Love in Zora's Domain

Chapter 10 - First Year

Summary: The hatchlings grow and begin to interact with their parents. Link promises Mipha he will put aside his Hylian aging concerns and concentrate on raising their family together.

It was a week after Raypha's and Tidon's hatching, and it was Mipha's turn to catch some fresh fish while Link remained at home. They had agreed to alternate some of the work, each of them taking turns finding and preparing food and periodically cleaning the water. Keeping the two little ones fed was a busy undertaking, and Link was amazed at how much they ate each day. The two hatchlings did little more than eat, swim, and sleep, but mostly eat. They were born with teeth, but they weren't strong enough yet to bite very hard, so needed fish cut into small enough pieces for them to swallow.

As he waited for Mipha's return, Link stood staring at the nursery tank watching the two tiny Zoras swimming about and building their muscles. He never tired of watching them when he could, and was fascinated by the miracle of life before him. They looked like miniature Zoras but not in the right proportions yet and with some features not fully developed. For example, their hands were still small compared to their fins, and their tail fin, head, and eyes were oversized compared to the rest of their bodies.

Occasionally, if their paths crossed, the two of them would stop swimming and stare at each other for a moment. It was cute to wonder what was going through their minds when they looked at each other. They never tried to bite one another, so they knew they weren't food. As Link gazed at the tank, Raypha stopped swimming and seemed to look back at him through the transparent sides. He smiled and wiggled his finger at her, but she didn't react. He imagined at this point, their attention was mostly on their immediate underwater surroundings, and he wasn't sure how well they could see him. Mipha would know more about their stages of development.

It was hard to believe, but he was a part of them, their father. It was even harder to think that someday these two tiny creatures would tower over him as full-grown Zoras, a prince and princess of the domain no less. And one of them was even destined to rule Zora's Domain someday. It was incredible! His child, the child of a simple Hylian knight of humble origins, would eventually be the King or Queen of Zora's Domain. He smiled and shook his head at how amazing that was. Not that he would ever live to see that happen, of course. He doubted he would even live long enough to see Mipha crowned Queen. If he were lucky, he would live to see his two children through their Zora adolescence. A Zora aged one hundred was still in the prime of life, and many lived to past age two hundred. As a Hylian, he would be fortunate to live another sixty years or so.

The girl, Raypha, had reminded King Dorephan of Mipha and she did look like he imagined a typical baby Zora might look with her red skin pigmentation and golden eyes. But the boy, Tidon, was different. He had inherited Link's blue eye color, and that would be quite distinctive for a Zora. Everyone would know Tidon was different. He wondered if that would bother Tidon growing up. Would other Zora children pick on him, make fun of him? He hoped not. The Zora people seemed very tolerant, not mean spirited like that at all. He had always been made to feel welcome here, and he remembered the warm reception they gave him at his wedding. If anything were likely to cause resentment, his marriage to their domain's pride and joy would have. But he never sensed any bad feelings toward him at all. So perhaps Tidon would be accepted as he was as well. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Here he was worrying about the distant future again, probably needlessly.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Mipha's return.

"I catch, you cut, that's our deal," laughed Mipha as she brought in three fish. "Two of the fish are for us."

"That was fast! Right away, sweetheart," said Link.

Link took one of the fish and brought it to the kitchen to cut into small enough pieces, then returned and put some into the tank. As expected, the food was soon gobbled up.