Life in Zora's Domain

Chapter 67 - A Link to the Future - Part 3

Summary: Link finds an extract from Mila's journal that she put on his Tab, and it forms the basis for the first chapter of 'A Link to the Future.' Link and Mipha briefly reflect on his experience after Link shares it with her.

You're not hungry?" said Mipha as she watched Link pick at his fish, not really eating any. "Or is it still overcooked?"

Mipha and Link were having lunch together at their house. Mipha had finished eating, but Link couldn't eat. He had just returned from the future and was still shaken by the whole experience. Plus, he had just had lunch with his adult children. He had quietly given thanks to Hylia for the entire trip home. And now it was time to tell Mipha what had happened.

He never wanted to have any secrets from her, but he didn't look forward to the usual conversation afterward. They were not conversations, really. They were Mipha getting hurt and angry at the same time and letting it all out on him for being reckless. Not that he didn't deserve it. Usually, he did. But this time felt different. He took a deep breath and prepared himself.

"No, the fish is fine," said Link. "It's my appetite. I only just ate lunch. I need to explain."

"You ate alone at Spool Bight?" said Mipha looking closely at him. "Tell me what happened, Link. I knew something was wrong when you returned in such an overly affectionate mood, especially as a Hylian again. It reminds me of that time at East Reservoir Lake before we were married when a different 'you' from the future showed up. You were overly emotional then, too."

"Yes, well, that's actually a very apt comparison," said Link.

Mipha gave him a look.

"No, it's really still me," Link added quickly. "This was pretty bad, though. Probably the worst that ever happened to us. But it was such a small mistake. I was careless, I admit it. But I still have trouble believing the consequences could be so severe. Anyway, the main thing is that everything is fine now. There's nothing to worry about now."

"What are you talking about?" said Mipha. "You're getting me worried and upset by hinting at things. Can you just tell me what you did and what happened?"

"Yes," said Link. "Well, when I got to the area by Spool Bight, I saw what I thought was a Luminous Stone newly exposed in a crevice in the cliffside. I know you like Luminous Stones, and I wanted you to have a piece of it for good luck. So, I tried to chip off a piece. But it turned out to be a defective TimeShift Stone that shattered when I struck it. Who knows who left it there? It was buried until now. But the end result of activating the TimeShift Stone was that I was propelled into the future. I spent the last few weeks 140 years in the future and was only just now able to return to the present. As to my appetite, I had lunch just before I returned."

Mipha looked at him, and he wasn't sure what she was thinking.

"Are you sure it wasn't all a dream?" said Mipha. "Did you fall asleep there? You did just give me a piece of stone, so that part must be true."

Now Link stopped to think. Could it have been a dream? It would have been the longest and most detailed dream in his whole life. But he did sleep there and wake up later. What evidence was there? He had struck a stone, and it shattered. He fell unconscious and woke up now with broken pieces of rock there. He couldn't prove any of the rest of his story had happened. But, no, it couldn't have been a dream.

"It wasn't a dream," said Link. "It was way too real. But I can't prove it wasn't yet. Perhaps we should just drop the subject for now?"

"Alright," said Mipha. "It sounds pretty fantastic."

It was after breakfast, when he was putting his things away in their room, that he noticed an additional folder had been added to his Tab. When he accessed it, there was a note and a longer document included in the folder. He pressed the image of the note, and it opened for him to read.