Heyyyy, welcome back! This will be the last Gerudo Town chapter, so she gonna be long. MMm yayyy! In case I never said this the order for the Champion training order goes as follows: Gerudo Town, Rito Village, Goron City, a quick stop at the castle, then Zora's Domain, then they'll go back to Kakariko Village. (I'm most excited for Rito Village, honestly. It's one of my favorite places to be.)
~Paya's POV~
Paya sat up abruptly, rubbing sleep from her eyes. It's our last day in Gerudo Town. She wanted to make sure that her last day here would be the best one yet. Though, not much could be better than the time I spent with Riju. Link Pushed pen the door, creeping in quietly.
"Hey. Link." Paya greeted with a dull yawn. She brushed her bangs out of her eyes.
Link waved, "Good morning- er, afternoon, I suppose." He responded. He set down his bag, pulling out his Sheikah Slate.
"Afternoon?!" Paya screeched, jolting awake almost instantly.
"Yup, just finished up Marisol's last training session. She seems to be shaping up quite well. I'm sure Riju and the other Gerudo will be fine." Link replied with a shrug, sitting down at the desk. He pulled out a map, and began marking out a path for the pair of them to take.
Oh sweet Hylia, Riju sure will be furious when she finds out I slept so late. Hey- wait a second, did Link already give the gift to Marisol? Paya stared intently at the back of his head, wondering if she could detect changes in his aura, like Impa could. She couldn't.
"Link, did you already bestow the gift of the late Urbosa upon our new Champion?" Paya was certain he hadn't, seeing as it wasn't nightfall, and he would have woken her up if he was going to.
"No. I figured you'd want to see it, and Riju has been busy all morning, so I just decided to train with her and Naboris for a while. It'll be sunset in a few hours, which is when I'll give her Urbosa's Fury. Then we'll head out for Rito Village." Link didn't look up from his mapping, simply just explaining it all without turning.
"Are you going to miss having such a strong power on your side? It's helped you in many tasks thus far." Paya asked, standing up.
"I'll miss it, yeah. But Urbosa's spirit will always be with me, even if I don't carry her gift. I hope in passing each gift to each new Champion, they will be remembered as they deserve to be." Link responded, pausing, but still not looking away from his work.
Paya stretched, reaching down and touching her toes. Her fingers brushed over the Gerudo Sandals Riju had given her, and Paya teared up a little bit. In a few hours, she'd be leaving Gerudo town, possibly forever.
~~~
~Link's POV~
As the sun set, Link, Riju, Paya and Marisol made their way to Champion's Gate. Link was leading the group, striding ahead of them. He shook his golden hair from the ponytail holding it back, then returned it to it's prison. He was extremely nervous, seeing as he wasn't exactly sure how to properly hand over Urbosa's gift. Urbosa guide me. Link paused, staring at the gate ahead of them. He and Riju had decided this was the best place to give Marisol the gift, because of it's name.
"Link. You will know what to do when the time comes, as you always do." Urbosa's voice resonated in his ears. Her spirit appeared before him, smiling warmly. Riju gasped in shock, startled at seeing the former chief.
"Are you ready for this gift, child?" Urbosa said, addressing Marisol. Marisol nodded, too surprised to speak.
"If you are ready, then let the ceremony begin." Urbosa said, then gesturing for Link and Marisol to step forward. Link approached his old friend, Marisol following behind.
Link held both of his hands out in front of himself, ready to hand over Urbosa's Fury. He reached deep within his soul, grabbing the power from within. He held the golden orb in his hands for a few moments, staring intently, "Urbosa, this gift was given to me to help defeat Calamity Ganon. Now that it has assisted me in completing the task, I am ready to give the power to your successor, Marisol. Thank you for your guidance Urbosa. May your spirit find peace wherever it may roam."
Link thrust the orb in Marisol, watching as she doubled over to adjust to the pain. She grunted and stood up,"You mean to tell me that you had four of these in you?! That hurt so much, I can't imagine having it happen more than once..." She rubbed her stomach, where the orb had be absorbed into her form. Urbosa's spirit disappeared, as the sun finally sank below the sand.
~~~
~Riju's POV~ (Prepare for some quality angst :/ Feat. Riju,the queer woman)
As the gates of Gerudo Town came into sight , Riju recollected that in less then 8 hours, Paya and Link would be leaving. Forever. She froze, staring at the town that entrapped her. The town that held her captive, preventing her from following her heart. (Which was telling her to go with Paya) Sure, she loved her people, but sometimes she wished that her duty to them was not as confining. She had to give up the love of her life because her departure of the town was so unwelcome.
"Riju. Riju? Are you well? You look upset..."Paya asked, snapping Riju from her daze. Riju meant to say something like 'Oh, yes, I was just distracted' or anything really, but instead she started crying. Tears rolled down her cheeks, like the waterfalls of Zora's Domain. Paya looked startled for a second, surprised to see Riju cry.
Link trotted closer, seeing Riju and Paya stopped. Marisol had continued hobbling back to the town, not noticing the rest of the group stop. Paya flapped her arm at Link, gesturing for him to go away. He obliged, jogging to return to Marisol's side. Paya then pulled Riju into a soothing hug, wrapping her slender arms around Riju's waist.
"Paya, I'm just... I'm so sorry, really I didn't mean to start bawling, I just suppose I'll miss having you around," Riju sighed, burying her nose in Paya's shoulder, "You've been here for so long, I can barely remember what it's like not to have you both around. I can't imagine a world without you, Paya...." Riju's voice broke at the last sentence, bringing forth another round of tears.
"Oh, Riju..."Was all Paya said, holding Riju tightly. They stood together silently for a few moments, to give Riju time to clam down and stop crying. Goddess, she must think I'm pathetic.
"Riju, I've been trying not to think about leaving so much, because every time I do, I have to face the fact that I have to leave you. I can't bear the thought of a world without you either, Riju." Paya whispered softly, sounding as though she were on the verge of tears herself.
"I love her with all of my heart, so why must fate tear us apart?"
"Perhaps because fate is what brought us together, Riju," Paya responded, making Riju wonder if she had thought aloud, "And, for what it's worth, I love you too."
~~~
---
Brief note
So its like 1 am when I wrote that just up there, but uhM I'm crying really hard because this was really sad and mushy and gay and aghhhhhh I hate when I write good gay couples and then feel the need to ruin their happiness for the sake of the story :/ Hope I had some of you crying or at least a little emotionally moved by that whole ordeal.