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Legend ran a cloth along the blade of his sword, polishing it to a shine. The gold shimmered in the light of their campfire. It was a beautiful thing, despite all the blood it had shed. He put in a lot of work to keep it that way.
He often wished he didn’t have to wield it. He had hung it up years ago, traded battles for apples and his bedroll for the bed he shared with his husband. But here he was anyway, on yet another quest.
He resented it. He raged and cursed at the goddesses often enough for anyone to know that. Sometimes, when he was alone, he even prayed, asking them why he had to do this all again. It wasn’t fair. None of it had ever been fair. But he’d given his childhood in service of Hyrule. He’d thought that would be enough to earn him peace for the rest of his life.
What a fool he’d been.
He saw something out of the corner of his eye and shook himself out of his thoughts, glancing up to see Sky settling on the ground next to him. Legend hadn’t heard him approaching at all.
Sky, of course, was giving his own childhood right now.
He was staring at the sword, eyes sparkling. Legend sighed and set the polishing cloth aside. “You want to take a closer look, kid?”
Sky lit up and nodded furiously. Legend handed the sword over. Sky inspected it closely.
“It reminds me of mine,” he said after a few moments.
Legend instinctually glanced at the Master Sword, which was strapped to Sky’s back. It looked a little ridiculous-the sword was almost as tall as he was-but they all knew by now that Sky didn’t go anywhere without her. He even slept with her, holding her tight to his chest as a normal child might clutch a stuffed animal. She wasn’t just his weapon. She was his friend.
Legend related more than he liked. He knew what it felt like to be a child with a task too large to really comprehend, with no one by your side but your sword. He resented that he had been called to save Hyrule when he was so young, but he could never resent her.
“She’s a special one, isn’t she,” he said. It was an incredible understatement. But he knew Sky would understand.
Sky nodded slowly, staring at the hilt of Legend’s sword. Eventually, he said, “I wish she would wake up.”
Legend blinked. “What do you mean?”
Sky sighed, balancing Legend's sword on his knees and reaching back to gently stroke the hilt of his own. “There’s a spirit that lives in the sword. Her name is Fi. She helped me. But she’s sleeping now.”
Legend leaned back, trying to absorb this new information. A sword spirit. For all his travels, that was one thing he’d never seen before. And when he’d wielded the Master Sword, she certainly hadn’t spoken to him.
“Why is she sleeping?” he asked after a moment. And why had she still been sleeping so many centuries later? Why hadn’t she woken up to help another lost child?
“She said her purpose was complete, so she had to sleep. ‘Cause the goddess’s mission was over, and the goddess made her just for that. And she said she cared about me, but she still had to go. ‘Cause I’d achieved my purpose, too.” He went silent. Then he whispered, like he wasn’t sure if he wanted Legend to hear him or not: “But I’m still here .”
…Oh.
“Put that down, kid,” Legend said. Sky blinked in confusion but set the sword on the ground. Legend wrapped one arm around his shoulders and pulled Sky to his chest.
“I’m sorry she had to leave, Sky,” he said quietly. “It sounds like she didn’t want to, but she still did. And that sucks. I’m sorry. Maybe she’ll wake up at some point, since you’re on another mission from the goddesses, right?” He had his own doubts about the purpose of their quest, but he wasn’t going to make faithful Sky deal with them. “And even if she never does, you’re not alone. You have all of us. I can be your Fi if you need me to.”
Sky went totally still for a second. Then he wrapped his arms around Legend and squeezed. “Thanks, Ledge,” he whispered. “But that’s okay. I like you as you are.” He let go, and Legend let him go.
Sky smiled at him, eyes wet, and then he darted off to where Wild was making dinner. Legend shook his head and picked up his little jar of sword polish, tucking it away in his pack. Hopefully Wind still had some of his stash of rum, because he needed a goddessdamned drink.
He was still shaken by everything Sky had said. The Master Sword had felt like a friend to him, yes, but she was still only an object, no matter how goddess-blessed. But for Sky, she had been something more. Had become something more, even. Legend knew that the goddesses’ tools weren’t supposed to have feelings, and surely a sword spirit-not a human, but a created being-even more so. But somehow, impossibly, she had cared for Sky, as he had cared for her.
Legend supposed he, too, would do impossible things for that impossible child.
There were still so many things he wanted to say to Sky. The way he’d said I’d achieved my purpose, as if the only thing he was good for was doing the will of the goddesses, haunted him. Sky was just a kid, but somehow he’d been convinced that his life was already over. He had played the role of a hero well, going where he was directed and killing what he was supposed to. But there was so much more to life than that.
But Legend didn’t really know how to say that, how to make Sky understand. He certainly hadn’t when he was Sky’s age. It had taken years of peace for him to finally get it. It had taken a sister and a husband and an apple orchard.