A/N: So you may be wondering how he's back. Trust me, you'll find out in time. I started the fairly long prologue in the middle of their conversation and left certain things somewhat vague on purpose. Speculate and brood all you want, for the hazy Twilight will be cleared up eventually. Trust the writer. I am hoping you won't be disappointed.
Summary: He will ultimately have her trust, forgiveness, and love…but not without some work. Midna x Zant. Read + review, please.A Puppet's Redemption
A The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess fanfiction
By Ducky in Spandex
Prologue
"I can't forgive you, Zant. Not after all that you've done."
These words didn't surprise him at all, for Zant had grown accustomed to rejection. The hateful look in her eyes pained him—those fierce, peculiar, unforgiving red eyes. Her little pointed tooth stuck out of her frowning mouth—that odd tooth that he had always found endearing. She was a tragic beauty.
"Midna…" he uttered her name pleadingly. "I stand before you, weak, bare, and humbled. Gone is my mask, my false god, and my ambition… I only aspire to attain your forgiveness, and, if you would permit me, your love…"
"Love? Hah!" spat Midna spitefully. "What do you know of love?
Zant's lip trembled, and he gazed into her bitterly beautiful eyes, his voice growing fervent and passionate at her spite. "Yes, what a splendid question to ask the fallen usurper, my dear princess! What do I know of love?" He advanced on her. "Midna, I have spent my years living a conflicted existence. My ambition and spite consumed me, but so did my love for you! I was cruel, yes, I was cruel! I knew nothing of expressing my passion or coping with it… I showed it by usurping your throne, ruining our country, mutating you, and banishing you from our home! I was rarely if ever in my right mind."
He paused, almost losing himself in her calm, but almost mocking face that amazingly seemed to grow softer with his every word. For a moment he had a mad desire to take her in his arms and kiss her, but the Twili suppressed those long hidden desires and resumed his overdue confession and apology.
"Midna, I was a sick man. Sick to my bones, and not worth your little finger. I was a puppet! Fooled by a criminal! How much lower could I have sunk? Before I knew it, my love was lost among evil and my thirst for power and revenge. I knew you would hate me after what I did, so I modified my behavior accordingly. I presented a calm, collected and calculating face beneath that helmet, that mask, so as to show you only my strength and mercilessness… a lie! I lived a lie! I saw you at that spring, Midna, and my passion almost won, but my anger and jealousy at seeing Link attain the last Fused Shadow with you overwhelmed me. I lost myself. I lost you! Midna, I lost you the moment I betrayed you…"
Midna had become silent, secretly amazed by his ranting, raving confession. Could Zant really have been such a conflicted, passionate man? If so, it only made him more twisted and complex than she had ever perceived him to be. Just when she thought he was done with his rather ardent monologue, the shameful, pitiful Twili burst into heavy sobs and tears and crumpled to Midna's feet. He seemed to have lost all his pride.
"Midna, oh Midna…" choked Zant through his pathetic, remorseful tears. "I come to you now a repenting sinner, seeking redemption… You are my only salvation, for you knew me long before I fell to corruption and are the only one who could ever hope to understand… Telling you I'm sorry is scarcely enough… In the end, my princess, all the things I wanted: power, immortality, revenge… they all meant nothing because I was my false god's puppet, and he lied to me, used me… I was a fool, and I have deserved every single blow to my body, mind, heart, and soul…"
He was right. He did. What Zant did was utterly unforgivable and quite demanding of a death penalty (which had been dealt…but apparently withdrawn) or a lifetime in prison if one looked upon the case intellectually, but she knew that there was far more to crime and punishment than the cold, cynical eye of the distant and aloof philosopher. His own crimes and his eventual fall from grace took quite a toll on him; to Midna, justice and punishment had apparently been dealt quite successfully…
Zant's next statement broke her out of her musings, and Midna focused her attention directly on him again, patiently waiting for his raving to end.
"My princess, those things mean nothing now—they left you, me, and our country in ruin…and destroyed any bit of respect you might have once had for me. I need you…not like you thought I did while I whispered into your ear that day in Lanayru's cove… I need you, Midna, because I love you."
Zant's shining yellow eyes looked up at her as he professed his humbling love for the Twilight Princess. He folded his hands as if he were praying to a goddess. His pale, snakelike face was devoid of the evil and insanity it once projected. In its place was a face full of remorse, apology, and pleading, all-consuming love.
Midna gazed into his eyes for a long while, trying to digest all his words. She searched for an answer, but could only utter a few words. "Get up, Zant." Her voice was calm and yet somewhat overwhelmed in tone. She held out a hand to him. He took both and began kissing them rapturously, savoring every time his lips caressed her smoky, soft skin. How wonderful her feminine flesh felt! It was a feeling he had never before allowed himself to experience.
She gazed at him, her brows raised and her eyes somewhat softened, but her face firm. "Zant, I am quite surprised by your outburst… Still now I am a bit afraid to accept this as genuine."
Caressing her hands, Zant rose, now towering over her already tall body. How beautiful her fiery hair was, like the forest at sunset! "Your Majesty… I know I have been a fool and an evil man… I imagine simple words aren't enough to convince Your Excellency. Yes, yes, you're waiting to see some clear, truthful, and conclusive proof… I am a changed man, Midna. I have nothing to offer you but my service…and my love. I will serve you, and I will work hard as I always have—harder than before! I pray for this and only this: to see the Twilit sun light your eyes every day, and dare I wish to die seeing a smile on your face, having kissed your lips for the first and last time… But alas, I am raving again, my princess! I beg you, I implore you to take me in under your wing again, to let me roam these halls and mop these floors and hand-copy your documents for you…to see you, love you from afar as I always have and must be content with doing for the rest of my worthless life…"
Midna was, in a way, oddly touched and moved by this man's proposal. He wanted to work again, return as a servant? After all his years of painfully fruitless service, he wanted to do it again? Tentatively, the Twilight Princess squeezed Zant's hands and met his eyes, deciding on a moderate course of action. "Zant… I will consider it if you pass this test: you are to do all that you are asked without hesitation, work hard to prove your true allegiance and attain your desired redemption, and testify before the oracle of truth for a week. If you pass this first test, I'll…" she paused hesitantly.
Zant grew hopeful.
"…I'll let you stay."
Tears flowed again, and once more Zant fell to Midna's feet and kissed them reverently and gratefully. "Your Majesty, I am forever in your debt…I swear to the deities above that I will work harder than a devoted slave, tell the truth, and help you rebuild our beautiful land… And my love for my country and for you will always be here to heal me and guide me when the muscles are sore and the heart is cold…"
Midna looked down at Zant with a small, sympathetic, and worrisome frown. Divided in sentiment about this strange encounter, the Twilight Princess still didn't know whether to believe him or not. Was he truly repentant for his crimes and genuine in his confession of love and proposal of service and truth?
Or did he have an ulterior motive, seeking to appeal to her heart for more malicious reasons?
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A/N: Hoping you liked that! I'd love some reviews—I need honest feedback to know how I'm doing so far and whether I should continue or not. You'll see the first chapter when I've prepared it. Much love, and thanks!