Link sat morosely at a table in Malo Mart. He sat, blankly staring at a fixed point on the wall. He had been that way for twenty minutes. Malo walked up, poured a generous measure of strong Eldin whisky into a glass, and passed it to Link. "On the house," he whispered. Even the unusually stoic Malo was shocked by Ilia's suicide. Renado sat beside Link, watching as he sipped blindly at the whiskey with his right hand. In his left, he held abloodstained scrap of cloth, torn from Ilia's dress as Renado dragged him away from her. He gasped as it burned down his throat, making the first sound since being led into the store, the alcohol dulling the pain slightly. But only slightly.
The pain raged on, the alcohol a drop of water on a raging inferno of pain and loss. Finally Link spoke. He spoke so softly Renado almost didn't hear him. "How long?"
"Pardon?" Renado asked, not grasping Link's meaning.
"You know. How late was I?"
"Four hours."
Link's hand tightened on the glass, gripping it so hard it shattered. Link didn't even notice the glass shards that cut into his palm. "Hey!" Malo said. "The booze was on the house, but the glass wasn't!"
Without hesitation, Link lunged across the bar, grabbing the baby-faced shopowner by the throat. His sword was suddenly in his hand, ramming into Malo's stomach, sending his blood all over the bar…
Link blinked. Malo had backed up, palms out. Seeing the dangerous look in Link's eye, he decided it would be safer out of reach.
"It took me six hours to get here." Link said softly. "I started moving as soon as I got the letter."
He picked up what was left of the glass and threw it as hard as he could. Renado winced as it shattered against the stone tiles. "I was too late." he continued, staring into space. "I was always there for her, except when it really counted." He stared at the blood seeping out of the gashes on his hand. Unsheathing a small belt knife, he drew the blade along one of them, doubling the depth of the gash. Horrified, Renado watched as Link repeated the process for the other five gashes on his hand, heedless of the blood now running freely down his arm, pooling on the bar.
Seeing Renado's expression, Link held his hand up. "Mementos of pain," he said. He then sheathed the knife, got up and walked out of the village. Renado watched him go, terrified by his unusual reaction.
Link staggered along the path, eyes open but not seeing, mind working but not thinking. Blood dripped in a steady stream from the gashes on his hand to the ground. Finally succumbing to blood loss, Link collapsed on the path, eyes staring into eternity. His hand opened, the scrap of fabric falling to the ground, where it was quickly carried away by the wind.
Midna had caught up with Link as soon as he entered the village. Working her way from shadow to shadow, she crept ever closer to Link, then, upon seeing the violent state he was getting himself into, decided against approaching him. Instead, she watched helplessly from a shadow as he entered Renado's house, leaving Barnes lying on the ground, gasping for breath, and Renado staring at the door. Moments later, a wounded howl emanated from the house. Midna gasped, eyes widening as she guessed what he had found. Within minutes, they dragged him out. He was weeping hysterically, blood staining the front of his tunic, clutching a scrap of cloth in his hand. Midna shadowed him as he made his way to Malo Mart, desperately wishing she could comfort him. When he began cutting into his hand, she wanted to scream at him, knock some sense into him, make him stop. But she couldn't risk exposure. She finally got her opportunity to comfort him as he walked out of sight of the village.
She emerged from his shadow, ready to throw her arms around his neck and try to ease his unimaginable pain, when he swayed and collapsed. She rushed to his side, cursing herself for not noticing the degree of blood loss earlier. She had been so distracted by his pain, she simply hadn't noticed. She looked around for something, anything to stop the bleeding. She searched through his pockets. Empty bottle, empty bottle, milk that had long since gone sour… oh, this was hopeless! Moving back, she summoned what meager power she could, channeling it into the bleeding gashes. Noticing no difference, she increased the flow, determined to save his life. Several minutes later, she was relieved to see the blood flow had finally stopped.
Link regained consciousness several hour later, feeling weak and light-headed. Looking around with a head that wobbled on his neck, he saw Midna stirring something over a fire. He groaned as the weakness brought on by blood loss mixed with a hammering headache from a blistering hangover. Dear Gods, how much did I drink? Link thought, Ilia temporarily forgotten.
Midna, seeing Link awake, rushed to his side, a steaming cup of…well, better not to go into that…clutched in her small hands. "Drink this," she ordered, tipping the mixture into Link's mouth. Link choked as the acrid mixture of herbs and things he didn't even want to guess at slid down his throat. "What the hell is that?" he sputtered, spitting out what remained in his mouth.
"Trust me," Midna replied, grinning wickedly, "You don't want to know."
Link sighed, staring at the bottom of the cup. He felt washed out, hanging limp in the breeze, nothing left to keep him going. "What's the point?" he muttered, tossing the cup aside. Midna was immediately back at his side, spooning more of her homemade potion into the cup. "Look," she started, "I know you've just suffered a terrible loss, but you need to move on and…save…the…"
From the look on Link's face, Midna knew she had said the wrong thing. "Move on?" Link choked, tears pooling in his eyes. "Move on? My childhood friend, my closest companion, half of my heart, just killed herself and you tell me to move on?"
"Link, I can't tell you how sorry I am that-"
"No," Link snarled, cutting her off. "You're not sorry. You can't see past your goddamn sense of duty and your own conniving ways."
Midna's eyes filled with tears to match Link's. "No, it's not like that-"
"Oh, yes it is, and don't try to deny it. You've manipulated me all along, suckering me into whatever you want done. I originally did it because of duty, but then I started agreeing because I…Goddesses forbid…liked you."
"Link, I-"
"Don't say anything more!" Link screamed, tears overflowing and running down his cheeks. "I've had enough with you bending me to your will. I've had it with the Twilight, I've had it with Zant, I've had it with this whole…fucking…kingdom!"
He stood up, hurled the cup and its contents into the bush, and stomped away. "Link, wait!" Midna yelled. Link's fist popped up behind him, middle finger standing rigid.
Desperate, Midna did the first thing that occurred to her. She sang.