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The boy sat alone on the edge of the fountain, legs kicking back and forth in slow motion, hands pressed to the rocks on other side of him. In this corner of the village, the sounds and lights were far away, muted. The drums thrummed softly against the backs of beating hearts, and the flicker of lights against the swirling clouds that surrounded the floating city looked distant.
The little girl gripped the side of the bazaar tent, closed and empty for the night while the party swirled in the dark, edging just one eye around it so that she could see where the boy sat.
He was fingering a small rock now, rolling it back and forth under the pad of one finger. He couldn't be older than her, maybe six or seven. His hair looked like it was half growing over a sloppy cut, awkward length chunks of the dirty blond flopping over his forehead and around his ears, shaggier down the back of his neck. He had eyes the same color as hers, a soft blue like the slowly lightening sky just at the break of dawn.
He flicked the stone into the water behind him, leaning his head back behind him so that he could see it hit and ripple.
The girl hesitated a moment longer, gripping the fabric of the tent between her hands, a small green rupee pressed cold against her palm. She was supposed to be making her wish and going right back to the party with papa; she had promised. But what was this boy doing out here all by himself—sitting in the way of the fountain!
She thought she might have seen him before. Probably, at least, Skyloft wasn't very big and she had seen almost everyone at least once. But she couldn't quite remember. Maybe he went to the beginner's knight classes like her? Yes, that seemed familiar. But he hadn't been in class yesterday...or the day before that if she remembered right. Not for a few days, at the very least. She racked her brain to see if it was true, but she couldn't remember seeing him recently, and she couldn't remember his name.
She smoothed her long hair against the back of her head nervously. She ran her hands down the back of her hair once, twice, three times, the rupee still pressed hard into her palm. Oh, papa was going to be mad if she didn't get back soon. He would get worried that she had fallen and start riling up all of the knights again. She didn't want to make them get the loftwings to fly at night; she knew the birds didn't like the dark. She had to get back before that happened.
She edged around the tent. Her foot caught in the fabric as she rounded it. She yelped as her foot skidded and she hopped forward twice, arms wheeling. Her rupee flew from her hand and clattered against the rocks as she managed to balance herself on one foot, arms flung out to either side.
The boy's head snapped up at the sound and she felt her face flush. She wobbled back to her feet and ducked her head, bangs falling over her eyes so that hopefully that and the darkness would hide her blush. For a moment, there wasn't a sound except for the faint hum and sway of the music behind them.
Then she realized that her rupee was gone. Her head snapped up, eyes wide. Oh no! What if it had gone over the side? There was a dropoff with just a wooden fence right near the fountain, rupees were good at bouncing, it could have gone over there! She started to scuffle forward, squinting in the dark for her sparkly green rupee when—
The boy was just a few feet in front of her. She yelped—she hadn't even heard him! His shoulder flinched upwards a bit at the sound and he bit his lip.
“Um,” he mumbled. “Sorry. Is this what you need?”
He held his hand out. Sitting in his palm was her rupee.
The momentary panic that had seized her chest flew away like a cloud in a gust of wind.
“You found it! Thanks!!”
She held out her hands and he leaned over to tilt his hand so that the rupee fell into her waiting grip. With the little gem safely in her hands, she pressed her hands over her chest with a sigh of relief. She didn't want to have to tell papa that she had lost the rupee he gave her to throw in the fountain. The boy ducked his head and smiled towards the ground.
“What's your name?” she asked.
He ducked his head a little further.
“Um...Link,” he said.
Link! She remembered him now—he was in her beginning Knight class. He was really, really good with the practice swords. The teachers were always really proud of him. But why hadnt' he been coming to class?
“I'm Zelda,” she said. “Why are you out here all alone?”
Link clasped his hands behind his back and looked down at the ground.
“....I don't know,” he said. “It's...lonely.”
“Huh? At the party?”
Link nodded.
Zelda looked around at the empty corner behind the bazaar, with only a softly running fountain for company.
“It's lonely here,” she said when she looked back at him.
Link's shoulders curled up to his ears.
“Mama and papa aren't there with me,” he said.
Zelda blinked once. And then she realized what he was saying and she felt her stomach crumple up. She remembered a few days ago when papa had his head on his desk, all wrapped up in black robes, after coming from sprinkling ashes over the sides at end of the ceremony. Now...now she knew who had died, and why Link wasn't coming to school.
Zelda shifted back and forth on her feet, listening to the music playing far away behind them. She rolled the rupee in her hands.
She reached out for Link's hand, and he blinked. He didn't jerk away or move, though, as she put her rupee into his hand.
“Do you want to make a wish?” she said.
Link's mouth opened slightly. Then he ducked his head, looking like he might cry.
“What do I wish for?”
“Um...anything,” Zelda said. “Like....something happy.”
Link bit his lip. He shook his head.
“I don't know,” he said. He pushed his hand back against hers to give the rupee back. “I don't know what to wish. You make a wish. It's yours.”
Zelda frowned. Then she curled her hand against his, holding the rupee between both of their palms. He blinked as she walked both of them over to the water, and pulled his and her hand over it. She squeezed her eyes shut, imagining the wish as hard as she could.
Then she let her hand fall so that the rupee fell out from between their hands. It landed with a satisfying plop, the ripples quickly eaten up by the ripples from the falling water.
Link's eyes flickered with the water's reflection in the dark as he look across at her.
“What did you wish?” he asked.
She smiled, and held her hand back out to him.
“I wished that I could have a friend to dance with,” she said. “Do you want to help me make it come true?”
Link stared at her hand for a long moment, mouth hanging open. And then he smiled. He blinked a few times, tears disappearing behind his eyes.
“Okay,” he said, putting his hand on top of hers.
A laugh bubbled up out of her throat with delight. Link giggled back at her.
Hand in hand, then, they spun around each other, laughter twirling up into the quiet starry sky above.