Hardly a day passed during her tenure in Hyrule that Midna had not cursed the sun and every quirk of the universe that had aligned to position it so close to the land, but no oaths seemed foul enough for her now, standing beneath it with nowhere to hide from an eager crowd. She glances at Link for the umpteenth time, willing the crowd to look away long enough for her to slip into the cool shade of his shadow. The watching Hylians, however, refuse to oblige, and even as she throws Link another pleading glance, she feels their ogling gaze shift onto her.
Startled, Midna looks up and stares back at them, and sees that Link and Zelda are looking expectantly at her as well, smiles wide. Zelda had been making some kind of speech, had she mentioned Midna? Will the princess be upset that I wasn't listening? It's not as if she was saying anything I didn't already know…
Forcing what she hopes to be a pleasant expression on her face, Midna shifts forward, raising a hand from her side in a non-committal greeting. The crowd bursts into cheers, but the amusement in Link's eyes tells her she hadn't entirely gotten away with it.
Zelda had evidently noticed her inattention as well, resuming her address with a somewhat pointed "As I was saying, it was due to the great efforts of Link and Midna that this threat has now been eliminated." Her words are met with more excitement from the crowd, and a woman with dark skin and intricately braided hair steps through them, putting her hand on the shoulder of the young man who first recognized Zelda and Link. Midna recognizes the woman as the barkeep that Link became friends with, and the bespectacled man as one of her little resistance group, the scholarly one.
The woman (Tia? Tara? It definitely starts with a T, I know that) makes her way to the front of the crowd, then turns to face the other townspeople. "I'm sure these must be a strange tale to hear, an otherworldly invasion and monsters made from shadow! But I'm sure you've heard of the troubles that plagued our Goron and Zora friends, and seen the creatures that prowled just beyond our walls. I know we liked to pretend that nothing was wrong, but Link truly is a hero! I've seen his deeds myself!" Did she really expect that nobody would believe the princess? …Had they not believed her? She sneaks a glance at Zelda, whose smile has again taken on a rather forced quality. The assembly breaks into mutters, looking thoughtfully at Link. Ouch, guess they didn't.
Link apparently noticed the same thing, for he steps forward, arms raised for quiet. The crowd obliges at once, leaning forward to see him better. 'Everyone has been under a lot of stress lately, I think we could all use a bit of relaxation.' He pauses, waiting as the Hylians in front repeat his words to those standing in the back. An idea seems to come to him, and he turns to face Zelda and Midna, his face boyish with excitement. 'Princess! We could throw a party! To celebrate!'
Zelda looks taken aback. "A… party?" Link nods eagerly, and she looks thoughtful, then slowly shakes her head. "I am not certain that this is an appropriate time, Link. We have sustained heavy losses, and there is much to repair across the realm. We cannot allow ourselves to become blinded by victory."
Midna, however, isn't so certain. She leans in towards the Hylians, frowning. "Your citizens' morale is one of those losses, Zelda. I'm sure you had it rough trapped in the castle, but things were pretty grim out here, too," she murmurs. The crowd cannot have heard her words, but Link did, and he clasps his hands eagerly, looking for all the world like a child begging his mother for sweets. Zelda looks amused as she watches him, and shakes her head again, smiling wryly this time.
"Let's put it to a vote, then." She raises her voice and addresses the crowd again. "People of Castle Town, what do you think of holding a celebration to mark the end of this long night?" A cheer goes up, and the woman (Thalia? Damn it, I thought I was getting better with Hylian names) looks particularly excited. She turns to the princess, but bites her lip in hesitation, rocking back on her heels. Zelda notices her after a moment, and gives an encouraging nod.
"Your Highness, your people in Kakariko village were also impacted by this battle. Perhaps they could be a part of this celebration as well?" Midna manages to bite back a laugh at her eagerness. The Kakariko shaman isn't interested in you, lady. You're wasting your time on him. But Zelda looks interested.
"That sounds like a fine idea, Miss…?"
"Telma, your Highness. I run a bar in the town," she replies, giving a little bow. Aha! I knew it began with a T!
"And you mentioned the Gorons and Zoras too… If they were harmed by Ganondorf's actions as well, then they should know that he has been defeated, and how the threat came about in the first place. They deserve that much from us," she mused.
Telma agrees, and returns to the crowd with another bow. Following Zelda's announcement, the townspeople had devolved into a chattering mass as they began to disperse back to their homes and businesses. Midna feels a tension that she did not know she was holding release in the pit of her stomach as she watches the Hylians scatter, and the feeling intensifies as she notes that the sun is beginning to dip below the town walls. The shadow she had been hiding in had lengthened, and she finally steps away from the castle gate. It feels unusual to walk again, having grown so used to floating along beside Link, or riding on the wolf's back. It was, perhaps, the one thing Midna truly enjoyed about her cursed form, the silver lining she forced herself to find.
Looking around, the Twili spies Link talking to a small knot of Hylians that she recognizes as Telma's bar friends. He sees her approaching and waves her over with a grin. 'Rusl's planning to return to Ordon in the morning, and I'm going with him. When are you going back to Twilight?' he asks. Midna stares at him, much as his companions are staring at her.
"You're leaving so soon?" she finally manages. Link tilts his head to the side, frowning.
'Why wouldn't I? I don't live here.'
"I – I know that, Link. I've been to Ordon, remember?" The helmeted man Link had indicated, Rusl, looks alarmed at that, but Link nods in agreement. Midna finds herself struggling for words, and to tamp down the inexplicable panic rising within her. Get it together, Midna, what are you doing? Why do you care? Were you planning on having the poor boy follow you around forever, solving all your problems for you? She takes a deep, steadying breath. "I suppose there's no reason to hang around, then. If you're leaving tomorrow, then I shall as well. It's just… strange, that this will be the last night we spend together, after everything."
Link grins and nudges her with his elbow. She sighs, but smiles in spite of herself. Way to keep your cool, idiot. Rusl is eyeing her differently now, considering her carefully and reaching up to stroke his beard. The armored woman at his side, however, grins and gives her a thumbs up. The implication of her words strikes with the force of a charging Helmasaur, and a blush steals up her cheeks faster than she can beat it back. "Not like that, you fool," she groans, and Rusl looks away hastily, blushing himself. Link looks between the two with raised eyebrows, and they both carefully avoid his gaze. Midna rushes to change the subject. "It sounds like you have your plans set, then. There's probably housing available in town, but we can do better. Let's go find Zelda and demand accommodation from her. We're heroes now, didn't you hear?"
She turns and marches away before he can respond, her face still aflame, making for the castle gates. Behind them, the grounds are fully bathed in shadow. The cool darkness envelops Midna like a shroud, brushing away the punishing glare of the sun. It is only a few steps inside that she sees the princess, facing a tall man clad in plate armor. She cannot see his face under his helmet, but she has seen enough of Hylian steel to know that his plate is of fine make, and skillfully decorated with enameled engravings of the royal Hylian crest. Standing well behind the man, a cloud of men and women in fine clothing watch the exchange anxiously. Their dress consists largely of flamboyantly colored silks, but the royal crest can be found upon their persons as well, patterned in jewels on heavy brooches or embroidered upon scarves.
Nobody appears to notice the Twili in their midst, and she takes the opportunity to slip amongst the shadows, waiting to speak to Zelda alone. The armored man is gesticulating as he speaks, but only his louder words reach her. "…have fought them off… why bother training… accepting foreign aid…" Midna's eyes narrow at his last comment, but before she can step back into view, she hears Zelda speak, loudly enough to cut him off.
"Zant was not fighting alone, captain. He was aided by the great beast of legend, Ganon did resurface in our time. Hyrule has never been able to withstand him, not without the Hero of the goddesses. Without such a Hero, we could have kept fighting but we could not have won."
"How could you have known that Ganon stood behind him? Did your Triforce tell you? Was it wise to give up so early?" Disdain colors his voice, and Zelda steps back as though slapped, drawing her hand to her chin as though to protect the Triforce upon it.
Silence echoes around the courtyard, and Midna decides she had heard enough. "My, Hyrule is blessed indeed to be ruled by such brave and mighty warriors. Now I do find a military state a bit unrefined, but I'm only a princess, I wouldn't know of such things. Not much one for management, me." The man spins around, scowling as he searched for the newcomer.
"Mind your tongue, woman. The Hylian monarchy has led this holy kingdom to greatness for centuries," he barks. How quickly he defends the throne that he was just mocking, the two-faced bastard!
"Then perhaps you ought to leave them to it."
He opens his mouth to retort back, but Zelda raises her arms to silence the two. "Thank you for your concern, captain. You know I always value your expertise on the state of the kingdom's security. Perhaps we can discuss this more in the morning," she adds firmly, and the man takes the command to leave with a stiff incline of his head and a muttered "Your Highness". An angry flush crawls up his neck as he takes his leave. With a sigh, Zelda turns to face Midna, lowering her arms.
"A military state? Rest assured, Midna, that I take orders from no one, including my guard. It is a natural thing, after a disaster, to question how it might have been avoided."
You allow your guard to insult you like that, and call it natural? A scathing reply rolls to the tip of her tongue, but dies there as she takes a closer look at the princess. Her hair had begun to come down from its intricate braid, straggling across her forehead. She appears rather pale (Hylians get like that when they don't spend enough time under the sun, I think I read about that… How terrible), but it's her eyes that look a thousand years old. The blue in them is as bright as Link's, but even at his most drained, Link did not have the same rings of tired red beneath, or the almost wild look of despair hidden in an otherwise schooled expression. Is she thinking about the castle again? Or the work that needs to be done? Midna takes a careful step forward, then closes the distance between the two as Zelda does not move. She puts an arm around the shorter woman's shoulders, feeling the tension in her muscles.
"It's been a long day for you, princess," she finds herself saying, her voice soft, as though at the bedside of an ill family member. "But victory is ours, and it's finally time to rest. Let's see if there are any beds around here, there's still much of the castle standing." The Hylian sags against her, only for a moment, before finding the strength to hold herself up again. It's over so quickly that Midna isn't certain if it happened at all, if not for the ever-increased weariness in her eyes. She keeps her arm around her, half expecting to catch her should she fall, but Zelda walks at her side at a normal pace.
They turn towards the castle, and the flock of waiting Hylians descend upon the pair. They all begin to speak at once, and Zelda dismisses them one by one with a nod and a wave of her hand once they've finished. Midna watches them curiously, completely unnoticed in their frenzy to be the first to speak to their princess. What snatches she can make out of their discordant conversations is unimportant at best and utterly inane at worst. Many speak of the celebration to come, and of who to send to Kakariko, Death Mountain, and Zora's Domain. A number more repeat the words of the captain of the guard, and fret over the months-old decision to surrender to Zant. Zelda spares no more than a few words in response to any of them, but they appear satisfied when they depart. Finally, only one remains, a stooped old man. His clothing appears more practical and muted than his fellows, aside from a golden necklace that shines as brightly as his bald head.
"Your Highness, it is so good to see you return to us alive and well. We were so dreadfully worried when we saw that odd barrier go up, and such a short relief to see it come back down…" He trails off, declining to remind the princess of the terrible blast that destroyed her home. Midna decides right then that this man is her new favorite of the Hylian nobles. He thinks quietly for a moment, a slight frown on his face, before continuing. "The question began to rise, your Highness, of who would lead us in the event that the princess is… unavailable. The council, of course, did our best to keep things running in your absence, but I feel our progress was, ah, stagnated, by the lack of a singular leader."
"I appreciate your concern, chancellor. I confess that I, too, shared those fears. It is a matter that I've given great thought to, and we will surely discuss in greater detail soon."
The old man looks as though he'd like to say more, but bows his head and walks away when Zelda says no more. She gives a sideways glance to Midna, smiling grimly. "Well now, wasn't that fun? How I've missed my dear advisors," she says in a low voice. Midna had barely contained her growing amusement, and now that the royal advisors had departed, she allows her laughter to bubble out. Zelda's smile grows warmer, though she looks no less weary. Their walk had slowed to a crawl when they had been intercepted by the crowd, and only just reached the doors to the castle proper. Zelda makes to push them open, then pauses and looks around. "Where's Link?"
Midna frowns. "I thought he'd have caught up by now. Hang on," she says, finally removing her arm from around the princess' shoulders to rush back across the grounds and into town. She finds the boy standing where she left him, listening to his friends talk with a relaxed smile on his face. She's surprised to see him looking alert and cheerful, after all of the fighting he had done that day. He looks up when Midna shouts his name, and waves a farewell to his companions when she beckons him over. "You can see your fans tomorrow," she tells him when he's close enough to hear. He rolls his eyes, but the effect is spoiled by a yawn.
The pair make their way back to the princess, who had waited for them where Midna left her. "I was just curious, you didn't have to go get him," Zelda tells her, but she looks amused all the same.
Together, they step into the castle, and Zelda leads the way to a side wing that she tells them is reserved for visitors. "It's not quite as formal as the royal chambers, so I don't think Ganondorf will have bothered with it," she explains, her voice hopeful. Indeed, the building appears to be largely intact, with only some shattered windows and a thick layer of sediment on every surface, shaken from the stone walls and ceiling when the castle trembled under the earlier explosion.
All is quiet as they cross long hallways and elaborately decorated rooms, and the silence seems to weigh on Zelda, who glances over her shoulder before speaking again. "I had thought that my citizens would take the news of the invasion much worse than they did. That went… rather well."
Midna snorts derisively. "Did it? Your nobles didn't seem to think so." Zelda groans, shoulders slumping, finally giving the first sign of frustration.
"My council hates working together, I should have expected this. I should have had some back up plan in place," she mutters. She glances back at Midna again, thoughtful. "Do you think your advisors will have had the same problem without you?"
"Oh, they had their leader, remember? Zant was the king," she sneers, twisting her hands into fists. He probably killed them all off, got rid of the competition. She had forced herself not to think of home for so long, instead focusing single-mindedly on her mission, and the realization now hits like a blow to the gut. Silence settles upon them once more, thick as the dust around them.
After a moment, Zelda tries again to break it. "Everyone will know you two are heroes, now. I do not wish to understate my gratitude for all you have done."
Midna tries to keep the edge of bitterness from creeping into her tone, but isn't entirely successful. "They know that about Link, certainly. Everyone saw him running around, here and in Twilight." I only hid in his shadow, the whole time. Hide and run away and get other people to fix things for you, that's all you know how to do, isn't it? …Well, what's one more time? "Link," she begins, then hesitates. How much more can I ask of him? When will it end?
But he smiles. 'I wouldn't want to do all of that explaining alone. Want me to come with you, to meet your people?'
Well, that was easy. "I'm starting to think you know me too well." She shakes her head, but can't stop herself from smiling in relief. "How can I ever make it up to you?"
'Leave the portal open," he says, promptly. She blinks in surprise. Why does he care?
"I don't think it's safe, Link. I – I said I'd think about it, and I will, but I really don't –"
Link cuts her off with a violent shake of his head. 'You asked. I'm not letting you leave us that quickly.'
Try as she may, Midna finds herself unable to think of a response to that, and Link looks satisfied. They finally stop walking, and Zelda gestures to the doors around them. "These are bedrooms. Take your pick." She takes a deep breath, and gives them a weary smile. "It's finally over. I cannot thank you enough, both of you. Hyrule is deeply in your debt." Link inclines his head in acknowledgement, and Midna copies the action. What more is there to say?
Again, all is quiet as they each make for a separate room, but the stillness does not threaten to smother them this time. In the darkness of her chosen bedroom, Midna finds herself reminded of the peaceful solitude of her home. She drops off to sleep, imagining the perpetual black snow of twilight drifting up around her.