Chapter Text
From what he gathers, Skyloftian life isn’t so different from Hylian life.
Children wake up to their parents bustling about and they eat together. They plan their days and they say their farewells as some of them go off to the Academy or their places of work, some of them stay at home, and some of them go to bond with the loftwings they’ve bonded with so that one day they can work with their other halves to be part of the society.
While staying on Skyloft, their life is much the same. In the mornings, he and the others will drag themselves down the stairs to find Time and Twilight and Sun gathered in the kitchen, talking over mugs of tea. Those who need it will grab a mug of their own or, if they’re lucky, a mug will be waiting for them.
In that instance, Legend is one of the lucky ones.
He’s not sure who makes it, or how they know how he likes it, because he doesn’t usually sweeten his tea on the road, but whomever it is, they do a fantastic job.
More often than not, he’s still sluggish while chatter goes about the table, but then after a while, Wild will come down and breakfast will be made, and by the time they’re finished eating he feels more like himself. That’s also about the time that the others split off. Wild and Hyrule go wandering, Four goes thinking, Warriors goes to his watching point if no one wants to train with him and Twilight and Time will follow along with someone else or go off by themselves for some space.
Or they go fishing. Considering the number of times their supper is fish, he’s sure it would be safe to say that Time and Twilight like using their free time to sit and fish together a lot.
He’s happy for them though. It’s been hard on all of them, and, well, his issues haven’t exactly made their lives any easier. Although the soldiers made everything worse all around and caused more problems than literally anyone else.
And while they go off to attend to their business, Wind tagging along with whomever he deems the best companion for the day, or the person with the best choice in hobby, Legend will stay behind with Sun and Sky. They clean the house together first, he shedding Sky’s sailcloth and letting his wings free while they work; doing dishes, wiping the table off and straightening up the beds upstairs. And then of course they all sit down and Sun and he will work on wing care and Sky will help, and the two skyloftians will plan the day and he’ll offer his two rupees on what he thinks of their plans and answer when they ask if he thinks he can handle whatever task they want to undertake. Typically, he tries to say yes regardless, but Sky’s sharp as a tack these days and will wait, watching, until he’s actually honest about his limits.
Usually, afterwards, Sun and he will stretch and Sky will go and call Crimson, and then the four of them will go out flying.
So far, he hasn’t gotten the race he’d asked for that first day.
It’s the day after he talks with Warriors that they do.
He’s still a bit out of it that morning even as the others leave the house. His mind spins with what the captain had told him, about the truth of what his family must be and who they are, and how, apparently, he’s been calling the skyloftian couple ‘mom’ and Sky, at least on one occasion ‘dad’. He’s not too sure yet how he feels about that to be honest, or how they feel, although the captain’s words to reassure him some that at the very least they don’t feel upset with him for it. Still, when he catches himself slipping with Sun that morning as she mends his wings, he can’t help but flush.
“I think we ought to take a break today,” she hums, oiled fingers running through rosy plumage as he sits in what is, by now, a well familiar position, curled in on himself with his head resting on folded arms, watching over his shoulder as the two skyloftians work, Sky familiar and Sun both new and welcome.
Crystal blue eyes flicker to meet cornflower as Sky frowns slightly, “is there something wrong?”
“Nothing wrong, Link. I just think our little chick here could use a day off.”
He’s already opening his mouth to protest, because he’s fine and he doesn’t need the time, he actually has energy now and he wants to fly, he wants to fly now that he’s no longer scared to try, and he’s trying, trying so hard to embrace the nature that they claim is of Sun and not a demon. There’s no need though.
“Not that we’re not doing anything,” Sun tells him, reaching over to pet his hair gently and meeting his eyes with a brief smile before she turns back to his wings, “but I think you might overdo it if you fly every day, since you hadn’t flown at all before.”
“What do you have in mind?” Sky inquires, watching his beloved with that gosh-awful mushy look on his face.
They’re sweet, even Legend will admit it, but he has his limits, and snogging is far from anything he particularly wants to have to see. They’re usually alright, since they know that once he’s had his practice he’ll head out to the village with Wind or to sit with Twilight or let Wild and Hyrule drag him around or spar with warriors. They know he won’t be there most of the afternoon, and that time is there’s to do what they want if they don’t follow him outside, but they still sneak a few kisses in when they can, more so if they know he’s watching and want to embarrass him.
It’s almost a different world on Skyloft really, and maybe its Warriors’ words rolling around in his head or maybe it’s his own treacherous heart whispering to him, but it almost feels like living in a home with an actual family. Almost feels like there isn’t a whole world to save or eras in danger of black blooded monsters just beneath the cloud barrier. How Sky and Sun could want to give it up to live on the surface is beyond him honestly.
But that’s not to say that the surface he’d glimpsed, washed in rain, wasn’t beautiful too, and to hear Sky marvel about small things around them, be it on the path or at their respective houses, he finds himself remembering again how beautiful Hyrule had once looked to his own eyes. So maybe he can understand a little bit.
“Today,” Sun’s voice cuts him from his thoughts as her long fingers, a bit like his own, sweep up his hair so she can style it as she does most mornings, brush pulling through gently and the remaining oil from his wings slicking down downy strands to make styling them easier, “I think we should try showing Legend some more about our loftwings! Cornflower seemed to enjoy stealing Legend away yesterday, but I think if it happens again, we should make sure you’re ready, hmm?”
It takes him a moment to realize she’s addressing him, but when he does, he nods slightly, careful not to pull his head enough that it’ll hurt with her hands in his hair. “Yes, mom.”
He meant ma’am, oh heavens he meant ma’am!
He hears the chuckles this time, and despite the previous intention to avoid tugging on his hair, he lets his face fall into his arms with a silent groan, even as he can practically feel the sunshine rays of Sun’s smile on his back.
He can hear a smile in Sky’s voice too when the man speaks, “okay. Do you want me to call them?”
“If you could.” Sun answers, and at last the stare of the woman fades from him to turn on her beloved with the same warmth and fondness.
He can hear Sky shifting after that, standing up and wiping his hands on his clothes before heading to the door. When it squeals on its hinges (it swings with ease but it’s always loud about it) he feels his shoulders, and by proxy his wings, droop a bit with a soft little sigh.
He’s not sure if he should apologize or just not draw attention to what he’d said. Warriors had said it would be okay, but the captain isn't the person getting called ‘mom’ here, so what does he know?
“Legend?” Sun's hands are gentle as they gather his hair again, brushing gently at the base of his neck as she starts braiding, twisting just tight enough to hold but not tight enough to hurt, voice warm and soft and melodic and everything he’d somehow known to love when he’d first heard it, “are you okay, chickadee?”
“‘M fine.” he mumbles, not blushing, not blushing!
One hand drifts, tugging gently at his ear in a reproachful manner. “Something’s eating you.”
And unlike Four or Twilight, Sun is like Sky and she doesn’t let it go when he tries dismissing it. Maybe that’s a side effect of their adventure though, they’ve been telling him something about it and it sounds like it was as much Sun’s quest as it was Sky’s, even if the Chosen Hero had been the one who had to defeat Demise in the end of it. They both still struggle with aspects of it, so they probably know not to let the other push them away unless something indicates that talking about it will well and truly cause as storm.
“Does-” crap, he hates when words are tricky, when they won’t flicker to being and slot themselves into sentences in his mind, even when speaking his native tongue, “does it bother you when- when I-”
Strong arms wrap around him, not as thick as Sky’s but likely just as powerful. He can feel Sun’s front pressed to his back, pressing his wings close even as her own sweep up around him gently. “I don’t mind.” She answers, her own voice trembling a bit, happiness shining through despite and he can almost see her smile as she hugs him tight. “It’s okay. If you want to, you can.”
He’s not even sure she knows what she’s saying. “It was an accident,” he finally admits, “I’d never have- I mean, I don’t- didn’t know if-” Din dang it! Where’s his tongue at? Why does he keep tripping over it?
Sun just giggles softly, hugging a bit tighten before releasing him and shifting around so she’s at his front, cornflower eyes meeting his own as she tilts his face up towards her own, smiling bright and warm and kind. “I really don’t mind, legend. You can call me that if you want. It’s… it’s an honor you’d think of me that way.”
Oh gosh and now he’s blushing, and even he can’t deny that, cheeks warm and wings sweeping up to try and hide his face, only to catch on Sun’s arms, brushing against her sleeves and making her laugh all over again.
He understands, at least a little better, why Sky cares so much for this woman. Her name suits her, nickname or no, and she's warm and understanding in almost everything, and so endlessly kind.
He’s glad. Sky deserves someone like Sun, and if this woman was anything short of what she is he’d have to protest on behalf of his… brother? Friend? Dad?
He’s still a bit flushed even after Sun finishes with his hair. She’d decided on a side braid this time since apparently, she hadn’t wanted to move again after coming around to face him before, and since he doesn’t protest (having his hair styled at all is a luxury he won’t say no too, not now, not after he knows what it’s like) that’s how it is when he walks out after Sun to join the Chosen Hero outside of their house.
Sky catches onto the flush, but doesn't comment, just offers him one of those kind smiles that’s so common to find on the other's face, and turns to the two loftwings that stand at either side of him, both looking eager and ready for the day and apparently what they've planned, since he has no doubt Sky would have explained what is going on to the magnificent birds
The loftwings of course have to greet him and Sun before anything can actually happen, Cornflower fussing over her hylian in a fond manner while Crimson tops the top of his head with a huge beak, a motion the blue loftwing mimics with him when she’s finished and Crimson greets Sun. Greetings over however, they both give the hylians a bit of space, ruffling their wings and tilting their heads, watching and ready, but not pushing, something with seems to please their other halves to no end.
“Is this normal?” he finds himself asking as he looks between the four of them, catching the pride in the eyes of the hylians.
Sky flushes a bit, rubbing at the back of his head and musing the hair there as he does so. “Sort of.”
“Loftwings commonly act like this when helping out with their other-half’s young,” Sun whispers to him, giggling in a way he’s surprised to find is a bit nervous. “I think they know we’re teaching you how to work with them.”
Which goes without saying. He’s only just recently gotten to meet the creatures for himself and even he can tell they’re far more intelligent than most animals, maybe even more so than Hylians (not that that’s too hard though).
Cornflower chirps, as though she can hear his thoughts, and he can’t help but giggle a bit at it, especially when Crimson nudges against his rider in an impatient motion, making Sky stumble slightly with a whole different flair of laughter as the Chosen Hero’s hand falls to the bird’s feathers to offer scritches to pacify him. “Okay, okay, big guy. I got it.”
He knows Sky didn’t actually hear the ‘get on with it’ that the bird uttered, but it seems he’s come pretty close. It’s amazing, Legend observes, watching them interact with eyes wide and wings quivering slightly, how loftwing and rider can know each other so well that they don’t need to speak between them; that a hylian and beats could bond so well without speech at all.
“We should start,” Sky tells him, crystal eyes laughing, “Crimson’s getting impatient.”
Sun nods, moving to her own mount and, with no signal to indicate, the loftwing lowers herself to allow her rider to climb onto her back. The minute she’s settled, a hand reaches out to him, another smile offered with it as Sun nods to the sky. “Shall we?”
He doesn’t think he needs any more answer than catching her hand, wings fluttering slightly behind him in a way that makes the birds warble happily and Sky rumble a chuckle.
Sun doesn’t have him settle behind her as sky did last time, but rather in front, her arms coming up around him to hold the light harness the loftwing wears. He follows her motions, leaning forwards slightly to grasp it and waiting for instructions.
In most things, he’s not afraid to teach himself. In dungeons and faraway lands, he’d survived by doing so, but here on Skyloft, he’s okay with letting someone show him, after all, he doesn't want to somehow upset these magnificent loftwings by doing something wrong.
“Okay,” Sun giggles, “first step is to relax.”
He breathes out.
Her laughter strengthens, one hand coming up to cover his own on the harness. “No, not just breathe. Relax . Ost people’s greatest worry is falling off, but you have wings to catch you, and Link, Cornflower and I all do as well. You need to trust in us to look out for you and let yourself just… be.”
The words just make him tense more. What does it mean to ‘just be’? How does that work? One is always doing something, they’re not like a rock that just sits there and watches the world go by. ‘Being’ isn’t a thing he’s ever really done since… well, maybe since he was a baby too small to do anything else! And even then, he was probably doing baby shit at that time, like discovering his own toes and learning the sound of Uncle’s voice or figuring out that the sound ‘Link’ was meant to be his sound.
Sky’s laughter rings over to him, and Crimson stalks over, rider already mounted and looking over at them. “Zel, he’s a Link.”
“I have hope for him yet,” comes the response, “hush you.”
“Yes ma’am.”
He snickers a bit like that, shoulders relaxing and wings loosing a bit, but not unfurling; if he did that, he would hit Sun with them, and that’s hardly a goal or probably something he could get away with. Well, maybe if it was an accident, but based on the last few weeks, he gets the idea that the woman is quite the tease and might just take the opportunity to make something out of it that he can’t escape.
“Relax,” she repeats again, hand squeezing his own, “think of something peaceful.”
Something peaceful?
It’s a bit of a task, his life is full of travel, turmoil and adventure, and while the adventuring, learning, seeing things- while it was fun sometimes, while meeting new people could be nice when he’d forgotten to be scared around little old ladies and silly children and kindly housewives, he’d never really experienced peace on his adventures. The closest he ever came was Koholint, but thinking of that now only hurts, so he doesn’t. Instead, he thinks back to before the adventures, to the little cottage and waking up with Uncle in the mornings, of making breakfast and working in the orchard and stopping to lie down in the grass. If he thinks hard enough, he can almost smell the apple blossoms and the fresh dewy grass, see the clouds playing overhead and feel Uncle’s warmth at his side as they would watch, pointing out shapes and animals in the fluffy white overhead.
“Good,” Sun breathes behind him, “now, keep whatever you’re thinking of in mind, okay?”
He nods, trying his best to focus on thoughts of apple blossoms.
“Now,” she continues, easing her hand from his own to again grip the harness for herself. “Loftwings are bonded to their particular hylian, so they usually can figure out what we want without us telling them, but when you first get to know your loftwing, or if you have to ride someone else’s for some reason, there are signals you can use to tell them what you want.” And it’s a lot like riding a horse apparently. “Turns are easier, just shift your legs; the inside one back and the outside one forwards. To speed up, lean forwards in the saddle, and to slow down, lean back, same with starting and stopping.”
“What about going up and down?” he asks, focusing his gaze out at the expanse of sky spread before them.
From besides, Sky flashes him a smile. “We’ll get to that later, once you’ve got some experience, okay?”
“It’s like riding a horse,” he protests, “but we don’t have up and down signals for horses because they always stay level.”
“What’s a horse?” Sun asks from behind, shifting to try and look around him to meet his eyes.
And Legend wants to explain, but finds, annoyingly, that there probably aren’t good words to describe a horse to someone who’s main interaction with animals has been monsters, birds and a strange breed of cat. “I can draw you one later? If you want?”
“You draw?” Comes the voices of both skyloftians, colored with surprise and excitement both that he has to try and brush off casually.
“A little. Just doodle really, but I’m not terrible.”
“We’ll see about that,” Sky teases, and then, with a playful wink, both he and Crimson move a short distance away and take off.
He watches carefully, trying to catch what Sky does and maybe determine how the other seems to be able to direct his loftwing as he wants, but as Sun said, there’s no actual need for physical cues when beast and man are as bonded as the duo before him clearly are. They’re showing off too, doing little spins and loops and even, for a moment, flying upside down, the hero peeking over his shoulder at them with a grin before turning back to his namesake spread before him and rising with his other half to embrace it in whole.
It’s amazing, watching them. He’d thought it was freeing to just fly, but Sky seems to have found his own brand of freedom in the arms of the wind, even if he can’t reach out for it alone. That almost makes it seem better though; Sky isn’t a person who achieves alone, he shares his victories and his joy, and sharing his freedom with a beast that holds half of his heart (because his Zelda holds the other half) almost feels more complete than flying alone.
“I wish we had loftwings in Hyrule, he finds himself murmuring. He’s only flown with them twice, and neither time had he in any way had any control over the situation, but seeing Sky, watching him, feeling the echo of his soul around himself, it makes him wish there were loftwings at home, maybe one for himself, and one for Zelda, and one for Ravio and Hilda; other halves to their broke souls, the missing piece that makes Sun and Sky seem so complete, so whole.
Sun doesn’t answer him, instead racing to squeeze his hand again.
She probably doesn't have words for that. The thought of her people losing their beloved friends must be horrible for her, and he can’t imagine there’s anything anyone could say to console someone for never getting to discover the missing half of their souls.
Cornflower makes some noise or another beneath him, and then she’s raising her wings to take off. He didn’t ask her, and considering Sun hadn’t shifted, he’s not sure if she did or not either. Granted, she could- like Sky- not need to, but even she starts a bit, like she’d not planned for the motion even if she is adept at adapting to it.
He follows her motions, strengthening his grip, and then reminding himself to breathe, to think of pink blossoms and let himself loose as great wings, greater than his own or even Sun’s, reach out on either side and climb through the sky, easing them upwards without even a jolt as they take off. It’s smooth, it’s amazing! Last time, he’d been holding on for dear life, and it’d been a short flight over the island, and the time before, Wind had been squeezing the very air out his lungs with how tight he’d been holding on. This time though, it’s different, better. It’s not quite like flying for himself, but somehow, it’s not worse than it either. He’s not straining himself like this, but even if he’s not fully in control, he’s also close to something, to someone, to Sun and Cornflower, not alone in the great vastness of the blue sky.
It’s amazing.
Cornflower humors him, letting him guide her and playing nice when he makes mistakes, even as Sun helps him correct himself. It’s not at all unlike when he’d ridden a horse for the first time, the mare his grandmother had sat him on had been a quiet old thing, gentle and perfect for a new rider, and while as far as he can tell, Cornflower is still well in her prime, she’s just as patient with him as he comes to get a handle on things.
“You’re doing good,” Sun praises from behind him, and then she’s leaning over to meet his eyes again, smile bright and wide and playful, “ready to do it on your own?”
He doesn’t hesitate to nod. He’s still a bit unsure, but he’ll welcome that uncertainty. He wants to try; he wants to do his best and he’d like to see how he’ll do without Sun right behind him to coach him along.
“Alright!” she chirps, and her own wings begin to unfurl even as she tips herself off, dropping from the loftwing’s back and spreading her own wings, spinning and dipping a moment before shooting up behind him. He can’t help but spin around to watch her, and when Sky’s laughter rings between them at the sight of his gaping mouth, well, he’s not ashamed to admire the skill with which his- with which Sun flies.
“Shall we try for the cliff again?”
He nods, setting himself back in place, glancing down at the loftwing and catching her eye. She chirrs softly at him and when he tries prompting her closer to Sky, she follows. “Can we race this time?” he asks, because they’d said ’no’ when he’d been flying under his own power, but maybe this time, with wings stronger than his own to hold him, Sky will say yes. He hopes so, because Cornflower seems to perk up at the idea too, quickening her pace without him asking as they move to fly abreast with the chosen hero.
“I don’t know,” Sky hums, looking over both him and the loftwing beneath him, the first hint of doubt in a long time flashing across his face. Sun eases it though, flying up on her fiancé's other side and catching his eye with a smile. “Cornflower can handle it, and Legend’s a natural. Come on, Link, scared you’d lose?”
And Links, regardless of time, experience or any other factor, are all competitive assholes, so of course that works.
“Just a short one,” the man allows, “but nothing fancy, okay?
Legend snorts. “Says the guy flying upside down.”
The skyloftian knight corrects, shifting right-side up again and frowning at him. It’s not a real one though, because his eyes are still shining bright with a smile his lips don’t echo, and his body as a whole is relaxed and calm.
Sun laughs, swooping up overhead and then drifting down again between them, her own gaze shining with her namesake as she looks from one hero of courage to the other. “Alright, on three. One-”
He tightens his grip, tucking wings close and strengthening his hold on the bird beneath him, who in turn seems to be quivering with energy, wings straining to hold themselves back as golden eyes shine brightly.
“-Two-”
Sky leans forwards and legend mimics the action, both sharing a look across the distance between them. The skyloftian’s smirk is dangerous, even if it is playful, and there’s that light in his eye that they rarely see, that mischief and madness that assures that it really is his spirit that passed down to Wild and not some random madman’s instead.
“-Three!”
Naturally, he loses. Even by his time, the stories all say that a red loftwing is the strongest and fastest of all loftwings, and Sun’s own wings are strong as they race against the two boys. He’s not upset though, especially when the two offer to show him a few tricks to make up for it, so that by the time they’re alighting on the ground again, he’s smiling so wide he thinks he’ll strain something, laughter bubbling up inside even as Sky scoops him down and helps him to his feet, Sun landing just behind them in the yard.
As promised, once he’s thanks the loftwings (and had the both of them fuss at his wings, which while he knew they knew he had, Cornflower is only just seeing them for the first time) the three of them head back into the house.
The windows are left open, and they’re big enough that the loftwings easily can stick their heads in if they so wish, and since Wind isn't about at the moment, they do every so often. As for the hylians though, they gather on the old couch in Sky’s living room, and he gets out his notebook and Sun grabs a brush and Sky makes tea, and they all sit down for him to show them what he knows about horses.
All in all, he thinks, it’s not so very different from a normal skyloftian’s life.