Oh man, I'm sorry for the long wait! I did not have a lot of time to work on this, and when I did I had trouble continuing. It's not even the best or longest of chapters I've written. Though, I've noticed that I have a tendency to finish a chapter late at night. o.O

I want to thank all of you readers for enjoying this! Seriously, I hardly expected to get so many people to like this story. I won't say anymore, just go on and read the long awaited third chapter.

Troubles of Childcare

Link toddled around, looking over his shoulder every few seconds. He scanned to area in front of him, looking for something. His eyes stopped at a fairly large rock sitting a few inches away from the stream that ran through Ordon. He smiled and giggled, running awkwardly to the rock and around to the other side. He promptly sat down and waited.

"Ilia, what are you doing?" Someone asked from behind the rock.

"Looking for Link," said a young girl's voice. "We playing hide n' seek!"

"Well, have fun," the other said, clearly amused. Link looked around the rock, trying to still stay hidden. He watched as the new shopkeeper, the chubby Sera, walked away to her shop. The toddler giggled as his friend began to walk away, looking for him. He didn't notice the girl sneak behind him.

"Got 'cha!" Ilia tackled Link, causing both of them to tumble into the stream. They began to scramble out of the shallow water.

"Ilia, Link!" The toddlers looked up to see Shannon running towards them. They put on their best innocent faces. Shannon put her hands on her hips and a stern look. "What happened?"

"She did it!" Link pointed to Ilia.

"Nuh-uh!" Ilia stuck her tongue out at the younger boy. "You tripped me, poopy head!"

"Ilia, it's not nice to call people mean names," Shannon said. She shook her head and then grabbed one hand of each child. "Let's get you two dried off. Then you can tell me what happened." She led the two children to her home.

Link and Ilia had quickly become the jewels of the village following their births. All the villagers, especially the younger generation, had taken part in raising the children, although Shannon was officially in charge of watching them during the day. Once Link had reached the age of two, Amena had decided to help out at Ordon's ranch, though she would often come back down to check on her son.

Although everyone cared greatly for the toddlers, they all agreed the two were too mischievous for their own good. Events similar to falling into the stream occurred several times a week, causing much frustration for the parents.

Shannon sighed as she began to dry off the toddlers, starting with Ilia. She sighed and asked, "So, what happened?"

Ilia pointed over to Link. "He tripped me!"

Her mother sighed. "Link, is that true?"

The boy furiously shook his head. "Nuh-uh! She pushed me!" The two toddlers glared at each other, sticking out their tongues. Shannon rubbed her temples. She wasn't in the mood for this.

"Link, it's not nice to trip people. And Ilia, it's not nice to push people. But more importantly, one of you is lying, and lying is wrong. Do you understand?" Neither toddler answered and just continued to glare at one another. Shannon held back a growl of frustration. Children could be so difficult at times.

There was a knock and the door opened.

"Shannon?" Amena walked in, slightly dirty from her ranch work. Link looked up, the glare being replaced by a wide smile.

"Mama!" He ran over to his mother, stumbling a bit. Amena kneeled down to be closer to her damp son's height. She fingered the boy's wet hair, raising an eyebrow.

"Link, why are you wet?" He pointed over to Ilia.

"Ila tripped me!"

"Nuh-uh!" was the reply from the other child.

Amena sighed and looked up at Shannon. The older woman shook her head. "I don't know what exactly happened. All I know is someone pushed or tripped the other and they both landed in the stream."

Amena stood up, hands on her hips, and looked down at her son. "Link, lying is bad. You're not lying, are you?"

Link shook his head. "No! She tripped me!"

Ilia pouted and crossed her arms. "Tattletale!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Are-"

"Stop it!" Link and Ilia ceased their arguing and looked up at Shannon. She had her arms crossed, looking at the two sternly. "Ilia, it's not polite to call people names. It's also not right to lie about anything, even if you get in trouble."

Ilia began to pout, her eyes watering up. Her mother frowned. "Aw, Ilia, don't do that." She attempted to hug the girl, but Ilia stepped out of the way, crossing her arms. Shannon looked at Amena, not knowing what to do.

"Ila!"

Ilia, still pouting, looked over at Link. The boy spread out his arms and proceeded to wrap them around his older friend. Ilia quickly changed her frown to a smile, hugging him back. The two mothers watching looked at each other, shaking their heads.

"To be young again…" Amena said, sighing. "Have you two learned your lesson?"

The two toddlers nodded quickly. The mothers knew their children probably did not learn and the event would repeat it self, but for the moment all was well.

"So," Shannon began as the children started to amuse themselves, "anything interesting happen at the ranch?"

"Oh, just same old stuff. A goat did almost knock down a fence earlier, so I guess that's a bit interesting."

Shannon giggled. "A bit? What happened that could have possibly encouraged the thing to do that?"

"Fado. He's very sweet, but certainly does not have his father's skill for handling animals." Amena shook her head.

"Ah, of course." Shannon nodded in understanding. Fado was just a few years younger than Amena and was the ranch owner's son. He had a large heart, however he was quite well known in the village to be a klutz. He would often unwittingly anger the goats, causing them to charge.

As the two mothers continued to talk, they didn't notice their two children sneak out the door. Link quietly shut the door and bolted, Ilia right behind. They both laughed, attracting the attention of the adults outside.

"Can't catch me!" Link shouted at Ilia, who was a few feet behind him. This made the girl increase her speed, determined to catch up. They made their way through the small village, running across the bridge and dirt path. They raced through the path that led to Link's home. As they reached the clearing, Link stopped suddenly, causing Ilia to run into him.

"Why'd you stop?" The girl asked angrily. Link just pointed in response.

In the middle of the clearing were Brion and Rusl, each holding a wooden stick the ended with a point. They seemed to be trying to hit each other with the sticks, but the other would block it with his own stick. This was combined with complicated footwork that captured the toddlers' attention. Soon, however, Link's father soon pushed Rusl to the ground and held the stick's point to his neck. Both men were breathing hard and, for a moment, said nothing. Rusl then started to laugh and was helped up by Brion.

"For someone who hasn't practice in awhile," Rusl said, "you still make me look like an amateur."

"I wouldn't say I haven't practice in awhile…" Brion trailed off.

"You've been practicing behind your wives back? I wish you luck when she finds out, my friend."

"Well, I've got to stay in shape." Brion looked at his friend hopefully. He sighed when the other man just shook his head. "You're right. She'll never let me come up with an excuse. I can't wait until Link's old enough to- Link!"

Link jumped at his name being called out. His father came over, kneeling down in front of the toddlers. "Where's Shannon, you two?"

"Home," they answered simultaneously.

"Do they know you're here?" Both shook their heads. Brion sighed. "Did you two see what we were doing?" Two nods. "Oh, Amena is not going to be happy."

"You're right about that."

Brion snapped his head up to find his wife in front of him, arms crossed and tapping her foot. The man stood up, putting on his best innocent grin. "Honey! How's the ranch?"

"Better than you'll be after you tell me why you have that practice sword."

"Well, uh, I, uh…" Amena raised an eyebrow as her husband stammered on. He finally sighed. "'Mena, you can't just expect me to just stop! I'm a swordsman, I was taught to train hard. It's a habit. Besides, what was it your grandfather always said he liked about me…?"

A small smile crept on Amena's face. "Your sword skills, yes, I remember. But couldn't you do it without a real person? You do have a small son, you know."

"Oh, speaking of our son, why did you let him wonder off?"

"Excuse me? Don't change the subject! Besides, Shannon is in charge of watching the two."

"Hey!" Shannon, who had come up next to Amena, shouted in surprise. "Don't put me in the middle of this little spouse argument of yours."

"You're still down here, Amena, not at the ranch. So, you must be checking on Link. Shannon's not the type to just let children run around. You two probably got caught up in your female conversations."

Amena gaped at her husband. "Well, I, uh…"

"Mama?" The couple looked down to see Link tugging on his mother's skirt. "Why you and Daddy fight?" Tears seemed to be welling up in his eyes, but he was holding them back.

Amena and Brion looked at each other, and then back at their son. Amena picked up the toddler, wiping a stray tear that escaped his eye away from his face. "Link, we're sorry. Sometimes, Daddy and I just get a little, uh, angry at each other. But it doesn't mean anything. You understand?" Link nodded. "Good. Now, what are we going to do about you're fighting habits?" She looked at her husband.

"What?"

"No more live people! Get some kind of dummy to hack at."

"May I suggest something, Amena?" Rusl finally spoke up. "Why not build a scarecrow? If it breaks, it wouldn't take too much work to build another one."

"That's a wonderful idea, Rusl! But still, I'm taking your sword until it's built." She snatched her husband's sword from his hand and gave it to Shannon. "Hide it."

"That's not fair, 'Mena!" Amena smirked and just turned to walk away.

"You better start doing you job," she yelled back at him. Brion sighed and put his hand to his forehead. Rusl gave a smile of sympathy.

"Come on, Ilia," Shannon said to her daughter. The two followed Amena back to their home to continue the day.

Again, sorry for the long wait. Yes, Link really does call Ilia 'Ila.' That's not a typo.

By the way, I really do not know that much about little kids. How Link and Ilia are acting are more of how I remember little kids act like, if that made any sense. So, I'm kinda getting into a child's mindset to write this. But any info you have on children would be helpful to me! I'd also like to thank Warrior's Creed for informing me on my serious lack of knowledge on newborns.