The Legend Of Zelda Fan Fiction ❯ Gerudo Forest ❯ Chapter 30 ( Chapter 30 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

She didn't really even remember making it back to the room that night or whether Ganon had been there when she had arrived. Luckily that night her sleep was dreamless leaving her felling more rested. She realized that where ever she had fallen asleep she was crushed up against something warm. When she tried to move it held on to her tightly. Opening her eyes she found herself in Ganon's arms once again. He was awake and had been watching her as she slept. She should be used to this by now but it threw her off for a second. When she remembered the night before she automatically felt guilty. She stared into his eyes not seeing any of the anger from the night before there. They stared at each other silently for a while before they both blurted out a sorry. She had decided the night before she would try and make up for her intrusiveness but she hadn't expected him to apologize to. “What are you sorry for?” He asked brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “I was the one who was drunk. I over reacted. I am just not ready to bring up that part of my life just as I am sure there are things in your life you haven't told me about. It is a period of my life I am not proud of.” He said searching for understanding in her eyes. How could she argue with that. “I shouldn't have asked. My gut told me not to and I pushed it too far anyway. I don't want you to feel you need to hide anything from me. The sad thing is I probably already know the answers to my questions. I didn't mean what I said last night. Please forgive my stupidity.” She blurted out just wanting to put this all behind them. He crushed her in an embrace. “ It is forgiven.” And just like that everything was as it back to the way it was. “How was your sleep?” Ganon asked while they were packing. “I didn't have a single dream.” she replied. “ Good then it works.” He smiled. “What works?” She asked now curious. “The goron elder instructed me on how to ward off bad dreams. I really didn't think that goron magic, as primitive as it is, would really be that effective but it seems to have served it's purpose quite well.” He said busily checking the room in case they forgot something. Had he done that after she had run off last night? Even after she yelled at him? He had been angry at her yet he was still thinking of her safety. Though he had already forgiven her it still made her feel bad. Not seeing anything else they made their way to the entrance where Darunia and a few of his guard waited. Darunia handed a pouch of something to Ganon which he took with a nod before mounting Trinexx. “Hey!” Darunia called to her as she took Ganon's hand to mount. “Are you going to leave without saying goodbye?” He said a hand behind his back as she turned back around. “I'm sorry I feel just a little scatterbrained this morning. Thank you for putting up with me. ” she said embarrassed. She had almost left without showing a little gratitude. He just laughed and placed something in her hand with the hand he had hid behind his back. She looked down to her hand to see a round flat red object. It almost looked like the fire medallion. “This might help get you access to the Temple of Time. Be careful on your journey.” He said quickly looking at Ganon. Did he still not trust him? “I can't thank you enough for this.” She said giving him an appreciative hug. “Well you better get going.” he said giving her a hard pat on the head. When she finally mounted Trinexx Ganon had barely given her time to put her arms around him to keep from falling off before he sped the horse forward. She could see Darmani on the ridge where she guessed the race track was located. He waved goodbye to her as they passed and she barely managed to wave back. What was the hurry? she wondered as they flew over the landscape. Were they running from something? She looked back to be sure not really seeing anything. A couple of times she had thought she had heard the pounding of hooves behind them but with the wind blowing in her ears it was hard to tell. Maybe Agahnim or a group of his lackeys were trying to follow them to see where they were going next. She never saw anyone though. She would just have to trust Ganon to know what he was doing. She hugged herself to him trying to keep warm. It was still early morning so the air hadn't quite warmed up to the pleasant temperature that Hyrule's land usually had. As they made it to Hyrule Field he began to let Trinexx slow. The field seemed to still be covered in an early morning fog that provided cover. “What was the hurry?” Melissa finally asked. “Hush now. I need to know if we are still being followed.” He said moving Trinexx to hide in a little grove of trees that were still shrouded in a thicker patch of fog. So they were being followed. Ganon had probably known about them even before they had left. The horse moved more silent than she had thought possible. They came to a stop and waited. She strained her ears listening. Slowly but surely the steady beat of hooves became louder and louder. Then all at once shapes could be seen in the fog racing past where they hid. Mist swirling around them. She could barely make them out which was a good thing because then she knew the riders couldn't see them. A rider who was positioned in the back stopped. She couldn't tell if it was Agahnim or not. She didn't get that feeling of dread from the motionless figure so she guessed the wizard was not with this group of soldiers. After a few seconds the figure surged his horse forward to rejoin his squad. After waiting for what seemed like a silent eternity Ganon pushed Trinexx to a slow gallop going left past where the riders had crossed. She wondered where they were headed next. He led them West for a bit and the sun began to warm them making the fog lift. They seemed to be following the same river that they had camped beside the night before they had reached Death Mountain. It seemed to stretch on for miles. Farther than she could see at least. By mid-noon they had traveled a great distance. They were nearing a long bridge that seemed to cross over a what she could only guess was Lake Hylia. So they were headed to the Water Temple. She felt so relieved. Ganon stopped the horse about the middle of the bridge so they could have a sky view of how beautiful the lake was. Little islands dotted the calm surface. Most were connected by rope bridges. A building stood in the larger middle island. It looked to have a car pulley system that lead up further into the mountains. The main mountain itself had waterfalls pouring down into the lake and it seemed to be the source of the fresh water that filled the lakes and rivers that flowed throughout this land. She figured that would be where Zora's Domain would be. She didn't think that they would have to ask where the Temple was this time. Ganon seemed to be eying the water. “So Water Temple is next. If I am correct the Temple lies somewhere on the bottom of Lake Hylia.” She thought out loud. “And how would you know that?” Ganondorf asked curious. “ Well the Water Temple in “Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time” was at the bottom of Lake Hylia just like the Fire Temple was behind the statue in the chief's room in the game. I could be wrong though. Either way it will take some swimming.” Ganon didn't look to comfortable with that. She thought back to when he had tried to pull her out of the pool of water back in the desert. “I know this is a stupid question but can you swim?” she asked concerned. If he couldn't she was unsure what they would do. Would she have to go through the temple alone? She didn't like the thought of that. “I can but not well.” he said eying the water again. Suddenly the shadow temple didn't seem so bad. Maybe they could find something in Zora's Domain that would let him breath underwater like the Zora's tunic. Then again she didn't think they would have one big enough to fit Ganondorf in either form. “If it is at the bottom of the lake we will need a guide unless you know it's exact location.” He spoke looking less up for this temple now that he knew he was going to have to actually get wet. “Well let's get a ride up the mountain then.” Melissa said breaking his thoughts. He shook his head clearing out what ever he was thinking. Leading Trinexx the rest of the way across the bridge they neared the first rope bridge. A horse was grazing there and she recognized it immediately. It was Epona. So Link and Heather were already here. Trinexx stopped a few feet back from the bridge so she jumped down and started walking not even waiting for Ganon to do the same. The bridge swung a little under her as she crossed. The combination of that and the surface of the water made her feel a little off balance but other than that it seemed safe. She turned back to see Ganon changing. She had forgot he would need to do so before getting close to anyone that might recognize him. She had gotten used to him being his natural self that it had never crossed her mind. She turned around to give him privacy once again resisting the urge to watch him undress. She giggled to herself. She would have never thought herself attracted to him in her wildest dreams. He definitely wasn't a pretty boy like Link, who she and her two sisters had crushed after for years, but he possessed other qualities that she found equally attractive. She sighed to herself. To think she had been given this once in a lifetime chance to visit a world she had always wished she could travel to and she couldn't even fully enjoy it because of her stupid guilt. Guilt that her family and fiancé had no clue where she was. They might even think her dead. Jimmy had asked her several times to not pass away before him. That his heart couldn’t take it. She had no control in that matter of course but she always tried to reassure him that the likely hood of that was very slim. If he thought her dead how was he holding up? She hoped he was ok. She felt arms wrap around her and someone kissed her neck. “You ready?” She recognized Ganon's voice behind her pulling her from her thoughts. “Yeah let's get going.” She replied distractedly.