#sotf28

[katedoesfics]

Shadows of the Future | Chapter 28

Five years later...

His tongue was sticking out the corner of his mouth just slightly as Link concentrated on his coloring. Crayons were scattered over the kitchen table along with various pieces of paper. Some already had doodles on them, while others remained blank and waiting for his imagination to make them come to life. His current drawing used a lot of purple and blue crayons with the exception of a stick figure done in green. The legs of the little man he created were brown, and he sported a green pointy hat of sorts.

Link paused for a moment to admire the drawing so far. He drew a sword coming out of the man’s hand. At the top of the page was a purple ghost-like shape near a shakily drawn sun. It’s yellow rays stretched nearly half way across the page. He looked up as his mother moved about the kitchen, humming to herself.

“Mum,” he said. “Are we havin’ lunch now?”

His mother smiled at him over her shoulder. “Are you hungry, kiddo?”

He nodded and craned his neck to see what she was making. “I want what you’re having.”

“I dunno if you’ll like it,” she said. “Daddy thinks it’s weird.”

“What is it?”

“Peanut butter and banana sandwiches,” his father said as he rounded the corner into the kitchen. He grinned over at his wife. “Please don’t corrupt my son.”

She rolled her eyes at him. Rusl wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek and she giggled. “He can eat whatever he wants,” she said.

“I wanna try it!”

Rusl groaned and pulled away from his wife. “I’ve lost him,” he said, shaking his head. “He’s gone. My son is gone.”

“Stop being so melodramatic,” she said with a grin. She prepared a second sandwich and brought it over to Link. Rusl promptly sat across from him and put his chin in his hands, watching Link as he inspected the sandwich.

Link turned his gaze to his father and smiled. “Do you want half?”

Rusl made a look of disgust. “No, thanks,” he said. “I eat normal food.”

Link grinned and took a bite of the sandwich. He chewed thoughtfully for a moment, swallowed, and smiled. “I like it!” he declared.

Rusl turned to his wife as she sat between them. “I’d like another one,” he said. “And this time you can’t partake in the parenting. I’m raising it right.”

She smiled at her husband as she took a bite of her lunch. “That kid would be so dysfunctional,” she said. “You can’t be trusted to raise a kid by yourself.”

“Touche,” Rusl said. “I guess it’s a good thing I don’t have to.”

“Thank the Goddesses.” She stuck her tongue out at him.

Link finished his lunch, then quickly returned to his coloring, humming the same song his mother was humming earlier. Rusl’s brows furrowed as he watched his son.

“What’s that?” he asked, pointing to Link’s drawing.

“I dunno,” he said with a shrug. He pointed to the stick figure in green. “That’s the hero!”

Rusl frowned. “The hero?”

“Yeah, he was in my dream.” He stood up and thrust a fist in the air. “He’s so awesome!”

“I see,” Rusl said slowly. “What’s that?” He pointed to the purple figure in the sky.

“That’s his sword!”

“Isn’t that his sword?” Rusl pointed to the stick in the hero’s hand.

“Well, yeah,” Link said as if it were obvious. “But, that’s the sword for real. Her name is Fi.”

Rusl stood abruptly, now looking angry. Link frowned.

“What’s wrong, Daddy?”

“Can’t you draw something else?”

“Rusl,” his wife warned.

“He’s a damn kid,” Rusl hissed. “He doesn’t understand.”

“Exactly,” she reminded him casually. “He doesn’t understand. Let him be.”

Rusl’s face softened, but he still looked sad.

“I’m sorry, Daddy,” Link said softly. He dropped his crayon and looked down at his drawing, unsure of what had made his father so upset.

Rusl sat down once more, moving closer to his son. He put his chin in his hand as he regarded the drawing. “It’s cool,” he said, dismissing his son’s apology. He sighed. “So, the hero. He wins, right?”

“Yeah,” Link said in an obvious tone. “The hero always wins.”

“Well, that’s good,” his father said with a nod. He brushed his hand through Link’s hair, messing it up. But Link wasn’t bothered by this. He smiled up at his father.

“Sometimes,” Link started, “the hero is you. And I want to be just like that. Do you think I could be?”

Rusl blinked down at his son. “I dunno,” he said slowly. “I am pretty freaking awesome.”

Link giggled. “Daddy, you’re weird.”

“And you take after me.”

“Does that mean I’m weird, too?”

Rusl nodded. “Definitely. But also awesome. Probably.”

“Yeah,” Link said with a nod. “Probably, huh?”

His mother laughed and stood, shaking her head. “You’re definitely not raising number two by yourself.”

Rusl’s brows furrowed. “Is that a thing?” he asked carefully. “A definite thing?”

“Maybe someday,” she said cryptically.

“Ah,” Rusl said. “I guess I’ll need to start trying harder.”

“Don’t get any ideas,” she said over her shoulder as she cleaned the kitchen counter.

“Link needs a friend.”

“He has friends.”

“If we have another boy,” he started. “We could call him Rusl Junior, obviously.”

“What if we had a girl?” she asked, cutting him off from his fantasy.

Rusl frowned. “What if she got knocked up?” He turned to his son. “If you have a sister, you’ll beat up all the guys she dates, right?”

Link looked up from his coloring. “What about the girls?”

“Well, you can’t beat up a girl.”

“Then I’ll tell her she can date girls,” Link said.

“No, wait,” Rusl said. “She can’t date anyone. You gotta protect her forever.”

Link frowned. “I dunno,” he said warily. “That sounds like a lot of ‘sponsabilities.”

“He is totally your son,” his mother said with a grin.

“Was there any doubt?” Rusl said, narrowing his gaze on his wife.

“Well, there was that one other guy,” she said teasingly, turning her back on him. She paid him no mind when he got up, but giggled as he wrapped his arms around her and spun her briefly around the room. When her feet were back on the ground, she turned to him and kissed him lovingly.

“You’re a terrible liar,” Rusl said.

“I know,” she said with a grin. “So, number two, then?”

Rusl raised a brow. “Number two?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “Think you could handle that?”

“I dunno,” he said with a smile. “Sounds like a lot of responsibility. Are you sure you wanna take that chance?”

“I think I did pretty good with the two guys I’ve got now. Why not add another to this crazy mix?”

“Don’t worry, Daddy,” Link said from the table. “I’ll help you with all the stuff you gotta do for little kids.”

“You are a little kid,” Rusl said to his son.

“Yeah, but I’ll be older, so I know all the stuff that kids should know.”

“That makes complete sense,” Rusl said with a nod. “I have faith you’ll do a better job than me.”

Link smiled at his father. “We can do it together.”

Uli kissed his head as she passed him, then disappeared around the corner and up the stairs. Rusl kept his gaze on his son as he colored, humming to himself. He didn’t want to bring the subject up again, especially when Link wouldn’t understand. Still, it seemed he was aware of more than he realized, and Rusl was curious as to what his son knew about his destiny.

“So, you’re gonna be a hero when you grow up?” Rusl said.

Link nodded. “Uh huh. Just like you.”

“Like me?”

Link stopped coloring and smiled up at his father. “Yeah. I want to be just like you.”

“Oh.” He hesitated. “What else do you want to be?”

Link’s gaze met his quizzically. “Huh?”

“You know,” Rusl started. “Sometimes you need to do two jobs. Hero work doesn’t always pay the bills, you know. Sometimes you need a back-up plan. A plan B.”

Link considered this for a moment. “Or a plan C, or plan D, or plan E?”

“Even a plan Z.”

Link giggled. “Dad,” he said. “If you need a plan Z, you’re a really bad hero.”

Rusl smiled. “Maybe,” he said softly. “So, what’s your plan B?”

Link shrugged. “I dunno,” he said. “I didn’t think of that.” He paused for a moment, then

met his father’s gaze. “Do you have a plan B?”

Rusl hesitated. “No,” he said. “I didn’t.”

“Dad?”

“Yeah, Dude?”

“Heroes are cool, right?”

“Yeah, sure. Super cool.”

“Then how come you’re always sad when we talk about them?”

Rusl shrugged. “I’m not.” He paused. “I just didn’t want to be a hero.”

“Oh.”

Rusl looked down at his son and offered a smile. “You can be whatever you want to be,

you know.”

“I know,” Link said with a nod. “But I want to be a hero. And then when I am, you don’t have to be anymore.” He smiled at his father.

Rusl ran his hand through his son’s hair, then kissed his head. “You know I love you, right?”

Link giggled. “Yeah, I know. I love you, too, Daddy.”

“Promise? No matter what?”

“Yeah,” Link said. He crossed his heart and stuck out his pinky. “Promise.”