Chapter Text
Zora’s Domain was somehow quieter than it already was.
It was already expected that Mipha would have passed away sooner or later, but the fact that it already came and passed made the bustling community a bit more mundane. The zora council had prepared everything from start to finish, and yet even after the funeral and weeks after, a veil of stillness washed over everyone.
Efla looked over the luminous city from the base of Veiled Falls, contemplating silently as she kept guard of Sidon practicing up and down the waterfall.
The lilac zora expected Sidon to be the most affected by everything. It was hard enough to lose both parents, now he had lost his sister. The king was still, in a sense, himself. Reserved, quiet and attentive. Efla worried for him as she turned back to see him flipping from another swim upwards, landing perfectly on top and looking down at Efla, waving with a small smile. She gave a small wave back, thinking about Sidon’s feelings. It could have been that he prepared for this recent loss, or he had already gotten used to death after King Dorephan passed. She did see the small king cry at Cape Cales, hanging onto princess Zelda as he sobbed, but she felt like he was keeping most of the pain still.
His stagnant happiness made Efla worry too much.
She decided to swim up after him, gliding to the top and doing a big flip. Sidon clapped at her performance, giving her a big smile that made her chest sink. She sat at the edge of the luminous stone and tapped the spot next to her for Sidon to come.
“Your Majesty, I want you to be honest, okay?”
“Uhm...okay? Did I do something?”
His smile shrunk to a thin line as he looked over, recounting the times he did something wrong. Efla placed her hand over his shoulder and pulled him close.
“No, of course not.” She reassured him “I just need to know how you are feeling.”
“I’m feeling...fine?”
“Are you sure?” worried creases crossed Efla’s face “I’m just worried about you after...you know…”
Sidon tilted his head clueless at her. “After…?”
“Lady Mipha’s passing…”
“Oh.”
Efla flinched as she heard his response, scared to see his reaction. She slowly looked over to see him looking at the sky, looking...fine?
“I worry for you, Your Majesty. You’ve been acting far too normal for someone who lost a sister. I just want you to know it’s okay to say what you feel. You can cry-”
“Efla, as I said, I’m okay.”
His interruption to her advice surprised her. The response came out matured, sounding okay...just as he said.
“I went to her room before she left. She told me that when she would leave, I should not let it get me down, because she’ll always be with me after.” Sidon looked back at Efla, a reassuring smile on his face.
“She said that it was okay to cry, but after, I should remember that she always wanted me to be happy, and live the best life for her. She promised to tell mama and papa how big I’ve grown once she reaches Hylia, and she also made me promise to always smile. I think because of that...I’ve been at peace with her passing, and that one day I’ll get to see her again.”
He looked hopefully at the sky, smiling as if Mipha was watching. Efla couldn’t help but let the tears fall at his response, seeing how much he has been through and still being strong. Sidon jumped at her sudden tears, panicking if he said something wrong. Efla wiped them away and smiled at him, saying everything was okay.
She turned back towards the domain, looking particularly at the zora captains training the junior warriors under the Great Zora Bridge, watching them train on stamina and spearmanship. It made her think on how in just a few more months, she would be titled a councilwoman, chaining her to political duties until Sidon was ready.
There would be no more time to go out and explore outside the domain, or practice on her spearmanship.
“Are you looking at the soldiers Efla?”
“Hmm?” She said as she kept her eyes on them, unaware of what Sidon had asked.
“You miss training with them...don’t you?”
She looked at Sidon, surprised he knew she used to be a junior soldier. “How did you know?”
“I saw you once! You looked like a flying fish on how you can jump so high!” Sidon stood up and waved his hand around as if holding a spear of his own. “Will you join them soon?”
“Oh uhm…” She bit her lip, wondering how she would explain that she wouldn’t be able to join them anymore once she joined the council. “I won’t be a soldier anymore because I’m going to be at your side helping you! Along with the other councilmen in training!” She tried to sound enthusiastic about the job. Sidon tilted his head at her confused.
“Does that mean...you won’t be using your spear anymore?”
“Not necessarily! I can use it in my free time!”
“But you won’t be fighting anyone?” He pressed on, sitting back down and leaning against her side “You won’t be in battle?”
His soft tone made Efla’s heart sink. “You are right, Your Majesty…”
Sidon suddenly hugged Efla’s waist, squeezing tightly. Efla was surprised at the sudden tackle, wondering why what got into the young king’s mind.
“I don’t want you to stop using your spear!” He said as he rested his head against her stomach. “You won’t be happy if you don’t use your spear!”
Efla patted his head gently, causing him to meet her eyes.
“Your Majesty, Not being able to use my spear anymore won’t make me unhappy. What matters is you do your best on the throne. Just as Lady Mipha said, if you live your best life, it will be enough for her. The same goes for me. If you do your best on the throne, then I will be very happy! So don’t you ever think that I won’t like being a councilwoman, because it would be my honor to help and serve beside you.”
She stroked his head gently as they listened to the falls flow underneath them. Efla watched as the shadows of clouds passed over them slowly, drifting across the endless space of blue.
“Come now, Your Majesty. It’s time we return to the domain.”
Who knew talking with the sweet king Sidon could lift Efla’s mood.
The job of a councilwoman didn’t look so gloomy as it did when she was first assigned to be one. It felt like yesterday when she was pulled out of training by Muzu, telling her she would be next in line for the new council. The news made her sink into herself, but who was she to decline? Zora’s Domain needed more support than ever after King Dorephan’s death and Lady Mipha stepping down so early.
Having her silver armor replaced by a sash and jewelry felt heavy on her conscience, but it was one she was willing to work through. She found herself drifting farther from her battalion, as well as finding less time to herself.
Efla thought she had found herself in a corner, not finding any hope in her new profession.
That all changed when she was sent to Queen Zelda, working together to help get Mipha the happy ending she deserved.
Efla never knew about the princess’ love story with the rito champion. She was still fairly young when Calamity Ganon loomed over Hyrule. She did note how she would see only one rito visiting a few times during those times, so the story came together slowly. Being a councilwoman somehow made a difference for Efla, so she took the opportunity by talking to Mipha about it. The few times she would enter the dark room to converse with her set a whole new perspective for Efla. It made her want to be good at her job, all to help a story that was never concluded.
And she did, with the help of the rito champion’s son.
Kedon...her mind drifted to thoughts about the scarlet rito. She hasn’t talked or seen him since the funeral. She wanted to do a proper thank you and small chat, but after everything she wasn’t able to do both.
It somehow made her sad to think she wouldn’t be able to see him again unless she had business over at Rito Village.
That seemed almost impossible.
She blew bubbles in her pool, trying to puff out thoughts about him to go back to sleep. She had awoken earlier than she would like. Staying up late doing a few paperwork made her tired. Efla was sure she wouldn’t be needed until the early evening, so she took the time to squeeze in a few Zs.
A big splash from the king made her rethink her assumptions.
“Your Majesty…” Efla swayed along with the waves Sidon created, wanting to ignore her duties. “I am not needed until the evening…”
“But Efla!” Sidon swam up to her and shook her arm “There’s an urgent message for you! It’s from Zeldy!”
“The queen?” The mention of her caused her eyes to open wide. “What does she need of me?”
“She’s requesting you to head to the Citadel. Kedon has gone missing!”
“GONE WHAT?!”
The message made her rise quickly from her pool. She stumbled out as she grabbed her silverscale spear, darting to the nearest ledge and jumping off. She swam towards the waterfall leading up to Toto Lake. From there, she dove into South Lake Akkala, getting out and running towards the Citadel.
She practically pushed through the entrance, ignoring the Hylian captains asking what her business was. Her gut told her to go to the courtyard, where she found a small group of soldiers being trained by a captain. She went up to him, feeling that he was the person she was supposed to talk to about proper instructions for the search.
“Excuse me sir, what is the update on the search for Kedon?” She asked as the group he was commanding continued their drills.
“I’m sorry, who?”
Efla felt like she was just slapped in the face.
“Don’t you know who the rito champion's son is?”
“I’m sorry miss. Maybe you could describe the person in question?”
“Oh my Hylia.” She rubbed her temples as she tried to muster up a description
“He’s a rito obviously and he looks like Master Revali. Well technically he doesn’t due to his brilliant red feathers and hairstyle which I swear he should update but anyways he has the most striking teal eyes bordered by his still red markings that haven’t gone away yet but adds to his character. Uhm what else ummm did I mention he had red feathers? Red feathers with accents of yellow and white similar to his father. You could also see both the ocean and sky in his eyes, also-”
Her mouth stayed open but no words came out as Kedon stood beside her, smirking at all the things she said.
“You really mean all that?” He asked, snickering at her flushed face.
“Umm I-”
“Oops. No take backs.”
Efla felt like exploding when Revali appeared behind Kedon, also smirking at her situation.
“I was the one who sent the message to Sidon. Not Zelda.” Revali said as he elbowed Kedon’s side. “So. We are even now, okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. Thanks dad.”
He gave one last pat to the back before turning around and exiting the Citadel. Efla pressed her lips together as Kedon moved to stand in front of her, smiling widely.
“Efla, since in a few months you will be a councilwoman, we can take today as a time to spar, train, or battle. Entirely up to you.”
“But...why?” she asked, confused and elated at the same time. “Why go to such lengths?”
“As a thank you for everything.”
He grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side, towards the training ground for spears and bows. No other words were exchanged as she looked into his teal eyes, seeing once again both the ocean and sky.
“Your new hairstyle suits you.”
“Well I would hope so! You did say it needed to be updated.”
Efla’s cheeks flushed again to a bright red. Kedon laughed at her reaction.
“So. Where do you wanna start?”
“Hmm…” Efla placed a finger on her chin as she circled Kedon. “How about..”
She tried to swing underneath his talons but Kedon jumped out of the way before she could get another move in.
“How come you're so good at sneak attacks while I can’t even catch you off guard?”
He flashed her another smile before taking out his bow. “It takes skill. Something you don’t seem to have.”
“Oh yeah?! Then let’s spar to prove you wrong!”
She chased after him into the arena, doing her signature launch and fly to try and nab him. Kedon almost missed his dodge but got out of the way just in time, trying to shoot a rubber arrow at her.
They continued to spar as they yelled their happiness, Efla feeling the adrenaline through her veins when she was still a soldier and Kedon just being happy he got his proper spar match that has been stalled for the longest time.
Unknown to them, Revali was looking up from the parade grounds, seeing their figures jump all over the place. He couldn’t see their faces but he knew they were having fun.
He also knew there was more up there to uncover.
“Oh well,” He said as he gave one last glance towards the Citadel’s courtyard “He’ll introduce me someday.”
He launched his gale up and looked at Zora’s Domain in the distance, giving a small smile as if someone was watching from over there.
Maybe one day, he would see her again but right now he could only live.
Revali then turned around towards Rito Village’s direction, feeling at peace and just a tad excited for his son’s social prospects. He let out a laugh at the thought. He really was similar to his dad.
He looked up to his vast space of view, closing his eyes as he let the wind glide over his wings.
When he focused hard enough, he could feel just the slightest weight sitting on his back, along with the tinkering of silver against each other.
He opened his eyes and looked at the back to see if it was real, being met with just a few clouds.
Even if others would have said he was just imagining things, he knew in his mind and heart that what he felt was definitely her. She was calling out to him, telling him she would always be with him.
He smiled to himself, remembering every piece of her that had burned itself into his mind.
“Thank you Mipha. Thank you for everything.”