Chapters like this make me sad that my story is over, we all know its true. So, yes, dear readers, Teach Me How to Cry is finished. We are at the end, with Chapter 11, Bided Farce. It's been an interesting journey, and you guys loved this story so much that it has become one of my favorites to write. I love you all so much because of it. Just, thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you... I cannot stress it enough. We have a short closing chapter for our dear friends in this story- Zelda, Link, and Palutena. If I wanted to just drop it there, I would've stopped with #10, but it didn't feel complete to me. This is going to be extremely short, so be prepared for quick endings here. And what is with me always 11 chapter stories? Lol, a lot of my pieces are ending at eleven chapters...


Palutena stabbed at the cloth furiously, while giving a somewhat dazed smile that made the two actions extremely metaphorical. Zelda sat in her usual chair, sipping another cup of tea. The bitterness which normally caused her to vomit didn't bother her, no it wasn't the horrid drink. Link. How someone could appear so drastically in her life and then be ripped away moments later... it wasn't fair.

Muttering obscenities under her breath such as dealing with how needles are too sharp and that pink is a nasty color to make dresses out of, the head of the Miranda family put down her current work. "You haven't said anything all throughout tea time. It's been going for nearly an hour. Darling, what's troubling you?"

"No-nothing," Zelda replied, lying. She was tossing Link's boat back in forth between her hands, the stern painted a royal amaranthine, followed by a halcyon deck... this ship was her last memory of him. "I am right here, just not necessarily present. There's nothing to worry about."

"It's not that I'm worried, but just noting your behavior," Palutena said. "When you were out, I finally remembered about last night, Zelda. I didn't go away last night. I even promised you that. I wouldn't go away and hide. And I didn't. We were in the garden, and it was you that went away from me. I usually bite my tongue, but that double standard stuff needs to stop. You won't want people calling you a hypocrite. Besides, was that Peach Eona girl that important?"

Her daughter seemed flabbergasted, for once her own mother actually paid attention to the world around her. She looked down at her hands, shamed. "Yes, I know. I'm sorry I went away and left you. Don't even know why. Peach just seemed so pressing, as if me talking to her would've saved someone's life. Perhaps it would have been mine, maybe hers. But... that doesn't matter. What does- I won't leave you, ever. Until I grow up and get married."

"Will you leave me then?" the green-haired matriarch asked, her question completely sound. No hurt whatsoever was reflected in her words.

"I won't go far. Least, I hope not," Zelda comforted her. "I'll take care of you."

"Where will you go?" Palutena's next statement seemed fearful.

Being the only teenager in the room, Zelda Miranda knew that her words mattered heavily. She sighed, more to herself than for her mother. "I'll stay right here in town. It's useless getting up and moving only to be called back home, right?"

"Exactly."

"Maybe we could be friends? Isn't that what a parent is to their child after we cross into adulthood?"

"It can be whatever you want it to be, Zel. Besides, I like having friends."

"Yes."

"Zelda, I'm glad I saw your school." Palutena continued to sew.

"You don't have to go back there, ever, unless you want to. I'd like for you to see my show only once, if it's not too much to ask. Sit in the back for all I care, but I need my family there. Could you do that mother?" Zelda tenaciously approached her.

"Depends," the mother mused. "But, thank you nonetheless. Seeing it once is enough, isn't it? Least for a two month span anyways. And since you asked me nicely last time, I'll even wear that emerald dress to church again. Could you tell me something nice? About your day."

"There are many very nice things to consider. Like, this boat."

"Something about school, that's what I'm looking for." Palutena reiterated.

"There can be nice things at school, but nothing really happened to be considered for chitchat," Zelda looked at the floor. "I can tell you a story instead. Would that suit the mood?"

"Sure. Tell me a story."

"Well, there's this play we're reading in English- it may be the next play we do at school."

"Title?"

"Romeo and Juliet." Zelda said.

"Who are they?"

"Two people in Europe... two people who are madly in love with each other. Only, their parents don't want them to see each other, but they do it regardless for their connection is strong and means much more than words telling them they can't do something. As their love grows, they get to be more intimate with each other. Marriage even happens at one point! They are happy together and the world around them is beautiful."

"Sounds wonderful." Palutena nodded.

"Then the story turns dark..."

"Hmm?"

"They get lost from each other. Not necessarily lost, but for a while they think they are. And that they wish to die." Zelda explained. She stopped suddenly, making a connection between her and Link.

"Do- do they die?"

Zelda looked at the windows rather than her mother, not wanting to continue speaking anymore. "They want to die. Both of them seek it, hungrily and desperately that they don't know what to do with each other. It's the easiest thing, die out of love than die in loneliness. The saddest part comes after they're both dead. I think Juliet stabs herself... and Romeo drinks poison. It's awful. Only if they had been much braver, they could have stayed living, and they might have been happy again some day."

"It's very mixed up, isn't it?" Palutena generalized. A low rumble of thunder outside shook the house, stilling an awkward silence over the room.

"It's going to rain..."

"Do you want to go out in it? I won't get mad this time."

Zelda started towards the window, hands ready to lift the pane open and to drown in an onrushing tide of precipitation. She hesitated, half drawn to it, half repulsed. An old conflict grew on her mind. "No... I was thinking... how nice it would be for the flowers rather. I think I'll go to my room and write a letter. I- I have an obligation."

"For your friend, the boy? It'd be sweet," Palutena offered her opinion, smiling warmly. Her words were tender and passionate. "At the end of the letter, you write the word ~Love. It'd make that piece of paper have some genuine meaning to it."

Zelda smiled. "Yes." Her eyes drifted to the doll rack, a particular one seizing her attention. The same one she showed Miss Adeline. It was ugly, but so beautiful at the same time. Leave it to a toy to be able to do that. She picked it up, hardly breathing.

"Are you going to play with it?"

"I'm still too old to play with dolls, mother," she chided. "But... I'll put it on my bed. It will look nice there."

"That's great, sweetie." Palutena said.

Zelda stopped at the doorway to her bedroom. "Mother?"

"Yes?"

"You look very pretty tonight." she replied, before vanishing into the bedroom.

Palutena gave a slight smile, before retuning to sew in perfect contentment.


Link sighed, another crack of lightning and a dull boom of thunder drawing his face from the window. Snake checked the rearview mirrors before changing lanes. Robin sat in the passenger seat of the Scottsdale car, flipping through one of her son's books. The son of the trio glanced back at the road behind him longingly.

"Dad..." he started.

"What, son?" Snake looked at his son.

"Stop the car."

"I beg your pardon?" that got Robin to turn around, the book closed between her fingers.

"I said stop the car."

"Do you need to use the bathroom?" Snake prodded.

"No. I realized there was something I forgot to do back home."

"Honey, we can't go and do that now. Town is almost half an hour the other way." Robin frowned.

"That's why I asked for you to stop the car," Link continued. "Let me out. I need to go do what I promised I'd do."

Snake let out a long breath. "Does this have to do with that girl?"

"Everything in my life now deals with that girl," Link replied back harshly. "And Dad, she has a name. It's Zelda."

"Link, you cannot be serious-" Robin spoke up.

Scoffing, the lovesick and bruised boy opened his car door, stepping out into the pouring rain and chaos that was the storm on Highway 83. The car ignition turned off, Snake and Robin hopping out as well. The two parents stared as their son continued on walking the lonesome road, their clothes now soaked from the relentless downpour.

The mother of the three let out a cry of indignation, hopefully letting something out to draw him back. Snake hugged his wife, kissing her on the forehead. "Let him go."

"Why are you letting him leave us?"

Snake brought his gaze back to his horizontal view, seeing that Link had broken into a run. The silly boy was going to go back to town. He just couldn't part from there. The father closed his eyes. "We can't hold him forever, R. One day he has to make his own decisions, and I think that time has come. If we try preventing it, who knows what type of boy we'd have later on."

"We have to go after him. Snake, we cannot just let our son leave."

"We're letting him do that right now."

Robin opened her mouth to rebuttal, his sly remark cutting her off. "Right," she nodded. "Right."

As the distance between the Scottsdale family grew farther and farther apart- Snake and Robin's hearts diminished. Link's heart roared with the pride of a lion. The boy, now a good thousand feet or so away from his parents, grinned. "Zelda, I'm coming."


The sudden knock on the door caused Zelda's eyes to snap awake. She grunted, shuffling over to glance at the electronic clock on her nightstand. The time read 11:55. Who was wanting to enter their home at this hour? She took off the covers, grumbling the whole way from the bedroom to the door. She wrenched it open, ready to give them a piece of her mind when the hug swallowed her whole.

"What?" she squeaked, an embrace with the force of a Mach truck holding her to an unseen person.

"Because I had to make my words mean something." came the stranger's reply.

Zelda stepped back from her companion, eyes wide and her heart burning with a mighty flame. "L-Link?" she whispered.

Link Scottsdale stood in the Miranda home, dripping wet, hair colored black beyond recognition, clothes tattered and mangled from hours of constant bombardment. He spun Zelda into his arms and then kissed her. As he leaned in for the intimate touch, he made one statement to ensure their two fates. "Told you I'd keep my promise..."

Under the sheen hale of the lamp in the hallway, Zelda Miranda and Link Scottsdale kissed.

He kept his promise.

He came back.

He returned. For her.

Zelda sighed, pressing her head against his chest. "Thank you." She was at a loss for words.

For the first moment in her life, Zelda Miranda was content.


And there we are guys. Teach Me How to Cry is successfully finished. Wow, it has been the longest ride, one of sadness, regret, pain, love, friendship, and abstract feelings that cannot be explained through actions nor words. Even though the statistics don't back up my claim, this has been one of more successful stories on this site and I cannot thank you all enough.

I want to say thank you, thank you to Luca the Wolf, TranscendentalNerd, Metroid-Killer, ExodiusLK, Seth the Great, Generala, Icewalker220, LightLitAFlame, Smash King24, FireEmblemNerd0909, Alakazam2192, Mikaela Vermillion Hyakuya, Twilight Joltik, and Writer of Worlds for reviewing.

Another thank you goes to Batch 03, Empire of Joy, EponatheInsaneLoftwing, ExodiusLK, LightLitAFlame, Metroid-Killer, Mikaela Vermillion Hyakuya, StellarLupine, Twilight Joltik, Writer of Worlds, Yata Senpai, Alakzam2192, and bladeweilder05 for all favoring this story.

And yet again, a thank you also will go to Batch 03, C-Jam, Empire of Joy, EponatheInsaneLoftwing, GlamAngel3766, Gothicwings94, ExodiusLK, LittleOfATsundere, Luca the Wolf, Metroid-Killer, Mikaela Vermillion Hyakuya, Seth the Great, TranscendentalNerd, Writer of Worlds, Yata Senpai, Alakazam2192, and bladeweilder05 for all following this story.

All of you guys, no matter what you did, helped me continue this as school and life has been bearing me down hard. If you all review, please, answer these for me.

1) Favorite character, and why? Least favorite character, and why?

2) Favorite chapter and why? Least favorite chapter?

3) Favorite CHAPTER TITLE?

4) Any other general thoughts about this story.

Your help is all appreciated. And finally, I can tell my not-so-secrets. I'm an awful liar when I said that this would be the last multi-chaptered fic of mine in the Smash fandom till Creationists in July of 2016. Erm, about that... it's not. I'm part of Metroid-Killer's Heartless Contest with my own multi-chaptered story called Pluto Vacation which the first chapter has been posted. I also, but don't know when, will be posting a story called Lord of Envy City, a 30+ chapter story focusing on Luigi and a bitter story bent on revenge. Keep your eyes peeled.

So, yes, with a heavy heart, I say goodbye. Thank you all for everything. I love you guys, and I hope to see on my future stories. Thanks for being such an amazing community. Love you all! Bye!

~ Paradigm