The next morning, Link awoke to Malon snuggled up beside him. The events of last night flashed through his mind and he couldn't keep an enormous grin from spreading on his face. Malon woke up then, perhaps sensing that he was awake.
"Good morning." she said sleepily.
"Very good morning." he corrected and she laughed. He had a burst of inspiration and turned to look at her.
"So, uh, do you want to move in with me?" he asked awkwardly.
"I would've thought that would be obvious after that." she replied, blushing.
"Oh. Yeah. Of course." he said, embarrassed. "And um," he began, even more awkwardly than before. "Doyouwanttomarryme?" he blurted out.
"Sorry?"
He took a breath to calm his nerves and tried again.
"Do you want to marry me?" he said, beginning to sweat a little.
She looked at him with surprise.
"Well again, I would have thought that would be the obvious thing to do." she replied.
He visibly relaxed and let out a breath that he'd been holding without realizing. She noticed this and laughed again.
"Did you really think I'd say no?" she asked, finding the notion quite amusing.
Link was rather touched that she hadn't even considered saying no and that she showed no hesitancy at all.
But this golden moment didn't last long as a little voice shouted out from the base of his tree-house.
"Link! Help us! There's a monster in the village!"
Link leapt up at once and pulled on his new tunic and grabbed his sword. He shrugged apologetically at Malon then ran out the door and leapt off the balcony and rolled on the ground, completely ignoring the ladder. He ran across the village and saw an adult badgermole sitting on the grass in the middle of the village. He laughed, badgermoles were harmless. Link approached it and it turned and spoke to him.
Could thee please remove thy little green ones from my nest?
Link was taken aback for a moment.
"Did you just talk?" he asked.
Ah, ye hath been empowered by thy Forest Sage.
"I- yes I have, how did you know?"
Thy Forest Sages power allows thee to speak with thy first three creatures upon this land.
"Really? That's amazing! Who are the other two animals?"
Thee know one by thy name of ‘Deku Scrub'.
"The Deku scrubs? They were one of the first three creatures put upon this land?"
Indeed. That is why you can talk to them when no-one else can.
"But in Termina-"
Thy land ye call Termina be their homeland. All who be born within its borders can speak to thy Deku peoples.
"Ahhh, ok. Who are the third creatures?"
They be thy Goron race. We saw what they could be, and taught them how to dig, and helped them carve out thy tunnels which be their home. Over time, they taught themselves proper speak, not just thy grunts and growls. They began to converse with thy other races, and grew into the civilization they be today.
But enough of history, back to thy matter at hand. I chose thy village as the safest place for my young to grow, would thee explain this to thy little green ones?
"Yes, of course."
Link turned to the Kokori who were standing behind him, scared out of their wits.
"This badgermole is completely harmless, and he chose your village to bring up his young. Would thee de- sorry, would you deny him this?"
A braver Kokori stepped forward timidly and edged closer to the badgermole. The child stopped and reached up and patted it on the head. The badgermole licked this child, soaking him with his huge tongue. The child giggled and hugged the badgermole. More children ran forward and began to play with it.
"Hey!" one said. "When it has babies we can play with them!" the children loved this idea.
Zelda had woken up in a gathering of more flowers.
If he keeps this up, the meadow will be empty! she chuckled to herself before climbing out of bed and getting dressed. She looked around for another letter, but there wasn't one.
He must've run out of degenerate fantasies she thought, and chuckled again. She opened her door and saw that her father and a strange young man were standing there.
"Ah, Princess, good morning to you! I trust you enjoyed those flowers?" said the man. "I am Prince Daniel of Labrynna; I'm pleased to make your acquaintance!"
"Princess?" said Zelda, deciding to have a little fun. "No, Highness, I am only her maid. The Princess left a while ago."
The Prince evidently lost his jovial mood and the King raised an eyebrow.
"Well, do you know where she's gone?"
"She said something about spending the day with the Hero Of Time."
"Oh. I see." The Prince was visibly unnerved and Zelda knew that he thought of Link as competition. She smiled inwardly.
This is going to be fun.
Mimi and Riku had spent the night kissing and talking about all the mushy things in life, even, at one point, mashed banana. They returned to their cottage and bid each other goodnight and had fallen asleep quickly. Now, they were in the breakfast hall (a new addition to the town) making breakfast for the Kokori. The Kokori had come up with the rule that the older kids made the food, and the younger kids cleaned up. It was a good system, and it added a better sense of community to the village. Today, they were making bacon and eggs, the kids' favorite. They always had an abundance of eggs and bacon, as well as lots of other foods, because Malon came here often now that she was with Link and she brought several baskets of food to the village.
Link was walking in to the food hall and Mimi noticed a little extra bounce in his step. Remembering seeing Malons horse last night, she figured it might have something to do with his excellent mood.
"What a beautiful day it is today!" he exclaimed.
"And why are you in such a good mood today?" asked Mimi.
"Oh-its just so...er...beautiful today...and...yeah." he stammered.
"But what about you? Did you have a nice sleep?" he asked, changing the subject. Luckily, Mimi had a trick up her sleeve to get him back on subject.
"No, I couldn't sleep at all, and neither could half the forest, thanks to all the noise coming from over there somewhere." she said, and pointed vaguely towards Links house.
"Yeah we couldn't-uh- I couldn't sleep either because of that noise." he said, then slipped away with his breakfast to a table far away from Mimi.
"You really enjoy this don't you?" asked Riku, who had listened quietly to the whole conversation.
"I just love to watch him squirm." Mimi replied happily, and took a bite of her toast.
Daniel had asked that Zelda's supposed maid took him to Kokori forest, as he didn't know the way. Zelda had agreed and the two of them had gotten to the village quite quickly.
They walked into the food hall and Daniel gasped at all the little children running about.
"There are so many children!" he exclaimed.
Zelda nodded. She was used to outsider's remarks about the children. Outsiders weren't used to seeing an entire race of children, and it seemed to shock them a bit.
They walked up to Links table and joined him. Link greeted them with a bacon stuffed smile.
"Eeuugh! Mouth closed please!" said Zelda. Link made a huge swallow and drank some orange juice.
"So, what are you guys doing later?" he asked casually, not noticing that Daniel was staring awe-struck at him.
"Wait, you know the Princesses maid?" asked Daniel finally.
"The wha-ow!" said Link as Zelda kicked him under the table.
"Uh, yeah, I know her. Erm, because she's with Zelda a lot?" he asked hopefully, and the prince accepted it.
"Do you happen to know where she is at the moment?" inquired Daniel.
"Um, she is...um...taking a nap in the forest meadow." replied Link. "Why do you need her?"
"He's the crown Prince of Labrynna, and wants to marry her." said Zelda, enjoying the game she was playing.
"You're a Prince? Sorry, my manners aren't perfect."
"It's fine. I'm Daniel, and like the princesses maid said, I am the prince of Labrynna." said Daniel with pride, thinking to impress his authority on Link.
"I'm Link, Hero of Time."
Daniel looked embarrassed about his mistake of comparing authorities. Link grinned. This was the first time his title had come in handy.
"My apologies, sir." said Daniel meekly, and he bowed deeply.
"Just call me Link." said Link as he put his hand forward and shook before sitting back down.
"So, do you think the Princess will wake up soon?" asked Daniel.
"I sure hope so." said Link, casting a glance at Zelda, telling her he wouldn't cooperate much longer. She grinned at him, she was having a ball.
Malon had dressed herself and rode to the ranch to help her father with the chores. When she was at the exit of the forest, a young man rode up next to her.
"You going to work at the ranch too?" asked the boy, who Malon recognized as Riku.
"Yes I am." she replied.
"How much are you getting paid?" Riku asked, not remembering who she was.
"My father owns the ranch, I help him out, remember?" she said, trying to jog his memory.
"Ohhhhhh, now I remember, you're Links girlfriend aren't you?"
Malons face went red.
"Fiancée, actually."
"Really? That was quick."
"Don't forget, we knew each other in an alternate timeline."
"Ahhh. The alternate timeline." he said in a disbelieving tone.
"What? You don't believe it?"
"It is a little far fetched..."
"Trust me, it's true. Link and Zelda made it so his close friends would remember."
"I'm sorry, but I just can't adjust to the idea of time-travel, and other dimensions and realities."
"Well, if you're staying in Hyrule, you'd best get used to it." Malon said as they reached the entrance to the ranch.
Riku shook his head and followed her in.
* * *