~~Link~~

I'm half-snuggled under my covers when I hear it; a light knock catches my attention, and before I can answer the door myself I hear the latch click as my door opens and a familiar blonde-haired girl enters my bedroom.

"Zelda?"

I sit up, whispering as loudly as I dare because I know Groose is right next door and would do anything to get me in trouble. And if he found out that I had Zelda in my room when we were all supposed to be asleep…

While I contemplate the punishment I'd receive for being up after curfew, Zelda climbs up the side of my bed and sits down, legs crossed as she smiles at me.

"Who else would it be, silly?" my best friend giggles, her white nightgown flaring around her as she leans forward to look at me intently. "I would've been mad if you were already asleep!"

"Headmaster Gaepora wouldn't be very happy if Groose told him that you and I hung out every night," I point out, but Zelda only gives me a look before complaining, "Ever since Groose came to the Academy all you've done is let him bully you! You need to stand up for yourself Link!"

I grin reluctantly, not wanting to tell Zelda what happened the last time I 'stood up for myself'; Groose had been easy to take down in a one on one fight, but dealing with two other guys was not something I had anticipated. In the end, we'd all been given punishments by Zelda's father, and Groose and his friends had been given warnings that they'd be sent back from the Academy if there were any more problems.

Of course, that didn't stop him from making a snide comment whenever saw me.

"Link, are you listening to me?"

Zelda's frustrated huff brings me back to the present, and I find myself looking into her light blue eyes. Once I realize she's leaned in very close, I turn a bright shade of red and subtly try to lean back; three years of looking into her eyes and I still find it hard to keep myself from blushing.

"I'm…I'm listening."

"No you're not," Zelda sighs, before an exasperated smile comes over her face. Reaching out, she pinches my cheek before I can protest and complains, "You're always daydreaming about something! Can't you see your best friend is in serious distress here?"

Her expression has me smiling; the scrunched up nose, tilt of the head, and slight frown make up a look I've seen many times before. It's my turn to reach out and pinch her nose, causing her frown to dissipate. As she giggles and pushes me off, I lean forward and rest my chin on my hand.

"Alright, what is it?" I ask her, watching as she grows serious again. For a minute she fidgets with her hair, before she looks up at me and demands, "How are you so calm when you know what's happening tomorrow?"

Confused, I rack my brain for a moment before realizing what Zelda's talking about. Straightening up, I murmur, "Zelda, don't tell me you're worried about meeting your loftwing. You've been waiting for this ever since we turned ten!"

When she turns slightly pink, I sigh and tell her, "You know, you're probably the most prepared. All the teachers keep telling me I need to stop daydreaming or I'll completely miss my loftwing when it comes to look for me at the Goddess Statue."

This gets her giggling again, and I smile to see her cheering up. Continuing, I say, "This isn't something you need to worry about. We'll each meet our loftwing and then we'll learn how to fly together. You and I can fly all over Skyloft together for as long as you want until you feel comfortable flying solo!"

I'm proud of my little speech when I notice that Zelda has stopped laughing and is looking at me with an expression that has me wanting to blush all over again. As she leans back on her hands, my friend smiles gently and says, "You're really different from when I first met you. That whole first year I was always reassuring you and now you're the one reassuring me."

With a shrug, I mutter, "I didn't know that much about Skyloft or anything, okay? It's not my fault…"

As I continue to mumble under my breath, Zelda giggles again before crawling closer to me. Once she's within reach she leans her head against my shoulder easily, as if it's the most natural thing in the world.

"Honestly, you're such a big hassle," she complains, not sounding irritated at all.

Leaning my head against the top of hers, I put an arm around her shoulder and say, "You know that's why I keep you around, right? I wouldn't be able to take care of myself otherwise."

With a smile, Zelda elbows me before yawning a little. Pulling away, she stretches before she begins to nudge me aside.

"Move over," she tells me, practically pushing me to the edge of my own bed. "I'm staying here tonight."

As I watch, Zelda burrows herself under my covers before peeking out from underneath them. Patting the spot next to her, she grabs my arm and pulls me down until we're lying side by side under the covers, facing each other. Grabbing my hand, she squeezes it tightly and closes her eyes.

"Thanks Link," she murmurs quietly. "Thanks."

Turning red again, I close my eyes too and whisper back, "You're welcome."


I'm halfway to the lunchroom when a loud, lazy voice calls me out.

"Look who's actually awake for once," Groose smirks at me from across the hallway, his red pompadour already combed and maintained for the day. Ignoring him I keep walking towards the smell of food; I'm not about to let him know that Zelda shook me awake early this morning before leaving for her own room to avoid trouble.

As I walk into the kitchen area, I see everyone's already at their seats. Conversation is a quiet lull compared to the sounds from the kitchen, and quickly I look around until I see Zelda and her father, the two of them sitting at a table with a few of the other instructors. When I catch her eye she smiles at me, before turning to say something to Headmaster Gaepora.

Just as Groose enters the lunchroom with his posse, Zelda runs up to me; jealousy gleams in Groose's eye, but even he knows better than to start a fight with me here. Zelda begins to tell me about her father's meeting with his loftwing as I grab my food. Together we sit at an unoccupied table, until one of the older students waves to his friends and comes to sit near us.

It's Pipit; only a few years older than us, Pipit's been looking out for me since I arrived at the Academy. As I wonder what he wants to say to us, Zelda voices my question.

"Good morning, Pipit," she says cheerfully to the boy sitting next to me. "How are you?"

"I'm great, thanks for asking!" Pipit replies in an upbeat voice. "I just came to give you two some advice…you know, since Link here is my favorite underclassman besides you, Zelda." Pipit ruffles my hair much to my chagrin, but it makes Zelda laugh so I just grumble into my breakfast as I finish up.

Leaning forward, the older student tells us, "Look, I just came over to let you know that there's nothing to worry about when it comes to meeting your loftwing. It's the most natural thing in the world! Just get out there and have fun today, alright you two?"

I nod, but once glance at Zelda's painted on smile tell me all I need to know. Pipit leaves the table, but before I can say anything to ease my friend's nerves there's a sound from the head table. Looking up, I see that all eyes are trained on the headmaster, who stands tall and proud as he looks at all of us.

"It is time to go to the Statue of the Goddess!" Gaepora says in a happy voice. With a grand gesture, the headmaster continues, "This is the time where those of age will meet their other halves, their loftwings! Form a line now, and follow me!"

There's no time to say anything before we find ourselves corralled by the older students into a line behind Gaepora. As I'm guided into place behind Zelda, I can see her shoulders shaking with nerves and something inside me rise; it's a strong feeling of wanting to protect her. Trying not to attract anyone's attention, I lean forward and whisper in her ear, "You'll be fine. I'm right here."

She makes no indication that she heard me, but when I open my mouth to repeat myself I hear a whisper from her.

"Okay," Zelda whispers, sounding more confident than she looks. "If you're here then it'll be okay."

When I look down, I see that she's extended her hand backwards. Her fingers stretch towards my hand, and when I see that her shoulders are still shaking I know what she wants me to do. Subtly I grab her hand in mine, feeling the warmth of her palm there and wanting to blush. As we begin to walk outside and head towards the Statue of the Goddess, I squeeze her hand gently.

It's finally time.


As we walk up the stairs in a ceremonial sort of way, I look up at our destination; the Statue of the Goddess looms over us, dwarfing us and nearly blocking out the morning sun. We get to the top of the stairs, and all move to go in when Gaepora clears his throat.

"I will stand here, in the entryway," the headmaster tells us, a twinkle in his eye when he notices that Zelda and I are holding hands. "This is a journey you must all make on your own. Go now! To your destinies!"

Everyone rushes past us; even Groose is too excited to stop and notice that Zelda and I are still standing in front of the entryway to the courtyard, our hands intertwined. Rather than saying anything, Gaepora only smiles at us before stepping to the side and talking to his own loftwing, which has somehow materialized next to him without having been called.

Looking over, I see that Zelda is watching the courtyard with a worried look on her face. I squeeze her hand again before saying, "Hey, you ready?"

"Y-yeah," Zelda stutters, a look of resolution coming over her face. "I mean, it's not as if a loftwing WON'T come…right?"

Something in my voice tells me that she doesn't believe that, even though she knows better. Leaning in I tell her, "Zelda. It's gonna be okay. Let's go, alright?"

She doesn't say anything, but when I begin to pull her towards the courtyard she offers no resistance. Already it seems like some of our classmates have met their loftwings; the giant birds are flocking down from the sky in groups, landing near our classmates and clacking their bills. As we make our way closer towards the base of the statue all the chatter falls behind us. Once we get to the bottom of the statue and look up, I hear Zelda take a deep breath.

I look over as she smiles up at the Goddess before saying, "You remember the story of why we get our loftwings, right Link?"

"Um…yeah…something about a hero and the Goddess, and how they fought together to free the humans-"

"No," Zelda chides me gently, reaching over with her free hand to poke me in the forehead. "That's the story of how Skyloft came into being. No, we get our loftwings as a symbol of divine protection from the Goddess. We form a special bond with them and this marks the start of our adulthood. We have to grow up after this."

Her voice goes soft and she stares back up at the statue, a strange look on her face; this time, it isn't one of nerves. It's a look of loneliness and sorrow, as if there's something she knows but doesn't want to tell me. When I open my mouth to question her though, the expression disappears from her face.

"Sorry for being so weird, Link," Zelda apologizes, seeming bashful. "I just…ever since I knew I was going to get a loftwing I started getting this feeling…it's as if by getting this loftwing we can't ever just go back to being kids. Like something important is going to happen…something that we can't even imagine."

Before I can say anything I feel a strange presence behind me; quickly I turn, jerking Zelda around as well in my attempt to see what's landed behind me. There's a rush of wind, and I stare as a great crimson loftwing descends from the sky. It sweeps across the courtyard, startling everyone and eliciting cries of shock and surprise.

"A crimson loftwing!"

"No way!"

"Do you see it?"

"Where is it going?

Just behind the crimson loftwing flies another bird, this one slightly smaller with light blue feathers. To my surprise, the crimson loftwing flies towards me. It stops just short of landing, flapping its wings madly to stay airborne until the smaller loftwing that was following it catches up. Together the two birds land, their large wings beating furiously as they come to a stop just in front of the statue.

Zelda and I stare in surprise as the two land in front of us, before we approach the loftwings together. Slowly we let go of each other's hands, before we come closer to the birds. The crimson loftwing eyes me, and to my surprise a warm feeling sweeps over me; I know this bird. It's as if I'm meeting an old friend, and a smile wreaths my face as I reach up to wrap my arms around the bird's bill. The crimson loftwing makes a clacking noise with its beak before it leans down to give me a gentle nudge by way of a hug. I laugh and hug the bird back, before moving to the side of the bird. Without a second thought I swing my leg over the side of the bird, mounting it easily before grasping the feathers around its neck.

I glance down at Zelda, who has her arms wrapped around her own loftwing and grin at her before leaning forward and thinking of how wonderful it would be to be in the sky.

The crimson loftwing seems to respond to my unspoken feelings; tilting back its head, my bird spreads its wings and begins to flap madly. From below I hear Zelda's gasp and everyone else's shrieks, but I ignore them as I rise higher and higher into the sky. When he reaches the top of the goddess statue, my bird dives. As we accelerate, his wings catch the wind underneath them and then suddenly we're soaring. We fly over the entryway of the courtyard, across the Academy and past the borders of Skyloft. We're in the clouds, and as we glide I lift my arms out and enjoy the wind as it hits my face.

I feel free, as if all my troubles and worries have been left back on the ground, and with a laugh I grab onto my loftwing's feathers and urge it into another dive. As we breeze over Skyloft I whoop loudly and fall backwards, resting against the loftwing as it continues to soar through the clouds.

This is what it feels like to live. This is where I belong!


Zelda sits next to me in the dark, refusing to look me in the eye despite the fact that we snuck out to the light tower at her request. Quietly I cough, before asking, "Zelda? Are you…okay?"

I jump in surprise when she shoots a glare at me, before I ask again, "Did I do something to make you angry? You've hardly spoken to me today since we left the Statue of the Goddess…"

For a moment we sit in silence, before Zelda hugs her knees to her chest and hides her face from me. Worried, I reach out to put an arm around her when she mutters, "…sorry."

I blink, absorbing her apology before it really hits me. Did she just say sorry? Before I can comprehend WHY she's apologizing to me, she lets out a great sigh and falls backwards until she's staring up at the stars with a pensive look on her face. Rolling over so that her back is to me, Zelda continues, "I'm sorry for ignoring you, Link. I guess I'm just…I'm just jealous is all."

"Jealous?" I gape, surprised at this news. "You're jealous of ME?"

"Yeah," she murmurs, still turned the other way. "I'm so thrilled with my loftwing and can't wait to fly…so when I saw you just jump on yours today and take off I got jealous. I want to connect with my loftwing the same way you do with yours. And I wanted to feel what it was like to fly…to touch the clouds and see Skyloft and everything around it…I wanted to do that too."

Zelda falls silent as I take this all in, and after a few minutes she rolls over to face me, biting her lip. Now that I know what's bothering her, I can't help but want to smile; reaching out I brush some of her stray hair aside before leaning down and teasing ,"You're really just jealous of me and my loftwing? THAT'S why you avoided me all day?"

"I know it's a dumb reason, don't rub it in," she mutters, turning pink. "I said I was sorry, didn't I?"

When I see how pink she's getting, I start laughing; I just can't help it. As I laugh harder and harder, Zelda tries hard not to smile, before she starts giggling along. We laugh for awhile before she sits up and a hand flies to her mouth in panic.

"Shh, Link!" she urges me, trying to stifle her own giggles as she leans closer to me and puts her hands over my mouth, glancing around at the ground as she looks for guards. "What if someone hears us?"

As she nearly shoves her hand down my throat I stop laughing and put my hand up to hers and hold onto it tightly. Gently, I take her hands off of my mouth and lean forward, an idea forming in my mind.

"Hey, Zelda," I say, catching her attention as she looks over at me curiously. "What are you doing tomorrow afternoon?"


"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Zelda looks around nervously, clutching at the edge of her dress as I pull her around to the back of the State of the Goddess. Peeking around furtively, I make sure that no one's nearby before replying, "You said that you didn't have any chores this afternoon right?"

"Yeah…"

"And everyone else is busy around this time, right?"

"I know that the teachers use this time to prepare lessons and my father is probably teaching some of the upperclassmen-"

"Exactly," I tell her, grinning widely. Letting go of Zelda's hand I run to the edge of the cliff; I hear her intake a sharp breath as I lean over the edge and whistle loudly. As my loftwing comes swooping in, I turn around and grin at her before saying, "Watch this!"

Without turning around again, I hold my arms out and fall backwards; Zelda gives a small shriek and rushes towards the cliff just as my loftwing catches me and we rise above her. With a wink at her, I grab onto my loftwing's feathers and we turn and take off towards the open sky, looping through the sky and across the clouds before flying back to where she stands, an excited look on her face.

Moving my loftwing closer to the cliff I reach out for her and say, "Come on! Fly with me!"

Zelda looks at me hesitantly, before a smile comes over her face and she grabs my hand. As I hoist her onto the loftwing's back so that she's sitting behind me, she quickly holds onto my shirt, looking down with a terrified but ecstatic look on her face. Once I'm sure that she's on securely, I grin at her one more time before grasping the loftwing's feathers with both hands and leaning forward so that we dive down below Skyloft.

She gasps behind me, and then suddenly we're shooting out from underneath the Skyloft, rising towards the sun as we pass through the clouds and ride the wind away from the town.

"Oh, Link!" Zelda says, "It's beautiful!"

I glance behind me to see her smiling, one of her hands cautiously reaching out to touch some nearby clouds before she gives me a look that sends a warm wave through my stomach, causing my heart to pound wildly as I turn red.

Quickly I swerve around to look ahead of me again, not entirely sure of what just happened. As Zelda leans against my back, I feel the warmth of her body against mine and feel myself turning even redder as she says, "This is…this is amazing….Link, this is amazing! Thank you."

With a smile, I open my mouth to reply when a strong gust of wind suddenly sweeps over us; I grunt as my loftwing struggles to keep itself flying straight, and behind me I can feel Zelda grasping me even tighter than before as I begin to panic when the crimson loftwing suddenly seems to be unable to keep itself airborne with the combination of our weight and the wind, and as my confidence begins to falter so does the loftwing.

We begin to fall, and as we start our plummet my mind races looking for ways to save both me and my friend. As Zelda shrieks, her arms wrapped around me tightly, I notice that we are near a small floating island. Turning around, I yell, "Zelda, the loftwing can't hold us up and keep flying! We're going to have to jump!"

The panic in her eyes is clear as my friend looks up at me and screams back, "WHAT? We WHAT?"

Wrapping an arm around her waist, I tell her, "Trust me! It'll be okay!"

Zelda stares at me, her fingernails beginning to dig into my skin as I break my gaze away from her and watch the ground as it begins to get closer and closer. Looking back at Zelda, I hold her tightly and tell her, "I've got you, Zelda. Don't worry!"

"L-Link!" Zelda replies, "I-I-!"

"NOW!" I yell, interrupting her as I jump off the back of the loftwing. Zelda screams as we fall towards the ground, and as I hold onto her I look up to see my loftwing flapping its wings desperately to straighten itself out. Flapping wildly, the crimson loftwing manages to regain its balance before diving towards us; unfortunately, we're much closer to the ground than we are to my loftwing, and as we land I gasp in pain when I hit the dirt, Zelda on top of me.

I feel as if my spine is broken, and with a groan I try to ignore the pain as I pull myself up onto my elbows and look at Zelda, who is lying still on top of me with her hands on my chest. Before I can ask her if she's okay, I see a large beak in my view and the next thing I know my loftwing is nudging me urgently, a worried look in its eyes.

Reaching up I pat its beak and say, "I'm okay, I'm okay!" I'm about to say more when I feel Zelda moving, and quickly I turn my attention to her.

"Ughhh…Link?" Zelda looks up at me, confusion in her eyes before she seems to realize what's happening. Quickly she sits up, but as she does so her body presses against my stomach and I groan again as some pain shoots through my body.

Zelda freezes, before she carefully gets off of me and puts a hand on my back, helping me to sit up better. As she begins to inspect me for bruises, she starts to scold me.

"Link, I can't believe you did that!" she cries, her hands trembling as she puts a hand to my face to look for cuts. "We could've been seriously hurt, and-"

"Like…I would ever…let you get hurt," I grin at her, trying hard not to grimace at how my back is killing me. "You know…I said I'd…take care-"

"Stop talking," Zelda interrupts me, one of her hands finally coming to rest on my stomach as she stares at me worriedly. "I knew we should've never gone flying…we don't even know the basics, let alone how to balance properly against the wind, or how to really steer, or what to do for an emergency landing…."

"I figured it out… didn't I?" I huff, the pain beginning to recede as I sit up fully, wincing. "Look, it's okay, no one will even have to find out that this happened! I'll just rest for a second…just a little…and then we can fly back and no one will ever know!"

When I smile at my friend, she gives me an exasperated sigh before throwing her arms around me. Surprised at this, I begin to turn red as she buries her head in my chest and mumbles, "Seriously…don't scare me so much. What would I do if you got hurt protecting me?"

Instantly I feel guilty; flying was my idea, not hers. Zelda was smart enough to know that it was a bad idea, but because of me she was nearly hurt. Hugging her back, I lean my forehead against her shoulder and we sit there in silence for a few minutes, both of us grateful to have made it.

"Link?" Zelda asks after a minute, her head still on my chest.

"Mmm?"

"Promise me something?"

Pulling back, I see that Zelda has a very serious look on her face, one that I've only seen her wear a few times. Wondering what she wants, I ask curiously, "Yeah? What is it?"

Grabbing my hand tightly, she leans in closer to me, causing me to blush as she urges, "Promise me that you'll be more careful from now on…please. I can't…I can't stand the thought that something bad might happen to you. Can you promise me that?"

I hesitate, before seeing how worried my friend is. Slowly, I nod before telling her, "I promise…only if you promise that you'll let me do whatever I have to do to keep you safe. Okay?"

"Okay," Zelda says in surprise, and with a grin I pull her into a hug.

"It's a deal," I whisper into my best friend's hair. "Let's keep our promises…forever."


So...timeskips. It's gonna be a thing, but only for these first few chapters. Once they get to young adulthood that won't really happen as much; these first chapters are more about establishing the kinds of relationship Zelda and Link have, as well as their personalities.

I've always seen their relationship as one that was DESTINED to exist (their ancestors and past selves always come together in the games, so it's totally plausible), but when I played Skyward Sword I saw it as the first time their relationship was really that-a relationship. They care so much about each other that it kills me with cuteness, (Oh yeah, THIS STORY CONTAINS SPOILERS LATER ON BTW DON'T BE MAD I WARNED YOU). I feel like Zelda, though wise and intelligent, isn't as delicate as she appears. She's strong and fiesty in this game, and on top of that it's obvious that she and Link are very close to each other. I'd also like to give Link the kind of personality I saw when playing this game; courageous (to the point where it sometimes gets him in big trouble!) but very loyal and lots of fun.

Both of them can be serious when it comes down to it, but ultimately I think they are close enough that they can just be themselves when they're together.

Well, enough of my rambling XD Thanks to everyone who reads, and I always look forward to reviews! I'll do my best to update quickly, though no promises as I'm moving in the final semester of college *internal screaming*

Thank you guys, and see you on the next update!