Disclaimer: As usual, previous disclaimers apply.

A/N: Long chapter ahead. Also as usual, all mistakes and grammatical errors are mine and mine alone.

The Ghost Beside Me

Chapter 3: The Untold Story

"What?" Link stared at Uli, feeling incredulous and dumb. He repeated those words countless times in his head, trying to fully comprehend what he just heard.

"And the baby in her arms is you, Link." Uli added as clearly as her own nervousness allowed her.

"She is your mother."

"…your mother."

My mother? I have a mother?

He looked at the pictograph speechlessly, at his newly appointed relative, the most important of all. A relative that he never knew existed at some unknown time in his life. The woman – Adryll – kept smiling in the pictograph, and for a moment he felt like she was smiling directly to him, her brilliant eyes showing how happy and whole she was then. And she was holding him. Him. Baby Link being held by… by who?

He felt out of place, his mind stopped functioning normally; a white void of memories and times that he did not remember happening.

"Uli, are you sure that she is… Link's mother?" Ilia asked, attempting to restore some of the sudden lost chattiness to the conversation.

"Yes, she is." Uli assured not only to her but also to Link.

"Where is she now?" Ilia asked her.

Uli shook her head. "She is no among the living anymore. She passed away many years ago, when Link was still a child." She said in a solemn tone.

"Oh." Deep inside, Ilia was trapped inside a whirlpool of emotions. That new revelation stirred more that her curiosity. Her knowledge about one of the most important persons in her life just made a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree turn. If she felt that shaken, she could not imagine what was running through Links' mind. What was he feeling?

She looked at him. Despite the news, Link's expression looked barely unaltered. His eyes did not react instantly, but he barely blinked as he kept his sight directly to the pictograph. His lips were slightly open but silent, as if they were waiting for soundly words to come out of his throat. If Link was shocked, he was doing wonders by concealing it behind his neutral self.

Link remained silent, apparently hypnotized by the lady that in part was no longer a mystery to him. Any of the ladies in the house must have called his name a number of times before he looked up. His ears closed for some seconds before he could actually figure that Uli was talking to him.

The young man looked at Uli. "Um, sorry." He said timidly. "Did you say something to me?"

Uli smiled at him a little, understanding Link's silent confusion. "Come on, sit down."

Both Ilia and Link sat down on the sofa, while Uli sat in the armchair close to them. He placed Adryll's pictograph on the coffee table in from of her visitors.

"Look, I know you may feel confused by this. But everything has a story behind its origins." Uli started. She pointed at the pictograph. "This is no exception."

"Do you know her story?" Ilia asked.

Uli nodded.

"Can you tell us?"

"Link," Uli called. Link looked up; once again he found himself staring blankly at Adryll's image. "You all deserve to know what happened, but you deserve it the most. I will tell you her story only if you promise you will listen to it."

Uli was right, he deserved to know; he needed to know. But at the same time, he did not want to. Whatever were the events that took him apart from his mother, he was somehow afraid to listen to them. But he also hoped that whatever Uli has to tell would break down the wall that was preventing him from remembering.

Link sighed. "Okay. Go ahead."

Uli smiled again. She swallowed before starting, praying to the gods to give her strength to what she was about to say, to relive.

"Before Rusl and I came to live here in Ordon, we lived in Hyrule Castle's Market Town. Adryll was my best friend. Adryll and I worked at the Market Bar; Adryll as a waitress, me as a cook.

"Rusl and I were engaged, but Adryll was married to a good man named Koric. Along with Rusl, he was a fine swordsman and one of the King's most loyal soldiers in Hyrule Castle's Army."

"My father." Link said out of the blue, somewhat in awe, but not to anyone in particular.

"Yes, your father."

Another revelation, another shock. And a new person came into his life. A father. The faceless figure of his father. He didn't know what to expect next. Who was going to come out later, an uncle?

"Link?" Ilia called him. She placed a hand in his arm, pulling him away from his troubled thoughts.

"Uli, please continue." Link hurried. "I want to know more. I need to."

Do I really want to know? Why would I want to? He thought.

Uli was looking at the pictograph in front of her, but her mind was appeared to be somewhere else. Her mind was back in Hyrule Castle, where a group of courageous people were making some important decisions; decisions that would later shape up the future of their homeland…

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It was late at night, and the stone-carved war room echoed the voices of the soldiers reunited there. The war room served as both the place to plot battle strategies and trace the movements of the menacing enemies, but also served as a resting spot for the worn out soldiers that spent hours defending the Castle's walls. The coming and going was constant and lasted day and night; as more soldiers went out to battle, more came to rest their weariness away along with their fellow comrades and friends. In war times, there is no time to lose.

Hunched down in front of a big Hyrule field map, Koric stretched his neck to relieved the accumulate stress. The last hours had been tiresome for him; receiving orders from the King, following orders from the General, giving orders to the soldiers, making decisions about the next defense line and an effective attack plan… Being a server for the King and a defender of Hyrule required a great amount of dedication and time, not to mention the small sacrifices he must make. But there was no more gratifying feeling that to know that a humble man contributed to make hundreds of people feel safer and to have a better place to live. Despite the lack of rest, he knew that at the end of the road, the reward would be priceless: peace.

A young man with a red hat approached Koric from behind him, his pace was quick and he looked like he was in a hurry. "Koric? Is anybody named Koric here?"

Koric turned to the man that called him, so did the other two men that were also studying the map along with him.

"It is me." Koric said with an exasperated tone.

"You have an urgent message, sir." The messenger took out a rolled up parchment and hand it to the soldier. His task done, he left the place immediately.

"It must be another order from the King." The young blonde man, Rusl, said to Koric.

"I don't think so, Rusl." The senior man named Auru, said. "The King's wife gave birth to his daughter barely two days ago. He informed that he would take at least five days off to take care of them." He touched his pointed mustache. "It looks more likely the General's."

Whatever the parchment content, whether it was about the raging war outside or anything else, it should be very important to be brought in the middle of a meeting. The unrolled the parchment and read its content. Just as he read it, both Rusl and Auru saw how Koric's eyes went wide open, his weary look disappeared from his face like magic, and his mouth contorted in a way that it was hard to tell if he was about to laugh or cry.

He clenched the parchment in his hand and began to survey the place ecstatically. He looked like he did not know that to do in the following seconds. "Oh gods, I-I must… Oh…" Koric stuttered. "Auru, I must go now okay? I have to go."

"What?" Auru asked. Rusl frowned at his comrade's sudden behavior.

"Take care of them! Send the next battalion in the next hour!" He shouted as he exited the war room. Auru and Rusl stood around the table confused and looking to each other.

"Where are you going?" Auru asked, but Koric was already gone.

"What was that all about?" Rusl asked to Auru. "Why did he leave in such a hurry? Leaving us and the rest like this…"

Auru let out a wry smile. "I don't know. But whatever it was, it must be for a good reason."

"What was that message anyway? That was what made him so excited." Rusl remembered.

Auru noted that Koric, in his hurry, left away the parchment that he received from the messenger. It was on the floor, crumbled and dirty; some careless soldiers had already stepped on it. Auru bent over and took it on his hand. He flattened the parchment a little before reading it. Rusl also read it over Auru's shoulder. As they read, both soldiers could not contain the smile that the message brought to them, for it clearly explained Koric's reason to feel that way.

Your son is born. Please come quickly to meet him!

"Ha ha ha ha!" Auru laughed out. Rusl also laughed in the background. "He indeed had a good reason to go. The biggest reason of all."

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The streets were unusually crowded, considering that a war and some ruthless outsiders were outside the Castle's gate. He ran like crazy through the people that roamed the Market Place. He stumbled against people's shoulders and stepped on others' feet in an attempt to reach his goal as fast as his own feet let him. He did not feel tired anymore, and the thoughts of enemies and clashing swords took a second place in his mind, perhaps lower. Now there was a brand new thought in his mind, and it was waiting for him back at home.

It took him more than expected, but Koric finally made it to his house. As he crossed the door, a woman greeted him. She was washing her hands with some water from a vase.

"Uli!" Koric exclaimed almost out of breath.

"Koric!" The young lady replied. "You made it home really fast."

"Where is she? I mean, where are they?" He asked, his words coming out fast. "Are they okay? Please tell me they are okay."

Uli found his nervousness funny and she laughed a little. It was understandable. "Don't worry, Koric. Both Adryll and the baby are in the room. There were no major problems while she was giving birth. They are both doing great…"

"Can I see them?" He almost didn't let Uli finish.

"Of course you can! Go ahead."

Koric was smiling from ear to ear. Unconsciously, he embraced Uli in a hug in his state of joy. She was caught unprepared for that, but she understood a second later. He reciprocated his somewhat fierce hug with a more gentle one.

Uli was his wife's best friend. They had always helped each other when any of them need it. But this time was different. She helped Adryll while she was in labor and also was taking care of her, and that was something he would always be grateful of. "Thank you Uli."

"There is no need to say that." She said as the broke the hug. "Now go. Your family is waiting."

Still smiling, Koric headed to the room were his family awaited. Family. The mere mention of the word thrilled him to his bones. What he longed for so long had finally come true.

He opened the door as quietly as he could to stifle any creaking sounds. The room was well lit by several oil lanterns placed in every corner of the room. A big dresser rested on a wall and the crib he crafted while Adryll was still pregnant was placed on the opposite side. The bed he shared with Adryll was straight ahead from the door, from where he was standing.

His wife was laying on the bed, her back resting against a set of pillows. She was holding the newborn in her arms, watching him intently and stroking the scarce hairs in the boy's head. It appeared that she hadn't noticed Koric's presence in the bed room.

"Adryll…" Her name escaped her lips as a whisper, but it was loud enough to made her raised her head to the noise, startling her slightly.

Her eyes shore when she saw Koric's frame standing by the door. "Koric! You came!" She exclaimed from the bed.

Koric only kept looking at them, smiling. He did not move from his spot, he did not dare to move and he didn't know why.

"Here, come closer." She encouraged him, tapping one side of the bed.

He blinked several times before walking toward them. She knelt by the side of the bed and immediately fixed his eyes on his son. Koric observed him for a minute. The baby was sleeping and was covered with a green cotton blanket. His tiny hands were grabbing the edges of the blanket's golden lace. A few little hairs decorated his head, and his lips were thin and had a pinkish tint on them, just like his mother.

He was his perfect son, the most beautiful baby he'd ever seen.

Koric exchanged glanced with Adryll, who was smiling and was just as excited as him. Her blond hair was a little damp – perhaps with sweat – and was pulled back with a pink handkerchief over it. Her light brown eyes reflected some degree of weariness due to the hours she spent on labor, and her skin looked a bit pale. But even in that state, Adryll's beauty remained unaltered. And the creature in her arms only added some kind of celestial aura to her appearance.

"Look at him, he looks just like you." She said. "He's got your eyes."

"Um, I think it is too soon to say that." He replied nervously. He looked at the baby again as he pulled a chair and sit by Adryll's bedside "He is so beautiful. He definitely inherited your looks."

"Now that is a little too soon to assure that," the new mother giggled. "Do you want to hold him?"

He looked at him, his smiled faded slightly. "I-I don't know. I am too dumb, I might hurt him."

"Oh Koric, do not say that. How can you hurt him? You are his father."

Koric remained silent.

"Come on, you need to lose that fear. He is not going to hurt you, isn't he?"

He sighed. With extreme caution, he held the baby in his arms. "Just watch his head." Adryll instructed softly. He was unused to care for babies, and he felt so afraid that even his most delicate actions could break him. "See, it is not that hard."

"He is so small," Koric muttered to himself as he repositioned himself in the chair. As soon as the biggest movements ceased, the baby began to move. Fearing that the baby would wake up and cry, he began to rock him softly in his arms. The newborn indeed wake up, but did not cry. The boy opened his eyes as he yawned soundlessly. The baby boy linked his big eyes with his father's. Adryll was right, he inherited his father's eyes. They were full of life and as blue as the morning sky. The baby watched the older, lightly stubbed face hovering over him, and his small lips moved, as if saying hello to his father for the first time. At that moment, Koric's eyes watered.

"How will you call him?" Adryll asked suddenly.

Of course, his son needed a name. He was so concentrated thinking and dreaming awake that he forgot about the name. "How would you like to call him?"

"Umm," she mumbled, thinking. "Well, since he is a boy, I thought it was fair enough for you to choose his name."

He looked at the baby again. He hoped that his son's name came carved somewhere in the baby's face, or anywhere. Seriously, which man-made name is appropriate for such a wonderful baby? An ordinary name would not fit him. He spent the next minute thinking of a name. He almost prayed to the gods to shred some of their grace over him, for his mind remained blank. Another minute passed, and his prayer was answered.

"No names come to your mind?" The young mother asked.

"Link."

"What?"

"Link," he repeated absently. "I would like to call him Link." He did not know where that name came from, but after certain amount of time, that name just pop into his mind. There was no explanation for that.

"Link," Adryll echoed, then she smiled at his husband and then to her son. "Alright. Let's call him Link." She said aloud. "Link will be his name."

Koric leaned closer to Adryll and kissed her tenderly on her forehead. "I love you Adryll."

"I love you too, Koric."

"And I love you too, little fairy." He said as he pocked the baby's nose softly.

Baby Link smiled and his eyes grew larger.

The bedroom door opened, and a bunch of cheery people erupted inside. The couple turned their heads, and smiled when several of their friends entered the room. Their voices filled the room immediately.

"Hi Adryll! Congratulations!"

"Congratulations to you too, Koric!"

"Where the baby? I want to see the baby!"

"Ah, my friends!" Koric exclaimed. He recognized some of his soldier comrades on the spot. Even Rusl and Auru were among them. He also recognized some of Adryll's friends from the bar, like Telma and her mother, who owned the bar. Uli also entered the room with them. "How did you know…?"

"You left the parchment behind," Auru interrupted. "I could not resist the temptation to read it."

"Indeed, you left the war room like a jumping grasshopper." Rusl added.

"I am so sorry about that," Koric apologized.

"It was nothing," Rusl said modestly.

"What is his name?" One of the soldiers said from behind the crowd.

"Does he have a name yet?" Another unseen person asked.

"Yes, his name is Link." Adryll said proudly.

"So, look at him, guys! He is Koric's living pictograph." Rusl said.

Everyone in the room was either saying "hi" to baby Link or taking short turns to stroke Link's hair or to play with his fingers. Despite the cheery chat and conversation - and oddly enough - baby Link did not show any signs of fear. He stayed awake all the time, and he occasionally offered a smile to any face that looked funny to him or to any ticklish touch.

Those were happy moments for both Adryll and Koric, and they kept those memories close to their hearts.

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"Koric stayed at home for a week following Link's birth, until he was called back to battle. I can still remember Koric's face when he held Link in his arms." Uli took a break from the story. "Eventually, the whole Castle Town found out about the birth. Those were happy moments around the castle in the middle of so much turmoil; both Link and Princess Zelda were born around the same time. Such coincidences..."

"It certainly was. And that war… I'd never heard of that before. Now I understand Rusl's protective nature toward Colin." Ilia commented. "But that was back in the Castle Town." Ilia observed. "How did they end up here in Ordon Village? And when?"

Uli breathed deeply. She looked at her hands, they were trembling slightly. The story was not over yet. "It was four months later, after…" She trailed off and did not finish the sentence.

"After what?" Ilia pressed her, but she regretted it almost immediately when she noted Uli's growing distress reflected on her face.

"Uli?" Ilia called. All of the sudden, Uli was trembling, and some tears were threatening to fall. Why was that?

"Uli?" Link called this time. Uli lifted her gaze from her hands to his eyes. He looked worry. "Please Uli, continue. What happened to my m… I mean, to them?"

By looking at Link's boyish face, Uli retrieved some courage from within. The story was not over yet. She rubbed her eyes to remove the tears off her eyes. Here comes the hard part. After all those years, she could not forget the time when her friends' lives changed so drastically, forever.

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Fireworks illuminated the sky as the night drew closer over Hyrule Castle. Music from trumpets and jingle bells added more rhythms to the chanting crowd that filled the streets. The news traveled fast from the King quarters to the rest of the civilians. The enemies retreated some hours ago and they were leaving the field and the castle's surroundings. After months of battle and uncertainly, the war was over, finally over.

Adryll watched the celebrating crowd from her house's open window. The happiness outside was very contagious, and she let the feeling to enveloped her whole. She was cuddling baby Link on her shoulder as she danced along with the music around the living room; her hair floated in the air as she moved gracefully.

"Did you hear that Link?" Adryll talked to her son. "The war is over! That means that your dear Father will soon return home! Haven't you heard more wonderful news than those, my boy?"

Two months had passed since Koric left his home and returned to the battlefield. He was a soldier and he – along with many men – was needed to defend Hyrule from hostile intruders. His job frightened Adryll constantly, but protecting people was his life, and she could not do anything about it. If that made him happy, then she was happy too. But now with the war over, Koric would come back home really soon, and both of them together, along with Link, would finally live as the happy family she always dreamed of. She felt whole.

After her burst of happiness diminished substantially, she put baby Link in the crib. She tucked him with his favorite green blanket and kissed him on his forehead. "Sweet dreams, Link." Adryll said softly. The baby boy smiled, showing his toothless gums, then he closed his eyes and fell asleep immediately. "My little fairy," She whispered.

She was retrieving a cup of tea from the night table when someone knocked on the front door.

"I'm coming!" She said from the distance. More knocking sounds came from beyond. "You can come in!" She called again as she lowered the intensity of an oil lantern in the room.

When she hurried to the foyer, the visitors were already inside her house. She smiled when she recognized Rusl and Auru. Two other soldiers she did not know were with them. "Oh hello there! What a surprise! Please, come in." Adryll welcomed them in her usual tone.

The quartet took their war hats off their head when Adryll came into view. "Hi Uli," Auru saluted back in an almost flat tone.

The lack of emotions on Auru's voice worried her, but she made her best not to make her concern noticeable. She surveyed the men in front of her. They were still on their war clothes which were torn out on several parts. They were dirty and looked visibly tired. She also noticed some purple bruises on the men's faces.

"So, what brings you here my friends?" Adryll tried to add some good mood to them. She offered her best smile, after all, they deserved it. "Can I offer you something?"

"Adryll," Rusl said as he strongly gritted his hat in his hands. Suddenly, all men were afraid to look at her in her eyes. They all stared at the floor as if the house host face was carved on the floor. The weariness on their faces was now replaced by some sort of grieving expression. Adryll swallowed hard. Something was not right, she felt it the moment these men arrived at her house.

"What's going on?" Her question sounded innocent, but her mind was racing. She had to ask, since the absence of certain person in the group of friend could not be ignored, especially to her. "Where is Koric?"

At the mention of Koric's name, one of the soldiers shut his eyes tightly, as if it caused him some kind of pain. A single tear rolled down his dusty cheek.

Adryll could not hide his distress any longer. The suspense was killing her and her hands began to lose sensitivity. A strangled sob escaped her throat when she tried to speak. Nobody was talking to her. They were mute and her seemly simple question was not being answered by their silence. The image of his beloved husband flooded her mind.

But sometimes, silence was the best form of communication.

"Auru..?" Her voice shook. She urged anybody to talk to her. She was beginning to succumb into panic and hysteria.

Auru had no other choice but to meet her eyes while the others kept their heads low. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it quickly, not only to moist his lips with his tongue, but to choose the correct words to use for what he was about to reveal. "Ma'am," Auru started, his own emotions betraying him.

Adryll's soft features were contorting slowly. She was a smart woman; she should know by then the reason they were there. But that was not her job. As painful as it would be for everyone there, Auru had one last job to do before returning home. "I regret I am here to inform some bad news to you."

Adryll's chin quivered, then her hands went numb, and the ceramic tea cup she was holding in her hands fell from her fragile grasp. It shattered loudly on the floor in pieces, and so did her life.

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"Koric was killed in battle the very last day of war. Rusl was there when that happened. The King gave his condolences to her personally. He was buried along with the other fallen soldiers in different burial grounds throughout Hyrule field."

"That is so sad. They had such a bright future ahead and it ended up so tragically." Ilia lamented. As she spoke, the knot in her throat thickened. It was so overwhelming. "What happened to Adryll after that?"

Uli looked at Adryll's pictograph. "I've never saw her so sad in my life. They loved each other so much. Only Link brought light to her in the middle of her depression. Since then, Link became everything for her. But even that was not enough to dissipate her grieve. One month later she became very sick."

"Sick?" Ilia asked. "How so?"

"At first, we thought it was just a common cold. But it did not go away, her coughs grew more constant. The town's doctor revised her and he said that her illness was treatable, but incurable."

Ilia gasped. How bad things turned out to be for that poor lady? Her story was getting so tragic that she wondered if she could listen to the rest of it.

"But of course we were not going to accept that. Not even her. By that time, Rusl and I were getting married and planning to move from the Castle Town to Ordon, Rusl's home village."

"And that was when you offered her to come with you." Ilia said, more like a statement than a question.

"That's right" Uli nodded. "Adryll refused at first, but we kept telling her how this could be a new beginning to her and Link. We were sure that a new environment was going to do her some good, in addition that it would give her some peace to her spirit, and hopefully her illness would go away. It took some time, but Adryll finally accepted. She then was very optimistic and enthusiastic about the idea. And so, four months after Koric's passing, we parted to Ordon Village." Uli pointed to the pictograph. "This pictograph was taken the day we arrived."

After so heart-wrenching events, things were starting to look up. Ilia almost sighed in relieve. "Did she like living here?" She asked.

Uli smiled as she remembered. "Oh Ilia, it was the best thing that could ever happen to her. Eventually, her mourning over Koric stopped and her mood lighted up again little by little, day by day. Major Bo offered her the house on the tree for not a single rupie, and she accepted it."

My house. Link thought. She lived in my house. That definitely explained all the things he found in the cellar: the crib, the rocking chair, the pictographs…

"She lived so happy for the next years." Uli continued. "She tended the crops, planted some seeds, we even did the laundry together. She got over the tragedy that afflicted there and went on with her life. Even her coughing fits were lest constants. And all that was with Link by her side. His laughter, his games with the squirrels, and the way he used his finger paints… Every little action was a reason for her to celebrate life."

Uli stopped there. Her mouth felt kind of dry after telling so many things to the young people sitting in front of her. In a matter of two hours, she just revealed to them a past that she never wanted to hide, but also a past that one of the persons she cared the most was alienated completely from.

When Uli took a break, Link stared at the pictograph on the coffee table. If his mind was blank before knowing everything he just heard, now he felt completely lost. I cannot remember. I don't remember any of that. He thought, confused. Although his brain absorbed every single word Uli told him, nothing seemed to stick to him, some part of him didn't allowed him to. Everything was so… unreal. Even when the identity of the woman was no longer a secret, he felt that she was still a stranger to him.

"How did she die?"

The women turned when Link entered the conversation once more. Their stares made Link feel awkward; the same feeling the got when Uli first mention the phrase "your mother" to him.

"Uh, I mean…" Link cleared his throat, giving him some seconds to rephrase his question. "You mentioned that she died, no?"

"Yes," Uli gave him a sympathetic look.

"And how was that?" He asked.

"All of the sudden, her coughing fits started again. They grew in frequency to the point that she began to expel blood in every cough. Despite the potions and medicines, she did not get any better, it was quite the contrary. Adryll got very weak and she began to suffer from fevers frequently. Those things continued to happen for some weeks, until one morning when she couldn't get out of bed." She explained to the young man in front of her. "Somehow she knew that her days were coming to an end. She was ready to accept her fate, but her biggest worry was you, Link. You were only four years old. The fact that you could be alone after her passing terrified her more than her own death. I remember one night when Rusl, Major Bo and I were taking care of her, she expressed her fears to us. We promised her that no matter what happens to her, we would take care of you. After she got rid of her burden, she felt relaxed and we all noticed that change in her. After that, she felt asleep. She did not wake up the next morning."

There was a pause. It seemed that nobody dared to say anything as Uli finally ended the narration. Everything had been told, what else could be added to that?

"At least," Ilia said in a low voice. "At least she died in peace."

There was another pause.

"But… where is her gravestone?" Ilia added later. "If she was buried somewhere in Ordon, I would like to visit her."

Uli shook her head. "There is no gravestone, not even a grave for that matter."

Ilia's eyebrows frowned in confusion. Link lifted his eyes to Uli which he kept staring at his lap almost all the time.

"In her deathbed, Adrylll made us promise that no mourning place would be erected in her name, not even for her son to mourn when he grew older. She didn't want anyone of us to cry for her either; she told us that her spirit would always be among us, and especially with Link." Uli said.

The young man locked his eyes with Uli's at the mention of his name. His bright eyes pleaded her to reveal what happened to Adryll's body, but deep inside he wanted her to stop. In fact, all the time he'd been there he'd been praying for Uli to finally stop that incredible and forgotten story for once.

"After paying our respects, her body was cremated. Her ashes were dispersed over Lake Hylia. She was devoted to the Spirit Lanayru." Uli said.

Uli placed a hand over Link's crested hand. She lifted his chin up with her other hand, forcing him to look at her. "Link, I don't pretend you to understand all this or to accept everything right now." Uli said truthfully. "With all this, I want you to be sure that you were the gods' ultimate blessing upon her. She loved you so much. She lived for you, sweetie. After her demise and while you were growing up, it was also a little piece of Adryll's that kept growing inside of you."

Link didn't say anything at first. He just kept looking at Uli, as mute as he was most of the time. "Well, I am here." He muttered. "And I think you raised me well. I mean, all of you." He gave a little smile to indicate that he was good.

Or at least he pretended to be. He said he was okay, but he knew very well it was a lie.

TBC...

A/N: Share your criticism with me. I'm a grown-up girl, I can take them very well. Besides, I need them. Everybody needs them... Well, you got the idea. Read and review. Thank you!