Everything was warm. It was nice.

But it was…almost too warm.

Nothing hurt though, so that was nice.

Well…no, there was some pain. A dull aching in his lower back like he'd been lying in the same position for far too long. And someone was holding his hand in a death grip so that hurt a little too. Oh, there was also an insistent throbbing in his head right behind his left eye.

Now that he was thinking about it, this actually kind of sucked.

He felt ridiculously weak too, as if he'd run for miles or worked for a week straight with no sleep or…

Silver opened his eyes.

He was lying on his back in a bed. No wonder it aches, how long have I been here? Timetra sat next to him, her hands clasping his desperately tightly, head bowed. Her shoulders shook the smallest amount.

"Don' cry, Safflina," he whispered, his voice cracking in the process. He'd normally be embarrassed or annoyed at the vulnerable state he was in, but he was too tired to really care.

She jolted upright, mouth agape, and then threw herself around his neck to hug him, "Dear Hylia, John, I thought I'd lost you!"

It was instinct to embrace her back, and then to carefully try to pry her arms off him so he could breathe again. Silver's eyes moved sluggishly around the room. They weren't in their shared cabin…but why not? All his memories were fuzzy. He couldn't remember how he'd gotten here. What the hell happened?

Silver turned his head a little, his headache forcing him to reflexively try to escape Timetra's too-loud voice as she asked him a million questions. Demitria sat on the floor on a thin sleeping pad, cradling Sidon's head in her lap.

"We can't leave him! Silver, please-"

"Silver get up!"

"Is he important to you?"

"Aww, he stopped dancing."

"Better luck in the next life, Long John Silver."

Everything rushed back like a slap to the face and Silver felt his throat closing up with emotion. Anger and pain and fear at the realization that Jim was again in danger and he hadn't been able to stop it from happening. But wait…he was here on the ship, so maybe that meant the crew had gotten there in time to stop Raith from taking Jim-

He turned to Timetra urgently, but the look on her face told him everything he needed to know. She somehow could tell what he was going to ask and she didn't have good news.

"Jim's not here, John…I'm sorry. I tried to get back to the clearing as soon as I could after William got away from me…"

Silver felt himself going numb all over again just like he had when he'd been shot. If Raith had been holding back at all before when she'd had Jim, she definitely wouldn't do the same now. He reached for Timetra's hand, grasping it tightly as a shiver started to shake him, "Ye were righ'...should'a told the crew...he'd be 'ere now if'n I'd jest swallowed me pride..."

"He's awake!" came a shout from the doorway. It was swiftly followed by a great number of storming feet thundering down the hall and shouts of urgency as the crew flooded into the room.

Timetra jumped up, not releasing his hand, but she held her other one up to stop the stampede, "Hold on! This room isn't quite equipped to hold everyone-"

"Cap'n!"

"What happened?!"

"We thought you were dead!"

"How did those Navy men hurt you and kill Sid-"

"That's enough!" Timetra silenced them all with a shouted command, standing to her full imposing height. She subtly squeezed his hand, "The captain is in no state to be bombarded like this-"

"'S'a'right, Safflina, they deserve te know...Heaven knows I done 'nough damage by waitin' this long..."

Confusion darted across the faces of the crew he could see. The memories he'd tried to stifle for most of his life were right where he'd left them, tucked under happier memories and thoughts, and he dusted them off with a sigh and a small sad smile, "I were a good kid. I really tried te be at least. Were as good as I coul' be when I weren't forced te kill o'her kids in the fightin' rings at the Collosum."

He didn't even have to look up to know that everyone's eyes were wide. He could feel it in their silence and how the air in the room had gone thick with anticipation.

"A good man saved me, bough' me when I were gonna be killed, an' 'e gave me freedom back."

Silver closed his eyes and steeped in the memories. Some were happy, but most of them were too painful to linger on for too long. Even after spending more than half his life trying to get over everything that had happened in his life he was too weak to face some of his past.

"Me cap'n were like a father te me, taught me almost e'erythin' I know. But the crew..." he paused. A heavy sigh escaped him, "They were led astray, turned against the good cap'n an' they mutinied. Killed 'im, took me...took me arm an' me leg an' nearly me life..."

He raised his hand to touch the machinery on the side of his head.

The room was so still he may as well have been talking to ghosts. It almost felt as if he were. What would Captain Argento say to him now if he were here? Silver closed his eyes and tipped his head back a little. If his crew mutinied after they learned the truth it was because he deserved it. He would take it like a man.

"T'ey won' mut'ny against ye, lad."

Silver let out a short snort of a laugh. How do you know that captain? I never would have thought the crew would mutiny against you, but they did. Even after everything we did to dissuade it. To appease them.

"Ye don' 'ave no Henry Morgan plottin' b'hind yer back an' turnin' e'eryone 'gainst ye."

That was true. He'd been very meticulous about picking each crew member. Anyone with even the hint of a personality like that treacherous snake Henry Morgan - the man that had persuaded the crew to kill his beloved captain and had himself destroyed Silver's limbs - got the boot and wasn't welcome to stay on the Stargazer. Silver couldn't risk another Henry Morgan, not with what he had at stake. That's why Raith had been so heartily booed by him and the crew both.

What do I do, captain? Do I tell them about Jimbo?

Captain Argento was sitting next to him now in the place where Timetra had been, as gentle an expression on his craggy face as a Cragorian such as himself could make, and he let out a short laugh, "Aye, boyo. Tell 'em 'bout yer boy. Yer good lady's righ'. They'll un'erstan'."

He was just as Silver remembered him. Stoic and proud, but with those kind eyes that betrayed that he really never should have been a pirate to begin with. It was so good to see him after all these years. Silver didn't even question whether he was going mad. He didn't care. He'd missed this old boulder of a man. Argento smiled at Silver, "Don' g't sentimental on me now, boyo. Ye ain't got the time te waste on an old fool like me. Tell 'em 'bout yer boy. Go fetch 'im outta trouble jest like I snatched ye up when ye were a boy."

Goodbye captain. See you in the next life.

Silver opened his eyes and Argento was gone again. Tears were in his eyes, his chest and throat tight, bittersweet emotions rolling around in his heart. The crew watched expectantly, quietly, their faces calm and understanding, just as Argento had said they'd be. Just as Timetra had told him all along.

"James Hawkins is me boy. Jimbo. Tha' boy came te me when I needed 'im most, e'en when I though' I didn' want nothin' te do with 'im. 'E were the one te set me straight, te show me tha' there's more te life t'an gold an' treasure. I may o' saved 'is life, but 'e saved me first," Silver smiled softly. It had been so long since Treasure Planet, since their time together on the Legacy, but he treasured every second of laughter they'd shared. Even the moments he'd felt ready to toss the boy overboard he held onto like the most precious things he could be entrusted with.

"I was trying te keep 'im safe by havin' him on the ship. But I didn' want te disappoint all o' ye. Couldn' make this trip all fer nothin', all jest fer me te follow me boy an' put yer lives in danger..."

"Wait..." all eyes turned to Eil, who seemed to be processing what he'd said up to this point, "That brown-haired human, he's your son?"

Silver made a face, "In a manner o' speakin', I sort o' adopted the boy, yes."

"And you didn't tell us about him to protect him, yeah?"

He wasn't sure where this was going, or if Eil had simply not paid attention to what he'd said, "Aye...tha's righ'."

"I KNEW IT!" Eil shouted, causing everyone to flinch away from him. He pointed around at the rest of the crew, "I told you! Pay up! I won the pot fair and square!"

Taki punched his shoulder hard enough Silver could hear the sound of flesh hitting flesh and Eil howled. The crew glared at him and Taki whispered fiercely, if it could really be called a whisper, "Now is NOT the time, Eil!"

"Wha's goin' on?" Silver had expected some level of anger from the crew, but this...he hadn't expected anything like that.

Timetra's hand found his again and she smiled gently at him, "They set bets on why you were closed up in the cabin for three days. They all figured out something was wrong long before all of this happened."

"Ye ain't mad at me?"

"I mean, I know I'm a little frustrated, but your heart was in the right place," Drenga the Venovegim rustled his wings together. "Just talk to us in the future, yeah? We're here to support you, captain."

Silver squeezed Timetra's hand and smiled at the faces turned to gaze at him, "Aye...I c'n do tha'."

This wasn't how it was ever supposed to go.

Demitria very carefully cleaned Sidon's body for the sixth time. Or was it the seventh? She couldn't remember. Everything had gone numb when the ship had been pulled up to where Timetra knelt with the captain and Sidon.

Captain Silver had merely been unconscious and in shock, but by the way Timetra had acted it was as if he'd die in an instant. If he hadn't gotten medical treatment within a few hours then he would have died, but it wasn't actually that bad a wound. Clean. Easy to access and heal.

Sidon on the other hand…

They had set up a mat on the floor to lay him on, and she sat with his head in her lap now, gently stroking his cheek with her thumb. Her other hand rested on his throat, her training forcing her to feebly search for a pulse even though she knew there wouldn't be one. Captain Silver was awake. The crew was in the room and doorway. They were talking. She had heard some of what was said, but she couldn't be bothered to try to actively listen.

Her eyes traced the shape of Sidon's face. The prominent ridge over his eyes. The strong jaw. The scar on his fin. He looked so peaceful, as if he were just sleeping and he would wake and give her a sleepy smile and ask how long she planned to stare at him like the weirdo she was. Her heart shattered for the millionth time as the realization that he was never going to wake up hit her again.

When was the last time they had sat together and talked? Just them, as brother and sister, with no distractions and no worries to hold them back?

It must have been years.

Ever since they'd left Hyla, left Hyrule, left Zora's Domain…he'd been different. Sad. Quiet. Reserved. Demitria remembered with a weak smile how he'd been before his exile. Sidon had always been a shining star in a room. Greeting everyone with a bright smile and a raised arm and confident enthusiasm. No one could frown when he was around.

Some of the shine he'd had when he was younger had come back recently. He smiled more. Stood straighter. Laughed easier. Demitria had forgotten how much she'd missed that, too busy trying to remind herself she was content just getting to be with him.

All of it was gone now.

It was a stupid law. Antiquated. Unjust. It was also the biggest point of conflict between the royalty and the general public, since the common people could see that the law was unjustifiable.

But the law stood. Only one Zora royal heir could stay in Zora's Domain once the oldest was set to ascend the throne.

Princess Mipha would be a fine ruler. She was smart and tactical, but had empathy for her people that would make her an advocate for their needs whenever negotiations were required. She was loved dearly.

But so was Prince Sidon.

The day he was born everyone had known that the precious little crimson Zora would one day be banished. Even as he grew and was trained to ascend the throne in the case something happened to Mipha, they all knew. He knew. But even that reminder couldn't taint the love for the Prince.

So when the day of Mipha's coronation finally came, it wasn't a happy one for anyone. It was the day Sidon would be exiled.

Demitria ran as fast as her feet could carry her down the road from Zora's Domain. She cut the bottom of her foot on a stone, but she didn't have time to stop and heal herself. She was flooded with relief when she saw the giant man come into view as she crested a hill and she picked up her feet and ran faster, cupping her hands around her mouth to shout to him.

"SIDON!"

He walked without purpose ahead of her, choosing instead to take the road than to swim - as she'd known he would - so he could get one final look of the land he'd grown up in before he could never return.

"Demitria?" He turned around slowly, dazedly, and she threw her arms around his waist to hug him.

It had been years since they'd been even remotely close to the same height. He took after his father, the late King Dorephan, with his size, though it was likely he'd never grow to be as massive. One of his hands came to rest on her shoulder blades, the palm and fingers easily spanning from one shoulder to the other. His fingers were shaking.

"Where are you going all alone?"

Sidon pulled from the embrace and turned away to walk again. She fell in step beside him, trotting to keep up with his long stride.

"I'm leaving, Demitria. I have to."

He wasn't looking at her. She could see from the way his shoulders were squared that he was holding back tears. He always stood like that when he was sad, so straight and tall and stiff, just like a prince should. No one would ever know the pain he was in. Except her. She knew.

Demitria caught his hand and tried to get him to stop walking, "Sidon no! It's a stupid rule, just fight it-"

"I can't!" he whirled on her now, looming over her at least double her height, eyes alight with anger and teeth bared. But he wasn't mad. Not at her. "It's Zora law, you know that! Everyone knows that! I can't stay-"

"Where will you go?" She whispered the words.

Demitria knew Sidon better than he probably knew himself. She knew he wouldn't stay in Hyrule, probably wouldn't even stay on Hyla. It hurt too much and was too big a reminder that the law was worth more to his family than he was; he wouldn't stay.

"I don't know."

"I'm coming with you."

Golden eyes wide, mouth agape, he stared at her. Sidon blinked and shook his head, "I can't let you do that-"

"You don't have a say," Demitria adjusted her pack. She'd been ready to go for weeks, waiting for the cue that the king had finally made the order. There were other healers - heir to the throne Princess Mipha herself was the best of the best - they could live without her.

"Demitria-"

She raised her hand to stop any more argument, "I'm coming with you."

He looked at her with such big, sad eyes, that she reached her hands up and grasped her fingers like a child. Sidon leaned down until she could cup his cheeks, and she pulled him closer and bumped her forehead against his prominent forehead ridge like they used to when they were children.

"Why would you throw away your life to follow me?"

"You're the closest thing to family I have left, Sidon," She whispered. "I'll stick with you as long as I can."

There was the softest of flutters under her fingertips. The flapping wings of a tiny butterfly would have been stronger.

Demitria's heart nearly stopped beating in her chest. She pressed her fingers harder to Sidon's pulse point. She barely dared to breathe as she waited. The captain was still speaking, but she'd tuned out the words until his voice was all but a dull murmur in the background.

Just as she was about to give up, she felt it; another weak flutter.

"Hylia-"

She scrambled to press her hands over the wound over Sidon's heart. There had been no point in healing him before; she'd thought it was over his heart, but if there was a pulse then the shot must have missed. Demitria put every ounce of her power into healing him. Tears filled her eyes and then slipped down her face.

"Please, Sidon…please…"

He drew in a deep, gasping breath, and the room came back into focus around her even as her eyes swam with tears and made it impossible to see.

"Sidon…Sidon…you stupid son of a-" Demitria choked. She dropped her head to push her forehead to the ridge over his face.

His eyelids fluttered and his gaze was weak, but she saw the recognition flash through his eyes, "D…emi…tria?"

"He's alive?!" Timetra's voice cracked.

Demitria turned her head, refusing to lift her head off his, and she gazed at the Gerudo. Timetra was a lovely woman, too lovely for this life, and she was somehow even prettier when she cried. Her eyes glistened like emeralds. Demitria had to close her eyes not to be distracted by how pretty she was, even at a time like this, "He is."

"HOW?!"

She had forgotten that the crew - at least as much of the crew as could be crammed into the end of the room and the doorway - asked almost as one.

"Zora have a survival mechanism…when we are gravely injured our bodies will slow all functions to preserve energy and resources until the wound is healed," Demitria didn't have the energy to explain exactly how it worked. Likely most of the crew would not understand whether she told them or not. The heart rate slowed dramatically, which prompted the gills to take over absorbing air, and almost completely stopped the need for food consumption. It wasn't a well researched function of the Zora body, since the testing of it was incredibly dangerous and therefore highly controversial, but the longest recorded known case of a Zora staying in this state before waking and again resuming normal functions was 153 days. The Zora had been quite emaciated by the end of that time, but she was still alive to this day and doing very well, considering she had been very young when it happened.

Demitria should know. It had been her after all. She didn't remember much of what happened to lead to her going into the 'sleep' as she called it, but she did know that she had been quite a ways from Zora's Domain when she was injured.

When she woke again, she had found herself tucked in between two wide rocks and completely tangled in river grass.

Upon returning back home she was welcomed with a whole celebration and many a questions, most of which she had no way of answering because she had no idea she had been gone for so long.

"Where's…Jim…?"

Demitria's eyes shot open and she sat up, gaping down at her friend - practically her brother - and she could have smacked him if he weren't in such poor shape, "Are you serious?! You nearly died and that's the first thing you have to say when you wake up?!"

"They're soulmates, Demitria."

The mournful look on Captain Silver's face sent a shock through her very soul.

Oh…oh, it makes sense now… Sidon's almost instantaneous change in behavior after going after that human when they were moored by the lake…his protectiveness around Jim when he'd been brought to the ship…the desperate way he'd asked her daily how Jim was healing…

"Why didn't you tell me?"

His eyes were closed again, but he breathed an answer, "I was...scared...didn't want him...to get...hurt..."

She coaxed a health elixir down Sidon's throat. It wouldn't bring him back to full strength from before he'd been hurt, but it would definitely help with the weakness and he should be able to get up and move about after a little more rest.

Ysolde clicked her talons together as she formed a thought, "Jim's your son…" tick tick tick "...and Sidon's soulmate…" tick tick "...so we're going to go rescue him, right?"

It was a nervous habit Demitria absolutely hated that she herself had picked up on, finding that she would tap her own short claws together when she was stressed and not paying attention.

Captain Silver sat up in the bed now, groaning softly as his back audibly popped and cracked, "I can' ask none o' ye te put yerselves in danger after not trustin' ye…I'll go te Raith an' trade meself te g't Jim back-"

"Like Hell you are!" Timetra spoke with such ferocity that even the captain flinched away from her.

Demitria spared a glance at the faces of the crew around the room. They all looked ready to tie Silver to the bed to stop him from going through with that idea.

"You've had some pretty shit ideas recently - they don't make me love you any less, but they are garbage - and you're still healing, so I'm technically in charge," Timetra smiled a little, confidently, triumphantly, and Demitria was again distracted by her beauty. She absentmindedly shoved Sidon back down so he was laying on the mat. He uttered the weakest of arguments, but she ignored him.

The Gerudo crossed her arms over her chest, smiling at the crew, "Yes Ysolde, this has officially become a rescue mission!"