Hello folks, its that time again! Don't have much to say to introduce this chapter, so well get right to it!
"You know, a while back if someone were to ask me, 'Nabooru, what's the strangest thing you've seen lately?' It would probably be that time Togau got turned into a Lynel..."
Nabooru sighed out as she, Aviel, Nemisa, Ruto and Saria all sat in the dining room that morning, along with Link who was now the size of a small boy. He was currently wearing the yellow vest that Togau had lent out to Saria for modesty.
"Now I'm sitting here telling myself it's that my king has been turned into a ten-year old boy." she said, putting her palm against her forehead.
"I can't believe what I'm seeing, he looks exactly like he did back when we were growing up in the forest!" Saria said in astonishment.
"So... not that I'm expecting a completely accurate answer about this from you or anything Link, but... what happened to you?!" Nabooru asked.
"I have absolutely no idea." sighed Link, "I went to bed, slept with Ruto, had a drink of alcohol, and woke up like this!"
"You know it sounds really weird hearing that from you right now." Nemisa said sweatdropping as she watched Ruto hold the ten-year old Link on her lap, and was hugging him affectionately.
"Oh you're too adorable Link!" Ruto giggled, "You look just like how I remembered you all that time ago!"
"And you're not exactly making it any less weird!" Nemisa exclaimed in frustration.
"Calm down Nemisa, I called over Sarami, and she should be here soon to examine him." Nabooru said.
"Heeeeee, Link's really cute like that." grinned Aviel, leaning forward on the table, "I wanna hug'm!"
"Are you doing okay Link?" Saria asked worriedly. She just couldn't get her eyes off of him, it felt like time had somehow rewound for her friend.
"I guess so. Don't feel any different except shorter." Link nodded, feeling at his body. "What about you? Are you alright from what Kesuta and Korume did to you yesterday?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure..." Saria said, looking to the side as memories of what she did to Link came flooding back, "They had asked me to meet with them about something, then Korume used some weird spell on me..." she closed her eyes and put a hand to her head, "Oooh, I can't believe they did something like that to me!"
"I'm just glad you're alright." Link told her, reaching out and patting her hand, "I was afraid it would have had lasting effects on your mind."
"O-Oh... uh... thanks..." Saria blushed bright red at his attempt to comfort her, "Speaking of minds though, how about yours? Did becoming a child have any affect on the way you think?"
"Don't think so." Link said, "I still have all my memories, including my battle skills and my relationships to everyone."
"That's a big relief." Aviel said, "I was afraid we were going to have to reteach you how to use the bathroom or something."
"Hello everyone, good morning!" Sarami called out, walking into the dining room, "Now what is it you called me here for Nabs? Did one of you catch the flu or-"
Sarami dropped her medical bag to the ground as she stood in shock of the small boy on Ruto's lap, easily recognizing him despite how different he was from normal..
"T-That... that's..." Sarami stammered with her jaw lowered and her glasses gleaming, giving her eyes an unreadable expression.
"Yeah, that's about how we reacted to it as well." Nabooru said nodding.
Sarami slowly walked up to Link and Ruto, staring down at the young looking Link, "Link, you're... you've become..."
"Is it weird?" Link asked.
"SO CUTE!" squealed out Sarami, scooping Link up out of Ruto's grip and hugging him tightly. The young Link scrambled around frantically as his face was being pressed into the doctor's large breasts, "You're too cute Link! You're so small and precious and I just want to take you hooome!"
"I know right?" Ruto giggled to the doctor.
"That reminds me of when I was first introduced to everyone here." Saria said sweatdropping.
"Someone save our king from being smothered already!" shouted Nemisa in a panic.
"Now then, let's see..." Sarami said, putting a tongue depressor into Link's mouth, before checking his heart beat and then his reflexes, "Aside from the obvious, nothing seems to be physically wrong with you..."
"Can you please examine Link without him having to sit on your lap, Dr. Sarami?" Nemisa asked.
"Absolutely not, this is essential to my examination!" Sarami stated, though everyone seemed dubious about that, "So you mentioned before that all your mental faculties are still intact?" Sarami then asked Link.
"I'm pretty sure they are." nodded Link, blushing a little as Sarami was examining inside his ear with a cotton swab, taking a moment to clean out the insides of it.
"Hm, well I can say for now you have a clean bill of health then Link-sweetie!" nodded Sarami, then reaching into her bag and pulling out a small piece of candy, "Here, this is for being such a good little boy!"
"Uh, thanks Dr. Sarami..." Link sighed with embarrassment as he accepted the candy out of good gesture, despite not being very fond of candies like that. He then tossed it to Aviel who caught it in her mouth while Sarami wasn't looking.
"So just what do you think could have happened to make him end up like this, Sarami?" Nabooru asked.
"I'm not entirely sure..." Sarami said, tapping her cheek in thought, "Did anything odd happen last night to you after we all left?"
"Not really, we swam at the pool, me and Ruto spent the night together, Saria had a-" Link cut himself off in that moment, not wanting to embarrass Saria by bringing up the hypnotism incident from last night. But it was then he remembered something from last night he had done to get his mind off that very thing, "Wait, I did have some of that chu jelly drink mix you gave me for my birthday in the middle of the night..."
"You don't think there was something in the drink, do you?" Saria asked worriedly.
Nabooru grimaced as she thought on that note.
"What do you mean, like maybe Sarami put salt into it like Kesuta did with the cookies?" Aviel asked.
"How the hell would salt make him younger?!" Nemisa asked her partner.
"No, that was just regular mixed chu jelly with alcohol. I don't know how it could possibly yield a result like this-" Sarami cut herself off with a moment of realization, "Unless..."
"Oh no..." Nabooru rolled her eyes, "Let's just hear it Sarami."
"Well, one of my assistants told me this morning that she was cleaning a few days ago and knocked over a few bottles. Nothing seemed to have been broken, but she must have gotten two of the chu jelly capsule batches I was working on mixed up..." Sarami said.
"Figures." sighed Nabooru, "But how could it make such an absurd reaction? I've never seen something like this before."
"To be honest it was something I found in the Gerudo Blood Alchemy Arts book. I was experimenting on medical potions with different combinations to combat the effects of the rebellion's power tonic, as well as a few other medical cures I've been working on... For it cause a reaction like this it's possible the purple chu jelly I used for the mix drink was mixed up with the teal blue mixture that I've been working on for..."
Sarami paused for a second on that note, before looking to the others who were staring at her waiting for an explanation, and a drop of sweat went down her head as she realized just what mixture she was working on might have caused this.
"Ah ha ha, so this was all just an accident! I'm so sorry!" Sarami said trying to laugh it off.
"You have to be kidding me..." Nemisa sighed, "So you did this to Link with your chu alchemy experiments?! You better have a way to change him back!"
"Yes, I can't have my husband looking like this on our wedding day, no matter how cute he is!" Ruto said as she had taken him from Sarami earlier and was back to hugging him affectionately again.
"Now I think I know how Selil felt yesterday." Link said with spiraling eyes.
"No worries, no worries..." Sarami clarified, "That particular jelly is a testing prototype and quite temporary, it should wear off in about a day's time!"
"Well that's a relief to hear at least." nodded Link.
"Hm, alright then. Until Link changes back though we should probably keep him in the palace for his own safety." Nabooru said.
"Safety? From what?" Ruto asked.
"Well you see, while his mentality is still intact, he's physically about as weak as an actual ten-year old, so he should probably try to avoid engaging in combat for now." Sarami explained.
"I could hold my own pretty well back when I was this age." Link said, "But I know my limits, and I don't think I'd do too well against opponents like the tougher desert valley monsters or the rebels that have been popping up lately."
"Especially after what happened with those girls yesterday." Saria pointed out, referring to the four flasher girls who tried to take off with him even when he was still an adult.
"Ugh, that's right. Imagine how some of the citizens of town would react if they knew Link was so small and defenseless!" Nemisa said slapping her forehead, "It'd be like a single Remo in a whole town of women like his girlfriend Usaulu!" she said, referring to the former Wyvern Keeper slaver Remo who was in a relationship with the Gerudo guard Usaulu, of whom often boasted about being dominate over him in bed.
"That might be even more dangerous then the rebels." Ruto said sweatdropping as she imagined young Link being backed up in a corner with multiple hungry looking Gerudo women surrounding him.
"Yeeeaah, I think just to be on the safe side, we're going to have to figure out something to do to protect what's left of Link's innocence..." Nabooru said.
"Hey!" Link shouted.
Nabooru pondered, taking a moment to look at the vest Link was wearing, then grinned wickedly, "Oh Saria, could I ask something of you...?"
"Huh?" the Kokiri girl asked.
"Oh my water goddess Lophela..." Ruto gasped out with her hands to her cheeks in shock.
"Not bad." chuckled Nemisa.
"Why he looks absolutely perfect Nabs!" Sarami squealed out.
"She you mean." Nabooru grinned.
"I can't believe this is happening... yet again." Link sighed.
Everyone looked in marvel of Link as he was now; he was wearing one of Saria's children-size Gerudo outfits, colored green like his old tunic was. He also wore a hood and veil to cover any possible masculine features, along with some extensions to his hair to make it look longer, and they even made sure to cover his loins so it would be impossible for anyone to notice he was a boy down in that area.
"I think he looks cuter in pink and light blue, but this is pretty nice!" Aviel said.
"Wow Link, Aviel told me about how you had to go undercover as a girl a couple times, but this is my first time seeing it!" Saria giggled, "You look good!"
"Gee, thanks." Link said sarcastically, pulling at the top a little. They had even gone so far as to put small bits of cotton in the top to make it seem like 'she' was an early bloomer.
"Well now that that's resolved for now, it's time to get onto our next order of business." Nabooru said, as the group went to sitting down around the dining room table, "The main reason I'm concerned for Link's safety right now is because my guards have just informed me of a matter involving a recent rebel attack on the town early this morning."
"Ugh, those rebels are like ants lately." Nemisa said, "They won't leave us alone."
"Least we're capturing a number of them in the process." Link pointed out.
"Yes, however while the guards were able to fend them off, there was something unusual about the attack, namely that they seemed to have anticipated the guard's patrol route this morning. They knew the guard's exact open spots to launch such an assault on that end of town." Nabooru said.
"They couldn't just be studying the guard's daily routes, could they?" Saria suggested.
"That's the thing, to avoid that sort of thing from happening, I've been having Reirousa and the captain of the guards work out different routes each day of the week randomly. Yet somehow they figured out the perfect opening to launch an attack this time." Nabooru said.
"So they knew the route in advance, but how could they possibly have that information?" Nemisa asked.
"I've been looking into various possibilities, and as much as I hate to say it, there might only be one..." Nabooru muttered with her eyes closed. She then opened her eyes and spoke out.
"We may have an undercover mole in our town."
The others gasped out in shock.
"Wait... we have a mole problem?" Aviel asked, "Couldn't we just have our pest control spray them or something?"
Everyone else collectively faulted over backwards from Aviel's suggestion.
"Not that kind of mole!" Nemisa shouted.
"Ugh, by mole I mean a spy, someone living within our town as one of our own and reporting information on our tactics." Nabooru sighed.
"You're kidding me... like one of our own sisters...?" Aviel asked, getting visibly upset by this news. Saria frowned and patted her back to try and comfort her.
"Oh my, any idea who it could possibly be?" Sarami asked.
"Maybe one of the rebel prisoners you've captured is somehow sending out messages?" Ruto asked.
"Good guess, but they're all under lock and key. I made the rebel prison underground so that sort of thing couldn't happen." Nabooru said. "In fact, I have someone I want to reintroduce to you all to in order to elaborate." she then called out, "Bring her in!"
With that, everyone turned and saw two guards wielding halberd weapons escort in a familiar Gerudo woman. She was of modest size, with her red hair pointing out to the sides. Her attire was a typical Gerudo outfit, but colored with odd black and white horizontal stripes, and topped off her outfit with a hood colored and striped just like her outfit. She also wore handcuffs with a long chain linking them together.
"Um, hello everyone." the Gerudo spoke out with a polite bow.
"Oh hey, it's Maukai!" Saria exclaimed upon recognizing the former rebel they had fought and captured back at the Hall of Knowledge.
"Hey squirt." Maukai gestured to Saria with a friendly wave before sitting down with everyone, the two guards staying at her sides to protect everyone just in case.
"Wait, what's that rebel prisoner doing here? She's not the mole is she?!" Nemisa exclaimed, looking like she was about to attack Maukai if she tried anything against Link or Nabooru.
"Down girl." Nabooru said, lowering her hand to motion Nemisa to calm herself, "I called her here for the meeting. She's been helping us out by doing some undercover work of her own."
"Huh?"
"It's part of my rehabilitation." Maukai said, "I'm acting as an informant for Lady Nabooru, pretending that I'm still with the rebels in order to pry any information I can get out of the other prisoners."
"Oh, so you're basically being a prison snitch then?" smirked Ruto.
"Yeah, guess I am." Maukai grinned, then looked around a bit, "So where's the king anyway? I kinda wanted to see him again."
"He's... well..." Nabooru started, not exactly wanting to reveal what happened to Link to anyone else. Not that she didn't trust Maukai at all, but just to stay on topic and avoid a hassle, "...unavailable right now."
"He's ill at the moment. That's why I'm here, to check on him." Dr. Sarami spoke up, "He has a case of acute viral rhinopharyngitis!"
"Rhino-fairy what?" Maukai asked in confusion, with some concern in her tone, "That isn't lethal is it?"
"It's just a cold." Sarami clarified, adjusting her glasses.
"Should have just said that from the beginning." Nabooru said sweatdropping
"Oh I see, hope he gets better soon then." Muakai nodded, then took a moment to look over to Link sitting by Nemisa, "So who's that other cute little girl?"
"That… is uh, Nemisa's cousin." Nabooru fibbed.
Link just waved to Maukai with a shy expression in his eyes as he huddled close to Nemisa.
"She's just shy." Nemisa explained, patting Link on the shoulder.
"Huh. Alright." Maukai said staring at the girl, feeling as though she recognized her for a second, before shaking it off.
"Now can you please tell everyone here about your report Sister Maukai?" Nabooru asked.
"Well I've been working to confirm Lady Nabooru's theory she had; asking around the prison about there being a possible spy in the town. Most of what I got were rumors, but certain things started coming together, and while I still have no idea who it could possibly be right now, I can confirm we do indeed have a single undercover mole here. Also, if from what I heard is true, they've been hiding out here since just before King Link arrived in town."
"Oh my!" Sarami spoke out, "A rebel has been here for this long?"
"Just as I thought…" muttered Nabooru, "It makes perfect sense considering what happened the night after Link first came here to Gerudo Town."
"What do you mean?" Saria asked.
"After Link came to this town and I declared him the future king, he was attacked the very next night by an assassin called The Slicer." Nabooru said, "It's what led to me appointing Aviel and Nemisa as his personal bodyguards."
"The Slicer... it's been a long time since she's been brought up..." Nemisa muttered.
Link didn't say a word, but grimaced as he thought how obsessed The Slicer was with trying to kill him, not to mention her devoted loyalty to her leader Mother Eclipsis, even going so far as to take her own life when she was finally beaten to avoid being captured.
"Ugh, that's right. That lady was so weird and scary..." Aviel shivered, "Me and Link would have been in trouble if it weren't for Nemisa."
"I was confused for the longest time how they were able to find out about Link so soon, but this definitely confirms my theory." Nabooru said, then spoke to Maukai, "And you said there's only one mole?"
"Yup, my sources confirmed it." nodded Maukai, "Whoever it is, they were told by Mother Eclipsis to lay low for awhile after The Slicer's failure and you guys stepped up security around here. Whatever you've been doing to strengthen the walls around the town have been pretty effective at keeping them out for the most part too."
'The Sand Rod,' Link thought to himself, recalling the magical device Nabooru had them get from the Gerudo Wastes to manipulate sand. It was where they had met Reirousa, as well as becoming aware of the Ebony Sisterhood rebels to begin with. The rebels they fought out there never mentioned anything about the Sand Rod, so it was possible they didn't even know about it's existence.
"And now that they're getting more desperate, it seems the mole must be stepping things up on her end again. That explains the attack this morning." Nabooru scowled, "Is there anything else you got?"
"Well it's just a rumor at this point, but I'm hearing that the mole might be of Sheikah blood." Maukai said.
"You mean someone like Ms. Impa?" Saria asked.
"Interesting, that could explain their ability to be so covert in town, especially if they were proficient in Sheikah techniques." Nabooru nodded.
"The only half-Gerudo half-Sheikah I know of is my martial arts mentor, though she would never do something like this, plus she's been gone from here for years." Nemisa pondered.
"I'm not familiar enough with Sheikah genetic traits to be able to tell them apart from our own people. It might behoove us to get in contact with Ms. Impa about this, maybe she can help give us some information on just what they might look like." Sarami pointed out.
"That would be great, I'd love see to Impa again! She showed me a few Sheikah tricks back at the resort when she was teaching me to make bombling arrows!" Aviel said, "One was using common household objects to conceal weapons, like a sword or those kunai things!"
"Ugh, great... so until we catch this mole, we better be even more careful, if we lower our guard we could be attacked by a killer flower pot." Nemisa sighed.
Aviel paused on that note and looked over at a potted plant in the corner of the dining room, narrowing her eyes at it, and motioning her hands to point at her eyes and the pot to show she was watching it.
As the others continued to talk, Link contemplated what he had just been told, and thought about that strange woman with the angry scowl he and Saria ran into outside of the diner the other day...
'Could that have possibly been the spy...?' Link thought to himself.
"So Ms. Maukai, was it? If you don't mind my asking, what was it that made you decide to defect from those dreadful rebels to begin with?" Ruto spoke up.
"Well don't tell him I said this... but honestly, I think it was King Link that made me think differently about everything going on." Maukai admitted.
Link's eyes lit up from hearing that.
"He could have just had me and my sisters killed back in the desert for our open defiance like Ganondorf would had, but instead he spared us all, and accepted us into this place…" Maukai played with the chains of her handcuffs a little absentmindedly, with a light blush on her cheeks as she continued.
"You all seem to have created such a great town here, and the people seem so happy. Even after King Link admitted to what he had done to get Ganondorf arrested, you all continue to support him. While a number of the girls in prison may still be loyal to the Ebony Sisterhood, I think as far as me and my own team are concerned, we wanna be a part of this peaceful life as well."
Link couldn't help but smile softly at Maukai's words. He recalled yesterday when he saw the citizens living their lives in town, and he too wanted Maukai and all the other rebels to do just the same.
"That sounds just fine Maukai, and thanks so much for this information." Nabooru nodded, "I'll take this into consideration during your next hearing."
"Sorry I can't get any more information besides this for now." Maukai said, "But a lot of the rebels are pretty tight-lipped. I was lucky to get that alone without them starting to suspect me."
"Good work, just keep us posted if you have anything new, Sister Maukai, but be careful." Nabooru said.
"Yeah, thanks Lady Nabooru." Maukai said with a small smile.
With that, Maukai bowed her head and she was escorted off back to her prison. She took a moment to look back at everyone, with one eye in particular on 'Nemisa's cousin', before being hauled off. Link paused in thought, then took that moment to whisper to Nabooru, who nodded and got a guard's attention.
"See to it Maukai discreetly gets a nice treat with her meal tonight, as a sign of good gesture from our king." Nabooru whispered to the guard.
After Maukai and the prison guards had left, the group sat around the table talking a little more about the situation with the rebels.
"Ugh a mole, that's rather dangerous..." Ruto sighed, "Especially now with what's happened to Link."
"I don't like having to feel unsafe, but at least this will just be until I change back to normal." Link said.
"It would had been nice if we had at least some more information to go on about the rebel's actual identity." Nemisa said, "Did you get anything else from the other prisoners?"
"No, as Maukai said, the rebels have for the most part been pretty silent, so we've been having to resort to more extreme measures to get information out of them lately." Nabooru said, "Sometimes my interrogation team tries deceiving them into thinking they want to defect to the rebels to get them on their side, we've tried having some of our naggiest elders berate them into submission, we've even tried the good knight/bad knight routine once, but that just led to the interrogators fighting among each other..."
"Sounds difficult Nabs." Sarami said sweatdropping.
"It's not easy, I'll tell you that." sighed Nabooru, "Mother Eclipsis seems to have a silver tongue that can influence many of our people to her whims with undying loyalty... and I fear we may have to resort to other measures for information soon..."
"Like what exactly?" Link asked with a worried sensation.
"Well... this is just an idea on the table at the moment..." Nabooru seemed somewhat hesitant as she spoke, "But I'm... looking into the idea of using hypnotism to pry information from the rebels."
Link's eyes widened as he looked to Nabooru, and Saria herself looked rather startled as well.
"Hypnotism? So is that the reason why Kesuta and Korume were practicing it?" Nemisa asked raising an eyebrow.
"That's correct, I had them consult their family bloodline's secret mystic arts to see what they were capable of." Nabooru nodded, "I just didn't think they would use it on Saria like that the other day."
"Now just wait a minute, I don't recall being told anything about this at all!" Link stated, "You're not seriously thinking about doing something like brainwashing the rebels are you?"
"That really does seem wrong Lady Nabooru! It's one thing to fight and imprison our people to save them from the Ebony Sisterhood, but to mess with their minds?" Aviel exclaimed.
Saria said nothing, but looked down and thought about what exactly the mystic twins had done to her the other day...
"I'm not sure what to think about that myself..." Ruto muttered.
"Now wait a minu-" Nabooru started, but Link continued.
"I can't believe you'd even think to stoop to that after all those rumors about you!" Link shouted angerly, referring to the stories told by the Hylians he had once spoken to outside of the valley as a child, that Nabooru was supposedly a hypnotist capable of making others bend to her will, "You're not going to turn them into something like what Saria went through yesterday are you? You may as well be torturing them at that rate!"
"Link-sweetie, please stop!" Sarami pleaded, hating to see him like that.
Link ignored Sarami and continued to shout, "And what about what happened to you, when Twinrova hypnotized you into becoming their servant for seve-?!"
It was then Link realized what he was about to say and cut himself off, confusing the others. He gulped a little and looked downwards, afraid of how close he had come to exposing the secrets he had yet to tell any of them...
Nabooru looked down at Link oddly; while Twinrova had indeed captured her back in the Spirit Temple about eight years ago and were intending on making her their hypnotized servant, it never actually happened to her. She had even discussed with Link she was fine, back when he has expressed concern that they had influenced her mind in any way. One thing that bothered her though, was she found the way he worded what he had just said a bit odd...
The Gerudo leader then just let out a sigh and spoke out to clarify her idea.
"Look, it's not as bad as you might think it is Link. We're not outright planning to brainwash them, altering who they are, or anything like that. We're merely planning to use hypnosis to make them confess to things that they would otherwise not want to say. It's not so much changing their way of thinking, but to force the truth out of them." she explained.
"Hm, I think I see where you're going with that now." Ruto pondered, tapping a finger against her cheek, "In theory it's not too different from how the Lens of Truth works."
"The what of what?" Aviel asked.
"The Lens of Truth," Ruto repeated, "According to my tutors you see, Sheikah can use shadow magic to hide and camouflage temple passageways and treasures. The Lens of Truth is a item created by the ancient Sheikah to see through that very magic. What it sounds like Nabooru is trying to do is expose the hidden secrets the rebels hold, much like the Eye itself exposing the secrets of temples."
"Yes, that's a good comparison, Ruto." nodded Nabooru in admiration.
"Um, I guess that's one way to look at it..." Aviel muttered, still a bit uneasy about it.
Link understood what Ruto said fully himself. He had discovered and wielded the Lens of Truth in Kakariko Village, which was an invaluable item in his journey to stop Ganondorf, even in the dark future. He had entrusted the item to Impa before he went off on his seven year journey.
"Keep in mind what these rebels intend to do, my love." Nemisa said to Link, "They want to kill you and Lady Nabooru, take over this town and our people, and free their demon king so he can conquer all of Hyrule. I understand your concern, but these rebels aren't playing games with us, so we can't hold back against them."
Link frowned a bit. As much as he still didn't like the idea, it was indeed much more different then what he had originally assumed. And Nemisa had a solid point about how far the rebels were going, as he thought about Boss Faurugo, the miner woman Maukai had been protecting who died from he power tonic, and the power of the Hinox who the rebels had used to experiment the drug on...
But he still contemplated what happened to Saria just the other day that made her act so weirdly. Not to mention another time back when he was in the dark future, running into a powerful dark knight in a temple, and the one that turned out to have been wearing the suit of armor...
"I'm... still not so sure about doing this..." Link muttered, "I understand your reasoning, but I need to think about it some more before I can approve of using that power on the rebels."
Nabooru just paused, seeing the somewhat sad look in the young Link's eyes. It seemed as though this really bothered him more then she thought it would, for more then just the rumors about herself or what happened with Saria, but she couldn't quite determine what it was...
"...it's fine Link." nodded Nabooru after a moment, "You're our ruler now, and you have the final say in what we do." she sighed a bit and bowed her head, "I apologize for trying to overstep my boundaries Link."
"It's no problem, thanks for being understanding Nabooru." Link said nodding his head to her.
After a brief moment, the two of them shared a small hug together. Though they had their share of disputes and differences in the past, they were so close now it never took too long before they made up with each other. Aviel, Nemisa, Saria, Ruto and Sarami all had relieved look on their faces, to see the two of them come to an understanding like that.
"Aww, the two of you are so close. You're going to make Link a fine Grand Queen someday Nabs!" giggled Sarami.
The two of them broke the hug upon hearing that comment; Link folding his arms behind his head with a sheepish grin, while Nabooru just sighed, putting a hand to her head. Everyone laughed out loud at their embarrassed faces, sweeping away the tense mood from before.
"Well then, with that out of way, shall we continue with the meeting?" Ruto spoke up, clapping her hands together, "I'd like to discuss matters involving setting the alliance with my people! We'll be meeting with them over at Zora Coast three months from now!"
"Alright then, please do Ruto." Nabooru said nodding.
As everyone continued to speak among each other, Saria meanwhile was focused on the hug Link and Nabooru just had, seeing Link in the form of a child being hugged by the adult-sized Nabooru made her think back to the hug Link gave her just the other day after she gave him her gift. It had been warm and comforting, and she was happy to see how the others like Nabooru took to his embrace. Aviel would often tell her how nice his hugs were for her as well.
She then recalled what Sarami said about Link wanting to make Nabooru his Grand Queen. It was clear even when they had squabbles like just a moment ago, the bond between the two was so tight that they could never stay mad at each other for long. They were perfect for each other as far as Saria was concerned...
...and Saria hoped someday that she herself could join the two in their royal family, not just to be with Link, but with Nabooru, Nemisa, Togau, the twins, Ruto... and the other women Link had his eye on. As much as she wanted to be with Link, she also wanted to feel that inseparable bond that they all shared together.
But then she thought about what Nabooru had said before, about the hypnotism she was having Kesuta and Korume learn, and something else bothered her in that moment... about what happened the other night when she jumped on Link...
"Saria, you okay?" Link asked.
"Oh yes, it's nothing. Please continue." Saria spoke up, putting those thoughts aside and focusing on the meeting instead.
And now Link is back to crossdressing... again.
That ends the chapter for now. I'm cutting it off a little earlier then I planned since I'm trying to keep to a certain limit of how long each chapter is, and before I started proofreading it was going to be more than 20 pages long. I was curious how you guys take to each chapter, like if you feel like they've been too short lately or if you prefer the length being quick and easy to absorb. Let me know how you feel about the content in the comments or though private messages. Your feedback is always appreciated!
Next time around, Link spends some more time in his new child form, including he and Saria having a nostalgic blast from their past! Stay tuned!