CHAPTER 5

Ruto woke up the next morning processing everything that happened last night. She remembered being carried up to Kaitos room and him carrying her into his bed pool. He went from being the perfect gentleman he was, to something more primal. He had taken both of her hands in one of his and held her down on his bed. He then whispered in her ear. "Let me know if I do anything that causes you pain." She nodded. She knew what was coming and didn't fight it. They were married now after all.

His touch was still lingering on her skin. He had his way with her for several hours. It seemed when he was finished with her in one position he ran his hands and mouth across her body then put her into another and he was back at it again.

She remembered him waking her up really early saying he had some business to attend to and he would be back before noon. She wondered what time it was but didn't want to get out of the pool to check. She did wish he was here though. There was a bit of an empty feeling laying there by herself. It wasn't too long though before she heard a splash and looked up to see Kaito had returned. She had her arms outstretched as he swam towards her. "There's my beautiful bride," He said, pulling her in for a deep kiss. He then pulled her on top of him. While he laid on his back. She laid on him with her head on his chest. He had one arm under his head and the other hand stroking her back.

"I woke up early to speak to immigration," he started. "Even if your people are legally citizens, getting them out of immigration housing and processed is going to take a while. We should be able to process ten people a week. So everyone should be settled with jobs and citizen housing by the end of the year."

Ruto smiled and sighed, "That's nice, what time is it by the way?" her eyes were closed and she let out a yawn.

"10:30" Kaito said, "Time for me to take a nap. I got up at 6:30 this morning to meet with immigration at 7 and I am exhausted." He kissed her on her forehead laid back and closed his eyes

It didn't take long for him to fall back to sleep. It became obvious when his hand on her back stopped moving and was just resting there. Ruto laid there listening to the sound of his heart beat and the movement of his gills in the water. She closed her eyes and took in his smell. It was calming and she eventually found herself drifting off again.

They slept for another hour. Ruto had woken up first. Her stretching and movement caused Kaito to wake up. He kissed her on her head and squeezed her. Then asked if she wanted to get coffee. She yawned and nodded. They went to the dinning hall and ordered brunch.

At this point the tide had let back out, so they were able to eat cooked food again. Kaito had the staff make a fairly large brunch for the two of them to share.

"The stone tablets have been put on display in the middle of the shopping district." Kaito said during their meal, "Our marriage has become the talk of the town. It seems a lot of people are excited about it. There is also a lot of excitement about the blue sea zoras staying."

"Sounds like I made the right decision then" Ruto said, sipping her coffee.

This wasn't an exaggeration. There was a huge sense of relief from the blue sea zoras of Hyrule. The trip to Labyrinna was tiring. No one was looking forward to a second move. They were also excited to hear of the marriage. Knowing of Rutos failed previous engagement left many upset for her sake. No one felt she deserved to have her heart broken like that. To know that she had once again found love after arriving put everyone in a good mood. Knowing they still kept their Hyrule citizenship also provided relief. The idea that they could simply return when the waters cleared whenever it was safe again meant they weren't simply stuck here now, never to return to the home they once knew, should conditions allow it.

After their meal, Kaito and Ruto decided to take a walk. Kaito wanted to show her where the stone tablets had been erected, as well as go over the immigration process and what was entailed. It was a busy office as a census was still being officially taken with the Marine Zora immigrants.

When they were at immigration. Nehir spotted them and approached. "Have you guys seen Muir? He didn't come home last night."

They looked at each other and Kaito shook his head, "Last I saw him he was with Prince Noden. They were spending the day together yesterday."

Ruto nodded at this, "We can check with Noden when we get back. His room is down the hall from mine. Well, my old room anyway. If he's there he should have an idea of what happened."

Nehir nodded, "Thanks I'll keep looking, but hopefully he is just with Prince Noden."

When they made their way back up to the royal dwellings of the sea caves, they hadn't even finished approaching the prince's door when it opened and The site of Muir and Noden kissing emerged. "I'll be back soon, I promise" Muir said as he reluctantly pulled away from the Prince.

Kaito then interjected, "Make sure while you're out to let Nehir know you are okay. She's been worried about you not coming home."

The two Zora men turned and blushed. They didn't expect anyone to be there.

Ruto smiled while rolling her eyes at her friend, shaking her head a little, before she and Kaito turned to leave. She knew Muir had dreams of being a royal consort to another man. It was looking like he was working on fulfilling them.

For the next few days Kaito spent as much time with her as he could. Ruto was able to confirm her suspicions of Kaito having a crush on her for a while. He very much had a "love the first site" response to seeing her in person again. Ruto admitted that it was much more gradual for her, that she started thinking about it from time to time after he took her on the tour. Kaito's ability to manage his kingdom did peak her interest, but what really won her over was their ability to talk for hours. His personality was so easy going, and she found that she could be herself around him.

Often when he was distracted with something else whether it be news of the war, or managing his businesses, he sometimes found himself sitting stressed with his head in his hand. Only to have Ruto climb in his lap and cuddle with him. He was surprised by how much that simple act of affection helped relieve some of the stress he was feeling. He in return found himself frequently with his hands on her back or shoulders when they were together.

Over time it became normal for Ruto to sit on his shoulders and for Kaito to wrap the tail on the back of his head around her waist to hold her in place and balance her. It became so normal for him he ended up taking her everywhere and often didn't think about her being there. This allowed Ruto to learn a lot about what he dealt with day to day, as well as always serving as a companion on his shoulders. She was like a familiar, but also his wife.

Both their moods and quality of life dramatically improved after their elopement.

A few months had passed and Kaito had expected to hear back from King Zora of Hyrule by now. The carrier pufferfish he sent simply never returned

Even if Ruto's father was upset that he wasn't involved in her decision to get married he still expected some kind of acknowledgement that he received the notice by now. Kaito had sent out a couple of guards to look into what was going on and to confirm the message had been received. Ruto had sent a package with them, her old princess crown. She had a new one provided by Kaito when she became queen and only was still seen as a princess in Hyrule law. She might as well leave it there.

It was a Lazy afternoon for Kaito and Ruto; they were both reading and drinking tea in the parlor. Ruto had been feeling bloated lately and she suspected she had eggs coming soon. She wasn't able to stay on his shoulders as long anymore as a result and was sitting next to him as she read. She was trying to read to keep her mind distracted from the abdominal pain she was feeling. Kaito wanted to be attentive to her during this time. He stayed by her side as much as he reasonably could.

One of the guards Kaito sent came into the parlor suddenly. He looked torn up and was now missing his left arm.

Kaitos' concern grew at the site of him, "what happened?"

Ruto also looked up and was shocked at the sight of him.

The guard responded, "Do you want the bad news or the worse news first."

Kaito closed his book and sat up, "I guess the bad news."

"Hyrule is surrounded in Ethereal water, we can't get in. If there are any zora left there, they either died, or found some way to adapt to it. Either way no one can get through."

Ruto felt a pit in her stomach. She knew there were some zora who wanted out of Hyrule, but wanted to wait until she was settled. She felt tears welling up and did her best to hold them back. She felt a sense of guilt with this news. She didn't expect things to collapse so quickly. One zora in particular came to her mind. A zora named Laruto. She enjoyed gardening above water. She was one of the few to decline her invitation to leave Hyrule. She had the eggs hatch recently that had the feather fin mix and didn't feel comfortable traveling with hatchlings that young. She hoped they found a way to adapt to it, she hoped it didn't mean their death.

"What's the worse news?" Kaito asked quietly.

The River Zoras have the underwater perimeter of the kingdom surrounded. They are well beyond the guard posts of the kingdom. They weren't there when my partner and I left Initially, but when we came back we ran into them. My partner was killed. I managed to escape, but as you can see, not in one piece. They also stole the package the queen sent with us."

"Thank you. You are dismissed" Kaito said with his head in his hands. The Guard bowed out. Kaito was hoping his land was far enough away from the river zora to avoid war; it was why he offered to take in the refugees. Now it seemed war was going to hit them regardless.

"Kaito…" Ruto said as she collapsed on the floor. Kaito went to her to help her up. As she tried to stand back up four eggs came out onto the floor.

He cradled the eggs in one arm and carried Ruto over his shoulder in the other. She felt a bit weak from laying them, but a huge sense of relief the eggs were out of her, the abdominal pain she had been feeling finally subsided.

When they got back up to their bedroom, Ruto prepared the bath and helped Kaito put the eggs in. It was a bittersweet moment. They were both expecting to be filled with joy, but with everything going on it was hard not to have their minds on the news they had received.

Kaito wrote a letter to the king of Labrynna letting him know the river zoras were on their way. Even if the river zoras had no interest in any territory above land, that didn't mean citizens who lived above land were safe. He was also hoping for the king's help when the war came.