"To Link! For bringing home the children and saving our kingdom!"
"To Link!" the villagers cheered, raising their glasses in the air to their mayor's words.
"Now," Bo continued. "Let's start the celebration! Let's eat!"
Everyone dug in immediately. Tasting as much fish, vegetables, and fruits that they could get their forks on. Link smiled slightly at their eager state.
He had returned to the village that morning, excited to see his family again. Zelda was a little hesitant to let him ride by himself, but he assured her he was alright. His injuries from his battle with Ganondorf were mostly completely healed now, nothing left but a few scabs and scars. But he didn't think that these injuries were what Zelda was worried about. A couple nights ago, Midna bid her unexpected farewell. This hurt Link deeply. His once cheerful eyes become ones of dullness and despair. Before he left the castle, Zelda had given him one of the light arrows that were granted to her by the goddesses. He wasn't sure of the exact reasoning, but he believed it was along the lines of remembrance that there is always light at the end of a dark tunnel. He internally scoffed at that, but accepted the gift nonetheless. His nights were restless, being full of terror now that he didn't have Midna there to make them go away. He realized all too late that he had developed feelings for her. Feelings no other girl had given him, including Ilia who he still considered his best friend. He was heartbroken.
Uli looked up from her food and took a glance around the table. Everyone was eating, drinking, and laughing to their hearts contents, that was, until her eyes fell on the boy she considered her eldest child. He was staring down as if in a trance and was moving food around his plate with a fork. She noticed when he first arrived that he seemed amiss, but pushed it off thinking that he was just uncomfortable with all the attention he was getting. But now, as she watched him absentmindedly play with his food, she noticed that there was an emotion just begging to be let out. Was it sadness? Hurt? Or maybe stuck in a stupor of memories from his adventures?
She turned back to her food and tapped her husband's shoulder. Rusl left the joyful conversation he was having with Bo and Jaggle and looked to see where his wife was pointing. He looked over and saw Link ignoring the commotion around him and staring off.
"Come on," Rusl said before standing up with his plate. Uli followed him to the two empty seats across from Link. Rusl raised an eyebrow when Link made no reaction to their presence.
"So…" Rusl began. "How does it feel to be back in Ordon?"
Link didn't respond and continued to play with his food.
"Link?" he tried again. Nothing. "Link," he said while snapping his fingers in front of Link's face. Link flinched out of his stupor and looked up at who interrupted it.
"Huh what? S-sorry, I didn't see you there."
Rusl shared a worried glance with Uli before turning back.
"I asked how it feels to be back in Ordon."
Link smiled. "Great! It's awesome to finally be home again." He looked back down to his food, his smiling dropping. "I've been gone for too long."
Uli noticed that he was still playing with the food. "Is something wrong with the food?"
Link looked up at her quickly, not wanting her to feel like that. "Huh? N-no! No, the food is good! Great actually! I've missed Ordon food a lot. I guess…. I'm not really that hungry right now."
Uli was about to say something when she was interrupted.
"Link?" Ilia asked, interrupting their conversation. "Can I talk to you for a minute? Somewhere else?"
"Uh..Yeah, sure," Link said. He nodded to Rusl and Uli before standing up and following Ilia to the ranch. They stood there for a few minutes, one taking in their surroundings and other pondering what to say. Link breathed in the ranch air that he had missed so much. The goats were all inside the barn, revealing the flat pasture that can only be found in Ordon.
"Link, I…I wanted to apologize."
Link turned to Ilia in confusion "Apologize for what?"
"For whatever I may have said when I lost my memory...I thought that I would never forget you and I did."
"Ilia, it wasn't your fault. You-"
Ilia put up her hand. "Wait, let me finish." She took a deep breath. "I thought that I would never forget you because...you mean so much to me. You're my best friend and...okay I'm just going to come out and say it… I...I love you, Link."
Link stared dumbstruck at her. "Uh...I...Uh…"
"Well?" Ilia asked him impatiently, thinking he felt the same way.
"I um…." Link struggled.
"Link, I've had feelings for you for a long time now, way before the Bulblins came….I was planning on telling you that day…"
Link looked down at the ground, avoiding eye contact with Ilia.
"What about you, Link? You love me too, right?" she asked with hope.
Link nervously glanced at her, but he couldn't keep the eye contact. "Ilia...I'm sorry but...I always saw you as more of a friend."
"Oh…" Ilia visibly deflated.
"Ilia, I'm really sorry," Link said in full honesty.
"It's just that...You're my best friend and everyone always says to marry your best friend...So, I don't understand."
"You are my best friend Ilia. Nothing could ever change that...I just don't love you... that way."
"There's someone else, isn't there?" she asked quietly.
"W-what?" Link asked stupidly. His face turning red.
Ilia gasped at his reaction. "There is someone else!"
"N-no, I-I-" Link stuttered.
"Who is it? Who is it?!"
Link flinched at her raised voice. "No one, I just-"
"Link, don't lie to me. I know that there is someone else."
Link sighed in defeat. "Okay fine. It...was a girl that I met on my journey."
Ilia turned around. "I see."
"Ilia, please don't be like this."
Ilia spun around quickly. "Be like what Link?!"
"Please...just don't...overreact…"
"Oh, so now I'm overreacting?!"
"Ilia, I didn't mean it like that."
"Then what is it Link?! You meet a girl on a journey that only took a year and you already fell in love with her?! Link, we've been best friends since we were babies! For years the villagers have been talking about the possibility of us getting married!"
"Ilia, I just don't love you, okay?"
"Well I love you, Link! We are supposed to get married, live in Ordon, have kids, but all of this was ruined by a girl that you knew for only a year!"
"Ilia, please stop overreacting."
"STOP SAYING THAT! I'M NOT OVERREACTING! Just go away Link. I don't want to talk to you anymore."
"Fine with me," Link responded. He turned around to walk away when Ilia decided she wanted to make the last word.
"While you're at it you might as well just leave Ordon. You don't belong here anyways, you never did." That struck a nerve in Link. He turned back around with anger in his eyes, but Ilia wasn't done. "Just go live with this girlfriend of yours," she said with as much poison as possible.
"Trust me, I would if I could, but right now, I guess I'm stuck with you! Which I think is a hundred times worse than anything I did the past year." He mumbled that last part under his breath, but Ilia still heard it clearly.
She bit her lip and turned around before tears could fall from her eyes. "Well, I hope you kill yourself or something! Because you deserve it." With that, she turned around and ran back into the village. When she was gone, Link let out a frustrated yell and punched the barn wall as hard as he could, resulting in the wood to break and a snap coming from his hand. "FUCK!" he yelled, cradling his now broken left hand. With a frustrated sigh, he slid down the wall of the barn and sat on the cold grass.
The villagers were eating when they suddenly saw a fuming Ilia marching down the hill. Bo stood up and walked towards the teen. "Hey, Ilia what's wrong?"
Ilia stormed passed him. "I don't want to see Link ever again!" She ran into her house and slammed the door. All the villagers were quiet, trying to comprehend what just happened. Having a good idea of what happened, Rusl stood up and walked towards the ranch, telling Uli that he'd be right back. At the ranch, he found Link sitting on the ground against the barn wall with his head in his arms. Rusl walked over to him cautiously. Above him, he noticed a hole in the wall that he didn't remember being there earlier that day. He sat against the wall next to him and looked up at the sky.
Rusl smiled. "I remember the last time I sat with you watching the sky. It was twilight then as well."
Link made no response but he knew he was listening.
"Things were a lot simpler then, weren't they? How much things can change in a year. How much we all have changed in a year… How much you have changed."
Link knew where Rusl was headed with this. "Rusl, I really don't want to talk about this."
Rusl sighed. "Well then, let's get back to the party. We can't have a party without the man of the hour you know," he said with a smile.
Link sighed and lifted his head. Rusl stood up and offered his hand. Link let out a deep breath before taking him on the offer. When standing Rusl noticed Link was keeping his left arm close to his body. "Something wrong with your arm?"
Link sighed. "I think I broke my hand…"
Rusl looked back at the broken wall and made the connection. "You should probably get that checked out then." Link nodded and the two made their way down to the village. Ignoring the stares from the villagers, Link sat in his previous seat. Rusl saw Bo walking over and before Rusl could say anything Bo demanded "What happened up there Link? What's wrong with Ilia?"
Link looked down with a face no one could read. "Can we...not talk about this right now?"
Bo let out a huff and left to try and console his daughter.
Uli shifted in her seat. "Link, we-"
"Please," he looked up to her with pleading eyes. "I don't want to talk about it." They fell into silence after that and Rusl watched as the villagers were laughing and enjoying themselves, cheering with drinks in their hands. Rusl grabbed a bottle and put it in front of Link. Link looked over at him in surprise. "You do remember that I'm not an adult yet, right?"
"You've seen and done more than most men do in their entire lives. I think you qualify," Rusl smiled. "Besides, it's your party. Lighten up a little." A few drinks later, the party was a blur.