A Terminian and the Twilight of Danger (MM/OoT Fanfic)

My Heart Just Ain't Gonna Buy It

Not much to add this time, but I hope you all are having a good day today! Enjoy!
-Jooostan

A Terminian and the Twilight of Danger
Chapter 15: My Heart Just Ain't Gonna Buy It

Link opened the front door to the Stock Pot Inn. He made it with almost an hour of his curfew to spare. However, Anju and Kafei were not like their surrogate son. Hardly night-owls, they had turned in for the night just a little bit before Link got home. He had the entire place to himself for a while.

For what felt like forever, Link wandered around the inn, searching for something to do. He tried his best not to think about Romani, but every now and then his thoughts went to her. He thought about how she was doing, if she was ready to talk, everything. With how Cremia reacted the night before, he wasn't sure she was even close to ready.

At only three hours to midnight, Link was sitting on a stool in the lobby, propping his legs up on the front desk and keeping his hat over his face to act as an eye mask. He waited until it was time to blow out the candles and head to bed.

Then there was a knock at the door. Link checked a few clocks just to make sure none of them were off. Nope. The Inn was closed to clients, or at least it was supposed to be.

Link rose from his seat and went to the door. He was met with the postman, out of breath, holding a letter. The teen only got a quick look at it, but he noted the purple envelope and pink ribbon. It was urgent.

"Late delivery!" The postman piped up, handing Link the letter. He gave a salute and then left, leaving a confused teen at the door.

Link inwardly questioned who could have sent an urgent letter so late at night, but when he turned it over to see who it was from, he froze.

"To Link – Romani" That was all it read.

Link quickly tore open the letter and began to read.

"Dear Link," There was a crossed-out 'G', 'r', and 'a' between the 'dear' and 'Link'. The teen's heart sank at that detail, but he continued to read. There actually wasn't much left in the note.

"Romani thinks she's ready to talk about what happened. Bright and early tomorrow, at the ranch." It ended there.

Link read it twice more, making sure it didn't miss anything. It was for real, she wanted to talk. He smiled lightly and went to bed, letter in hand.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Link made sure to get up before Anju or Kafei. The sun hadn't even fully risen yet and he already made breakfast. He left his gear on his bed and carefully left the inn. It had been a while since he had snuck out, but it was just like how he used to when he was fifteen and feeling a strange desire. To see Romani.

Getting a whiff of the morning air, Link set off for Milk Road and beyond. He didn't want to bring Epona along, as she had earned almost a lifetime of rest after working with him so much in Hyrule and going back to Termina.

Seeing the sights of Termina outside of Clock Town was nice. It'd been eons since he had gone to Romani Ranch. Last time he was ever there was the day Navi appeared, but even then it was only to make sure Romani got home safely.

Endless thoughts occupied Link's mind as he walked through Termina Field and to Milk Road. The Owl Statue was welcoming, and the distant sign advertising the Gorman Brother's was somewhat nice to see.

Link finally got in view of Romani Ranch. It looked lovely. He stopped just before passing the gate and gave himself a brief pep-talk.

"Alright, you've got this. She just wants to talk. You can do this." Link said out loud to himself.