Golden light filtered in through the windows, highlighting the furniture and small patches on the floor. With the light came promise of warmth outside, as Hyrule had yet to experience the full shift towards autumn. Outside birds sang and bickered, and yet the one inside the house still slept. The sun's rays slowly moved over the bed, landing over Link's face.

The glare cut through his sleep and he stretched lazily, letting out an odd mix of a yawn and groan. He didn't really want to wake up yet, the bed was still too soft. Feeling the temptation of sleep again, he turned over to face his lover, only to find he was awake. Ravio lay with his arms behind his head, staring up at the ceiling, his chest rising and falling with a slow, steady rhythm.

"Hey," Link murmured sleepily, sliding closer to nestle into him. The slightest flicker of a smile flitted over the other's face, yet something seemed off. "You feeling 'kay?" His voice was thick with sleep, and he cleared his throat. The sound was too loud for the silence in the small house.

A little shrug. "I'm fine," came the small whisper, and his tone betrayed him. Shifting beneath him, Link felt a hand slid atop his hair, playing with the messy locks. His fingers were cold. Link let out a disbelieving grunt, turning slightly to look at him. Ravio continued to stare ahead of him, refusing to make eye contact.

"I know you well enough to know that's a bold lie," Link said, shifting himself up onto an elbow to get a better look at him.

Ravio glanced at him, then quickly looked away. "I'm just... Nervous. That's it." He seemed to be confirming it for himself. He continued on, cutting Link off. "Say, can we just stay here during winter? It seems like it'll be a lot nicer here than Lorule, not to mention we have Gwen for..." he trailed off momentarily, and Link felt him tense. "For things."

Ah that's right. Link sat up with a frown, more thoughtful than upset. Ravio was afraid of having to deal with even thinking of the baby. Link scratched the side of his face absentmindedly. It still seemed far fetched to him that it was happening... Yet he could only imagine the other's concern with it being on his shoulders... Or rather, in his body. With a cringe, he realized he hadn't addressed the other's feelings the night before, and shifted to face him again, this time fully.

"We don't have to stay long," Link said, tones of a promise seeping through. "We'll just go back to Lorule and get some things, and we can hunker down here." Ravio nodded with the words, but still didn't look over. Link let out a little sigh and reached out, taking his hand. The sigh was followed by a yawn, which he tried to cover. "How long have you been up?" he asked, rubbing his eyes as they'd blurred with the action.

"For a while."

"And you're not sick either?" A small shake of the head. "Good," Link said, relieved. He looked down to their clasped hands, feeling the awkwardness rise into the air. Finally, he asked him softly, "Are you okay with all of this? I got a little... Excited last night." A snort solidified his suspicions. "I'm sorry, really. But I should have been thinking more about you instead of-"

"It's fine, Link," Ravio sighed. He sat up in the bed, still clasping the other's hand, and put his free one over his belly. "It just doesn't feel real. Sure if I were a woman this would be a lot easier, but... I'm more afraid of what other people will think."

"We'll just tell them it's a gift from the Goddesses," Link said thoughtfully, earning a skeptical glance in his direction.

"That may work here, but not back in Lorule." He moved his hand away from his stomach, cringing slightly. "I'd probably be cast off as a member of a dark magic cult. That I'd be off with the radicals and that their leader performed a dark ritual on me." He hesitated as if he had a thought come to him, but he quickly shook it off.

"Sounds like it's happened before."

"Hardly. But the people there will believe anything."

"Anything?"

"More than you know," he sighed.

Link scooted a little closer to him, putting his hand over the other's. "If they'll believe anything, then we'll say we were given a gift from Lorule's Triforce as a thank you." Ravio glanced up at him skeptically. "It doesn't have to be true if it's to get them to understand a bit more."

"Maybe," Ravio sighed, closing his eyes. They sat in the silence, enjoying the calm until Sheerow woke up. The bird started to sing, preening for a while until eventually screaming for food.

"Noisy thing," Link said under his breath, sliding out of the bed to dress himself. Ravio couldn't help but snicker, glancing up at him.

"You say that about a bird, and yet we'll likely have a worse situation on our hands here soon. I would think a screaming child would be worse than that."

Link paused, his shirt pulled halfway down over his torso. He looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking his head with a grin. "I think it'll be worse just due to combining it."

"Well aren't you an optimist," Ravio chided him, catching his shirt as it was tossed to him. He was quiet for a moment before letting out a thoughtful hum. "What are winters like here, Link?"

The blond glanced over at him, in the middle of fixing his belt. "Winter? It's not too bad. Sometimes we'll get some pretty heavy snow and get stuck inside, but that's really it. Why?"

"They're awful in Lorule," Ravio said with a grimace. "The past few years have been so bad that I've stayed in the castle, thanks to Hilda's concern and generosity... Before I moved there the first day I remember I had to sleep in front of the fireplace, and my water had ice on top of it. In my house." Just the thought made him shudder despite the warm air. He looked up at him, pleadingly. "If it's at all possible, maybe we can skip the whole chaos in Lorule with this... The baby, and just stay here. It'd be easier."

Link looked over at him, wearing a sympathetic frown. He didn't want to have to put Ravio through that again if he could help it, let alone risk something happening to their newest addition. "Well, how's this? As soon as we're done in Lorule, we come straight back here. Then once winter blows over, then we can deal with it. Alright?"

There was silence as Ravio debated it, then with a forlorn sigh, he agreed. "Straight back," he insisted.

Despite the rigmarole of finally convincing Ravio to go along, Link had to make a quick stop back at the Blacksmith's house. Ravio, trying to show some enthusiasm, decided to meet him at the fissure to Lorule. He hugged himself as he leaned back against the wall, frowning. Not even Sheerow's silly antics could bring him out of it.

He was already cold with the sheer thought of going back to Lorule. It was nice out where he was, and he didn't want to pass it up for anything. But... Royal business always came first. He sighed and leaned his head back, his eyes closed. Link was taking long enough. He just wanted it over with already, not to mention his feet were starting to ache with standing for so long. He started to debate sitting down when he heard the telltale sound of Irene's broom come up next to him.

He glanced up with a little smile as she waved at him, coming to a stop beside him. "Morning!" she chirped gleefully. "What'cha doing over here and not home?"

"Well... Link's dragging me out for official business, but I think he might've fallen asleep on the way." He grinned at her a little, watching her snicker.

"I've seen it happen. So you're going with to deliver the letter for Zelda?"

"So it seems."

"Hm." She lowered herself to the ground and moved the broom into the crook of her arm. Then, casting a glance around to be sure the coast was clear, she leaned in and said quietly, "You guys... did talk last night, right?"

Ravio's grin faded into an uncomfortable grimace. He still wasn't sure what to think of the subject. Yet, thinking of the night before caused a slight blush to rise on his face. "Well, yeah. Naturally." And perhaps a bit more than talking... "He had to kind of pry it from me though."

"You're a stubborn thing, aren't you?" she said playfully, tilting her head at him. Her grin only widened as he rolled his eyes. "Say, I've got something I need to give you," she started, reaching into her cloak to a small pouch on her side. She pulled out a bell, and it looked a bit more squat than the one she'd given Link. She held it out for Ravio, her expression turning a little more stern.

He hesitantly took it. "What's this for?"

"In case you need something. And no, I'm not going to get you food or anything like that every time you ring it. If you're sick, get hurt, or... Well, you know. Ring it. And don't use the one I gave Link, that one's just a taxi service," she scoffed a little at the memories. "But mostly so I can tell it's you, okay?"

He just stared at it for a moment, then glanced up at her. "There's no rental fee, right?"

The comment took her off guard and she laughed, grinning widely at him. "Of course not! Then again... Don't tempt me to set up shop in your house while you guys're gone."

"Ha ha," he muttered sarcastically. His eyes flicked to the side, seeing Link finally start to come into view. He gave him a little wave before turning back to Irene. "But really, thank you." He slipped the little bell into his pocket. "I hope I'll never have to use it, but it's better safe than sorry, eh?"

"I'll say," she said with a shake of her head. She looked to Link as he finally made it to them. "And look who's late to the party!"

"Yeah," Link said, out of breath. "Sorry 'bout that. Turns out none of 'em were home. Out to town. So I just left them a note."

Ravio was about to playfully berate him for just leaving a note, but was interrupted by a surprised hum from Irene. "Seems like you're not as fit as you once were, Link. Do you need me to be there for you, just to be sure you're as active as you were before?"

"He's just tired from last night," Ravio grinned, sharing a blush with his partner, who gave him an embarrassed scowl. Irene rolled her eyes at the exchange.

"Okay you two," Link sighed. "We've got important stuff to do, right?"

Ravio grimaced. "Ugh yeah. Let's just go get it over with."

"You don't want to go back?" Irene questioned him, glancing over to him curiously.

"Not particularly. And it's not something I really... Wanna talk about." Ravio scratched behind his head nervously, averting his eyes.

She frowned. "Ah... Right." Then in a sudden demeanor switch, she gave a resigned shrug. "Well, you two just head on off then. You'll be back soon, right?"

"That's what I said in the letter I left," Link said. "Ravio probably has things he wants to get from his house... I can't imagine us taking too long."

She nodded. "Alright then! Well, from the sounds of it, you two had better quit stalling and get it on. Besides, I have a new potion I want you to try when you get back," she said to Link, sticking her tongue out.

"Oh joy," Link said sarcastically, making her snicker.

"See you two in a bit!" She waved at them with a wide grin, watching as Ravio disappeared through the crack, and then Link.

...Then the light dimmed from the crack, becoming thinner in width. Her grin faded, and she dropped the broom, her hands flying out to the stone. "...That's not supposed to happen," she strained out, her eyes wide. The bracelets that they'd used before were dead, and it took months to get the wall to open again. Her hands curled into fists against the rock, her knuckles turning white.

Despite it not being her fault, she felt as though she'd failed them. There was only one thing she could do. She shakily picked up her broom, and letting out a long breath, hurried to the castle.

Lorule's weather was a stark contrast to both Hyrule's, and what it had been when they left. The steady rain had turned into snow, coating the yellowing grass in white powder. A chilled wind swept over the land, and whatever rain had been left solidified into ice. It was almost beautiful, but Link couldn't appreciate it.

"...I-Irene should get it back up soon, Ravs. It'll be okay."

Ravio didn't seem to hear him, and had sunk down to his knees in the snow. His hands were pressed to the stone, and he stared blankly ahead at it. As if he were willing to bring it back. Just a faint line of light seeped from the crack, looking much like they had before, when Link's adventure was still going on.

Before he had to deal with unknowingly bringing life into the world, and before he had to deal with winter again.

He shivered, and his hands slid down the rock. They were starting to ache they were so cold. "Y-Yeah. Soon." He wanted with every bone in his body to believe the words, but he had a sinking feeling.

"C'mon," Link murmured softly, rubbing the other's back. "Let's go do what we have to, and maybe it'll be back by then."

Ravio nodded a little, and accepted the other's hand to help himself up. A gust blew past them, causing them both to shiver. Then, with an unanimous decision, they started towards Ravio's house.

It didn't seem possible, but the house felt colder inside than it was outside. The windows had frost on them, and a bit of snow had piled around the back of the house where the hole was. Ravio immediately went to work on attempting to cover it back up, pushing a couple boxes up to it. Despite them being light, the brief exertion wore him out, and he could see his breath as he panted.

"You okay?" Link asked worriedly, crouched down in front of the hearth.

"I'm... fine. Just cold." He looked inside one of the pots to the side, and dipped his hand inside. The water had a thin layer of ice over it. He withdrew his hand as though he touched fire, shaking it before tucking it within his robe. "Ugh, the water's frozen. Already."

"It's that cold?" It seemed Lorule's winter hit faster than Hyrule's did. "Wow." He shook his head in disbelief, and returned his attention to striking the flint inside the fireplace. Finally, a spark caught on a branch, and he eased the fire to catch on the rest of the wood. It grew bigger, and eventually lit up the room.

Ravio sank down next to him, having found a blanket to wrap himself in. He leaned against the other, nuzzling into his shoulder. "You don't really have to go right now, do you?"

"I wish I could say no," Link sighed. "But it'll probably get worse out there the longer I wait."

Ravio hummed his disapproval. They sat together for a moment, before Link stood up with a stretch. "There's some coats over there," Ravio said with a little gesture to the boxes he'd moved. "It's in the one on top. I... Didn't know we were going back, so I picked up some coats at the festival."

Link glanced over at him curiously, having already started to dig through the box. "...Before we got back together?"

With a nonchalant shrug, Ravio continued, "Well, I knew you've never experienced Lorule's winter... Other than that one time on the mountain. So um... I picked an extra one up. Was going to have Irene give it to you, but we don't have to worry about that anymore."

"Guess not," Link said with a smirk, and slipped one on. It was surprisingly warm, he noticed. The insides were lined with soft fur, and the outside was a deep green, reminding him of the tunic he'd worn through his adventure. "But thanks for grabbing one for me, Ravs."

"Mhm." Ravio glanced over to him, a sly smirk on his face. "Though you technically bought it." At the other's confused expression, he continued. "When I shimmied that shiny rupee from you? It... Actually went to getting you something."

Link blinked a couple times. "Oh. Well, thanks for looking out for me." He chuckled, buttoning the coat up. "I'll be back in a bit, okay?" He leaned over and kissed the top of his head.

"Mkay... I'll gather some things together for warmth. Though I think that we might be staying at the castle, it's warmer there."

"Alright." He ran his fingers through the other's dark hair for a brief moment, not wanting to leave. He checked his pocket for the letter, then reluctantly pulled away. "I'll be back soon."

Ravio looked up from the fire to watch the other leave, his brow furrowing as the door closed. He didn't like the look of all that snow out there. Too many memories.

With a sigh he stood and hesitated by the fire for just a moment longer, before finally prying himself away to get busy. Even if they got back to Hyrule in a day or two, those hours would definitely be cold. Luckily, he noticed, he couldn't see his breath anymore.

AN: That didn't go as planned!

Ahahaha things will start to pick up a bit more now~
I hope everyone's had a great new year and that the holidays were fun for all!

Accept this late lil gift of my own in all it's pre-angsty glory!