“After the events of Link to the Past, Link went off and had the adventures of Link’s Awakening, which we know turned out to be just a dream. It was actually a shared dream with Zelda - Koholint Island was an old retreat for the royal family, and Marin was her childhood nickname. That’s why Link mistook Marin for Zelda upon first meeting her - it really was her. Sharing the dream with him kept him alive and sane until a rescue squad could find him and bring him back to Hyrule, where he later married Zelda.”

{Submitted by ladynorbert
Art is by Kichisu}