ok, so here's ch. 3. i think rachel will meet link either this chapter or the next. please R&R!

i do not own zelda.

Chapter 3

One day Barb came in and told me she had had enough. That if I didn't get out of bed right now and come eat she was going to force me to. I ignored her, and shut my eyes, waiting for her to go away. But this time she didn't. She grabbed my arm (the right, of course) and literally dragged me, kicking and screaming, to the kitchen and sat me at the table. When Hogan glanced at me I glared at him fiercely and he quickly looked away and didn't look at me again.

Barb put a bowl of the oatmeal stuff in front of me, and when I didn't touch it she forced the spoon in my mouth, and I swallowed since it was either that or spit it back out. After Barb had force fed me several spoonfuls of the oatmeal, she sent me back to my room and forced me to drink a strange liquid that burned my mouth and throat. I fell asleep almost immediately after she left, and dreamed my nightmares as usual, though I didn't wake up till morning.

The next few days followed basically the same route, though I didn't struggle as much. Then, I decided that I was tired of the way things were going, and when Barb came to get me out of bed one morning, I got up myself and ate the oatmeal she put before me willingly. Barb sat at the table with me for while. "Why don't you tell me what happened before we found you." she said.

I stared down at my empty bowl, and she waited patiently for me to answer. Finally, I told her everything that happened, leaving out the part with the train and the hole.

"I see," Barb said when I had finished. "It sounds like a lot happened."

I nodded, and stood up to go back to my room. I didn't feel like talking anymore. Barb followed me in with the liquid that she told me was purifying water mixed with a sleeping draft. I drank all of it, and lay down, closing my eyes.

"Rachel." I looked at Barb in the doorway. "You mustn't blame yourself for what happened to your friend." She closed the door, leaving me to ponder what she had said before sleep overtook me.

Over the next several weeks Barb said the same thing to me every night, and what she said must have subconsciously affected me for I started to feel better about myself, though I still blamed myself partially for what happened to Jenni. Eventually I began to wander outside, and I spent my days exploring the village. I soon found a place just outside the village where there was an overhang looking out over a wide field that seemed to stretch for miles, and beside the overhang the entrance to the forest. People rarely came to this spot, and I would go there when I wanted to be alone. Barb found out I was going here, and said it was fine but warned me not to go into the forest, which I didn't.

After about a month and a half, my arm had completely healed. Barb quit giving me purifying water, but still gave me a sleeping draft. One morning, when Hogan and I were eating breakfast, Barb brought out a small wooden box and gave it to me. It was painted dark red, and had delicate vines and leaves carved into it. At Barb's urging I opened the box and gasped. Laid in the box was my ocarina. It had been freshly polished, and now hung on a cord so that I could wear it around my neck. I had thought I lost the ocarina when the birds attacked, and now here it was, lying in a beautiful little box. I looked up at Barb, at a loss for words.

Barb smiled. "We found it on the ground that day, near where you were lying, and we figured it must be yours. It was a bit battered and dirty, so I had it cleaned up for you. I wanted to put the cord on it so you wouldn't lose it. Ocarinas are precious instruments, and very rare these days. It would be such a shame to lose it, specifically one such as yours. I must ask, where did you get it?"

"My mother gave it to me," I replied, turning the ocarina over in my hands to make sure it really was mine.

"I see." She stared off into the distance for a moment, as if lost in thought. When she came back to herself, she smiled at me again and said, "You must thank Hogan. He put the cord on."

I turned to Hogan. "Did you really?"

He nodded, and looked away, his face turning bright red.

"How sweet!" I exclaimed. I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you," I said softly. He blushed even deeper, and I giggled inwardly as I got up and took the ocarina to my own room.

When I thought back on it later, I was rather surprised by my boldness. But I supposed it wasn't that strange, since Hogan had become almost a brother to me. Even so, I felt my face grow a little hot when I thought about it.

Time passed while I lived in Amevia. I remember asking Barb one day about the ritual, and she telling me that the first day of summer had come and gone while I had slept after they first found me. I was rather disappointed about this, so when summer neared my second year there, I found myself getting more excited with each day. It seemed I was not the only one, for the people of the village grew livelier and more talkative, and anticipation hung in the air.

Finally the day came. Everyone was working, preparing for that night, when the dance and feast would be held. Barb stayed in the kitchen all day, cooking, and Hogan went outside to decorate. I found myself alone, the only one not doing anything. I tried to help Barb with the cooking, but she insisted I needn't do anything, that I should just do as I always did. So, I went over to my spot, and sat there playing my ocarina for awhile. But even that grew boring soon, and I wandered around the village, watching people set up. I went back to the house after I few hours, and Barb suggested I take a nap, since I would probably be up the whole night, and since I had nothing else to do, I took her advice.

It was then, for the first time in months, that Jenni appeared in my dreams. The image was blurred and indistinct, only her eyes were clear, full of hatred. What are you doing? she demanded. How dare you sit around and wait for your fun filled little night to come, while I am here suffering?

I didn't know what to say, so I just stared at her blankly.

Isn't it bad enough that you let this happen to me in the first place? Her voice rose, and her blue eyes gleamed with anger. Aren't I supposed to be your friend? Don't best friends take care of each other? How could you abandon me, after all I've done for you?

Jenni, I-I haven't abandoned you, I argued, I was just…

Just what? Just enjoying your new, troublesome little life where you don't have to do anything and everyone takes care of you? If you haven't abandoned me, then why haven't you come to save me? And with that the image began to fade. I ran towards her and tried to grab her, but my arms went right through, and I fell to the floor, sobbing, as she disappeared.

When I woke up my face and pillow was damp, meaning I had been crying in my sleep. I crawled out of bed and made my way to the kitchen. Barb wasn't there, and neither was all the food she had made. Outside I heard the sounds of talk and laughter, and I went out to see what was up. Almost immediately I ran into Barb. "There you are," she said. "I was just coming to get you up!"

"Why?" I asked.

"The ceremony's about to start!" she explained.

I followed her to the center of the village, where there was a large crowd of people. Finally, it was time for the ritual dance to begin. The girls got into formation, and the dance began, led by one girl who had been chosen to lead the others. At last, the thing I had looked forward to for almost a year had begun, and yet I hardly paid attention. I tried to enjoy myself, but my mind kept wandering back to the vision of Jenni. I could still clearly see the anger burning in her eyes, and the hatred in her voice. Jenni, my best friend, who had always taken care of me, hated me now, and I deserved her hatred. I should have been doing all I could to save her, and instead I had left her to her fate. It was then, at that moment, as the girls twirled around by light of the setting sun, I made a decision that would alter my life forever.