Chapter 4: I Always Wanted to be Like You

"I'm heading into town to deliver some milk." Cremia announced to the others as she finished loading the milk into the carriage. Link looked over to her and gave a concerned look. Cremia was well aware of the question he wanted to ask; it has been several days since she had left the safety of the ranch since she went up to the Mountain Smithy. Romani stepped forward before Cremia could get in herself.

"I think it's my turn, sis." She said, stopping Cremia from climbing up.

"No, it's fine; I'll do it." Cremia said. Romani gave a pouted look.

"But I haven't gotten to go into town in months. What's going on?" she asked, annoyed to not getting to go. Cremia rolled her eyes in annoyance to this same argument they've had for years.

"Maybe Romani has a point, Cremia." Link butted in. "It has been a while, and you've been doing a lot lately. Take a break for once. If you're worried about her, I'll go with her." He then vouched as he stepped forward towards the girls. Cremia gave a concerned look towards him, where Romani gave a smile to his defense of her.

"Are you sure?"Cremia's whispered to Link; he nodded ever so slightly.

"Yeah, take it easy. We can handle this, and who am I as a protector of this Ranch to not protect its namesake?" he said in a reassured tone, kind of joking.

"Well… Okay. You two love birds can go." She said replied nudging an elbow into Link's ribs. The 16-year old just gave an annoyed look as his face turned slightly red. "Just don't seduce my younger sister till you're both married!" Cremia pressed on with a laugh. This time both Link and Romani's faces turned beat red at the comment. Romani opened her mouth to say something but she couldn't find any words to fire back with so she simply shut up, and punched Cremia's shoulder as she continued with the laughter instead. Cremia rubbed her shoulder, her laughter stifling to just a giggle as she left the two and approached the barn. "Hehehe, I'll just tend to the cows while you two are away then." She said with a wave, bidding Link and Romani a good journey. They waved back as they then climbed into the carriage and made their way towards town.

The ride was quiet after Cremia disappeared into the barn and the carriage had left the front gate of the ranch and was now on Milk Road. It wasn't till they were just getting into Termina field when Romani started talking. "Umm, Link… do you think you and I will ever… you know…" she asked quietly. Link didn't quite catch what she was implying.

"That you and I will what?" he asked mindlessly, just quickly glancing over to her to see her face extremely red. It hasn't been that red since they first confessed their feeling for one another 3 years ago. He then realized exactly what she was implying then, and his face then turned just as red as hers. "Oh… I um… don't know… I mean do you want to… someday?" he asked. Romani tried saying something but she just nodded with a small, genuine smile. Link suddenly felt his heart racing and his breath weak like he had just ran a mile. He now had no idea what to say next. "Well then… when do you want to…" he began asking but trailing off with each word.

"I… um… don't know." Romani replied, her heart racing. "Maybe we can talk about it with Cremia soon." She suggested, trying to get off this topic for she was becoming extremely uncomfortable. Link licked his lips in nervousness, and nodded.

"Okay… that uh, sounds like a plan." He said, ending the conversation with a smile as the carriage came up to the East Gate.

…

Cremia sat down besides one of the cows and just began stroking its side gently. I wonder if that little joke got them thinking like it did for Anju and Kafei? She thought to herself, smiling. She sat there in silence, just patting the one cow that happened to be in the barn. All the others were too frazzled to go in tonight so they stayed outside in the ranch field. Just this one cow had decided to go in, and of course it was the oldest of them all; Cremia was starting to wonder about this particular cow lately since it was showing signs of being ready to 'pass on'.

"It's okay girl…" Cremia said as she comforted the old cow, but her thoughts were elsewhere, namely on Link. Cremia closed her eyes and pictured the young boy she met 4 years ago and the fine young man he was now. The cow then nuzzled against Cremia, breaking her thought. "Oh, I get it. You know what I'm thinking of, right… Mother?" she asked the cow as she placed her head on the cow's short hair. "You know that I'm thinking of him, don't you? You know that Link reminds me a lot of Kafei." She spoke mindlessly to the cow. Cremia just smiled as her mind just wandered and she rambled on. ."He's just like Kafei when we were younger. I remember those days… just me, Kafei, and Anju. The three of us were known as trouble-makers at times. Oh, how many times we were scolded by our parents for the trouble we caused! But we were inseparable. As we grew older I found myself falling for that boy. Always so calm, cool, and brave. Whenever either I or Anju were in trouble from being beaten by whoever was going to scold us he stood in front and took it all as if it was entirely his fault, when often enough it was myself that planned the mischief. But soon Mother died giving birth to Romani, and Father named the newborn after our mother, and we then moved to the empty ranch that once belonged to some friend of Mother's. I then worked full-time for the ranch and didn't go into town that often but when I did I could see that Anju and Kafei were becoming an item, but they didn't yet confess it to each other… not until I confronted Kafei and told him I loved him… but he turned me down for Anju… I was so angry, but not as much I wanted to be. I accepted it more than I wanted to. Then came that one year... the year that horrible moon appeared in the sky, and Kafei seemed to have disappeared. Those two had announced their engagement earlier in the year, and Anju asked me to be Maid of Honor… I was taken back, but I was skeptical of that moon. I think I almost wanted it to fall on that wedding and just ruin it out of my behalf. But then Link appeared just two days before the Carnival and helped us when we needed it, even though we didn't even know what was coming, he just already knew. I still don't understand how he did. When I saw him I just saw a young Kafei all over again. Much like Kafei; he was so calm and cool about everything. I even hugged him when he saved me… I didn't know why I did, I just did. Perhaps that was the reason; I had fallen for him then. But whenever I looked at him and Romani together I just get the same feeling that I did with Kafei and Anju… they were meant for each other." Tears rolled down Cremia's face as she just let all this out.

"It just seems like I'm just destined to be over-looked, not to be loved by anyone!" She yelled out-loud to the near-empty barn. "WHY am I not allowed to fall in love?! Is it something I have done or haven't done in my life?! Why am I only allowed to just pin-point people who are destined for each other before they realize it themselves?" she cried, rubbing her face into her hands. "Sometime I just want to die." She mumbled to herself. "But… what would I be getting out of my death?" she suddenly asked herself. "I most certainly won't be happy in the after-life. I'll just be dead with regrets of things I never obtained in my life. It'll be just a waste." She said to herself, realizing what she was saying was true.

She sighed deeply and wiped away her tears and stood up. "Maybe I need some sleep…" she said with a yawn as she walked towards the door. Before she reached the door she heard the sounds of hooves just outside the barn. "Oh, looks like Link and Romani are back." She commented out loud as reached for the doorknob. When her hand was finally on it, she heard a loud click, and immediately her heart sank into her gut. She jiggled at the knob to find it locked; she then looked towards the double doors and tried opening them to find them locked as well. Suddenly she heard two voices laughing and pressed an ear against the door, to instantly recognize the voices… the Gorman Brothers.

Author's Note: MUHAHAHA! Cliff-hanger! What will happen to our dear Cremia now? And can Link and Romani possibly save her before The Gorman Brothers can succeed in their evil deed? FIND OUT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! …Whenever I decide to write/post it.