And the Clouds Parted

by FlowerOwl

To Midna, the world is a set of dichotomies, divided into the Twilight Realm, a world relegated to the shadows and history, and Hyrule, a world where the sun is reflected by the glint of weaponry. The world is divided into twos, but as the princess of Hyrule enters into her life, bringing the harsh sun along, the lines between them begin to blur.

15. Chapter 15

The night provided the perfect cover for them. Watching as the faint outline of a village grew larger in the distance, Midna could not have been prouder of her ship. Much like what it had been named after, it was able to blend into the darkness of the night, creeping over the forest as she turned the rudder, bringing it to rest just outside the village, hidden from view by a cluster of trees.

The impact of the ship colliding with the ground almost threatened to make her fall over, and, not for the first time in that night, Midna was reminded of the reasons for why she preferred to attack ships that were already in the air. Landing the ship within the hangar were she knew she was somewhat safe and where she had come to know every nook and cranny was one thing, but having to not only steer the ship as close to the village as possible without risking that anyone would see them but also to not make a sound was an entirely different story.

They met on the deck, Midna walking over to stand where she could still almost imagine Rusl stepping forward to look over at them, a comforting look in his eyes. It did not matter, not now. In that moment, their only mission was to gather as many supplies as they could carry without being seen and then return to the ship to let it bring them back home. Then, once they were all safe back at the base, Midna could sit down again and try to come to terms with the fact that this was yet another thing that Rusl would never get to experience again. For now, the important thing was not what they had lost, but rather what they had yet to gain, and so, pressing a finger to her lips to signal for the rest of the crew to be silent, Midna stepped forwards, silently thanking her height for giving off the appearance of someone standing up straight, making her look like she knew what she was doing when, really, she had spent those past hours at the rudder trying her best to think of nothing at all, not trusting her thoughts to not betray her by flying to everything that hurt.

"Listen," Midna said, making sure that her voice was strong, but not loud enough to alert anyone to their presence, "the plan for today is to gather food. That is the main priority. If you can find medicine, then take that as well, but for now, we have to focus on the food first and then just take anything else as a bonus. That means that I do want to hear that anyone here abandoned their mission to go look for something else, do you understand?" she let her gaze sweep over the crowd in front of her, trying her best not to let it show how she was ready to beg them to obey the command, ready to cry if that was what it would take to keep anyone from accepting unnecessary risks. But for now, it seemed that she would not have to, as everyone looked as nervous as she felt, pale and focused. With everything that had happened the last time they had been on a mission, it could not have been clearer to anyone of them that the risks they accepted each time they left the base were not some abstract concept, that each mission might very well be their last. Really, as Midna stood there, trying to inspire a bit of hope, she already knew that there was no need for her to tell them. Everyone already knew that even the tiniest mistake could lead to fatal consequences, that, were they discovered, the rest of the crew would be forced to leave without them. But even then, Midna could hear her voice tremble slightly as she added onto her warning. "I hope that everyone here knows what the plan is." when no one spoke up to say anything else, Midna nodded. "Good. Then let us begin, but remember to be back here in fifteen minutes."

They did not waste time telling her that they had understood, instead all running towards the rope ladder, the sound of muffled footsteps against the soft ground being all that might have been able to warn the village of their presence. Having already decided hours ago, back before it had been her turn to steer the ship, that she would be the last one to leave the ship to give the others a better chance of being able to both make it into and away from the village, Midna made sure to look back up at the ship to make sure she really was the last one, before she too began to climb down towards the ground, falling the last metre.

She landed with a hand against the ground to keep herself from losing her balance. The mossy grass was soft and damp beneath her fingertips, giving them the perfect surface to hide the sound of their arrival. It could not have been better, even if she had planned for it.

However, as glad as that made her, it was still not enough to fully make her able to not notice the way Link almost stopped himself before he had reached out towards her, the little movement making sure that she knew how he had not forgot about their argument. But then he finally took her hand, helping her back up, completely ignoring the fact that he had seen her do this dozens of times before, and as she looked up at him, returning the smile, Midna was almost able to convince herself that things between them were back to being the way they had always been, that they would be able to break into the biggest houses in the village, steal the food from the pantry, and then return to the ship, giggling about how the residents of the house had not noticed anything at all. But only almost. For although Link was able to hide it well, she could see the uncertainty shining through the smile.

But she ignored it. Midna was good at that and she had no intentions of letting that change anytime soon, not when it felt so much nicer to push it away. Maybe that was why she, rather than leaning into a hug and whisperingly telling him that she wished him good luck, simply began to run towards the village, the sound of soft footfalls letting her know that Link was right behind her. She should have felt bad for robbing him of the opportunity to complete their usual rituals, and while she did try to convince herself that it was all due to the fact that they only had a limited amount of time before they would have to be back by the ship and that hugging was the same as wasting what little time they had left, Midna was not fully able to fool herself into thinking that that was the truth. But even that, she could still push it away to focus on the task at hand.

They stayed in the shadows. Given the size of the village, the narrow, twisted roads, and the lack of lightning, they had plenty of those, and as Midna ducked to look around the corner, making sure that the coast was clear before she gestured towards Link, she could not have been more grateful for that. The last thing they would need right now was to lose another person, especially with how the loss of Rusl had hung over their heads during the entirety of the voyage. Granted, the lack of lightning was also a clear message of how they would not be able to find the richest people within the village, that the villa they were about to enter was the best thing they could hope for, but right then, it did not matter to Midna. They would be safe and, unless the mission would fail completely, they would have enough food to make it through the winter. That was all that was important as they stood there.

Turning around to whisper to Link, Midna pointed towards the house that would be their target. "In there," she said, "we are going to go in through the servant's entrance, make our way to the pantry, grab everything we can, and then make it back out here. Understood?"

Link nodded, and Midna could tell that the way he clenched his jaw had nothing to do with the mission that awaited them, but rather the fact that she had already reached out to let her hand find the best place in the wall to grab onto, allowing her to more easily make her way into the garden.. "Understood. But, Midna, promise me something." he grabbed her hand, making Midna pause halfway through the motion of climbing up onto the garden wall to instead turn around and look at him "Please tell me that it will be all right, that once we get back onto the ship, we will have put… everything that has happened behind us. That, or that you will at least give me the chance to explain what I meant, because I promise that I didn't mean to hurt you."

The look she sent him was a waste of precious time, and yet, Midna could not bring herself to withdraw her hand the way she knew she should have. Instead, she looked at him and tried to gauge what she should say based on the way he appeared to be seconds away from simply beginning to explain right then and there. That was what made the decision for her in the end, the fact that if she did not act now, she would steal time from their mission, and with a smile she was not sure he would be able to spot in the darkness, Midna placed her hand on top of his. "I promise."

After that, they worked in silence, Link pushing to give her enough momentum to pull herself up to the top of the wall where she could then reach for his hand, allowing them to use their combined strength to pull Link up onto the wall as well. From there, it was simply a matter of slipping into the garden, the only surprise being the fact that the family had plated a bush of something they could not recognise below them, Midna only spotting the thorns that ran along the branches seconds before she and Link would have landed on them. Pulling at Link's sleeve, she pointed towards the danger, mouthing the question she knew was going through both of their minds.

She was not quite sure whether Link shook his head because he truly doubted that the bush was there specifically to keep thieves from entering from through the garden, if their numerous visits to the well-off families in the area when they had been younger could still be seen in the gardens, or if it was a sign that he did not want to upset her, but Midna forced herself not to think too much about it. It didn't matter in that moment. Besides, even if it was the former explanation that would turn out to be true, why should she care? If the mayor's family would decide to have an ugly bush in their garden simply because they did not want for her to return, then she would view it as a compliment.

Running through the garden, moving a bit slower than they might have been able to had it not been for how they had to stay close to the ground to make sure that they would not be seen from the windows, they made their way over to the servant's entrance. The lock gave way after only a few attempts with the lock picking tool, and then they were inside, standing in what looked like it was a corridor leading towards the kitchens, or at least that was what it was if Midna was remembering correctly.

Looking around at their surroundings, it was clear that Link was thinking of the past as well, especially as he turned towards her, smiling so widely that Midna would not have found it difficult to believe that they might already have found everything they needed and were now on their way home to the base. The feeling only grew as he nodded towards the hallway in front of them. "I go left, you go right, that's how it was, wasn't it?"

"Indeed."

"We will repeat that, won't we?"

"Of course."

And with that, they split up, Midna heading towards the pantry that, assuming that the mayor had not decided to change too much about his home, something Midna doubted considering the fact that he had not done more to keep out thieves than planting a tiny bush in the garden, would be filled with enough food to get the entirety of the base through the winter. She could hear Link's footsteps behind her, the thick carpet on the floor not able to hide it completely, but, little by little, it grew fainter as he too moved closer to his goal, the kitchen itself.

And, for once, Midna could slip into her old habits, moving through the house in a way that made her feel almost like she was communicating with the building, promising it that she would pay attention to every detail, all the places where a stain on the carpet spoke of how one of the servants must have spilt something and failed to clean it completely, and the house in return warning her before she would have got the chance to step on a creaky floorboard, the sound of it possibly alarming the mayor.

The house was smaller than what she remembered, but Midna supposed that most of it could be due to the fact that it was the first time in years she had been back there. Really, the fact that the mayor and his family had been willing to suffer the sight of the ugly bush outside should be seen as a compliment to her ability to take everything she needed from the house and then disappear without being seen, making her way into the little nook behind the butcher's and grocer's she had come to regard as her home back then without being captured.

She tiptoed through the hallway, soon finding herself in the entrance hall, a wide staircase leading up towards the second floor. With the intricate details that had been etched into the wood, it was difficult for her to refrain from her past fantasies of it all belonging to her, the idea that this was her home and that she was just pretending to be a thief, that her friend was right behind her, waiting to find her, but somehow, Midna managed to do it, slowly moving up the stairs, turning right to enter the corridor she knew would take her through the east wing of the villa, ending with the blue door leading into the pantry. As she hurried along, Midna could not help but wonder if she was perhaps walking just above where Link was right now. Maybe, if they both reached their destinations at the same time, she would be able to take what they needed and then head through the tiny hatch to use the rickety spiral staircase to get to the kitchens, where she might be able to help him. Already, Midna knew what Link would tell her if he knew about her plans, how he would remind her that the last time they had done anything like that—the first time being the last as well—they had made the unpleasant discovery that the stairs were barely more than a few pieces of rusty metal, making more noise than the steam engine of the Shadow with each step, but that did not keep her from envisioning how she would open the door, stepping into the kitchen so that she could surprise him.

With how lost she was in her own thoughts, Midna did not hear the sound of the door creaking before it was too late for her to do anything other than biting back a gasp and step to the side, pressing herself up against the wall and hoping that she would not be seen. But of course she would. After all, as narrow as the hallway was, even the lack of light was not enough to provide her with any kind of protection from the eyes of the woman who had just stepped into the corridor.

Her clothes, the simple fabric and dirty pinafore, along with the dull hair instantly gave her position as a servant away, but with how Midna spotted a rat running along the corridor, she knew that it would have been obvious even if the woman did not look like she had not had a full, good night of sleep for several years, simply from the fact that the master and mistress of the house would most likely have died before they would ever deign themselves to be seen in such dirty surroundings. In those few moments it took before Midna knew without a doubt that there was nowhere she could run, it felt almost like her brain had sped up, making up for all the times she had only been able to figure out what to say, how to act, after the chance had passed by, giving her the ability to make out the exact moment when the maid realised what was happening, how her eyes widened as she saw the fine layer of coal dust that was such a common sight back at the base that Midna sometimes found herself forgetting that, outside the base, the coal was an easy way to identify those who were either pirates or merchants, Midna's mismatched clothes and the trousers that were too wide for her quickly placing her firmly in the first category.

She would scream. Midna knew that. In just a second, this maid would let out a scream, alerting the entire house to the fact that there was an intruder, that she had seen someone much taller than her in the dim lighting of the corridor. After that, it would only be a matter of time before the entire village would be awake and alert, ready to look for possible accomplices.

Had it not been for how the panic was rising inside of her, bringing her brain and thoughts to a halt little by little, instead allowing that energy to be used to make her heart beat faster, the adrenaline flowing through her like fire, Midna might have cursed herself for allowing this to happen. If anything were to happen now, if anyone would be captured, it would be because of her, she knew that.

Time began to flow again, and the woman opened her mouth, but the words that came out were not any Midna would ever have expected to hear.

"Are you looking for food?"

Midna sent the maid an investigative look. Could she be so lucky that she was frightened enough to be willing to risk the consequences of helping thieves, fearing Midna more than anything else and therefore offering to provide her with information in return for escaping unharmed? It seemed to be the case, and yet, Midna could not allow herself to believe it, not when it would be so exceptionally lucky that it would be almost unheard of.

But, coming to the conclusion that she did not exactly have any choice other than to hope that it was the case, Midna nodded. "Yes," she whispered, making sure to let her voice remain cold. Her last hope depended on the maid in front of her fearing her, so although the sound of her Twili accent made the guilt flare up in Midna's stomach as she did her best to seem threatening, she was able to continue by reminding herself of the fact that being caught now would mean the entire crew being caught as well, and from there, they would lose the Shadow, all but giving Ganondorf the very last ship from the fleet of the Twilight Realm, "yes, we need food—and medicine." she was not sure why she added those last words, but given how the situation could not become worse, Midna did not regret it. After all, how could her admitting that they needed supplies make the problems she had created for all of them become worse?

In the silence of the hallway, the sound of the maid repeating her words to herself sounded incredibly loud, almost loud enough to make Midna think that she was doing it deliberately, trying her best to wake up the rest of the house. Admitting to herself how that was really not the case, that the woman was whispering, required for Midna to take a deep breath and try to calm her frantically beating heart. It would be all right. As long as she made sure to buy them enough time to allow the rest to escape, she could accept what would happen next. Midna just hoped that Link would not wait for her at the servant's entrance.

Immediately after she had thought it, picturing herself aboard a ship headed towards the capital, the image of how Zelda had looked when Midna had had to open up the door to her room to help her off the Shadow, leading her over to Ilia's rooms and showing her where Ilia had given up her bed for her, eyes still red and puffy and Zelda unable to put any joy behind the smile when she pulled her into an embrace, appeared in her mind. Where her blood had felt like it was boiling before, it now felt like ice.

Zelda. If Midna was captured, would she try to insist that Ashei would appear out of thin air to save her, that her captain would somehow be able to be exactly where she needed to be and able to tell that Zelda would not want for Midna to be captured? Did Midna want her to? She had hated it when she had kept on insisting that Rusl would miraculously be fine, and maybe it was all just an effect of being forced to come to terms with the fact that she might very well share his fate within moments, but as Midna stood there, looking over at the maid as she whispered something to herself, she hoped that it would be the case. At least it would be a sign that Zelda might miss her despite the way Midna had treated her.

When the woman pulled her back to the moment, grabbing her wrist for a second, just enough to allow Midna to note how she was shaking, evidently having been closer to tears than she had expected, before letting go again with such hurry that it felt almost like Midna had been able to burn her, Midna was almost grateful. As bleak as her future was beginning to look, at least it was simple, something she was able to understand. But she made sure that her expression would not reflect any of that, not trusting the lack of light to mask it completely.

Having clearly just reached her own conclusion about what to do, the maid looked back up at her, her eyes wide. "Your—I mean, come with me, I can show you to the pantry." with a glance towards Midna, she turned around and began to walk towards the end of the hallway,

There was something strange about her. It took Midna a second to figure out what it was, but by then, the realisation did also make her stomach drop. There was no fear in her eyes. When she had looked up at her, Midna had been unable to spot even the slightest trace of the fearful expression that should have met her. Instead, the maid had seemed almost proud, light shining in her eyes the moment before she had turned around.

It was a trap. Midna was sure of that, and yet, she still followed the maid, staying just a couple of metres behind her, preparing herself for how it was only a matter of seconds before she would somehow give a signal to someone who would then try to overpower her. Clenching her fists, Midna prepared herself for the moment, making sure that, no matter what would happen, she would at least make sure that the guards would come to learn that Midna did not give in easily, that they would bring her to their king and be forced to deliver the message of how she had been able to fight back for long enough to give the rest of the pirates the chance to escape.

In front of her, the maid pushed the door to the pantry open, the sound of the rusty metal protesting sending a shiver down Midna's back as she waited for an attack. But it never came. It would appear that the maid had not been trying to lead her over to the pantry only to reveal that the king's soldiers were waiting for her in there. Still, it did not mean that she could rule out the possibility of her still having planned something, and so, Midna made sure to wait until the woman had stepped over the threshold, until she knew that she would be able to step behind her, that there was no one waiting for her in the shadows of the room, before she followed after her.

To Midna's surprise, rather than signalling for someone to come capture her, the maid simply turned towards her and pushed something over to her, Midna struggling to hold it, the sudden weight having taken her by surprise. It was not until she noticed the feeling of the rough fabric of the sack against the palms of her hands and the words on the front of it that she realised how this maid had just handed her what had to be the largest sack of sugar she had ever brought back from a mission, one of those sacks she had seen in the storeroom of the ships that belonged to the wealthiest merchants, those she had never dared to take since the weight would hinder her from being able to defend herself.

Almost like she had not realised that she had passed the line between trying to remain safe and outright helping her the moment she had given her what was arguably the most valuable thing she could have chosen, the maid passed around her. "Take what you need," she said, her voice strangely thick, "I will go get the medicine. Is there anything in particular you need? Anything at all?"

Too shocked to think about whether it was smart to reveal that kind of information to her, Midna shook her head. "No, I think we will be able to use a little of everything."

The maid nodded and the next second, she was gone, leaving Midna alone with more food than she could ever hope to be able to bring back to the ship.

Forcing herself not to worry about the maid's intentions, not to lose herself to the question of what was happening, the fear that she might just have sent her away to run directly to the nearest person in the house, Midna turned towards the food in front of her. Now, she would have to act quickly, to decide what she should take, what would provide them with most nourishment and nutrients. Pulling sacks, jars, and bottles of food down from the shelves, Midna began to sweat as she shoved everything she might be able to carry without the glass clattering and giving away her presence into the sack, before turning around and casting a long glance at the sack of sugar she had found herself with no other choice than to place it on the floor to have her hands free to pick up everything else. She would not be able to bring it back with her. She knew that. And yet, as she looked at it and imagined everything they could do with the sugar, the bread Uli could bake, the cake they could surprise Zelda with, how Colin might be able to have a real cake for his birthday, she could not leave it behind, not when the maid had given it to her. But as much as Midna wanted to, she could not justify wasting time on trying to drag the sack back to the ship, much less try to rationalise the choice of letting go of other, better choices to instead bring back sugar. She had to let it go.

It felt like she had only wasted a few seconds on convincing herself not to take the sugar, like she had been in the pantry for less than a minute, but as the maid returned, her heavy breathing telling Midna that she had sprinted to fetch the medicine, small bottles rattling from within the tiny sack she handed her, Midna knew that she had mere minutes left until she would have to be back at the ship with Link if she did not want to be left behind.

Still, it was not able to sate her curiosity, and so, although she could almost feel how the time to escape slipped away from between her fingers, she turned towards the maid, hoping that she might at least be able to repay her swiftness in getting everything by not letting her be scarred for life by the few minutes where she might honestly have feared that she would die if she did anything wrong by letting her voice grow warmer, hoping to convey to her that no matter what, she would never have let any harm come to her. "All of this," Midna raised her now completely full sack, the weight of it making her struggle a bit to do so, "why did you do it? I assume that you must know that you could have done less and still be able to claim that you had helped me, and if you were scared that I would hurt you, you had plenty of time to escape when I sent you to get the medicine. Why did you not do any of that—why do you help me?"

In that moment, Midna was forced to re-evaluate her judgement of the maid as just a young woman who had been too frightened of the thieves she had found in the house to try to do anything to stop them, for as she looked up at her, her eyes almost seeming like they were burning with a strange fire, she did not look anything like the scared girl Midna had first seen.

"Because I trust you," she said, and as she spoke, her voice was full of respect, an almost eerie amount of admiration making her voice thick with emotions, "because I have wished for this to happen since I was very young, for me to get a chance to help you."

Even in the dim lightning, Midna could see how she reached up towards her collar, moving the strap of the pinafore to the side slightly to reveal a tiny embroidered detail of her dress, a little piece of fabric that had hastily been sewn onto the side of the dress itself with a couple of loose stitches. It was tiny, barely there, surely a sign that this woman had made it herself and wanted it to be easily hidden if she was ever in a situation where it would not be safe to show the rustic embroidery, and as Midna saw the subject, she did not have to wonder why. The little symbol, the light that almost seemed to recede to make way for the shadow did not leave any doubts about what it meant, especially not as the maid continued to look up at her, Midna at once feeling how her blood turned to fire in her veins as she realised just what the expression on her face meant.

"There are more of us than you might think," the maid said, her voice barely more than a hushed whisper, even in the almost deserted room, "and we are all waiting for the true Twilight Princess to return to us."

"I—" it felt like her voice disappeared, the words refusing to leave her mouth as anything other than unintelligible muttering, but somehow, Midna found the strength to tear her gaze away from the pin and try not to think about what it might mean that it was made to be removed in seconds, easily discarded. "I don't think I understand. You do know what the consequences would be if anyone found out about this." as she gestured towards nothing in particular, Midna was not sure if she was referring to the embroidered symbol, the fact that she was currently standing with a sack full of food and medicine, or perhaps everything at the same time. "You must know; I cannot imagine that you would have been able to survive for this long if you did not know that that thing is so much worse than just helping thieves. At least if it was only a case of someone finding out about how we got this medicine, you could claim that I had threatened you and that you were fearing for your life. So why—why do you do this? You of all people should know that this is about surviving."

But it seemed that her words did not have any effect as the maid simply shrugged. "There are instances where my life matters less than what I can do with it. And the second I saw you, I knew that this was my chance to prove it. Even if I should be caught, it will still have been an honour to be able to help you. I would not exchange that for anything."

"But how did you know that… that I was the person you were waiting for?"

The maid simply sent her a look Midna could not read, an almost otherworldly twinkle in her eyes as she tilted her head to the side slightly. "I told you. There are more of us than you might think. We have believed that the queen might have escaped for a while, and we received confirmation of your existence years ago. With how much you look like her, it was only a matter of me connecting the dots and realising just whom I was standing in front of." she curtseyed, the gesture seeming rehearsed, almost like she had truly waited for this her whole life. "Your Royal Highness, it is an honour to be able to help you."

Perhaps it was for the better that the lack of proper lightning kept Midna from being able to really look at her, for she was sure that the only reason the maid had not been able to see how Midna was not the person they had waited for, not anymore at least, was that she did not have the chance to get a closer look at her. If she had, Midna knew that she would have been able to spot her shaking hands, the way she had gone pale, the coal dust clinging to her skin, and reach the conclusion that, no matter what she might once have been born as, Midna really was not a princess.

However, before Midna got the chance to say any of that, the sound of a door closing, the creak being muffled by multiple walls and yet loud enough for there to not be any doubt that it had come from somewhere within the house, pulled them back to reality, the maid instantly reaching out to take Midna's hand, before turning around to pick up the sack of sugar like it did not weigh anything at all. "Come," she whispered, already beginning to walk over towards the hatch leading towards the staircase, "you have to leave immediately, Your Royal Highness."

Only somewhat aware of what was happening around her, Midna finally forced herself to return to the moment, to focus on nothing except for the fact that the maid was right when she told her that she had to leave. "Wait, there is someone here with me—" she began, but the maid interrupted her before she got the chance to finish the sentence.

"I know. A boy, in the kitchens, right?" when Midna only shot her a confused look, she shook her head. "One of the good things about the master not believing that I am able to think for myself is that I am able to know about everything that goes on within this house without ever having to tell him about it. You came here with a boy, not that tall, who is currently in the kitchens looking for food, did you not?" when Midna could only bring herself to nod, the maid smiled down at her. "Good. In that case, I might be able to help two of you tonight. But come now, we don't have much time to waste. When will you have to be back at the ship?"

By now, Midna had learnt that asking questions about how the maid had learnt about the presence of her ship would only lead to them wasting even more time, and so, she simply answered, trying her best to gauge how much time she had let pass by without counting each second. "About five minutes, I think."

"Five minutes. Very well then, if you go through the garden, towards the end of it, you will find a tiny hole in the wall. It is behind a bush of swift violets. We were actually supposed to have repaired that ages ago, but none of us were willing to seal it off when it felt too much like it was meant to keep us in here. And, goddesses, am I happy that we made that decision back then." she opened the hatch, Midna stopping the moment before she would have set foot on the rusty metal. Apparently guessing the correct answer as to why she did not leave immediately now that she had the chance, the maid pointed towards the steps in front of them. "Just make sure you stay close to the side of the staircase. There, they don't make any sound at all. But, here, go now. I will try to slow down the master and mistress to give you a bit more time to get back to your ship."

And before Midna had had time to realise what was going on, to tell the maid that she did not have to put herself at risk like that just to save her, to thank her for her help while still making it clear that Midna would never have expected anything like that, the maid had closed the hatch behind her, leaving Midna alone on the stairs. Had it not been for the fact that the entire construction was an afterthought, as evidenced by the fact that the pale light of the moon was finding its way in through the cracks in the wall, Midna would have been left in darkness, but as it was, she was able to make her way down to the bottom of the stairs, following the maid's advice of staying close to the side. Just as she had been promised, the stairs remained quiet, unwilling to give away her presence.

It was not until she burst into the kitchen, running over to whisper to Link how they had to leave immediately, only for him to send her a look of disbelief mixed with excitement, that she realised she was holding the sack of sugar in her arms, her own sack hanging from her hips where she had tied it to her belt. It would appear that the maid's quick thinking combined with the rush of adrenaline might really bring back sugar along with them.

But now was not the time to admire everything they had been able to gather, Midna knew that, so she simply leant in towards Link, whispering into his ear. "They know that we are here."

That was all it took for Link to instantly become serious again, dropping a chunk of meat into the sack as he too fastened it to his belt before running with her back towards the servants' entrance. As they turned around the corner, Midna was almost certain that she could hear voices coming from above, someone yelling about how one of the servants could have let the thieves slip right past her. For the first time in as long as she could remember, Midna thought of the goddesses and hoped that they would watch over the maid, the prayer not being followed by the crushing feeling of knowing that there was no one to hear it. Even if she did not necessarily believe that there was any kind of deity watching over the world and that, if there was, they were doing a poor job of trying to keep everyone safe, it would not harm anyone if she at least tried, and with how she had often seen Ilia whisper a little prayer to herself the few times she had been present to say goodbye when they left for a mission, the prayers had to do something, even if she could not see it, did they not? Truth to be told, Midna was not sure, but it did make her feel a little better as she sprinted through the garden with Link, pointing towards the bush the maid had named as the sign of where their escape route would be, to know that she had at least done something, even if she knew that she should have offered the maid to come back with them.

Midna did not know the reasons for it, but as they ran through the village, her lungs already burning by the time they had reached the road that ran past the chemist's, the adrenaline pushing them to ignore the pain and run faster, she could almost see what it had all looked like when she had been younger, how even the smallest buildings had felt like castles that towered up in front of her. Perhaps it was because she could tell how almost nothing had changed, but as they ran, Midna caught herself glancing over towards Link and wondering if he was thinking the same thing as her, if he looked at the different alleyways and remembered all the times they had sprinted through them like they were doing now, lungs and muscles aching as they tried to outrun the butcher after they had sneaked in to steal a dove, how they had run into the forest to finally lose him, somehow convincing themselves that they would be able to know how to start a fire to prepare the dove over.

As they turned around the corner between the grocer's and the chemist's, Link looking into the little nook between the two shops, she knew that it was the case. Nothing else would be able to explain the way his expression, the focused look and the concealed pain, changed in an instant to instead reflect another kind of pain entirely.

"Midna," he breathed, and while she knew that she should not have paused like this, that they should continue to sprint, was aware of the fact that their lives depended on it, as she looked at him, Midna knew that she would not be able to tell him that, and that, no matter how much she might try to pretend that that choice was due to the weight of the sack of sugar in her arms, that was not really the case, "do you remember this? Back when we first met?"

How would she ever have been able to forget? Even now, even after the years that had passed since then, when Midna followed his line of sight, her gaze coming to rest on the little stack of crates, she could almost see their first meeting happen in front of her very eyes, the way she had not been able to return home to her usual nook, instead deciding that she would have to sleep in there, hoping that the crates would be enough to conceal her from the king's guards. She had been shaking with fear and cold, but the ship had still felt like the worst place to be at the moment, even with the call of the warm quilts and the coal she knew she would still be able to find in the storeroom, only waiting for her to figure out a way to get it up to the firebox so that she would be able to keep warm, perhaps even able to flee and forget about how she had been told to wait there. Midna could see how it had happened, the way she had ran into the nook to hide, only to see that someone was already there, a young boy who had stolen her hiding place away from her, lying in a heap behind the crates, trying not to cry.

"Yes," she answered, "I remember."

Link did not say anything after that, instead shaking his head and continuing to run towards the little cluster of trees where their ship should still be waiting for them if Midna had counted correctly. But even then, he was not quite able to hide the fact that he was crying, his tears almost seeming to reflect the light of the moon.

Her legs felt like they were on fire, but Midna was still grateful that he had not tried to say more. Sometimes, it was better to just forget, and despite the overwhelming sense of relief that had first filled her when she had reached into her sack to pull out one of the apples she had been able to steal from a nearby garden, the sound of the fabric rustling making the boy in front of her move, instantly dispelling the fear that he might be dead, the way her offer to share her food with him had soon made them decide to work together, Link telling her about how his mother had died a week before as she handed him yet another apple, the pain that was still present in every second of the memories from that time was enough for that moment to be among those she wanted to be able to leave behind her, freeing her from having to face the feelings associated with it. It was easiest that way, even if it felt like she was betraying the sacrifice the maid had brought to be able to help her by wishing that she did not have her past.

Around them, the first glimpse of dawn painted the world in long shadows as the sun rose, Midna pushing back against the feeling of burning in her legs, willing herself not to notice it, to continue to sprint towards where the ship was hopefully still waiting for them. As she gripped Link's hand to make sure that he would not fall behind, her height giving her the added benefit of being able to cover more distance with each step than he could, Midna pushed the branches aside, trying to force enough air into her lungs to keep herself from slowing down even a little.

The ship was still there. That was the first thing she saw as they finally emerged from the trees, stepping into the glade, and as Midna let out a relieved sigh, she could hear from the relieved whispers coming from where Hanch had been about to pull up the rope ladder that they had seen them as well.

"Here!" lowering the ladder back down, Hanch was already leaning over the side of the ship, reaching towards them, ready to help them. "Hurry!"

The feeling of someone finally taking the sack of sugar from her was at once freeing and mortifying. After all this time, even though Midna was not blind to the way she was clutching it close to her like her life depended on it, unwilling to let go of the present from the maid, she had still not fully realised just how much it had come to mean to her that there was someone out there who had been willing to risk her life to help them. And she had not been the only one willing do to that.

Midna repeated the maid's words in her head. There were many of them, plenty of people who had known better than to believe the lies their new king had told them about how the queen had been killed in a coup d'état, how he had seen the suffering from just across the border and selflessly ordered his troops to save everyone, restoring order around them. In Midna's mind, the others the maid had referred to looked like the few servants who had been lucky, fast enough to escape with their queen. Could they have known? Was there a chance that they had not thrown their life away for nothing after all, was there a chance that they had not spent their last moments regretting having sacrificed themselves for a cause that would never be able to change anything in the world? Midna hoped so. For some reason, even though it would not bring them back, it would hurt less when their names would inevitably escape from the chest for a moment if she was able to convince herself that they had not felt alone as they had met their end.

Hanch gripped her hand, pulling her up over the handrail. Moments later, both she and Link were back on the ship, Midna unable to do much more than to let her legs buckle beneath her, sinking to the deck as someone came to help her unfasten her sack and bring both that and the sugar into the storeroom.

"I will take the first watch," Hanch mumbled as he returned, "you look exhausted."

Midna could only imagine what she was looking like, but she did not have the energy to even begin to argue against his points. She felt almost like she could lie down and sleep for ages, and so, although she knew that, if she wanted to show them that they would be able to continue without Rusl there to guide them, she should go back up onto the deck to take the first watch herself, she was grateful for how Hanch gave her the option of simply nodding weakly, pushing herself up from the deck and heading over to her cabin to seize the chance to sleep for a few hours before it would be her turn to stand at the rudder and make sure they stayed on course.

Next to her, she could hear how Link tried to reach out for her, clearly coming to the conclusion that she would need to talk with someone about how they had just all but run through their childhood home, for he began to mumble something to her, but she brushed past him, pushing back down the guilt at how she ignored him. Any other day, she would gladly have stayed to talk with him, but for now, she had to be alone for a bit. She had to get a chance to attempt to process what had just happened, to try to fit in what the maid had told her with everything else she knew about the world.

So she walked past him, pretending that she did not hear how he tried to ask her to stay for a moment. Later, she could try to handle it later, but right now, she just wanted to get a moment to herself, to rest.

She should have known that she would not be able to sleep after everything that had happened, and yet, as Midna found herself turning in her bed, pulling the quilt closer around her like the warmth was what would help her fall asleep, it did not keep her from feeling like her body was betraying her by refusing to let her find rest. More than anything, she wanted to get a chance to not have to think about what had happened, just for a moment, but of course, she could not get that, the world seeming like it was doing everything it could possibly do to ensure that she would remain awake, staring into the darkness of the room as she tried to convince her heart to calm down a little.

Someone knocked on her door, the muffled sound and the several seconds that passed before the knock returned letting her know that the person on the other side had most likely been wanting to talk with her ever since she had first returned to the ship, only held back by the wish to not be the person responsible for waking her up if she had got the chance to fall asleep.

Normally, she might have been annoyed, opening the door , already prepared to tell the person to leave her alone, but given how she was not able to fall asleep as it was, Midna supposed that they really weren't that much of a nuisance. That, or the message from the maid had made her even more unsure of the world than she had thought at first. Midna did not know which of the explanations were correct, but the sinking feeling in her stomach told her that it was the latter.

No matter the reason, she got up, making the decision that she might as well give up on ever being able to fall asleep again, and opened the door to see who the person brave enough to try to wake her had been.

It was Link. Of course it was. As he stood out there, the sight of his clothes clinging to him and water dripping from his hair letting her know that it had rained, he looked almost apologetic that he had come to knock on the door, and maybe that was why she simply opened the door and gestured for him to enter.

"Come in."

Link did not waste any time doing exactly what she had told him to. Placing his hat on the table, he flopped down onto the chair next to her bed, leaning back. Had it not been for the fact that she knew better, she might have thought that he had been the person to gain the unlucky duty of having to stand at the rudder to make sure they would get back home safely, but, as Midna looked at him, she had to admit that even having participated in the mission had been bound to leave them with little energy for anything else. After all, she herself had also had to give in to the pull of her own cabin the second she had made it back up onto the ship, so, really, who would she have been to try to chastise him for doing the same.

"Ugh," Link said, the groan sounding like it made its way up from the tips of his feet, rising up through his throat before finally being let out, making the adrenaline and anxiousness that had fuelled them for those few minutes be put into words, "I swear that the clouds just decided to pour an entire year's worth of rain down on top of us. You should have seen it; it looked like an ocean up on the deck, water everywhere."

Realising that, even though it had not felt like it, she must have been more asleep than she had realised, Midna cocked her head. "Really? Well, I suppose it was inevitable—it has been quite a while since the last time we had to fight against the water while flying, don't you think?"

The way Link reached up to cover his face with his hand was enough to let her know that he did indeed remember. "Don't remind me." but even as he said it, Link was not able to keep back a laugh. "I am telling you, my boots are still damp after that. It was a nightmare to keep the water from knocking us off course, not even to mention how we had to keep it from seeping into the food—speaking of which, I have to tell you not to worry about that. The moment Jaggle was able to tell that the rain would not stop just yet, he ordered us all to begin trying to seal the roof of the storeroom with little pieces of cloth and place buckets where that was not enough. So your sugar is safe in there now."

Sugar. She had almost been able to banish the memory to the corner of her mind, but as Link brought back the subject of the sugar, the thing the maid had given her, Midna could feel how her heartrate sped up once more, almost like her body was not listening to how her brain tried to inform her of the fact that she had left Hateno Village behind hours ago.

She glanced towards Link. Could she tell him? Rationally, Midna knew that she could share anything with him, that if she asked him to, he would never share it with anyone, not even Ilia, but that did not keep her from biting her lip, trying to gauge whether it would perhaps be best to keep this secret to herself. The excuse that telling someone would be the same as putting the maid in danger felt weak, even to her, and although she would have liked to claim that she was hesitating because of some noble thought about how she did not want to inwardly make anyone suffer the consequences of her actions, Midna knew the real reason for why she had not told him about it already. It was the same reason that had seen her lash out each time someone brought up the subject of doing more, trying to tell her that there had to be other people like them out there, people who were going against Ganondorf. Telling Link that she had received help from a maid, that the maid had shown her the tiny emblem, whispering to her that she was not the only one hoping to get to see the Twilight Realm again before they died, it would all mean one simple and dangerous thing—hope. If she told him, Midna would have to be able to handle the result, something she already knew would be that Link's ideas about how they might be able to save more people would only grow. Try as he might, he could not hide that fact from her.

Biting down so hard the she began to taste blood, Midna tried to imagine the consequences of telling him. She would most likely be able to convince him that it did not mean anything, but she did not know how much of that would be due to the fact that, despite their differences, they had still grown up together, a fact that had most likely been a big part of how she had been able to make him stay for so long. No, the real risk was that, once she had told Link, she would not be able to stay quiet anymore, that the urge to tell everyone would be too much for her. Midna knew exactly what would happen if Zelda were to hear about her experience, the way her eyes would brighten, shining with idealistic hope, Zelda gripping her hands, unable to hide her excitement for a moment before she would remember her promise and try to force herself to hide it. For some reason, that was the part that hurt the most to think about, the fact that she had forced her to promise to curb her feelings.

But as she looked back over at Link and saw how the beginning of a worried frown was pulling the corners of his mouth downwards, Midna knew that she had to tell him. Leaning forwards, she just hoped that Link would believe her, that he would not doubt her. Right then, she could not imagine having to be able to prove the story. "Link." she paused, making sure she had caught his attention. "There… I saw something back in the villa, something I think you might want to know about."

She could not have been more grateful for how Link remained quiet as she explained, telling him about how she had at first thought that the maid was just yet another scared servant who tried their best not to anger the thieves, only for her to turn out to admire her, an admiration that consisted solely of the power that should have been Midna's to claim. With how much courage it had taken to even begin to share the story with him, Midna doubted she would have been able to continue if he had interrupted her.

"So, what you are saying is…" Link said as she finished speaking, "that there might be—or at least there is according to this maid—more of us, more people who would be ready to oppose Ganondorf's reign, I mean. Is that it, is that what it meant?"

"I think so. Well, we don't know exactly how many people she was talking about. For all I know, it might only have been about ten, and we have no way of knowing if they would actually be ready to openly go against their king." Midna would have loved to say that she was able to remain calm, but even she could hear how her voice was shaking, her eyes becoming shiny as she got to the part that still weighed on her mind. "But, Link… she recognised me. She addressed me as 'Your Royal Highness', she curtseyed, and—" her voice broke, but she could see that Link had already guessed it.

The next second, Link had jumped back up onto his feet, crossing the room in mere seconds. He pulled her into a hug, making the water from his clothes seep into Midna's blouse, but she found that she did not care, not even as the warm water in the metal pipes within the walls around them struggled to combat the icy sensation. All that mattered was the fact that Link was there, pulling her close, making it feel almost like he had guessed how she had hesitated to tell him because she feared that it might be enough to make him think about leaving again.

"I am sure she did not recognise you," Link mumbled, speaking into her hair, "rumours have a habit of reaching the people who care about them. That must have been how she was able to know about it—a lucky guess."

"No." it would have been comfortable to let herself believe him, but Midna knew that she would not have been able to go back to the base while still knowing that she would be the reason for why they might one day be found again. "You and I both know that Ganondorf should not have been able to know who I am. Do you know how much time I spent trying to paint over the crest of the Shadow, removing the last thing I had to remind myself of the past? There was no way he should have been able to guess who I am, and yet, he did. And now, we know the reason. I resemble her, and seemingly a lot more than any of us thought I did."

"Sometimes it is nice to know that you look like your parents. When you don't even have a picture of them, then, at least, you will know what they looked like when looking at yourself."

It was not until she noted the hurt in his voice that Midna realised what she had just said. Stepping back from the embrace, just enough to allow her to look down at how Link was blinking to keep back the tears, she tried her best to take it back, to change what she had said. "Link, I—I didn't meant it that way, I know that you—"

Link shook his head, keeping her from being able to finish the apology. "No, forget it. I was just—I overreacted." at least he did not say sorry, instead almost seeming to attempt to brush it all aside to instead return to the subject of what the maid's words had meant. "But, Midna, do you know what all of this might mean for us? There could be even more people out there, all dreaming of the same thing that we do."

"We dream of staying alive." she had not meant for her voice to sound so sharp, but as the words left her mouth, Midna could hear how that, intention or not, had been what had happened. "When I lie down each night, the thing I wish for is that we might be able to survive another day, nothing else, and especially not for us to somehow start an outright rebellion. It would be madness, Link. We would all be killed within a week if we tried it."

"Perhaps," Link said, but from how he reached up to touch his chin, it was obvious that he was not convinced, "or maybe we would inspire even more people. And, yes, I remember that I told you I would never leave, but just, try to picture it, Midna—thousands of people rising up with us, all of us marching towards the castle where we would show Ganondorf that we are not that easily overpowered."

"And then we would die immediately when he orders his troops to fire at us." it felt almost like it was someone else who made her reach out, taking Link's hands, tightening her grip on them like that alone would be enough to keep her from ever having to experiencing the pain of people leaving her again. "Look, Link, I shared this with you because I knew that you would never leave me if I asked you not to. But you and I both know that the same cannot be said for everyone back at the base. Promise me you will not tell anyone about what I told you just now. Promise me."

For a single, horrible second, she thought that he would say no, tell her that he had had enough of always having to hide, but then Link nodded, the movement making drops of water fly from his hair. "If you want me to, I will gladly promise you that. I just hope that you know that, even if you hadn't asked, I still would never have told anyone about it."

"I know, I know." Midna sighed, and the attempt at forcing a smile onto her face failed the moment she tried. "You have kept my secrets for years."

Link did not say anything, instead pulling her in for another embrace. More than anything, Midna wished that the moment might have lasted for the rest of her life, but of course, it was only a matter of seconds before the sound of someone knocking on the door brought an end to it.

Taking a step backwards, Midna tried to get her emotions back under control, forcing herself not to give in to the feeling of tears pressing against her eyes, trying their best to make her cry. "It is probably Hanch coming to tell me that it is my turn to take a watch."

Before she got the chance to go over to open the door, Link was at her side. The smile he sent her felt like it should have been able to combat the cold seeping into her body. "Don't," he whispered, "I will take care of it. Don't worry about it."

She should have protested, should have tried to tell him that she was perfectly capable of going back outside to steer the ship for a while, to carry her part of the burden, but in that moment, the prospect of not having to head outside, to not have to regain control of her emotions just yet, to not have to stand in the rain, was stronger than the pull of knowing that she should have tried to argue with him.

Mustering up the strength for a tiny smile, Midna nodded at him. "Thank you."

Midna thought she heard him tell her that it was nothing, but she could not be sure. With how tired she was as he left, closing the door behind him, he could have said anything, and she would have been none the wiser.

Her judgement of her ability to fall asleep again had been too confident. Midna realised that the moment she felt her legs give up on her, letting her fall flat on her bed, unable to even find the energy to take off her boots, instead rolling to the side to get her feet up into the softness of her bedsheets as well. Sleep was right there, reaching out for her, enveloping her in the pure joy of not having to feel anything at all for a moment. And after everything that had happened, Midna was more than happy to let it do just that.