I couldn't just stand there in the Elde Inn and listen to the kids crying upstairs, so I left. Part of me wanted to be there with them and try to comfort them, but the idea of comforting grieving people that I barely knew seemed kind of weird, even if the intentions behind it were nice. I knew that after my dad died, I sought the comfort of my friends and family, not a stranger.

I didn't know what to do. For about a minute, I just stood there on the deck, tapping my fingers on the railing as I finally took the time to thoroughly scan the village from end to end in the daylight. There wasn't exactly much to look at. Most of the run-down wooden houses were boarded up, giving me the feeling that Renado and Luda were the only people who had lived in the village in some time. Near the northern end of the village was one of the few buildings not boarded up, and in front of it was a sign. Some of the letters on it were close enough to their English counterparts that I had no problem telling that it at least said 'bomb shop'— though the painting of a bomb right below it might have helped a touch—but the word above it just looked like 'bHPheS' to me. I had already figured out what most of those letters really were, but I was unable to figure out what the P in the middle was, leaving me with 'baPnes' which I was sure couldn't be right.

A bomb shop seemed oddly out of place with Renado in mind. I had only met him the day before, and I only had very few interactions with him, but he didn't seem to be the kind of man who would approve of the usage of bombs, especially in his village. I thought that physical violence could only be a last resort for him, if a resort at all. My curiosity piqued, I made my way over to the building, and knocked on its metal door a few times. It was faint, but I heard a voice call "Come in!"

When I first entered, I didn't see anyone. I only saw a wooden counter, metal stairs to the side of it, and a lot of metal contraptions and pipes lining the underside of the second floor. I walked up the stairs to see a man packing a black powdery substance into a bag. He looked eccentric, almost out of place in Kakariko Village in comparison to Renado and Luda, considering their Native-esque appearance and his cowboy-esque apparel, with his white tank, denim jeans, chaps, and cowboy boots. Like them, at least, it was easy to imagine him as a person from America, albeit from a long time in the past.

"Rena—oh," his voice fell as he turned his head to me. He pushed up his welding helmet. "You ain't Renado. You a customer?" He had a strong Southern accent, and that fact in conjunction with his rounded ears led me to speculate that he was perhaps from Ordon.

"Uh, I don't have any money, so, no," I answered.

"Well, good, because I ain't got anythin' to sell you." He flipped his helmet back down and got back to work. "I can't get the materials I need from the Gorons anymore, so I can't finish makin' more bombs. If they'd just knock off this li'l hissy fit they've been throwing lately..."

"I think they're about done with their 'hissy fit,' or they should be soon enough. They were having a little problem with their patriarch," I said, unsure of how much the man knew about what had happened with the Gorons in the first place, "but I think he's all better now."

He stopped his work and looked back at me. "You talked to 'em?" After I nodded, the man stood and removed his helmet, and sat it on a desk. "Looks like I'm headin' up the mountain, then! If you get your hands on any money, feel free to stop back by soon. I should have my shop reopened in a few days."

"Before I go—what's the name of this place?" I asked. I wanted to unravel the 'baPnes' mystery, hoping that it would help me be able to decode any other written things that I might come across.

"Barnes' Bomb Shop. I've got a sign just outside, you know. Look for it if you come back," he said as he started to pick up tools and put them inside a magic pouch.

"Will do," I said with a nod, knowing it would be better to pretend I just hadn't seen the sign. I mentally took note that P's were R's, adding to what knowledge I had of Hyrule's writing system.

Once I was outside of the shop, I settled on heading to the store on the other side of town that Malo had gone to earlier in the morning, hoping there would be someone else in there, too. Unfortunately, nobody was in the tiny shop. Displayed on a shelf behind the counter were only three items—a shield that looked very similar in design to the one from Link's basement, a red flagon, and a metal mask in the shape of a hawk's face. I climbed over the counter and picked up the strange mask, and flipped it over to inspect it. The back side of it resembled a pair of binoculars, and when I held it up to my face, I realized that was precisely what it was. An unintentional movement of my finger on a scroll wheel on the side of the mask caused the binoculars to zoom in farther. Testing it out, I found that it could zoom in so far that I could see each and every tiny scratch and crack on the wooden floor as if my eyes were right in front of them. They would have been really helpful in the mines when Link was having trouble seeing to shoot the bow.

I put the binoculars back down and picked up the flagon. Something sloshed around inside of it as I moved it, but it felt too thick to be some sort of drink. I opened the top and peeked in. There was red liquid inside; I wondered if it was the same stuff that Renado had given Link to drink. I tried to sniff it, and the hint of a medicinal smell was overpowered by a completely repugnant smell, like sulfur and fire and heat. Though I wasn't a stranger to high temperatures by any means, with Jersey being in the high 90s and low 100s all throughout the summer, it wasn't until now that I realized that heat had its own distinct smell that wasn't just the odor of a city packed with millions of sweaty people.

And it took me a second to realize that the awful smell wasn't the medicine. It was me.

I couldn't stand having to stink for however many more days until Midna would bring back NEVA, but just taking a bath wouldn't be enough to rid me of the volcano's stench. My clothes smelled even stronger than my body, and they would only continue to make me stink if they weren't washed as well. The only clothing I had that would be at least slightly acceptable to wear was my crop top since I didn't wear that around in the volcano, but I obviously couldn't walk around wearing just that.

I searched through the crates in the shop, hoping that the village's only store that wasn't for bombs would have some clothes in stock, but there were only odds and ends littering the boxes. I left the store with a disgruntled sigh, weighing my options. I couldn't borrow clothes from Luda because she was too small, and I couldn't borrow clothes from Renado or Barnes because they were too big. I had half a mind to steal Epona, ride down to Ordon, and borrow more of Uli's clothes from before she got pregnant, but I didn't know when Link would want to leave for Lanayru or if he would need his horse to get there.

My eyes fixated on one of the houses on the opposite side of the street that wasn't boarded up, then trailed over to the spring. Beyond the shallow waters and the short little waterfall was a large pool of water that, while enclosed by earthen walls on the sides, offered little privacy from the street. However, it was at least far enough back that someone would have to be in the shallows of the spring to really get a good look at anyone back in the pool. I knew that Link and the kids were mourning Colin inside the inn, Renado and Luda were surely giving comfort to them, and Barnes was making his way up the mountain, but I still was nervous about being caught back there.

Ultimately I decided that I smelled too bad to care about there being a fraction of a chance that people I'd never see again would potentially see me taking a bath. I decided to check first and make sure the house I was planning on going into wasn't occupied, and it wasn't. All that was in there was a bed, a disappointingly empty wardrobe, some boxes, and a full-length mirror cracked diagonally propped up against the wall. Knowing that it was going to start to get cold soon, I headed for the spring so that I could get at least somewhat dry before it did.

Once I climbed up the waterfall, I went over to one of the walls where I could stand in the water. I put the bow, quiver, and my gun in my pouch, and pulled out my crop top so I could wash that as well. I kept a look out for anyone possibly coming out of the buildings as I quickly stripped the rest of my clothes off, and then I hurried into the deeper water, leaving my clothes to soak in the shallow.

I wasn't sure if anything I did could really be considered 'washing,' what with the fact that I had no soap, but I hoped that the spring's healing water could double as cleansing water. I repeatedly ran my hands through my hair and used my top as a rag on my skin until I couldn't smell myself anymore, then attempted to wash my clothes by scrubbing them together. When I was as satisfied as I thought possible, I got back up near the wall, wrung out my hair and clothes, and then slipped everything back on for my walk to the house.

An out-of-nowhere thought made me stop walking abruptly just past the waterfall. Maybe it wasn't implausible for Light Spirits and Goddesses to exist. Hyrule was real when it shouldn't have been. Link was real when he shouldn't have been. Magic was real when it shouldn't have been. It truthfully wasn't much of a leap in logic to believe in Light Spirits and Goddesses, not after I saw how a hunk of glowing stone could turn a giant man made of rocks into a humongous flaming monstrosity. I wasn't sure what sparked a change in my steadfastness, but I thought it had to be something in the water.

I turned back around to the waterfall. "Hey, Light Spirit?" I whispered. "Light Spirit, are you there?"

Nothing. My belief in their nonexistence started to solidify again.

With a sigh, I turned back and headed for the house. As soon as I was inside, I locked the door behind me. I took my clothes back off and hung them in the closet to dry. Like when I got to explore Ordon by myself, I felt an exhilarating rush from being alone as I walked the street of Kakariko Village and entered the house all by myself, but it all came crashing down on me suddenly as I sat on the edge of the bed. It was easy to forget how dreadfully homesick and lonely I was in this world when I had something to concentrate on, even if it was something as simple as where I was walking.

I couldn't handle it. I snatched my phone out of my pouch and called my mom, wishing desperately that the call would go through. I impatiently tapped my fingers on the side of the bed as my phone rung.

"Hello?"

There was a knock at the door. "Vanna, are you in there?"

I pulled my phone away from my face. "Yes, just a second!" I lifted my phone back up to my ear. "Hey, I gotta go now. I'll call you back tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay, sweetheart, I'll talk to you then. Goodbye!" my mom said.

I said goodbye back, hung up my phone, and went over to the closet. My clothes were damp and cold, but I sucked it up and put them on anyway. When I opened up the door, Luda was standing there, and it was decently dark outside behind her. The nearly-night sky made me aware of just how dark it had gotten in the house while I was distracted by my conversation with my mom.

Her eyebrows drew together. "Oh, my, you're all wet!"

"I needed a bath and didn't have an extra set of clothes or anything to dry off with, so..." I shrugged.

"I could give you some dry clothes to wear," she said. "Another family used to live here, but just this last week..." Luda's face fell. "...They had a daughter about your size. You can have her clothes, if you'd like."

Dead girl's dry clothes or my damp clothes? A sudden shiver made my decision for me. "Th-that would be nice, yeah."

She gave a little smile. "Okay. We've finally got around to making dinner at the inn. Would you like to come over and eat after we get your clothes?"

I accepted her offer, and then she led me over to another house. Luda left the door open so more light could spill inside. The interior looked quite similar to the house I had been in, but with two extra beds and one extra wardrobe.

"They were originally from Castle Town," Luda said as she began to sift through the clothes in one of the wardrobes. "Castle Town fashion is ... quite strange, or at least it is to me. I'm trying to find something simple for you, without many unnecessary layers and accessories, since that seems like what you would want."

What she settled on was fairly simple, like she said: a black elastic belt, a long-sleeved, knee-length, light blue dress with light purple stripes on the skirt and frills at the wrists, a darker blue overshirt of sorts with purple shoulders and lacy hems on its flowing sleeves and draping bottom, and lastly a simple bra and pair of underwear. I thought the dress and top looked tacky and outdated, and I wasn't too sure how I felt about wearing a stranger's underwear, but it would be better than having to wear wet freezing clothes or having to go commando in a dress.

"This dress will make a nice nightgown, as well," she said, laying the clothes down on the bed. She looked at me, her eyes going higher up than my own at first, and then down my body. "Your hair still looks really wet. Do you want me to put it up for you so you don't get your new clothes wet?"

"You don't have to—it's nice enough that you helped me out with the clothes and came and got me for dinner already, and the dinner might get cold soon if we wait around much longer..."

"It's above the fire, it won't get cold." She clasped her hands in front of her chest and grinned. "Please? I really like doing hair, and I'm really quick at it, too!"

"If you don't mind, then sure," I said. It definitely would be nice to not have to worry about my hair making my new clothes just as cold and wet as my other clothes.

She patted the bed next to the clothes, and I sat down on it with my back facing her. She got to work, her delicate fingers making a French braid faster than I imagined even my mother could, and then she wound up the length into a bun just above the nape of my neck.

"All finished!" she announced. "I'll leave you to get dressed, now. Come to the inn when you're done!"

I thanked her, and she left me in the house with the door still opened just a speck for light. I changed into the new outfit, making sure to flip the underwear inside out first at least, and I left my boots on and swapped my pouch over to the new belt. Everything fit a lot better than I expected it would, but I felt strange walking outside. I wasn't familiar with the feeling of a long dress brushing against my legs. There were a few times on my walk to the inn that I swirled around in a circle just to feel how the fabric swooshed around me.

Just inside the Elde Inn, Link, Renado, and Luda were sitting at a round table, and Renado was talking to Link. There was a plate of food on the table between Luda and Link's seats. Luda was eating her dinner, Renado's plate was already empty, and Link was poking at his food pointlessly.

"I got a plate for you," Luda said as she noticed me enter.

I sat down in front of the plate and thanked her once more, and then I looked at Link. He looked awful, his downcast eyes completely bloodshot and face stuck in a pained frown. It was hard to believe that just hours ago he had been holding back laughter from seeing me be so giddy about hitting my target with an arrow for the first time.

As I started eating, Renado resumed talking to Link. "You should really eat your food. You'll sleep better tonight with a full stomach, and a good rest will make your journey to Castle Town tomorrow much more bearable."

Link sealed his lips tighter, but otherwise gave no indication that he had even heard what Renado said. No one said anything more as Luda and I ate our dinners. Once our forks were set down, everything fell into an uncomfortable complete silence for minutes before Link shot up off his stool and walked outside. Without thinking about it, I stood up and followed him out. His brisk pace had already led him to Epona by the time I was out the door. I ran up to him as he was preparing to mount her.

"What are you doing?" I said.

Midna came out of his shadow. "Renado told him that he could get a wagon in Castle Town to bring everyone down to Ordon to hold a funeral for Colin."

"So you're leaving right now? At night?" I asked Link.

He glanced my way briefly before getting up on Epona. Midna shrugged and went back into the shadows, and Link started on his way.

"Wait!" I called.

Epona slowed to a stop. Again, I ran to Link, this time reaching into my pouch and fetching the bow and quiver as I did. I held them up to him.

"You might need them," I said.

He seemed to ponder if he should take them or not before taking them anyway without a word and putting them in his own pouch. With a light kick on both of Epona's sides, Link's horse began to lead him away once more. I watched them until they disappeared, and continued to stand where I was for a while before slowly starting to head back to the Elde Inn. I stopped as I got to the small set of stairs to the porch, and looked behind me, at the spring.

There had to have been something in the water, because I felt like the spring was calling to me, and I couldn't ignore it. I walked to the spring, and didn't stop until the water was halfway up my boots.

"I just want to see you if you're real, just for a second. You don't even have to talk to me," I whispered.

Nothing again. It was definitely something in the water.

"Please?"

"They say only the brave can see them," said a tiny voice behind me.

I jumped; I hadn't heard anyone come up behind me. It was one of the children, I knew, but I didn't think I had talked to any of them long enough to be able to differentiate their voices for certain without looking at them. My first thought was that the quiet voice belonged to Colin, even though I knew it couldn't be him. I looked back to see which one it was.

Maybe it really wasn't too implausible for Light Spirits to exist when a glowing apparition of Colin was floating behind me in the spring.

"...That's what my dad told me when I couldn't see Lady Ordona," he said.

I couldn't get myself to talk at first, and when I did, all I could say was "You're dead."

I supposed he technically wasn't the first ghost I had ever seen, but there was a difference between Colin and the Hero's Shade that made me feel like I was really seeing one for the first time. I had never seen the Hero's Shade alive, only dead, and only in a mystical snowy realm in my subconscious that was disconnected from the real world, and now I was completely conscious, completely in the real world, staring at the ghost of a child that I had seen breathing this morning.

"I know," Colin replied, looking down at his feet. He folded his arms behind his back. "But I can't pass on yet."

"You ... have passed on, already," I said slowly, confused.

"I've passed from life. I haven't passed from this world."

I didn't know what to say. I could only stare at his floating blue form silently.

"I can't, yet," he went on. He looked back up at me. "I need to know before I go... Can you promise me something?"

'If I don't pass out first.' I nodded anyway.

"Take care of Link," Colin said quietly. "And make sure everyone ... especially him ... and especially my parents ... know how much I love them."

My mouth fell open, and I struggled to find the words I wanted to say. "L-Link will be back soon, can't you hang on just a little bit longer to see him? And he's going to go get your parents, so you can see them one last time, too. Don't you want to say goodbye?"

"It'll just hurt them more to see me this way... I can't make them hurt any more. If I have to see my parents cry over me..." Colin's eyes closed and his head turned down. "I can't do it. I can't."

"Then—then you don't have to," I said. "I'll ... let them know, okay?"

Colin nodded and raised his head. "But what about Link? Do you promise to stay with him and help him?"

"I promise." I felt horrible having to lie to the kid, but there was no way I was going to stick around and go through however many more temples and life-threatening situations that were waiting for Link. Midna would bring back NEVA after the next temple, and then I was going to go home and leave her and Link to it.

"Good," Colin said with a smile. "He's really going to need you."

If he was trying to make me feel worse, he was succeeding. "I know..."

He sighed contentedly. "I'm ready to go, now. Please don't forget what you promised me."

Colin closed his eyes, and he disappeared into the wind.

I'm sorry for the wait. I haven't been busy or anything, I've just been feeling pretty awful lately and haven't had the motivation to finish up this chapter until just this past week. I pinky promise that I'm never going to abandon this story though! I have waaay too much of the future chapters written to just throw everything away now. The first part I wrote of this story is actually coming up in either the next chapter or the chapter after that, and since that scene will take up a substantial part of the chapter, the next chapter should be out pretty soon. Even if I do decide for it to be in the chapter after the next one, hopefully it won't take that long for me to update again.

Thanks for 33 favorites and 41 follows! I know that that's absolutely nothing compared to other stories here, but it's a lot to me, so thank you! And I know I'm basically just saying the same thing I said back when I hit 1000 views, but really, I never expected this story to receive as much attention as it has.

JU: Thanks for the review, it really helped motivate me to finish this chapter up :) I always worry that I'm making everything seem too rehashed, so it's nice to hear that you don't think I do, haha. And yeah, Colin's death is a giant emotional kick in the ass to Link, which is partially why I killed him. I know the "I must avenge my dead friend" trope has been done to death (*ba dum tsss*) but I like Link having a personal reason to continue forward instead of just Midna or the Light Spirits bossing him around.