Sorry for the long wait, yada, yada. I had half of this chapter already written months ago, but thanks to a long long train ride I finished it. Sorry for that.

Thanks for your continuing support guys and keep up with those reviews. There are awesome! Here you go!

Since it has been quite some time since the last update here is a short recap for those who want it.

Link's and Ezio's competition draws nearer as rumors about Link's new responsibility drift through the Faron Province. Ilia's love interest in Link has drifted towards Ezio. Now throw in Ezio's newly arrived sister into the mix and see how it all plays out.

Chapter 19

The dawn of the match between Ezio and Link was truly magnificent. Trees were swaying to the melody of the early birds and the village was already bustling with life. Word had gotten around the forest, so even Coro the lantern guy came to Ordon for the match. The kids were exited to see some action. Talo hadn't been able to sleep until his mother got him some warm milk to calm him down.

The whole village was present when Ezio marched proudly towards Ordon Ranch just as the sun's rays peeked over the horizon.

Ilia couldn't help the blush. Ezio looked really majestic. A dark silhouette surrounded by a golden glow. Ezio smiled proudly at his entrance, the villagers cheered. Smugly he stroked his hair and turned around with a flourishing gesture that sent sparkles flying. The kids were ecstatic.

"Look! He is sparkling." Beth shouted elated.

Ilia giggled.

Satisfied Ezio nodded to himself, he had planned this perfectly. Coughing slightly to get the attention, he began his well practiced speech. "Dear people of Ordon! I, the gallant Ezio, have risen to fight the injustice I witnessed only yesterday. I was shocked to see our dear beloved Ilia humiliated before my very own eyes. Throwing a lady into a pond is unforgivable. That's why I will defend the lady's honor by defeating the perpetrator. Link, do you have anything to say in your defense? I feel generous enough to let you explain yourself!"

The trees continued swaying to the bird's melody, however there was no answer from our hero. Awkward silence was the word to describe this situation. To Ezio's chagrin it was Bo who shouted a response. "Sorry, Ezio, but Link is not here, yet. You were a little too early with your speech. But I'm sure if you wait a little he will show up."

Embarrassed by this hasty mistake Ezio spoke. "Ah, so the scaredy-cat decided not to show up."

"He probably slept in." Colin whispered sighing.

The sun's rays caressed Link's skin. Grumbling, he turned around. "Just five more minutes."

Link loved the warm feeling of sun on his skin early in the morning but being a shepherd and hero he didn't get very much of that. Fortunately, he had the day free because of the match before dawn.

"It's morning!" Link shot out of bed, waking Sephiria in the process.

Sephiria not an early-riser as well wasn't happy about the rough waking. "Waaaaahh!"

"Shh. I'm sorry." Feeling guilty Link cradled the infant and hummed Zelda's lullaby while climbing down to the kitchen. "How about milk as apology?" Link whispered as Sephiria had calmed down. He took the bottle and put the milk over the still glowing embers. Grabbing the lantern he went to the basement to get his tunic, the training sword and the Hyrule Shield. Balancing Sephiria on his right arm and his equipment on the left, he got to the kitchen just in time for the warm milk.

"Let's see if it's ready for my little princess." Link checked the temperature and deemed it fit for consumption. "Here you go, Sephiria!"

Sephiria greedily reached out for the bottle and put her tiny hand on Link's. Smiling Link looked at his daughter still not believing he was a father. "Daddy is still so irresponsible, but I promise I'll improve. Now I am late for that match. A great first impression, right? But don't worry daddy will kick Ezio's... Erm. Daddy will win for sure! Then I won't have to cook for a whole week and daddy will build you your own bed so daddy will never wake you like this morning again!"

Sephiria finished her bottle and after a cute burp, Link got dressed in record time. Not having time to climb the ladder, Link jumped down while Sephiria was delighted. "Daaaah!"

"Faster?" Link asked and took off towards Ordon Ranch.

Link was amazed when he got there. The whole village was there, crowded around a stall selling drinks with the unmistakable logo of Malo's shop. Link chuckled. "Always the businessman, huh?"

Ezio was telling everyone of his heroic adventures but Link could see the children were beginning to get bored while the adults listened politely. Also the new girl Rian who was yawning unimpressed, was there. She seemed familiar, Link just couldn't put his finger on it. Her brown hair was pulled into a ponytail, she was quite tall. Well, she seemed nice. Link shrugged.

"Oy, look who finally showed up!" Talo shouted jumping up and down.

"Link!" Beth shouted and blushed seeing his hero's garb. "You look soooo handsome!"

"Got yourself finally out of bed, I see." Mayor Bo's voice boomed.

The new girl took this as her cue to stand up. She ran towards Link and offered her hand eagerly. "My name's Rian, you already know my family." At this point Chiara waved kindly while she cradled Ricardo gently and Branko just nodded. "And you are Link... Wait! I know you! You are the guy who pointed me towards Ordon when I was lost. I'm soo grateful for that!" She stopped and looked down at Sephiria. "Awwww! She is sooo cute! Is she yours? May I hold her?"

Overwhelmed by Rian's excitement, Link just nodded. In a flash Sephiria was out of his arms and hoisted up by Rian!

"This is sooooo cool, not only little Ricardo to play with but also this adorable little baby as well!" Rian shouted.

Sephiria however was scared of this strange loud woman and began crying loudly. Rian stopped dead in her tracks. "What do I do? What do I do?" Her gaze fell on Link again and offered him the infant. "I'm sorry for upsetting her!"

Link just sighed and made a mental note not to let Rian too close to his daughter. "Shh. It's okay, Sephiria." Link whispered and rocked his daughter back and forth until she calmed down.

The villagers were silent, then Sera broke the silence. "Well, it seems that Beth didn't make your daughter up. She is really adorable, you'll be a great dad, Link. Congratulations!"

Smiling the other villagers joined in, except Ezio. At first he was disappointed that he wasn't center of the attention anymore. After some seconds of being jealous, he registered the baby in Link's arms and became confused. Wanting to get a better look at the mysterious little child he drew nearer, until he finally noticed Link's clothes.

Gaping he sweated , but then he tried to encourage himself and whispered. "Now he thinks he's the most liked man in the village. Dressing like the hero, che. What a jerk."

After most of the villagers were done cooing over little Sephiria, Chiara also noticed Link's clothes. "Oh, Link. Isn't this the Hero's Tunic? It couldn't possibly be, that you...?"

Link was blushing furiously and scratched the back of his neck. "Well nobody ever asked... But, yeah, I defeated Ganondorf."

Silence, again. Then a dull thus could be heard. The villagers turned around to see the source of the sound. Ezio had fainted.

"Does this mean I win?" Link asked, looking forward to eating Ilia's cooking.

Ilia wouldn't have any of that. "Both of you wanted a fair match and you will do it. I didn't get up so early, only to wait for you and have Ezio faint! You should have told them earlier!" She proclaimed loudly, the other villagers were nodding.

"But, Link, is it really true?" Chiara asked with worry. Link just nodded. "But you are so young and also a father! How can you do this all alone?"

"Well, I was never alone." Link admitted thinking of his beautiful companion.

"Yeah!" Talo exclaimed. "In Ordon we are a big family and that means Seph has a really big family, right?"

Uli nodded. "Yes. Whenever Link needs help we will be there for him, just like he helped us."

At first Chiara was silent, then she smiled. "Well, then I hope Ricardo and Sephiria will become great friends!"

"Don't forget Ruth!" Colin interjected.

"Of course not." Chiara said.

"Well, I think I like it here! This whole family thing here is great!" Rian exclaimed, throwing an arm over Ilia's shoulder. "Right, Ilia?"

Ilia just sighed and pulled Rian's arm away. "Yes, but I think we should look after Ezio, he's just fainted."

It took some time to wake Ezio from his self-induced unconsciousness. Many ways were tried.

His mother tried to wake him with words. "Ezio, darling, wake up. I made you your favorite breakfast. I even cut off the bread crusts for you honey."

Rian wasn't a patient person like her mother and slapped him while shouting. "Lazy donkey! Get up and fight like a man!"

Ilia tried whispering something into Ezio's ear but he just mumbled something incoherently and drooled a little.

Uli had some of her pumpkin cookies with her however even their heavenly scent couldn't wake Ezio up. Seeing the impossibility of their mission, everyone decided to wait until Ezio found his courage again.

However, in the meantime Colin and Beth had gone to get a bucket of cold water from the stream.

"They make a great team." Rusl muttered softly, as the kids came nearer. Link agreed with a nod.

"Okay, on three." Colin and Beth announced. "One, two, three!" Link snickered a little as the two of them threw the bucket's content into Ezio's face.

Sputtering, Ezio jumped and shouted. "I will win for Ilia!"

Sephiria squealed at his funny face and tried reaching towards the bucket.

Ilia shifted slightly as Beth asked. "Even if your opponent defeated Ganondorf?"

Ezio froze and stared at Link who just stood there and regarded his opponent with a superior gaze. "Yes. Even if it costs my life!"

Ilia was speechless and blushing a little. Then she suggested nervously. "Let's hope it won't get that far."

Mayor Bo nodded. "Now that everybody finally is able to compete, we'll have to decide what kind of contest Link and Ezio will be fighting in. I recommend sumo wrestling!"

Beth blushed at the image of the two young men only wearing their shorts. Since Colin noticed this, he shouted. "We're always doing that. Let's have them have a sword fight."

Chiara clearly worried for her son was against this. "Isn't that a little dangerous? What about a horse race?"

"Naw, mum. Those two have to prove themselves and not which of their horses is the best." Rian said.

Fado, who had been quiet the whole time, took this moment to give his opinion. "They could herd the sheep and see who gets more inside the barn."

"You just don't want to do your work, Fado! And on top of that Link would have an even bigger advantage." Sera said. "I vote for a fishing contest. My cute kitten darling Link has begged me this morning for some fish!"

"What about archery?" Ilia asked. "It's something both of them are good at and it's not too dangerous."

"Dear Ilia, the danger doesn't matter if I can protect your honor facing the odds."

"I think Ilia is right." Rusl stated. "You okay with this, Link?"

"Well she is the one who will be cooking for me after I win, so it's her decision." Link said with a shrug.

Ezio sighed quietly and coughed. "Then it's decided. I, the heroic Ezio, will face Link in the art of archery. Link! I hope you ate your carrots since you'll need eyes matching an eagle if you wish to defeat the gallant Ezio!"

The girls clapped and Beth laughed. "At least his speeches are better than Link's!"

While the two competitors warmed themselves up, the men of Ordon constructed some targets and the women looked after little Sephiria, Ruth and Ricardo.

"The three of them are soo adorable!" Beth squealed and glanced over to Colin who was rolling a huge hay bale into the corner of the ranch. "When I'm older I also want such a cute baby!"

Ilia just nodded. "I think a family of my own would be great! I could move out of dad's house and I'll never have to wash his sweaty pants again!"

"If you continue ogling Ezio the way you do, you will just exchange your dad's pants for Ezio's stinking shirts. Trust me you are better off single." Rian chimed. "Seriously, my brother is a douche!"

"Ehh?" Ilia was blushing madly and sputtered. "Ezio? No way! Who gave you that idea?"

"You!" Rian laughed. "How cute! You are even trying so hard to deny it! Ilia and Ezio sitting in a tree..."

"Shut up!" Ilia barked and tackled Rian to the ground.

The older women giggled. "Aww, to be young again."

"We are ready here!" Rusl shouted.

Indeed, the ranch had been turned into a shooting course. There were ten scarecrows positioned everywhere. Some were hiding behind obstacles, others were so far away that the women had to squint to see them. There were also two hay bales with colourful circles drawn on them.

"Wow!" Beth shouted. "This is amazing! You guys were so fast! And those hay bales! Who could have been strong enough to roll them here!"

Colin blushed a little, then looked away shyly.

Rusl chuckled. "Are you boys ready?"

Link was still stretching but nodded anyway and pulled his bow out of the magical bag.

"Why, of course!" Ezio shouted. "Ilia watch me when I beat him!"

Ilia blushed and laughed. "Of course! If you don't beat Link I'll have to cook for him! Show him that sitting on his lazy ass for the last months got him out of shape!"

"See, he likes you and you like him, too!" Rian whispered into Ilia's ear.

"Shut up!" Ilia shouted and got ready to punch Rian. Rian, however, ducked and jumped away laughing loudly.

Link was a little annoyed that Ilia thought he was out of shape. Sure he had lost some muscle in the last months but that was only natural since he wasn't running around Hyrule anymore to beat Ganondorf.

"You can go first." Ezio offered. Link just shrugged and took aim.

The steady sounds of arrows hitting home accompanies the ever rising eye brows of the villagers. It didn't take long until Link hit every target.

"Wow Link! I knew you were good! But I didn't know you were this good!" Bo shouted. Link just smiled, put his bow away and went to join the spectators.

"That was awesome!" Rian congratulated.

"Link! You are so cool!" Beth squealed.

Link chuckled and went to Ilia. "Well I guess I won't have to worry about cooking for a whole week."

Ilia just gave him his daughter, who was elated to push her fingers into Link's nostrils.

"Hey! I'm happy to see you, too, sunshine. But please, get your fingers out of my nose! It tickles" Link laughed.

Everyone chuckled at the happy family.

"Well I guess it's my turn." Ezio announced sweating and went where Link had stood before to shoot.

"You've got to say he has guts. After seeing that I wouldn't even bother trying." Fado mumbled.

"I think his pride just forbids him to give up." Rian laughed.

Ezio took a deep breath, concentrated on his target and let the arrow fly. He let out a relieved sigh, when it hit its target dead on. Link was slightly impressed when the other arrows also hit the targets. In a real battle situation Ezio would have already been ripped apart by various creatures, but this wasn't a battle so he had all the time in the world to take aim.

In the end Ezio had also hit every target. Now everyone wondered who had won this little competition. It was clear that Link's performance outstretched Ezio's by miles but nobody had set rules incase both of them hit every target.

"I guess it's a tie." Ilia shrugged somewhat relieved.

The villagers agreed.

Link sighed, his dinner problem wasn't solved, but even he had to say he was quite impressed by Ezio's performance. He had clearly underestimated the spoiled hunter.

"You are really good at this." Link praised and offered his hand for a friendly shake.

"Yeah." Ezio mumbled and shook Link's hand, still not believing Hyrule's hero stood before him and on top of that was impressed by his shooting. Also it was even harder to believe that said hero was the annoying shepherd of Ordon village.

Ilia smiled at their interaction. Finally, they could stand each other's presence without starting a huge quarrel. Another plus was that she didn't have to cook for Link and she felt really special since Ezio won -at leat he did from her perspective- just for her.

Ezio turned to face Ilia. "I'm very sorry, dear Ilia. I need to train harder so I can protect your honor for real in the future!"

Ilia smiled and shook her head. "Don't worry. You already have."

Link just raised an eyebrow at his friend's behavior. Seeing Sephiria yawn he excused himself. "Have fun you two! Sephiria needs her nap now."

Leaving the fields behind him, Link still had to figure out his food problem. The early events of the day had left his daughter exhausted therefore she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore. Link chuckled. "Before I get dinner I should get you somewhere to sleep. Let's get you to grandma Uli." Link stopped in his tracks. "But don't tell her I called her that. She doesn't like it when somebody implies her age."

Link was still telling stories to the sleeping Sephiria when he arrived on Uli's doorstep. Tenderly he knocked. Uli opened the door.

"Oh Link. It's you! What can I do for you?"

Link smiled at his mother figure. "Could you look after Sephiria? I don't have anything to eat in my cupboards so I want to ride to Castle Town to fetch food."

Uli nodded and took Sephiria. "Don't you worry, my dear. Of course I will look after her. Oh. And when you are already there, could you bring me some flour and sugar? I want to make some pumpkin cookies, but I've ran out of ingredients."

Feeling the old rush of a quest and the prospect of having some of Uli's famed cookies made Link grin and run off while whistling Epona's Song. Jumping on the incoming horse he rode towards the gates with a pair of green eyes following him.

Let's look what is going on in the Twilight Realm because many requested it!

The remains of the banquet which had been held to celebrate the return of their beloved queen from her absence, were still visible. When you considered how much the queen changed after her holiday, this fact was not a surprise.

Their queen had somehow become a serious ruler you could reason with. How did that happen? Her irresponsible and unpredictable temper had been replaced with a sensible calm that befitted a ruler in a crisis perfectly. As a consequence the Twilight Realm was on the rise again. She hated it.

When she saw Queen Midna gliding through the halls with her boot licking slave Nuvra close on the heels, she felt nauseous. When she saw the ever growing respect in the eyes of the queen's subjects, she had to excuse herself since she couldn't stand it.

It should have been her. She should have been queen instead of that failure who had already lost her throne once. This made her smile. She already lost her throne once, why not a second time? Midna was not fit to be a queen, to rule over her.

That was why she had investigated. The time before her absence the queen had been acting strange, she and her slave had plotted something. While the queen had been on her leave she went into her chambers, looking for hint.

The rooms had been a mess. Priceless clothing had been thrown into a corner of the room thoughtlessly, the sight had nearly made her weep. Books had been scattered all over the place, at first she had heeded them no mind, but then a word had caught her eye. Pregnancy. Could the queen have been pregnant? The more she thought about it the more it made sense: her constantly changing behavior and her strange eating habits. Why hadn't she seen it before?

The thought of an unrightful heir made her giddy. Oh the blackmailing material. Perfect. But first she needed proof, needed to find her ticket to the throne.

So she waited, always near the queen, hoping she would unwillingly give her another hint.

It was a bright sunrise. The queen sat in front of one of the palace's humongous windows and just stared lovingly into the blinding rays and was deep in thought. Suddenly she chuckled and shook her head, but then she shrugged. After looking around she traced something on the glass as if she wanted to send someone a message hidden in these blinding rays. When the usual orange dominated the sky again and the Queen went sighing towards her throne room.

She on the other hand had been hidden in the shadows of a pillar. When the coast was clear she went to the window the queen had occupied and breathed against the glass. The glass was still cold and her breath condensed as tint droplets on the glass, except for the areas the queen had traced something with her fatty fingers. "Take care of her, Link."

She smiled to herself. Link. Well now that she got a name, she would find the person soon. It was only a matter of time now before Midna was gone from her throne.

Hehe. Surprise! I know you guys wanted Link to wipe the floor with Ezio. But well, I don't like the predictable, so yeah a draw. Sorry I didn't write an action scene, I'm not good with that. :P

And you guys probably wanted to hear more from Midna. But you won't, because I'm evil. And because I needed an antagonist at some point.

Questiontime!

Lady Fai asked why Ilia was betting on Ezio.

Well, the heart of a woman in love cannot be explained. Also she was angry at Link and Ezio was quite charming to her and they spent some time together since Ezio came to Ordon. On top of that Link made clear they wouldn't become a pair. Well and look around Ordon's huge variety of young men. There isn't much to choose from, so she supports him.

In caverns dark asked if Ezio's folks still lived in Link's basement.

The answer is no. Some chapters ago I said their house was build, you know while Link was still glooming. Don't worry if you forgot it, even I had to check. ;)

See you next time! Don't forget to review!