I guess I'm posting this a day early but I didn't think anyone would mind? Although it's definitely Friday in Japan right now so actually I'm right on schedule!

Time dragged on, day becoming night becoming day as the quiet routines of Rito Village circled around in unending repetition. Every morning, the little Rito chicks lined up one by one to make the short flight over to Warbler's Nest, where brief echoes of melody floated up even to the top of Vah Medoh, and every afternoon they lined up one by one for the short flight home. Rito warriors walked back and forth along the bridges, vigilant as always in defense of their home, and others wheeled through the skies in a pattern distinguishable only to one who had flown that same route before. So little had changed in a hundred years, Revali could almost have believed the Calamity nothing more than a bad dream had it not torn him forever from that tiny world below and then stuck him there to watch.

On the other side of the world, Link's progress was slow. Landscapes of glowing blue and coral persisted for a while, turning gradually to a more autumnal land of cliffs and lakes and multicolored trees, and there he remained for days—in Revali's opinion, stalling. Link's shifting, defiant eyes each time they talked said he knew what Revali thought and fully expected a repeat of his scathing lecture from before, and so this time, Revali took his pleasure in withholding it, conveying his disapproval silently as Link grew ever more tense.

At least the little snapshots of insight Revali received through his Gale showed that Link was keeping busy, doing… whatever it was he did. One day, Revali carried Link up a pillar overlooking an ominously shaped lake; on another, he lifted him up a Malice-coated tower erupting out of a fortress that no Hylian could have claimed in a century. A labyrinth of enormous walls rising from seemingly out of nowhere made him stare, and consider when he returned to Medoh's head how little he really knew of the world and its mysteries. Too late to remedy that now, other than what he could glean looking through Link's eyes.

Then Revali appeared to find a horrifyingly familiar red beam of light targeting Link's chest, tracking his progress up no matter how swiftly Revali tried to carry him, and was forced to leave just as the mechanical beeping accelerated. He crouched on the top of Vah Medoh, his final moments against Windblight Ganon running through his head as he remembered the piercing burn of that laser cutting through feathers and flesh, reaching into his frantically beating heart. Stilling it.

Not one hour later, he saw the familiar blue light.

"I'm sorry. I would have been here sooner, but I promised Mipha that I would go and see her whenever I used her gift."

Revali scoffed, attempting a disdainful glance down at his half-expected visitor.

"If you think I spend all my time up here fretting over your survival…" But his heart wasn't in it. With a sigh, he appeared in front of Link, sharp eyes taking in the singed ends of Link's braids. "Looks like you escaped by a hair. I'm not sure how you managed to—"

"Mipha's Grace brings me back to life when I die," Link interrupted him quietly, and Revali grunted as if punched. "That's why I visit her after. She says she's happy to help, but… I think it's hard on her when she sees me like that."

"You… so you've already…" For some reason the question wouldn't form, the words tripping awkwardly off his tongue, but Link understood.

"Died? Twice, including today," he said, shrugging in an utterly unconvincing attempt at indifference. "It's… I don't like using it, and she can't do it very often, but it lets me push the limits of what I can do. I would have pulled out of there earlier today without it." He grimaced. "I should have pulled out earlier. There must be another way to reach that spring."

Revali huffed, caught between fury and relief. The boy had hardly a blemish on him, suggesting that Mipha did a much more thorough job of healing him than his little fairy companions. Even if he could only cheat death occasionally, the unfair advantages stacked on his side now were astounding… but then, it wasn't as if Revali wanted Link to die.

"Another spring?" he said finally, falling back on the least consequential part of what he'd heard, and Link nodded distractedly.

"The Spring of Power. Maybe if I go around… I'm going to try again."

"You're going to—what?"

Revali practically screeched in dismay, but Link only waved with an almost manic grin as he departed, leaving him seething. Hours later he felt the pull, and carried Link over what could only be the Spring of Power, meeting Link's triumphant look with a deadpan glare of his own. Link's success did not make the attempt any less stupid. The reckless knight had courage where there should have been brains, and Revali did not mean that as a compliment.

For reasons he could only guess at, though, something changed after that spring, Link's expression grown thoughtfully distant. Within days, the colorful trees had become rough, reddish rock as the Hylian's sporadic wandering regained its focus—for all the good it did him. Despite his best efforts, Link's quest had hit a bit of a roadblock.

"Death Mountain is too hot to climb," he finally complained to Revali after several days of fruitless exploration, seated on Medoh's talon and looking out, as always, towards Hyrule Castle. For once, he didn't seem to mind the cold that Revali couldn't feel, though he still wore the winged ruby earpiece. Then again, Link had been literally on fire the last time Revali's Gale was used.

"You don't say," Revali told him dryly, seated beside him. The ends of Link's hair looked worse than ever, and Revali's feathers twitched with the effort not to smooth them down. No Rito would ever go out with their braids in such a state.

"I'm sure there's a way to make it up there, but I can't figure it out," he muttered. "It seems like the only creatures that can survive in that heat that aren't monsters or Gorons are those stupid birds that chase me everywhere, and those… weird, black lizards."

"Just keep circumnavigating the mountain, I suppose," Revali suggested, hiding a grin. He would have given a few good feathers to watch Link be chased around by birds. "Approach it from another direction. If there's a path built into the mountain, it's more likely that it was made to reach Hyrule Castle, not this… Akkala place. I can hardly imagine the princess traveling to meet Daruk cross-country."

"Assuming the road still exists," Link muttered mutinously. "Assuming I don't still have to climb it on fire the whole way."

Clicking his beak, Revali gave up. The princess had likely not made the journey while burning, either, but Link clearly needed to finish sulking before he would listen to Revali's overwhelming logic. Apparently being on fire had soured his mood.

With a deep groan, Link leaned back to stare at the sky.

"I bet there's some kind of special armor they make so that Hylians can visit," Link said after a moment. "And I bet they sell it in Goron City where nobody can reach it."

Revali snickered.

"Yes, well. Gorons are certainly… enthusiastic," he allowed, "but they're not Hyrule's brightest race."

Link punched Revali's shoulder unthinkingly, and froze when his fist made contact, his blue eyes flashing towards Revali's in a stunned stare that the Rito was sure he matched.

"That… um…" Link's voice faltered, and he licked his heat-chapped lips. "That wasn't very nice."

"I'm not very nice."

The air felt thick, an indefinable tension springing up between them as Link unthinkingly caressed his fist with a thumb.

"Did you know—"

"No," Revali said shortly. Despite his best efforts to do otherwise, his eyes kept straying to the ends of Link's braids. If he reached out, then maybe…

"The lizards," Link said. Revali blinked, then blinked again.

"What."

"I'm an idiot," Link groaned, clambering to his feet. Revali might have believed his urgency if Link's gaze had not been set so firmly sideways, avoiding Revali entirely as he pulled out his ever handy slate. "That must be how… I need to go."

Disgruntled, Revali watched Link disappear into liquid light, though that tension still clung like a physical weight. What was wrong with him? So he could slap Link across the face if he wanted to. It was good information to have… only that wasn't the possibility his mind kept providing. Was he so desperate for connection that he would seek it out even from somebody he had loathed?

...The unequivocal yes he felt in response made him scowl. It didn't help that Link had practically fledupon reaching the same realization.

"Coward," Revali muttered, meaning it for them both. Link might have left, but Revali had not tried to make him stay.

Something hot and angry grew in Revali in the days that followed no matter how he tried to ignore it. Link was avoiding him on Vah Medoh, though he still used his power daily, and while Revali refused to give voice to his frustration during those brief moments of contact, Link's burning cheeks said that he knew… or maybe that was just the heat. Whatever epiphany Link had reached about lizards must have been more than just a distraction, because he made it to the hottest part of the mountain soon after, gliding through the superheated air like it was nothing. Ash rose in glowing red particles that reminded Revali uncomfortably of something more… Malicious… and Link's attire switched to overly clunky armor and a permanent scowl.

Finally, Revali was called early one evening to find Vah Rudania climbing above Link not far off, mechanical sentries hovering in the air around it. It had the feel of a final defense, and so Revali returned to Vah Medoh with a deep sigh, preparing himself to wait. If Link succeeded, he would know it soon enough. If he failed… well, Revali would have the perfect view of the end of the world when it came.

That wait was cut short only hours later by blue light at the base of Vah Medoh, and Revali tore his eyes from the rising moon—blood red tonight—to glare down, his surprise melting into annoyance.

"I'm starting to think you only come around when you need something," he bit out tersely. If Link expected to be welcomed back with open wings after ignoring him for so long—

"I'm sorry," Link said, and Revali stopped short, the winds of his pent-up anger abruptly deflated. "I shouldn't have left and not come back. It isn't fair to you that I get to decide when I see you, and you don't."

…That was likely the least of the injustices plaguing Revali's afterlife, but the admission was enough to draw him from the top of Vah Medoh, folding his wings irritably. To his surprise, Link had changed from his fireproof armor back into warmer, more comfortable Rito garb, with bundles of wood and blankets strapped to his back. Even his braids had been redone, if not with the precision a Rito would have used then still a good bit neater than their usual state. All in all, he looked prepared to stay for awhile, although his face was tensely expectant, as if waiting for Revali to turn him away. Revali still had half a mind to.

"What happened to Vah Rudania?" he asked stiffly. "I'd assumed you would have boarded it by now."

"I did." Link's head tilted warily. "I opened up the portal so I can travel back there any time. I just… need to sleep first. For a bit."

Studying him more critically, Revali supposed he had a point. It was late, and the shadows lining Link's eyes were deeper than he ever remembered seeing them before. Then he did a double-take, finally understanding his meaning as he took in the contents of his pack once more.

"Here?" he asked disbelievingly. "Next to Medoh?"

"I…" Link's voice was softer now, duller, taking Revali's surprise for refusal. "I can go sleep in the inn, if you'd rather. I just didn't want to be…" Grimacing, Link started to turn.

"Wait." Revali relented, holding out a wing to stop him. He knew how that sentence ended. Link didn't want to be alone… and with a rush of exhaustion, Revali realized that neither did he. "Just this once, you understand? I'm not running an inn for heroes up here."

"Of course." Link's face brightened absurdly, and he nodded, already shrugging out of his pack. Resigned, Revali watched him set up his campsite with practiced efficiency, striking a bit of flint with his sword to start a small flame going and sheltering it until it could withstand the near constant wind.

"Did you know that if you place a bundle of wood down on Death Mountain, it will burst into flames on its own?" Link said, feeding small bits of tinder to his tiny fire. "You can roast a fish just by throwing it on the ground, too."

"If that's the case, then what's the point of the fire?" Revali asked skeptically, and Link shrugged.

"I don't know. It's just kind of cool, I guess." He seemed in an unreasonably good mood considering the task that lay ahead of him, the frown smoothed from his face for the first time in days that Revali had seen. Finally satisfied by the strength of his flame, Link sheathed his weapon.

"Whatever happened to your old sword?" Revali asked, eyeing Link's blade curiously. This one was at least forged for Hylian use, as opposed to the weapons of more monstrous origin that he had carried for awhile, but it was still a common knight's blade. As much as he'd despised that old sword for what it represented, Link seemed somehow incomplete without it.

"The… sword that seals the darkness?" Link's movements slowed as he frowned, troubled. "I don't know. They didn't leave it with me after I… fell… but I've heard rumors that it ended up in a forest somewhere."

"The Great Hyrule Forest?" Revali asked, and Link looked up sharply.

"Maybe. Where is that?"

"North of the castle, I believe." Revali frowned, trying to remember. "Almost directly west of Death Mountain. Not far from where you've been traveling, in fact."

Link nodded thoughtfully, and Revali was certain he'd just determined Link's next course of action.

"Do you think Urbosa will mind that I'm freeing Daruk first?" he asked Revali suddenly. "I didn't exactly mean to. I was just… already there."

"I assure you, she won't," Revali said, rolling his eyes at the idea. "Haven't you remembered even that much about her yet?"

Revali regretted the flippant remark immediately as Link glanced sideways at him, his good mood fading.

"No," he admitted, poking pensively at the flame with an extra stick of wood. "It's all just… bits and pieces. Fragments, really. Nothing to connect them, or to explain why—" his eyes flicked towards Revali's— "why anything was… the way it was."

Revali looked at him for a long moment. Then, before he could second guess himself, he settled in front of the fire next to Link, trying not to feel too offended when Link stiffened.

"Tell me what you remember," he offered awkwardly. "Maybe I can help connect the dots."

Link stared openly at him now, pink staining his cheeks. Maybe his layered clothing along with the fire had left him too hot now, or else it was the bitterly cold wind still affecting him.

"I remember…" Shakily, he turned his gaze back to the fire. "I remember that Calamity Ganon awoke while we were at the base of Mount Lanayru, before Zelda awakened her powers. Everything must have gone wrong after that, though I don't remember exactly how."

"You could say that." Revali grimaced, remembering the moment he'd boarded Vah Medoh, moving to direct it towards Ganon only for that dark violet energy to go racing through its core, and… "I'm certain you can imagine it well enough without me describing it. What else?"

"I know Zelda hated me." The matter-of-fact way he said it was startling, especially when he added, "I think… I didn't mind it, though. I know what she was put through, trying to awaken that power. I get it now… though for a long time after remembering that, it bothered me."

"Hmm, well. I do believe she hated you less towards the end." Revali wasn't sure if that was true, but he thought she'd become less visibly distant. At the very least, he didn't think she'd mind Revali saying it to reassure Link now.

"You hated me." It was almost a question, but Revali didn't deny it, and Link wilted. "You thought it was a mistake for everyone to put their faith in me." He paused, and then added, "You were right."

"Self pity is not becoming of you," Revali said coldly, watching Link's face inch closer to its old wooden mask and hating every second of it. "You went into that battle with no Divine Beasts and no sealing power, with the Guardians against you and nothing but your sword. It wasn't how anybody expected it to be."

"Now I don't even have the sword," Link muttered. With a growl, Revali grasped Link by the shoulders and shook him, satisfied by the startled look he received in return.

"You will," Revali told him firmly. "And you will have Medoh, and Ruta, and Rudania and Naboris, assuming you don't screw it up. And then maybe you can stop coming to the least qualified person in the world for comfort."

"I don't know," Link said, a bit breathlessly. "I think you do just fine."

Revali's annoyance faded slowly, but he did not withdraw his grip from Link's shoulders. Link's breath puffed up between them in tiny clouds of mist.

"You wanted to know why I freed Medoh first," Link said, his voice still unsteady. "There was… one other thing I remembered. Do you still want to know?"

Revali stared at Link, at the way Link stared at him, had always stared at him, and realized with a wave of dread that he knew. He didn't want to, but he knew.

"I want…" He hesitated. To press his beak against Link's tiny Hylian nose and braid a feather in his hair? To push him off the top of Vah Medoh? He wanted to fly. "I want you to get some rest. You have a large task ahead of you tomorrow… you should be ready."

With an effort, Revali pulled back, taking his wings from Link's shoulders and wrapping them around himself as he looked up at the red moon. Clouds had started to form now, pushing against the wind through the sky.

"When the blood moon's over," Link said after a moment, and Revali didn't dare look at his face. His voice said more than enough.

Together they watched as black and red specks blotted the air like disease, and for one ominous moment, the entire world was bathed in red. Then it was over, the restless energy fading as the full moon shrank down to its natural pale shape. Link sighed, wrapping himself in his blankets and lying against the cold stone of Medoh's perch.

"Lots of red Lizalfos getting a second chance at life tonight," he muttered. "Doesn't seem fair."

No, Revali thought, watching Link's moonlit face go slack, his breathing gradually evening out. It didn't seem fair at all.

Vah Rudania's beam of light joined Medoh's and Ruta's before the next day ended, the three meeting at Hyrule Castle with an expectant air. Only one left to go, though Revali was certain Link had not turned his attention to the desert just yet. Maybe it was too much to expect one memory-bereft person to move mechanically from task to impossible task without allowing him time to gather, regroup, and move on… and that accursed sword beckoned.

"I think you're right," Link told him a few days later, once he'd finished whatever remaining business he had in Goron City. "I think that forest is where the sword is."

"Wonderful," Revali griped. He wondered how Link's conversation with Daruk had gone. The Goron leader had always seemed like the steady, reassuring type, someone who could find the bright spot in the darkest situations and roll with the punches as they came. Link probably needed what he had to offer more than any of Revali's cynical observations… but still he had returned here.

"There's something… off about it, though." He sounded distantly confused, his gaze turned towards that forest for once rather than the castle, and Revali raised an eyebrow. "You can't enter it from the air. You just… can't." He frowned as if even he didn't understand what he was saying. "You have to enter by the road, I think. It won't let you in any other way."

Revali scoffed.

"You speak as if the forest has a mind of its own," he said dismissively, though Link only tilted his head at him.

"Are you sure that it doesn't?" Revali's disparaging response withered on his tongue. "Don't… don't be surprised if I don't use your Gale for a few days. I don't know…" His eyes slid towards the forest again, the rest of his thought lost before it was finished. Revali felt a chill go through him.

"I already told you," he said stiffly. "I don't sit here all day fretting over your well-being."

He wasn't entirely sure that Link heard him.

The following two days were more unnerving than Revali wanted to admit. As predicted, Link didn't call on him, and Revali could not escape the morose, ever-present knowledge that he would not know if Link died. It was a ridiculous thought to be burdened by—Link had already survived three of Ganon's manifestations, and there was surely nothing as dark as that lurking in those woods—but he couldn't shake the idea that Link had been right. There was something… unnatural in those woods, something he almost imagined could reach him even where he stood. Something that made every feather stand on end whenever Revali's mind brushed against it.

When he saw the strands of blue light announcing Link's return, Revali's first reaction was relief. He descended in a rush without waiting for Link to call up, his mouth already open to demand to know what had happened—but Link's appearance stopped him.

His hair had come almost completely undone, falling in tangled waves around him, but Link seemed not to notice or care. Outwardly unharmed aside from a few scrapes and bruises, his eyes were fixed on the ground in front of him, and his shoulders had a slant that seemed part exhaustion, part something else. It was his face that disturbed Revali the most, though, a poor imitation of the expressionless mask he had worn over a hundred years ago that did not quite hide all. In those uncovered cracks, he looked disheartened. Dejected. Lost.

There was no darkness-sealing sword on his back.

"The sword wouldn't have me," he mumbled. "I'm… not as strong as I used to be, I guess."

"It… what?" Revali stared uncomprehendingly.

"The sword that seals the darkness rejected me," Link snapped, then withered at his own words, his gaze sliding to the ground again as if anchored there. "Go ahead and laugh. I'm sure you think this is hilarious."

In a time not far gone, Link would have been right. The very sword that had placed him unfairly above all others, now withdrawing its approval? Revali would have been rolling on the ground. Now, against all odds, it seemed that he and the sword had reversed opinions.

With another look at Link's wild appearance, Revali clicked his beak.

"Come here."

Blinking, Link shuffled forward, looking almost relieved to let somebody else tell him what to do for once.

"Sit down," Revali ordered, and Link sat, though this time with a half curious look at Revali as he did so. Good. He hadn't gone completely spineless. "Do you carry a comb with you?"

"Yes," Link said slowly, reaching into one of his many pockets to withdraw the small object. Revali snatched it deftly from his fingers, seating himself cross-legged behind Link and sizing up his unruly head of hair. This could take awhile.

Link flinched, stiffening as Revali's feathers prodded at his blonde tangles for a moment before diving in with the comb, starting at the ends to minimize snagging.

"What are you doing?" he asked finally, and Revali answered with a laugh that was more of a sigh.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm putting you back together. Once I'm done, you're going to admit that this doesn't matter and move on."

"What?" Link tried to crane his head back to look at him, but a sharp tug from Revali set him firmly back in place. "How can you say that? If I'm not the one chosen by the sword, then maybe I'm not the one who's supposed to…"

"Save us all?" Revali finished, a bite to his tone. "I suppose you should go tell Daruk and Mipha that. I'm sure they'll be happy to climb back into their Divine Beasts to await a more divinely sanctioned hero."

"B-but," Link stuttered after a moment's pause, and Revali knew they were inching towards the heart of things. "If I'm not even strong enough to draw that sword, then how could I be strong enough to… to take on Ganon?"

"The sword's blessing didn't help you much the first time," Revali pointed out, and Link went silent, though a quick glance at his face revealed his stubborn frown. "You Hylians were always too caught up in your prophecies and predestination. Too eager to push the weight of the world onto children just because some sword said so." Link grunted, and Revali forced himself to use a lighter touch, moving his comb further up Link's head. His frustration was getting the better of him. "An army of the land's strongest soldiers with could almost certainly slay that beast, but instead your king was content to place the responsibility on you, his daughter, and four Champions… and when all five of those supporting you fell, he heaped it all back on you. Maybe your prophecies ensure that at least one person will step up to defend Hyrule, but they also ensure that only one person will do so." Satisfied that he had removed most of the knots, Revali threaded his fingers through Link's hair a few times before tying most of it neatly back, leaving out the pieces that framed his face. "Frankly, I can imagine a better way of doing things."

Link said nothing. His eyes had fallen shut, and his breath came so slowly that Revali might have thought him asleep had he not been leaning into his touch. Revali couldn't resist running a curious finger down his smooth, unfeathered cheek, though he disguised the movement quickly, gathering the hair that fell over one ear and portioning it into equal sections.

"Was I really so much better then than I am now?" Link mumbled dejectedly after a moment, and Revali tsked.

"Personally, I wouldn't trust such judgments to a sword," he muttered, leaning in to weave the hair carefully together. The texture was coarser than the fine feathers he was used to, but it held the braid well. Revali eyed his work critically, then abruptly unraveled it, fingers shaking as he plucked a feather from the middle of his wing to thread into the hair. It didn't really have to mean anything. In fact, the feather would likely disappear before long, like his tears did each morning. Revali just wanted to see it there, if only for a moment… but to his surprise, even after he'd finished that braid despite his trembling and moved onto the next, the feather still held.

"Maybe we were right the first time," Link said suddenly, and Revali paused to listen. "You and I, keeping everyone at arm's length… maybe the only way to achieve your true strength is to stay distant. Shut yourself off."

Shaking his head, Revali finished the second braid, securing the end with the provided bead. Turning Link around to eye his handiwork, Revali straightened the golden headpiece with its embedded ruby behind Link's ear, the carved feathers flaring out over its pointed tip. For the first time since meeting him, Link actually looked presentable. The blue of Revali's feather stood stark against the paler gold of Link's hair, the one color perfectly suited for the other.

"Even if we were right, would it be worth it?" he asked wearily. Link looked up at him, his lips tight and trembling. Abruptly, he convulsed, ducking his head and digging his palms into his eyes as his shoulders shook, a choked gasp escaping him.

Revali closed his own eyes, paying Link the same courtesy he'd been given during that sunrise weeks prior, but he did lean forward, pressing the length of his beak gently against Link's forehead to dip against his small nose. Link only shook harder, short, wet sobs erupting between his lips no matter how he tried to stifle them, until his tears ran along Revali's beak. The feather would stay. Link might not understand the significance like a Rito would, just as there were likely a dozen ways for Hylians to show affection that he wouldn't recognize… but Revali knew.

"You're going to free Vah Naboris," he told Link fiercely. "Then you're going back to that forest to try again. If the sword still refuses you, you will take on Calamity Ganon with a stick if you have to, because that's who you are."

Link shifted beneath him, wrapping his arms around Revali, and before he could react, Link had pulled back to press his lips against the tip of Revali's beak. They stayed like that for a long time, crouched together at the foot of the Divine Beast, until slowly Link's breathing eased and he pulled away. Although he had not felt Link's warmth, Revali still felt colder without him.

"I thought you hated me," Link muttered, wiping hurriedly at the salty wet tracks staining his cheeks.

"Who says I don't?" Revali shot back, and finally Link's face split into a grin, a reluctant, breathy laugh bursting out of him. He supposed it was a ridiculous assertion to make at this point, although it might have been better for them both if it was true.

Maybe something of his thoughts bled into his expression, because Link's newfound smile slowly faded.

"That very first memory I ever got back," he said after a moment, his eyes losing focus as if he were in that moment reliving it, "that night at the base of Lanayru, I remember how desolate everything felt. Walking down the mountain path to watch Zelda tell everyone that her power had not awakened… and then Ganon choosing that moment to return… it was like he could sense that we were at our lowest." Closing his eyes briefly, Link took a deep, steadying breath. "But then you flew up for a better look, and I remember watching you fly, and the feeling I had about—for you…" He half shrugged, as if that could lessen the impact of his words. "I didn't know why I felt that way for the longest time, and… you probably never returned it… but once I'd remembered, I couldn't forget it. I didn't want to forget it," he amended, eyes suddenly blazing. "It was the only hopeful memory I had."

Hope. Revali wanted to laugh, though there wasn't much funny about it. How long now since he had flown?

"Does it still give you hope?" he asked, bitterness touching his voice. He could have left this world with no attachments, no regrets… though he couldn't bring himself to regret it. "Even knowing that there's no good way for this to end?"

To his surprise, the tiny smile Link offered was the most genuine Revali had ever seen.

"Maybe it shouldn't," Link admitted, reaching again for Revali's beak, which he surrendered with a sigh. "But it does."

The very next day, Link made it to the desert.

Revali couldn't help but resent the fact that Link had finally found his focus just when he wouldn't have minded one of those signature distractions, but he refused to suggest to Link that he slow down. Urbosa was still trapped, after all, and however Link tried to extend it, they were existing together on borrowed time. He could feel the princess's power waning now, Ganon straining against it to exert his influence over the world, and so could Link in the increased caliber of monsters he was suddenly forced to fight. It was only a matter of time before Zelda's strength gave out entirely, and Link was forced to face the beast he'd been fated to fight all along.

Link felt that time slipping away as keenly as he did.

"No men allowed in the city?" he said as Revali carried him up over Gerudo Town's walls, clearly a question. He had started to use each instance of Revali's Gale as an opportunity for conversation, as if to make up for all those unremembered months of silence… but he would need more than the power of flight to make it past the Gerudo's rigid security. Even as he left, Revali could hear the distant shouts of guards.

Revali considered the issue, awaiting Link's next call.

"There's a simple solution to that problem," he said when it came with a knowing smirk that left Link floating away on his paraglider disgruntled. It would occur to him if he thought about it hard enough. Revali thought Link had a slim enough figure to pull it off, especially where the Gerudo were concerned. Most he had seen carried enough muscle to beat the average Hylian man into the ground.

Sure enough, Link was attired very differently the next time Revali saw him.

"Not a single word," he growled. Revali, being who he was, had several, which he delivered with his next Gale.

"Will you be wearing that on your next visit?"

The remark was so forward for a Rito that even he flushed beneath his feathers, but Link's expression as he left was more than worth it.

Link used his Gale so frequently that Revali began to fear it wouldn't be available to him when he really needed it, though he couldn't find the will to complain. His days on Vah Medoh were more full than they had ever been, and Link came to visit almost every night, curling up by his fire as Revali talked him into sleep.

"You really think you could beat me?" Revali asked half jokingly on one such occasion, refreshing the work he'd done on Link's braids. That feather he'd tied in had yet to fade, and Revali wondered if it would persist until he left this world for good. It was too much to hope that it would last for any length of time after. "Success has left you arrogant."

"Well, why not?" Link argued. "I beat a Silver Lynel the other day. I told you about that, right?"

"At least twice," Revali said dryly. "Tell me it sprouted wings and I'll be more impressed. How do you expect to hit me if you can't even reach me?"

"Stasis rune." Revali frowned. Whatever that was, Link sounded too smug by half, so Revali tugged on the braid he was working on. "Ow! Or we could fight at the Flight Range, where I can use my paraglider… or I can use your Gale—"

"You really think I would lend you my Gale?"

Link laughed, and Revali realized his feathers had grown ruffled at the thought. Hastily, he smoothed them down, though he didn't begrudge Link his laughter. Even now, that sound was rare from him.

"Maybe that wouldn't work so well," Link agreed, and Revali nodded in response, tying off the final braid.

"Maybe not. Still, you and I should have fought one hundred years ago. A duel against the one who came to Rito Village to challenge my authority… just imagine!" He pushed his voice as deep and grandiose as it would go, gesturing dramatically with his wings, and was rewarded with another laugh. "The hero of the Rito against Hyrule's mightiest knight! A battle for the ages!" Even Revali chuckled a bit at that, settling back with a sigh. "Win or lose, I would have liked a chance to settle the score with you."

He wanted more than that now, but the other would have been nice, and Link hummed in agreement, settling against his chest and running a hand down his newly smooth braids.

"Stop that," Revali snapped, but Link defiantly ignored him, running a finger down the feather's path through his hair. It was a losing battle anyway, with what Link put them through every day.

The fire crackled and hissed, the wind sending sparks flying away from Link's carefully chosen resting spot.

"I'll be going into the Yiga Hideout tomorrow night," Link said after a moment, huddling close against Revali's form, though Revali was almost positive he didn't provide any actual warmth. "If I use your Gale, stay quiet. I don't know if anyone but me can hear you, but just in case..."

Revali nodded, not stating the obvious: that once Link had the Thunder Helm, there would be nothing stopping him from boarding Vah Naboris and freeing the final Divine Beast, and its Champion.

"Whatever killed Urbosa in battle will be a monster to reckon with," he said instead, because it was true. Urbosa had been a dynamic force of destruction when she wanted to be, one that even Revali would be nervous to go up against. Flying would not save him from the lightning she wielded effortlessly with a snap.

"Teba told me what the feather means." Revali froze, shifting to glance down at Link's face. The firelight flickered over it, cloaking it in strange shadows. "He wanted to know whose feather it was. He didn't recognize the color."

"Did you tell him?" Revali asked, his voice high and strained. Of course another Rito would know. He hadn't considered that.

"I did."

"Did he believe you?"

"I don't know." His head tilted thoughtfully as if he actually believed Revali cared about the answer. "Teba didn't believe me at first when I told him I was the original Hylian Champion. Now I don't know what he thinks."

"Well," Revali said, flustered. Link had yet to voice his opinion about it. "It's very possible that the custom has changed since I was alive. A hundred years is a long time, and the Calamity altered so much—"

"Revali," Link interrupted him, reaching around to put a reassuring hand on his face. "I love you, too."

"O-oh." Revali faltered as Link pressed his forehead against his beak. Suddenly all his worries seemed a bit foolish. "I love you… too."

Link smiled against him.

"Yeah."

Pulling Link in close, Revali hoped with all his heart that when Medoh tore into Calamity Ganon with its cannons that it hurt. No revenge would make up for what he was about to lose, but at least he could make the beast feel a portion of his pain.