Zelda instructed me to go to the Hidden Village and talk to Impaz, who would guide me from there.
"If you wish…" she said hesitantly. "I can warp you there." Zelda was clearly worried about what this would remind me of, and with good reason. My breath caught in my throat, and I merely nodded, as the spinning sensation of being warped nearly brought tears to my eyes.
I landed nimbly right in front of Impaz's house, the old woman that had way too many cats and had taken care of Ilia when her memory had been lost. I began to knock, only to see a gloved hand with archery guards on it extending in front of me. I flexed my fingers, and the gloved hand copied. My eyes traveled up my arm, seeing a long-sleeved tan shirt underneath a short green tunic.
"Thank you, Zelda," I whispered, then said a silent prayer to the Goddesses for giving me back my Hero's Tunic.
I knocked at the door, and the shriveled old woman opened it immediately, her twenty-something cats meowing and coming out to curl themselves around my ankles.
"Why, it's Link!" she exclaimed, standing aside to let me in. "How are you?" I shrugged, trying to be impassive.
"Actually…I was wondering if you knew of a way to get back into the Twilight. My old…companion…shattered the Mirror, you know," I said hesitantly, but she clapped her hands.
"Ah, yes. I thought so." Impaz turned and rummaged around in her house, while I shook my head in confusion when her back was to me. "Aha!" she exclaimed, coming up with a small orb in one hand, shadow swirling in it's depths. "Here," she said, carefully wrapping the sphere up in a cloth and handing it to me. It was around the size of my fist, but much heavier than it looked.
"What must I do?" I asked for the second time that day, and Impaz led me outside.
"Go back to Zelda and give this to her. She will guide you the rest of the way."
"That's funny," I muttered as I was walking away, Impaz having instructed me to warp using the little ball. "Zelda told me the same thing about you."
I warped back to the castle and explained everything to Zelda, whose brow creased, though she took the magic from me.
"Very well," Zelda murmured, then threw it onto the ground violently, where it shattered, and it's pieces were sucked into a black void. She gestured. "There you go. I will guard it, should you wish to return. In the meantime,"--Zelda smiled--"enjoy yourself."
I nodded and stepped into the void, again feeling the sensation that I never really got used to, of warping, and I landed lithely in a small courtyard, right in front of the palace.
"P-princess?" A young Twili boy asked. I looked up wearily from my dagger, with which I had been creating spells to strengthen it, killing time.
"Yes?" My voice sounded strange, even to me, as if I had seen much more than I ever wanted to.
"There is a…visitor. From the Light World." My head snapped up, and I abruptly stood, my imagination feeding my fantasies like kindle to a fire, thinking of Link. Of course, it couldn't possibly be him, but I knew that if I didn't hope, he was as good as dead. I followed the young boy out, and took my place on the intricately carved throne, waiting.
The sound of boots came from the entrance chamber, along with a glowing light that I had begun to miss so much. I hadn't realized how fond I had become of the Light World…or perhaps it was just it's inhabitants…one inhabitant, to be exact.
I shook myself, and kept waiting.
A boy, looking around my age, walked carefully into the throne room. He had hair like the wheat fields in the World of Light, and eyes like the light blue lakes that were absent in this world. He was wearing a green tunic, just like the Chosen Hero in the tapestry on my wall, and a sword with a purple hilt was strapped to his back…
It couldn't be.
"Link!" I almost shrieked, throwing myself off the throne and into his arms. He laughed, even as the guards gasped and murmured to each other how unladylike I was being, throwing myself at a complete stranger.
"It is courtesy for me to bow to you before this, you know that?" Link murmured, chuckling. I rolled my eyes.
"Oh, what do you know about Twili customs? I greet everyone like this," I said sarcastically, and he laughed.
"And here I was feeling I was so special!" He faked sadness, and I chortled and hugged him again.
"I'm so sorry," I whispered, and he held me tighter.
"There's nothing to apologize for. I'm here now, so are you."
"But I never should've--" I began, but he cut me off.
"Midna." I could see how his eyes lit up as he said my name, however serious he was. "Must I say it again?" I shook my head, and then remembered something. I grinned and pulled him back to a room behind the throne, taking an object carefully wrapped in silk and unveiling it, being careful not to touch it where the silk wasn't around it. Link gasped.
"Is that…?" he asked, reaching a hand up and gently curling his fingers around it, also being careful not to touch. I nodded.
"Do you miss being a beast?" I asked, grinning slyly.
"I have to say I do," Link replied. "Do you mind?" I shook my head, and he lightly touched the Shadow magic, dropping to all fours and transforming into a wolf. I grinned, and touched it as well, reverting back to my imp form.
"Tada!" I exclaimed, and Wolf-Link barked, his tail wagging as I settled onto his back comfortably. He ran around the small room, finally transforming back into a human as I simultaneously did the same, rolling off his furry back.
Link was beaming as his fur disappeared, and caught me up in his arms.
"Actually, I have been missing that," he teased, catching a strand of my red hair and tucking it behind my ear. "And you look quite pretty like this, with your hair loose." I giggled, much the same way that I used to when I wanted to tell him something if he was in wolf-form.
He led me back to the throne room, one hand on the small of my back, and educated me on what was happening in Ordon. "Ilia's a bit angry at me, for obvious reasons. I know her, though. She'll come around, she always does," he said amongst other things, but I felt the familiar anger in the pit of my stomach when he spoke of her, even if he was indifferent about it.
I led him to my room where we could talk privately, and sat in his lap as I explained about the Twilight World, or what he didn't know about it.
Both of us were content to sit there forever, but that was before my older brother came.
"Awwww! Little Middy has a boyfriend!" he teased, chortling.
"Get out Faladir," I snarled.
"I can't be happy for my little sister?" he asked innocently.
"Sure. You have no right to tease me, though, when you yourself have no love life to speak of," I growled, which shut him up for a moment.
"So…what's your name, Light-freak?" he asked Link. I snarled, but Link shook his head at me.
"Link. Or you can call me Light-freak. I'm proud of both," he retorted, and Faladir narrowed his eyes.
"Witty, huh? You wouldn't last a second in a fight with me," he growled, and Link merely smiled.
"What are you willing to bet?" he asked slyly, and Faladir looked taken aback, though he recovered quickly.
"My sister. I win, you leave with your tail between your legs." Link snorted laughed at this, since Faladir didn't know that he actually could leave with his tail between his legs. "You win, I lay off and never tease you two again."
Link considered for a moment, and then nodded.
"It's a deal."
The fight took place in the courtyard behind the castle, and most of the Twili in the vicinity came to watch.
"I hope you know that I'm going to use magic whether you like it or not," my brother said coolly, and Link shrugged.
"Suit yourself," he said indifferently, unsheathing his sword as Faladir did the same, magic in the other palm.
Link made it quite obvious that he was going to attack using his sword first, and Faladir get ready to accommodate him.
When I yelled for them to start, however, Link leapt into the air above my brother and shot him with his Hero's Bow as he did, landing in a crouch behind Faladir, who now had an arrow in his shoulder. He snorted and pulled it out, and Link showed no sign of surprise, but attacked him with his sword when Faladir was distracted.
It was quite surprising to many of the other Twili, who believed Faladir to be the best fighter in the Twilight, other than me. That Link was able to defeat him in less than a minute was groundbreaking, but he didn't flaunt it at all, instead walking calmly back to the palace, me at his side and following his example, Faladir fuming behind him.
"That was by far the most exciting fight in a long, long time," I said when we were safely back in my room, both of us looking out on the balcony.
"Must be pretty boring here, then," Link teased, laughing.
"Naw, just your attitude about it. That's what made it exciting,"
"Poor Faladir must feel so left out." I laughed with Link, and we sat in companionable silence until dinner, at which point I educated Link on how to dine with royalty.
After dinner, he went wandering after I told him that there was a ranch near the palace, eager to see if our horses were different than the ones in the Light World. I wanted him to be surprised, so I said nothing.
The horses were beautiful, neon blue and black, with Twili markings on them. I relished riding them, but I couldn't help missing Epona, who didn't have a bad bone in her body.
These, however, were nipping and bucking and fighting each other, so it was probably pure luck that I didn't get killed just trying to mount one.
I succeeded in rounding up all the goats--who were much like the horses, both in temperament and markings--and the stable hand paid me handsomely.
I walked back to the palace, whistling, and playfully knelt before Midna, giving her the money. "My lady," I teased, and she laughed, pushing the coins back toward me.
"Keep them. You can buy a lot with that." I shrugged and pocketed the money, and Midna began to pull me to her room, but a young boy stopped her.
"Princess, you have a visitor. She's from the Light World too," he said, his eyes darting to me. Midna nodded, then took my hand and walked briskly back to the palace to welcome the guest.
As soon as she came into view, we both gasped and pulled up short.
She was wearing a tan dress, and her hair was curled into a ponytail at the nape of her neck. She was wearing a scowl the likes of which I had never seen on my best friend, and it intensified as her green eyes traveled down to our hands, intertwined.
Midna tried to pull away, but I kept her hand in mine, and walked forward to greet Ilia.
"Hey," I said hesitantly, remembering how shy I used to be before I had become the Chosen Hero and experienced what I had. That, and I had met Midna.
Ilia said nothing, only stared at our hands, her eyes flicking to my face and back. "If you don't mind my asking…why and how did you get here?" I asked, gaining confidence again.
"To bringyou back," Ilia snarled.
"No thanks. And how did you get here?" My voice had a touch of sarcasm, something that Ilia had clearly never heard before.
"Princess Zelda," she retorted.
"So you followed me."
"I might've."
"Why? You knew perfectly well how unhappy I was, you remarked on it yourself! Why do you assume that I want to come back?" I asked, and Ilia jerked back as if stung.
"You…I…I loved you, Link!" she said angrily. I opened my mouth to retaliate, but Midna touched my hand lightly, gesturing to the room behind the throne.
"Soundproof," she murmured, and I nodded my thanks and walked to it, gesturing for Ilia to follow.
She shut the door behind her and rounded on me.
"How could you?!" she demanded, throwing her hands up.
"What do you mean 'how could you?!'" I replied angrily. "I told you that you were like a sister to me, and we've known each other long enough that you know I'm not going to change my mind, especially because I've loved Midna for a long time now!"
"You disappeared! Everyone in the village was worried sick about both of us, they told me! I wrote to my dad, I encouraged Colin, Beth, and Talo to do the same thing, but you did nothing! Just went traipsing off on your Hero duty, and completely forgot about everyone in Kakariko Village! All that mattered was getting little Midna back to the Twilight, the whole reason for this mess! Then you strolled back into Ordon in your ugly Hero's Dress and expect everyone to welcome you back with open arms! And they did!" she screeched, getting more and more red-faced.
"Do you think that I forgot about you?!" I roared, clenching my fists. "That I didn't care what happened to you or Kakariko Village?! Ilia, that was the first thing I did! I could've gotten Midna back to the Twilight and defeated Ganondorf, but I didn't! I traveled all over Hyrule, looking for the Hidden Village, for the Wooden Statue, trying to get that old quack of a doctor to give it back, only to realize that Louise stole it, and that it was stolen from her! So I went to Hyrule Field, and battled a bunch of skeletons, all for your stupid statue! And then what?! You get your memory back, you give me a horse charm, and then you tell me that I can do what I need to, that I shouldn't worry about you. So I didn't! Not for the most part, anyway.
"I couldn't get you all back to Ordon because of Ganondorf, because it wasn't safe for you! I went to the Twilight, after piecing together the Mirror, and defeated Zant, only to find that there was another person, who had been controlling him! Naturally, Midna and I went to Hyrule Castle to defeat Ganondorf and save Zelda. You're not going to get all mad at me for that, are you? I can have girls that are my friends other than you, can't I?" I asked sarcastically, and Ilia took a step forward.
"Of course not!" she yelled indignantly. "Because Princess Zelda is human! Not like that stupid Twilight creature, Midna! Her race is the whole reason for this!"
"Don't you dare insult her!" I screamed. "The Twili are not the whole reason for this, far from it! Ganondorf was a Hylian! He was a magic-using leader of a band of thieves! Ganon only controlled Zant because he was weak and miserable, since Midna's father hadn't chosen him as the heir to the throne, and for good reason! The Twili are the reason that this world didn't fall to chaos when Ganondorf first came to power! They gave the Goddesses more time to create the Chosen Hero!" Ilia clenched her hands into fists.
"So I suppose you think you're superior to everyone else, Mr. Chosen Hero!" she shrieked.
"You know I don't think that! If I thought that, I wouldn't have tried to save your memory, and just gone straight to Ganondorf! You might think about thanking me for helping you remember your name!"
"That wasn't really my fault, now was it?!"
"So? I still saved your butt from the Twilight," I replied coolly, trying a different approach. I didn't want to fight with Ilia, I was just frustrated that she couldn't see how much I really loved Midna, and she respected it even less.
"And you were the reason I lost my memory anyway," she answered, also calming down.
"Excuse me? I didn't bring Epona to the spring because of an injury on her leg that supposedly came from jumping fences. Colin followed you, since he volunteered to talk you into opening the spring. That's why he was captured as well, but I do take half the blame."
"I--" Ilia began to say, but a furious pounding on the door interrupted her. I crossed the room in three strides and opened it, and Midna was standing on the other side, out of breath and looking terrified. I gestured to Ilia and she followed as Midna explained what was going on.
"He…He's back!" she whispered, pulling me to the balcony with Ilia still following.
"What do you mean? Ganon? Or Zant?" I asked worriedly, not caring if Ilia heard or not; the time was long past to keep Hyrule in the dark about the evil that lurked within it.
"Ganondorf…" she said in a small voice. "But he's…so much darker." I knew that by this she meant that he was more powerful, and I quickly touched the shard of darkness, changing into a wolf and streaking through the land, Midna turning into an imp and riding on my back, directing me to where he was.