EPISODE 05: Am Ende der Straße Part 01 Hi-ho, On A Field-Trip We Will Go!

"Oh, please. Give me a wide smile now. It's not polite to look that sour in front of a camera."

"I don't care. I'm not coming with you."

"Why not?"

"Because it's wet out there? It's cold? And most of all, we're not going to find anything, no matter what." The redhead covered the camera with his hand. "Put that away."

"But I want to have video of you for lonely nights." The Hylian said, giving him a mischievous smile, waggling his eyebrows. "...And besides, wouldn't it be great to explore the forest? You never know what you'd find!"

"Oh, yes I do. I'd find some stumps, marshes, mushrooms and trees. That's all." Roy said frustratedly, smiling a dull smile. "Link, don't hunt what's not there." The redhead sat on the table in his office and took the papers from it in his hands, checking them.

"I'm not hunting what's not there. I'm just thinking that it would be great to get out of this city for a couple of days to relax in the forest, wouldn't that be great?" The elf tried to get his love excited, but he had obviously made his mind and was going to keep it. Sometimes he just hated how stubborn Roy could be.

"Why did you mention the ghosts and spirits then?"

"...Because legends and stories like those are exciting, aren't they?" The Hylian suggested with an innocent, excited smile.

Roy rolled his eyes. "Umm… No? Link, those kinds of stories are for children." He explained to the pointy-eared elf with a gentle tone, leaning his head a little: "You better forget about me. I'm going to take these reports to Boss now and then go home." He jumped off the table and walked towards the door, he had made his decision and his head wouldn't be turned.

"Hey, wait a second." The Hylian stopped him. "Are those the reports from Cosworth Street 217?"

"Yeah."

"…You never told me what made the people act like that."

"Uh… Well, I'm not sure, but I made a profile on the things that were found in the tenants' houses and came up with this." He browsed through the papers for a while and then handed a report to him, written in a very messy handwriting.

In all of the 46 apartments of Cosworth Street 217 were lots of strong alcoholic drinks and drugs we couldn't identify, but we suspect that they were home-made by mixing two ancient drugs shamans and Indians used in their rituals.

Judging from the five weeks I and my partner stayed at Cosworth Street 217, I can say that the tenants were all very unfriendly and never left their apartments. They didn't answer their doors when we tried to talk to them. We could hear their televisions on and knew they were home, but they didn't open. I thought they had some kind of a problem, such as deep depression or bad self-confidence, but I dismissed the idea after I heard screams at nights.

I think that some kind of a twisted religion had begun to bloom in that house. At first it has probably been only one very sick person, whose ideal of a perfect life is very twisted. Somehow his or her ideals have spread to that building and grown stronger. At some point they have decided to sacrifice human victims to their god or gods.

The bodies of the victims were found in the water tank, which explains the hair in the water and the red showers the previous tenants experienced. I suggest that the bodies were only hidden there for some bigger occasion when they would sacrifice them all.

The way the tenants all acted was under a heavy dose of their own drug. I think that although these people are very sick and need medication and proper treatment in an asylum, they have to be alienated from their religion. It may take long, but in order to make them healthy and stop the incidents at Cosworth Street 217, it's necessary.

"And I though they were just hungry", the Hylian said after reading the report and gave it back to his beloved. "But please, think about the trip, all right? I'd really like to have you there with us." He put a hand around him, looking at him like a little puppy with his big blue eyes, trying to look cute. But of course, it didn't work.

"Us? You never told me there are others coming too." The redhead asked rather absent-mindedly. It was as if he was asking just because he had nothing else to say.

"Well, Marth and Young Link."

Roy smiled, probably relieved that they wouldn't be alone in the forest. "...Fine, I'll think about it. When are you leaving?"

"My vacation starts the day after tomorrow and Marth's a few days after that when Young Link's semester begins. I guess we'll leave then." He answered, tugging at Roy's belt. The general blushed deep red and turned his face away to hide the smile spreading on his lips. He tried to bite his ear, but Roy turned his head away, a shadow of pain glided across his face.

The elf sighed, knowing very well what Roy was thinking about. Peach. Well, maybe not Peach, but his unborn child. A silence fell over them, he didn't move, his fingers were still on Roy's belt and the general stared in front of him; they were like a statue for a while.

"...Oh, okay. See you." Roy said suddenly. He gave a quick sile to Link before hurrying to the corridor. He took the reports to the Boss's secretary, who gave him a kind smile when she took them from him. He smiled back at her, not as cheerfully as she had smiled to him, but smiled nevertheless. Then he hurried out of the headquarters to go to Peach, who had been calling him all day long.

He walked down the street towards her apartment with a gloomy expression. He couldn't help regretting all his actions during the last year; he had really managed to get himself into a big old mess. If he could, he would've turned back time and told Link the first day he had met him how much he loved him. Then all this mess would disappear and they could be together and they could be happy for once in their lives.

But time travel isn't possible, his subconscious reminded maliciously, he could almost hear it laughing scornfully in the corners of his mind.

He knew he was about to be a father and tied to Peach with a chain called marriage, but he would never forget Link, his strong arms, his warm body, his gentle lips, his cerulean eyes… Every time he would touch Peach, he would think of Link, he would dream him on her place and live in his own dreamland, but he wouldn't abandon his child. He couldn't. He was going to propose to her today and he would stand all this like a man, unlike his father.

The closer he got to Peach's apartment, the more he wanted to leave running. But he had no other choice. He would need to go to her and get on one knee and propose to her and he would need to paint a mask of happiness on his face for his child for the rest of his life. He even gave Link's suggestion a second thought, but dismissed it. It was all so depressing.

He came to Peach's apartment building and she noticed him, standing on her balcony she had probably been expecting him.

"Hi, honey!" She greeted, waving her hand. He gave her a forced smile, but couldn't help the sadness swimming in the blueness of his eyes. It took him a long time to answer her greeting, he didn't know what to do or say anymore, the only thing he could think about was Link. Link was everywhere, in his thoughts, in his vision, in his touch, everything. Finally he couldn't take it anymore and ran away, panicking. Peach looked after him, confused.

"I wonder what's up with men these days." She said before she went back inside.

He arrived to the docks after a while and felt how the fresh sea wind blew against him with its cleansing touch. Somewhere near the fishing ships seagulls screamed eagerly, fighting for their food. The waves hit the shore, following their own rhythm from time immemorial, some foaming as they came. The sea itself seemed calm, reflecting the rays of the sun back to the sky. The docks, although very busy all the time, were always so calming. He sat down on a bench, sighing. He needed to get Link out of his head. Otherwise all this would make him crazy. Why had he even let his heart get control of himself? Now he was controlled completely by it and he disliked that very much.

When his senses had controlled him, he had been able of blocking his feelings and acting the way his senses had told him. Now when his heart was in charge, he couldn't close himself, fake feelings, hide them, crush them or push them away, they kept appearing on his mind all the time.

He couldn't help one fear; what if he would go crazy with Peach? He would think about Link so much that he would just go crazy one day and break. Otherwise he knew he could live with it, but the illusion would break every time they touched. Peach didn't have the strong touch Link had, she was a woman, a frail girl, not a man who could take him in his arms and hold him close.

He wanted to have Link, but what about his child? He couldn't give his child such a broken family, a mother somewhere and a father somewhere else. Then the child would be lost and he would have the right to be; where would his real home be? And if Peach had the child, she would be the legal single-parent and with a law case she could somehow take his child completely away from him. And he didn't want that. He wanted to be a good father, a father his children could be proud of. A father who would have time for his children.

And if he wanted that, he couldn't have Link. Link needed to be put in his past. He sighed in desperation and closed his eyes, rubbing them with his hands subconsciously, maybe to clear his vision to get some answers, but no answers just fell from the sky. He had to make them himself.

"Hey", he heard a gentle voice say from behind and turned around to see who it was. Marth stood a few feet away from the bench, looking at him solemnly, his eyes were glassy, the wind played with his hair, tearing it and then almost letting it go before pulling it again.

"…Hi." He said almost shyly, somehow Marth scared him when he didn't come close, he just stood there, looking at him with his cobalt blue eyes, icy and cold as North pole.

"…I think you need some advice." The noble said after a long silence. Then he finally walked to him and sat down next to him, quietly. He let the wind caress his face for a moment, breathing the fresh air from the sea, probably cleaning his mind. Roy watched him quietly, frowning a little. He had no idea how the noble had found him or why he had said that he thought he needed advice, but looking at his calm face Roy knew he had the wisdom of many years beyond his own age.

"…I love Link very much…" Marth said gently to the wind, still keeping his eyes closed. The redhead turned his gaze away, embarrassed. He had stolen his best friend's boyfriend and now Marth had probably come to tell him he had ruined his own, Link's and Marth's lives. Which was true, now that he thought about it. He had first stolen Link from Marth and now he had told the elf he would leave him because he was having an unwanted child with Peach. Suddenly the noble turned his face to him, opening his cobalt eyes and looking into his. "…And I let him go to get you two together. You know why?"

Roy blushed deep red, avoiding his gaze. He hadn't thought that Marth would put it like that, but it was still confusing to hear him talking about the redhead's and Link's relationship. "W-why?"

"Because you two are an object." Marth said as calmly as ever. "…But then I heard something that made my heart skip a beat."

"What was it?" Roy asked immediately.

"Today in the cafeteria I heard that you were getting a child with Peach. Is that true?" The noble asked solemnly, but couldn't hold his expression. He grabbed the redhead's shoulders and pulled him close to look into his eyes, maybe to find an answer drowning in them. "I-I mean, she must be making this all up!"

Roy shook his head slowly, trying to struggle free of his grasp, but he was stronger. "N-no, sh-she's pregnant and the child's m-mine." As he finished his sentence, Marth let go of him so suddenly that he almost fell off the bench.

"But how? When? Why? WHY?" He asked, shouting to the wind more than to his friend.

"I… I was drunk…" The general said guiltily, avoiding his gaze even more furiously. As the noble looked at him, he looked like a little boy who had just broken the neighbour's window and come to tell his father about it.

"You were drunk?" Marth asked, unable to hide the furious tone of his voice. He knew what a pain in the ass Peach was and now his best friend was willingly chaining himself to her. He had to do every thing he could to prevent that. "Do you even remember any of it?"

Roy lifted his feet on the bench, against his chest as if they were a shield against Marth. "I… I remember… kisses…"

"So you're not sure you made love to her?" The noble asked, putting his face against his, their noses touching. "Are you?" He asked again when the redhead didn't answer immediately.

"I… I don't know…" Roy said, feeling highly uncomfortable. Marth was too close, he was too emotional, he was so unlike what he normally was.

"So you could have passed out instead of making love to her?" Marth asked, now calming down, recreating the calm mask on his face. Almost surprisingly fast his expression changed into a calm, unemotional mask. It was as if he could just snap his fingers and stop laughing or crying or make his anger disappear.

"I… guess… I guess that's possible." Roy answered, still looking at his feet, now slowly understanding Marth's point. He looked up to his friend with a surprised expression to see the noble smile at him with a knowing smile.

"And... that would mean that you aren't the father." He said like Sherlock Holmes, his cobalt eyes shining with some deep mischievous glint.

The general looked at him, frowning. "Then how can she be pregnant?" He wanted to believe what the prince said, but his senses were fighting against it. Not even Peach would lie about being pregnant. Or would she?

"Maybe she isn't." The noble said simply. "With Peach you'll have to know that she'll say anything to keep you."

"So… what you're saying… is that she might not be really pregnant?" The redhead couldn't believe it. It couldn't all be so easy; his problems wouldn't be so easily solved. He had to become sure was Peach pregnant or not before he would start celebrating anything.

"Yes. If I were you, I'd take her to the hospital and have a doctor check it out." The prince said gently as if advicing a child. Roy couldn't help hope pulling the strings of smile at his lips anymore and jumped on his feet, thanking him with a wide smile before he started running like he was on fire back to Peach's apartment. He would do what Marth had suggested and he would do it now to know for sure. He could feel his heart fluttering in his chest, celebrating already, he felt like he could almost grow wings and fly to Link and love him without any of these problems until the end of time.

But while he could feel the happiness, he could also feel the pain. She could as well be pregnant. Marth had only suggested that she wasn't, he hadn't told him that she wasn't pregnant, only that she said anything to keep him as her own. Roy tried not to get too excited, but his heart just wouldn't listen to his senses, it was already dreaming of the life with Link. The free life in the arms of his beloved.

He arrived to her apartment and ran the stairs up, rung her doorbell and when she answered he told her he wanted to take her to the hospital now. He was exhausted, but right at that moment

"Why?" Peach asked, frowning. "I'm not going to those madhouses without a reason."

"Because…" Roy had to make up something very quick. "Did you know that there was a bio weapon alert in S.F.B.I. today?"

She looked very surprised. "I didn't know. Were you worried I was a victim?" She asked sensually as if she was trying to hit on him.

"No, I was worried our child was a victim." He answered. "And still might be. I want to take you to some tests before I can sleep." Roy lied without a problem, acting scared. He didn't care what lies he would tell her, he just needed to know was she pregnant.

---

Link arrived home, finding Young Link doing his homework enthusiastically at the kitchen table.

"Link, the therapeutic was stupid." He said quickly.

"But you need it. You're jumpy and scared all the time." He answered calmly, taking off his boots.

"But she only asked stupid questions of my life and showed me a gun."

"What did you do when you saw the gun?" Link asked, knowing the answer. He walked to the kitchen table and sat down to look into his smaller self's eyes. He knew Young Link didn't want to talk about what had happened, but about the therapeutic he had to know. He wouldn't mention Cosworth Street to the child if it made him afraid.

"I… I panicked. Anyone could panic." The boy said as if he would've been talking about something very ordinary. His fear was a delicate subject, he wanted to be strong like his bigger self and be an adult, but he couldn't help his fears. He did his best to be like adults, never afraid of anything like Link, but he just hadn't been able to control his fear when he had seen that gun.

"Of course." Link said gently. "I think you should still keep going there, comparing you now to you at the building; you've done a lot of progress in just a few weeks." He took a pan from the cupboard to make something simple to eat; he could hear his stomach growl like a savage beast. He peeked into the freezer and found an old bag of frozen peas and decided to cook them along with some minced meat and spaghetti.

"But I don't like her." The young elf protested.

"Still", his bigger self answered calmly. "Did you know Roy'll become a father?" He asked a little absent-mindedly, although his little self needed him, he couldn't stop thinking about Roy and the general's problems.

"Really? Wow!" Young Link said enthusiastically. "When?"

"I don't know." He answered, this time sadly. He stared at the frying pan on the stove emotionlessly, knowing that it would all be over between him and Roy. The general had made his decision and no matter what he did, he would hang onto it.

---

"She told me that you were afraid that your child was infected with something…" The doctor said thoughtfully to the redhead, they were standing in a white waiting room full of old women chatting idly, waiting for their turn to see the doctor.

"But?" He asked, clenching his fists. Now was the moment of truth. Either the doctor would tell him his child was very healthy and there was nothing wrong, or then he would ask where the child is.

"Your girlfriend's very healthy, and so is your child. There's nothing to worry about." The doctor smiled at him understandingly, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Roy looked into his olive eyes, unable to do anything in a while, his joy of life dying inside him; he could feel how his heart was being crushed inside him and it hurt more than thousand knives thrust into his body. He wanted to run to the roof and throw himself down to the street to get out of his misery. But now he had a child to take care of, he couldn't do that.

"It's your first child, right?" The doctor asked, deducing from his reaction.

Roy glanced at the doctor, a little surprised that he asked something like that. Was it so obvious? Did it shine from him? "Y-yes."

"You have the right to be worried about your child. Just try not to panic too much. There are groups for first-time fathers like yourself, I can give you the address and date when they meet if you're interested."

"N-no, thanks. I think I'll be just fine." He answered quickly, dismissing the doctor's idea with a gentle smile.

"All right. Just one advice; support each other, the child will only strengthen your love." The doctor said, writing something to his papers. Then he walked away, maybe to another patient.

He sat down on a chair, waiting for Peach to come back. Now that she was surely pregnant he had no choice. He would learn to love her. He would learn to forget Link, and close him from his life again like he had done so many times before. He just needed his senses to take over his heart.

'The child will only strengthen your love.' He could hear the words echoing in his head. If he accepted Link as his child's second father, it would come true, but with Peach... with Peach he knew he would only probably become cynical towards her, no matter hwo much he loved his child.

"Hi, honey!" Peach sailed from the doctor's office towards him like she would've owned him. Like he was a dog and she had come to take him for a walk. She gave him a kiss on the cheek very theatrically, but when she didn't get one in return, she slapped Roy on the cheek, hissing:

"Everyone here thinks you hate me if you don't kiss me now!" He sighed, but gave her a kiss on the cheek with a forced smile. She smiled a faked smile, practiced in front of a mirror, beautiful as a magazine cover.

"But you know I love you." He said, the words sounded so hollow, they had no meaning at all. And when they had no meaning, it wasn't hard to say them at all. When he had told Link 'I miss you', the feelings in those words had been so passionate that at first he hadn't found any words for them, there weren't words for his love towards him. But when he told Peach that he loved her, he could've been smalltalking.

But she didn't even notice the emptiness of his words; she grabbed his hand and walked him out of the building like he was her pet. He couldn't help the sadness in his eyes. Some of the people who looked into his eyes stopped smiling, the joy in their eyes died momentarily and they looked after him, wondering what could make a man so sad.

Roy walked her to her door, but made up an excuse to leave before she could even ask him to come inside. She did complain, but gladly let him go. He ran down the stairs, wanting to find Marth again, the prince was the only one who understood his pain and could help him with Peach now.

---

Yup, there it is. By the way, I know I'm advertising a lot to you all the time, and I'll stop doing that, but I'd just like to hear your comments on the interactive story I've got, because it's not really working... Also, I collected all the review-answers I've ever done to my webpage, so if you're interested, check them out too!

I hope you enjoyed, your reviews are always welcome!