Link bid Midna farewell and walked up to the entryway to Hyrule.
"Wait!" Midna called.
Link turned around, a sad face replacing his fake happiness.
"I… I can't leave you, Link…. It was too hard, and I'm too weak. So… if I could…"
"Come back to Hyrule?" Link offered.
"Just for a little while?"
"Of course, Midna. You're always welcome to the world you saved."
"Actually, you saved it. And the Twilight Realm, which I thank you for."
Link chuckled. "All in a few months work."
Midna smiled, and ducked into Link's shadow. Who knows what the light world would do to her?
Link uncertainly stepped forward and the mirror of twilight transported him to the roof of Arbiter's Grounds.
Shad was there, trying to show some people how the Mirror of Twilight works. It wasn't that hard, but he was showing that the white rectangle in front of the mirror was dangerous, and that no one must touch it. Idiot. He doesn't know enough science to teach a human to breathe.
"Aha! Hello, Link! Did you… Did you by chance just come from the Twilight Realm?"
Link stepped onto the platform, purposefully just stepping on the rectangle.
"Ack! Ah! My ankle! I… I think I broke my ankle!" Link whined. "Don't… Don't step on that! In fact, I think you all should leave here! It could cause something dangerous to happen, and all of you will break your ankle!"
That was the most pathetic thing Midna heard anyone say, and it sounded especially pathetic coming from the guy who saved these people's sorry butts.
"Okay, everyone let us get out of here! Link, do you need the doctor in Castle Town?" Shad asked with a straight face.
"Pssh, that doctor can't even heal a paper cut."
Shad nodded warily, and shooed everyone out.
"You better go too, Shad," Link warned. Midna saw his lip twitching just a little bit as he spoke, obviously stifling laughter.
"Oh yes, uh, of course." Shad reluctantly walked down below, and I jumped out of Link's shadow.
"Thanks," Midna murmured quietly. "We don't want anyone else coming into the Twilight Realm."
"Anytime. So, where are you going to stay?"
"Huh?" Midna asked, confused.
"Well, are you staying overnight?"
"Oh," Midna's face flushed, "I… I don't know yet."
"Well, you're welcome to sleep on one of the hammocks in my house. They're not that bad once you get used to them…"
"That'll be great. Thanks."
"No problem… So… what do you want to do?"
Midna pondered that for a moment. Now that she got what she wanted, what did she want to do? "Uh… Shall we go see Princess Zelda?"
"We can't- she's helping with the rebuild of Castle Town after Ganondork destroyed it."
"Ganondork?" Midna repeated.
"He's a jerk, and Ganondork just worked with his name."
Midna giggled and looked at the lone tower that remained standing after the explosion. The tower that once housed the princess of Hyrule. Ironic, isn't it?
"Midna, I think you can come out of my shadow for good now. You're fine in the light world, even if it's rid of the Twilight. We've already noticed that."
"Is there another reason why you want me solid?" Midna laughed.
Link looked blankly at the princess. "I don't ge- Midna! No! Just out of my shadow, that's it!"
The Twilight Princess chuckled and turned back into the tall, dark figure that was Midna. She loved being solid in the light world- it made her feel more normal. Like she wasn't a descendant of evil monsters who plotted to take over the world.
Midna warped them back to Gerudo's Valley and they looked at the barren wasteland covered in sand.
"Why does sand have to be so hot?" Midna complained playfully.
"Because sand absorbs sunlight," Link said seriously.
"What's wrong?"
Link looked away from her, staring absently at the pillars rising out of the building housing the Mirror of Twilight. "Nothing I want to say aloud."
"You can trust me," Midna said, her voice soft.
"I know."
They were silent, and Midna spaced out. She looked blankly at the sand, imagining things that could never be real, like Link living in the Twilight, or her living in Hyrule.
"It's myself I don't trust," Link added after a moment.
The sound of his voice lured her out of her imagination, and she spoke up. "Why?"
Link turned to face her, his expression unreadable. Midna guessed it was a combination of hurt and confusion, judging by his evasiveness.
"You know you don't have to tell me if you don't want to…" she added reluctantly.
"I know. But… if I go insane and turn into something… evil… will you do what's… necessary?"
Midna knew what he was asking. That if Link went mad, he wanted her to kill him. She pictured it- herself diving a knife into his chest… watching the light fade out of his eyes as they glaze over, his skin turning cold and his movements grow faint…
Midna shuddered. "No. I couldn't do that to you. Not a chance. But… why are you asking me this?"
Link hesitated. He was going to tell her, that much she could tell. But how he was going to spit it out was undecided.
"Listen. You may think that I'd be going mad for what I'm about to say, but just… listen."
Midna nodded warily.
"Ok. Well… when I saw you disappear into the Twilight Realm, I thought that you hated the light world and should just leave you alone. But I didn't get halfway down to the entrance of Arbiter's Grounds when I realized that I can't be without you for the rest of eternity."
Link paused, and Midna noticed that he'd become quite the chatterbox around her lately.
"You may not have to be here forever; I know how much you love the Twilight Realm."
Yeah, and Midna knows how much the Twilight Realm loves her.
"But please, at least come here sometimes…"
"As I told the Twili," Midna began, "I'm going to come here often. My excuse was that worlds must live in peace in order to prosper. Which may be true, but there are people I love here in Hyrule too." Midna blushed, accidentally giving away something that she meant to be kept secret.
Midna caught a glimpse of Link blushing just as he jerked his head away in the opposite direction. She also caught a smile on his face, which made Midna's day.
"Want to go back to Ordon and greet your friends?" Midna offered.
Link turned her way and smiled. "Sure."
Midna warped them to Ordon Spring, and Link walked forwards, but Midna stayed back.
"Aren't you coming?" he asked.
"I don't think I'll be welcome there."
"Come on, they've seen some weird things. You're no different." Link smiled that said he was only teasing her, but Midna felt a sharp stab pierce her heart. She knew that this bothered her more than it should, but the realization sunk in to her despair.
She was all wrong for him.
"No, I'm fine here," Midna said defiantly. Link was taken aback by her sudden change in mood, and nodded and walked down to his tiny village.
Midna made sure that he was out of sight and earshot before she started walking. She followed him in the shadows of the trees, and once she broke a twig Link stopped and looked around.
"Who's there?" he bellowed.
Midna didn't reply. She stood behind a tree staring at him from afar. He started towards her, but a little figure gave him a hug from behind.
"LINK!" the figure cried. A little blonde figure with a wooden sword and shield on his back. Midna recognized the figure as Colin, Rusl's son.
A sword and shield? Wasn't he always the shy one?
Then she remembered something Link had told her. Colin had said that he was going to be just like Link. Cute kid.
But Midna focused on Link. She didn't know why she was spying on him, but she felt that she needed to.
"Ilia and everybody is waiting for you, Link! Come on!" Colin led the way back to Ordon with Link trailing behind him, warily watching his surroundings.
Midna followed as silently as a mouse around the trees and over branches. When she got to Ordon, she noticed that Ilia and Link were gone. She had gotten there too late to see where they went. So she listened to people talking to see where they went.
Uli, Colin's mom, and Colin were talking quietly, so she listened to them from the shadows.
"Oh Colin! I'm so glad you're home!" Uli cried.
"I'm glad I'm home too! And I'm going to protect Ordon alongside dad, just like Link! So when Link's gone, Ordon will be safe!"
Colin really was ambitious. And all of these kids idled Link. Their hearts would break if he was gone.
"Speaking of which, where is he? He hasn't given me a hug yet," Uli complained. Midna listened harder, and Colin spoke more and more quietly.
"They went to the ranch. Ilia wanted to talk to Link privately, so Fado's down here."
Oo, that was going to be hard. There were no trees around there. So Midna had to be stealthy. Fortunately , she was good at that. She snuck around Rusl and Uli's house and ducked into the river. As soon as the coast was clear, she darted up the hill to the ranch.
Ilia and Link were seated on the grass. Ilia was talking to Link softly, so softly Midna couldn't hear. She strained her ears and listened hard.
"I'm sorry that you had to do that for me," Ilia murmured. They must be talking about getting her memory back.
"It wasn't that hard- I had help of a friend," Link replied.
"Who was it?"
"I don't know, but she was very nice."
Midna chuckled silently. Nice wasn't the word she wanted to describe her. She was only nice to Link, not to this girl whom she was really starting to hate.
"Link… I really missed you. Whether I remembered your name or not, I missed you."
Link hesitated. He looked around cautiously, saw nothing, and returned to Ilia.
"I missed you too," he murmured.
Another sharp pain erupted in Midna's chest. Link loved this girl, that much was evident. More reason to stay in Hyrule.
"Link…" Ilia said softly. She leaned in and planted one right on his mouth.
Midna expected Link to pull away- she could tell he wasn't a fan of kissing. But he put his arms around her waist and angled his head so they could kiss better.
Midna couldn't stand it. She teleported herself away, and as she was leaving she saw Link look up, and then they were gone.
(Link's POV) Black squares evaporated into the air, and Link recognized them immediately. Ilia didn't though, thankfully.
"What's that?" she asked when she pulled away.
Midna saw all of that. She saw him kiss Ilia so intently, and Link just wanted to stab Midna. Why was she spying on him?
"I… I have to go…" Link murmured.
My life is turning into a soap opera…
