Hello there! I was inspired to write this story based on some books I've been reading and a movie I recently watched. Before I go on, let me say that I will work on updating some of my other stories over the next couple days.

Now, please let me explain about the story...

This story is based on the Disney movie Anastasia, about Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaievna Romanova of Russia. However, it is also based on some historical facts (since Disney movies obviously aren't the most historically accurate). At any rate, whether you have or have not seen the movie, I suggest doing a little research as it may make some parts of the story more clear.

But, anyway, here is the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series, in whole or in part, nor do I own Anastasia or any other work by Disney.

Zelda Harkinian tramped up the small set of carpeted steps and stood before the throne in the center. A grand ball, one that rivaled only her parents' wedding nearly twenty years previous, was being held in Hyrule Castle. But the twelve-year-old princess hardly took notice of the celebration around her. She was too busy begging her grandmother, Queen Minna of Termina, not to leave.

Zelda kneeled in front of her grandmother, and the queen promptly leanend forward and urged her to her feet. "Do not cry, Love. Remember, we will soon be together again."

"Oh, but Grandmama, it will not be soon enough," Zelda pouted.

The queen snapped her fingers. A servant appeared in mere seconds, handing her a single piece of paper, folded in half.

"Do you have your ocarina?" she asked Zelda once the servant left.

Zelda pulled the instrument out of a small pocket she'd had sewn into the dress at the last minute, to the dismay of her mother. Her grandmother handed her the paper. Zelda opened it excitedly and looked at it. She immediately recognized it as the sheet music for her favorite tune, Winter Song. The queen would hum it for her at bedtime when she was younger, to soothe her to sleep.

Zelda had received the ocarina as a gift for her tenth birthday, and spent much of her time practicing her favorite songs. Her grandmother held up the piece of paper, and Zelda immediately began to play it. She'd tried to guess at the notes before, and managed to find the rhythm, but upon hearing the correct notes now she realized just how off she was.

When she finished playing, she enveloped the queen in a warm embrace. "Oh, thank you so much, Grandmama."

"You're welcome, child," the woman answered, kissing Zelda's forehead.

Zelda lied in bed later that night, staring up at the ceiling of the room that she shared with the third-oldest sister, Ada.

"Ada, do you think that Mom and Dad will make me get married?" Zelda whispered.

"Well, they cannot force you," Ada said wisely. "But don't you want to get married?"

"Ew, no, boys have cooties."

Ada giggled. "Zelda, you're twelve, and you still think boys have cooties?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, maybe when you're fourteen, like me, you'll find a boy that you want to court."

"Yeah, I think you found a lot," Zelda said, thinking back to all the young men passing time with her sister throughout the ball. Ada was the perfect one-not only was she beautiful, but a good girl. She almost never got into trouble. Zelda, by contrast, was a mischievious tomboy. Although she and her three sisters all had the same golden hair and sapphire eyes, just like their mother, they were all very different.

Zelda and Ada continued to talk for a few minutes before their mother, Queen Helga, stuck her head through the doorway to bid them good-night, meaning it was time to go to sleep. Zelda rolled onto her side to face the window, looking out at the stars. As they twinkled in the clear sky, she pulled the blankets up higher and sunk into a blissful sleep.

Ganondorf Dragmire paced restlessly in his room at Hyrule Castle. He had been living there for several years, "caring" for the nine-year-old heir to the throne, Ulric. Soon after his birth, it was discovered that the young prince was afflicted with hemophilia, a mysterious disease handed down through Queen Helga's side of the family that prevented his blood from clotting properly.

Truth be told, Ganondorf was nothing more than a very clever thief from one of Hyrule's strangest tribes. When he wasn't busy stealing, he practiced in the dark arts, and had managed to convince a desperate Queen Helga and her husband, King Hugo, Hyrule's two rulers, that he could help Ulric. Both the monarchs were highly spiritual, and although Hugo was skeptical at first, even he had to concede to his wife's wishes once Ulric suddenly began to show signs of increased strength, even though he was but an infant at the time.

Ganondorf now spent much of his time using his powers of persuasion to satisfy his lustful and gluttonous nature. When he wasn't busy squiring around the queen, he would go into Hyrule Castle Town, drinking himself into oblivion and seducing various women with his intense stare and mystical aura.

But tonight, his goal was different. Lately King Hugo had been growing more and more suspicious of his activities. Fed by the paranoia constantly overtaking him due to talk of revolution in Hyrule, the king constantly seemed on the border of banishing Ganondorf from the kingdom. However, much to Ganondorf's relief, Queen Helga always seemed quick to come to his defense, on the grounds that Ulric still needed healing and protection. However, Ganondorf knew his days were numbered- any more missteps and he would be lucky to escape with his life.

So as Hyrule's royal family- King Hugo, Queen Helga, Princesses Verena, Farica, Ada, and Zelda, and Prince Ulric- slept in their warm beds, Ganondorf set to work on thinking up a plan. A plan that would shake the 300-year-old Harkinian Dynasty at its very foundation. And one that, although even he couldn't predict it at the time, would bring devastating changes to the kingdom.

Please review! Thanks so much!