Generation: Hero

Chapter 24 - Apologize

There was silence for a long moment as they all sat around. Celeste seemed to be just barely holding herself together, her lip quivering slightly as she looked out the window. "I'm sorry for your loss.... I didn't realize" started Kokiri. She waved the younger girl off. "It's all right. Not many people seem to put together the fact that my parents wouldn't have let me take over the kingdom at sixteen years old" Linkle raised an eyebrow. "That's so young... can I ask what happened?" she asked, looking at the older girl. "There was a rebellion... they got inside the castle, rotted the royal family from the inside out. My father was unable to stop it... as was my mother. I got away luckily, and grew up until I was trained enough to take back my kingdom"

Zelda seemed terrified by the concept. "Rotted it from the inside out... that must have been terrible. Did you suspect anything before hand?" Celeste raised an eyebrow, and then shrugged. "No, I trusted just about everyone in the palace. My parents held court with good.... well, that's not the right word. They held court with level headed and smart people... So I thought" Leo looked at his feet, tears sliding down his cheeks as Luna and Carlos tried to comfort him. "Should one of us talk to him?" asked Kokiri suddenly, seemingly unaffected by what had just happened. "I don't understand how you kept a straight face through all of that" said Zelda suddenly, looking up at her. 

Kokiri raised an eyebrow. "Celeste may be willing to share her story. But I'm not. Nice try though" she looked around at the others as her gaze fell from Zelda's. "No volunteers? Leo? Celeste?" Leo flinched at the thought, and Celeste roughly shook her head. "Alright then, I'll try to get him back out here. We still need help with..." she motioned around them. "With whatever this is" Without another word, she walked out of the room, not looking down at the others as she did so. 

"Blimey, I don't think she can show any emotion" said Wilbur, who was sitting in a chair back to back with Orville. "None at all" Orville finished, staring after her. "I'm sure that's not true. But it's odd that she didn't even blink an eye at her father's death until the Hero of Legend started to get upset" said Marco, staring after her as well. "Whatever she went through, it was probably nothing good... and something tells me it has little to do with the Hero of Time" said Celeste, composing herself glaring at seemingly nothing. 

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In the dining room, the Hero of Legend looked up to see Kokiri taking a seat across from him. "Why are you of all people here?" he didn't mean for the words to sound harsh, but she didn't seem to mind, and just stared blankly at him. "What the... Have you ever heard of an invitation to leave kid?" She simply raised an eyebrow. "Well hell... you'd give your father a run for his money" he sat up a bit straighter and wiped his now dry eyes. It was stupid. He was full grown. He shouldn't have been crying. 

"We still need your help" she finally said, her tone unreadable. Link smirked. "Of course, you need my help. I've heard that one before. Let's see..... There was my first adventure, after the only person I ever loved died. Koholint, where I was taken from my first wife and child. My third, where Labrynna couldn't take care of their own damn timeline. Holodrum, where they couldn't take care of the weather. Lorule, where they couldn't keep the damned triforce in one piece. Hytopia where the only thing they f***** cared about was fashion of all things! Oh, and let's not forget twelve years ago, almost to the day, when your father sat at this very table and told me how they 'needed my help' and how they 'needed more people on their side'. Or some s*** like that. So tell me, why should I help you?" he growled. 

The girl still didn't show emotion, and somehow that enraged him more. "You don't even give a care that your father died" he slammed his fists down on the table and looked down at her. The girl didn't change her tone. "But you do" she answered simply. "This isn't about me caring. He's your father. You said he died a few years ago. How old are you?" she didn't answer, but he went on. "That means you had plenty of time to f***** care. So you know what? I think you're just a heartless, souless bastard" He was seething at this point, but she kept her cool. "Are you done yet?" 

It took all his strength not to slap her. "Give me one good reason that I should help you" he snapped back, sitting down again and glaring at her. Kokiri shrugged. "You don't have to. But your son is out there. Not to mention that thing. The dark lizafoes, attacked the village we were staying at" Link's eyes widened with surprise at this. "Black Lizafoes... no... we killed him. I saw him die. I saw him die..." his voice was almost a whisper, but Kokiri simply shook her head. "Mr. Link, I should probably warn you that..." for once, pity flashed in her eyes. "Leo's mother didn't make it out of the fight"

Link almost fell back in his chair. "What?" he asked, stunned for a moment. "I recognize that it's not my place to tell you.... but..." she shook her head. "I'm sorry" For once, she truly sounded secere about it. The hero sat there for a moment, unsure of whether to cry or yell or just sit there... forever. Everything became a bit blurry as he looked back up. "Can you bring Leo in here? I'd like to talk with him... alone" Kokiri got up, gave him a quick bow, and walked into the living room. He sat there for a moment, thinking about the events of the day. Yes, he'd left Din a long time ago. Yes, they had their differences, and she had every reason to hate him. But losing her was a blow to the heart just about parrellel to when he'd lost Marin.... Except this time, his child was alive. 

Leo was alive. 

Link nodded slowly to himself, breathing heavy. He would be a good father this time around. He wouldn't ever let them touch his son again. He would do all the things with Leo that his uncle never got to do with him....

When the door opened again, he looked up to find Leo trailing Kokiri into the room. The red headed boy was hiding behind his friend's back, not daring to look his father in the eyes. "Leo, why don't you sit down..." Kokiri started, her voice softer than when she talked to the Hero of Legend. He shook his head and hid farther behind her. "Would it help if I stayed in here while you two talked?" Leo looked up at her and nodded slightly. Link didn't comment, so Kokiri led him to the table and gave him the seat she had just been sitting in, then went to stand by the door. 

There was a long silence, neither of them wanted to speak, neither of them even dared look up at the other. "I heard about your mother..." Link said finally, looking up at his son. At the mention of Din, Leo broke down into tears, hiding his face in his hands. "I'm so sorry... I wish I had been there... I didn't..." he stopped himself there, scooching closer to Leo and placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "There was a big thing with red eyes... Saria tried to stop it... Kokiri tried to stop it" he sputtered. Link looked up at Kokiri, who didn't return his gaze. She looked like a guard of the palace, he realized, standing there without even blinking. It was terrifying really, he'd had his fair share of guards in the past. 

"And that thing... its minions killed Din?" he asked, trying to stay calm. Leo nodded, sniffling. "Kokiri said we couldn't go back for her... said it was to dangerous..." he sobbed into his hands, wiping his face with one sleeve. "Well, Kokiri seems to know a thing or two about battles. Do you know where they buried her?" Leo shook his head and looked up at his father. Tear stricken violet eyes stared back at him, matching his own. "I am so sorry Leo" he moved across the table and hugged his son, tears finally falling freely. Oh, this was worse than losing Marin. So much worse. If Melody had been around... if she had felt pain as well, it would have been so much worse. Watching other people suffer was worse than being tortured himself, he realized. 

"I'm gonna grow up to be a monster, aren't I?" this made both Link and Kokiri's eyes widen in surprise. "Wha...? Leo, you don't truly believe those things that they... that we tell you, do you? Of course you're not a monster! You're my son... You hold the blood of the Hyrulean Royal Family in your veins. And you were raised by Din, one of the most kind hearted people I've ever met..." he was stopped as Leo pushed away from him, bringing out his bandaged left hand. "What happened?" he demanded as his son began to undo the bandages. "WHAT HAPPENED?" he turned to Kokiri, though who knew if she knew. "He broke his hand by slaming it in a doorway. Zelda helped heal it some... but those breaks are pretty bad..."

"Leo, what happened? Why did you slam your hand in the... Oh my... Oh my God..." he caught sight of something on his son's hand. A golden triforce. 

More specifically, the Triforce of Power.