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The Zora domain was always quiet in the evenings, everyone bedded down in their sleeping pools. Even in their chambers, the only noises Link could hear from his room was the quiet giggles of children and the deep, bellowing voice of Sidon’s latest impersonation.
When Link had set out on his quest to fulfill his destiny and defeat Calamity Ganon, he had never dreamed of the life he had now. And certainly he never imagined that he would find such a lasting love after he awoke from a hundred year slumber to find out his dearest friends, loved ones, and even his memory were taken from him.
Yet here he was, having fallen for the Zora prince and living the most chaotic happily ever after that not even the fairy tales Sidon told their children at night could dream up.
And amidst the chaos and the stress, that’s what Link found that he loved the most about his life with his beloved prince. He’d always loved children, but never even thought of the notion until he first saw Sidon cradling a small zora child in his arms with several more on his lap and grinning wildly despite his swollen face and knocked out teeth after a sparring match gone awry. It had been shortly after that that Sidon had admitted that it had always been a dream of his to become a father one day, but despite his royal blood and duty to his people, he hadn’t honestly thought it was possible.
Link didn’t understand what he had meant by that until a near disaster of a courting attempt later. Honestly, if the two had learned some good and simple communication skills and sat down to share some of the more complex rituals of their people’s respective cultures none of that would have happened...but...still, Link couldn’t imagine a better man to call his husband and father of their children.
And what little miracles they had been. The little zora girl named Minami had always been drawn to Link. The first day they met, she had broken away from her school group and ran up to Link to ask what kind of species he was. She was also the bolder of the students when Sidon came to visit the class and it had been clear from the start that she and Sidon shared some kind of special connection. Link could distinctly remember feeling a particular pang in his chest when Sidon explained to him after his first meeting with the girl that Minami’s parents had been killed in a strike fueled by Vah Ruta’s rage, struck down by lightning while trying to find a way to appease the beast. The child had only been a toddler at the time, waiting in daycare for her parents to come pick her up and now she could hardly remember them.
So of course, when they got married and had settled down from the excitement, Link was quick to propose the idea of taking her in, especially after they returned from their honeymoon to find that the girl had started learning sign language so she could talk to Link without Sidon having to translate.
In short, she melted his heart in ways he never knew possible and his version of “proposing the idea” to Sidon was to lift Nami into his arms and sign to her that he wanted to adopt her. Of course, failing to communicate that to your husband can lead to some...difficulty, considering that Sidon was thrown for a loop and gave a haphazard agreement to the statement to keep from shattering Nami’s excitement. But that didn’t stop him from breaking out into an existential panic about how he wasn’t cut out to be a father when they got home. Thankfully, when the ordeal was over and Nami finally came home, Link bit back a smile when Nami launched herself into Sidon’s arms and called him, “Daddy” instead of “Prince Sidon”. The zora practically lost all composure as he hugged his new daughter and he hadn’t stopped calling her “his princess” ever since.
Honestly, Link worried if that inflated Nami’s ego a little bit, but he figured that five years of being parentless at least earned her that much.
And of course, because it was Link and Sidon and because neither of them had any chill and loved fatherhood so much, Link and Sidon found themselves cradling a baby Hylian boy in their arms a little over a year later. They named him Rho and he had the biggest brightest blue eyes and the softest little ears. Sidon couldn’t stop fawning over how much he looked like Link.
After Rho came another little Hylian boy named Cado. And when taking a family vacation to Hateno village for Cado’s third birthday, Purah told the couple about a little Sheikah girl that had been born just a few days ago. Her mother didn’t survive childbirth and her father had given her up, unable to support and raise her on his own. The loss had taken a toll on the whole village, and Purah seemed exceptionally worried that the girl would grow up without a family.
Link held his breath at that, trying not to listen to the sounds of Rho and Cado loudly fighting over a toy behind him. He wasn’t sure he could handle round four and he hated that he didn’t even have to look to know that Sidon’s tail was wagging in apprehension and his eyes were lighting up with wonder at the thought of having another little girl.
“I am so very sorry for your loss,” Sidon said, trying very hard to keep his voice even.
“It is just another part of life,” Purah sighed, but then she glanced up and Link hated that he could recognize the familiar gleam in her eyes. “Linky, you look like you’re thinking hard on something.”
Link gave a noncommittal noise and tried to avoid to look at Sidon by glancing over at Nami.
He had made a mistake.
Nami’s blue wagging tail and wondrous golden eyes that were trademark of any zora but still made Link think so dearly of Sidon made him cave.
Needless to say, no one was surprised when they returned home with Nami skipping happily as she tried to keep her two overly excited brothers in line while they cheered to the whole world that they had a baby sister.
King Dorephan held a feast to celebrate his youngest grandchild.
Link could vividly remember the sparkle in Sidon’s eyes as he cradled their little girl in his arms as several woman flocked and fawned over the bundle.
“She’s so small!”
“What beautiful white hair, I’ve never seen such coloring on a Hylian before!”
“Well, she’s not a Hylian necessarily,” Sidon patiently explained several times over, “She’s of the Sheikah tribe and they look a tad different from your average Hylian.”
“What’s her name? Have you decided yet?”
At that, Sidon exchanged a warm glance with Link as he broke out into the hugest smile Link had ever seen before he stared back down at the baby and said, “Mipha.”
The answer had elicited a number of responses from excited squeals to cooing to the occasional somber glance to the child’s namesake.
And Mipha grew, as all their children did, into such a beautiful little thing. The children were strong, caring, independent, and they looked out for each other and their fathers couldn’t have been more proud of each of them. Nami not only rose up to the challenge of being her daddy’s heir to the Zora domain but she owned it proudly and quickly became a princess that her people could be proud of. Rho grew into a strong little boy that loved traveling and seeing the world and was an extraordinary big brother. Cado, even at the age of five was more than willing to serve Princess Zelda and King Dorephan in whatever capacity he could; it didn’t matter if his orders were to help Rho collect all the firewood for the evening or listen to what his fathers tell him he was amongst their most faithful subjects and took pride in it. And sweet little Mipha lived up to her namesake so well and it both warmed Link’s and Sidon’s hearts and occasionally filled them with a deep sadness (of course that sadness couldn’t last long with the four brightest smiles they had ever seen, but such sadness was necessary at times).
Of course, no matter how the times changed or how they grew or how often Sidon and Link debated whether or not they wanted to add a fifth child into the mix, if one thing stayed the same it was that Sidon always always read the children a bedtime story each night.
Link crept down the hallway and into the main room of their home. He found the group huddled around each other, Nami laying on her stomach with Mipha on her back, and Rho and Cado on either side of her while Sidon sat across from them holding up the latest story in one hand while making large and animated gestures with the other. With the kids getting older, Sidon had transitioned to reading larger novels and getting through a new chapter each night. The current one had been especially captivating for them and had been one Nami was allowed to pick out from Zelda’s library at the castle.
Despite it being one of the more serious novels that Sidon had read, he still insisted on throwing his voice into a variety of tones and ranges that were just downright ridiculous. Rho hated the voices he used for the village elders in the story, but his reaction only cracked Sidon up and encouraged him to do it even more. Cado thought Rho’s consistent groaning was hysterical which only egged Sidon on even more, Mipha just thought the voices were funny and would point out to Sidon whenever he wasn’t doing the voice and Minami was honestly just on for the ride and enjoying the chaos her siblings created.
Rho was practically wailing at Sidon’s vocal impressions and the two were trying to out compete each other in volume when Link’s presence was even noticed, and by none other than Cado who cried out, “Papa, Rho and Daddy are fighting!”
At the announcement, Sidon jumped and turned to face his husband who was leaning against the door frame and smiling to himself.
“Oh, Link!” Sidon yelped in surprise, his voice still partially shifted up an octave. “I didn’t hear you come in!”
Link chuckled and signed, “Well, I would hope not.”
Sidon’s mouth drooped open in slight confusion, not really catching the intended irony until Nami started cackling and chortled, “Good one, Papa!”
“Oooooh,” Sidon finally shook his head and chuckled, setting the book down before he looked back up and grinned, “I was thinking more about how quiet your footsteps are, my love!”
Link laughed more at that, crossing the room so he could wrap his arms around Sidon’s shoulders and rest his head on the top of Sidon’s. He had to admit, while their drastic height difference did cause the occasional issue, Link quite enjoyed that he could still lean up against his husband’s frame so easily when he was sitting.
He glanced down at the four children looking expectantly up at him and lifted his arms slightly to ask, “How’s the chapter?”
“Really good,” Nami grinned, “Amaterasu is meeting with Mr. Orange and he’s going to help her save Sakuya’s tree!”
“But we haven’t finished the chapter yet,” Mipha groaned, resting her chin against Nami’s head and squishing her face in her hands slightly.
“But Daddy keeps using a really stupid voice for Mr. Orange and it’s annoying!” Rho pouted, crossing his arms as he scowled in a manner that made Link feel like he was looking into a mirror. Cado simply continued to laugh hysterically at his brother’s misfortune.
“But we haven’t finished the chapter yet,” Mipha said again, wriggling impatiently on top of her sister.
“Ow, Mipha, your foot is digging into my gills,” Minami squirmed.
“I rather like my Mr. Orange voice,” Sidon teased his younger son, “It’s funny.”
“No it’s not!” Rho shouted back indignantly.
“Daaaaadyyyy,” Mipha kicked Nami’s back a little with her feet as she whined, “Finish the chapter!”
“Ow!” Nami winced again.
“Mipha,” Link signed with a stern expression, “Don’t kick your sister.”
“Papa, please make him stop using the voice,” Rho insisted.
“No! I like the voice!” Cado snapped back at his brother, “I think it’s funny!”
“I don’t care just finish the story!” Mipha whined.
“I vote he keeps the voice,” Nami grinned.
“But I don’t like it!” Rho cried out.
“Well, I could do a different voice for Mr. Orange tomorrow night,” Sidon suggested, “How about that?”
Rho crossed his arms and frowned but relented. Beside him, Mipha let out a frustrated groan and she clambered off of Nami’s back before she ran clumsily up to Sidon and leapt into his lap indignantly yelling, “Daddy! Finish the story!”
Sidon glanced down a little surprised at the impatience of his daughter, but nevertheless chuckled and said, “But of course!” He reopened the book to where he had marked the page and cleared his throat and glanced at the other three to see if they were ready to hear how the chapter concluded.
As he finished reading, his goofy voice that had been grating on Rho did manage to get a smile or two out of him. Cado cuddled up tightly to Nami’s side as he grew tired and Mipha kept tugging at Sidon’s free arm until he scooped her up in it and held her against his chest. Link, on the other hand, continued to rest his head up against the junction between the side of Sidon’s head and his large brow while using one hand to gently caress the back of his tail. Link fought back a chuckle each time he gently pressed against one of the lighter spots on the side of his tail and warranted a startled hitch from the prince’s throat.
The kids’ eyes looked so heavy as sleep loomed over them by the time Sidon finally finished the chapter. Still, Mipha whined when the chapter ended on a cliffhanger, only finishing just before Sakuya awoke from her slumber in her tree, begging for him to read just one more chapter.
“Now, Mipha, it is time for you to go to sleep,” Sidon said, poking the girl’s button nose with the tip of his claw.
“But Daddy I wanna know what happens!” Mipha whined.
“And you will know!” Sidon grinned, “But you must wait until tomorrow.”
“But Daaddyyyy!” Mipha droned, though her bright smile and giggles revealed that her whines were merely a facade. Link chuckled at that as he lifted Cado into his arms, the boy was drifting in and out of sleep as he tucked his head against Link’s shoulders. He looked over to see his husband peppering Mipha with kisses as Minami inched forward and failing to hide the fact that she very much seemed to want the same amount of attention as her sister was getting. Link held his hand out to help Rho to his feet and the sleepy boy lumbered forward to hug his older sister and his daddy before he took Link’s hand again to march to bed.
Sidon gave Rho a kiss on the cheek before he wrapped his other arm around Nami, nuzzling his forehead against hers in a very zora-esque sign of affection. Link pressed a kiss against Nami and ran his hand affectionately through Mipha’s hair before he looked over at his husband who was staring at him with needy golden eyes.
“Yes?” Link signed. Sidon simply puckered his lip out in a pout, needy for attention despite the fact that he was surrounded by his family and was being fought over by two of his daughters. Grinning, Link pressed his lips against his husband’s for just a fleeting moment, nibbling his lower lip gently in reassurance that there would be plenty more attention once the kids were in bed.
As Link pulled his lips away, he could both feel and hear Sidon’s moan as he tried to follow his husband, seeking more. Link pressed his forehead against the prince’s and signed, “Now, off to bed everyone.”
“Goodnight, Papa,” Nami yawned, rising to her feet to give Link one last hug (and surprising the Hylian in the process that she had grown to be almost his height already) before she stretched her arms up and headed to her room.
Rho took Link’s hand again and tugged on it, smiling up at him as he announced, “bedtime, Papa.”
Link smiled and took his sons to their rooms, tucking them into bed. He kissed Rho goodnight and realized that Cado had fallen asleep in his arms when he placed the little boy in his bed. He tucked him in under the covers. Link passed Mipha’s room then, stopping by the doorway and watched as Sidon sang a soft lullaby to their youngest trying to soothe her to sleep. He kissed the top of Mipha’s head before he stood, finding Link in the doorway.
“Is it time for us to go to bed as well?” Sidon asked, running a hand through his husband’s blond hair. Link sighed in contentment, leaning his head against the palm of Sidon’s hand.
Sleepily, Link lifted his hands and said, “We should check on Nami first.”
“Oh yes, that is a good idea,” Sidon smiled, and the two held hands to their eldest’s room. They found her sound asleep in her pool, the top of her head just barely poking out of the water. The couple each got down on their knees and reached over to kiss her head before they finally returned to their own quarters. Being a couple of two races, sleeping arrangements could be a little tricky. They had settled on having a room with both a bed for Link and a pool for Sidon that was each large enough for them both to fit in so that they could alternate where they slept and still be together.
To Link’s surprise, Sidon scooped him up into his arms and laid him down gently on the bed, pressing a firm kiss along the Hylian’s neck and gently raking his teeth against the soft skin, careful not to draw blood.
Link let out a breathless sigh, wishing more than ever that he could even just whisper words of how much he loved his husband. But still, Sidon drew his head back and smiled, eyes glittering in wonder.
“I love you,” Sidon said. Link stared up at his husband and smiled; as he watched the way his husband beamed in return the Hylian realized that he didn’t need words to convey his love to the zora. Simply embracing each other and being close to each other was all they needed. And that was just beautiful.