a/n: Sooo...my roman numerals were incorrect on the last entry. o.O Oops. I'm hoping I'll be able to come back to this after so long...I'm afraid I don't even remember what will happen when Link finds Farore! I guess I'm just as clueless as he is ; Not a good feeling. Hope you all are still reading this XD If not...well...whatever. So...this chapter will hopefully be the comic relief of the story! Hopefully. Keep rememberin', this story has nothing to do with Oracle of Ages. It just happens to have the same setting! That's all. So everything's different. Because I said it would be. So...yeah. Okay here's the chapter...

OOOOH yeah, Zelda is nintendo's and Mr. Miyamoto's and whatnot, and that line about me and the moon or whatever is from Something Corporate. Thanx!

Chapter VII: Faerie's Woods

"Good morning, Link," Reona said as soon as the sun began peeking over the horizon the next morning. I'd went to sleep with a lot of heavy thoughts on my mind, most consisting of confusion about this world and its strange customs. I rubbed my eyes and jumped up, gathering my stuff and looking into her grey eyes.

"What's on the agenda for today?"

"Time will tell," she shrugged, once again giving me one of her stupid equivocal, indifferent answers. I sighed, nodding.

"So what's up next?"

"Faerie's Woods," she gestured into the forest, having the look on her face of one required to do something they really didn't want to. "Let's see...last time, it took me almost an entire day to get through here. I'm betting a half for today, since I have you," she smiled miserably.

"Why? What takes so long?"

"Oh, you'll see," she muttered. "Maybe we can sneak by, unnoticed! Please stay very quiet so that we won't be found."

"What's gonna find us?" I asked, reaching for my sword.

"Malicious entities that are more evil than the Shadow and his own minions," she said in a very monotonous, serious tone as she walked in. We traipsed through the grassy woods quietly, and I wondered how this beautiful place could be filled with such evil. It was similar to the Lost Woods, only without all the hollow trunks that lead you to your origin.

"REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" A high-pitched voice cried out, and Reona put her head in her hands. Ten tiny faeries all hurled themselves at her, and even though she'd dug her black shoes into the grass and braced herself, they still knocked her backward and piled on top of her.

"REEEEE!" they all cried out in shrill voices. "Ree, where have you been? Have you missed us? How come you haven't come to play? What's that scratch on your face?" I heard Reona give a faint cry of pain as they all fluttered to her scar. I frowned, walking over to them in hopes they'd leave her alone. I wasn't sure exactly how to deal with him.

"Oooooh, Reeeeee!" they began chattering again upon seeing me. "Who's this man? Where'd you find a guy like this? Are you in love with"

"GET OFF OF ME!" Reona finally cried out, batting furiously at all of them and sending them flying into many directions, faerie dust flying. She jumped up, brushing all the sparkling gold glitter off of her clothes. "Okay! This man and I are on a journey, he has to go fulfill a quest and the Elder of Lynna sent me on a job! That's all it is!"

I noticed she was blushing, but couldn't figure out exactly why.

"Ooooh, reeeeaaalllly, Reeeee..." one said in her squeaky voice, and the others joined in with shrill laughter that would probably shatter glass. I tried not to cover my ears.

"Yes. So if you don't mind, I really need to get goi"

"Silly Ree," they laughed. "You know the rules! You're here, you have to play with us!"

"As long as it's not tag," she pleaded.

"Hide and seek! You have to find all ten of us! And once we find a hiding place, we can move!"

Reona groaned and nodded.

"Us ten versus you two," one said. "You turn around and count now! Don't cheat!"

"I never do," Reona said seriously, turning around. I stared at her, and she grabbed onto my shoulder and spun me around as well. "Do what they say, it's for your best," she whispered angrily, then started counting loudly.

"We have to do this?" I stared at her.

"I wouldn't if it were optional," she growled. "TWENTY, TWENTY-ONE..."

"Are they good?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Very good. That's why it takes me HOURS in here."

I let her count to fifty, mind wandering. How many stupid side-quests would I have to go through before I could see Farore and finally get this over with?

"We're going," she said, poking my shoulder. "Now come on. I'm going left, you take right."

I looked under every rock and searched every bush I could find. Nothing. Then, I heard a flower ring, and knew I was heading the right way. I dove for the daisy-like flower, clasping my hands around it.

"Don't squish me," a shrill voice called from within, and I opened my hand. A faerie with a yellow aura fluttered above my palm, giggling. "Reona never comes through here with anyone, ever."

"Ever?" I inquired.

"Ever," the faerie confirmed. "I'm Tsuki."

"Why is Reona always alone, Tsuki?"

"Because she's afraid. That's all Tsuki will say! Only nine left!"

She fluttered over to the stone where we'd first been ambushed, waiting patiently. Obviously, the faeries weren't cheaters. I paused, wondering if these faeries had something to tell me. That's all Tsuki will say? Maybe the next one would tell me more...

"You'll have to try harder if you want to find the other nine," I heard Tsuki call. "Get into it!"

I saw traces of dust on the ground, and reluctantly dropped to my hands and knees, searching through the grass for what felt like eons until I found a giggling green faerie.

"I'm Tsuchi!" she laughed again. "You found me!"

"Yes, I did."

"One time Reona came through here with a boy," Tsuchi informed me.

"She did?"

"Yes," Tsuchi nodded. "The next will tell you more!" she flew over to join Tsuki. I stood up and followed my senses. Now that I had a feel for the magic of these faeries, I could easily find them. I climbed up a tree, something I hadn't done in ages, and found the next one.

"We know how to block Ree's magic so she can't find us, but not yours," the faerie pouted, this one a lighter shade of green. "I'm Tennousei."

"Tell me about the boy."

"He and Ree were friends. They talked a lot about stuff that people shouldn't talk about."

"Like what?" I asked, wondering if it pertained at all to the conversation we'd had last night.

"Ree's mom had a lot of opinions. So did Ree. Ree said what she thought about the world and destiny to the boy, and then the boy..."
"The boy what?"

"Seven left!"

I sighed and went back to chasing faeries. It took another ten minutes before I captured an orange one.

"Taiyo is me!"

"What did the boy do?"

I wondered if these faeries thought with one mind. It was highly likely. They all had the same basic mind...the thought of pure innocence and nature. They certainly seemed to know everything about the other.

"The boy told the High Elder. The Elder of Labrynna. He learned about Ree's mom and killed her, and he did mean things to Ree."

"Like what?" I asked, wondering how many more times I'd have to ask this question.

"He said The Words to her, and left a lot of scars. Emotionally and physically," she added on.

"What are 'The Words'?"

The faerie closed her tiny eyes.

"We've all been found. The game is over. Ree has gotten better. What are 'The Words'?"

"Yes, what are 'The Words'?" I tried not to sound too demanding.

"That is Ree's story," she flew to join the other ten faeries.

"Reeeeeee you're so good!" Tsuchi whined. "Play with us again sometime?"

"On my way home," she sighed tiredly, looking to me. "We're free to leave. Ready?"

No. I wanted to know more about this world, things these faeries could tell me...

"Yes," I nodded. It was dark when we left, and I found myself furious. "How did we waste an entire day!"

"Time flows differently in Faerie's Woods. It's much slower, which is why those faeries live so long," Reona explained. "Time flows normally outside the woods, but inside...one could live for so much longer. That's why it felt like only an hour in there, but was actually a day outside."

"We travel on?"

"No," Reona shook her head. "I don't travel at night, not unless the situation is dire."
"Why?"

She didn't answer me, collecting some underbrush and using magic to light it on fire. She sighed, sitting down close to it. I felt like I'd learned something about her today, and yet still knew nothing about her.

"You're too close," I said quietly to her, seeing how close she was to the fire. "You'll catch on fire."

"Let it happen," she shrugged, eyes closed tightly. "It won't be the first time."

"When was the first time?" I asked, sitting down next to her.

"It's not important."

"It is to me."

She opened one eye for a quick glance at me, then closed it again.

"Age fourteen."

"How come?"

"Part of the punishment. I wasn't good."

"You said your opinions?" I asked, knowing the answer.

"...yes."

"Why is this world like this, Reona?"

"Link," she said miserably, "it's not to"

"No," I frowned, cupping her face in my hands, forcing her to look at me. "It's nothing like you've said. You have the right to question everything, should you desire."

"Don't touch me," she said, trying to put on her ordering voice, but it just came out as a weak plea. I let go of her as if I'd been burned, and she stood up and walked away.

I stared into the fire for awhile, wondering if I'd just lost her forever. Then I stood up and followed in the direction she'd went in. I found her, staring at the moon.

"It's me and the moon," she said.

I looked over at her, wondering what that meant. I decided not to pursue the topic at the moment.

"What are The Words?" I asked her instead.

I watched her eyes fill with tears, and felt guilty for even bringing it up.

"Link, why does this matter so much to you? The Words...The Words..."

"Reona, you don't"

"The Words are exactly what they are, and they are everything and nothing all in one," she practically spat the words out, bitterness overriding any emotion in her voice. "The Words are the punishment for The Lie, and the Lie is the Truth, but the Truth is wrong unless it's the High Elder's truth. We're protected from the Shadow, yet we're put through pain for thinking as ourselves instead of as the High Elder dictates we think. The Words are the link to Darkness, an ever-consuming Darkness that sends you into your nightmares with no escape, forced to fight there, never leaving," she said, hands clinched into tiny fists. "They bring back the bad, remove the good, they're your fears, your nightmares, your pain...they're loneliness," she said desperately, and I had a feeling she'd never spoken of this before. "Complete solitude, never to be rescued, never to be with anyone again. Never to feel love, never to feel anything but this absolute despair!" she cried, suddenly turning and punching my shoulder, hard. It didn't really hurt, but I was surprised that she could actually hit that hard. "Why must you bring this up, Link! What else do you want to know? You either learn it ALL tonight, or you'll never learn it again!"

I didn't know what to say. I stared down at her, having never seen her so much like this before.

"The fire," she said suddenly, as if it just hit her. "I suppose you'll want to know about the fire. That was part of the physical punishment. Fire. I was burned, not enough that I would die, however. I had burns all over my body, everywhere. I had no hair, no eyebrows, no eyelashes...I felt like nothing. After that, I was cut for awhile," she said, pulling off her uniform shirt. She had on a small t-shirt underneath, one without sleeves, and I could see old burn marks and scars all over her arms. I felt sick. She put her uniform shirt back on, staring up at me. "That was for having an opinion. What else! What else would you like to know!"

"Reona, II don'tI'm"

She dissolved into tears, sitting down on ground and drawing her knees up, burying her face into them.

"We were able to heal my face. My face and my hands. Mother did it for me. So that I could live normally. That was her last act," she explained numbly, and I stared down at her, feeling horrible for even mentioning any of this.

I sat down beside her, mind and heart racing, wondering what I could do.

"Well? You've met her now, the real Reona Aenima," she mumbled to me. "Now this is how you'll know me. For the weak part of me. Link, please don't think of me like this when you speak to me. I can't believe I just fell apart like this, I can't"

I pulled her close to me, pulled her into my lap and held her there, not sure what to say, not sure how to do anything but just let her cry her tears and get them over with. I watched the moon rise higher into the sky as she settled down, breathing returning to normal and tears finally stopping. Neither of us said a word. I don't think we could have, even if we would have wanted to. I continued watching the stars slowly but surely appear, felt Reona's breathing slow even more. She'd fallen asleep. I looked down at her, realizing how young she looked when she was sleeping.

I sighed, wondering how I'd let myself fall into this kind of problem. Sure, my last quest had been hard, but this one had just gotten even harder. When I'd first arrived, the only plan was to find Farore, do whatever she wanted, and go home.

Falling in love with Reona hadn't been part of the plan, and yet here I was, finally realizing where all the strange protectiveness I felt for her had come from, finally realizing why I wanted her to be happy. Instead of making her happy, though, I'd just managed to awake a lot of repressed memories. Good going, Link. I stared down at her sleeping face, catching traces of gold faerie dust still on her face from today. I gently wiped them off, hoping she wouldn't notice, but of course she did.

"What are you doing?" she asked groggily.

"Faerie dust," I explained lamely. "Just go back to sleep."

She buried her head into my shoulder, doing just that. I closed my eyes as well, leaning up against the tree behind me, finally nodding off as well.

a/n: HOLY CRAP! I meant for this chapter to be funny! Instead, it turned out with Reona having this crazy past that I didn't know she even had and all this other crazy angsty stuff! What the heck just happened? o.O

Well, hope it worked out for the best...I'll work on chapter eight, um, like, right now XD

love and peace,

xifa