Here's the next chapter. It's been sitting on my hard drive for a while now, and I was not completely happy with it. I think I am now, though. Only thing is...I may not have completely proofread it for spelling errors. I don't remember, but it should be mostly good. I edit and reedit my stories a lot. I just wanted to post it already. Thank you to Pollobarca for the message. Now that I know for sure that someone is reading it, I'll try really hard to post more regularly. I almost have the next chapter done, too and have planned out exactly what will happen for the rest of the story. So here we go.
Despite their initial impressions of each other, Link and Yttriu actually manage to become good friends over the course of the next three months. He stays behind in the past this long to protect everyone from Ethios, who he is not sure has given up quite yet despite there not being any action. Besides befriending the Hero, he spends a lot of time with Cremia and helps out more than Link himself. He even drags the oldest ranch sister out to Clock Town to hang out with Kafei and Anju quite a few times each week. For the first time in maybe forever she does not solely think about the ranch and has managed to have a lot of fun and enjoy life. To some they credit this to the young man who showed up out of nowhere. If he heard that, though, he would only flail in embarrassment. Her feelings on the man she is unsure of herself, but she does know that she cares about him, just not at all in the romantic sense. Something else about him makes that seem weird, but she has no idea what it is.
Her younger sister meanwhile manages to only get closer to her new secret beau. Trips to run errands turn into trips to spend time alone away from her sister, and both she and Link enjoy that time to the fullest. Usually they just end up talking, but sometimes it becomes more physical than that. Being young and with their first love, at times keeping themselves under control is hard, but they manage to do it. No matter how secret they think they are being, though, Cremia is far from stupid. She was their age once, and even if she never had a relationship like that, she remembers her two friends and her own fantasies. This isn't helped at all by the fact she saw them on the roof of the inn when she wasn't supposed to, but Yttriu has already messed so many things up. He stopped worrying about it, and she was left to try and play the role of the clueless older sister.
The two who know nothing of Yttriu's true identity or goal here continue their peaceful lives (as peaceful as it can be living with her mother, dealing with his parents, and getting ready for parenthood). Madame Aroma and Mayor Dotour seem to have laid off of their son and his ambition to run his own shop rather than the city or the postal service. Anju's mother Dara, however, does not lay off of her son-in-law, which is the only part about life at the inn that neither can stand. Thanks to Yttriu and Cremia visiting, both have been able to get out and away from their families enough to not go totally crazy.
Before anyone can grasp how quickly the months have flown by, it is already time for the sister and best friend of Cremia to be celebrating their birthdays. The special days of the two are only a week apart, and so Cremia has taken it upon herself to throw one big party for them both at once. Romani knows the gala is for her and has even been helping out as much as Link and Cremia will let her. Anju, though, is kept in the dark, thinking it will just be a small gathering of close friends to celebrate Romani's b-day since hers comes first. Kafei manages to keep the charade up in order to make sure his wife is surprised on that night. It may seem strange that the gang only plans the party to be a surprise for one of them, but Romani has always pronounced how much she hates parties like that. Link tried throwing her one against Cremia's warnings when she turned thirteen, and he quickly learned to take Cremia seriously when she shares her words of wisdom. Despite the fact she knows about it, Romani is looking very much forward to the night nonetheless.
The seasons also change from the start of spring the the beginning of summer so the the days become longer, warmer, and sometimes even thick with humidity. This evening is no exception as Cremia, Yttriu, and Link run around outside trying to put the finishing touches on the gathering, for once forcing Romani to sit back and watch them rather than lending a hand. She takes the opportunity and relaxes on the crate sitting in front of the house, staring up at the stars. Even though it is warm or because of that fact, the sky is as clear as it can be. Trying not to be obvious about it, Link keeps glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.
Cremia gave Kafei and Anju specific instructions on what time to arrive, and that moment is quickly approaching hence everyone running around like madmen. Since she doesn't want them walking here and because they have no other means of transportation, Cremia sent Grog from the Cucco Shack with her wagon to pick them up. Putting even more pressure on poor Cremia, everyone she invited is hiding out behind the ranch house, waiting for their cue to come on out. Since she invited pretty much everyone they know, the group is not only large but is getting kind of rowdy having to huddle together for so long. At least, that's how they all seemed the last time she checked on them, which was probably ten minutes ago already. Who knows how they are now she thinks to herself in worry.
"Yoo-hoo, Cremia," a voice interrupts her spacing out. A hand also waves in her face, and her eyes focus on Yttriu. "You okay?"
"Yeah. Sorry. I was just thinking. I hope everything turns out alright."
"Don't you remember where I'm from?" She looks clueless. "I wasn't there, but I do know that this party turned out great, and everyone had a good time."
"How do you know that if you weren't there?"
"I heard things. Some of the people at the party knew my family. In the world I come from, sometimes the only bright spot of the day can be remembering the past."
"Things are really that bad?" He looks down, not wanting to let her see his true emotions. In that dark place, he lost not only his parents but everyone else he loved except his three friends. They are the only resistance now.
"Yes, they are. But that's why I'm here to make sure it doesn't happen again."
"Why are you two standing around?" They look at Link. "You've been nagging us to hurry up, and now you're standing there, too."
"Sorry," they both say as they begin to race around yet again. He gives them a weird look, and Romani can't help giggling at the scene.
Luckily for her sanity and stress level, the trio finishes just as they hear hooves in the distance. The three go stand by Romani, who remains seated (it is her birthday, after all). Link finds it hard to keep even a little bit of distance but reminds himself of what he has planned for later. Grog's figure holding the reigns barely comes into view along with Kafei on his right and Anju on his left. Knowing him he has been quiet the whole ride, but hopefully things weren't awkwardly silent. The ones on the wagon are greeted by quite a sight of decorations, lighted torches, and tables of food that are too much for a small gathering between close friends. Kafei gets up and hops down, going around to the other side to help his wife. Grog hops on down himself and doesn't wait for the other two before walking over to his friends. She takes a little bit longer than the guys, but once safely on the ground, they head over hand in hand. Cremia walks away from her spot and meets them part way about five feet from the others.
"Hey, guys," she greets friendlily. "You made it on time."
"Well, you did seem pretty serious," Kafei answers, secretly knowing the truth.
"Did I really sound that way? I'm sorry." Kafei kind of laughs.
"Why are you always apologizing?"
"I'm so-"
"Cremia. Stop." Her sentence ceases, and from behind where she can't see, Yttriu kind of smiles, too.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Come on over already." They begin walking, and the nagging question Anju has had since they pulled up in the wagon finally voices itself.
"I don't mean to sound rude, but what exactly is all of this?" Link takes his cue at that and turns around to holler at everyone to come out. Relieved to be free again, the majority of the inhabitants of Clock Town pour out from behind the building like water through a broken dam. Before the center of the surprise can realize it, they have grouped themselves around the others. That's when it finally seems to click.
"Happy surprise birthday," her best friend announces happily. The others say loudly the same thing but they say Romani's name, too. She almost waves them off like whatever, not too much into the whole party thing, but she doesn't because she knows how much work her sister has put in tonight. Anju, however, is more humbled at the gesture.
"Thank you," she starts, not sure how else to express her gratitude fully. "But you really didn't need to go to all the trouble."
"Oh, it was no trouble." Link and Yttriu cough at that but garner no real attention. "Don't worry about it. Now let's all have some fun, shall we?"
And thus the two-in-one party commences, starting off with the food. Once everyone has waited in line and gathered a loaded plate full, they stand around mingling and munching. Cremia somehow managed to snag the Indigo-Gos to play a gig, but they won't be here for a little bit yet, leaving lots of time to talk and hang out. Cremia and Yttriu stick with their usual two friends while Link tries to mingle. It has been a while since he saw a lot of them, and he'd like to catch up. Romani, though, is left to either try and mingle as well or be all by herself at her own party. Tonight she just doesn't have that spark that makes her a people person, all too willing to chat anyone's ear off about anything and everything. It was the same the night of the carnival, where she practically avoided socializing. The only reason she talked then was it was a small group and she kind of had to. Then Link dragged her away, unlike right now while he is enjoying his two minute conversations with people. She looks over at her sister and the other three, wishing she was having as much as fun as them.
With a silent sigh, she heads over to get something to munch on. She didn't approach the tables earlier since the other guests created a stampede in their rush for food. Luckily there is still enough of a selection left to please her, and when she is done, she takes her plate and cup and goes off to stand by the crate. On the upside it acts as a good place to set her food on while she eats casually and watches everyone else. It would be more amusing if Cremia broke out the drinks, but knowing her sister, she won't do that until later, if at all. The two people this party is celebrating wouldn't be able to enjoy it so it also wouldn't be very nice to leave them out. At least the food is good, she thinks.
"Hey, what are you doing all by yourself?" Startled out of her thoughts, she looks up at Link, who is in front of her now.
"Eating," she answers simply. He also detects a hint of sarcasm.
"When you're done, why don't you come over and talk to the others?"
"Maybe." He watches her continue to eat silently and wonders what's wrong. She should be having a good time since this is her birthday party.
His attention then goes to some guests who are arriving a little bit late. Just as quickly he realizes they are not just guests but the band Cremia managed to book. This also means he will have to disappear for a bit so he can perform with them. It became common knowledge that Mikau, the lead guitarist, had perished trying to save the seven eggs Lulu laid. It also was revealed that they were his as well. Despite this, with Link in possession of the Zora Mask, he could transform into the likeness of Mikau, which he did a few times during in his initial adventure to save this land from the falling moon. He also snuck into some practice sessions before the band knew Mikau was dead. They eventually discovered the truth behind the mask and invited him to perform alongside the band when ever he wanted, using the rouse of being a long lost brother to Mikau who just happened to look very similar to his sibling. While he enjoys sometimes keeping up appearances, he doesn't really want to leave her when she is acting like this. He goes to say her name, but she tries to say his at the same time. Her first response is to try and act like she wasn't about to ask something and tries to force him to speak, but he doesn't let her. She doesn't look up from her food, continuing to be unlike the girl he knows.
"When are we going to stop running around and hiding from everybody?"
"What do you mean?" He pretends to be confused.
"You know what I mean."
"But you're the one who didn't want your sister to find out."
"And you're the one who makes up stupid excuses whenever they catch us or ask questions."
"I thought that's what you wanted."
"You never asked what I wanted."
"Why are you being such a girl right now?" She looks up, angry this time.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sensing a fight coming on, he tries to think of some way to back out of it and avoid pissing her off worse.
"Nothing. Look, we can tell the others tonight then if you really want to."
"But then that would put the spotlight on us and away from Anju."
"It's your party, too. Besides, I don't think she would mind." Because that is true, Romani silently agrees. "I just have one stipulation. You need to start acting like the girl I know and not this new depressive thing you're decided to try." The way he phrases that makes her smile, and she even laughs a little bit when answering him.
"Deal." He reaches out his hand, which she only stares at.
"We have to shake on it first." She takes his hand, and they shake.
"Alright, Grasshopper. But you owe me a dance later."
"Sounds good." She goes to move away and take her hand, but he doesn't let her go. Instead, he pulls her to him and silences her question with a short kiss. "I hope that holds you for now." She swats at him.
"Go already. The band's waiting to start, you know." Without another word, he does as commanded. She grabs her plate then and starts to walk toward her sister and the others. Yttriu sees her coming and flashes a smile her way, which makes her feel welcome when she stops at the group of four.
The band starts up, leading off with their hit "Ballad of the Windfish." The music and Lulu's exceptional voice fill the entire ranch, and some people start to sway slowly to the song. Romani finds it odd they would start with such a slow song to kick off the evening, but she enjoys the music nonetheless. When it's over, the band starts up again almost right away, this time with a much faster uptempo piece. The ones who were swaying softly adjust their dancing, and more guests join in. Unfortunately for the youngest ranch sister, the pairs she are with are some of those people. Yttriu asks Cremia in more of a joking manner, and she accepts with the same humor in her tone. That leaves Kafei to ask Anju, but her response is one of embarrassment. To Kafei this doesn't matter, and when he takes her hand, she has no choice but to follow when he walks out into the mass of people. Poor Romani is then left by herself again. Her secret boyfriend, who is also secretly the lead guitarist for the most amazing band in this country, she won't have the chance to dance with. Even if they do reveal their relationship to everyone, he still has to play along with the band. The closest thing she can get is to go stand as close by where they are performing as possible, and that is what she does.
Above the happy gathering watching from the roof of the ranch house, a dark figure cannot help but smirking. She figured she would find him here having fun with the others because if there is one thing he is good at, it is enjoying the party. It does look rather inviting, she has to admit, and from what she knows in the place she comes from, this party was a night to remember for all involved. Besides, standing up here alone with her arms crossed is not as much fun as it was five minutes ago when she first got here. These thoughts in mind, she jumps quietly off and lands behind the house, already able to picture the look on his face when she taps his shoulder. Before heading out into the crowd, she runs her hands through her hair, making sure the reddish brown mess looks somewhat presentable. It couldn't help getting messed up on the journey here (time travel is never easy, even for someone who has mastered magic to the degree she has). Her escape from that place was also a last-minute thing what with running away from yet another of the minions belonging to the Dark One. Deciding she looks the best she can, she tries to calm the nerves that suddenly decided to cause her heart to speed up. The young man she came here to once again meet up with is not the cause of this as they have been friends since their parents placed them in the same room. The real reason she doesn't dwell on as she walks out toward the people.
At the same time, the band concludes their song, and the couples break apart either in preparation for the next dance or because they want to sit this one out. Yttriu offers to get both he and Cremia something to drink and leaves her to head for the refreshments table. As he pours two cups of juice, he does not sense the presence of someone approaching from behind. In fact, when she taps him on the shoulder, he jumps and almost drops the cups. When she laughs, he realizes who it is and spins around with the intent to hug his closest friend. The humor of his actions shows itself in her magenta eyes. He also realizes that he is finally taller than her if only by a fraction of an inch. Despite being messy, her hair falls neatly on her shoulders, and he realizes how much he has missed home. Before she can poke him for being so easily startled, his arms are around her in the tightest hug. At first it is nice, but she soon needs oxygen again.
"Kaz...can't breathe..."
"Oops! Sorry." He releases his death grip and moves away, his hands nervously at his sides playing with his sleeves. "So what are you doing here, Téa?"
"Simple. I came to make sure you didn't mess things up."
"You guys trust me that much, huh?"
"We'd all still like to be born, ya know."
"You don't have to worry about that. Everything here is going right on schedule."
"And what about Ethios then? Did you take care of him?"
"More like he took care of us. Didn't you guys sense him going back into the future?"
"Yeah, but we weren't sure of the specifics, of course."
"You know I would have come back right away if something had gone wrong." She doesn't answer because it is true. "So why are you really here? I know it isn't just to see me."
"Has anything odd happened lately?"
"What do you mean by odd?"
"I don't know exactly. Ethios disappeared again, and none of us are sure if he came back or not. By now he must realize he didn't finish the job or else the future would be different."
"I've been thinking about that lately actually," he says seriously. "If our actions now really do alter anything, then why hasn't the future changed as well?"
"Maybe it's because you haven't completed your goal yet."
"No, I think it's more than that. I think our future and the future of this time are different now. It's like they split off. I just don't know why it happened. It seems like something major would have to cause it, you know?"
"I think you're crazy."
"No, I'm not. Think about it for a second. Maybe by playing with time and space and going back and fourth we've messed things up."
"You're assuming we could affect the flow of time the Goddesses created. I doubt we have that much power."
"Then someone else does. That has to be it." It all clicks in his head, but she remains skeptical of his hypothesis. Then again, they do not know very much about time travel aside from how to do it even if they have been studying that idea along with others for the last ten years. "But hey," he suddenly says lightheartedly. "We don't need to worry about that tonight and let all the fun go to waste." She laughs a bit.
"You would say that."
"Come on then." He loops his arm with hers and begins to drag her over to where everyone is, forgetting the cups behind. By now the band is playing a quick song again, which most people are enjoying by way of moving to its beat, including Cremia's two friends though the couple is a little more awkward than the others. Romani is apparently dancing with someone now, too, namely the ex-leader of the Bombers who has managed to mature quite a bit aside from still being shorter than her. When he asked, she accepted to both be polite and to have some fun. The youngest ranch sister has a penchant for dancing as long as it is not a slow dance. Cremia waits patiently for him to return with their drinks, watching the others in the mean time. Just as they approach, she finally turns around to see what's taking him so long. The sight surprises her.
"Cremia, sorry I took so long, but a friend of mine showed up."
"A friend? Is she from the future, too?" Téa glances at him, and he chuckles nervously.
"Yeah. This is Téa." The red head extends her hand, and the other young woman takes it, not surprised he let that secret about himself slip.
"It's nice to meet you."
"Oh, we've met before."
"Of course." She pulls her hand away, and it is obvious she is trying to comprehend this situation. "I'm sorry. Sometimes it just seems a little strange that people can travel through time."
"It's alright. I don't blame you. Up until ten years ago Kaz and I wouldn't have believed it either."
"Who's that?" she asks in confusion.
"You didn't tell her your real name?" Téa looks at him.
"Well, I was trying to pose as the Yttriu they knew. That was my plan, remember?"
"I can see you've done a bang-up job sticking with your plan."
"So your name is really Kaz?" Cremia asks, not even paying attention to their little fight.
"It's Kazuki actually." That surprises her, but she doesn't get a chance to say anything about it before Téa notices yet another stranger approaching off in the distance. Kazuki looks as well, and they both proceed to panic. "What's he doing here?"
"Who?" Cremia strains to see who they see, but she can't make him out from this far away. The other two have the benefit of being able to sense him thanks to their intense study of chi. Why they did not notice until now is probably because they were too involved in their reunion, which both curse to themselves about.
"If he introduces himself to anyone, especially Kafei or Anju, then I'm in a lot of trouble."
"Why?" she presses further. They ignore her.
"Go hide somewhere then." Téa shoves him towards the barn, and he scrambles away, wondering what in the world that man is doing here on this night. She talks aloud to herself, mumbling, "I think he was right about the timelines...what could have happened to change things so much?"
"Who is that?" She looks at Cremia finally.
"It's the real Yttriu. He isn't supposed to be here for another two weeks."
"What do you mean not supposed to here?" Again, her question goes unanswered.
The song stops, and the band breaks apart to take five. The people also move away from being such a huddled mass while the lead guitarist quietly sneaks off into the shadows. After making sure no one is watching, Romani follows him behind the barn, hoping they can have a quiet few minutes together, maybe even dance a little despite no music. With him she wouldn't mind slow dancing, especially since he promised her one. The man gets close enough for Cremia to finally see, and she cannot help but notice how much he looks like the one from the future he is apparently related to. She also cannot help but find him to be quite handsome. He seems to target them and moves around the various people to reach their position. On his back is a large bag, and stubble is present on his chin. He appears to have been traveling for a few days, but he luckily does not smell like it.
"Hello there," he starts off. "I was wondering where I could find the owner of this ranch."
"That would be me," Cremia answers in somewhat of a small voice.
"Really? I thought it was a man by the name of Lord Byron."
"That was my father. He passed away several years ago."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"Why did you want to see my father?"
"Well, you see, I used to live in this country until my family moved away, but I've recently decided to return and was hoping I could be of some help here. I don't know anyone else, and since this ranch was on my way into town, I decided to stop by and inquire."
"So you remember my father but not me?" He looks confused.
"I'm sorry, but I was barely five years old when my father moved us far away. I honestly wasn't even sure if I was getting your father's name right or not."
"Well then, we should introduce ourselves. My name is Cremia." He smiles and extends his hand.
"My name is Yttriu Agri. Nice to remeet you." She takes his hand with his smirk.
"I'm pretty sure that isn't a word." He laughs a bit.
"I was never very good at language in school. I'm sorry."
"Neither is my little sister. It's alright. But I should also introduce you to Téa." She looks to find the girl who was next to her, only to find that she is gone. "Where in the world did she go?"
"I didn't see anyone there." That being really perplexing, she shakes it off for now and decides Téa probably went to hide with Kazuki.
"Well, why don't you put your things down somewhere?"
"Is that okay?"
"Of course. In case you couldn't tell, we're having a party tonight. You're more than welcome to join us."
"What's the occasion?"
"It's my little sister and my best friend's birthday."
"Sounds like fun. And I will take the offer to put my things down. Where should I do that?"
"Here. Follow me to the house, and then I can go introduce you to Kafei and Anju and then maybe Link and my sister Romani if I can find them."
The two head on over to the ranch house, and he drops his stuff just inside the door. As he does this, Cremia remembers the two who pulled a vanishing act and decides to go see what the big deal is. She suggests he wash up since he was traveling and all. Not taking any offense to this, he agrees and follows her instructions while she heads next door. As soon as she opens the door, they both look up. She was right about Téa skulking off, she notes. She shuts the door behind her and walks over.
"So guys, what's the big deal about Yttriu?"
"What do you mean what's the big deal?" he asks, sounding annoyed. Then he feels bad and quickly apologizes, failing to meet her gaze. "I'm sorry. It's just with him here, I can no longer pose as him and see our plan through."
"What plan?" Neither says a word, and she gets kind of irritated, but she keeps it hidden. "Please be honest with me. After all, I have been a party to your plan for the past three months now." He looks to Téa, and she shakes her head no. He decides to ignore her.
"I told you the future we come from is a dark place," he starts.
"Kazuki, don't. She doesn't need to know." He looks at her.
"Yes, she does." She still glares at her friend, but when he makes up his mind about something, there is nothing anyone, even she, can do to stop him. "I cannot go into extreme details, but we discovered that the evil pervading our home extends much further than just Termina and Link's homeland of Hyrule. With no one to fight against it, it had time to gather followers and become as dark and powerful as it did. The one who attacked Link three months ago was not only a follower but the evil one's main apprentice. I followed him here to ensure he did not harm Link or your sister or even anyone else he perceived a threat."
"Why did you stay then? You said he left for where you both came from." He does not answer right away, his true motive unable to be spoken aloud. Téa looks almost sadly at him. After all, part of why she came back was the same reason he has stayed.
"You would not believe me if I told you."
"Don't pull that. I've believed everything else you've said."
"You'll find out soon. I just need you to continue to trust me. I wouldn't do anything to harm anyone here. In the future a lot of you are practically our family."
"So you know us?"
"Not many people were left when they first struck. It was easy for those who escaped to band together as a close group."
"So when do we all meet then?"
"I said I couldn't go into too many details. What we need to do now is figure out what to do about Yttriu and me."
"And me," Téa adds. "I don't want to mingle with anyone here. As Kaz has already proven, it's a bad idea." He lightly glares at her but concedes she is right. For now Cremia forces herself to forget about the seriousness of what was just revealed and fix this tiny issue. Then she'll have more time to try and pry more information from him.
"Well, I suppose I could just tell everyone that you were an imposter and when I confronted you, you stole some of our possessions before fleeing."
"I don't want to be a thief," he whines.
"Get over it, Kaz. It's a good idea. And since no one saw me in the first place, you don't have to worry about making up a story for me." While the two girls consult each other on the details, he stands there looking mad at them both. The last thing he would ever think about doing is robbing anyone. Unless, of course, that person was trying to harm him or his friends. He would least of all ever think about stealing from the ranch. Everyone here thought he was a pretty cool guy, and now they will all see him as a thug who only had selfish motives in mind. That part is what is most disconcerting to him.
"Fine. I guess it's the only way. But that doesn't mean I like it."
"Good boy," Téa says as she pats his head. He frowns again, and Cremia cannot help but laughing at the pair.
Then, since the decision has been made and the plans are agreed on by all, the ranch owner bids farewell for the night. Before she can head for the door, however, it opens from the other end. Everyone freezes as Yttriu steps inside, shutting the door behind him. His face registers shock as well when he sees them all standing there, but Kazuki acts without thinking. Before anyone can realize it, Yttriu falls back onto the barn floor completely unconscious. As Téa begins to scold him, Cremia gasps and goes to see if the man is okay. Kazuki only looks at his own fist and curses himself.
Alright, I promise I will not introduce any more original characters that are important or semi-important. Also, I took liberties with Anju's mom's name. It was never mentioned in game, and though some speculate it might be Gampy (as said to her mom by her grandma), I think that was her dead husband's name or pet name. Who knows though? The woman may or may not have been completely senile so...oh well. I like the name I chose. It fits to me. Hope you liked this chapter, and see you next time.