They walked the hallway to Zelda's room, Link leaving his armor off for now, the goblin following. They stepped in her room, her sealing the goblin out, and Zelda went to get his clothes from her dresser.

"Link, I have an idea. But if you object at all, consider it off the table."

"What's it about?" He took the offered clothes, hoping they would fit.

"I think… eventually Ganon may get suspicious of us constantly sneaking around and trying to act as if we aren't conspiring against him."

"I mean, he should assume we are," Link said dryly. "But what did you have in mind as a cover?"

"We… pretend… to be together."

Link stared. "What?"

Zelda's face went bright red. "I only mean- it- well, it would give us some excuse to be alone together besides us trying to plot against him and since it seems that if we cannot block the Gerudo guards from entering our private space, at least their respect for one's decency will be a sort of ward to keep them from standing in our rooms and overhearing what we say-"

"Well, the Gerudo are on our side."

"I know, but… I think the less we tell them, the better. In case he should… decide to use them for information. If he can possess and control them, they may be able to tell him anything."

"That's true." Link stared down at his clothes. "So uh… how… do we uh…"

"I mean, we don't have to do anything unless caught together." She raised her hands defensively.

"Like… like uh, how far were you thinking of going?"

"Just…" Zelda was full of embarrassment. "Maybe just, you know- we can hold hands or- or, just act closer than… than usual."

"Okay." So she wasn't talking about going too far; he felt he could tolerate that. "Yeah, I think it's something worth uh… trying. If it's not working, we can try something else."

"Yes."

"So uhh…" he looked up at her briefly, then down to his clothes again. "I guess I should change and we can walk down together."

"Oh- I can give you some privacy," she said quickly, turning her back and facing the wall. Link didn't think it was terribly private, but also was aware that he didn't have the luxury of extra time.

Link fumbled, changing as quickly as he could. The shirt was voluminous on him, as were the pants, and he sighed. They would have to do for now. He looked around Zelda's room. "Do you have a belt or sash or something?"

"Um, yes, hold on." She went to her dresser, searching the drawers until she found an old blue hair ribbon, long enough to help belt Link's pants. "Here."

He quickly tied the pants in place, glad that she at least tried. "Thank you. Seems a bit rude to complain about needing to get them fitted."

"We do have other priorities." She sighed. "Let's go and…"

"Yeah."

They walked out to the front courtyard where two pyres had hastily been thrown together from wood from last winter. Ganon was out there along with the rest of the Gerudo. He turned when he thought he heard the other two, and Zelda quickly reached for Link's hand.

The Gerudo were giving Ganon a wide berth, all of them clustered on one side of the pyre, some glaring at him over the flames.

Link squeezed Zelda's hand and brought her along, going around to the other side of the pyre, standing between Ganon and the Gerudo.

They stood out in the night until the pyres were but glowing coals, and Ganon went back inside first, ignoring them all. The other guards looked at Link and Zelda, wary and full of hurt.

"What are we to do now?"

"I uh…" Link sighed. "I guess it's time to go to bed. There's lots of guest rooms, but I'd recommend you avoid the royal quarters, that's where he sleeps."

"I do not think Captain Arsaba knows completely what his depth of power is," one of the guards said.

"Yeah, I don't either," Link answered.

"We should try to get a letter to her, to at least inform her of the deaths."

"Yeah."

"What is the plan at this point?"

"Well," Zelda spoke up at last. "We need to rally the surrounding countries, have them bring armies against him. I hope that, if we can hit him hard enough, tax him mentally, then he'll be weakened for the final blow."

The guard nodded in understanding.

"How do you plan to get them to do so, instead of closing their borders?"

"We have to talk to them. I cannot do so without Ganon's presence, he has ensured that. But I will figure something out. We just need to make the time."

Another three months passed.

Zelda had only a few minor visions- a horrific rainstorm would flood the nearby villages (the few Hylian soldiers left were sent to alarm the people to seek higher ground, and most were spared), one of the training soldiers would lose their arm if they weren't careful (an untreated scrape from rusty gates while on patrol would turn gangrenous), things like that. Ganon stayed mostly in the castle now, watching the Gerudo and Hylian guards train and teach each other new techniques, Link usually involved as well. He did, at one point, relent and send Link to one of the remaining villages with a seamstress, so he finally had sets of well-fitting garments.

Often, Zelda would suggest a walk in the gardens to Link after breakfast, though now it was turning into fall and what blooms had been there were now dying.

Usually, they would walk out to the garden hand in hand, then close off a path to her goblin shadow, who never seemed to anticipate being blockaded, and they would discuss the training, the monsters, and Ganons moods, which usually hovered between ornery and cantankerous.

"We need equipment," Link grumbled one day, the two of them sitting on the edge of a dried up fountain.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, shields are battered and cracked, swords are chipped, we've not enough arrows, the list goes on."

"Have you brought this up to him?"

"Haven't dared to yet, you know how he gets."

Zelda actually managed a sharp, bitter laugh. "Guess he didn't realise taking over a country would be so problematic."

Link snorted. "Yeah, doesn't seem he anticipated no one staying around to help him."

"We should tell him. We need supplies. Food is getting harder to come by, our pantry is looking low. And it's winter soon, we will need what we can get, as much as possible."

"Right."

Zelda tugged at her necklace in frustration, Link catching a flash of the thin scar there.

"I don't want to spend a winter in thst castle with him."

"We may very well not have a choice," Zelda responded.

"Yeah." Link thought it over. "What are you thinking?"

"Maybe if i can send him off for a while, or join him on some trip, you can spend that time sending messengers around to alert the surrounding countries to our plea for aid. It might not be a bad idea to report to Arsaba as well, and make sure she has what she needs."

"I don't like the thought of you going anywhere with him," he said honestly.

"I know."

They left the gardens and headed back to the great hall, where Ganon had taken to brooding in the much abused throne. He watched the two of them approach, eyeing them with distrust.

"Your Eminence, may we speak with you?" Zelda began, keeping her eyes downcast.

"Of course," he grumbled, watching her.

"Your Eminence, we are concerned about… about supplies for the castle. The Arbiter was just explaining that most of our equipment for the soldiers is in poor condition, and I am concerned about our food stores for winter. With the Gerudo warriors and the lack of any market vendors, we are eating up our supplies at an alarming rate."

Ganon frowned. "What can be done?"

"Well, perhaps we should… travel to neighboring countries? Or at least see if we can afford to purchase more equipment."

"I'm not worried about it," he replied.

"Why not?"

"Anyone who comes to try and parlay with the guards is sure to fall. If not, I can handle them easily."

"With chipped swords and broken shields?" Link snapped. Zelda put a hand on his shoulder.

"Your Eminence," she said quietly, trying to stay calm. "I am trying to help you run this country well."

Ganon stared at them for a long time, frowning deeply. Finally, he stood. "Show me."

Link led Ganon to the armory, gesturing. Ganon began examining the weapons and shields critically.

"My thought is, your Eminence," Link spoke through gritted teeth, "a well dressed army is far more threatening."

The older man was quiet, thinking. He was sure this was a ploy by the two, but he couldn't figure out how. He'd been hearing rumors that they seemed to have kindled a romance, and his concern was that they were going to try and overthrow him and take the throne. He wasn't far off in his judgement.

"I know what all we need," Link's nervousness made him a bit chatty, "so I'd be willing to go- with you."

"Would you now?" He chuckled. "No, I think if I go anywhere, the empress travels with me."

"If you think that a better decision," Zelda spoke up, keeping her tone neutral.

Ganon exhaled deeply, straightening up and looking at the weapons, dented and cracked, a few shields with straps torn almost in two. Finally, he looked at them both. "Can we have these items repaired? Perhaps by the Goron people, they have excellent smiths."

"Well, they've closed off Death Mountain…"

"To whom? Certainly not to me."

He frowned as the other two glanced at each other.

"Well. Then I suppose we'd better get everything together and go to Death Mountain."

In the end, Ganon did take Link as opposed to Zelda. This was a shock to them both, and at first zelda started to protest. "I am the empress, should i not-"

Ganon silenced her with a raised hand. "As the arbiter, perhaps he should be the one examining the weapons. He is understanding of what our warriors can handle for battle."

"Its going to be okay," Link promised her. Zelda stepped forward and hugged him.

"I will miss you," she said loudly.

"And I you," Link replied awkwardly.

"Touching," Ganon said with a sneer.

Zelda kissed Link's cheek. "Be careful," she added, this said with sincerity.

"I will," Link replied.

The two men sat across from each other in the carriage, silent. Link had opened the window to watch the scenery, Ganon brooding.

"You think you'll be together this time?" He said finally.

"How... What?" Link snapped out of the headspace he was in.

Ganon snickered. "So many times, always saving the princess, but what is really in it for you? You know what I'm talking about, right?"

Link had an inkling of what he meant, remembering all the images that flashed through his mind in the boat cabin, a moment that felt like a thousand years ago.

"Saving my home."

"But this way, your home is no longer in danger, as long as the people do what I say. And as long as I'm in control, i won't attack again. So you and her eminence can do as you please, and it will never end."

Link kept his mouth shut, suspicious of what Ganon was trying to do.

"The princess seems to get it, at least, she acts like she does. I don't particularly care who lives and dies in Hyrule, but she has a point when she says that a country without people isnt much of one. I suppose finally getting what i've always wanted has made me indulgent towards her."

Link looked back out of the window, thumping his head back against the wall of the carriage.

"And what is it you want, arbiter? Hero? Just a girl? There. You have her. So everything has worked out for us all."

Link said nothing. He thought of Malon, his jaw clenched.

Zelda waited until the carriage was a dot on the horizon, and then she immediately went to find the soldiers. They were taking a break from training, some sharing smokes and chatting. They jumped to attention when Zelda approached.

"Who are the fastest riders amongst you?"

Two of the Gerudo stood.

"Come with me, quickly."

They followed Zelda to her room, where she shut the door on her goblin shadow.

"Your eminence?"

"I need the two of you to deliver messages for me. One of you must go north. The other, head south to our neighboring countries. Tell them that Hyrule is in its most desperate hour, and we need all troops that we can get to march on Ganon."

The two soldiers snapped to attention.

"Ask them to spread the word as far as they can. We need all the help we can get. Anyone closest to Gerudo should correspond with Captain Arsaba as well."

"He monitors correspondence, how do you want to get confirmation?"

Zelda bit her lower lip, thinking. "Have them… have them send a trinket of their country. The country's flower, if they can. But no letters."

"Yes, your Eminence."

"The last… do not come back. I want it to seem as if the two of you deserted, if Ganon notices you missing."

"We would never-" one insisted.

"I know, and I apologize. I don't mean to insult you or your bravery."

"What if… what if they don't believe us? They think it's a hoax or a trick?"

Zelda thought a minute, unsure. "I… will give you each a letter. It will declare you are acting as my emissaries." Even as she spoke, Zelda was going to her meager desk and scribbling out her message, adding on impulse "please, help!" At the end.

She wrote twice, then folded the notes and sealed them with wax.

"You, to Akkala first. And you, to Corinth, before the Dagger Peaks."

The Gerudo took the letters, placing them carefully in their pockets.

"How will we go?"

"Take horses from the stables."

"And if they tire or die?"

Zelda sighed, trying to outmaneuver each problem. "Steal another, or run." She shook her head. "I wish I had something of value to give so you can buy new as needed, but I do not."

"And if we are caught by one of his monsters?"

She looked at them both, these women she barely knew, and they looked back, desperation in all their features.

"Do you carry knives on you?"

"Always."

"Rip up the letters as small as you can, scatter them to the wind, and then… do not let them capture you alive."

They stared at Zelda, her eyes haunted. " Ganon must not find out about this. This is our best chance. I know you can do it."

Impulsively, she hugged them, and they hugged her back, a bit startled.

"We will not disappoint, your Eminence."

Ganon sighed when he saw they were approaching Kakariko village.

"This place again," he muttered darkly.

They made it inside fine, and Ganon made Link get out first to greet the people and reassure them they had nothing to fear as long as they stayed calm.

Ganon climbed out after him, and there were some gasps of alarm, one or two guards raising their weapons.

"We're just looking for a goron Smith to repair equipment."

One of the guards shook his head. "They've all retreated into death mountain. "There isn't a good way to get to them right now."

"Can anyone in town help?"

"There is a Smith- carson, i think his name is." And the guard pointed further in town to the well crafted building.

"Thanks."

Link turned and grabbed a few pieces of broken equipment to show the man, and together, he and Ganon headed in.

Carson reluctantly agreed to repair what he could, looking at the dented shield over and over. As he and Ganon discussed what could be done, Link started wandering the shop, looking around. He stared at a wall of projectile weapons; different sizes of bows, crossbows, and a few muskets and even a couple of blunderbusses. He wondered how hard Ganon would object to such weapons, if he'd allow them at all.

Link looked over as it seemed they'd reached some sort of agreement. Link could only assume by how the smith cowered and how Ganon was leering that it involved sparing Carson's family.

"Can I get one of these?" Link asked, pointing to a bow and arrow.

"No," Ganon snapped before the smith could even speak. "No projectiles."

Link frowned, wondering how he was going to get Zelda anything she could use.

With the sheer volume of their weapons cache, the smith admitted it would take over a week of non-stop work with all his tradesmen to get everything ready. Ganon shrugged.

"Maybe we can trade them in for different items?" Link suggested. "So that we have something to practice with. If we don't keep up with it, our skills won't stay honed."

Ganon glared at Link, trying to suss out an ulterior motive.

"I'd rather he not try to pawn these weapons under our noses," Ganon replied coolly.

"Id never!" The Smith gasped.

"Perhaps instead we should stay here until he's finished," Link said with a shrug.

"Both of us?" Ganon folded his arms. He didn't like the thought of zelda being left with minimal supervision for that long, either.

"I mean, what else can we do?"

Ganon sighed. "I will go back to the castle. You stay here."

"How will I get back with all this stuff?"

"I'll send a carriage for you."

"Sir, may I reiterate that I can't promise all these items will be ready-"

"THEY WILL HAVE TO BE," he roared.

The Smith ducked his head. Link flinched, half dropping into a defensive position.

So Link stayed, reassuring the smith that he would help as much as he could. Link figured swinging hammers and working heavy, red hot steel would be decent exercise, whether in his armor or not.

Ganon took back off in the carriage, grumbling all the while. He was so paranoid of losing his littlest bit of control over the country. He reassured himself that the master sword was back on that forgotten island, and there was no way they could defeat him now, no matter what.

Zelda's face fell when the carriage pulled back into the castle courtyard and only Ganon stepped out.

"Where is Link?" She asked before she could stop herself.

"He is staying behind to collect the weapons as they are repaired."

"That… Seems fair," she replied, surprising herself.

"Does it?"

"Well of course you'd want to make sure you got everything back," she said easily.

Ganon was surprised and a bit pleased that she turned so agreeable, even though it was a little suspicious. He chose to let it go, striding towards the castle.

"I'm hungry!"