Sidon wakes aching and stiff, his temples pounding in time with the beat of his heart. He notes, with a certain amount of concern, it hurts terribly to breathe, as if someone was digging a red-hot porker into him with each breath.
A pained whine breaks from his mouth when he tries to breath too deeply.
"Prince Sidon, my Prince are you awake?"
His opens his eyes and his vision swims as he attempts to bring the owner of the voice into focus. He closes them once more as a wave of nausea nearly over takes him, groaning in response.
He lays still, the sound of low voices floating in and out of his mind as he pulses with pain. Practiced hands are holding a cup and he willing drinks, shuddering at the taste of the healing tonic. But he bears the inconvenience gladly as it slides down his throat and a tingling coolness spreads through him, turning the throbbing in his head to just a push of pressure.
He breathes deeply and attempts to open his eyes once more. This time, his vision focuses near immediately and his stomach does not turn. He takes in the room around him and instantly he knows where he is; the infirmary of Zora's Domain, tucked in one of its quiet and secluded rooms.
He tries to sit up, but a gentle hand pushes him back down with little effort.
"Please don't try to move just yet, Prince. You took quite the blow." The face of an elderly Zora healer looks down at him, a smile spread across her face.
It's then that he realizes his chest is wrapped and bandaged, that the skin peeking out from the very edges of the fabric darkened and burnt. Weakly, he touches a hand to his breast and winces.
"Ah, looks like you're still in pain. Here, another mouthful of this ought to help."
The Zora healer held a glass of red portion to his mouth, tilting it slowly as he slowly swallowed. The taste never got better with time, though as a second wave of numbness coiled around the pain in his chest, Sidon sighed in relief, his breathing now considerably more comfortable.
Goddesses, what in the world had happened to him?
As if she could read his mind, she spoke:
"We were very worried there for a moment. Taking a direct hit from a lightning arrow is no minor scrape or bruise, least of all for a Zora."
He blinks at her once, twice, three times, his thoughts clearing as a memory rises to the top of his mind.
Him and Link, walking along the high cliffs surrounding Zora's Domain. Stumbled on a Lynel, Link was certain he could take it down. A flash of movement and it had drawn a bow. Sparking arrows rained down on them, one landing in the center of his chest. The last thing he remembers is a burning pain coursing through him and the sound of an enraged scream-
What had happened to Link?
The Zora woman must have seen the panic rising in his eyes. She gently put a hand to his shoulder and points to the space between where he lay in his bed and the wall. Right next to him, tucked in the corner, was Link, asleep where he sat. He's still dressed in his Hylian armor, though it was much more mud and blood covered then it had been when they left. A gash, now clotted and dark with blood, ran with the left side of his head, congruent with his hairline.
"He must be made from pure stubbornness, my Prince. He's refused to leave your side since he hauled you back, hasn't let us so much as look at that cut on his head."
His eyes did not leave the figure of the Hylian Champion, silently marveling at him.
The healer's hand moved from his shoulder as she moved to the door, saying,
"You're farther wanted to be informed the moment you awoke. I will be back shortly, my Prince."
The door clicked behind her as she left.
Immediately, Sidon tries to sit himself up further, straining his already aching body as he tried to reach the corner where his friend sat. His fingers just barely graze the Hero's knee and he's immediately meet with a sky-blue stare.
Link closes the distance between him and the bed before Sidon can register it. He finds his hand gently held between two much smaller ones as Link raises it to his mouth, pressing the back of it to his lips.
"Please, get yourself looked at too, my dear." If he had thought breathing had been rough, talking was a whole other story. But he knows he needs to say those words, needs Link to hear them.
The grip on his hand tightens ever so slightly as Link pulls it away from his lips, shaking his head.
"I am ok Link, I am. Please don't-"
The Hero pulls his hands away from the Prince's and signs rapidly.
'My fault. I said I could take that monster down and you're the one who got hurt.'
Sidon points a finger back at him and smirks.
"You did too."
'It's nothing. I'm fine. I'll have that healer look at me when she comes back.'
Sidon sighs and a part of him know arguing is useless.
He pats at the space between the edge of the bed and his body. Without further prompt, Link carefully climbs into that space and lays on his side, mindful to keep himself far from putting weight on Sidon's chest. As the smaller man settles in next to him, Sidon curls his arm as best he can around him, his hand coming to rest on top of Link's. Those small hands grasp his own, running gentle circles on his palm.
Link, tucked next to him, begins to make patterns in his hand.
'Thought you were dead. I was scared.'
As Link writes out the word 'scared', Sidon can tell his hands are shaking, if only slightly.
Sidon gently grabs hold of Link's hands, stilling them.
"I am not going anywhere you can't follow, my dear. I am so sorry to have frightened you."
He can feel the Hylian gently brush his lips against his knuckles, mouthing the three words that mean most to Sidon against them.
"I love you too, Link."
When the Zora healer returns not fifteen minutes later, she is greeted to the sight of her Prince and the Hero of Hyrule peacefully snoozing, fingers intertwined.