A/N: Sorry for the late update. I've been to the hospital with my fiance four times in the last two weeks, but we got some fantastic news, so have some angst!
Being back in the Fortress was strange for Aeris, around every corner was another memory. Memories that made her smile but behind that smile was a twinge of pain.
She would be walking through the halls and suddenly be struck by a sense of deja vu or smell the warm spices that she associated with… him, and she would have to take a moment to let the sudden rush of emotions pass.
Here was the worst though.
Sitting at his desk covered with papers filled with his elegant scrawl, with the gold and crimson cords burning a hole in the back of her head from their perch above the bed they once shared.
She sat gingerly nursing a glass of volt fruit and hydromelon wine, pouring over the various papers scattered over the desks surface. The majority of them were scrapped ideas for trade agreements, with notes scribbled in the margins, but the ones that she was searching for the ones that she held onto, the ones that gave her hope, were hastily scribbled ramblings.
Ramblings that to anyone else would be incoherent notes, hastily scribbled as if the author was quickly writing down a dream before it vanished from their memory. They were windows into Ganondorf's thought process throughout the years almost like journal entries. She could almost hear his voice as she read through them, arguing with himself and fighting through his feelings.
In these pages he questioned himself, he questioned Koume and Kotake, he even questioned Aeris and her motives at points. All of the feelings he felt that he couldn't express were written here, from his insecurities to his suspicion of Koume and Kotake's actions.
A gentle knock at the door drew Aeris' attention from the paper in her hands. "Come in!" She sat the paper down and finished her drink in one quick gulp.
The door slowly opened and a young Gerudo that Aeris had seen but didn't know by name peered through it. "My Queen,"
"Please call me Aeris," She smiled at the young woman sweetly.
"Oh, yes my Queen," The young woman smiled sheepishly. "I mean Aeris. Kulori wanted me to tell you that Link has passed the Thief's trial at the Training Grounds,"
"Did he get the Ice Arrows?" Aeris let out a breath of relief as the young woman nodded. Link had been understandably hurt by the unveiling of Aeris' true identity and was refusing to speak to her. She was just happy that he had remained in the Fortress and not run off into the Dessert unprepared.
"Will you ask him to come and speak with me?" Aeris ran her fingers over a small stack of papers on the desk. Maybe reading these would help him understand.
Aeris watched the young woman bow and close the door as she left before turning and placing her head in her hands. The Gerudo needed a leader and Nabooru seemed to have disappeared without a trace, with none of the Gerudo having any idea where she had gone.
Aeris was their Queen in name only, with her official title being Consort Queen, yet the Gerudo still looked to her for guidance. After seven years, after abandoning them for seven long years, they still looked to her for answers, answers she was unsure she had.
She rubbed her forehead and poured herself another glass of wine. She swallowed the thick red liquid in one go and gently laid her head on the desk.
She made a mental note to ask Kulori for something stronger later.
Hues of blue and gold filled her vision as she slowly opened her eyes. Sand stretched for miles and familiar scorching heat caressed her skin.
Still laying on her back she lifted a fist full of sand and watched as it slipped through her fingers. When her hand was empty she rose slowly and turned her attention to scan the horizon.
There was nothing but sand and sky.
The terrain was eerily familiar to her and a dull ache was forming in the back of her skull. Was it even possible to get a headache in a dream?
Was this a dream?
Someone cleared their throat behind her and she spun quickly to face the source of the sound and came face to face with…
Herself
Or more aptly herself at sixteen dressed in her wedding gown. Looking herself in the eye was an odd feeling, but solidified in her mind that this was in fact, a dream.
"What is this?" The copy tilted her head. "Who are you?"
"I'm you silly," Hearing her own voice echo in her mind made her head swim and seeing herself young and smiling made her heart hurt.
"Excuse me?" She watched perplexed as her younger self giggled.
"I'm what you could have been," Something in the copy's face twitched for a second but it's smile was unwavering. "Should have been,"
Aeris took a step back as the copy stepped forward. "I don't understand,"
The copy giggled. "You will,"
The scene around them shifted and Aeris found herself standing in the main hall of Hyrule castle, the copy Aeris was now eighteen and wearing the dress she had been wearing the night of the King's murder.
The copy lifted a finger to her lips signaling for Aeris to remain silent as she turned and threw open the heavy oak doors leading into the throne room. Bile threatened to rise up as the all to familiar scene appeared before her.
Ganondorf stood wearing thick black plate wiping King Daphnes' blood from his blade. He turned as the doors opened and Copy Aeris strode into the room. "Ah, Aeris there you are,"
Copy Aeris smiled as she approached him. "Everything seems to be going according to plan,"
"Indeed," He stooped to kiss the copy smearing blood on her cheek as he did so.
Aeris wanted to scream at him. Wanted to scream that this wasn't real, this wasn't supposed to be happening, but she was frozen in place. Unable to move she was forced to watch the two interact.
The copy rubbed her thumb over Ganondorf's cheek. "What would you have me do my King?"
"Bring the Princess to me," His voice was a deep rumble.
"Yes my King,"
The world began to spin and Aeris found herself back in the Desert. The copy was tilting its head, watching the tears pour down Aeris' face.
"That was what a real Queen would have done for her King," The copy laughed.
"No," Aeris held her hand to her chest trying to steady her heartbeat. "Never,"
"Everything he's done has been for you," The younger her stepped forward, their noses almost touching. "You married a man that would burn entire nations to the ground for you," Aeris could feel the apparitions breath across her face. "And you're ruining it,"
"NO!" She stepped away from the vision and walked past it. "That's not the man I married," The man she fell in love with had been soft and gentle, sure he had a wicked temper but he was good. "Demise did those things,"
Something in the vision's face twitched but the smile on its face widened. "Did he though?" It's lips twitched. "How sure are you?"
Aeris paused and the copy giggled again. "Maybe he just needed a push in the right direction," She was shaking her head and the vision walked circles around her. "It was always there, hidden beneath the surface," The copy was grinning now reveling in Aeris' anguish. "What about the things done before your little trip to Hyrule?".
"Tell me, who killed the Great Deku Tree?"
"NO!" Aeris spun away again her head in her hands. "Stop it!"
"Weak!" The copy hissed. "You are weak! He made you his queen, you could have ruled the world together!"
"I never wanted this!" Aeris screamed tears spilling down her cheeks. "I never asked for this!"
"Oh but you did," The vision chuckled darkly. "You're fate was sealed the night to ran into the desert,"
The smell of smoke and burning wood filled the air along with high pitched screams of pain. Goats, there were goats screaming. Aeris collapsed to her knees sobbing, her mother's face flashed through her mind, scared and covered in soot screaming at her to run.
"Stop it!"
Everything stopped and Aeris slowly opened her eyes. She was kneeling in a modest room of typical Hylian design, a fire crackled warmly in a nearby fireplace.
"Would you like to see what your life could have been?" Aeris took several heaving breaths and slowly nodded her head.
A harsh knock at the door made Aeris swing her head around to face the door. "Coming!"
Her own voice echoed from the floor above and footsteps slowly made their way down the steps. A sharp pang of sorrow flooded Aeris as she watched herself amble down the stairs, heavily pregnant with one hand braced on the wall for support.
Her hands unconsciously went to the zigzagging scars that lined her abdomen.
Finally at the bottom of the stairs the copy let out a deep breath and waddled over to the door. Two tiny figures followed closely behind, girl no more than five or six and a boy of about three. The boy had black hair and striking blue eyes while the girl had curly blonde locks and Aeris' green eyes.
Aeris felt a tear roll down her cheek as the watched the girl help her brother down the stairs.
The copy Aeris opened the door and her smile fell. "Aeris Atherton?" Two Hylian soldiers stood in the doorway.
"Yes?" She wrapped her arm around the girl and boy as they came to stand beside her. "Can I help you,"
The soldiers faces hardened. "Your husband Kilus Atherton has been executed for crimes against the crown,"
"Excuse me?" The copy's grip on her children tightened and the soldiers surged forward and grabbed her arms. "What is the meaning of this?" Panic flooded through Aeris as she helplessly watched, unable to move from her place on the floor.
The children were crying as a pair of shackles were firmly clamped around the copy's wrist. "You are being charged with conspiracy against the crown and your children are being taken into custody,"
Aeris watched helplessly as one of the soldiers grabbed the boy roughly, causing the child to scream shrilly. His sister tried to pry him from the man's grasp but he easily scooped her up as well.
"Wrenn listen to me!" The copy cried as she was being dragged out of the house. "Take care of Cyrus!"
The girl, Wrenn, watched helplessly as her mother was dragged away tears streaming down her tiny face.
Aeris closed her eyes unable to watch anymore.
"Ruin and death follow you like a plague," Aeris opened her eyes, back in the desert the copy showed Aeris as she was now. Tired and world wearied, thick dark bags hung under her eyes and her leather armor that was once polished was now ragged.
"Shut up," Aeris pretested weakly and buried her head in her hands.
"A broken doll no one wants to play with anymore," The copy flashed a wicked grin. "Dingy and torn with faded glass eyes,"
"Stop talking!" Aeris tried to push the copy away but she jumped back cackling.
"You cling to a stupid dream," The copy's laughter was echoing through Aeris' mind, grating against her sanity. "You think you can save him, but you have nowhere to turn,"
Aeris sat trembling in the sand, her heart pounding in her chest as the copy crouched in front of her. "You're stuck in your own head," The copy giggled. "Like a fly trapped in a web," The copy flashed another wicked grin. "But the spider is dead, there's no one around to set you free,"
"I SAID STOP TALKING!" Aeris lashed out and the copy stumbled back, surprise filling her dark green eyes.
Blood spurted out of the now gaping wound in her neck. When had she grabbed her daggers? "Except yourself,"
Aeris dropped her blood covered daggers as a ragged sob ripped itself from her throat and she sank back into the sand gasping for air. She looked at her trembling hands, there was blood spattered across her skin.
She scooped up a hand full of sand and began scrubbing her hands with it. The abrasive particles rubbed the top layer of her skin away along with the blood, but it wasn't enough. Her hands still felt dirty, stained by her own blood.
The sand shifted behind her and a familiar pair of arms wrapped around her as she sat shaking in the sand. All sounds ceased as she sank back into the warmth of his chest sobbing harshly. The short hairs of his beard brushed against her cheek as he pressed himself closer to her and murmured into her ear.
"I'm here,"
She hiccuped and leaned her head against his chest reveling in the warmth and safety she found there, leaning into his embrace felt like coming home. A large hand stroked her hair and a wave of calm washed over her.
She took a few heaving breaths. "Tell me what to do," Her voice was shaky and small.
One of his hands gripped her chin roughly and jerked her head up to face him. Fear gripped her as he looked down at her with glowing orange eyes and hair that flickered like flame. "Die,"
Aeris jerked out of her sleep harshly enough to knock over the chair she was in, sending her crashing to the ground. She cried out as her back hit the limestone floor.
She eyed the bottle of wine that had fallen over, spilling it's remaining contents onto the floor staining the stone crimson, and made a note not to ask Kulori for something stronger later.
A/N:Aeris really needs a hug.
Comment to give the poor woman a hug