Aftermath :LoZ: -Chapter 10-

Chapter 10: A Brighter Day

"Oh, Grandpaaa! I'M HOOOOOOOME~!"

"Welcome home, my grandson!"

The blonde boy in the white polo and dark blue pants rushed to his grandpa Smith who was just busy in his forge.

"So, how's school today?"

"Just fine! I met tons of friends~!" the boy danced around. "Well, I'll be seeing you, grandpa! I've gotta do my assignments~! But wait… I'm kinda hungry…"

"Well, you better get something to eat first. Phew…" Smith stopped forging his sword for a while. "Please tell them to conserve food, okay?"

"Gotcha~!"

The boy hummed a tune as he skipped happily to the dining room.

"Back so soon?" a tone came from somewhere near the dining table. The blonde turned to see who it was.

"Oh, Blue! I'm done, now it's YOUR turn!"

"MY turn?! It's Vio's turn! Green, you tell him!"

"Red's right," Green countered Blue who just took a bag of chips from the fridge. "It's YOUR turn tomorrow. Be ready."

"Pffft. FFFFFFFFFine!" the blue youngster growled and looked away.

"So, how was it, Red?" Green changed the subject.

"A-okay! I love school!" Red fixed his polo shirt. "And you know what? I think they like me~!"

"Okaaaay…" Green smiled.

"You know, there was this woman with a stick…"

"That's the teacher…" Green said, slowly getting nervous at what Red's done to his reputation back in school. He settled on the chairs of the dining table just across Blue, who was busy listening to Red's story.

"…Oh, really?" Red seemed so clueless about the thing. "Anyway… she showed me two red ball-like thingies back in… um… science class, right! And then she asked the class what they were…"

"… And what did you answer…?" Green bowed his head, fearing Red's reply.

"CANDY APPLES!"

"Fudge…" Green slumped onto the table, burying his head in his arms; slumping onto the table.

"Aren't they supposed to be dodge balls?" Blue tried to correct.

Green did not utter a word, instead; he just remained still from where he sat. 'I'm screwed…'

"They just laughed at me, or with me, or whatever… I dunno why…"

"Maybe because the correct answer was, 'atoms'." Blue and Red looked at who just corrected the both of them. It was none other than the smart guy himself, Vio.

"Those red spheres were merely an abstract representation of the atoms, my dear Red…" Vio waggled a finger at his innocent self.

"Thank you, Vio…" Green muttered, not lifting his face to see anyone of them.

"Hehe… I think this is gonna be so fun after all…" Blue smirked, rubbing his palms together.

"Oh, what did I do to deserve this…?" Green muttered sullenly once again, this time; lifting his head up and stood from his seat. "Well, I'm going upstairs."

"Green… you've been at it for a whole day! Give it a rest already, they're doing fine." Vio somehow scolded Green. "You're straining yourself too hard."

Indeed, Green felt tired just watching over Vaati and Dark as well as taking care of them. But that really didn't matter much to him. All he knows is that he has to make them better at all costs… his closest friends…

"No," Green shook his head. "It's fine."

"And that's why we have to go to school instead of you." Blue pointed out.

"It's not like I want to skip classes and replace my absence with you guys." Green defended.

"Indeed. You know, just knowing that he, Green, will get replaced by you is a complete and total ridicule on his part. Can you imagine… getting replaced by someone like you? One would be ashamed to have you as a persona. That's a very respectable sacrifice." Vio bowed down his head to honor Green.

"Well, EXCUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSE me, Vio!" Blue yelled at him and crossed his arms, then tried to count to ten before he completely loses his temper again.

Green just sighed and went on with his business. He ascended the stairs quietly so as not to disturb the other Links' conversation, as well as his grandfather who was just working on his sword. It was only yesterday that his grandfather came home from the week's affair, and he was already up and at those weapons to be forged.

As for them, it has already been three days that his friends lay in bed.

He approached the door to the guest room and carefully twisted the knob. As he pushed the door aside gingerly, he peeked inside to see how his friends were doing…

Both were sound asleep. The blanket of the black-haired boy barely even covered him anymore; this was probably due to his restless twisting and turning in his sleep. The lavender-haired boy, on the other hand, was tucked in his blanket neatly; sleeping as peaceful as an angel. It was strange, considering that Vaati once was a very restless sleeper. At least, that's what the two Links once told him.

Green, or Link as Vaati fondly called the hero, sat by Vaati's side. The guest room has two beds just across each other. It was a fair-sized room, so in a sense, Link was sitting just between the two on his little cushioned chair. He turned to Vaati who apparently has an angelic smile in his sleep.

'Good…' thought Link. 'Wonder why he's so calm sleeping now…'

He thought about it for a moment…

'Oh… maybe… maybe when we helped him there… right.' he looked once more at the calm face. 'Yeah… maybe when we helped him with accepting himself… he finally had peace in his mind… in his being…'

He smiled at the pleasant thought.

Link was just staring at Vaati's serene face when arms suddenly grabbed him from behind!

"Why haaalllooooooo there, light self!"

"Dark!" Link burst out, looking at the owner of the arms.

Dark let go of Link and smiled. He stretched out his arms as he yawned, showing that he just woke up from his beauty sleep.

"Are you okay now, Dark?" Link inquired, looking a bit worried.

"Yep. Hey, don't worry 'bout it." smiled Dark, raising a brow. "Actually, I'm okay since this past Saturday."

"And…" Link started counting the days with his fingers. "… Monday… it's Monday so that makes it… you were already fine these past two days?!"

"Yep."

"So in other words, you're just cutting classes, aren't you?"

"In a legal waaaay~!" Dark waggled his finger at Link. "Even Grandpa insisted that I stay in bed, and I think he's the only one that knows that I'm already okay. Trust me; all we've been doing was talk with each other ever since Ezlo left this past Sunday!" He smiled, knowing that once again, Link is ticked off by his words.

Link just made a face and then turned to his sleeping friend. The sleeping boy let out a hushed groan and slowly opened his ruby eyes. He moved his irises around and tried to take a glimpse of his surroundings. He stayed down on the bed, not moving a muscle. Looking up at who was looking down upon him, he smiled once more.

"L-Link… oh, I mean, Green…" he whispered.

Link shook his head. "No… you can call me by my name now. They're all downstairs anyway."

"Link…" Vaati smiled. "It's been a while since I called your name…"

Vaati then stretched out his arms upward, reaching for the boy clad in green. Link was alert enough to be urged to lend out a helping hand to the faint boy.

But instead of accepting Link's assistance, the pale boy extended his arms even more and embraced the hero as he sat up. He snuggled against him and said, "Thank you… thank you so much, Link…"

Both of them blushed and closed their eyes for it was that moment that they show intimacy in their friendship.

"Don't mention it, Vaati…" he said, with that gentle, assuring voice that he always had. He rubbed Vaati's back tenderly as he hugged him back.

"Hey, what about me?" Dark raised.

"Oh, Dark… I'll never forget about you…" Vaati wanted to jump out of his bed and embrace him too, but Dark himself ran to his side and embraced the both of them tightly.

"Ahaha… Dark." Link said, letting out an uneasy face.

"D'aaaawwwwww… you two are the best friends a shadow could ever have… EVAH!" Dark cuddled up to his friends.

"Wait…" Vaati suddenly remembered something. "… Where's Master…?"

"Ezlo? Back to your world. He told us to take care of you."

After that statement, the boys heard knocks on their door. They were three gentle knocks, and upon hearing it, Link immediately knew who it was.

"Link… do you have a moment?" a voice was heard. It was Smith.

"Sure, grandpa. What is it?"

The door creaked open and out came his grandfather with a familiar face. At that, Vaati's eyes widened with astonishment.

"M-Master…" he slowly backed away, covering his face with his silky lavender locks and his blanket. He was practically sweating bullets, just knowing his master's presence was within his reach. Then, he heard footsteps… tiny footsteps that sounded so big to him…

"Vaati…"

As he gathered up all his courage, he looked up to see his master's face once more. The elder has once more, grown himself to Hylian size.

"…" Vaati tried to think of what to do and what to say. "M-Master… I'm so sorry…"

Tears began to roll down his warm cheeks, of which one was scarred upon his first-ever transformation. He covered his face with his little pale hands as he silently sobbed.

"Vaati, look at me." the elder spoke to him once more.

Of course, the disciple obeyed his master and looked up to him with red eyes, obviously puffed because of crying.

"You needn't apologize, my dear boy. You have done nothing wrong."

Hearing this, Vaati was relieved and grinned at the master magician. "Thank you, Master…"

"Link." said Ezlo, turning to the boy in green. His eyes brightened as he continued, "Thank you."

Link nodded as a sign of accepting his thanks. The elder then turned to the boy in black, giving him a stern face. Dark knew that the Minish didn't like him much from the very beginning… but what's this?

Ezlo gave him a smile, apparently one that he thought that belonged to someone else like a hero; like Link.

"Thank you, my boy. You weren't such a bad boy after all." he gave Dark a slight pinch on the face.

"Heh." was all that Dark could say.

"If you don't mind, I'll be leaving you. I'll have to take care of my sword." Smith politely interrupted.

"Oh, of course. We don't mind." Ezlo replied.

At this, Smith just nodded at him and proceeded his way downstairs. This left the three youngsters and the elder alone in the room.

"Wait…" Link remembered what he always wanted to know from the two Minish. "I've been meaning to ask this from you; I hope you don't mind."

"Fire away, as you young people say." Ezlo replied.

"Ezlo… how come is it that…" Link looked at Dark. The black-haired youngster simply raised a brow and gave him a signal to go on with his statement. The blonde inhaled deeply and let out a sigh.

"How come is it that no one else seems to remember Vaati?" He asked.

Vaati bowed down his head for he obviously knew the answer. He just waited for his master's explanation. 'Here goes… now they'll know what happened…'

"Link…" Ezlo said as he sat on the chair before the teenagers. Vaati was between the two Links, their eyes focused on the elder.

"It's because of me." he simply replied.

"Wh-what?" uttered Dark, for it seems that even he can't comprehend the Minish's words.

"Ezlo, what exactly do you mean?" Link asked.

"I mean what I say. It's because of me…" he let out a deep sigh, preparing for an explanation he has to come up with.

"You see, Link… I cast a spell on everyone that he knew… how? Simple. Through the mechanics of my magic. Magic requires a lot of thinking… and a lot of feeling." he looked up at them.

"Vaati…" Link remembered how Vaati cast a healing spell on them back in their battle, despite the fact that he was incredibly weak at the time.

"So that's why… I cast magic on all of you who have met him. The magic that you will forget that Vaati ever existed in your life. But it seems that it didn't work on the two of you." he looked at the two Links.

"Oh… right! It didn't!" Dark blurted, his eyes widened upon realization. "But why, pray tell, didn't it work on just US?"

"It is because of the cap that I gave you, Link… remember?"

'Yes… that was why Zelda and the villagers didn't remember a thing about me… and that was why I felt so alone… no one… no one remembers me… But why… of all people… why did it have to be you…? Why did you have to be the true wielder of this cap?! WHY?!'

Those words of the shadow of Vaati resonated in Link's head as Ezlo reminded him of the Minish Cap.

"You don't mean…" Link's eyes widened upon the realization of the truth.

"Yes… that's it." Ezlo smiled at the hero. "You didn't forget him because you were the wielder of that cap. That cap wields unimaginable powers, so it may cause a great disaster in the wrong hands. But on the other hand, when given to someone good, miraculous things may happen."

"Yes, Link… you deserve the cap." Vaati gave out the same peaceful smile. "You… you are the righteous wielder."

"Wait… what about me?" Dark inquired.

"Oh… since you were basically the hero's shadow, you were affected as well." Ezlo elaborated.

"Oh… right…" Dark remarked. He remembered that he was always by Link, no matter what; unlike the other three alter egos of Link that only appeared in certain circumstances of his life. He was practically doing what the hero was doing; as a shadow.

"Now you know the truth." spoke Ezlo.

"Wait… but why did you let him roam around in Hyrule?" asked Link, quite puzzled.

"Because… I wanted him to have a new life."

"New life?"

"Yes. Just for him to have a fresh start with the other people here. Apparently, he didn't want to stay in our village for long because he felt like he yearned for something else outside of our little world."

It was then that the shadow's lines resonated once more in Link's head:

'But why… of all people… why did it have to be you…?' the words still resonated in the hero's mind. He tried to connect another phrase to the sentence. 'Why did it have to be you… only you that remembers me…? You who tried to kill me before with your own hands…? WHY?!'

'I guess knowing that, the shadow writhed in pain…' Link thought as he analyzed the shadow's true message to him.

"Well… I guess it's not such a bad thing." the hero uttered. Vaati suddenly looked at his face which was bowing down. "If we DID forget about Vaati… I would've missed out a lot this past semester break."

Vaati's eyes widened for he couldn't believe what he was hearing. The hero's sky blue eyes met the ex-villain's ruby eyes.

"Link… have I ever told you that I envied you in all levels?" Vaati hesitated, for he wasn't so sure of what he was saying. "… I envied you… you had a lot of friends, you lived normally, you looked normal… you… you were considered a hero, for heaven's sake! I envied your smile… it was so genuine!"

Vaati turned his head away, feeling very embarrassed with what he just said.

"Vaati… your smile IS genuine." Link countered. "It's one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen."

Vaati looked at Link, quite surprised. He couldn't dare utter any more words after hearing Link's words of kindness once more. All he could do was let a tear trickle down his cheek and hug Link once more. This time, he was crying as he tightened his grip on Link.

"There, there…" the hero gently patted the ex-villain.

"And besides… don't you just consider yourself awesome?" Dark added. "I mean, you're waaaaaaaay smarter than us, I just know it. If you could only be in school with us, I'm sure you'd do so well in magic arts that you'll replace all our n00b teachers!"

"No… to the other Minish, I'm just another threat… as far as I'm concerned… I'm more of a threat than mischievous Hylian kids who try and intrude our dwelling plus the assailant chuchu jelly…"

"But now, ya ain't." Dark opposed. "Now, you're just like one of us. Heck, all of us, even you, took care of your own shadow. And what did the shadow do? He completely turned over a new leaf. And just look at you now!"

Dark pinched Vaati and gently pulled his face over to look at his. "Now, you're all so calm and happy!"

"I… I guess so…"

"Come on… BIIIIIIIIIIIIG HUG!" Dark opened his arms wide around his two friends and squeezed them tightly in his grasp.

"A…Akkhh!" groaned Link. "I… I can't… BREATHE!"

"Nnnnhh… Dark…" Vaati's face turned... a bit more purple than it should.

"Hahaha, I love you guys!"

Ezlo just smiled at the three boys having so much fun with each other.

That day ended with just so much fun with the boys. Of course, not even homework can let them down! The five Links and the only Vaati helped each other answering the assignments for the day. But wait, Ezlo was in it, too! He answered the questions so quick that the others can't jot down all the answers he's dictating!

***

The next day…

"All right, Link. Who invented the telephone?"

"Oh, Ma'am! I know that! I know that, hahaha!" Link boasted.

It was another school day, and it was their science session. Link rose from his seat, looking as proud as ever.

"All right then, what's your answer?"

"Graham Crackers!"

"Errmm…"

The whole class laughed at his answer. They never knew that Link was such a comedian!

"And I thought that Link was the goody-good guy!" said one of the male students.

"Tch! Of course I wasn't so sure about that!" Link tried to explain, although with so much aggression in his tone. 'Grrr… how does Green keep up with this?! This is bull, that's what it is!'

"Tsk, you got the wrong answer." the teacher informed. Link, or Blue, just took his seat and tried to listen to the discussion.

'Oh, well… I'm sure Green's name will be so…' Blue giggled a bit at the idea.

The day after that…

"All right, Link. Give me a sensible answer this time. The last time, you gave me candy apples for an answer. That same day, when I asked you what grow foods are abundant in, I gave you clues: it starts with a 'p' and ends with an 'n', and what did you answer?"

"What DID I answer, Ma'am?"

"Pronoun."

"Dear Lord." Link exclaimed as he was so shocked, although not exaggerated.

"And just yesterday, you gave 'Graham Crackers' as an answer to my question! I'll give you one last chance, Link… Let me ask you, tell me anything… ANYTHING you learned about the topic, 'circular motion.'"

Link smiled and chuckled. "Is that all, Ma'am?" he said as he raised a brow slightly.

"You'd better have a good answer." The teacher was quite annoyed by his proud gestures for she doubted it.

"Here goes…" Link took a deep breath. "Circular motion is simply defined a motion moving round and round in a circle, obviously defined by the topic's title. There are two basic types of circular motion, namely: rotation and revolution. Rotation is the motion of a body moving about in its OWN axis while revolution is the motion of a body moving around ANOTHER body."

Link stepped forward to the chalkboard. He illustrated charts of the circular movements and terms that he defined earlier. "And now, let me show you what centripetal and centrifugal force is. The centripetal force is that center-seeking force that causes an object to follow a circular path, and centrifugal force is the reaction to the centripetal force; simply put, it acts AWAY from the center. And now, let me show you what happens when you let go of an object in circular motion… since it's tangent to the direction of…"

"O-kayyy…" The teacher interrupted and ushered Link to take his seat.

"Was it enough, Ma'am?" Link inquired.

"Much too much. Thank you."

Link smiled and took his seat. He had that twinkle in his eyes and had every right to feel proud of himself. 'Heehee, this is just my kind of class… I can't believe Red and Blue can't comprehend well to this class… tsk, tsk… I guess not even my alter egos can match up to my intellect.'

***

The days went by until they noticed that it was the last school day of the week. It was already Friday night, and the boys decided to have a little get-together after another hectic week.

"Truth… or DARE!" shouted Dark as he laid a bottle on the floor as the boys formed a little circle around it.

"So who spins it?" Vio asked.

"Me! Me! MEEEE~!" volunteered Red as he eagerly raised and waved his hand around. He spun the bottle.

Round, round, round it goes until it stops… and points to the hero in green.

They all looked at him with an evil smile. It's as if their minds are completely unanimous despite their differences.

"Truth… or dare?" Dark raised a brow, smirking at the hero.

"Truth…" Green said. At that, Dark held Link's hands, the hero's fingers entwined together. "Tell us… do you…" Dark looked at the other Links.

"Do you love Vio?"

"No."

"Do you love Red?"

"No…"

"Do you love Blue?"

"Hell, no!"

At Link's last response, the two other Links began to giggle. Blue was getting furious yet again and looked like he wanted to smash Green with his mallet, but he didn't want to ruin the fun.

"Do you love Vaati?"

"N-no…"

"He's friggin blushing!" Red taunted.

Dark tightened his grip. "Do you love Vaati?"

"Cut it out, Dark! I don't!" Green tried to get out of his grasp.

"Well, what do you want to do?"

"Let's just spin the bottle again!" Green shouted. He got ticked off; he never blushed, but they kept on insisting that he did. 'I never knew these guys were into this… they sound like schoolgirls!'

Spin, spin, spin… this time, the bottle pointed to Dark as it stopped.

'Revenge…' thought Link. "All right, Dark… truth or dare?"

"Dare." Dark said without hesitation. "I'm getting tired of doing 'truth' all the time, you guys never really make my hands hurt."

"Okayyy…" the Links said in unison. They looked at Dark so intently; especially Green.

"Dark, I dares ya to…" Green giggled, as well as the other Links. "I dare you to…" But the giggling continued and interrupted what he was about to say.

"Spit it out already." Dark said, growing a bit impatient.

"… Kiss Vaati."

Vaati blushed and stared at Dark with an obvious shock in his face.

"Seriously?" Dark asked, but it seemed like he was just asking a normal question for he had an almost blank expression on his face.

"Do it! You have no idea how many girls would love to do that!" Green laughed. He knew it was too ridiculous for Dark to do.

"All right." he turned to Vaati with intent eyes causing the Minish to stand and back away from him.

Dark was getting a lot closer to Vaati now… closer… and closer… until he cornered the poor boy to the wall. Vaati's back was against the cold walls of Link's room as Dark pinned him by grabbing his wrists above his head with a single hand.

"D-dark… you're not going to do this… r-right…?" Vaati blushed as he pleaded Dark. He looked so scared.

"Work with me. We'll make them regret that they ever dared to make me do this." Dark winked.

"Wh-what? Da- mmmmmmphhh!" Vaati's words were cut…

From where the other boys stayed, they were shocked at what they saw. They saw that Dark was apparently cornering and kissing Vaati!

"D-Dark…" Green could not help but be a bit angry with his friend.

"What the heck?!" Blue uttered.

"He took it seriously…" Vio said as he gave himself a facepalm.

"Oooooh… and I thought that this only happened in drama!" Red stared at them. The remaining Links just stared at him, apparently disturbed by the fact that he COULD actually be watching drama and TV soaps…

Back to the two, Vaati just stared back at Dark as the black-haired youngster continued to "kiss" him. Dark put his palm on Vaati's mouth earlier causing him to be interrupted by what he wanted to say. Then he pretended to kiss him by putting his mouth on the OTHER side of his hand.

"Mmm…" Dark pretended to moan and finished off his "kiss" with Vaati. The lavender haired boy just stared at him and blushed… just looking at the faces at the other side of the room staring at the two of them made him want to laugh… but he had to keep it in.

The two returned to the group sitting on the floor.

"So, how was it?" Red asked innocently.

"Heavenly." Dark simply replied. Vaati remained silent and made a shocked face. Green went closer to Dark and started ranting at him.

"WHATTHEHECKDIDYOUDO?!" he shouted at his dark self.

"I kissed a boy and I loved it~!" Dark started singing happily. He now pretended to handle a lute in his hands.

"Lalala… I'm so happy that I could sing you guys a song~!
Alas my love you do me wrong
To cast me off discourteously
For I have loved you so long
Delighting in your company…" Dark began to sing the traditional English song, "Greensleeves" as he pretended to strum an invisible lute.

"YOU SPOONY BARD!" yelled Green at his shadow and collared him.

"-snort!-" The boys turned to the blushing Minish youth. "AHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!"

The boys born of the four swords were so surprised, as Dark was beginning to giggle. Green looked at the youth that he was collaring. He was turning red as he turned his head away and closed his eyes.

"I-it looked THAT realistic? AHAHAHAHAAAAAA! I can't believe it! -snort!-"

"What?" Green said, calming down; a bit puzzled.

"THAT would teach Y'ALL to dare ME to do THAT." Dark said, emphasizing his words.

The others, except for Red, laughed sheepishly.

'Haha… right. What were we thinking…?' the three seemed to think in unison.

Just seeing that everyone was having fun with the whole get-together, Green decided to start a trivial game of bouncing on the bed. He jumped on his bed a lot of times urging everyone to join him in the fun. The others indeed followed him and they all jumped on the bed.

"WEEEEEE~!" Red seemed to enjoy it a lot… in fact, he looked like he enjoyed it the most among the others!

The night passed as they continued to have more fun, playing with Green's Wii, playing music with Dark's gadgets such as his iPod touch and PSP as well as his DS lite, as well as some other handhelds (he seemed to be updated with the latest gadgets), answering trivia questions with Vio, playing whack-a-mole with Blue's mallet, and playing hide-and-seek as Red suggested. It was almost dawn when they all decided to turn in for the day.

***

The next day, Green decided to have some grocery shopping with his buddies. They had to do it for Smith, who was already very busy taking care of his grandchild multiplied into five, plus the little sorcerer who had stopped by.

"We'll need…" Green started off.

"Lotsa muffins!" Red cheered as he put the goods in the cart.

"Lotsa chips!" shouted Blue as he dumped his bags of chips in the cart.

"Lotsa walnuts!" Vio said as he dumped a lot of expensive-looking walnuts in cases in their cart, both chocolate-coated and plain.

"No, no, and no." said Green sternly as he made a face.

"Lotsa spaghetti!" Dark said as he put the packed pasta and the spaghetti sauce in their cart.

"No!" Green denied. He started grabbing all the unwanted stuff from his shopping cart. "Now put those things back where they came from, or so help me…"

"Lotsa sweets… and stuffed toys!" Vaati said as he carried a bundle of combined sweets and stuffed toys, looking at the Links innocently.

"Err….." Green gave himself a facepalm. The others gave a grin of victory and put all their wanted goodies back in the cart, together with Vaati's. After all those goods that they wanted for themselves, they continued to shop for the goods that they really need.

As Green paid for the groceries, Vio tapped his shoulder.

"Hey, Link? We'll all go ahead, okay? We need to take care of… something back in the house." Vio explained.

"Huh, okay." Green said without giving it a second thought. He knew that Vio was the alter ego to be trusted for he was always reasonable in whatever he does. The other Links together with Vaati went back home.

Upon arriving home, Link; the green-clad hero, found that no one was downstairs. He looked around to find only the two fish they caught the earlier week, just swimming in their new and fully-decorated aquarium, complete with the bubbling machine. He looked at the forge, but just to find no one working there. The kitchen was empty as well…

'They must be upstairs.' he thought. He just laid all the goods on the dining table and went on his way. He already passed by the living room.

His mind was fixed on going upstairs, but before his mind could work to make him do the task, he heard the door from upstairs open.

What he saw made his face twist with unexplainable sadness and astonishment.

From the door upstairs, he saw Vaati looking directly at him…

… and he was holding a luggage in his hands while sporting a backpack. Ezlo was behind the youngster, with a staff in hand. Vaati froze in his tracks for a while, but soon after he decided to go down. He went down the stairs gingerly as he approached the green hero.

"L-Link…" Vaati tried to start a decent conversation, but he couldn't do away with his trembling voice.

"Vaati… where are you going?" Link was completely bewildered. Soon after, the others followed Vaati downstairs. The other Links was with them all along; and so was his Grandpa Smith.

"I…" Tears began to well up in the pale boy's eyes. "Link…"

"Li… Green." Dark called out. His face was stern yet again. "It's already the weekend… you may not recall it, but Ezlo told us that Vaati would be coming along with him, remember? Those were his exact words… 'Vaati will be coming along with me this coming weekend to the Minish Village.' I guess you already fell asleep when we four overheard Grandpa and Ezlo talking."

"B-but why?!" Link reacted.

"Come along." called out Ezlo to his disciple. Vaati nodded at this. He looked sadly at Link one more time and took out something from his rucksack.

"V-Vaati…"

"I shall never forget… those most exciting moments you gave me… all of you." Vaati took Robin out of his rucksack and hugged it. His lips formed a little beam as tears slowly trickled from his eyes. He then decided to follow his master, although reluctantly.

"B-but… wait…" Link tried to think of something to persuade Vaati from going. "W-what about your other stuffed toys? They'll be lonely!" He said, referring to the stuff that Vaati bought earlier.

"I… I completely forgot about this… matter that I had to attend to…" Vaati said, the tears falling down even more. "Please… please take care of them for me…" the Minish tried to smile, but it turned out to be a wry one. He decided to follow his master without further ado and tried not to look at Link's sorrowful face; as sorrowful as his.

The two went out of the door with the Links and their grandfather following them. They went through the town of Hyrule, and past the fields and meadows with monsters lurking about. Of course, the Links did short work of this… but they, especially Dark and Green, couldn't get their minds off the fact that their friend would be leaving them so soon. Not long after, they finally approached the Minish Woods.

As always, the forest was always damp and refreshing to both the body and mind. They looked around some more until they came across the stump… the very same stump they always used to shrink themselves to Minish size, to enter the village…

"Vaati." The green hero said.

"L… Green."

"It's alright…" Vio explained. "We understand perfectly. You may call Green, 'Link'."

"Besides, we know that he's the only one you could possibly call 'Link'." Blue winked his eye at Vaati.

"So it's totally okay, Vaati~!" cheered Red.

"Link…" said Vaati, with the stuffed cucco still in his warm embrace. "Thank you… thank you for everything…" Once more, the warm tears started streaming down his face.

"No… thank YOU, Vaati." Link replied. "Thanks to you, my… OUR sem break was filled with so much excitement."

Vaati partially covered his mouth hearing Link's kind words. He looked up to the hero with so much gratitude.

"All right, everyone! Say CHEEEEESE!" Smith called out while holding an analog camera, trying to brighten up the atmosphere.

The Links gathered for a group picture dragging Vaati with them, when they noticed that Ezlo was nowhere to be seen.

"Master… Master! Master, where are you?" Vaati frantically called out; for fear that the elder may have left him because of impatience. "I… I need to go…" he said with so much sorrow, his mind going on top of the stump to transform back into a Minish again.

"No, you DON'T!" he heard a voice call.

"Seriously… he may be so angry with me right no-"

"I'll be angry with you if you don't join the pictorial!" the voice shouted at him. He turned to see who it really was for the voice was undeniably familiar. His eyes widened with astonishment and joy as he decided to stay with the other Links for the pictorial.

He looked up at Link's head…

… his master was sitting on top of Link's head as his loyal green hat! He seemed to be very ready for the picture-taking!

"Well, Vaati? Won't you join us?" Ezlo asked, almost sarcastically.

"Sure!" his eyes twinkled. They all posed and smiled for the camera.

"CHEESE!" The camera lights flickered as Smith pushed down the shutter of the camera. Some more shots were taken before they called to stop the pictorial. After the pictorial, the boys decided to do something as a group.

"All right guys… on the count of three…" Vio gave out a signal. All the youngsters gathered in a group hug position.

Vio started counting. "In one… two…"

"THREE!" They all screamed and jumped excitedly in their group hug. Of course, they all laughed heartily at their group hug.

"Oh, I'll never forget this!" Vaati exclaimed tears almost coming out from his eyes.

"… Well…" Link turned to his pale, lavender-haired friend. "I guess this is it, huh?"

The two boys looked at the stump. As they looked, Ezlo jumped onto Vaati's head as the young Hylian-Minish took him off and gently laid him on the stump.

"Goodbye, Link…"

"Goodbye…"

They both gave each other a very tight hug. It was a very intimate hug, knowing that they won't be seeing each other in who knows how long. When they let go, their eyes met once more before Vaati slowly inched his way to the stump.

"Goodbye…" the young Hylian-Minish gave out a smile with tears running down his cheeks.

"Goodbye…" they said one by one with their own intonations. Red seemed to be sad yet so cheerful, Blue seemed to hide his own feelings for the Minish, Vio tried not to cry, and Dark seemed to be so sad about the whole thing.

"Just don't forget about us… okay?" Dark told him with a somehow deep, solemn tone.

Vaati nodded as he closed his eyes and began chanting with his master. He could not stop crying as he chanted and felt his body slowly transforming into something else. Everyone could feel the same wind that they once felt every time Vaati was with them… soft, calm, gentle, and assuring.

***

After 2 weeks…

"Nnnnhhh… nggghh…" someone twisted and turned in a minty-green blanket. "What…? It's that time of the day already…? 10:00 AM….."

It was Link. He sat on his bed and read his digital alarm clock. "10:00 AM…"

Meanwhile, Smith was preparing breakfast on the table. Somehow, he knew just what time his grandson would wake up. The shadow of his grandson was sitting there in one of the dining chairs, fiddling with the utensils.

"In 3… 2… 1…" Dark counted.

"EEEYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAG H! I'M LAAAATE!" they heard a shout from upstairs and a chaotic waltz of footsteps about in the upper floor.

"… Right on cue." Dark concluded, giving a thumb up to himself with his left hand.

Smith looked at the stairs from the dining room, expecting his grandson… and here he is. As usual, his attire was obviously put in a hurry for it was such a mess. He hurriedly settled on the dining table and performed his secret talent - eating a bowl full of hot porridge in just thirty seconds.

"Heck, Link… you could be a candidate in 'Thirty Minutes to Fame'!" Dark complemented quite sarcastically. "Imagine how rich you'll be… I'm all fine, I got all the gadgets I need now… an iPod touch, an iPhone, a PSP, a DS lite, a Wii like yours (except that it's black), a normal cell phone, a multi-purpose cell phone, a PS2, a PSX, a PS3, a GameCube, a FamiCom which is now a collector's item, a normal MP3 player, an MP4, a regular Windows Vista laptop, a notebook, a PC…"

Dark wasn't finished counting all his gadgets when he noticed that Link was already putting his bowl on the sink, ready to be washed for later.

"I'M LATE, I'M LATE, I'M LAAAAAAAAAAAAATE!" Link screamed as he dashed for the door dragging Dark with him.

"Goodbye, GrampAAAaaaAAaaAAaa~!" Dark's pitch slid from high to low as Link tugged him from behind in such a high speed. "Whoa! Control your speed, mah boOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooiiiiIIII II!"

As soon as they reached the entrance of the village, Zelda approached them. She apparently has been waiting for a long time since she was treating herself with a strawberry-flavored Sprite float.

"Link! So nice of you to drop by." Zelda said.

"I'm so sorry… my… my alarm clock didn't go off today…" Link said, excusing himself. He was panting from all that running.

"Nope. I heard it. You set it to snooze ever five minutes that it rang. I think it started what… 9:00 AM?" Dark countered him.

"Thanks. A. Lot." Link made a face and hit Dark's head with his hat from behind. Dark merely gave out another smile of triumph over the hero.

"In any case, Link… shall we go to the playground?" Zelda said, seeming not to mind Link's tardiness.

"Oh? Uh… sure." Link remembered that day just a few weeks ago. 'It just seemed so fast…'

The three arrived at the playground. Dark behaved like a child who just got free from classes and into the fresh summer. "LAST ONE TO THE MONKEY BARS IS A GANONDORK!"

'Ganondorf… as he said it… tall, dark, and handsome… he looked up to that guy then…? Short, pale, and… ugly…' Link randomly recalled in his head, he didn't realize until he saw the two on the monkey bars. Dark was sitting on top of it while Zelda was just beside it, holding a rail of one of the two ladders in her hand. Link approached them and looked up to Dark.

'Hi! Are you a new kid? Never seen you in class! And classes just started this month!' Link could hear his own words in his head.

'Um, in that case…' he could see his hand stretching upwards. 'Link.'

He could see the boy staring at him, filled with curiosity.

'I-I'm… I shouldn't really be talking to strangers…'

'Strangers?! Strangers, my big fat…' once again, those words of doubt that filled his head filled it once more. 'Don't worry, I won't bite!'

"Dude, you okay?" Dark said snapping his fingers at the hero. The hero looked up to him and nodded, snapping out of his flashbacks. "You didn't look like it. You've been acting this way even before Zelda came home from her vacation… that was like, around a week ago?"

"No… don't worry. I'm okay." Link smiled, although it wasn't as vibrant as the one that he always gave before.

"If you say so…" Dark said, still doubting Link's words.

"Hey look! Link, aren't they…?" Zelda pointed to the swingset, which has four swings.

"W-wha…?" Link saw three people occupying the latter seats but one in the furthest left. Three people… that looked exactly like him!

"WHEEEEEEEEEEE~! Hi, Green~!" said the one who swung the highest just next to the empty seat, in a red tunic.

"How're you doing, pal?" said the other one having fun on his swing seat beside the red one, in a blue attire.

"It's been a while… almost been a week." said the one in the farthest right, giving himself a gentle push. He was in a purple tunic.

"R-Red… Blue… Vio!" Green rushed to his alter egos. "What are you all doing here?"

"Having fun!" said Red.

"Wait… how did… how did you get out of the seal?" Green wondered for he never recalled letting them out after sealing them a week ago.

"Oh… Dark helped you… remember?" Vio tried to help him recall.

"Dark…?" Green's mind began to focus on what happened this week…

'Four Swords… teeheehee… lend me your powahhh~ hic!' Green twitched remembering what he had done around two days ago.

It was nighttime, and he and Dark accidentally drank Smith's power drinks which was mostly alcohol. They thought it was their chilled flavored green tea, but no. It was then that Dark called his pet and brought a mirror to the shrine so that he can transport Link and himself through the Dark Mirror, probably thinking it was a party place. When Dark tried to pull the sword, he slumped over and fell asleep.

Link pushed him aside. "BAH! Let a REAL man do the -hic!- joooob…"

Then it happened.

"Hahaha… right…" Link chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head.

"Hahaha, let's just have fun! Green!" Red called out as he let out the innocent, childish laughter as he enjoyed the swing.

Link looked at the empty seat… somehow; he visualized the lavender-haired boy he once saw in the same empty seat he's looking at right now staring at him with those lonely eyes that yearned for friendship… he shook his head, and instantly, the vision was gone. 'Vaati…'

He sat on the empty swing seat with the other Links and tried his best to forget all what he thought about the boy in his memory. The Links swung in a wave-like fashion, such that the first the swung high was Green, then Red, then Blue, then Vio. He did forget about his worries after a while, but just as soon as they drifted away, here they came again… troubling him. He indeed missed the lavender-haired boy, his angelic smile as well as his voice, his boisterous, enlightening laughter; all of him… he missed him.

"Princess, your father is calling you!" said a voice. It was one of the guards of the palace. This guard seemed a lot younger than all the other guards, considering that he looked like he was only a few years older than Link, approximately 17. He was one of the "trainees" in the palace.

"Oh, pooh. Well, I'm so sorry to leave you guys so soon…" Zelda regretted.

"-siiiigh!- If only SOMEONE here woke up earlier…" Dark taunted, still sitting on the monkey bars.

Link did not mind, instead, he seemed to focus on the blue sky after bidding Zelda goodbye. The winds were once again gentle and refreshing, and it carried about beautiful petals and leaves of the flowers and trees.

'Something like what Vaati would want to show me…' he thought once again.

"Guys… if you don't mind… I'll just be getting something back home…" called out Link. 'I need to get one of Vaati's stuffed toys to keep me company… or this'll keep up…' Link thought as the winds continued to blow against his face.

"Link… I'll come with you." Dark said, gliding away from the monkey bars and settling on the ground as he walked Link back home.

"Thanks…" Link said with a wry smile.

"See ya~!" Red waved goodbye.

"You come back here, you hear?" Blue urged them.

"All right, be careful on your way." said Vio, holding a book in hand while giving himself a gentle push.

As the boys arrived at the doorstep of the house, Link touched the knob. However, he stopped twisting it and looked upwards at the heavens. He could still see the petals hovering above their heads…

"Isn't it beautiful, Dark…?" Link said, just staring at the beautiful petals dancing above their heads.

"… Meh." Dark twisted the knob and proceeded inside. "…"

"If only… if only he was here, eh, Dark?" Link said, subconsciously going inside the house. He stepped in the living room.

"Okay, my dear boy, just take those inside the fireplace there, you see?"

"Right away, sir!"

Link turned as he heard the two voices in the forge. He noticed that Dark was nowhere in sight… but there was something in the voices that surprised him… He rushed into the forge room.

"Well done!" Smith said.

With Smith was a youngster in a ponytail, turning back from them. It appears that they were busy with the forging business. The youngster took care of the fireplace, while Smith took care of the forging itself. Dark was just there, watching them with a stare. He was just standing there…

"Dark… aren't you gonna accompany me upstairs?" Link called out and tugged his friend's arm.

The two in the forge looked at them, now recognizing their presence.

Link stared at the youngster with Smith…

He had beautiful lavender hair kept in a ponytail with a red bow and a lock of hair covering his right eye. His eyes are a beautiful hue of ruby, and his fair skin radiated a beautiful tone of purplish ivory. Sure he was perspiring due to the work he's into, but it never affected his appearance. And one thing's for sure for Link…

… this boy had that scar under his left eye…

Silence ensued in the forge for a few seconds…

"…Link?" the youngster said as he broke the silence. His ruby eyes began to well up tears.

"… No…" Link uttered.

"…" Dark could not say anything.

"LINK!" the youngster rushed to the green clad hero as he let out his tears and untied the red ribbon that his hair, revealing his soft, flowing, lavender hair.

"… VAATI!" The two boys gave each other a tight hug as if they have never seen each other in years. It was the same as before; the same hug that they shared before the young Minish left them weeks ago.

"I'm so glad that you're here!" cried Link, tears also trickling down his face.

"Oh, Link…"

"Vaati…" they both heard a deep tone. They turned and saw Dark approaching them.

"DARK!" shouted Vaati with joy and practically glomped him as well. He cuddled up in Dark's arms as he did with Link. "I thought I'd never see you guys again…"

Link returned to his senses and looked at his grandfather. "G-Grandpa… how?"

Smith just gave him a chuckle and shrugged his shoulders. It seems that the old man was also puzzled at the Minish's sudden return. Nonetheless, all he really cared about was that Vaati was safe and the fact that he returned.

Link turned to his friends once more; it appears that Dark also missed Vaati so much that he was spinning in place as he hugged him, causing the Minish to squeal in joy and surprise. When Dark finally settled, he looked at Vaati once more and gave him such a tight embrace. Vaati didn't care; in fact, he hugged him back tightly! Just seeing their happy faces made Link so happy as well.

As night had fallen on them, they prepared themselves for sleep; taking a nice shower and further taking care of their hygiene. The three settled in Link's room as they did in the earlier weeks. Because of so much longing for each other in weeks, they all decided to sleep on the bed again like they did before. Before Link lied down on his bed, he had called his other selves on his cell phone to apologize not being able to return.

That night, Link's two friends fell asleep soundly; they even cuddled up to each other in their sleep. The hero on the other hand, could not sleep. Something was bothering him… just why did Vaati return to them? He just had to find out when he spotted something trying to climb in their window… it had small hands, and it seemed to be wearing something long…

"THIEF! THIEF!" shouted Link at the top of his lungs. The two scrambled upon hearing this. Vaati hid behind Dark as the black-clad youth grabbed hold of his pillow. Link also grabbed a pillow. Seeing that his two friends were so brave, Vaati gathered all his courage and grabbed Link's last pillow lying on the bed.

"What on ea-" was what the "thief" could only say as the two took advantage of his arrival from the window. The two buried him in pillows, beating him up as hard as they could. Vaati lunged in to help them and tried to beat the intruder as hard as he could, but upon seeing the intruder's face, he dropped his pillow and stumbled to the ground.

"N-no… please… please stop it…" Vaati pleaded the other two who didn't stop beating the intruder.

"Why?" Link turned to him then suddenly felt a whack on his head.

"That's why…" Vaati pointed.

"Oh noes…" Link said; looking a bit frightened realizing who he had just beaten up.

The intruder spat out feathers that the pillow emitted after being beaten along with the "thief". The intruder was none other than…

"M-master… please forgive us! Please… please!" Vaati knelt down and bowed his head.

Dark just looked at the elder, then to his pillow. He looked once more at the elder and beat him again with the pillow.

"Ach! Now see here!" shouted the elder, quite perturbed by the youth's rude actions.

"Lalala~!" taunted Dark.

"Ezlo… why are you here, anyway?" Link wondered.

"I'm sure that you have questions in mind, my boy." Ezlo said. He looked at the three. "You see… Vaati here…" he looked at his disciple.

"Y-yes, Master?"

"He seemed so… um, Vaati, do you mind getting me a glass of water downstairs?" Ezlo commanded the youth.

"R-right away!" the Minish youth rushed outside the room and almost slammed the door behind him.

"As I was saying… Vaati seemed so… lonely back in the village." Ezlo explained.

"R-really?" Link said; his eyes widened a bit.

"Yes… he would always daze out, or daydream, or just stare out the window in such a distance I don't know… he would just stay in the house, stay in his room, or do what I order him to… that's just it." Ezlo shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "And that's how I figured… you two were his happiness."

"Vaati…" Link uttered. "I had no idea… so he also…"

"Hm?" Ezlo was a bit confused at Link's last statement.

"You see… Link here missed Vaati a lot too… and so did I. But he was the one acting really weird." Dark explained to the elder.

"Master! Here you go!" Vaati kicked the door open, handing out a glassful of water to Ezlo.

"Thank you, my dear boy…" Ezlo drank all of it and looked at the three of them. "Link… Dark… I leave him in your hands."

The three were surprised by what the elder just told them. Link finally understood and nodded. Dark simply gave out a slight smile. Vaati on the other hand was really confused.

"Master… what…"

"Now, now, Vaati. I'll check up on you constantly. When I have the time, I'll visit you. It's just that, well… Dark and Link here… I wanted to give them a sense of responsibility."

"B-but Master… I don't want to be a burden to them…"

"And the same goes to you too… you'd have to be the nicest that you are to them, all right? That's your responsibility now… you have to keep up with them… live with them… not as a guest, but as one of them."

Vaati just stared at his master. Soon after, he embraced his master and gave him a smile that clearly said, "Thank you."

Ezlo smiled at his disciple and jumped out of window. As the three checked out how the elder was doing, all that they saw was bushes… and a quick and sudden glow in it.

"Master… he's going home…" Vaati concluded.

"Welcome home." Link said, patting Vaati by the shoulder.

Dark put his arm around Vaati's shoulders. The pale youth looked up at his taller friends just beside him and smiled. He was so happy to know that he was finally accepted, and that he found out where he truly belonged to. For all of them, it was the beginning of a new friendship; the beginning of a brighter day.