Link could have predicted a lot of things when Zelda waved her hand. Maybe they would be teleported to Hyrule Field, or somewhere in Castle Town, or maybe even the Arbiter's Grounds. But he found himself in a circular, wood-smelling room with caterpillars, spiders, and beetles slinking and scurrying about. No...could it be...

"Big Sis!"

Link whirled to his left, and saw Princess Zelda herself getting nearly tackled by the young maiden Judging by the woman's yelp, the ygirl must have had a lot more strength in her muscles than her size implied. Then, almost as fast as the hug began, it ceased and Zelda got time to breathe again.

"You know," Zelda smiled even as she heaved. "We're just cousins. No need for such categories like 'big' and 'little.'"

Agitha, Princess of the Bugs, straightened out the new wrinkles in her dress and gave a twirl. "If you say so, but you'll always be Big Sis to me!" She looked towards Link. "I see you've brought guests! A gallant knight in green, and...whoa, is that an elf?"

Link turned around. Midna had regained some of her strength, but she was sitting cross-legged, her braid undone to let the orange locks fall to he shoulders. It was almost odd to see her without her prized fourth of the Fused Shadow. She was looking at her feet, and he could only imagine her expression.

"Pardon me, Agitha," Zelda spoke up, surely knowing how to preemptively redirect her younger cousin's attention, "but might we prepare some tea to properly greet them? I can help if you like."

"Sounds grand! Follow me!"

As Zelda trailed Agitha, who went on proclaiming the superiority of "Auntie's brew," Link turned to face Midna, who had raised her head up. She looked up at him, her face a flurry of emotions; fear, anger, sadness, and despair all at once.

"What happened?"

He did not know what to do.

"Where did I go wrong?"

He unconsciously stepped a few feet towards her.

"Where did we go wrong?"

He went right up to her and crouched down, his mind containing nothing except the knowledge that he had to be where she was, and to respond.

"We...went to the Temples. We got...all of the Fused Shadows. Even time travel couldn't change things. But..." She choked. "That man beat us? Him? Zant's petty puppetmaster?' She curled into a ball. "And I...I wasn't enough." She began to shake. "Was I...ever enough?" She looked back up, and tears glinted in her eyes."

At that moment nothing else mattered. Not the overarching threat of Ganondorf, not the fact that they weren't alone in the small palace, not that she was somewhat of a stranger to him. Link reached out with both arms, taking hold of Midna and hugging her to his chest.

She gasped, but did not resist. And at length, he felt her own arms around him too.

Neither of them were looking at the window, or the man looking into the mansion through it. He was surprised to see the green-clad man that had tried to thwart him, and even more that he was hugging a...cat? Something else?

If it was a cat, it was certainly no Gengle...

It did not matter. All that mattered were the contents of the mansion.

I'll get the Harp of Ages this time, and not the Ocarina. And then we'll be reunited, my love...


Ganondorf raised his head. He was still the courtyard, under the blue sky, and he knew by instinct that he would not be alone soon enough.

And he was completely right. The buffoon Zant materialized before him soon enough. The king saw that the Twili had taken some steps more befitting of his position, such as it was. He had regained his iron helmet, and he kept his right arm stump hidden in his long sleeve.

"What happened here, my lord?"

Ganondorf snorted. Even with the mask and the echo effect, Zant's voice was as raspy and petulant as ever. "A trifling matter. The whelp Midna escaped, along with this world's princess and the hero."

"What...wh-what..." Zant sputtered. Ganondorf took another step closer to him. "How could that be so? How could those worms get away from us?" He froze. "Come to think of it...how could you let them escape? How could you have failed..." He did not get another word in. A single punch from Ganondorf left him doubled over, wheezing. Even so, he found the strength to force himself upright. The dark lord could not help but chuckle at his understudy's tenacity.

"Like that! That is what I mean!" Zant flung his right arm outward, not caring that his blackened, maimed arm was exposed. "That is the power that approached me all the way in the courtyard of the Palace of Twilight!" The usurper felt like fainting, but put all of his energy into keeping himself on his feet. "The one who, against all odds, found me and anointed me as the messenger and sword in the conquest of Hyrule!"

He kept breathing hard, hoping for anything to come out of Ganondorf's mouth. And to his dismay, he got his wish.

"You were simply the closest Twili to the palace when I arrived." Ganondorf spoke blandly, but with steel in every word of his speech. "There is nothing special about you, Zant. Not then...not now. Everything you have, everything you could ever be...depends on no one but His Highness. That is, yours truly."

He paused. As expected, Zant could not offer a single retort. He just stood where he was, swaying like an old scarecrow. Ganondorf shook his head. "I suppose it falls on me to conduct the next move." Looking up at the sky, he let the Triforce of Power in his hand glow as he snapped his fingers.

And then the sky was not blue anymore; it was yellow.


Midna did not want to admit it to herself, but she felt a little better. Link was still holding her tightly, and against her better judgment, she was starting to find refuge in the warmth they were sharing. She felt Link's heartbeat and the breath that came and left. She knew he was looking down on her from above.

She began to move.

She did not really know why. It simply seemed so. She moved her right arm upward, palm out, fingers extended. She let her tiny hand fall on Link's cheek.

Instantly, Link seemed to grow cold. His body became rigid. It startled her, and she left his grasp at the same time he pulled his arms away.

She levitated in the air, and the two stared at each other. Midna had the beginnings of a scowl on her face. Was he going to be there for a longtime companion, or not?

But Link's face was blank. Against his will, his mind was flashing back to the last time he felt a hand on his face.

Am I...really so beautiful you've lost your senses?

Do you want...to come with me?

Do you...want to be there with me?

Can you hold me?

Not so tightly...

Are you...mine?

I can make you happy...

Kiss me...

And then Agitha's voice tore through the silence.

"Oh wow! The sky's so weird! And beautiful!"

Next up; with Hyrule Castle under Ganondorf's magical domain, the race to regroup and survive is on!