Disclaimer: Nothing's changed. Zelda isn't mine, mores the pity.
Chapter 11: Link's Decision.
The meal passed incredibly slowly, as Link ate and drank with little merriment and kept his eyes cemented on his father and brother. He'd occasionally laugh at jokes or make some of his own, but other than that his mind was on too many other important matters. Towards the end of the meal, Harkinian stood and tapped his wine glass, calling for silence.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, tonight we honour the achievements of Hyrule's warriors in this year's tournament. Indeed, I am most relieved to see that so many outstanding swordsmen are apparent at such a young age, as well as having such skilled warriors in our army and guarding my home."
Link disguised his laugh with a cough, and Zelda lightly kicked him under the table before squeezing his hand.
"I should say that things were looking dubious this afternoon as to whether tonight's festivities would be taking place, due to an unexpected interruption in proceedings, but thanks to the courageous efforts of one boy, disaster was avoided."
Link felt several pairs of eyes focus on him and he kept his gaze on the shield hung on the wall.
"This brave youth single handedly took on the Moblin chief, but was not only able to defeat him but able to lead him far enough away so that no-one was injured. You might be expecting this sort of feat from Hyrule's finest warriors, but Hyrule's hero of the day is just a lad of ten years. What some of you may find even more impressive is that he not only defeated the Moblin, but he scored maximum points on the archery and defeated Aidyn in the final of the juniour tournament. Ladies and Gentlemen, charge your glasses please to Link, Hyrule's newest hero!"
The toast resounded around the hall and Link felt himself blushing a little.
"To Link." Zelda said quietly at his side. "The undisputed Hero of Time."
People began to bang on the tables and the universal chant of 'speech' went up around the room. Reluctantly, Link stood up to a mighty round of applause and cleared his throat.
"Um, hi." He began shakily, receiving a laugh in response. "I guess size doesn't matter does it? I mean, I'm a runt, a pipsqueak, a baby..."
Yoric, Horeb, Tristian, Pebo, Voren and Forn all looked away guiltily.
"But here I am, still standing after rumbling with a Moblin that not even General Olaran could defeat."
There was more laughter, but Zelda was alarmed to see Link's eyes locked onto Olaran and could see them darken slightly in what looked to be anger.
"I've not always been a Hylian." He began, getting looks of surprise. "Up until recently I was raised as a Kokiri in the forest, after my mother was killed in the Unifying War. Even in a forest amongst people who would always be kids, I was still the runt, the pipsqueak, the big joke to everyone. One person took me seriously there, and it was the same today and yesterday. I know what you were all thinking when I took part in that archery, 'Look at the little kid. Why's he fighting?' I was fighting for recognition, to be taken seriously and to be accepted as a fighter even though I'm still a child. I can only hope I've acheived that. I've had to fight every day since my mother died, I fought for survival and I fought to be accepted amongst the Kokiri. I can't help but wonder whether or not things would have been different if my mother hadn't died, or if my father, who I have never known, had come to look for me."
Olaran's eyes met Link's during that sentence and for a moment the boy froze before continuing with his speech, keeping his gaze level with his father's.
"But now I know that there's no point in wishing for things to have been different. If life isn't going the way that you planned it then you have to fight to make it go your way. And that's the advice I'm going to give you all. Don't give up on something just because it seems that it's hopeless, because it's not."
He received a round of applause but kept standing and staring purposefully at his father before sitting down with a nod of acknowledgment to his fans. Olaran kept his eyes on the boy, feeling his heart pound at an erratic rate. Once the diners had risen to take to dancing, he walked over to where the young champion was sitting and talking to Zelda.
"Link, might I have a word with you?" He asked, trying hard to keep his voice from shaking.
Link looked up, and Olaran once again saw the angry, challenging look in the depths of his eyes.
"Alright." He said emotionlessly.
Zelda looked at him anxiously and he smiled slightly at her.
Meet me outside afterwards.
Zelda read his thoughts and nodded as he walked off behind Olaran. Something told her that their confrontation was going to be life changing.
******
Once they were outside in the courtyard, Olaran turned and looked at the boy before him and dropped to his knees, holding his shoulders and looking intently at his face.
"I can't believe that I didn't notice it before. Link, are you... are you my Link?"
Link looked into his father's eyes and saw his face reflected in them, he looked sombre and indifferent, but he nodded anyway.
"Of course you are! I can't believe it! Oh Gods..."
The older man could barely contain his tears and hugged the boy fiercely, holding him tightly against him as though he'd never let him go. When he eventually drew back, he kept his hands on Link's shoulders and looked him up and down.
"Gods look how you've grown, you're exactly how I dreamed you'd be!"
He smiled happily and seemed oblivious to Link's expression.
"You have her eyes, and you have the same attitude as her... I can't believe that I didn't notice it! And you're left handed just like her, you're Ariala's for sure, my son!"
He reached out to hug him again but Link pushed him away.
"I'm not your son." He said coldly.
Olaran laughed.
"Don't be foolish Ranlink, you just told me that you were. I can't wait to tell Aidyn that his little brother's coming home..."
"I'm not coming with you, my home is here. And my name is Link." Link snapped. "I'm not going with you."
"But you said you would." Olaran argued. "You said you'd come to train under me..."
"I said I'd think about it." Link said in a cold voice. "And I have. I could never respect a man who let his wife die and abandoned his son, even if he was my own father."
He saw the hurt look in Olaran's eyes, but was unaffected by it. He didn't care, he was not the one in the wrong.
"How could you possibly think that?" He asked. "I never abandoned you and I never let your mother die..."
"You didn't stop her from running away with me did you? Oh yeah, I forgot, you were too busy kissing my best friend's mother!" Link retaliated. "How could you do that to my mother? To me and Aidyn? I thought the King was your best friend, and you went and did that to him! How can you look at Zelda without feeling guilty? It's your fault that she doesn't have a mother and it's your fault that you don't have a wife!"
The hurt in Olaran's eyes would have encouraged pity from anyone except the son who was staring at him furiously.
"I'm sorry you feel that way, son."
"Don't call me that!" Link roared. "I'll never accept you as my father, NEVER!"
Olaran saw the fury in the dark blue eyes of his long lost child and knew that all attempts of reconciliation were futile.
"I'll go now, if that's what you want, but I want you to know that I never once gave up hope of finding you alive, even when everyone told me that it was useless. I never betrayed your mother and I only hope that you can forgive me someday. I'll always love you, Link. No matter what you may say or think can change that."
He planted a small kiss on his son's head and walked sadly back into the dining hall, casting a sorrowful look at the boy as he returned to the banquet. The child's chest was heaving with anger and for the first time that night, Olaran realised exactly how much like his wife his youngest son looked.
"Dad?"
Aidyn tapped him on the shoulder, looking concerned.
"What's wrong Dad? You look like you've seen a ghost." He laughed.
His expression slipped back into concern as he saw his father was unresponsive.
"Dad, are you OK?"
Olaran nodded.
"I'm fine Aidyn, just fine."
He put his hand around his son's shoulder.
"Link doesn't want to train with us any more." He told his oldest son. "You don't mind do you?"
Aidyn looked momentarily disappointed but shook his head.
"I guess not, I don't think there was much you could have taught him anyway. It would have been cool having him around though, it'd have been like having a little brother again."
Olaran had to turn his head so that his son couldn't see his tears.
******
"Link, are you OK?" Zelda asked, approaching her friend.
He was staring up at the sky, watching the stars.
"Do you reckon that the stars are going to be the same in whatever country we go to?" He asked her, not looking at her.
"I suppose so." She said, standing next to him. "Why do you ask?"
He turned around and looked into her eyes, smiling a little sadly.
"I'm thinking about going away." He said.
Zelda couldn't contain her surprised look.
"But why Link? Where would you go?"
Link shrugged.
"I've been thinking about it for a while now. I mean, I haven't got a clue where Navi is and although she was a total pest I feel that I should find her 'cause she was friend when it came down to the crunch."
He took a deep breath and continued.
"And as much as I'd love to stay here, I'd just be sitting on my butt waiting for something to happen and I'd get lazy. I need to practice so I might as well practice on monsters somewhere instead of beating everyone without breaking a sweat here, and it wouldn't be fair to always beat everyone at the tournament."
Zelda smiled.
"You're going because you need to get your head around all that's happened today, aren't you?" She asked quietly. "You don't have to make excuses for your actions in front of me. I won't try to stop you, because you want to go and once you've got an idea in your head, there's no stopping you."
"You know me too well, don't you?" He grinned.
Zelda nodded.
"I do."
"I think I better get going, I want to go tomorrow morning and I should get an early night." He said.
Zelda nodded again and gave him a hug.
"You'll come and see me before you go, won't you?"
He nodded and hugged her back.
"You bet I will."
Once the hug was broken, he ran off out of the courtyard. Zelda sighed, he'd forgotten to collect his prize.
"Zelda!"
She spun around and was greeted by Link, who grabbed hold of her waist and kissed her innocently on the mouth. Her eyes were as wide as saucers and remained that way until he broke the kiss, when both were blushing like tomatoes.
"Well... goodnight." Zelda said breathlessly.
Link grinned.
"Night Zellie."
******
