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, Jiji, and Aryn. The characters of Kage, Yugi, Mable, and Raven belong to Kearra. The character Ravick is the property of Selphie's friend, Patrick.

Chapter 18

Jiji was huddled against the back wall of the cell she had been locked up in. It was a strange sight indeed. For one thing, the cell was rarely if ever used anyway, so seeing any person huddled against any wall of this cell was strange. For another, one would not normally think of Jiji as huddling. She was usually a very strong and independent individual, not to mention retaining a small streak of pride. So, it would be unusual to find her in such a position as would demonstrate fragility and defeat.

The sight became stranger as the door opened and the Garo master stepped inside and Jiji jumped in her skin, which seemed significantly paler considering she had only been in captivity for eight hours, shrinking into the corner of the cell farthest from the visitor. "So… I see your visit with the good gune has broken your spirit a bit." He gave a light chuckle. "Well, you'll be happy to know, you won't get another visit of that nature for another week."

Jiji made no response.

"No response? No witty rejoinder nor scathing riposte?" he gave another laugh. There was a muffled noise from Jiji's corner. "I'm sorry, dear. What was that?" The noise was slightly louder. "Pardon me? You'll have to speak up."

"Go to hell." But even that was strange, because Jiji did not spit it at him as she normally would a villain or opponent. Comparable is her battle with Link when she first met him. During that time she had even spat in his face. Now her voice lacked its usual vigor and fell flat upon the damp floor.

"I certainly shan't. Not until I'm certain the Garo have the information they need to get back the balteus movere from the humans," the Garo master said. He turned toward the door but looked back over his shoulder. "At any rate, that won't be for at least another nine months or so." He returned to the door and exited, leaving Jiji alone again.

She leaned against the wall and thought to herself, 'I wonder if Iggy has had as much trouble as I have since…' and couldn't bring herself to finish the thought.

Iggy's troubles had been considerably less than Jiji's since they parted ways. For one thing, he hadn't had gunes prodding about where they weren't wanted, and for another he hadn't been kidnapped and detained in a damp cell. But, if he had anything to do with it, Jiji's day would grow considerably less adverse.

The sun was beginning to peek over the canyon walls, turning them deep rust. The blue bubbles disappeared and Iggy heard the first faint squeak of a bombchu. Had he the time to think about it, Iggy would have noticed that, much as he hated to admit it, dawn in Ikana Canyon was still beautiful.

Iggy made his way through the canyon, slowing his speed only for the sake of stealth. There was no way of telling how long it had taken him to get there or how long before he arrived at Kage and Selphie's Jiji had been kidnapped. Time was of the essence, but Iggy was level-headed enough to know that giving himself away would not only not save Jiji, but possibly get him killed. So, as he approached the hidden entrance to the Garo encampment, he did his best not to make any noise.

For this, he was thankful he'd grown up with the Garo. Their training in furtiveness was certainly a benefit now. Iggy remembered their once saying that only a Garo could get past a Garo. He'd thought that they meant only a Garo knows enough about the Garo to get past them. Now he knew that was untrue because he was most certainly not a Garo and here he was, making his way around the outskirts of their village. They'd placed the jail in seclusion because it was highly unlikely that it would ever be used. Iggy was relatively sure that's where they would keep Jiji.

When finally the jail came into view, he realized how little it really was used. It was in such horrible repair that he wondered why Jiji hadn't already broken out. "Well, at least it will be easy to break her out of there…" he breathed when he was relatively close to the door.

"Oh, don't be so sure." There was a sword around Iggy's throat. "Don't resist. I shan't hesitate to kill you."

Jiji looked up at a noise outside the door of the jail. The door opened and the Garo master stepped inside… backwards. 'What the hell?' she thought until he was in the room and closed the door behind himself. That is when he turned around and revealed what he'd had in front of him. "Iggy!" she exclaimed. He glanced in her direction when he heard his name. The Garo master took this opportunity to open the cell door and toss him in with Jiji.

"I was about to bring you some food," he said, locking the door once more. "However, when I found your friend here I had to abandon the victuals. I shall be back with more in about an hour." He turned and exited the jailhouse door.

Jiji stared at the door for a moment and then turned her gaze to Iggy who was massaging his neck where the sword had been. He felt her gaze on him and turned his head, giving a weak smile and wave. "Hey."

She was silent for a moment. "…What are you doing here?" she asked softly.

"Well, if the Garo master hadn't caught me, I would be rescuing you," he said. She watched him for another moment.

"Why?"

"Well, I figured the only way to reach knight in shining armor status was to rescue the damsel in distress," he replied with a small smirk. She shook her head, leaning back against the wall. He understood she wanted the straight answer and the smirk faded. "Why wouldn't I?" he posed.

"…Well after what happened last night, I didn't figure you'd want me around anyway," she said.

He shook his head. "No. I would never not want you around," he said.

Somehow that didn't seem to make her feel any better. "…I guess even if you didn't want me around as your girlfriend, you would still want me around as your friend," she said.

"Nope." She looked over at him in shock. "I most certainly do not want you around as my friend or as my girlfriend," he said.

She scowled suddenly. "Well, gee thanks. Glad to know I'm just a sympathy case!" she said, turning her head away and glaring at the floor instead. She heard him move over and sit down next to her, so she turned her back from him. Then she started when she felt his arms around her. "Iggy…"

"I don't want you as my friend or my girlfriend, because I want you as all of that and more," he said, holding her close. She turned around and he pulled her into his lap, leaning her against his chest.

"But… what about all of that stuff back in the field? And the stuff the last few weeks…?" she asked, voice choked and tears filling her eyes.

He rocked her gently. "I just didn't know what to say… I was scared, Jiji," he said.

"Scared of what?"

"Scared that you wouldn't feel the same way."

"The same way about what?"

She turned her head around to look at him. Iggy didn't respond at first but leaned toward her and kissed her softly on the forehead. He smiled at her, leaning her against him again, and whispered into her ear. "I'd show you, but I'm afraid something will happen to the ring while we're breaking out."

Jiji gasped, eyes widening as she turned around in his lap. "Ring?" she repeated. Iggy nodded his head, smiling at her. Tears fell down out of her eyes. She put her arms around him.

"I love you, Jiji."

"I love you too, Iggy."