Chapter 2: Moving On

           Months had passed since the threat of Ganondorf had been distinguished. After seeing Midna leave before his very eyes, Link had sorrowfully returned to Ordon. The first few days were joyful; all the children were reunited with Link and everyone in town could finally have a chance to thank Link with a meal or kind gesture.

           What confused the people of Ordon village was this new demeanor Link always kept. Before his adventures, Link was always a rambunctious outgoing person. While still being kind and polite, he no longer spent much time outside of his house. He no longer worked up at the ranch. He even gave Epona to Ilia to care for. While still making appearances in town, to buy food and supplies, he mostly stayed in his hut on the outskirts. The townspeople couldn’t begin to understand why a national hero had turned into a recluse.

           When Zelda returned to the castle accompanied by Link, the town had a celebration. Zelda spoke of the deeds that were done by Link. However, at the request of Midna herself, Zelda kept the fact of her existence a secret. Zelda had told Link of Midna’s secret after he had watched his love disappear for ever. He promised Midna, through Zelda, he would uphold her honor and wishes and keep her a secret.

           It was perhaps this fact that hurt him the most. He had literally no one to talk to about his grief. It was impossible for him to let anyone else even know he was grieving for fear of divulging his secret. Many times Ilia had tried to comfort Link, coming by his house with fresh fruits hand picked, but Link would simply turn her away. He also turned the children away when they’d come to play or be shown how to use a sword by the sword master of the town.

           After several months, the children began to worship another leader instead of Link. Oddly enough, that new leader turned out to be Colin, son of Rusl. Rusl had given his son strenuous lessons in the art of fighting and Colin had picked them up rather well. Malo still continued to run his shops by correspondence, occasionally making his way into Kakariko or Castle Town to check up on them. His parents were astounded that their young son had started and owned two of Hyrule’s most prestigious shops.

           When Link began distancing himself from his friends, Ilia began to feel sadness creeping in. She always knew her feelings for Link were strong, but she hadn’t really known how strong. Her father, the mayor, used to tease her by asking her when young Link would come by asking for her hand in marriage. She would blush and fain anger in those times, but secretly had been asking herself the same question. She had tried so very hard to foster a relationship between the two. Things had been looking up until that day she was captured by a beast. She cursed that day.

           During the few months passed since his brush with death, Link could barely sleep at night. He had reoccurring dreams of anger, pain, and destruction. Evil thoughts clouded his mind. Thoughts of depression and suicide crept ever closer.

           He hadn’t realized just how much Midna had actually meant to him. After the incident, Link had returned to the Arbiter’s Grounds and the Mirror and remained for several days, asking the sages if there was any way to restore the Mirror. They adamantly denied any possibility. He sifted through the sand and dust but could never find pieces any larger than a grain of sand, if they were pieces at all.

           Link’s thoughts remained constantly on the good times he had had. The snide comments Midna used to make, or the way she would brush up against him, as friends do, before a fight, letting him know she was right there by his side. He would never forget the change in her life that he got to witness first hand; nor the tears in her eyes when she had asked him for one last favor.

           “Link, can I ask you one last favor?” Midna had said that time when they first entered the Twilight Palace.

           “Of course! You don’t even have to ask,” said the still naïve Link, wondering what could be drawing her tears.

           “These people know that I abandoned them. However, they know that hope is coming. I want them to see you as the hope for their country. Please allow me to be your shadow for one last time.” She had said it with a conviction that at the time Link didn’t understand. He understood why she would want that, but not the deeper meaning it implied. My shadow, for one last time. He cursed himself for not being able to reach out to her in time at the Mirror again. He had done so on many occasions since it had happened.

 

*        *        *

 

           In the months that had passed since her love had helped her return to her land, Midna had been restless. She had her duties as the newly appointed Queen of Twilight in this realm and those duties constantly bogged her down. It was fortunate, however, that those duties also allowed her to forget her misery for the time.

           She had come of age in the time of her travels with Link. Before Zant had assumed control of the throne, young Midna had been only in Princess status. Upon her return, the people joyously cheered and confirmed in her age that she was now Queen of the Twilight. This change in position, however, meant that she would soon need to be married. While not having any direct control over the throne, as was Twili custom, the King would still be wed to her and she hated that idea. She knew it would be vastly unfair to whoever she would marry. She wouldn’t, no, couldn’t love him nearly as much as she did Link.

           Still the suitor process drug on. She had been through several already, dismissing each after spending nearly no time with them. It was normal for the Twili Queen to wed rather quickly after coming of age and this reluctance to marry frightened the elders that Midna kept as counselors.

           After speaking to her of the situation many times, she would reply to each with, “He just wasn’t the one for me.” Deciding to let nature take its course, the elders stepped out of the suitor arena and allowed Midna to make her own choice of husband.

           Aside from the stressed of life as Queen and being forced to consider suitors, other aspects of life had been upsetting to Midna. Border disputes, trade wars, and corruption in small city-state governments led Midna to believe that the Twili realm was in fact evil.

           The one aspect of life that had lightened her day was the day that her personal servant gave birth to her first son. Unfortunately, the servant had died in birth without speaking to the fact that she was pregnant. Midna decided to take him in as her own. After all, she had finally decided to break the norm and remain a single Queen.

    What drew her to this random child was the fact that, unlike most Twili, he had blonde hair and a strong physique, straight from the womb. She knew that this is what Link must have looked like when he was born, other than the bluish skin tone of course. The only unsettling thing about the child was his eyes. They had a feeling of greed about them that Midna couldn’t explain. She let those ideas pass from her mind, however, and took great measures to spoil the child.

 

*        *        *

 

           Link continued to live in Ordon for several years, each day becoming slightly more reclusive. He had now gained the reputation of being the village hermit and, living on the outskirts of town near the forest, few people would pass by his house. Ilia had since been married off to the young son of a wealthy couple in town. The marriage was the event of the year and Link did not attend. Epona had lived to a ripe old age in horse years and had gone on to the great pasture in the sky.

   The night that would change all of this depression and sadness into a fervor of hope came the evening that one of the children decided to play a prank on “the hermit.” Link was asleep, having his nightly dream of terror and pain, when one of the children decided to use a sling shot to shoot through the window. The plan was to break a pot or something to scare “the hermit” into coming out. The plan failed miserably, however, when the seed slammed through the glass of a lantern tilting it off balance.

           The noise woke Link enough to come out of his dreamy state, but not enough to fully realize what was occurring.

           The broken lantern, which was lit, fell to the ground and caught a nearby shirt on fire. As the hut began to catch and burn around him, Link’s dream was getting worse than it ever had been before. Images of Midna being tortured by a giant pig resembling a man, Zelda being hung for some crime or another, and Link being shot through with an arrow by the women he loved.

           Several minutes had passed since the fire started and the children responsible had run quickly back to their houses and pretended to be asleep. A rafter cracked and fell to the floor with a loud crash.

           Barely hearing the actually crash of the rafter, Link awoke to find himself in a daze of heat and confusion. Why was his hut burning down? He glanced around to find some clothing to wear and grabbed his bow. Before he could slam his body through and out the window, his eyes caught a glimpse of something moving through the fire.

           He thought it was the shape of a wolf, but knew his eyes were playing tricks on him. Whatever it was, it was fast and it was moving towards him. He heard a low growl and decided it best to run. Link flung his body through the second story which had been cracked by the seed, unknown to Link, and fell to the ground one story below. As he glanced back up to watch the remaining pieces of lumber collapse in on themselves, Link saw a bright glowing orange shape speed its way into the woods.

   Following, Link sprinted after the object as fast as possible; convinced it had burned down all he had left, including a single shard found of the Mirror, his only keepsake of Midna. Link could barely make out the shape in the darkness as fast as it moved through the trees, but followed nonetheless. After several minutes, the object slowed down enough that Link didn’t have to run to keep up.

           Link once again turned on his hunter mode, which had remained dormant since the day Ilia was stolen. He had forgotten how good being in the wild felt and his spirits lifted slightly. He stalked the glowing beast through the woods as it slowly moved north. The beast slowly made its way across Faron Bridge into Faron Woods. Perplexed, Link followed.

           Deciding to take lead of the situation, Link notched an arrow and prepared to fire. As the shaft left the bow and sailed its way silently threw the evening night, the creature turned around to meet said arrow. It passed directly through the muzzle of the beast, now seen clearly to be a wolf, and Link instantly recognized it as the face of the mysterious warrior that had helped him along the way when he was with Midna.

           Excited, Link raced forward, but the wolf turned and ran again. Filled with excitement over meeting someone he might actually be able to talk to, Link gave full chase after the beast.

           Through woods and lakes, Link felt his old grasp of nature and agility taking hold again. He found he could keep up with the wolf, much to his surprise. The wolf led through previously unknown areas of the woods for Link. He had never ventured this far as a boy and had yet to do so as a man.

           Much to Link’s surprise, they ended up running through some old ruins that he didn’t know existed. And then it hit him. The wolf led me back to the Temple of Time.

           Link watched the wolf run up into the chamber containing the Master Sword that Link had placed there years earlier. Walking slowly know, content that the beast had reached its destination, Link soaked in the area surrounding him. It seemed somehow different, somehow more inviting.

           What Link saw when he entered the chamber threw him for a loop. He was gazing at the face of someone who looked remarkably like himself. While Link now wore his traditional Ordon farm hand clothing, this other Link wore the green tunic of the Hero spoken of in legend.

           “It is I, the one that taught you the hidden skills of the master swordsman,” said the new Link, with a smirk on his face. Several seconds of silence passed.

           “So, you don’t know what to think. Why you are looking at yourself? Well, I am the Hero of Time. My name is also Link and I look very much like you. This is the tunic you wore to defeat Ganondorf, a man I had already defeated. It looks as if when I and the Princess Zelda of my time sealed him, we simply sent him to the Twilight Realm and look what happened. It was for that reason I wanted to fix my past mistake and I helped you. I also helped you because you are my descendant. Now, however, I help you for a different reason.”

           Link still gaped back at his reflection unknowing what to say.

           “I, too, lost a dear friend. Her name was Navi. She left me much the same way that Midna left you. I went on a journey to find her and got involved in many other adventures but ended up dieing without ever seeing her again. I know what you are going through, perhaps not to the extent of love, but of pain.”

           Link could feel tears welling up in his eyes. This person knew Midna existed. Someone beside himself knew she existed! He was talking to someone about the women he loved!

           “Link, I don’t want you to suffer as I suffered. When I taught you the last skill of the master swordsman, I believed my duty finished. However, I could not find peace. I revisited several of the locations I had seen you at and pieced together a story of what happened from the ghosts at the Arbiter’s Grounds. I think I may know of a way to help you return to your lost love.”

           At this, Link broke down into tears of joy. The floodgates had opened and Link was finally able to release his pain.

           “I don’t know if it can work, as the Mirror was completely shattered, but I may have a way. It will take searching long and hard for an item that I haven’t seen in hundreds of years, something hidden even from me. The Ocarina of Time.”