Chapter 2 - A/N - Canon is done, time to start shifting into some plot ;p
Groose decide to return to Skyloft because he wanted time to cope with his emotions. Granny's death (if you were to call it that) had a bigger impact on Groose than it did the rest of us because it was he that stayed with her during all those hours on the surface. I felt sad too, of course, but at this point I was used to the feeling of loss.
Zelda and I went through the front doors of the temple to behold the new scenery. I would've never thought that the goddess statue had such a purpose, but now the place looked so complete with Hylia watching over it. I briefly remembered traversing the temple in order to obtain the Triforce. It had given me quite the fright when the temple began violently shaking before falling to the surface… with me in it. While I had wished for the destruction of Demise, I had not wished for the goddess statue to fall from its place in the sky.
Where was the triforce now? Sealed in the past… or did I still have it? I looked at my right hand, noting that I still had the symbol on my it. Did that mean I could still use it? I shook my head as if to deny my question. Impa was guarding the triforce in the past so that she could make sure that no man alone could wield that sort of power. Of course she was going to be careful enough to make sure that there was no way that the power stayed in my grasp… but then again… how did she take it away? Did I lose it when I returned the Master Sword? Or had I already exhausted the wish of the triforce? Why did I even care? Everything was over and done with, I didn't even have a reason I'd need to use the triforce again.
All the power was in the past, sealed away, all paths to it broken - as far as I knew at least. I probably wouldn't need to use it again; if Impa had thought that I would need to, she wouldn't have sealed it in an era where we couldn't access it. A voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
"Liiiiiink," Zelda called in a singsong voice. "Link?" She repeated, raising her eyebrows. Zelda rolled her eyes at my lack of response, "LINK!"
"Huh, what?" I looked back at Zelda. I grinned and scratched my head embarrassingly. She dropped her slightly stern look and couldn't suppress a laugh.
"You're such an idiot sometimes," she said jokingly. I had to admit, it was kind of true. I had a tendency to have my head in the clouds (granted that literally lived in the clouds), so I technically always had my head in the clouds except when I was on the surface), so it was no surprise to her when it took me a moment respond.
"Ah, yeah, I guess I can be at times," I replied halfheartedly. I wasn't particularly interested in what she had to say, but I didn't want her to think that I was ignoring her. I just wanted time alone to think.
"I have something that I want to ask you…" My imagination got the better of me. Looking into her beautiful blue eyes, imagined her say, "Link, I have something that I want to ask you…."
"Okay so I had this idea." Lets get married and have children."Groose and I were talking and we decided that we want to settle the surface." I want to settle with you on the surface. Zelda stared into my eyes and wondered if she truly had my attention. Brushing it aside, Zelda continued, "I mean Skyloft is so small and as a result, we only have about 15 families or so that live on the island. If we moved to the surface." Our children would have more room to play. "- well we don't all have to move to the surface - but if we start settling the surface, we can make our modest little town into something more. Since you had such a big part to play in defeating Demise, I understand if you wouldn't want to, but do you want to help with the settling of the Surface? Groose has some building skills, and I'm pretty sure we could get a lot of other people, but I just wanted to ask."
I only half heard what she said and found it difficult to shake off Zelda mentally asking me out. So she wanted me to help her settle the surface or something like that? I considered it. Honestly I just wanted to go back to Skyloft, and sleep, and sleep and well… sleep. On the other hand, helping her could get me more 'points' with her, not that I needed them. After all we knew each other inside and out. Best to give her an answer in the middle.
"Well, that journey has me really worn out, so I don't want to dedicate all my energy to it, but I can help out sometimes when needed. I was just planning on relaxing and finishing school anyways, so I'll have time every now and then."
Zelda seemed satisfied with my answer, "Great. As soon as we get back I'm going to have a meeting with everyone in Skyloft and see what they think about it." She looked exquisite. The sun shone off of her long blonde hair, and she beamed at me with this beautiful smile. She was still wearing her white gown, with blue crystal sandals, and bangles, and I had to say she truly looked like a goddess.
Ask her, Link. ASK HER. My mind battled with me. I watched as Zelda put her fingers to her lips in preparation to whistle for her loftwing. With the threat to humankind gone, the cloud barrier no longer prohibited flight to and from Skyloft, so we were now able to call our loftwings to the surface. Before she could whistle, I interrupted her.
"Wait, er Zelda…" I hesitated. I couldn't ask her right now… She looked at me, moving her hand from her mouth.
"Yes, Link?" she replied curiously.
ASKKKK HERRRRRR! I couldn't do it. I'd hit myself for this later.
"Hey, um do you wanna go flying with me in a couple of days? I know this beautiful island in the Thunderhead that I want to show you." Dammit Link.
"Oh really? Sure, just come by and get me, kay?"
"Will do," with that she went back to calling for her loftwing. Within seconds the bird came diving from the sky to pick her up. She mounted her bird, and with a wave, was off.
Making sure no one was around, I verbally cursed myself. "Dammit Link. You really blew it. You better bring it up to her when you guys go flying," I said referring to myself as though someone else was talking to me. Debating things alone always allowed bad thoughts to seep in and try to take over. What if she doesn't want to go out with me? Will I be forever alone? No, no, there's always Peatrice worst case scenario. Shut up Link, women are never 'worse case scenarios'. Of course she likes you, you're a hero, you saved her. There isn't any way that she doesn't like you. That narrator in my head was sure good at reassuring me.
I made up a game plan. When we went on our date I would bring us some lunch. Better yet I would gather some of the foods I've had on the surface for the lunch. That would surely set the mood. 'Oh Link, you went all the way down to the surface to gather this stuff for me?' I assumed she would say. Then we would start eating on Rainbow Island, surrounded by flowers, and it would be so romantic. I'd make a song for her to play with the goddess harp - after all I had gotten pretty good - and she would look up at me teary eyed and happy. Then after the song I'd say, "Zelda I love you, I have for a while now… will you be my girlfriend?"
And then she'd say yes… hopefully. No! She'd say yes! Maybe Link, you don't know… I shook my head.
I had three days to gain my composure and stop whining. I wanted to be confident when I took Zelda's hand in my own and we kissed for the first time. Then within a year or so we'd marry, in another she'd be pregnant with our first child. The thought made me smile, but at the same time I blushed at it all; I was embarrassed for even thinking about Zelda in that way.
Realizing that there wasn't much left for me to do on the surface, I raised my hand to my mouth and whistled for my crimson loftwing. I sensed he was near, and within a few seconds he came diving from the sky to my location. He circled above me once before ascending in front of me. He cawed excitedly upon seeing me.
"Hey buddy, I haven't seen you in a while," I rubbed my hand against his beak and he nuzzled his beak into it to return the gesture. I wondered did he understand the importance of the mission that I had just completed. "Let's head home," with that said, I jumped on the birds back and took off towards the sky.
It felt good being back on my loftwing. I would often resort to flying whenever I wanted to think about something because it really helped me clear my thoughts. Nothing was more refreshing than the cool air rushing through my hair as my bird and I flew through the sky. Loftwings shared telepathic links with their masters, meaning that I usually didn't have to direct the bird when I wanted to go somewhere unless it was someplace new, then I generally would steer the bird using gentle pulls of his neck feathers.
We were above the cloud barrier in seconds. I considered stopping by the Lumpy Pumpkin to say hi to Kina, and grab some pumpkin soup, but my body protested the notion. I finally realized how exhausted I was, not that I didn't have a reason. Saving the world was no doubt tiring work, and I owed it to myself to take a nice nap. With sleep in mind, I sped off in the direction of my room at the Knight Academy. Of course it didn't take long to get there and I was soon jumping off the bird, using my sailcloth to soften my landing.
'I really hope I don't run into anyone', I thought to myself.I didn't feel like having a conversation with anyone right now. I could hear it, 'Link, how was the journey? I heard you defeated Demise. Was it hard? Give me the details'... Yeah, no. I carefully slipped into the school and looked around. I didn't see anyone, and my door wasn't very far from here. Looking one last time, I bolted to my room, yanked open the door, and disappeared inside. I locked the door, and sighed in relief. I slipped the belt that held my now empty sheath and shield over my head, and put them under the bed. I unfastened another belt from around my waist and hung it up on a hook on the wall. I stripped myself of my tunic and chainmail leaving me in my white undershirt. Slipping off my boots and hat, I fell backwards onto my bed.
I pulled the covers over my body, and within a few minutes, I drifted off to sleep.