So, I originally published this story in 2011 and since then have read through it a few times and decided that it needs a little bit of an update, some clarification, and some re-wording. (The amount of spelling mistakes in this chapter alone...*shudders*) I'm going to embark on a project to update the story (now that it's 2018), so if you are reading this now, I hope that you still enjoy what was my very first project on Fanfiction. Thanks for reading and leave a comment if you like ;) I left most of the original author notes attached to their respective chapters so you still get some vintage 2011 Luck...

This is my version of the 'after' of Twilight Princess. Of course, I didn't invent Link and/or Zelda, but the storyline is mine. Enjoy!

Blood and Tears

Link sighed and lay back in the grass, locking his fingers behind his head with a contented smile. He closed his eyes and let the sun warm his face as a gentle breeze whistled through the grass around him. He tilted his head, listening to the quiet melody it played as it skipped through the meadow. Off to his right, Epona snorted and whinnied pleasurably. And beside him, close enough to feel the edges of her dress brush his hand, close enough to feel her warmth, sat the Princess Zelda. Link was not entirely sure how a mere goatherd from Ordon had ended up as Hero to the Princess. It had been hard work for sure. The trail behind him was filled with blood, sweat, and tears, but he wouldn't trade a moment of it for an easier way. Zelda was worth all the pain, all the tears, and all the danger in the world. Link would go through it all again just for a moment at her side, her hand in his, her clear laugh in his ears. He opened his eyes to Zelda's pretty face looking down at him with a smile. Link returned it with a lazy smile of his own. It was rare that Link smiled. Not that he wasn't happy, in fact, at the moment he couldn't be happier. It's just that he tended to let his duty come before his feelings. Zelda was one of the few who could open him up and coax a smile out of him. Over the past few years, he and Zelda had gotten to know each other so well that they could understand each other in a glance or a gesture. Though they were rarely as close as they were now. As proper protocal demanded, Link was distant and respectful with the princess when they were in public. But when they were alone, he was himself.

Zelda broke their companionable silence. "What do you think Midna is doing now?" she asked thoughtfully, twirling a long-stemmed flower between her slender fingers.

"Being Midna, I suppose," Link replied, propping himself up on one elbow. "Why?"

"I think of her often. All she gave to us and all that we learned from her. I hope she's as happy as we are," Zelda spoke to the sky, as if, by chance, Midna might be there listening.

Link grinned at the memory of the crazy little sprite he had met almost five years ago now. She had been a selfish creature at first and he had wanted nothing more than to get rid of her. But later Midna had sacrificed herself to save Link and Zelda. Link had grown fond of her by then and lamented her death. But the light spirits of Hyrule granted Midna a return to life in her real form - the Princess of the Twilight. It was a stunning change from the little sprite Link was used to. It was almost hard to picture her as the flame-haired beauty she had become, though he would never forget her. He knew that Zelda would never forget her either, though her reasons were different.

"I hope she has restored her Kingdom by now. I know how hard it is to loose one," Zelda murmmered.

"I'm sure Midna has everything under her control. She's not one to sit idle while she can tell someone else what to do," Link teased.

"Oh, Link," Zelda threw her flower at Link with a laugh. "She's really not too bad."

"Not after you get to know her," Link agreed.

"Do you think she's truly happy in her world?" Zelda turned to Link, all traces of her earlier laughter gone. Her gaze was so serious as to be out of place on this calm, beautiful day.

"What do you mean?"

"She came to love our world while she was here. What if she is not satisfied in her own now?"

"You know she broke the mirror, Zelda," Link said softly. "It is the way she wanted it. She belongs to the Twilight. We live in the Light. Our worlds don't mix."

"Do you think she would have come back if she didn't shatter the mirror?" Zelda wondered.

"I know she would have." Link gazed down the gently flowing hills of the field, his thoughts far away, in a time that seemed so distant and yet, was so near. He lost himself in a daydream of memories and images from his earlier quest. It had started out so simple, he mused. At first, all he wanted to do was to rescue the children from Ordon. Then he had been thrown into Twilight and changed into a creature of Twilight - the wolf form he'd almost come to be familiar with. From then, his mission had become entwined with the fate of Hyrule itself and he had faced Ganandorf, whose lust for power led him to try and destroy Hyrule. Ganandorf had taken over Zelda's body and then fought Link beast to beast. Twilight monster to sacred wolf. Even that battle was not enough to destroy him. With Zelda returned to herself, she and Link chased Ganandorf with arrows of Light on a fierce horseback skirmish. But the final battle, the final fight, had been Link's alone. He still remembered the raw taste of fear in his mouth as he had faced the monster Ganandorf. The adrenaline rush as he fought for his very life. The justice and loyalty to Hyrule and her princess, the knowledge that he couldn't let this evil grip Hyrule that carried him to victory. And after that...

Link was roused from his reverie by Zelda's scream. Immediately, he was on his feet and leaping for his sword, which was never far away. Slinging his sheath over his shoulder, he turned back to Zelda with the blade in his hand. He placed himself protectively in front of her. This was his place and the one in which he was most comfortable, defending the princess. Below them in the fields, a swarm of black creatures advanced slowly towards them.

"Link, what are they?" Zelda asked from behind his shoulder.

"I don't know. But they look like Twilight beasts." Link frowned. He and Zelda were just discussing the Twilight and here it seemed to spring from their words. For a moment he wondered if he were dreaming. He had watched Midna destroy the Twilight Mirror, the last link between their worlds, himself. So what was he seeing now? Zelda touched him on the arm. "Link?" she asked softly.

"Get to Epona," he spoke sharply, tension clear in his voice. "We'll try to outrun them."

He and Zelda turned towards Epona and ran. Link kept behind Zelda, ready to defend her if need be. The monsters weren't that close yet, but he was taking no chances. Zelda reached Epona first, but the horse was in such a state of panic that it took Link to calm her. He had never seen his horse this nervous before, she was normally not so excitable, and it worried him. He jumped on Epona's back, then turned and held out a hand to Zelda. She put her hand in his, closing her fingers tightly around his wrist, and he pulled her up behind him. Zelda wrapped her arms around his waist; he could feel her trembling behind him. Link spurred Epona into a gallop. They raced from the field as heavy clouds built up in the sky above them and the monsters came steadily on behind them. Link led Epona to the edge of the field where a towering wall of rock sprang up, marking the beginning of the mountains. He steered her onto a narrow crevice trail out of sight of the monsters.

"Don't you think it's strange," Zelda asked as Link slowed Epona to a trot, "that the monsters don't seem to be chasing us? They hardly picked up their pace at all."

"Maybe they didn't see us," Link suggested as he concentrated on threading Epona between the narrow rock walls. "I just want to know what they are and where they came from," he muttered through clenched teeth. The canyon grew darker as they got farther into it, black clouds building up above them until rain was imminent. It started as a light drizzle, then quickly grew to a steady soaking shower. Thunder rumbled overhead and lightning flashed in the distance.

"Link, do you think that this could be Ganandorf's doing?" Zelda voiced the question that was in the back of both their minds.

"How could it be? He's in the Twilight," Link spoke as much to himself as he did to Zelda. Maybe this whole thing was an illusion, born of past adventures. He hadn't looked too closely at the beasts in the field. Maybe they were the shadows of the rain clouds on waving grass. Maybe they were memories that their earlier conversation had stirred to life once more. But one thing prevented him from believing that - Zelda's scream. A mere shadow would not have earned that reaction from her.

It happened just as Link let himself relax a little. Suddenly, a great winged creature, part dragon, part bird, swooped down on them from the sky, screeching loud enough to wake the dead. Link tightened his grip on his sword. Epona reared, nearly throwing them from her back, and it was all he could do to calm her. Zelda clung to him, trying to keep her seat. The dragon-bird took its chance while Link was distracted. It dived down behind them, and grabbed Zelda in its taloned feet as it flew over them. Her grip already weakened by Epona's wild thrashing, she was easily pulled off.

"Link!" she screamed.

"No!" Link shouted as Zelda's hands pulled away from him. He raised his sword and slashed the great creature across its belly as it tried to lift away. With a loud screech, it dropped Zelda. Link managed to catch her in his arms, but it meant that he had to drop the reins and his sword. Epona, already frightened, balked when she felt the reigns go slack. She shied, causing Link, already overbalanced by Zelda, to topple from her back. He hit the rocky ground hard, knocking the breath from him. Zelda fell on top of him and he grimaced as she rolled to her feet.

"Link, are you alright?" she asked worriedly, bending over him.

"I'm fine," he said, picking himself up from the mud. Epona was thrashing around wildly, riderless, and uncontrollable. In the narrow space of the trail the danger of her trampling Link or Zelda was all too real. "Stay behind me," he ordered, as he worked his way toward Epona. Vaulting onto a rock, he jumped down onto Epona's back, but she didn't recognize his voice or his touch as he tried to bring her under control. Link could remember only one time that Epona had been this afraid and unresponsive. That had been when she was captured by Twilight beasts and cruelly misused. He could only suppose that was what frightened her now.

As he tried to calm his horse, the dragon-bird returned for another strike. This time, it was angry with Link for wounding it, and it dived straight for him. He hardly noticed it until it was right on top of him, and by then there was nothing he could do. It came at him with talons outstretched. Link threw himself sideways, away from the ripping talons, but the dragon-bird was faster. The knife-like claws ripped easily through his tunic and tore into his left shoulder. Link yelled in pain as the momentum of the creature's strike threw him off of Epona once more. He hit the ground and lay still.

"Link!" Zelda shouted, jumping up from where she had crouched, hidden, among the rocks. She ran towards Link, but she couldn't get close because of Epona's thrashing hooves. For that same reason, he was safe from the dragon-bird, but he could also be crushed by his own horse. She saw him roll over, farther away from Epona and couldn't help the small shriek of joy that escaped her lips.

"Zelda! Get down!" he shouted, looking past her to a spot over her shoulder.

Zelda whirled around to see the creature bearing down on her once more. She ducked down, but she was too late. The dragon-bird grabbed her up in its talons. She thrashed and beat against the bird's legs, but she couldn't break it's grip as it lifted her out of the canyon. Link lurched to his feet, but there was nothing he could do. The last sound he heard was Zelda's scream fading into the distance.

This is my first story published on this site. Please comment! Criticism is welcome. Hopefully I'll get more posted soon

(As you can see, 2011 me did indeed post more soon...)