Link crept past a guard in the Gerudo Fortress as quietly as she could, which she had to admit was not the best sneak job she'd ever performed. Perhaps Sheik was right when he said she shouldn't have ridden Epona... Link's lower abdomen was hurting, and not even the bottle of potion she kept nursing would make the pain go away.

No time to whine, she told herself, as the entrance to the stronghold which she believed held the last carpenter came into view. Link waited until the guards patrolling nearby turned their backs, then when the coast was clear she sprinted the gap and dove inside.

If she had been paying attention, Link would have seen the blood droplets she left behind as she ducked behind a crate. Instead she currently focused on her hookshot as she waited for the guard she could hear approaching. Once said guard was in view, Link stunned her and ran down the hall, finally finding that damned carpenter.

"Are you here to rescue me?" the oaf asked as Link fumbled through picking the lock on his cage. She ignored him, her focus wavering from fatigue. She failed to hear his clumsy shouting, the guard dropping from the rafters, or even the shrill wail of Navi screaming in her ear to look out. All she saw was the blur of the room flying by as the Gerudo guard grabbed her and threw her against the opposite wall, knocking her out on impact.

As Link opened her eyes, she expected to see the ceiling of a jail cell, or worse, Ganondorf's castle. She didn't expect to see furs on the wall, or an insect canopy, or even soft pillows and the warm blanket covering her body. "...Nn?"

"I don't know what the hell you were thinking, but you better have a good explanation."

Link turned to see a Gerudo woman, maybe in her twenties or thirties, holding a bloody tunic. Her tunic. She looked down and saw that she had been redressed into a loose sleeping gown, and that all her gear was gone. "What..."

"How long ago, a few weeks? A month?" The Gerudo rolled her eyes, before tossing the tunic away. "You should be at rest for at least two months, hell someone your age even longer, after giving birth. Where's the baby? Who's feeding it?"

Trying desperately to hide her reaction, Link mumbled, "I don't know what you mean."

"Now you're lying to me," the Gerudo scoffed. "We are a tribe of women. Don't you think we'd know what a girl who recently gave birth looks like? My nurse changed your clothes, and she saw how sore your breasts are. You are obviously still lactating, you don't get that way just because. And I can tell just by looking at you that your baby was feeding from you until recently. The buildup hurts, doesn't it?"

Link chewed her lip, it did hurt now that the baby stopped. "...What do you want from me?"

"I want to know what the hell you think you were doing, sneaking in here when you're obviously in no shape to be doing anything but resting." The Gerudo narrowed her eyes, and crossed her arms while waiting for an answer.

"Ask your king," Link snapped, on the verge of tears. "Quite frankly I rather would be at home resting, but he hasn't left me much of a choice now, has he?!"

The Gerudo raised an eyebrow at the outburst, then unfolded her arms. "I suppose that is a fair statement. Lord Ganondorf has been quite, how should I say it, concerned as to why the hero hasn't been seen lately. Though none of us ever thought the reason was because she got pregnant. The leading theory was that you had been maimed beyond repair." She then chuckled. "Why go to such lengths to hide your condition? You're female, it happens."

"Why?" Link looked at her in confusion. "Wouldn't you want to protect your child? If he found out about her, she'd be a big freaking bullseye for all your boss's rage!" Link rolled over, away from the woman. "I don't care what happens to Hyrule, I care what happens to my baby. And there's no way I'm telling you where she is!"

The Gerudo smiled, then turned to a table at her hip. Link tensed as she heard the woman bend over to retrieve something, but relaxed when she realized it was only a warm washcloth. "...Now that's exactly the kind of answer I was hoping to hear."

Confused, Link squirmed as the woman attempted to wipe her forehead off.

"Hold still, I'm just trying to help you. You're sweating like a pig."

"...But why do this, why help me? Aren't you the enemy?"

Sitting on the edge of the bed, the woman sighed. "For starters, my name is Aveil. I am the second in command of the Gerudo Fortress, behind our leader Nabooru and our king, Lord Ganondorf. You are going to find as you go through life that things are not always what they seem, kid, and this is one of those times. We are not your enemy."

Aveil forced Link to drink down a cup of red potion, then stood and walked over to a sigil hanging on the wall. "Our law decrees that the one Gerudo male born every hundred years is automatically made king, and so we honor that law. However, we are smart enough to recognize madness when we see it, and we have known for some time that Lord Ganondorf is not acting in the best interests of our people. High Priestess Nabooru believes this, especially since Ganondorf's actions have caused harm to innocent women and children."

"High Priestess?"

"Nabooru is the keeper of the Spirit Temple," Aveil replied, making Link's eyes widen. "I'm guessing the reason you've come to our Valley is because you need her assistance for your quest. Don't act so surprised, we Gerudo know the Sheikah legends of the Triforce well. Nabooru has always known she is a sage, for we worship the Goddess of the Sand at that temple. The problem, however, is that Ganondorf's followers have invaded the temple and trapped Nabooru inside. No one has seen her for the last seven years."

Link frowned. It was exactly like Ganondorf to cut off the one sage he had personal access to. "Do you think she is still alive?"

Aveil nodded in reply. "We believe so, for the Goddess of the Sand would become very angry if he were to order Nabooru's death. The two also had a relationship at one point, so I believe he wouldn't have it in himself to kill her. But I wouldn't put it past him to brainwash her, and make her into some kind of puppet for his cause. Nabooru always was a strong woman, sometimes too strong..."

"How will I rescue her, then, if you don't think I'm ready?" Link sighed, realizing the difficulty of her quest had suddenly skyrocketed. "I take it that you won't tell Ganondorf I'm here or that I have a baby, given that you're so angry about what he's done to your High Priestess. But I can't take any more time to rest, he's been searching for me in Kakariko and if I don't make it known that I'm back on the quest again, I just know he'll start looking in places I don't want him to!"

"Calm down, kid." Aveil shook her head, before going over to Link's equipment in the corner. "Some of this stuff isn't necessary anymore, right? Like this hookshot, you have two of them. And this shield..."

"HEY, I need my shield!"

"Easy, there," Aveil explained. "We'll send an alert to the king that we had someone snooping around and releasing our prisoners, and when we tried to apprehend them, they got away while leaving these things behind. He'll realize it was you because I'll send your hat with them. That way he'll know you're out on the job again. In the mean time, you go back home and rest for another month. I hate to keep a newborn baby from its mother. Nabooru survived this long, she can wait a little longer."

This time it was Link's turn to roll her eyes. "And how do we know he'll buy it?"

"Because I'm giving you these before you go." Aveil then pulled a trunk out from under the bed, and opened it to reveal a pair of silver braced gauntlets and a mirror faced shield. "He'll go nuts when he finds out you stole these from the Spirit Temple."

Link's jaw practically dropped as she gazed into the reflection of the mirror shield. "What an amazing artifact..."

"It is, isn't it?" Aveil chuckled. "Nabooru and I are the only ones who knew where this shield was kept in the temple, and once we found out Ganondorf was storming Hyrule Castle, she took these two relics and had me hide them in case he did something wicked. I want you to take them, then that way you won't need to trudge through the temple in search of them. The magic of Ganondorf's witches is very powerful, and you will need this shield to protect yourself from it."

Link nodded as Aveil packed her things away, before a thought occurred to her. "Aveil, where's Navi?! My fairy? You didn't hurt her, did you?" She had been so concerned about herself and the baby that she forgot all about the poor thing.

"Why would I hurt a fairy?" Aveil scowled. "I sent your fairy with that last carpenter and instructed her to have them rebuild the bridge over the gorge," she replied. "Once I realized who you were, and the condition you were in, there was no longer any point for hostilities. She will come back once they finish their work, I'm sure. That or she's scared and is hiding in their tent while waiting for you."

"Oh." Link watched as Aveil rummaged through what looked like a clothing trunk, and saw her pull out some unusual looking pieces that resembled holsters. "...What are you doing?"

Aveil snorted. "You clearly don't have any women helping you out, so I'm looking for some brassieres that might fit you. You'll need them since you'll be taking a break from breast feeding to rescue Nabooru. You don't necessarily need to wear one while you're resting or while you're actively nursing, but whenever you stop, you're going to swell up and then you'll definitely need the support. I'm also going to give you some underclothes that you can use to collect the bleeding until that stops."

"What's a brassiere?"

Aveil looked up in disbelief to see Link staring at her. "You're kidding. You don't know what this is? Great Goddess of the Sand, you and I have a lot of girl-to-girl talking to do. How did you even get pregnant in the first place? I'll bet some boy tricked you into sex."

Embarrassed, Link mumbled 'thank you for your help' and ducked further under the covers.