After the events in Twilight Princess, there are matters of unfinished business to take care of. Third-person focus on Ilia, Link/Ilia romance. Rated T for intense emotions at the end. Nintendo owns all intellectual rights to the characters in The Legend of Zelda and all other related names, descriptions, locations, et cetera. I just wish they had provided a better denouement for all the characters they featured.
Chapter One: The Ranch
Everything was peaceful as the sun set over Ordon Village, the golden rays of twilight bathing the sky in a soft glow. Talo swung and thrashed his sword in the small area between the table and the pumpkin patch. Beth and her father, Hanch, were posting posters with Malo's deceptively-cherubic face on the sign, eaves, and door of Sera's Sundries—or, as it would now be called, "Malo Mart: Ordon Branch." Colin and Rusl sparred while Uli watched from the doorstep, nursing her baby. Routine came easily to the village, in spite of all that had happened in the last month. Sometimes, Ilia pondered as she gazed over the village from her roof, it seems as if I'm the only one who remembers Link. Sure, Father complains about having to keep an eye on Fado up at the ranch, and how hard it is to herd the goats without Epona, but he never says anything else. Glancing up the hill, she noticed that the ranch gate was still open. Sighing, she carefully walked over to the ladder, climbed down, and made her way up the path, arriving just as Bo was closing the gate.
"Well, evenin' there, Ilia!" Bo paused as he hung the lock in the clasp. "I was actually just about to close the corral up for the night and come home. Is there anything you wanted?" he asked, worry crossing his face.
"No, nothing really, Father," she sighed, her gaze ranging over the enclosed field. "I just… well, I wish… I need to think for a while, that's all." She straightened up and smiled, facing Bo. "It would've been nice to be alone, that's all."
Bo nodded as he took off the lock and removed the key from a belt pouch, handing both of them to his daughter. "I can only imagine what you went through when those monsters kidnapped you. Just make sure you lock up when you come home." He glanced toward the barn with the slightest smile. "Truth be told, I'd sooner trust you to keep those goats in their pens than Fado."
"Thank you, Father." Ilia smiled in relief as she embraced him. "I won't let you down."
"I know you won't, honey." He gently patted her back and kissed her forehead as they hugged. "Just don't get too cold out here. Good night, honey."
"Good night, Father." As Bo trudged down the hill, Ilia was reminded of Link's departure. She had stood at the north of the clearing where Link kept his house, watching as he rode further northwards toward Faron Woods and the rest of Hyrule beyond. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. Just because her father was moving away from her at the moment, it didn't mean he was leaving her or anyone else in the village; she would see him again that night when she would go home. Exhaling softly—not sighing, she insisted to herself—she began pacing the track.
The evening was cool, and Ilia found herself rubbing her bare arms. Clearing her mind was an exercise in futility: Of course the ranch would remind her of Link; whether it was the goats that had always preferred his care to that of Fado, the hoof prints left by Epona, who had preferred his care to her own, the scent of hay that always lingered on him and triggered the return of her memories, or even those silly fences that he and Fado had set up specifically to test Epona's jumping skills, everything reminded her of him. The frustrating thing was that if Link hadn't been so annoyingly good at fence-jumping, Talo might have gotten a worse fate than a scolding after chasing after the monkey. Judging by what the other children and Renado had told her about Colin's sacrifice in Kakariko village, as well as her own fuzzy memories of the wagon ride with the Zora Prince, Link's exertions of Epona had saved them all.
Looking down in her reverie, Ilia noticed a patch of the horse grass growing near the track. Just a day before the monsters arrived, she had asked Link to whistle through one of the blades to play the song that Epona had always liked. That was the first time she had really paid attention to the simple song; she kept it in her mind all the next day as she carefully carved the whistle that he was supposed to get before he went to Hyrule—he did get it eventually; it wasn't her fault that the monsters delayed the delivery. And it had worked; Link had told her what a relief it was to be able to call Epona from anywhere in Hyrule field without trying to find horse grass that might be a mile away. She sat down, idly plucked a blade, and, with a bit of effort, managed to reproduce the call. Not surprisingly, nothing happened. She lay back on the grass to watch the stars. They reminded her of the sparkle of intelligence in Epona's dark eyes, which of course reminded her of Link. With a grunt of disgust, she rolled over on her side and closed her eyes.
A blast of warm air hit her in the face. Squeezing her eyelids tightly shut, she waved an arm in the general direction of the offending beast. "Go away, you stupid goat," she muttered, barely coherent.
"That's not very nice," teased a familiarly gentle voice. Ilia rolled up to a half-sitting position, a chestnut-colored horse with a long white mane whinnying over her. The rider, hidden in shadow, continued speaking. "If you're going to call for her, then don't insult her and shoo her away. 'She's a girl, too; you have to treat her like one.'"
Ilia rubbed her eyes with a yawn as she sat upright. "Link?" It couldn't be, but it couldn't not be! Her impossible wish was granted as the figure dismounted, revealing the now-familiar green hat and tunic. The long-familiar face smiled, and she leaped up to embrace him, to confirm the reality of his presence. "Link! I didn't expect to see you again! What are you doing here!"
"You tell me: You're the one who called Epona." He gently pushed her back so that they were a forearm's length away from each other, their hands resting on each other's upper arms as they gazed at each other. "It was quite the experience trying to stay in the saddle once she heard you play her song in the grass. It was almost as bad as calming her down when the Bulbins stormed her into Kakariko."
"The grass?" Link's narration of his experiences was ignored as Ilia glanced down at the patch of grass in wonder. "How close were you?"
"Not all that close, but this girl's got good ears," he explained with an affectionate glance at the mare. "I was just on the Hyrule Field trail between Faron and Lanayru provinces when her ears twitched. If you'd called an hour later, she would've come alone; I would've been in town at Telma's, sending a message to Princess Zelda." Again, his explanations fell on deaf ears. Ilia tried to make sense of his travels—he'd been gone a week, and was just crossing into Lanayru province, yet Epona had heard Ilia play the horse grass and returned to the village within the hour.
"Ilia?"
"I'm sorry." She blushed slightly. "I was just wondering how you got back so quickly when it took you a week to get to Faron Province's northern border."
"Actually, it didn't," Link confessed. "First, Princess Zelda and I escorted Princess Midna of the Twili to the Gerudo Desert, where Princess Midna returned to her Realm. As she left, she destroyed the passageway between her Realm and Hyrule. I kept myself busy in Castle Town for a couple days before I decided that I wanted to see the passageway between Hyrule and the Twilit Realm reopened, so I returned to the Sacred Forest beyond the temple gorge to retrieve the Master Sword."
"The… Master Sword?"
"This." Slowly, almost reverently, Link drew the blue-hilted sword that Ilia had seen him carry since the week Talo started seeing wolves in Kakariko Village. The triangular design on the base of the blade echoed the pattern on the back of Link's hand, while the wing design of the guard recalled the phoenix emblem on his Hylian shield. He called her attention to the blade. "You can't see it as well at full night, but the blade's been blessed with Light from the Twilit Realm. It's allowed me to keep from falling to the curse that first affected me when the dark twilight first fell on Faron Province." He sheathed the sword and looked up at the moon. It seemed to Ilia that his gentle features took on a feral countenance.
"I don't understand," she stated. She looked past Link to Epona, seeming to draw strength from the mare's dark gaze. "If you have to carry special protection to avoid being cursed in the Twilit Realm, why do you want to open up the passageway there? Don't you want to keep that danger as far away from Hyrule as possible? Or do you like charging off into danger just so you can have a little excitement?" She glared at Link, holding his gaze accusingly. "Do you like seeing others like me in danger so that you can be the Big Hero?"
Link winced. He was keenly reminded of the evening of the attack, when Ilia had chided him for pushing Epona too hard. Sighing, he turned and took hold of Epona's reins. "You're not being fair," he informed Ilia as he raised a foot to Epona's stirrups.
"No, you're not being fair!" she retorted, stepping forward to grab the reins away. "The goddesses chose you to remove the Twilight from Hyrule. You did that! Then, you defeated the dark sorcerer thief who was trying to bring darkness to Hyrule. You won, Link! But now you want to let the Twilight creatures back into Hyrule! Why? Can't you stay home? I don't want to lose you, Link! I LOVE YOU!"
Her shouts echoed in the ranch as she and Link stared at each other. Link was startled, but not surprised. Embarrassed by her sudden outburst, as well as the tears that were starting to trickle down her cheeks, Ilia turned and buried her face in Epona's neck. The horse whinnied softly. Link brought his foot down from the stirrup and stepped behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders.
"Thank the Goddesses," he murmured. "I almost lost all the courage they gave me when I walked into Telma's bar and you ignored me. I couldn't stand the thought of saving all of Hyrule, only to lose you."
"Then why?" Not trusting herself, Ilia kept her face on Epona's neck. Her nose betrayed her, forcing a sniffle. "Why do you have to open the passage to the Twilit Realm?"
Link was silent. After a few moments, he offered a suggestion that shocked Ilia. "Stay at my house tonight." She tensed as he let go. "I'll find somewhere else to stay tonight, and we can discuss everything in the morning." Relaxing, she turned her head to see him undoing Epona's burdens as he continued talking. "I'll tell you where we can meet, but I don't want the whole village knowing I was here. It'll make it that much harder to leave again." Link sighed as he pulled a belt taut around a large bundle. "You should tell your father, of course—Ordona knows how much he worries about you—but don't tell the others yet. We'll all walk to my house," he nodded, indicating Epona, "then you can rest until I call her a couple hours after sunrise. That way, we can discuss everything over breakfast."
"I'd like that," Ilia admitted, turning to smile at him. He smiled back, and stepped forward to embrace her.
They hadn't embraced since she had first given him the horse call, and even then, they had been too worried about everything else going on. Now that Impaz, the children, and all the rest of Hyrule were safe, they could lose themselves in the moment. Link had never been large, especially when compared to Fado or her father, but Ilia felt tiny as she pressed herself to his torso. The hay scent that she had cherished for so long was faint, mingled with aromas from all the other places he'd been. She recognized the rich woods of Faron, the minerals from the hot springs of Kakariko and the rocks of Death Mountain, bomb powder, and the assorted goods sold in Castle Town. So many other scents were unrecognizable to her, but she breathed them in deeply. The strongest scents were metallic—the Master Sword, the Hylian shield, even the oiled mail that he wore between his tunic and white undershirt.
Growing up with Fado and Mayor Bo, Link had never thought of himself as large. After meeting the Gorons, especially Dangoro and Darbus, his own ordinariness was reinforced. Compared to Yeto, he was downright puny. Tonight, though, with Ilia's slender frame in his arms, he felt like the strongest creature in the worlds. She seemed to be seeking reassurance and protection, and he wanted to provide those for her. He wanted to keep her safe from whatever danger might be left in Hyrule or anywhere else. He held her close, warming her chilly bare arms. He knew that this was the kind of joy that awaited him in the Sacred Realm. Slowly, reluctantly, he let go. She looked up, smiling radiantly at him. Taking her hand, he guided it to Epona's reins and placed his other arm over her shoulders. Together, they walked to the ranch gate.
"It's about time, you two." Bo remarked. He was leaning against the fence inside the ranch gate, waiting, his arms folded over his ample belly. Ilia froze, panicked. Link tightened his grip on her shoulder, nodding respectfully at the older man.
"Mayor." Bo stood and approached the pair, laying a hand on each of their shoulders.
"I knew you two would end up like this ever since Rusl brought Epona here, the way you both took to her—and she to both of you," he declared warmly. "It was only a matter of time before your love for her would grow into love for each other. When it turned out that the call you made for him was the thing that restored your memory, well…." Link and Ilia smiled fondly at each other. Turning his attention to Link, Bo continued. "I would like to know where you're going, of course, but if you don't want to tell me, then I suppose I'll just have to trust you."
"Besides, if you push me, I might be forced to tell Renado how we were able to beat the Gorons at wrestling," Link teased. Bo's eyes bulged, then relaxed as he smiled at the twinkle in Link's eye.
"Obviously, we both know that some things are better left unsaid," the mayor chuckled, "so I'm just going to ask you to keep her safe out there."
"I will, sir—wait, what?"
"You were rather loud a bit ago, honey," Bo remarked to his daughter. He turned his attention back to Link. "Now, if she doesn't want to lose you, and you still have things to do in the world, then it seems to me there's only one way to handle this."
Link and Ilia stared at each other, surprised. Link knew that he would enjoy having her by his side, but he also knew that there could still be danger in Hyrule. Not only that, but what would happen in the Twilit Realm? He hadn't changed into a wolf unless he allowed Zant's dark magic to touch him, but would that safety apply to Ilia? Would she fade into a spirit as she and the others had when Twilight enveloped Hyrule? For that matter, what if he did turn into a wolf, and she could see him? Would she consider him a monster? Would she be so horrified that she would reject him forever? Could he live with himself if he terrified her?
Ilia knew that she would love being with him, but she always imagined them living quietly in Ordon. She had never imagined a life of adventure, so she never learned to use a weapon. She had felt completely frightened and helpless when she was kidnapped; she had only felt marginally safer during the wagon ride when she was mentally aware of the brave warrior fending off the monsters. True, she hadn't remembered him at the time, but would she feel any safer knowing it was her Link who was protecting her? If she went with him, would she be a burden? She reached over to touch his cheek.
"I want to be with you Link, but…." She hesitated. How could she tell him everything without pushing him away?
"I couldn't bear seeing you hurt—or afraid." He closed his eyes, and Ilia thought she heard a faint growl escape his throat as he clenched his teeth. "If you come with me all the way to the Twilit Realm, the things you see there…." Ilia shivered as the natural darkness seemed to close in on her.
"We can talk about this in the morning, right?"
"Right." Link opened his eyes and smiled, relieved. Bo nodded understandingly.
"Well, if Ilia's not home after tomorrow, just give me a general idea what's going on." He headed down the path to the village, glancing over his shoulder to offer one last instruction. "If you're going to do anything life-changing, don't leave the rest of us poor villagers out of the excitement." Link and Ilia watched him leave. Almost simultaneously, they realized the significance of his remark.
"Life-changing?" They blushed. Link grabbed Epona's reins and shoved them at Ilia. Fumbling, she accepted them, and they headed toward the trail. They paused at the gate so Ilia could lock up and continued down to the village, where Ilia put the key on the back of the sign in front of her house—her father's house, she amended mentally. She had lived there all her life, but after coming back from Kakariko, it no longer felt like home. She frowned sadly as she stared at the house, Link patiently scanning the village as he made sure that no one else had seen him. A few moments passed, and Ilia adopted a slightly-more cheerful expression before turning back to Link. They made their way down the village trail, and quickly found themselves at Link's house. Together, they removed Epona's saddle and riding gear before letting her take her ease between the house and the retaining wall of the clearing.
"So… I'll see you in the morning, then?"
Link nodded. "An hour after sunrise. If you're not mounted before she takes off, just wait a few minutes before you call her again."
"Okay." Ilia glanced toward the house. "Well, good night."
"Good night." Link headed up the trail to Ordon Spring and, beyond that, Faron Woods. Ilia felt an uncomfortably familiar twinge of sadness; it seemed like she was always watching him leave. At least this time, she reminded herself, I know when I'll be seeing him again. A smile slowly crept across her face, and she turned toward the house. Her pulse quickened as she climbed the ladder and opened the door. She would sleep well that night, much better than she had during the last week.
Author's Note: I threw in a couple formatting changes after getting some helpful feedback from Tia Ordona 23, especially as regards the passage of time. Some things might still seem like they're progressing a little fast, but I promise that things will grind to a halt in the next chapters. Meanwhile, just keep in mind that life comes at you REALLY fast, especially when you're seventeen and romantically frustrated. Eleven years later, and my favorite music is still schmaltzy love songs :D