Chapter One: Our Anniversary

In the small province of Ordon, land guarded by the Light Spirit Ordona, a small village slept, though not all slept well.

Black clouds swirled around in the red-orange sky of twilight. All seemed well and peaceful, simply floating here in the time between day and night. A young boy thought it strange to be here and looked around in alarm at first. Slowly he understood where he was and he began to search for something or someone perhaps. He looked left and right then straight ahead when he heard a small giggle. His eyes met with those of a beautiful young woman with irises like crimson.

A smile spread across his face as he gazed into the eyes of the Twilight Princess. She smiled back at him and held out her hand. He took it and together they began to drift across the Twilight Realm. The boy enjoyed watching the people below who were as small as ants from where he lingered. The Twilight Princess looked back to see why he had stopped and looked down at her subjects as well.

The boy peeked at the princess from the corner of his eye hoping she wouldn't notice his gawking. She glanced up at him and smirked showing she knew that he had been staring. When their eyes met an incredible urge overtook the boy, like a maddening impulse that would not cease until its purpose was fulfilled. He reached his hand out slowly, breath catching in his throat as his hand made contact with her soft pale-blue cheek. He leaned closer to her, so close that their breath mingled. So close that it would be the easiest thing in the world to just close the short distance between their lips. So close….

Suddenly the boy was falling through the fiery red sky, the black clouds doing nothing to slow his decline. The Twilight Princess remained where she was and smiled at him as he plummeted towards the earth. He tried to remember how to fly. He tried to remember how to get back to her. He couldn't remember anything.

Darkness engulfed him and he struggled uselessly against it. He gazed around him in wonder. This place was dark and cold not like the sky at all. The boy's gaze focused on a door that hadn't been there a moment ago on the wall opposite where he stood. He walked towards it, his footsteps echoing through the large, empty room. The door slid open as he approached it and he studied the new room. The throne room it would seem. The tall seat of power – indeed the throne itself – was not empty. There sat a tall, slim figure with beautiful red hair.

The boy's face lit up like a child who had just received a high praise from their parents. He ran towards the figure not thinking about proper behavior being that he was in the presence of a princess. He reached for her, just steps away when suddenly she vanished. Sitting in her place was the Usurper King Zant. The boy jumped back, automatically reaching for his sword only to find it was not where it should be. He looked around frantically, like a beast trapped in a cage. Zant threw his arm out towards the boy. He was flung back by Zant's dark magic hitting the wall on the far end of the room.

The false king walked towards the boy emitting no emotion from under the great helm that covered his head. The boy jumped up and prepared to defend himself, but was pulled up short when he saw another figure walking behind Zant, in his shadow. The boy tried to scream, to yell for the one behind Zant to flee, but no sound came from his open mouth.

Zant removed his headgear and stared at the now confused boy. Suddenly he grinned at the panicked youth and reached behind him. The boy tried to yell again and sound came out this time, but not the kind of sound he wanted to hear. A growl echoed off the walls of the chamber and the boy yelped in surprise. He looked down at his hands only to find paws in their place.

He howled in rage as he watched Zant turn towards the Twilight Princess who remained in the shadows behind him. The boy-turned-beast attempted to launch himself at Zant and tear his throat out only to find he could not move. He struggled and pulled against the invisible force holding him down. He could only watch mortified as Zant faced the princess and she stepped out of the shadows.

Both the false king and proper princess gazed at the wolf as if to make sure he was watching. The princess smiled at him, the king sneered. Zant turned to face the princess and quickly wrapped his arms around her and forced his mouth on hers. The large wolf could only watch in horror as the princess wrapped her legs around Zant and kissed him back. After an impossible time she broke away from the usurper and walked slowly towards the wolf as Zant faded away. She bowed down low enough to grab the wolf's ear and whisper into it.

"Happy anniversary."

Link shot straight up in bed and screamed.

Panting he looked around his room with something on the verge of madness in his eyes. He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his racing pulse. Only a dream, he told himself again and again, repeating it like a mantra. Only a dream. He realized he was drenched in sweat, his sheets soaked. Only a really bad dream, he amended mentally.

He rose slowly from bed, shaken by the nightmare. Climbing stiffly he reached the top floor of his home and gazed out the window. Link observed the way the black clouds gathered together in the night sky and how they were right on par with his own feelings this night. He couldn't help but wonder back to the prophetic dream. What if it had been a sign from the goddesses that Midna was in trouble? He stared mournfully at the sky looking for an answer, but found only reinforcement for his current mood. As rain fell from the dark clouds everything below started to look like a dream. The lightening lit up the sky's massive black storm clouds and thunder shook the earth causing his house to tremble. His mind flickered back to his beast form for a moment. Frequently he felt like thunder when he was in that form. His roar had caused his foes to be less eager when confronting him just as you would be wise to take shelter during a storm such as this. Link smiled a little at the thought of his wolf-self. It wasn't long until the thoughts turned down less pleasant avenues though and he quickly broke away from them.

Aside from being mood tempering, the mid-summer storm seemed to be an omen of sorts for Link. He was sure – mostly due to the dream – that it was well pass the time that marked one day from the next. Yes, he was sure that today was the exact day that it had all ended so abruptly.

Twilight covered this land once and Link had fought against it. He destroyed the twilight and its monsters, but not without the goddesses' assistance. He glanced down at his so-called birthmark in the shape of the Triforce. Aside from that the Light Spirits had helped as well as one of the Twilis. Defeating Zant and Ganon and reclaiming both the Light World and the Twilight Realm had been a group effort indeed. It had just so happened that Link was the one handed the sword (and fangs) to actually do the grunt work of it all. He still wasn't sure if that was a blessing or curse.

Most people had considered the end of the era of twilight the time when Ganondorf fell and his Triforce fled him. Frankly, after Ganondorf had been removed from the throne room and the princess returned not many of the Castle Town peasants or, any people for that matter, cared anymore. Few people thought otherwise. This day was the day that it had truly ended whether or not the good people of Hyrule recognized this or not. Even if the details had been greatly elaborated upon Link highly doubted that the people of this world would change their minds about the day of twilight's end. For them it was a matter of evil being banished, which in this case meant all of those in relation with the Twili. Including the Twilight Princess, Midna. So it was that not many people would observe this day, however Link had long ago resolved to return to Arbiter's Grounds in the Gerudo Desert on this solemn day. It seemed only right.

Link broke from his revere to study the sky further. Among the turmoil of the clouds there was no sign that a new light would be entering the sky anytime soon. He turned away from the window with a sigh. The young swordsman had packed days ago in anticipation, but that left him with a problem now. He wasn't hungry nor was he tired (even if he was tired he would've done all in his power to remain awake) and his packing was done leaving him with nothing to do. He knew if he remained in his home he would only begin to think his days at Midna's side, which he wished to save and savor later today.

Link had long ago come to terms with the Twilight Princess's departure, for the most part at least. Of course his heart still ached, but he had moved passed the worst of the pain. The pain. The pain as Midna walked up the stairs, as she turned, as she shed a tear, as the Mirror of Twilight reflected his breaking heart. He was over it though. Past the heartbreak even if he was still in the middle of the heartache. Link grinned and shook his head sadly, look at him sounding like a man who had lost his lover!

Emotions were funny in that way. Link had thought himself friends with the Twilight Princess, of course, but it seemed to cut him so much deeper than losing a friend as he watched Midna disappear and return to her beloved twilight. Link accounted it to the fact that she had been at his side for so long and knowing she would never return made that harder than if she had left the mirror intact. Very few people realized it but losing your shadow would really make you feel lost, more so than you might think.

Link climbed back down the ladder and walked towards his bed. He lifted the pillow and took out a small shard of glass. The shimmering, reflective glass was no longer than the length of Link's small finger and just about as wide. He had found it close to the mirror's holding stand and decided to keep it as a memento. It was the largest piece of the mirror – the rest was mostly dust that even now moved with the sand in a soft breeze.

He stood up and walked across the room to get his old tunic out of storage, the Hero's Tunic. He tied the belt around his waste and slipped the shard into a pouch on it. Morning was still nowhere near, so he might as well get a head start to the desert. He walked outside and closed the door securely behind him. Theft in a village this size and this out of the way was highly unlikely, mischievous creatures trying to ransack his house was what he was worried about.

Epona lay sleeping on the soft grass at the side of his house. She snorted indignantly when Link began to put her saddle on her back. "Sorry, girl," he murmured to the outraged horse. "Look at it this way, you'll have more time to rest later." Epona rolled her eyes at this, but being the loyal steed she is stood up and allowed Link to mount her. The two rode out of Ordon province swiftly and as silently as possible.

As the wind blew through Link's soft blond hair he found his mind wandering back to an earlier thought. The people of Hyrule had thought the end of the era of twilight after Ganondorf had fallen and their princess was returned.

The day she left was the end of the era of twilight in Link's mind.

Midna, he prayed to no one in particular, I wish….

Link closed his eyes shut for just a moment and dismissed the thought. Midna couldn't find the words when she had to either, and he couldn't help but wonder if that was for better or for worse.

Today was the end of an era, the start of an anniversary.

Our anniversary.


The Princess of Twilight! The Queen of the Darkness! What depressing, gothic titles she thought with a roll of her eyes.

How did it come to this?

Midna had thought everything would be perfect once she returned to her own world, removed from the harsh lights of the other realm.

It was far from that.

Even now, almost an entire year after she had shattered the mirror, she regretted it. So deeply did she regret what she had done that she was driven to near insanity. As a princess, she knew how to keep a poker face though. She allowed that small part of herself to linger in regret and turmoil in her private hours, but out there—in her realm she was a fearless leader and a courageous hero.

She would've rather died than to be called any kind of hero.

She had fled her people because she feared for her life, not that there was much more to lose with that horrid curse Zant had cast on her. Only later after finding Princess Zelda did she begin to formulate a plan to reclaim her throne.

Of course that's still no reason to be called a hero. Had she not found Link when she did then the Twili might still be suffering. She cringed a little as her memory of the day she had found Link began to play in her head. His eyes were what she recalled most strongly. They were so fearless, wild, and had such a depth you would feel like you could drown in them.

Midna sighed with pleasure.

"Your Majesty?" A guard questioned her.

"What?" She snapped, upset at being pulled away from her daydream.

"Uhm, well, nothing you just looked to have been in a daze," he muttered sheepishly. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay…." He gulped nervously and lost steam as he stared into her piercing eyes.

"Unless I ask you to," the princess said with an icy tone, "never talk to me."

The guard bowed before her, obviously smart enough to try and stammer out an apology.

Midna had been informed already that today was the day she had shattered the mirror a year ago the exact day. It was also the only day she lost her nerve to say something. As a ruler she believed it to be natural to always be allowed to speak one's mind and to always express one's emotions. That was before she had heard whispers of gossip about being one of the most straightforward queens in history.

Not a queen yet, she dully corrected herself.

She could've been a queen by now and with a very handsome king to boot. Well, that was the only way she could become queen—if she married. She would've gagged at the thought of such a thing before…. If she were being honest she would have to admit that before Link she really didn't think a decent man existed.

Which brings us back to square one, she thought bitterly.

She wasn't sure what she was trying to choke out when she had left, shattering the mirror, but she knew intuitively that if she had just said it then her life would be very different from the way it is now.

It was silly all the same. Link was her best friend, her wolf, but he had plenty of options for him back in Hyrule—in the Light World. There simply would be no way for either of them to leave their own worlds just for the sake of…. The Twilight Princess let out an exasperated sigh, she still couldn't manage to wrap her head around holding anyone as more than just friends.

No matter, either way today was important because she had lost a friend and it had been a while since she really recognized that full on (not that she had forgotten about her leaving and shattering the mirror for even a minute). Today was a day to be celebrated and mourned. Recognized and respected.

A smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she thought, our anniversary.