Fyras14: I really should keep up with my goal...but, man, is it hard...sorry guys for making you wait on this update...took quite a while, sorry. I had a small bout of writer's block while i was working on some other stories and well, this skipped my mind altogether, especially with university coming back to bite me.

I'm already working on the next chapter, but like I said, I will only look for errors in the chapter, add some things up, and erase others, but dont worry...I will definately finish this story by this year!...or the next.

Summary: After the attack on her castle, Zelda manages to escape, half dead. Found by Link in the wild, she is taken care of, but when fate plays its harsh hand once more, the princess must do everything in her power to aid the hero, recover her kingdom, and maybe fall in love. AU Twilight Princess.

Please read or review, or criticize, whichever comes first. Flames are not accepted, frowned upon, and possibly deleted.

Also remember, that this story is not a walkthrough, and that Zelda and its characters do not belong to me.

When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.

-Henri Nouwen

-Chapter 10-

-Old Friends Never Forget-

Link grumbled as he made his way out of Malo's shop, with a new Hylian Shield on his back, walking towards the spring. That little Malo…what a kid. The little brat had basically stolen his rupees, almost all of the rupees that he had managed to gather on the mines, and on that Forest Temple. Now, he was basically poor all over again, and Midna was making fun of him from his shadow. "That kid got you good! Hahahaha!"

"I don't wanna talk about it…" Link grumbled, while Shannon behind him shook her head, as if feeling sorry for him…although, she was shaking a bit. Laughing, maybe, Link didn't even want to think about it.

"Hahahaha! Mr. Hero done in by a little kid!"

"Midna…" Link warned. His shadow only waved its hand.

"Okay, okay, no harm done! Anyway, here we are, Mr. Hero!" Link stopped looking at his shadow when he noticed that the imp was right. They were back in front of the spring of Eldin. Before long, Link heard the voice of the great spirit calling out for him. You have done a good job in freeing the Gorons of their plight…but, do not believe this is over…Eldin told them, from deep within the spring. Evil still plagues this land, and you are far from cleansing it…Link nodded, somehow he was expecting this, not that he expected anything easy. Now, heed my words, Heroic Link…the spirit whispered. North of here, across the plain and past the great stone bridge, in the lands guarded by the spirit Lanaryu…you shall find the one that you seek…At that, both Link's and Shannon's eyes widen.

"….Ilia…?" Link managed to whisper, turning to glance down at Shannon, who only looked down to the floor, not wanting to meet his face. Both man and beast stood silent for the longest time, before a small squeak got their attention. Turning around, both gasped as they saw a young Colin, bandaged from head to toe, behind them, Renado and the kids. "Colin…" Link whispered, and the boy only smiled at him, as he slowly walked up towards him. The hero was a bit alarmed, but after seeing the smiling face of Renado and Luda, he knew he had nothing to fear. Shannon, too, began to walk towards the young boy, and squeaked in surprise when he fell to his knees, too tired to walk. Link quickly went to the boy's aid, who managed a thank you, before he looked back at the blue eyes of the hero.

"Link…" The young boy said, his words almost a whisper. "Ilia…" Link looked at him, eyes carrying worry. "You've got to save Ilia!" Colin cried, making Link frown a bit. He´s straining his body too much…he thought, but said nothing as the boy, still kneeling in the floor, went on with his small tale. "Those monsters…left me and the others…but they have taken her somewhere else!" Colin took a long deep breath, and continued, glancing to his side to see the hawk, who only stood firm, watching him, as if saying, 'Go on, you can do it.' The young boy smiled at the hawk, who only returned the greeting with a nod. Colin turned to face Link again, who still had that worried frown on his face. "Whe-whenever I thought I couldn't go on, I would think of you and Ilia and hold in,"

"Colin…"

"Link…" Colin calmly got up, flinching a bit, as the hero kneeled now before him. The boy looked down at him and gave him a small smile. "See? I…I'm fine now." Colin quickly flinched as he said that, making Link shake his head.

"Colin, listen I-"

"Remember what I told you back in Ordon, Link?" Colin suddenly asked, interrupting whatever the hero was going to say.

"Yeah," the young man before him told him, grinning a bit. Shannon nodded a bit, as if proud of the young boy nearby. A boy who was hurt and in pain, was here now, keeping his head up and enduring it all as he went on talking.

"When I grow up, I'm going to be just like you, Link!" Colin cried, grinning. "So you don't have to worry about me anymore! Go help Ilia!" Link smiled sadly at the young boy, before he got up. He patted the boy's blonde hair, and turned to face Renado, who much to Link's amazement was accompanied with an indifferent Barnes.

"Leave the children to me." The shaman told the younger man, patting Colin's shoulder, in returned the boy grinned back at him. "I will watch over them, I swear it."

"I…I really don't know what to say, Renado…you are too kind." Link told him, shaking the shaman's hand.

"Do not let their fates trouble you," Renado advised, watching as the hawk made her nest back on top of the hilt of the sword. "Go to those who need you." Link nodded, removing his hand from his. Renado, then, turned to face Barnes, who had a small bag on his hands. "And, before you leave, Barnes here, has a gift for you," he grabbed the bag from a frowning Barnes and gave it to Link. The hero balanced it in his hand, before he turned to face the shaman and bomb maker, a look of confusion on his face.

"And this?"

"Bombs." Barnes said, simply. Shannon, too, took a peek at the bag, and then turned to the ground, as if finding something interested in it. "They're yours…used them as you will." Link was baffled for a couple of seconds, before he spoke up.

"Really?" Renado gave the hero a nod.

"Use them, Link…your journey might be long, and those bombs may help you more than you think."

"I see," Link turned to face Barnes, who was with both arms across his chest. "Thank you, Barnes…"

"It's not like I wanted to give them to you, really," the bomb maker told him, frankly. "in fact, it was Renado that forced me to give them to you." Link turned to the shaman, who merely shrugged. The hero stifled a chuckle, before he nodded. He turned to the kids, and gave them all a small good bye. For Malo, he and Link exchanged glares, before they said good-bye. Colin, Talo, Beth, and even Luda, were given a nice good-bye hug, before the children waved as Link was leaving, accompanied by Renado, and some Gorons that had began to fill the town. Barnes only grumbled as the hero left.

Link was making his way back to Epona, who was already grassing in the outskirts of the village, apparently she had been bored on waiting for his master and the little hawk upon his hilt. The hero still had the bomb bag on his hands, and before he could place them somewhere safe around the horse, they disappeared, causing Link to jump in surprise. He glared back at his shadow, and hissed, "MIDNA!"

"What? I was just keeping them safe for you in case you had…more accidents. You know, house that exploded…Kaboom? Does that ring a bell?" Link only glared at his shadow, and got on top of Epona, glancing back at the village for the last time, before the mare galloped away, with her master, a hawk, and a laughing shadow.

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A couple of hours away from the village, Link and the animals already faced a problem. Rain. Rain that came as suddenly as the black veil that covered half of the kingdom. Link didn't mind rain, really, well, at least before it began to bother his eyes and hair, the latter because it covered his eyes, and the first, because the latter did little work on removing itself from his face, no matter how many times Link shook it off. The two animals, on the other hand, were not exactly bothered by it. Shannon barely flinched when the rain fell upon her, but she didn't seem to really like it, shaking her wings a bit to get rid of the water, but after realizing it wouldn't make much of a difference, she stopped her little ritual, and unlike Link, accepted the fact that the rain was going to bother her, no matter what she did. Epona, however, didn't mind the joy of rain.

And so, the rain continued as the hero and the beasts made their way towards the bridge of Eldin. Epona galloped fast, not carrying for the rain that attacked her master and bird friend. Link shook his head, trying to get the wet feeling off of his head. It was after they left the bridge, that Shannon finally gave cry, catching not only Link's attention, but Midna's as well. "What is it, bird brain?" the imp asked her, visibly confused. Link turned to face his hawk friend, but his sight fell on something far away from his hawk friend, and on top of the bridge of Eldin. A twilight portal stood above a part of the bridge, and soon, a strange black thunder struck, sending sparks all over the small part of the bridge. That part cracked a bit, and then, turned black, and it formed into many little particles, that went straight towards the portal above. It then disappeared.

"…what in the world!" Link cried, turning Epona around so he could see the damage. Midna, too, inspected the damage and grumbled.

"…that is just wonderful," she muttered, quickly getting out of his shadow. "Look, I don't know what those guys back home did to your bridge, but we don't have time to worry about this…"

"But-but, why did they do it?" Midna shrugged.

"Beats me…as long as I'm concerned, there's nothing of importance—at least not for me—back there. Who knows, really?" Midna gave one last shrug, before she disappeared into his shadow again. Link and the hawk upon his hilt looked back at the missing portion of the bridge, before Epona galloped away, straight towards a rocky passage.

The passage went on for about an hour or so, crossing a bridge, and outrunning some Bulblins on the way, that Link finally reached his destination. The large black wall stood firmly like a gate, preventing anyone from entering. Link quickly got off of Epona, who was a bit confused on why her master and her hawk friend were leaving. Before Link could do anything, however, Shannon landed in front of Epona, and after a good deal of neighs and cries, the horse nodded, and lay not too far away from them. Link turned to face Shannon, and asked, "What you tell her?" Shannon only pointed her beak towards the black wall, and Link gave her a mocking scowl. Even without talking he pretty much understood what she meant, 'Get fur, paws, and a tail, and perhaps I'll tell you'. He calmly began to walk towards the wall, when suddenly, his shadow sprout from underneath his feet. Midna let out a small sigh.

"Ah, we are here, finally, and there's only one fused shadow, left," she informed the hero and the hawk. The little imp turned to face the wall, and shrugged. "…so, this is the last of the Twilight you'll see, I guess…" Link and Shannon gave the imp a confused look.

"You guess?" Midna ignored the question.

"You ask a little too much, don't you think? Now, do you two," she pointed a finger first at Link, then at Shannon. "want to go into the twilight?" A nod came from two heads. "Alright then, I guess I'll have to help you! Ah, but what a shame that this is the last of the twilight…" Link gave her a look, which she ignored, as she made her way towards the black wall. "I had become so fond of seeing it covering this world…"

"Ha, well, I beg to differ." Link told her, folding his arms across his chest. Shannon didn't react, however.

"Hehehee…well, we don't know for sure if this is the last you'll see if it, anyway! So, let's go!" Before Link could question her some more, Midna went straight towards the black wall, disappearing for a couple of seconds. Next thing they knew, two giant arms grabbed both hero and hawk.

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If there was one thing Zelda never could get used to, was when Midna dragged both herself and Link into the Twilight. During the journey, while she had grown close to Link—actually that had been before they even were stuck in this journey—the rather strange Midna, however, had been a friend. Of course, even she had trouble defining friend and nuisance from time to time, but the hawk princess knew that the imp only meant well, of course, in a freaky sort of way. In a way, even without the use of the triforce of wisdom within her, Zelda could see that she, just like Link, wanted to get rid of the Twilight from this world, and defeat this Zant. Yet, Zelda had this nagging feeling that Midna was much more than she appeared to be.

Shaking her feathered body, the princess looked around, and quickly spotted Link with Midna on top of him. They seemed to be talking about something, and the wolf, when he noticed Zelda, walked up to her. "Hey, Shannon," he said, earning a nod in return. "Anything interesting you wanna talk about, considering we now are on…what Midna calls, 'on the same terms'?" Zelda gave him a nod. She was planning to inform him anyway.

"Well, yes, something really interesting, actually…have you ever heard of Lake Hylia?"

"Yeah, why?"

"According a friend of mine, there seems to be trouble there," Link's ears perked up.

"Really?" He glanced back at Midna, who seemed a little interested in the conversation, but said nothing, only giving them glances, but not arguing to make them shut up and get going. "Hmm…you don't think those shadow beasts are causing trouble, do you?" Zelda took a deep breath before she went on again. Goddesses, she hated to lie to Link, even if she had been asked to do so by the spirits. It felt like she was betraying his trust somehow.

"I would not know…my friend said that he could not enter the area." The wolf was silent for a moment, before he spoke up.

"Was that friend of yours the raven I saw you talking with after we left the mines?" A nod. "I see…well, you think you can thank him for me, as…well, I assume this will be the last time I have a tail and fur."

"Sure, I'll pass on the message." Link gave her a nod, that in his way, was a smile, at least that's what Zelda hoped. He was so dreamy when he smiled…so beautiful when he looked so determine and ready to fight everything in the world…so…wait, what was she thinking? Zelda had to mentally slap herself from thinking out loud, or else. Her powers were still a little mixed up by the transformation, and she feared she might pass on the message with telepathy to the last person she wanted to tell. It was odd the fact that an animal was falling in love with her master…true, an animal, that was odd…but, was it so odd when the one falling in love was the princess and not the beast that held her down?

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It had not taken long for Zelda to follow the wolf through the air, inspecting the skies for any sign of enemies from above. When she found no within a mile or so, she flew low to be next to Link and Midna. "No nice welcome to greet us?" the wolf asked her, and Zelda nodded. "Well, that's great. I still got the bruises from that Darbus guy on my person…" He let a whine escape him, before he turned to face Zelda. "And how about you, Shannon? Are you well?" Zelda felt like blushing…ah, those blue eyes…why did they tempt her so?

"I-I am quite alright, rea-really…" the hawk princess stammered, mentally calling herself an idiot for losing composure. Idiot! Idiot! Link didn't seem to notice, though, but still went on to ask.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, yes! No problem, there, really!" Link cocked an eyebrow at her strange behavior, but said nothing. As if thinking that she was lying in order to not worry him. While it was true that neither Link nor Zelda rested, well, the hawk princess had actually taken a snooze during their small trek back towards Kakariko from the mines, neither had cleaned their injuries. The rain had taken care of that. Zelda had thought of using her healing magic on herself and Link, but realized that she couldn't perform that simple feat. Her strength, on the other hand, had returned to her, that normal human strength she used to have, during the fight with the leader of the Bulblin gang when they went to save Colin. She had thanked the Goddesses for returning her human strength for who knows what would have happened to herself and the young boy had she never recovered it. Fortunately for both of them, it seems that both their animal bodies were pretty resistant. Another gift of the gods, perhaps?

"…I see…but are you-" Midna quickly interrupted him, by pocking his head hard. The wolf turned to growl at her, but found her pointing at something not too far away.

"Hey! Look over there!" Link and Zelda looked over to where Midna was pointed. The hawk princess, who was hovering above ground, quickly flew towards the certain something that Midna had pointed at.

"Hey! Link, come and see this!" The hawk princess cried, glad to shift the conversation to another thing other than her well being…why did he have to be so cute, anyway? The wolf quickly walked up to her and examined the object. He then gave a loud gasp, eyes wide.

"Th-that…that is Ilia's bag!" Zelda looked back at him, worry as much as he was. If her bag was here, one could only expect the worst, at least she was trying to expect the better.

"Truly?"

"YES! She was always carrying this bag around with her, she always had dried fruit to give to the animals…" Link gave a loud whine, recalling old times he wouldn't likely see again. Zelda gave him a sympathetic look, although she felt the pain inside. It was her fault after all, that all of this was happening…hers and only hers. Had she done a better job as a ruler, no one, not Link, not Colin, not Ilia, nor anyone else would be suffering from this awful fate. How she hated herself. It was her fault and hers alone, and she knew it. This was only made worse because she was forced to hide that fact from someone she cared for, and for someone she vaguely considered a friend. Her elders always said that talking about the problem made the bruise hurt a little less, but even if she could talk to Link about it, she doubt the bruise would heal fast. She was the one that lost her kingdom, after all…

As she was thinking about her problems, Link was quick to smell for any smell that remained from the small bag. He almost jumped in happiness, catching Zelda and Midna's attention. Midna seemed to smirk at this. "So, you can smell that girl, right?" The wolf nodded. "…hmm…really, but this scent could be quite old…I wonder if she is alright? Eee hee!" Link growled in frustration, and before he and Midna could fire a barrage of insults against each other, Zelda interrupted.

"Link, please…you know that she is only teasing you," Zelda told him kindly.

"I know, but," Link growled at Midna, who only grinned.

"Now, now, doggy…listen to bird brain here once in a while, you might learn something…well, you might not know how to fly, but still, you'll manage something close." Link was about to jump on her, when he noticed Zelda's stern look, he sighed.

"…fine, fine…come on, Shannon, let's go find Ilia."

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Following Ilia's scent had not been too much trouble for Link, of course, the enemies, on the other hand, offered little satisfaction during the journey. While Zelda took care of them from the air, Link took care of the enemies, with a little help from Midna, from below. Soon, they were out of the rocky passage, to face the large green, well, once green pasture. Zelda looked up at her castle in the distance, her eyes ready to swell in tears, that is if hawks were capable of crying. "Well, well, it seems we are back again!" Zelda shot her a questioning look, that Link noticed and began to explain.

"Well…the first time I turned into a wolf, well…some of those guys wanted to make me a guest in the castle…but, by guest I mean, by force. They chained me up, Midna found me got me out, and here I am." Zelda suddenly turn to face the ground, saying a small, 'I see,' to Link, before she took the air again, and the wolf began to follow the scent again. Great, now she even felt worse. It was her fault this happen to him, too…why! Oh, why did this things happened to her?

"Only a little farther," Midna told them, making the two animals glance at her. "so hang in there! Or so I'd like to say, but…the going's a lot harder from here on out!" She explained, smiling a bit. She seemed to be obviously teasing them, but Link didn't really care, chasing the scent of his old friend, and running into some enemies in the process, which were easily ignored or dispatched by both hawk and wolf.

It had taken at least an hour for the two beasts to finally reach the bridge that led to the small town near the castle. Both Link and Zelda exchanged a look. Ilia was somewhere around here, and they didn't waste any time to look for her as they crossed the bridge.

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Link almost gasped at the sight of the many orbs that decorated the streets of the small town. Shannon, too, seemed surprised by the sight. "What…what happened here!" she asked, almost alarmed of the state the town was in.

"They just turned into spirits, Shannon…" Link told the hawk, reminding himself that it was the first time that she had seen the effects on the Twilight on normal people…well, at least people that weren't protected by some sort of power. "They technically can't see us, but we can hear them…so, it really isn't that bad…I think…" Shannon was quiet for a few moments, before she took off into the air, not wanting to say more, which Link found odd. Maybe she was worried…it wasn't like it was her fault this had happened.

Using his senses once more, Link quickly found out that no one in the town was the least worried. Of course, there were comments about the fire they had seen nearby the castle, and something about Lake Hylia, how it had been dry and stuff. Could this be what that raven was talking about? Link really couldn't tell, as he sniffed the ground to look for Ilia. "Whoa," Midna muttered from on top of him, causing him to glance up. "…this people are not even worried about what happened to their poor princess, are they?" Link only growled. Yeah, because they figure that she's dead by now. "Too bad, really…no one to mourn for that poor princess…but, well, you might mourn for her after all of this is done." Midna told him sympathetically, much to Link's amazement. The wolf didn't delve too much on it, as Ilia's scent became stronger than before. At first, Link thought that the scent went towards a building, however, it quickly came out of the building and turned away, much to Link's confusion. Had she been here before and then left?

Shannon from the air, watched him curiously. "Have you found her?"

"No…this scent has me going in circles…well, at least I found one I can follow without problems…" He began to sniff the ground again, and followed the scent away from the building, with Shannon not too far behind. Link soon, entered an alley, avoiding the spirits of people that polluted the place. He had taken more turns now, forcing Shannon to fly low, yet she didn't complain. Finally, he was met with another alley, with a door not too far behind. "She must be inside…" Link whispered, walking towards the open door, with Shannon walking behind him.

What greeted him was not a warm welcome, as he had expected, but a worried girl and older woman, looking at a small young Zoran boy that had difficulty breathing not too far away. Shannon went towards the Zoran boy's side, and inspected him first and then Ilia and the woman. "She's alright…yet," the hawk looked down again. "he…appears to be giving up…" Link got a little closer to see if he could hear anything interesting from Ilia and the older redhead woman nearby, also looking worriedly at the dying Zoran child. He almost flinched when he saw the bloody part where the arrow once was, he noticed that she had been bandaged.

"This boy…can't you help him?" Ilia asked the woman frantically. The woman, on her part, held her down by the shoulders to keep her sitting down.

"All right, little lady," the redhead cried. "try to settle down, okay? I just sent for the doctor! But…" She turned to stare at the Zora nearby. "this is strange…a child of the Zoras…I wonder if this is at all related to the incident the soldiers were talking about in back…" Link and Shannon exchanged a look, before Midna gave a giggle.

"Aw, what an emotional reuninon! Yes, a girl and her wolf! Eee hee!" Link growled at her, and she just brushed it aside. "Sorry, but you know how it goes! These folks can't see you guys, either…eee hee hee!" Link was quick to turn to Shannon, mouthing, 'Can I bite her head off, please?' Shannon only shook her head, as she turned to face Ilia and the redhead, before another voice caught her attention.

"Look, we have to check out what is going on in Lake Hylia, men! People have been complaining of not being able to visit the spirit, and now, we have an injured Zora child, dying! We must do something!" Both wolf and hawk began to walk towards a small table nearby. Four armored men were gathered around the table, all carrying lances and helmets.

"Look, Shiro," came a large armored man. "you know we can't go around doing things if the captain doesn't say otherwise…"

"HA!" Came the first voice that both Shannon and Link had heard. It belonged to a younger man, but he was taller than the three soldiers before him. He also was covered in armor from head to toe. "And do you mind telling me where our captain is? He isn't around here! He isn't worrying about this like we are! In fact, he seems to have disappeared from Castle Town entirely!"

"Ah, come now, Shiro…" came another armored man, shaking his head at this Shiro person. "Lake Hylia is the Zoras' concern…not ours."

"You are just avoiding the problem!"

"Like you are! I don't see you doing anything productive!" Shiro seemed to glare from underneath his helmet.

"Ah, and who was it that dragged those two nearby, when none of you wouldn't?" Shiro asked them, pointing back at Ilia and the Zora boy. "And you tell me I'm not productive! I simply ask for help to see what is wrong in Lake Hylia! Is that too much to ask!"

"We are suppose to be staying here, anyway…." A soldier whispered.

"The princess would never forgive us leaving behind our allies to their fates!"

"But she isn't here, Shiro! She can't say anything about that!"

"Come on, let's just put this for another day…" Link suddenly turned away, shaking his head. The armored men, minus one, were pretty cowardly, it seemed. Wanting to avoid the trouble to even go and help the people, what a group.

"Well, it seems we now know where to go," Midna said after a while of listening to the arguing men. "to Lake Hylia it is." Link and Shannon shot one last look at their friend, before they left the place.