The next morning, Y/N awoke to the peaceful sound of birds chirping outside. It made a pleasant change from the previous morning, when she was awoken by cold water being poured over her head. However, as she looked around, Revali was nowhere in sight.
'Good morning Chima,' she called as she stretched her arms and legs.
'Good morning Y/N. How did you sleep?'
'Hmm... alright I guess. It took me a while to actually go to sleep though.'
'You were thinking about him, weren't you?' The Rito woman nodded in understanding.
'How did you know?'
'You were very restless last night.' Chima explained.
As if on cue, the door opened, revealing a blue bird carrying a hot steaming plate of food.
'Hey, Revali.' Y/N greeted him with a smile. He smiled back before walking over to her.
'Here, I made you breakfast. I figured you'd want to get off to a more positive start today.' He gently placed the plate down on her lap, which was still underneath a blanket.
'You didn't have to do this,' she said, before taking a mouthful of the delicious food. 'Mmmm... this is amazing.'
'So my cooking skills are just as good as my archery skills?' Revali asked smugly.
'I don't want to inflate your ego or anything, but yeah,' Y/N admitted. She couldn't hold back a smile at this point.
'I expected nothing less. Anyway, I have a suggestion for today's training plan.'
'Oh? Do tell.'
'I am taking you to my flight range.' He announced, emphasising the word 'my'.
'What are we going to do there?'
'You'll find out once you've finished your breakfast. Now eat up, you'll need the energy today.'
~~~~
After Y/N had finished her top class breakfast, Revali took her to his landing.
'You've got a landing named after you too?'
'Yep.' He said proudly. 'I'm surprised the entire village isn't named after me at this point. Maybe I should make that my next request.'
'Here we go again. You never change, do you?' She rolled her eyes at him.
'Certainly not, my dear. But you wouldn't want me to, would you?' The last part of the sentence was quieter.
'Well I guess you'd be boring if you were like Link,'
This caused him to burst out laughing. 'But of course! That little knight has no charisma whatsoever!'
'Well he's a good fighter, you've got to admit.'
Revali's expression suddenly turned to a scowl as he leaned in close to her ear. 'Don't push it, little bird.'
'What did you say?'
'Nevermind. Now once again you have the pleasure of riding on my back. So quit gawking over me and get on.' He winked once again.
~~~~
The two spent most of the day at the flight range. Revali figured that good archery skills were essential if Y/N was to go up against monsters. She wasn't too bad to begin with; she had received top class training from her father in her younger years, however, the way Revali taught her provided a different spin on it altogether. In fact, just being with Revali enabled Y/N to see everything with a different perspective, including herself.
'Fantastic! But still not as fantastic at me! Keep going!' He called from up above. She laughed to herself as she stood back on solid ground, watching him soar. 'Haha, what an idiot,' she mumbled to herself before readying her bow once again. As she fired, she watched in suspense as the bomb arrow hit the centre of a far away target right in the bullseye, thus destroying the target.
'YAYYYY!' She exclaimed. Revali swooped down to inspect her work.
'Impressive. Now stay here, I want to show you something. And stand back.'
'Why?' She asked in confusion.
'I want to show you something I created before the calamity. If you're not already head over heels for me, which I think you are, you sure will be after witnessing this.'
She wanted to sass him back again, but this time she just obeyed and stood back as she eerily watched the bird crouch on the ground before splaying out his wings.
He grunted as the updraft appeared beneath his very being. She could only gaze in awe as it sent him flying into the air, almost out of her sight completely. He sped around the range like a rocket, destroying every target in sight, with one Big Bang after another. When he finally landed in front of her, he took a bow, and looked at her with anticipation.
'That was...'
'Impressive, I know. Very few can achieve a mastery of the sky.'
'It was fine...' she shrugged nonchalantly, knowing this would irritate him.
'Hey!' He snapped.
'Okay it was amazing. It was the most graceful thing I've ever seen.' The girl admitted. This, once again, restored Revali's infamous smirk.
'Hold on I'm not done yet!' Revali interrupted her. She eyed him in confusion before he bent down. 'Get on. I'm going to show you how it feels for yourself.'
Hesitantly, she climbed onto his back. 'But what if I fall off in the updraft?'
He laughed. 'There's a reason why you're told to cling to me, baby. Now hurry up, don't keep me waiting!'
She climbed onto his back, and clung to him, just like she was instructed. Only this time, she buried her head in his neck feathers, quickly warming up to him. Without another word, he took off into the sky, the updraft propelling them both upwards of about 500 feet. Without realising, she began to rub her face against the top of his spine, greatly enjoying how soft he was to the touch. She finally gained the courage to look up and survey their new surroundings. Everything seemed so tiny from up above.
The sense of freedom was overwhelming. There was nobody up here to bother her. She wanted to stay like this forever with him. But of course, he eventually soared down back to the landing spot in the flight range. Not wanting to outstay her Welcome, she climbed off of his back. He looked at her, awaiting her feedback.
'This is the best day of my life.' She suddenly said. She instantly regretted it. Was that too forward? She thought. She then anticipated some self-absorbed, snarky comment from the bird, filled with sarcastic teasing. But instead, he opened his beak and said two simple yet honest words:
'I'm glad.'
She smiled towards him, and he gestured for her to walk into the hut. As she did so, he placed his wing around her and began to walk alongside her. They eventually sat down opposite the cooking pot, where he lit the fire to keep them both warm. He then retrieved two pillows from the corner of the small room, and offered one to her before sitting on the other one himself. He placed the pillows strategically close to one another.
'Y/N?' Revali suddenly broke the comfortable silence.
'Hmmm?' She hummed in response.
'Even if this whole thing with the power doesn't work out... I'm glad you got the chance to come here.'
'Oh really? Why is that?' She eyed him.
'So you could experience what you've always dreamed about. I've seen how excited you become whenever I mention flying. It's your one passion in life, right?'
'How do you know?'
'Well... it's obvious from the way your face lights up whenever I invite you onto my back. Unless... there's another reason?' His smugness came back.
'Nope. No other reason whatsoever, I just really love flying.' She decided not to give him the satisfaction that his ego so desperately desired. 'I used to think being a bird must be easy. If you ever have a problem you can just escape using your wings. People can't do that, we're forced to face our problems head-on. But then I met you, and my perception changed. I realised that we humans aren't the only ones with problems. And no matter how much you try to run - or fly - away from them, your insecurities will always be there at the back of your mind.'
'Mine often come to the surface.' Revali admitted. 'I often get carried away with my bitterness, especially towards Link and people who have outdone me. I just want to be the best at everything. Only then will I like myself. I feel like if I'm not the hero who saves the world, I have no other good qualities.'
'Well that's not true! You've got tons of good qualities,' Y/N reassured him, sensing his vulnerability. 'There's plenty to like about you. You are really, REALLY talented. That updraft that you created gave me a feeling I've never felt before. Something I could never have imagined back in Zeranda. Sometimes I felt like I was trapped with no sense of freedom, but you've come and broke my chains.'
'So I'm your handsome prince, eh?' Revali asked jokingly.
'Well you aren't technically a prince, but yeah I suppose you're handsome, as far as birds go,'
'And I suppose you're pretty, as far as people go,' he replied.
She giggled playfully before shuffling closer to him. His wing snuck around her waist, and gave her a little squeeze as her face inched closer to his....