Oh, Muzu had met Link alright. Practically every Zora adult was familiar with the boy. The Zora were a unique species in that their active, amphibian lifestyle allowed them to live upwards of three hundred years. Muzu himself was in his third century, and the Zora children who witnessed the calamity and subsequent devastation were now fully grown.
But Muzu was not dim. He knew what the ceaseless downpour in the Domain meant. The Divine Beast Vah Ruta had altered the weather so drastically that the Great Spring of Lanayru would inevitably wipe out Hyrule's vast plains. It would be an event to rival the Great Flood of legend. That was, unless the Zora people could appease the beast.
Regrettably, Muzu noted, this was where Link entered the story. When the daredevil Prince Sidon announced that he'd enlisted a Hylian's help, Muzu was already reluctant to throw his support behind such a measure. It only got worse when that Hylian turned out to be that same, stupid boy from one hundred years ago. How could Prince Sidon not recognize the fool that killed Mipha? But like the prince, the younger Zora didn't hold Muzu's contempt for the Hylian champion. Very crucially, King Dorephan did not either—the protests of Muzu and the elder council did nothing to sway the king or his son. Instead, the oafish prince believed wholeheartedly in the Hylian boy who was half the size of a Zora and conveniently lacked his memories of the past, and lacked his memories of Mipha. And to Muzu's horror, Sidon insisted that his sister loved Link.
It was an incredulous claim, Muzu thought, backed in no part by truth or history. What a sight it was to see then, that the Zora armor Mipha had painstakingly crafted for her beloved fit Link to the t. That armor was meant for the boy—there was no mistaking it. Mipha had truly wanted to marry him. It was a revolting thought, and a part of Muzu wanted to reject it and never speak to Link again. But for some reason or another, Mipha had chosen the boy. And if Muzu had lost sight of Mipha, then he had lost sight of all.
The only thing left to do, then, was get to work. Muzu directed Link and a group of Zora warriors to the top of Ploymus Mountain, where the champion swordsman dispatched of the Lynel that had terrorized the Zora before. Shock arrows in hand, Link and the prince were ready to confront the Divine Beast conjuring up storms in the reservoir. Muzu and the rest of the Zora looked on during the assault. Seeing Sidon and Link through the rain was nearly impossible, but the glow of Vah Ruta and flash of shock arrows cut through the fog. The Divine Beast groaned on every successful shot. Muzu prayed, for himself, for the king, and for the Zora that they would not lose another royal child to the Calamity. Mipha was not around to heal any fallen soldiers.
Upon being hit with Link's last arrow, Vah Ruta gave out a roar before sinking to its knees. Whatever ancient Sheikah technology had powered its output of water was silenced for the time being. Sidon returned to the shoreline without the Hylian on his back; it was all on Link, now. Muzu hadn't quite gotten over his distaste for the Hylian, but he supposed there was no better person to free Mipha's spirit after a century of waiting, memories or not.
…
When Link stopped by the Seabed Inn on his first night in Zora's Domain, Kodah was stunned. It had been a century, but her memories were vivid enough to recognize that boy anywhere. He was her childhood crush, as funny as it was to admit it. Kodah knew that Hylians aged far faster than herself and the other Zora, but Link looked the exact same as he had the day he and Mipha were chosen as champions. It was a jarring experience, to say the least, one that caused Kodah's fins to flatten and her cheeks to flush.
On that first evening, Link had wordlessly slapped some rupees on the counter and promptly passed out on one of the inn's famed waterbeds. It was quite rude, Kodah thought, to not even say hello. Of course, she later learned from the local gossipers that the Hylian suffered from a peculiar amnesia, and she correctly concluded that the boy didn't remember her, despite their many childhood bouts swimming in the Zora's reservoir. Link would have to enter that same reservoir once more to tame the Divine Beast wreaking havoc on the domain. Wherever Link went, he was always solving some problem or another. That evening Kodah asked her husband for his thoughts on the matter, and laughed at his comment that memories or not, Link would make for good business as a guest. Kayden was perpetually focused on the inn's success, much to Kodah's amusement.
In the following days Link proved Kayden right and spent a good chunk of rupees for lodging. Kodah could not understand where he amassed this wealth until her friend and fellow business owner Marot told the story of how Link walked into her shop with the guts of a Lynel. Kodah hated monsters, but she had to acknowledge that fighting and looting was a good, if dangerous, gig. She preferred the cozy safety of her inn, thank you very much. It seemed that Link enjoyed the inn, too, with how often he stayed there. It was where he spent his nights as a boy visiting the domain, Kodah realized. Was it a subconscious familiarity that kept him coming back?
Again, Kodah thought of those times as a child in the domain. She wouldn't say Link was loud back then, but she distinctly remembered his energy and the daring stunts he would pull with her and the other Zora kids. He was still quite impressive after his century-long absence—Kodah didn't think that aspect of him had changed—but he didn't continue to draw eyes in the carefree way he did as a little boy. After Link touched that sword, he got attention for different reasons. He didn't visit as often, and even his time with Mipha dwindled. When he did come, Mipha didn't tend to bruises from a boy bounding around Zora's Domain. She used her healing power to seal up the injuries of the Hylian Champion.
While Kodah lamented Link's failure to stop the Calamity, she didn't resent him like the elder Zora did. She especially did not blame him for what happened to Mipha. Kodah grew up with the Zora princess, and she knew that Mipha would have chosen to pilot the Divine Beast regardless of Link's role in the matter. And Kodah's experiences with Link, both then and now, told her that the Hylian spared no effort in his battles against the agents of Ganon. Mipha was taken by the Calamity. And Link was the person best positioned to avenge her.
After just a week in the domain, Link appeased Vah Ruta with the help of Prince Sidon. Kodah watched the ordeal unfold from the edges of the reservoir. The Zora were truly lucky that the Hylian Champion had returned, and even the Elder Council was starting to see it. On the same day of the assault, a newly blue Vah Ruta marched out of the water and up the surrounding hills. It had stopped spewing water into the sky and instead pointed an intense laser toward the swirling malice around Hyrule Castle. Not only had Link freed the Divine Beast from Ganon—he appeared to have enlisted its help. It made sense that Link was headed for the castle, Kodah thought. He wasn't wandering around Hyrule aimlessly hacking away at monsters. Eventually, he was going for the root of it all.
Kodah's suspicions were confirmed when Link didn't stick around after taking care of the Divine Beast. He spent one more night in the Seabed Inn, presumably to rest and tie up some loose ends with King Dorephan, and then departed at sunrise. If it hadn't been Kodah's turn to run the desk that morning, she would have missed him saying his first words to her since the summer before the Calamity.
"Kodah," he started.
He explained that he didn't remember much. But he revealed that his recent time in the Domain reminded him of a few things, and of a few people. Kodah smiled. She was very happy to hear that. While Link wasn't a blite little boy anymore, he looked more like his old self in that instant.
"So," he finished. "It was nice to see you… again."
Link flexed an arm and grinned at Kodah—the same pose he taught the baby Sidon a century ago—and then strolled out the door, laughing to himself.