#so i went back to get more pictures of kinder smiles from kei lol

[mint-stone]

Anyway, soft Kei smiles

[zzariyowords]

alright, alright. i’m posting this in hopes that it’ll push me to finish the actual update.

here’s a 5 page worth of words I wrote out for the next update when I was so invested in my thoughts of meelo that I totally and completely forgot how the climax and ending was supposed to go and didn’t think of how this would rock the boat too much. i hope one or two people will get a kick out of this. maybe foam a little at the mouth like i did. i’ll consider it a piece of my AU’s AU lol

there’s like. A spoiler but it’s not much of a spoiler, I think. Also I haven’t looked at it or edited it in a while so there may be some mess ups.

____

They went back to drinking their tea until mid-sip, Revali asked, “Speaking of, why did you follow me up there in the first place? Was there something?” Immediately, Meezuli’s whole face tightened and it was clear that there was definitely something.

“I-Well, you know-” She was tripping over what should have been a simple question, averting her eyes from Revali until she gave an awkward smile and blurted, “I originally came up to punch you for upsetting Meelo.”

They both blinked.

Revali frowned, as his first reaction was to be insulted that she came to hit him, up until he thought about how shocked and sad Meelo looked after he overheard him and Teba. And then his stomach dropped the same way it did then.

He had just assumed, or rather, hoped, that Meelo left because he genuinely felt like he was interrupting, not because he was that upset. Stupid.

“I upset him that much?”

Meezuli ground her beak and nearly tossed her saucer onto the floor so she could slap her hands on her knees. “You did! And I wonder why. Maybe ‘cause you screamed about fucking Link in front of him, you idiot!”

“But why would he be so upset to warrant you to punch me?” Revali squawked back.

Instantly, Meezuli’s face went blank and she was quiet for a second. “Oh. Oh, you don’t know, do you?”

Revali folded his arms. “What don’t I know?”

“How Lo feels about you…?”

His cheek feathers ruffled. He scratched his face and looked away. “Well...I...I know that sometimes things got...Well, maybe a little intimate between us, but I didn’t that it-”

Meezuli ground her beak again. “That it what? That it didn’t mean anything?” She threw her hands up to grab onto Revali’s face and knocked on his skull. “For our Champion, you really don’t have anything knocking around in that giant head of yours, do you?!”

With what limited control he had of his face with Meezuli’s clutching onto him, he grimaced and spat, “Excuse me?”

As a response, Meezuli started to shake him and yelled in his face, “Meelo is head over heels for you, birdbrain! Totally nuts, bonkers, wacko over you!”

Every feather on Revali’s body stood on end. And his skin underneath it scorched.

He had known that there was something, but nothing that serious. Not serious enough that knowing what happened between him and Link would hurt him.

Revali was caught between feeling immeasurably guilty and inexplicably happy, knowing how Meelo felt. Knowing the real meaning behind Meelo's words when he told Revali how much he meant to him. 

“Everyone in the village knows it. Except you, apparently!”

“For...For how long?” He hesitantly asked, his beak bone dry.

“Basically since the beginning! How could you not-” She released Revali, groaning, then balled up her fists. “Din Almighty, I want to punch you so hard right now.”

Revali tried to flatten his feathers, trying to get them to stay down, but he couldn’t. All he could do was think of Meelo. Think of how during all the nights Revali was thinking about Link, Meelo was probably thinking about him the same way. About all those moments that Revali brushed off to go back to thinking about Link, and much they probably meant to Meelo.

“But...I…”

Meezuli let out a guttural sigh, rolled her head. “Meelo was so upset because he’s so into you and lately really thought he could have a serious chance. Even when Link was here and you two were attached at the hip, both me and Teba told him he didn’t have anything to worry about. Because, you know, everyone in Hyrule knows he’s engaged to that stuck up fish prince. But then you-” She balled her fists up and groaned again, loudly, up at the roof.

“I thought you said you were on my side!” Revali spat, brushing down his crown.

She huffed, then waved her hands. “I am, I am. I just can’t help but be mad on Meelo’s behalf, okay?” Clasping her hands together, she went on. “But, because I know Meelo can get over this and you’re dealing with a lot more...I will try to be unbiased. And from my unbiased standpoint, I gotta ask this again.” Meezuli leaned in and pointed her hands at Revali. “How do you feel about Lo?”

Revali sputtered and had to work on flattening his feathers again.

“Is he just a friend to you? Did all that 'intimacy' you mentioned really not mean anything?”

She might've said that she would be unbiased, but the pleading look in her eyes said otherwise. It was intense enough that Revali had to look away and think, all the while brushing his cheeks to flatten the feathers.

Maybe it should’ve been a simple answer, but it wasn’t.

After all the time he spent with him. After all the gentle smiles and soft laughs Meelo gave him, it wasn’t easy.

After Meelo shielded onlookers from seeing Revali when he was torn after finding that old letter from his parents like it was the obvious choice. 

After Meelo found Revali when he was falling apart from his visions in front of Medoh, using his taller frame and hand as an umbrella for Revali from the pouring rain, and held him tightly until he calmed down.

After Meelo tried to be brave at the ball, even though he was completely out of his element. And after they waltzed together, their bodies closer than ever, both ruffling up when they held hands, hips, and shoulders, breathing each other’s air. Even after Meelo snapped at Link for putting Revali in danger; It was wrong, but he had only done it because he cared so much for Revali.

After he took down a Grizzlemaw, almost singlehandedly, showing just how brave and bold he could be when given the chance.

After Meelo worried about it him all the time, fretting over his wellbeing constantly. Waiting by his bedside when he was with the doctor and always being there when he was hurt.

After Meelo never failing to be amazed by him. Always in awe of everything that Revali did, never ceasing to hang on his every word with stars in his eyes.

After always predictably puffing out his cheeks when he was mad or frustrated, stuttered and fidgeted when he was nervous, cocked his head slightly whenever he asked questions. His crest always gave him away and he was always so easy to read; he was always so expressive in the funniest and most adorable ways and it was one of the most endearing things about him.

After always being so thoughtful and gentle. Being surprisingly smart and cunning. Being headstrong in the softest way; never giving up even when it was hard, despite how he thought of himself. Generally being wonderful and perfect. Softening Revali and making him want to be a kinder person.

After all of that...It wasn’t easy. It was not easy at all to come up with an exact answer to how he felt about Meelo.

Especially after the night where they were so close to kissing. So close to Revali throwing away all the years of yearning for Link to start something new. He had wanted to kiss him so bad. To turn over a new leaf with someone else.

But that was the question.

If Link was out of the picture, would Revali even want to be with Meelo?

Revali had pulled away when he realized that he was only putting Link in Meelo’s place because he was so much like Link before the Calamity happened. And while still wanting a future with Link, it felt so wrong.

But if Link was gone, if Link never gave Revali the time of day, if Link was untouchable enough for Revali to finally give up, would that piece of him still...Still want to kiss Meelo? Did he only feel the way he did because of his likeness for the old Link and he was a stand-in, or was he so special to Revali while Link was still invading his head?

Should it even matter, anyway?

It was impossible to keep ignoring how Meelo made him feel. He felt himself blush around him, felt his heart skip beats and his stomach flop. Felt butterflies in every inch of his body. A future could be possible. A new future. He could be the key to moving on, to finding a new life far from all the pain of the past. Just like Urbosa said. Maybe that was what was meant to be.

But how could he? How could he do that now that he already dug his own grave, done what he had done with Link. Was this new future even possible with the past, with what could have been with Link, still plaguing him and refusing to let go?

Revali closed his eyes and rubbed his head.

“I don’t...I don’t know.”

Meezuli squinted at him and furled her arms. “Waddya mean you don’t know?”

“Alright, alright! Fine!” His eyes shot open so he could glare at Meezuli. “I admit it. I like Meelo. I think I might really really like him.”

Meezuli’s whole face widened into a gigantic grin that was too big for her tiny face.

“But it’s very complicated, Meezuli. Extremely complicated.” He pinched the bridge of his beak in exasperation.

And instantly her smile fell. “Oh, whatever.”

“No! Seriously. Listen to me,” Revali snapped. “I...I left this part out because I’m not proud of it and I doubt Meelo ever brought it up with you, but-”

Meezuli’s eyes were so wide and expectant that Revali had to look away again to finish his sentence.

“...Meelo and I almost kissed.”

“For real?!” She shrieked. 

Revali grabbed her beak to clamp it shut. “Quiet! I don’t want all of Tabantha to know.”

When he let go, she clicked her beak a couple times before asking, “Well, why didn’t you? What’s the problem?”

“The problem is that no matter what I do, no matter what happens, I just can’t let go of Link. I still want to be with him. I still want to have a future with him-”

“You still want to bone him.”

“That could be said more eloquently, but yes!” He barked. 

“Well, after all you told me, I can see why it wouldn’t be easy to shake off. Not everyone gets to spend a century dreaming about boning someone.”

Revali covered his face with his hand and let out a sharp groan before continuing on. “The point is, I pulled away because I realized that I wasn’t completely thinking about Meelo. I was thinking about Link, too. And I’m afraid that I only like Meelo since he reminds me so much of how Link was before the Calamity.”

“But that Link is gone, right? He’s a totally different person now, through and through, so that shouldn’t matter that he makes you think of someone from the past, yeah?” Meezuli said, drinking more tea.

“Again, it’s not that simple. As I said before, Link is regaining more of his memories and is becoming more and more like the person he was before. So, it’s almost as if the person I loved before is slowly coming back.”

Meezuli whistled. “Wow, yeah, this is a toughie.”

“You are doing the opposite of helping.”

“Okay, okay, fine. As your unbiased pal, lemme put this on the table.” She took a giant gulp of her tea and practically tossed the empty saucer onto the floor. “The thing is, Link is engaged to someone else. Before you even came back from heaven or wherever the hell you were. And to the prince of the Zora, for Farore’s sake! Teba’s right, there’s a lot of politics, that honestly I don’t totally get, involved. Things are weird enough between us and the Zora as it is without you, someone who’s already hated by those fish, messing it all up. It’s hairy stuff.”

“That sounds pretty biased to me, Meezuli.”

“I’m just listing the cons here, sir.”

“But Link said he would take care of that. That he would break it off so that we could be together. So that can’t even be considered a con because that won’t be an issue anymore.”

Meezuli gave him a flat look.

“What?”

“You can’t honestly believe that he’ll be able to do that, right? I think he just said that in the spur of the moment. There’s kingdom politics, then there’s that lunatic involved…”

“That’s another thing! Link wouldn’t have to deal with that wretched royal anymore-”

“Sir, that’s a pro for Link. Not for you. Yeah, Link should get away from him if he can, but that doesn’t mean he has to be with you instead.”

Revali set his head in his hands. That was...shockingly smart of Meezuli to say.

“You wanna know what I think?”

“What do you think, wise sage Meezuli?”

She gave him a snide look and then went on. “I think Lady Urbosa is right, too. You all need to move on and find new lives for yourselves. That’s the best thing you can do after all you’ve been through. Leave the past in the past. And I think that you should do that…” She sheepishly shrugged and smiled. “By getting with my number one buddy who is your biggest fan.”

Revali’s brow deepened as his feathers lightly ruffled. “You’re really pushing your Meelo agenda, aren’t you?”

“I told you, I can’t help it!” Meezuli laughed, despite herself. “I know, you’re still in love with that hero. But, that ship might have permanently sailed. And all that ship has done is make life harder for you. So, that’s why I genuinely think Meelo is your ticket to happiness. Even if you’ve fudged it up a bit.”

He scratched his face, thinking. “I don’t know.”

Maybe she was right. She probably was.

But she was really downplaying how in love she was with Link. It wasn’t something you could easily break off just like that.

Meezuli rubbed her chin for a moment, thinking, before snapping her fingers. “Tell you what. How about you think it over tonight and then in the morning you can go talk to Link in person about it, without all that romance getting to both of your heads. Really mull it over with each other. No secrets, just straight up. I’ll go with you, since I have letters to deliver in the Domain anyway.”

Revali wasn’t too keen on going to that place. He might as well walk into a Bokoblin camp with his arms bound and an apple stuffed in his beak. “But… shouldn’t you have left tonight?”

“Tch. I’ll just tell ‘em there was a storm. How are they supposed to know?”

He stared at her and she stared back, again with her massive, expectant eyes. 

“For the love of- Fine. Fine! I’ll go.”

“Perfect! You can stay her tonight, too, since-”

“Yes. Thanks for reminding me. We can take Medoh, too.”

“Oh, geez. As long as you two can take it easy on me this time.”

Revali smirked.

“No promises.”