Link had decided to take a break from his daunting adventure and visit his dearest friend and secret crush, Prince Sidon. When he arrived at the palace, though, the Hylian was worried to find the energetic prince nowhere in sight. He took the path to the East Reservoir Lake; knowing Sidon tended to take a swim there when he was feeling stressed. The hero smiled when he saw the large red Zora sitting at the end of the dock with his feet in the water, staring up at the new resting place of Vah Ruta. The prince didn't even react as Link walked up behind him on the dock so he cleared his throat to make his presence known, making Sidon jump and spin around.
"Link! I'm sorry, dear friend, I was lost in thought. To what do I owe this pleasure?" But Link frowned. It was as the prince turned around that he realized the other had been crying. Instead of responding to the prince's question, he simply tapped his own face just beneath his eye with a questioning look. Sidon understood and quickly wiped away the remaining tears. "Nothing to worry about, I was simply reminiscing and got caught up in the memories."
The hero's frown deepened, feeling the other was lying, but he decided not to push it and instead removed his shoes, rolled up his pants and sat down next to the prince; feeling small next to the much larger Zora. He pulled out the notebook he used when gesturing wasn't enough for communication and began to write. "I just needed a break and wanted to visit and see how the Zora domain was doing."
Sidon gave a large toothy grin. "How sweet of you," he teased, laughing as Link blushed and frowned again slightly "Well, as I'm sure you can see, the domain has been doing very well since you helped calm Vah Ruta. Much of the damage from the rains has been fixed and the Zora are thriving again, but please, tell me how your journey has been. It's hard not to worry when I don't even know where you are."
The hero felt his heart skip a beat as he heard that the Zora prince worried about him. The two spent the next few hours chatting about what Link had been up to. He switched between his notebook and simple gestures depending on the prince's questions; sometimes also showing pictures he had taken using his Sheikah Slate. The Hylian could tell, though, that Sidon wasn't completely there during the conversation and caught him glancing often towards Vah Ruta. Finally, Link gave a sigh before writing again in his notebook. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"
The prince looked surprised. "Of course I do."
The Hylian frowned up at him. "Then why won't you tell me why you're so distracted and keep glancing up at Vah Ruta?"
Now it was Sidon's turn to sigh. "I really can't get anything past your sharp eyes, can I? You truly are wonderful." Link blushed deeply as he always did when the prince gave him such compliments, but kept his face set in a determined expression. "I've just been thinking of how things would be right now if past events had gone differently. Really, it's nothing you need to be worried about, dear friend."
At that dismissal, the hero began to feel angry. "Of course I'd be worried, I care about you a lot and so did Mipha. She wouldn't want you dwelling on the past so much." Link hadn't meant to admit his feelings even if it was only a little bit, but it had the effect he had wanted. Sidon blushed as he turned his face to the sky.
"Ah, dearest Link, you have, as the Hylians say, 'hit the nail on the head'. It's the memory and feelings of my dearest sister that I'm afraid I have come to disgrace." The smaller Hylian could see tears welling in the prince's eyes again and stared at him silently with a confused look on his face. Glancing at him, the larger Zora sighed and continued as he looked back to the sky. "You see... I'm afraid I have had feelings for you that delve far from mere friendship for a long time now. I can only imagine how upset my sister would be, were she alive today, that I had grown to fall for the man that she loved most in life and intended to marry."
Link felt as if his entire body had turned beet red. He had refused to let himself entertain the thought that the prince might feel the same way towards him, but here he was fully admitting to it. It took him a moment to get past the shock of Sidon's confession and another to get the Zora prince to look at him again. When he finally got his full attention, he began to write. "I may not remember what kind of relationship Mipha and I shared, but I do remember that she was kind and gentle and deeply loved all that she worked to protect; especially you. I know that, no matter what, all she would truly want is for you..." Here he paused writing, looking as if he was trying to make a decision. The hero had wanted to wait till he had finished saving Hyrule before telling the other how he felt. Partly because he didn't want Sidon to think he was brushing off and ignoring the feelings that Mipha once had that he couldn't even remember and partly because he was afraid that he would get distracted from his duties as prince if he was constantly worried about how Link was doing, but now, sitting next to him on the dock, he decided that he couldn't stand seeing the tears rolling down the Zora's face. He scratched out the word 'you' and continued, "us to be happy."
Sidon's eyes went wide. "Us? You couldn't possibly mean...?" Link blushed and nodded at the unsaid question. Next thing he knew, he was being swept into the prince's arms and being crushed against his large chest. The smaller Hylian squirmed until the Zora finally eased his grip. "My apologies, I didn't mean to squish you." His eyes were filled with an uncountable number of emotions as he adjusted the hero so they could look each other in the face. "Dearest Link...I don't think I'll ever be able to put into words how happy it makes me to know that we share the same feelings for each other." Link smiled as he continued to blush deeply. "I know you still have a lot of work to do, but would it be too forward of me to offer you a home here in the domain with me when you are done with your journey?" Being unable to reach his notebook and feeling a nod was too simple of a response, he decided to kiss the prince on the cheek; hoping he would understand. Sidon smiled fondly and responded by pressing the crest of his fin against Link's forehead. A Zora's kiss.
They spent the rest of the day cuddling on the dock and talking about random things. When night fell, they returned to the prince's quarters and slept in each other's arms. As time passed, the Hylian would often come and go from the domain. The rest of the Zora learned of their relationship and the king gave them his blessing with great joy. When the time finally came for Link to face Ganon, he held Sidon's smile in his mind to give him strength and when Hyrule was finally safe again, he returned to the domain with Zelda's blessing and the first thing he did was run to his beloved prince and kiss him deeply.