"LINK!" Beth screamed, and I laughed. "I can't believe you're back! Colin, Talo, Malo! LINK'S BACK!"
"Really?!" Colin's voice emanated from his house, followed by a crash, and then the young boy himself catapulting out the door, knocking into me with the biggest bear-hug I had ever received from him.
Talo was soon to follow, with Malo shuffling along after them. No one noticed the figure standing nervously in the shadows, wringing her hands as she watched, almost invisible.
"I brought you all something," I said to everyone, and their eyes grew large as Rupees. For Talo, I brought out a small sword, just his size. I had already asked Pergie and Jaggle about it, just to make sure they didn't mind their son having a sword.
"Wow!" Talo exclaimed, his eyes shining as he carefully took the hilt. "This is for me?!"
"Of course!" I replied, laughing. "All yours. I'll teach you the finer details on sword fighting sometime." The young boy let out a whoop and raced off, swinging the sword around like a maniac as he ran around the village. I chuckled and shook my head, turning to Beth.
She looked up at me with awe as I slowly took a dress out of Epona's saddlebags, carefully folded so that it didn't get wrinkled. It was a light, pastel pink, with ruffles galore and a train longer than the dress itself. Beth squealed, looking as if she couldn't contain herself, and grabbed the dress from me, her little eyes filling with ecstatic tears.
"Thank you, Link! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she shrieked, running off even faster than Talo had and disappearing inside her house, coming out a moment later with the dress on. It was quite flattering to the ten-year-old, and I heard a slight chuckle come from underneath the trees, where the shadowed figure was still waiting.
Now I turned to Malo, smiling as I took my whole giant wallet out, jingling and filled to the brim with Rupees.
I handed it to him, and his eyes widened as he looked inside. For the first time in awhile, Malo's face broke into a grin, and he ran off as fast as he could, the Rupee bag clenched in his tiny fist. I smiled, turning to Colin, who was looking up at me with a strange expression on his face.
"It's okay if you didn't get anything for me," he said suddenly. "I have a sword and everything." I laughed, saying incredulously, "You think I didn't get you anything?"
Taking the young boy's hand, I lead him into the forest, right next to Ordon Spring. A saddle was hanging on a tree branch overhanging the entrance to the spring, and Colin looked up at this with confusion.
"What…?" he began to ask, but I pointed into the spring. The young boy walked forward, his eyes widening as his gaze came to rest on a black colt that was tethered to a tree branch, snorting and whinnying in uncertainty.
Immediately, Colin walked forward, taking it's head and stroking the muzzle, calming it down almost at once. "What's its name?" he asked softly, combing his fingers through the mane.
"Shadow, but you can change the name if you like. I bought him off of someone in Castle Town," I replied.
"Shadow…" Colin whispered, grinning. "Is that his saddle?"
"Mm-hmm," I answered, taking it down from the branch. "Along with his reins. You're going to have to train him to use them and respond to them, but I don't think that will be hard for you," I said with a smile, and he nodded eagerly.
"Thank you, Link! Thank you so much!" the young boy exclaimed, running to me and wrapping his arms around my waist. I smiled, showing him how to put the reins onto Shadow.
I was amazed at how quickly the horse calmed down. Epona had been frantic the first time I had tried to tack her up, and that was after I had had her for three weeks. But Shadow simply stood still while Colin carefully slid the leather reins onto his head, along with the saddle.
Grinning, the young boy led Shadow back to the village, me following close behind and fondly remembering how ecstatic I had been when I had first received Epona.
We entered back into the village, and now the adults congregated around me, congratulating me and asking how I was.
I smiled and detached myself, saying, "There's someone I'd like you all to meet." They waited as I walked into the shadows of the trees, stopping next to the figure hidden there, and murmured, "They don't bite. You can come on out." She laughed.
"I'm not afraid of them. I just don't think they trust Twili," she answered, and I chuckled.
"Shall I translate that from Midna-speech? 'I'm afraid of them because I don't think they trust me,'" I said, and she playfully slapped my shoulder.
"Fine. Would you believe me if I said that it was the children that freaked me out?"
"Not for a second."
Midna scowled, and I laughed again, taking her arm and pulling her out into the sunlight. "This is Midna. Midna, meet Rusl, Uli, Hanch, Sera, Pergie, and Jaggle. I could never have completed my journey without her," I said, and Midna looked down, blushing slightly.
"An honor to meet the Princess of the Twilight," Rusl said, smiling warmly and extending his hand. Nodding, Midna took it, introducing herself to everyone else as well.
"Link's got a girlfriend!" shrieked Beth, still in her absurd dress. I laughed, subtly not objecting, and Rusl raised his eyebrows, smiling at her.
"Well, why don't you two come on back to the house and tell us all about your adventure?" Rusl asked, and Uli nodded, smiling. I noticed that her stomach was no longer enlarged, and with surprise I exclaimed, as we were walking back to the house, "You had your baby!" She smiled again and nodded. "I'm so sorry I couldn't be there," I continued, and Uli laughed.
"No matter. You're here now, and Colin has been being a wonderful big brother. Much like you used to be when he was born," she said serenely, looking over at her little boy with pride. He was trying to coax Shadow into the ranch, and failing miserably. The little colt kept trying to chase butterflies that were fluttering around the flowers, and it was with unfailing patience that Colin gently nudged it back around to the ranch entrance.
I chuckled as we entered the house, Midna and I sitting down on the couch while Uli went into the next room and took the crying baby from her crib.
"This is Martha," she said softly, sighing as the girl immediately stopped crying and burrowed into her mother. Rusl smiled, and then turned back to us.
"Well, tell me all about it. Your adventures, your problems, the wonders that happened along your quest, everything," he said, and--surprisingly--it was Midna who began first.
We stayed in the house for hours, stopping our explanation when Colin came in, his cheeks rosy from the icy cold outside and his blue eyes sparkling.
"I got Shadow into the ranch!" he exclaimed breathlessly. "And Fado promised to keep him safe."
"Good. You can count on Fado," I replied, smiling and secretly remembering all the times a goat had run off into Ordon Woods and I had been sent to retrieve it. Well, he was good with the horses, if nothing else. Colin nodded enthusiastically, and then stretched.
"I think I'll go to bed now. Thanks so much Link!" he said again, and then went to kiss his parents goodnight. Uli smiled after he had gone, saying, "If he even can sleep, that is."
I laughed, and Midna and I got up, bidding Uli and Rusl goodnight and then walking hand-in-hand out to the spring.
We sat down right next to the water, looking into the crystal-clear depths. Midna sighed and leaned into me as I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and I saw her flame-colored eyes close.
"Thank you, Link," she murmured.
"For what?" I asked, absently twirling a loose strand of her hair between my fingers.
"Everything. Helping me to see who I was and who I needed to be, helping me to save my world…giving me my life back."
"You're welcome. Now, can I ask something that's been on my mind since you came back?"
"Go ahead."
"Why did you shatter the Mirror?"
Midna paused, sighing. "I thought…I thought it was because the Twilight and the Light can't mix. That's what I told myself for the short time I was living back in my old home. But then…I realized that the Twilight and the Light had mixed: you and me. And nothing but good had come of it. I suppose I was only thinking about Ganondorf, and how Zant had been subject to his sorcery because of me, because of the Twilight. And how I had been transformed because of it, unable to help my people or do anything at all…" She trailed off, shaking her head. "I really don't know why I did it. But when I let myself cry that one time, it just seemed like the right thing to do. You would go on, live your life, and--though you may never forget about me--you might be happy. Maybe the same thing would have happened with me."
"But we both know that that wouldn't have been the best thing by far," I answered, tucking the loose strand of hair that I had been playing with behind her ear.
"No," Midna agreed, sighing and resting her head on my shoulder, her eyes drifting closed. "Not at all."
I smiled, kissing the top of her head, and lay down on the sand, pulling the already-asleep Midna down next to me.
In the morning, we found that it had snowed. The spring's magic had kept Midna and I from getting cold or wet, but a fine blanket of the white powder covered everywhere except the sand in Ordon Spring.
"Midna, wake up," I murmured, shaking her awake. She yawned and rubbed her eyes, mumbling, "I don' wanna…you can't make me…"
I chuckled and splashed her with spring water, making the Twili jump up and yell, "Where'sa food?"
I cracked up as she looked at me accusingly, walking into the warm water and dousing me with it.
"Hey!" I exclaimed, diving into the deeper area of the spring and completely soaking her with spring water in the process.
"Ohhh, you're going to pay for that, Mr. Hero," Midna growled, tackling me and forcing me back underneath the water. I laughed, using my strength over her to reach the surface, where I splashed her with water once again.
Midna laughed and used magic to control the waterfall, sending it crashing over me.
"Not…fair!" I gasped, spluttering as the water calmed again and I was able to stand. Midna laughed, doubling over, and didn't see me come up behind her and push the Twili out of the spring and into the snow.
"H-hey!" she exclaimed, and I yelled as she grabbed my wrist and took me tumbling down into the snow with her. I chuckled, standing up and offering her my hand. She took it, shivering, and asked incredulously, "By the G-Goddesses, Link! H-how are you n-not c-cold?!" Midna asked through tremors, and I chuckled, taking my coat off and handing it to her.
"All the months spent in Snowpeak, I guess. When I wasn't a wolf, you got to be all warm in my shadow," I said, smiling.
"Is t-that why you n-never really wanted to t-turn into a wolf while we were at Snowpeak?" she asked, shivering noticeably less.
"Mostly. You didn't have any outer clothes or fur to protect you. I didn't really want to take any chances," I replied, and she smiled slightly.
"Thank you," Midna said, and I nodded.
"Shall we go home and warm up?" I asked, and the Twili chuckled and nodded, still wrapped in my coat.
We walked home, stopping to play with the children a little before retreating to my "tree-house" on the outskirts of the village.
I made some soup, salvaging my last bottle of Superb Soup from--ironically enough--Snowpeak Ruins, and heated it up, giving one bowl to Midna and saving the other for myself.
I sat down on the couch right next to her, facing the window and watching the children play in the snow, fondly remembering my early years. "What did you do for entertainment as a child?" I asked Midna, who shrugged, a look of affection in her eyes as she watched Colin, still working with Shadow.
"Well…we played a lot of games in the field behind the palace when I was younger. We would race, play tag, hide-and-seek, and all sorts of others. When my friends couldn't come out and play, the maids and the servants played with me. It was actually really fun, since they let me order them around and everything." She paused, smiling to herself.
"And?" I asked, and Midna snuggled closer to me.
"Well, your parents stayed for a couple of days sometimes. I'm sure I didn't know them as well as you did, but they were really fun. Sienna would always pretend to overlook me, which I thought was the funniest thing. And then she would always walk right next to me, saying, 'Where could Midna be?'
"Calanon always let me win in races, too. I think he was walking or something," she laughed, and I smiled, chuckling as well.
"What about your parents? Did you ever play with them, or talk or anything?" I asked, and Midna shrugged.
"Well, Father was always too busy with the council or something, and Mother only came out every once-in-awhile. We talked at dinner though, but it was always about things I didn't know," she said, and I nodded.
Just then, Colin burst into the door, saying breathlessly, "Link, I did it!" I stood, pulling Midna up with me and setting our bowls down.
Colin pulled both of us outside into the freezing cold, and jumped down the ladder. He put two fingers to his lips and gave a long, low whistle, strikingly similar to one of the shorter melodies I had howled to the Golden Wolf.
Shadow came running, neighing and allowing Colin to pull himself up onto the adolescent colt's back.
"Sweet Nayru, Colin, how did you get him to trust you so quickly?" I asked in awe, running my fingers through Shadow's mane.
"I don't know," Colin said, smiling. "He just likes me, I guess."
I chuckled, as did Midna, and congratulated Colin, who beamed and rode Shadow back towards the village.
"He learns quickly," Midna said in surprise, and I nodded.
"And he has a remarkable way with animals," I agreed, and she smiled as we walked hand-in-hand back into the forest.