Dusk and Scars

Chapter 4: Legacy in Black and White

Link got up from the lounge and went to the edge of the balcony. A gentle breeze whipped his robe and hair as he looked down into the courtyard below. He put his hands on the railing gently. Midna paused. She remembered a day when he'd stood up here addressing a great throng of their citizens below in the same open robe he wore now – eschewing his armor for the first time since the assassination attempt. At the moment, the courtyard was silent and he was showing his scars to no one but her.

The kingdom was in a state of relative stability now. There were still those that were suspicious of Link, but with Midna solidifying her hold on power and the people kept happy with the true ruler of the Twilight, he no longer feared for his life quite as much as he had in his first, shaky year in the palace. His hair had completely silvered, his skin had completely tinged, and the sky no longer felt like perpetual winter to him.

He spoke a verse of Twili poetry. Midna smiled and walked up to him. "You're getting better with the enunciation," she said. She stood behind him, draping her arms over his shoulders and leaning down to rest her chin on the top of his head.

"I've been practicing," Link responded, "I don't want a repeat of last week… you know… when I tried to give the Lord of the Waterfall Lands that benediction of peace, botched up and, apparently told him that my undergarments were on fire, instead."

Midna laughed, remembering the shocked look on her nobleman's face and the quick saving of face she had to do. Lord Rix had laughed and indulged Link's poor accent and off-grammar. It took several years, often an entire childhood, for a Twili noble to understand Hylian on any strong level, so, he'd imagine that it would probably take a Hylian even longer to properly master all of the complexities of Twili. Link was getting very good with the language, but there were always metaphors and grammar bits he'd get wrong from time to time. One of the things he was always slipping up on was in remembering how reversed some of the language surrounding concepts of evil and misfortune were in the Twilight Realm were from Hylian ideas. In Hyrule, an ominous prediction for the future might be described as "gathering clouds of darkness," whereas, for the Twili, the proper description of the same would be "piercing rays of brightness."

Midna nudged her chin atop Link's hair. "You're so short," she teased. "Hard to lean down to kiss, but you make a nice chin-rest."

"Great things come in small packages," Link countered. "You used to be short. Really short."

"But that was temporary, my little Hylian."

"Well, I learned why you liked to float way over my head when talking to me back then. I've always been pretty short, even by the standards of my people. It's weird – you'd think that any chosen by the Goddesses to be of the legendary Hero's line would be… tall and gallant."

"You are gallant."

"But not tall. When you came back to me after the fight with Ganondorf, really, my first thoughts ran along this: First, I was flabbergasted and ecstatic that you were alive. The second thought… well, I'm not sure it's very polite, and third was 'Goddesses, she's enormous!"

"I hope you mean tall," Midna said in a threatening tone.

"Of course."

"What was the second one… the impolite thought?"

She felt his skin temperature rise by a degree or two. Although she didn't move or look down to see him blush, she knew he was blushing.

"Um…yeah…" Link said. "What I mean is… Um… it's not like it matters now, but back then… you being a high lady… I'm sure I was transgressing…I…"

"You were thinking with your pants," Midna answered for him.

Link let out a little squeak.

Midna laughed. "Its okay, my little Hero. I got one good long look at you, battered, but proud and alive… and I was thinking with my pants, too."

"Ulp!"

"But everything has its proper place and time. We have been out here for quite a while. Shall we go to bed?"

One of the points of contention that even some of Midna's loyalists had with Link being her chosen prince was the concern over lines of succession. It was thought that Hylian and Twili blood could not mix, and therefore, the union between the queen and her consort would "bear no fruit," as the saying went.

According to some of the history scholars, Hylian and Twili mixed offspring were theoretically possible, depending upon which of Hyrule's races the Twili's ancestors had been. There was heavy speculation that the ancestors had been Gerudo or Gerudo-kin, which had been known for taking Hylian mates to continue their predominantly female tribes. The true identity of the original Dark Interlopers, however, had been long lost. In any case, it was thought that the Twilight had corrupted the Twili blood so far away from its original form that a child being born from a Twili and Hylian coupling was about as likely as a litter being produced from the mating of a cat and a dog.

Midna would have to one day select a successor from among her court, for she had no living blood relatives. This was feared among that very court, for Midna's blood carried the true Royal Line, from back in the days when first ruler had been chosen by the Twilit Deities. It was her genes that held the purest magic. Zant had only gained the power that he had through a cheat – his partnership with the Light's demon-king and the part of the Light's Triforce that he held. He'd been a relation of the royal family as well as a servant thereof, but was not of the true blood. Without Midna's passing on the pure magic to sons and daughters, it could be lost. Any successor she chose from among her advisors and nobles would have a lesser magic that may take generations to build up to the level held by the Royal Line.

It was suggested that she take a second mate.

There was a clause in the Twilit Laws regarding sterility within the royal family. If the king or the queen, a prince, princess or consort was found to be infertile, had suffered an accident that affected their intimate performance or for other, more complicated reasons could not produce an heir, the fertile member of the royal couple was allowed to take a second consort for the purposes of producing children.

It was said that when Counselor Terres had made this suggestion to the queen, that Prince Link had glared at him and growled. Queen Midna had sent a quick bolt of dark energy at him, which he'd dodged. This suggestion was never brought before her again.

Link and Midna cherished the times they spent together when they could be completely by themselves.

Although there was gossip around the court that they were "as base as beasts," not every time they could get away from the court ended in them "trying to produce an heir." Times like an evening spent upon the balcony just watching the sunset together were what happened more often than not.

When they had retired from the balcony to go to bed, they'd simply curled up together and fell asleep against each other reading a book.

"My lady!" T'leth called, his feet echoing in the long hall as Midna was on her way back to the throne room after having conferred with her Minister of Finance. "Lady Midna!"

She stopped and walked toward him. "What is it, T'leth? What is so urgent?"

"I have results from the tests I ran yesterday during your regular health exam. You should fetch the prince and come into infirmary right away."

T'leth turned on his heel and walked away to leave Midna wondering. She hoped that nothing was wrong. She didn't feel even the slightest bit amiss. She walked out to the palace training grounds, knowing that Link was likely to be there, practicing his swordsmanship on an obstacle course he had built himself.

Soon, both Midna and Link were sitting in the castle's infirmary, Link in a chair and Midna upon a bed. T'leth was acting most strange. He stood behind Midna and ran a hand a few inches from her body, over her. T'leth's hand emitted a swirl of dark energy. Link had come to recognize it as a standard Twilit magic reading, the standard way of diagnosing health and assessing problems. T'leth had to take special measures with him, changing polarity on his magic, sometimes even resorting to physical tools just because of his light-dweller's body and the "light" aligned magic that ran through his Hylian blood.

"Hmmph," T'leth muttered. It is as I've suspected. This corroborates the blood-magic test. I feel a strong male energy, too."

"What are you talking about, T'leth?" Midna demanded. "I am not just your patient, I am your queen and I will know what is going on."

"Well, my lady, and my lord," he said, nodding to Link, "It seems you two have done the impossible."

Link's jaw dropped. "You mean...?" he stammered, "You mean..?"

"Yes?" Midna asked with a strange laugh. "Are you sure, T'leth?"

"The bloods have mixed, and quite well, by the feel I am getting," the doctor replied. "You two have created an heir. Not very far along now, but I do feel a distinct male signature in the magic, so… congratulations. You are having a little prince."

Link began to stand up and Midna tackled him in a hug. They spun around for a few moments.

"Have you any names in mind?" T'leth asked.

"After the father," Midna said, stroking one of Link's ears. "Wouldn't you agree? Light and Twilight… a link between two worlds."

"That's a bad pun," Link complained, "but I like it. I like it quite a lot."

END.

This was quite possibly the most predictable, sappiest fan fiction I've ever written – at least for the Zelda fandom. I hope you enjoyed it, anyway.

I've decided to leave off the ending here because I feel like it's all that needs to be written. I want to leave the rest to reader's imaginations. I really didn't want this to become a next-generation kind of fic, or one that dragged on too long.

If anyone cannot be content with the ending here and simply must have more – you're welcome to write your own fanfic-of-fanfic sequel if you like, so long as you credit the source (this).

Just absolute sap!