Mipha didn't know Sidon was watching her.

It was a little devious, he'll admit. Princes weren't suppose to be devious. Sidon couldn't help it. Since becoming Champion, Mipha became more aloof, more secretive of her activities. It was understandable, she had a very important job, but Sidon felt left out. Mipha hadn't been home in weeks and now when she was back in Zora's Domain, she was by herself, working on her own projects.

She was sewing.

At least, that's what Sidon thought she was doing. She kept jabbing herself with the needle every couple of stitches. She'd curse, heal herself, start again, and then jab herself again. It was an endless cycle that long stopped being funny the fourth time around.

Slowly Sidon sneaked up behind her. Mipha was so focused on her tasked, she didn't even feel his presence right behind her.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, SISTER?"

Mipha gave out a scream. "Sidon! I... what are you doing here?"

She tried to hide her sewing project.

"What are you sewing?" Sidon said, moving around to see better. "Show me. Show me. Showmeshowmeshowmeshowme-"

"Alright! Just... don't tell anyone, alright, Sidon? Promise me."

"I promise!"

Mipha hesitated, then unfurled her project. Sidon gasped at the sight.

"It's for Link," Mipha said shyly.

Sidon squealed. "That's Zora armor! You're making Zora armor!"

"Yes! Um... it's because... well, he's Hyrule's Champion. It only makes sense he should have every protection available."

"Ohhhhhhh!" Said Sidon, nodding. "That does makes sense."

Mipha sighed in relief. "I'm glad you agree."

()

The anguished scream that came out of Sidon's mouth was like a wounded animal. He's never known true despair till that very second. It felt like every cell in his body was tearing itself apart, killing him from the inside out. He failed, he failed his sister, Link and all the people of Hyrule. Sidon could not tear his eyes away from Link, not even as the humans around Sidon dragged him further back, their fingers ripping through his fins like wet tissue paper.

Sidon gasped tearfully. "Link-!"

There was a sudden blinding flash of light. The humans and the goblins screamed, Their hands flying up to their faces, blocking the bright light. Sidon blinked rapidly, tears streaming down his face, refusing to look away.

Mipha.

Oh goddess, it was Mipha.

She was hovering above Link, looking as majestic and beautiful as the day she died. She stared down at Link, her arms held out before her in a gentle manner.

It was like watching time go in reverse. Link's wounds, his blood, the tattered state of his clothes, slowly disappeared, leaving him whole and unblemished. He was swathed in Mipha's healing green light, looking just as beautiful as her.

'It was my pleasure,' Mipha said lovingly.

Sidon sobbed. "Mipha-"

Then she was gone. The light disappeared just as quickly, leaving everyone around dazed and confused by what just happened.

Link, now standing on his own two feet for the first time in days, took a small breath. He slowly let it go.

His opened his eyes.

The grey goblin struck out, aiming his large, dragon tooth club right at Link's head.

Link ducked, twisted, brought his leg up, and kicked the goblin so hard in the face, it went flying off its horse. The goblin dropped its weapon and crashed to the ground, squealing in pain.

"What the hell is this?" The Hylian leader said, watching Link pick up the goblin's fallen weapon. "What the hell is going on?"

The club was twice Link's size, and yet he held effortlessly it in one hand, testing its weight gingerly like it was nothing more than a mild inconvenience to him.

The Hylian leader screamed to the remaining goblins, "What are you doing? Kill him, you idiots!"

Sidon couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had held Link in his arms, felt Link's broken rib bones underneath his hands, smelled his blood, watched his tears stream down his face. How was any of this possible?

All three goblins were converged on Link, arrows at the ready. Link bent low, waiting for them.

To the side, the humans holding down Sidon loosened their hold. "Yeah, I'm not dealing with this."

They took off.

"Where are you going?" The leader yelled to their retreating backs. "So the teenager has magical powers, so what? Come back!"

Link moved with a grace beyond recognition. For every goblin he fell, he picked up their weapons and kept going, dodging every attack, parrying every jab and thrust. It was poetry in motion and Sidon was in awe by the sight of it.

Link was, quite literally, beating the blight right out of the them. He tore through their artificial bodies with ease, and when their physical forms could not handle it any further, they dissolved into air, leaving behind the ingredients Ganon used to create them. These creatures, at their core, were nothing more than fingernails and old deer horns.

The battle didn't last long. The grey goblin took longer to dispatch, but like the others, it too disappeared in a flash of black smoke. Link stood alone, victorious, the ground around him littered with monster parts.

Gaping at violence, the Hylian leader said, "Yeah, okay, I get it, I'm not winning this fight."

He dropped Sidon's chain and ran off in the same direction of the other humans.

Sidon found he could not stand up. Those humans literally dug their fingers into his calfs, tearing into his muscles. His torn fins threw off his equalibrium and he struggled to find balance.

His eyesight began to dim. "Link," Sidon gasped. He shook his head, desperate to throw off the blackness but it slowly consumed his consciousness. "Link! My people! He stole... please..."

Hunger, dehydration, exhaustion, and mild blood loss was taking its toll. Sidon could not fight this any longer, he was fainting.

A gentle hand caressed the top of his head. It was the first kind touch he's felt in days.

"Link," Sidon muttered one last time. He then collasped, the world around him going black.