A/N: This is Chapter Two of Stand By You. I hope you will enjoy this chapter! Please review because that will inspire and motivate me to write future chapters!
Disclaimer: : I do not own Legend of Zelda. It belongs to Nintendo.
"Link! Can you fill up the bowl with the soup? It should be ready for Uli," Rusl told me.
Colin was born and now he was 2 years old. Everyone rejoiced to get a new family member. But now, the happy atmosphere from last year vanished instantly, as we learned that Uli has caught a terrible disease. Many people in Ordon caught the virus, which only comes out in cold winters. The windows shuddered, as if they were cold from the strong storm outside. Rusl brewed a healthy, nutritious soup, hoping that it would give her strength to fight off the disease.
Uli lay on her bed and looked at Colin and me with soft, sad eyes. She knew that she couldn't hold on much longer. Colin, luckily, who didn't understand anything at his age, didn't have to experience the pain I experienced. I finally had a mother who cared for me as if I were her own son, only to lose her.
The next day, Uli died. I cried a lot at her funeral and held tightly on to Rusl. I whispered in a sad tone to Rusl, "Is Mom really gone?" He nodded slightly; his expression was grave and somber.
I was walking to Ordon Middle School as usual with my best friend Ilia. A year has passed and now I'm 12 years old, but the memory of Uli still remained in my mind so vivid as if it happened only yesterday. I guess you can say I have a good memory, because I assure you, I haven't forgotten a trace of Aryll and Mila yet.
"Ilia, what did you do during the weekend?" I curiously inquire.
"Oh, nothing much. We just had a family outing, which was boring like always. It's just the same picnic every Sunday."
I didn't want to tell her how much I craved for that kind of family outing. Rusl hasn't really been the same after Uli passed away, and although he still cares for us, the bright and happy glint in his eyes faded and the family times together weren't as bright and cheerful as it used to be.
I hurried to my locker, waving goodbye to Ilia since we were in different homerooms. I quickly stuffed my backpack in the locker and took out the essential materials I needed for class. In school, I was never one of the popular ones, and I also know that I will never be one of them, partially because I'm an orphan, but also because I just didn't like the things they always did. They are superficial and act as if they were the kings on campus. Which they technically are. Never mind.
School wasn't too bad because of Ilia. I mean, the classes are okay, and Ilia and I had our own little gang with some other kids: Beth, Talo and Mido. I was always one to be ignored outside our group of friends, which is actually a good thing, if you think about it.
As I make my way back home, I see some goat herders delivering pumpkins. Summer was transferring into autumn; the atmosphere got gloomier, the clouds darker, and the landscape lonelier. It was almost as if one side of Ordon was bright and cheerful and lively with the energy of summer, and the other lonelier, gloomier and more somber, just like autumn.
I fumbled to look for my key and stuck it into the keyhole. It really felt like another normal day: I would just go in and talk to Rusl and Colin, do my homework, and then play with Colin. But today was the day everything changed.
My expression twisted into a confused expression and my brows furrowed in uncertainty and hesitation as I opened the door wide, only to find the Skyward Police Force in our house. Did we do something wrong? Something illegal? Did Rusl get into trouble? What is going on right now? Questions flooded my mind and all the possibilities ran through my head. The only thing to be sure of now was that Rusl was nowhere to be found.
"We're really sad to announce to you that Rusl unfortunately died from a car accident this morning when he was driving to work. His brakes were not functioning properly, resulting in him driving straight into the other cars without stopping and collided into them."
I gasped. No. This can't be happening. Rusl was like my real dad, he cared for me, gave me food and shelter, and most importantly, a family and the kind of love I never had in the orphanage. I was speechless and lost in my train of thought, until the police interrupted my thoughts.
"Please also inform your brother of this. It isn't easy, but I hope you kids can take the pain. It is truly a tragedy."
My eyes began to become watery, liquid tears threatened to spill over the edges of my eyes. A single tear trickled down my cheek.
Only now did I start to think about what will become of Colin and me. Will we be adopted by our relatives? I know the Skyloftes already have a lot of children, so maybe they will be able to adopt one of us out of love. And the Dragmires—well, they drink a lot. I heard that Mr. Dragmire drinks almost all the time. It might be a little dangerous. All I wish for is Colin's happiness. He shouldn't have to go through the pain of not having a loving family that I experienced. The pain of feeling all alone in this vast, infinite universe.
The shrill sound of a wooden rooster going in and out of the cuckoo clock alarmed me. Oh no, I thought. I have to pick up Colin at the kindergarten now and I have to hurry. I put on my muddy sneakers and dashed out the door, nearly forgetting to get the key. I swiped off the key that the police got from Rusl's car from the shelf.
It felt that the goddesses was corresponding to my mood and my situation right now. Were Din, Nayru and Farore shedding tears in the form of raindrops for me and Colin up from heaven?
Splashing through the mud, my sneakers got even dirtier. But I don't care, because the only thing on my mind right now was all the everlasting and valuable memories that will always remain in my heart that we enjoyed, all together. May Uli and Rusl rest in peace; they truly gave me the one thing I never really had: a family.
*Flashback*
Colin threw a water balloon at my back. Wet splotches patched my body as I bent down to fill my cupped hands with the lake water. We were having a vacation and relaxing at Lake Hylia during summer break. Uli and Rusl were eating their sandwiches slowly on the grassy meadows with the wind blowing softly in our faces. I chased Colin around the plain, picking up wild flowers along the way. We were frolicking on the field, carefree and innocent. Colin's only developed emotion was happiness, he remained naïve to the real world, to reality, which was a dark place, full of lies, blackness and sin.
Thinking of the memory took me back in time, as if I were a child again, frolicking in the sunny scenery with my 'family'. I got on the train and after passing a few stations in absolute silence, deep in thought, I finally got off to pick Colin up at the kindergarten.
Colin saw my eyes wet with tears, my lips quivering slightly. Yep, he was wondering why I was crying since I never really cried a lot, especially not in front of Colin.
"What happened? Did something bad happen, brother?"
I just mouthed the words, "Rusl's dead." I didn't dare say those syllables aloud to Colin; my throat wouldn't make a sound.
"Rusl's dead," I croaked, the sound barely loud enough to be called a whisper.
"What?" The fear was evident in Colin's voice, as he reconfirmed.
"Rusl passed away this morning. His brakes wouldn't work and collided into the other cars." My voice trembled, as I presented Colin with the tragic fact.
A century seemed to pass as Colin bawled and ran up to me, hugging me tightly. His tears blended with mine, and the salty substance dripped to the floor. Standing in the middle of the sidewalk, the passing people vanishing in our minds, and the rain pouring from the heavens around us, we felt like the only two human beings in this lonely world.
I unlocked the door, and a loud silence greeted us, coldly welcoming us to the empty house. And by empty, I mean empty of emotions, empty of people, empty of love. We huddled together on my bed, snuggled in the cozy warmth of the blankets that strongly contrasted the freezing weather outside. The raging storm whipped and lashed at the windows, shaking them a little.
I gaze up at the stars, which brightly illuminated the dark night sky. They shined radiantly at our faces, and the dimly lit full moon spilled a ray of bright white moonlight on my body. As I slowly turned to the other side, I felt that my eyes have caught a glimpse of a new constellation. That was when I realized that the new constellation I saw was in the form of Rusl. Praying to Din, Nayru and Farore, we cried ourselves to sleep, eventually drifting into deep dreams, the only moment free of worries.