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It had been a long day for everyone, between Twilight waking up and healing enough to walk around, Sky running all over the town following the postman, and the news that the creature creating the portals must still be alive. Time had been rather distracted all day. His worry for Twilight had only slightly decreased since his descendant had healed, and the lack of sleep was really starting to catch up with him.
He could not have been more overjoyed when the sun had set and it became a reasonable time to go to bed.
Time slipped into the first of the three rooms they had rented to check on the boys, and was greeted by a rather animated argument between Legend and Four. Sky was fast asleep on one of the two beds, which was rather impressive considering Four was sitting next to him yelling. On the other bed sat Legend, with Hyrule next to him but buried under the covers.
“A cucumber is not a fruit!” Four cried, frustrated tears welling up in his eyes.
“Yes it is, I’m tellin’ you it is,” Legend argued. “Botanically? It is a fruit.”
“You’re fucking lying to me.'' The smith sounded like he was about to lose it.
The veteran shook his head, crossing his arms as he leaned back into the pillows he’d stacked on the second of the two beds. “They grow from flowers, they’re fruits.”
Four looked like he was about to rip his hair out.
“I’ve never had a cucumber…” Hyrule mumbled, which caused Legend to gasp and look at him in outrage. “Not a fresh one anyway. I’ve had pickles though? We have a lot of them in my era because they last longer. Those are definitely vegetables.”
Time cut them off before it could escalate. “No more of that, a cucumber is an edible plant and we’re gonna leave it at that.”
“Any plant is edible if you try hard enough,” Hyrule said cheerfully.
“What the fuck is wrong with you,” Legend sighed, smacking him in the face with one of his pillows.
“Language,” Time scolded, but the veteran just rolled his eyes at him. “And you can’t just rile up Four whenever you’re bored and want something to do.”
“He started it!” Legend protested, and he probably would have gone on a long rant if Time hadn’t given him The Look. Instead the veteran’s eyebrows furrowed and he looked off to the side.
“Bed time, yes?” Time asked, and the three boys who were awake all nodded. “If you need anything you know where to find me.”
He slowly closed the door, grinning to himself at their grumbles of ‘Good night’ before heading to the next room. His heart skipped a beat when he opened the door and found Twilight laying on his back, hands clasped over his stomach, sleeping like he was dying of the plague. He was temporarily brought back to the night before, when Twilight’s survival was not a sure or certain thing. Seeing his descendant’s chest rise and fall was immediately enough to put him at ease, but he couldn’t deny that he had panicked for a moment. The rancher was still way too pale, twili markings standing out much darker than usual.
Curled up asleep on either side of him were Wind and Wild. The champion’s hand rested just above the rancher’s own, rising and falling with every breath Twilight took. Time carefully stepped closer to them, gently brushing the hair off of Twilight’s forehead and letting the back of his hand rest there a moment. He felt a little warm, but not enough to be concerning. Time leaned away from him with a relieved sigh, but almost screamed when he saw an unnaturally bright pair of blue eyes staring up at him unblinking.
“Goddesses, Wild,” he gasped, throwing his hand over his heart. He could feel its racing beat beneath his fingers.
The champion just stared at him for a moment before shifting closer to Twilight, resting his head on the rancher’s shoulder and letting out a contented noise. He went back to sleep so quickly Time wondered if he was really even awake. He took the sheet and gently covered the three sleeping Links with it before sneaking out of the room carefully. Seven boys accounted for, all of them in bed. That just left one more for Time to check on before he could allow himself to pass out.
When he opened the door to the third and final room they had rented, he was shocked to find it empty. The sheets were folded and tucked down, completely undisturbed, the only trace of the captain was a small pile of his belongings sitting at a desk in the corner of the room. A familiar green outer tunic and blue scarf were draped across the chair.
Time frowned, it was quite unlike the captain to just disappear without warning. Warriors had been acting strange all day, ever since Twilight got injured really. The normally bright and cheery man had been more sad than usual, Time might even go so far as to say he seemed downright depressed and gloomy. He’d been much snappier than usual as well, more serious than Time had seen him since the war. It was… worrying, to say the least.
The last time he’d had a chance to talk to Warriors had been the previous night when his brother sat with him at Twilight’s bedside. They hadn’t had an opportunity to really speak since, with Warriors watching over the others while Time was busy and resting.
Exhausted as he was, Time needed to find his captain.
It didn’t take him too long to locate his brother. After so many years together, he felt he knew the man inside out by now. Time found him the first place he looked: The steps at the back of the inn.
Warriors was sitting on the second to last step, curled around his knees which were tucked against his chest. He was far enough away from the awning that the rain had completely soaked through his thin white tunic. It clung to his back, revealing to Time the protruding bones of his spine and shoulders. The captain’s loose blond curls were dragged down with the weight of the water, plastered to his neck and cheeks. It was not a warm night, not with the winds, and Time knew his brother was probably freezing.
Walking loudly down the stairs, so as not to startle him, Time stepped out into the rain and sat beside the captain. Immediately, Warriors rested his head on the offered shoulder with a small sigh.
“What’s on your mind, Captain?” Time asked softly, wrapping an arm around him. It didn’t do much to shield him from the winds, but Warriors was cold to the touch and seemed more than happy to lean against something warm.
Normally he wouldn’t touch his brother without warning, but with the freezing winds around them, he wanted to do what he could to keep the captain warm, and he was thankful Warriors didn’t have a bad reaction to the touch. He seemed aware enough at least to recognize it was Time who had sat by him and they were alone, spacey as he seemed.
A moment of silence passed between the two of them, and Time’s unanswered question hung in the air. He was about to ask it again when he felt Warriors tense up against him and sit up, moving away so that he was no longer being touched. He let him go without protest.
“You should go get some rest, Sprite, it’s late,” he said so quietly that Time almost missed it.
Time was exhausted, and he wanted nothing more than to be able to go curl up on the waiting bed upstairs, but he didn’t feel comfortable leaving his brother alone like this. Something about the way Warriors was acting scared him a little, and while he knew the captain was a grown man who was fully capable of taking care of himself, he was hesitant to leave him out here, especially in the cold.
“I’m alright,” he lied with a kind smile, “I think I’ll sit out here with you, if that's okay.”
“You shouldn’t sit out in the rain,” his brother whispered, and Time noticed with shock that his hazel eyes looked distant and almost glazed over, “you’ll get sick.”
At another point in his life, he would’ve clapped back with “So will you” with no hesitation, but now that he was older and more aware of his brother’s state, he knew that wouldn’t help the situation. Warriors had been off all day, he wasn’t himself right now. He seemed very far away from himself and detached from the current situation, it was up to Time to make sure he didn’t freeze to death out here.
“Come with me inside then?” Time asked, offered him a hand as he stood up. The captain’s breathing sped up as he came back to himself a little, but he took Time’s outstretched hand and allowed him to pull him to his feet before wrapping his arms tightly around his middle.
Warriors was shaking like a leaf as the two of them headed back into the inn and up towards their room, and Time frowned when he saw his brother’s lips had a blue tinge to them. He tried not to think about what might’ve happened to the captain if he hadn’t gone looking for him. When they got to the room, his brother walked in and just stopped in front of his things, before whipping his head around with eyes wide in fear when he heard the door click shut, ears pinning themselves tightly to the sides of his head.
“It’s just me,” Time smiled at him kindly, raising his hands where the captain could see them and trying not to let his heartbreak show on his face.
It had been quite some time since Warriors had looked at something Time did with that much panic written all over his face. Everything about his brother’s body language told him he was ready and prepared for a fight, and while he could tell Warriors was still very far away in his own head, his strength and agility were not to be underestimated. Time might outweigh him significantly, but they sparred with each other regularly and he knew Warriors could have him on his ass in seconds.
“You should change into dry clothes,” Time told him, and he didn’t like how Warriors only looked more scared. His brother tracked his movements with wide eyes as Time walked over to get him a clean set of clothes and hand it to him. “I’m gonna step out for about five or so minutes and I’ll be back, okay?”
The captain nodded jerkily and Time hated to leave him alone like this, but he couldn’t deny how much more relaxed Warriors looked at the idea that Time was going to give him some privacy.
He stepped out into the hall and sat down with his back against the door. With everything that had been going on and how distracted he’d been, Time felt horrible for not noticing when Warriors had gone into fight or flight mode. It scared him that he’d allowed his worry for Twilight to blind him from his brother’s obvious suffering. Warriors had gone into his ‘captain mode’, and clearly fallen apart the moment he was alone, and Time hadn’t been there for him. Had he missed something horribly wrong in any of the others?
He wasn’t given any more time to beat himself up, because a gentle knock sounded on the door behind him and he sat up so he wouldn’t fall over when it opened, revealing his brother. Warriors had taken the time to wash his face as well as change his clothes, but he was still shivering a bit. Time didn’t have to touch him to know his skin would still feel like ice.
“Feeling any better?” He asked, trying not to let his sadness show on his face when the captain shook his head. “Do you want me to stay or would you like some space?”
Warriors seemed to ponder the offer for a bit before he raised shaky hands up to sign. ‘Would you really be okay if I asked for space?’
Time blinked in shock. “Of course I’d be okay with that, you don’t have to force yourself to be around people if you want time to be alone.
‘I… I don’t know what I want…’ His brother admitted with a sniff. He was still a bit hunched over and seemed closed off.
“How about you lay down and try to sleep and I’ll stay up reading for a bit so you still have your space but I’m still in the room?” Time suggested, trying to ignore that he knew in the back of his mind that if he sat down for more than thirty minutes he’d surely fall asleep.
That seemed to sound okay to Warriors, because his brother turned around and went over to the bed, allowing Time to get up off the floor and shut the door behind them. Thankfully this time the captain didn’t startle at the sound, he just kept making himself comfortable on the mattress, burying himself in the blankets and sheets, before holding on tightly to his scarf.
Time pulled a journal from his bag after changing out of his own wet clothes, figuring that writing a letter to his wife might help him keep his eye open and stop him from falling asleep so quickly. He was very wrong, he got about half way through his letter before he fell asleep curled up in the armchair, mid-sentence. He was barely aware of gentle hands pulling the journal and pen from his hands and setting them on the nearby table, and he was completely asleep when the door opened before quietly clicking shut.
A short time later, those gentle hands carefully shook him awake, and he was instantly transported back to the days in the War of Eras when the captain would wake him up every morning. Time groaned softly and blinked a few times before his brother’s face came into focus. Warriors looked much more alert and aware of his surroundings now, and none of the fear that had been there before was visible in his eyes.
“I’ll bet you 300 rupees your back is going to hate you if you spend the entire night in that chair,” Warriors teased, smiling at him softly.
Time sat up and his back popped as if to prove his brother’s point. “I’m not making a stupid bet with you.”
“C’mon,” the captain offered him a hand. “Bedtime.”
He stumbled to his feet, head a little fuzzy from being half asleep, but the worry he held hadn’t decreased at all, so he stopped moving the second he was upright despite Warriors pulling his hand gently. His brother turned around to give him a confused look.
“Wait. Are… are you okay?” Time asked slowly.
Warriors let out a sigh. “Yeah, I’m doing better. Anxiety is… still a bit bad right now, but I’ll get over it.”
“I’m sorry.”
His brother let out a small laugh. “Don’t be, I’ll be okay.”
Time allowed the captain to practically drag him to bed. To his surprise, Warriors did not keep his distance like he thought he would, instead he curled right up to Time’s side and settled with a content sigh. While the captain did sleep against him occasionally, for the most part he hated being touched in his sleep, and with how jumpy he’d been earlier, his willingness for physical contact shocked Time.
He frowned in confusion. It was only about two hours after he’d brought his brother in from the rain, what had he done to relax himself so quickly?
Time was convinced Warriors could read his mind because he suddenly murmured, “I’ve decided that hot baths and having a good cry are fantastic for my mental health.”
He really shouldn’t have laughed, but he did, and he squeezed his brother tighter. The captain laughed too, not even trying to suppress his giggles.
“No, I’m serious! Give it a go, Sprite, maybe it’ll fix your issues too.”
“I don’t have issues,” he snorted, fully joking. He had plenty of his own problems, he just preferred to get his frustrations and sorrows out through angrily chopping firewood.
“Uh-huh, sure you don’t,” Warriors rolled his eyes, resting his head on Time’s chest. A long moment passed before the captain spoke again, a more serious tone to his voice. “I also went to see Twilight, to check if he was okay. I… I really thought he was going to die. I prepared myself for it, convinced myself it would happen and prepared for it so when everything fell to shit, I’d be the one who help.”
Time’s heart just about broke in two and he used both arms to hold his brother tighter to himself. He had so many things to say in response to that, but he knew Warriors wasn’t finished, so he stayed silent.
“And I’m so happy he’s still here, I really am. I think it would’ve broken something in me forever if we lost him, it… it was just hard for me to convince myself that he was fine and nothing horrible was going to happen,” the captain whispered. “It’s… it’s like I’d convinced myself he had already died and the grief just fucking hit me. I don’t know how long I sat out there in the rain, I had a lot to process, but thank you for finding me.”
“Of course,” Time said, pressing a kiss to his brother’s soft blond curls. “I… I’m sorry I wasn’t more help these past two days, you’ve done so much for me and for everyone.”
“It’s my job as a brother,” Warriors mumbled.
“You shouldn’t have felt the need to push your grief and fear to the side just to help everyone get through what we all thought was about to happen,” he sniffed , trying hard not to think about how close they’d come to losing the rancher. “You deserve to feel things too, Captain, you don’t… you don’t have to force yourself to be strong for all of us.”
“I know…” his brother sighed. “I know I don’t, it just… It just happened.”
Time rested his cheek on top of Warriors’s head. He didn’t know what to say, he didn’t even know where to start. The idea that the captain had put himself through all that made him unbearably sad, and he didn’t know what to do to help his brother.
“Hey,” Warriors poked him firmly in the ribs and he yelped. “This is not your fault, I can literally hear you thinking too loud right now. Stop it.”
“I don’t know how to help,” Time admitted with a frown, sniffing softly when tears began to well in his eyes. “So much has just happened and I don’t know how to help everyone.”
“You are helping,” the captain assured him, “just by being here and putting up with me. And you checked in on all the others, we both did. They’re okay, we’re all moving past this together.”
“Are you sure?” He asked, and Warriors propped himself up on one arm so he could look Time in the eye.
“I’m positive.”
He stared up at his brother for a moment, searching his face for any sign that he was just trying to ease Time’s guilt, but he found only honesty in soft hazel eyes. After a beat, Warriors laid back down, snuggling up against Time’s side again.
“Thank you again for finding me,” his brother whispered.
“I’ll always come find you,” he murmured, “and I’ll always help.”
They said their goodnights to each other, and Time was finally able to close his eyes and rest, comforted by the knowledge that everyone was safe and sound.