Hello! This -a bit short- chapter is in the POV of Joulee. Enjoy! (I don't own any of the Zelda games, places, or characters. Dura and Joulee are mine)

I didn't attend his funeral. I wanted to, but I did not. There were many reasons for my avoidance, but only three of them really mattered;

I knew I was going to cry. No one was allowed to see me cry. Only two people have; Ralis when I was twelve and the man that was now beneath three feet of dirt, labeled only by a piece of stone.

I wanted people to come to his funeral. Many people loved Auru, but not everyone liked me. Hell, they despised me with a passion. I had over heard some people talking about if that 'a cursed Gerudo' was going to be there, they wouldn't show up. I couldn't let that happen, I wanted him to be surrounded by people.

I blamed myself for his death. I could have stopped it, I know I could have. I could have easily stopped the beasts from attacking us in Hyrule Field, but I wanted to race him to Death Mountain. I'm seventeen and I still wanted to be the young child he saved from the desert all those years ago…

I remember him laughing at me as I ran much faster than him. He blamed old age. I blamed inactivity. I turned to him, laughing and calling to him that I was going to beat him. He raised his hands in defensive gesture, laughing is warm hearted laugh that I loved. This man was who I wanted as my father and I always considered him as such.

Then everything happened so fast. I saw them coming, those creatures I killed in my free time. They rode toward him, archers ready with those arrows of fire aimed right at him. I barely remember calling to him, telling him to run. I saw his expression, his look of disbelief. He turned to where I pointed and saw them.

That stubborn man didn't move though. He stood his ground and I remember gasping.

My feet ran to him as fast as they could. My voice yelled to him, telling him to move. My mind raced, trying to find something to defend him with. I had no weapons. There was nothing I could use to improvise with, not even a measly stick. The flat field only had puddles and grass.

I barely made it in time to see it happen. An arrow went flying from an archer and time slowed. I wasn't going to make it. My feet couldn't move fast enough, my limbs not strong enough to take me to him. The arrow hit him in the chest, piercing the leather clothes he wore.

Then I remember rage. A feeling of great rage boiling under my skin. I got fast on my feet, catching him before he hit the ground. He gave me a small smile, but then he was gone. I held him close, not wanting him to leave me alone. I didn't feel like I was seventeen anymore, I felt like the small girl that lost her mother to the desert sands and now lost the man who loved me as soon as he found me.

I heard the creatures laugh and then an archer hook another arrow to his bow. They were going to kill me. As soon as I heard the arrow whizzing toward me, I acted on the rage.

It never hit me. It never got close to its target. I caught it, my hand having whipped out to snatch it from mid air. A sound of shock came out of those creatures as I set Auru gently on the ground. I stood and turned to them, the rage glowing in my eyes. They notched another arrow on their bow. Before they even got a chance to aim at me, I threw the arrow. It landed in the creature's skull with a sickening sound. It didn't have a chance to scream in pain, it just slipped off the boar and was crushed under its cleft feet. The other rider howled, but didn't dare to face me. Turning the boar around, it tried to escape from me.

I wasn't about to let that happen. But what could I do? It was running away on a creature much faster then me and was out of range of any arrow I could find in the other creature's quiver.

Use Din's fire. A low, evil voice sounded in my mind. She blesses us. Let it burn for its crime against the child of the one True King.

Without another thought my hand stretched out to aim it to the creature. Somehow, I knew what to do. The rage inside me exploded and with a snap of my fingers on the out stretched hand, the creature burst into flames. A wild, pained howling came from the beast as it was lit ablaze. It fell from the boar, the fire burning its flesh from its bone. The boar ran from the flames and straight toward me.

I was snapped out of the rage and thought that the boar was going to trample me for killing its rider. As it approached, I got ready to jump out of the way. Yet, the trampling never came. The beast stopped short of me and stood before me. Its wild eyes looked me over with an emotion I couldn't decipher.

Then it kneeled before me, its nose to the ground. A shocked express came to my features, not sure what to think. It stayed that way while I thought of what to think of it. Never before has a boar come to me in this fashion; most would run away if they lived.

I looked over to Auru, whose body lay on the grass and my heart broke. I had to take him home and I couldn't carry him by myself. I looked back to the boar, tears running down my cheeks. This creature would have to help me bring Auru back. With a motion of my hand, the boar stood and walked over to Auru. I followed grimly and when the creature was beside him, it knelt once more.

As gently as I could, I lifted Auru and put him on the back of the beast. I then hefted myself up next to him, holding onto the now colder body. With a nudge of my foot and a small command to go to Castle Town, the creature stood and took me there as fast as the large beast could. The whole time I cried, getting rid of the tears of pain and confusion that was inflicted onto me in mere minutes. No one was allowed to see my tears.

After his formal funeral and all had left with their final goodbyes, I went to his grave. It was just before the sun fully set on the horizon, the time that was called twilight. I stood before his grave, a small bunch of desert lilies in my hand. I looked over the trinkets left on his grave and tried to guess who gave what.

A small, ornate dagger; Ashei

A book bound in leather; Shad

A bottle of wine; Telma

A Death Mountain Ore; Darbus

A strand of Goddess Prayer beads; Renado

A swatch of green cloth with gold Triforce embroidery; Link and Ilia

A carved wooden Cucco; Rusl and his family

A badge of Courage; Princess Zelda

A coral beaded fishing hook; Ralis

Ralis… My thoughts wandered to my close friend, eyeing the gift he gave to Auru's soul. It was beautifully made and I knew that it must have been one of his hooks that he needed to catch Reekfish with. I could almost see his expression at finding out I wasn't at the funeral. I told no one that I wouldn't be there. I haven't talked to anyone since his death, avoiding contact with humans. The boar that carried me was the only creature I interacted with, for it never left my side. Even now it was waiting for me right outside the Kakariko Graveyard.

I set the lilies down on his grave. I looked at his grave stone and read aloud what was written.

"Auru; Great Member of Resistance, Friend, Adventurer…" I paused at the last word. My hand brushed against it, tears swelling in my eyes. "and Father." I whisper the last words, tears now streaking down my cheeks. He had asked that this was to be written in his will. He had no blood children.

He considered me his child.

With a sad smile, I leaned forward and kissed his tombstone.

"I love you Father." I murmured, quickly wiping my tears away as I stood up straight again. With one last look to the stone that was marking the grave of the man that gave me everything, I quickly made my way back to the boar.

I mounted it and with a wild kick of my feet, it ran out of town. I looked back to the village, noticing that my exit had caused Renado to light his home and come out of it. I knew that he saw me, but I didn't care. I needed to leave. I wanted to talk to the only person I could think about other than Auru.

I needed to see Ralis.

The boar took me as far as it could on its legs, but it couldn't come to the upper domain. My clothes were a mess, dirt on the knees of my breeches and my hair was a wild tangle of red. I suddenly felt uncomfortable in my skin.

I never thought I was a beautiful girl. I was too wild, too unemotional toward others. I was gifted with the body of a Gerudo woman, but I was far too short. My nose was bordering on being too hawk like, though the Hylian in me made it small. My face was fuller then I wanted and my eyes…

My eyes were a curse, they marked me for the Gerudo I am.

I wanted to look good for Ralis for some reason. I wanted to take away from the disappointment I knew he must have felt and replace it with another emotion. I wasn't sure which one I wanted him to feel, for I haven't felt it before to give it a name.

I walked up to the nearest guard. He smiled to me.

"Hello Joulee. Do you wish for me to tell Prince Ralis you are here?" He asked kindly.

I nodded, giving him a small smile. He nodded and soon walked off to the throne room.

I waited anxiously, running my small hands through the tangled mess that was my hair. I flinched with each tangle and knot that I hit. I tried to brush off the dirt from my knees and straighten out my plain, tan shirt. As I was straightening out the sleeves, I felt the scars on my shoulders from my childhood. The scars I inflicted on myself. I barely remember why I had caused them in the first place. All I remembered was a burning in my skin and a voice telling me something; something that I blocked from my memory.

A cough woke me from my thoughts and I turned to see the guard from before. He looked nervous, rubbing the back of his head.

"Er, Prince Ralis isn't seeing anyone right now." The guard didn't look at me, suddenly fascinated with his feet.

I was shocked. Ralis always would see me or anyone who needed to talk to him.

"You did tell him it was me right? I just need to talk to him real quick."

The guard continued to look to his feet.

"Prince Ralis said that he didn't want to talk…" He looked up to me then, a look of sympathy on his face. "to you."

My mouth went slack. He didn't want to see me? He openly said he didn't want to talk to me? I couldn't believe it. Did he hate me for not going to Auru's formal funeral? I thought he would understand even a little bit.

"Oh." I murmured. My eyes became the mask that I had perfected as a child and I looked to the guard with an emotionless expression. "Well, could you give Prince Ralis a message?" When the guard nodded, I quickly thought out what to say. "Tell him that I wish him the best of luck and I hope to see him if I return. And tell him happy twenty-first birthday." With a nod, I walked away from the awed guard and went back to my boar.

He was the only person who I could talk to, who I could cry in front of, and who I felt something for. He didn't want to see me. My heart was my throat and I let out a small sob once I got to the boar. It looked to me and snorted. It didn't know why I cried.

I quickly got into the saddle of the beast and took its reins in my hands. I needed to get away. I needed to release my frustration out on something.

An idea struck me. The desert. The desert was the place where the Bulblins were camped. They had killed Auru and I was going to kill them. I knew a secret way to the desert, a way that Auru had shown me. No one else could get to the desert unless they went via Fyer's cannon ride and then they would have to traverse the sands by foot.

I spurred the boar on to the secret passage. I would kill a Bulblin and take its bow and arrows for my weapon.

As I rode, I hoped that Ralis got his message. Even though he hated me, I could never hate him.

But Ralis never got her message. He never got the first message that Joulee was there to see him. He was actually waiting for her to come, to see him so that he could comfort her.

But Lord Dura had intercepted both messages. He had told the guard that Prince Ralis didn't want to see her. Dura wanted to make sure that the Prince never saw the Gerudo girl again and the second message the guard brought made him overjoyed. Ralis would never get the message.

Well, I didn't want to do it, but I did. I killed off Auru. I wasn't sure if I was going to, but I think it worked out for the best. I also made it from Joulee's POV because I felt that it wouldn't work from Ralis'. I hope that it gave more of an insight into her emotions and conflict with herself. I hope you liked it and please review/critique! Anything is loved (except flaming) and let it be known that I do not support Link x Ilia pairing. I just felt that –sadly- it was a most likely to happen pairing. Also, I do not know if Auru had children so I went with him having none.