Ingo was still deeply asleep when Malon entered the stable the next morning. She sneered at the sprawled figure then set her shoulder to the heavy interior beam, lifting it from the brackets alone. Ingo would claim that she needed him for the physical labor, but in reality the only reason she kept the contemptible wretch around was to keep her father out of the business. He was a boozy old fool, but he was well-meaning. If he felt his daughter was overworked he would begin making arrangements behind her back and they would lose the ranch all over again.

Ingo remained asleep as Malon made her way around the stable, unlatching the stalls. She noted with sadness, but not surprise, that Epona was gone. He always did that. Perhaps he thought it helped her, allowed her to let him go more easily, but it did nothing but make her heart ache. She allowed her fingers to linger on the latch of the empty stall, imagining the brush of his fingertips as he spirited the horse away into the blossoming night, and all under Ingo's nose.

If he knew Ingo's ways, he would not leave me so. She found herself thinking, but shook out of it. She did not play the victim, it was weakness. He did not know about Ingo, did not need to. She could take care of herself.

She left the stable, circling the building and setting herself to the task of lifting the second beam. It was immensely heavy and unwieldy, but she managed it in the end and tossed the doors open. Only in the slow rumble of the passing hooves did Ingo finally stir.

"Whazzat?" The man slurred, his tongue heavy with sleep.

"Good morning, Ingo." Malon said curtly, "I trust you slept well?"

"Hardly slept with that worrisome beast blustering all night."

"Which beast would that be?" She asked, raising her eyebrow in disapproval. Ingo waved his arm toward the pasture.

"That great heavy brute-"

"Who is gone?"

"What?"

"Epona isn't here."

"Heh heh," Ingo chuckled darkly, "slipped her stall, eh?"

"No, Link came back for her in the night." Malon sneered. "Right under your nose."

"I'm not a guard."

"Then what else is your purpose? I seem to have managed the morning without you thus far."

"You will be sorry for your tart words," Ingo hissed. Malon shook her head at the man and turned away from him, setting her gaze to the horizon. There would be a storm today. Angry charcoal clouds were gathering in the sky over Lake Hylia, they would soon roll over the ranch and pour without mercy.

"Prepare the stables today," she instructed Ingo without looking at him. "We'll need to keep them in tomorrow, maybe the next day."

He grumbled under his breath and stood from the straw, taking a rake in his hand. When Malon was satisfied that Ingo was settled in his chores, she turned and went back toward the house.

Talon had stood from his pallet and was slowly picking straw from his overalls. He looked at his daughter, eyes sagging under his bushy eyebrows.

"Hello, Malon."

"Good morning, Father." Malon said, leaning forward and kissing the man lightly on the cheek.

"How is everything?"

"Wonderful." She said."How are you today?"

"Well." He said pressing a hand to his back, "I was thinking I might go into town today, stock up on some supplies, maybe sell some milk..."

Malon took stock of her father, eyes sweeping over his filthy overalls and ragged old shirt, before smiling wanly.

"That sounds perfect. Shall I come too?"

"I would love that."

~o~

Malon smoothed her hands over her father's shoulders, tugging at the seams of the shirt and straightening out the lapels. She had found a second pair of overalls tucked into the dresser upstairs and she was glad to see that the shirt she had sewn for him fit quite well. He was a different man once he cleaned up a little. Even with his sallow skin and dark-rimmed eyes, he had a good-naturedness about him that drew people in. It was one of the reasons he had been able to flee the ranch when Ingo- well, when they had both been taken in by the man's scheming.

"You are good to me, Malon." Talon said, looking down at the crisp red shirt. "You are so like your mother. She would have been so proud of you."

"We agreed, Father." She said, frowning, "No more talk of the past. It does us no good to dwell on old regrets."

"It's not easy for me, you know." He murmured, "I can't believe my own cowardice."

"I do not think it was cowardice." Malon said, running her hand through her Father's hair in an effort to tame the wild strands. "There was a darker force at work than either of us could overcome, and it's bigger even than this ranch."

Talon looked into his daughter's eyes, then scoffed.

"You still believe your Fairy Boy is going to save the world."

"I have hope, Father." Malon said, "That is all. I don't know if he can save the world, but if he can disappear for weeks without end, then return here unscathed with tales of adventures on his lips, then I have something to hope for."

"I miss the days when I had that kind of hope."

"It can return." She said, stepping back from her father and taking in the look of him. He almost looked like himself again, the round and jolly man that she had grown up with, the man who would swing little toddler Malon on his shoulders and run around the pasture, holding her legs steady as she opened her arms to the wind. The twinkle in his eye was gone, though, and he looked like a man who had lived too long with too little to sustain him. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder before leading the way out of the house.

Talon made his way to the silo, the wagon already waiting outside the large stone tower, while Malon went into the stable to retrieve the harnesses.

"Where are you going?" Ingo asked, straightening his back. Malon swept her eyes around the stable, finding herself grudgingly impressed that he'd already finished mucking four of the stalls. He was a hard worker, when he put himself to the task.

"Father and I are going to Kakariko." she said, "Was there anything you needed?"

"Nothing offhand…" he glanced around the stable.

"Would you like me to research employment options in town?" She asked. Ingo looked up at her with a wry grin, which fell when he realized that she had been serious.

"N… No. I said last night-"

"The things you said last night do not need repeated." she said sternly, "I have warned you about your behavior, but my words have not seemed to have an affect."

"Malon, please. I was drunk last night, and you know how I feel about that boy-"

"You'll find I have little sympathy for drunkards and unearned jealousy."

"Little sympathy for drunkards?" Ingo asked incredulously, gesturing to Talon across the field.

"You'll note his place on this ranch. I have a duty to that man as my father, but he is good for little and would be gone otherwise." She leaned closer to Ingo, her voice barely above a whisper, "Besides the fact that you seem to think you have a claim over me due to a past indiscretion. You do not. Our past and nullified arrangement do not give you a right to myself, or this property."

"You'll see my side of it someday," Ingo said, his voice low, "I am an impulsive man and prone to weakness. I make a lot of mistakes, often, but I did mean some of what I said." He looked into her face, studying her eyes, "The boy will never come back for you."

"I don't want him to come back for me," she said. "I just want him to come back alive."

~o~

Malon often forgot how large the world was outside of the ranch. She spent so much of her life contained within the confining stone walls of that strange little bowl-shaped mound, that when they left and entered the wide expanse of Hyrule Field it was like taking a deeply anticipated breath. Crows glided through the air, diving in between one another in a game only they knew how to play. The wind blew through the large aspen tree that grew outside the ranch, making the leaves shiver and sing. It was still very early, the sun having just begun to peek over the horizon, so they had plenty of time to reach their destination.

As the wagon trundled along, Malon became aware of the strained silence that lay between herself and her father. Ever since his return from Kakariko he was a changed man. He had always been lazy, but it was a source of exasperated amusement for her. He'd had a jollity about him that had disappeared after everything happened. She remembered clearly when her father had shuffled back into the ranch, weak from his long-spent months of grief, staring at her with that shame-filled expression. She had done her best to welcome him back as warmly as ever, but it did little good. A thought came to her mind and it churned the pit of her stomach.

"Father," She turned her head toward Talon, who until this point had been staring at the black cloud over Castle Town, "Father, I need to ask you something.'

"Ask me." He said simply.

"It's a very serious question." Malon said, chewing her lip and trying to think of the best way to say it. Talon didn't reply, merely turned his head to study his daughter's face. Before she could say it, he spoke.

"You want to know if I gave you to Ingo."

"I..." She closed her eyes and turned her face away for a moment, fearing that she might cry. She felt Talon's large hand on her shoulder.

"Malon... there is no excuse for what I have done. We were in a dark place, as you well know, but..." he shook his head and removed his hand from her shoulder, "I cannot forgive myself for the things that I have done. It is one of the reasons I ran away. I could not bring myself to tell you the arrangement I made with him, so I thought that you would be more open to marrying him if I were to abandon you."

"Father, how could you do that?" She asked, turning back and staring into his face. "Did you not know me at all? I've practically been running LonLon since I was a child. Did you think I needed Ingo?"

"I wasn't thinking clearly, love." Talon pleaded, his hands laying open in his lap. "First the plague in castle town, then all the Gorons disappeared... the lake was draining and no one had even seen a Zora in how many years? The world was falling apart all around us, I wanted to be assured of your safety."

"A husband was my safety?"

"Ingo was your safety." He said, "Despite his sour attitude he had always been a good worker for me, I never suspected him of being capable of such cruelty. Had I known-"

"You were wrong, Father." Malon said, cutting him off. She looked down at her hands, the reigns of the harness wrapped around them tightly, "I might have been content to marry Ingo after a discussion of the fact, had the man not shown his true face so quickly, but I would have been more content with it had you stayed."

She looked at her father, tears welling in her eyes but not falling down her cheeks.

"I am not the kind of girl who goes running to shelter in the storm. I will stand in the field with open arms and scream as loud as thunder."

Talon studied his daughter's face for a long moment, before a small smile quirked up the side of his mouth.

"You are so like your mother."

"I wish I had known her."

"As do I, my love."