She wakes him up at a time that he insists is entirely too early and she insists is entirely too late.
He wants to ignore her and just yank his sheets over his head, maybe try to wait out the storm—perhaps something else will pop up that'll draw her attention away from pulling him out of bed before 10 AM—but then she's ruffling his hair and laughing and he can't find it in himself to ignore her any longer.
So he's dressed properly within ten minutes and they're leaving the in-progress town on the Surface to have all of the adventures they should have had the first time they ever set foot on the world.
~*X*~
They start backwards, though he doesn't know why and Zelda never actually tells him.
There's something ancient about her eyes as she watches time rewind and transform barren desert into lush green grass. Before he can even begin to wonder if she's going someplace he'll never be able to follow, she flashes him a reassuring smile and promptly shoves him right off the top of the pillar they'd been sightseeing from and into the sea.
The water's salty and it's so weird—Link's never had water like this on Skyloft—and Zelda doesn't believe him until she's jumped in herself. For her amusement, he turns flips and sails through the air using whirlwinds of motion that would leave a dolphin green with envy. She claps in delight and gasps in all the right places. He's feeling pretty good about himself until she loops her arms around his neck and has him jump again.
They go a bit off-course that time.
Link's dazed and flat on his back in hot sand, staring up at the baking sun as Skipper and his crew beep and buzz with amusement. He's flown quite a bit away but at least Zelda remained safely in the water. By the time she pulls herself out and finds him, the heat's dried both of their clothes out.
"Nine for the height. Two for the landing," she says with a mischievous smile that brings forth a wry chuckle from him.
They ride the Sand Sea for a while with Skipper's retrograde crew, listening to ancient marine tales before setting course for their next destination. It takes longer to travel to on foot than Link ever expected—not that he minds.
He has good company.
~*X*~
The volcano's hot, the Mogmas are chatty, and Link's regretting telling Zelda about the slippery, sliding slopes that litter the steep inclines of Eldin.
She's thrown herself down one before he can even gauge the best route to take. The Mogmas cheer as he hurries to catch up, the world flying by in a rush of wind and fire.
Left, right, right, left, center—it's a deadly dance to avoid blasting geysers and solid rocky pillars. Link's been this way before but it doesn't make the rush any less exhilarating.
Zelda laughs the whole way down.
The evening finds them playing card games by firelight with the Mogmas and a strangely docile Bokoblin. It seemed the poor guy had hit himself on the head with a rock a bit too hard and ever since, he's been wandering the volcano in a daze.
There's no denying one thing though—he sure can cook up a mean roast.
The next day, they're heading to the forest with probably a bit more food than they need. There's no denying Mogma generosity either.
~*X*~
The Kikwis are laidback as ever and Link tries to decide if the berries he's found are actually edible as Zelda entertains them with her beautiful playing. The melodic tones of her harp fill the air and for a moment he closes his eyes and sees a blue figure twirling, bowing, singing…
It's a second of emptiness as he feels her absence like a hole in his chest—but then he recalls the joy she expressed before vanishing for the last time.
So he smiles for Fi, too, as he claps around the firefly lanterns with the Kikwis chirping in tune.
Somewhere between four mugs of unidentified juice and two servings of vegetarian pot pie, Link falls asleep to the sight and sound of Zelda laughing for the umpteenth time, his back against a tree.
And his dreams are entirely devoid of black beasts imprisoned by long chains.
~*X*~
They've returned to the Statue of the Goddess.
Link stands with her there before the image of the great deity, and he says nothing, and she says nothing, and there's just a long stretch of nothing that goes unbroken for a time.
Then she's facing him and smiling again, and Link doesn't have to wonder if it's Hylia or Zelda he's seeing because they're ultimately one and the same to him, in the best way possible.
"Thank you so much for the trip, Link."
And there's such warmth and sincerity in those words that his answering smile and nod is immediate. Of course, Zelda. Anytime.
There's suddenly an impish light in her eyes as she exclaims that they have to tour the "dungeon depths" next—Link groans and makes to walk off as Zelda loops an arm through his with a grin that he decides is worth another trip after all.
Author's Note: Cross-posted from my AO3. Just a bit of harmless fluff because who can resist harmless fluff?