I was in my room, later that night, and I traced the beaded necklace with my fingers gently.
Although it seemed to border on insulting to pity someone as much as I did, I couldn't deny it. I felt so sorry for him. I wanted to make him forget his pain, I wanted him to smile at me, and I wanted him to tell me that I was his friend.
It sounded selfish, but I thought of him as a very dear friend of mine. Does he think the same, I wondered. Will he ever acknowledge that he isn't alone, and that I'm here for him?
I certainly hoped so.
Imaynot be childishly in love with him like I was before, I thought to myself. But I'm not going to stand by and watch him live in complete and utter solitude.
And that is what I did. I asked Dad if he could stay overnight at the ranch, because I absolutely refused to let him ride back to the castle in his current state. Dad said sure, as long as he didn't mind staying sleeping on hay at the corner of a barn. We didn't have a guest bedroom, you see.
Link was beyond caring.
"Look, I'm really sorry we don't have a room—" I began, but he looked at me patiently.
"One night in hay won't matter. The fact that you're putting up with me is comfort enough."
I had a sneaking suspicion that he was used to much worse. All that traveling…
As he sat down on the hay, he leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. But not before he gave me an apologetic smile. It was very small and sad, but it was there.
Silently, I gazed at him intently for a minute, and then I went and fetched a blanket. I draped it around him. I figured he wanted to be alone, so I tiptoed out.
"Goodnight," I said softly. "You know you're always welcome here, right?"
I don't know why I said that.
And there I was, in my own room, fingering the beads.
After a long time, I finally blew out the flame of the lamp. I lay down, clutching my own blanket around me tightly. With Link on my mind and in my heart, I went to sleep.
The next day, I was up much earlier than usual. I washed and changed quickly.
My first action was to check on Link. He was still there, asleep. I was relieved that he didn't pull another one of his disappearing acts.
I finished most of my chores early, but when I checked on him again he was awake.
"Good morning," I said warmly. "Would you like breakfast?"
"No." He got up, putting on his boots and gauntlets. "Um—no, thank you."
"But then, you'll be hungry! We can't have you falling off Epona through the obstacle course!"
"Obstacle course?"
"I set a new record the other day," I told him. "With all the riding you do, you're probably the only one who could challenge it."
"What—Malon?"
"I'll see you at the track start!" I said cheerily, and I ran out before he could protest.
My theory was that if I could distract him for a bit, then maybe he wouldn't be so despairingly sad. It was a long shot, because one can't simply stop thinking of a predicament such as his. But it was better than seeing him off with that look of utter anguish on his face, or his usual melancholy expressionless ness.
"Ready?" I asked.
"Actually, I need to adjust the stirrups a bit—"
"GO!"
Bewildered, he did. Well, he and Epona did. They shot off, and they ran through the course with perfect rhythm.
Din, he's good, I thought.
"Goddesses!" I exclaimed. "You knocked three seconds of my record. I knew you were good, but not this good."
He looked at me intently for a while. "Rematch?"
After several matches, I finally admitted that he beat me.
"You win this time. But next time…"
He looked at me. "Next time what?"
"Well, I hope there is a next time. You don't plan to disappear for months on end sometime soon, do you?"
"I'm not going anywhere."
The way he said it made me feel a bit gloomy. He sounded kind of sad when he said it.
"Do you want to leave, then?"
"Honestly? Yes. But I suppose I'm needed here, too."
"You're too nice."
He was taken aback. "Me?"
"Well, I don't think you've ever done anything completely for yourself…"
"That's not true. I did go to Termina to find Navi. That was personal."
"Termina? Oh, right. Well, I bet you helped a lot of people there, too.
He was silent. I laughed.
"See, I was right!"
Link sighed, but it was in mock exasperation. "Must you always be right?"
"Uh-huh."
We both laughed at that one.
There was silence, but I didn't let it linger too long, in case he started over-thinking again.
"What are the Goron like?" I asked.
"Huh? Why do you ask?"
"I've never met them," I said, shrugging. Actually, I was genuinely curious.
"They're an interesting tribe," Link said thoughtfully. "I mean, they're good at heart. A bit rough though, with all their rolling around. Plus they have their 'Goron Special Crop'…"
I giggled as he told me about them. He also mentioned his "Goron brother" Darunia.
"He would have liked you," he said, glancing at me. I smiled, but I noticed he was thinking again about something that saddened him.
"What about Zora? Have you met them?"
"Yeah, I have."
"Oooh! What are they like? They're even harder to find than Gorons."
"Not if you go to lake Hylia," he said, surprised. I shook my head.
"I've never seen Lake Hylia," I said.
"It's a beautiful lake," Link said, nodding his head. "You should see it."
"You could take me one day," I suggested. "So what are the Zora like?"
"Graceful," he said right away. "I mean, you should see them swim and dive."
I gulped. "I can't swim, either."
"What? Oh, right."
"So, you can swim?"
"Not very well, but I can survive in water, yeah."
I glanced at the sun. Well, no, let me rephrase that, because you can't glance at the sun. I glanced indirectly at the sun.
"I need to go make lunch," I said. "After all, we have a guest."
He opened his mouth.
"Don't say it. You're staying for lunch whether you like it or not."
Link looked somewhat amused.
Lunch was a happy event. Dad had always gotten along fairly well with Link. Link kept giving Ingo a dirty look though. It was hilarious, because while Ingo is as grumpy as they come he's never done any real harm.
Link then accompanied me through the rest of my chores. He was very good company, though I saw him giving the Cuckoos some funny looks.
Sad as it was, the sun set too soon. Link faced me with a sudden deadpan expression.
"I should go."
I didn't want him to go.
"Come back anytime, okay?" I said to him, smiling.
He took my hand. I looked at him in surprise, and he stared back with sad but clear eyes.
"You're a good person, Malon."
Before anything else happened, he mounted Epona and rode off. I watched him go.
"Malon, we need tuh talk," Dad said, running his hand through his… head.
"Dad…"
"Is he why yeh won't even look at anyone else?"
"Wh-what? N—"
"Malon… yeh do get it right? Caring fer him means yeh may get yer heart broken. Badly."
"Dad…"
"I ain't gonna be able to pound him either. He's pretty handy with that ole sword."
I smiled at his half joke. "Is that all, Dad? I gave up a long time ago, though…"
"Malon…"
"Hey, Dad," I asked suddenly. "How'd you meet Mom?"
He was startled. "Yer mother?"
"You never did tell me how you met, or why you ended up together."
"Well…" he got a dreamy look on his face. "She was the most beautiful lady… ever. I don' know how it happened. One day as kids she left town with her family. Years later she comes back an' nobody can take his eyes off 'er."
"Where'd she go, Dad?"
"Oh, her family got into traveling business. Trade, I guess. Yer mother hated it—said she didn't like not havin' a proper home. But she never complained to her family. A real beautiful lady she was, inside out." He paused, and I noticed his eyes watering up. "Dunno why she picked me."
Here I decided not to let him finish, curious as I was. I knew my Dad might start bawling and I wouldn't understand him anyway.
But I think I know why Mom chose Dad. Dad comes off as lazy, irresponsible, sometimes dense. I remember more than once how he lured boys in with the promise of prizes if they won his Cuccoo games just to find that they don't, in fact, want to marry me. We were only twelve, after all.
Yet all in all, he's a sweet person, kind-hearted and good. It's magnified by the fact that he sometimes doesn't see it himself.
Kind of like Link.
I began to think of him and his situation over and over. He still loved the princess, I could tell. But if he got near her, then he risked tainting her and releasing evil unto Hyrule again.
Were the goddesses really that cruel? I wondered. After all the sacrifices Link made, he had to make the biggest one of all. Even Zelda was suffering. I hated to be sympathetic to someone who had the attention of the world, but I almost pitied her. All of Hyrule would be on her case for not marrying. They'd think it was some kind of dictatorship.
It is none of my business.
Those words played over and over again in my head.
It is none of my business.
I cared for Link. That much I knew for sure.
It is none of your business.
But even then, I'm going to have a talk with Zelda.
WAAAHHH!
OK, I have no excuses this time. Don't kill me. I promise to not go in hiatus, though. I mean, I may take a millennia to update, but it'll get finished, 'kay?
So what finally got me to cough up this chapter?
I was working on an orig story manuscript (due in three days! AUGH!), and I was having a seriously bad writer's block. Normally what I do to appease it is listen to music and pace (a lot). But then I checked my mail. Whoa. My reviews suddenly jumped.
So I decided, why not tackle the block by writing some good ol' fan-fiction? And I think it worked.
Oh yeah…. I'll spare you the questions and answers this time, just so I can go post up the chapter.
However, a BIG thank you to the reviewers. Hope you can bear with me! Hugs all around.
Love ;-)