Love's Many Forms

Desperate Times

This is less of a love story, especially at first. But I promise that it's there. This is kind of dark though....

This is Part 1 of 4. It's a REALLY long one-shot. REALLY long. And REALLY dark. Enjoy!

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On the night that peace ended, a woman ran away from her hometown of Ordon. In her arms, a baby boy silently watched her with wide eyes.

The woman ran all night across the uneven plains of Hyrule Field. When she at last reached Kakariko, she paused at the gates. When silence reigned throughout the village, she knew it was safe to enter.

She walked to her friend's door and knocked twice. A moment later, a large woman appeared in the doorframe. Seeing her friend's desperation, she opened the door wider to let her in.

"Uli, what is wrong?" The larger woman asks, pulling a chair up for the exhausted woman.

"They're killing all of the infant boys three years and younger, Telma." Uli explains. "I didn't know where else to go. If they were to kill him..." She says, looking down at the boy in her arms.

"What do you need me to do?" Telma asks, not even questioning the danger. Uli had been her friend for years. Even after they married men from different towns, they had kept in touch.

"The people in Ordon know that I have a son. So I can't come back with a daughter. But you..."

"You want me to keep him, and act like he's my daughter?" Telma asks, surprised at the lengths her friend will go to. "The people in this town know that I haven't been pregnant. Besides, he is big enough that he won't pass for a newborn."

Uli looks down as the baby starts crying. She shushes him, a look of love on her face. "I have to do something, Telma."

"...We can move to another village." Telma suggests. "That way no one asks any questions. I'll raise him...her...as my own. And when she's old enough, I'll tell her the full story."

Uli's eyes fill with tears. "Thank you, Telma. Bless you."

The precious baby is passed from the arms of his birth mother to his new adoptive mother. "I love you, my baby boy." Uli says, bending down to kiss his forehead. She looks into his innocent blue eyes, her own full of guilt. "Never forget."

She turns to leave, pausing by the door. "I wish I had something to give you, Telma. Thank you for this."

"Just make sure to visit. I'll send a letter once we are settled. That way you can see her." Telma offers, already struggling to switch pronouns.

Uli shakes her head sadly. "I don't think I will get that chance. I'm just glad that he is safe. Take care, Telma."

As the door shuts and her shock subsides, Telma rushes out into the night, calling out for her friend.

But Uli is gone.

Two days later, Gannon's soldiers found the missing woman in her home back in Ordon. They found evidence of a baby, but could not find him.

"What did you do to your child? Who has him?" The captain asked.

Uli, who had managed to make herself seem crazed, replied "You won't find him. I wasn't going to let you win by killing him. So I killed him instead. He's buried out in Hyrule Field."

The captain sneered. "She's lost her mind! Take her to the work camps!"

After four months of hard labor, Uli died in the camp nearest to Castle Town. She was one of 132 people to die that month.