Chapter One: Arrival

It was a dark and cloudy day in the Twilight Realm, as usual during this time of the year. The young Twilight Princess was actually surprised that it hadn't started to rain yet. She stared anxiously out of the window from her throne, waiting for something, but not exactly knowing what it was that she was waiting for.

Midna sat in the large, empty throne room, with a little empty blanket bundled in her arms. "Oh, what am I to do? My people expect an heir; need an heir, and how can I provide one for them if I refuse to marry?" She sighed hopelessly. She knew very well who it was that she loved and wished to be with, but it was just so wrong on so many levels.

It was the young warrior of sixteen who she traveled all across the Realm of Light with almost exactly a single year ago. He was so strong and handsome and noble…he would have done anything to protect his world and the people he cared about. He would have done anything to save her. Clad in green, the hero's garb…it was so fitting of him. His name was Link.

But he was a light dweller, whose ancestors were the very ones who banished her people to this dark realm of twilight so many years ago. And she didn't even know if he loved her back. They had been almost like enemies when they first met, and she had treated him so harshly, but they grew into such close friends that it was almost unbearable for her not to be any more than that. And besides, because of her actions one year ago, she would never again see him.

"I know it is against our law to be with one of the light dwellers, which is precisely one of the reasons why I broke the mirror, but..." Midna stood up, dropping the empty blanket on the floor as she headed over to the open window. She reached her hand out to the sky and grabbed at a fragment of Twilight Matter. Nothing…why does it seem so solid? I've always wondered…what exactly am I doing here? What do I hope to accomplish? This Twilight Matter…it is just like me. Aimlessly floating through dreams, unable to be touched by those who would wish to hold me…

Suddenly, a loud noise filled the halls. A vortex of light opened up on the ceiling to the throne room. And then, a small Twili girl dropped through the portal and landed right in Midna's lap.

Midna jumped as the weight of the girl hit her full-force. Ouch, this must have been how Link felt all of those times I dropped onto his in wolf form, she thought to herself as she winced. If I ever happen to see him again, I'm going to have to apologize for that…

The girl was perhaps no taller than four and a half feet in height. Her short, layered, orange colored hair was spiked at the ends, giving her a kind of "I'm tough, don't mess with me" look. Her bangs were fashioned in a way that looked very familiar, but Midna just couldn't put her finger on it as to where she had seen that particular bang-cut before. A swirling black "S" design covered her torso, and a black cape with a teal interior hung down her back.

Then the little Twili girl spoke. "You are Midna, correct?" She looked up at Midna with her big blue eyes.

Wait a minute, Midna wondered as she noticed the color of the Twili girl's eyes. My people do not possess this color of the eyes. Only those who dwell in the light possess eyes that bear the color of the sky of the Realm of the Light. How can this Twili child have blue eyes?

"Well," the little Twili girl spoke again. "Are you Midna or not?"

Midna was caught off guard, as she was still pondering how the girl could have had blue eyes. That just wasn't naturally possible. And wondering how the girl looked so much like she did. She didn't have any sisters or nieces or any kind of younger females in her family. And also how her hair was not the natural black or orange colors of the Twili hair, but a strawberry blonde, like a mix between the purity of the Hylian's and the Twili's. Strange… But she nodded her head at the girl in response to her question. "What purpose do you have for barging into my throne room?" she demanded shortly after nodding.

"Good. I've been looking all over for you," and suddenly, her scowl turned into a devilish grin. She floated up so she was in front of Midna, and she raised her hands in front of her face. "Tell me where you've hidden the Silver Tear."

"The silver tear?" Midna asked. What could she mean? She knew of no tear…But then she remembered, how almost a year ago, she had shattered the Mirror of Twilight with one of her own tears. Could that have been the Silver Tear the girl spoke of? That was merely a small droplet of water, with some salts, nothing more. Her own will had caused it to crystallize into the force that shattered the mirror.

"Don't play dumb, Princess, the Silver Tear. Only with that can the true ruler of the Twilight destroy the Mirror, and only with that can the Mirror be restored by the successor of the royal bloodline."

"Then what could you ever hope to accomplish with this Silver Tear, since clearly I have no child of my own, and so I have no heir. Not even a cousin or niece to the throne can use that power, so what could you possibly want the tear for?" But then she looked at a little silver chain that was hanging from the girl's neck, and on the end of it, hung a small, silver, tear-shaped pendant. "Just who are you?" asked Midna.

"Not telling." She smiled mischievously and let out a little giggle of delight. "Now hand over the Silver Tear."

Midna remembered that look. It was the same look of determination that he had when he was going to destroy Ganondorf. Could this strange girl perhaps be…?

No. Midna brushed the very thought away. There was no way that this girl could have been related to either her or Link, or any of the other light dwellers for that matter. This girl was a race of her own. And how could Link be related to a Twili, anyways? A roughly ten-year old Twili for that matter? But her eyes…they were just like his…

"Hey, you, stop dazing off, I'm talking to you here! Fork over the tear, or I'm going to have to do something I really don't think you want me to do."

"Who are you?" Midna managed to say before the strange girl blasted a cluster of light at her. "Why are you here?" Midna's entire body was engulfed in the bright, warmth of the light, and before she knew it, she had slipped into a state of unconsciousness.

When she awoke again, the strange girl was floating over her. Her vision was a little fuzzy from the extreme concentration of light previously, but then her eyes began to focus. She mentally thanked Zant, something she never thought she'd do after his betrayal so long ago. If he hadn't exposed her to the pure light of the Light Spirits back then, this strange girls magic would have surely killed her, as it would have any other Twili. She could see the blue sky quite clearly… Wait a minute! The sky of her world was never blue. It could be grays, blacks, purples, and all shades of red, orange and yellow, but never blue.

"Whoops, I guess I might have overdone it a bit," the girl said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Where am I?" she asked, even though she already had a pretty good idea.

The girl sighed and rolled her eyes. "What are you, stupid? This is Hyrule."