Since that terrible day, the day when Hyrule fell to the hands of the usurper twili king Zant and his master Ganondorf, Zelda kept blaming herself. It was, by her eyes, her fault, that her kingdom was taken so easily. All the suffering, all the pain, all the hurting… all because she was their ruler. Her father was a great king; he would have never allowed what happened. He was such a strong and yet beloved king… Zelda wished to be like him, but she wasn´t. And now that he was dead and it was her job to protect Hyrule, she had failed.
Ganondorf didn´t kill her, he didn´t even lock her in the dungeons, and she asked herself why. He let her walk around, almost freely, in the castle. A prisoner in her own castle. That made her feel even worse, knowing her people were probably suffering while she was fine, stuck in her own home, not able to do anything. Maybe that was the reason why she wasn´t dead yet. Maybe he wanted to make her feel miserable, dying from the inside. Either way, it worked. Zelda didn´t care anymore if he or Zant killed her; it was, by her eyes, what she deserved.
The first time Zelda saw Ganondorf was after her surrender, after Hyrule was his kingdom. Zant took her to the castle´s entrance where he stood, on his horse, surrounded by his army of dark creatures. Zelda was silent, while Zant was grabbing her arm to prevent her from running away and asked his master what to do to her.
Ganondorf took a look at her before jumping from his horse to stand on his feet. The first thing she noticed was how tall he was. He was one of the Gerudo; in fact, he was the last one of his kind, which was long gone. Zelda knew Ganondorf by name, but she had never seen him before.
"The princess of Hyrule, I presume" he spoke. She was still silent. A small grin appeared on his lips.
"Oh, of course! Where are my manners? I am Ganondorf…"
"…king of thieves." she interrupted.
"Yes, I see you know me" he replied, trying to ignore she called him ´king of thieves`. He actually was the king of thieves, and not that he didn´t like that ´title`, he just didn´t like, for somehow, hearing it from her.
Zant asked again "But, Master, what do you want me to do with her?"
Ganondorf looked at Zelda again, as Zant let her go. She couldn´t run anyway with all those creatures guarding any possible exit.
"Zant, you may go. I will escort the princess to her room myself" he finally decided.
Zant looked a bit upset with those orders and mumbled something before turning his back and disappear. Apparently, he was one of the not so few who wanted Zelda dead. And so Ganondorf escorted Zelda, without any Zant or his guards behind. They didn´t say a word, at least until they got to a room with a door that Zelda knew it led to a way where she would be able to escape. She only had to get rid of Ganondorf, and there would be no guards to stop her. She started creating an escaping plan in her head when he stopped her:
"You know, I wouldn´t try to run; there are guards behind every door. I´m not stupid, princess."Zelda look confused at him, wondering if he had read her mind. She had heard of his powers, but she didn´t actually think he had them.
They arrived.
"You may leave your room; you can go anywhere in this castle but you can´t go out. Just remember there are guards in every exit" Ganondorf told her, in a serious voice, before going away, leaving her alone in her room.
The days after Zelda didn´t see him very often, except at the meals. He always made sure that she ate beside him, so she wouldn´t skip her meals and starve. Even then they never talked, and after that she went back to her room and spent the rest of the day there. She did everything to avoid him until one day she was on one of the castle´s big gardens. Zelda liked that special place where she used to play when she was a little girl.
Suddenly, Zant appeared almost out of nowhere.
"Hello, princess."
She didn´t reply, but he continued as he walked towards her.
"You know, I don´t know what my Master Ganondorf sees so special about you… I don´t know why he keeps me from destroying you at once!" Zant mocked her.
But she didn´t care, she only heard one thing from Zant: it was Ganondorf who wanted her alive. It was him who was keeping her alive.
Zant continued his mocking:
"Yes, I don´t know what he wants with you; you´re not even useful to us! You can´t even defend your own kingdom!"
His last words went trough her like a sharp sword.
"I gave my kingdom to protect my people! It wasn´t my choice!" she replied, trying not to shout.
"That´s what the weak say!"
"Well, I may be weak, but at least I´m not an evil tyrant!"
"SHUT UP YOU USELESS BRAT!" Zant shouted as he tried to attack her before being stopped by a familiar voice "Zant!" Ganondorf called, loud but without shouting "Zant, what did I tell you? Step away from the princess!"
"B-but master, I…she…"
"Now! And if I ever catch you hurting…even touching her again, I´ll torment you for more than a lifetime! Go!"
Zant quickly disappeared. Ganondorf then turned back to go away too, but Zelda stopped him.
"Uh, G-ganondorf…?"she blushed a little, unsure of what exactly to say.
"Yes…?"he asked, a bit surprised.
"T-Thank you."
"You´re…you´re welcome."
And they continued each one their path. Zelda hated Ganondorf, tough she preferred him a lot over Zant, but she still owned him her life. If it wasn´t for him, she would have been killed by the twili that day.
A few days passed, and Zelda and Ganondorf became closer. Zelda could only talk to Ganondorf, since the guards were all just dark creatures and Zant would kill her if he had a chance. She didn´t forget what Ganondorf did to her, but since the day he ´saved` her, she started to see him in a bit different way. Maybe he did want her kingdom and it´s people, as he wanted to have his revenge on the sages that tried to kill him (his big scar on his stomach as proof of that) and, most importantly, as he wanted the Triforce, which was the power given by the goddesses that only her, him and The Hero possessed. But maybe, just maybe, tough he wanted those things, he never wished to harm her.
Then, The Hero came. One day, Zelda was alone in her room when The Hero came to talk to her. He was in his beast form, which made him look like a big wolf with bright blue eyes. But he wasn´t alone, he had the help of the twilight princess Midna. The two were fighting to save her and the kingdoms of Hyrule and Twilight, just like Zelda long waited, but she still felt a little bad for Ganondorf. She told them her story and guided them trough their journey, when suddenly they heard someone coming trough the stairs. The Hero and the twili Midna flee right before the door opened. Ganondorf entered the room and looked at Zelda. It took him a moment to realize what was going on.
"You… you spoke to the hero, didn´t you?" he asked, even tough he knew the answer.
She couldn´t speak. She felt bad. Zelda wanted to save her kingdom, but for somehow, she still felt bad for Ganondorf.
"Ganondorf, I won´t lie to you. He was here."
Ganondorf nodded.
"Thank you."
Zelda looked confused at those words, so he continued "thank you… for not lying to me."
And he left, without any more words.
"Sorry." She whispered tough he couldn´t hear her. "I´m sorry".
It didn´t take too long before The Hero returned, again in his beast form. In his second visit, the twilight princess was dying, and he searched for Zelda to heal her. And she did so. Zelda used her power to save Midna before she disappeared in front of them. The Hero and Midna flee again and left the castle.
Ganondorf was passing by the hall when he saw Zelda in her room. She was passed out due to all the magic she spent healing Midna. He reached for her, her sleeping weaken body lying on the cold floor, and carefully carried to her bed. He sat on the edge of the bed, near her body, and placed a hand on her forehead. He made a spell to give her back her energy. Zelda slowly opened and saw him. It was her enemy who had revived her.
"You´re alright?" he asked, worried something failed with his magic.
"Y-yes…" it took Zelda a moment to realize that where she was and who she was with wasn´t just another stupid dream of hers. She got up and sat next to Ganondorf.
"Ganondorf… why didn´t you kill me?"
"You wouldn´t serve me any good dead." he simply replied.
"But I wouldn´t serve you any good alive either, would I? Why didn´t you kill me or even best, why didn´t you take my triforce?" she paused and looked him in the eyes "I want to know the real reason."
He looked a bit upset at those words. He got up and looked down at her.
"You want to know the real reason? The reason is that I´m not the heartless monster that you and your people have been told! Have you even thought that maybe killing doesn´t pleasure me? Have you even thought that maybe it hurts me to, to be compared to a cruel assassin king of thieves? Have you even thought that maybe I´m not proud of my acts, that maybe I´m not just some heartless jerk, that maybe I can love too? Have you thought that maybe I´m a person like you?"
She got up too, to face him.
"If what you said is true, then why do you do this? Why did you do what you´ve done?"
"Because I wanted to be Hyrule´s king, to rule your kingdom, to have-"he stopped before he finished.
"To have what?"
"It´s not important anyway."
Suddenly, Zant called Ganondorf from the other side of the door. It wasn´t locked, just closed, but the twili didn´t want to risk having Ganondorf threatening him again.
"Excuse me, princess" and he left to talk to Zant. Zelda spied on them and discovered that Zant was going on a mission, back to the Twilight realm, to kill The Hero and the twili princess. "Zant won´t be a problem to The Hero. He´ll easily kill him."
Zelda couldn´t be more right. Days passed until she received the news.
The princess was in the castle´s library reading a book when one of Ganondorf´s minions told her that his master had summoned her. When she arrived Ganondorf was sitting on the throne.
"Zant is dead. The Hero killed him."
"I knew that twili couldn´t do it…"
"Yes, and now The Hero is heading to the castle to the final battle."
"What, already?"
Ganondorf was stopped before even open his mouth to answer her.
A sound of a thunder crossed the room. It had started to rain outside the castle and both the princess and the king knew what it was. The Hero and the twili princess had broken the magic barrier that protected the castle and they were now on their way. Zelda wanted it all to end, but not that way. She had feelings for Ganondorf, tough she never had the courage to tell him. And right from the beginning she knew she loved her enemy, even after all he did to her. She didn´t care if her people called her crazy, but she didn´t want him to die.
"Ganondorf, about what you told me some days ago… give up, and I´ll talk to The Hero, he´ll understand-"
"It´s not that simple, princess…"
"No, Ganondorf! I know you… the real you! If you tell them, everyone will forgive you! You won´t have to fight or hurt anyone. You won´t get hurt!"
"I can´t -"
"GANONDORF, HE´LL KILL YOU!"
"Zelda, please…" he used her name for the first time "it´s no more than I deserve… after what I´ve done to you and your people… I´m so sorry. This is the only way to fix things…"
"NO! GANONDORF! I forgive you! Please…"
"What I´ve done was so horrible that not even I could forgive myself. And now I´m going to pay for my mistakes. I´ll be at the goddesses' mercy. The Hero won´t die; he came this far and he´s given with great power. And I… I´ll either be killed and spend my eternity in the dark realm or I´ll live as a man forgiven by the goddesses."
Zelda hugged him, tears running trough her face. He held her close, and they stayed like this for moments.
"Zelda, there´s still one thing…two…that I want to tell you…"
She nodded.
"Zelda, in the final battle, please don´t hold back."
She was about to reply when he stopped her.
"I know you don´t want to do it, but please… I´m asking you as a friend… Will you do it… fight me as your enemy… for me?"
"Ganondorf… are you sure this is what you want?"
"It´s what must be done."
"Then…I´ll do it… for you…" she whispered.
He hugged her again.
"Thank you… I only want to tell you one more thing…"
"Yes…?"
"Zelda, I don´t want you to suffer… I´m just telling you this because it might be my last chance…" he paused "I love you."
Suddenly, Zelda found herself closing her eyes and falling backwards, passed out. It was a spell. Ganondorf took her body before it fell to the ground.
"I´m sorry, my love. For everything. Goodbye, my sweet princess; in a while I´ll leave this world." He whispered as he kissed her forehead.
Her sleeping body flied from his hands until it placed itself on a sacred statue between three triangles, above the throne.
When The Hero, who was named Link, and the twili princess came, Ganondorf was sitting on the throne. He ´introduced` himself, like planed from the beginning. When the time to battle came, Ganondorf disappeared in front of them and possessed Zelda´s body. Midna tried to stop him, but he was in the princess´s body already. The Hero was a bit afraid to hurt Zelda, since it was her body, just like Ganondorf expected. But after some of Link´s attacks, Zelda´s body was coming to it´s limit. Afraid to hurt her, Ganondorf pretend to be seriously hit by one of Link´s attacks and left Zelda´s body, which safely landed on the throne, protected by a magic barrier that Ganondorf created.
After that, Ganondorf turned into his beast form, Ganon, and started another round of attacks. Link alternate between his human and his beast form to defeat Ganon, making crush into the castle´s walls and hitting him with the master sword, the only sword capable of destroying the powerful Ganondorf. When beast Ganon was weak enough, Link turned into his beast form to strike his enemy while Midna used her power to grab Ganon in a position to show his scar, his weakness. Ganondorf was in pain and couldn´t take it any longer. He disappeared, and so as the barrier and the spell that made Zelda sleep, what made the heroes think Ganondorf was dead. Zelda woke up and walked towards Link and Midna. She didn´t know how to feel.
And then, all of the sudden, Ganondorf appeared. Midna saved Link and Zelda teleporting them to outside the castle, in Hyrule Field. The two were worried, Link about Midna and Zelda about both Midna and Ganondorf, mostly Ganondorf, until she and The Hero saw, in horror, Ganondorf in his horse crushing Midna´s helmet in his hands. "No, he couldn´t kill her…" Zelda found herself with Link in the middle of the spirits, who gave them powerful weapons, the light arrows. When they got back to the real world, they got in Link´s horse. They started chasing Ganondorf, in a horse race. When Link, who was driving the horse, got close enough to Ganondorf, Zelda pointed at the enemy one of the arrows. She hesitated a moment, her mind at a war with her.
"Shoot! This is your chance! He took your kingdom!" "He loves me!" "He killed Midna!" "I love him!"
Thoughts run trough her mind.
"This is what he wants. He begged you not to hold back."
She finally thought and shot.
At the third arrow, Ganondorf fell from his horse and hit the ground. "Thank you, Zelda" he thought as he got up.
A magic barrier closed him and Link on a circle. They both pulled out their swords as Zelda watched, from the other side, still on the horse with the bow and arrows on her hand, unable to do anything.
They fought both knowing only death would stop them. Only one of them would get out alive.
And then, the wind stopped. The sounds stopped. Time itself stopped.
Ganondorf looked down and saw, in horror, the master sword in his scar, trespassing his body.
Zelda couldn´t believe it. She saw Ganondorf saying his last words, tough she couldn´t hear them. She saw his lips moving and then, the last thing she could remember, was the triforce on his hand, his last sign of vitality, disappearing. His eyes lost their color, his heart stopped beating.
Midna appeared short after. "I knew he wouldn´t killed her" Zelda thought. Link ran to Midna, but Zelda kept looking to Ganondorf.
"Princess, you´re alright?" Midna asked, as she and Link got close to her.
"Yes" she tried to answer, unable to talk. "Yes" she finally said.
With this Midna teleported them to the mirror that lead to the Twilight realm. She said goodbye to Link and Zelda, who she had become friends with, but especially to Link. After leaving back to her kingdom, Midna shattered the mirror, the only entrance to her world. Link knew it was her duty, but he was still devastating.
When he and Zelda left, he said, as they travelled back to the castle "I´ll find another way. I´ll find her again."
Zelda looked at him. That boy would do anything for his love, even if he had to break the universe´s rules. And she had just practically killed the person she loved the most.
"You know" she said "Ganondorf wasn´t evil. I loved him. The real him."
Link stopped the horse.
"I´m sorry, I… I didn´t know-"
"It´s alright. He didn´t want you to know… he told me he deserved to be punished by being killed by you… and I told him not to, but… he said it was the only way." She said. When she noticed, they were passing by the place of his death. The body was still there, standing up in the middle of the nothing with a sword on his stomach.
"Link, can you leave me her alone for a moment, please? I´ll walk back to the castle."
Link nodded, as Zelda got down from the horse and walked towards Ganondorf.
Ganondorf was in a dark place. The only thing he remembered was being killed. Hit by the sword, he looked at Zelda before finding himself in that dark hole. And he almost knew what that dark hole was. A light shined trough darkness and three divine figures appeared. He kneed, knowing he was in the presence of the goddesses, ready to be judged for his evil acts.
"Ganondorf" said one of them "what you did could cost you great."
He didn´t reply, knowing it was true.
"And yet you realize it. We know how you regret everything. How you wish to undone your mistakes" another one spoke.
He looked up at the goddesses.
"We know how you changed, because of that princess. How your love for her made you see things in a different way. We know how she changed your heart. So we decided to give you another chance. You owe her your life."
Ganondorf smiled at them as he got up. "Thank you" he said, before a light surrounded him at took him away from that place.
She got close to him, and carefully took the sword from his body.
"G-ganon…dorf…"
Tears ran trough her face as she dropped the sword to the floor and fell on her knees in front of him. She didn´t even notice the triforce appearing in his hand.
"It´s all my fault… I´m so sorry…" she cried even if he couldn´t hear her.
For her surprise, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see the man she loved alive, smiling at her. Her tears quickly turned into a smile as she hugged him.
"It´s not your fault. I was forgiven by the goddesses… now I can start over again…" he said "thank you, Zelda."
"G-ganondorf…?"
"Yes?"
"A-about what you… said before… t-the battle…?"
They broke the hug.
"I wanted to tell you…"she started "…that I love you too."
They both smiled before they kissed.
They would start everything over. And this time, from another side.