A/N: Well, welcome everyone! This is my first modern Zelda fanfic. I'm big on character development, so you'll really get to know these characters as the story progresses. Here's some background information for you. Everybody in the story is either 17 or 18 years old and are Seniors in high school.

There and Back Again

Book 1: Endearment

Chapter 1: The First Day

"Listen to my story...

This... may be our last chance."

"Move it, grandpa!" Today marks the start of a brand new school year and to kick things off, I'm stuck behind some eighty-year old who, for some reason, cannot fathom driving at a speed above twenty-five miles per hour.

"Calm down, man. You can't possibly be excited to get to school, can you?" That's my friend Sheik. He's usually a pretty calm guy. He never stresses or over thinks anything. Sheik's about six feet tall with shaggy blonde hair, like me. Come to think of it, he and I look very similar. I'm a bit shorter than him but other than that, we're pretty identical.

I sighed. "No… but I'd like to get there at some point! We can't be late on the first day. Remember the last three years?" I turned to look at Sheik's face. He sat there deep in thought for a few moments before coming back with a response. "Wow. We've been late every year. That's impressive." Sheik started to chuckle.

"Well, Mr. Gaebora won't think it's funny if he finds out. I'm gonna pass this guy." I shifted gears and accelerated past the old driver. I saw Sheik turn to get a glimpse of the slow driver, but I sped up too quickly. "There, we should be there in like five minutes."

I pulled the car into one of the last remaining parking spaces. We only had three minutes before homeroom ended, so we rushed out of the car and sprinted to our classrooms. Sheik took a left upon entering and I banked right.

I'm going to make it. I'm going to make it. I slowed up just before his homeroom and walked quickly on in as the bell rung. Thank the Goddesses. Maybe this year will be a good one.

"Link Gaiden!"

Or not.

I turned to see my Junior year History teacher, Mr. Gaebora, walking by my room. He's an enormous man, standing at about six and a half feet tall and being equally as wide. He's sported that ugly brown beard and mustache for as long as I could remember.

"Yes, sir?" I always tried to be as polite and respectful as possible to my teachers… but the nice guy approach didn't work on all of them. Mr. Gaebora, for example, was one of the ones that hated nice guys. "You were late… again. Do I need to write up a detention for you on the FIRST day of school? Every year it's the same thing. I patrol my corridor and just as the bell is about to ring, here comes Mr. Gaiden! I must say Mr. Gaiden, it's very irresponsible of you to show up late to school every day. It speaks a lot about your character. You're a lazy child. Back in my day, if you were late, you had to stay after school and wash all of the chalkboards!"

Holy shit. Shut up. I seriously hate when he does this. Every time I'm late, he just has to talk and talk and TALK! He did this to me on the last day of school in sophomore year and I missed my bus home because of his rambling! Oh crap, is he still talking?

"… and if you talked back to a teacher, oh don't get me-" I couldn't take it anymore. "Mr. Gaebora! Look, I'm sorry. I'll really try to get here on time this year." I watched him mull it over for a few seconds before he replied. "Alright, Gaiden. But I'm watching you! Always watching!" He did one of those lame "I'm watching you" maneuvers with his hands and then walked away. As soon as he was out of sight, I sprinted to my class. Great, I was late for school and now I'm going to be late for first period. Maybe this just isn't my year.

I had English to kick off the year. I got there a few minutes after the bell rang, but after explaining the situation to my teacher, she quickly rolled her eyes and laughed. Even she didn't like Mr. Gaebora.

"Just pick a seat out and relax, Link. It's only the first day! There's no need to be stressing yourself out so much." She smiled again and motioned for me to take a seat.

I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Mrs. Farore." I turned to find a seat but found only one available. Sheik was with my other friends, Mido and Mikau, but all of the seats near them were taken. I guess I have no choice.

I walked over, put my bag on the floor, and sat down. I was sitting with the quiet kids. Most of them were girls. Girls. My luck with girls these past few years has been horrible. I had one girlfriend, Ilia, but she was an absolute witch. She always wanted to talk about herself and we fought constantly. I ended up breaking up with her a few weeks before the Freshmen-Sophomore homecoming. That was a bad idea. She literally attacked me when I told her she was going to the dance alone. I still don't get what the big deal was. It's just a dance. Why does it matter whether you go with somebody or not? Maybe I'm just not cut out for the whole relationship thing.

Class went by slow despite it being a shorter period due to the day being arranged so we'd have all of our classes. I struggled through the day by either daydreaming or talking to friends. Nothing interesting ever happened on the first day, so there wasn't any point in paying attention.

After the final bell rang, I walked to my locker to put my books away and Sheik caught up with me. He didn't have a car because his parents couldn't afford it, so I drove him home every day. They tried to give me gas money but I just couldn't bring myself to accept any.

"Yo Link! How was your last class?" I closed my locker and turned to greet my friend. "Pretty boring. Ancient Hylian Language isn't exactly riveting with excitement." We both chuckled a bit and started towards the exit. "How was your last period?" Sheik let out a long groan and threw his arms in the air. "I don't understand why I need to learn Calculus! I don't intend on going into something Math related when I go to college, so why do I have ot take it?" I simply nodded. I completely agree with him. If you don't need it, why take it? But I can never make sense of the educational system.

We walked out the exit and set a course for the student parking lot. We quickly spotted my old car at the back of the lot. "We really need to get here earlier. This walk is going to kill me every day." I laughed. Sheik was a pretty athletic and in-shape kid, but he was so lazy. I am too I guess. I always sleep in when I can, I procrastinate my homework, and I haven't even started to think about my future.

We got to my car, buckled in, and departed for Sheik's house. He lived about three miles from the school and was on the way to my house. I turned on the radio to break any silence, but nothing good was on so I switched it back off. "So Sheik, how goes the girl hunt?"

Sheik let out another long groan and sagged his shoulders. I guess not so good. "I've been trying to get Midna to like me for the longest time. I just don't think she's interested." Jeez he's still on Midna? He's liked her since Sophomore year when she moved to East Castle Town. "Midna? Still? Dude, I think you just need to move on. You can't make somebody like you… it kinda just has to happen." I was speaking out of experience. My relationship with Ilia was completely forced. I heard that she was practically in love with me and I felt bad. So I decided to "do the right thing" and go out with her to make her happy. What I didn't realize, though, was that she would be a controlling, dictator girlfiend. She didn't let me make any decisions about anything whether it be about where we went out to eat or whether we watched this movie or that movie. It was horrendous. Ending that relationship was one of the best decisions of my life.

"Trust me, man, I've tried to. There's just something about her. She gets me better than anyone else." Sheik turned to look out the window. Is he serious? "Dude, you've talked to her like ten times at most! She doesn't even know who you are! If you really can't move on, then try to be her friend at least. Friendships make great relationships sometimes." I left it at that since Sheik looked like he was lost in thought. Well, he wasn't going to be doing much tonight.

We arrived at his place about three minutes after we stopped chatting. I pulled into the short driveway and unlocked the doors. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow at 6:15, man." Sheik stopped getting out of the car and shot me a confused look. "6:15? We usually leave at 6:40!" I knew he wouldn't be thrilled about it but it was necessary. "Look man, I'm sick of getting in trouble with Mr. Gaebora. If we get there early, we can't possibly be late, right?" It seemed to make sense in my mind yet, I still couldn't help thinking that something would cause us to be late again.

Sheik let out a long groan. He'd been doing that a lot today. "Cheer up, man. Everything's gonna be fine. Trust me." I shot him a quick smirk and waited for him to get out of the car before driving away. There drive home was uneventful except for a few police cars passing by me for whatever reason. My heart always skips a beat whenever I hear the wail of the authority's sirens. I'm a fantastic driver, but I still get nervous that I'm doing something wrong.

I pulled into my driveway around 2:45 P.M. I only received contracts from teachers that my legal guardians had to sign, so I didn't really have any homework. When I walked in the door, I was greeted by loud screams produced by my little sister, Aryll. "You were late to school today, Big Brother! Dad got a call from your school!" Are you kidding me? I thought Gaebora and I straightened that out this morning! I shrugged off the nagging of my little sister and walked to the kitchen where I found my Uncle Rusl. Rusl was a tad bit taller than me, being about 5' 11". He sported the same color blonde hair as me and wore a thin mustache across the sides of his upper lip. He'd always been a kind and compassionate man.

After my parents died, he took my sister and me in despite not having a stable source of income or wife to help him. I never really understood why he wanted us until about a year ago. He'd never married, as far as I know, and probably wanted a family of his own. He's been an amazing guardian to my sister and me, but I'll never be able to call him Dad. Aryll was too young to remember our father, so she doesn't have as much difficulty accepting Rusl as our new father. I guess I just hold on to the past too much.

"Howdy, Link! Got a call from your school today." Rusl put down the dishes he was cleaning and folded his arms. "Look, Uncle, I can expl-" He cut me off before I could even start and gave me a small shove. "I know what it's about, Link, and I can honestly say that I couldn't care less. You were late. Big deal." I smiled happily. Rusl always understood us. I think he was a bit easier on us since we'd lost our parents. He seemed to want to be close to us and I think he was afraid to get mad at us in fear that we'd rebel and leave him. Nevertheless, he was great.

"Now, go upstairs and get changed. You have some farming to do before you have to take your sister to soccer practice!" Rusl grabbed the dishes again and continued his previous duties. Farm alone? That didn't happen very often. Not that it was a big deal; I could handle the farm by myself easily. But, what was Rusl going to be doing?

"I've got to step out around 3:15 and head to Castle Town. It's a bit of a drive from here, and this is really important." We lived in the town of Kakariko. There were only a couple hundred residents, so it was quiet and peaceful most of the time. We're about 45 minutes southeast of Castle Town, the capital of Hyrule and the busiest city in the world. That's also where Sheik and I went to school. Aryll went to school at Kakariko Elementary still. She was only 8 years old and in 4th grade.

"What's so important that you have to leave in the middle of the day?" Rusl worked from 6-2 every day and always went straight from work to pick up Aryll at school. Rusl is a mailman during the day and a farmer when he gets home. He's been selling his produce for over 30 years now to multiple vendors in both Castle Town and Clock Town over in Termina. So he didn't actually work from 6-2. He really worked from about 6 A.M.-7 P.M., not including his fatherly duties to us. Luckily, I wasn't much work anymore. I helped on the farm and could make dinner whenever he was too tired. Aryll was much more trouble. I felt bad leaving him to go out on some nights because she'd always need help with homework or something else. Rusl couldn't say no either. He wanted to appear as though he could do everything when in reality, he was just one man. One man trying to support his family.

Rusl turned and gave me a quick smirk. "I'll tell you tomorrow. For now, it's a secret to everybody." I sighed and walked out of the kitchen and up to my room. He's always enjoyed his secrets.

I got up to my room and grabbed some farming clothes from my dresser. I whipped on a pale yellow sleeveless shirt and some ripped up old jeans. After I finished, I walked back downstairs and out the back door to the garden. All I need to do is rip up some growing weeds and water a few of the crops. It shouldn't take too long.

I was working for about an hour and a half when I heard a lot of commotion start up at one of the houses near me. There were six or seven people walking in and out of the house. What's going on? I stopped ripping up roots and walked on over to the edge of my yard to get a better look.

I saw a small moving truck and workers carrying furniture into the house. New neighbors? I don't remember hearing about a home sale in the village, especially one so close to my house. Whatever.

I shrugged it off and walked back to the crops. Rusl will probably want us to welcome them to the village tomorrow. I didn't see any kids, only a few workers and a rather large man with white hair.

I kept at it for twenty more minutes before heading inside to shower. Luckily, Aryll's practice was only a few minutes away. That's the plus side of living in a small village. Everything's located close to each other no matter where you are.

I threw on a forest green T-shirt and some newer jeans before heading to Aryll's room. 'You ready? Practice is in ten minutes." I heard her rustling around in her room. After a minute, she appeared with her soccer outfit on and cleats in hand. "Ready!" I couldn't help but smile. She's always been a fun kid.

We went out to my car, got in, and set off for the soccer field. I made sure to go extra slow when I came to pass the new neighbors house. They weren't the house behind mine, but the one to the left of that one. The movers seemed to be finishing up since I saw one of them shaking the hand of the man who appeared to be moving there. I let out a light sigh.

Just another dull neighbor.

Aryll's practice ended around seven. I wonder if Rusl is home yet. He said he had something really important to do, so probably not.

"Big Brother, are you making dinner tonight?" I couldn't stop myself from smiling. She loved when I cooked. I never made any vegetables or forced her to eat anything 'disgusting' as she said it. "Yes, I'm making dinner tonight. I'm thinking about making breakfast for dinner. That sound good?" I knew the answer. Aryll loved breakfast for dinner. "YES! That's my favorite!" She started kicking her feet up and down in the back. She could always make me laugh.

We pulled into the driveway a minute or two later and walked inside. I cooked up some eggs and made sure there was plenty of extra bacon for Aryll since that was her favorite part. After dinner, Aryll went to watch some TV while I cleaned up a bit. I finished cleaning the dishes and the table, so I decided to head outside for some fresh air.

It was getting dark now. It'd been getting darker earlier even though it wasn't actually Autumn yet. I climbed up on top of the garage and propelled myself up to the top of the house. I leaned up against the chimney to balance myself. This was my 'spot'. I came here for everything. Whether I am sad, angry, depressed, or whatever, this spot can always calm me down. I like feeling the wind blow through my hair. I like how peaceful it always is up here. I started coming here right after Mom and Dad died. I missed them and couldn't understand why they were gone. So, one day I ran up here and just cried for an hour or so. It seemed to calm me down, so I continued to do it every day until I felt comfortable enough to accept my parent's passing.

I let out a relaxing a sigh. I looked over to our new neighbor's house for any signs of activity. Everything seemed to be all settled now. After seeing nothing interesting, I turned my head and closed my eyes for a little bit.

Thirty minutes later, I heard Rusl pull into the driveway. It was already nine. What kept him so long?

He got out of his car and started walking to the front door. By force of habit, he glanced up to the chimney. He knew I liked it up here and would always check to make sure I was okay.

"You alright, Link?" I knew that was coming. "Hey Rusl. Yeah, I'm perfectly fine. Just needed some time to relax a bit. I'll be down in a few minutes." He always got worried when I was up here. When I was younger, he'd threaten to punish me if I didn't get down. I can't blame him, it is pretty dangerous. It always worried him, but he's learned that I know what I'm doing. I've been doing it for about eight years now, so I know what I'm doing.

"Alright. No rush! I'll be in my chair." He waved and walked in inside. Every night after he finished farming, he'd head to his chair. It was kind of like his own roof to sit on. We each had out spot. Maybe that's why he's let me sit up here for so many years now.

I finished up my relaxation time and moved to the ledge where the house met the garage. I leaped down and used my momentum to jump onto the ground. Perfect, as always.

I walked inside and went up to my room after grabbing a snack. I sat down at my computer and watched hilarious videos until I could barely keep my eyes open anymore. I sprawled out on my bed, not even caring that I was still in my regular clothes. As usual though, I couldn't fall asleep. My mind was more creative than the Goddesses themselves at night time. My thoughts varied from how school was going to go tomorrow to thinking about past relationships. While I have Rusl, Aryll, and my friends, I want somebody to be there for me… and me alone. Someday, I hope.

Someday.

A/N: I know this was a lot of background fluff. The whole story won't be like that, so don't worry. I'm going to be getting into Link and Zelda's relationship soon, so don't go anywhere! Reviews are incredibly appreciated, for they make me want to write the next chapter. Thank you!