Botw After the fact (LinkxZelda & LinkxRiju)

Chapter 8

They reached the last of their journey, where they could see Zora's Domain in its entirety from the surrounding mountains. The luminous blue stone gleamed in the moonlight, and it was quiet except for the faint sound of crickets and the soft current of the water.

Zelda breathed a sigh of relief as she saw it, part from exhaustion, part from the comfort of another familiar building. Sure, it wasn't exactly the same as it was 100 years ago, the Zora were always looking to master their craft, but it was for the most part the same style and overall shape.

As both of them crossed the bridge, the Zoras standing guard gasped and whispered to one another. Unlike any other race, the Zora had a much longer life span (and matured much slower) meaning that as they remembered Link, they also remember Zelda. However, most of the Zora were asleep, so no one made a big commotion. The guards watched as they passed by, but said nothing to them.

As they got there, Link took the lead, as he knew where everything was. Even though they were tired, they had to talk to the King and Sidon before they could sleep in the inn. Luckily, Sidon was standing on front of Mipha's statue, just as he was every night.

Link walked up beside him, and Zelda walked up beside Link. They both stood in silence marveling at the statue, and Zelda didn't say a word about how different it was.

Sidon noticed they were standing there, and quickly tried to cover his emotion.

"Link, budd-" he trailed off, spotting Zelda behind Link. "Who's that?"

Zelda waved in acknowledgement, but let Link answer the question.

"This is Zelda."

"Well, nice to meet you, Zelda. Any friend of Link's is a friend of mine. Wait, you didn't mean Princess Zelda, did you?"

"Yep," she said.

"Oh! You need to speak with my father right away."

"Your father.. oh, you must be the Prince. Sidon, right?"

"That's me. The one and only."

Sidon led them up the stairs and into the throne room, where king Dorephan was waiting. The king looked down on Link and Zelda. Even though he didn't recognize Link after 100 years, seeing the Princess next to her hero made it clear who she was.

"Princess Zelda," he began. He'd long before gotten over the fact that was was very well alive inside Hyrule Castle.

"Hello, King Dorephan. Nice to see you're still doing well."

"Yes, well, enough with the formalities. Is there something you came here to do?"

"With Calamity Ganon gone, we can finally start to rebuild Hyrule. I'm checking on the state of all the races and their homes."

"Ah, you're wasting no time stepping up to be Queen of Hyrule."

"Yes," she laughed, "and, Link and I are engaged, so he'll be my king. The wedding's in May, and we were wondering if you and Sidon could come."

"Now, I know it's a little awkward considering Mipha, but we would really appreciate it if you could come," Link stepped in.

"No, I understand. You've found your place in the world, and maybe if Mipha was still here, things would have been different. But that just wasn't the case," the king sighed. "I will do my best to make it."

"Oh, thank you so much, King Dorephan. I look forward to doing business with you," Zelda said, in a bow.

"You can stay the night in the inn if you want, It looks like you might want some rest."

"Yes, thank you."

Link then led Zelda to where the inn was, and the innkeep brought them to two empty beds where they immediately fell asleep from exhaustion.