Fyras14: Sorry for the delay again, guys...too much on my mind this past few weeks; I'm ashamed to say that I was a little lazy, however I did manage to fix and add new parts to this chapter; for example people that can still remember this scene from last time will notice the change right away.

I plan to work on a theory here. See you guys next update, which I hope comes fast, preferably by Sunday or Monday. I will be changing a bit of it.

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.

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.

-Albert Schweitzer

-Chapter 14-

-The King and the Imp-

Link looked around the underwater palace, his eyes scanning for any enemies he could not see; while he was glad that his sword and shield had not lost their purpose underwater, the hero was worried about the fact that he was slower than most of the creature's he had encountered so far, with the iron boots making his movement a little harder.

"We've just been here a few hours," Midna commented, as Link made his way towards a nearby door that he had unlocked minutes ago. "And still no sign of the Fused Shadow…hmm…I wonder who ate it this time?"

"Does it really matter?" Link asked, as the door revealed another room, with a large hole in the middle. "From the looks of things, we are going down again…"

"Yeah, yeah…so exciting," his shadow responded, sounding bored. "Hurry it up now, Mr. Hero! The faster we get that Fused Shadow the quicker we can end the mess Zant got this place in!" The hero only muttered about impatient shadows, before taking a deep breath and jumping down the hole. He was soon sinking, the armor magically attaching itself to his body and allowing him to breathe, as he slowly sunk in the darkness.

It's getting too dark in here, for my liking…Link thought, as he went in deeper and deeper. Something caught the corner of his eye, forcing the hero to look; he found nothing. He was alone in the darkness…or so it appeared. "…Why do I get the feeling that…?"

"….OOOOOUUUUUUUHHHHHH!" A loud cry suddenly attracted the hero's attention, making him look around frantically. He still couldn't see anything.

"SWIM! FAST, SOMETHING'S COMIN'!" Link barely had a chance to hear the warning before a large snake or something of the sort, swept past him; the monster managed to hit him hard in the chest with its giant tail before it turn to face him.

"…Oh…oh….man…"

"OOOOOOUUUUUUUHHHHHH!" cried the beast, showing its circular teeth, as it lunged towards the hero.

"…I hate this place…"

The only thing Link could do for now was swim.

Zelda flew above the waters of Lake Hylia, watching the strange sights.

Soon after her weeping spell in the Zora's tomb, the hawk princess had decided to go around and flew a bit in Kakariko, checking on the kids, and Ilia, and also hearing a few tidbits about Ralis's condition from Telma and Renado. Ilia, on the other hand, was still the same since Link had left to find that Fused Shadow. The children had all been very nice towards the amnesiac girl, taking their time to remind her of who she used to be, and even that knight, Shiro, had offered a helping hand.

Little Beth had told her all about the people of Ordon, hoping that would at least awaken some of her memory. It didn't work. Talo, too, tried to make her remember by telling her about a certain goat herder; it didn't do anything but make the girl wonder even more. Luda and Colin, however, still took care of Ralis, but still managed to say hello to Ilia when she came to see how Ralis was doing. Malo, Talo's little brother, was nowhere to be found, but if Zelda had to guess, she would assume the young man was running business in one of the abandoned shops, which she found out was named Malo Mart. Gorons, too, populated the small village, and waved when they say her flying in the sky, recognizing her as the small hawk that had accompanied the hero when he saved Darbus, who Zelda could have sworn had been wandering the village.

It didn't take a while to land in a nearby house, looking at some Zora nearby, all talking about some guy with a blue tunic entering their sacred temple hours ago. Zelda only hoped that Link was safe, and prayed for the Goddesses to be merciful on his journey and safe re—

"SHANNON!" The loud cry of a raven suddenly shook Zelda out of her reverie; Kaepora Gaebora landed just beside her.

"Kaepora! Whatever is wrong?" she asked the raven, who could only shake its head and point his beak towards Laky Hylia.

"You must go, now! Princess of Destiny!" Kaepora Gaebora cried. "You must leave! Hurry!" the raven went on. "There is not much time! Go, Ruler of Hyrule, to the Lanaryu Spring! QUICKLY!" Before Zelda could even begin to comprehend what the raven was saying, the bird was flying towards the spring; the hawk princess soon followed after the raven, asking,

"Who are you? How do you know who I am?" Zelda demanded, but the raven didn't answer as it suddenly disappeared into light causing the hawk princess to cry out in surprise.

"Hurry!" came Kaepora Gaebora's voice. "The hero and his companion need you!" And then, the voice was gone but that was enough.

Zelda didn't need to be told twice that Link and Midna were in danger; her questions could come back later.

Midna smirked as another Fused Shadow was safely in her possession. She had to admit, having that light dweller around with her had really served its purpose. Not that many of the light dwellers could actually showoff the fact that they took care of a giant sea monster, and underwater to boot! Now, with all the Fused Shadows in hand, she was ready to beat that bastard. Zant. How she despised to even call him that name. Calling him King was even worse than anything else, as it was an insult to everything precious. She almost felt sorry for that princess Zelda, almost, being one of the many casualties of the supposed king's greed, not like it was her business, anyway, the light dweller had brought that to herself.

Although Midna had to admit, that light dweller, Link wasn't half bad. She had come to admire the kid for his bravery, and despite all the insults, he had not opt to cut her in two with that sword of his. That bird, Shannon, too, had been quite friendly…and rather strange, but Midna couldn't be too sure if that was just her normal bird brain behavior as she understood nothing that the small hawk said. Shannon was, like her master, brave and kind, finding Midna's insults rude, but kept to herself like a real lady, which was odd, because that hawk was definitely no lady..she wasn't a human after all. The hawk, too, had even offered ideas to Link, as the hero had revealed to her that it had been Shannon that had requested they use their welcoming gift from Death Mountain, when Midna had asked him.

She and Link finally made it back to the spring, the hero still wearing the Zora Armor, which made him look a little silly on Midna's opinion, and she didn't mind stating it once in a while, throughout their whole adventure in the temple. However, coming back here would be the worst mistake ever…unfortunately, Midna didn't know it yet.

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Midna watched uninterested as Link and herself finally arrived at the spring. Link sighed in relief, glad to have returned back in one piece. Fighting underwater wasn't the greatest experience, and the Twili imp couldn't agree more. The hero faced the spring, and smiled, before he turned around and—

"Ah!" Link hardly noticed the Twili towering over him, until it was already too late. The hero looked back at the tall figure of Zant, the Twilight King, as he stared back at Link with that strange helmet of his. Midna took a defensive position within Link's shadow, knowing full well that this was going to end badly. Both hero and king faced off against each other, before the spring behind them began to glow. Midna had to switch her position within Link's shadow to see, and was rather surprised, when that giant snake, Lanaryu, got up from its spring, and cried back at Zant, holding a ball of light within its mouth. Lanaryu screeched at Zant, but the Twili King only raised a hand, and with strange force unknown to them, pushed the spirit of light against the wall. Lanaryu crashed against its sacred walls, before it fell back to the spring. Link had also received some of that force straight to his face, and now, he lay half conscious, as the Twilight took over the area.

Midna quickly got out of Link's shadow, as the latter transformed into a wolf. The imp sat nearby the half conscious wolf, and then, glared back at the evil king of the Twilight. "ZANT!" Midna cried, showing her small fang at him. Zant only chuckled under his mask, as with another swing of his hand, used some unknown telepathic power to make Midna float in the air. The imp yelped in surprise, as she floated over the small spring. She tried to shake off whatever force held her flying in place, but to no avail. Midna heard another chuckle from the evil King, and watched as the three pieces of Fused Shadows appeared before her eyes, and then, floated towards the king. Zant seemed to look at the pieces of the Fused Shadow for a while, before he laughed at Midna.

"Did you honestly believed that an ancient and withered power like this could be used against me!" The pieces flew behind him, and then, disappeared, much to the surprise of Midna. "You are a foolish traitor, my dear Midna…why do you defy your own king?" he asked her. Midna only glared at him, and struggled against her unseen chains.

"MY KING! You who do nothing but abuse the magic of your tribe! You have to be kidding me!" she cried, as she tried to free herself.

"How dare you! Are you implying that this great power is our old magic?" Zant asked her, and then, gave an humorless laugh. "NOW THAT IS A JOKE!" Suddenly, Midna floated in the air, behind him, and then, slammed against the ground. The imp cried in pain, as Twilight King laughed, as if she were a mere toy to be meddle with. "This power was granted to me by my god! And you will respect it!" Zant cried, forming some strange red ball of magic from his chest, his covered face facing Midna, ready to throw his attack at her. Suddenly, out of the blue, and much to Midna's surprise, Link jumped on Zant, and tried to bite him, only to receive the end of the ball of red light, and fall to the ground, weakened by the attack he had forcefully received.

"LINK!" Midna cried, going to his side, seeing something strange and black sticking in his forehead. She tried in vain to remove it from his head, but only looked on in shock as it went deep into his body, forever out of her grasp. The imp quickly tried to wake up the fallen wolf, but was quickly dragged back to the air again, her back facing Zant. The evil one crept closer to her, so that his mouth was close to her head.

"My Midna," he whispered sweetly, yet angrily in her ear. "have you forgotten? This beast is one of the light dwellers who oppressed our people. No matter how much you desire otherwise, you are nothing but a shadow in their world. You cannot consort with their kind!" Midna only stared at Link, trying in vain to ignore Zant's words. "But…if we can make their world ours, both light and darkness can mix…at last…our tribe will take back this realm, and darknesswill destroy this light!" Midna stayed silent, frowning and thinking hard. "And that, Midna, is why…" Zant told her, whispering even lower, and removing part of his helmet so that sharp teeth could be seen. "I need you…" The small imp only glanced at him, not daring to move. "Not just for me…but for all our people. Lend me your power." Midna, in a sudden and surprising movement, shook her unseen chains away, and floated towards Link, causing Zant to growl in anger.

"Never have I heard such disgusting things in my life, you bastard!" Midna cried, patting Link on his head to wake him up. "I shall never join you!"

"So be it! I shall return you to that world of light, you so MUCH COVET!" Midna was raised up in the air, and dragged to the spring. The imp finally realized what Zant was going to do, and watched in mixed horror as the spirit was forced out of the spring. He was going to kill her, using Lanaryu's light!

Midna tried a desperate attempt to shake herself off, not wanting to die. She could feel the rays of light begin to touch her, as Lanaryu's frantic screeches were heard, trying like her to get out of Zant's grasp. Midna stopped struggling, her end near, not caring if she heard Zant grunt suddenly, she knew that her end was near, so the imp closed her eyes and accepted her fate. She could feel the light getting closer and closer, until a loud cry caught her by surprise. Opening her eyes, she saw the bright brown wings of a hawk in front of her. Midna gasped, realizing what the hawk was doing. Using her own body, Shannon was protecting the imp from the light spirit's light. Small particles of white light began to spread from Shannon's glowing white body towards the imp, which amazed Midna even more. How? What? Who?

"YOU!" Zant cried, taking a few steps back as he watched the hawk defend Midna. The imp was utterly confused of what Zant meant, for she was still watching the small white particles float and be absorbed by her body.

"MIDNA!" cried a voice from inside her head. It was rich, and powerful, yet gentle and serene. A goddess? "Accept half of my light, now! This shall protect you!" Half of her light? What the heck was she talking about?

Midna soon realized what the voice meant, for after all the white particles were absorbed within her body, that burning sensation was gone. Shannon flapped her wings hard, as if trying to shake awake in front of the imp, before she was attacked by a red ball of light.

"PRINCESS ZELDA!" Midna didn't have any time to be shocked, as she began to disappear in flash of light, followed by Shannon and Link. She only managed to hear the loud cry of anger from Zant before everything turned dark.

The next time Midna opened her eyes, she and Link, along with Shannon, who was lying weakly nearby, with some bruises and cuts, were on Hyrule Field. Link was shaking off his unconsciousness from his face, and then, let out a loud gasp when he saw the hawk lying hurt in the ground. Midna examined her body, and then, turned to face the hawk, who was talking to the wolf, wondering what she did or better yet, what had Princess Zelda done?

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It was deep into nightfall that the beasts decided to camp. Just moments ago, they had heard the message of Lanaryu, who ordered them to go to the Faron Spring in order to aid Link and turn him back to a human.

Midna glanced at the hawk, once or twice, as she was settling into the ground, as Link went to look for food around the area for both of them, as the imp had politely declined eating. Once Link was out of earshot, the Twili imp floated towards the bird, and began to examine her all around. Shannon only looked at her patiently, not really crying out or anything. She didn't even blink. Midna, done with her inspection, calmly floated back to the ground. "Thanks…for helping me…" Shannon nodded. "But…who are you, really? You are no normal bird…"

"Just like you are no normal Twili," came that voice inside of her head again. "…you are correct in saying I am no normal beast…" Midna gave Shannon a suspicious look, that the bird ignored. "I was once a human…I was cursed to this form by the one you call Zant," she explained through Midna's mind. The imp seemed to understand this explanation, and only came out to one conclusion; one she found hard to believe.

"You are…?"

"Yes…I am…Princess Zelda…or I was once…" Midna could hardly believe what she had heard. All this time, she had been with them! How could she not notice! Her surprise ended as quick as it came.

"But…why? Why did you hide from me and Link?" the imp demanded, crossing her small arms over her chest. The hawk, Zelda, turned her head to the ground, and the imp somehow regretted in using such a tone to the person that saved her life.

"It was…necessary that I did not reveal myself to you…that way, Zant wouldn't have another reason to get rid of you…but, it seems my plan failed…"

"So…you were hiding from Zant, all this time?" A nod. "...so…rumors of your death were just that…rumors?" Another nod.

"Yes…once Zant cursed me with his evil magic…I was…able to flee…however, seeing as the princess was no longer in the palace, my people assumed the worst."

"But…why would Zant-"

"I do not know..." came Zelda's reply. "he was doing it on the orders of his god, who you must have heard of…he told me I had something that belonged to him…"

"Like what?"

"This…" Extending her wings, so her feathered chest would be exposed. Seconds passed, and then, a strange triangle mark, like the one she had seen in Lanaryu's spring. It glowed in a bright golden color. "…this mark…gives me great magical abilities…I was able to give you the ability to becoming part of this world with this…mark…" Midna looked at her hands once more, and then back at Zelda.

"But…how?"

"I managed to transfer half of my light to you…without destroying my body in the process…now, you can walk this world of light…"

"But…why did you-" She heard a small laugh in her head, the hawk shaking her head at her.

"Midna…take it as a gift…for helping Link in his journey in saving my land…which I could not save from Zant..." The mark on her chest was gone, and Zelda covered her body with her wings once more. " Nothing will happen to me, without half my light…since I can use my magic to keep me full…" Zelda explained, as she saw Midna's concerned look. "Once your body is free…my light will be returned to me…"

"Free? You mean…you know who I am?"

"I can only guess…but I assume Zant has done some terrible magic to you, as well…Midna…take my light as a gift to help you, nothing more."

"But…I-I can't just accept this…"

"Please do, Midna…I can feel your suffering, as well…do not belittle my gift, please, I beg of you…and please…do not reveal my secret to Link…"

"Why?"

"You will be doing me a great favor if you kept my identity to yourself…please…" Midna was about to ask her more, when Link began to approach them, holding some branches on his mouth, that had some red berries attached to it.

As the two animals ate, Midna realized why Zelda wanted her to keep it a secret…she was just like her…ashamed to be known by the world…but, while Midna was ashamed of the form she took, and the consequences that came with it, what was Zelda ashamed of, exactly?