Life in Zora's Domain

Chapter 173 - Pondering the Past's Future?

Summary: Link fills in some gaps in an early chapter of his journal and speculates about the original timeline that he left.

It was a rainy morning in Zora's Domain, the patter of raindrops against the roof and windows of the house by Mikau Lake creating steady but soothing background sounds. Aside from Mipha and Link, the house was otherwise empty. Mila had accompanied Tila, Linky, and Tara to Ruto Lake, while Midon and Lapha remained at the Royal Ancient Tech Lab by Hyrule Castle.

"Thanks for letting me sleep late," said Link as he sat across the breakfast table from Mipha, both having just finished eating. "The sound of the rain was very restful."

"I slept late too, sweetheart," said Mipha. "We were both tired after last night. But I need to go now to attend a council meeting with Father. You have something to do?"

"I should use the spare time to put my papers back in order before Mila sees them," said Link as Mipha stood to go, and he stood as well. "You know how fussy Mila is about keeping my journal organized."

"And rightly so!" laughed Mipha as they hugged. "With so many pages written, you need to maintain them in order. I should be back around lunchtime, and we can visit the family at Ruto Lake if they're still there."

"Say hello to Father for me," said Link after they kissed.

Mipha left, then Link cleaned the dishes and went upstairs to the room he used as a study.

The reason his papers needed organizing was that he had recently skimmed through the early chapters of his journal, seeking any information he could find about the thief Misko. Unfortunately, as he had suspected, his journal contained nothing useful: whatever he had learned about Misko in his old timeline was on the Sheikah Slate from that era that he no longer had. Fortunately, he had remembered enough to recall the location of Misko's hideout and been able to waylay the bandit there. But he had not had time to restore his papers to their proper order.

Before his recent search for clues about Misko, Link had not had occasion to refer back to the earliest chapters in his journal, the chapters that covered the time before Mipha and he married. So as he began organizing them, he paused at the chapter he had titled "Arrival in the Past." It started simply enough: As planned, Link arrived in the past late in the evening at the Temple of Time. That was it. That was all he had written. He had to smile. He had glossed over that day, no doubt eager to get on with the story and all that happened afterward, especially his reunion with Mipha.

But there had been more to that day, of course, his last day before he traveled to the past. Thinking about Misko and retracing his earliest travels after awakening from the Shrine of Resurrection had turned his thoughts back to that time in his life. He decided he should take what time was left of this free morning to fill in a few of the blanks, writing what he remembered while he still could.

He closed his eyes for a few moments, then began to write. As usual, he adopted the third-person style of narrative.

It was evening at Hyrule Castle on the night Link was due to meet Purah and Robbie at the Temple of Time. He and Zelda were finishing a private dinner in the small family dining room. They had spent all that sunny day together, strolling around the Castle grounds, reminiscing, discussing what Zelda had accomplished in the first years of her reign. Of course, Zelda still loved science and nature and was proud to show off the large variety of plants and flowers she had cultivated in the Royal Botanical Garden. They had spent part of the day there as well.

Their conversation was light-hearted and informal, as they had been good friends for years. And each had been carefully avoiding what was in the back of both of their minds: tonight would be their goodbye, the end of their special friendship. It was Zelda who finally brought up the subject while they were eating dessert.