Rito Village

Revali and Mipha walked through the main to Rito Village, their arms enlaced at the elbows. Most of the males and the older females gave polite nods to Mipha as a foreign dignitary being escorted by their champions. Most of the younger females let out scoffs disguised as coughs and either looked away or put on obviously fake smiles.

Good, Revali thought, They're buying it.

And he was right. Every young female in the village had dreams of becoming the Champion's wife, and with such a small population, the odds of one the ending up with him were pretty good—but then this…fishwife had to come along.

Mipha, for her part, smiled at the Rito villagers and admired the skill that went into the construction of the village's elaborate wooden walkways, stretching upward with nothing to support them but their own wooden interiors, diagonal wooden beams of varying degrees of thickness, and the side of the mountain itself.

Revali lightly pulled on Mipha's hand, getting her attention. He pointed to a nearby small wooden building.

"This is the Brazen Beak clothing store." Revali said.

Mipha looked at the shop's sign, written in both Rito and Hylian, "The Brazen Beak: We've got you covered."

"It gets fairly cold here and I know that Zora can get very sensitive to the cold, what with being ectotherms and all that, so let's get you some feather-insulated clothing to wear."

Mipha hesitated. She had not thought to bring any rupees with her.

When he could feel she wasn't walking with him, Revali looked back and asked, "Mipha, what's wrong?"

"I don't have any money."

Revali scoffed. "Mipha, I'm your boyfriend. They're expecting me to buy it for you. Now come along. You can't guarantee I'll get something you like unless you choose it for yourself."

Revali held out his hand in an overly delicate bow for theatrical emphasis.

Mipha graciously accepted it and the two entered the store.

The store clerk, a green-feathered Rito with spectacles looked up.

"A female Zora with scales and a blue sash? You must be Princess Mipha," he said, starstruck.

"That would be me," she said. "And whom do I have the honor of addressing?"

The Rito bowed and said, "Kenli Harthson, proprietor of The Brazen Beak. I must say we have never before catered to royalty…" he then looked to her companion and said in almost antagonistic, "And what brings you here, Revali? Seeing you here is almost as rare as seeing royalty."

"I'm a bird of simple tastes," he replied back almost as antagonistically, "And my girlfriend is a Zora of equally simple tastes. That being said, she has no winterwear and it gets cold here."

"Girlfriend?" Kenli coughed. "Well, that's quite a development," he muttered to himself, before looking to Mipha and regaining his initial politeness, "Well, Your Highness, women's wear is on the left side." He pointed his feathery fingers toward the appropriate side of the store.

"Revali is quite right. I do have simple tastes. What is your most functional winter attire?" Mipha asked as she perused the three display mannequins.

Kenli walked over to Mipha and directed her to the mannequin on the right.

"That would be the Snowquill set."

Mipha looked a said set. There was a headband with beads and a feather, a blouse which had arm wraps lined with blue Rito feathers and a lavender center made of cloth, resembling the cloth garments Mipha saw most of the female Rito wearing over their arms and bellies, and finally an ankle-length skirt made of the same cloth material.

As a Zora, covered in scales, Mipha was unused to such a large amount of clothing, but also considered that the climate in Hebra was much colder than the climate in Lanayru. Still, she could not help looking at the long rainbow-colored fins extending from her upper arm and wondering how she was supposed to fit them into the arms of the Snowquill Blouse.

Revali, realizing his mistake, smacked himself on the forehead.

"Yes, I'll have to see if I can make slits for your fins. If you would pardon me, Your Highness, I need to measure your finspan."

"Of course," Mipha said as Kenli walked back to the counter and pulled a roll of measuring tape out of a drawer.

"I'm sorry, Mipha," Revali said apologetically. She looked at him and saw him, eyes closed and muscles tense as he fought to keep shame out of his face.

"It's not your fault, Revali," she smiled, "You don't get many Zora visitors and I didn't think of it myself."

"No, it was my responsibility. I should have thought of it beforehand." His face hadn't changed. Revali was truly embarrassed over something that was not even a big deal.

Kenli stepped back from Mipha. "I have your measurements. I should have your clothes ready in about ten minutes." With that, Kenli returned to the counter and pulled out a pair of scissors. "If you will leave the Snowquill Blouse to me." He took the garment from the mannequin and set to work.

Mipha turned her gaze to Revali. He was now over his faux-pas, so she decided to let sleeping dogs lie for the time being. Knowing him as well as she did, if she told him that it wasn't his fault one more time, he'd snap her head off. No, Revali had to be perfect, and forgiveness for not measuring up only made him feel worse.

Mipha wondered if that was the reason why he was afraid to take a wife: fear of not being able to be the perfect husband. In her view, he had the right qualities to make any female an excellent mate—one she was seriously considering for herself, but he couldn't be a good husband to anyone so long as he expected absolute perfection of himself. She had to help him past that. Even if he didn't reciprocate her attraction, he was still at least a very close friend and deserved some happiness. She sighed, knowing it was a gift only he could grant himself.

It was not yet late enough in the year for Mipha to need her Snowquill garments, but it was getting noticeably colder the further in altitude they climbed up the mountainside village. "It won't get much colder," Revali said as they set foot on the final walkway of birdhouses in the village. They passed one house, a landing with the Rito emblem painted in white, and came to the very next house.

"Welcome to my humble abode, Dear." Mipha graciously extended her hand once again and Revali courteously accepted it, leading the Princess of the Zora into his home.

Once inside, Revali said, "I think the village is buying it."

"A few more dates, a very public spat, and I think that will convince them," Mipha said.

"Yes," Revali said hesitantly. He had been enjoying the last two days in Mipha's company and would be sad to see the charade end—not because he had some long burning secret passion for, but because as he had long expected, she had the type of personality that was different enough from his own but still strong enough in its own way for him to enjoy being around. When the "breakup" was public he'd not get to see her that often anymore.

Ah, well, best not to tell her. Don't want her getting mixed messages and all.

"Mipha, I'd like to thank you for going along with this. I know it can't be easy."

Mipha just held her hand in front of her mouth and laughed. "Revali, it has not been that hard to act. You have a lot of qualities a female would like. I probably really would be dating you if you wanted a real relationship."

Revali felt a cold gnawing in the pit of his stomach when she said that. Did she also enjoy his company? She had just said as much. Was she actually falling for him?

"As much as I enjoy your company as well, Mipha, it's best that this stays a game. I could only hurt you in the end."

"Why are you so afraid of ending up with someone anyway, Revali? You're handsome, talented, funny, and, if you could just work on your people skills, you'd make someone a fine mate."

She really believed that? Him? The least sociable of the five Champions?

"That's why we get along so well, Mipha. We're opposites. You are a little unsure of yourself, but shouldn't be, yet you are positive and encouraging to everyone around you. I'm very sure of myself but am less than patient with those around me. You'd make a great mate. I, however, lack the patience."

"From what I've seen, you've been very patient with me. It's when something about yourself comes up that you get defense."

She was right of course. He did use sarcastic rudeness to push people away. He was comfortable competing, demonstrating his adeptness of wing and bow. He had come as close to perfection as he could with those. His life apart from his discipline though was something of a shambles. He didn't want anyone to know that though…he wasn't afraid, he was just private.

"I'm not afraid for people to know the real me. It's just that the image I've created is so much better. And if you are actually falling for me, I assure you that it is the image you are falling for."

"That I doubt," Mipha said. "Before the other Champions and I got to know you, I thought you were an arrogant jerk." Her tone was uncharacteristically harsh, but it became the kind, tender Mipha he knew as she went on. "It was only after we all realized you had a softer side that you rarely let out that I found you mysterious."

"Mysterious?" Revali inquired.

"At first, I was too invested in Link to notice at first, but I think that was when the attraction started. When I overheard Teba telling Sidon how you interacted with his son, when you admitted that you hoped Terrako would be okay before he was repaired, the way we all knew you were really giving Link as big a vote of confidence as Daruk in the final battle with Ganon when you shouted, 'Don't screw this up!' You, Revali, are a jerk with a heart of gold, and it was the totality of that picture that caught my interest."

Mipha then realized her mistake: she was sounding a little too interested.

"Sounds like my contradictory personality made quite the impression. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, dear. If I were ever to take a wife, then you would probably be my first choice, but, for your sake, it would probably be best if this ruse followed by a very public breakup is as far as we go. I'd only disappoint you in the end."

So, there it was. He was at least partly attracted to her as well. Involuntarily, her cheeks blushed.

"I'm flattered to be your first choice in this hypothetical scenario, but you'll never have me or anyone else in the real world if you are convinced that you'll be a failure from the start.

"I'm just not meant for love," Revali said, "And that's fine by me. I can live without it."

Mipha knew that wasn't it. Revali was simply afraid that he would be less than perfect. But knowing how defensive he could get she let it drop.

"It's getting late," Revali said. "I should probably drop you off at the inn. I don't know how the Zora do things, but among the Rito a couple doesn't sleep in the same bed unless they are legally wed, and you probably wouldn't find a Rito nest that comfortable anyway."

"Thank you for your concern for my reputation and comfort."

"Let's walk to the inn together and be seen flaunting our love in public a few more times tomorrow before I take you back to Zora's Domain."

Mipha graciously held out her hand once more.