"...so go on. Get out of here." And as the child she had saved the world with rode away, she couldn't help but whisper a quiet "thank you."
"What're you looking at?" Tatl nearly snapped as she caught Tael once again eyeing her quizzically. Ever since she and Link had escaped the moon that the mask had nearly brought crashing down on Termina, he had been watching her with an unusual interest. It was normal for him to pay attention to her so he could take her lead, but this was more akin to observation than following.
"You've been acting funny ever since you came back."
She darted forward to clock him good, but the purple fairy danced away, laughing a little as he dodged her attack.
"Yeah? You're the one who's been staring at me all day like some kind of…" She trailed off as she was reminded of some of the horrors she had come across in her journeys with Link. She couldn't help but shiver as she recalled the statues born of a certain elegy he would play. Those lifeless statues watched them with a soulless gaze that would probably live in her nightmares.
Well, if she had nightmares.
"... Some kind of what?"
"Shut up."
He laughed, as he always did when she was annoyed with him. "Really though, you miss him already, don't you?"
She paused. "So it's that obvious, huh?"
"Kinda."
"Well, you try saving the world with somebody and not getting a little… attached ." she nearly retched at the word.
"Softie."
She darted forward again, this time connecting. It wasn't a hard hit by any means. Rather, it was meant to hurt his pride just a little and remind him who was the older sibling.
"Ow!" Tael grumbled as he retreated, rubbing his head.
"That's what you get,"Tatl replied, crossing her arms and nodding firmly. However, her smugness was soon forgotten as an intense guitar solo resounded throughout their surroundings.
Her gaze snapped back to the stage, where a "Zoran" guitarist was performing with a surprising energy. Though she had been traveling with him for… only the goddess knew how much time had actually passed in the loops, she was only used to seeing such energy from him in battle. It was still fascinating to her how much emotion and passion he could display while playing an instrument.
"Wait… is that him?"
"Yep."
"He can turn into a Zora too? That's so…" she could hear the realization in his voice as he trailed off. "Oh…"
"Yeah." There was no need to burden him with Mikau's story, so she said nothing more about the Zora father who had given everything trying to save his kids. He had unfortunately been another casualty of the evil that had inhabited the mask. And, just like the others, he had left loved ones behind.
It shouldn't have surprised her to see him return to Clock Town under the guise of the various people that had lent him their strength. As soon as she had seen that familiar, forest-green cap weaving through the crowds, she had known exactly what his intent was.
So, she watched from a distance as he approached the Deku King's butler and showed him the mask of his son. He had quietly explained the young deku's fate, then silently did his best to console the grieving father.
Then she watched as he slipped into an alley and donned Darmani's form. Then he went and celebrated with the Goron hero's brothers, shouting, wrestling, and embracing the Gorons who approached. Though he still spoke quietly, she caught a few solemn goodbyes. Even though she could see confusion in their eyes, Tatl could see in their eyes that they understood that Darmani would never be in their presence again.
And now, he was playing Mikau's fish-bone guitar on stage, doing his best to honor the memory of a Zora who would never see his kids grow.
Despite the tragedies she had seen up close, there was something bittersweet about the whole affair. Rather than turning his back on them now that his self-appointed task was finished, or going to celebrate as himself, the young hero was instead doing his best to give everyone some semblance of closure.
Honestly, his selflessness could be so annoying at times. Annoying enough to make her eyes sting a bit.
Tatl continued observing as the band wound down and excused themselves; however, as soon as she saw him pulling Lulu off to the side, she looked away. She had always been convinced that Lulu had her suspicions that something had been wrong with Mikau. And now, she was about to find out that her mate and the father of her children had died hurt and alone, save for two strangers.
The fairy really didn't need to see any more heartbreak, especially during a festival. Unfortunately, turning away from Link and Lulu didn't prevent her from seeing as Tael's expression fell and his glow dimmed. And she felt her heart break all over again.
She just prayed that whoever the goddess of time was, she would grant her one last mercy and spare her the sound of Lulu's cries.
"He's, uh… he's moving."
Tatl waited a few seconds before following his gaze to find Link, now back in his human form, wading back into the milling crowd. As she had suspected, he seemed to no longer feel the need to stay. She could relate as now she no longer felt like celebrating either.
"Where are you going?" her younger brother asked.
"Home."
"Hey sis."
"Yeah?" she asked absently as she continued watching her partner absently.
"Home is that way."
She stopped short, turning to see Tael pointing in a completely different direction.
"I know which way home is."
"Uh huh." He looked around her, prompting her to follow his gaze. Link had left through one of the gates and was getting Epona ready to depart. "You should get going…"
"Huh?"
Tael began flitting around as he always did when he was uncertain of how to speak his mind. "Things are gonna be different now, ya know. Skull Kid and I, well… We kinda went through some things together that no one else is ever gonna get. And I'm pretty sure it's the same for the two of you."
"Okay?"
She heard Epona whinny in the background, prompting a sense of urgency within her.
"I, um… Look, Skull Kid and I are leaving Termina," he blurted out. "We don't wanna stick around after everything that happened. And I was assuming that you were probably gonna come along, but I don't think you should."
Tatl opened her mouth to say something, but for once, her sharp tongue failed her.
"I think you should go along with him. You know. Go on new adventures and get in more trouble."
"I wasn't the one who -" She stopped as Tael's eyes flitted away and she turned, seeing Epona galloping off into the night. "Oh that absolute moron! He knows how dangerous it is to travel at night!"
She turned slowly back to Tael as she heard him giggling. He did his best to stifle them as she glowered at him.
Then he rushed forward and flung his arms around her. "I'msorrytomakethissoquick, butyouhavetogo!"
"I can't leave you."
"And I can't watch you be sad because you felt the need to look after me. Skull Kid and I can look after ourselves. You know that."
"I know." Slowly, she returned his embrace. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." He pulled away then nearly shoved her. "Now go! We'll run into each other again!"
She wanted to say something, anything, but again, words failed her.
"Go!"
Tatl turned away, feeling much less sad than she would have expected. Certainly, she would feel his absence as she had while traveling with Link, but something had changed over that time. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on. She began chasing after her moron of a charge when something she could say finally occurred to her. Stopping, she whipped around to look back at his fading glow.
"Tael!"
"Yeah?!"
"If we have to come save you again, I'm gonna make you regret it!"
The last she would hear of her brother for a long while was the sound of him cackling madly.
Link breathed a sigh of relief as the sounds of the festival faded behind him. He hadn't really wanted to attend, especially so soon after the battle with the spirit in the mask. But, he was fairly certain there wouldn't have been a better time to try and give his allies closure. They had lent him their strength. It was only right in his mind that each of them had a chance to say goodbye before they truly moved on. He'd even gone so far as to visit the lab where Mikau and Lulu's children were swimming happily and spent some time with them.
What he had given each of them was far less than what they had lost. But he was only human, and he could only do so much to the wrongs that had been done to them.
Epona, ever aware of his emotions, slowed to a walk and nickered comfortingly over her shoulder.
With a warm smile, he patted her neck. He had noticed that his friends in Hyrule seemed to have some sort of intuition in regards to what had happened in the destroyed future. In his opinion, though, Epona seemed to have remembered it all. Rationally, he knew this was not the case. She possessed no supernatural abilities that would have allowed her to maintain those memories. Even so, he couldn't help but notice that her bond with him had somehow survived.
Either that, or he had traveled back and forth between the present and the future that he had simply forgotten how much time they had spent together.
Epona snorted quietly.
Link chuckled. She was right. What did it matter if she was more than he knew or if he was simply confused.
Either way, she was the companion that had never left him. Even after Skull Kid had kidnapped her, he had found her waiting faithfully for him on Romani Ranch. Now, as they left another land behind, she was the only one with him.
And he felt a pang at that. Though he and Tatl had started off on the wrong foot, she had quickly become quite important to him. The yellow fairy couldn't fill the void that his former guardian had left, but she had made it considerably smaller.
And for that, he would be forever grateful. But, even though he had come to cherish her presence, he had known deep down that it couldn't last. He knew how important her brother was to her and that she would remain in Termina with him when all was said and done.
Even so, the irony that he was now the one leaving was not lost on him.
With a deep breath, he spurred Epona on, but even she couldn't outrun the memories. And he sorely wished he could. It was almost like he could still hear her voice, yelling at him for some stupid thing he had just done.
Refusing to look back, he kept his gaze locked firmly on the Lost Woods racing towards him. Maybe, if he could make it in-
"HOLD UP!"
Something yellow darted up and around right in front of his face, causing Link to wrench back on Epona's reins. The horse screamed as she reared back, nearly sending him toppling to the ground. He managed to cling to her as she went back down on all fours, dancing around nervously as he patted her neck comfortingly. Whispering to her soothingly, he reached into his pouch and pulled out a carrot as a familiar voice began its lecture.
"First of all, rude! I thought you at least had some class, but now I see you're perfectly willing to make a lady chase you halfway across a field at night."
Link didn't look up as he continued trying to calm Epona.
"Secondly, what kind of idiot goes out into the wild at night?! We both know how dangerous it is out here. And yeah, I know that we were those idiots, but that was because there was a freakin' moon falling out of the sky. But hey, guess what mister big shot, it's not falling anymore. Which means there is no reason to keep playing the part of a moron."
He looked up at her, unable to hide his small smile.
"Don't give me that look," she snapped crossly as he nudged Epona onward. "Yes, I know I'm amazing for coming to save you from yourself, but you need to focus."
Link shrugged as he nudged Epona again.
"Do you even know where you're going?" she asked as she flew alongside him.
He nodded.
"No you don't. Those are the Lost Woods. Wanna take a stab at why they're called that?"
He shrugged again.
"Hey, listen!" The fairy, who was now bouncing up and down erratically, instantly had his attention. "Do you have any idea how lucky you were to run into me before? People don't just get lost in there, they get lost."
He tilted his head in question.
"The forest is protected by a guardian spirit or some such. If you don't have a fairy guide, then not only do you wind up wandering endlessly, but you…"
He frowned.
"Look, I don't think Skull Kid was always the way he is now. Do you get what I mean?"
He nodded. None of this was really news to him, but for some reason, hearing it from her helped it click.
"So, what are we not gonna do?"
He rolled his eyes and continued into the forest, paying his guide very little mind.
"You are impossible."