Chapter Seven

Mipha's Touch

Looking up at the arched roof and expansive chambers of Divine Beast Vah Ruta, Mipha, Zelda, and Link took a moment to catch their breath after their long climb up the mountain to the small lake in which Ruta rested. It was a little darker than before now, in the late evening sun, but there was still a good enough trickle of golden light streaking through the wide windows and doorways littered about the monolithic machine that allowed them to see well enough.

It wasn't long till Mipha inclined her head up to Zelda, curious as to what she was planning to do.

"What is it you hope to find out, Princess?" It was strange now, Mipha thought, having to look up at Zelda and Link. She remembered a time not so long ago that she was taller than her Hylian companions respectively; the difference between Zora and Hylian growth was such an interesting subject to note. And yet in such short years they had both sprung up like wild grass. Link especially.

Of course, in due time―give or take a hundred years―she would eventually tower over them. Unlike Hylians, Royal Zora would never stop growing for their while life, even after the end of their customarily understood "pubescent" years. After all, her father was nearly as tall and wide as a small house in his middle age of two-hundred and twenty-three, it would only be natural that she and her brother Sidon would follow in his place. Still, Mipha found it hard to imagine herself being taller than Link…

Not that she would ever see that day, sadly. Hylians rarely ever aged past a century, unlike their Sheikah counterparts, but Mipha tried to keep such thoughts out of her mind. It was better to focus on the present rather than fear for the future; an anecdote that surprisingly came from her crotchety yet beloved teacher, Muzu. The way she saw it―the better way really―was that she would be able to look her close friends right in the eyes on near equal grounds for the entirety of their precious time together.

Mipha felt comforted then.

"I'm not exactly sure what I plan to find," Princess Zelda said, a glint of excitement in her jade eyes. "My only hope is that what I find is what I should be looking for." Mipha gave the Princess a perplexed look, to which she laughed at.

"I know, a bit of a tongue twister, but it is my aim. I would like to take note of anything interesting in the inner workings of Vah Ruta and, if you will allow me, to observe the bond between you two… How you work together, how you move. You were the fastest learner when it came to piloting the Divine Beasts, poor old Daruk had to scratch his head a few times before he could figure it out."

"Daruk told me Link helped him get a hang of it," Mipha reported beamingly. Having only then entered their conversation, Link shrugged his shoulders dismissively, offering little more then a thin-lipped expression… A rather endearing look, she thought.

Zelda seemed to think the same, given her sheltered grin.

"Is that so?" the Princess asked, glancing over her shoulder to the boy. "What did you do to help?"

"Well…" Link paused, as if to think, hands trying to find a way to gesture his answer. "I offered encouragement... Daruk did the rest." Zelda crooked an eyebrow at him, but she didn't press him for any more than that, knowing she wouldn't get much more. Sir Hamish never stood for Link over appraising his own actions as a child; the tendency of bragging had been hammered out of him years ago. Regrettably, Mipha had good reason to believe it left him incapable of accepting praise of any sort, great or small.

"I think he's just being humble," Mipha whispered to Zelda before poking Link's side, disappointingly to no effect. He used to be so ticklish there as a boy.

"Humble, hm?" the Princess said openly. "Yes, I suppose he is, in many ways. To a fault, even. Though I think our young Knight is not quite humble as one would be led to believe." To Mipha's surprise, Link suddenly shot the Princess a rather stern look then that spoke far more words than his tongue ever would. Naturally it piqued Mipha's interest immensely.

"What do you mean by that, Princess?"

"What indeed?" the Princess said in reply, her eyes showing a faint sign of a teasing smile and yet also a sense of disappointment in her companion. "He seems very opposed to asking for help when he needs it, don't you think Mipha? Especially when there are those who have talents that can drastically improve the situation?" Zelda cast a knowing eye on her companion, but he did not seem to budge under her pressure. Not an inch.

"Oh―" Mipha harrumphed. "I've never been very good at these word games, Princess… What's wrong?"

"You'll have to ask Sir Link," Zelda said, feigning a distracted tone as she began to examine the inner walls of Vah Ruta. "He won't say a word about it to me, despite my asking… but I suspect his arm has been bothering him ever since his exciting run-in with the Hyrule Underground market. He fiddles with it when he thinks no one is looking, he favors his other arm for any and all work entirely, and the reports I read of the incident did speak of physical altercations, all of which involve Link."

Zelda paused briefly, and then in a more serious manner said, "I'd hate him to be hurting and say nothing about it for prides sake, wouldn't you?" Mipha could have sworn she heard Link sigh impatiently.

"Link… Are you hurt anywhere?" The boy gave it a long and ungrateful thought, yet after a time finally he acquiesced a very short but definitive nod. It was not the first time Mipha had seen Link gesture in this way. In fact, it was all too familiar. Memories of summers spent so long ago came flooding in.

Link always was a little prideful when it came to asking for help. From scraped knees to broken fingers, he would have preferred suffering through the pain than admitting he was hurting at all in the first place. He and his friends, they all thought toughing it out made them more like men, and less like children.

Ironically, it was a boyish pride so few men seemed to grow out of.

"Come along," Mipha sighed, leading Link away by the hand. He made no audible protest, but his stony face painted a picture colorful enough. "I need to be somewhere I can focus to perform Healing magic."

"I'll be here if you need me," Princess Zelda shouted to them, sounding well pleased and amused. "Don't be too long, I'll need your help soon."

"How did it happen?" Link's arm had been tightly bandaged beneath his right sleeve―too tightly, actually―and although the wound spoke of a weeks' worth of healing done, Mipha could sense traces of an oncoming infection festering beneath the surface. But she would make quick work of it all the same, even if it would drain her energy a little.

"A broken bottle," Link answered simply. "He used the shattered end as a weapon."

"That explains the ugliness of it," Mipha piped. The image in her head made her stomach turn a little. It must have been excruciating. "I'm surprised he managed to hurt you at all. He must have been a remarkable fighter to get you at odds."

"He was an old man."

"Old?" Mipha rose a brow at him.

"I had my hands full," Link replied in defense.

"Well, the Princess tells me you went in alone, quite carelessly too," the Zora girl teased. "You could have asked for help, you know. I'm sure a whole army of soldiers would have volunteered to help the Hero wash out some seedy bandits." Link's face soured. Perhaps the Princess had a point, maybe there was a little sense of pride still buried under all those stony mannerisms of his. A different sort of pride, that is.

"I was thinking," Mipha continued once it was apparent Link didn't plan on commenting on her suggestions. "This reminds of the time we first met. You were just a reckless child. Always getting yourself hurt at every turn. Every time I would heal you, just as I'm doing right now." Slowly, the broken skin that had scabbed over Link's arm began to shift and move wherever her hand worked its magic. Even the strained creases in his face began to smooth over as pain left his body, just as it did when he was a boy.

Although, sadly, it had lost that once familiar look of awe and wonder.

"I thought it funny how, being a Hylian, you looked grown up so much faster than I did. I was… I was always willing to heal your wounds. Even back then." By then, his wound had sealed itself up, and what was once marred and festering skin was now smooth and unblemished. Not a scratch or scar to be found. She could only pray that it would be the worst wound he would ever sustain.

"So," she said sullenly as thoughts that had been haunting her mind ever since she agreed to pilot Vah Ruta began swirling inside her head, tormenting her with restless nights. "If this Calamity Ganon ever does, in fact return, what can we really do?"

Link's eyes didn't have an answer.

"We just don't seem to know much about what we'll be up against. But know this: that no matter how difficult this battle might get… If you―if anyone tries to do you harm―then I will heal you. No matter when, or how bad the wound. I hope you know that I will always protect you." The young Zora girl hesitated then, unsure of how she could speak her heart clearly. Time had changed so much between them; she had become aware of how difficult it was to find the same confidence speaking to Link.

All the same, she took a chance, regardless of the consequences.

"Once this whole thing is over, maybe things can go back to how they used to be, when we were young. You know…" Mipha swallowed. "Perhaps we could spend some time together." It was a rough start to what she really wanted to say, but it more or less did the job. The only problem was that there was a hesitation in Link's gaze, and a furrow in his brow that sucked up what boldness she had left, and in its place grew an unsettling discomfort…. He did answer, however, in time.

"If Hyrule casts me aside once this fight is settled," Link said, "I think a summer spent here would be more than manageable."

"You promise?" she asked, with perhaps naïve hope.

"I'll do my best," he answered, covering his heart conciliatory. "I promise."

"Then that will have to do for now." Shaking off the sad feeling turning in her chest, Mipha rose to her feet and took a gander at the water well beneath them from the high-up trunk of Vah Ruta. The breeze felt good on her skin. She had become unbearably hot from that conversation. "We should get back to the Princess, I bet she'll be needing me about now."

"Mipha." The Zora paused, and turned. He would not meet her eyes, and what he tried to say came out nearly as quiet as a whisper. It was obvious Link rather not say what was on his mind. "Can I… ask you a favor?"

"Of course," Mipha shrilled. She couldn't remember the last time he asked her for a favor.

"Do you remember those headaches I used to get?" Link omitted the part that they came after his dreadful fall down the Zorana cascades. "Do you think…?"

"Are they back?" Mipha rushed to his side, outstretching both hands to gently touch the crown of his head. Instantly she felt a terribly dull ache working its way though the tips of her fingers. She scolded herself for not noticing it before. "When did this start happening?"

"In the winter. Rarely. And they were manageable."

"But they're worse now?" Mipha finished, to which Link nodded.

"That old man may or may not have broken the bottle on my head before using it as a weapon. Since then it's been nearly non-stop." Were she not so worried, Mipha would have made sure to give that boy a stern talking to about taking care of himself! Hero or no Hero, he―

Well, she gave him a piece of her mind anyways!

"Why didn't you tell me this right away, Link? As soon as you got here! Not to mention the arm."

"I was going to," he protested firmly, thought she wasn't sure she believed him. "When I found an appropriate time." Hylia above, the young Zora could only force a collective sigh for the idiocy of men! Two counts now Princess Zelda had proven her point; how could someone be so self-modest yet dangerously prideful at the same time?

Or was it something else? Curse it all if she knew.

"You're more reckless now than you were as a child," Mipha sighed, calling forth her Healing magic once more, setting her aim on the deepest pains stabbing at Link's head. It felt as if she were pressing against a brick wall, but in time what little power she had began to break through and heal whatever pain she could. This, regrettably, was a wound she could never seem to fully cure, only treat.

When her work was done, Link closed his eyes and took a deep, relieved, sigh. His shoulders relaxed, his head hung loosely, and every following breath came easier than the last. He may have been an utter fool, but it did make Mipha happy to see him unburdened by such unbearable pains.

"I want one more promise from you, Link." The Hero spared a single cracked-open eye. "If there's anything―anything at all―that is bothering you, you tell me right away. I… I won't stand to have you taking on more than you should. We are Hyrule's Champions, we are a team you know. I am here for you as much as you are here for me, or Daruk, or Urbosa―"

"Even Revali?" he asked, wryly.

"Yes, even Revali! Now say it. Say you promise you'll tell me right away if you're hurting. Physically or otherwise." And until Link finally said those very words, Mipha put her foot down adamantly, not giving in an inch. Naturally, the Hero was the first to buckle and admit defeat.

It would only be a test of honesty now… Link had been a very convincing liar as a child.