Life in Zora's Domain - Part Two

Chapter 41 - Mipha's Diary Lost Pages

Summary: Astra gives the pages from Mipha's diary she found inside Ruta to King Dorephan and Prince Sidon.

"But this is amazing, Astra!" exclaimed Sidon with his customary exuberance. "A truly remarkable discovery!"

It was evening in Zora's Domain as Astra met with King Dorephan and Prince Sidon for dinner. Queen Zelda had asked Astra to inspect Divine Beast Vah Ruta, and Astra's return to the domain for dinner afterward was expected. But her discovery of some missing pages from Mipha's diary inside Ruta was not.

King Dorephan was as thrilled as Sidon, of course, but behaved differently. Astra watched him as he held the newly found pages and stared at them. He seemed eager to read them, yet hesitant too. Perhaps he was mentally preparing himself for the memories they would stir up, thought Astra.

Astra had noticed from her earlier visits with King Dorephan and Prince Sidon how much they loved to hear about Mipha. But in the end, Mipha was still lost to them, gone forever from their lives. Was her discussing Mipha helping or hurting? On balance, she thought it was helping, and they said so themselves by way of encouragement. But perhaps it was a bit of both.

"Thank you from the depths of my heart for this, Astra," said King Dorephan finally, realizing he was neglecting his company. "We suspected some of my dear Mipha's diary might be missing from the portion we recovered in East Reservoir Lake. But, of course, we did not know where the missing pages might be or if any of them had even survived."

"I'm happy I could find them," said Astra.

"Mipha began keeping her diary safe inside Ruta once she began training to become its pilot," said King Dorephan. "As she grew older, she became more concerned about keeping her diary private and away from prying eyes. Her teacher, Muzu, for one, disliked Hylians and would have been upset to learn of her feelings for your father. And I'm sure Mipha would have also been embarrassed to have your father read it."

"I can vouch for that based on things I learned later," said Astra.

She recalled the story she had heard several times about her father using knowledge of the Champions' diaries to convince them that, despite his memory loss, he was not delusional but had indeed traveled back in time.

"But now I think merging these new pages with the ones we already found makes the most sense. Sidon, would you see if Laflat is available and ask her to come here if she is?"

"At once, Father," said Sidon as he left to find Laflat.

"Laflat is our Royal Secretary and is in charge of things such as historical records," explained King Dorephan. "Her father once ran an armor shop, which sadly went out of business long ago. Hopefully, Laflat can put the diary in order while we have dinner."

A moment later, Laflat returned with Sidon.

"Your Majesty, you wished to see me?" said Laflat.

"Yes, Laflat. Oh, have you already met Princess Astra?"

"I know of Her Highness, but we have not spoken," said Laflat. "Pleased to meet you, Highness."

"Pleased to meet you too, Laflat," said Astra.

"The amazing news, Laflat, is that Princess Astra has recovered some more pages of Mipha's diary from inside Ruta," said King Dorephan. "I was hoping you could work on merging them with the pages we already found as best you can. However, I understand there may be some uncertainty about the correct order."

"That is wonderful news, and I will do my best," said Laflat.

King Dorephan handed the newly found pages to Laflat, and she left after taking the existing portion of Mipha's diary with her.