Chapter 1
Illia's POV
I sat on the bank of Ordan Spring waiting, waiting for one of the most important people in my life to return from his long adventures. I can't wait to see him. Hopefully, he won't bring the kids yet. I really wanna talk to him alone. He's running late he said he would be here early and I've been waiting since the crack of dawn. It was no easy task, sneaking out of my house without letting dad know. If I had been caught he would have killed me, no doubt he still thinks that I'm fast asleep. I hope that's the case.
Trot, trot, trot, trot. That MUST be him! No one else in Ordon has a horse. Next thing I see is a figure dressed in forest green, he looked so different and had a strange look in his eyes, and scars on his body. I was all of a sudden concerned for him. But I didn't let it show. I didn't want him worrying about me worrying about him.
"Link! How are you! Despite the fact that you're late I can't believe you're finally here!" I said with a tiny squeal.
He looked at me from head to toe and smiled his crooked smile and my heart melted. That was my favorite smile, from the very first moment I saw it. It always reminded me of the first time I'd saw it – "Link, you're my best friend, my only real friend. I'll always be here for you. Remember that, always. And I'm glad that you came to Ordan because if you hadn't my father would be my only friend, and the animals." I said looking down playing with my fingers. He looked up from the water smiled the smile that melts my heart. " I'm glad I was brought to Ordan too." – That was when we were six, eleven years ago. We've grown up together, since we were three years old. I've grown to love Link. He's my best friend and hopefully we can become more.
"Hi, Illia." He said as he swung one leg off his horse and landed it on the ground. "I've been fine by the way, beyond fine. How have you been?" "Well, it's been kinda stressful here. Even though the grown-ups know where the children are and that they're safe, but my dad is worried about how they're gonna get home." I said looking down nervously. "Well, they don't have to worry; the soldiers and I have defeated the beasts that roamed the earth. There is nothing to worry about. We got you home just fine, didn't we?" He said as he moved his hand to put on my shoulder. He knew that comforted me though, he didn't know why, yet. "So, how have you really been?" He asked with a smile. "I've been okay. I've missed you a lot. There's been nobody for me to talk to accept my dad, but who wants to listen to reasons why goats don't like captivity?" We laughed at the thought of the conversation. "So, there's something you're hiding, I can feel it. What is it!" I asked jumping up and down. A huge grin came across his face as he reached into his bag. He pulled out a piece of paper along with something wrapped up in another piece of paper. He handed me the piece of paper that had writing on it.
"Dear, Link.
I am privileged to gift you with this Badge of Honor. Along with offering you the head position of the Hyrule Army, First in Command. Well, meaning, following my orders.
Thanks again for everything that you have helped us with.
"
"Link, this is amazing! But, are you gonna take it?" I asked confused. "I'm not done, yet." He said with a wink and handed me the badge. It was beautiful, trimmed with gold and the Hyrule Crest in the center. Three Different colored diamonds on each point of the Triforce, a pink diamond on the top, green on the bottom right point, blue on the bottom left point. The diamonds sparkled like stars in the night sky. I looked up to get a glance of Link's face. He was smiling and looking at my expression. "Well?" He asked. "It's the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen." I replied in awe. He laughed. "You haven't seen Princess Zelda then." He said as he threw himself on his back and looked up at the sky. "No. No I haven't." I squinted my eyes suspiciously. I shook it off and told myself that he was a guy and he was going to think that other girls are also pretty. "We should probably head into town; because I snuck out this morning to come meet you, so my dad's gonna wonder when I'll be wakin' up." I said with a nervous chuckle. He rolled his eyes. "Why didn't you just tell him? You don't need to be getting in trouble because of me." He said firmly. This was a side of Link that I hadn't seen before; he was much more responsible than before. I smiled. "Don't worry, Link. I've got it all planned out. When my dad sees you, and that you're safe he'll no longer care that I snuck out to see you." I explained. He was already mounted and holding his hand out to me to get on the back. I put my hand in his and felt the roughness of it. He pulled me up like I was just another kid. He had gotten much stronger and his muscles had grown a lot since I last saw him. It was very tempting not to squeeze his arms.
We trotted into town in silence, but it wasn't awkward, it was just like old times. As my house came into sight I saw my dad standing on the porch waiting, obviously for me. But luckily my plan worked, as soon as he saw Link his eyes went from furious to surprised.
"Link! Is that you! I didn't know you were coming to Ordan today! Are you staying?" My dad asked wide eyed. "No. I can't stay. I have a job to get back to tomorrow." Link said pointing towards Hyrule Castle. "WHAT! You're taking the job! Are you serious! Why!" I screamed. Link put his hands up beside his chest and closed his eyes, as if he expected me to blow up when he told me. Is this why he stalled earlier? Because there was something more important than me! "Look, this is my life now. This is what I'm supposed to do, and what I love doing." He said calmly in an attempt to calm me down, but all it did was make me boil even more. "You're SUPPOSED to be mayor of Ordan! Who's gonna be mayor now! Talo! Oh, right…Talo, mayor. That's REALLY funny, Link! My dad can't be Mayor forever!" I yelled and stormed to my room.
I lay on my bed crying my eyes out. Then an idea popped in my head that I tried to shove out, but the more I tried not to think about it, the more I thought about it. And the more I thought about it, I thought it was a good idea, but yet, I also thought it was insane and crazy.
"Ch-sh, ch-sh, ch-sh." I heard someone coming up the stairs and dried my eyes. "Illia…can I come in now? Are you okay?" Link said peaking around my wooden wall. "Yeah…" I said glumly. He walked in and sat on the bed beside me and just looked at my expression. It was completely silent for a very long time. Which gave me more time to think about this terrible…awful…crazy idea. "You know, Link, I've been thinking." I finally broke the silence. He just looked at me questioningly. "What if I came to Hyrule Castle with you? I wouldn't have to live in the Castle with you, but I could live with Telma. But we could always see each other and all that good stuff." I ended with a half-hearted smile. He just smiled. "I don't think that's such a good idea." He began. "Why not?" I asked beginning to tear up. A tear started running down my cheek. Link stopped it with his index finger. "It's just not. Besides, I'll barely be in Hyrule Castle with this job." He explained as he put his hand on my face. I jerked my head away. "Maybe I should just go." He responded. As he got up to walk away he kissed the top of my head. He got to the edge of the stairs. "You'll always be my best friend." He whispered and shuffled down the stairs and out the door. Tears began to overflow my eyes. I could feel the puffiness of my eyes and closed them. I fell over on my side onto my bed, drowning into a deep sleep.