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Chapter Text

Thanks to the portal, the boys had ended up in Wild’s timeline, and were peacefully resting inside Wild’s house in Hateno.

It was also one of those days where the effects of the portal were so bad that Four had to split.

Fortunately, thanks to the shelter, the chain was thrilled to not have to deal with any monsters or other problems. 

Wild cooked up a pot full of Cream of Vegetable Soup for everyone. Hyrule had attempted to help him but was promptly dragged away by Twilight, who muttered under his breath that, “No one should ever let Hyrule near a stove.”

It was all quiet. After all, the brothers had spent most of the evening sharing light banter and relaxing. 

Then out of nowhere, Red clapped his hands and exclaimed, “We should all talk about our love interests!”

Warriors choked on his drink and started coughing loudly.  Wild almost dropped the pot he was cleaning. Green sputtered and started blushing. Hyrule, Twilight, Vio, and Wind just looked at him as if he grew a second head. Time simply rolled his eyes.

Blue, strangely flustered, hissed, “You can’t just say that Red!” Sky, however, was already waving his hand saying, “Oh! Pick me! Can I go first?”

Legend growled, “No Sky. If we let you talk, you won’t shut up unless you’re knocked out by one of Wild’s lynels.”

“But Sun is so-!”

“WE KNOW!” Legend exclaimed, exasperated.

Warriors smirked. “Are you jealous of Sky, Legend? Do you have someone back home?”

Legend’s glare rivaled Time’s Disappointing Face™, which made Warriors shrink back a little bit. “How about you, pretty boy? Got any girls to go with your looks?”

Without lifting his gaze from his book, Vio said, “Hey Legend, is that your best attempt at a pick-up line?”

“Oh please,” he waved him off, “pretty boy ain’t my type. I’ll have you know, I’ve already got someone,”

Shocked silence.

Then Legend’s eyes widened right when he uncharacteristically flushed a dark red that crawled up from his neck, to his face, and to the tips of his ears as he realized his mistake. 

They were no longer in shocked silence.

“WOAH LEGEND HAS A GIRLFRIEND?!”

“OH COME ON, I WAS SO SURE I’D WIN THAT BET!”

“I would have never guessed.”

“She could never be cuter than Sun though.”

“SKY!”

“But is she cute?”

“Of course not!”

“Leg’s got a girlfriend!~”

“Statistically speaking, that’s impossible.”

Green spared a glance towards Vio, who still hadn’t looked up from his book. “Vio, you’re out to get Legend today, two roasts in a row!”

“Hm.” Vio closed his book, which caused several heads to turn. Silence, once again.

Then he smirked. He walked towards Legend with a slow, steady pace and very much audible steps. Suddenly, he shoved his index finger into his chest. His voice dripping with sarcasm, Vio said, “I’m sure we all want to know who your boyfriend is.”

Even more silence. No, wait, that’s a lie. The chain couldn’t handle it anymore. Most especially Legend.

The chaos that ensued could be heard from the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab. Wind’s audible gasp was the loudest sound to come out of his mouth ever--”A BOYFRIEND?!”--Green caught secondhand embarrassment, Blue yelled at Vio asking him why he “always had to be dramatic” while Vio shrugs, Time looked up and prayed to Hylia for patience, Wild demanded Legend to tell them who Legend was dating whether it was a guy or a girl, Sky was in his own world thinking of Sun not listening to the conversation but once Vio spoke, he joined Wild in stealing information out of Legend. Oddly enough, so did Twilight.

As for Legend, he adamantly tried to maintain his pride by deflecting Wild, Sky, and Twilight.

“My love life is not something I advertise, and it’s definitely not something I’m telling you three idiots.”

“But Legend,” Wild insisted, “Who could possibly love someone as callous as you?”

“WILD I SWEAR TO HYLIA-”

But at that moment, they all felt a tug in their gut and a portal showed up above them.

More specifically, above Legend.

“................aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

BOOM!

“Ow ow ow ow…”

With a familiar, purple rabbit costume with the hood covering his face, Ravio was now sprawled out on top of Legend.

Ravio looked up as he rubbed his head removing the hood in the process. His green eyes scanned the room before they widened with excitement as they fell on the group of Hylia’s chosen heroes of courage.

With a gasp, Ravio exclaimed, “MR. HERO’S FAMILY! If you guys are here, then where’s Mr. Hero?”

With an expression that said “Just end me now,” Time motioned with his hands towards the veteran, suppressing a sigh.

“R-Ravio, you’re squishing me.”

At that moment, Ravio noticed that he was lying across the veteran. “Oh my!” Ravio promptly scooted off of him. “How long have you been there?”

Legend sat up and brushed imaginary dust off of his shoulders. With an unnaturally calm voice, he said, “You were the one who fell right on top of me. I’ve been here the whole time.”

Using both of his hands, Ravio grabbed Legend’s own and brought them close to his chest, pulling the veteran face-to-face with Ravio. With a saccharine smile that enhanced his cheerful features, he exclaimed, “It’s nice to see you again, Link!”

Like a goldfish out of the water, Legend’s mouth opened, then closed. Then opened again. Then closed again. For the first time since they’ve met the veteran, he was at a loss for words.

Slightly confused, Warriors broke in saying, “So Legend, who’s your friend?”

Instantly, Legend’s face burned an even darker crimson. His widened blue eyes darted back and forth in an attempt to avoid Ravio’s enthusiastic gaze, and he tried his best to softly push Ravio away from him. 

Unfortunately, Ravio wasn’t going to let go of his close friend that easily. “What are you going to do tonight, Link?” he asked enthusiastically. “Are you free to hang out?”

“Um,” Wind interrupted, “Ravio, right?”

Ravio whipped his head around with shock because he forgot all about the other heroes once he set his eyes upon Legend. “Oh my goodness, I forgot about you all!” He quickly let go of Legend’s hands to introduce himself to Wind. Legend visibly deflated, his shoulders losing all tension from being in close proximity with Ravio.

Ravio adjusted his scarf as Sheerow softly landed on his head. With a short bow, Ravio said, “I’m Ravio, a traveling merchant for the lands of Hyrule and Lorule! Link here is my boyfriend!”

The veteran tensed up again just as the chain turned to Legend and screamed, “THAT’S YOUR BOYFRIEND?!”

As if his brain short-circuited and went on auto pilot, Legend pivoted and ran out the door, much to Ravio’s confusion. “Hm? Why did he leave? Does he have to use the restroom?”

Hyrule stood up from his seat. “Wait up, Legend!” He grabbed his sword and ran out the door to follow the veteran.

“I should go too,” Twilight announced. He also took his sword with him and followed the traveler out the door.

He smiled at Twilight, “Thanks, Twi. Now let’s see where Legend ran off to.”

Chapter Text

Why is he here why is he here why is he here why is he here why is he here-

Legend just ran away. He couldn’t take the humiliation anymore. First Red decided to mention relationships, then Sky--oh Hylia, Sky could talk about Sun until the day he died--and then Ravio showed up out of nowhere.

He just couldn’t catch a break. The others most likely noticed how out of character his actions were when Ravio fell on top of him, and then he also had the audacity to pull him closer than necessary. Sure, they were in a relationship, but Ravio was the one who confessed. Why did Ravio like him of all people? He only accepted because he thought it would’ve been rude to decline. But then he realized what he had signed up for, and for fear of history repeating itself, he’s now terrified of being anywhere near him.

Him, scared? Hylia’s probably laughing her ass off at me right now, that jerk.

Caught up in his thoughts, he was startled when he found that, at some point, he had tripped and fallen face first into...a pond? Spitting out water, he brushed his soaking wet hair with his fingers in an attempt to neaten it up before taking a good look at his surroundings.

It seemed that the pond he was in resembled that of a broken heart. Almost too perfectly, as if it were intentional. The rock in the middle of the pond created the jagged line that splintered the heart in two. The clear water most likely only reached up to his knees in depth, and the dark green lilies adorned the top of each piece of the broken heart delicately.

It was as if nature itself was mocking him. What were the chances that he was going to fall into a pond shaped like a broken heart to remind him of his severed friendships?

What truly took his breath away was the stunning view of the sky. There were stars all across the sky, which enhanced the painted sunset red-orange that spread across the western horizon. The milky white crescent moon embellished the night sky as it watched over the vast land of Hyrule with its peaceful rivers and its colossal mountains. When he looked at what was below the mountain peak he was on, he saw the soft, amber lights that illuminated each building in Hateno Village.

Legend stood there, taking in the view when he heard footsteps. Two sets of them.

With his hand on the hilt of his sword, he spun around and yelled out, “Who’s there?”

His intense grip on his sword relaxed when he saw Hyrule and Twilight gasping for air at the other end of the pond.

Wheezing, Hyrule forced out, “We...didn’t know...you were going to...hike up this...entire mountain.” 

Once he finished catching his breath, Twilight asked, “Why did’ya run off like that, Legend? You’ve never gone up here.”

Why did he run off? Sure he was nervous around Ravio, but despite that, he’s used to being around him. This time was no different, even if he did get a little too close for comfort around his friends.

“I…”

His throat closed up as if a scarf was wrapped tightly around it. Words seemed to fail him, because how else could he say this without shaming himself?

...Light rain began to fall around them, the smell of something unidentifiable filled the air as the beautiful sky that was once seen moments ago disappeared from view.

Suddenly, Twilight’s hand fell on his shoulder, startling Legend. With a soft smile, he said, “Do you get anxious around Ravio?”

Sheepish and unable to say anything himself, the flustered veteran simply nodded.

Twilight, being the older brother that he is to Legend, asked him to lie down on the grass with him. He lied down in between Hyrule and Twilight, and closed his eyes.

“Peaceful, ain’t it? Despite the rain?”

As a cool breeze on the mountain picked up, Legend answered, “Yeah.”

This place did make him remember how peaceful things were back before he started his adventures ten years ago. Because he never lived in the castle with Fable, he could go out to his own front yard and lie down on the grass with his uncle. He would tell his crazy stories from when he was a knight, and Legend would tell stories from his own daily ventures with some of the village kids.

All of that changed one fateful night, when his uncle was murdered inside the castle.

It’s been ten years, so he’s gotten over his death, but he can’t help but miss him some days.

...More clouds came in, summoning more rain from the skies above.

“Tell me, do you ever feel a strange sadness as dusk falls?”

Legend opened an eye to look at him. “What makes you say that?”

Twilight’s wink was the only indication that he heard what Legend said, as if saying let me finish . “They say it’s the only time when our world intersects with theirs. The only time we can feel the lingering spirits who have left our world. That is why loneliness always pervades the hour of twilight.”

A pause. He felt his heart tighten with each word he spoke.

Then Twilight sighed. “It’s one of the most memorable things that my dad Rusl told me just before the start of my journey. At first, I only thought that the two worlds were ours and the Twilight Realm. Now, I don’t think that’s necessarily true.”

Rolling onto his side, he turned to face Legend. “While I do believe he was originally referring to the Twilight Realm, I don’t think it’s limited to those two worlds. There are different ones out there, after all. In addition to my Twilight Realm, there’s your Dark World, or Lorule. It could also refer to the afterlife, or the land of our dreams.”

The last one made Legend flinch. D-does he know?

As if he really did know something the veteran didn’t, Twilight continued, “Sure you’re anxious around Ravio, but is that really anxiety...

...or is attachment really that frightening to you?”

Legend froze.

…

...The rain came down harder now, the sunlit sky now a dreary gray, a shadow of what it once was.

...

Dammit Twilight, don’t call me out like that.

...

Quietly, he confirmed with a soft nod. His cheeks promptly flushed a light pink, more ashamed of himself than embarrassed. 

He wouldn’t have said anything more, but something inside him broke like an overflowing dam, making him unable to stop his words from flowing out of his mouth. 

It almost felt like the sky surrounding him was weighing down on him.

“I’m just not sure what to do. With Ravio I mean. We’re together but I feel like there’s something wrong. I-I don’t know how to explain it! I think it’s me. Y-you’re right. I think I really am s-scared of being with him because the second I try to find some kind of semblance of a normal life, Hylia decides, ‘Hey errand boy, you need to go save my world again’ after all I’ve done. It’s frustrating! You’d think that after six adventures I’d finally get a break and maybe not curse everyone I’ve ever loved, which so far has really only been four people in my entire life, two of which are dead. Gone forever. Maybe I should just stay away from everyone, that way they can at least stay alive and to hell with this world-“

He felt a sudden weight rolling onto him. A smaller figure, too short to be Twilight, was giving him a tight hug. Oh wait, that’s Hyrule.

Legend completely forgot that he was venting to Twilight with Hyrule-- his successor --listening as well. Does Hyrule think less of him now because he’s been such a crybaby? Hyrule has it much worse than him, with his entire Hyrule a complete, desolate wasteland full of monsters still roaming around for the hero’s blood. Hyrule must’ve found out that the great Hero of Legend is nothing but a weakling who can’t handle slight inconveniences like losing two of the closest people he’s ever met to the hands of death.

Could this day get any more embarrassing?

But then, Hyrule spoke. “Legend. Can you hear me?”

He slowly nodded, but Hyrule insisted, “Legend, you have to talk to me. I’ll ask again, can you hear me?”

“...yes ‘Roolie, I can hear you.”

Hyrule chuckled and breathed in his shirt. “It’s okay to have feelings, y’know. Everyone has them. There’s not a single person in this world who isn’t afraid of something. For me, it’s reviving Ganon again because the Eyes of Ganon got too much of my blood. For Twilight...well, I suppose it would be getting exiled because of Wolfie. But you, Legend, for you, it’s losing people close to you. I truly find that admirable, because most people would think about themselves first before they thought about others.”

Confused, Legend mumbled, “Isn’t me asking for people not to leave me selfish though?”

Hyrule shook his head. “Legend, wanting people by your side isn’t selfish. Wanting Ravio by your side isn’t selfish. Your fear is that Ravio will leave you just like the other two people you’ve mentioned. That won’t happen again, Legend. Ravio wants to be with you. From what I can tell, he’s smitten and would do anything to keep your love and affection.”

“B-but,” Legend tried to refute, “they...they told me that they would never leave me, and yet t-they b-both d-did a-and-”

All of a sudden, Hyrule sat up from being slumped over Legend and pressed a finger to the veteran’s lips to silence him. He stared back into Hyrule’s surprisingly fierce brown eyes, shocked that Hyrule would resort to something so bold for him. In a smooth, yet strong voice, Hyrule spoke, “Legend, listen to me, and I will only say it once. Loneliness is poisonous, one that, when untreated, spreads like wildfire until there’s nothing but ashes left in its wake. So, I want you to go to Ravio tonight, and talk to him. You can’t keep this to yourself because that’ll only make things worse. Just talk to Ravio, tell him how you feel without holding anything back, and then let either of us know how it went.”

Hyrule paused, then his gaze softened as he gave him one of his trademark smiles. “Please listen to me, Legend. Trust me, you’ll feel a lot better once you get that out of your system.”

...The rain slowly began to calm, the gloomy clouds slowly fading away to nothingness.

The traveler rolled off of the veteran, leaving him with a vacant feeling of yearning in the absence of where Hyrule once was.

Legend felt almost…completely alone in that moment.

Looking up at the stars and the remaining clouds in the sky, he decided that he would try to open up. Even just a little bit, to some of his closest friends. To Ravio, especially. Praying, even to Hylia that they wouldn’t be taken from him.

The thought still terrified him. But he will do better.

...The rain and the clouds were now gone. Only the sunset and the stars remained.

Just before Hyrule stood up to leave, Legend grabbed Hyrule’s hand, surprising both him and his successor. “Hyrule...thank you. For the advice, I mean.”

Unaccustomed to seeing his predecessor’s vulnerability, Hyrule simply stared at him for a moment before breaking out into a warm grin. “No problem, that’s what friends are for.” 

Legend’s thoughts drifted back to Ravio. After hearing Hyrule’s guidance, Legend was filled with a little bit more fortitude than before. Maybe...just maybe, he could pull this off and conquer his fear. He was a hero of courage after all.

He stood up from his spot on the wet grass next to Twilight, who, at some point in the conversation, had turned into Wolfie without him noticing. Glancing down from the mountain, Legend replied with a hint of softness, “Well then, I guess I should try to play a better part as a friend...or maybe even a little more than that.”

Wolfie nudged Legend’s foot affectionately with his snout as if saying Just go talk to him already.

He chuckled, “Fine, fine, I’ll get going.”

The group of three slowly made their way back to Hateno Village, closer than they were the hour before.

…

...The broken heart of Ebon had morphed into something greater. What remained was a heart that wasn’t quite healed, but a heart that had grown with the rain. 

...Perhaps more than one broken heart had been filled that day.

Chapter Text

“Sooooo…you guys are Mr. Hero’s family?” Ravio questioned, in an attempt to break the silence.

“Uh...yeah, something like that.” Red replied with a light chuckle. It was complicated after all.

“Um, Ravio, what exactly do you mean to Le-Link?” Wind remarked, slightly worried about Legend. “I mean, I think that’s the first time I’ve seen him scramble out the door all flustered like that.” 

Red saw Ravio’s expression flicker into something more somber, before it returned to the cheerful state it was as if it never changed.

“Well, Link is someone I really care about.” He simply stated. 

Time pulled out a chair, offering a seat to Ravio. “I’m honestly surprised he never mentioned you, considering that you two are...you know.” Ravio offered a small smile as he gratefully sat down.

“That isn’t too surprising actually,” Wild reasoned. “Like, have any of us heard Legend talk about his personal life?”

Silence.

Wild leaned back in his chair. “I rest my case.”

Ravio is the only one that seemed unsurprised by the comment. “Mr. Hero has never been one for talking about personal matters.” He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. His smile faded as he continued, “To be honest, I sometimes wonder why he ever agreed to becoming anything more than friends considering that he always tries to avoid any relationships.”

Red curiously asked, “Has he always been like this around you? Oh, I-I don’t mean to intrude on anything that isn’t my business,” he quickly held up his hands before continuing. “It’s just…he didn’t seem to greet you differently than anyone else.”

Ravio looked puzzled for a moment before he chuckled. “We never exactly made any arrangements like ‘normal relationships.’” He used finger quotes for emphasis. “Sure, Link means a lot to me, but we’re taking things at our own pace.”

Blue didn’t seem to like that much. “At your own pace? If you two like each other why don’t you just go for it? Stop dancing around each other ‘cause that’s dumb.”

Ravio paused, as if considering his next few sentences. Then he admitted, “As much as I want that, I don’t think Link is ready for such a big commitment. He might still be stuck in the past.”

Suddenly, the air seemed to get so tense that Red could cut it with a knife. He didn’t want to know anything that Legend wasn’t prepared to share, after all.

“Stuck in the past?”

Red internally sighed. Of course Vio had no such reservations.

Ravio smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes the way it normally did. “One of his adventures...was not kind to him. To make a long story short, he fell in love with a girl who was eventually...taken away from him. I won’t go into details, but that’s the main reason why he’s afraid to open up and accept anyone else’s love. He’s still traumatized from that adventure. I don’t think he’ll want to start anything with me because nothing I’ve done could ever compare to her love for him and his love for her.”

Red was taken aback at how Ravio could talk about himself like that. Sure Legend must’ve gone through some awful situations, but that doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t be able to find happiness with Ravio.

“What do you mean by that?” Red snapped. “Do you honestly think that Legend doesn’t love you back? Because of some mystery girl who’s no longer here?”

Everyone blinked. They didn’t expect Red of all people to be the first to oppose Ravio’s reasoning. Red couldn’t bring himself to stop however. He needed to get this through Ravio’s thick head.

He took on a tone of voice that Red would use to reprimand Blue. “Maybe Legend hasn’t moved on yet, maybe not. But that doesn’t give you a chance to put yourself down! You, of all people, should know how distant Legend is with everyone! If you stay away from him for fear of not being enough for him, then he’ll think that you want to leave him too! Don’t jeopardize your friendship, your relationship, whatever you wanna call it for something that stupid, Ravio!”

Cowering under Red’s righteous rage, Ravio squeaked, “But what if he doesn’t want to be with anyone anymore? What if he doesn’t see me in that way?”

“You don’t decide that yourself!” Red stepped closer to him. “You don’t know whether he sees you as a romantic partner or not.” Another step. “None of us do, actually.” Another step. “Legend is the type of person who doesn’t reveal anything about himself, so make him talk to you!” He stopped right in front of Ravio, cornering him with his back pressed against the wall. In a final, accusatory voice, Red yelled, “Ask him out! Make it clear to him! Let him know for sure what your feelings for him are, and be sure to ask him back and get an answer!”

At that moment, the only thing that could be heard in that room was the sound of Red heaving for air. He never liked being angry at other people, but after years of living with Blue in his head half the time, Red had gotten better at defending his beliefs.

Ravio took a few moments to absorb Red’s argument. He took a deep breath, and exhaled. Then another one, and exhaled. One final one, and exhaled. Ravio then looked up, made eye contact with Red, and gave him a soft yet trusting smile. 

“Thank you for yelling some sense into me. T-Truly, I’m grateful!” He waved his hands to ease Blue’s disbelieving glare. “I’ll talk to him, you guys. I’ll tell him the truth.”

Red brightened up and smiled back at him. “That’s great, Ravio! I’m glad I could help!”

Warriors nodded. “Yes, truly that’s great and all, but...” He smirked. “Have you two ever k-”

“Committed arson together?” Ravio finished with his eyes sparkling with excitement and a smile.

…

“T-that’s not what I was going to ask but now I’m curious,” Warriors said with a hint of concern.

Clapping his hands together, Ravio exclaimed, “Well, it all started when-”

All of a sudden, the front door slammed open to reveal Legend, Hyrule, and Twilight, looking like drowned bokoblins.

Goodness, did it rain at some point? Red was too caught up in his conversation with Ravio to notice.

Staring straight into Ravio’s eyes, Legend hissed, “Ravio, no-”

“Ravio yes,” Ravio countered with a cheeky grin. “You have to admit, Link, it was a blast.”

Slightly growling due to the pun, Legend walked briskly past the others and got up close to Ravio’s face. “Ravio,” Legend warned, “do I need to tell them about the day you lost-”

Slapping a hand over the veteran’s mouth, Ravio begged, “No! Please! Anything but that!”

Finally noticing the close proximity, Legend’s face blushed a deep crimson. He looked like he was going to book it, but seemed to decide otherwise, and relaxed. But then he abruptly grabbed Ravio’s wrist, blurted out a short “Come with me,” and promptly yanked him out the door and closed it behind him.

Wind turned to look at the others with a smug grin. Unfortunately, Red knew that the look on his face couldn’t mean anything good.

Once Legend pulled Ravio out of Wild’s house, he turned left and took him to Wild’s backyard where there was a small pond and a tree for some privacy. 

Still holding Ravio’s wrist, he stopped just underneath the tree.

“Um, Link?” Ravio nervously asked. “Are you okay? What do you need to talk about?”

Legend took a deep breath. He took Ravio outside for a reason, and he wasn’t going to back out now. Hyrule and Twilight would scold him for doing so when he had such a perfect opportunity.

He exhaled, and without turning around, he asked, “Ravio…can you be honest with me?”

Though he gave Legend a confused expression, Ravio reassured him, “I’ll always be honest with you, Mr. Hero!”

A blush crept up to his face, but steeling himself once more, he let go of Ravio’s wrist and began, “Is it selfish of me to want people to stay with me?”

Not expecting such a question, Ravio blinked a few times before saying, “Could you be more specific for me? I’m not sure if I understand exactly what you mean by that.”

He almost didn’t elaborate. He almost gave up. He almost wanted to laugh it off and say that it was nothing and that he was being dumb, but once again, he was reminded of Hyrule’s words to him on top of Ebon Mountain.

“From what I can tell, he’s smitten and would do anything to keep your love and affection.”

If Ravio was truly in love with him, he would be able to give Legend a solid response.

Once again, he gathered up his courage, and Legend spoke.

“I’ve been adventuring for ten years. I’ve met loads of people, but I’ve never gotten close to them because they would always leave me or pretend I never existed after I saved their lives. In fact, during my first adventure, I was accused of kidnapping Zelda and had a bounty on my head. Because of that, I’ve always been alone. That was, until you came along.” 

Finally, Legend turned around and made eye contact with Ravio. “At the start of my fifth adventure, you showed up from Lorule and asked to stay at my place. Ever since that day, I’ve never truly been alone anymore. But…” he paused as the main purpose to why he wanted to talk to Ravio approached. Shaking his head, Legend continued, “I-I’m scared. Scared that one day you’ll leave me too like the others. Scared that one day I wake up and realize that this was all a dream and that I’m just going insane and that you and the others were never real to begin with. I don’t want this to be a dream. I want this to be real. All this kindness that I never had for ten years, I want it to be real. Is...is that selfish of me, Ravio? To wish for this to be real? To wish for people to stay with me? To wish that they wouldn’t leave me all alone ?”

It wasn’t until Ravio approached him and gingerly wiped tears from his eyes that Legend noticed he had started crying during his monologue. Soon after, Ravio threw his arms around Legend and pulled him into a tight hug. Gradually, Legend comprehended that Ravio was trying to comfort him. As foreign as the idea of someone comforting him was, Legend was certain that Ravio meant it. Slowly, Legend lifted his arms with slight hesitancy before settling around Ravio’s waist, and pulled him in tightly in a warm hug. 

They stood there embracing each other under the silvery crescent moon with only the stars and the flora around them as witnesses.

After what seemed like hours later, Ravio carefully unwrapped his arms from around Legend’s shoulders to softly clutch them instead. He gave him a gentle smile and said, “Link, let me tell you a story.” 

Legend almost had to do a double take, but he knew Ravio was being genuine, so he nodded and decided to go along with it.

Ravio took a deep breath before he spoke softly, “There once was a purple bunny.” 

He blinked. “...Is this going to be a serious story or one that you would tell a child?” Legend said with his normal level of sarcasm slightly lower than normal. 

“Just listen to me, Link,” Ravio shook his head lightly before continuing. “This purple bunny lived an average life. He wanted to live, but was too cowardly to put others before himself, and because of that, he had always been alone. Occasionally stealing something, selling things off for a decent profit, always fending for himself without relying on anyone’s help. That was, until he saw a bunny like him. Well, not exactly like him, but we’ll get to that.”

Legend raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

“This pink bunny was a hero, and not just ‘Oh that bunny saved the princess from certain death!’ He was a real hero. He was willing to sacrifice himself to save everything. He was living an honest life, too. He didn’t steal from others because he helped others without expecting anything in return time and time again. The purple bunny had never seen someone like that. Someone who was the embodiment of courage. The embodiment of a true hero.”

At this point, a slight blush adorned Legend’s face as he realized what--or rather who --this story was about.

Ravio continued, “While the purple bunny always ran from his problems, the pink bunny always fought them head on, no matter how difficult they were. The purple bunny admired that trait of his. So, one day, the purple bunny decided to try and gain some of that courage. The pink bunny was always busy with one quest or another, so once the purple bunny saw him going through so much, he did something that he hadn’t done before because he had always been too afraid to do so; to finally let himself love.”

Ravio held a warm smile directed at Legend as he finished his sentence.

After a few moments, Legend spoke quietly, something barely above a whisper, something meant to only be heard by Ravio.

“Th-the pink bunny had his own secrets and fears, too, y’know. He always tried to help, sure, but he was--and had always been--afraid of losing those important to him.”

Legend inhaled before he continued, “He met the purple bunny purely by chance. Living with him was a choice, but growing to love him was out of his control, and that terrified him.”

Ravio listened patiently but after hearing that last sentence, his eyes flickered up to meet Legend’s.

Even though his voice wavered, Legend pushed on, convincing himself that he needed to do this. “The pink bunny had never told the purple bunny about this fear, and as fears do, it slowly grew worse over time. He was afraid of being ignored or rejected, but when the purple bunny confessed his feelings, the fears that went through his head were even worse. What if he didn’t mean it? What if he leaves? What if he realizes I’m not who he thinks I am? The same pattern, over and over again.”

Legend closed his eyes as he finally admitted, “Which is why, the pink bunny ran from his feelings--or rather, the cause of his feelings.” He opened his eyes once more and met Ravio’s.

“The pink bunny eventually got some much needed advice from his friends on the top of a twilit hill. With what some would call courage, he stopped running from his feelings for fear of the past repeating itself and let himself finally admit three simple words. Those three simple words of…” 

He smiled freely.

“I love you.”

Ravio immediately burst out into a bright smile at the confession. Legend felt the weight on his chest fully disappear, as if the world was letting him bask in the feeling of finally releasing his bottled up emotions from inside himself. 

This feeling only increased as he felt Ravio pull him into a chaste kiss, and time seemed to have skidded to a complete stop. It conveyed everything Ravio had been wanting to tell him ever since they met, and it told him all the words he hadn’t told him yet; his feelings, his wishes, his willingness to simply be with him and ask for nothing more.

It was so warm and full of complete and unbridled love.

The kiss didn’t last long, but the residual happiness the kiss had caused lingered as Ravio lay his head in the crook of Legend’s neck. “I love you too, Link. I love you more than you could ever imagine.”

After some time, the two sat down at the trunk of the tree, Ravio sunk down to the base and leaned back onto the tree and let themselves relax.

Ravio pulled Legend onto his lap. The flustered veteran attempted to hide his embarrassment by nuzzling his head into Ravio’s chest. 

They stayed there in silence for a few minutes, just cuddling peacefully under the stars.

That was, until Ravio commented, “Say, did we ever finish that story?”

Legend wasn’t expecting that comment. “...did you get attached to the story itself and not the message it was conveying?” he replied with a hint of amusement.

Ravio replied, “I mean, I get that it was symbolic of us and all but was the story really over?”

“Well,” Legend thought out loud, “I suppose our story isn’t over yet, either.”

“Do you think we’ll get a happy ending to our story?”

Legend chuckled and turned his gaze to wink at Ravio. “Don’t worry, Honeybun, I know we will.”

\\\\\\Bonus//////

“Have they kissed yet?!”

“Red stop pushing!” Blue hissed.

“Guys look-! They're actually talking to each other! This is too cute-” Twilight replied.

“Wild, can you take a photo of this? I want to tease Legend about this later since they're just being too darn cute.” Warriors commented.

“Don’t worry Wars,” he said coolly, “I’ve been recording everything.”

“C’mon we need to give them some privacy.” Sky said, attempting to not so subtly get a glance at the pair in the process.

“Wait, wait wait wait- look! THEY’RE KISSING!!!” Hyrule blurted out. 

That caught Wind’s attention, “They are?! Can someone lift me up? I can’t see them.” Wind cried, while cursing at his small stature.

Time then pulled the curtains to cover the windows from view, “Alright children, let’s give them some space. Besides,” he smirked, his inner child seeping through his serious walls, “We’ll have plenty of time later to tease them. Pun one hundred percent intended.”

\The End\