A/N This takes place when Zelda is captured during OOT. I follow the timeline theory that Zelda and Link are brother and sister. .net has the deets on that somewheres. It is alternate universe and ends differently than OOT does. Don't worry...

Zelda always thought pink flattered her but trapped in a pink crystal? Not so much. Why had he done this? Hadn't he known that it was all in vain? Link would rescue her and kill him. But that thought bothered her a bit. She wasn't squeamish by any means but she didn't like the idea of anyone dying. Maybe it wasn't too late to save Ganondorf and Hyrule.

"Ganondorf?" The tall Gerudo turned to look up at the princess hovering helplessly above him. She took that as permission to talk more.

"Why do you do this? What do you desire?" He almost laughed. A bit too late but a story might not hurt. At least it would pass the time until the hero arrived to die.

"Why, you ask? It is because my people have suffered in the desert these many years. We are strong and have adapted but it is not enough. And your father denied us the resources we need to thrive. Water is sparse in the desert and we have no way to get it," He narrowed his eyes at the monarch, "so now I take it for my people. Your precious goddess has only helped destroy the land she helped create."

"Water? Help? Is that why you came to see my father those years ago? He may have denied you, but you think I would also do such a thing? Why not ask for an alliance? It would benefit both our people. Your would have whatever you need and mine would have the riches of the desert and the knowledge of your people."

The Gerudo king looked at the princess in surprise and suspicion.

"How can I be so sure that you would follow through?"

"Return my land to normal with the help of the goddesses and I shall marry you to cement the agreement." Zelda could marry a man she didn't really love to protect her people. He stopped and thought. The best of everything. He was planning to take her as his queen anyway, so it would be much easier that forcing her. And to have the riches of his land and the resources of hers? He would have to agree.

"Very well. I sense your hero coming. We need his Triforce piece to repair the land." Zelda nodded.

"I shall have to speak to Link myself."

"May your goddesses help you with that, my queen."

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Zelda peeked across the courtyard, turning to face what she was leaving. She had a journey to travel and a people to help. The shimmering ruby on her hand reminding her of the husband she was joining. He had left ahead of her to gather his people and let them know what had happened. In the six months that she had been Queen of Gerudo as well as Hyrule, she had found herself caring her husband. Even if it was a rather unusual arrangement and a seeming platonic one, Zelda cared for the Gerudo that she now relied on

She watched her landscape slide by as she travelled, companioned by Nabooru, a strong stunning Gerudo that is apparently her husband's right hand former thief currently his wife's close friend. Naboo (she only allowed Zelda to call her that and in return christened her Zel) sat beside her. Zelda recalled meeting the woman. She had feared her at first. Now they would smile and laugh together as Zelda watched her friend fall for Link, the boy she discovered to be her brother. Now her mother's escape and death had meaning. But Link had no desire to be king, so Zelda and Ganondorf ruled.

As Zelda prepared to step foot into her husband's castle for the first time, she looked around at the shimmering sand and nearby oasis. She spotted Ganondorf standing by the palm trees lining the natural waterfall of the oasis and found herself walking over to meet him.

"My queen," It was still rough for Ganondorf to accept the marriage that united the kingdoms and granted peace. And besides, he still hadn't figured out the pinging in his chest when he referred to her as his queen.

"Ganondorf. This is a beautiful area, even compared to the rest of the kingdoms. Well, kingdom."

"Thank you." Zelda went to walk up the path that led to the top of the waterfall for a better view of the lands. Her husband, somewhat unaccustomed to helping women, took a moment to figure out what she was doing. He quickly picked her up and climbed the rest of the way before setting her down under the shade of a trio of tree. Zelda couldn't quite get the thought of how romantic this was out of her mind as she unknowingly laid her head against her husband, who had sat down beside her. She shivered in the chilling evening air and he instinctively pulled her closer, wrapping his cloak around her.

She laid her sleepy head against his chest. She thought for a moment that she had gotten a headache from the long travel, but a moment later realised that she was not hearing her own head pounding, but his heart beating. She somewhat sleepily cuddled closer and listened. The steady slow rhythmic beating of his heart was slowly sailing her into slumber. Ganondorf, sensing his wife's sleepiness, shifted her gently and rested her more comfortably against him. He watched his bride sleep for a few moments.

Ganondorf gently picked her up, beginning to thing that he got the better end of the deal. A beautiful country that is no longer in danger, the Hylian throne, the peace his people craved, and the beautiful princess he'd loved since he overtook Hyrule and sought out the young beauty. Zelda however; may have gotten the worse end of the stick. She was forced to rule the Gerudo, who still didn't completely trust her and married to a man who tried to destroy her kingdom!

He laid the now soundly sleeping princess-queen on the bed in the room he had chosen for her. She would spend more time at her own castle than here but he tried to make the suite of rooms welcoming. He tucked the blankets around her and she rolled unto her side, facing him. He slipped off his own boots and laid on top of the covers next to her. He was used to the desert's unforgiving climate, so unlike her. She unconscously nuzzled closer to his warmth. After a moment of thought, he took off his outer armor and pulled her against him; tucking the blankets around them both. Zelda smiled in her sleep, much to Ganondorf's surprise.

The sharp desert sun woke Ganondorf up, but the one in his arms stayed asleep. Ganondorf usually slept with heavy curtains but forwent them in her room, knowing she was accumstomed to waking up bathed in light. She stirred softly but didn't wake, completely trusting the Gerudo king. His wife. The Queen of Hyrule. And it wasn't just a marriage of convience, they had really fallen in love.