I haven't written a fanfiction in about 5 or 6 years? But BotW got me feeling some type of way so here we go***

Being a hero was an exercise in humility. Fulfilling the needs of the citizens sometimes demands you to lower yourself, put your pride on the back-burner for a moment to help someone in need. It may be possible to take that too far, however, and that was certainly on Link's mind as he knelt, barefoot, in the shallow waters of a pond, trying in vain to grab hold of the slick bodies of ten hot-footed frogs.

His brow furrowed deeply as he glared into the clear waters, silently hoping the nearby waterfalls current would push more frogs towards him.

The excited gaze of two children from Hateno bore into his back. They waited with baited breathe at the waters edge, eager to receive ten new pets to play with. Link tried to force a smile in their direction, reassuring them that he was the hero that would catch these frogs. Link sighed; even in his head, it sounded dumb.

He heaved another sigh as he shuffled his feet closer to the drop off, where clear waters gave way to unending blackness. 'Just how deep is this pond, anyway?' Link thought to himself as he attempted to silently approach the gaggle of frogs perched on top a rock that sprouted up from the centre of the pond.

'If I jump, I can probably make it but...' Link's thoughts were abruptly cut short by a huge bulb-shaped creature bursting out of the water. He let out an involuntary shriek as the two children let out even more high pitched cries.

The Octorock settled its mouth above water, ready to reel back and send mudballs and heavy rocks flying. Link turned on his heel and gestured wildly towards the town gate, telling the kids to run back where it was safe. As he turned back to face the Octorock he reached behind himself to grab his bow, only for his hand to grasp in vain at empty space. Link turned in surprise to see his bow and sword laying at the edge of the water, almost four metres away. He didn't even have time to turn back around before a rock came flying, hitting Link square in the back and knocking the wind out of him.

Link stumbled and fell into the water, gasping for air. His vision was becoming cloudy as he sank deeper and deeper. He struggled and flailed but his arms and legs felt weak, and before he could reach for his elixirs, everything was completely black.

Link awoke to the sound of ceramics shattering on wooden floors. He groggily opened his eyes to a familiar ceiling. He was in his house on the edge of Hateon, laying in his bed on the upper floor. Another crashed emanated from the lower floor followed by a string of hushed curses as Link pushed himself upright. The room spun as Link clutched his head and let out a quiet moan. He pushed himself out of bed slowly and made his way to the side railing to look down at the first floor.

Link froze when he locked eyes with the gigantic red shark-man standing in his kitchen, covered in various condiments and cooking ingredients. Prince Sidon looked just as surprised as Link did, but almost four times as happy.

"Link!" He shouted as he launched himself up the stairs to Link's side, "Oh thank the goddess! When I found you that deep in the water, I feared the worst! You're lucky that pond was connected to Zora's domain or you could have gotten gravely injured!" He hollered as he caught Link in a death-grip of a hug. Link let out an involuntary squeak as the air was squeezed out of his lungs. Sidon gasped as set the young hero down.

"Forgive me, Link! I forgot how fragile you Hylians can be...You should get back to bed until I make you an all healing elixir!" He exclaimed proudly as he pushed Link backwards onto his bed.

Link let out a light moan as his sore muscles tensed, he would have shot the Zora a dirty look but Prince Sidon was already on the other side of the house by the time Link hit the mattress.

Link pushed himself up yet again, shuffling his base feet along the cold wooden floor. He noticed his belt and all this weapons and items had been neatly hung by his desk, leaving him with his loose flowing champions tunic and plain pants.

He could hear more plates crashing and whispered cursing as he slowly made his way down the stairs. Link sighed heavily, his kitchen was a disaster. There was shattered porcelain on the ground, three chairs were turned on their sides, and piles of monster bits and bugs lay scattered on his dining room table.

The Prince's large stature didn't fit very well in his house, Link thought to himself. The Zora was bent over the kitchen table, handling a kitchen knife that looked comically small compared to his hard hands. After watching Sidon fumble with the knife for a while longer, Link approached the Prince from behind, shouldering past his large frame and taking the knife into his own hand.

Sidon let out a small gasp at Link, almost about to complain that he was out of bed, but he stopped as he saw Link nimbly chop the Keese eyeball, that the prince had struggled with for what felt like hours, into fine slices. As Link moved on to other ingredients, Sidon stared, mesmerized. He had seen the Hylian cook before, preparing meats, chopping greens, and it had always intrigued him. Link looked like he took genuine joy in preparing his meals and cooking elixirs, and seeing that was enough to make Sidon happy.

The Zora was snapped out of his daze when Link pushed a hunk of rock salt and a grinding stone into his hands. Sidon looked at the young hero, who was smiling sweetly at him, and flushed a dark red. He took the supplies and began to grind up the salt as carefully as he could, despite the distraction of Link's warm, mammal body pressing against his side, strands of dirty blond hair falling loose from his hair tie. If Sidon could sweat, he'd be drenched with how nervous he was becoming.

The Prince fixed his golden eyes on Link, watching him intently. A lump formed in his throat, if there ever was a time to tell Link what he felt, now was it...

Sidon jumped nearly out of his skin as the front door to Link's home burst open. The two men turned to see two young children, both carrying sticks, standing defiantly in the doorway.

"Y-Y-You let Link go, you big ugly monster!" One of them yelled, raising his stick above his head and pointing it at the Prince. "I-I-If you don't...w-we'll have to make you!" Both children shook with fear as they glared at the towering Zora.

Sidon stood in total shock. 'There are Hylians smaller than Link?' He thought to himself.

Link stepped out from behind Sidon and approached the children with a kind smile. Both children immediately dropped the branches and hugged Link. The hero turned to Sidon with a nervous and pleading look at the children sobbed onto him.

"We thought you got eaten by the giant shark monster!" One of them cried. "We ran home like you said to, but then we saw him-" He pointed to Sidon "-carry you into your house and we thought-" The child devolved into sobs.

"We thought for sure he was gonna cook and eat you!" The latter child finished.

Link let out a quiet laugh, "I'm fine."

The Hylians' quiet voice was deafening to Sidon. Any of the few times he heard it, it had always taken his breathe away. Sidon felt his heart beat a little harder as he admired Link's features, his eyes, his hair, his toned arms, his lips-

The Zora snapped out of his daze yet again to see the formerly solid piece of rock salt laying, shattered, on the now slightly dented table beneath his hand. 'Oh goddess...'He thought.

'I'm hopeless...'