In which Ganondorf achieves the object of his desire.


Ganondorf wrapped Zelda tightly within himself, enfolding her in his magic, and pulled her through the Twilight. The passage was more difficult than usual. The rotting dregs of the spirit trapped within the teardrop-shaped charm Zelda wore scraped at him like jagged nails, but the momentary discomfort was the furthest thing from his mind as she pressed the soft curves of her body against him.

"What happened here?" Zelda asked as she stepped away from him looked around his apartment.

Ganondorf had cleaned the apartment after it had been polluted – after he had polluted it – with thick trails of ichorous tar, and he had taken the opportunity to rebuild it. He found its sterility offensive, so he picked up the gardening project Zelda had begun with her ivy. As he paced from room to room, constantly thinking of his next move, he transformed the bare floor and walls into surfaces that could support the roots of the plants he grew.

"This sort of magic helps me think," he explained. He assumed Zelda understood what he was referring to – the process of coaxing green and growing things from the dead concrete. She'd had a go at it herself, after all, and she seemed to enjoy it as much as he did.

"Aren't you worried that the floor will cave in?" Zelda asked as she crouched beside a large fern that had sprung up at the edge of the kitchen.

"No," he said simply. He'd taken care to reinforce the building's support structures as he worked. If anyone were to remove the floors and walls, they would be extremely surprised by what they found, steel cables and tensile wires twisting through impossible spaces that no human could reach. Not that Ganondorf had any intention of remaining here. He'd rented the apartment for the prestige and legitimacy conferred by its address, not as an investment. He had more pressing matters to attend to than real estate.

Ganondorf considered offering tea to Zelda but decided against it. He had waited long enough.

He'd stayed late at the office but couldn't focus. No matter what he did, his mind insisted on returning to Zelda – the taste of her lips and the touch of her tongue, the soaring flight of her magic intertwined with his. The fascinating sound of her voice, and the frustration of her refusal to speak to him since they'd returned from the desert.

He hadn't planned to pursue Zelda to her lab; he had merely acted on instinct. It was possible that he wasn't prepared for what might happen between them, or what might happen to him afterward, but he pushed the thought away. He would not allow whatever transformation that beset him the last time he slept with her to manifest again. He would maintain control of himself, and he had no intention of sleeping.

Ganondorf approached Zelda and knelt beside her. The reflected lights of the city lent her an otherworldly beauty. It occurred to Ganondorf, not for the first time, that this woman was born for the sky. He raised his hand to her face as he leaned closer.

"Come to bed with me," he murmured into her ear.

Zelda covered his hand with her own. "Give me a minute," she said before slipping away and disappearing down the hall.

As he watched her go, Ganondorf was struck by the impulse to follow her, to chase her, to pin her against the wall and take her right then and there.

He suppressed the urge to pursue her. Instead, he stood up gingerly, stepped out of his shoes, and unbuttoned his shirt. He washed his hands and face at the kitchen sink before removing a carafe of mint-infused water from the refrigerator. Thinking that he could use a drink, he added a finger of gin and a cup of tonic water.

Ganondorf had been so disgusted by the process of removing the charred remains of the black creosote that he hadn't set foot in the bedroom since then. He swallowed the memory and chased it with a drink. As he drank, he walked to the bedroom windows and looked out over the city, thinking of how pleasant it would be if Hyrule were to fall dark and silent. How satisfying it would be to watch the water rise as all the many towers fell. How lovely it would be if all he could see were endless fields and forests bathed in the gentle silver of moonlight.

He didn't hear Zelda enter behind him, but he could feel her presence. Her footsteps were quiet, but his every sense was attuned to her movement.

"Is there any left for me?" she asked. He handed her the carafe and watched as she drank, unable to tear his eyes away from her lips. When she finished, he wasted no time in kissing her, his fingers finding their way to the buttons of her shirt as he helped her remove it. Finally he was able to lay his hands on her bare skin, and it was glorious. He barely noticed as she pulled off his shirt and unbuckled his belt. He stepped out of his pants like a cast-off skin and all but carried her to bed.

Ganondorf allowed Zelda to fall on top of him as he removed the last of her clothing. She kissed his mouth, and then his jaw, and then she proceeded to work her way down his chest before pulling at the waistband of his shorts. And then there was nothing between them, nothing to stop her from kissing him even lower.

It was unbearably erotic to watch as she touched the soft lips of her mouth to the hardness of his shaft and ran her small pink tongue down his length. She took her time as she tasted him.

Ganondorf felt a slow pressure building up inside him, a sweetness he struggled to resist. He was spared from a sudden climax when Zelda paused to catch her breath. She looked up at him, and her eyes, so quick and full of light, burned into his mind. He was seized by an instinct so compelling that he could no longer control himself. He hated the way he was manipulated by his desire for her, but he had spent too long attempting to deny it.

He gently pulled himself away before shifting himself above her. He studied her mouth, taking time to appreciate its rich curves, and then kissed her. He ran his fingers down her stomach, delighting in the smoothness of her skin, before parting her legs with the flat edge of his hand to give himself access to the warmth within. She was wet and ready for him. He slowly slid his fingers into the softness of her sex.

She let out a soft cry of need, and his cock stiffened with a fierce pulsing ache. His entire body burned with the need to take her. Every particle of his being screamed to be inside her, but he held himself back, feathering her chin and jaw with kisses as he touched the tips of his fingers to the delicate pearl at the top of her valley. Her muscles tensed, but he had no intention of stopping.

He hovered over her, watching her flushed face twist with pleasure as she closed her eyes. She was slick on his fingers, and she clung to his arms as if he were already riding her. The insistent demands of the stiffness at his waist tugged at his attention. He felt as if he could finish just from looking at her, but he refused to allow himself to descend into the haze that hovered over his mind and invited him to lose control.

Ganondorf concentrated on his breath as he tightened the circles he drew over her clit. The motions of his hand and fingers were a dance whose steps he knew by heart. Zelda was everything he wanted, and sweet Hylia he never wanted her more than he wanted her now. It was unbearable to watch her body arch with pleasure as he stroked her, yet still he held himself back.

When his blood rose like this, his arousal would always seem to be curtailed by a vision. He expected it to descend on him at any moment, and he dreaded what he would see. Would he be visited by a scene of the violence of a bygone age? Of the trials of a boy who did not yet know what it meant to be a man? Of pathetic rutting, and the desperation of longing without an object to give it purpose?

But Ganondorf's mind was clear, and he was fully present in the moment. Every touch of his hands was connected to Zelda's breath, the soft shudders that whispered along her skin, her fingers digging into his shoulders. Please, she begged him, please.

Her voice pierced him with a painful stab of lust, and before he could stop himself he was on top of her. His desire was impossible to resist, like a river flowing to the ocean, pulled by the tide in great rushing waves.

Zelda gasped when he entered her. He almost lost himself then, but he clung to the smell of her hair, fresh and clean, like the sun reflecting on the surface of the water after a storm.

He moved slowly and carefully, and she began to rock against him in a steady rhythm. He thought, for a brief moment, that he had found a harbor, secure in the circle of her arms, but then she moaned his name. The need in her voice was far too much for him to withstand. He was overpowered by a rush of sensation as a flower of heat blossomed inside of him and burst in a furious rush of pleasure.

Zelda held him as he came, and she continued to hold him afterward as his heartbeat gradually slowed.

Ganondorf had no wish to remain still. His climax had done nothing to satiate his desire. He felt reborn, powerful and new and full of purpose. He knew nothing of his past, and he had no way of knowing for certain, but he felt that this must have been his first time, just as surely as it had been hers. He was far from finished, but he was concerned that he'd hurt her with the violence of his thrusts. He didn't want to risk entering her again before he gave her a chance to recover.

"I'm going to take a shower," he announced. "Come with me."

Zelda's kiss was all the answer he needed. He lifted her with him as he stood, admiring the beauty of her curves. She was lithe and playful, and she offered an inviting smile as she walked to the bathroom ahead of him. She seemed so small, lit only by the pale lights of the city in the void of the stark and empty room, yet she was not afraid of showing herself to him.

Ganondorf experienced a moment of trepidation. He could still remember the moment when he had first come to himself in her apartment, knowing nothing but darkness and anger and how much he hated this woman. The pain and violence of that instant lingered inside of him, but Zelda had taken the rage in his heart and given it purpose. He may have indeed been the monster she fled in her nightmares, but she had not turned away when the moment finally came for her to face him. He could still feel the whispers of her fingers on his skin as he woke to her touch, her face shining with radiance even in the dingy squalor of her apartment. She had brought him to himself, and he couldn't help but seek her out again, always, for as long as it would take for him to find her.

Zelda flirted with him, laughing and smiling, but he could barely hear anything she said. He only registered the cadence of her voice, its rise and fall as beautiful as the graceful movements of her body.

Ganondorf's self-control had long ago reached its limit, and he no longer made any attempt to restrict the demands of his desire. He stopped Zelda's words with a kiss and guided her into the shower. The water covered her skin with a gossamer veil that reflected the city lights shining through the window. Zelda glittered like a star.

He kissed her again as he pushed her against the cool ceramic tiles of the wall. When he was certain she was secure, he knelt in front of her and touched his lips to the cleft between her legs. Zelda twisted her hands through his hair as he slipped a finger inside her, finding just the right spot to draw her toward him from within as he tasted her. He could hear every catch of her breath through the gentle rain of water, just as he could feel every twitch of her pleasure as she opened herself to him.

Zelda rocked her hips to give him better access. He was struck with a powerful urge to take her again, but it would be a waste to interrupt the act he'd wanted for so long to perform, especially when she was so close to the release he'd waited so long to give her. He took his cock in his fist and moved his palm along his length in rhythm to the movement of his finger sliding into her slick opening.

This is exactly what he wanted, to give her pleasure as she focused on him and nothing but him. He wanted all of her, for her to be entirely possessed by him and the way he touched her, the way he teased and punished her with his hands and tongue.

Zelda cried out softly when she reached her peak, twisting her fingers even more tightly through his hair as she pressed his face against her body. Ganondorf felt his own lust flare, and he promised himself that the next time he would look into her eyes as she climaxed. Seeing her face in his mind was all it took for him to finish. He shuddered against the smooth curve of Zelda's stomach as she held his head between her hands.

. . . . .

Ganondorf kept his back straight as Zelda braided his hair. She chatted as she worked, telling him about how she admired the thickness of his hair, and about how Riju had taught her any number of styles she could never hope to recreate with her own hair, which was far too straight and fine. He enjoyed listening to her speak just as much as he enjoyed the gentle tug of her fingers, and he allowed himself to imagine a future in which he could wrap himself in the warmth of her voice and the softness of her hands whenever he wished. Before such a future could come to pass, however, they would need to free themselves from the past.

"There's something I should tell you," he interrupted.

"You're a monster born from an ancient curse, and you were unleashed to wreck vengeance on Hyrule."

Ganondorf could hear the smile in Zelda's voice, but her words didn't feel like a joke to him.

"Possibly," he admitted. "Sometimes I fantasize about burning the city and watching the land as it reclaims itself. Have you never considered the destruction of Hyrule? Have you never once desired it?"

"No, actually. I'm not happy with the way things are here. Of course I'm not. Sometimes I even hate Hyrule, but I feel a responsibility toward it. My mother may have left, but I won't. There's still so much I don't understand, and there's still so much I'm capable of doing."

Ganondorf nodded. He had anticipated Zelda's response, and he respected it.

"I found the system of caverns underneath the former site of Hyrule Castle," he began. "I think you should see the place again for yourself. There's something down there. Whatever it is, it's extraordinarily powerful, and it's still active."

"I could have told you that," Zelda replied in a dry voice. "You're not really selling this to me."

Ganondorf had never seen this playful side of Zelda, and he wanted to see more. He wanted to know everything about her. He wanted to stay with Zelda, to be with her as she remembered who she was and grew more into herself. If he had memories of his own, he would gladly have shared them with her. He had nothing, however, so he offered her the only thing he had.

"There's a treasure hoard of Guardians in those caves, as well as the space and privacy to maneuver them. I found one in particular that seems to like me. I think you'd like her as well."

"Her?" Zelda asked in an amused tone.

Ganondorf smiled. "Yes, 'her.' Are you jealous?"

"A little. How did you get down there?"

"I used Riju's connections to gain access to the basement sublevels of the city government towers."

"Did Riju go with you?"

"She did, and she hated it." Ganondorf paused and considered his next words. He decided to offer Zelda a fragment of his vulnerability, but only as much as he could afford. "I hated it as well," he admitted, not mentioning the intensity of the headache he had developed and the deep nausea that forced him to heed Riju's request that they return to the surface.

"But you want to go back?"

Ganondorf nodded. "For you, yes. I do. I know precious little of the history of Hyrule, but what I saw in those caves were ruins upon ruins upon ruins, all filled with ancient technology. I don't know what you were taken there as a child to uncover, but you may still find it, and you can discover it through your own power."

Zelda's hands went still, and Ganondorf turned to face her. She wore a pensive expression. "I don't know anything about that, about power and ruins and magic," she said. "It's like I was asleep when I went there as a child. It's as if I've been asleep this whole time, until I met you."

Ganondorf cupped Zelda's chin and raised her face to meet his eyes. "Then let the sleeper wake," he said, and kissed her.