A/N: My original intention was to write this entire story and then gradually upload it but I think it's about time i posted some new work. I'd like to mention I've been working on this very slowly for the last few years so when my finished chapters run out, updates will become slower but I have every intention of finishing.

Thanks for reading and enjoy.

It was perfect. She had spent the entire afternoon sat on the golden sands of her favourite spot at the beach, her legs hunched with her old sketchbook resting neatly on them. Putting the finishing touches to her drawing, she let the blue pencil roll out of her left hand and took in the calming sounds of the waves. Opening her eyes, she admired her work: the mixture of blues creating the peaceful ocean, the warm yellows making up the sand along with the light reds bringing out the beauty of the rising sun. Blowing the excess pencil shavings from the paper, she took another pencil and signed the bottom left of the page.

Alanna Laramie

"Hello! Is anyone here? Link! I know you're here, Saria told me!" a golden Fairy fluttered through the dark rooms of the Forest Temple. Flying through the door which led to the courtyard, she almost dropped the pictograph she was carrying of a recent picture Malon had taken with her new pictobox. Scanning the courtyard, she screamed when a small, brown, three-legged woflos hobbled up to her, its pink tongue dripping with saliva as it eyed the Fairy. "Eek, get away from me!" She darted away only to be confronted with a huge red bird who flapped its long, multicoloured feathers excitedly as it peered at her with its dark, round eyes. "Aaah! Not you too!"

"It's only Travis and Perri, Madi," a deep voice laughed from the ledge above her.

"Huh? Who's there!" Madi was starting to wish she had never bothered coming to the temple.

"It's me, who else did you think was here?" Link slid his legs over the side, dropping down to the ground to stop Travis from following Madi anymore.

"Oh right, I keep forgetting what you sound like with that new manly voice of yours."

"I've always sounded like this," Link picked the little wolfos up.

"Nuh-uh, it changed!" she insisted. "I still can't believe you named that thing after Travis, it could be classed as offensive!"

"The other Travis thinks it's funny," Link put Travis down. "Did you only come here to say that?"

"Hmm? No, I came to show you this," Madi held the picture up so he could get a better look. The picture was of him and Saria at the ranch which had been taken only the day before. Malon had insisted they go there for long overdue haircuts, claiming she was the best free haircut anyone could get, even if no one had actually said that to her before.

"I like how Saria's hair turned out; although, I don't think she does," he looked at himself standing behind Saria with his arms around her, the difference in height becoming more noticeable over the years as Link kept shooting up leaving her a few inches shorter than him. Since Saria's hair had been so long, Malon had gone a little crazy with the scissors and when she had cut up to the Kokiri's shoulders, her hair started curling backwards instead of forwards, staying like that ever since.

"I like it too, it makes up for that disgusting yellow sweater she likes to wear," Madi referred to the yellow hooded sweater Saria was wearing. "That girl is one of the nicest people I've ever met but her taste in clothes is terrible."

"Um, I bought her that," Link frowned.

"Oh, well that explains it, Saria would wear garbage if it was from you. I'm surprised you can pick decent clothes for yourself," the Fairy commented on his short-sleeved dark green shirt and long, black trousers he liked to wear whenever he could. "Why don't you wear your hat anymore?"

"I just grew out of it, I suppose. And it's one less place for people like you to hide under." Leaving the animals to entertain themselves, Link made his way into the main room of the temple where he took a seat on the low wall in the centre. Taking something from his pocket, he continued what he had been doing before Madi had interrupted him.

"What have you got there?" Madi followed him inside.

"It's something I'm making for Saria," he held up a bracelet made out of twisted vines and various flowers. "I enchanted it so they won't wilt and I made these," he took out two small charms, one was a golden sun that glistened when it caught the light and the other was a miniature version of Perri.

"Those are cute, what are they for?"

"They're charms to go on the bracelet, each one represents one year we've been together," Link explained, taking the charm of the sun and attaching it to the vines. "The sun represents the first year, the time in Meldora - a new beginning. Perri represents al the flying we did last year and the peaceful months."

"But haven't you two known each other longer than two years?" Madi asked, landing on the wall next to him.

"Yeah, I'm only counting years we've been boyfriend and girlfriend though since if I counted them all, I'd be making a jumper not a bracelet." Taking the Perri charm, he attached it next to the sun. "I'll make a new one every year until it gets full."

"When are you giving it to her?" the golden Fairy had to know everything about everyone to be satisfied.

"Well, we're going to that sword display today, then Malon wants to cut my hair since she didn't have time yesterday, so it will have to be tomorrow. We could go to the lake, or maybe Death Mountain summit; Saria likes the view there."

"I can't believe Saria is going to that display with you, doesn't she hate swords?"

"No, she doesn't hate them, a sword saved her life more than once and besides, it was her idea to go watch it." Pocketing the bracelet, Link stood up to stretch his arms. "Speaking of the display, we should warp there soon if we want to get good spots. Would you ask Saria to meet me here if you're going back to the Deku Sprout?"

"Yeah sure, but can't you message her yourself?" Madi made her way towards the temple entrance.

"I could but she's doing something with the Deku Sprout. The last time I messaged her during that, the sprout was a little angry."

"Oh ok, I'll tell her for you, as long as I can come with you today."

"Sorry Madi, you know you have guardian training today," Link reminded her.

"I know. I love it here but sometimes it's so boring! The Deku Sprout said we'll be taking our training slowly since there won't be any new Kokiris for at least a century. I don't think I can wait that long!" Fluttering past Link, Madi said something he wasn't expecting. "You and Saria need to hurry up and have kids so I can be their guardian!"

"Uh, I think we're a bit young for that," a bright shade of red crept onto Link's face.

"What! You're both over a century old!"

"In Kokiri years, not Hylian. We're not doing that just to satisfy your boredom!" Now, are you going to tell Saria or not?"

"Alright, alright, I'm going," Madi huffed, flying off towards the village.

"Saria! Are you finished?" Madi flew into the Deku Sprout's Meadow where the Forest Sage was sat cross-legged next to the chatting sprout.

"Yeah, we are for now," Saria smiled. "Did Link like that picture?"

"Yep! What were you doing?" Landing on the shoulder of Saria's light green top, she sighed with happiness; she liked this colour.

"We were practising control of the weather in the forest. I can do nice weather with ease, but can't get the hang of rain," Saria explained.

"You just need to channel your anger into it," the Deku Sprout chuckled.

"What do I have to be angry about?"

"Having a boyfriend who buys you awful sweaters for one," Madi grinned, she would never shut up about that sweater.

"I like that sweater," Saria frowned, lightly flicking Madi from her shoulder.

"Link isn't here so there's no need to pretend you like it. He wanted me to tell you to meet him in the meadow so you could go have lives, unlike me," Madi mumbled, flying into the old Deku Tree's branches where some of the Fairies liked to live.

"Okay, thanks for telling me. I'll go get my sweater before we go," Saria smirked, knowing Madi would be making a face of disapproval behind the leaves.

Making her way further into the leaves, Madi entered a small room carved inside the trunk of the tree. Wandering in, she took a seat on one of the tiny logs Fairies used as chairs and looked around. At the other side sat an older, light blue male Fairy fast asleep on a long log chair; his mass of dark, curly hair falling into his closed eyes. Deciding she would cure her boredom for a few seconds Madi skipped over to him, took a deep breath and shouted.

"HEY NORI, WAKE UP!"

The blue Fairy shot out of his seat, smacking his head against the low ceiling of the room.

"Ouch, what did you do that for?" he mumbled, rubbing his sore head.

"Hehe, I'm sorry, I was so bored and saw you lying there; the opportunity was too good to pass up," taking a seat next to him, she shot him a concerned look. "Saria was outside, I know she would've loved to see you."

"Yeah, I know," Nori looked away, trying not to make eye contact with her.

"You don't know how lucky you are," Madi folded her arms. "You have the Deku Sprout's permission to go out of the forest with Saria and yet here you are hiding away in a tree!"

"Sara doesn't want me in the way and it's not that simple anyway," Nori stood up to leave, he wasn't in the mood to be pestered.

"Of course she does! Even Link wants you around but you always say you're doing something else. One day that chance will be gone, then you'll be wishing you'd done-" Madi would have gone on if a loud, male voice hadn't suddenly entered the room.

"Make way for Kodalicious, ladies!" a bright purple light burst towards the back of the room, slamming into a surprised Madi.

"Koda, you bigheaded jerk!" Madi screamed, untangling herself from him.

"You're just jealous because I got my guardian colour and you haven't," he grinned, turning around so she could get a full view of his new purple glow.

"Congratulations," Nori smiled. "Although, I always pictured you as a red colour or perhaps a deep orange." he took in the new look of the young Fairy. Koda had always been a show off so getting his new powers before Madi must have been a dream come true. He couldn't work out from one day to the next if he and Madi were friends or not; some days they got on fine while on others they would be tearing shreds out of each other.

"What colour do you think I'll get?" Madi couldn't wait to receive her colour.

"Grey, like your soul!" Koda laughed.

"Whatever. Did you know you have a hair out of place?" she turned around, trying to hide her laughter.

"What! Where?" the purple Fairy exclaimed, his hands moving up to his perfect hair with not a tangle in sight, not a strand out of place.

"She's pulling your leg," Nori moved past them to leave. "Oh and Madi? You'll get pink, trust me on that one. Now, I'm going to stretch my wings, don't get into too much trouble."

"Trouble? Us? Never!" Madi grinned after Nori had left. "I really was teasing," she watched the frantic Koda checking to see if each piece of hair was in place.

"Huh? Oh, I-I know," he took a seat at the back of the room, struggling to keep his hands away from his hair. "What are you doing today?"

"The usual, being bored, being bored and did I mention being bored?" Madi sat next to him.

"Well, I was going to show all the girls my new powers but none of them are here," Koda huffed. "And I don't need to show you since you already know I'll make a better guardian than you ever will."

"I'd like to see you prove it!" Madi shifted a few inches away from him, his voice already starting to annoy her.

"How do you expect me to do that?" he wondered what reply she would have ready this time.

"Simple, Saria and Link are going out tomorrow so we sneak along with them! I want you to name every creature we see along the way."

"But they won't want us tagging along," Koda had a feeling she had the answer to that.

"Ah yes, but not if they don't know! I say we hide in their clothing, but what piece is the question?" she thought it over for a moment. "Link's clothes are so full of junk we wouldn't be able to hide anywhere. Saria's shorts wouldn't do, nor her top so, as much as I hate to admit it, Saria's sweater will come in useful for once. It has this huge pocket on the side which she rarely uses, if we can sneak into that we'll be ready."

"One problem, I just saw Saria leave her house with the sweater around her waist."

"I'm not suggesting now, silly! When they get back I'm sure Saria will leave it in her house again before her and Link go to the meadow to make out or whatever they do in the evenings, that is when we move in!"

"To stay in a pocket all night?" Koda gulped, this girl was going to kill him.

"If you can't walk the walk… " Madi knew that would persuade him.

"Oh I can! I'll hop, skip and jump it too!"

"I knew you'd see things my way in the end, Koda. Tomorrow we'll see once and for all if you live up to your bragging," Blowing some of his hair out of place, she laughed, skipping off to find someone else to entertain her.

The market was busier than usual that morning, crowds had gathered in the main square for the sword display which would be taking place in less than an hour. Standing in front of the Shooting Gallery with a small crate of milk in her arms, a redheaded girl tried to knock on the door without dropping anything.

"I wish Dad would hire some decent help to carry these crates," Malon mumbled, glad that the gallery hadn't ordered a lot of milk that week. About to knock on the door, she got an unpleasant shock when a gang of boys around her age came piling out of the place, crashing into her causing the crate to go flying to the ground with a smash.

"Whoops, you should watch where you're going farm girl," the boy in front laughed, walking away before she could get a good look at him.

"I should watch where I'm going?" Malon fumed. Kneeling down she sighed when she saw milk leaking out of the bottom of the box, soaking her new cream work dress.

"Do you need some help?" another male voice asked.

"I don't need anything from you stupid boys. When Dad finds out about this, he'll be straight down here so fast…" she trailed off, realising this was Talon she was talking about.

"I'm sorry about my friend's lack of manners," the boy knelt down next to her.

"Yeah, well, you should be," Malon went to pick up the crate to find he had already done it. Glancing ahead she saw his large, brown boots beneath dark, baggy trousers leading up to yet more brown, with his tattered brown jacket. Picking herself off the ground, she came face to face with a pair of concerned hazel eyes, but the thing that caught her attention most was his long, black hair tied behind him. "How long did it take you to grow that?" she asked, forgetting her anger.

"My hair? About five years," he brought it over his shoulder to show her, the neatly tied ponytail running down to the base of his back.

"I don't see many guys in Hyrule with hair that long," Malon sounded impressed.

"I guess I never bothered to get it cut," he smiled. "I'm Shinro by the way."

"Malon," Malon said, still admiring his hair.

"My friends and I were going to get some drinks, would you like to come? It's the least I can do after we broke your crate."

"Sure, that would be good," she nodded. "Would you help me carry this back to my wagon first?"

"No problem," Shinro followed her towards the exit of the market, a snide voice echoing behind them.

"Hey look, Avalois has taken to helping peasants!" the voice belonged to the same boy who had been rude to Malon in the beginning.

Closing his eyes, Shinro ignored the comment.

"Avalois? Where have I heard that name?" Malon stopped to think. "Oh, I remember! General Avalois! Wow, you're the General of the Hylian army!"

"Not quite," he laughed lightly. "I'm his son."

"Right, sorry," Malon mentally slapped herself for thinking someone so young could lead an army. "Um, anyway, let's get this to the wagon."

The gang of boys entered a backstreet café they had arranged to go to that morning. Pushing his way through the crowds, the one in front lead the others to the only free table in the room where they all managed to squeeze around it.

"No room for Avalois? Oh well, that's his own fault for wasting time with the lower class," he smirked, glancing around the table at the group who were all wearing similar clothes to Shinro. Looking over at the table next to theirs, he caught sight of a green-haired girl sitting alone, her attention focused on the menu in front of her. "She's cute," he leaned in to whisper to his friends. "Who wants to bet I can get her to go on a date with me? How about one hundred Rupees?"

"Heh, there's no way you'll get her to go anywhere with you." one of the boys said.

"We'll see about that," he grinned, leaving the table to move onto the next.

Saria had been pretending to read the menu the whole time the boys had been huddled together over their table, she knew they must have been plotting something but didn't expect one to get up and move over to her table. His mixture of orange and yellow hair made her think of dancing flames as he sat down opposite her, his emerald eyes staring at her in a way that reminded her of Mido.

"Hey, are you new to these parts since I would remember a pretty face like yours," he initiated the conversation.

"Sort of," Saria replied, ignoring his bad attempt at a chat up line. "I'm here to see the sword display."

"Oh? That's a lucky coincidence, my friends and I are the ones putting it on," he nodded his head towards the boys. "The name's Yarick, Yarick Denilon. I'm the son of one of the highest ranking officers in the Hylian army, I've even met Princess Zelda."

"How wonderful for you," she smiled, trying not to sound sarcastic.

"So, do you have a name or will I have to guess it?" Yarick leaned both arms on the table.

"Saria," Sara said, hoping Link would hurry up with the drinks.

"What family are you from?"

"Family...?" she blinked.

"You know, your last name." Yarick thought she must be foreign not to know that.

"Oh, um," Saria let her eyes drop onto the drinks menu, reading the first name she came across. "Cappuccino."

"Saria Cappuccino? Can't say I've heard of you before. My family comes from a long line of fire mages, most of them end up in Arbiter's for not controlling themselves though, but not me!" he gave a proud smile. "My friends know me as Phoenix, you'll see why if you come to the display. Will you be going alone?"

"No, I'm going with my boyfriend."

Yarick's face paled but he managed to recompose himself before she noticed, his mind insisting that it was only a boyfriend, not a husband.

"Boyfriend, huh? What's his name? I might know him."

"Link…" Saria's eyes switched to the snack menu, "Croissant."

"Croissant? Man, you people have some unusual names. How about you ditch him after the display and come out with me?"

"I don't think so," she inwardly sighed with relief when Link came over with their milkshakes.

"Hello, who are you?" Link smiled, taking a seat next to Saria.

"Yarick and you must be Link Croissant," Yarick took in Link's appearance.

"Um?" Link had no idea what was going on.

Just play along. Saria messaged him.

"Oh, yes, that's me," Link nodded, taking his straw and twirling it around in the glass.

After their trip to the wagon, Malon and Shinro finally arrived in the café.

"Hey, Link! Saria!" Malon shouted across the room to get their attention. "I want you to meet my new friend Shinro."

"No wonder I didn't know you two, you hang around on the wrong side of town." Yarick leaned back in his chair.

"We what?" Link scowled, this guy was already annoying him.

"Are you ignoring me?" Malon weaved her way over to the table, taking a seat next to Saria while Shinro sat next to Link.

"Of course not," Saria welcomed her. "Nice to meet you Shinro."

"Yeah, we wouldn't ignore you," Link said, still staring down Yarick who was giving Shinro death glares.

Knowing when he wasn't wanted, Yarick stood up to go back to his group.

"I'll see you at the display, Avalois, you better be ready because someone is going to get their ass kicked today."

"I don't like his attitude," Link mumbled.

"You get used to him," Shinro said barely in a whisper. "And speaking of the display, I really should go get ready for it."

"Wait a minute and we'll come too!" Malon chirped, giving him a look that wouldn't take no for an answer.

The wealthier side of town wasn't a place Link, Saria or Malon went unless it was absolutely necessary, and for good reason. Zelda herself had always warned them that even though the war had been over for years, not everyone in Hyrule got along. Money was the main dividing factor between the two sides of the market, you either had it or you didn't, and if you didn't the majority of the upper class wouldn't acknowledge your existence. The princess wanted to change this by the time she came to power but so far it wasn't going very well.

"It's like stepping into another world when you come here," Link commented on the row of extravagant houses that formed their own square away from the main market.

Leading them to the house in the far left corner, Shinro took out a key to open the large iron gate surrounding the front garden.

"Welcome home Master Shinro," one of the gardeners greeted him from behind a hedge he was trimming.

"Thanks," he smiled. Turning his back on the others to unlock the front door, he hoped he had cleaned enough that morning. It wasn't often he had people back to his house since he didn't have many friends; the ones he did have only used him to get to talk to his father.

"Wow," Malon almost passed out when she saw the sitting room. Everything was in place without a speck of dust in sight. Taking a seat in one of the huge armchairs near the fireplace, she enjoyed the feeling of the plush carpet beneath her feet. "Your cleaners do an amazing job!"

"Cleaners? I did this by myself," Shinro grinned. "Mom and Dad work most of the day so I do most of the cleaning, in between training of course."

"Ooh," Malon was impressed. "Are you for hire? I'd love some help cleaning at the ranch."

"You work at a ranch…?" Shinro only knew of one ranch in Hyrule but Malon couldn't work at that, could she?

"Yep! My family owns Lon Lon Ranch, I thought it was obvious. You did see the Lon Lon name on the milk crate, right?"

"Yeah, but I didn't expect Mal-I mean you, to be so pr-never mind," he blushed then turned to Link and Saria who had been listening to their conversation the whole time. "If you three want to head up to my training room, I'll join you in a minute. It's the first room you come to at the top of the stairs."

"How does this guy train? There's barely any room to move," Link said as they entered the room which was filled to the brim with every weapon a knight of Hyrule would need. Polished Hylian shields lined the stone, grey walls along with a few long swords and spears. The floor was reserved for larger weapons, some Link had never seen before, such as ball and chains and enormous axes almost as tall as him. Moving to the back of the room, something caught his eye high up on the wall.

"Is that…?" Saria asked, joining him by the wall.

"Yeah, a picture of the Master Sword," Link hadn't been expecting to see that blade again.

"I know it's only a myth, but it's every knight's dream to wield that blade," Shinro said when he entered the room. "Are you interested in swords Link?"

"You could say that," Link turned to face him.

"What about other stuff? Let me show you my new favourite weapon," Shinro dove into the pile of ball and chains bringing out two smaller ones, each with a set of spikes around the balls. Placing his hand in the only place on the ball where the spikes didn't cover, he flung each at a wall then span them over his head where he prepared to fling them again. "It took me a while to learn how to handle them, but once you do these things can be a deadly weapon."

"Oh cool, can I try?" Link asked.

"I don't know, you can't just pick these things up and be great with them in one go," Shinro didn't want any bleeding hands to come out of this.

"He's a fast learner," Saria insisted.

"Well, alright, but I did warn you," he handed the chains to Link.

Positioning them in his hands the same way Shinro had, Link began. Flinging one towards the walls, he caught it easily then threw the other which came back in the same way. Swinging both around over his head, he threw one to the left and the other to the right, both moving to his every command.

"Hmm, you're right, they aren't easy to use," Link smiled, letting the chains drop out of his hands.

Shinro couldn't believe his eyes, he had to wipe them to make sure he wasn't seeing things. This boy had come into his home and been able to master something he himself had taken months to perfect.

"We like to have the help of volunteers in our displays sometimes, if you're any good with a sword, you'd be the perfect choice."

"Swords? Oh no, I'm not that good," Link shot Saria a smirk. "But I wouldn't mind giving it a try. What would I have to do?"

"Well, we usually hold spars to show our skills," Shinro dragged the ball and chains back to their place. "Yarick likes to think he's the best fighter we have; although, one day, it would be nice if someone shut him up."

"And are girls not invited to join this 'display'?" Malon stood by the door, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Sure, but we don't get much interest from girls. Why? Were you thinking of starting?" Shinro asked a surprised Malon.

"Um, no. I was just making sure that if I wanted to, I would be welcomed!" Turning to leave, Malon shuffled out of the room.

"I'll tell Yarick to go easy on you if he decides he wants to fight you," Shinro nodded to Link before leaving to find Malon.

"Link…" Saria started.

"I know, I'll use my right hand to make it fair, don't want to kill them do I?"

"No not that. I was gong to say, if you do fight Yarick be sure to give him a fee wounds, just little ones," she smiled.

"Oh, I will," he put an arm around her. "I will."