Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Legend of Zelda, or it's characters. The Legend of Zelda is owned by Nintendo. This is a nonprofit fanfiction written purely for enjoyment.
Warning: Slight spoilers.
Mipha's Grace
A lot changes in the span one hundred years, Link learned that the hardway. Initially Link didn't remember much of the land of Hyrule when he first awoke from his century long nap, but there was one thing he couldn't shake. It was a familiar, warming voice of a face he couldn't yet remember. His thoughts were plagued by a name, a name without a face to put it to. It was a ghost memory, one that guided his way to Zora's Domain. When Link arrived he realized it was exactly that, the voice of a ghost.
The memories flood into his brain tearing down whatever mental blocks the Chamber of Restoration instilled in him. A tidal wave of emotions clashed into his body, all at once feeling the happiness his dear Mipha placed in his heart, and the hole it left when she was ripped from this world. The sudden realization that Mipha the Zora princess, his princess, wouldn't grace this world with her smile anymore was almost too much to bear at once for the Hylian Champion.
Anger quickly overtook sadness when the thought that the world had managed to go on without Mipha. Her laugh melted his world, without it he feared it would freeze over. Mipha's laugh was his world, Link couldn't fathom how Hyrule managed to get on without her. She truly was too good for this world.
With this newfound rage Link took the fight to the Divine Beast Vah Ruta, and showed Waterblight Ganon what it meant to be Hyrule's Champion. Foolishly the Champion thought defeating the cheap Ganon knockoff would alvieate the pain in his chest, but it only left him feeling empty. Revenge wasn't the asylum the Hylian was looking for. The only thing left in his heart was guilt.
To be more accurate one could call it "survivors guilt", afterall Link cheated death for over a hundred years. Where was he when Mipha took her final breath? Was he busy fighting Ganon, or was it after he fell in battle? The same Calamity that claimed her life should have claimed Link's as well. Did she call out for him? He should have been there. He could have done something. It could have been different, maybe, or they could have died together. Link didn't care if that made him selfish or not, they'd be together no matter what, in this life or the next. Not even the Godddesses could stand in the way of their love.
Maybe that's what her cause of death was, a Goddess jealous that a mortal could love another more than she.
No, Ganon was the cause of her death no matter which way you cut it. Armed with this knowledge the Hylian knight set out in a quest to tear everything from the Calamity that claimed everything from him. Link found himself sleeping less, and fighting more. There was no time to lose when you're trying to topple a hundred year regime.
This did not help settle Mipha's already restless spirit. There was no way for her to communicate her disapproval for her knights warpath down the road of selfdestruction. The love of his life, and afterlife, could only watch with a heavy heart as Link did more damage to himself than anyone of Ganon's minions. The divine beasts themselves could not inflict nearly the amount of pain and suffering as her own death had placed on him.
Their only interaction postdeath was the tiny seconds her spirit would appear to cure his wounds. Unfortunately not even "Mipha's Grace" could cure what truly ailed her true love's heart. For a while Mipha was under the impression Link was on another quest for revenge, but it was slowly becoming apparent that wasn't the case at all. The truth of the matter was they could be together, even if it was for such a short time. The truth was that the seemingly reckless times Link threw himself at non-stop waves of enemies was because on the verge of death was the times Link truly felt alive. It was because they were together, and that's all that mattered and should Mipha's Grace fail him their love would be immortalised. This was Link's final declaration of love for his late princess.
The truth was, Link couldn't see how this was hurting his belated love. Mipha thought her pain would stop when she left the physical world, Mipha had never been more wrong.
Mipha set out on a quest of her own after this realisation, she was going to use their short time together to convey the simple message of "stop". The late Zora princess was going to save her Hylian knight, even though it would keep them apart for a while. This was the sacrifice she was willing to make. She was going to keep trying until she got through to him. No matter how long it took. This was her final declaration of love.
Mipha's Grace is ready. . .
Author's Note: Geez, been a while. Longer than I meant it to be. Anywho, to go on the record I don't actually ship MiphaxLink. I just thought it a little unfair that Link managed to weasel out of not one, but TWO Zora weddings. This was just kind of my take on "what if Link felt the same way Mipha felt about him?" So tell me, who do you ship (if you do)? And as always, reviews are always welcome but be gentle. It's been three years since I've completed anything, and if you couldn't tell, I wrote it in under an hour. Solivore, out!