In Link's opinion, what wasn't fair was that Midna could sweep through his life like that, wheels screeching and sending sparks flying as she was nearly derailed once or twice (or maybe twenty) times. What wasn't fair was that she could leave a blazing trail behind her, could come tearing through him like a hurricane, could absolutely destroy everything in her path and laugh. Laugh. What wasn't fair was that she could be both sexy and dangerous, beautiful and bizarre, terrifying and loving. All of those contradictions had driven him mad.

But what he found more unfair than anything else was that she could be all of those things one minute, and the next minute, she could be none of them.

Gone. No. Impossible. The mirror had been splintered, shattered, yes. He could see its empty frame not five feet in front of him, and he could see the exact spot where her body had vanished, and he could see the black, dead slab of stone that only moments before had shimmered with the portal to another dimension. It had vanished momentarily. But only momentarily. She was not present at this moment in time. His mind simply couldn't comprehend that. Invisible? Perhaps. But gone? Impossible.

Zelda's voice was echoing in his ears. He was still trying to figure out what had just happened. The image of Midna was ingrained in his mind- her eyes, mostly, glowing like the embers of a hearth. And her smile- not wide, but sincere. Beauteous and warm, truly- what an image… one that he could not shake, but which had shaken him. Which had quite thoroughly shaken him, for that matter. His nerves were everywhere. He felt scorching hot and bitterly frigid all at once.

What… how could she just…?

Things started making sense then. Oh. Midna was gone. Gone. Like dead? Like dead. His skin felt rubbery as it built up a sweat and the world blurred at the edges. Confusion clouded his senses. He waited for Midna to pop out of his shadow and help him to comprehend this-

Oh.

Right.

And then it all made sense at once. Shock shot up and down his spine like seismic waves, spurring a violent tremor that he felt in his bones, one that rattled his head and upset his breathing. His legs went weak, his heart panicked. He was alone- he'd never been alone before, not like this, never like this- oh, gods-

It was agonizing. Things kept settling in and making sense like a puzzle assembling itself- Midna was gone and Link was alone, and that stung- it stung because the only person that could have comforted him over Midna's disappearance was Midna.

Because she wasn't just invisible, and her disappearance wasn't specific to this moment in time alone. This was forever and ever and godsdammit Link had better get used to it.

Somebody's voice was echoing in his ears. Link…? Link…?

No, stop, STOP IT, where was Midna- she was gone, she wasn't coming back, and he needed her- couldn't function without her- they were a unit, and just like that he could recall her beside him, heart beating with minute pings, small and hot and pulsing like a time bomb. His thoughts were jumbled and didn't make sense; all that he knew was her; all that he wanted was her; then he realized that Midna might have some idea as to how to get Midna back, and then he remembered, and it was pain all over again.

The voice was becoming louder. Link… please…

It was the princess. Damn the princess. Midna.

That last smile, branded into his mind. Those last words, rebounding around in his ears.

"Link… I… see you later."

Those words, left unspoken, hanging in the air and piercing him individually as they sounded over and over and over again. She had lied, had made false promises to him.

No, there was nothing fair about this. Nothing fair about how she left without warning, without explanation. Nothing fair about the fact that she was gone. Midna would agree with him. Midna always hated it when-

No. When had he started including Midna in the definition of himself? Would he ever stop? He couldn't stop seeing her, hearing her, aching for her, and even though she had slid into another version of reality and was beyond tangible reach, he couldn't shake the feeling that she was still very very very much within him.

In Link's opinion, it wasn't fair that Midna could be so very alive one minute only to be so very dead the next.

Zelda's voice was relentless. Come along, Link… we must leave this place…

She grasped his wrist and tore him from where he stood, his legs moving mechanically, his eyes glued to the spot where Midna had disappeared. And still it didn't feel like she had vanished, and yet he knew it, knew deep within his core that she was not returning. He knew that he would have to go on by himself, one half of a whole, muddling his way through a wide and confusing world that he'd never before had to face alone.

And that was the most unfair part of it all.

Oh wow, I'm sorry about this. Blame ~Icearrows1200, she told me to write something and so I tried, but all that happened was a half-assed attempt at stream of consciousness. I'm a sloppy emotional blob today, and a Tumblr prompt told me to "write about the moment following a character's death," so I twisted it into a Zelda thing and IT'S NOT MY FAULT OKAY

Yes, I'm still working on MRMR. Chapter 26 is coming along in it's own special way. As usual, I'm doing everything humanely possible to avoid writing that fic. (Did I say that out loud?)

James Joyce is probably rolling over in his grave tbh.

-C