Someone visited his holding cell sooner than he expected, but to his disappointment Samiyah did not bring breakfast with her.

"Good, you're awake," the older woman greeted cheerlessly.

When she said nothing more, Link stared questioningly and saw the same suspicion she'd shown when he first arrived at the desert. Her slightly aged skin wrinkled around her narrowed eyes as she spoke at last, straight to the point.

"I want to know who you really are. We both agree that you're not Oni, but you still know magic, and you can compete with our queen in battle. I refuse to believe you are a simple diplomat." Despite her accusatory tone, Link felt relieved; it seemed Aveil had refrained from revealing their recent discussion to the others, at least for now. "You have more influence in what your monarch decides than you claimed to have the other night, especially if what our spies have told me is true about your choice in mates."

It shouldn't have surprised him that they watched him and Zelda since they had a network of spies in Hyrule Castle. Nevertheless, her statement shocked him, for he was used to never speaking about his relationship, even in private with Zelda. As angry as it made him, he knew he could not reveal it to anyone for fear of the political scandal a peasant courting royalty would cause. "I have no mate," he said, and technically it was true; he and Zelda had not had sex.

Somehow that didn't make him feel any better.

"I'm aware. She refuses your advances. It must be frustrating not getting what you want, my lord." Link blinked. From prisoner to diplomat to lord…what was going on? He might have thought she was mocking him, but Samiyah didn't seem the type to let her blatant distrust turn to insults as Abia did. "I can help," she continued in a startlingly soft tone. "I have requested a moment alone with you. Is there anything I can do to put you at ease? Perhaps I can…" Her next word hissed through gritted teeth. "…persuade you to have your monarch overlook it if a Gerudo occasionally journeys into Hyrule."

"What?" he asked stupidly, his cheeks heating up as she stood in front of him, their faces almost touching.

"Come, Hylian. This is what you call quid pro quo, is it not? Equivalent exchange, Nayru's law?" She tried to smile coyly, but her tensed muscles and the anger in her golden eyes ruined the illusion.

He hadn't been able to see in his room the other night, so he'd imagined Zelda when the thief broke into his room, but Samiyah's red hair and figure, fuller than those of her younger sisters, reminded him of Malon. And like the beautiful ranch woman frequently did, she was asking if she could do anything to help him relax. Link should have been nervous from her attention, genuine or not.

But he felt only horror at the implications of her offer. "Aveil said you were one of the only sisters experienced in foreign relations," he realized. "What have Hyrule's past ambassadors done to you?" She only continued her advance. "I'm not here to take advantage of you."

"It must be me," she stated firmly, soft tone vanishing, and he was grateful that the Gerudo had little practice hiding their emotions. "I won't allow you to do this to my younger sisters."

Her hand lightly touched his chest. The motion lacked any affection, yet despite her obvious animosity she performed it easily, like this was not the first time she had forced herself to do it. "I mean it," he said, grabbing her wrist to remove her hand. "I'm not here to take advantage of anyone."

Her eyes widened at the contact as if she expected violence to follow, and he realized too late that he should not have touched her without consent. "Then what are you here for?" she demanded, eyes piercing him for any sign of deception or wicked intent.

He withdrew his hand and exhaled, letting his righteous fury fade. "I'm sorry. I'm here to help our races better understand each other."

"No ambassador from Hyrule has ever come here for anything other than his own gain. If you don't want sexual favors, you must have some other ulterior motive. Let's go."

Ironically, Link felt safer as she pointed twin scimitars at him and forced him outside the fortress; at least she had dropped the seductress act. He squinted against the harsh sun, and the women patrolling the perimeter paused in their routine. Some glared before turning their large noses up and marching on, some smiled hopefully, and some quickly turned away to avoid the controversy he had started (and possibly a scolding from Samiyah, since she was second-in-command). But the moment Samiyah was turned away from them, he felt glowing gold eyes on him. Some merely observed with interest, but his instincts told him that others were prepared to strike if he made a wrong move.

As Hyrule's least experienced diplomat, Link occasionally had trouble controlling his impulses, and his instincts had saved his life too many times for him to ignore them as the tip of her sword pressed into his back. He knew he could escape this dangerous position (he had done so before), but he kept his hand off the hilt of his sword.

"You haven't taken your gloves off since you got here, despite the heat that weakens your kind. What are you hiding? A birthmark, perhaps? A clue to your true identity?"

"A mark, yes, but I have no family that shares it," he answered honestly, not wanting to reveal the Triforce. He laughed inwardly at the idea of Ganondorf being his family, but when he had the same thought about Zelda, a pang of longing crushed his good humor. After seven years of faithful service to Hyrule, he still was not of a high enough class for them to publicly admit their relationship (or lack thereof). How many more years would it take? He tried to forget Aveil's question of whether he was happy at the castle.

"Good morning, Link." Aveil appeared as if sensing his thoughts, and Samiyah removed the blade from his back. Seeming not to notice, the queen smiled brightly and sauntered to him. "We have a saying: 'That man knows he is a fool is the only seed which women need sow.' The Goddess of Sand saw Oni's worth even when his sisters, the three goddesses of creation, exiled him."

She wore the same amorous yet teasing expression she'd used after her fight with him, and he wondered if she mentioned Oni just so she could tease him without going against his wishes and revealing his secret. Apparently she was more skilled at being indirect than Samiyah. Although, Zelda was like that as well, so perhaps all royalty developed that skill out of necessity.

"As Her daughters," Aveil continued, "we have that same ability to judge a man's worth." As if on cue, more golden eyes watched intently, and he had nowhere to hide in the glaring sun. "As I've said, I no longer believe that all men are worthless. I know your worth, but you must prove it to my sisters."

Abia, his usual escort, emerged from another part of the fortress to join them, looking strangely determined.

"Abia, you and Link will meet Nabooru at the Spirit Temple again," Samiyah instructed before turning to him. "Take the Mirror Shield. We will know from what happens who you really are."

"We're going back?" he asked, puzzled.

"The first visit was just to spy on them and collect information to determine their punishment. Nabooru learned that they were using their magic for something big. She has already left to scout ahead and prepare for your arrival," informed Samiyah.

Link meant to ask whether his first test had meant anything at all, but when Samiyah looking pointedly at him, he realized this was a different kind of test. Despite her anger, she was giving him a chance to prove himself trustworthy. Courage filled him as the correct path became clear, and his fatigue from yesterday's trip vanished.

"Abia," she continued, "I am sending you specifically because I know you are just as suspicious about our guest as I am, but do not let your temper distract you. Your mission comes first."

"I will bring back their heads," declared Abia, gaze hard and focused like she was already fighting.

"You mean to kill them?" Link asked.

"What of it?" the young purple-garbed warrior snapped. "Their punishment is up to the Gerudo, not to you. For hurting our sisters, they deserve death."

"I'm not disagreeing. I just want to avoid an incident between our kingdoms. Hyrule's court will want to know in great detail what will happen to the ones responsible for the moblin attacks on Kakariko."

"I will try to be diplomatic when it comes time to discuss this with them," answered Aveil, managing to sound slightly less bored than she had during the failed meeting in the fortress, and Link was glad that at least one Gerudo took him seriously. "Abia will escort you to the river if you wish to gather water with the whites again today. Drink while you are able. And Link?" She smirked. "I have high hopes for you, and much planned for your future. Don't disappoint me."

Without a word, Abia turned and started walking, and he noticed that she resembled a younger, more hotheaded version of the Samiyah. She marched beside him petulantly, staring straight ahead as if the thought of turning in his direction disgusted her, though she was not so enraged that she had to watch her feet in the sand as he did.

Atop the cliff over the river, Link saw that the women who collected water with him last time were already here, climbing over rock and wading through sand with practiced ease. Suddenly recalling his upcoming duel with Aveil, he assessed his abilities in the desert and found them lacking; his main strengths in battle were footwork and endurance, but those were severely compromised in the heat and sand.

Maybe he wasn't as ideal for this diplomatic mission as he'd thought upon accepting it from Zelda.

"Abia."

"What now?"

"Can I train with you after we're done?"

"You're not worth my time," she said and began her descent, deliberately making it more difficult for herself by not using a rope.

Link felt eyes on him again as he followed. The white nearest him froze in her climb, despite her old arms shaking more violently under a pot of water the longer she held it. "W-we are honored to have you working with us a second time, Oni. We whites thought you would have wanted to do something less menial with the purples and reds instead."

Unused to people addressing him with respect, he stumbled around his words. "Well, um...it may be menial, but it's still important, and I am not above it."

"Hi, Link!" someone yelled from below, waving, and he met her on the ground by the rapids.

"Hello, Gelbooru," he greeted with a genuine smile. When the short-haired girl smiled back, the woman still making the climb spoke again.

"Ah, good. There will be less fighting among our younger sisters if you have already chosen the leader for your harem."

"H-harem?" Link blushed terribly; the way she smiled at him, like she was truly happy that Oni had apparently returned and thought his having a harem was inevitable, made it worse. Impossible images of women (most notably the princess) vying for his attention flooded his mind before he forced them away. No self-respecting woman would lower herself like that, he told himself. "I'm...I'm not Oni, and..."

Gelbooru looked embarrassed as well and seemed to shrink into herself, her gaze focused inward, but her brown skin concealed any blush that might have appeared. The moment passed quickly, however, and work resumed as it must, as it always did. Abia stayed far enough away that they wouldn't have to speak to each other, but close enough to keep an eye on him. Filling one of the larger clay jars with water, he shifted uncomfortably under its weight as the Gerudo on the cliff reverently stepped aside when he needed to pass. He had only recently accepted that he and Oni had a bond, so how could so many Gerudo already believe they were the same being?

"The only authority in the desert is power," a voice behind him said when he returned to the river. It took him a moment to recognize Yumn by herself since he was used to seeing her and Nailah together. "You asked Abia for help with combat," she clarified. "You won't be able to move in the sand like you do in Hyrule, so you'll have to rely more on brute strength when you fight our queen."

Gelbooru stopped her task to pay attention to her words, and he remembered that she wanted to be a fighter. "Can you show me how you fight in the desert?" he asked, but Abia's yell from afar cut off the purple's response.

"What are you doing with the whites? Report back to Samiyah immediately!" Link closed his eyes and resisted the urge to groan, wondering why she insisted on being as far from him as possible while still interfering in his affairs.

"You can't tell me what to do; you're not a red," the newcomer sneered, and Link was struck by how different she was from Nailah. While Nailah had seemed eager to indulge in everything going on around her as well, she had still been cheerful. Yumn, however, appeared to enjoy her fellow soldier's frustration as she said tauntingly, "You should be thanking him after he saved you from the monster in Hyrule Field. It's obvious that you refused to help him because you are unable to." Link and Gelbooru flinched, but Yumn didn't look worried about Abia's temper as she addressed Link once more. "It is wonderful to meet someone so…powerful."

Abia stomped toward them, not showing any weakness in her injured leg. "Leave, unless you want to see how much power I have."

She smirked. "You already showed your power during that fight. But you're right. I have to get back to Samiyah." She looked at him one last time before leaving, and he again felt that his soul was being scrutinized. Her eyes burned like a fire trying to melt his resistance against her blatant desire. Link stood in place, too dumbfounded to speak or move until her gaze moved away from him.

Abia snapped him out of whatever spell Yumn had cast on him. "We're done here. I'm checking the others for injuries, and then you and I are leaving." She paused mid-step when she noticed that more people stared from afar after the confrontation. His long ears heard other them whisper "Oni" excitedly and giggle (he never thought he'd hear a Gerudo do that), and Abia seemed to hear some of it too, because her tone became more aggressive. "I don't care if you're the king of Hyrule. If you take advantage of my sisters, I will cut your ball off."

Link decided not to correct her belief that males had only one testicle, and when she left, he turned back to Gelbooru. Oddly, she hadn't spoken the entire time her two sisters were in each other's faces. Gerudo were famous for their spirit, yet others looked down on her so much that one could mistake her for being weak and demure.

"Will you show me how your sisters fight?" he asked, and the white's eyes widened before darting left and right, looking for anyone else he might be talking to. "You want to learn, right? And the others won't teach you? This way we can help each other."

"Sure!" she chirped, smiling brilliantly as she had when he first arrived and she asked if he was a prince. "Are you going to use your sword?"

Even as he stood motionless, sand pooled around his feet, inhibiting his agility and rejecting his worth as a warrior. "No. My sword favors footwork. I need to learn to compensate for the sand if I want to understand how you fight. Come at me."

She shocked him by lunging forward immediately to push him (evidently, even those Gerudo not trained to fight were always ready for one), but he caught her hands in his and pushed back. Their feet dug into the earth, their fingers intertwined, and their palms pressed together. Link quickly realized the truth of Yumn's words, for pushing against the ground with his legs only made his feet slide and sink. Everything came down to arm strength.

But despite his advantage in that area, he could not overpower her. True to her identity as a child of the Sand Goddess, her feet became one with her element and obstinately remained fixed no matter how many times he slipped. After carefully judging how far he could step without falling, he closed the distance between them and forced their arms above their heads, throwing her hands down to her sides and releasing their grip.

Then they stood toe to toe, her face slightly beneath his due to the height difference. Link was in excellent shape, but Gelbooru panted from their prolonged struggle. The tips of her breasts touched his chest as she looked up at him, her breath parting her lips and...

As a knight, Link rarely socialized with women. His training as a loyal servant of Hyrule emphasized denial of the appetites of the flesh, and the effect that such minimal physical contact had on his thoughts alarmed him into backing away, nearly falling over in the process.

"Link?" she asked, regarding him with confusion before understanding set in. "You're very lonely, aren't you?"

"W-what?" He calmed himself, recognizing that she spoke normally, without the provocative tone Samiyah, Yumn, or the thief from the other night had used.

"Before she deserted us, my mother said she could tell my father was lonely by the way he fought, but I never understood her until now. It's like fighting is all you have. It's so…"

"Fierce," he finished, studying her. "When you stared at me here the other day, you were looking for the Fierce Deity, weren't you?"

"I was looking for my father. I thought seeing another man would give me an idea of what he looked like, of what my mother left us for, but it hasn't."

"I never met my father either, or my mother. And though it wasn't because I was an orphan, my friends belittled me too when I was growing up. A boy named Mido...pulled my pants down in front of my whole village when I was little."

Her laugh shook his composure, and he wondered why he was sharing his past with her. He had never told anyone that story, even Zelda. Nonetheless, he was glad it made her happy. Now that they had stopped shoving, he remembered that she had given him his first kiss, and the taste of her lips refused to leave his memory. Would he ever feel such affection from Zelda? For that matter, would he ever feel anyone's affection again?

Abia again saved him from his thoughts, walking past and muttering that it was time to go without giving him a second glance. Gelbooru was among the first of the workers to return to higher ground, while Abia and Link stayed behind. Noticing that she carefully watched the elderly (a safety precaution after what happened last time, he suspected), he did the same, and later they parted from the group which headed toward the fortress.

Even before they reached the great gate leading into the haunted wasteland, Link's head ached from the sun and his skin burned, and with a mental sight he remembered far too late that no one had brought him the food Aveil promised him. He did not want to drink any of his last blue potion in case the mission did not go well, but recognizing the danger of traveling in his weakened state, he reluctantly took a small sip.

"So our lifestyle is too much for you after all," his companion sneered.

Link said nothing and focused on following the markers through the mist of sand that tried to bite at his eyes.

Blizzaga Saga: It feels strange working on this story again. Redbrush wrote chapters 5 through 9, so 10 is my first chapter in quite a long time. I understand that many people (myself included) were looking forward to the continuation of this story, so following Redbrush's disappearance, I have decided to step into the ring again. Wherever he is (and hopefully he's okay), I'm thankful to him for taking over when I abandoned this fic. I would also like to thank Kenju for helping to get it back up and running.

In case there was ever a doubt, there will be lemons. But there will also be plot, so sorry for the wait. ;)