A/N: Alright guys I know we kinda just jumped right into some drama but I promise things won't stay super amped up for long. I just felt like some stuff that didn't really get addressed in the first book needed to be addressed real fast and then we should ease into some domestic fluff before the real stuff starts happening. So, hang in there with me we'll figure this out.

Also a quick warning for this chapter. There are mentions of stillbirth and miscarriage in this chapter because Aeris really needs to come to terms with some past trauma if you are uncomfortable with this I am so sorry and feel free to skip this chapter and I promise that I will give a warning before any chapter that has any mentions of possible triggers.

And in other news, I turned 21 recently and may have been slightly drunk while writing half of this chapter so I apologize for any mistakes that I may have missed.

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The braziers in the council chambers crackled softly as Aeris stood frozen staring into Goeiah's golden eyes. She was pretty sure it was Goeiah anyway, she had always been the more straightforward of the two. The older woman quirked a brow as Aeris pulled her hand from Ganondorf's grip in an attempt to hide her now trembling hands.

"Are you going to answer me?"

Aeris's breath caught in her throat as an image of a lifeless bundle in a Hylian midwife's arms hit her like a runaway horse. She turned to look at Ganondorf silently praying that he would have an answer for the woman in front of them, but he looked just as dumbfounded as she felt.

"Goeiah, sister, let us discuss this calmly," Ghaeih tried to defuse the situation. "I'm sure that there is a reasonable explanation,"

The other council members nodded in agreement and Goeiah turned to return to her sister's side. "Reasonable or not, there are certain… duties… our dear queen has apparently neglected," The words shot through Aeris like an arrow aimed directly at her heart. "It is well known that the king is expected to have a large family, a family that should have been started soon after the wedding,"

Aeris brought a hand to her stomach as she battled the sudden burst of emotion that overtook her senses. She was barely aware of Ganondorf stepping forward and arguing in their defense as a low droning filled her ears.

Her fingers danced lightly over the place on her abdomen that had at one point been littered with zigzagging scars. Now only the memories remained of the life she hadn't had time to mourn. It was her own fault, of course, she had purposefully never allowed herself to mourn there had been more pressing matters at hand, but now there was nothing holding back the emotions that had been constantly churning in the back of her mind.

She was fighting a losing battle against the urge to break down in front of the other people in the room with her. There was no way that she would be able to explain, there was no suitable explanation she could give.

A gentle hand was laid on her shoulder snapping her out of the fog that had clouded her mind and she slowly turned to see Nabooru. "Are you alright?"

Aeris tried to speak but the words died in her throat only to be replaced with a ragged sob. The dam she had tried so hard to put up around her emotions broke and she sank to the ground with her arms wrapped around herself. A murmur traveled through the room as Aeris curled into herself, raw pain echoed across the walls with each broken sob that left her trembling form. She was more than crying, this was the kind of desolate sobbing that spoke of unspeakable loss and made the others in the room shuffle uncomfortably as they watched her rock back and forth desperately clinging to herself.

She felt someone sink to the ground next to her and she reached blindly toward them, not caring who it was. Nabooru gently stroked her hair and whispered soft empathetic words as her best friends, her sister clung to her like a child, not caring about the tears that were slowly soaking through her clothes.

"Are you happy now?" She hissed as she looked back toward the council members.

The members of the council were obviously confused as they observed the display before them but said nothing, choosing instead to silently observe. Ganondorf took a tentative step forward, he had never seen Aeris like this before and his heart ached to see her so torn apart. He had no idea what could be causing her such anguish and the fact that she hadn't confided in him added to his concern.

"Will someone please tell us what the meaning of this is?" Goeiah stood firmly in place with a scowl etched across her face.

"I-" Aeris tried to choke out a response, her lungs were burning with effort as she struggled to breath. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," She buried her face further into Nabooru's lap, clinging desperately to the last thing keeping her grounded. "I tried, I tried so hard,"

The room fell silent as another ragged sob ripped itself from Aeris's chest. Nabooru's grip around her friend tightened and she looked toward Ganondorf, whose mouth was slightly agape as he tried to understand the words that had just left his wife's mouth.

"There was nothing I could do," Each word was accented by a large intake of air followed by a shuddering breath.

"I lost her,"

The council took in a collective breath. "Is this the reason you pushed to return from Hyrule so quickly?"

Aeris didn't answer the question and Nabooru rose with her cradled easily against her chest. "I'm taking her back to her room before you can humiliate her any further,"

Nabooru glared dangerously at the members of the council before turning and carrying the distraught woman in her arms out of the room.

Ganondorf watched silently as his second in command carried his wife from the room his gaze lingered on the door long after they were gone until he turned to the council with rage in his eyes.

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Murmurs spread through the fortress as Nabooru carried a sobbing Aeris through the halls and rumors began flying as Ganondorf's rage echoed across the limestone walls.

Nabooru ignored the stares and whispers as she shielded Aeris from the outside world. The woman in her arms was in no shape to deal with any further accusations. She didn't stop until she reached the sanctuary of Aeris and Ganondorf's bed chambers, she almost sent someone to get Urora but decided that their mother could be filled in later once things had settled down.

As she pushed the door to Aeris's rooms open she took a moment to appreciate what the woman had done with the place. When Aeris had first moved into Ganondorf's quarters after the wedding the rooms had been a nearly blank canvas of creams and muted colors. Now, warm tones of yellow and orange filled the room alongside accents of coral and teal.

Nabooru carefully made her way across the room to the bed that was almost entirely covered with pillows and blankets of varying shades of orange and yellow. She carefully sat Aeris down on the soft surface, the woman had stopped crying but refused to make eye contact.

"I don't-" She had no idea where to even begin. "I'm not sure what to say,"

"Then don't say anything," Aeris absentmindedly wiped a tear from her cheek. "There's nothing to say anyway,"

"I'm sorry," Nabooru took Aeris's hands into her own. "I didn't realize that you were still so broken up about…"

"Neither did I," Aeris pulled her hands away from Nabooru and moved to pull one of the blankets around her shoulders.

The pair fell into silence, both of them unsure of how to continue the conversation. Nabooru reached to lay a gentle hand on Aeris's thigh only for the woman to turn her body away and curl even tighter into the blankets she had buried herself into.

"Do you want me to go get mom?" Even if Urora didn't remember the incident she was the only person that had been with Aeris and Nabooru was sure that her presence would be a welcome relief for the woman. Aeris shrugged and slid further into the embrace of the blankets, Nabooru nodded softly and rose from the bed.

"Alright, I'll be right back," Nabooru hated seeing Aeris like this, and she should have known that Aeris wasn't as alright as she had seemed. No one would be alright after going through half of the things that Aeris had been through.

As she closed the door to the room behind her Ganondorf turned the corner at the end of the hall with a scowl still etched across his face. He paused as he saw Nabooru and his face softened, his pace slowed until they met in the middle of the hall. He was silent for a moment as if he was trying to find the words he needed.

"Did you know?" Nabooru's heart sank as his voice cracked.

"I did," His normally stoic demeanor melted away as he closed his eyes and turned his head away from her.

"Why didn't she tell me," He was struggling to keep himself composed as he continued. "I could have… I might have been able to-"

"Stop," Nabooru put her hands firmly on his shoulders bringing his attention back to her. "Don't do that to yourself," She brought her hands up to cup his face gently in her hands. "There was nothing you could have done, these things happen. It's horrible and I can't imagine the pain that either of you are feeling right now, but Aeris is in a bad place," His eyes flicked toward the door to their room. "I'm not saying that your pain is worth any less than hers, but she needs you more than I think she ever has before,"

Nabooru paused as hurried footsteps echoed down the hall and Urora rounded the corner with a look of confusion and concern on her face, she must have heard the rumors already flying around the fortress. "She needs all of us right now," Nabooru let go of his face and motioned toward the closed door. "Now go be with her, I'll fill mom in,"

Ganondorf silently thanked Nabooru with a small nod. He didn't know when Nabooru had become the most emotionally mature of them but he was thankful for her insight. He took a deep breath and slowly pushed the door to their room open.

Upon first glance the room was empty, it wasn't until he looked closer that he realized that the mound of blankets on the bed was concealing Aeris from view. He silently made his way to the bed and easily scooped Aeris into his arms while keeping her securely wrapped in the blankets. She didn't move or make any noise as he settled into the bed with her cocoon held against his chest.

The faint crackling of burning candles was the only sound that permeated the thick silence that settled over the room. Aeris buried her head further into the blankets, anxiety clawed at the back of her mind slowly eating at her the longer they sat in silence. When she finally mustered the courage to look up from the safety of the blankets Ganondorf was staring blankly at the far wall and her heart broke.

There was so much emotion in his eyes, more than she had ever seen, and the weight of the lie that was being spun came crashing down around her. She tried to stifle the broken sob that was threatening to slip out of her mouth but it was too much. The dam broke again and she threw her arms around his neck pulling him down to her.

His arms slowly tightened around her and he buried his face into her hair. He murmured soft words against her hair, encouraging her to let it out and reassuring her that she was alright.

"I'm sorry," Her words were muffled by the blankets and she wasn't sure that he had heard her until he slowly lifted her chin up toward him.

"Stop apologizing," He cradled her face gently in one of his large palms. "You didn't do anything wrong,"

She wanted to believe him so badly, but some small voice in the back of her mind told her that he was wrong. She was lying, lying about when the loss had happened and that overrode everything. "But,"

"But, nothing," He shushed her and softly touched his forehead to hers. "I just wish you would have told me about it sooner,"

"Sorry," Her voice was tiny and hushed. "You were so busy I didn't want to bother you with it,"

He pulled his head back as if she had burned him. "You didn't want to bother me?"

She shrank back away from him trying to make herself as small as possible, the lie was slowly eating at her, but she couldn't tell the truth. The truth would be the end of everything she knew, everything she had worked so hard for.

He slowly blinked down at her and then pulled her forcefully against his chest, crushing her in a rock hard embrace. "I should have been paying more attention to you," She choked back another sob as she wrapped her arms around him trying to bring him even closer. "I should be the one apologizing to you, I should have known that something was wrong after you snapped at me that day,"

Aeris had nearly forgotten about the spat that resulted in their return to the desert. It had been more about her insecurities than anything, but it would be easier to just let him think what he wanted about it.

They lapsed into another bout of silence but this one was much more comfortable. Aeris felt more secure than she had in weeks as she laid there in his arms listening to the sound of his breathing. The exhaustion that always followed tears finally caught up with her and as she drifted into unconsciousness she felt like the two of them could handle anything life or the Goddesses could throw at them.

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A/N: Haha yeah that's not gonna happen sorry Aeris.

No but seriously this one is going to be much darker... I want to tackle some more of the political side of things in this one and the aftermath of the timeline changing so be prepared.