Zelda's blood froze. "No!" Pushing off the wall, she ran for Ganondorf.
Link stood above him, sword raised for the finishing blow. "This time," he hissed, "I'll make sure you never come back."
"I always do," Ganondorf wheezed. He looked up at Link with a smirk that grew into a fierce grin. "I always do." Gathering all of his strength, he slashed his own sword at the hero, following up with a magic blast that flung Link across the room. The young knight bounced like a rag doll and rolled to a stop, unmoving.
"Ganondorf!" Zelda dropped to the sorcerer's side and cradled his head. "You'll be all right—" The wound looked severe, and here they were stuck in the middle of the desert. "I'll take care of you, don't worry." She slid her traveling pack off her shoulders to rummage for first aid supplies.
"So that's how it is," Link said from across the room. He had picked himself up and was leaning against the wall, looking at the two through narrowed eyes full of venom. "After all I've done for you, Princess… the battles I've fought and the monsters I've slain… you betray me for this demon for your own convenience."
"Link, come here!" Zelda said. "I can treat your wounds too!"
The man shook his head with an unsettling smile. "Or so you say… I know where your allegiance lies now. How like a coward—" He gripped his shoulder, the smile erased by a pained grimace as he clenched his teeth and shut his eyes tight.
When he opened them, it was to regard the other two with a scowl. "I don't need your help," he spat. "You disgust me."
Zelda paused in the middle of unrolling a bandage. "Link… please don't…"
He stood up straighter, although the pain caused him to cringe. "Hyrule will know the almighty courage of its true hero. And Ganondorf will die by my hand, as is my privilege. Until then—farewell." Reaching into his pocket, Link disappeared in a swirl of magic.
"It seems we've switched places," Ganondorf said in the quiet that remained. He coughed weakly. "I imagine… any of the Triforce's three aspects could be turned to evil, if taken too far…" He stiffened as Zelda began disinfecting his wound. "Well… this turn of the cycle did end a little differently, at least…"
"You're talking as if it's already over," Zelda said as she poured more healing potion onto a wad of gauze, "and I don't appreciate it. You're going to be okay."
Ganondorf smiled. "Death… doesn't really faze me much anymore… I'm rather used to it."
"You can't die," Zelda insisted. "You said it yourself earlier, remember?" Her eyes welled with tears. "I won't let you leave me!"
His eyes widened and he put a shaking hand on her cheek. "I'm sorry… but we will meet again…"
"No." Zelda grabbed his hand fiercely and shook her head. "I'm not letting you give up like that!" She frowned and took a deep breath. "You said you wanted to teach me more magic, right?" When he nodded, she said, "So teach me. Right now. I'm going to heal you, so teach me how."
"Don't you think that's a bit rash—" Ganondorf was cut off by Zelda summoning healing magic to her hands and spreading it over his side. He winced. "Ouch—! All right, all right, not so forcefully or you'll do more harm than good. Don't push it, just seek it out and let it do its work."
Zelda eased up. "Sorry… I told you I was bad at this…"
"You just need more tutoring." He smiled. "Don't worry, I'll help you. Close your eyes, and try to summon as much power as you can from your core."
The process felt like it took forever, and Zelda was exhausted by the time she was done, but finally the sorcerer's breathing became less labored. "The wound's still there," she panted, brushing stray strands of hair away from her sweaty forehead.
"I know," Ganondorf said. "You've healed the internal damage, though. The rest is just mending of flesh. Don't push yourself too hard, you've already done a lot. Just bandage it and I'll be fine." He squeezed her hand. "Thank you. You saved my life."
Zelda squeezed back. "Of course. I'd never let you go without a fight. But…" She looked up and around at the cavernous room. "It's going to take a while for that gash to heal, and I doubt you could walk in your state…"
"We'll teleport back to Hyrule Castle."
"Not after what you've been through!" Zelda said as she wrapped Ganondorf's wound. "You'll kill yourself trying to teleport that far!"
He looked into her eyes. "Not if you lend me your strength. You have a vast untapped power within you, and although you do not yet know how to fully utilize it, I can borrow it to cast advanced magic without draining myself too badly. Will you help me with this?"
"Of course," Zelda said.
Ganondorf nodded. "Then hold on tightly." Sitting up, he wrapped his arms around her and touched his forehead to hers.
Zelda felt as though she had been plunged into a waterfall of magic. The roaring in her ears was overwhelming, and when she dared to open her eyes she could see nothing but a maelstrom of purple. She kept hold of Ganondorf's cloak, afraid if she let go she would be swept into the torrent of energy.
And then, with an unceremonious "thump", it stopped. As quick as a change of thought they were in the castle library, on one of the couches. A noblewoman standing by one of the shelves dropped her pile of books and let out a shriek of surprise.
Ganondorf grinned. "We're back."
"Thought we'd pop in unannounced," Zelda added.
The woman gave them a thoroughly miffed look and swept out of the library.
"I guess we were overdue," Ganondorf said. "I hope there's not a fine for that."
Zelda helped him to his feet. "What are we going to do about Link? I'm worried—what if he comes back?"
"He'll need time to recover, too," Ganondorf pointed out as they made their way into the hall. "And when he does—I'll be better prepared."
"I'm going to hold you to that," Zelda said. "I won't have a repeat of today."
Ganondorf patted her head. "You won't. I'm not going to let that maniac near you or the throne."
Things were blissfully quiet for the next month. Ganondorf recovered well from his wound and continued to govern Hyrule with Zelda's assistance. The kingdom was prosperous and stable, and the Hyruleans seemed more and more accepting of the dark king's subjects. They found it difficult to argue against Peahats that helped sow crops, or Beamos who happily served as traffic aides.
On Zelda's part, Ganondorf continued to help her learn magic, and she slowly became more confident and competent in it. More than that, though, she valued their time together as they explored the castle grounds, played board games – Ganondorf always beat her at chess and she always beat him at checkers – and Ganondorf told her fascinating stories of pasts she had forgotten. Finally, she wasn't lonely, and she enjoyed every moment of it.
If only it could have lasted forever.
One cold, cloudy day, when Zelda was looking forward to work being over so she could curl up with Ganondorf next to a roaring fire, the sorcerer opened a letter and frowned.
"Hm," he said.
"What?" Zelda asked from her chair next to him at the desk they shared.
Ganondorf held the paper so they could both see it. "It seems a vigilante knight has been causing trouble on the borders of the kingdom. He's been spreading propaganda against my creatures and using baseless lies and paranoia to incite Hyruleans to rise up against them. They call him a hero of the people."
Zelda scanned the letter and bit her lip. "A hero… three guesses who it is."
Ganondorf took a swig of hot milk from the mug beside his mail pile. "I don't want to challenge him directly. That would look bad on my part. He'd go down a martyr and just make things worse."
"But we can't ignore him," Zelda said. "Or else things might get worse anyway. Maybe we should… lure him out somehow."
"Any suggestions?" Ganondorf said before taking another drink.
Zelda blushed, suddenly wondering if her idea was too stupid to be voiced. "… We could get married."
Ganondorf's cheeks bulged as he fought to keep from spitting out his milk. After forcing it down and coughing a few times, he pounded on his chest and scrunched up his nose, trying not to look too embarrassed. After clearing his throat, he asked, "Are you proposing to me?"
The princess grinned sheepishly. "Well, not exactly—it was just a suggestion. For you to propose if you want."
"And that was the only thing you could think of?"
Zelda folded her arms. "It's a perfectly sound strategy! He wouldn't be able to resist! What man could call himself a proper hero if he fails to respond to the villain making a grand announcement that he's going to marry the princess?"
Ganondorf leaned on the desk and looked over at her, his expression somewhere between incredulous, amused, and flattered. "You do realize that they do that in order to claim the throne, right? You already gave it to me."
"Yes, but he's also jealous of us," Zelda pointed out. "I think a wedding would rub salt in the wound." Standing up, she began to pace around the desk. "And—he's developed a hero complex. I don't think he'd be able to withstand the allure of defeating you with the maximum amount of people watching, in the most dramatic and climactic situation possible, with everything perfectly poised for him to marry me and ascend the throne directly afterward." She made a disgusted face.
Ganondorf toyed with his mug, swirling the milk around absently. "So… would we actually go through with the wedding, then?" He paused, looking up at her for her answer.
Zelda's shoulders sagged. "Would you not want to?"
"What? No! I mean—no, I don't not want to—" Color came to Ganondorf's dark complexion and he scratched the back of his head. "I'm just—" He looked at the princess and was silent for a moment. "I'm scared I'll fail you."
She shook her head. "I'm not."
"But after what happened before—"
Zelda held out a hand to stop him. "We both learned from that. And from everything we've been through since. I'm willing to give it another try." She turned her hand to offer it to him. "Are you?"
Ganondorf looked at her hand and smirked. "Are you proposing to me?" he asked again.
"I'm suggesting."
He took her hand. "Then I'm proposing. Zelda, will you marry me?"
She smiled so wide her cheeks hurt. "Of course."