Winter's Chill

I never really understood why I was an outsider when I was younger. I dressed the same as them, I ate the same foods, played the same games, but they still didn't accept me, well all except for Saria. She was always there for me. But aside from her, I had no one. I was just the boy with out a fairy, and Mido; he made sure no one saw past that. But Saria always told him to check himself, and shut his trap. Saria was, IS, wonderful. I love her greatly. Now don't get me wrong, I do love Saria... but it's not THAT kind of love. It's more of a brotherly love, the same love I feel for Zelda. Zelda is a great person too... she has a strong fighter's spirit and a will of iron, she's stubborn and gentle at the same time. I not only love her, but admire her. She's pretty much the closest thing to a role model I have. But like all people, she has her faults; her big one is her arrogance and vanity. It's not TOO serious, but it gets annoying. I love her none the less.

As I stare out at the gray clouds forming above Hyrule Field, I remember the days of my youth more vividly. I always hated winter. Sure the snow was fun, and the hot chocolate with my friends was too, but it always made me feel so much more alone then I already felt. I mean, being an outsider in spring was bearable, I at least had the animals to talk to, but in the winter they go away, and so do the flowers. I shiver again. God I hate winter.

I remember one time, when Saria had been sick with a cold, and I couldn't see her for a week. We were about 9 at the time; it was my last winter in the Kokiri Forest before my adventure. Anyway, It had been two days since she had gotten sick, and the first snowfall of the year had just presented itself. I remember throwing on my green scarf, brown gloves, warm green tunic, and hat. I can still feel the freezing winds hitting my face with a blast of snow. I remember feeling so happy and carefree, but in a matter of minutes it all changed.

I had sprinted out of my house and jumping over the railing into the snow. I felt so happy then. I created snow angels and snowballs. I even grabbed a piece of bark from a tree and went sledding down the hill that led to the training ground. I saw Kerina, the girl who usually sat on the roof of the Kokiri shop, ice-skating on the pond. She smiled and waved at me. I did the same back to her. I remember thinking that maybe they had finally learned to accept me. I ran past the twins, Leia and Laurin, as they chucked snowballs at each other, yelling "Hi Link!" as I passed by.

Suddenly, my fun, and illusions of being accepted, came to a screeching halt. As another of the Kokiri yelled a friendly greeting to me, I turned my attention from the space in front of me.

BOOM

I had hit something, hard, and landed flat on my butt. "What do you think you're doing Mr. No Fairy?" Mido, great. I stood up boldly, I was about a head shorter then him, but I still thought I was better. "I was running, genius." Mido raised an eyebrow. "Running?" He questioned sarcastically, "Usually people WATCH WHERE THEY'RE GOING when running, dummy." I felt my face heat up. I remembered being so incredibly angry with him for calling me a dummy. "SHUT UP MIDO!" I screamed angrily, "WHAT DO YOU KNOW?"

Now, I should've known better then to question his authority, but I didn't. I was too proud to let him get away with calling me names. I should've just walked away and let it roll off my back. After I said that, Mido's face twisted in anger. He hated being questioned. He had shoved me. Hard. "I know A LOT MORE THEN YOU!" He yanked me up roughly by my collar. "And you know why, punk? Because I have three things." He released my collar and I fell to the ground. Now not only was my ego and butt bruised, but my leg now had an increasing pain in it. Mido had dropped me right on a rock.

"One thing I have," He began loudly, as he noticed the crowd slowly forming around us, "Is brains. I know how to run a village! I'M the leader shrimp. And you think you have the smarts to question me?" He laughed and pulled me up to his face again. "I don't think so." He hissed. I just gritted my teeth.

"Another thing I have that you don't, is a fairy." He smirked rudely, "But you already knew that didn't you?" I growled at that point. "You remind me every day." I spat out. His smirk became wider, "Well I HAVE to, I mean you don't have the brains to realize that, remember?" I heard some snickers throughout the crowd that had gathered around us. He dropped me again. This time I landed on ice.

"The final thing I have that you don't," his smirk turned into an evil smile, bearing all his little teeth, "Is friends." I remember hearing the murmurs of agreement throughout the crowd. I remember how badly that had hurt. He had hit my weak point. The tears had formed in my eyes then, but I was a man! I couldn't cry! He saw the tears, and chuckled, "You know it too don't you? No one here really likes you. I mean you're not one of us, you don't have a fairy, so you're not even a Kokiri!" I lowered my head in defeat as the other Kokiris began to shout, "Yeah! He isn't one of us!" and "No way can we accept this guy! He's different!"

I had stood up then. My leg really hurt, and my heart ached, but I ignored it. I looked Mido straight in the eye. My turn to hurt him! "Well," I said dangerously, "I have Saria, and you don't!" This time Mido had the tears in his eyes, no one else saw them, but I did. He laughed shakily, "Yeah whatever Mr. No Fairy." I shook my head, sighed and turned away. "Or should I say, Mr. No Friends?" He shouted. The crowd became silent, and my face grew red with anger. This time I couldn't hide the tears. They flowed down my cheeks like rivers, and splattered onto the ice. I sniffed, and ran.

I don't think I have ever run faster then I did then. I ran past Mido's house, up the hill, and into the Lost Woods entrance. By now, it was getting close to sun set, but I didn't care. I ran past some tall grass, and through another log tunnel. I ran blindly and straight into a railing. I had been running so fast, that I had flipped over the railing and fallen. It was a pretty high fall, and I hit my head pretty hard and passed out. I don't really remember anything after that.

Apparently, Saria had heard everything, since the argument was pretty much right in front of her house, and came out after I had ran away. She had smacked Mido on the back of the head, and run after me. They found me about an hour later, unconcious and bleeding from the head. I had to have 5 stitches. It wasn't so much the pain from my head that had gotten to me, but the pain in my heart.

And now here I am, sitting on top of a lonely stone fence in Hyrule field, staring at the falling snow, alone. I feel about as lonely as I did that day. I feel my eyes moisten. I'm not gunna cry not here, not now. Suddenly, I feel a hand on my shoulder. "Link?" says a voice softly. I spin around, grab my sword, and face the person standing in back of me.

"Malon?" I breath, "what..." She smiles slightly, and hands me a knitted scarf. "I was coming out to see the first snow fall, and I saw you sitting there. You looked cold, and lonely, so..." She looked away and blushed. I'd always liked Malon. Ever since the first day I saw her standing there in the market. She was, and still is, very beautiful. I never realized how much I truly loved her until the first day I saw her after my long sleep.

She was standing in the stabled holding a bucket of water. Her face was pretty bruised up. I remember how angry I had been. Ingo had probably beat her up. She had been so shy, and nervous. It was adorable. I remember the feeling of her face near mine when I had whispered to her. I remember the day after, when she had kissed me on the cheek, I felt a warm chill course through my body.

Now when I say love in this instance, I mean LOVE. Like between a man and a woman love. Like marriage love. Malon, on top of being beautiful, has so many other great qualities. She is very determined, and firey. She has a strong fighters will. She has a love for all things, and hates no one, not even Ingo. Her purity and innocence are so strong. And she is consantly happy.

I turn to her. "Well yeah, I was kinda cold, and lonely," I say softly. I lean my face close to hers, and whisper in her ear: "But I feel much better now that you're here." Her eyes widened and she blushed. She slowly faced me. "Y-you do?" she asked shakily. I smiled, "Yes, I do." She smiled. "Well," she moved her face closer to mine, was she finally gunna try to kiss me? "THANKS FAIRY BOY SAME TO YOU!" She screamed right in my ear. Ouchies...

BAM

Suddenly, I'm on my but, in the snow. Malon is still sitting on the fence, laughing, a lot. Her cheeks are rosy and they make her gorgeous red hair stand out. I feel a warm tingle throughout my body and smile and laugh as well. I grab her wrist lightly and pull her onto the snow with me. She stops laughing as she lands on top of me.

Ok this is a little awkward. Nice but awkward. She's on top of me. Her smile is gone, but she has joy in her eyes, like... she wanted this? Her lips are open a little in surprise, and her hair is all around us. She suddenly laughs and jams some snow into my face. Well, that's one way to kill the moment. I smirk playfully and chuck some snow at her. DIRECT HIT! "Ha Ha Malon! In your face!" She smirks as well, and shouts playfully, "Oh yeah, I think I was the one who jammed the snow in YOUR face, Hun."

I stop my laughing. She called me Hun. Sure it was in jest, but it still felt good. Suddenly I lunge at her, and we go rolling down the hill. Ok now, this is REALLY awkward, I'm on top of her, she's blushing, and so am I. Should I take advantage of this? Hmmm, it's a nice setting. Snow, warmth, her, Talon... TALON?!

I quickly scramble to my feet, as does Malon. We look at her father, at each other, and away. Talon looks sternly at us both and then begins to laugh. "Haw Haw Haw! You two remind me of the days when I was courtin your mother Malon!" I look over at Malon wide eyed. She is giving the death glare to her father. "Haw Haw Haw! Sorry Malon, didn't mean to embarrass ya, you either Link." I wave my hands in front of me as a sign of "No big deal," Malon, on the other hand is kinda pissed. "Well, Malon, it's getting late and I wanted you to come in for supper, Link is welcome to join us if he'd like." Malon looks over at me, and then at her father. "Ok daddy, we'll be there in a minute." He raises an eyebrow, smiles, and walks back up to the ranch.

Malon shakes her head, and sighs. "Um," she blushes, "Sorry about my dad, he, um, kinda, uh... yeah..." I laugh, "It's ok Malon. He's just trying to be funny." She laughs. "He did a good job!" We both start to laugh a little. "So, you wanna join us for dinner Link?" I smile. "Sure Malon." I offer her my arm. She looks at it, giggles, and accepts it. We walk up to the ranch together. Ok, so maybe I don't hate winter that much anymore. I mean Malon seems to take away the winter's bitter chill.

THE END (Of Winter's Chill)