Sam rode towards the peaceful Kakariko Village and halted at the entrance. He sneezed a loud AH-choo in the crook of his elbow just before dismounted his brown steed.
"Sorry, Regan." he said to the horse, wiping his nose with his sleeve. "I've not been feeling my best today. Thanks for dealing with my sneezing."
He patted the horse on the head and walked over to unload something from his saddle. He unloaded a tied bag filled with ten Bokoblins guts. They convulsed inside, making the bag containing them bulge every now and again. Sam frowned. He was a monster slaying adventurer, not an errand boy. However, the old woman who sold swift carrots at the general store promised to pay him twice the market value if he brought back a decent amount of guts for her. Plus, she was one of Sam's best clients, asides the weirdo monster-lover Kilton.
'Oh, well.' he thought with a shrug. 'If the old lady's happy, then I'm happy. A client is a client.'
"Wait here for me, Regan." he said to his travelling friend, laying a couple of apples on the grass which it ate gleefully as he headed down into the village. As he passed the clothes store, Enchanted, he considered buying a new cloak once he was paid for the guts. However, Sam decided not to, since the cloak he had last night was taken by that Sheikah girl who stole a kiss from him, and he still planned to get it back. He waved to the shop girl, Lasli as he passed, and continued on his way to High Spirits Produce, the general store where his client, Trissa, was waiting. When he opened the slider door, she looked up at him and smiled.
"Ah, my dear Sam. You finally made it."
Sam nodded politely. He didn't being called 'my dear Sam' by Trissa. She loved his company, and he used to love her cooking. When he was younger, back when he used to only be good for slaying Bokoblins, Keeses and Chuchus, he would spend most of his days with her, and he brought good business to her store. He even helped restock her goods for her, carrying the swift carrots from her husband's batch to her, and even brought back indgredients from his animal hunting. He always found it a an excuse to train and build his body up, especially when it came to her veggie cream soup. Most of the recipes he learnt in his youth came from Trissa. She was almost like a grandmother to him, and he was like her grandson, if not her son, since she didn't have any children.
He walked over to her and carefully set the bag on the table beside him. Trissa opened the bag and looked at the contents. Bokoblin guts. Just as they agreed.
"Hehe, count them all." Sam chuckled. "There's ten in counting. No more, no less."
The old dark skinned woman smiled up at the young golden haired adventurer whose nose was slightly tainted pink from his cold.
"I only wanted five, dear boy." she laughed.
"The more the merrier, no?" he replied with a shrug and a sniff.
She gave a hearty laugh. "Alright, you got me. I'll pay you like I promised..."
"Oh, no you don't have to! I don't want to take too much from you. I know what you promised, Trissa, but I think I'll be fine with just the normal market value this time."
"Are you sure about that?"
Sam nodded. "The 200 rupees will be fine. I know how hard you work for the business, and how much effort Old Coot Steen puts into his carrots."
He winked, and Trissa laughed again. She remember when a younger Sam used to copy her, calling her husband 'Old Coot Steen' and making jokes about it to cheer her up when he wasn't around. It warmed her heart to know that the nineteen year old was still the same young energetic boy she used to cook for.
"Alright, then." she said softly. "If you insist, I'll pay you the 200 rupees."
She went over to her counter, collected the money in a small leather pouch and gave it to Sam.
"Do drop by anytime." she said with a kind smile. "It's been quite lonely without you around."
The young man with howlite eyes returned a smile. "I will." he promised.
"Oh, and before you go, Sam, there is a house near that bent tree..."
"The one on the path that leads to the forest, where Cotera lives?"
She nodded. "That's the one. Stop by the house next to that. There's someone there who could stop you from spreading the sniffles."
"Alright, thank you. Stay safe."
Sam left the store, closing the door behind him. He wondered who Trissa wanted him to meet. A doctor, perhaps? Regardless, he headed up again, keeping an eye out for the house near the tree he spoke about before leaving the store. When he found it, he climbed steps, wiped his runny nose and knocked loudly on the door.
To the adventurer's surprise, the door was opened by a small girl with ligth grey hair and eyes of a darker shade. She wore a traditional Sheikah outfit and blinked up at Sam.
"Yes? Can Koko help you?" she asked.
"Uh..."
Sam suddenly felt awkward.
"I was told to come here because...because...AH-CHOO!"
The sneeze was so loud it made Koko jump.
"Eh! You've caught the sniffles! But don't worry," she added with a smile. "Koko knows someone who can help with that. Come, come. Koko will show you."
She took his large hand and led him inside before he could lie and say he wasn't sick. As she closed the door after him, Sam saw another little girl with white hair sitting on the bed.
"Cottla. Go call Big Sister Jei." Koko said to the younger one. "This man has the sniffles."
"Okay!"
Cottla stood up on the bed and yelled out, "Big Sister Jei-Jei! Big Sis brought a man with sniffles!"
"I'll be there in a moment!" called a much older female's voice. "Get him comfortable, Koko."
The older grey haired sister sat Sam down on the floor and threw a blanket she had taken from somewhere over his shoulders.
"Um, thank you." he said to her awkwardly, and she smiled.
"Koko loves to help. Koko wants to be a good helper like Mother."
"Like Mother...?" he repeated, and moments later, as the oldest female started to walk in, he sneezed again
"Ah-choo!"
"Sounds like somebody's definitely caught the sniffles, huh?" she said, clicking her tongue. The male grunts, disregarding the topic.
The girl with straight moonstone hair just hanging over her shoulders walked in with her stealth chest guard and tights after neatly positioning her bow, and started towards the girls. She stops. Her hazel eyes widened at the unexpected visitor. The dark golden hair mostly tied back. Familiar eyes the colour of howlite. He had a slight pink tint on his nose: the telltale sign of the "sniffles". And of course, his thin lips pressed in a fine line together and that typical frown. She knew it all too well.
"Well, well. Look what the Bokoblins dragged in." she mused, winking at the boy in the blanket. "Back for seconds, are you?"
His eyes flared up upon seeing her. "You!"
He jumped to his feet immediately and drew out his broadsword, which frightened Koko and Cottla. They hid behind their 'big sister'.
"Oh, no you don't! Not in this house! Not in front of the kids!" she said, swiftly kicking the sword out of his hand before he could react.
He gritted his teeth. "This isn't even your house, is it, thief?"
Irritated by him calling her 'thief', she kicked him down onto the floor and pinned him down with her foot on his chest.
"Oh, you're darn right this isn't my house." she replied, trying to censor herself around the two little girls. "I'm here to protect this house, actually. For a client. But rest assured, I won't assult you with my lips again. That is, if you don't want to go down that road again."
His eyes darted to the side, vexed by her last remark. She took notice of his face and removed her foot from his chest, allowing him to sit up. She didn't realise that he would be this grumpy. Instead, she smiled sweetly in hopes that he wouldn't be so cross with her, and turned to the grey-haired girl.
"Hey, Koko."
"Mm?"
The older sister looked up.
"Remember the honey I brought back earlier?" Jeia asked her.
"Yes, Koko remembers." she replied nodding.
After a glance at Sam, Jeia pointed to the pantry door and ordered, "Go get it and some apples. We're going to make a treat for everyone today, especially for our guest."
Koko's eyes lit up.
"Yes, yes, yes! Koko will go! Koko will go right away!"
She ran over to the pantry, took out some courser bee honey and apples and carried them out of the room, followed by Jeia. After about ten to fifteen minutes, the two came back out, with the taller girl carrying a plate of a familiar dish. Koko ran across the room, and with her little sister's help, pushed a low wooden table over to where Sam was sitting. Jeia laid the big plate onto the table, and sternly made cheeky Cottla sit before her little hands were able to grab the contents.
Once everyone was seated the Sheikah ninja said, "Dig in everyone! Take your time. I'm talking to you, Cottla."
Sam stared at the glazed fruit. "Is this...?"
"Honeyed apples." she said softly as the girls ate happily. "Please, eat as much as you like. I make this for the girls whenever they're sick, especially when they have fevers, like their mother used to. Besides," she added with a smile that almost looked flirty, "I couldn't help but notice that you're a little bit under the weather, my dear."
"I'm not sick!" he blurted, then stiffened and lowered his voice. "And...I don't need your pity..."
"Oh, please. It's free." she countered, waving her hand. "Please, eat. Koko will get upset if you don't. She cooked this, you know."
He couldn't argue with that, and it would have been impolite not to eat, so he took an apple slice dipped with honey and ate. Memories of his childhood flooded in. The sweetness of the honey, the softness of the apple. They paired together perfectly, like egg and rice.
"It's amazing." he said. "I haven't had this since I was a kid. Thank you."
Koko grinned happily and looked at young woman beside her.
"He likes it, Big Sister Jei." she said.
"Of course he likes it. Who doesn't?"
Koko and Cottla giggled and both took another slice to eat. Sam watched as Jeia giggled with them and took a honeyed slice herself. Her kind and easy-going attitude made him feel calm, and he started to feel comfortable around her. That beautiful smile she had, which always looked flirtatious somehow, left him in a trance every time she flashed it at him. He found himself smiling softly at her, feeling as if it was just the two of them, without Koko and Cottla, and silently wishing that they could stay like this forever. Then, as time passed for what felt like forever a question he had wanted to ask from the start, which had slipped his mind for a while, popped up.
"So, these girls, Koko and Cottla." he started. "Are they your kids or your siblings?"
"Neither." she simply replied. "They call me 'big sister', but we're not blood-related."
He gave a confused frown. "So what, you're a babysitter?"
She giggled and shook her head.
"In a way yes, but I'm actually a family friend." she explained. "Koko and Cottla's mother isn't around anymore, that's why Koko usually takes on that role. I'm basically here to help her with her responsibilities."
"What about their father?"
"You mean Dorian? He's guarding Lady Impa's home, so he doesn't get to spend a lot of time with his kids. Thus, another reason why I'm here."
Sam thought in silence, processing all he had just been told. This ninja turns out to be a ruthless monster assassin by night and a big sister figure by day. The girl who stole a kiss from him as well as his kills was really just supporting a single-parent family.
And helping the oldest child, Koko...
Another question.
"You said earlier that you're here to help Koko." he said. "How do you help her, exactly?"
Jeia took a few moments to answer.
"Well," she began. "You know those Lynel parts I took last night? I sold the guts and two of the hooves for 300 rupees so that I had enough to buy lasting ingredients."
"Ingredients?"
She nodded. "For cooking. There isn't much to buy in Kakariko Village, so I usually go out and buy from traveling merchants and other villages and towns. Other times, I hunt for meat ad gather things like herbs and honey. You know, the stuff that you don't usually get from the general stores. Then, I bring them back to Koko so she can cook for her family. Unfortunately, it does mean that I can't really spare a lot of time for Cottla; I can only play with her for about a day or two since I have to continuously stock up. But in the end, when all said and done, its worth it."
Upon hearing this, a sudden guilt seized Sam and registered on his face.
"Jeia. I'm sorry."
She tilted her head off the the side.
"For what?" she asked.
"For getting angry at you, about the Lynel."
"Oh, that? Why?"
Her hazel eyes gave a curious look.
"Well, because," he started, before looking down at the honeyed apples. "Because... if I knew that you were doing all of that to help a father raise his two kids, I wouldn't have spoken to you that way I did. I wouldn't have called you 'thief'. I wouldn't...tried to attack you. I'm sorry."
She grinned at him playfully.
"I was always in a different league than you anyway." she said. "Besides, as much as I make it look easy, Lynels are pretty tough to fight even for someone like me. You've got a long way to go before you can beat one of those things by yourself."
He chuckled and reached over for another honeyed apple slice.
"How did I end up meeting someone like you?" he murmured.
The girl with hazel eyes gave a small smile as she wiped away honey droplets from little Cottla's mouth.
'Right back at ya, Sam. Right back at ya.'
She looked up at him, looking directly into his howlite eyes. Her smile became so sweet, Sam wondered if the taste of her lips was the same as honey.
"Don't be a stranger, okay? Come around any time." she told him softly, then winked at him. "You're always welcome."