Darunia: Disclaimer! Selphie Louise does not own the Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. They are the property of Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo.

Tingle: The characters she does own are Selphie, Iggy, and Jiji. The characters of Kage, Yugi, Mable, and Raven belong to Kearra. The character Ravick is the property of Selphie's friend, Patrick.

LOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZ

Chapter 7

Kage walked into the Temple of Time after having sprinted for his life across Hyrule Field and at least some of the way into the castle town. He walked toward the altar at the end, letting the ancient song wash over him. He looked at the altar and frowned, remembering the dream he'd had that morning. That hadn't been entirely conducive to the wedding.

He sighed, shaking his head. "Please don't tell me you're going to fall asleep again here," Ravick said, appearing behind him.

"I thought I asked you to leave me alone…" Kage said quietly.

"Eh, everyone does, but it never stopped me before," Ravick answered. Kage sighed and shook his head. "Besides, I was a little worried about you after that outburst back there in the field. Wanted to make sure you were okay."

Kage shook his head. "You realize you can't follow me out of Hyrule," he said.

"Out of Hyrule?" Ravick repeated. "You're leaving?"

"I kind of have to if I don't want them to kill me, don't I?" Kage posed.

"That or you can go back and marry Selphie," Ravick offered.

"I can't do that," Kage said.

"Why not?"

"…I just can't…"

"Kage," Ravick said as he walked forward a little. "If I know Selphie- and granted I don't know her as well as the rest of you do- she's not going to hold it against you."

"Ravick, there was a reason I left the wedding to begin with, if you'll remember," Kage said turning to face him.

"Yeah, yeah. Afraid you'll hurt her," Ravick said, waving his hand dismissively. "But you guys've been together for four years now. Don't you think if you were gonna hurt her, you would have by now?"

"…I don't know…" Kage said. He wanted to get off this track of conversation. He climbed up the steps and leaned against the altar's backside.

"Once again, he falls a…"

Kage sat at the foot of the stairs in silence, listening to the conversation. He lowered his head, closing his eyes. '...Thanks everyone...'

Selphie sat next to Kage and put her arms around his shoulders. "Kage..." "Daisuki... don't scare me like that again... I..." She looked around... there was a familiar presence in the room... "Oh..."

Suddenly a large... hole... appeared behind Yugi. It was bluish in color, bright towards the outside, gradually getting darker towards the center. Yugi stiffened. "What the...?" Suddenly, she was pulled into the hole, forcing poor Link to fall down. Kage turned his eyes widening as he watched his sister vanish into the portal.

Link caught himself with his hands and stared at the portal in shock, "Nuh uh!" He said angerly and dived headfirst into the portal, "I won't lose you again!"

"No!" Selphie called out leaping up off the floor and almost hitting Kage in the head with her arms- which were wrapped around him, if you'll remember. "It wasn't supposed to take them too!" She sprinted toward the portal but skidded to a halt as she remembered Kage. She felt like she'd just been stabbed through the stomach or something. "...I've gotta go..." she said apologetically, not even looking back at Kage before she stepped inside.

Kage cried out when Selphie stepped into the portal. It closed almost immediately after she left, and he pounded his fist against the floor, several times, each one making a loud sound that reverberated off the walls. When he finally stopped, his hand was bleeding. He stared at his hand. "... So this is what it comes to, then?" he said softly, "Now I have to stay here for one hundred years... Dammit... It's not fair..."

A red fireball appeared over the altar and burst, and sitting there was none other than Din.

"What exactly is going on? I felt a great distubance just now..." She looked around and noticed Darunia, and Kage, with a rather bloody hand, "What in the name of the Triforce has happened?" She demanded as she hopped lightly off the altar and rushed to her brother's side.

Kage would not look at Din. "Just leave me alone..." he muttered, his voice hoarse. He couldn't understand how he felt. He didn't like it. It hurt. He wanted it to go away. He didn't want to feel like this.

Darunia took a deep breath and shook his head. He hadn't been prepared for Selphie to leave either... he'd, of course, known about the time portal, but she'd made it out that she was going to miss it... "A gate through time opened, and now Link, Yugi, and Selphie are gone..."

Din placed a hand on his back, "Kage...I'm..." She didn't know what to say, but instead, she pulled her brother into a forced embrace.

Kage pulled away, keeping his head low. He didn't want them to see his pain. He didn't want them to see him cry. He just sat there in cold, painful silence, staring at his bloodstained hand.

Five days passed as Kage sat in the temple, alone. He had obviously begun to waste away. His hair was lank, his skin pale, and he looked like he hadn't eaten in five days. He didn't seem to care. No matter who came, he ignored them all, giving them nothing more than a vacant stare. He barely noticed as a portal appeared behind him, in the same place where the previous one had been.

A figure appeared in the portal. She stepped out, looked around, and almost immediately saw Kage on the floor. "Kage!" Selphie cried out as she, as quick as lightning, dashed over to him and had him in an altogether embrace for dear life. He wouldn't have even had time to see her before she had him in the hug. "Kage! Oh, goddesses, I missed you!"

Kage's eyes widened when Selphie latched herself on to him, but that was the only way he could react. He was too weak to move, mostly because he'd starved himself. After a minute or two, he smiled, closing his eyes. "I missed you, too, Selphie..."

Link was next to step out of the portal. He was back in his favorite green tunic and was missing his cap. His blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail at the base of his head. He stood there, not looking anywhere but the portal itself, he seemed to be waiting.

Din was still in the temple, she had refused to leave her brother. She watched in awed silence as the figures stepped out of the portal.

Yugi stepped out of the portal, leading two smaller figures by the hand. Both of them were children, around four years of age. They looked just like younger versions of Link and Yugi, save for one detail: their eyes. The boy's left eye was a silvery grey color, the other blue. The girl seemed to be a mirror image of the boy, her right eye silver, her left blue. The boy clung to Yugi, staring uneasily at the people around him. "We're back," Yugi said softly, smiling to everybody. She looked to Din, and her smile widened. "Sister..."

The little girl with Yugi ran to Link and held up her arms, clearly wanting to be picked up. He grinned and scooped her up easily and turned to everyone, Link was clearly older than he was when he had dissapeared through the portal five days ago. He smoothed down the little girl's hair and winked at Darunia, "Hey guys, we're back." He tugged lightly on the little girl's pointed ear, "C'mon, say 'Hi', Mable."

The little girl pushed her father's hand away and waved at everyone, "Hi Mable!" Din saw all this and a look of pure confusion crossed her face, she looked like she wanted to laugh, cry, and scream in rage at the same time. She waved hald heartedly back at the little girl.

The boy pulled on Yugi's hand, and she picked him up. "Raven, are you going to say hi to everybody?" The boy shook his head, resting it on Yugi's shoulder. She laughed softly, stroking his hair. She looked at Kage, her smile fading. He'd been beating himself up over losing Selphie... it was visible... Very much so...

Darunia looked at Selphie clinging to Kage. From the look on his face it was clear he thought there was something different about her. Selphie finished her embrace and backed away from Kage, allowing all those who had not been with her in the time portal to see her. Selphie had grown up, for real this time, not the little trick Yami gave her. She was actually older, almost twenty-one in fact.

Kage turned to look at Selphie. He stared at her in silence. She had matured, that much was obvious. If he wasn't so emaciated, he would have had to pick his jaw up off the floor. She was gorgeous.

Selphie raised an eyebrow at the look on Kage's face, and then blushed realizing what must have been going through his mind. "We were gone for five years of our time," she explained.

Mable squirmed and Link set her back on the ground and she skipped over to Kage, "You're Uncle Kage...right? Auntie Selphie always talked about you and Uncle Daru."

Kage stared at Mable, unsure of what to do. He had never been a social person, and being around kids was not an easy thing for him. "Yes, I am..." he replied. He looked up at Selphie, then shifted his gaze back to the girl, although he remained silent.

"You might wanna say hi, Uncle Kage," Selphie grinned, elbowing him playfully in the arm. She knelt down to the same level as Mable. "Yes, Mable, this is your Uncle Kage, and that over there," she pointed at Darunia, "That's Uncle Daru."

Darunia blushed as much as a Goron can and stepped forward a little. "Hi," he said amiably and gave a slight wave to his "niece."

Some time later, Mable made her way back to her mommy. Yugi nodded, picking Mable up when the girl reached her. "Yes, I think it's time we all rested," she replied, "Especially Kage."

Kage smirked when he heard his name. "Alright alright..." he said, waving his hand slightly, "But first..." He grabbed Selphie, pulling her closer to him. He kissed her gently on the lips, and smiled. "Welcome back."

Selphie was caught completely offguard. She blinked a couple times. When the initial shock wore off, she smiled back at him. "That's a pretty nice welcome back gift," she said. Then she kissed him back.

Kage smiled, wrapping one arm around her shoulder. "Daisuki..." he said softly.

"Daisuki," she answered.

Ravick's shadow flickered and came to life. "Okay, Shadow. Go tell them," Ravick instructed it. The shadow then took its exit from the temple. It hurried through the market and into the field.

"How did you guys let him get away!" Link shouted.

"Don't take that tone of voice with me, hero!" Din snapped. "If you wanna blame anyone, blame Farore. She's the on that made Nayru let him out of the crystal."

"How was I supposed to know he was gonna run?" Farore defended.

"Maybe because he always runs! He always got you to get him out of trouble! I hoped that once we grew up it would cease, but no! You can't learn a lesson!"

"Lay the hell off!"

"At any rate!" Yugi shouted, breaking up the argument. "We now need to find him yet again!"

"Where could he be this time?" Iggy asked.

"Temple of Time!" the shadow called as it reached the group.

"Bout friggin' time!" Jiji spat.

"Hey, he had to wait till the kid was asleep," Ravick's shadow explained. "Otherwise he would've just run off again."

"I don't care!" Darunia hollered. "I just want to find him and finally snap his spine in two!" He curled into a ball and once again rolled off toward Kage's latest hideout.

"You better SAVE some for me!" Din barked, disappearing with a pop, Farore and Nayru copying the action.

"Wait up!" the rest of the group cried indignantly, also running off.

Back in the temple, Kage quavered a little, a sob escaping his lips and tears leaking from his eyes. He looked up remembering something: exactly how he felt when she stepped through that time portal. That had been the most overwhelming grief he'd ever felt in his life- and he had lived a long time. "I can't do that to her…!" he thought. He closed his eyes again, lowering his head. "If ever I was to cause her hurt, it would be not saying goodbye… and at least giving her a reason… she deserves that much…"

He stood up, and started to turn. "Going somewhere?" Ravick asked him before he could turn completely.

"Yes," Kage said resolvedly. "I am… going… oh, that's not right!" He had turned all the way around and found himself face to face with Din, Nayru, Farore, Darunia, Link, Yugi, Iggy, Jiji, and last, but not least, Ravick. They started slightly at the tears on his face, but didn't allow it to faze them. "How did you guys find me this time!"

"Heh heh," Ravick's shadow appeared once more. Kage stared at it, eyes widening in rage. "Sorry, my alliances were elsewhere," Ravick explained, smirking.

"Ravick, you bastard!" Kage shouted, doing the most serious considering he'd done on the issue of whether of not to kill the mage. At the same time, he was thinking, "How the HELL did I let RAVICK get the better of me?"

"Don't insult him," Jiji said. "Ravick was a great help to us. The only bad part was that by the time his messages got to us, you were gone or leaving before we could do anything about it."

"Luckily, he always stayed with you," Iggy added.

"I really will kill you this time, mage. I swear to Triforce I will!" Kage threatened Ravick.

"You're not in a really great position to be threatening people, Kage," Farore pointed out. "And don't think I'm gonna help you outta this one, because that was over after that last stunt you pulled." It was at that point that any and all weapons that the hunters had on their persons were pulled out.

"Oh, man, am I in trouble," Kage mumbled to himself. "How do I get out of this?" He started to back himself up against the wall, trying to put some distance between himself and the people that would have him dead, but they all pressed in on him. He looked around for a way out. "There's no way I could make a run for it. I'm still kind of pooped from the last one. My sisters would catch me before I could disappear. If I could distract them long enough though… but how?"

"Any last words, little brother?" Din asked as she took a few steps forward with her flaming scimitars.

Kage's eyes lit up, and he looked at her rather slyly. "Yes, as a matter of fact," he answered furtively. "I have four last words."

"And they would be?" Din asked.

"Ravick thinks you're hot."

"WHAT?" Din shouted, rounding on the mage, who now looked even more fearful for his life than usual. Kage took the moment's distraction he'd caused and started to disappear.

"NO!" shouted Darunia, Jiji, Yugi, and Iggy. At the same time, Darunia hurled his fireballs, Jiji released a fire arrow, and Iggy dove at him. But Kage was gone before any could make contact, and so the arrows and fireballs missed while Iggy flew into the wall, smashing headfirst into the marble. "Ow…"

"No!" Din exclaimed, enraged that she'd been tricked. "Kage! You're going down! One way or another! You're going down!" she shook her fist at nothing.

"We really need to find him now," Yugi said. "After seeing all of us together, he's not sticking around anymore."

"But now we have no idea where he would go," Link said.

"Where should we look first?" Nayru asked.

"A doctor?" Iggy asked pleadingly, clutching his very agonizing head. Jiji kneeled next to him.

"He's already been to the forest, the mountain, the field, and this temple," Darunia listed off. "Where else would he go?"

"Wait a second…" Jiji said suddenly. "How bout where wouldn't he go?"

The rest stared at her. "What?" everyone asked.

"Perhaps we should be looking at this a different way," Jiji said. "Like you said, he went to the forest. But you also said that would be too obvious of a place. I think his hope was that we would think he'd think it was too obvious and therefore knock if off our list because he's too smart to go to the obvious places. And the mountain: that's got to be the most unsafe place for him to run considering Darunia is head of the Goron race that inhabits that mountain. He again wanted us to give him more credit than to walk into a suicide trap. The field, well, he didn't have a choice there, but here could also be considered incredibly obvious. It's called..." she thought about it for a moment. "Reverse psychology...?"

They all stared at her for a moment. "Okay, somewhere in that psycho babble I got that we should look in places he thinks we'd think were too stupid for him to go," Yugi said.

"Which means, he'd probably be hiding in the most suicidal place in Hyrule," Link said.

"Well, second most, considering right here would be the most right now," Ravick corrected. A couple of them looked around suspiciously.

"So where- besides here- would be the most suicidal place in Hyrule for him right now?" Farore asked.

"The lake?" Iggy asked. They all looked at each other.

"No, he couldn't possibly be that insane," Link said.

"That's exactly what he'd want us to think," Jiji said. Their eyes widened and they all took off in their various ways to the lake- except Darunia who stood there for a moment confusedly scratching his head.

"I still don't it…?" he said. Then Link and Iggy ran back into the temple, grabbed the Goron and pulled him out the door.