Chapter Text
The river’s water was as crystal clear as ever. Its blue emulated the glittering sapphires you could find in any Gerudo shop. Its temperature was just as sweet. Your sore feet were instantly soothed and refreshed as soon as they dipped into the river’s bliss.
The dock itself was nothing special, though. It was made of some wood that has been weathered smooth, turned dark by time. Still, it was dry and kept you above water until your company came.
Your eyes wandered behind you towards your cottage. It wasn’t anything special either. Yet, it wasn’t run down or extremely cramped. Your humble abode was firm and had enough space for you to live and your writing desk to work. ‘Dainty’ is the word that could best describe it. Especially with all of the flowers outside.
You sighed at that. The Silent Princess flowers have nearly taken over your poor Cool Safflina. It is hard to imagine such a time where seeing a blue and white bloom was a rarity. Now they are more like… weeds.
“Well that isn’t a pleasant face.”
You turned around to see a red head poking out of the water. His two yellow eyes glistened at you expectantly. Turning your face to a more pleasant smile, you greeted him. “It’s good to see you, Prince Sidon.”
Though, his eyes dimmed a little as he appeared to shrink before you. “You can just refer to me as Sidon. We’ve more than had enough time for formalities.”
You shook your head. “It’s not proper to address a prince with any less than what he is.”
Seeing as though he couldn’t get through to you, he turned his attention back to the previously stared at spot. “I think it’s wonderful to see the Silent Princess so abundant. Your lawn has become a favorite spot of theirs.”
You rolled your eyes at his comment. “They are choking my poor Cool Safflina flowers. An epidemic is what they are becoming.”
The prince swam up to the dock and rested his arms on the wood. Water dripped off his fins and arms. Those crystal drops called out to you to just...stare. Only the prince’s voice redirected your eyes. “They say that Silent Princess flowers grow where magic is dense. Don’t tell me you’re a fairy.”
You shook your head and blushed. “I’m not pretty enough to be a fairy,” you confessed.
“Why do you do that?”
You blinked and looked over to the frowning Zora. “W...what?”
Sidon pushed himself along the dock to be in front of you, looking up. His face was full of disbelief and disappointment. Pins pricked guilt into your heartstrings. Had you offended him in some way? “You are beautiful, (Y/N). I’m not a Hylian, but I know beauty when I see it.” A blush laid itself across your cheeks. “I can’t let my friend think that way.”
One word in that sentence snapped a bit of sense back into your swirling torrent of emotions. “A...alright.” A simple word that carried the burden of moving on to something more pleasant.
The prince’s eyes softened once more. “(Y/N), the children in the Domain mentioned something about a crown of flowers. Apparently, one of the merchants showed them one and the little ones can’t stop talking about it. Would you...would you be so kind as to show me how to make them?”
A small smile came to your face. “So you can look cool, my prince?”
Now it was the crowned prince’s turn to blush. “W...well a prince must be knowledgeable in all things! You would be doing me and subsequently the Domain a great favor!” Every time Prince Sidon got like this, he became...insistent? But, it was in an adorable way. Like how a puppy will shove its toy into your leg when it wants to play. Insistent...but cute.
With a small chuckle you pushed yourself from your seating position. You began walking along the smooth boards towards your Silent Princess infested lawn. The prince lifted himself out of the water as well to follow. But, you did sneak a peak or two to catch the water dripping off. A harmless crush is all it was.
You refocused to the flowers. Kneeling down, you began plucking flower after flower and putting them in the crux of your arm. Just by picking a few, you soon realized how many there really were. An infestation indeed.
The prince observed you for a tick and then joined you on your retrieval of materials. You soon realized that you didn’t have to work as hard. The prince would pick up two or three flowers at a time with his large hands. By the time you picked one flower, he picked five to eight! Though, it might be because of his enthusiasm in this task. The Zora was grinning like a fool and would might as well be dancing like one. You couldn’t help but let out a giggle or two. “For a prince, I’m surprised you’re this keen on manual labor.”
Prince Sidon looked over at you and smiled his fool smile. “I am very capable in all things, (Y/N). Even ‘normal’ things. Well, as you like to call them.”
That teasing bone in your body began to tingle. “Oh really, what sort of things is the grand Prince of the Zora capable of?”
The prince lifted his head to make himself appear more haughty than normal. “Well, I do enjoy a good book from time to time.”
Your eyes could have rolled out of your head! “Reading tedious volumes of Zora history is not a normal thing to do, Prince Sidon.”
He stood up and began admiring his recent acquisition of flowers. “I do read other books, you know. There is one I am reading right now that is quite popular with the common folk. Tales of Prince Rilo -”
You began a coughing fit as air seemed to catch in your throat. Your hands snapped to your mouth to keep the embarrassment to a minimum. The prince immediately dropped his flowers and rushed to your side. “My lady…(Y/N) are you alright? Do you have allergies? Oh, I am so sorry to trouble you in my selfish quest to impress children! Do forgive me…”
You shook your head in disagreement. “N...no. I just got something caught in my throat. I...I think we have enough. Why don’t we sit down and I can teach you how to make these...” You held the blossoms tight to your beating chest. The flowers nearly wilted at the fiery heat your body was radiating. Goddess, your cheeks probably could keep a family warm for the whole winter! Out of all the books he could be reading…
...why did it have to be yours?
Your butt hit the grass hard as you flopped down. The prince leaned down and gracefully sat beside you. “(Y/N)...If I did something wrong, please tell me. I meant no offence for...well...whatever I did to upset you.”
You adamantly shook your head, sending your hair flying. “N..No not at all! I simply coughed and got really warm for a second.” Unconsciously, you touched your red cheeks to feel for yourself the depth of embarrassment harbored within them. Making flower crowns shouldn’t lead to such a depressing encounter. “So, how you do these is you take two flowers. Now you wrap one flower around the other one.” You looked over to the prince who tried to follow your instructions the best he could. However, he never accounted for his...large stature. The small flowers slipped between his clawed fingers and onto the ground where he would pick them up, try it again, and end up with the same result. The poor fish.
You brought your hands up to his own and fumbled around with gripping the stems of the flowers. Slowly, your heart began to settle from the previous revelation. Now, the air seemed to be of the same kind you were used to. His red fingers desperately tried to twist the flowers around each other. Each time they slipped and the flower would fall until you placed it back between his fingers. The prince sighed. “I guess I am too large to do this…”
You looked at the poorly knit chain of flowers. The petals were crushed and the stems were all but broken. Prince Sidon took it from your guiding fingers and tossed it into the river. Your hand shot out in a feign attempt to save it. The chain floated for a second before it was sucked under the current. It was never coming back into your hand. Or above water, for that matter. A piece of you sunk with it. The prince was never one to just give up on something. Was something wrong? Scratch that...ever since he mentioned his reading hobby, there was tension.
“I do think I bothered you enough for one day. Please, excuse me.” The prince bowed, making his grand feather dip with him, and proceeded to the river.
You sighed as he jumped above the clear water. With a small splash, the blurry red spot moved upstream towards the Domain. After a minute or two, you picked yourself up from the grass. The piles of Silent Princess now laid at your feet, unused.