Author's Notes: Other than the fact that I have less time due to homework, this chapter was just plain evil to write. Anyway, thanks for the reviews and I hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Link or anything else from the games. Nintendo has the honor to own it. I also don't own the quote. However, I own Celestria as well as my OCs.

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"Execution is the ability to mesh strategy with reality, align people with goals, and achieve the promised results."
-- Larry Bossidy

Chapter 12: If Only Tomorrow Would Never Come

"Is Link awake?" Midna asked.

"Yes." Naeva lifted her head from the dough she had been kneading to look closely at Midna's face. "You have a surprise up your sleeve, don't you?"

Midna smiled innocently. "No I don't." Her tone was similar to that of a toddler denying that they had taken a cookie from a cookie jar.

"I know that tone." Midna blinked. "Veiviser uses it all the time when he's hiding something."

Midna sighed. It never ceased to amaze her that mothers always seemed to have a sixth sense. Her own mother's ability to detect lies had always been awfully accurate and now it seemed as if Naeva possessed the same talent. "I'll tell you when we go up to Link."

"Very well. Just wait while I wash off my hands." Naeva grabbed a damp washcloth and wiped off the flour that coated her hands. She didn't bother wiping off the smudge of flour on her cheek.

The two quickly clambered up the steps to the room Link was currently resting in. The door slid up, causing a very bored Hylian to glance over at them. His eyes brightened at the sight of Midna.

"You're back early. What happened?" His eyes slid over her body, searching for any signs of blood or torn fabric that would indicate an attack.

"We met someone while we were traveling on the road." Link's eyes narrowed, the boy instantly assuming it was more of the black assassins from before. "It was Kamaria."

Now Link's eyes widened in astonishment. He blinked a few times as if to reassure himself that Midna and her words were not a mere illusion cast by his illness. The truth didn't go away. Naeva's expression was similarly surprised, her mouth forming a small 'O' as she stared at Midna.

Midna smiled at both of them. "She wanted to take on her duty as queen of Celestria."

Naeva was the first to move. She let out a happy squeal before clapping her hands together. "That's wonderful news!" Her eyebrows furrowed. "But where is she?"

"She's in the castle right now, but she's going to come here after she's done."

"I better get going. I'll have to make her a nice dinner." Naeva left without another word, hurrying off to cook a dinner for her son's best friend.

Link smiled. "I guess that means the mission is done…" His smile fell as he realized what that implied. His eyes fell to the bed-sheet. "Did you ask her?"

Midna caught Link's forlorn expression. The same pain that tugged at her was plaguing the boy. The Twilight Princess walked over and sat on the bed by Link.

In a small voice, she said, "Yeah…" The Hylian's face seemed to fall even more. "But," Midna smiled now. "She's only going to do it after the crowning ceremony. She wants you to see it."

"When is it?" Link asked, a mixture of doubt and hope in his voice.

"In two days."

The Hylian looked at her with surprise, but Midna could only shrug. She had no idea why anyone would want such short notice for such an important event. Sure, the circumstances were different than usual, but that didn't require so few planning days. Everyone would have to work their butts off to make a nice ceremony in so few days.

"So I've got two days here…" Link said after a few minutes of silence had passed. Midna nodded her head.

Two days was not a long time. It would be gone in the flash of an eye and then Link would be gone as well. Midna blinked back tears that threatened to fall.

Seeing the sadness in her eyes, Link offered her a smile. "Don't worry. We'll spend as much time together as we can until then."

Midna nodded, still staring at the floor. She feared that if she even looked at Link, the tears she worked so hard to fight would fall. Carefully the boy pushed himself up and wrapped his arms around Midna. Her body had been shaking slightly, but when Link touched her, the shaking turned violent. Still, tears refused to fall.

"I know we'll see each other again." Midna stayed silent, blinking in alarm. What did Link mean? Seeing the confusion on her face, the boy frowned. "Can't you do that ritual that you told me about earlier? The one you found in the book?"

"You mean the Reise igjennom Virkelig?"

"Yeah, that one." Link nodded.

Midna thought over it before a smile split her face. "I suppose it could be possible to construct a portal whenever an eclipse comes around. It's better than never seeing you again." Midna nodded.

It wasn't a perfect solution, but it was better than nothing. A romantic story might say that these brief meetings were far more romantic than seeing the love of your life every day. They were secretive and special. However, Midna disagreed with that romantic viewpoint. If possible, she would prefer to live with her love, not only see him on short trysts to the realm of the other. It just wasn't possible to do things how she wanted.

Link smiled. "Until then, we'll just have to spend as much time together as possible."

"Well, it'll be boring to sit around in this room for two days, but I suppose I can make the time." Midna shrugged, a toothy grin on her face. The grin fell as a coughing fit took over Link. She watched with concerned eyes.

Once the boy was through with coughing, he offered up a weak smile to Midna. "It's nothing. Just something in my throat."

"Are you sure?" Midna reached out a hand and placed it on Link's cheek. His skin was cold under hers, but to her relief, it did not feel like the skin of a corpse. Yet.

"I'm sure. I've been coughing a bit lately, but it hasn't been anything too bad." Link yawned at the end of his sentence.

"You should get some sleep." Midna traced her hand up Link's cheek to brush some of his blonde hair out of his face. The Hylian smiled at her touch.

"If you say so, Princess." Link cracked a smile, his eyes falling shut.

Midna didn't bother replying. It would've been useless because the boy was already fast asleep.

--

News had spread quickly about Kamaria's return. The former employees of the castle had hurried to the castle for their jobs after catching sight of the Rupees that Vaschel and Morgana flaunted in front of them. Upon returning, they were given instructions on what to do to prepare for the coronation and sent on their merry ways. Money would be given after work, in which case at least half would go out to celebrate with a drink. The other half would buy food for their table.

Vaschel and Morgana had finished their work of gathering up the old employees and had both hurried back to the castle. Before they could rest, Porter had sent them outside for the necessary flowers and herbs that were required. They had both grumbled about it, but it had been good-natured grumbling as they were truly too cheerful to let a chore bug them.

Speaking about Porter, he was busy assigning duties to the other Twili. The gardener was proving to be quite skillful at bossing others around and his taste for the aesthetically pleasant had benefited the throne room greatly. From the respectful grin he wore on his face, it was clear to see that he was enjoying his ability to serve Princess Kamaria.

Ramaine was just as busy as the others. She had fortunately gotten a few other cooks to help her including Veiviser's mother. After a discussion on who was to take charge as the head chef, Ramaine had been elected to take the title for the moment. She was taking her duty quite seriously for fear of messing up, but the others all reassured her that she was doing a wonderful job.

Veiviser, to his disappointment, did not get to see Kamaria as often as he would have liked. One minute she was busy answering questions that Porter posed and the next she was whisked off to get a gown fitted for the big day. Even his attempts at helping out at the castle had resulted in him being kicked out on various errands, most of which involved gathering ingredients for the cooks.

Still, there was that extra skip to Vei's step as he went about these errands. Yes, they were incredibly boring and he would've preferred the old days of wrestling with Kamaria in the mud, but it wasn't the worst thing in the world. Working for his best friend, even if she wasn't the one to give the orders, made him feel good.

On top of that, Aleron had promised him that he would get a few Rupees out of this. What exactly Veiviser was going to spend it on was unknown so far, but the Twili boy had a few ideas in mind. None of them included anything about saving the Rupees for the future and nearly all of them had something to do with food.

It seemed as if the entire city was involved in the preparations or at least providing for the coronation in some way (for example, some local farmers were providing food for the coronation while some musicians were doing their best to come up with original music). However, not everyone was involved. The criminals were wildly rushing around, trying to get in as much thefts as possible before it was completely impossible to do so.

And then there were two individuals, both foreigners, who spent the entire time inside. This was not out of hatred towards Kamaria. No bad feelings attributed to their solitude unless love could be considered a negative emotion.

Those two were obviously Midna and Link. Neither of them wanted the day to end. Midna had spent the entire day at Link's bedside. They had talked about everything and anything except for the impending future that would rip them apart. It was a nasty topic and while they had agreed to try out the ceremonies detailed in the Crepusculum ut Elucido, neither wanted to talk about it.

Compared to their other days in Celestria, this was an uneventful one. Everything was going according to plan and there were no deviations. The same could not be the said for the next day.

--

Vaschel let out a breath of relief. After he and his sister had finished gathering the necessities, Porter had made them decorate the throne room. They had just finished.

"We better leave before Porter comes and assigns us another task." Vaschel told Morgana.

His sister didn't answer him, choosing instead to sweep her sandy eyes over the throne room. Everything was ready for the big ceremony. It had been a huge task, but they had pulled it off successfully.

"I think everything's done. He's crazy if he thinks there's something else to do." Morgana noted.

Vaschel followed Morgana's gaze, nodding his head in agreement. "Definitely. Maybe we should quit being soldiers and take a job in interior decoration. We've done a rather fine job here."

Morgana rolled her eyes. In a sarcastic voice, she replied, "That would work well, considering we're not the ones who came up the design. Porter came up with the ideas, we just hung stuff up."

"True." Vaschel tapped his chin in thought before grinning. "Well, fighting is more fun anyway."

Morgana was about to reply when the sound of footsteps drew her attention. Mentally she prayed that it would not be Porter with more commands for them to carry out. A short shadowy figure appeared at the door, causing Vaschel to sigh sadly.

"What do you want us to do now, chief?" He asked Porter.

"Not now, but tomorrow. I want you both to act as guards. As you know, we lost all the Eclipsed Ones and we'll need to start building up bodyguards for the queen-to-be."

Vaschel's eyes widened. "The Eclipsed Ones? You're seriously telling us to take that position."

The Eclipsed Ones were the personal guards of the Celestrian Royal Family. They were highly valued and each member was blood bound to the leader. It was an honor to even be considered eligible for the position. They were supposed to be highly skilled and able to protect their ruler at the drop of a dime.

Porter nodded his head. "I think the princess will need some protection and you two are two of the few soldiers who didn't slack off. While I can't appoint you to the position, I think it would be wise of you to serve her until she says otherwise."

Morgana and Vaschel each wore similar grins on their faces. "We'll do it. Nothing will get past us."

"I sure hope so." Porter muttered. Truthfully, the gardener wasn't entirely positive if the reckless fighters could protect the princess well, but they were the only two he trusted enough to ask (even if it wasn't in his place to ask in the first place).

Morgana's brow wrinkled in thought. "Wait… You think the princess will get attacked tomorrow." Vaschel stopped the dance he had broken out into as he turned his attention towards the stout Twili.

Porter sighed. "I'm not sure, but there is the chance that something will happen."

"That's a rather pessimistic way of looking at things, but I'm going to agree with you there." Vaschel said with a nod.

"Then it's decided. You two will protect Her Majesty tomorrow."

"Definitely." Vaschel grinned. "I'll make sure to bring my sword with me."

Little did they know that the occurrences of the next day would not include an enemy attack. It would include something much more disastrous and complex than assassins.

--

"You've done an excellent job with the cooking, sweetie." Naeva said in a kind voice.

The culinary staff had worked hard the entire day to produce enough food for the feast that would take place after the coronation. They had finished late, so Ramaine had given them all permission to leave. Naeva had decided to stay behind to help despite not being a member of the royal cooking staff. For the past few minutes, the two had worked in silence, each absorbed in their own task.

"I couldn't have done it without everyone." Ramaine said truthfully as she swept some flour off the floor.

"And they couldn't have been so organized without such an excellent head chef." Ramaine's cheeks reddened. Naeva continued. "You would've made your parents proud."

A small smile crept on to Ramaine's red face. "You think so?"

"Of course."

"Thanks." Ramaine murmured softly. "I'm glad to hear that… I always thought my parents thought I lacked responsibility. I know they thought I flirted too much."

"All parents wish their children wouldn't do something, but in the end, they're always proud of you. Even if you did flirt quite a bit, I think after this whole crisis, you've shown yourself to have an incredible amount of responsibility."

"I suppose so." Ramaine shrugged. "I didn't want to disappoint my parents by not taking responsibility when I should. Even if I did have to take time away from boys to do so." She smiled.

"Well, if you ever need any help, I'm always glad to help you out." Naeva had finished cleaning. She took the rags she had been using to wash them out before returning them to a rack.

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

"No problem. I'll be your second mother if you ever need one."

"I'd like that, Naeva." Ramaine dumped out the contests of the dusting bin before replacing both the broom and the bin in the closet.

"Wonderful." Naeva clapped her hands together. "Now how about we walk home."

The two Twili walked outside after making sure that the magical locks of the kitchen were in place. Everything was done for the feast. Ramaine hummed softly as she walked. Things had looked rather dreary for the girl with the death of her parents, but she was positive that she could recover. Once this was all done, she promised herself that she would go and have some fun.

--

Veiviser trudged home in bitter disappointment. He opened the door with a slam and shut it with a similarly loud thud. Fortunately, Aleron was not home yet or he would've yelled at the boy for his behavior.

It wasn't really his fault that he was in such a bad mood. After this day spent mostly away from Kamaria, he had come to a very sad conclusion. If Kamaria was this busy preparing for a coronation, she would surely be busier while actually running the kingdom. She wouldn't have time to play anymore and he would be left to seeing her on rare occasions. The boy frowned.

"Aren't you the pleasant fellow?" Midna's sarcastic voice interrupted his thoughts. "I heard a door slam from upstairs and I find you at the scene of the crime. What happened?"

Veiviser glared at Midna's sarcasm before focusing his eyes away from her. "Nothing." He lied, his tone pitching upwards.

"You're not very good at lying." Midna crossed her arms and walked down the rest of the stairs. "What's wrong?"

Veiviser sighed and beckoned Midna to follow him to the sofa. The boy sat down heavily. "Do you think Kamy will have time for me when she's queen?"

Midna blinked in surprise. She hadn't really expected this. "Of course she will. She's not going to forget her friends even if she is in a position of power."

"But we barely spoke today." Veiviser stared down at his hands.

"It was a busy day, wasn't it?" Vei nodded, still not looking up. "So, of course she'll still be your friend and hang out with you. You're an idiot to think otherwise." Veiviser looked up finally, eyes widening in shock.

"I'm not an idiot." He retorted.

"Then you better not complain about how Kamaria doesn't spend enough time with you. She'll be busier, but that doesn't mean she'll push you away. I have time for Link despite being busy with matters in my kingdom. You won't have as much time as you did back then, but your relationship will not fade away. You'll stay friends. Understood?"

"Yeah…" Veiviser watched Midna with a look of awe. "Thanks… I really needed someone to tell me that."

"I know you did. That's why I told you." Midna smiled at him before standing up. "If you don't mind, I'm going back up to Link."

"Wait!" Midna halted in her progress towards the stairs. She looked back at Veiviser with a mixture of exasperation and question.

"What is it? Don't tell me you have any other idiotic ideas?"

"I was just wondering what you felt about Link having to leave." Veiviser asked.

Midna glanced down at the ground briefly before looking back up at Vei. "And you want to know, why?" She was simply stalling on telling Veiviser. Midna was not the type of person to easily reveal her thoughts and these particular thoughts were a secret from nearly everyone. Link was probably the only one who knew anything.

"If you need any help, I want to offer up words of wisdom like you do." Veiviser said with a small smile. "To thank you."

Midna rolled her eyes. "And you think you can say anything wise?"

"I sure do. I'm very smart though I don't always act like it." Veiviser grinned hopefully.

Midna smiled in amusement before frowning. "…I know Link has to leave, but I'm going to miss him a lot. He's probably the only one I'll ever love and even if I do eventually have to marry someone, it's not going to have the same emotion behind it. However, I know that we cannot be together. We come from different worlds and our love won't cure the Viduata Solis or allow me to live in the Light Realm."

Veiviser watched Midna with amazement. He had been surprised when she had begun to speak on her feelings. It was rare to see her open herself up like this. The only thing Vei regretted was not having a wonderful plan on how they could remain together.

Veiviser opened his mouth to say something, but Midna continued on. "We've promised each other that we'll keep in touch by using an ancient ritual to transport between realms. We won't be able to live with each other, but it's better than nothing."

"Wow." Veiviser breathed out softly as Midna finished. "I can't say I have much to tell you… I'm not an expert on love, but I know that this isn't the end. You may only see each other occasionally, but I think that you two will be fine. You won't die."

Midna smiled at Vei. "That was surprisingly deep for you, Vei. I figured you would just spew out nonsense."

Veiviser smiled. "I'm not done with my wisdom. I wanted to add that you'll continue on with your life, but you're going to become very paranoid about counting down the amount of time left until your next meeting. You'll start counting the seconds and if anyone asks, you'll be able to give them an accurate measure on how much time's left before you meet Link again."

Midna scowled at a grinning Veiviser. A throw pillow on the sofa broke into particles and reformed above Veiviser's head. The pillow fell down and hit him with a surprising amount of force behind it.

"So this is how you repay your wisdom giver, huh?" Veiviser scowled, rubbing at the bump that was beginning to form on his head. "Well, I think I'm going to retract my wisdom from you. We'll see how you'll live without my words to guide you."

"I think I'll manage." Midna replied before walking off upstairs.

Veiviser's question had made her start thinking again about how little time she had with Link and what exactly she was going to do with her life after he was gone. Other than the meetings, she had nothing else planned. Perhaps she could ask Link what he planned to do when he arrived home.

One more day was left. In fact, it wasn't even a day anymore. What they didn't know was that Link would not be going home tomorrow.

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A/N: And that's a wrap for today! I hope you enjoy your wonderful cliffhanger, which I prepared especially for you ^^ I've left a few hints throughout this chapter on what might happen next chapter. Let's just say that it'll have a lot more action than this chapter. Reviews make for a happy author and they're very simple to submit, so I want to see those mouse points moving down to the button below this note… I command you to click that button! Lol, just kidding. You don't have to review if you don't want to. Until next time,

Twilight Phantom Dragon