After Twilight Princess -5

After Twilight Princess

Chapter 5:
Kakariko


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"How much longer is it gonna take?" Zelda wined, looking in the sky as the sun was almost completely gone. "It feels like it's been a week…"

"Zel, we're almost there, okay?" Link laughed, kicking Epona to go faster. "Just up ahead is Kakariko. You see that gate up there right?"

Zelda squinted her eyes and nodded slowly. "Yeah, why?"

"That's the entrance to Kakariko." Link stated, smiling over a Zelda.

"But where are we gonna stay?" She asked, another wine showing up in her voice.

"That's easy." Link sighed. "We'll stay at the inn where all the children are. But if there isn't anymore room, we might have to sleep outside again…."

"Oh no! I'm NOT sleeping outside of that place. Is dusty and there are birds at night and not to mention…. THERE IS A GRAVEYARD NEAR BY!"

Link laughed as the two of them crossed the gate and entered the narrow pathway. "I was kidding. They should have enough. Even if they don't, you'll get a bed. You are the Princess after all."

"Right…." Zelda sighed.

The two of them crossed the pathway and passed by the Kakariko Spring and Malo Mart. Suddenly, the Shaman Renado turned at the sound of hoovebeats and voices.

"Welcome Link." He smiled to the young hero. "Who is this lovely lady you have with you?"

"Hello Renado. This is Zelda. She's gonna be staying with me a while and is helping me take the children to Ordon tomorrow." Link stated.

"Ah." Renado bowed. "Nice to meet you Princess. Would you like me to fine you two a room at the inn or-"

"Please!" Zelda cried, slouching on her horse and closing her eyes.

"Alright then." Renado laughed and nodded while turning to the inn which was only across the rode. "I'll be right back and shown you which bed you'll be sleeping in."

Link nodded to him like he always did. Especially on his quest. "Thank you."

"Anything for you Link." He smiled and opened the door heading inside.

"Well, thank goodness I'm getting a-"

"LINK?!"

Zelda and Link turned their heads and looked back at where the noise came from. "Ilia?" Link laughed, jumping off Epona.

Ilia smiled real big and ran to Link and pulled him into a big hug. "You did it! You saved the kids and me and the town……"

"And all of Hyrule…" Zelda grumbled, taking a dislike to Ilia immediately.

"What did you say?! All of Hyrule?!" Ilia whispered in disbelief. Finally she let go and smiled real big at Link. "But how?! You've never been anywhere but Faron Woodsuntil the bad things started happening."

Link looked back at Zelda and gave her a dirty look.

Zelda looked at him, more confused then ever. 'He had never been outside of Faron Woods until the evil came?' She thought to herself.

"Ilia, I didn't save all of-"

"This is so exciting! I have to got tell the others-"

"NO! Ilia, ahem, no. I don't want everyone knowing of this." Link interrupted Ilia.

"But WHY!? It's amazing!" She gazed in his eyes. "My best friend save the world."

"I just want to keep all that behind me and-"

"OMGOSH! What is THAT on your……." Ilia paused, pointing at the Triforce.

Link new there was no sense hiding it. He knew she knew what it was.

"You….. Have the Triforce….. That means your….." Ilia's smile grew.

"Ilia, don't say anything to anyone else at ALL. Please." Link begged.

"But why!? This is wonderful!" She cheered.

"Ilia. Stop. I just want to forget this happened, okay. Just pretend like it never-"

"Who's she?" Ilia asked pointing to Zelda.

Zelda quickly got off her horse and smiled. "Hello, nice to meet you. I'm Zelda, Princess of Hyrule. And your Ilia?"

"Y-Your….." Ilia gawked. She looked up and down at her. "Why would you be out of your castle right now with Link?" She asked rudely. "You don't look like any Princess, either."

Zelda's heart ached when she said Castle and about how bad she looked. "I guess….. I guess I…… I mean the castle is-"

"Ilia! That was uncalled for!" Link shot in. "This is your Princess and your supposed to be nice."

"She isn't a Princess!" Ilia shouted. "Why is she out of her castle!?"

Zelda's heart ached again.

"Because it's GONE!" Link screamed. "Now either be quiet or bow to your Princess."

There it went again. She almost broke into tears but fought to keep herself calm.

"Really?" Ilia asked. "Then PROVE IT."

"Fine." Link grumbled, pushing Ilia toward the nearest exit to the north. "Got that way, turn, and look at where the castle used to be."

Zelda finally couldn't take it any longer and she ran away crying rivers and rivers of tears. She ran past the largest building in Kakariko and ran to the graveyard. She went all the way to the steps and she cried and cried. She felt like she had been crying for ages and ages until finally she heard some noise.



She looked up and around and spotted something gold on the ground. 'A bug? A golden bug?' She thought to herself as she sniffed and tears leaked out of her eyes. "Why must I be so sensitive?"

'CAW!'

Zelda gasped and looked up. Not those birds….

One black bird swooped down and skinned her face and she screamed, jumping up. Again, she grabbed her shoe and started for the exit backward, making sure no other birds touched her.

Suddenly, an arrow flew by and hit the bird Zelda was about to hit with her shoe. "AH!" She screamed as she heard it graze her ear.

She quickly turned around and saw Link and Ilia standing there staring at her weirdly. She slightly smiled and put her shoe back on her foot.

"Seriously Zel, you need a new weapon." Link laughed, pulling her into a slight hug, dropping the bow and arrows.

"And I'm sorry Princess…." Ilia sighed, looking down at the floor looking guilty. "I'm sometimes a little to rude…."

"I-It's fine…." She sniffed. "I understand…"

"okay…" Link sighed, hitting the side of his thighs. "We need to get to the inn. It's getting dark."

"Um… Link.." Ilia sighed and smiled shyly. "We are all out of beds… Me, Luda, Colin, and Beth have taken all the beds. But if you want, I could always stay with Renado like I did before so one of you can have a bed.."

"Yes please!" Zelda shot in. "I really miss sleeping on a soft surface."

"Didn't you used to have a comfortable bed?" Ilia asked suspiciously.

"Not when you locked in a tower and will be killed if you caught leaving your room…" Zelda said a little over a whisper.

"Oops…" Ilia gasped, covering her mouth. "I forgot… sorry….."

"It's fine." Zelda giggled, wiping her face and sniffing. "Well….. We need to go…" Zelda yawned. "I'm really tired and my back hurts…."

"Alright…" Link sighed, grabbing her arm. "Okay, thanks Ilia for giving up your bed. That's very kind of you."

"My pleasure." Ilia nodded.

"And I do wish if you could co up to Talo and got to Malo Mart and tell Talo and Malo that we will be heading for Ordon tomorrow." Link finished his favor and smiled to her. "Is that okay with you?"

"Oh, yes! It's fine! In fact, I think Talo is actually in Malo Mart….. But…" Ilia thought aloud.

"Okay…" Link chuckled and pulled Zelda on faster. "Come on, Zel. We need to hurry."

"Right… and-"

"And we don't need to run into those birds. It would be totally unfair to the birds cause you would just kill them all so fast with that awesome weapon of yours." Link said sarcastically.

Zelda frowned at him in a playful way and started to run.

"What are you doing!?" Link laughed, running after her.

"I'm gonna beat you!" Zelda laughed as she sprinted toward the inn.

"Oh no you're not!" Link shouted, running as fast as he could.

Zelda was no just ahead of him by a foot and Link was getting closer by the second and right behind Zelda. They almost reached the inn when Link tried to grab her arm to jerk her back, but instead he tripped and landed on top of Zelda.

"AHHH!" Zelda cried as she plummeted to earth.

Link instantly got up and blushed like crazy. "I-I'm so sorry Zelda. I didn't mean to-"

Zelda quietly laughed and grunted as her ribcage ached. "I'm fine…."

Link sighed and held out his hand to help Zelda up. Zelda firmly took it and was hoisted off the ground and her ribs ached during the process.

"I'm sorry Zelda, I really didn't mean for that to happen…." He apologized again.

"It's quite alright, Link. I didn't break anything." She laughed.

"Where dose it hurt?" Link asked, observing her head to toe.

"Nowhere!" Zelda lied, struggling out a laugh.

"Zel…." Link sighed. "Just tell me where it hurts."

"It doesn't-"

"Zelda."

She sighed and pointed to her left side. "It just aches there is all…"

Link moaned and looked all around quickly. "Lets get you inside and let you rest for your big day tomorrow."

"Okay…" Zelda sighed, turning to the inn.

Link stood there or a moment and thought.

"Oh and Link," Zelda turned. Quickly, she gave him a peck on the lips and looked into his eyes. "Thank you for letting me stay with you. I think I forgot to tell you that."

Slowly Link started to blush, but it was NOTHING compared to Zelda. She looked like a tomato.

"You know….." She sighed, her hand dropping from the rail of the steps to the inn. "I've never met anyone this funny or nice to me."

"Well…" Link paused, thinking of what to say next. "How could I not be? Your beautiful, sweet, funny, and the Princess."

Zelda smiled sweetly and fought the urge to reach up and kiss him fully. "I think…." She paused, looking away from his eyes. "I think it's time we get inside."

"Right…" Link sighed, heading up and steps.

The two stepped inside and were greeted by Renado, Colin, and Luda.

"LINK!" Colin shouted. "You're back!"

"Of course I am!" Link shouted back, picking up Colin. "I would leave you kids here."

The little girl who looked a little older then Colin put on a fake smile and waved. "Hi Link…"

Link gave her a smile and she let go of her fake one and walked to the top left corner and sat down in a chair, looking suddenly depressed.

Zelda noticed this right off the back and left Colin and Link to their conversation, while she went to talk to Luda.

"Sweety?" Zelda called. "What's wrong?"

Luda sniffed and looked up, tears forming in her eyes. "N-Nothing…."

"Please honey. At least tell me you name." Zelda tried again.

"Luda." She replied.

"That's a pretty name." Zelda smiled. "Now can you tell me why you're so upset?"

"No." She replied. "I don't know who you are…"

"Oh.." Zelda laughed. "I'm sorry. Excuse my manners. My name is Zelda."

Luda smiled and looked up at her "That's a pretty name."

Zelda was a but surprised she didn't know she was the Princess but she let it slide. "So now can you tell me?"

Luda sniffed and looked up at her. "Well, if Link's gonna take all the kids back to Ordon…. I'm gonna be stuck with my boring life again. And I don't want to loose me friends! Especially Beth and Coiln."

Zelda didn't know who she was talking about but pulled the girl into a hug. "Don't worry! I'll make sure that you get to see them at least once a week, if not more."

"Really?" Luda sniffed again, looking in the eyes of the Princess.

"Of course!" Zelda nodded and stood up. "Just spend your last moments with them tomorrow morning before we leave and I will talked to Renado and your father about that."

"Uh… Miss," Luda laughed. "Renado IS my father."

"Oh…" Zelda laughed. "Sorry…"

"And miss," She called, and Zelda started to sit down again. "I don't think Coili or Beth have said anything about you….. Are you from Ordon?"

"No.." Zelda giggled. "I'm from Castle Town."

"How did you meet Link?" she asked again.

"A very long a story that is…." Zelda laughed.

"And why do you talk like that?" Luda laughed, standing up.

"Cause I was taught to talk that way." Zelda replied.

"Why?" Luda asked AGAIN.

"Cause as the Princess I need to sound proper all the time."

"The Princess?!" She exclaimed.

"Yes, but lets not get into detail on that. It's time for bed." Zelda giggled at Luda's expression.

"Hey Zel?!" Link called.

"Yeah?!" She replied.

"Come here!"

Zelda walked around the pole that was in her way and walking to Link.

"Zelda, this is Colin. Colin, this is Zelda." Link introduced Zelda and Colin to each other.

"Nice to meet you Miss Princess." Colin smiled, bowing his head slightly.

"Nice to meet you too Colin." She smiled to the little boy.

"Well…." Renado sighed. "Link do you want a bed? Or do you want to sleep on the floor?"

"Floor wound be fine." Link replied simply.

Zelda was shocked by his words. That made her feel selfish. How she desperately wanted a bed but he volunteered to sleep on the floor. "No." Zelda shook her had. "You're sleeping in a bed tonight. You deserve it!"

"Yeah! Link, you can have my bed." Colin said.

"No…. I don't need-"

"Your sleeping in Ili's bed tonight." Zelda stated. "I'll sleep on the floor."

"No Zel-"

"Shall I tell them why you need a bed or are you gonna take it now?" Zelda threatened quietly.

"You're evil, didn't you know that?" Link whispered back.

"Mwahahahaha!" Zelda mimicked in a whisper, small and only noticeable to Link.

"Okay….. I'll take the bed….." Link sighed, looking at Zelda with a teasing expression.

Alright." Renado sighed. "I'm gonna tell the others to get in their beds. You guys go to sleep."

"Okay." Link nodded. "And thanks for everything."

"No problem." Renado smiled and exited the inn.


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