Link scanned the beach around Lake Hylia. A human-shaped object near the fishing pond caught his eye, and he headed toward it.
The figure didn't look up when Link approached him. He didn't move or regard his brother when Link said, "Hi, Chezdon."
There was a long moment of silence. After dediding Chezdon wasn't going to speak, Link sat next to him. Chezdon shifted over to avoid him.
"Why do you hate me?" Link asked.
"I don't." came the answer, "I admire you." he paused, then looked up. "How did you find me? I don't mean how did you find my family, I mean how did you know I was at the lake. Magic, I guess. Not that it matters, I was just curious."
"Not magic. A hunch. This is where I come to think. I guess it's bred into us." he switched the topic. "So if you admire me, how come you act like you hate me so much?"
"Because you just...walked into my life! And the man who made the connection between us, against both our wills, isn't even here to help us sort this out!" he sounded exasperated, and he didn't know how to get his point across. "Imagine you just discovered you were directly related to your hero. But only because your father wasn't loyal to your mother. Now, when-"
"Whoa, hold on!" Link interrupted, "You've got your facts all wrong! Our dad never did anything like that! He was married twice. My mom...she dies. So he married your mom." with a smile he said, "If you wer thinking like that, I understand why you were so..." he searched for the right word. "hostile" he finally finished. But it seemed inaccurate.
"Yeah, I guess." Chezdon had a puzzled expression. "But why would Mom lie?"
"She was lying to everyone. Even herself. I know it sounds cheesey, but it's really true. She designed what she wanted to beleive, what made sense. She convinced the world, even the town records, that my mom never exiested, and niether did I. I just proved all that wrong, of course, but the fact remains. It's not her fault. Hey, our dad was pretty much insane." with a small laugh, Link shook his head. "We come from a messed up family."
"We?" Chezdon said with a snort, "I come from a messed up family. Your mom's at least sane. She's not a liar who makes up history, even if it was a history everyone believed."
"Yeah, but she trusted a tree to raise me!" As soon as he said them, Link felt the words sting. Hadn't he told Zelda he was a Kokiri at heart? He was ashamed of himself, a muttered an apology under his breath to the Deku Tree and Sprout, to the goddesses, to Saria, and anyone else who cared, including himself. Chezdon ignored this, accepting the fact that his brother was strange, and hadn't been raised by normal people, by his definition at least.
"Look," said Chezdon, "we should go back to the house. They must be worried about us by now." he turned to leafe, but Link didn't move. "Arw you coming, Link?" Chezdon called back at him.
Link shook back to reality and followed his brother home, still thinking. No matter who he called family, he was denying his heritage.