Ganondorf crossed his arms and closed his eyes as a gust of warm summer wind blew through Daphnes's backyard. The breeze carried the crisp scent of freshly mowed grass and the sweet fragrance of the gardenia flowers twining along the fence. He and Daphnes had procured an inflatable pool at Malomart earlier that morning, and he listened to the sound of water gushing from the garden hose as it slowly filled.
Daphnes had gone with Tetra to pick up one of her friends, an older girl named Impa. Now that Link was tutoring her, Tetra's grades had skyrocketed, and she had been allowed to skip a year. Under Daphnes's auspices, she had been invited to enter one of the city's elite private middle schools, and her guidance officer had assigned Impa as her peer counselor. The semester wouldn't begin for another two months, but the two girls were already as close as sisters.
The front door slammed open, and footsteps pounded through the house. Within seconds, Tetra dashed through the back door, sailing through the air as she jumped into the pool. Water splashed everywhere, soaking Ganondorf's sandals. He barely had time to register his annoyance before Impa flew past him, landing next to Tetra and sending a second wave flooding over the rim. The two girls laughed as shining drops of water fell onto their faces. Ganondorf felt a sharp pain in his chest when he realized that neither of them had even noticed he was standing there.
"Mr. Dragmire, good afternoon!"
Ganondorf turned to see Link carrying a large red cooler through the door.
"Do you fancy something to drink?" the young man asked. "We picked up a bunch of stuff at the gas station – Hyoi soda, Deku juice, Lon Lon milkshakes, you name it. We also got a huge pack of Swamp Potion popsicles, if you want one."
"No, that's fine." Ganondorf smirked, remembering how the popsicles used to turn his lips and tongue bright green. "You'll watch the girls, then?"
"Of course, sir. I'll protect them with my life," Link replied, grinning.
"Whatever you say. I'll leave you to it, then."
Ganondorf kicked off his sandals by the door and walked into the cool shade of the interior of the townhouse, his wet feet squelching on the floorboards.
"Be careful tracking water onto the floor," Daphnes called out to him from the kitchen.
Ganondorf snorted and sat down on the leather couch under the chandelier, kicking his ankles to flick water as far into the room as he could.
"You invited three children to play in a kiddie pool in your backyard, and you're worried about me leaving footprints. You clearly have no idea what sort of chaos is waiting for you when they come back inside," Ganondorf responded, leaning back and spreading his arms out along the top of the sofa.
"You misunderstand me," Daphnes said as he emerged with a hand towel and two glasses of white wine. "If the children slip and fall, they'll be fine." He handed a glass to Ganondorf and placed the other on the side table as he knelt and began drying his feet. "But you're not so young anymore. I wouldn't want you to break a hip."
Ganondorf nudged Daphnes with his toe. "Look who's talking, old man. Don't hurt yourself getting up."
Daphnes slapped Ganondorf's shin with his towel, picked up his wine glass, and sat down next to Ganondorf, inserting himself into the crook of his arm.
"I didn't know you were going to ask Link to come over."
"I needed someone to keep the girls occupied. They adore him, and I'm sure he'll be able come up with an afternoon's worth of adventures."
Daphnes lifted his wine glass in a toast. "Here's to being left alone for a few hours."
"Cheers to that." Ganondorf clinked the rims of their glasses together and drank. The wine was cool and refreshing. As always, Daphnes's taste was impeccable.
"Tell me," Ganondorf began, pausing to watch the sunlight refracted off the chandelier's glass panes dance across the bookshelves lining the wall. "Is this what you thought would happen?"
"When I asked you to come here for the first time?"
"You didn't give me much of a choice, did you?" Ganondorf ran his thumb along the curve of Daphnes's shoulder.
"I don't know if anyone has ever told you this about yourself, Ganondorf, but it's extremely easy to manipulate you. Everything went according to plan."
"You think I'm easy to manipulate?"
"Tetra has you twisted around her finger, haven't you noticed? You should be thankful that she's found herself a friend her own age. If she didn't have anything better to do, I have a suspicion that she could amuse herself by making your life miserable without any trouble at all."
"Isn't that your job now?" Ganondorf moved his hand to Daphnes's neck and slowly drew him closer.
"Hey, were you just talking about me?"
Ganondorf jerked around to see Tetra standing beside the couch.
"Where'd you sneak in from?" he growled.
"Yeah, you didn't hear me because I dry my feet before I come in the house, unlike some people." She rolled her eyes. "That's my Gamegoron 3DS XL on the armrest there. Pass it over, will you?"
Ganondorf set his wine glass down on the table and picked up Tetra's game console, whatever it was called. "Catch," he said, tossing it to her. She plucked it from the air with an easy grace, winked at Daphnes, and ran back outside.
"That girl is going to be trouble when she's older," Ganondorf sighed.
"Oh, she'll be fine." Daphnes placed his wine glass on the table next to Ganondorf's. "She's a princess, after all."
"And when were you planning on telling her that?"
Daphnes looked away. "When the time is right."
"Listen, I have a serious question." Ganondorf took Daphnes's chin in his hand and turned his face back toward him. "If we get married, will that make me a king?"
Daphnes laughed and shook his head. "Hardly. And if you think that will give you the right to excavate the force gems, you're gravely mistaken."
"Don't underestimate me. I'll have them yet. If they're real, it will be the greatest discovery humankind has ever known, and no one will get in my way. Just try to stop me."
Daphnes placed his hand over Ganondorf's. "You know, I've been thinking about that for the past few months, and I've come to the conclusion that you might be right. If the force gems do exist, then they exist for all of New Hyrule. Long ago, in ages past, such artifacts summoned awful tempests to rage across this land. Now we float on calmer tides, and it seems like a shame to waste the potential of that power."
"Then you'll join me?" Ganondorf asked as he traced his fingers along the line of Daphnes's beard.
Daphnes smiled. "I've had so many regrets in my life, and it's time to put them to rest. I've always had a thing for forgotten kingdoms, and we're not too old to go questing."
"Of course we're not," Ganondorf agreed. "Those kids will have their day soon, but the future still belongs to us." He pulled Daphnes forward and kissed him.