It had been nearly four months since that day. The day Link had been so overtaken by grief he could barely stand it, he was inconsolable. He now had more money than the entire net worth of Ordon, courtesy of Princess Zelda, for saving Hyrule from the wrath of Ganondorf. Shortly after Ganondorfs defeat, Link decided to live out the rest of his days in his home, despite his wealth. He didn't feel that he belonged in such an extravagant place as Hyrule Castle, even though offers of becoming captain of the guard several times from Zelda were piled up on his desk. It just didn't feel right. He didn't feel right.
Days went by rather slowly. The first two months of being home, Link kept himself locked away in his treehouse. Only leaving to feed Epona, and let her stretch her legs. He looked as though he was dwindling away. He had clearly lost muscle mass and the bags under his eyes indicated his lack of sleep. His eyes...we're just lifeless.
Every week since his return, Ilia would come by with a basket of food, ranging from pumpkin pie, goat stew, to fresh baked bread, jam, milk, and cheese. She would knock on his door, wait for a a few minutes, then finally give up. Even calling his name wouldn't get him to come to the door. The house appeared to be vacant. No lights were seen from any window, and cobwebs were beginning to cover the roof line.
Nearly a month had gone by before Ilia had had enough. She had now delivered almost twelve baskets to Links door without even seeing him. Was he even still alive? Around nightfall, on a pretty normal day, Ilia arrived at Links house with nothing but an angry expression. She patted epona on the nose and fed her a crisp apple before heading toward links house. Surprisingly, light was coming from Links living area, making it much easier for Ilia to navigate his ladder at his front door. A glimmer of hope shown on Ilias face as she stood on his stoop, but was quickly replaced with grimace she had arrived with, seeing the sight of his house, not to mention Eponas stall. She banged on the door frivolously. "LINK! I AM NOT LEAVING UNTIL YOU OPEN THIS DOOR."
To her surprise, a tiny click was heard within a few seconds of her outburst and the door swung open. Wrapped in a blanket, a lanky figure walked away from the door and sat down in a wooden chair opposite the crackling fire.
His house was a mess. The smell of dust and dirt had Ilias eyes watering, giving her a profound urge to sneeze. Dishes piled up everywhere. Cobwebs and their owners, dawned the ceiling and corners of the room. Piles of ash and soot made Ilia wonder how a fire was even able to burn in his dirty fireplace. Piles of clothing covered his messy bed, straw poking up out of the mattress at all angles. Letters covered his desk, all clad with the royal familys crest, making it impossible to glimpse the wood top. Interestingly, a small dagger like rock sat idle on links end table, which was completely free of dust, she wondered if it was important to him, maybe from his travels. Ilia sighed, scanning the room once more.
Her eyes soon found her target, the main reason of her final attempt of finding some life in the rubble around her. Link, or at least, what she thought was Link, was sitting in a wooden chair wrapped in a forest green blanket. His hair was nearing his shoulders and he almost had a full beard.
Ilia didn't bother greeting him, and got right down to the point.
"Fado is wondering if you would consider helping him on the ranch...he could really use the help, we all could." Ilia said...searching his face for any sign of life.
He stared into the fire for a few seconds before looking up at her. He opened his mouth to speak, and uttered a hoarse "I'll think about it." His gazed settled back on the fire, realizing how much the color looked like...
Ilia stamped her foot roughly, causing a bowl of goat stew to nearly fall off the table near the fire. Link flinched slightly. "THIS IS RIDICULOUS, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? WE'VE BEEN FRIENDS ALL OUR LIVES AND YOU CAN'T EVEN BOTHER TO TELL ME WHAT'S WRONG?! WHAT IS GOING ON? SPEAK TO ME! LET ME HELP YOU, PLEASE!"
Link found her gaze again, his eyes sad. "You wouldn't understand." He said plainly.
Ilia took a deep breath before lashing out at him again, her voice somewhat under control, but laced with poison. "Oh, I wouldn't understand? Ya know, you're right, I only waited months and months for your return, hoped and prayed to the goddesses that you were still alive out there, despite what some of the townsfolk were saying. I went on with life, I helped around town, I did anything that was asked of me, all the while waiting for you...YOU! And now I'm ignored by my best friend." She threw her hands up into the air with a loud huff.
Link opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it again, still staring into the fire before him. "I..." He began, but was cut off by Ilia.
"It's her isn't it..." at the mention of "her", Link snapped his head in Ilias direction, his eyes fixed on what she would utter next. "You're in love with Zelda...I should have known..." Her eyes dropped to the floor.
Link laughed out loud, causing Ilia to intake a sharp breath and look up, startled, not knowing that Link was capable of anything other than sulking.
He turned to Ilia, a flash of light in his eyes. "No..." He almost giggled. "I was never nor could I ever be 'in love with Zelda'...now that...THAT is ridiculous." He laughed again. "Why would I even be here if that was the case?"
A look of confusion dawned Ilias face before it was quickly replaced with another glimmer of hope...did he...had he loved...her? Was that even possible? It didn't make sense, him locking himself away, keeping himself away from her...no, he couldn't have...could he?
"You...I..." She stopped herself, all of a sudden overwhelmed with courage. "Link, I love you." Ilia maintained eye contact with him, her voice cracking at the end. Link threw his hands up into the air and stood up quickly.
"Love doesn't exist." He almost spat the words from his lips. A look of anger taking hold of his bearded face.
"How can you say something like that...I have...loved you all this time...didn't you...know that?" Her face was pleading him, her eyes the greenest he'd ever seen, welling up with tears.
"Of course I knew...I felt the same way." He replied, his voice direct, lacking all emotion. He sat down in his chair again, his eyes dancing in the flames once more.
"Then why didn't you...say anything...do anything..." Her words were full of hurt. "Put me out of my misery already!" She yelled at him, her fists balling up, tears nearly spilling over.
"I can't...I'm sorry. I..." He sighed, glancing at her. "That chance is gone. That life, is over." He breathily said, sounded somewhat disappointed.
Ilia ran to him then, kneeling in front of him...clutching at one of his hands, he was unresponsive, his eyes still fixated on the flames. "We can...pick up where we left off, it...it wouldn't be hard." She said, firelight dancing on her face...the hope of happiness within her grasp.
Link stared into her eyes, feeling sorrow for his childhood friend, his first love. He squeezed her hand for a brief second. "I've changed...I'm so sorry Ilia."
Ilia stood up without a word and backed away slowly, clutching her chest. Sorrow was replaced with anger in a split second.
"You are HEARTLESS!" She screamed the last word that she said, and grabbed the first thing that came into view...Links shard. Rage was written all over her face, determined to destroy this one thing that seemed to matter to Link, she made her way to the fireplace.
Link jumped out of his seat and barreled toward her, knocking over dishes and hearing them crash to the floor.
"STOP!" he yelled, grabbing her arms and forcing her away from the fire, causing her to drop Links most precious possession. He took hold of her shoulders, his grip on the verge of painful, and glared into her eyes.
"I have loved more deeply than you could even imagine." His words were like ice.
With that, Ilias eyes welled up with tears once more, and she bolted from the house, slamming the door on her way out.
