MistressOfTime1218: As stated in the summary, this is a one shot dated two years before the official story of 'To Aid A Hero.' It deals when Ivy is introduced to Link and Siegfried while the two are on the look out for shards of Soul Edge. You all remember how Siegfried told Zelda that Link was Ivy's sun, correct? This explores the events leading up to it.
He had been sudden and undetectable. Like a deadly assassin who walked confidently inside the usually disturbing confides of the night shadow. Yet she really could not bring herself to think of him in such a light. Link had perhaps moved like a silent killer, and maybe at one point Ivy really had thought he would destroy her, but he certainly had been nothing like the aforementioned terror.
She hadn't known that to be absolute two years ago though.
His appearance into her life had been about as sudden as the flashing of a light. Ivy remembered every minute detail about the day, even years after the events had occurred. She had been downstairs in the sitting room, reading a book she had forgotten was even in her library. She had to admit, at the time she was not really even paying attention to the text. She was more or less skimming through passages with a vague memory of what was even read. In that state she was easily distracted.
This was why the sudden crash from outside her home had caught her attention. Intrigued, she immediately went to investigate the sound. As she was passing by a few windows that were on her way to the front door, she noticed that a storm had begun its assault on the town. It was the first one of the season, and it appeared as though it was set to be the fiercest. The winds, though somewhat calm at the moment, were picking up speed and animosity with every passing second. The rain itself was pelting on everything below as though it were chunks of ice and not harmless water droplets.
She had expected the crash to be the cause of some stray cat. Those were the only creatures unfortunate enough to be out and about in weather like that. However what was on her doorstep was no cat. In fact it was no creature of feral nature. It was an unlikely pair of young men in shredded brown cloaks. One, the larger of the two, was unconscious and leaning heavily against his smaller comrade. The young man who had been trying to hold him up had fallen before being able to knock at the door. When he noticed Ivy had opened it despite his lack of proper introduction, he set desperate blue eyes on her. His eyes were just about the only thing he would let her see.
"Please," He begged. His voice was soft despite the weather he was trapped in. "You have to help me. Help him. We were traveling in town when we were cornered by bandits. My horse was stolen from me and he needs help, but no one will take him in. They just keep turning us away and I don't know what to do,"
The poor boy was rambling on and barely making any sense as the seconds ticked by. Ivy had done her best to shush him back to a calm state before reassuring him that they would be let inside. She helped him to raise the larger male up into a position where the two of them could semi carefully take him in. Even between the two of them, it was hard to move the unconscious man into the sitting room without dropping him. Ivy had an inkling that the boy had tried to take as much of his friend's weight as he could.
Once he was on a couch, Ivy instructed the younger man to rush into a room to find some decent clothes. Hers would do them no good, but she still had some of her adopted fathers lying around. She had the boy see that his friend was well and dry before she began an examination of him. She was no professional doctor, and she tried to tell the boy beside her as much. She had urged him to go and fetch one.
"If he's sick I cannot do much to help."
The boy just shook his head every time she suggested it. It was then she noticed that he had yet to change into a dry set of clothes. He was still drenched in the cloak he had arrived in.
Instincts told her to become suspicious. It had been rather foolish letting the two into her home. Everyone else in town had done the smart thing in turning them away. Yet Ivy had not. She berated herself for not following her neighbors example, but ultimately ignored the question of why. She knew why. There had been a boy lying on her doorstop begging for help for his friend. He had been soaked, no doubt cold, and utterly helpless.
Ivy had once hoped to rid herself of the feelings that arose when she saw all of that. Ever since she had failed to find and destroy Soul Edge all those years ago, she had decided that she did not deserve to feel much of anything. Nothing except for shame and loneliness. Those were the only emotions suitable for the daughter of a demon, and the failure of a savior. She locked away the sword that had once been everything to her, and decided to seclude herself inside her home. She would never form human bonds again. She would never again feel as happy as she once did. Eventually her emotions would die, and she would become a monster. Locked and forgotten in her house with only her walls as witnesses, she would die a monster.
Unfortunately that transformation had yet to take place when she opened her door that fateful day. Seeing that boy, so young it seemed, she could not bear to leave him there.
"Why not show me your face?" Still, her kindness didn't stretch so far that she would let her guests harm her. She did still have the time to kick them out if need be.
The boy tightened his hold around the cloak and shook his head.
"What is it you have to hide?"
The boy caught the suspicious tone. His body language told Ivy that he was panicked by it. "I won't hurt you, but please don't make me show you my face."
She raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
The boy looked back to his friend. At the time, the dark blonde was sleeping soundly on the couch. Sweat was starting to form on his forehead, and his breathing was becoming irregular. He was not faring well at all.
"You'll send us out if you see. I can't have that. Not when he's like this."
She was utterly confused by his words. "What do you mean?" He wasn't making sense at all. "Show me."
He shook his head.
"Show me." Her tone, this time, left no room for discussion.
The boy fidgeted a bit, before sighing in defeat. He glanced at his friend one more time before turning his attention back to Ivy. "Promise me you'll let him stay, even if you're disgusted by what you see."
"You have my word."
Cautiously, carefully, the boy took hold of the hood of his cloak. Ivy took his appearance in bit by slow bit, as though time had slowed down simply for this moment within it.
First was the blonde hair. A shade resembling a type of gold she had never seen before. Not even the riches stolen by her own devil of father had ever come close. Next was the skin tone. A few steps above porcelain pale, a healthy coat painted by sun's rays, yet it was just as glossy as any dolls face had ever been. The eyes were opened next. She had glanced at them briefly outside, but at that moment they were fully exposed to her. A blue so majestic, her ability to compare was rendered useless. So much was held within those blue depths. Innocence, understanding, grief, fear, dreams, hopes…everything she had once held dear.
Finally she caught sight of what it was he had been so afraid to reveal to her. Ears slightly pointed, one on each side. She could not help the small gasp that erupted.
He was at once panicked again. "Please don't be alarmed." He begged. "I know I look a little different, but I'm really-"
He was silenced by the gentle hands Ivy had placed on the appendages seconds later. Her gaze was curious, observing, but it was far from judgmental. "Interesting," She said softly, making the boy turn a soft shade of red. "Such beings exist in this world?"
The boy tried diligently to force away his flush. "Well, I'm not exactly from around here, as you can guess. It was one of the reasons why people were so unwilling to lend me aid. I'm actually of a different world if you can believe it."
Ivy took a step back and began circling around her guest. He interested her deeply. That much was certain. "What's your name?"
"Link."
She hummed. "Such a unique name."
He laughed a bit. "It is in my word as well."
"Well, Link," She said moving towards the unconscious man on her couch. "I'll need to tend to him right away. I'll need some assistance."
Link rushed over to her side. "I'll help!"
Her diagnosis had not been difficult to ascertain. The thieves who had stolen Link's horse had managed to inject Link's friend, who he identified as Siegfried, with a basic venom based poison. It was not lethal, not the kind they had used, but the man would be uncomfortable for a couple of weeks. Just to be on the safe side, as even the most basic of toxins were likely to cause fevers and viscous immune system issues, Ivy injected him with a multipurpose antidote she had once obtained on her journeys years ago.
The first night had been rough on her young guest. Ivy quickly learned that the Link was very loyal to his companion, as he never strayed very far from the Siegfried's side. She was also able to determine that Link cared very deeply for that horse of his. Epona, he called her, was very precious to him. She had also carried most of their valuable traveling supplies. He had mentioned how stupid he had been to let her get taken by meager bandits.
Something about him tugged at invisible strings inside of her. Something about his eyes made her wish to erase the worry and pain inside of them.
That night she determined that the pain could not be assuaged anymore than it already had been. The pain was connected to Siegfried who had yet to awaken from his uncomfortable slumber. Since she was no trained doctor, she could do nothing more for him. However, the worry was connected to Epona. Ivy knew the low class thieves in her own town, and she knew well about the places they frequented. She would put money on being able to find where they had taken a horse, a live steal that needed to be cared for.
She waited until Link was asleep before she made her way out the door.
She was shocked when Link had burst into the kitchen the next morning, interrupting her small breakfast, and enveloped her into a strong embrace. She tried to rustle up the state of mind to scold him for doing something so improper so early in the morning, but she found herself unable to do anything remotely close to reprimanding him when she saw that smile.
It the rarest smile of them all. The kind of grin where true happiness managed to reach all the way deep into the core of the eyes. It suited Link very well.
She had been so absorbed in it that she had failed to hear him thank her for Epona suddenly arriving that morning. Ivy tried to convince him that she had done nothing to deserve his thanks, but the smile remained as true as ever.
Siegfried began slowly drifting in and out of consciousness later that afternoon. He vaguely remembered what had happened during the attack that had placed him there, or who was around him now that he was awake. Ivy tried to reassure Link that such a reaction was normal for a poisoning victim, especially one who had also been under Mother Nature's influence for lord knows how long.
Link was still worried.
Ivy did the best she could to distract him. For the next few days Link was like her little shadow. He followed her just about everywhere. Small chores and daily errands that had once been such a lonely endeavor began to grow into activities Ivy actually looked forward to. She also made an extra effort to show him things that would keep him occupied for hours on end without having to think about his friend's condition. Too much of that would just make him sick as well, and there would have to be times when he would be alone. Times when Ivy went into crowded places where he could be noticed. If he could busy himself with something, she wouldn't worry as much about his emotional state.
Many things had caught his interest. His favorite distraction was Ivy's considerably large library.
The boy was not ignorant, she would later note with a smile. He was not all that well educated on the workings in her world, but what he did know about, he knew thoroughly. He had a thirst for knowledge that could rival a child's own insatiable curiosity. He was always willing to learn, too, which was more than she could say of any of her neighbors or casual acquaintances. Always anxious to ask Ivy about anything he did not understand. It was only natural to do all she could to help him.
She would read with him, teach him the different languages of the world, and help him to see situations from different perspectives. She cooked for him, showed him the finer ways of creating food from scratch, and told him what was healthy versus what could kill you if made improperly.
Link began to admire her. She saw it in the way he smiled at her. She could read it in those ever expressive eyes. It was in the way he listened so intently to everything she told him. So apparent was it in the way he sought comfort from her when something worried or bothered him. Link had come to see her as the moon in his life. A majestic, though somewhat cold, beauty that looked over the world with an accepting eye. She had become something precious to him.
Link soon became a presence in her life as well. One that made her smile a bit more sincerely the longer he was there. He made her experience emotions she had denied herself for so long. In a sense he had barged into her life to prove she could still have someone to care for. It was not long before she had forgotten he had not originally been there to begin with. And soon, just as she became his moon, he became her sun.
Siegfried eventually got better. For Ivy, that marked the time when the elf would have to go home. Link had held it off for as long as he could. For days on end he would not even mention the thought of taking off. Siegfried did not mention it either. They acted like a somewhat normal little family for a short time.
But one night Link sat Ivy down for a dinner between the two of them. Siegfried had gone off to bed hours before, something she suspected Link had requested of him personally. She had not been too suspicious about it at first, until she saw Valentine sitting across the dinner table.
She had turned back to him, angry at such cruel reminder of her past. "What is this?"
He stared at her with firm resolve in his eyes. "That sword belongs to you?"
"Who else would it belong to?"
He shrugged at her venomous sarcasm. "You never told me you were a fighter."
She could not look him in the eye then. She nearly felt ashamed. She had hidden something from the sun, which at worst could see through every shadow in people's hearts. "I hardly saw reason to tell you. It's a part of the past."
Link wandered over to the table. His hand slid across the air just above Valentine. He seemed to sense the danger it could unleash upon him, yet he was confident that if he respected it, it would do him no harm. Blue eyes roamed over the many unique features the weapon possessed.
"Fighting is never just a piece of your past." He reclaimed his hand and looked up to Ivy, who had found the strength to look at him again. "At one point it becomes a part of who you are."
She scoffed. Many people had told her that before. She had always harshly told them how weak they were for believing that one set of behavior could not be erased from a human being. Yet, as she stood there, she wanted nothing more than to grab that all too familiar hilt. Just to feel the grip of the weapon that had at one point been her only companion.
"Siegfried also thought he could erase who he was by secluding himself." He went on solemnly. "He even thought that if he cast aside the blade that had served him so well, he could fall into darkness without anyone knowing." He chuckled faintly, humorlessly. "You two remind me a lot of each other."
"Oh?" Was all that she could think to say.
He nodded. He then looked up to her with steel determined eyes. They told her he did not regret what he was about to say. "The demon sword Soul Edge once possessed his body. From him rose the evil Azure Night known as Nightmare."
Ivy felt something within her force the air out from her windpipes. "Him?" He was the creature she had failed to stop? He was the terrible sword she had failed to destroy? "How?"
"He lay dormant inside that monster for years, always watching the terror around him unfold, but never being able to stop it. No one tried to reach out to him, and after a while he stopped listening for anyone who might." At this he let out a small smile. "I was awfully persistent though. I called out to him until he had no choice but to answer me. And when he tried to seclude himself from me after that, I followed until he stopped wanting to try. I even convinced him to take back Zweihander from Nightmare. For some reason he thought leaving it behind, living alone with his sins, would be the right path to atonement."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because I want you to understand something." He said gently. "Siegfried is my friend and someone very precious to me in this world. I didn't let him wallow in his sorrow, and I won't let you do it either. Not after what you've come to mean to me."
He looked back to Valentine once more. This time he took hold of the hilt and held it out in offering to Ivy. She could do nothing more than stare at it. She wanted to take it. She wanted to accept what he was offering, but she was afraid.
"Making mistakes is a part of life. Some are small, other graver than we would want. But just because we make them, that doesn't mean we have to bear them on our shoulders forever."
He was staring at her with such intensity that she could barely breathe. How had such wisdom come from one so young? How could he claim to understand something she had once thought impossible to achieve?
"The good thing about mistakes is that most of them are able to be fixed. However, they will never be resolved if we break away from the only methods we have of fixing them."
She shook her head ruefully. "You understand nothing."
His eyes softened. "Maybe not. I'll admit I'm not as smart as you are, and I probably will never understand as much as you do. But there is one thing I know for certain."
"And that is?" She spat at him.
"Hurting yourself won't heal anybody. Just as hiding yourself away won't uncover any answers."
Something in her snapped. She wanted to cry, laugh, and shout out all at the same time. So many thoughts were coursing through her mind. So many forgotten hopes were doing their best to get out and reconnect with her. It was overwhelming, and she found she did not like the sudden clutch at her heart.
"Get out." She whispered harshly. "Leave this place."
Link's eyes quickly became saddened. His ears began to slouch a bit as they tended to do when he was upset. He gently lay valentine on the table and made his way to the door. Ivy kept her gaze on the space where he had been.
"A boat will be leaving the harbor at around noon tomorrow. Siegfried and I will be on it." He said from the doorway. "He's doing something to fix his mistakes by tracking down Nightmare. Together the two of us will find and destroy him, along with Soul Edge. I'd like it if you came with us."
For a second, the two of them were silent. Then, slowly, they turned to face each other once more.
Ivy was the one to break the silence. "You can't begin to understand." She said with pain laced in her voice. "You can't know how it feels to want to rid yourself of a past gone wrong."
He smiled sadly at that. "I know more than you may think." His hand went to grip the hilt of his own sword. "Many times I have wanted to hide from the past that branded me. It haunted me, making it so that I could not fight against repeating it. There were so many times when I wanted to just sit back and hide from what it made people expect of me." His grip tightened. "But I never gave up, and now this world has presented me with a chance to change the future from being a constant reminder of that past." He turned and walked out the door. "I intend to take it."
Once he was gone, Ivy collapsed on a nearby chair. For hours she remained there. She stayed absolutely still, even as the night turned to morning, and even as she heard the sounds of a horse galloping off away from her reach.
Valentine was in her immediate view. It called out to her like a child to its mother. She could not help but remember all the times she had shared with it, all the times she had shared with actual people, and meanwhile Link's words rang out in her head like a never ending echo. Had she been wrong all this time? Had she simply been running away all these years? And had she just let the only one willing to knock some sense into her leave?
Tentatively she reached for the hilt of her sword. It fit into her grasp like an old friend. Slowly, with her other hand she ran her palm across the underside of freshly dusted metal. How long had she been deceiving herself? The tears fell before she had a chance to stop them. What a fool she had been. What a fool she still was. And what a fool she would continue to be if she merely did nothing to change.
So within minutes she was packed and heading for the docks.
Link's expression when he saw her board was priceless. He was so shocked he had let go of Epona's reins. Then he very nearly tackled her to the ground, not bothering to realize the hood on his cloak had fallen back, when he finally realized she had listened to his advice.
"You came." He said happily.
She returned his embrace tenfold. "Did you honestly expect me to leave two children to such a dangerous task? You're liable to get yourselves killed without me."
She heard a slight laugh and looked up to see Siegfried snickering from beside Epona. She smiled, and made to respond to the laugh with some witty remark, but them she heard whispering from behind her. Dislodging herself from Link, she saw that a number of the male passengers onboard the ship had taken notice of the blondes ears. Disgusted mutters and low threats were whispered among them.
Link did his best to flatten them against his head with his hands. Siegfried immediately rushed to his side, trying to comfort the elf who was very quickly becoming close to tears.
Suddenly, any man who had so much as looked at Link the wrong way had his clothes promptly ripped to shreds. They were left only in whatever embarrassing undergarments they had put on that morning. They quickly tried to cover themselves while simultaneously looking for whatever culprit had committed such a humiliating crime.
Ivy was quick to bring their attention towards her. "Any man who makes fun of this boy's ears will first lose their dignity, and will then quickly lose an important piece of their anatomy. Is that understood?"
Siegfried and Link burst out laughing at the all too eager nods. Ivy could only smile along with them. It had been too long since Valentine had been used for the greater good. However it's time of isolation was through, as were hers. From then on she promised that both her and her sword would move forward in life. They would repair what had been broken, and what had failed in being protected. Together they would defend what was now the most important aspect of this world.
Her sun, the boy known as Link from Hyrule.
DarkMist: Whose a baby for crying while writing this?
MistressOfTime1218: (Raises hand) I couldn't help it. When dealing with emotional attachment one has to become emotionally vulnerable in order to get good results.
DarkMist: Whatever crybaby. :P
MistressOfTime1218: So mean!
K-Chan: People will get confused when reading this. About the pairing I mean.
MistressOfTime1218: What do you mean?
StormBlitz: Yeah I see what you mean. Those who know the actual story will understand the relationships, but those just popping in will just make their own assumptions.
MistressOfTime1218: Let them think what they want. I don't want to burst anyone's bubble. Anyway, R&R please? Tell me how this sounds. I might want to make more fics like this with the other characters.