Disclaimer: I do not own "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess" or any of its characters

So I didn't die or anything and I'm really sorry for the extremely late update. I hope you guys didn't give up on me.

I've had so much stuff to do seeing as I'm getting my one of my full length novels published! I'm so excited!

Anyways, I think you guys have waited long enough. We ended with Serafina revealing herself to the Ordonians and Midna transported her, Link, and Serafina to the Mirror Chamber.

"You know? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Midna asked.

"It means that everything is happening according to my plans. You see, Link may have had a chance of convincing everyone that his wolf form was still good, but now that he's been seen with Twilit beings, creatures who these Hylians," she spat out the word, "believe are evil, he has no hope of gaining the trust of anyone ever again." She ended with a light laugh.

"Is this how you're getting your revenge on me, Serafina?" Midna growled.

"Of course not. I'm not harming you by hurting him, am I?" Serafina said. She was looking at Midna for a long moment before she said, "or am I?" with genuine curiosity.

Midna seemed to choke back her words for a moment, like she'd been caught in the act of a crime. When she collected herself, she asked, "So then, if this isn't revenge, why are you doing it?"

"I'm doing it for my dad," she said with a menacing grin. "I'll be back," she whispered. Her voice echoed as her body faded to fine black dust and flew into the sky.

"Her dad?" I asked.

"I don't know. My mother would never tell me who her father was, like she was ashamed or something," Midna mumbled. "Whoever he is, this just means that we have two more people we need to look out for. Serafina is a force to be reckoned with and I'm sure her father is just the same."

I sighed and turned away from Midna. "Can we still handle this? It's not only Ganondorf now, but Serafina and her dad as well. And on top of that, now I have to be aware of everyone who's trying to kill or capture me." I was silent for a moment before I said, "I'm really sorry, Midna. I should've expected the way they reacted to myself and Serafina. The people of Hyrule don't trust anything they don't know."

"Link," Midna whispered. I could feel her hand on my back, lightly touching me as if she was unsure of what to do.

"You don't have to stay here, Midna. I won't put you through this with me," I said.

Her hand pressed harder against my back until it traced around my side and she appeared in front of me. "I won't make you face this alone, Link. I've been here all along and I don't plan on leaving any time soon."

I kept my eyes down until her fingers touched my chin and forced me to look into her eyes. "No matter how you look at it, Link, you being involved is my fault. A shadow beast is what brought you into the Twilight the first time but, after you got out, you could've just lived normally," she mumbled.

"As a wolf," I smiled softly. "It's not your fault. I would've helped you anyways. It's just the type of person I am. With or without the triforce."

"Either way, you've helped me fight Zant and defeat Ganondorf once, now I'm going to help you this time. One way or another, we will do this," she smiled.

I looked into her eyes and my head raced. I knew what I wanted, but how could I tell her now that there's no possible way we'll be able to be together. She won't let me stay in the Twilight Realm and I won't force her into a world that doesn't trust her. I sighed and dropped my head.

"What is it, Link?" Midna asked with worry.

"You remember what you were saying at my house? About the words we couldn't say?" I mumbled.

"Yes..."

"And your question. You asked what I missed most about our adventure."

Midna nodded.

"Well, the reason I couldn't tell you then, was because I wasn't sure how you'd respond. Now, I'm just so unsure whether or not we'll be able to stay together. I feel like the smallest thing will be able to pull us apart and I want you to know." I hesitated for a long moment. She searched my eyes endlessly, hoping to find the answers to her questions. "The thing I missed most about our adventure was you."

Her eyes doubled in size.

"The truth is, Midna... I love you. I didn't realize it until you left, but once you were gone... I thought it was too late. The reason I jumped to the stone was because I couldn't imagine what was happening to the Twilight Realm and I wanted to make sure you were safe."

"You did all this for me?"

I lowered my eyes. She was quiet for a long moment until I suddenly felt her arms wrapped around me. I was frozen stiff with shock.

"I'm so happy," she said with tears. "I've wanted to tell you all this time now, too, but I didn't think you felt the same and I didn't want to burden you."

"Burden me?" I asked as I pulled her away from me.

"How can you live a normal life while being in love with a being from another world?" she cried softly.

"My life is far from normal, even without you. You bring me the closest to normalcy that someone like me can get."

"How do you figure?"

"For someone like me, someone who's constantly fighting someone or something, someone who never gets a moment's peace for more than twenty-four hours; having someone to love is the only piece of a normal life that I have."

Midna smiled softly and a tint of pink took her cheeks.

I took her chin in my hand and held it there for a moment. "I love you, Midna. But I can't expect you to stay here with me when the people distrust you so much. I can handle if they hate me, but I don't want to put you through that," I whispered.

"Had it not been for you protecting me, you would have your life still. You chose to risk yourself rather than let them see me. I could've hidden from them all along, even if they saw me then, but you can't. If you won't let me take full blame for this mess, at least let me take half. And because I'm half to blame, I'll stay here with you and we'll endure it together. Besides, we have no chance of defeating our adversaries if we don't do it together," Midna said.

I smiled softly to her and stared into her eyes. We were silent.

As I looked into her eyes...

Midna's POV

As I looked into his eyes...

Link and Midna Overlap

I knew this was where I was meant to be at this very moment.

Link's POV

She's the only person who matters...

Midna's POV

And I'll do whatever it takes to protect him.

Link and Midna Overlap

No one else matters. We can do anything as long as we're together.

Link's POV

I couldn't take my eyes off of her. It's like my whole world was spiralling out of control and its center of gravity was her. She was the only thing keeping me stable. As I looked at her, I saw a glassiness forming in her eyes and a small tear fell down her cheek. The smile slowly faded from my face as I inched closer to her. Her smile softened and her eyes widened as I moved closer. There was a moment of hesitation when our lips were millimetres apart. Our eyes remained locked in a gaze, even as she raised her hand to my cheek. I closed my eyes slowly as I moved closer and closed the gap. Our lips met with a spark and the moment seemed endless.

As we slowly and hesitantly stepped back, she looked into my eyes once more and said, "I love you too, Link."

I couldn't hold back my smile as I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into a close embrace.

Midna's POV

I don't know why, but his hug surprised me. I just kissed him, but it was the hug that caught me off guard. I never wanted to let him go, but I knew that we had other things to worry about right now. "Link," I mumbled. He let me go slowly, but still kept me within his arms. "We need to figure out what we're going to do. Ganondorf is after the princess and, if the townspeople won't let us near her, we can't protect her."

"I know," he said in a low voice before he let me go, looking away. "And my scent is still in Ordon. No one is safe." He turned to me with a serious expression and said, "We're going to have to do something."

"I think our only option is the fused shadow," I said as I pulled the broken remains of the shadow from under my cloak and held my hands out under them, making the hover above. "This magic is old, and I'm not sure how it can be repaired."

"We never did get to talk to the princess about it," he said. "We need to find a way to get near her, but the closest portal is outside castle town. There's no way the guards will let me through, human or not."

I giggled and said, "You never did get to experience my full power before." He looked at me in confusion and I said, "I'm not bound by the portals anymore. I can teleport you right to Zelda's bedroom chambers."

"Then what are we waiting for?" he smiled.

I smiled with him and touched his cheek before using my power to teleport us to Zelda.

~*~ Link's POV

When my vision stabilized, I was on the roof of the castle, just above Zelda's room. I sighed and said, "I guess you still can't teleport me without turning me to this form," as I looked to my grey paws, one of which was still bound with a shackle.

Midna appeared at my side and said, "No. Though you can walk in the Twilight Realm in your human form, teleporting takes you through a dark corridor which, much like the fog that Zant cast in the Twilight Realm, will force you into that form."

As she took the crystal from my being and my form changed back to a human, I asked, "The sols can't protect me?" as I drew the Master Sword from its sheath.

Midna stepped closer and traced her finger down the length of the blade. A line of white light glowed faintly for a moment where her finger touched. "The sols do have the power to fend of twilight, but these corridors are too condensed. There is just too much for the sols to block," she explained.

I looked down to the sword in my hand and said, "'A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage'..."

"Link?" Midna asked me.

I sheathed my sword as I said, "I can't depend on the Master Sword and the sols to do everything for me. Let's go talk to the princess." I turned to the end of the roof where I knew there was a window. "Do you have any way of knowing if there are guards in there with her?"

"I can try to sneak in with the shadows, but I won't be able to get any closer than the shadows reach," she said.

"It's worth a try," I said. "If you can see Zelda and someone is in there with her, try to signal to her and she might be able to get them to leave."

"Alright, I'll do my best," she said as she drifted over the edge of the roof and vanished into the shadows. I stood and looked over the proud town of Hyrule. I wondered if I'd ever be able to be among these people again. My thoughts were disturbed when an arrow rushed inches past my head. I looked down to where the arrow came from and saw Auru, Ashei, Rusl, and Chad standing with Telma and some soldiers at the edge of the castle grounds. Auru was had strung and fired another arrow, but I was able to draw my shield and deflect the weapon just in time. When I looked back around my shield, I saw Rusl's hawk flying in my direction and I knew I couldn't hold him off without killing him, which I refused to do.

"Get out of here, Link!" Telma shouted in her booming voice. "We made it clear that we don't want you around anymore!"

I wanted to call back, but I needed to get away from the hawk. I threw my shield back over my shoulder before slipping down over the roof and in through the window. I ran up the stairs and barged in the room just as a guard was leaving.

He tumbled to the ground before quickly getting to his feet and drawing his sword.

"Please, stop!" Zelda cried.

"He's dangerous, princess!" the soldier shouted before he charged at me.

I drew my sword out of instinct and heard the princess gasp. I knew why and she was right. Even in my defence, I can't hurt her people. I moved quickly, hitting the blunt hilt of the Master Sword into the soldier's chest, taking his breath away momentarily.

"Link!" Zelda called.

"He'll be fine," I said as the soldier fell to the ground, gasping for breath. "He's just stunned."

Zelda looked to her guard with worry, but knew Link was right.

Midna came out of the shadow without surprising Zelda and said, "You were supposed to wait for me to come get you!"

"I was running out of time," I said. "Telma and the others are outside the castle. I can't reason with them anymore."

Zelda lowered her gaze and said, "I wish they could see how much they need you."

"I understand you're upset, princess, but we really need to speak with you and we won't have much time here," Midna said.

"If you two take me away from here, they will only suspect you more," Zelda said.

"Princess, we have much more pressing matters to deal with right now," I said. "I can regain their trust somehow, but we need to worry about the real problem first."

Zelda looked to me, Midna, and the guard writhing on the ground before she mumbled, "alright. I'm sure the castle and the town will be safe with the soldiers and the others here." She stepped forward and took mine and Midna's hand before we were all taken by a white light.

Alright, chapter 12 is finally done after sitting partially written on my computer for almost a year now lol. And I finally got my chapter length up as promised. It was a bit of a drastic change in length, but I found that when I tried to do it gradually like I said before, well, I ended up keeping them short by accident. I also want to apologize for the really bad POV switching in this chapter before the kiss. I promise it won't happen like that again. Okay, well, I think that's all I have to say and I hope that I'll have a new chapter up soon. Cya!