Archive of Our Own

"Change has made me weary. Fate has cheated me of everything."

- Anna Akhmatova, 'The Song of Last Meeting'

 

"Which are more full of fate: The stars; or those sad eyes?" 

- Lionel Johnson

Link was tending to burn marks on horses when a Zora was reported swimming in the Hylia River on the way to the castle, dawn just barely on the horizon. 

A band of Bokoblins had stolen them while the Wetland Stable guards and those who mulled about had backs turned and heavy eyelids, and decided that tipping over the public cooking pots on the stable grounds and lighting spears and bone-wrapped clubs on fire seemed like the most amusing choice to top it off since they now had mounts. It gave Link something to occupy his freetime in the early hours with, before Zelda realized he had left ( again) and sought him out–but he wasn't necessarily prepared to spend it loosing ice arrows at mangy Bokoblins while the sun had not even warmed his sore muscles yet or the wind that tickled the feathered arrows in his quiver. 

While most of the monsters suffocating the lands of Hyrule had dissipated in dark puff of guts and malice the very moment Calamity Ganon was vanquished, Bokoblins and Lizalfos and other creatures often still popped up by the dozens during the witching hours, when the Bloodmoon was expected to rise but no longer did so. It still left an eerie chill upon Link's back if he was awake in the dead of night. The pale moon cresting in the sky, oftentimes tinted pink or a dull red, like a memory of the evil that once basked in the night. Almost as though the creatures that had fallen were still drifting in the air, the news of Ganon's defeat months prior and the bloodlust running through their veins now an empty cause, was too vast of a concept for such shallow beasts.

Zelda had told him it was just a trick of the eye, his nerves playing on his imagination, but she just didn’t want him ruminating on the past. Link needed to convince her to let him out of Central Hyrule– and out of her sight –to at least assess with the other regions if their monster problem was just as annoying and unpredictable as theirs was. 

He hoped the monster's weapons would topple off as he fired the twinkling arrows across the field, encased in ice, and send the ugly things wielding them flying to the dirt with the bulk of it–which most of them did, thankfully. Only one horse had suffered the brunt of Link's counter-attack, the Bokoblin rider tugged the poor horse toward Link's line of fire and the icy arrowhead pierced the belly of the Bokoblin but nipped the mane of the horse, cyan hair crystallized and glittering with frost. 

A small crowd had formed in the chaos, a flurry of smoke and flames and ice in the air, the contrasting elements sending updrafts of wind and bitter chill on the grassy plains. It was the most exciting albeit dangerous thing the stable had witnessed since the Calamity. 

If Link still had possession of the Slate, he might have solved this problem much more efficiently with use of the Stasis rune and regular arrows, but he chided himself for relying on the piece of Sheikah tech too often and too fondly. And besides. It was in Link's hands no longer. And that was that. 

With the Bokoblins now chunks of ice immobilized in the grass, the horses ran in frightened circles around them, chuffing and glaring at the fallen monsters. One of them smashed a frozen Bokoblin under angry hooves, cracking the ice open and leaving the red-bellied beast a mess of flesh and frosted organs. 

Link’s chest heaved, the chilled morning air cutting through his lungs. He laced up part of his ancient armor tighter against his ribs–Link did not trust Impa’s assurance that the guardians prowling around Central Hyrule were fully disarmed, wearing some of that armor was a just-in-case precaution if he was leaving the castle gates. Link fought and evaded more than enough guardians and did not have the patience to waste another shield defending himself or suffer the consequences in the form of thick and rippled, wine-dark laser burns–the cuirass was heavy, and sat uncomfortably against his sweat slick skin and aching muscles. Zelda was so fond of them, apparently, before the Calamity. They made Link uneasy. Even before Ganon overrode their control units. 

He couldn’t remember. 

If Link did not have an audience, and furthermore, children among the gathering crowd at the stable, he might’ve hacked each and every frozen Bokoblin apart until the grass was littered with a massacre of thawing monsterblood and weakly twitching limbs. But he quieted the ache.  

He fished for a few apples in his pack to satiate the spooked horses, using the burlap rope given to him by Izra to guide two of the four horses injured closer to him, hooking the rope to their bridles. If he stepped too close, they may bite or smash the sides of their heads against the Hylian's side in their fit of distress. 

Link took out a leaf-wrapped bundle from his pack, soothing the neck of the horse to his right, minding the claw marks from the Bokoblins weeping red into her fur. The bundle contained a healing salve gifted to him by the equine spirit Malanya, keeper of horses who have passed beyond death. He was only given the salve out of gratitude from the God for never laying a violent hand upon any horse. 

Tugging the knotted bundle loose with his teeth, he took the rope under his boot and used both hands to work the paste between his palms. It smelled faintly of Hyrule herb and the leaves of the Great Forest. He gently applied it to the cuts along the white mare, the burns across her neck and forehead left the fur singed down to the flesh and seeping colorless pus. The heartless abuse on the beautiful animals left Link's blood surging in anger. 

In the year it had taken the Hylian to appease the Divine Beasts and their elemental Blights, solitude and the impending doom of the world and Zelda's safety was not kind to him. Months of traveling alone, eating charred fish and apples, the only company was the scattered corpses of the fallen monsters Link had slain and the crust of blood under his fingernails. 

There was no need for conversation with the people of the villages he'd encountered, unless there was a task they required his assistance for. The strange and often stunned looks upon the state of the Champion of Hyrule burned into Link's skin, the Hylian hero who was preserved like a wildberry jelly for one hundred years in that Sheikah tomb now bore no semblance of his previous knighthood . Sure, the photos on Zelda's Slate may have sparked brief lapses in his memory, but Link looked back on those times as if he were reading a book with the names and faces of the dead Champions crossed out. 

Those memories were happening to a stranger with his face, but not Link. 

Oftentimes he wondered what bits of light from his past could still warm the cold cracks of his current self, any fading glimpse of regality and poise in the Hylian's eyes were now forgotten. Courtesy came one hundred years too late. 

Link stood in the marsh field, dewy grass cold on his ankles, thinking about death and trivialities. 

Light grey scales caught his attention. It was too bright and far too large to be a common fish, and besides, all of the fish in Central Hyrule died once the Calamity began, the waters corrupted with malice and scoured by the hungry monsters who crept in the night. Hylia River twisted to Link's right, and he trained his eye on the figure darting through the water, an added glimpse of familiar silver and jewels made him squint to see past the glare of metal. The pieces fell together suddenly, crashing into place in his brain. 

It was a Zora. 

The noise of the small crowd behind him drowned out by the roar of blood in his ears. The stable became a flurry of curious voices. 

"A Zora in these parts? And it isn't a woman, go figure–"

Link almost dropped the salve. 

"–The fish can walk this far! Hah, what a thought!" 

"That one looks nothing like the late Champion Mipha of old–"

Oh Hylia, help me. The Zoras. 

Footsteps approaching him, figures gleaming in silver and white and red. Link's head spun. His fingers were tacky with the clay, and he spun on his heels to acknowledge the three taller Hylian royal guards who stood a foot from him. Guards. Guards followed Link everywhere now. Wasn't he the knight? Champion of Hyrule? Link did not remember an entourage when he left the castle this morning when he spotted the fire in the distance. Maybe Zelda had requested they keep a tab on Link, much to his displeasure. He'd crossed the entirety of Hyrule, alone. 

He did not need to be monitored like an unruly child, Zelda would know that, of all the Hylians in that damned castle. 

"Master Link, your attendance might be needed," One of them noted. “We’ve been informed that it is a Zoran courier of King Dorephan requesting the Queen.”

"You don't have to call me that," Link's hand made quick and agitated movements as he spoke. 

The guard who had spoken regarded Link with a serious but confused quirk of her brow. Hylian Sign Language was a forgotten tongue, and in the years of the Calamity it faded until only those few who wished to still learn had to seek out the old texts respectively. Link gave her a hand gesture she was sure to understand, her cheeks flaming pink with disbelief. 

He guided the two horses who he already applied the healing salve to into their stables and was greeted by a teary-eyed Izra. Link handed the salve and grass bandages to the man, instructing him on how to apply the thick paste onto the burns without spooking the horse, how long to keep the bandages on and when to reapply, per Malanya's vigorous instructions. 

He nodded with fervor, taking the sacred thing in his hands, rushing to the two colts still in the marshy grassland.

The stables thanked him with a freshly-baked crusted olive bread, wrapped in herb-soaked linens. He gave them a tired smile in return. The bread sat warm in Link's hands. He fought the urge to avert his gaze back to the fading grey Zora in the distance, now dashing under Rebonae Bridge. 

It felt like there were rocks in his gut. There was something wrong in the Domain. Something tugged at him, though. Urging him to move. The phantom sensation of teeth at his shoulder, cold lips on his ear. The memory of hands ghosting over Link’s skin, of Hydromelon wine and warm bathing pools, bitter medicine and the bite of sea salt on his tongue. 

Sidon. 

He didn't give the Hyrule guards more than a few seconds to catch up with him before he rushed to mount Epona and raced across Rebonae to the castle. 

*

Zelda's hands were clasped in anticipation in front of her chest, and Link knew this was serious. Link had missed the formalities but Zelda still offered him to stand alongside her as he quickly worked to rub the grime off his fingers and rub warmth into his freezing palms. She whispered a light debrief into his ear with a soft smile, murmuring something offhanded about how the guards found a new swarm of Keese trapped in the library while she picked a stray twig from his hair. 

Link’s heart finally settled in the presence of Zelda, though his mind still wandered to thoughts of the Domain. Ever since Zelda had mentioned that she was able to visualize every single thing Link did in his journey leading up to Ganon’s defeat, much to his embarrassment, he did not want to mention what bits and pieces that had resurfaced about Sidon. 

The courier of the letter, Ato, a stocky grey Zora with an ugly gash of a scar on his right hip and fidgeting hands, addressed both Link and Zelda with curt nods. If the Zora could sweat, he would be shining with it. They were a typically larger species but in the vastness of the Great Hall, the courier looked almost puny. 

"Would you like for me to read it aloud to you, Your Highness?" 

She nodded, smile tight. "Please, Ato." 

The courier nodded and straightened up, gently peeling the silver wax seal of the Zoras on a large waterproof delivery tube free with a claw and unrolled the creamy paper of the letter. 

"On behalf of King Dorephan of the Zora Domain, I, Jivo, Agricultural and Wildlife Specialist for the Domain, we request Queen Zelda and Champion Link's presence in regards to a pressing matter of our resources and trade shipments in lieu of the stabilization of Divine Beast Vah Ruta. 

After your Champion had appeased our Vah Ruta, her rainfall drowned out our agricultural systems that were a vital part of Lanayru trade, suffocating most of our aquatic plants and left toxic materials in our Eastern Reservoir, no doubt from whatever Sheikah substances remain in her trunk and inner workings. When these rains ceased, it left the Zora Domain and our neighboring Lanayru regions in periodic droughts that have dried up the ponds and smaller bodies of water that our sea life once thrived in. 

Though our plantlife and fish had learned to adapt and return stronger over the century in the absence of the Champion, and the Domain was able to accommodate our neighbors in trade because of such difficult times, we now have yet another posing issue. 

Whatever substances remained in Vah Ruta’s rains have become like a toxin to our waters suddenly after the defeat of Calamity Ganon. Its presence became known quickly and without forgiveness, those new generations of plants and sea life that had evolved to adjust now are showing up dead by the dozens. Our fish and plant life now can no longer acclimate after such temperamental conditions, and we Zora are at a loss as to how to move forward with our partners in trade when there is a demand for said resources and quotas to fill. 

We urgently request both your guidance and probable solutions to this unfortunate matter. 

May the Light illuminate your path,

King Dorephan of the Zora

Jivo, Zora Domain"

Ato’s amber eyes flickered between the two of them, pupils sharp and slitted in the dim light of the Hall. 

He cleared his throat, gills fluttering. He was trying not to cough. Link knew the air quality in Central Hyrule was poor, and he could only imagine how dreadful the conditions would be for the Zora who thrive in freshwater and the ocean spray on the Eastern sea line. Their bodies were not meant to be under the grating sunlight and wisps of still-fading Malice that hung around Hyrule, a fog of the lament of evil. 

The courier still managed, though his sides were trembling as he spoke. "King Dorephan and Prince Sidon will make sure that you are both accounted for and are given rooms the duration of your stay in the Domain— if you choose to accept, of course! Yes, if you choose to accept…despite these trying times for all of Hyrule." 

Zelda nodded to the Zora. "May I see the letter, Ato?" 

"Yes! Yes of course, Lady Zelda," He floundered to find his voice. He gingerly stepped toward her and handed the letter for her to examine for herself. 

Hearing Sidon's name sent a wave of ice water down Link's back, his muscles were stiff where he stood locked in place, and the memory of the Zora Prince made his entire body shiver. Memories filtered in sometimes, though infrequent and difficult to relate to having been so long since they happened in real time, but this. How could he forget? 

*

Link had told himself he was to rest in shallow waters for a few minutes, only to scrub his skin and rinse his underclothes of the cursed blood that marked his sex. But with the warm, sun-drenched rains on his back and the current washing away the mud and sweat crusted to his face, he all but sank to the bottom of the rocky river, and wished to remain there until the next Bloodmoon. 

Weariness crept into his bones as the sun climbed higher into the sky, he knew he had to continue on and regain control of the Lanayru Tower but his stomach was cramped and twisted into jagged knots from the pain and bleeding. It was inconvenient, embarrassing, and slowed him down on trails where monsters could easily scent the copper tang of his weakness in the air. 

He wanted this damn monthly curse to be gone, and his distress peaked when he discovered that his brief, brief respite was abruptly disturbed. 

Prince Sidon did not find the Hylian that fit the King's description near Inogo Bridge, the one who would save them from Vah Ruta's rains. No, the blessed Hero was bathing in the downstream waters beside the Lanayru Tower. Zora did not understand nor care for nakedness in the way that Hylians did, but as soon as the Prince approached the naked man, wading in the cool waters beside him, he jumped out of his skin and got caught in the current. 

At least. He had hoped it was Hylian. The pointed ears were what gave it away. 

Sidon put his hands up in front of him in reassurance. 

"I did not mean to frighten you, little Hylian!" The Zora laughed. "You are Hylian, I presume?" 

Link eyed the rocky shoreline of the river. He’d left his damned weapons out to dry on the water’s edge. Skyloft above, his clothes were drying on a nearby branch! 

Carmine scales and a flash of yellows and blues worked its way out of the waterline as the man regarded Link with a toothy grin. Link was hit with the fresh wave of warm rain and the sweet tang of silent princesses on the Zora male’s skin. 

Link dunked his face under the water to cool his embarrassed blush. He broke through the surface, hair clinging to his scalp and giving Sidon a better view of his features with his hair out of his face. He thought about opening his mouth; he assumed that no one in Hyrule used their hands to speak–ironically, it was the only thing that came as muscle memory after his century-long slumber, aside from his swordsmanship. 

"Hylian. That's right," Link said. 

Sidon's eyes widened in realization, his regal posture straightening and he somehow managed to appear even taller. His smile was lazy, smug almost, but not quite. It exposed all of his sharp teeth, and he rushed forward to greet Link, this time in a different light–despite his nakedness, did Zora not care? Link was grateful this guy couldn’t tell he was bleeding freely in the water…

"Hylian Sign Language! I have not seen it for decades!" Sidon cried with surprise and jubilation. He quickly shifted closer to Link in the water and brought his hands up to speak. "I did not know Hylians still used their hands to translate the mother tongue." 

His hands were huge, Link took note of this, his impossible blush growing redder on his tanned cheeks and chest as he watched his claws, his head swam as he fought against the current trying to appear stronger than he felt in the presence of this big Zora. Link wanted the big Zora Prince to call him little Hylian again. 

"You must be wondering who I am," Sidon signs. His body language is choppy but the words are fluid and buttery when spoken with those hands. "I am Prince Sidon, of the Zora Domain, Heir to the throne, of course." 

Obviously. Goddesses, Link thought. Are all Zora this large and hot and don't know what to do with it? Link splashes himself just a bit in the water, making the Zora's crest darken and his pupils fill the golden ochre of his eyes. Well. The Prince was attractive, sure, but he wasn’t expecting that kind of reaction. Lust surged through his veins. It was because he was flushed and tired and touch-starved, Link told himself, chastising his own brain for finding attraction in someone probably thrice his size and… oh, Hylia. 

Bright, expectant eyes followed Link’s moves in the water as he did this. Watching, entranced. 

He felt like he was going to faint. 

Quickly Link managed to kick his legs hard enough that he could use one hand to sign the letters in his name to Sidon, who examined his fluttering chest and nimble signs with a nod. He gestured to his chest, to himself, just in case he couldn’t execute his point. 

“Your name is Link, hmm… ” Sidon feigns amusement disguised as wonder. One of his hands goes to his hip in thought. There’s a fleeting frown on the Zora’s lips. Link doesn’t quite understand. “Do you have a Hylian surname? I have not heard such one among the people... well, you are one of the sparse handful of Hylians I have met… no matter! It is lovely to be acquainted, dear Link!” 

He might as well have written his name in ink on the palm of his hand, for his name and the brunt of his fate were the only things he remembered. But Sidon looked at Link with a sort of…longing? His eyes searched for it. Maybe other Zora knew of his name as Sidon did. Sidon’s disappointment that Link could not draw up such relevance in the presence of the prince might have been justified, Link thought. He was used to disappointing people now–but Sidon looked as though he remembered his name. So what was he forgetting?

Everything. 

But the winning smile returned, and Link could breathe again. Though his legs were burning. He needed to get out of the river, the cold waters were biting at the various wounds on his legs 

"If you are the Hylian of which my father speaks of–perhaps The Hylian of all those years ago, but no, I mustn't assume foolish things,” Sidon chided himself, his light-colored cheeks dampened with blue. “We…we need the help of a Hylian, you see.” 

So Link must have met the Zora before, though he had no recollection of doing so. 

“Join the club.” Link’s vision went poor as he worked his hands to speak. 

He wobbled to his full height, which wasn’t saying much, but Sidon was able to fully see Link’s bare body from the waist up. 

A latticework of scars decorated his frame, pale skin flushed and burnt from being alone in the dark for so long, small freckles and moles visible as he waded. His skin felt hot in the water, Sidon wasn’t even chest-deep in the river and he could tell that there was something off about this Hylian. Fresh wounds and bruises littered his tiny body, a few still seeping blood, yes, this was the makings of an adventurer, a hero; but Sidon could smell blood elsewhere, deeper in the waters. The scent of it, the pull, made his vision swim. He barely knew of this Hylian and already his presence was dangerous and…familiar. 

“Are you alright, Link? I know Hylians vary in color, but you seem rather— pale? Is that normal?” 

Link shrugs noncommittally, but he winces as an especially foul ache rolls through him. And he knows now that Sidon can tell of his ailment, because the Zora prince rushes to his side when the Hylian’s face dips below the waters of the river. 

“Oh! Link! You’re bleeding!” 

He might have pushed himself too far this time. 

“The Tower– map– slate.” Link’s movements are sluggish and Sidon can no longer decipher the disjointed Hylian Sign Language but his hold around his waist is strong and grounding, and Link’s eyes don’t burn when he opens them. 

Sidon grips Link tighter in his arms, his knees draped over his forearm, the silver cuff digging into the flesh of his ankles. Link was naked, bleeding, and somewhere in his dry throat, river water bubbled up when he tried to take a breath. 

Link heaves, desperate to be alone and not where Sidon can witness his faults and the shame that riddled Link to his core. But Sidon’s hands are strong and steadfast. He does not mention the blood between Link’s thighs, or the apparent distress that ripples off him in waves, he simply holds him closer to his broad chest and gives him an alarmed expression. 

He holds him tighter, and tighter still when Link tries to free himself and run off into the mountains. He feels awful for struggling, for kicking and thrashing, but he needed to know, for himself, that he, the appointed Hero, wasn’t going to just lie down and take it. He didn’t need their help! 

Upstream, two Zoran guards darted through the current to meet the prince, their spears like beams of gloss and liquid light under the murky waters. 

“Help me for a moment, will you? His clothes and items– sorry! Did he hit you?– are over there. He’s fainted in the water–but quite– oh, mind his feet– upset at our efforts,” Sidon grunts through his teeth as he carries Link through the river with another Zora male helping guide the Hylian upright.

“Dear hero,” Sidon says to an unresponsive Link. “I will take you the rest of the way, I fear you’re too spent to make the journey to the Domain alone.” 

Link just nods, the fight finally leaving his exhausted body with a groan. He didn’t want to open his eyes again. If he did, he couldn’t convince himself it was all just a trick of the heat playing on his mind.

 Something cool and wet meets his lips, and Link drinks in whatever was offered with a soft exhale. He leaned into the touch, to whatever it was, and Sidon only hums and the action is done again. His mouth is dry and bitten raw, the soothing sensation a kiss to his chapped lips. Link can hear Sidon’s lithe body slosh through the current as he’s being carried swiftly through the river and with Hylia willing, to the Zora Domain. Whatever that was. 

*

Link could not search within himself to find any similar memories before his encapsulation in the Sheikah tomb Shrine of Resurrection. But he knew these were real. If he shut his eyes and willed the thoughts to fruition he could almost feel himself there. Was it because these things had happened only months prior? 

Zelda blinked, skimming over the letter once more before setting the thick article down on her desk and standing to her feet. Her Sheikah Slate sat propped on metal prongs on her desk, her crystal eyes glanced over to it in question, as if it held the answers to her future. 

Link looked to the anxious courier then back at Zelda. Somehow they were in the shabby repairs of Zelda’s study, so absorbed in his thoughts of Sidon the memory of walking with them to the study slipped Link’s mind. That was normal now, though. Link could find himself fighting off a band of Lizalfos or driving the point of a sword into the depths of a Hinox’s eye in one moment, then he’s shivering in a cave someplace, or sipping the dregs of watery soup in a stable cooking pot. Entire lapses in his memory gone, fragments of his adventures lost to himself. Forgetting was just a familiar part of him now. 

He gently tapped his boot on the stone floor. Zelda perked up at the noise. 

"What to do now?" Link signed. 

Zelda turned from where she had picked up a fallen book and set it on one of the desks. 

"Well…we will need to prepare Storm and Epona for the journey, perhaps? And,” she addressed this to the guards that flanked the room. “Make accommodations for Ato, I am sure they are quite tired from their journey.”

The guards nodded in understanding, both uttering a polite, yes my lady , before one left the study to retrieve the horses from the castle stables. 

" We're–Zelda, we’re really going to go?" Link couldn't tell if what he was feeling was excitement or dread. Or both. 

"So, you've decided, Your Highness?" The Zoran courier asked. He held the waterproof delivery tube and twisted it around in his grasp. "Shall I report a letter in reply, or would you like me to relay a verbal message?" 

"We will be there as soon as possible, you may stay in the guest’s chambers for the night. To make you trek across Hyrule again to relay our response will not be necessary..”

Ato awkwardly nodded in understanding, another of the guards escorting him out to the guest chambers on the Eastern wing of the castle. 

Link's stomach growled, low but audible in the quiet room. The wrapped bread still sat at the bottom of his saddlebag with Epona.

"You're going to get something to eat," Zelda jabbed Link's chest as she walked past him to the corridor. "I'll see to it that the horses are ready for the journey. Try not to steal from the kitchen, will you? The chefs will make anything you'd like so long as you ask, Link." 

"We can't just use the–" Link stopped himself mid-sentence. The elder shrines were no longer accessible via the Slate. Right. 

He hid his flaming cheeks behind a suddenly very interesting book he plucked off one of the shelves, and Zelda scoffed. She didn’t have to know about him taking food when no one was looking. 

She left him staring at the upside down pages of a book when the realization that he would have to make the journey across Eastern Hyrule finally set in. They had only gotten a few month’s of peace from Calamity’s wrath, they were trying to make amends with all of Hyrule and build up a trusting court for the castle, they didn’t even know where to begin with all of this. And now they have another problem? At least this time Link wasn’t a direct cause of this one. His existence didn’t ignite an additional spark in fate’s eye. 

*

After a brief meeting with Zelda’s appointed council and close friends to make proceeding plans in their absence–what few friends that did remain–they set off across the Romani plains through Crenel in hopes of reaching at the very least Lanayru Tower by dusk. 

Zelda’s new horse took her previous one’s name. She sat in the refurbished castle stables, and had not been taken out save for the stable hands that would infrequently lead her through boring fenced-in courses. Storm was not yet used to the Queen and many times on the footpath did she steer Zelda off the road and twitch in discomfort from the saddle. 

Epona huffed, ears flicking as she went at a steady trot by Storm’s side, almost in amusement at the Queen’s unbroken steed. 

"I am not fond of leaving the castle in the state that it currently is in, but I understand. It is not just Hyrule that has been affected by Him,” Zelda comments. She has the Sheikah Slate in one hand, reading something off of its screen while her other loosely occupies the reins. 

Link did not want to envy Zelda’s use of the Slate. But maybe he did a tiny bit. He missed the ease of phasing from Shrines and Towers. It was easy, and maybe he had relied too much on it in his journeys but it was useful. 

"King Dorephan did not mention the water pollution problem when I had appeased Vah Ruta." Link mentions. 

Zelda did not say anything, inputting something into the Slate. 

Link soothed Epona’s mutterings of annoyance at Storm, who was bumping into her side in her fits of defiance. They waited six months to tell us this? Sidon himself could have delivered the news of their problem, and Link would have ran to Zora River with no complaints. 

"I could have gone myself, you know," Link murmurs under his breath. The only sound being the steps of the horses on the trail, Zelda was sure to hear his soft rasp. His voice had gone unused for so long, the words felt foreign and made his tongue sit awkward between his teeth. 

Zelda’s eyes widened. She turned to him, unsure if her bafflement was from his words or his speech. 

"Well, that is out of the question so long as you serve Hyrule. I'm not…" She trailed off. When she finds the strength to continue she starts off with a tense laugh. But her eyes are sad. Link sees this. "You tend to run off like a stray cat if I leave you alone for five minutes."  

Link knew what she was going to say, she's said it at least twice in his memories on the Slate. I'm not losing you again. 

“I’m not going anywhere.” Link feels the resignation in his words, even if it is a type of translation that even Zelda could not understand. She is only reading the signs, not the undertone in them. 

Zelda hooked the slate to her belt. Even Storm remained uniform in the drawn silence. 

“That is exactly my point, Link,” she stressed. 

Link didn’t have any words to say about that. He only lifted a hand for, “What?” 

The floodgates broke, and Link realized that Zelda had been holding this in for a long time and just couldn’t find the right moment. 

“Hyrule is my home , my kingdom, my purpose in life. Despite the Calamity, I’ve found a sense of home when I am in the castle, naturally. I grew up here, and I will always find a sense of solace in the castle walls. I know no matter what happens or what may befall my people, it is my job as Queen to serve and protect for what is right.

“You were appointed as my knight, but more than that–you were, are, a dear friend and brother to me. And…I want to see that you are thriving. Not– not just doing the mundane things around the castle. Like when you used to teach the children archery in the courtyard, and helped me with the Compendium. You weren’t only my knight, then. You were in your element, you were just Link…And, I know you may have forgotten those things, and I don’t hold my own choices in your resurrection against you, but. I see you act differently as of late. Like that desire, that hope, is gone. 

“Do you understand what I’m trying to tell you?” Zelda turns and asks Link. 

The reins make his gloved hands clammy and he feels numb all over. He doesn’t reply. The words sat heavy in his lap, in his head. He signs the word for “yes” slowly, eyes fixed on the beginnings of Zelo Pond. The waters are darker than he last recalled. 

Zelda sighs quietly, exasperated with herself. “What is it that you want, Link?”

Now Link lets the words out. But it’s not the right ones. He didn’t expect this type of conversation, for Zelda to be so keen on Link’s thoughts. Was he doing such a poor job at concealing what he truly felt? 

“I don’t know– peace and quiet for once? For Koroks to stop leaving their seeds in my bags… Baked apples? I guess? The bread this morning was not enough.”

Zelda sighs. “I’m serious.”

Link removes his hands from the reins and turns and looks at Zelda. “To be happy.” 

*

The Zora prince had brought Link back to the Domain to give him fresh clothes– ”Do you know how hard it is to find Zora clothes to fit a Hylian, dear Link?” –and something warm to eat so he didn’t worry Sidon with his fainting again.

It didn’t stop the gawking and hostile looks from the Zora that crowded the public pavilion, despite Sidon’s reciprocal looks of confusion at his people. 

They had yet to meet with King Dorephan yet, to Link’s surprise. Apparently the matter was urgent, if the looming metal figure of an elephant in the distance was any indicator. Sidon kept saying that Link was hurt, he needed help, he needed to be taken care of then they would go to his father. How was he to argue? He didn’t want to stay down in the public plaza, where every Zora looked at Link as though he personally had killed someone dear to them. The place was familiar, yes, but he was unable to put names to faces and understand what he had previously done here to make everyone hate him so deeply. 

Especially when the prince regarded Link with such a fondness that he really couldn’t say no to him. His hand remained fastened to Link’s shoulder, or sometimes threaded in his own smaller hand as he guided him through each place, never leaving his side. If he thought about the implications of this too long, Link was going to black out again. 

Everything became a blur around him as Sidon whisked Link through the Zora Domain, bowls of hearty stew being thrust into his hands, briefly skimming over the marketplace and the Zora inn, both of which Sidon dismissed as he assured Link he would offer him the best place to rest in the whole Domain. 

Which was, evidently, Sidon’s private quarters. 

No one questioned when the prince all but carried the Hylian up the stairs from the main plaza, (making a pointed effort to avoid the King’s chambers) and into his doorway. 

Link swore up and down that he was no longer lightheaded, and yes, the soup helped, thank you, and the bleeding that was a difficult item to ignore but currently sat at the back of his mind. Sidon ushered him into one of the two bathing pools installed in the large room. His large room. Goddess, this trip was going to kill him, and he didn’t even get the chance to view Lanayru Tower in light of his dramatics. 

This one was warm, with steam rising off the clear surface, and Link gave Sidon a shy but indignant look as he stared past the hero at the opposite wall, gesturing to his clothes.

Link stripped himself of the too-big Zoran clothes and slid into the pool. 

He cleared his throat and Sidon smiled sheepishly. He was unable to see Link’s bare body in the bathing pool thanks to the dark stone, but Link still waded more to the side, chest flushed at the exposure.

Sidon stood still, a question on his tongue. An open offer. 

In answer to this Link stepped deeper into the pool, making room for Sidon around him. The hot water will soothe the pain, Sidon had told him. The fact he had to explain to Sidon that no, it was not a flesh wound and yes, he was more than okay, was embarrassing enough. The fact that Sidon offered, no, insisted Link spend his most awful days in his own private room was too much for Link to mentally bear. But that was why he was doing this. Just to staunch the cramping, and cleanse himself. 

But Sidon’s eyes were so dark and intense while he stood there and stared at Link, gills giving a weak flare every now and again as he was weighing out his options. 

Sidon was a…friend? Maybe long before all of this? He certainly felt more than comfortable in Link’s presence once he traversed up the Zora River with the Hylian clutching onto his back. 

The Zora smiled once more, eyes black, and slipped into the waters with Link. His body melded perfectly with the still water, like it was made for him. It was made for him, but Link was so entranced with how the scales on Sidon’s body reflected in the dim light and Calamity damn him, was he into this guy? 

“Something troubling you? If the water is too hot, perhaps the other bathing pool would meet your needs,” Sidon hesitated, a hand open and lightly set against Link’s shoulder in assurance. 

He did feel hot. Probably not in the way that the prince was suggesting. Everywhere was burning up. Link freed his arm from the depths of the hot water and rested it atop Sidon’s chest. 

Immediately his cheery expression faltered to uncover the true emotion. The crest of Sidon’s brow lifted for a moment in surprise, the air around them shifting, and Link could see the dusted blue color rise in his face, on his cheeks and a little on his chest. 

“Do all of the Zora blush like that when they’re nervous?” The Hylian teased. 

Sidon’s mouth opened to speak, eyes going wide, that delightful blue flush darkening across the creamy swathe of his cheeks. It was comical, almost. But the implications were obvious. 

“This is simply–” Sidon struggled to find the proper words, hands gesturing to sign but his lips moved. “I’m unsure if this is the best decision. I was instructed to seek out the Hylian that will help us in our time of need, and bring them to my father. But you’re… well, this is quite an…act of ambivalence on my part. Are you…absolutely positive, Link?” 

Those are some big words for such a big guy, huh? Link did a slow once over of Sidon's body in the water next to him. Sidon watched Link. He hoped his words expressed what he was trying to imply, or he was making a fool of himself. "You don't have to play big and dumb for my sake." 

Something clicked in Sidon’s brain. His regal expression slipped, stolen for a moment’s desires, predatory gaze once warm and sharp blown out by his own lust.

Sidon gingerly found Link’s hand in the water and pulled it close to his chest, slitted pupils filling out the golden of his eyes as he closed them to smell along the inside of Link’s wrist. A low growl rumbled in the Zora’s chest. The Hylian stiffened, watching as an inky blue tongue escaped his mouth and ran across Link’s feverish skin. Tasting the sweat and salt and fluttering pulse point. Sidon opened his jaws further, exposing his teeth, hot breath fanning over the wet spot he left on Link’s wrist. What–

The bright red of Sidon’s crest immediately flashed in dazzling spots of light as his teeth continued to ghost over the skin of Link’s arm, the need to bite begging and tempting and torturous. 

His lips closed ever so slightly around the thrum of Link’s pulse, pinpricks of Sidon’s teeth pressing real and true there.

Link had been flustered before, the monthly course he suffered through often brought on silly fits of arousal and neediness, but this made the ache in his core bubble over into a throb. His dick twitched under the water, and he bit his lip to fight the need to whine. The deemed Champion? Reduced to this? This was embarrassing. The reality that he was fully and truly naked while the Prince of the Zora people was scenting him was what wrenched him out of the throes. 

When did Sidon–

Link yelped, hoarse and shrill. Sidon almost bit him. “What are you doing?” He signed with a flustered gasp. It didn’t mean he wasn’t kinda into it though. 

Sidon blinked, coming to his senses in moments, realizing the position he put not only himself but the poor small Hylian below him and he quickly flung away and freed Link from his carnal advances. 

“Oh! My dearest apologies, I…do not know what came over me! I was behaving like our barbaric ancestors, dear me, I pray you will forgive me, Link. It must have slipped my mind…Hylians are quite different, but I thought that you might’ve been... Goddesses, Zora instincts are quite involuntary… ” His heady gaze slips to Link’s flushed chest, the redness seeping from his cheeks all the way to his collarbones, thin chest flat but prickled with gooseflesh from the kiss and warm rains. It looked to Sidon like a Hylian version of his luminecest scales, Link’s skin had turned from pale to red so quickly , it seemed, but the Zora held his tongue. 

“I am not like your kind, I’m not– I guess I’m not much like other Hylian men anyway.” Not like I’d know anyway. The weight of his adventures past and fated future seemed far off and insignificant in the presence of the prince. His gaze soothed the bitter parts of him urging himself to hurry and finish saving the entirety of Hyrule and figure out who he was in the process. Link could just…slow down. If only for a breath. If only to warm himself in these waters next to Sidon. 

Sidon flashed him a winning smile, fighting his own instinctual pull to Link’s body. “...Well, outliers are okay.” 

They were still trying to catch their breath, eyes locked on each other. What in Hylia just happened? 

“I must return to my father, but if you are the Hylian we need to appease Vah Ruta, Link, I will hopefully see you around the Domain more often,” Sidon’s dark smile returned, and it was Link’s inevitable blush that brought the Zora Prince closer to his face. 

“You are quite captivating, little Hylian,” Sidon’s mouth pressed to Link’s ear. Crisp honey voice a whisper, enough to make Link’s spine tingle. “Your skin was the sweetest dewdrop upon my tongue.” 

He was going to miss this. 

*

“Oh, I hope they made Hylian accommodations,” Zelda mutters under her breath. She shifted in the saddle, testing the stiff joints. “Just because I have read about the Zora’s fondness for water beds, does not mean I want to sleep in one.” 

They had discussed only briefly on the journey East what few options they could foresee about the water pollution issue, but with Link’s attitude and Zelda’s weariness from riding Storm for the last two days, the pair favored silence.

The Zoran guards blocking the entrance into the Domain’s public pavilion both gawked at the sight of the Queen of Hyrule accompanied by the one who had entered Vah Ruta. And probably was the indirect cause of all of this, Link did not speak. 

“My Lady, Champion Link, it is good to see you both have arrived safe and are well.” One dipped his head in respect for her, holding his spear behind his body to assume friendliness. 

Another Zora. More smiling. “Ato returned earlier this morning with the good news, so we kept an eye out for you two.” 

His grey face and sharp features were familiar to Link, and the names of the royal guards were sitting heavy on his tongue, waiting. But he couldn’t remember their names. He’d met them before, he knew they had asked for his help around the Domain after calming their Divine Beast. His mind went blank and he cringed. 

Zelda smiled and nodded anyway, always the one to settle difficult matters, asking where they should keep their horses. The guards were puzzled, as they did not have a stable since horses were not a necessity in the Domain, the last ditch effort would be keeping them tied to the luminous torches in the marshlands outside of Great Zora bridge. Their security had increased by a few dozen since Link’s absence, and they were assured they would be safe there. 

Fragments of a bigger picture came to mind when Link thought about this wondrous place, nestled into the craggy mountains of Lanayru, regal and lustrous. 

It wasn’t as…bleak as Link remembered though. The crystalline color of the Domain was subdued and it looked as though even the Zora themselves were in poor spirits, pale and resigned. 

It seemed as though a lot had changed in these six months. 

“Could it– it is!” 

“Linny!” 

A young red Zora dashed across the dazzling courtyard and jumped around in glee once she recognized it was the Champion. Finley. 

“Link! It’s you! Do you remember me?” She asked shyly. In the presence of the guards the tiny Zora clammed up, but Link could tell she was over the moon to see him again. 

Link parted with Epona and Storm once a pair of guards took their leads. He leaned down and smiled warmly at Finley and her friend, who she revealed was her youngest brother, Elir, born only a few months prior. 

Finley used broken sign language to greet the Hylian, and Link, grinning, told Finely to close her eyes as he searched in his pack for the wooden Korok flower he had whittled on the journey to the Domain. 

Zelda knelt down in her riding breeches and waved at the smaller of the two Zora children. Elir hid behind Finley’s tail, chewing on his thumbnail. 

“Prince Sidon has been waiting for Link, you know!” Finley is mesmerized by the flower and she shakes it around in the air. A small compartment was cored out of the inside of the piece of wood and Link had stuck a few pebbles inside the makeshift flower to mimic the sound of the Korok’s pinwheels and chiming leaves. 

Link furrowed his brow. “He has?” 

As if on cue, there he was. 

Somehow in the months that Link had been away from the Domain, Sidon had grown. Not just in size. The prince’s scarred head fin had faded, blending into his regular scales. There were new spots of luminescent markings along Sidon’s crest, ankles and torso, features that made Link very interested to discover more of. 

They were such minor details that any other Zora in the Domain would not be able to point it out, but to Link, who was quickly remembering their frequent and intimate time spent together, it meant everything. His eyes were crisp and warm when he approached them and just the sight of the Zora made Link feel true relief for the first time in weeks. 

The Zora children squealed when the prince approached Link and Zelda, darting away with a fit of giggles into the Eastward canopy to find their mother. 

Link smiles, covering his lips with his fingers to laugh. He missed Sidon, that was something he could remember. 

“Queen Zelda! It is an honor to finally meet you. I was just a pup when you visited the Domain last, forgive my fleeting memory,” Sidon greeted her with a polite bow. 

More of the Zora’s silver regalia bullcrap adorned Sidon’s chest and shoulders, new gemstones and metal that outshone even the luminous stones inlaid into the very floor he walked on. 

“Likewise, Sidon,” Zelda said, tired but hopeful. “Link has been waiting for an excuse to visit the Domain again. His pacing about the castle was growing too much for even myself to bear.” 

Seriously? She might as well have thrown him into Hyrule grounds for the guardians to blast to pieces. Would it be out of line if I stepped on her foot? 

Sidon regarded her with a composed smile. If he registered her comment, he did not make a mention of it. His eyes finally shifted down to Link, who wasn’t prepared for his steely gaze. Link blinked at the prince’s scrutiny and toed backwards next to Zelda. 

“It would be ignorant to not say that I feel the same way! Having our dear Link in the Domain again, oh it always brightens the spirits of the Zora!”

Well, that was a half-truth. Link was an irritable mess upon his first visit to the Domain. Sidon was just trying to be kind, of course. 

Link crossed his arms over his chest, staring at the flickering scales of interest on Sidon’s ankles.

He’s curt. Blunt and to the point. “You needed our help with something?” 

“Link, you needn’t be so rude!” Zelda scolded him. He threw his hands up but Sidon just laughed. 

“It is quite alright, Your Highness. I believe Link is correct. If it is not too much trouble, would you both wish to see King Dorephan as soon as your convenience allows? The sooner we speak upon this problem, with more efficiency may we find a solution, and of course, cordial reunions will be in order.”

I am not one to cave in to such fickle desires, Sidon had murmured against Link’s skin in his mind’s eye. But you’re making it difficult to resist. 

Link swallowed the lump in his throat and followed behind Sidon with Zelda as they ascended toward the uppermost pavilion, where the royal court and chambers were. He’d walked up these steps–or oftentimes slipped through the prince’s window with his paraglider still in hand–more times than he could count. 

King Dorephan sat in his throne room, surrounded by a muttering court of elder Zora. When Sidon announced their presence, a few among them stiffened and one actually coughed light obscenities under their throat. This was not new for Link, he was no stranger to the cold glares and outright prejudice put upon the Hylian name because of him. 

“Unless my old age has fooled me, I have Queen Zelda standing before me! It is a pleasure to meet you again. And Link! Our dearest Champion, I knew your arrival would be a good omen for our people,” King Dorephan boomed, craning his neck from his high throne to reach a hand out for Zelda to take. 

Zelda took one of Dorephan’s fingers that dwarfed her own, bowing as she did so. 

“All is well in Hyrule, I assume?” Dorephan asked. “Rhoam has left vast shoes to fill, no?” 

He meant no harm in what he said, but the mention of Zelda’s father, the fallen King of Hyrule, put a sour taste in Link’s mouth. 

“That’s a bit of a stretch,” Link said. Zelda didn’t need to criticize his tone this time, because, like most of the Zora, Hylian Sign Language was a lost art. 

“This again with the ghastly symbols,” One among the court grunted at Link. 

Sidon picked up on what he’d said though, and he hid his amusement between tight lips. He must hold his tongue when there is an audience, especially in front of his father. But Link saw that smile from across the hall, a shared smile that was for Link for Link only. 

“We are faring as… well as we can,” Zelda offered. “Though the news of your predicament was very disheartening.”

“Ah, of course,” King Dorephan hummed. His face fell grim. “Jivo is our specialist in regards to the flora and fauna of the Domain. He has studied the Divine Beast whenever available, in hopes that the research may aid us in understanding what went wrong.” 

The specialist in question stepped from the group of elders to acknowledge Zelda and Link. Jivo shook his head only for customs but went right to the point. 

"Lady Zelda, our healers have done what they can to the river snails and fish but there are far more dead than alive for us to do much good. For now it seems we must keep a close inspection of the coming months leading up to our water's spring season, and ensure any eggs and budding plants may survive among the corpses of their predecessors.

"The Reservoir is…a worser matter. We simply do not have the materials or means to cleanse such a large and significant body of water. As it being our only source of water, it is not suitable to submerge oneself in to potentially filter it, and adding salt to purify the water will only destroy the lake's natural alkaline system and kill our freshwater species.”

Zelda paused. “...Why didn’t you tell Link this before Ganon was defeated? Before it could have gotten any worse?” 

“It wasn’t a problem during the Calamity!” Muzu hissed. “It only started happening when that Hylian ended Him.” 

“That Hylian saved the lives of our people, Muzu,” Sidon reminded him with a frown. 

“You cannot resource the plants that died and use ones that are found elsewhere in Hyrule?” Zelda asked. 

King Dorephan sighed again, rubbing his fins. “It is not a matter of the plants, but the water and the soil. It is thoroughly ruined. It’s almost as though where her rains had touched, that water laid in wait until Calamity Ganon was no more…I am sorry for our confusion, Your Highness. We seek your guidance, but it seems even we are unable to fully grasp why this happened…We were hoping your Wisdom from the Goddess may save us in this, Zelda.” 

Link's muscles twitched. The sword that put Ganon to rest and nearly tore his shoulders off was silent and unresponsive to his touch. Zelda could no longer draw the power the King spoke of within herself. Shrines shook and lowered into the ground and now sat as colorless, dormant tombs scattered across the continent–reminders of Link's struggles and his tumultuous fate. It was a miracle the Sheikah Slate and Ancient tech labs were still active at all. 

They shared a knowing glance. They together did not seem to be the best options at solving the problem at the Reservoir. 

They were tired, not just from the journey to the Domain but weak to the core. It had seemed as though the peaceful light on their horizon was fading too fast for either of them could keep up with. Zelda was still recovering from staving off the Calamity, and though Link understood the Zora’s immediate need for their help, they were so fucking tired. 

But wasn’t this what Link was woken up for? To find solutions to problems, fit himself into whatever messed up puzzle Hyrule had gotten itself into and somehow find a way to fix it? He was a hero, even if he didn’t feel like one. He had to do something. 

He met Sidon’s stare across the hall. It was solemn, but still warm, warm because it was Link, and maybe for a moment he felt hopeful. You can do this. I believe in you. He felt hopeful because at least that makes one of them. 

Link steps forward, hands ready. 

“I know what may help.” 

Zelda echoed his words to the King and the royal court among them. 

Link explained the myths of the Great Faeries and their sacred fountains, about how, when presented with the proper items in exchange, they can help heal the sick, assist the weak and make them strong, making note to mention the glittering pools inside their rafflesia can cure all ailments. 

“There is one of these Great Fountains in the Akkala Region, but there are too many rogue guardians on the way. The safest option would be going to Kakariko village and asking for her help upon her price.” 

His suggestion brought an uproar among the elders, more than one of them all but cursed Link for conjuring up such fantasies to give them false hope. 

“The fumes of those cursed flowers and lustful fae make men go mad! There is simply no way one can approach these beings and survive.”

“We have seen the texts of the places you speak of, Hylian. Stepping through Faerie rings is simply bad luck,” Muzu growled. “We do not want your witch’s touch upon our waters.” 

The very clothes on Link’s back were blessed by the kiss of the Great Fae Kayasa. Would the decrepit old fish like him to strip bare and show the marks of her touch upon his clothes?

“I can accompany the Champion, father,” Sidon spoke up above the daft mutterings. “Queen Zelda still has matters to attend to in Hyrule, I would assume it unwise of her to go with Link. It would give me a better grasp of the situation if I went instead, and perhaps discuss a diplomatic understanding with the towns of Lanayru, I can help persuade Cotera to aid us! The Domain would thrive once again if our waters are purified.” 

Link held his breath. 

“Impossible,” Muzu mutters. 

“You know where I stand on that topic, Sidon. You’ve mentioned joining the Hylian Champion on multiple occasions during His rule, but I cannot see where your thinking is logical when where we need you most is among the Zora–”

“–Since the future of the Zora is in my hands, father. I think it is best that I make the decision,” Sidon interrupted him. 

The elders fell silent. 

“Samples from this…er, Faerie Fountain, may be of use in my research, Your Highness,” Jivo comments. His face is a dark azure, afraid of speaking up when the air is so tense. “The worst that can happen is that it does nothing to our water. Then we find another solution.” 

“Your Majesty, to go on a wild goose chase, one that we don’t even know will work? And–even more impossible, yes–to have our Prince join that Hylian scum?” 

“Remember your place, Kapson!” 

Sidon’s eyes met Link’s through the clamor of voices. A memory hits him, then. Sidon wading in a pond someplace, tracing the lines of Link’s muscled back as he lies on top of him. The royal meetings grow so boring as of late, they all argue about the same trivialities. I hate to speak ill of my own people, Link. But the day when I am King, I want a new court, not one full of a bunch of old fish. 

“If you’d like my input, Link has visited every Faerie Fountain in Hyrule, and the mark of their blessings is worn upon his very clothes,” Zelda thumbs over the Sheikah Slate on her hip.”I have photos in my Slate of his journeys, he has photographed and cataloged precious plants from those regions. I can assure you, they are real.” 

King Dorephan’s silence was a heavy weight in the room. He mulled the words over, tail twitching in discomfort. 

“Very well.” Dorephan’s words echo in the hall, loud enough to be heard clearly across the Domain’s pavilions. 

Zelda exhales. Yes. Goddess, finally. This nightmare meeting was over. 

The mood lightens considerably. Link doesn’t feel the dozens of yellow-green eyes boring a hole into his skull. 

“Thank you, father,” Sidon tips his head to the King. “I will protect the Hero as best as I can on our venture and find out about these Faeries.”

“It better be the other way around,” Muzu grumbles. 

“Zelda, we’ve arranged Hylian beds for you and the Champion for the night, and however long you both wish to stay thereafter.” The King’s smile was bright but tight. Pearly tears sat, fat and unfallen at the edges of his eyes. “If any would like, there is a small banquet being held in Mipha’s pavilion. This meeting is now adjourned until we settle a date for Link and Prince Sidon’s embarkment to this Faerie Fountain. You are dismissed.” 

The King wipes his eyes with a comically large piece of linen fabric at his armrest, and Sidon shares an empathetic glance at his father before departing from his side. 

Jivo immediately finds Zelda, inquiring about the Sheikah Slate and what items may be cataloged inside of it. She pats Link’s shoulder, his cue to leave if he’d like to, but before he can make up his mind on whether food or sleep sounded more important, Sidon’s red scales took up his peripheral. 

He waves Link down in the large hall just as he is about to descend the stairs. Sidon catches up to him in no time at all, standing beside Link with barely contained delight. 

“Link! My dear friend. I hope my decision to accompany you is a good one?”

The Hylian shrugged to mask his touchy sentiments on the matter of the Zora. A trip to Kakariko from here would be a week at the very least, with Sidon’s short legs and sore temperament about the heat. That many days with Sidon…Link was going to go feral if he didn’t just flat out do something about that soon. Soon. 

“Sure. As long as you don’t snore like Zelda does.” 

Sidon chewed on his lower lip in thought. Link noticed the scar on his jaw was fairly close to his teeth, the idea that Sidon had a scar on his mouth because of the lip-biting was… cute. 

“I am not sure what that phrase means, so the answer would most likely be a no. But, I do have one more favor to ask of you. There are many rotted plants and other dead things in our ponds, and Jivo suggested that we should dispose of them so as not to further disrupt the water. Would it be alright if you joined me in doing so?” 

Link’s stomach churned, groaning and empty. He’d rather be full than hungry and uncomfortable around Sidon. 

“Um. Food first?” 

The color flooded to Sidon’s cheeks once more. “Oh, of course! I’m sure you’re quite fatigued, coming all this way.” Sidon says this with a hint of embarrassment. “Er, we had Armoranth root tea imported from a Hylian town in hopes of your visit. And– honey? I believe that is the word? It is a Hylian delicacy apparently. And, also herb-soaked breads and vanilla cakes and crabs served with that sour-tasting goat butter you seem to enjoy–”

Link hushed Sidon’s ramblings with a hand on his forearm.

“Thank you. Really.” 

There was so much warmth and language that Link desperately tried to pour into his touch, just a few fingers upon Sidon’s arm but it could mean something. He wanted to tell him he was sorry for forgetting him, he was sorry for being so selfish. He was sorry he didn’t try and make things happen sooner than they did, before his body and mind betrayed him and Link freaked out and backed off. 

Sidon’s muscles twitched under Link’s careful fingers. He stared at his knuckles instead of his face. Somewhere in there Link thought Sidon understood. 

Jivo appeared with a chunk of salted carp skewed to a claw, other hand holding the delicate plate it was served on. “Prince Sidon? A moment of your time?” 

Their bubble popped, Sidon realized they were in a courtyard full of his subjects, and his princely manner returned. “Certainly.” 

Link tuned out most of what the Zora was saying, something about what he’d discussed with Zelda on her Slate, that there was viable information to be stored and perhaps new things to add to their private library. He was asking Sidon what his opinion on the matter would be, to which he mentioned that showing Zelda what he’d conducted in his studies about Vah Ruta and her rainwater might be useful.

"Yes of course, Sir," Jivo bowed deeply to the prince, his mossy-green crest and fins dipping down with the gesture. 

Sidon's eyes widened and his face flushed an mortified shade of indigo. 

"There will be no need for such titles, Jivo. I believe my name will be quite sufficient." He regained regality despite his flared gills, nodding with a stern crest at the other Zora. 

Link studied his expression with silent hands, unable to decipher the odd color that had warmed his scales. Was Sidon…embarrassed by being called that? 

Jivo, the poor tigershark, perhaps sensing such distress, opened his mouth to speak and decidedly closed it, ducking his head in respect for the Prince and quickly departing toward the lower pavilion. 

*

With their stomachs full and the falling sun cool on their skin, it was a short trip to the Eastern reservoir Bridge. 

Sidon was cheery as ever. It was as though the time spent apart was not there at all. They talked, at least in between casual banter, and it was easy. Peaceful. Link didn’t have to force the conversation when everything he said to Sidon was met with such deep interest. But every time Link tried to gently hint at his… other advances, the parts of his memories he wished he could relive; a tentative touch on Sidon’s arm, his back, the playful teasing light and innocent, the prince would clam up and change the subject. 

Does he really not remember…even after these fleeting months? Is he pretending not to care?

They’re sunken in the reeds at the lowermost part of Mikau Lake, plucking rotted Fleet-Lotus seeds by the armful and river snails that had dried up on the dead grass and shriveled away in light of the sudden halt of poor weather conditions.  

Sidon waded above the surface while Link knelt at the shallows, pant legs rolled up and mud caked to his knees, examining a sun-bleached snail shell with a frown. 

The Zora Domain's unfortunate plague of torrential rains had finally ceased thanks to Link's commandeering of the Divine Beast Vah Ruta and the extermination of the Blight that had corrupted her main control unit. But the Domain's grassy mountains and soil were still thick and overwhelmed with mud and silt in the aftermath, it was a miracle their cliffs had not collapsed more than they had already under such an onslaught. 

“So quiet, little hero?” Sidon teases. There was an undertone of something sour there, though. “You’d think I would have become accustomed to your absence now. Silence would be but a mere stepping stone in comparison to the bridge you’ve left me.” 

Link freezes in the middle of cutting lotus stems with his knife. 

Fuck. What did that imply? He didn’t need to phrase it like that. Link already felt like an asshole, he couldn’t just tell Sidon that he couldn’t even remember everything that happened. 

“I had honestly thought you’d forgotten us after you defeated the Waterblight, Link.” His tone was a solemn one, the image of the prince hunched over rotting carps fit the picture of dismay and regret. “You used to visit every chance you got, I would…look forward to seeing you pop in, I would check Ne’ez Yohma quite often for you, honestly. Maybe that was simply naivete on my part…” 

He didn’t say anything, the reality of what Sidon was saying sat like lead in his gut. The expression on Link’s face was enough for Sidon. He dropped the dead fish. 

“Link? You don’t remember?” Sidon started toward Link, his face a mix of awe and puzzlement. 

His hands are shaking in the water. He stares at his murky reflection and cannot retrieve the man looking back at him with watery, angry eyes. 

Sidon softened at the state of him, coming to rest a hand on his trembling shoulder. “Oh, dearest. How long have you…wait. You don’t recall– anything?” 

“No! No, I remember…uh, most. Most of it. Just. Parts are gone.”

“That is…disappointing. But, I am glad you told me,” Sidon reassures him, the hand on his shoulder moving to rub his back. When did he start shivering? When did the sun set on their faces? 

“I couldn’t remember the guards names at the entrance, Zelda had to cover for me.” 

Sidon only hums in response, thinking as he bent down to inspect a dead frog in the dark. His hand returns to his side, because he needs it to yank free the lotus seeds, of course, and not because he didn’t want to be touching him. Link sighed, shivering despite the humidity. 

He got Sidon's attention again by a gentle snap of his fingers, and the Zora Prince immediately tilted his head up to acknowledge the man. 

"What would you like for me to call you?" Link asks with his hands. 

Sidon balked at this. 

"Well, my name of course!" He adds hurriedly, almost dropping the head of Lotus seeds in his claws. "What a peculiar question." 

Link thinks back to Sidon’s blushing face in the courtyard hours prior. 

“...Did I used to call you something other than your name?” Link wondered. 

The Zora shook his head, water droplets cascading off his brilliant skin. 

“Well. To me, ‘Sidon’ seems too boring,” Link states plainly with a smile. He so desperately wanted that carefree mood to return. All of these emotions were exhausting. 

“My name ?” He chuckled. “Too plain?” 

Link tossed a dead river snail at him. He looks up at the waterfall, hands open and ready in front of him as he mulled it over. “There’s a lot to choose from. My Prince, my love–”

Sidon grabs Link’s hand with predatory swiftness. 

"Did you think I would simply let you get away with such crude advances? Let you win so easily? You were practically making a fool of yourself trying not to stare at me in front of my father, in front of the royal court! Oh, my darling Link, the time I’ve spent away from you was agonizing." Sidon's voice was a playful growl, those dangerous and delicious teeth nipping at Link's earlobe. "'But you don't have to play big and dumb for my sake.'"

Sidon repeated his own words, mocking Link, the smile on his lips was full of want. 

He’s talking again, his breath hot against Link’s cold skin, he’s trying to decipher it between the blood pulsing in his ears and the reality of it all that rattled him to his core. Oh, Hylia, it was happening.  

"I missed your skin," Sidon purrs. His hands skimmed over the expanse of Link's chest, the evening winds and waterfall spray chilled his body with gooseflesh and perky nipples. A clawed fingertip toyed at Link's waist, the sheer size of his damned hands dwarfed his hips and left Link trembling with need in his hold.

Link had half a mind to bring his hands up, fingers stuttering over the word for public. 

Sidon peels himself away from the Hylian's tempting body, humming to himself. "I suppose the graveyard of dead frogs and fish is not a proper place for our… reunion , is it?" 

Even still he paws at Link's hip, where the Sheikah Slate formerly sat snug on his belt for nearly a year, his palm patting down the hilt of a dagger and some elixirs strapped to his trousers instead. Zelda had the Slate now, of course. Another bemused hum. 

“Though I suppose you didn’t have as much of an issue with public indecency when we first met,” Sidon murmurs low in his ear. 

Link bit down on his lip enough to bleed. 

"Would you meet me in my quarters when the moon touches…hm, Shatterback Point, my little love?" Sidon asks him, words and body language tentative but laced with desire for him. "I am not yet decent and currently covered in snail slime, though it should give you enough time to miss me." 

His voice lilts with the laugh of a god, the sound dying away with the rush of the bubbling waterfall. 

Link cannot breathe. 

He nods his head, eyes focused on Sidon's hands, where they had been. Sidon makes a tsk with his teeth and tongue, hands gracefully finding Link’s chin with ease. He grips the Hylian’s jaw and gives it a playful squeeze as he tilts his chin to meet his eyes. 

“No no. I’d like for you to tell me. Do you think you can do that?” 

He wants the Goddess to strike him down. Actually, he wants Sidon to fuck him. Then he can die. 

“Yes.” He wants to speak it aloud, to use his vocal chords for something so sinful yet divine would be the best use of them. 

“Well done, my sweet,” Sidon praises him. He thumbs across Link’s hot cheek, dying to card it through his hair like they used to. 

For a moment neither says a word. All of these feelings surmount in front of them, and Sidon laughs. Link’s eyes widened, looking at Sidon’s timeless charm and perfection and yeah, he could laugh too. He gave him a time frame, a goal, and Link was sitting there in the pond gaping at the Zora like a fish. 

Sidon considers Link with a taunting look. “What, would you like to race back? For being the hero of legend, I didn’t take you as one to enjoy being chased.” 

Link had never run faster in his entire life. 

*

It was difficult to hide himself to sneak away to Sidon’s quarters, what with the Domain so large and reflective and out in the open, but Link managed. Zelda had already retired to her complimentary room hours ago. Walking through the Domain at night while most of the Zora slept felt so… exciting. 

Waiting for Sidon to let Link in, seeing that the prince was stripped of his daytime attire save for his royal neckband with the chamber door cracked, left Link breathless and giddy. 

He felt that, in the past, they had done this routine before. Link would creep past Zora onlookers up to a waiting Sidon, to fill the night with their love and comfort, whatever Link needed Sidon would gladly offer. 

Sidon broke into a broad grin at the sight of Link there. Face flushed, the brightness of his luminous scales even more visible in the dark. 

He barely got both feet through the threshold before Sidon was on him, shutting the door and locking it and grabbing Link’s torso with both hands. Link inhaled softly at the growl that rumbled past Sidon’s lips, untying the rope keeping his hair up in a ponytail, then nosing against Link’s tangled hair with a deep, satisfied intake of breath. 

“My dear friend–your body is the song that will lure me to my grave. Oh, I’ve missed you so,” Sidon whispered to Link’s temple. 

With those strong hands Sidon easily lifted Link up and, with a bit of protest on his part, was deposited on a–Hylian bed?

“A small commission,” was all that Sidon said about it. Link’s back kissed the soft bed sheets beneath him, heart racing. It was smaller than the Zora’s, and lower to the ground. 

Link bit down on his cheek as the prince’s hands toyed with the hem of his tunic. His entire body swallowed up Link’s writing figure under him, and with a small gasp Link freed his hands. 

Trembling fingers struggle with the belt loops keeping his tunic snug. “Off. Need these off.” 

Sidon chuckled and took Link’s desperate hands in his own. “Calm down, little Hylian. I’ll take care of you.” 

Link shut his eyes tight and fought the urge to buck up against Sidon, and they hadn’t even done anything yet. His hands alone were driving him insane. 

“Are you–” Sidon’s curious hand lingers between Link’s legs. “Is…Will this be alright?”

Oh. Link squeezes his lips into a thin line. He didn’t really want to think about that right now, but…he’d give Sidon the benefit of the doubt here. 

“Yes, Sidon, I’m fine. I’m not bleeding there right now.” 

“Ah, I’m sorry! Zora’s reproductive cycles only occur during our mating season once a year! Goddess, I know nothing about Hylian anatomy–though, I probably should…” 

“Sidon– please. I don’t care. Just do something.” Link chokes on his own whine. He was so close to touching him. And Sidon still gave him nothing. 

That laugh returns. Sidon helped Link remove his tunic and undershirt, leaving him in just his sun-bleached trousers on the bed. “Always so impatient, my love. I think I need to find a way to make you slow down and get out of that racing mind, hmm? We only have all the time in the world.” 

He took note not to tear Link’s clothes with his claws, and with a delicate hand–as delicate as he could really get for his size–attempted to untie the drawstring keeping Link’s pants together, but to no avail. 

Link let out a shaky breath as he untied the knot, and shucked his pants and underwear down past his ass. Completely naked, the Hylian was so exposed but filled with a need to be close to Sidon, that need drowned out his own worrisome mind that maybe the Zora was having second thoughts about this. The need to be touched, cherished, overpowered all else. 

Sidon reaches down, ever so gentle and hesitant with this tender thing in his arms. Link drew him closer, connecting their mouths in a kiss. He’s kissing him like he only has tonight. Because they do. Tomorrow will come and Link will leave the Domain and Sidon and everything that ever felt good and right in his brain. He’s taking his hands and wrapping them around Sidon’s back as best as his small body can allow to bring their bodies even closer. Link wants to ask the Great Fae if there is a way Link can take a needle and sew them together at the ribs, fasten their hearts and their flushed skin, so he will never have to let Sidon go. 

Their inevitable week trip to Kakariko to meet Cotera would not be enough for Link. It was selfish, but he wanted more. 

The kiss was soft, soft by Link’s standards at least from his memories of kissing the prince. Sidon was afraid of hurting him. He cradled Link’s face in one hand, deepening where they were connected. Link sighed into Sidon’s waiting mouth, running his tongue across the sharp row of his bottom teeth, and the Zora growled . 

Link’s eyes slowly flutter open, wet. Sidon is staring at him.  

His lips break away and brush the column of Link’s throat like a salve. “My beautiful darling, you’re safe here. Relax against me, yes? I can feel your shaking.” 

Link nodded, words lost to him. He’d let Sidon do whatever he pleased with him, and more. But the aching between his legs was going to unspeakable lengths to get Link’s attention. He writhes in his hold, wiggling his thighs in an embarrassing but noticeably enough that Sidon moves his hands down to secure Link’s legs.  

“Is this okay?” Sidon asks as he shuffled down Link’s body until he’s crowded up between his thighs. 

He stumbles to find the right words. “Yes–More than okay.” 

Sidon uses both hands to pry Link’s thighs apart, but not with any force, just to get a better look at him. With both of his thumbs he parts his cunt, exposing him to the open air. 

“Oh, wow,” Sidon breathes, gazing with dark eyes at his drooling hole, and the action has Link shuddering underneath him. He hunches further between the Hylian’s legs and sticks his tongue out for an experimental lick across Link’s twitching dick. 

He keens into the movement, so brief and lifeless, Link knew Sidon had never done this with another Hylian before, but still he needed it so badly. 

“More. Again–please.” 

Sidon’s blown-out pupils examine Link’s look of desperation. He grins, predatory. He cannot help the sequence of flashing red scales that bloom in pride and desire across Sidon’s crest, his stomach and forearms. It’s to impress a mate, somewhere in the recesses Link’s mind conjures this up. It’s a Zora’s way of showing interest. 

“Glad to see you’re using your words,” Sidon murmurs against Link’s upper thigh. His tongue darts out and licks up the dripping arousal from his slit, growling in appreciation at the bitter taste. A clawed fingertip ghosts through the wet dredges on his dick. “All those thoughts seem to all leak out of here when you’re really wanting it, hmm?” 

“Sidon!” 

Where did he learn to speak like that?? Link grinds into the light touch, begging for more stimulation on his neglected dick. 

Sidon pulls his hand free, only to bite down on two of his fingernails, their pointed ends now dull. He returns them, this time gingerly sliding them across the wet slick before popping it back into his mouth. 

Link whines at this, lifting his hips up to chase the feeling across Sidon’s muscled thighs. The prince hums to himself and pins Link back down into the sheets in one fluid motion. The simple mark of power made Link dizzy. 

“Oh, am I doing something wrong, my dear?” Sidon knew exactly what he was doing. 

“You’re not fucking touching me! Please!” 

“Not with a foul mouth like that, I won’t.” Sidon laps away at Link, eyes half-lidded, pupils full and heady. He used his tongue to run along the length of his dick, worshiping him in the best of ways but not enough to help Link reach climax. 

Link opens his mouth for the second time that day. It was barely a croak past his lips, but he made sure the prince could hear it. “Please, Sidon– sir, please.” 

Sidon's scales are bright against the glow of the luminous stones in the Prince's quarters. Golden eyes open wide, the jewels and silvers adorning the Zora's neck shiver with his surprised breaths. 

“Color?” Sidon breathes into the air. 

Link uses the sign for "emerald" and quickly fumbles with his hands to say "green" and "please, please green" as quickly as he can before Sidon covers Link's flustered hands. 

Sidon chuckles and leans close to his ear. One hand has somehow found its way to Link's waist.  The Hylian is sure that Sidon can feel the heat radiating from his face. "Oh, little pearl. I did in fact hear what you called me. Can you say it for me again, hmm?" 

He can feel his hole clench, helpless, around the tip of Sidon’s finger as he holds him, their eyes locked and intense. 

“I–accident. Mistake.” Link can’t even string full sentences together at this point, Sidon had him wrapped perfectly into knots around him. 

His resounding growl can be felt between their chests. “We both know that isn’t true, my love. Maybe if you tell me again, I’ll give you what you want.” 

This was all some fucked-up fantasy Link never thought he’d be alive to witness. He swallowed and shut his eyes, unable to look upon his own flesh. 

“Please, sir. I–I want to feel you again.” 

That was all the incentive Sidon needed, with a groan he put his mouth back to Link’s dick, his other hand’s finger still gently thrusting into him as he sucked against his core. 

Link was too entranced by Sidon’s excellent mouth and fingertips to notice his prince was subtly rutting his legs against the edge of the bed, his hot breath against his cunt barely controlled in the heat of their bodies. Sidon kisses and sucks his dick into his mouth with Link grinding his hips up with the motion, while Sidon’s fingers work him open. Link is so close, the sputtering heat pooling in his gut begins to grow until he can hardly contain himself. He whimpers when Sidon’s teeth just barely scrape past his dick, pain and pleasure turning his brain into jelly, and when Sidon hums against him in surprise and apology, Link loses it.

His entire body is stretched taut as he comes, pleasure strung out on a livewire until he releases, shuddering and ending on a breathless moan. 

Sidon hovered above him, licking his lips, wet with Link’s arousal. 

“You look so divine like this, dear Link.” He shuffles up on the bed with him, patting down Link’s thighs with kisses. “I hope you will forgive the state I have put myself in.” 

Link is so out of it, maybe he heard him wrong, but he feels something warm and wet touching his thighs. He peers over Sidon’s hunkering frame to see that between the prince’s thighs, a puffy slit was leaking clear arousal all over Link’s front. From the opening emerged two dicks, throbbing and , the same pale cream color of Sidon’s chest but tinged in blue. Sidon’s hips seemed to have a mind of their own because he couldn’t stop rubbing against him, the tips of his cocks kissing Link's entrance.

“I’d like to–could we? If that’s alright with you, of course,” Sidon breathes, silver jewelry tinkling with his labored breaths. 

Link nods, open-mouthed, still processing that the Prince of the Zora had not one, but two cocks. And they were trailing against his stomach covered in slick and precum. Fuuuck. 

Sidon sighs in relief, craning his neck down to kiss Link once more. “Tell me immediately if anything begins to become uncomfortable.” 

“Yes.” Link was dying to taste them, feel them with his unfit hands, but Sidon mumbled some silent praises perhaps to the Goddess herself and lined himself up with Link’s cunt. 

He guides the tip of one of his cocks closer until he’s inching it inside Link slowly. Sidon’s other cock is sandwiched between their stomachs, giving Link the perfect amount of stimulation on his own dick. 

With a groan of pleasure Sidon’s hand clutches the back of Link’s hair, gripping his waist to pull him deeper onto his length. They could only manage a little less than half of Sidon’s impressive length before the tears beading Link’s waterline threatened to spill. And that was more than okay. The fullness he felt when Sidon began to move, it was indulgent . 

Sidon kissed all across Link’s face in between his steady rhythm, the staggering sensation of being so empty when Sidon pulled out to queue up again made Link try to wriggle the tip back in. Sidon cooed and laughed and kissed him even more, and Link cupped the prince’s glowing crest, the most sensitive part of his outer anatomy save for his gills, thumbing across his crest and kissing his scales with hunger and what felt like a sort of love. 

All these memories seep back into Link’s consciousness like a siphon, of kissing, loving so bloody and raw and real, he realizes this time drawn away from each other was poison. He cries and stutters in pleasure against his lover, calloused fingers gripping against his scales tighter, tighter, if Link had only remembered and if they didn’t have such polarizing lives.

The stretch of his cock is impossible, so much larger than Link’s own, but he knows he’s done this before. He could lie here with Sidon buried inside of him the rest of the night, warm and content and happy. But Sidon is ravenous above him, hips driving home with a desperation that left Link dazed and about ready to cum for the second time that night. 

“Oh, my darling. my little dove, where have you been? And–” his thrusts grew rough. “To think that you were wanting to come here to me all this time– oh, Goddesses– I said I would be gentle with you, but it’s too much!” 

His fingers dug into the back of Link’s rib cage where he has a vice grip around his waist, and Link wants it to bruise. He wants evidence of their time, where his mind falls short. 

“So good sir– so good,” Link moaned, stopping the Zora in his erratic thrusts. His fingers trace through Link’s scalp until he finds purchase and tugs, enough to get the Hylian’s fleeting attention onto him. 

With Link’s head forced to look into Sidon’s dark eyes he fucks into him again, with fervor, the hand on his back leaving tender marks on Link’s skin. 

“Go on, my love,” Sidon pants. “Say it again, say it for me like a prayer.” 

He hits a spot inside him where Link cannot control the volume of his voice now, he moans around him with abandon and begs the Goddesses that Sidon does that again. 

He wants this, he wants Sidon. 

“Please, sir. Please–more–so amazing.” 

“Good, little pearl. So good for me.” Sidon nearly pulls out all the way before slamming forward, voice dying on a moan. “Now tell me again.” 

“Sir–need it–need you to–please,” Link cocks his head to the side, exposing the column of his sweat-slick neck. The friction of Sidon’s cock against his dick was exactly what he needed, Link was riding the high of his impending orgasm and he needed this. 

Sidon’s hips faltered, cocks twitching and gushing more clear fluid. 

“Oh, Hylia. You’re going to kill me.” He lurched forward, licking across the open stretch of skin Link was begging him to claim. “My love, I want to, I really–I’m not sure you understand the depth of what that means to a Zora–a bite is–”

“I want it. Whatever it means, I want it.” 

His thrusts became more erratic as Sidon inhaled the scent of sweat and sex along Link’s body, the carnal need to bite him was beginning to override logic. 

Link twisted and fucked back into his throbbing cock, orgasm cresting. “ Sidon! Please!” 

Sidon’s teeth met the tender flesh where Link’s neck and shoulder met, and the Hylian cried out in response, arching into the searing pain and hooking his ankles across Sidon’s middle as he came. 

The prince followed soon after, laving at the blood and sweat as he filled Link with his cum. The urge to sink himself deeper into Link, lay claim to his body and his insides and make the Hero of Hyrule truly his , it was tantalizing. 

He licked at the bite some more, relishing in Link’s breathy whimpers. “Oh, Link, Goddesses, you amaze me so, I would do anything, anything you ask. You’re so wonderful to me, I cannot believe my luck.” 

“Bite harder next time,” Link signed, hands weak and body boneless. “I’m not made of glass.” 

Sidon collapsed on top of the Hylian with a breathless laugh. 

*

“You never did tell me what elixir you made me drink that day by Lanayru Tower when I fainted.” 

Sidon cuddles Link closer to his body in the warmth of his bathing pool. There’s Sidon-shaped scratches all along his back, a light-colored bruise beginning to form on his hip bone, and Link was overall sore and spent, but happy. 

“I didn’t make you drink anything,” Sidon tells him. He kisses the spot where he bit him. “I kissed you.”

Link lifts his head up off of Sidon’s chest in shock. “You–? Really?”

“Some Zora have healing touch, healing words, saliva, eh, what-have-you.” Sidon waves a hand, dismissing it. But his face was flushed. 

“Saliva?? You have healing saliva?” 

“I’m surprised this is the first you’ve heard of it.” 

Link sighs and settles back down. “The next time I get hurt, I’m coming here for you to lick me clean then.” 

He kisses Link’s wet hair. “Alright, little hero. I’ll heal all your wounds, so long as you indulge this poor heart of mine.”

Link shushed him, splashing Sidon with water to promptly shut him up. 

He knew of his name, his place in Hyrule, the fate that fell upon him. He knew this body scarred easily but could hold his own in a fight, and he had hundreds of memories yet to be discovered–though the important ones seemed to resurface first. He knew of love, even if it was one that he must hide. 

He understood now what Zelda was asking of him, at least in the best way he could. And he’s never wanted something so much in his time spent awake. 

He may not remember everything, but here in the arms the one who made him feel alive again, seemed like a good place to start.