Five Years Later

"Kera? Kera, where are you?" A giggle comes from behind a pot. "Kera? Hmmm... I wonder where Kera could be?"

Louder laughs come from behind the pot. I run over and lift it up, and see her small hands covering her mouth to muffle her laughs. "I found you!" I say in a silly voice, and pick her up, throw her into the air, and catch her. I tickle her senseless, until she can't breath anymore.

"Mama, Mama!" she screams, and laughs. Link comes into the room, with a small little bundle in his arms.

"Hey, Mama," Link says playfully.

"Daddy!" Kera cries, and runs to him, with her long, braided, dirty blonde hair in tow.

"Hi, sweetie!" He bends down and shifts the bundle to one arm, and picks her up with the other. Kera looks over Link's shoulder into the bundle with her big, stormy grey eyes, with golden flecks.

"Can I hold him?" she asks innocently.

"Hmm... I don't know, can you?" Link asks with a joking tone.

"May I, Daddy? Please?" she begs.

"Oh, alright." He gives in to her puppy eyes.

Link shifts the baby into her arms, wrapped in the blue fabric. He holds her, and she holds the baby. They're such a picture perfect family.

"How is he?" I ask, and walk over. I put my arms around his shoulders, and rest my head against his neck.

"He's okay. He finally stopped that whooping cough, and the doctors say he'll be okay," Link whispers.

"He's really cute!" Kera says. She takes her finger, and gently touches his chocolate brown downy fluff. Right then, he opens his cobalt eyes. Kera gasps, and brushes her nose against his. "Good morning, brother," she whispers. She hands him to me, and I take her brother to the chair, where I sit down.

Link walks over, and pecks my cheek. "They're already so old..." he mumbles, and looks at the baby.

"Yeah... Kera turned 2 a few months ago, and Ryer has miraculously almost made it to 3 months," I whisper. Kera comes over, and sits on my lap.

"How is he, Mama? Will he still die?" she questions. I shake my head.

"No, Ryer is going to be okay now. Now that he's able to come home, we'll be one big happy family again," I mumble to her, and kiss her cheek.

One big happy family...

I've been here for almost 6 years now. I rarely go back to my world, and I only go back whenever a family member or friends need me or want to see me. In my home realm, I don't even have a house. I sold it, to some other young family.

I've kept my iPhone, and the Goddesses tweaked it for me. Tweaked it in a way that I now have infinite battery life.

I met Zelda again a few days after I met up with Link, Midna, and Fi again. She looked beautiful, and they had her fitted into a beautiful bright purple top with shimmering lavender over a slim, cream gown. We chatted, and we became close friends. Best friends, if I do say so myself.

She's the Queen, so she's really powerful now. Link wasn't lying when he said that Zelda appointed him as the army's general. He is Hyrule's head knight.

Zelda offered me a position, too. Her accountant, and the person to paint the royals as they become Queen or King. I had the honor of painting her, and the huge canvas now hangs in the throne room, next to her mother, Zelda the Fourth.

And, sometimes, I'm called in for reinforcements whenever bokoblins or other monstrous idiots invade Castle Town. I'm the only female knight.

Also, I'm Zelda's second in command. Whenever she's having troubles with her budget or how to organize her schedule, needs input on her decisions, etc, I'm always right next to her. Zelda and I always talk, and Link and I have a house down the road from her castle. A pretty big house, for this time period. When you have the incomes of the Army's General, the Royal's Accountant, and the person who paints the royals, you get a fair chunk of change.

But, I always find time to aim my arrows at targets, and train with Link. Kera started showing interest in bows not too long ago, so Link made her one, exactly like mine. Made to fit her small arms. She can pull the string back halfway, and it flies about five feet. But she always tries again.

And she loves to doodle. She likes drawing Ryer, especially.

After about 2 years of dating, Link proposed to me. I agreed, of course. We had a huge wedding, inside Hyrule Castle, which other than royals and members of court, no one is normally allowed to be wed there. But, we were an exception. When I came here, I had to learn Hylian. It's still essentially English, but I had to relearn how to read and write, which Link thankfully taught me.

Then after another year, I learned that we had a small bundle of joy coming our way; Kera. She was born with pin-straight dirty blonde tufts (courtesy of Link) and stormy grey and gold eyes (from yours truly).

She was the happiest kid on the planet, who loved to play and was entertained by everything. Her only downfall is she is practically nocturnal. Kera always pulls her thick, long hair into a braid, that goes down her back.

Then, another 2 short years later, we had Ryer. He was born premature and underweight, and looked jaundice. He was in the infirmaries for a whole month, and we weren't allowed to see him. Then, right when we were allowed in, he developed a whooping cough.

He went into a comatose state, and we were afraid we were going to lose him. Doctors said that they wouldn't be surprised if he passed before he hit the two-month mark. But, he made it to two months, and is still going. Now that it finally passed, we're allowed to have him again. He'll definitely survive, they said.

We were planning on Ryer growing up to be the predecessor of the Army's General, but we won't force him to do anything he doesn't want to. Kera said she wants to be Hyrule's first female knight (I'm not going to burst her bubble) and will keeping practicing with her bow.

A knock echoes through the house, and Link walks over to answer the door. "Glad you could make it," Link greets. A woman with pale blue skin and dark clothes steps into the room, and greets Link.

"I couldn't miss Ryer's return home!" she says, and laughs.

"Auntie Midna!" Kera exclaims, and runs towards her. Midna crouches, and grins. Kera jumps into her arms, and Midna holds her.

"Hey! How's my darling niece doing?" she asks, and kisses her forehead.

"Good! And my brother is getting better!"

"So I heard! Where is the little boy?" Midna asks, and walks to me.

"Midna," I acknowledge her.

"How's it going, Neri? Is Ryer better?"

I nod. "Definitely. He's out of the danger zone."

"That's fantastic! And I brought a gift for you guys!" Midna exclaims.

"Midna, you shouldn't have," I try to object.

"Nonsense, this is great news! You need some type of present." She opens her palm, and two small ornaments appear. Small, twin bracelets made of twilight crystals. They're black, with ornate orange designs.

"Midna..." I say.

"Don't 'Midna' me. They're for Kera and Ryer!" she gushes happily.

Right then, the door knocks again. Link answers, and Zelda walks in, with a shawl over her shoulders.

"Cold?" I ask.

"Very."

Link takes her shawl, and drapes it on the coatrack.

"How's Kera doing?" Zelda asks, and Midna turns to her, with Kera in her arms.

For some reason, Kera gets bashful around Zelda. Probably because she's the Queen, and whenever Zelda leaves, she always runs to me and tells me that Zelda and I are the prettiest woman in all of Hyrule.

"Good..." Kera then buries her head in Midna's shoulder, and Zelda laughs.

"That's good. You're getting really grown up, aren't you Kera? You were so small the last time I saw you!"

Kera gets a little less shy, and looks up at Zelda. "Yeah, I'm a big girl now! I'm gonna be a knight someday!"

"Then I'll make sure you're one of my top knights, soon!" Zelda exclaims, and Kera's face brightens.

My sword is hanging on the wall above the fireplace (so no sticky fingers can reach it) and starts to glow. Out of it, pops Fi. "Greetings, Queen Zelda," Fi greets. Zelda nods.

"Hello, Fi."

"Hey, Sword Robot!" Midna calls. I roll my eyes. Typical Midna.

"Twilight Princess," she says formally. Sometimes, I don't know how Fi doesn't lose her mind.

The kids love Fi. Kera will sit on the floor, and Fi will lower herself beside her. She'll ask for stories and legends of Hyrule, and Fi will tell them to her. Kera's favorite is the "Legend of the Forgotten Goddess". Even little Ryer will start to yawn when Fi tells her stories.

Also, Fi is like a teacher. Kera hasn't started school, but already knows as much as a second-grader. She asks Fi all types of questions, and she loves hearing about the history of Hyrule. If she doesn't become a knight, she could be a historian. Fi loves them as much as they love her.

I hand Ryer to Link, and check on the chicken. Or cucco, that is. I pull it off of the fire, and check on the broth beside it. They're finally cooked. "Dinner, everyone!" I call.

Link, Kera, Midna, and Zelda file into the kitchen. "It smells so good!" Midna gushes.

"You didn't have to go to so much work for us," Zelda says. I shrug.

"It's the least I can do for you."

Zelda hugs me, and says, "You're too nice, Neri."

We all sit around the table, and start talking. Midna starts telling her version of the Legend of the Forgotten Goddess to Kera, while Fi stays silent. Link blows on some broth until it's cool enough for Ryer, who gulps down the whole spoonful. And Zelda, who starts talking to me about how she'll need to find a King of Hyrule soon.

When we all sit and eat, sometimes I just look around, and hope the moment will never end. Me, with all my friends and family. Though we may not be here one day, we'll always have our memories and have made our imprints on the world. That's when I think to myself...

The game is nothing compared to this.