Fan Fiction ❯ Never My Destiny ❯ Two Paths ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Never My Destiny
The World's First G/I Romance!
by Galaxy Girl

A/N: Thanks to everyone who keeps me inspired for this story. I'm not the best romance author in the world, but I sure am trying my best, and I appreciate the support! Thanks! ^_^

Also, amazing thanks to Ryn-Ryn the Milkshake Queen (Rynnikins), my official plot-bouncer-offer for this story. ^_^ LUV YA SWEETIE!

Also, amazing thanks to Hime no Argh and Zel the Stampede for helping me with some end of the chapter shtuff.

SUPPORT GISOA: GANONDORF/IMPA SHIPPERS OF AMERICA! (And the rest of the world too! We'll take all we can get!)
A Galaxy Girl and Zel the Stampede Organization
http://www.angelfire.com/games4/gisoa

CHAPTER SIX: The Two Paths

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"It's kind of you to preempt whatever you were doing this evening for me, Lady Impa," Ganondorf smiled calmly at her.
"It's not a problem... I do what I can to help any guest feel more comfortable," she replied from next to him.
The two of them were on one of their nightly strolls through the castle corridors, nearly two weeks after the day Link had first arrived at the castle.
Ganondorf and Impa had been speaking more frequently since that day. After the day-long meetings were over, he would stop by her personal chambers and ask her to go on a walk with him while Zelda was busy taking her evening lessons. Impa wasn't going to lie and say that she didn't enjoy these walks... they seemed to help put her mind at ease about the Gerudo King.
He didn't seem like such a bad guy at all once you were talking to him for a while. They talked about many things... More stories from the past surfaced. Ganondorf told Impa of his trials in the Gerudo Training Ground, including one embarrassing day when he became trapped inside the dungeon gauntlet and had to be rescued by his aunt. Impa told him about Zelda as a child, not unlike a proud mother would.
Ganondorf had admitted to her that he really didn't feel like he belonged at the castle. He offered her the excuse that since he'd known her when he was younger, he was more comfortable talking to her than with the man he was here to see in the first place.
Impa's fears were all but completely put to rest... Zelda was just a silly child. She had no real knowledge of people yet... her stories about Ganondorf were just a fairy tale. She chided herself over and over again for having gotten so worried over such a stupid thing...
Everything seemed to work out all right. Zelda seemed more at ease, Ganondorf and the king were reaching the agreements they needed, and even Link was all right.
One week ago, Impa had missed Link's return to the castle. According to Zelda, he had snuck back in through the back way while Impa was off somewhere else. He'd had the Goron's Ruby... that meant that he had been successful in his journey to Death Mountain. Impa was proud of him, but didn't get a chance to say so because Zelda had sent him immediately off to Zora's Domain to retrieve the third stone.
All seemed right in the world. Aside from the tiny, mostly squelched fears that she had retained from a few weeks earlier, there was nothing that could have alerted Impa to what was going to happen the very next day.
"So... tomorrow is your last meeting with his majesty?"
"Yes. We're close to an agreement," Ganondorf remarked, "over the trading rights we needed... and a few minor changes in the Gerudo Laws, but other than that, I suppose we're in."
"That's wonderful... Harkinian really is a wonderful king. He'll help you take good care of your people," Impa smiled at him.
Ganondorf nodded back to her, but he didn't seem to share her enthusiasm. He was staring straight ahead of them, almost like he had a preset destination in mind.
"You seem..." Impa began to say as they rounded a corner.
He looked at her.
"... Never mind."
"No, go ahead."
"You seem like you've got something on your mind," Impa commented.
Ganondorf raised an eyebrow and chuckled at her absentmindedly. "Do I?"
"Yes... Is something bothering you?"
"Somewhat."
Impa's face sank. "Oh... it's not about your agreement with King Harkinian, is it? If it is, I could have him called and the two of you could talk it out before..."
"I doubt the king could help," Ganondorf said with a bit of a snort.
Impa drifted off. "...Oh."
"We need to talk."
"Hmm?"
"We need to talk, Impa," Ganondorf said, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye as they reached the end of the hallway. The corridor ended in an atrium filled with stained glass. The moon had barely begun to rise off in the distance, and it threw a calm blue light on the many glass murals, creating an illusionary rainbow of dancing pictures across the floor and stone walls on the opposite side.
"We?"
"Yes. You and I. Before I leave tomorrow evening... Is now a suitable time?"
Impa felt her heart tightening up in her chest for some reason... But why? "Yes... of course."
Ganondorf stepped away from her side and strolled over to the windows that lined the atrium. Through the translucent colors of the glass, the courtyard down below was visible, faint shadows of the patrolling guards crossing it every so often.
He stood there for a long time, gazing down at the courtyard, until Impa began to wonder if she would need to start the conversation.
Finally, Ganondorf spoke. "You remember ten years ago, correct?"
"Yes," Impa said in a small breath, wondering where this was going.
"When we met... And the night when we were in the courtyard?"
Impa felt her face start to burn as she remembered. "Yes... of course." Why was it so awkward talking about that night with him? He'd been there too, after all.
Ganondorf smiled softly and glanced at her, looking reminiscent of the young man Impa had met that night. "I was hoping you would..."
"Yes, I remember it well."
"You know... that night... was probably the best night of my life so far," Ganondorf said quietly. He didn't sound at all like the powerful king he was. There was something young and weak in his voice... he seemed like he had turned back into his teenage self.
Impa took in a short breath, but didn't speak.
"You know what I've been through... I told you what I would go through back then. I told you how I was trapped in this position... how I was supposedly a god-like king, but not one that could control myself. And I said that I would do anything to gain the power to control my own life."
"I remember," Impa replied, feeling stupid. Was that all she could say?
"And you said you were on my side. That no matter what, you would believe in me. You would support me, no matter what I had to do to meet my goals..."
"I did..."
"I need to know if you'll still be there."
His abrupt need for reassurance caught Impa by surprise. She looked up at him, her face twisted and confused. "Ganondorf..."
"All these years... the memory of you and what you said to me that night is the only thing that's been keeping me going."
"... Excuse me?" Impa gasped, sounding more shocked than she had intended.
"I've been through shit like you wouldn't believe. They tried to break me and bend me to do what they wanted... I stood up to them as long as I could, with only the memory of your words keeping me strong..." Ganondorf was leaning against the window frame, squeezing it until his knuckles turned pale. His face was away from her, but she could see the corners of his eyes, narrow with bitterness like she had never seen them before. "I finally gave in... but only after promising myself that I would NOT let your words fall on me in vain... I swore on everything that I had that I would keep my promise to you. I will become that king, in control of himself... I swore it on my knees that day, Impa. On my knees."
"L-Lord Ganondorf..." Impa gasped.
He turned on her, his face enraged.
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"
She leapt backwards and away from him. He glared at her with emotional eyes that seemed so unlike either version of him she had known... Too complicated for that young man. Too heartfelt for this cold, powerful king.
"I am no lord. I have no control over anything but those pathetic women who made me this way," Ganondorf told her, his voice borderlining on a yell. "I can't control my own fate... I can't control this."
"Stop." Impa said sternly. "Stop it... stop it now."
"I can't stop it. I've been holding this back for years... waiting to see you again. And these past weeks, waiting for a moment when I could speak with you without driving you away."
"Driving me...?" she let out.
"I felt it back then, and I feel it now. I can't get rid of it... those words you said to me... they only meant one thing to me. They meant more to me than anything I've ever been told to believe in..."
"Ganondorf..." Impa said softly. "Stop... please. We can't speak like this... it's not befitting of our positions-"
"I don't give a damn about our positions!" Ganondorf burst out angrily. "We both know how things would be if these positions of ours didn't have any hold over us... Do you think I would have left back then, if I could have stopped it? Do you think you'd still be here, guarding that little girl if you could have stopped it?"
Impa knew what he was getting at. She knew she should tell him to stop again. She knew she should tell him to back down... He was saying in words what she had been thinking since he had returned into her life.
But she didn't tell him to stop.
"I am the lone male Gerudo. You are the last of the Sheikah... Destiny had a hand in both of our fates. Now Destiny keeps us apart..." Ganondorf uttered bitterly.
"Destiny...?" Impa gasped, as he finally treaded on that forbidden ground.
"You can't tell me you don't love me."
There. He'd said it.
Impa's face lost all its color. "Ganondorf..."
"You can't tell me you didn't feel the connection between us all those years ago. You can't tell me that you said those words to me without feeling the same thing that I feel for you... for me."
"It's not like that..." she shook her head slowly.
"It is like that. Though I was... and still am, a pathetic, weak king... a King of Thieves... you couldn't have said those things unless you meant them."
"I only knew you for two days." Impa said realistically, though her face looked torn.
"Say you meant it."
"I did mean it... but I can't say-"
"Then say you love me."
"I can't say that."
"You can. Say you love me."
"Ganondorf... I can't say that."
"Say you love me!" Ganondorf demanded.
"I would, but I CAN'T!" Impa said back, almost too loudly.
Silence.
Impa froze... she did NOT just say that. She couldn't have. It wasn't like her to say something so childish and...
Suddenly, there was a pair of thick arms around her, pulling her in towards a broad, muscular chest. She was pressed against him, and he was hanging his head over her shoulder.
"It's my fault that things are this way... If I hadn't given in... if I wasn't so weak, things wouldn't be this way... we could be together if it weren't for me."
"G-Ganondorf..." Impa stammered, at a loss for what else to say.
"I swear I'll keep that promise, Impa."
Impa felt herself trembling. He was so strong and powerful... this was the same man who could have bruised her a few weeks ago when he grabbed her by the wrist in a fit of fury... but he was acting like a child now, confessing his unrealistic dream to her...
This was wrong. It was wrong on so many levels.
His fingers pressed against the bottom of her chin and lifted her face up to look at him. His eyes were stern and serious. "I swear I won't let you down. I will make up for everything I've been unable to do for you... Things will work out for us."
He kissed her again. Hard, almost forceful, but with an air of gentleness that was like he didn't mean it.
Impa made a gasping noise and pulled away, shoving against him and forcing him to release her. "Ganondorf... stop."
He gazed at her with those stern eyes again. "Why?"
"I admit, I may have feelings for you..." she said very slowly, backing away enough so that he couldn't touch her again.
He smiled softly and closed his eyes. "I knew it... I knew you wouldn't lie to me, Impa..."
She interrupted him, shaking her head. "But part of being an adult is understanding that you can't always have things the way you want..."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that we can't do this... regardless of whether you were a powerful king or not."
"We can do whatever we wish. I'll MAKE it so we can-"
"STOP!" Impa demanded.
Ganondorf drifted off and stared at her, looking even more like a child.
"I cannot act on my feelings for you. My duty is to protect Princess Zelda... I can't let anything stop me from that duty."
Ganondorf's eyes narrowed. "You would let a little girl stand in the way of what you want?" he asked, his voice low and unbelieving.
"It's my job, Ganondorf... please try to understand. I have sworn an oath to King Harkinian that I would protect Zelda with my life... I cannot be distracted. Please... try to understand."
Ganondorf didn't look like he had any intention of understanding. His brows narrowed and his face darkened, and he turned away from Impa to stare out of the stained glass window, down into the courtyard again. She saw his fists clenching. A low, hot breath escaping from him, a breath of disgust cut through the awkward silence.
"Harkinian..." he let out within seconds, in a voice full of loathing.
Impa looked at him sternly. "Ganondorf... don't do this."
"Once again... Harkinian stands in my way."
"It's not his fault," Impa said quickly. "Don't be angry with the king. This is my own decision."
Ganondorf didn't speak.
Impa stood in the doorway of the atrium, watching him staring out the window uncomfortably. "Ganondorf... please don't be angry with me or the king. Maybe..."
Wait. Should she really say that?
"... Maybe someday, things may be different. But for now... we need to be patient. All right?"
Ganondorf's head lowered. His face was burning furiously red with shame. Shame at having behaved so disgracefully... he, King of the Gerudo.
"All right...?" she asked softly.
"Perhaps I am... acting a bit childish," he murmured quietly.
Impa gave him a weak smile. "Thank you... for understanding..."
"I meant every single thing I said."
"I know... I'm... very flattered," Impa said softly. "Thank you."
"What was said here will remain a secret," Ganondorf said to her from over his shoulder, with a stern glance.
"Of course."
"Perhaps you should head back to your chamber alone... I need some time to calm down," Ganondorf suggested.
"Of course..." Impa said, bowing just a little bit by force of habit. She caught herself before Ganondorf saw, luckily, and popped back up to a standing position. "Goodnight... Ganondorf."
"Don't lose hope... I still will keep that promise."
"I know you will," Impa said, turning and walking away, briskly at first but then more slowly when she got down the hall.


The day after that began just like a normal day.
Impa had woken up, bathed, dressed, and quickly ran to do the same for Zelda. Today was the final day of Ganondorf's two-week visit to the castle, and today was the all-important final meeting.
Today, Ganondorf and Harkinian would sign their agreement, and the Gerudo would at last belong to the Hylian Alliance again.
Today was the last day that Impa would have to worry about Ganondorf's credibility... the last day she would fear Zelda's prediction coming true.
His words last night stuck with her. She hadn't slept much, and the sleep she had caught had been fitful and full of his voice.
Ganondorf wasn't naïve...
Obviously, he'd been feeling the same thing as Impa. He, too, had been caught up in those moments 10 years ago, those childish, unrealistic moments.
Impa knew, though, he had taken them much more to heart than she had.

"That night... was probably the best night of my life so far."


"Well... good to see you this afternoon, Lord Ganondorf."
"You too, your majesty..."
"You look tired. I trust you rested well last night?"
"No, actually..."
"I'm sorry. Was something prepared inadequately for you?"
"Not really, your majesty. Don't fret about it. It wasn't anything you could have helped."
Harkinian nodded crisply, his thin blond eyebrows creasing low over his eyes as he smoothed out the treaty on the table. He wore his best formal robes and had brought with him a large, overly-fancy quill pen. "Now then... erm... I believe we're ready to sign this afternoon."
"Indeed..." Ganondorf said quietly.
There was something different about him today, Harkinian noticed. His usually stern face had some other kind of look to it. His yellow eyes were narrow and cold, more so than usual, anyway...
He only hoped this wouldn't mean that anything had changed for the treaty.

He's forced you to think this way, Impa...
He's done something to you...
How could you turn down your own happiness for HIS sake?
I can imagine how you feel, Impa... sick when you see me... knowing that because of me, we can never...
How can he smile at you with those blue eyes when he knows... he's the reason you're trapped here?
I've got to do something... I've got to keep that promise...


She never suspected, until last night, that perhaps there was more to Ganondorf's past than he wanted to admit.
He'd been tortured in the last 10 years. Tortured into accepting his lot in life. Tortured by the Gerudo, his family... his aunt.
Horrible visions entered her mind at the mere thought of it. She could envision that skinny boy from 10 years ago, secured tightly with thick chains, screaming in agony as someone he loved stood behind him, beating him into submission...
She imagined him in his room at night, all alone... Burning, aching for her, wishing that she was with him. She visualized how he must have imagined her back then... How he must have wondered what she was doing, if she remembered him...
Impa did remember him... but not the same way.

It's my fault...
It's my fault he's become this way...
He must be so alone... no wonder he told me everything last night...
If only I could act on my feelings... If only I could return with him, or... or SOMETHING.
I've chosen my path, but... was it the right one?
Zelda... and Ganondorf... My two paths...


"I have no control over anything but those pathetic women who made me this way..."

"So we've got out our new trading rights... the Gerudo receive full rights to Hyrule Castle and all of her allies, in exchange for open rights with the rest of the Alliance..." Harkinian read off of the many sheets of paper in front of him. His voice was deep and kindly; appreciative, almost. He seemed to read every line like he believed in it and it alone. It sounded sincere when he read it.
Ganondorf didn't notice the tone of his voice. He was busy listening to the words...
The words of this man, whose people killed his mother...
The words of this man, whose people destroyed his own peoples' chance for freedom...
The words of this man, who kept a contract on the only woman Ganondorf had ever loved...
He felt a disgusted knot tightening in his throat as Harkinian went on. How could he speak so freely in front of him? HIM, Lord of the Gerudo? King of Thieves? Didn't he realize that everything was his fault?
Didn't he realize that he was the only thing in Ganondorf's way of happiness?
The words lost their meanings as they reached Ganondorf's ears. He began to zone out, and soon the words were silence to him.
He could only hear her...

"I can't say that..."
"I would, but I CAN'T!"
"It's not befitting of our positions..."
"I made an oath to Harkinian..."

Impa's words the night before were haunting him. They penetrated every inch of him and stirred up a pulse, a fiery, passionate pulse, one that felt like a combination of hatred and rage and love all at once. He hated how she turned him down, he was enraged at this man who made her do it, and he loved her...
Ganondorf took a deep breath and swallowed, trying to keep his composure as Harkinian continued. He mustn't say anything. He mustn't mess this up... This was the only way... the only key to power for him... The only way he could defy the Gerudo who worshipped him as a god...
If he surrendered power to Harkinian, he would no longer be a false king... They could not worship as a god a man who wasn't even a king...
But there was... his other plan.
Legends he'd heard of the Goddesses' Treasure, the sacred Triforce, and the golden triangles that would grant any wish. Locked away forever in the Temple of Light in the Sacred Realm... the Sacred Realm connected to Hyrule through the Temple of Time, sealed with an ancient, divine spell...
He'd begun reading those legends in his spare time back at home in the desert. Legends of the omnipotent Triforce and how it could grant one one's wildest dreams.
Three keys. An emerald, a ruby, and a sapphire.
The Royal Treasure to open the door, the Ocarina of Time.

He snuck out of the desert a few nights before he was to arrive at the castle, after everyone else in the fortress had gone to sleep. He'd stolen his own horse from the barn and rode out of the valley, far across the field to Kokiri Forest.
It was supposedly a forbidden ground, only tread upon by the forest children. It was easy to bypass... Koume and Kotake had taught him all the counterspells he'd ever need. He slipped past the cursed barrier and found himself before the forest guardian, the immense Deku Tree.
He hadn't any sinister plans in mind that time. He'd only wanted to examine the emerald, search it for clues... see if the legends were true.
Somehow, he'd ended up recreating that creature, the ancient one-eyed spider Gohma. He hadn't meant to poison the tree that way... it was hard for him to remember now. Maybe he did.
Similar later ventures (this time, from the castle) brought him to Death Mountain and Zora's Domain. Almost like something else was controlling him... He'd only come to ask Darunia about the ruby, and to inquire about the sapphire to King Zora... people he had met back in his teenage years. He remembered them well...
Well enough to remember how they'd shunned him. Before he knew what he was doing, he had sealed up the Goron's quarry and resurrected the Dodongo King. He had poisoned the Zora's deity and turned to leave just in time to see him swallow up the small form of Zora's daughter. It felt sweet when he thought of the pain that he'd brought them... Perhaps they understood how he and his people felt now, cursed into an existence of loathing and poverty.
Ganondorf's quest to find the three stones ended as a mere world tour of torture. He returned empty-handed and without any more of an answer to his questions about the Triforce, except that the stones did exist... so the legends were true.

His thoughts fluttered around in his head as he didn't listen to Harkinian speaking.
He remembered the words his mother said on her deathbed about being one king. He remembered the promise he made to Impa... his childhood wish to be powerful enough to control his own fate...
If he surrendered this treaty to Harkinian, he would lose power...
But if he somehow gained the Triforce, he would gain it. He could wish to become a god... a real god, not a fake, weak god like he was now. A real king. One king, who could lead his people...
Not just the Gerudo! All of Hyrule! Ganondorf could become a god and run Hyrule the way he saw fit... There would be no need for Harkinian and his unproductive reign. Ganondorf knew what he was doing... he knew how he could improve this god-forsaken country and end the racism and the poverty of all races, not just the Gerudo.
"Lord Ganondorf?"
Ganondorf snapped to attention. "Your majesty?" he burst out, in a voice that sounded like it had something else on its mind.
"Did you get all that?"
"Yes, your majesty," Ganondorf assured him, in a flat tone.
Harkinian chuckled a bit. "I think the feeling is mutual... don't worry. Today is the last meeting. After today, it'll all be over."


He was too idealistic... it wasn't right. He needed to understand... that night 10 years ago was nothing serious. It was just the frustrations of two lonely teenagers who'd found solace in each other, expressed into tender emotions and a loving embrace. Two days was not long enough to dedicate your life to someone, to pledge your undying love to them, to make them everything important to you...
Why didn't he understand...?
Or was she the one who didn't understand?
Are you supposed to sacrifice your happiness and your dreams for something else? Are you allowed to? Have you any right to?
If happiness finds you... the way Ganondorf found her again... are you allowed to say no?
Was she allowed to say no and destroy the things he believed in, just like that...?
Was she doing the right thing...? Did she say the right thing last night, when he'd confessed everything, and she turned him down for the sake of her duty?
She did the adult thing, the realistic thing... that was the way the world worked. It was okay... she'd done all that had been asked of her. Here she was, with Zelda... Taking care of her... not running off to the desert with a man she'd only known for two days, 10 whole years ago.

Impa's rhetorical questions echoed in her thoughts as she sat blankly on Zelda's bed, waiting for her charge to finish changing. It was early in the afternoon, and a hazy overcast of gray clouds had slowly rolled in since the morning. Soft breaths of rain were falling around the castle and sprinkling everything in a dewy mist. Zelda had been caught in one of them as she played in the courtyard...
Not played. Waited.
She'd stood in front of the window for an entire two hours, gazing longingly at the stone arch entranceway of the courtyard, as though she was expecting someone to appear.
"Impa..." Zelda said quietly from the other side of the room, as she fixed the sleeves of her overdress.
"Yes?"
"Do... do you think Link's coming back today?"
"Link?" Impa was shaken out of her dreamy query. "Zelda... I thought you were over this thing."
"I had another dream last night..."
"Oh," Impa sighed quietly.
She watched Zelda as she tossed her golden hair back over her shoulder and slipped her turban up over her hair, smoothing it out with two hands. Her young face was creased with worry, and her nose was wrinkled, a sure sign that something was bothering her.
"I-I'm still worried," Zelda said quietly as she turned, fidgeting with a loose strand of golden hair beneath her turban. "I can't help it... I just... I'm scared, Impa."
Now was no time to be worried about her problems... Zelda was what mattered now.
Impa smiled soothingly and patted the mattress next to her. "Come sit," she ordered gently. Zelda shuffled across the room and spun, plopping down and leaning against Impa's side.
Her nanny wrapped a strong, warm arm around her and placed her hand on the side of her forehead, playing with the loose strand herself now. "Why are you scared? Today's the last day he'll even be here... tomorrow, everything will be back to normal."
"I don't want him in the alliance," Zelda whimpered. "I don't want him anywhere near me, or Daddy... He's got horrible eyes, Impa. He saw me in the hallway the other day and he smiled at me... and his smile was just terrible. It wasn't a real smile, like when you're happy... it was this awful, sick kind of smile... like... like he knew something I didn't... and those eyes..."
Impa frowned. "Dwelling on it won't help..."
"I don't know why I'm the only one who sees him smile like that..."
She didn't know what to say now.
Was there anything she could say, without being an utter hypocrite?
They sat there for several minutes, Zelda leaning into Impa's warm, motherly arms and Impa, gently stroking her loose strands of hair that refused to stay in place beneath the turban.
"You believe me... right, Impa?"
"Of course I do, sweetheart..." Impa consoled.
Zelda smiled sedately and buried her face in Impa's side, stifling a sniffle. "I just want him to go away... far away..."
"Just be brave for a little while longer," Impa told her. "Here... you know what... dwelling on it really won't help. I say you need to do something to get your mind off of everything."
Zelda mumbled something incoherent, her face still hidden in Impa. Impa laughed softly and pulled her head up with a gentle hand. "What was that?"
"Can I hear a story?" asked Zelda.
"Of course," Impa gave her a silly grin.
Zelda returned a relaxed smile and wiggled in her place to get comfortable. "Oh... oh... um... can you tell me... the... em... another one about Sheik?"
Since she was a small child, Impa had entertained Zelda with a series of old Sheikah legends surrounding an ancient warrior named Sheik... as Impa's mother used to do for her. Sheik was somewhat of a staple in Sheikah communities, as he had slain a legendary demon many years ago and was recognized as a hero of legend.

(A/N: Yes. That Sheik. ^_~ Think of him as the Sheikah Batman.)

Though she adored the Sheik stories more than any others, Zelda's favorite story was about the legendary ninja destroying a demon with the music from his harp (as Zelda had also been raised knowing how to play the harp... Impa believed she liked to imagine herself slaying demons). Impa related it once again, becoming more spirited in her version as Zelda seemed to relax. She even giggled at a few parts.
There was always something comforting about seeing Zelda happy...

"And that's our treaty."
Harkinian stopped, smiling calmly and clearing his throat. He set down the papers in front of him and glanced up at his guest. "Anything to bring up?"
Ganondorf smiled back at him very calmly. "It sounds quite agreeable... except... one... little point before we sign, majesty..."
It was quite theatrical... but he'd heard this point, and felt a need to call him on it.
"Yes?"
Ganondorf folded his hands in front of him. "Clarify the line about 'no unlawful holding or punishment of the other's subject'."
Harkinian nodded quickly as though to clarify it for himself, and shuffled through the papers before him. "Oh, that... um... let's see..."
There was a moment of rustling papers, and then Harkinian spoke again. "'Under this treaty, neither monarchy of Hyrule nor Gerudo may keep subjects nor citizens of the other captive, nor punish them for breaking a law of the other kingdom.'"
"That's an interesting point," Ganondorf mused, tapping his fingers on the table. "Where did you come up with it?"
"Actually, Lord Ganondorf, I was inspired to prevent another incident like the one that involved your mother..."
Ganondorf's eyes narrowed. "Oh?"
"Yes... Under this treaty, no person of Gerudo alliance may be held captive or punished for breaking a minor Hylian law... and vice versa," Harkinian explained. "Higher lawbreaking, such as murder or treason, would require the monarchy of said prisoner's kingdom to be present at the time of trial..."
Ganondorf remained silent, just staring at the king across the table from him.
Harkinian drifted off, still muttering statutes of the treaty to himself under his breath before he noticed Ganondorf's gaze. He looked up, brushing his beard away from his mouth with one strong hand. "Is there something you'd like to talk about for that part?"
"Is thievery a minor law?" asked Ganondorf pointedly.
"Thievery...? It depends on the item or items stolen, and if violence was used in the crime," Harkinian explained.
Silence pervaded the room once more. Harkinian was watching Ganondorf intently. The Gerudo King let out a deep breath and cracked his knuckles, a nervous habit.
"Is there a problem?" asked Harkinian earnestly, after another awkward moment.
"You realize," Ganondorf began, in a low voice, "That thievery is the tradition of my people?"
"Yes...?" Harkinian replied.
"You realize that I cannot agree to this?"
"Why ever not?" asked Harkinian. "If you could simply hold a bit of control over your people..."
The silence lived only a second longer. It snapped in half as Ganondorf's voice rose.
"Control them? You want me to control my people?"
"Lord Ganondorf, with all due respect-"
"You're a fine man to talk about control of your people," Ganondorf burst out icily, his eyes narrowing deeply at the king. His voice was smooth but venomous, like arsenic and oil. "You who can't stop a public execution of an innocent woman..."
"Lord Ganondorf, please control yourself," Harkinian spoke up assertively. "I did not mean to insult you... please don't take offense. I only meant-"
Ganondorf rose from his chair. "You realize that the way that's written, it's an open gate for your people to continue their oppression?"
"Oppression!?"
"YOU HEARD ME," Ganondorf boomed. "You realize, there are a great many laws in Gerudo society that ARE minor offenses when performed against another Gerudo?! Theft! Battery! What happens when your people come into my valley and decide to use the loophole to their advantage?!"
"There will be no such thing going on," Harkinian assured him. "Lord Ganondorf, please... We'll reword it. Don't lose your temper."
"My temper has been held back for long enough!"
Harkinian was taken aback as Ganondorf rose to his feet.
"In 10 years, nothing's changed! Nothing has changed at all! I can read the look in your eyes like a book... You see me as some kind of child, governing a race of ruthless barbarians... you would see my people confined to that valley forever!"
"I said no such thing," Harkinian replied calmly.
"Exactly! You said no such things to make your people think differently... They, who live richly, in a large city with their fineries and their great king... They who know nothing of the poverty of my people! The suffering of the scores who die of starvation and dehydration in the desert while they relax and live off of others! They who would punish a woman with a small boy waiting for her at home, who only wanted to feed him?!"
Harkinian's eyes narrowed deeply at his accusation. "Ganondorf. Control yourself, or I'll have my guards remove you until you can calm down."
"I AM NOT A CHILD, HARKINIAN!" Ganondorf screamed in his deep, commanding voice. "I WILL NOT BE FED THESE LIES ANYMORE! I WILL NOT STAND BY AND WATCH YOU DESTROY EVERYTHING I'VE SUFFERED FOR!"
"Guards-" Harkinian began, before Ganondorf interrupted him.
"And you... you are keeping something of mine... you've stolen it from me and you've been keeping it here, all these years..."
"What are you talking about?" Harkinian asked, rising from his chair.
"You can't keep her here any longer... she belongs with me, Harkinian! She belongs to me!" Ganondorf threatened in a deep voice. "Impa is mine..."
"Impa?" Harkinian gaped. "Lord Ganondorf, Impa is a devoted old friend of mine..."
"She is your slave. She's nothing more than a servant to you... a servant to keep your precious daughter," he said darkly.
Harkinian stumbled a few steps backwards, nearly tripping over his robes. He reached down to his waist and set his hand on the handle of his sword, sensing that this wasn't an ordinary temper tantrum for Ganondorf. "That is not true... I love Impa like my own daughter."
"Stop talking about her like she's yours!" Ganondorf menaced, stepping towards the king slowly. "She's MINE!"
That pulse was spreading... he felt it throbbing in his mind and his heart, driving him to walk closer to the king. He felt it flowing through his veins, forcing his fists to clench, and building up until he felt he couldn't hold it anymore...
"She's mine... she's MINE... I WON'T LET YOU TAKE HER FROM ME!"
Their eyes met, burning yellow against steadfast blue. Ganondorf's were piercing and menacing, pushed again and again for too many times, finally ready to rise up and take control of what he wanted. Harkinian's were shining beacons... like a fortress he stood, unmoving, prepared to defend himself if necessary.
Suddenly, a flurry of metallic bangs slammed into the room and two Hylian guards were on either side of Ganondorf, pulling their arms into unbreakable holds around both of his, holding him backwards.
"STAND DOWN!" one of them barked in his ear.
"We'll make you if we have to, Lord Ganondorf!" the other, less sure of himself, assured him.
Their steel armor around his arms was too familiar... chains, holding him back as he was beaten...
Suddenly he was 16 years old again, screaming in rage as he was unable to move away from the fate rushing at him unceasingly, unstoppably, threatening his future and himself and everything he'd ever try to become...
He wouldn't hold still this time. He wouldn't break.
"GRAAGGGGHHH!"
A deep scream sounded from his throat, and his palms opened.
Before either guard knew what was happening, they were hit by an immense, pulsating energy that ebbed through their bodies and erupted through the breaks in the metal plates of their armor, acting like a full-body lightning rod. A sickening crackle, a smell like burned clothing, a jolt like they had been struck by lightning stunned them into loosening their grips. As they fell, two steely fists closing around them, one around each of their arms, stopped them.
The sensation returned, stronger, more concentrated, and more meaningful. Their mouths opened in shocked screams, but no sound came out. Their eyes blanked and their bodies shuddered convulsively, amplifying the noise of their armor.
Then, with a huge push in either direction, the guards stumbled and hit the ground, smoking, electrical energy still crackling from their armor, deep red electrical burns across what you could see of their pained faces, and hair singed to a crisp.

Ganondorf paused as silence pervaded the room once again.
Two soldiers lay on either side of him, electrocuted to death...
By his own hands.
He'd taken his first human lives.
Harkinian had lost his composure. He gasped in horror at the far side of the room, too stunned to draw his sword or do anything but stare. "Dear... dear NAYRU... GUARDS! GUAAAARDS!"
Ganondorf was breathing heavily as well, the hair on his body settling back down after casting the electrical spell... everything Koume and Kotake had taught him about that spell finally had meaning.
Was that all it took to kill someone? A squeeze of your fist? Was that all it took to erase someone, to take a life for yourself... to clear your path of those who would obstruct you?
If it was so easy... why had he waited all this time to put it to use?
He looked up at Harkinian, his eyes glittering maniacally. He gave the king a malignant grin and stepped towards him, pressing his palms together and feeling sensations flow through his blood as the crackling, fizzling energy gathered in his hands, waiting to be unleashed at his command.
"Ganondorf! Ganondorf, stop!" Harkinian cried.
"You killed my mother..."
"GANONDORF! I ORDER you to stop!" Harkinian burst out again.
"You enslaved my people..."
The king stumbled backwards and yanked at the sword in its sheath, determined to save his life.
"But I will not allow you to take Impa away from me..." he hissed, close enough to Harkinian to embrace him, cornering him against the wall, leaving his open palms, circuiting with sorcerous electricity just inches from touching him.
"Impa is mine... With her, I will become a god and I will take care of this world the way you never could..."
Harkinian stared into Ganondorf's eyes defiantly. He would not show fear.
My sweet little Zelda...
"You've stood in my way for the last time!"
His palms touched Harkinian's chest.


Impa had only stopped for a moment to clear her throat, when she heard a deep gasp from next to her.
"Be patient, Zelda..."
But the gasping didn't stop. Zelda let in several quick, thin gasps for air, and then there burst from her lungs a terrified scream.
Impa leapt to her feet. "Zelda! What-"
Something was horribly wrong. Her blue eyes were wide open and blank, like her soul had been torn from her body. She was screaming hysterically and shivering, twitching, throwing her arms around her and squeezing her arms with curled fingers, her skin growing deathly pale...
"SWEET DIN!" Impa gaped, leaping towards her. She caught Zelda's limp body in her arms just as the princess's eyes rolled back and she collapsed into a faint, her eyes still wide and black. "ZELDA! ZELDA!"
Impa's heart throbbed wildly in her chest and she felt her stomach tighten when she saw Zelda's expression... she was in pain. Her eyebrows were crinkled down in a worried, agonized glare... she looked terrified. Almost like she was having a waking nightmare...
"Zelda... Zelda..." Impa repeated over and over again, gently shaking the princess's unconscious form. "Zelda... wake up... Zelda... please, oh Nayru, snap out of it..."
There was a tense several minutes as Impa tried desperately to awaken her charge. She leaned in close... her heart was still beating, but she wasn't breathing. Impa laid her down on the bed and tilted her chin back, listening carefully for a breath, a gasp, a cough, anything...
Her wish was granted as Zelda let out a huge gasp, followed by a cough. Her eyes fluttered and immediately regained their normal appearance. She whipped her head back and forth like she was looking for something.
"Zelda!" Impa gasped.
"I-IMPA!" Zelda squealed, clutching onto her arms and squeezing. "I-Impa, it was... it was so horrible... I... I just, I couldn't breathe and I... my head hurt sooo bad and then I saw... I saw him, Impa! I saw him and he was casting a spell and his hands were glowing and he laughed at me! Ganondorf laughed at me! And you weren't there to save me from him and I screamed and I screamed..."
Impa clicked her tongue and gently pushed her down when she tried to sit up. "Lay down... lay down... you must have had a bad dream, sweetie... calm down... breathe, sweetie... Come on Zelda, calm down..."
Zelda lay there for a moment, taking in deep breaths and wiping the tears that flowed freely down her face. "It was so horrible... don't... don't ever let me do that again, Impa, promise!"
Impa's face was creased with worry. "You must have had a bad dream, sweetie..."
"I was awake!" Zelda protested. "I-I was awake and listening to you, then I just like... I couldn't see and I couldn't breathe..."
"It must have been a vision, then," Impa said quietly, stroking Zelda's forehead with two fingers. "Just a little vision, Zelda... Hyrule's princesses have always had them... You've had the others while you were asleep, but this time you were awake... it's gonna be okay, sweetie..."
"It was so scary..." Zelda whimpered again. "I... I don't feel well..."
Impa sat up and rose to her feet. "Zelda, I'm going to get a nurse..."
"N-Nooo! Stay with me!" Zelda gasped, sitting up quickly and stretching out one hand. "Don't leave me, Impa!"
"You need to see a nurse, Zelda... just to be sure it won't happen again, okay?" Impa explained gently.
"Please don't leave me, Impa..." Zelda whispered.
Impa walked briskly back over to her and kneeled. "Be brave for a moment sweetie... I'm going to get you some water, all right? I'll be right back..."
"He'll come to get me!"
"I'd never let him," Impa assured her. "Stay here... don't stand up, all right?"
"... O... okay..." Zelda finally said in a hushed voice, like she was afraid someone would hear.
Impa stood up again and went to the door, turning back to Zelda to smile at her before she left.


This is what happens when she worries too much...
She has nightmares while she's awake...
Impa shook her head sadly as she made her way down the stairs to the main level of the castle, where she would head to the infirmary to find someone for Zelda.
Ganondorf isn't a bad person... he's just a little confused.
She sighed and continued on her way, a million thoughts rushing through her head as she turned left to go through the hallway that led past the meeting room, where he was meeting with the king right now.
She supposed she would have to speak with him again before he left tonight... she couldn't help but feel she'd left him halfway in the conversation last night. Impa wanted to at least give him some closure, so she could be less sure that she'd broken his heart.
Poor guy... she really hoped that once he and his people were part of the alliance, things would go better for them.
The Gerudo were really such beautiful, exotic people... it was a shame that the majority of Hyrule was so racist towards them.

Impa should have known something was horribly, horribly wrong when she saw the door of the meeting room hanging open.
She crinkled her nose as she caught scent of something burning... perhaps the king had started a fire in there? She wondered why... it was the middle of summer, and not cold in the least inside the castle.
As she slipped past the door, she saw small wafts of smoke taking into the air outside the room. Something had been burning inside...
"Your majesty...?" Impa said quietly as she swung inside the doorframe.
She froze.
The meeting room was in shambles. Chairs had been broken off, and the carcasses of several castle guards were strewn about the floor, smoking with charred skin. On the floor lay a few pieces of paper engulfed in flame.
And leaning against the table, pressing another charred body against it and smiling sedately was Ganondorf.
It only took Impa one glance at the golden hair of that body to realize what had happened.
She stumbled backwards, and she felt her stomach give a sickened lurch. Her throat tightened and she gagged, detecting the scent of charred flesh. She took in a heavy gasp and closed her hands over her mouth in utter shock, partially to stop herself from vomiting and partially to stop herself from screaming. "OH GODDESSES..." Impa let out in a horrified squeak into her hands. "OH FARORE..."
Ganondorf heard her squeak. He looked up with a seething glance, like he was ready to slay whoever it was in the doorway. When he saw Impa, his face melted and the anger was gone. He beamed widely and stood up. "Impa... Look, Impa... I've done it..."
"MY GOD..." Impa whispered, leaning back against the corridor wall, feeling her knees shaking like they would give out. "OH MY GOD..."
Ganondorf pulled Harkinian's body up off the table by the front of his robes, and turned it to face Impa. "Look, heart... I've done it... I've freed you from him, Impa..."
Impa had her eyes opened only for a moment. She saw his face that had usually smiled wrenched in a look of agony, deep black and red burns across it and his eyes clouded and dead-looking. She stifled another gag and sunk into half a crumpled ball against the wall, taking deep, difficult breaths and trembling in utter horror.
Ganondorf chuckled under his breath. "He was a fool... He didn't realize that I was serious, Impa... he didn't realize that we were meant to be together... Even when both of us did, after two days together and 10 years apart... I've set you free, Impa! This is it... You no longer owe anything to him."
How could he laugh?! How could he laugh at this?!
She heard a thump and footsteps coming towards her. Impa opened her eyes and blinked through a film of tears that had formed in a few seconds. Ganondorf had appeared next to her, and he reached down and pulled her up by the arm.
She was too stunned to do anything as he pulled her to his chest and embraced her, sighing deeply.
"I've finally done it... I took control. It was just like you said, Impa... I could be a great king... a king in charge of himself... He tried to push me to the ground, and he called in guards... but I'm done being pushed around. I killed them... then I killed him for you. His scream is echoing in my brain... it was the sound that meant that I did it, Impa! I've finally fulfilled my dream..."
Impa was shaking horribly. His arms were comforting and warm, though... and his hands were strong as they squeezed together behind her. Those hands that could murder someone were also so kind to her...
"Now I will be the king, Impa... and I'll change things for us. I'll make it so we can be together... I'll get even more power if I have to, just like I promised you I would..."
His voice was calm, like he'd completely forgotten that he'd just murdered the King of Hyrule. He didn't even seem to care that at this moment, there were probably a hundred or more guards in the barracks alerted to what happened, and probably coming to take him into custody or kill him.
All he cared about was HER.
Impa lifted her arms and placed her palms against him, pushing away. "What... what have you done?!" she gasped out uncontrollably, her voice still shaky with tears. She stumbled as she stepped back, and he didn't force her towards him again.
"I've freed you... I killed Harkinian and you are no longer his slave, Impa..." Ganondorf explained again in a gentle tone.
"NO!" Impa gasped. "You can't... you can't do things like that! Things don't work that way!"
"You told me so, Impa... remember in the courtyard? When you said that you wouldn't stop anything from making you happy?" Ganondorf replied. "I did the same! No longer am I a weak king, Impa! I'm finally worthy of you... I'm a king truly worthy of a queen like you..."
Queen?!
"You are no longer his slave... You are free to be happy with me..." Ganondorf echoed once more, smiling very softly.
"I... I was never his slave!" Impa let out breathlessly, caught up in a million feelings of sorrow and shock and fury. "I OFFERED to serve him, Ganondorf! What have you done...?! Ganondorf, what have you done!?"
Ganondorf's calm face began to fade. "I did it for you, Impa. I did it for our sakes... You can come with me now! We don't have to worry about our positions anymore... I finally have the power!"
"You can't do things this way!" Impa cried. "You can't... you can't hurt other people or KILL other people for the sake of your own happiness!"
"You can't tell me you aren't sick of eating, drinking and breathing to care for that stupid child," Ganondorf let out spitefully, almost like he was wishing Harkinian could still hear him. "You deserve so much better, Impa... you deserve to be happy in your own way. When I first met you all those years ago, I knew that I could make you happy... and now I have... don't you understand?"
"I don't understand..."
She stepped backwards and away from him. "I don't understand this at all... you said you weren't like this! You said you didn't want to be this way! You're not..." she paused. "This isn't the boy I knew all those years ago... he would never... never, do this..."
"That boy is dead, Impa... he was killed the day he broke his promise to you... In his place came a man. And that man has become a king, and this king is opening his hand to you..."
Ganondorf smiled at her, a dark, cruel smile, the kind Zelda had described to Impa as being so scary. He put out a hand, fingers outstretched, waiting for Impa to take it. "Come, Impa... let us be happy together, the way Harkinian would not allow..."

Two paths.
The path of light, of warmth, of Zelda... Caring for her, coming to fulfill what she had known for 10 years... Her duty, her sworn oath, her promise to Harkinian. Caring for her precious friend, her sister, her daughter, Zelda...
The path of darkness, but of love, of Ganondorf... Standing by a man who had finally become a king after all his yearning... Being truly happy, with the man she'd fallen so hopelessly in love with, even after such a short time...
Behind her was a staircase, at the top of which was Zelda... sitting in a little ball on her bed, hugging her knees pulled up to her chest, scared of a man coming out of the dark to get her and dark clouds consuming Hyrule... She was waiting for Impa to return with a glass of water.
Before her was a hand, behind which was the smiling face of the King of Thieves, the Gerudo Lord... no. He claimed to be the king of all Hyrule now... He'd murdered Harkinian and several guards, but all in the name of his love for Impa... the only thing that had kept him going all these years.
He'd murdered the king...

Impa's mind was a flurry of thoughts. It was only a few precious seconds before she gave her answer and chose her path, but they were crucial seconds.
Duty, or love? Zelda, or Ganondorf? Hyrule, or Gerudo?
Light... or dark...?
Everything she'd ever been taught was leaning against her. Ganondorf had killed for her. He'd MURDERED the KING OF HYRULE. In COLD BLOOD. He'd ASSASSINATED the King of ALL THE PEOPLE IN HYRULE. For her... He'd so believed in her believing in him... he killed for her.
Was that love? Was such a horrible thing actually an expression of love?
The way he'd been talking last night... the things he said now... He saw no right or wrong in his actions. All he could see was Impa and the power he now had, the power to take lives, the power to claim happiness by destroying others and taking revenge...
Destroying others... taking revenge... the way those Hylians had thrown stones at his mother, when he was just a boy...
His soft, tender mother who had wanted him to be gentle...
That wasn't right... That didn't sound like Ganondorf... Ganondorf, who was so devoted to his mother and everything she'd taught him...
Ganondorf, who'd said he didn't want to be a monster...
It all began to come together.
The man who stood before her was not Ganondorf... at least, not the Ganondorf that Impa loved.
Impa loved the tender, awkward, skinny Ganondorf she'd met in the castle hallway 10 years ago. She loved the slouching in his chair, the tapping under the table with his boots, the folding of his napkin at dinner, the tripping as he'd come down the red carpet. She loved his pretty cousin and his tapping her on the back as she sat in the windowsill. She loved his determined yellow eyes and his oversized cape, and the way he kissed her and rested his forehead on her shoulder.
This man was not him... he was cold, temperamental and forceful. He was cruel when he hated someone, and unforgiving... he was entirely too idealistic, and though there were still pieces of what he used to be floating about in his person... he had destroyed it with one wave of his hand, as he ended all those lives.
Over the past two weeks... no, even over the past night, he had changed.
Impa loved Ganondorf Dragmire, Gerudo Prince... she did not love Ganondorf Dragmire, King of Thieves.

The King of Thieves stood before her, his hand outstretched. "Impa... let's go," he said, smiling softly at her.
She took another step back. "No." Impa said coldly.
This seemed to be the very last answer Ganondorf was expecting. His brows crinkled, and he stepped forward, putting out his hand even farther. "Take my hand, Impa."
"No..." she repeated, stepping back again.
"Why won't you take my hand? You said that you loved me..."
Impa took a deep breath and swallowed, staring at him defiantly. "I did once..."
Ganondorf's face melted. His mouth opened shortly. "... what?"
"I did love you, Ganondorf... I loved you when you were a kind, skinny teenage boy who didn't know his place in the world... Not like this. Not like this," she repeated, shaking her head sadly.
Ganondorf stepped towards her again. "You're everything to me, Impa. I already told you, the only reason I'm still myself at all is-"
"You're not yourself!" Impa argued fiercely. "I remember you told me you never wanted to be a monster..."
Ganondorf interrupted her. "... what is that supposed to mean?"
"The Ganondorf I know would never kill a man... Ever..." Impa said quietly, fighting tears in her eyes.
He froze, and his hand slowly lowered.
Impa glared at him, wiping a tear that had escaped against her will. "You can't bring Harkinian back, Ganondorf... you can't change what you've done... but you can face your punishment... Please... stop this. Just... stay here and wait for the guards to come... I promise I'll help you, but please, don't fight... let them take you..."
"I'm done being held back. Come with me, Impa. I am the King now... come with me and be my queen..."
"My duty is to protect Zelda," Impa shot back.
Ganondorf's eyes lit up. "Zelda... you're still hung up on her?! Why don't you understand, Impa?! She is NOTHING anymore! She is Harkinian's heir, and he is dead! I AM THE KING now! I stole his power so that we could be happy!"
"Zelda is Harkinian's heir... and she is now the Queen of Hyrule," Impa said sternly. "And I will protect her with all my power..."
Ganondorf paused. His eyes narrowed at Impa.
"Oh... of course... I see what it is now."
"You see what?" Impa gaped.
"It's that girl... she's afraid of me... and she's filled your head with ideas from her father to turn you against me..."
"That is not true!" Impa shouted. "Keep her out of this! This is MY OWN DECISION."
"Hmmph..." Ganondorf smiled cruelly once more. "Don't worry, Impa... I'll take care of things for us..."
It was like he wasn't even listening. "What do you mean...?" Impa asked quietly, suspiciously.
"The girl is Harkinian's heir... the power has fallen into her hands now... Your responsibility is with her... and I only wish to free you, Impa..."
Impa tried to believe she hadn't heard that. "What?"
"If I am to be the king, I must destroy the last of Harkinian's heirs..." he smiled darkly, stepping towards Impa. "Let me up the stairs, heart... and everything will be all right for the two of us at last."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


WAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAA. DIG THE CLIFFHANGER!!! @_@ Well, that means you'll all have to check back for the next chapter soon! So what's gonna happen now!? Will Impa let Ganondorf whack the princess!? Will they make like Steve McQueen and have a great escape?! WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO LINK?! (I bet you ALL are just RIVETED in suspense.) STAY TUNED, G/I FANS, BECAUSE I'M ABOUT TO QUASH THE POOR MAN'S DREAMS FOREVA!!!

That, and SHEIK shows up in the next chapter! HURRAH!