Chapter 9 - Victory and Celebration
Mipha and Link waited on the northwest pier of East Reservoir Lake. Today was the day Ganon would attack.
"I'm going to board Ruta and activate the main control unit with Purah's defense program as we discussed," said Mipha.
"And I'm coming with you," said Link. "I don't want to take any chances our timing is off, and Ganon's blight creature arrives with you there alone. I worked very hard to get us to this position, and I am not going to jeopardize everything now."
"Alright," said Mipha. "I'll pull you along."
Mipha and Link dove into the water and Mipha swam to Ruta, pulling Link with one arm. They both climbed aboard, and as soon as they entered, Link shuddered. He remembered Ruta from four years ago in his timeline, and it made him feel sick inside. The last time he was here it was crawling with malice and Guardian Scouts. But that was not what bothered him. Malice and Guardian Scouts were nothing to be afraid of. What bothered him was what he had heard and the scene that played out just before he left Ruta that last time.
Ruta had been the first Divine Beast he sought to take back from Ganon's control, and he didn't know what to expect. He had thought Prince Sidon would work together with him on restoring Ruta. And Sidon had indeed worked with him to overcome Ruta's outer defenses. But after Ruta's defenses were shut down, Sidon had given him only words of encouragement to deal with the inside of Ruta. Sidon looked fearful, seemingly anxious to distance himself from Ruta and wait for Link back at the Domain. Link had been left there all alone. He activated the terminal at the entrance and then heard a familiar voice in his head. "You're here!" she had said, and her tone was one of surprise and happiness. He recognized that voice from his memory of her. It was Mipha.
After that, her voice guided and encouraged him through the places he needed to go to take back control of Ruta. He thought she must be alive after all, as her father had hoped, trapped somewhere, but able to communicate with him through Ruta somehow. Finally, he activated the main control unit and had his battle with Waterblight Ganon. He was victorious! He had defeated their enemy.
Now, where was Mipha? But before he could savor his victory and search for her, he heard her voice once again. "Hello, Link," she had said. And then he saw her spirit, and he realized that what everyone had feared was true: Mipha was dead. He stood speechless, in shock, as he listened to her and received her gift of healing. Through some magic, he found himself disappearing. And when he reappeared, he was outside Ruta, and she was gone. To him, Ruta had been haunted.
Now it was eerily quiet inside Ruta, and the sound of their footsteps in the water echoed off the walls of this cavernous device. The only other sound was the splash of water flowing in another room. They both started walking to the central terminal at the rear of the bottom floor. Mipha seemed quite calm, totally at ease with her Divine Beast. But Link remained on edge. He realized it didn't make sense, but muscle memory of the time he spent inside Ruta made him wary. He reached back and took comfort in feeling his sword was handy.
Finally, they reached the central terminal. Mipha started working with it and activated Purah's defense system.
"Alright, Purah's system is activated," said Mipha.
"I just said a short prayer to Hylia that it works," said Link. "Let's get out of here now."
They retraced their steps to Ruta's entrance, then dove into the water and swam back to the northwest pier.
"So now we wait," said Link.
"You were very nervous inside Ruta," said Mipha. "You shouldn't be afraid of her."
"It wasn't really fear," said Link. "It was the terrible memories I have of the last time I was there."
"I wish I could cure your mind. Do you want to talk about it?" asked Mipha.
"I do, and I don't," said Link. "For someone with so many memory problems, I wish this was one I could forget. In my original timeline, Ruta was the last time you spoke to me face to face, or rather your spirit did. I carried that heartbreak with me all this time. But that hasn't happened now and, with Hylia's help, I will do everything in my power to make sure it never does."
Mipha and Link continued to wait on the pier.
"What happens next?" asked Mipha.
"From what I recall, Ganon emerges from under Hyrule Castle, and waves of purple malice spew out across Hyrule infecting all the Guardians and Divine Beasts. Four horrible creatures of his take over the Divine Beasts. We should be able to see what happens to Ruta from here," said Link.
"What is the creature Ganon sends to Ruta like?" asked Mipha.
"It's a disgusting looking monstrosity with one eye that can shoot an energy beam. It also wields a giant spear and can summon blocks of ice," said Link.
"Are you sure you can handle it? Do you need me to help?" asked Mipha.
"I can handle it alone," said Link. "I've practiced destroying it many times. If it cannot enter Ruta, then I need you to take over Ruta. If it can enter Ruta, then you and I will battle it together."
They waited in silence. Suddenly there was a distant roaring sound. The sky darkened, and waves of purple malice could be seen shooting through the air, originating from west of them, the direction of Hyrule Castle. Ganon's attack had begun.
A large mass of purple malice streaked from the sky toward them. It collided with Ruta, but instead of infecting it as the creature expected, it bounced off and landed in the lake. Then it rose up out of the water with a horrible screeching sound and looked around.
"It looks like Purah's defense is working," shouted Link above the noise.
"I need to get back inside Ruta," said Mipha.
"Yes," said Link, "but I am not letting you get anywhere near that thing. I'll distract it by luring it closer to land here. When I have its full attention, you swim around the side and approach Ruta out of sight of that thing. Promise me you'll be safe."
"I promise," said Mipha. "Stay safe yourself."
Link remembered Waterblight Ganon very well. He had practiced defeating it several times, and he was better armed now than he was then. He started by shooting it in the eye with some arrows. The creature saw him now and approached closer to land. It swung its massive spear at Link, but Link was able to dodge it. Then Link launched some more arrows at it as he moved further back on the pier out of reach.
The creature seemed reluctant to follow Link, though. It must be under Ganon's orders to infect Ruta and was struggling to know what to do. Hence it stayed near Ruta. Link could not reach it out on the water with his sword, but he had plenty of arrows. Mipha was nowhere to be seen. She must be swimming underwater. Link let loose with a barrage of bomb arrows. That got the creature's attention. It started forming ice blocks and hurling them at Link. He did not have a Sheikah Slate or any defensive runes, so he relied on arrows to destroy the blocks. Then he again attacked the creature with a barrage of bomb arrows. He sensed it was weakening.
Waterblight Ganon approached closer to the pier and then began to energize its laser beam. Link quickly put away his bow and prepared his shield to deflect the ray back. But his timing was off, and the beam knocked him to the ground, searing his shoulder. He groaned, his shoulder burning from the pain. He could hear the creature energizing its weapon again for another strike. He needed to get up and get his shield in position to deflect it. But he was still struggling to his feet, the pain in his shoulder, making it hard to push himself up. If he couldn't get up in time, he would have to try diving out of the way at the last second. He could hear the pitch of the energy beam increasing as it approached firing.
Suddenly there was another sound, the sound of a giant machine in motion. Ruta's head was turning to face Waterblight Ganon. The noise distracted the creature as well. It turned to look when Ruta fired a powerful beam of blue energy. The ray struck Waterblight Ganon, and it howled with pain. The beam continued to pour down onto the creature until, with a final horrible scream, the creature dissolved into a purple ball and then collapsed into nothingness. Ruta's beam stopped, and the lake was quiet again.
Link saw Mipha emerge from Ruta. She dove into the water, and he never saw anyone swim so fast. She was by his side in a matter of seconds.
"You're hurt," said Mipha. "Let me help you."
Mipha's hand glowed with her healing power as she waved it across the ugly burn marks on his shoulder. Soon the wound was healed, and the scars were gone.
"Thank you, Mipha," said Link. "I'm glad you can still do that."
"So am I," said Mipha. "I wasn't sure I could."
"We did it," said Link. "Purah's defense worked. You need to lock Ruta's targeting beam onto Hyrule Castle. I hope the other Champions are having equal success. But I need to go to Hyrule Castle now so Princess Zelda and I can finish this."
"Yes, I understand," said Mipha. "And I will get Ruta in position to aid you. I pray Hylia will protect you and return you safely."
The details of Zelda, Link and the Champions defeat of Ganon are recorded in the annals of Hyrule history, so Link was not going to repeat any more of it here in his notes. Suffice it to say that with the knowledge Link brought back in time with him they were successful. Purah's defensive rune worked, and Ganon and the Yiga Clan ended up being the ones surprised.
When it was over, Zelda and Link stood together in Hyrule Field, any residual purple malice gradually disappearing from land and sky. Zelda turned to Link and smiled. Then they hugged each other and congratulated one another. Their plan had worked, and Hyrule was safe. It was time to restore order and then celebrate.
It was a week later that King Rhoam presided over a grand celebration at Hyrule Castle. Banners blew in the breeze, and people crowded Castle Town for the party. The Champions were all given a place of honor on the platform where King Rhoam spoke, thanking them for their heroic efforts. Hyrule was now at peace, and they needn't worry about Ganon for a long time.
Each village also had a celebration honoring their individual Champion. Link could not attend all of them, so he chose the one at Zora's Domain. Mipha was obviously the star of the ceremony, as King Dorephan praised his daughter for her role in Ganon's defeat. Link remained in the audience applauding for her, but after the ceremony, she did not stop to speak with him but instead left to be with her family. She had clearly not come to terms with who he was or come to accept him as the person she knew and loved.
Looking back, this was probably the hardest time for him. He had done all he could to be together with Mipha, but he could not claim he was the same person she had been with before the time travel event. He had been that person once, 104 years ago in his reckoning of time. But that person no longer existed and he had taken his place. He had always naively assumed that Mipha would accept him as if nothing happened.
But what if she couldn't accept him? He realized now it was a lot to ask of her, to overlook his memory loss of all their time together. And how did she feel about his Timeshift Stone visit with her at Ruta? Had that been wrong of him, to pretend he was the person she had just been with a week before? He was that person in a sense, but he couldn't even remember what had happened. Did she look back at that visit now as if she had been violated, like substituting a twin brother for a husband? He had wanted to be honest with her then, but Purah had forbidden it. Purah had looked on his visit with her as an experiment, a test of the Timeshift Stone technology on the way to restoring the Temple of Time. But it was much more than an experiment to him. It was a chance to be with the person he loved. But how did she feel about all this now? What a cruel joke it would be if he ended up alone again.
Link returned to Hyrule Castle, and since Princess Zelda no longer needed a personal guardian, he obtained King Rhoam's permission to leave his duties. He returned to Zora's Domain where he hoped he could be together with Mipha again at some point.
Mipha continued to have a good deal of responsibility as the Champion and future Zora leader. While combat training was no longer a priority, she was very active in the Zora government, and committee meetings consumed a good deal of her time each day. She also liked to spend time with her little brother, Sidon. Since their mother had passed, Mipha took the place of both mother and big sister to Sidon, and did her best to help her busy father raise him.
Link, of course, still lacked many memories of the past, and people believed this was due to injuries he suffered in his final battles with Ganon. Only those few people he had explained his story to knew the truth. He continued to wander around near the Domain alone, trying to recover his memories, and speaking to whomever he could. But he wasn't getting anywhere. Finally, he approached Mipha after she had finished a meeting with her father.
"Princess Mipha, I know you are very busy, but can I speak with you?" said Link.
"Of course," said Mipha with a smile. "And simply Mipha is fine."
"I know you still feel I am not the same person you knew, and it doesn't help that my memory of our time together is so lacking. But I truly am the same person. When you are not too busy, would you be willing to set aside any spare time you have to help me recover my memories? I cannot give up on what I know we once had," Link said.
Mipha thought for a moment. "Alright, let's spend an hour each day together to work on this. We can visit different places, and I will help you try to remember. We can see what happens. Let's start tomorrow."
"Thank you!" said Link.
Next morning Mipha met Link in the plaza.
"I think we will work our way chronologically," said Mipha. "When you were very young, you used to have some Zora playmates, and I thought I would help you learn to swim. Let's walk over to East Reservoir Lake, and I will show you where it happened. Perhaps it will help your recollection."
They walked over to the northwest pier of East Reservoir Lake.
"It was right here," said Mipha. "It took a lot of effort for me to figure out how to teach you to swim. Sadly you lack fins and webbed feet. I held you as you learned to kick and pull yourself through the water. Eventually, we figured it out together how best to have you swim. Do you remember any of that?"
"No, I'm sorry, I don't," said Link.
"Well, we will keep trying," said Mipha. "We have time for one more location today."
Mipha took Link to a place where she said he had fallen while climbing and she healed him. He told her he couldn't remember that, either.
"Well, I am not entirely surprised at that," laughed Mipha. "There were many times I healed you, and it would be hard to pick out only one. I remember this one because of how brave you were. It was quite a bad bruise, but you never cried. Well, that is all I have time for today. We can continue tomorrow."
"Thank you, Mipha, it means a lot to me you taking time to do this," said Link.
Next morning they met in the plaza again.
"Ready to try some more?" said Mipha.
"Yes, and thank you for being so patient with me," said Link.
"Let's start right here in the Domain," said Mipha. "Follow me."
Mipha led Link up one of the waterways, the channels down which water flowed into the plaza level, then stopped at the top.
"You were still quite small, but we slid down these together," said Mipha. "I held you in front of me and we both laughed as we glided down the curved waterway. You kept wanting to do it over and over. But eventually my father saw us and told me my behavior was unbecoming of a princess. Do you remember any of that?"
"I'm sorry, I don't," said Link. " I hope I didn't get you in trouble."
"No," laughed Mipha. "My father understood. Come, I might have time for two more locations today."
So, each day they would travel to a different location around Zora's Domain, and Mipha would tell him some things they had done together there. Usually, whatever she told him was brand new information to him. Sometimes she brought up something he remembered on his own, and his excitement at the accomplishment was like a schoolboy proud of giving the right answer in class. She would laugh then, and say, "See, we're making progress!"
He kept hoping she would come to accept him as before but understood he couldn't rush things: she had to do all this on her own terms, in her own time and her own way. Her kindness and caring nature made her want to help him.
It was after the first week or so of doing this together that he noticed a small change in her mannerism. It was on a visit together to Ralis Pond.
"We came here several times at different times of your life," said Mipha. "But there was one time when you were a bit older and we stayed out late. Sunset Fireflies started to appear and you challenged me to see which of us could collect more. Amazingly enough, we tied at the very end. You said something nice then, that it was a sign we were good together, natural companions. Do you remember any of that, Link?"
Again Link had to admit he didn't. But he realized she had suddenly called him Link. Until now she had avoided using his name at all as if it really wasn't his. He thought her reliving their times together was helping her as much as it was helping him. And on the few occasions that he did remember something she told him about, he felt he was helping break down a wall in her attitude toward him, and that it helped her convince herself that he was the same person.
He remembered the turning point. He was on one of his walks with Mipha in the area around Zora's Domain, and they ended up at the bottom of Veiled Falls. There was a pool of water at the base of the waterfall and grass and trees in the area around it. It was close to the Domain but far enough away to offer some privacy. It was just the kind of place two lovers might choose to be alone together.
"Let's stop here, Link," said Mipha. "Come, sit with me."
He sat down beside her on a large rock jutting into the water. It was a beautiful day as the waterfall threw up a foamy white spray, and the sun sparkled on the water.
"Do you remember anything at all about this place and what it meant for us?" asked Mipha.
"I don't actually remember it, but your spirit told me this is where we first kissed," said Link. "I'm sorry I can't remember. I wish I could. It's a beautiful location."
"Yes, it's where we kissed for the first time and shared our feelings for each other," said Mipha.
She smiled gently, her golden eyes looking straight into his. He looked back into her eyes and started feeling warm. She looked irresistible.
"Mipha, can we start again? I hope you know it's really me. I love you so much," said Link.
He leaned forward and kissed her. She returned his kiss, and they embraced.
"I love you too. I know it really is you after all. Let's go back to the Domain now. There's something I would like to give you."
The held hands as they walked back to Zora's Domain and then to an area near the throne room. Mipha told him to wait, while she went back and returned in a few minutes with a bundle.
"Link, I want you to have this, and I hope you will accept it," said Mipha.
She handed him the bundle. He unwrapped it and saw the finely crafted set of blue and silver Zora armor he remembered. It was indeed a work of art. And, of course, he knew exactly what it meant.
"You don't need to say anything. I know what this means, and you've made me happier than you know. Of course, I accept it, Mipha, and I will always cherish it and you," said Link.
He reached forward, they embraced and kissed with a passion he did remember.
"You don't remember, but this is the second time you accepted this Armor. I'm glad you haven't changed your mind! But this is the last time you're going to put me through all this drama," Mipha laughed.
"I promise!" laughed Link. "I think our relationship has had enough drama to last a lifetime, or maybe two. Should we be thinking about a wedding date now?"
