A/N: It may help to be familiar with One Head Can Not Hold All Wisdom, the alternate version of this story, although it is not mandatory. You can find it in my other works.

"Get up!"

"Nggh..." Ganondorf grumbled and rolled to his side, covering his head with a pillow. That failed to prolong his rest, however.

"I said, GET UP!" With a forceful yank, Link stripped the bed of its covers, unwittingly pulling the hung over Gerudo King with them. "I don't care if you spent too long celebrating the 'Redemption of the Goddess' or whatever it was, this is serious!"

Upon hearing the urgency in Link's voice, Ganondorf willed himself into a seated position. He'll have to remember for next year's Goddess Festival that he's not as young as he once was. "...Alright, I'm listening, my pumpkin. What's wrong?"

"Where is my baby?!"

That got his eyes open. But what did she mean? Baby could be anyone. "...What?"

Link started anxiously pacing around the bedroom, even going so far as to chew her fingernails. "I got up to get the children out of bed and ready for breakfast, and you know Agahnim has been doing that on his own lately so I just peeked in on him and things were fine. But then I came back and, well, look!"

Ganondorf craned his neck in the direction Link was pointing, to see into the nursery attached to their bedroom. There were blankets thrown all over the place, stuffed animals in random piles, and most noticeably an upturned dog bowl with water splashed around.

"Marin! That damned creature dragged her off, didn't it?!" Ganondorf hated Marin's dog, ever since it randomly showed up claiming to be sent from the Hero of Time to watch over her. "When I find it, we're getting a new trophy pelt."

Not appreciating his remark, Link violently threw Ganondorf's clothing in his face. "That's not funny. I already looked in all her usual hiding places, and I even have Ghirahim checking with his magic to see if he can find where she might have gone. I would have woken up if someone tried to sneak in here and kidnap her or if the dog dragged her out against her will, so she must have gone somewhere or gotten lost. You didn't leave her with the Gerudo did you?"

"Of course I didn't."

"Then go find her!"

"None of the castle soldiers reported seeing her, sir. I'm going to return to the town and check with the city patrol."

Not the news he was hoping for, Ganondorf shook his head. "Thank you, Aveil. Kona?"

The scarred general shook her head. "No little stowaways in any of the Valley Gerudo caravans, and none of the girls there have seen her. I even went over to Telma's place and asked if she saw her. No dice. Told her to keep quiet about it, but to listen in and report any strange gossip. I can go to Termina if you like, and have my daughter's friends look..."

"No, I don't think she could have gotten that far," he replied. "Ghirahim said he could sense her all over the castle, and that her aura faded only recently."

Kona chewed her lip, and kicked at the rug in the strategy room. "You know, we're thinking about this from an adult angle. What would a little kid do?"

Ganondorf looked at her in bewilderment.

"You know? Like if Mother told you lessons were cancelled when you were a boy, what would you have done?"

"I'd go out and practice my swordplay or archery. You and Aveil always mocked me for it."

"The question was rhetorical," Kona sneered as she ducked out of the room. Ganondorf followed, soon finding her flagging Link down at the other end of the hall.

"Link! Just who I wanted to see. Hey, what does the little munchkin do when you give her a break from her lessons?"

"Marin isn't old enough for lessons yet, she's barely five and though she can read somewhat, she can't really write anything," Link explained. "But I've already checked all her hiding-"

"The kitty house," Agahnim interrupted from his mother's arms, drawing several surprised glances. "Yesterday she kept talking about the kitty house."

"What kitty house?!" Ganondorf barked, earning a slap from Kona.

"I don't know where it is..." Agahnim mumbled, afraid he was going to be punished, though he calmed down when Link began rubbing his back.

After a stern glare in Ganondorf's direction, Link gave an explanation. "I know exactly where the kitty house is, assuming she meant the one in Castle Town. How she found out about it is anyone's guess... It's the house in the east district just south of the medical clinic that has a big yard. The richest man in town used to own it."

Ganondorf started laughing. "You mean that guy that ran up such a huge bar tab from drowning his sorrows over being cursed, that he was forced to hand over his entire fortune to Telma to break even? His house became overrun by cats?"

"I'm sure someone lives there to take care of them," Link scoffed. "Go on, get moving and find out if my baby is there. She just turned five years old, she shouldn't be wandering around town and hanging out with strangers!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Kona nodded and started for town, practically pulling Ganondorf behind her.

"Easy, woman, I can walk on my own." When they arrived at the former residence of Jovani and Gengle, it was apparent that it now belonged to someone with a strong affinity for felines. The yard was filled with cat toys, cat burrows, cat perches, and even sand boxes. To make things worse (in Ganondorf's opinion), the second they stepped foot inside the fence, a swarm of cats came out of hiding and began rubbing on their legs. "What in the...?"

"Aww, they must want petted." Kona knelt down and patted a few of their heads. "I think they like you, brother."

"Well tell them to leave." Ganondorf attempted to shoo them away, when he noticed some rather large paw prints in the dirt. "Look, those are too big for cats. That mongrel must have been here."

"...You really dislike that wolf dog, don't you?"

Choosing not to answer, he instead pounded on the door. He could hear a young woman shooing cats away on the other side, and was quite surprised when a Gerudo opened it. "Yes? Oh, Your Majesty! What can I... Mother?!"

Kona immediately looked up from the pile of cats at her feet, and in surprise nearly tripped over them. The Gerudo in the doorway was her daughter from Termina. "Ruby?!"

Ruby looked at her visitors for a moment, before realizing, "Oh, you two must be here to pick up the princess! She's still playing..."

"Ruby, what in the name of the Goddess are you doing here?!" Kona shouted, shoving past Ganondorf, "And what is with all these cats? And why didn't you tell me you were here?!"

"And why do you still have all this gold?" Ganondorf remarked, amazed that the house was still filled with Jovani's riches.

"Um, well, I know how much you missed me," Ruby began, "so I decided to move here and asked Telma if she knew a place where I could stay. She said I could live here if I took care of all these cats for her."

"...That makes sense, she is kind of lazy," Kona mumbled under her breath.

Ruby nodded. "The cats take up a lot of my time, so I haven't been able to come see you yet. I've only been here a few weeks... As for the gold, I thought it was fake to tell you the truth."

"Lazy Telma, fake gold, that's all well and good," Ganondorf grumbled as he came out from behind Jovani's throne, "but there are more important things to talk about right now. Like my daughter. WHERE IS SHE?!"

"Oh, right." Ruby pointed to a treasure chest in the corner. "She's playing hide and seek with the cats in the castle."

Ganondorf and Kona both looked at the chest in disbelief, then turned back to Ruby.

"The chest, it's a ladder. Leads to the castle. Didn't you know that? You live there..."

Ganondorf gasped in horror upon realizing what she meant. "In the sewers? Kona, get back to the castle and alert Link and Aveil to what's going on. Get as many of your private guard down there as possible, they can search more efficiently than the castle guard. Maybe even get Ralis and some of his Zora to help."

Kona acknowledged and departed for the castle posthaste, while Ganondorf striped his heavy ornamental outerwear down to his undershirt. He didn't want anything that would slow himself down. Ruby then watched as he tied back his hair and jumped into the chest.

Ganondorf skidded down the dry spillway, eventually falling into a shallow well. There hadn't been any rain, so the well was nearly empty. An open gate and a ladder led down to a very familiar trench, and suddenly it was twenty five years in the past when he was saving an injured wolf from drowning.

Shaking the memories out of his head, he was suddenly staring down a very much alive wolf. Though this one was red instead of gray, and where the wolf he saved had an imp riding its back, this one was alone. Puffball, the bane of Ganondorf's existence.

"YOU!" Ganondorf made to grab it, but the dog was quicker and shoved him to the ground. Letting out a warning growl, it then motioned further into the castle underground.

"...What, you know where she is? You're just a dumb dog, what do you know."

Puffball growled, then nipped Ganondorf's right hand. His Triforce hand.

"OW! Damned mutt." As he rubbed the wound, Ganondorf noticed that his hand was resonating. Looking up at the dog and realizing it was staring ahead, he craned his neck back further and was shocked to see an apparition behind them. A familiar apparition.

"...Courage comes in many forms. Most often, the form it takes is fragile. And while we may think we will be able to protect it, many times we can't."

It wasn't hard for Ganondorf to figure out the apparition's meaning. "I get it, the dog is necessary. Alright, pooch, lead the way." He'd keep this little lesson to himself; Link would never let him hear the end of it if she found out he got a lecture from the Hero of Time.

Puffball got up and led Ganondorf into the catacombs beneath the castle. He had landed at the base of the sewer entryway, the same cold stone steps where he found Link all those years ago, but beyond that, the area was unfamiliar to him. He knew it led to the dungeons, and was outright terrified of what he might find down there... After all, if this Hyrule had been mad enough to execute him, what savagery was Hyrule of the past capable of?

Cringing as he moved through skulltula webs, Ganondorf grumbled at the mutt. "How could you let her wander around down here? Without a light even." He wasn't worried about that at the moment, since there were plenty of discarded timbers that he could ignite with magic. His real concern was that he was unarmed, and he could hear things moving around.

Ganondorf had hoped disturbances in the dust would lead him to Marin, but his search was fruitless; there were no footprints to be found. Puffball had discovered a few recently killed sewer rats, however, which led down a particular cell block. A freshly burnt out torch laid in the doorway, and faint cries could be heard coming from within.

"MARIN!"

Rushing down the corridor, Ganondorf found the crying little girl huddled in the last cell, her arms locked tight around a familiar cat. "Sniff... Papa? Puffball?"

"Pumpkin, are you alright!?" Ganondorf scooped his daughter into his lap, kissing her forehead and rubbing her all over to check for injuries. "We were so worried... Wait a second, is, is this Mews? Fi's cat? How did she find you before I did?"

"I dunno..." Marin rubbed Mews' head. "I was playing with the kitties, and they was hiding, but then I couldn't find them. So I kept looking and looking, but then I got lost and the light went out. Mews must have heard me crying because she came and sat with me until you came. She said you were coming for me. She even chased off the rats that tried to get me."

Ganondorf scratched his head in awe. "The cat did that? I wonder how it knew you were down here..." He then watched as Puffball walked over and sniffed the feline.

"WOOF!"

"Mrrow."

Mews jumped out of Marin's hold and ran to a crevice in the cell they were gathered in, and resumed meowing. Remembering that the five year old inherited her mother's talents, he prompted for a translation. "What... What's the cat saying?"

"Um, up there... Graveyard," Marin mumbled. "But I know you don't like it..."

"Graveyard?" Focusing on the upper wall, Ganondorf finally noticed it. A gap in the stones just big enough for a cat, or perhaps a voice, to get through... "LINK! AVEIL!"

After a few minutes of shouting, there was finally a reply. "Sir, can you hear me? It's Ghirahim! Fi and I are here, we can hear you! Where are you? Did you find Marin?"

"Ghirahim? Yes, I found her!" Ganondorf sighed in relief. "We're in the dungeons under the castle graveyard. Fi's cat got down here somehow. I'm going to send it back up, try to watch where it comes out from." He then gave Mews the go ahead.

Link arrived just as Fi was retrieving the cat. "You found them?!"

"Yeah," Fi answered. "Papa? Mews emerged from a small crack in the shed over by the corner of the rampart. There's no door, though..."

"Ganondorf Dragmire doesn't need a door."

Giving everyone time to clear out, Ganondorf focused his energy on the wall in front of him. Using the smallest amount of energy necessary, he sent a sharp bolt of magic through the stone. The wall absorbed the hit, and the stones crumbled away leaving a clear tunnel up to the graveyard surface.

"My baby!" Link anxiously squealed as Ganondorf crawled out of the tunnel with their little girl in his arms, the poor little thing just as eager to see her mommy. "Are you okay, cupcake? Do you have any scratches? Do you want me to take you to see the Great Fairy?"

"Mommy." Marin snuggled against her parents as Link grabbed her and Ganondorf in a bear hug. "I'm okay, Papa and Puffball and Mews was keeping me safe. I'm just sleepy..."

"Alright honey, let's go inside. You can nap with me and Papa in our bed today."

"Puffball too?"

The two turned their doe eyes to Papadorf, who sighed. "Alright. But this whole thing better not have been a trick just to get me to bond with that dog."