Disclaimer: ...yeah, right. Obvious me not owning Zelda is obvious.
A/N: Midlink for the lovely people over at SKA. This is one of my three (yes, count them, three) OTPs in Twilight Princess.
Link sometimes had very deep, uncalled-for thoughts in the middle of the night when he couldn't sleep. Normally, he didn't voice them, especially considering his house had always been vacant, but for Epona sleeping outside and the cats that always seemed to be crawling in through the eaves and the windows that didn't latch quite properly.
But here, in the vast expanse of Hyrule field, he did have a companion.
It was a quiet night, a soft breeze just enough to make Link glad for the cloak he had picked up in Hyrule town a few days ago. He was sitting underneath a little copse of trees, listening to the wind rushing through the leaves and the quiet breathing of the Clydesdale standing next to him, fast asleep. The only other sensation upon him was the tiny warmth nestled into his side and the steady heartbeat under his fingertips.
"Midna, I was thinking," he said quietly.
"That's a first," she mumbled sleepily, "don't hurt yourself doing it."
Link rolled his eyes. She was even more bitingly sarcastic when she was asleep. He decided to voice his thoughts anyway. "Does anything... happen... to humans who go into your world?"
Midna supposed he was thinking of something like him turning into a wolf. "Well, no humans go there," she said.
"But don't you intend to go back there when all this is over?" Link asked.
Midna sighed, moving so she was sitting on his lap, with her legs crossed and lying on top of one of his. She tucked her arms behind her head, nodding. "Of course I do."
The little imp nearly yelped audibly when an arm wrapped snugly around her middle. If Link felt her tense, he didn't say it, but Midna suspected he just didn't notice. "Then... don't I have to come visit you sometimes?" Even though she was facing away from him, Midna could hear the smile on his voice. Her own grin, conversely, was sliding off her face.
"Link, I'm not going to see you after I go back. Not ever." She left the fact that she assumed he knew that unspoken.
Link was silent for a long time, and by the time he finally collected himself to say something without his voice cracking, Midna was fast asleep. He was devastated by Midna's words, even though he couldn't quite place why the fact that he would never see his traveling companion again hurt him so much. It was a sensation he hadn't really felt before.
"I'll miss you, you know."
A single golden and red eye slid open. "I know."