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“Right there Daruk will be good.”
I watch as Daruk and two of his friends put down a steaming vat of water inside my room, landing with a thud. He grabs the nearby ladder and gently rests it on the side, so we could climb in.
“There ya go Mipha! I’m glad we made it ‘ere with little spillage, it’s still mostly full!” Daruk exclaimed, putting his arms around his friends. “Nice work guys.”
“Thank you so much. I really appreciate you coming all the way from Death Mountain to help. I would’ve come, but I would have burned alive.” I smile, hugging him in thanks.
“Anything for a friend! Tell the little guy hello from me, would ya?“ Daruk beams at me, then turns back to face his buddies. “Let’s go guys.”
Slowly walking out the door, Daruk turns back. In a low voice, he said in a more serious tone “Help him Mipha. I know you’re the person who can fix him.”
I confidently nod as he closes the door, leaving me alone with the rare pot of water from the hot springs that can help heal all wounds.
Now, it’s time to heal.
~~~~~~~~~
Link and I walk together in the vibrant red light of the sunset, sun slowly disappearing behind the looming mountains. He’s quiet, looking out into the distance. I talk to him about mundane stuff that happened in my day, yet I feel like he’s not really listening, lost in his own thoughts, just nodding along.
Times like this I wish he would open up and talk to me about what’s on his mind, but he remains silent, hiding his thoughts behind his clouded, unflinching eyes.
Hopefully I could help him let loose of some of that pressure tonight.
Reaching my room, I stop at the doorknob, blocking his entry.
“I have something special for you inside.” I whisper. His eyes narrow in curiosity. “I just need you to trust me, ok?”.
He nods, and satisfied I open the door, revealing the steaming water that’s inside. The pot that Daruk brought for me helps insulate the water so that it doesn’t lose its heat for at least 3 days. After that, it will slowly become colder and colder until it loses it healing properties.
“It’s a hot tub!” I exclaim. “It can help you relax. You’ve been working so hard for the past few years Link. It’s time to take a break and let go of your worries.”
Frozen in the doorway, Link hesitates at my offer. “I…”
“Please Link, let me help you.” I softly coon as I gently grab his hand. “You don’t need to hide from me.”
Looking into his eyes, I see my words softened his reluctance. He slightly nods.
“Thank you Link.” I smile as I let go of his hands. I begin to remove my jewelry from my body, setting it aside. “Remove your clothes, the water will work better without them.”
I quickly look back and see Link awkwardly standing there. Oh… I forgot about how Hylian bodies are different then one of a Zora, in which our privates were always covered, while theirs…
My face heats up at the thought. “I won’t look, I promise. The water is bubbly enough that I won’t see anything either.”
“Ok…” he hesitantly says. I hear rustling behind me as he takes off his clothes. Finishing taking off the rest of my jewelry, I hear the splash of water as he slides into our mini pool. A little sound of pleasure comes out from his mouth, but is quickly silenced. “All good?” I ask.
“Yes.”
Turning around, I see his clothes tucked in a corner, and his blond hair poking over the tub. As I climb up the ladder, I see his toned chest peaking out over the water, rest of his body hidden away. Out of the corner of my eye, I see scars covering the majority of his back, from wounds gathered over the years he’s been away. Blushing, I realize that I’m about to get into a small bathtub with a naked male.
Not right now Mipha, focus.
Slipping in, I feel the spring water’s effect immediately, my muscles loosening up, eyes becoming more alert, senses sharpening. It was like the water connected to my soul and boosted my whole body in a comfortable haze. My power danced inside of my heart, overflowing with the readiness to be used.
A moan slipped out of my mouth as I settled down, sitting on one of the ledges built into the bathtub. My face flushed with heat as I nervously looked at Link, but he just laughed at me. The sound filled me up with joy. I haven’t heard him laugh since… forever.
“How is the water?” I ask.
“It’s… very relaxing. Is it any sort of special water?”
“Yes”. I explain to him how I had Daruk bring it down from Death Mountain. “This water is known for healing wounds by just resting in it, which is why it’s so peaceful. Because of this, my powers are also amplified when I’m in here.”
He simply nods in silence, closing his eyes.
“Link… may I ask about something?”
Opening one eye, he nodded again.
“Where did you get the scars on your back?”
Flinching, he opens both eyes. “I would rather not talk about that.”
Under the water, I take his hand. “I will never judge you based on your past Link. I just want to help.”
Hesitating, he still shakes his head no, unmoving in his decision. Sadness fills my heart of still being pushed away. Time to try something else then.
“I… I have something I want to try Link. I think with this water helping me, I could… get rid of all the scars on your back. Would you like that?”
He looked at me with shock. “Could…could you really do that?”
“I don’t know yet, but I think it could work if I try.”
He starts to nod his head, but then stops midway to use words instead. “Yes… I would like that.”
“Come here, sit between my legs.”
Shifting around, he presses his backside against my front, leaning forward so I have full access to his back. I put my arms around him to steady him.
Mind wandering, I feel myself blush as I appreciate how firm his backside is against my body, but quickly focus myself again. “Ready?”
“Yes.”
Putting my hands on his back, I focus on a small scar on his shoulder blade. Summoning my overeager power, I focus my energy into the scar, imagining it flattening down, and losing its color. Slowly enough, I feel the scar slowly fade away from under my fingers. I open my eyes, and I see it has disappeared.
“It worked Link. I removed one of them!” I excitedly say.
Link shudders, for a reason I’m not sure about. “I… Thank you Mipha.”
“This is going to take a while to finish them all, just so you know.”
“It’s ok, this… I want these gone forever. I’ll wait as long as it takes.”
Taking a deep breath, I begin healing the next scar, then the next, working my way down his body. I worked until the sunlight stoped reflecting off of the steamy water, and the stars came to watch me preform miracles. It was silent the whole time, Link remaining perfectly still to not mess me up. I didn’t stop, even when exhaustion pricked at my mind as my power drained all my energy. I needed to finish this, help him heal.
Finally, around 3 hours later, I got to the final scar on the lower right side of his body. “Last one Link.”
Taking a fresh look at his back, I marveled how clean it looked without the scars, the smooth skin glistening in the moonlight.
Taking a deep breath, Link finally spoke. “You asked… you asked how I got these?”
“Yes.” My ears perked up in curiosity as I listened to his next words, stilling my hands from their healing.
“In… in the royal guard training, the instructors were… harsh. If you made one mistake, no matter what it was, you where whipped. The amount of times was based on how severe the mistake was. Everyday, we walked past the whipping post, a constant reminder of the cost of failure. Sometimes there were other people kneeling there, back torn and bloodied.”
Taking another deep breath to steady himself, he continued. “I went up to the whipping post five times. All five were because I talked too much, let my fellow trainees know my opinions and random thoughts. They told us to always stay silent, blend into the shadows, and by me talking, I let myself be known to others. All they wanted was faceless soldiers that followed orders, not people with dreams and imagination.”
“I… I’m scared.” he confessed. “I live in the constant fear of saying something wrong and going up to that whipping post again, feeling my hot blood slide down my skin. I… I just chose to stay silent now. It’s better that way, to keep my head down and let others forget I’m even a person. It’s how I survive.”
He begins to cry, and I stroke his back in comfort. “I’m so sorry Link.” My heart breaks with every shudder of his body, knowing how much pain he had without me there to help him, the trauma he faced at an age so young.
After some time, Link finally spoke again with a vulnerable voice hoarse from crying. “Thank you… thank you Mipha. Those scars… every time I see them it reminds me of the pain. But… leave the last scar that you haven’t touched yet. I don’t want all the traces of my suffering to go away, to prove to myself that it really happened and it wasn’t a sick nightmare.”
I pull my arms around him and pull him closer to me, his back flush against my chest. “Anything for you Link. I promise, I… swear on my life I will never hurt you. I’ll always be here to help you, no matter where you are or what your doing, I’ll be there.”
My words broke something in him as he begins to sob in my arms, letting go of all the silent tears he was holding back for his whole life, breaking his inner walls he built to block himself in.
I held him until the sun came up and illuminated the room with its golden rays of sunlight, covering the blue stone in a pristine light. As we got out of the tub and went about our day, I noticed his eyes didn’t seem as cloudy, his smile coming on his face more often.
He was freed from the inner wounds that held in down for so long.
Now he could fly free from the bars of his cage he was trapped in and show the world who he really is.