Epilogue (Bonus Chapter): Epilogue of an Aftermath
"Vaati? Vaati! Where are you?"
Link called out in his room to his friend. He looked around: there was his bed and on it were Dark's beloved gadgets. Just beside its foot is a big pile of Vaati's plushies which looked rather like a mountain. His study table is just where it always was; beside the window where Ezlo attempted to get inside the nights ago, probably three weeks from now.
"Vaati!" 'Man, where could that guy be?!'
He then moved from the spot where he stood; near the door, then started to search for the long-haired boy.
He peered under the bed but only found thick layers of dust underneath it.
'I guess I should clean up if I have the time… and the patience.'
"Go on, Gramps. Pull my finger." the voice seemed to come from the guest's room. It was so loud that he could hear perfectly what was going on.
'Tsk… Dark's at it again…'thought Link as he shrugged his shoulders and continued his search. He turned his head to the right where his bed stayed. He looked at the giant pile of plushies and gave out a sly smile.
"Oh, Vaati… that is your worst hiding place yet!" he said proudly.
He unraveled the mountain of plushies as he continued to taunt Vaati.
"Come on, no use hiding now!" he practically dived into the pile of stuffed toys.
"Link?"
"Gotcha! Wait, where ARE you?" Link wiggled his legs around, feeling that he was already upside down due to diving in head-first.
"Uhhhh… Link… your… kilt?"
"What?" he tried to get himself out of the pile. He turned around and felt sheepish as he saw the boy he had been looking for, holding a glass of water in hand. "A… ahaha…"
"Ummm… Link. What were you doing plushie-diving like that?" Vaati inquired. The Hylian-Minish was still in his tunic-only getup, meaning it was still a bit early in the morning. He looked at Link quite inquisitively, apparently entertained seeing the hero do such a thing.
"Ummm… nothing… I thought…"
The two were surprised at what they just heard from next door…
"BWAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA AAAA!"
"Looks like he did it again…" Link muttered.
The door to Link's room burst open, allowing a sprightly Dark Link almost stumbling onto the floor; laughing his heart out.
"Oh my God GAAAHAHAHAAA OH GOD, lalalalalalolololol MWAHAHAAAA!"
"Um…" Vaati was confused. He didn't know what exactly went on.
"Oh, here. Vaati, pull my finger." Dark offered a hand. "Any finger at all."
Vaati being confused and all didn't mind and did as Dark asked him to. And when he did…
"POOT!" A sudden burst of wind… from the lower outlet.
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!" Dark rolled on the floor, laughing his guts out. Vaati felt embarrassed and felt like laughing. Surely enough, he blushed as a result.
"Er, Dark? Aren't you forgetting something?" Link called out to his alter ego.
"Hm? Oh, right." The black-haired boy tugged the blonde along with him.
"Are you sure we're fine in our night outfits?" inquired the hero.
"Of coooourse~" Dark replied with ease.
"But… I feel awkward..." Link complained.
"The only thing that you changed is that you're not wearing your belt and your boots. Other than that, you're fine!"
"I'm sure you just want to boast about YOUR night outfit."
"Hey, why not? It's the red-clouded black cloak of awesomeness." he flaunted. "And besides, it's Vaati's outfit that we should be concerned about if ever he would come out. I mean, it looks like a short dress… and I…" Dark did not continue and blushed instead.
"What?"
"You saw it too, right? We should really give him shorts…"
Link blushed. "No! No, I didn't!" He tried to hit Dark with a friendly slap on the forehead.
"Teehee, it was indigo..." the shadow said, letting out a deceivingly cute beam as he blushed and partially put his hands on his mouth.
"You know what? If Vaati knew…"
"He does. Remember? When he used to be all active in his sleep? Thank goodness that he's not like that anymore. It's for his own good anyway…"
"Anyway… we're getting waaaaay off topic."
"Right."
The boys proceeded on their way into town.
Meanwhile, Vaati just minded his own business and peered out their window. He looked at the leaves that danced about the sweet melody of his friend, the wind. The petals of the blossoms of different flowers; may it be from the trees or the verdant grass, escorted the wind and the leaves.
Just looking at the beautiful scenery outside made him feel at ease, but during his reflection, it seemed as though something came across his mind that made him sigh.
'In just a matter of days… just a few days… I will be as old as they are…'
The ex-villain turned to his pile of plushies that was disturbed by Link earlier. He decided to fix them all up, with that matter filling up in his head.
'Haha… I'm sure no one will remember it… after all… wait, what am I thinking? And just after Link encouraged me… no, I must think optimistically if I wish to be like him!'
He then put the last plushie in place and decided to take Robin, who was the most special and dearest to him. He held the cucco tightly in his arms as he pondered more about himself.
'In a few more days… I will be fourteen… just like them…'
Vaati was definitely in Link's age group; although, we can say that he's younger than Link by a half a year. That was indeed another factor for him to look up to the hero.
"Hey, Vaati! Sorry we left you!" It was the hero's voice. The two Links entered the room once more.
"Yeah, I just got my little black Wii from my house since I forgot my little baby!" the shadow said with such a sweet tone, caressing the game console in his arms.
"Wow, that was fast! But I thought that your house is a bit far away from here, Dark." Vaati looked at the both of them, quite astonished by the speed of the two.
"Well, you forgot my special ability. Remember…?"
"Oh… ah! Right!"
He had just remembered Dark's special ability- to be able to teleport from one mirror to another. Technically, that was how he was brought to rescue a few weeks ago. Although he never witnessed it himself, Dark told him all about it after the incident was over and when they got back to their own lives.
Going back to reality, the Hylian-Minish noticed that the shadow was holding three oddly-colored Wii remotes. They were black, lime, and lavender.
"Well, wanna play, Vaati?" Dark offered a Wii remote that corresponded to Vaati's lavender hair.
"Yay! Why not?" the boy excitedly settled down on the floor and helped setting up the Wii. As usual, the trio had a good brawl; and as usual, Dark had the most wins in first place. It was almost amazing that he was good with almost all the characters he controlled; if not ALLof them in the roster.
"Well, I guess Gramps would be a bit angry with us now… when did we start playing?" the hero in green asked.
"Around… 7 this morning? Why?" the anti-hero in black questioned him back.
"Erm… well…"
The hero pointed to his digital alarm clock, and it read…
"13:00. So? …"
"…"
"…"
"13… o'clock? Wait…" Vaati started to think about the time. He wasn't very familiar with how the Hylians keep track of their time with the twenty four hour clock systems.
"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDGE!" the two Links cried in unison and simultaneously rushed out the room's door.
"Oh dear… I guess I'd better fix this up, then…"
The Minish decided to do as he said. Again, he pondered about how his birthday was coming so soon…
'In just two more days… I'll be fourteen like them…'he let out a sigh and continued fixing up the Wii. He put it in a box like Dark always did just to keep it absolutely safe.
"Hey, Vaati!" the blonde called out. It seems that the Links returned.
"Gramps just told us some things. You know, stuff to do. The usual." shrugged Dark.
"And hey, we gotta eat."
The three went down to have a hearty meal with the blacksmith. As consequence for being late, the three were ordered to fix the table and wash the dishes and such. Link was in charge of washing the dishes, Dark was to fix and wipe the table clean, and Vaati was to dry all the dishes and utensils that Link handed to him and put them all back in place. Sure it was tiring, but they enjoyed it a bit since it was another bonding moment for them, although not as pleasurable.
The days went by as they enjoyed playing and were occasionally scolded by Smith (depending on the situation). As usual, they also hunted down some chuchu jellies as the two Links got tempted to taste them, for they always wondered if all chuchu jellies tasted like green apple… maybe, JUST maybe… they also had different flavors like strawberry, blackberry…
"Ooh, how I wish we had almonds to feed them!" Dark gleamed.
"Huh?" Link could not comprehend his other self's track of thought.
"You know, almond jelly? Yum! We'll just have to find a brown or white chuchu jelly to match with it!"
"Ummmm…. Hahaha…" Link could only laugh at how crazy Dark thought of the matter.
"Chuchu jelly is edible?" Vaati inquired. He never intended that giant chuchu jelly in his shadow tower to be tasty… really.
"WHEEEEEE!" Dark ogled at all the chuchus squirming about in their pen. Different colors, sizes… "Oh gosh oh goshogoshgohgoshgohgosh…"
"Dark longs for chuchu now…"
"Chuchus pwn all! I swear… someday, I'll collect so many chuchus that it will be… OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAAAAAAAND!" the black haired youth clenched his fist in excitement and cried out proud and happy tears.
"Oh no… here he goes…" Link rolled his eyes.
"ALL YOUR CHUCHUS ARE BELONG TO US!"
"Dark… srsly…" Link gave himself a facepalm.
"Someday… someday I'll be able to 'Chu-roll' you guys!"
"Chu-ro… LOLWHUT?!" Green burst in laughter as tears of immeasurable humor filled him up.
"Never gonna give CHU up, never gonna let CHU down…
Never gonna run around and… desert CHU!" Dark started to sing and dance around, waving a chuchu around as he held it.
"Never gonna make CHU cry, never gonna say goodbye,
Never gonna tell a lie, and hurt CHU!"
"Oh for the love of… we've been chu-rolled!" Link practically rolled on the grassy ground, laughing his guts out.
"Mah boi, this chuchu is what all true warriors strive for!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! I -phhhw!- just wonder what Ganon's –phhhww!- up to!" Link tried to keep in his laughter.
"Your majesty, Ganon and his minions have seized the island of CHUCHUS!"
"GREAT! I'll grab my stuff!"
"WHAT?!" Vaati blushed and stared at Link.
"That's WRONG!" Dark hit Link's head with the chuchu. "You're not supposed to say that yet… and…" he looked at the blushing Vaati.
"Er… Vaati?" Link stared at him with wonder.
"Ooooooooh… and I thought that you were the innocent one among us… tell me, what did you THINK Link meant?"
"I…" Vaati turned away. "I never said anything!"
"But your eyes are telling me something!"
"No. I just turned away."
"Body gestures say all, hun."
"I wasn't thinking of anything… besides…" Vaati looked at him again with confident eyes. "Your chuchu's running away."
"N-nooooooo!" he started to throw childish tantrums. He then turned to the direction where the chuchu might have gone to. He began cursing the runaway jelly. "Oh, you… you son of a submariner! I hate, hate, hate, hate, HATE you!"
Yes, the days went by with their craziness and teen spirit, never ceasing to give them the excitement that they always seem to have.
Until…
'It's my birthday… and no one's here…'
Vaati let out a sigh as he peered out the window, all alone in Link's room. The silence was almost deafening; only the peaceful breeze seemed to disturb it.
'Another year older… but have I really changed…?'
Vaati's contemplation was disturbed as he heard the door creak.
There, the hero stood, wearing his casual outfit: a green polo over his white shirt that had a print of a shining triforce with a mini him wielding it. He was wearing his black pants to go with it.
"Come on, Vaati. Let's go to the mall. We need to have fun in the arcades again! And this time, I won't go easy on you!
"Sure!" Vaati took this challenge, and soon the two boys were in the arcades. They fought with each other in an arcade fighting game and…
"LINK! Take it easy on me! No… no! Don't touch me! Don't touch me! Grrrr… STOOOOOOP!" Vaati seemed to be taking this rather well.
Soon enough, they lost all credit and decided to eat. After all, Link just heard Vaati's tummy rumbling.
Link pointed to a pizza parlor where they could eat. Link talked to the waiter in private as Vaati made an excuse to go to the washroom. When the purple boy returned, Link was just there, waiting in the table in their cushioned seat. The Minish sat across the hero.
They had a friendly chat, and after a few minutes, there was the aromatic pizza served before them in all its cheesy goodness littered with all the juicy pineapple tidbits and pepperoni. They both ate the family-sized pizza with each slice worth about seven or eight inches long. They had about… four slices each person.
They both wiped their fingers clean, as well as their mouths. Feeling so full, they both rubbed their tummies. Now time to wait for the bill…
Here comes the waiter, but wait. What is that he's holding?
As he came closer, he laid a very large bowl of parfait on the table. There were all sorts of flavors that blended in the harmony: strawberry, vanilla, chocolate, pistachio, cookies and cream, double dutch… everything that you could ever think of blending in. It was fit for two; two spoons, two straws, two cherries on top of the ice cream…
"W-what the…?" the Minish was very astonished with the pleasant sight before him.
"Dig in!" Link his spoon with his left hand and started eating the ice cream.
The two began delightfully eating the treat. Wait, as if having cherries wasn't enough, there were also fresh bananas and ripe strawberries added to the mix! How tasty it was for the both of them!
As soon as they finished their food, Link asked for the check and paid for it in full. He seemed so happy that he closed his eyes and rubbed his tummy. Vaati did the same, as he never felt so full his entire life!
Although with much difficulty, the two tried to walk out of the restaurant and continued walking around the mall. Link asked permission that he would go to the washroom and told Vaati to wait for him just near the passage leading further in the washrooms.
As Vaati waited, here comes a youth approaching him and grabbed his arm roughly. He attempted to call for help but his mouth was covered with this youngster's hand. He was dragged into the nearby passage where no one seems to be using at the moment as he tried to struggle form his captor's grip.
"Will you shut up?" said the captor.
When he heard this, he stopped squirming and tried to look at the face of the youth.
To not give him a hard time, the youth took his cap off, finally revealing his eyes. There he was, with a short white top that revealed his abdomen with a tad shorter black jacket on it. Black pants were to go along with his unique sense of style, with the silver triforce pendant that dangled around his neck. His smiling crimson eyes stared into Vaati's ruby red eyes.
"D-Dark?"
"Haha, scared you, no?
"Sure did! What the heck…?"
Before Vaati could finish his words, Dark roughly pulled his arm yet again, dragging him.
"Come on."
The black-haired boy dragged his friend into a boutique. It was quite pleasant with well-ventilated utilities. Dark looked for anything that Vaati could wear…
"Go on. Go on! Try these out! Go! Go!" Dark pushed Vaati into of the fitting room cubicles.
After dressing up in an attire, Vaati went out for Dark's approval. Vaati was wearing a school boy's outfit.
"Nope." Dark just ditched it and Vaati went on dressing up yet again.
The Minish went out once again.
"Too… ruffly." Dark said, just fixing his eyes on the ruffles of Vaati's collar. He was wearing a formal costume. It was a magenta suit, adorned with expensive decorations. He wore magenta pants to go along with the suit, with a white ruffled cravat he wore around his neck. His wig was center-parted and grayish black in tone.
Following Dark's opinion, Vaati once again went in the cubicle and found something else.
"Cute." Dark said, giving a thumb up.
"No." Vaati declined for he was wearing a short dress with long sleeves paired with very long boots that covered his legs until half his thighs. The neckline was too loose to reveal his inner sleeveless garb. And of course, that was done for fashion.
Following his own opinion, Vaati went in once again and wore something else…
Upon seeing the Minish dressed up…
"Ooh….. SEXY!" Dark's eyes sparkled; he gave the Minish thumbs up and smiled so widely. He whistled a tune in sheer approval.
"No. Absolutely. Definitely. NO!DARK!" Vaati blushed as he saw Dark's reaction. He grew almost scared of his own friend.
Dark shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. He then looked his friend once more. "Why not?"
"THAT is precisely why not! Stop staring at me like that!" Vaati said as he tried to cover himself up.
The Hylian-Minish wore the clothes of a villain that could be compared to his shadow self. He wore a silvery-lavender wig with a few feathers sticking out of where it parted. It parted on the left side of his head and extended up to this waist. His very short top that revealed his abdomen resembled shoulder pads that had white kimono sleeves extending from it. He didn't wear pants, but he wore something that revealed his thighs and resembled lower undergarments; and to compensate for his lack of pants, he wore extremely long boots that covered his legs until his thighs. He wore something like a robe that reached until his ankles, to cover his lower body's back.
"Come on, it's okay. Don't worry about it." Dark tried to comfort him, but to no avail. He still looked at the Minish with much intent from his eyes.
"Others are staring at me as well!"
"Who's that chick?" whispered one.
"I dunno, but…" another one said, ending his sentence with a whistle.
At that, Vaati went back inside the cubicle, blushing. He decided to take another shot at this, not wearing that revealing costume.
When he went out of the cubicle…
"Nice. Perfect." Dark gave him thumbs up once more, but this time he smiled decently at the Minish.
"Really?"
Vaati wore some kind of a suit, but this time, it suited his age even more. He wore something that covered his neck fully to go along with his suit that covered his ruffled inner garments. He wore slacks and shoes to complete the get up.
"How much?" Dark, getting his wallet, asked the cashier who put Vaati's used clothes in the plastic bag and let him go with the clothes he fitted.
The two then went out of the boutique. Dark looked straight ahead as they walked, and as for Vaati, he felt a bit sheepish after seeing how much Dark paid for his clothes. Blushing, he didn't dare talk to his friend, afraid of how the dark-haired boy may react. It didn't seem that Dark was angry with him though... but he felt that it was best he doesn't talk until the taller boy opened up a conversation on his own.
Dark stopped walking and looked straight ahead. Vaati stopped and stood by him, looking at where he may be staring at in the far distance. What he saw made him nervous.
Here comes the youth with the green polo, looking enraged. He stared at his dark self, who happened to stare at him back. The two Links started to have an argument between themselves, leaving Vaati out of the quarrel.
"I searched high and low for him, fearing that something bad happened to him! And now I see him here with you! Why didn't you tell me?!"
"Well, aren't you glad that he's okay? It's better rather than getting himself kidnapped. And besides, I saw no sight of you, so there."
"STILL!"
"Guys… please stop it…" Vaati tried to stop the two.
The two looked at him, then back to each other.
"Fine. Let's all take the electric car on the way to the nearest mall."
The mall they were in was actually part of a series of malls in the village. It belonged in a circle of a small city-like part just near their village, one of which many villagers and outsiders alike pay a visit to relieve themselves with its ambience.
They went to the mall's alternate exit/entrance and waited in line to ride in one of the electric cars that queued up in front. There were actually four electric cars in wait that would give them a brief tour of the circle of malls, and would drop them off a luxurious mall where most teenagers tend to hang out. It looked more futuristic, and it had more attractions that lures in more adolescents like them.
However, the mall they decided to go into in the first place aimed for everyone, namely the middle and lower classes since the goods in store were both of quality and were practically economic.
The electric car stopped by them. Finally, they were able to grab a seat. The car had 17 seats including the driver's seat up in front, three each row. Being teenagers, they chose the last three seats that faced the back of the vehicle. Meaning, as the car moved along; they could see the streets and the vehicles going further away from them.
The Minish sat in between the two Hylians who both minded their own business and looked away from each other. He could not help but feel guilty about their misunderstanding, as he looked up the sky and filled up his thoughts.
'My birthday… and this is what happens. How unlucky I prove to be around the people I love!'
Finally, as the car stopped its tour at the destined mall, they all got out from their seats and let the others who were in wait fill up their seats.
The trio proceeded into the mall and into the nearby branch. The Minish didn't take note of where they headed, but one thing's for sure…
… that wasn't the path that they always take in that mall to go to the public vehicles going home.
They led him in a dark room. The only light that there was came from the doors behind them, but it didn't last long. As soon as they walked farther in the room, the doors shut behind them and then the place became completely dark.
Vaati screamed in fear and surprise.
"POP!" they heard not so far away from them.
"W-what…?"
"SURPRISE!"
Dark turned on the lights with a wide grin on his face, revealing the many people before Link and Vaati, who were in the room's center.
There was a fluffy cake on the table, and there were letters written on it…
… it read, "Happy Birthday, Vaati! From your master and beloved friends~" all in transparent violet icing.
Among the people were Ezlo in Hylian size, with other familiar Minish people that the sage cast a spell on along with him to be Hylian-sized. There was that fanatic young Minish wearing Link's hat, and just with the other people, there was Princess Zelda and her father, the King. Let's not forget, there's also Smith to welcome the confused young sorcerer to his surprise birthday party.
Not to mention, there were also the other Links borne of the Four Sword rushing to them and giving them a strong, friendly "flying hug", which they decided to call a "glomp" instead.
Just like their leader, they were all in casual attire. Blue wore a similar outfit to Green's adorned with some jewelry, a strapped iPod dangling from his neck, and an expensive golden watch; Red wore a jersey with red shorts and a sailor's cap, and Vio wore a purple turtleneck with glasses that sat on his head.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, VAATI!" all of them shouted in unison.
All of them began singing a birthday song surrounding the birthday boy before his cake.
"Blow it, Vaati! Make a wish!" Link called out.
Vaati closed his eyes and blew the candles. As he did, the people clapped their hands and cheered.
"Alright, line up for the cake! Of course, Vaati gets the first and the best slice!" Smith said, holding the cake knife in his hand and a plate in the other.
As they all settled down to their own tables, Dark, Link, and Vaati grouped themselves. As usual, the trio was inseparable. But of course, they connected the adjacent table to theirs so that the other three Links may join them.
"I'm… so…" Vaati hid his face in his hands.
"Hm?" the Links looked at Vaati who happened to sit at the head of the table.
Later, they heard sobs.
"V-Vaati?" Link grew worried.
"Oh, Link… those are called ' tears of happiness'." Dark reached out to the crying Minish and patted his back. "It should be Link that you're thanking, Vaati. He planned the whole thing. I just followed him."
"No, you had the same idea as mine! Actually, Vaati, Dark here helped a lot! He's the brains here!"
"Nope." Dark countered.
"Actually, I can't say for sure… but these two other selves of mine prepared the whole thing together." Red said aloud. "Without the other, none of this would've been possible."
The two Links stopped debating and realized how correct Red's statement was.
"You… you guys never cease to amaze me…" Vaati looked at them with a smiling face and teary eyes. "You never cease to give me all these simple joys in life…"
The two blushed and settled on their seats. Surely enough, just making a friend of theirs extremely happy was enough to calm them down anytime.
"Thank you so much! Thank you so much!"
The birthday celebrant stood up. The other Links thought something unanimously…
… they all gathered in a circle, including Vaati in their group hug, and then…
"On the count of three… one… two… THREE!" shouted Link.
As a result, they did the same sweet group hug and jumped up and down while hugging each other in the circle. They made a very happy laughter among them; an innocent laughter that they have learned to share with each other.
"Oh, Link… my grandson." Smith could just think aloud looking at them from a distance.
"I think I made the right decision letting Vaati stay with you." Ezlo came up to him, holding a drink for Smith and himself.
"Oh, thank you." Smith took the offered drink.
"Now he's found true happiness and belongingness."
"I guess so…"
"Tell me; did you cook all these food in the buffet table?"
"Not really, maybe some of them, but not all. The restaurant provided ample food for all of us, but I just decided to prepare my specialty for your apprentice."
"All of them are good! You should really give cooking lessons to my apprentice sometime! All the food that he prepares… tastes questionable."
"Well… haha, I'll see what I can do."
From their distance, they can see the teen spirit within the youngsters with the birthday celebrant having the best time of his life. Now that's true friendship for them.
Author's notes:
So it all comes down to the epilogue. This marks the end of this fanfiction "Aftermath", but it won't necessarily mean the end of our heroes' story. Thank you very much for reading the whole thing; I hope you had fun reading!