"Link."

The Hero looked at Midna as she spoke to him. She came out of his shadow, solid form, staring at him intently.

"Yes?" He prompted, chewing on a strand of wheat between his teeth.

"Get me a writing increment and some paper." Midna told him simply.

Link's eyes blinked a few times. Here they were, relaxing in Faron Spring, and she asked for the most odd thing ever. They'd just came from the Temple of Time after achieving a third shard of the Mirror of Twilight, and now had to find a way to restore power to the now useless Dominion Rod, and find a way to get into the sky.

"...Excuse me?" Link managed.

"Did I stutter or something?" Midna huffed. "I want some paper and something to write with! Is it that difficult?!"

"Well no, but...why?" Link wanted to know.

"Do I have to have a reason for EVERYTHING?! Just get them for me!" Midna ordered.

"Get them yourself."

"Uh, hello? Why do you think I'm asking you?! I don't know where to get these things! And even if I did, I don't have any money! At least not those rupee things you Light Dwellers use." Midna snorted. "Go find them for me before I take your hat away!"

Link raised an eyebrow. "If you're going to threaten me, at least make it motivate me."

Midna sneered and took his hat. She knew how attached he'd become to his new clothes, and of course, the silly cone-shaped hat that went with it.

"Hey! Give it back!" Link jumped up and down, swinging his hands to try and reach it. "Come on! It's part of my ancestor's outfit! I feel naked without it!"

"Then get me the stuff!"

"Fine, fine!" Link managed to snatch the hat back, placing it back on his head. "Malo has a sketchbook for sale at his shop anyway."

"That's a good boy!" Midna pinched his cheek and he scowled at her. She floated back and watched as he took out his wallet from his pouch. She saw the frown on her face and immediately saw something was wrong. "What?"

"...I only have two rupees." Link said, taking out two green rupees.

"What?! You idiot!!!" Midna scolded, slapping the side of his head. "You couldn't save some rupees for something like this, could you? You could've, but noooo, you decided not to!"

Link frowned. "So how is getting a sketchbook and pencil going to further getting the last mirror shard?"

Midna was about to reply, but realized that he had her there. Why was this so important? Well...she had her reasons.

"...It doesn't matter! I want a little break, okay?! Is that too much to ask?!"

"No, not at all."

"So get it!"

"I can't, I don't have enough money! The Sketchbook is 60 rupees." Link protested.

"Then get some." Midna told him. "You're bound to find rupees somewhere."

"But Midna, do you know how long it takes to gather that much?" Link muttered. He kicked a blade of grass near him, and a green rupee came out. He picked it up and put it in his wallet.

"Go find a couple of Golden Bugs. That Agitha girl pays you 50 rupees apiece for them." Midna reminded him.

"Hey...that's it!" Link grinned. "Let's go find a few bugs, and then we'll cash them in!"

Midna grinned. "Good then. Where do you want to start?"

Link took out his journal and checked it over. "Well, let's see...I found a male ant in the Kakariko Village graveyard, so I guess the female is close by it?"

"Guess we'll find out."

Midna warped them to Kakariko Village, with Link managing to change back from a wolf before Talo spotted him from his lookout. He went to the Graveyard, looking near the spot where he'd found the male ant.

"Here buggie...c'mere buggie...c'mon..." Link coaxed, crawling along the ground.

"Link, they're not dogs!" Midna rolled her eyes. "And they're not going to come to you when you call them. Sheesh!"

Link ignored her and kept looking for it. Finally, nearby, he spotted the golden glow of an ant. (I don't know where all the bugs are, sue me!) He grinned and pounced at it. "MONEY!"

The imp stared for a few seconds, blinking at his silly outburst. She watched as Link carefully confiscated the bug and then checked his journal again. "Hmm...maybe we can find the female Grasshopper outside here too?"

"Maybe. Let's go see." Midna shrugged, disappearing into his shadow.

--

It didn't take too long to find the next bug and then get to Castle Town, giving Agitha the four bugs. She happily rewarded him with two orange rupees and two purple rupees. They went back to Kakariko Village and Link bought the sketchbook, that came with a free pencil.

They went back to Faron Spring, where Midna took the sketchbook and pencil, sitting herself down on the ground to draw. Link was feeling a bit tired and wanted to take a little nap, since he didn't sleep much the night before, and they'd done a lot before Midna requested some paper and a pencil.

"Hey Mid, I'm goint to take a nap, okay?"

"Suit yourself." Midna replied, not looking up.

Link managed a smile toward the cute little imp as she drew, and then lay on his back on the ground, falling asleep rather quickly.

Midna continued to draw, whatever it was that she was drawing. Every now and then, she looked at Link for a few seconds before getting back to her work. In all honesty, despite she wouldn't admit it, she loved watching Link sleep. Wolf or human, he always looked so serene and peaceful when he was sleeping.

After a while, Midna put her drawing down for a second and walked over to her companion, kneeling next to him as she looked at his face. Her lips curled into a little smile, a happy smile for a change. She felt such different feelings toward the hero at this point, much more different than when they'd first met.

It was a crush. Or maybe it was love?

She wasn't sure, since she'd never fallen in love before. When she was a kid, she'd had a crush on a Twili kid named Hirigan in her Twili History lesson sessions, but after about a month, it was gone.

But with Link, it only seemed to get stronger and stay right there in her heart. Midna wasn't fond of the idea of falling in love with a Light Dweller, due to many reasons.

At the same time, she couldn't think of anyone better than Link. If everything could've been put aside, she'd make him her husband in a heartbeat.

Unable to control herself, she leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. Link stirred lightly, but was still asleep. Midna blushed and went back to go keep drawing.

--

Link awoke a couple of hours later, feeling more refreshed than before. He sat up and stretched his arms, yawning. "Ah, that was a good nap. Ready to go, Midna?"

Midna was still drawing. "In a minute."

"Can I see what you're drawing?"

"No!"

"Why?"

"It's mine!" Midna hugged it to her chest.

Link raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you want me to see it?"

"It's private, okay?" Midna replied. "Now c'mon! Let's go find a way to get power back in that stick thingamabobber!"

"You're nervous." Link smiled.

"What does that have to do with any of this?!" Midna demanded, still clutching her sketchbook to her chest.

"You don't call people or items by ridiculous references unless you're nervous." Link pointed out. "What are you nervous about?"

"Nothing! I'm not nervous! Now c'mon, we have to get going before that Human-headed chicken finds up to the sky before we do!" Midna insisted.

"You're doing it again." Link smirked lightly.

Midna hit his head with her sketchbook. "Let's just go! We have work to do!"

"Okay okay, we'll go." Link mumbled, fixing his hat. "But I have to do something first."

"Okay, what?" Midna said, glad they weren't on the subject of her drawing anymore.

Link turned around to head out, but then abruptly turned back around, grabbed Midna by her waist with both hands, brought her down to the ground, and tickled her.

"LIIINKK!!! NOOO!!! GET OOOFF!!!" Midna squealed between laughter. "Aahahahahahahaha!! Heeheheheheheheeee!!!! Get off!!!"

While tickling her, Link reached over and pulled her sketchbook over, flipping to the first page. The first page was a sketch of a few rocks along the water in Faron Spring, really well detailed and shaded.

He stopped tickling her, but held her down gently as he flipped to the next page, which made his heart skip.

It was a drawing of him while he was asleep.

"Nooo! Don't look!" Midna whimpered, panting.

Link smiled as he studied the drawing. She'd drawn him from the front, off to the side a little bit, and like the last one, was in really well-done detail. It was almost like a photograph if it were not for the pencil lines.

On the bottom right corner, Midna had crawled "Link. My hero, my wolf", with a couple of hearts next to it.

"Midna...I..." Link murmured, looking back at the imp and smiling at her.

Midna blushed and looked away, embarrassed. "Forget it, okay? I know you love that Ilia girl! Don't even try to-mmphh!!!"

The young hero cut her off by kissing her sweetly, his fingers gently curling around her tiny hand as their lips met.

A searing jolt of heat and passion coursed through Midna as Link kissed her, as if the rest of the world didn't exist. It was just the two of them, together. Nothing else mattered. Not Zant, not the monsters, not the Twilight, not Ganondorf, nothing.

Link pulled back a little, his cobalt eyes looking deep into Midna's single visible eye with pure love and affection, all directed at her.

"My little imp, how can I when I'm in love with you?" His lips brushed against hers as he spoke.

Midna blushed even more, unable to believe his words. And yet, Link never said anything he didn't mean. "Link...I..."

"Shh, no need to say anything." Link kissed her lovingly, his hands moving to cup her cheeks. He pulled back again and stroked her cheek. "I love you, Midna."

Midna couldn't keep the smile off her face, pulling Link's head down to her level as she kissed him. She couldn't recall a time she'd been happy like this.

".....I love you too. Don't ever leave me." The imp whispered, nuzzling into him.

Link smiled and sat up, taking her into his arms, cuddling her. "I won't. I'm with you to the end."

Throwing her long, tiny arms around his neck, Midna couldn't help but shed a few happy tears. Link was so warm, and so loving, that it just made you melt. She wanted him even more now.

"Want to get married?"

Midna froze, pulling back to look at Link. "W-what?"

"I said, do you want to get going?" Link repeated, smiling.

"...Oh, sure." Midna said softly, trying to hide her disappointment. She took her sketchbook and pencil, storing it away in her Fused Shadow helm. "Let's go." She disappeared into his shadow, hiding her tears.

Link smiled to himself.

I'll ask her again later....

Who knew that a drawing could lead to love, eh?