Chapter 64 is finally up, enjoy!
"We're so sorry King Link!" exclaimed a Gerudo mother.
"We didn't recognize you at first and thought you were working with the rebels!"
"Ah-ha-ha, it's seriously okay everyone, now please stop grabbing at me, I'm a littl- YEOW! ...sore..."
Link was sitting in Dr. Sarami's medical clinic, covered in cuts and bruises, and his face was swollen in various places. Ironically these injuries were not due to the battle against the rebel Nilonu, but because of all the Gerudo mothers who had burst into the classroom only to see a tall nude male Hylian with all their children and took immediate action. Thankfully Nemisa and Togau managed to put an end to the massive misunderstanding before Link was beaten up too much.
After everything was straightened out, Nilonu was detained and arrested, while Link, Saria, Fareafu and the students were all brought to Dr. Sarami's clinic for medical treatment. Sarami was in the middle of treating Link's wounds, while at the same time checking him over to make sure he was completely back to normal after changing back from a child.
"I'm glad you're all sorry for hurting Link, but can you please give us some space so I can properly treat him?" Sarami asked with a bit of annoyance in her tone.
The mothers, after learning the details and coming to an understanding of what Link did for their children, were now all crowded around the young king, doing what they thought they could to assist him in his treatment, though some were so anxious to help they were doing more harm then good.
"How about I get you something sweet from the store?" asked one mother.
"Maybe a back massage?"
"Please, let me put some lemon on that wound to soothe it!"
"That's going to do the exact opposite, you idiot!"
"I think I was better off with them beating me up." Link said to Sarami sweatdropping, as the good doctor herself just giggled.
"There you go Link, you should be just fine now!" Sarami then said happily, taking a moment to give him a kiss on the cheek.
"I... uh, didn't get injured on that cheek." Link pointed out with an embarrassed face.
"Fufufu, I know." Sarami said with a playful tone as she got up and walked out of the room to check on the other patients.
"Jees, she's got it bad for you, King Link." said one of the mothers with an amused grin.
"You really think so...?" Link asked, as he recalled what Ilite said about her before.
"Yeah, I'm impressed. I didn't think she'd ever want to fall in love again after what she went through with the old king." the mother nodded.
"Well on that note, now that you're okay, you wanna go spend some time with us...?" asked one of the mothers suggestively, tickling Link's chin.
"Ah well... I actually have to go do... uh, things." Link stammered as he got himself up and stumbled out of the room before they got any more touchy with him, while a nurse came in to ask the mothers to leave their children to Sarami and her staff overnight. They were all a bit hesitant, but complied.
"My darling husband!"
As soon as Link stepped into the hallway, he was greeted with a loud squealing, as Ruto grabbed onto Link and squeezed him, "It's so good to have you back to your old self!"
"Hey there Ruto." Link cringed a bit from her pressing on some of his injuries, "Glad to be back."
"I just wanted to make sure you were fine before I take off back to Zora's Domain." the Zora princess said, then drew a serious expression and sighed, "And... I wanted to apologize about what happened this morning with my water trick. I got a little too into using my powers that I forgot my own strength..."
"It's fine Ruto, you just gotta keep it under control, okay?" Link grinned, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"Yeah... keep it under control..." Ruto said with a slightly sad smile, confusing Link.
"Ruto, is something the matter?"
"No, no, it's fine." Ruto said, smiling once again, "I need to go back home now, take care and I'll see you soon, okay darling?"
"You too, have a safe trip." Link nodded.
"Oh, and make sure you treat our little friend Saria right, okay?" Ruto added with a giggle. She gave Link a goodbye kiss and strolled off out of the hospital.
Link paused with a light blush on his cheeks, as he rubbed the back of his head, "Jees, even Ruto knows..."
But he was snapped out of his thoughts by a shout.
"Hey Link! We have a situation!" Saria exclaimed, running down the hall, "It's the students from the classroom!"
'Uh oh.' Link thought as he ran off with Saria.
Link and Saria came into one wing of the clinic occupied by the fourteen other students, they were all being attended to by the nurses, but they all had dazed looks in their eyes still. Along with them was Dr. Sarami examining them as well, and Link saw that Nabooru, Ilite, Ms. Fareafu, and even the rebel Nilonu were there, with the latter being accompanied by two guards. Ilite herself ran right up to Link and clung to the bottom of his vest, trembling into it.
"What's going on, and what's Nilonu doing here?!" Link exclaimed as he put his hands on Ilite's shoulders to try and comfort her.
"It's okay, I permitted her to come here so she could aide us with the students' condition, since she's the best expert on the subject." Nabooru said with her arms folded.
"Come on kiddo, snap out of it!" said Nilonu, too focused on what she was doing to notice Link, she was snapping her fingers in front of one of the girls who was still in a trance, "Damnit, why isn't it working..?"
"Wait, they're still hypnotized?!" Link asked.
"Yes..." sighed Sarami, "Nothing we do seems to be helping them regain their senses... I had a nurse escort the mothers out so they don't worry themselves or attack Nilonu over it."
"I consulted Kesuta and Korume, but since this was caused by science rather then magic, they said trying any spells they've learned so far could potentially make things worse." Nabooru clarified, her face grimacing a bit as she spoke.
"This is terrible..." Saria said sadly.
"N-No one's talking or anything Link! What if they..." Ilite gulped, "...never come out of it?"
"Don't worry, I'm sure they will." Link reassured her, hugging her back, "Nilonu, don't you have control over the hypnotism? You handled it pretty well back at the classroom."
"Normally yeah, but it's never lasted this long in our testing." Nilonu said, waving her hand over one child's eyes, "There must have been something extra in those candies I handed out that I didn't know about."
"So then I was right about the candies?" Link asked.
"Yes Link, Nilonu confirmed with me that the candies were laced with a compound that had a potential mind control effect in them, and could be triggered using the hypnotic disk that was concealed in her sock puppet." Sarami explained.
"One of my more genius tricks, besides that time I prepared curry that can make someone spontaneously strip naked!" Nilonu bragged.
Two seconds later Nilonu's face was embedded in a wall by Fareafu pressing her into it with extreme force
"So that's what happened last month at the staff party!" the teacher shouted angerly.
"Be careful in here, this is a children's ward!" Sarami exclaimed.
"Sorry..." muttered Nilonu with her face embedded in the wall.
"I swear, I didn't think you'd do something so despicable to our class, and betraying me after you and I have known each other for so long!" Fareafu said, narrowing her eyes at Nilonu as the rebel pulled herself out from the wall.
"Hey, I didn't want this to happen! I've tested it before and it usually goes away after a hour or two. I swear I've never seen it last this long..." Nilonu said, sporting a sad, worried look in her eyes.
Fareafu paused, and looked away from the rebel with a heavy sigh.
"I feel so bad for everyone, I wish there was something I could do to help..." Ilite sighed.
Meanwhile, Link looked to Saria and saw was thinking deeply about something to herself.
"What's up Saria?" Link asked.
"Well..." Saria pondered, "I just had a notion... Nilonu, you said there must have been something different about the candy you gave out, does that mean you're not the one making the candy yourself?" Saria asked.
"Nah, that doctor I mentioned before distributes them to me. I give her my notes on hypnotic techniques and then she does all the sciencey stuff." Nilonu said.
"Hm, I'd like to see into this doctor myself." Nabooru said, "If the rebels have an ally like that I'd like to find out who they are and where they got their skills from."
"Is something on your mind Saria?" Link asked.
"Well, it's just... you and I were fine because we didn't eat the candy, but I was just wondering why Ilite is okay." Saria said, looking to her.
"Yeah, what happened was pretty strange, she resisted it a lot better then anyone else back when we were still in the school, and then there was that strange yellow mist she breathed out..." Link said.
"Yellow mist, just like what we saw with the rebel miner Boss Faurugo..." Nabooru pondered.
"I don't know why I was able to resist it... but... I..." Ilite started to speak, but covered her mouth as she started coughing again, "Just a second." she then took one of her chu jelly capsules made for her asthma and ate it.
Saria turned and watched Ilite eat the capsule, the same ones she had been eating since she met the young Gerudo, and that's when an idea occurred to her.
"Wait, Dr. Sarami!" Saria exclaimed, "What if there's something in Ilite's mediation that could be helping her resist it?"
"Huh...?" Ilite asked with wide eyes.
"You mean her asthma medicine? How could that possibly-" Sarami then paused in thought. "Wait a minute... if the combination of herbs and juices I mixed together in the creation of that medicine..."
Everyone watched as the good doctor seemed to be doing some deep thinking, she moved her finger in the air as if she was writing something, "It is very possible it could counter balance..."
It was then Sarami's eyes lit up, and she snapped her fingers, "That's it! Saria, I think that theory could very well be true! If only we had a sample of the candy itself so I could study it's composition and make an accurate comparison!"
"You mean like this?" Saria asked, reaching into her pocket and pulled out the candy Nilonu gave her back in the classroom.
"Yes, this is perfect!" Sarami said, taking the candy, "Just give me a little bit of time everyone!"
Sarami went off into one of her lab rooms as everyone waited for her, doing what they could to help the nurses with the kids in the meantime.
Then about an hour later, Sarami came back in with a delighted expression on her face, she went right up and gave Saria a bug hug, practically squeezing the Kokiri between her breasts.
"Saria you cute little genius, you were right! I did a careful examination, and it does indeed seem that the combination I mixed with the teal chu jelly to create Ilite's asthma medication can actively counteract the formula used in the candy!"
"Mmph!" muffled Saria from the doctor's bosom, while the eyes of everyone lit up, including Ms. Fareafu and Nilonu.
"So that means..." Link said, purposely trialing off so Sarami could give the answer.
Sarami released Saria and spoke happily, "It means with a bit of work, I can use the formula from the asthma medicine to cure these poor children!"
"Oh thank goodness!" Saria said with a relieved sigh, then smiled to Ilite, "Did you hear that? Your medicine helped save everyone!"
"Wow, I didn't think it could do something like that!" Ilite said, "I guess having asthma isn't so bad if it could help everyone else!"
"Nicely done Sarami, as per usual!" Nabooru smirked.
"So they can be helped... what a relief..." Nilonu said to herself with a sigh.
In that moment, the rebel paused and looked out at everyone cheering. She closed her eyes and cleared her throat to get their attention,
"Listen everyone... um, I don't think any amount of butt-kissing on my part is going to take back what I've done to you all. I first came here with the intention of learning the weaknesses of Lady Nabooru and her army, and I was pretty shocked when she announced this guy as the new king." she said gesturing to Link.
"Believe me, I think everyone was surprised, including me." Link said rolling his eyes as Nabooru snickered.
Nabooru then stated, "And it's because of you reporting about Link that your leader Mother Eclipsis sent The Slicer to assassinate him then."
"Yeah, didn't think it would end the way it did with Slicer failing, we really underestimated what you can do, King Link..." sighed Nilonu, "After that I was told to lay low, so I started taking some odd jobs around town to make ends meet, then I got my gig as the teaching assistant."
"You certainly met the qualifications, it's a shame you walked the path you did." Fareafu said.
"But the weird thing is... while I had my loyalty to the Ebony Sisterhood and have wanted revenge for my sister's death, I have to admit overtime I grew to like working with everyone here in town, especially the kids. It's been fun teaching them, helping them with their personal troubles, and making them smile, but I knew it wouldn't last forever... eventually I'd have to leave you all..." Nilonu said, "Guess I just had to force myself to stick to my rebelliousness so I wouldn't have nay regrets..."
"You were torn between your duties and your happiness then..." Link said.
"I know what that's like." Saria said, clutching at her Deku Staff strapped to her back.
It was then Fareafu slowly came up to the rebel and stared straight into her eyes. Nilonu gulped at a bit at the intimidating glare the teacher gave. It was then Fareafu brought up her hand, and swung it right at Nilonu, making the rebel flinch and close her eyes, expecting to be hit again...
But Fareafu just placed her hand on Nilonu's shoulder, and then looked at the rebel with a sincere look in her eyes, catching Nilonu off guard.
"Nilonu, I shall just tell you this; you may be a rebel, and you have committed terrible crimes since you came here, causing our town so much trouble, and indeed what you did to the king and the children cannot be forgiven with a simple apology... but you are still my aide. You have done so much for me, and you are far better with the children then I ever could hope to be."
"M-Ms. Fareafu..." Nilonu stammered with tears starting to form in her eyes.
"As such, your homework assignment is to work hard to reform for as long as it is expected of you. You will assimilate yourself into our society, and when you are ready, return back to the class, the children and I will be waiting for you." Fareafu said, tapping her ruler against her palm.
"...th-thank you, old lady." Nilonu said, with tears starting to stream down her eyes, but still smiling lightly.
Link, Saria, Nabooru, Sarami and Ilite all looked on at the two with relieved smiles of their own at seeing the two make up, and the potential of another rebel joining them in their town. Shortly after that, Nabooru had the guards take Nilonu away back to her prison.
"Oh my, I wasn't expecting that to happen." Sarami giggled in amusement, glad to see her old friend take what she said before to heart.
"What Nilonu did was despicable, but she seems to want to make up for it all and join us." Link said with a nod, "Which is exactly what I want for all the rebels."
"Yeah, I hope she can reform soon, so she and Bow-Wow can come back to class and bring smiles to the children again!" Saria nodded.
Nabooru meanwhile contemplated what was said from Nilonu, and looked somewhat downcast.
"Nabooru, you alright?" Link asked.
"Ah, just fine Link... come on, let's get back home." she spoke.
The next morning, Link, Nabooru, Aviel and Nemisa all arrived at the entrance to the clinic to see how the children were doing, with the hopes that Sarami pulled through with the cure.
"So where did Saria say she was going again?" Aviel asked looking left and right.
"She said she had some important business to do this morning, but she'll meet up with us later." Nemisa said.
When they got to the clinic, they were told by the nurses that the kids weren't in there anymore, and they were refereed to the central garden area of the town. It was there where, sure enough, they saw all the students, once motionless and in a dead-eyed trance, were now all running around happily laughing and playing together, even Ilite was there with them.
"Hi Link!" Ilite called out waving, running over and hugging him.
"Would you look at that, they're all okay!" Link exclaimed happily, kneeling down and giving Ilite a hug back.
"They took some of those jelly things like what I've been having, they burped out some weird yellow gas, and they snapped out it right after!" Ilite said cheerfully.
"As expected of Dr. Sarami, she really pulled it off." Nemisa said nodding.
"Fu-Fu-fufufu, never doubt the power of science!" Sarami said walking up to the group, adjusting her glasses as they gave off an unreadable gleam, "Once I figured out the cure, I mass produced enough chu jelly capsules for all the children, and it cleared the hypnotic formula completely out of their systems."
"You did excellent work Sarami, we couldn't be prouder to call you our finest doctor." Nabooru said with a smirk.
"I owe even more to Link and Saria though, as this incident has also given me a breakthrough in my research of the science the rebels are using against us." Sarami explained, "It turns out the hypnotic candy was made with a very similar compound to the strength-enhancing tonic that the Hinox and the rebel Boss Faurugo had taken, if I can get some more information on the ingredients and how they were put together, we might very well find a cure for the power tonic itself!"
"Being able to counteract the tonic? Now that's even better news!" Aviel said.
"Nice, we can stop the rebellion's secret weapon and save our sisters without them having to lose their lives. This has given us a great new hope for the future!" Nabooru nodded.
"Hey Link, over here!" called out a voice, as they saw Saria and Ms. Fareafu both coming up to the group. Ms. Fareafu was looking to the side with an awkward expression.
"Saria, just what have you been up to this morning?" Link asked.
"Oh, I just went to go speak with Ms. Fareafu here." Saria said, "I could tell she was having a hard time after everything that happened yesterday."
"Hmph..." Fareafu muttered, adjusting her glasses, trying to avoid looking at Link.
Ilite looked over to the two and her eyes lit up, she ran straight for Saria and hugged her tightly.
"Hi Saria, thanks again for everything!" Ilite said.
"Oh, of course! I'm glad to see you're okay after what happened!" Saria said, returning the hug.
"Hey, it's Ms Fareafu!" said one of the students noticing the teacher
"Uh oh, watch out for flying chalk!" said another kid.
"H-Hey now..." Fareafu stammered. "I ain't gonna do something like that, I don't even have any chalk on me...!"
The kids all stood there dubious of the teacher's words, making her more nervous. But Saria patted her arm reassuringly.
"Come on Ms. Fareafu, go ahead. Just say what you wanted to tell them." Saria said.
Ms. Fareafu paused, and nodded nervously to the girl. She gulped a bit and cleared her throat, "Um, listen everyone... there's uh, something I need to tell you all..."
"It's not another pop quiz, is it?" asked one of the students.
"N-No, we ain't even in class!" Fareafu exclaimed, startling the kids again, "No, it's... that I've been doing some thinking recently about my... um, methods as a teacher over the past months... I think in order to instruct you all better, I need to rework my curriculum... and um..."
"Come on, just say how you really fell, Ms. Fareafu." Saria said.
Fareafu sighed and nodded, "Y-Yes, actually, what I'm really trying to say is..."
She then bowed at the waist to all the children before her.
"...I want to apologize for how I've treated you all."
The kids stood there, all bewildered at the change of attitude in their teacher. For just a second, they all recalled seeing her in the classroom, protecting them with her blade ruler from a terrible person, though they couldn't recall all the details due to the hypnotic trance they had been put into.
"I've been too harsh on all of you through the methods I grew up on. I failed to understand the feelings of all you in doing it. So going forward, I... em... would like to do my best to teach you more practical and substantial information that can benefit you all, and I promise to give you the respect you deserve... Knowing that, w-would you be okay accepting me back as your teacher...?"
Fareafu paused, still in the bowing position. She wasn't getting any sort of response from the children, and she worried that nothing she said could take back how she acted towards them...
But it was then Fareafu felt something hugging her around the waist, and looked to see the kids all gathering around and hugging her.
"Everyone..." she whispered, falling to her knees.
"Looks like they forgive you, Ms. Fareafu." Saria said smiling.
"Y-Yeah..." Fareafu said in surprise, before getting down on one knee and hugging the kids back.
"Hey, come on Ms. Fareafu!" one kid then said, tugging on her arm, "Wanna come play with us?"
Fareafu cleared her throat and spoke out, "Erm, I don't exactly pla-" she cut herself off for a moment, before smiling lightly and nodding, "O-Okay."
Then she was yanked off by the kids as they all went to show her the game they were playing.
"Well I'm glad that worked out. Nice work Saria." grinned Link.
"Hee hee, I didn't do too much, I think it's just what she wanted to say." Saria said smiling.
"I just wonder what her attitude was with me and what she told the class about men and myself." Link said.
"Oh, don't take it too personally." Saria said with a small grin, "Don't tell her I said this, but she told me that you reminded her of a guy she used to have a crush on when she was a young girl, but he ran off with another woman with a sexier figure before she could confess to him. She just has a hard time letting it go."
"Huh, I was expecting it to be something deeper then that." Link said sweatdropping.
"Hey Saria, wanna join us?" Ilite asked, gesturing to the kids playing with Fareafu, and Aviel soon joining them in it.
"Sure, okay!" Saria nodded, running off with her.
"Looks like things are going to be alright with them." Link commented as he sat back on a bench alongside Nabooru.
"Wouldn't have happened without your help Link." Nabooru said with a smirk, "Just like many of the things that have happened since you arrived and became our king, you've made a great impact on everyone."
"I guess in a way I should thank Ruto sometime for spraying me out of the palace then." Link snickered.
Nabooru chuckled as well, and took a moment to look out at everyone playing; Saria and Aviel were teaching them how to play Berry Blitz, much to Fareafu and Nemisa's protests. Nabooru just paused as she recalled the trance the children were all in the other day due to the hypnotism and frowned.
"Listen Link... I've been doing some thinking..." Nabooru said, "And in light of what happened with the children, I think maybe you were right about the whole hypnosis interrogation plan I was going to use on the rebels..."
"Oh?" Link asked.
She let out a sigh, "I suppose it reminds me too much of what those terrible witches tried to do to me all those years ago. Because of that, I think I can understand the children's pain as well. I... guess I just feel like sort of a hypocrite for trying to use it on our own enemies..."
Link looked over to Nabooru as she continued to speak, "I only want what's best to stop the rebellion and take back our people, but I wonder if I'm becoming no different then Mother Eclipsis..."
Link didn't say a word at first, but just stared at Nabooru, seeing the sad look in her eyes, and it told him it might have been more then just remembering what happened with Twinrova that was making her bothered by it...
"Well, I'm glad you think of it that way..." Link finally started to speak.
It was then though that Link grinned and patted Nabooru's shoulder, surprising her.
"But I think the way you plan to go about it isn't as bad; not using hypnosis to outright change their way of thinking like Nilonu tried, but just to let the truth be known..." Link told her.
He took a moment to look out at the kids playing together with their teacher, Ms. Fareafu was getting pulled around left and right by the kids. Despite her protests though she didn't seem angry at all.
"... and use that truth for what's really important; to protect everyone, including the future of our people. As for Kesuta and Korume, they may do a lot of pranks, but still I love them both, and I know they'd use that power the right way when it counts... and I know you will too, Nabooru."
Nabooru paused and looked at Link, surprised by the newfound point of view of his. She closed her eyes and smirked at how her young king just kept surprising her even after all this time...
"Alright then." chuckled Nabooru, "I'm still not entirely sure about it, but I'll at least take that into consideration. Now that we might have chance at countering the power tonic, we may not need to relay on it after all, and we'll just leave the hypnosis idea as a last ditch resort. Thanks for saying that Link."
"No problem, you and I are in this together, and if there's one thing important to running our kingdom, it's compromise." Link said.
"Indeed." nodded Nabooru, "And we'll bring about that compromise when he finally meet with the Parliament. But now though, let's enjoy this fine day!"
"Sounds good to me." Link said grinning, as they watched the kids and Aviel playing with an increasingly irritated Ms. Fareafu.
Meanwhile, Saria was speaking to some of the kids about one of the plants growing in the garden, teaching them about how it was planted and grown. Just as she finished and the kids ran off to join he others, Aviel came up to the Kokiri.
"Hey Saria, feeling alright after what happened yesterday?" Aviel asked with a bit of bounce in her step.
"Feeling much better now knowing the children are okay, yes." Saria said nodding.
"I gotta say, that was pretty cool of you to help Ms. Farfig out. I remember being taught by her as a kid shortly after I was brought here and she drove me nuts, but she really seems a lot different now!" Aviel said.
"Her name's Fareafu." Saria said sweatdropping.
"You did great helping Fareafu work up the courage to apologize to them all... but what about you?" the bird girl said grinning, "You ready to say what you've been wanting to tell Link yourself?"
"...yes, I think I'm finally ready." Saria said, looking to Link with a blush on her cheeks.
Late that night after dinner at the palace, Link was standing with his arms folded before Kesuta and Korume, all three of them in the hallway leading to his bedroom. The two witch sisters were both on their hands and knees bowing to Link.
"We're so sorry about what we did to Sister Saria, Link! Please forgive us!" Kesuta pleaded, "We didn't mean to upset either of you like that!"
"We just wished to make you both happy by bringing you together!" Korume said bowing her head.
"Eh... it's alright. I guess you two didn't mean any harm." Link said shrugging, "But like I told you before, I don't want help like that to win over the women in my life, otherwise it wouldn't mean anything. Just be careful about using that power in the future, especially in using it to interrogate the rebels if Nabooru give you the okay to do it."
Link then sported a big goofy grin that lifted the guilt-ridden spirits of the twins.
"All I'm saying is use it responsibly from now on, alright?" he asked.
"Of course, my love!" the two of them both said, bowing their heads once more.
"Okay then, as far as I'm concerned you're both forgiven, I'll talk to Saria later about you two making up with her as well." Link nodded.
"Thank you so much Link!" Kesuta shouted out in relief, getting up and hugging him around his neck, giving him a warm kiss on the lips, before turning and running off back to her and Korume's home.
"You have a good night too, Korume." Link nodded to the ice mystic. He was about to turn and leave when she suddenly spoke up.
"Link, listen... there's something else you should know, about Saria."
"W-What's that?" Link asked with sudden concern.
"Did Nabooru tell you what exactly she wanted us to do with our hypnosis magic?"
"Yeah, interrogating the rebel for information. What about it?"
"The truth is, while we did use hypnosis on Saria, we never changed her way of thinking, we would never go that far, not even for a prank." Korume said, "We merely used the same hypnosis technique we were practicing for the rebels... to force the truth out of them."
Link couldn't help but smile softly, as his thoughts on the two and the use of their powers were affirmed.
But it was then something occurred to him about the way Korume phrased it, specifically about Saria.
"Wait, then does that mean...?" Link trailed off.
Korume explained, "Yes, when we hypnotized Saria, we didn't force her to attack you the way she did, we simply released her inhibitions. In other words; everything that happened that day was what she really wanted to say Link... what she has been too afraid to tell you."
Link was speechless, he looked down and took a gulp. That was when Korume came up and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips. He could feel the cold but soothing sensation from her breath as she pulled away.
"Go to her my husband, she needs you, and I know you need her." Korume said softly, before going off after her sister.
Link stood there motionlessly, in shock of this revelation. He looked down and took a deep breath, and went on his way.
As he went down the hall, he then saw Saria slowly walking down from the other direction. She came to a stop and the two stared at each other.
"H-Hey Saria, can we talk... alone?" Link asked.
"O-Okay..." Saria nodded.
Nabooru, Aviel and Nemisa were all went down the hallway just then as well, but stopped and watched as Link led Saria into his bedroom. The three of them paused, and then silently nodded to each other, before turning and leaving to their own private rooms for the night.
Link walked into his bedroom first and Saria shut the door after them. There was nothing but silence between the two, all they could hear was a few cicadas buzzing outside of the palace from a nearby palm tree that broke the silence.
It was then Link decided to speak up and break the ice.
"Um, so Saria..." Link gulped a bit, "About what happened before, do you really-"
That was when he was caught off guard by something rushing at him from behind and tackling him over, knocking him forward onto his bed of pillows. He quickly turned himself around just as the one who tackled him got onto his waist and sat on him of him, straddling his body with their surprisingly strong legs.
Of course it was Saria, staring down at Link.
"Saria, you're... um, sure you're not under hypnosis again are you?" Link spoke softly.
"No Link," Saria whispered, it was then she started the process of removing her top that covered her chest. Link blushed, and was about to stop her so they could focus on talking instead, but she just pulled off and tossed her top to the side, and sat there with her bare chest exposed to him. Her face was red and there were faint tears in the ducts of her eyes, "It's not hypnotism, not even the day I attacked you. All Kesuta and Korume did was make me be honest with you... everything I've wanted to say... everything I've wanted to do with you for so long."
Link gulped again, it was just as Korume had said a moment ago. He said nothing in reply, but waited to hear what she had to say to him; to be honest with him, and herself.
"I've cared about you for so long Link, I missed you every moment you had been gone on your quests." Saria spoke as she thought of the day she handed him her ocarina and he ran off into Hyrule, "You were gone for so long I thought for a long time that you were leaving me behind forever... that we could never be together, not as friends, or anything beyond..."
In that moment, she recalled one of the dreams she had years ago, of herself running into the Forest Temple, then of her standing in some unfamiliar fountain room of some kind, feeling a great sense of sadness... She never knew what it all was supposed to be, but if it meant feeling as sad as those dreams made her, she frankly never wanted to know.
"But then you came back to me, and you always kept coming back." she continued, thinking back to when Link returned from getting Ganondorf captured, then again when he came back from his seven year journey as an adult, then once more when he saved her from Straw Kid and taking her with him to their new home in Gerudo Town, "...and I realized it was actually me that was always giving up on you."
"Saria..." Link whispered, but Saria put a finger to his lips to quiet him, as she continued to talk her heart out.
"The day the Great Deku Tree brought you into my life, I knew you were a special person, someone I wanted to be best friends with forever, someone I wanted to support and protect. I watched you grow up for ten years from a small baby into a strong-willed boy, and then you came back one day as a strong and mighty man, one that would eventually become the Gerudo King."
She traced a finger along Link's strong chest, then brought her hand up to her own child-like flat chest.
"As for me, I've stayed the same as a Kokiri... even after over four hundred years I still have the body of a child, and I'll be like this for the rest of my life. But despite how much you've changed, and the women you've come to love, you've never turned your back on me, and we've remained best friends all this time."
"Of course we have." Link said nodding.
"But the truth is, I want to be more then that. I don't want you to just see me as the little girl you grew up with, I want you to see me as a woman, a woman with desires! I want to hold and kiss you... I want you to take me with that strong body of yours and make me feel loved like you do with Togau, Nemisa, Kesuta, Korume, Princess Ruto... I want to be a part of all that!"
Tears then started to spill down Saria's cheeks as she finally spoke out the words she had been wanting to say to her cherished best friend.
"Link... I really lik- no, Link, I really truly love you!"
Link was just speechless to hear her finally admit her feelings to him, but before he could even begin to reply she embraced him with her head laying against his shoulder, and her bare, flat chest pressed against his firm muscular one.
"I love you so much, and I want you to love me the same... I want you to touch me and pleasure me like you do with your fiances... I know I don't have a sexy body like any of them, and I can never give you a child, but..." she broke the hug and sat back, looking a him eye-to-eye. "...can you accept me as I am?"
Link took in those words as he gazed down at her. While she did indeed lack the womanly curves of the women he was engaged to, and nowhere near the sexy bodies of his child-bearers, there was a certain something to her body that he enjoyed all the same. Her skin was soft to the touch, and her small delicate frame compared to the big strong women he had been with had fine qualities in itself.
It was then Link wrapped his arms around Saria, holding her small body against his.
"Saria... I'm sorry I made you wait for so long. I've been confused about just what you mean to me. I love being friends with you, but at times I've wondered just what that love I felt for you really was, if you were just my friend, or my family... or something else. You've always stayed by my side and supported me in so many ways that a friend, sister, a mother, or even a lover would, and I've just come to think that how I feel about you can actually be all of that."
Link pulled back and smiled warmly, causing Saria to practically melt as he reached up and stroked her cheek gently.
"Saria, I love you, forever and always as my caretaker, my tutor, my best friend..." Link said, "And I'd be honored to take you as my wife and queen as well."
Saria smiled brightly at those words, with tears still spilling down her tears.
It was in that moment the two leaned towards each other and shared their first kiss together. It was a short quick one at first, but then the two kissed again with more passion. As the two childhood friends started getting more into making out, they both felt a heated sensation between each other. Saria was growing more fascinated with Link's strong physique, while Link enjoyed the feeling of her small, soft body against him. The two started moving their hands around each other. Link's hand trailed behind her and rubbed at her somewhat round rear end, and Saria replied by letting out a slight moan.
It was then Link took her around the waist and flipped her over onto the bed. He propped himself up with his arms as he looked down at his friend, still gripping one of her hands with his own. She was laying back with a flushed face, and her breathing was labored from the make out session. He drew himself into her appearance. While she did look like a child, he knew that was nothing close to who she was really was; she was a woman with desires like any other, and he waned to fulfill every single one of those desires with her, forever.
"Link... please..." Saria whispered, she looked up to him and squeezed his hand tightly, "I want this."
"So do I Saria." Link whispered back, as he leaned down and kissed her again.
Soon enough, the rest of their clothing went flying off and into a pile some distance away from the bed.
And the two childhood friends and lovers shared a wondrous night together...
Morning came, and the sun beamed light down through the window of Link's bedroom, shining brightly on the young couple in bed.
Saria slowly opened her eyes and gazed at the man across from her. He was sleeping soundly as he always had. It seemed after all these years there were many things about Link that never changed, and she couldn't be happier for that.
Then again, at the same time many things about him did change, as she looked over his strong body, and she thought about what he had done with her that night. Though she may not have had the exact same anatomy as a Hylian or a Gerudo, she still had many places on her body similar to that of a human had that brought great pleasure within her, and she found herself wanting more of it from Link the whole night.
Link's time with the other girls had truly made him an expert in love-making. He hit all of her sweet spots that put her into constant pleasure the whole night. Feeling his large strong body holding her in his arms protectively and lovingly, Saria also loved the feeling of him inside of her, and she was looking forward to doing this more often with him.
Saria snapped out of her thoughts as she saw Link's eyes soon open, and he sported a warm smile seeing the lovely girl he had spent the night making love to before him.
"Mornin' Saria." Link said.
"About time you got up, sleepyhead." giggled Saria.
The two shared a morning kiss, stared into each other's eyes for a moment, then leaned their foreheads against each other, making a cute giggle between each other. While they may have been lovers now, they still treated their relationship as naturally like they were the same best childhood friends as always.
"I'm so happy Link, I've always wanted to say how I felt about you." Saria said, "But I never would had thought it could happen, I was always too afraid to say anything, but I'm glad I finally worked up the strength I needed."
"You're changed in a lot of ways Saria, even if they aren't physical. You're way stronger then you thought." Link said softly, "And I couldn't be happier to have you as my wife."
"Oh I wouldn't say that Link," Saria giggled, "I know there's still some more girls you have your eye on, Togau told me all about it!"
"Ah ha... so she mentioned that, huh?" Link asked sweatdropping.
"Yep, I'm glad you're so happy with me, but I think you'll be happier when we've all come together as a family. I want you to make them all as happy as I feel about you, and for them to all make you happy in their own special ways." Saria said with a small nod.
Her thoughts went to several of their friends, namely Lady Nabooru, Sarami, Reirousa and of course Aviel. While Aviel told Saria about how she saw Link as a big brother of sorts, the Kokiri could tell there was a deep desire the bird girl had towards Link. Saria would know, as she had felt something similar for so long...
"Thanks for that." grinned Link, "I admit before you came into my life again I was worried for a while about telling you about my marital situation. I know generally most girls would prefer to have their boyfriend to themselves."
"Yes, but you're not like most boyfriends." Saria said, "You're the Gerudo King, and a hero to everyone, and I'd like to see you surrounded and loved by everyone like you are to me."
Link smiled warmly at Saria, back when he returned to Kokiri Forest those months ago to save her from Straw Kid he never would had thought things would go they way they have. Saria wasn't just his cute little childhood friend anymore, but his beautiful lover and future wife and queen. While she couldn't give him a daughter, neither of them truly cared, and were just happy to be together forever.
"So, think we should get up and greet everyone for breakfast?" Saria asked, now playing with his bleach blonde hair locks.
"This might sound insane coming from me, but I think the food can wait for now." Link grinned, as he moved Saria back under him.
The Kokiri girl giggled as he started going back to kissing at her neck again, his strong muscular body pressing against her small self,
And the two resumed back to their activities from last night once more...
Later that morning, Link and Saria met with Nabooru, Aviel and Nemisa in the dining room, where the two of them decided to make their announcement about their engagement.
"So um... we just wanted to tell everyone tha-" Link started, but was cut off by Nabooru.
"Let me guess, you and Saria had some fun last night, and now she's become your latest fiance?" Nabooru asked with a smarmy grin.
Link rubbed the back of his head as Saria gripped his hand and nodded with a small giggle, "Hee hee, that's right!"
"Yaaay! Finally!" Aviel exclaimed, taking to the air with her bird wings and divebombing on Link and Saria.
"Incoming!" shouted Link, but the two were tackled by Aviel anyway, who hugged them both with her wings.
"That's great, I'm so happy for you two!" Aviel cheered out, "Great work on finally pulling it off Saria!"
"Well, it's about time, you two." smirked Nemisa, "Togau's going to love hearing this."
"Congratulations you two." Nabooru said with a smile, "You may not be a Gerudo by blood Saria, but as far as we'll all concerned you're a part of our people, and we couldn't be happier for you to be one of our future queens."
"I'm honored Lady Nabooru." Saria said, getting up and doing a polite bow, "And I won't disappoint you all when it comes time to talk to the Hylian Parliament about abolishing the banishment law."
"Sounds good." nodded Nabooru, as Link finally got himself up and pried the excited Aviel off of him.
"So any big news for us today Nabooru?" Link asked, sitting down at the dining table, with Saria sitting down beside him. Saria took a small glance at Link, before leaning herself against him, as they both started to eat their breakfast.
"Weeell... " Nabooru said, seemingly purposefully trail off, "There is one big thing in particular I think you should know."
She snapped her fingers, and that was when Dr. Sarami walked into the dining room with a bright smile, and accompanied by Link's royal child-bearers, Ragome, Leivuri and Esolu, all looking rather blissful themselves.
"Hey King Link, sup?" grinned Ragome, "We just overheard about you and Sister Saria, congrats!"
"Oh, thanks!" Link said, then asked in curiosity, "So um, what are you girls doing here?"
"I just finished giving these three their check-ups this morning," Sarami said, "And I have great news for you all, especially you, Link!"
Link's eyes widened, as the realization of what she was getting to soon occurred to him.
"I'm happy to say in about eight months from now you'll be a father of at least three wonderful daughters!" Sarami said happily.
"Hee hee, surprise!" Leivuri said blushing.
Esolu meanwhile, despite her blank facial appearance, held up her sketch pad with a prize ball popping open with a bunch of cute baby penguins falling out of it.
Link just stared at the three ladies with very wide eyes, and his jaw dropped, "I... I..."
"Heh, told you it was big!" laughed Nabooru, "Took you a while to get started on aiding us in our repopulation, but it sounds like you've made up for it big time, and I'll be looking forward to what you can do with the next group of child-bearers I pick out for you!"
"No way, coool! Link's finally gonna be a daddy!" Aviel said, waving her bird wings.
"My, my, all three at once? Not bad my husband, I can't wait until it's my turn!" giggled Nemisa.
"Oh that's wonderful! Congratulations!" Saria said then turned to her husband-to-be, "Isn't this great Link?"
Link just continued to sit there with his mouth hanging open.
"...Link?" Saria asked, waving her hand in front of his face.
It was then Link fell backwards to the ground outcold, and everyone crowded around him to see to his condition.
"Don't tell me he's under hypnosis now?" Aviel asked frantically.
"No Aviel, just a bit mesmerized." Saria giggled, kneeling down and embracing her unconscious best friend, though they weren't just friends anymore...
The bond between the young Gerudo king and the Kokiri girl, once thought by Saria to weaken over the years, had only strengthened as time went on, and just last night, the bond was sealed, and the two would never be apart from each other ever again.
And that ends the Saria arc, with her and Link finally together, their bond with each other, and their Gerudo friends will only grow further. I admit originally I wasn't going to have Saria stay with Link at the end of the Forest Temple story, but I was rather surprised with how much fun she was to write, and I'm glad I went through adding her to the cast.
Heh, as weird as it sounds, I kinda like how Saria just so happened to get with Link in Chapter 64, referring to the Nintendo 64. Funny coincidence.
Next time, Link and the group are going to finally meet with Ruto and King Zora about their alliance, but little do they know what's in store for them!
Like always, leave a like, follow or comment if you desire!