said you couldn't," Link responded with a smirk.

Without consulting Malon, he dropped three green rupees on the counter and grabbed the slingshot and single deku nut provided for him. Keeping his gaze directed at the redhead's smug face, he fired the slingshot without even looking and chuckled as her expression dropped into one of disbelief. Still not bothering to look over, Link put down the slingshot and held out his arm to accept the oversized, golden cucco toy that he had just won for hitting the tiny target hidden behind the others labeled 'Grand Prize'.

"Hmph, you're just a big show-off," Malon huffed immaturely, turning away from him.

"Hey, now, you think I won this thing for myself? What exactly am I supposed to do with a giant cucco toy?"

"What do you–"

Without giving her a chance to respond, Link shoved the stuffed cucco into her arms and ran ahead a few steps. Laughing as she awkwardly tried to give chase with the small cow and oversized cucco, he made sure to keep enough distance so that she would not be able to do anything to him.

As the night wore on, people began to gather around the fountain in the centre of town. Curious as to what everyone was standing around there for, Link found a spot where he and Malon could fit amongst the crowd. Taking a seat on the edge of the fountain, he laughed as she forcefully shoved the cucco into his lap.

"Any idea what everyone's doing here?" he asked.

"Mm, I think I might have an idea," Malon hinted playfully.

Before he got the chance to ask, a bright burst of light blew up in the sky, followed by a loud boom and a wave of "ooh"s from the crowd. Unprepared for the explosion, Link jumped a bit, causing the cucco to fall off his lap as he looked up in the direction of the light. From beside him, Malon giggled at his reaction and placed the cucco back in his lap.

"What was that?" he asked, eyes darting all over the sky as he searched for another one to appear.

"Heehee, it's a firework, silly," she teased, nudging him lightly in the side. "You've never seen one before?"

Was it commonplace to know what a firework was? Link had never seen something like it before, and it initially sounded like a cannon or some kind of destructive weapon. He gazed in awe as a few more blew up in the sky, their colours cascading down in trails of neon-coloured light. The sight was mesmerizing, completely capturing his full attention with each new flower that bloomed in the night sky.

He wished that Marin were here to experience this with him. This was something that he knew he would not be able to describe to her. Even with all of the magical tools and people he had seen in the past, there was something about these colourful explosions that put all of those other things to shame. He wanted to hold her close to him right now, feel her excitement match with his as each delayed boom pulsed through their bodies.

With all of the excitement and wishing that Marin could be here, Link hardly noticed when Malon's side was gently pressed against his. If he kept his eyes off of her face, it would almost be like Marin really was with him, watching the fireworks burst in the sky. However, he could not help turning towards her after a short while, and, while not disappointed to see Malon's smile, a strange feeling stirred within him at the sight of someone other than whom he had been thinking about.

The fireworks show reached its climax as a barrage of rockets was sent up into the sky to burst in a chain of multicoloured explosions. When the last boom pulsed through the audience, a wave of cheers and applause erupted from the crowd, with Link's laughter rising over it all. It was odd, this feeling of excitement and freedom. His heart was racing and true joy seemed to bubble forth from within him. For perhaps the first time since he had arrived in this kingdom, the hero could truly say that he was feeling whole, happy in this moment of fleeting youth.

"Come on, you little rascal," Malon teased as the crowd began dispersing. "I know you're having fun playing around like a kid, but it's getting late and we should head back home before Dad suspects something."

"I'm pretty sure he would suspect something if we'd only been gone for a couple of minutes," Link chortled as the redhead dragged him toward the entrance.

Upon reaching the gate, they were surprised to find it closed and locked shut. Turning to one of the guards stationed in front of it, they were met with a rather unwanted response.

"Sorry, kids, the gate's gotta stay shut until morning," the armoured man explained, gesturing to the crank beside him. "It's dangerous to open it after dark, what with all the monsters, so your only option at this point is to find a place to stay for the night. I'm sure there are a bunch of inns with vacancies."

Unable to reason with him to allow their exit, the couple reluctantly turned around and began searching for a place where they could stay.

Contrary to what the guard had said, finding a place for the night could not be more difficult, as everyone who had been at the festival was currently occupying the rooms wherever they looked. Stumbling out of their fourth inn, Malon groaned in annoyance as they headed towards the only other one she knew of.

"Ugh, that guard was so full of it," she huffed. "There's never been a single monster in our ranch, and we don't need some big, fancy gate to stop them."

"I'm sure it's just a necessary precaution," Link reasoned, trying to balance Malon's stuffed cow on top of the giant cucco. "Besides, there are a lot more people here, so it's probably more attractive to the monsters."

The redhead grumbled something incomprehensible, to which Link could only shrug and continue following her. When they reached the last inn, both of them felt their hopes drop as the common area downstairs was filled with people. Approaching the counter, they fully expected to be rejected instantly.

"Actually, you're in luck!" the bulky innkeeper exclaimed as he opened up his check-in book. "It looks like there's one room available."

"We'll take it!" Malon said without asking any questions.

Splitting the cost and placing the appropriate amount of rupees on the counter, they took the key and headed off to the indicated room. Once they stepped inside, though, their gratefulness at finding a place to stay disappeared.

"U-Um…y-you don't suppose there's…another r-room we could stay in, d-do you?" Malon stuttered to Link, her face redder than her hair.

"He did say that this was the only one left," Link answered quietly, his face also burning just as hot.

Before them was a normal room without any special amenities or other things that would have been found in one of the more expensive rooms. However, as the innkeeper had no way of knowing that they were not a couple, they found themselves staring at a single bed, large enough to fit two people but likely made for only one (or a very cozy couple). Considering that all the other rooms were taken, there would not be another bed available.

"I…could just sleep on the floor," Link offered, taking a couple steps into the room and turning to face Malon. "I can just use one of these toys as a pillow and let you sleep in the bed."

Surprisingly, Malon shut her eyes tightly and shook her head rapidly from side to side. "N-No! You're too tall to fit in any of these spaces on the ground comfortably. Besides, if I took the bed for myself, then I'd feel too guilty to fall asleep."

"I know it's not really ideal, but we don't have much of a choice. I don't think that rotating shifts on the bed is any better."

"That's true, but…it just doesn't seem fair…since you paid for the room too…"

An uncomfortable tension hung in the air, keeping the two of them from finding a proper conclusion right away. Link really had no complaints with sleeping on the ground, but it seemed that Malon was not content with taking the bed for herself. It was clear that both of them knew the only option they were leaving themselves with, but neither was willing to say it out loud. As it stood now, however, it would be morning by the time they finally came to a decision, so Link, with his insides feeling like putty, took a deep breath and spoke the words they didn't want to say.

"S-So…you're suggesting that we sleep…to…t-together…in the bed?"

"Eep!" Malon squeaked, hands flying to her mouth as the words passed his lips. Her face turned a deeper shade of red, and she kept her eyes looking anywhere but the blond in front of her. Despite her extremely embarrassed antics, however, she moved her head in a tiny nodding motion. "A-As long as we sleep back to back, I-I'm okay with it… But only this once!"

"Well, yeah, obviously only this once!" Link responded, quickly turning around to create some distance between himself and Malon.

Stepping over to the far side of the bed, he sat himself on the edge and placed the toys on the ground. He kept his head bowed down, feeling too embarrassed to look up, even though she was behind him. A few moments later, he felt the mattress shift under him, and he quickly stole a glance over his shoulder to see that she was sitting on the opposite edge with her back to him. At this rate, despite having reached the critical decision, they still wouldn't be getting to sleep until morning, so the hero swallowed his pride and slowly began pulling his shirt over his head.

"Ah, what, what, what, what are you d-doing, Link?!" Malon gasped as he dropped his shirt on the ground.

He was expecting a reaction like this, but it didn't make him feel any better about his reasoning. "I-It's too hot for me to sleep with my shirt on, and if we're going to be sharing the bed, th-then your body heat will make it even warmer…"

Awkwardly allowing himself to fall into a sleeping position, Link kept his back turned to Malon as he tried to take as little room on the mattress as possible.

As expected, it felt like a very long time before the mattress shifted under him, indicating that Malon had also lain down beside him. Though neither of them was aware, a very large gap, probably about fifty percent of the mattress's surface, was left untouched between them. Other than the loud beating of both of their hearts, the only sound in the room was the muffled noise from the inn's common area.

"W-Well…um…goodnight, Link," Malon spoke barely above a whisper, almost as if she had lost her voice.

Shutting his eyes, Link could only imagine the things that Talon would say to them when they returned tomorrow, and hoped to get through this ordeal as quickly as possible.

"Y-Yeah. Goodnight, Malon."

Geez, this turned out longer than I was expecting it to. I knew that it was going to be a bit longer with the festival and the dream sequence conversation, but I was still only aiming for a mid-5000 amount of words. Still, I liked how this one came out, though I probably should have spent a bit more time on the last part.

So, what's in store for next chapter? Well, I guess I can say that he'll be having a talk with Marin, and I'll be having a bit of fun writing Link and Malon waking up (and, of course, Talon's teasing when they get home), but for now that's all I can really say.

Thanks to MadSkillz, SecretFlowerChild, and The Polyethylene Man for reviewing!

Thanks for reading and please review!

–GengaJupite