Chapter Nine: Life on the Ranch

I spent the next three days visiting with people I'd helped during my earlier stay in Termina while Sheik and I waited for the night of the Festival when the Door to Time would open for us. It really did my heart good to see how even the smallest kindness I'd offered to some of them had changed their lives for the better. The people I'd gone out of my way to help were even more pleased to see me again.

It also gave me a little more time to rest and recover—I was still weak from the wound on my hand, my body was still fighting off the dark powers. I could only hope that I would be better by the time we had to leave.

The last day before the day of the Festival, Anju and Kafei wanted me to go to the one place I had avoided—Romani Ranch. I'd been happy to help Cremia and Romani during my previous stay, but I honestly didn't feel like seeing the two of them again now. They reminded me of Malon too much—and while I hadn't really loved Malon, she had been a dear friend to me in the past.

That past was forever forbidden to me now—Malon had probably died decades before I returned to Hyrule to begin my new life in Ordon. It was something I had tried not to think about too often, the fact that most of the people I'd known as a child were long gone.

"Is something wrong?" Kafei asked. "I thought you were friends with Romani—she's spoken about you quite a lot."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes," Anju smiled. "She's very grateful for your help, grasshopper."

I couldn't stop a slight redness from creeping into my face. What is it with those girls and their nicknames for me? First "fairy boy" from Malon and then "grasshopper" from Romani... I felt an ache in my chest at the remembrance of Malon's nickname for me. She'd been entirely wrong about me, though it was hardly her fault. I wasn't really one of the fairy children.

Sheik came up behind me and clapped a hand on my shoulder. I turned to meet his gaze and he nodded. "It might do you good to speak with her, Link. Perhaps it will actually lessen your sadness..."

I turned away, and met the eyes of Anju and Kafei's seven year old son. He stood behind his mother, smiling at me even though I barely knew him at all, having met him only three days before when I first woke up from my feverish sleep.

"Romani misses you," he said. "Don't you miss Romani, too?"

I couldn't help but smile at him and nod. "Yes," I said, finally. "I... I guess I do." Romani was not Malon. I just had to remind myself of that—Romani was a good friend, too, and she was very much alive.

And she... missed me.

That still didn't make seeing her again for the first time in nine years any less of a jolt. The look that crossed her face—it was just like Malon's had been when she finally recognized me as the "fairy boy" she'd met before after I saved her and Epona from Mr. Ingo. I was still shaking off the memory when she ran to me and threw her arms around me in a warm embrace.

I tried to return it, but she must've felt that my whole heart wasn't there because she pulled away with a confused look on her face. Then she broke into a grin. "You haven't changed a bit, have you? Come on, grasshopper... We've all got a lot to talk about, I'm sure."

And so, we all ate dinner together, shared stories, smiles, and laughter... And at dusk, when everyone else was turning in, I went outside to gaze up at the stars where—maybe, just maybe—my friends were waiting for me, too.

I wasn't expecting anyone to join me, but Romani did. I heard her walking up behind me long before she spoke—and, somehow, I knew it was her the moment I heard her footsteps.

"Thinking about something, grasshopper?" She asked, waiting patiently for me to respond.

"Yeah," I said, after a while. "...Someone, actually."

Romani sat down next to me on the grass and pulled her knees up to her chest. "Want to talk about them?"

I pulled at the grass with my fingers and nodded. Maybe Sheik was right—maybe talking to Romani would help me. "Well, see... it's a bit complicated."

Romani grinned at me. "I got plenty of time."

I smiled sadly at her. "Yeah, you think so... But before you know it, your time runs out."

Romani frowned. "Is that what happened to her?"

I blinked in surprise. "How'd you know—"

She smiled a little. "I could tell by the way you're acting. So, what happened to this girl of yours?"

I blushed and shook my head. "She wasn't my... Look, Romani. You probably know I'm the Hero of Time, right?"

"Yeah, that's how you saved Termina, right? By traveling through time. It's the only way you could've done everything people say you did—Kafei told me that before. His family knows all about the Hero and his powers."

"Okay, good. You understand that part. See, I was born in a land called Hyrule, where I saved the world in the same way I saved Termina—by traveling through time. The only difference was that in Hyrule I would skip over seven years to fight evil in the future instead of reliving the same three days over and over..."

Romani's eyes lit up. "Sounds pretty nifty, Link. Much more fun than my life here on the ranch."

I sighed, shaking my head. "Yeah, you'd think that... But I think I'd much prefer a life like yours. Everything you do has a purpose—you plant seeds in the spring and watch them grow until you harvest the crops in the fall. You raise horses and watch them grow up and have foals of their own... The life of a hero is uncertain at best. Sometimes it feels like I'm just running around in circles, doing no good..."

Romani shook her head. "But you did do good. If you hadn't come here, we'd all be dead. You saved us—that's what a Hero's for! To always be there to help other people when they need help the most."

I frowned. "I wasn't always there when they needed me the most. During those seven years of darkness, a lot of people needed me and I wasn't there. Malon—she was a dear friend of mine, who actually looked exactly like you—she went though a lot of trouble without me. Of course I went out of my way to help her when I had the chance—I did the same for a lot of my friends. But Malon wasn't "my girl." I liked her a lot, but I loved someone else a lot more."

Romani was quiet for a while, before she finally spoke again. "Something happened to your girl, too, though. Right?"

I bit my lip and nodded silently. Romani looked away. "Link, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to—"

"No," I said. "I think I need to tell someone about this."

She met my eyes silently and nodded. "Alright then."

"The girl I love... Her name's Saria. She's always been close to me—my dearest friend. I looked up to her when I was a kid, and I still look up to her now... But my love was doomed to be unrequited from the start."

"So this Saria doesn't love you back?"

"No, she does... I think. That's not the problem. She's... She's one of the fairy children of the forest, Romani. The Kokiri are immoral children—something I only found out in the future, after I'd already realized I loved her. Even if she loves me too, we can never be together. Not... not like I had hoped we could be."

"Your love must be true, then, if you still love her regardless of what she is," Romani sighed. "It's tragic that she's stuck like that and you can't be with her... Do you think it will ever be possible for you to love anyone else? Malon, maybe?"

I shook my head. "Maybe I could grow to love another in time... But it will never be Malon. She's long dead, Romani. The time I spent here in Termina... Every day I spent here, living outside of the natural flow of time... Time didn't stop passing in Hyrule. I returned home to find that more than a century had passed in my absence. All my friends—everyone I knew—they're dead or otherwise unreachable. A lot of them became Sages—Saria included—but the Sages live forever in the Sacred Realm. I have to live here, in the mortal world, until I die. That is my duty as the chosen Hero and the last of my line."

"...I'm sorry," Romani sighed. "I can't even really begin to imagine how hard that would be. But you said you thought you could love another—have you found anyone else you like in Hyrule's present time?"

"Yeah," I told her. "There's a girl about my age named Ilia. She's... beautiful, really. Kindhearted, too. A really good friend—And I know she's in love with me. Or, at least, she was..."

Romani laughed a little and I looked at her in confusion. She silenced herself, but couldn't hold back a grin. "I'm sorry, I couldn't stop myself. No wonder you're so stiff and silent, grasshopper! I get the feeling this is only a small part of your complicated life. I sure hope you haven't led too many other girls on over the years..."

I thought of Ruto, Zelda, and Midna all in quick succession. My face probably turned completely red as I realized just how much of a jerk I probably seemed to most of them. It's not like it was my fault I had such a soft spot for people in need... or that girls seemed to need my help more often than men and usually became at least somewhat besotted with me after I saved them.

I sighed, shaking my head. "You're right, Romani. I really, really should've told Ilia about Saria a long time ago. But... I didn't want to think about her. I wanted to move on. And it worked for a while... But something always happens!" I tried to keep the anger and pain out of my voice, but I'm sure it came through a bit. I stared at my bandaged hand and swallowed hard as I tried—unsuccessfully—to hold back the tears that flooded my vision.

Romani put a hand on my back lightly. Her touch sent a wave of warmth all the way through me, and I suddenly realized how cold I'd been. My wounded palm was burning again... And the Triforce of Courage glowed on the back of my left hand. A sickening feeling found its way into the pit of my stomach—was I in danger, too? Sheik had warned me that the dark powers might still affect me...

I turned to face Romani, and saw that her face was filled with nothing but friendship and concern. "Link, are you okay?"

I put my hand over hers on my shoulder and curled my fingers around her palm. "I'm fine, Romani. I'm sorry I worried you. I think I'm ready to go back now."

She smiled and stood up, helping me to my feet as well. I let go of her hand and we walked back to the house in silence.

As I lay in bed that night, staring through the cracks in the window boards to the starlit sky above, a true smile crossed my face for the first time in a while.

Yes, something always happens. But someone is always there to help when help is needed the most.