Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s not often that Blue takes charge of Four. It’s usually all four of them working together to operate the small but mighty power house that is their body. But in some rare instances, a sole color will be handed the reins. 

When blue does come out it’s almost certainly during a battle. When the whole chain is surrounded by monsters, Blue has the (frankly scary) ability to slice through hoards like butter. Fighting is in his blood. It’s the one thing he feels hardwired to do. And once his job is done, he’s done. Out of the limelight and back to being part of a four person show. 

One day Blue decides to stay for just a bit longer. 

It’s after a tough battle. Blue is panting. The field is littered with monster parts. It’s been one hell of a day… 

Swallowing back thick breath, Blue wonders why he still feels the need to front. It’s over. It’s done. But something inside prompts him to stay. It feels strange like this. Being around but not fighting. His hands still grip tightly on the sword as a figure approaches into his line of sight. He quickly recognizes it as the ranch hand. 

“Is everything ok over there?” Twilight calls, making his way toward the smallest hero. He walks with a slight limp and Blue winces, wishing he could have stopped such an injury from occurring in the heat of battle. 

“I’m fine.” responds the blue hero, bluntly. “You look hurt.”

“It’s nothin’” Twilight waves off. “...Nothin’ the healer can’t fix anyway…”

Blue realises this might be the first time he’s spoken to Twilight by himself. He’s not much of a talker these days, so it doesn’t surprise him. Red and Green and even Vio have spoken to the ranch hand before though, so he supposes it was only a matter of time. 

Come to think of it, why does Twilight look so pleased?

The other Link is grinning from ear to ear as he speaks. “I just had to say, excellent work! Very excellent. How many did ya take down? At least three? Your battle skills are top notch, smith.” 

Almost immediately Blue feels his chest tighten as his face flushes hot. Oh Hylia. 

He can’t remember the last time he was praised for anything and suddenly the brimming sense of accomplishment and pride is immediately present and embarrassingly obvious. 

“Thanks…” Blue mumbles, turning his head away from the ranch hand in an attempt to hide the creeping blush. It’s pretty futile though when it spreads out all the way to the tips of his ears. 

Twilight says nothing more, but rather gives the smith a pat on the back with one last proud smile, limping away to wherever Hyrule was. 

As soon as Blue forfeits control of Four a barrage of inner voices follow suit. 

“Aww you’re blushing!!” Giggles Red. 

“Is that why you wanted to take control a little while longer? You wanted to be told you did a good job, eh?” Vio comments, with an undeniable tone of snark in his voice  

“Shut up!!”

All the teasing only further causes Four’s cheeks to turn a few shades darker as he thanks Hylia he’s a bit away from the others. 

Green can’t help but join in the teasing. “You did a good job, Blue!” 

“I’ll kill all of you!”

Four has to stifle an outward burst of laughter, calming himself down and allowing his cheeks to return to their usual color. He can see exactly what Blue would look like if they were split. Arms crossed, brows furrowed, a pout on his lips that is trying so desperately hard not to turn into a smile. 

It’s nice to know even the part of him that is tough as nails has an undeniable soft side. 

Chapter Text

“ Ah!”

A short, breathy gasp leaves the Hero Of Hyrule as he lets his knife clink to the bottom of the bucket. Instinctively he goes to suck at his thumb. 

“You ok?” Asks Sky next to him. There’s an air of amusement laced with worry in his voice. 

Hyrule removes his thumb from his mouth with an audible lip smack. “Yeah. Just nicked my finger.” He sighs, frustrated. 

Wild had injured himself earlier in a monster battle. This was how the duo found themselves sitting together peeling potatoes. They had all agreed to help take a load off dinner so as not to overwork the champion. For the most part it was going well… 

The only problem is that Hyrule’s most definitely not good at this. 

“You want me to finish off the last ones?” Sky offers sympathetically. “It won’t take long.” 

Hyrule brushes him off, huffing in stubborn determination. 

“I got this. I got this.”

Fetching his knife from the pile of peelings he goes back to removing the skin off the clunky (now slightly bloodstained) spud. Almost immediately, like some cruel joke from Hylia herself, Hyrule loses grip while trying to peel off the last of the skin. The potato shoots comically from his hand, rolling off into the distance. 

Sky can’t help but snort in laughter. 

“You sure you’ve got this?” 

Hyrule lets out a long, long sigh. 

“Seriously..” Sky hums, once he stops giggling. “Just let me finish this. It’s ok.”

Hyrule groans, gritting his teeth as he goes to pick up another. His posture looks more deflated. 

“I want to be useful…”

Sky’s expression softens a little. 

“Just.. just let me try! I know I’m not good but-“

The traveller pauses, sighing again and playing nervously with the knife in his hand before speaking, lower this time. 

“You uh, you seem good at this. Can you.. show me. How to, y’know?”

“How I peel them?”

“Yeah…”

It’s a battle to even ask and Sky can tell that the other Link is clearly embarrassed by his own lack of knowledge. Nonetheless he gives Hyrule a genuine smile before taking both of his hands. 

“Here.” The chosen hero hums, guiding Hyrule’s hand for him. 

“Peel them like this. Toward your thumb. Be gentle with it.”

The traveller’s eyes widen as the knife glides through potato flesh, smooth and effortless. He almost wants to slap himself now, knowing how easy the proper technique is. And to think he was fighting for his goddess damned life before this… 

“How are you so good?!” Hyrule blurts out. Sky chuckles. 

“It’s a bit like whittling. Well. It’s a lot easier. But you get used to these kinds of hand motions, I suppose.” 

A few more strokes in once his marvelling at this new technique is gone, Hyrule looks kind of glum again. 

“I’m such an idiot..”

“No you’re not.” Tuts Sky, finishing off the last spud. 

“What kind of h-“

No. Let’s not use the H word. 

“-person doesn’t know how to peel goddess damned potatoes?!”

“Hey” Sky shrugs, not even looking at him. “We all have our strengths. Yours are healing and fighting and being a wonderful friend.” Tossing the last potato into the bucket of freshly peeled ones, he turns to Hyrule with a smile. 

“And mine is peeling potatoes.”

Hyrule can’t help but laugh this time, letting out a small srnk. 

“You’re underselling yourself a bit there, cloudhead.”

“As are you, traveller.” The brunette hero retorts right back. 

“...touché.” 

The laughter starts again and Hyrule hopes that his eyes are telling enough to the other hero just how appreciative he is. It may seem like a mundane skill, but to Hyrule it’s just one more thing to make him feel useful. To make him feel worthy of being in this group of incredible heroes. 

The next time they have potatoes for dinner Hyrule is the first to volunteer on peeling duty. 

Chapter Text

Ever since the chain had arrived at Lon Lon Ranch, Time keeps catching the youngest of the group as his eyes drift idoly to the window overlooking the pasture. 

Wind is very distracted by something. 

His vacant gaze outside leaves some strange pit of worry in the leader’s stomach. It’s not like Wind to lose focus on a conversation, or to be so easily distracted, and Time can’t help but ask the burning question inside him once the duo have some relatively alone time. 

“What’s up, sailor?”

“Huh?” Wind is quickly snapped out of his focus. 

“What’s up?” Reiterates Time. “You’re very distracted by something out there.”

“Oh..” Wind seems a little embarrassed that the old man had caught on, fumbling with his shirt sleeve and looking away from Time’s eye. “Oh it’s nothing, it's just…”

He shifts in his seat, turning to face the window fully and pointing a finger out to the grassy field. 

“What’s that?”

Time follows the sailor’s point, his eye quickly landing on its obvious target. Epona, the old mare she is, grazing happily out on the grass. 

Time blinks. 

“Have you never seen a horse before?”

Wind purses his lips, shaking his head and though Time is utterly flabbergasted at this new knowledge he can’t help but feel bad for the look of guilt on the youngest’s face.

Time’s expression changes to a gentle smile as he leans closer down to Wind’s eye level. 

“Well, there’s a first time for everything, I suppose. Would you like to go and see her up close?” 

He swears Wind’s eyes nearly sparkle as the little sailor nods vigorously in enthusiasm. 

The duo make their way out to the pasture not long after as the summer sun shines down upon the lush green fields of the ranch. Making their way out to the middle of the field, Time puts two fingers to his mouth, letting out a loud fweeet as he whistles to Epona. Sure enough, the mare’s ears snap alert to the sound and she lets out a small whinny, trotting toward her rider. 

“Good girl!” The old man praises softly. He’s impressed after all this time Epona still remembers her commands. He can’t remember the last time he’d seen her, let alone got in the saddle. Yet she’s still as clever as she ever was. She arrives right by his feet in no time, nudging him with her snout as she lets out a few happy huffs and snorts. 

“Hello old girl.” Time speaks softly, running a hand down her neck. 

At this point Time remembers to look back over at the sailor and he quickly realises Wind’s previous enthusiasm isn’t quite as present as it was. Standing stiff, the sailor doesn’t look frightened, but he certainly looks cautious. Time can’t exactly blame him. Epona, as sweet and gentle as she is, is a big animal. For Wind’s first time seeing her in his life, Time can totally understand the apprehension. 

“Don’t worry.” Time assures. “She’s very gentle. You can pet her if you’d like?”

Wind timidly lifts a hand as Time shows him where to put it, small fingers running down along her snout. Quickly the sailor gets used to the motion. 

“Wow.” Breathes Wind, eyes transfixed on her. “She’s really soft.”

“Can I pet her uh, her hair?”

“That’s called a mane.” Time chuckles. 

“Can I pet it though?”

“Go ahead.” 

This time Wind’s hand gets tangled up in white and his expression changes to one of surprise. 

“It totally feels like hair, that’s so weird!-“ he quickly catches himself, so as not to offend the leader. “- In a cool way though I guess.” It only serves to make Time laugh more though. 

He tries to ignore the way his chest tightens seeing how utterly transfixed the youngest is on his old girl. He hopes Wind will remember this for the rest of his life… 

Suddenly from behind them a familiar voice calls out. 

“Boys! Dinner!”

“Coming honey!” Time replies to his wife, before turning to the sailor who looks a little downtrodden. “We can come back and give this old girl some more attention later. If you’re lucky she might even let you have a spin around the pasture. How does that sound?” 

He can’t help but smile wide at how starstruck the sailor looks at hearing that.  

“Now go help set the table, sailor.”

“Yes sir!”

And with that youthful energy Time wishes he had, Wind dashes inside. Malon watches him go, a similar smile on her face as she waits for her husband to make his own way back. By the time he reaches the door, she’s laughing. 

“What’s so funny?”

“You.”

“Me?”

The redhead moves over to cup his cheek, pushing his bangs behind his ear. Time leans into her touch. 

“You, with the kid. Who’da thought you had such a soft side?”

Time flushes slightly and Malon lets out another chortling laugh, pinching his cheek. “Don’t deny it, fairy boy! You’ve always had a soft spot for the little ones. I know.”

“Can you blame me?” Time huffs in amusement, swatting her away. “Given my upbringing?”

“Nah. I can’t can I?”

A beat. 

“How old is he?” she asks in a more hushed tone. 

“Thirteen.”

Malon sighs, looking down toward Time’s hand and brushing her fingers up against his. “Poor little blighter… being stuck with this burden at that age.” 

“I know…”

“Take care of him, won’t you Link?”

“Of course I will.” 

Chapter Text

Zelda is, by all means, incredibly happy to see her boyfriend again after all these months.

In fact she cannot really tell which of them had been more happy to see the other. The way Link had lifted her off her feet when he finally got a chance to hold her again, and the way she found tears streaming down her face had certainly left quite an impression for everyone in the Skyloft plaza that morning. Not to mention for Link’s new gang of friends. 

Link was very excited about those new friends too. 

Hand in hers the whole time, he had insisted on giving the chain a tour around their small floating island. From the academy all the way out to the empty spot where the statue of Hylia once stood. 

Zelda hadn’t minded at all. Actually seeing Link acting not too unlike a baby Remlit with his giddy energy was very very cute. 

As the day turned to evening, however, Zelda would continue to stay by her boyfriend as they went to arrange dinner plans. Not long after that she realised something was wrong. That excitement had been replaced with an air of anxiety that seemed contagious to her as well. Sitting in the Knight Academy with the eight other heroes, Zelda had been continuously eyeing her Link across the table. He’d been so quiet, but not in his usual way. It was an uneasy quiet. His face looked pale. Sometimes when the banter at the table picked up and the older one would let out booming laughter she swore she saw him wince. 

She’s not the kind to hold her tongue or sit and wait for something to happen, though. So she takes it upon herself to intervene. 

“Hey Link- er, my Link. Would you come with me for a moment?”

Link blinks, seemingly dazed and snapped back to reality when Zelda calls him. But he gets up to follow her nonetheless. Wordlessly, she leads him down toward her room. He doesn’t try to protest or even ask where they’re going which only concerns her more. 

“Alright, spill it.” She finally speaks when she closes the door behind them. “What’s wrong?” She hopes her authoritative tone comes through. Her father had dubbed that her “goddess voice”. 

Link shifts uncomfortably, looking down at the floor like a child caught stealing from the cookie jar. 

“It’s the um...it’s the air thing again…”

Zelda’s expression instantly softens. 

“Oh, Link…”

Link has always had this issue. She’d come to find out when they had first started making their way to and from the surface to Skyloft. Something about the air, they hypothesised. It certainly did feel different even just to breathe on the surface, even Zelda could tell. But whenever Link found himself back in the sky again he’d always felt dizzy, nauseous and sometimes it’d be accompanied by a headache. 

She almost wants to kick herself for not remembering his ailment. 

“Poor little chick. Why didn’t you say anything?” Zelda coes, ushering Link to her bed. He seems hesitant to follow but goes to sit on the duvet.

“I just. I didn’t wanna ruin the fun… It’s nothing really.”

“Does your head hurt?” Zelda questions. Link sinks in on himself a little, not answering verbally but his body language being a dead giveaway. “What about your stomach. Feeling sick?”. Link bites his lip. 

“Oh, Chick…”

“It’s ok! It’s ok, really I’m fine!” assures the brunette but Zelda quickly flashes him a look. 

“You’re not! The last thing you need is to push yourself right now.”

Link knows she’s right. She can tell. But his guilty puppy dog eyes do definitely break her heart. With a sigh she reaches out to rub circles in his back. 

“You don’t want them to know? Is that it?”

“Not really…” Link mumbles to the floor. “I...I guess it was just nice. To be able to have you all here together. I didn’t want that to be ruined by my stupid body…” 

Zelda moves over to lean her head into the crook of Link’s neck, pulling him close. Goddess what did she do to deserve the sweetest boy on earth. 

“There’ll be plenty of time for me to bond with them, chick. I promise you that.” Zelda assures softly. “For now you need to call it a night. C’mon. Get into bed. I’ll tell them you’re feeling unwell and we’re calling it quits.”

“But-“

“Nah-ah! No buts!” Zelda crosses her arms. “Just let me take care of you, ok?” 

Her authoritative voice is back and Link can say little to sway her, he knows that. Though Zelda can’t help but feel satisfied with her choice when she sees the look of relief on his face as his head hits the pillow. 

Not long afterwards, after a quick talk with the other heroes (all thankfully understandable of Link’s plight.) Zelda found herself next to him in bed again for the first time in months. And goddess she forgot how much she missed his presence as she spoons up against his back. 

“Mm Zel… did y… did ya wanna hear how that story ended… the one...the one that the kid was tellin’…” Link half whispers, half slurs in the darkness. 

“Chick, you’re barely conscious.” Zelda giggles, running a hand along his chest. “Rest now, love. There’ll be time tomorrow.”

“...I lov’ you Zel…”

“I love you too, sleepyhead.” 

On the positive side, once Link does wake up he quickly comes to find his altitude sickness had vanished now he was once again used to the Skyloft air. It’s just the fact he is woken up by an overly excited Groose, who had not gotten the memo that the hero had returned, barging into their room that was the unexpected part. 

Chapter Text

“Link?”

“Mmhm?”

“Link.” 

“Wh- wh?”

“Link it’s me you dipshit wake up.”

“Sh-Shadow?”

Four finally opens his eyes, already crusted over with sleep, to be met with one crimson and one blue pupil staring right down at him. He’s glad he has gotten used to the sight by now, otherwise it would certainly jolt one awake very quickly. 

“Shadow…” Four groans again, raising himself from his bedroll. It’s slap bang in the middle of the night. He can tell by the crescent moon shining down on the camp. 

“What’re you doing? How has no one seen you?” 

The shadow being stifles a laugh. “Your assigned babysitter fell asleep.” Sure enough, over on the log they had assigned for watch duty Sky is dead to the world. Four sighs. He wonders why they even bother putting him on watch in the first place. 

“What are you doing out?” The smith whispers, knowing despite Sky being passed out any of the others could wake up any minute. 

“I wanna show you something.”

“Right now?”

“Well I can’t come out during the day, so when do you suggest?” Shadow hums sarcastically. 

Four sighs again. Sleep is cancelled tonight, he supposes. He orders the shade to hide in his shadow as he goes to wake up Sky. He doesn’t want the chain to be left unattended, after all. Four makes some excuse about needing to use the bathroom, ignoring the way his shadow tugs at his feet in an excited manor. 

Once Sky is awake again and aware Four will be gone, they both wait until the smith walks deep enough into the woods before Shadow rises up from the ground, shifting into his corporeal form to float alongside him. 

“So…” Four speaks with a yawn. “What did you want to show me?…” 

Shadow moves to float in front of Four, flashing his light counterpart a sharp grin. “Ok so… I may have gone for a wander earlier-“

Four shoots the shade a look, his eyes reflecting violet in the moonlight. 

“Shadow you’re not supposed to be doing that.” The hero warns. Shadow rolls over onto his back, letting mauve locks of hair fall down the side of his face. 

“Link, do you have any idea how boooooring having to stay in your shadow all night is?” The shade whines. “You can’t blame me for wanting a little bit of fun during the only time I can take on this form.” 

“But what if someone sees you!” Hisses four in a hushed tone. “What if they see you?”  

“Nobody’s seeing me!” Snaps the shadow, rolling on to his belly with crossed arms. “Just listen, m’kay?” Reluctantly, Four closes his mouth. Walk now, lecture later he decides. 

“So. I took a wander and turns out scarfy bastard was right earlier. There is a village nearby. In fact you idiots would have reached it if you’d have only walked another ten minutes or so.” Shadow looks thoroughly amused by the unimpressed look on Link’s face. “But there’s something pretty damn cool in the village I think you should see…”

“What?”

“It’s a surprise~” 

Shadow is indeed right, much to Four’s dismay. After just a few more minutes of walking they arrive at a quiet and secluded village. So much for getting to sleep in a proper bed tonight too, it seemed… Though the entire village appears fast asleep, Four ushers Shadow back into his regular form just to be safe. His shadow still pulls at his feet, dragging him and gesturing him in the right direction. Away from all the empty inns and closed shops, Shadow brings Four on a path to a large building that stands off by itself. The walls are adorned with fancy brickwork and an arched wooden door stands tall at the entryway. 

Four gets caught up marvelling in the architecture for a moment, barely even registering Shadow take his corporeal form again until he’s floating right in his face. 

“Pretty cool, huh? But it’s what’s inside we’re here for. If you get me close enough to the door I should be able to get under using my shadow form and then I can-“

“Woah woah woah!” Four interrupts the shade’s ramblings with a look of horror. “Shadow we are not breaking into a building for Hylia’s sake!” 

Shadow actually looks surprised by that. 

“Who cares! Nobody is around to see us!”

“Shadow this is a crime!”

“Link Smith Jr you have never once cared about committing crimes. What’s gotten you so uptight, eh? Been spending too much time around goodie two-shoes heroes?” 

Four pinches the bridge of his nose with a deep, deep sigh. He’s lucky at least one part of him loves this man.

“Shadow, if you break into this building and we get caught we are literally toast, y’know that right?” 

“Hey.” Shadow replies, this time with his usual sassy tone vanished for once. “I scouted this out already. It’s safe. Just… trust me, ok? I really wanna show you this…” 

Something about his shift in tone and big pleading eyes makes the hero cave. Goddess damn it. He’s still not immune to the shade’s manipulation tactics all these years later, is he? With an uneasy nod, Four walks over to the large doorway as Shadow shifts into the floor, diving underneath the door crack. Several agonising minutes tick by as Four scans the village below, eyes glued like a hawk to try and spot any potential activity. Luckily though, it’s quiet as ever as the door finally shifts behind him and he turns around to see a smug Shadow, swirling a key around on his finger. 

“Come on in!”

Stepping into the spacious building, four finally gets a good look at the interior. His eyes go wide. 

A library. A massive library. There are shelves upon shelves of leather bound books. He can sense some of their age even in the dim moonlight. Hylia, this is maybe the largest library he’s ever seen…

Looking back over to Shadow with a knowing smirk, suddenly the shade looks a little less proud of himself and a little more flustered. 

“Look!” He barks defensively before Four can even get a word in. “I wanted to bring you to your favourite place!” 

“ My favourite place?” Four responds, slyly, a flash of purple in his pupils. “You don’t think this is showing just a little bit of favouritism, hmm?”

“Shuddup…”

The smith lets out a quiet chuckle, pulling the shade down from his floating position by the collar and making sure to stare him down for just long enough to fluster him before moving in for a short kiss. 

“You’re going soft Shadow…” Vio hums once their lips break and Shadow lets out an offended, embarrassed squeak. 

“Shuddup smartass!” He snaps “I just wanted to actually do something with you! Since you’re soooo busy sleeping at night…” 

Four gives the shade a huff of amusement at his antics, but quickly feels a small bout of guilt hit his gut. He hasn’t really had much time to talk to Shadow recently. It’s especially difficult trying to hide your living shadow self from eight other heroes feeling particularly wary of dark beings at the moment…

“No more of these shenanigans at night, Shadow.” Four orders. “I’ll make more time for us, I promise. But no more, y’know, actual crimes? Ok?” 

“I guesss.” Shadow feigns upset and Four playfully rolls his eyes, smirking at the shade. 

“But now that we’re here…” Shadow responds with equal playfulness. “I doubt bird brain is worried about us. He’s probably asleep again. Y’know there’s nothing stopping us from having a bit of an explore…” 

They are trespassing. They are trespassing in a library they don’t even know. Every part of this could get both of them in serious trouble. Four knows this. 

Maybe a small peak around wouldn’t hurt…