Fan Fiction ❯ Love: The Gift of Those Who Find It ❯ Past of Pain, Grandmother's Love and a Needed Manservant ( Chapter 1 )

Love: The Gift of Those Who Find It

By: RayJay

Writer's Corner:

This is an AU fic so please be kind with me. You will see what it's about and I hope you like it! Please read and review!

(I haven't decided on the couplings for this story either so we'll just have to see ;P)

~*~

"Get up, boy!" A cruel voice growled, grabbing the sleeping boy's arm as he dragged him across the cold and wet floor. A pair of blue eyes shot open and he looked around his surroundings, as he was being pulled along and started to struggle when he saw his best friend behind him, being restrained.

"Link!" The small girl with long red hair called after him, her eyes tearing as she reached out vainly for him, only to be whipped and hurled to the ground by some slave containers. The little boy, Link, gasped and fought as best he could to get back to his friend to see if she was all right.

"Malon!" He screamed for her, only to watch her crumpled form vanish out of his sight. "Let me down! Malon is hurt!" the boy begged, looking up at the stranger who was still dragging him to an unknown place.

Cruel laughter emitted from the tall and strong man that had Link's arm in a death grip. "You are truly funny boy. I wouldn't let you go even if you were staying here. You've just been sold. You won't be seeing this slave home ever again," he chortled evilly at the young boy, watching his blue eyes grow wide with horror.

"What? What do you mean?" Link demanded in panic. He was sold? What did that mean?

"You are getting out of here. An old woman bought you. She is very hideous to look upon. I feel pity for you," The stranger laughed at Link again but then placed the boy on his feet, dusting off his ripped tunic and straightened his short, ruffled blonde hair so he looked presentable. It was impossible though for the young boy's face was still famously dirty and the stains and rips in his clothes were much to look upon. "Now hold yourself up right and be nice to the old hag," the man hissed in Link's ear, pushing him towards an open doorway where he saw the outside. There, indeed, was an old woman waiting, resting on a cane. "Madam," The cruel stranger called, catching the hag's attention. Link simmered internally, hearing the mock and fake kindness in the slave containers voice. They were all frauds.

"Oh my. He is a strong looking lad indeed. He needs to be fattened up though…" the hag mumbled to herself. Her old eyes, along with Link's blue ones watched as the slave owner returned inside of the old building, the door slamming shut. "Boy," the old woman said to Link, holding out her hand for him to take. Link stared at it a moment but then placed his small hand into her outstretched one and started to walk slowly along beside the old hag. "What is your name, boy?"

"Link, master," the young boy said politely, bowing. The old woman laughed and told him she was very flattered.

"You do not need to call me master, dearie. You may call me grandmother if you wish it," the kind old woman told him, her wrinkled face bent in a cheerful smile. A knot loosened inside Link as he realized that maybe this woman would not be cruel or mean to him. She was probably a genuinely nice person… but his thoughts were not very much on that topic. His wanderings went to poor unconscious Malon. How was she going to get along? He had left her all alone…

"All right, grandmother," Link replied, a small forced smile appearing on his lips. The old woman's years had damaged her perceptibility skills for she did not see how much the small boy was trying to mask how he felt at the moment.

"Let us go home then, Link dear," Grandmother told him as they walked slowly through the green fields of Hyrule, the sun high in the sky.

**

10 years later…

"Link dear I believe that will be quite enough fire wood to put in the fire place. Come inside and have some supper now," Grandmother called out of her small window to the young man who was chopping wood with vigorous energy. She shook her head and smiled ruefully when he dropped his ax on the stump of the tree he was chopping logs in half on and jogged lightly indoors, slightly out of breath. The old woman went to go kiss him on the cheek but retracted when she got within smelling range. "Link dear! You smell as if something has just lain fresh waste!" she told him, laughing lightly when he smelled his chest and lifted his arms to sniff his armpits.

The young man's azure eyes widened at his own stench and he clamped his arms back down, shedding out of the current tunic top that he was in and excused himself, apologizing for his odor.

"Wash yourself out by the well," Grandmother called to him. He smiled and shook his head, reaching for a piece of cloth that he often used as his towel.

"I will Grandmother," he replied back, exiting out of the back door to the hut that was situated in Kakariko Village that he had lived in for the past ten years. He skipped a flight of stairs, catching the brief attention of the carpenters that were repairing the town and building new houses for the immigrants from other lands outside of Hyrule. There were a few people that had been the inhabitants of Clock Town. Link was always fascinated with the newcomers and he often introduced himself and asked questions but now was not the time to do so. Not when he smelled like he hadn't bathed in days when in truth he had bathed that morning.

He then went out to the well, pulling the rope to bring the water that was in the well's bottom up so he could properly cleanse himself. He splashed the water onto his form and then rubbed himself with the towel to dry himself. After being thoroughly cleansed, he draped his towel over his shoulders and returned to the cottage where he found Grandmother all ready eating.

"There, that is much better, dear," the old woman said good-naturedly, leaning her wrinkled cheek up. Link bent down and kissed it softly, striding back to his room where he dressed in a fresh tunic and ran his fingers through his shoulder length dirty blonde hair. Feeling bored and not wanting to put up with his mop of hair that Grandmother refused to let him trim shorter, he tied it back with an old ribbon she had given him when he was ten years old. Yes, the ribbon was nine years old by this time but he treasured it still.

The young man sat down on his cot and relaxed a bit, reflecting on his time with Grandmother. She had been a kind old lady like he had predicted and he wasn't even her slave. She had told him all she wanted was a nice slave boy to be her grandson so she wouldn't have to live alone. She was very good to him. Her acts of kindness reflected in the clothes she had knit for him with her arthritic hands, the food she generously prepared for him and the care and love she had given to him to help heal his traumatic, broken spirit after being cooped up in the slave home and loosing his best friend.

She has been so good to me, Link thought, a gentle smile gracing his lips and he leaned back on his elbows, wincing when a pain shot up through his left arm. He immediately took his weight off of that arm and rubbed at it, looking up when Grandmother was calling for him, wondering why he was not coming in to dine with her.

"I'm coming Grandmother!" He called, cradling his arm lightly. He entered the kitchen area of the hut and the old woman saw him favoring his arm with a vengeance.

"Link? What is wrong with your arm, dear?" She asked, concern shining in her old gray eyes. She moved to get up but she got up rather fast and her back bent, her hand flying to touch her heart as she let out a yelp of pain.

"Grandmother!" The young man cried, forgetting about his own pain to catch the old woman who had treated him like her own grandson. He hobbled over to her futon that was situated in the corner of the large room and laid her down gently, feeling some of her tears of pain falling onto his wrist but she did not let out a sound. The old woman rolled so she was facing him, her face filled with anguish. "Grandmother?" Link asked, his voice extremely worried and confused.

Grandmother held out her hand to the young man and he grasped it instantly, feeling the coldness of it. "Link… I am all right… just… help me to my feet, dear," she rasped, her voice sounding shallow and hoarse.

"No, Grandmother. You lie there and rest. I will get you some water," he told her gently, turning away, but stopped when she gripped his hand tighter with all of the strength she could muster.

"Help me up, my boy," she told him a little more forcefully, determination shining in her old gray orbs that were sparking at this time. Link nodded unsurely, using his strength to help her to her feet. She let go of his hand and stood unstably on the ground but nodded to him, telling him that she would be all right. "Why don't you take your dinner to your room and eat dear. It is getting very late for young men and they need their sleep," she told him, plastering a smile on her old wrinkled face, hoping to ease Link's fear.

"Y-yes, Grandmother…" Link stuttered, not knowing what to do. He glanced at the plate of food that the old woman had prepared for him, a dinner of chicken and vegetables from her garden, and took it back to his room, closing the door behind him. He leaned against it, concern and anxiety apparent in his actions as he ate very stiffly, his thoughts on Grandmother's condition. That had been the third time this week she had gotten up to fast and clutched her hand to her bosom. That does not bode well, Link thought as he ate, trying to block his conflicting thoughts out of his mind.

Grandmother had not wanted to worry Link more than he needed. She drank a glass of water, feeling her heart beat unsteadily and rapidly within her chest. She could hardly breath. Her hands started to shake and she broke into a sweat suddenly as she could not breath at all now. Her lungs contracted violently within her rib cage and she could hear the thudding of her own pulse in her ears. She could barely see and pain enveloped her as she suffocated. She tried to hobble along but fell slowly, her way becoming blurry.

She opened her mouth to call for the young man but no sound came out. She didn't have enough air. Link! "…" she swallowed, her breath coming out in rasps as her world began to grow dark. She finally mustered up enough voice to make a high-pitched sound, enough to bring the handsome young man running out of his chambers to come to her aid.

Link's eyes widened and he immediately scooped her cradle style into his arms, not knowing what to do. "Grandmother! I'll get the doctor!" He shouted, pushing the door open forcefully with his foot but the old woman shook her head, her hand going to touch his face.

No… It's my time… she thought, hoping that Link could see that in her face. The young man percepted this and held her tightly as he felt her start to go slack in his arms.

"No, Grandmother! Don't leave me, please," he begged her, a tear falling into her silvery, white braid as her arms fell completely slack. "You have been such a wonderful person to me. I love you, grandmother," he whispered, drawing back to see her face, which was slowly fading away.

"I… love you too…" she choked out, the light fading from her eyes as she grew unnaturally still, but only natural in death. Link closed her dead gray eyes and rested her body on the floor, his weeping heard by the neighbors who came to grieve for the kind old woman also.

**

The funeral had not been easy for Link. He could barely stand to watch as they buried her in the graveyard next to the village. Rain had fallen that day and he could have sworn he heard the Poes singing their wraithing hymns as everyone left the graveyard.

He now lived alone in the cottage and tended to things himself these days. He had joined the band of carpenters and they were right in the middle of constructing a new well house nearby the well when a man on a very elegant horse dressed in guards armor rode into the village of Kakariko. The occupants who were outside grew very still and watched to see as he dismounted from his steed and came to stand where everyone could see.

"Today, the princess Zelda of Hyrule turns nineteen. As you know, nineteen is the age that royalty receive their very own manservant who escorts them and keeps them from harm when traveling among the commons. I shall need all young men, the ages of sixteen to twenty to assemble here by me this instant," the man in armor finished, his deep voice making his proclamation very devious and wondrous.

The young men of the town were looking very confused now. Link overheard whispers of, `The Zelda? The most beautiful girl in Hyrule?' and `I hear she is a brat among the rest.' The young man sighed and shook his head, returning to his house briefly to put on his hat, the last thing he had received from Grandmother before she had passed on from her fatal heart attack. He then strode outside, joining the rest of the young men that had assembled next to the soldier from Hyrule.

"You are to come with me as we return to the Castle of Hyrule. There you and the other young men from various other villages around here are to be looked at and questioned by Impa, the Princess's caretaker to see if you are to be her manservant. There can only be one and I wish good fortune and much patience to the one who is chosen," The stranger clad in armor said as he mounted his noble horse and walked slowly, the group of young men following.

**

"Impa, this is very dull!" Zelda raged, raking her hand through her beautiful golden locks as she sat impatiently at her throne, consulting her caretaker. "Why must I look at hundreds of young men and then have you question them before me? I rather wish not to do this. I wish to go and ride Epona… or rather try to tame that wretched beast," the princess mused, smiling to herself as she tuned out what Impa was replying to her.

"You need a manservant, my lady. There are going to be times when you must travel to other regions of Hyrule such as the domain of the Zoras, the snowy mountains of the Gorons or the dangerous, thieving Gerudians," the older Sheika told the young woman, watching with displeasure as the princess simply scoffed and stood up.

"Very well then. You pick my slave," she sniffed and gathered her skirts, preparing to leave the counseling room in a huff to go and entertain herself.

"He will not be your slave, Zelda," Impa snapped, making the young woman draw back slightly. She defied Impa very much but also was very close to her and respected her a great deal in her heart, though she would die before she would have admitted such a thing. It was truly in her nature to act brattish and immature for her father had spoiled her to death, who then took to his death just years before. "He will protect you and be with you when you go to different lands, that is all."

Zelda's violet eyes softened briefly and she sighed, flopping gracefully back down onto her delicate throne, her hand sliding over her face stressfully. "I suppose I can sit through a part of this and look at a few of the imbeciles," the Princess of Hyrule groaned in defeat, straightening her golden hair and her beautiful lavender dress.

"That's the spirit, Princess," the Sheika laughed gently and bowed. "They will be here by nightfall but do not expect them to look their best. They will have traveled all day to be here and don't you dare comment to them about their smell if they do reek of offending odors," The older woman scolded and then left the room, leaving the beautiful young woman by herself.

Zelda growled and crossed her arms as she sat alone on her throne, the cushions feeling pleasing on her delicate neck. She tapped her fingers on the golden armrest that was nearly the same shade of her hair and came up with a plan. Her violet eyes narrowed as a pleasingly mischievous grin cloaked her features. Whoever this `manservant' is is going to loose his mind, she thought devilishly. I will give him hell.