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There was a knock on the door, a bit of laughter, and the sound of footsteps. Link ignored the sounds and continued to write.
'Okay, honestly? It's one in the morning and they're doing it again. Why are they even up right now?'
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The door again. Groose, Cawlin, and Strich have been playing this game for the past few nights. They knock on the dorm doors and go to wait for someone to come out; normally Pipit comes and stops them sometime after lights-out, but that doesn't seem to be the case tonight. Link put down his pen and thought for a minute. Sure, why is he even up right now?
'I can't sleep again. And it's not because of Groose. At least, not this time anyway. Same as usual.'
Bang. Bang. Bang.
'Give up already,' he wrote. The Knight's Academy issued special notebooks for the students to write in and collect their thoughts. Some other students took it as a joke, but Link found the practice as a good medium for his lack of speech and has been writing in his journal periodically for the last few months. Other students are strictly forbidden to read journals other than their own.
BANG. BANG. BANG.
Okay! Hylia! Fine! Link closed the notebook with a thud, and swiftly swung his door open and walked into the hall of the Academy. The entire building was muggy and hot, as winter in Skyloft is freezing, the buildings of the town turn the thermostats to livable conditions. Although, the Academy is one of the oldest buildings in Skyloft, and the thermostat is known to be a little bit more than wonky. To put simply; Link is in his boxers. Groose and the rest probably are, too, not that Link could find them anywhere in the hallway.
Link sighed, closed the door, and stood in the dark Academy hallway for a minute. He couldn't sleep. When that's the case, there's really only one thing that helps. He started blindly ambling his way through the hall, causing a bit of a ruckus with a vase, and tracing his fingers along the wall until he came to a door like his. This door had lots of paint strokes decorating the front, just barely visible in the dark. I don't know if she's even awake. He remembered the racket Groose was making with his door, and gathered the courage to gently knock a few times. A small, angry voice came through the door frame.
"Groose, I swear to HYLIA If you do not stop right now then you will have ME to face in sparring tomorrow."
Link wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that, he was kind of frightened. Link may be the best student in sparring, but tick Zelda off and she becomes very eccentric with a sword. He knocked again, gently, quieter than last time. Light footsteps came to the door, then stopped. Nothing happened for a few moments, so he knocked again, like last time. The door immediately opened, just wide enough for Zelda to peek through the door frame. She saw Link and whispered under her breath.
"Oh, Link! Hylia, I'm sorry. Come in." She opened the door further and Link strode inside, mildly blinded by Zelda's bed-side lamp. "I thought you were Groose, but it seems he's done now," she said, gently closing the door. "Why are you still up?" Her golden hair looked even more elegant in the light glow of the lamp, so Link thought. He would write that in his journal later.
In response to Zelda's question, Link sat down on her bed and looked at her. He didn't feel like speaking.
"...Can't sleep again? I'm sorry to hear that." Zelda stepped forward and hugged Link so that his face was against her shoulder, in her hair. He would also write about how her hair smelled later. "Okay," she started, breaking off the hug. "Which story will it be tonight?"
Link gave a small smile and held up one finger.
"You realize you've been listening to the same story every night, right?" Link nodded, and Zelda smiled and pulled a large book off of her shelf. The Goddess and her Tales. "'Story One: The Tale of the Hero and the Goddess'." Zelda took the large book and sat down on the floor in front of her bed, where Link sat cross-legged. "You ready?"
Link grabbed a few chunks of Zelda's hair, and Zelda, looking back at him, smiled and returned her focus to the words in front of her.
"The Goddess and her people lived peacefully in the land of Hylia..."
Link began gently playing with Zelda's hair. He separated it into sections, and eventually he would braid those sections together. This was the routine whenever he couldn't sleep. It's true he'd been listening to the same story over and over. He does love that story, everybody in Skyloft does, but the therapeutic hair-braiding is what puts him to sleep. He just loves listening to Zelda's voice. Normally if the story ends and Link isn't tired yet then Zelda will simply continue on to the next one without a word, and Link will keep braiding, un-braiding, and re-braiding her hair until he's done.
This time, halfway through Story 1, Zelda felt a fair amount of weight on her shoulders.
"Psst, Link?" She whispered. He wasn't entirely out, but he wasn't entirely there. He finished her braid before finally falling forward. Link lifted his head a little bit so he wouldn't collapse as Zelda got up and put the book away, pulling her new braid around front.
It was too late to head back to his room now, what with how exhausted he was, so Zelda simply gathered her spare blankets and pillows onto the floor in a neat pile for Link. This had happened at least once before. Link and Zelda were always Headmaster Gaepora's favourite students, since Zelda is his daughter, and Link has always been her trusted friend. Because of this, Link was allowed to spend the night in Zelda's dorm once in a while. Granted he slept on the floor. Link laid down in the mass of blankets and pillows, too tired to care about arranging them into a bed, and Zelda quietly laid down in her own bed. She looked down endearingly at the goofball and smiled.
"Goodnight, Link," she whispered.
"Goodnight, Zelda."
Hearing his voice made her smile more. He didn't actually speak very often, he normally chose to keep quiet until he had to speak. Zelda didn't mind, he found other ways to get his ideas across. Like now; she loved hearing her name in his voice, but no one other than her journal knows that.
"Zelda," she said it again. She savored the sound.
"Zelda, you didn't turn off the light."
Snapping back to reality, she shut off the lamp, feeling a bit embarrassed. She had something she's been meaning to say, but suddenly felt mute about voicing it. Jeez, is this how Link feels all the time?
"I-I'm sorry, Link, but while I have you here I need to say something quickly before I change my mind."
Link looked up, barely lifting his face from where he lay on his blanket nest.
"No, never mind. You're tired, sorry." She met his eyes for a moment and suddenly couldn't move. Link gave out a muffled whisper.
"...Go ahead"
Zelda lost her words. He sure is talking a lot tonight, maybe because he's tired?
"Well... Ah..." She started. "I'll... I'll just write it down instead."
Link nodded and pushed his face back in to the pillows to hide his expression, but Zelda took it as a gesture of exhaustion and frantically scrambled for a piece of paper and began writing in the dark. Link was terrified, these sudden confessions late at night are never a good sign. He wondered if maybe she somehow read his journal when it was open in his room? The idea psyched him out more.
He heard the scribbling stop, and the sound of paper ripping from a notebook. He looked up to a very flustered Zelda, holding a piece of paper to him.
"H-Here, take it before I change my mind, please. And don't reply yet, I-I'm going to bed." He grabbed the paper and looked up at her. "Ah, goodnight."
"Goodnight."
Link couldn't possibly have been more worried about what may be written on this note. Does he smell? Maybe Zelda couldn't find the heart to tell him in person. The fact that she doesn't want a reply until tomorrow is a terrible sign. Gathering more courage, he sure has to do that a lot, he began to read the small, elegant handwriting of the girl laying a few feet from him. He relaxed at the words.
"Zelda?"
"I-I said don't reply now, please. Sorry. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Zelda."
'December 16th. 7:45 am.
Zelda told me she loved me last night, and for once I felt like I finally had something to say. She told me not to reply til morning, but I couldn't help myself. I told her I love her too.
Also, her hair smells amazing.'