Chapter Nine: Blurred Lines
"What?" I screeched, flying into a panic. I felt a colorful explosion of emotions roll through me, but above all a great sense of confusion. When did she do this? While I was walking around with that idiot? Or maybe it was some kind of gradual spell—did she use a spell or was this merely a side effect of the removal? Had I in effect done this? No, that couldn't be because I hadn't lost my memory upon losing the Triforce. Granted I wasn't born with it, nor did I have a strong attachment to it. Aside from the odd connection I had accidentally forged between Link and I. That turned out brilliantly.
Perhaps he willingly lost his memory because he didn't want to—.
"Calm down and I'll explain," Zelda snapped. I visibly took a deep breath, closing my eyes for a moment to regain my senses. Asking myself random questions I had no way of answering helped no more than killing her would right now. Focus.
Seeing that I calmed down she elaborated. "I had to suppress his memories of you while you were gone. Just think about everything he's been through in your presence—" the urge to lash out at this grew almost unbearable, but Zelda saw this and quickly continued. "Don't worry, his memories will return on their own in good time. It is definitely not permanent. However, if I had left his memories intact, well, just think of all the pains and the confusion he'd have to sort through. Then there's the shock… he has more important things he needs to take care of now, do you understand?"
Bitterly, I did understand. Hyrule needed a hero to lead them against Ganondorf and his army—whatever happened to fill the ranks of that army. I nodded my head slowly, and asked, "Does this mean I shouldn't come around here anymore? That I should avoid him?" I wouldn't be surprised if part of her motivation wasn't only Link's life, but also her need to get rid of me while she dealt with Ganondorf herself.
"Quite the opposite. Despite your rather peculiar actions, you are a key part of his lost memories. Having something familiar to hold on to will help him regain his previous state of mind a bit quicker."
"Why do you want him to regain what you took away in the first place? Won't they cause the same so-called 'shock' either way?" I asked, folding my arms defensively.
"There may be many painful memories in what he lost, but he also lost everything he needs in order to defeat Ganondorf," she explained calmly.
I snorted once at her word choice. "So in other words, you need me to train your hero again."
"To be frank, yes. After all, you know best what training he went through the first time around."
Should I tell her that most of what he learned he did so on his own? I gave him some guidance in terms of what our next step was, but I had to, after all I was the puppet master, in a sense. He had found the courage to fight monsters, with little to no previous experience, within the Triforce. I chose to make one last quip instead, "I'm surprised you really trust me after all of my 'peculiar' actions."
"I'm not saying I do. All I'm saying is that we could both benefit from destroying Ganondorf, body and soul, once and for all."
Royal blood coursed through my veins, my father's veins, and his father's father's veins, but one thing never came naturally to us: an ability to fix bad relationships. In a moment of clarity I felt this truth all around me, more than ever: the Twili's and Light Dweller's relationship was hostile, at best; Zelda's and my relationship, ironically, hostile; Link and me, just forget it.
I sighed. "Agreed."
"Glad you could see it our way for once," Zelda muttered as she turned to enter the room and check up on Link. I hadn't missed the way she said 'our way' instead of 'my way.' Few Light Dwellers could accept the Twili, and she had been among the few who did. It seemed that was no longer the case, though.
The journey was long, emotional, and it had worn on all of us, but it was about more than just us now. After all, royal blood coursed through my veins. Inability to take a look at relationships on a personal level maybe so, but hadn't we Twili managed to get along just fine all this time? Maybe it was time to stop looking at the smaller picture and take a step back. To defeat Ganondorf – truly defeat him – we would need to band together, all of us: Hylian, Twili, and with any luck, the goddesses.
I can help you.
I stopped dead in my tracks, my irritable pace halted by the unfamiliar voice in my head. Again. Why does this keep happening to me?
You must take the chosen Hero to the Gerudo Desert.
Voices in my head were nothing new, but this voice was significantly different. Not in the sense of how it sounded (although that contributed), but rather the way it felt. The presence wasn't intruding, but comforting and…
Forgiving.
Take one more chance on this destitute situation you call the Realm of Light. There are many battles yet to be fought, and only you can return to the Light its ancient hero. He is in no condition to face the challenges before him.
I sighed aloud. Training Link was by far an impossible task for me, in the sense that I could guide him enough in order for him to be prepared and pick up on all the skills he lost. But what about me and how I would feel through all of this? Link may not remember a thing, but I remember it all, painfully well at that.
You've not done a fraction of enough to reclaim what was lost to your people. To truly earn redemption this is the task you must complete, whatever pain it may cause you. After all, you are the Twilight Princess.
How could I argue with that? Link may be lost to me, but I still had a strong sense of obligation to my people. They deserved to be returned to the light; I couldn't selfishly choose to deny our people their only chance at feeling soft grass and warm sun once more.
Look, "mysterious" voice, I will train Link, but only because I want to help him. Not because I owe my people anything and certainly not because I owe the Light Dwellers anything. Don't think for a moment you have control over my actions just because what I happen to choose on my own aligns with your wishes.
So be it.
Several days of rest passed for Link. While I waited, I carefully watched the construction of Hyrule Castle and the surrounding town, wondering as always what the next step would be.
On the one hand, Ganondorf remained priority, but I needed to do something about the Twilight that had leaked out. All I could do for the moment was send Zant back. He had left a couple of days ago to start working on, literally, solidifying the army.
The option of sealing off the Twilight Realm again popped into my mind once, but I quickly rejected the thought. Although it was true that Ganon probably wouldn't have much interest in my realm once he acquired Hyrule, there was still that small chance—that risk—that he would set his goals higher. High enough to engulf the entire universe in his mad quest for power.
It was better to stay with the Light Realm and fight him together now, rather than risk standing alone against him later on.
Aside from that, I did the only useful thing I could do in the Light Realm: sit here in Link's room and wait for him to recover. I owed Link for all that he had done, even if the rest of the Light Realm could burn to the ground for all I cared. Especially Zelda.
"PMSing?" Zant questioned, slinking out of a nearby shadow.
"Shut up," I growled. "When'd you get back?"
"I'll take that for a 'yes' then," he replied, as he sat down on the chair next to me. "Just now. I organized the solidification process back home, as you requested. A moment of silence passed before he spoke up again. "So how is your wolf?"
I turned my attention to the door on my left before responding, "He's getting better much quicker than expected."
"So when will you leave to hunt down the scumbag?" An evil glint came into his eye, and for a moment I wondered if he was still just as crazy as before.
"As soon as possible," I replied. "Although I am a bit worried about what should happen if we find Ganondorf right away."
Zant spat off to the side, as if just hearing the name of his former master made him ill. "I don't see why you should worry. Sure, he's been in bed for a while now, and maybe he'll be a little stiff or sore but—."
"—He doesn't remember anything," I said, cutting him off.
Zant looked puzzled. "He doesn't remember? How'd he get amnesia? Was it from removing the Triforce? Maybe there's some kind of connection; perhaps it's some kind of defense to protect the—!"
"—No."
"Would you stop interrupting me like that?"
"Sorry, had to that time. You were getting that crazy let's-experiment-on-something look."
"I have a look like that?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.
"Yes. Yes you do. Trust me."
"I am kind of surprised though," he commented, changing the subject.
"Surprised?"
"Yes. Despite all of the vast knowledge I have on Ganondorf, no one has bothered asking me about him," he explained thoughtfully.
I felt the sudden urge to slap myself.
"Why didn't you mention this to me sooner?" I growled. Link stirred in the bed several yards away. "Come on, we're going outside." I grabbed Zant by the collar of his robes and dragged him outside, into the open-roof, stone passageway. Down further, deeper into the castle, this hallway led to an antechamber of the grand ballroom that was currently receiving finishing touches. The opposite way led to an open courtyard and exit.
"Let go of me; this is no way to treat me after how well behaved I've been," Zant complained like an angry child.
"Shut it! Now tell me what you know about Ganondorf that could be helpful to us!" I demanded
"How can I tell you anything when you just told me to shut—," he started to give me a smart comeback, but one warning look set him straight. "I honestly don't know if anything I know will be useful to you anymore. Ganondorf is proud, but he's not stupid. He wouldn't likely repeat the same plan twice. However, he may try to meet certain, previously unmet, goals." Zant paused and looked up at the sky thoughtfully.
For a fleeting moment I understood, truly, the reasons behind his insanity. Then again I suppose all of my people missed the sun on some level or another. "What do you think he's going to try to do exactly?" I pondered aloud, half asking.
Zant's face turned grim as he turned his head away from the bright sky. "He'll need another army, but I have no idea where he could find a truly loyal one. He used our people last time, but he couldn't do that again without us knowing. The only other option would be to recruit the Hylians. Is that possible?"
I couldn't answer him right away because I wasn't totally sure myself. My knee-jerk reaction was no, of course not. They wouldn't be stupid enough to trust someone so evil, but that evil might not be apparent to everyone. In fact, the only monsters they saw during the last major invasion were my people. The only Hylians who knew Ganondorf was behind it all were Link and Zelda.
"It's possible," I replied severely.
Zant turned to face me. "Well, this could be a problem."
Link's hand was well enough for him to travel, and whatever had been plaguing him had passed without permanent harm, physically speaking.
I decided the first step to recovering my beloved wolf's memories was a trip to the Twilight Realm, since we now had an accessible portal that wasn't a total gambit. I brought this up with Zelda who, of course, immediately shot the idea down.
"No."
I let out a sigh. Patience.
I tried again, putting a logical twist on my argument. "Look, he doesn't just need to lead your people; he needs to lead mine as well. Just like your people are paranoid of the Twili, we're a little mistrusting when it comes to Hylians. He's our Blessed Beast just as much as he's your Legendary Hero."
I unfolded my hands and leaned on the desk we were situated at, breaking my good posture.
At first she didn't say anything, although she wasn't one to simply blurt the first thing that came to mind. She mulled over the thought for a few minutes, and I could practically see the gears turning inside her dainty little head.
Another minute passed and finally she responded, sitting up a little straighter in her chair, "You have a valid point, but I have no reason to trust you'll return with him totally intact or even at all for that matter."
I bit back a frustrated sight and sat up straight. "I wouldn't gain anything from forcibly changing him or whisking him away to my realm permanently. He'd be a pain to deal with in either of those cases."
"So my reason for trusting you is…?"
Her tone made me want to jump up and slap her upside the head. Why were Light Dwellers so stupid at the worse of times? "Look, you asked me to train him, so we do this my way or you can do it yourself." Feeling triumphant I leaned back, sure that I couldn't be countered again.
"Very well then." I let out a sigh of relief as she rose from her seat, queuing me to stand as well. "I'll be bringing a new trainer around this afternoon, so please do yourself a favor and clean up before he arrives."
I felt my jaw fall open in surprise. She must be kidding. "Are you serious?"
"Perfectly." With that final word, she walked smoothly past me, exited the room, and gently let the door fall shut behind her. I stood too stunned to process my next move right away.
How could she even begin to think that anyone but me could train her hero anyways? I thought about chasing her down and telling her as much, but then I again, watching this new trainer of hers might be kind of fun.
If there was one thing I could use, it was a bit of comic relief from all of this insanity, so I decided to take her advice, clean up, and wait for the arrival of my so-called replacement.
True to her word, just a few hours later a large Hylian, sword in hand, stepped inside the room with Zelda waltzing in after. I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the buff physique of the swordsman. Did she honestly think Link was up for this? I had a lot of faith in him, of course, but even I knew it was crazy to expect him to be able to wield a sword.
"Midna, this is Link's physical trainer," she explained, as if it weren't obvious already. "Sir Garth, this is Princess Midna, a visiting diplomat. Her people originally trained that man over there, but as I explained, he is in need of a refresher course. I trust you'll set a reasonable pace and have him back in top condition in just a few days."
A few days? Sir Garth and I both looked over to where Link snored softly on the bed, his hand still wrapped up, without any appearance of being ready for intensive training. Had Garth not been present in the room I would have chewed Zelda out for being so stupid and reckless—besides, stupid and reckless wasn't really her thing.
I really had to bring up her odd behavior later; something definitely wasn't right with her. I thought back to the time we—Link, Zelda, and myself—had been walking through Hyrule field when she suddenly stopped and made a ridiculous demand of Link. Something about cleaning himself, I think, but I knew it wasn't really worth stopping for when we had been in such a rush.
I glanced over at the ruler of Hyrule with sudden trepidation. I had been so focused on my behavior that I never stopped to think about how others around me might be acting even more out of character.
It had, after all, been Zelda who mentioned my actions as being peculiar and turned Link on me. I never really explained to Link what had happened, beyond telling him that I had removed his Triforce out of necessity. How could I have been so stupid and blind all this time?
"Midna," Zelda snapped, breaking my frustrated and uneasy train of thought. I couldn't do anything about it now anyways, for now I had a role to play, at least until I could provoke Link's memories to return.
"Sorry, what were you saying?" I asked, relaxing into a façade.
"I was just saying why don't you wake him up so we can get started?" I glanced over at Link's prone form.
"How about we let Garth do that, I don't think it's proper for me to take on such a task," I replied with a small, impish smile. Zelda frowned a little but, true to form, nodded her head and gestured for Garth to continue. I almost felt bad not mentioning my real reasons for avoiding the task of waking Link up, but then again, I didn't really owe Garth anything and I needed to prove to Zelda that I was the only one who knew enough about Link to train him.
"Sir Link?" Garth questioned the unconscious Hylian. Nice try but it takes more than that to wake him up. Garth stretched out a hand to shake Link awake and I thought briefly how lucky I was to have a front row seat.
As soon as Garth's hand fell on Link's arm Wolf-boy jerked upright and swung his right fist—mindful of his injured left—nailing the unsuspecting trainer in the nose. I had to give Garth some credit, he stumbled back, but he didn't topple over. Although, to be fair, if Link had been at full strength then Garth would have been laid out flat.
"Oh my," I murmured with a small smirk. "I should have warned you; he is very quick upon awakening. I must say, quite the rarity, a Hylian that can snap to action so quickly. I honestly did not think he had the strength to act so violently though. My apologies Sir Garth." Rubbing his no-doubt sore nose, the knight nodded and grunted before walking back to Link's bedside. Persistent, I could admire that.
Zelda, meanwhile, stood off in the corner of the room shaking her head slightly. I knew had we been alone she would've snapped at me about retaining information and injuring her soldier; I could practically hear her teeth grinding from across the room. Smirking triumphantly I couldn't help but think that maybe having Garth around wouldn't be so bad after all.
After a while Link clambered out of bed, got dressed, and started some awkward exercises to gain better use of his right hand. Sir Garth had so kindly pointed out, in gruff tones, that, "Your left hand's pretty much trash, so let's just work on your right for now. Maybe with some luck you'll be able to pick up a sword in a few days."
His ego had, apparently, been bruised worse than his nose earlier.
I felt bad for Link; it killed me to see the hurt in his eyes when he looked at his hand. Two ironies made the situation bearable, though. First was Garth underestimating Link's strength, and second was knowing that while he looked upset, he really had no idea how his hand had been injured. More than likely he was just confused and maybe a little frustrated.
By the end of the day, however, I had changed my opinion about one matter: he was more frustrated than confused.
Garth left him with a few encouraging words: "Well, at least you're trying." I'm almost sure that he actually didn't mean the words as a harsh rebuke. I think Link had impressed him throughout the course of training that day, but it was apparent to everyone present during the training that Link was far from able to take on anything more vicious than a target dummy.
Zelda couldn't stay for the entire training session obviously, so she had left within the first hour. Garth had then turned and walked off to the temporary barracks at the end of training several hours later, leaving Link and I alone in the courtyard.
Once he thought everyone was gone, Link dropped all his gear on the ground and fell to his knees. I wanted to go over and comfort him, but I resisted for a moment. He buried his face in his hands and let out a frustrated half-sob, half-sigh, and not for the first time, my heart went out to him.
Deciding he had beat himself up enough I walked over to him, approaching him from behind, and clearing my throat before speaking. "Training's tough, isn't it?"
He glanced over his shoulder to glare at me briefly before answering. "It shouldn't be, should it? I feel like I should know all of this already." He paused and unclenched his fists. "Do you know what I'm forgetting?"
"Yeah."
"But you can't tell me?"
"Yeah."
"Of course." He let out another frustrated sigh and slapped his hands on his knees. "Well, I'll get them back, but…"
I waited patiently for him to finish, but after a long moment he still hadn't said anything. "But what?" I asked cautiously.
"I'm confused. The last thing I can remember is being in a spring, talking with dear friends—friends who are like family to me—but after that everything gets fuzzy. I just wish I could at least pinpoint how long ago that was. Right now I feel like I'm just floating in space, not tied down to anything." He shook his and stood up, stretching his undoubtedly sore muscles. "All Queen Zelda told me was that I had an important role to play and I needed to slowly regain my strength and memories. She said everything would make sense after I got my memories back, but she couldn't tell me how long that would take." He stood and turned around to face me, smiling sadly.
"It must be hard on you," I murmured, growing uncomfortable in his familiar-yet-not presence.
"It's a little tough, sure, but like I said. I just wish I had an anchor point, you know? I don't even know if I can trust what anyone here says," he remarked, trying to keep a light tone.
How could I help what came out of my mouth next, with him standing there looking so handsome in the falling twilight? "I want to be your anchor point." His grin suddenly fled, replaced by a shocked expression, slack-jawed and the whole bit. The tips of his ears went red as I nearly literally bit my tongue.
Oh Din, why did I just say that? I quickly tried to alleviate the awkwardness of the situation. "I'm going to be helping you regain your memories, I mean. Don't get the wrong idea," I huffed, feigning a slight irritation.
To my surprise and delight, he actually gave a chuckle. "You're pretty feisty for a princess."
I laughed along with him. "You have no idea." After a moment I offered my hand to him. "I don't think we were properly introduced. You can drop my full title and just call me Midna."
He reached out and gripped my hand. "I'm Link and I'm starting to have the sneaking suspicion we've met before."
"You'll find out soon enough, now won't you?" I replied mysteriously. He cracked another one of his wolfish grins and I felt my heart skip a beat. Just as I was about to comment on the twilight now flooding the courtyard, we both turned to the sound of panicked footsteps racing towards us, interrupting any further conversation Link and I might have had.
I felt my stomach drop like a rock as I saw Zant rushing towards us.
"You need to come home right now," he said in explanation, not even giving me a chance to question him. "Bring your puppy if you want, but we need to go now."
I made a spur-of-the-moment decision that I would probably regret later. "Link, you remember Epona right?"
"Yeah, but what would she be doing around here?" he asked, turning his attention away from Zant who he had been staring at.
"How do you think you got here?"
We quickly fetched Epona from the stables, much to Zant's irritation. I explained to him where the twilight curtain was located and we took thundering off, Zant leading the way several shadows ahead.
I rode along inside Link's shadow wondering what else could have possibly gone wrong at this point.
When we arrived I wished, not for the first time, that Link could join us in the shadows. Epona was fast enough, but there was still a great deal of time to be saved through an alternate means of transportation. Night had settled in by time we arrived at the curtain.
Zant quickly went through, not thinking twice about it, but Link paused uncertainly.
Link was still exceptionally brave, despite what his left hand currently lacked, but he was also noticeably more hesitant and cautious. "Come on Link," I prompted.
He gazed at the curtain with more than a little uncertainty; he had no drive to plunge through the twilight. Not wasting another moment to convince him, I went ahead, figuring he would come if he wanted on his own time. Right now I had something urgent to deal with. I caught up with Zant at the palace after crossing the border.
"What's the meaning of this Zant? Did something happen with incantation? Are there Twili running amok in the Light Realm? Did you find Ganondorf? Is someone dead?" I demanded rapidly, throwing everything out that came to mind.
"Worse," he answered. "Take a look at this." He pointed to a peasant who, judging from his attire, came from a further out province.
I turned to regard the scared looking fellow. "Speak, please." Zant quirked an eyebrow at me, probably because of the genuine politeness in my voice.
The peasant kindly removed his shoddy hat and spoke solemnly. "I was at my home, three provinces from the castle, when I saw…" He paused, looking down at his feet as if unsure how to go about telling his news. "A cloud."
My temper flared and I turned on Zant. "Is this some kind of joke?"
He gave a frustrated sigh in return. "No, just listen for Din's sake!"
We both turned back to the peasant and I gestured for him to continue, prompting him, "What about this cloud?"
The Twili licked his lips nervously. "It was great and black, kind of angry looking, and every time it made a rumbling noise that shook my small home… light came from it." Several things happened at once then: Zant muttered a curse under his breath; I clenched my fists and bit down on one in order to resist the urge to scream; and Link came stumbling up the obsidian stairs in his wolf form, causing the peasant to gasp in genuine reverence.
I motioned to one of the guards a moment later. "Take this peasant to the guest quarters; we may need more information from him later, so see that he's properly cared for." The guard snapped a quick salute and gestured for the peasant to follow him. Once they were out of the room, with the door locked tight, I let out the curse I had been withholding. Link looked at me curiously and with some genuine sympathy.
He had no idea what was going on—yet—of course, but he still felt the need to comfort me. I relaxed a little. The situation may have been dire, but then again, for all we know—or rather what we don't know—everything may be perfectly fine. So long as I had Link by my side was there really anything to worry about?
Even when the situation had been dire in the past, he still came through for me.
Zant tapped his foot impatiently. "What are we going to do?"
I pondered for a moment, vaguely looking at Link as I did so. It would be nice if he could speak. Memory or not, I still wanted to hear his opinion on the matter. He had good instincts. Though, before I could even ask him about the situation I had to assess it for myself first. "We need to go take a look for ourselves."
Zant scoffed loudly and Link sat still, ever confused. "You want to waste time running out there to witness what we both already know it is? What are you going to prove by going out there?" he demanded, gesturing wildly. "It's a waste of time! We have to prepare here and save as many people as we can—we can go into the Light Realm!"
"No!" I snapped, surprising both Zant and Link. "We were banished from the Light Realm; we haven't earned the right to go back there to save ourselves."
"What's gotten into you Midna?" he shouted. He paced anxiously, still ranting and gesturing. "We have earned the right to go home—we found that spell and we made it work!"
"The goddesses made it work so we could supply troops to their precious Light Realm!"
Zant stopped his frantic pacing for a moment to stare at me, shocked at first, and then his expression grew furious. "Why do you continue to insist you owe those Light Dwellers anything? Is this still about him?" he asked, gesturing towards Link. "He's here Midna, now let the rest of them perish, just like they stood by and watched us fall into a never-ending twilight!" Link's head whipped back and forth between us, his confusion only growing.
I held up my hand and took a deep breath. Zant was right about one thing: I couldn't waste time, especially not arguing with him. "We're going outside the curtain—back to the Light Realm—again." Just as Zant opened his mouth to protest I held up my hand again. "I need to talk to Link and get him out of the way first. Having him along, confused as he is, will only slow us down in the long run."
Zant mulled this over for a moment before nodding in the affirmative. "Very well then, but let's make this quick."
We took off heading for the curtain once again. Luckily it wasn't all that far from the palace, so we arrived there and I transformed Link back before Zant had time to whip himself into an utter panic mode.
"Okay Link, listen up," I told him. "I can explain all of this better later, I'm sorry I can't do as much right now, but as you heard we're having problems over there."
"Where is 'over there,' exactly?" He questioned, frowning in confusion.
"I told you I can't explain right now, but I swear I will when I get back. You're going to have to make your way back to the castle without me." I paused for a moment. "Actually, you can camp here for all I care, just stay out of trouble."
"Wait," he said, throwing his hands up in the air. "At least tell me what this big problem is."
"Storm clouds are rolling into an outlying province," I replied, Zant and I both flinched at what this could mean for the people there.
"Why's that such a big deal?"
"Because, Link," I replied grimly. "It never storms in the Twilight Realm."
Zelda sat on her temporary throne, brushing off flecks of dust from the nearly immaculate armrest. Up until a short while ago she had been sleeping peacefully, but a throbbing pain in her left hand had awoken her.
Initially she wondered if perhaps the bond forged between the Triforce pieces could be carried through the generations, but the possibility was quickly dismissed because of the general nature of the Triforce. The volatile, ever-changing, ever-lasting Triforce couldn't maintain a bond that strong without an outside influence, such as one of the people who had formed the bond.
Midna's mistake had cost them dearly, but not for the first time, she wondered if they all had not acted too irrationally.
She had stayed up late examining the courage piece of the Triforce for many nights, but she still wasn't sure if she could remove the tainted bond from it. Maybe removing it in order to save Link really was the only way. If only they had known more about the strange bonds sooner, then maybe they could have stopped one from being formed in the first place.
No, probably not. The bond still would have been formed, but maybe if they had been a bit more knowledgeable, then the Triforce of power wouldn't have been handed to Ganondorf once again. She couldn't honestly blame Midna, after all she wasn't meant to ever have the Triforce piece in the first place, but it was hard to go about with a smile every day without blaming someone.
That's what the ball is for.
'Oh,' Zelda thought to herself, hearing the familiar voice in her head. Well, actually it was coming from the Triforce piece in her hand. 'I thought I heard you calling earlier; I'm sorry I was sleeping.'
Not to worry. How's progress?
'Quick enough,' Zelda sighed aloud. 'But I do wish I could understand the point of throwing a big party for everyone in the midst of all of this.'
It will help morale and it may bring certain people together who need to be together, as much as you and I don't like it. Zelda shifted in her throne, adjusting so she could better examine the other armrest.
'Yes.'
Link decided in the end to wait for us at the palace, saying he'd rather be in his wolf form and enclosed safely than in his human form out in the open. I had to admit, it was probably safer if nothing else. The guards and servants walked continually past his room, just to get a good look at the beast of legend.
Of course I was informed of all of this after I returned with Zant from the outer province. There was a storm brewing, no doubt. I quickly decided to assign several of the land's finest sorcerers to the area and placed Zant in charge, telling them to watch for significant changes in the clouds and people who lived in the area.
Zant had been madly opposed to the idea, still insisting that we use the spell to help the Twili escape. I might regret not listening to him later, but for now the greater risk lay with the Twili running untamed in the Light Realm after all this time. It wouldn't be difficult to mass apply the spell, but it could have an as-of-yet unseen side effect. Worse than that a conflict could spark between the Twili and Light Dwellers.
It wouldn't take much for a small argument to inflame into a much larger conflict. If one of my people were injured or killed, even if it was merely a misunderstanding, then I would be expected to act. The last thing I needed on top of everything else was a full-blown war with Zelda.
Granted I think the Twili would win, what with the Light Realm being half dead already, but I still wouldn't be happy about it exactly.
Why haven't you arrived in the Gerudo Desert yet?
This was the last thing I needed to be pestered about. Look, I'm trying to get him there, but I do have to train him along the way.
That will be unnecessary. There is a cavernous space in the desert, filled with challenges. Only a truly prepared hero will reach the final level.
What if he doesn't reach the end and he fails? You want me to lead him there just to perish?
If he should perish, then so be it. He was not the one meant to take on this task.
I am not leading him to some dead-end trap to kill him off. I said I would train him, but I also said that I'm doing that my way. Not yours, not Zelda's, not anyone else's.
The voice fell silent and I let out a frustrated sigh, turning to Link who had been standing by patiently waiting. "Sorry, I have, uh," I hesitated a moment. "A lot going on in my head." Link merely nodded in return. "Wow, no questions? I'm surprised," I remarked, sitting down on a nearby rock, figuring he must have some questions I could answer now.
His original adventure with me wasn't part of the forbidden part of his memories. Zelda had warned me to be careful with the information I fed him, making sure it was 100% accurate lest he get his memories back and have discrepancies within them. She also decreed that no memories including the shattering of the mirror and onwards were to be disclosed.
"It's not normal for Hylians to turn into animals," he stated plainly.
"No, it's because of your—," I was about to explain how the Triforce allowed him to transform instead of turning into a spirit when I glanced down and saw his bandaged hand. That's what we had assumed originally, but he didn't have the Triforce within him anymore. I knew he didn't—I removed it myself. What's going on?
It's connected with the storm. The Twilight Realm's barriers are collapsing. His deep connection with the Triforce, despite not being in possession of it currently, coupled with this allowed him to maintain his beast form within the curtain.
I opened and closed my mouth several times, uncertain whether to tell him what we originally thought or feed him this new information. "Well, you're special and it's kind of complicated. How it works, that is." It was far from a great response, but it was the best I could do for the moment.
Mostly because I wasn't even sure myself anymore. Although it made me wonder, if this is what happened with him, then what happened with the other Light Dwellers?
"Was this why Zelda wanted me to help, rather than someone else?" Link asked, snapping me from my pondering.
"Yes. Even with your hand messed up like that she believes you're still the hero to lead both of our worlds against Ganondorf and his army," I responded, happy to actually have an answer to give him this time. Link, who had been staring at the twilight curtain, walked over to a log across from me and plopped down.
"When are we going back to the castle?"
I glanced upwards. The trip to the Twilight Realm and exploring the emergency had taken the entire night, the sky was steadily growing a light blue now. "We need to go back soon," I responded, still looking thoughtfully at the sky. "You need to train to get your strength back up, and Zelda's throwing that ridiculous ball in a few days."
Link chuckled a bit at this. "Is the ballroom even finished?" he asked. "I mean, I haven't really been outside that room, so I have no idea the shape the castle's in; all I know is that the palace was basically decimated in an attack recently," he went on to explain.
I nodded, looking back to him. "It will be ready, after all, where there's Zelda there's a way."
He gave me a wolfish grin and shook his head slightly. "I wish I could have helped with the re-building. What was I doing while all of those people were working so hard without me?"
Kissing my clone, I wanted to say, but that would probably be a no-no on Zelda's list.
Instead I told him, "You were back home, making sure everyone was safe." I thought for a moment before adding, "Zelda let you stay there, maybe because she knew you would need the rest for whatever upcoming battles you had to face."
"That's nice of her, I suppose, although I wonder why I stayed here so long," he pondered aloud. "It doesn't seem like me to rest while others are hard at work."
"It's not," I admitted. "But you had been through a lot prior to that, and you needed the mental break as much as the physical." I smiled at him. "Trust me, you did more than your fair share of the work along the way."
"Ah." He looked over to the rising sun and his expression became confused again. "Won't Zelda be mad that we ran off without telling her?"
"What?" I looked at the rising sun as well and realized there was now no way we were getting back to the castle before Zelda came looking for us. "Oh. Yikes. We have to go, now."
Link laughed, totally unperturbed by the idea of Zelda's wrath, stood up, and stretched out. "Well, let's get going then."
We mad our way back to Hyrule Castle, Link happily oblivious, me debating how best to argue my reasons with Zelda. That and, of course, the upcoming ball was on my mind as well. I had spoken with Zelda about it during the time Link had been recuperating, yet…
I could not fathom the reasons behind this. The queen insisted that the ball continue as planned, despite everything going on, "In order to maintain calm while we figure out the best course of action against Ganondorf." I was supposed to act like nothing was wrong while waltzing among Hyrule's populace.
I pointed out that I would probably stand out just a bit, but she reassured me that it would all work out. I just had to keep up the story of being a foreign ambassador.
I didn't even bother pointing out that Hylians were particularly xenophobic at the moment.
The one up side to going to this little party was knowing that Link had been requested to attend as well. Knowing what a perfect gentleman he tends to be, I knew he would be there for everyone's sake but his own.
I was going so that someone would be there for his sake and sanity.
Link was a nice guy, of course, but when it came to the high life of nobles and courtly manners he was as helpless as when I found him in that dirty cell. He wouldn't realize or admit it, but he would need me tonight. I rolled my eyes, what would he do without me?
Link's earlier question had me thinking back to the time when my alter ego, the so-called 'evil Midna,' had taken over. Link had fallen for her—hard—did that mean he actually loved me at some point throughout all of this insanity? Maybe the seducer had just been that good at what she did.
I thought about how I had watched from a shadow that was only supposed to be mine as he sunk deeper into her lies. Confessing—doing—so much he could never have said to the real me. I thought bitterly to myself how I wouldn't have kissed Link's alter ego. No, I wouldn't have made that mistake, though he certainly did. The tender touching, the soft-spoken words, the feeling of wanting so badly to turn away and run without end and not being able to.
We never really had a chance to talk about what had happened.
When he retold the story to me from my perspective he didn't mention what he had done with her. Maybe he was ashamed or embarrassed, or maybe he just thought it was none of my business. Either way there was no point in worrying over it now, after all he didn't remember anything for the time being.
Tomorrow night at the dance, I prayed to the goddesses, if we both need to pretend for Hyrule at least let us not pretend to each other. Thing were going to be said that night, with or without Zelda's approval. Although, how Link received those words was only up to him.
I broke from my muse as we arrived at the gates of the castle, finished early on in the re-construction process. I stepped out of Link's shadow and stopped him. "Home sweet home!" I exclaimed giving him a wry smile.
He opened his mouth to respond, but instead turned his head towards the castle, frowning. I looked to see what had caught his attention and saw a couple of royal guards rushing towards us. I let out a sigh, wondering if all of this was really necessary when Link commented, "Well, looks like Zelda was expecting us."
I couldn't help laughing.
The guards marched over to us and explained that Zelda had, "requested our presence," in her throne room, so we obediently followed them. It actually felt kind of weird taking orders and not doing our own thing, but we both knew—even with his memory loss—that facing Zelda and getting an earful was inevitable at this point.
I could tell she was in a particularly bad mood when the guard didn't even bother entering the room with us. Normally he would've escorted us in and then been dismissed by Zelda, but apparently she was in no mood to put up with formalities.
Link—brave soul that he is, Triforce or not—opened the door and stepped inside first. As soon as I walked in the guard pulled the door shut, leaving us to Zelda's brewing fury. I put on my best fake smile as I approached the throne and said, "Greetings Zelda. I trust construction's going well?"
"Sit," she commanded, skipping all formalities as expected, and gesturing towards two seats in front of the throne where she sat. Link and I did as she asked, and under her fiery glow, I found myself rather relieved that the chairs were placed fairly close together.
There was something rather comforting in Link's nearby presence.
Once we were settled in she started in on a speech that I'm fairly sure she'd been practicing while waiting for us to return. "I cannot believe you directly disobeyed my orders and took him to the Twilight Realm." Her hands clenched the bare-wooden armrests as she worked herself up.
"I had no choice," I defended. "He wasn't feeling too good about being the hero without any memories, and Zant told me I had to leave right away. I couldn't just leave him there feeling dejected." Normally I'd fight Zelda tooth and nail to prove I was right, but I didn't want to anger her to the point where she kept me from attending her stupid ball tonight. I clenched my own hands together and waited for her response.
She sat silent for a long moment, but I could tell by the look in her eyes she was only calculating her next move. "Link, you may leave. You didn't really know any better, I suppose."
My temper flared as Link stood up. "You're going to treat your favorite hero like a child now?"
Link started to walk towards the door, and I could tell he was trying to avoid listening to anymore. "He is like a child right now." Link suddenly stopped, hand outstretched towards the door.
"Zelda!" I snapped. "What is your problem?"
"You are! And Link! And this entire kingdom!" she shouted back. I could only stare appalled at her; I had never seen her so angry before, let alone imagine her blaming others. Then Link did something neither of us expected him to do.
He dashed across the room and up to Zelda's throne before either of us had a chance to register what was happening. Suddenly there was a sword at Zelda's neck, and for a moment time seemed to slow down.
This isn't happening. This can't be happening.
Link's voice was low and grave when he spoke after the longest minute of my life. "You can blame your birthright, you can blame me, but don't you dare blame Midna. I may seem like a child to you in my current state, but even this child knows she's dealing with just as much as you are."
Then, just as suddenly as he had rushed up to her, he demounted the throne. Neither Zelda nor I managed to speak again until the door slammed shut behind him.
"Oh what have I done," Zelda breathed, crumpling in her seat. She rested her head in her hands, looking for all the world like the young woman with the weight of the world on her shoulders that she was.
"Zelda, I'm sorry. I know—," I started to say, but she cut me off with a wave of her hand.
"Midna, you and I both know you're not to blame. There's just been so much stress since you returned, and barely a year after the events from the twilight invasion had settled down at that." She let out a gentle sigh and sat up a bit straighter in her throne. "I know you're trying to cope as best you can, just as I am."
I glanced away from the throne and said, "It's fine. You know I don't want an apology." I looked her in the eyes. "But you can't do that to Link."
She laughed a bit, a tired, exhausted sounding noise. "Isn't that funny?"
A bit irked I asked, "What's so funny about that?"
"Even without Link remembering you, the two of you have already re-forged your bond," she explained. Then she smiled softly and asked, "You two would do anything for each other wouldn't you?" I didn't even have to think twice.
"Yeah, we would."
After the end of our conversation Zelda avoided Link and I as much as possible with the excuse of helping with the final touches for the ball. The next day passed all too quickly for my liking, and pretty soon I found myself sitting in a room I had been assigned, dressing for the evening's big event. As I prepared myself physically I tried to organize my thoughts.
Zelda had informed me, as she stopped by quickly to make sure I would still be in attendance that I needed to stick to my visiting diplomat story, and if any problems cropped up to just seek her or a royal guard out. She also told me that she had not been able to find Link and she was no longer certain he would show up.
Of course she apologized profusely for this, recognizing the problem as her fault. Not that it helped me find Link, but hearing an apology I could pass along to Link might help, should I find him. Zelda had quickly rushed off after she fed me this information, leaving me to decide between attending the ball or seeking Link out.
In the end I decided to head down to the ballroom, just in case he showed up there and had just been hiding from Zelda. I stuck to the edges of the grand room waiting for him to show up. I glanced around the ballroom and watched the many nobles dancing with their spouses, trying to pass time.
I stood there in a dark corner for some minutes before I noticed the stranger walking toward me. I watched him with a guarded expression. He didn't look quite like a noble, but he still looked incredibly elegant—far too much so for one of the many commoners, who had also been invited, that much was certain.
"My Lady," he greeted me with a bow. I simply stared at him with a steely look in my eyes, carefully taking into account his appearance.
Something about him bugged me more than it should have. His singsong voice along with his messy, blonde hair that spiked out in all directions, scratched on the edges of my memories. It was almost like I had met him before, yet not. Gentle green eyes, that reminded me of the forest after a peaceful rain, waited patiently for me to finish my inspection.
His tanned face certainly represented one who spent a rough life in the wilds, but just looking at his clothes you wouldn't know that. He was dressed in elegant black-leather pants and dressy boots with a vest of the same material over a silken shirt as black as pitch. The oddest part of his outfit was a black leather collar around his neck with a single blue gem hanging from it. The materials were rich, obviously not peasants' clothes, yet they were in the design of a rogue.
"What do you want from me?" I asked cautiously. His answering grin reminded me of the wolfish ones Link would give me while transformed. I felt a chill run down my spine.
"I just came to chat; it's always good to mingle with the royalty," he purred. I frowned at him with disapproving eyes.
"Mingle, yes. Flirt, no," I replied coldly. His eyes went wide at this, surprised by my comment for a moment before chuckling.
"Oh, no, please forgive me I didn't mean for it to seem like that. I am taken as I know you are and have no intention of changing that tonight." He smiled pleasantly at me. I grew even more nervous than I already was. I didn't like this creep but I couldn't exactly kill him in front of all of Hyrule's nobles, and I suspected he realized as much.
"Look cut the idle chatter, monkey," I said in a stern voice I typically reserved for unruly nobles in my own realm. I would've called him a dog, but my experiences with monkeys were much less pleasant. "Tell me what you want so that I may be left to my own company once more."
He frowned a little bit, obviously upset his little game was being cut down to size, but with a shrug of his shoulders he agreed.
"I was sent here by the orders of my master," he began, his face becoming serious as he spoke softly yet urgently. "You see, Twilight Princess, we all have our own destinies as I'm sure you know. Your destiny is quite magnificent; I would know as I've seen it with my own eyes. However a fear was raised where I'm from and so I've come to quell that fear."
I shook my head angrily. He was still dancing around the point, harassing me. He held up a hand, beckoning me to be patient. He obviously didn't know as much as he claimed about me if he thought he could calm me with a simple gesture.
"A dark force interrupted your destiny you see," he continued. "One unexpected I must add. The trust you have with your partner is something invaluable and critical to your destiny, but that trust was sadly interrupted by this great evil."
"Wait," I said quickly. His story was starting to intrigue me. "My partner? You mean Link?"
He nodded his affirmation, "Indeed the very one. I have come to rekindle trust within you so that you may rekindle it within the Hero of Light. Though I cannot say much I will say that it is of utmost importance that you trust yourself. Hesitate not and never doubt that your words nor your actions are correct—at least not for tonight." He smiled gently at the last remark.
"I never doubt what I do is right," I replied vehemently. "And I trust Link a great deal—certainly more than you."
He laughed softly at this, "Dear one, you can tell that lie to all around you, but you cannot fool me. More importantly you cannot fool your Hero." He paused and smirked at me. "Just because he made a mistake… well don't we all make a mistake or two from time to time?"
I was caught off guard by the way he so casually referred to not only me, but Link as well. I was almost certain I had never formally met this man, and something told me Link had never met him either, so how did he know about us? More importantly, how did he know what occurred between Link and I? He couldn't know about the clone and my kidnapping. Not unless…
"Who are you to tell me such things? You don't know me and you certainly don't know Link," I accused him, folding my arms across my chest.
He shrugged once again. "No I do not think that I do, but my knowledge is not to be discussed here tonight. Alas time runs short as the Hero of Legend approaches. Farewell, Princess, and may all your nights be as pleasurable as this one."
With this last comment the man, dressed so strangely, melted into the crowd, and I swear by Din his blonde hair started to darken as he walked away. Though I pursued him quickly, I still lost sight of him. Confused and, to be honest, quite peeved, I started to search for Zelda. Being the queen of this realm she would surely know of every noble in the land within several generations by memory alone. I caught sight of her in the center of attention, of course.
I approached the crowd self-consciously, being the only Twili in attendance. I had invited Zant to come along, but he had laughed like a madman at the suggestion. "Queen Zelda, may I speak with you for just a moment?" I asked, interrupting a robust noblewoman. "I will be hasty," I tacked on as an after thought. She nodded and excused herself from the center of the crowd.
"Is something wrong?" She asked fearfully. I shook my head and saw her roll her eyes. Picking up habits, perhaps?
"Midna, I don't have time for jokes," she stated plainly.
"Of course not," I snapped. She frowned at my tone.
"You know what I mean," she replied quickly.
"Yes I know," I said with my voice taking a much more appropriate tone. "I didn't pull you over here to fight. I was wondering if you knew of a noble or any higher-class man with blonde hair, emerald eyes, and very dark skin. He dressed in all black with a strange collar around his neck holding a blue gem from it."
Zelda's brow creased as she thought about my description and ran through a list of nobles in her head. After a minute she slowly shook her head and looked back up at me.
"He sounds quite distinct from most other nobles I know of. Had I met him in the past I'm sure I would remember him now. No, I'm quite sure he is not of my court," she replied matter-of-factly. "He didn't harm you in anyway?" She inquired.
It was my turn to shake my head, "No, he only spoke with me, but he left me feeling a bit of unease." I let out a sigh; maybe I was just growing paranoid. "No matter, enjoy your ball, thanks for the time." I was about to walk off when Zelda spoke up again.
"By the way Midna, Link just arrived and was looking for you," she said hastily to my retreating back. I paused but didn't turn around. "He requested that I send you to the front doors of the room should I run into you, that's all." With that Zelda stepped away lightly, returning to the throng of nobles in the center of the room.
Link was looking at the ground shuffling his feet as the nobles passed him by, whispering and pointing at him. I felt a pang of guilt go through me; I probably could've taught him a thing or two before the ball so he wouldn't feel quite so left out.
Then again we hadn't been able to really speak before the ball, what with his training and then the emergency trip to the Twilight Realm. Not to mention Zelda's outburst.
"Hey," I said loudly, punching him in the shoulder. My loud words and rough action worked as I had intended. Link immediately straightened up and grinned at me.
"Hey Midna I was looking for you," he said pleasantly, still grinning from ear to ear. I swear he could act so young at times.
"So I heard," I replied coolly. "Can you dance?" I saw the tips of his ears go red and he looked down, but he nodded nonetheless.
Making our way to the area reserved for dancing, I couldn't help but glance sideways at Link. I'd never really seen him dressed in anything other than his Hero's Tunic, with the exception of the Zora armor, but that didn't really count.
I must admit, he cleans up well; his messy, dirty blonde hair had been tied back, though his bangs were left untamed and nearly fell into his eyes. Adorned in a nice white, silk shirt and black slacks along with a fresh pair of boots, he actually looked like he could be a natural-born nobleman.
He awkwardly offered a small bow before wrapping his arms around my waist. Obliging, I placed my hands on his shoulders and grinned at him.
"Now, where would a farm boy learn to dance?" I questioned impishly. "And more importantly, since when did he know how to dress up?" He scoffed a bit and laughed nervously.
"Ilia," he replied, my nose wrinkling up in slight disgust. He barked another quick laugh. "I mean she taught me how to dance; the clothes I just found lying in my room, I guess Zelda set them there for me.
We slowly circled around the dance floor, not really caring if we stayed in step with the music or not. I kept my eyes on Link, but he refused to meet my gaze—looking everywhere except at me. I sighed softly, and he misinterpreted as frustration.
"I'm sorry about what I did yesterday," he insisted softly. "I really have no idea what came over me; I don't think I've ever been that violent before in my life." He paused and his face clouded over with uncertainty. "Although, maybe I was violent before and just don't remember it yet."
I shook my head. "Oh, no Link. Don't think that." I looked up and met his eyes. "You only ever did the right thing, even though it was hard at times."
He looked away and chuckled bitterly. "Is that a clever way for saying I'm right?"
I narrowed my eyes at him. "No, it's not." He met my eyes once more, something akin to admiration in his eyes.
"I'm sorry," he replied, and then he fell silent as we circled for a few minutes. "Midna?"
"Mmhm?"
"I remembered the first time you were here." I jerked to a stop, throwing Link off balance and catching him off guard. I had misread the admiration in his eyes earlier: it had been curiosity. He had re-acquired nearly half his memories and was testing me to see if I would lie to him.
"How much do you remember?" I demanded a bit too loudly.
He glanced around at some of the nobles and peasants who had stopped to stare at the scene we were causing. I caught Zelda's eye from across the room, and I could practically feel her irritation from where I stood. So much for not drawing attention to myself.
"Midna, let's go talk outside," Link suggested. He took a step back, breaking the contact between us before offering his arm. I took it as expected and he led us out the great wooden doors to the castle courtyard.
We walked calmly out of the room, but as soon as we were outside I stopped him. "How much do you remember?"
He held his hands up. "Midna, I don't remember as much as you think. Please, can we sit down and talk about this?" he requested sensibly. I nodded stiffly and followed him to a stone bench set in the middle of a freshly planted garden. A massive fountain ran nearby, although I could only see the tip of it over the tall hedges.
Link sat down next to me, a respectful distance away. For a brief moment I wanted to growl in frustration; I over-reacted in the ballroom. I had no idea what he remembered, but if he remembered anything that would've upset him would he really have shown up at the ball and sought me out?
"Link, I'm sorry, I don't know what got into me back there," I apologized, not looking at him and clenching my hands on my lap.
"It's okay, I shouldn't have dropped something like that on you in there," he amended nobly.
"So what did you remember?" I asked once again, this time calmly.
He leaned back on the bench, relaxing now that we were both on the same page again. "It's just little parts," he explained. He didn't say anything for a while after that, but I waited patiently, sensing he had more to say. Finally he asked, "Somewhere along the line… did you ever care?"
The question took me off guard. Not so much the question itself, maybe, so much as the fact that he was actually asking.
"Somewhere along the line? What do you mean?" I inquired with genuine interest.
"I've done this with you before haven't I? I feel like… I get déjà vu all the time when I'm traveling with you and I keep wondering why. I think we've done all this before, maybe not exactly, but something very similar to it. And on top of that, even before we started running around doing all this crazy stuff, you already knew me, but I had no idea who you were. Did you care back then?" He sat up straighter, turning to face me, determination in his stern, blue eyes.
"I don't know what you're talking about, back when?" I asked, feigning ignorance. Hopefully he would drop it if he thought I wasn't going to give him any information. So much for my earlier determination to speak openly with him tonight.
He made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat. "Back whenever we did this the first time!" he exclaimed, irritated.
I let out a sigh and rested my head against my hand. "We actually got along pretty poorly the first time around… till closer towards the end."
"What happened at the end?"
"I… left." Suddenly I realized I was about to have the conversation I would've had, if I had chosen to tell Link that I was leaving prior to actually leaving.
"Why?" He paused. "I mean did you just not like it here? Were you forced to leave? Did something bad happen…?" He winced a little before voicing his next possibility, "Did I do something?"
"Oh, Link you never did anything wrong. You were my best friend; you saved your land and you saved mine. Even after you knew I had forced your hand in so many ways, when I was at my lowest point, you didn't turn away like others—so many others—would have. You stayed with me, you saved me, and you saved my people, my home."
I felt my eyes water up a bit. Keep it calm, keep it calm… don't get him wound up. "Link, you mean a lot to me. You're my best friend. When I left… When I told you I would see you later I was lying at the time, and I've regretted that ever since."
"You weren't going to tell me good-bye though," he insisted suddenly.
I threw my hands up and leaned back. "No, I tried to leave you with the hope that we might meet again, and it was wrong of me to place that false hope, okay? I admit it, I was wrong."
He gave a frustrated sigh. "No, I mean… you weren't even going to even say that. You started to say something else."
"You remember that?" I swallowed nervously. What else did he remember? How much did he remember? And when did this happen exactly? Was it coming back to him as we spoke?
"Don't worry," he reassured. "I just remembered you leaving just now. But I remember it really clearly: you were going to say something else."
"Don't be stupid. What else was left to say at the end of all of that?" I scoffed, looking away from him.
"All of what exactly?"
"It's your job to remember!" I barked back irritably.
"You're really grumpy—and avoiding my questions," he smirked.
"Forget about it!" I growled in frustration.
"I did!"
I did the only thing I could do in a situation like this. I let out a huff of breath angrily, stood up, and started to walk away.
Of course Link jumped up after me. "Wait, Midna. I didn't mean to make you mad."
I paused my angry march and let out a defeated sigh. "Don't worry about it," I muttered, deciding I couldn't avoid this conversation. I turned around and walked back to the bench. Sitting down I said, "You don't remember yet, but I probably deserved it in some greater cosmic sense anyway. I wasn't kind to you."
"Maybe not at first."
"What do you mean by that?" I gave him a suspicious look. Did he remember more in light of my outburst? Probably nothing good, if that was the case.
"Well you told me earlier that I'm your best friend. You must not have hated me all the time."
I shrugged indifferently and turned to look at the hedges—anything but him.
I felt Link's hand fall gently on my shoulder. "I know I shouldn't ask, but I have to know."
I turned around and snapped at him, "Why do you need to know anything?"
"Because I have to know myself before I can know whether or not I can save the world like everyone's expecting me to. I can't know myself without knowing my friends," he explained.
"You're you." I shifted my body in order to properly face him, and he let his hand slide from my shoulder. "If there's one thing I can tell you in complete honesty and a hundred percent assuredness it's that, memories or not, people don't change all that much."
He gave me an exhausted smile. "Why are you so stubborn about telling me what happened?"
"Because nothing happened and you don't get that!" I shouted, balling up my fists.
"I just want to know what you were going to say!"
This was turning into the earlier conversation all over again. "I wasn't going to say anything!"
"Yes you were!" He reached up and trapped my face between his hands. "What were you going to say?"
"Why's it so hard for you to just let this go?" I whispered, feeling an uncomfortable heat creep up my neck.
"I told you: I need to know this!" He leaned closer. "This memory needs to be complete; it's the only one I have!"
I looked away from him the best I could with my head trapped between his hands. "It is complete! I never told you what I was going to say!"
"So you were going to say something!" he smirked triumphantly.
"Just stop it Link!" I glared at him again. "It has nothing to do with you!"
"It has everything to do with me! It's my memory!" he argued. "Besides, didn't you yourself say that you regret what you did? This is your chance to fix it so fix it!" he reasoned. "What were you going to say?"
"I—," I hesitated. I couldn't help it; he had no idea the weight of what he was asking. I couldn't tell him then in those final desperate moments, what made him think I could tell him now?
"Midna!" He leaned closer still and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to ignore his proximity. "What were you going to say?"
"I love you!"