"You have the power to make things right," a god-like voice told her.
There was something warm and comforting about the deep voice, like she knew him from a time long past. It was both foreign and familiar, as if he wasn't human yet spoke like one.
"I knew you'd get around to it eventually, Rauru," a woman's voice said, warm and unbelievably familiar.
"Still, one wonders if it is truly the wisest choice..."
"Would you have done the same for me, Rauru?"
Silence passed.
"If I had had your power over time, Sonia, without a second's doubt."
More silence. Through the darkness, Zelda tried to envision the first king and queen of Hyrule.
"Well, you know as well as Zelda then what love will make you do." Sonia said. "...I'm certain Link will understand."
"How will she get back, Sonia?"
"That is something she will learn. Remember, our Zelda has powers even greater than ours."
Zelda gasped as she woke up, staring up at the white light of the sky. Revali stood gazing down at her, snowflakes drifting around him.
The princess stared up at him, wide-eyed and open-mouthed.
Revali stared back, green eyes focused and alive. "Making snow angels, Princess?" he said in that familiar sarcastic voice.
Zelda couldn't speak, oblivious to her splayed arms and legs in the snow. Oblivious that she was wearing her white, fluffy coat and tight, black leggings, that her long hair was clipped back in her two blue barrettes, that the sky was wintery and clear of monsters and free of a blood moon. All that mattered was that Revali was alive and well, gazing down at her with his feathered face and bill.
"R-Revali..." Zelda's warm breath puffed out into the air.
He furrowed his brow.
"Revali!" Zelda stood up and threw her arms around her Rito Champion, face buried in his warm, feathery neck, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Revali went as rigid as a petrified tree, feathers rolling just as they did in the dungeon floor. He stood there, as if wondering where this would go next. The Rito shook his head, grabbing Zelda by her shoulders and pulling her off. "What are you doing?"
Zelda looked stung, wiping her tears. Something wasn't right. "...Don't you remember, Revali...?"
"Remember what?" Revali asked. "You lying on the ground with a concussion on your head? At least that's what it looked like to me..."
Zelda shook her head, stepping back. "No, Ganondorf killed you..." she murmured which jolted Revali out of his shock and embarrassment. "I saw it with my own two eyes."
After a moment of intense silence, Revali said, "Then maybe you ought to get your Hylian eyes checked, Your Highness, because I'm right here."
Zelda stared at him, eyebrows furrowed up.
"Seems to me you just had a bad dream." Revali said. "I'm touched, really." He smirked.
She blinked, eyes wide. The blonde turned to look up at the sky and Hebra Mountains and saw that it was a nostalgic mid-afternoon at the Flight Range, Revali's Divine Beast still circling the sky. Ganondorf had shot it down with his secret stone-powered lightning shortly after she'd been kidnapped.
Zelda looked back through the snowy valley to see Rito Village still intact, the colossal bird head statue in the center back on its spine.
"This does look new, though," Revali fingered a tear-shaped gold stone at the center of Zelda's neck.
Zelda gawked down at the necklace, mouth open.
She had traveled back in time to when Revali and her had had that fight about Link over who would play the role of Hyrule's hero.
She fell back on the snow, arm over her forehead.
Revali didn't believe her at first, refused to accept that he had been killed by Ganon. Zelda's head must've gotten hit with a rock from a snowy tree, which was why she'd been knocked out and was now saying she came from the future. Zelda pointed out that there were no trees at the Flight Range, that Revali knew she possessed powers over time in addition to her sacred power to seal evil, and Revali stood quiet, turning away to look at the canyon wall.
"I know you don't want to believe me, Revali, but the truth is the truth. I realize now why I came here... I came here to save you..." Zelda said.
Revali couldn't speak.
"You and the rest of my Champions," she said.
"...Did Link die, too?" Revali turned to her and the eagerness she saw in his eyes made her wonder why she cared so about Revali.
"No, he did not, Revali," she said, clenching her gloved hands. She unclenched them, deciding not to elaborate, knowing Revali's pride was already wounded enough just with the information she gave him. She took a deep breath. "I didn't come here for him. I came here to save you, Revali."
Revali's feathers ruffled again.
"...And how in Hylia's name are you going to do that?" he asked.
Zelda blinked. She hadn't yet figured that out, even with Revali's mocking hint of the goddess she was.
"So you're saying this dead guy named Rauru, your ancient predecessor in the royal line-up, told you you could fix things and that his dead wife Sonia said Link would understand?"
Zelda looked away from Revali onto the snow. He had a way of making things sound stupid, but what she said was the truth and nothing but the truth.
Revali had seen her holy power to seal evil but he'd never fully witnessed her power over time.
"Yes..." Zelda nodded, staring at the snow. "I just don't know how. I believe picking up that stone of the gods may have activated my power over time somehow."
Revali stared at Zelda, beak open.
"Here's an idea," he said. "How about you make me the hero? That way, we'll have a different chance at Ganon."
Zelda looked up at him, eyes wide and eyebrows furrowed.
"You did say it was your regret and mistakes that brought you here." Revali went on. "And here you are, Princess, right at my doorstep... This is a sign."
Zelda glared at Revali, teeth clenched. She was not going to let Revali manipulate her at a time like this! "What you are saying doesn't even make sense, Revali. Making you my hero would only increase the chances that Ganondorf would kill you again."
"Do you hear yourself, Princess? Should I really believe that you can actually travel through time?"
And that's when Zelda knew, knew exactly what she needed to do to save Revali's life. The reason she'd been brought there.
"I'll prove it to you." She held out her hand to Revali.
Revali gaped at her, stumbling back.
"...Are you scared?" Zelda asked with just a hint of a smirk.
Revali furrowed down his golden eyebrows, glaring at her. He took her tiny hand in his oversized wing. "Not in a million years."
Princess Zelda and Revali disappeared together in a flash of glittery gold light.
