Shad was a pile of human misery.
The scholar was sitting at the common table, looking uncharacteristically scruffy. He hadn't bothered shaving, and his normally neat western bow tie wasn't tied. He sat with his glasses hooked on his collar, and had his face in his hands. It was later in the morning, far later than Shad normally woke, and everyone else had since eaten breakfast and gotten on with their day, even Ashei and Telma.
Link hadn't bothered leaving the Eld Inn. He was still in the clothes he had slept in, figuring it wouldn't matter so much since he had put them on last night. He didn't walk around barefoot as some of the children tended to do, and had pulled on his knee-high leather boots. He sat at one end of the long table with the book that Midna had shown him last night, and he showed the pictures to Junior, who perched on his shoulder. He doubted the boy had seen any of the creatures in the book, so the incorrectly drawn ones wouldn't make a difference. He had been pointing at the illustrations and telling Junior what they were when Shad clomped down the stairs and sunk down onto the bench nearby, resting his face in his hands.
The little Oocca clambered across the back of Link's shoulders, painfully grabbing at his hair at one point, and perched on his left shoulder to peer at the man seated not too far away. "Shad?"
"Shad isn't feeling well this morning." Link told him. "We should leave him alone, okay?"
Junior blinked his little orange bird eyes. "Sick?"
"Very." Shad groaned from between his hands.
"Medicine?" Junior offered, sounding concerned.
"No, he just needs to eat and drink, and then rest a little. Then he'll be fine." He really didn't want to explain alcohol and what it did to foolish humans who decided to drink too much of it.
"Easy for you to say." the man grumbled. "You decided to not have any last night."
"As I said before, I learned my lesson not to drink with you three. I embarrassed myself once Midna got me back here, and I don't want a repeat." Link said.
"You didn't even have all that much, and you didn't seem to be in rough shape when you left. What could you possibly have done?"
"There's a child present so I can't go into detail, but Ilia was not happy with me for a reason. I became um, friendly." What would have happened if he hadn't controlled himself? The two of them probably would have made a mistake, as Midna put it. It would have made his relationship with Ilia awkward. Or possibly more interesting.
Shad raised his face to look at him. He had understood the subtext. "Oh, dear. I didn't figure you to be the type."
"I'm not. There were a bunch of factors that made me act that way." And just maybe he would normally have acted that way while sober, if he didn't have common sense at the time. "I'm not proud of it, and I apologized to her first thing in the morning."
"Link?" Junior asked. He pointed with a tiny clawed digit at the book. "What's that?" The adult conversation bored him.
"This one? Eagle." he said, pointing at the illustration. At least it looked like one.
Ilia came out into the common room from the kitchen, where she had been doing dishes. It was fairly hot this morning, and she was wearing the short blue dress again, although she had an apron on over it to prevent it from getting messy while she cleaned in the kitchen. She set a cup of water in front of the miserable Hylian. "Drink this."
"What, all of it? I doubt I can keep it down." Shad looked at the cup warily.
She put her hands on her hips and frowned at him. "Then you should have knew not to drink that much. How can you be such an intelligent man, but still do stupid things?"
"I say that to the guy in the mirror every day." Link said. Then he pointed at another picture. "Rabbit."
Ilia turned towards him and tried to look stern, but he could see that she was trying not to laugh. "Who said you were an intelligent man?"
"I did. See? I know my animals. Fox." He tapped another illustration with his finger.
"Stop being funny when I'm trying to be angry at Shad." She was failing at being stern. Then again it was hard to take her seriously when she wore something that showed that much leg.
"Sorry, it's a visceral response. Bear."
Junior moved his eyes from the illustration of a Hylian Grizzly and looked at Ilia with a worried expression. "Angry? Nooo! Ilia kiss Shad!"
Shad choked on the water that he had been sipping and began coughing. None of them expected Junior to say that, and Link was having difficulty keeping a straight face. Ilia assumed a patient expression and shook her head. "Humans don't kiss each other like you do, Junior. We save our kisses for special people."
The little Oocca tilted his head to the side in a very birdlike gesture, and blinked his beady eyes at her. "Ilia kiss Link?"
Link burst out laughing at the expression on her face after hearing that, which was one of mild embarrassment. He didn't stop when she gave him a pointed stare. There was a time when he'd duck his head and apologize, but that time had passed. He wasn't concerned with trying to impress her anymore.
"Drink that water. I'm going to get you something to eat." Ilia commanded, and walked back into the kitchen.
The scholar sighed, having recovered from inhaling water. "I'm going to have to eat, aren't I?"
"Gotta eat sometime." Link pointed at a badly-drawn rendition of an animal with antlers. "Uh...moose?" It could have been an elk, for all he knew.
"She's right. I was foolish last night." The other man took a careful drink of water. "I had hoped to learn how to operate the teleporter that Ooccoo said is below the Sanctuary today, so we could go to the city in the sky. I doubt I could think my way out of a paper bag, with how I'm feeling."
"I know how to activate it. Midna and I have everything we need. Wolf." As he pointed at the illustration, he looked it over and wondered if that was what he looked like when he was transformed. He had only been able to see his face and underside in the ice at Zora's Domain, and knew that he had been green with a gray belly and paws. While he had seen odd markings on his head that didn't belong on a wolf, he wasn't sure what his body looked like.
"You do?" Shad's interest was piqued. "Why didn't you tell me yesterday?"
"Three reasons. One, you'd pester me about going right away. Two, I need to rest after using so much magic and physical energy at Old Kakariko. And three, as Junior so nicely put it, 'Ilia kiss Link'." There really was no denying that last one. Apparently they had been there together for nearly an hour. "We'll leave tomorrow morning, so prepare yourself. Don't drink with Ashei tonight." He recognized the next image far better than the maybe-moose. "Sheep."
"Ah, I had wondered why you were going without the sword and green outfit. Normally you're one to keep moving without much rest." He took a longer drink of water, now able to do that instead of just sip it.
"That sword and Midna both told me I used too much magic the other day, and I need to rest." Link said. "If a magic sword and a sorceress tell you that you're burning up your magic, it's probably wise to listen. Besides, it's nice to take a day to simply sit around and breathe." He tapped at the page again. "Cow."
It did feel rather good to take another day to rest when he hadn't done so for a while. The last time he had taken a personal day was before he left for the Snow Peaks with Ashei, and he had done quite a bit in that time. He considered walking around to talk to some people in the town, but decided to offer to wait for Ilia. Once she was satisfied that she had cleaned enough after breakfast, she accepted his offer. While walking around the town wouldn't give the two of them much time alone, there were places where they could go to speak privately.
The sun was bright as they walked through Kakariko, and it was already quite hot. As much as he liked the blue shirt that Ilia had made him, the black leggings were not the best thing to be wearing out in the hot sun. She looked quite comfortable in her short blue dress, and had managed to find a pair of sandals to wear with it instead of the boots Impaz gave her.
"Hey, there you are again." came a familiar voice from the covered porch of a red-painted house. Betsy sat there on a chair, her hair tied back neatly within a faded pink kerchief. She had a guest at her small home with her, and the large ginger-haired man smiled when he saw the two of them.
"Looks like she made him more clothes." Hayes sat in a chair next to her, and now wore a set of clothing given to him by some kind soul: the typical long-sleeved shirt and leggings men wore in Castle Town. He looked no less burly without his armor.
Ilia laughed as she and Link walked over. "Not just him. I've been sewing a lot so I made a few things for Ashei and Shad. I thought I'd make something for Telma next."
"See, you should stay here instead of go back to Ordon. Take over that tailor's shop and make some good rupees. You've got some skill." From how the two of them spoke to Ilia, it sounded as if she had made friends with them. That was nice to see; like him, Ilia hadn't had many friends back home.
"Hey now, don't try to tempt her. I just finally got her to go back to Ordon with me when everything is back to normal." Whenever that was. He had the feeling he'd be busy for months.
"See, I told you so." Hayes said with a grin to the dark-haired woman next to him. It was nice to see the man actually smile.
Betsy threw up her hands. "Well forgive me if I didn't sit there and watch them every time they were together like some people do. You gossip like an old washerwoman."
"Sitting around a watch station is boring, so gossip's all we had. Now gossip is all these people have, since there's not much to do around here. People gossip about us too, you know." The large man's grin never stopped. "I'm not correcting them either. Let them see us."
"Oh, you finally talked to her about it?" Ilia asked.
"I am so out of the loop here." Link complained. Betsy and Hayes were a couple now? People were gossiping about him and Ilia? It seemed that things happened in Kakariko that he knew nothing of.
Hayes laughed, a pleasant sound. Link wished he had met this version of the man, not the sour bully that tried to arrest him. "Sorry, Link." He actually called him by his name. Progress. "You're busy out there doing hero things, while the rest of us here are trying to start our lives over. I used to be friends with Sergeant Kip and was the same rank as him, before I quit the army due to the magic law." His smile disappeared, and he looked grim. "They took my wife away and left me with a daughter to care for alone. She'd be about your age now...or is. I'm not sure where or what she is now."
"I'm really sorry, Hayes. I tried-"
"Don't apologize." the large man said, cutting him off. "I can't blame you any more than I can blame Commander Petyr. I'll blame General Scot, just like everybody else. A lot of people know about what he tried to do and how he ignored royal orders." He rubbed at the back of his neck. "Anyway...because I knew Kip, I knew Betsy. What I didn't know is how bad her marriage had gotten. So I decided hey...why not try to be a better man than her husband, and take care of her?"
"You mean I'm taking care of you." Betsy quipped.
"It's a mutual thing. I'm going to help her now that her sons are grown, and she's going to help me stay away from alcohol." Hayes grinned again. "I always thought she was pretty, and was really grumpy that she married some other guy before I had my chance. Now I have one. We're going to have a Priest of Hylia annul her marriage and then live here together, maybe build a house if we need to. Renado says that some of us should start mining again, since Kakariko supplies a lot of food to the Gorons. I think I'd like to try to help the Gorons, since they've helped us so much."
Link had began to smile through the story, and he felt genuinely happy for the two middle-aged Hylians that had found one another after escaping Castle Town. Their stories had both been sad ones, yet they had found happiness in the end. "That's quite the story. Betsy already told me about her husband, so I'm glad you're here for her."
"Like you said, real men don't bully others. You were right, and Brock was a damn bully." Hayes leaned back in his chair. "Oh, but we're gabbing away in the shade while you two are in the sun. Go find someplace in the shade before Ilia's pretty shoulders burn."
"Or before I melt in these nice black pants that she made me." He smiled at the two on the porch again. "I'm happy for you two."
"So am I." Ilia linked her arm in his, but he didn't mind the display of affection. If there was gossip about them being a couple, they may as well not hide it. "Let's go up top. There might be a breeze up there."
There was a breeze, and it felt good as it ruffled his messy hair as the two of them walked along the trail that was near the canyon's edge. The air in the canyon and the town was still, and it was far more pleasant up top. Even though he started to feel cooler, he undid the top few buttons of his shirt.
"The heat here is so different than the kind in Ordon." he said. "Ordon's muggy, but there's lots of trees and places to be cooler. Here it's dry so you don't sweat as much, but at the same time it feels like the sun's cooking you alive."
"Is it still better than the desert?" llia asked.
"Absolutely. I like the Gerudo, but not the heat there." Maybe the next time, he could bring her with him. She'd probably like Gerudo food and their lovely silks and jewelry.
Ilia glanced over her shoulder and then back at him. "Speaking of the Gerudo, did you want to turn around to visit them?" They were currently walking south and away from the sheep farm that the Gerudo were camped at. In fact if the two of them turned around, they would have been able to see the tall women moving around their collection of tents.
"No. Now that we're not in the desert anymore, I know they're going to hit on me. I'd rather avoid that." He slipped his hand into hers. "Besides, you had questions for me. I'd be more than happy to tell you all about myself, now that I'm not so tired."
"All right, I'll start with the easier ones. When did you pierce your ears?"
He laughed lightly. "Oh, that." Link touched at one of the blue loops of metal, and at his earlobe. It felt as if they were fully healed by now. "Ask the gods about that one. The green clothes are supposed to be exactly like the ones the ancient hero wore, and I guess his ears must have been pierced. When they gave me my hero's clothes, the gods were probably like 'Yes, we will put them in his ears. This is normal.'." He smiled when she laughed. "I guess they're all right, but not anything I would have chosen to do, working on a farm."
"I think they look good. They match your eyes." She looked at him critically. "Well, close anyway. I think the sapphires that Ralis wore are much closer in color."
"You're not the only one who made that comparison. I guess I can see it, but when you see your own face in the mirror every day, you don't really think about how other people see you."
She laughed. "Link, can't you take a compliment?"
"Not really." He looked down at his feet as they walked. "I think it has something to do with me not drawing attention to myself. It was a bit of an effort to let Midna and Rusl praise me the other day, and I know they're sincere."
Ilia sighed and gave his hand a squeeze. "We'll work on that, okay? Next question: tell me what Courage is. You've told me that you used it, but I don't really understand what you meant."
"It's part of three different fragments of power left behind by the gods. I have one, Zelda has one, and Ganondorf has one. They all do different things. Zelda's makes her magical ability stronger and I'm sure it does some things I don't know about. Ganondorf's makes him physically and magically stronger, and gives him the ability to heal himself. Mine helps me do what I need to do. Ooccoo said that it augments my abilities. I can be stronger, faster, and probably some other things, but it also has protected me a few times. I used it to make the Master Sword cast a purifying spell so I could stop my friend from being turned into a Shadow Beast. It even sped up the healing process for my injuries from the Lanmola. And the thing is, half the time I use it, I've done it without meaning to." He laughed. "It frustrates Midna because it doesn't work like regular magic."
Link stopped and turned his back to the late morning sun, and pulled Ilia close to his side. "Here, let me show you. It might be hard to see." He held up his left hand between them, and the golden light from Courage glowed softly in their shadows. "There, that's it. That's Farore's power."
"The goddess Farore? So that's what that mark was. I never knew." She reached out and touched at the faintly glowing triangles. "Oh, it's warm. Are you making it do that?"
"Yeah. By now I can use it when I want to. It's what has made me so powerful at times, and it's also the thing that makes me afraid of myself." He let Courage fade. "I don't want to be powerful."
"You don't have any choice in the matter." She held his left hand in both of hers. "But even though you can't decide whether you're powerful or not, you can decide when you'll be powerful. And I know you. You wouldn't abuse it." She put it so simply, yet still said something he needed to hear. Impaz and Midna had told him something similar, but for some reason he needed to hear it from Ilia. He pulled her close and put his arms around her, and she laughed awkwardly. "Link...I think the Gerudo can still see us."
"So what? They're kind of lewd anyway."
"I know. They asked me if I was going to have children with you or not." She looked down awkwardly. "I understand that it's important to them, but I don't know why they'd care about me. We weren't actually together yet, since it was during your time in the Snow Peaks."
"They probably wanted to see if you were competition since they're still after me." He felt grumpy about the whole thing, still frustrated with Gerudo chasing his tail. "I hate that they look at me like...like I'm a blood stallion that's here only to breed children. They see it as nothing personal, but then again they're not the one being treated as a thing and not a person." He thought he had gotten away from all of it too, but then the Gerudo had to show up in Hyrule.
"I told them yes."
He was drawn out of his frustrating thoughts about the desert race. "What?"
She coyly looked up at him through her dusty-colored eyelashes. "I said that yes, I was going to have children with you if given a chance. I know it was really forward for me to say that, without you being there to say anything, but they were pestering me about it and I was starting to get angry." Ilia buried her face in his neck and spoke in a meek, mousy tone. "It wasn't a lie. I've had a few years to think about what I want in life, with you being the biggest thing. I know I'm only seventeen but I didn't mean right away. It's just I know that when two people are together, it happens eventually."
Oh. He understood what she was getting at, and she had given it a lot more thought than he did. That wasn't to say he hadn't had his own daydreams and fantasies about her, but it was certainly a strange way for the subject to come up, not to mention a strange time. They had only admitted that they had loved one another yesterday, and here she was talking about the physical part of a relationship.
He wasn't sure what to say, but he knew he had to say something after she admitted that. "I figured that yeah, eventually kids would happen, but I wasn't worried about it too much. I'm not much older than you, after all." Now he was worried about it, or more like worried about starting too early on accident. It was something that happened with younger couples, even in Ordon. "We can talk about this another time, okay? Not when there were other serious subjects we already planned to talk about."
Ilia stepped back from him and nodded, her eyes kept low. She looked like she did want to talk about it, which he most certainly did not, not right now. Great. As if he didn't have enough on his mind. Midna had told him that Ilia was a distraction, and now she had just said something to make him even more distracted.
"I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything." She had gone from shy to embarrassed.
He took hold of her hand and led her along until she walked next to him again. "No, it's fine. Please don't feel bad, I'm not upset or anything. We just can't discuss it right now." He leaned his head forward a bit to look at her face and smiled. "Come on, you were busy asking questions. Don't you have more?"
She smiled a little and began to recover from her embarrassment. "Um, yeah. I have some. I've seen you fight, and I've heard others describe it too. Where did you learn to do that? Did Rusl teach you?"
"Yes and no. My father started me out with a sword and bow when I was ten. I wanted to learn to fight like my mother, but she never got to teach me anything." He thought about telling her who his parents were, but decided not yet. "Rusl continued teaching me once I was in Ordon, but his style of fighting is solely based off strength alone, and not much like mine or my parents. Since I became the hero, I've become stronger and can do things that I didn't know I could do, and I've done a lot of them like I've had the ability all the long."
"Both your parents were warriors?" Ilia asked.
"Yes."
"Who were they, if they fought like you?" There it was, the question that would lead into all the others.
Link looked down the trail towards the group of gnarled apple trees not too far away. "Let's go there and get out of the sun. Then I'll tell you."
It was much cooler under the trees, and the smell of fermenting apples hung in the air, even though there were very few on the ground. He knew that Renado or Barnes took the children up to the orchard a couple times a week to pick up the apples from the ground, and he had seen the children drinking sweet cider, so they had to have pressed them at some point. This time he led her farther away from the road and past the small cottage and shed that were closer to the back end of the orchard. He figured if he put the cottage between the two of them and the canyontop trail, people wouldn't notice them. Not only that, but Shad wouldn't come and harass them again.
The back side of the cottage had a yard with woven bee hives, situated there to pollinate the apples and make honey for whomever had owned the cottage and orchard. They weren't wild bees, so they stuck to their business and paid no mind to the two humans who walked by. Whomever lived at the cottage was gone, and the only sign that the Shadow Beasts had come was the bashed-in door of the shed next to the cottage. None of the Hylians from Castle Town had come to occupy the home, and it stood as it was the day Kakariko was overrun.
Link sat down beneath one of the larger trees on the cool grass there, and Ilia came to sit beside him. He leaned his back against the tree and stared at the bees in the nearby yard as they busily came and went from their hives. "All right, now I can explain. No promises that I'm going to get through this without being a mess, okay? There are a lot of things that I haven't been able to talk about for five years, and it's done something to my head."
"Why won't you talk about them?" She stretched her legs out next to his, and he was once again aware of how much leg that blue dress of hers showed. This time he absolutely knew that she had worn it on purpose. He probably gave some kind of reaction to it last time, so of course she would wear it again. She knew what she was doing.
He tore his eyes away from her shapely legs and considered how he should tell her. "I should start out with my arrival at Ordon, and my mother's death. You know that the grave you have memories of being at with me is hers, right?"
"Yes, I remember that. I wasn't sure why your father's grave isn't in Ordon too, but I imagine you'll get to that."
"Yeah. First off, you were lied to. Your father lied to you and everyone else. He told me, Rusl and Uli to keep things a secret." When he saw her shocked expression, he put his hand on hers. "I know. I'm afraid that this story is going to tarnish your view of your father, and I'm sorry about that. He wasn't doing it to be mean or cruel, he was doing it to protect you and the others. Bo was afraid that people would think I'd bring the trouble that sent my mother and I to Ordon, and then reject us. Even after my mother died, he was afraid of that. He didn't want to send a twelve-year-old boy out on his own, so he told everyone that my mother was ill."
Her green eyes moved back and forth slightly as she took in that information, and then they met his. "He did it because he thought the Ordonians would be afraid of you? A kid?" He brow furrowed. "But...that's ridiculous. They wouldn't turn away a child like that, no matter where he came from."
"It doesn't make sense to you or me, but it did to him. Maybe he knows something we don't. In any case, she died because she was wounded." Link turned his head to watch the bees again. "She was shot in the back by an arrow. I know that your mind was hurt from watching me get hit on the head, but the same thing happened to me when I watched you get shot. It brought back the terrible memory of my mother's death. I think that might be why I started having problems controlling my emotions. I thought I might have lost you the same way I lost her."
He paused, taking the time to tell his story in pieces so it would hurt less. "It made me constantly think about you and worry, and run all these terrible ideas through my head about what could possibly have happened. Were you dead? Were you badly wounded? Did you get transformed into a Shadow Beast?"
"You know what happened, and now I'm fine." Ilia said, wrapping her arms around his right one. "We made it, and we're here now. Can I ask how your mother was shot? You said she was a warrior, a Sheikah. If she was a strong warrior, then who would shoot her?"
He was grateful for the physical contact. Being with her might make retelling things easier. "The Hyrulean Army, the same army that Commander Petyr came from. Ilia, what do you know about the magic purge that happened in Hyrule five years ago?"
Her eyes blinked a few times as she worked her way through what he had just said, and what it implied. "Only a bit at first. We didn't worry about it much in Ordon, since it was a problem for the people in Hyrule. But you're from Hyrule and a Hylian, so I wanted to know. I asked Shad about it, since I know he was an important scholar at the castle. He told me how the king lost his mind, and the stupid law that he made. Shad lost family...and today I learned that Hayes lost his wife. I'm going to guess you were affected too. You said you went to a place called Kasuto, to the remains of your old house and found that necklace you wear. Did the magic purge affect Kasuto?"
Link nodded. "It's where I was before I came to Ordon, but not where I was born. I was born in Castle Town, or perhaps in Hyrule Castle itself. Both of my parents worked there. My mother was a Sheikah warrior named Sami, and the personal protector of Queen Constance, Zelda's mother. My father was a knight named Gwyn. Gwyn of Lon, a family of knights going back over two hundred years. We had holdings in Central Hyrule; some land with a ranch, a tiny town on that ranch, and horses."
Ilia put a hand to her mouth. "You're nobility?" He could understand the reaction. After all, he did herd goats for years. It wasn't a very knightly thing.
"Not anymore. I still have the surname, but it doesn't mean anything now. My parents were some of the people in service of the royal family who abandoned the king and left in protest, and they left all our property behind. My father brought us to a little town in the middle of the Eldin plains called Kasuto. He knew my mother used shadow magic, and he wanted to keep her safe. There were many others there who used magic, some that worked for the king, some that were ordinary people. Sheikah, Hylians, and witches all came to that little town and it grew to be bigger than this one. We were there for six years."
He stopped talking and stared dully at the honeybees. Talking about it made him feel tired. The subject was wearying; it was the thing that he had kept to himself that very few people knew about, and he didn't like to think about it.
"Link? Can you tell me what happened to Kasuto?" Ilia put a hand to the side of his face when he turned his head back towards her. "If you don't want to say, that's all right. Shad didn't want to talk about his father or grandparents much."
"No, I can tell you. I really think you should know. No secrets, not from you." He ran a hand through his hair, unsure of how to put things to words without losing control of himself. After watching Ilia do the same last night, he realized he shouldn't worry about it. "Nobody knows about what happened, only that it did happen. Renado, Midna, Shad and a few others know that I escaped Kasuto, but not any specifics." Link blinked and sat with his mouth open, knowing where to start, but still hesitant.
"Do you want to lay down like you did last time? That seemed to make all you had to say easier." she offered. It was true, although having to glumly recall his time at Castle Town wasn't like living through Kasuto. Or was it? Escaping both was horrific.
"If I suddenly clam up, you'll be wrong." he said, still relying on jokes to breeze by uncomfortable things. He sighed and stretched out on the grass as he did the last time they were in this orchard, and rested his head just above her knees.
"I think I can handle being wrong, if that's the case." She said dryly, pushing a long lock of his hair to the side of his face. Then she waited patiently.
Link stared up at the leaves above, past where Ilia's lovely face watched him, and remembered. "They came early in the morning, before most people were up for the day. A lot were asleep, including my family. My mother woke me and told me to hurry and get dressed, and I could smell smoke. They set fire to the buildings to either trap people in, or drive them out to where the soldiers waited. My mother killed the ones waiting outside that had set fire to our home, but most of the residents weren't warriors. The soldiers didn't take prisoners. Everyone was killed: the very old, the very young. It didn't matter." He had been trying to keep his voice neutral, but it began to waver. It had been horrifying to see and hear people dying around him, including other children like him, many of which were his friends. Ilia gently touched his hair as she had done before, and he sat there quietly for a moment.
His voice was more even when he continued. "My mother used her magic to make it seem like there were multiple versions of herself in town. It was only an illusion, but it fooled the soldiers long enough for her to saddle Epona, and we were able to get on and ride away. As we left, my father was fighting several soldiers at once. It was the last time I saw him." He felt this throat tighten. "I never saw him die." He moved his eyes to look at her face, and saw that she wasn't only listening intently, but there were tears in her eyes. She was upset by what he told her, either from the things he described, or because he saw them when he was a child.
"My mother told me that we needed to head south to Ordon, to look for her friend named Rusl. It was a completely different country, but if we got there then we'd be safe. I sat in front of her in the saddle and I could feel her shaking. I think she might have been crying because we left my father behind." He swallowed hard, and his eyes moved back to the green leaves that waved above them. "They chased us. We rode southwest through Eldin and across Central Hyrule all day, and they chased us the entire time. Epona was only two years old, and had far more stamina than their horses. I know that she outran a lot of them, but I was too terrified to look. They were shooting arrows at us, and every time I heard one, I was afraid that one of us or Epona would be hit."
Link felt himself shaking, and his mind brought him back to that frantic chase across open fields that felt like it dragged on forever. By now he didn't even notice her face looking down at him, her hand on his hair, or the warmth of the Kakariko morning. He was a boy again, fleeing for his life. "I don't know when mother was hit. She started to breathe like she was in pain, but she told me to keep going and never stop." He saw the road through central Hyrule that they were on as they continued on the long, terrifying ride. A ride where a twelve-year-old boy had his wounded mother cling to his back with no end in sight. "I wasn't sure if I was really hearing their horses and arrows coming after us or not, or when we finally had gotten away. I didn't know if mother would let go and fall off, and I'd never be able to go back to get her. I had to stop. I had no choice, since Epona wasn't able to run anymore. I remember it was around sunset, and there was a pond surrounded by trees…"
He felt her touch his face and he blinked, brought back into the present. She was wiping away a tear. "When did I start crying…?" he asked, bringing his hand to his face. His hand was trembling, and he stared at it in surprise. He had been so caught up in the memory, he was unaware of what his body was doing.
Ilia grasped his hand with hers. "Don't worry about it." she said quietly. "Keep talking when you're ready."
"I'm not stopping. I need to do this." He held her hand in his against his chest and continued, staring back up at the apple leaves above. "I remember that neither one of us could sleep. She was in a lot of pain, with an arrow sticking out of her back. I was afraid if I fell asleep, she would die without me knowing. As time went on it sounded like she had problems breathing, and she started to cough up blood." He took an unsteady breath and brought his other hand up to put it over his eyes. "I remember that there were lights over the pond. Fairies. I called out to them for help, but even though it seemed like they could hear me, they...they didn't come over. They refused to help."
His voice broke. "Ilia, I was so scared. I didn't know what to do. I was alone with my dying mother, and these damn fairies that could have healed her just stayed back and watched." Link rolled onto his side towards her and rested his head on her lap, surprised at how much he was shaking. "It's like I'm still there. This isn't right. This was years ago."
She bent over him and put her left arm on his back. "I know how that feels. I was like that last night." Her hand ran through his hair again. "But you've had to put this away for years and not tell anyone, so it must be so much worse for you."
There wasn't much for him to say to that, not right now. He shut his eyes and lay there while reminding himself that he was with Ilia on the edge of Kakariko, that he was an adult and not a frightened child. He wasn't sobbing like he thought he'd be, but he was still crying as well as shaking, and he focused on her warmth as she curled around him until he stopped.
"All I could do was cry." he said after laying with her for a while, his voice weak. "I fell asleep sometime, because I woke hours later when the sun was up and my mother was still next to me. The fairies were gone, not that they were good for anything in the first place. I sang the song to call for Epona just like I had seen my father do, and helped mother get in the saddle. Her face was very pale, and she didn't say much other than my name. I wasn't able to do anything for her, only keep riding south until I reached Ordon."
Link sighed, feeling an overwhelming love for the young woman who ran her fingers through his hair and listened to his story. "I'm lucky I have you. I wouldn't have had the nerve to tell anyone if it wasn't for you."
"I think you would have. You have courage, and I'm not talking about the magic in your hand."
She was right. Even though he was afraid of what could have happened to Ilia after the spring, he had pressed on to help Midna. After he found her and she had forgotten him, he kept going and did what he needed to do. After Kasuto, after Castle Town, after all the things that shredded his heart, he kept going. Other people would have given up, he knew that. He wouldn't give up, but he also couldn't because he knew things would get better through him. Now that he was finally letting out what he had bottled up for five and a half years, he knew that he would find talking about it easier, and then it would be a thing that stayed in the past.
"As luck would have it, I ran into the priest of Ordona on the road between the spring and the town. He took us right to your parents. My mother was only able to talk a bit, but I helped fill in the blanks and we told them what happened. Rusl was brought to your house so he could hear the story." He still remembered the look of dismay on Rusl's face when he saw that a friend of his was dying. "Your father then made the decision to put my mother and I in the house on the edge of town...my house. Rusl fought against it, but Bo kept saying that it was best to gradually introduce a pair of outsiders to the town, and the house had recently become vacant. In the end, the mayor's words were the rule."
"I don't remember any of this, although I do know that your mother was supposed to be in bed in that house, and that you were with her. I wanted to meet this new boy in town, but father wouldn't let me go." Ilia made a frustrated sound at her own memory of things. "I didn't understand at the time, but now I know it was because I was supposed to believe the lie that your mother was sick."
"You and everyone else. Rusl was angry and so was the priest. The two of them and Uli were the ones who kept coming to the house to keep me company and care for my mother. At the time I thought she was getting worse because Bo wouldn't let the doctor see her, but now I realize that she had been shot in the lung, and was bleeding on the inside." He started to tremble again, and tears came back into his voice. "The next day she could barely breathe. I was there with her and Rusl, and she tried to talk...but she couldn't. She couldn't say goodbye. Then she was gone."
He was going to tell her about how Rusl had come over and held him as he cried, or how Marnie insisted that he was going to stay with her family no matter what Bo said, or how his mother's breath had gurgled terribly in those last few hours, but he couldn't. He had told Ilia enough, and if he continued he really would start sobbing. She knew how the priest of Ordona had taken care of Sami's small funeral, and she was the one who stood next to him as he watched his mother's linen-wrapped body lowered into the earth. That same priest died only days later himself, killed by a tiger as he made his way to one of the southern communities in the rainforest. If he hadn't, then the truth would have gotten out, since he was the only man who could ignore Bo's laws.
"Link?" Ilia asked after some time had passed and he had calmed down again. "The house you live in pretty much stayed the same from before you moved in, right?"
"Yeah. All the dishes, furniture, rugs, blankets, that giant mirror in the root cellar...that's all from the guy who used to live there and passed away. I think it was never taken out because your father planned to put me in that house from the beginning, and the only reason he didn't was because your mother wanted to take care of me." He sniffled, wondering if he had gotten tears on her blue dress. Probably. "Eventually I was put there anyway."
Her voice sounded horrified. "You've been sleeping in the bed your mother died in?"
He was surprised that she hadn't made that connection sooner. "Yeah. That made for some rough nights. After I lived there alone, I cried myself to sleep a lot over the next year or so. Tears at night, fistfights by day. I don't know why you stayed with me."
"Because I knew how sweet you really were, and I could see the good person hidden behind all that anger. You never were angry at me, and never would have raised your fist against me like you did the others." She sat up to rest her back against the tree again. "You had to have been angry at my father."
"I was, and I still am." He sat up as well and rubbed at his face. He felt tired, yet...better, somehow. "But I never said or did anything, since I wanted to stay on his good side. He was the thing that stood between you and me, and I really wanted to do my best to impress him so I could be with you."
Ilia's green eyes were angry. "You shouldn't have had to do that, though. You shouldn't have been forced to live on your own at fourteen, sleep in the bed your mother died in, and stay isolated from the rest of us! That was all his idea, just like it was his idea that I stay away from you, like you were the plague and I'd die if I touched you."
"Did we really listen? Was he able to stop us from becoming friends? He knew that we were inseparable, and even though he made an effort, we're together anyway." Link moved closer and took her hand in his own. "Don't be angry at your father for just...being a father and trying to protect you. I'm sure he did it all because he loves you, and the people of Ordon."
"I can't help but be angry, after finding out everything that happened to you, and how he treated you in the end. I didn't know that it was my mother's idea to take care of you, and now it makes sense how he dumped you in that house a year after she died. Damn him." she growled, genuinely furious. "I'm going to tell him exactly what I think when I get back to Ordon."
"Ilia, no." He leaned forward and put his hands on the sides of her face, just as he had done when she was crying in the Sanctuary. "Please don't. I want to move on from this, all right? If there's anything between me and him, then I'll handle it. I don't follow his rules anymore. I don't follow anyone's rules. I'm the Hero of Hyrule, and I have better things to do than being bitter over what happened to me as a kid." Not that he wasn't still a kid. "I know that sooner or later we'll make him angry anyway. He knew we'd get together and seems okay with it, but I know he'd be furious if he knew that I had my hands on you." And he hadn't done much other than kiss her so far, but Bo was old-fashioned.
The hardness in her eyes faded, and she slowly smiled as she looked at him. There was love in her eyes, and he knew that she understood that the two of them would be making their own decisions. Whatever happened in the past wasn't going to affect her now. "Okay. Then let's make him furious. He can be mad until he's red in the face." She moved forward to put her arms around him, and once she started to kiss him he thought that she would be all right no matter what her father said.
His thoughts evaporated and he only focused on her after that. Not that a lot of thought was needed for what they were doing, which was why he didn't protest when she straddled his lap and began to unbutton his shirt. He certainly should have said something, but it certainly wasn't his brain that was in control of his actions. In fact it didn't start working again until he became more acutely aware of what they were doing, and that he was the one leading things along, not Ilia. He realized that he was on top of her, and at some point had unfastened and pushed the top part of her dress down around her waist. He only vaguely remembered doing that.
The thing that made him stop and start using his brain again was when an apple dropped from the branches above and bounced on the ground next to them. It made him aware of where he was and what he had been doing. He pushed himself up on one arm and stared at her, surprised at how easy it was to get that far without even knowing it. How could he simply...do things and not even be aware of it? Suddenly he understood how easily young couples bumbled into things without meaning to.
"Are you okay?" she asked, looking a lot less concerned about the whole thing as him.
Link shook his head and caught his breath. "No, I'm fine. I don't think…" He untangled himself from her and sat up, even though his body was telling him to ignore his mind and keep going. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "We shouldn't be fooling around like this."
"What?" Ilia sat up, still flushed in the face. "You sure seemed fine with it so far."
"I came up here with you to tell you about myself not…" Not for a stupid mistake. Even if it went nowhere, it was a mistake. "This is a bad idea, at least it is right now. We're out here and anybody can walk up and find us."
"I really doubt that people will find us. We went to the back side of this little house so we'd have privacy. I know you wanted to come here so nobody would hear what you had to tell me, but it's not a bad place for other things." Other things. She seemed so unconcerned, like this sudden jump from simple kisses and I Love Yous yesterday to what was just happening was natural.
He should have realized that this would happen. Nothing did when he had been drunk, but it could have if she lacked restraint and hadn't stopped him. Now that they were together, it seemed that Ilia had none...and for a while, neither did he. "You're not wrong, but people saw us come up here. Not only that, but it's got to be close to lunchtime soon. If people know where we are, somebody might come looking for us." He gestured at her, trying not to look too hard at her bare breasts. It was difficult. "Do you really want to have your chest out like that when Shad comes along? Or Telma? Or Renado...what do you think he'd say?"
She put a hand to her chest, and turned red in the face when she thought of what would happen if they were caught. "Oh. I guess I wasn't thinking."
He stood and started buttoning up his shirt. "For a while there, neither was I. We need to be careful, okay? Not that what we were just doing wasn't a whole lot of fun, but people in town are already gossiping about us, and I'd rather not give them another thing to gab about." He could hear in his mind what people would say; the hero is using his status to get women, the hero probably has girls in other towns, the hero and his slut from Kakariko. He didn't vocalize those thoughts, knowing it would upset Ilia.
"I'm not going to lie, I'm disappointed." She pulled the straps of her dress back up over her arms and stood up, and reached behind her to re-fasten the hooks on the back. He wished she wouldn't and he'd still be able to see her topless, but he was the one who stopped them. "But you're right." She looked frustrated and wasn't hiding it very well, but he couldn't blame her. If they were two nobodies or if this was back in Ordon, he wouldn't have stopped.
A thought occurred to him, then. Before she had began their tumble into something intensely physical, she had said "Let's make him furious", referring to her father. She wouldn't be trying to push him into that just to get back at her father, would she? He didn't think that Ilia was petty like that, but she could be stubborn, and she had seemed quite angry about how Bo had treated him. He was probably over-thinking it, since it was both of them that had gotten them halfway to a mistake, not just her. As it was, he couldn't accuse her of doing that whether he was right or not. It would only make her angry at him.
Link watched Ilia as she adjusted her short blue dress to make sure it was on straight, and felt a pang of regret. He had half a mind to find someplace else to go where they wouldn't be found and resume what they had been doing. She looked at him, and he must have had an expression on his face that revealed what he was thinking, because her face flushed slightly. "I know what that look means now. Having second thoughts?"
"Yes, but I'm not listening to them." He reached up and plucked a ripe apple from the tree they were under, and tossed it to her. "There. That's something you can put your mouth on that isn't me for the time being. Let's try to be responsible, all right?"
Ilia watched as he pulled an apple off the tree for himself, and then as he took a bite. "I know, I'm not disagreeing with your decision." she said. "We came here so you could tell me something you didn't want anyone else to hear, and you did get to do that. How are you feeling?"
He chuckled with his mouth full and swallowed. "Promiscuous."
"Link!"
He laughed again. "Quite honestly? Better. I know I was shaking quite a bit through that, and yeah...there were tears like I thought there would be. But still, I was able to tell you about my mother. I was able to tell you about what the king's law did to me, and what your father's decisions did to me. I didn't get to tell you the final part, though." He gestured for her to walk next to him, and the two of them began making their way back through the orchard and towards the road. "I went to Kasuto with Midna, just to make sure I was over it. And it was fine at first. It didn't feel like the same place, there weren't any bodies, and I was able to get my grandmother's pendant. Then night came. The people of Kasuto are now undead, and come out at night as zombies, Poes and ghosts."
Ilia stopped with the apple halfway to her mouth, and turned to stare at him in horror.
He could see the unspoken sentence in her eyes. "I know. I didn't have the Master Sword at the time, so I couldn't fight them. The two of us and Epona barely got out alive. And now because of that, I'm terrified of undead. What I had to do in the Arbiter's Grounds was difficult because of what happened a few weeks ago in Kasuto. The idea of them creeped me out before, but that experience changed me. I think because it's tied in with what happened to me a little over five years ago." He took another bite of his apple, still not pleased with the idea of returning to the place.
"I now know why you said that you needed to tell me these things, so I'd understand why you are the way you are. You're not just a wonderful mess. You're a guy who is trying really hard to be normal, and you keep having to deal with all these difficult things happening to you, all while still dealing with the things that happened to you years ago. That must be so hard on you." She took his hand and held it while they walked. It felt like a normal touch to him, and didn't return his mind to the gutter. "I'm not sure how yet, but I want to take care of you, just like you said you'd take care of me. Even if all I manage to do is be a warm lap you can put your head on when you're sad, then that's what I'll do."
Link stopped walking as a warmth spread through his chest, and a feeling of relief flooded his mind. It almost brought tears to his eyes. This was how he was going to get better, the road to his recovery, and to hers as well. He pulled her into a hug and rested his face against the side of her head. "It doesn't matter what you do, just as long as it's you. Just as long as you're there. I think both of us will have it rough for the next year or so, but we'll be doing this together. Because of that, I know I can be happy."
He expected her to make a joke about him being sappy, which he absolutely was doing. He knew that he was, but he spoke from the heart. Instead her response sounded like it came from the heart as well. "We both can be happy, you mean. We'll get there together, and then we'll keep taking care of one another for the rest of our lives." She made a small, frustrated sound. "I'd kiss you but I was just eating this apple. ...wait a second, you planned that!"
"I did." He chuckled and pulled back from her, and saw that she was grinning. "That's how I'm taking care of both of us, right now. I'm making sure we don't get distracted, and go eat lunch on time like the good kids we are. Speaking of which, come on. Let's hurry so they don't wonder what was going on up here."
Nobody questioned where they were, in the end. Even Ashei didn't have commentary, and focused much of her time bantering with Shad while giving little morsels of cornbread to Junior. Since nobody was poking fun at him, Link had some time to consider who he would tell about his past next, and when. He glanced down the table to where Renado was seated with Barnes and the children, and he knew that the shaman should be the next person he told. Renado had been concerned for him as a person ever since he came to Kakariko, and was the first after Midna who saw him as Link and not just the hero.
Ilia gathered up the children to take them up to visit the Gerudo, since they were interested in what they thought were really cool warriors that wore pretty clothes and makeup. It was a fairly accurate descriptor for the Gerudo, although Link hoped that they wouldn't say anything too inappropriate around the children.
He came up to Renado and Barnes, who still sat at the table. "Hey, Renado? Do you have some time today? I need to talk to you."
"Uh-oh." Barnes said. "Did something happen again?" While he had seen Barnes here and there since coming back from Castle Town, he hadn't had too many opportunities to speak with him.
"Well, sort of...but nothing terrible that needs the hero. This is something more personal." He glanced over at Renado. "And shamans tend to listen to and advise people on personal things."
That made the long-haired man raise an eyebrow, and he got to his feet. "It is indeed, and I certainly would not refuse a friend. Is this too personal to speak about here?"
"It is. I'd rather talk to you in your house, if that's okay. I really don't want people to hear what I have to say." After the children looked in and saw him kissing Ilia, he knew that the Sanctuary was no longer a safe place for them to speak privately.
"I hope everything's okay." The engineer also stood up. "I'm sure Renado will get you all sorted out. He's good at that. And hey, I have more merchandise for you at my shop if you ever need it. I heard you were using the Barnes Special Editions at Old Kakariko, and I couldn't be happier." He smiled and clapped Link on the back, and then left the inn.
After Barnes was gone, Renado gave him a single nod. "Now is fine. Please, come with me."
They made it across the hot and dusty town, where people were going about their business and paid no mind to the young hero and the town's shaman as they went to his house next to the Sanctuary. It was dark and cool inside the home, and once they stood in the space between the living room and the front medical office, Renado clasped his hands together inside of the voluminous arms of his robe. "If you are concerned with people hearing what you need to say, then I am concerned. Is Midna with you?"
"No. I have no idea where she is. Now that I've introduced her to people, she usually goes off and does her own thing." He sighed and put his hands on his hips. "It's too bad, because I wanted to tell her too...but I can talk to you first."
"This would not have anything to do with Ilia, would it? I assume that you two are happy." This time when Renado went fishing, he absolutely missed. Oh well, the man's intuition could only be so good.
"No, nothing like that at all. I'm only here with a story to tell because I told her first, before lunch. That's where we were. We went up to the apple orchard to talk where nobody would hear us, and where I could be a big baby if I needed to be." He shook a finger at the taller man. "If you tell me to be in control and act like an adult while I tell you this, I'll pick you up and throw you in the spring."
The shaman looked as if he wasn't sure whether he should laugh or not. "Is that a joke?"
"Halfway to one." Link sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Renado, I want you to know that I'm telling you this because I trust you. You're one of the people I trust the most, and because of that you're the only person I'm telling other than Ilia and Midna. You've been telling me that I'm immature, and I need to control my emotions, and I completely agree with you. But listen, there's a reason behind it all, and behind that rage that I have when fighting." He solemnly fixed his blue eyes on the tall man's face. "This is something I hadn't been allowed to speak about while I lived in Ordon. This is about Kasuto, and what happened."
Then he began retelling the story he had told Ilia only a couple of hours ago, starting out calm and in control, but becoming increasingly anxious. His voice trembled, and he began to pace back and forth as he spoke, retelling the fall of Kasuto and how he and his mother left his father behind as they fled. That's when he began to shake, and shortly after that he found himself in tears. He thought it would be easier to tell Renado, but when he had told Ilia she had comforted him the entire time. Here no one was comforting him, and even though he didn't picture what happened as vividly, he unintentionally focused on how it hurt him, unable to push the thoughts aside.
He was halfway through telling Renado about the fairies that refused to help when he had to stop speaking. That was the point that nearly broke him the first time, so it was probably the thing that was the most traumatic. Something that could save his mother's life was right there, just out of reach, and he could do nothing about it. Or perhaps it was because he had only just talked about it, and hadn't quite recovered, even though he had felt relief afterwards.
He stood with his shoulders hunched and pressed a hand to his mouth, and for a moment all he could do was stand there in tears and try to recover. "I'm sorry." he said finally. "I thought it would be easier the second time. I don't know why it isn't."
Much to his surprise, Renado stepped over and put his arms around him as if he was a crying child. In a way he was, and he clung to the man just like one. "Do not apologize. There is no reason for you to say that you are sorry for telling me all of this. Give yourself a moment and continue only if you must. I can already surmise what happened to your mother."
Link sighed and relaxed a bit, the human contact putting him at ease. He knew why he was having a difficult time now, because he was someone who was a very physical person, and touch was comforting. One of his friends was here for him, which was what he needed. He took a minute to calm down as Renado suggested, and continued in a tired voice. "I want to tell you the rest. What happened after we got to Ordon is important too. It made Ilia really angry at her father."
"That is troubling, but I suppose there is a good reason for it." Renado let the younger man step back, but kept a hand on his shoulder. "I will not come to any conclusions until you tell me the rest."
He needed that break, and was able to resume talking about how he helped his mother get to Ordon, and what Bo's decisions were once he got there. Renado listened intently as he kept his hand on Link's shoulder, the shaman's expression changing into one of dismay when he learned that Bo had intended to keep a hurt child on the edge of town and force him to maintain a low profile, even if it was done to protect the town and Ilia.
"I know that's why I say I'm sorry when I don't need to, why I don't believe people when they tell me I've done something well, or why I'm so uncomfortable with the idea of being the hero. I was taught for five years to not draw attention to myself, and to keep my head down while I grew up." He raised his eyes to look at Renado. "I'm pretty sure that if Marnie hadn't died, it would have been different. I think that it was all done because he didn't want his daughter involved with a Hylian, or maybe someone who was part Sheikah."
"I believe that is what it was, yes. There may have been the pretense of protecting the people of Ordon, but he felt threatened by you since you are the same age as Ilia." Renado pulled his hand from Link's shoulder and clasped them inside his sleeves again. "From what Ilia has told me, Bo is a controlling father. He always doted on her, gave her gifts and spoiled her, yet he would limit who she could befriend, and where she could go. As far as Bo knows, she had never gone farther than the river, and knew nothing of the rides that you would take her on into Faron. Ilia has very few friends because of that, just like you. It is no surprise the two of you poured all that you are in one another."
Something Renado said made an idea form in Link's mind, pertaining to something Bo had asked him to do. "Renado...there's something else that Ilia doesn't know, and please don't tell her. About a month before my eighteenth birthday, he approached me and formally asked if I would marry Ilia. I didn't answer him because it was so out of the blue, and I was still seventeen. I had never thought about anything like that before. I know he also didn't ask Ilia at all, and it made me angry that she wouldn't be involved in the decision." He frowned and crossed his arms. "What if he knew there was no way he could keep us apart, and so he decided he'd arrange our relationship, and control how our lives went after that? Adult daughters and sons still answer to their fathers in Ordon, as do sons-in-law."
"It makes sense, and I do not think it is mere speculation. I am not sure of his reasons, but quite frankly I am disgusted with the man. I thought I knew him, and I even looked up to him when I was younger, because he was an adventurer and traveling warrior older than I am." The shaman's face took on a frightening-looking scowl, and his eyes became stony. "I do not think I should speak to him about it, though I truly wish Midna would bring me through the portal to Ordon so I could give him a piece of my mind."
"You're angry?" That was unexpected. Not very much made Renado angry, and the man was intimidating when he was.
"I am angry as a friend of you and Ilia, and I am angry as a father. I cannot imagine not trusting Luda to make her own decisions, and forcing her to abide by a set of rules that I would refuse to explain. I also cannot imagine pushing those rules on Colin, who has grown quite close to her." He looked down at Link. "I am quite surprised that you are not angry as well, since you do have a temper."
"I am, but I've been bending over backwards for the man for years so he wouldn't keep Ilia away from me. I probably will get angry once I actually speak to him about it...which I don't want to do until I've taken care of Ganondorf. Until then, I'd like Ilia to stay here." He smiled. "You have no idea how much she's flourished here. Once she started to remember things and became more confident, that confidence grew. She's so much more independent, and because of that she's so happy. We will have to deal with her father one day, but the two of us might live here and not in Ordon. It could be that getting away from Bo is the best thing the two of us could do."
"I admit, it would make me happy to have you live in this town. I know Kakariko is quite different than Ordon, but you seem like you flourish here as well. The young man named a hero who came here a month ago has changed, and for the better. He is stronger, more confident, and has become a leader." The shaman smirked ever so slightly. "I know you do not take praise well, but please believe me when I tell you all of this. I am proud of how far you have come."
"Don't make me cry again, damn you." He laughed, feeling far more at ease now. "I feel better for telling you things, just like I thought I would. It'll probably be that way when I tell Midna. And maybe one day I'll be able to tell my other friends, and...be normal. I'll still have to learn how to get through the times where things still hurt, but that won't be all the time." Link took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Thank you for listening. I know I'm headed in the right direction, after floundering around like an idiot for weeks. What I need to do won't be affected by my own issues, and I know I have what I need to get through it. I'm finally capable of being the hero I need to be."
Renado smiled warmly at him. "Link, you were always capable of being the hero we need."
Link decided that he wouldn't reveal things to Midna, not yet. Two recollections in one day did help him and while it was cathartic, it was also emotionally draining. This was supposed to be a day of rest for him, so he spent part of it helping Ilia in the kitchen, and part of it playing cards with Telma, Auru, Auren, and some of the Gerudo who had come to the inn to visit. There were a few decks in the Eld Inn for customers, and having another thing to do in the idle town was welcome. There were bottles of wine open, and wisely Shad was not there to partake. Link himself only had one glass, since he knew when to stop.
Later in the evening, Ilia came to his room when he was quietly reading by himself. Midna had decided to leave for the time being with the intent to use her portals and check Lake Hylia to see how they were faring against Bulblin attacks, with the promise that she would be returning after he went to sleep. That left Link to his own devices, and since he didn't want to play cards with drunk Gerudo, that meant he began reading one of the stranger books Queen Lizbeth had, which was about contacting and summoning demons. When Ilia knocked on his door, he had become disturbed enough by his reading material he was glad for the distraction.
What a distraction she was, too. At first she came in to simply talk, and he told her of what he did at the Temple of Time. She listened with quiet awe when he described how he had opened a gateway to the past, laughed a bit when he told her of how he had unintentionally taught Junior a naughty word, and patiently listened while he told her of Rusl's fears, and of his own. That's when she started being distracting.
At first it was nothing, just the same kissing and cuddling as the night before. It didn't take very long for things to go off the rails and begin to turn out as they had in the apple orchard earlier. He knew that they were alone, and the group drinking wine downstairs most likely did not notice when Ilia went to his room. It seemed harmless at first and he gave her the benefit of the doubt, figuring that what happened earlier wasn't going to be any more than some fooling around. That was why he didn't stop himself, and sailed into new territory where he discovered new things he could do that most certainly got a reaction out of her.
That was what gave him pause. It wasn't what he was doing specifically, but the sounds she made in response. He suddenly was acutely aware of the people on the other side of the door in the common room downstairs, and most likely Shad on the other side of the wall, and he was afraid that they would hear Ilia. Especially Shad, and since he had to spend tomorrow with Shad, he did not want to do so with the possibility the man heard what was going on. To say that would make things uncomfortable would be an understatement.
He had to once again convince her that what they were currently doing was probably not the best of ideas, and once again deal with her frustration, which was far more acute this time. She wasn't angry with him because she knew he was right, and she didn't want Shad knowing either. Still, he didn't want to frustrate her or himself, but he was hung up on the fact that people might know what the two of them did alone together. He shouldn't have cared, but he did.
They went back to laying there talking, and he told her about his ride across Central Hyrule when he was going to the desert. She listened and asked the occasional question, which he would answer. Eventually her questions got shorter and more infrequent, and then stopped altogether. He could tell from her rhythmic breathing that she had fallen asleep, so he shut his eyes and did the same.
"Hey. You really need to stop doing this." Midna's voice was soft as she hovered above their heads. It was dark in the room, other than a little bit of moonlight peeking through a gap in the curtain, so he had no idea what time it was. The lamp had burned out so they had been sleeping for hours. Ilia was sleeping with her back up against Link's chest, and he had his right arm around her. It was how they had fallen asleep.
"You two are really cute." Midna said, flashing her fangs in a smile that was lit by the small amount of moonlight streaming through the window. "I saw you two holding hands earlier, and now this."
"Ugh, Midna. We're not doing it to impress you." He had no idea whether she was poking fun at them or not.
Ilia made a drowsy noise, and began to stir. "What?"
"The jig is up." He kissed the back of her neck. "We've been found."
"It's just Midna." She moved away from him and sat up. "Our little guardian angel."
"Yeah, right." The Twili snorted. "This is the last time I'm helping you. After that, you two have to reap what you sow."
"Well, it was nice when it lasted, anyway." Ilia said, standing up. He had no idea whether she was referring to falling asleep together, or the other things they had been doing. "Are you two leaving in the morning?"
"Yeah." he said. "Whenever we can tear Junior away from everyone. I'm afraid he's going to cry. He's just a little boy."
"Do Oocca cry? They have bird eyes, not human ones." she asked, turning around to look at him and Midna, who was still hovering in the air above the bed.
"I think they do. He recognized that I was crying a little after I had to fight Rusl, and told me 'it's okay'. They look like birds, but they really behave like humans." They even sounded human, despite their small size. He had no idea why they were the way they were.
Ilia gave a little sigh. "I guess I'll get going." She bent over him to kiss his cheek. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Yeah. Goodnight." He felt a bit wistful for just a few minutes before, when she was on the bed with him. Now his chest felt cold.
Ilia quietly slipped from the room, and stealthily made her way down the hall to her own. Midna was absolutely correct, and they needed to stop doing this. This time he intentionally fell asleep next to Ilia, when he could have woke her and told her to go to bed. They were playing with fire, and he did not want to come up with an explanation for the children if they were caught.
He heard a little girlish giggle from Midna, and he rolled on his back to look up at her. "What's so funny now?"
"Just how innocent the two of you are, despite having years building up until now." She smiled and put a small hand over her mouth. "It's adorable. The good boy and his good girl."
Link opened his mouth to retort, but then decided he should talk about the subject with her. "Midna, you're my good friend, so I need to talk to you about something. In fact you're probably the only person I can talk to about it."
"Oh? Then let's hear it."
"It's about Ilia. She really isn't that innocent, and neither am I. Yesterday we were, yes. Today something changed, and I don't know what it was." He put an arm over his eyes so he wouldn't have to look at her, still feeling a bit uncomfortable despite this being Midna he was talking to. "What I do know is two times today we came too close to doing something I don't think we should be doing yet."
"Ah, that's what this is about. I had wondered if you not wearing a shirt had anything to do with it, but I wasn't going to ask." Her voice moved as she came to sit on the edge of the bed near him. "Why do you think you shouldn't?"
"People in town are gossiping about the two of us being a couple. I guess they were doing that before we finally sorted ourselves out, but even if they had assumed we got together sooner, they still know that the two of us haven't been together for very long. And, well...I'm the one guy everyone is looking up to now that the royal family isn't around. I completely understand that the way we've been behaving isn't unusual for people our age, but others aren't going to know that. They aren't going to know how long the two of us knew each other, and they're going to be very judgmental." He sighed, hoping he was making sense. Midna already didn't see eye-to-eye with him on the subject, so he didn't know if she'd understand or not.
"I think I know where this is going. You're the Hero of Hyrule, but you don't want to seem like you're using your clout to get women to sleep with you." She patted his arm. "Am I right?"
"You do understand, good. I wasn't sure if you'd get it because…" He wasn't quite sure how to say it.
Midna said it for him. "Because I'm not shy about the subject, unlike you?"
"Yeah, although I'm suddenly a lot less shy, and that's the problem. I'm supposed to be this...paragon of goodness and virtue. People twice my age look up to me, and if they find out, they're going to think I'm just some dumb kid who can't control himself." He gave a humorless, awkward laugh. "Which I kind of am."
"You were worried about people not seeing you as somebody human, and now that you're considering doing one of the most human things there is to do, you're afraid of what people think?" Midna laughed, and he could feel his face turn hot at her laughter. "Come on, buddy...don't get all flustered. I get you're a bit on the conservative side, but this is your call, you know? I'm not involved in any way."
"I know that it's my call, I'm just frustrated. I had finally gotten myself sorted out today, and I was feeling better about myself and where my life is...and then suddenly Ilia decided she can't wait. And now I feel like I'm making her unhappy." He removed his arm from across his eyes and stared at the ceiling. "I don't want to do that to her but she's so damn eager. I'm afraid of my friends finding out. Well, the rest of them." He considered telling her of how he was afraid that Shad would hear them, but that was far too much information for him to share.
"I suppose Ashei would give you a hard time if she did find out, but Miss Don't Touch Me isn't one to talk. Don't worry about what your friends think if they find out." The Twili stood and moved closer to sit next to his head, and she started to pat at his hair. "You're a really self-conscious guy, and I get that. No matter what you do, you haven't wanted people to know what you were up to because of how they'd react. It's okay to put your foot down and say no, and it's also okay to be really frustrated about the whole thing because you want to say yes."
Link shut his eyes, and thought about it. She was just repeating what he told her, but hearing her say it back helped reaffirm his decision. "I'm glad you don't think I'm being a stupid prude or anything."
"I've watched this side of you gradually change so I can say that no, you're not being a prude. You're being smart." She tucked a lock of hair behind one of his ears. "Don't worry too much and go back to sleep. We have a teleporter to use in the morning, and then a dragon to deal with after that. You need to be rested up, hero."
Author's Note: Please remember to stop binging if you have been doing so. Rest your eyes!
