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Zelda had read many books, throughout her life. Most of them were either Loftwing care or crafting, but there were a few romantic novels that she, she would admit, have taken out of the library often. So often, in fact, that they now sat on her bookshelf, well loved and worn.
She loved every single one of the novels- she could recite more than half of her collection from memory. However, there was always one book she had a special connection to- a fictionalized account of the Goddess and the First Hero. The first time she had read it, she didn't even have her Loftwing yet. It was one of the books she had completely engraved into her memory, but she just felt so happy reading it again and again, the words her dearest friends.
Her favorite part of the book, by far, was when the Goddess Hylia and the First Hero met again, after the Hero had been gone for years and years. Hylia could see him coming from the windows of her temple; the tears of her joy fell onto birds bathing below, which sprouted into Loftwings. The Hero arrived in her temple, where he saw the Loftwings flying around the Goddess, the birds whistling happily. The Goddess and the Hero then exchanged clever words of wit, embracing only after the Hero couldn't find anything else to say.
Zelda adored that part. Not only the lovely scene of the Loftwings flying around the Goddess; but the words the two used, wittily telling each other their love. It always made Zelda's heart so warm; she could never not have a smile on her face at the end of the tale. The words were like precious jewels falling out of her mouth whenever she would read it aloud, either to Link or the children of Skyloft.
She always had a little wish to have that sort of moment with Link. Even before they realized the truth of who they were; she would always practice in the mirror, trying to make herself sound as Goddess-y as she could. Link's mutism didn't mean anything to her; he could sign the words of the First Hero.
However, all wittiness and clever words left her mind once she saw Link again. He hadn't even been gone that long- only ten weeks, this time. But he had vanished, not even able to tell Zelda before he was gone. It was somehow worse than before. He was her boyfriend, now, and she hadn't been in danger. He just… poof'ed. Gone. Away. Even his letters, which were all ten pages long, did next to nothing to ease the worry in her mind.
But now? Now he was back, and she could feel her brain stop working.
She scrambled away from the flowers she was attending, staring at him. He looked… different. His hair was a little longer, and he no longer wore the (ugly) green nightcap he had before. He had a cape, her heart jumping and shocking her out of her paralysis once she recognized the sigel it sported as he turned around to talk to someone.
It was the sailcloth she made for him.
She stood, her legs nearly giving out. She caught herself quickly on an extended part of the fence, propelling herself forward into a run as she cried out his name.
"Link!" She saw him spin around, and he began to run towards her. They crashed into each other, the force of them meeting making them lose their balance. Zelda wrapped her arms around the back of Links' neck, the boy breaking most of her fall. Her elbow burst into pain once she hit the ground- however, Zelda couldn't bring herself to care. She nuzzled into his neck, his arms wrapped around her waist.
He kissed her cheek. She retaliated by lifting her head up, landing a kiss right on his lips. Their noses were in the way, and their awkward position didn't make anything better. But, it had been so long. She didn't care if her neck ached at the angle she had it craned at, or the fact that she was tasting some salt. He was back.
"I missed you," she whispered, pressing kisses all over his freckled cheeks and the tip of his nose. He was smiling up at her, getting his own kisses in whenever he could. His arms tightened around her waist as he tried to sit up, Zelda helping a little by pushing her hand against the ground.
Once they were sitting up, Zelda cupped his cheeks, his cheeks flush and warm.
"I love you," she said, her voice cracking as she realized that her face was wet. One of Link's hands pressed against her own cheek, his grin still big but his eyebrows knit together in worry.
"Don't cry," he said (!!!), swiping under her eye with his thumb. "I love you, too!"
They kissed again, this one slower and sweeter. Zelda then heard a cough beside her, Link's head following her a bit of distance as she pulled away.
She then noticed that there were other, unrecognizable boys watching them, all grinning. She felt her stomach drop in embarrassment, and she scooted a little closer to Link as she felt her cheeks blush even pinker.
"I can assume this is the infamous Sunny?" One asked, his voice teasing. Link shifted around, his arms going around Zelda's waist again, this time with her back pressed against his chest. He pulled her up like that, the two of them standing.
"Yes," he said, pressing a kiss to Zelda's cheek. A boy with a blue version of Link's ugly nightcap made a gagging noise, cutting himself off with a yelp as a short boy with a quad-colored tunic stomped on his foot. "This is my Sunny." She shyly waved up at all of them. "Zelda, these are the other Links!"
Zelda nodded, still mute from embarrassment. Link's letters were filled to the brim about the people he was travelling with, a paragraph or two per each. Zelda knew Link was nick-named Sky, and that he called her Sun, due to- oh, Hylia.
"Hello, Miss Sun," the man who had spoken first said, thankfully breaking Sun out of her thoughts before she could begin to spiral. He held his hand out for her to shake. Zelda took it, looking closely at him- his bright facial markings and closed right eye gave away that he was Time. "We've heard much about you."
"I would argue too much," A man with a brilliantly blue scarf- so, Warriors- joked. He bowed to her, adding a flair. He didn't straighten up, as to whisper into a smaller boy's ear. The boy had a tunic with a lobster on it- Wind.
Beside him, there was a brunet: Hyrule. Then, beside him, Legend was now just looking around, his arms crossed; Zelda couldn't help but be a little reminded of Groose.
A giggle escaped her before she could help it. She stifled it quickly with her hand, plugging her nose to keep more from rising out of her. A quick look around the group told her that Twilight (the one with the pelt) had noticed; a perplexed look on his face. She cleared her throat as casually as she could, rubbing her nose before curling her fingers at him in a small wave. He didn't wave back, not that she expected him to-
"- Wild!" Link suddenly barked, startling Zelda out of her thoughts. Her attention was drawn to a boy who was leaning over the edge of Skyloft, his eyes big as he stared at Link. Zelda's heart stuttered as she saw discolored skin on the right side of the boy's face. It seemed to stretch to his ear and down his neck- Zelda already felt protective over him Twilight strode over to him.
Wild shrank, pouting up at the man and- he began to sign! Zelda perked up, leaning a little away from Link, trying to see what he was saying, but he was too far away. The man just pointed back toward the group, Wild walking back to them with slouched shoulders.
The group was quiet; Zelda took the time to nuzzle into the crook between Link's neck and shoulder. However, she quickly pulled her head away, her nose wrinkled and her lip curled up.
"You stink, " she said, twirling on her toes and out of Link's hold. "How long has it been since you all have had a bath?"
"Not for a few days, ma'am," Wind spoke up helpfully. Link blushed, his hand going up to the back of his neck to rub there.
"Is it that bad?"
"Worse than a Loftwing's droppings, Link." Zelda heard the others chuckle behind her. "I'll bring you all to the waterfall, if that's alright?"
They all agreed, so they set off. Link loosely held his hand around Zelda's, Zelda swinging their hands a little. Zelda and Link led the way, Warriors walking quicker so that he was beside Link.
"How long have you two been together?"
"A year," Zelda answered proudly. Link nodded, his hand tightening around hers a little before loosening. Warriors barked out a laugh, nudging Link by bumping their shoulders together.
"He's in love, Sun," he said, Link's head ducking down. Zelda giggled, adding a little skip to her step. "This boy's been raving about you ever since we all met."
"Aww, really?" Zelda cooed. Her chest felt like warm syrup was filling it, her head buzzing. Warriors nodded, bumping Link's shoulder with his.
"All the time."
---
Zelda woke up slowly, the sun shining through her closed eyes. She could feel Links' arm thrown over her; his forehead was pressed into the back of her neck. The warm puffs of his breath tickled, making a smile tug at her lips. His warmth made Zelda want to stay in bed forever with him, but her bladder whined for her attention as her stomach grumbled quietly about food.
She got up slowly, Link's eyebrows drawing together lightly; however, he did not wake. Zelda gently smoothed her thumb over the crease his eyebrows made until they relaxed. He mumbled something, then pulled her pillow closer to him.
She giggled softly, leaning down to kiss his hair. She loved this boy so much.
She bounded out of the room on her tiptoes, hurrying to the bathroom and taking care of her business. When she was there, she washed her face in the sink and unbraided her hair, tying it up again with pink and white ribbons. She emerged from the bathroom, feeling much more refreshed and awake. She decided to go back into the bedroom- both to check up on Link and to grab some clothes. She had already practically caused Hyrule a heart attack with her pants yesterday- she smiled at the memory, pulling a dress on as quickly and quietly as she could. She pulled on her boots, then left; closing the door slowly behind her.
The inside of she and Link's house was quiet, but as she approached the door to the outside, she could hear the others talking and moving around. She hesitated before the doorknob- the absolute craziness of the situation still affected her. She near ran right back into bed with Link, but a plate crashed outside and broke her out of her thoughts. She could hear two voices begin to argue, the sound making her take a deep breath in, holding, then releasing.
She could do this.
She opened the door.