Zora's Domain
Mipha awoke in her bed that morning triumphant. Revali's scheme had worked! One sight of their Princess in the Rito Champion's wings had let the Zora males know that she was no more interested in politics now than when she had been with Link. It also let them know the urgency of getting one of their number into a relationship with Mipha before they lost the jewel of the Domain to their feathery cousins. A single dance with Revali had gotten four male Zora's to extend invitations of their own to dance with Mipha—which led to four dinner invitations. Everyone in the Domain now knew, the Princess was looking for a non-royal mate.
The affair at the concert hall had lasted till midnight. When Mipha exited the building, she found Revali, leaning diagonally against the wall. He had wisely exited before she had to give her time to extend farewells to the Zora males. Upon her exit, Revali said, "I take it our ruse was a success."
Mipha smiled at nodded. "I do have quite a full schedule of potentially romantic dinners with Zora males."
Revali stepped closer, folding his wings behind his back, a satisfied smile on his beak. "See, I told you we could solve your problem. In truth, I expected it would take several outings as a couple, but between your celebrity and position, and my supreme skill at being the envy of others, we pulled it off in one night."
And it filled Mipha with relief to hear that. She had only had to pretend to be interested in Revali for fifteen minutes and the rest had taken care of itself. Personally, Mipha had not liked the idea of deceiving the entire Domain, but fortunately that part was over. It would be straight-up, normal male-to-female conventional dating from here on out. Her "ruse" with Revali had lasted a grand total of one dance.
She hoped this would be the end of the matter—not because Revali was bad company when he was not boasting or trying to stand aloof—the Rito could actually be a pleasant companion if he was of the mind to be one—but she couldn't go along with deceiving the whole Domain for an extended period.
Suddenly she remembered that she was only one half of this equation. Revali had also requested her help in keeping the fangirls of Rito Village at bay.
"I suppose we'll need to make a stop in Rito village to deal with the fangirls next."
"Unfortunately."
Mipha stared into the night sky. "I can't be free to pursue love here and pretend to love you there, Revali."
"I know," he said calmly, "And it would be wrong of me to ask you too."
Mipha had not been expecting that to be the end of it, but here it was.
"You don't need to deceive anyone else, Mipha. The only deception left is on my part."
Mipha inclined her head. There was obviously still one part of the ruse left.
"I need you to come to Rito Village with me, tell everyone that you had fun with me in Zora's Domain, but that we are only friends. It goes no further than that."
"But the fangirls…?" Mipha was confused.
"I'll tell the whole village, loudly, that if I can't have you, I don't want anyone. That should take care of that. We'll both have what we want."
And so, Revali had bid her good night. Mipha didhave what she wanted. A host of Zora males were lined up to meet with her and give her the opportunity to get to know them. But still, a sense of foreboding haunted her as she went to bed. What if something went wrong in Rito Village?
The thoughts on her mind when she had first awakened had been confident, so what was giving her pause now. All she had to do was tell Revali that she was not romantically interested in him, which was true and which he already knew. All the acting would be on his part. She had full confidence in her co-conspirator's acting abilities—he had pretended to be a callous jerk to the other Champions—Link especially—throughout the entire conflict with the Calamity, though his occasional encouraging remarks, laced with sauciness as they were, let everyone, even Link, know that Revali was not truly as cold-hearted as he wanted everyone to believe. So, what was the purpose of the act? Mipha knew he was shielding himself from something, but what?
Mipha's compassionate nature overtook her. She wanted to heal her Rito friend from whatever psychological wounds ailed him, but her healing gifts only extended to the body, not the heart.
Perhaps that was what was giving her trouble. Revali had said that after she publicly disavowed any romantic relations with him, he would use that as a pretext to never get involved with anyone. Mipha understood wanting avoid mobs of amorous fans—if her own encounter with Ozo map Torfu was anything to judge the experience by—but to close yourself off to the possibility of love entirely? Was it related to Revali's need to constantly act like a jerk to everyone?
She was worried about him and questioned if she was doing the right thing. No one in Rito Village knew about their charade in Zora's Domain, so the Rito did not know that Revali had even pretended to be with her. He was still single and free. He had the chance to find some one who really cared for him as a person, not a celebrity.
She would have to tell him that she couldn't support his decision to turn his back on love. He was not being fair to himself and to that future female he was yet to meet.
In truth, Revali had a lot of qualities that would make for an ideal mate. He was confident—which was good until he put on his conceited, arrogant act. He had a dry wit which she loved endlessly. She was sure not the only female who appreciated these things about him.
Then it hit Mipha—she was interested in him. This wasn't just her compassionate nature wanting to heal his damaged psyche—she genuinely enjoyed his company. The makings of the attraction had possibly been there since they met, but she had been too invested in Link to notice.
Before she put an end to their charade, she had to know if Revali had any similar feelings toward her. If this attraction was reciprocal, she wanted to give it a chance.
Revali was waiting for Mipha at the gate to Zora's Domain. His eyes were closed as he listened to the distant roars of the numerous waterfalls feeding the Domain's water supply, as well as the softer, but nearer ones of the Domain's own artificial waterfalls. It was…calming.
"Revali?"
The Rito Champion opened his eyes and turned around to see Mipha.
"When is your first dinner engagement?" He asked.
"In four days."
"It's about one day's journey from Zora's Domain to the Lanayru Tower for your return journey. And it's only a minute from Tabantha Tower to Rito Village for the trip we are about to take. You should be back for your date in plenty of time."
"It would go faster if you flew me between the end points of the trip and the Towers," she said, knowing what his response would be.
Revali arched his forehead in confusion.
"Mipha, the Rito women are supposed to see you reject me and then here my refusal to get involved with anyone ever again. If I flew you home, they would think we were still together."
"But that just it. They need to think we are together," said pleadingly, before adding more naturally, "For a little while."
Revali stood still, weighing what Mipha had said, considering that he may have missed something in his own strategy.
"Mipha, tell me what you are planning?"
"It simple really. One rejection from someone you have not seriously pursued won't make them think you've turned your back on love. You need to pretend to court me, so that when you pretend to get your heart broken it will be more believable. Then they'll believe you want a break from romance for a while."
Revali looked at his feathery digits, then back to Mipha.
"Are you sure?"
"Revali, you are a great judge of what makes people envious, but when it comes to the softer side of things," Mipha searched for a polite way to phrase it…
"Among the least sensitive in Hyrule?"
"Exactly. You can't have love without sensitivity, and you can't make the Rito women think you have closed yourself off to it unless they believe that sensitive side that we all know you're hiding has been hurt."
Revali started to say something in protest but…Mipha was right.
"You do know that we would have to be seen together regularly."
"Of course."
"That might make the Zora men think you are serious about me," he cautioned.
"That's we should see each other at intervals."
He looked at her.
"Often enough to make the Rito women think you are committed to me, but infrequently enough to make the Zora men think I'm only considering you as one option among many." The fact of the matter was that Mipha was considering Revali among her options, though now was not the best time to let him know.
"So, most of our meetings should be in Rito Village, where the right people will be."
"Exactly. And you should fly me into and out of Rito Village, but never be seen in such an intimate position in Zora's Domain."
Revali stroked the underside of his beak.
"This could work."
Rito Village
Mipha's breath was stolen by the majestic sight of Vah Medoh perched on the summit of the mountain upon which Rito Village was built. The village itself was majestic, bult into the mountainside. The Zora may have constructed an engineering marvel with their Domain's high-rise platforms and walkways and its artificial waterfalls, but the Rito artisans had had no need to imitate nature when they could work in cooperation with it. The mountain had a natural spiraling shape and the village was built along that spiral.
Revali landed on the wooded bit of the mountain just across the bridge east of Tabantha Tower in a bowing position with one knee bent and the other to the ground.
The brown feathered Rito guard on duty bowed his head making the pink feathers of his headdress dance.
"Welcome home, Master Revali…" but he noticed that Revali was not alone. A red-scaled female Zora had been holding on to Revali's chest during flight, and in his kneeling position could put her own feet back on the ground.
"Princess Mipha!" He bowed his entire upper torso. "Welcome to Rito Village."
"It is my pleasure," she smiled at the guard.
Revali stood and extended his feather hand to Mipha.
"Shall we?" he asked.
"Let's." She offered her own hand, and he placed a delicate kiss on her wrist.
The guard stared, eyes wide and beak agape.
"What's wrong? Never seen a young couple in love before?" Revali asked with all the usual venom back in his voice.
The guard quickly averted his eyes. "I'm sorry, Champion, Princess…" Then he remembered Mipha was also a Champion. "I mean "Champions,,," but she was still a princess, "I mean,"
Mipha lightly giggled.
"Well, if you spend all day apologizing for not calling my girlfriend by the right title, I'll never get to show her our village before I have to bring her back to the Domain."
Classic Revali sarcasm, Mipha smiled.
"Please, Princess, enjoy your time here." The guard said standing straight to attention.
"Thank you," Mipha said. "I plan to."
As they walked up the path into the village, Mipha said, "You never told us your home was so beautiful."
"Don't let the sights distract you. We have job to do, remember?" Revali said, feeling a little uncomfortable with Mipha's apparent distraction.
"Of course, and I'm playing my part to the letter. I'm your Zora girlfriend who's never seen Rito Village before. Of course, my breath is taken away by seeing it for the first time."
Revali relaxed a little. Mipha was doing her job. She was just having a bit of fun in the process. Revali could relate to that.
"It is really beautiful, though. I love the way the village is built into the natural curves of the mountain."
"Really?" Revali seemed surprised. "I've never noticed before."
"It might be hard to notice when you see it every day."
"You sure it's not just lazy design?"
Mipha just laughed.
"I saw how small and delicately positioned those houses were while we were flying. It took a lot of talent to build this and get it to fit the contours so neatly."
"Are you patronizing me?"
"Revali, why are you so insecure?"
"I beg your pardon," the Rito said coming to a full stop.
"Whether its about your own abilities, or your people's culture, you hide behind sarcasm and insults because you are afraid of what people will think if they get too close."
Now Revali was angry.
"I'm not afraid of anything, Princess!"
"You are obviously afraid of love, or I wouldn't be here" Mipha said.
Now Revali wanted to hit something. He stormed off from Mipha further into the woods, away from the village.
Worried for her friend, Mipha followed after him.
"Revali?" She repeated several times, but he gave no indication of hearing her.
He stopped when they were in a small clearing with a tree to the north, east, and west.
Revali glanced over his shoulder to see that Mipha was still behind him. He spoke to her in a somewhat more friendly tone.
"Mipha, please stand back."
She complied, and Revali soared a short distance into the sky into the sky, not quite over the tree line, and loosed three arrows in quick succession from his Great Eagle Bow. He quickly turned in every direction except behind. Then he descended, once more in a kneeling position, breathing heavily.
Mipha noted the position of the three arrows in the three trees. If there had been bullseyes, each one would have been dead center.
Mipha could tell that what she had said frightened Revali in that specific way he could not admit to other than with anger and bravado.
She lay a hand on the panting Rito's shoulder.
"Feeling better?" she said.
"Much," he said collecting his breath and getting back to his feet.
"Come on," she said, pulling on his arm. "We must flaunt our love before the village."