Epilogue: Paradise Calling


One week later...


Malon took a bite of her sandwich, then set it aside. She brushed the feather of her quill across her lips as she chewed thoughtfully, her eyes sweeping over the fine, snow-white parchment set before her.

She was almost finished. Almost ready to put it all in order, but for these last few details.

Her sigh was wistful as her gaze turned towards her bedroom window and the horse paddock beyond. Out towards the demolished windmill.

Almost...

Malon dipped her quill into the inkwell to her left and turned back to her work. The thick tome had been a gift from her father many years ago, a place to record her innermost thoughts. It hadn't seen much use in the last few years, but she felt that this was an appropriate time to break it out again. She held the delicate quill tip over the page, collecting her thoughts before she continued.

I awoke safe and sound in my own bed. I didn't know what to make of that at first. All I really cared about was how wonderfully soft the sheets were and how very, very tired I felt, but eventually I managed to make myself sit up. I felt so weak and dizzy that I was barely able to stand, but somehow I made my way down the hall to the window to inspect the damage.

Windmill #3 will never be the same again. I don't think we would ever be able to piece it back together. We'll have to dig out the rubble and extend the palisade in its place. Good riddance, I say. I never liked that place anyway.

She paused, again gathering her thoughts. The next part was harder.

Link, Ingo, and Epona have all disappeared to only the Goddesses know where, along with that strange armor that Ingo was wearing. It was Ingo, wasn't it? If it weren't for the burnt out windmill and the axe marks in the support pylons, I'd have thought that it was all just a very bad dream.

Malon paused again. Then, when her mind remained blank for several long moments, she cleaned the quill and set it aside. Her fingers reached up absently as she reread her latest passage, massaging the thin white scar that now bisected her eyebrow. If not for that lasting mark, she might have been convinced that she had hallucinated the whole thing.

Instead she was only left with more burning questions. Where had Ingo disappeared to and why had his room been ransacked? For that matter, why wasn't she dead, buried beneath tons of smoldering timber and stone?

Most of all, where was Link? She had theories for everything, but no way to confirm any of them. His disappearance worried her the most. Waking to find him gone had nearly sent her into a panic. Only the discovery of a note tucked beneath an empty potion bottle on her nightstand had finally calmed her. The single line of text in Link's messy handwriting was like a beacon of hope is the darkest night.

I'll find him.

But days passed with no word. Eventually she had decided to write it down – everything that had happened over the past three months – if only to try to make sense of it all.

She gently blew on her words to dry the ink, then once more picked up her quill.

But life goes on. This past week it's been all I could do just to stay ahead of the chores and maintenance before I pass out from exhaustion. It was a rude awakening, realizing just how much I've come to rely on Link helping out around the ranch. And how much I've come to care about him.

I just wish

Again, Malon's trail of thought left her. She set the quill aside once more, glancing out the window and leaning back in her chair, her lunch forgotten. The sun had just passed the top pane, leaving a bright beam of golden light to rest upon her open diary.

She stared at her last aborted line, thoughts whirling through her head like a dervish. So much had happened in the last three months. When Link came back into her life, he'd turned the last seven miserable years of her life on its head. He'd stood up to Ingo, and shown her how to stand strong as well. He'd given her a reason to smile again.

What did she wish?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the muted whinny of a horse, but it had sounded much closer than the corral. Curious, she stood, the chair scraping backwards as she bent forward to get a better look out of the window. A horse in full tack was standing between the house and the barn, its rider gingerly lowering himself from the saddle. Her heart seized as she recognized those rounded shoulders and balding pate.

She unlatched the window and hoisted it upwards in its frame, pinching several fingers. She didn't even notice the sharp pain as she called down in disbelief.

"Daddy?!"

He was tall, but somehow shorter than Malon remembered. His frame was soft from years of drink, but his wasting sickness had cut most of that back. Talon glanced upward, one hand still on the saddle to steady his trembling legs. "Hey there, darlin'," he answered with a soft smile, as if he hadn't been bedridden for the last several years.

The giddy little girl inside of her had her across the room in an instant, her chair toppling over with a clatter as she dashed out into the hallway, taking the stairs two at a time, and charging through the front door. Three strides across warm grass and she collided with her father's chest, barreling him backwards against the saddle.

"Oof. Easy there, hun. Not back to my old self quite yet," Talon said as her arms wrapped tightly around him in a hug.

He'd lost a lot of weight over the years, and as she tightened her grip she could feel the sharp edge of his bones beneath his pallid flesh. After two years of living in constant fear of losing her father, it felt goodto have his arms wrapped around her, to hold him again without fear of breaking him, even if her arms were trembling. No matter how old she got, this was her father, her Daddy. This felt right.

Finally she pulled back, wiping the tears from her eyes. "How?" was all she could ask as she looked up into his face.

Talon blew out a soft breath. "Long story," he replied cryptically. "One best told over a good meal and a pint'er two."

His face grew pensive. "I— Well, I wanted to say I'm so sorry I signed those letters. There's no excuse that makes it better, but the witch that Ingo left me with kept feeding me some sort of mushroom concoction. I wasn't sure what was real half ah the time. But I knew that whatever happened, I could trust Link to take care of you."

Malon shook her head, blinking away tears. "It's ok, Dad. I—"

The sound of approaching hooves made her look up. Her heart leapt into her throat.

Could it be...

Even though the pair of horses that came around the bend weren't Epona, she still held hope. But then the cart came into view, with a Goron in the driver's seat, and her heart fell. The open cart was laden with stones and wood, with a single goat hitched to the rear. A mail-carrier of some sorts. The Goron pulled the horses to a stop, lifting its red cap to acknowledge the two Hylians while the goat glanced around with disinterest and began chewing at the grass nearest the wagon.

Her father noticed her disheartened face.

"He wanted me t' tell you that he didn't mean to disappear so quickly, but he had other promises to keep," Talon said, extricating himself from her hug. "Said you'd know what he meant. Way it was told, there was a bit of ah fight?"

Before she could answer, Talon reached into his vest pocket and produced a small brown envelope. "This is all his way of saying sorry, I s'pose," he said, handing her the letter.

Talon gave her a quick peck on the forehead, then turned and took ahold of his mount's bridle and drew the horse through the second gate, leading the delivery Goron through with a wave.

Malon held the letter in her trembling fingers, her thoughts racing as she was struck by the sudden need to find her calm center. Her feet began to move, leading her towards the barn as she inspected the envelope in her hands. The paper was simple and course, of the kind often found in backwoods towns without a proper printshop. Her hands began to gently shake as she read the front of the envelope.

TO: Malon Lon
Lon Lon Ranch, Central Hyrule Field

FROM: FB

Her heart beat fast in her breast. She wet her lips, suddenly irrationally nervous. It was from him; the one who had come back into her life and brightened her darkest hours, who had given her her father back.

The boy who had stolen her heart.

Her legs felt weak. She made it several steps into the barn before her knees gave way, sending her sinking to the ground in front of Epona's stall. A pool of sunlight fell from the rafters, illuminating the letter in her lap as her skirt spilled around her. She quickly flipped the envelope over in her hands.

Tears began running long trails down her face as she slid her nails through the seal, gently removed the carefully handwritten note, and began to read.


And as the sunset came to meet,
The evening on the hill,
I told you I'd always love you.
I always did,
I always will.

~ Fin ~


Closing:
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