Archive of Our Own ^beta

To say that Harvey and Rose were proud of their son would be an understatement.

He was such a bright child, filled with wonder and curiosity. He had even taken a liking to craftsmanship, much like his father. And even though he had a penchant for sleeping in, his parents could tell that he was a smart boy and would flourish under the care of his teachers at the academy.

There was just one problem, however.

He got shy and nervous around new people fairly easily.

He was going to be starting school soon and they couldn’t be there for him all the time as a result, despite what he might’ve wanted. As a result, they were unsure as to how well he would handle being in a new environment with a lot of strangers around.

They knew they had to help him with this.

“I hope this works…”

“Of course it will, Rose. You just have to have faith.”

“I know. I just worry about him.”

“I worry about him too. That’s why we have to trust that this will work.”

“Of course.”

Going over to their son’s room, they saw him deep in thought over a book he was reading.

“Link dear?”

“Hm?”

“It’s almost time to go.”

Link immediately looked uncomfortable and tried to go back to reading.

“I know you’re nervous, honey. But it’s important that we get this done.”

“Do we have to?”

“Yes.” Harvey gently yet firmly spoke up. “Making friends is an important part of life. They help you grow into the person you were meant to be.”

“I know…” Link grumbled. “It’s just… scary.”

“We know.” Rose agreed. “It is scary to meet new people since you don’t know they’ll be like. But it’s worth it to try.”

“That’s right.” Harvey smiled. “And besides, you won’t have to worry about who you’re about to meet. She’s a very sweet and kind young lady. She just has a lot of energy to spare.”

Link still looked unsure, so Rose chimed in with, “She enjoys reading like you do. And she’s quite crafty herself, just with sewing instead of woodwork. We think you’ll warm up to her just fine. So, what do you say?”

There was a brief moment of silence before Link finally muttered, “…fine. I’ll meet her.”

Feeling relieved, Harvey said, “Atta boy. It won’t take long. Just a few minutes to walk down to the academy and then we’ll introduce the two of you.”

“You can bring your Loftwing plush, if that helps.” Rose added.

Link nodded and grabbed his Loftwing plush for security reasons and slowly walked towards his parents, grabbing onto his mother’s hand as they walked out of their house.

It didn’t take long for them to arrive at the academy, where Instructor Horwell met them at the door. Link remembered him from a brief meeting they’d had a few days ago, when his parents started gradually introducing him to some of his teachers. He watched the three adults talk, keeping quiet as he didn’t know if he should say anything.

Eventually, they were lead inside and Link felt his anxiety grow the further they went, causing him to cling tightly to his plush.

Finally, they arrived at the Headmaster’s office.

Walking inside, Link nervously looked around. It looked like an adult’s room, with lots of books and some tools around. There were barely any decorations either with just a few pictographs on his desk, where he currently sat.

It was rather intimidating.

“Ah, hello! It’s great to see you again, Harvey and Rose!”

“Hello, Headmaster Gaepora. It’s great to see you, too.”

The headmaster smiled. “Did you bring your son?”

“Yep, he’s right here.”

Link hid behind his mother’s legs, only barely peeking out. He felt anxious because of the big man with the unfamiliar voice.

“It’s alright, young Link. I don’t bite. Anyway, it’s not actually me who you’re supposed to be meeting today. Let’s go out and meet my wife and daughter.”

They followed him outside to the town square, where a woman with beautiful blonde hair and a long dress was standing with a young girl.

The girl noticed them first causing her to shout, “DADDY!” and run over to hug him.

“Hello Zelda!” He grunted as he picked her up. “Goodness, you’re getting so big!”

The girl – Zelda – giggled as he held her close as the woman walked over.

“Are you almost done with your work, dear?”

“Yes, I’m almost done. I just wanted to introduce you two to someone.”

The woman looked up and smiled at Link and his parents.

“Hello, Harvey and Rose! I’m guessing that you brought your son along?”

“Hello, Minnie. And yes, we brought him to meet Zelda.” Rose confirmed.

“Me?” Zelda piped up, finally noticing him. “Oh! Who’s that?!”

“Why don’t you come over to meet him?” Harvey said.

“Okay!”

Link nervously watched as the headmaster set her down and she hurried over, stopping a few feet from him as he hid behind his mother.

“Hello! I’m Zelda! What’s your name?”

Link said nothing, peeking out from behind his mother.

“What’s wrong?” Zelda asked, looking confused.

“He’s just shy, honey. He gets nervous around strangers easily so you’ll have to give him some time to get used to you.” Rose told her.

“Oh, okay!” Zelda smiled. Thankfully, she didn’t come any closer which would’ve spooked him. She just stood where she was, smiling at him.

It took a few moments but he soon peeked out a bit more from behind his mother, growing more curious by the moment.

She waved at him, looking excited but was clearly trying to keep calm. Up close, he could see how pretty she was. She looked a lot like her mother, with the same shade of blonde hair and a similar style of dress.

A bit encouraged, he peeked out a little more and said, “H-hi…”

“Hello!” She grinned brightly.

Link managed a little smile in response before she noticed the plush he had with him.

“Oh cool! Is that a Loftwing?”

He blushed and nodded.

“Nice! Where did you get it?”

He swallowed before telling her, “…my grandma made it.”

“Wow! It’s really well-made!”

Link smiled. “Yeah. I heard that… well, that the red feathers are really rare. I think she was trying to tell me that I’m special…”

“Cool!” Zelda grinned. “I’m glad you’re special! So am I!”

Link blushed and smiled. “That’s nice…”

“Yeah!” She exclaimed, making Link giggle a little. The sound made his parent’s hearts soar.

“So, do you want to go play?”

He hesitated briefly before asking, “What… kind of game do you want to play?”

She thought about it before saying, “How about hopscotch?”

“What’s that…?”

“Well, it’s… um… Here, I’ll show you. I find it easier to show something than try to use words.”

The four adults present smiled as Link slowly followed her over to where something was drawn on the ground.

Zelda than demonstrated what they were going to do, and soon enough Link was trying it out.

“Well, that’s good.” Harvey said, feeling relieved. “We were worried about how this would go but it seems to be working.”

“Yes, I know.” Gaepora said. “Zelda’s always eager to meet people and make friends with them so I wasn’t worried about her. I knew she’d win him over. She has a talent for that.”

The four adults chuckled as they watched the children play.

“So, you didn’t tell me your name.” Zelda told him as they were taking a break.

“Huh? Oh sorry… It’s… um, it’s Link.” He replied, looking nervous.

“Link? That’s a cute name!” She smiled, surprising Link.

“You… You really think so?”

“Yeah! It’s different which isn’t a bad thing!”

Link felt relieved. In truth, he’d always thought that his name sounded silly which is partially why he had trouble introducing himself to others.

“Anyways, I’m rested now. What about you?”

“Yeah, I think I’m good.”

“Great! Let’s go!”

As he got up to play, Link didn’t even realize that he’d set aside his plush.

About an hour later, Link and Zelda had to say goodbye since their parents had other places to be.

“Bye-bye…” Zelda muttered, looking sad.

“Bye.” Link said, also looking a bit down.

“Don’t worry you two.” Minnie said. “We’ll make sure that you get plenty more play dates.”

“Really?” Zelda asked.

“Yes.” Rose spoke up. “And besides, Link will be enrolling in the academy soon so you’ll have plenty of chances to see each other!”

“Cool!” Zelda smiled, perking right up.

Link also smiled as Zelda said, “Well, I’ll see you later then, Link!”

“Yeah.” He agreed. “See you later, Zelda.”

It didn’t take long after that for the two to become the best of friends.

The bond they shared honestly surprised Harvey and Rose since Link could be quite anxious sometimes. But Zelda helped coax him out of his shell and kept him from sleeping in too often, especially on school days.

In turn, he helped her to keep her excitement in check, since she could get carried away with some things at times. They also helped each other in class, though they did sometimes get into trouble for goofing off instead of doing their work.

And when they got their Loftwing’s, they enjoyed flying amongst the clouds together. It was one of their favorite past times.

One day, they were both resting outside when Zelda asked him, “Hey Link?”

“Yeah?”

“We’re always going to be best friends, huh?”

He smiled. “Of course.”

She smiled back before they continued gazing up at the clouds, leaning against each other.