The Fierce God Given Life (Majora's Mask Fanfic)

Who I Choose to Be

So now this one is a little different. One of the shorter chapters, but don't think it isn't important! I wanted to focus on the "mental state" of Link. He is a child, after all, and he's been through quite a lot. Enjoy!
-Jooostan

The Fierce God Given Life
Chapter 16: Who I Choose to Be

It was a few days later, and Link reentered Clock Town, battered, bruised, and exhausted. The Gilded Sword had been returned to its former glory now, and it didn't show any sign of breakage. Hopefully it wouldn't for a while, as the Garo were getting stronger and stronger. Link was able to beat them for now, and he was determined to keep it that way.

Dusk had already passed. For the last few nights, Link had spent his time out taking care of the Garo. They were getting bolder and bolder every day, attacking travelers, slaughtering innocent creatures in the swamp and on the road to Snowhead, and even attempted to invade Great Bay. Link saw it as his responsibility to stop them, and so far, he had been successful.

What Link really dreaded, however, was when he got home.

Link carefully opened the door to the Stock Pot Inn. It was just midnight by the time he finally got back. He really hoped no one else was awake. His guilt for constantly disappearing and returning by dark was getting to him. He tiptoed his way into the kitchen for a small bit to eat, not even noticing Anju sitting on the counter by the cupboard.

"Where were you?" Anju asked sternly.

The innkeeper's arms were crossed, and a scowl had donned her face. She glared at the boy in green as he froze the moment she made her presence known. Link recognized all this. When he got home from training over a month ago, he had been met by a similar scene.

"I- I got caught up..." Link said feebly. He saw time repeating itself now.

"Again?! Link, that's the fifth time in a row! Not to mention you never even told us what happened to you when you got your shoulder injured!" Anju refrained from raising her voice too much, Kafei was asleep upstairs after all.

"Mom... Please... j-just go back to bed..." Link stuttered. He was exhausted from his fights against many spies. Anju's berating just added onto the stress that was being laid upon this child.

"Link! You need to tell me what is going on!" Anju's tone grew more and more frustrated at her surrogate son.

"Please, not now..." Link pleaded with Anju. He felt like he couldn't do this. "J-Just go back to sleep... please..."

"I can't sleep!" Anju finally snapped. "Link, I can barely sleep! You vanish in the middle of the day without explanation, you return home as if you've just been through a war, and then it happens the next day!"

Anju's outburst startled Link. He had no idea what to say. The only thing he could do was shut his mouth and lower his head, a common habit. Anju realized she made him retreat into his shell, and she tried to calm herself down. Before Link could leave the kitchen, she knelt and put her hand on his shoulder.

"I-I'm sorry... honey. I'm just... worried about you." Anju's tone was soothing at last. Neither she nor Link liked it when she was angry. She thought back to when she was a teenager. A very rebellious and stubborn teenager, who rarely expressed her emotions to anyone. She felt like the same could be happening with the boy before her, albeit for very different reasons.

"You don't need to shoulder everything that's handed to you... Bottling everything up can eat away at your soul." Anju brought Link in for a hug. Her voice grew shaky at what she said next. "I'm your mother, Link. I'm here for you..."

There was a long silence before Link started sniffling. He had been defeated, his stoic persona melted away, as it so often did when he was around Romani. Link's grip on the innkeeper tightened. Something very personal inside him had been put to rest, and he finally felt like he was able to have a real mother.