Now we're on to Chapter 55, enjoy!
"Yeaaah! Gimmie another mug of dirt mixed with extra hematite pronto!"
"'Please Chief Darunia, get off the table! You're going to-"
A loud smash could be heard by everyone, and they all turned to see Darunia laying back on the ground amid the remains of a shattered wooden table, as he was swinging around an empty mug laughing, with a red, drunken look on his face.
"What the heck is he even drinking?! I thought that was just dirt!" Link exclaimed from the bar counter, where he was sitting alongside Nabooru and Impa.
"Uh, some of the miners figured out the idea of grinding down iron ore and mixing it with dirt to give it more flavor, and our chief developed a liking for it." sighed the bartender.
"Heh, so he's a man of taste then." Nabooru said grinning, holding up her mug of alcohol.
After the group arrived back from their successful mission in the mines, they took to spending the remainder of the day celebrating. With his worries gone, Darunia in particular was fullly back to his jolly self once more, and was partying it up without restraint.
"Hey little one, play that catchy song again!" Darunia shouted out to Saria, who was siting at a table with some of her Gerudo friends.
"Huh? Oh sure!" Saria said, pulling out her ocarina and started to play it.
"Ah, wait miss, when the chief gets drunk on hematite he-!" the bartender shouted, but it was too late.
The music was already playing, and Darunia immediately started dancing.
"Oooh! OOOH! Yeaaah!"
Darunia swing his arms from side to side, kicking his feet up with a large grin on his face.
"HOT! What a hot beat!"
It was then Darunia seemed to be moving his legs so much, everyone could swear for a second he was starting to pick up some air. He then took out his Megaton Hammer and threw it into the air, and when it slammed down on the ground embedding itself in the ground, a small burst around it actually caused Darunia to go flying upward into the air, still dancing all the while, before he impacted into the ceiling.
Everyone sat there in stunned silence and disbelief as Darunia was halfway stuck in the ceiling, his legs still moving in dance all the while.
"Uh, oops. Sorry." Saria said sweatdropping, now realizing what the bartender meant.
"Whoa, he flew up pretty well for a big guy!" Aviel said with wide eyes.
"Is he going to be okay?" Nemisa asked the bartender.
"He'll be fine," sighed the bartender, before calling out to the Goron waiters, "Someone get the ladder so we can get him down."
Some time later, after dislodging Darunia from the ceiling, he had finally calmed down, and was laying back on a chair relaxing as Link sat by him to make sure he stayed put.
Saria was advised to leave for the bar so Darunia wouldn't be tempted with another song, and left a while ago with Aviel outside so the bird girl could show her friend something in particular, while the rest of the group took to enjoying their time at the bar.
A large Goron miner was sitting at one table, drinking down an entire mug of dirt, then slamming it down. The Goron paused for a second, before belching in the face of the person sitting beside him.
"Ha, beat that!" the Goron said proudly, as his comrades were all gathered around the table cheering out for him.
The person he spoke to shrugged and chugged down a whole mug of alcohol in one big gulp, before letting out a loud belch of their own, so powerful that it caused the Goron to stumble and fall backwards, leaving him sprawled out on the floor with spiraling eyes.
"Woah!" the Gorons all shouted out with wide eyes.
"So did I win?" Reirousa asked with a grin, as the Goron miners all congratulated their new champion.
Meanwhile over at another table, Sarami was having a pleasant conversation with another of the Goron miners. He had a small bag of jewels and ore he had collected from the mines before V the dragon had scared them off out on the table with him.
"So could you please tell me about your digestive system and how it can process hard rock minerals into nutrients?" Sarami asked, scribbling down notes on a notepad.
"Gosh I dunno, we just take the rocks and eat them." the Goron said rubbing his head in confusion, "Big Brother Darunia says the best ones for us are the top sirloin rocks in Dodongo's Cavern, helps us get big and strong!"
"Fascinating... so specific types of rock provide better nutrients... very good, very good..." Sarami said writing more notes.
"Yeah, we didn't know what to do when that Gerudo King Ganondorf guy sealed up the cave, but then Brother Link just came in out of nowhere and took care of it! We owe him a lot!" the Goron said happily.
Sarami smiled warmly at those words, she had always admired Link's heroism and kindness, and she could only hope to hear more about him from others throughout Hyrule, including the Princess Zelda.
The Goron reached out for a cup of dirt he was drinking, only to knock it over by accident.
"Whoops!"
As the Goron was reaching down to clean up the mess, Sarami paused and saw the bag of ore and jewels on the table. The jewels in particular stood out to her with their color and shine. A strange temptation was starting to uproot, and Sarami took a look around to see no one was watching.
She slowly and discreetly reached her hand out to a small amount of jewels, only to stop her hand at the last minute. She pulled her arm away and looked aside in shame.
'Goddess... what am I doing...?' Sarami thought to herself, 'We're here to become allies and friends with the Goron, not extort them...' she put a hand to her cheek and sighed, 'I suppose old habits can be hard to break after all...'
At that time, the Goron had gotten back up, having refilled his mug with the dirt he gathered.
"Sorry about that miss." the Goron said with a goofy grin.
"Oh no, it's quite alright." Sarami said, gently smiling despite the guilt she had put on herself.
"Hey, did you want one of these sparkly things I found in the mine earlier?" the Goron asked, sliding a green jewel towards Sarami.
The doctor sat there with wide eyes, looking at the jewel, then up to the kind smile on the Goron's face, before she sighed and slid the jewel back to him.
"No... no it's fine. I'm just content talking with you." she said nodding.
Meanwhile Link was at another table still conversing with Darunia about a certain matter.
"...it's a bit of a coincidence." Darunia spoke, "But I can't deny it might very well be him."
"That's what I thought." Link nodded, "Hopefully things will work out differently for-"
"Hey Link!"
Link turned to see the Gerudo leader Nabooru standing alongside Impa with an arm wrapped around her shoulder, and it was clear from her movements and the silly grin on her face that Nabooru was a little tipsy from her drinking too much again.
"We were thinkin' about going to the hot spring to rest from the battles, wanna come with us to the mixed spring?" she asked.
"..." Impa didn't say a word, but just looked to the side awkwardly.
"I uh..." Link said sweatdropping as he saw the awkward look on Impa's face.
"So it's agreed then, let's go!" laughed Nabooru, grabbing Link by the arm and yanking him off, pushing him and Impa along to the springs.
"Uh, sorry Darunia, guess I'm going!" Link called out as he was dragged off.
"Alright, have fun Brother!" Darunia said waving.
Darunia sat there for a moment watching the three going off on their way, and laughed out to himself.
"Bwa ha ha! My brother sure knows how to draw people to him!" he then held up his drink, "Another mug of dirt, bartender!"
"Okay, but no hematite this time!" the bartender scolded his boss.
"Woohoo!"
Aviel squealed out as she shot through the air above Death Mountain, her Roc's Wings were spread out as she did flips and swoops all around the place. She dived downwards at blinding speed before bringing up her wings and shooting back up into the air.
"Woah, look at her go!" a Goron exclaimed.
After she left the bar with Saria, Aviel was over-anxious to spread her stronger wings out and take to the air. It took a brief while to get used to them, but she found herself flying freely through the skies. Saria and the younger Gorons had all taken the time to come out and see, and Saria sat with wide eyes as she watched Aviel soar through the sky.
"This is so much fun! I've never been able to fly like this before!" Aviel shouted out.
She did a few loops around a large rock sticking out from the mountain side, accidentally banging her head into the bottom for it, before going right back to flying around swiftly and freely. She soon landed down to the ground, taking careful steps to slow down her landing, and not even stumbling thanks to the length of her new bird talons.
"Saria, did you get a look at that?" Aviel asked grinning. There was a small bump on her head from hitting the rock, but she was too excited and energetic to even notice or care about it.
"That was amazing Aviel! I don't know what happened to make your wings like this, but I'm happy you're taking to them so well!" Saria said, smiling brightly.
"That's not all though, I got something else to show you," Aviel said grinning, "Can I use a leaf from your Deku Staff?"
"Oh sure." Saria said, growing a leaf from the staff which she plucked off and gave to Aviel.
"Alright, now watch and don't blink!" Aviel said, flying back into the air. She let go of the leaf into the air and it started to slowly drift back down towards the ground.
It was then while still flapping her wings that Aviel used her bird talons to reach and pull her goggles up over her eyes. She then reached behind her, pulled her crossbow off from her back, aimed it carefully with her talons while still flying and fired an arrow. The arrow shot down with blinding speed before impacting into the ground. Saria and the Gorons all crowded around it and saw Aviel had managed to pierce through the leaf she had dropped just a second ago.
"You got it!" Saria called out to Aviel, who swooped down to land and see it for herself.
"Yeah, I can finally use my bow while flying! This is going to make things a lot easier when I'm in battle!"
"That's great, you mentioned before you were having trouble before doing that sort of thing." Saria said.
"Yeah..." Aviel nodded, pulling out the arrow and look at the leaf closely. She then grinned a bit mischievously as she looked to Saria, "...and there's even more stuff I can do when I fly now!"
"Huh?"
"H-Hey!" exclaimed Saria in a panic as Aviel flew into the sky with her, gently holding the Kokiri by her shoulders with her talons as they went higher and higher, "Aviel, please don't let go of me!" she pleaded with tears streaming down her face.
"Hee hee, I won't!" giggled Aviel as they flew up to a cliff at the peak of Death Mountain. Aviel set a shaken Saria to the ground and she landed down shortly after, "So wasn't that fun?"
"I can't believe you did that without warning me first Aviel!" Saria shouted in a fit, "That scared me! Why'd you do that?"
"So you could see this surprise!" Aviel said, changing back to her normal Gerudo self and pointing her finger out at the sky.
Saria turned and her eyes widened in shock to see the land before them. From the peak they could practically see the entirely of Hyrule, stretching out farther then she could have ever imagined. A blue sky that was only now starting to turn orange as the sun was beginning to set. She also saw the vast green landscape of Hyrule Fields, the majestic waters of Lake Hylia in one direction, as well as her new home of Gerudo Desert in the far distance. She also finally saw the grand Hyrule Castle towering over the bustling market town. It was all a great sight for Saria to behold.
"It's beautiful..." whispered Saria.
"I was so happy back when I first realized I could use my Roc's Wings to fly, being able to see so many new things around me... it reminded me of those days back when I was traveling with my parents." Aviel said, "And now that my wings are like this, I can see so much more of this great world."
The two watched as some birds flew by over the land, and Aviel smiled softly.
"...I feel like with these wings I can do more now for Link and everyone then I ever could before." Aviel said, she looked to Saria and her Deku Staff and sported a wide toothy grin, "Course, you know what that's like, right?"
"Yeah... you're right..." Saria said, realizing Aviel meant how she was using the Deku Staff to protect Link now. She took a long look out at the vast landscape and spoke to the bird girl,
"I spent my whole life in the forest, and I never thought I could leave for the longest time. Now that I've have the chance to go out and see the world outside the forest, and all the wonderful people I've befriended, I think this is how Link felt when he left all that time ago. That's why I want to help you all with your banishment situation, so the Gerudo can see the world of Hyrule like this, and feel the same freedom I do now!"
"Alright, we're going to have to give Link and Lady Nabooru all our support if we're going to do that then!" Aviel said pumping her fists, then circled her hands around her mouth and shouted out over the horizon, "You hear that world?! We're going to free everyone, so they can soar like us!"
Saria smiled brightly and put her hands around her mouth like Aviel did, shouting out "Yeah! Like us!"
As the two girls were calling out to the world before them however, Aviel was so into her shouting that she didn't realize she was a little too close to the edge of the cliff, and stumbled a bit before falling off the side of the peak.
"Kyaa!"
"Aviel!" Saria exclaimed, running over to the edge and looking down, only to see Aviel flying up to her eye level.
"Ah hee hee... I slipped." Aviel said sheepishly.
"Jeez, I know you can fly better now, but you still need to be careful!" Saria scolded her in annoyance as the bird girl landed down onto the ground.
"Sorry, guess I'm just a bit of a birdbrain!" Aviel grinned.
There a brief pause between the two girls, before they then just laughed out loud, and went back to enjoying the view together.
Link stepped out of the men's changing room for the mixed hot spring, clad in just a towel at the waist, ready to meet with Nabooru and Impa. Even after what happened the other day with all the girls though, he was a little awkward about it in that moment, namely due to one of the two that were about to join him in the spring.
"Hey there hot stuff." Nabooru spoke out. Link turned to see the Gerudo leader standing there with her towel on up to her chest. It was a sight he was used to, but then his gaze wandered to who was beside her.
Impa was gripping at her towel with an embarrassed look on her face, and he couldn't help but feel shy about it himself. It was one thing for Nabooru of whom he had been with for over a year now, but Impa was another story. She was his mentor during the time he was preparing for his long journey, and he used to see her as sort of a big sister of sorts. The way he was looking at her now though, it was something very different, and he was having hard time getting his mind off it...
The three soon got into the water and removed their towels. Link was thankful Nabooru didn't just try stripping them both off beforehand. All three of them let out a collective sigh as they submerged their bodies into the hot water.
"Looks like with the Talus Behemoth destroyed, the heat's already returned." Impa said, "Glad things worked out so well."
"I feel like there's still a lot of unanswered questions about what happened back there, but I'll just take it as it is." Nabooru said, stretching herself out.
As Link laid back himself, his could have sworn out of the corner of his eye someone was watching him from the men's changing room door. He looked in the direction of pathway, but there was nothing.
"Link, something the matter?" Impa asked.
Link paused, then shook his head, "No, nothing's wrong."
"He might still be a bit weary with what's been going on in our land lately." Nabooru said. She thought for a little, before nodding to herself and speaking out, "Tell me Impa, are you aware of a group called the Ebony Sisterhood?"
"Impa, I rally don't think we need to tell her abo-" Link spoke, but was cut off.
"Yes, I am." nodded Impa, surprising Link, "I have contacts who have been bringing me reports of a black-clothed Gerudo group that's been plotting to overthrow you, Lady Nabooru."
"We haven't mentioned it before as we were weary of causing more unrest and mistrust with Hyrule, but they wish to kill me and Link, and free Ganondorf from his prison." Nabooru said.
"They consider me a false king, and that they need to recruit our people so they can grow strong enough to free him." Link said, "They're resorting to anything they can to try and get rid of the two of us."
"Working to free Ganondorf... to free that damned monster..." Impa muttered in a low voice. "After what he did..."
Link looked to see the bitter scowl Impa made as she looked down. While it was natural for her to hate the evil former Gerudo king, he saw something else in her eyes, it wasn't just anger, but some pain as well, and it made him wonder what Ganondorf might had done in the past to affect her so badly...
"Impa?" Link asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm... fine..." Impa said, blushing a little at Link touching her like that, "More importantly, I've been talking with the Hylian Parliament about those rebels in the past, but they don't take me seriously. They act like it's just a rumor at this point since the knights haven't encountered any of them."
"So the rebels are avoiding confrontations with the Hylian knights...?" Link realized, thinking a little on that note.
"Tsk, I bet it's wonderful working with those bastards." Nabooru said rolling her eyes.
"You don't know the half of it." Impa sighed. "They're not completely incompetent and have at least made some positive changes over the years, but they can be too stubborn-headed to see the bigger picture going on. Me and the princess been put through hell trying to deal with their jumbled policies and laws they've made..."
Link paused on those words by Impa, and looked down himself, now thinking about a certain person within the castle.
"Why the long face Link?" Nabooru asked, then sported a small knowing smirk, "Could it be maybe you're just thinking of a certain Hylian princess still?"
"H-Hey, I didn't say that..." Link said blushing red.
Nabooru laughed out loud at Link's embarrassment, and even Impa couldn't help but chuckle a little.
"You'll meet her again soon enough Link, I'll see to that." Impa said, "I'm going to have a talk with Princess Zelda and the king in regards to setting up a meeting with you all and the Parliament so we can properly discuss the peace treaty and the rebellion's goals." Impa said, she looked to Link in particular, "Though this will mean I'll probably have to tell them about you becoming the new Gerudo King..."
"Hm, yeah... if I'm recognized as the official king that means I might not be able to legally leave Gerudo Valley until we're permitted to meet with Hyrule Castle." Link pondered, "Well I already decided I'm part of the Gerudo now, so I guess it was inevitable."
"Me and Halei will have a lot of paperwork to go through if that happens, and even then it'll probably take months before we can actually go through with the meeting, so we'll have plenty of time to prepare ourselves for that day." nodded Nabooru, "We still have to meet with the Zoras soon for our alliance anyway."
"Either way, I'm sure the princess would be happy to hear about the decision you made in becoming the official king, and wanting to make peace with the Gerudo and Hyrule." Impa said with a small smile.
"Yeah..." Link whispered softly, then grinned, "Well how about for now the three of us just enjoy ourselves at this resort?"
"Sounds good to me." smiled Nabooru, laying back.
Link, Nabooru and Impa all took to relaxing, watching the stars in the sky. There were no words said at that time, just the three of them enjoying the night and each other's company.
"Well I'm feeling pretty refreshed now, so I think I'm going on ahead inside." Link said after some time later, climbing out of the water.
Nabooru shot a glance to Impa, who had been looking at Link as he started putting on his bath towel, before she realized Nabooru was watching, then turned her head away.
"Okay, see you later Link!" Nabooru said with a big grin.
After he had gone into the changing room, Impa took a deep breath, with an unsure look on her face. It was then Nabooru placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I just say go for it Lady Impa." Nabooru grinned, "Trust me when I say you won't regret it."
"I... I'll consider it." Impa said, standing up from the water, "I need to go myself, have a good night Lady Nabooru."
Nabooru took a small glance behind her to see Impa walking off to the women's changing room. She sported a small smirk and laid back, continuing to enjoy the hot spring more, and spoke to herself.
"I have a feeling something wonderful is going to happen tonight after all."
She paused on that note and looked up into the night sky, seeing the stars shining overhead. She thought about the idea of what Impa was more then likely going to do with Link that night, and found her legs shifting a bit as a small blush formed on her face. She let out a sigh and flicked at the water with her hand.
"Nabooru, you really are pathetic sometimes..." she sighed.
As Link was leaving the changing area to get back to his room with Nemisa and Togau, he felt a presence, and turned to see Impa standing on the wall behind him with her arms folded. Her robe was hanging downwards, but not enough to show anything naughty. He did a good view of her nice athletic legs though.
"Impa?"
"Link..." Impa muttered, landing to the ground and walking up to him, "Listen, I've given Nabooru's suggestion from before some thought, and I've come to a decision."
Link's eyes widened as she then took his hand, staring down at him with a light blush on her cheeks.
"Would... you do me the honor, my protegee?"
"I-I..."
Some distance away, Nemisa and Togau were walking down the hall talking happily between each other. They then stopped in surprise to see Impa holding Link's hand. The two said nothing, but watched as they saw him nod to her, and she escorted him off down the hall.
Togau whistled lightly, "Well looks like Link's not gonna be staying in our room tonight after all."
"Indeed." nodded Nemisa, "In that case, perhaps we could go to the bar for some more drinks instead?"
"Alright, sounds great!" Togau grinned.
"But you're getting the extra light alcohol this time."
"Awww..."
"So you sure you're ready for this Impa?"
"I-I guess so..."
Link and Impa both stood in her inn room that night, clad in their robes. They had taken out Impa's spare futon and put it together with the other for that night.
"If you're not, we can always wait or-" Link was cut off
"No, no I think I should." Impa shook her head, "As the last surviving full-blood Shiekah, it falls on me to continue our bloodline. If something were to ever happen to me..." her voice sounded a little strained at that point, "Then my people would eventually be no more."
Link frowned at those words, as his thoughts went to a moment when he saw her in the dark future, and a long look of regret in the Sheikah's eyes, as he realized that look meant more then he could had thought in that time...
But it was then something else bothered him as well.
"Impa, that's not the only reason you're doing this, is there?" Link asked.
"What do you mean?" Impa asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well... I'm not exactly what I'd call an expert on having kids or anything..." Link said rubbing the back of his head, "And I might be the last person who should be saying this considering the Gerudo's own population problem..."
It was then Link thought to Darunia consoling his son back in the mines, as well as the Gerudo mother Maifeki, of whom he had helped birth her child Selil at Sarami's medical clinic so long ago.
"...but I don't think that children are just something you have for the pure sake of having them. That just makes them seem like a chore you impose on yourself, when they're much more then that. They're a new life that you bring into the world, and they're a part of you. Ensuring their happiness is great, but they should also be able to bring joy to you as well..."
Link recalled the time he held the newborn Gerudo baby Selil in his arms, and how happy it made him feel to do so, even after his worries about holding her. He then thought to Nemisa, as she talked about how much she wanted to someday become pregnant, and give Link a huge family they could love forever... He smiled lightly and looked to Impa.
"...and I think there's a lot more to having a child then just the responsibilities that come with it."
Impa paused and looked up to her friend, astonished at the wise words he spoke, and the mature look look in his eyes at that moment, as she found herself recalling her earlier days as the royal family's guard and servant...
Flashback - 18 years ago
"Oh Impa," called out a sweet silky voice, getting a younger Impa's attention, "I have a meeting to attend to tonight, can you please watch Zelda for a little while?"
"Of-Of course, your excellency!"
Impa stood before the queen of the royal family and Zelda's mother. She was holding the infant Zelda in her arms, who was making small cooing noises as the beautiful queen was tickling her lightly. Impa held nothing but respect for the powerful but loving woman before her. They had grown up together as servant and princess as children, but they were close friends and confidants as well.
"Oh Impa, I keep telling you that you don't have to refer to me by rank. We're friends after all, aren't we?" the queen smiled warmly.
"Y-Yes, of course we are, I-I just-" Impa stammered, before the queen just handed her daughter to her.
"Hee hee, it's fine. Just please watch Zelda until I'm done." the queen giggled lightly, her voice sounding almost like a harmonious bell that could call angels from the heavens.
"Um, forgive me, but are you sure you don't want to get one of the nursemaids to watch her?" Impa asked nervously. She had never really been good with children, and she looked awkwardly down at the baby Zelda in her arms.
"You'll do just fine Impa." the queen smiled, "In fact I think she's already warming up to you."
"Well..." Impa looked down at Zelda, who gurgled a little and blew a small bubble out of her mouth.
"Besides, you can see it as training for when you have your own child someday!" the queen said cheerfully with a hand to her mouth.
"I... don't really know about doing something like that..." Impa muttered, glancing to the side.
"Well either way, thank you for this." the queen gave a bow of her head, before turning and going off on her way.
Impa stood there blankly, holding Zelda in her arms. She glanced down at the child who just looked up at her with wide baby eyes.
"Um... hello there... Princess Zelda?" Impa asked.
It was then the baby sniffled a little, before bursting out crying loudly, making Impa go into a panic, as she tried frantically to rock her.
"It's okay! Don't cry! Your mother will be back soon!" Impa exclaimed in panic
But it was to no avail, as the child kept crying. Impa realized how awkward it was to stand there in the hallway as Zelda cried out, and quickly went into her nursery to make an attempt to comfort the young princess. She set Zelda down in her crib and looked down at her, curious about what to do about her crying.
"Um... how about some milk?!" Impa exclaimed, holding up a baby bottle and a cute plush toy of a Goron in her hands, "Or maybe Mr. Daruk wants to say hi?!"
Still the baby was crying, and Impa was at a loss. She frantically tried to think of all the ways the queen would do to keep her baby so happy and relaxed, something that she herself could possibly do...
It was then she remembered something, a song that Zelda's mother would often sing. She used to sing it back when the two of them were children in the garden playing together, and even when she was pregnant with Zelda she'd sing the tune to comfort the child while it was growing within her, it was a song Impa could never forget...
The song of the royal family.
Impa looked down at the crying child and gulped a bit. She put her fingers to her lips and started whistling the song. It was a slow and passionate tune, soothing to the ears of anything who heard the queen sing it, and Impa mentally prayed that she could pull it off to a suitable degree.
As she continued, she could hear the crying start to diminish, she looked down to see the baby Zelda was calming down. Impa kept the song going, and saw in delight that the baby had stopped crying.
It was then after a short while she saw a truly surprising sight; Zelda was laying back in her crib, laughing happily. The great bright smile on her face was positively heart-warming to the Sheikah. Impa didn't stop the song though, and continued it until the baby's eyes grew tired and she fell asleep soundly.
Impa slowly ended the song after that, then looked down at the young princess sleeping. The tranquil look on her face captivated her, and she leaned forward on the crib, smiling warmly at the small child. She slowly reached out to Zelda to pat her on the head gently. The happiness she felt just seeing Zelda at peace like this, she wanted to continue to see it, forever if she could.
"You're a beacon to the future of Hyrule little one..." whispered Impa, "And I made a promise to my friend, that I'll watch over her, and you for as long as I'm able to..."
She gave the baby a sweet kiss on the forehead, and went back to whistling the blissful song to help her stay asleep...
'That's right...' Impa thought to herself, with small traces of tears in her eyes, 'That happiness... not just for the child, but for the parent as well... that's truly what's the most important of all..."
"Hey Impa, you alright?" Link asked, looking Impa over, "You zoned out there for a while."
"Oh," Impa realized she was back in the present, and nodded to him, "I'm fine, just fine Link. In fact, I think there's truth to what you said. Thank you for that."
"Hey, anything for my mentor, and my friend." grinned Link.
Impa blushed a little at the smile Link gave her, as the two looked into each other's eyes.
"So, what do you do want to do then...?" Link asked, "If you don't think you're ready then we can just talk, or play a game or-"
It was then that Impa took him by the back of his head and pulled him into a soft kiss.
Link's eyes widened as she deepened the kiss, her full lips pressing against his own. Link found himself getting into it and started kissing her back just as strong. The two of them fell to their knees on the futon, and then soon broke the kiss, panting out slightly for breath. Impa gave him a suggestive gaze and smiled lightly.
"I am ready Link."
"...well, let's get started then." Link whispered with a grin.
The two went back to kissing again, and started to remove each other's robes, which fell down to their waists around them. Link broke the kiss and gazed at Impa's half-nude body. Despite her age, she was a very beautiful woman, her white hair was undone from the braids and it hung loosely behind her. It was a huge contrast from her short hair eight years ago, and frankly he felt it looked much better on her. Her skin was a healthy tan from years of field training, and she had a fine combination of lean muscle and womanly curves, making her look both fit and yet somewhat motherly.
Impa herself couldn't help but take in the sight of Link as well; he had nice defined muscle. Not overly bulky, but more then she imagined he'd have. His skin was heavily tanned from the time he spent in the sun-scorched desert, and his hair was bleach-blond as well. Yet despite all that had changed about him, he still had those gentle blue eyes and that kind demeanor from when he was a child. She found herself being drawn into his looks, and thinking more and more about the idea of what their child could be like...
"So you're okay, with an older woman like myself?" Impa asked with a light blush.
"Of course I am, you're beautiful." Link whispered, crawling up to her, his robe slipping off his waist as she then saw how okay with her he really was.
"Oh my..." Impa gasped out, before Link silenced her with a kiss.
Link's skilled hands wandered about her lean body, before she wrapped her arms around his neck and he laid her down onto the futons. Soon Impa's own robe went flying off to join Link's beside it...
And the young king and his Sheikah mentor spent a wonderful night together.
And that ends the chapter. I have to say I had some fun writing some more personality traits for Impa since her OoT self was always kind of... limited in character. The flashback with baby Zelda was a delight to write in particular, seeing Impa grow to care about her as a surrogate mother of sorts.
In addition, I really enjoyed writing Aviel and Saria back in their room, so I included more of that this time.
Also I absolutely had to throw in another Darunia dance just cause.
Next time we wrap things with this arc up. Impa will complete her mission, and she'll find herself making an important decision...