Summary: Link reunites with his children for the first time as a Zora. Mipha outlines her plan for Link's training, and lessons start at once as Link catches his dinner. During their first night together, Link comes to truly appreciate the significance of Mipha's remark over twenty years earlier. All is not work and no play, as the children help with their father's training, and Mipha and Link spend some time together as a Zora couple. Meanwhile, Ganon's creature seems content, for now, to remain dormant at the bottom of Lake Hylia.

Link was pacing back and forth in their bedroom as Mipha spoke to their children in the dining room. He had not seen his four children in over three weeks, and that was when he said goodbye as a Hylian. Now he had returned home as a Zora and needed to remain so at least until Ganon's creation could be destroyed. He was hoping whatever Mipha was saying to his children would help them understand and accept him. Becoming a Zora wasn't his idea. He was sacrificing his body and doing what he could to help Hyrule. As Hylia's chosen one, that was his duty. But it was also his way of expressing gratitude to the Goddess for all she had done for him in life.

Since he was married to a Zora and lived among them, at least his transformation to a Zora had some positive aspects. Thank Hylia, she didn't need him to become a Goron! A diet of rocks did not sound very appealing. Or maybe a Rito would have been even worse, listening to Revali gloating every day and probably mocking his attempts to learn how to fly. At least Mipha loved him and would help him, not mock him. Well, not unless she was teasing him. So, he should be thankful for small blessings.

Mipha said she would call for him when she was finished explaining things to the children, and now he was waiting for her to finish. He could hear Mipha's voice, but not the words she spoke. Then he heard her stop speaking and soon after heard everyone laughing. That was strange. He didn't think the topic was humorous. The next thing he heard was Mipha calling his name. The moment he had been dreading had finally arrived.

He took as deep a breath as his now smaller lungs allowed and walked into the dining room where Mipha's meeting with the children had taken place. They were all seated at the table. But as soon as he entered the room, his four children ran up to him, and he got a giant four-way hug. He was overwhelmed. Then, as was often the case, Mila became their spokesperson.

"Welcome home, Dad," said Mila. "We all missed you. Be careful wiping your eyes. You have very sharp nails now. You look great, by the way."

Link held onto all four of them in a giant hug, his eyes tearing up. He was slightly taller than Mila and Midon now. Lapha and young Link were hugging him around his waist, Mila and Midon taking opposite shoulders. He looked over at Mipha. She was laughing and shaking her head.

"My big speech was unnecessary. You four never cease to surprise me," said Mipha to the children. "I should have given you more credit. But thank you."

"Now, can we take a good look at the new you, Dad?" said Mila stepping back with the others.

Link was taller now, roughly the same height as a typical adult Zora. His pigmentation was a light blue. In fact, in a bit of irony that would provoke occasional teasing from Mipha in the weeks ahead, his skin coloring now exactly matched the color of his Hylian Champion tunic. Mipha would tease him that he couldn't bear to part with his tunic because of his feelings for the Hylian Princess who gave it to him. He must have wanted it to become his skin, she laughed. The most striking aspect of his new appearance, however, was his eye color. He retained the same bright blue eye color he had as a Hylian, and that was far different from any other Zora in the Domain. His face carried the hint of a smile in his expression. Mipha said it made him look kind and happy, and also handsome. He was also more muscular than other Zora's, probably a byproduct of all his Hylian combat training. Some of his muscle structure must have carried over during the process. His other characteristics seemed typical of any male Zora, at least as far as he could tell.

"I thank all of you for making this so much easier than I feared it would be," said Link. "I don't know what Mom told you, but I was afraid of how you might react when you saw me. But I shouldn't have been. I should have had more faith in you."

"Now that we have all that out of the way," said Mipha. "Our job is to make your Dad is as capable a Zora as he was a Hylian, and as soon as possible. He needs to get acclimated to his new body and learn how to move and behave like a Zora, to swim fast and fight fast. The fighting part you can leave to me and the knights I will have him train with. But you can help with everything else. In some ways, you should think of your Dad as a little brother that you need to help. He has had no experience growing up in the body he is in now, and that's hard to deal with. Right now, I'm going to teach your Dad how to catch his dinner. The rest of you are on your own, but Lapha, please catch a fish for Linky like you usually do. I'll cook it for him. See you back here for dinner."

"The last one back cleans up!" yelled Lapha as she raced for the door.

Everyone took off for their favorite place to catch fish. Mipha took Link to the area near the waterfall north of the Domain, and they floated there together.

"Now, when you get better at swimming, you can just rush right after a fish you see and catch it. But another approach, and the one you will need to use at first, is to approach stealthily until you are within range. I know you used to catch fish as a Hylian, but you move in water differently now, so you need to learn it again. Alright, go ahead."

Link tried a few times without success. The fish were too quick and alert for his clumsy efforts. But finally, by swimming very slowly and quietly, he managed to get close enough to a trout that he could grab it with his hands. He was still swimming with his head mostly above water. He hadn't used his gills yet.

"That's good. You won't starve tonight," laughed Mipha. "Tomorrow, we'll start work on your speed and maneuverability. But you've had a tough day. Let's go home and have dinner."

At dinner, Mipha shared her plan to help Link.

"We are going to train all day, every day," said Mipha. "That includes swimming exercises and challenges, combat training against our best knights, learning how to use echolocation to see in murky or dark waters, everything you need to know in order to battle this thing. And if your progress is satisfactory, the afternoon of every fourth day will be some time off for the two of us. I want to spend some time showing you what life as a Zora couple is like. We don't know how long you will remain a Zora, and I want to use this opportunity to share with you some of the things I never thought I ever could. But you need to train hard for the rest of the time. The afternoons off are motivation and a reward for hard work. I know we need to start slowly and give you a chance to get more comfortable with your new body. So remember that, and don't push too hard at the beginning. There will be plenty of opportunities to push yourself harder when you're stronger. Are we clear?"

"Perfectly," said Link. "I've always liked to train hard. But I recall the Sheikah said pushing myself too hard would be counterproductive, so it makes sense to ease into it."

After the children went to bed, Link joined Mipha in their pool, their first night together as a Zora couple.

"I saw you keeping your head above water when you caught the fish, and I gather you haven't used your gills yet," said Mipha. "This is a good time to start. Float here with me and stop breathing."

Link closed his mouth and held his breath. He could hear his heart beating and the pressure of holding his breath build up in his lungs. He was wondering how much longer he could hold his breath and was about to gasp for air when suddenly he didn't need air any longer. He felt the circulation of water through his chest, and the air extracted from it must be filling his blood vessels. He looked over at Mipha.

"You can open your mouth now, sweetheart," said Mipha smiling. "As long as you stay in water, your gills will keep working. Marvelous, isn't it?"

"It is," said Link. "It feels so strange. It won't hurt if I forget and breathe will it?"

"Not at all," said Mipha. "In fact, that's one way to quickly build up more stamina. And as I come to think of it, this is a perfect time for more stamina."

She reached over and pulled his head to hers, and they kissed. But it was a kiss the likes of which he had never felt before. It was passionate and continuous, long-lasting, with no need for any interruption to breathe. And it felt more and more erotic the longer it went on. She gently stroked the back of his neck just below his fin, and that felt erotic, too. He did the same to her. Their kiss went on and on. And the urge to make love grew until they finally wrapped their arms around each other and did just that, as they continued the longest kiss he could imagine.

Afterward, she smiled, reached over, and gently touched his cheek.

"I love you," said Mipha. "That was a lesson I didn't feel I should discuss at dinner. And you were a pretty quick learner. See what you've been missing all these years?"

Link smiled back.

"I love you, too," said Link. "That kiss was incredible, sweetheart! I've never felt anything like it. I felt its passion just grow and grow, and when I thought it couldn't feel any better, it grew some more. I realize something now. After our first time kissing at Veiled Falls, I recall you told me that if we kissed underwater, you could kiss longer. I thought you were just bragging about not having to breathe. I finally understand what you meant! But I have to disagree with you on one point. You may say I'm a quick learner, but I think I would benefit from a lot more instruction."

"Don't worry," said Mipha laughing. "I think we could both benefit. And there will be plenty of opportunities for that. I want to enjoy the chance to be together with you like this too. Now you should get some rest. You have a busy day tomorrow. Oh, and another small piece of Zora etiquette. The Zora expression 'wet dreams' does not mean what it does for a Hylian. It has nothing to do with that. It's like the Hylian expression 'sweet dreams.' So, don't get all excited. Wet dreams, sweetheart."

They kissed goodnight. He wondered what kind of dreams Zoras actually have as he closed his eyes. And then he stopped breathing again.

The next morning was a school day. And later that morning came an announcement from King Dorephan that Link had temporarily assumed the body of a Zora for an important mission. Mipha could stop worrying now about rumors of her scandalous behavior with that new Zora with the strange colored eyes while her husband was missing.

Mipha elected to teach Link swimming in the mornings. Each day they would walk over to East Reservoir Lake, and she would take him through a lesson and then test his ability. To say it was slow going was an understatement. He marveled at her patience with him. It was so hard to keep track of all the parts of his body he needed to coordinate to move well! He was swimming by trying to remember things. Swimming actions hadn't penetrated into his muscle memory yet to where they would happen automatically.

The afternoons were combat training, and this was more interesting to him. The water obviously presented more resistance to movement, including striking with his sword. He had to put more effort into a blow. But he was pleased that he maintained his ability to attack very rapidly, seeming to freeze time for his adversary, what was referred to as a flurry rush. If you could dodge an enemy at just the right moment, this was a great help.

Combat training started off with Link sparring against one of the knights. He was too slow and generally got knocked over with the soldier's spear. And he had trouble coordinating his movements. This was hard! When he asked about sparring with her, she said he wasn't ready yet to take on the Zora Champion. She would let him know when he was.

Then came one of the fourth days of training. He had been swimming with Mipha all morning. She had constructed an underwater course comprised of rings he had to swim through. But he had to swim through them quickly enough to meet her time challenge and twist and turn quickly enough to pass through all of them. Mipha always demonstrated for him first that the challenge was fair. She would do the course first, and she made it look so easy with her graceful movements, yet finishing the course much faster than she expected him to. So he tried and kept trying until he made her goal. But it was clear he would eventually have to do much better to consider it a real success. And he respected her more for how capable a fighter she was, an aspect of her he hadn't had much chance to see. But he shouldn't have been surprised. She was the Zora Champion, after all.

They broke for lunch, a nice fresh fish, and then like some schoolboy awaiting his grade, Link waited to learn if he had earned the afternoon off with her.

"You're doing a little better," said Mipha after they finished lunch. "I'm not thrilled by your progress, but I think you've earned some time off. There's a beautiful underwater cave in Ruto Lake that I want to show you. There are some Luminous Stones in the walls. But it's not going to be all fun. You're going to have to navigate your way into the cave without your eyes using echolocation. You can enjoy the view on our way out. Let's go."

They swam to the cave entrance, and Link closed his eyes. Mipha wrapped a band across his eyes, effectively blinding him. Then she tapped him on the shoulder to begin. He tried to use the sound returning from his high-pitched clicks to picture the cave. He could sense some of the surroundings, but he was easily distracted by echoes from nearby unrelated objects, and he had to concentrate. He managed to work his way into the cave, then slowly made his way forward. He did not have enough confidence in his echolocation skill to swim faster. He feared that any moment his head would bang into a cave wall. But he was able to pick out the turns in the passageways and make his way through them. When it appeared that he was reaching the end, he felt Mipha touch him on the shoulder and then removed his blindfold. He was struck by the beauty of the scene, a cluster of Luminous Stones lit up the ceiling and were scattered along the walls as well. Mipha signaled him to follow her out of the cave, which he did. He hadn't learned how to communicate underwater with high pitched clicks yet. They swam together to the surface.

"That was beautiful," said Link.

"Yes, the Luminous Stones make the cave special," said Mipha. "You did well navigating to the end of the cave, but you lack confidence in yourself. You swim way too slowly, fearing a mistake and a collision. We need to keep working on that. In the dark waters of the deep parts of Lake Hylia, you will need echolocation to see and perhaps even to battle. You need to build up your confidence. I might have you practice that with the children after dinner. They sometimes play games like 'tag' using only echolocation. It should help you."

"If they don't mind taking time away from playing with their friends, that would be great," said Link.

"No, they told me more than once they want to help," said Mipha. "They understand how hard this must be for you, being used to being the best at so many things and now being so helpless as a Zora. But don't be surprised if you get a little friendly teasing. Remember, they love you."

"I will," laughed Link. "They've been the most wonderful children I could ever hope for. But speaking of teasing, I've been trying to avoid the Big Bad Bazz Brigade members. Your keeping me busy at East Reservoir Lake has helped. But I know I'm going to run into one of them sooner or later."

"Why don't you just go look for them and get it over with?" said Mipha. "You know it's all in fun. They like you, and I'm sure they'll get a kick out of seeing you as a Zora."

Mipha paused.

"You know, I really should start speaking to you as a Zora. I'm so used to using Hylian expressions with you. But we say, 'get a stroke out of something' not 'get a kick out of something.'

"Sure, why not?" said Link. "If I don't understand, I'll ask. I've always enjoyed comparing how we say things differently than you."

Link paused as Mipha gave him a funny look.

"I mean, how Hylians say things differently than us," said Link smiling.

"You got it right the second time," laughed Mipha. "And 'let's catch dinner' means something different as well to a Hylian. Come on, let's catch some dinner and join the rest of the family."

They swam after some fish and then headed back home to join the family for dinner. At dinner, they discussed the usual topics, how school was going, what they were studying, what they were doing with friends. Mila was concentrating on history and thought she would teach someday. Midon enjoyed technology as did Lapha. They both thought they would continue to study more about Sheikah technology. Linky enjoyed writing but also thought he might like to become a Hylian knight at some point like his Dad. Mila said Tila was planning another trip here on the days they had off from school. Midon said he was making progress on his rune to report on and predict underwater conditions. Then they got around to the topic of Link's progress.

"We're taking you to Ruto Lake after dinner for some water games," said Mila. "It will be fun, a chance to be a kid again. But a Zora kid this time. I said you should stay young at heart, and here's another chance."

"Fine," laughed Link. "Just take it easy on me, okay? I'm still not too sure of myself."

"Don't worry, Dad. You'll enjoy it," said Midon.

"You might finally be able to outswim Linky," said Lapha. "Sorry, Linky."

"It's okay, Laff," said Linky. "I think I'm still the best Hylian swimmer in Hyrule."

"Okay, Dad," said Mila taking his hand. "Let's go. And you can come, too, Mom."

"Sure, why not," said Mipha.

They made their way to Ruto Lake, and Link began playing games like tag, races, and variations using only echolocation. Playing tag reminded him of the early days of their marriage when Mipha and he used to take little Sidon on family picnics. The years had certainly gone by! He still lost at tag every time, but he felt he was getting better. And concentrating on the games made him start swimming less consciously, his fins acting according to their intended purpose without him actively thinking about it. And that was precisely Mipha's intent in having him do this, creating muscle memory while having fun. They played until it started getting dark, then headed home.

"I had a great time, thank you," said Link as they walked back to Mikau Lake.

"We're going to keep doing this, Dad until you stop losing every time," said Lapha.

"That's fine," laughed Link. "I think that means we'll be doing this for quite a while."