Hey all, nice to see you all again. It's been a while, hasn't it?

A word before we get into the story: this is a project I want to start to clear my writer's block for Rift of Time. I wanted to create my own sequel to Twilight Princess, and while Rift of Time is that sequel, I feel like I also want to write another sequel, one dealing strictly with the Link from Twilight Princess, and no other worlds of Zelda. That said, it will take place after Twilight Princess. This chapter, the prologue, begins with the concluding events of Twilight Princess but continues with an artistic license, if you will. Imagination for the win! XD

Hopefully, I'll be able to finish Rift of Time soon. But until then, enjoy this story!

Sparks flew as their swords rang. With each clang of metal on metal, blades of grass would momentarily catch fire beneath their feet.

Link howled as Ganondorf managed a lucky slash across his arm. He did his best to ignore the pain as he held up his shield to defend against another swing to his midsection. Link could tell that his adversary was done toying with him. Ganondorf was actually trying to kill him.

Link rolled around Ganondorf and leapt into the air, slashing his back. Ganondorf roared, and Link wasn't quite sure if it was due to anger or pain; if he had to guess, it would have been a combination of both. The Great Gerudo King of Evil stared daggers at Link and charged straight at Link, Sage's Sword raised high in the air, poised to run it straight through Link's abdomen. Link fearlessly threw down his shield and gripped the hilt of the Master Sword with both hands, as hard as he could. He braced himself as Ganondorf was 20, 15, 10 meters away from him. When the Gerudo did reach him, Link held the Blade of Evil's Bane alongside his chest, anticipating the upcoming blade lock if the move he was preparing to do actually worked.

It did, of course.

Ganondorf was halted suddenly at the force of Link's sword. Link grinned. He could see that Ganondorf's strength was failing him. If he could just...get...closer...

Link pushed with all the strength left inside him against the Gerudo King's sword. Ganondorf, although it was obvious that he was also pushing as hard as he could, was slowly pushed back as Link strained to shove Ganondorf down to the ground. His arms hurt. It would have been oh so easy to just stop fighting. To just accept defeat and allow Ganondorf to kill him on the spot. After all, he was tired of working himself to the bone for Hyrule's benefit. What had he got out of it thus far? Nothing, save an uncomfortable green tunic and a fancy sword, and some neat gadgets here and there. But then he thought of Zelda. What would she gain from his death?

She would die too, no doubt. He couldn't let that happen. Even if Hyrule's protector was killed, it needed its Princess more than anything.

With that last thought, Link found new strength. Just enough to push Ganondorf's sword out of his hands and leave him dumbfounded for a few seconds. Link took advantage of this and performed a spin attack on the Gerudo's midsection. The force of the attack knocked Ganondorf to the ground and left his weak point spot - a bright scar on his abdomen - completely exposed. Link hefted the sword in his hand, adjusting his grip, and ran toward the Gerudo at full speed. The Triforce mark on his right hand resonated like crazy as he sprung himself off the ground, high into the air. He twisted his sword upside down so the blade's tip was pointed straight at Ganondorf's scar. And as he began to fall, he held on tight to the Blade of Evil's bane. You won't survive this execution, he thought.

The Master Sword plunged deep into Ganondorf's stomach. Link took his hands off the sword and stepped back, next to where Princess Zelda was now standing. Ganondorf slowly stood up, staggering as he tried to take several steps toward the Hero and Princess. Link wasn't going to let that happen.

Fortunately, he didn't need to.

Ganondorf halted and coughed into his arm. When he lowered it, his arm was a bright Crimson, his own blood sparkling in the twilight. "Incompetent fools!" he bellowed. "Do not think this ends here. The history of Light and Shadow will be written in blood!" He held up his right hand, the back of it facing Link and Zelda. His Triforce mark was resonating, but very faintly. After a few moments, it disappeared completely. Ganondorf stared at his own hand in disbelief, then threw his head back and screamed in rage.

At that particular moment, Link had a vision. He didn't know what caused it, or why he needed it, but he saw it nonetheless. It was a grotesque vision of Zant's neck snapping, which Link supposed symbolized the end of Ganondorf's power. He shuddered. It wasn't something he wanted to remember.

Ganondorf coughed up more blood, took a deep breath, staggered and gasped before his eyes turned white. It was like his pupils disappeared completely from his eyes. His body crumpled to the ground with a loud crack. The Great King of Evil was dead.

Link approached Ganondorf's body and pulled the Master Sword out of his midsection. He wiped the blood off of the blade with the grass, and sheathed it quietly. Although he enjoyed the battle, he hated more than anything its aftermath. And while Ganondorf certainly did many great evils to Hyrule, Link never wanted to be the one to have to kill him, especially not after losing...her.

"I know Midna's loss is painful, Link," he heard Princess Zelda say behind him. "I know what a dear friend she was to you. I... I am sorry."

Link knew there was nothing he could have done to save her. He just didn't want it to hurt so much. If he was truly honest with himself, he might have said that he even loved her. None of it mattered anymore. She was gone.

And then, as if his eyes were playing tricks on him, Link saw Midna weakly trudging up the nearby hill. At least, it looked a lot like Midna. He saw himself moving across the field but didn't feel his feet carrying him. He saw as he got closer that yes, it was indeed Midna. But it wasn't the Midna he knew. It was a tall, beautiful, much less cocky and sarcastic Midna. Goddesses, she was beautiful. Link felt his jaw drop at the sight of her.

"What?" She said with her usual smirk. "Say something!" She paused before she said with a small giggle, "Am I so beautiful that you have no words left?"

Link smiled the widest smile he'd ever done in his whole life.

Link returned to Ordon the next day. After a long year of adventuring, he was ready to return to a nice, quiet, provincial life as a ranch hand. With him he brought a carriage with the children, led by Colin and himself. The young boy sat on a little pony next to Epona, with Link's old Ordon Sword and Shield strapped to his back. He'd matured so much in the past year. Link knew Rusl would be proud. In the carriage sat Malo, Talo, Beth, and Luda, who was sent by Renado to ensure they got home safely. Link had objected to this, feeling a little offended Renado didn't trust him with his friends' lives, but the shaman assured him it was "just a precaution should anything happen to him or Colin," who had apparently been training with the sword with the local Gorons ever since Link had saved Darbus from the power of the fused shadow. Ilia rode on Epona with Link the same way Zelda had done the day before.

When the makeshift caravan returned to the small rural village, all of the townspeople greeted them with eagerness. The parents were all relieved to once again have their children back, Mayor Bo especially. The Mayor was also glad to have Link back as well, and asked Link after getting him settled back into his house to talk with him later. Link said he would and proceeded to follow the Mayor back to the town hall, which doubled as Bo and Ilia's house.

About halfway down the path to the rest of the village, Link heard sudden footsteps, followed by a scream of, "MR. LINK! WAAAAAAAIT!" The postman ran up to Link with short, light breaths and when he finally reached Link, said, "Ah, Mr. Link! I have a letter for you! Two letters, in fact! One of them is from Mr. Fyer from Lake Hylia. And the other is from Princess Zelda herself! You must be pretty important to get a letter from her majesty!" Link gaped and grabbed the letter after the postman barely had any time to take it out of his bag. He stared at Princess Zelda's own signature at the top of the page before reading its contents. He dropped the letter in shock.

Link stepped back, mounted Epona, and rushed away swiftly. He didn't even look back as Mayor Bo called his name. He needed to see the princess.

Link burst into the castle courtyard, where Zelda stood mournfully. Regret in his heart and anger on his face, he marched up to her. He bowed to her out of respect, though it was respect for tradition. Not her. Oh, no. He had no respect for her whatsoever. Who did she think she was, allowing Midna to leave the Light Realm and not even tell him until she was gone? Link stood angrily.

Zelda looked at him in tears. Link immediately felt awful. His sorrow had clouded his judgment. Zelda was just as distraught at Midna's departure as he was. It wasn't her fault Midna left without regard to how Link felt. If anything, Link realized Midna was probably just trying to save Link the heartbreak of her leave.

Still, she could've at least said goodbye.

Zelda's sobs were growing louder and louder, and Link put an arm on her shoulder in sympathy. She buried her face in his chest, and he put both his arms around her, trying his best to comfort her best he could. He felt like he should've said something, but no words would have helped Hyrule's princess. He felt like he could have burst into tears at any moment himself. He felt horrible for being angry at Zelda when she was obviously devastated as much as him. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair for either of them.

They stood there, princess and hero, long into the afternoon.

When the sun began to set, Link escorted Zelda inside, one arm around her and the other waving away the dozens of castle officials who needed to see Zelda at that particular moment. Great. The one time Zelda needed a small bit of time to herself, of course people needed to see her. Didn't the Princess of Hyrule get even a small break here or there? Couldn't they see that she was in tears? Hyrule's citizens could be so damn insensitive, he finally decided.

Eventually Ashei, who had been talking with some other soldiers at that point, jogged up to Link and offered to help him and Zelda get away from the crowd. "I'll get them away from you. Just take care of the princess, yeah?" she said with her usual smirk. Link thanked her and brought Zelda through the Castle's corridors and into her chambers.

"Thank you, Link. For everything," she said in between sobs. Link bowed humbly to her, and she said to him, "Link, you need not be formal with me right now. You are truly the only friend I have at this point."

Now that was weird. He had barely known her as a human for a day, and she was already declaring him her closest friend? Not that he was complaining, of course; it was a great honor indeed to be a friend of the Princess. But in such a short amount of time?

Zelda interrupted his thoughts with, "Link, I would feel better if you stayed with me tonight." Link's eyes grew wide in panic and she quickly said, "Not like that. Physical intimacy is something I'd rather save for marriage. I just would feel safer if you were here with me for a while. Does that make sense?" Link nodded and she sighed in relief before sitting down on her bed. "You'be been through so much in the past year. I'm sorry you had to go through everything on Hyrule's — on my — behalf. Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked, and Link shook his head, reassuring her that he would be fine. She smiled, and he smiled back. It was hard for him to believe that only hours before he was practically committing treason with his thoughts. Now he was in the Princess's own personal living quarters, conversing with her as if they had known each other for years. Well, then he guessed they had, in past lives. But not like this. This connection they felt to each other was different. Or at least, the connection he felt to her. He had a feeling she felt it, too. It was...special.

Link felt himself sit down on the bed beside Zelda. He gazed into her chocolate brown eyes and moved his face ever so slowly closer to hers. His heart pounded as he put his lips to hers, and her eyes bulged in surprise. But she didn't shove him away, and Link knew she was enjoying this kiss as much as he was. It somehow felt right, to him at least. Like it was almost his destiny to be with Zelda. Whatever affection he'd felt for Midna or Ilia in the past was almost tripled in that one moment, in their embrace.

Zelda finally pulled away and said, "Link, how dare you kiss the princ- the, the princess of-" she stuttered, staring blankly at him before finally saying, "Oh, forget it. I love you."

She kissed him again.