Updating! Yayz.

Midna's POV:

It was night again when Link came out of the village, arm without a bandage. I strode from the shadows, away from Dark, and floated up till I was eye level with him. He smiled, and I felt an imaginary cloak slip over me. It protected me from Dark and Zant and Ganon…it was wonderful.

"He fixed it up nicely. Ilia nearly had a heart attack," Link grinned, blue eyes stretching as he smiled. I fit my small, porcelain blue hand onto the curve of his cheek. "I thought it was just fine after is stitched it up, but they made me rest all day."

I smiled weakly, knowing Dark was watching. "Are you in any pain? I'll have some talking to do if you are."

"No, I'm not in any pain. I feel great. That's what Golden Chu Jelly will do for you!" He laughed, hugging me. I clung to him for support and he hopped up onto the rocks, entering the small cave that we had created a campfire in.

"Jeez, it's cramped in here," He muttered, crawling in. Dark was in the very back, away from the mouth of the cave. Since it was such a small space, I ended up squished against Link. A warm, happy emotion fluttered through me.

I had made a good promise—I would do what Dark wanted, then I could be with Link. Link glanced down at me as the flames cast dancing beams of light. One landed across my face, but I still didn't understand when Link gasped.

"Midna, what happened to your cheek?!" He sounded shocked and…worried. I swallowed against the urge to tell him that Dark had smashed me into the rocks. But I think my hesitance in answering told him that it was Dark's fault.

"I…uh…fell down?" I made it sound like a question, the way I spoke. His eyes narrowed and he didn't comment.

"Go to sleep, according to Ilia and Barnes, the Sky Cannon will be in full repair by tomorrow. Or that's what Fyer wrote them." His voice faded as I slipped into a rest. It was not a sleep, but a cocoon of warmth and protection. I could still hear everything, still feel it all.

I felt it when Link was sure I was asleep and I felt it when his leg slammed out from behind him, kicking Dark in the face.

"Dammit! What'd ya do that for?!" Dark demanded, and I heard him groan. I smiled internally, smug, hoping that Link broke his nose.

"You ever hurt her again, and I'll kill you," Link's husky voice was a growl.

"Getting defense of your poor little imp?" Dark mocked.

"If you ever hurt her again, I'll kill you," He repeated. I felt that imaginary cloak wrap around me again, and in that small cave, yards from Dark, I felt safe in the crook of Link's arm. I was home.

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Strong, orange and golden rays of light stabbed at my eyelids. I felt my sore body—stiff from the cave floor—stretch out. I yawned, arms searching for Link. "L-…Link?" I muttered. My eyelids fluttered open and I squinted through the beams of light.

Link sat on the rocks outside, a grim look on his face. He had taken his tunic's evergreen hat off—it sat, lopsided, on the rocks beside him—shaggy blonde hair glowing in the morning light. His sharp features were pulled into a thoughtful but angry frown.

He was handsome, I admitted, though I knew it wasn't his best quality. It was him himself…his fighting, his rebellion, his courage, his sweet personality, his husky voice…everything. "Morning…" I muttered, crawling to his side. He shook his head, glancing around.

"Notice anything?"

I turned my head, quickly searching. Then it hit me. "Dark's gone!"

"He took off at dawn, rambling that he was going to get the shard of the Mirror himself…" Link shook his head. "I'll give him till nightfall, then we'll move on, maybe relax in Castle Town. If he's not back in three days, then I'll go up and dance on his dead body."

"Why didn't he…?"

"Want me to come?" Link grinned at me, white teeth catching the sun's sparkle and gleaming. "It probably has something to do with the death threat I have looming over his head…"

I, still sleep drugged, didn't remember any death threats. "Death threat?"

Link shrugged. "I told him that if he ever hurt you again, I'd kill him," He stated matter-of-factly.

"I got this….from the rocks!" I cried, running my hand along my cheek.

He rolled his eyes. "Right, I have no doubt about that…" Link trailed off, expression igniting with a fresh anger. "Midna, if that creep is bugging you, tell me, and I'll kill him."

I tried not to lie, so maybe I'd sound convincing. I snorted, trying to act myself with the usual sass. "If he wasn't helping us out, I'd have killed him already. He's a major asset, and it puts the risk of dying down a lot."

That happy, wonderful emotion clawed at my limbs again as Link smiled at me, ruffling my hair. "You are one crazy girl, acting all tactical and everything. What, are you a part of the Twili Military or something?"

I shrugged. "Something like that," I muttered flatly. Then I shook my head. "Got any food or are we gonna starve out here?"

"I'm out. Got anything in your Shadow Storage?"

"Nope. Stay here, okay? I don't want you hunting anything with your arm still healing—" I heard his protest as I flew off, dissolving into a warp of teal and black rain.

Hyrule Field in the Lanaryu area was, like the rest of the field, sprawling out with moss, grass, hills, oak and elm trees, and crystal blue streams that shone in the sunlight. There were rocks that hid caves and mysterious things, and there were still monsters.

I killed a few of the bird monsters with a long range spell. It looked like an arrow, but it was a stream of Twili Magic. Humane, quick, and effective. It saddened me that the Light Realm still contained monsters, even after all the work we had done to kill them…the pain we had gone through, the time had taken to kill them…

The Twilight Realm had no monsters—we had been the monsters, at first. I wondered about that…why had the Goddesses left the Mirror? Wouldn't it have been easy for anyone determined enough to just go back through the mirror?

Then it hit me. They couldn't have done it. Only the true ruler of the Twili could shatter the link between the realms. My bloodline was, at best, a replacement bloodline. So the roles had been set in place by fate…even the Goddesses couldn't disobey fate. The actual "ruler" of the Twili had died in an attack from a clan, though, so nobody could.

Now that I thought about it, it had been Dark's clan—the Ranfia clan—that had killed her in a strange rampage. It was a tragedy…but it was said that the Stones of Fate had written that "soul will fall, heart will rise, and destiny shall unravel. On it shall be bloodshed, and on it will be love, and finally, peace.".

Was I heart? Was the old ruler—the one that had been killed—soul?

The best I could do if I wanted to destroy the mirror would be to make it very, very hard to piece it back together. I couldn't get rid of it, though. I clenched my teeth as the bird's dead body fell to the ground. I didn't know the actual name of the oversized bird-monster, but I knew how pesky they were.

I put the meat in my Shadow storage and, shaking off my anguished and confused thoughts, I went back to camp.

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And so Dark's up at the Sky Palace. I'll update soon, tell me what you think!