Disclaimer and Notes: The Legend of Zelda belongs to Nintendo… a company with a wicked sense of humor. What were you doing all day, Shadsie? "Playing with my Wii..."

During this part of the game (getting the Gratitude Crystal and Heart Piece from Zelda's room) I had the same thoughts that probably most people did (as detailed in the second chapter of my crack-humor series, Night Watch). It was when I had the thought "Hey, I can make Link sleep in Zelda's bed!" (snicker, snort…Thanks, Nintendo, for reverting me to age twelve…) that I started thinking about sadder, more realistic implications of that, given the situation she and Link were in.

PIECE OF HEART

A Skyward Sword Fan Fiction by Shadsie

A stealth-mission. Link had been on these a lot lately. Creeping in the shadows, slinking along walls, staying to the shadows… this stuff had become a matter of survival for him and had grown into a second nature. He'd been watching the moves of a Sheikah, one of the legendary guardians. This mission was pretty routine. Get in. Don't get seen. Take out the sentry…

Link perched along the top of a wall and mocked holding a bow. He fired an imaginary arrow when the mark he was observing stood still for a moment. It was just a morbid game. He wasn't going to take out one of his best friends. This meant that the mission was even more dangerous. He couldn't terminate the sentry - he had to get around him, and unlike Bokoblins, which were nearsighted and stupid, Pipit was sharp and sharp-eyed.

The fact that Link could, at the moment, kill Pipit easily if he did choose to bring out his bow worried the young man. The dangers of Skyloft were a cakewalk compared to the Surface. Should the things from down there ever make their way up here it would be a slaughter. Even the most vigilant of knights would not be able to protect the people, or themselves – not like this. Link knew that if he were one of those green-skinned archer-bastards, his friend in the glaring yellow uniform would be dead ten-times-over. After this whole ordeal was over, Link promised himself that he'd teach Pipit the combat, stealth and observation skills that had carried him through. Link promised himself that he'd find a way to convey this to all the Skyloft Knights.

Pipit's attention seemed to be fixed upon a remlit that had wandered too close to the Academy. He brought his sword out, readying himself for combat, his back turned to Link, oblivious to his presence. The perfect opportunity. Link quickly put on his clawshots and used one to pull himself up into the steam-stack from the Academy vents. He dropped down easily, and as quietly as a falling feather.

This was no mere mission of exploration. Link had studied maps of the Skyloft Knight Academy. He knew where these tunnels led. Zelda's door had been locked ever since that terrible day when she was ripped from him. Link wanted to get into her dorm – not for anything unseemly, but because he thought that maybe something in there, notes she'd written or something, might give him some clue as to her situation now.

Did she have any idea what she was before? She once told him that she had dreams of another world sometimes…

He crept around in the vents and found himself over the bath. Ew. So that was why poor Karene couldn't get in the bath at night. The Skyloft Knight Academy Bath Hog was real. Link looked up and ahead quickly. "Sorry, Headmaster," he whispered to himself, grateful to all the gods and spirits that he'd only seen the man's head and shoulders.

Link scuttled on before dropping down into Zelda's empty dorm. He looked around. Her shelves had those carvings of her blue Loftwing that he'd done for her – the first attempt and the replacement that he was actually proud of. She'd kept the first feeble attempt... the one he'd made when he was first getting the hang of the tools he'd bought second-hand from Jakamar. He was touched.

Zelda's desk had her knitting and sewing stuff on it – hobbies she was very good at. Link didn't know what to make of the green-dressed doll with the big nose, though. It looked like a drunk, pudgy little man. Maybe he was supposed to be a character from a story. Even though it was a creation of Zelda's, the doll filled Link with a strange kind of revulsion, like this was some being who would annoy him in another life.

Link looked up to the big painting of Zelda and her father. It was a nice painting – very formal. He turned around and examined her writing desk. Her quills were of different colors – not surprising, as pens were made from whatever Loftwings happened to shed on the island. There was an open book… a writing book that Zelda had been filling in. Knight Academy students kept books like this for their assignments. Link sat down and began reading at the place where the book was open. It appeared to be an essay for Mythology and Religion class.

For the people of Skyloft, myth and faith were intertwined. While people prayed for protection to the Goddess (and a few even to the Old Gods) at the shrines around town and everyone attended festivals held at the great shrine, no one believed it was necessary to hold the old stories as entirely literal. After all, no one had seen the Surface – it'd take a fool to believe in something as ridiculous as teeny, tiny birds and grand ancient mechanized civilizations on the mythical Surface…

Link gently turned a page and recoiled. There was a scratchy ink drawing – definitely one of Zelda's. It wasn't bad at all, the skill with which it was rendered was not the reason why he recoiled, instead it was because he was hit by a strange feeling of grief as soon as he glimpsed it.

"It is said that the Goddess was never so beautiful as when she shed her wings," Link mouthed, reading the text below the image. The picture was of a woman with outspread wings holding a prone form, a man in a knight's uniform. It was said that the uniform style for Skyloft Knights was pattered after the legendary Ancient Hero's clothing. The figures were indistinct; their facial features blank and basic (rather like Fi's face, Link thought). Link remembered this part of the old legend. The Ancient Hero had sacrificed himself to keep the Ancient Evil at bay just long enough for the Goddess to send his people to the sky. The Goddess had mourned over the Hero.

Link shuddered. He felt a sudden pain in his side. He found himself rubbing at his wrists, as though they'd just been freed from shackles. He winced and whispered "Not this life… I have my life to live now," and then he wondered why he'd just said that. All pain subsided and he was fine again. He turned the page back and covered the ink drawing. He sat for a long moment. Was this to be his fate?

The boy decided to take a look in Zelda's wardrobe. He was looking for clues, of course, but the chance to see her pretty, lacy nightgowns was not lost on him. This was a huge violation of privacy, he knew, but he really needed to know if she was keeping anything that might alleviate his confusion about the quest he was on. He opened the doors to find…

A valentine. There was a big heart made of fancy paper, red and trimmed with lace. He picked it up and gave it a good look. He blushed. It was addressed to him. He viewed the note on the back. "Congratulations on winning the Wing Ceremony! You've captured a Goddess' heart!" it read.

She must have been planning to give this to him – after he won, which meant she must have made it before the ceremony and was confident in him. As the ritual Spirit Maiden representing the Goddess, she was not supposed to show whom she was rooting for publicly, but Link knew that he was her favorite for the win. She'd almost planted a kiss on him on the top of the Goddess statue, but remembered her duties and pushed his fledgling self off it, instead. Zelda had always been a prankster, a tease…

But Link was pretty sure the valentine was legitimate. He put it into one of his pouches with a fond smile. This would be a good reminder to him when he was tired and hurt. It had always taken a quick thought of her to get him back on his feet, out of the sand and muck, and generally of the will to take care of himself and to keep moving on.

He was feeling a little bit tired at the moment. Link found himself flopping down on Zelda's bed. He knew he didn't belong there, at least, not without the lady's permission. He stretched out and hugged one of Zelda's pillows – it had an image of a daisy quilted on it.

The blankets and the fabric of the pillow smelled good, like flowers – the perfume that Zelda wore. There was also the light scent of sweat and of the salt of skin. It was intoxicating. Link had not known how much he'd missed Zelda's smell. It wasn't something that was immediate – it was one of those subconscious things.

He cuddled the pillow close, burying his face into it. A tear fell into the fabric. Link remembered Zelda's face as she gently closed her eyes and the material of the great amber crystal encased her. He'd had fought so hard just to get to her. He'd wandered ancient lands and had walked through Time. He'd longed to run to her and embrace her, but she would not touch him.

"I will always be… your Zelda." These words echoed in his mind.

Link's tears were free-flowing now. The pillow was getting wet. Not long now. He was going to do what it took to defeat the ancient evil and to free her. He did not care that her past-self had used him. In fact, one might call it an honor to be used by the Goddess. (Those that sought such a thing had no idea what it was like).

He relaxed into Zelda's scent and the wet pillow. The only thing he could see in his mind was her peaceful face beneath golden stone. "She merely sleeps," he told himself, over and over again, trying to convince himself of that when she'd looked so still and dead.

He blinked awake. The room was flooded with morning light. Link looked around. The pillow he was clutching was dry save for a spat of drool. His body was stiff and he felt the bite of chainmail ill slept-upon. He heard the sound of Fi exiting his sword.

"You fell asleep, Master."

"S-so I did," Link said groggily as he sat up and stood. "I didn't plan to. How long was I out?"

"You slept through the night, Master, exactly six hours and twenty-one minutes. Your expenditure of tears likely caused you exhaustion."

"I cried myself to sleep," Link groused. "How manly."

"I calculate a ninety-percent chance that Zelda would be… what you humans call 'touched' by that action if she knew."

Link smiled. "Maybe the Goddess did make you tender," he said, "Just a little bit."

"I suggest speaking with Zelda's father as soon as it is possible, Master. My analysis tells me that he is the most likely person here to possess information regarding the Song of the Hero."

Link nodded and the sword spirit went back into her home. He unlocked Zelda's door and exited.

END.