Storms

Hey everyone! I've hit a bit of a writer's block recently, and I haven't been feeling satisfied with the quality of my writing lately. So, I decided to try writing a couple of one shots and stuff! I've always had a couple of simple ideas, so I decided to go for it. This one was inspired by my pal Zepora2276 and her story "Always be your Zelda". Also, I was revisiting Skyward Sword and decided to do a story inspired by it(my friend had never played it before, so he tried to do a playthrough of it and ended up giving up before even reaching the surface; gotta love them motion controls). Anyways, this takes place before the game's storyline (because she'd probably be even more frightened of storms after being sucked by a tornado and almost dragged to her death). Anyways, I've rambled on long enough, On with the Show!

Storms were not an uncommon thing in Skyloft. Every once in a while a dark cloud or two would form, and the townsfolk would know to pack up their belongings and head inside. The storms tended not to last very long, though they did have a tendency to be quite violent at times, as the strong winds and occasional lightning could cause a lot of damage to the floating island if the storm was particularly strong.

Even so, most people didn't mind the storms. After all, they brought fresh water to the island, and the storms had a strange rhythm to them that some folks couldn't help but be fascinated by.

Zelda was not one of those people.

The storms absolutely terrified her ever since she was a little girl. The roar of thunder, the flash of lightning, the destructive winds - it all felt very dark and unnatural to her. It felt as though the Goddess herself were unleashing her wrath upon the people of the sky. Or maybe it wasn't the Goddess at all, but rather a vicious monster who sought to eradicate their way of life.

Storms had always brought those terribly morbid thoughts to her head. She always felt like storms were simply forces of destruction, and she feared them accordingly.

Not that she'd ever tell anyone that she was scared.

Currently a particularly fierce storm raged across the sky, this one surprisingly lasting much longer than most - it had been almost 3 days of nonstop rain, lightning, and winds so harsh the loftwings were forced to remain grounded until the storm settled down. Due to this, the academy had cancelled classes for the time being, and most people had taken to their rooms.

Zelda was currently wrapped up in a pile of blankets as she was curled up in her bed, trying in vain to shut out the pitter patter of rain and the crash of thunder. Yet every time she could hear the boom of thunder, or see the flash of lightning in the distance, she'd dash under her covers.

Why can't it just be constantly bright and sunny? Zelda moaned in her head as another flash of thunder caused her to elicit a high pitched yelp as she cowered again.

Just as the sound of thunder echoed the lightning, a soft knock sounded on her door.

Not wanting anyone to see how frightened she was, Zelda threw the blankets off of her and tried to muster up as strong a voice as she could. "Come in," she called, amazed that she could maintain such an even voice.

Peeking in through the door was none other than Link, a sheepish grin on his face as he entered. In his hands were a pair of mugs filled with hot chocolate. Zelda giggled; there was something about storms that made Link crave hot chocolate for some reason. The only reason he had given her was that it "fit the mood," whatever that meant.

"I brought you something to drink," he explained as he handed her the mug, taking a seat at the foot of the bed.

Zelda accepted the mug gratefully, taking a quick sip of the warm beverage. "Thanks."

Link shrugged nonchalantly as he gulped down his drink rather quickly. "I was going to get one either way, so I figured I might as well get you one too."

Zelda grinned, and was about to tease him about his fixation on the chocolaty drink until another flash of thunder caused her softly shriek, nearly diving under her previously abandoned blankets.

Link raised an eyebrow. This was something he hadn't seen Zelda do before; heck, most of the time Zelda was practically fearless, being the first one to attempt the most dangerous tricks on her loftwing when out flying, willing to try to pet an wild remlit at night, and once even sneaking out of the academy to fly during the night, something that was considered extremely dangerous and forbidden to everyone except the most experienced knights.

Yet here she was, hiding under covers from a little thunder and lightning? Granted, Link wasn't a huge fan of storms either, but he wasn't afraid of them. Now that he thought about it, though, he now noticed that whenever a storm would occur when they were children, Zelda was usually nowhere to be found.

Pulling the blankets off of her head so that he could see her face, Link gave her an amused smile. "Someone afraid of storms?" he asked innocently.

Zelda stuck her tongue out at him and pulled the blanket back over her head. "Be quiet."

Link tried to pull the covers back off of her, but she kept them firmly wrapped around her. Letting out a sigh, Link picked up her mug, which had been sitting on her desk before she had hid under the covers, and tried in vain to pull the blankets away from his frightened friend.

"At least take your hot chocolate," Link insisted as he let go of the covers. "It's going to get cold otherwise."

"Fine," Zelda relented from under her makeshift fort, unwrapping herself from her comforters slightly and holding her hand out for Link to give her the cup.

Link smiled now that he could finally see her face and gave her the cup. Sipping it, Zelda continued to keep her body tense, ready to hide again the moment another clap of thunder came.

Link noticed this and shook his head a little. "You know," he started, a chuckle in his voice, "I've never seen you act like this before. Since when are you afraid?"

Zelda felt her face heat up. "Shut up," she countered, feeling stupid. Usually she could come up with a witty comeback effortlessly. Apparently now the storm was even messing with her head. Wonderful, she thought to herself.

Link gave her a sympathetic look. "Hey, we're all afraid of something, Zelda," he said sagely. "I mean, Groose is afraid of the dark, remember?"

Zelda snorted in laughter. "How could I forget?" she asked, trying to contain her laughter. "All the candles burnt out in the academy. We were completely in the dark for almost the whole night without any lights - Groose almost peed his pants he was so scared."

Link nodded, joining in on the laughter. "Yeah, and I could hear him whimpering in his room almost the entire night. It was hysterical!"

Zelda continued to laugh, her fears momentarily forgotten. She smiled warmly at Link, who was still laughing as he recounted another funny story of when Groose got locked out of the academy at night when they were kids and almost started crying.

Link always seems to know how to cheer me up, Zelda noted as she continued to stare at him. Ever since they were kids, the two of them would always look out for each other. Zelda would always stick for Link if he was getting picked on by Groose and would make sure he stayed out of trouble (even if most of the trouble wasn't even his fault), and Link in turn would comfort her whenever she was feeling upset. He knew just what to do to make her smile.

Outside, another flash of lightning could be seen, followed by a clap of thunder. Zelda instinctively reached for her comforters, but Link stopped her, pulling her close to him.

"Link," Zelda sputtered, feeling flustered as her head was no pressed against his chest, "What are you doing?"

Link pulled her closer to him, his arm around her shoulder. He gave her a smile that seemed to calm her nerves for the moment. "You don't need those blankets, Zelda," he whispered gently, "I'll be right here for you until you can conquer your fears."

Zelda smiled as she felt her cheeks heat up intensely. She relaxed, allowing herself to curl up closer to Link and drink the rest of her hot chocolate. As the two continued to lean against one another, Zelda slowly began to ignore the raging storm outside her window. Right now, she was just perfectly content to be with Link. He really does know just to how to cheer me up, she thought fondly as she felt herself drifting off to sleep.

Next to her, Link had begun to doze off as well, though his calming smile did not leave his face.

Smiling softly as she saw him slowly drift to sleep next to her, Zelda felt a sudden burst of courage in her as she leaned over and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for being here for me, Link," Zelda softly whispered as she rested her head on his shoulder, drifting off into sleep herself.

After that day, Zelda never felt as bothered by the storms; she knew Link would always be there for her.

So what did you think? Review if you liked it, and if you didn't... well, review anyway! And if you have any ideas, requests, whatever for a one shot, let me know and I'll see what I can do!

Until Next Time, take my hand and let's swan dive towards adventure!

~The Supreme~