The training dummy in front of Aeris was mocking her.

Her lips curled into a snarl and the face that had been painted onto the head with bright red paint stared back at her with a stupid crooked grin. She flipped one of her daggers over in her hand and circled the dummy again. The lopsided eyes followed her until she was out of their reach.

She slashed out with her blade and sighed when the head of the dummy rolled forward and landed on the hard packed earth with a dull thud. She watched it as it rolled and came to a stop with those lopsided red eyes staring directly at her.

"Oh, come on!" She yelled into the night as she kicked the head across the empty training yard.

She dropped her blades and sat down with her head in her hands. It was late or well early, the sun would be rising soon and the Fortress would be coming to life, but Aeris couldn't sleep. Hadn't been able to sleep all night, and she was exhausted.

But, every time she closed her eyes memories would play through her mind on repeat. Horrible memories that she had thought were behind her reared their ugly heads, and she couldn't turn to the one person she wanted to. She couldn't turn to him because it was his face that plagued her nightmares.

"I thought I'd find you here," She didn't have to look up to know that Nabooru was settling next to her.

"Couldn't sleep," Her words echoed across the empty arena.

"The dreams again?" Nabooru moved to place a gentle hand against Aeris's shoulder but dropped it as her friend flinched away from her.

"I thought I was past this," There was a slight wobble to her voice, but she willed the tears away. She was done crying over the past, done crying over something that would never happen.

"Aeris, what you went through, I—" Nabooru threw caution to the wind and threw her arm around Aeris and pulled her close. She held her against her side much in the same way Urora had held them when they were small. "I don't know how you're still here,"

How was she still here? How in any Goddesses name was she still standing here?

Aeris leaned into Nabooru's embrace. "I don't know either,"

Nabooru nodded against the top of Aeris's head. "Are you still thinking of running?"

Aeris froze, Nabooru was the only person who knew what had happened, who knew what Aeris had gone through, and she was the only person that Aeris had told when she wanted to run. That first day when she had woken up and everything was right where it was supposed to be, she had wanted to run. She had wanted to turn tail and run as far away as she could, but she couldn't, she couldn't leave them.

"No," She was trembling as Nabooru pulled her closer.

"We're happy, I know that," Aeris let herself be slowly rocked back and forth. "I know that, it's past, the window of time for it to happen has come and gone, but," A single tear slipped down Aeris's cheek as she said the words that had been gnawing at the back of her mind. "But, I feel like we're just trying to outrun karma,"

"I know that feeling," Nabooru tucked her chin against the top of Aeris's head. "I can't even begin to compare what you did with what I did, but it's unnerving to know that one day I could get called to serve Goddesses that I don't believe in,"

The silence that settled between them was broken by the cry of a hawk flying overhead. Aeris looked up to see the first hints of orange and pink breaking through the inky black of the night sky. "I'm sorry,"

"Why are you apologizing?" Nabooru let go of Aeris as the woman leaned back to lay against the hard ground.

"Because, I've never stopped to ask you how you were doing," Aeris turned to look at her sister as she laid next to her.

"I'm fine, so what, I'm a sage big deal," She turned to look at Aeris and sighed. "You watched your husband slowly get possessed by an ancient evil, you lost a baby because of trauma he caused, and then you fought against him with only the smallest sliver of hope that you could save him, and now you have to pretend that none of it happened,"

"Well, when you put it like that," Aeris chuckled dryly, hearing it all summed up like that was odd.

Hearing anything about it was odd. She had treated it like some dirty little secret or bad nightmare for so long that it had started to feel like one. But, hearing someone else vocally validate what she had done and gone through was comforting in a way.

"Come on let's start training before Kulori gets here!" Several young voices echoed across the canyon walls and Aeris and Nabooru giggled as small footsteps drifted toward them.

"Remember those days?" The mirth had returned to Nabooru's voice and eyes as she stood and extended her hand to Aeris.

"Fondly," She retrieved her daggers and picked up the head of the fallen dummy.

A group of five young girls around ten years old burst into the training yard and froze when they saw that it was already occupied. Aeris watched their eyes widen and then laughed as four of them ducked into low bows, the fifth looked around confused until one of her friends kicked her in the shin, and she followed her friends motions.

Nabooru was cackling as they all slowly rose and shuffled uneasily. "Well, I was saying I wanted to start helping train the kids again wasn't I?"

"You were," Nabooru nodded in agreement as the young girls exchanged confused looks.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" The girls jumped to attention as Aeris turned to face them, her face suddenly stern. "Go grab your staves,"

The girls burst into a flurry of motion, tripping over one another to reach the rows of training weapons.

- - ┈┈∘┈༒┈∘┈┈ - -

Aeris's stomach growled loudly and her muscles were pleasantly sore as she finally stumbled back into her quarters. Her hair was freshly washed, and she was ready to fall into bed and sleep for a week. She had forgotten how energetic a group of ten-year-old girls could be, though, it had been nice to see them succeed.

She paused as she pushed the door open, Ganondorf was sitting at his desk idly writing. It was something she had seen him do a thousand times, but something about today made her heart pang.

"You were gone when I woke up,"

His voice cut through her as she slowly closed the door behind her. "Sorry I needed some air and then that turned into helping Nabooru train a group of kids,"

"All day?" He didn't turn to follow her movements as she made her way across the room, his gaze stayed on the papers in front of him.

"Uh, yeah," She started idly braiding her hair as she lowered herself onto their bed. He nodded slowly and his quill scratched angrily against the paper.

They lapsed into an awkward silence, her gaze drifted from the back of his head to the cords that hung over their bed. It had taken her a long time to be able to look at the woven cords, the memory of binding him with them had been too painful. She tried to remind herself that they were a symbol of their bond, a reminder of the strength they had together.

She jumped as something was placed in her lap, a simple plate of bread and cheese rested against her thighs and she looked up to see Ganondorf looking down at her. His golden eyes were unreadable before he turned and sat back at his desk. "Eat,"

Her stomach grumbled loudly. When was the last time she had eaten?

She lifted a piece of the bread to her lips and took a small bite. The fast leading up to the festival had started the day before, and she was trying to savor what food she could eat. "Have you eaten?" There were four pieces of bread and cheese on the plate, and she had a sneaking suspicion it was more than she was supposed to receive.

His silence was her answer.

She sighed and rose to carry the plate to his desk. She moved his arm and settled into his lap facing him. "Eat," She lifted one of the pieces of bread toward him.

"You need it more than I do," Even when he was angry or annoyed with her, he was worried about her.

"Eat," He rolled his eyes and tried to push the food away from his face.

"Aeris, I—" She pushed the piece of bread into his mouth and smiled as he grumbled and took it.

She watched him chew for a moment. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave without telling you,"

He swallowed thickly and lifted a cup from his desk to wash the bread down. "No, I shouldn't have gotten upset with you," He ran his thumb over her cheek and smiled as she took a bite from her piece of bread. "You would think I would understand that you aren't going to just blow away one day by now,"

"That and you get grumpy when you're hungry," She giggled as he scrunched his nose.

"I do not," His voice dipped dangerously low.

"See you're grumpy," She pushed the plate toward him and smiled as he took another slice of bread and a piece of cheese.

"Okay, maybe I am grumpy," He took another bite of the bread, and she followed suit.

"It's alright, don't apologize," She tapped her finger on the end of his nose and laughed as he grumbled lowly.

"Did you have a good day?" He finished the rest of his meager meal and washed it down before handing the cup to her.

"I did," She took a sip of the water and rolled her shoulders. "Nothing like a group of preteen girls to make you feel old,"

"You're far from old," He watched as she finished her food with a small scowl on his face.

"For now, but before you know it we'll be ancient and gray," She paused as the thought of them both old and gray, and happy flashed through her mind.

She wanted nothing more than to grow old and happy with him, to watch him turn into the wise old man she had thought of when she had first envisioned the Gerudo king. "Aeris?"

She turned toward him slowly and blinked. "Yes, love?"

"You, look like you're ready for bed," She took his hand as he extended it to her and let him guide her to their bed.

Her exhaustion finally caught up with her as she laid back on the soft surface, and she was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

- - ┈┈∘┈༒┈∘┈┈ - -

"She took him from us sister," A cracked decrepit voice echoed through ancient darkened halls. "We should have never let her stay. We should have—"

"We had no way of knowing that she would be favored so," The voice that responded was just as cracked and feeble.

"It would be easy enough to end her now," The temperature in the room dropped drastically. "A shard of my ice would stop her heart in an instant,"

"No," The second voice spoke reason. "Killing her now would only anger him,"

The sisters circled each other as their magic idly worked a spell. "She discarded the necklace, her thoughts and actions are lost to us, we're cut off out here sister,"

"That may be true, but the little hero grows restless. It is only a matter of time before he returns and pulls the sword from its pedestal and our master will be free once more,"

A soft cackle echoed through the darkened halls as the image of a young boy clad in green appeared in the air between them. His sword was drawn and his lips were pulled back into a pained grimace as he watched the moon crash to the earth.