Work Text:
“—vali”
A muffled voice can just barely be heard. Revali’s eyes briefly open to the sight of blurriness, thinking he spots a red blur moving above him. His green eyes once again disappear under the cover of eyelids.
“Rev—”
A jostling motion wakes the Rito up again. Everything sounds as if it is being pulled through molasses; it is all being combined into one indiscernible sound. A bout of ringing strikes his hearing before his consciousness falls through again.
“Revali!”
The Rito lets out a large gasp as his body desperately tries to inhale more air. His thoughts are muffled as he struggles to recalls what has happened. He tries to move his wings but finds he can’t feel them. The cold touch of stone digs uncomfortable into the soaked feathers of his back; he shivers uncontrollably. Drops of water hit the front of his body. He realizes they are coming from the Zora huddled over him.
The events of the past few hours all come rushing back to him. Vah Ruta’s distress calls, the battle with the blight, and his agonizing worry over Mipha. The Zora desperately calls on her healing power; her hands emitting a green glow over some of his open wounds. Revali wants to say something—anything, but his voice eludes him. His mind has to wait for his body to catch up with the fact he should be awake.
The avian continues to pant as his body craves more air. A pounding headache hammers against his skull as feeling begins to return to his body. Mipha incessantly repeats her mantra of Revali’s name to herself. Revali can slowly feel his feather-tips again, though a stinging sensation still remains. The Rito raises his wing in what feels like a Herculean effort, but slowly it rises. Despite the shaking, his wing grasps one of Mipha’s hands over him.
The Zora instantly turns her watery eyes onto him as a wave of relief fills her. “Oh Revali! Thank Hylia you’re awake! It looked bad there for a second…” Some of her tears are smeared against scales as she moves to wipe the droplets off.
The claws of the Rito’s talons flex as feeling returns to them. Revali tries to reposition his body, but the Zora holds him down. “Please stay still Revali! Your body is completely exhausted enough as it is. You will just pass out again if you move too quickly.”
Without the ability to offer a retort, the Rito lays his head back on the stone floor of Vah Ruta. His braids offering the only modicum of a cushion as they all tangle together underneath him. Revali lays under the careful watch of Mipha’s healing powers for what feels like an eternity to him. Next to him, the Great Eagle Bow lies unattended—Mipha’s gift still glowing softly.
Mipha focuses the entirety of her being on healing the Rito before her. With diligence, she focuses her power on the most concerning injuries. Thankfully, the avian seems to have stabilized. She out a relieved sigh as she looks at Revali’s face. “That’s good. The color seems to be returning to your features.” An exhausted smile spreads across herself as she begins to tend to her own injuries. As the open wounds that are spread across the Zora begin to close upon contact with her healing power, the Rito’s senses return in full. The stone has just become too unbearable to lay his head on. He tries to get himself up to a seated position, but his incredibly weak body protests at the moment.
The Zora sees her fellow Champion almost collapse back against the floor; however she catches him just in time. She shuffles closer to him and lays the avian’s head on her lap. “I know you’re antsy to get moving, but you just need to lay down and rest.” The Zora gives herself one more look over, the glow of her healing power fading. She lets a sigh out.
Revali grabs the Zora’s attention with his wing. He points at her hand.
“Do you have other wounds that I missed!?” Mipha eyes frantically move over the Rito’s body, but he quickly gives a weak shake of his head. He points once more at her hand and then at Mipha in general.
“You want me to heal myself?” Revali gives a nod to confirm. Faint hints of amusement shine in Mipha. “I’ll be fine for now, but my reserves are already low enough as they are. I’ll need to get some Zora doctors to give you a more thorough examination.”
Revali gives his dry throat a clearing. “Fight…Ganon.”
Mipha looks at the Rito as if he has just grown another head. Letting out an incredulous huff, she informs her fellow Champion, “You’re crazy! Look at the state of us. We’d barely put up a challenge against a Cucco—let alone against Ganon.”
A distant look falls over the Zora. “I shouldn’t even be here right now. To be honest, I didn’t actually expect anyone to hear my calls for help…”
Revali cups one of his wings around Mipha’s face above him. “I heard…We all heard.”
“Do you know where the other are?” She asks.
“Urbosa, Daruk…Vah Rudania. Zelda, Link…seal Ganon.” Revali gets out in his energy deprived state.
“Did…she awaken her sealing power at the spring?” Mipha has a look of trepidation.
Revali gives a small nod and a smile in response.
A hopeful aura envelopes the Zora. She ruffles her fingers through the Rito’s crest feathers. “That’s great news to hear.” She sends the Rito a look of pride. “See, your talk with her helped in the end after all! I told you not to discount yourself.”
Her demeanor cracks, “And it allowed you all to be warned about the threat on the Divine Beasts…”
The Rito grows uneasy at the mention of the Divine Beasts. In all the chaos of the last few hours, he has not been able to put much thought into the state of Rito Village. Visions of the fledglings flash through his mind. “Do you think…Vah Medoh is attacking the village?” Revali hesitantly asks.
The Zora calms the Rito’s worries. “I don’t think so, the…blight we fought only revealed itself once I interacted with the control panel.”
Mipha fixes her gaze on the control panel, a small shudder forces it’s way through her. She spots her trident off by where Revali skewered it through the blight. She twists the metal embellishment around her wrist. She looks back to the red spots on Revali’s cheeks. “Thank you Revali, for…saving me.”
Revali opens his beak to respond, but the Zora beats him to it. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it; I was in quite dire straits facing that blight alone. There was a moment I realized that I was going to lose; a moment where the other Champions, my father, Sidon, and…you flashed before my eyes.” Her voice cracks a little. “But then you showed up. I almost didn’t believe it, but there you were, right before my eyes. I should say that I was brave enough to make peace with my death, but I wasn’t. I…was scared. I begged for more time; time to play with Sidon, time to make more Zora smile, time to…be with you.” Mipha’s teary eyes bore directly into the shocked ones of Revali.
“I’m sorry.” Mipha says while crying. “I know we both are an absolute wreck right now, but I can’t hold it in. I should have gathered the courage and told you yesterday on the Promenade, but I didn’t. Scared of facing the same pain I experienced in the past.” Mipha is letting out all the emotions of the past few hours. “I don’t just see you as a friend Revali, I envision you as part of my future. A future where we are standing together against the world. A… future which almost just slipped through the grasp of my hands entirely. I-I…” Tears flow freely down Mipha’s scales.
Revali clasps Mipha’s hands in his wings. From his position in his lap, he gazes up at the Zora. “I like you too, Mipha.” The Rito’s earnestly proclaims in a soft voice. “More than you could ever know. As soon as I heard your distress calls, I lost control of all my reason. There was no force that could stop me reaching you. I didn’t know what feelings I had about you before. But I know now with certainty.” Revali nuzzles his beak into Mipha’s hands, but he moves away as he begins hacking with coughs.
Mipha clears her eyes of tears. She rubs Revali’s back as his coughing dies down. “We can talk about this later when we are not walking disasters, my…jade.” Mipha thinks to herself briefly. “I can think on that name later, I’m too exhausted now.” The Zora plants a small kiss on Revali’s beak.
“Of course, princess.” Revali closes his eyes as he leans further into Mipha’s lap. A smile is etched onto his beak. The two of them fall into a blissful silence. Just basking in the touch of each other. However, a distant rumble catches the two’s attention. It grows louder and louder the closer it gets. The pair grow increasingly worried as the sound approaches, their heart rates spiking in anticipation. But instead of a doom overcoming them, a comforting light passes over them in an instant. Sunlight land on the pair from Vah Ruta’s windows as the clouds are blasted into nothingness by the shockwave outside.
The atrium lightens considerably. Revali will later deny that he started to chirp at the feeling. The Rito’s smile grows larger. “I know that feeling. I felt it yesterday at the Spring of Wisdom. That was Zelda’s power.” A look of confusion envelopes the Rito. “Did Vah Ruta blast Ganon already?”
“I let Vah Ruta loose on Ganon as soon as I moved her into position. I sincerely hope it was painful when it hit him…” Mipha says with an uncharacteristically malicious tone.
“I hope so too.” Revali leans into Mipha’s scales. “So, how are we going to get down from Ruta and back to the domain?”
“I have absolutely no idea. I hope some Zora will check up on us cause I’m too tired to move,” she declares. Not that either of the Champions complained about having to spend more time alone together. Time to bask in the victory over Ganon. Time to fill themselves with relief for both surviving the battle. Time to dream of what their future holds…with each other.