Reacquainted

Lon Lon Ranch

Malon POV:
It was a sunny afternoon and I was in the middle of the horses pin, singing my mother's song. I closed my eyes with my head tilting toward the sun, swaying to the melody as the horses ran around me. It was one of the many peaceful moments I had the privilege of experiencing. That was until my father interrupted:
       "MALON!" My Father called with his loud husky voice.
         "YES DAD?!" I yelled, squeezing my eyes in annoyance.
        "COME OUT FRONT, THERE'S SOMEONE HERE TO SEE YOU!" He shouted back.
        I let out an exhale and headed toward the entrance, and was surprised to see Link standing there. He was dressed in the same green tunic but instead of carrying a sword and shield, he held an orange flute-thingy in his hands.
        "This is Link, that young boy you sent to wake me up a couple of days ago."
         "I remember him. Follow me Link!" I said happily grabbing his hand. I was happy to finally have a guest, yet alone a person my age to hang out with. I threw my hands up at the entrance of the horses pin and said:
         "This, is where the beautiful horses roam! That one over there is my favorite," I said pointing to Epona, who was a beautiful brown mare with with an ash white mane. As I continued to talk, he stared blankly at Epona and said:
"Yeah...she's a pretty cool horse."
This made me stop my babbling, and look him in the eyes. He had that distant look on his face again so I offered to introduce him to her, but I was puzzled as to how he would know what kind of horse she was. I began to sing my mother's song-which was also the only thing Epona responded to, and she came running toward us.

"Epona this is Link," I said, petting her forehead. Link held his hand out and after a moment of relectance, she rested her head in his palm.
  "Wow, she really must like you," I said amazed by what I saw. Epona is not that open to new people, and can be hard to deal with at times. Which is why she was only closest to me...and now Link.
"Well since she likes you, and you're my friend, I can teach you my Mother's song; You'll be able to call her anytime with it, but you are my friend right?"
"Of course," he said slightly raising his brows.

He pulled out the flute thingy I seen him with before, and so I asked:
"You're not gonna sing?"
"No-I'm bad at it," he replied slightly shrugging his shoulders.
"So-you're going to play the song on that?" I asked pointing to the instrument.
"Yup, it's an ocarina."
"Ok I'll sing first, then you can mimic the song."
I began singing my mother's song again as the horses ran around us. Slightly embarrassed from singing in front of Link, I sat on the ground. He then stood up and reciprocated my mother's song using his ocarina, and without an error. I thought it sounded even more beautiful through the ocarina than by my voice. I was amazed by his ability:
      "Wow Link, that was beautiful."
     He smiled at me for the first time since I met him, and I couldn't help but tease him about it.
"Awww, look your smiling!" I said giving him a big hug.
       If I'm not mistaken, I could have sworn I seen him blush.
     "Come on, lemme show you around the ranch," I said practically dragging him behind me.
        Those days had to be the highlight of my youth. We would get chased by coo coos, practice horse riding, pull pranks on my dad, and play tag. Every afternoon noon we would have a late lunch in the house, then go back outside to play until the moon and stars came out. During the first night we spent together, we laid underneath the moonlit sky.
"Tell me about yourself" I said looking at the side of link's face.
     He remained looking at the sky as if he were asking the question himself. After a while he said:
      "What do you want to know?"
     "Everything," I replied, returning my gaze to the sky.
      "I'm from Kakori forest, but I'm not a Kakori...," his voice began to trail off. "My Father died in the Hylian Civil War...and my Mother was injured. Before she died she brought me to there, to be taken care of."
      I felt guilty for asking Link such a question, but I knew he would not want my pity:
        "When I was two years old my Mother died..."
           Link looked at me with a face of relief. Not because she was dead, but because he knew that I understood him.
             "Do you know how?"
               "No, my father refuses to tell me."
          I started plucking at the grass.
             "But I always assumed it was due to sickness."
            He held my hand to stop me from plucking the grass, and I began blushing as he pulled his hand away.
            "So why were you going to see the Princess the last time I saw you?"
           "I was going to warn her about this man name Ganondorf, who had been trying to earn the King's trust."
              "Why? Is Ganondorf a bad guy?"
               "He's exactly that. Once he earns the King's trust he plans to betray him, and destroy Hyrule."
                "How do you know that?"
                  "Because..."
                  "Because what?"
                    "Because I seen it happen."
           I looked at him at bit puzzled but I didn't dare to question him. He seemed so serious and upset by the topic.
                "I know it sounds very accusing-but you have to trust me..."
                  "I do," I said now taking his hand.
      He smiled at me as his expression softened, and we kind of just laid like that.
          For some reason I felt very familiar with what Link was telling me, and I never understood why.     
          "Does everyone know this?"
"No, it's a secret between you, me, and the Princess."
       Not long after we were called in for dinner by my Dad.
        At the table, my father told corny jokes that made Link and I cringe. After dinner we volunteered to bring the horses inside, so we could go for a walk before he left.
         "Those jokes were terrible," I said as we walked out the door
         "You have to admit, the ground beef joke was hilarious."
        "It was only hilarious because it was the only one that made sense, and I didn't really laugh."
         "Yes you did-I saw you."
          "How do you know if I were faking or not?"
           He took a moment to reply:
          "Because your eyes were squinted, and your face got all red-like it is now," he teased.
         I quickly looked away while covering my cheeks with my hands, as he laughed.
        "So," I said defensively.
        When I looked over he was smiling at the ground:
        "Today was fun...I wish it could be like this everyday."
         "But it can, we don't mind having you here."
       "Thank you," He said, now looking at me.
        I smiled big and we both started laughing at how silly I probably looked.
      He went home that night like all the other nights, and was back by sunrise. It became routine for Link to visit everyday, but sometimes he went to visit the Princess instead; It turns out that they were kinda of close friends. Or something like that.
       On those days I would sneak a peak at the entrance a couple of times, just to see if he was strolling in.
      When he started borrowing Epona it became much easier to know when he was here.
       This went on for two years and almost everyday was full of exciting ranch adventures, especially on our 11th and 12th birthdays. Link's was a week before mine, so we would have cake for two weeks straight. My Father always told us that we were too hyper during this time, while Ingo complained about there never being any cake left.
         I use to enjoy when we hung out late at night because it meant Link would stay over; that way he wouldn't have to travel with monsters. On those nights we would sneak oatmeal biscuits into my room, and stay up late under the covers; munching and telling all kinds of made up stories.

      But all of that came to an end the day he told me he was going to be leaving. I was devastated and my stomach churned at the idea of not seeing him anymore. Wide eyed, I interrogated him:
     "Well-where are you going? When will you be back?"
"I don't know, I'm going on a journey to find an old friend..."
       He was looking down at the ground while fiddling his fingers, as if he had something else to say.
          "I was also wondering if I could borrow Epona-for the journey."
         I was reluctant at first since I didn't know how long he would be gone, but I knew he would take good care of her.
        "You may," I replied sadly.
      My eyes started to get glossy with tears, as I tried to understand why he had to go so bad.
       I knew this was selfish of me to think, but was his other friend really that important?
        "Just promise me you will come back," I demanded, holding out my pinkie.
        "I promise," he said locking his pinkie with mine.
         I prepared a saddle for Epona, and snuck a couple of oatmeal biscuits into her pouch, for Link to have on his journey.
           I brought her out front and Link hugged me before mounting her.
         As he rode off into the distance I tore apart. I felt like I had lost a part of my identity. My feet were glued to the ground, and all I could do was shake as I sobbed.
        That night's dinner was unusually quiet, and instead of sleeping I gazed outside my window, wondering what Epona and Link were doing.
           When our 13th birthdays approached, he still wasn't there; And instead of two cakes, there was one, with plenty of it left over.
       It had only been a few months since Link left, and every morning I hoped that he would be down stairs waiting for me. But that hope soon vanished.