A gentle breeze blew through Aeris's hair as she ran her hands through the sand around her. She drew patterns on the soft surface, telling a story as she kneeled at the center of the geometrical designs. Somewhere behind her Starlight nickered and the sand shifted, but Aeris was lost in the movement of her hands.

Her fingers turned the sand around her into the history of the Gerudo and when the last piece was in place she took a shuddering breath, hoping that she was far enough in the sands that the wind wouldn't carry her voice back to the Fortress.

The song started with a low hum that came from deep in her chest and grew from there, building into a sacrament to the sands and the Goddess that protected them. She lost herself in the melody as she let her body sway with wind, her stress and hunger faded away as the song continued until it was all that was left.

The warmth of the sun beat down on her shoulders, almost like a mother's embrace or the Goddess herself giving her approval. The song eventually wound to a close just as it began, a low hum that was swallowed and carried away by the wind across the burning sands.

"You've been practicing," Aeris turned slowly as the sands shifted behind her and Urora swung elegantly from the back of one of the Gerudo mustangs.

"It's a big responsibility, I want to make sure it's perfect," The festival was looming ever closer and with it came the ritual she was now expected to perform in front of the entire population. She was charged with telling the history of the people and honoring Ganondorf as both her husband and the king.

"I'm sure it will be," Urora settled next to her in the sand, careful to not disturb the runes that surrounded Aeris. "How are you?"

Aeris turned to her adoptive mother and smiled. "Good, hungry and cranky most days, but good,"

Urora had been checking on her more frequently, almost as if there was something the older woman knew that Aeris didn't. "That is good,"

The wind whistled between the two women as they sat in relative silence. Aeris once again found herself swaying with the wind, moved by simply existing in the vast expanse of golden sand.

"I saw your father today," Aeris was jolted from her daze as Urora spoke, blunt as always.

"Is that so?" She swallowed thickly around her tongue, her father hadn't crossed her mind in weeks.

"He seemed… well," Urora shuffled uneasily as she spoke.

"Well enough," Cold seeped across Aeris's skin, the thought of her father made her tremble.

"Do you need to talk about it?" Urora had always been the best at talking things through, even when Aeris and Nabooru were children. She had a way of speaking that made them feel completely at ease.

"There's nothing to talk about," Even so Aeris hadn't really come to terms with the fact that her father was alive and if she was being honest, she didn't really want to.

"Aeris," Urora's hand drifted toward her daughter then fell limply into her lap. "You have the right to be angry,"

"I know that," The younger woman snapped a little more harshly than she had intended. "I'm sorry, Rora, I'm just so confused,"

There was so little she remembered of her parents, and the harder she tried, the further those memories reseeded into the depths of her mind. The father that she kept in her mind was a soft gentle man that gave her half full buckets of feed to bring to the goats and kissed her gently on the forehead before sending her off to bed.

He was nothing like the man who had spit hate filled words at her in the marketplace that day.

"Look at me," She turned slowly as Urora suddenly leaned forward and took her hands. "Is it really so different? Does his survival change your day-to-day life in any way?"

She blinked slowly, other than knowledge nothing had really changed. "No,"

"Then push him from your mind and focus on your family, those of us that have been here for every major milestone of your life," Aeris's bottom lip quivered as Urora smiled at her softly. "Keep those happy memories where they are and move on with what you have, and know that without a doubt your mother is proud of you,"

"I know you are," Aeris sniffled slightly as she rose to her feet and stepped out of the circle she had made. Her whole life Urora had told her how proud she was of the woman she was becoming and of the choices she had made.

"Of course I am," Urora's smile turn into something melancholy. "But, I wasn't talking about me, love,"

The shorter woman cocked her head to the side as Urora stood and put her hands on her shoulders. "Oh,"

"She had such high hopes for you, and you've surpassed every thing she could have ever dreamed you would achieve,"

"Do you really think so?" Her voice cracked, she had wondered for what was now most of her life how her mother would view her. Would she be proud, or would she be disappointed like her father?

That was stupid.

It had been her mother who insisted on their continued trade with the Gerudo. It had been her mother who had introduced Aeris to and nurtured her fascination with the desert dwelling race.

"I do," Urora's face split into a bright smile. "So spoke of you often, even when you were still growing inside her, you were the light of her life,"

Aeris gave a soft wobbly smile. "I did know you knew her that long ago,"

"I knew her mother for a very long time," A nostalgic grin crossed Urora's face. "I can still remember the day she found out she was going to have you, her smile was brighter than the sun that day,"

Memories of her mother's smile were some of the best Aeris had. Ahia's smile was radiant and full of life and love that had left her daughter feeling warm and safe.

"And the first time she brought you with her, you were just a tiny little thing, no more than a few months old,"

"Really?" She had been under the impression that her first visit to the desert had been when she was six, not an infant.

"Oh yes, you were a tiny bundle of smiles and wide bright eyes staring out at the world like you were ready to conquer it," Aeris could see the pride in Urora's face as she spoke. "Until it was time for your nap that is, then you were screaming like a banshee,"

The laugh that bubbled from Aeris's throat was a light one, barely more than a giggle, but it was enough for her mirth to show itself. "I haven't changed much since then have I?"

"No my dear you haven't," Urora grasped Aeris's shoulder tightly. "And I wouldn't change you for the world,"

Silence fell over the pair of them as the wind blew gently over the golden dunes. Somewhere nearby Starlight nickered as something large shifted across the sands, the muted thumping of hooves on sand followed closely behind.

Aeris sighed as she turned to face the approaching rider. "So much for practicing in peace,"

A guard pulled her steed to a halt, her face was half covered by the veil she wore, but her eyes shone liquid gold against the burning sun. "Aeris!

Ice-cold fear flooded her system as the guards panicked voice rang across the sands. Her feet were moving before her mind registered what was happening, slid to a halt next to the rider and griped the horses bridle with white-knuckles. "What, what is it?"

"It's—" The rider took a deep shaky breath as her lungs burned for air. "It's Ganondorf,"

Fear turned to terror as Aeris looked up into the rider's wide eyes, she prayed to the Goddess that the next words from the woman's mouth weren't the ones she thought they would be. "Tell me!"

Urora was already mounting her horse as the rider finally met Aeris's terror filled gaze. "He's been injured," The horse shifted nervously as Aeris's grip tightened on its bridle. "Nabooru sent me to get you, it's bad,"

Injured? Her mind was racing as she sprinted for Starlight the mare was already moving as Aeris threw herself into her saddle. A streak of pale gold against heated sands and a darkening sky, Starlight galloped almost a fast as the wind blew, spurred even faster as the wind grew louder.

The first tear that slipped down Aeris's cheek was masked as the sky itself opened and thunder echoed across the now completely dark sands.

It was raining in the desert.

An ill omen.

An omen of death.