AN: Here we go, the beginning of the not-quite-healthy relationship between Ganondorf and Ravio. We're getting to the end of this particular arc! Makes me emotional just thinking about it.
Suggested Soundtrack: Your favorite memory music!
CHAPTER ALL IS REVEALED PART 1
or at least some of it.
Ganondorf sat with his back against the playground fence, knees brought up to his chest. One knee was skinned very badly, but that wasn't the real reason he was crying. The other kids had cursed at him, again. So he hit them. It didn't make him feel better. Then they hit him back. It was always this way. Whenever a new kid came to the foster care center, the other kids would tell them about how they had a "Gerudo" and how he was green and nasty and a thief. They would show the new kid Ganondorf and throw rocks at him. Ganondorf didn't always fight back, but today was a bad day. Today he'd been passed over by a family. Again. Nobody ever wanted to meet a Gerudo orphan. He was lucky to get a look of disgust. Well, he'd show them one day! He was going to become a big, powerful businessman and buy 'em all out (that was something he'd seen on TV)!
A high-pitched scream interrupted his plotting, and he looked around. A scrawny little twig of a kid was running from some other kids, who eventually surrounded the little guy and started tormenting him.
"We'll let you go," said the biggest kid.
"Really?" The little boy seemed super hopeful. Ganondorf shook his head at him in warning, even though the boy hadn't noticed him at all.
"Yeah . . . as long as you do what we say." Everyone around the bully snickered.
"Well . . . okay. What do you want me to do?"
"Eat dirt!"
"B-but I don't wanna!" the little boy cried. "Don't make me do it, pleeeeeease!"
"Well then you have to lick the bottom of my shoe."
"EEW!" the boy yelled amongst jeering laughter.
Ganondorf had had enough. He'd seen enough crap from these guys for ONE day. He stood up and stalked over, hands in his pockets. The bully had a hand on the little kid's head, forcing it down, trying to force the kid to eat dirt. It was almost too late for the bullies when they finally noticed Ganondorf.
Ganondorf grabbed fistfuls of the main bully's shirt and shoved him away from the little kid. "Buzz off, moron! What are you picking on a little kid, for?"
The other kids 'oooooohed,' but Ganondorf knew they were too chicken to actually get in a fight with him. He was the biggest kid in the foster care center, besides the teenagers anyway. The only reason they got away with teasing him at all is because normally he didn't go psycho mad on them.
Yeah. That was it.
Ganondorf and the other boys got in a scuffle. Ganondorf's knee scab bled anew and his bruises hurt even worse, but soon he had chased them all off.
What he hadn't expected, though, was for the little kid to stick around. "Wow," said the little guy, admiring the blood draining down Ganondorf's leg. "Why'd you do that?"
"I dunno, I just felt like hitting stuff!" Ganondorf replied, angry.
"Boy, you're really brave! What's your name?"
". . . Ganondorf." None of the other kids had asked him his name before.
The boy, grinning, replied, "Neat! I'm Ravio. Nice to meet you, Ganny!"
Ganondorf glowered at him. "That is NOT my name."
"Oh! S-sorry."
Ganondorf turned and began stalking back to the fence. A little pitter patter behind him caused him to turn around. Ravio had followed him, and froze in place, eyeing him warily, feet turned inward and hands wringing themselves. "Why are you following me?" Ganondorf asked.
"Oh! Uh . . . you don't have any friends, huh?"
Ganondorf blinked at the dodged question, but answered, "No."
Ravio braved coming closer, and actually put a hand on Ganondorf's shoulder. "Well I was just thunking,"
"Thinking," Ganondorf corrected automatically.
"I was just thinking, I'm a nice guy, and you're a big guy. You don't have a friend, and I could be your friend, and you could, uh, protect me from those other guys. Whaddaya think, Ganny—dorf?"
"Ganondorf." He didn't know whether to smile that someone was touching him in a friendly way or toss Ravio's hand aside suspiciously. "And what do you mean, be my friend? Don't you have any friends?"
Ravio shook his head. "No, I just got here." He winked. "I won't be here long, though!" He put his hands on his hips and stuck his nose in the air proudly. "I'll bet the next family that comes through here will pick me right up! So you'll only have to protect me for a little bit, okay?" He nudged Ganondorf's big shoe.
"O . . . okay," Ganondorf replied.
"Great!"
Ganondorf and Ravio began walking in step next to each other until they reached the fence, where they sat down.
"So how old are you, Ganondorf?"
Ganondorf shrugged.
"Really? You don't know how old you are?"
This time, Ganondorf shook his head.
Ravio smacked his shoulder lightly. "Tell you what. I'm nine years old. You can't be much older than that, right? Soooooo, now you're nine, too! Okay?"
The tiniest of smiles crossed Ganondorf's face. It felt weird. Had he ever done it before? "Okay.
Turns out, Ravio was right. He left the center the very next time a family came to adopt. Ravio pulled off this charming act, everything an idealistic adopting parent could possibly dream about in a foster kid. He caught the family's attention right away, and never let it go.
Ganondorf, despite the fact that he himself would never be adopted because of his race, was happy for Ravio. After all, Ravio had been nice to Ganondorf, and he talked to him all the time, and even convinced the caretakers to let them sleep in the same bunk. Ganondorf guessed he was serious about the "friend" thing. He waved at Ravio as Ravio left, skipping along with his new family, happiest kid alive.
That is, until he came back.
"Ravio?" Ganondorf found the smaller kid in a corner of the play room. Ravio looked at him with blank eyes. "What happened?"
"Oh. I dunno." Ravio shrugged. "Didn't want me after all, I guess. Said I was too . . . noisy. Am I too noisy, Ganondorf?"
Ganondorf shook his head. "No way! I like it that you talk so much. You talk about lots of interesting things, too. And you're my friend."
Ravio grinned, but there was pain. "Good. They were just a bad family, then!"
"Yeah, they were stupid." Ganondorf had a LOT of practice calling families who rejected him stupid. "Don't worry, somebody will come around. You're not a Gerudo like me."
And come around someone did. Again, and again, and each time Ganondorf was happy for Ravio, sadder for himself, waved goodbye . . . only to find Ravio in the center again a few weeks or months later.
"What was it THIS time?" Ganondorf asked.
"Hm?" Ravio shrugged and made an 'I don't know' noise to match.
"You're lying. You did something this time, didn't you?"
Ravio grimaced. "It's not like they would have kept me very much longer, anyways!"
Ganondorf sighed and sat down. He'd seen other kids break like this all the time. They get sent back so many times they start to lose trust, and soon they try hard to get adopted only to get insecure and purposely cause so much trouble in their new home that they are sent back. It was a way to reject the family before the family rejected you, a survival tactic. A self destructive one, but one nonetheless.
"How did you end up here, anyway?" Ganondorf asked. He'd never asked before. It wasn't a topic most kids like to discuss.
"I don't know where my parents are. I guess they didn't want me, either."
Ganondorf put an arm around Ravio. "Well . . . you know I'm your foster brother, right, Ravio?"
Ravio sniffed.
Through the years, Ganondorf and Ravio stuck together like glue. Ganondorf was always there when Ravio was rejected by yet another family. Ganondorf protected Ravio from the other kids. They hung out together always. Ravio was always there when Ganondorf was bullied by adults and the other kids. This meant that sometimes Ravio got in the crossfire when Ganondorf's temper exploded and he began to fight back. It got bad enough at one point that caretaker Impaz was worried Ganondorf might hurt the smaller boy, and so she separated them.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Ravio screamed at the top of his lungs in Impaz's office. He pounded his fists on the floor and the desk and the furniture, kicking his legs angrily.
"Young man, stop that right now!" Impaz tried to keep the boy from hurting himself further. He already had a shiny black eye from Ganondorf's last outburst. "He's not good for you, honey. We'll find you another friend, one who's just as good!" Ganondorf was being kept in another office while each of the boys were debriefed about how their relationship was, well, "unhealthy."
Ravio was having none of it. Ever. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! NO NO NO I WANNA BE WITH GANNY I WANT GANNY I WANNA BE WITH GAN—GAN—GANONDORF I WANNA—"
BLAM!
The office door was thrown open, thumb tacks and the papers they held to the door flying across the room. Ganondorf stood in the doorway, looking agitated.
Ravio looked up, brightening completely. "Ganny!" He got to his feet and ran to Ganondorf, throwing his arms around him. "You came to get me!"
"Of course I did!" said Ganondorf emotionally, sounding as though he'd broken into Azkaban.
Impaz sat in her office chair, heaving a weary sigh. "Just WHAT am I going to do with you two?"
Ganondorf suddenly burst into tears. "I'M SO SORRY I'M SO SORRY I'LL NEVER HIT YOU AGAIN I PROMISE, RAVIO, I PROMISE!" He hugged Ravio furiously. "Can we please still be friends?"
Ravio grinned. "Well, yeah. But you know it will help me feel better if you let me call you Ganny. Is that okay?"
". . . yes."
"Hooray!"
"Hey Ganondorf?" Ravio asked from his top bunk.
"Yeah?" Ganondorf replied from the bottom bunk.
"So, like . . . we're foster bros, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, you know how families can adopt kids, right?"
"Yeeeaaaaaaaaaah."
"Well, why can't we adopt each other? Then we'd be REAL brothers!"
Ganondorf grabbed onto the top bunk and pulled himself up so he could stare with wide, mind-blown eyes at Ravio. "RAVIO YOU'RE A GENIUS."
"Hooraaaaaaaaay!"
"OH MY GODDESSES RAVIO GET OUT OF THERE!"
Ravio screamed like a little girl as he ran out of the watermelon patch, hefting a watermelon almost as big as him through the gate.
"Stop doing that," Ganondorf laughed, "You're thirteen for Din's sake!"
Ravio giggled. "How many'd you get, Ganny?"
"THREE!"
"Woo-hoo!"
They ran from a rain of gardening tools and dirt and screaming farmers.
Whenever Ganondorf got into a fight, Ravio ran away. Ganondorf was okay with this. He didn't want Ravio to get hurt. In the end, Ganondorf always stood up for Ravio, and it didn't matter what happened because of that. Ravio was his one friend, the one friend who always came back.
He still hadn't been adopted.
There was one more family that came by and saw interest in Ravio. He wasn't even trying. He'd given that up long ago, cursing all families as "lies" and "hypocrites." This family picked him out, from all the other kids. Despite himself, Ravio began to get excited. The family kept coming ever few days to spend time with him, and it seemed like this family might actually accept him!
Then adoption day came. Ganondorf had been purposely staying away from Ravio when the family was around—didn't want to ruin Ravio's chances of getting adopted because his best friend was a Gerudo. But as Ravio was about to be leaving with his new family, he suddenly ran back to Ganondorf, who hid behind the corner. "I have to say goodbye!" he said.
"Ravio, go back!"
His family came over to see who he was talking to. When they saw it was Ganondorf, they shoed the Gerudo boy away with disgust. Ganondorf ran ten feet away and nursed his hand, which they'd slapped hard trying to get at his face.
Impaz grimaced and put a hand on Ravio's shoulder. "Are you ready to go?"
Ravio was unresponsive.
"Let's go, honey," said his would-be adoptive mother.
Ravio walked out from under Impaz's hand and headed straight for Ganondorf.
"Ravio, Ravio—WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Ganondorf cried as the littler kid grabbed his hand and began dragging him down the hallway.
"Come on, Ganondorf, let's go."
"But Ravio, you're family—!"
"I don't want them. You're my friend."
Ganondorf forced Ravio to halt and put his hands on his shoulders. "No! No, you can't do this! This family's the real deal, Ravio! You can't pass this up just for me. I'm fourteen. Just two more years and I can get out of here. I'll never be adopted, but I'll be fine! And we can always hang out together at school and stuff, okay? But you have to promise me. PROMISE me you'll give this a shot, okay?"
Ravio's chin trembled. "But Ganny . . ."
"Do it. For me, Ravio. At least one of us can get adopted."
Ravio threw his arms around Ganondorf and hugged him tight. "I'll come back for you, Ganny. I promise. I won't leave you in here."
"Okay, okay, now GO!"
Ravio walked back, with hesitation. He looked back at Ganondorf often as his new family led him out of the center doors.
This time Ganondorf cried into his pillow, because he knew Ravio wouldn't come back this time. He tried to hold the tears back, though, because he knew Ravio was better off with a family than stuck in here. Maybe he'd even get to college and get a nice job, raise a family, have grandparents . . .
The next six months were rough for Ganondorf. He somehow suddenly had no one to talk to. Impaz tried, but he was one of hundreds of kids, so her time was obviously limited. He found himself talking less and less, and he was too depressed about Ravio leaving to get riled up by the other kids or t care when adults threw insults at him. He threw himself into physical activity, choosing to put his confidence in his body. Even if nobody liked him for who he was like Ravio did, he would ALWAYS be bigger and stronger than everybody because that's how he'd become friends with Ravio. With his strength.
He finished his thirtieth pull-up and jumped down from the playground equipment. He brushed his hands off and went inside to the common area.
As he looked around for a place empty enough for him to avoid any nasty comments and actions, he saw a familiar profile, under a familiar mop of hair. His heart lifting a thousand feet up in the air, it felt like, Ganondorf ran to the figure, his feet thumping on the ground loudly.
"RAVIO! What are you doing here?!"
Ravio didn't budge. He sat on a counter, staring blankly ahead.
". . . They kicked you out."
Ravio nodded tightly.
Ganondorf sat on the counter next to him. He knew the answer from Ravio's face, but asked anyway, "And you didn't do anything . . ."
Ravio shook his head, even more tightly, eyes threatening tears.
Ganondorf's heart, so light before, suddenly broke into pieces. It was terrifying for him to see his lively friend act so dead. He didn't touch Ravio, just sat next to him.
He was unpracticed at it after so many months of almost-complete silence, but Ganondorf did his best to fill in the silence with his voice, guiding the almost comatose Ravio from one event to another until bedtime, helping him get his things in order, telling him about the last six months, exaggerating things to make it sound more exciting . . .
Ravio didn't smile. So Ganondorf smiled for him. Ravio didn't laugh. So Ganondorf laughed for him. Ganondorf let Ravio have the lower bunk because Ravio didn't seem able to get to the top bunk. He tucked the smaller boy in and climbed into the top bunk. "Good night, Ravio!"
"G'night, Ganny." Those were the first words Ravio had spoken all day.
Ganondorf smiled.
After that, Ravio began running from everything. He would leave the center and be brought back by the police, all smiles and excuses and charming his way out of trouble. When he and Ganondorf turned sixteen, they both began looking for work. The center wouldn't kick them out officially until they were eighteen, but it was good to get a move on at sixteen so you had some cash. Plus that made it so the center could help you get an apartment with a grant from the government, so Ganondorf worked hard.
Ravio worked hard, too . . . for the first two weeks. Of every job he came across. Then suddenly he'd come to work late, get caught breaking the rules, or turn up either high or drunk. He'd get fired, sometimes he ended up in juvie. Ganondorf always went to bail him out, when he had the cash. Ravio wouldn't stay with a single job for longer than two weeks. It was like he would suddenly get uncomfortable, especially if it was a good job. Ravio had completely lost all confidence in himself. Nobody had ever wanted him in his entire life, and he had suffered so much rejection he simply couldn't face rejection even one more time.
So he rejected everything that came his way, good and bad.
Except for Ganondorf.
