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See, Link's not much for talking, as a rule. Most people don't even bother to listen to him, so why bother speaking when apparently all he's good for is the sword on his back and the Calamity he has to vanquish whenever it comes? Most people don't give him an opportunity to speak, either—they tend to talk at him, talk past him.
One of the most egregious offenders is, of course, the Rito Champion. Revali, his name is, not that the Rito himself would ever let Link forget it. It's almost impressive, how much he manages to piss Link off, given the short time he's actually known the guy.
He's annoying, Link writes, the next time he has a chance to visit his dad where he's stationed in Castle Town. He's the most arrogant person I've ever met, and he's decided he hates me because I'm getting to save the world and he's not.
His dad reads the note, brow furrowing before he looks up and passes the paper back. "Too much to hope that all of your fellow Champions would be anything like Mipha, hm? Are you getting along fine with the rest of them?"
Link nods, and keeps writing. I actually met Daruk before I got appointed to guard the princess. And Urbosa's nice. Definitely thinks I'm too young for this, but... nice.
When Link passes this note over, he gets a heavy sigh from his dad. "Link... you have no idea how much I wish you hadn't found that sword until you were older."
Me too, Link writes, then... pauses, before passing it back. Do you have any advice? I think I might be getting through to Princess Zelda that I'm not just there to annoy her, but I don't see Revali enough to make much progress with him.
"I certainly hope you're getting through to the princess. She's..." His dad sighs. "She's under just as much pressure as you are, if not more. Pressure that I really don't think... well, I won't get into that."
He doesn't have to. Link has a pretty good idea of what his dad is thinking: that they're all too young for this, him and the princess that only just tolerates him and Mipha. Urbosa has got to be around his dad's age at least, and Daruk acts like Link's vague recollections of his grandfather did.
...It occurs to him, suddenly, that he has no idea how old Revali is. It probably doesn't matter, really. And it's not like the Rito that hates him would ever tell him as much.
"...Listen, Link," his dad continues, suddenly thoughtful. "I don't know how much good this will do you, really, but it's worth a shot. My father, he always used to tell me one thing, whenever I was complaining about the other kids being mean."
Link raises a silent eyebrow.
"He told me to ask them, 'are you okay?'"
WHAT , Link writes, and underlines it vigorously.
"Yeah, I know. Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?" Link's dad snorts. "Thing is... it's actually worked for me. Once. When I was first training to be a knight, there was this one other trainee who decided... he just had it out for me, and nothing I said would convince him to leave me alone. So one day, I remembered my father's words, and I asked him, hey, are you okay?"
And this worked? Link writes, very dubiously.
"Well... not exactly? Definitely not the way Dad thought it would. But it confused him enough that he stopped bothering me, which was good enough for me." He hums to himself, smiling almost nostalgically. "Would be worth a shot? Other than that, I'd say just make sure you show this Revali guy that you are better than him, but he seems like the type who would just take that as more of a challenge, so… maybe if you ignore him enough, he’ll go away?”
Tried that, Link writes. It got me monologued at. I really don’t know what he wants.
“...Figuring that out might help,” his dad says. “But also… sometimes, Link, people just aren’t going to get along. Sometimes, you just have to figure out how to tolerate them for as long as you have to. Haven’t spoken to that guy in basic training since I left basic training and the two of us got assigned to different units. You won’t have to deal with this Revali forever.”
I know. He hesitates before writing more. I want us to at least get along, though.
“Then I hope you inherited patience from someone that wasn’t me,” his dad says wryly, patting him on the back. “Let me know if you need anything, alright?”
Link appreciates it. They both know that almost anything that Link would really need isn’t exactly available to him right now, trapped by his destiny as he is. Really, he’s lucky that he gets to see his father and his sister at all, these days—but he appreciates the thought, even so.
I will, Link lies, and lets himself be pulled into a tight hug. Maybe, if he’s lucky, he’ll get to see his family twice this year.
(He hasn’t been lucky, not really, since he drew the sword that seals the darkness. He’d hate it, if he could, if it didn’t feel far too much like hating himself.)
Link feels that familiar irritation well up within him as soon as he catches sight of the Rito Champion circling overhead above the eastbound road to Rito Village. He tries to focus on Princess Zelda, instead, who really does not see the need for an escort to check on Vah Medoh’s progress but decides after a while of trudging through the snow too deep for her horses that talking to Link is preferable to the snow-filled silence.
He keeps one eye on the skies anyway. The dark blue of Revali’s feathers stands out against the clear, cloudless blue far above them, and while it’s abundantly clear that he’s watching him, he does not come down and make himself Link’s problem yet.
That’s probably for the best. Link hasn’t had time to write a message yet, and he’s certainly not going to try and muster up spoken words for someone he doesn’t even like when he can barely do it for those closest to him anymore.
Revali meets them at the entrance to Rito Village, talking only to Zelda and not so much as dignifying Link with a greeting. Link would be fine with being ignored, except he’s a pretty observant person, and he’s pretty sure that Revali isn’t actually ignoring him.
At least, he isn’t ignoring him as much as he’s pretending to. He keeps sneaking glances in Link’s direction when he thinks that Link isn’t looking. Which is… interesting. And a little weird. And not something Link particularly feels like delving into then, or later that night, when Revali corners him near the inn in his attempts to get something to eat.
“You,” Revali says, the single word laced with all the emotions in his narrowed eyes. “So you still will not even dignify—”
Link decides he doesn’t care to figure out what he is, apparently, not dignifying. He shoves a folded up piece of paper into the middle of Revali’s chest instead, silently grateful that he’d at least had time to write something.
“What is this supposed to be?” he grumbles.
He looks at Revali expectantly. It’s not entirely intentional, on Link’s part, but he’s pretty sure he doesn’t blink before Revali finally unfolds the paper and reads what’s written on it. He stares at it for way longer than he reasonably should need to, given that it’s only three words. Three short words, at that.
“I…” Revali’s gaze flicks down to the piece of paper, now very much crumpled within his wings, then back up to Link. “Excuse me??”
Link makes the very smallest of nods towards the paper, and further indicates it with his eyes. He’s made his question clear. Now it’s time to see if the advice his dad gave him will be of any actual use. It’s worth a shot.
“Yes, yes, consider your question received—why are you asking me that? Why are you asking me that?”
Given that he doesn’t have any more paper, or anything else to write with—he’d packed light, for a trip to Hebra in the dead of winter when it was too cold to travel on horseback—Link’s options in responding are pretty limited. He opts for a careful shrug.
“Hmph,” Revali says, turning to walk away. “Never ask me that again.”
…Link only realizes, after he’s made his own dinner and made a little extra in the hopes that his cooking might convince Princess Zelda that he isn’t entirely a lost cause, that Revali had never actually answered the question.
(Though, in fairness to Revali, Link isn’t sure he could answer it either. It’s a simple enough question, really, and yet… Link honestly can’t remember the last time he would have described himself as ‘okay.’)
Never ask me that again, Revali said.
Are you okay? Link writes again, and sticks the note somewhere easily-accessible while he waits for his next opportunity. He gets that opportunity upon their departure from Rito Village, when Revali actually wishes him safe travels.
…Well, he wishes Princess Zelda safe travels, but he’s looking at Link when he says it. And so when the princess thanks him for the well-wishes and turns to leave, Link produces the note and holds it out for Revali to take.
“Another one?” Revali raises an eyebrow, but does indeed take the note. “I can’t imagine what else we have to talk… about…”
Oh, good, he’s reading it. Link turns to follow the princess, hiding a smile that he definitely isn’t willing to let Revali see as he does. He doesn’t expect an actual answer now, either—but rendering Revali actually speechless is too funny to pass up, and he’ll take what reprieves he can get wherever he can get them.
A couple of weeks later, when Daruk has the bright idea to get Link more officially appointed as The Knight Who Will Seal The Darkness (Eventually) and that ends up being the sort of event where all the Champions will be in attendance, Link isn't exactly surprised to feel Revali's gaze on him the whole time he's kneeling there. He's even less surprised to find that, when he actually turns around, Revali is staring very intently at the cobblestones instead.
Link takes two steps towards him, and his gaze snaps back up. Their eyes meet.
"Leave me alone," Revali snaps, and takes off in a burst of that Gale he's so proud of, soaring back towards Hebra and the Divine Beast he pilots.
"...Wow, what's his problem?" Daruk asks. "You didn't even say anythin' to him..."
Link only shrugs, because really, he's not sure what Revali's problem with him is either. But if he's so determined to have a problem with Link, then Link will make himself a problem.
He makes eye contact with Mipha once no one else is looking at either of them, and raises a curious eyebrow.
Mipha, who was standing next to Revali and who he would never suspect of doing anything, but who has also witnessed quite a lot of Revali having a problem with Link lately and who was more than happy to help contribute to Link striking back, merely smiles in response.
The princess is talking to Link about all the things she wants to try with the Sheikah Slate when she's next allowed out of the castle for reasons that don't involve prayer, prayer, and even more prayer, when Revali swoops in out of nowhere. It hasn't even been a full day. He found the note faster than Link actually expected him to.
"Champion Revali?" she exclaims. "What are you..."
"My sincerest apologies for the interruption, your highness," Revali says, not even looking at her, "but your knight is... is menacing me!"
Princess Zelda blinks at him, clearly confused, then looks at Link. It's a little more work than usual to keep up his blank expression, the mask he hides his thoughts behind, but in this particular situation it's more than worth it. "He is? Truly? How?"
Revali scowls, stalks up to Link, and jabs a wing into his chest. "How did you even do that? We were never next to each other, nor were you ever alone with my belongings!"
Silently, Link reaches into his bag, pulls out a folded sheet of paper, and holds it out to Revali.
"Do you think this is funny?" Revali snaps, glaring now at the innocent sheet of paper. It certainly could have anything written on it, but Revali would be right in suspecting its contents. Though it would be interesting to switch things up, sometime, if Link could think of something else sufficiently likely to shut him up to write instead.
...He does think it's a little bit funny. Maybe more than that.
It's legitimately a struggle to not react in any way as Revali starts to sputter indignantly, his feathers almost... fluffing up?
He snatches the paper, eventually, and takes off again without opening it. The princess watches him fly off, then turns to Link, perhaps even more lost than she was before, looking like she's about to ask something.
Link allows himself a very small smile, now that Revali’s gone. It probably says something about how good he is at keeping that emotionless mask up normally, that allowing it to slip even a little causes the princess to audibly gasp.
“Oh, Hylia, you do have a sense of humor,” the princess exclaims.
For some reason, she sounds delighted by this realization. Maybe he can let the mask come off a little more often around her, if that's all it takes to make her be more okay with him.
He's lucky enough to get to go home for a little while after all. It's not long, only a few days, but... it's something, it means a whole lot, and Link strongly suspects that Princess Zelda has a hand in it somehow. He's not about to complain. Or to bring it up, if she doesn't, even if she's been actually talking to him more than at him recently. Which is... weird. Nice, but weird. Gives him some actual hope that maybe he'll get along better with Revali, too.
...Eventually.
When his dad mentions the advice he'd given Link, curious to see if it worked out at all, in front of his little sister? Aryll finds it hilarious. She finds it even more hilarious when Link explains what the past few months have been like for him. How he's come prepared every time he needed to interact with Revali.
"Y'know what? I don't think that's quite what my dad had in mind when he gave me that advice," Link's dad says at last, looking very much like he's trying not to laugh himself, "but hey, if it works..."
It is working, Link writes. Somehow. And I'm getting along better with the princess, too.
His dad leans back in his chair with an exhausted sigh. "You have no idea how glad I am to hear that. She getting any further with those powers of hers?"
Link winces. Not yet.
(He's heard the rumors too, of course. He's sure even Aryll has, and she doesn't live in Castle Town like the two of them have to.)
Link returns to the castle a day before Princess Zelda will be done with her latest round of prayer, a day before she will be expected to—or even allowed to—leave her chambers. The only reason Zelda would be allowed to leave early is, of course, if her powers awaken... and, well, Link isn't too optimistic that being locked away from everything she cares about will actually help, but the king doesn't care for his opinions. The king only cares for his sword arm, and for his daughter to awaken the powers she needs to stop the Calamity.
(He's allowed in to check on her, being her bodyguard. He stopped by Dr. Purah's laboratory on his way back; she'll appreciate news of the latest advancements in understanding the technology of the ancient Sheikah even if she'll have to play dumb when she's informed of it more officially. She's more than capable of hiding things, and Link... well, everyone knows he doesn't talk.)
(If anyone puts the pieces together about why, they don't bring it up. How could they?)
He doesn't intend to stop for long in his own quarters; just for long enough to breathe, to flop face-first into his bed after a long day of riding, to be nothing but Link for a while before he has to pick up the sword and be Link The Knight again. He really doesn't mean to shut his eyes for anything more than a few seconds.
Except one moment, it's late afternoon, and the next, the sun is setting—and something is tapping at his window. His first thought is that it must be a branch—the tree next to his window at home has been growing way too close lately. He almost rolls over and goes back to sleep.
But the tapping grows louder. More insistent, almost.
And then it clicks for Link that he's not in bed at home, there aren't any trees anywhere near the window of his quarters in the castle, and—perhaps most importantly of all—there isn't any glass in the window of his room at home. There isn't glass in the windows of most places, really—it's a sign of wealth, a sign of status, and no one living so far from any trading routes has either of those things or particularly cares about them.
So. It's safe to say that he's suddenly a lot more awake than he was. So awake, in fact, that he trips in his haste to get out of bed and grab the Master Sword from where it sits in the weapon mount on the wall. He doesn't bother to strap on the sheath, just throwing it to the floor for now as he makes for the window.
...The window that suddenly has a lot less light coming in through it, because the setting sun is almost completely blocked out by a lot of dark blue feathers.
Unfortunately, Link recognizes those feathers. Link also recognizes the emerald-green eyes that meet his, as the tapping against his window stops and Revali shoves a piece of paper up against it instead.
LET ME IN, the note reads in what must be Revali's handwriting. It's messier than Link would have expected from him.
Link raises a silent eyebrow, and doesn't move closer. Revali says something, his beak moving, but Link can't actually hear it through the window. He narrows his eyes, turns the paper over, and hesitates before producing a pencil and scribbling something further on it.
...The backside of the paper has Link's own handwriting on it. It's nothing more than three words: are you okay?
Huh. He hadn't expected Revali to keep... any of his notes. (Why would he?)
When Revali turns the paper back over, the LET ME IN is underlined. There's something beneath it crossed out so furiously that it's a small miracle that the paper hasn't ripped, deliberately crossed out to the point where whatever that last word was, it can't be read anymore. Not through the window, anyway.
Link is so, so tempted to grab his sheath from the floor and just walk out. His job is to keep an eye on Princess Zelda, not to play nice with the others he has to work with to save the world. The fact that he gets along well with Mipha and Daruk, and okay with Urbosa... that's just a bonus, really. He could see himself talking to all of them after all this is over, for sure. Maybe Princess Zelda, too—but not Revali.
He crouches to grab his sheath anyway, taking his sweet time in strapping it to his back and putting his sword away before looking back at Revali. Who is starting to look almost desperate.
Hang on. His quarters are on the second floor. Which, given that Revali has wings, he wouldn't be that surprised by... except. Where is he standing? On the sill? There's barely a sill, it's way too narrow for anyone to stand on.
Revali knocks again. More insistently.
As funny as it would undoubtedly be to just ignore him and leave, Link is—unfortunately—a little too curious, when it comes to just about everything in his life. Here and now isn't an exception.
(If he's just here to grandstand about why he would be so much better than Link... well, his quarters aren't big, even as the knight guarding the princess. He would definitely have the advantage in an enclosed space, and Link is pretty confident that he could force him back out of the window if he had to. Or if he just asked him if he was okay.)
This is a terrible idea. He knows this.
He unlatches the window anyway, and stands back as Revali bodily hurls himself into the room. He doesn't laugh when the Rito flies in too fast and has to haul himself up off the floor—but he does allow himself the very briefest of smiles.
Link wipes it off his face before Revali looks at him again. They stand there, studying each other.
"Do you realize," Revali says at last, "how confusing you are?"
Okay. Link wasn't expecting that. Link raises an eyebrow, and stays standing where he is.
"First, you make it abundantly clear that you think you're oh so much better than me. You don't so much as react to my Gale! And yet the next time I see you, you write me a note asking if I am okay! And then you keep doing it! As if you do for some reason care!"
Link hums to himself as he goes for a spare sheet of paper from his bag, then steals the pencil Revali had been using from where it's sticking haphazardly out of his bag.
"You had better not be asking that question again," Revali threatens, as Link starts writing.
Answer it and maybe I will, Link writes, before shoving the new paper at Revali.
He reads it. He opens his beak, then shuts it again without saying a word, and glances over his shoulder at the still open window.
Oh, no, he does not get to invite himself in here and then leave. (Though, at this point, Link is starting to think the answer definitely isn't yes.)
He crosses the small room, scooting around to put himself between Revali and the window. Crosses his arms over his chest, and looks at him expectantly.
"...You do realize that I could just use the door," Revali says.
Link rolls his eyes and goes to write more, choosing to ignore the sharp intake of breath as he does.
You could. But then people would know you were here, and I don't think you want that. Answer the question.
Revali peers over his shoulder, at what he's writing, and... sighs. "Well, I suppose you would never have gotten appointed to your position if you were completely lacking in sense..."
Link underlines answer the question and looks back at Revali. He's standing close, close enough behind Link that he can feel his breath on the back of his neck.
"I... can't recall the last time someone asked me that," Revali whispers, and it feels like a confession. "Certainly not the last time someone asked me that and meant it."
That's a no, then, Link writes.
"I-I didn't say that!" Revali more squawks than says. "It isn't as if I needed anyone to ask if I was okay! I'm fine, I have been fine, I am never not fine—"
Okay, I know that can't be right. No one is fine all the time.
"Hmph. Perhaps you aren't."
Yeah. I'm not. Hate to break it to you, Revali, but I'm a person too. I have bad days and good days. I'm not perfect.
Revali, catching sight of what he's writing, openly laughs. Link narrows his eyes and decides, alright, sure, he's going there.
I don't think I'm better than you. Do you think that's why I don't talk to people?
"Well, why else wouldn't you bother to dignify anyone with spoken words?"
Because no one listens. There are a handful of people who still see me as a person, as Link, and everyone else just sees me as an extension of the sword on my back. As someone to be seen, to be benefited from, and not heard. Never heard. So why bother?
The silence in the room is... strange, by the time he's finished writing and looked at Revali expectantly. It's unfamiliar. It's not like he asked Revali if he was okay again—and it's not like it should matter to Link that the answer is clearly no, what matters is getting Revali to leave him alone.
(Why does it matter to Link that the answer is clearly no?)
"I am starting to think," Revali says at last, "that you should be asking yourself that question before you bother me with it."
Link snorts. That's not the defense you think it is. I know I'm not okay. I know I haven't been okay in a while. It would be nice to be okay again someday, but... I've got to save the world first. And it would be nice if we could at least tolerate each other, given that it's going to take both of us to do it.
"It would be nice," Revali murmurs. "Wouldn't it?"
...You're asking me ?
"Not necessarily." He eyes the window again, but doesn't dart for it. Not yet. "It seems I have... misjudged you, Link. Don't expect us to be friends, but... I suppose we can at least be allies."
Allies? Sure. Link'll take it. That's certainly better than he was expecting to get out of that conversation, except it seems that Revali isn't quite done yet. When he turns back to write more, smiling a little despite himself, Revali suddenly reaches out and spins him back towards him. He leans forward, pressing his own forehead against Link's quickly.
Link stares at him, hoping his confusion is obvious enough without him having to fill another page of paper with question marks.
"I don't... why did I..." Revali blinks several times, then shakes his head. Clears his throat. "As I said. Allies. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have business elsewhere, and I'd rather make it back to Hebra before it gets too dark to fly."
The sun's all but set—if it's not already too dark to fly, it will be soon. Still, Link doesn't stop him from taking off through the window. He doesn't close and latch the window anew yet, either. He kneels to pick up the paper Revali left behind in his wake, the one that he'd slammed against the window. The one that Link had used, originally, and that for some reason Revali had kept. He eyes it curiously, then sets it on the desk.
It's easier to do this if you have a paper under the original one, but he sets one on top of the one Revali used anyway, and rubs the pencil over where that crossed out word had been written, curious. Too curious.
...The word that Revali crossed out was PLEASE.
When he relates the incident to a particular very bored princess later that night, she's both extremely grateful for the distraction from her fruitless prayer and deeply confused—because she remembers seeing a pair of Rito press their foreheads together the last time she'd visited Rito Village, during the brief period of time where Link had left her to her own devices. She'd asked Revali what that meant then.
According to Revali, that gesture was the Rito equivalent of a kiss. He hadn't dwelled on it, and had changed the subject quickly to other matters like Divine Beast Vah Medoh and how incredible he was, but... huh.
Maybe Link needs to find an excuse to visit Rito Village again sooner rather than later.
...It has been some time since Princess Zelda checked on Vah Medoh last.
Revali isn't in Rito Village when they get there, which means he's either on Vah Medoh or training up at the Flight Range. Zelda opts to remain in the village to wait for them—she is, after all, surrounded by a lot of very competent Rito warriors there, and the Yiga Clan tend not to disguise themselves as Rito, for better or for worse. But also Link gets the feeling that she's giving him some space to sort out the... whatever this is, with Revali.
He appreciates that. He also brings a lot of paper and a spare pencil, when he hikes up towards the Flight Range. It's clear from quite a distance down the path leading there that Revali is not currently on Vah Medoh, less from anything Link actually sees and more from the nearly continuous sounds of explosions.
He watches, for a while, once he gets there. He's not in too much of a rush, at the moment. Which is good, because it takes nearly an hour before Revali touches down upon the main platform of the Flight Range, chest heaving with exertion and quiver nearly empty. He nearly falls off that platform when he catches sight of Link.
"What are you doing here?" Revali asks as he approaches, his voice thick with... all sorts of emotions Link isn't even going to try and identify right now.
Link holds up a piece of paper. On it, he's written something to start this off.
I know what the forehead touch means. Princess Zelda told me.
Revali stares at the paper, eyes widening rapidly.
"...Fuck," Revali says, and less actively sits so much as falls into a sitting position. "Well, then. What do you want?"
That is not among the things that Link had planned for him to say and prepared accordingly for. He really should stop expecting Revali to do things, because whenever he does, it seems like Revali almost always does the opposite. The worst part is, Link doesn't actually think it's intentional—though Revali would probably do the same if it was.
He pulls out a blank piece of paper and writes, To talk?
"We are talking," Revali says.
Link groans. Not what I meant and you know it.
"Do I?" Revali arches an eyebrow. "I don't ever know what you mean. I'm still coming to terms with the fact that I decided to hate you over something that, it seems, was never even close to being true. You're still supremely annoying, by the way."
So are you.
"Good. Great, even! Glad we're on the same page." He pauses. "Still—why are you here?"
He shrugs and starts writing again. People generally don't do romantic gestures for no reason.
"Yes, well." Revali averts his gaze. "I honestly can't fathom why I decided to do it in the first place, so it might as well have been for no reason. I don't even like you."
Link snorts, and goes for one of the papers that isn't blank. Can I show you a Hylian one?
Revali looks at the note. Looks at Link. His feathers are all fluffed up again, and honestly, it's kind of adorable. "I... suppose so? If you insist. Though I can't imagine why you would want to."
Good enough for Link. He scoots around the fire, looks Revali in the eyes, and plants a kiss on his beak.
"I," Revali says faintly. "Ah."
I don't like you either, for the record, Link writes. But I'd be willing to try... something. We don't have to be friends.
"Good," Revali says. "Because we aren't friends."
Allies, Link writes, and Revali nods—even though both of them know that isn't quite right anymore.
The Spring of Wisdom atop Mount Lanayru may very well be the last chance Zelda has to awaken her power. Which... it probably isn't, not really, but it certainly feels like it is. Her father is certainly treating it like it is, and Link grows more disillusioned with Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule by the day.
He hadn't been expecting Revali to join them at the foot of it. Then again, he supposes he hadn't been expecting Revali to keep finding excuses to visit him in Castle Town either. (Not that he's complaining, about either thing—they're not friends, but Link's pretty sure that allies don't trade increasingly obscure romantic gestures from their respective cultures and share the same bed more often than not.)
"It will be alright, little bird," Urbosa's saying, one arm wrapped around Zelda's shoulders. "No matter what happens."
Link, for his part, looks at Revali. And pulls a piece of paper out of his bag.
Are you okay?
"Me? I'm fine," Revali scoffs. "And you?"
He considers this and eventually shrugs. He's more okay these days, definitely, but also the Calamity draws ever-closer, and none of them are sure exactly when it will happen—just that it will, and soon.
"Fair enough, I suppose. I'll admit even I am a little worried as to what might happen, should she not awaken her power in time. But, of course, she has you there to encourage her." Revali smiles thinly. "Come down and tell us the good news as soon as possible. Got it?"
Link grins a little and nods. Urbosa and Zelda and Mipha definitely all know what a kiss is, so he doesn't risk one of those. But he doubts that any of them—except maybe Urbosa—know what that forehead touch means, and so he reaches out to do precisely that.
"Seems like you two are getting along a lot better than you used to," Urbosa says wryly as they pull apart, and Link's suspicion that she might know is immediately traded for near-certainty.
"As if!" Revali scoffs. "I tolerate him, to be clear!"
"Of course," Mipha says softly. "I would never assume anything otherwise, Revali."
"Thank you! See, Urbosa? Mipha gets it!"
Mipha, who smiles at Link behind Revali's back, certainly does get it—just not what Revali wanted her to. Link's sure that he'll figure it out at some point, while the two of them are up on Zelda's pilgrimage to Mount Lanayru.
"Well... no sense delaying further," Zelda says quietly. "I sincerely hope, that when I see you all next..."
"You'll be fine!" Daruk proclaims, and Link wants nothing more than to believe him.
It's not fine. Nothing will ever be fine again.
One hundred years later, when Link stumbles out of the Shrine of Resurrection in threadbare, ill-fitting clothes, he can’t even remember why.
Compared to the other Champions, Link can't remember very much of Revali—and what little he can remember seems to suggest that they hadn't gotten along very well. Yet he's scarcely set foot in the Flight Range before his eyes suddenly well up with tears, and his introduction to Teba ends up going very differently than he'd expected or wanted it to go.
It's fine. He gets up to Vah Medoh eventually.
It's not fine, because he hears a voice he knows as soon as he lands on the Divine Beast's tail.
"Well now, I've seen that face before," comes a voice from nowhere, a voice that can only be Revali. He knows how this works, Vah Medoh will be his fourth Divine Beast, and he can't help but wish now that it had been his first. That he hadn't seen the flying machine from far away, and felt far too guilty to go anywhere near it until he had nowhere left to go but here or Hyrule Castle.
(Whatever Revali's issue was with him a century ago, he definitely didn't deserve to die here, and he doesn't deserve to be the only one left trapped in here when it comes time for the last, desperate assault upon Calamity Ganon.)
"I had a feeling you would show up eventually," Revali continues. "But making me wait a hundred years is a bit... indulgent."
I know, Link wants to say. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
"...Are you okay?" is what comes out of his mouth instead, and the words feel deeply familiar in spite of how much he knows that he just... didn't talk, in the time before the Calamity. He can't remember not talking. He can't remember shit, apart from a handful of scattered memories he hasn't gathered in anything close to a reasonable order.
Revali falls silent. Which is bad, because Link really does need his directions to find a map of Vah Medoh at least, and some help activating the auxiliary terminals would also be useful before he has to kill the monster that killed his... friend? No, not friend. Ally, maybe, except something about that rings false too.
"You actually start talking, for some unfathomable reason," Revali says, sounding... oddly emotional, "and of course the first thing you ask me is that. Well, I suppose it's a good sign that you feel like others are listening to you now."
"Sorry," Link says. "I can't remember much of anything. I can stop talking if you want."
"Don't you dare," Revali snaps. "I'll... you'll want to get to the Guidance Stone. I presume you're here for Medoh... can you make it there?"
"Yeah." He pauses. "You didn't answer the question."
"Well, of course, I... I would have thought the answer was obvious, Link!" His voice cracks, and somehow Link finds himself feeling even guiltier. "I'm dead! I'm dead, and I would assume that anyone who wasn't killed by Ganon would have died of old age by now, which means that the only person who could possibly remember me doesn't remember a single solitary thing about who I was. So no, I'm not remotely okay! Thanks for asking!"
"...I remember your Gale," Link says. "It was incredible."
"You truly think so? Well, it died with me." Revali sighs—or Link hears the sound of a sigh, anyway, though he knows far too well that Revali isn't capable of much anymore. Not as a ghost haunting the Divine Beast where he died. "Guidance Stone. Auxiliary terminals. You'll have to take on the monster that killed me. Unlike me, you know that it's coming... but one thing at a time."
"One thing at a time," Link agrees. "Sorry."
"What for?" Revali asks.
Link would give anything to be able to answer him—and yet, if he ever knew the answer to that question, he certainly doesn't now.
After Thunderblight, after Waterblight, after Fireblight—Windblight Ganon is practically child's play. Which doesn't make sense, until it makes a horrible amount of sense, until it clicks for Link that each of the Blights weren't made to take him on. They were made to kill his friends.
Revali phases into being, pale and see-through and surrounded by the green-blue fire marking him as a spirit. He starts talking. Link starts trying not to cry, and fails utterly when Revali passes on his Gale.
Link isn't sure what possesses him to approach, but approach he does. And, forgetting himself for a moment—forgetting everything—he tries to hug Revali, and is met with a squawk of surprise when his arms don't phase through him. Link holds him, even knowing that this can't last, even knowing that he's holding on to someone who died the day he did, and wasn't lucky enough to come back.
"...I know you're not okay," Link whispers. "But are you at least... more okay?"
"More okay?" Revali echoes. "I suppose I am. You did avenge me, and now Medoh and I are both freed from that scourge. My state of being hardly matters anymore, I think—"
"It does. You're not gone yet."
"Well, no," Revali allows. "But I'm dead. You're not. That fact remains... as does the fact that while I may not be okay, and I somehow suspect you aren't either, you will be."
There is one last Blood Moon, a month after the Calamity's end, and something about it feels... different, in a way that Link can't quite put his finger on. The monsters come back, of course, which is as annoying as always. Strangely, they aren't the only ones.
It's a stroke of sheer dumb luck that Link and Zelda are in Rito Village when that Blood Moon strikes, that they see alongside Teba and little baby Tulin the way that the presumed-dormant Divine Beast Vah Medoh lights up again—first with a worrying magenta, then with orange, and finally with a clear blue.
"What the..." is all Teba can get out before Medoh lets out a piercing shriek, loud enough for Link's ears to start ringing. "Gah! That's loud. Is that... supposed to happen?"
"No," Zelda says, brow furrowing, "it is not. I thought that all of their power was spent..."
"I'll check it out," Link says. He's fully prepared to climb—he doesn't have Revali's Gale anymore, after all—but Zelda is already holding out the Sheikah Slate for him to take. "...Thanks."
"No need to thank me," Zelda murmurs. "It is far more yours than mine at this point, regardless of whose it was originally."
This is true, but given that neither of them are particularly inclined to leave the other alone for very long, trading the Slate between them has worked well enough for now. It works today, too, when Link warps up to the travel gate he hasn't been able to access since he vanquished the Windblight. Medoh lets out a louder screech, a greeting—or perhaps a warning?
Given that there was a Blood Moon... well, they've never brought back the Blights before, but Link isn't about to take any chances. His sword is drawn as he rushes through the interior of Vah Medoh, glowing brightly like there's some threat present.
The sword falls from his hand with a clatter, not that he can hear it over the roaring in his ears, as he reaches the top deck. As he sees blue-black feathers crumpled in a heap, just a few feet away from the main control unit. He doesn't pick it up—he just moves, not daring to believe his own eyes until he's there, until he's cautiously turning Revali over to lie on his back, until he's a lot more certain that he's (somehow, somehow) breathing.
Then Revali starts coughing. And doesn't stop coughing, not until Link helps him sit up and smacks his back a few times for good measure. Then, and only then, does he squint at Link through narrowed eyes.
Link hugs him. Tighter than he'd ever hugged his spirit, because maybe if he hugs Revali tight enough he'll never have to let go. After a few moments, after Revali is looking at least a little less disoriented, Link finds himself being hugged back.
"I... don't understand," Revali murmurs into his shoulder, leaning rather substantially onto him. "How are you... how am I...?"
"Are you okay?" Link asks. "I remember... more, now. A few things. I remember that. And... whatever we were. Whatever we are."
Revali audibly snorts. "That is the real question, isn't it? I don't think I ever found an answer to it. Did you?"
Link shrugs, as much as he can when he has no intention of letting go of Revali right now. "If I did, I forgot it. But we have time to figure it out now."
"We do, huh?" Revali pauses. "The others... if I'm back..."
"Maybe they are too," Link realizes, and okay, maybe he does have motivation to leave Vah Medoh after all. "Alright. Lean on me. I'm not leaving you up here alone."
"One hundred years of solitude was... a bit much, even for someone who doesn't particularly enjoy the company of most," Revali remarks, as Link withdraws the Slate and navigates with one hand to the shrine far below them. "I suppose, to answer your question..."
"Later," Link promises, right before they're whisked away together into shimmering strands of Sheikah blue.
None of the Champions are back entirely unscathed, back though they miraculously are. Revali can barely hold his own bow, never mind shoot it. Mipha can no longer swim up a waterfall on her own. Urbosa walks with a heavy limp, and flinches away from her own Fury. Daruk can barely roll for a few yards without straining something and coming to an abrupt—not to mention painful—stop.
It's another month, or close to it, by the time they can all properly reunite.
And it's then—with Urbosa and Daruk regaling each other with tales of their respective descendants' exploits, with Zelda delightedly telling Mipha all about the power she had finally awoken after all, with Link holding Revali's wing tightly in his hand and silently marveling at the fact that they are all here, that the Goddess Hylia decided to have mercy on them—that Revali finally leans into Link and says, "I'd say now is later, wouldn't you?"
"Probably," Link agrees. "Why?"
"Well," Revali murmurs, "I do believe... perhaps I am actually okay. A novel feeling, to be sure."
Link grins at him and says, "Let's make it last."