(Y/N)'s soup bowl had long been emptied and left with the others to be cleaned later. Presently, they sat shoulder-to-shoulder with Link while they sharpened their sword. They unintentionally nudged him with every other movement, but neither minded much in favor of having alone time with one another. Link watched and occasionally offered advice when he remembered to, although his mind resided in a completely different time than the present. He was still stuck on what Groose had told him before, especially now that he had scored alone time with (Y/N).
After a few moments of considering whether or not he'd actually bring up his woes, he sighed and wet his unusually dry lips. "Hey, uh, (Y/N)?" Their gentle hum of recognition was just what he needed to push him forward a few steps. "I realized after you fell that... I never really told you or showed you how much you mean to me. I never said out loud how much I admire you for working so hard and being there for me and everyone else at Skyloft. At the same time, I would always bring Zelda up throughout our very few conversations and hang-outs. That must've been like a slap to the face."
"Every day, I would tell her how proud I am of you and how much I care for you. But, up until I thought I'd lost you forever, I was blind to the thought that you would've wanted to hear that too – probably more than anything else. For someone to finally say, 'I see you and I'm proud of you and I care.' I've wanted to apologize ever since I saw you standing there, in front of the temple. I should've been better to you, and I hope you can forgive me."
Finally, when he finished and was able to look them in the face, his heart squeezed at the sight of them. Their (e/c) eyes were blown wide with shock and fat tears streamed plentifully down their cheeks. More than anything, they wished that they could say something, but their vocal chords had been put under lock and key by the wave of emotions that slipped over them. Link carefully took the sword from their hands and placed it within its sheath before he gently gathered them up into his lap. Once within his snug embrace, they wrapped their legs around his waist and wept silent tears into his shoulder. While they shook against him, Link traced random patterns and apologies into the center of their back as he leaned against them. A few tears rolled down the slope of his cheeks as well -- he'd always hated making (Y/N) cry.
"You've always meant a lot to me and those feelings just get stronger by the day. We both grew up without seeing much of our parents and we were tossed between houses together, for the most part. I should have stayed by your side more often, there's not an excuse in the world I could give for abandoning you like I did," he murmured into their hair, smiling sadly as they audibly whimpered into his tunic. 'How long had they been waiting to hear that? How long had they silently suffered, pretending everything was okay when it wasn't?'
"I.. I pushed it down more often than I can count. I tried to tell myself that I was being unreasonable and childish. I couldn't keep food down for so long because of the stress. Owlan called me into his room and helped me get back on track with eating again, but I... I still couldn't tell anyone how I was feeling. It felt so selfish of me for wanting to put my feelings over anyone else's happiness or comfort," (Y/N) finally rasped between hiccups and sniffles, their voice slightly muffled by Link's shoulder. They didn't want to let go. "I've hated myself for how I've felt for years. I pressured myself to make sure I stayed the same strong, supportive, helpful, and tough (Y/N) as always so I could keep everyone from seeing how I truly felt behind the mask. I resented Zelda for all the praise she got and for how easy her life seemed, even though she and her father have always been nothing but kind to me. I resented her because you and Groose and everyone seemed to be looking at her, no matter what I'd do."
"Don't you dare blame yourself. Everyone, including me, just assumed it'd be enough to let you do your own thing because you seemed too busy for hang-outs and pleasantries. We let you bleed yourself dry for the academy and for us and we didn't do a damn thing about it. We thought 'it's okay' meant 'I don't want it', when it really meant 'I don't want to burden you'. We only expressed our worries at a surface level, but never pushed to make sure you were okay. We never wanted to think that maybe.. maybe you felt like you couldn't accept help after your parents left you to be passed from home to home – that you already felt like you owed and burdened everyone enough. I.. we.. should've been better for you." Hesitantly, his fingers clumsily traced another message on their back, something he'd keep quiet about for the sake of it not being the right time and for Groose's feelings. Unless, of course, they somehow recognized each letter he etched into their tunic-clad skin. 'I love you.'
--
For a while after their heartfelt conversation, Link and (Y/N) held one another mostly in silence, while the brunet occasionally whispered gentle affirmations and comforts only the other could hear. Eventually, the muscle cramps outweighed the desire to be glued together for a little longer and they sat back in their original positions, if not a little closer.
"I think.. it might be done," announced (Y/N) with a short sniffle, reaching behind them to retrieve their sword. Their gaze regarded their work warmly, and Link followed suit with a similarly enthusiastic grin.
"Y'know, I'm really surprised you never picked up sharpening swords when you were training with Eagus. You barely needed any help, and it was your first try," he chuckled playfully, watching their movements as they stowed it in the sheath once more, leaving both to lean against each other and the stone column behind them.
Just as they had nestled into Link's shoulder and closed their eyes, the door to Faron Woods noisily scraped open, revealing just the redhead (Y/N) had hoped to see. They scrambled from their spot, backside sore from sitting on the hard ground for so long, and made a running jump at a half-surprised Groose. Just before he was pounced on, he had turned and saw them coming, giving him just enough time to catch them in his burly arms. Link followed them over, albeit much slower, his arms pulled behind his head casually. His lips parted with an audible snicker of amusement as he watched (Y/N) somehow cling themself to the sizeable man without being able to wrap their arms fully around him.
"Hey, (N/N)," greeted Groose, followed by a yawn. The redhead looked exhausted and, upon closer inspection, he was minorly injured as well. Despite it being just a few scrapes and bruises, (Y/N) still scrutinized them like unwelcome visitors. "Hey, ease that angry little look, I'm fine. I finally caught up to Ghirahim and I helped him put a few more of those red assholes in line before he told me he'd take care of the rest. Now it's almost time for Groose to hit the sack." Infected with the contagious phenomenon, (Y/N) abruptly broke into a yawn as well, considerably more tired now that they'd eaten, worked on their sword, and cried.
"I was worried about you, you big doofus! I thought you'd be back sooner!" they pouted, blowing a raspberry at him, which he reciprocated. "Speaking of bed, did either of you have any extra blankets? It got pretty cold last night, and I had a pretty thick quilt from Grannie."
When Groose and Link's expressions morphed into grimaces, (Y/N) knew what their answer was. "Well, next trip to the sky means grabbing some comfy bedding, 'cause I know we'll be staying here for a while." With it not being a big deal to them, they shrugged it off and ran to grab the quilt Grannie had lent them, making sure not to disturb the old woman as she set up her own place to sleep for the night. Link and Groose laid out the thick camping blankets they'd bought from Beedle, both laying several feet apart from the other. (Y/N) set their quilt in between the two, hoping to be able to share their body heat, and rolled themself tightly inside.
Unfortunately, sleep did not come easy nor fast for (Y/N), in spite of their current exhaustion. Both Link and Groose were snoring peacefully on either side of them, just a little too far for them to feel any of their warmth. The frigid air outside kept the temple, especially the floors, absolutely freezing, leaving (Y/N) nearly chattering their teeth within their quilt bundle.
Part of them wanted to wake either Groose or Link and ask to sleep alongside them so they could have some rest, but the other half willed them to cope rather than bother the others. At the thought of asking either, they immediately felt the rustling of embarrassment within their gut. Finally, they came to the decision that it'd just be best to tighten the quilt cocoon around themselves and take what they could get.
--
As soon the light of morning filtered into the temple, (Y/N)'s eyes cracked open from their light doze, beating even the early-rising Grannie to the punch. Fortunately, the sun had warmed the temple substantially compared to that night, but they knew it'd be time to head out soon so they begrudgingly slid out from inside of the quilt wrap. Not even the sound of their aching, unhappy bones or their fatigued, lion-like yawn woke the two men at either side of their resting spot. They gathered their quilt quietly and trailed over to drape it over Grannie's small, snoring body. Since no one else was up yet, they figured they would take some form of a bath in one of the nearby pools of water to clean off the muck of the previous few days, hoping it wouldn't be too cold when they arrived.
To their surprise, the Faron Woods were quiet and not many monsters roamed the paths, aside from a few trivial Deku Babas and Octoroks. As soon as they reached the water beneath the tree Ghirahim had taken them to the day before, they kicked their boots off and unstrapped the sword from their back, before taking one last look around the woods to make sure they were monster-free. When they ensured the coast was clear, they removed their tunic and trousers, leaving only their undergarments. After all, being found skinny dipping wasn't something on their list of goals or desires for the time being. With a deep breath of preparation, they dove into the water, shocking their muscles and bones into a state of higher consciousness.
The surface of the water broke as (Y/N)'s head resurfaced, gasping for the air that the cool liquid squeezed from their lungs. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," they chanted, bouncing against the bed of the pool beneath their feet. It didn't take long for their body became used to the water, for a short while, they decided to sink in up to the backs of their ears and float peacefully whilst watching the clouds' slow race across the bright blue sky.
The small surface birds were singing with an ardor that was unheard of in the sky, where the their absence was made up for by the giant Loftwings. The Loftwing's call was nothing like their cheerful tunes. From here, (Y/N) could just barely sense their Loftwing flying above the cloud barrier, waiting for the moment its master returned to the sky. The bittersweet taste of worry and affection in their mouth mingled with the thought of how devastating it must have been for it to not have been able to save them from falling. Finally, as per what they came to do, (Y/N) once again submerged themselves and began to scrub away the tiredness and filth from their skin and hair with diligent fingers, ready to start the day fresh and anew after all the emotions and hardships that had been shed.
Stepping out from the water into the light breeze of the early day was regrettable, although (Y/N) knew they'd have to at some point, they had not anticipated the breeze would feel much chillier than before. They squeezed as much of the water as they could from their undergarments and hair at the water's edge before heading over to retrieve their belongings. They didn't bother putting their trousers back on, and instead slid their tattered tunic over their head to stay at least half-covered for the short trip back to the temple.
After a few minutes of walking barefoot down the trail, a short gust of cool air raced across their skin, prickling goosebumps over their arms and thighs in its wake. Without turning, they cracked a smile and continued walking along, a slightly noticeable beat forming in their step. "Hey, Ghirahim," they greeted softly with a chuckle, just in time for him to slide into their peripheral view with his usual smirk.
"Good morning to you, little dove. Did you miss me?" he humored slyly, breaking into a short, quiet laugh at their exaggerated eye-roll moments after.
"Of course I did! How did scouting all night go?"
"Absolutely dreadful. The Bokoblins no longer seem to follow my command after last night's incident, so I'm afraid I had to eliminate numerous in their attempts to harm me. No matter, though, the responsibility of commanding those pea-brains was ceaselessly infuriating. I'm quite glad to not have to communicate with them any longer." As always, his body language was very animated as he spoke, but he seemed to be much more alive than he had been before. "By the by, you look dreadfully dead on your feet. Did you not rest at all?"
"Not really. It was colder last night than it was the night before. Neither of the boys had an extra blanket, so I mostly cat-napped. We have to make a trip to Skyloft to drop off the tablet Link picked up in the Deep Woods Temple yesterday, so I'll pick up a better blanket when we get there."
When the two reached the temple doors, Ghirahim stepped past (Y/N) and pulled them ajar, gesturing them inside with his bare brow arched playfully. Presently, each of the temple's inhabitants were awake and preparing for the day in their varying ways, pausing only when they noticed Ghirahim and (Y/N) joining their presence.
Off to one side of the building, Link and Groose were taking apart their supply bags, counting out what they needed to get and so on before the next mission. Meanwhile, Grannie was peeling another fruit at her usual spot, her face crinkled more than usual while she concentrated on not slipping and cutting her shaky hands.
"Good morning, Grannie," chirped (Y/N) with a wave.
"Good morning, (Y/N). Thank you for leaving me the extra quilt, dear."
From where they sat, Link and Groose were not-so-subtly casting flustered glances at (Y/N). Their work was left on the back-burner as they switched back and forth between trying to focus, failing, and regarding (Y/N)'s figure with heart-heavy adoration and wonder. Neither had seemed to notice the other's gawking until they made eye contact after yet another half-attempt to continue the task at hand, both becoming even more flustered and trying to pretend they weren't just ogling their mutual best friend and crush.
On the other hand, Ghirahim had made an attempt to ignore the fact that they were pants-less in favor of having a dignified conversation and outward appearance, to which he flaunted by sending a smirk in the direction of the boys. Although he wouldn't admit it, he did rather fancy the way (Y/N) was confident enough to walk around freely in their own skin. As they trailed over to greet the two presently struggling men, Ghirahim expertly unfastened the ties of his cloak within seconds, allowing it to evaporate into the void for later usage. At the moment, he was more interested in figuring out what he was to do while the other three visited their village in the sky, assuming they'd likely want him to stay behind – not that he could fly anyhow.
"(N/N), didja not sleep at all last night?" Groose whispered to them, while Link and Ghirahim discussed the information Fi had given them so far.
"Not much, really," they admitted, grimacing, "I tried, I really did, but it just got too cold and I didn't wanna wake you or Link up."
At the sound of his name being mentioned, Link turned, head tilted questioningly. Groose quickly explained what (Y/N) had told him, and Link's expression became half-strict, with an obvious humor behind it . "Why didn't you wake us up? It's not like we would've lost out on sleep, we slept in more than Grannie did!"
(Y/N) couldn't help but giggle when Grannie's gentle voice piped up across the room, "It's true."
"Well, there's not much you could've done! You had one blanket each, and I'm not sure a bedtime story would've helped," they fussed back, not making any effort to hide the grin on their face.
"You could've asked to sleep with ol' Groose!" Groose pointed out.
"Or me," Link added. In spite of their previous considerations, their skin's temperature rose and their stomach filled with nauseated butterflies in response to their flustered condition.
"I don't know, I guess it's different now, in a way. Being adults and all.." They trailed off, prodding their index fingers together anxiously. They couldn't help but to avoid everyone's questioning gazes, opting to glue their eyes to their feet instead. Kismet's words from before echoed in their head, reminding them of unpacking their feelings, something they'd have to fit into their busy schedule of journeying to find Zelda. "It's not that I... don't want to, it's just.. I guess I thought it'd be weird for either of you to wake up to is all. Part of me just wanted to go outside and find Ghirahim, but he'd probably send me right back here."
Link and Groose shared brief look before returning to face (Y/N), who had went to fidgeting with their trousers, still not deeming themself dry enough to put them on again. Regardless of their friend's worried thoughts on the subject, neither thought it weird for (Y/N) to sleep by one or the other, even with their respective feelings for them taken into consideration. When they and Link moved between homes, they'd often sleep together to save space for whoever was housing them at the time. When Link stayed with Zelda and Headmaster Gaepora, (Y/N) would often be sleeping with Groose, as his mother could rarely find herself saying 'no' to her 'special little man'. They hadn't thought it was weird before until now, and all they could wonder was 'why?'.
Soon, the awkward silence was dispelled by Ghirahim clearing his throat, tossing everyone back into reality, where they had previously been planning the trip. "So, why can't Ghirahim just come with us? My Loftwing could carry him. It's not like he'll cause a major fuss up there anyway, since he'd be with us."
"I'll be good," humored the demon, flipping his hair out of his face.
"Then, what're we waitin' for?"
After the decision was made for everyone to ascend to the sky, Fi appeared from Link's sword, explaining how exactly they'd get there. Although it was sounded ridiculous, the group followed Link to the nearest bird statue and did what Fi had instructed them to do – they prayed to the Goddess to send them skyward, their separate 'sailcloths' at the ready. Just as she had told them, an amber-gold light appeared at their feet and burst high above their heads and into the clouds above. Suddenly, a strong gale sent them floating high into the air from beneath their feet. (Y/N)'s chest heaved and dropped as they became more and more distant from the ground and, to avoid getting sick, they switched to looking anywhere but down. On the other hand, Groose let out a short shout of surprise, kicking his legs vehemently as he held onto his old shirt for dear life. Ghirahim and Link were the calmest ones out of the four, both sporting mostly neutral expressions, save for the Ghirahim's slight look of wonder. In all his years of living, he had never once been this high in the sky.
When they finally got to just above the cloud barrier, the group stowed away their 'sailcloths' and called their birds, save for Ghirahim, who was surprised to feel (Y/N)'s hand slip into his. Within seconds, their birds lunged to retrieve them from the open air, and the demon himself was hoisted onto (Y/N)'s Loftwing behind them. During the whole ride, he was rather respectful of the way he held their waist, which did nothing to stop the burning of their cheeks that they decided to write off as windburn. As they all neared the plaza, they noticed Parrow walking off towards his home until he noticed their approach. One at a time, the four jumped off of their Loftwings – first was Link, then Groose, and lastly both Ghirahim and (Y/N).
Without wasting any time, Parrow jogged over to the four, beaming jovially at the sight of (Y/N) unharmed. "(Y/N)! It's good to see you all in one piece! What happened to you?"
"All of a sudden, I heard this really loud ringing sound and my head started throbbing. It got worse and worse until I just... passed out. I didn't have the cleanest fall, and I woke up the next day with more broken bones than I could count and I really did try. I'm only alive because of, well, him," they paused to beam up at Ghirahim, who had re-fastened his cloak and was standing proudly, as per usual. "This is Ghirahim. He's from the surface."
"Nice to meet you, Ghirahim. The name's Parrow. I'm sure the entirety of Skyloft will want to express their thanks to you for saving one of our best! Thanks for bringing them back safe!" He paused to place an encouraging hand on (Y/N)'s shoulder. "Anyways, Orielle will have my head on a stick if I don't have dinner ready soon. It's my turn tonight." With a quick wave goodbye, Parrow bolted off towards his and his sister's house. 'One of our best,' (Y/N) echoed silently, a hand moving to touch their chest as a wave of warmth began to swell inside it. The feeling of a slap on their back shocked them from their silent joy, but the bright beams of Groose, Ghirahim, and Link made it increase tenfold.
From here on, the first order of business was to find out where they would have to go to find Zelda next, which required a trip to the Statue of the Goddess above the academy. Thankfully, there was no one on the way to stop them, and they were able to make it in record time. While Link was setting up the tablet and speaking with Fi, the other three hung back and observed the previously hidden room around them.
In short terms, Fi informed the group that Zelda's whereabouts were traced to a location on the surface known as Eldin Volcano, and that a change in gear was in order. With all of their rupees combined, they purchased four brand new iron shields and Groose and Link's wooden shields were discarded back at the Item Check. Additionally, they all bought a potion each from Luv's potion shop. Once their shopping was finished, the three trudged back up the wooden steps to the Knight Academy for a visit to their rooms and to Headmaster Gaepora's office respectively.
As soon as they entered their room, (Y/N) quickly shed their dirtied clothes, amassing a small pile of garments in the hamper they'd woven for themself the year before entering the academy. They redressed in a fresh pair of undergarments and packed a few extra sets into their travel pack, before they turned to file thoughtfully through their wardrobe, tongue slightly peeking out from behind their lips. Tunics and trousers in an array of colors hung neatly within their small wooden closet just above several pairs of folded shorts and socks. Eventually, they settled on a (f/c) tunic and a matching pair of trousers.
Shortly after getting dressed, a knock resounded through the two-decade old wooden door, to which they jolted from their seat to answer. Stood behind the door was Link, who seemed rather hyped and ready to get a move on.
--
Despite his previous lack of faith in (Y/N)'s return, the Headmaster was overjoyed to see them doing just fine. He expressed this by knocking the wind out of them with just a few slaps to the back and a beam that lit up the room. However, his expression fell quickly into a pondering one, raising a hand to fiddle with his snow white facial hair. "So, where's my daughter? Is she safe?"
"That's what we came to talk to you about." It took what felt like forever for each piece of the prophecy to unfold, and to finally get to the point where they could disclose her next supposed location. All the while, Gaepora nodded along, taking in every piece of information with a stable sense of calm and patience.
"It sounds like you all have it under control. I'm putting my faith in you to bring Zelda back safe and sound, as well as each of yourselves. Skyloft would never be the same without you."