A/N: Ookay, don't expect me to make a habit out of this. I have to get these next couple of chapters up NOW or else anyone who starts reading now despite my warning will be very, very confused. So here goes.

Still don't own Zelda.

Behind the Scenes

Mr. Smith – or, more accurately, Ganon – watched the girl rush from the room with narrowed eyes. There was no doubt about it: she was the one. The one those foolish brats were looking for. The one who could possibly turn the tide of battle…

If he allowed that to happen.

He'd been fairly certain it was her that morning at the place where the strange yellow vehicle stopped, but the way she had reacted at the beginning of rehearsal – clutching her left hand, of all things – confirmed it, along with that bratty princess's presence, guiding her out of his spell. Yes, he most certainly had noticed; the girl really wasn't very good at hiding her emotions. The moment her expression took on that frozen, maybe slightly exaggerated quality he'd know that he'd lost her.

He drew and released a breath in a barely-perceptible sigh and turned away. Ahh, well. It didn't really matter anyway. Eventually she would join him, because if she didn't...

Well. If she didn't, she would die. He smirked humorlessly as with one enourmous hand he closed his director's score. After all, if she truly was the Fourth, she couldn't be allowed to run amok. It would disrupt his plans, and spell doom for all who depended on them. His gaze hardened as he thought of his people, banished to a live of thirst and starvation, deprived of the resources Hyrule held in plenty. For so long, their average life expectancy had been much shorter than that of any other race. So many had been lost to the cruelties of the land that reigned over their lives in flame-fisted tyranny. It wasn't right, and he wasn't having any more of it.

No longer would the Gerudo burn to death in that thrice-forsaken desert.

Not a single one.

Princess Zelda jerked back with a gasp, her violet eyes flying open. Slowly, she let loose a long, shuddering breath of relief and, setting aside her scrying-mirror, slouched into a position that was utterly unsuited to a princess. It didn't matter. No one could see her here. Even the guards were positioned so that although she was not unprotected (Nayru forbid that she should ever have to use the skills she had spent seven years accumulating) she felt as though she had some measure of privacy. After all, they couldn't smother her everywhere and expect her to remain sane.

...Just most places.

With a stretch and another sigh, Zelda stood from the simple-yet-elegant stone bench upon which she sat, her thoughts coming back to what she had been doing, shut up in her garden all alone. That was close. The first time Ganon had caught the girl (names in their world were impossible, her own being the only one she recognized) it had been sheerest luck that had freed E-something from his spell as the big ugly thing startled her out of it. The second time, it had been her own reaction to Ganon, and the third, Zelda had been forced to fling her mind through the scrying glass into their world to help the girl escape. There was no doubt about it; she was the one. The Fourth. The way she had reacted when she met the Gerudo king -- clutching her left hand, of all things -- confirmed it, not that Zelda had had any doubts in the first place. She had seen the girl's face in her dreams, and when the Goddesses told her something it was true, no matter where that truth led. Besides, Zelda thought suddenly with a grin, she wears blue. I like purple. It's too ironic not to be Their doing.

"Any luck?" asked a familiar voice near the entrance of the garden. Zelda turned away from the rosebush she was examining. Link stood on the bridge across the small, decorative stream that ran through here, leaning against its barrier. Looking at him in his green Kokiri garb, the princess realized with a pang that today he also wore the trappings of war, the sunlight glinting off the blue hilt of the Master Sword poking over his shoulder and the gold of the gauntlets on his arms. Noticing the look on her face, the Hero of Time laughed. "Aww, don't look at me that way, sis," he said teasingly. There wasn't any real reason beyond their obvious physical resemblance to believe the two were related, but Link figured the Triforce made it close enough. "I'm training today."

"I know," Zelda said with a sigh, tucking a strand of golden hair behind one of her pointed ears. "I just can't help but wonder how often in the near future, you'll be wearing those things for something other than training."

"I don't know," Link said with a shrug, moving from his position on the bridge to one closer to the princess. "No one really does." No response. "Hey," he said, punching her lightly on the shoulder (he had to take off the Golden Gauntlets first so that he wouldn't wind up accidentally flattening her), "we've been over this. I could have said 'no' to this whole Hero of Time thing at any time. I didn't. I found the Stones, I went to the Temple, I went to all the other Temples, I fought Ganon. I could have just gone home at pretty much any time, but I didn't. I signed up for this, and if keeping Hyrule safe means that I have to fight things every now and again..." another shrug. "...well, everything has a price. Besides," he added with a grin, "Malon would kill me if I tried to shirk now. She's big on responsibility."

Zelda smiled at him. "I guess you're right," she said.

"Of course I'm right," Link answered lightly. "This is me we're talking about."

The princess laughed. "You're so modest, Link."

"Always," the hero answered with a grin, his blue eyes sparkling with laughter. "So," he said as they continued through the garden, "as I was saying: any luck?"

Zelda sighed. "I have good news and bad news," she told him. "The good news is, I've found her."

"That's very good!" Link exclaimed brightly.

"The bad news is, so has Ganon. And he's already there."

"She's okay, though, right?" Link asked in alarm. "I mean, he hasn't kidnapped her yet or anything, has he?"

"He tried," Zelda said. "Luck prevented him the first two times, and then I had to intervene. However," she added, just as Link opened his mouth, "he has his ugly little claws in her a little too deeply for me to be comfortable bringing her here just yet. He posed as a music teacher."

Link's eyes widened, and he swore under his breath. "That's...really bad, Zelda," he said, his hand going to his item pouch. Zelda knew he was thinking of the power of song as it had been demonstrated to him over the course of his quest.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," she answered, rolling her eyes. "What with the whole me-as-Shiek-teaching-you-magic-songs thing, I would never have known without your amazing observational skills."

"So what are we going to do?" the hero asked, ignoring her wisecrack. Zelda sighed, rubbing her temples with the thumb and forefinger of her right hand.

"I think," she said, "what we're going to have to do is beat him at his own game. We have to send someone in to pose as a music teacher. But there are a couple of problems."

"Such as...?" Link prompted.

"Well, first of all," Zelda said, "all the people over in that world have small, rounded ears. The only person I know with ears like that is Nabooru, and you know she's not big on music." Link winced and nodded, remembering when Malon had attempted to teach the thief-queen to sing. It hadn't been pretty. "Second of all," the princess continued, "even if we somehow managed to overcome that obstacle, from what I've managed to gather, the school the Fourth attends has three main music groups: one with wind instruments, one with strings, and one choir. She isn't in the string group, and Ganondorf already has the winds. None of the Sages can sing, Link. Not a single one."

Link's brow furrowed. "Does it have to be a Sage?"

"Well...no," Zelda answered, surprised. "I suppose as long as the person is clearly instructed in what to do... but why?"

Link hesitated for a moment, running a hand through his blond bangs, as if unsure whether or not he really wanted to do this. Zelda wondered irrelevantly how it was he managed to keep from knocking his silly green hat off. Finally he spoke: "I know someone who sings."

A/N: Whee! One of my longest chapters ever, and it's not even in the original version. I think it's pretty dang good, myself, but y'all will have to just review and let me know. :) 'Til next time!