The Hyrulian Valhalla Saga: Side Stories
By Queenie Z

Letters From The Living

Special thanks to ironlassoftime for writing the letter featured in this story!

Twilight had never expected to be able to receive mail in the afterlife, yet that's exactly what happened one day. Apparently, his heavenly house had a mailbox, and apparently it was being filled by some celestial postman (he had to wonder if it was the same one he was familiar with in life), and when he checked it for the first time he was quite shocked to see at least a dozen letters addressed to him, if not more.

He looked through them, trying to sort out who they were from. Most of them were friend friends with whom he had recently reunited with. Others were from people he didn't recognize - perhaps they were fan mail, like the kind the others said they'd get. However, one letter in particular stood out from the rest - it was from Colin, whom Link had mentored and treated like a little brother from the time he was born. He was also still among the living at this time.

How in Farore's name did this get here? Twilight looked it over, puzzled. He knew he could take glances into the world of the living whenever he wanted to, but he had no idea that he could get mail from there! Eager to read its contents, stepped back into the house, put the other envelopes aside, and sat down to open it.

Dear Link,

You've been gone for some time now, but I want you to know I'm taking care of everyone for you, even the goats. Ruth and I even got married and we're expecting our first child! I hope you don't mind if we name him after you, if it's a boy, but neither of us can think of anything more fitting.

We all still miss you a lot, especially Ilia, but I think you'd be proud of how the village has grown. Talo's chief, now! I think he wants to live up to his brother's success; Malo keeps sending more and more rupees back and we've been able to expand the goat fields and there's an inn for people to stay in. A lot of people want to see where the Hero of Twilight is from, after all.

I'm going to leave this next to the statue they've put up in the town square. I don't think it really looks much like you, to be honest. Hanch insisted that you should be in that gaudy armor, holding the sword up like the pictures of old heroes in dusty books, but I prefer to remember you smiling, warm and helpful. We had to humor him, though. He's the elder, after all, and never lets us forget it.

I miss you, Link. I know you're the hero of the whole world after everything you did, but you've always been a hero to me.

May the Goddesses watch over you into eternity.

Thank you, Link.

-Colin

Twilight laughed so hard at the thought of such a gaudy statue being erected in his honor that he barely noticed the tears that fell from his eyes and the lump that formed in his throat. However, when he finished laughing, a sudden sense of melancholy overwhelmed him. He began to miss everything he had left behind - his beloved Ordon, the goats, the horses, the chickens. He missed the smell of grass and hay, the cry of the hawks that graced the skies. But most of all, he missed the people who lived there, who had loved and raised him and who he had had helped raise. He missed Colin especially.

He buried his face in his left hand, trying not to erupt into a fit of sobbing. He was so proud of Colin, more proud than he could ever say with words - but he still missed him terribly. He wanted to apologize, to say how sorry he was for leaving him and the others so soon, and he wondered just how long he would have to wait to see him again.

He startled when he felt a hand on his head and turned around. There stood his three predecessors, Sky, Mini, and Time. Time ruffled Twilight's hair and smiled.

"Why the long face, Twilight?" he said half-teasingly.

Mini followed suit. "Come on, I'm sure Colin wouldn't have wanted you to start bawling over a letter."

Twilight turned red and quickly wiped his face. At this, Sky laughed.

"Easy, guys. He's allowed to be sentimental if he wants to be." He knelt by the chair and folded his arms over the armrest. "You miss him, don't you?"

With a slow nod, Twilight answered. "Yeah. Him and the other kids." He laughed sadly. "Well, I guess they're not kids anymore."

"It's always hard waiting for everybody to get here," said Mini, who approached him from the other side of the chair. "You'll see them all again eventually. You just have to wait 'til it's their time, that's all."

"That seems awfully morbid..."

"Twilight," said Time, "when you've been dead for as long as we have, dying stops being such a terrible thing. In fact, we celebrate it." He tilted his head. "That big party we threw when you got here wasn't for nothing, you know."

Sky nodded. "That's right. So don't think of waiting for them as being morbid; dying just means getting to move on to a better place."

Twilight thought about this for a moment. "I guess that makes sense." He smiled. "All right, I think I can wait. And with you guys around, I won't be bored in the least!"

"That's the spirit!" said Time, pushing his successor's head forward playfully. "Now, let's go see what that statue of yours looks like, huh?"

"Huh?" Twilight gulped and shook his head. "B-But that'll just be embarrassing!"

"But that's why we wanna see it!" said Mini with a smirk.

"Why do you guys always want to humiliate me so much!" he turned to Sky. "Sky, help me out here!"

Sky scratched his chin. "Actually... I'm a bit curious to see how it looks, too. Sorry Twilight."

Twilight threw his hands in the air in defeat. "Ugh, fine!" Though he protested the other Heroes' attempts to embarrass him, he honestly couldn't have asked for a better family to spend eternity with.