A/N: It's been a while, but I've beaten the game. I loved Midna and Link's interaction throughout the whole thing. I was a bit upset by the ending, but it was asking for a sequel, so here's my version of what would happen after the return of peace to Hyrule at the end of Twilight Princess.

Arkane is my own character. You can see pictures of him (in both his Twili form and his cursed form) at my Deviant Art page (link found in my profile)

After some consideration, I have discovered that I actually like and support the Link/Midna pairing. This is extremely unusual for me, as I am not a romantic person and very few couples (canon or fanon) attract me. So yes, this fic contains some mild Link/Midna stuff, nothing outrageous or unnecessary (for example, they may hug or kiss but nothing more than that).

NOTE: DO NOT READ THIS FIC UNLESS YOU HAVE BEATEN THE GAME!!! MAJOR SPOILERS ABOUND!

Dragons of Twilight

Prologue

……………………………………………………

"STARING at the place where the gateway used to be won't bring it back, you know, Midna."

The young ruler of the Twili started and turned to face the one who had spoken. "Arkane, what are you doing out here? It's late."

Arkane walked forward to stand beside Midna. At thirteen, he was younger than she was, and he was more than a little short for his age. His skin was a greenish blue color, and he had red-orange hair that was very wild and stuck up in all directions (even though he was in the Palace every single day, he still looked as though he had just gotten out of bed, thanks to his hair). His eyes were the same color as Midna's. He looked, in Midna's opinion, very much like Zant would have looked like if he hadn't gone crazy with power.

"I was worried about you," Arkane said quietly. "Ever since you got back from the Light World, you've been acting moody and depressed. It has something to do with that Hylain doesn't it? Link, right?"

Midna turned away from him. "Listen, Arkane. I told you when I first returned that I didn't want to talk about it. Never mind that I'm your cousin, I'm also your Princess. So listen to me and just drop it."

Arkane walked around so he was facing her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Listen, Midna, I'm just worried about you. Everyone is. Do you think they can't see the way you're acting? They can. They've been asking me to help you, to find out what's wrong. I'm just trying to act for the sake of our people. For your sake. It won't hurt so much if you talk about it." Arkane was normally quiet, shy and tried to keep out of everyone's way by minding his own business, but his cousin's behavior over the past six months had worried him to the point of speaking out.

Midna closed her eyes. "Arkane…I…"

Arkane prompted her. "Yes?"

"I didn't care for him at all, you know," Midna spoke in a whisper, as if she was afraid they would be overheard. "When we first met. You know the legends-'The Hero of Twilight will appear in our realm as a Sacred Beast'- that was the only reason I helped him, so he could help return our world to normal. I could have cared less where he and the other Light-Dwellers ended up, as long as our world was safe. But then…"

Arkane was silent. Midna was finally opening up, and he was afraid that if he said anything, she would stop and the situation would never be resolved.

"He was so brave," Midna continued, her eyes far-off and distant. "He might have complained now and then, but he still stayed with me, helping me even though he knew I was just using him to get what I wanted. I watched him fight those monsters, and I realized that maybe, just maybe, I did care about what happened to him. Then, of course, we had the…privilege…of running into Zant," Midna stopped and looked at her cousin. "I never told you why it is that I can survive in the Light World and you, along the rest of our people, can't."

Arkane's expression was still concerned, but there was also a trace of curiosity in his eyes.

"I suppose I should thank Zant," Midna continued, narrowing her eyes. "If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be able to live outside this world. And I wouldn't have realized just how much Link cared for me." She paused again. "Link carried me all the way to Princess Zelda, hoping that she would be able to save me. That was enough for me to realize that his fate was more important than mine. It also let me realize…just how much I cared for him. For the whole Light World, in fact."

"But more for him," Arkane said quietly. Midna didn't answer. Arkane gently turned her around.

"Come on, Midna. It's getting cold outside on this balcony. Let's go in."

……………………………………………………………………

"There's something I don't understand, though."

Midna turned to look at her cousin. "What is it?"

Arkane shrugged. "If you knew that the Light World and our world were safe, since Ganondorf and Zant are both dead, why did you break the mirror?"

Midna looked away. "I wanted to make sure that if a Twili ever went crazy with power again, he wouldn't be able to damage the Light World. Likewise if the same thing happened in the Light World, they wouldn't be able to get in to hurt us."

Arkane nodded in understanding. "The decision was the right one, but it still hurt you. Maybe, if you just remember the time you spent together, the pain will go away."

Midna didn't look at him again. "I'm going to go to bed now, Arkane. Good Night."

Arkane bowed. "Good night, Midna." He turned around and exited the room.

Once her cousin was gone, Midna stood up and walked over to look out of her chamber's window. "I can't believe I told him that," she mused to herself. "Arkane is somehow always able to get out of me what I don't want to tell." She leaned on the window sill, watching the clouds of perpetual twilight moving through the sky. Before, she had always been amazed of the beauty of her realm. Now, she found herself missing the bright blue sky and white clouds of Hyrule. Link had shown her his world, and had taught her to love it.

"Get over it, Midna. The door to Hyrule is gone forever, and that's that," the princess told herself firmly.

She continued to look out of the window, watching one particularly large black cloud that was moving closer, very fast. Wait a minute, was it really a cloud? She squinted at the fast-moving shape, then suddenly drew back with a gasp of fright as a large black dragon with gleaming red eyes flew up the wall and past her window. She could hear the terrified screams of the few Twili who were still outside. Without thinking, Midna turned around and raced toward her door.

A loud rumble shook the palace, and a bright purple light flashed outside her window, turning into a large shockwave that raced towards her, knocking her down as it passed her and went through the wall.

Feeling sick to her stomach, Midna slowly pushed herself up. "What was that?" She reached up and held her head as her vision swam before her. Something wasn't right…she rubbed her eyes with one arm, then froze. Slowly, a sense of dread overcoming her, she brought her arm back down, and looked at her hands. Her black hands, marked with teal…

Refusing to believe it, Midna spun around to look in her mirror. A frightened looking imp stared back at her.

"No, no, this can't be happening again!" Midna frantically turned around, looking at herself. She'd hoped this would never, ever happen again…

Several shocked cries from outside caught her attention; she quickly crossed the floor to her window, and, pulling herself up on the railing (she hated the fact that her imp form was so short, even though she could float), she saw what it was that had happened. Instead of the familiar forms of the Twili outside, several small imps were sprawled on the ground, looking around dazedly, just as shocked as Midna had been at the sudden transformation. Midna looked at them, anger toward whatever had caused this to happen to her people rising within her.

"It was that dragon," She decided firmly. "It must have been. It unleashed that weird purple light, why didn't I see it then? That was dark magic, I know it was."

A frantic knocking on her door startled her, and she jumped to the floor and prepared herself to fight if necessary. Just then, Arkane's familiar voice reached her ears, and despite the current situation, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Midna, are you alright?! Something terrible has happened, everyone's in a state of panic and confusion…" The door opened, and a breathless Arkane tumbled in. "Everyone in the Palace has been turned into…"

He stopped in mid sentence, and the two cousins looked at each other in complete shock. Arkane was now about her height, with grey fur covering his entire body except for his head, which was still marked by his wild red-orange hair. His fur turned black at his hands and feet, and his entire body was marked by neon green patterns. He had sprouted a tail as well, it also turned black at the tip and bore the same green patterns as the rest of his body. His chest was red with an orange circle in the middle.

Arkane broke the silence first. "Oh, no, Midna, it got you too…"

"It got everyone," Midna replied. "I just looked outside. It was a dragon that performed the curse-I saw it."

Arkane shuddered. "I know. I saw it too. There's several dragons outside, but I get the feeling the one that cursed us is their leader."

Midna growled angrily. "Well, let's go see him! He's got a lot to answer for!"

Arkane looked at his cousin, surprised. "But…how can we…"

Midna was already on her way down the corridor.

Arkane looked around for some sort of weapon, and, spotting a walking staff, grabbed it and raced after Midna. "Wait for me!"

………………………………………………

Outside the palace, the crowd of Twili imps huddled together, staring fearfully at the dragons that leered at them from the area that used to lead to the Mirror Chamber in Hyrule. A young one whimpered, and his parents hugged him close as a dragon snarled in his direction. The big black dragon who had cursed them stood on his hind legs in front of his minions, forelegs crossed across his chest in a very humanlike fashion as he regarded them in the same way a cat eyes a mouse before making its kill.

Midna exited the palace, accompanied by Arkane, who clutched his staff nervously but stood beside Midna, ready to protect her at a moment's notice.

The lead dragon turned his red eyes on them and grinned, showing sharp fangs. "Ah, the fabled Twilight Princess herself. How gracious of you to honor us with your presence." He performed an elaborate, mocking bow. His voice was gravely and menacing.

Midna was surprised that the dragon could speak, but she tried not to show it. She noticed that the Twili were watching her with a mixture of fear and hope. Midna knew in her heart that she couldn't let them down. She held her head high and glared at the dragon. "Why have you cursed my people? Who are you and what do you want?"

The dragon threw back his head and laughed. It was not a pleasant sound. He turned to his minions. "Demands an awful lot, doesn't she?" He whipped his head back around to Midna and grinned again. "Why did I curse your miserable lot? Why, I'll gladly tell you. You are much less dangerous this way, and I needed to ensure that you would not interfere with my plan. As for who I am, names are irrelevant. You, a lowly earthcrawler, have no right to ask me who I am. And I want what's rightfully mine. Namely, the land of Hyrule. Ah, yes, I know, this is not Hyrule. I also know that you destroyed the Mirror of Twilight, which leads to Hyrule."

Midna stared defiantly at him. Arkane gripped his staff tighter, his eyes narrowing as he wondered where the dragon was going with this conversation.

"However, we dragons have our own means of traveling to the Light World," the dragon leader continued. "In fact, I should personally thank you for destroying that mirror. You cannot leave for help and help cannot reach you. More importantly, however, that mirror was the only thing that prevented me from returning to Hyrule. With it gone, I am free to enter it as I please! Foolish little princess, your actions were meant to protect your world and Hyrule, but you have doomed them both." He turned to one of his soldiers. "Stay here and keep them in check. If any cause trouble, kill them. The rest of you, come with me back to our base of operations. We have a world to conquer."

He turned back to Midna, and snarled at the group of Twili, who gasped and drew back in fear. The dragon laughed again, then glared at Midna once more. "Don't even bother trying to escape, though it's not like you have any place you could actually escape to." With a load roar he rose into the air, his minions following.

Midna watched as the army of dragons flew away, numb with shock. She fell to her knees. Arkane was saying something to her, but she could not hear him. The only one who could help them was in Hyrule, and, thanks to her, he could not reach them. What had she done?