Chapter 15 (Age 17)

Link sat on the roof of the Academy, watching the Bazaar buzz with activity. It was a yearly habit of his. Though he hadn't gone to the Sky Festival since he was about 13 when he didn't speak to a soul, he always enjoyed watching others hype up the festivities.

Venders were moving their stalls out into the open, just in front of the large tent. There was a stage set up in front of the Goddess statue where several of the local musicians, and some from the outer islands, would come to play all night. It was a celebration that lasted only for a night, though preparation for it usually took a few days. It would occur later that day, and Link watched as several of the younger Academy students flocked to the town square to help set up. Honestly, it already looked ready.

Then, he saw someone else come out of the Academy doors. His chest tightened at the familiar blonde head of hair. Looking away, he felt the heat of their argument last night as fresh as if it had happened that morning.

He groaned, hoping she wouldn't turn, but of course, as if sensing his thoughts, she turned and looked up at the roof. Link offered her a weak smile, but she couldn't return it and turned away, catching up with Fledge as he went to join the activity.

It had started out okay… normal even… just under a week ago between him and Zelda:

"So, Link, are you going to the Sky Festival this year?" she'd asked, following him as she eagerly waited for his answer.

Link had scoffed. "No. I never go."

Zelda's forced smile had faltered. She'd expected no other answer but couldn't help but get her hopes up. "Well, someone asked me to go with them. I don't really want to, I mean, I do, but I didn't know if you wanted to go with me. You know… as friends. In a group, even. Fledge, Pipit, Karane. We'd all love for you to come with us."

But Link missed her meaning and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and Groose, Stritch, and Cawlin would love to find some reason to ruin the night. The very same three who can't let me enjoy a day of peace. You know Groose has been on me more now that we're about to be the next graduating class. If I go there, we'll both ruin everyone's night and you'll wish I'd stayed home."

"You wouldn't even see them. I promise. They won't bother us and you can't let them run your life."

Link's eyes widened as an obvious realization had dawned on him. "Groose asked you to go to this thing, didn't he?"

Zelda had narrowed her eyes in response, wishing he hadn't figured that part out. "Of course, he did. And I, being the graceful woman that I am, ever so politely declined."

He snorted. "So, you yelled at him and then scared the living light out of him with some non-veiled threat?"

She grinned sweetly, "You know me so well."

But Link's smile faded. "Knowing that you can scare him off with your charm is not something that's going to make me change my mind, Zel."

"It's our last festival before Pipit and Karane are sent out on their assignments. I want us all to do something together."

"What's the big deal?" he asked, feeling suddenly defensive. This was him every single year. Why did he need to change out of the blue? "This festival happens every year and we all see each other every day. It's not like we can't all hang out the next day, or the day after that or even the day after that one."

"It's an event, Link. It's special because it's something fun with your friends."

"I don't want to go, Zelda. I don't want to. I hate the Sky Festival and you know it."

Link watched her closely for a moment. What he wanted was to say yes. Of course he wanted to spend all night talking and dancing with her. If there was one thing he'd realized recently, it was just how much he wanted that. But there was something… some horrible, stubborn, childish part of him that needed to refuse to back down. He truly hated attending the Sky Festival, everyone's eyes watching for the newest gossip, the need to dress up into something far more uncomfortable than being caught in someone's prying stare.

Link knew he'd been caught looking at Zelda a second time when his entire body warmed up under her judgemental eyes. Though he'd been entirely in his own mind, his eyes still needed something to do. And as usual, they were on her without him even realizing it.

She narrowed her eyes at him, though he couldn't tell if it was because he was so far away, or because she was still just as angry. And truly, she had every right to be.

Even days after their initial conversation, Zelda hadn't given up, and instead of her persistence turning on a switch in Link's brain- one that offered him the perfect opportunity to take a leap- it stressed him out unconditionally. For days, she brought up the Sky Festival and how there was still time to change his mind. That she had found someone to go with but wouldn't mind changing her plans to go with a group instead.

"Who are you going with?" he'd asked her in a moment of uncharacteristically awkward silence. She'd brought it up enough times to try to change Link's mind, but her expression said that she hadn't been expecting to have to give him that answer.

Her face had turned pink, but she shook her head. "Just a Knight."

He couldn't take the glare in her eyes, and swung his feet over the edge, needing to head back inside to the comfort and solitude of his room. It wasn't until he was at his desk with the block of wood and whittling knife in his hand that he realized he needed to make it right… somehow. He absently began to carve, not knowing what there was that he could possibly do at this point. A simple apology wasn't enough. It didn't speak nearly loud enough to make up for how stupid he'd been.

Karane had popped around the corner and waved at everyone, settling in a seat beside Fledge and Zelda.

"Hey, guys. Zelda, I just got word that they cut Corbett's flight route short for the festival and is returning early. He wants to see you before tomorrow."

Zelda's face flushed a deep red and her hand covered her mouth, eyes closed. She'd been caught and quickly went to stand, to get away. "I… um… thank you."

Link had grabbed her hand to stop her from hurrying from him. And she looked ready to bolt. "Corbett? The one who's practically in love with you? Yeah, he's 'just a Knight'. It's like if I was going with Robyn and said, 'Oh, I'm just going with some girl from the Academy.' It's a lie."

"A white lie," she admitted quickly. That, she had no intention of denying. And while she knew that there were plenty of other students she could have gone with, ones she didn't have a past with, she'd chosen to say yes to Corbett once she'd known Link wouldn't go. And deep down, she knew exactly why she said yes to the one person who'd get a rise from... a specific someone she knew. "But what does it even matter? It's not like you're going. I liked being with Corbett, and now he's taking me."

Karane and Fledge looked at each other with a nervous glance. Karane knew she'd accidentally started something.

Link ran his hand through his hair, stressed and anxious. He hadn't anticipated this white-hot jealousy that burned through him. It was one thing to think she was just going with another friend from the Academy. It was another to know it was Corbett. "Are you with him again or something?"

Zelda shook her head. Her expression dared Link to challenge her. She knew what her going with Corbett would do to Link, but she did it anyway. She was frustrated, but suffered from the same indomitable force that Link had of needing to stick to her plan once she'd begun. Link's jealousy became more apparent the more she'd talk about Corbett. But a deep-rooted place of confusion over where she and Link stood had her questioning if his reaction was out of friendship... or not.

Link scoffed. "He's back, though, and you've been trying to get me to go to this stupid festival so, what, I could watch you spend all night with him? That's low for you. You know you're the only reason I would have gone since no one else has been bothered by my decision to stay in my room, like I usually do. You think I want to go just to see you and Corbett dance or something? You trying to turn this into a spectacle?"

Link and Zelda were in their own little bubble now and heard nothing that Karane or Fledge was trying to say to stop the argument. There was only the two of them. Zelda glared at Link. After his unwillingness to listen to her for days and days, she couldn't take him anymore. "Jealousy doesn't suit you, Link. Back off."

"It's not jealousy. Go, have fun! But Goddess, Zelda, of all people though, it's Cor—"

Zelda held up a hand, stopping him. "Did you have any intention of asking me to the festival? No. You made that pretty clear. Now, you don't get to have any say in this. The only opinion you get on this is the one I ask for, and I'm not asking today, Link."

"Me?" he asked, blinking away the confusion. Neither of them seemed to notice that, rather than the others backing away to offer privacy, Pipit had joined the other two spectators to their fight. And Link was blindsided in a way no one else seemed to be. "You wanted me to ask you to the festival? The festival that we've never gone to? That I've never gone to? The festival that has never been an issue for us? By the Goddess's blade Zelda, how was I supposed to know that's what you wanted? I can't read your mind!"

Zelda's eyes softened. Her anger seemed to fade into something else. "You're supposed to pay attention. I've been asking you about it over and over, practically begging you to come to the festival. And I know you dismissed it out of habit, but you didn't even take it in."

"I heard you."

"You didn't listen, Link. Now, I'm going with Corbett tomorrow, but... I wish I was there with you. I wanted to spend this Sky Festival with you. Is that clear enough?"

Link stuttered, completely caught off guard. "I…"

"Don't. Don't talk to me, Link. Not right now."

"I…"

"Please, Link. Don't."

And what could he do now? She had someone she was going with, someone she clearly liked. It wasn't like he could just go down to the festival and make it up to her, pretend it never happened. His presence would do more harm than good at this point. He was too late to undo that damage. He'd ruin her night, her date, and her opinion of him.

As he thought to himself, he realized that the wood block in his hand began to take the form of a Loftwing. Just the head and some of the wing, but enough that it was recognizable. He hadn't even noticed what he'd been making, but the wood chips were scattered all over his clothes and the floor as he'd casually been leaning back in his chair.

The door opened and Pipit came in. There was a second door that opened, and Link knew that Fledge was on his side of the room.

Link's eyes darted up to Pipit's, but then went quickly back to his statuette. "Time already?"

Pipit grabbed his things from his wardrobe and laid them out on the bed, quickly slipping off his boots and leaning back for a moment of comfort before everything would start.

"Not quite. You can still change your mind and join us."

But Link shook his head and flicked the knife back against the block. "There's no point. Thanks though."

Pipit sat up, looking Link square in the eyes. "Next year, you have a lot to make up for."

"Why do you care so much if I go?"

But Pipit sniggered and leaned forward, slapping Link upside the head. Link winced with a small 'ow.'

"Not to me, stupid."

"Oh no, not you too. Don't you start."

"Yes, me. You're my friend, Zelda's my friend. I know what's going on with you and I can see what's happening. You didn't man up to ask her and now she wants to feed you to the Remlits."

Link narrowed his eyes, turning to Pipit with more venom than he'd intended. "Are you picking Karane up now or later, then?"

Pipit stopped to stare at Link, the tension filling the room. Pipit hadn't found it in him to ask Karane either. "Fine, stay here and mope. You brought it on yourself."

"I'm sorry," Link said quickly, realizing his mistake. "I'm just..."

"Angry," Pipit said, nodding. "It's okay. I get that."

Pipit was in the same boat as he was, and he knew how it felt to miss an opportunity. Luckily for Pipit, he'd listened to his better instincts and was still going with Karane as a part of a group, if not the way he'd wanted to.

Pipit hesitated before grabbing his things off the bed. "You know where we'll be."

Hours later, Link had dusted himself off and found his way into the Sparring Hall. It had more than surprised him to see Eagus sitting down with a stack of paper in his lap, trying to study up on how he could possibly do justice in replacing Master Kos. Link had moved on to the training logs so Eagus could get some work done.

"Hey! Fix your footwork. That was sloppy," he'd called, looking up for a moment.

"Sorry, Master Eagus."

Link continued to hack at the training logs, moving around it in a very specific pattern. Left, right, left, then reverse for a moment, turn and slash, step again, thrust forward, and then return to a defensive stance before doing it all again.

"Wouldn't I have a shield for this?" Link asked, realizing that his other hand was feeling a bit useless.

Eagus scoffed. "You might practice with one, but we don't have much real crime, Link. You're fighting off Chu-chu's and Keese. Sometimes, there will be a few rogue birds to terrorize us, but there is nothing in the Sky that would actually require a shield. It would weigh down our Knights and Loftwings."

"How did we think to make shields, then?"

Eagus looked at him blandly. "Do you just sleep through all of your classes?"

Link shrugged and restarted the pattern once again.

"The Goddess' Hero bore a shield. We know of it because he knew of it."

"Fair enough. I like using them though."

"Some Knights enter the Sparring Championship with shields. Others like to switch up their weapons. It's a contest of skill, not of practicality. You could start using one in training and do that."

"Yeah, I might."

Eagus looked up, putting his full attention on Link. He noticed the boy was sluggish and sloppier than usual. A sign of distraction.

"You don't need to be here, Link. You can go to the festival. And no, you being here is not keeping me from going. I would be here anyway. Too much work to leave."

Link looked at Eagus and sighed, unsure. He swung the sword around absently in his hand, letting it move between his fingers and around his palm without so much as a second thought. It danced wildly and gracefully through his hand.

"Hey!" Eagus chastised. "That's not a toy. You're distracted and could get hurt."

Link finally noticed what he'd been doing and set the sword down. "Sorry."

"You know what? Get out of here. Whether you go to the festival or not, your head isn't in this today. I don't want my favorite student to decapitate himself."

Link grinned. "Technically you haven't started yet, so right now I'm still your only student." Eagus snorted and gestured to the door and Link stepped into the cool night air.

It was more than cool… it was cold. He figured it had more to do with the fine sheen of sweat that clung to his skin from practicing than the actual air itself, but it felt unusually cold. He shivered and headed inside to wash the workout off of him. Changing into a loose pair of pants and a loose shirt, he decided once and for all not to cause a scene by showing up, especially not after the festival had already been underway.

He was one of the few people in the Academy and took the moment to savor the silence. The loud music from the square lofted through the Academy, but the silence he was interested in wasn't the absence of sound all together, but the lack of voices. There was always a murmur through the halls.

Looking at the bird he'd carved and painted earlier, Link took it in his hands and turned it. It was dry, thankfully, but he appreciated the color he'd decided on. Though by no means did he consider himself artistic, he thought the light blue feathers were a nice touch. Though the color was not entirely impossible for a Loftwing, like pink or something, the statuette had a unique air about it, one that made it seem personal.

He opened his door and jogged up the stairs, knocking on Zelda's door out of habit more than anything before opening it. It looked far more chaotic than usual, but he stepped around the mess to her desk and left the Loftwing on top. Grabbing a piece of paper and her quill, he quickly wrote the word "sorry," leaving that next to the bird before ducking out and heading back to his room.

He didn't think he'd begun whittling the bird with the intention of giving it to Zelda, but the more he held the blue bird, the more he realized it just felt like hers.

After trying to pass the time any way he could, Link finally gave up and figured he'd just call it a very early night. He was just about to put his feet up on his bed when he heard a light rap on his door. More than slightly confused, he got up quickly. It wouldn't be Eagus. He'd bang on the door like there was a fire. Link turned the knob, and there was Zelda.

"Wha—" he started, but she didn't wait. She just barged into his room, standing in the center with a concentrated look on her face and her arms hugging herself around the waist.

But Link certainly couldn't concentrate. She was in a gold and beige off-the-shoulder dress. The top was sequined with specks of gold to make it glisten, along with the faux cut out designs that gave the illusion of skin. A gold belt rest on her hips and the plain beige fabric that fell in neat, wide pleats gave the impression of simplicity, though she was anything but.

Her hair was tied back and a piece of hair formed a sort of braided crown around her head. Though she wore no jewelry, she looked a Goddess: beauty without compare.

Link continued to stutter for a few moments before pulling himself together. "Why—"

But again, she didn't let him speak. "I don't want to fight with you," she muttered. "I don't think I was being unreasonable, but I may have been a bit aggressive in how I got my point across. And ignoring you just made it worse."

"No, you were right. I heard you say it so many times, but I didn't listen. I wanted to go down there so many times tonight to meet you, but I didn't want to ruin your… date. Which begs the question…"

Zelda grinned and bit her lip. "Don't gloat, but about half an hour in, I lost him. I managed to find him some time later with his friends having a good time. He'd been talking about them the whole time and about how he never got to see them anymore, so when I found him, I didn't go over. I just stayed with my friends instead."

"Sans one."

With a chuckle, Zelda nodded. "Exactly."

"But why are you back at the Academy so early? In my room, especially."

Zelda looked around, as if she hadn't actually realized where she'd found him. "True. Do you want to go outside? It's pretty chilly without the festival's bonfire, but it's nice out."

Link opened his nearest drawer. "Wait. Here." He handed her one of his black sweaters, and she pulled it over her head, messing up her hair a bit and covering the painstaking detail of her dress. The sweater was incredibly loose on her, so much so that her hands didn't make it all the way through the sleeve.

She stared down at her arms. "Did you really bulk up this much? Your sweaters and jackets were never this loose on me." She hugged her arms again, only this time, it wasn't from the chill, but she relished the comfort his sweater brought.

He pulled one over his own head. Link wriggled his eyebrows at her in playful seduction at her barely veiled compliment, and they both chuckled, rarely able to take the other too seriously.

When they went outside, they could hear the lively music from the festival perfectly, but the view was cut off.

"How about the roof?" Zelda suggested.

Link looked pointedly at her long dress. She whacked his arm. "I can do anything in a dress. But you're going first because… it's a dress."

Link snorted and passed her, a bemused look on his face. He grabbed the raised edge of the wall and scooted onto the platform, watching Zelda carefully as she followed. He was ready to move quickly in case she slipped, no matter how much faith she had in her ability.

But she made it, if a bit slower than normal, and they climbed the strong vines to stand on the Academy rooftop. The view of the square was unobstructed, and they could see the lights, the fire, and the people even through the darkness. Villagers stood at the stalls and danced to the exciting music. And by no means did the music soften, despite the distance.

Link glanced at Zelda through the darkness, forcing the words that had been stuck in his throat out of his mouth.

"I mean… I know I have impeccable taste, and you look fantastic in my very stylish plain sweater… but you… you looked very…" he reached up to grab his neck, a nervous tic he had. "You looked…"

Zelda let out a half laugh half snort, content to go back to teasing him rather than ignoring him. "Does it pain you that much to say it?"

"No, it's just… have I ever said it? I've meant to, but now I'm struggling, and I think I've been a horrible friend."

Zelda giggled more than anything. "I don't think you have, Link. Wow, you are a bad friend."

"Well," he said, "You look nice. Tonight. Very nice. Like… pretty, you know? You look very pretty. Tonight. You look pretty."

Zelda smiled broadly, grateful for the darkness as she felt her face heat up. "Well," she said looking him over. "You look like an angry Remlit chasing its prey at night."

He looked down at the baggy clothes he intended to sleep in and nodded with the remnants of his nerves coming out in laughter. "Yeah. I look a little rough. Thanks for the vivid comparison. You couldn't have gone with 'terrible' or something."

"It wouldn't have done you justice. I mean… did you have wood chips on your shirt before?" she reached out to brush her hand across the fabric where she thought she'd seen it. Her touch had him flinch, unprepared for the contact in the dark.

"Yeah. I had a project I was working on."

They fell into a long silence after that, and Link felt compelled to fill it after several minutes. "So, you just left Corbett there?" he couldn't help but ask.

"I did tell him I was leaving; thank you for giving me so much credit."

"I wouldn't have told him."

Zelda chuckled softly. "I know you wouldn't."

Link nudged her shoulder. "You're sad." It wasn't a question.

"I just…do you ever feel like it's the last time you'll ever do something? Like something inexplicable is going to happen at any moment, and your whole world will change in an instant?"

"That's dark for you." His tone was concerned, but she couldn't see him or his expression.

She'd closed her eyes but was flooded by the visions of her nightmares. "I've been having those dreams again… dreams of fire. Everything is burning, people are screaming. Children are lost, running through the streets looking for their parents or for safety. I see these things. They're destroying a world. A world that never knew they just had their last birthday celebration, or festival. A world that didn't know it was the last time they'd sleep in their beds with their family under one roof. It's dark, but there's a light. A figure who comes out of it and spreads her light. The Goddess, maybe? She saves as many people as she can, but she, too, is overwhelmed. And then I wake up, and I look out at Skyloft and I wonder if something like that would ever happen here. If one day, life as we know it just stops, and the whole Sky shifts."

"That won't happen."

"It could. This could be the last Sky Festival we ever have. But you're probably right. They're just nightmares."

Link moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her in a comforting embrace.

Zelda leaned back into him, clinging to the real. The here and the now. She was here. Link was here. Skyloft was here. But she still couldn't help the nagging fear that one day… something would change.

Link let her go and moved to the front of her, facing her just inches from her face. Zelda watched him carefully to see what he would do. And what he did surprised her more than anything.

With an incredibly serious look on his face, Link began to sway to the loud, energetic music that wafted up to the roof from the square below. His rhythmic swaying turned from a light and casual back and forth, to him taking a step with his right foot, then his left, stepping to the beat. His head joined the rest of him as he rocked back and forth. His arms began to swing and his steps got wider, his movements more loose and free. They certainly didn't follow any convention of dancing she knew.

Zelda couldn't help the loud laugh that escaped her lips. His hips joined in the motion, and he was vividly dancing with the music… if you could call that dancing.

"Goddess! What are you doing?" Zelda laughed as he began to whip his head back and forth, his hair falling into his eyes as he did.

"Dance with me," he said, holding out a hand. "Come on."

She pursed her lips and shook her head, but took his hand. "This isn't dancing."

Link unceremoniously spun her around, catching her by the waist for fear that he'd nearly knocked her over. He let go and started to sway again, his hands balled up into fists up against his chest as he bobbed to the beat.

Zelda couldn't help but laugh again. He was ridiculous, and yet…

She found herself copying him, swaying to the quick-tempo music. Admittedly, she had more natural grace than Link did and she managed to make the wild movements actually resemble something akin to dancing, but she could feel the absurdity of it all in her attempt to keep up with Link. She could feel her hair coming loose as she crashed into Link. The bottom of her dress flailed out, and the wind hit her like she was a Loftwing, wobbling from her wild spinning. Again, she and Link collided, holding on to each other for balance that neither of them really had.

When the song ended, and another energetic one began, she held up her hand, out of breath. "I can't," she chuckled.

Link leaned against the taller second roof and Zelda joined beside him.

"Did that count as me going to the festival with you?"

She scoffed. "No. But it was a good start to a very lengthy apology that you owe me."

Link made a playfully offended face. "Oh?"

"I think it's only fair," she said, a smile on her face. She wasn't expecting one truly, and she was happy to be with him here and now.

"How long do you want me to grovel for?"

Zelda raised her eyebrows, intrigued.

But Link moved away from the wall, rubbing his neck as he suddenly felt a shift in the atmosphere, or at least there was a shift for him. He spun to face her, suddenly too aware that he was just in his casual, baggy, sleeping clothes. "How about this: Will you go with me to the next Sky Festival?"

Zelda walked up next to him, like there was a magnetic pull that kept bringing her to his side. "What if you're with someone else by then? Then you'll break your promise and we'll just have to fight all over again for that reason."

He couldn't look at her, but he felt himself grin. "I won't be with anyone else, don't worry."

A/N: Did you think they were going to slow dance and kiss? PSYCH! Not today, trope! Also, I'm so sorry but I couldn't figure out how to describe "normal" (not slow) dancing so this was my best effort! Thankfully, Link's not meant to be good. Final fun fact, the Loftwing he made for her is the one that's on her desk in the game. I only saw that in my most recent playthrough, so I added it in.

Reviews: PennyForYourThoughts024: Keese were one of the banes of my existence. I don't know why, but I could not kill Keese for the life of me! I'd wave the remote around and Link would just keep spinning sideways and getting hit and I would just faceplant a table or something because I can't kill Keese. To be fair, I suck at killing them in BOTW too, so it's probably just me! bladeofthebookworms: Thank you! Those poor Leviathans had to be blind to whack into a giant island like Skyloft, but I figured they might be like birds and migrate, but that it's usually controlled by the Knights so Skyloft isn't a bouncy-house! RandomFF. netuser: No, I completely agree with you! I hated the early enemies! Deku Baba's were not fun,especially the yellow/orange ones. And I tried to do that double jump/roll that you can do in TP so many times the first time I played, but I had to keep reminding myself that I couldn't get behind enemies that easily anymore, so I feel you! Throwerofbooks: I'd seriously love to write a sequel. I'd probably have to replay the game again first, so it wouldn't be right away if it did happen (though I could just write and play at the same time and just hope I remember). But now I'm afraid not to write a second one because a book might be thrown at me hahaha! For me, Levias and the Wind Fish (but the less chatty version of them) were the major reference point for the appearance and movement of the leviathans, but also I was thinking about the really long leviathan corpses in BOTW. I wasn't thinking of it being Levias specifically, but more of its kind. Cosmo14: I'm always here for fast reviews! Makes my day! But yeah, the pre-prequel is on hold for the same plot-issue. I only had a few chapters worth before I quit and moved to this fic first. I can think of so much post-game fluff but only a few plot-related things. I do have an idea notebook out though, so it still could happen! And thanks for the Jardon catch! I went back and fixed the spelling. The Leviathans were half Skyward and half BOTW, actually! Originally it was only one Leviathan like in Skyward, but then I was playing BOTW and there were three, so I figured why not add more! I'm glad it was easy to follow though AND glad you caught the throwback to the other chapter! I wanted to start this one right after, but since I've never done two chapters so close in time, it felt too out of place. I thought of a birthday scene actually, then realized I'd never even had them mention birthdays before, so it felt out of place to have just one. BUT if I do a post-game, I was thinking of putting one there and you've just seconded that plan sooo... hahah! But I decided not to go to age 18 either, so they're staying age 17 for the rest of this.