A/N: Guys I'm so sorry that it's been so long! Fingers crossed that the quality of my writing hasn't taken a severe hit from my extended break. Also I lost all my notes on the next plot points so that's awesome.

Hope you all are staying safe and sane during this crazy COVID-19 stuff!


Chapter 42

The two of them stared in excited awe at their hands, at the glow fading from Link's hand, and Vaati's now-bare wrist. Then Link pumped her first in the air. "Yesssss!" she cheered. Vaati couldn't help but smile himself, even when she gave him a jubilant hug. "That was awesome! See, I have the best ideas!"

"Yeah, yeah, you're a genius," Vaati relented good-naturedly. His smile faltered when Link pulled back from the hug, her face aglow with that warm look. He tugged slightly at her arms and glanced away. "Could you - er, just let go already," the violet-haired mage stammered.

She immediately loosened her hold on him, but then a mischievous spark lit in her eyes and she kept her arms draped over his shoulders. "Whaaat, I'm just showing how happy I am!" Link retorted.

"I get it. You don't have to do - whatever you're doing." Vaati was trying to pull away.

Link, however, was ignoring his every attempt at escape. She leaned forward slightly. "What I'm doing? I'm just hugging you, no big deal, right?" The smile she gave him was definitely deliberate this time.

"Pretty sure you know exactly what I'm talking about," he muttered, wishing he could teleport away. Then he remembered: he could.

With a mischievous smirk of his own, Vaati vanished into the air. When he reappeared on the other side of the desk, Link was pushing herself up from off his chair. "No fair!" she cried, but her laughter undermined any indignation in her voice. "That's cheating!"

He scoffed. "You cheated first."

"Maaaaaaybe." She grinned. Glancing at her left hand, she rubbed absently at the Triforce mark. "Now that we've cracked that -" she chuckled at the pun "- what do we do now?"

"Sleep," Vaati half-joked. It was late, but any tiredness had been banished by the adrenaline of using the Triforce's power. Now that he was free of the bracelet, he could use his full power, and Ghirahim could no longer track him. Impa could probably give them a list of things to do - use his magic to instantly restore the Castle, track down Ghirahim, or something like that.

"Deal with your love life afterwards. I was serious about that." The Mage sighed and leaned back against a shelf. He had to admit, it had been nagging at him, especially the idea that Link hadn't told him everything. Was now really the time, though? The threat of Ghirahim reviving Ganon was looming over Hyrule, and here he was, getting flustered over his best friend.

She must have caught his sigh, because she tilted her head, smile dimming somewhat. But Vaati straightened before she could question him. "Let's clean up this mess," he said, gesturing to the books scattered over the table and piled at the ends of the library shelves.

With a flick of his wrist, multiple streams of wind whistled through the library, lifting several of the book piles, filling the room with the sound of rustling paper as the ones on the table were briskly shut and picked up by the wind as well. He saw Link following the various books as they floated to their destinations with her head. She ducked with a little yelp when Vaati brought one book zooming right over her.

"The government should hire you as their janitor," Link grinned. "You'd have the whole place spic and span in an instant."

"Yes, I'll go down in legend as Vaati, Wind Janitor," he replied with a roll of his eyes as the last books slid into place. The Mage stretched his arms out in front of him. "Let's go. I'm assuming we should tell Impa that we fixed the problem."

Link nodded and marched alongside him down the aisle. "Now that we're back in business, we can hunt down Ghirahim and give him a serious butt kicking." She cracked her knuckles theatrically.

He just hummed in reply. Every single time they'd tried to defeat the demon, he'd had some sort of trick up his sleeve. It felt ridiculous that it was going to take four Links, two legendary swords, and a Wind Mage to take him down. And Ghirahim wasn't even the biggest evil they were facing—if he resurrected Ganon, they'd be in some seriously deep trouble. Vaati internally berated himself. Here he was, infamous Wind Mage, with the potential for god-like powers, and yet he felt like the weakest person in the group.

Then again... He glanced sidelong at Link, who was chattering about something as they walked (did she just say something about hero costumes?). He lacked something that the former Vaati had possessed, and that was where the difference in power lie. But even though Link had offered up the Tri Force stored inside her, Vaati knew he couldn't—shouldn't rely on that.

"—would be cool, right? Hey, you aren't listening, are you?!" Link punched the mage in the shoulder. When he just muttered a quick apology, she huffed, "Fine, I'll wear a cape, and you can just wear—" she swept her hand towards him and the clothes he was wearing "—this."

"Why would I want to wear a cape?" She didn't get to argue her point as they halted in front of the guest suites. For some reason, they both went quiet, just kind of standing there. Vaati wondered why he didn't feel like saying goodnight. There wasn't anything else to say, though.

He turned to her but she beat him to it. "See you in the morning, Vaati!" she said in a rush, abruptly throwing her arms around him. He didn't protest, his heart giving a little skip when she squeezed him a bit closer. Then she was gone, running into her suite before he could respond.

"...Goodnight, Link," he murmured. As he slipped into his own bed, he irritatedly tried to chase away the bittersweet thought that she could've hugged him for just a bit longer.


Weak winter morning light snuck in through a gap in the curtains, hitting Vaati dead in the face. He glared at the offending window and rolled over. The clock read five in the morning. Why was it so bright already? Despite the early hour, he didn't feel particularly tired. After a few minutes of debating more sleep or no, he slid out of the covers, quietly to avoid waking any of the agents still sleeping. Vaati tiptoed to the window, peeking through the gap.

The suite looked down on the lower levels of the castle and the gardens behind it. The leafless bushes and trees were adorned with a heavy blanket of snow that glittered under the moonlight. Despite the freshly fallen snow, the sky had already cleared, letting the stars shine through to create a mimicry of daylight in the outside world.

He could feel the chill temperature radiating off the glass window as he leaned closer. A few stories down, there was a gaping window pane, snow flowing past the shattered edges of glass into the building. Vaati hoped there wasn't anything important in that room.

An idea came back to him. A big one, one he wasn't quite sure how it would pan out. But it wasn't really all that complicated.

Vaati pulled the curtain closed and snuck back to his area of the room, grabbing his jacket. Then he remembered with a flush of satisfaction—he had his magic back. So he should be able to... Vaati closed his eyes and snapped a finger. He felt a rush of wind envelope him, and suddenly he was bundled up in a heavy winter coat, hat, and boots. He'd never have to pack clothes again.

Pleased, the purple-haired young man slipped out through the halls, down the stairs, trying to act normal around the few patrolling agents he passed. They always eyed him suspiciously, and while he wasn't about to make any effort to get them to like him, he certainly didn't want to give them a reason to bother him.

Out through the broken ballroom and into the courtyard he strode. The snow crunched under his feet, muted in the morning air. Once he was in the middle of the courtyard, he spun around and faced the castle.

He lifted a hand but faltered. The castle was actually really huge. There were not just the many levels and towers he could see rising above him, but also lower levels, basements and hidden tunnels, spaces he knew nothing of.

Taking a deep breath, Vaati shifted his stance. His magic was always intuitive. Maybe he didn't know exactly what a Darknut looked like under its mask, but he was still able to summon it, right? Whatever he didn't know, his magic filled in the gaps. Maybe he should be more worried about waking everyone up. Well, there were worse wake-up calls.

The Mage raised both hands and closed his eyes. Summoning the wind to him, he willed it towards the castle, to wrap around the cracked marble spires, swirl in smashed windows, slip through the littered halls, whirl within the ruined ballroom. He willed the wind to pick up the broken chunks of walls and floors, setting them back where they belong. Windows to reform like frost. Papers to fly back to their homes nestled in drawers. The wind rushed through the castle, yet its touch was gentle and smooth. He felt it as an extension of his consciousness. There was a dull roar as the wind filled the entire building and as its broken pieces rumbled back into place.

Gradually, the tendrils of wind began to flow back to him like eager servants ready for their next task. When the last wisp left the castle, Vaati lowered his arms, which had began to shake, and gasped for air, coughing as his lungs were assaulted with freezing air. In his concentration, he'd barely remembered to breathe.

Once he'd mostly caught his breath, Vaati raised his head and took in the castle before him. From outside, all he could see were a few replaced windows and one spire righted. Time to see how the inside had fared.

He swayed a little as he walked back to the main entrance. His limbs felt heavy and he was panting by time he reached the ballroom. The smooth floor—the chandelier hanging from the ceiling—the perfectly even steps—Vaati laughed breathlessly in awe at the utterly perfect room. "It actually worked," he said to himself.

Loud, fast steps echoed from above, and he looked up to see Link careening into the ballroom's upper level. Her blue eyes widened as she took in the exquisite restoration. "Whaaaaaat?!" she exclaimed. Then she noticed Vaati down below her. "Did you—?"

"Of course. No one else was doing any work around here," Vaati scoffed. He squeezed his eyes shut as a wave of dizziness swept through his head.

"That's so cooool!" Link enthused, but she quickly sobered. "Hey, are you okay?" Her footsteps echoed as she ran down the stairs towards him.

Vaati waved a hand dismissively. "I'm fine." In reality, the Mage was exhausted. Using his magic had never taken so much of his energy before.

She wasn't fooled. "Uh, you kinda look like you got bulldozed by a Lynel. Maybe you used too much magic?"

"I said I'm fine. I'm the Wind Mage, fixing a few walls shouldn't be so—" Another wave of dizziness. "Shouldn't be hard..." he finished in a mutter.

"...Well, you've never done something that big before, and you just got your magic back again," his friend said after a pause. "Maybe you just need a quick break!"

Vaati just nodded in reply. There were more footsteps coming from upstairs, and he opened his eyes to see a few Sheikah agents and Aveil and Red enter the ballroom. The Gerudo surveyed the room, then grinned at Vaati. "Nicely done, Vaati."

"Since everyone's awake, I think we should celebrate with breakfast! I'll cook!" Link announced, jerking a thumb at herself.

"I'll help," Red said. Link gave her twin a thumbs up.

Vaati trailed after the chattering group, vaguely trying to recall if Link could actually cook or not.


After a hearty breakfast of omelets, fried vegetables, and coffee, Vaati felt mostly back to normal. As the conversation had bounced around about how he should've added a theater room or made all the marble purple in his honor, he'd wondered at how his magic had drained so much and yet seemed to be replenishing rather quickly. Using his magic had never affected him physically like that, not even during the fight with Gohma. Or maybe he'd never had a chance to feel exhausted then, between the adrenaline and then being knocked out for two days. But at least the effects didn't last too long. A few hours, and he felt fit to renovate another castle.

Thankfully, more renovations wasn't what Impa had in mind for him. The Sheikah made a call later that morning. Vaati, Link, Red, and Aveil gathered around the Gerudo's tablet, which displayed the faces of Impa, Zelda, Sheik, and the other twins. Vio waved to them all excitedly.

"Aveil informed me that you repaired the entirety of the castle early this morning, Vaati," the white-haired woman addressed him. He couldn't discern whether her tone was approving or critical; her poker face was too strong. But he relaxed when she continued, "I thank you for putting your magic to use in that way. Repairs would have taken countless months under normal circumstances."

"I figured it would be a good exercise for me," he replied matter-of-factly. He saw Vio roll her eyes but thankfully she didn't comment.

"Now that you're free from Ghirahim's restraints, I'd like to discuss our next steps. Aveil, do you have anything new to report?"

The Gerudo shook her head in the negative. "Not a single Yiga has been spotted near the castle since we chased them out. Most of the essential staff has already returned to work; now that the place is back in order, I think we can let everyone else back. I doubt they'll target us here again; Link has the Master Sword now so I can't imagine what else they'd want here."

"Yes, I thought as much as well. Outside, there have only been a few sightings of any enemy agents. Ghirahim has once again disappeared. The element of control has been taken from him, but it's doubtful he is standing by idly."

"Should we try to find him?" Zelda suggested.

Sheik shook his head. Vaati noticed for the first time that he was no longer in a wheel chair, though a crutch was resting against his seat. "I think our best bet is to beat him at his own game. That is, we find what he's looking for first."

"Ganon?" The blonde scrunched her forehead in confusion.

"Yeah I'm confused too," said Vio, raising her hand like she was a kid in school. "Shouldn't we be making sure he doesn't find Ganon?"

"What I mean is this... Undoubtedly, Ghirahim is going to do whatever it takes to resurrect Ganon. We have no clue what that entails. We need to know the where, the how, the when, in order to prevent it."

"Well," Link interjected, "he seems to need the Tri Force. We've got him blocked there."

"We still don't know where the Tri Force of Power is," Red countered. "And we don't know if he needs all three, or only one. Ganon usually had the one of Power; that might be all it takes."

Link frowned. "Good point..."

"Sounds like more research," sighed Vaati, leaning back in his chair. It was always more research.

There were a few moments of thoughtful quiet. Then Zelda spoke up. "Well, I could do the research, and Link and Vaati could go investigate any clues we find. Since he can teleport, it'd be fastest."

That seemed to catch Link's attention. She looked over at Vaati with an excited smile. "Sign me up!"

"That could work," Sheik agreed.

They all looked to Impa. "Yes, that should be fine for now. However, even with the bracelet destroyed, you will both need to be careful to avoid catching the enemy's attention," she told Vaati and Link. "We don't want them to learn anything. The point is to put them at a disadvantage."

"Ma'am yes ma'am!" her daughter replied cheerfully. Vaati gave a simple, "Understood."

The meeting wrapped up after various other details were discussed. Vaati and Link walked together to the library out of habit. She was talking about all the places she hoped they'd go—"Maybe we'll go to the Gerudo Desert cuz one of Ganon's reincarnations was a Gerudo, or what if we get to go to the Lost Woods, that place is creepy, I've always wanted to see if it's really haunted!"—and he was realizing that the thought of traveling around with her actually made him kind of excited. Not reluctant, or irritated. Her energetic smile was infectious, and he found himself sharing the places he wanted to visit as well.

"And even if we don't get to go this time, we can after all of this is over!" Link said as they stood outside the library.

After this was all over... He paused, wondering. How was this all going to end? Would they succeed in nipping evil in the bud, or would they end up having to fight Ganon anyway? What kind of destruction was that going to wreak on Hyrule? Could they save everyone? What if—

He startled when a finger jabbed his shoulder. "Hey." Vaati met Link's eyes, which had lost their carefree glow and were now staring at him firmly. She poked him again in the chest, keeping her finger there. "We're going to explore Hyrule after all of this. That's a promise! Okay?"

"...Yeah," he struggled to get out. Curse his heart and these stupid urges to hug her or hold her hand or—he wasn't exactly sure what his messy heart wanted but it was distracting him. He knew they were both thinking the same thing, yet Link was putting on a brave face as usual in order to make him feel okay. And it worked every time. He sighed and grabbed her hand, pulling it away from his chest. "But I'm choosing where we go. Teleporter's rights, no complaints."

"Okaaaaaay," the blonde dramatically conceded.

He huffed a quiet laugh and let go of her hand, but she quickly laced her fingers through his with an insistent, "Wait!"

Vaati froze, cursing how quickly his hand got sweaty—or was her hand sweaty? Either way, they both stood there for several long, awkward seconds, Vaati's heart annoyingly racing. Then Link pulled away.

"Sorry, that was just a—um, that was a whim—ah... heh, you should see your face! I got you, ha ha..." She stammered and chuckled.

"You should see yours," he returned, somehow not slipping on his words. Her already pink cheeks grew warmer in unison with his own. Before he could say anything else, Link mumbled out some sort of goodbye and speedwalked away.

What the heck—was that supposed to be some sort of teasing? Normally it would be—that definitely wasn't the first time she'd messed around with him like that—but the fact that she'd gotten so flustered by her own action made Vaati even more confused and awkward.

Once again he recalled Red's insistence that he sort things out with Link. And now he was more confused than ever what that meant. But... there wasn't time to be distracted by this. They had to save Hyrule. That what he kept telling himself as he pulled the familiar library door open. After this was all over, they'd deal with it. Not because he was scared of what was between them—no, he repeated, there were just more important things to focus on. Vaati grabbed a book and forced himself to get lost in its pages.