"Hey there, fairy boy!" The high-pitched, sing song voice of the stable girl carried from beyond the castle gates. Link froze, his pulse quickening. Navi sighed, loathing the day. The stupid Malon girl was quite annoying, and it seemed as if she didn't want to learn Link's true name. Even so, she swooned over her 'fairy boy' each time she saw him, even giving him an egg that conveniently hatched into a chicken. Life was full of coincidences.

"Were you going to leave without saying goodbye to me, fairy boy? Cause I wanted you to meet my best friend! She lives up on the ranch, and I'm sure she'd love to meet you." Her eyes were so full of innocent bliss, as if there were no problems in the world. Yet Navi felt wisdom inside her, not so much as she had felt within Saria, but enough for her to know that she knew more than she let on. Even when her father had gone missing she had been surprisingly cheerful, eyes filled with a quiet pleading as she sang. But they couldn't go with her now; they had a mission that needed to be completed. Navi swept in before Link could be guilted into following her.

"I'm sorry, Malon, but we have some place we need to go. Maybe some other time, okay?" The stable girl and Link probably thought that she was some cold-blooded, heartless being, but her task was to keep Link on track. Being on track didn't include following strange girls to meet their friends, though something told her that Link wouldn't mind that at all. Malon pouted, biting her lower lip and dropping her eyes. Her right pointer finger was twirling a strand of auburn hair.

"Please... I told her so much about you. I'm sure she wants to meet you!" Navi turned to Link, meeting his pleading eyes. She sighed, not being able to take such an overpowering pity party. The fairy wasn't sure who she felt worse for: Link for being so gullible, or Malon for being so pathetic yet so damn loveable. She caved.

"Fine, but make it fast. We have places we need to be." Instantly Malon perked up, giggling and clapping her hands while jumping. Link smirked at his fairy, one of his eyebrows arched as if to say, 'Couldn't deny that face, could you?'. She responded by smacking him again in the face before slipping into his hat, grumbling.

"Alright, fairy boy! Come this afternoon to Lon Lon Ranch and come out to the corale, okay? I'll tell my friend that you're coming. She'll be so excited!" With that she jumped at Link, kissed him on the cheek, and fled. He stood there, stunned by what had just happened. Navi laughed, her head poking out of the hat.

"Well aren't you popular with the ladies? First Saria, then Zelda, and now Malon! Who else will you be able to attract, hm? Maybe that friend that the stable girl was mentioning, yeah?" Link pulled his cap on tighter, effectively trapping her inside. Navi screeched, beating against here cloth prison and letting out random interjections.

"Hey!"

"Listen!"

"Watch out!"

"Are we dead? That would be so like you. At least you could've let me out, right? I'll be trapped here til I die." After an hour of screaming random phrases, her dark and sulky tone surprised him. Deciding that she had served enough time in his hat, he lifted it slightly, allowing her to zoom out. It was obvious that she was annoyed, as she didn't speak the entire rest of the way to the ranch. Link found the notion quite creepy, and was grateful when they reached the sign that read 'Lon Lon Ranch'.

Compared to the fields of Hyrule, the ranch was loud and bustling. Not one step could be taken without running into a chicken or causing something to caw, the occasional cow crossing the dirt path where Link was treading. "Are there any Hylians here or are there just animals, cause I'm really not in the mood for some stupid prank by that stupidly annoying girl."

"Fairy boy, you're here!"

"Speak of the devil." Navi grumbled darkly, sitting herself atop her charge's head. She didn't usually take that position, and Link had to walk carefully as he was afraid to knock her off. Whatever precautions he had taken to keep his fairy safe, though, were thrown out the window when Malon glomped him, pinning him to the ground and causing Navi to skid a foot away.

"We shouldn't have come here, Link. We have to get to Kokari Village and-" Malon stopped her, face distorted with confusion, "What?"

"Do you mean Kakariko Village? I've never heard of any town known as Kokari..." This just caused Navi's mood to worsen. Malon had gotten up, brushed off her dress and helping her fairy boy up. She pointed towards the corale.

"Come on! She's waiting to meet you!" She grabbed his hand, dragging him along as she ran into the fenced area. Navi buzzed directly behind, looking around. She was impatient and angry, and her next remark came out snappier than she intended.

"Well? Where's this friend of your's? Is she imaginary?" Obviously Malon wasn't affected by the snide words, only shaking her head and running over to one of the horses.

"No, silly fairy! This is my friend! Her name is Epona. Epona, say hi to-" The brown and white pony ran as Link approached her, cowering in the opposite side of the corale. His hand dropped and he frowned at her. Malon sighed, placing her head in her palms. Navi again took advantage of the situation, this time lashing her remark at Link.

"Well, well, Link, look at that! A girl who isn't fawning over you! How does that make you feel, huh?" The fairy cackled, ignoring Link's death glare. Malon ignored the fairy, suddenly taking Link's hands in her own.

"Oh, I'm so sorry about her! She's not usually this shy, and she loves music. Her favorite song is the one my mother wrote, the one I was singing before I gave you the egg. Talon jokes and calls it Epona's Song because she loves it so much!" Her eyes suddenly sparkled again, and she gripped his hands tighter, "Don't you have an ocarina, fairy boy? I saw you and that strange disappearing lady playing one before I approached you. Could you possibly... play Epona's Song? I can teach you the notes, though I don't have an ocarina. Maybe you could follow my voice?"

The partners exchanged glances, and Navi answered for the both of them. "Sure, why not? It isn't like we haven't wasted enough time already. Go ahead and try to teach him a song, Malon. I'll stay over here and pray that the evil taking over the land doesn't smite us while Link struggles to learn a song to impress a pony." The last words were practically spit out, but Malon didn't pick up her sarcasm. Dropping her hands to her side, she nodded at Link.

"Okay! Get out your ocarina and follow my notes. I'll go slow the first time, so that you can get a hang of it. We'll speed up slowly, okay?" Navi again grumbled, hiding in her boy's hat. Link fumbled with his ocarina, struggling to get it ready to play. As soon as it was firmly in his hands, Malon began to sing. As she promised, it was slow going at first, but while Link was ready to give up Malon was patient, resinging the notes that he missed. Epona merely watched curiously from her side of the corale, her ears pricking up whenever Malon sang.

In a measly two hours Link could play it near perfect, each note coming out strong and clear. Malon had been a much better teacher than Impa, and that had made all the difference. Epona trotted over, nuzzling his hand and licking his neck. Even Navi grudgingly said that the two together were quite cute, but urged him to hurry up and bid his farewells.

"You come back soon, okay? Maybe next time you'll actually say something, fairy boy! I'm sure that Epona would love to hear you actually speak!" As the boy and his fairy disappeared into the sinking Sun, Malon twirled her hair around her finger and placed her hand upon Epona. The pony snorted, nudging her affectionately. The stable girl smiled down at her friend, scratching the roots of her mane.

"I'm sure you'll come back soon, Link. Epona and I... we'll be waiting."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"I don't know how much of your girlfriend's information was accurate, Link. She even got- HEY! Pay attention to what I'm saying!" His gaze lingered on the rapidly fading ranch, his teeth biting his lower lip in the exact fashion that Malon did. Navi buzzed in front of him, and even that took his eyes a few moments to shift from Lon Lon Ranch to his fairy. She sighed.

"I know you had a good time, Link, and I would've allowed you to stay a bit longer if we had the time. But you saw the Great Deku Tree die, right? You know how long he was alive, Link? He shouldn't have died, not now. The evil we're facing is great, okay? We don't have time for you to be flirting with every girl that you meet! Please, just... just listen to me." Now that she had his full attention, she spoke again.

"Zelda got the name of that village wrong, Link. I don't know how much we can trust her, information-wise. She's a good person, if not a bit spoiled, but we probably shouldn't follow her advice about the grave-robbing. At least, not without some more confirmation. So, let's head to Kakariko and see what we can find!" Navi flew ahead, leaving Link to return his eyes to the ranch. Instinctively his hand reached for his ocarina, but he brushed the feeling off.

With one last longing glance at Lon Lon Ranch, he turned away to run after Navi.

A/N: Blah, this chapter flip flops. Oh well, I tried.

Yes, I spelled Kakariko Village wrong in the last chapter. It was indeed on purpose. If you caught it, good job! If not, well, it's fine. Zelda may not be as knowledgable as she thinks she is, haha ^_^;

There are a lot of references to events that I didn't write down, and I'm planning to do at least a small flashback chapter to flesh out Link's relationship with Saria. Obviously Navi got the wrong idea from their interactions!

And this isn't going to turn into a romantic Malink fic, I promise. It'll be very strong friendship, but nothing past that :3 Next chapter is filled with graveyard fun, including a small, creepy little boy who likes to pretend that he watches over the place.

Reviews are very much appreciated and welcome!