She expected to sleep all day and wake up to find out that all of this was a fucked up dream. She expected to wake to him being gone.
One was more likely than the other, and yet neither was the reality.
In reality, she woke up after a few hours and got out of bed solely so she could change clothes. So she could get out of her boots as she'd not even bothered to do initially, and take her hair down. She should have brushed it, but she still didn't have the needed energy for that. She laid back down, and, again, to her surprise, woke up again in a few hours.
This time, it was through interruption. She'd left her bedroom door open without having even thought about the fact that there was someone in her house- particularly a boy in her house. She was just used to it. Similarly, she was unused to waking to the sound of someone knocking on her door to get her attention.
Zelda always just bounced in bed with her. Or if she didn't feel quite so nice, she'd lay down with her first. Regardless, it didn't register to her at first that it was something, not up until Link said "you awake, Tya?"
Upon hearing that, she shifted some and, though reluctant, shoved down the edges of her blankets and adjusted to look at him. A lot of things occurred to her in that moment. Why was he there, why was he waking her, what did he want, etc. But she voiced none of it and just pushed herself to sit up, wincing both at her shoulders and at her palms.
"Yes," she said, flopping back against her headboard and looking at her hands. Having shed her sweater at some point through the night, she was left in a tank top that allowed her to grimace at the scratch marks she'd gained from the needlessly aggressive keese. She'd forgotten to clean it. She'd forgotten a lot of things.
"Your bird is uninjured, yes?" She asked, using the back of her hand to rub some of the grogginess from her eyes. Link entered, clearly somewhat hesitant which she didn't notice until she dropped both of her hands back into her lap.
"Yeah," he confirmed. "They… St-Still hadn't fou-found Zel's when I left."
She bit softly at her lower lip. It was a terrible thought, that the poor thing was lost and injured somewhere. Maybe that had changed though. Or perhaps she could help after Link headed back out.
A long sigh left her. There was the smallest part of her that was relieved that she wouldn't be returning to the surface, a part that was dashed so quickly as Link asked "did you w-want to get ready to-to go? It's not light out yet but I fig-figured-figured we could save all the d-daylight."
That left her watching him, picking at the edge of the cover as her tired mind tried to comprehend his words. There was a deep flutter in her ribs- relief over the ease at which he accepted her presence. "Link…"
His head tilted with a curiosity that silenced her.
She was a mixture of so many feelings… It wasn't intentional that her question came out with a nearly aggressive wonder- complete disbelief, as she asked "Why?"
"Why?" He replied. Straightening up again, he thought over the question with an expression that said it hadn't occurred to him that there was another option.
"Am I not a hindrance to you?" She asked. "I do not know how to fight, I haven't the capacity to traverse such harsh terrain- I am essentially useless to you. My only saving grace would be the fact that I am decent enough in knowing how to survive, but I'm not entirely sure that that extends outside of Skyloft. I have no experience with the surface. No experience with anything actually."
"But you wanted to come," was his answer, said with an innocence that almost stunned her. Of course, she did. She wanted to help, she wanted to explore, she wanted to learn. But she was a liability. She was dead weight that was going to slow him down.
"You do not need to take me, Link. I will not be angry if you leave me here, you're not obligated to escort me. I learned my lesson, I am not fit for what it is you're meant to do."
For a long moment, Link stood, fiddling rather nervously with the ends of his green tunic- one which she'd not taken in fully until then. She knew the graduate colors and suspected that this was the outfit as it matched that of the others in design. He must have been given it in hopes that it would be of some help in his journey. Green was a nice color on him. Or, rather, this muddy green-brown created from the film of red that signaled his body heat. One wouldn't think it was a pleasant color, but she had become accustomed to the strangeness of her own vision.
"It's kinda com-comforting?" Link finally admitted. He didn't seem reluctant to say so, more that he had considered his feelings and put a name to them. "Whole new place," he waved a hand in a needless gesture, looking back at her and smiling. "You not be-being able to-to fight or anything does-doesn't bother me."
She softened to an extent that was difficult to see. The dumb wonder on her expression was really the only glimpse into how hard she was trying to read his expression for the trickery her mind insisted had to be present. But Link was either a fantastic liar, or he was telling the truth…
"It doesn't?" She asked in a voice a touch quieter than it had been a moment prior. Almost as if she hadn't expected to ask it aloud.
Link shook his head, lips puckered needlessly. Then he rocked back on the heels of his boots. "So… coming?"
Her caution hadn't completely left, but it had subsided to a small extent. Enough of one. The majority of her wariness was replaced by a sense of obligation that, even despite being a little terrifying, got her out of bed so she could get ready.
"Do you want to leave right this minute, or may I bathe first?" She motioned to the bathroom, to which Link perked up and extended a hand out in an almost dramatic gesture for her to go ahead.
She began to gather clothes- simple and warm, as she generally did- and as he turned to leave, she said "You may take one after if you'd like."
He nodded. "I can make us so-some break-breakfast."
To that, Tya agreed.
After showering in near-boiling water, which happened to be the only kind she would submerge herself in without throwing a fit over it, she dressed and stepped out. Her hair, being as long as it was, had to be wrapped in the towel since there was no shaking it or scrubbing it dry, even with the natural heat of her body helping the process.
She couldn't smell the aroma of burnt food, but with what Link presented her with, she guessed that it was present. He had done his best. He looked like he knew what he did, and thankfully, with her lack of smell, her taste was wonderfully dull, meaning she managed this dubious food better than most.
There was the thought to dump it, but she figured that was rude and he had been kind enough to take time out of his day to burn her a meal.
When he had finished, he plopped himself back onto the couch he'd slept on the night before. The sky outside was beginning to lighten, and she'd eaten some of her food at the very least. She was still having trouble finding her appetite, to be entirely honest. She'd noticed that the bowl of rice she'd just set aside and left there had been taken, presumably by Link. She was thankful for that in all honesty. She'd made the plans to go out and try to assist in whatever way she could, but she was realizing now that she was still so tired. She didn't want to be out of bed and had even considered returning to it. It was always uncomfortable to have wet hair on a pillow though, so it likely wouldn't have done any good anyway.
Instead, she'd gotten her shit together. She'd taken her hair down and draped her towel over the back of the chair for the time being and when Link rejoined her, she was brushing through the damp strands. She'd had to weigh the options. A good bit of her had said "do I really want to do this?" and while the answer was no, she realized she had no actual reason not to do it, and thus told herself to "do it any fucking way." Possibly not the best method to cure executive dysfunction, but it served her well on more occasions than just this.
"Do you know how to braid?" she asked as Link ruffled up his hair. The action shook free some of the water still in it, leaving that dirty blond of his to look like a gravity defiant mess.
He nodded his head at her, watching as she ran the brush through and let it fall. "I cannot do it right on my own," she said. "It always falls out."
Again, Link nodded, scooting back on the couch and then motioning for her to come over to him. She complied, sinking to sit on the floor in front of the couch, her back against his knees.
It was another nostalgic comfort, feeling his hands in her hair. Both of her parents had enjoyed toying with it. While sitting next to her, her mother would often play with the tips whilst doing something else. And her father was always thrilled to brush it out as it dried. Zelda had also taken quite a liking to it. It was long, soft, and blonde as was her own, which made Tya the perfect test dummy for various hairstyles she wanted to try out.
She closed her eyes. Even the slight pull served as something comforting simply through the act itself. He pulled it back and braided it to the ends before tying it off. Once he'd finished, she instinctively ran her hand down the braid, smiling absently at the neat plaiting before pushing herself onto her knees and moving for the chair. She huffed at the pain in them. She'd forgotten that she'd scraped them up as well in following Link.
Tya plopped into the seat, looking at her palms, then her scratched arm. It was no different than the scars that littered her forearms, at least in appearance. But she'd cleaned it when she'd showered, so hopefully, that would do.
Looking back up, she tilted her head at Link. "Did you sustain any injuries aside from that scratch," she asked. A finger set to her own cheek to indicate the small one that crossed his, and immediately, he raised a hand to touch the scabbed spot.
"No," he answered. "Just aches."
She made a thoughtful sound, leaning her head back against the chair and watching him once again. "What happened, anyway?"
"Some…" Link started, stalled, then tried to gather his words as he raised his hands like he was going to use them for help in the apparent story to come. They did not help, as he just kind of shook them while he said "big black tornado thing? ...Kn-Knocked us- Knocked us down. I thi-think I hit-hit something? Then woke up in the aca-acade- in my room."
Again, she made a thoughtful little hum.
"I thought it was a dream," he said, pursing his lips as his hands dropped to his lap and clasped. He leaned forward like he was going to get up, but stayed in that position as he stared off toward a covered window next to the front door. "I was ha-having a lot of w-weird dreams."
There was the smallest flicker of something in the back of her mind- the briefest acknowledgement of the way Zelda's demeanor had faltered during the ceremony. At the time, Tya thought nothing of it. Even now, she wondered if she'd truly seen it and was merely putting false memories in places they didn't belong. But perhaps Zelda had felt that something was off. Tya hadn't… Not until it was too late.
"Weird dreams?" She questioned. Link only nodded, and this time, he really did get up.
"You wa-want to get- to get going?" He asked, grabbing for his sword and shield so he could strap them into place. Tya watched him, her gaze still absent even though it was tracking his movements.
It took her a moment to reply with a nod, and though she honestly wanted nothing more than to go back to bed, she pulled herself out of the chair and retreated to her bedroom to grab her sailcloth and a sweater, as well as slip on her boots.