A/N: Can you believe your emails? No? Didn't think so. But yeah. This is totally a thing, and it only took me two hours (primarily consisting of scrolling through social media) to type up this ONE author's note! Update: it took me another day to finish this chapter, but hey, it's here!

Remember that this is now in third-person and that it has been shifted to past tense due to...reasons.

Tears of Twilight II, Prologue.

Midna opened her eyes to see an unfamiliar ceiling. It called to her memories, reaching for something that recognized it, but there was nothing. So instead she turned her attention away from the subject and rather wondered why Link wasn't snoring away beside her.

Well, she didn't specifically wonder that...because Link didn't snore.

Whatever the case was, he wasn't in bed, and there weren't any nearby noises to suggest that he was getting up, and he wouldn't have left to go anywhere without her.

"Princess," a seemingly familiar voice called out for her. She heard a door open and sat up slowly, looking around the room. It had a distinct theme that greatly reminded her of the Twilight Realm, back before it had been...erased. Once she saw Dawn, her nursemaid from said Twilight Realm, it occurred to her that this was probably just a dream. She had always been uncannily aware during dreams - she was also a heavy sleeper during them and Link usually had to carry her out of the bedroom, sit her on a chair, and prepare breakfast to wake her up.

"Yes?" she replied, noticing that her voice was hoarse. Was this some strange recall? If she remembered correctly, she had just recovered from some sort of illness when she was sent back to the Light Realm.

Dawn placed a tray of food and a formal dress at her bedside, then bowed lightly to her. "It's time to prepare for your speech. I hope you've planned it out."

"I've planned...enough," Midna stated, rubbing an eye and smoothing down her hair a little. She couldn't remember exactly what the speech was supposed to be about, but she did recall what she had said during it all those years ago - why not stick to the same pattern and see if history would repeat itself, despite being a hectic dream?

"Good," the other Twili replied, shuffling back towards the door. "A medic will greet you outside once you're ready, okay?"

Midna nodded, and Dawn departed, leaving her to eat and change quickly. Once she perfected her outfit and managed to steadily walk out the door, it took her a few minutes to recall which direction to go.

She found it slightly amusing how she could remember the exact words she had spoken, and yet no longer knew her way around her old kingdom. However, it seemed just. After all, she now knew Ordon and Hyrule Castle like the back of her hand.

Once she finally found her way outdoors and mindlessly greeted the medic with a smile, she found herself pondering why this dream was taking place now. How long had it been since then? Eight, ten years? She wasn't quite sure - every moment with her family seemed timeless. It felt like it had been merely a month since she and Link told Zelda of their decision to marry.

She still remembered the moment he had proposed as clearly as she remembered the blue of his eyes. He had insisted on a trip to Lake Hylia, where they splashed around together with Eos near Lanayru's spring for a while before he drew her away, fell to one knee, and offered her everything she had ever wanted, sealed away in a tiny little box with the most gorgeous ring she had ever seen.

Midna was a little confused when she noticed that it wasn't still on her hand. Usually it was there, no matter what kind of dream she encountered.

She shrugged to herself and mindlessly fiddled with her hair, with anything, as she repeated the words she had previously spoken to her people.

She thought she would be able to bear it when they reacted the same way, opened the portal of tears, sacrificed themselves for her. And yet she was touched again, sobbing. She took Dawn's hand and whispered a goodbye before going into the portal. She loved these people more than anything - anything but her family. The memory still hurt.

She expected to wake up in her bed, with her husband and daughter, after that - but she didn't.

She was alone in the back of Link's dark basement, with a shattered mirror in her arms. This time, there was no voice to greet her. There was no Hero to appear at the bottom of the ladder, asking if she really existed. Another part of the dream, she assumed.

Instead of falling unconscious this time, she rose to her feet and tried to avoid the shattered glass as she climbed up the ladder. She winced. Her hands had cut once again, meaning either she should probably ask Link to help her bandage them again.

She reached the top of the ladder and looked around. The house was different than it was as she knew it, which explained why she felt like something was wrong. There was no little girl in the kitchen, hovering at her father's side as he cracked jokes and made breakfast.

Midna looked around the little house and changed her mind. It was something else. It was different than it had been when she arrived all those years ago - and it was different from how she knew it - but that wasn't it. The house was the same as it had been during the war to save Hyrule - empty, desolate. Lacking.

Wiping the residue of tears from her eyes, the former ruler searched for bandages - and found none. Thus, she decided to go to Ordona's spring to heal the cuts. Perhaps she could find Link or Ilia there instead.


Rusl was there. His sword lay flat against the fine white sand, sharp and sleek, but he looked like a complete mess. His hair was wild and had grayed even more than how Midna remembered it. His entire demeanor wasn't that of a warrior, but of a deadened old man. He muttered quietly, inaudibly, to himself, weakening Midna's resolve. And yet...

The Twilight Princess took a few careful steps in his direction.

"Hello. Um, Rusl?"

His head shot up, his eyes turned to meet hers, his face perked a little - and then just darkened again. Midna had to dub his gaze as the saddest, most depressing thing she had ever seen. "Do I know you?" the swordsman questioned.

"I'm Link's - friend," she said with the slightest of pauses. "My name is Midna. What's wrong? Has something happened?"

A tear flew from the man's eye and he turned to stare back at the spring. For a moment she was concerned he was merely being dramatic, but then his hand rose shakily and pointed in the direction of the little hole Link had used to sneak in on a few occasions. Midna turned to look and saw a tall, narrow headstone, dark grey in color.

Confused, she walked towards it. It took her a few minutes to decipher the Hylian script, not that there was much of it, but she started to read it out loud.

"Rest in peace..." she murmured, "...Link, Hero of Twilight and citizen of Ordon." Her eyes flew wide at the same moment her hands flew to cover her mouth. "No...no, no, what is this?" She whipped around to face the broken swordsman behind her and spat violently, "Is this some kind of joke?! Is this supposed to be funny?" Rusl remained in shocked silence until she screeched, "Answer me!"

"H-he..." The old man shrunk away from her wrath, shutting his eyes. Tears flooded from them, rushing down with gravity. "Ilia found him, Epona tried to tell her. Ilia...she found him dead in his own house, probably of that awful sickness."

The memories came rushing back to Midna as her eyes widened further. Link had had the same illness that she did when she arrived all that time ago. Could it be that, here, now, he had been afflicted before she had?

Midna fell to her knees, pressing her forehead against the ground. This was no dream, she decided at last.

This was a nightmare.