Chapter 16 (Age 17)

Link circled the town for the fiftieth time that day. He swung the training sword around when he was completely alone and started to hum the first song that came to mind.

Goddess, he was completely bored on patrol.

The only good thing about this mindless route was that he no longer needed to take his math class. Though… that class had Zelda in it.

When something crossed his vision, he rolled his eyes."Kukiel!" Link called at the young girl. "Away from the edge. How many more times do I have to warn you?"

The little troublemaker looked at him sweetly. "A few more!"

That was the most excitement he ever had. Admittedly, Kukiel was a bit of a handful every time he patrolled, but it wasn't just for him. She carefully moved away from the edge and ran in the other direction.

"Link?" Gaepora called.

Link stopped. A conversation was more excitement than he was used to.

Gaepora ushered a small brunette girl in front of him. "This is Avis. She'll be starting the Academy soon. She just came over from the outer islands."

Link nodded a hello. "I saw your arrival. Nice to meet you."

The young girl blushed and bit her lip nervously. "You too."

Link turned to Gaepora, who was watching with an amused smile. "Link is one of the best Knights we've ever trained here."

"I haven't graduated," Link reminded Gaepora, almost a gentle hint to get him off this boring route that was meant for a first-year graduated Knight.

Avis smiled. "If you're that good, then you'll take the Uncharted Sky routes? That's so cool! That's what I want to do too, someday!"

Gaepora put his hand on Link's shoulder. "He's chosen to do something closer to home. He wants to protect the village and keep it safe. Oddly, this is the route he'll likely patrol all next year after graduation, so he's getting used to the daily patrol early. Such gifts are granted to our most talented students."

Link smiled tightly. "I appreciate the honor. And truthfully, this route has allowed me nights off, so thank you."

Gaepora and Link stared at each other. Avis didn't know Link's history with Loftwings, and all subtleties were lost on her. Gaepora had seen Link train, and he wanted nothing more than to assign him to the Outer Sky upon graduation. Link could be one of the most successful Knights in Skyloft's history.

Avis shrugged. "I'd rather fly than have time off."

Link thought she was cute in a childish, hopeful sort of way. She clearly hadn't been thrown any curveballs she'd learn to dodge yet, and he hoped she'd never have to.

She looked at him with admiration and the glittering eyes of a childhood crush. This must have been how the upperclassmen thought of him and his friends when they'd first joined the Academy. Goddess, they must have been so annoying.

"Well," Link said, addressing the headmaster, "I have to go. Kukiel and I are playing a game of 'Ignore Link and Run Near the Edge.'"

That, the headmaster empathized with. "Oh, Kukiel... I'll stay around . Maybe she'll listen to me. Take the upper levels for a while. Avis, head back to the Academy. I'll come by later to sort out your classes."

"Okay," she waved with a small smile. "Bye Master Link!"

"Just Link!" he called as she ran away.

"You've grown quite a bit, Master Link," Gaepora said with a chuckle. "I remember when you were her age, just starting."

Link looked around to see if Kukiel had snuck around while they'd been distracted. He didn't see any sign of her and tapped his sword against his boot absently. "Maybe Master Eagus will get sick of his job."

Gaepora laughed. "I won't hire you unless you have at least three years of post-Academy work, but nice try."

"So close," Link laughed as he veered off and made his way towards the Goddess Statue. The way there was dull. There weren't even any children ignoring his safety orders.

But as he got closer, he heard a soft melody. Taking the steps much slower, he listened to the notes. They were soothing, like a lullaby… the song he'd been humming earlier. What a coincidence, he thought as he crept closer.

Someone was singing, soft and light, almost like a whisper. And it was a voice he knew well.

Sure to remain silent, he walked into the small courtyard in front of the statue and leaned against the nearest pillar to watch Zelda with an unabashedly enamored smile. No one else was here to see it.

Her eyes were closed as she played the lyre carefully. It was old and worn, made of wood and strings that looked like they could use changing, but the melody that she strummed was beautiful and wasn't the least bit affected by the poor condition of her instrument. She was sitting on the ground with her legs curled up next to her, her small shoes were kicked off to the side as she sang along to the tune of the lullaby.

He waited, watching her sway as she plucked at the notes until she finished and opened her eyes, a satisfied smile on her face. And then, she realized she was being watched.

"Link!" she gasped, standing quickly.

He held up his hand to stop her. "I was just out on patrol and I heard you. I thought you were shadowing Owlan and grading today?"

She sat back down as he crossed the yard to her and sat beside her. She tapped her instrument. "I finished, so he let me leave. I was just practicing."

"It was nice. You never play that or sing in front of me."

Her face turned pink as she absently plucked at some notes. "Well, you don't let me see you fight, so we're even."

"Don't make this about me," he laughed. "Even if you don't sing in front of anyone, you should at least play more. You know, I was actually just humming that song earlier today?"

"Really? It's so old."

"Weird, right?"

Link reached over and plucked one of the strings, curious about it.

"Here, try," she said, handing it over.

"I don't want to break it."

She kept her hand there until he took it. "You won't. And don't worry if you do. I've even broken it before."

"Okay," he muttered, trying to imitate how Zelda had held it. He tried the first few notes of the song, hearing absolutely nothing even remotely similar.

"Thank the Goddess," Zelda laughed. "If you'd been naturally good at this, I'd have hated you."

"Show me how to play the harp then, Instructor Zelda."

She grinned, liking the sound of that. "Well, first off, this is a lyre harp. The harp-harp is that huge one. Second, you're holding it wrong. Here." She moved his hand so his palm was off one of the strings that it had rested against. "Okay, now lower."

Link's heart was racing as she leaned entirely against him and moved his hands. If he so much as turned his head, he'd brush her lips… she was so close to him that it was hard to even focus.

"Okay, try now," she said, finally sitting back.

He tried the first few notes again, and it was just as tragic as before. Looking at her amused face, he casually moved his hands around the harp… lyre… as he spoke. "Well you can't expect me to be an expert the first time I pick this up."

"Your hands are wrong again. You won't even be able to brush the string."

He looked down, remembering where to hold, but he stopped himself and grinned, indulging himself a little. "They look fine to me."

"Here," she leaned over again and moved his wrist, her fingertips brushing over his skin in a trail of flames. Goddess, if only she knew.

He reached up and pushed the hair from his face, careful to avoid her in her closeness, and put his hand back in decidedly the wrong place.

He could feel her breathe out a sigh as she gave him a bland look. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

"Of course I am," he laughed. This time, he dared to turn his head to look at her. His nose brushed her cheek and she jerked back with a surprised gasp before moving forward again, almost subconsciously.

As he stared at her, he realized his lips had gone completely dry. He licked them; they truly were painfully dry. When he looked back up, her eyes were on his mouth… her normally blue eyes, entirely engulfed by the blacks of her pupils. He could feel her breath coming out faster, and his own heart was beating faster than a Loftwing's flight.

"Zelda…" he managed, though he felt himself leaning closer to her, like he wasn't in control of his own body.

A burst of wind hit them both at once, pushing them back, and Link grabbed Zelda faster than she could reach for him. He pulled her to her feet and they backed up a few steps.

Standing before them was a great blue-purple Loftwing. Its golden eyes shimmered in a ring of purple as it cawed out a loud cry before settling down, standing there, staring at the two.

Zelda took a step forward, reaching out. Something strong pulled her towards the bird, something that she would never be able to explain.

Link looked up, seeing another bird circling the Goddess Statue, though it made no attempt to change its course. It was far too high, and Link assumed it was a Knight who'd seen the Loftwing nosedive for Zelda.

Link kicked her shoes over to her. "Hey, get on!"

Zelda turned, still in shock. "A Loftwing? I'm not old enough. It shouldn't happen for another year."

She reached out for Link and pulled him beside her to admire the Loftwing.

He didn't hate being near them quite so much. In fact, he thought they were cute. He stroked its beak with a smile, and it nudged him in the face. Zelda chuckled as she slid on her shoes.

"What do you think?" she asked the bird. "Do we ride?"

The Loftwing crouched down, as if it understood, and Zelda hesitantly pulled herself up, gripping the feathers.

"I'll tell your father what happened."

Zelda started laughing as the Loftwing stood. "No matter what he asks, tell him I didn't do it on purpose!"

"I will. Go fly!"

Zelda's Loftwing took a few steps and flew straight upwards, and she screamed in pure excitement.

Link hurried from the Goddess Statue back to where Gaepora had been sitting. He was still there, and his back was turned. Link glanced up one more time before grabbing Gaepora in excitement.

"What is it?" Gaepora asked, both curious and nervous.

Link pointed up. "See that Loftwing?"

"Yes."

"That's your daughter's."

Gaepora froze. "My… that's…"

Link chuckled, giddy for Zelda. "It just happened at the Statue. Just… flew down and knew she was the one it would bond with."

"She's… so young! She could fall!" Gaepora froze again for an entirely different reason and turned to Link to apologize for his thoughtless comment.

Link swallowed and took a steadying breath. This was Zelda, not his mother. "She won't fall."

"No, she won't."

Link woke up to the same nightmare he'd been having for the past few nights since Zelda had gotten her Loftwing.

Darkness engulfing everything and everyone he loved. The clouds below pulling Zelda through them faster than he could even try to reach her.

Or maybe they'd only been happening since a few days later when he asked her one question she'd been longing to hear.

So it was no surprise when she tapped on his door moments later. He went to make sure it was her, and she stood in the dark hallway with her arms crossed, waiting patiently. He held up his finger, trying not to wake Pipit. And then he remembered… Pipit had moved out. He'd been living back home, though that didn't quite matter. He was out exploring the Sky, as was Karane.

Link threw on some warmer clothes and laced his boots up tightly before heading back into the hall. Zelda was in longer, tight sleeves that looked decently warm. Link wasn't sure if he'd gone overboard.

Zelda had to slow her walk to match Link's. He was barely moving, in fact. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it comfortingly, rubbing her thumb across his skin. It was distracting him, and he focused all his attention on the small place where his hand and hers met.

When they reached their spot by the waterfall, he stopped and ran his hand through his hair, turning around and walking back to the Academy.

Zelda chased him, stopping him quickly. "We're going to be fine. I swear to you, Link, I swear on my mother's spirit that I won't let anything happen to you."

"What am I thinking?"

She ran her hand behind his neck, bringing him down to her level, and pressed her lips to his cheek. She let her hand stay against his skin, though she could feel his racing pulse through the veins on his neck. "You have so much more courage than you know, Link. Come on."

She gently pulled him the rest of the way to their spot, and kept her hand in his as he looked at the beasts.

Eagus stepped forward and lightly clasped Link on the shoulder. "I'll be below you the whole time. I've cleared any Knights in the area, and they know I'm going out. You have nothing to worry about except yourself. Okay?"

Link nodded, though he couldn't find the words to speak.

Eagus stepped onto his Loftwing and took to the Sky, leaving Link and Zelda alone. She turned to him. "Ready?"

"No."

She smiled softly. "Are you going to do it anyway?"

"Just get on," he managed in a gruff voice.

Zelda didn't take it personally, and stepped onto her Loftwing, waiting. She had it sitting down so Link had to put little effort into getting on with her.

He breathed into clasped hands a few times before taking two steps.

"Listen," he said quickly, trying to distract himself. "Once you take off, I don't think I'll be able to let you breathe for a bit."

Zelda grinned. "I'll take a deep breath."

Link nodded once and steadied himself again. And he swung his leg over the back of the Loftwing.

Zelda turned to make sure he was on. "Hold on tight as you need to, Link. I'm going now so you don't second guess this."

"I already am second guessing this," he muttered, wrapping both arms around her waist. If it was any other circumstance, he'd have been thrilled to be able to hold her this close to him. In this case, he couldn't find the brainpower to even notice.

She could feel his mouth, nose, and forehead pressed into her shoulder, as if not watching it would help. When she felt his arms tightened around her waist in preparation, she let her Loftwing run off the edge.

The Loftwing plummeted hard and fast right away, letting Link feel the rush of his chest hitting his stomach before she evened out the flight for a moment. Her Loftwing rose up higher. She wanted him to feel everything quickly so he'd be used to it.

And he hadn't been lying. She couldn't breathe if she tried.

Finally soaring straight and steady, she tapped Link's hands. He loosened his grip and she took a deep breath, turning to see if she could see him. His chin was resting on her shoulder.

"How was that?" she asked.

She could feel his mouth tip up, a small chuckle rumbling through him. She could feel every twitch of his body, and even his racing heart against her back. From the way he let his face feel the breeze, and the fact that he wasn't already asking her to return, she had a suspicion that he wasn't hating this flight at all.

"Can you do that again?" he asked, his voice dead-serious.

"Of course."

"A longer drop?"

She could almost sense where his brain was. He needed to know what falling felt like.

"Sure. Up first though."

His hold on her loosened and he looked to his right. Another Loftwing had joined them, one with no rider.

"Is this normal?" he asked, tapping Zelda to get her attention as she ascended.

"What?" She turned, but as she did, the Loftwing swung to her other side, something very near a laugh on the bird's beak.

Link watched the crimson Loftwing dive under them, moving out of sight again.

"Nevermind," he muttered.

"Are you ready?" she called, turning to him.

He nodded and grabbed on tightly again as Zelda turned their trajectory into a nosedive.

For the first second or two, Zelda couldn't breathe again, and it wasn't to do with the rushing wind. Link's grip on her was crushing. But as she continued down towards the cloudline, she felt one of his hands let go of her.

In a panic, she all but spun off the Loftwing, pulling the bird back to a normal position, only to see Link with one arm out to the air, letting the wind beat against his arm and open palm. She breathed a sigh of relief and urged her bird down again, and this time, she heard Link's excited cry behind her. He let out a long 'whoop' for as long as she could continue their path.

When she reared back up, Link's arms went around her again to keep steady, though this time, they didn't hold the tension that they had been.

"Are you doing okay?" Zelda called behind her. She could just barely see him nod; he was sitting further back now, more comfortable. "Let's try something normal!"

She moved her Loftwing so it was just flying at a normal speed beside Skyloft, the average flying speed. When she was sure Link had gotten the feel for it, she leaned her head back against him, playfully tilting her head backwards so she could see him. "How about now? Still good?"

He laughed briefly as he looked down at her. She felt a shiver run through her that had her tensing up against him when he absently began tapping his fingers on her waist, truly thinking about that answer.

Finally, he let out a breath. "I don't know."

"I can understand that," she said easily. "Link, do you want to try?"

His eyes widened, though it was a mix of nerves and excitement. "It's your Loftwing."

"You can still fly. I'll trade places with you."

"I've never taken a flying lesson."

"I'm going to be an instructor someday soon. Call me your new teacher!"

Link nodded hesitantly, and Zelda landed on a small rock, one that was just big enough for them to trade places, but little else.

When Zelda slid off so he could scoot forward, Eagus came up beside them. When he saw Link moving to take the lead, he hesitated, wanting to stop him… but... if he was anyone else, he would have. Zelda climbed back up behind Link this time and wrapped her arms around him, looking to Eagus for approval of their new plan first.

Begrudgingly, he gave it, but with a warning that he'd be flying a bit closer now.

Link couldn't even hear their conversation as he sat on a Loftwing, for the first time since that night he'd ridden to the Lumpy Pumpkin and back. It was him with only the head of a Loftwing in front of him.

"Okay, hold here and here," Zelda said, pointing.

"How do I- whoa!" he grunted as the Loftwing took off. Zelda hung on tight, already jerking off to the side with the inexperienced flyer. It took him some time to get his bearings, but he was quickly flying straight and steady. He dared to dip lower a few times, but he quickly righted himself, not trusting his skill.

"There," he said, gesturing for Zelda to follow his gaze into the Sky. It was that crimson bird again.

"Oh! That Loftwing flies with me sometimes. I think my Loftwing is it's friend or partner. They're usually close to each other."

"I've never seen another red one before."

"Neither have I. I just assumed it's because I haven't been on my own for long."

"Maybe," Link muttered, daring to fly lower, to where Eagus was.

"Nice flying for your first time out, Link!" Eagus called.

Link nodded his thanks. "I know this is something you'll say no to but… I need to jump."

"What?"

"I have to freefall. I don't expect you to understand, but I need to do it."

Eagus was shaking his head. "I can't allow that, especially at night."

"You said you'd stop anything from happening to me. I need this, and I'm doing it whether you let me or not. I'll take the punishment for ignoring your warning."

"Don't act like an idiot, Link. You don't tell me what to do. But this isn't happening because you think you're a tough guy telling me off; it's happening because I know you need it. And I swear, you have a ten second fall before one of us will grab you and drag you right back home."

Link took that as his moment and soared upwards to get some height before even thinking about jumping.

"Okay," Zelda said, holding him tightly so he wouldn't jump before she spoke. "Arms out like a bird so you can have some control while you're falling."

"I definitely won't have control."

He winced as Zelda slapped him hard in the back. "This is serious! There's a reason that people don't freefall in the middle of your first flying lesson."

"I'm sorry. Arms out. Got it."

She let go of him and he took a deep breath, shook his head, and flung himself off the Loftwing.

Zelda hurried to scoot forward and urged her Loftwing to match the speed of his fall beside him. He was shooting forward without his arms out, and she knew it was on purpose. She watched him with a racing heart. He finally spread his arms out and fell naturally, though he started to move all over the Sky.

Ten seconds.

She could see Eagus below them, and she decided she'd give it a shot before Eagus. She held out her hand to Link.

He turned and shifted so his body drifted to the right where he was able to catch hold of her arm. Their grip on each other was firm and they stayed locked like that while Zelda maneuvered her Loftwing directly under Link. At once, they both tugged on each other, bringing Link back against the bird as Zelda bounced up to catch him easier. His arms went around her again as he settled into place.

Below even Eagus, Link noticed the crimson Loftwing, as if it was waiting to be a safety net below the other two.

Zelda landed on Skyloft on the platform just beside their usual spot near the waterfall, still without another word to Link. They hopped off, and she gave her bird an affectionate stroke on its beak before it flew off. She turned her attention to Link.

He was still breathing heavily, hands against his knees. She moved in front of him, and his eyes locked on hers with an intensity she hadn't seen before. She didn't know what it meant, but she crossed the gap and wrapped her arms around him, letting him lean heavily on her.

She saw Eagus check on them before flying off, content in their safety. He knew Link didn't need him in that moment.

"Link?" Zelda finally asked after a long moment. When she pulled away to see him, she noticed his eyes had gone red. "Do you need a minute?" she asked gently.

He ran his hands along his face and sniffed, trying to stop the tears from spilling from his eyes.

"She died like that. What I just did… that's what my mother felt as she died. That wind, that rush. But she wasn't feeling it the same way I was. I loved every second of it. I want to go back out there and fly right now. But..." He paused and bit his lip so hard Zelda could see a small smear of red.

"Link," she tried.

But this time, his voice broke and he had to lean against a tree for support. "I loved it, Zelda. How can I love doing something that killed my mother? What kind of sick person am I? I needed to know what she felt, but all I felt was alive. She's dead and it's sick and twisted. And if I ever get on another Loftwing, I'm betraying her even more than I did today. I'm… disgusting."

"Stop…"

"And you know something? That was the easiest thing I've done in such a long time. I know I wasn't doing tricks, but it felt like I was born to ride a Loftwing. How can I say that, knowing what happens if you make a single mistake?"

"Please, Link…" she tried again.

"I went into this today wanting to hate it. I was ready to hate it, to say I tried and that I never wanted to go back. But you know what I realized while we were up there? I wasn't afraid of Loftwings. I was afraid to love flying. I loved doing the thing that killed her, Zel."

He held his breath, but it was no use and he swung his fist into the tree, feeling the relief of the burning sting that coursed up his arm.

"Stop that!" Zelda said, moving between him and the tree.

This time, he collapsed to the ground, holding the back of his head in his hands as he brought up his knees.

Zelda knelt beside him and grabbed his cheek, forcing him to look at her. "Don't ever insult my best friend in front of me," she said, echoing her own words in the past. "You have mourned your mother, you've honored her, and now you've been able to feel some part of her that you've never known. Yes, it was horrible. She would have been thinking of you, and what would happen to you if she was gone. And I can tell you that this self-torture thing you've been doing is not something she would want for someone she loved. She would never want you to hate something out of loyalty to a memory. She was a Knight, Link. You're almost a Knight. That's the memory she'd want you to keep close. She was smiling with the Goddess when you were flying because you loved it."

"What makes you an expert? You don't know."

"I know because I love you." She took a brief pause as the words sank into her brain. But no matter how true they felt, she couldn't let them sit. Not today. Today was not about her or her feelings. She had to make sure he didn't think she wasn't implying romantic love, no matter how she meant it."You're my best friend and I love you because of it, Link. I always have and you know that. So, I know what it feels like to see someone you love be happy and to be miserable and I am done watching you do that. The things you always thought made you weird, I don't care about them. I don't care if you ever step foot on a Loftwing again. I don't care if you can never leave Skyloft. I only care that you do. So guess what? You're going to be happy, Link. And you're going to stop punishing yourself."

Link pulled out of her hand and leaned back in the grass, gesturing to the spot beside him. She took it and curled up against him, resting on his arm. It took her a moment to realize that she would never lie in the grass like this with Pipit. Karane would never look at her the way Link was looking at her. Fledge would never run his fingers through her hair just because he could, the way Link was. And if any of them ever did, she'd feel uncomfortable. But with Link, it just made her feel an assault of butterflies in her stomach that tried to make it's way through her chest.

"You know," he started, back to his usual smirking, easy expression. "I meant how are you an expert in the Goddess. Not about love." He watched her roll her eyes to hide the creeping pink that was visible even in the moonlight.

He waited for her to look back at him. This was something he needed her to really hear. There was something he had to admit. "You saved me. Every day, you saved me. When I was a kid, before I had you in my life, I wanted to fall off the edge. I had nothing left. But when I met you, you gave me a reason to hang on and then you pulled me up. So thank you."

Link heard his own words and chuckled to himself. "I knew there was something bizarrely romantic about flying lessons." He gestured between them at their position. "We're on another date, aren't we?"

"No," she said quickly and defensively. But then she stopped and thought about it. About how she didn't want to get up. About the look in his eyes. About the feeling in her chest. "I don't know," she admitted. "Are we?"

"I don't know. Is that...do you want us to be?" he asked, completely serious for possibly the first time in years.

His question had her reeling, unsure of anything anymore. "I… I… think I do. But is that what you want?"

He was pretty sure he was going to die, his heart was beating so fast. His head was nodding before he could even double check with his brain. "Yeah," he breathed out.

Zelda let out a small laugh. "I don't know what to do now."

Link's smile returned. "Me either." He had to sit up to escape his spinning head. "How about we try this again tomorrow except we both know what it is from the very beginning?"

Zelda stood up, brushing herself off nervously. "I can get behind that plan."

Link stepped to her side and pressed his lips on her cheek, as she'd done to him. Only this meant something much more to both of them now.

"That was for the ride," he said, his lips brushing her skin as he spoke. He pulled away with a sly smile… almost a promise of something more.

A/N: The lyre/harp thing, I have no idea if it's actually true. Just a disclaimer based on my Google searches. But that's probably not what you care about at this point! My name is Fluff and I was called in for this chapter. Good to see you all again! I totally gave up on trying to avoid the word date. That worked for one chapter and then never again. But whatever, I'm rambling.

Also, I actually just wrote the last chapter of this fic right before posting this chapter (since some muse of inspiration kept me writing a new chapter every night like a monster). Just so you know how much is left of this, it's ending on a brief epilogue (which I always do), and it's 22 total chapters using the fanfiction counting system/20 chapters + epilogue if you use my system (AKA 5 chapters left). So that's where/when you can expect this one to end. I'll stick to the Sun/Tue/Thurs posts I've been doing unless something comes up, then it'll just be a day off. I'm still going to bother everyone with my all-too-long A/N section because I write these during my last-minute editing, so you can't get rid of me that easily!

Anywho, with that said, I've also started to come up with some post-game sequel ideas that I'll be trying out soon. So if you were wondering... it's looking like that might be a decent possibility right now. *does an awkward happy dance*