Rain (Twilight Princess Link x OC)

Chapter 3: No excuse

16 Years Old

Link knew pain.

Not so much physical, but emotional. He knew the toll of loss, the sting of jealousy, the fire of anger.

There was no greater pain than being in love with his best friend and not being able to do a thing about it.

Link watched, through his window, Rain flirt with a merchant that came to town that day. He had all sorts of goods; silk, apples, beautiful stones, mirrors - all the things that Ordon did not, all the luxuries that Link couldn't give to her. This merchant, though, was perfectly willing to part with some of his things. "A beautiful girl deserves beautiful things," he would tell her. Link didn't think she needed any fancy clothes to look beautiful.

The merchant - Link didn't bother to learn his name - took one of Rain's hands and brought it up to lis lips to kiss.

It was his own fault, though, and he had no excuse to feel jealous. He'd had feelings for her for a while, and he should have told her how he felt.

The two parted, and Rain climbed the ladder to Link's house. "I want to marry him," Rain sighed dreamily when she entered. She clasped her hands in front of her chest, watching him go from the same window Link had been standing at. "He's so kind and handsome."

Was that her only criteria? Link knew he was a good person, and though he wasn't vain he knew he was good looking too. What was the different between him and that merchant?

Knowing there was nothing he could do to make her fall in love with him, Link stayed quiet. He moved away from the window and grabbed a jacked off the nearby couch.

"Where are you going?" Rain asked, turning around to watch him.

"I'm late to herd the goats." A bold lie, but it was the only thing Link could come up with to get out of the situation. He didn't want to just tell her that he didn't want to hear about the man she was in love with.

"But..." Rain frowned.

Without another word, Link left his home, took Epona by the reins, and led her into town.

Months passed. Letters came almost daily to Rain, all from the merchant. Every day Link had to listen to Rain read her letters, pointing to the parts that made her heart flutter and everything that made her happy.

During that time he did everything he could to avoid spending long amounts of time with his best friend. Every lovestruck word was a dagger to his heart.

Link sat against the doors of the goat house, cooling down before he started home. Except he didn't want to go home. Rain would be there, probably with another letter. As long as he stayed with the goats, he wouldn't be disturbed.

"You gotta go home sometime," Fado, the rancher, told him. "I'm about to close up for the day. You're welcome to stay, I'm just lettin' you know."

"Thanks," Link grumbled.

"Look guy, I know the whole thing with Rain is buggin' ya, but you've gotta deal with it. I don't think avoiding her is the right thing to do."

Link knew that perfectly well.

"She's been down all week. I even saw her crying to Sera and Beth the other day."

Link's stomach sank. Crying? What was she crying about? Immediately he stood up, left the goat house, and left on Epona.

His pace on Epona was agonizingly slow. Not wanting to hurt anyone, he dared not go slower than a trot to Uli and Rusl's home. There was nothing more agonizing than knowing his best friend was upset and he was never around to help her.