"So, fill me in," Link said with a sigh as he shifted to a different part of the pool. The rocks along the back wall were hotter than the rest of the water, and it made for a nice gradient. Pleasantly warm at the entry point, and almost unbearably hot along the back, where there was just a ledge to perch on. Lovely for soaking out the deep aches. "What did I miss?"

"Well, the trip across the fields was mostly uneventful," Zelda said. Most of Hyrule fields was given over to scattered farmers and ranchers, and Link was glad to hear it hadn't been turned into a battlefield. He might not have been a leader for long, but he'd been a farmer all his life. With the devastation in Ordon, he knew they'd need all the food they could get harvested, or the winter would be incredibly harsh. "We had one skirmish with a party of four scouts, but they made the mistake of trying to cross a river…"

"Zoras?"

"Zoras," Zelda agreed with satisfaction. "They are incredibly formidable warriors, especially in water. It's a pity there isn't more deep water running through Ordon."

Link nodded. Except for the main river that flowed from Lake Hylia, most of the forest and farmland was fed by springs and small tributaries; not big enough for squadrons of Zora soldiers. He hoped they'd be able to fight out of water too. "Everything went well today though, right? We'll just be able to sweep them right out of Ordon, and we'll be done."

He knew he was being overly optimistic, but he still didn't like to see how quickly her face fell. "Link… it's not going to be that easy. It's a good thing we haven't used the Zora forces much yet, because the Knights are at a quarter their starting number. I'm not sure how many casualties the Gorons have taken, but it could be as many as half the people living on Death Mountain. The Gerudo warriors aren't much better off, and all but two of their Bullbo mounts have been killed."

He was silent for a good long while. "We're so close. We can't just… give up and hand Ordon over to them."

"That's not what I meant," Zelda said, reaching for his hand. Her manner wasn't quite reassuring… almost more desperate. "I have no intention of leaving any of our allies or lands in the hands of Holodrum's armies. I'm just… not sure how we're going to manage it."

Link heard the tremor in her voice and reached instinctively to hold her. She slid across the smooth-worn stone ledge and leaned against him, shivering despite the warmth of the water. His arm slid down to her waist, and he jumped when she flinched. "Wha… why haven't you healed this yet?" He pulled away and looked down through the steaming water. The angry red line running down her ribs and curving across almost down to one hip wasn't actively bleeding, but it wasn't the fresh pink scar tissue or unmarked skin he expected to see either.

"That's… well, that's the other part of the problem," Zelda said. "We're now completely out of red potion, so it's a good thing we're stopped here, in a place with therapeutic mineral springs. And as for my own healing abilities… well, apparently I fainted while healing Darbus' cracked shell, I woke up being carried here. I'm tapped dry. So I'm going to conserve my magic as much as I can, and let the mineral water and rest do most of the work for me."

"I suppose that makes sense…" he said slowly. He still didn't like seeing her hurt, even if all the reasons were sound. And it's not as if he was really planning to do anything physical with her tonight… at least that's what he told himself. There was a lot to think about and worry about… but the water buoyancy was doing lovely things to her breasts, her hair floating in soft silken clouds around her, obscuring just enough of her body to be enticing.

As always, she managed to somehow know exactly what he was thinking. She giggled in a very appealing sort of way and leaned into him. "You do know how to lighten the mood," she teased, her hand sliding up his thigh under the water. He really had no idea how very expressive his face and body language were.

"Well…I… No, I'm not asking for… I mean, you're hurt, and…" She giggled again and turned to kiss him, effectively stopping his stammered apologies.

"Maybe later. After some food and rest," she said, her fingers brushing lightly over his cheek before sliding back through the water towards the food waiting for them. It did smell good, although he could tell from the chewiness of the meat that they must be down to the last of their dried supplies. Still, someone had done a decent job stewing it with spices until it was tender enough to eat, and at this point, he could have eaten the meat raw without even pausing. Somehow, he realized, it had been well over a day since he'd actually eaten. Apparently, spending that much time in a healing spring and being possessed by a demi-god did strange things to one's body. The food sure tasted good now.

Even sensing Ganondorf's approach wasn't nearly as disheartening as he'd expected. Time alone with Zelda was something to be treasured… but somehow he didn't mind the intrusion as much as he'd expected. Link felt an odd lurch looking up at the massive Gerudo king as he stripped unselfconsciously bare and stepped into the water. His first glance took in the marked absence of a glowing hole in his chest, the newly healed scar was surprisingly unobtrusive. Far more dramatic was his heavily muscled chest crisscrossed with new scarring- healed by Zelda's touch, it must be, since the wounds hadn't been there a week ago. He had a moment of being completely unable to name what he felt about it. Jealousy or resentment that Zelda had clearly spent that much magic and care patching him back up? Astonishment that someone had hurt him that badly in the first place? Surprise or gratitude that Ganondorf had fought that hard, actually keeping his word? Gods… guilt that he hadn't been there to help in the fight?

What was happening to him?

"I've been speaking with the newest citizens of Hyrule," Ganondorf said, breaking Link's bewildering train of thought. "Although it did take a few minutes to convince any of the Twili to talk to me." A faint snort of laughter from Zelda provoked an amused grin, rather than the scowl Link had expected. "The promise of settling in Hylian lands with Ordona's blessing has managed to eradicate any need for animosity."

"So they're really all on our side now?" Link guessed. Why did they have to speak in such... cultivated tones all the time? Just because he was a simple farmer at heart didn't mean he liked to be reminded of the learning nobody even knew to teach him.

"Quite enthusiastically," he agreed, nodding. "Apparently, the magic is flowing quite well through the Twili as a whole. They were certainly effective today."

"I was speaking with one of the Goron smiths about them," Zelda put in. "He said they were viciously strong, and at just the right possible moment. If they hadn't shown up when they did… there might not have been much left for us to save."

Somehow, hearing how close it had come made Link simultaneously relaxed and tense. "Good thing it went as well as it did, then," he said, forcing himself to lean back against the smooth wall of the spring, relaxing into the heat.

"Yes… how did that go, anyways?" Ganondorf asked, making Link absolutely tense up again and glance guiltily over at him. Something in that tone of voice… he knew. He absolutely knew exactly how that bonding had been achieved. "Oh, relax, boy," he said with a not-quite reassuring grin. "I'm not so foolish as to go off killing our newest ally over a situation you had no control over."

"Good," Link said, relaxing again. It hadn't occurred to him while he was in Ordon, and he'd been too busy the today fighting his way down the mountain, but he wouldn't have been at all surprised if Ganondorf had demanded some sort of retribution from Midna. Naburia and Shikoru might have been teasing him about how possessive Gerudo were over their declared mates, but that didn't mean that it wasn't also true.

"You, on the other hand…" and now his voice was softer, deeper, and dripping with tension of a sort that made Link squirm uncomfortably. "I think you might need to be reminded of who exactly you belong to."

Aaand there was all the tension right back again. He couldn't help jumping to his feet when Ganondorf was suddenly right in front of him, but there wasn't really anywhere to go with his back pressed up against the cliff. Those massive, powerful fingers brushed under his chin and he flinched, but they were surprisingly gentle, just forcing him to look up. His mouth was dry, his heart pounding to see the intense, almost amused expression on his face.

"Because you are mine…" he said ever so softly, and even if he hadn't spoken, the extremely possessive kiss that followed would have absolutely sealed any doubts he had. Link was pressed back against the oddly warm rock, feeling overwhelmed and rather trapped and embarrassingly as if he maybe didn't hate it as much as he expected to.

Even when the man released him; not moving away, still leaning over him, but not actually holding him in place, he stayed where he was, which made a smile creep across Ganondorf's face. "Now… you have a choice here, Link," he said lightly, one finger trailing slowly down his cheek. "I've been patient for quite some time about you. I think I've been more than fair about letting you become accustomed to me." The finger ran down the damp skin of his neck, caressing casually over his chest. "I'm done waiting."

Link's breath caught in his throat as the light touch trailed down to his navel, and he had the strangest sensation, as if his balls were trying to crawl up inside him in fear but he was almost… almost getting hard at the same time. He shivered, eyes following his hand down to the waterline. "So your choice is whether or not you're going to enjoy this." Ganondorf continued, his hand mercifully pausing just before it touched anywhere Link really wasn't sure he wanted to be touched.

Well… what a simple question, one that set his mind spinning with a contrastingly complicated mess of thoughts. This was Ganondorf, his once-sworn enemy, his tormenter, Zelda's tormenter… and he'd seen the shape Zelda had been in after his attentions, time and again. Unbidden though, through visions of her bruised and bloodied, came the memory of her screaming in pleasure as she rode his massive girth with Links' arms wrapped around her.

It was possible. He wasn't completely naïve… while he'd never been interested enough to learn in detail how men laid together, he knew the basic theory of how this would work. And if Zelda was helping, he might even… Gods, he might actually enjoy it. Not to mention he was still worried about her. If she had to entertain Ganondorf in his place… she was in no shape to do that. Or, for that matter, in the shape to nurse him back to health if he got literally torn apart by this, since she didn't even have the energy to heal herself yet.

And maybe most important; this was what they'd agreed to, or at least had no choice about accepting. Realizing he'd been silent for a while, he opened his mouth to speak. He couldn't say it. Couldn't bring himself to say what Ganondorf was probably wanting him to say , but he did manage to swallow past the dryness in his mouth and say, "I'm tired of hurting. I… I'll…"

Apparently that was good enough. He felt a curious sense of lightening as Ganondorf pulled him forwards, which had little to do with the buoyancy of the water or the actual lifting of his body. It felt… oddly freeing to surrender to duty again. This wasn't really any different than plunging into the Twilight Realm wielding only a stick, or diving deep under the lake in charmed armor that he had to trust would keep him from drowning. This was something he had to do, and there was a powerful sense of fulfillment from giving into that.

0o0o0o0o

Link pushed himself to his hands and knees and wobbled. He'd had such an intense orgasm that his left leg seemed to have gone completely numb, and was now unpleasantly full of pins and needles. That couldn't be normal… Other muscles kept cramping, too, including ones he didn't know could cramp. Zelda slid over to him and he leaned gratefully against her, relishing in the feel of her cooler skin.

She eased him back into the pool, letting his head lean back against her chest. Link, for his part, seemed perfectly happy to just float for a while in the pleasantly warm water resting on the best pillow he could imagine. Even the sharper cramps and aches were soothed, feeling more like the pleasant burn from a good workout.

"Just wait till you see what I have in mind once we're back at home," Ganondorf said, reaching out with one foot to caress up Zelda's leg to her thigh. She looked over at him, and actually smiled slightly, her arms wrapped loosely around Link to hold him in place.

"First, we make sure there's a home to return to," Zelda said, relaxing back against the curved wall of the pool.

"I told you I'd protect what is mine."

"Let's hope it's not too much even for you."

Author's Note: As one might have guessed, this chapter can be found in its entirety over on adultfanfiction . net, under the same title. It's very explicit. No reading at work, or around young impressionable minds.

Getting close to the end now, folks!