Ocarina
Part 10
by
Last Chance Ranch, Calatia (Evening)-
Kevin, Mike, and Rick returned with Medila and Link to the ranch. "Duh! Look out! It's Ganon!" A football flew straight at Mike. Mike simply ducked, letting the football hit the bush behind him.
"Julius, have you been trying to think again?" Mike asked.
"Like, oh my gawd!" That could only have been Stacey. "You totally like broke my nail, Julius, you dorkasaurus!" Definitly could only have been Stacey, only Stacey had nails long enough to break.
Link looked around, looking for someone or something. He frowned, not finding what he was looking for. He sauntered off into the house. Kevin looked at his companions. "Stacey, Romeo, Julius... it's time to head back."
"C'mon, guys," Rick waved them over. He pulled out his warp opener. A crackling blue warp opened and the N Team members stepped through. Rick looked back to where Kevin stood. "You coming?"
Kevin looked back in the dirrection of the house. "Nah. I think I should stick by Link for a while."
Rick nodded. "I understand." He walked into the warp, letting it close behind him.
Link's-Jayce's Room, Last Chance Ranch, Calatia (Shortly After Midnight)-
Kevin sat in a low back chair, barely comfortable. He sat wondering- wondering how he might pull Link out of the depression filled rut he'd fallen into. He sat, just watching Link lying in bed, asleep.
The door to the room opened, the little light straining to get in showed only the shadow of a well built man. Kevin was in the shadows, out of the moonlight, so he was unnoticed. Arn Chance walked over to the foot of Link's bed, standing silently, watching Link. It seemed an eternity and eight hours passed before Arn made a move. He turned around to make his way back out.
"Do you hate me so much that you'll only look at me when you think I'm sleeping?"
Evidently Link wasn't asleep.
Arn stopped, but only shortly. He walked back out, letting the door close behind him. Kevin stared at the door intensely, as if the very act of staring at it hard enough would make it open and make Arn come back through. His gaze fell back over to Link, who was staring right back. "Kevin, there are times when I'd rather be in your place."
SeaSide, Calatia (Early Afternoon- A Few Days Later)-
The ceremony was ungodly long. Link didn't hear most of it. At first, all he could think about was his uncle. How could he have been so stupid to believe the words of Hyrulian soldiers who assumed that Acts must have been dead simply because they could find no body? How could he even think that a member of the Chance family could suffer such an easy death?
But he had, hadn't he? He was dead. Dead as a doorknob- though to be perfectly honest, Link didn't know how a doorknob could be dead.
His mind shifted to his father, standing as far away from Link as he could, but still with the family. He desperatly wished he could have a normal conversation with his own father. And what was going on in his mind? The whole reason for a decade of poor relation was being thrown in his face. He has proof I'm not lying. Will he even concider talking to me? His father was making it a point of not looking at him. Dang it! He can be such a jerk! And people wonder where I get it from?
Link stepped up to the platform. He had been asked to give the eulogy. By all the Gods of Hyrule... that was the one thing he didn't want to do. "I think Acts Chance would have been touched by all the people present today, though in truth, we barely knew him. But if no one knew him, why is he so important? Who was he?
"Acts Chance is honored today because he is... was a very influential man. Even patriarcs felt his influence. Certainly we all know that he was responcible for the way the people of Calatia felt about the people of Hyrule, and vice versa. Being born of one country and living in the other- it's been undeniably hard on me. And certainly we all know that a war almost started between Calatia and Hyrule because of him. Had that war started, citizens of one country living in the other would have been without homes in no time flat. Yes that certainly does include me. Even though most people think of me as a Hyrulian, I am Calatian. I would have been forced out. I might have moved to Arcadia... although they might have kicked me out since I'm not a big fan of Prince Facade." There were a few laughs.
"He failed in starting that war, but he unintentionally succeeded in starting another." Link paused. "It's a war that's been going on for a decade... between family members. Specifically between my father and myself. Why did it start?
"You've heard Acts Chance was my uncle. That's absolutly true. How could he start a war in my family? You see... on my first trip into Hyrule, my brother and I were forcefully separated from him, or in layman's terms... kidnapped. We thought he was dead... he thought we were dead. My brother and I returned home, and I made a promise to myself that I would someday find the person who killed my uncle and get revenge. The day I left home for an adventurer's life, I made the same promise to my father.
"And, I have not been able to keep that promise. He blamed me for it, I blamed him for not being more understanding. And over the years, we just couldn't get past it and see eye to eye. But now, my uncle actually is dead... and I've found that I just don't have the desire to avenge his death in any real manner. If my father never says another word to me for openly breaking my promise for revenge, I don't blame him.
"Even in the end, Acts Chance wasn't all bad. He gave his life to save mine, I would have done the same for him." Link stepped down from the platform to a standing obvation.
SeaSide, Calatia (Afternoon)-
The ceremony over, the guests had come over to him a few at a time to express their sympathy. Once they had done that, they slowly milled off in other dirrections. The last person to come over was Zelda. She was dressed in plain grey, the color of mourning on the world of Hyrule. Most of the guests wore grey, as did Link. "Amazing, Link." Zelda took Link's hand. "There's not a dry eye in this place. Are you coming back to Hyrule, or staying here in Calatia for a while longer?"
Link looked around. He didn't see his father, it really didn't come as a surprise. "No, I think I'm finished here. I'll head back with you."
Zelda half smiled, trying to cheer Link up though she didn't feel all that cheery. "Good. Then maybe you can tell me about the fire in the castle that happened while I was away." She looped her arm through his, and together they walked off.
Just over a minute later, Arn Chance made it to the spot Link and Zelda had occupied. He frowned, not finding his son. "Excuse me," he said to someone nearby, "was Link here a while ago?"
"I don't know," the person replied. "I wasn't watching."
Arn slumped. That might have been his last chance to mend things between him and the younger Chance. There's a pun somewhere in there, he thought whirily. He shook his head and walked off.
North Castle, Hyrule (Evening)-
Link had been relocated to another section of the castle while the east wing was being rebuilt. The guest chamber was slightly smaller than his own. Not unexpectedly, the first thing he saw upon entering the room was the blue haired woman. She nodded slighly in acknowledgement.
"I... um..." Link cleared his throat. "I want to thank you for all that you've done."
"Me?" the blue haired woman sort of mocked asked.
"For guiding me," Link said. "For showing me the way. Both in my past and in the present. Leading me through my memories... for restoring some of them." The blue haired woman nodded and turned to the door. "Wait!" The woman stopped. "Is this the last of you I'll see in my life? Will I even need to be guided by you ever again?"
"I guide where and when I am needed," the blue haired woman said and walked out the door.
"Now that was an absolute, definite maybe," Link grumbled.
Outside North Castle, Hyrule (Evening)-
The blue haired woman walked to a door standing in the middle of a field. Golden light cascaded out of the door, framing the figures of a green haired woman and a red haired woman. "You didn't tell him, Farore," the green haired woman said.
"He wouldn't have believed me, Nayru," the blue haired woman said.
"Farore, Nayru," the red haired woman said, "it's time to go."
"Coming, Din," the green haired woman said.
"Right behind you, Din," the blue haired woman said. The three walked into the doorway, when the last was over the threshold, the door closed- sliding from top to bottom. It closed with a metalic click, leaving nothing in the field but silent wheat.