Author's Note : Just a little post-Wind Waker fic, not a one-shot, but not too long either.
This one takes place after they resurface at the end of the game and come across Tetra's ship.
Spoilers from here on out if you haven't finished the game.
As soon as his tired feet met the wooden planks of the deck, he was surrounded, barely able to keep track of all who stood in front of him as he felt a warm blanket drape onto his wet green tunic.
Link's nervous smile found Tetra's when he looked to his left. They shared a chuckle of disbelief as they looked each other, dripping wet with the ocean's salty water.
The hero inhaled to say something to her, ignoring the many accolades, the 'Welcome back's and the 'It's nice to see you again's from the pirates as he searched in his mind for something to say to her.
"Big Brother!" He heard instead.
Before he knew it, Link was almost knocked over by the surprise of his sister's embrace.
Tetra couldn't help but give a small smile as she saw Link's unspoken thankfulness for his Arylls' safety expressed in a warm hug.
She watched their interaction without even thinking, concentrating on Link's smile as he talked to his sister.
She tried to remember if she had ever seen him smile like that.
"M-Miss Tetra?" she heard behind her, taken out of her trance.
"What is it, Gonzo?" She said as she pulled the blanket off and turned around, passing Gonzo as she walked up the small flight of wooden stairs.
"W-well, Zuko said that—"
"Am I mistaken!" Tetra exclaimed to the crew, interrupting Gonzo.
"Or is this boat meant to sail?!" She exclaimed, the last three words slower than the rest, as if she were talking to children.
There quickly ensued a chorus of 'Yes ma'am's and 'right away's as the crew hastened to their posts.
"Clear the deck! Pull the anchor! Hoist the sails! We set out for Forest Haven!"
"M-Miss…"
Tetra let out a sigh of exasperation.
"Yes, Gonzo," she said as he took his place at the steering wheel.
"Well, y'know the fortress that those nasties occupied a while back?"
"The one we've been to multiple times? Yes, Gonzo, I think I know it," she said sarcastically.
"it has a name or something…like forbidden…forgotten…"
"Forsaken Fortress," Tetra finished, growing impatient, "do you have a point, Gonzo?"
"Well, Zuko told me that he heard that it had been completely vacated. I mean, I know you've got this whole service here dropping off kids or something, but I figured an island like that wouldn't be a bad place of operations when we get to doing some decent pirating again."
"Yes…yes…pirating…" Tetra said quietly as she looked for Link, finding him holding his arm as he watched Aryll climb up the ladder to the crow's nest.
Tetra soon ripped her glance away, staring instead at the blue horizon in front of her.
Link didn't even notice that he had subconsciously clutched his arm after Aryll excitedly left to go "watch the pirates", yet his eyes searched for Tetra nonetheless.
He soon found her next to the wheel, her glance above him, looking at the oceans with crossed arms and a neutral expression.
Link decided to go into the cabin, opening the door with his good arm and closing it behind him before his hand clutched his arm again.
Not knowing quite what to do with himself, starkly reminded of the first time he was on the ship, he made his way downstairs.
He could hardly believe how long ago it felt since Niko dared him to jump across wooden platforms.
And, of course, how different he felt from the little boy who had no idea what he was getting himself into.
Yet, when he slowly entered the room with swinging lanterns, he saw instead Medli, Komali, and Makar sitting comfortably with Niko eyeing them suspiciously as he leaned against the opposite wall.
"You again?!" Niko asked with surprise as everyones' focus shifted to Link, "I knew this was your doing!"
"See, there's three of them!" He continued as he pointed to the two Rito children and the Korok.
"Hi, Link," Komali Remarked, the four of them completely ignoring the scowling crewman near them.
"How are you feeling?" Medli asked, noticing the cuts and bruises on his face as he leaned on the edge of the doorway.
Link shrugged and said,
"I'm okay."
"Hard to believe that one," said Makar, "you look like the Great Deku Tree when that Kargarok found its' way into our Haven."
"Thanks," Link muttered through clenched teeth.
"Makar!" Medli said, scolding Makar as if she were his mother, "You are as aware as I am of what he's just done!"
"Sorry," he said as he bowed in shame.
"I think it looks cool," Komali said as Medli looked at him in disbelief, "like you've really been through something, you know? Real sign of courage."
"Like…" Link repeated quietly to himself, his head angling downward.
Yet, no one heard his utterance as Medli had already exclaimed,
"Komali!"
"What? I said it looked cool!"
"I'm sorry, Link," Medli said as she looked with concern at the hero in the doorway, "I didn't know they would treat you like this."
"It's fine," Link said in reply.
"We really can't thank you enough for what you've done for this ocean," Medli continued, "you've saved all of us. You're a hero."
"Right," Link said, forcing a smile.
"You can sit with us, if you'd like," said komali.
"No, I…I think I'll head back up to the deck. Fresh air, you know."
"Be sure you say goodbye before we leave," Medli said with sentiment.
"Of course," Link said with a nod before heading back up the stairs.
Link felt restless, the concept of just relaxing all too foreign to him.
He didn't need pity, he didn't need praise, not even companionship, yet he didn't really want to be alone.
He didn't know what he needed.
He reached his arm to the knob of the door, yet before his fingers even touched it, the door swung open in front of him.
Link's eyes widened when Tetra appeared before him in the doorway, the surprise making him absentmindedly let go of his arm.
His arm winced at the absence of pressure and the resurgence of pain.
Tetra studied him as she looked him up and down with her arms crossed. Her expression was much more composed than the bewildered boy in front of her.
She quickly hit him on his injured arm, ensuing an,
"Agh!" From Link, his face warping with pain and betrayal.
"Thought so," Tetra said with a smirk.
"Come on," she said, starting a walk to her cabin.
"It's really fine," Link said as he followed her.
He stopped near the doorway once they had entered, partly embarrassed that he had been here before out of curiosity without her permission.
Link figured that she didn't need to know that, focusing on the picture above her bed as she rummaged through a trunk.
"When do you think it happened?" She said as she approached him with a large piece of cloth, prompting him to look at her.
"Probably when he knocked me to the ground," Link replied, Tetra gently placing his arm in the middle of the cloth and tying the corners around the back of his neck, "I didn't really feel it until after the battle."
Tetra nodded as she finished.
"There, now you'll use it less."
"Thanks, Zel—" Link started before realizing his mistake.
"I'm sorry," he said out of the silence, in response to Tetra's hesitant inhale, "it just came out."
Tetra nodded slowly in understanding before they locked eyes.
"Land Ho!" A voice boomed above them.
Tetra averted her gaze before leaving Link alone in her cabin.
Perhaps he did need companionship.