Chapter Text
As a general rule, Malon liked to get a full night’s sleep. Mornings were all business, especially managing the ranch on her own, rushing between animal to animal, although at least calving season had finally come to an end. Daytimes were always a rush, although she trusted the girl from Kakariko she had recently hired to manage the front end of the produce shop. Lunch she usually ate alongside the ranch hands if she had the time, but dinner she always ate in the house, alone at the table her husband had built for her.
She wasn’t bitter. She knew what she had signed up for when she married Link. He was a hero, even if he didn’t want to admit it, and occasionally something cropped up that meant he had to be away for a time. A monster horde at Lake Hylia. An evil sorcerer in Zoras’ Domain. A foreign delegation at the Castle who needed to be appropriately intimidated. Malon was no stranger to waiting at the ranch for her husband to come home and their reunions were always the sweeter for his absence.
Still, it had been nearly six months since another hero had fallen out of a portal and into their paddock. Six months since Link and other-Link had taken off in the direction of Castle Town and never arrived. Six months since Epona had reappeared at the ranch, fully saddled but without any of her husband’s supplies. After a week without news Malon had written to the castle and received a visit from ‘Sheik’ shortly thereafter. She was well aware who this Sheik was, and was fairly certain that Zelda knew that she knew. But it made it easier for the two women to chat as equals, and she could hardly begrudge the Princess if she wanted to pretend for a few hours that she was someone other than herself. But she had confirmed what Malon had worried: Link had never made it to Castle Town, and the energy of a portal was lingering just outside of the town gates.
Whatever Hylia needed two Links for, she had spirited them away to do it.
So she waited. She got on with her work, managing the Ranch and finding joy in the little things.
The little things like a full night’s sleep. Now that calving season was over, she could finally rest the night through, snuggled deep into her mattress and dreaming of the day when her bed felt a little less vast. Even tonight, with the late summer thunderstorm rumbling overhead she had fallen asleep hours ago, the heavy drum of the rain nursing her to sleep like a lullabye.
It would take something special to shake her from her slumber.
-
The portal had appeared at the prow of the ship, floating inches above the carved hair of the figurehead. Given that they were currently sailing towards Wind’s Cabana at a speed of ten knots, it was slightly surreal to see the portal gently floating there, somehow keeping perfect speed with the ship as it moved through the waves.
They hadn’t noticed at first. A day previous, Hyrule had given his customary warning that a portal was coming, but as usual had not been able to pinpoint exactly when that would be. It was well after midnight when it finally appeared and the Chain were not long after slaying a group of black blooded kargarocs that had decided to roost in the sails of the ship, so they were all fast asleep. It took almost ten minutes for Niko to spot it from the crows nest, and by the time he hurried to alert the Chain they were all waking already, distracted by the strange and unnatural pulling that they could feel on their souls.
All of their belongings were packed and ready to go thanks to Hyrule’s warning, but that did not make getting up and dressed in the middle of the night any easier. Tetra especially moaned when Wind woke her to say that they were leaving, but got out of bed nonetheless to see them off. Only Sky seemed less pleased to be awake than her, his hair a mess and his expression bleary. Even with the guidance of the Master Sword, he kept stumbling in the wrong direction and grumbling under his breath.
Finally they all lined up on the prow of the boat, last few belongings safely packed up and swords drawn in case of whatever they found at the other side of the portal. Wind, standing beside Time, was working very hard to project an air of nonchalance about the prospect of entering the portal, his efforts betraying his nerves. Beside him, Four and Hyrule had already pocketed a bottle of green potion each, ready for the inevitable sickness that would follow.
Sighing, Time climbed to the top of the bow, staring into the swirling darkness of the portal. Despite the fact that the wind was against him, the unnatural gravity of the portal pulled at his hair, making it wave forwards in a false breeze.
“Here we go again.” he said, glanced back once at the Chain, and stepped through.
On the other side of the portal, the heavens had opened. For a brief moment Sky shrieked, thinking that the portal had led them underwater again, although that might have been more a result of him still not being entirely awake l than the effect of the heavy rain.
Wherever they were, there didn’t seem to be any monsters at least, although in the torrent around them, that was about all they could tell. It was pitch black, any moonlight that might have been shining down was completely blocked by the thick storm clouds overhead. Rain pelted down not in sheets but in a thick, continuous flood, angled so that it wormed its way under their hastily pulled up hoods and down their collars. Above them, thunder rumbled so loud they wondered at first if a bomb flower had gone off nearby.
“Anyone know where we are?!” Warriors shouted over the noise of the storm. Around him a chorus of ‘no’s sounded out, Sky translating for Twilight and Hyrule as in the darkness of the night, their signs went unseen.
Blindly, Twilight fumbled in his pack and pulled out a lantern. Its dim light barely stretched a few feet around them, but after the darkness it was blinding. Legend immediately took it from him, leaving his hands free to sign if he had to. They probably still wouldn’t see him, not with them all bent double against the wind and their cloaks pulled tight, but it was a kind thought. With the noise of the storm rumbling overhead, no one else was talking much anyway.
They stumbled forwards together, picking a direction at random and hoping that it took them somewhere sheltered. The only thing that they could be certain of was that they were in a wide open field, although whether this was someone’s Hyrule Field, a smaller plain, or another Hyrule altogether, they had no idea.
Overhead a sheet of lightning flashed, illuminating the world around them for the briefest of seconds, enough to get a glimpse of the landscape around them, although the darkness was back in time to cover how both Legend and Sky flinched. Time looked around at the group, his face barely lit in the lantern light.
“I know where we are!” he shouted, gesturing to Legend for the lantern. The Veteran gritted his teeth and unclenched his fingers enough to pass it over. “This way!” he gestured them to follow and took off, scrambling across the waterlogged ground with a renewed energy.
The rest followed, hopeful that wherever he was taking them was closeby. After less than ten minutes of half walking, half jogging, their cloaks had reached the limit of their waterproofing, rain steadily absorbing into the fabric and through to their hair and down the napes of their necks. Their boots could not prevent the mud from leaking in over their toes and the wind buffeted them about, whipping water and mud and grass into and through their tunics.
FInally, finally, a light appeared in the distance, no, two. Dim and distant but steady, two lanterns marking a gate and a promise of shelter only a few minutes away. The chain, reinvigorated with this new sight, all hurried forwards, eager to finally get out of the storm.
Time pushed his way through the gate as Legend let himself smile in recognition at the small yard. Ahead was a cottage, not large but not small either, with late summer Dahlias blooming outside the windows, bent double as they were pelted with rain.
Instead fo knocking, Time hurriedly pulled a key from his pocket and shouldered his way inside, holding the door open for them to follow.
The nine Links piled into the small entranceway, the sudden shelter from the rain and pounding noise a shock to them all. Time slammed the door shut behind them and dumped his cloak in a pile on the floor, leaning against the white-painted wall in exhaustion.
“Is this your home, Old Man?” Sky asked, shaking the water from his curls. Before Time could respond there was a crash from above and a light flared up at the top of the staircase.
At their top stood the figure of a woman, a lantern held clutched in one hand and what looked like a sickle in the other, held defensively out before her. Red hair spilled over her shoulders like a flame, and against her white nightgown, it made her look like a vengeful goddess.
The Chain took a collective step back, but before anyone could ask a question or reach for a sword, Time’s voice rang out from behind them.
“Malon!” His voice was joyful as he shoved his way through his brothers and up the stairs. “Malon, I’m home!”
The woman let out a soft “oh!” and dropped the sickle with a clatter, barely remembering to set the lantern down before all but throwing herself down the stairs and into Time’s waiting arms. What followed was a slightly alarming, but nonetheless romantic scene as they tried to avoid falling headfirst down the stairs while meeting in a passionate kiss. They came to an eventual compromise, sinking down to sit across the steps, nestled in each other's arms. Even in the meager lantern light, it was a beautiful sight.
For most, at least. Wind made a small retching noise and looked away, earning a lighthearted smack on the head from Sky, who seemed about to melt with the romance of it all.
After a moment the woman seemed to notice their audience and looked up with a gasp, her blush almost hidden in the darkness. Time laughed, helping her to stand and gesturing towards the Chain.
“Malon, I may have picked up a few more Links on my travels.” he smiled apologetically. “Boys, this is Malon, my wonderful wife.”
The Chain all made noises of greeting, Hyrule and Twilight waving cheerily (Warriors quietly but emphatically whispered what the fuck. Beside him Wind grinned, reaching to nudge Legend. The man really had bad luck with wagers.). Malon retrieved her lantern and slowly descended the stairs as Time moved to light a few more of the lamps on the walls.
“Hello, everyone!” she greeted, casting her eyes over them all. “Goodness, you’re all soaked- Everyone, come through here, we’ll get a fire lit and you can change out of those wet clothes.”
Adopting the role of mother-bird, she shepherded them through to the family living room. It was not the biggest space, but it had a large fireplace and led through to the kitchen, where the large range pumped heat through their shared wall.
“I only have one rule, boys,” she called over her shoulder as she bent to fuel the fire “no weapons in the house. Leave them over by the door, it’ll keep them out of the way.”
“Except for seeing-eye weapons.” Time clarified, gently nudging her out of the way and taking up the work on her behalf.
She looked around at him for a moment in confusion and then shrugged. With all of the stories he had told her about his past, a seeing eye weapon was not that inconceivable. As she cast her eyes over the group who had followed her in, she quickly found the boy who was still awkwardly holding his sword as he pulled off his sodden boots, his eyes a misted white.
Beside her, Time straightened and rested a hand on her shoulder. “Calling everyone ‘Link’ got confusing very fast, so we have nicknames. This is Sky, Four, Hyrule, Twilight, Warriors, Wild, Wind, and you already know Legend.” he absently played with a strand of her hair that had drifted into his face. “I’m sorry for waking you, dear. I’m afraid the portal just dumped us in the rain tonight.”
Malon snorted. “And you still think Hylia’s sending them?”
Time shrugged. “We don’t have any better theories.”
Malon laughed and hip-checked him, drifting into the kitchen to give the boys room to change out of their sodden clothes. There was a vast rack over the fire they could hang them on to dry, as long as they didn’t mind that they would smell of peat smoke for days afterwards.
It was too late to think of making any food, and her husband assured her that they weren’t hungry anyway, but a warm cup of tea on a night like this never went amiss. Time walked in on her wearing a fresh tunic and trousers, and for a moment stood in silence as he watched her put together a soothing nighttime blend.
She glanced up at him. “None of your boys have any allergies, do they?” she asked. Time shook his head fondly and she scooped the mixture into a pot. “Good. We’ll get them warmed up and then everyone can get some sleep. I had a feeling you’d find more than just our pink friend on your travels, so I’ve set up some cots in the spare room. I’ll admit, I didn’t think there would be quite so many of you as there are, but I did wonder about some of the ones you’ve mentioned from your past - the Sailor and the Captain.”
Time smiled, nodding. “They're both here. And the Wolf, as it turns out.”
Malon looked up at him, chuckling as she loaded the cups onto a tray. “I told you that was a True Dream.”
Time laughed as he heard footsteps behind him. He turned and saw Twilight enter the kitchen, wearing only his shirt and a pair of old trousers, his soaking pelt in his hands.
“Speaking of wolves.” Time said, gesturing Twilight to come further in. “Malon knows about our - ah - mentorship, pup. And everything around it.”
Twilight looked nervously over at Malon, seeming to shrink as if expecting censure.
She smiled as warmly as she could manage. “I’m glad to finally meet you - Twilight, was it? Link said when he had those dreams that he thought you were our descendent - oh, come here and give me a hug!” she opened her arms and, flushing, Twilight set aside the pelt and met her waiting embrace.
“Oh, look at you.” she took his face in both hands, looking over his features. “You didn’t grow that big and strong at no castle town, now did you? You’re a rancher through and through!”
Twilight nodded again as she let him go, glancing back at Time, who was watching in amusement.
“Yes, but I herd goats, mostly.” he smiled shyly up at her. It had not escaped him how her eyes had caught on the ugly scar across his neck, it was hard to miss without the pelt to obscure it, and he was grateful when she had said nothing. He glanced back at his pelt, dripping on the countertop. “Sorry, this will smell like dog if I leave it by the fire, I can put it in the barn?”
Malon scoffed, lifting the waterlogged pelt into her arms. “Honey, this is a ranch. If something doesn’t smell like an animal, we’re doing it wrong. Link, hon, be a doll and carry that tea in for me. Come on, now, Twilight, let’s get you all settled down for the night.”
Thus told, they followed her back into the living room, where the rest of the Chain had hung their clothes out to dry and were relaxing in the armchairs, starting to heat up. They smiled gratefully as Time passed out the tea, and Malon determinedly hung the pelt up to dry.
There wasn’t much energy in the room for smalltalk, the Chain all exhausted by their nighttime dash through the rain, and the heat of the fire and tea only making them more drowsy. The spare room, thanks to Malon’s forethought, had the old double bed and three additional cots in it. Four and Hyrule would share the bed, given the portals affected them the worst, with Legend, Warriors, and Wind in the cots around them. Wild, Sky, and Twilight, meanwhile, were more than happy to set up camp in the sitting room, and were amazed and delighted when Malon produced yet more bedding, swearing that no one would be camping in her house, thank you very much!
By the time she settled down in her own bed, next to her own husband, the storm had begun to ease and she could see the sky starting to lighten through her bedroom window. She didn’t particularly care, and for once decided to let herself sleep in the next morning.
-
That was the plan, at least. Malon had spent entire days dreaming of lying in, but when it actually came to it she couldn’t bring herself to sleep more than half an hour longer than usual. If her own body clock wasn’t enough to wake her, the pale sunlight filtering through the curtains was. It seemed that the rain had finally stopped, at least.
Beside her, her husband was still fast asleep, his face slack and relaxed as he snored softly. She didn’t have the heart to wake him, under no illusion that the last few months had given him scant moments to properly rest.
Gently, she bent over and kissed his forehead. His eyes - both of them - fluttered open for a moment, mismatched blue and white still fogged with sleep as he smiled drowsily up at her.
“Go back to sleep, hon.” she whispered.
Link made a mumbling noise that might have been an agreement and contentedly burrowed back into his pillows. Within seconds he was snoring.
Malon quietly got up, slipping on her dress and apron, and padded down the stairs. She didn’t really expect anyone else to be up, she only intended to check on the animals and get a head start on the farm work so that she could spend her day with Link and his brothers.
When she slipped into the living room she only planned to quickly pad through to the kitchen, but instead found two of the makeshift beds empty, only Sky still snoring away in his. The smell of something cooking was coming from the kitchen, along with a faint sizzling.
Fascinated, Malon followed her nose and poked her head around the door.
Wild was standing at the range, his hair pulled into a messy bun as he humed, cooking something. From where she stood, Malon could see the terrible mess of scars that laced his body, twisting his fingers into unnatural angles. He seemed to move them with no difficulty, however, as he turned to his left and began to sign.
Sitting by him was Hyrule, and Twilight stood leaning against the counter. Their backs were to Malon as they watched the cook with rapt attention. When Wild stopped to sign something, Hyrule haltingly repeated the gesture with uncertain fingers. They repeated the signs a few times, back and forth between the three of them until Wild gave a thumbs up and moved on with his cooking. Every so often Hyrule would point and ask Twilight a question, parroting his signs back when he responded, Wild chipping in to give some context.
She seemed to have stumbled onto a lesson, though whether on sign or cooking she could not yet tell. Maybe both. She was almost sad to push the door open wider, the creak jolting the three out of their silent conversation.
“Sorry to interrupt.” she smiled, resisting the temptation to whisper. The silence of the room, aside from the sound of the range and animals outside, had seemed almost sacred. “I was just going to make some coffee and tend to the animals. What are you three up to?”
Wild flushed, his fingers fluttering to his sides. Beside him, Hyrule had turned the colour of beetroot, looking determinedly at the floor. Twilight just grinned in greeting.
“Making breakfast.” Wild explained. His voice was unexpectedly rough for someone so slight, and he seemed nervous. “I hope it’s okay. We thought it would be a nice surprise, given you were so kind to us last night. I’m sorry if I overstepped.”
Malon made sure to give them her warmest smile, reaching over to hook the kettle over the fire. “That’s such a kind thought, boys, thank you! So what are we having?”
Wild poked at the pot he had been stirring. “I had a lot of tomatoes so it’s shakshuka and rice balls.” He said, signing as he spoke and repeating the name a few times for Hyrule and Twilight to copy. It seemed neither were familiar with the recipe “Though I haven’t decided on birds eggs or duck eggs, we ran out of cuckoos a while ago…” he trailed off, pulling an odd looking tablet from his belt and flicking his finger across it.
Malon smiled. “We’ll I’m about to check on our flock but I bet you we’ll have plenty of cuccos’ eggs fresh in the yard. Hyrule, Twilight, why don’t you two come and help me? We can get some milk while we’re at it and pick some berries for dessert. Twilight, you know how to milk a cow, right?”
Twilight shot her a thumbs up. “Yep!”
Behind her, the door creaked as someone else entered the kitchen. She turned to see a flash of pink hair as Legend wandered in.
“Roolie, you in-oh, hi everyone.” he said, purple eyes flitting from person to person. “I miss a party?”
“You’re just in time.” Malon beamed, taking his arm. “You can help us outside. Come on now, everyone, let’s get going. WIld, you just holler if you need anything?”
Wild shot a thumbs up. “You got it!”
Malon led them out to the yard, careful to stick to the path to avoid the mud that had swamped the yard after the storm. She pointed out the cow shed to Twilight, who grinned and jogged off to get the milk, while she led Hyrule and Legend over to the fruit bushes, thick and weighed down with late summer fruit.
“Do either of you grow anything in your homes?” she asked, passing out baskets. “Legend, you mentioned you had a house when you first came here?”
Legend shrugged, but Hyrule elbowed him in the ribs.
“Legend has a big garden with fruit and vegetables. His husband is caring for it while we travel, but it is beautiful and he loves it.” he grinned, “He is bad at talking about himself but the outside makes him very happy. He is just grumpy.”
Legend glared at him. “Uh huh, says the guy who lives in a cave and has spent the last five months hoarding any new seeds you come across.” Legend snapped, a smile twitching at his mouth as he raked his hands through a blackberry bush and filled his basket with fruit.
Hyrule blushed furiously by his damson tree, hand brushing over the pouch hanging by his side, presumably carrying his precious seeds.
Malon smiled at their good-natured bickering. “Legend, you sly dog, you never said you were married? And he helps out in the garden? What a catch!” She giggled, hip checking Hyrule. “And to think he was keeping all of that to himself. And you’re planning to start a garden when you get back?”
Hyrule, if possible, blushed even more deeply and shrugged. It seemed that Legend wasn’t the only one who didn’t like talking about himself.
“My time has very little. I hope to grow more food, medicine, new plants. Help things grow again.” he was looking wistfully over the rows and rows of ripe fruit bushes and the orchard beside them. Malon couldn’t help but smile fondly.
“That’s an honourable goal.” she commended softly. “Well, our seed stores are over there, take as much as you want with you. I’m sure we have more than enough to share.”
After a while she left them to it, going to collect the cucco eggs and bring them back to Wild, who was humming to himself and dancing as he cooked. Throughout the rest of the house, more heroes were starting to wake up.
When she slipped into the sitting room, Sky was still asleep, but Wind and Warriors were perched on either side of his cot, giggling as they carefully stacked matchsticks on the sleeping hero’s nose.
She leaned against the doorway, folding her arms and smirking. “I take it you are the Captain and the Sailor that fought with my husband?”
They looked up in surprise, the Captain holding a match inches above Sky’s head. Wind beamed.
“That’s us!” The sailor crowed, and then looked down as Sky grunted in his sleep, disturbed. He looked apologetically at Warriors. “That’s us.” he repeated in a whisper.
“It’s wonderful to make your acquaintance.” Warriors purred, standing and offering a hand.
Malon laughed, glancing up and down at the Captain she had heard so much about. From his immaculate hair to his perfectly positioned scarf, he was every bit the character her husband had made him out to be. Link’s impressions of him were spot on, but the Captain didn’t need to know that.
“Likewise.” she responded, shaking his hand and then glancing down at the sleeping hero. “And what exactly are you two up to?”
“An experiment.” Wind said, clearly going for innocent but missing the mark by a mile. “We wanted to see how many we could fit on before he woke up.”
The Captain smirked, not looking in the least ashamed. “It’s an ongoing study. Our record, we managed twenty three before waking, but I think in the right environment we could get more.”
“How very scientific of you both.” she whispered, kneeling down beside them. “Did you ever try this with my Link?”
Wind snorted and then hurried to muffle the sound in his hands. “Nah, even as a kid the Old Man was a light sleeper. But he helped me to test it out on the Captain.”
“Wait, you did?” Warriors frowned. “What was my record?”
Wind waved his hand. “Honestly, Captain, you weren’t that impressive, Sky’s got you beat by a country mile.”
Malon laughed quietly, pushing herself to her feet. “Well don’t get too settled. Breakfast will be ready soon.”
They both waved in acknowledgement, returning to their game as Malon made her way back to the hallway. She was halfway up the stairs when she noticed some odd movement on the windowsill. Frowning, she climbed to the upper landing and peered to see what it was.
Sitting perched on the windowsill, lounging against the dish of sugar-water was a very small, very brightly coloured hero. Three fairies flitted about him, ringing gently as they moved.
Malon smiled. “Why, hello, Four.” she said.
The hero jumped and looked up at her, startling the fairies away. His hair was coated in a fine powder of fairy dust and seemed to glimmer in the morning light.
“Um.” he said, his voice faltering. “Hi, Miss Malon. I - um - I was just, um. Resting. I-” he stammered to a halt, and even from here Malon could see his face flush bright red.
She smiled gently. “I’m not going to tell your secret, hon. Don’t worry. But breakfast is going to be ready soon and the others might notice if you arent there.”
“Oh.” Tiny Four said. “Right. Um. Could you - um - give me a lift? There’s a portal by the railing. I can make it myself but it might take a while and I don’t want to get trod on.”
Malon nodded and held out her hand. Four nervously climbed on and she did her best to keep steady as she carried him to the spot he directed. He shifted on her hand and pressed his hands against the wood, and all of a sudden he had vanished, reappearing in front of her at his full, still very short stature. He was still flushed in embarrassment at having been caught, and there was still a little residual fairy dust in his hair.
“I- um.” he said. “I don’t take portals very well. The fairies were helping me recover.”
“That’s okay, hon, whatever you need to get well again.” she smiled, racking her brain for a way to put his mind at ease. Common ground, she needed to find common ground. “Link tells me you’re a blacksmith? Any chance I could badger you into making me some horseshoes later?”
Four grinned, nerves disappearing as he realised that Malon wasn’t going to pry, instead moving to a safer subject. “Yeah, I can do that. How many do you need?”
Malon smiled back at him. “I’m not sure, I’ll have to have a look. Why don’t you head downstairs, I think that Wild is about to serve up.”
She watched as the tiny hero darted down the stairs, shaking her head. So it wasn’t just her Link who liked to keep his secrets close to his chest. It seemed all of the heroes had their own secrets to keep and their own stories to tell. Well, she was more than happy to respect that, just as she always had for Link.
Speaking of-
“Link?” she called softly, walking into their bedroom. “Honey?” she pulled the curtains open, letting the bright sunlight shine through.
Link groaned and rolled over in bed, flickering his eye open to look at her. He smirked.
“DAHling.” he pronounced, and they both burst into giggles. It was nice, they knew, that Honey and Darling in Castle Town were so happy together, but they were so very over the top with their public declarations of love that neither Link nor Malon could resist imitating them.
Malon perched on the edge of the bed. “You’ve slept in.” she chided playfully. “All of the other boys are up - well, except Sky. Breakfast is about to be served. Are you coming down?”
Link sighed dramatically and pushed the blankets back. “I suppose so.” he winked, which with only one eye working looked rather like a dramatic blink. Realising this, he frowned, struggled for a moment to open his bad eye, winked dramatically with his good one, and then let the bad one droop shut again.
Malon dissolved into giggles. Her husband was an idiot and she loved him for it. Laughing, she helped him find a clean set of clothes and they stumbled downstairs together, following the sound of laughter and the smell of food.
Wild had been true to his word: the breakfast he produced was exceptional. He had seemed delighted with the fresh eggs, and had also taken the milk that Twilight had brought him and skimmed the cream from the top, ready to serve with the bowl of fresh berries.
The whole of the Chain were now up and seated around the table. There were nowhere near enough chairs in the house but they had made do, upturning milk crates and even pulling in the milking stool from the barn. Malon found herself sitting between her husband and Sky, who despite still having his hair mussed from sleep seemed bright and cheerful. Everyone was chattering pleasantly over each other, comfortable in one another’s company and delighted at the opportunity to rest and have a good meal.
Malon happily settled into the rhythm of the conversations around her. After a while, she felt Sky lean over to speak to her. He had shed the Master Sword from his back but had kept her leaning up against his leg, presumably feeding him a translation of the sign being shot across the table.
“Miss Malon,” he began, cheeks oddly flushed. “I wanted to thank you for your hospitality. And-“ he cut off, and a smile flickered across his face.
Malon leaned in, intrigued. “Everything okay?” She asked.
“I was awake the whole time.” He admitted in a whisper, cheeks flaming. He shrugged. “Sometimes when I want a bit of peace and quiet I pretend to be asleep. It’s more effective than you’d think.”
Malon blinked and then did her best to suppress the giggle building in her throat. All of those matchsticks on his nose, and he was awake? “How often are we talking about?”
Sky shrugged, still looking embarrassed. “Only sometimes. I do sleep heavily and often, so it’s easy to do when I need some quiet.”
Malon put her head in her hands, barely able to stifle her laughter. “Well,” she assured him once she had calmed herself enough to trust her voice. “your secret’s safe with me.”
Sky grinned. “I appreciate that. I don’t like to deceive them but they can be so loud.”
Malon laughed again, smiling fondly at the mismatched group around her table. When they had appeared on her doorstep the night before she had barely known what to expect. In the excitement of the moment, she had just been so glad to get her husband home that she had barely considered anything more than the logistics of putting them all up for the night. But here they all were, chatting and laughing around her table, seeming as if they had always been there. The group seemed to fit together, every extreme in one person balanced out by another. It felt like every person around this table was close and trusted family rather than people she had just met the night before.
She smiled, listening in on the nearest conversation between her Link, Legend, and Twilight. From what she could tell, they were talking about similarities and differences between their assorted Zeldas, but kept becoming confused about which one they were talking about, tripping up on their shared name.
Malon took a beat.
“Wait.” She said, holding out a hand to get their attention. ”You all figured out special nicknames for yourselves but not for your Zeldas?”
The table descended into silence as the Chain all turned to look at her. After a moment it was Time who spoke.
“Oh. Oh, we’re all idiots.”
Malon snorted. They were all idiots. Wonderful idiots. Her idiots.
If only they could find more than two brain cells to rub together.