18 years later...

"LINK!" shouted Princess Peach. "LINK, WHERE ARE--are, there you are for heaven's sakes! Why didn't you answer me when I called your name?"

"Sorry," Prince Link apologized, shutting his book. "I wasn't really. . .er . . . paying attention. I got so wrapped up in--"

"That book you were reading," Peach sighed, sitting down next to him. "What IS it, anyway? I see you with it all the time; it looks a million pages long!"

"It's stunning," Link said, happy to show the book to his sister. "It's so fascinating; I can't even put it down!"

"Yes, but what IS it?"

"It contains the history of an abondoned civilization," Link explained. "The Sheikah! According to the book, they didn't die out too long ago. . .I'm just about to get to that part, I think. . .It just got published, and I was the first one at the book keeper's shop to buy it!"

"And probably the first and only one to actually read it," Peach said, sounding bored. "Honestly. The way you pour over books sometimes seems even sillier than Darryl's obsession with horses."

"Where is Darryl?" Link asked, standing up.

"Where else?" Peach asked. "He's on a horse somewhere. I think he said something about going for a ride on Peck, but then, he's got so many I don't know how he keeps track of them and their names."

"Well, it's just the same with you and your cats," Link commented, picking up a rather fat one that happened to be passing by. "Um. . .who's this?"

"That's Cosmo. But if you're into obese cats, he's not the fattest one I've got. I think I spoil them too much."

"Perhaps we could get acquainted sometime," Link said, starting to walk away.

"Well," Peach said, steering Link up a staircase. "There's no time like the present! C'mon, I'll introduce you to all of them now. You've ignored my poor wittle kittens for too wong, I think."

"On two conditions," Link decided, as they stopped before Peach's door. "One, that you stop talking that annoying baby talk--"

"Okay."

"And two: You let me read you a section of my book. It might spark some interest in you."

"Um. . ." Peach put a dainty finger to her chin, thinking very hard. "Oh, fine. I'll let you read me part of your stupid book. C'mon inside."

Link walked into Peach's room, and she shut the door behind them. It was filled with cats. Cats everywhere! But none of them seemed to be making any noise. They all stared at Link momentarily, then looked away.

"Okay, let's get started!" Peach cried enthusiastically. She motioned towards a grey cat that had started nuzzling his head into Link's leg. "That one's Spoc--he loves people and attention." She pointed to two cats that were circling each other, starting to hiss. "Those are Debbie and Tanya, the two youngest."

"How can you tell them apart?" Link asked. They seemed identical.

"Because I'm me." Peach gestured towards three black cats. "Misee, Fred and Ryan." A cat darted under the bed. "That was Chris. He doesn't like people. And up on the drawer over there is Brenda. And in the basket are Peaches (named after me, of course) and Maggie--they never move; they're like two potatoes, and Alley Cat over there is blind in one eye, Heathcliffe is very sweet (he's back on the pouf), Lucy and Brine are asleep over in the orange basket, Big Cat and Harvey Girl are on the nighstand--I hope they don't break it, they're getting increasingly fat-- and. . .oh yes, there's Mariah."

Link did a double take and looked at Mariah again. She was outside on the balcony, sitting completely still. He'd mistaken her for a statue.

"She sits like that all the time," Peach sighed. "Poor Mariah. Oh well."

"LINK, PEACH, COME DOWN HERE!" came a voice.

"Coming!" the siblings yelled in unison. They rushed out of the room and flew down the several flights of stairs. Link opened the door that led into the hallway, and they walked (in a very regal fashion) to the throne room.

Darryl was already inside, standing next to the King and Queen, grinning as his brother and sister entered the room. "What took you two so long? I was looking for you all over the castle."

"We were in Peach's room," Link responded. "She showed me her large assortment of feline friends."

"That reminds me," Queen Madeline sighed. "Peach, I have the most terrible news. Squeaks got run over by a carrige yesterday. One of the cooks realized he was missing, because he always sneaks into the kitchen around dinner time, and went to look for him." She sighed again. "I am sorry."

Peach stared at her mother blankly. "Um. . .Squeaks?" Her mother nodded. The princess blinked. "Oh yes, Squeaks! I forgot that he--" Peach's eyes widened. "SQUEAKS GOT RUN OVER BY A CARRIGE AND NOW HE'S DEAD?!? I SWEAR I'LL KILL WHOEVER DID IT!!!" Roaring with anger, Peach fled from the room and outside the castle.

"Well, what was it you wanted to tell us, father?" Link asked.

"We'd hoped that Peach would be here to hear this as well," Queen Madeline said. "But I suppose it's all right if we tell her later, right?"

"Yeah," Darryl said.

"Yes," his mother corrected him.

"YES. Just what is it that you wanted to say?"

"That the royal family of Altea has planned a long, extensive visit to Hyrule!" the King answered joyfully.

Darryl's expression brightened, but Link's shoulders dropped slightly. "That's simply wonderful!" Darryl cried. "We haven't seen them for years!"

"That's true," Queen Madeline said. "Only this time, the dear Queen shall not be with them."

"I feel so terrible for Marth and Malon," Darryl sighed ruefully. "I don't know how they could possibly get along through life without a mother. It was a. . .a fatal disease of some sort, wasn't it? I feel terrible not remembering, but it was oh so long ago that she passed away."

"Seizure," Queen Madeline said.

"When are they arriving?" Link asked with curiousity.

"In exactly one week," the Queen replied. "So I expect you two-- three, that is--to fulfill your duties as hosts--and Peach as a hostess-- and be as kind and courteous as you possibly can be with those two."

"Of course we will, mother," Darryl laughed. "Is there anything else you would wish to tell us?"

"Not, that is all," the King answered, dismissing them.

Laughing, Darryl skipped out into the courtyard. Link trudged slowly after him. His younger brother stopped skipping and turned towards him.

"What's the matter, Link?" Darryl asked. "You suddenly seem so down in the dumps! Did one of Peach's cats bite you? 'Cause one time I went in there and Tanya (or Debbie, I'm not sure) leapt right on top of me and--"

"No, I didn't get attacked by a cat," Link answered, sitting down on the grass. "Though I might as well have been bitten by all of them."

"That's a lot of pain," Darryl deduced, sitting down next to his brother. "But if it wasn't a cat attack, what is it?"

"That the Alteans are coming," Link grunted, picking up a blade of grass and nonchalantly twirling it in his fingers.

"Well what's the problem with that?!" Darryl asked, shocked. "I think that they're great! Malon is one of the most beautiful people I've ever set my eyes upon, I think. Even if she is older than me, she--"

"Beauty is only skin-deep," Link advised. "I know Malon better than you do. And Marth's no better. He acts so superior sometimes."

"Well, he IS superior," Darryl said, in a that-should-be-very-obvious tone of voice. "We all are."

"You don't really believe that, do you, Darryl?" Link asked. "I mean, sure we're royalty, but that doesn't mean we're Gods or Goddesses. We're supposed to help the people, and we have the power to."

"You're beginning to sound like Queen Rose," Darryl sighed. "Her children never liked her, I can remember that much about them."

"Well it's easy to see that our mother cares more about the people than you do," Link said. "I'm just glad you're not the next heir."

"You're not either," Darryl said. "Peach is, and she'll turn this place around."

Link turned around and looked at his brother. Sandy golden hair, and deep blue eyes; very similar to himself. "You know, you ought to read my book on the Sheikah. The Alteans did terrible stuff to them."

"Whatever the reason they had for it, I'm sure the Sheikah deserved it," Darryl said curtly.

"I don't think they had a very good reason," Link said, standing up. "Not even a King or Queen has the right to slaughter the innocent." With that, he stormed back into the castle and into his bedroom.

"I FOUND THE GUILTY BEAST!!"

Darryl jumped as he heard his sister's voice ring out across the courtyard. He turned to look at her. Peach was dragging a small old man behind her, who was yapping away in some strange language. She hauled him into the throne room.

"Mother, father," Peach addressed them, standing the old man up. "This is the man responsible for killing Squeaks!"

The man started wringing his hands, jabbering in some language. King George held up a hand, then spoke: "Jabry ng yofu tay dou bai?"

Confused by the King's words, the old man shook his head and started jabbering again. Laughing, the King turned to Peach. "My dearest daughter, this man has been talking to you in Ancient Mushroom. When he said 'I ran over your cat,' that meant in his language, 'Will you buy a pickle?'. He owns a pickle shop."

Peach showed no sign of humiliation. She was never embarressed by a mistake. "Okay then!" she said, smiling. "You just run along back to your pickle shop, little old man! And don't forget to save the whales!"

Grinning, King George told the man he was free to go. Clicking his heels (an odd sight for an elderly fellow), he left the castle.

"Well, that was interesting," Darryl said, bowing to his parents. "But if you'll both excuse me, I must start cleaning my room and preparing for the Alteans to come."

"Why, are you expecting one of them to go up there?" Peach asked sourly. She and Malon had been childhood rivals.

"Ha, ha," Darryl said flatly. "I thought they might want a tour of our castle. In case you've forgotten, we just had it re-decorated a couple years ago."

"Why don't you have one of the servants do it?" Peach asked incredulously. "Why on earth would you want to spend time cleaning your room when someone else could do it for you? Don't you have better stuff to do?"

"I want to clean it myself," Darryl answered through gritted teeth. "There's stuff in there that I don't want anyone to see but me. I'll willingly do the job alone."

"But my dear," Queen Madeline said. "Did you not hear me before? They aren't coming for another week."

"He heard you," said Peach. "It'll take him just about that long for him to clean up his room. It looks like a tornado hit it."

Fuming, Darryl began to leave the room. "Just watch, I'm going to think of a brilliant comeback when I'm through with my room!" The prince hopped up the steps that led to his quarters. He opened the door, and then closed it loudly behind him.

Sighing softly, Darryl let himself fall gently onto his bed. He glanced up to make sure the curtains were drawn and the door was locked. Blindly, the prince reached beneath his bed and pulled up a tattered blanket--one that could probably serve as a face towel or washcloth now.

It had been stitched with blue thread, which had previously been his favorite color (ever since he met Malon, it had been red). He'd had the blanket for as long as he could remember. Darryl turned the blanket over.

Small pictures (not photos, pictures) had been sewn into the cloth. When he was younger, Darryl had approached his mother, asking who the people in the pictures were. She didn't know. Neither did his father. And neither did Link or Peach. The King said that Darryl had been born very unexpectedly, and he himself had rushed to the nearest store to get a blanket (they'd been traveling at the time). He simply hadn't cared enough to think about who the people were.

For years, Darryl had studied the people. There were six of them. One of them was an adult, with mostly greying hair. Their expressions were slightly hard to make out, but she appeared to have been smiling. The next picture was of a young woman, with blondish brown hair, and her blue eyes certainly stood out. Next was a young boy who seemed very serious, followed by a red-headed young girl, looking as if she were trying to contain a giggle. Then there were two very young children: a small boy with blackish hair, and the girl had lovely blonde tresses. Surely they were someone. . .

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

IMPORTANT Author's note:

Peach's cats are based on real cats I know at a nearby humane society. If any of you readers happen to live in or near New Rochelle, please stop by there and adopt a kitty!

And of course, review!