Ganondorf was roused from a deep sleep by the fast approach of little feet. "Daddy," the little girl shouted, rounding the doorway into the master chambers on the opposite side of the castle from her room.
Her voice was full of fright, which caused him concern. He shook Dora's arm to force her awake, and then rolled over to stand from the bed. "Din, what is the matter?" he asked groggily and irritated.
"There is a monster under my bed," she whimpered.
"You made it here safe and sound. How did you escape your room if a monster was trying to kill you?" he wondered carelessly.
Dora shook her head slowly, an amused smile on her face. "Why don't you take your father and show him the monster in your room so that he can get rid of it for you?" She gave him a gentle push to encourage him to follow her.
"Yes, Daddy, please get rid of the monster," she said loudly. "It's one of the monsters from my nightmares."
"Nightmares?" he questioned, following Din back to her room. "The same nightmares you have been having for weeks?"
Dora slunk out of bed to follow them quietly. It was one of those times she wanted to know everything that happened, so she could remember it forever.
"Yes. Sometimes I have nice dreams about a beautiful kingdom, with a lot less water than we have now, or sometimes we are way up in the sky. Sometimes there are horses, and sometimes there are big birds that you can ride on," she explained, temporarily forgetting about the monster. "There are even really big ships that we sail around in! Everyone is happy. But sometimes I dream about a desert, and people that look just like us. I always wake up and feel angry from those."
Ganondorf stood outside Din's room and made her wait before going inside. "You mean Gerudo? How much do you see?"
"Well, everything I guess. There seems to be parts missing because once the people from the sky go to the ground, there's a lot of happiness, but then there are no Gerudo for quite a long time. And once they are born even they are happy for a while, before they go to the desert. Something happens though. There's a lot of fighting, and they aren't happy anymore."
Ganondorf was baffled by her explanation. He opened her door slightly and peered at the darkness inside. There was nothing in her room, just like he figured, but there was something much more complicated going on. "What does your monster look like?"
"There's more than one, Daddy," she said, as if he should have already know. "There's giant spiders, and big tall plants with big mouths that try to eat me," she explained, trying not to cry.
He was deep in thought when he grabbed the torch from the wall and walked into her room. He lifted the end of her bed from the floor and used the torch to eliminate the shadows. "Nothing there," he said, distracted.
"What about in there?" Din asked, pointing toward her long closet. "That's where the men in armor who attacked the Gerudo hide, waiting to kill me."
"Do you ever have nightmares about a lot of different people fighting?" he asked, trying to describe war in the simplest terms.
"Well, yeah. All kinds of people too. Blue people with big heads, brown people that look like rocks, our people. There's a lot of blood," she admitted sadly. "All of it's because of the Triforce."
"Have you ever seen me in your dreams?" he asked. Din had vaguely described the Ruto and Goron of a time long forgotten by the current generation. He was worried how it could be possible for her to dream of entire races she had never seen.
"Yes, and you are the strongest."
Ganondorf entered her closet, and just to satisfy her, he sprayed energy above the racks that her clothes hung on.
"Yay! Thank you, Daddy," she clapped, and climbed into bed. "There's no way they survived that!"
He sat beside her on the bed and watched her with concern as she snuggled up to go to sleep. "Din, what you see in your dreams isn't a dream at all, it's history. Hyrule's history is filled with war, and monsters, and death. That time has passed now though, and I will ensure that war never falls on this kingdom again, for as long as I reign. There is nothing to be afraid of," he promised.
"I know Daddy, because you are my hero."
He grinned. She was too young to understand the difference. "Furthermore, in the morning we will begin training, so that you will learn to defend yourself from the monsters, and I can sleep."
"Okay," she said, dozing off.
Ganondorf waited just a minute, to watch the adorable way her eyes fought to stay open. Once they remained closed and she breathed more softly, he stood and left her room.
"Why does she have all of those memories?" Dora asked with worry, meeting him in the hall.
"There are a number of reasons," he explained, and replaced the torch on the wall. "My biggest concern is that they are not all from our perspective, as if she has the memories of Hylia and her hero."
"Are you saying there is a possibility the goddess could reside within her?" Dora asked, afraid.
"I refuse to consider it," he said stubbornly. "She is young, and the Gerudo have always had mysterious powers."
"Din is only five," Dora whispered, crawling back into bed. "She does not deserve to be burdened with so much death."
He curled up beside his wife, and pulled her protectively against him. "She will learn to understand and accept our history, to help conquer the nightmares so she no longer fears them."
"Din is fortunate to have a father as strong as you," she whispered, and closed her eyes. "I know she will always be safe."