Chapter 6 Moving Forward To The Future

Ralis smiled down at Ralinka where he held her small body in his arms securely, rocking her and singing to her softly as he walked slowly around their room in the inn.

Once she slept, he lay their daughter down in her shell cradle gently, bending to kiss her little forehead, feeling the soft touch of her blonde hair against his cheek briefly.

Ralis returned to their bed silently, lifting the covers with a smile to climb back in beside Link, feeling happy and at peace when his husband reached out to pull Ralis's smaller body close into his arms and back against his chest.

"Mmm, Link," Ralis whispered, snuggling closer still into him and burying his face at his lover's neck.

He inhaled the musky, male scent of Link's skin and the sweet scent of the gorgeous hair that he had passed on to their beautiful child.

"Yes, my sweet Ralis?" Link inquired in a quiet voice. "Is Ralinka alright?"

"Yes. She was just hungry. Link, I want to fix up one of the houses here for us to live in together. This inn is nice, and I do want to take the bed with us, but I want a place of our own to live. A home to fill with our love. For us, but also for Ralinka. I want to give her everything, Link."

Link smiled, kissing Ralis tenderly after gently drawing his Zora Mate's face by the chin up to his level.

"We will, my love," Link promised him. "She will want for nothing, Ralis. Money is no issue. My account at the bank is ours. We can pick out one of the houses tomorrow, and you can decide what we need. Alright?"

"Alright." Ralis smiled, content as he nodded quickly from where he lay safe and loved in Link's strong arms. "Thank you, Link. I love you, my Mate. So much."

"I love you, too, Ralis. More then anything or anyone."

"As do I, my heart."

In the next room over from Link and Ralis Shad was woken from his light sleep by the familiar, quiet creaking sound of the floorboards.

He opened his blue eyes, his lids opening wider with his obvious shock when he saw Colin standing by his bed with a strange look on his face where it was highlighted in the half-light from the hall lamp just outside the partially open door.

"Colin? What are you doing here, honey?" Shad asked him gently in inquiry.

"I can not sleep," Colin confessed, biting his own lower lip briefly. "I miss my mother, sister. Beth. Shad.. Will you hold me so that I can fall asleep? Please?"

"Oh, Colin. Sweetheart, of course," Shad replied, his expression open and welcoming as he pulled back the covers to let Colin beneath them and into the warmth of his bed. "Come here, my love."

Colin sighed softly in relief at not being rejected, his tense expression smoothing into a smile as he slipped under the covers with Shad and into his arms as they were opened to him in offering.

"..Colin?.." Shad spoke again softly.

"Yes, Shad?"

"Would you.. want to move back to Ordon?"

"What? Um, no. I thank you for the offer, Shad, but.. I love you, Shad, and I need to be with you. Always. Our relationship, our love, would never be accepted in Ordon. Not really. It would only make this more painful then it already is. Besides.. Kakariko is where we belong. I just.. I feel it."

"Alright, honey. Whatever you want."

"Thank you, Shad. And thank you for allowing me to stay with you tonight. It was.. lonely by myself over there in the other room. I love you."

"I love you, too, Colin. Rest now. I will see you in the morning, honey."

"Yes. Goodnight, Shad."

"Goodnight, Colin."

Midna walked gracefully through the Twilight Realm on her long, slender legs, her senses, magical and otherwise, stretching ever outward around her in her search for Zant's essence.

She had been searching near to endlessly for days, mayhap a week, but Zant's energy signal was tricky to locate. And made more so by the fact that it was not quite the same as it had been before his death and reincarnation.

But suddenly, it was there. Carried to her on the Dark breeze of Twilight.

Midna's eyes lit up and her face took on her smile-of-the-huntress look as she headed straight for Zant at a more rapid pace.

Link and Ralis asked Colin and Shad to watch a still sleeping Ralinka the next morning, with specific instructions that if she woke and got hungry to come and find them quickly since only Ralis could feed her.

Then they headed out from the inn to peruse the available houses in the village together, their arms linked affectionately as they strolled leisurely up the street.

They passed by Coro and Barnes, the couple nodding to them in acknowledgement, stopping briefly to speak with them there.

Coro's cheeks were flushed pink, his eyes clearly sparkling with happiness as he giggled quietly when Barnes right arm gently wrapped around his slim waist.

"Hey, Link. Ralis," Coro spoke up, his voice light and obviously happy. "Barnes asked me to marry him last night!"

"That is great news, Coro!" Ralis said, his expression excited as well.

"Yes, it is," Link agreed with a nod and a smile. "We are happy for you both."

"Link," Barnes said, his mind clearly on another conversation in the past. "You were right that I would find the one for me if I was patient. We are very happy together, thank you."

"I am glad you both are pleased with how it worked out," Link responded with another smile and a knowing look. "These recent things have all happened just as they were meant to. You and Coro. Shad and Colin. The Goddesses Know."

"Do the Goddesses tell you everything, Link?" Coro asked him with obvious curiosity.

"No, Coro. Most of the time They do not tell me anything," Link explained with a soft laugh and sparkling blue eyes. "It is more of a feeling that I get from Them that tells me when something is right or wrong. It is warm and comforting when it is right, cooler when it is wrong. Not bad, just cooler. No warmth of positive emotion."

"Oh. I see."

"Yes."

"Link and I are going to purchase a house to live in with Ralinka!" Ralis informed their friends excitedly, slipping his hand into his husband's where their arms were still linked together.

"That's great news!" Coro replied, briefly slipping out of Barnes embrace to hug them both before wriggling back into his fiancé's firm hold. "If you need any help, just tell us. I'm sure that we'll all help out where we can."

"Thank you, Coro," Link replied quietly. "If we need anything, I am sure we will ask."

Shad watched Colin with clear amusement in his blue eyes at the way that Colin cooed and played with Ralinka where she lay in her shell cradle with a smile on her pretty little face.

"She's so beautiful, Shad," Colin said softly, his eyes bright and his lips smiling slightly. "The perfect combination of Link and Ralis in miniature."

"Yes, she is, Colin. You are right."

"I would like to have a daughter someday. Further into the future."

"Really?" Shad asked him, seeming surprised by Colin's statement.

"Yes. I have always wanted a little girl of my own to love."

"Then, when we are ready for that, we can adopt."

"Really?" Colin asked him with shining eyes.

"Yes, of course. Children have always interested me as well. Raising a child with you will be wonderful, Colin. I love you. And I will love any child we eventually choose together."

"I love you, too, Shad," Colin whispered, moving closer to Shad to twine his arms around his neck and claim the older man's lips in a gentle kiss.

The embrace was sweet, though reluctantly brief, because they had to be responsible and keep an eye on sweet little Ralinka for their friends.

Zant sat in the soft black grass with his legs stretched out in front of him in the large meadow behind his family's house.

His lips were curved in a smile as he admired the clover-sized Twilight-flowers on black stems, their gleaming dark petals glittering like silver stars as they stretched out before him into the distance.

He closed his eyes and began to sway in the cool night breeze, standing after a moment and moving his slender body in a sensual dance that only he knew the rhythm of.

As Zant spun his body and whirled gracefully through the flower-lit grass he began to sing, his voice lifting high into a beautiful, but haunting and lonely song that rose up from his soul.

"Twilight-flowers bloom,

Twilight-flowers shine

Grant my fondest wish,

Send someone who will be mine.

… Who will be mine."

Zant finished his last swirling turn in the dance before slowly opening his eyes, freezing in shock with rapidly widening pupils when he saw a beautiful Dark angel vision standing before him.

It didn't take long for Ralis and Link to choose a house, the one at the end of the street closest to the graveyard with it's secret pool, and they had paid for it at the bank and were cleaning it up together within the hour.

Ralis swept up the light layer of dust with a broom while Link headed back to their room at the inn to retrieve their food so that they could eat after that, bringing Ralinka back with him so that she could eat as well.

After that Ralis took their daughter for a swim in the secret pool, as they both needed some hydration, while Link dismantled the beds and carried them across the street to their home.

He made two more trips to retrieve their small dresser and lamp, compensating the inn for the loss of the furniture and paying off their living tab, and by the time his lover and child returned their home was ready for their first night there.

"Oh, Link.." Ralis gasped, his eyes wide in surprise, standing in the doorway with Ralinka held securely in his arms. "It is wonderful! It looks amazing, perfect! Thank you, my love!"

"Of course," Link replied, stepping forward to tenderly enfold his small family in his arms with a bright, contented smile. "We are here, Ralis. Finally here. We are finally home."

Colin spent the next night in Shad's arms as well, unable to resist the strong lure after how warm he had been and how well he had slept last night.

It was calm and peaceful, and nothing occurred beyond tender kisses and loving, chaste touches the same as the night before.

"Shad?"

"Yes, sweet Colin?"

"Will you marry me?"

"Marry you?"

"Yes. I want to be with you so badly, Shad. To know what it is like. That intimate connection. I just want to be married first."

"I understand, honey. Of course I will marry you. I want to do right by you as well. You deserve that honor, Colin."

"Thank you. I love you, Shad. So much."

"I love you, too. Your kindness. Your beauty. You are my sweet angel, Colin."

"And you are mine."

"Mmm.. When should we do it? Get married, I mean?"

"Well, what would you say to next week sometime? We will have to work hard at it to be ready, but I am sure that our friends will help us to prepare for the ceremony."

"Yes, I am sure that they will," Colin agreed with him, his voice soft and happy. "That sounds wonderful. It sounds perfect."

"Who- Who are you?" Zant stammered, his eyes still wide as he nervously stumbled back a pace or two from her.

"My name is Midna," she replied simply, her eyes intense as she studied him closely.

"Twilight Princess!" Zant gasped, instantly going to his knees in the long grass and pressing his forehead to the ground before her.

Midna winced at his action and tone, but she didn't allow her hurt to show on her face as she reached out a slender hand to touch his right shoulder with her cool palm gently.

It was to be expected, after all, as she was a princess and Zant one of her people.

"That is unnecessary, Zant," she stated softly, causing him to raise his head to look up at her in surprise. "Please, rise."

"How did you know my name, your Highness?" Zant asked, rising to his feet again and watching her curiously. "I did not tell you."

"A princess knows many things," she said mysteriously before changing the subject. "I have been searching for you."

"Me?"

"Yes. I heard your song."

"You.. heard me? That is embarrassing."

"Not at all," Midna corrected with a strange gleam in her eyes. "It was beautiful, Zant."

"You- You really think so?"

"I do."

"Thank you."

"Mmm.. Zant, what would you think about living in the palace?"

"I- as a servant?" he asked her in clear confusion.

"No. Not as a servant. As my Consort."

"What?" Zant gasped, his eyes still wide and round with his shock as he stumbled back from her a few more paces, his well-defined leg muscles clearly trembling and unsteady in reaction to her question. "But- But I- Why? You do not even know me, Princess. I- I am.. nothing, compared to you. To your kindness, your beauty. Nothing."

"I see."

"You do?"

"Yes. I see that you do not yet know your true worth, Zant. In this case, I will return soon to begin my Courting of you for the position of my Consort."

"C-Courting?" Zant stammered, his eyes going wider still at her gentle, though somewhat formal, words.

"Yes. Courting. You need attention and proof that you are worthy of my regard and my choice for you. You are a romantic, Zant. Your song told me this. I am a romantic, as well. So I shall do all in my power to prove to you that I am not wrong about the position you deserve in our Kingdom, and in my Court."