Chapter 28: Epilogue Part 1 – Hope

It was cold. Not miserably so, but cold enough that it made Vaati a little unhappy. He was in the familiar neighborhood of his New Jersey suburb again, walking back from school with the slushy, salt-melted snow crunching beneath his boots on the sidewalk. It was a few weeks after they'd returned from the nice tropical Guam. The past few weeks were a blur: he remembered a crap-ton of paperwork and explaining and trying to get people to stop asking so many questions. If it weren't for Dugal's generous help he wasn't sure how they would have gotten both the school and gramps to explain the Amber alert, and their long absence from school after winter recess had finished. He wasn't sure what motives the man had in helping them. Was it simply good business practice or a kind gesture? He could never really tell for sure with those Helmaroc types…

He walked home. It was such a slow practice. If only he could teleport from here right back to his house with the snap of his fingers and…

Oh right, he wished all of that away. Forever.

A breeze blew by, chilling him. Din, why did it have to be so cold? Was the wind always this unpleasantly cold for everyone? Vaati scowled and kicked away some slush. He couldn't even longboard back home because the roads were too wet.

He knew it had been the right decision to wish away magic, but goddesses damn it, it was just so convenient. This world didn't need magic anymore, he was sure of it. It had always brought him misfortune…

At least that's what he tried to convince himself. There was nothing he could do about it since the decision was done.

And Dark, too. That kid didn't seem to want to talk to him anymore. They didn't even walk back home together. Well… not that they had ever done so before, since he'd always teleported back home leaving Dark to walk back alone. And he supposed that these days they couldn't really walk back at the same time anyway, since Vaati had gone back to after school tutoring to earn a little side money. At the same time, though, he couldn't shrug off the nagging feeling that Dark didn't want anything to do with him for a while. He never would have guessed that the Link lookalike would become so attached to a simple sentry. Those things weren't even great conversationalists; all they ever did was kind of stare at you a little creepily (like, obsessed) and nod or fly around your face.

Although… although the one that had been with Dark had seemed a little more outspoken than the ones Vaati was used to. What made that one different? Or had they all been like that all along, and Vaati had just never noticed?

Well, it was too late to wonder about that, too, because there would never be another sentry eye ever again thanks to yours truly.

Grandpa Loze's pizzeria came into view as Vaati slowly walked down the block. The smell of pizza that he despised, yet welcomed as familiar, greeted his disgruntled nose as he approached it. He usually loved to hate that place, but today it actually looked kind of cozy. He wanted to go inside, away from the wind.

As though things couldn't get any worse, he saw something blocking his way through the door. Or rather, someone. They were standing right in front of the door, and from the looks of things it didn't seem like they were able to move out of the way either, because something else was blocking their way also.

The 'someone' was Dark, who appeared troubled by a small black cat that had decided it wasn't going to budge out of the way of the pizzeria door. Dark looked up when he saw Vaati approaching with a questioning look on his face. "Oh hi Vaati," he scratched his head, and then sighed exasperatedly, indicating the cat that was sitting on top of the step in front of the door. "I stepped out to take out the trash for gramps and this cat shows up out of nowhere, and now I can't get back inside."

Vaati wrinkled his nose. "What, can't you just kick it out of the way or something? It's just a stupid cat." The pale haired boy walked over and shoved the cat away with his foot from the porch with a loud "Shoo!" 'Shove' was probably a nicer word, as Vaati had put enough force into his kick for it to be called a 'punt.' The only reason why the cat didn't go flying like a football was because it had jumped out of the way at the last minute. The cat's fur fuzzed up in alarm, and it slunk a few feet away with a small mewl. "See? Easy." Vaati shrugged. "Dumb cat."

Dark stared at the cat for a while, somewhat accusingly. "You didn't do to Vaati what you did to me, you cat," he growled. Experimentally, he walked cautiously towards the cat who was now sitting next to, but not in front of, the door. He lifted his foot backwards to kick it.

"FFFffffHSSSSSSSS!"

"Hey! Cut it out!" Dark jumped back when the cat lashed out at him with its claws in warning, fluffing its tail up while hissing and spitting at him something furious.

Vaati sneered. "Heh, you're not even respected by a cat. That's a new low for you." As he went to open the door, he noticed the cat was staring at up at him expectantly. Did he imagine it, or did it kind of look happy at the insult he'd thrown at Dark? "What are you looking at?" he shot. "And ah, wow, you're ugly. Dark did you notice that?"

"What, its eye? Yeah it's pretty creepy. Must have been injured or was sick or something," Dark agreed absentmindedly, still trying to figure out why the cat attacked him so ferociously but hadn't attacked Vaati at all. The black cat was pretty normal in appearance, except for the fact that it didn't have its left eye and its pupil was red. It was what you would describe a bloodshot eye, but a dozen times worse.

"Fffft. Just go away cat. Get yourself run over by a car or something. No one wants you here," Vaati scoffed.

There was a quiet, dejected, yet determined meow from somewhere near Vaati's feet, and then the pattering sounds of paws hitting the wet concrete of the sidewalk. Both Dark and Vaati's heads turned towards the sound of pattering paws that stopped just as it reached the street. Dark exchanged glances with Vaati. Then they looked back at the cat that was now sitting patiently in the middle of the street. It wasn't a very busy street at the moment, but given a few minutes there was bound to be a few cars driving by.

Curiosity overcame Dark. "Hey, come back here," he called. The cat tilted its head towards him, and then swished its tail in noncompliance. It then looked dead straight down the road for signs of incoming cars. Dark bit his cheek, confused, and then gave Vaati a light punch in the arm. "You try, dumbass."

"This is stupid," Vaati scowled. At the same time, he tried anyway. "Come back here," he drawled. When he saw the cat obey, much to his surprise, he became intrigued.

Next to him, Dark crossed his arms over his chest, annoyed. "What's up with this cat?"

Vaati grinned. "I wonder if it listens to everything I say," he mused aloud. "Cat, I order you to lick Dark's leg."

"What? Ew! Gross, stop that!" Dark shooed the cat away. It had reluctantly sat down next to Dark and gave him a small lick on the leg. Its ears were flat along its head, clearly enjoying Vaati's command just as much as Dark was.

A wicked smile passed Vaati's face. "Listen to anything, hmmm? Maybe you're not just a dumb cat after all."

"Fuck you, Vaati."

"Cat, attack Dark."

"Hey!" Dark backed away, throwing his hands out in front of him in defense. He expected a mad flurry of claws and teeth, but none of that greeted him. He slowly put his hands down away from his face, and peered over his arms. The one-eyed cat was still sitting next to Vaati, but it was standing in a half-crouch as though it couldn't decide whether or not it should really attack Dark or not. Conflicted, it finally pawed Vaati's leg in a way that looked very much as though it were saying 'not this time,' and then it walked towards Dark and sat down between him and Vaati. It continued to lick its paws indignantly while Vaati and Dark looked down at it once more in surprise.

Vaati threw his hands up in the air, exasperated. "And that's why I hate cats. I don't get them at all."

Meanwhile, Dark had knelt down so that his eyes were on the same level as the cat's, his hands shaking somewhat in semi-contained excitement. Something had been nagging him at the back of his head the moment he'd encountered the one-eyed cat, and the nagging had become more persistent the more he observed it. This cat seemed all too familiar to him somehow. Its attitude, its behavior, the fact that its eye was a creepy red. He didn't know how it could even be possible, but could he really say it was impossible? He wanted it to be true so badly. He was afraid he would be wrong. False hopes. He was scared to find out.

"… Bates?" he asked cautiously, reaching out slowly to the cat.

The little creature stopped licking its paws and looked up at Dark with its single red eye. It yawned, arching its back to stretch, and then walked over and gave a small bump on Dark's knee with its forehead.

"Bates! Buddy you're back!" Dark shouted excitedly, scooping the cat up off the ground and giving it a big hug. The cat hissed irritably at the sudden movement and gave Dark a few whacks across the face with its paws, ordering him to let go. 'Bates-cat' wiggled out of Dark's arms, spitting and hissing unhappily and took refuge behind Vaati. Dark didn't care, though, and was grinning from ear to ear. Vaati hadn't seen him so happy in a long time.

"You know it's really unlikely that the cat is your sentry eye, right?" Vaati said carefully. "I mean I can't think of a single way it would have magically turned into a cat." The cat still had its ears flat along its head, indicating disapproval, and its tail was swishing side to side in an aggravated manner.

"Your name is Bates," Dark announced to the cat, ignoring Vaati's comments. "Want to come inside, buddy? I'll sneak you past gramps so he won't find out."

"Oh he'll find out all right."

"And you can stay in Vaati's room."

"What."

The cat watched them for a while, and then slowly walked towards Dark who was kneeling by the door. It brushed against his leg in a friendly hello, cautiously backed away when Dark reached out to pet it, hissing a small warning not to touch it. It strutted towards Vaati and sat next to him, peering up at him. Vaati looked down.

It was all over.

Because staring up at him was the most adorable cat face ever. Even if said cat only had one eye.

Vaati sighed, storming inside. "Fine! Fine. Whatever, I don't care anymore."

And with that, there was a new member of the household; a furry, single-eyed cat going by the name of Bates.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

A woman attended a tired, resting man in a small lonely house in a quiet part of Guam. It was a sleepy Sunday morning, and the smell of toast and bacon wafted throughout the house. The man in the bed stirred when the woman threw open the shades, the sunlight streaming in and hitting his face.

Which was covered by a colorful bird mask.

Thistle groaned, shielding the sunlight from his eyes with his arm, squinting. He paused to wonder, then, why he was being bothered by the sunlight in a comfortable bed. What had happened? The last thing he remembered was that wretched Vaati sneering victoriously (and yet at the same time sadly?) with the Wishing Cap on his head. There was also a splitting headache that interfered with his thinking, and he felt like he could throw up any minute.

Why… why was he still alive?

He turned his head, finally noticing the woman had stopped to look at him in shock. Her hand was still on the window shades, frozen from when she'd first seen him move. The sunlight cast a warm glow on her soft skin. The sun. It felt so nice. The fluffy bed felt so nice. The woman… she looked nice too. Maybe he was actually dead and this was the afterlife. Why else would he be surrounded by so many nice things?

Without warning there was a woman on top of him embracing him tightly. He felt a few drops of water on his shoulder. Tears?

Then, it hit him. It was Thyme.

"You're alive," she cried.

I am? He thought to himself. Then, he stared at the ceiling flatly. Oh, well of course. If he'd died, they'd probably send him somewhere terrible instead. His mind wandered. He realized then that part of the reason why his mind felt so clouded was because all of his magical connections he'd had, from the individuals he'd taken control of to the thousands of other networks he'd established, all of them were gone. Silent. Dead. He thought some more. He tried a spell. Nothing. He tried to conjure ice. Not even a snowflake. Oh…

"Of course I'm alive," he replied hoarsely.

"But Vaati said… Vaati said you were dead because you're a wizzrobe and wizzrobes are magic and magic doesn't exi – "

"Calm down, everything's going to be okay," Thistle stopped Thyme who looked like she was on the verge of an anxiety attack. When she calmed down in a mix of happy excitement and worry and a whole ton of confusion, Thistle added as an aside, "I think."

Thyme rubbed her eyes with her arm, her face a mess but a tiny smile on her face. "I was so worried. I thought you were really dead because of that wish."

"You're always worrying," Thistle mentioned absentmindedly. When she frowned, upset, the wizzrobe laughed jokingly. "Ey, you're not sad anymore! I prefer that look over the other one, kehaha!"

Thyme crossed her arms, not amused and half wishing he'd go back to sleep. At the same time though, she was glad things were kind of back to normal. She thought he'd be depressed about the outcome, or at least in shock – he was taking this well, or at least trying his hardest not to let it affect him. She was also worried about another thing. Thistle either didn't remember, or he was acting like it wasn't a big deal. She was scared to find out. "Are you… are you mad at me?"

"You mean for betraying me by giving the cap to Vaati instead of me?" Thistle clarified rather bluntly. Thyme flinched. He was upset, wasn't he?

"Yes."

Thistle shrugged. "Mad? No. You probably thought you were helping me in your own reasoning, flawed though it may be. Upset? Well, yes, the outcome was rather upsetting. Upset at you specifically? No. People make mistakes, and it's my duty to forgive them. Upset at myself? Yes. I could have prevented that from even happening had I been more careful."

Thyme shrunk back a little. When Thistle was upset, he was rarely upset directly. He had a nasty habit of being passive aggressive to the point the other person would be weighed down by shame. It wasn't a very fun routine.

Taking the hint that he was actually pretty mad, Thyme made a move to leave. "Oh I should go check on breakfast."

"Wait."

Thistle's voice stopped her, and she looked over her shoulder, in half curiosity and half dread. What else did he want to say?

"You'd made your decision to help them," he said, the pout almost evident in his voice alone, "so why did you come back for me?"

Thyme sighed. "Just because I don't agree with what you're doing doesn't mean I want you dead."

"But now I'm fine. No need to stay with someone like me with no useful skill to speak of."

"I was worried about you. You were supposed to be dead."

"Or was I?" he mused, the usual craftiness in his voice returning. Thyme sat up on the edge of the bed while Thistle propped his hands on the back of his head, relaxing. "Vaati messed up, just like he always does I suppose. Not thinking things through, not going over all possible outcomes and consequences. Well, not that he would have known this important piece of knowledge." The wizzrobe continued to look at the ceiling quite cheerfully for a while, and he nodded to himself contentedly until the nods gradually slowed. The bright gleam in his eyes behind the mask dimmed, and what had briefly been full of life a few minutes ago became somber and grave. He'd been trying to force his usual character after all…

"Do you know…" he began quietly, no longer nodding in time to some soundless song. He was completely still on the bed. "Do you know what renegade wizzrobes are?" he asked.

"I remember Vaati mentioned you were one," Thyme reached out, placing a hand gently on his. For the first time in all the years she'd been with him, he sounded… scared. It frightened her to see him like this.

"Wizzrobes… they're men who lost their souls to a demon. Renegades are demons who lost their souls to a man, because the man was more terrible than the demon." Thistle chuckled, but it was forced and unnatural. "It's why they don't follow the Guild Laws. I was never compelled to follow them. I had my own agenda. I am…" he hesitated. His voice cracked, "actually I don't even know who I am anymore."

"You're Thistle," Thyme gave a reassuring squeeze on his arm.

"No, no I'm not. That's not who I am anymore."

"You are to me. You're still the same person."

"I'm not! I'm not a wizzrobe anymore!" Thistle sat up abruptly, wrenching his wrist away from Thyme stubbornly. His shoulders curled over, he peered outside the windows, without focus. "I'm just a man who lost everything. I'm… I don't even know if I remember who that man used to be."

Thyme watched the man who used to laugh at Life, so full of confidence and impervious to the trials it flung at him, finally break down in insecurity and fear. And who could blame him? Everything he had ever accomplished, everything that amounted to his identity had all been taken away from him in literally a second. Was there anything she could even do to make things better? It wasn't like she could say, Hey, looks like we're in the same boat buddy. Like that part about not remembering who we used to be. Let's start a support group! Instead, she remained quiet, staring at the floor ashamed that she couldn't do anything to help.

She didn't know how much more time had passed when Thistle finally said something. She lifted her head, just barely catching the name he'd said.

"Corbin Robespierre." He squinted, almost like a grimace. He kept watching the clouds roll by outside the window. It was such a nice day out today. "I remember that name," he spoke more to himself now. "I'm not fond of it. That's not who I want to be and yet I'm," he took a deep breath as though it were difficult to continue, "scared that if I forget him I'll forget what it's like to… be human. I kept trying to find things. Find things about him. If I ever forgot, then I could just relearn what I was supposed to be…"

Thyme looked at him, almost in surprise. He had his head facing away from her, still staring out that window. Was he actually ashamed? Really, that's what he was worried about? How long had he thought about this? "Humanity isn't about what you are, Thistle. It's about what you decide to do. To me you'll always be Thistle. I'll always help you," she smiled kindly.

The wizzrobe flopped back onto the bed, still with his head facing away from her and at the window. "Even if you'll never remember who you used to be, because of me? I can never again help you regain your memories," he said stubbornly. "I ruined your life. I'm such a wonderful human being."

"If I cared about that I would have brought it up years ago. I don't care about that."

"Because you love me."

What.

Thyme opened her mouth to retort, then closed it, then opened it again. Her voice was shaky and unsteady and her face was a deep shade of red. Thistle kept staring out the window as though he hadn't said anything surprising. "I… that's… that's such an audacious thing to say," she finally managed, flustered. "I care about you but – "

Thistle abruptly turned his head to look her in the eye, cutting her off. "I can't," he said bluntly, "I'm not capable of that."

Thyme fell silent. She didn't know what to say. Her mind had gone numb from the suddenness of it all, and she hadn't really prepared herself for this kind of conversation. Maybe some people would have felt anger, a 'why now after everything I've done for you?' kind of feeling, but she couldn't get herself to feel that way. How could she, though, when she really only wanted the best for him? Oh well. She didn't care. No, not at all. She'd always expected this anyway. She didn't even like him that way anyway. He'd gotten it all wrong. All wrong.

"Well, fine," she began coolly, "because I don't like you like that anyw-"

"Monsters don't have feelings," Thistle finished, interrupting her again.

Thyme stared at him for a minute. Then, she retorted, exasperated, "You're human Thistle!"

"And I'm a liar."

Thyme's expression softened, slowly, when she pieced together everything he meant from those four words. She'd been wrong. She thought she could understand him now. Thistle was looking up at the ceiling now, a little embarrassed. It was kind of sweet. "I know," she replied gently. She would have stayed for a few more minutes, but then she realized she'd left breakfast going cold out in the other room. She hadn't expected her detour to open the window shades would take this long. Thyme stood up to leave, but was stopped when Thistle's hands shot out and grabbed her wrist.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly, as though if he didn't say now he'd never have another chance, "for everything. Don't leave me." His grip loosened, timidly, scared that she wouldn't stay. That he was afraid she would leave him now that he could no longer do any of the things he used to be able to do. "Please."

Thyme looked over her shoulder, surprised. He was looking out the window again, his head turned away from her, but his fingers still around her wrist. She walked back with a small smile and sat back down on the edge of the bed. Breakfast could wait.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Second semester midterms were approaching, but the senior year students didn't seem to care, including Dark and Vaati. They were going to be done with school forever. In Vaati's case, it held a little more special meaning: he was never going to have to repeat high school ever again. It didn't matter that his past self didn't remember all of the times he'd reincarnated to take school again and again; this time, he was going to die and not wake up to another horrible four years of high school.

Vaati clicked through the web links, bored, as he sat in his room by himself trying to think of something to do. Did magic jade him into not being able to find something fun and interesting to do, or was this just a problem everyone dealt with at some point in their lives? Probably a little of both. It would have been less boring if everything wasn't so wet and slushy outside. They were supposed to worry about more mundane things now, apparently. Like whether or not they were going to find a real job or go to college. Dark had already applied to the state school, apparently, without ever telling Vaati. Or maybe he'd told him, but he'd been too busy and preoccupied trying to find a way to be free from the reincarnation curse. And now that he was free, he… didn't know what to do anymore. There were too many things he could do. Too many things he couldn't do. It was overwhelming.

Click. Click click. Click.

So now he was back to watching dumb YouTube videos and rotting his brain out reading all the crap that was posted on the internet. Bates the cat looked out from under the bed, the only place where Vaati had allowed him to stay, yawned, and then pattered away towards Dark's room. Although the cat seemed to like Vaati, it acted as though it were responsible for whatever Dark was doing. Therefore, thankfully, Vaati never really had to deal with it so much.

He didn't like cats. He'd had too many negative experiences with them, especially when he was a Minish. He only tolerated Bates because the damned cat listened to pretty much everything he said.

A fit of suppressed snickering, which from the sounds of things were becoming more difficult to suppress, caught Vaati's attention. It was coming from Dark's room, and he sounded way too happy for his own good. It was an evil kind of laugh, almost. As far as Vaati could tell, no one else besides him should ever be laughing like that.

He slowly pushed his chair away from his desk and peered outside his room. He quietly walked over to the other side of the hallway to see what Dark was up to. The kid was now laughing without restraint.

"AHahahAhAha…ha..haaa oh hi Vaati," Dark wheezed when he saw Vaati leaning against the doorframe with a look that demanded to know just what was so funny. Dark was sitting on his bed with Bates on his lap. He had his arms propped on top of Bates and was holding a Gameboy in his hands. He glanced down at the Gameboy, then looked up again at Vaati's face. He almost threw the machine across the room when he started choking on his laughter again.

"What's so hilarious?!" Vaati narrowed his eyes. He had a sneaking suspicion that the game had something to do with him. That 'Legend of Zelda' series or whatever. He gave a dangerous glare to Dark who kept cracking up when he tried to play the game.

"Pfff ahahaha!" Dark continued to laugh, and then pushed Vaati away when he walked over to look at what game was being played.

"What did you just say?" Vaati snarled. "I didn't catch that."

"HolyshityoulooksostupidlycuteAHAHHA!" Dark giggle-snorted, and then finally tossed an open envelope at the increasingly angry former wind mage. Bates had run under the bed to safety but was looking out curiously to see what would happen.

Vaati snatched the envelope from the air. It was already opened, and it was addressed to Dark Petrov and Vaati Engst. "To Whoever May See This First." It was a weird way to address a letter. Vaati glanced over at Dark suspiciously and then pulled out the letter inside.

The first thing he noticed was that it was written on a series of blank Tarot cards. The second thing he noticed was the signature on the bottom of the last card in the deck.

Thistle.

Chills went down his spine. There was no way that wizzrobe should be alive. He'd made that wish. Did he fail? A million questions went around in Vaati's head as he read the name over and over again. He looked again at Dark having way too much fun with his game. "If this is some kind of bad joke, Dark," he began.

Dark grinned up at him. "Hey, I was surprised when I saw the name too. I mean, you killed him, right? Maybe it wasn't the best idea to assume he was dead and leave him with that Thyme person." He waved his game at the other teen. "But hey, I figured he can't be all that bad when he sent me this awesome game. I usually don't care about the story, but this one is pretty great."

Vaati scowled, and then furiously went back to reading the letter. What the hell was going on?

Dearest Friends,

I apologize for my lack of communication with you. I was ill for some time, and then quite caught up in a disgusting amount of work. I've also had to do a bit of moving. Oh, nothing too far, so it wasn't that bad. I can still see the beach from here. I know it never occurred to you to contact me first since, well, you thought you had killed me and all, but it's okay. I won't hold it against you.

I've recently taken up some honest work. I would have added 'honest work for a change,' but considering everything I've done all these countless years you can't even begin to fathom (I mean sure, Vaati, you've been around as long as I have but half the time you were sleepwalking), everything I've accomplished until now has been the product of honest hard work.

Anyway, no need to be bitter towards you, I suppose. Let bygones be bygones. Your wish was really uncreative and just simply a terrible idea, but one cannot blame the mentally challenged. Not everyone can have it all (like I almost did, by the way).

So yes, honest work. I'm trying my hand at marketing. It's actually kind of fun, surprisingly! It's not that hard for me to get people to buy Things They Don't Need.

By now you're probably wondering what the little Gameboy cartridge is all about that I've included with this letter. It was actually something I had been working on with those wonderful folks over at Nintendo before we all had our exciting adventure. You know, just for the giggles. I gave them some material from REALLY old Hylian history; things not even the best historian will be able to find. The game is called The Minish Cap.

I am sure Vaati will be pleased to know that he is the star of the game. I managed to get ahold of one of the first copies in production to give to you. The esteemed former sorcerer will doubtlessly appreciate the historical accuracy of his appearance as one of the most, should I say adorable, creatures to have ever existed.

Be sure to say hello to your fans. In costume, preferably.

Many cheers,

Thistle

Vaati's hands shook in silent fury while Dark, snickering, kept replaying a certain scene over and over again, Vaati's squeaky digital chuckles on full volume from the Gameboy. The wind mage's face was tinted red, from a mix of horrified embarrassment and outright fury. It was damage to his reputation that he would never be able to fix.

"Holy Farore I can't get over how small and squeaky you were. Is this what you used to look li-"

A pillow went flying into Dark's face, knocking the game out of his hands.

Dark continued to laugh as Vaati stormed out of the room. "Well you gotta admit," he called over to the retreating Vaati's back, "that's one hell of a payback. Lord of all things small and cute," he added the last part, not audible enough for Vaati to hear. It wasn't clear whether Bates understood him, but the cat climbed out from under the bed and also left the room, with a somewhat offended air.

"I'm going to go sleep," Vaati muttered, and slammed the door shut.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In some different corner of the world, in some bustling city with a forest of silver skyscrapers, a dirty blond haired man looked down at the road below him while he waited for a voice on the other end of his phone. He looked like a businessman, from how he wore a suit that was a little too clean and well fitted to be considered casual. He tapped his finger against the window listlessly, either anxious by something on his mind, or impatient that the person he was calling wasn't picking up.

Just as the voice mail prompt came up and just as he was about to hang up the phone, a voice picked up on the other end, one with an extremely slight Japanese accent. "Hello? Hawk?"

"Kestrel!" Hawk, relieved, walked away from the window and sat down on one of the modern black couches. He picked up a letter on the coffee table nearby and held it up to his face as he continued talking. "I've been trying to get a hold of you. Did you see the letter?"

"Oh, sorry. Been busy with things. Like getting settled in a new job, clearing my name, all that. Figured you've been busy with the same, too."

"Yeah listen, so the letter – "

"But now I guess we're back to the humdrum of normal life. Talon is really done for, isn't it? After Dugal decided the main objective had been met he didn't have much else use for us and-"

"Kestrel!" Hawk snapped sharply, interrupting him. "You didn't read the letter yet, did you?"

There was a pause on the other end, and then a faint rustle of papers in the background. Then, there was an even fainter "You're shitting me."

Hawk stood up from his seat, and then moved towards the fireplace with his phone in one hand, and the letter in his other. He read the letter one last time, and then dropped it into the fireplace where it crumpled up in a ball of ashes. "Our flight's in a few days. Make sure you take care of things on your end until then," a small smile was on Hawk's face. It was the smile of someone who was dreading what was coming, but at the same time excited at the prospect of a new thrill. "Apparently we're not quite done yet."

Just before the paper completely burned away, the inked name at the bottom of the letter could be barely read. It had the letters: H. Dugal.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was a Saturday. Warm and sunny outside, practically the perfect Spring weather. He yawned, stretching. Bates had let him sleep in today, for once, instead of waking him up at a proper eight in the morning with persistent patting of the face with his paws for who knows what reason other than to annoy him. Instead, it sounded like Vaati was up and about already. Dark checked the time. Well… it was past one in the afternoon already. Most people's days had already started a while ago.

He heard voices as he walked down the stairs. They seemed… well neither of them sounded too thrilled from the way their voices sounded annoyed and barbed. One of them he was sure was Vaati's voice. He could recognize that perpetually annoyed, condescending voice that always had a hint of 'better than thou' attitude with it. The other one he also recognized, and one he hadn't been expecting.

"Zelda? What are you doing here?" Dark asked, now completely awake as he approached the two… exes. Yup, it couldn't get any more awkward, especially since he was the middle man. The girl, who obviously wanted to leave the building, had been arguing with Vaati who had been blocking the way to the door. The pale haired boy was leaning against the door with his arms crossed over his chest, refusing to budge. "And what's going on here?"

Zelda glanced up, her nose scrunched in annoyance like there was a bitter taste in her mouth. "Well I wanted to talk to you, Dark, but someone lied and said you weren't home. And then refused to let me leave," she shot accusingly at Vaati who returned an equally sour glare.

Vaati scoffed. "Yeah? Well why don't you just call him or something. The only reason why you came here in person was to bother me."

"Are you listening to this nonsense, Dark?" She shook her head exasperatedly at Vaati. "Not everything has to do with you, mister," She turned back to Dark to explain. "I told him I couldn't find your number,"

"Do you believe that?" Vaati interjected.

"because I broke my old phone and needed a new one," Zelda added, barely keeping her patience.

Dark was starting to get a headache. He rolled his eyes, and sat himself down at one of the empty tables. "Hey, here's some news. I don't care." He ignored the both of them who looked miffed at his words. "Anyways, I'm guessing you wanted to know about what went on in England?"

Zelda looked relieved that the subject was changed, while Vaati appeared confused, offended, and shocked all at the same time.

"Yes, England," Zelda nodded.

"What? What about England?" Vaati snapped sharply. His head turned back and forth between Zelda and Dark, wanting answers. He seemed bothered by the fact that they had met without him knowing, and that they had been speaking to each other without him. "Wait, did something happen between you two…?" he asked, full of suspicion now.

"What the… no!" Zelda cried. "Argh, that's what was so annoying about you! You always assumed the worst about me!"

Dark had had enough. "Yo, Vaati," he called. He waited until Vaati looked at him. "Yep."

Vaati froze right as he was about to argue back at Zelda. His cheeks reddened, and he stared back unbelievingly at Dark, who had a smug smile on his face. Zelda also looked equally flustered as Vaati. The girl flinched when Dark pushed a chair towards her and indicated for her to sit down. "There, that shut him up. Now what did you want to know? Do you want to go somewhere else a little more," he glanced teasingly towards the infuriated Vaati, "private?"

Zelda didn't move a step, unsure of what to do. "I… well…"

Before she could decide, Vaati stormed angrily towards Dark and slammed his hands down on the table in front of him. "You two met in England and you didn't tell me?"

"I don't have to tell you everything," Dark pushed Vaati's hands away.

"Yeah well that's kind of important."

"That's kind of private."

"But-"

"I can meet whoever I want whenever I want without having you keep tabs on me!" Zelda finally interrupted. She took a few steps towards Vaati, her hands on her hips and looking just about fed up with him. "Did it ever, ever, occur to you that I'm a person with feelings, and not just your accessory? Huh?"

"Well maybe you could have told me that when we were going out and not months after the-"

"I did," she replied curtly. Vaati quieted. "But you never listened. You always just went off on your own to your palace or whatever and wouldn't let me talk to you. Remember that?"

"I…" He looked conflicted. Annoyance flashed across his face when a small voice in his head asked him if he'd actually done something like that. Guilt? No fucking way, that wasn't part of his vocabulary! At the same time, though, it kind of upset him that he'd been somewhat oblivious to things going around him back when he'd figured out his powers again. He'd been so focused on himself that he'd forgotten about his… well, friends was kind of a weird word to him still. A part of him still shrunk back from that concept because it just made him all sorts of uncomfortable. But things had changed from back when he was still Vaati the Wind Mage, back before he'd had a couple thousand years being somebody else. The Avilux incident, the mess with Thistle, he couldn't really have done all of that alone, could he?

But of course he could have.

"I don't remember a thing," he stuck out his chin, to which Zelda threw her hands up in the air and made for the door angrily.

Just as she reached the door, a pale hand slammed across the doorframe so that she couldn't open it. Zelda looked up from beneath her bangs coldly. "I'm. Going."

"And no you're not," Vaati yawned lazily, still leaning against the frame and preventing her from leaving. He picked at his nails absentmindedly as Zelda continued to glare at him, "because I'm sorry."

There was a baffled pause. Zelda stared at him with mild disgust that was slowly dissipating into something more similar to shock. Her blue eyes widened, and for a moment she looked as though she were going to drop her pink computer bag onto the floor. "What?"

Vaati rolled his eyes. "Oh don't make me say it again."

Her eyes narrowed skeptically. "You're kidding, right?"

"I know it's so unbelievable that I of all people would apologize."

Dark, sitting a few feet away, wasn't convinced. However, he watched the exchange curiously, wondering what would happen. He grabbed a drink from the drink machine and continued to watch as though a show were playing in front of him.

Zelda also wasn't convinced. She crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her head challengingly. "And what are you actually sorry about?"

"Ugh I'm just… I'm sorry I made a mess of things! I'm an asshole and a terrible human being. Now can we get past that and have a normal conversation?" Now it was Vaati's turn to throw his hands up in the air.

There was a loud slurp over from where Dark was sitting, causing Vaati to cringe. It was way too similar to the way he'd first encountered Link at the burger place a year or so ago. Dark made the obnoxious sound for a few more seconds, and once he was sure he had both of their attention, he wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "I second the idea on having a normal conversation."

Zelda sighed heavily. Her shoulders slumped tiredly and she slowly walked over to the table where Dark was sitting and joined him. Still with a frown on her face, she turned to Vaati who was standing by the door expectantly for a response, "Do you want to start over?" she asked hesitantly. When she noticed Vaati's face perk up a little too hopefully for a split second, her expression hardened, "I mean as friends."

Maybe ever-so-slightly disappointed, though it was so subtle it was hard to catch, Vaati shrugged lazily and sat himself down in the last empty chair at the table. "Whatever." It was as close to a yes as he was going to give. "So Dark," Vaati rounded on the Link lookalike suddenly once he was at the table, "I hope you have some ideas on how to start a normal conversation in this kind of extremely awkward situation since you were so quick to jump on that idea."

"Uhhhhhmmmm," Dark looked down at his drink sheepishly. He bit down on the straw when Vaati kept glaring at him. It made him uncomfortable. He didn't like uncomfortable. Why did he have to feel uncomfortable anyway? "Okay, fine! Why don't you tell Zelda what kind of awful mess you got us all into the past couple of months? You're the one who started it!" he snapped back with a glare of his own.

"Yeah? Well it sounds like you got her involved and I had nothing to do with that!" Vaati retorted.

"Actually I promised Dark not to get involved and I kept that promise," Zelda explained. "Which is part of the reason why I wanted to visit on my time off. Am I allowed to hear the whole story now, Dark?" She asked.

"Well if you want the whole story you better ask the instigator himself," Dark waved a hand towards Vaati.

"You think I know more than you, who was with Dugal's lackeys, who were probably more informed than I was?" Vaati snorted.

"Orrrr maybe we can take everyone's accounts together?" Zelda suggested. She took out her computer, then, and waited it for it to boot. The other two looked at her inquiringly, and they leaned in a little closer when she finished loading a word document. "I've actually been writing down everything that had happened with all of us during the Avilux incident, and I thought it would be, well, neat if we had the same thing with whatever you guys did this time."

"Wow this brings back memories," Dark said with a small reminiscent smile on his face.

"Yeah. Bad ones," Vaati added. Still there was a tiny hint of a smile that tugged the corners of his lips, trying to hide the fact that the story did interest him.

Zelda brought up a blank new document, despite some minor grumblings from the two boys who had been in the middle of reading what she had written. "So, are you two in?"