When Link came home that day, everyone ran to meet him. The children hugged him, latching on like monkeys, refusing to let go. The adults were there too, smiling and hugging and clapping him on the back.

But although he smiled at us all, I could see he was not the boy he once was. He was hallow. An empty shell.

The invasion of Twilight had affected us all greatly, but none could know the pain of the one who had been given the burden of the hero. None of us can truly understand, and I know this, but there has to be some way to heal the boy I once knew. The boy who was once my best friend. The boy I loved.

There was a time when he loved me as well. But now I can see that his heart has been broken and the love that was once for me is now directed towards another. He will never love me the way I love him again.

He is scarred. He is broken. But he refuses to let it show. Every morning he puts on his mask. Every morning he walks out of his tree house smiling, greeting the village children. But I can see that he is not as happy as he seems. His eyes that were once full of young, carefree innocence are now clouded, instead showing the image of a tired, war-battered man.

I've seen that smile disappear when he thought no one was looking. I've seen the tears streak down his face as he lies on his bed at night, staring up at the ceiling. Sometimes he said words. The words, "I'm sorry," "Why?" and "Midna…" seemed to be the most common. I suppose she was a woman he met on his journey, and judging by his sadness, something must've happened to her that he wished he could have prevented.

Every day as the sun began to set, he got up from the grassy fields of the ranch and he walked to the Spirit's Spring and sat by the edge of the water and watched the sky turn to soft shades of orange and red.

Sometimes he cries.

Sometimes the tears are silent, falling into the spring like raindrops, but he does not make a sound, as if he is trying to hide his grief from us.

Sometimes he sobs. And they are quiet pained sobs, not the kind you might hear from a child, but from someone who is desperately trying to hold it back, but the emotional pain having become too much to do so anymore.

But sometimes, he doesn't cry. He's just… silent. Watching the sun set, his face void of any emotion. That silence is worse than any tears.

Why won't he let us in? Why won't he let us help him?

Why must he feel this pain? What has this innocent boy done to deserve this? Not even some men twice his age have ever felt such pain.

Why?

Some days, I hide in the brush and listen to his woes. I listen as he cries. And sometimes he sings. It is a sad and mysterious song, only four measures long that repeats endlessly on itself. He speaks no words, only hums. It is such a simple tune, but so beautifully sad.

One day, I decided that I could not leave Link to his suffering any longer. When he went to sit by the spring, I followed. I watched him sit in silence for a long time. Then I began to softly sing the tune he always sang at dusk. I stood from my hiding place, soundlessly drawing closer.

I heard his breath catch in his chest as he heard me singing the song, but he did not turn or give any other sign that he acknowledged my presence. I sat down on the ground beside him and peered cautiously at him as he sat on the grass beside me. His gaze was still trained on the sky, determinedly not looking at me. I turned my gaze away, looking out over the sparkling waters of the spring. We sat in silence for ages. The silence seemed to scream in my ears, reverberating around the clearing, begging me to break it. Finally I could take the tension no longer and broke it, "That song you always sing… it was hers, wasn't it?"

Link still kept his eyes fixed to the sky, the pain within them amplifying by a tenfold at my words. I knew what I said hurt, but it had to get worse before it got better. "And the dusk reminds you of her…" I pushed on gently, pressing him to say something… anything. Just something to break this endless world of silence and sorrow that he had made for himself over the past few months.

I watched him intently out of the corner of my eye, fists clenched, bitting the side of my cheek. Come on. Please. Say something…

Link sighed. He was quiet and for moment I was scared he wouldn't answer. But then he spoke. His voice was low, heavy, and slightly horse from lack of use, "Before this all began… Rusl and I sat in this exact same place. It was dusk just like it was now…. And he asked me… 'Do you ever feel a strange sadness as dusk falls?'" He gave a quiet, humorless chuckle, "At the time, I had not idea what those words meant, but now I think I do. Yet the message turned out to be quite different than I thought it would…" He trailed off, his gaze turning to the grass, head bowed low in a dejected manner.

I scooted closer, putting a tentative arm around his shoulders in comfort, tense, keeping the weight light, waiting for him to shrug it off. He did not. I relaxed.

He went on, "People say that dusk is a sad time. The end of a day. But for me, it is a beginning." He looked down at me with a sad smile, "To me it is the beginning of the Twilight. An adventure about to arise once again. And yet I always seem to just miss it…" His tone suddenly turned heavier, "And even if I did manage to catch up with the Twilight, it wouldn't be the same kind of adventure without her…"

"You love her, don't you?"

Link turned sharply in my direction in surprise. I gave him a sad knowing smile, "You love her." I repeated, "You love her, but she was taken by the Twilight. It is because of the Twilight that you lost her, but it is also because of the Twilight that you found her. Because this Twilight is what started you on your journey. Without it, you would never have found that one person in your life."

I took his hand. I felt him tense, almost as if thinking about shying away from my hand because his heart lied with another, but then he relaxed, letting his hand fall limp in my own. I rubbed the edges of his calloused fingers with my thumb. "And that's why no one understands you anymore. No one was there. No one saw what you saw. No one but her. And now she's gone too."

Link's breathing suddenly hitched beside me and I felt his shoulders quiver once, then they grew still again.

"The Twilight is a sad time for you, but it is a happy time as well. It is the one time when your worlds are joined. The one time you can feel her close to you. Right?"

I turned, looking him in the eyes. His deep cerulean eyes were shimmering with unshed tears. But he smiled. My eyes widened. It wasn't one of his fake smiles that he always showed to us over the past few months. It was sad and small, but it was the first real smile that I had seen on his face since he got here.

Somehow I knew he wasn't going to leave this place with me. He wanted to stay, for it was the one place, the one time that he was truly happy. I would not rob him of that just for my own selfish desires. I love him, but he did not return that love anymore. He loved Her. And I respected that.

He wasn't the same boy he once was. After the Twilight Invasion, none of us were. And that was ok.

I looked back down at the ground once more, giving his hand a final squeeze before I stood. "I don't expect you to follow me, and that's ok. Take as much time as you need. But if there is anything you need, anything at all, you…" I faltered awkwardly, worried he would regect me, "you can have me." I turned my back, my face pink and form tense in embarrassment. But after a moment or two, I regained my composure once more and my body relaxed and my voice came out softer, more compassionate. "You don't have to take this alone." I told him quietly, "You know that, right?" I glanced back at him one last time.

He still had his back turned to me, but I saw him give a small nod.

All was quiet except for the crickets as I made my way back to my house and up to my room. I flopped down onto the bed, pulling the covers up to my chin, turning over onto my side.

And as I began to drift off to sleep, I heard the creak of a door hinge from the tree house on the edge of the village and a small smile made its way to my lips.

Link would never be the same boy he once was, but he was not broken for good. The steps to healing would be a long and slow process. It might take months, it might take years.

But that night was a start.

A/n: Hey guys! I'm back! Another one-shot story once again. Some Zelda fans may see Ilia as a love-sick girl who doesn't understand and gets in the way. I agree with those people on some accounts, in that she loves Link and he once loved her as well. But the thing about my opinion that may differ from yours is that she accepts that his heart has moved on to another. Midna. She is his best friend, so I think we should assume that she knows him well enough to understand that he loves someone else, respect the change in him, and move on, supporting him in the process should he ever need her. I do not ship those two at all in any way, but I cannot deny that she is a good friend, although bossy at times.