Linebeck stood by his ship admiring it. The white hull was shimmering in the light of the sun and the chimney proudly puffed smoke. The water lapped gently at the hulls bottom. Linebeck sighed. He was quite proud to be the owner of such a beauty. I mean sure he had to use it to lug around Link the annoying little kid dressed in green who was somehow destined to save the world from a monster named Bellum but for some reason it didn't bother Linebeck as much as it had in the first place. Sure Link's stupid fairy friend Ciela wouldn't shut up and sure she somehow was the spirit of courage but it didn't matter as much now. You could say that Linebeck's heart had grown three sizes. Of course that still made it pretty small… Link was after all, a nice kid who always made sure to say thank you to him every time they docked at a new island.
"Hey Linebeck! What are you doing?" Link asked timidly from behind Linebeck. Link was only thirteen years old but to Linebeck, he acted like a six year old. Link was brave at heart and extremely courageous but when he didn't want to bug people or he felt awkward, all of that bravery went away and was replaced by a shy kid. Linebeck sighed and turned to face the squirt.
"Nothing much kid. I'm just admiring my ship. You want to head somewhere?" Linebeck asked. Whenever Link came to talk to him it normally wasn't out of pure interest. He normally just wanted to head off to a different island to look for a clue or something.
"No not right now. So you're just watching your ship? Is this all you do while I'm off goddesses knows where killing some giant monster? You could always, oh I don't know, HELP!" Link said sarcastically. Ciela immediately scolded Link for not being nicer to Linebeck no matter how much she hated him. Link mumbled a quick 'I'm sorry'.
"No this is not all I do. Just earlier on I noticed that a seagull had pooped on the hull's deck so I cleaned it. Now you don't have to step on seagull poop. You are welcome." Linebeck said defensively. Link sighed and walked off. He walked past the shipyard and went to lie on the grass. Linebeck looked at the young hero curiously before deciding to go see what was up with him.
"Link what are you doing?" Linebeck asked. Link looked up at him with those adorable sky blue eyes. They were so wide and innocent that it made Linebeck's heart melt into a puddle of goo.
"I'm watching the clouds. I do it whenever I want to relax for a bit. Believe it or not, saving the world is quite stressful." Link said. Linebeck couldn't help but chuckle a bit. He sat down next to the young boy and watched the clouds with him. Link was right. This was very relaxing. Link gave him a questioning look but then went back to watching the sky.
"If you want to have some fun you can try to find pictures in the sky. See look," Link said while pointing up to one cloud, "That one looks like a bunny at a tea party. You never know what you can find." Linebeck looked past Link's finger and sure enough, there was a bunny drinking tea. He smiled at Link's childlike tendencies. It warmed his heart. Linebeck wasn't sure why this was but he wasn't going to argue over the fuzzy feeling. Linebeck removed his hands from his chest and let them lie down on the ground next to him. His fingers brushed up against Link's hand and made him blush. He looked over at Link only to find that his cheeks were dusted with pink.
"Link? What's it like saving the world? Is the pressure too much?" Linebeck asked. He didn't even know where the words came from. He was only curious. Link took in a breath and let it out slowly as if trying to remain calm.
"Sometimes it feels great knowing that once this is all over I can go back to a regular life. Sometimes though I think my life will never be normal. I mean I was thinking the exact same thing in my last adventure to save Tetra and my little sister Aryll but now look where I am. I'm saving the world again. And even though I manage to look as if I'm fine, sometimes I just want to scream or yell at the world." Link said. Linebeck was shocked to hear those words come out of the child's mouth. He no longer sounded like a whiny six year old. Now he had started to sound like grandpa. When he looked over at the young boy, he could see tear's well up in those big, blue eyes.
"Listen Link, if you ever need to talk to somebody I'm always here. And even when I'm not you can always talk to Ciela. We are here for you. You need only ask." Linebeck said. He meant every word he spoke. If the kid needed someone to talk to, he was always there. Link looked over at him. A small tear rolled down his cheek. He quickly wiped it away.
"Thanks Linebeck. That really means a lot especially coming from you." Link said quietly. Linebeck smiled at Link.
"I meant it. Just come talk to me. Let out all your feelings and maybe questing wouldn't be so stressful. I know it never feels good to keep things locked up inside. It makes you feel crappy. So much bottled up anger and frustration…" Linebeck said. Link moved his hand and grabbed onto Linebeck's with his small hand.
"You said my name." Link said quietly. Linebeck raised an eyebrow in question. Link smiled a little. "You said my name." He said more confident this time. Linebeck nodded in understanding. He had called Link by his actual name. He hadn't called him 'kid' or 'squirt'. Truth be told, Linebeck realised what the fuzzy feeling was. Love. It was the only answer that made sense. Linebeck loved Link like a son. Linebeck of course would never admit to it though. He still had a reputation to uphold.
Link stood up so Linebeck took that as a sign to head back to his ship. Before Linebeck could walk away however, he felt two arms wrap around him in a comforting hug. Linebeck looked down to find Link hugging him. Linebeck hesitated before finally returning the hug. Link looked up and smiled cutely before running off towards the temple of the ocean king.
A/N: Should I stop there and leave as a oneshot or do you think I should multi chapter this? Please tell me. Thanks!