Zelda

It had taken longer than she'd anticipated, thanks to the interferences. If he'd just stayed out, she could have been done with the desert in two years. Instead, because he had come mucking about for three, it took her five. Five to cleanse the desert, to purify it and restore it to a state where it could, at long last, start recovering on its own.

She stood at the edge of the desert, weary and worn, then glanced over her shoulder at the place where the prison had once stood. It had been her first target for purifying, and if that idiot hadn't come out, it would have been dust long before he'd gone in.

She sighed a little, and shook her head. Of course Ganon would return to the desert. It had, at one time, been his. It was no longer, but he'd needed to make sure of that himself, obviously. And muck up her planned fixes in the interim, because he did that.

Well, no matter. She was done now, at long last. The desert could go to the moldorm, the lizalfos, the moblins...Whichever way it would tip now, was no longer her problem.

No, her problems were normal and mundane. With the last of her requisite task completed—in far shorter time than she'd anticipated, delays and all—her mortality had been returned. All she had to do now was check on a few other places in a calm and unconnected manner, and then... well, the future was, for once, a blank page. It was exciting.

Raiha slid casually down the incline towards Lake Hylia, a small, beatific smile on her face. Sure, there was sand in places where it wasn't comfortable, her clothes were rather worn, and she herself needed a bath like nobody's business, but still... it was good to finally be free.

Diving into the cool water was a shock to a system that had grown used to the desert heat, the warm pools of oasis she'd called forth. No spirit spring; the desert was healing, but not healed, and in truth, it was not really part of Hyrule. It was not under the Queen's jurisdiction, and it never had been, despite occasionally being casually annexed by the nobility who thought it might bear some profit.

It was a welcome shock, however, and partially mitigated by the Zora tunic she wore that allowed her to breathe underwater, and communicate with the Zora people. Which were, of course, the first of the Hyrulean people that she did communicate with, considering that Lake Hylia was part of the territory that was theirs.

She spent a week within the lake, swimming and listening by turn as the Zora informed her of the events they knew of. They were not, by any stretch, as communal with Hylians as the Gorons were, but they were able to fill her in on many details of the past five years. Zelda shedding the title of princess and upgrading to Queen was no surprise. Zelda having a baby, on the other hand, rather was.

The news of the slowly settling unrest was also unsurprising; she had known her wish would manifest in occasionally odd ways, but then, balance in all things was hardly an easy status to maintain. It would be a worthwhile endeavor, to be certain, but not an easy one.

At the end of the week, when she had retrieved news, and a few other things the Zora had kept safe for her, she took the path up to the plains, and looked around.

The walls around the Markets were still very much a work in progress, but they were higher than she'd expected them to be. After a moment she saw why, and stifled a smile; Gorons were very good with stone, and if she was assessing correctly,they made up over half of the beings working on the walls. With them watching, naturally things would go easier and faster.

She joined the flow of people heading into Castle Town with their carts and goods for sale, keeping her hood up to avoid people remarking upon her appearance. She had been told by the Zora that Ganon had returned and was now Master of the Guard; knowing him, he would immediately pounce on the news of a red-haired, brown-skinned, golden-eyed woman in town. And while she was looking forward to seeing them all again, she was not so inclined to rush into it.

It had been, after all, five years. And while there had been no suggestion that Queen Zelda had taken a husband, there was the fact that she had had a child.

Raiha still wasn't entirely sure how she felt about that, though resignation and acceptance were close runners for the main feeling.

Instead, she wandered the market in an absent way, taking note of new shops that had replaced some of the ones who hadn't been able to return. A startled yelp snagged her attention and she jumped aside in reflex as a wheeled fruit cart shot past her, heading for the fountain, chased by its owner who was yelling apologies as he passed by.

She blinked a few times, and snickered a little as the cart met the fountain, all the fruit within falling into the water, much to the owner's aggravated dismay. She walked calmly past as two of the guardsmen came to help the poor man gather up his fruit and his cart, taking the long bridge up to the castle.

Raiha was not alone there either, though she was one of the few people on foot. Most were riding horses, or in carriages, wearing clothes far more fine than hers. It made her stand out some, earning her some odd looks. She kept her spine straight, her head raised; these popinjays were not going to cow her into anything.

Getting into the lower levels of the palace was the easy part. Due to her nature of dress, it was presumed she was here as a petitioner, to share some grievance with the Queen and get a royal ruling on whatever was causing trouble within her small life. She was shown to a large waiting room where other people of varying stations in life were also gathered for the same thing, and elected to sit back and watch for a while.

It was fairly illuminating; a clerk would come by, take a name, and ask pertinent questions about the problem. In some cases, the clerk themselves could offer advice on how to handle the matter, though that only seemed to happen to one in ten with any sort of satisfaction. People would be escorted politely off a small handful at a time, clearly in order of case. Some of them returned to wait, others left, looking either satisfied or annoyed.

After an hour, Raiha simply leaned back on her stool, and found an oddly notched stone along the wall that, when pressed in slightly, shifted a section of the wall covered by a tapestry that was less then a foot away from her. Quietly, unobtrusively, she slipped between the hanging and the room, and into the tunnels, quietly closing the door behind her.

The tunnels, she found, were not well lit, but they did appear to have been cleaned recently. As this meant she wasn't walking through years of dust, she wasn't inclined to complain. Quiet listening indicated that they weren't patrolled either. She wasn't sure whether to be pleased or annoyed by that one, then shrugged lightly and decided to make her way up to the Queen's study. It wouldn't be the first time she'd done this, after all, and surprising Zelda sounded a bit like fun.

Raiha listened carefully at the paneling for several minutes, hearing a familiar muted voice humming a quiet song. Curiously, carefully, she slid the panel open enough to peer through, and couldn't stop the rueful smile at what she saw.

Zelda was sitting on the long, plush couch, a blond baby in her arms. At best guess, the child was a bit over a year in age, but she could easily make out the thatch of blond hair. After a moment in which she rehearsed what she ought to say, she slid the panel open and stepped silently out into the study.

"I wasn't expecting clean tunnels. I'm guessing you had them mapped?"

Zelda jumped, and her arms tightened in reflex around the baby. Raiha grinned a little, and pushed back her hood.

"You were expecting someone else to come through the tunnels?" she asked wryly as Zelda stared.

"R... Raiha?"

Raiha gave a perfunctory bow, then grinned again.

"Hey. Long time no se-gack!"

Whatever she'd expected, it had not been to be all but tackled by Zelda, who still carried the small child at that! She didn't quite fall, but she did stagger. Zelda just hugged Raiha with her free arm, her head on the redhead's shoulder. A little awkwardly, Raiha returned the hug, lightly patting her friend on the back.

"You have been away for far too long," Zelda said after a moment, her voice a little wobbly.

"Well... I had a few things to look into before I could be... mortal," Raiha said carefully. "It took both more and less time than I had initially expected. It's... complicated."

"I should have known..." Zelda smiled, and stepped back, wiping moisture from her eyes. "Here, come sit. There is much to tell you about."

"Like the little mite you're carrying?"

Said little mite was looking up with big,very blue eyes at Raiha. Raiha looked back, a little nervously; she had never really known how to deal with babies. Children, sure, but babies always worried her.

Zelda smiled softly down at the baby, and led Raiha to the couch.

"This is Tetra, named for my grandmother," she said. "Would you like to hold her?"

"Ahhh... no. I'm... babies and I aren't necessarily compatible, Zel. I'll watch though."

Zelda nodded a little, accepting the answer, much to Raiha's relief.

"I'm guessing that's Link's daughter?" she hazarded after a moment.

"By blood, yes. But Ganon is also her father," Zelda giggled a little. "You should see how he dotes. He goes all to pieces over her, always wanting to carry her around whenever they're in the same room."

Raiha blinked.

"...that's very Gerudo of you," she said after a moment, surprised.

"I am aware, yes," Zelda's smile was warm. "Ganon has said the same thing. It is true that I am very fond of Link. But I am also very fond of Ganon... and I have missed you as well. I did not want you to think that perhaps there would be no place for you here. Because... because in truth, I think all four of us would be very good parents to this small one, and to any futures children that we can elect to have."

Raiha just blinked again. This was not the conversation she'd expected to have happen, not in the least. Being broadsided like this by Ganon she could have understood. But Zelda? Her Zelda?

"Very Gerudo of you," she managed after several minutes. "I'm assuming your nobility is protesting?"

"Of course they are," Zelda replied comfortably, rocking Tetra gently. "But it's not up to them, it's up to us. And thus far, Link, Ganon, and I are quite happy with how things have one. They've both missed you rather terribly..."

Raiha rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

"Well... I didn't exactly know what was going to happen. And then... then I had a few things left to do before my duty was fully discharged."

"And is it now?"

She shrugged a little, leaning over Tetra and dangling a small gem on a chain for the baby to grab for. Blue eyes tracked the sparkling stone; Raiha smiled a little as the girl gurgled, and grabbed as she was supposed to. Holding babies was confusing, but this sort of thing she'd done with cousins all the time, back when she'd had them.

"More or less. It's not my problem any more, at least. What happens now depends on what happens in the desert, and if the nobles can keep their greedy, sticky paws out of the place."

"What did you do?" Zelda asked.

"...get interrupted, mostly," Raiha replied, annoyance flickering through her voice. "I might've been back sooner if he'd waited another six months, but nooo, he had to go in right when I was working. And get himself sick so that I had to drop everything and make sure his sorry ass didn't die."

Zelda giggled a little, and leaned lightly against the redhead.

"He did very good, I thought, to wait and help for a year, even if he did make a number of things explode."

"...still doing that?"

"Yes, but now it's on purpose." The queen paused for thought, gently putting Tetra on a nearby blanket so the baby could play with the plush toys nearby. "Mostly. Do you want me to tell them you are here?"

Raiha was quiet for a moment.

"...not both at the same time. Pretty sure one is going to yell at me and the other will cry on me, and I'd rather not have it happen at once, because knowing them..."

Zelda laughed softly, nodding in understanding.

"Then, do you have a preference to whom I tell first?"

"...not really. Whoever's least busy right now, I suppose?"

"Well, I had to send Link to deal with some issues in the East, near Kakariko, so I suppose you'll be getting yelled at first," she teased gently. "Did you know he now has two younger brothers?"

"That's news to me," Raiha chuckled a little. "I remember how much he hovered over his sister when she was born. Does he go home often to dote on them?"

"Well, being Queen's Champion does have its perks," Zelda nodded a little. "Unless I need him for something important, like that problem he's currently working on, he's usually helping to train guardsmen. He's got a knack for that, which is wonderful. Ganon, as you might have heard already is-"

"Master of the Guard, I know. I could tell. Some of the gaurdsmen in town look like they've been doing some Gerudo-styled training," Raiha grinned a little. "I can improve on that, at least, once he's done yelling at me." She paused thoughtfully, then snickered a little. "Can I borrow Tetra for that meeting?"

Zelda laughed, and gave Raiha a gentle push.

"No using the daughter as a shield. She's not old enough," the blonde mock-scolded.

Raiha sighed theatrically, then grinned wryly, carefully dropping an arm around Zelda's shoulders.

"Killjoy."

Zelda only smiled and leaned her head more comfortably against Raiha's shoulders.

"I have a court position for you as well, if you'll accept it?" Zelda asked after several minutes of comfortable silence.

"Depends on what it is."

"Royal Sage."

Raiha blinked, and straightened in surprise.

"Just because you're not immortal any longer doesn't make you any less who you were... are," Zelda continued, her expression and tone turning serious. "And you have more knowledge than anyone else I've ever met, on pretty much every subject I can think of, and no doubt more that I cannot. You're sensible, and have no patience for the nobility's attempts at double-talk, though you can do it quite well yourself, and... and I really do want you to stay, but I know you like having something to do, and you would do this job well, I think... Please?"

"Zellie, you don't have to offer me a job to make me stay," Raiha said, surprised all over again. "All you have to do is ask."

"Yes, I know, but I..." Zelda looked down at her hands for a long moment, then over at the baby, who was happily pulling on the legs of a stuffed wolf. "The four of us are not that much alike in personality, but... we all need to feel as though we are doing something, accomplishing... something worthwhile. You're the same... I remember, after all, that you were at your most content when you were teaching me. Link has said the same; you were always at your best when giving him lessons.

"As the Royal Sage, your biggest challenge will be finding, or making, spell primers. I remember you saying that with the Triforce repaired and replaced that magic would return, and..."

Zelda's words trailed off, and Raiha just studied the paler woman. There was a lot that Zelda wasn't saying, and Raiha could read it all. Worry, loneliness... even the fear of abandonment. It wasn't writ loud or large; it couldn't be, not with the way she'd been taught. But because Raiha had been the teacher, she knew.

Eventually she just sighed in pure irritated exasperation. It made Zelda blink.

"Children," the redhead muttered, leaning back and away from the other woman so that she could rub her forehead.

"...I suppose compared to yourself, I am," Zelda smiled a little sadly.

"You and Link, and yes, even the idiot, are all children by comparison," she sighed again. "Look, I'll be honest, hearing about the baby made me worried. Your words have helped alleviate that worry a bit, but now it depends on the boys, and while you might know what they think, and I might know what they think, until I actually see them again, and talk with them, one-on-one like I'm doing with you now, I won't know for certain if I'm actually going to stay or not.

"And unlike you," Raiha continued after a pause, "I'm actually okay with that. It's been the standard of my life for the whole of it. I'm a very transient being because otherwise, I couldn't do the thing I was meant to do. Right now, in this moment, there are very strong bonds of affection and friendship that can easily sway me into staying. If there's more than that,I don't know, and even if I did, I probably wouldn't say because there are things I am reticent about, you know."

Her tone had lightened enough that Zelda smiled a little, nodding.

'Feelings' were a thing Raiha understood, and had mostly divorced herself of. Mostly. She was mortal enough to know that some things were inevitable, and space, distance, gave her solace, but at the same time the Gerudo were, to a woman, sociable by nature. And as much as she'd hated being Gerudo at times, she had been born and raised to the clan. She had been accepted into a clan and learned what she hadn't been able to in her first life, and taken great pains to remember those things, even as other memories dimmed.

If nothing else, sustained by those memories, she knew which option it was time to at least partially discard.

"You'll have me at least until I've had my conversation with Link, at which point I'll decide... which way to let the arrow fly."

Zelda's expression was masterfully controlled, but Raiha could see the sad acceptance in her eyes. Knowing that she could not—more importantly would not—offer any reassurance that might not be true, Raiha just shrugged a little in recognition of her own fallacies, and changed the subject.

"You don't have any meetings today?"

"Not at the moment, but unfortunately, within the hour I will have to go and help the people that have come with specific grievances. I had hoped that I would be able to raise Tetra without the benefits of a nanny, but it would seem that is not the case."

Raiha chuckled a little.

"At least you're doing better than your own father did," she pointed out dryly. "He left you entirely to the nanny, and then entirely to me when I arrived to begin giving you lessons. I think he regretted that, but I admit, you do look like your mother. You sound like me, though."

Zelda chuckled a little.

"And what a grand gift that was, for many reasons," she replied, leaning forward to watch as Tetra started pulling herself across the blanket towards the two women. "You taught me much wisdom, and your voice has always been the one to reach me easiest in dire times. A number of the problems I have solved recently were mostly due to thinking about how you might handle the problem."

Raiha laughed.

"I am probably the worst person to emulate when dealing with the crap your court gets up to, kiddo," she said wryly.

"Actually, you're quite helpful. You easily intuit what they are up to, and the only reason you never get involved is because it had been to small and petty. You're an example, though, not... a blueprint."

Raiha snickered this time.

"Better. Nayru knows I have no patience for their bickering and land squabbles. You don't either, but you're better at diffusing such situations, as suits the ruler of Hyrule. I don't doubt there are some idiots who make you throw things once you're in a safe place, but you've never lost your temper outside of a few times when you were still learning."

"...times when you were away, at that," Zelda said with a note of surprise in her voice.

"Oh, I hear everything eventually," Raiha smiled a little, being deliberately mysterious.

Zelda huffed slightly, making the redhead snicker again.

"One, there's the tunnels. Utilized properly, they are very good spying tools," she said with an impish smirk. "Two, servants gossip and it's not hard to disguise myself. Three, guardsmen all talk. Sitting in the mess hall with them is a very good way to glean information that is light, and non-confidential."

"I... do not know what to do about the tunnels. Ganon is concerned as well..."

Raiha nodded in understanding.

"Guards would be bad, because they're secret for a reason," She said stretching an arm out absently. "Trust the wrong person, and that secret can become a liability. And knowing him, he's still blowing up spells that require a delicate touch, despite the training I've given, and no doubt the training he's more fully recalled."

"...you would not be incorrect, though most of the time he blows things up on purpose now."

"Which probably means he's not trying to work the little spells."

Zelda sighed, nodding a little. Raiha snorted.

"Add that to the list of things to yell back about. Anyways. Point. I can set up alarm spells in them, keyed to go off if anyone you don't want using them shows up in them. I'd guess Link, Ganon, and yourself, plus the baby?"

"No doubt you as well," Zelda said a little archly.

Raiha only grinned.

"It'll have to wait for Link, since I'd need him here to tie him in," the redhead continued. "It's much easier to tie in everyone at once than it is to go back and add in new people. Though I expect I'll have to do that at some point if you have more children. Were you considering having more children?"

"...I was, but not until Tetra is at least five years of age. Old enough to understand that I.. we, will love her no less just because there will be another sibling."

Raiha smiled faintly, nodding. More conservative than a true Gerudo, but then, there was no need to try and preserve a dying race any longer. Zelda could afford to do things that way.

"I'll teach you the spell then. But not now. You have a meeting in about twenty minutes."

Zelda sighed a little, picked Tetra up, and got to her feet.

"Then I suppose I shall have to give Tetra to the nanny, since you would otherwise unfairly utilize her presence to avoid a shouting match," she teased gently. "And I can show you a room that you can claim as your own, though you'll have to find the housekeeper yourself. Ganon will be in his office, so if you wish to argue, that is probably the place. If nothing else, you will be half-rescuing him from the paperwork side of his job, which he seems to not care for."

"Maybe I should let him suffer for a few more hours," Raiha said, a wicked grin crossing her face. "Have him be too tired to get snippy."

"Is that a state he can get into?" Zelda asked curiously as they headed out of the study.

"...probably."

"Hmmm..."

Raiha snickered a bit and offered a light shrug.

"Well, it could happen. He has a finite amount of energy now, even if it's far more than anyone else. Which should change, now that things are back where they belong. It won't be a fast change, but we'll start seeing the start of it within the next decade, give or take a few months."

"You mean there will be more people accidentally blowing things up?"

Raiha's grin turned downright impish.

"It may even be your own daughter~"

Zelda made a face at her former teacher. Raiha only laughed.

It was good, if temporary, to feel at home again.

"By the way. What did you do to your hair?"