NOTE: I do not own any Zelda characters whatsoever. I wish I did, but that's too much money for me. So I just own Nagarishi and all the little Gerudo (and other) characters I made up. Enjoy!

He sipped casually at his ale, hoping his elven ears would pick up on a job. The bar seemed crowded, so opportunity was plentiful. He had only to hear...

He stared at the leaky wooden ceiling above him, his feet in old brown boots resting on the table in front of him. He heard spiders above the ceiling and sighed. He might as well clean them out for some profit, he thought. He hated doing jobs for money, and sometimes he hated doing jobs just to save the world. He wished he could live like a king and be famous as the hero he was. But of course, the princess was not willing to make a commitment.

"Did you hear about that thief queen that's been attacking even the Gerudos?"

"No, what about her?"

"They say her name's Kaivra and she's real powerful like. She defeated most of the Imperial guards at the castle and almost stole the princess herself if not for Lady Impa. Better tuck your chilin' in snug tonight, lest they be stolen from you..."

He smiled his blue eyes at the unsuspecting folk. He placed his feet on the floor and walked towards their table, weaponry jingling. "Excuse me kind sir, but where did you last hear her to be?"

The man caught glimpse of his sword and stammered. "She... she be last seen at the forest...s-sir... Kokiri Forest..."

"Thank you." He placed a few coins on the table for his drink, brushed back his blonde hair and walked out into the raining night.

Chink. Chink. Chink.

Link was tired of the rain. It had been raining for three days, he thought (Stupid Song of Storms...). It was dark, cold, and smelled like worms. It reminded him of Hyrule Lake. Maybe he should go fishing there again.

He trudged past Malon's ranch. Poes would be out tonight. Link pulled out his ocarina, deciding he was tired of walking in the rain.

A simple, gentle melody floated through the air and seemed to quiet the land around him. The clunk of hooves against ground came closer to him.

"Hey Epona, old girl." He climbed upon the familiar reddish beast and pulled out his bow and arrows. "To Kokiri, Epona. YA!"

"He's coming... what a fool. I knew he would bring that stupid horse and that weak sword of his... Master Sword my foot. I know where the real one is. Sure, that one may work in the Temple of Time, but it says in the legend the real one works anywhere..." She smiled and placed a delicate hand on the tough leather-bound handle of her own sword. "With that sword I could have the power to do whatever I pleased... whenever I wanted..." Her eyes brightened childishly. "I could finally get the perfect man from any time period!"

Her blue eyes again set themselves on their target... The Hylian named Link... Her sword flashed by what little moonlight penetrated the clouds as she unsheathed it, holding it out to her side.

Link's attention was caught by a glimmer of something in the trees. Metal? Epona instinctively stopped. Her ears keened forward as a faint rustle could be heard. Link jumped off and whispered to her to run. Epona looked at him unbelievingly and Link said it again. She obeyed this time, clomping of to the entrance.

Link stood alone, his sword drawn. He gripped it tightly with a gloved hand.

"Come out! I know you're here!"

Another rustle. Link pretended not to see the movement to his left.

"Well?" He yelled again.

She soared from the trees and tried for his side. He guarded and with his free right hand tried to throw her to the ground on his left side. She landed on her feet, however and threw him to the ground instead. He rolled quick enough to dodge her curved blade. He rolled backwards and got to his feet in time to block a parry and evade another thrust. It was hard to block her sword, he found, for the blade was actually two. The smaller one came out of the hilt first and ended the sword's curve by coming straight out. The larger one continued the curve and had a slightly stout end. Etched into the blade itself were ancient symbols.

Link was so busy dodging her strikes he had yet to see her face clearly. After another slice blocked, he held her there, placing his spare hand over hers on her sword handle. She had a unique face, her eyes kind and cruel at the same time. Her nose was small and complimented the rest of her face nicely. She had a small mouth with smooth red lips. Link thought her very pretty. But she was an enemy and a thief. This had to be Kaivra.

He wrenched one of her hands off and was able to expel the sword from her hands to the ground. She lunged for it only to find a blade at her neck, fingers inches away from her only weapon.

"You're quite good, you know. Maybe a little too aggressive, but that improves with time and practice." He jerked his head up, signaling her to get up slowly. She hid her eyes behind two long strands of blonde bangs that stopped near her knees. He could not tell her expression. "You also need more strength and stamina." He grabbed her arm and squeezed it slightly. "Look at this, you have almost nothing! But I'd have to say, for a girl you're stronger than you look."

Link only meant to be playful, but somehow it made the girl upset. She looked up at him with misty, angered eyes. "Do what you want with me!" She said quietly.

Link was surprised by this statement and for a brief second, actually thought about it. He looked at her dark purple clothes. Her shirt barely covered her torso; the straps of the shirt were on the sides of her arms instead of on her shoulders. Her stomach was completely exposed. Her pants were Gerudo style, a metal angled band around her waist. Except the pants did not seem complete, they ended just below her knees and were torn and ragged. Her shoes were also Gerudo style with the toes pointing up and backward.

He smiled at her and released the blade from her neck but still held her arm tightly. "I don't mean to hurt you, girl. But... you are Kaivra, are you not? I don't know how you heard I was coming..."

"Kaivra! Which fool told you that made-up name, you gullible idiot!"

"Excuse me?" Link looked at her questioningly. He twirled his sword around in his hand so she'd be reminded who was boss here. The girl sneered at him and jerked her head back down to her view of the ground. "Fine then, what's you're real name?"

"Why should I bother telling you?"

"I'm the one who has a sword in their hand."

She let out a small cry of rage. "My name is Nagarishi, ok!"

"Nagarishi is a Gerudo name. Where do you come from, girl?"

She hesitated. "I... I don't know." She answered quietly.

"What kind of answer is that! Tell the truth!"

"I really don't know! I just woke up one day in Hyrule Field! I had little money, what I'm wearing now and my health! There, you happy!"

Link grabbed her sword off the ground, letting go of her arm. He was a little shocked at her answer. "Then where did this come from?"

"That," she scoffed, rubbing her arm as if he had bruised her. "is the only item I have ever stolen. And even then it wasn't really stealing..."

"What do you mean by that?"

She looked at her sword, and then glanced to her sides. Link could tell she wanted to run, but she knew he was faster. She gritted her teeth and stared at him. "The man was dying; what was I gonna do? He had a hole as big as a saucepan through his stomach! How was I supposed to rescue him! He had the sword on him... Well next to him, so... I took it. I took it after he died. I didn't know who he was or anything. He said..." She stopped and looked down at her feet for a moment. Link waited for more.

She whirled around and started running, zigzagging through the trees. Link immediately ran after her, her sword still in his hand. He pulled out his hookshot and swung from a tree limb. He was closing in on her at this rate. She glanced behind and then quickly veered left. Link almost lost her but saw blonde hair flying past a tree.

Slipping on wet tree moss, Nagarishi turned back towards Link to recover herself, but failed and fell on her back. Link tried to stop, but came at her at such a force he tripped on the root that the moss was on and fell.

The rain fell on his back. He stared, blue into blue eyes. Nagarishi regained her senses and tried to get him off of her. He was heavier than she thought; he barely moved.

Link, of course, was shocked too and didn't realize his position until he heard her sword hit the ground, stopping as it hit a nearby tree. He lifted his torso off of her and held her arms down with his. His knees held her legs down so she would not kick him.

"Let me go! You-"

"No! I will not let you go until the evil you have committed has been set right! I have sworn to do this, or my name isn't Link!" She kept screaming at him, not hearing anything he said.

"Listen to me!" She looked into his angered eyes and was swept with fear, shutting her mouth lest he hurt her.

"Listen! If you have done something wrong, you must correct it! I have to rid this world of evil... I can't help if it's my job... It's... It's my destiny! Even if you are a woman..." He paused a moment. "And even if you are very pretty..."

Tears mixed with the rain slid down her cheeks. No one had ever said that before. No one. She closed her eyes and let her head fall to the side. She would let him do what he wanted with her. He didn't. He couldn't.

The last she thing she remembered was being jerked upward before everything went black. Link was right - she was weak. With their battle and running as fast and far as she had, struggling had used the last of her strength. The darkness was so comforting...

Black again. Her eyes soon adjusted to the dark of early morning, hours before sunrise. She was in a small warm room. She looked to her left and found a wall. To her right cross the room was a window, curtains closed. There was a table opposite the room, and two chairs, one of which was right next to her bed. In it was a familiar man hunched over and asleep. In his lap lay a woman's robe.

Nagarishi sat up as quietly as she could and looked over at Link. He looked so cute like that... Like a little child... She noticed the blue robe under his hands resting on his lap.

A smile painted her face. How could he be so kind to her? She had just tried to kill him! What was it he had said? His destiny...was to fight evil.

She didn't quite understand what he meant... What bound him to fight it in the first place? He didn't have to fight if he didn't want to...

Damn, I'm thinking like a criminal... Maybe I should just leave. We shouldn't be caught together... He'll be labeled an accomplice in my crimes and thrown into the dungeon with me...

She looked again at the robe in his lap... If she could gently move his hands and take it... Where was her sword?

Nagarishi hopped out of the bed, throwing off the covers almost silently. She hovered a hand over Link's. Her fingers lifted it gently off to the side... Now down... slip my hand off of-

A hand grabbed hers. Sleepy eyes opened. "Don't."

Nagarishi plopped back down on the bed, defeated. She crossed her arms and looked away like an angered child.

"If you want the robe, I'll gladly give it to you."

"What about my sword?" She didn't move from her position of disgust.

"I will not give you that. I hid it somewhere."

"Great. Wonderful. Can I have my robe now?" She held out her hand.

Link placed it in her hand and was amazed as she turned her back to him and started to undress.

He blushed, turning his head away. But he looked anyway... She wasn't completely turned away from him... And a breast just happened to be in view... He turned his eyes to the floor and twiddled his thumbs. His hair perfectly covered his eyes so she couldn't see them... He saw her, however.

"You better not be looking," She said almost playfully as she turned her head to look at him. She was raised on her knees as she began to unclasp the tarnished metal waistband. Link peeked again, not caught by her watchful eyes. Her legs were so smooth and perfectly curved...

A familiar feeling graced his loins and he tried hard not to think about what was in full view...

"There, I'm done. Now what?"

Link's mind came back to him in a few seconds. "Um... I should take them to be washed in the morning..."

"And?"

"You should sleep."

"And if I refuse?"

Link gave her a challenging glance.

"Fine!" She jerked back under the covers and turned her back to him. "Goodnight!" She shifted slightly away from him to finish the statement.

Link could only stare at her for that moment. His mind replayed that image. He shook his head.

"I'll be back for you in the morning." He said hastily as he left, locking the door behind him.

At least the cool waters of the stream set his mind back to its proper state. The waters were quite cool this time of season, perfect for a swim. He was glad he could be alone out here in the middle of the night. It relaxed him greatly to know there weren't any more monsters out.

He combed his fingers through his hair. Under his cap it had grown quite long and reached past his shoulders. He would have to cut it one of these days... He decided to braid it and keep it under his cap.

He let his mind wander as he stared up at the bright moon. He thought of how Nagarishi braided her hair and placed the loose end back into the start of it so it made a loop. Her hair was so long and soft... Her bangs spiraled at the end, brushing her knees as she walked. He wondered how she kept her hair out of the way during a battle... He was too busy dodging her sword to take notice of where her hair was. The image came back to his head.

He plunged down into the cold depths. His mind was driving him nuts with these images and imaginations. He hoped the cold would help.

It didn't.

Helpless, he stepped up onto the bank of the stream and grabbed his clothing and weapons.

Putting his boots on last, he was jamming his heel down into it when he heard the noise. He quickly put on the other boot and tiptoed to the edge of the brush he was hiding behind.

"That little..." He whispered as he saw Nagarishi running down the hill, silhouetted by moonlight. "How the hell did she get out!"

Stepping out into the clearing, he grabbed his boomerang and launched it towards her. Once he heard her cry from the shadows of the hills and cliff faces he ran towards it. Din's fire lit his way to her figure in the wet grass. She lay on her back; her head flopped to one side and the boomerang next to it.

"Oops..." Link hadn't meant to knock her unconscious...

Sighing, he scooped her up into his arms, grabbed his boomerang and took her back to their room in Kakariko Village. This 'relationship' of theirs was becoming very interesting. As he walked into the dark town, he realized that if they were caught together, they would be thrown into the dungeon together... He would be labeled an outlaw... a criminal. He was shocked at this realization but soothed his troubled mind with the thought that maybe the people wouldn't recognize her... She said someone had used a fake name to conceal her identity... Perhaps they wouldn't know her if she went by her real name. Or was it her real name? She said she woke up in Hyrule Field one day without memories of her life...

Maybe that was a good thing... or a bad thing. Link wasn't sure which.

He unlocked the door to find the window open. "So that's how you got out..." He looked down at her blank face. She looked like an angel... and yet an anger was present there. She carried a pain with her; he saw it in her actions towards him.

He lay her down on the bed, her robe slightly dirty. Before he had wanted to take off her other clothes so she wouldn't be so wet and uncomfortable from the rain, but...

The image. He looked down at the body he cradled in his arms. What the hell, he thought. He lay down beside her, next to her warmth. He had no intention of doing anything to her, but just lay there, completely relaxed. Deep darkness crept over him.

A twitch awoke him. He opened one eye and saw one looking back at him. Except this time it held no anger. Link smiled. She turned away and lifted herself up from the bed. Link sat up and leaned against the nearby wall. He sort of felt guilty, but then again he didn't. He wondered her reaction and felt like an idiot for smiling like that.

"What was that?" She asked as she took her hair down to braid it again.

"What?"

"What were you doing?"

Link quickly thought an excuse. "Well... I went out and took a bath in the stream... but it was cold, so I laid... next... to ...you..."

A disbelieving look graced her face. "And why does my head hurt?" Her arms were crossed. That was a bad sign...

"I... hit you with a boomerang?"

"Oh, was that all?"

"Then I carried you back here because... you ...were... unconscious..." He spoke each word after a slight pause, afraid she would be angry with his explanation.

Strangely, she smiled. She turned away and began separating her hair into three strands so she could braid it. So sweet... She thought in the back of her mind.

"What? You're not angry with me that I hit you in the head with a boomerang and dragged you off to some bed with me!" Link couldn't believe he'd just said that. Stupid, stupid, STUPID Link! He thought

She turned around, the braid half done. Her mouth was open slightly in her surprise. She answered casually. "It was my fault I got hit because I was running away. You only lay beside me because you were cold. You couldn't help that. You probably would have caught a cold or gotten sick or something if you hadn't. Then you wouldn't have been able to keep me in your possession. Right?"

Link was dumbfounded. He'd never heard such a truthful and straightforward answer like that before, especially from her. "I... umm... yes."

She smiled again and finished her braid loop, humming a Gerudo song.

Watching her perform her grooming ritual, he became aware of his own. Link took his cap off and found his hair still wet. He didn't have the time to braid it like he wanted because of her escape. He combed through it with his fingers and did as Nagarishi had to braid it. When he had finished, he noticed she was staring at him.

"You're not the only one with long hair." He rolled it up and put his cap on.

Suddenly she started laughing.

"You find men with long hair funny?"

"I've been told that men with long hair usually... prefer other men..."

Link's eye twitched. "I do not like other men. I don't know how people can say something like that judging from a man's hair length..."

Nagarishi nodded her head in agreement. "I suppose you're right. Such a silly thing for people to think." I'll find out for myself what you're really like. She laughed in her head, as her outward appearance hid her thoughts.

"Link, where are we going? Link? Link!"

Link only walked ahead, leading his horse Epona with the girl upon it. He looked back at Nagarishi. "We're going to Gerudo Valley."

Nagarishi was still a bit confused. What was at Gerudo Valley?

"Why?"

"You wanna find out who you really are, right?"

"I guess I do... Why?"

"Well, I figured since you seem so much like a Gerudo, and you are a girl, I thought you might have come from there." Link shrugged. He wasn't sure what he was going to find there, but he knew he'd probably be thrown into that jail of theirs again if he were caught...

He fished around in his shirt for that note he had gotten a few years ago that allowed him freedom in Gerudo territory. "Ah! There it is."

Nagarishi tried to see but Link's mass blocked her view. "What did you find?"

He held out the piece of paper. Her eyes widened as she read it.

"How did you get that! You must have killed a few hundred Gerudos to earn this..."

"No, I only battled their elite guards and won." He said as if he did that sort of thing every day.

Her jaw dropped.

The most highly trained guards in all the lands in swords, pikes, bows, missiles, knives, horses, martial arts... The list was almost endless. And this little blonde-haired man dressed like a Kokiri with his little Master Sword had beaten them all.

This made her angry. She'd never be able to get the real Master Sword with him watching over her. She was inadvertently squeezing the leather straps so hard they creaked. Link glanced back at her.

"Something wrong?"

She didn't speak. Link, looking slightly confused, shrugged and strolled up the sandy hill, Epona close behind. The great red-stoned entrance to Gerudo Valley loomed overhead. They only had to cross the pond and then the bridge to enter the fortress. Then questions would be answered.

Yes, well… That's it for the first chapter… I hope you all liked it, please R+R! ; And a little side note: This story is not what it seems! It's not just another Link meets girl and falls in love, it's more than that! Please stick around to read the rest, it gets better! I promise.

Misora