It wasn't a disguise. She hadn't chosen her clothing to hide anything about herself. She chose them to reveal the truth about who she was, a truth too many people over-looked. The outfit was so people could see her for who she was, something they couldn't see on their own. She wasn't lying, she was giving people a little help, a little point of reference to guide them to the right conclusion.
She could still feel the burn of the suspicious squint she'd received when she'd done her shopping, and hear the words spoken to her. "These are a woman's clothes."
"Yes, they are. Kind of you to notice." She shot back, and hoped the teasing masked the tremor in her voice.
She adjusted her veil. The wind wouldn't be so much trouble inside the city, but outside the gates... She felt her face once again. Was there any stubble? Would anyone see the roughness no razor could take away for long?
It was too soon for her facial hair to have grown back already. The walk to Gerudo Town wasn't that long, but it was long enough to make her question everything she was doing. She wasn't going there to try sneaking in where she didn't belong. She wasn't a thief. She'd never stolen anything from anyone, not even space. She wasn't going there to spy on women, and she would find the words to tell them as much. She liked women, it was true. That didn't mean she was coming to ogle them. She liked hearing their thoughts, and sharing in their lives, and most of all she liked their company. That didn't stop people from telling her not to bother going. Only women were allowed, and that didn't include her.
Even with her traditional outfit, she wondering if she was convincing enough. The top spread limply across her front, wanting for something to accentuate the delicate curve of the cut. Her chest was too flat. She should have tried padding. It wasn't too late to go back home and face this again later.
No. If she turned back now, she would never find the courage to try again. She would hide her veil in the bottom of a chest, and stop shaving her face, and put on her real disguise, and let everyone forget she was a woman. She would make herself forget the joy and relief of putting on the right clothes and being who she was.
It might be easier if she could forget what she felt, but she could never forget who she was, not even if she hid it from everyone. She would keep going, until she met with that gate, and faced those guards and the judgement they held. She wasn't afraid of being locked out. She was a woman. Nothing anyone said or did would change her. Not even denying her entry could take away who she was. Even if she wasn't let in, at least when she announced herself to the guards she would finally have a chance to speak her name. Vilia. A lovely, feminine name for a lovely woman. Her voice wouldn't sound strange. She'd practiced.
She stopped short of the gate, in the shadow of two women who would never be challenged on their womanhood, and waited to be turned away. She folded her arms over her chest, and felt the wind pull at her veil. It's not a disguise. Her throat squeezed painfully, shutting the words away in her body.
"Don't be shy, sister. We're all vai here. No one in this city will tell you otherwise." The guards gestured her through a door that stayed open for her, into a place where everyone knew there were only women.