Against the Tides
                                  by Ria (aliaguard@geocities)

chapter 1

Navi had been waking up Link for a year now. But sometimes, the small Kokiri boy 
was exceptionally hard to rouse.

'LINK!' she screamed in his ear. 'If you don't get up right now, I'll.... 
I'll...'

'Go 'way,' Navi,' the boy said sleepily, turning over.

'But we're going to go have fun today!' the fairy said,exasperated. She was 
about as bored as he, and she jumped at the chance of going anywhere. 
Of course, they were only going into the Lost Woods, and there was practically 
nothing to fight there, but she was desperate. Navi peeped out the door to see 
Saria and her blonde friend Kria with pig-tails like puffs coming up the path. 

'Saria!' she wailed, fluttering madly round her head. 

'Link won't wake up! I've called, again and again, but-' Saria grinned. 'I know 
how to wake him up. Hold on.' She picked up a pot, filled it to the brim with 
water from the pond, and began to make for Link's ladder. Kria got it almost 
immediately. 
'Saria, you're cruel,' she said, hiding a smile. 

Kria was going with them, but only as far as the Meadow. Everyone knew that 
Saria and Link were joined at the hip, and that it wasn't wise to tag along and
separate them. Even Mido, when confronted by 

'I'm going with Link' from Saria only grumbled darkly. Saria managed to get up 
the ladder, walked briskly to the bed and threw the water all over her sleeping 
friend. The effect was instant.

'YEAARRGH!' Link called. He sat up, shivering. 

'I'm awake, I'm awake!' He looked round at the grinning faces of Kria and Saria, 
and at Navi flickering smugly around his head. 'That wasn't funny,' he whined, 
picking at his wet tunic.

'Oh, it was,' said Saria, smiling broadly. 'Now, get up, or I'll throw you in 
the lake.'

They journeyed out to the Lost Woods, left their blonde-haired friend at the 
meadow and began exploring all the dark corners.Unlike what Link could remember 
of his stint as the Hero of Time, there was very little mischief to be found in 
the Lost Woods. They talked quietly as they searched. Saria, being a Sage, could 
rememberwhat had happened, but she seldom talked about it. They sat down.

'I was sure there would be something here,' Saria said disappointedly. She sat 
down in the scrub.

'C'mon, there has to be something,' Link urged. 

'I didn't get a potful of water on my face for nothing. Hey, how about we- Ahh!'

'Huh?' asked Saria, turning around. 'Link, Link!'

Link had disappeared from sight. She began to pull up the scrub, frantically, 
but there was no Link to be found.

Link could only remember falling, falling, into a black hole in the scrub. When 
he woke up, his leg felt funny and he was staring into darkness.

'Hello?' he called out, weakly. He tried to stand up, but there was such a wave 
of pain he lay down again. Then, He breathed in a few gulps and called again. 

'Hello? Hello! I'm stuck.'

A lantern came floating around in the darkness. Link tensed, expecting a Poe, 
but instead a small figure looked upon him silently.

'Help me,' Link begged, blinded by the glare of the lantern.
The figure put it's lantern down, and Link made out a pale, blonde girl kneeling 
beside him. 

'You've broken your leg, silly,' she said, in a soft tone. Link heard the smile 
in her voice.

'Can you go above and get my friend?' he asked desperately. 'Her name's Saria. 
She'll know what to do.' The little girl ignored him, and instead, lifted him up
in her arms. Link felt so sick he didn't care that a tiny girl was lifting him. 
She led him through the dark passage, and since she'd left her lantern, it was 
in total darkness. In a short while, she came to the end of the tunnel and 
emerged into a fairy pool. Link sighed in relief. Perhaps he could call the 
fairywho lived there. He tore himself away from the grip of the girl and dragged 
himself onto the Triforce symbol.

'No!' the girl said in alarm. 'You'll hurt yourself.'

For the first time, Link could see her clearly. She wastiny, no more than six 
years old, with pale blonde hairand large grey eyes.

'I can call the Great Fairy who will live here,' Link said, with a hint of 
smugness. 'Then we can probably all get out of here. How did you get in here, 
anyway?' Link's eyes narrowed. 'Are you a Lost One?' The Lost Ones were those 
who had entered the Lost Woods. When they failed to get out, they wandered 
around the forest. The Lost Ones very soon turned into Stalfos.
The girl smiled. 'No.'

'Oh, that's okay, then.' Link looked her up and down. 

She was wearing Kokirish clothing, so he assumed her tobe Kokiri- not that he'd 
ever seen her before. But he forced away all thoughts of ghosts and Stalfos, and 
began to sing softly the notes of the lullaby.If he had thought himself bad at 
singing before, he was even more discouraged now; no fairy appeared. 
The little girl made her way past Link and teetered over, into the water. 

'Watch out, you'll fall,' Link warned. Taking no notice, the girl dived in.

'Hey!' Link dragged himself half into the water, fouling it with blood from his 
leg. He took a lookat it and winced, because it was stuck out at a very strange 
angle. Then he heard the laughter, the soft laughter signifying the fairy. The 
little girl glowed, and she rose up into the air. There was no hysterical 
giggling like with the other Great Fairies Link had met, but hedidn't care. He 
was busy staring at the glowing form of the girl.

'You're the fairy?' Link asked, disbelieving.

'Why, of course.' The little girl smiled at him, and Link felt a warmth starting 
in his leg. He stood up, healed. 

'You're not like any fairy I've ever met,' he said, rubbing his leg.

'Oh, of course not. I am the Great Fairy.'

'Of what?' Link asked politely. The girl shrugged. 'Of everything, mostly. Now, 
little hero of Time, what are you doing in my pool?' Link blushed. 'I'm not a 
hero anymore.'

'Oh, you are,' the fairy contradicted. 'Never believe anything that Princess 
says, Link. Her head's so full of prophecies she could mistake a Hero of Time 
for a Child of Air.' She grinned warmly at him.

'She's right about most things,' said Link, defending his memory of the blue-
eyed Princess.

'But also wrong about a lot. She is a mortal, after all.' The fairy suddenly 
frowned sourly. 'Of course, Zelda doesn't think that. She's a meddler. Thinks 
she's better than the Queen of Fairies, just because she's
the-'

'Queen of Fairies?!' asked Link, blanching.

'Oh, yeah, but don't worry. I only pull that title out when I'm speaking to the 
Royal Family,' the fairy said. She had grown more relaxed, and was currently 
lying in midair. 

'Oh. Okay, um, your Majesty.'

'Oh, please, don't call me that!' the child pouted. 

'How would you like it if I kept on calling you 'your Hero-ness' or 'your 
Worship'?'

'I'm sorry. What else can you I call you?'

'Sarine. Yes, that's it. Sarine.' The little girl grinned broadly, as if it was 
some great joke.

'Now,' said Sarine, 'getting back to business.'

'You'll let me out?' Link asked hopefully, thinking of Saria.
The girl contemplated this. 'Yes-'

'Thank you!'

'But. There's always a but.' The girl smiled. 

'You owe me a favor. And that favor is to come whenI call you.'

'Sure,' said Link immediately. What was easier? 

'Great.' The fairy smiled broadly, blew Link a kiss, and he fell off into a deep 
sleep.

'You ninny. You stupid, stupid...' Someone sighed deeply and placed something 
cold on his forehead. 

'Huh?' he couldn't see. There was darkness all around.

'You're awake!' It was Saria's voice. 

'Whah... where am I?' This wasn't in the shrubbery. He couldn't hear any birds, 
or pipe music from the Skull kids.

'Don't you remember?' Saria's voice was unusually gentle. 'You fell over that 
root, you clumsy-footed oaf, right into a little gorge. You've sprained your 
ankle.'

'Broken my leg,' Link corrected drowsily.

'No, sprained your ankle.' This was Kria's voice. He frowned, tried to shake his 
head, and found it was agony. 'Why can't I see?' Saria took a cloth off his 
eyes. He looked at his body and blanched. it was covered in cuts, bruised, and 
grazes, and his foot was swollen to about twice its size.

'I told you!' Navi said shrilly, darting around him. 

'I yelled, "look out!" but you never listen to me anyway and you just fell into 
the gorge and then you screamed and-' Link groaned. 'There was a fairy...' he 
muttered.

'Of course there was a fairy! It was me!' said Navi, irritated at being 
interrupted.

'No, a big fairy. I fell down a hole. Didn't I?' Kria looked at Saria and 
shrugged.

'You were probably dreaming, Link,' Saria said. Link lay back on his bed and 
sighed. Wasn't it real? Hadn't he really met Sarine? But as he thought about it, 
it seemed more unlikely. The Great Fairy, the 'queen of fairies', had been very 
casual. And her face looked too familiar. He shrugged it off as a dream.

chapter 2

Although Link could only hobble, and not even get down the ladder of his house, 
he was still enjoying being sick. Saria, Kria and the other girls fussed over 
him, and Mido was almost insanely jealous. 

'I bet if I cut my ankle, I wouldn't be fussed over like a little kitten,' he 
said snidely to Link. Link merely smirked and folded his arms. 'Yeah, I bet it 
would be a little tiring,' he said. 'Y'know, being fussed over by Saria and all. 
You probably couldn't handle it.'

'That's not what I meant,' Mido said, frowning. 

'I just wouldn't want to be treated like a baby. Why does Saria have to mother 
you anyway? It's only a sprain!'
Link simply smirked and lay back on the pillows on his bed. But it wasn't all 
great being sick. He'd found that he'd scored a fever along with the ankle, and 
began seeing things in his sleep. There was a blurred picture of him older, or 
how he remembered it; he seemed to be saying something.

'Sarine,' it whispered, blurred. 'Sarine, Sarine, wake up.'

'Huh?' Link asked, blindly. 

'Sarine.... Sarine...' it whispered again, then left him. Link woke up, 
sweating.

This went on for about four nights, until he got tired of the apparition calling 
for the fairy. Link picked up his crutches, and although it was agony, hobbled 
down the ladder. He pulled himself up the vines and entered the Lost Woods. 
Where was the scrub? Left.... right... forward... no, left... He made his way to 
the dark meadow. Feeling around, he felt the hole, then bravely jumped in.
It was the same as last time. He landed, felt sick, but the pain in his leg was 
far less. Link managed to stand up and drag himself along to Sarine's cave. It 
was real, he told himself. It reallywas real. But instead of an empty fairy 
pool, there was a figure on the Triforce symbol. Link looked at the figure 
standing away from him. Then he turned around. 

'I knew you'd come,' said the man.Himself. Older than seventeen, as he had been 
when he was the Hero of Time, but more like 25 or 26.
Link gaped.

'15 years ago, I stood where you are now,' the man continued, 'wondering. Do not 
be afraid, Link.'

'Why are you here?' Link asked.

'He's here because I brought him here,' a voice piped. Sarine. 

'Greetings, Link. Oh, and greetings, Link. Hey, couldn't you wear different 
colours or something? Then I could call one Blue Link instead of having to say 
both names twice.'

'That won't be necessary,' said the older Link, rolling
his eyes. Suddenly, Navi, who had been sleeping quietly in Link'spocket, awoke. 

'Link?' she asked. 'You're supposed to be in bed, and-' Navi stared at Sarine.

'Let us be, little Navi,' Sarine said gently.

Navi flitted back to Link's pocket and fell asleep. Or at least tried to. You 
didn't disobey the Queen of Fairies.

'Thanks, Sarine,' Link said in relief. The older Link looked surprised. 'You 
still pulling that old turkey out?' he asked the fairy.

'It's necessary,' said Sarine firmly. She looked at Link. 'You're here to do a 
deal, Link,' she said.

'You owe me.'

'What kind of deal?' asked Link.

Sarine said gently, 'Link, the fairies are descendants of the three Goddesses.'

'They are?' Link asked, surprised. He hadn't heard that one before.

'Yes. And I care for all of their creations. The Gerudo, Gorons, the Hylians, 
the animals, the Zoras.' Link nodded.

'In the future, you must save the Zoras.' Sarine cut straight to the point.
Link relaxed. He had saved people before. This was going to be a cinch, if he 
could get a good sword and shield.

'Don't be so sure,' Old Link warned, reading his thoughts. 'It isn't a bed of 
roses.' He was trying to hide a smile.

'I've been the Hero of Time before,' Link protested. Older Link sighed. 
'Sarine-'

'Not another word from you,' Sarine snapped. 

'It's necessary. Close your trap.'

Older Link knelt down. His face was grave. 'Link, whatever you do, whatever you 
see, don't give up.' Link began to feel uneasy. 'Can't you show me what I'm 
going to do?' Sarine and old Link exchanged a look. 'Do you really 
want to?' Sarine asked.

'He must,' cut in Link. He looked apologetically at his former self. 'Without 
the vision, I never would have agreed.'

'It is decided, then.' Sarine looked at Link. 

'Will you save the Zora?'

'Do you promise to show me what I have to do?' Old Link hid another strange 
smirk.

'Yes.'

'Then I agree.'

Sarine smiled. 'Thank you, Link!'

'Watch your dreams, and then see if you are so eager,'old Link grumbled.

'Is- is it going to be hard?' Link asked his old self timidly.

Sarine looked at the older Link, and they both burst out laughing.

'What? What's so funny?' Link demanded.

'Nothing,' the little girl said, grinning broadly. She blew him another kiss, 
and Link felt his body tingle. 

'Watch your dreams.'

Then he fell asleep.

chapter 3

Link sighed as he walked along the grass of Hyrule Field. He never knew what to 
do on his days off from guarding Princess Zelda. But if there were a law passed 
that all knights of Hyrule never had holidays, there would probably be a 
revolution. He sat down by the river in the baking-hot sun, wondering what he 
should do. Link plucked at the grey tunic he wore. It wasn't the awful white 
tunic he had when he protected Princess Zelda, and he was glad for it. Link 
ticked off places in his mind he could go. Kokiri? He had banished himself from 
there when he had grown too old. He was a Hylian, he didn't belong. Saria was 
still his friend, and so was Navi (who had stayed near the Deku Tree sprout) but 
he just felt uneasy there. Kakariko? No. Goron City? No. Market? Hey, that 
would-Link was suddenly splashed head to toe by something emerging from the 
river. 
'Hey!' he cried.

'Sorry,' a light, musical tone apologized. Then, as he felt a cold hand touch 
his face, 'Link?!'

'Ruto!' Link stared at the form in the water. 
'Wow.You.. grew.' She had. No longer was she the awkward, plump Zora child he 
had carried out of Jabu-Jabu's belly; she was now willowy and pretty- for a 
Zora. Link didn't look upon Ruto as attractive; she had almost been his fiancée, 
for Din's sake. Well, at least she wasn't wearing those dangly sapphire 
earrings; the noise made when they jangled infuriated everyone for miles.
Ruto walked out of the water, looking around furtively.

'What are you doing out of the Castle?'

'My day off. What are you doing out of Zora territory?'
Ruto giggled guiltily. 'They're all so protective of me. I told them I was 
playing hide and seek, then ran off.' Then her purple eyes looked sad. 'My 
father is sick. They think he's... going to die soon.'
'I'm sorry.' Link said. 'Then you'll be Queen Zora, right?'
Ruto made a face. 'Yeah, but I don't want to be. They'll just marry me off so I 
can have a son to rule the Zoras, and never let me out of the temple.'

'I thought you could choose your husband.' Link remembered the Zora's Sapphire, 
given to Ruto's suitor, and shuddered.

'Yes- but only when I'm a Princess. When I'm Queen, it's going to be 
impossible.' Ruto sighed, then brightened. 'Want to swim with me?'
Link stiffened.

'I'm not that bad to be with.' Ruto looked at his face again. 'Do you have 
something against Zoras, hmm?'

'No! No, of course not.' Link took his boots off.

'Okay, but just for a little while.' He was bored, after all, what else could he 
do? It wasn't that bad. The water was cool, and he and Ruto explored the 
waterways. Link hadn't lost his childish urges to explore, and Ruto loved 
looking around in the water anyway.  They both swam down into Lake Hylia, but 
were accosted by a Zora.

'Princess, what are you doing so far down here? You said you'd stay in the 
River!' he chided. Or she.
Link could never tell the difference, except with King Zora and Ruto.
Then Link popped his head out the water. 'Link's looking after me,' Ruto excused 
herself.

'Oh.' The Zora's tone softened. 'You're in Princess Zelda's bodyguard, aren't 
you? Well, I suppose Ruto is safe. But you mustn't run off like this, your
Highness!' the Zora turned to Link. 'Without Ruto, we have no heir to the 
throne,' he explained. Another Zora popped out the water. 'You found the
Princess?'

'Yes. She was with a bodyguard of the Princess Zelda. He's looking after her.'
The new Zora looked at Link, then Ruto, and smiled wryly. 'Make sure that's all 
they're doing.'

Link blushed furiously. 'We weren't doing anything.' Ruto giggled as the two 
Zora swam off. Link heard one of them whisper, 'Maybe we'll get the Princess 
married off. And a Knight of Hyrule isn't that bad a choice.' Link was blushing 
even more furiously, and he crawled out onto the shore of the lake. 'Maybe I'd 
better get back,' he said.
'Oh, don't let what they say get to you,' Ruto admonished. 'They say that every 
time a suitable male shows up. Anyway, I want you to stay with me.'
She sat on the shore next to him, and looked him up and down appreciatively. 'I 
don't suppose you've decided to be a man and marry me, finally?' Link tried not 
to flush again. 

'Uh, Ruto, I don't think so. I've got my work as a Knight.'
 
'I knew you'd say that. What a waste,' she sighed. Then she dived into the water 
again. 'Race you to the other side?' Link shrugged and swam off to his 'fiancée.


When Link reported for duty the next day, Zelda smiled at him. 'I heard you 
spent all of yesterday with Princess Ruto.'

Link flushed. 'I was looking after her, your Highness.'

'Oh, Link. We're friends. At least call me Zelda.'

'Okay, Princ- um, Zelda.'

'Better. Now-'

A knock on the door. 'Enter,' Zelda called. A messenger came in. 

'Your Highness, the Queen of Fairies requests to see you- and your bodyguard, 
Link.'
Link suddenly paled. Years ago, he had come into contact with the Queen, who 
called herself Sarine. She had said she would sent him a vision; he had never
gotten it. Zelda threw her bodyguard a strange look. 
'Tell her Majesty we are coming. Is my father going to be there?'

'She requested only you and your bodyguard, Princess.'

'We are coming.' Zelda straightened her circlet, and followed the messenger. 
Link walked behind her, his hand on his sword. They walked into the room. 

'Princess Zelda, your Majesty,' the messenger was saying.

Link stared at the Queen. There was no little girl of six; here was a regal 
woman with blonde hair, grey eyes, and a flowing green dress. She stood up.

'Greetings, your Highness.'

'Why are we honored with this visit from your Majesty?' Zelda asked, somewhat 
suspiciously.

'Well, it's not really for you,' the Queen said, rather bashfully. Now Link saw 
her as familiar- here was the little girl in the fairy pool. She
looked at Link. 

'I want to borrow your bodyguard.'

'What?' asked Link and Zelda together.

'Years ago, he made a pact with me, to save the Zora. I wish him to honor that 
pact.'

'I did not know the Zora were in danger,' Zelda said.

'Oh, they aren't- but they will be. That's why I need Link.'

'Did you truly agree to this, Link?' Zelda asked him.

Link shook his head in confusion. 'You said you'd send me a vision, Sarine,' he 
said.

'And you got it.'

'I do not recall it.'

'All will be revealed in the fullness of time,' the Queen said airily. 'Anyway, 
your Highness, you must do without the little Hero for a week or so.'

'I need him,' Zelda frowned.

'I'm not taking him forever. He'll be back. Link said he would do this thing for 
me, so I have his word.' The Princess turned to look at him.

'Is this true also?'

Link nodded, miserably. 'I made the pact, when I was a child.'

'Then you must honor it. I let you go, Link.'

'Princess-'

'I said I will let you go. Be well.' She walked from the room.

Link looked miserable, then straightened. 'Okay, let's get this over with.' He 
was bored anyway with life; Hyrule was strangely quiet. Sarine grinned. 

'I knew you'd see it my way.'

Her figure shimmered, and again she was the six year-old girl in the Kokiri 
tunic. She offered her hand to Link. Link took it, and they both shimmered
out of sight.

chapter 4

Ruto sat by her father in his room.  It was cold stone, with life-giving water 
running through it. Ruto took his hand. 

'My.. dear... daughter...' he gasped.

'Get into the water, Father,' Ruto urged. 'It could help your breathing.'
The rotund king smiled briefly. 'Ruto... It is a little... Late for that.'

'No!' Ruto held onto her father's hand tightly. 

'You're not going to die.'

'I fear the... Worst.' Her father's eyes closed. 'Before I was... King Zora... I 
had a name, too. It was Riko. Never... Forget your name.. when you are Queen.' 

'I won't be Queen for years, father.'

Zora responded by taking the crown by his side and handing it to his small 
daughter. 

'Ruto... The crown is yours....'

'Father, you're being silly.' Young Ruto would've stamped her foot. 'You're not 
going to die for-'

'Ruto- Kalto-' Ruto, heaaring her dead mother's name, bit her lip as her father 
fell asleep. He never woke up.

Link found himself in Jabu-Jabu's Fountain. He looked around, but all he could 
see was the large fish.

'Sarine?' he called. 'Sarine?' Nothing. Suddenly, a pale blue blur sped past 
him. 'Ruto!' he called, recognizing her. She spun around, and Link saw that she 
had been crying. 'Link!' she cried, and flung herself into his arms, sobbing. 

'Huh?' Link almost fell back in surprise.

'He's dead, Link! My father's dead!' Ruto wept. 

Link felt instantly sorry for the princess in his arms.

'I'm sorry, Ruto.'

Ruto cried into his tunic for a little while, then straightened. 'I'm the Queen 
of the Zora, now. I must-'

'Rest first, Ruto,' Link said gently. But Ruto, tight-lipped and red-eyed, went 
to the throne room. Link followed. She tried to put on the crown, but it was far 
too big for her. So she just turned it around in her hands and cried over it.
Link sat in the running water, ignoring how his tunic was now  wet.

'What are you doing here, Link?' Ruto asked suddenly. Link shrugged. 'I got sent 
here by a fairy. She said the Zoras were in great danger.' Ruto stared at him. 

'A fairy. As in, the Queen of the Fairies?'

'Yes. Why?'

Ruto shivered suddenly. 'She told me I had to save the Zora, when I was a little 
girl.' 

'But she told me I was going to save the Zora,' Link protested.
Their eyes met, and they both frowned. 'Something screwy is going on here,' Ruto 
said.

'Why, yes it is,' agreed a voice from Link's right.  Link already had his sword 
out the scabbard and was standing up before he realized it was Sarine.

'Keep your tunic on, Link,' Sarine grumbled. She walked along to Ruto and took 
her hand. 'I'm so sorry about your father,' she said in genuine sympathy.

'Sarine, what's going on?' Link asked. 'You said I was going to save the Zora, 
and now Ruto says-'

'Can't you accept the fact that you might have to have a partner in this?' 
Sarine asked, rolling her eyes. 'Face it, Link, you can't always work alone.'

'What do we do?' asked Ruto. 

'Well, you're not going to fight, so put down that sword, you big oaf.'
Link sheathed his sword. 'Why did you call me here if I'm not going to fight?'

'Well, you may fight. But first, you have to prepare. The Zoras are going to be 
in danger in a little while, so we have to prepare.' Sarine looked hard at Ruto. 

'Ruto, we're going to have to find you a husband.' Ruto brightened. 

'Are you going to make Link marry me?'

Link gulped and stared at Sarine.

'Nope,' said Sarine cheefully.

'Then I don't want to be married,' sulked Ruto. 

'I can rule the Zora just as well as anyone.'

'Okay, so we won't marry you- yet. But we're goingto have to fend off suitors 
with a big stick. Ruto, hint mysteriously that you're engaged. Link, you get 
the big stick.'

'Who am I going to imply I'm engaged to?' Ruto demanded.
'Oh, I have no idea,' Sarine said loudly, pointing at Link behind his back.
Ruto smirked. 

'Oh, don't worry. I'm sure I'll find someone.'

'Good girl, Ruto- or is it Queen Zora now?'

'Ruto,' she said firmly.

'Okay. We need to have a talk.'

'We're listening,' Link said idly. Sarine raised an eyebrow. 

'Link, this is girly stuff. Go disembowel a Gerudo, or something butch.'
Link walked off, muttering darkly, but still tried to listen in on the 
conversation. He couldn't hear anything until Ruto yelled, 'WHAT?!'
Link began to walk back. He caught the last snatch of conversation, which 
consisted of Sarine saying, 

'Don't worry. I'll make it okay.'

Ruto's face was red and her face was puffy from crying. All in all, not that 
attractive. 

'Come on, Link,' Sarine said, standing up. 'I think Ruto has to have a little 
think. Let's go talk.' So they left the fuming Zora and walked through the 
cavern. 'How many people in your family, Link?' Sarine asked suddenly.
Link shrugged. 'None. My mother died when I was born. My father- well, I don't 
know.'

'So that leaves you?'

'Yes. Why?'

Sarine walked sedately beside him. 'I see a lot of things, Link. Ever thought 
about having children?'

'Not really. I'm only seventeen, you know.' Link smiled. Sarine shrugged. 'Well, 
I see a kid in store for you.' Link stopped still. 'Isn't there some kind of 
law that you aren't allowed to tell me anything about the future?'

'Oh, Farore, no! Imagine how boring that would be! You'd never know anything 
until it happened. No, I can tell you anything I want.' 

'Well, what if I decide never to marry and have children?' Link asked.
Sarine shook her head. 'Doesn't work. You're going to have a child, Link. After 
all, you're going to need a heir. Who's going to be the next hero of Time?'
Link hesitated. 'I don't want a child right now.' He valued his freedom more 
than anything, and he definitely didn't want kids right then.

'Of course not. You're only seventeen.' Link sighed with relief.

'I see one when you're nineteen.' 

'What?!' Link asked in horror.

'Oh, I'm only teasing!' Sarine ran back down the path. Link caught up with her. 

'Let's go to Ruto.'

'Hey, I thought you were going to let Ruto have a moment to think!'

'Well, haven't we waited long enough? I thought you would be impatient.'

'What is time to an immortal?' Sarine smiled, as if it was some great joke. Then 
she rolled her eyes. 'Come on, you big oaf.' They walked down.