Link was banned from flying for a year after his 'incident', as the rest of town liked to call his reckless dive. Link could still remember that day like it had happened minutes ago. Gaepora had turned almost purple as he lectured Link on his irresponsibility. The voice was a seething torrent in his mind, battering against his skull, furious at having failed in bringing him beyond the ever-present clouds. Curses of varying intensity, ones that Link had never heard, swirled around his head in clusters, and sometimes he found himself agreeing with the rage.

So, he had wanted to see something a little more than the island he called home. What was the fault in that? Were they going to blame him for being curious? He asked himself, asked the voice, and it fired the questions right back at him.

It had a definite hook in Link's mind, and while the connection was rarely very strong, it was there. Even while Link couldn't fly, couldn't visit the plaza or the graveyard without someone else for company. At completely random times, he would fall prey to his enticer, the lure. Sometimes it encouraged Link to say some dreadful things, and brought out a nastier side in the otherwise-peaceful blond.

Zelda, for example, was always just too cautious, too determined to keep Link out of harm's way. He did appreciate it, because without her, the new hero would long have been dead. But he hated her hovering, her constant checking up on him, because he didn't need it as much as she seemed to think.

Once, the voice was idly chattering to itself about waiting impatiently for a hero and all of the usual things, while Link walked with Zelda around the plaza – Link may have been allowed to fly after a year's denial, but he was still accompanied everywhere he went.

He listened as wisps of thoughts floated into his mind, snippets of whispered words. Zelda must have noticed Link zoning out, and gave him a gentle shake to stir him.

"Link," she said softly, her eyebrows drawn into a frown. "You know you were told not to... to listen…"

Link smiled fondly at her, shaking his head at her concern. "It's alright, really. After all, I haven't gone diving or anything, right?"

Zelda's face creased with worry. "Link, really, you can't let him in like-"

"Zelda, relax," Link said. His smile was somewhat strained.

'Irritated, are we?'

Link barely managed to stop himself tripping over when he was addressed directly, and of course Zelda was there to steady him. He stepped out of her arms with a firm but assured, "I'm fine."

"Are you-?"

"Yes, Zelda, I'm sure!" he snapped suddenly, throwing his arms up in a show of exasperation. "Would you relax? I'm seventeen years old, Zelda. It's okay to breathe around me; I'm not going to start hallucinating or whatever it is you think happens! You don't understand what it's like, so stop trying to!"

Tears sprung to Zelda's innocent eyes at his harsh words, and Link blinked slowly as he realised what he had said.

"Zelda," he said softly, taking her by the arms, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry… I didn't-"

"I know, I know that it's… it's alright."

Link hugged her close, tightly, shaking away thoughts of that voice. Zelda did not deserve to be spoken to like this, not when she was the person that had always been most patient with him, helping him since he'd first started hearing things.

From that day, Link never lost his temper with Zelda again. In fact, the nameless voice seemed to have decided to retreat into itself for a while, and Link had peace for the first time in his life. Months of peace, of an almost-unnerving silence in his mind. It was the day of the Wing Ceremony that Link began to experience strange sensations again.

His dream early on that morning had been more than unsettling. That awful monstrosity, towering far above him with its sharp teeth, rows and rows of them like the blades of swords. The horrible cries it uttered as it destroyed, devoured everything. Places he had never seen, wiped out, Zelda swallowed up by darkness… And then it had stopped when a brilliant light filled his vision, and he looked up, up, to see a glowing figure cloaked in hues of blue and purple. She spoke to him, and though it sounded like the chiming of bells, the trickle of water droplets, Link could understand her clearly.

"Link… Link… It is time for you to awaken… Link…"

And then, he had wakened suddenly on his bedroom floor, thanks to the assistance of Zelda's blue Loftwing screeching for the teen to pay attention to him. And, more importantly, to the letter he carried in his beak. It hit Link on the head before the Loftwing took to the sky, leaving Link with sleepy eyes and a smile on his face.

He stood up with a yawn, flicking the letter open with a smile.

"Better get moving," he decided, after rereading Zelda's letter. Did he really sleep in that much…? Link could answer that himself.

Thoughts of the Wing Ceremony made him forget about his bad dream; it was a celebration, after all, and Link would –hopefully- graduate to the senior knights class today. His goal was to win and nothing more. That'd show Groose -and everyone else, for that matter- that he was more than a delusional.

Even after he'd had no talking, no voices for a year, Groose still resorted to bullying him about his previous troubles. Eventually it became about his spending time with Zelda, which baffled Link. While he didn't pay the teasing much mind, for the most part, there were bad days. There were very bad days when Link missed the voice that had told him 'Yes, be angry, hero, be annoyed' instead of 'Ignore it, Link, he's just being immature.'

He made his way to the Statue of the Goddess, Zelda's favourite place in all of Skyloft. Just as Link used to be found wandering around dangerous ledges, Zelda was almost always walking the beautiful Isle of the Goddess with her pet Remlit, Mia, in her spare time.

Link spotted her standing on the circular mosaic under the statue, plucking at the strings of a shining golden instrument. She was dressed in her brand new clothes for the Wing Ceremony in hues of deep pink and blue. A long piece of white fabric was wrapped around her shoulders, tied in a knot at her back with the emblem of the Goddess stitched into the fabric.

She turned to face him, her blonde hair falling neatly in a ponytail at her back. Zelda smiled warmly as Link approached, meeting him at the edge of the mosaic tiles.

"Morning, Link!" she greeted him. She gave a quick twirl, showing off the extent of her outfit from the gold-plated belt to the pale green ribbons keeping her hair back. "What do you think?"

"You look wonderful," Link replied honestly, glancing curiously to her new instrument. She caught his eye and grinned wide.

"I think so too; it's nice to know you agree, though!" She held up her curved instrument then, inlaid with ancient symbols Link felt he should have recognised. "And look at this instrument, too! Father calls it a harp. Link, it sounds fantastic; listen!"

She plucked at some of the strings again to demonstrate, before glancing up and beyond Link's shoulder. He turned to follow her gaze and met the fathering gaze of Gaepora, climbing the steps with a small smile. Even as his hair turned white, the man was still full of the same energy he'd had for years.

"Link, Zelda, here you are," he greeted them with a nod. "I didn't expect to see you here, Link. Everyone else is out on their birds practicing for today."

Link felt colour rise in his cheeks as he glanced toward the sky, where streaks of colour whizzed about overhead. Groose and his friends, likely pulling stunts of all kinds to wow everyone with later.

"Well…"

"Well," Gaepora repeated with a bark of laughter. "I'd get to it if I were you! And Zelda, you should be practicing your lines for after the race!"

Zelda, while tempted to join Link in his practice to see that he was alright, knew her father had a point. She nodded acknowledgement, as did Link, but stopped her friend for a moment with a hand on his arm.

"Give it your all, Link," she said after a moment's hesitation. "I want to perform this ceremony with you."

Link nodded in response, his features set into an assured, determined expression, before he headed toward the diving platform some distance from the Statue. Zelda and her father watched him running off with something akin to regret.

"Father, what if he-?"

"Zelda," Gaepora interrupted her gently. "Worry about Link another time. Look after yourself for once!"

"The young girl tapped her foot hard against the ground, a hand on one hip. With a final huff, she relented. But not before adding a warning for her smiling father. "If anything goes even slightly wrong today, I'll be having words with you!"

With that proclamation, Zelda marched herself to the plaza with all the subtle ferocity she was known for.

The Wing Ceremony was, as it always had been, an extremely excitable day for the residents of Skyloft. To their surprise, the race was even more competitive than in prior years, and it was one of the shortest races they'd had in a long time. Perhaps the biggest surprise was that Link, the underdog, was the one to grab the statuette and come out as the victor.

The townspeople had watched in perplexed but respectful silence - even Groose - as the new graduate flew with Zelda to the Statue of the Goddess to receive his gift and finish the Ceremony.

"Great goddess, guiding light and protector of our people," Zelda spoke clearly, as she had rehearsed it a thousand times over. Link's hand was warm in hers, shaking slightly. "Grant us your blessing and mercy as I act in your stead during this ceremony."

Both stood on the highest point of the statue, Link kneeling before her with his hand outstretched to her as she spoke. Both had their eyes closed, as per the norm, but the soon-to-be hero could not help peeking up at his friend as she recited. Her next words carried a strange air to them, and they did not sound rehearsed. They did not sound like Zelda was saying them.

"Valiant youth who grasped victory at the celebration of the bird folk… In accordance with the old ways… I now bestow the blessing of the goddess upon you."

This time, Link looked up when Zelda took her hand away, loosening the knot of fabric tied at her back and folding the cloth neatly. She proffered it to him with a proud smile and strangely familiar words. "The blessings of the goddess drift down from the heavens aloft a sail, which I now pass on to you."

Link rose from his kneeling position and took his prize from her with a beam. "Thank you, Zelda."

"You know, they say the goddess gave the Sailcloth to her chosen hero long ago," she remarked, glancing at the handmade replica. "Of course, the one you're holding is one I've been working hard to make for today's champion! And I'm really glad I could give it to you, Link. Take good care of it, okay?"

Link gave a firm nod, turning the cloth over in his hands to run his eyes over the goddess' emblem. Looking down at it, he felt as if he should be remembering something, but he had no idea as to what. Zelda's hand tapping his snapped his attention back to her. He found her smiling gently, her voice soft when she addressed him.

"Thanks for making it up here to do this with me today, Link," she said simply, before her face cleared. "Now, we really should finish up this ritual…"

Link blinked in surprise. He hadn't thought there was anything beyond receiving his gift, but it seemed there was more.

"You… do know how it ends, don't you?"

Link shook his head, a worried frown forming on his face, and Zelda laughed. She came close, very close, and Link's stomach formed an uneasy knot as his thoughts went awry. Zelda didn't feel that - she wasn't actually going to…

'Worried, skychild?'

"Aa-AAH!"

Disturbed suddenly, Link took an involuntary step backward just as Zelda's arms moved quickly for his. One step too far.

And then he was falling, with only the Sailcloth in hand, Zelda screaming frantically for him to open it and use it, Link. And after a second or two fumbling, it came undone and Link was floating, safe, toward the centre of the mosaic tiles. And then his feet touched solid ground again.

"Link!"

He shaded his eyes with a hand and made out Zelda, flying down on her Loftwing with a relieved smile on her face. He greeted her with a shaky wave.

"Oh, Link, I'm so sorry I startled you!" she apologised quickly, hopping down from her Loftwing and almost gliding over to him, she moved so quickly. "Are you alright?"

Link thought it would be best not to mention the sudden, sharp return of his frequent visitor. "I'm fine, it's okay I was… well, like you said…"

"Startled," she repeated a little more softly, before she clapped her hands together. "Well, you know, that was the ending of the ceremony! You had to jump off of the Statue and use the Sailcloth to land right where you're standing! And you did it, you're finished!"

Link laughed, disbelieving at having panicked the way he did. Of course it hadn't been entirely Zelda, but…

'Here…'

"Let's go for a quick flight," Link suggested, a little too loudly. Zelda raised her eyebrows in surprise before shrugging.

"Well, alright!"

They both moved for the diving platforms, taking off at a jog and whistled for their birds. As he landed on his Loftwing's back, Link pushed outside thoughts away as he focused on handling his bird correctly, dipping and rising when need be, keeping pace with Zelda. He slowed as she called for him, glancing over his shoulder at her.

"Link, there's something I hadn't gotten the chance to tell you," she began, shouting over the winds that were brewing. "You've been so busy, and – Link! Look out!"

"Now."

The tornado writhed, stretching far above the one who had summoned it. It shot through the ever-present, near-impenetrable cloud barrier easily. It had worked, he'd done it, this was the beginning of it all! The goddess, the hero. He would come now, he would meet his long-gone hero once more.

Ghirahim laughed harshly, dementedly.