Midna perched on the edge of the precipice, and if she felt the wind at her back she gave no indication of it.
Her legs dangled over the edge, tapering gracefully down to her feet. Beneath them, the tenebrous skyscape of the Twilight Realm descended ad infinitum. Behind her loomed the onyx mass of the Palace of Twilight. In front of her, the future.
It didn't look like much from where she was sitting.
As always, when the mirror opened the air around it felt subtly wrong, like a cold spot in a summer stream. Not for the first time it occurred to Midna how very different the two worlds really were.
She knew who was coming through the portal, of course, and she knew that she would have to face him. Would the sentries the Twili Council had posted rout the Hero? She didn't think so. But he wouldn't be expecting them.
"You're standing in my way." His voice, from the bridge that spanned the gap between the Mirror and the Palace. Observational and nothing else.
"What business have you in Twilight?"
"What business of yours? I like what you've done with the place, by the way."
"Levity will not get you past the bridge-"
"No, I was rather counting on gratitude to do that. Not to mention friendship. Why has Midna set guards to block my path?"
"Princess Midna no longer rules Twilight."
"Then who?"
"The Council."
"I couldn't care less. Remove yourself."
"The Council must be told-"
"Oh, tell them. Do. And tell them that when the hand that held the sword that Zant died on the edge of knocked on the door you tried to turn him away like a beggar. I refuse to believe that I'm not welcome here."
"You seem to blame us for our caution. Lest we forget, Ganondorf came through this mirror, and Zant left through it."
"I came through it too, and I seem to remember removing both of those worthies from both of the two worlds."
"Nevertheless-"
"Nevertheless I have a certain authority. It comes from this sword, see how the blade glows? The gods that reign in Twilight have not turned their backs on me, even if you have. You know what the Master Sword can do to you."
"Do not threaten-"
"I hold no allegiance to the Twilight Realms. Only to their princess, whom you do not to the untrained eye appear to be. Remove yourself from my path or by the Triforce I will remove you myself. The choice is yours, gentlemen."
Silence.
Minutes later Link sat down next to her on the edge with a sigh of relief to take the weight off. "Hey, imp," he said in greeting.
Midna wrestled with a number of responses and finally gave in to her curiosity, like she always had. "Why is it," she asked, "that I'm not surprised to see you?"
Link scratched his chin, looked contemplative. "You were there for me," he finally replied, "in my worst moment."
A pause.
"Not that you look particularly wolfish."
A pause. Link sighed.
"They didn't go for it."
Midna kept her head low, eyes unfocused at the ever-changing landscape of Twilight. "They said they had had enough of royalty. They said I didn't do enough to stop Zant before he took over and that I should have dealt with him without- outside help- after. The Council rules Twili now, and as for me? I get the idea that they'd be happier if I disappeared and didn't bother them again." Link caught the sheen of moisture in Midna's one visible eye, saw the light glint off of an exposed fang.
"How much do you want it?" he asked, keeping his voice deceptively casual. Midna glanced up quickly.
"What?"
Link's hand strayed idly to the pommel of his great sword. "Well," he went on, lightly, "I have to be honest, Midna, your people weren't particularly intimidating back when Zant was dropping them out of the sky and I doubt if they've gotten any more intimidating now. From where I'm sitting I can see three entrances to the Palace, none of them guarded- even the sentries have run off. As for the council, they aren't equipped to deal with someone like me. Say the word and I can have you on the Twilight Throne in an hour and a half, two if they put up more of a fight than I expect they will."
Midna said nothing. Link paused and went on.
"But I don't think you want to do it that way, do you."
"It's…"
Midna stopped, got a hold of herself, went on.
"It's the curse that gets to me. They won't take it off. I think I could lose Twilight and still be happy if it wasn't for that. But to spend the rest of my life as this- as a hideous little imp-"
She choked it off, looked sharply down. Link wondered if Twili could weep. He wondered if what they wept would be of the same stuff that lubricates human eyes.
He cleared his throat. "I've never found your form- hideous," he said, awkwardly. "In fact I think you're… quite lovely."
It was a step too far and he knew it. The only thing left to do was to cover it up with a grand gesture. Link had one in mind.
"Come away with me."
Midna's eyes shot up. Link was rising to his feet, dusting off his tunic- more from habit than anything else- and all she could think of to say was "Where?"
"The bokoblins," said Link reflectively, "the bokoblins are massing in the east. Possibly under the leadership of our friend with the big blue boar and the horns on the side of his head."
The imp's mind was in turmoil. "But it's only been a few days since you chased him off," she tried. Link looked slightly guilty.
"Well, but sooner or later they'll get their act together. And then we'll ride out against them. Or the King of the Zoras will have an infestation of lizardmen to deal with or something. Or some rich archivist will need us to track down some pre-Hylian artifacts. If we got bored enough we could even go bug-hunting for Agitha, make ourselves some pocket money." Midna was shaking her head. Link hurried on.
"Look, it's changed us, all right? We went to Hell and back together, you and me. I don't think I could go back to herding goats, no matter how ornery. And I'll tell you something else- if you were sitting on that throne, right now, maybe you'd be happy but by this time next week you'd be thinking of the days when you were going somewhere. Midna, you can't go back, even if they would have you. Come away with me. Please."
Midna looked back at the ground. "Why would you have me?" she asked in the smallest voice Link had ever heard her use, even after Lanayru. "They're right, you know. I was too busy playing Princess to deal with Zant. All of this is my fault."
Link glanced up at the sky and took his time before he spoke. "Well," he said reflectively, "you got cursed. You were hunted by shadow monsters and moblins. For a long time your only ally was a very angry wolf. Zant nearly killed you at Lake Hylia and I'm pretty sure Ganondorf finished the job at the castle. Then you came back to where you once were and they told you that they weren't satisfied, that you weren't good enough, that they would have been happier if you hadn't bothered to cross over. You're going to live and die as an imp and after you pass the Council isn't going to be raising any statues of you. If you set out meaning to come back again you've lost worse than he did, and he's dead- deader than Zant, and Zant died hard. Any regrets, Princess?"
Midna was silent for a long moment. "No," she said, finally, and felt something drain away inside her, to be replaced by something else. "No, I don't have any regrets."
Link squatted down next to her and put his face very near to hers. "But why?" he asked, low and urgent. Midna pulled away, thought desperately.
"Because-"
She squeezed her eyes shut. "Because it's what I had to do."
When she opened them again Link was smiling at her sadly, the expression alien on his noble features. "Then we're well met, aren't we?" he asked.
Midna was lost at sea, out of her depth, and she knew that this was how he must have felt when he woke up under Hyrule Castle with a long snout and claws instead of fingers. But there wasn't any pain in it- it didn't feel like a transformation. It felt like walking out of a mineshaft after a year in the blackness. It felt like being born.
"I don't understand," she said.
"Well," said Link, "I never said you were particularly bright."
Midna hesitated then shot him her famous toothy grin, and together they walked out of Twilight.
…