The Luminous Stone

Chapter 2 - Memories

Chapter 2 - Memories

Summary: Reading Mipha's newly found diary triggers an important flashback for Link.

It had taken another two weeks to appease the remaining two, but Link had finally appeased all four Divine Beasts. He had learned a good deal about himself in the process as he recovered memory after memory along the way. He had some memory of his interaction with the late Champions now. And of course, the pictures from Zelda's Sheikah Slate had triggered flashbacks of his travels with Zelda as her appointed knight. His mind was mostly still empty of memories, but some of the holes were filling in. He could only hope that more of them would over time.

The most startling memory of all for him occurred at Zora's Domain and concerned Champion Mipha. She had been in love with him, even hoped they would marry. But what were his feelings for her? Sadly, he had no idea. But of all the races, aside from a handful of Sheikah, only the Zora had people still alive who remembered him from one hundred years earlier. His former playmates, Bass, Rivan, and Gaddison, had grown up but still remembered him. And he was apparently friends with a female Zora named Kodah, who worked at the Seabed Inn now. King Dorephan said that he and Link had spoken many times in the past. So, clearly, he had spent a good deal of time in Zora's Domain over the years. And so, before he went off to battle Ganon, he made one more trip to Zora's Domain to say farewell to those who knew him.

But now Link stood before King Dorephan, undecided for a moment what he should do. He had returned to Zora's Domain and had been speaking with King Dorephan about Mipha. Then King Dorephan mentioned Mipha's diary.

"Mipha's diary was found just recently, and its discovery brought me great joy. It is on that table over there. I do not mind if you choose to read it, and I'm sure Mipha would forgive you anything," said King Dorephan.

"Her diary was just recently found?" said Link.

"Yes, apparently she kept it inside Ruta, and it must have floated outside when Ruta moved to its current position," said King Dorephan. "One of the guards found it floating in East Reservoir Lake. I imagine some pages were lost, but we recovered what we could."

To be honest, the diary was not a complete surprise to Link. He recalled a recent one-sided conversation with Mipha's spirit in which she anticipated her diary might be found and had screamed, "Don't you dare read it!" at him, adding her hope that he would respect her wishes. She knew by then he had lost his memory, and he wasn't sure why she was so reluctant for him to see it.

Anyway, his first instinct was to do just that, to respect Mipha's wishes. And under normal circumstances, he would have. He had respected Paya's privacy when he stumbled upon her diary at Impa's residence and had never read it.

But these were not normal circumstances.

What would King Dorephan think and feel, if Link refused to read Mipha's diary after he offered it to him? Would he not be hurt, thinking Link must care so little for Mipha now that he had no interest in her thoughts?

And a lack of interest was very far from the truth!

Mipha's father and brother had already spoken of Mipha's love for him, and this very moment he wore the Zora Armor she had crafted by hand for him, her labor of love in hopes they would marry. Ever since Link appeased Ruta and Mipha gave him her healing power, he had felt she was part of him now, one with him, closer than ever in some spiritual sense.

Besides, he had lost his memory and sought every means possible to recover it. In the end, he decided to read Mipha's diary and hoped her spirit would understand and forgive him. He needed to know more about her.

Slowly but surely, Link had been recovering parts of his memory. Not that he expected ever to recover all of it. That was way too much to hope for. But just as when a location pictured on Zelda's Sheikah Slate had triggered a flashback, so too now a person or a place or a thing could unexpectedly restore part of his memory. Then he would stare off into the distance as if in a trance as his mind replayed the event. At those times, he would feel as though he was re-living things, that he was physically present there again. These flashbacks were haphazard, utterly unpredictable, and quite intense when they occurred.