Hey, guys! :D Long time no update, huh? I've been meaning to post this chapter, but I kept editing it and trying to decide whether or not I should take some of this out. It's sooo long already, and I can't decide if there's any point in this, or if I really like it. xD I REALLY like the next chapter, but this one is kind of . . . Eh. It has its good points, and its . . . eh ones. :P I guess you'll have to decide for yourselves. :)
Thanks to Waffleface for following the story and adding it to his or her favorites! ^_^ Thanks also to Demon Princess of Time (aka Ashlee), thespiritmaiden, Chaos Wielder, Jane O'Callaghan, and Flyvee for reviewing! THIS STORY HAS 50 REVIEWS, YOU GUYS! THAT'S AMAZING! THANK YOU SO MUCH! ^_^ I fangirled to my family when I saw how many BatS has now. :') Thanks for making my year!
Chaos Wielder: I'm so sorry you had a so-so vacation. :( I hope your next one is better! :D
Well, awesome people, here is chapter twelve! ^_^
Chapter XII:
Denial
Grog was up before the sun that morning. He'd gotten very little sleep the night before. After coming inside with everyone else, he'd headed to a quiet, lonely room in the house where he'd written Anju a letter. Then, he'd stayed up almost the whole rest of the night, waiting for daylight. He knew it was a dangerous time to travel, but he had no choice. He had to leave before the rest of his family got up.
He was almost out of Kakariko Village when an arm reached out and grabbed his, yanking him backward. It was Granny. Up close, she looked exactly the same as she had before. She had those tiny, dark eyes, that messy, gray hair. She was still in a wheelchair, too, and yet she kept up with everyone like it was nothing. "Where are you going?" she questioned, even though she knew better than he did. She fiddled with the small backpack in her lap, never once looking away from his eyes.
He stood up straighter, slowly pulling his arm out of her grasp. "Back to the woods, ma'am. I'm a traveler, remember?"
She rolled her eyes. "Why didn't you have those manners before?"
"B-Before? Before what?"
She picked the bag up and hit him with it as hard as she could, causing him to wince. "Do you take me for a fool?!" she shouted suddenly. "I know it's you, you lazy bum. I've known all along! Now, I don't have time for you to mess around. You came back here with a kinder spirit. And regardless of that, you were an idiot for ever wandering into those woods! You knew what would happen and yet you still went there!" She stared at him with cold eyes and a serious expression. "I don't know what's changed, other than your form, but I know without a doubt something is happening inside of you. You're not the same person anymore."
She paused and he wondered how she, of all people, knew he wasn't the same. She'd never cared before, so what was the difference now?
"You've worried your sister, involved that girl from the ranch, and worst of all, annoyed your grandmother! You're a selfish fool who cares for no one but himself." Grog looked down. He'd heard this all his life, but it hurt worse just when he thought he was about to hear something nice from her.
She rolled her eyes. "Pick your head up. I don't have time for this." She shoved the small backpack at him. "Do not open that until you get back to the forest. Inside of that bag is something to help your arm, as well as a few other things you might need."
He glanced down at the hand covered in toilet paper, thinking of Romani and how kind she'd been. He was gonna miss that kid. But how had Granny known his arm was injured? It was covered up. "My arm?"
"Yes, your arm. Now, pay attention! That arm will only cause you trouble in the future unless it's properly taken care of. I expect you to work on it when you get back to the woods. If you're to get captured, you'll want to be able to put up a fight. And there's no way you can do that in this condition. Some other things in the bag may be useful as well, but do not go through it until you get back to the forest. You have a long journey ahead of you and you'll no doubt mess it up if you keep zoning out and getting preoccupied like the fool you are."
Grog was smiling, even though it was the tiniest of smiles, underneath the layers of clothes. He couldn't believe this. His grandmother was actually . . . helping him. How? Why? She'd never done anything like this when he was living in the village. The kindness he'd received the night before had been mainly because he was a stranger, but this . . . Granny already knew who he was. Why was she doing all this for him?
She noticed him getting a bit happier and she rolled her eyes once more. "Don't get excited. I didn't pack those things for you. You have a tendency to drag people down with you and I know that girl will go back to the woods. Give some of the stuff to her, like food and water. She'll need some to survive." Oh. So she was doing this for Cremia. Well, either way, he was happy. It meant she somehow cared a bit more than she used to.
He bowed politely, just like he'd seen Anju do many times. "Thank you, Granny." He never thought he'd hear those words come out of his mouth. Never before had he been thankful for her or her annoying, witty comments. He'd never been thankful for anything she'd ever said, except for the Lost Woods thing. But now, he was sincerely thankful for her as a person, as a grandmother. And he had no idea why.
She didn't show any affection. She didn't smile, or move any muscle in her face. She blinked, but that was it. "Well, what are you waiting for?" she asked. "Go, you fool! If you don't leave now, it could take days to get there!"
He smiled once more before turning and heading toward the exit. Yeah, she was still a disgusting old hag; but she was a disgusting old hag that he didn't mind quite as much as he used to.
"One more thing," she called out, and he stopped walking, turning to face her as he slung the backpack over one shoulder. "That farm girl will be back, you know. She'll go back to the woods. She's an idiot. I know she will. Be expecting her, but know something else, too: She's the girl you'll fall in love with." He blinked, caught off guard entirely by her words. "Remember, if that happens, you're both in danger." Her expression, once again, didn't change at all. "She loves you, child. I can tell."
"Go put that over there." The boy with the freckles sighed to himself, watching as the weakling before him barely lifted the piece of wood and basically dragged it over to the nearby house. He wasn't sure why, but some monsters had come through the other day and wrecked everything, sending the forest into a panic. Fado had helped evacuate most of the houses beforehand, but there had still been a few people left to take some of the damage done. Thankfully, no one had been hurt, but a lot of the houses had been ruined, forcing the small, bossy forest kid, also known as Mido, to take charge and take care of things, just like he always did.
Saria was helping, too. She was stronger than most of the guys and she was really good at encouraging everyone and lifting their spirits.
The people whose houses had been torn apart were planning on staying in other places around the forest - some in Link's old home, some in the large or empty houses placed about the village. They would make do with what they had, but that didn't mean they'd like it.
"This will take forever," Mido muttered, crossing his small arms over his chest, just like he always did. All the guys working were either too slow, or they had no muscles at all. The girls were saving pointless things from some of the houses and comforting each other. A few of the Kokiri that were actually children, and not adults trapped in small bodies, were still crying and afraid, for a handful of them had been playing near the water when the monsters came through.
It was a disaster, all of it. Mido had never seen such little progress in his lifetime. And to think he went to all that trouble just to give them orders that they couldn't even follow. He was wasting his time. But, if it wasn't for him, they wouldn't even be getting their houses repaired. They should be thankful. But no, they insisted on whining and doing a poor job helping out. This was for the sake of the community, didn't they know that?
"Maybe not," Saria said, coming to stand next to her red headed friend. "If we all work together, this should be done in no time. Besides, they're all still afraid right now. No one's in the mood to think about their ruined houses. Just give them a few days, Mido. They'll come around."
"We don't have a few days!" he huffed. "The longer they wait, the longer they'll be crawling into other people's houses and being a burden! We need this forest back up and running again - now."
She gave him a patient smile. "All we can do right now is help them. Repairing their houses helps a little bit, but giving them hope will help more. Try talking to someone." She headed away from him, going to tell a few children that they could stay in her house until their homes got fixed.
Mido's cheeks puffed out, just as they always did when he got frustrated. Saria was a nice girl and all, yeah. But she was so touchy-feely sometimes. The last thing he wanted to do was go comfort some crying little kid who would get snot and tears all over his shirt. Ew.
Suddenly, someone's arms wrapped around him from behind and whoever it was squeezed him tight. He was confused and a little jumpy, until he heard the person burst into tears and the loudest fit he'd ever heard. No! his mind screamed. Must. Escape. Run, run away!
But he stayed there, awkwardly patting the hand of the child behind him. "There, there." It wasn't at all reassuring, but it was the best he could come up with. "Don't cry." The wailing only got louder and he noticed when people started looking their way. "Hey! Shut up, will you? You're drawing attention! There's nothing to cry about! We're rebuilding your house!"
"Nooooo, you're noooooooottttt!" After that, it sounded like someone blew their nose in his shirt.
He sighed impatiently, about to give this kid a piece of his mind, when, suddenly, the crying stopped, replaced by a cheerful, mischievous giggle.
Fado let go of him and hopped around to his face so he could see her. "Hi, Mido!"
"Fado!" He couldn't believe her. "That wasn't funny!" He continued shouting at her, but she only stared at him with a smile on her face, everything he said going in one ear and out the other.
Once he was finally done, she put her hands behind her back and smiled sweetly at him, just as she always did. "Did a monster pass through here with a girl with red hair, by any chance?"
His eyebrows furrowed. "What? No! How should I know? We were all hiding! Why are you looking for a monster, anyway?"
"No reason." She blinked at him. "Just wondering." And then she skipped away, humming to herself so Mido wouldn't be suspicious of anything.
The house had been torn apart. Nothing was in place anymore, nothing looked the same as it had before. Furniture had been overturned, the walls had been pulled apart, the doors had collapsed completely, and the roof had a huge hole in it, which brightened the area with a huge ray of sunlight coming down in the center of the room. It looked nothing like it had before. All the hard work they'd done and this house had nothing left inside of it that could be salvaged.
"I came as soon as I heard."
Saria jumped at the voice and whirled around to face her best friend. "Link! I'm glad you're here." She was standing in the middle of the room, just as she had the last time she'd visited this house.
He came and stood next to her, assessing the damage that had been done. "What happened?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure. I think Fado knows something, but every time I'm about to talk to her, someone else comes up, or she disappears." The green haired girl sighed quietly. It was a shame that the whole forest had to be ruined, just because Ganondorf wanted more control and more people to fear him. "Fado came the other day and evacuated the whole forest. We all hid in the woods for a few days until it'd blown over. The monsters trashed everything, a few kids were injured, but not seriously. Everyone's so scared now."
Link didn't say anything. He didn't have to. This was terrible. Why would Ganondorf want to terrorize the kindest village in all of Hyrule? How could he do such a thing? The Kokiri were sweet, gentle people. They never wanted to hurt anyone.
The Hylian suddenly felt even more ready to rescue the land. He didn't want anyone to have to suffer any longer. It was his job to protect them and yet he hadn't even been there to help. What kind of hero was he?
Saria's eyes suddenly went wide and she turned to her blond friend. "Link, what about Grog? This was his home. What if they . . .?"
The boy probably wouldn't have been too worried if there was just a chance that Grog had been taken to the castle with Ganondorf. He'd be going there pretty soon, anyway, and he could rescue the teen. But if Grog had been killed . . . there was no rescuing to be done. Everything they'd done to help him would have been for nothing. He slowly took a step forward, entering the side of the house that had been built in the woods of Hyrule, at the edge of the Lost Woods, safely away from the curse that turned Hylians into Stalfos.
"Grog?" he called. He'd killed Stalfos before, evil ones, he knew what it looked like to see their bones scattered about on the floor, their head lying somewhere in a dark corner, where it would scare someone the most. He knew all that and more, but he didn't know what it would be like to see Grog that way. To see someone he'd tried so desperately to save lying in pieces in a room, underneath a piece of wood, or even fighting for his life, was something Link didn't want to imagine. But he had to. He was the Hero of Time and he had to face these things, even if he didn't want to.
Slowly, he headed to the bedroom, stepping over the door that had been knocked down and glancing around the room, studying every single detail in order to make sure he missed nothing. Thankfully, there was no bones to be seen, no dead body to find. Unfortunately, Grog wasn't anywhere else in the house either, so that meant he'd either been captured or he'd gotten away in time. Not knowing which made him a bit uneasy. "He's not here," the green clad boy told his friend as he walked back over to her. "I couldn't find him anywhere, but I'm not sure where else he could be. We can check around the house, but I doubt he'd be that close since the monsters came through."
Saria nodded. "Let's just hope he didn't go back toward Hyrule Field. It's dangerous there." Running a hand through her short, green hair, she sighed, starting toward the exit. "Well, we'll have to work on this later. Right now, there's quite a few people in the forest who need my help. You don't have to stay, Link. I know you've got a lot to do."
"It's fine. It won't hurt to help out a little."
"It'll be nice to have someone who can actually do the heavy lifting."
Link grinned at her. The two of them were just about to exit the house when someone stepped into it. It was a person of about Link's height, with lots of mismatched clothes and a backpack slung over his shoulder. The friends jumped back, Link's hand going to his sword immediately. With the monsters attacking, they never knew what would happen next.
"Relax, it's me."
Both of them let out sighs of relief when they realized it was Grog. "You're all right!" Saria exclaimed, running over to him and hugging him tightly. "I thought you'd been taken away! Where have you been? And what's with the clothes?"
"I took Cremia back to Kakariko Village."
"Who's Cremia?" Link muttered softly, while Saria pulled out of the hug and shouted, "You what?! Do you know how dangerous it is to leave this forest? You could've been captured! Why did you do that?"
Grog began pulling the clothes off of him, tired of not being able to see very well. "I did it to protect her. If she stayed here too long, she could've turned into a Stalfos. Not only that, but she was injured and she needed to get home. Let's just hope she stays there from now on." The girl was so accident prone. It was like she always got herself into trouble. And the last thing he needed was anymore incidents that forced him to have to walk all the way across Hyrule Field for her. "I won't leave again."
"Good." Saria crossed her arms over her chest, smiling. "So, was she the girl I saw here the other day?" She winked. "What do you think of her? Is she 'the one'?"
Grog was glad he was a Stalfos so he couldn't blush. "No, she's not the one." Which, was kind of ironic considering he couldn't stop thinking about what Granny had told him that morning. "Of course she isn't. She hates Hyrule, she was injured because of me, and . . . it would be stupid to think she'd be in love with a Stalfos." Right?
Saria smiled softly at him. "It's not impossible, you know. To break the curse, someone has to fall in love with a Stalfos. And no one would know that unless it has happened before. Don't give up yet, Grog."
He sighed, opening the backpack that Granny had sent with him. Inside, there was a few bags of food, a couple bottles of water, and a bunch of other stuff that he didn't feel like looking through right away. He found the stuff for his arm first, though, and pulled it out. "I don't know," he said, putting on whatever it was Granny had given him before wrapping his arm in a bandage. "I'm just . . . not so sure I want to drag someone else into this."
"What happened to your arm?" Link questioned, his eyebrows knitting together with concern.
"It's a long story." He turned back to the Sage of the Forest. "If someone actually fell in love with me, what would that mean for them?"
Saria seemed taken aback by this question and she stayed quiet for so long that Link had to look to make sure she was still breathing. She knew she should've been answering, she knew answering would have been the wise choice, but she also knew she wasn't allowed to give Grog answers. He put himself into the situation and therefore, he had to figure it out on his own.
"Grog . . ." she trailed off, sighing.
He nodded, his eyes emotionless. "I see. So, something bad could happen to Cremia or whoever else happens to show up, right? Silence speaks more than you think it does." He crossed his arms over his chest. "How come no one told me this before?" He looked over at Link, who hadn't said much the entire time. "You were there before I transformed. Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you get me out of here before it was too late?"
"I tried to he-" the hero began, but Grog interrupted him.
"No, you didn't. You were too slow. My grandmother's potion could have saved me." He felt bad for blaming Link and Saria for this. But if they were both in the forest and if they both knew, he could've gotten out of this. He wouldn't have to live as a Stalfos, always having to worry about where he could go and when, always living with the fact he was putting everyone around him in danger. "Maybe if I had gotten out of here in time, this wouldn't have happened to me."
"I didn't know about the curse before this," Link admitted. "Saria and I built this house, but I didn't know what it was for then. I did everything I could."
Grog turned to Saria. "Then, why didn't you help me?" He sighed. "I know you think I'm selfish, but I'm not. Anju's blaming herself for everything and she's worrying herself sick. Cremia needs to help her family and yet every time she comes around me, all I do is cause her more trouble. I put the whole forest in danger! If I had known this would happen, I would've never wanted this! Why didn't you tell me?"
Saria, finally seeming to lose the everlasting patience of hers, narrowed her eyes at the teen and put her hands on her hips. "Do you really think that, if we told you what was going to happen, you would have just left?" He stayed silent. "Well? Do you?"
His voice was so quiet she couldn't hear him, so he simply shook his head instead.
"Exactly. It had nothing to do with me or Link. This was your choice. We're doing everything we can to help you, so don't tell us what we should have done."
Link was surprised. He'd never seen his best friend act quite like this. It seemed he learned something new about people everyday. She was usually calm, polite, kind. He'd never heard her so firm and serious before. He'd never seen her look at someone the way she was looking at Grog right then. He was glad it wasn't him on the other end of that gaze.
The other boy headed over to the sofa, which was way past ruined by now, and took a seat in the midst of his wrecked home. It looked much like his wrecked life. Saria was right. This was his choice, his fault. He had to accept that. Which meant accepting the future that was waiting for him - a future of working for Ganondorf. He wasn't planning on falling in love. He wouldn't put anyone through whatever was going to happen. He couldn't. Especially not anyone he cared about.
Saria took a seat where she'd been standing and watched her friend. She didn't know very much about Grog, but she knew he was a nice guy. She knew she could trust him. And she knew without a doubt that he wasn't who he thought he was. Stalfos or human, that didn't change the fact that he'd never be evil, no matter what. "I know you might not want to hear this right now," she began slowly, "but I think you should know that there is a chance someone will fall in love with you, whether you want someone to or not. And if that happens, you can't run from it. Okay? It'll be easy to, but please don't. If you run from love, there's no chance of you being saved and getting a second chance to live your life. You need to let love come and allow it to happen."
When she noticed he was avoiding her gaze, she smiled. "It'll be hard, Grog, but you can do it. Don't worry about anything. Just fall in love."
He had no idea what she was talking about, but he didn't bother asking. That would only lead to an even longer explanation and the last thing he needed was more confusion. He needed some time to think things over. He looked up at his friends. "What happened?" he questioned.
"With what?"
"The forest. Was Fado all right? Did she evacuate the village in time?"
Link's eyebrows furrowed. "In time? You knew the monsters were coming through?"
"Yeah. They were after me. I kind of . . . lied to them." Now he felt even worse than he had before, but he didn't apologize, for he knew that would be silly, at this point. "How's everyone doing? Any injuries?"
"A few, but nothing serious," Saria answered. She wanted to ask questions about why he had to lie to some monsters, and why those monsters hadn't found him, but she held her tongue. "A lot of houses were torn apart. We'll have to spend a lot of time rebuilding the village and finding new homes in the meantime. It will take a while, but it'll get done."
"The houses? They tore apart homes of children?" His fault again. He should have stayed. But . . . if he didn't, Cremia would have been far worse off. He stood up. That didn't matter. He was here now and he would do something while he could. "How can I help? I want to help those people get their homes back. If I caused it, the least I could do is give them a hand."
"You can help by staying here," Saria told him, pushing some green hair out of her eyes. "As long as you stay in the woods, Ganondorf won't find you. I doubt those monsters will come back through, but, if they do, just stay put. You'll be safer here, and everyone else will be safer as well." She hoped he understood how she meant that. She didn't want him to be trapped there, but it was his best bet until he could find true love. Wandering off into Hyrule wasn't a very good idea.
"Those kids need someone to help rebuild their houses, though," he pushed. "Just sitting here wouldn't be helping them. Can't I go with you back into the forest village and help out? Maybe they wouldn't mind."
"For one," she started, "they may look like children, but not all of them are. They're very capable adults who can handle themselves. Some of them have been alive three times as long as you have. And two, they're afraid of Stalfos. Some of them were still in their homes when the monsters came through."
"I can put on my disguise," he offered. "Really, I want to help them. They need more than just a few people on their side. No one else in Hyrule would lend a hand to them. Everyone's too afraid to come here nowadays, right?"
She bit her lip, glancing around the room and weighing her options. "Well, I guess you could assist us in repairing some of the houses, or building new ones. I wouldn't recommend going to the village, though. It's not safe for you to leave the Lost Woods. We'll bring you some supplies in the morning and you can get started. Link or I will come by and see how your project is going, when we can. But in the meantime, we'll be helping the villagers out a bit."
Grog nodded. "Okay. I'll try to work on this place for a while. You guys just make sure everyone stays safe. And send Fado here if you see her."
Just as he'd suspected, Fado never showed up. It seemed like she was never there when he wanted to see her. He'd only seen her twice since the day he'd transformed - once when she'd told him about Anju sending someone to search for him, and once when he was with Cremia, in danger. The girl was great at disappearing and it came as no surprise that she wouldn't appear unless necessary. Oh, well. She'd show up eventually.
He'd gotten a good night's sleep, but most of his dreams had been about his red headed friends back in Kakariko Village. Cremia and Romani, no matter how grown up they seemed, were still young. And yet they were both faced with their father being hurt and then the stuff going on in Hyrule, on top of everything. It wasn't fair.
His dreams were, though. In them, Romani and Cremia were smiling, happy. They were running around this big field together, looking perfectly content with life as it was. Cremia was teaching her sister how to use a bow and Romani, although she missed her target the first few times, looked excited to be learning. Baiko was there as well. He wasn't in a wheelchair anymore, though. He was running around with them, blowing a whistle that sent horses running to him from every direction. The horses were beautiful and the sound of their hooves hitting the ground caused the cuccos close by to take to the air. Grog was there, too, but not the Stalfos version of himself. He was actually in human form. And he was smiling, a lot, as he watched the scene before him. It was the best dream he'd ever had.
He wasn't sure what to think when he woke up the next morning, watching as sunlight poured into the house between the vines that posed as a window. He was happy to think that Cremia and Romani would be okay one day - he knew they would - but it was also saddening to think about how, at the moment, things weren't so flawless for them. Cremia and Baiko were injured and Romani definitely couldn't fend for herself, whether she thought so or not. His heart was calling him to go back to Kakariko and help them, but his mind decided against it. That wasn't his place. He needed to stay put, like Saria said, in order to keep everyone out of harm's way.
Still, though, he wished he could help them somehow.
He stretched as he stood up, glad to find that his arm was feeling much better than it had been before. Maybe Granny was a nice person, deep down inside. He headed to the front of the house, once again bothered by the mess everything was. Ganondorf sure knew how to cause destruction. But it wasn't anything he couldn't fix, given time.
The first thing he noticed was the way the light glinted off the backpack his grandmother had sent with him the day before. It was the nicest thing he'd seen since he'd moved to the woods. It was nice to know he had things with him, if he ever needed something. It was nice to know he didn't have to rely on nature alone. It was nice to know his family cared enough about him to send him something.
The second thing he noticed was the large pile of boards, nails, and a few other things that waited for him just outside vine-door. Saria and Link must have left them while he'd been asleep. It felt good, knowing he was going to help someone. Even if he would end up working for Ganondorf one day, it was nice to know that he could aid others in need before that time.
The third and final thing he noticed, though, was the two pictures taped on either side of his makeshift door. They were identical to one another, exactly the same, but with different backgrounds. The object of the photo was a glowing, mint green leaf that sparkled under the sunlight. It was odd and a leaf like no other, but he found himself curious. Taking a few, quick steps forward, he reached one of the pictures and took it off the wall. The leaf looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place where he'd seen it before. He had no idea why it was in his house, though. He looked around, but no one was there. "What is this?" he muttered. Link or Saria could have left it, but he didn't see why they would, without explaining first. He took the other picture as well, studying it just as he had the first one.
"You're clueless sometimes, you know that?"
The sweet, cheerful, mocking voice startled him and he jumped, whirling around, looking from place to place to try and find who the voice belonged to. He already knew who the owner was, but where she was was the question. She was no where in the house - not even in the small spaces she could be hiding in. He heard soft footsteps behind him and turned again only to see a small, blond, blue eyed girl staring up at him with a smile that could light up the world on her face. "Fado. You actually came."
"I figured it wouldn't hurt to cut you some slack, just this once," she said, her eyes twinkling. "You were wondering about the pictures. Those are two different pictures of the same leaf. That leaf can only be found in these woods."
"So? What about it?"
"Cremia's father needs some of those leaves. I don't know how many, so don't ask. I do know that you want to help her." She put her arms behind her back, watching him with a grin. "Find as many of those leaves as you can. I'll get Link to take them to her. But don't tell Mido. He doesn't like when I help the Stalfos."
Grog was going to ask who Mido was, but decided not to. "Are you a mind reader or something?" he questioned. "How do you know I want to help Cremia?"
She performed a well drawn out facepalm. "You're such a boy." She sighed. "Look, I just know what love looks like. I know that, when someone's in love, they want to care for the other person as much as possible. And you're a nice guy. It'd be weird if you didn't want to help her."
"What's with all this love stuff?!" he exclaimed. "Just because I care, doesn't mean I'm in love! I hardly know her!"
She raised her eyebrows at him, giving him a look that only a mother would give. It was strange coming from a small girl. "And what does that have to do with being in love?"
He was at a loss for words, so he didn't say anything. He only crossed his arms over his chest, wrinkling the pictures a bit. First Granny, then Saria, and now Fado. Who else was going to tell him he was in love with Cremia? He definitely wasn't. Of course not. That was crazy, insane. They clearly needed their minds checked. Him, with Cremia? Yeah, right.
Fado smirked at him. No words were needed on his part. She knew the whole story already. "So, what did you want to talk to me about, Lover Boy?"
Thankful for the change of subject, he stood up straighter. "Tell me more about this curse. I want to know everything I can."
"It's confidential information, Grog. There's stuff even Saria doesn't know," she explained. "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you."
"Why not?" he asked. "Don't I deserve to know? If there's something I should be watching out for, I need to be sure I don't get into anymore trouble. Please, Fado. I want to know everything. Is there anything at all that you can tell me?"
"Yeah. Make sure you fall in love. You only have eight more months. There isn't much time."
He sighed. "Is that it? All you can tell me is that I need to fall in love?"
She shot him a look that was cute, even though it probably wasn't meant to be so. "There's a book somewhere in here, called The Curse of the Lost Woods. You won't even get close to knowing everything, but you'll know a little more. Read it, but don't take it to heart. It was written a long time ago."
"By who?"
She shrugged. "Some old guy. Trust me, you'll be able to relate to him. Anything else you need?"
He snorted, shaking his head. "Yeah. A miracle."
She flashed him a wide, adorable grin before turning and moving the vines to head back outside. "You know," she called over her shoulder, "you've never thought of this, but . . . maybe turning into a Stalfos was a good thing for you." When he took on a look of confusion, she stopped walking and looked him in the eyes. "You're a lot like who you used to be, in a lot of ways. But something more than just your form changed when you became a Stalfos. You're learning and understanding things. You're changing for the better." She paused, looking thoughtful. "Oh, and you're definitely in love. I can tell." With that, she raced off in a random direction, her echoing giggle heard long after she was gone.
Grog rolled his eyes, heading over to the bookshelf to find that book. Fado was wrong. They were all wrong. He wasn't in love. He didn't even like love. They were simply insane. Yes, that was it.
Yep. Dear Mido made an appearance in this chapter. :D He's so adorable. xD Anyway, I plan on updating this pretty soon, so maybe y'all won't have to wait too long this time. I start school back on Tuesday. Be praying for me! :)
Thanks for reading! ^_^