The Legend of Link:

The Bastard Prince

12. Twilight Realm

The implications of Alarink being Twili royalty didn't hit Zoelda until much later. However, the revelation of who he was was enough to knock her off balance as he pulled her into the realm of shadow. The journey itself was quick - one moment she was in Hyrule, the next in Twilight - a fact that made her head reel as her feet hit solid shadow.

Dazed by the suddenness of the reveal and landing in the Twilight Realm, Zoelda found herself knocked off her feet and onto her knees as soon as Alarink let go of her wrist. It was a landing made all the more painful because of her injury and the fact that it was strikingly cold in Twilight in comparison to Gerudo. The shadowy floor all but froze her exposed shins as it covered them in tendrils like smoke and the sudden change in temperature seemed to freeze her peeling, burnt skin to its place. She suspected it was going to take a long time to restore her skin again when she got home.

Her thoughts on the temperature and skin care were far from her mind as she looked out at the world before her for the first time. As far as the eye could see, everything was coated in a cloud of shadow, even the ground itself seemed to have been built on the insubstantial shadow clouds. No more than half an hour's walk away was the Palace of Twilight, a simple and brooding structure jutting out on the dark horizon. There was obviously no vegetation, since there was no sun in this land of shadow, and all of the milling shapes on the streets leading up to the Palace were either very squat or very tall, all of one type or the other looking very similar to each other as they conversed and shopped.

They had landed, so far as she could tell, on the very edge of the realm, just out of view of the public eye. And not far in front of them, on the platform where the Mirror of Twilight used to spit out it's visitors, stood the body of Ganondorf, the Master Sword still sticking out of his back. Though the sight of the body itself was disturbing, the way that the citizens of the Twilight Realm ignored it was even more so.

Zoelda found herself feeling very alone in the shadows, despite the fact that she could feel Alarink watching her to her left, hidden even more from the public view than she was.

"Alright, up you come." Alarink said after a few more moments of her sitting in the shadows and looking out at the sight before her, hugging her shoulders and not moving. Offering her his left hand, Zoelda took it gratefully, not registering that it was a pale blue in colour with the likeness of the Triforce tattooed onto the back of it in a bright cyan until she was standing. It was then, staring in awed fascination at his hand for several moments, that she looked up at him properly.

She could hardly contain her gasp as she saw him in his Twili form.

He'd taken off his tunic at some point after they'd arrived, baring his lean torso with the same kind of indifference to partial nudity that all Twili seemed to have, and revealing his bi-coloured body. While Zoelda seemed to remember the Twili all having different patterns and distributions of black on pale blue skin, Alarink's chest was split evenly between black and blue by a thick scar running from his left shoulder to his right hip. On the right side, his body was a jet black, while his left was a pale blue, the scar cutting it tattooed in cyan and silver. His lower arms were both marked with tattoos indicating his rank, and his upper left arm was ringed near the shoulder by the solid black that covered his back. His feet were also bare under his slightly too short trousers, both of which shared the same colouring as his upper body and were topped by a thin silver anklet that Zoelda couldn't help but wonder if he wore all the time.

It was his head that held the most surprise, however. While it was a straight blue colour that had started strikingly on the black of his neck like all other Twili faces, his eyes were still the same pale turquoise they'd been back in Hyrule, making them look even paler and slightly out of place against his face and in the black Twili eye-shadow that ringed them. And his hair, that had been an almost jet black in Hyrule, was now an orange only a shade lighter than Midna's, tied back severely from his face using the onyx ring. The circlet, that was gently visible against his hair in Hyrule, had all but faded against his now bright ginger fringe, leaving only the ruby as a glowing red star in the centre of his forehead. The stubble he'd complained about earlier that morning had hardly been visible against his Hylian skin, now it was all too clear against his Twili skin, a slight shadow of ginger on his lower face.

Still gaping, Zoelda could hardly believe that the man before her was the same man she'd met days before. He looked so remarkably different in every sense of the word, but there was also the way he held himself that marked him as a different man in Twilight. In Hyrule, he'd lounged, even stooped so that he could talk to the short Hylians at their height, never trying to make himself look like anymore than a commoner who liked company at the end of every night. Here, he held himself tall, his expression serious with the under tone of humour, his eyes piercing in their unusualness.

Here in the Twilight Realm, Alarink held himself like a prince, though the amused glint in his eyes told people not to treat him with any of the royal respect that Princess Zelda would have demanded in this Kingdom that was not hers.

"Finally getting a look at my chest, Zo?" He grinned at her, that undefinable accent that had always been hidden under his voice more obvious now, showing it to be the Twili accent, a soft lilt that was strangely European.

"You're a Twili?" She said dumbly, meeting his out of place eyes with her own surprised ones. That mark that she'd seen on his chest in her dream was really there, a scar of where the Triforce of Courage was embedded into him.

"Nothing gets past you, does it?" The question in his eyes from that morning was still there, but it was covered by the joy at being home and at getting the better of Zoelda. He held out his robe for her to step into after watching her shiver again. "Here, wear this."

"Don't you need it?" She asked as she gratefully stepped into it, pulling it about herself carefully, trying to avoid stepping on its low back hem.

"Nah," he smiled as he pulled the hood down over her head. "I brought it through for you anyway. It'll keep you warm and concealed from the public as we go to the palace."

"You don't want them to see me?" She gently pushed the hood back a little, so she could see his face clearer. "Why not?"

"Don't get me wrong, I'd love for them to see you." Alarink said slightly too quickly, looking away as he did. "But they'll know exactly who you are when they do, and I think keeping quiet about the return of the Twin line is a good idea here. We don't want a general public outcry against reviving Ganondorf."

"Okay." Zoelda suspected there was slightly more to her concealment than Alarink was letting on, but let it slide as the more pressing question came to her tongue. "So, we don't need to arrange a meeting with Princess Midna at the Palace like we did with Zelda because you're her son?"

"Queen Midna, but yes, that's right. I hope you understand now why I didn't tell you who Mother was before."

"I, I do, I think." She toyed with the belled sleeves as they looked out at the Realm, still not moving from their concealed spot. "But, does everyone else know?"

"Where do you think the name 'Bastard Prince' came from?" He asked her pointedly, watching her reaction closely before he spoke next. "I travelled to Hyrule when I was ten, two years after Father's death, because I wanted to see his world. I went straight to the Castle, dressed in my royal robe but wearing my Hylian skin, and told the Princess and her father who I was. I think you know most of the rest after that, but word got around that I was a Prince in Twilight and practically no one believed it, hence the bad treatment and names."

"Why did you stay?" Zoelda asked, remembering how the Princess had told her about the options she'd given him.

"Many reasons," Alarink's face was lost in thought as he looked out at his Kingdom. "I liked feeling the sun on my skin, for one. I also liked annoying the Princess with my informality to her, that's always fun."

"Is the fact that you're the Prince here the only reason you can get away with that?"

"No, even if I was just Link's wayward son I'd be able to too. Anyone who holds a position of respect can talk how they want to Hyrulian royalty, just look at you and Shad."

"Me?" Asked she in shock.

"Yes. If you weren't her distant cousin, she wouldn't let you ask her half as many questions as you do. And Shad helped stop the Twilight invasion, so he's respected no matter what he says or does. But I," his lips tightened slightly as he spoke, "I'm not respected very much by anyone, here or in Hyrule. I found the treatment of Zelda in Hyrule to be very different to my treatment here, and it confused me. So, I treated her how I have been my entire life, first to make her see things my way and then because I enjoyed it too much to stop."

"You're not respected here, even as royalty?" Zoelda asked, surprised.

"Let's walk a little," Alarink took her arm formally to lead her into the public eye. "Feel free to talk while we walk, but keep your head down and only refer to me as Link. … Or perhaps your Highness, if you prefer."

"I'll stick to Link, thanks."

"Very well," Alarink held himself regally and guided her equally so as they walked slowly towards the Palace.

As they wondered on, he started explaining how the Twili lived. "You see, we Twili are the sons and daughters of criminals. Everyone who originally populated this realm was the worst of the worst when it came to committing offences: Sorcerers, serial killers, rapists, arsonists, serial larcenists, terrorists and treasonists, all of them were sent here to be our parents. As a result, our laws and customs are very different from what you'd expect back in your world. We don't care much how anyone talks to us, and everything you want, you can just take, no money needs to exchange hands. There's no weapons, and fires are near impossible to fuel. We don't believe in marriage, and polygamy in relationships is expected on both sides. The only place we draw the line is rape and terrorism. Anyone who's convicted of rape has their genitals branded, and terrorists - if caught seriously plotting or worse, particularly against the crown - are publicly executed. Our crime rate is exceptionally low as a result.

"The royal family only came about after one madman - my ultimate grandfather, if you will - created a crown for himself and started breaking the knees of anyone who didn't bow to him. His son was a weakling who didn't enforce the rules of the monarchy on anyone and over time people have simply let the Kings or Queens run the logistics of the Kingdom while they go about their own lives. It's rare for a commoner to talk to royalty anymore respectfully than I do to Zeldy on a good day, but they do respect us in their own way, asking for our good opinion or blessing on matters when they see us about town from time to time."

"Do they know about your status in Hyrule?" Zoelda couldn't help but ask as they got closer to the main body of people in front of the palace and word spread of Alarink's early return.

"Oh yes," he chuckled, though there wasn't much joy in the dark little laugh. "They're very happy to see their Queen raised a philanderer. Many were remarkably unhappy that Mother's only vice is how she treats and swears to people - I think they were kinda hoping she'd be a thief."

"Your Highness!" Someone shouted at them then from one of the first stalls in the town before the Palace. He was one of the tall, slim Twili, his limbs black while his chest and head were coloured blue in an hourglass shape. His face was long with two, pupil-less yellow eyes about halfway down and an almost non-existent flat nose and thin mouth. His long body was rather misformed, his arms long and muscular while his legs were short and stumpy, and he was wearing only a brief loincloth, the rest of his exposed body tattooed rather extensively.

As much as he stood out initially to Zoelda as being rather odd looking, a quick glance around the town told her he was much more normal looking here than Alarink was. And, though he was of the taller variety of Twilis, he was still shorter than his Prince, perhaps even an inch shorter than Zoelda herself.

"Hett, my man!" Alarink clasped hands with the Twili and hugged him quickly. "How have you been?"

"I can't complain, Highness." Hett said with a grin that said he had much to complain about. His accent was much stronger than Alarink's, a strange robotic European to her ears.

"Oh, I'm sure you can, shall I give you some time to warm up?" Alarink grinned back. Suddenly, Zoelda realised that, though Alarink's manner of speech had obviously been influenced by Hyrule and his activities there, it was ultimately routed in Twilight.

"No, no, I shouldn't keep you too long," Hett looked over at Zoelda and squinted. "I presume you're not here making a surprise visit for nothing. None of us were expecting to see you again for a few more months."

"Am I really so transparent in my actions?"

"Unfortunately, Highness. But since you are here, might I have your blessing?"

"What with, my good man?" Alarink asked politely.

"Sillo is only a few months away from giving birth, and I doubt I'll see you again before then, so I was wondering if you might give us your regal blessing."

"Of course, you have my hopes for your child to have the muscles needed to keep up the family profession." He said formally, dropping a slight bow as he did. Afterwards, he grinned foolishly and gave him a sly look. "I'm surprised to see you stick with one woman for so long though, Hett. I seem to remember you being quite the scoundrel back in my youth."

"Such high praise, my Prince!" Hett laughed darkly with Alarink. "As much fun as all that was, and I still have my concubine, of course."

"Of course." Alarink agreed, grinning.

"I guess I just found a woman who made me want to turn my attention elsewhere. Perhaps I'll steal for a while, give my kid whatever they want."

"I'm impressed to see such maturity from you, my man." Alarink said with a certain amount of surprise.

"I'm sure you'll understand my view soon enough, Highness." The Twili man gave Zoelda a pointed look before dropping Alarink a wink. "Or perhaps you already do?"

"I might be beginning to mature myself," Alarink said dubiously. "But I think it might still be a while away yet."

"And all of Hyrule will cry the day they lose so fantastic a debaucherer!" Hett laughed again. "Anyway, I believe I've kept you long enough. Shadow speed, your Highness."

"Congratulations, Hett." Alarink said as a way of goodbye and they were off again.

"What was that?" Zoelda asked after they'd made their way a few paces, Alarink making a show of looking at each stall equally as they did.

"That was me performing my royal duty to the blacksmith." Answered he as he appraised fruit at one stand. "He made me my first sword just before I left for Hyrule, so he likes to chat from time to time."

"That sword wouldn't happen to be the short sword you left back in Hyrule, would it?"

"One and the same, Zo. Well done."

She decided not to comment on the slightly condescending way he'd just complimented her as she asked her next question, "Are you respected by anyone?"

"Only the other members of the royal family." Alarink replied as they started up the steps to the incredibly tall Palace. Up close, Zoelda could see that the black walls were draped with two flags, one with the traditional tattoo marks of the Twili royal family, the other with the likeness of the Triforce, the Triforce of Courage outlined with cyan. It was the same banner she had seen in Link's treehouse, one she now knew Alarink had brought to Hyrule with him. "Love and respect… It might be nice to feel those from a commoner one day…"

"I'm sorry to have depressed you…" Zoelda said carefully, looking closely at Alarink's sad eyes.

"Oh no, don't worry about it." He grinned at her suddenly as they reached the top of the stairs outside the Palace. "Besides, I gave up on the opportunity for the standard royal respect when I abdicated my right to the throne eight years ago."

"So, if you abdicated the throne, who's next in line?" Zoelda asked, genuinely curious as they started down the dim, straight corridor to the throne room. Here and there along the corridor were doors leading to one room or another, but Alarink ignored them all on his journey to the heart of the Palace. "Gods, it's not Zant is it?"

"No, Zant's family can't ever be on the throne after what he did." His eyes flashed in anger at Zant's name, but it quickly passed. "After Midna's reign is over, it'll go to my-"

"BROTHER!" Someone screamed from down the hall, causing Zoelda to wince with the pitch of it. Only a few seconds later, a girl no older than 10 came running towards them from down the endless corridor.

She was a tall child, only a head and a half shorter than Zoelda, with soft strawberry blonde curls held up in bunches on either side of her head. Unlike the other Twili, this child was mostly dressed, wearing a short, puffy black dress with a blue under skirt that reached mid-thigh and left her arms below the puffy shoulders bare, a simple ruby set in the centre of the garment. On her ankles were the same kind of thin silver anklets that Alarink had, and on her forehead was a circlet of silver with three loops on top of it, looking a great deal like a tiara with its ruby in the centre loop. Her skin was mostly blue with only the tops of her arms being black and the bottoms of her legs and bare feet, tattooed here and there with the same markings as Alarink. And her eyes, hidden among the dark eye-shadow, were a deep, rich blue.

The girl's arms were expectantly outstretched as she ran directly towards Alarink, who was watching her with shock up until the last possible moment when he knelt down to scoop her up in his arms to swing her around. The two of them laughed gleefully as he spun her, holding her tight against him.

It was perhaps the first time that Zoelda had heard Alarink laugh without any trace of self-mocking or darkness. This was a pure, unadulterated laughter, one that she didn't quite expect from so broken a man, and certainly not one she expected to come out in response to hugging a child.

He finally put the girl down on her feet again, ruffling her hair ruefully as they grinned at each other. Then, Alarink got down on one knee, put his left hand over his heart and bowed his head in an elegant bow of profound respect. All the while, Zoelda stood to the side awkwardly watching as he interacted with the child.

"Your Highness." Alarink said seriously.

The girls replied with a deep curtsey, bowing her head in similar profound respect to his. "Your Highness." She replied equally seriously, her voice light and as little accented as Alarink's.

They both raised their heads to look seriously into each other's eyes before breaking into laughter again a few moments later. The girl skipped over and sat on Alarink's raised knee, staring adoringly at him as she did. A small part of Zoelda twisted uncomfortably at the way the girl looked at him, an unfamiliar twist of jealousy taking route in her being that she knew was wildly unnecessary yet couldn't help.

"Mina," said Alarink, ruffling the girl's hair and getting up. "How have you been?"

"Not too bad," the girl said, rocking back and forth on her heels as she spoke. Suddenly, she stuck out her tongue. "Mother's making me learn how the Kingdom works though. It's soooo boring…"

"I remember that," he winked at her. "It was one of the reasons I ran to Hyrule."

"It's a shame I can't do that…" Mina sighed.

"Hey, I'm sure we can arrange something if you really want to."

"Nah," she brightened quickly, grinning up at Alarink as she did. "I don't think I do. Being royalty might be boring and all, but if I go to Hyrule, I won't be able to steal stuff without people getting angry at me!"

"And Twilight will rejoice that they'll have a thief on the throne once again!" Alarink laughed that pure laugh of his again, ruffling Mina's hair once more to her annoyance.

"Hey!" Mina giggled before pouting. The little Princess was absolutely adorable, Zoelda had to admit as she watched her interact with Alarink. "Why are you here now anyway, Link? Mother said you wouldn't be returning for another few months."

"Something came up that I need to discuss with her," he answered simply, glancing over at the still hooded figure of Zoelda as he did.

"More like someone came up," Mina said in response, smiling slyly at the other girl.

"Cheeky." Alarink laughed at her, negligently pulling down Zoelda's hood as he did. The brunette jumped a little in surprise as he did that, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close to him a moment after. "Mina, this is Zelda. Zelda, this is my little sister, Princess Mina."

Mina gasped at Zoelda's name, a hand covering her mouth in surprise as she saw the way her brother was holding her. "The Hyrulian Princess?!"

"Ah, no, your Highness," Zoelda answered delicately, not wanting to overstep or upset the girl. "I'm just someone else called Zelda."

"Oh, I didn't think anyone else was allowed to be called Zelda in Hyrule… But oh well! Hi, call me Mina!" The young girl hugged her tightly and enthusiastically, leaving Zoelda feeling a little awkward as she patted her on the back.

"Well, now that the introductions are out of the way, shall we head to the throne room? You might have just gotten up, but it's already been a very full day for us." Alarink said, not moving his arm from around Zoelda's shoulders.

"Okay!" Mina took her brother's free right hand and skipped along the hall, pulling him along at her pace. "I should warn you though, Mother's in a meeting right now, and I don't think the man she's meeting with will like it if you interrupt it."

"He doesn't have to like it, does he?" He winked at her again, and she giggled.

"You never told me you have a sister," Zoelda hissed slightly accusingly at him as they walked.

"I was about to when she appeared," hissed he back calmly. "I'm sure you can understand why this is something I want to keep from becoming public knowledge in Hyrule. Mina understands very little about the Kingdom, so she wouldn't know why she'd be treated badly as a result of our father. It's better for them not to know about her, or her to know what they do to me."

"You can only keep her ignorant for so long, Alarink." She warned as they approached the final flight of stairs into the Throne room.

"I know." He sighed. "But, I trust you to keep this to yourself when we go back."

It wasn't a question asking whether she would, it was a statement of his trust in her to keep the matter to herself. It made her feel slightly giddy that he trusted her. Particularly with a secret of this magnitude. Her giddiness almost immediately faded as Mina pushed open the door to the Throne room, pulling them in behind her.

It was a long, narrow room with no windows since they would let in no light, filled with only a large throne on the back wall flanked by the same two banners she'd seen outside. The floor was marked with the same royal tattoos as Alarink and Mina and there were guards stationed below torches at prominent points around the room. As they entered, all of their hands flew to their weapons, only to be stilled when they saw who was walking in. The face of the short, orange eyed Twili before the throne as they entered was stormy while the woman on the throne sat up straight and paid attention for the first time that day.

Queen Midna had not changed much over the score of years. There was no grey in her bright ginger hair and only a few laughter lines by her eyes. She wore a high necked, oriental style black dress decorated with the patterns of the Twili and slit from the hip down the right side to reveal her entire right leg. She wore the same royal robe she'd worn the last time Zoelda had seen her in her game, hooded with the hair arranged above it in the same way it was now, though the rest of her hair was allowed to fall down her back rather than being held on her chest.

As they had entered, she had been lounging unimpressed on her throne, her eyes clouded with thoughts of a time and a place elsewhere. Now, she sat more alert, her eyes looking from her son to Zoelda and back again, a question in them much different to the one that Alarink addressed to Zoelda in his all day. It was a question of who is this? Why is she important enough to interrupt a meeting for?

The same question was in the orange eyed Twili's eyes as he looked at the group, though his were raging while the Queen's were curious.

"Why are you people coming it here? This is a private meeting, you can't be here!" Orange eyes shouted at them.

"Be silent, you idiot." Midna said simply to him, her eyes very curiously regarding at the trio in the entrance. Her voice was similarly accented to her children's and rich in tone. "Can't you see that my son has returned with a woman under his arm?"

"No offence, your Majesty," the Twili began to counter. "But from what I've heard about your son, the fact that he has a woman under his arm doesn't impress me."

"Quite frankly, idiot," Alarink snapped at him, not removing his arm from Zoelda as he moved to stand only a few paces away from him. "You don't impress me either. And I can promise that my returning to this realm is far more important than whatever you're discussing with Mother."

"Also," Midna interjected. "While we are all aware of Link's penchant for whoring, this is the first time he's ever brought one back to the Twilight Realm. I'd like to know what makes this one special more than I'd like to know about your plans for trade with the Gorons."

"Zoras." Orange eyes amended quietly.

"Leave my hall, Nackt. We can discuss this again when my son is not in Realm."

Nackt turned muttering and left the hall quickly, glaring at Alarink with pure malice as he passed. The Prince simply watched him go with a grin before turning his attention back to his mother. "He seems great."

"Nackt's an arse wrapped in a bow of shit." Midna said eloquently, providing an image in Zoelda's mind that she suspected she'd never unsee as she started down from her throne. The Queen stopped once to kiss her daughter gently on the way to Alarink, who she tore from around Zoelda's shoulders and brought in for an almost possessive hug. It was then that the brunette noticed Midna was a half a head taller than her son.

In all the time she'd known him, Zoelda had thought Alarink a very tall Hylian, now she realised he was actually a slightly short Twili royal.

"Ma, need… air…" Alarink joked, patting his mother's shoulder to make her let go from her lingering, uncomfortably directed at Zoelda, hug. As she let go, the Queen finally turned her attention fully to the young woman and raised an eyebrow.

"Who's the slut?" She asked, getting to the point immediately.

"Mother!" He shouted a little petulantly. "Be nice. I wouldn't bring one of my consorts into your Kingdom, I know better than that."

"I don't like her." Midna leant down to Zoelda's height and poked her collar bone angrily. "Who gave you the right to wear a royal robe?"

"Mother." Alarink tried to get her attention, his voice stern as he watched her interact with Zoelda from a few feet away, knowing better than to directly interfere with the Queen. "I gave it to her, it's mine. She was cold while we were walking to the Palace."

"Oh, so this is the whore you've chosen to marry, huh?" Asked his mother, taking what Zoelda suspected to be a rather big leap from borrowing a cloak to marriage. She willed her blush to die even as it crept to her already sun flushed cheeks. "I suppose she's not too bad, a little skinny and not quite as big busted as I'd like, but she's got sharp eyes and a good face, I suppose."

"Mother. Zelda's the product of the lost Twin line." Alarink said, breaking all pretences. There was a slight colouring to his blue and Zoelda couldn't help but notice that he hadn't denied the prospect of marriage.

Mina gasped from behind her brother, staring at Zoelda with wide eyes. It appeared that everyone had prior knowledge to the Twin line but the product of it herself.

"What, that brat of a Princess?" Midna asked, taking the young woman's chin between her thumb and forefinger to get a better look at her face. "I find that hard to believe."

"No, Mother, the Zelda you're currently manhandling." He answered firmly.

"What?" She turned to look sharply at her son, not quite comprehending, it seemed.

"The woman who's face you're smooshing is Zelda, the final product of the Twin line." Alarink said more clearly, taking her hand in his to activate the Triforce and prove it. As he did, Zoelda noticed a curious golden flash over the scar cutting his torso so distinctly into two.

"No shit," the Queen of the Twili muttered to herself, looking at Zoelda once more before letting go and turning to her daughter. "Mina, would you show our guest around? I'm sure she's just dying to see the rest of the palace, particularly the balcony. Be a good girl and take her up onto the balcony after the tour, we'll meet you there a little later."

Zoelda was particularly uncomfortable with the way that the Queen had said 'dying', but let it slide as the Princess took her hand and obediently lead her away from the Throne room.

"Guards, go with them. Don't let anything happen to either of them. And two of you stand guard outside the door to this room, I want no eavesdroppers while I talk to Link." Midna ordered the Twili guards, who saluted and began to move.

With one glance back over her shoulder before they crossed through the doors, Zoelda caught Alarink's pale eyes with hers and saw the soft smile in them, that resigned to his fate smile she'd seen in her dream the night before. Uncomfortable by the pure vulnerability and acceptance in it, she turned away, lead on by his little sister to a clearly diversionary tour of the Palace.

Alarink sighed as he watched the Throne room doors clang shut, trapping him in the room with his mother to face whatever she had to shout at him.

He did love his mother, and sister; they were the only things that had always drawn him back to this realm. Though he never let on, he had truly come to hate the Twilight Realm over the years he'd lived away from it. Whenever he was there, he missed the presence of the sun, the cycle of day and night, the heat and the cold that marked life in Hyrule. He much preferred the company of people who were similarly proportioned, though shorter than him, in Hyrule and the name calling that he so hated back there seemed to grate on him more in his prolonged absences than it did in his presence.

And then there was that continuous reminder of his destiny on his chest that was so much more obvious in the half nude society of the Twili than it was when he covered it with clothes or lovers back in Hyrule.

But, even still, he was always drawn back to the Kingdom that was rightfully his to rule one day, if he wanted it. He was always drawn back to his remaining family.

So, he put on his best grin and turned to face his angry mother.

"So, how's Mina doing with the royal duties?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest as she turned to glare at him.

"Don't you dare change the subject, Link." She said icily. "Since when have you given into your stupid, preordained fate?"

"Oh, a few days ago," he answered with a flip of the wrist. "I met a Sheikah who me told how to prepare for it in more detail."

"Impax, that cow…"

"You know Impax?" Asked he, a little surprised.

"Yes, I met her a few years after you were born. She was the one who told me about your part in all this." Midna turned away from him and started back to her throne. "Carry on with your story of acceptance."

"Well, there's not all that much more to it." Alarink followed after her setting himself down on the step leading up to the throne and half turning to talk to her as he did. "I was sceptical about all this destiny talk, so on the ride back to Ordona, Impax arranged for Zoelda to arrive and be put in danger for me to save her. After that, I just accepted this was my part to play in Hyrule's history and began preparing myself for it."

"And this Zoelda is the brunette slut from just now?"

"Don't call her a slut, Mother," he winced slightly at the branding of her. After last night, he knew she was anything but and didn't like the idea of her being talked about so flippantly, especially by his own mother. After spending the whole night trying to figure out that new emotion he felt for her, he had pointedly turned his back on the whole matter and refused to believe it. "But yes, Zoelda is the code name I gave her so people think she's just another woman named after the Princesses of legend."

"And you've slept with her?" His mother was never one to beat around the bush with her questioning.

"No, actually, I haven't." Alarink answered with a sigh, not of lust but of annoyance in his mother for seeing through him already.

"Perhaps that's the problem." Midna thought aloud as she settled herself more comfortably on the throne. "If you had already banged this out, perhaps you wouldn't feel so willing to give up before you've even started."

"I don't sexual frustration is the issue here, Mother."

"No, I think you mistaking lust for love is the issue here, Link." She stared him in his odd Hylian eyes as she said it, causing him to blush in embarrassment and anger. 'Love' was the one word he wanted to avoid using when thinking about Zoelda, it had been difficult for him to even remotely discuss it on the way to the Palace earlier.

"You always had the opposite issue with Father, didn't you?" Alarink asked her acidly, knowing it would do his cause more harm than good to say. "You mistook your love for him as lust until the day he died, when it was too late for you to say otherwise."

"You over step your boundaries, Link." She replied harshly, though not denying the fact anymore than he had denied that he lusted after Zoelda.

"My apologies," said Alarink after a pause. "I've been arguing with the Princess a lot recently, it's making me hotheaded. But, you're not denying my claim."

"And you're not mine."

"Alright, Mother, fine." He stood up and turned to face her, his eyes glossy and hands trembling as he tried to force his blush down and his voice to hold steady.

"In the beginning, I did. I lusted after Zoelda the way I do with all beautiful people.

"But, do you know what she did on the first day I knew her? She saw right through me, she saw me for me, outside all the flirting and sarcasm. And you know what else she did? She told me her story, she opened her heart and poured out the story of her mother for me, just because I asked her to.

"I was so overwhelmed by her that I had to leave her in Father's treehouse alone for the night because she scared me. I went and began my purification in Faron Spring overnight and returned in the morning to find her not there. I almost had a heart attack, Mother, I was so worried about her. And then I found the note she left me in perfect written Hylian - a language not native to her realm - because she didn't want me to worry.

"It was on that second day that I realised just how spectacular she was, Mother.

"She played the Song of the Hero on a harp no bigger than the palm of Mina's hand, humming beautifully under breath beneath the light filtering through leaves on a tree. I had never experienced anything so beautiful. Then she knocked me off my feet in an impromptu duel. I had never been bested in any duel, impromptu or otherwise until then, Mother! It was insane! Then, on her first ever solo horse ride, she shot down a monster on instruction and killed a second that got a jump on me. She saved my life, Mother!

"Zelda stuck with me the whole way through a particularly bad journey in Hyrule Town, didn't even freak out as I teased Alarink and the Princess in her Castle, and then had the guts to ask me if I was royalty on her second day of knowing me. She almost sussed me out on her second day, Mother, it was incredible!

"I began thinking about her too much that night, so I grabbed a Zora and 'banged one out' as you put it. But when the morning came, she was still on my mind. So much so that I wrote her a 'good luck with Zelda' letter. The idea of her having to spend the whole day with the Princess bothered me almost as much as the idea of me not spending the morning with her did.

"I'd known her two days by then, Mother, and I couldn't picture my life without her.

"I went to get the Zora's blessing that day, I went into Zora's Domain and presented myself before King Ralis. That was the first time I realised that I was willing to give in to my destiny.

"I told him I would die to secure his blessing, and I don't believe I lied to him. I would die time and time again if it meant Hyrule could be at peace, if it meant Zoelda could get back to her world and be with the people she loved.

"I went to Zora's Domain that third day, Mother, and I didn't fuck anyone while I was there.

"I left as soon as I was done because I wanted to see the look on her face when she met Impax - a woman she had told me she thought of as her aunt back home. A woman she had thought died with her mother. I arrived to hear the tag end of Impax telling her about the Pestilence, about how Father had accidentally bought it to the world and killed so many - her mother included. She should have hated me for that alone, for Father causing her mother's death. But she didn't. She listened as I told her about the Twin line, about her destiny, and she gave herself so completely to it after that that both myself and the Princess couldn't help but do the same.

"It was on the third night that I gave up on changing my destiny.

"We had to meet Shad in Kakariko's graveyard to ensure a lift into the desert, and she read the Pestilence monument while Shad and I spoke. I think she believed me that you were alive then, Mother, I think she began to understand that no one trusted me then, Mother. I think that was when she began to pity me. And if it wasn't then, it was certainly after our late dinner. I was still giddy from such a good day, at having finally told Zelda of her part in all this, that I pushed too hard in an argument with the Princess that night.

"I was so afraid she was disappointed in me for losing an argument that I went and hid in my room. I couldn't stop thinking about her the whole time I waited for her and the others to get to their rooms so I could go and purify myself in Eldin Spring. She was all I could think about the whole time I was purifying myself. I kept reminding myself I was doing this for her, that if I was going to die, it would be for her sake, more than Hyrule's.

"On the fourth day, I found out she was single.

"My heart sang. I was so over joyed that I forgot that I reminded her momentarily of someone she seemed to hate. I flirted with her over breakfast, showing off my monster killing prowess as we travelled to Gerudo, enjoying every minute that she defiantly hummed the Song of the Hero with me after lunch, and loathed the way that she hugged Shad after he told her he knew her mother.

"Fuck it, Mother, do you have any idea how annoying it is to hate the one person you trust more than anyone in Hyrule because he hugs the girl you like? The girl you're just starting to realise you can't see yourself spending a day without?

"And do you know how hard it is to see that girl suffer under Ganondorf's control? To see her writhe in pain on the floor of the desert in a sandstorm of his creation as he takes full control of her mind? Do you know, Mother? Do you know that she tried to kill me? Alarink even tried to stop her for me, but I told him not to. If I was going to go by Ganondorf's hand, I rather go by his hand controlling her. At least that way I'd see something beautiful before I died.

"But, you know what, Mother? Do. You. Know. WHAT?

"She broke free. She screamed in defiance and ran, breaking free of Ganondorf's control of her.

"I was so proud of her, Mother! So incredibly proud of her! And then I panicked. I thought she might have fallen off some edge in the desert somewhere, that all this destiny bullshit was for naught.

"On the fourth night, I thought I'd lost her forever. And that thought scared me more than the thought of me dying did.

"But I found her. She was injured, you probably saw the bite on her leg yourself, so I treated her. That night, we had a heart to heart. I told her things about myself I've never told anyone, and she did the same. I've never truly trusted anyone in Hyrule before then, and now I can't imagine a time in my life where I don't trust her. A time in my life where she's not been a constant questioning presence at my side. And, oh Farore, Mother, she trusted me too! She told me things I won't repeat so I don't betray her trust. But she told me things she's never told anyone.

"She told me that the horrible guy I reminded her of was a momentary brain lapse, that I was much better than him. Oh, Mother, how I loved hearing that!

"And it was on that fourth night, last night incidentally, that I didn't sleep.

"I was too busy watching the moonlight dance on her skin. Watching her dream, praying to all the Goddesses it was of me. I watched the moon leach the black from her hair, turning it a Hylian gold and knowing that, even if I could never sleep with her, it was enough to sleep next to her.

"It was then that I realised I had to bring her with me to the Twilight Realm. Not to prove my cause to you. Not to show her off to you. Not to do anything more than know that she was by my side always. To know that I was taking her somewhere I could be sure she wouldn't be killed.

"It was this morning, while I was arguing with the Princess over the matter of her not coming here while Zelda could, that I realised that the only place I wouldn't take her was somewhere she might die.

"Mother, it was this morning that I realised I no longer lusted for her.

"I've spent my entire day climbing stairs in a gruelling heat. I spent time parkouring to secure a path for the others. I spent so, so much time arguing. I finally told and showed her that I'm Twili royalty. I told her what that meant. I lent her my cloak to wear through town, fully knowing that that implies she is being kept hidden from the public eye lest they look upon the one I intend to spend my life with. We might not have marriage here, Mother, but I practically implied I was bound to her as we walked through town arm in arm. As I walked into the Throne room with my arm around her.

"I've spent my entire day trying to keep myself from thinking one thing. And I've done everything in my power to keep myself thinking that one thing.

"Mother. … Mother. Mother, I love her.

"I would die for her as many times as it takes to get it right. I would lie to her my entire life it that made her happy. I would cut off my arm and give it to the Princess and 'Link' as a wedding present if she asked it of me. I probably wouldn't even hesitate.

"If she tells me to leave her alone, I'll leave her alone. But every day of my life from now that she's not in is a day that Ganon wins.

"It has taken me every ounce of my self-control not to kiss her until my lungs collapse. It has taken my breath away how she cannot see what she's done to me.

"And if one day she returns to her world, if one day she asks me to come with her there, I would say yes without a second thought.

"Goddesses, I love her.

"I love her…

"I, I love Zelda.

"And Mother, please. Please tell me you'll give me the blessing to revive Ganondorf. Please tell me I can take the Master Sword from him. Please tell me, please, please tell me, you'll give me your blessing to take him down one last time.

"I know you'll lose me. I, I can understand now how much that will hurt you. But please.

"Please, Mother.

"I'm not giving into my destiny. I'm doing this for Zelda.

"Please let me do this for her.

"I love her."

Alarink was looking at the floor as he spoke those three words one last time. If he tried to plead again, his voice would crack and the tears that had threatened to fall since he began would come streaming all too quickly. He'd tried so hard, so, so hard not to tell himself he loved her, but as soon as he'd admitted it, it had felt like a weight off his shoulders.

He had never felt so honest, as he admitted that to his mother.

And now he stood, his eyes pinched shut to stop the threatening tears before they started, his whole body shaking with the effort of keeping them at bay. But at least he'd said his peace before his mother turned him down.

Then there were arms about him, pulling him close in an embrace.

He didn't need to open his eyes to know who it was as she started stroking her fingers through his naturally ginger locks; as she rested her chin on top of his head, cooing to him as she had when he'd learnt his father had died.

Wrapping his arms around Midna, he whimpered once before the tears over flowed. Then he was a childish, blubbering mess as he gripped his mother for dear life. She was his rock against the flood of his tears, and yet she was holding back her own, he knew.

If she said yes to him, if she gave him the Twilight Blessing, she was sending her son in on a suicide mission. There was no way she would-

"Yes." Midna whispered to him gently as his tears began to subside. "I will miss you every day of the rest of my life. I will move Twilight away from Hyrule's time so that we live independent of it, so that I can hear as soon as possible if you have lived. But I will give you my blessing to revive Ganondorf. Take that sword to kill him."

"Mother…" Alarink sniffed as he pulled away from her, looking her in her strong, tear clouded eyes, knowing she meant that from the bottom of her heart. "Thank you."

"Don't make the same mistake I did, Link." Midna said as she pulled him back in for another hug, not wanting her son to see her cry. "Tell her you love her before you die, don't live the rest of your life in regret because you're a too proud Twili."

"Hey, who knows," he laughed gently into her shoulder, though it was an awkward laugh of no real amusement. There was no more conviction in his laugh than there was in his next statement. "I might even live."

AN:

There are so many things I wanted to say here, so many things I know I should say here. Instead I'm going to say this:

This was the last chapter I wrote before I went to University.

The day after I wrote this chapter I broke up with my boyfriend. The week after I wrote this chapter I was living alone for the first time in a new city and attending a University that made me feel stupid. In the two months I spent there, I made some amazing friendships that I am already losing due to the distance between us. In the two months before I dropped out, I had never felt so depressed, so invalid, so incredibly dumb. In the two months I spent there, I experienced many things, but the one I remember the most - nearly three months later - is the bleak depression that I'm still trying to overcome.

And in the two months I spent there, I had no time to write.

In those two months, this story nearly got dropped on my unfinished pile like so many others.

And despite the fact that its not being well received, despite the fact that I know no one is reading this note, I just want everyone to know how much this particular chapter means to me.

In my mind, this chapter was the peak of the mountain, it was a down hill ski from here to the finish line. If I hadn't written this chapter before I broke up with my ex, if I hadn't finished it in a day or before I went to uni, this story would have never been finished. And if this story had never been finished, I might not have written anything else ever again.

If I hadn't finished this I might have given up on my dream of being a writer.

Now it's nearly 3 months since I finished the story - the last 5 chapters all being finished in a week of this being uploaded for the first time. Since I finished writing this, I wrote and submitted my first script in a competition. I've written three more pieces of fanfiction that are doing better than this one is.

In the nearly 3 months since I finished this, so much has changed but my mental state stays the same as I now combat unemployment. And honestly, one of the only things keeping me sane is the fact that I get to come back and read this every week as I edit it.

No one may be reading this, no one may be enjoying it; but I am.

And as long as I live this story will stay with me as the first one I was truly proud of, the first one I planned, the first one I finished. The one that I had to finish in order to write and submit my script without guilt. The one with first character that has stayed with me and even influenced me in my day to day life.

So, if you're still with me after the nearly 9000 words that was chapter 12, thank you.

I hope that this story brings you some of the joy it brings me, and if not, I hope it can at least be a distraction.

I hope to see you again next week, may it be a better one for all of us.

~WWQ