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"Guys! guys! We're in my Hyrule!"
"Whatever might have clued you in?" Legend deadpanned, peeking over the edge of the small floating knoll of earth suspended in the air. The sky stretched out before them, endless, speckled with clouds, and impossibly blue. The weather sparkled as clearly as a fairy’s fountain and the breeze carried the intoxicatingly fresh scent of possibility. The infinite sea of blue stretched tantalizingly into the distance. It was easy to see how Sky could be so optimistic all the time. He'd probably never even seen rain until travelling to the surface.
"It's a wonder there are any people up here at all. How do you guys get anywhere, or even avoid falling off into oblivion?" Four asked, looking around the rather small island they were on, clearly perturbed by the lack of any sort of rail or support to prevent someone from tumbling over the edge.
"Like this!"
Sky then proceeded to terrify exactly everyone and not at all answer Four's question by diving headfirst off the island. The Links rushed as close to the edge as they dared, watching Sky’s form vanish through a cloud. They expected a stunt like that from Wild, but Sky ? Really ? More importantly, was Sky okay?!
A sharp whistle echoed from the air below and in a rush of bright red feathers, Sky was back on the island, grinning maniacally from atop a very large red bird. It was bigger than Time was tall and it probably could have wrapped all of the boys in a hug with its massive wingspan. Tied around the Loftwing's neck was a letter, one that seemed to have seen its fair share of wear and tear, as if someone had tied it to the Loftwing in hopes that Sky would see it. Evidently, he hadn’t for a while.
Sky undid the note and the Links watched as his face lit up in shock and recognition.
"The Bonding Festival? Oh no! Did we miss it?"
He looked up to Time urgently. Somehow, the Old Man always knew the time and date, even in everyone else's Hyrule. Nobody had any idea how he managed it.
"It's Thursday the 9th, 4:27 in the after—"
"Wait, that means it's today! And IT'S FOUR THIRTY ALREADY !? I need to get to Skyloft. I'll send some other knights over with rides for you guys. Wind and Four, I can probably fit you two on the way over."
The Links, all very confused and mildly concerned by this sudden turn of events, uncomfortably waited on the small grassy knoll suspended precariously in the air as Sky and the two smallest heroes took off in a swirl of crimson feathers.
"So Sky," Four started, leaning forward to be heard better. Wind was only half-listening, too busy looking all around at the view to pay too much attention. "What's the bonding festival?"
Sky smiled. "It's a festival where we celebrate the bond between Loftwing and rider! Loftwings are our other halves, and you can tell how much a rider is taking care of their Loftwing from the state of their feathers. The more brilliant the plumage, the stronger the bond between rider and Loftwing. Hers are a little less shiny than usual because I've been gone so long," he stroked his Loftwing’s neck tenderly in a silent apology as he continued, "but the Bonding Festival is the day we show our appreciation for our Loftwings and the bond we share by decorating our hair to show how well they've been taking care of us !" Sky let out a musical laugh. "It's a ridiculous holiday, but it's my favorite."
The two passengers smiled at that as Skyloft came into view, a bustle of bright feathers and excited people crowding the streets and plazas, congregating around the dock-like protrusions where people could be seen diving off and joining with their birds in midair. It seemed Sky wasn't doing it just to scare them all out of their wits, after all.
His Loftwing settled to the ground and they all slid off, Sky telling them to wait there until he could get everyone else over. He rushed off, waving towards a tall man with very impressive bright red hair decorated with deep purple, white, and red feathers. The two heroes stayed where they were, staring in awe at all the colors until a girl about Sky's age with bright blonde hair woven with a myriad of violet and crimson feathers made her way over to them.
"You must be the heroes Link told me about! I'm Zelda, but I think Link mentioned you've given me the nickname Sun? Call me whichever. Welcome to Skyloft!"
The two smiled gratefully before Wind looked around uncertainly and asked, "um, we don't mean to intrude on the festivities, but Sk—I mean Link—mentioned that people decorate their hair with their Loftwing feathers? We're not from around here so we don’t have Loftwings. I guess we can't really participate..." He trailed off, looking to the ground, crestfallen.
"Oh, don't worry!" Sun chirped, "not everyone has a Loftwing! Some people are too young and haven’t found theirs yet! Others lose them to accidents or sickness. Those people just decorate their hair with anything that represents something meaningful to them! A favorite kind of flower, family heirlooms, a gift from a friend, anything!"
Four looked around thoughtfully before smiling softly. "Is there anywhere where we can take care of our hair if we have something in mind?"
Sun grinned mischievously. "I know a place," She said ominously before spinning on her heel excitedly and leading them down a side street.
Eventually, they found themselves in a small meadow-like area where there were a few kids packing up some brushes and beads before Sun rushed over to them.
"Don't pack up just yet! We have a few late arrivals! They're friends of Link, so of course they're not on time," the kids all chucked at that. "Do you have enough supplies to take care of them? They don't have Loftwings, so—"
"Don't worry, Sun, we've got it," Four explained, taking off his minish feather earring and producing another one from his bag. "Will these do?"
"WHOA THEY’RE SO CUTE AND TINY! AND HIS HAIR LOOKS SO SOFT! I CALL DIBS!" A little brunette with her hair bunched up in a fluffy burst on top of her head shouted, bouncing up and down effervescently.
Sun laughed. "Kukiel will take good care of you. I'm going to go see if Link needs any more help flying the rest of the heroes over here."
"Bye, Zelda!" The kids chorused, Kukiel grabbing Four’s wrist and pulling him farther into the meadow.
Wind followed behind before a blonde kid with her hair in pigtails rushed over and began excitedly chatting with him. He felt a pang of homesickness before brushing it off. It was a festival! They were supposed to have fun! He could think about Aryll later. In fact, he’d write her a letter telling her all about the festival once it was over. Yeah.
Kukiel pulled Four's headband off and tutted disappointedly when his hair immediately began falling into his face. He laughed. "I wear that headband for a reason, you know!"
"But it's so boring! I know! I'll braid it instead!"
Four sat and smiled softly, watching a little girl ask Wind what he wanted in his hair, as he felt the gentle tugging and weaving of Kukiel braiding his hair. She was surprisingly dexterous for a kid her age, and Four was shocked to feel her finish up as quickly as she did. She took the minish feathers from his hand and expertly threaded them into small metal clips that she attached to either side of the braid. She nodded her head in approval.
"Anything else?"
Four thought for a moment before sifting his fingers through a box of beads that she had on the ground next to her. He pulled out some small metal ones, nothing too flashy, in red, green, blue, purple, and black.
"Do you think you could put these in somewhere?"
"Sure! They match your outfit! Except for the black one. We don't normally wear black for the Bonding Festival, anyway. Are you sure you want it?"
Four gazed at the innocuous black bead in his hand fondly. "Yes, I think I'd like it."
What did Wind feel a strong bond to? His first thought was the ocean, the Great Sea that stretched across his world, home to his family, the pirates, and everyone and everything he loved. It was like the sky in Sky's world, a great expanse of blue filled with endless hope and possibility. With that, an idea occurred to him. He dug through his bag and produced a myriad of seashells, pouring them out on the ground. "I don't know if you can put these in my hair, but—"
"WHOA WHAT ARE THESE?"
"They're like pottery!"
"Hey! He's mine! Go do someone else's hair! Zelda said more people were coming!"
The offending children moped over to a different pile of beads and feathers and the blonde girl looked at the shells on the ground thoughtfully, picking one up and turning it between her fingers.
"They're a bit big to weave into your hair, and yours is too short anyway, but I could make a crown! Like a flower crown but with these!" She grew more and more excited as she spoke, grabbing a spool of wire and twisting it around the shells, holding it up to Wind's head occasionally to make sure it was the right size.
At this point, the other heroes had arrived and Sky excitedly led them over.
"Hi, everyone! Sorry I'm late!"
"When aren't you?" Someone called from the back, but Sky graciously ignored them, instead looking at the mostly empty containers save a few beads and spare feathers. "Do you have enough materials to do their hair, too?"
The blonde girl who was making Wind's crown looked up thoughtfully. "We don't have a ton of beads left, but if they have as much cool stuff as these guys do, it shouldn't be a problem."
Sky nodded and a little boy rushed up to him, tugging on the end of his tunic. "Can I do your hair this year, Link? Please! Pretty pretty please!"
Sky smiled and seemed about to say yes when Sun elegantly disentangled the boy's hand from Sky's tunic. "Oh no you don't. This year, Link's mine ."
She grabbed him by the wrist and led the furiously blushing Chosen Hero away, much to the amusement of the other Links.
The heroes were pulled away by different kids, all eager to meet new people, especially new people with such soft and fluffy looking hair. Hyrule had to fend off quite a few excited kids before he finally found one he trusted to not try and cut off a lock of his hair to take home with them.
"You don't have a loftwing, right?"
Hyrule shook his head.
"So what's something that you have a really strong bond with?"
Hyrule thought for a moment.
"I really care about the land I come from. It's very important to me."
"Do you have anything from there?"
Hyrule thought for a moment and then dug through his bag, pulling out a jar containing a fairy. They were a precious resource, but it was the only nice thing he had from his world. He caught Time's eye and the Old Man nodded, a fond smile on his face. Hyrule let the fairy out of the jar and asked it if it would like to stick around for a little while. In response, it hovered up onto his head and nestled itself comfortably in his curly locks. It tickled and Hyrule couldn’t help but laugh at the warm tingling coming from the crown of his head. Wild produced a bushel of small blue flowers from his slate.
"I collected these last time we were in your Hyrule. I have a few I'm saving for Flora, but you can have the rest."
Before Hyrule could say thank you, the kid taking care of his hair snatched them out of Wild's hands, eager to experiment with the new flowers. They deftly began weaving them into a flower crown.
"So what do you want in your hair?"
Time sat silently for a moment in quiet contemplation. What mattered most in the world to him was Malon, but what did he have from her that would work? There was his wedding ring, but there was no way he was taking that off, let alone putting it in his ha—
Wild, from his spot where three kids were already working together to braid his long blond hair, held out a bushel of wildflowers and what looked like hay. "I grabbed some specimens last time we were at the ranch, but I have some extras. Flora doesn't need that many." Time smiled gratefully and accepted the bundle of plants. The kid standing next to him looked at the flowers and then at Time's hair. He was one of the youngest kids there and seemed uncertain about how to put them in, so he just kind of stuck the flowers and grasses in Time’s hair wherever they fit. Luckily, said hair was rather stiff and they managed to stay put. It looked a bit like he'd just woken up after spending a night in a haystack, but Time loved it nonetheless. He quietly laughed to himself. It was a bit like what his hair must have looked like back when he used to summersault across Hyrule field.
Once the three kids surrounding Wild had finished up braiding his hair, one braid straight down his back and one on each side of his head that looped around and attached to where the largest braid met the nape of his neck, he produced a brilliantly colored blue and white flower, a Silent Princess, that he slid behind his ear. Braids for his Zelda and the flower for the beautiful, wild, and free land of Hyrule they would rebuild together. He smiled softly. Fitting.
Twilight sat a little awkwardly as one overzealous girl who reminded him of Beth immediately got to work braiding the sideburns on either side of his head. Something important to him? That he shared a strong bond with? He dug through his pouch to look for inspiration, carefully trying to keep his head still. Ilia's charm was a little big to put in his hair, though he supposed he could wear it around his neck. He paused when he saw a small golden butterfly and moth pressed between a few letters. He had collected them for Agatha, but he hadn't ever had the heart to stop by her place to give them to her. He had found them back when... when he was travelling on his adventure. They were the last specimens he’d collected before… yeah. He had no idea what he was going to do with the insects—he couldn't exactly give them to Agatha now, they'd been in his pouch for years—and decided that this was as good a use as any. A butterfly and a moth, eh? Diurnal and nocturnal. Fitting. He smiled a bittersweet smile and handed them to the girl who accepted them with wide, awed eyes.
Twilight thought for a moment before adding, "do you think you could do a little ponytail in the back? It doesn't have to be big."
The girl narrowed her eyes, clearly unhappy about the aesthetic of a ponytail with the rest of the look she had going on, but obliged, tying a small ponytail at the back of his head.
Legend glanced around guiltily. A little boy was staring at the pink streak in his hair and Legend was not a fan of this stupid festival and little snot-nosed brats messing with his hair. His hair was fine the way it was thank you very much. Although... this could finally be the excuse he'd been looking for to put something he'd had for a long while to good use. He dug past all the rings and jewels from exotic lands and times that he'd collected on his numerous adventures and produced two bright pink hibiscuses, reluctantly handing them to the kid. To his credit, the kid seemed to be able to tell that these flowers were important, pinning them into Legend's hair with the utmost precision and delicacy. By the time he finished, Legend was blushing furiously but he couldn't deny the steady warmth growing in his heart at the sight of the pink petals in his periphery. There was a bittersweet tinge, but the lighthearted energy of the festival managed to keep it at bay for the time being. He did, however, dutifully avoid eye contact with everyone.
Warriors, however, was considerably less apt to let tiny strangers touch his hair. Whether it was because he was so vain that he couldn't stand the chance of anyone touching it or because the memory of foreign hands in his hair still sent shivers down his spine, he adamantly refused any and all styling suggestions. However, all the stubbornness in the world wasn't enough to stop Kukiel from jumping on another kid's shoulders, accepting the basket of flowers handed to her by a third kid, and sneaking up behind the captain, upturning the entire container on his head before the two rushed away, laughing. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't stop a smile from tugging at his lip.
Sky returned to the other heroes, Sun’s hand clasped in his own, and a braid adorning the left side of his face. A flash of red and violet feathers hung on the other, a few more plumes clipped to the side of his head. They walked into the meadow, blushing softly, both of them looking like they could be the king and queen of nations. Zelda had changed out of the casual clothes she had been wearing and into a dusky violet dress that flattered her figure. Sky’s sailcloth was wrapped around her shoulders like a shawl and colorful belts, sashes, and loftwing tail feathers adorned her waist, swaying with every movement. A bright purple iridescent bracelet adorned one of her wrists, the other around Sky’s. Speaking of Sky, he had changed out of his regular hero clothes and into a bright red tunic that reached his knees, a white wrap around his midsection. Across his chest was a purple and gold sash.
The Links knew Sky and Sun were together—it was impossible not to—but knowing in their heads and seeing the two together were two entirely separate things. Time could only smile smugly to himself. Ah, young love.
Twilight smiled softly at the two, but couldn’t help the pang of loneliness in his gut. Sky and Sun were childhood friends. They had practically been raised together, just like he and Ilia had been. However, where Sky’s journey only brought him and Sun together, Twilight’s had torn him and Ilia apart. That wasn’t even to mention the twili-shaped hole in his heart. But enough moping; Sky and Sun looked positively radiant together and Twilight couldn’t help but feel glad that at least Sky got to have what he had been denied. Legend wanted desperately to tear his eyes away, to stop looking at everything he didn’t have, but he couldn’t bring himself to. Sky was happy, and somewhere deep inside him, Legend was happy for Sky, too.
Wind gagged loudly and Hyrule smacked him over the head, eliciting giggles from the group.
Sun interrupted the laughter with a proposition. “So! Shall we head to the festivities?”
“Yeah!” Wind leapt into the air enthusiastically, accurately portraying the general sentiment among the Links.
Various competitions were held over the course of the afternoon, though most of them had taken place earlier in the day. Sun won every single one of them, including the Loftwing race, much to Sky’s chagrin.
“I can’t believe how thoroughly I whooped your butt! I thought you at least would have been a little bit behind me, but that was abysmal!”
“Zelda,” he laughed, easily slipping out of the habit of calling her Sun, “I haven’t flown in months.”
“I know,” she teased, “but I thought you’d still be better than Fledge. ”
Instead of bantering, though, Sky’s face fell. “It’s not like I wanted to leave. I wanted to stay here, with you, so we could build the settlement on the surface together.”
Zelda turned to face him, letting the smooth skin of her palm slide across his cheek as she held his face tenderly. “Don’t you love the other heroes?”
“I do, of course I do, but I also love you.”
“And we’ll get to spend the rest of our lives together,” the timber of her voice shifted minutely. “Enjoy the time that you have with them while you have it.”
“Hylia?”
“You know there’s no difference. I’m Hylia and I’m Zelda.”
Sky’s face remained somber.
“Link, what’s the matter? You’re usually always so upbeat and it’s the Bonding Festival! What’s got you down?”
“The other heroes. They all fought a monster named Ganon. A beast of pure hate and malice incarnate, forever a curse on the blood of the goddess and the spirit of the hero. It’s Demise. He comes back again and again and he ruins their lives , Zel. One of them, Legend, he hates Hylia for what she did to him! He calls her a deadbeat goddess! And another, Twilight, with the way he talks sometimes, he seems so hopeless that he’ll ever get a happy ending. How can I spend my time frolicking through the sky with you when all of my friends are suffering at our hands?”
The smile slipped off of Zelda’s face as Sky spoke. None of what he was saying seemed to be news to her. A small, wavering smile shyly attempted to return to her features as she spoke.
“You can try to help them heal. None of them are free from wounds, yourself included, and bringing you all together was the least I could do.” The smile grew more hopeful. “You’re here for the Bonding Festival! It’s your favorite holiday and everyone you love is with you! Hopefully, this can help heal those scars you all bear.
“You know I didn’t have a choice. Neither of us did. If killing Demise was that easy, only one of your reincarnations would have had to fight him. But all of them did. What makes you think you could have killed him when none of them did?”
“Wind did. He was thirteen at the time.”
“That’s not my point and you know it. It couldn’t have been helped. I’m trapped in this cycle just as much as the rest of you. This is our chance to be free. To be the kids that none of us really got to be, even if only for a single night. Do you think you can do that? Smile for them all? Smile for me?”
Sky sighed, and he took Zelda’s hand in his own with a softness in his face.
“I'll try. But let’s maybe not mention that you’re technically Hylia.”
“That would probably be a good idea. Now which of your reincarnations do you think I could beat at the ring toss? That’s a rhetorical question. The answer is all of them.”
Sky laughed despite himself and the two headed back into the crowd where the other Links chatted, had snacks, and played games. Even Time seemed to drop the battle-hardened old man act and behave like a kid for once. He was neck and neck with Twilight at the shooting gallery and their competitive spirit had Legend laughing his pants off—or would have, if Legend actually wore any pants. Wind and Wild were having a competition to see who could steal the most sweets from the vendors as Four visited each shop, tipping generously to make up for their escapades—using money from the wallet he stole from Wid, of course. Hyrule sat in a small patch of flowers, chatting happily with some of the village kids who were enchanted by the small pink fairy hovering around his head. Warriors spied Sky and Sun and worked his way over to them, grinning like he was about to make a snarky comment before Sun challenged him to ring toss. Warriors accepted, clearly intending to throw the game to chivalrously lose to her, but Sky knew that he wouldn’t have to try very hard; he himself had never beaten her at it once in his life.
As the sun began to sink deeper into the clouds, dousing the entire festival in amber light and making the Loftwings circling above glow like angels, the crowd of people began to move towards the Knight Academy where a great feast would be held on the campus. The Headmaster sat at the head and Sun at his right, Sky sitting next to her and the rest of the Links taking the surrounding area.
The Headmaster stood up, and the crowd quieted.
“To the bonds we share, with our Loftwings and with each other. May the goddess Hylia”—Legend, Wild, and Time squirmed at that—“watch over us as we continue to expand our growing settlement on the Surface. To Skyloft and all her inhabitants!”
“To Skyloft!”
With that, the feast began. There was a delicious assortment of dishes, none of which were anything any of the heroes had seen before. Wild knew cooking at altitude was different than at sea level but this was something else.
“I don’t believe I’ve been formally introduced to you all,” Zelda started, taking a bite out of what looked like an oddly-shaped dumpling. “I know you’re all reincarnations of Link, but I’d like to get to know you a little better than ‘Link number two’ and ‘yet another Link’ and ‘Link but I don’t wear pants.’ ” They all laughed as Legend scowled, hiding his face behind his hibiscuses.
“I’m Hyrule,” The brunet introduced in an attempt to spare Legend the embarrassment.
“Hyrule. What a lovely name.”
Warriors waggled his eyebrows. “Looking for baby names, lovebirds? ”
Sky started blushing furiously and Sun just laughed.
“We’re looking for a name for the settlement we’re going to start on the surface. ‘Hyrule’ sounds nice.”
The Links froze for a moment in their eating. Time, especially, was thinking in overdrive. Was this a bootstrap paradox? Who came up with the name of the kingdom if the original Zelda named it after itself? Would the universe implode on itself?
Sun waved her hand dismissively, giggling. “I was already thinking of calling it Hyrule. It’s like Hylia’s rule. I liked it.”
“That’s news to me!” Sky pouted.
“That’s because you slept through the meeting, sleepyhead.” The table burst into laughter again.
Legend watched their bickering smugly, taking a sip of his water. They sounded like an old married couple, yet this was the first Zelda, meaning they would go on to establish the royal family of Hyrule. Zelda had the blood of the goddess after all, right? And Sky would be her—
Sky would found the bloodline of Hyrule.
Sky was Fable’s ancestor, and Fable was his sister.
Sky was his ancestor .
Legend froze, glass still raised to his lips.
As Legend mentally short-circuited at this realization, the others kept talking.
“Still, Hyrule? It’s the land below the clouds. If anything, Skyloft should be renamed High-rule and the surface should be called Low-rule!” Sky smiled expectantly at his bad pun.
Legend spit out his drink. That was the final straw. He started hacking and coughing, unable to process the fact that Sky was his ancestor and now they were dragging Lorule into this? What ?
“But that’s just a missed opportunity to call Skyloft Sky-rule!” Time added, chuckling.
Hyrule laughed good-naturedly, patting Legend on the back to try and ameliorate his coughing fit. “Careful there, I wouldn’t want to have to use my fairy just yet! It’s making me popular with the kids!”
The table continued laughing and Legend made to eat the rest of his meal in relative silence, trying to banish the strange feeling from the back of his throat. Here they all were, happy and carefree and smiling and together and Sky was with Sun and everything was perfect for everyone but Legend and what else was new. The atmosphere was still lively, but he wasn’t being distracted from the dull ache in his gut anymore. He couldn’t tell if the hibiscuses were helping or making it worse. He only kept them in because they hid his face. How could he feel so lost and alone while surrounded by all the people he loved the most? He should be happy, dammit, so why couldn’t he banish this lingering sadness? Why couldn’t he just be over her already! She was a dream! But every time Sky doubled over laughing, leaning into Sun’s side for support, Legend felt the icy grip of envy and emptiness twist inside him.
Sky scanned the table, watching all of his companions laughing and smiling. They all seemed so much younger when they were enjoying themselves, like years of hardship and destiny had finally been lifted from their shoulders, at least a little. Until, that is, his eyes landed on Legend. The veteran seemed lost in thought, eating slowly and mechanically, trying to hide his face behind his bangs and flowers. Sky didn’t want to make a commotion, but he also wanted Legend to lighten up and enjoy the festival. Luckily, Hyrule was deeply engrossed in conversation with Sun from across the table and Sky managed to swap seats with him under the pretense of making their conversation easier. Thus, Sky found himself seated next to the pouting Legend.
“Hey, you alright?” Sky leaned forward, trying to catch a glimpse of Legend’s face.
No response.
“I like your hair. Where’d those hibiscuses come from?”
Silence.
“Alright, Legend, I don’t know what’s eating you, but… I want you to know that we’re here for you. All of us. I know this isn’t your Hyrule, but we’re all your family.” Legend did not seem to like that. Okay, new plan. “If you don’t want to tell something to one of us, which I totally get, you can tell my Zelda or someone else, if you want. Just try not to bottle it all up? This is my favorite festival and I really want you to enjoy it.” He paused for a second in realization. “Not that I want you to feel guilty for not enjoying it! If you’re not happy right now, don’t force yourself to pretend to be. Just…" he sighed, "is there anything I can do to help?”
Legend didn’t speak a word, instead just leaning ever-so-slightly to the side until his shoulder was pressed against Sky’s. The Chosen Hero wasn’t wearing his usual chainmail, so his body heat seeped through the thin layers of clothing between them and into Legend, thawing the icy grip squeezing his heart. This was nice. The table buzzed with noise, but Legend had never been one for big groups anyway. It all faded into a calming background static and he lazily stuffed a few more dumplings into his mouth whilst soaking in Sky’s warmth. It was probably just his imagination, but the warmth felt protective and… familiar. It was probably just the placebo effect because how he knew they were related. That didn’t make it any less soothing.
Warriors was bickering with Wild over hair care or something, much to the amusement of Wind and Time. Twilight watched fondly as Wild caught a glance of their most reticent hero leaning sleepily against Sky’s side and sneakily attempted to pull out his Shekiah Slate. The sun had long since set and the torches set up around the tables didn’t produce enough heat to keep them warm for long. A frigid wind swept through the area and the Links collectively shivered.
“This is the best part of the Bonding Festival!” Sun chirped, clapping her hands for emphasis.
Sky smiled. “The nights on Skyloft are cold, but we spend the whole day and night outside for the Bonding Festival. Everyone cuddles together under big handwoven blankets to symbolize that they’re willing to stick together through anything. We also sleep outside so we can snuggle up with our Loftwings!”
At that, Sky’s Loftwing, as well as a few others, landed nearby and began to shuffle into the area, finding their partners and laying down by their sides. Sun stood up and moved to Sky’s side that didn’t have Legend on it, tossing his sailcloth over the two of them and snuggling up against his side. Their Loftwings found each other, nuzzling their beaks into each other’s necks.
“If anyone wants to cuddle up with them, you’re welcome to,” offered Sky, helplessly gesturing to the hero asleep against his side.
Wild stalked over to the two birds, running his fingers down their beaks and through their feathers. They were shockingly soft, especially around the neck. Their feathers felt like silk. They reminded Wild of the cold nights he spent on the Gerudo Tower, chatting with Kass from dusk until dawn and leaning into him against the cold, safe from the monsters that swarmed below. They reminded him of a distant, faded memory and a spark of sarcasm on a snowy peak.
Twilight watched Wild sink into the warmth of the two Loftwings and stood as if he were about to join him, but to his surprise, Hyrule made his way over, snuggling into Wild’s side and breathing in a smell like warm sheets and dust. Wild absentmindedly tossed his cloak over the Traveller Hero, and they nestled into the two Loftwings who watched over them protectively. Twilight was interrupted from his Fond Face™ by the feeling of something being draped over his shoulders and saw Warriors next to him, trying to wrap his scarf around the two of them.
“What sparked this?” Twilight probed, eyeing Warriors mistrustfully.
“What? It’s the Bonding Festival. I’m bonding with you . ”
“You only chose me because Wind was taken,” Twilight accused, gesturing to where Four was curled up in Wind’s lap, passed out from all the excitement. Wind was very clearly pleased with the development, always the one curled up in someone else’s lap and too rarely the lap that got curled up in. He was very protective, though, shushing anyone who got too close and carefully threading his fingers through Four’s hair. Oh yeah, Wind was an older brother and it showed.
Warriors sighed, pausing in his attempts to wrap his scarf around Twilight for a moment. “That, and I see that look in your eyes. I’ve seen it in a good friend of mine, too. You know, you don’t have to be alone. Maybe you can’t have the one you want in the way you want, but that doesn’t mean you have to be by yourself. You’re allowed to rely on others, too. Maybe you’ll never find the one you thought you wanted, but you can still find happiness.” Twilight stiffened, only relaxing when Warriors resumed wrapping his scarf around the Ordonian. Twilight smiled softly, pulling off his wolf pelt and tossing it over the two of them.
“And here I thought you were just a pretty face.”
“So you admit that my face is pretty!”
“Way to ruin the moment, you pampered cuckoo.”
“What did you just call me?”
“Alright, break it up, you too. You’ll wake the kiddos.” Time stood over the two young men, arms crossed and smile firmly in place.
“And what about you, Old Man? Bond with us!”
“Do you have to say it like that, Warriors? It sounds so weird.”
Time laughed, sitting down behind Wind, who was rapidly having more and more trouble keeping upright, Four already fast asleep in his lap.
“I think I’d bond with these two. Goodnight, kids.”
“G’night, Time.”
“Sweet dreams, Old Man.”
Sun slid an eye open, letting her gaze fall over all of the sleeping heroes. They’d endured so much pain and hardship, and the scars they’d accumulated on their many, many journeys would never truly heal. Although, maybe she was right to bring them all together. They deserved this. And if she could give them this peaceful respite, even if only for a little while, then maybe she wasn’t such a deadbeat goddess after all.