Despite Mipha being certain that she had made it completely clear how she did not expect to see them until five, by the time her phone showed a quarter past four, both Link and Zelda had already arrived, sitting in the living room while she and Revali hurried to get into their clothes.

Mipha had to admit that, though she should probably have known better and been able to guess that they would be there earlier than what she had planned for, all things considered, this was most definitely not something she had expected. So by the time she came back outside to join them, she could not help but feel that she still looked ridiculous especially compared to the way Zelda had seemingly made her hair defy gravity, having put it up into a high bun. Even Revali, who had only gotten a few minutes to get ready the way Mipha had also done, had managed to look somewhat put together by the time he came back outside.

But still, when Zelda jumped to her feet to make space for Mipha on the couch, she beamed at her, reaching out to pull her in for a hug before gesturing towards the empty spot she had just moved away from. "You look beautiful."

Mipha's heart skipped a beat and only the fact that by the time Zelda let the compliment surprise her, her face had been turned away from her, hidden by her hair, gave her the seconds she needed to collect her thoughts.

As discretely as she could make it, Mipha cleared her throat. "You don't have to say that. I know that I don't look the way I had planned." leaning back and enjoying the way Zelda reached out to let her hands rest on her shoulders, Mipha faked a smile. "After all, you had a lot more time to get ready than I did."

"No, I mean it. You do look beautiful," Zelda repeated, and this time, Mipha did not bother to argue with her. Zelda wanted to be polite and compliment her host, and despite knowing full well that she should not let herself begin to hope, Mipha would have lied if she tried to claim that it did not make her feel like the clouds had just parted for the first time after a long winter, letting the sun shine down on her face.

In the end, it was Revali of all people who was the first to lose his patience.

"Well, we should probably get started on dinner," he declared, clapping his hands together, and, not waiting for their response, he turned around to head into the kitchen.

Zelda let her hands drop from Mipha's shoulders, though the tip of her fingers still drew a trail along her arms as she made a grimace. "We should probably do as he said and go to help him, shouldn't we? Otherwise, I have known him for enough time to say with absolute certainty that he will be in here in a couple of seconds to ask us what we have against helping with preparing the food."

Even as Mipha pressed a finger to her lips, shushing her, she could not supress a laugh. "Don't let him hear you if you don't want to be told about how annoying the latest customer has been."

Zelda raised a brow. "And what does that have to do with anything?"

"Nothing at all." this time it was Link who came to support Mipha's point, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he leant back against the wall. "Mipha just likes exaggerating how Revali won't let customers walk all over us." he must have noticed how Mipha was about to make another joke, for he barely paused to breathe before turning towards Zelda. "If you come with me to help make dinner, I will tell you this one time where Mipha had to deal with this old lady who was so sure that we were lying about how milkshake had been taken off the menu years ago, and how Revali had to swoop in to save us both."

And apparently that was enough to make Zelda abandon her, walking over to Link and sending him a smile. "I would love to hear that. Although I doubt that you and Revali will actually want my help in the kitchen if it requires anything to do with baking." her shoulders shook as she laughed.

"Oh, I am sure you can't be that bad at it," Link encouraged her, and Mipha could hear the same kind of naïve stupidity in his voice that had been present back when she too had thought that Zelda's insistence that she lacked the ability to bake was just Zelda trying her best not to brag, "besides, I think Revali has already decided that he will be the one to make the bread."

Link walked in front of Zelda to open the door, so Mipha assumed that he did not see the way Zelda turned around to look at her, making an exaggerated gesture of letting out a sigh of relief, before the wrinkles around her eyes appeared once more and she reached out, silently calling for Mipha to come with them. That was all Mipha needed, and moving so quickly that she almost managed to fail to see the chair right in front of her, coming dangerously to colliding with it, she hurried over to join them just in time to walk into the kitchen the exact moment when Revali had seemingly decided that he had grown tired of waiting for them, with the result being that he almost collided with Link in the doorway. Instead, he turned to the side, putting just a bit too much force behind his movement so that his shoulder hit the doorframe.

Rubbing his shoulder Revali did his best to scowl at them, but he could not keep a straight face for even a second. "Oh, I see you decided to join me out here. Come, then I will show you what tasks you have to choose between. Since I was the first one to actually start working, I felt like I could decide for myself what I wanted to do and then leave the rest to you."

Although it turned out that Link had been wrong when he had assumed that Revali would already have taken the task of preparing the bread upon himself, in the end, they managed to divide the tasks so that Zelda ended up with something they all deemed relatively safe, the salad.

"Are you really sure that you trust me with a knife?" Zelda joked by the time Mipha had dug the ingredients out of the fridge and given up on figuring out where Revali had put the knives. "I mean, you really should know better given how you have seen the way I approach anything in a kitchen."

Behind her, Mipha could hear Revali snicker, whispering something that sound suspiciously like 'I doubt that was what Mipha really paid attention to while being there' to Link, barely bothering to keep his voice down and hide his mouth behind his hand, making it so that it was only luck that kept the conversation between Mipha and Zelda from taking a sudden turn for a subject that would undoubtedly be infinitely more awkward. As Mipha felt her cheeks grow warmer, the only thing she had to use to lessen the embarrassment was the fact that Zelda was still looking at her, not turning around to ask Revali to clarify what he had meant by that. And if she had heard just half of Revali's comment, then that would surely have been her reaction, would it not? Mipha hoped so.

She got her revenge on him halfway through dinner when she was able to entertain the others with the story of one of Revali's adventures at work, and by the way he smiled at her, lightly hitting her left foot under the table, Mipha could tell that he had accepted it as revenge.

So they settled down in the couch, Revali being slowed down a bit by how he had stopped to, with a little bow, appoint himself as the one with the best tastes in board games, declaring that that meant he should be the one to pick what game they should begin with. They could hear him rummage through the closet in the hallway even from where they were setting, and by the time he entered the room again, he had a box squeezed between his arm and side, though he was quick to hold it over his head, proudly telling them that they were lucky that he had been able to dig it out since he had at first struggled to find it due to it having been pushed towards the back of the closet.

With how dramatic he was being about it all, Mipha was quick to accept Link's idea of them splitting up into two teams to play, though she did still nudge Revali in the side and make a teasing remark when Link continued, saying that he and Zelda would be on one team while Revali and Mipha would be on the other. Revali took it in stride, simply putting his arm around her and telling Zelda that she should start to prepare herself to lose since he had never once had to experience what it was like to lose before telling them that he and Mipha would take the couch while Link and Zelda could drag the chairs over to sit on the opposite side of the table.

Had it not been for how Zelda kept smiling through it all, stifling a laugh as Revali crossed his arms, stating that, since he and Mipha were already sitting on the couch, they should not have to move, Mipha would most likely have ended up commenting that since both Link and Zelda were the guests, they should probably get to choose where they wanted to sit. But she didn't, and before long, Revali had divided the pieces between them and handed Zelda the back of the box to read the rules.

Although Mipha would be the first to admit that she was nowhere near as good as Revali when it came to knowing the tactics for the game, it did not take long before they were several points ahead of Link and Zelda, the point cards on the table in front of her almost being enough to build a little tower with. Or rather, they were, until Zelda out of nowhere began to collect points like her life depended on it, slowly but surely catching up with them.

"You are cheating," Revali declared, staring at them as Zelda received yet another point, reducing their lead even more, "you have to be, there is simply no way you would suddenly be this good at this game, especially with how you haven't ever tried it before. Tell me what you are doing!"

Zelda laughed as she reached out to take yet another point card, adding it to the growing pile in front of her and Link on the table. "Is it really that unbelievable that I might just have learnt the rules of the game by now and that you might have to give up your title of being the uncontested best player?"

"Yes, it is." Revali insisted, narrowing his eyes at her as he followed the card's journey over to her pile before shifting on the couch to point at Mipha. "You are helping her, aren't you? Somehow, you are helping her."

The shock of the accusation made her laugh, almost dropping her cup of tea. "Me? Why would I help her cheat? You and I are on the same team, remember?"

"You know why. We can all see how—" Revali barely managed to stop himself in time. Mipha could only hope that she had been the only one to notice the slip as he corrected himself, "close friends you are."

"Wait, so are you saying that the two of you aren't close friends as well?" Link quipped from his seat next to Mipha.

After the game had begun, it had not taken long before he had gone to sit down next to Revali, and given how it began to look like they were coming dangerously close to forgetting about the existence of both Mipha and Zelda, Mipha was grateful when she felt Zelda tug at her hand, having gone to stand next to her as she gestured towards the balcony.

"I have something I wanted to talk with you about," she said when Mipha sent her a questioning nod, "but… I would prefer if we could go somewhere where we could be somewhat alone, and well, with these two I doubt we will have to go that far away to achieve just that." she went silent, waiting for Mipha to take her hand.

And she wanted to. Hylia, no matter what Zelda could possibly have to tell her, even if it turned out to be that she knew about how Mipha's heart would skip a beat whenever she entered the room and that she didn't feel like they could be friends anymore, Mipha wanted to hear it. But the balcony… anywhere but that, and Mipha would have taken Zelda's hand in a heartbeat, no doubt about it, but that was her grand gesture, it was all out there. Mipha was not ready yet, she had not expected Zelda to want to see the balcony. It had been a poor plan, but she had thought that she would be able to hide it all out there.

But as Zelda looked down at her, patiently waiting for her to reach out and take her hand, Mipha could not make herself tell her that she would rather go anywhere but out onto the balcony right then. So she didn't.

"Oh, of course," she said. That should be enough to pass off her reluctance as her simply not having focused on what Zelda was saying from the start.

Just as Zelda had predicted, neither Link nor Revali as much as looked up to acknowledge the fact that they were leaving. The door leading out onto the tiny balcony creaked slightly when Mipha pulled it open, and maybe it was for the better that she had agreed to go there with Zelda. If she had been prepared to present her with her surprise, Mipha was not sure she would still have the courage to continue on after hearing the whine of rusty metal protesting against her fight to open the door. But they nevertheless stepped out onto the balcony. It was just barely wide enough for both of them to be able to stand there at the same time. If Zelda were to move just a single step closer to her, Mipha knew that she would have to step onto her feet since she had already moved as far away from the door as she possibly could. As it was, Zelda stood with her back against the railing, holding onto the metal with her left hand. Mirroring her pose, Mipha looked out over the city.

Given how it was the Festival of Hylia, she really should not have been surprised to see the amount of people walking around below her, but, somehow, it still managed to surprise her every year.

But no matter how much she wanted to know what her neighbours were planning to do to celebrate the day, the curiosity could not compete with her need to hear why Zelda had needed to speak to her alone. It was not a question of merely being interested in the answer. No, as Mipha stood there, so close to Zelda that the fragrance of her perfume felt like it was the only thing she could smell, her stomach turning at the thought of just how badly this could end, she knew that she would not be able to have to wait for a single second more to learn why Zelda had asked her to come out there.

And still, she did her best to sound calm when she asked. "What did you want to talk with me about?"

Zelda looked away from her, and, almost like she was trying to make Mipha wait on purpose, she took a deep breath before she answered. "I know that this might be sudden, and if it is too sudden, just tell me so, and then we can go back inside and pretend that this never happened, or you can tell me to leave, whatever you want."

What? What could Zelda possibly want to tell her that would make her think that that would ever be something Mipha would do?

The sight of everything she had placed out on the floor of the balcony just a few hours earlier, the binoculars, poorly hidden away underneath a white sheet, lying right there in front of her, almost like they wanted to mock her, caught her eye. Could it be it? Scared that she would only end up making herself even sadder in the end if she was wrong, Mipha allowed herself to consider it. If Revali asked her about it later, she would deny ever having thought it, but right then, Zelda sounded an awful lot like how she had done when discussing Zelda with Revali and Link over those last months, didn't she? It might be nothing, just her brain trying to cling onto even the smallest hope, but it was there, and Mipha would hug it tightly for as long as she possibly could.

Mipha let herself reach out to place a hand on Zelda's shoulder. "No matter what you have to say, I won't tell you to leave."

But Zelda's smile did not quite reach her eyes. "You might want to wait until I have actually told you what this is about to make any promises." she sighed, turning away from Mipha to look at the city.

She had to do something. This was not how Mipha was used to Zelda acting. Granted, she had never been pulled aside by her before with the message that there was something she had to tell her, but even then, it did not feel right.

The binoculars formed a little bump underneath the sheet. Even though it was not how she had planned to present her with the surprise, with how Zelda was already not acting the way Mipha would have expected of her, she decided that it would be okay to change the plan a little.

"Actually," Mipha said, happy to see that it at the very least made Zelda tear her gaze away from the building on the opposite side of the street, "I have something I wanted to talk with you about as well."

At that, Mipha could see how Zelda swallowed, and for a second, before she had managed to regain her calm composure, Mipha could have sworn that she saw pain in Zelda's eyes. But she did not comment on it, instead gesturing towards Zelda. She moved to the side, allowing Mipha to reach the sheet and pull it away from the binoculars and look back up at her, trying to gauge her reaction as she continued. "I know that this is not really the perfect time to tell you about this," Mipha admitted, lifting up the binoculars and letting herself lower it a couple of times, feeling how the weight of it in her hand made it so much easier for her to remain calm, remembering how she had wanted to do this to make Zelda happy and that, even though this was not the way she had imagined it happening, this was still part of her plan, "but, what can I say? Sometimes you have to accept that things can't all happen the exact way you want them to, and the most important thing is still that you are here," she held out the binoculars towards Zelda, "because these are for you."

Zelda moved slowly, letting her hand rest on top of the binoculars for a moment before she took them, shooting Mipha a confused look in the process. "Binoculars? I, uh, what…?"

"I thought that you might want to look at the stars later. I know that we are in the city and that it is not as perfect as it was while on the beach," Mipha could practically feel how her confidence, both in herself and the idea itself, crumbled as she continued, "but, you just looked like you really enjoyed sitting there on the beach, and although I know that we can't exactly go there today, I just thought that you might want to get a chance to look at them again. And given how the light from them aren't as visible in the city as it is on the countryside, I hoped that the binoculars might be of help to you. And, yes, I know that it is still light outside, but, well, what can I say? I had not expected for you to want to see the balcony, so, really, according to my original plan, I would not have given them to you until later in the evening, but, yeah, that plan would quite obviously not have worked out." she paused to breathe.

There was no sign anywhere on Zelda's face about whether or not she liked the surprise, no small pull around the corners of her mouth that would indicate the beginning of a smile, no crease between her eyebrows, nothing. Instead, Zelda almost appeared to do her best to avoid having to meet Mipha's glance, continuing to stare down at the present, turning the binoculars around a couple of times, mouthing something to herself through it all, though she did not speak loudly enough for Mipha to make out what any of the words were.

Maybe that was why Mipha, when Zelda finally looked up at her, eyes shiny, did not know whether she had just made the biggest mistake of her life or if it would all be okay in the end. But the way Zelda threw her arms around her, pressing her head into her hair, told Mipha the answer to that question.

"That's—that's—" she began, having to start over a couple of times before she wiped the tears away with the heel of her hand, "Mipha, wow, I don't know what to say, this is all…"

"You don't have to say anything," Mipha assured her, her gut twisting up into a nervous knot, doing its best to convince her that Zelda really did need to say something, needed to tell her whether or not she liked the present. But Mipha pushed it away again. This was about Zelda, not her, and her main priority would be to make sure she was okay, "I just thought that you might like getting the chance to go outside and look up at the stars some time."

"And I would!" Zelda laughed, the sound so much more quiet than the sound that had come before it. "I just, goddesses, you really like making me even surer that I have to tell you this while I still have the courage to, don't you?"

"Perhaps," Mipha replied, and with how the nervous feeling in her stomach was growing, she would not have been surprised if she soon began to shake so much that Zelda would notice it as well, "that depends on what exactly you have to be to tell me."

"Yes, I suppose it does." Zelda breathed in, her voice growing more even as she once more looked up at Mipha. "What I am trying to say here is," her gaze flickered away from her eyes, and, Hylia, was her heart really supposed to beat so quickly? Mipha doubted it, but did her best to force herself not to think about it as Zelda looked back up at her, "I think I might be in love with you."

The world stopped spinning. Around her, everything stood still, with even the cars and the people down in the street below them stopping their noise, for once giving them the silence the moment called for. At least, that was how it felt to Mipha as the full meaning of Zelda's words hit her, twirling around inside her head as her brain tried to make sense of it all. Love… it couldn't be, could it?

As the mess of feelings flowed through her—joy, confusion, sadness, and so much more coming together to form a wave that washed in over her—Mipha almost did not hear how Zelda continued, but at the last moment, she mustered the power necessary to force herself to pay attention, letting the task of making sense of it all wait for later and simply listen as Zelda shook her head before adding. "No, I don't think that I might be. I know that I am in love with you, there is no doubt about it."

She should not have been able to be so calm about it, but, somehow she was. There was simply something about seeing Zelda lose her usual calmness that made the elation, surprise, and doubt that should have swept in over her the moment she got the chance to say something again go away, leaving only a strange sense of acceptance behind. So Zelda was in love with her. It should have made her jump with joy, but seeing as they were both standing on a tiny balcony several metres above the street below, Mipha managed to control herself.

She knew that she had to say something. Zelda was looking at her, and for every second that passed, the silence between them growing through it all, the hopeful look on her face faltered even more, instead being replaced with fear and regret.

"I know that it is sudden," Zelda began, keeping her gaze fixed on her feet like she could take back the words if she simply stared enough, "and I know that you don't have to answer me right now, that you don't have to answer me ever if you don't want to. I know that, and no matter what your answer is going to be, I hope that we can at least remain friends once you have had the time to process this. But if we can't, I can understand that too. I just… please, I need you to say something. Just tell me if it is really as bad as it feels like it is right now."

When she spoke, it felt like it was someone other than herself who formed the words, Mipha simply instructing them about what to say and how to act. There was an almost unreal sense about it, something making it feel like it was all a dream, how it could not be real that she was standing there with Zelda, the situation flipped around with Zelda fearing that she would be turned down and that she might just have caused an irreversible wound to appear in their friendship.

"Of course I am not going to stop being you friend," Mipha finally found the words to say. It did not look like it really did a lot to cheer up Zelda, and Mipha could easily understand why. If she had been the one to gather up the courage the first, assuring Zelda that it would be fine for them to remain friends, for Zelda to immediately begin by telling her that they were still friends, Mipha knew that she too would have assumed that what was about to follow would be a long conversation about how Zelda did not feel the same for her, before they would finish it all off with the most awkward hug they would ever experience and then not really talk with each other for a long time.

But even as Mipha knew that, she still was not able to continue without letting Zelda know that there had never been a reason for her to worry about Mipha pulling away from her, letting their friendship end over something like this, not even if she had not spent the last months hoping that Zelda would return her feelings. "You are the most wonderful person I know, Zelda, I would never want to avoid you. Never, no matter what happened. And the reason I know that is that," this was it, this was what she had spent so much time trying to figure out how to say. In that moment, Mipha knew that no amount of standing in front of her mirror, trying to piece together the words that would hopefully be able to convey her feelings, could have prepared her for this, and she felt just as lost as she would have been if she had acted on her feelings the very first time she was made aware of their existence, "well, I… you aren't the only one who had planned to tell their friend that they were in love with them tonight."

That made Zelda react. She jerked, lifting her head up to look at her, her eyes darting back and forth from one side of her face to the other. Mipha could tell how she was searching for signs of her lying to spare her feelings. After all, Mipha knew that she might very well have done that herself if she had been in Zelda's place. But finally, Zelda settled on looking directly at her. Mipha could only hope that it meant she was convincing that she would not announce in just a second that, really, she had just said that she shared Zelda's feelings in an attempt not to cause her any more pain.

"Really?" Zelda's voice was barely more than a whisper, and, Hylia, there was nothing Mipha would not have done to change it so that Zelda did not have to sound like that, surprised and doubtful that she really did love her. "You are not just saying that because you are a good friend and don't want to make me feel sad? Because if that is the case, I would much rather that you just told me now, before I begin to let myself hope. And I promise you that if you say that no, you don't, I will do my best to hide all of this," Zelda pointed at the air between them, gesturing both towards everything and nothing, "from now on. You won't ever have to hear about it again."

"No. No, I mean this. I just wish that I would not have to repeat it so many times. You deserve to let yourself believe it the very first time I told you."

It seemed that she had finally managed to convince her, for Zelda's breathing grew lighter, softer. As she brought her hand to her head, burying it in her hair, Mipha was shocked to see that she was actually crying, her entire body shaking as tears streamed down her face. Not even Zelda's grip on the railing was enough to keep her still and hide it. It was not how Mipha had hoped for any of this to happen. Never, during all of the times she had let herself imagine the exact scenario she was now in, had she thought about Zelda beginning to cry. Yell at Mipha for how she had thought they were friends, yes. Tell her that she had not been nursing a desperate hope and that there really was a chance between them, yes. But never this. And now that it had happened, Mipha did not know what to do.

So she went with what her heart wanted her to, ignoring the way the butterflies fluttered around in her stomach and the way her brain screamed at her that her gesture had failed, that Zelda would now not get the opportunity to look at the stars the way Mipha had wanted her to, and knelt down next to her. The railing was right behind her, the cold metal making her shiver slightly as she moved to sit closer to Zelda, accidentally brushing past it in the process.

"Zelda, I don't know what I can do right now that would help you, but I am going to try my best, okay?" she said, waiting for just a moment. It did not seem that Zelda had the energy to answer her. Either that, or she simply did not want Mipha to attempt to help her. Mipha hoped that it would not be the latter option, and continued. "I am going to hug you. If you don't want me to, just push me away or say something, but you look like you need a hug."

Slowly, giving Zelda enough time to make up her mind and push her away if she wanted to, Mipha reached out towards her, pulling Zelda into an embrace. They sat like that on the balcony for what felt like ages, though it most likely did not last longer than a couple of minutes. Through it all, Mipha could feel the panic running through Zelda, making her shake lightly, but as the seconds passed, she gradually began to relax, the movements becoming smaller until she began to shift, turning around to look at Mipha.

"Thank you." to Mipha's joy, the twinkle in Zelda's eyes did not appear to be forced as she looked at her. "And I am sorry about sitting down to cry like that. Believe me, you have a beautiful balcony, the last thing I would want to do would be to waste the time we are able to spend out here."

It wasn't funny, but Mipha still found herself responding to the observation by laughing. "If you think that this balcony is impressive, you should see the one at Link and Sidon's place. That is so much better than this one. There are even flowers growing out there in the pots that Sidon made me decorate with tiny paintings of flowers."

"Yes, but I am betting that their balcony would still not be able to compete with this one, not when you are out here. No amount of flowers, despite how beautiful the pots they are growing in might be, would ever be enough to surpass the fact that you are out here with me." Zelda moved closer to her, and Mipha did the same. In that moment, even the small balcony felt much too large for them, with so much space between them. As Zelda placed her arm around her waist, it felt like it had been meant to be there from the very first time they had met each other, Zelda pulling her closer, a strand of her hair brushing against Mipha's cheek.

"I am sure that you are also a big part of the reason for why this balcony would be able to take on Link and Sidon's any day of the week," Mipha breathed, but right then, she could not have cared less about which balcony was the prettiest. All that mattered was the fact that she had never noticed the tiny freckle next to Zelda's mouth and that Zelda was grinning at her while they were so close that Mipha doubted they could have gotten closer even if they had tried.

Which seemed to be what Zelda wanted to do, for her gaze flickered from Mipha's eyes down to the bottom half of her face. Her breathing sounded uneven as she began. "Mipha… may I kiss you?"

The question was almost silly. Was she allowed to kiss her? What could Mipha possibly have said that did not include the fact that she had waited for that to happen for weeks? But she managed to stay calm for just enough time to give Zelda a small nod. And that was all that it took.

She had been wrong. They could get even closer. Even as Zelda's hair feel forward, several strands of it escaping the grip the hairpins had had on it to instead move in front of Zelda's face and get all tangled up, Mipha knew that she would not have changed anything. Everything about the moment was perfect, from the way Zelda reached out to draw her in, her hair moving to the side and into Mipha's face to the way her heart beat against her ribs.

Zelda pulled away, and although it had felt like they had been there for centuries, Mipha had to stop herself from reaching out to beg her to stay just a little longer, to stay with her out there. She wanted nothing more than to let the entire world stop around her in that very moment to make it so that they would not have to move away, but until that would be possible for her to achieve, she merely reached out to brush Zelda's hair out of her face, Zelda leaning in towards her.

"Would it be mean of me if I say that I enjoyed that a lot more than our first kiss?" she laughed, eyes sparkling and shoulders shaking.

"No, I don't think it would be." Mipha decided, and for once, she did not even bother trying to hide how she was blushing. With how warm her face felt and how quickly her heart was beating, she doubted that there was anything she could do that would have been enough to hide it. And then she realised what Zelda had just said. That this kiss was better than the first. The first kiss, her mind supplied, helpfully, everything else slowing down around her, almost allowing Mipha to see how the dots connected in her mind, the kiss in the bar.

From what Mipha could recall—and she was sure that she had not merely forgotten about something—that was the only other time they had kissed. To help making a lie seem sincere, with Zelda getting drunk mere hours later, saving mipha from the horror of having the night follow her into the rest of her life. That was why they were able to, for the most part, continue on like nothing had happened afterwards, save for Mipha having to struggle with her own feelings.

"But what do you mean 'our first kiss'?" Mipha asked, the words in no hurry to make themselves heard, Mipha more than ready to stop speaking the moment Zelda gave her a sign that she had not meant anything at all while saying it.

However, the way Zelda's face fell, twisting into a guilty grimace told her that it had not been something she had said just to say something. "I am sorry, but… when I told you that I had gotten so drunk that I could not remember that night at the bar… well, it wasn't the truth. Or, the part about me becoming really drunk was, but it was not enough to forget about you. I doubt anything would have been."

Despite how Zelda was looking at her, clearly battling with her own guilt over the lies, Mipha mostly cared about the last half, and felt how the blush was surely spreading down her neck while Zelda looked back at her, momentarily pausing, her expression telling her how she was trying to find the words as she continued. "I just didn't know what to do. I was so sure that I had just managed to ruin everything between us and I didn't know how to talk with you about it. So I continued to drink, hoping that maybe, if I just got drunk enough, I would wake up the next day to find out that the answer as to what to do would have come to me during the night. Only, it didn't. But when I visited you at the café, believe me, I had every intention of talking with you and sorting out all of this between us. But when I really had to do it, I found that I did not have the courage that would be necessary, so I decided to not mention it at all. It was dumb, I know, but please believe me when I say that it was because I was scared."

"Hey," Mipha leant in towards her, running her thumb along her cheek, "I don't blame you for not saying something, not at all. After all, how would I be able to be angry at you for staying silent when I did the exact same thing myself? That would make me quite the hypocrite, wouldn't it?" she was happy to see that it caused a small smile to tug at the corners of Zelda's mouth.

"I suppose it would," Zelda agreed, leaning even closer to her, "but I just need to know that you aren't angry that I didn't tell you."

"Not at all. I am just happy that, with how it looks right now, neither of us will try to do the same thing tomorrow and deny that this has ever happened." although Mipha did her best to make her tone of voice light and joking, she knew that she was not able to completely keep the hopeful warmth from seeping into her voice as she searched Zelda's face for a response.

It was quick to appear, Zelda shaking her head vigorously. "No, I would never do that. Not after doing it once already. Trust me, I know better know." a look that Mipha could not quite recognise flickered over Zelda's face as she looked her straight in the eye. "But, if you want to, perhaps we could try again? Just to make sure that it would be even harder for any of us to pretend that we don't remember this tomorrow, since two kisses must be a lot harder to pretend to have forgotten about than only one."

"And that is the only reason you are asking me?" Mipha laughed, but no matter that, she was more than happy to drop the issue of the lies, instead letting herself fully enjoy the moment, something that was easier than anything she had ever done as Zelda once more pulled her in for a kiss. And, to her surprise, it was even better the second time—though Mipha supposed that it might technically be the third time the two of them kissed. It was not only due to the fact that Zelda's hair now stayed either in the bun or behind her shoulders rather than trying to interfere, but also that she could practically feel how the weight of the lie had been lifted from both of their shoulders.

"We should probably get back inside soon," Zelda breathed as she pulled away, nodding towards the living room next to them, the toss of the head making an even bigger mess of her already tousled hair, "although it did not look like they were going to miss us anytime soon when we left, I think that they might soon begin to wonder where we have gone."

"Let them wonder," Mipha smiled, though she still moved to stand up, letting Zelda help her, "I think I have heard Revali sigh over Link for enough time to justify staying out here for just a little bit longer."

"So would I, but I would rather go in there myself than suddenly have Revali and Link come over to make sure that we are still okay and that we haven't fallen asleep out here. Besides," even as Zelda winked at her, there was a glimmer of uncertainty in her eyes, "we will have plenty of time to continue after today." she let Mipha put her arm around her waist before adding. "Won't we?"

Mipha could not have been more certain about her answer. "We will."

Even as they walked back inside, letting Revali make a couple of jokes about how they would no longer be able to tease him and Link, laughing through it all while Link sat next to him, sending a warm smile towards them, Mipha knew that Zelda had been right. They might have left the balcony, they might no longer be in the same spot that had finally given them both the courage to admit their feelings for each other, but there was no way things would be able to go back to the way they had been before. And although that was the exact thing Mipha had feared so much during those past few months, in that moment, she could not have been happier about it.