Chapter Twenty: Hope in the Hearts of All

It was very dark out, with the only light coming from a single candle. They were back inside of Link's house in what was left Ordon Village. Link awoke in Midna's arms, her eyes filled with tears. There was no one there but her. His heart fluttered as he noticed this little detail. As he breathed in, he coughed a little, unused to his lungs being used after being exposed to such a powerful magic for so long. "Midna, why are you crying?" he asked her weakly.

A single tear dripped down from Midna's face, landing on Link's nose. "I'm so glad that you're alive! I thought I had lost you again…"

"Ugh…my head hurts…the last thing I remember is the Spirits glowing really bright…and then everything went white…"

"Yeah, same here. I wonder if it was the same for everyone else." Midna sighed.

He squeezed out a dry laugh and reached up his hand with all of his might to touch her face and wipe away the rest of her tears. Never before had he realized how much he truly loved her…how afraid he was of losing her again. Over a year ago, when he thought that all hope of seeing her again was lost, he thought he knew for sure that he loved her. Back in the desert, he had thought he loved her then…but now, more than ever, his love was true. Even after the battle, he thought that his heart could not long for hers any more than it already did. But all of those times he was wrong, as now he loved her even more deeply than he ever could have fathomed.

"Do you notice anything different?" she asked him.

"Midna…" he began. Then he suddenly realized that she was no longer in her Impish form as she was previously, and was once again in her true form, immersed in total ethereal beauty once more. "Midna!" he exclaimed as he coughed again, but this time not as hard. He was already regaining his strength. He felt like an idiot for neglecting to notice this obvious detail before.

"That, and…"

Link looked at the hand he had placed on Midna's delicate face. He was once again dressed in his Hero's Garb, only without all of the belts and buckles (as it is imaginable that it would be highly uncomfortable to sleep with al those straps of leather and metal on), and his hand once more showed the symbol of the Triforce on it. The spirits had restored his gift to him, even though he no longer needed it.

Suddenly, a familiar young voice rang out through the small room. "Do you even remember what happened?" asked Aura, who was once again wearing the silver tear of her mother.

Link looked at her strangely, as if he had never seen her before. When Aura saw that blank look on his face, she quickly changed from being stubborn and casual to being worried. She rushed over to Link and put her hand on his forehead.

"Link? You do remember me…don't you?"

"I…of course I remember you!" stammered Link. "How could I forget?"

"Then how come you hesitated?"

"Because I was lost in thought…and amazed that you are still here. If you finished your duty, why can't you go back to your own time?"

Aura sighed and began to play with her pendant. "You see, I can not go back to my time because it no longer exists. Unless I am either killed or conceived, I can not leave in my present state.

Both Link and Midna were caught off guard by that last part. "Conceived?!" they both exclaimed at the same time.

"Uh…yeah, about that… You see, it is impossible for two people who are actually the same person to exist at the same time in the same place. Therefore, if another me, so to speak, were to come into existence, even if we were not the same age, the one who would not belong would merge with the one who did, their spirits essentially finding themselves again. But since there is no me from this timeline, I guess I'm stuck here until there is one."

Link just blinked and turned to Midna. "Midna, I don't know about you, but that went way over my head."

"What Aura is saying is that if there were an Aura from this time in this place, than she would not exist as the body she is now. Her mind and spirit would revert to infancy and merge with the Aura from this time and place."

"And that means…?"

"There is no Aura from this time, and in order for her to go back to normal, we need to create one."

"Oh," Link replied. Then, upon realization of what that meant, said, "OH…" with his eyes widened and a startled expression on his face.

To this, Aura and Midna laughed. Link shot a nasty glance at them and stuck his tongue out at them for picking on him like that. He was such a kid sometimes…because we all know that men never really grow up on the inside.

"Well…I guess I'll just leave you two alone then…" Aura giggled playfully as she skipped out of the room and slipped into the shadows.

For a long time, Midna and Link just kept sitting on the bed and staring at the spot on the floor where Aura had disappeared to. At long last, Midna broke the silence and said, "Well, I'm worn out, what about you?"

"I vote we go to sleep," replied Link.

"Who said you had a choice?" replied Midna playfully.

As Link crawled under the covers, he chuckled back at her. "Good night, Midna."

As she cuddled up to him, she responded, "That's princess Midna to you!"

After that, he patted her on the head like she was a puppy and then turned and blew out the candle light. "Goodnight, princess Midna."

"Goodnight," she whispered back to him. Within minutes, sleep overtook them, and their minds drifted swiftly to where all dreams are made.

zzz

Ilia walked by the foot of Link's house, just out of a sheer urge to do so. She saw the faint glow of the candle light flicker through his window…and then go out. She looked closer at Link's house.

Ilia knew that the light spirits had brought him back to life back in the desert…they had brought her back as well when she had been killed in the village. It was all thanks to Princess Zelda, the Gorons and Zoras, and even the very woman that had earned the heart of her beloved…Midna. If the princess and the others had not destroyed the darkness of Ganondorf that had been resurrected from Link's blood, all of Hyrule would have been dead by now…and she and the other villagers would not have been brought back from the dead.

She was grateful…but also sad, for she knew that he loved another. She was not so selfish as to try and pull them apart…for she truly loved Link and wished nothing more for him than to be happy and safe. She only wished that, if the gods would have permitted it, he could have shared his happiness with her…

If nothing else, she was going to have to get used to the fact that Midna was going to be staying with Link until they were able to find a way for her to get back to her realm. Well, they could always become friends, right? They were already allies, so why not be on friendly terms on top of that? Suddenly, things weren't looking so bleak for Ilia any more. What with reconstruction of the village already underway, the children safe inside her father's house (for that was where the villagers had taken to staying until the rest of the homes had finished construction), and the darkness gone once and for all, she knew that tomorrow the sun would shine brighter than it ever had for her before.

She walked away, unable to so much as be in the mere presence of Link's house any longer. Her heart would move on eventually, it would just take time to heal. And she had all the time in the world. Besides, she and Link were still friends, right? Ilia turned around and walked back to her father's house, her heart both heavy and enlightened.

She knew that hope had been restored to the hearts of all people, herself included.

zzz

In the morning, Midna was awakened by the bright light of the morning sun gleaming through Link's open window. She raised her arm to her eyes to block out the harsh light, and then turned to face Link, who was still sleeping. She wondered how a light this bright could not wake him up.

She crawled out of bed and combed her fingers through her hair to get the knots and tangles out…at least a majority of them anyways. She then did her hair in the fashion she always did it in, and then materialized her robes from Twilight Matter. She was all ready for the day now.

Midna turned around and jumped when she saw that Aura was right behind her, looking up at her.

"Hi mom!" she shouted.

"I thought you said that I wasn't your mom?!" replied Midna, still trying to catch her breath after the scare she gave her, placing her hand over her heart to signify her exasperated shock.

"Well, technically that is true, but I can't just go around calling out, "Hey, You," now can I?"

"Well that's good to know at least."

"Should we wake up the log?"

Midna and Aura shot a glance towards the sleeping Link.

"Let's," replied Midna, as the two Twili girls developed a mischievous grin on their faces.

What commenced in the following moments was Midna using her magic to make the bed extra bouncy and Link more resistant to the pull of gravity, while Aura leapt on to the bed yelling, "Wakey-wakey!" This then resulted in Link waking up, screaming as he flew through the air and landed back on his bed. All he got were girly giggles in response.

"That's what you get for sleeping in and not helping!" said Aura.

"Not helping?" asked Midna and Link at the same time.

"Yeah," replied Aura. "The villagers are all awake, including the children, and they're all already out there building and stuff."

"This early?" asked Link.

"Actually," said Midna, "It's already 10:30."

"Exactly! That's still early!"

"You're a farm boy, Link, aren't you supposed to wake up early?" sighed Aura.

"Well…not on weekends…and when I've been off adventuring and what not…"

"No excuses, now you two get your butts out there and help out the others! The faster we get this done, the better! I've been working all morning; it's time you pulled your weight."

With that, the three exited Link's house and joined the others in rebuilding the village.

zzz

Many weeks passed, and the village was eventually rebuilt, with help from all who could lend a hand. Princess Zelda was eventually escorted back to Hyrule Castle, where there was much rejoicing. Ilia had returned to her usual happy nature, and the children had resumed their playful behaviors once more. Aura had become good friends with the other children, Colin and Corinne in particular, and she learned a great deal about the world her father came from.

When the day arrived when Aura was finally able to leave, she gave her pendant to Midna, and instructed her that as long as she wore it, she would be able to come to the Realm of Light once a year, because the tear would build up enough magic for a round trip in that amount of time.

With her heart heavy after having to leave her new village friends and her beloved husband, and father of the child inside of her, she returned to her home in the Twilight Realm, where she resumed her role as its princess and ruler. Every day she held the hope inside her that she would see her loved ones soon.

In time, Midna's little Aura was born, and the story of the new Twilight Princess began to unfold. But that story…will be saved for another time.

A/N: It's finally over! The first part of the Daughter of the Twilight, Daughter of the Light has been finished. I hope you all enjoyed every last moment of it as much as I did! The sequel will be arriving in due time, so keep a weathered eye on the horizon! I bid you all a very fond, although temporary, farewell!