If I'm the King, Then So Are You

Sea vs. Sky

Link felt torn up by his new realization. It had been weeks since he had returned to Zora's domain — where he still struggled to call home — and he felt even more distant to Sidon than he ever had before.

Sidon would occasionally have some short, sweet conversations with him. He would plant a bunch of kisses on Link's face before hurrying off to his next task. He would whisper Link's name in his sleep, followed by an "I love you" shortly after. He would even feel lonely when he isn't able to see Link for a whole day because of their enormous amount of duties to attend to as prince and "princess". Sidon truly loved Link with all of his heart, mind, and soul; and possibly even more than that.

Link was not as satisfied. He often would space out whenever Sidon would talk about pointless topics like why Zoras have hair curlers if they can't use them. He would often wipe off the salt water from Sidon's lips from his own face. At night, he would dream of being in the sky, above the oceans and free. When Sidon was gone, and he was alone, Link would take out the Rito scarf and recall precious memories from long ago.

Link didn't love Sidon at all anymore.

Upon this, Link knew he had to make a decision: run away from Zora's Domain again and never return, or try to work his own complications out with Sidon before their wedding?

He decided the latter was the better option, since the first option could be used as a plan B.

~

A week before their wedding, and Link had finally decided to put his plan in action. Sidon had a day off from all the hard work that he had been doing as prince, and Muzu offered to take over his heavy load, just for one day. Link had seized this as the perfect opportunity to speak with Sidon about his issue.

"Sidon?" Link asked, tapping on the Zora's shoulder gently as he was brushing his scales. Sidon turned around, a slightly concerned frown on his face as he met Link's distant eyes.

"Yes, darling." A beat. "Is something wrong?"

Link inhaled and exhaled slowly in response. He'd been preparing himself for this conversation for weeks, but looking into Sidon's sad eyes made it all the more difficult to initiate.

"Sidon, we need to talk. About us," Link said, pausing for a second. "It's a week before our wedding, and... I don't know. I thought it might be best to make sure everything's steady before we seal the deal?"

The prince was even more confused now. His head tilted to the side slightly in question. (Link would normally have thought that gesture was cute, but his mind was in other places at the moment.)

Link raised his eyebrows at the Zora. "What?" Link asked.

"But everything's fine with us, Link. You don't need to worry," the prince placed a large hand on Link's cold cheek. "I love you, so much — and I always will." He planted a kiss on his other cheek. He then looked back at Link, who was not amused. Sidon retracted his hand in embarrassment.

"Sidon, that's not what I meant," Link huffed, looking to the ground. His fists were clenched tightly, his only known coping mechanism for Sidon's obliviousness.

"Then, what did you mean, Link?" Sidon questioned, now being a little more cautious towards Link's emotions.

Link wordlessly pulled something out of his left pocket and put it in Sidon's hand. It was a blue scarf, the same color as Link's eyes, embroidered with some kind of ancient symbol or rune. Sidon wiped his hand over it gently.

"It looks like something Mipha used to have," he whispered, in awe of the scarf's serene beauty. Sidon was nearly speechless, just as if he were looking straight into Link's eyes.

"Mipha did have one," Link answered after some silence, "...but that's not her's." He took the scarf back from Sidon and worked it around his neck.

"Who's is it, then? Is it yours? You sure do like to soar like a bird," Sidon remarked, trying to piece together a reason why Link would be showing him this clothing item.

Instead of answering the question, Link asked Sidon something out of the blue. "Why didn't you tell me about Revali?"

Upon hearing the question, Sidon was once again lost. He didn't understand why Link was doing this. But then as the silence grew, Sidon's memory grew with it. And soon enough, the Zora prince finally got the hint.

"Oh."

Of course, Revali. The one that would often disappear with Link after he and Sidon were having a play date. The one that would always have a wing around Link's shoulder whenever they attended a social event. The one that would make Link's eyes light up with joy even with a single joke.

He didn't understand it then, but now he did. Link and Revali...

Sidon didn't even realize he was crying until he felt Link's soft fingers wiping his tears away.

"I'm so sorry, Link, I... Oh my Nayru, I'm such an idiot!" Sidon let out between sobs. He held Link back as the Hylian pulled him into an embrace.

"No, you're not..." he whispered as he rocked Sidon back and forth. They sat there like that for almost an hour, until Sidon was so tired from crying that he could fall asleep.

Link tucked Sidon in and then went to the other side of the bed to lay down. Link stared at the ceiling until he felt a tap on his arm. Link turned to see that Sidon was still awake.

"Link..." he mumbled in his half-sleep state. "Do you... love me?"

Link pondered for a minute, and then answered.

"I don't know, Sidon. But I do know that I love you at least a little bit more than I did before now." And this time, he wasn't just being nice about it.