Midna's body was disappearing. Her outline could no longer be distinguished from the mist. In the twilight space, drifting among the fog that was neither orange nor purple, Midna's small form was slowly dissolving. The patterns had faded to an almost white hue, and not even a glimmer of light remained. Her body wouldn't move. The shadow name dominion still held. But consciousness alone remained, thin as thread, barely connected. (I'm going to die.) The thought drifted slowly. Before fear or regret could surface, that possibility simply lay before her in silence. "[crying]Midna——!!" Nocta screamed. Her voice was nothing like her usual light tone. The carefree mask had completely crumbled away, leaving only the cry of a sixteen-year-old girl. She gripped the talisman as if to tear it apart, trying to trace the pattern in reverse. Attempting to read the characters backward. But her hands stopped. "[scared]The order to release it... I don't know. I never learned." Her voice trembled. She had learned the spell of dominion. But no one had ever taught her how to undo it. "[crying]Midna, Midna, Midna——don't die, please——" She reached out. The moment her fingertips touched Midna's body——a burst of light particles scattered. Midna's form faded further. Each touch only hastened the dissolution. Nocta fell to her knees. Not on desert sand, but on the floor of twilight mist. She braced herself with her hands and collapsed. She had always wanted to protect her. She was more precious than anyone. And that very feeling was now killing the person she cherished most. Without a sound, Nocta wept. --- The desert at dusk was silent. The red sand of the Gerudo Desert stirred faintly in the wind. After the shadow soldiers vanished, nothing remained on the sand. It was quiet—too quiet. Zelda stood with her hands clasped, eyes closed. She felt a subtle tremor. Within Midna's body——the remnants of light that she had once shared during the time of shadow erosion still lingered. That spark flickered faintly beyond the twilight space. It was fading. But it still burned. "[serious]She still lives." Link looked up. Zelda met his gaze, then quickly looked away and began gathering light magic in her hands. The Triforce mark on her forehead glowed slowly. White light gathered at her fingertips. The same method as when she had once shared her power with Midna. A technique to convert her own life force into light and send it into the twilight space. Link took a step forward. "[gentle]...Please, do not stop me." The hand that had been about to stop her froze. Zelda's voice was calm. But it wavered. Light began to overflow from her fingertips. Her body felt lighter. This was a sign of exhaustion. Her life force was transforming into light. Her knees buckled slightly. Still, she did not stop. Zelda did not love Midna. She loved Link. She always had. But she knew the look in Midna's eyes when she gazed at Link's back. She knew the moment when the patterns glowed. (There is something she must tell him.) She understood that this came before her own love. And understanding that——she could smile. Strangely, she could smile. "[gentle]Midna... you must convey your feelings to Link." She spoke toward the twilight space beyond. She did not know if it would reach. But she spoke. White light dissolved into the sunset-colored sky of the desert——passed through an invisible wall and traveled onward. Zelda's shoulders trembled faintly as she knelt. --- Light came. Midna did not understand. Her consciousness was sinking like it was drowning in water. But in the deepest part of her being——the remnants of light suddenly blazed. Pah. The ash-white fragments of the patterns began to glow pale blue. Spreading from a single point, reaching her arms, her chest, restoring the outline of her body. The fading mist cleared slightly. Consciousness——rushed back rapidly. (This is... Zelda's...) She understood. She knew the nature of this light. The nature of the power Zelda had shared with her. The rigidity in her body eased. She still could not move. But sensation was returning. Then. The wall of the twilight space shook violently. CRASH!!! Impact. A fierce impact from the light side. The wall surface trembled as if struck from within——and split. Golden light poured through the fissure. Something in the shape of a beast tore through the mist and burst in. A wolf. A white wolf. Standing on four legs on the twilight floor, growling low in its throat, it landed between Midna and Nocta. Grrrrrrr——it rumbled from deep in its throat, turning toward Nocta. Its body surface was tinged with golden light. The Triforce of Courage——wielding its full power, it had shattered the twilight boundary. "[scared]Link——!?" Nocta stood up. Tears still wet on her cheeks, she positioned herself before the wolf. Arms spread wide. "[serious]I won't move. I won't give Midna to you." Her voice trembled. But her feet did not waver. The wolf——carried no sword. Of course not; a wolf could not wield a blade. But it did not attack. It did not leap over Nocta or push her aside. Instead, it changed. Light swelled, and the wolf's body transformed into human shape. Link returned to his human form. The golden light faded. Silence fell upon the twilight space. Link did not look at Nocta. He looked only at Midna. And he extended one hand. There were no words. Only a hand, quietly reaching toward Midna. --- Midna saw that hand. (This hand.) She thought. And as she thought, memories flowed. She could not stop them. The castle gate of Hyrule Castle Town. The night Link stood silently before the guards——that hand had gripped the hilt of a sword. The suspension bridge over Lake Lanayru. The hand that reflexively caught her as she fell from the bridge. She still remembered the warmth of that hand. A night by the campfire, splitting firewood for her. The hand silently offered when she tried to check her wound. She had used it as a tool. That was what she had intended. All along, that was what she had intended. But this hand—— From the very beginning——always. (I was never a tool.) Something shattered in her chest. There was a sound. Nothing could actually be heard. But inside her body, something cracked. The bonds of shadow name dominion——as if burned away by the heat of emotion. It did not hurt. It did not hurt at all. Rather, it felt like something that had been constricting her for so long was suddenly released. The patterns glowed. It was a light unlike anything before. Not blue, not red——a brilliant white light. All the patterns across her body blazed at once, pushing back the twilight mist. The bonds of dominion burned away from within, one after another. SHATTER!! The final bond shattered. Her entire body moved. Her fingers moved. Her arms moved. Her legs——moved. In that instant——the outline of her body wavered. Nocta stopped moving. Her mouth hung open, frozen. The outline of the cursed small body blurred for just a moment——and a different form showed through. A longer body. Long hair. Long limbs. For just an instant, barely a moment, the silhouette of Midna's true form floated up in the light. "[surprised]...Midna." Everything drained from Nocta's voice. The next moment, the cursed form returned. Small, black short hair, amber eyes——the Midna of now. But the patterns glowed white. Midna reached out from the light toward Link's hand, extending her own small hand. She did not hesitate. She grasped it. Link's palm closed around Midna's hand. It was warm. Simply warm. --- Glass shattered. The walls of the twilight space exploded from within. Cracks spread, the mist split, and light poured in. The red light of dusk. The light of the desert. All three fell onto the sand. Thud——the sound echoed, and desert sand swirled up. The Gerudo Desert at dusk. The sky was stained orange, and the silhouettes of sand dunes stretched into the distance. It was reality. Zelda knelt on the sand. She had exhausted her light and could not stand on her own strength. Her golden hair lay tangled in the sand. Link ran immediately. He knelt beside Zelda, reaching to support her. Midna followed close behind. Zelda looked up at Link and smiled faintly. "[gentle]...Are you unharmed?" The words were directed at Link, but her gaze also turned toward Midna. Midna looked at Zelda's face. She was utterly exhausted. Her face was pale. Her hands trembled. And yet her expression was serene. She felt like she should say something. But words would not come. Understanding why Zelda had gone so far to save her, understanding——and yet not knowing how to speak it. Midna looked away from Zelda. Nocta stood alone at a distance. Kneeling on the sand, hands braced, she said nothing. Her silver hair swayed in the wind. Tear marks still traced her cheeks. Her mismatched eyes——left silver, right red——remained fixed on the sand, not rising. Midna looked at Nocta. There was anger. Still, there was anger. But——in that twilight space, Midna remembered. Nocta had called her name over and over. Even as consciousness faded, she had heard it clearly. The voice that had called her name while weeping, the carefree mask completely shattered. Anger and something else mixed together in her chest. It had not yet become words. Midna turned her gaze from Nocta. She looked at the desert dusk. The red sky was vast. "[serious]Zelda, can you stand?" It was an ungenerous way of speaking. But her voice had strength. For now, this was all she could manage. Zelda gave a bitter smile. "[sad]...That would be rather difficult, I'm afraid." She could not stand. Not in the desert. They could not remain here. The desert at night transformed from the fifty-degree inferno of day into a freezing cold. It would be harsh on the exhausted Zelda. If a sandstorm came, it would be the worst. They had to walk through the central desert to Kakariko Spring——the oasis. Midna looked into the depths of the desert. Beyond that——lay the Arbiter's Grounds. The Mirror of Twilight was there. Zant waited there. It was not over. Rather, in the truest sense——it was only beginning. The patterns glowed white. They had returned to a calm pale blue light, different from before, but they glowed. Power was returning. I was never a tool. That sensation still lingered warm within her body.