CHAPTER 6

After setting his scarce belongings in a room opposite Aria's own, Link descended down the stairs. The mouthwatering aroma of stew and biscuits brought back so many pleasant memories: ones of better, simpler days to him. His sister stood, stirring the contents of a cooking pot, then lifted the ladle to taste its contents. As she started to pour the pot's contents into individual bowls, she seemed to pause.

"Is something the matter?"

Link's voice made her start and she brushed something off her face before turning to face him. "Sorry. It's just," she said, her voice going distant, "I still can't believe you're really here. It's like you're back from the dead. How did you even survive?"

"It's a long story, Malon." he answered her, "I can only amount it to sheer luck."

"And Ari…" Malon said, eyes falling before rising back to look at her brother, "So young without a mother. How did she-? How did you-?"

"We managed." He cut off, "That's all that matters."

Malon looked mildly taken aback. "I-I'm sorry." she apologized, more in surprise than anything at this sudden bout of coldness, "I didn't-"

"Few people do. And if I can ask?" He saw that he had her attention. "Don't bring up her mother again. EVER." He let himself breathe again, trying to steady his nerves and ease off the sharpness that his voice had taken. "It's still not easy for me...and she isn't ready to know."

Malon folded her arms over her chest, letting her suspicion and disapproval show. "And when will she be, exactly?" she asked, raising her brow at him.

A lengthy pause filled the air, then he looked away from her questioning gaze. "I don't know." he said, more in defeat than anything, "But I know it's not now. I don't know how she would take it. Her mother died when she was a baby, that's all she should know at the moment."

When he met his sister eye-to-eye again, she seemed to see the conflict in his gaze. It seemed she did not know any good or timely ways to break such news to her, for she sighed in defeat. "Fine. I won't talk about it. However," she said, catching his attention once more, "You must tell her, sooner or later. After all these years, she deserves the truth."

Link nodded slightly, almost reluctantly, then added, "Tell Leon what I told you. I'm going to fetch Aria if dinner's almost ready."

Not bothering to wait for Malon's compliance, he went back upstairs to the room that Aria took. Soon as he opened the door, his eyes fell on her, lying curled up on the bed and arms under a fluffy pillow. She looked like she didn't have a care in the world. But knowing his promise to Malon, he couldn't let her just sleep through a proper meal. He walked over, put a hand on her shoulder and gently shook her until she stirred with a groggy moan.

"Is it morning already?" she asked, sleepily, as her eyes fluttered open.

"No." he answered, the faint hint of a laugh in his voice, "You dozed off. Now, come on down. Malon's got dinner cooking and we don't want her to wait for us."

Aria slowly rose from the bed and stretched. As soon as she was on her feet, Link could tell she just wanted to return to the bed. He could not blame her, but an opportunity to talk to their extended family was too good to turn down in his eyes. His daughter out of bed, Link descended the stairs with Aria following behind.

Dinner proved a very pleasant affair. Malon had not only cooked a hearty stew, she had also prepared biscuits, vegetables from her garden, and refreshing milk from prize-winning dairy cows, as she constantly boasted. Having known little else than game meat and pumpkins for so many years, Aria was not sure what to make of the meal, but the unique tastes and textures were more than enough to dispel her doubts in a matter of seconds.

Her aunt was such a delightful woman. When Aria tried referring to her as "Aunt Malon" out of basic formality, she was met with a surprise interjection.

"Oh, honey, you don't have to call me that." she said with an almost-comical huff, "I'm fun. Call me something else like…Auntie Mal."

"Okay then...Auntie Mal." The title "auntie" seemed odd to her, but it pleased her to see Malon smile and thank her for it.

Her son, Leon, also proved a delight. She was almost convinced that he could finish the entire table of food on his own. Malon had to slap his hand away with a soup ladle to make sure Aria and her father got any seconds. He always found some way to make anyone at the table laugh, even his own mother. Aria's laughter came frequently and genuinely whenever he finished a joke.

"So a fly went straight into this one cow's ear, see," the farmboy had said, "Next thing you know, it's in the milk bucket. Guess it was in one ear and out the udder." From the corner of her eye, Aria could have sworn she saw her father stifle a laugh into his milk glass.

Then storytime came around and they, fondly, talked about the old days. It was a secret hope of hers, but Aria had hoped she could learn about her mother, always keeping an ear open and starting with questions that she hoped would lead to an answer.

"So, do you have any interesting stories from your life in the woods?" Malon had asked.

Link, oddly enough, piped up with, "Well, there was the time when Aria got her first bow…"

Aria hoped she didn't look as pink as she felt. "Father, don't-" she started, but she was too late.

"Her little arms weren't quite used to a bowstring. She ended up firing it straight into the woods." he said, ignoring her proclamation, "I had to go in and find it. Fortunately, it was stuck in the stump of a tree I cut down a week before."

Aria felt she could have lit the whole room. In minutes, though, she was able to laugh at her own mistake.

As dinner progressed, Aria looked back and forth between her father and aunt. Perhaps it was her imagination, but something felt a little off to her. From their appearances to their demeanors, something was not quite adding up.

"Um, pardon me asking, but what was life like for you?" she asked, tentatively, "When father was still living here? What were your parents like?"

Malon shrugged. "About as ordinary a life as you'd expect a farm girl and her baby brother." she answered, "My mama died giving birth to me, so it was the two of us and my late papa."

Aria raised a brow. "If she died in childbirth, then...where'd father come from?"

Malon's eyes darted to Link and Aria could have sworn he gave her the subtlest nod. Malon could only shrug. "I don't know. It's an interesting story, how he came to become part of the family." Aria showed her that she was paying attention. "Papa took me on a delivery with him. It had rained the previous day, so on the trip back home, the carriage wheel got stuck. As he stepped off to dislodge it, I heard crying. Right there in the bushes was a baby boy, still in his basket.

"I couldn't just leave him, so I picked him up to show my papa what I stumbled across. He was reluctant, but when he learned I'd found him all alone, he took him in and he lived with us until he could fend for himself."

Aria could only smile. She had only known her aunt for less than a day and, already, she found so much to love about her. One peek at her father saw he was giving her a look that nonverbally begged her not to continue. Malon either completely missed the look or, heavens forbid, noticed and proceeded anyway.

"After that, I became both his big sister and his mama in a sense." she said, "Whether it was teaching him to ride a horse or saving him from a flock of cuccos, I was always there for him."

Aria looked at her father, almost incredulously. "You? Afraid of cuccos?" she asked, using all her strength to suppress the urge to laugh.

"I was six, Aria." Link said, trying to keep his composure, but Aria saw him going pink in the cheeks even as he tried to mask it by sipping his glass.

"He speaks the truth, Ari dear." Malon said, idly picking at a potato with her fork, "My brother grew up fast...too fast, if I'm being honest. He was coming with us on deliveries when he was nine, and by fourteen, he'd left the ranch to go live in Castletown."

"Did he ever come back?" Aria asked.

Malon's eyes briefly flitted to Link, as though watching for a reaction. "For visits, yes." she answered, somewhat-distantly, "He'd come by to celebrate my birthday and make sure the ranch was doing alright. He came to my wedding, and I went to his. Last time I saw him before now was when he wanted to show me his little baby-girl."

"So, you knew mother?" Aria asked.

The sparks in her eyes must have shown, for Malon looked surprised and then disheartened to answer. "No. I'm sorry, dear. We met only once and didn't really talk much." She seemed to sense Aria's building disappointment, though, for she quickly followed up with, "But she seemed pleasant and kind, just as Link described in his letters." She looked at Aria again, a sad smile forming on her face. "You look so much like her-same eyes, same hair, same-"

Malon's eyes suddenly looked past Aria and to her father, then she stopped mid-sentence and began finishing up her plate. Not long after finishing her meal, Malon seemed eager to change the subject.

"What can I do to help?" she asked, "Is there anything I can do to help with whatever you are doing?"

Link piped up almost immediately. "A horse would help. We have far to travel and, I fear, not a lot of time."

Malon looked at him for a while, then directed a tone that Aria found hard to read. "After dinner. I might have just the one for both of you." This seemed to satisfy him, for he returned to his meal in silence. It did prompt a thought from Aria, though.

"Excuse me," she said, "But could I learn to ride? I've always wanted to, but there weren't a lot of horses where I used to live."

"Absolutely, dear." Malon answered, "We can show you the basics and your papa can show you how down the road. Won't you?" Malon had given her brother a brief glance. He nodded before returning to the last scraps of food on his plate.

They finished their food just minutes later and, after helping clean their dishes, the four of them went out to the range. The horses out on the range grazed on what fresh grass they could find in the pasture, while others cantered around the edges, as though wanting to show off to the newcomers.

"Ari, dear?" Aria turned at being addressed, "Yes, I'm going to borrow your papa for a moment. Just remembered there's someone else here who might want to see him. Leon will help you find a good enough horse, isn't that right?"

Leon nodded eagerly and Malon put a hand on her brother's arm, leading him out of the enclosure. It was curious. Who else could be at this ranch that would miss her father?