Life in Zora's Domain

Chapter 122 - The Truth Can Let You See

Summary: Mipha has a payback moment, then reunites with her family.

There was lightning and thunder during the night, but the storm passed, and by the time Link woke up, it was a bright morning in Zora's Domain. He gave up trying to fall back asleep, climbed out of their slumber pool, dried off, dressed, and quietly made his way to the kitchen. Looking out the window, he could see the sun was just rising, and the few clouds visible in the sky were a delicate shade of pink. It looked like a beautiful day!

He was the first one up this morning, having arisen even before little Tara. Feeling too tired to catch a fish, he opted for the rune made variety and used his Tab to create one. Then he added a little Goron spice and cooked it, made himself a cup of tea, and sat down to eat while checking his Tab.

There were no crucial messages and not much of interest in the news, either. Link turned to the ambassador portal and read the reports as he began to eat the fish. There were minutes from each ambassador on their last meeting with their leader, but it was all pretty routine. As he swallowed another bite, he thought the rune created fish didn't taste all that bad, especially with the added seasoning. Zoras could tell the difference, of course, and looked down on rune made fish as fast food, a last resort. But his taste for fish was not so discriminating as theirs. He finished eating and cleaning up when he heard footsteps.

"Grandpa! Grandpa! Grandpa!" said Tara as she ran to him.

"Good morning, sweetheart," said Link with a smile as he picked her up and hugged and kissed her. She hugged him back, her arms around his neck, then rested her head on his shoulder.

"You certainly know how to make me smile," said Link. "And it's nice to have someone shorter than me living here."

"Morning, Father," said Tila as she entered the kitchen. "We thought we heard you. You're up early!"

"Hi, Tila. Well, you know...," said Link.

"Yes, of course," said Tila. "Can you watch Tara while I catch some fish? She looks too comfortable with you to take her with me."

"You can leave her with me anytime," said Link as he spun around, and Tara giggled.

Link carried Tara over to the open door, and her mother waved at her as she made her way to the Lake. Tara waved back, then turned back to Link and gave him a big smile.

"Your smile just lights up the room, sweetheart," said Link as he hugged her again.

"Morning Dad," said Linky as he entered the kitchen.

Midon had started calling young Link by his childhood nickname again, and soon his other siblings were all doing the same.

"Morning," said Link, expecting Tara to want to go to her father. But instead, Tara held Link tighter and patted him on the back.

"I told her you missed grandma," said Linky. "I think she wants to comfort you. She understands more than she can verbalize, and Tila said that's typical of Zora children."

"That's probably typical of all children," said Link. "But there's no doubt Tara is smart. And sweet too."

Link kissed her again.

Tila returned after several more minutes with half a dozen fish, four of which she brought to the kitchen. Linky cooked his fish, and then they all sat down to eat, Tara sitting between her parents.

"The other three should be up soon," said Tila. "I caught enough for everyone."

"You should have let me catch the fish to get more practice with the armor, sweetheart," said Linky.