The Twilight Princess didn't make friends.
It wasn't that she was incapable of making friends, mind you. She'd just never had the patience or the time. Honest! Link didn't count- he was more like her slave than her friend, really.
Still, as dubious as her own social skills might have been, they were infinitely more refined than Link's. Midna sighed from the young man's shadow as Link tried to purchase some bombs and arrows with nothing but grunts, nods, and pointing gestures. The Twili pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation- this went beyond being socially awkward. This was just embarrassing.
"I'm sorry.. you want… what now…?" the shopkeeper stared at Link in utter confusion. The hero's cheeks burned brightly as he pointed insistently at the bombs behind the counter with a crimson rupee in hand. The shopkeeper frowned at his strange customer, took his money, and began to gather ten bombs into a loose sack.
He placed the wares onto the counter and Link picked them up wordlessly. The young man then turned around and ran out the door with his arms full, practically kicking up dust with his speed as he bustled away.
Link shielded his eyes from the morning glare of the sun as he ran out into the busy streets of Castle Town. He slung the sack full of explosives over his shoulder and slowed his pace to a walk as he started to make his way down to the southern gate, keeping to the shadows beneath the overhanging roofs of buildings. Midna's translucent figure materialized at his shoulder, and she reached out to pinch his cheek. "You didn't even get the arrows you needed, Link! Why didn't you just speak up!?"
Link rubbed his cheek and kept his eyes on the stone road, carefully placing one foot over the other. "I can't help it!" he exclaimed. "People just make me… really uncomfortable. Especially in a city like this, where there are so many of them!" A nearby pedestrian turned his head to look curiously at the man in the strange green clothes that seemed to be talking to himself. Link's ears turned a slight shade of red under the gaze, and he quickened his pace.
Midna crossed her arms, scowling. "Link, these are the people you're trying to save!" she hissed. "What's the point of protecting them if you can't even look any of them in the eye?"
"They don't need to know who I am, really," Link said quietly, not wanting to draw any more attention from the crowd. "They just need to be safe. That's enough for me."
Midna sighed and gave his hair a quick tug. "You really need to learn to care about yourself sometimes, moron," she said, annoyance creeping into her voice. Link glanced over his shoulder to give his companion a playful grin as they made their way out of the southern gate and into the middle of Hyrule Field.
"Oh yeah? I dunno, I think you already do that enough for the both of us," he said, his grin stretching wider at her furious expression.
"You know what?" she growled, "I take it all back. Stay quiet around other people. If you talked to anyone else as much as you do to me, you'd probably be dead in a gutter somewhere by now."
"Aw, how sweet of you to look out for me," he replied with sarcastic charm in his voice. Midna resisted her urge to strangle him. Link ventured off the main path of the field and approached a wall of boulders that had been blocking a small mountain pass. He swung the sack off his shoulder and casually began to set bombs against the huge mass of rocks. "It's strange, though," he said, not looking up from his work. "I never feel uncomfortable when I'm talking to you."
"I guess I'm just that charming," she replied, watching him ignite the fuses of the bombs while she rested over his shoulder. Link grunted and ran off to take cover behind a nearby outcrop of rocks. The Twilight Princess and the Hero both covered their ears with their hands, and a massive explosion drowned out the sound of anything else in the field for a second.
Slowly, they both poked their heads out from behind the outcrop in an almost comical unison of motion. A few billows of smoke cleared to reveal a few crumbled piles of rock where boulders had once stood. Link dusted himself off and stood slowly, cracking his neck a bit and sticking a finger in his ringing ear.
"Midna, if you're charming, then I'm half cuckoo," Link snorted, only to inhale some dust and fall into a coughing fit. Midna floated over to sit on his hacking form.
"That's entirely possible, considering how tiny your brain is," the Twili grumbled, crossing her legs. The Hylian grunted and shoved Midna's shadowy figure off of him, crawling slowly back to his feet.
"You know, now I'm really starting to question why I talk to you, of all people," Link grumbled back, adjusting his hat.
Midna rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, because you have so many other pals to chat with. Maybe Epona will talk to you about her feelings some time," she said with a giggle at the young man's scowl.
"I'm sure Epona would be a lot nicer," he huffed, making his way down the newly cleared path.
"Sure," Midna replied, floating around him in lazy circles, "But she might end up being more talkative than you. Unbalanced conversation is never fun!" Link shook his head with a sigh and fell into an aggravated silence. The imp by his side smirked victoriously.
As the duo made their way down to Faron Field, the morning sun made its journey into the upper reaches of the atmosphere, sending tendrils of warmth across the land. It was a clear, blue day that felt so pleasant, it was almost possible to forget that the futures of both the Twilight Realm and Hyrule were balanced precariously on a needle-thin scale of life and death.
Almost.
As they emerged from the mountain pass and into the open fields of Faron, the Hero smiled and made his way down to a tree, taking a short rest in the shade it provided. The light that fell against the low branches of the tree was filtered by the canopy of leaves, casting dappled specks of light and shadow in interwoven patterns against the ground that swayed with the wind. He reached down to pull up a few clumps of wet grass, keeping his eyes closed and enjoying the crisp smell of fresh air.
"Hey, Midna," he said slowly, breaking the silence they'd fallen into during their walk. The imp's shadow materialized before him, looking up with curious red eyes. "I've never been able to talk with anyone the way I can with you," the Hylian spoke softly, without the usual hint of teasing playfulness in his tone. "Maybe it's just because no one else has really tried before… Before I met you, I didn't realize I had so much I wanted to say."
Midna stared silently at the young man before her, finding herself searching for some kind of snappy comeback, only to come up short of ideas. He opened those blue eyes his and looked down at her with a soft smile. "Thank you, Midna," he said with a few rays of light dancing across his cheeks through the leaves above. "Thank you for being my friend."
How was she supposed to come up with some kind of response to that when he was giving her a smile that made her entire body feel like it was vibrating out of control?
Midna coughed awkwardly, making her body slip away hazily into shadows. "D… don't be," she stammered from her dark hiding place. "What we have is strictly a business relationship. Friendship has nothing to do with it." Her voice grew cocky and jibing, although the Twili still remained hidden in the darkness. "Remember, I'm just using you to get what I need. You're more like an errand-boy than a friend, and an incompetent one at that- don't you forget it!"
Link's smile twisted into a playful smirk, and he closed his eyes to rest his head against the back of the tree once more, falling into a knowing silence.
The Twilight Princess didn't have to admit to the hero that he was more precious to her than anything the simple word "friend" could attempt to describe. They both knew without saying a word.