Midna couldn't believe how long it had been since she saw the Twilight Realm last. 'It feels like…this is my first time here…' Midna thought. Huge waterfalls of darkness were spewing from the sky, spreading the darkness through the land like a slow disease.

"This place sure is…cheery." Link muttered sarcastically. Midna shook her head in disdain and replied, "I never knew such a beautiful place could become so ugly…" A single tear slid down Midna's face as she said this.

Link furrowed his brow and said, "Zant…you must really want to kill him now, huh? He dethroned you, nearly killed you, and brought nothing but pain and suffering to your people…" "I should…" "Huh?"

Midna looked up at Zant's castle and replied, "I should hate him. It's only right to hate him. He ruined my life…but I can't hate him…" "Why not?" Link asked. Even as he said this, Link was worried he might piss Midna off with his prodding.

Midna spun around to face the blond hero and whispered, "I loved him." Link nearly lost his footing when Midna said this. Luckily, he regained his composure before falling over the ledge nearby.

He then grabbed Midna by the shoulders and shouted, "YOU LOVED HIM? HE BETRAYED YOU AND HURT YOU AND YOU SAY YOU LOVED HIM?"

Midna smacked Link's hands away and replied, "Yes, I loved Zant. We were friends even back when we were young. He was the first person to make me smile. He's a bit of a doofus, but he has a kind heart. At least, he USED to have a kind heart…"

Link began to regret asking Midna about Zant. The last thing he wanted to do was make her unhappy. That would only make the upcoming battle more difficult for the both of them. "Midna, I'm-" Link started to say, but Midna put up a palm to stop him.

"It's okay, Link. You were just worried about me…" Midna replied. She had a smile on her face, but Link could tell she was dying on the inside. "You don't need to tell me anymore. Let's just finish this…" Link started to walk ahead, but Midna warped in front of him and said, "No…I WANT to tell you. I need to get this off my chest once and for all…"

Midna's face tensed in concentration as she began to speak.

"Princess Midna! Princess Midna! Come out right now!"

A stout, old Twili man in long dark-red robes was rushing around the royal garden, his face covered in sweat. 'Why do I always have to watch the brat?' wondered the old man as he stopped for a moment to catch his breath. Suddenly, a small girl with blue skin and ember-colored hair popped out of a bush. She glared at the fat old man sitting in front of her and hissed, "Hello...Jeraldo."

Jeraldo smiled and replied, "Ho ho ho...I finally found you, princess. Let's go back inside now." Midna stuck her tongue out at him and exclaimed, "Please! I'm not going back in there, you fat old man!"

Jeraldo was about to retort to Midna's statement, but the young princess cut him off and said, "You can burn in hell for all I care! I hate you!"

Without warning, Midna quickly spun around and ran off into the flowerbeds. Jeraldo rubbed his throbbing temple and thought, 'This isn't worth $300 every two hours...'

Midna's eyes and throat were on fire as she trudged through the flowerbeds. Not long after, she fell to her knees and broke out into tears. "I don't want to be royalty...I don't..." she whispered out to no one in particular. However, someone did hear her.

"Are you okay?" Midna looked up and saw a young Twili boy about her age staring down at her. He had golden-yellow eyes and his skin was tainted blue. The boy held out a hand and helped Midna up.

"Who are you? I never seen any other kids out here before..." Midna wiped her tears away and replied, "My name is Midna, the-" she was about to say 'Twilight Princess', but she quickly stopped herself.

The boy smiled and exclaimed, "Well, my name's Zant. I come out here every now and then to collect flowers for my mother." "I'm sure you make her very happy..." Midna replied. Zant looked at the rose in his hands and muttered, "She's dead. I bring flowers to her grave every day..."

Midna immediately regretted bringing it up. She never had any real friends before, and she wasn't about to lose her chance by making stupid mistakes. "I'm really sorry! Forgive me!" she quickly exclaimed. The strange boy named Zant just smiled and replied, "It's okay, really. I've learned to accept her death…"

Midna understood, but she still felt uneasy thinking about it. "Anyway, want to come up to the castle? I'm sure they'll let you in or something…" Midna said, hoping to get out of the flowerbed as soon as possible. It made things feel kind of awkward, for some reason.

Zant dropped the flowers in his hands and stammered, "Y-You live in a c-castle…?" Midna nodded and pointed out a large building that stood on a hill nearby. "That's the castle of the royal family." She explained. Zant gave her a slight nod and replied, "Actually…I'm busy. I-I'll see you later…" Before Midna could react, Zant ran back down into the village.

Midna sighed and muttered, "Good job, Midna. You lost your only chance to make a friend…"

Link was finally beginning to understand more about Midna's relationship with Zant. Even though they obviously had a mission to do at the moment, Link didn't mind sparing a few minutes for a story or two. "You don't need to tell me anymore if you don't want to, Midna. It's okay…" Link said as he began to stand up.

Midna shook her head and replied, "No…Please hear me out, okay?" Link sighed and sat back down again.

"Princess…what's wrong? You're not eating anything…" asked the king at dinner later that day. Midna sighed and muttered, "It's nothing. I just met this boy today…" The king's knuckles clenched tightly when she said this.

The king of Twilight was well known for being quite "over-protective" of his only daughter. Without warning, the king spat out a million questions at once. "Who is this boy? What's his name? Did he hurt you? Does he have any illnesses? Is he gay?"

Midna threw a roll against her father's face and exclaimed, "HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO ME, FATHER! STOP BEING PARANOID!"

"You can't blame me for caring about you! You are my only family!" retorted the king. Midna shook her head in disbelief and said, "You are such an idiot sometimes…"

Normally, a parent would probably be angry that their own child called them an 'idiot'. However, in the king's case, he let it slide especially because Midna was more adept in the magic arts than he was.

Wanting to get back on topic about the boy, the king asked, "How come you didn't invite him over? I would like to meet him…" "He ran away when I told him I live in the castle…" Midna replied as she began playing with her food again.

Not wanting to upset his daughter further, the king closed his mouth and didn't ask her about Zant for the rest of the day.

"Your dad sounded like a real genius…" said the hero in green.

Midna chuckled and replied, "He wasn't exactly the smartest tool in the shed. But I still loved him."

The next day, Midna ran out into the flowerbeds to see if Zant was around. Sure enough, she found him gathering some petunias in his little hands. "Hey, Zant! I thought I'd find you here!" Midna exclaimed happily.

Zant grinned sheepishly and replied, "Sorry about running off like that yesterday. It's just…my family…and…uh…" Midna patted him on the shoulder and said, "It's okay. You don't need to tell me if you don't want to."

Zant nodded in response and said, "Thanks for being my friend."

Link thought for a moment and asked, "So…Zant never told you that he despises the royal family?" Midna winced slightly when Link said 'despises the royal family'. Link quickly apologized and asked Midna to continue her story.
"A…a congress member?"

Zant nodded and said, "Yeah. I've been studying up on politics and I was hoping to be able to help my people in their time of need…"

To Midna, this was all quite confusing. For the last two months, Zant wouldn't even look at the castle, much less talk about it. Now, the only thing he wanted to do was join the Royal Congress.

"I-I'm a little surprised, Zant," Midna stammered, "I-I thought you hated the royal castle…?"

Zant bent backwards until he was staring up into the clouds and replied, "Well, I'd put a lot of thought and effort into it. Plus, this way, we can spend more time together!"

Midna blushed slightly at the thought of spending more time with Zant. Luckily for her, Zant was too busy staring at the sky to notice.

Suddenly, Zant had an idea. He flipped back into position and kissed Midna slightly on the cheek. Midna jumped back in shock and cried, "W-What the hell was t-that about?"

The blue-skinned boy smiled and exclaimed, "It's just a little 'thank you' for being so supportive of me! You're the nicest person I ever met!"

When Midna's face turned a deep red, Zant thought she was having a heat stroke so he quickly dragged her back inside the castle.

"Wow…you two were really good friends…" Link replied.

Midna's eyes shimmered a bit and her face reddened as she said, "Yes…he was my first friend…and my first crush…"

Link was starting to wonder if there was a way to help Zant AND save Hyrule.

Unfortunately, the young hero knew it was impossible.

Suddenly, tears began to flow from Midna's eyes. "He…he even told me…he even told me he loved me once…he said it after we truly kissed for the first time…"

Link wrapped the poor girl in his arms and let her cry.

"Oh god…father…Jeraldo…what happened to you?" The sky was thick and dense with the stench of evil. Everywhere around her, Midna watched in horror as the people she knew and cared about were transformed into hideous monsters.

Midna screamed in horror and fell to her knees on the cold stone floor. 'Why is this happening? Oh god, why?' she asked herself as the horrible shadow creatures crawled towards her.

Suddenly, she felt something wet on her clothes. She looked down and saw her robes were stained with blood. However, that was the least of her problems at the moment.

Midna knew she didn't have much magic left. Something…or someone…was slowly sucking it out of her. All she had left was her will power, which wasn't exactly in the best of states.

Still, Midna knew that if she was going to die, she had to find Zant first. Summoning what little energy she had left, Midna pushed herself off the ground and ran out into the main hall.

'I…I need to find Zant!' was the only thought in her mind as she ran blindly down the corridor. Midna had no idea where she was going, but she didn't bother to stop and think about it.

Eventually, Midna found herself standing in front of the entrance to the balcony. Midna slowly creaked the door open and checked outside, hoping that none of the Shadow creatures were there to ambush her.

Instead, she saw a lone figure in long robes, staring out into the dark sky. Midna swung the door open and ran towards the person, praying that it was Zant.

The figure turned around and Midna stopped in her tracks. It was…something…in long robes wearing a strange, tall helmet. "Hello…Midna." Hissed a raspy voice from within the helmet.

"Who the hell are you? Did you do this to my people?" Midna screamed. She felt like she could lose consciousness at any moment.

The helmet-wearing stranger chuckled darkly and replied, "YOUR people? I'm sorry, princess Midna, but they're MINE now…"

Midna took a small step back and whispered, "W-Who…how do you know me?"

The dark stranger chuckled again and said, "Now, now, princess…that is no way to speak to your new king!"

"I'LL NEVER LET YOU BE MY KING!" Midna spat, though she was beginning to wonder how she still has enough energy to even speak.

The stranger shook his head sadly and muttered, "I'm sorry it had to come to this, Midna…" Slowly, he reached up and began to remove his helmet.

Underneath the helmet was the face of Zant.

Midna could almost feel her heart slowly breaking to pieces when she realized that this evil monster was none other than the childhood friend she had came to love.

A single tear slid down Zant's cheek as he said, "I'm so sorry, Midna, but this has to be done for the sake of our people. I love you…"

The last thing Midna saw before falling into darkness was Zant's face.

Eventually, Midna stopped crying and fell asleep. Link, his heart heavy, picked Midna up and carried her back out into the world of light.

For both his and Midna's sake, the battle against Zant will have to wait until tomorrow.