Eep, it's been a while. I am so sorry! I've been caught up with all the recent changes in my life. I have two jobs now, and my class schedule really doesn't allow for much writing in between classes. Plus, I'll admit to having been focused a lot on a few cosplays I've been working on, a Skyward Sword Zelda included. So, I'm sorry for the delay. And Reversal people, don't say anything, I'm working on it. This story just cooperated more.

You ZeLink people are going to loooove this chapter. I apologize for any mistakes in the later half of the chapter. I just wrote that up today and it hasn't really been checked due to the fact that I just wanted to get this up today before work. D:

The rest of the day had been short, due to the fact that they had arrived at Dragonroost towards the late afternoon. There wasn't much in way of conversation, as the question of where to head after Dragonroost seemed to have killed an otherwise excited mood. Link had tried to look for a map or a sea chart, but with the festival beginning the next day, the vendors were all helping with preparations rather than vending. It appeared a chart of any sort would have to wait until the next day, and with anxiety for the festival effectively dead, Link and Zelda headed to the sole inn on Dragonroost. It wasn't large and it was mostly empty, with the exception of the Rito girl at the counter and two other Hylians in the lobby who didn't seem up for any sort of socialization.

There were plenty of rooms available, however, so after having a small meal that the Rito girl happily offered for free ("In the spirit of the festival," she had said, even though Zelda noted the girl seemed to be staring absently at her companion nearly the whole time), they each headed to separate rooms on the second level of the inn.

Link threw himself on the bed and stared up at the ceiling, feebly attempting to clear his mind. He was trying not to think of how stuck they were without the Helmaroc. He supposed with the amount of rupees they had, they could always charter a boat… but that didn't settle well with him. As long as there were people like Pennysworth out there, who would sell a person out in a second unless their life depended on it, he wanted to keep their escapade as contained and uncrowded as possible. And three, he'd heard, was already a crowd.

He sighed, turning on his side and trying his best to sleep… Yet now that he found himself in a relatively peaceful situation, he just felt even more uncomfortable. He had this particular room all to himself and… well, by all means it was not huge… but after nearly three years of living in his cramped quarters on the Pride, this room was practically palatial. It was something he'd never thought of in the room at the Stock Pot Inn, probably because he'd been there with two other people and it was kind of reminiscent of the orphan barracks. But there was no such feeling here. This room was big and empty and he didn't like it.

That added discomfort now in his head, it was very difficult to sleep.

But no amount of alertness prepared him for the knock at his door. He ended up jumping right off of the bed and falling uncomfortably upon the floor, wondering who on earth it could be at this late hour. It crossed his mind that it might've been Itaav coming to crash with him, but if the Engineer had found out where he and Zelda had been staying, he wouldn't bother to knock. He'd just barge right in. Link was also assuming that Zelda was sleeping soundly in the next room over, so it couldn't have been her…

Feeling a bit paranoid, he quietly took the stolen scimitar in hand and crept to the door. Whoever was there knocked again, and Link frowned. If it was someone that may have been after them, they wouldn't be so courteous as to keep knocking… Nonetheless, he kept the scimitar in one hand as he carefully opened the door a crack…

Link had been wrong about Zelda being asleep, it seemed. He quickly put the scimitar down and then opened the door completely. "Z-Zelda? Is something wrong?" He asked, suddenly feeling social skills flying out the window. The girl was way too good at doing that to him.

Twiddling her fingers embarrassedly, Zelda simply responded, "I… I can't sleep. It's… it's strange here…" There was something gratifying in knowing he wasn't the only one feeling that way… that didn't stop him from blushing. And he all but went red in the face when she said, "Could I sleep here instead?"

His mind shut down completely. The words stung together in that sentence seemed to all sound like warbled nonsense because he just could not understand them together. His subconscious took over when his head nodded, though he was sure his face looked just as blank as he felt.

The girl smiled brightly, gave him a quick hug, and then scurried right into his room and hopped into the bed. And that was what made his brain start up again, because sheer panic seemed to take over. What had he just said (though technically he hadn't said anything at all, but that was beside the point)? But it wasn't like he could just say no, either.

"S-so, I guess I'll sleep over here," he said, wandering over to a corner after he closed the door.

"Oh, don't be silly, Link! There's room for both of us!" Zelda said, patting the part of the bed next to her.

Link tripped over himself, blurting out, "What?"

The princess, however, didn't have any idea why the boy should be so shocked. Blinking in puzzlement she simply said, "Well, the bed's big enough for two. I don't see why you should have to sleep on the floor. I felt absolutely horrible at Bleak when you did; it doesn't seem right now, especially when there's enough room."

"B-but guys and… guys and girls don't share beds!" Link blurted out.

Zelda cocked her head to side, her expression one of amused confusion. "That's silly. My mother and father would share a bed all the time. Oh, and my brother and I would too when we were smaller!"

"That's different!" He said, flustered.

But the girl would have none of that. She slid off the bed, marched right over, and dragged him back to the bed with her. "I don't see what the problem is," she said matter-of-factly. "You're not a stranger and you're a nice person. I trust you."

And that just made him go even redder in the face – mostly because he wasn't even sure if he could trust himself. Nonetheless, he found himself on the bed with Zelda happily sitting upright next to him. He had to remind himself to breathe several times. Turning back on his side, facing away from Zelda, he mumbled a shaky, "Good night."

To his surprise, Zelda lay down and… and snuggled into his back. Any chance of his relaxing now had gone out the window. However, he was taken completely off guard when Zelda said, "My brother and I… we used to sleep like this." As if to make matters worse, he felt her shaking slightly.

He looked over his shoulder, trying to look at her. But all he could see was her slightly shivering blond head. "… Are you… are you all right?" He asked.

At first, he wondered if she'd already fallen asleep or if she just hadn't heard him. But she had, and after a few moments she said, "I miss him. And my father too." It was slightly muffled, since her head was still buried in his back, but he understood it all too clearly.

He turned over, to which Zelda raised her head slightly to look up at him with tear filled eyes. She quickly put her hands up to her face and said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be like this, I know but…"

"You've got a family you miss." He finished for her. He knew how it felt too. He had just been dealing with it a lot longer.

Her hands still covering her face. "Zev can be… he can be a dumb fool sometimes, but he is still my brother. I miss him pestering me about keeping to my studies and being a proper lady…" Her hands slid from her face a little as she let out a small chuckle. "I never thought I would say that."

Link gave her a sad smile and said, "You'll see him again. And your father too. I'm sure of it."

She rubbed her eyes with balled up hands and nodded, again managing a bright smile. "Yes. Yes, you're right. I shouldn't cry. I'll see them again some day." As cheery as she looked, her voice still shook. It was silent again, and he was slowly remembering that he was in a bed with the princess. But before his discomfort could come back, she asked Link curiously, "Do you have any siblings?"

His small smile faltered a bit. "No." Even if his parents had still been around, behind the Inner Wall, it was discouraged for couples to have more than one child.

"What about your parents?"

And that was the question he really hoped she wouldn't ask. Mostly because the answer would probably make her feel worse than she already felt now. Thinking on it, there was no instance in the past where he'd ever had a reason to tell her both he and Itaav were orphans… He just wished it hadn't been asked now. "They're… they're not around anymore." He said gently.

The slightly cheered up smile she had from before dropped. "Oh… I'm sorry…"

"You didn't know. Don't worry about it." He said reassuringly.

"Is Itaav also…?"

"Yeah. But don't bring it up with him. I don't have a problem talking about it – he does."

Zelda pursed her lips, still feeling a bit bad for the insensitivity of the question. Thinking on it, she perhaps should have gotten the idea that their parents weren't around, seeing as they didn't seem quite as troubled to leave the Pride as she had. Yet that did lead her to an interesting thought. "So… is Itaav like a brother then?" She asked Link.

The Scaler certainly hadn't expected that. "Huh?" Truthfully, he'd never thought of it like that. But he supposed in a way they were like brothers. "I guess…"

"When we were on Bleak, before the Dancing Cat, he told me you saved his life." She said.

"He did?" Link asked blankly, before adding, "I mean, I suppose it's true. I'm just surprised he told you. He doesn't like to admit it."

"What happened?" Zelda asked a bit eagerly.

At first he wondered if he should tell her. Chances were if Itaav found out he'd told the story, there'd be a fair share of grumpiness from him. The story was always a blow on his pride, after all. At the same time, the guy was already being a distant douche and getting your pride dented just a little bit didn't really hurt anyone. So he told the story.

"Honestly, we were just being kids and doing stupid things. It was Itaav's idea. Some Scaling Maintenance was getting done nearby and he wanted to try scaling at night."

"What? But that's so dangerous!" Zelda gasped.

Link smirked, "That's what I told him. But he was older, so he said he knew better and that I'd better do what he said or he'd shove me. So I went along with it."

"But why?" The girl gaped.

He chuckled, saying, "Let me finish the story." Zelda blushed a bit and nodded, so he continued, "Anyways, we snuck over to where they put up the temporary scaling post; back then they kept the scaling gear laying around, so I got geared up first and… well, I went first. Itaav was still by the edge, watching, when some really powerful gust of wind just came out of nowhere. It sent me flailing around a bit, but I'd caught on to the side of the hull and hung on. Itaav wasn't so lucky, though. He fell down and just barely managed to hang onto a really big root the Scalers hadn't got to yet. There was lots of screaming from both of us, we were freaking out so much. Luckily, a Below Deck Engineer had been working the nightshift and heard us screaming. He alerted the nearest Scalers via Fairy Crystal and they came running. They told us to stay put, but Itaav was losing his grip on the root. I ended up climbing down and grabbing onto him at the last second. A professional Scaler ended up taking us back up, but that's pretty much all there is to the story."

Zelda's mouth was in an 'o,' she was so amazed. "Wow… that was… that was very heroic!" She said. It reminded her of the stories that Father would tell her about the Heroes of Old.

Link blushed. "I was just doing what anyone would've done. Truthfully, I think I owe Itaav for the whole thing. If we hadn't had done something stupid like that, I may have ended up working in the kitchens."

But she kept smiling, and then snuggled into him yet again. And that was the re-reminder of how uncomfortable the situation was… yet his mind was telling him, Stop being so damned nervous and just enjoy it, jackass. So, with a flushed face, he put his hand lightly upon Zelda's shoulder and simply enjoyed the feeling of the girl right beside him. "You and Itaav really are like brothers, you know." She said, quietly enough for Link to tell she was falling asleep. As if to emphasize that, she let out a big yawn and then said, "We should find him tomorrow…"

And he supposed, distant as his friend had been that day and concerning as his behavior was the night before… they may as well. A festival was going to start after all.

Apparently, finding Itaav the next day was out of the question. The two had descended the stairs from their room to see that Quill, the Rito they had met on Linebeck's boat, was in the lobby. With him were two girls, one another Rito, the other a Zora girl. The girls, however, were different from the other Rito and Zora they'd seen. For one, the Zora girl was wearing clothes – something which most Zora seemed to lack. Though as most clothes went, they weren't extravagant. It was a simple purple dress which was accented by a red surcoat with a golden sigil in the middle. The Rito girl, on the other hand, seemed dressed like most of the other Rito, except she had surcoat matching the Zora's. Another thing the two had in common were matching harps strapped to their backs.

"Ah, good to see you two are awake. I'm afraid I never got your names yesterday." Quill said as soon he caught sight of them.

"Link," he said simply, wondering what on earth Quill wanted with them.

As always, however, the princess of the Pride was bubblier in her introductions. Still remembering that she was supposed to keep her real name a secret, she stepped up and curtsied to Quill and the two girls, saying, "My name is Marin! It's very nice to meet you! I've dreamed of coming to see Dragonroost Island since I was a little girl, and it's so nice to be here! Especially during a festival! It's supposed to start tomorrow, right?"

Quill, who seemed to come off as incredibly stoic, actually smiled and nodded. "That's correct, Miss Marin. I'm glad to see the festival has you so excited. It truly isn't a thing to miss. However, I'm afraid I didn't come to check on you two."

"Then what do you want?" Link asked.

The Rito man gestured to the two girls behind him and said, "These young ladies are the Attendants of the Guardians; they wished to meet you concerning an event for the festival. I couldn't tell you much, though, I'm afraid I need to leave. I only came to show them to you, and the Chieftain requires my assistance. I apologize." And with that, he gave them a short bow and exited the inn, leaving Link and Zelda with the two natives.

The Rito girl gave them both a broad smile and stepped forward, mimicking Quill's short bow and saying, "My name is Medli; I'm the attendant to the Great Valoo! It's a pleasure to meet you both!" She said in a cheerful manner that reminded Link of Zelda.

The Zora girl, on the other hand, seemed a bit shy. Her gaze seemed to be focused more on Link, but she followed Medli's example and stepped forward before giving a short bow. "I am Laruto… The Great Jabun's attendant. It's nice to meet you…"

"Oh my goodness, this is exciting!" Zelda said, dancing on her tip-toes. "It's very nice to meet you both too!"

"Yeah, nice to meet you two…" Link said with much less enthusiasm. He wasn't quite sure what two outsiders to an island would have to do with the festivities.

Medli gave them a wide smile and then looked to her companion, whose eyes seemed to be focused between her finned feet. The winged girl gave Laruto a small nudge on the shoulder and the Zora quickly stood to attention. Her eyes locked right on Link, and her face suddenly became a shade of pink that looked incredibly odd upon her near bluish complexion. "Um, it's a tradition here, during the Festival that-that outsiders should be a p-part of our main festivities!" The Zora girl stuttered.

"More specifically," Medli continued for her flustered counterpart, "Performances preceding the Founding Play."

"Founding Play?" Both Link and Zelda asked at the same time.

"Yes, the Founding Play." Medli repeated. "It's a shared legend between the Rito and Zora of the founding of Dragonroost Island and the hardships that our shared ancestors had to go through in order to reach it."

Link frowned, his mind unable to wrap around one segment of Medli's statement. "Wait… shared ancestors? But…" he looked from Medli to Laruto in confusion.

Medli chuckled and was about to explain, but Laruto seemed to have found some confidence and spoke first, "The Rito have their origins from the Zora. When the Great Flood came, the Zora were well equipped to live in the Great Sea that the Flood became… that was what was thought at first. Very soon after the Great Sea was formed, a sickness plagued half the Zora population. It seemed that some Zora were incapable of handling the sudden change in the water's salinity. In desperation, we sought the nearest landmass we could in hopes of finding a freshwater source for our dying brethren. That was when the Great Jabun lead us to an island, finding a freshwater spring that could ideally sustain life… bit it seemed it was too late. Many of the sick Zora were too far along, seemingly beyond help… And then a great dragon descended from the sky and took pity upon our dying people. He bestowed upon them scales from his own body, and those scales transformed their slick skin into feathery down, and took their fins away in favor of wings…" The girl's quiet voice stopped there.

Medli continued, "The Founding Play is not only the story of how we founded Dragonroost, but of how my people, the Rito, were born. It's a play of great significance to us…" Her cheerful demeanor had turned solemn for a moment, and then picked up again quickly to say, "But I'm sorry, we seem to have gotten just a tiny bit off topic! Because while the Founding Play is important, the performances before it are just as important! And that's why we were hoping to have your help!"

Before Link could even respond, Zelda interjected happily, "Of course we will, it would be an honor!"

"That's great!" Medli exclaimed. "What we'd like your help for is in a retelling of another one of our greatest legends! To be honest, it's a legend most people already know, but we tell the part specifically pertaining the Zora of that particular legend – that being the legend of the Hero of Time. And Link, you're a dead-ringer of the Hero of Time!"

Link stepped back in alarm, "M-me? B-but-"

"Well, the Hero was Hylian. It would feel more authentic to have a Hylian have a Hylian play the Hero – especially since you do seem similar to how the texts describe him." The Ruto girl stated matter of factly. Then she looked to the Zora next to her and said brightly, "And you'll be working very closely with Laruto here. She's cast as Princess Ruto this year, and she knows the play like the back of her hand – you'll never get lost, I promise. So, what do you say?"

Laruto's pale skin went that strange shade of pink again and she began to stare very hard at the space between her feet. But Link, for some reason, found the whole thing was really repelling him… if only because the name Ruto seemed to unsettle him. He was nearly about to decline when he caught sight of Zelda's face, which seemed to be shining so brightly with enthusiasm. And it was so incredibly enchanting to see her like that he found he couldn't bring himself to decline. If he did, the princess would lose that excited smile and maybe even be a bit disappointed in Link.

Finally, he let out a not so convincing, "Sure."

Medli let out a sigh of relief and said, "For a second there I thought you were going to say no… Erm, anyways, thank you! This'll be the best year yet with a Hylian Hero of Time!"

"And what can I do?" Zelda asked eagerly.

Medli grinned and said, "The legend passed down to us does involve two Hylians. If possible, I'd like you to play the enigmatic Sheik – that is, if playing a boy doesn't bother you."

For a moment, the princess's face fell… but just as quickly as it did, it perked up again. In fact, Link would've thought the whole thing seemed amusing to the girl the way she was smiling. It looked as if she was trying to hold back a laugh. She nodded, and said, "I would love to! Sheik was always one of my favorite characters from the Legend of the Hero of Time!"

"Perfect!" The Rito girl clapped her hands together happily. And then the girl froze for a moment, and asked, "Do you know anything about lyres?"

"Lyres? Why does she need to know about lyres?" Link asked.

Soft spoken Laruto said, "Sheik was said to hold a lyre… I think Medli is just wondering if she can strive for accuracy…"

The feathered let out a sheepish smile and nodded at her Zora counterpart's words. Zelda however smiled broadly and said, "I used to play when I was smaller. I might be a little out of practice but I'm sure Imightbe able to pick it back up again!"

With a gape, Medli said, "Really?" She then took the harp off of her back and handed it the princess of the Pride, enthusiastically asking, "Can we hear something?"

The princess blinked in surprise, apparently not having thought she'd be offered a lyre right then and there. But she shyly took the golden instrument in hand and prepped it on her arm. She thought for a moment, looked at the lyre in her hands and tested a few of the strings out. Upon getting used to the placements and sounds of each string, she then began to play.

Immediately from the first note Link felt an incredible familiarity, not with the song, but with the girl playing it. He almost felt as if perhaps he'd known Zelda a very long time ago, like when they were children… but at the same time knew that it was impossible. It felt as if he might have known her from another life, and for a moment, he wondered if he did. At that very point in time, he felt as if he really had known her forever. To say he was entranced with the girl at that moment might have been an understatement.

But as the notes grew in complexity, Zelda's lack of practice began to show and she eventually stopped, handing the lyre back to Medli apologetically. But the Rito seemed to have paid no attention to the faults in the girl's performance, saying, "That was beautiful! I've never heard that song before. What's it called?"

Zelda twiddled her thumbs bashfully and said, "Oh, it's an old song that goes back to the beginnings of my family… It's called the Ballad of the Goddess. It has lyrics too, but I've completely forgotten them…"

"Well, you'll make a perfect Sheik!" Medli said excitedly. "I'll have to teach you the song you'll need to play… Oh but don't worry, these performances take place on the final day of the festival, so there's plenty of time to practice," She then looked over to Laruto and Link, saying to the Zora, "Laruto, you take Link over the stages, see if you can find someone to work on his costume. I'm going to start teaching Marin the melody, all right?"

Again did the Zora girl's face turn that strange shade of pink-purple before she nodded and turned to Link. She didn't make any sort of eye contact with him, only once daring to let her eyes flutter up to see his face before quickly focusing back between her flippered feet. "Um, just… follow me, please…"

Link didn't bother nodding, seeing how the girl wasn't even looking his way. But he looked back to Zelda, holding her gaze for just a moment. But that moment felt like forever to him as he tried to figure out why her song invoked that sense of familiarity with her he wasn't sure he should have. Finally, he managed to ask, "You'll be all right?"

She nodded cheerily before running up and giving him a hug, whispering in his ear, "If anything bad happens, I'll find you right away." And then she skipped back to Medli, giving Link a a wave before they disappeared to a different part of Dragonroost. Link frowned with worry. It was probably the wrong time to remember why they had been driven to the island in the first place… or maybe it was the right time. He didn't know. But he saw Laruto was waiting patiently for him, so he turned to her and then followed her to their part of Dragonroost.

Medli was apparently just excited to teach Zelda the piece of music as the girl was to learn it. She was taking Zelda to the music hall, where they would hopefully find a lyre for her to practice with. Walking up and down the many catwalks strewn about Dragonroost, however, Zelda remembered that she and Link weren't the only ones who came to the island. For a moment, she felt incredibly guilty for suddenly forgetting her plan to find Itaav. She quickly picked up her own pace to reach Medli's side and asked, "I'm sorry, but have you seen my other friend?"

Medli paused for a moment and then said, "Oh yes, that's right. I heard there were three new Hylians on the island… but I haven't seen him." The princess frowned, dismayed, and upon seeing that Medli quickly added, "But I'm sure he's around and about. Dragonroost is pretty big and there are lots of nooks and crannies to explore! I'm sure he's just been looking around outside of the public eye, is all!"

Zelda perked up just a bit and gave a half-hearted smile. She sure hoped so, because some part of her worried if Itaav was still in that terrifying mindset from the other night…

Again, a very ZeLink centric chapter. I really don't have much to say about this chapter, other than the fact that Laruto totally has it hard for Link. Don;t worry guys, she's not going to be nearly as crazy as her namesake. Originally, I was planniong on having Ruto instead of Laruto... then I remembered I can't do that because Ruto was a main character in Ocarina of Time and it would feel kind of weird for the same character pop up here. I always kind of liked Laruto - a lot more than Fado as a sage, that's for sure. She seemed to calm and collected, less reckless than her namesake. I actually liked the idea of working with her better than Ruto.

Tinselplease, ohoho, thank you~ I'm really enjoying their characterization too, and don't worry...love triangle action will be starting very soon. Kekeke... As for Itaav, I suppose you'll find out what his "awakening" will mean as we proceed.

fleets, oh my God. Did my face just get red. I honestly didn't know you read that one... Erm, anyways, one of my friends said I tend to write very conversationally and that's why it's so enjoyable. I guess it's sort of like the oral tradition on paper. XD But don't worry, envious as you can get of me, I get envious of you too my dear fleetage. XD And yes, that will happen sometime... not sometime soonish, though.

purplegc, it ended there because I said so. XD And oh my, you're right. What catastrophe will happen here? GASPETH. I'm not saying. Eh, I never really disliked Groose, but I don't like him that much either. He is funny, though, I'll give him that. XD

Sage of Video Games, yay! Glad you're liking it! 8D As for ItaavxZelda... soon, either next chapter or the chapter after that, there will be. Hopefully, it'll make up for the massive ZeLink that went on this chapter.

Mirria1, iknowrite? I got some idea of it here, but as you can see, I didn't kill all of them off. IT DON'T MAKE SENSE, MANG.

SubZeroChimera, not really. WHAT WILL HAPPEN? You'll find out. Thanks, sorry for the wait. D: