Chapter 2 (Age 10)

Link sat outside underneath a tall, shady tree. He'd been spending as much time as he could outside the Academy walls, hoping that he could find places to hide himself in. He wasn't afraid of Cawlin and Strich, not really. Of course, he didn't like the abuse that usually followed them, verbal or physical, but it was something he'd learned to live with. No, he wanted to hide from Gaepora and the other instructors. He wanted to hide from the ones who tried to help, to be there. He didn't want help. Not from them.

He could do this. He could be in this world on his own. He didn't need Instructors to protect him or to keep him safe. All he had to do was to get through life, become a Knight, and fly far from Skyloft. He'd find a new home on the edge of the Sky. Or maybe he'd find the home of the Goddess and live forever with her and the heroes she saved.

But for now, from where he sat, all he could see was the lake that flowed off the island, the forbidden cave, and the several stone platforms he sometimes liked to swing his feet off of and feel the rush of the water hit his legs.

He could also see Zelda, sitting on one of the Loftwing platforms with a small pad in her hand, drawing carefully.

In many ways, Link wished he could go over to her and say something. He'd heard her version of the story when he woke up and was questioned several times.

"Link? Did you hit Cawlin first, or did he hit you? We have someone who saw everything, so don't lie. Did you hit Cawlin?"

But Link hadn't answered, he just closed his eyes and accepted the punishment that came with his refusal to answer.

And in the silent hours that followed, he heard a small rap on his door. Expecting Gaepora again, Link didn't answer. So he was surprised by the voice he heard.

"Link? It's Zelda. I told them Cawlin hit you first. Tell them that, or you'll get in a lot of trouble, okay?"

She hadn't stayed, and he heard her rush up the steps a moment later.

Now, Gaepora could only think to punish Link by forcing him from his room rather than keeping him inside. Link enjoyed the solitude of his room far too much for it to be a punishment. Link wasn't outside by choice, but the change of pace had been refreshing. And Link found enjoyment in tearing blades of grass into tiny shreds then watching them blow away in the wind.

He glanced over at Zelda as the fragments of grass drifted in her direction. There was something about the girl that he couldn't shake. She was braver than he gave her credit for, and far more defiant than she looked. She broke rules… for him. For the random boy who played tag with her and he friends but who never spoke. What had he done to deserve her loyalty? But instinctively, he knew he'd do the same for her. It was as if they'd known each other forever. He felt like an old man at times; he felt he'd known her for that long.

But he hadn't. It had been three years. Three years and he didn't even know before today if she was right or left-handed. Right, he noted as she drew slowly. He looked away and put his fingers in the grass, his pointer finger facing down. In his mind, he didn't see a finger, but a knight. A one-legged knight who fought a heard of monsters. And as he defeated more, he gained strength. Link put his middle finger down. The knight had been gifted his second leg for his bravery by the Goddess herself. The knight slew more monsters, and he gained a third leg, able to maneuver even more artfully. A fourth. The Goddess' gift to the knight. But he still fought. And upon gaining his fifth limb, Link's thumb, the knight had become the monsters he'd fought against. He now had to fend off a knight (Link's other hand) who was seeking his own glory.

With a sigh, Link looked up and saw that Zelda's hand had stilled and her head lolled over, eyes closed and a content look on her face. He looked behind him, towards the Goddess Statue. There were a few other kids playing together, though he could only recognize Karane from where he sat. She was paying no attention to him.

With a final look at both girls, and, content in the knowledge that no one was watching him, he stood up and began punching the air. One fist, then the other. With each punch, a foot came out, a force to help him strike harder. He closed his eyes, trying to picture the way the Knights looked out in the training yard. He'd been watching them, trying to emulate them as they trained.

He looked around again. Zelda was still asleep, and the nearest others were nowhere near him.

Turning to face the stone wall behind him, he looked between it and his fists. If he punched the wall, he thought, maybe he could build up his knuckles. If he could take the pain of that, then he'd start to be stronger. He wouldn't have to worry about Cawlin or Strich.

Winding back, he braced himself, prepared to feel the sharp stinging that would later burn. He knew what it would feel like, but he didn't welcome the thought.

But he was stopped by a scream.

It sounded distant in his ears, like the playful screams from Karane and her friends, but as he listened, it wasn't playful at all. It was panic.

His head turned to where Zelda had been, but she was nowhere. He looked around frantically, but there was nothing. The scream rang out again, only this time, he knew where it came from.

Rushing over to where Zelda had been, Link skidded onto his knees and crawled to the edge. Zelda was hanging on to the cracked stone, her little fingers latched into the crack as her only grip. And her fingers were white as she held on with everything she had.

Link grabbed her wrist quickly and tried to pull her, but he wasn't strong enough. Looking to his left, he saw a rope attached to the pole, the rope that blocked the Loftwing station at night. Grabbing that, he was prepared to wrap it around her, to help pull her up without using her wrist, but she let out another yell, and suddenly, he knew there was no time to do that.

"I can't!" she screamed, her sweaty fingers finally losing their grip.

And without a second thought, before he could even realize what was happening to her, Link found himself wrapping the rope around his wrist and jumping.

Link let out a pained cry as the weight of a body pulled him down. It would have shocked him, the sound of his own scream, if he hadn't literally been hanging on to Zelda for dear life.

He closed his eyes as he screamed. His hold on her wrist wasn't the best grip ever. Zelda reached up with all her strength and grabbed his wrist with her other hand. Their combined cries of terror mixed into the air, alerting the village.

It seemed like hours that they hung there, though rationally, Link knew it had only been seconds until he felt hands wrap around him from above, and heard the whooshing sound of wings below them, in case they should fall. He knew it would be okay to let go now. Zelda would fall into the Knight's arms. But he couldn't.

The villagers pulled him and the rope until they could grab on to both children. Link was surprised that he kept his hold on her hand, but he did until he felt the ground beneath him, and saw her safely beside him.

He was breathing heavily, his heart racing, both out of panic and adrenaline. A large part of him wanted to throw up.

Adults bombarded him with questions, fussing over him and Zelda frantically. He felt himself swept off his feet and carried to the Academy, Zelda in another's arms.

As they hurried over, Link was in a trance. Something inside him had snapped. This girl… he'd do anything he could to save her. It was as if he'd done it a thousand times and yet never before all at once. He needed to save her, no matter what the cost to himself was. He'd thrown himself off of a cliff to catch her. He'd nearly died for her.

Well, he felt like he'd nearly died. The Knights had been slow to get to them. Or… it felt slow.

A cold sensation hit him in a rush, and he came back to his senses with Instructor Horwell hovering over him.

"Ah, Link, you're awake." Horwell removed his cold hand from Link's forehead. "That was very brave, what you did. Do you think you could tell me what happened at all? You can write or draw. But it would help us know what happened."

Link's eyes widened in panic. He looked around for any sign of Zelda. Surely she would have told them what happened.

Horwell took a moment, but he seemed to guess what Link was thinking. "You both were in shock and fell unconscious. You're just the first to wake. She's fine. You did good." Horwell took Link's hand. It was bandaged. "You'll have to keep this covered for now. It's a burn from the rope. We just want to make sure there is no infection."

Link swung his feet over the edge of the bed and went to stand, though Horwell put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "You shouldn't. Just lie down."

Link pushed himself to his feet anyway, waiting out a dizzy spell before taking a step.

Horwell moved to catch Link, seeing the inherent unsteadiness. "Link, I'll help you to your room, but you're not getting out of bed today."

Link kept walking, feeling Horwell on his heels, as they made it into the hall.

Gaepora's door was open a crack, and Link stopped to peek in. He saw Zelda sitting up in bed talking to her father and let out a sigh. But as if sensing his presence, Zelda looked up and met Link's eyes.

She sprang to her feet and stumbled across the room toward him. She didn't look stable, and he went to meet her halfway. She threw her arms around Link, and he could feel her crying. His own arms felt weak, and he couldn't move them from his sides. He didn't even know where to put them. Suddenly, he found himself debating how to return a hug… something he hadn't experienced in years. His arms shook as they hovered by her sides, barely touching her.

He felt self-conscious. Was he doing it right? Did she know how awkward he was? And there was an audience. He was being watched. Were they judging him?

"Thank you," Zelda whispered, hugging Link tighter before letting go. She stepped back from him and wiped her eyes before going back to sit on her father's bed.

Horwell placed his hand on Link's shoulder. "Come on, you need rest."

And with a final check on Zelda, Link felt his body betraying him, and all he needed was some sleep.

In the days since the incident with Zelda, Link kept to his room again. He knew that as soon as he left, Cawlin and Strich would be on him. He didn't want to deal with it, much preferring the peace and isolation of his room.

So, when Gaepora once again forced him to get some fresh air, it wasn't as relaxing as it had been just days ago. He felt as if he had to stay alert, to make sure no one else would get hurt while he was around. Maybe he was the bad luck.

He looked off to a group of kids playing together, and he noticed Zelda, Karane, and Pipit playing some game that looked like tag together. There was no way he wanted to join. There was nothing about being with the others that made him feel happy or comfortable, especially not now. Not when everyone just wanted to ask questions about what had happened. Maybe they'd say something about his mom. They'd say something about him jumping for Zelda. They'd say something about him fighting.

Instead, he played with a pebble. It was smooth, soft even. There wasn't a crack on it, and it was unscathed and unmarred by any time or distress. He flung it into the air and caught it as it fell back into his hands.

He kept switching to smaller rocks until he was practically throwing a speck of sand.

"Hi," a soft voice came.

And he missed the pebble as it landed on his arm.

Link turned to see Zelda standing beside him. "Mind if I sit?"

Link didn't move to answer, so she sat, taking that as an 'okay'. She looked around at the view.

"This is actually really nice. You can see a lot from here. You can see where I fell, so I was lucky you were sitting here."

She looked at him, waiting for any sign of acknowledgement, but he couldn't give her any.

His heart was racing. He didn't even want to shrug, for fear that any little motion he made could make her hate him, or laugh at him. He didn't even know why. She'd never given him reason to believe she would.

Zelda took out a piece of parchment and some charcoal from the underside of Skyloft. "Do you draw?" she asked.

Link fought his own body. He wanted to respond. He wanted to do something, but he just couldn't.

Zelda didn't seem deterred. "Well, I was drawing the other day and it wasn't bad. I'd show you, but it fell through the clouds." She chuckled. "Dad says I can laugh if I want, but I'm still afraid to go near the edge." She sighed but handed Link the charcoal. "Here, try something next to mine."

Link looked at the paper. It had a small flower drawn neatly but clumsily on it.

"I'm still getting better. This is practicing."

Link felt the charcoal in his fingers and then looked around for inspiration. He didn't want to draw a flower: Zelda drew a flower. What if his was worse than hers? Or worse, what if it was better. He couldn't handle the embarrassment he'd feel if he made her feel bad.

To his left, he saw a pumpkin. It was simple, but not just a circle. He hadn't drawn recently, and it came out rougher than he had planned, but when he was done, he handed it back.

Zelda smiled. "You're not bad! I like it. Here," she asked, holding out her hand for the charcoal. Link gave it to her, and she began to sketch.

After some time, she scooted it between them. He smiled at the scribbled mess on the paper. It looked like nothing, and he was glad he didn't have to guess what it was.

Zelda stared at it as well and scratched her cheek. "It looked better in my head. It's supposed to be Goddess."

Link grinned and tapped her arm. She was surprised but waited. He tapped his cheek and then pointed to her.

"My cheek?"

Link nodded and then pointed to the charcoal.

Zelda sighed. "I got charcoal on my cheek. Of course. Here," she said handing him the drawing utensils. "Draw something else. I'll be back."

She stood and walked over to the lake, scrubbing her face furiously.

Link chuckled to himself before drawing.

When she sat down again and peered over his shoulder, she made a face. "You drew me?"

Link handed everything back.

"It's good. I knew it was me right away. I didn't know my nose looked like that."

She smiled at Link, and he returned it.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" she said carefully.

Link shrugged, but Zelda realized that he'd rarely communicated with anyone more than he was now.

"Can you talk, or you just don't want to?"

Link paused for a moment and then shrugged again.

Zelda stopped and realized she'd asked a question he couldn't answer. "So, you can talk?"

Link nodded, looking away.

"But you don't want to, right?"

Link looked back at her and didn't respond again. He did want to talk, but his body fought him at every turn.

Zelda pulled her legs up close to her. "Do you want to be friends with me?"

Link turned back to her and nodded. Her head bobbed absently as she was thinking.

"Well, if you're my friend then I need to ask you something. Are you afraid of the edge now, too?" She looked at him with wide eyes, begging him to answer her one way or the other.

Link looked at the clouds and nodded. As much as he never wanted to admit that to anyone, he felt that she was the only person who'd get it. The edge of Skyloft symbolized anything but adventure. It was a place where moms die, and where friends fall. It was dangerous and bad luck, like him.

He stood up, needing to walk. He had to get away from this girl before he made something else happen to her.

"Do you want to go?"

Link nodded again, closing his eyes.

Zelda didn't sound hurt or offended. "Okay. Well, I had fun. I hope we can hang out again."

He peeked his eye open to watch her leave, and let out a deep breath that he'd been holding in. It was a relief to breathe again. Things were easy with Zelda. He didn't know why, but her questions never held some underlying bitterness that he wasn't vocally answering him, like the instructors felt.

And that night, he tossed and turned in his sleep.

A woman who looked almost like a grown up Zelda stood over him, brushing her hand lightly against his cheek. But it wasn't his cheek. It was a man's… a man who looked like him, but wasn't him. Zelda's doppleganger took a seat beside him and began to talk, though the words were too garbled for him to hear. He responded, and the woman disappeared. He was left alone, looking for her. Something caught on a red scarf around his neck, and suddenly, he was falling.

Zelda woke up in a cold sweat. She could feel the ground beneath her feet disappear. She was falling off of Skyloft. The Knights were too far away to reach her, and she fell through the clouds to the mythical Surface below. Again.

She wished it were a fun dream that she was having every night. She wanted nothing more than to wake up with thoughts of the Surface that she could act out while playing outside. But this? This was a nightmare that she couldn't escape.

As it turned out, the only person she could talk to about it was Link.

He was a good listener. Even when it looked like he wasn't paying attention, he always was. She was even getting the hang of knowing when he wanted to change the topic, or to stop a conversation all together. She wasn't sure at first, but as the days turned to weeks, she felt more confident that she was right.

And she knew she was right when Link found her lying in the grass. She snapped out of her drifting thoughts and sat up.

"Hi!"

Link waved and kept walking, motioning for her to follow. Zelda watched him curiously, but following, nonetheless.

Link sat down just a few feet away from the edge of Skyloft, his eyes never leaving the platform. He swallowed hard, but he knew he had to face at least one of his fears. There was no way he could live with another crushing phobia.

Zelda stopped in her tracks and shook her head. "I can't."

Link nodded, understanding, but this was something he needed to do. He turned away from Zelda and stared out at the Sky. There were no thoughts in his head. He had to keep it that way to make it through this. He even scooted closer to the drop-off.

Suddenly, and without warning, Zelda took a seat beside him. She hugged her legs to her chest and took a deep breath.

Link turned and pointed to the nearest Knight patrolling the sky.

"That only makes me feel a little better," she admitted. "There's still the actual falling that has to happen for them to catch you."

Link rested his head in his hands as he listened to her.

"Okay I need to talk. I need to keep my mind on something. Let me see… I had that nightmare again last night. It's probably why this is so scary. All I keep thinking is that I'll hit the clouds and then fall splat on the Surface."

She looked at him and chuckled at his face. He was judging her, by his expression. With his hands, he made a motion to say that she should move on. She agreed. That was the last thing she wanted to think about here.

"Okay… okay. Point to something that's your favorite color."

She looked at Link and he was suddenly blank-faced and looked like he was sweating.

"It's fine if you can't see anything that's your favorite color. I can ask later."

With a deep breath and a hard swallow, Link turned to Zelda.

"Green."

Zelda was so startled that at first, she thought she'd been the one to speak without even realizing she had. But it was Link. She could see the effort it took, and she was determined not to make a big deal about it. Link spoke. To her.

It was so soft, though, that she'd barely heard him.

"You said green?"

He nodded.

"Why green? Any reason?"

He looked at her, confused.

"Never mind," she said quickly. "Do you want to know mine, too?"

He nodded.

She leaned closer to him with a smug look on her face. "Green."

He smiled and plucked a piece of grass from between the board. "Why green?"

Zelda grinned and crossed her legs, getting comfortable. "When my dreams were fun, I used to dream about what the Surface would be like. I always imagined it to be green and blue, so those are my favorite colors. But now… I've only had nightmares about the Surface. I wonder if that will change my favorite color?"

"It," he said, stopping her. Clearing his raw throat, he crossed his arms. "It shouldn't."

Zelda couldn't stop her excitement from spreading. "Your voice suits you, Link. It's sort of how I'd have pictured you to sound."

Link grimaced and rolled his eyes. He didn't think so.

"Well," Zelda said, scooting closer to him. "If you're talking to me, now you have to tell me why your favorite color is also green."

He ran his hand along the grass and cleared his throat. "Because it's not the sky. Green is alive. Blue is death."

His mother, she realized. "I understand. When I realized my mother died, I refused to go into my parents' room. I never even knew her, but it still scared me."

After a long moment, Zelda stood up and offered Link her hand. "Want to play tag?"

Link nodded and grabbed on to her. And for the first time in a long time, he didn't feel alone.

A/N: Okay, this is about the length of the future chapters. The first two were misleadingly short, but this seems vaguely closer to what I'd expect from the length of a chapter. I don't think I have much to say yet. More characters do come into the story; I just figured I'd start with the focus on these two, so if it seems like I'm forgetting half of Skyloft exists, I swear I didn't! I have a couple of chapters pre-written, so I can pop them out weekly for now until it catches up to me.