Life in Zora's Domain - Part Two

Chapter 3 - Family Agreements

Summary: Mipha and Link return home from Lurelin Village, and Link agrees with Mila to help maintain his journal.

"Wet fins and clear water!" greeted one of the two guards on duty at the Great Zora Bridge. "Welcome home!"

"Thank you, and may your fins always be wet!" answered Mipha as Link nodded.

It was early evening in Zora's Domain as Mipha and Link held hands and walked past the guards. They were just returning home from their week-long vacation in Lurelin Village.

"I still get a thrill when I first see the Domain after being away," said Link as he gazed ahead and up at the massive fish sculpture in the distance. "Maybe it dates back to when I used to come here to see you. Not that I remember the specific visits, of course, but I recall a feeling of excitement every time I came here."

"You sure it wasn't because you missed getting into trouble with your delinquent Bazz Brigade friends?"

"I was thinking about when I was older and grew more interested in gir...I mean eager to see you."

"Oh, so sweetly put!" teased Mipha as she squeezed his hand. "You did always ask to see me first when you arrived."

"See?"

"But sometimes, I wasn't quite ready to meet you when a guard informed me you had arrived. I might have to finish doing something with Sidon, for example. So rather than have you wander around the Domain and end up possibly chatting with Kodah, I thought it better to have a guard escort you to see Father if he was free. He would ask you about yourself and what was happening outside the Domain. He told me he enjoyed those talks with you, and it helped him to get to know you better. But he said you were very nervous!"

"I don't remember those conversations either, of course, but I remember feeling intimidated by your father. Aside from his imposing physical presence, I was conscious of him being the king."

"Yes, I could see how relieved you were when I finally arrived, and we went off together," laughed Mipha. "But he liked you and could tell you were a fine person. Talking about this reminds me of a conversation I had with Father one time after you departed. This was after one of your visits before you got all wound up too tight."

"Did you enjoy Link's visit, dear?" said King Dorephan. "Though I hardly need to ask, your glowing expression shows you did."

"Yes, we had a fun time, though Link could not stay long," said Mipha. "We swam at East Reservoir Lake and then sat and talked while he dried off. But it's funny. He seems quieter and shyer with each visit, and he blushes now when I touch him while healing a wound. Perhaps those are Hylian traits as one grows older?"

King Dorephan chuckled.

"Or perhaps it means something else, like how he feels. He is certainly on the shy side, dear, but very respectful. And once our conversation turns to what is happening in Hyrule, he grows more at ease and talks freely. He seems a fine young man."

"Oh! He is, Father! Very fine and quite accomplished too!" Mipha exclaimed with a bit too much enthusiasm and then stopped.

"Now who's blushing, dear?" said King Dorephan with a smile.

Then her father reached out, and they embraced.

"Funny, you never told me that before," said Link. "I guess it shows you already had a crush on me by then."

"I have to feed your ego in small bites, or your head would outgrow your helm. And maybe you had a crush on me too, dearest, or you wouldn't have blushed so much."