New installment for the Head in the Clouds series ^^

In which Pipit gets very suspicious.

Disclaimer: I only own the plot…

In my head, there are a lot more people in Skyloft than the game shows (games really only make a town the necessary size, otherwise there'd be serious game lag .). It's an entire society up there. There are obviously plenty more people and I'm going to treat it that way.

I recommend reading the other oneshots in the series before reading this one. Head to my profile page to check the order

Please enjoy and happy reading!

Pipit was troubled. Pipit had been troubled for a while now, ever since he mentored Link patrolling that night.

At the conclusion of their patrol, when they were sitting at the top of the Light Tower, Link had made an implication. What was bothering Pipit now was whether he was jumping to conclusions or not. Was he looking too far into Link's words? He'd like to think not, especially after witnessing Link's own reactions to what he had said.

"But you've always looked like you're ready to collapse!"

Pipit had dissected that sentence over and over and over again. He took it apart, bit by bit. Surely he was over analyzing, but he was absolutely sure that the implication that Link had been watching him for some time was in there. He wasn't able to just let it go like he told himself to countless times.

What he needed was someone to give him some hint, some clue as to what all of this meant. Someone close to Link…

It was too obvious and there was no telling what information he could get, but it was his only bet. He couldn't carry on being stuck on this tiny issue. It was beginning to affect his work.

It was hard to actually find her. They didn't have the same classes, so Zelda was usually in a different part of the academy from him during the day. He'd tried searching between his classes but his crunched time schedule didn't allow him much leisure to wander the halls in search for one girl.

He figured he might as well give up after a week and a half of trying. He considered the weekend, but he still had trouble finding her then as well and even if he did spot her, Link was right there with her and he was determined to avoid the kid as much as possible.

His chance did come when he found that his class would have a special joint training session with the underclassmen one afternoon. He figured this was his best chance of at least talking to Zelda. They wouldn't even have to go into depth; he could simply ask her if they could meet sometime outside of class to talk in private. Of course, he had the obstacle of Link to consider as well, but he was sure there wouldn't be any issues with that. Normally when the training sessions happened, they would be paired one-to-one. He just needed to snag Zelda while he had the chance.

He was lucky that their partners weren't randomly assigned. Commander Eagus announced that they would be rotating partners in order for the underclassmen (as well as the upperclassmen) to get a chance to experience different fighting styles. Pipit knew the commander well enough and wasn't the least bit concerned with being monitored too heavily; the man was easily distracted. Before they were asked to partner up, Pipit slipped closer to Micah who was whispering to Alec and ignoring the commander's speech. "Can I trust you to partner with Link and keep him distracted? I need to talk to Zelda without him around and those two stick together like Chu-Chus."

A smirk worked its way onto Micah's face and he brushed his fingers back through his messy brunet hair. "Aw, don't want shorty to get jealous, huh?" Pipit's eyes narrowed.

"It's nothing like that. I wanted to ask her a question, is all."

"But you don't want the kid to know? Oh, it's not about him, is it?" Micah's eyes flashed playfully. "Making sure he's not already taken or something?"

Red faced, Pipit sputtered, "N-no! What in the Goddess' name gave you that idea?" His friend rolled his eyes and nudged Alec with his elbow.

"Guy's in denial or something."

Pipit chose to stray away from the other knights as the upperclassmen were told to select a partner. He had his sights set on Zelda who was, of course, standing right beside Link. The blond boy seemed to have been focusing intently on his best friend and Pipit was glad to see Micah reach out and grab Link's arm. "Hey buddy," the guy said loudly as he dragged Link away from Zelda, "remember me? I wanna see what you can do."

Zelda laughed as Link was dragged away, looking frightened. Pipit knew this was his chance and he hurriedly marched up to the girl. "Mind sparring with me?" he asked.

Zelda's blue eyes looked him over curiously. "Of course," she announced and followed the older Knight who led her to the emptier side of the Sparring Hall. Pipit turned to face the girl and found narrowed eyes and a smirk. "You had your friend drag Link away on purpose, didn't you?"

Pipit was shocked still, absolutely baffled by how the girl could possibly be so perceptive. He immediately thought that such a skill was perfect for a good Knight but forced his thoughts to turn away from work. "Nah, Micah is just that kind of person," he said, pulling off a casual tone. He flexed his arms before rolling his shoulders. Zelda followed suit of warming up, leaning to the side to stretch her muscles. Pipit noticed her eyes studying him the entire time. "I do have something to ask, though," he spoke.

The girl stood straight up and placed her hands on her hips. "I knew something was up. Why don't you want Link to hear?"

Pipit noticed something spark in her eyes, something he couldn't determine. Suddenly her eyes shifted away a fraction, peering over his shoulder rather than looking at his face. "What do you want to ask?" she questioned. Pipit wanted to look back to see what she was looking at but didn't allow himself to. He finished his stretches and readied himself in a fighting stance. Zelda mimicked his actions. She bounced lightly from foot to foot, readying herself to move.

"I was actually going to ask you," Pipit started and Zelda approached, coming forward with an obvious punch to his solar plexus. Pipit easily blocked her attack and countered with one of his own. The girl jumped to the side before swinging her leg out with an intentional kick to Pipit's ribs. He jumped back. "I wanted to know if we could meet somewhere. To talk, just the two of us." It really did sound like his intentions were directly focused on the girl now that he heard himself speak the words. Zelda halted her movements.

"Look, if you're trying to ask me out or something…"

"No," Pipit interjected quickly. "I just need to talk to you. About Link, that's all." He couldn't fathom how he sounded to the girl now. He felt like Micah all of a sudden; a flirt with hidden intentions. How in the world did Alec tolerate such a person?

The girl looked over Pipit's shoulder again, focusing on whatever was behind him. Finally unable to suppress his curiosity, Pipit turned and looked back. Amongst the partnered groups of students, a pair stood out, mainly due to Micah's rambunctiousness. Link, a formidable sparer, seemed completely frazzled by Micah's erratic movements and couldn't sufficiently prepare himself when Micah took the opening presented and swept Link's feet out from beneath him. The boy went down to the ground hard, letting a groan escape his mouth that reverberated off the walls. Micah settled on top of the kid, straddling his middle and leaning down close to Link's ear. The words he whispered couldn't have been appropriate as, even from a distance, Link's face turned bright red.

Pipit felt sympathy for the kid well up inside him. Zelda apparently didn't feel the same, as the girl laughed unabashedly. "Alright," she said after a moment. She moved to stand beside Pipit, both of them watching as Micah helped Link up and pat him roughly on the back. "Meet me at the Goddess Statue tonight at ten."

It was almost relieving, to him, that she was there before he arrived. He'd had no choice but to do a sweep around the island, making the trip as quick as possible. He'd charged up the steps to the statue, sword tapping against his back with each step, and he breathed in deep when reaching the top. He stopped, looking forward and found Zelda kneeling before the statue, staring up at the Goddess Hylia with her hands laced together.

"Sorry I'm late," Pipit apologized while walking towards the girl. She didn't respond at first and he wondered for a moment if he was disturbing her in the middle of a prayer or something equally private. He took a step back, unsure for a moment, but Zelda finally moved and stood, turning to face him. She grinned.

"Not at all. I enjoy my time here. I feel connected with the statue and it's nice to have a moment of quiet here alone." Unlike Pipit who was dressed for patrol, suited and ready for anything, Zelda was dressed down in a light ankle skirt and tunic, hair undone from her usual ties and left to sway naturally. "So what did you want to meet with me for?"

Her eyes were impossibly blue, Pipit thought, much like Link's but far different with what he saw. He saw strength in her eyes, and the will to overcome anything. She'd proven herself a capable young girl and beyond these qualities. There was a genuine kindness and something so wise he felt so inexperience compared to her, even considering their age differences. He found the same strength in Link's eyes, and a determination as well, but he found, in the short time of being around the kid, that those shocks of willpower seemed to only come during certain moments, such as during battle or when he was flying on his Loftwing.

Taking in the situation, he suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. People always had their own perceptions about different situations and Zelda would, no doubt, have her own way of interpreting his words. "It's about Link."

Zelda cocked her head to the side. "Right. He hasn't done something, has he?"

"No," Pipit clarified. "I was his mentor during patrol a few weeks back and we took a break and just talked. I was…I wondered if…"

Suddenly it hit him that he didn't even know what to ask. Sure, the implication of the words, the idea that Link had been watching him: those were certainly things to ask. But what the real question was what it all meant and that was something he didn't know.

His mouth hung open with nothing to say and his brain immediately tried to formulate something but it simply couldn't.

"What'd you talk about?" Zelda asked cautiously. She peered up at Pipit, feeling a strange panic within herself with what it was he wanted to ask. Her mind immediately when to that.

"I was telling him about being a Knight, and having to perform patrols. It's just…I found it almost odd that he expressed concern. Concern about me, really." Pipit shifted where he stood, going from foot to foot. He found he couldn't look the girl in the eye and he looked away as his cheeks started to heat. He almost felt like he was concerning himself with this matter far too much. He hadn't even talked to Link since that night and he had every reason to just let the matter drop. "I just don't understand why or even how. He doesn't even know me."

He didn't exactly know what to expect, but Zelda's light laughter was certainly not it. He turned to her with a questioning look and her laughter stopped almost immediately and she gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry, Pipit. But everyone knows you, more than you think." She glanced upon his face, seeing his look and clarified, "People admire you. You won the Wing Ceremony last year, you're the top of your class, and everyone knows of your devotion to keeping everyone safe. You go on patrol every night, that proves it well enough."

"But why," he asked, "would he be concerned? Why would he worry if I'm not getting enough sleep, or if I'm working too hard? The only person concerned with that is my mother and she's supposed to. So why does he, someone I've only talked to a handful of times?"

Any kind of amusement Zelda held before was instantly drained and it was her turn to avoid Pipit. She stepped away from him, showing him her back and she turned her head up to the sky where stars dotted the black overhang. She bit her lip. "It's not for me to say," she finally admitted. "And I can't say anything more than that." She weighed her decisions at this point and only thought with Link in mind. She loved her best friend, had his best interest in heart always, and knew that whatever she decided would ultimately affect him. "You should really talk to him about it. He's the one who has the answers that you need."

Pipit had actually guessed this might have been something she'd tell him to do. Again, the pointlessness of it all made him rethink why he was going to such lengths over this. Link was simply an underclassmen who had expressed concern due to how hard he worked. It seemed he should really just appreciate the concern and drop the matter, but the mere fact that no one else had ever said such a thing nor said anything with such feeling made him pursue his question of 'why.'

But a part of him was rationalizing that he'd probably not do as Zelda suggested and live in the mystery of it all. Prepared to thank Zelda for meeting with him and hearing him out, he wasn't able to get a word in as the girl suddenly turned to him with that determined look she wore when they had sparred that morning. "Please talk to him." There was an odd urgency in her voice that was hardly detectable and probably something that she didn't take notice to. "It seems like something important that you'd like to know."

From the words she spoke to the way she spoke them almost made Pipit believe she had known he had been contemplating not talking to Link at all. But she really seemed to want him to and he didn't like to disappoint people. Still, he was failing to see why he should continue to dwell over such a thing. But there was something in Zelda's words that reminded him somewhat of old magic at work that made them convincing. "I think it'd be the best thing for you both."

Sorry for the really long wait, and thank you all for reading!