Generation: Hero

Chapter 22 - Leavetaking

When the portal appeared, Twilight was outside working with the goats and trying to ignore his daughter's constant rambling.

"Dad, are you done yet?" asked Luna, who knew for a fact that he was not done yet. Shaking his head, Twilight continued, trying to ignore her. "Dad, are you done yet?" she asked not a second later. "Luna.... No, I'm not done yet" he said, trying to suppress a grin as she tried to climb on top of one of the goats. "Oh dear Hylia..." he picked her up, as if she weighed nothing, and set her down on the outside of the fence. "Ask me again and Uncle Wind gets your desert" The little girl seemed appalled. "How dare you!" she cried. "What's wrong?" asked Time, who was passing by. "Daddy threatened to take away my ice cream!" Luna informed him. "Shame on you Twilight. Have you no pride?" asked Legend, trying to keep a straight face. "He said he'd give it too Uncle Wind!" Wind laughed out loud. "Don't worry Luna, I won't take your ice cream. Twilight, you should be ashamed of yourself! There is no worse crime!"

Twilight sighed and jumped over the fence. "You're right, giving you more ice cream would be a crime. I'll eat it" Luna's jaw dropped. "Grandpa! He's being mean to me!" Time's head whipped around, and he cleared his throat. "Twilight, explanation?" the Younger Hero was now grinning as well. "Well, you didn't seem to mind when I called you dad. And seeing as she is my daughter" Time glared at him, and Twilight flinched. "Call him Uncle Time, or he'll kill us all with that glare" Luna whipped around and faced Time, face scrunched up with "anger". "YOU WANNA GO OLD MAN?! I swear I'd win in a fight!" she yelled up at him. The other heroes suppressed a laugh, and Time shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose and chuckled. "Alright Luna... I think you need to go down for a nap" said Twilight, picking her up again. The little girl froze in his arms, and then started to scream. The other heroes turned quickly as Twilight almost dropped her. "Did I hurt you... What happened?" he asked, looking around.

It didn't take him long to realize why she was screaming.

There was a portal right behind him, in the middle of his front yard.

"Oh sh -" started Twilight, cutting himself off as he looked down at Luna. "Well... I suppose we're leaving" said Time slowly, after a moment of silence. "No..." said Twilight, shaking his head. "Time... I can't leave them. Who will take care of Luna? And Malon is only a few weeks old!" The other heroes looked at each other, and then back at the portal. "Twilight, you know that the portal won't close until we all go through it. We've tried before" it was true, they had tried before. But even if they tried to leave one hero behind in his Hyrule, the portal would not close. It was rather annoying. Twilight looked down at Luna, and then at the house. "We'll take care of them Link" Shad promised, Ilea nodded, smiling sadly. "A - Alright... Let's get ready to go" The other heroes nodded in agreement. "Daddy, where are you going?" asked Luna, looking up at him. "I'm just going on a little trip. I promise I'll come back soon..."

He knew he couldn't keep that promise.

But hopefully he'd come back at some point.

Twilight quickly threw on his armor, and headed out of his room to say goodbye to Malon and Luna. Malon was awake, gurgling giggles as she played with what looked like a stuffed animal lamb. "Hey Mal..." he said, smiling sadly as he picked her up. The infant grabbed at his hair and giggled. "I love you... okay? I promise I'll be back soon" he kissed her on the forehead and hugged her. "I love you, okay?" She quieted down a bit and stared up at him with large eyes. Twilight set her back down and turned to Luna. "I love you Luna... take care of your sister for me, okay? And don't give Ilea and Shad a hard time" The little girl nodded and hugged her father.

Twilight wiped tears from his eyes as he made his way out to the other heroes. "It'll be okay Twi... we'll be back soon" said Wild, patting him on the back. The older hero nodded and turned to the portal. They all nodded, and stepped through.

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Malon Lonlon was having a relatively normal day before a portal opened on Lon Lon Ranch. As expected, nine heroes walked out of the portal, all who looked a bit like each other. But on the other hand, were obviously different people. "Yay!" shouted the youngest, jumping up and down with excitement. "You're back..." she said happily, running to her husband and kissing him. To her surprise, he captured her in a long hug afterwards, only letting go when Warriors cleared his throat. "Come on inside!" she said, excitedly, motioning for them to come.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

"What is it boys?" she asked, looking around at them. It was clear that one hero was more upset than the others. "Twilight, are you alright?" she asked, rushing to him. He nodded, not looking up at her. "Let's just go inside" he said, clenching his fists. "I'll explain in a minute" said Time, as they fell behind the other heroes. "No, you'll explain now" she snapped back. "Did something happen to our boy out there? I swear Link, if he's hurt..." Time shook his head. "We went to his Hyrule and found out... Well, that he was married" Malon's jaw dropped. "W - What?"

But he wasn't finished, "And that he had a daughter, named Luna... and another child on the way. His wife's name was Andy and..." his breath hitched. "She died in child birth"

Malon didn't know what to say.

"I... I'm sorry... I didn't realize..." Link shook his head. "There's nothing any of us could have done. But Twilight wasn't happy to leave Luna and Malon" She looked up at him. "Malon?" A sad smile played on his lips. "Yes... he named her after you. I think it's a great name" Malon smiled sadly and kissed him quickly. "Alright... Should we talk to him?"

Time shook his head. "I think he needs some time to himself. After that... maybe.