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Barriara paused as she came inside. Usually she would be hearing the pipe organ upstairs. But there was only silence. Going to the bottom of the stairs, she found that the door to Prince Ganondorf’s room was closed. Concerned, she climbed the stairs and knocked.
“Gan? You in there?”
“...Yeah.”
“...Is something wrong?”
“...No.”
Just from the tone of his voice she could tell he was lying.
“Can I come in?”
There was an awkward pause, and then a sigh.
“Fine…”
Barriara entered to find the prince sitting on his bed, knees drawn up to his chest. Something was definitely wrong.
“Hey… do you wanna talk about it?”
He said nothing, just scowling up at her, and Barriara nodded sadly and began to leave.
“Lili said I was a loser today at school.”
His quiet confession made Barriara stop in her tracks.
“Miss Mara was right there, too. Jerk.”
“Hey, hey— you can’t just go around callin’ all your teachers jerks…”
“I ain’t. I’m callin’ Miss Mara a jerk. Cuz she is one. She probably thinks I’m a loser, too.”
Ganondorf curled up tighter, resting his chin on his knees. Barriara sat down on the bed beside him, letting him lean against her mechanical arm.
“Well, you are *not* a loser. Remember last week, when you came home and told me you got an A on that report you wrote on elemental affinities? You’re smart. You work hard. And you care about what you do. And that’s the secret to success.”
Prince Ganondorf didn’t seem to fully believe her.
“You know what? Let’s get some ice cream.”
The prince’s head snapped up.
“Really? You’re serious?! Yeah!”
“‘Course. I’d been thinkin’ about going to Takka’s with you this week with all the good grades you’ve got,” she said, affectionately jiggling his bun, “It was gonna be a surprise, but… I think what you need right now is some ice cream. Dinner at Lizard on a Stick and some ice cream, how’s that sound?”
“YESSSSSS!”
~~~
Takka was both one of the finest frost mages and the most incredible entrepreneurs Barriara had ever seen. She’d turned most of her house into a restaurant with an entire enchanted icehouse attached. Twenty-nine flavors of ice cream, not even counting the slushies and popsicles. It was like a dream come true, especially in the Gerudo Desert.
“I’ll have a scoop of mighty banana… Gan, what do you w— take your face off the glass, there, that’s nasty...”
“I’ll have uhhhhh… Ooh, caramel chocolate chunk!”
Takka smiled as she dished up their ice cream, accepting the rupees and handing them their dessert. She was 104 years old, but nothing slowed her down. She was also openly kind to young Prince Ganondorf, which Barriara appreciated deeply, especially with recent rumors and events…
They sat down together to eat their ice cream. It was a shame his adoptive sister Sharli was still grounded for throwing a mug at Ganondorf during an argument. It had shattered absolutely everywhere, so she was going to be grounded for quite some time still…
“B’rriar’? Thanks,” said Ganondorf, happily munching the chocolate pieces.
“You’re welcome, kiddo. You just think of this whenever somebody tries to put you down. You’re a great kid, Prince Ganondorf.”
“Hehe, thanks!”
Barriara didn’t believe in concrete fate. And she didn’t believe in inherent evil.
What she did believe in, however, was Ganondorf. And he meant the world to her.