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The winter solstice was one of the few holidays Zelda really enjoyed growing up, even after her mother passed. She could remember mornings spent with everyone at the castle feasting on a grand breakfast, then dancing going on past noon... Then everyone got to go celebrate the day as they saw fit. That little bit of time, that afternoon, always felt the most special. With her father down entertaining the delegates from who-knew-where, she finally had a little time to herself.
As a child, she would go out and play in the snow until her whole body was freezing and her nose was numb, then she'd come back inside for hot cocoa, decadent fruitcake left over from the feast, or the spiced Gerudo Tea they always kept on hand.
It was... Peaceful. She'd go up to her little study, of her room, and study her plants with a hot drink, fighting the chill from the ice and snow outside. It always seemed to snow, on the solstice.
Snow was always Zelda's mom's favorite, one of the only things she liked about Central Hyrule. It reminded her of going hiking up in the Gerudo Highlands, when she was younger, collecting swift violets and rushrooms. Zelda always loved those stories, thinking back on them as she studied those same plants. It made her mother seem a little closer.
Winter solstice was peaceful, and that's why she liked it. A time to give thanks for good provision to last through the winter, a time to ask Hylia's blessing on the coming new year, and a time to reflect.
As she got older, it got more... Twisted. She had to stay downstairs for the banquet and the dancing for longer, until her feet ached and all she could think of was the sanctity of her little study, with the flower specimens waiting to be sketched and catalogued and tested for magical abilities. Suitors would come by and dance, expecting her to be wooed by their rudimentary understanding of science, or music, or battle strategy, all things she had studied extensively. But, if she corrected them, she wasn't being friendly. The polite smiling and nodding felt as if it would kill her.
But eventually, she would slip away. Still, the first thing she would do was go outside and sink her sore feet in the cool snow. Finally being free from the stuffiness of the ballroom was exhilarating; occasionally, she would run out into the gardens, just enjoying her freedom.
After that she's steal away inside, preparing the Gerudo Tea herself now that she was big enough to handle the pot, slicing a large hunk of that delicious fruitcake. But still, the hot drink and sweets weren't enough to chase away the chill in the air surrounding the holiday, the loneliness of hiding away in her study. It was torturous, being alone day in and day out, but more so looking out on the snow that her mother loved so much. After a while, she just completely disregarded the holiday.
Which, Zelda supposed, was what she was doing now.
It rarely got cold enough in Zora's Domain to snow, but the clumps of heavy, wet snow had been falling all night, into the morning. Her mother had told her once that it always snowed on the solstice, no matter where you were. It had always seemed true, always snowing without fail.
Somehow, though, it only made Zelda more disheartened. People in Zora's Domain didn't celebrate the solstice, so everything seemed to be going on at its normal pace. Children chased the snow with open mouths, running around and around the statue of Mipha. Vendors still hawked their goods as always. Mipha was in a business meeting about the plan for internal improvements throughout the Domain. Everything was just so... Normal. It was alright, she supposed. The holiday had been bittersweet at best, after all.
"Zelda, What's the matter?"
Mipha's soft voice materialized behind her, startling Zelda out of her brooding.
"Nothing's wrong." She lied, spinning around to face her girlfriend. "I'm just tired."
Mipha frowned, clearly not buying it. "Is it because of the solstice?"
Unintentionally, Zelda's shoulders sagged. "How did you know?"
Shrugging, Mipha joined her at the railing, staring down into the water. "Link told me all about it, when we were children. He said his father always came home later in the day, and that they would cook together and sing old songs."
Zelda smiled at that, but kept staring down at the icy waters. Link had a complicated relationship with his father, but a good one... When he was around. Spending the time with family was how most people celebrated the solstice, and it was no wonder that Link's father would leave free some of the dancing at the castle to be with his son.
Part of Zelda ached at that, some residual bit of her that still ached for her father's approval. Needless to say, that didn't make her feel any better.
"Yes, it's the solstice." She admitted in a small voice, letting out a deep sigh. "It's always been a lonely holiday for me, I suppose. I'll manage."
Mipha put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. "Well, I do have the rest of the day off... How would you like to spend the solstice?"
Zelda broke into a little smile. "Are you serious."
"Absolutely." Mipha gave her a sharp-toothed grin. "Teach me, what is there to know?"
"Well..." She swallowed, suddenly unsure of her own recollection of the classic Hylian holiday. "It's a bit of a combination holiday. It's a time to be grateful for a good harvest, a time to pray to Hylia for her blessing on the new year, and a time to reflect on, well... Everything that's happened in the past year."
"Alright." Mipha nodded. "How do you celebrate?"
"Well, the castle would host a banquet." Zelda shrugged. "I don't know how others did it, but that's what we did in the morning. Then there would be a ball, with lots of dancing and festivities."
Mipha's eyes were wide and attentive, soaking in every word. Zelda couldn't help but blush a little bit.
"I would... When I was younger, I'd play in the snow." She admitted, blushing a little more. "It always seems to snow on the solstice. Then I'd go inside, get some hot Gerudo Tea and some fruitcake, then..." She sighed. "I'd spend the rest alone. I didn't mind the silence at fist, it was nice after all the energy of the ball, but still, it's..."
"Exhausting?"
"Yeah."
"I understand." Mipha nodded, rubbing Zelda's shoulder lightly. "We have holidays like that, to some degree. I always need time to myself after New Years. But still, that does sound quite... Lonely."
She nodded. "It does tend to be like that."
"Well, it doesn't have to be." Mipha declared, breaking out into a grin. "You are going to have the best solstice ever! Now, have you eaten breakfast yet?"
Zelda was going to lie and say yes, but her stomach rumbled as if on cue.
She giggled. "I'll take that as a no. Come on, we can try to cook a miniature banquet together."
***
By the end of it, their banquet was nothing close to traditional. Mipha knew how to make fruitcake and different kinds of rice balls, which pretty much summed up the only traditional items present. Other than that they had a whole roast trout, three different kinds of sushi, and little fried stuffed flowers Mipha called ga-li.
It all smelled heavenly, and the amount of fun they had just cooking together was incredible. Both of them had little streaks of batter of flour on their faces from the cake, and the distance Mipha leaped back when the oil for the ga-li started spraying was priceless. Apparently that was one of her greatest fears: hot oil.
But now the feast was finished, all laid out on the table in front of them. Zelda held back from eating for a moment, just to watch Mipha. She had apologized profusely for not knowing how to cook more Hylian food, even though Zelda herself didn't know how to cook any, but the combination they had in front of them was beautiful. Mipha was beautiful, too. Even as she ate, all sharp teeth and round cheeks, Zelda thought she was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. She was lucky to have such an amazing and talented girlfriend.
After a quick, traditional prayer of thanks for the food, Zelda dug in.
***
"Well, I suppose we must dance now."
Zelda had just been helping wash the dishes, and hadn't been expecting Mipha to say that at all. Honestly, in her mind, the feast was their little solstice celebration, and now it was over.
Though... She didn't want it to be over. She didn't want to be alone today.
"Though, I'm not very familiar with Hylian ballroom dancing." Mipha frowned, stacking up the dishes she had already scrubbed clean. "Perhaps you could teach me?"
Zelda smiled. "I'd like that a lot, actually. But, with one condition."
Used to how Zelda was, Mipha only sighed. "What is it, Zelda?"
"Teach me a Zora dance."
"They're mostly underwater, you know that." Mipha reminded.
"I know." Zelda nodded. "Teach me one that isn't, if you can."
"Alright." She chuckled, shaking her head as she picked up one of the stacks of dishes. "Can you grab the other one?"
Zelda complied, and soon they had all the feast cleaned up, with all the dishes put away. Once all of that was done, Mipha grabbed Zelda's hand and led her further into the domain. They were going down now, something that made Zelda painfully aware of the tons of rock and water above her head. Still, Mipha held her hand, so it wasn't too bad. She followed without complaint, down the wide, well-lit staircase.
The stairs opened up into a huge cavern that took Zelda's breath away. The ceiling was high enough to accommodate even King Dorephan, lit by huge clumps of luminous stones. The walls were lines with tall lamps like that all around the domain, setting the whole room aglow. The floor was only solid in a band around the outside, a huge pool dominating the center of the room.
"I believe this outer rim is wide enough to practice ballroom dancing, if I've heard correctly." Mipha stated simply. "If it's not we can-"
"It's beautiful." Zelda breathed, stepping forward into the cavern.
Her every footstep echoed, making her wonder how music would sound. Zora instruments were vastly different from Hylian, mostly consisting of various pipe and flutes, more complex than the simple pan pipe. The result could be either haunting or undeniably joyful, gripping at her soul either way. Even just thinking about music made her want to dance.
Her? Wanting to dance? This hadn't happened for years... More than a hundred, to be clear.
"Come on!" Zelda grabbed Mipha's hand, and pulled her further out into the room. "I'll lead, since I'm teaching you. Put one hand on my shoulder, and I'll hold the other."
"Alright..." Mipha said, placing a delicate hand on Zelda's shoulder, and shifting how they held hands with the other. "Then what?"
"I'll hold your waist, like this."
Mipha blushed at that, but leaned in to the touch. "Okay..."
"Then you step with your right foot first, right along with me. Then we go..."
Even though she was a bit clumsy at first, stepping on Zelda's toes on numerous occasions, Mipha eventually caught the hang of it. It was a lot easier too with Zelda humming a tune, transitioning into softly singing a holiday favorite.
"Harsh is the wind, your weapon
Harsh is the cold, your distance
Dark as the night, your embrace
But kisses fall soft on the ground
"Oh, Hylia, I love her again
Oh, Hylia I cannot ask for more
Oh, Hylia her eyes are like daggers
Running me through
Then darkness once more
"Soft is the sunlight, your gaze
Soft is the warmth, your care
Soft is the springtime, your love
After the solstice, it comes again.
"Oh, Hylia, I love her again
Oh, Hylia I cannot ask for more
Oh, Hylia her eyes are like ropes
Pulling me to her
And the darkness has fled
"After the solstice, you come back again
After the solstice, your warmth is once more
After the solstice, we leave our December
My love comes back to me, be with me once more."
"Kind of a sad song, isn't it?" Mipha said, once they finished their simple dance.
Zelda shrugged. "I don't think so. I think... The winter is bad for her, the woman in the song. And as it leaves..."
"She gets better." Mipha finished. "And her love is with her the whole time, to help her through."
Blushing, Zelda turned her face away. She hadn't even... The meaning of her song didn't really occur to her, as she was singing, but Mipha had been hanging on every word.
"Come on, we should... I mean..." Zelda stammered, still not looking at her girlfriend.
"Should I teach you now?" Zelda could hear the smile in her voice. "It might be easier if I show you first."
"Alright."
Mipha got into the water, revealing that the pool was varying levels of depth, the edge being up to her chest. Blushing, she began to dance a slow, wavy type of movement, turning slowly. If Zelda had left her to dance alone, no doubt she would have made her way all the way around the rim of the pool. As she made her way around she hummed softly, a beautiful tune that gave her chills.
She stopped, a smile wide on her lips. "It's a type of circle dance; normally there are enough Zora to complete a circle around the edge of the pool."
Zelda nodded. "It was beautiful."
She blushed even brighter. "Well, you should come in and try it, right? It'll be fun, anyway. As long as you don't fall backward into the deeper water, you should be fine."
"Okay... I'll give it my best try."
Mipha grinned, and gestured for her to come closer. Hesitantly, she stripped down to her underwear and joined Mipha in the water. Despite the temperature outside, the water was quite warm. It must have been a hot spring, down beneath the surface. There weren't many in this area, but... Anything was possible.
"I may not be very good, though."
She stumbled through the motions awkwardly, at first, but with time the movements begun to feel natural. With Mipha dancing next to her, their movements as close to synchronized as they could, with Mipha humming the same tune as she had before... Zelda quickly found herself thoroughly enjoying herself. The song was over too soon, with both of them sweaty and smiling.
"Well, that was," Zelda sucked in another breath. "More tiring than I anticipated."
Mipha laughed. "It tends to be like that. The music gets faster and faster, always. Everyone is panting by the end of it."
"You don't seem too out of breath."
She shrugged. "I do have more practice than you, especially moving underwater."
"True," Zelda nodded. "The depth certainly made it more difficult."
Mipha smiled. "I'll go get you a towel and a robe, so you can get dried off."
"Mipha?" Zelda stopped her from getting out of the pool, leaned forward, and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. "Thank you."
Blushing a bright pinkish color, Mipha quickly kissed her cheek then climbed of the pool. Zelda followed suit, but didn't go up the staircase. Truthfully, most Zora didn't mind seeing anyone in various states of undress. As long as your lower half was decently covered, they were alright. She, however, wasn't about to go out in front of all the Zora people in just her underwear. A robe would be fine, but not undressed like this.
Besides, she shivered, it was quite cold now that she climbed out of the water. The air over the hot spring steamed slightly, but that did little to warm the gigantic cavern. All she could do was sit and wait for Mipha to get back.
Which was taking quite some time, now that she thought about it. What was taking so long? It wasn't as if grabbing her a towel and a robe was a lengthy task... Though, she may have been pulled in another direction by someone else. Deciding that was what happened, Zelda began to wring her hair out. While climbing back into the pool sounded good, she knew getting dry would be more beneficial in the long run.
But where was Mipha?
As if on cue, the sound of footsteps began to echo down into the cavern; someone was headed down the steps. Hastily hiding herself against the wall, Zelda wondered if it was Mipha, or perhaps someone else come down to... She didn't know what they would come down here to do, but she didn't want anyone but Mipha seeing her like this.
"Sorry that it took me so long to- why are you hiding?" Mipha laughed as she handed over the towel. "Did you think I was someone else?"
"You can never be too careful." Zelda defended, but blushed in embarrassment as she begun to dry off.
Stripping off the wet laters, drying off, and putting on the robe didn't take too long, thankfully. Zelda was looking forward to the warmth of their room. The floors were heated using hot spring water, piped from up north. Sharing a warm bed with Mipha... All of a sudden, she was starting to feel sleepy.
"Alright, let's head up to our room." Mipha said, tucking a damp strand of hair behind Zelda's ear. "Wouldn't want you falling asleep down here."
"I'm not falling asleep," She argued, leaning her head against Mipha's shoulder. "I'm just tired... And you're comfortable."
Zelda was sure that Mipha rolled her eyes. "Okay."
***
By the time the two of them made it up all the flights of stairs, hand in hand, Zelda was ready to admit she was tired. Their bed was sounding better by the minute, after having spent solstice with her girlfriend for the first time. She had nearly forgotten it was solstice, but...
"I do have one more surprise, though." Mipha whispered, cracking open their door. "Cover your eyes."
Zelda complied, and let Mipha lead her into the room. It wasn't much of a surprise, really, with how heavenly the room smelled. She was lead over to the bed, sat down, and a warm cup was put into her hands.
"You can open them now."
Two hot mugs of Gerudo tea, one in her hands, one in Mipha's, steamed in the cool air. On their bedside table sat two beautiful slices of fruitcake from the feast they had earlier.
"Mipha, it's-"
"Happy solstice, Zelda." She kissed her gently, with a little smile on her lips.