Upon review, the dream sequence that begins this final chapter feels vestigial. Feel free to skip it.
The sun shone brightly down upon Hyrule Plain, the lush green grass and gently rolling hills spread out before me as Epona carried me across its expanse. A pair of arms was wrapped around my torso; I looked behind me to see Romani, her crimson hair flying in the wind, the sunlight making it shine like a flame in the dead of night. She grinned at me, blushing lightly. I smiled back.
"Hold on tight," I said, and with a nudge to Epona's flanks, we were flying across the grassy hills. Romani's arms tightened around me and I felt her nuzzle me, her lips brushing gently across the back of my neck. I shuddered with pleasure and happiness, feeling a welcome pressure form against the inside of my pants.
"Liked that, huh?" she teased. "How about this?"
Oh no, what was she gonna- yuuup yupyupyupyup YUUUUUUP!
The sensation of her tongue tracing a heart on the back of my neck practically made me melt. I fell off of Epona, rolling to a stop on my back as Romani's laughter echoed out over the plains. She stopped Epona, then dismounted and jumped on top of me before I could pick myself up, pinning my arms to the grass.
She smiled down at me, her dark blue eyes brimming with laughter as she started to lower herself onto me. "Well, somebody's happy," she said as her body pressed against the overly tight seam of my pants.
"You have no idea," I murmured, pushing my head up towards her beaming face.
Our lips met, and ecstasy flooded my brain.
When we finally broke apart, the air turned suddenly cold. Romani looked up at something behind me and screamed as a huge purple hand closed around her torso and pulled her into the air. I leapt to my feet, the Great Fairy Sword appearing in my hand in a flash of purple light.
A gigantic Majora, more than 50 feet tall, towered over me, clutching Romani in her fist. Her laughter boomed out across the plains as she tore Romani's dress off, leaving her in her undergarments. She turned Romani sideways, one hand gripping her under her arms, the other by her legs. Then she pulled.
Romani's screams pierced the air. I could only watch in horror as the skin on her abdomen stretched, split, and finally broke open as she was torn in half. Blood and viscera rained down on me as Majora's triumphant laughter boomed in my eardrums…
My eyes snapped open as I let out a small gasp. I was laying on a bed in the Stock Pot Inn's 'Knife Chamber.' A fire crackled merrily in the fireplace and over it, I could just make out a quiet conversation being held by people on the other side of the room.
"...ky to be alive," an unfamiliar voice was saying. "The bodies of humans are not meant to contain that much raw magical energy. It could have fried his nervous system if he wasn't careful." The voice was undeniably feminine and despite the fact that the speaker was talking quietly, her voice conveyed a sense of great strength.
"You speak as though you aren't human," Anju's voice interjected. "Just who are you, anyway? Where did you come from? I know for a fact I haven't seen you around before today. How do you know-"
The woman with the strong voice laughed lightly. "Peace, Anju. You have nothing to fear from me. I have known Zelda and Link since they were no more than babes."
"Anju, it's fine. Really," Zelda's voice piped up. "Din has my complete and total trust."
Din? Like, the Din?
Anju scoffed, then there was the sound of her high-heeled shoes clacking across the floor. She was in my vision for just a moment as she opened the door and stepped through, slamming it behind her.
The woman Zelda had called Din laughed again as the sound of Anju stomping down the stairs receded. "She is quite the drama queen, is she not?" she said. Zelda did not reply, but I heard her walking towards my bed. I closed my eyes as I felt her sit on the edge of the bed.
"I'm really worried about him," she said. "After Navi left… I had never seen him so sad. It took years for him to get over it. And now this…" I felt her hand stroke my head gently. "I can't imagine what this is going to do to him." And with those words came the realization. A weight dropped into my stomach as a wave of emotion broke over me.
Romani was dead.
I opened my eyes, feeling them fill with tears. My body began to shake with silent sobs.
"Link?" Zelda asked in a shocked voice. "Din, he's awake!" She pulled me to a sitting position and embraced me, whispering, "Shh, shh… it's alright. It'll be okay…"
Romani was dead.
I cried into Zelda's shoulder, trying to find what comfort I could in her friendship as she consoled me over and over again with empty sentiments about how everything was going to be okay.
I don't know how long I cried for. With every tear I shed, a void grew within me, a ravenous hole that started to eat me from the inside out.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned, looking up to see a muscular, tan-skinned woman with short black hair and crimson eyes giving me a sad smile. I could just make out a red aura outlining her body, identifying her as the true Din, Goddess of Power.
"You fought well, Link," she said. "You won a great victory. I am proud of you."
I punched her in the face with all my strength.
"Link!" Zelda cried, but I ignored her, jumping up and tackling the goddess to the floor. All of my sorrow had turned to rage when I saw Din.
"YOU KNEW!" I roared, smashing my knuckles into her jaw. "YOU KNEW AND YOU DID NOTHING!" I raised my fist again, but Zelda seized my arm before I could bring it down.
"Link, stop!" she yelled. "Think about who-"
"I DON'T CARE!" I screamed, breaking out of Zelda's grip and pounding Din's face once more. "YOU KNEW SHE WOULD DIE AND YOU SAT THERE WITH YOUR THUMBS UP YOUR ASSES!"
Din's eyes flashed as she pressed her hand against my chest, her aura intensifying. I felt my skin tingling where her hand touched me. I laughed madly.
"GO AHEAD, BITCH! VAPORIZE ME! I DON'T! FUCKING! CARE! TAKE MY LIFE! TAKE IT AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR MOST HOLY OF TWATS!" I spread my arms wide so her hand was the only thing holding me up and looked directly into her eyes. She stared back at me, crimson eyes blazing with angry fire.
"Take it," I said quietly. "Isn't it already yours? I've devoted it to your service. I've gambled with it in your name. This marks the third time that I've done what you asked of me and only lost what was precious to me. I have nothing left to give, NOTHING!"
The room was eerily silent after my outburst, broken only by the sounds of Zelda crying softly. Din did not reply to me right away, her eyes gazing into mine. Neither of us broke eye contact, not even to blink.
Then the fire faded from her eyes. The tingling where her hand touched me stopped, and she pushed me off of her, saying, "I will take nothing from you, child." She stood and walked to the other side of the room.
"Then once," I said, standing, "just once, I beg of you: give back to me instead. Bring her back. She was innocent. She deserves better than what she got. Please," I added, my voice breaking.
The goddess turned and gave me a sorrowful look. "I would. Believe you me, if I could grant your request I would do so in a heartbeat. But I am afraid it is impossible." She raised a hand as I began to protest. "Speak not until I have explained," she said. "You know of necromancy, yes?"
"Yes," I replied. "It's the school of magic that is responsible for ReDeads and Gibdo."
"Exactly," said the goddess. "Now, understand that when Nayru, Farore and I came to exist, we each were given a special ability. I have control over matter. Nayru has control over certain aspects of physics, including time. And Farore is able to create souls. In a sense, we are just like you, except that our magic is more refined and we have nigh unlimited energy with which to use it."
Din paused and bit her lip before continuing. "You must understand that we ourselves are not entirely sure of our origins. We do not understand what makes our magic different from yours. A human mage who tries to create matter or manipulate time without a catalyst such as the Ocarina of Time is likely to die. While it is possible for a human to create a soul through an extremely arduous process, thus the existence of necromancy, the souls are…" She cast around for the right word. "Unstable. Impure. There is no sapience in the minds of beings with necromantic souls. There is something missing; something only Farore is able to provide."
My mind was reeling. I had always taken the fact that the Goddesses had created the world for granted, never questioning where they had come from. The fact that they themselves did not know their origins was… inconceivable. I shook my head, pushing the revelation to the back of my mind to deal with later; Din was still speaking.
"Understand also that Farore only creates souls. She gives life. However, she cannot restore it once it has been lost. It is beyond her ability, just as creating new matter is beyond mine." She sighed deeply and looked somberly into the fire. "There are some things even we Goddesses cannot do," she finished quietly.
My eyes grew blurry once more as the void inside me grew. My knees gave out, and I sank to the floor. Romani was dead, and nothing could be done. My shoulders shook as I cried quietly. "She didn't deserve this," I whispered. "She had nothing to do with Majora! She didn't deserve this!" I yelled. The room fell silent once more.
Then the door opened and a flat voice spoke. "No, she didn't."
Another weight dropped into my stomach as I turned to face Cremia. Her eyes were red and puffy, her appearance disheveled. She closed the door quietly as she stepped into the room, her expression blank. She walked to me, looking down at me with eyes that showed the sorrow she carried with her.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
Cremia pulled me to my feet and hugged me. I was still for a moment, shocked by her gentle embrace. "I'm sorry too," she said. Her words snapped me out of my surprise and I returned her embrace as she lowered her head, speaking directly into my ear.
"I know you couldn't do anything," she said gently. "I know you couldn't…" Then her tone became icy as she finished, "...but that doesn't change the fact that this is your fault." Her words hit me with the force of a charging Moblin. My knees, already weak, turned to jelly as the void within me grew even larger.
My fault, I thought. And she was right. Of course she was right. Majora had targeted Romani for no other reason than the fact that I would do anything to protect her. If I hadn't become so close to Romani, she would never have been kidnapped or killed. Everything Cremia had - her ranch, her sister, her entire life as she knew it - was lost. Gone.
Because of me.
My fault. The words reverberated in my head, knocking things into the void. My fault. And it wasn't just Cremia I had hurt, everyone in Clock Town had suffered because of me. When I looked back on the times I had been in Clock Town over the last few days, I realized that there were buildings that were being rebuilt. They had been smashed when the Guardians attacked on the night of the Carnival. I hadn't given it a thought at the time, but the realization hit me full force at that moment.
People's homes had been destroyed. Hell, some people might even have been killed. And I hadn't noticed. My infatuation with Romani had blinded me to the suffering of those around me. When I came back from Snowhead with no clues as to where Majora could be, what did I do? Did I ask around for clues? Did I take a moment to try and figure out what she could've been planning next? Did I do anything at all that would have been beneficial to my quest to stop the demon?
No. I got into a fight with my girlfriend. In front of the whole damn town.
"I'm sorry," I said again, my voice small and weak. It was a meaningless sentiment; all the damage had already been done.
"I know," Cremia whispered. She pulled away and took my chin in her hand, forcing me to look up into her eyes. I could see the turmoil of her emotions in them. Her gaze pierced me for what felt like an eternity. At last, she closed her eyes and released me… then made a fist and smashed it into my face.
I fell backwards, my head striking the hard wood of the floor. I lay there, my vision slightly blurred, dimly aware of Zelda crying out my name. I wanted Cremia to keep hitting me. I wanted her to beat me into a senseless, bloody heap. It was no more than I deserved.
"I know," Cremia repeated, her flat, cold voice piercing through my daze. "But… I can never forgive you for this." I raised my head to look at her as she turned away, walking towards the door. She stopped with her hand on the knob. "The funeral is next week," she said quietly. Then, with a tone venomous enough to rival Majora's, she continued, "Don't even think about coming. I never want to see your face again."
An icy dagger stabbed into my heart as the door slammed behind her. The cold spread through my body, turning everything numb as I let my head fall back to the floor. I couldn't cry anymore. I wasn't angry. There was nothing left to feel except the emptiness of the void within me.
I was broken.
Death is like a knife. Eventually, everybody gets cut. Some people get cut over and over again. Some cuts are deeper than others. Some cuts never truly heal, and you carry a scar for the rest of your life.
I've been cut a lot. Most of the cuts have healed. I've come to terms with the fact that I'll never know my parents. I know a lot of people were killed during the seven years of Ganondorf's reign, but the circumstances were out of my control, and I've come to terms with that too.
But I have my share of scars. The Deku Tree was the first. I still blame myself for not destroying Gohma quickly enough to save it. The Deku Tree was the closest thing to a father I ever had. It took me in and raised me as one of its own, and when it had asked for my help, I wasn't able to repay the debt.
When I returned to Castle Town after obtaining the last Spiritual Stone, Ganondorf had laid siege to the castle. A wounded guard lay dying in a deserted alleyway. Zelda had told him to find me and direct me to the Temple of Time. I screamed for help, but it was too late. He died in my arms. I watched the life fade from his eyes. It was my first time seeing death up close, and I don't think I will ever forget it.
One of the biggest scars is Kakariko Village. I had just received the Spirit Medallion from Nabooru, and only had one left to find. By that time, I had garnered quite a reputation as a hero. I had seen the hope that lit people's faces when they saw me. Hope that I would finally end Ganondorf's tyranny, hope that their children would have a brighter future.
On my way to Kakariko Village to begin my search for the final temple, I stopped to rest at Lon Lon Ranch. As I left a couple of hours later, I saw the smoke. I raced to Kakariko Village as fast as Epona could carry me, but it was already too late. Several buildings had burned down, and people had died. People had died because I had decided to put my feet up for a while. I hadn't needed to. I could've gone straight to Kakariko. At least then, I would have been there, and if I couldn't stop it from happening in the first place, I could at least have helped people. Even though the timeline had been reset and it technically never happened, it still weighs on my conscience.
Romani's death wasn't just a cut from death's knife, it was a stab. Cremia's words and the crushing realization they engendered twisted the knife. And as I lay on the floor of the Stock Pot Inn, my emotions seeped out through the wound. It didn't take long for me to bleed out.
Majora had wanted to see me broken. She'd wanted to bring me to the absolute lowest point she could muster and then put me out of my misery. In a way, she had succeeded. By killing Romani, and by extension forcing me to face my demons, she'd won. Majora had gotten her revenge. In fact, in that moment, as I lay still on the floor of the Stock Pot Inn, I think she succeeded more than she would have by killing me. At least if she had done that, I wouldn't have had to feel that horrible numbness.
I can't imagine how Zelda must have felt over the days that followed Cremia's confrontation. I wasn't eating. I barely talked. When I managed to sleep, the emotional floodgates came down and I was plagued by nightmares of all the people I had failed to save, and she watched as I writhed and kicked, listened as I screamed and sobbed. She watched as my demons tore me apart right in front of her.
She wanted to help. She wanted to hold me and shelter me from the hurricane of my tortured mind and soul. But what could she do? Seeing me like that and being unable to help… Nayru only knows how much she hurt.
Anju, however, made it quite clear how she felt. "Out!" she said one day, banging the door open. "You two have been holed up in here for days and now the entire inn smells like angst! I don't care what you do, I don't care where you go, but go outside and come back with a damn smile on your face or I'll nail your cheeks to your ears and make you smile!"
Had I been any kind of lucid at the time, I would have marveled at how assertive the normally polite and timid innkeeper was. As it was, it seemed like I blinked and suddenly I had been punted off the second floor overhang. The only reaction I had as I plummeted toward the hard paving stones was, "Huh?" Fortunately, Zelda was already outside and slowed my fall with her magic. I still landed hard enough to wake me up a little.
I looked around for a moment, and it finally clicked that I was outside. "What?" I said dully.
"You dork," Zelda said, a small smile brightening her face as she pulled me to my feet. "Come on, let's walk."
I let her guide me through town, not quite as detached from the world as before, but no less reluctant to dive back into it like this. People whooped at me as we passed. I wished they wouldn't. It was like they refused to see how much harm I had done them just because I was considered a hero. I thought I had been the blind one, but the fact that they were still willing to praise me while houses lay in ruins just down the street… well, to be frank, I found it disturbing.
"What's the matter, Link?" Zelda asked me, stopping in front of the slide in North Clock Town. "You keep looking ashamed, no matter what people say to you! I know you don't like people making a big deal of you being a hero, but they're just thanking you."
"I don't deserve their thanks," I said, looking down at my boots.
"Um… what?" Zelda said, apparently baffled.
I felt a spark of anger jump out of the void. Was she as blind as they were? "Don't you get it?!" I said heatedly, glaring at her. "Didn't you see the wrecked houses? Didn't you see how miserable everyone looked before they saw us?!" She stared at me in shock, obviously not having expected this. The spark of anger ignited. "They're hurting, Zelda!" I yelled. "Majora may have been targeting me, but they're the ones who are suffering for it!"
"What are you-" Zelda started, but I was far from finished.
"They shouldn't be thanking me! They should hate me! They should beat me up! They should throw me out of Termina and forbid me from ever coming back, because it's my fault that they have to rebuild their lives! But no!" I shouted, punching the wall and splitting my knuckles on the weathered stone. "No, I'm a hero! It doesn't matter that they were put in harms way because of me! It doesn't matter that their loved ones died because I wasn't fast enough or strong enough to protect them! In the end I saved them from the big monster and somehow that absolves me of all the blame!"
"Are you serious?" Zelda asked incredulously. "You're blaming yourself for… Is that what Cremia said to you?!" she asked suddenly, her crystal blue eyes suddenly turning ice cold. "That bitch! She blamed you for Romani didn't she?!"
"And why shouldn't she?" I retorted, throwing my arms up. "She has every right to! Majora took everything from her! You know why? Because I made her a target! ME!" I screamed, jabbing my finger into my chest. "I'm the one Majora wanted! I'm the one who didn't kill Majora when she had her guard down! Romani only came out there because she wanted to protect me! So don't you dare stand there and tell me this isn't my fault, because it IS!"
"No, it's not! That's bullshit and you know it!" Zelda yelled back at me.
"Actually, it's very much his fault," said a new voice. Zelda and I both whirled to see Kai coming from the gate to Termina Field. "Sorry," he said, grinning at us, "I was just taking a jog around the town and couldn't help but overhear your little spat." He scratched his head and looked around. "Wouldn't be surprised if half the town heard you, to be honest."
"You're not helping," Zelda said, glaring at him. "I haven't even seen you since before Link woke up."
"So? Oh, right," Kai said nonchalantly. "It's custom among humans to visit one another when they're sick or recovering. I'm afraid I'm not quite so sentimental. You see, I haven't had a body for seven hundred years, and I've been busy enjoying it. Still need a good lay though… Wasn't Din here a few days ago? She always seemed like a good time-"
"NOT! HELPING!" Zelda yelled. "Also, ew."
"Well, excuuuuuuuuse me, Princess!" Kai said, throwing his arms wide. "Why don't you go seven hundred years without getting some and see what happens to your libido?"
They started to argue. I wasn't in the mood to deal with it, so I slinked away. I went to the South Gate and looked out at the field. There was a massive area of burnt and blackened grass where Majora had exploded. Other patches were still stained red from the blood that had been shed. Particularly noticeable was the large splatter that had come from Ro-
I froze, my body tensing as I remembered the feeling of her blood on my skin. I saw her face in my mind's eye, contorted in unimaginable pain, mouth wide in a silent scream, eyes fixing me with an accusing stare. She staggered towards me, her insides falling out of the gaping hole in her torso as she lifted her arms and grabbed my shoulders. "Help… me…" she breathed in my ear.
But I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. I was paralyzed by the sight before me.
"Don't you love me?" she asked.
Of course.
"Do you want me to keep suffering like this?"
No!
"Then why won't you help me?!" And suddenly her voice was a long, low moan as before my eyes, Romani's flesh began to shrink and warp. It clung to her skull and turned a sickly brown as her hair fell off and her eyes rolled back into her head and decomposed, leaving empty black sockets. Her dress rotted and fell away, revealing an emaciated, necrotic body. The ReDead reached out and took my face in its clammy, skeletal hands. "Kiss me, my love…"
"Link? I say, boy, are you well?"
I jumped and looked around as the ReDead vanished. Mayor Dotour stood next to me, looking concerned. "You look like you've seen a ghost," he said. "Goodness, you're white as a sheet! What happened, lad?"
I became aware that my heart was racing a mile a minute. I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself. "I'm… okay," I lied.
"Are you?" Dotour asked. "I haven't seen you since you were found unconscious out here and brought to the inn for medical attention. You seemed to be having some kind of fit just now."
I nodded, shuddering. "Yeah, I guess you could call it that…"
Dotour sat down on the wooden steps and patted the place next to him. "Come, sit down and tell me what it is that troubles you. Many people here say laughter is the best medicine, but I often find conversation to be a better cure for the troubles of the mind."
I sat next to him, making a point to avoid looking at the patch of blood-stained grass. "I… I feel like I've failed," I said slowly.
"Failed?" Dotour looked shocked. "How so? The demon is gone! How have you… Ah, the young ranch girl," the mayor said gently, his purple eyes looking at me understandingly. "I imagine Cremia had some strong words for you regarding her death."
I nodded. "She… she said it was my fault. And I realized… I realized that it is."
"You feel your, ah… relationship with her made her a target for the demon?"
"Yes, exactly." I let out a breath and looked up at the clear, blue sky. "And… it's not just that, but I… I never noticed it before a couple days ago, but the town took a lot of damage that night the Guardians attacked. People's homes were destroyed, and… were there any deaths?" I asked, looking back at Dotour.
"Thankfully, no," he replied, and I felt a small weight lift from my shoulders. "However…" I snapped my gaze back around to him. "Six young boys were injured."
"Six… the Bombers gang?!" I gasped.
The old mayor nodded. "Yes, although it was largely their own foolishness. They attempted to aid a family that had become trapped in their home by rubble. They managed to liberate the family, but as they were leaving in search of more people to help, the sizeable mound of rubble they had moved was toppled by a shockwave from one of the Guardians falling to the ground, and they got caught in it. They'll be fine," he said, holding up a hand to stop the outburst I was about to make. "Worry not. They are young, and the injuries were not too severe."
"It was still my fault," I insisted. "I was the one taking out the Guardians, if I had found another way-"
"Oh, rubbish!" Dotour exclaimed. "You did what you had to do, and it saved the lives of everyone in Clock Town. Why should we blame you for that?"
"Because I'm the reason any of this happened in the first place!" I said angrily, standing up. "I could have stopped this whole thing before it began! Majora was weak and nearly powerless when I first encountered her at Stone Tower, and I still failed to stop her there! How can people still consider me a hero when I can't even-"
"I'm going to stop you there," Dotour interrupted, calmly taking off his glasses and beginning to polish them on his suit. "You seem to be comparing your feats to those of the great heroes in the old tales. The ones who overcame every adversity without a scratch, defeated their foe and ensured they could never rise again, and won the heart of the fairest maiden in the land. I'm going to tell you something about those stories that I think a lot of people forget."
"And what's that?" I asked, a little confused.
Dotour placed his glasses back on his nose, stood, and put his hand on my shoulder, a gentle smile on his face. "They are stories," he said. "They are meant to teach and entertain. We learn from them, and draw inspiration from them… but we do not live them. In real life, things can't always go the way we wish they would. Sometimes, we make mistakes. Sometimes, we lose what we hold most dear. Sometimes, we give everything we have, and it still isn't enough."
I wanted to argue, but the truth of his words gave me pause. I stood and listened as the mayor continued.
"You have done some amazing things, Link - things most people only dream of doing. People look up to you. They praise you for your feats and celebrate your presence because they want to thank you for giving them hope and repay you for what you've sacrificed to claim your victory. But beneath all the laurels and glamor of Link the Hero, they see Link the Person; the boy who is still young, still learning, and who bears the scars that Link the Hero shrugs off."
He took his hand from my shoulder and placed it over my heart. "They see your heart, Link. They see that you care about what has happened, that you care about them and their well being. And that, more than how many monsters you've defeated, is what makes you a hero in their minds. So imagine what is going through their heads as they see you walking through the streets today, grief-stricken by the loss of Romani and blaming yourself for the things that they have lost. They see you hurting, and they think 'What is a house or a broken leg compared to the burdens he bears?'"
"So they pity me?" I asked irritably.
"No," the mayor said, looking shocked. "No, no. They are humbled by the burdens they see you bear, and it puts theirs in perspective. A home can be rebuilt, a crippled limb will heal, but wounds of the heart take a great deal of time and support to be restored. It is not an easy path you walk, but the people are doing what they can to aid you in traversing it."
I looked back up into the sky, my mind whirling. I had never looked at myself from the perspective of the people I'd helped before. Did I… really mean that much to them? The empty feeling receded a little as I considered this new perspective. I'd never wanted thanks for the things I'd done. I long ago accepted my destiny as the Hero of Time, but I didn't want that to put me above the other people. I grew up in a forest, for Din's sake!
But this… Knowing that people still saw me as a person and wanted to give me back some of the hope I delivered so freely… I could live with that. I still didn't want a parade or a feast in my honor, that was still putting me above people. But knowing that people cared about how I feel and would support me when I was in need of it cheered me up a little and helped to fill some of the void.
Still… Romani's death had been my fault. There was no denying that. Even if people could forgive me for getting their homes destroyed, I could not forgive myself for putting Romani in danger. My eyes closed as the void within me gnawed at my soul, trying to regain the ground it had lost. Then they snapped open again as I heard Zelda's voice coming from South Clock Town.
"YOU!"
I spun around and my heart leaped into my throat as I saw Zelda and Cremia in the middle of the square, the princess advancing menacingly on the rancher with an expression of sheer malice.
"You whore!" Zelda raged. "How dare you blame Link for Romani! Do you have any idea what he's been like? Do you know how much he's suffering because of you?!" I had never seen Zelda like this; her eyes were like crystalline daggers and her fair features were twisted in an expression of untamed rage.
Cremia, to her credit, seemed unfazed. "No," she said calmly. "But it's good to know he's suffering. Maybe next time he'll think before putting someone else's family in danger."
Zelda's eyes flashed and her hands began to glow with magic. "YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" she screamed, arms rising in preparation to cast. I ran forward, the Great Fairy Sword appearing in my hand in flash of purple light. Zelda's hands filled with fireballs and she launched them at Cremia. I ran between her and the fireballs with the Great Fairy Sword raised in a defensive position. The spells struck the iridescent blade and dissipated.
"You!" Cremia exclaimed.
I kept my back to her, trying to honor her wish to never see my face again. "I apologize on behalf of my friend," I told her. "Her behavior was inexcusable. Please forgive her indiscretion-"
"MY behavior is inexcusable?!" Zelda seethed.
"Disturbing might be a better word," I replied. "Zelda, what are you doing?"
For a moment, she didn't reply. Then her eyes moved to her outstretched hands, small wisps of smoke still rising from her fingertips. She looked around at the shocked faces of the people who stood watching the spectacle. Mortified, she dropped her hands to her sides and looked down at her shoes, flushing.
I dismissed the Great Fairy Sword and walked to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's my choice, Zelda," I said. "I choose to take the blame for Romani's death. I don't know how I could respect myself if I didn't. I may never live it down… but I need you to be there for me."
She looked up at me, her eyes watering. "I know," she said. "It's just… I can't stand to see you like… like you were."
"Well, I'm better now," I said, looking back out the gate to Mayor Dotour, who smiled and nodded approvingly. "Well… a little better anyways. So no more attacking people, okay?"
"Hey, hey! Let me through!" a voice called from the crowd. A moment later, Colton Gorman pushed his way out towards us. He stared around, his eyes taking in Zelda, who was now crying openly, me, trying to console her, and Cremia, who was glaring at my back with thinly veiled contempt. "Did I… miss somethin'?" he asked.
Cremia shook her head and turned to the gate. "Come on, Colton. We're leaving." She turned and started to head out the gate.
"Wait!" Zelda cried. Cremia stopped, but didn't turn around. "At least… at least let Link come to her funeral!" I stared at her. "Please," she continued, "if you're going to blame him, at least let him have some closure. And I know…" She hesitated, weighing her words. "I know that Romani would want him there."
Cremia stiffened, her hands balling into fists. She turned, her mouth half-open, but she closed it and pursed her lips. She was silent for a few moments. Then, with a sigh, she turned her gaze downward and said, "So be it." And without another word, she strode out of the south gate, giving the mayor a curt nod as she passed.
Colton hurried to follow, and I grabbed his arm as he passed me. "Look after her," I said. "Please. The sorrow I feel nearly consumed me, but I fear it's only a fraction of what she carries." He looked down at me for a moment, sympathy in his eyes. Then he nodded and followed Cremia out the gate.
Zelda and I returned to the Inn later that day, and despite the fact that I was still upset, I managed a smile for her. I spent the days leading up to Romani's funeral walking around Clock Town, talking with people and helping with the reconstruction. I found a small degree of solace in these interactions with people; despite the heaviness of my heart and the void that still gnawed at me, I found myself smiling, even laughing.
But my dreams… Oh, those awful dreams. Every night, my dreams brought back the horror of Romani's death. Over and over, I felt her blood running down my skin. Over and over, she cried out for me to save her. Over and over, I woke in cold sweat and cried until I fell asleep again, only for another nightmare to come.
On the night before the funeral, as I woke from my third nightmare that night, I was surprised to see Kai sitting at the end of my bed, his spiky silver hair glowing ethereally in the moonlight. He had been avoiding coming into town, as he didn't want to scare people, so to see him, not only inside the walls of the town but inside a building was shocking to say the least. But what surprised me most were the words he spoke after my breathing had calmed.
"I wish I were more like you."
"What?" I said, confused.
"I... " He hesitated, searching for his words. "I wish I could… feel like you do. I… I thought… I thought that I loved her, but… she's gone and yet I feel nothing!" He punctuated his sentence by punching the wooden floor and turned away from me, his white eyes glistening in the moonlight spilling in through the window.. "And yet, here you are," he continued, his voice breaking, "unable to sleep because your beloved still haunts your thoughts."
I stared at him, incredulous. Where was this coming from?
"What does that say about me?" he asked, seemingly more to himself than to me. "Have I ever truly loved? Am I incapable of any emotion aside from the anger I take my title from?" He looked back at me, tears beginning to fall down his face. "Am I incapable of love?"
I didn't know what to say. Kai had always seemed so tough, with his snide remarks and his devil-may-care attitude. Seeing him bearing his soul to me was such a vast departure from the way I had seen him that for a long time, I simply couldn't respond. At last, I said, "I don't think so."
"How so?" he asked indignantly. "Look back upon your battles with Majora. In both of them, it was your love and concern for Romani that gave you the strength to turn the tide and beat her back. And in Snowhead, while you were unconscious, Romani's love for you gave her the courage to take up your sword and protect you, at least until Majora became bored. The bond of love between you two was what gave you strength. And that is something I have never had the fortune to experience," he finished bitterly.
I sighed. "All the same, I don't think you're incapable of love. I saw some of your memories on the night of her first attack, and it was clear you have passion. And I think the fact that you're here right now, wondering why you don't feel anything for her shows that you care. Those are two very key components of love." I looked over to the bed where Zelda slept, the blanket rising and falling softly with her breathing. "I think the part you're missing is friendship.
"What?" Kai asked; clearly this wasn't the response he'd expected, if he'd expected one at all.
"When you get down to it, friendship is really the basis of love," I said. "Think about it. Everybody has friends that they care about and want to be there for. That's love in a nutshell." I looked back at Kai. "Sometimes, you find a friend that you just really click with, and things start to develop further from there."
"What does that mean?"
"It means…" I cast around for a nice, simple way to explain what I was trying to get across. "It means romance is love, but love isn't necessarily romance. You seem to think they go hand in hand." I looked back at Zelda again. "Take me and Zelda. We're best friends. I care about her and she cares about me. When she sees that I'm in trouble or feeling down, she wants to help, and I feel the same way about her. I love her, and I think she's gorgeous, but I don't have any romantic feelings for her." My gaze returned to Kai once more. "Maybe the problem is that you and Majora were never really friends at all."
"I suppose," Kai said thoughtfully. "So… friendship, eh? You know, I don't think I've ever had any true friends. Allies, yes… but not friends."
I smiled and rolled out of bed, walking over to him. "I'd say we're friends," I said, holding out my hand towards him.
He grinned as he shook his head. "You're so damn cheesy," he chuckled, taking my hand and shaking it. Then he tugged and I fell forward into his surprisingly gentle embrace. "Thanks, kid." He pulled away with a wolfish grin, then put me down and stood, his head almost touching the ceiling. "I have to go; the demons will desire retribution for Majora's defeat, and Din wants me on the front lines. It was an honor fighting with you. Farewell." And with a flash of light, he vanished.
The sun was bright in the sky as the funeral procession made its way to the Ikana Graveyard. It glinted on the polished wood of the casket that held Romani's body. It shone in the golden locks of Zelda's hair. It sparkled in the tears running down Cremia's cheeks.
Dampé stood beside a freshly dug grave. He had forsaken his filthy brown gravedigging attire for a surprisingly dapper black suit. "Damn shame," he muttered as he looked at the casket. "She were so young…"
The small group of attendees including myself, Zelda, Cremia, Anju, Kafei, Barten, and a couple of other Clock Town residents that must have been Cremia's friends, gathered around the grave. The four soldiers carrying the casket set it down beside the hole as Mayor Dotour stepped forward and turned to face us, clearing his throat.
"Among the ghosts and ancient stones,
We gather here today
To celebrate the life and death
Of one who goes away.
Away where we can follow not,
A world beyond this place.
Our prayers will serve to guide this one
Into death's warm embrace."
The soldiers opened the casket and the attendees formed a line. Each passed by the coffin and touched Romani's forehead and whispered some parting words. Cremia stood at the front of the line, and when the person finished paying their respects, they stood before her and said a few words before regrouping in front of the mayor.
Zelda went ahead of me. She touched Romani's forehead and whispered, "I wish we had been able to know each other better. May Farore guide you to your final resting." And with that she approached Cremia, bowed apologetically, and embraced her as tears started to fall down her cheeks.
It was my turn. My heart pounded in my chest as I approached the casket. I prayed that the sight of her wouldn't give me another panic attack. My legs weighed three tons as I approached the side of the casket. I stood beside it for a moment, my eyes closed and not wanting to look down for fear of having a breakdown. Then I steeled myself and opened them.
She was beautiful. Her long red hair framed her face perfectly, and the small smile she had died with almost made it look like she was just having a good nap. She was dressed in a cream-colored dress that was not overly fancy, but still had some lace and other such things. I thought it appropriate; Romani had never been a frilly girl, but she was a girl nonetheless and deserved to look pretty on her last day in the light of the sun.
I looked at her for a long time, trying to cement the way she looked in my memory. Then, before touching her forehead as everyone else had, I pulled something from the pocket of the jacket of my suit. It was a small, hand-carved figurine of a horse. I had whittled it myself. It was by no means a masterpiece - in fact it was quite crude and probably could have been mistaken for a dog if not for the flying mane and tale - but it was my own work.
I laid the figurine in the coffin, then touched her forehead, suppressing a shudder as I felt her cold flesh against my fingertips. "I guess this is where I say goodbye," I began, my eyes already welling up. "I'm so sorry, Romani. I never wanted it to be this way. I wanted to stay with you. I wanted to work the ranch with you. I would have spent every moment I could with you. I…" My voice trailed off as I struggled to find words.
"I love you, Romani," I said, my voice breaking. "I love you so much. There is nothing I want more than to have you by my side. I…" There was so much more I wanted to say to her, but I could not find the words to express my feelings. What could I have said? Why say anything at all when she couldn't hear it? I closed my eyes and felt the tears run down my cheeks. Devoid of any further words, I simply leaned over her and gave her a final kiss, her lips cold, but soft. After one final look at her, I left the casket's side.
Cremia's gaze was hard as I approached her. "Is that all you have to say?" she asked. "You love her? That's it?"
"No," I replied quietly. "But it's all I know how to say. I think she would understand that."
Cremia nodded. "Yeah. She'd probably be the same if it were the other way around." She sighed, her gaze softening for a moment. "You two would have been good together. Nobody can deny that. And even though I got angry after that Snowhead fiasco… I was really, genuinely happy for you two. She was always so headstrong, I should've seen it coming!" She started to chuckle, but it turned into a sob. She covered her mouth with her hand as tears filled her eyes.
I felt a pang for her as I realized she'd been holding these tears back all day, possibly for a few days. I reached out and took her hand in mine and was relieved when she didn't push me away. Instead, she squeezed it tightly and I squeezed back. Tears fell down both of our cheeks as we mourned together, and together we walked back to the crowd gathered in front of the casket. She left me then to stand by Colton, and I reclaimed my place next to Zelda.
As Mayor Dotour delivered a short eulogy, I felt the void gnawing at me again. I barely listened, the words flowing in one ear and out the other without retention; I don't remember what was said. With the numbness spreading through me once more, I watched as Dotour finished the eulogy and nodded to the guards who had borne the casket.
They closed it with a dull thunk that resonated in my mind with eerie finality. They then lifted it and began to slowly and gently lower it into the grave. Dampé took up his shovel and turned to the pile of earth next to the grave. There was an interim of silence, broken only by the first few shovelfuls of earth falling on the casket. Then, people began to move, giving Cremia a few final admonishments before taking their leave.
Cremia and I watched the entire burial, staying long after the others had gone. Colton stood with Cremia, and Zelda with me. Neither spoke, giving support simply through their presence. For a long time, the only sound was the steady rhythm of Dampé's digging and the stale Ikanan wind that occasionally blew through the graveyard. When the grave was filled, the old gravedigger nodded somberly to Cremia and me before setting off, back to his house.
It was after Dampé's plodding footsteps had faded away that I finally moved, approaching and kneeling next to the patch of sweet-smelling bare earth that was Romani's grave. I placed my hand on the dirt and said a final goodbye. Feeling a little more whole, I stood and returned to Zelda.
"Ready?" she asked gently. I nodded in reply, and she smiled. "Let's go home."
It still hurt. It still ate at me. I still knew deep down that it was my fault Romani had died. But as we left the graveyard to begin the journey back to Hyrule, I knew one other thing.
I was beginning to heal.
EDIT 3/3/17: Originally, I was going to keep the story entirely as it was, but after rereading some reviews, I decided to alter the scene with Kai to focus more on the heartwarming moment instead of making it into an entirely unnecessary gag scene. Thanks to ctj for helping me see reason.