The idea for this fic has been on the backburner of my mind since I heard the song that this fic was inspired by before hand, Lullaby for a Soldier by Maggie Siff. Give it a listen ahead of time if you like! I couldn't get the thought of Mipha singing it out of my head and this happened after they announced botw 2 oops.
A lot of this is just my own musings abt the breath of the wild world and a lot of fluff between Sidon and Link. Enjoy 3
It was an altogether too common occurrence that Link found himself here—hefting his bodyweight over slick cliffsides cast in the shining moonlight; backlit by the abundance of luminous stones found in the Lanayru province. When his mind and body were left to wander, if he was anywhere even remotely in the area, chances are he would end up with the large cresting fish tail of the Zora's domain in his sightlines.
Perhaps it was natural instinct, borne from his past life which—for better or for worse—he could only remember in fragmented splinters. Sometimes Link swore that out of the corner of his vision, when he let his guard down, he could see specters moving in the faint light; foggy apparitions of memories past. Apparitions who at first were brushed off as mere hallucinations or byproducts of the corruption in the land, yet the more he learned about himself, the faster he realized those foggy shapes resembled the fallen champions much too closely.
So he started to pay attention.
The knowledge was bittersweet, especially after encountering the true spirits of the champions in their respective beasts. By the time he finished Vah Naboris in the desert, he met Urbosa with a smile, having expected this after 3 times previous. As Vah Ruta was the first beast he had taken back from corruption, Mipha had suffered an injustice. Link barely remembered her; had only collected a mere moment of their past together. She still smiled despite this.
She was still with him, sometimes. Like the moment where he lost his footing against a sheer cliff face as rain started to pour down on him, he was sure he was going to perish. The impact came, but none of the pain. When he wrenched open his eyes, his form was glowing with the faint, soft green light of protection; Mipha's face hovering over him in concern.
At the end of his journey, with Calamity Ganon beaten, you would think the hero would be at ease. This wasn't particularly the case. Now that he remembered them, the faces of his fallen comrades were ever present in his mind's eye, each memory a double edged sword against his heart. Only when things had settled had Link had time to mourn for them properly. He found himself thinking about how he wished they were around to relish in the peace they helped to fight for. Their large group photo sat proudly framed in his house back in Hateno village. Quiet as he was and as short as some of their time together, he came to think of them as a small family unit. Goddesses know how lonely he was back then.
He couldn't place it, but something was telling him that 100 years ago, he was a shell of a person. Perhaps that's why he failed the first time. Link cracked under the pressure, under everyone's expectations. After he had gotten to talk to Zelda, she expressed her amazement at how different he was after he woke up from his slumber.
Unburdened by memories of his near death experience, failure or the passing of his friends he went right along, exploring the world as though he has never seen it. She said she was most surprised by his frequent speaking, which he thought he did very little of anyway, only to be informed he did even less of it in his previous life.
He remembered only the smallest bits from back then—emotions really, no visuals. He was quiet to keep from disappointing anyone, conveying with gestures, noises or simple sentences. He took his role seriously, to the point that it broke him. The events that took place in the calamity were ones that took his friends lives and hundreds, if not hundreds of thousands more… but it was only through the rebirth it forced him to undergo that he was finally able to live free.
Exploring and surviving, uncovering shrines and seeking out the divine beasts was grueling, unforgiving and some may say torturous. Link was hard pressed to admit it, but he lived for the thrill of it. Living free and letting the wind take him where it may.
As the blonde stared out at the moon reflected against the scales of the fish that presided over the Zora's domain—which, yes, he had wandered to yet again, the very action causing Link to fall down this worn rabbit hole of thoughts—he was broken from his reverie by a sound. His ears perked, listening intently to the source carried in on an eastern wind. A faint voice, reaching his ears on the updraft. Was someone up at this time of night? The moon was well into the darkened night sky, midnight come and gone. The only one he knew to be up at this time was himself. Could a night guard from the domain have wandered so far?
Curiosity drove Link toward the source, the reservoir where Vah Ruta had almost flooded the region not a few months prior. A lovely place he found himself holing up in often for few other reasons than it had a bed. Prince Sidon was adamant about a room being prepared just for him to stay in when he visited the domain, which he must have started to notice was quite often. His warm smile never dimmed, never giving the impression he was anything less than overjoyed to see the little blonde hero. Link felt bad they had to go through all of the trouble of getting a bed set up and the like, as all of the Zoras slept in water pools. On nights where he underestimated his exhaustion and couldn't make it to the domain, Link would collapse on the bed which was here at the reservoir... why, exactly? Hospitality to other species?
As he drew nearer, the voice came along to him clearer and clearer. The familiar tenor was one he could recognize before he even saw the striking red form of the Zora prince, legs sat over the pier and into the water below. He was singing, quite a beautiful, haunting song that for reasons unknown to Link, made goosebumps rise along his body in a cascading wave from head to toe. Apparitions danced at the corner of his subconscious at the words. He knew this song. How?
"May your dreams bring you peace in the darkness…" His golden eyes were trained upon the sky, tracing over the stars like they may give him answers. "May you always rise over the rain.
May the light from above always lead you to love.." A soft sigh came to him, like the words themselves were weighing him down. "May you stay in the arms of the angels…"
All was silent for a beat.
The Zora prince wasn't a fool, nor were his instincts any less sharp since Ganon was no longer a problem. Link drew too close, causing the Zora to take notice of him in his periphery. His face cycled through a myriad of looks; potential warning soon melted into surprise, then comfort, followed finally by embarrassment. His usual energetic voice was muted, softer. "Link…! Hah.. you always manage to stumble upon me at my weakest moments…"
He couldn't blame him. Link felt as though he approached him when he was having a moment to himself. This wasn't the first time, coupled with when he had found Sidon speaking to Mipha's statue when they had… well, re met after 100 years. While hylians blush to show that they're flustered, Link had learned that the Zora's headfins waggle back and forth, not unlike how it was doing now on the prince. The sight made him smile, shaking his head back and forth. His voice was usually soft, but something about the moment made him feel like he had to speak even more quietly.
"No, Im sorry. Your voice carried on the wind and I got curious…" A sheepish look came over him. "You sing wonderfully..."
Sidon huffed out a small, modest sound, but Link could tell that he took the praise to heart.
"Thank you Link, though I must admit, my voice hardly compares to… Ah.." His face took on a bit more of a somber tone, as if he just remembered what had been nagging at him. Link was starting to get the picture. Sidon only ever looked like this when he was remembering Mipha. He could leave the prince to his own devices, but something in his chest was telling him not to leave. His boots moved slowly across the smooth stone, stopping a few feet away from Sidon, watching his curious face in profile.
"...Would you like some company?"
A tiny smile graced his lips, golden eyes falling down to his expression reflected back at him in the water.
"I do suppose the stars are too beautiful tonight to view alone…"
Link sat himself down beside the prince, removing his boots carefully to soak his own feet. The pool below them reflected the moon and star speckled sky beautifully. The Zora's domain, when compared to any of the other places in the region, always felt like home to him. It's beauty always left him speechless.
He would be content to sit with his companion in silence on any other night, but something about the song Sidon had been singing was nagging at him, with more and more urgency.
"...Sidon?"
"Yes, my friend?"
Link looked at him out of the corner of his eye, watching the stars reflect against gold speckled irises.
"What was the song you were singing just now?"
A small noise of understanding came from the shark, probably assuming Link would ask that of him.
"It was a lullaby from my childhood, that's all. Nothing special for many others I would imagine. Mipha used to sing it to me when I was a young boy, with the most beautiful voice, haha.. It would soothe me right to sleep."
Link's brows furrowed in thought. A melody was at the back of his head, on the tip of his tongue. Mipha's voice, clear and soft, lulling him to sleep..
Sidon noticed his long silence.
"What's wrong, Link?"
The hero made a small huff, frustrated with his memories.
"I.. have a feeling I know that song. No, I do know it. The memory is there but its…"
Sidon looked down at him, his expression soft and altogether unreadable. "It makes sense she would have sang it for you as well.." His hand came up to rub the back of his neck sheepishly.
"Singing while alone is one thing, but with an audience… Link, no less…"
Link looked up to him curiously as it seemed Sidon steeled his resolve.
"There was another verse she sang, allow me to recite it to see if it helps to bring back your memory."
His voice was lovely, as he started to sing again, though this time it was for him. Warm and a touch deeper than his speaking voice.
"May you grow up to stand as a man, love. With the pride of your family and name..." A small smile graced Sidons lips as his gaze seemed far off; somewhere distant. "When you lay down your head… For to rest in your bed.. May you stay in the arms of the angels."
With Sidon's soft exhale, the memory came back to Link.
It was from long before he could remember much else. He was so young, this memory could have easily slipped his mind even before the Calamity.
He was plagued with nightmares when he was little, not older than 5. At the time they were scary, horrible things, something he now understands were premonitions of the future. A blonde woman crying, blood, the sound of screaming and metal footsteps; rumbling earth and a darkness parted by thick, evil clouds. He would wake up crying, confused and scared. One such occasion happened while he was in Mipha's care. She came to him, moving to comfort him immediately. When her consolations barely helped, she had begun to sing. His cries slowed in confusion, then stopped as she sung to him. With her smiling, kind face above him, the lyrics fell into place like puzzle pieces.
As the words came to him in his mind, Links lips thoughtlessly echoed them. Sidon watched silently, eyes wide as he heard soft utterances of what could be called singing coming from the young hero.
"May you always be brave in the shadows...Till the sun shines upon you again…" His blue eyes were gentle and far off, a little unsure of the lyrics as they came from a place locked away tight in his mind. "Hear this prayer in my heart… And we'll ne'er be apart…" His brows furrowed as his mind came back into more clarity, back to the present. "...May you stay in the arms of the angels…"
When Link turned to look at Sidon, the face he was making at him caused heat to crawl up his neck, to his cheeks and even the tips of his ears. The prince looked down at him like he had done something, well, adorable for lack of a better word. His wide, adoring golden eyes looking down at him was bad enough, notwithstanding the way the moonlight shimmered across his face.
Link cleared his throat gently. "Sorry.."
Sidon shook his head out. "No..! Don't be sorry! Your singing is so soft and wonderful... I haven't heard that verse before… I wonder if it was for you alone? A rendition of the same song, to be sure…" A small sigh came from him.
"To have someone else who knows the song aside from my father, Muzu and I is… somehow, comforting. It felt like such a beautiful song died…"
With her.
In the light of the moon, he saw wetness gather at the Prince's eyes, yet no tears fell. Affection of his own kind crossed Link's features as he remembered Sidon 100 years ago; small and weak. He would cry these large, almost comical tears whenever Mipha would have to leave or when he fell and got hurt. He had grown so strong this past century, without even him or Mipha to help. He must of had to grow up so fast...
Links hand fell down to rest on top of the Princes—one that used to be so much smaller than his own—now his hand barely fit into the Zora's large palm. Sidon turned his eyes down to him, surprise written on his features, but when Link saw he didn't hate the contact between their hands, he slowly intertwined his fingers with the Zora's.
"...I miss her too."
Sidon clenched his jaw, a bittersweet smile coming to his face.
"Even after 100 years of mourning for her, some nights it hits me immensely hard…" His misty eyes were drawn skyward, watching the constellations twinkle. "The sky is so lovely, I started out for a walk and found myself thinking that on a night like tonight..."
Link spoke softly.
"...That you wished she was here to enjoy it?"
"Precisely, my friend."
A feeling he knew all too well.
Link took comfort in at least knowing that he in some way had helped with some of the closure for Sidon. It had been unintentional, but happened nevertheless.
He'd heard the story when he had woken up to an earful of simultaneously the chastisement of his life and yet also the most grateful he had ever seen the Prince.
Link had been beaten up badly in a fight with a Hinox and was heading to the Zora's domain to get rest and medical attention at exactly the worst possible time; A blood moon rising as he crossed through the Lynels territory.
An embarrassing skirmish and a near fatal clawing to his abdomen saw Link being catapulted off of Shatterback point, to a sure death below; by drowning if not by the impact alone.
Luck was truly with him—or perhaps as he was told later by Sidon—it was Mipha all along. The wind carried the Princes attention to the peak in a gust that he later swore sounded like Mipha calling his name. Seeing the champions form falling down the large cliff, he spared not a moment before vaulting over the domain and swimming possibly the fastest he ever had in his life to catch the hero, catapulting out of the water and saving him from the impact and fate of drowning.
The blood loss when he was pulled to shore was another thing entirely.
Sidon had fussed over him; trying to stop the bleeding from the large gash in his side and sending the nearby flummoxed guards to rush to get first aid. He was told by a shaky Sidon how he could practically feel the breath leave Links body, how the Princes horrified gaze was turned on its head by the soft green light that started to emanate from him.
Mipha's form, floating in the air above the dying champion was a sight that he would never forget. His eyes were wide, unable to help the tears from spilling over as his sister offered him a kind smile.
It would be okay.
There was so much he wanted to say, so much he wanted to know.
"Mi...Mipha, I.."
When he opened his mouth, her face told him she already knew. Her hand reached out to touch his face, though he felt nothing. With his next blink, she dissolved into the air. A gasp from below him startled him out of his tears. Link was breathing again, the bleeding wound gone from his side.
The breeze that came through the valley while the other Zora's rushed to his location brought with it a voice.
"I'll always be with you, Sidon."
The Zora took Links hand in his own when he woke up a day later, the emotions on his face powerful enough to make Links own eyes mist up.
They had been closer, since that event. Even more so, after the defeat of Ganon. When Zelda allowed him time to go off on his own, he was usually found here.
The memory comforted him somewhat. Mipha was always going to be with them, wasn't she?
Slowly, Link found himself slumping over, leaning his head against Sidons arm. This drew the Prince's curious gaze down to him.
"Link?"
Blue met gold. "Too much..?"
Sidon's gaze melted down to something fond and soft, shaking his head slowly. While he might normally be speaking with much more exuberance.. he wasn't blind to the mood which that may break.
Link found great comfort in Sidon's presence, and he liked to imagine the feeling was mutual. They were quiet for a few minutes, enjoying the sounds of nature around them and the warm breeze across their skin. One might think cuddling up to a Zora would be entirely unpleasant, like spooning a wet fish. Sidons skin was smooth, cool, and slightly damp to be sure…. But his hands were surprisingly warm and kind feeling. When you ran a hand along their skin back and forth, it was smooth and then a bit like sandpaper, if your fingers traveled against the angle of their scales.
Which seemed to be precisely what Link's free hand was idly doing against Sidon's bicep. It took the prince looking down at him with a bemused expression for him to finally notice. Cue the color warming up to his cheeks again.
"Having fun?"
It was rare for the Prince to tease...
"...Sorry."
Sidon let out a laugh, the first he had really heard from him that night, though it wasn't really like the one he usually heard from the Prince. This laughter sounded in a way almost more private than his usually bubbly laughter; it was a decidedly more intimate chuckle.
"No, its fine. I don't mind."
Link wasn't blind to the way his heart sometimes felt around Sidon. Coming out of a century long sleep to find yourself attracted not only to a male fish man, but one that was twice your size sure left a lot for the hero to unpack about himself as he tried to put his identity back together again. It took losing all of his memories and putting them back in order to shape himself into the kind of person he always wanted to be.
Sidon turned his hand over, which at first Link thought it was to loosen their connection, only for the prince to clasp their hands palm to palm, interlocked together more comfortably this time.
Hah. If someone were to see them like this, rumors would circulate all the way to the Gerudo desert… If there weren't rumors already, of course.
Link spoke softly, assuredly. "We'll be able to see her again someday."
Sidon hummed, seemingly comforted by this thought too. "You sooner than I… But yes, we will."
A teasing, somewhat sneaky smile came to Links face. "I'll come back to haunt you when you're king.."
The zora prince chuckled under his breath. "You're one ghost I wouldn't mind being haunted by."
With Link's head nestled against Sidons shoulder and the relaxing sound of the water around them, he was starting to get tired. Perhaps the prince noticed, as he started to quietly hum the melody that had started all of this.
A content smile rested on Links face, not outright noticable if you didn't know him. As he was drifting off he felt Sidon's weight shift, then the coolness of his chin against the top of his head. Another movement and if he wasn't so close to sleep, Links heart might have leapt as the Prince pressed a small kiss to the top of his bangs. Chaste and fleeting, but the contact was there. His voice was the softest he had ever heard it, trying not to stir him and certainly not something he was meant to truly hear.
"Thank you, Link. Thank you."
Link drifted off in the warm proximity of shark, lulled to sleep with the same song that did so many years prior; though to dream not nightmares like when he was young, but fond memories of the champions old and the new companions he made on his journey.
Sidon included, of course.