Chapter 72 is here! Now we go into a new arc that focuses on a certain mature lady who's backstory has been a long time coming.
In regards to some concerns I got in comments, no the story won't be going to become a political drama or anything. The Hylian Parliament is just one aspect of the story no different then the group battling pirates or exploring ruins, it's not going to turn into that one infamous scene from Attack of The Clones, I assure you.
Flashback - Fourteen years ago
"What am I supposed to do...?"
A lone Gerudo woman was curled up outside, hugging her knees and doing what she could to hide out from a massive storm of rain and lightning. She was currently under an abandoned, torn-up canopy not too far away from Kakariko Village. She had tried to reach out to the villagers for shelter but she was turned down every time. With little choice, she left to the back of town near where the graveyard was.
A crash of lightning went off, startling the woman, as the rain started to pour down heavier. A small hole in the canopy started to open up more, and water dripped down on the Gerudo woman's head, forcing her to scoot back a bit. She hugged her legs in some effort to stay warm and dry.
"I hate this... I never should have listened to them... I thought I was going to be happy... I thought I was going to have everything, but now I have... nothing..."
This was Sarami, at the age of twenty three years old, shortly after she had been exiled from Gerudo Valley. At the age of eighteen she was selected as a candidate to be the Gerudo King Ganondorf's childbearer. After encouragement from her parents she accepted the position and spent the next years of her life training to become a proper mother, and eventually she laid with King Ganondorf and became pregnant.
However despite doing everything expected of her, after giving birth to the child, it tragically died from unforeseen complications. That was devastating enough for Sarami, who had grown to love the daughter growing inside her for nine months, but things only got worse for her after that...
Ganondorf was furious over what happened, deemed Sarami a weakling and failure for not being able to produce a strong heir, and had her banished from Gerudo Valley as punishment. She spent the past months going from place to place trying to find somewhere to belong, but she was unable to hold a job for very long. She had tried to find a good man to marry, but found herself too afraid to commit or copulate due to the fear of having and losing another daughter.
Now she was hungry and alone, she was so out of practice as a warrior and thief that she couldn't even reliably fight or steal to get by. She was at rock bottom, without anything or anyone to turn to...
"I've had it..." whispered Sarami as she reached to her belt and pulled out a knife she used for self-defense. She brought the knife up, her hands shaking with nervousness, and quickly jammed it into her abdomen. Her features darkened as she stabbed and stabbed and stabbed at herself. She cringed with each stab, and the pain was blinding. She eventually lost control of herself and fell to the ground, and soon could feel her conscious start to fade.
"Good bye Nabooru... I'm sorry for everything... that you went through for..." she whispered, tenind ig to be her final words.
As she laid there with her stab wounds bleeding, an old woman holding an umbrella came walking by. She had just been leaving the graveyard and was on her way back to her house, when she noticed the wounded Gerudo laying on the ground. She paused, and slowly walked up, staring down at her.
"Foolish child..." Sarami could hear an old voice whisper, before she completely blanked out.
End flashback
"Hmm... 101.5 degrees. Yes, you certainly have a fever Aviel."
"Oh boogers..."
It had been three months since Link, Nabooru and the others had visited with the Zoras, and it was a pleasant day in Gerudo Town, the sun was shining, with a cool breeze countering the usual heat of the desert, making it a rather perfect to go out and seize the day.
However for Aviel, she was stuck in the medical clinic on this beautiful day having woken up feeling very under the weather, so Link and Nemisa had taken her to Dr. Sarami for treatment.
"It's nothing too serious, but I would recommend you take it easy for a day or two Aviel." Sarami said smiling.
"But it's so nice out today!" Aviel protested.
"You heard her Aviel, how can you enjoy yourself or protect our king if you're sick?" Nemisa asked.
"Aw, but me and Saria were going to take Ilite out to-!" Aviel was then cut off by Sarami leaning towards her with her glasses giving off an unreadable gleam.
"Listen Aviel, are you aware of the potential side effects of allowing a fever to thrive?" Sarami asked, "It can cause inflammations, make you more vulnerable to worse infectious diseases, and if your temperature goes high enough it can lead to permanent brain damage in the-"
"Okay okay!" shouted Aviel in tears as she waved her bird wings around, "I'll be good, honest!"
"Poor Aviel." Link sweatdropped at how traumatic Sarami could make her in the interest of her health.
"Fu-fu-fufufu... such a good girl." smiled Sarami then warmly, handing her a bottle of chu jelly capsules, "Just take one of these now and two more when you go to bed tonight, okay?"
"T-Thanks Dr. Sarami..." Aviel sniffled, "Link, since I'm sick, can you give her a 'thank you' hug for me...?"
Sarami giggled, "Oh, don't worry about it, I'm just happy to do this for yo-"
She was then cut off in that moment by Link embracing her and holding her softly.
"Eeeehhh?!" exclaimed Sarami with a heavy red blush on her face.
"Thanks Sarami, you've always been there for all of us." Link said with a gentle tone soothing to her.
Sarami paused at the feeling of being held by Link. His body had strengthened over his time living in their town, yet he held her so comfortably... in that moment, her arms slowly moved up, about to embrace him herself, but she flinched as an old memory went through her mind, and brought her arms back down.
"Thank you Link..." Sarami said pulling herself away, "I... have to get to seeing my other patients. You three have a good day, and let me know if Aviel's condition gets any worse, okay?"
"Uh, sure." Link nodded, as they watched Sarami walk off out of the room towards her private office.
"Alright Aviel, let's get you back home so you can get some rest." Nemisa said, she turned to Link and looked at him curiously, "Something wrong Link?"
"She just... seemed like she was shaking." Link said, looking off in the direction Sarami went off to.
"I hope she didn't catch my fever..." Aviel said worriedly.
"I'm sure she'll be fine, now let's get moving." Nemisa said snapping her fingers, leading Aviel away, with a reluctant Link following after.
As Link, Aviel and Nemisa went down the hall of the clinic, they overheard a whistling sound, then accompanied by a strange high-pitched tone coming from one of the patient rooms. Out of curiosity, they all peeked into the room.
"No, no, put your lips closer together and then blow!"
It was there they saw Saria, and sitting beside her was Link's young asthmatic friend, Ilite, blowing on what looked like a wooden ocarina. Saria's guardian fairy Faete was flying around her friend's head as well.
"Ah.. right! Okay!" Ilite nodded, putting the ocarina to her lips and blowing more to make a high note on it. It was then the two looked over and greeted Link and his bodyguards.
"Hi Saria, hi Ilite!" Aviel said happily, "Did you guys still wanna go out to-"
Nemisa bonked Aviel upside the head, "You're sick, you moron! And keep away from these two so you don't get them sick too!" she sighed and spoke to the two, "Sorry, Aviel won't be able to play today, she's got a fever."
"Oh, it's okay! Saria's just been teaching me how to use the gift she brought me!" Ilite said happily, holding up the instrument.
"Hey, that's a good ocarina." Link said taking a look at it, "Did you make her this one like you did mine Saria?"
"Yep! Since her asthma has been clearing up more, I thought Ilite might like something to do when she's staying in the clinic." Saria nodded, "I'm going to teach her my song so she can call me when she wants to, like you can!"
"Impressive!" Nemisa said with wide eyes, surprised at what Saria's song was capable of.
"I'll catch up with you guys later." Saria said, "I'm going to help the nurses with the other kids for a little while longer."
"Alright, see you later then Saria." Link said, giving Saria a warm kiss on the lips, which she returned.
Aviel was beamed with happiness at seeing the two childhood friends in love, after all the time she spent with Saria, helping encourage her to confess to Link, and now seeing the two were together as lovers.
"Wow..." Ilite said, leaning on her knees smiling brightly, "I'm so happy the two of you got together! I kinda thought there was something between you back in Ms. Fareafu's classroom!"
"Heh, even Ilite figured us out." Link grinned, rubbing the back of his head.
"Everyone did Link, it just took the two of us a while to admit it to ourselves." Saria said smiling.
"Way too much of a while!" Faete said in a huff, making everyone laugh out together.
Meanwhile with Dr. Sarami, she went into one room with a seventeen year old Gerudo girl sitting at a chair. The woman was rubbing her hands over her belly which was pretty round.
"Well hello Sister Oolagi!" the doctor said smiling, "How are you feeling today?"
"Ugh, I feel like shit, total shit! My body aches, I'm always stuck on the toilet, my breasts are leaking, and my belly and butt won't stop growing!" Oolagi said in a fit, reaching down and squeezing her soft rear end.
"Oh don't worry, these are typical symptoms of someone expecting a wonderful baby!" Sarami said, patting her stomach, "You just have another two months to go!"
"Two more months of this?! You gotta be kidding!" groaned Oolagi throwing her head back, "I thought having a kid would be fun, but I'm done with this!" she then reached out her hand, "Can you get me one of those jelly things you hand out to everyone?"
"My chu jelly capsules? Which one?" Sarami asked in confusion.
"You know, one of those black colored ones you give the other girls, the ones that can make a pregnancy go away!" Oolagi said, "I changed my mind on having this kid after all!"
Sarami's eyes widened in shock at Oolagi's words. She stared down at the woman's pregnant belly. She squeezed on the clipboard she was holding, as some dark thoughts went through her mind in that moment...
"Uh, doctor? You alright there?" Oolagi asked curiously, snapping Sarami back to reality, "Can I have one of those capsule things?"
"...no." Sarami muttered with her glasses gleamed, before looking up at the woman with a furious look in her eyes, "Absolutely not! Those capsules only work when you take one within three days of conception! Trying to take one at your stage of pregnancy can be risky to both you and your child! I can't believe you would even think of such a terrible thing!"
"Doctor... I-" whispered Oolagi, but was cut off by Sarami.
"You made the choice to have this child, if you didn't want her you should have thought of that before you get knocked up, you stupid bitch!" Sarami shouted angerly.
There was a pause between the two. Oolagi was in complete shock, she had never seen the kind doctor speak like that before. Sarami herself saw the look of horror in her patient's eyes and looked downcast, realizing how badly she snapped.
"I- I'm sorry Dr. Sarami..." Oolagi said with small tears in her eyes, finding herself hugging her belly protectively all of a sudden.
"It... it's okay, I'm sorry too." Sarami said sadly, "L-Let's just get back to the examination, okay...?"
After Sarami finished the examination, she gave Oolagi some medicine to treat her pain and saw her off. After Sarami was convinced the patient was gone, she then let out a heavy sigh.
"It's been a long time since I've spoken in that tone..." Sarami said, taking a moment to drink a cup of herbal tea. Her mind wandered, thinking back to long ago...
Flashback - Fifteen years ago
A twenty-two year old Sarami was sitting on a bed resting. She had just a while ago succeeded in giving birth to the child that King Ganondorf had impregnated her with and carried for nine whole months. She sat there in anticipation, as she had grown to love the child that she had been carrying for so long, and couldn't wait to get the chance to breast feed her.
She lifted up one of her breasts, which had grown so large it was almost spilling out of her hand. She had somewhat normal breasts when she was younger, but her child-bearer diet, along with her pregnancy caused them to grow absolutely humongous, "I didn't think they'd get this huge, but least my baby's got a lot of milk to drink!" she said with a giggle.
It was then she looked up to a nurse walking up to her with a sad look in her eyes.
"So where is she? Where's my child?" Sarami asked anxiously.
"Sarami... I'm sorry..." the nurse said, "But, your child... didn't make it..."
Sarami sat there with a look of shock on her face. Her body couldn't move, like it was completely froze up.
"No..." Sarami whispered, gripping at her bed sheets, "No, you're lying! Let me see her! Let me see my baby!"
"I'm so sorry Sarami, but she died of birth complications..." the nurse said with an apologetic look in her eyes, "It happens from time to time, and there was nothing we could do to save her..."
"No..." Sarami spoke softly, then yelled out in tears, "NOOOOOOOO!"
End Flashback
Back in the present day, Sarami snapped out of her thoughts. She wiped a tear from her face and looked down at her tea, seeing she accidentally tipped it over and spilled it out on the floor. She hastily cleaned up it up, and let out another long sigh.
"Doctor, your next patient is here to see you!" she heard a nurse call out.
"Oh, very well." Sarami spoke out, tuning to the nurse and smiling pleasantly, back to her usual self, before going off on her way.
Her next few patients went a lot better then with Oolagi. One had a minor cut from fighting a pack of Leevers, another just needed to have her arm fracture examined, and when Sarami checked on Ilite the doctor was delighted to see her and Saria getting along so well.
Sarami absolutely loved having Saria around the clinic; her knowledge of plants made her quite a big help in preparing specialized medicine for the patients. Even the tea she had drank a while ago was made from herbs Saria brought over from Kokiri Forest. Plus Saria's small stature made her look just like a little girl, and she loved being around children, even if Saria wasn't actually one.
In the time since Saria moved into Gerudo Town, Sarami took her time to examine her and make sure she could handle living in the desert climate compared to the forest. She was astonished and fascinated of the kind of being Saria was, Kokiri being more in line of being a plant then a human like the Hylians and Gerudo were, yet despite this she adapted quite well to the desert.
Sarami had to admit she was somewhat jealous of Saria being so young looking despite being over four-hundred years old; as the doctor herself now the age of thirty-seven, and the constant stress of her job made her more vulnerable to developing age marks.
On the other hand, she pitied Saria for not being able to have children with Link. Saria insisted she didn't mind, as she said she'd be happy just helping his future wives with their own children.
"Link..." Sarami whispered, as she thought about the women he had selected for his wives; Nemisa, Togau, Kesuta, Korume, Saria, Princess Ruto, they were all young and beautiful women, he even desired to marry her old friend Nabooru...
There was no doubt in Sarami's mind, no matter how much she tried to ignore it, over the time she knew her young king she had fallen in love with him. She was in complete bliss when Link hugged her earlier, she wanted to be held more by him, to kiss her, to make passionate love to her, and to impregnate her with a beautiful daughter they could raise together...
She put a hand to her stomach and sighed out. While she had a perfectly healthy, fertile body for bearing children, she could never bring herself to do so because of what happened to her all those years ago, when her daughter died shortly after her birth. Being exiled by Ganondorf meant little compared to the pain of losing her child. She thought back to Oolagi asking for black chu jelly to undo her pregnancy, and wondered if a part of her anger towards her was partially due to Oolagi not appreciating what she had, something she herself couldn't have...
Sarami felt at her stomach some more and grabbed at a small bit of fat from it. While she was doing her best to lose weight, she kept giving into her cravings to help her deal with the stress of the job, and it showed. Link assured her she was a beautiful woman no matter how old or heavy she got, but she wondered just how long he could stand saying that. Would he still say the same thing when she was old, wrinkled and fat?
She then shook her head to clear those thoughts, now wasn't the time to be feeling sorry for herself, she had one other patient to see that day.
"Hello Sister Gonaeti, how are you today?" Sarami said smiling to her next paitent, "And how is little Rimel here?"
"Honestly... I'm not too sure." sighed Sarami's last patient; a young woman named Gonaeti, stroking her round belly, she was in her fifth month of pregnancy and was in for her check up, "I've been having some bad cramps lately."
"Well cramps aren't too uncommon with pregnancy, but let's see what we can do to help you." Sarami said.
Sarami started asking Gonaeti questions about the pain she was dealing with, taking a sample of blood to examine, and giving her a physical examination. It seemed nothing was too odd at first, until Sarami's hand came close to Gonaeti's chest and she felt something that threw her off.
"...doctor?" Gonaeti asked.
"How... long has this lump been here...?" Sarami asked, trying to hide her increasing worry.
"Uh, I'm not sure." Gonaeti said, "Is there a problem?"
Sarami gulped a bit, and with permission, starting doing some more extensive testing of the strange anomaly on Gonaeti's chest area.
After seeing the mother-to-be off on her way, Sarami left the rest of her work to the nurses and spent the next hours of the day carefully examining the blood samples and diagrams she had made for Gonaeti, consulting all her books to get an accurate answer.
Sarami had originally planned to get back to work on researching a potential cure for the power tonic the Ebony Sisterhood rebellion was using to power up their forces. Even with the aide of the Gerudo Blood Alchemy Arts books, she was still straggling to get down exactly what was needed to counteract it. If she didn't make it right, it could potentially be more lethal to the victim then the tonic itself.
But instead she focused on the more immediate situation of Gonaeti, and those hours she spent became an all-nighter. Just when it seemed like she was about to pass out from exhaustion, she discovered what the problem was, her body trembled as she realized exactly what was wrong with Gonaeti...
"No... it can't be..." Sarami whispered, as tears started to form in her eyes.
"A... lung tumor...?"
Gonaeti spoke the next morning as Sarami had called her back into her clinic immediately, the doctor was trying to suppress her yawning from how exhausted she was researching what the situation was.
"Yes, it's growing inside you right now, and is the reason for your cramps and that lump." Sarami said, "It's a very rare condition that can occur from pregnancy, though genetics can have a hand in it's severity as well."
"Y-You're kidding me..." whispered Gonaeti, running her hand along her baby bump.
"If it's not treated within the next couple of months, it can complicate your bodily system, and can potentially be fatal by the time you have your child." Sarami said.
"No... then what can I do?!" exclaimed Gonaeti in a panic.
"With the state the tumor is in, I can perform..." Sarami gulped, "An emergency operation to remove the tumor, but to do it properly..." the doctor squeezed her knees as she spoke. She didn't seem to want to say the next thing...
"Doctor...?" Gonaeti asked with worry.
"...I'd have to forcefully remove the source of the tumor."
Gonaeti's eyes widened in horror as Sarami continued.
"Basically, to save your life, I would have to terminate your pregnancy."
"W-What?!" gasped Gonaeti, "Then there's nothing that be done for my child?!"
Sarami shook her head, "Not necessarily, if you do go through with the pregnancy, your child should be just fine, but your own chances of survival are very minimal."
"O-Oh..." Gonaeti said softly, putting a hand to her stomach.
"I'm so sorry." Sarami said frowning, "I wish there was another option... but..."
She then looked up to see tears filling in Gonaeti's eyes, as she broke down crying uncontrollably. Sarami looked downcast herself, before moving forward and embracing Gonaeti in her arms. Gonaeti accepted the hug and just cried into her shoulder for what seemed like forever.
Eventually Gonaeti calmed down a bit, taking some deep breaths. Sarami gave her a cup of water to hydrate herself, and the two just sat there, neither saying anything for a long time. Sarami just felt wracked with guilt over not being able to do anything for her, but she had spent all night trying to find a possible cure, only to come up empty.
"Gonaeti... I'm not going to expect you make a decision just yet." Sarami said, "You have a whole month before the tumor becomes completely untreatable, so give it some time to decide, okay?"
"Y-yeah... I.. just... need to think about this..." Gonaeti said, getting herself up and giving Sarami another soft hug, which she returned back. In that moment, Sarami could feel a small movement from the inside of Gonaeti's stomach and she bit her lower lip, "Thank you doctor, for everything you've done."
"I'll have you come back in a week for a follow up." Sarami said, handing her some medicine to help with her condition, "I know this is a hard decision, so please, take your time."
"Okay doctor..." Gonaeti said, walking out of the room.
Sarami clenched her wrist as Gonaeti left, she fell backwards in her chair and sighed out. She looked up at the ceiling as tears started to fall from her own eyes.
"What am I going to do...?" Sarami whispered.
"Dr. Sarami?" spoke up a voice, startling her, she turned to see Link, Aviel and Nemisa all standing there, Aviel herself now had a facemask on over her mouth.
"Oh, hello everyone!" Sarami said, putting back on a kind smile.
"We're just here for Aviel's follow up." Link said.
"Mmph mmph." Aviel said glumly with her mask on.
"Any chance we can get more of these masks? Last night was very peaceful and quiet." Nemisa said with a smirk, which made Aviel glare at her with annoyance.
"Good day everyone, so how are you doing today, Aviel?" Sarami asked.
Aviel pulled down her mask and smiled, "Feeling a little better compared to yesterday, that jelly you make really does the trick! You could probably cure anything, can't ya?"
"...y-yes.. of course..." Sarami said, looking away.
"Sarami, something the matter?" Link asked.
"Um... it's uh, nothing..." Sarami said, trying to force a smile.
"Come now Doctor, I know what it's like to cover one's feelings more then most, why don't you tell us?" Nemisa said.
"W-Well, i-it's kind of a doctor and patient confidentiality thing and... um..." Sarami was feeling very conflicted in that moment to speak, until Link put his hand on top of hers, making her jump a bit.
"Come on, if it'll help then we're willing to listen, you know you can trust us." Link said with a gentle smile that made Sarami's heart melt.
"Well.. the thing is..." she took a breath and told them the situation with Gonaeti.
"What?!" exclaimed the three of them.
"That's terrible!" Nemisa exclaimed, "So the only way to save her is to take the life of her child?"
"The poor woman..." Aviel said sadly.
"She's very torn about it, I want to help her, but I'm not sure what to recommend she should do..." Sarami sniffled as she rubbed her arm, "I devoted my life to keeping our people happy and healthy, and bear healthy children... but how can I do that if saving one means losing the life of another...?"
"That sounds hard..." Link whispered, "But do you really need to make that recommendation though? I don't think you should be putting that kind of pressure on yourself."
"But, she's really having such a hard time with it... I just want to do something to help ease her burden..." Sarami muttered.
"As much as I hate to say it..." Nemisa said after some thinking, "Perhaps it would be better if she has the tumor removed."
"But, that would kill her baby!" Aviel said, "She can't just do that!"
"Well what is she supposed to do then, have the child and then die?" Nemisa asked, folding her arms and looking away.
"I... I didn't say that!" Aviel shouted, "I just don't think the child deserves it...!"
"Well neither does the mother!" Nemisa shouted back.
"Okay you two, just calm down a bit, this is a hospital." Link said, lowering his hands to get them to quiet down.
"Ugh, I'm sorry Link..." Aviel said sadly, "This just sucks big time!"
"Tell me about it..." Nemisa sighed, she looked to Link and spoke, "Well then, what do you think would be best for her?"
"I'm... not sure myself," Link sighed, "I don't think either of their lives are worth sacrificing..."
Sarami looked to Link and smiled softly at the compassion in his voice as he said those words.
"Hm, that reminds me..." Nemisa said, "You said something like that back when Kesuta and Korume were trying to fight each other to the death to please who we thought was the Goddess Aifet, right?"
"Yeah, and it turned out to be Twinrova deceiving them." Link nodded.
"Those witches were just dreadful, tricking their mother Koleima into killing her sister like that." Sarami said narrowing her eyes, "Them being Ganondorf's surrogate mothers, it's no wonder he turned out the way he did."
Nemisa continued, "Well I was just going to ask you Link... Hypothetically, if it wasn't Twinrova, and actually the Goddess Aifet, would you have allowed Korume to die, or would you have refused , since doing that would had caused the goddess to bring her wrath onto the Gerudo people?"
Link paused and stared down, contemplating what had happened back then, and what his thoughts were now on the matter. He gulped a bit nervously as he thought to himself.
"Nemisa, that's mean!" Aifet said in protest, "Don't put that kind of pressure on Link!"
Nemisa felt a little awkward as she saw the look in both Link and Aviel's eyes, and sighed a bit, "F-forgive me Link, I was just speaking hypothe-..."
"No, no, I see you point Nemisa." Link said, he leaned back looked in deep thought, "What I would do... ...is that I would just stick to my beliefs, and I would had kept fighting against the goddess Aifet. Even if I had the feeling it was impossible, I would keep trying to find that third option, and never give up doing it. Kesuta and Korume are both important to me after all, and I wouldn't turn my back on either of them, or give up just because of what I was led to believe."
Sarami's eyes widened as she heard Link's words, and went into deep thought.
"That does sound like you my husband." smiled Nemisa, giving him a kiss, "That compassion is one of the things I love about you."
"That's Link for you!" Aviel nodded with a big grin, then put her finger to her head in thought, "But still, what should Sister Gonaeti do then...?"
'That's right...' Sarami thought to herself, taking into account what Link said. She remembered how angerly she reacted to Oolagi's attitude and how it affected her personally, and she found herself feeling the same with Gonaeti but in a different sense, 'I was focusing too much on how I would feel about the situation, rather then how a doctor should.'
Sarami took a deep breath and spoke out to the group, "I'm.. going to keep trying." the others turned to see her adjusting her glasses, "You're right Link, I'm not going to give up on either Gonaeti or her child. I'm going to find a solution to save them both, just like you saved Kesuta and Korume!"
"That's the spirit!" Link nodded with a grin.
"Alright! Time to go out and enjoy the day then!" Aviel said brightly, turning and was about to leave the clinic when Nemisa grabbed the bird girl by her top.
"Why Aviel, did you forget? I do believe you're here for your check-up with Dr. Sarami." Nemisa said with a dark grin.
"Oh my yes." Sarami giggled darkly, her glasses giving an unreadable gleam as she held up a tongue depressor with one hand, "Open wide Aviel, I need to test and make sure you hadn't been exerting yourself last night."
Aviel looked helplessly to Link, who just folded his arms behind his head and whistled innocently with his eyes averted.
"Oh boogers again." Aviel pouted as she was dragged off.
And that ends the chapter. I'll mention that I'm not going to dwell too much into the morality of abortion or anything like that for this arc. Like I said, this series isn't a political or social commentary drama or anything. This is mostly a tense situation that serves to kick-start Sarami's new character arc, and the focus will still be on her, her goals in life, and of course her relationship with Link.
With that said, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, leave a like, follow, or comment if you choose! Chapter 73 should be up next week!