Time's Moving Faster Than I Can Count

A Sinking Feeling

Rusl went to say something else, but Time's attention was taken by a fight between the ones they believed were called Legend and Warrior. The older man sighed, and marched over to them.

---

Rusl wiped his eyes at the memory. Even in such a situation, Time's thoughts had been about the boys in his care. He recalled how Time hadn't said "Hero", he had said "Link". He hadn't reduced him to a title that he knew the boy didn't care for, a title that didn't reflect who he was. He referred to him as a person. Then, something stuck out to him, though he was slightly fearful of the answer.

"You said you met your teacher again, and he didn't know. What do you mean?"
"He... taught me how to fight properly. He was already... dead... when he taught me, so this version didn't remember me." Link looked up again at the shooting stars fading trail. "He hadn't met me yet. He was the one to find me on my journey, who initiated the first fight, who knocked me down and said; 'Your current strength is a disgrace the proud green of the tunic you wear.' And then he taught me the skills he never got to pass on in life, he prepared me for what he wasn't prepared for." Link explained, wiping his eyes and looking down.
"He insulted you?" Rusl couldn't believe it. That man was too kind to-
"I needed it, Pa. You need to understand, that version of him had already met this version of me. I had nothing to show, nothing to prove I was worthy of anything. He told me; 'A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage.' And he taught me to have that courage, Pa. He was unprepared when he saved Hyrule, and he sacrificed a peaceful death just to teach me so I wouldn't be unprepared. Without him, I'd have failed Hyrule. His last words to me were; 'Go, and do not falter, my child!' He called me his child. And now I know why, because he's my ancestor. I met his wife, and the connection was obvious. I'm descended from what all eight of us, including Legend, called the greatest hero of all, and he was proud of me."

Link cried some more, wishing he had something to show he was as good as Time thought he was. He remembered all the times the Old Man saved his sorry hide and still praised him.

"You did the best you could, Pup. Its okay, you don't need to be perfect. Things happen."

Rusl shook him a little bit, getting his attention. He wiped his sons eyes and lifted his head so he was looking in his eyes.

"He had every reason to be proud of you, Link. He saw firsthand just how strong you would become. I could see when he was here just how proud he was of all of you. Honestly, if we didn't know the situation, it looked like you'd found your biological dad and those were your brothers. He didn't treat you like something that had to be perfect, he treated you like a person. He treated all of you like people. He let you act like kids, young men, like brothers, and only stopped behavior he thought was wrong. He always apologised for misbehaviour when he didn't even need to." Rusl smiled a little, looking towards the village with distant eyes. "I couldn't be prouder to have had the honour to raise you, his descendant. To be able to call you my son. He didn't once bat an eye to anything anyone did, minding his business all the time. Colin eventually warmed up to him, you know. Talked his ear off too." He chuckled, looking at Link, who snorted.

---

"...And then Link helped the Gorons on Death Mountain! But he always came down to visit us, even though he was really busy. He couldn't stay for long, because he had to save the world."
"You've got an amazing big brother, don't you?"