A/N: Sorry for the delay in this chapter - I had a bad case of the flu and I couldn't think straight enough to write a proper chapter ^^; But it's here now! I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! And, as always, read and review? Thanks! Have a nice holiday everybody!

A gust of wind blew through the chamber as the portal completely lit up. Link looked back at Telma, Eric, and Zelda with a wide grin on his face, just begging for reassurance. Zelda and Eric nodded, and the blonde boy turned back to the slab of stone, and placed his left hand on the triforce engraved in the center. The portal glowed white and Link was immersed in a shroud of black, and then he vanished as small specs in the sky. He was on the other side of the world now.

Going through the portal felt as if he was floating in air, Link sprawled out as he felt himself flow through the realms. But, he had been ignorant to the idea of landing. Before he knew it, his small joyride was over and he felt to the earth with a loud thud. Groaning, he slowly sat himself, feeling a pop in his hips. Link grimaced, but pulled himself to his feet in a wobbly manner. The sudden standing caused the blood to rush from his head and down south, leaving his vision blurry.

Two generic figures seemed to be approaching Link – he couldn't identify them, though. As his vision began to clarify, the black patterns along their skin became clear – their fiery hair stood out against the blackness of the world. The sour and grim frowns on their lips growing detailed as Link's vision returned to normal – their eyes burning with fear and hate. The boy's depth perception was off, though, as in seconds a spearhead was held at his throat, and a hand firmly gripped his shoulder.

"Who are you?" the guard hissed at Link, his voice extremely deep – intimidating, actually. The edge around Link's neck was pulled away and replaced by a hand, that was almost as big as the boy's face, that could suffocate him if need be.

Link gulped, nervously watching the pulsing fingers wrapped around his neck, before staring into the eyes of the guard and giving off a confident grin. "Sir, I am the Hero of Twilight. I have been sent here to request an audience with Princess Midna.

"Sent by whom?" The Twili's voice boomed as he leant in to the boy's face.

The blonde's eye widened in fear, and sweat began to bead around his forehead. "By Princess Zelda of Hyrule, s-sir."

The grip on the boy's neck tightened as the Twili snarled and shook his head. "I believe you for all but one detail." The guard snickered as he watched Link raise a brow. "I do not believe you are the Hero of Twilight." As the boy's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to speak, the guard almost suffocated the boy, resulting with the Hylian's hands tugging at the Twilit hand around his neck. "Princess Midna had said she traveled the land of Hyrule with the Hero of Twilight, who was garbed in green; a tunic and hat. You, my friend, are neither dressed in green, nor wear such a novel outfit. I do not believe you are the Hero that the Princess has spoken of."

Link stood there hopelessly, he wanted to speak, but he was already struggling underneath the grip of the guard. Despite that he clawed at the Twili's thick hands, his efforts made no change in the constricting path for his lungs. They began to burn as his vision began to fade, once again. His head grew dizzy, and his heart raced. This feeling was all too familiar.

His knees buckled underneath him and it all went black. The Twili snickered as he released the boy's neck, letting him fall to the ground like a dead body. Proceeding to grab an ankle, he turned to face the other guard. "Inform the Princess of our little trespasser. I'll be taking him to the prison if she wishes to provide audience to him."

And with that, the smaller of the two scurried off. The guard began to walk; Link was being dragged by his previously injured ankle across the ground, and to the prison. The guard could've so easily thrown him into the never ending nothingness below them, but they figured a light dweller could mean something. As far as they knew, Midna destroyed the mirror. As far as they knew, light dwellers couldn't pass. As far as Midna knew, Link shouldn't have been able to pass into her realm. As far as Link knew, he may have come to the realm of Twilight only to be sentenced to death.

Pacing, pacing, pacing around the empty hall; that was all she had been doing the past year. Stressed? She'd pace the hall. Longed for him? Paced the hall. Most of what tortured her had to do with him. The council had grown sick of her constant worry – she had a realm to run, and she wasn't doing it well enough. They wanted her out. She couldn't, though – no, she wasn't going to abandon the seat to which she gave up her best friend for. No, she wouldn't take Link for granted like so. She wouldn't.

"Princess Midna," a deep voice called her from the entrance of the throne room.

The princess turned her head to face one of the guards – a guard which looked flushed and worn out. She took in a deep breath and sighed, pulling at the hair around her neck, tugging at her robe. "What is it?"

The guard stood on his feet uneasily, swaying from side to side: and Midna picked it up. He opened his mouth and spoke, "There has been an intruder from the light realm. We locked 'em up, and figured you should meet this trespasser. That's if you would like to. The man begged for an audience from you." The man's words were icy and stung – Midna appeared to be the only one of the Twili who didn't hate the light dwellers. She could never hate them, not after what he did for her.

Midna twisted her hair around her finger, thinking over the situation. "Did he say his name?"

The guard turned bright red and fumbled at his chin. "Um… yes, he did. Unfortunately, I cannot remember it."

The princess pursed her lips and glared at the stout Twili., rolling her eyes and releasing an exasperated sigh. "What does he look like then?"

Laughing, the stout guard held his hand up to about the bottom of his nose. "He stood up to here, and was practically a skeleton underneath his clothes."

Midna raised a brow and collected her skirt in her hands, taking large strides over to the door. "Take me to his light dweller – I will give him an audience." She only hoped and prayed it was who she thought. She didn't want some freak showing up here. She only wanted that one person here right now. But as the description ran through her mind – there was a large possibility that it wasn't him.

The blonde began to groan with each thump of his head against the rocky, twilit soil. A solid bump had already formed and was beginning to bruise. Each further bash against the ground only made it tenfold worse. Pain snaked up his leg with the bad ankle, and a constricting grip the source of it. Link had awoken to his thoughtless body being dragged by the guard who had harassed him just earlier. His eyes shot wide open when he felt a sharp tip of a stone jab up against his head and he yelped, thus cascading to a loss of control and a seizure of his limbs, alerting the guard.

The Twili immediately turned and faced to him, towering over his twiggy body sprawled helplessly on the ground. The black and white beast balled his hands in fists, cracking his knuckles. Link gulped – knowing this as a gesture to fight from back in Hyrule, unsure whether it had the same meaning in the twilight realm.

Link raised his hands in the air, as a sign of peace. "If you don't mind, I'd rather walk." His eyes were wide and lips quivered. His head throbbed as it bruised and the headache set on.

The Twili only stared down at him and huffed, releasing a sight. "Fine." He crossed his arms as the boy struggled to stand. Once he was on his feet, the guard took no time to latch Link's hands behind his back with cuffs. He then gave a weighty shove to the light dweller's back, forcing him to walk.

Link stumbled many times whilst walking with the guard. His body was still weak, even with the aid of the Twili. With each trip and fall, the boy's heart raced and he grew scared – scared of the guard. He didn't want the guard to jump and attack him. He had already gotten kicked in the side the first time he fell, and that had already broken a rib.

Eventually, the guard had given up in walking Link – he picked him up and threw him over his shoulder, just like Eric had done at the Arbiter's Grounds. The blonde grumbled underneath his breath, but kept his words silent to prevent from provoking the guard. It seemed to be forever, being hung over the Twili's shoulder. Eventually, Link closed his eyes, growing drowsy to the rhythm of the walking. It was all calm and peaceful, until the boy was awakened with a painful thud against a stone wall.

Link winced and a small whimper flew from his throat. The guard snickered and proceeded to lock the light dweller up in cuffs that attached to the wall. He was kneeling on the ground with his hands tied up around his back. Forced to stare at his abdomen, Link noted the smears of soil and the stains of grass that lined his shirt – rather Eric's shirt. He gave an uneasy frown until it was swept away by a slap to his face.

The skin on his cheek stung, and Link felt the blood rush to his face as he coughed. Panting, he glazed up at the Twili guard, who held an impervious frown, his lips pursed and brows scrunched. Link opened his mouth to speak, until the guard's foot made impact with his gut. "You will not speak, light dweller!" As Link doubled over in pain, being forced to empty the contents of his stomach, the guard rested his foot on the boy's back and leant all his weight to it.

Grabbing at a mat of hair, the guard stepped off the boy and yanked his head up. Link winced and clenched his jaw, glancing up at the Twili with exasperated glare. The blonde felt the tug at hair fall short and his head fell to gravity's needs and hung low, an ache in his neck sparking due to the sudden movement. The guard's barbaric hand grappled at the back of his shirt, pulling up hard on it. Link felt his body get lifted by the pulling of the guard, but eventually a sweaty hand was slapped on his neck and held him down as the shirt was ripped from his skin.

The shirt had been strewn aside as the Twili mocked the blonde's frame: laughing at each bone that stuck out – each rib, his collarbones, shoulders, twiggy arms. Link turned away from the guard, ashamed for his sickly self. A yelp was flung out of his throat as a booted foot swung into his stomach, jerking his body to the side. The boy's jaw was tight and his lips trembled, as he tried to shut his eyes to hide the forming tears. He could hear the hatred for his kind in the guard's laugh – his menacing cackle that just wanted to kill him.

The Twili's fit of malicious joy was halted by a knock the prison's door. Immediately the guard sneered town at Link. "At least make yourself look somewhat presentable." As the guard looked away, Link gave an undeniable glare up at the Twili, his anger growing by each action taken towards him. "Who is it that is requesting an audience in here?"

The quiet voice outside the door practically yelled to get heard. "The princess, Rogan! Princess Midna! She wishes to seek audience with the light dweller!"

Link's eyes widened and a faint gasp flew from his lips. Midna was only yards away from him. Yet here he was – a corpse chained to a wall. Tears began to flood his eyes, and he couldn't hide them any longer. The guard sneered down at his babyish cries, but proceeded to unlock the cell door, allowing the princess to make her first steps through.

The blonde watched her each and every movement, her face turned to his, but it appeared he wasn't recognized. The shadow's that made an ocean of the room – hiding his face to the princess. Link wanted to cry out her name, but the words only remaining in his throat, buried under vocal chords and fear.

The guard approached him with Midna, and the princess stared down at him. A grimace found its place upon her lips as subtle words left her lips. "Who are you? And how did you enter the Twilit Realm?" Link watched her eyebrows scrunch and her lips purse – he was mesmerized by her face, having not seen it in a year. His trance was broken when she stamped her foot, yelling, "Answer me, light dweller!"

Taken back by her fierce words, the blonde took a breath, turned his head up to meet her eyes and opened his lips, speaking loud and firm. "Midna, it's me, Link: the one who traveled with you, the Hero of Twilight!" By the end of his sentence, his voice had cracked and dropped in intensity, lowered a seventh, and began to shake with fear. Link took another breath, and began to speak again. "Zelda found all the small shards of mirror scattered around the Gerudo sand, and put it together for me. She used her own magic to activate it. She did it so… so I could see you."

Midna opened her mouth to yell at the boy for not addressing her properly, but then her eyes widened. She fell to her knees and placed her hands on the boy's shoulder, astonished by his boniness. Once her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, her eyes welled up with tears as she stared into the blue irises of the boy's. An overjoyed and cheesy grin enveloped her cheeks and she pulled Link into her arms, holding him to her body. The guard's stared down at the duo, baffled at the sight.

"Release him, now," Midna firmly ordered. The guards obliged and the boy's hands fell limp, his body falling forward onto hers. Midna took better grip of him, and cradled him gently. "What happened to you?" she whispered into Link's ear, as she ran her fingers up and down his back, feeling each rib, the hideous scar, and the goosebumps that covered his skin. She jumped when she felt a wet drop meet her shoulder.

Link didn't regret that he let his tears fall. But he felt himself growly dizzy, from excitement, exhaustion, illness, weakness, and injury. He couldn't help it – his body was overwhelmed. The words barely made it from his lips before he collapsed onto her. "I'm so sorry, Midna."

The Twilit Princess stared wide-eyed at the blonde as he was faint in her arms. Quickly, she picked him up and carried him in her arms – he was rather skinny and light. She began to her way back to the castle with the boy Link would be staying in Midna's quarters, until he was better and from then on. She wasn't going to let him leave her sight again.

Pounding at his skull, a steady beat throbbed at his head and he groaned. His lips formed an evident frown, and a snake-like hiss escaped the boy's cold lips. As Link began to flutter his eyes open, a cold hand met his cheek. It wasn't his own; the skin was soft and warm, like a baby's – his hands were rough and lined with callouses. He felt dumbfounded, that his first instinctual reaction to the new sensation was to unevenly squint his eyes and scrunch up his face. Once his eyes finally widened, he saw a black and pale blue blur staring down at him – a light giggle, too.

"Nice to see you're finally awake, wolf boy." The woman snickered.

Immediately, his vision returned to normal, and he busted forward from the bed and wrapped his arms around her tightly. Link buried his head in her shoulder, sobbing and releasing incoherent noises. "Goddesses, I can't believe it." He couldn't keep a steady tone to his voice as he spoke – it bobbed up and down with his cries. "I'm here, seeing you. I'm with you. I never thought I would see you again. I was afraid my longing would kill me, somehow I survived and I'm here." He took a breath; pulling his face from her shoulder, remaining less than an inch from the woman's face. "I missed you so much, Midna."

The Twili smiled and ruffled his hair. Midna gleamed as the smirk formed upon his lips. Her hands traced down his head, across his jaw, down his neck and to his ribs. She frowned as her finger ran through each rib, falling in each deep chasm between the bones – Link only winced.

Midna looked at Link in the eyes, tears welling up in her own as the boy's filled with fear. The Twili brushed a strand of hair from the boy's face, as she prepared her lips to speak. "What happened to you?"

Link's widened eyes drooped, as if he expected such words, and a faint sigh made its way through the air. Midna watched as his eyes stared at the floor. They flickered from left to right at times, as if he were reading. The color of his face dropped and so did his tone.

"A lot has happened in the past year, Midna." Humble and soft words grew icy and grave as he began to explain, taking the princess' hand in his own, entangling his fingers around hers, to feel some sense of comfort. "Without you, I had no strand of hope to hold on to.

"I felt like a person drowning in water, with nothing to hold on to – no drifting wood, nobody readily throwing a rope to drag me back to shore. I just felt so… so empty. I hated it. I hated feeling such a way. In my own denial of the event, I had fallen, breaking an ankle." He gestured to his slightly askew ankle. "And the scar on my back? I forgot to treat it, and almost died of the infection. Thankfully, Zelda and Telma had found me. They had requested Renado in nursing me back to life.

"That was when Zelda took me in to Hyrule, forced me to room at the castle. It was there I made a friend – Eric. The only guard of Zelda's who was Hylian, like she and I. The first time I came he gave me a cigar. But I idiotically went back for more – it only stunted my recovery. I grew thin – much thinner than I am now. Trust me, I've put on a little weight." Midna snickered to his emphasis, like he was anything close to healthy.

"But then I lost it. Eric had taken me for a walk in the town, and we visited Telma. Got in a little dispute about drinking a shot of liquor." Link snorted and shrugged his shoulders. "One shot never hurt nobody. I guess I was emotional that day, and I stormed right on out. In my lonely endeavors that day, I ran into a few old friends. Their concern for me threw me over the edge.

"I got in an argument with Zelda and I practically kicked myself out of the castle. I stayed with Telma… that night." Link took a pause, his skin was white and his eyes were wide, and rested his head on Midna's shoulder. "That night, I tried to die. I figured that if I would never be happy without you, and that I couldn't see you again, I shouldn't have to suffer." Midna's hold on Link's hand tightened as she used the other to pull him into the crook of her neck. "I almost died, if it weren't for Eric. He found me passed out in an alley and saved me.

"After being out cold for two weeks, I woke up. Then after another four months of minimal recovery, Zelda informed me that she reconfigured the mirror." Slowly, Link pulled himself away from Midna and grinned cheesily at her. "And here I am." He then took his hands and embraced her in a hug.

Minda returned the gesture, streaming tears down her face. "I'm just glad you're still okay, somewhat."

But then the happiness grew quiet, and the room's warm air chilled.

"Midna?"

"Yes, Link?"

"Can I stay here? With you? Until I'm back to my normal self again?"

The Twili smiled. "Of course. Why would I deny you?"

Link sighed, pursing his lips and mustering courage. "Because you shattered the mirror those many moons ago, although we had made a promise to never leave each other's sides."