Chapter Text
Mipha squinted and shielded her eyes with her hand, vaguely listening to their PE teacher explain the rules of the game they were about to play. In her opinion it was far too hot to be outside playing a physically taxing game, but Urbosa seemed to think that it was the perfect opportunity to get everyone out into the sports field.
"-person with the most flags when the time is up wins!" Urbosa boomed, and suddenly everyone was passing around thin strips of brightly-coloured cloth. The game was pretty simple; each student had to tuck their flag loosely into their waistband, leaving the end hanging out. Then you had to try and steal as many as you could from other players while protecting your own.
Zelda groaned next to her. She hated PE by default, and this kind of game was her worst nightmare. "I'm exhausted already," she griped under her breath to Mipha, tossing her blonde ponytail.
"I feel like I have a disadvantage cos I’m short," Mipha replied, eyeing the other students who had longer reach for snatching flags.
"Nonsense!" said a voice that sounded far too cheerful. It was Link of course, already ready with his flag and bouncing on his toes. "Being small makes you harder to catch!"
"Easy for you to say," Mipha said, rolling her eyes. Link was small, but he was also extremely fast and nimble, and he knew it.
Zelda gave him a playful shove. "I agree with Mipha," she told him. "Can you just steal my flag as soon as we start so I'm out?"
"That's not how the game works," Link tutted. "Even if yours get stolen you still have a chance to steal someone else's!"
"No one cares, Link."
This came from Revali, who had sidled up next to Mipha at some point during their little spat. Mipha covered up a smirk at Link's offended expression, meeting eyes with Revali who lifted his chin briefly by way of greeting. He looked made for this kind of thing, Mipha thought. He was tall and lean and tanned, not quite as fast as Link but still moving with the grace that only athletes possessed. He smiled down at her, ignoring the others, and she felt her heart give a little jump. It was only recently that she'd started to feel aware of him, now that she'd moved on from Link, and Revali had a way of looking at her sometimes that stirred up butterflies in her stomach.
"Go easy on me?" she said to shake herself out of her thoughts, trying for an innocent look.
The corner of his mouth twitched up briefly. "Depends. What are you offering in return?"
Heat rushed up to her face at the possible implications, but thankfully before she was forced to think of a response Urbosa blew her whistle. "Everyone around me now! The game begins when I blow the whistle, and I'll signal again when the 10 minutes is up."
With that their conversation was cut short and everyone gathered around, standing slightly apart from each other to be ready to move. Urbosa blew the whistle sharply and the game kicked off.
Revali didn't immediately chase after Mipha, which she was grateful for. Her strategy was to first run away and get some distance to avoid being mobbed, then see if there was anyone she could sneak up on. The field broke out into chaos, screams of indignation being followed by laughter from whoever had succeeded in taking a flag. Link was a blur on the field, and it was easy enough to keep track of him by way of the many shouts of "LINK!!" that followed him.
Mipha managed to hold onto her flag for the first few minutes, but Urbosa yelled out that those who were just running should "get in there and take some risks!"
Mipha sighed and tried to find someone on their own she could target. Zelda was nearby, trying to keep track of Link, her flag still exposed. Mipha darted in and grabbed it, yelling a "sorry Zelda!" as she ran away, laughing a little at the look of betrayal that Zelda shot her way.
Her victory was short-lived, as her own flag got stolen almost immediately, and she saw Zelda fold over laughing. "Karma!" she yelled, and Mipha had to laugh too.
So the game went, until Link and Revali had most of the flags and were hunting down the last few who still had some. Mipha wished they would just go after each other, but it seemed they were both playing it safe. Surely the time must be almost up, she thought frantically as Revali turned to her with a wicked gleam in his eye, honed in on the flag she still clutched in her fist. She started running, hoping she could last until the end of the game.
Revali was catching up rapidly, his long stride easily outpacing her. "C'mon, help me beat Link!" he called out to her, to which she turned her head to poke her tongue out at him.
Which was a mistake, because as soon as she turned her balance was thrown off and her foot caught on an uneven lump of grass. She tumbled down and felt a sudden stab of pain in her ankle at the same time as Urbosa's whistle blew. Revali skidded to a halt next to her. "Shit- are you okay?"
Mipha rolled onto her back, panting, and squinted up at him. "You didn't catch me in time."
He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, you got me, well done." He held a hand out to her, and she sat up and grabbed it, allowing him to pull her up.
"Ouch!"
It seemed the pain in her ankle wasn't temporary, and Revali caught her with an arm around her waist as she wobbled. "Did you hurt your ankle?" he asked, face full of concern. Mipha nodded, waiting for the pain to subside and trying to ignore the warm pressure of his arm across her back, steady and reassuring.
"…I might need you to help me get to the nurse's office."
"Of course."
She slipped an arm around his waist and took a careful, hobbling step forward. The rest of the students scattered across the field were slowly picking their way back to where Urbosa stood. Revali supported her weight easily, but their progress was slow - every time she forgot herself and tapped her foot to the ground she jolted with the shock.
After a few minutes Revali huffed out a little impatient breath. "This is going to take forever. Let me just carry you."
Mipha froze. "But-"
"But what? This is clearly hurting you, you shouldn't even be trying to put weight on it." Revali had stopped walking, rooting them in place. "Do you wanna be stuck out here in the sun forever?"
She really, really didn't. "Okay- fine," she relented.
He didn’t even wait half a second before crouching down to slip his other arm under her knees and scoop her up into his arms. Her heartrate had slowed down after the physical exertion of the game, but now it sped up again tenfold as she settled against his chest. She didn't know what to do with her arms, letting them fall awkwardly onto her lap.
"You can hold on, it's fine."
Revali kept his gaze focused ahead when he spoke, continuing the walk down the field to the rest of the class. Tentatively, she reached her arms up and around his neck, anchoring herself more securely. His skin was hot to the touch, flushed from the sun and the exertion, and she could feel the heat radiating from him. Or maybe that was just her, blushing so furiously she thought she must be matching her hair colour.
"Mipha! What happened?" Zelda rushed up, followed by Urbosa and then several more students started to mill around, looking curiously. Mipha wished she could bury her face in Revali's chest and hide, but that seemed like it would raise even more eyebrows.
"She sprained her ankle," Revali answered for her, when she took a beat too long to respond. "I'm gonna take her to Mei."
"I'm okay, it's not too bad," Mipha finally managed to add, giving Urbosa a weak smile.
Urbosa looked her over briefly with a concerned frown, but nodded. "Okay, off you go then. Thank you, Revali - please take care of her."
"Of course."
"You come right back after!" Urbosa called out sternly. Revali looked back to acknowledge and then walked quickly past them all and towards the gym, perhaps sensing Mipha's embarrassment. When all the eyes were no longer fixed on her and making her feel like a zoo exhibit, she sighed with relief.
"You good?" Revali asked gently. "Sorry for putting you through that, but there's really no way you should be walking."
"No no, it's fine!" He obviously misunderstood the cause of her embarrassment. She dared to make eye contact for a brief moment. "It's not that, everyone was just staring at me. I don't mind- I don't mind you carrying me."
"O-oh…" He was the one to look away this time, now making his way through the hallways to the nurse's office. This close, she could pick out the individual moles on his neck, the tiny one under his eye, could see each dark eyelash outlined. His face still had a light sheen of sweat over it, but it only served to make him look even prettier somehow. His hair was falling over his face, and tickling her hands slightly where she held on. He hadn't cut it in a while, and looking at it gave her the insane urge to grab a handful where it fluffed out at the back of his neck. Okay wow, calm down Mipha.
"What is it?"
He'd caught her staring, and she flinched and looked down quickly. "Um, your hair…" she began, not sure if it was worse to try and explain or leave him to draw his own conclusions. She risked a peek to see his reaction, only to see him still looking stoically ahead.
"What about it?" he replied, voice slightly raspy.
They were almost at the nurse's office now, approaching the shallow steps at the end of the hallway that led to the teacher's offices. Mipha squinted at his ears, wondering if she was imagining the slight redness of them. Either way she was committed now, so she may as well be a little bold.
"It's quite long now, isn't it?"
She wasn't feeling quite brave enough to act on her previous intrusive thought of playing with his hair, but she allowed the fingers of one hand to brush through the ends very quickly, as casually as she could muster.
His arms tightened around her suddenly as he stumbled on the last step. "Sorry," he muttered, regaining himself while Mipha clung to him, recovering from a brief heart attack. "Um, yeah, I guess I should cut it soon."
They were a mere few steps from the door now. As Revali used a shoulder to push the door open Mipha said what was on her mind in a last burst of courage. "Well, I like it like this."
His mouth dropped open but nothing came out. He stuttered, looking adorably flustered, but they were already inside and Mei had seen them.
Mipha turned her head to smile sweetly as the nurse stood up quickly. "Mipha! What on earth- here, let me clear the bed."
"It's just a sprained ankle Mei, nothing serious," she reassured the nurse. When Mei had shifted the pile of clean sheets off the end of the bed, Revali stepped forward and placed her down, oh-so-gently, and reluctantly she released her hands from around his neck.
"Thanks," Mipha whispered, which earned her a small, shy smile.
He stood back while Mei fussed over her, fetching an ice pack and elevating her foot on a pile of pillows, checking if she could move the joint around. "Once the swelling has gone down I'll wrap it, but you'll need to be careful with it for a few days," Mei warned. "I don't believe it's broken, but don't try use it too much too soon."
Mipha nodded dutifully. "I'll ask my mum to pick me up today," she said.
At last Mei was satisfied, and went back to her work while Revali hovered awkwardly by the bed. "Does it hurt much?" he asked at last, glancing at the ridiculous pile of pillows where her foot was resting.
"It's not so bad now," she told him. "The ice is helping." She paused. "And… not having to walk all the way here helped, too."
"Okay, good. I uh… I should get back I guess. Or Urbosa will give me an earful."
Mipha giggled. "Yeah, good idea."
He still hadn't made a move towards the door, one hand fiddling with the base of the bed frame. Mipha felt herself smiling uncontrollably, staring into his bright green eyes while he stared back like he still had something to say. Eventually there was a scraping sound as Mei shifted around in her chair slightly and cleared her throat, fixing a beady eye on Revali. He snapped to attention and practically bolted for the door, calling out one last "see you later" as he left.
Mipha tried not to falter under Mei's knowing glance, and sighed deeply as she settled back against the pillows. She closed her eyes, seeing warm golden skin and dark eyelashes float across her vision.
Revali didn't cut his hair until his mother forced him to, three weeks later.