A/N: I did some major revising to the story and wanted to let anyone following the story know. I have rearranged the story into chronological order, integrating the oneshots into the original story. There has been a big revision to chapters 2, 3, and the oneshot "honor and obligation", they are now merged into two longer chapters instead of three short ones. I've also renamed the chapters to their AO3 names, though "epilogue" is now in the middle of the story. Whoops. Thank you so much for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and/or following! I appreciate it so much! :3


Ralis stared out the window of the conference hall, not focused in the least on the current council meeting. In three days, he would officially join the Dragmire family and marry the girl he'd cherished for the last fourteen years. From here he could glimpse the stable, and sure enough Kira came padding out with Freya in tow.

Kira wore her strawberry blonde hair loose at the moment, the wavy strands falling to her mid back. She had inherited her mother's silky thin texture, though underwater her father's Gerudo traits shone through. The water made her hair spread out like the halo of a goddess, the deepened color resembling the red lilies in Zora's domain. Oh, how he loved to run his fingers through it as they...

"Ah-HEM."

Ralis sprung back from his reverie and found the entire council staring at him. Rusl and Aveil were shaking their heads, Darbus was silent, and Zelda gave him a warm (and understanding) smile before nudging her head towards the very angry and scowling king.

"Oh, forgive me, is our little council meeting interfering with your day, Zora? Perhaps I need to postpone it until after nap time so that we have your FULL attention..." Ganondorf barked, not used to being ignored. The frightened look on the boy's face made him sigh, and he rubbed his temples. No wonder he was going gray. He was about to continue when Zelda cut him off.

"Ralis, we know you are very stressed at the moment, and we appreciate you making an effort to come to this meeting," Zelda said, coming over and patting Ralis on the shoulder. "But perhaps, one of your advisors can take your place? It would give you more time to prepare for the big day..."

Ganondorf didn't take that well. "Do not interrupt me, okama, you are not in charge of this council."

Zelda turned from her spot beside Ralis, and with all the grace of the Nohansen line, marched over to Ganondorf and engaged him. "Excuse me, but this was my castle before it was yours. And I object to your language. Whether I choose to be Zelda or Sheik, neither of us is an 'okama', ha-ge."

"HA-GE? You wench, how dare you! I extend my people's hospitality to you, and you repay it by learning how to insult us in our own tongue? I will have you thrown in the Cave of Ordeals for your treachery, good for nothing snake! You will pay for..."

Ralis recognized Zelda's play, and ducked out of the room while the others sat in awe. Zelda and Ganondorf had long settled their initial hatred at Link's request, and now the most that happened between the two was this kind of verbal spar. He snuck down the halls toward the stable, hoping to catch his love by surprise. They hadn't seen each other in three days...

"King Ralis?"

A small voice stopped his search, and he turned around to find little Fi at his heels. "Hey, Fi-Fi, I haven't seen you in a while!" Fi came over and hugged him, while he fluffed her hair. "So where's Little Buddy? Is he treating you well?"

Fi giggled and pointed to the wall behind her, where Ghirahim leaned. "Don't call me that," he scowled in an attempt to hide his blush. Secretly, though, he loved it.

"No way, Little Buddy. So what are you two up to?" Ralis listened as Fi told him their current mission- finding a way to keep Ghirahim's brother Vio from following them around. Midna was in the castle visiting Link and the baby, so of course Vio had tagged along. The six year old was usually shy, but then he found out that Zelda gave Fi a number of new history books and wanted her to "share".

Ralis suggested the two hide in Ganondorf's armory office; after all Vio hated anything sharp and wouldn't follow if Ghirahim made it sound like he was going to be training. The two thanked him and ran off, so he resumed his sneaking.

Kira finished grooming Freya and returned her to the stable, then headed toward the garden. As soon as the stone path ended she chucked her sandals away and ran through the grass, eying a large pile of leaves the groundskeepers had left unattended. She didn't hesitate to dive right in.

Ralis had found his way to the stable, but Kira was already gone. Freya nudged him toward the garden, so he walked off and soon came across a discarded pair of sandals. He picked them up and looked around, but saw nothing besides the yard waste. "Now where did she go...?"

Kira's long Hylian ears picked up Ralis's mumble, and she poked her head out from the pile. She was thrilled to see him standing only a few yards away, and was about to call him when she got an idea. Worming her way back in so that he couldn't see her, she made a few rustling noises to get his attention.

Ralis thought he heard something coming from the waste pile, but shrugged it off. She wouldn't be inside the trash. Maybe her feet were hurting so she continued her walk barefoot...

The noise came again, so this time Ralis walked over. Maybe one of the cats got stuck. He felt around for a cat but came up with nothing, so he turned around to leave. Suddenly a pair of hands wrapped around his waist and yanked him into the leaves, accompanied by giggles. Found her.

"What the heck are you doing in a pile of lawn garbage?! You'll get filthy," Ralis chided in between kisses from his beloved.

"You'll just have to wash me off, then," Kira cooed, rolling them out of the pile and picking a leaf from under his ear fin. "They're just leaves. We like to jump in them because it's like swimming without water."

Ralis smiled, then bent down and kissed under her ear. "I love it how there are days when you are Gerudo, and then there are days when you are clearly Ordonian."


"Tell me it wasn't that sappy when you two were courting," Midna said with a sigh, watching the two roll around in the garden from Link's bedroom window. "My Ghira better not be that mushy when he proposes to Fi."

"Actually, Gan was pretty bad," Link answered as she fed Agahnim. "He was always touching me. Massaging my shoulders or nipping at my ears, kneading my thighs when I sat on his lap, mumbling words of love in Gerudo, sniffing my hair, and that was even before he realized I loved him back. Did I tell you he actually cried when Kira called him Papa for the first time?"

"Yeah, well you better get out there before Papa does and remind those kids that they're not married yet. Otherwise there'll be a funeral instead of a wedding."


A/N: Hage is Japanese for "baldy". So you can understand why the posterboy for Herbal Essences would be offended. XD