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the first time Zelda wakes Link up
"Link?"
Her hushed but urgent voice comes through the propped-up window, along with a head of sunny blonde hair. It temporarily blocks out the shaft of light that's been moving across his room for the last few days.
"Liiiink."
He doesn't answer. Instead, he tucks his head beneath his pillow and blankets, and so Zelda starts shimmying between the wooden panel and the window because she's stubborn that way. She lands on the ground with a thud, and one blue eye peeks out beneath his make-do fort.
"Papa says to leave you alone," Zelda tells him as she's brushing off her knees. Then she stands up straight and puts her hands on her hips. "But you were alone all week. You need a friend, I think."
Another eye peeks out and the blanket inches off his face.
Her papa, the Headmaster, has been really good to Link so far. When he heard what happened, he ran over and all but carried Link back to the academy. He gave him a really nice room of his own with a really comfy bed and lots of stuff just for him.
But Link brought his own pillow because he wanted something from home, and he didn't let it go for the whole walk or even for the whole week.
Every day, the Headmaster comes to check on him, and Henya brings him food from the cafeteria. But Link usually eats only a bite or swallows just a spoonful, and every day, Henya gives him an earful when she comes back and collects a full tray.
Zelda is the first friend who's come to see him. Not that he doesn't consider the Headmaster or the chef his friends or anything, but Zelda somehow always knows what to say or do, even before Link figures it out for himself. Maybe he can't say for sure because he doesn't have a lot of friends to begin with, but Link thinks that she's the best kind of friend a person can have.
When Zelda leans over to one side, she's looking at him sideways and her blonde hair almost touches the floor.
"You don't want to be alone, do you?"
It's not that Link wants to be alone. It's just that he doesn't want anything at all.
Or maybe, actually, he does want something, and that's for his parents to be there. But they're gone and they're not coming back – they can't come back, and maybe he should just be alone instead.
Link doesn't say this. He won't say this because Zelda's just being nice. She's always nice. And he wants to be nice to her too, but he doesn't feel like he can right now, so instead he stays quiet.
"Well, you shouldn't be alone, anyway."
She marches over the carpet and he tucks his legs really quickly right before she can plop herself onto them. When she sits on the end of his bed, Link sits up, wiping the wet streaks on his cheeks with the back of his hands, and faces her.
"Do you wanna go for a walk?"
He shakes his head.
"Do you wanna play a game?"
He shakes his head again.
"Do you wanna talk?"
He pauses for a moment before he shakes it once more, this time a little hesitantly.
Her lips twitch and Zelda nods sagely, in a kind of way that's too wise for her age. "Fine then. I'll talk, you listen." He doesn't protest that, at least, so she must take that as encouragement.
"I lost my mama, too. It's just me and Papa. I don't remember her much. Sometimes I wish I did, but sometimes I think that would make me sadder.
"But you lost both your mama and papa, and you must remember them lots. It must be very hard. It was hard for me. I mean, I know it's not the same but-"
"It is," Link cuts in, and her head whips to him. It's the first time he's said something in a long time. It sounds kind of like he's sick, his voice quiet and raspy, but he's speaking. It's a start. "I mean…you lost someone too. I'm sorry."
Her lip tremors. It looks like she wants to smile or maybe cry. The thought makes his tummy twist. Instead, she just nods. "Yeah."
"Are you okay?"
"Yes. I just - I'm worried about you." She smiles this time, and the way it brightens her entire face makes his chest feel somehow less tight and gross. "But you know what? You're really brave."
Somehow, for the first time in a while, Link feels okay enough to smile. All week, he's felt nothing but tired and sad. But when Zelda came in, it was like she brought the sunshine with her.
With a firm nod, she suddenly decides, "I think you and me will be okay."
Something in his heart tells him Zelda's right.
the day of the Wing Ceremony
For a moment, there's nothing but darkness – darkness that's become too familiar for his liking. He's been here before, and the same loneliness that always accompanies it prevails.
A low tremor rumbles beneath his feet before building and building, then bursts forth altogether. A familiar beast emerges, dark like the night and scaly like some sort of reptilian monster.
Link doesn't know why he would be familiar, or why, for some reason, he knows distinctly it is in fact a he and not just some nameless, heinous creature. But he is and he does.
There's a flash of white light and he instinctively blocks his eyes with an arm. A voice that does not match the beast – and is definitely not Link's voice – accompanies the light, and for some strange reason, he's sure it's someone safe.
It sounds mechanical, almost, so precise and monotone that it – she couldn't be a human, but she's urgent and she's telling him about some sort of quest. He can't help but feel like he's seen and heard all of this before.
A squawk shakes the earth and – no, that's not right. That's definitely out of place.
Link stops, whirls around, and –
His back hits the floor with a resounding thud.
A golden beak sticks through his window and black beady eyes stare down at him in an almost judgmental way. Zelda's Loftwing cocks its head before spitting a letter at Link with full force and the wooden panel slams shut upon its departure.
Really, Link should expect this by now.
Rubbing the back of his head, he picks up the letter and pushes himself to his feet. If Zelda's choice of messenger didn't give away her identity, then he'd know by her signature seal and the floral scent of the envelope. It smells so much like her, it's like she's in his room.
Link feels a smile creeping on his lips as he reads its contents. Even on such a special day like today, Zelda's found a way to wake him up. She's been preparing for the Wing Ceremony all month, at least, and he's sure she's busy even now. She's been sewing and singing and rehearsing, and she gets excited every time she speaks about it, and it makes him excited too.
By the time he's done reading, the smile has taken over his face and he starts to make his way out the door.
Link didn't know it then, but that would be the last time Zelda woke him up for a while.
the first time they sleep together
Golden light is pouring through the foliage on the roof. It filters through his closed lids, and so he scrunches his eyes closed with a tired groan. Really, Link thinks the sun should rise an hour later. Morning light is nearly as insistent on waking him up as a certain someone.
He hears a faint giggle. Speak of the goddess.
Link frowns because he knows Zelda's made her way over to his side of the Tree of Life and she's going to make him get -
She throws a leg over his lap and Link stiffens. His eyes flash open. Zelda's right there.
Casually wrapped in a sheet - nothing but a sheet - she sits astride him. Her blonde hair is messy and gleams like melted gold in the daylight. He's not breathing – his breath lodged itself somewhere in his chest the moment he first opened his eyes.
"I hope you didn't think I'd let you sleep in today just 'cause I kept you up all night."
Heat floods his face. He expels a rather big puff of air.
"Don't tell me you forgot."
"No -" he says quickly, and then his mouth clamps shut.
But moments later, his face softens. He does remember – he remembers everything. Last night was probably the most amazing night of his life. He was able to hold Zelda and kiss her and be closer to her than ever before. He almost can't believe it really happened.
Link puts his hands on her waist because he has this inane need to touch her, and he's not sure where else he ought to put them. It makes her smile, so he finds himself smiling back. Zelda's really good at making him smile.
She sweeps her hair over one shoulder and dips her head, and she kisses him. It's languid and lazy, but there's something about it that makes his stomach flip.
Without even thinking, his hands slide down her thighs. They're partially uncovered by the sheet, and they're so soft and she's so warm, and Link feels himself really waking up. Zelda makes a contented sound against him, so he thinks he must be doing something right. She plants one hand on the mossy ground beside him and the other on his shoulder.
After many lazy kisses, her tongue slides across the seam of his lips and he welcomes it. For a while, there's nothing but Zelda and her lips and her thighs and sunlight. When she draws back, he nearly whines, but she doesn't go far at all.
"Hold me," she whispers, somewhere between a request and a command, but Link has no complaints.
One of his hands cards through her hair, which is also so soft, and cradles the back of her head. Link pulls her closer and leans her forehead against his own. "I love you," he murmurs. It's not the first time he's said it and it won't be the last.
Zelda breathes out the most joyous laugh and it comes with the brightest smile. "Prove it," she dares.
And so he does.
the one time Link wakes up first
"Zelda."
She turns over, swinging an arm onto Link's side of the bed.
It's still strangely new for them to share a bed. But Zelda's father didn't feel right about them staying in the Sealed Temple and sleeping on mossy stone floors, and he was right. They were kind of used to treating it like a home and always returning to it in between explorations of the surface.
But really, since they're staying here indefinitely, it's probably good to have a house. The villagers were gracious enough to build them a small home that resembles the ones up in Skyloft, and though they built two bedrooms, the couple was quick to make use of just one.
Zelda expects her arm to fall over Link so that she can cuddle up to him, and she frowns when it lands flat on the mattress instead. She can hear his laugh, beautiful and fleeting like windchimes, but it comes from the opposite side of her.
She turns over again and her eyes peek open, and Zelda instantly finds Link's figure very much perpendicular to her. Her brows furrow before her eyes properly open, and even then, she has to rub her eyes and blink a few times before she can actually see.
And when she does, Zelda thinks she's still dreaming. She must be dreaming.
Not only because Link is sitting there at her bedside, very much awake at what must be the crack of dawn. But because he's holding a ring box and there's a very beautiful ring cushioned within.
Zelda jolts upright and her breath is sucked from her chest. Then she finds she can't move another inch.
His beautiful blue eyes are looking up at her with utter devotion – the kind he reserves just for Zelda, not even for the goddess within her that might actually seek devotion - and maybe even a hint of nerves.
"We've been making promises all our lives," he starts, and by the second word, his voice already starts to quiver, "and right now I'm going to make some more."
Zelda wants to nod or smile or really do anything that shows that she's listening to his every word, but she really can't move. She hopes he can see in her eyes how enraptured she is.
"I promise to always be your best friend," he says. "I promise to protect you and take care of you and to hold your hand.
"I promise to build the family you've always wanted and to be a good father to our kids. I know that I'll love them so much because you'll be their mother.
"But mostly I promise that I will never stop making promises to you, and I will do whatever I can to keep them. All I ask is that you'll marry me."
Of the two of them, he's the quiet one, and yet when he chooses to speak, he manages to make Zelda speechless.
Her hands are on her rosy cheeks and tears blur her vision, and she's trying but failing to hold them back. They start to roll down her cheeks, unbidden, and it makes Link's tears start to fall. A sort of breathy laugh bubbles out of him.
"Link," Zelda says raspily, and a hiccup of a sob escapes her. "Tell me I'm awake. Tell me I'm not dreaming right now."
He swallows and nods, his eyes watery and brilliantly blue. "You're awake," Link whispers. "You're here with me."
Zelda starts laughing, and she thinks she must look pretty ridiculous crying and laughing, but Link's doing the same and he looks so beautiful. She leaps out of bed and topples him, and he grunts as he's knocked to the ground, but he's still laughing.
Her legs are still tangled in the sheets, so she inadvertently drags them down with her. Link tugs at a coverlet and throws it upwards, and it falls over them slowly and breezily like a feather. In the pocket of space, they're tucked away from the rest of the world; even tawny morning light just barely seeps through.
Zelda leans in to kiss him, but their lips are salty from their tears, and it keeps getting interrupted by one or both of them laughing, and so eventually she draws back.
Love is alight in her eyes and they're locked onto his. "I promise," she murmurs. Link takes a trembling breath. "I will marry you."
With endearment in his eyes, Link tucks a lock of hair behind her pointed ear. Then his hand sweeps back and cups her face, his thumb idly stroking her cheek and wiping away any stray tears.
As he pulls Zelda in to capture her lips once more, he thinks back to the first time she woke him up and how right she'd been back then. They'll be okay.
Zelda was always the wise one, after all.