notaname: It's all good! Confusion is good for my health. Oh man, starting the BoTW experience? I don't know how much time I spent by the time I last played (a while back), but I'm sure it's more than I think it is! Oh, no, no disappointment here! The fact you reviewed at all is appreciated! Don't ever say that nobody ever wants to listen to you! You might be surprised how much one word can effect somebody, written, spoken, or otherwise. WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP AT 12:30 AM?! GO TO SLEEP! XD I hope you've had a wonderful last two weeks, and I wish you a happy two more!

Chapter 38: Reminiscence

The sky was a brilliant, cloudless blue that day, the early morning sun's rays gently brushing her skin. The girl smiled as she stretched her arms above her head, breathing in the sweet scent of grass and trees.

"Hey, Liari!" called the boy from the base of the steps. "Are you coming?"

The girl smiled. "Yeah, yeah," she said. She leaped down the steps of the porch and greeted her friend with a hug.

"Why are you hugging me?" the eight-year-old questioned, sounding very concerned.

Liari smirked and pulled away. "Tag!"

The boy squawked indignantly, his sky blue eyes widening in surprise. "Hey, that's not fair!" he growled. "That was a cheap shot!"

But Liari was already running. "Catch me if you can, Linkles!"

"Ew, don't call me that!" he exclaimed in disgust, and, if the muffled footsteps were anything to go by, he was on her tail.

Liari laughed and looked back towards him, only to immediately be slammed into the ground, the smaller body of her friend on top of her.

"Hey! It's not nice to body slam someone!" Liari cried.

He rolled off of her, laughing. "That's what you get!" he replied triumphantly. He childishly stuck out his tongue.

"Link, Liari, what are you doing?"

Liari jerked her head towards the voice, only to see the brown-haired, blue-eyed woman carrying a basket of apples, smiling in amusement.

"We were playing tag, Aunt Lydia," the girl said grumpily as she pushed herself to her feet. "But Link cheated!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Not as bad as you, you cheater!"

"Children," Aunt Lydia chuckled, cutting them off. "Link, aren't you supposed to be nice to your cousin?"

"She started it," he mumbled.

"It's not a question of who started it," Aunt Lydia berated gently. "It's a matter of how you react. If you let it go, you're approaching the argument the most maturely."

"Yes, Ma," Link said. Then he frowned. "How's Aunt Diara doing?"

Aunt Lydia's face became slightly sad at the mention, and Liari looked down. "She's not feeling too well today," Aunt Lydia replied. Liari heard shuffling, and before she knew it, she and her cousin were being embraced. "Don't worry, you two," she cooed softly. "She'll be alright before you know it."

"Link! Liari!" came a new voice. Everyone turned their heads up to see a young Sheikah woman walking towards them.

"Impa!" Link and Liari cried excitedly, running towards her immediately.

"Do you have another lesson for us today?" Link asked with a curious tilt of his head.

"Yes, I do," Impa said, smiling at the boy.

Liari ignored the envious squirm that twisted inside of her. "What is it?" Liari asked.

Impa said nothing, instead handing each of them a sheet of paper.

"What is this?" Liari asked, confused.

"It's a map," Link murmured. "...and there's a riddle on the back."

"That's right, Link," Impa said approvingly. Link puffed up pridefully. "I have hidden clues around Kakariko. You both have different trails to follow, but each one leads to the same endpoint. Whoever gets there first wins."

"It's a race!" Liari exclaimed.

Impa's lips twitched upwards in amusement. "You could say that, yes. But in essence, it is a scavenger hunt. It doesn't really matter who wins. This is merely an exercise to test your efficiency in logic and reasoning."

"I'm going to beat you, Linkles!" Liari exclaimed, completely ignoring Impa (who rolled her eyes).

"Are not!"

And with that, the two children rushed off to beat the other. Liari, however, didn't realize she had no idea where she was going until she stopped by Lady Rala's house. Every time she saw it, she couldn't help but admire the beauty of the home nestled between shining waterfalls.

"Focus, Liari," she murmured to herself, slapping her cheeks. "Okay… the riddle…"

She flipped the map over to read a short and simple riddle: "I am orange and long, and come in a bunch; I can be in a cake, or eaten at lunch."

Orange and long… a food… ah, that was easy. Carrots! Kakariko was famous for its carrots, being one of the major producers. So that's where the clue is!

She sought out the clues, jumping from the carrot gardens to the fountain in the woods to the mysterious shrine above the village… she was certain that she was ahead of Link, who often got sidetracked and overthought things. He was probably still on the first clue!

Then they passed each other on the way to the next part, she catching sight of his dark golden hair.

"What clue are you on?" she asked smugly. "I'm on my fourth."

He shrugged. "Um… either sixth or seventh," he replied unsurely. "Some of them were really close together, though."

Liari's face twisted into something like anger. "Fine then! I can still beat you!"
"Impa said it didn't matter who wins," he murmured. But Liari merely ignored him. She'd show him! She'd win, and Impa would be so proud, and so would her mum! So off she went, to find the next clue, which was hinted to be around a strawberry bush.

The scavenger went on for hours. Liari found herself bouncing all over the place, from the woods to the town markets, to the graveyard, back to the woods… on and on it went. Finally, she found a clue that seemed to be the last one, stowed subtly behind an old wagon.

"String together your maps and clues, your destination lies in a place of blues."

So Liari did just that, looking carefully at the maps for similarities. At first, it just seemed like they were all random maps containing different pieces of Kakariko, but then she noticed something. Though all the maps were different, they all depicted a shared location in some place or another.

"The fairy fountain?" Liari questioned out loud. Indeed, the fairy fountain was the only place marked and labeled on all of the maps… so the fairy fountain it was.

She had cracked the code! She had found the answer, definitely (she hoped) before Link! She leapt to her feet and - very chaotically - scooped up the clues and charts, excitedly making her way to the forest for the fifth time that day.

She skipped along the path, then off towards the fairy fountain. She exuberantly pushed through the bushes to the clearing-

...only to have her face fall at the scene before her.

Link was plopped on the ground, leaning against a tree casually (looking somewhat bored). Beside him, legs crossed, back firm and straight, but with the slightest smile tugging at her normally straight lips, was Impa.

"...very well done, Link" she was saying. "I can always expect the best from you. I think you beat the old record-"

Liari cleared her throat, alerting the two to her presence. Link sat up, his bored expression shifting to one that was cheery and excited. "Hey, Liari! How'd it go?"

"It was alright," she replied, her voice somewhat flat.

Link frowned. "Didn't you have fun?"

At that moment, Liari pushed away her misgivings with not winning. She smiled. "Oh, yeah! What was your favorite riddle?" Who cared if Impa favored her? That wasn't important. The real important thing was her cousin, cheery and bashful as always.

"Ooh, that's a hard one," Link said as Liari sat beside him. "There was this one about horses…"

They chatted on about the different clues they had. The conversation eventually turned to other things - mindless thoughts that came to mind, the best foods, an argument about whether or not a certain spice was disgusting - while Impa just sat there, occasionally giving her input.

At some point, they started talking about learning to make their own quilts so that they could sell them, or give them to family for birthdays.

"...Ma and Auntie Diara might like to help us with that," Link said absently. "It might be fun. I bet we could make something really cool!"

"Hey, Link?" Liari asked suddenly, feeling much less cheerful now.

"Hmm?" He turned his head towards her and tilted his head curiously.

"Do you…" Liari hesitated. "Mum's not getting better. I don't know… if she'll be able to get over this. You've dealt with stuff like this before..." the unspoken your father, your Gerudo friend, near everyone you've ever known and loved besides us and your mum, was better left unsaid. Liari swallowed before she continued. "I… I think I need some advice."

Link frowned and looked down at his lap. The clearing of the fairy fountain was suddenly much eerier, the air thick with tension just waiting to break. Even Impa had stiffened.

It was awhile before Link spoke again. "I don't know what I can tell you," he said quietly. "Everything that I've 'dealt with' was sudden and unexpected. But you know what's coming, unlike I did. So…" he swallowed. "Spend time with your ma while you can. Make the most out of every moment and treasure it dearly. If anything happens, you'll know that you made her happy while you could, and that's all that matters."

Liari felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes. "Oh, Link," she said, and before she knew what she was doing, she had hugged him. Before she knew it, she was sobbing. "I-I don't want her t-to go," she hiccuped.

"No one ever does," Link murmured, with that strange maturity that nine-year-olds should never possess. "But sometimes we just need to move forward. Be strong… for them."

Sixteen-year-old Liari breathed in deeply as she entered the library. She needed to find either Impa or Link - only one of them could get her to calm her rage, she knew. Impa would stoically ask questions, which would help Liari logically deduce what the right thing to do in this situation was. Link, on the other hand, would let her vent and then give her a few blunt words of wisdom, always exactly what she needed to hear.

Or would he? her inner thoughts asked, causing Liari to flinch. This Link is different than the one you used to know. How do you know he won't just ignore you, or tell you you're being foolish? After all, he did push you away.

But he did that because he thought he was protecting us, Liari's own mind debated. He had always been one to blame himself. Yes, he moved forward, and yes, he was strong (so, so strong, too strong), but he was not one to leave the past where it belonged. Instead, he carried its weight on his shoulders, carrying it as a trophy of survival. When his mother had been killed by the Yiga, he had decided that, because the Yiga had been chasing after him all those years, the only way to keep everyone safe was to leave.

And he was right. But it would've been worth the battle if he stayed, Liari was sure. He would've remained the way he was, carefree despite the burdens, cheerful despite his sorrows.

She saw Link out of the corner of her eye, standing beside the princess, who was searching the bookshelves as if a book there cured world hunger. He stood stiff and straight, the form of a proper knight. She knew he wanted her to stay away from him right now, that he thought he wasn't safe.

I haven't spoken to him in a while, Liari thought. Suddenly her previous anger at Purah seemed to hesitate with her. This isn't that important, she thought quickly, I'm just being stupid, all of this was stupid, nothing I do is right-

Liari felt a hand on her shoulder and whirled around quickly, nearly slapping the offender across the face.

He was an older man, hunched over from age. His red eyes were warm and kind, making her previous "I'm-going-take-my-anger-out-on-you-as-if-you-murdered-my-dog" mood retreat.

"Are you Liari?" he asked with a smile just as warm as his eyes.

"I am," Liari replied uncertainly. "And you are?"

"My name is Korushu," he replied. "And I think that you can help me with something."

Man, this chapter was written fast. Much faster than the last few chapters, but that might be because I actually knew what I was doing in this one. Inspiration = Speed Boost. If Liari POV isn't your jam... I'm sorry. I hate reading the POV of OCs sometimes because they're not developed well enough, I just don't care about them, they have an unoriginal personality, etc. So I'm just gonna have to hope that I made this interesting enough you don't feel like these sorts of chapters are tedious.

If the flashback thing in the first half was confusing... sorry again! I don't do a lot of flashbacks anymore because I read somewhere that they can be seen as "lazy" when overused. Not sure how true that is, but I can see how they can be overused sometimes. There are some fanfics that have a ton of unnecessary flashbacks that cut into the story and mess up the flow... I usually just skip those parts and guess on my own what happened because that's often much more entertaining.

Enough of the flashback rant! Okay, um... if y'all have any suggestions for what you want to see in Before (The Much Better One, I Assure You), feel free to leave a review! I have a plot planned out (roughly), but it's the filler parts that I struggle with. You want to see Zelink moments? Sure! Might be a bit more subtle, but I'll leave 'em in there! Want to see the champions interacting more? I'll throw them all into a party of some sort! Want to see more from a certain character? Say hello to a new Revali centered chapter! ...Seriously guys. What do you want from me?! I'M NOT CREATIVE WHEN IT COMES TO FILLER. All I want to see is more fire and explosions.

Anywho, that's enough of my insanity. Big thanks to all of my reviewers! You guys are way too kind! As I have said before (and will probably say many more times), every review makes my day! Some days are rough - that's life for you - but your comments always help me feel better. Also, reviews = motivation juice, which = inspiration, which equals speed boost. Therefore, reviews = speed boost. What's that called again? Reflexive property? Why am I thinking about math at ten o'clock at night? I SHOULD BE SLEEPING!

Anyway, do leave a review if you can! If you can't, I understand - everyone gets busy. I haven't been able to review at all recently (I've been taking a bit of a break from reading fanfics because I have an unhealthy obsession), so yeah, I get it. But if you can, I would love it!

Have a wonderful day/week/next two weeks, everybody! I wish you luck in the chaotic storm that is life. May you be successful as you go about your days.

Sincerely (Don't fall asleep... DoN't FaLl AsLeEp...),

Ari, your favoritest doggo (except for, you know, all those other great doggos, you know? The ones that are actually dogs?)~