I would like to begin this tedious author's note with a few warnings.

Rated T for language, mild violence, and sexual content. And also because this is a bit of a sad angsty story. Knowing Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess is necessary.

I did some research for this story and I landed upon the 'Split Timeline Theory'. This story is based along that. You don't need to agree with any of what the story suggests in order to read it. Just know that for 'this' story, I'm going with 'this' interpretation and 'this' has to stay. (Your thoughts and CC is always appreciated and will be taken into account, but please don't be discouraged if I don't change the story. I'll remember your points for the next one.) What you read is fiction. What you learn is coincidence. I have purposefully exaggerated several details and changed a variety of things just to make a story, and a hardly believable one at that. It is a story to entertain, no more.

Music will be written as the keys are on a piano, so for Saria's song it's: F A B, F A B.

Disclaimer: (To the best of my knowledge) The Legend of Zelda is owned by Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka and Nintendo, but certainly not me. The music was composed by Koji Kondo. Also not me. I am making no money off this bizarre fan work.

I was serious when I said tedious. From now on, I'll keep any authors notes to a minimum. But I may have to add a few every now and again if something crops up, you know how it is. And so the story begins.

What it means to be a Hero.

"Tell me... Do you ever feel a strange sadness as dusk falls?"
-Rusl, Twilight Princess

The sky was beginning to darken, the last of the romantic red glow dying out. Looming gray tinted with pink clouds crept closer to what was going to be a cold night on a bright full moon. The stars would shine tonight, courtesy of the sinking sun. A slightly chill wind swept through the land, scattering sand and bending broken trees to its flow.

It was that moment between the end of day and the start of night, that particular moment, when the Gerudo Valley came alive with bugs and insects, the only things that survived the harsh desert conditions. Few things ventured into the scorching light, few could function under the paralyzing cold. The sounds of life never lifted too far off the ground; nothing echoed.

Looking down on the stretch of mustard colored sand, as she had been for so long time seemed irrelevant now, was the Princess of Hyrule: Zelda, from the high tower of the Gerudo Valley Prison. She stood watching from the bars, a beast in a one way cage. Unmoving. Just watching.

The sun had been up earlier, it had been high in the sky at the same time she watched Midna leave her side forever. It was bright, huge, hot, but the moment Midna left, everything went cold around her, the sun was fading, night bloomed. Zelda used to watch the sun when she was little. She didn't know how, not exactly, not yet, but she knew everything that existed in her world depended on the sun. She once watched the flowers all day, noticing that they subtly followed the slow path of day. She even experimented with pot plants, those in the light lived and those that didn't died. She had known this all along, but still felt the need to prove it to herself, even at the cost of several valueless buds. Zelda knew a lot of things, just because. She just knew. She could never explain it; more than a sixth sense but not much more than a common sense. She knew what Midna had been planning before she did it. They both knew it had to be done. It just did.

Another one of those things.

She had torn her startling blue eyes away from the remains of the Twilight mirror, and then because she had, she was unable to look back. Midna, the Twilight Princess, was gone, taking the only way between worlds with her. The large obsidian veined stone was now nothing more than an insanely sized piece of pretty rock, and the mirror was a black metal frame with no glass.

They had watched it shatter. Explode. Dissolve into the air. Tiny diamond shapes of light spinning, falling as golden dust, and gone before it reached the floor. The sound of the mirror repeated in their minds with the impact of remembering a long forgotten but rather traumatizing memory.

With every blink Zelda took, the sky seemed to darken a little further, the pink darkening to purple, the orange morphing into a dark grey. The sun peeped from the side of the distant rock mountains, but did not reveal itself. It was gone for the day. Gone for good.

Now I know why the sacred beast is a wolf, Zelda thought bitterly, her pointed ears intent on hearing the patter of the Hero's boots against the tanned paves. He, the Hero chosen by the Gods, had been pacing since how long ago, whimpering, waiting, utter desperate for Midna to somehow return. Zelda too, against all sense and understanding, had hoped that by waiting Midna would suddenly reappear and stay for good. The longer she waited, the more Link had to wait, and the more worked up they both got.

They had waited in silence for hours, just watching, unmoving.

A wolf, no matter how tough, independent and strong, was still a dog, Zelda thought, sighing. Picking up her cloak from the floor, she took a subtle but steadying breath to ready herself, before carefully turning around in the graceful way she had always moved when needing to make an impression. They had waited long enough, and it was getting dark. They had to go. Link was now Zelda's responsibility, Midna had made that clear the moment she turned from smiling at Link to frowning at Zelda, and she knew he was not alright. She held back a nervous gulp when she saw Link's distraught face, his look burning into the stone where Midna had left through.

Two solitary figures who had barely exchanged a conversation, who had yet risked everything for each others cause, had despite all their efforts, became two awkward strangers struck by the same loss, struck by the need to mourn. It was neither' first time, and nothing had changed.
However this awkwardness was caused by something other than shyness, intimidation, simply not knowing the other; this awkwardness was due to something unknown that they shared. Zelda and Midna were both princesses, Midna and Link were both changed by Zant, but what was it that made Zelda suspect something more was at hand?

What was the emblem on her hand, the emblem all over Hyrule, reacting two when she held it before Link? Did the emblem mean anything? Was it some sort of magic, or a sign of the gods?

She had so many questions, so many things she needed to find out... but more importantly, what her next move was. She was not going to leave Link alone, not now. Not when the man she owed everything to needed someone, needed her, in return. He needed to decide what to do next, where to go, and Zelda realized that she was already planning to have him stay with her in the Castle. They could make plans from there.

Make that first move. "Link..." she said, choking on her own false bravery and failed leadership. It was enough to catch his attention; his own teary blue and sore red eyes focusing on her. She tried again, "Link... let us go..."

With one last long look at the remains of the mirror, Link nodded and walked towards Zelda. She could use her magic to get them out of the valley, but ironically, magic which Midna had unleashed within her. Then she would take him to Hyrule Castle to give him a room for the night, and while he slept off his exhaustion, she would work out all that she had missed. Nothing new.

This, hopefully, would not be a lot as the people of Hyrule should be none the wiser. Very few could remember being effected by the invasion of Twilight. Those who did, however, would not forget. To those who met more than a brief encounter, could never forget. Zelda, Link, they would never forget.

She stretched out her hand, unshaken, unflinching. Link lightly took it, his grasp on her support was failing him, but it was enough for her to make the connection, and they appeared in a circle of light outside the eastern entrance of Hyrule Town.

"Right," Zelda said, the leader in her alive and stirring, "Link, you may come into the castle with me, and spend the night within its warm walls."

"I should..." Link mumbled, "I should... probably..."

"Please. I have many spare bedrooms, hot food, baths; you do not need to be anywhere, do you?"

Link desperately wanted to argue with her. He really wanted to be alone at that moment, to spend the night away from anyone. Why on earth would he take her up on an offer to stay overnight in a castle, full of people? Soldiers demanding to know what his business was with the Princess, who the hell he was, poking and prodding and wanting a good look at the savior. Bah, they had no idea what had happened to them. They would more likely shove him out the Castle doors. After being humiliated, what would he do then? He had no where he needed to go, but now there was no need for him to be anywhere. The whole of Hyrule had once been open to him, but now he feared that suddenly places were a lot less reachable.

"I..." where was secluded enough? Gorons had the mines, Zoras had the waterfalls, and if he had too, he wouldn't mind staying with them for a day or so. They automatically kept a distance from him, they wouldn't ask questions, they wouldn't demand anything from him. They knew a little something about what had happened, though, and if everything was going back to normal... would it still be the same? Heavens knows, Link wasn't.

More important than anything, however, he did want to be beside the Princess Zelda, a princess like the one he lost and one who had an unspoken connection to him. He was drawn to her immediately, calmed by her mere presence. When Link had first met Zelda, as a wolf, she apologized for his capture even when it wasn't her fault. When she talked to him, she knelt down to his level, unashamed, unwavering. She treated him respectfully, like equals, even though, and he hadn't realized it then, he was in the presence of two princesses.
And then, when Midna had been dying, Zelda gave her own life for her.

If there was a single person left in all of Hyrule that Link wanted to be beside, it was her. Zelda.

He hoped she felt the same way towards him.

"Sure." he answered finally. She smiled a beautiful smile at him, wrapping her cloak on and her hood back over her head to conceal her outstanding appearance. Link went unnoticed in the town anyway. He hadn't even been offered a cloak.

"They say it's the only time when our world intersects with theirs...
The only time we can feel the lingering regrets of spirits
who have left our world."
-Rusl, Twilight Princess

Link sat gingerly on the clean bed, in the large bedroom he had been given by the Princess, in the same corridor as her own, usually reserved for the Royal family themselves. Truth of the matter was, Zelda was the only one left.

The room he had was arched in both opposite ends of its rectangular shape, a large arched window overlooking the fields to the west. The bricks were a pale blue color, the candles in the walls giving it an orange glow in flickering circles. There was an on-suite through a small door near the end of the room, and a little distance from that was a spectacularly carved large desk, chair, and wardrobe. It was large... really large. The room was in a spectacular condition seeing as above it was nothing but wreckage. Was it magic? Did Link really give a damn?

The bed had the finest sheets, the smoothest covers, and the polished wood- nothing like his cramped bed at Ordon. He couldn't even remember how it felt; it had been so long since he slept in that house for he had spent too much time camping rough with Midna.

Midna... who single-handedly took him from his home, turned him into her servant, convinced him to save the world with her and who made him kill. Who single-handedly showed him a new land, became her friend, took him on the adventure of a lifetime and who showed him a complex and intriguing side to a person which made him appreciate just how amazing people were. How big everything was...

To keep his mind from lingering on one princess, he thought of the other, the one who had surprised him with her conduct in entering the Castle.

The main castle hall was fine on the left side, but the wall on the right side was blackened, and the right side of the castle was sloping slightly. The explosion had gone off on the roof top, but it was closer to the north-east side of the castle, closing off that area of the gardens and graveyard. A few worried servants and soldiers had been rushing around and from what Link could hear over the endless noise "find the Princess!"

When Zelda had lowered her hood, everyone from servants to guards fell silent, and only the captain had the courage to rush to her, demand answers, having believed she had been crushed by the wretched north-east side. She, very calmly, explained a neat cover story: that suspecting a construction fault, she asked them to keep away from the castle (enveloped in Twilight the servants had subconsciously avoided it) she had gone out to offer prayers to lake Hylia and that she had met and old friend along the way. Link didn't want others to know of his story unless there was no alternative. People would want to know, and he didn't want to explain it all. Zelda then ordered, like a princess, that the rooms be prepared, that he be given this room, and that he should be obeyed like herself to every whim. He retired to his room, leaving her to deal with the sudden mass of spectators. It had been an hour now, at least.

At least I might be comfortable... Link thought, but lying down on the bed without the familiar grassy smell was strange. Lavender- the sheets were scented of lavender. But it wasn't quite grassy.

"Your Highness, is he really permitted to your Royal Corridor?" the head Servant asked, after relaying her instructions to the others, which were to secure areas of the castle which were safe and close off the dangerous parts of the castle. He and his wife were the cleaners to those corridors bedrooms, and he found it disastrous this so called friend of her Highness possessed the room of her father.

"I have said so. Several times." Zelda answered her tone easy but offering warning to the continuous pounce of questions. She then walked off, to meet with her advisers in the meeting room as previously arranged. She needed to sort that business out before dinner. She was covering up the castle explosion, so the advisers let that matter go, talking about smaller matters. The meeting was tedious, commenting on the damage of the castle, but relaying nothing of interest rather than an expressed concern of a disease believed to be causing an outbreak of amnesia, which Zelda believed to be most humorous. She didn't actually want to be in this meeting.

Except she was a Princess, who had Princessly duties.

When she left the meeting, she walked into the dinner hall, looking at the table which used to seat herself, her mother and her father. They had been dead for too long for her to feel nostalgic over it. She had been strong whilst her kingdom was swallowed in darkness; she could be strong walking into the dinner hall.

As Zelda sat in one of the chairs, reading through the damage list, a maid came up to her, curtsying as they had been taught to. Zelda had told them they may come to her any time, no matter rank, and this timid looking girl said, "Our guest does not wish to join your Highness here."

"Then please bring two meals up to my quarters." Zelda answered promptly. A Hero had to eat.

When the maid scurried off, Zelda went up the stairs to her room, setting her desk table and chairs for herself and Link. The castle was actually in quite a state, heck the kitchen area was moved to one of the many public meeting areas, but she and Link had nowhere else to go, so she had to put on a brave face for the situation. Then she knocked on his door, and opened it when she heard him leap from his bed.

His scowl disappeared immediately, seeing it was her.

"Princess?" he asked. Dark rings were starting to develop under his eyes, his face noticeably yellowier.

"I have asked for two royal dinners brought up. Would you care to dine in my room?" her tone was as light hearted as she could make it, but almost instantly she wondered whenever Link would appreciate the humor.

He followed her, although it had been just a question without obligation. They ate their meals in a slightly awkward silence, glancing at each other so often. Zelda was trying to distract him from Midna, and he was trying to distract himself with no avail. The servants cleared the last of the fine meal away, letting Zelda attempt conversation with Link. She wanted him to talk of Ordon, but he paled at the thought. She tried Death Mountain and Zora's Domain with better results, but it was short lived.

Zelda braved the topic she had been afraid to ask. "Link... what are your plans from now on."

Link remained stony, lips clamped tightly. He had no idea what his plans were. He couldn't exactly go back to Ordon. Link had changed. Life wasn't peaceful anymore; life wasn't about herding goats in the morning and growing old in the afternoon. His life had been about running, fighting, exploring. Whilst he abhorred the responsibility it thrust upon him, whilst he hated every murder beneath his hands, whilst he despised his given role as a hero chosen, he had found it...

… exhilarating.

"I," he said quietly, "haven't decided."

Zelda nodded, understandingly. "OK. Just know you are always welcome here. You may come and go as you please. I will make sure you have your own space and that the servants do not challenge your authority." She knew her next words would mean she could never take it back, but she said them anyway, "You'll always have a home in Hyrule Castle, if you need it, Link."

Link didn't make much of a response, but he was tired, as was she, so she let him go. He needed time to get over Midna's sudden departure. As did she, the Princess, whose soul had been joined with Midna's- for a short time, but joined none the less.

She had felt everything. Zelda, in a dormant state, had watched through Midna's eyes their travels, finding the sacred sword, solving temples, fighting as a team and all of Links achievements. She felt every stir of emotion, flicker of pain, grievance of a memory, within the twili as if it were her own. Zelda had not physically been through it all, but she had been a witness to the intimate moments where she would otherwise not have interrupted. But that was not the connection either, and it wouldn't do for Link to become paranoid. She knew him, knowing this would invade on his treasured privacy.

When he closed the door behind him, Zelda said quietly "goodnight", and prepared herself for bed, still completely tense. Before she enveloped herself into comfort, she gazed out the window at the inky speckled sky, the town in small cheerful golden light being ignored, compared to the jet black and green trimmed portals that hovered above areas of Hyrule, like the Eastern field, areas of Links village, everywhere. Portals that had not disappeared with everything else. Zelda had discovered Midna's magic had rubbed off on her, and Zelda could warp, although with different technique, but she suspected it was because of these very portals in the sky. No doubt Link was also looking through his window at it also, perhaps with longing, perhaps with hate; she did not know him that well. Would he ask why they remained when every other trace of Midna's magic had departed?

Midna was gone, but they couldn't escape the memories, that hung in their minds just like the portals in the sky. What did it mean, to go through all this?

"Sweet dreams, Link." Zelda murmured, and she wearily crawled under her covers in her oversized chamber, an exhausted yawn escaping her lips. The others? They had no idea.

That same sound, that terrible, dreadful, cracking of the thickest glass, crept up from the pit of their consciousnesses. Clih... clih... cling!

Zelda pulled the covers tightly over her aching head and begged sleep to consume her.

"That is why loneliness always pervades the hour of twilight..."
-Rusl, Twilight Princess