Gawd! I FINALLY got this posted!! I mean, I had a grand total of about five minutes per day to write, seeing as I had school, homework, church, and all manner of other things to attend to. -sigh- soooo tired!!! But, here it is. A small addition to the aftermath of the attack by King Bulblin in Kakariko Village.

What it Means to be Brave

"Colin? Colin, wake up. Wake up!"

Link...?

"You okay, Colin?"

"He's not hurt, is he?"

Talo. Beth. Ugh, my head. What's happening? Where am I?

"Get out of my way! I want to see him!"

"Stop it!"

"I was here first!"

"Guys, knock it off! He's coming around."

Colin's eyes slowly opened, wincing at the sudden light. His head ached and it took him a moment to realize where he was. Kakariko Village. Okay, good, so he had been brought back. Focusing more, he saw that Link stood over him, an arm around the little boy's shoulders, supporting him as he regained consciousness. It was a comforting sight.

"Link." the boy said. His voice was weak and slightly hoarse. "What...?"

"It's okay." Link answered. "You're in the village, now. You're safe." He smiled and helped Colin to sit up. "That was quite an ordeal you went through, risking yourself like that. Very hero-like."

Colin smiled. Hearing such praise from his own hero made him feel a little better.

"Hey, Colin!" The ever persistent Talo darted forward. The other children hurried after him, all eager to see their friend for themselves. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Colin nodded, slowly. Aside from being quite a bit shaken up and obviously very weak, he actually felt okay. But suddenly a thought came to him. His eyes scanned the faces of his friends and landed on Beth. She was leaning over him, eyes full of concern.

"Beth," Colin began, "I'm sorry I shoved you. Are you mad?"

The young girl looked surprised at his question. But she smiled and shook her head. She was not upset. Just relieved.

"Come on, buddy." Link said. "You need to get some rest." He turned to the other kids. "You guys can come visit Colin later. But right now, he needs some tome alone."

Talo frowned. "Awwwww! But-"

"Come on, Talo." Beth grasped her younger friend by the back of his shirt and proceeded to drag him away. Malo followed, silent as usual.

Once the children had gone, Link lifted the little boy into his arms and started to carry him back the shaman Renado's house. He could see that Colin was very tired and fighting to stay awake.

"Hey," Link said, "I'm proud of you, Colin. You were very brave today."

Brave. Colin thought as he drifted off to sleep. But I wasn't brave...

XxXxXx

About an hour later, the sun was beginning to set and Colin was still resting. Renado had offered to watch over the boy as he slept and promised to alert the others the moment he awoke.

Meanwhile, Link had promised Talo some sword practice and could now be seen sparring with him by the spring. A prime spot in case of any injuries. Malo had wandered off some time ago to "take care of some business" as he put it. Something about opening a shop of his own...

But one child was found alone. Beth had no interest in watching Link and Talo slash at each other with swords and she wasn't in the least bit curious about whatever Malo had set out to do. But she was quite a bit worried about Colin. However, there had been no change in his condition yet and no one had been allowed to see him. So the young girl had settled for hiding out on one of the village's highest cliffs and watching the sun set.

But despite the calm surroundings, her mind was as jumbled and confused as it had been the moment that boar had come charging through the village. Beth hadn't shown it in front of her friends, but she had been just as shaken by the monster's appearance as Colin had been.

-Flashback-

"Beth! Give that back!

Talo's annoyed voice echoed throughout Kakariko.

"No! You've had your turn. You really need to learn how to share!" Beth clasped the slingshot in one hand and fought off the smaller boy with the other.

"I thought you weren't interested in these kind of things!" Talo struggled against her hold, but try as he might, he couldn't reach what had been taken from him. "You said so back in Ordon!"

The older girl smirked. "Well maybe I've changed my mind. This is actually kind of cool" She inspected the slingshot carefully and with intended slowness, trying to further aggravate her friend.

She didn't have to try very hard, as Talo lunged for the object once more, yelling in frustration when he missed. Beth merely laughed and started to run, keeping the slingshot in front of her.

Colin stood watching by the sanctuary, too shy to join in. Beth considered going over and trying to include him but decided against it. It wouldn't work anyway. The kid was just too timid!

Suddenly Talo stopped in his tracks and looked towards the village gate. Beth took the opportunity to jeer at him some more. "What's the matter? Give up already?"

But no answer came as the boy stared, horrified, beyond her. The ground began to shake, slightly and Beth turned around. What she saw was more frightening than anything she had ever witnessed before. An enormous boar was rounding the corner, an equally large creature on its back. They were headed straight for the children.

Talo let out a scream of terror and bolted back towards the sanctuary.

"Beth, come on! Run!

She couldn't move. She couldn't scream. She could barely breathe. The monster drew closer and closer until-

"Beth!!"

Someone rushed to her side and pushed her out of the way, knocking her to the ground. But that hardly mattered when Beth saw none other than Colin trapped in the giant creature's fist, after protecting her. It was possibly even more terrifying than being in the boar's path herself.

-End flashback-

A shudder racked the little girl's body. Near death experiences were not really her thing, especially when one of her own friends was almost killed trying to save her.

Colin. The shy, quiet child had put himself in harm's way to protect her. Something no one had expected. And Link had gone to a lot of trouble to get him back, riding out into the field and fighting off even more monsters. None of that should have happened. Beth thought. And it never will again.

"I should apologize to him for causing so much trouble." she said, standing up.

"Apologize to who?" a quiet voice from behind her asked.

Beth spun around and was shocked to see Colin slowly making his way towards her. How had he gotten up here? Clearly, he was still a bit weak but he hid it well as he approached her.

"Colin!" Beth rushed to his side. "What are you doing up here?! You should still be at shaman Renado's house. You haven't fully recovered yet!"

Colin put out a hand to stop her. "I'm okay, really. I just wanted to see if you were all right."

The older girl cocked her head to one side and stared at her friend. "You're the one who was almost eaten by monsters."

"Yeah, but that could've been you. And besides, no one has seen you for a while. I just wanted to know where you were."

Beth was unconvinced. But Colin was stubborn and refused to go back down and rest some more, so she decided it couldn't hurt for him to get some fresh air. She walked back to the edge of the cliff and sat down, Colin joining her after a moment, and the two sat in silence for quite a few minutes.

They both knew that there was more to be said, but neither wanted to be the one to actually say it. It was a rather awkward situation. But finally, Beth spoke up.

"Um, Colin?"

"Yeah?"

"I just want to say, thanks for...what you did earlier. I mean, you saved my life and...well... um, thanks."

She turned away from her friend. That hadn't come out like she'd wanted it to at all!

Fortunately, Colin didn't seem to mind. In fact, he was a bit embarrassed and blushed, turning away as well. "O-oh. D-don't worry about it. It was nothing." He scratched the back of his neck, nervously and

Beth smiled, turning back around.

"It sure seemed like something to me, putting yourself in danger. Link was right. That was very hero-like."

She laid a her hand over his, causing them both to blush. "You were really brave."

All of a sudden, Colin appeared angry and he jerked his hand away. "Link said the same thing to me earlier. 'You were very brave today, Colin.' And now you're saying it too! But you guys are wrong! I wasn't brave! When I saw that monster, I was more scared than I've ever been before!" He was standing, now and pacing back and forth. "I started to run away with everyone else. I was terrified of that monster!"

"But that didn't stop you from doing what was right!" Beth said, interrupting his rant.

Colin stopped and looked at his friend, wondering what she meant. "What?"

Beth stood and went over to him, clasping his hand with her own. This time, he didn't pull away. "You may have been afraid of that creature at first," she continued,"But when you saw that I needed help, you came right back. Don't you get it? That's what courage is! It's helping others even when you're scared too!" She turned him around and looked him straight in the eyes. "You were brave today, Colin.

You were."

The little boy looked at his friend, still unsure of what she had said. But after a moment, he knew she was right, and smiled.

"Thanks, Beth." he said, quietly.

"No problem." she said. "So..." she suddenly leaned in closer and smirked. "Since you seem to be feeling better..." In a quick, spontaneous gesture, she reached out and kissed him on the cheek, before turning and racing back down the path. "Race ya back to the village!" she called over her shoulder.

Colin was stunned by what had just happened and stood for several seconds, staring after his friend. But a slow grin soon spread across his face. "You're on!" he laughed, following her down the path.

I was brave. he thought as he ran. I really was.

Awwwwwwwwww how sweet! -grins- I always thought there should've been one more scene with those two. I mean, come on! Colin did save her. He deserves a thank-you. That and I just love writing about him. He's so cute!! -hugs Colin-