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 20

"What!" they exclaimed, eyes widening as the Garo around them all cheered.

"You can't be serious," Jiji protested. "After Iggy just gave you all that information?"

"Would you rather he escape for providing the information and you stay and die because of it?" the master asked, bending over to stare her straight in the face. Iggy stepped between them and faced the master boldly.

"If anyone is going free, it's Jiji," he said. "She was kidnapped and brought here. I came of my own free will. So, if either of us is going to die or go free, she's going free and you guys can have your way with me." He said all of this in a dead serious tone.

"Iggy, you can't do that…!" Jiji said. He put his arm back and placed his hand on hers to reassure her.

The master sniggered slightly. "What's this?" he said. "Do I detect feelings between the two of you?" A small chuckle traveled around the ring. "You two were always thick as thieves, pardon the expression." Another chuckle. "Do you love each other?"

"You better believe it," Jiji said, stepping out from behind Iggy. She held his hand tightly in hers.

"It matters not to me," the master said, stepping away. "I'll let you decide between yourselves who gets to die."

"All right, Iggy, any more ideas?" Jiji whispered.

He shrugged slightly. "Just one," he replied, hint of nervousness in his voice. He didn't continue and she gave him a prompting look. "Just follow my lead," he whispered. She nodded. Iggy put his arms in the air and stepped forward. "Okay, we give up."

"What!" Jiji exclaimed.

The master chuckled. "I was under the impression communication was a desired element in a relationship," he said.

"What do you care?" Iggy replied, putting his arms down again. "As long as you kill your two rogues and the secrets of the Garo go to the grave with them and the demon god of shadow gets pissed and avenges his friends' deaths against the whole race of Garo-."

"What?" the master said skeptically.

"Well, yeah. This guy's as crazy as his father. If two of his friends were killed, don't you think he'd fly off the handle?" Iggy elucidated.

"I don't think anyone would avenge you two's deaths," the master smirked.

"Didn't I just say he's crazy?" Iggy responded. "And beside that, Jiji's like a little sister to his wife and sister. None of them will take it well."

The Garo master scrutinized him for a moment. "You're bluffing."

"I promise you, we're not. He's a deity for crying out loud. The fact that he let us take a picture of him to show the whole world shows his fondness for us," Jiji cut in. She and Iggy glanced at each other. "And besides that, do you really want to take that chance?"

"And how would they know we are the ones who killed you?" the master asked.

"Jiji was at their house when she was kidnapped. I left from there on my way here. They know you abducted her and that I came to save her," Iggy said.

"Chances are, if we're not back in the next twenty-four hours, Kage will appear in all his godliness to destroy you all," Jiji continued.

The Garo master seemed to contemplate this. "…Stand down," he said to those in the ring.

"But sir!" several cried out.

"I said stand down!" he repeated forcefully. "Tyros, back to your training!" About half the circle left (the shorter half). The rest lowered their weapons and relaxed their stance. The master stepped toward Iggy and Jiji. "…Understand… if somehow I find out there is any untruth to any of this, the entire force of Garo ninjas shall hunt you down, and we will make sure you die this time."

"That sounds a lot to me like you still have many doubts about what we've told you," Jiji said.

"That I do…" he replied. "But the wrath of a god is not something I would like to risk… and from what I can tell, you two are standing next to a couple of gods in that lovely pictograph of yours." He stepped away. "Now leave, before I change my mind…" They nodded and turned and started toward the exit to the encampment. "Remember… we will hunt you down…"

Iggy and Jiji remained silent until they had reached the safety of the river. At that point, they looked at each and smiled. Then they snickered. Then they laughed. Then they clung to each other from the intensity of their mirth. "I can't believe we pulled that off!" Jiji cried a few minutes later when their laughter had begun to die down, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Neither can I!" Iggy replied.

"Iggy, you're a genius! That was brilliant!" Jiji said.

"Of course it was," Iggy responded. "I had to come up with something brilliant or else I wouldn't have been able to get you out of there," he said, putting one arm around her waist and pulling her closer.

"And I'm so very glad you did," she answered, leaning toward him and planting a kiss on his lips. They stood for a moment before Jiji took Iggy's hand. "Come on. We've gotta get home before Kage appears in all his godliness to avenge us," she giggled, pulling him toward the path.

"I'd give him a little more time. He does still have Ar-!" Iggy's eyes widened. "Oh, no!" he exclaimed, stopping dead in his tracks. "I completely forgot!"

"Forgot? Forgot what?" Jiji asked, nervous at the panic on his face.

"We're not home free yet! There's one more person we have to save!" he said, pulling her along.

"Wait! Iggy, who?" Jiji asked as she was drawn along.

"Your sister."

"My what!"

"You know how those tyros were sent to abduct you? Yeah, well two more were sent to kill me. Some boy and your sister," Iggy explained.

"But Aryn's barely old enough to be a tyro period, let alone be at the field test level of training?" Jiji responded.

"She was trying to restore honor to the family and enrolled early… very early."

"Then… wait, what happened? Why is she in trouble?"

"I had to defend myself, Jiji…"

"Then… wait, is she dying!"

"Maybe."

"Then we've gotta get going!" Jiji exclaimed, racing ahead of him and taking the role of yanking him along.

Several hours later, Iggy and Jiji reached their friends' home in the Lost Woods. They had stopped running some time ago; both being too tired from lack of sleep the night before and the challenging ordeal during the day. Now they staggered to the front door and knocked wearily upon its wood.

The door opened and Selphie stood on the other side. "Oh, gods! You're safe!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around them both. "We were all so worried!" She looked at Jiji, releasing the two of them, "Oh, no! Did Iggy tell you?"

"Yes, Selphie. I told her," Iggy said, trying to calm Selphie down. "Now I do believe Jiji would like to see her sister." He looked to his left where Jiji had been a half minute ago. They turned around and saw her thumping up the stairs. Iggy and Selphie glanced between each other and then followed upstairs.

Jiji reached the top of the stairs and the guest bedroom. Kage stood over the bed and a small figure under the sheets. He turned around when he heard her enter. "Glad to see you made it back in one piece," he said as he walked past her. "…Hemophilia…" he whispered, closing the door behind him before Jiji could respond.

Jiji walked over to the bed and looked down at the person in it. The little girl with short black hair and pallid skin opened her green eyes ever so slightly. "Hello… Jiji…" she whispered.

"Aryn…" Jiji said, kneeling down and putting her arms around her little sister. "What are you doing here?"

"The Garo master sent me and my partner to kill Iggy, but he got me first… I had to kill my partner…" Aryn said softly.

"I know all of that. Iggy told me, but why are you in training at all?" Jiji asked, sitting up and kneeling next to the bed.

"Everyone was making fun of Mom and Dad because you ran away. They said they were bad parents, so I thought, if I could become a good Garo early, then they'd stop making fun of us…" Aryn rasped, a few tears stinging the corners of her eyes.

"All because I left?" Jiji asked. Aryn nodded her head.

"They said I was trying to bring honor back to the family…" Aryn said. She sniffled a few times. "Jiji… Why did you leave?" she whimpered.

Jiji blinked back a few tears. "I just… I couldn't be a Garo…" she said.

"But you were the best in your class! Why couldn't you?" Aryn asked.

"I didn't want to be… you don't like to kill, do you, Aryn?" Jiji posed.

"Nuh-uh… I don't wanna be a Garo either… I just wanted to make them stop making fun of Momma and Daddy…" She had reverted to the names for her parents from when she was still quite young and vulnerable.

"I know… and you wouldn't have had to if I'd stayed… and you wouldn't have had to kill Iggy…" Aryn gasped out in pain, clutching her stomach. "And he wouldn't have hurt you…"

"Jiji… I'm afraid…" Aryn sniffled.

"Afraid of what?" Aryn didn't respond, and Jiji instantly knew what her sister meant. Jiji stood up, but before leaving she reached down and pulled down the blankets to see Aryn's wound. There was a bandage wrapped thickly over her stomach, but it was soaked through with blood. "I'll be right back with the others."

Jiji covered her again silently and left the room to retrieve her friends.