He was about to leave for his mission in Holodrum. He was tasked by the gerudo witches Twinrova to kidnap Din, the Oracle of Seasons, in order to bring the seasons to ruin and cause the death of nature, destroying the land and lighting the Flame of Destruction, one of the three flames needed to revive a certain King of Evil. He didn't really think of his mission as challenging, having been certain to succeed against any foe. He was still glad he could do this mission for the two witches, who freed him from the black emptiness that was the Dark Realm. He really longed for the destruction of this Holodrum, to see blissful lifes in the light world rot and perish. So this task was a true gift. He was very thankful for that.

But just as he was about to exit the witches' cave, a light voice held him up.

„Wait!...".

He didn't turn around. What was she doing here, he wondered. He knew she worked for them too but she always seemed to be around when he was. He couldn't imagine her willing to waste her time spying on him or something along those lines.

„Onox... Do you still have some time?", the sorceress spoke. She sounded different than usual. In front of the twin witches she, while still showing deep respect, sounded always so confident and certain. This time however, she had this uncertainty in her voice, as if something was horribly wrong with her. Onox sighed a little, having wanted to leave as early as possible since the red-haired dancer could already be escorted by Hylian soldiers.

„...Yes, Veran. But make it quick", he answered. Veran didn't respond right away however. She took a few small steps forward, the heels of her boots clicking slowly and quietly on the stony floor before she decided to stop, still being many feet away from the golden armored general. Onox finally turned around, facing the Sorceress of Shadows with an impatient glare.

She looked away when he gave her this look and finally began to speak. „...We... are allies... aren't we?", she asked. Onox was confused. Of course they were. Why did she waste his time with such a self-evident question. „Yes, we are. Is that a problem for you?", he asked her while getting a little frustrated. He just wanted to leave.

„No, of course not! In fact...". She looked him in the eyes, but not for long. „...I'm glad to be working with you". As soon as she finished this sentence, she couldn't keep up the eye-contact anymore and stared on the floor instead, her cheeks having become a little more blue than usual. The General of Darkness couldn't stop himself from grinning at her. „You should be!", he answered, without realising how ashamed and nervous she was. And that she was actually planning to say something else.

Ignoring his enormous amount of pride, she continued. „...I... You... Do you... Are you... also glad to be working... with me?", she managed to ask. He gave her a half-grin in response. „Yes... unless you waste more of my time. I have to leave now", he spoke, turning around once again and willing to finally step out of the room. At first she stood there silently, watching him leave. Quickly however, she began to have second thoughts. She still didn't manage to say what she actually wanted him to know. She knew that if she didn't tell him now, she would never try to do so again. So she couldn't let him leave just yet.

„N-No, please! I'm not done yet!". Onox took a deep breath. He stood still once again, but was much more annoyed now. He turned around to face her once more, his impatience being replaced by an almost unhealthy amount of annoyance. And anger. „Veran, I don't have time for this! Say whatever you want to say now or just let it be! I have a mission to accomplish, you know!". He didn't want to scream at her. But now it was too late. Just what in the world was wrong with her?

„Yes, I know! I'm sorry. Just let me say this..."

„Say what?"

„I-I... You have to know... You have to know that I... that I... that..."

„That you what?!"

„...that I... that w-we... t-that..."

„What, Veran, what?! You're really testing my nerves right now!"

„I-I... I..."

„Veran! JUST WHAT IS WRONG WITH-"

„I CAN'T DO IT!"

Silence then filled the room. Veran, the unfearful master of possession, couldn't hold her emotions back anymore. A single but heavy tear escaped her visible eye and ran down her dark blue cheek. As soon as she realised this, she wiped off the transparent representation of sorrow and looked at her now wet hand in utter disbelief. That was nothing like her, she thought. However, she couldn't stop herself from sobbing and trembling more. And she did while holding her right arm with her left hand in a shy defensive pose, a pose she was usually never seen in.

Onox wasn't mad anymore. He was shocked. He had never seen her cry before. He couldn't even imagine what she would have looked like if she did. And now that imagination would have been irrelevant anyway. The general decided to approach her some steps. „I can't tell you... but I want to...", she wept quietly, „... You'll laugh at me... I'm certain of it!...". He looked at her in disbelief as his anger reappeared, however not for her anymore, but for himself. He felt bad for screaming at her, despite the fact that she made him lose precious time. „...Veran, I won't laugh at you, whatever it is. Seeing you in such a vulnerable state can only mean that it has to be something serious". He certainly was right about that.

After a few moments, Veran managed to look at him again. He was only two meters away from her now. She was surprised as well as flattered that he didn't just run off since she had wasted so much of his time already. However, this didn't make it any easier for her. She looked at his lips.
They were opened a bit and expressed confusion and shock. She blushed a little because she wanted to see him smile again.

„Onox... Promise me that you won't laugh. And I'll tell you. I swear", she spoke, still a bit tremulous.
He looked at her for a few moments, before answering. „Yes, I promise, Veran. Just say it already or else I'll die from senility", he joked.

„Good...". She took a deep breath. And another one. Onox began to be a little scared that she wouldn't say it this time either. „Onox... I, Veran, wan't you to know that I...".
Oh no, not again, he thought. She swore to tell him so why did her words try to flee in panic again?

„...that I..."

„WHEN WILL YOU SAY IT ALREAD-"

„...THAT I LOVE YOU!"

She did it. She finally managed to tell him. After all this time.
She was proud of herself. But also very ashamed. Her cheeks almost burned from blushing.

Onox became silent. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. „...You do what?...". He needed some moments to realise and settle down what she had just told him. He even wondered if he was only dreaming. When he finally realised that this was indeed reality, he looked her in the visible eye.

And started laughing.

„...GUAH HAH HAH HAH!". His laugh was so loud, it echoed through the cave with ease. He covered his face with his armored hand and grinned and laughed to a deadly extent, without realising how much he hurt her.

„...O-Onox...". She couldn't believe it. She had to throw all her pride, all her strength and all her certainty out of the window, only for him to laugh foolishly about it. She couldn't accept, nor live with such a reaction.

„YOU PATHETIC MORON!", she screamed at him, cutting off his laughter. „YOU PROMISED ME YOU WOULDN'T LAUGH!". Another tear made it out of her eye. Her whole body was shaking like crazy while her hands rolled up to fists, ready to punch him in the mouth if she had to. When he thought so little about her deep feelings for him, she would have had nothing to lose.

However, Onox was surprised about her sudden madness. „V-Veran...", he spoke, „... This is not why I'm laughing...". Even after canceling his laughter, he still couldn't manage to stop grinning, despite her awful mix of feelings, ranging from embarrassment and disbelief to utter sadness and anger. „I just can't believe that... that...". He realised that he suddenly stuttered as well. And that for a reason, as he could have never imagined her saying something like this to him. Ever. „...that you... the great sorceress Veran... fell in love with me...". Bad for him that his helmet didn't cover his cheeks, so that their change in color to a shimmering red could clearly be seen by the sorceress of shadows. He was still smiling though. He couldn't hide his happiness at all. And he didn't want to either.

„...G-great?", she asked him, slowly calming down and wiping away her tears only for a few new ones to come along their way. Still smiling, he told her that this word was actually not good enough to describe her. „Veran... I always thought of you as the best ally I could think of. You're strong, talented, smart and...". He starred at her for a long moment. „...beautiful". Onox was behaving different than usual too. He became silent, his smile growing smaller and his face redder. He had no idea what to say next. He still couldn't believe that all of this was really happening. And from this moment on, he didn't have to lie to himself about how much he cared about her anymore.

He noticed that Veran had no words left either, so that the two allies simply starred at each other. Onox examined all her visual features with his three eyes. Her bright orange hair, her staint-free bright blue skin, her muscular stomach, her lean arms and her beautiful face. At the same time she ogled him. His intimidating height, his wide stature, his beige skin and lips and his thick, golden, robust armor which almost completely covered his body, much to her disappointment. However, she was glad that at least the lower part of his face was visible. She simply adored that bright smile of his. Whenever he smiled, she had to smile too. Since she never wanted him to notice, she tried to hide her grins though. She just couldn't help herself. Whenever he had that happy look on his face, he looked so awfully cute. She knew he was a super strong menace but rather thought of him as cute and charming instead of dangerous and intimidating. Sadly, she thought, he wore too much armor for her to see more of him than only his smiles. However, this made her fantasies about how exactly the strong-built general looked under all that gold even wilder.

Without them really noticing, they slowly stepped forward. And after only a few feet, they stood right in front of each other. Since he was a head taller than her, he had to look down to face her, while she had to lift her head. She did not however. Instead, she let her head sink in embarrassment, not willing to show her unimaginably strong attraction to him despite having already done the first step. She was still ashamed about her confession but he wasn't at all. Slowly lifting his hand, which was almost as big as his or her whole head, he touched her chin, holding it lightly with his pointing finger and thumb. He proceeded to lift her face up for their eyes to meet again. Only this time, they weren't even a meter apart.

Now he had a much better view of her face. Her eyes... he found them breath-taking. Yellow and ruby-red as well as beautifully shaped. Then her soft, blushing cheeks as well as her perfectly shaped, a bit pointy nose. And her lips. Those lips. They were intensive dark blue. And so thick, shiny and soft. So soft...

„Oh Veran...". He couldn't hold himself back any longer and went straight for the next step. His eyes were shut so he couldn't see how much he had surprised her. Her cheeks burned but were cooled down a little by Onox' hands, as he held her cheeks, pressing her lips against his in a feverish manner. After a moment, her eyes closed as well as she wrapped her arms around his neck, returning his passionate kiss. Then their lips parted, with the general's intention to look at the ravishing beauty that was his eternal crush, only for their lips to meet again right away. Kissing her even more intense than before, he lifted her up and wrapped his muscular armored arms around her naked waist tightly. A moan escaped her lips as she held his cheeks with her warm hands, stroking them with her thumbs as their kiss went on.

Didn't he have an important mission to accomplish? At this moment, in this state, he totally forgot.

All he could think of now was Veran, the beautiful, smart and sassy sorceress who managed to steal his heart in no time. But because he never expected her to feel the same, he never bothered telling her. His pride simply had stood in the way.

Holding his grip on her slim but muscled hips and giving her an intense massage there, she gasped in pleasure, biting his lower lip a little before placing her hands at the back of his head, pulling herself deeper into the kiss. Without her much noticing, another small tear dropped down her cheek. It was a tear of happiness.

After all, she would have never expected this to happen either.

After another moment or two, their lips finally parted as they were completely out of air from their long intense first kiss. Looking at his now more than just working partner, the general proceeded to embrace her. Slowly stroking her back, he let her rest against his chest a little before he proceeded to look her in the eyes once more. „Veran... I love you too...", he spoke, still out of breath. Veran simply smiled in response, not being ashamed anymore and knowing that she couldn't have kept her feelings from him for all eternity. With half opened eyes, she looked into his. Sadly for her though, they were hidden by the pointy golden helmet he wore, as she could only see ruby-red gloom coming out of the three holes of his helmet. She imagined how his eyes could look like, but was always certain that they looked gorgeous. Just as breath-taking as her own, she thought.

Still hugging, she lay her head against his chest once more, striving her hand over his golden armor, not willing to break the hug anytime soon. Starring at his chest, she looked at the red Gerudo-symbol on it. And remembered.

„Onox... Your mission! We totally forgot!", she realised, looking up at him in shock and apologizing for making him lose so much time. „We are such dummies...", she found. At the same time though, she was so glad for all of this. They parted from their long embrace and Onox smiled a bit nastily at her. „You are a dummy, you meant to say", he said, „If it weren't for you telling me about your feelings...". Veran shook her head in disbelief and grinned. „Well, you were the one who kissed me!", she replied. „I had to return the favor, as a gentleman of course", was his answer. Veran couldn't stop herself from laughing a little about his comment. „A gentleman who will destroy all of stupid Holodrum!", she replied. Both of them laughed at this. When they finally managed to stop, he looked at her with a half-grin. „Well, towards you naturally... I don't care much about those foolish lowlifes...".

Shortly after that, he finally exited the cave, with Veran by his side.

„Good luck, you big dofuss...", she said with a blushy look on her face. Onox grinned.
„What about a good luck kiss instead?". Veran couldn't believe her ears and asked him who was the one who was wasting time now. And his answer was simple, but coming from heart.

„Kissing you is never a waste of time".

Veran's cheeks became bluer once more, as she approached him seductively. „Oh, come here, you idiot...", she said.
And their lips met once again, both of them wishing their union could last forever.

And if they had known about the final outcome of their quests...

... they would have never parted.