A/N: Oh my gosh I'm sorry this took so long! I've been quite busy the past while and haven't had much time to work on ROAF. But, alas, the new chapter (with some foreshadows to the sequel!)

Zelda's face was cross as she practically dragged Kile down the corridor to the dining hall. When she knocked on his door, he had bedamned her, presuming it was the red headed man coming to annoy him with his presence. Taken back by the sudden flaming, Zelda had barged in, yanked on the man's long ear, and lugged him down the rotunda.

"Why do you have to be such a loud mouth?" the brunette grumbled, glancing back at Kile. "It's rather rude to curse so much to somebody who you cannot identify in the situation."

Whimpering underneath the princess' grip, Kile glared up at Zelda. "Well, if you had seen Eric's words earlier, you'd tell him the same thing."

"No, I wouldn't."

"What do you mean by 'you wouldn't'?" The man cocked a brow, halting his steps and pulling his ear from Zelda's hand. "He practically screamed it across the castle!" In the next second, the woman turned and faced Kile, arms crisscrossed around her chest.

"Well, he had a reason."

Rolling his eyes, Kile groaned, "Oh, really?"

Zelda only nodded her head. "Yes, he did. To show you a point – that your son is a fully functional adult and can make his own decisions. I was already told of your conversation with Eric." Swiftly, the princess turned on her heels and began down the hall again. Groaning, the man followed her, taking heavy steps that echoed in the stone walls.

As Zelda neared the entrance to the large hall, she turned to Kile, gesturing that he go first. Grimacing, the man rolled his head, arching his neck around in a circle before reaching forward at the doorknob. Kile grit his teeth and tightened his gnarly hand against the handle, twisting it to his right and pulling it open. The poorly lit room that unveiled before him had one protracted tablet, lined with chairs along its perimeter. At each seat laid a small china platter, wine glass, and silver dining ware.

Kile gawked at the elegant room, jaw hanging wide open as his eyes scrutinized each detail of the ornate decorum. Assured, it was all of Zelda's royalty. It was the main reason why the room was so lush. Kile's meager amusement was abruptly brought to an end as he stared across the room at the trio entering. First came the red head, following behind him was Link and the Twili woman.

Kile sneered, but Zelda pushed him forward, forcing him to pass through the threshold as she locked the door behind them. Exhaling, the main instinctively took a seat at the table towards the center of the lengthy sides. To his right, Eric sat himself in the empty seat, sarcastically grinning. On the opposite side of the table, Link and Midna sat themselves. Once all four of them had been accommodated and seated, Zelda took her place at the end of the table. The Sheikah woman was seated on the other end, facing the princess – nobody had even heard her enter.

Clearing her throat, Zelda sat up tall, facing her 'audience' with bright eyes. "Good evening everybody!" She only received a vague nod from Link as a response. "I wanted to have this little feast tonight to celebrate the return of Midna and Link. And, we are also having this dining together to fix the issues between you two." The brunette pointed her fingers at the father and son, giving a stern look and pursing her lips.

Link raised his brows in an irked manner, his dead stare glowering right into Zelda's eyes. "Do we really have to do such a thing?"

Zelda nodded. "Most certainly."

Rolling his eyes, the blonde whipped his head back and groaned. "This is going to be a long night."

Kile groaned, beginning to play with his thumbs, not daring to look in the eyes of Link or Zelda. "Well, we wouldn't have to do so if you didn't decide to throw your fists at me earlier." Slowly glancing up the blonde across from him, he smirked. That alone was a stupid enough decision.

Link shot a deathly glare at Kile, showing his obviously gritted teeth. Slamming his palms on the table, he began to push himself up until Midna pulled him back down. Leaning on the table, the Twili rested her head in her hands and gave Kile coy grins and teases. It was obviously getting on his nerves.

With a strong voice, Midna said, "How about you realize for once what you did to him? Never being there harms the soul. Especially a boy without a father."

"Tch," the man hissed, crossing his arms. His ears perked up when there was a scratching at the door. The clawing at the wooden frame echoed throughout the room, catching everybody's attention.

Then there was a bark. Immediately, Link stood to his feet and stared at the door, wide eyed. The scrawling against the door stopped. Slowly, an illuminous and glowing golden wolf began to stride right through the door. Apprehensively, Link began to take slow strides away from the table and to the wolf, reaching his left hand out to meet with its nose. Pleased, the golden wolf closed its eyes and cocked his head to the touch of Link's hand.

In response, the boy grinned, whispering, "Kokau… you came back."

Stepping back, the wolf lowered its front end, and then rushed at Link, jumping right through him, rendering the boy physically unconscious as they talked inside his head. Eric was the first to jolt out of his seat, catching the falling boy in his arms. Slowly, he lowered him to the ground; the red head's eyes wide and breathing heavy.

"What just happened?" Eric panted, catching his break while growing protective over Link.

The twilit princess was the first to set herself on her feet. "That golden wolf is the hero's shade. He was a tutor to Link during the twilight invasion. You do not have to worry. This happened each time the two sparred." Midna buoyed Eric, smiling lightly. "He'll be up in a few minutes – don't worry."

Eric sighed in relief, the man across from Midna, however, was rather arrogant. "You sure the kid isn't on drugs and was seeing things?"

Flustered, Zelda rose and slammed the palms of her hand on the table. Her eyes were wide and shot a fuming glare at the man. "Kile. You might as well shut up before I come over there and knock you cold."

Rolling his eyes, the man groaned and turned away from the princess, crossing his arms along his chest. "I doubt it."

Suddenly, two soft hands were wrapped around Kile's head; one covering his eyes, the other his mouth. He didn't even bother to struggle, although he felt galled by the heated breaths that traced his neck. "Are you sure? I was trained by a Sheikah as a young child, in case I needed to fend myself if Hyrule was in danger. Thankful enough, I didn't have to use it in the past years. But if needed I'll use it now."

Pulling her hands away, Zelda smirked in delight. Kile looked pale as the moon, eyes wide as a gaping mouth as his lips trembled. The man's hands had gripped the sides of the chair, and Impa stared at him with an amused smirk. The Sheikah gave Zelda a nod of approval, and the princess only grinned.

Link groaned, rolling his neck, hearing a pop as the bones of his spine aligned themselves together. Above him stood the bright blonde man garbed in green. Grinning down at Link, the man reached down a hand, aiding him up. As the boy's eyes adjusted while the blood rushed to his head, he notice that they didn't stand in the starry plateau where they did in their previous meeting; rather, they stood in a dilapidated castle – flags torn, tables dusted, bricks falling from the walls. The place had an eerie appearance, giving Link the chills.

"Don't worry," Kokau spoke, wrapping his arm around Link's shoulders. "It's just the Hylian castle from my era. No harm."

"So the castle looked like a dump in your time?"

Chuckling, the taller shook his head, offering the younger a chair as he sat. "No. It looked regal and vast – I remember the first time I set my eyes on it, I was nine. I was scared and hungry – I had to lug all the way from the Kokiri village, through the lost woods, across Hyrule field, and into the castle town before it got to sunset. I was an untrained child with a sword – I would have died if I hadn't gotten there by nightfall. The beasts would've gotten me in the night."

Link sat and nodded his head, he opened his mouth to speak, but Kokau continued on.

"And when I first saw Zelda, she was so pretty. Her guardian though, Impa – she scared me shitless. The Sheikah are rather intimidating in appearance. Don't you say?"

Link agreed. "I think it's the intensity of their eyes."

Grinning, the taller snickered, "Yup! But anyways – Zelda was like a friend to me. But when I was asleep in the Temple of Time for seven goddesses damned years, she disappeared. When I had woken up as sixteen, the only friend I made who was good enough as her was a man named Sheik. He was the only Sheikah that I didn't find terrifying. He helped me, too. But in the end, turned out that Sheik was Zelda's disguise. Masked her form really well actually. And when it was all over, I wanted to be better friends with Zelda. I wanted to do so much more – I wanted to learn about all I had missed."

"But, Zelda thought sending me back in time would do better. It only made my life hell, though. I never met Zelda again when I went back." Kokau reached back into one of his pouches, pulling out a small item that Link couldn't distinguish, and played with it between his thumbs.

"What's that?" Link peered over, contending to identify the small item in Kokau's hands.

"A ring."

"Oh," he whispered, pulling his head back and turning it to the floor. After a long sigh, he looked back up at the man. Kokau's face looked rather stringed and pained. "Was that for Zelda?"

The man's face turned a bright red before he nodded. "Yes. Although I didn't understand most of the world, still having the though process of a nine-year-old, I understood what marriage was. And I wanted to marry her." He held up the ring for Link to see. "I had made it over my quest. I made it with some of the finest jewels to each tribe. I wanted to give it to her when I had found her again. Little did I know she was beside me for most of the time." He chortled and shook his head.

Reaching his hand out, he grabbed Link's shoving the ring in his palm. The dirty blonde stared up at Kokau with wide eyes. "Why are you giving me this?"

Standing from his chair, the Hero's Shade stood from his chair and approached Link, placing his hands on the boy's shoulders. "Because you love Midna."

Link's cheeked glowed red as he stared up at Kokau in disbelief. "But, she's a princess – a princess of a completely foreign kingdom that hates me. That would be so irrational of me – I'd probably get beheaded or damned to the endless torture of the Nothingness." Soon his words fell apart, becoming incoherent blabber – stutters and incomplete phrases.

Taking note of the boy's panic, Kokau knelt down and wrapped Link in his arms. Taking the back of the boy's head in one hand and pressed it against his shoulder, startling Link. "Calm down. If Midna loves you enough as it seems she does – she wouldn't let that happen. Neither would Zelda. Or Eric. Or Din, Nayru, and Farore. Not I. Not even your father."

Taking a breath and pushing away Kokau, Link stared at the man with wide eyes. "What do you mean? My father wants me dead. He didn't even want me to exist. He hates me. He wouldn't even care if I died – hell, he'd rather be the one to push me into the nothingness."

Staring blankly at Link, Kokau, frowned, his eyes beginning to droop. "No. You should have seen your father the night I told him of his future son's curse. He was heartbroken. He wanted a kid, but the curse scared him enough to make himself believe he didn't want one. And when he found out about you, he couldn't take it."

"And no, I'm not saying what he did was right, nor do I ever support him for it. But after he left I watched him. He traveled as far as he could before I told him to head back. During the first few months, he cried a lot. He prayed to the goddesses, repenting his sins, and asking them to take back the curse. That's when I explained to him that it was unchangeable. He was devastated. He wanted to see your face so bad. He wanted to marry Annamarie and live with you. He didn't want you to die."

Rolling his eyes, Link groaned, "Kokau, you've officially gone fucking crazy."

Grabbing Link's ear, Kokau inched his face close. "No, I haven't. I have not said you had to love your father. Not once. Because I hate him, too. I'm only telling you what I observed – to prove that he doesn't want you to die."

"Then why does he treat me so cold?" Link snorted, swatting away Kokau's hand.

Taking a heavy sigh and giving a rather addled frown, the taller pulled back. "I don't know the answer to that. I'm sorry. I can't read his mind."

Gradually, the dirty blonde nodded, his eyelids drooping over his bright blue irises. His gaze met with the faded brick floor, tapping his foot, creating an echo throughout the antiqued hall. Kokau watched as the life seemed to slip away from the boy's face in a heavy sigh.

"Stand up."

The man's voice startled Link from his halfhearted slumber. He looked up at Kokau with dazed eyes – glossy like a dog's. The man's sudden command confused him. He had never spoken in such a tone, even when the two had sparred in training. Never had such an icy chill reflected from his voice. Never had it been. It sent Link shivering down his spine as Kokau stood at the opposite end of the hall, arms crossed, facing away from him.

"Kokau, what is it?" Link raised his voice, questioning the man's inflection.

Grumbling and hissing, the man groaned, "I only told you to stand. Do as you're told."

Widening his eyes, Link did as Kokau ordered. He stood from the chair that had become his resting place and began to near towards him, taking cautious steps. "Kokau, what have I done wrong to upset you?"

No response.

"Kokau! What did I do?" Link began to raise his voice, the words he spoke becoming detached and emphasized. "I haven't done anything."

Again, Kokau stood silent.

"What did I do? I've done nothing! I've done absolutely nothing to deserve this! Can you just tell me what I did? Because as far as I know I haven't done anything!" Link's voice cracked as it escalated to the heightened stress it was at.

To the blonde's surprise however, the man before him turned his head. "That's exactly it."

Cocking his head, Link scrunched his nose and brows, displayed the most confused of faces. "What do you mean?"

At instant, Kokau swung around, facing Link with an animated grin daubed across his lips. As he began to quickly change his pace toward the boy, he began to swing his arms about as he spoke. "That's exactly it! I wanted you to admit you did nothing wrong! You've been putting yourself down for the longest time because you felt you did something wrong – but you just admitted that you did nothing wrong."

Taken back, Link leaned back as Kokau's face swooped into his. Stammering, he held his hand up by his sides. "No, no, I only meant as of now… not this whole time."

Just then, the taller's face grew stern and uptight. "Child, you did nothing wrong. Now c'mon – I'm showing you how to propose."

"Wait – what?" Link stammered, being dragged across the room by Kokau.

As the taller halted, Link crashed right into Kokau's side. As he pulled away from the man's side, he looked up to see a devilish grin stare right back down at him. "Pretend I'm Midna."

Raising one brow, Link snickered, "How am I supposed to do that? You resemble nothing about her."

Sighing, Kokau rolled his eyes, sarcastically placing his hands on his hips and speaking in a high pitch. "Oh wow, wolfy's not as dumb as I thought… or is he?"

"How did you just imitate her voice so accurately?"

Groaning, Kokau laughed, "I heard that voice critiquing your form too many times during our training."

Link shrugged and smirked, agreeing.

"Now get down on one knee," Kokau directed. Fumbling, Link gracelessly dropped himself to one knee, wincing as he heard the joint crack under impact. "Now, the ring." Link nodded and reached into his pocket, pulling out the small silver ring. "I'm not going to make you confess your undying love for me, although it's obvious you have so much, but when you do this for Midna – do something along that. Then ask her to marry you. She says yes. You guys have a wedding and then soon I expect children."

"Children…?" Link questionably raised his brows at Kokau. "How the Twili would murder me. And her father. He doesn't even know me yet."

"I want grandbabies."

"You're not my da-"

"Grandbabies."

Zelda, Eric, Impa, Kile and Midna all sat around the table, waiting and waiting, for Link to return. Midna held him in her arms, caressing his face with one hand. The Twili glanced up, taking in the sight around her; Impa and Zelda at the far end of the room discussion confidential matters, Eric pacing across the longer side, and Kile crossing his arms while chewing on a toothpick.

"How much longer will it be until he wakes up?" The deep voice startled the Princess. She stared at its owner blankly before responding.

"Kile, I don't know. I wasn't able to join in on this one as I had done when I took form in Link's shadow," Midna sighed. "Whatever those two are discussing could be rather heartfelt to Link, as we all know he has been greatly troubled the past year or so."

The man only looked away and nodded slowly, showing his acknowledgement of her words. Kile's conduct confused the Twili, though. For once, he seemed to want to be involved with Link's care. It was odd and uncanny from the typically stubborn man. Raising a brow, she opened her mouth to speak, but was immediately adjourned by the stirring in her arms. The blonde boy that rested on Midna's legs grumbled and groaned, making little movements and adjusting his head.

Grinning, the Twili lowered her head down to meet his and whispered in his ear, "Wolf boy, it's time to get up ya' sleepyhead."

A small smirk played on his face while his eyelids slowly opened. When his vision adjusted and his vision clearly explicated the frame of Midna's smooth face, Link's smirk grew to a wide gleam across his face. Speechless, all he could do was raise his head just enough to clasp his lips with hers, stunning Midna. After a second she gave in and closed her eyes until he pulled away, face bright right and an overjoyed simper.

"Welcome back, dork." The Twili chuckled, lips curled up into the neatest of smiles.

"Nice to see you, too, Midna," Link retorted while slowly sitting up, Midna guiding him to his seat. As he sat, he brushed his hand against his pocket – it was still there. He wasn't expecting the miniscule object to stay there after he left Kokau's world. He was nervous though. The idea of messing up scared him. And just the formality of the event seemed rather intimidating. He had to do it, though. It was now or never.

Synchronously, both Midna and Link turned to each other, addressing one another's names. The collision of their voices caused the attention of all those in the room to focus in on them. Link's head felt light, he felt the many pairs of eyes burn into the back of his head. As if he weren't nervous enough already – he felt the pressure bury him.

"You go first," Link turned his head away, face hot and blushing.

Shaking her head, the Twili crossed her arms and stood. "No, you."

Sighing, Link stared at the floor, reaching his hand into his pocket and holding the small item between his fingers. "Same time?"

The Twili nodded, taking careful note of Link's paling face. She knew something was up with him – something happened while he was talking to the Hero's Shade it was obvious. She on the other hand, was anxious enough as well. Both looked each other in the eye, and took a deep breath together to signify the start.

Immediately, Link clumsily dropped to one knee, and as he thought Midna spoke, the words flew from his mouth like Epona racing across the field. "Midna, I thought you would only be a friend to me when we met. But as time when on I realized you became a part of me, and when you left, something kept telling me to get it back or don't go on. And here you are, and here I am. And I… I… Midna…. Will you marry me?" Slowly, Link's eyes made their way up to stare into Midna's. From his hand, he revealed a small ring. "Please, Midna. You mean everything to me."

Gleaming, Midna knelt down in front of the Hylian and wrapped her arms around his chest as she inched towards his face. "Of course I'll marry you, you dumb wolf. I needed to find a suitor anyway." Before the blonde had any time to respond, the Twili bent forward and latched her lips onto his.

As she pulled away, small applauses came from behind them – from Eric, Zelda, and Impa. Kile only sat there. He didn't frown, nor was he clapping. He just stared vaguely at them. He didn't seem happy, or sad, or angry. He just existed there, at that place and time.

"I hope you two have fun," Kile whispered, standing from the table and turning to the door. "Don't let me stop you – I've already ruined enough."

Link and Midna both stared blankly at the man as he excused himself from the hall. Impa immediately took off behind him as Zelda turned to the newly engaged.

"I'm assuming you would prefer the wedding here?" The princess asked with raised brows.

Link shook his head. "Ordon. I don't want it big. Just small and simple." Turning his head to Midna for approval, she nodded.

Squinting her eyes, Zelda reluctantly agreed. "So it shall be done. I'll ask that Eric escort you back to your room, as I assume you want time for yourselves."

And with that, Eric quickly took lead to the door, leaving Midna and Link to catch up and Zelda alone in the hall with the mess. As the trio ascended the stairs, Link slowly came to a stop in front of one of the guest doors. As he was about to reach for the door handle, Eric immediately turned and pulled his hand away.

"You don't want to go in there – that's your father's room."

Link raised a brow. "I know. I need to go in there, though. And I need to go alone."

Disquieted, Eric sighed and took a step back from Link, returning to Midna's side. Both the red head and the Twili stared as the blonde slowly returned his hand to the door knob and twisted it. As the door opened, he slipped in and quietly shut it behind them.

Eric stared at the floor, tapping his foot as he waited impatiently. "So, are you guys excited?"

"I'm happy. I would presume Link is. He seemed to be getting worked up over the question," Midna giggled, thinking of the scenario not too long ago.

"Well that's great," Eric affirmed, smiling. "I just hope Kile doesn't try to get in the way."

The creak at his door alerted him. "Zelda, I excused myself. I wanted to be left alone."

Awkwardly, Link stood still by the doorway and pursed his lips, regretting the decision of ever entering the room. "Hello Dad."

Kile's ears perked instantly, and he whipped his body around to face the blonde. In response, he sneered down at him, crossing his arms. "What do you want? You never call me that."

"To say thank you." Link sighed, dropping his shoulders. "By the way, it doesn't feel right calling you that anyway."

"As I presumed," Kile snorted, standing from the edge of the bed. "So why would you ever want to thank me? As far as I knew you hated me, shall I quote this morning?"

Rolling his eyes and scrunching his brows, the blonde looked away. "I am thanking you for giving me life."

Taken back, Kile's eye widened and his lips parted. "And, what's so great about life? You and possibly you future children are plagued with this curse."

Shaking his head, Link shrugged, grinning up at his father. "Curse and all, I thank you. If I hadn't received the curse, I would have never met Midna. And if I had never met her, I would have never met Zelda or Eric. Hell, I wouldn't have just asked her to marry me!" The blonde took a deep breath in after his voice had inclined. "So I say thank you and goodnight."

And with that, Link turned right back out the door, leaving Kile alone in his room, confused and concerned. And quite guilty, too.