I climbed up on the bed, cringing when it creaked under my weight. I froze, looking up at Link, hoping not wake him, but he didn't even stir. I smiled. You forget, he's the deepest sleeper.

I continued to climb onto the bed, being careful to keep my movements to a minimum. I grab the blanket that was folded at the end of the bed and pulled it over his figure, taking the dagger out of his hand carefully. I settled beside him, looking at the sheath.

It was dark brown leather, most likely from an Ordona goat. A strand of leather bounded the two pieces closed together, a design burned into both sides. One side was floral, the other had a Triforce branded in the middle, floral patterns around it.

I could tell a lot of work was put into this. I looked over at the sleeping boy beside me – His hair came forward onto his closed eyes. The moonlight reflected off a small light blue earring that he had on his left earlobe. I watched as his eyebrows furrowed slightly and I smoothed the lines with my fingers gently, before resting my head on his shoulder. He smelt of pine, coal and the faint smell of Ordona cheese.

"Thank you, Link." I spoke quietly, curling up beside him. He took in a deep breath, letting out a sigh and a mumble.

"Zelda..." A small smile graced my lips and I let my eyes close, today's events having run me to exhaustion.

The next morning, the sunshine warmly glowed on my features, causing me to stir. However when I tried to stretch, I noticed my movement was restricted. My eyes fluttered open and my breathing hitched.

The reason I couldn't move was because I was well under Link's chin, his arms wrapped around me and our legs tangled together.

"Great." I mumbled. How am I going to get out of here? "Link, wake up." Nothing. I tried to wiggle my arms out of his hold and he didn't budge. I managed to get one arm out and I tried to pry his fingers open, but it only made him hold on tighter. I groaned, there was no other choice but to lay here and wait for him to wake up.

I began to listen to the birds chirping, in the distance was the sound of the wooden tags that Fado had around the barn tolled. It was all so peaceful, that I closed my eyes and started taking in the sounds. I began to focus on the way Link's chest would rise and fall, soon to the sound of his breathing. It was soothing, until I noticed him stir.

I kept my eyes closed, as I heard his breathing stop for a couple seconds, before he muttered some obscenities under his breath and continued breathing. I had to stifle my laughter as he slowly unwrapped one arm over me but struggled to move the arm that was under me. I'm sure he didn't want to wake me, so I continued to pretend I was asleep.

"Please don't wake up." I heard him whisper several times. I let my eyes open and I found him straddled over me. I couldn't help the devilish smirk that grew on my lips.

"What are you doing?" He flinched and looked down at me.

"Hylia... Zel, you scared the living hell out of me." I laughed. "How long have you been awake?"

"The whole time." I smiled and he narrowed his eyes at me.

"You know, you could have helped?" I laughed as he got off of me and I rolled off his arm and off the bed.

"But it was so funny seeing you struggle." He muttered something under his breath while I stretched. He then proceeded to throw a pillow to my face and ran downstairs. "Hey!" He chuckled as I followed, losing him when he closed the door to the restroom. "You won this time!" I called through the door.

I wandered around the house, thinking about how I never really explored the place. There was a staircase that led to the basement that seemed dark and alluring, so I grabbed the lantern from the other day and lit it, heading downstairs.

After checking for rats, I headed down and noticed several chests towards the end of the room. I walked to one and set the lantern on the floor, going to open the nearest chest. Inside, were a bunch of rupees.

"Well a couple of these would have come in handy yesterday." I mumbled, remembering the life threatening events from yesterday afternoon. I closed it and moved to the next chest, finding some portraits, journals and other worn out items. I picked up one of the old photographs, examining it.

There was a beautiful blonde woman and a brunette male sitting in a bed together, holding a baby blue blanket in their arms. The woman looked tired, with bags under her eyes and her hair sticking to her face while most of it was pulled into a loose bun. Both she and the male looked down at their little bundle with overjoyed smiles.

I picked up another photograph and noticed that this one was almost the same, the male looking more aged and the woman had longer hair that was tied up, although she didn't look as tired. In this picture someone else was in it, a small boy with unruly hair and a large smile on his face as he looked down at the bundle too.

I set the photographs in my lap and picked up one of the journals, blowing the thin layer of dust off the leather cover. The parchment within the journal was aged and yellowed with age, but the ink was still legible.

"June 20 XXXX

It's been several years since we've been to Hyrule. Don't get me wrong, Outset is lovely and the fresh ocean air is and waters are beautiful, however, it's been rather stifling staying home with Mother.

Cain suggested we go traveling again, but Mother threw a fit.

'Liezel, you can't just up and go. Think of the children! Let them go to school! What about the friends they're going to make?'

In the end, we will ask the children if they want to stay home with Mother or if they want to join us."

"My mom's diary." I jumped, finally noticing Link has been standing over my shoulder.

"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to be nosey, I was-" He shook his head.

"It's okay." He kneeled down beside me, taking one of the photographs from my lap.

"Link, if you don't mind me asking, where are your parents?" A silence filled the room.

"I don't know." He replied quietly. "Mom and dad, they – they loved to travel. Dad was a royal guard, well, turned mapmaker. He traveled a lot and met mom on Outset Island. After about a week, dad needed to leave but mom couldn't bear him leaving, so she tagged along with him. After traveling for a couple months, I was born here, in Ordon. We lived here for a couple years as I grew, before we continued to travel. A couple years later, mom was expecting again." I looked down at the photograph of the four of them.

"A little brother?"

"Sister, Aryll." I nodded, looking down at the photograph again. "Dad and Grandma insisted we go back to Outset for Aryll's birth, so we did. That journal entry is from the time when I was twelve and Aryll was ten. Mom and dad asked the question of whether we wanted to go or not – naturally, I said yes. Aryll on the other hand, said she would stay on Outset." I set the photograph down in my lap and continued to look through the chest again. An old blanket, outdated maps, another journal and more photographs.

"We traveled for several years until dad received a letter from the castle. War had started to spread throughout the country. All travel in and out of the country was cut off, so I was told to stay in Ordon with Uli, who was taking care of a newborn Colin, now me." The war... I was old enough to remember most event of it, even though I was kept hidden for most of it.

"Mom insisted on offering aid during the war so mom and dad left for Hyrule Castle. The war lasted for years."

"Two. We suffered many casualties. My father having been one of the casualties as well. The war took a great toll on his health, heart difficulties took his life." I was only fifteen when I had to become the face of Hyrule." I mumbled quietly.

"I'm not sure if mom or dad were casualties of the war. Dad was quick and nimble as a fighter and mom was quite the brewer of potions. So..." Link took the photograph he had in his hand and placed it back in the chest, carefully closing it. So this is the reasons for his traveling. "It's why most call me The Wanderer."

"The Wanderer, hm? A fitting title." We stood and we went back upstairs. We went down to Rusl's for breakfast, late. We got scolded by Uli, who was sewing some material together.

"You know better than to sleep in Link. And Sheik, you shouldn't let this one's bad habits effect you!"

"I didn't. It's just like that one sleeps like a log and wouldn't get up." She accepted my answer because she had lived with the boy for several years herself and knew that first hand.

"You just don't want to spend your last day here sleeping in." Uli said with a frown. I looked over at Link, this being news to me.

"What? We're leaving already?" I asked and he nodded, his mouth full of food.

"The maximum amount of time I stay in one place is three days. When I'm alone, it usually not a problem, but... I would like to at least leave Ordon tomorrow morning before Fado starts getting ideas."

"You come home so often of course." Uli quipped sarcastically.

In return for being late, Link and I offered to clean up after breakfast. We were heading out when Ilia was coming in, hiding some things behind her back as she told us that the children were waiting for them.

Talo, Malo, Colin and Beth were sitting over by Talo and Malo's house, a group of sighs as we arrived.

"It's too bad you're leaving tomorrow." Colin said as we joined them.

"Yeah, I wish you could stay." Beth pouted, holding onto my arm.

"You know that I only stay for three days." Link told them.

"So Sheik is going along with you?" He nodded.

"She said she would join my travels."

"That's so cool. I wish I could grow up and travel with you all." Talo said.

"Whenever you all grow up, you can all do whatever you want. Decide your own ways of life." I told them.

"So what are we going to do for Link and Sheik's last day?" Talo asked.

"Why don't we play a game?" Link asked.

"But what could we play?" Beth asked and I hummed thoughtfully.

"Why don't we play hide and seek?" The children's eyes lit up.

"Hide and seek?"

"We haven't played hide and seek in a long time!"

"But that's a little kids game." Malo muttered.

"Okay, so there's no limit, except you can't hid inside any buildings and you can't go past Link's treehouse." I stated.

"Okay!"

"But who's going to count?"

"And there's too many of us for one person to go out and find everyone."

"How about we split up into groups?" Link suggested. "Sheik and I will be a group. Malo, Talo, you be another group. Colin and Beth, you'll be the last group." They nodded.

"Should we 'rock, paper, scissors' the one who will count?" Link nodded and I was confused as they closed one first and placed it on top of their open palm.

"Rock, paper, scissors!" They patted their fists against their open palms three times before Link and Beth extended two fingers out while Talo opened his hand.

"Oh man!" He whined while Beth laughed.

"Count to one hundred." Link told Talo and Malo as he wrapped his fingers around my wrist.

"Okay! One..."

"Run!" Beth and Colin ran and so did we. I went anywhere Link took me, his hand a soft grip around mine.

While Colin and Beth began to contemplate where they were going to hide, Link led me to the farm. He took me to the farthest corner of the far, sitting down and beckoning me to sit.

"But... We're in plain view." He gave me a toothy smile.

"Not for long." One goat bellowed at us as I sat, coming to lay down besides Link. Soon enough, the rest of the goats started to congregate around us, blocking our view form the farm entrance.

"Oh, I see." Link chuckled.

"I'm a cheat." He smiled. We stayed quiet for a while, petting the goats.

"Hey Link? Where's your sister?" I asked. He remained silent, laying back on one of the goats with a sigh.

"She's with my grandma. On Outset." I blinked several times. "Outset Island? The Great Sea?"

"Nope."

"You poor thing. We'll go. I have to go see my little sister anyways." He rose his hands up and behind his head, relaxing. "What about you Zel? Where's your family."

"I have none." He opened his eyes, looking at me with sympathetic eyes. "Oh not it's fine. Mother passed when I was born and Father passed a little after the war ended... Impa could be considered family, but not by blood." I rested against a goat that was behind me too.

"Do you have any momentos from them?" He asked, reaching into the case that contained his harmonica. "This was something my dad gave me. Dad played the flute and mom played the ocarina. They argued a lot on what I would play, but I ended up choosing the harmonica." I reached into my shirt and pulled out a golden chain that I had forgotten I had around my neck.

"My necklace. It used to belong to my mother." It was an aquamarine colored stone that glittered in the sunlight. Right beside the stone was a small triangular charm. "This was split in two. I've worn one piece since I was born and the other piece I didn't receive until my father passed." He remained silent, the wooden tags tolling towards the gates of the farm.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. They're in a better place." It got quiet and I allowed my eyes to close, momentarily dozing off. I was nudged slightly by the goat I was resting on and I could hear two voices, one next to me and another one in the distance. One voice shooed the other away and silence came over besides the breathing of goats.

"I found them!" My eyes fluttered open and Talo was standing over me.

"Had a nice nap?" Talo asked with a smile and I chuckled.

"The best one yet."

"Fado suggested we have a campfire here on the farm and roast some marshmallows." Link said as the children gathered around us.

"But do we even have marshmallows?" Beth asked, an underlying tone of disappointment in her voice.

"We do. Telma gave me a bag when I got to Hyrule Castle." Link spoke up and Beth's eyes sparkled. "Fado's picking up some wood so I'm going to help him with that."

"I wanna help too!" Colin called out.

"Me too!" Talo added.

"Okay. Won't you tell the others to join us?" Link asked towards Beth and I. We nodded and we headed back to the village.

"Man, I miss Telma."

"You know Telma?" I asked. She nodded.

"I met her a couple years ago with the rest of the boys. We had been staying at the hotel of Kakariko Village." She said as she swung her arms in a carefree manner. "We had been kidnapped, but halfway to the castle, Link and Uncle Rus stopped the carriage." My heart stopped and my eyes widened.

"Kid... Kidnapped?" Beth hummed in agreement.

"It was towards the end of the war. We were out by the Ordona spring when a nasty monster took us away. Ilia suffered amnesia for some time and we all stayed in Kakariko while she regained her memories. We got to meet Telma when she brought Prince Ralis when he was ill." She recounted all of this so casually, as if it was just another simple memory. I guess that this is how it was like growing up during a war outside of a castle. "Queen Rutela passed and Prince Ralis came to ask for help and got injured along the way. Telma tried to help, but she said that the town doctor in Castle Town was an old bat who refused to see him. We all ended up meeting in Kakariko, when Telma brought Prince Ralis to see Renado." These kids have been through so much, guilt was beginning to bite at my stomach.

"I'm... I'm so sorry" She let out a giggle.

"Why are you apologizing? It's a thing of the past and now, most of us are trained to handle a situation like that." The guilt still ate at me as we continued into the village, letting everyone know of the bonfire we were going to have.

After letting everyone know, we went back to the farm, finding the fire already set up. The skies were the same color of the embers of the fire, the sun setting into the horizon.

Link had come with a large bag of marshmallows, everyone following behind. Sera and her husband came with a large pot of pumpkin soup. Rusl came with a bunch of silverware while Uli came with her baby bundle. Pergie and Jaggle, Talo and Malo's parents, brought bowls to serve soup in. Fado brought shredded goat cheese to garnish the soup and Colin and Talo had gathered sticks to put the marshmallows to roast on. The Mayor and Ilia brought a mixture of ponchos and blankets as it got cooler at night.

"Thank you Ilia." I said as I slipped a poncho over my head. She smiled.

"No problem." She said as she continued to pass out the rest of the material she had.

Soup began to be passed around, everyone sitting on the large logs surrounding the bonfire. I sat down on one of the farthest logs, Link coming to sit with me with two bowls.

"Hungry?" He asked as he handed me a bowl.

"Thank you." The food smell delicious and I felt a familiar pang of hunger in my stomach, but it wasn't hunger. I put my bowl in my lap, watching how the cheese slowly melted into the warm soup. "Beth... Beth told me that they had been kidnapped during the war... Is it true?" My voice was quiet and I didn't get a response that I thought he didn't hear me. When I looked over at Link, he had his mouth full of soup that he was trying to swallow. I couldn't help the weak smile that slipped on my lips and he gulped down as quickly as he could.

"It is." The smile ceased. "The children and Ilia had been kidnapped and the village went into a panic. Rusl and I had to rush out to help, getting injured in the process, but we rescued them and that's all that matters."

"I'm sorry." My shoulders shook

"Zel, don't blame yourself for this. It's not your fault and there wasn't anything you did that made it happen, let alone prevent it. It's in the past now and the children have matures in some ways more than others." Sobs racked my body and Link let out a small sigh, putting an arm around my shoulder and brought me into the crook of his neck as I sobbed.

"I-I'm sorry..." He shushed me gently.

"It's okay, just let it all out." He encouraged quietly. So I did.