A/N: Hi! Harpy's back agian! With more A & H goodness! The next few chapters are more for filler then anything else. We do get to know the characters more though, so :D. Link, Midna, and Ilia are in Ordon now, wonder what will happen:).

Link

"Link, welcome to Ordona!" The moment she said that the sun began to rise above the mountains.

I... I can't believe my eyes. Ordona is such a …beautiful place. Sprawling fields of grass, crops of grains, a winding river... it looks like it spans for miles.

"You really have a village here?" I still don't believe that there could be a village in such a natural place. It must be really tucked away from Hyrule.

"Yup, my good old home village of Ordon." She has such a sense of pride in her home-land, and I honestly don't blame her. I'd be proud to be a part of this wondrous place too.

Midna fell asleep a few minutes ago. She looks kinda cute when she's sleeping.

I continue to take in the beauty of Ordona; even the edges of this province are mystical, especially the small spring we pass by. Ilia said it was called Ordon Spring.

No one speaks for a while. Gods, I hate awkward silences…They make me feel uncomfortable….Maybe I should say something…. But what!? I'm no good at small talk!

"Link, are you feeling alright?"

"Uh-wha?" I must have zoned out…And right in front of Ilia… Another smooth move. Great.

She seems to be a bit nervous, and she seems to be... BLUSHING?! "I uh- I mean, you looked like you were thinking hard." Is she embarrassed?

"Yeah, I'm feeling okay." I look away, embarrassed myself.

"Oh….Alright, I just wanted to know."

Wow….I never noticed before, but Ilia is….. really cute…. Everything about her is cute.

Her twisting hairstyle, those round little ears of hers, her face….

Wait….What in the hell am I saying!? Where did all of that come from!? Am I falling for Ilia!? Or was it just the pregnancy messing with my hormones?

Sigh... Even if I am, she wouldn't want me…I'm a fat freak. A big, fat, pregnant freak.

She deserves a guy who can defend her, not burden her.

"Hey, Link." I snap my attention to her as she nudges my shoulder. "We're here."

Yet again I'm captivated by the sheer wonder of this place. I peer over her to see a small rustic village, with five small houses by a tiny river, which lead to a small pond. Various gardens and small crops grow around the area.

"Well?" She looks at me with an existed gleam in her eyes. "What do you think?"

I can't find the words to express how amazed I am. "Wow…Ilia, this place... It's so much calmer then Hyrule Castle Town. And the air smells cleaner."

"That's the country for you," She tilts her head back as she takes in a big breath of country air. "Ahh…refreshing, isn't it?"

"Yeah... uh?" I stare down at my stomach. It feels like…something's…moving.

My Gods ….It's kicking for the first time! I've been waiting for it to start moving around!

I've always wondered what it felt like…. But Goddesses, it's... wow...

This is incredible... I'm finally starting to get what this test is about. The Goddesses aren't trying to torment me, no; they want to see if I have the courage to actually give birth and raise a child.

A child…My child….

"What's wrong, Link?" Ilia was giving me a puzzled expression. "Something wrong with the baby?"

I can't take my eyes off of my stomach, placing my hand over it for support. "No, no, it's okay...the baby's kicking, for the first time. It... took me by surprise, that's all."

Ilia doesn't seem fazed by this at all. In fact, she seems to be happy. "Heh, isn't it a little trooper. After all you've been through, it still has the strength to kick around in there."

She pats my stomach affectionately.

Gods, I hope she didn't see me blush. "Uh, yeah…I guess you're right."

She gives me a warm smile and pokes my belly, addressing the baby inside. "Yup, and don't you worry about your papa, kiddo. We're gonna get him nice and healthy, so you don't need to worry about him anymore."

I can't help but laugh. My gods, was that a goofy little speech. Ilia's so much different then all of the other girls I've ever met. She's nice, funny, gentle, and a fiery little she-devil when she wants to be.

She makes a face. "Wait, if you're having the baby, shouldn't I be calling you mama?"

"Hey!" I playfully nudge her arm. "Give me some credit, here!"

"I'm only joking, jeez, keep your shirt on." The two of us just keep snickering, trying to catch our breath. As we do, our eyes meet.

"Uh…Maybe we should head to my house." She quickly turns away, her face red as a tomato.

My face probably looks just as red, if not even more so. I keep making myself look like a fool. Well, it's not my fault! It's these stupid hormones! I know it!

We got to Ilia's little cottage. It was a big house, 2 stories, with double doors and little red banners hung from different corners.

She slides off of Epona. "Get off, you goof! Epona needs a rest."

Ugh, I wanna sit…Oh well. I slowly got myself off the horse. Epona neighs in relief, glad that all that weight was off her back, like she was calling me fat…What a nice horse.

"PAPA!" Ilia shouts as she throws a pebble at a window. "I'm HOME!"

"Ilia!" The doors suddenly slam open, causing a loud THUD that can be heard from several feet away and make me jump 3 feet in the air and falling flat on my butt.

"Ouch, my ass….." I nurse the injury to my rump. Ouch.. that really hurt.

From beyond the doors stood a rather pudgy, but well-built man, he looks to be in his early 40's, with a strange turned up mustache.

"Ilia! My sweet little girl!" He catches her in a bone crushing hug. "I missed you so much, girly."

Ilia looks like she's being suffocated. "Daddy, Ugh…Owww...Your smooshing me..."

He then sees me sitting in the dirt and rubbing my back. "Hey now, who's this?"

I freeze up. Turning my head up slowly, my eyes as wide as plates.

Ilia finally gets free of her father's hug of death. "Ugh.. Daddy, this is Link. He's the boy from town I talked to you about."

I mentally gulp. Dear Gods! He's gonna squish me! NO HUG OF DEATH!! PLEASE NO HUG OF DEATH! I got a baby in me!

"So this is the kid you were talkin' about eh? Well, he don't look too bad." He pokes my head. "Hello, ya'll in there?"

"Daddy," Ilia drags him away. "Give him some space. He's had a rough time."

"Oh," He rubs the back of his head, embarrassed. "I'm really sorry bout that."

I reach my hand out. "Uh... a little help..?"

Ilia rushes over and pulls me up. "Sorry, Link."

Her father clears his throat. "Eh hem, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Mayor Bo." He roughly shakes my hand. From the handshake alone, I can tell where Ilia gets all her energy from. "I'm the one in charge of all things that go on in this village. Let me introduce you to all the folks, they'd be happy to meet you."

Bo cups his hands around his mouth, taking a deep breath he shouts out, "TOWN MEETING! EVERYBODY UP!"

Wow, that's something I'm not going to be happy to wake up to in the morning.

And with the disgruntled shouts coming form al the cottages, I can tell the villagers don't seem to like the idea either.

Slowly the doors on every little cottage open. Out come very angry and tired villagers, each muttering about 'blasted town meetings' and 'Bo's gone crazy again.'

I'm actually in favor of that second one.

In total the crowd was made up of about eleven people, not including myself, Ilia, Bo, or the un-seeable Midna. The group included four children, a young man about my age, and couples that were about 30 to 40 years old.

"Okay, Bo," one of the men steps forward, a tall man with a sword strapped to his side. He seems less aggravated and more cool-headed than the others. "What's this all about now?"

"Well, we've got a Hylian on our footsteps looking for a home." He looks over at me. "Care to explain it to them?"

I gulp, unsure at all their curious faces. They're looking at me in such a strange way... but it's definitely not the hateful look I got from the townspeople. That much I know and take comfort in.

Then one of the children steps up. His blonde hair is cut neatly and he shyly looks up at me, eyeing my belly first, then me. "...Are... are you having a baby?"

"Er... yes. I am."

He looks back at a woman (from her looks it must be his mother), and at her nod, he turns back to me and murmurs politely, "Congratulations, ma'am."

I stand there, dumbfounded. I can hear Ilia beside me, making every effort to keep from laughing.

The boy makes a face at her. "What's so funny, Ilia?"

"N-nothing, nothing, Colin," she snorts. "But Link's really not a ma'am."

Colin thinks this over. So do the other kids that are hovering behind him. Then another boy's mouth opens in a little "o" of surprise. Oh, no, here it comes...

"He's a boy having a baby?!"

"Ooh, Talo! That's so RUDE!" The only girl slaps his shoulder with a disapproving pout. "Do you HAVE to embarrass everyone you meet?!"

"Hey, leave me alone, Beth! It's just weird, that's all! Geez..."

Weird...?

"Hey, both of you, enough." The same calm man cools them down, then turns to face me. His face is pensive, but patient. "Let's allow him to explain before we make our judgments."

And then they all stare at me expectedly, waiting for me to start. But with that first response, my confidence had gone straight down the drain.

Ilia nudges me. "Go on, Link."

Then the baby kicks again, as if urging me to begin too. I place a hand on it, the hand with the Triforce symbol on it, so that everyone can see it.

"W-well... s-see the symbol, on my hand? It means I'm a... chosen one. A chosen one that's supposed to take the Goddesses' test of strength and courage... and the test involves... having a child."

"So, the Goddesses gave you the child, is that it?" Colin's mother asks. "As well as the means for your body to support it?"

"Uh-huh." Well, at least they understand that. Now here comes the hard part. I can feel my eyes begin to sting already as I remember. "W-when the people in Hyrule Castle Town heard about it... I-I thought they would understand..." I can feel the tears flow down my cheeks, but I don't care anymore. "I thought they'd help me, give me support... b-but they... they thought I was a freak... that my baby was an abomination... They rejected my needs, attempted many times to beat on me and the baby, burned my home down, accused me of stealing...!" I found myself unable to go on any further through the sobs wracking my throat.

Many of them gasp, but their reasons I don't know, because I stare at ground hopelessly, afraid of their reaction. But this is what I hear.

"Oh, that's terrible!"

"What a bunch of disgusting, no-good dung-eaters!"

"How could those horrid people do that to you?!"

I... I can't believe it. They're... sympathetic. They ... they care!

I look up and see them all with shocked looks on their faces, but this time it was not me that was the source. It was my story, and they all cared, every single one of them cared. It's... unreal.

"Oh, Link..." A slightly portly woman with a cat at her heels steps up and takes my hand. "That's simply tragic. How awful of those people."

"Yeah!" A small man enthusiastically raises his fist. "They should be catering to your every whim!"

"Now, now, let's not go that far," Colin's mother reminds. "He's still taking a test, remember. But that gives no one any excuse to hate him."

"Of course not!" Another woman, who looks like a hard worker, states. "Well, you can stay with us, fella. We're a simple village, so we can't pamper you, but we'll give you a roof to rest under and anything else you or the baby needs."

I gaze at all of them unbelievingly. "You... you really mean it?"

"Of course we do!" Bo laughs. "...uh? What're you crying for?"

"..I... I just..." Dangit, I hate when I get this emotional. But... "...I've never... No one's ever understood... I've never m-met people... who're... so nice..."

And what follows is a tight little circle of the village people gathering around me, patting my shoulder and smiling kindly. The children all squeeze in to inspect my tummy, and Beth gives the baby inside a hug, giggling when it kicks again. Everyone around me is greeting me with open arms, all of them equally compassionate. It's all so new to me, but... it's wonderful.

"Poor boy, you got cuts all over your arms, a bump on your head, and my Gods! A large wound on your shoulder." Then the portly woman gasps. "We have to get you inside and treat you!"

As they push me towards the closest house, Ilia smiles at me. "I told you they'd care."

They…care…..Finally….people who actually care….

I'm shoved into a small cottage, the women of the village swarming around me.

"Poor boy, you got cuts all over your arms, and you have a bump on your head."

The portly woman goes into a cupboard and takes a towel, dipping it into the water bucket.

"Here, now put this on your head and the bump should go away."

"Thank you."

Colin's mother examines the cuts. "We don't want them to get infected, Hey Sera, can you get me some herbs? We need to make some ointment."

The portly woman nods. "Sure thing, Uli."

Oh, so I now know some of their names. This will make conversation so much easier.

"You don't need to do all of this." I smile shyly; I'm not used to this. They're caring for my needs, and making sure I feel better. This is too much.

Sera comes back with some leaves and roots. "Here, this should be enough."

Uli takes the ingredients and places them in a wooden mortar. "Thank you, Sera." She begins to mash them to a fine paste. Then she plucks out a long white cloth, possibly a bandage.

"Okay, this will sting for a bit." I brace myself as Uli gently rubs the paste on my arms, Sera does the same with my shoulder. DEAR GODS! She wasn't kidding when she said it would sting! It feels like a thousand bees are attacking my nerves!

They tie the bandages, to cover my cuts. Uli pats my head. "That should do the trick."

"Oh, that feels much better. Thank you, both of you."

I see Ilia wiggling in between the women, a huge grin on her face. She's holding some blankets and a pillow. "Hey, Link! I talked to Daddy; he said you can stay with me!"

I can hear the older women chuckling amongst themselves. What's the big joke? I don't get it….Oh well.

"Yawn…..I'm so tired."

Ilia smiles, taking my hand she walks me to her house.

"Come on Link, it's time you went to bed."

A/N: Aww, Link's gone through so much hasn't he? Well, the hard times aren't over for him, not by a long shot. The baby finally kicked! Warm fuzzies all around! Well, for now, soon Link is going to hate that. Midna got no screen time today, well don't worry, she'll be around in the next chapter. And speaking of next chapter:D Link is gonna get a big surprise next time! What is it? You'll find out in Chapter 5. Lots of fluffy Harpy feathers! Harpy Link234.