I had lived in Ordon almost all my life. Rusl had once told me that I had arrived there when I was just a baby. My mother had arrived in the village with me in her arms. She was dying and she had asked him to take care of me. Since then, he had raised me like his own son. My mother had died too soon to tell him my name or anything about me... Uly and him had just married and they weren't quite ready to have a child, but they had accepted to take care of me and to love me as their own. Uly was only seventeen years old when she had adopted me… Amelia surely was around that age too... It seemed funny to me to imagine Amelia getting married so young. She was so innocent and naive… Rusl was twenty-two when he had found me, which is three years older than I was that day.
In fact, that day, we were celebrating the nineteenth year that I had lived in Ordon…
A few weeks ago, it was Amelia's first year among us. We had decided to wait and to celebrate my birthday at the same time than hers. The entire village had prepared an enormous party for the occasion. There was going to have a big camp fire and enough whine for everyone.
"Why wouldn't you come over tonight, hum? I'll cook your favourite soup!" told me Uly while I was heading to the farm with Epona. Even though it was my birthday, Fado had asked me to help him with the goats...
"Hum… Actually… I invited Amelia to have dinner with me…" I replied, embarrassed.
"Well she can come too! There is no problem with that!"
"Hum… I was expecting to be…alone… with her…"
It was very embarrassing. Even after six months of relationship with Amelia, I hadn't told my parents about it.
"Oh… I see. Well… I'll see you tonight!" She replied, confused.
I hurried to finish my job at the farm because I had to clean my house and to start cooking… I wanted Amelia to spend quality time with me, so everything had to be perfect. I wanted to prepare a great meal for her, but since I wasn't a great cook, I had to ask Uly for her recipes. I knocked at her door and waited. Uly opened it and closed it right away before I could come in.
"It's Link!" I heard her say through the door. …They were probably preparing a surprise for tonight… I waited there for a moment before she came back.
"Hi, sweaty!" She said, breathless.
"Hi… can I come in?"
"No…no you can't!"
"Hi Link!" said Amelia, who was probably hiding inside.
"Hi, Amelia… What are you doing here?" I asked, laughing at the situation.
"She is … hum… busy right now!" Answered Uly in her stead.
"I see… Look, hum… I just wanted to know if I could borrow you one of your recipes for tonight" I whispered to her. I didn't want Amelia to know I needed help for cooking a simple meal.
"Alright, just wait here!" she replied, impatient to see me leave. I knew I was bothering her and that she was probably really busy, but in a way… I thought it was funny to stress her out a little. She closed the door, but a few seconds later, Amelia opened it back, only showing her head in the doorway.
"Hi!" she whispered.
"Hi… why are we whispering?"
"Uly doesn't want me to show you my new dress before the dinner… She must not know we are talking!"
"Oh I see… It is a surprise?"
"Yes it is… She wants me to be pretty for you. I think she guest about us…"
"Don't worry, it doesn't matter… And you are always pretty…"
"Thanks" she replied, blushing. "I'll see you tonight!"
She closed the door quietly and I waited there for another couple of minutes before Uly finally gave me her recipe. I thanked her and ran to my house to start the preparations.
I lit the candles and laid the table. I had cleaned everything in the house and the meal was almost done when Amelia arrived. She knocked at the door and when I opened it, I couldn't believe my eyes. I had never seen her so beautiful before. There were ribbons in her red hair and she was wearing a pretty blue dress and black ballerina's shoes. She wasn't just charming… she was stunning. She was so stunning that I couldn't find the right words to tell her. She was smiling at me, looking excited for tonight, and I was just standing there, amazed and looking like an idiot.
"Hum… You are… hum… You are very…"
"Thank you!" She simply replied, guessing what I was about to say.
"Well… Come in!"
As I closed the door, I took a second to get a grip on myself. I didn't want to look stupid again. Alright, she was very pretty. Very very pretty… But I had to stay calm.
"It smells so good!" She said, still smiling like an angel.
"Thanks! I hope it'll taste as good!"
She chuckled. She was always laughing a lot. She had such an adorable laugh…
We ate together and talked for hours. I told her about my real mother and how I had ended up here. I told her almost everything about me. Almost… Of course, I didn't want to tell her about the fact that I had been chosen by the goddesses to save Hyrule from a great villain who had been trying to destroy our world of light and the world of twilight… I think it would have been inappropriate. And she just wouldn't have believed me… We also talked about her friendship with Ilia. Amelia told me that since she had moved in her new house, they were getting on pretty well. Ilia was probably just tired to sleep on the couch…
At one point though, she became thoughtful and I was getting worried. When I asked her what was wrong, she confessed to me that she had had some nightmares. She didn't know what they meant, but she said that they were pretty disturbing. I started to feel bad for her, so I decided to give her my present to change her mind. I handed her the box I had wrapped with care.
"This is for you… I hope you will like it…" I said, shyly.
She smiled at me and blushed a little.
"Thanks…"
She opened it and admired the necklace I had given her. She looked frightened and embarrassed.
"But… I only bought you a bottle of milk…" She said, sadly.
I started to laugh and smiled at her.
"You didn't even have to give me a present!" I told her, guessing that her reaction meant that she liked my present.
"… I gave you this because… it belonged to my mother" I continued, whispering. I was embarrassed to open my heart so widely.
"Uly had taken it from her after she died… when she gave it back to me, I had sworn to myself that I would only give it to… to someone I really loved."
She froze. I thought I probably had been too far… and way too fast.
"I mean… I don't want to marry you! Hum… Well yes I do but… not now! Just... I was just telling you that because I..." I obviously looked like a poor idiot.
Did she love me?
Did she love me as much as I loved her?
We had never told each other those words…
"I love you…" I said desperately. I bit my tongue as soon as I finished my sentence. What had I just said?
She looked at me in the eyes for a long moment. She seemed disturbed and confused, and I was feeling like a moron. She took the necklace in her hands and looked back at me. She smiled and put the necklace on the table. She ran to me and kissed me passionately. I think this meant that she loved me too…
Later that night, we went to the party. All night long, we danced together, looking in each other's eyes.
Rusl had asked me to wear my green tunic. He had never known everything about my secret, but he sure knew more than the others since he had helped me in my quests.
"We can't celebrate your heroic acts with our friends if you want to keep it a secret… but we sure can have a thought about it tonight", he had told me to convince me to wear it.
Amelia and I spent the whole evening with each other. We didn't care about the others… Everything that mattered to me was her. And that night, she had been all mine…
But then, the time had come to go to bed.
I followed her to her house and kissed her tenderly.
"I love you, Link…"she told me with a smile. She was wearing the necklace and it was making her look even more beautiful.
"I love you too, Amelia…. Have a good night."
We kissed again and I went to my house.
That night, I slept like a baby. I probably was the happiest man of the world since I was convinced that I had found the girl of my dreams. I dreamt about Amelia all night long. I had thousands of beautiful dreams where I was seeing me marrying her… My life finally had a meaning.
When I woke up the next morning, I quickly got out of bed. Even though I was exhausted because of the party, I wanted to see her again. I wanted to kiss her again. I ran in the kitchen and I saw the necklace I had given Amelia last evening… I was surprised. I thought she was wearing it before going back home…
I took the necklace and I saw an envelop on the table. My name was written on it. I opened it and read it.
My dear Link,
Thanks for everything.
I love you.
Please forgive me.
And please, don't look for me.
I am sorry,
Amelia
I dropped the letter on the floor. I couldn't understand.
After looking everywhere for her, it finally became clear to me.
She was gone.
She was gone forever.
And she would never come back.
