Well, it took a week, but I finally got over the sickness that I was mentioning in the author's note last week. Also, Thursday AND Friday were both snow days, so that put me in a good mood! ^_^ Also, I think I should mention that in the drop down menu, it wouldn't let me put punctuation, so that's why there's a comma there and a triple period below in the chapter title. Please ignore that little thing. -_-; So now, I now present to you chapters 25-27
Chapter 25: The Talk... No, Not That Talk
As soon as we had started driving, I could see that knight Link was feeling less than spectacular. I felt a small amount of uneasiness in my stomach, but no where near as much as I could see coming from him. At one point, future Link made us stop at some sort of station. He told me to stay in the car so that knight Link wouldn't think that something was going on. I didn't really know what was going on myself, but I obeyed nonetheless.
He held some sort of hose to the side of the car for a while and just waited. After some time, I heard a loud clunk and he removed the hose. Afterward, he went inside and I heard knight Link groan. I really didn't know how to help him and I was beginning to feel immeasurably guilty because of it. I tried to tell him that it would be alright, but I don't think he was even able to hear me.
After what seemed like an eternity, future Link came out of the building while holding three very similar bags. When he got back into the car, he tossed one to me and one to knight Link. He then instructed knight Link in how to open it, as I followed them to find the bag was full of some sort of crispy yellow… things. Future Link saw my confusion and explained exactly what these things were: 'potato chips' and that they would help to calm our stomachs. Immediately, knight Link tried some and exclaimed something about them being very salty!
Ripping open and eating from his own bag, future Link explained that it made a really good snack either way. Shortly after taking off, knight Link fell asleep. It was a few hours later that future Link began talking to me. He started off by asking me if knight Link was asleep and, of course, I confirmed so.
There was a short moment of silence before future Link looked at my open, but otherwise untouched bag of potato chips. He then stated that I didn't need permission to do things as much anymore. I looked at him like he was crazy, not even knowing how to respond to that. Eventually, I just apologized, seeing as it was all I felt I could do at that point. Future Link shot me a look of pity and finally asked me if I missed being a slave.
I looked up at him to find that his eyes were on the road and not me. This gave me the opportunity to not have to look him in the eyes. I told him that there was no way that I could miss being a slave, saying that the work was arduous and the masters were cruel, but he pressed on. After telling me that that was not what he was talking about, he went on the ask if I really missed the days when all I had to do was listen to my master and I never really had to think for myself. He asked me if I really missed not having to actually worry about my life because that was pointless. Then, I snapped!
Making sure not to be loud enough to wake knight Link, I pseudo-yelled it was never like that and that all of the slaves always had to work together just to barely survive because, excluding Zelda, a slave master never cared for their slaves. Not only that, but there was never any hope of escaping! I went on and on about my horrible experiences as a slave before I just hung my head in defeat. It truly felt like future Link had insulted me by even suggesting that I missed that life.
I was then that future Link apologized. I looked at him for what seemed like an eternity, before we both heard a groan form knight Link. At this, future Link sighed and gave a weak laugh while I flashed him a weary smile in thanks for breaking the awkward silence. Future Link then revealed that knight Link had been out for about five hours at that point. I had personally never realized how long we had been going and just how tired future Link must have been.
We stopped at an inn to let the only one of us that knew how to drive sleep for the night. When we finally for the room booked, we settled and went to sleep… or at least future Link did. After knight Link was sure that future Link was asleep, he shook me and motioned to the washroom. Knowing that knight Link of all people would never be too scared to go to the washroom by himself, I figured that it was something important that he didn't want to wake future Link for. When we got there, knight Link, careful to not wake future Link, began asking me in a whisper what had happened between future Link and me. Mentally facepalming myself for not expecting this, I explained to knight Link what had happened in full detail.
When I had finished, knight Link apologized. I didn't really understand what there was to apologize over, which knight Link somehow managed to pick up on. He explained that he apologized because he didn't mean to make me recall those painful memories a second time. All of a sudden, future Link came in from around the corner stating that that was why he had apologized in the first place, causing the awkward silence from before to resume. I could only think one thing at that point: Oh crap!