The room was stuffy, even more so than usual, although it could have been entirely down to our boredom. Myself, advisor to the Gerudo King and his second – and Nabooru, captain of the Gerudo army and the Kings Left Hand, were now acting as substitutes for our absent leader. But it carried little weight other than overseeing minor requests from our charges, making sure the town and fortress were running as intended and answering a lot of boring, trivial queries from outside lords, leaders and anyone else to fall under a similar category. The desert was calm and void of much trouble, as it had been for the last few hundred years. Nabooru and I were bored.

We had both retreated to the King's study for the evening, Nabooru was practicing sparing with an invisible foe, while I had opted to do as little activity as possible in the humid sticky air and instead delved into a book I had picked up some days ago. This was part of our routine now, we'd meet at the end of each day to unwind, but also to go over any business we had attended to. The topic of discussion on this particular evening had been of our kings whereabouts. We knew he had gone to Hyrule Castle and not much else.

"Did he speak to you about the nature of his visit?"

I shook my head, "Not really, nothing more than being summoned to speak with the Hylian King, I just want the outcome to be pleasant. We've all had enough of fighting battles we didn't even want."

Nabooru hummed her agreement, still making strikes at an unseen enemy, "It's been generations since the last conflict between us and Hyrule, they shouldn't even have reason themselves to start a war."

"Labeling us as outcasts has proven to not be good enough for them in the past. Their trust wavers, that's what worries me, not Ganondorf's actions. I trust him."

I heard my friend almost purr from beside me, "Obviously with your position as advisor I expect you to be close to the King, but when did you become so familiar Nali?" The way she elongated the word and the smile spread across her pretty face had me fidgeting with my book, but I did well to hide it.

"As captain of our forces, I expect you to not be so invasive and plain nosey."

"Oh, it's our forces now is it?"

I reached out to swat at her as she jumped back giggling. I would have given chase had there not been a brief and soft knock on the door and a scouts head appeared to tell us dinner was being served.

"Later," I warned as I pointed a finger at her, "we'll see about working on manners."

The smile never left her face, "I hope that's a fancy way of challenging me to a real fight?"

I simply tapped my nose as I closed my book and made to leave the room.

The bustle of the dining hall was a comfort which was greatly welcomed, and everyone was too focused on wolfing down food to bother me with more questions about our King. It had been at least a week and a half since he'd left and I was getting anxious, he should have been home by now. Nabooru made some excuse to take her dinner to her quarters which only elicited a glare from me, but I shooed her off anyway. Taking my usuall seat at the head table, I waved down a scout as I piled my plate with some of the food strewn in front of me. It had barely been touched considering only one of the normally three people that ate here was present. The scout stood beside my seat and saluted, "How can I help ma'am."

"Nabooru has told me she sent scouts out as far as the oasis this past week, have any of them returned?"

The young girl nodded tightly, "Yes, all of them, just this morning."

"And none of them brought news of the King?"

She shook her head, "No, ma'am."

I sighed, "Thank you, that was all." The scout bowed and backed up from the table, leaving me to my meal.

I moved my food around on my plate more than I ate it, suddenly losing the appetite I had worked up throughout the day. The other Gerudo in the room were all so lively and making the usual ruckus, making me believe that perhaps my worry and apprehension were ill placed. I should have had more faith in our King, that he could take care of himself and he'd return when he was good and ready. I ate slowly, keeping mostly to myself for the duration of the meal and heading to my study as soon as the drinks started flowing. I could read for a couple of hours while the last of the heat died down for the night, and then at least try and get some good sleep.

But a couple of hours turned into staying huddled in my study until a very late and unreasonable hour of the night, the stone floor was cold under my bare feet as I finally decided it was truly time for bed. Nights in the desert were considerably dark, with only the moon's soft glow to cast any kind of light. Most of the torches and fires had been put out and everyone in their bunks and chambers by the time I made the trek through the sandstone hallways back to my room. So it was odd to see one live flame flickering against the coarse walls. I quickened my pace, surely no one would have reason to linger in this wing of the fortress at such an hour, unless it was important. I could hear voices, two to be exact, but they were hushed. One was female, the other wasn't. I rounded the corner and found the owner of the voice as he turned to me. Ganondorf's face lifted as he strode across the space between us and made to reach a hand out to me, but stopped when I gave a slight bow, drawing it back inside his traveling cloak. The other voice had been one of the guards stationed outside of my room, who saluted to me and retreated a respectable distance.

"I was about to go looking for you, I know it's late but I need to speak with you."

I furrowed my brow, he was safe. But was something so urgent that he felt the need to talk instead of rest after such a long journey? "You've only just arrived, are you sure you wouldn't even like to freshen up?"

He peered at me and thought on it for a moment, "I can talk and bathe at the same time."

I perched on the edge of the bathing pool, my feet dangling into the water, which was warm considering the brisk, cold air in the chamber, magic no doubt. "So, what did the Hylian King want?"

Ganondorf exhaled sharply, slinging his arms over the edges of the pool, "Firstly, I think he's lost his mind."

"Oh? So nothing good I take it?"

He ran a hand down his face, "He wants to unify the entire continent under one banner, a Hylian banner."

"But that's madness! After each of us have already gone through so much to declare independence."

"I thought that too," thought not said, because goddess forbid the King of Thieves declare the King of Hyrule mad. "But there's something more to this. He boasted how it might be better for all of our people if we can fight together against oncoming threats and avoid as much conflict as possible between ourselves...he's very clearly afraid of something."

"And it's not just us?"

He shook his head, "Every other races leader was there, heavily guarded in most cases, which speaks volumes of the trust between us. So the idea of unification..." He trailed off.

"But is it just civil war he's worried about? The kingdom has been so calm for so long. Maybe something worse is approaching that he's not telling anyone about?"

"I can't see any reason for him to keep something like that to himself. Although, I did notice one thing out of place, the princess was nowhere to be seen."

I cocked my head, "What does Princess Zelda have to do with the meetings though? Surely her presence isn't required."

He reached back to retrieve a small dish from the edge of the pool "Required, no. But the King is a fairly self centered man, it would be normal for him to have his daughter attend any kind of meeting with other noteworthy people, usually as a show of power. He takes great pride in knowing that she wields the triforce of wisdom." He emphasized the word 'great' by tapping the dish against my leg.

I scoffed, "And they call us barbaric. Perhaps now that the princess has come of age he's concerned others will sense the power and wants to protect it."

"I believe the opposite actually." He said as he slowly submerged the dish and filled it with water, "I don't think the princess has come into her power at all."

The thought seemed impossible, but from what Ganondorf had just relayed to me, it was beginning to look all too likely. I raised a hand to my chin, "What could that mean for us I wonder? Or the rest of Hyrule for that matter."

He tipped the water from the dish over his head, shaking the excess away, "It's unclear, but for now Hyrule's forces are weaker than usual. The princess' powers remain dormant and as far as I know they have still to find their 'hero'." He said the word mockingly, Hyrule had been decorating the various chosen hero's for years now with little reason. With no conflict to resolve, what was there for them to be a hero of?

"That just leaves you."

He nodded slowly.

"If they'll be so biased as to let stories from hundreds of years ago scare them, I say leave them to it. Better for them to respect us out of fear than not at all. Zelda's power probably isn't far from showing itself, then they'll all feel better and safe and things can go back to normal."

"I hope so." Came his response, but it was unsure. He turned to me then, "Our meeting have become troublingly casual."

I laughed and swirled my legs around in the water, "It's nice though, calmer."

He chuckled, "So yourself and Nabooru kept everything together then?"

I clicked my tongue, "It's been disappointingly dull actually, your job is awfully boring sometimes."

"That's why I have you here, to keep things interesting." He said as he rose up from the water and climbed over the edge of the pool. I quirked a brow, grabbing a towel from one of the indentations forming a shelf in the wall and handed it to him.

"I hope you mean that in the most endearing way possible."

His only response to me was a small smirk before lifting the towel to his face.

I was about to respond with something smart when his voice came muffled through the towel, "I would really like to kiss you right now."

My own face heated while his remained hidden behind the blasted piece of fabric, "Well that is a bold claim to make towards your adviser, your highness." He finally pulled the towel down and peered out at me with an impish look in his golden eyes. He hated when I called him that.

"I worried about you the entire time I was gone, the King seemed to take some kind of strange interest in you. I started to think maybe calling me away had been a distraction so he might get to you."

I rested a hand on my hip, "And what on earth is it about me that has the King so interested?" I didn't have the courage to express the equal worry I had felt for him, which, thinking back on it, seemed ridiculous, of course he was going to return to us unharmed.

He tossed the towel to the side and began rummaging through his pile of clothes and effects, "That's what worried me, if I knew then at least his movements would have been more predictable. But now I'm still left wondering, and it makes me uneasy."

"With all due respect, I'm the least of your worries. I can look after myself and this unification situation should be where your focus is."

He gave a hum in response and little more. For some reason up until this point I hadn't been phased in the least by the sight of him in nothing more than his under clothes, but now with him standing there half dressed, tying his simple loose linen pants shut, that glow from the moon shining stupidly perfect against his still damp torso and his earlier comment still floating around in my head. It was by some great effort that I didn't earn myself a later scolding from Nabooru right then and there.

He seemed oblivious to my distracted state and turned to me with his remaining clothes draped over one arm, still entirely shirtless. "I'm sorry, I've kept you up, you must be tired."

I swallowed back my stammer, "I could say the same for you, it's a hard trip back from Hyrule."

He huffed a dismissal, maybe the trip was hard for any normal person.

"We'll talk again in the morning and I'll make sure Nabooru is informed of these...developments."

I bowed as I wished him a good nights rest, knowing the gesture irked him a little. But once back in the safety of my room with the door shut tight, I buried my flushed face into my hands and let out a long sigh. I shouldn't have these kinds of thoughts towards our leader, our King. No matter his comments or advances it was entirely unprofessional on my part, and it wasn't something for me to act on. I enjoyed how close we had become, but if either of us let it go any further, well we had an entire city of people to think about first. I dressed for bed and bundled myself up in the layers of furs and blankets to keep warm. Above all else we needed to have a rebuttal to the King's request worked out soon, and he was not the understanding type, especially if even Ganondorf felt there was more to this than what we knew.

Sleep came easy enough, I had been more tired than I realized, and I found it increasingly difficult to haul myself away from my bed as the heat of the day began climbing. In the end, I was hungry, and breakfast awaited me in the dining hall. There was a calm and relaxed quite as I entered the room, as if everyone was doing their best to remain respectful around their king, well it was good to know I wasn't the only one who could sense his foul mood. Nabooru wasn't present, which wasn't strange, she usually ate at some unrealistically early hour so she could spend the morning with her troops. Ganondorf inclined his head to me as I took my seat next to him, things were finally starting to feel normal again.

"I met with Nabooru."

"Oh?" I questioned as I reached across the table for the platters of food.

"A messenger decided to intrude half way through our discussion to only now inform us that a letter had arrived from the Hylian King, two days ago."

I almost choked on my food, two days! I'd find the original receiver and wring their neck. "What did it say."

He leaned his head into his hand, "It was a lot of formalities and good graces, at it's heart it was an invitation for you to have an audience with him."

I stared at him, "Me? So you weren't overthinking his interest then."

He shook his head, "Although it seems purely political, I'd hazard a guess that more advisors will be present. Regardless, it didn't sit well with either of us, there's something very off about the letter. It was written in a hurry that much is clear."

He produced said letter from a pocket in his robes and handed it to me. I unfolded it and inspected the writing for a moment, it was harsh and scratchy, but there was a certain flow to the words.

"Hm. We'll have to go about this carefully. Turning him down may seem suspicious, I have nothing to lose by going after all. It seems he'd like to avoid a war as much as we would so I doubt we have anything to fear." I said as I shrugged and skewered another piece of fruit with my fork, "I'll go, it's been a while since I was in Hyrule, it could be fun."

"Inform Nabooru of your decision, we'll leave in two days." Ganondorf said as he rose from the table.

I quirked a brow at him, "But you've only just come home, wouldn't you prefer to stay and rest?"

"What I'd prefer," He said in a hushed tone as he came to stand behind my chair, resting his hands on my shoulders, "would be to not let the Hylian King think he can take you away from my side so easily. It's a show of power as much as it is a blow to his ego."

I turned slightly to face him, "What's the use in having an advisor if you ignore my advice and just do as you please?"

"I didn't ignore you, you are going to Hyrule aren't you?"

I grumbled a response and he chuckled, "I'll be holding court in an hour, make sure you're not late."

I snorted and turned back to my food, "I'll prepare later. I do have my own duties to attend to also. Which reminds me, I left a considerable pile of some of your duties that have been neglected since you left."

"I thought that was why I put you and Nabooru in charge?"

"Yes, because we're the two people you want replying to letters about your potential suitors."

His face dropped instantly as he blew out a breath at the mention of suitors, a topic he liked to avoid.

"I don't see how that's important."

"Well, when you live in a society made up entirely of females, it's hard to avoid this particular situation."

He grunted, "You know why I hate it."

"Oh, I know, but I still think you're getting ahead of yourself and putting too much faith into a scenario that may never happen. But you know this yourself, which is why you won't actually turn anyone down either." I said, turning to him.

"Ah, I suppose you've also been turning away your own modest collection of suitors?"

I stopped mid chew and narrowed my gaze at him, "Who told you any of that nonsense? As if any Hylian man worth his salt would risk being upstaged by courting someone in a position of power. And I will not be turned into someone's dotting housemaid, I'd rather wander the desert for an eternal summer."

"So it's nobility that are offering themselves up to you?"

My glare only narrowed further, "We're going to pretend this conversation never happened." I said as I returned to my breakfast and shooed him off. He left under the curious and watchful eyes of at least half of the other women in the room, who all very quickly became fascinated with the contents of their plates when I cleared my throat, loud enough for the entire room to hear and understand it as a warning.

A/N: This is a little bit experimental, but it's an idea I've had floating around in my head for a while. I don't usually write anything along the lines of romance but I thought, fuck it, I'll give it a try. What could go wrong? Just an FYI, if it wasn't obvious, this is set in an almost normally functioning Hyrule, and we're talking about a younger Ganon, Zelda, etc here, say like young adult/mid twenties. I've got a bit of a coming of age sort of thing going on.