Fields of Gold

Blinded in the Dusk

Twilight drifted endlessly onward, unchanging, everlasting, save for the golden field where Zelda now spent her waking hours. Ganondorf was ever present at her side, her one companion in this strange new life. When the sun dipped below the horizon, Zelda would return to her room in the castle to sleep, cold and alone, while the Twilight sapped her strength. When she arose, Zelda made her way back to the field, knowing that the dawn would be just beyond the wall of dusk. Oftentimes, Ganondorf would be there waiting for her, enveloped magnificently in the newness of the day.

There were rare times when Zelda was alone with the barley and the sunrise. It was unnerving to be there without Ganondorf. His presence was so intimately tied to the field, it did not feel right to be there without him. Instinctively, Zelda knew that the times she spent in the field without him, he was attending to "business." What exactly that entailed, she could only guess and frankly, she did not want to know. It could only mean trouble for her and Hyrule, so it was better for her to pretend that Ganondorf's absences meant something else entirely.

Not a day had passed that Zelda did not come to the field, whether Ganondorf joined her or not. Truthfully, Zelda hated being alone. Her thoughts ran too wild of late. Ever since she had stood in front of the mirror, anxiously questioning her purpose and true desires, it had been a daily battle to push those thoughts aside. They were now far too entangled in one another to walk away, but Zelda feared what going forward would mean for them. There was only two outcomes: the Hero would win or the Hero would lose. Neither one was ideal for their future. Therein lay Zelda's conflict. It was far simpler to live in the moment and let the future come when it may. Still, the pressing uncertainty plagued her constantly and threatened to spoil her happiness in the field. So the hours would pass as Zelda sat beneath the brilliant summer sun and she wrestled with her thoughts. Yes, she despised the field alone but the despised the Twilight more. Being there by herself would only make everything worse.

When Ganondorf was there to meet her, as he often did, Zelda left her troubles in the Twilight as best as she could. Several days after their first kiss, the two had quickly settled into a comfortable routine. Together they would wander the field, sometimes silent and sometimes engaged in a tentative conversation. Their fingers would always be entwined as they explored their shared haven. On one of her first days alone in the field, Zelda happened upon an old fallen tree that had long since disintegrated into a thick log. It was just big enough for two. That old log became their new meeting place in their field.

Nearly a month had gone by since their "alliance" as Zelda liked to think of it, had begun. No longer were they truly captor and captive, villain and heroine. They were something different, something to which Zelda could not, or maybe would not, put a name.

It was there sitting on that fallen tree together that Zelda and Ganondorf had slowly become better acquainted. Conversations were tedious, slow, uncomfortable in the beginning. Zelda still closely guarded herself, but by Ganondorf's persistent urgings she had cautiously started opening up to him.  It was a frightening new intimacy to speak to him so personally, but Zelda gradually welcomed his conversations as much as she did his touch. During their talks, Ganondorf never asked her to meet him at the castle but Zelda could see that question burning behind his gaze. She was grateful that he did not ask again because she feared that she might be too weak to refuse him a second time. Especially now, since their companionship was deepening by the day.

"I'm curious about something..."

The unlikely couple was sitting at their usual spot on the fallen tree. A warm late afternoon sun shined down on them, with a humid breeze rustling Ganondorf's loose shirt. Zelda was nestled into his chest, feeling the rise and fall as he took smooth, relaxed breaths. Her thoughts, inspired by the blazing sun, had turned to Gerudo Desert and the lost tribe that once lived there.