Aha! I've made good on my promise to update before Thanksgiving. Today is my first day off in over 4 weeks, between school, dance, work, and my boyfriend. I got to wake up and do nothing! Feels great.

Anyways, here's a little update on my life since (last summer?! Good lord) My boyfriend is going into the Coast Guard in the next couple of months. I'll miss him terribly and it breaks my heart but I'm so proud of him. I've spent almost all my free time with him, so that's why I haven't really been writing. But on the bright side, I got accepted to Indiana University! It's like a dream come true. I'll be moving 3 hours away from home to live on campus come August and I'll be starting the path to my English degree! Rest assured I'll finish this story, but you guys have to understand that I'm swamped most of the time. My schedule is set so that when I'm not at the dance studio, I'm working. And Catching Fire comes out on the 21st, so we'll really be busy at the movie theater. But anyways, enough rambling. Let's get to…

CAUTION: THERE IS SLIGHT LEMON/LIME IN THE BEGINNING. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Chapter 16

Rough yet soft hands roamed Zelda's body, slowly waking her from her deep slumber. She sighed contentedly as one hand slid over the curve of her bottom and the dip at her small waist. The other hand plucked at her bra tentatively and she giggled, rolling slightly onto her back to give them more room to explore.

"Ahh, Link, feeling a little excited this morning, hmm?" she cooed, feeling the blush spread across her smiling face. She kept her eyes closed, enjoying the feeling of her boyfriend's hands caressing her tired body. He didn't respond and the hands became more urgent, pulling roughly on her clothes. She felt a finger tug on the belt loop of the jeans she had fallen asleep in and she lifted her hips so he could slide her pants down. She continued to giggle and her body throbbed as his fingers ran along the inside of her thigh, teasing her.

"Sweet Zelda, you look so very pleased."

She froze. The husky, haunting voice was nothing like Link's gentle and caring one. Slowly, she opened her eyes only to meet the piercing red gaze of none other than Dark himself.

"Dark," she murmured, not moving away, "where's Link?"

Instead of replying, Dark slipped one hand underneath her shirt and one underneath her pillow, seductively pulling her shirt over her head, brushing the tops of his hands against her bra. His touch sent a deep chill through Zelda's petite body, making her want to run screaming yet stay at the same time.

"Link will be here momentarily. But don't worry about him, darling. Just enjoy this moment," he said darkly, bending to press his lips against her collarbone. Zelda realized he was not wearing a shirt, and she was no longer in Link's dorm room. Instead, she was laying on a pure white king-sized bed, tangled in fluffy white comforters in an undistinguishable, foggy white room. Dark's lips moved slowly to her ample chest, expertly unclipping her bra with two fingers and tossing it over his shoulders and into the nether which seemed to be their location. As he slipped his tongue over her breast, her eyes closed and she let out a breathless moan.

"Do not feel as if you will be able to resist with sheer willpower."

Suddenly, Zelda was slammed back into reality. The sensation of Dark's warm, sculpted body, rough hands and hot tongue was gone. Instead, a strong arm held her securely in place on a small, forest green, twin-sized bed. She was back with Link.

The realness of what she had just experienced rained down on her and covered her in a cold sweat. She'd just had a very erotic, very realistic dream with Dark, a man she had met by chance just yesterday. A man who was dangerous.

"Dangerously sexy," she muttered.

"Hmm?" Link groaned, slowly stretching against her as he came into consciousness. "What'd you say, love?"

Zelda rolled over to face her sleepy boyfriend, and a boat-load of guilt fell upon her as she took in his barely-awake smiling face. "Nothing," she said, her voice a little too high pitched.

Link turned his face away and yawned, stretching his arms over his head. "You should sleep with me more often, Zel. I swear, I just slept like a log."

She giggled at him. He was so cute, and so perfect. So good. What was wrong with her?

"I need to take a shower," she said quickly, climbing over him. Her jeans and t-shirt were still intact.

"Want me to join you?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows. His arms were crossed behind his head as he lounged on his pillow.

Zelda felt the wetness between her legs as she stood. No way would she be taking off her underwear in front of him. He might get curious, and she didn't know how well she'd be able to hide her shameful imagination. Instead, she planted a warm smile on her face. "Why don't you go grab us some coffee? I should be done by the time you get back."

He got up, shrugged, and pressed a tender kiss against her lips. "If you say so, my Princess."

She kept the smile on her face until he was out the door, but it fell right off her face as soon as the door clicked behind him. She whirled around and shut the bathroom door behind her, choking down the sobs that threatened to escape her throat as she undressed.

Midna sipped her black coffee slowly as she, Sheik, and Link waited for Zelda in the boys' lounge. The room was empty minus the weird Goron watching The Indigo-go's Takeover Tour on one of the flat-screen Tvs.

"Midna, would you like any cream or sugar for your coffee? It looks pretty dark," Link commented as he tore open a packet of sugar and dumped it into his own cup.

"No thanks, I like my coffee dark. Just like I like my men," she shot a smirk at Sheik, who closed his eyes and smirked as well. "Dark and mysterious."

Link awkwardly glanced between the two and silently placed the torn sugar packet on the table. Several moments of silence ticked between them before Zelda rushed in, almost 20 minutes late. "Sorry guys," she said, hurriedly grabbing the chair beside Link and sitting down, "I got a little lost in thought in the shower. You know," her eyes shifted nervously.

"I feel you on that, girl," Midna said, patting her friend's hand. "Now tell us, what's up? What happened last night?"

"Last night?" Zelda bolted up in alarm, but a look of realization dawned upon on her and she slouched back down. "Oh, right, last night at the library," she said, clearing her throat.

"Zel, you okay?" Link said, sliding his hand around her shoulders. "You seem shaken."

Zelda closed her eyes and shook her head slightly, then took a deep breath. "Yeah, I guess I am. I saw some… pretty strange things."

"What happened?" Sheik repeated, leaning in towards his sister. "You know you can talk to us, Zel."

"I know. Okay. Yeah, I can." She said, making eye contact with Midna. "Alright, well, you guys aren't going to believe this. But I went to the Sacred Realm."

"You did what?" Sheik said, and Link grinned. "Did you see the professors?"

Zelda shook her head. "They're in a deeper part of the Sacred Realm. I think I went to the Goddess's gardens. I was in such a beautiful meadow, with tall grass, flowers, and blue skies as far as you could see. Link and I were there together, and we were older. Actually now that I think about it, it's like we were almost different beings.

Link was wearing the traditional warrior's tunic, and I was wearing white robes and gold bands. We were in our true forms, I think… The Guardian of Time and the Goddess Hylia. It was incredible, I remembered everything from my past lives. It went all the way back into ancient times, when Hylians lived in the sky. And suddenly I knew who the ruler of the Twili was."

Zelda grasped her coffee mug in both hands and took a long gulp. She had been so late that the coffee was now almost cold, but she didn't care.

Midna was on the edge of her seat. "Well, who was it? Who's the ruler of the Twili?"

Zelda met her eyes again and held them. The look on her face was so stern and lethal, Midna could easily distinguish her as the Princess of Destiny.

"You."

Sheik reeled back in his seat and Link's eyes widened as he looked at Midna, but the words didn't register for her. "You? As in me? …as in, me?"

Zelda nodded. "You're the ruler of the Twili. Or more appropriately, the Twilight Princess."

Almost a solid minute passed by before Sheik spoke up. "That's… incredible. No wonder you two were drawn together as friends. You're Higher Beings."

"I don't feel like a Higher Being," Midna said softly, her eyes downcast.

"But you are," Zelda encouraged, a smile spreading across her face. "We all are. Link, you're the Guardian of Time. And Sheik, we're brother and sister. We're both from royal bloodlines. You've been the Guardian of the Sheikahs in every lifetime. Midna is the Twilight Princess and I'm the Princess of Destiny. There's a reason why we're together now, and always have been."

"It's because we were meant to do something big," Link said, intertwining his fingers between his girlfriend's. "The Goddess had plans for us, and I have a feeling those plans involve us taking down Ganondorf."

"Which means surely we can handle whatever Ganon throws at us," Sheik agreed, clenching his fist.

"Even that ratchet oracle skank Nayru or creepy Ghirahim," Midna added, shaking her long orange locks. "We've got this, guys."

"We've got this," Zelda repeated, a look of determination on her face.

As they finished up their coffee, Midna piped up again. "So if I'm the Twilight Princess, does that mean I have special powers, too?"

"I don't really know. All I do know is that you can get us into the Twilight Realm. We've got the Goddess Harp and we've got Midna, so we're practically there," she said excitedly, "All we need now is the Song of Time. Then we can bust into the Twilight Realm, then the Sacred Realm, free the professors and take down Ganon together!" At this point, Zelda was cheering and pumping her fists in the air.

"I hate to burst your bubble, Zelly, but I don't have the slightest clue on how to open the Twilight Realm, and what even is the Song of Time?" Midna said, effectively dousing Zelda's brief happy moment.

"Couldn't you just go back to the Sacred Realm and see if you remember it?" Link asked as they got up and began to leave the lounge.

"I could definitely try," Zelda said, perking up a bit, "Midna, you'll have to do some research on your own. I doubt I'd have some sort of memory filed away on how to get into the Twilight Realm."

"Yeah, yeah," Midna waved her off, "I'll see what I can come up with."

Zelda smiled up at her boyfriend. "We're finally on the right track," she said softly.

He smiled down at her, so affectionately and with such care that it made her heart swell and her stomach burst with butterflies. He was her soul mate. Dark could go suck a big one for all she cared. The only man she needed was right beside her.

Plus, it's not like she and Dark actually did anything. It was just her imagination. Right?

Midna groaned in frustration as she tossed a book on Twili heritage across her empty dorm room. There hadn't been a single mention of an almighty ruler that walked between the realms. If Zelda hadn't given her 'the princess stare,' Midna would almost accuse her of lying.

Midna? Twilight Princess? There had to be a mistake.

Midna couldn't study these books. She had never had any notable magic powers or special talents beyond kickboxing and shopping. She was hardly even responsible enough to keep her deku plant alive, and she sure as hell could not parallel park. She wasn't a supreme overlord. She was barely an adult.

"If I don't figure out how to open the Twilight Realm, I'll let everyone down. People will die. Sheik… Sheik would be so disappointed…" she muttered, standing up from her cross-legged position and pacing. She threw her hands in front of her and yelled "Open!" but nothing happened. She sighed and plopped down on her bed, feeling defeated.

"I wonder what momma would think of me being the Twilight Princess…" Midna trailed, glancing at the picture of she and her mother on her nightstand. Midna was only 6 years old then, adorned in a Batman costume for Halloween. Her mother crouched beside her, hugging her with both arms, and was laughing with both eyes squinted shut. If her mom had known she was royalty, then maybe she wouldn't have committed suicide when Midna was 8.

An idea tugged at the corners of Midna's mind. Maybe that was why her mother had killed herself. No, that'd be absurd… wouldn't it? Would dark secrets drive her mother to abandon her little princess to fend for herself?

Midna practically leapt off her bed and yanked out her beside table drawer. After pilfering around a few socks and candy wrappers, she found the small box she was looking for. She opened it slowly, revealing a long silver chain with an intricately carved hunk of Fused Shadow at the end of it. Nestled in the middle of the Fused Shadow was a gleaming black gem that seemed to radiate warmth despite it's color. Her mother had given it to her exactly 12 days before she committed suicide and told her to protect it no matter what.

The wheels in her mind began to turn and after a moment, they clicked into place. She didn't know how, but this necklace was special. And Midna had a feeling it would lead her to the Twilight Realm.

"I see you've found something important, Twilight Princess."

Midna whirled around, clenching her fist around the necklace behind her back. Zant stood just a foot away from her window, which was still firmly shut in place. He grinned at her.

"Ganondorf will be very pleased to know the Portal Stone is… now in our hands."

Zelda felt the now familiar falling sensation as she came back to her body from the Sacred Realm. She stood quickly, the blood rushing to her head and making her swoon. "Damn it," she muttered, clutching her head.

Nothing. Not a single peep. Not even a lullaby. For some reason, the Song of Time was not registered in the Extensive Bank of Knowledge that was apparently in her head. She was confident in Midna to figure out how to enter the Twilight Realm and felt as if she'd let everyone down if she couldn't track down this ancient tune. She was the Princess of Destiny, after all. She should be able to figure these things out.

She glanced outside the glass windows of the library, where she came to enter the Sacred Realm. The stillness soothed her and allowed her to concentrate. Outside, the snow was falling gently, and frost threatened to overcome the windows and doors all over campus.

Zelda sighed. She missed the warm nights where campus was flooded with students. Nowadays, everyone stayed in their rooms or their classes and were careful to not get caught out and about. After the incident with Kafei, she didn't blame them.

She picked her hat, gloves, and scarf off of the floor and bundled herself up before she bared herself to the frozen world outside. The trek to the girls' dorms was only a couple minutes, but with the darkness of the night, the falling snow and bitter wind, it was a couple minutes too many. Just as she reached the covered sidewalk, a figure came into view just a few yards away from her.

She stopped walking. "Who's there?" she called. The figure didn't respond.

She outstretched her gloved hands. "Din's fire!"

She watched as the dark figure retreated into the safety of the blistering snow just before Din lit up the sidewalk and melted all the snow within a 10 foot radius. By the time the fire had settled back into her palms, the figure was gone.

Shaken, Zelda hurried inside the dorm building. The lobby was empty besides Alina Aminev, a Gerudo girl working behind the secretary desk. Instead of loitering, Zelda hustled up to the elevators and punched in Midna's floor number. She secretly hoped her best friend was as stumped as she was. Maybe they would work better together.

When the elevator dinged into place, Zelda stepped into the hallway and shivered. She could see her breath come out in puffs, and although the hallway was quiet, the lounge seemed to be bustling. Figuring Midna was amongst the crowd of girls standing around, she hurried down the hallway and politely pushed her way through the human barrier only to come face to face with a concerned-looking Farore and a beaten and battered Din.

"Din! Holy Hylia, are you alright?" she rushed to the girl's side, but Farore grabbed her arm.

"I'm fine," Din said, her voice low and serious, "But Midna isn't. Zant has taken her."

Zelda's eyes widened in disbelief and her hand shot up to cover her mouth. "What? They've taken her?"

"She has the Portal Stone, Zelda," Farore said, slightly shaking Zelda by her bicep. "With that, they can open the Twilight Realm and crush the Mirror of Twilight into pieces. You'd never make it to the Sacred Realm before the pond freezes over."

Just then, Sheik bolted into the lounge, and Zelda swore a couple shallow girls swooned. The look of crazed urgency was one she had never seen on his face before. "Where is she?"

Link ran in just a moment later and pulled Zelda into his arms. Zelda reached a hand out to Sheik, who grasped it tightly with both of his shaking hands.

"They've taken her, Sheik… They've got Midna."

Oooooh kill em! Sheik is gonna go bonkers bahahaha. What will happen to Midna? Will the Mirror of Twilight be destroyed? Are you Team Link or Team Dark? Review and tell me what you think!

Here ya'll, have some turkey salad for reading.