Well this is my first fanfic so I hope everyone enjoys it. I know it's a little short but I hope to fix that when I put up new chapters if this goes over well. Any comments or reviews are welcome!
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Chapter 1- The Lost and the Broken
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Link stared in horror at the spot in which Midna had disappeared. An arm outstretched in a silent plea for her to come back. The miniscule fragments of the Mirror of Twilight continued to settle all around Link and the Princess of Hyrule. Link felt his arm fall to his side and a strange wetness around his eyes. Tears? Never had he cried when he was a child despite the numerous cuts and bruises he had gotten from life spent on the ranch. Yet here they were now, falling, just as his hopes fell and died with the shattering of the mirror. He stepped back once into the now glittering and fell to his knees sobbing and uncaring of the sharp pain that the mirror fragments were grinding into his knees.
The wind howled atop the Arbiter's Grounds as the sun finally set and the hour of twilight came once again. It was how his journey started after all, in twilight, it was only fitting that it end the same. Rusl was right after all. He had never thought of twilight as a lonely hour, but a beautiful one. A view only strengthened as he had come to realize that he had fallen in love with the Twilight Princess. Link raised his head slowly to the sky. Now with Midna gone, it was most certainly the loneliest and sadness time of the day. He felt movement at his side with his heightened senses but did not move. The cool touch of Zelda's hand on his cheek made him flinch and he had to restrain himself at the impulse to growl at the touch.
"She had no other choice Link, the mirror had to be destroyed. Midna was only trying to spare you the pain that a longer farewell would have brought." Zelda said softly. Link turned his head to Zelda and stared into her eyes with his own piercing blue orbs.
"And thus broke my heart in the process…" He whispered barely above the wind. Zelda winced at seeing the pain and sorrow in his eyes but he was not finished. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised." His voice rose. "I was never anything more than a tool to her, a plaything, a dog" he barked a short and bitter laugh. "This is my punishment for daring to believe that we could have had something together." Link pounded his fist into the ground with a sharp crack as a larger shard of the mirror shattered once more. "Tell me princess, was it all worth it? Was saving two realms really worth it?" he sneered.
Staring into Links eyes she was unable to give the obvious answer. She had never seen a man so broken. "She loved you Link with all of her heart. A ruler must often make a hard decision, and Midna made one here. To prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again." Zelda consoled him. The anger in his eyes had cooled, like a tempered sword. It was there, but in the guise of cold steel.
"Then she has a funny way of showing love. I must have been blind not to see it" Link bit off sarcastically.
This time the anger was hers. "Don't turn her feelings for you into a mockery Link! In the short time I was one with Midna I felt the truth of her emotions. Anger, sorrow, and pain all the emotions that you feel now. By the goddesses the pain was terrible. All because she knew things could never be. Imagine how she must feel now in her own world without a friend beside her that understands what she is going through. Imagine that and see how selfish and cruel you are being!" she nearly screamed.
Link dropped his gaze to the sand and let loose a single tear, just as Midna had. The swordsman stayed on his knees for a few minutes longer before leaving without another word to Zelda.
The princess gazed at Link's retreating figure and sighed. "So much for the Triforce of Wisdom" she muttered at the darkened symbol on her hand. It was a good thing she had brought her own horse, in Link's current state she would not have enjoyed the ride back to her shattered kingdom. Zelda snorted in a most unladylike manner. There was no way she would have enjoyed the ride back anyways. Her people had lost faith in their ruler, the remnants of the Hylian army were scattered to the four winds, and starvation would soon come in lean months of winter without the normal stores of food being available due to the invasion, not to mention a host of other problems.
The princess walked at a slower rate then Link allowing him the space he needed as she walked down the winding path of the Arbiter's ground to the entrance. Link waited at the entrance stroking his faithful steed Epona while looking into the night sky. Zelda stopped for a moment to sigh again. It would be a perfect portrait of the Hero of Light if the circumstances hadn't been so terrible. This painting only looked nice because all it showed was the back of Link's head, not his eyes. Continuing forward she gathered the reins to her own white mare, Rose. Rose wasn't nearly as well trained as Epona, but she was still a magnificent horse, bred from the finest stables of the Royal Family.
Link turned to face the princess, but his eyes had changed again. No longer were they tempered steel. The once piercing blue eyes had dulled and gone stoic. Somehow this was worse then anger, these eyes held no life whatsoever. A soft wetness fell to her arm and she raised her eyes to the sky unbelieving that rain would make an appearance in the Gerudo Desert before realizing that it was her own tears. Foolish to believe that the goddesses would weep for their hero even though he had given up everything for them. Link didn't say a word to her ears as he effortlessly vaulted on top of Epona. Silently he waited for the princess. Zelda wept for the broken hero on the steps of the Arbiters Grounds, wept for the love that had not been given the chance to flourish. Finally she cursed the fates for their cruel ways.
She spared one last thought for the hero as she struggled on to Rose's back. When she looked upon his broken features, she saw her shattered kingdom. They were one and the same. The Princess of Hyrule and bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom wondered if either could ever truly mend, or if wounds of loss and suffering would remain ever open and bleeding.
Watching over the Gerudo Desert and the two figures on horseback pounding over the unforgiving sand, the goddess's of Power, Wisdom, and Courage wept. For the first time in centuries, the Gerudo Desert felt the cool embrace of rain.
Second Chances