The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess does not belong to me. It never has and never will. All rights go to Nintendo.
Midna
She wasn't sure when she fell in love with him. If you had asked her, she wouldn't have responded. Had she fallen in love with him when they were searching for the Fused Shadows? No, it hadn't been then. It had been after that. She had barely begun to care for him then, barely begun to see him as a friend.
Had she fallen in love with him when they had searched the distant places of his world for Mirror Shards? Perhaps, but she didn't think so. She remembered the aftermath of fighting Blizzeta, seeing- feeling- the infinite love Yeto and Yeta had for each other. That was when she had started understanding the foreign feelings she had for him were more than the feelings of a good friendship. She hadn't realized she was in love yet. But still, she had fallen in love with him before that.
It had been when he carried her dying body across the monster filled fields of Hyrule, through the sewers underneath Hyrule Castle, just to get her to the Princess. She remembered feeling his desperation, his worry, for her, an ugly little imp.
She could still feel his smooth cheek beneath her palm as they stood on the edge of the Gerudo Desert, soft and warm. In his wolf form, his fur had been like that, soft and warm, but shaggy, not smooth. She could still feel his arms cradling her small form, exhausted from the power of the Fused Shadows she used to break the barrier surrounding Hyrule Castle, the rain falling around them.
When they realized Ganondorf was still alive, when she sent him and the Princess away, she had thought she would never see him again. That would have been the opportune moment to tell him she loved him, but there was no time. She had used the power of the Fused Shadows to fight Ganondorf, and she had lost. She thought it was the end. It hadn't been. She had survived, somehow. The Light Spirits had deposited her to the field where he and the Princess had fought and defeated Ganondorf. The curse on her had lifted; she was once again in her true form. He had run to her. She recalled the startled look on his face as he took in her true form. She had asked him a question. A serious one, she had wanted him to answer her. "Am I so beautiful you've no words left?" She had wanted his approval, to know he thought she was beautiful. He hadn't answered her, but he hadn't needed to.
She had almost told him then, standing at the Mirror of Twilight. She hadn't. She knew they couldn't be together. She was Midna, the Princess of the Twilight Realm. And he… he was a light-dweller. He was their Hero. They would expect him to marry another light-dweller, someone like the Princess or the Ilia girl. They would be the perfect couple, whoever he chose. The Hero and Princess Zelda, the golden couple. They would rule over Hyrule, protecting it and its people. Or he would choose Ilia. The rancher from the small province of Ordan marries his longtime best friend. She could never have a future with him. But she should have told him. She would never have a chance to now. She told him she would see him later. She wouldn't see him again. She had destroyed the Mirror. When the Mirror started to crack, he had reached towards her. But she was already gone.
Maybe they could have done it. If anyone could have made it work, it was him. He never would give up, even when he the odds were against him, or he was alone. But she took the coward's way out; they would never have that chance. She wondered if she would regret not trying, or at least not telling him, until she died.
She was Princess Midna, a Twili, the ruler of the Twilight Realm, and she was completely and utterly in love with Link, the Hero of Light.
ooooOOOOoooo
Link
He hadn't known he was in love with her until the very end, when she sent him and Zelda away so she could fight Ganondorf. He knew the odds were against her, but he had hoped he would see her again. When he saw Ganondorf, alive, crushing her helmet, he felt like he was dying. He needed to kill Ganondorf. For her. It was always for her. And he did kill Ganondorf. And then the Light Spirits appeared, and he saw her. She was alive. He ran to her, she was different. She was beautiful in a way no one in Hyrule could ever hope to match. She asked him if she was so beautiful that he had no words left. "Yes," he had wanted to say. But he didn't. He stayed silent.
They were at the Mirror Chamber when he realized. He knew what she had been going to say. I love you. Three words, three syllables, eight letters, that had the power to change someone's life. But she didn't say it. See you later. She lied. They would never see each other again. He hadn't figured out what she was planning until the Mirror was cracking, and it was too late to stop her. Would it have made a difference if he told her? Would she have stayed if she knew their love was mutual? He knew she hadn't known he loved her.
He had returned to Ordan Village, but only stayed long enough to keep his promise to Colin, to teach him to ride a horse. Ilia had been dropping hints that she expected him to court her, and eventually marry her, but he didn't want that. He had thought about it, in an effort to forget her, but it didn't work. Ilia could not understood that he had changed. He was different from the village boy he used to be. His journey had left him with scars, not all of them physical. She thought understood. "You weren't the only one involved in this great quest of yours! I was kidnapped by monsters and lost my memory!"
Sometimes he wished he couldn't remember. He wondered if it would be better if he couldn't remember. Her smooth hand resting on his cheek, her warm body cradled in his arms, her impish smirk, her cynical remarks. She had been using him in the beginning, he knew that. He would help her get the Fused Shadows, and she would help him find his friends. Somewhere along the line, it had gone from bitter acquaintances, to strange companions, to an odd friendship, to a love that had remained unknown to the other until it was too late.
He knew he would die alone. He would only ever love Midna. He traveled from place to place, never staying too long in any place. He often would visit Princess Zelda, for only she knew of his love for her. Zelda continuously tried to find a way to see her again, but she hadn't found one yet. He doubted she would ever be able to.
His name was Link; he was the Hero of Light. He was also completely and utterly in love with the Twili Midna, Princess of the Twilight Realm.
ooooOOOOoooo
Zelda
It hurt, seeing Link like this. I may not have known him from before he met Midna, but I knew he wasn't always this empty inside. Rumors were spread across the land. There were rumors that Link and I were lovers, that the evil wasn't entirely gone and we were working together to destroy it, many rumors were like this. People panicked when they heard the evil might not be gone, but I quickly reassured them. The rumors about Link and I being lovers, we said nothing on the subject.
If I was to tell the truth, I do love Link. He is the brother I never had, and I trust him more than I trust anyone. He knew my fears about not being a good enough ruler; that I wouldn't keep the people happy and safe. I felt like I had already failed once, even though Link continued to reassure me that it wasn't true. He told me what I already knew, that if we had fought, instead of surrendering, we all would have been slaughtered. I hated seeing my honorary brother like this. A man, whose name would be praised for many years to come, reduced to a former shadow of himself. I knew, that every day, he would watch the sky, the moments between day and night, the twilight, just to feel connected to her.
I knew that whatever Midna told herself, that it was too dangerous to allow the only known connection between the Light Realm and the Twilight Realm, that it wasn't the only reason she had destroyed the Mirror of Twilight. For I gave her all I had to give, though she did not want it, and she gave it back when I needed it. And for that moment, I understood her heart, and she understood mine. There was another reason, one completely selfish. She was afraid of rejection. She didn't want to be rejected by him, so she never gave him the chance. And that would destroy both of them.
I searched my entire life for another connection between our two Realms. I found it hard to believe the goddesses would only leave the Mirror of Twilight. I will search my entire life, and I doubt I would find anything.
Every night, I watch the twilight skies, praying to the goddesses for a way to help Link. I watch the twilight skies, wondering if Midna ever regrets not giving them a chance. As I watch the skies, I hope the goddesses will answer my prayers. My name is Princess Zelda, the ruler of Hyrule.
That is my first oneshot. Please review and tell me if you like it, and how I could improve it.
~Kathleen