The room I stayed in was situated deep within the palace. I was almost certain I was actually inside one of the mountains that surrounded Zora's Domain. The room consisted of three stone walls and one glass one, which overlooked a small lagoon. Upon entering, I realized that it was not quite intended for humans, as the bedframe in the corner looked sorely out of place in comparison to the rest of the décor. But it was cute and homey nonetheless, as much as a stone room could be. The Zora who escorted me there was kind, gave me some extra amenities, and left me to myself for the rest of the night.

When she left, I quickly locked the door and took off my clothes. The steaming pool situated in the middle of the room had caught my eye almost immediately. It had been years since I had enjoyed a sauna, and I wasn't wasting any time. It took every bit of maturity I had not to just jump in.

I slipped down into it, sliding in like butter. Gods, what a feeling. The Zora had everything here. They could have made so much money on this stuff, what, having hot springs in the middle of a desolate Hyrule. Isolationism had its perks, but the money would roll in if you mentioned a sauna. Humans loved these things.

For a while, I soaked there, thinking of absolutely nothing. Then, when I realized I was falling asleep in the water, I forced myself out of the tub and wrapped up in a towel.

It was nice of the Zora to get towels for me. I couldn't have imagined they needed them for any reason, being fish-people and all. They didn't seem to be bothered by the rain or the cold water at all, so why would they ever need to dry off? Their palace was filled with waterfalls and fountains, so being dry was probably a sin of some sort.

After I was finished, I took one look at my clothes. They were crumpled up in a sopping heap on the ground next to the tub. I glanced at the bed: tons of blankets—dry blankets. I got into bed nude, pulling the covers up to my chin.

As the water from the tub calmed, the room became silent again. The rain produced a light patter against the window, but for the most part, there was almost no noise in here at all. From the look of the hallway, it seemed like there were plenty of rooms just like this one, all empty. Why were there so many rooms and no occupants?

I rolled over. These were all questions for somebody else. Speculating about it did me no good, especially at this hour. I closed my eyes. But my mind kept rolling.

What was Vah Ruta like?

My heart started to race. I opened my eyes and sat up.

That thing wasn't even fully visible through fog. How much of it did I really see? The fog could have been hiding a lot of it. And, if I saw it right, I remembered a faint red light. It glowed with the same color of those demonic clouds.

And yet, Sidon seemed to be utterly unphased.

I looked down at myself. Was I really that attractive to him? Honestly? I stood up from the bed and walked across the room to the mirror by the door. Somehow, I forgot that I was naked, even though I knew I was. The sight still shocked me a little. Maybe it was the blue lighting.

I really wasn't anything special. My face wasn't particularly pretty, and my body was, well, a body, and not much more. I'd been with plenty of people who said I was attractive for one reason or another. They all kind of melded together into one after a while, though. I remembered someone telling me I was boyish. That one stuck with me. At first, it hurt me a little. Now, I didn't care so much. But my hair was a bit of a mess.

I covered my breasts with my hands, posing awkwardly, as if I'd just been caught naked.

"Oh, no~!"

I snorted. My arms dropped to my sides again, and I did one last survey. I didn't look dreadful. That was a plus. My legs were pretty rad.

Was he really having Zora armor made for me because he wanted to marry me?

That seemed so far out. We had literally just met today. I wasn't an opponent of love at first sight, but that didn't make much sense, and I didn't think that the Prince was that stupid. Sure, there was a chance he liked me, but nobody proposed to anybody on the first glimpse. That was silly. It was a joke. Besides, it wasn't even armor that I was getting. It was insulated clothing for swimming. That was nowhere near a marriage proposal.

What would I even do if somebody asked me to marry them? I had no idea. I'd never been proposed to before, probably for the best. It didn't sound all that interesting to me. I mean, what did married couples even do? They fucked around, had some kids, and then chilled with each other forever in a cabin somewhere. I wasn't sure about that. One person? Any person at all? I liked sex, and I liked companionship, but that seemed extreme. I couldn't imagine liking one person enough to want to live with them in close quarters forever. Something would have to give, and I'd be the first to do so. I'd be that nagging wife—no, I'd be the carefree husband who was never home, always out trying to kill something for dinner. That was it. A sprinkle of both.

I snickered. A Zora wife. A wife at all? Me? Incredible. I laughed myself to sleep.

When I woke up, it was already light outside. A part of me panicked, but then, I remembered I had no obligations today. I sat back down on the bed.

What in hell was I going to do for two weeks?

It wasn't like I wanted to rush that swimsuit too badly. After all, I wasn't the first in line to jump in front of a raging mechanical elephant thing. But I also wasn't one to just sit around and do nothing.

I stood up, put my clothes on, and walked until I was outside. The rain was just as hard as yesterday. I took a deep breath and stretched.

"Good morning!"

I glanced over. Ophele was waving at me from across the courtyard. I smiled.

"Good morning."

"How are you? Have you eaten?"

"Not at all. I was about to ask about that."

"Right this way." She led me across the way to a little alcove, wherein a Zora was selling food items. It was all seafood. As I started picking some things out, Ophele leaned in close to me.

"And by the way," she murmured. "You have to tell me about this armor."

I rolled my eyes. "It's not armor. It's a swimsuit. I get cold in the water."

"Uh-huh. Look, I know I said earlier that the fan-club wasn't going to kill you, but now, I think they might actually murder you."

"Ophele," I glanced at her, wide-eyed. "Even if it was that way, we literally just met."

She stared at me, her coy expression unchanged. "That's never stopped anybody."

"I feel like it should."

She looked out of the corner of her eye and smiled. "Speak of Ganon."

I glanced up. There was Sidon, just having descended the stairs. He looked up into the rainy sky, then around the courtyard a little bit, until his eyes finally caught me inside the shop. An awkward, delayed smile suddenly flashed on his face, and he looked away quickly. Ophele snickered.

"He's totally into you."

My shoulders dropped. "He's not totally into me." These people were love-crazy.

"He absolutely is."

I was flabbergasted. "Why?"

She picked up a raw fish and put it in her basket. "You're a human. We haven't seen humans in Zora's Domain for almost a hundred years."

"That's it?" I asked. "It's just because I'm human?"

She gave me a look. "That's not enough for you?" Before I could answer, her eyes flicked past me again. I glanced back at him. He was still standing there, even more awkwardly now.

"He wants to talk to you," Ophele said lowly.

"Oh, my gods."

"I'll take care of this." She took my basket out of my hands.

"What—"

"I've got it, now go speak with the Prince."

"Ophele, I—"

"Go."

My mind completely blank, I walked out of the shop and into the rain. He glanced over at me, and his eyes widened. He looked shocked.

"You didn't have to—" He trailed off, eyeing the shop. I flashed a fake smile.

"Yes, I did."

He caught my meaning, oddly enough.

"I'm sorry about that," he said sheepishly. My expression dropped.

"About what?"

"You know. The armor."

I blinked, wordless for a second. "Oh." He rubbed the back of his head.

"I didn't mean for it to be like that."

"You didn't?" I asked, raising a prying eyebrow at him. He looked at me, a bit shocked, but there was a knowing look in his eyes, a bit of hesitance.

"No," he said, but only after a long pause. I glanced away. He struggled to come up with something to say. I couldn't believe I'd just said that. But now that it seemed the whole village knew something was up and didn't care, it felt safe to do. It was kind of fun, actually, but more so when he went along with it.

"So, how was your first night?" he asked clumsily, clearly meaning to phrase it better. "I mean, was your—" He cut himself off, hoping I would get it. I nodded.

"It was nice," I said, looking into his eyes. Even though the sun was obscured behind clouds, they still gleamed a bit in the light. His white cheeks began to flush at my stare. I started again. "My room has a heated pool. Are these mountains actually volcanic?"

His face brightened up a bit. "Yes, a little. They're nothing like they used to be, apparently, but we still get some nice warmth in some areas. The wing you're in is particularly nice for that."

"It's lovely." I smiled. He returned the gesture, and then, we were stuck in silence again. I looked down his body. I wasn't sure why I hadn't noticed before—perhaps I had been so set on my mission mindset—but this man was sculpted and didn't hide a bit of it.

"I didn't mean to take you away from your breakfast," he said, pointing in the direction of Ophele. I looked back and watched as she knowingly placed my basket on an unoccupied bench. I deadpanned but my heart quickly skipped a beat when I realized my words had escaped me. Suddenly, I was no longer confident.

"How about—" I trailed off, looking back at him. "Have you eaten?" It sounded so strange coming out of my mouth. "You could come and… sit with me." How awkward could I possibly get? "You could tell me about—" I glanced around, looking for a subject. "This place."

"This place?"

I cringed inwardly. "Anything. I'm new around here, I don't know everything there is to know."

This was a load of garbage. I just wanted to fuck him.

And, that was when I decided to chop off my own head at some point after this.

I tried my best not to walk over to the basket like a complete idiot, and he sat down at the edge of the fountain next to me, the basket in between us. As I pulled out a piece of fish, I realized that he looked completely natural in the rain, and I probably looked like a wet dog. I pushed my hair out of my face and took a bite.

"So, what do you want to know?" he asked. I looked around. This was silly. I wasn't hugely interested in anything in particular on this landscape. I'd already asked about the hot springs, and that was all I cared about in terms of architecture. I didn't want to waste his time by asking about something random. I knew what I really wanted to know.

"Tell me something about yourself."

He looked up at me, confused, as I shoved another piece of fish into my mouth.

"About me?" he asked.

"Sure!"

He hesitated. "Like what?"

I thought for a moment. "How big were you when you were a kid?" He raised a brow at me.

"How big was I?"

"Yeah. You're huge now. How little were you when you were guppy?"

He snorted. "Guppy?"

I threw my arms up in defeat, laughing. "I don't know." He chuckled, shaking his head. He was quiet for a minute, thinking. Then, he turned to me.

"I'll be right back."

He stood up, and then, he disappeared down some stairs. I couldn't see where he went, no matter how far I leaned over the railing. So, I sat back down and waited, munching on my fish. The rain continued to pour. I started to daydream.

Then, a voice came from behind me.

"Amon." I turned around. Sidon was holding out a pudgy little Zora child, no more than three years of age, hands under its armpits. "This big." I started to laugh softly. He smiled, and put the child down, tickling it as he did. It giggled and waddled off a few steps, and he stood up again, a distant, confused look on his face. "I just stole a child."

I widened my eyes, and he looked at me helplessly as I just plopped another piece of fish in my mouth. After a couple chews, I murmured.

"You should probably put it back."

He nodded immediately. "Right." Scrambling, he collected the child, who had wandered off toward the stairs up to the throne room. Then, he disappeared downstairs again, and I shook my head, finishing my fish. This guy was a piece of work all around.

As I was collecting my basket, he came bounding back up the stairs. He stopped right next to me, intending to pick up where he left off, but after a moment, he realized he had nothing to say. I almost laughed, but the same feeling filled my own chest.

"So," I said slowly, trying to think of something else. I really wanted to get to know him, and alone, but it was a bit early for that still, wasn't it? "I'm sure you're pretty busy, but if there were any places with warmer water, would you want to show me around a little bit?"

He hesitated, trying to think. "I'm not sure if there are many places here."

My heart sank a little. "Oh. That's okay."

"But the water at the base of the mountains is probably warmer," he offered. "We could go there if you'd like. I know it's not really our Domain anymore, but it's still around here."

I smiled. "That would be nice." His face lit up a little. "When would you be available?"

He pondered, quickly. "Probably right now. I'm more free than you'd think for a Prince."

"Really?" I asked. "I would have expected you to be more busy than that."

"I have things to do occasionally, but most of the time, I really have days to myself. I go out scouting, hunting, wandering. Not so much now, but I still do some."

"You don't have princely duties?"

He chuckled. "Well, I do, but not all the time." He followed me as I returned the basket to the shopkeeper. Then, I continued after him as he led me to a slide-looking contraption.

"This'll take us down below," he said. I stuck my foot into the water. It was no where near as cold as the water from before.

"Is it alright?" he asked.

"It's totally fine," I said. He nodded, relieved.

"Vah Ruta utilizes the water to make ice attacks, so it would make sense for it to be cold back there." He sighed. "Again, I'm sorry about all that inconvenience."

I waved my hand dismissively. "It's nothing. I'm just a wimp."

"Honest. I don't want you to freeze."

"Well, I'm glad we're on the same page with that."

He chuckled, gesturing down the slide. "After you."

"Uh, no." I took a step back, smiling fearfully. "After you. You're the better swimmer here."

"What?" he asked. "You don't know how to swim?"

"I do, I just trust you a bit more to catch me in case I forget. Or if I get stranded a little too far out."

He smiled. "Well, of course." He took a step forward, and instead of sliding down on his back end, like I thought he would, he dived down the slide headfirst. I froze as he sped down the slide, gone in a mere instant. When I leaned over the railing, I could already see him down below, treading water, waving for me to follow. I took a deep breath, looking at the slide. Water ran down it rapidly. I would not go slowly. But I would start that way, if I had any say about it. Carefully, I stepped onto the slide, my hands gripping the sides, and then, lukewarm water washing past my butt, I let go, and the current pushed me, faster and faster until I flew off the end, screaming. I landed in the water hard, and when I opened my eyes, Sidon had lifted me up above the surface again from behind. The only thing I could do was sputter.

"That was nuts," I said, my voice shaking a little bit from the excitement. I tried to catch my breath, starting to kick my legs to stay afloat, despite his hands under my arms. "How often do you guys use that?"

"Eh, sometimes. We usually dive instead. But the guppies, as you put it, like the slides a bit more."

"Ah, sure." He let go of me, and I started treading water, turning to face him. He smiled, floating there almost effortlessly. I wondered if he could touch the bottom. I was starting to get tired already. My breath was proving difficult to catch.

"It's pretty deep here," I said, trying not to pant too hard. His eyes widened.

"Oh, don't tire yourself out, by all means." He extended an arm out to me, and I swam toward him. I took his arm, intending to just tread a little next to him, but he wrapped it around my waist, and I ended up holding onto his shoulder. It didn't seem to fluster him, but it sure sent me reeling.

"So," he asked. "What all did you want to see?" He glanced at me, and I smiled, trying to push down my nervousness.

"What all would you like to show me?"

He shrugged, glancing around. "There's quite a bit here, but you've probably seen most of it already just on your way up here." A thought seemed to come into his head, but he shook it away. I looked up at the looming mountains and smiled.

"Am I a horrible swimmer?"

He looked at me, and I looked at him, waiting.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

I snorted. "I'm a human. You must think I suck at swimming." I shrugged. "You'd be right."

"No way," he said genuinely, but a smile curled on his lips.

"I probably would have died if you hadn't offered to hold me. I don't tread very well."

"You were doing fine."

"I was getting pretty tired."

"Well, you had a bit of a rush getting down here. I'd expect you to be out of breath."

"Oh, come on, just say it. Humans suck at swimming."

"You do not."

"I absolutely do, and you know it."

"I won't say any such thing."

He was indignant. I let out a chuckle. His skin beneath my fingers was smooth and warm, smooth in a different way from humans' skin. His arms were strong around me, almost like a man's, except his body was red and white and he had scales in some places. When he squeezed me even a little, a spark ran down my spine.

"I could teach you a bit," he said, his voice a little lower now. "If you wanted."

"I can't promise I won't still suck afterward."

"You won't."

"If I do, it's not your fault. I'm just incapable."

"You're perfectly capable."

Stretching out his arms, I began to float out in front of him on my stomach.

"Swim to me," he said. I did, and he pulled me into his arms again. "See, not dreadful at all."

I nodded. "Only slightly less horrible than you initially expected."

He couldn't hold back his own laughter. "How demeaning."

"It's true."

He only laughed harder. His face was at such ease. He had a wonderful, contagious happiness that seemed to spread to everyone, even to me. The Zora all seemed happy to see me, content with their lives, even in the rain. The Prince seemed to be the source of all that. My heart was warm now. His hands held onto me. His body radiated heat. His lips were close, and his eyes slowly opened to meet mine. For a second, he looked so easily within kissing distance.

Then, suddenly his eyes widened, and he turned away. My eyes lowered. It was silent for a while after that.

I hadn't wanted him to shy away. But now, I wasn't sure what to say that wouldn't scare him off further. All that, and I still wanted to be blunt right now. I wanted to say it. But I couldn't. I was too scared.

"Sidon," I murmured. He turned his head a little bit, still not quite looking at me, but listening. He was too afraid to look. That wasn't a good sign. My heart sank. It was too soon for him. I sighed, closing my eyes. "I'm kind of tired now. Could we go back up?"

"Of course." His voice was still soft.

He began to swim with me in his arms. I kept my eyes closed, resting my head on his shoulder, only opening them partway to see where we were. When I looked up, we were nearing a ladder, and above us was the floor of the palace. I realized that no one could see us under here. I put my head back down on his shoulder. He was swimming a bit slower than he probably could have. Was it because people could see us before? Gently and lightly, I began to nuzzle my face a little closer to his neck, just so that he could feel my breath. His chest began to rise and fall a bit faster. He had already stopped swimming, and he sat there for a moment. He spoke.

"Here," he said lowly, ever so quietly. I lifted my head from his shoulder, glancing at the ladder, and then at him. His eyes met mine, altogether different from before. He was still hesitant, but his gaze read the same as my thoughts. But it didn't seem right. This time, I was the one to pull away, and he helped me up to the ladder.

When I reached the top, Sidon had already made it up to the platform again somehow and was there to help me. When I had finally stood, I didn't let go of his hand. He seemed to freeze in place as I stepped closer to him, my heart quivering in doubt. I still wanted try so badly. I had to say it.

"That was nice down there," I murmured.

"Yes," he answered. "It was." His tone was slightly different from mine, but I pushed forward nonetheless.

"I would enjoy doing that again sometime," I continued. He seemed to understand, but I was getting tired of innuendos. The rain was making me lose my patience.

"If you're not busy later tonight," I said. "Maybe we could go swimming again." He seemed to accept that idea. "In my room."

He froze up.

"Um."

This was a bit awkward now. I was still on that wagon, though, and I wasn't letting go. Perhaps it was for the best, my confidence in the face of denial.

"You can be blunt with me," I said. "Don't worry. We both know what's going on." Even against my attempts to sound more seductive, it came out mechanical, reasonable even. I was already trying to cover for myself.

He chuckled lowly, a bit nervous, but in a different way now. He wouldn't look at me. "I… As the Zora Prince, I have an image to uphold."

My heart sank a little. "I know."

"And," he said, his eyes all too mature and logical. He was looking up at the throne room. "So do you. You're a warrior on a contract."

"Yes."

He looked at me, a sad smile curling at one corner of his lips. "As much as I…" He trailed off, cutting himself off. Then, with a squeeze of my hand, he took a step back and smiled that usual smile of his. Now, it seemed like a mask. "I..." It sounded like he wanted to say something polite, along the lines of "I appreciate the offer," but he cut himself off there, too, and with a light bow, he said, "I'll see you later," and he disappeared into the rain.

The skies grew darker now. A storm was rolling in. Sighing, I turned and headed back down to my room.