Ok, first things first. I don't own Twilight Princess or any Legend of Zelda/Nintendo properties or characters. Oh how I wish I did though. Now thats out of the way a few things before the good part starts. I have no plans to just abandon this story so don't worry about that; I also am in the market for a beta reader for this and a few other stories I have. If I've made any mistakes just send me a message and I'll try to fix them as fast as I can. I hope you all enjoy the story. :D

Oh, and as always, please drop a review if you don't mind.

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Dream or Mystical

Powerful

Twilight Princess Redux

Night time had fallen over the village of Ordon several hours ago. While most went to a peaceful and restful sleep; one person was wracked by the terrors and regrets in his mind.

He was running. It was not in retreat, no, not this time. This time he was the pursuer. Though, he knew he would not catch his prize. He seemed to move in slow motion, while she… she stood still, and yet, moved faster than he ever could.

Then, in an instant he wasn't looking at her form disappearing over the horizon. He was looking into the face of the… creature that had tried to take her away from him. It lifted him up by the neck and held him before its grinning face.

"Well Hero, it seems you couldn't hold onto her." The specter from his memory said in a gravelly voice. It laughed darkly as he struggled in its choking grip.

"For all your supposed courage, you lie broken, while my power lives on." Then drawing the large glowing red blade from its sheath as his side, he held it up to the center of his chest. "Now Hero... IT'S TIME TO DIE!" he growled before ramming the sword into his chest.

In his small home on the village outskirts, Link, the Hero of both Light and Twilight, awoke screaming and covered in sweat. As he held his head in his hands, he tried to calm his racing pulse. He could almost swear that his neck felt like he had been choked, and his chest hurt as if he had been run through with a sword. As the fear from the dream began to wear off, a single image came back to him. The sight of her standing there, as if waiting for him, haunted the edges of his vision. As he sat up in his bed, Link began to feel a pain far worse than any he had felt on his journey that ended with him as the Hero of Hyrule. Deep inside his chest, his heart began to ache.

As she walked down the halls, she felt a dull ache in her heart while memories played in her head. She remembered the first time she had returned here. She had her Hero with her then; Her 'divine beast'. She shook her head to try and rid it of the image of his smiling face. It was bad enough that she could not sleep without dreaming of him.

'I don't know how long I'll last if these memories and regrets haunt me both day and night,' she thought as she wiped a few tears away from her eyes.

"My lady?" a maid asked her, seeing her tears. Midna shook her head and wiped the rest of the tears from her face.

"It's nothing Selin. Just old memories," she said. Looking out a window into the Twilight she whispered to herself, "Just some memories."

A strange figure walked through the shadowy landscape of the Twilight Realm. Tall and muscled, the dark cloak wrapped around him fluttered in the wind. As he moved through the gloomy forest his eyes moved from side to side, as if looking for an attack to come. His searching gaze soon noticed the slightly quivering bushes to the left of the path. The man stopped in the road and stood still, his right hand reaching under his cloak. The rustling seemed to take on a new vigor as the low sound of a growl could be heard from the bush. Suddenly leaping from the brush a strange creature, like a cross between a bear and a wolf with black fur and snarling teeth, lunged at him. Throwing his arm out and sweeping the cloak wide, the creature fell dead. A dagger, hilt deep, was embedded in its skull. Pulling his arm back, a small glint could be seen on the back of his right hand. Like a set of glowing triangles. He smirked as he Smirking as he walked over and pulled the dagger out. Looking to the horizon he saw the tallest spires of a distant castle set against the pale yellow-gold sky. Continuing down the forest path he let out a deep, echoing laugh.

~ I have thought long and hard about the fate of the Triforce of Power. The Goddesses took it from Ganondorf, but who has it now? ~Excerpt from the diary of Princess Zelda.

With an almighty grunt, Link threw the goat to the side. It soon righted itself and trotted off. Wiping sweat from his forehead, he let out a sigh. Things had been like this for the past few months, ever since she had left. Link stood in the middle of the pasture, dusting of his normal clothes, he hadn't worn his Hero's clothes since his return, as he became lost in his memories; his memories of her. In fact it took Fado several minutes of calling his name to break him from his stupor. Fado looked down at his blonde friend and asked a question that most of the villagers had since Link's return.

"Thinking about your adventure?" Looking up at the tall man he nodded his head and turned away before the mist in his eyes could turn to tears. Walking over to the grazing Epona he jumped up into her saddle. Wheeling her around, he headed out through the village of Ordon. Link hoped that the others wouldn't pelt him with questions. When he had first returned they had never left him alone for all the questions they asked. Where he had been? What he had seen? The people he had met? His answers were always the same, some half mumbled excuse and a promise to tell later.

Link was lost in his own memories again. So much so that he didn't notice he had reached his house, or who now held Epona's reins.

"Link?" Ilia asked, looking up at her friend. Before he had went on his adventure he had been quiet, but he had talked to her and Colin. Now though, he was near totally silent; almost reclusive. "Link, why won't you tell us about your adventure? You're the Hero of Hyrule and a stranger in your own village. Why won't you tell us? Tell me?" she asked as Link looked down from the saddle at her.

He sighed and slowly climbed off of Epona. Leading her over to her pen, he poured some oats into her food trough. Turning around to face Ilia, he stood there. The sound of Epona munching filled the silence as she looked at him with eyes brimming with tears; Sadness visible on the surface. Link stared back, his own eyes filled with sadness. However, it was a deeper sorrow, a much deeper pain. Not just of the heart and mind, but also of the soul. He turned away from her gaze, and headed to the ladder that led to the door to his home. When Ilia saw that he planned to leave without answering her, she moved to stop him. Running around him she stopped at the base of the ladder and crossed her arms; determined not to move until he spoke to her.

Link wanted to glare at her; to just move her, but he knew he couldn't. He could shut them out of his life; but to hurt her like that… no he couldn't do that yet.

"Ilia please move?" he asked her. Her response was to shake her head. He huffed in frustration and threw his arms up. Taking several steps back from her, he turned around. Ilia stood there wondering what he was thinking. She was answered when he spun around, clawshot in hand. The metal claw shot out and attached to the bark above the door to his house, and as the chain retracted, it yanked Link up with it. Ilia could only stare as Link dropped down and opened his door. Then with a final cry of,

"LINK!" from her, he was gone; inside his home and far from it at the same time. Link let his forehead rest against the cool wood of his door. He didn't want to hurt the feeling of his friends, but he just couldn't talk about his trials as the Hero of Hyrule. Even thinking about his adventure led him back to memories of her.

His eyes shot open, and his body tensed as he heard the creak of a chair. Spinning around he pulled the Ordon sword from its scabbard on his back. Blinking, he saw whose neck he held the sharp blade to. Dropping it in an instant he tried to apologize.

"P-Princess, I'm sorry, I-"he was quieted by Zelda's raised hand.

"Link there is no need to apologize. Even though times are more peaceful, thanks to you, I should not have just let myself into your house." She said with a slight smile. He wanted to smile back but a thought rang out in his mind.

'Not just me. She helped too.'

Zelda saw the look of sadness and loss in Link's eyes, and knew who he was thinking of.

"Link?" she asked quietly. He turned away from her and sighed. Looking up to the window high above them he spoke in a voice full of pain and sorrow.

"I still miss her. Every day I'll see or hear something that reminds me of her." Zelda reached out and put her hand on Link's shoulder.

"Link, I know how you feel. I miss her too." Link spun around and looked at Zelda incredulously.

"You think you know how I feel?" he asked. "You think you know what I've been feeling?!" Shrugging her hand from his shoulder he stepped back and glared at her. Zelda looked back sadly at him.

"Link I'm sor-"she tried to say before he yelled at her.

"Sorry?! You're sorry! Princess, I don't care what you say! You don't know how I feel! You didn't love her, I did!" Stalking to a far corner of the room, he fumed in silence. Zelda glanced regretfully at him. Finally breaking the silence she asked,

"Then why did you not tell her your feelings in the Mirror Chamber? Why did you not tell her in any of a hundred chances you probably had to do so?" Link looked at her with a somber expression. Sighing he slumped down into a chair and held his head in his hands.

"I've asked myself that almost every day for the past four months." He answered. "As for an answer," he continued," I guess I just didn't want to tell her how I felt and not have her feel the same way."

Zelda nodded and walked over to stand in front of him.

"Link, look at me," she said. When he finally raised his face to look, she smiled sadly and continued. "I know this might not help. It might even make it hurt worse, but when I and Midna were one, I felt what she felt. Link; believe me when I say this. She holds nothing but love for you in her heart." Link flinched slightly when Zelda said her name, but when she told him that Midna did in fact, truly loved him… That piece of knowledge hurt. He ached down to the core, but somehow, a soft ghost of a smile made its way onto his face. 'She does love me,' he thought.

Midna sat on her throne with a look of annoyance. While she was glad that her kingdom was doing well during the months since her return, there had been one small detail she had not thought of; the suitors.

Since almost the day she had returned, there had been men requesting her hand in marriage. All had been met with firm "no's." In the face of such stubborn refusal, most had taken to try and woo her through gifts and promises of love. In fact, she was listening to one such proclamation now.

"Please my princess, allow me to do the honor of making you my queen." The noble asked convincingly. Midna just snorted and replied,

"Why should I? What makes you so different from the countless others that have requested the same thing?" This seemed to deflate the man some as he had no answer for the questions. Midna sighed before dismissing him with a wave of her hand.

The man turned with a grumble and stalked out of the throne room. The guards at the door closed it behind him. Now that she was alone, Midna slumped down in her thrown and rubbed her forehead.

'Link, are you ok?' she absentmindedly thought. She was broken from her musings as a dark laugh echoed around the room. The guards outside the door heard it and burst in, searching for the source of the disturbing noise. After scouring the room, the leader turned to his Princess and said,

"We've found nothing to tell us where that laugh came from, or from who or what." The laugh bounced off the stone walls of the room once again, as if mocking the guard's words. Midna was growing annoyed that someone was toying with her in such a way.

"Show yourself!" she yelled as a guard blanched in front of her.

"Pr-Princess, do you think that that's a good idea?" he asked shakily. Midna spun around to glare at him before growling,

"Do you think me weak and defenseless?" The guards shrunk down where he stood before rapidly shaking his head no. "Good, then find where that laughing is coming from!" she ordered. The guards scrambled around the throne room, trying to find the origin of the disembodied sound. Midna paced back and forth as the laughter stopped for a second time. She looked around, wondering if the dark chuckle would begin again. As her eyes darted from shadowy corner to shadowy corner she didn't feel the eyes that bored into the back of her head.

A grin split the man's face as he clung to the ceiling and wall, high above the throne. Slowly his cloaked form began to drift towards the floor. As his cloak billowed around him, he stood up and took a single step forward.

In an instant, Midna had spun around and pressed a ball of dark energy towards the man. Her face was stern and lit by the magic's glow.

"Who are you, and why should I not kill you where you stand?" she growled. The man simply raised his hand and let a golden glow play across her face. Midna's eyes shot wide as she saw the group of triangles on the back of his right hand. She backed away as the glow of magic faded from both her hand and his. Her guards tried to move forward and capture the man. They were almost instantly sent to the ground in a heap by several swift punches. He stepped over them towards Midna. She backed away towards her throne; the memory of when she last faced someone who bore that power still fresh in her mind.

"Wh-what do you want?" she questioned in fear. The man strode forward and stood above her. He reached out and extended his right hand to her; the same hand that held the mark of the power within him. She shied away from it and he laughed the same laugh that had echoed around the room twice before.

"My dear Princess, please. I mean you no harm." He told her in a smooth voice. She stared at him uncertainly as he held the same power that had already once defeated her. She was still a little wary of it, understandably. The man grinned at her wryly before saying,

"Come now Princess, surely you want to see your Hero again, your' Noble Beast?" Midna's form grew rigid at the mention of Link. She did want to see him again; tentatively nodding her head. The man grinned again and held his hand out to her, palm up. Slowly she reached out and carefully put her hand on his. Then in a flash of bright yellow light, they were gone.

The guards in the room quickly climbed to their feet and ran over to no avail. Their princess was gone.

"Quickly, we must close the gates. No one must know of the Princesses disappearance." One of the guards ordered. The others sprang to action to follow his command. It was true that their kingdom was recovering, but the sudden disappearance of Princess Midna could cause an uproar and undo everything that had been done since Zant's defeat.

The leader of the guards stepped towards the smoldering spot where Midna and the strange man had stood. He knelt down and let his hand run through the ashes on the floor. "Where have you gone now Princess Midna?"