Chapter 33: Mipha's Touch

"Link, are you alright?"

Link yawned and looked up at the princess across from him. "Yeah, fine. Why do you ask?"

"You look…. exhausted," the princess said with a frown.

Link ran a hand through his hair. It was matted, and he could only imagine what it looked like to the princess.

"Well, I've been having the strangest dreams as of late," Link replied slowly.

The princess looked intrigued. "Dreams?"

"There was one where I was riding a giant-" Link interrupted himself with another yawn. "-bird, and I was circling around a giant island in the sky. Weird, right?"

"Weird indeed." The princess tapped her chin. "Could it by any chance be connected to the City in the Sky?"

Link shrugged. "I didn't see any oocca at all."

"They could have evolved from those giant birds you speak of," The princess suggested.

Link shivered at the thought. "Definitely not. They looked completely different. And this was a dream, Princess. It's more likely to be some sort of figure of my imagination."

"Did you ask Fi?" The princess asked.

Link snorted. "Yes, but she's been little to no help."

"And why is that?"

Link paused, unsure of how to phrase his words. After a moment, he decided to be blunt."She seems quite convinced that these dreams are because I'm some sort of reincarnation of the Hero of Time."

Link's eyes shot open. Nuh uh, nope, this is all some sort of joke.

He glared at the Master sword. "Fi, are you playing tricks on me?"

"I cannot interfere with your dreams, except to wake you from slumber," The sword replied.

"Link?" Asked a tired voice. Link turned his head to see Zelda sitting up on her mat on the opposite side of the diminished fire, rubbing her eyes. "Is something wrong?"

"Just a weird dream," Link said quickly and quietly. He glanced up at the sky, which was still dark. "Go back to sleep. You'll need your energy when we get to Zora's Domain tomorrow."

Zelda nodded wordlessly and went back to sleep.

Link returned to glaring at the sword. "Then why did I just have a dream that the Hero Chosen by the Gods was going through the exact same situation?" He hissed as quietly as possible.

"Your past lives are trying to make you accept the truth," Fi replied, as if it was simple.

Link groaned and fell back onto his mat. "Yeah. Sure."

"I'll have you know that my previous statement has a 96.314% probability of being-"

"False?" Link interrupted hopefully.

"Quite the opposite, actually."

"Oh. Wonderful."

"There is an 86% probability that that was what humans call 'sarcasm.'"

Link rolled his eyes and stood, stretching his arms. "Is that a mental note to yourself, Fi?" Link asked.

"I am placing the data in my system for future reference, so it could be titled a 'mental note' if you wish, Master Link."

They had ridden from the morning to noon by the time they reached Zora's Domain.

When they reached the domain, they were greeted by two of the Zora, one quite young looking, while the other was dressed in the armor of the Zora guard. Both had dark black scales.

The older Zora bowed deeply. "Greetings, Princess Zelda. Princess Mipha has sent me to-"

"Woah, Link?!" The younger Zora exclaimed. "When did you get so old?"

Zelda blinked at the Zora in surprise, before looking towards Link.

Link was smiling slightly. "It's good to see you, too, Bazz."

Zelda chuckled. She had forgotten how slowly Zoras aged. Perhaps Link had come when he had been younger?

The older Zora cleared his throat. "As I was trying to say before my dear son interrupted, Princess Mipha sent me to show you to your rooms. After that, you can meet her up at Ruta."

"Thank you, Seggin." To Zelda's surprise, it was Link who replied.

"You are absolutely welcome, Link," The Zora, Seggin, said with a smile. Seggin leaned towards Link and whispered so quietly that Zelda's ears strained to discern the words. "I would try to avoid Muzu today. He's in one of his… moods."

Link nodded, and Seggin stood back up. "Well then, follow me."

Seggin led them to Zora Domain's inn. They had made rooms for visitors, with feathery soft beds. They looked quite comfortable, but they were to meet Mipha.

So they went off to Vah Ruta.

"Princess," Mipha greeted softly. "I had worried that something had happened, as you are later than predicted."

"We took a longer route," Zelda explained as she stepped up the steps. "I apologize that we worried you."

Mipha smiled softly. "There is nothing to be sorry for, so long as both of you are uninjured."

Zelda smirked slightly. Uh oh. "Actually," Zelda looked towards Link, before turning back to Mipha. "A certain someone got himself a bit beat up. Would you mind healing him, Mipha?"

Mipha nodded quickly. "Of course!"

"It's only a scratch," Link argued, though he kept his voice emotionless.

"A scratch and a hole in your shoulder," Zelda said with a grin. "Even if they are not in your dominant arm, you should still get them healed. Or else I'll go through with the chopping of the arm."

Well I must admit that I'd like to keep my arm, thank you very much.

"Show me the wounds, Link," Mipha said softly.

Link nodded and rolled up his right sleeve. He had wrapped up the wounds! The two princesses had to give him credit for at least that much, right?

Mipha unwrapped the bloodied bandages on his forearm and examined it. "That's quite the scratch you have there, Sir Link. What is it that you were fighting?"

"A few bokoblins," Link replied.

"And three lynels," Zelda added.

You are making it very hard not to hate you, Zelda.

Mipha looked at him with wide eyes. "Three? You handled the one quite well, but three?"

"'The one?'" Zelda asked curiously.

"Shortly after he received the Sword that Seals the Darkness, Link visited Zora's Domain," Mipha explained. "At the time, we had been suffering from frequent attacks by the lynel at Shatterback Point. One of the younger Zora had told Link, and he immediately went straight to the mountain."

Hey! I could do something to help! I wasn't going to just sit idly by while Zoras got killed!

"Interesting," Zelda said. "Perhaps I shouldn't let him out of my sight, lest he should go off and wage war against some vicious beast."

"In that case," Link began, "I should warn you that it tends to happen on the sixth day of the week - Simply for future reference, of course."

"Ah," Zelda said, nodding. "Well, would you mind if I looked around the Divine Beast while you are doing that, Mipha?"

"Not at all, Princess," Mipha said softly.

Zelda then walked off, leaving Link alone with Mipha.

So… is she going to scold me for being reckless, too?

"Let's sit down somewhere and get started," Mipha said quietly, leading Link to a doorway.

The doorway led onto the trunk of Ruta, much to Link's absolute delight. There most certainly were not butterflies ramming into the sides of his stomach whenever he looked to the side, where there was no railing whatsoever to keep him from slipping and falling off.

Mipha led him to the tip of the trunk, which lifted upwards as they reached it (Most definitely not making his heart drop into his stomach), as if piloting itself. Link knew better, though - that was Mipha's handiwork.

Mipha gestured to the sort if pedestal atop the trunk. "Sit."

Link did so quite quickly, glad to get off of his feet and into a sturdier position with a lesser probability of misstepping, or falling off and dying. He was not afraid of heights. No, absolutely not. Why, whatever are you talking about?

No, he wasn't scared of heights. He was scared of belly flopping into the water hundreds of feet (metres/meters, if you prefer) below.

He felt the soothing warmth of Mipha's healing magic flow over his shoulder.

"I was thinking…" Mipha began softly.

A dangerous pastime. Link thought, remembering how Impa would always reply when someone started a sentence like that. He held back a chuckle.

"This reminds me of the time we first met."

Link smiled at the memory. I had been so reckless. Somehow even more so than I am now.

"You were just a reckless child..." Mipha said. Took the words right out of my mouth. Are you sure you aren't a mind reader? Farore knows I need more of those in my life. "...always getting yourself hurt at every turn." Mipha's gaze was focused on the healing, but Link could tell that her smile reached her golden eyes. "Every time… I would heal you, just as I'm doing right now."

It's funny that I'm taller than her now. Link thought suddenly. Hah. And she doesn't actually look too different. That's the Zoras' slow aging at work, I suppose.

"I thought it was funny how, being a Hylian, you looked grown up so much faster than I did," Mipha said.

I know, right? So weird! Now I'm almost positive that you're a mind reader.

Mipha looked up at him. "I was… I was always willing to heal your wounds. Even back then."

She finished healing the last scrape on his arm, the blue magic fading. Link stretched it out to test it. "Good as new. Thank you, Mipha," Link said gratefully.

Mipha smiled. "Not a problem, Link." She looked out to the horizon. "So if this Calamity Ganon does, in fact, return… what can we really do?"

Link shook his head. "We just don't seem to know what we'll be up against."

"You read my mind," Mipha laughed. "But no matter how difficult this battle might get… if you - if anyone ever tries to do you harm…" Mipha looked up at him. "Then I will heal you." She averted her eyes. "No matter when, or how bad the wound… I hope you know…

"...That I will always protect you." Mipha folded her hands in her lap. "Once this whole thing is over… maybe things can go back to how they used to be, when we were young… You know…? Maybe we could spend some time together." Mipha looked at him with hopeful eyes.

Link nodded with a small, oblivious smile. "Of course, Mipha."

...All of you can gang up on my lawn and set it on fire. In fact, I have already set said lawn on fire, so it shouldn't be too hard to find it.

ACK! I'm so sorry it took me so long to update! This chapter was... difficult to write. I guess I just wasn't as motivated to write it. I was also VERY busy this week. Wait, it's been OVER a week?! Oh, wait... I counted the one shot as an update... Ohhhhhhh.

What I'm about to say might make you want to burn my lawn even MORE. See, I think I might take a short break from updating over the next couple weeks, what with Christmas, and New Years, and ALL of that good stuff. That isn't to say that I'm not GOING to update. I'm planning on taking this time to write extra chapters, and if I write, let's say, four chapters, I will probably update at least once. Maybe twice, if I write more.

Do you guys want more chapters in Zora's Domain? Because I don't think I can scrape anything more from the cookie dough bowl, here. But I will try if you want more (right now, not later. I might still do later).

So, as I said before, I am VERY sorry! And on this break, I will try to write enough chapters so that YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WAIT AS LONG in the future! Is that good?

*Phone rings* Hello? Oh, it seems that my lawn is now holding the world record for the world's largest bonfire.

Replies! (Um... Secret review phrase is... uh... Kitten cat, because a certain kitten cat is scratching up my legs, right now.)

MeaninglessMayhem: I know, right? It makes me want to set it on fire. Have you noticed that I'm a bit of a pyromaniac? No? Well, I kind of am? Oh, thank you! I think that I should make it so that she takes longer to age... that way, if I ever wrote a post BoTW story, it would have a bit of an original touch, you know? Well, good luck on them finals (Ugh, tests...)!

RainyMirror: Hah. Talk about trouble with past memories, eh? *Bah dom, chah!* Hah, get it? Because at the beginning of the chapter... eh, never mind. I want to go into detail about the Master Sword, but *chuckles* I don't know how to fit it in. I think that Zelda could ask about it, but I also think she might feel bad for already asking him a lot of questions... if that makes sense. I want to do flashbacks like that! I think the flashbacks also give my story a bit of comedy, because Fi and Link are constantly arguing about it (XD). "Dude, these things are like, legit memories." And Link is all like, "Uh, nope, they aren't, thank you very much." I don't really know how the 10,000 years before Hero would look like. It's harder to do those ones, considering the fact that I don't have any idea what happened back then. But I should probably try, considering that it's the previous hero and whatnot. Actually, I don't have the slightest idea, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I'm quite clueless, but with a "eh" idea of where it's going. See? I'm so GOOD at planning plots! (*echo* so good! so good...! so... good...!)

Catseye: Stupid potatoes. They always have to go and ruin things. Thank you! I'm so glad you liked it! I think I can get a bit lazy with the story, sometimes, but... eh. And with the monsters... I was kind of just being lazy (See?! Proof!) with the writing there, but something along those lines! I feel like he would be at least a little bit more confident after finding out the guy telling him that he sucked was lying. Thank you, and I'm REALLY sorry that I took so long to update! And I'm also sorry that my updates will be rarer in the next few weeks! Once again, SORRY!

Catseye (2.0): Yes, that was totally on purpose. *Slides to the doc manager* *fixes it* DEFINITELY on purpose! XD

So... I'm going to do a fanfiction recommendation, here. Because, you know, you'll need something to read, what with this not being updated as much. *Screams* KITTEN CAT, what are you doisuhgfabsfhba?!

My cat just attacked my keyboard. Gee, THANKS Kitten Cat. At least she didn't take over it... or DID she?!

Anyway, those recommendations! Uh... TriSpirit is a really good Zelda story! If you haven't read it yet, that'll keep you occupied for a while. There is also The Heart of the Champions, which is a slight AU of the BoTW memories! I think it was JUST completed, but *checks* OH WAIT! *Gasp* There's ANOTHER chapter coming out?! GOOD!

And of course, there are favorites on my profile. And there's also this POLL thing for one shots. If you like one shots, do vote. And if you are a guest, or you have a writing prompt challenge for me (and you honestly could be both of those), do put it in a review or (in the case that you are not a guest) PM me!

So, this is a REALLY long Author's Note. Once again, I apologize! Have a good week, readers!

Sincerely (I really mean it this time. I DO!),

Ari~