Author's Note: Well I wanted to get this chapter out sooner and it probably could of been too, but I got busy with my college assignments. Thankfully though I still found time to write this up and put it out! Anyway in this chapter we see Impa and Link finally cross paths. I hope you guys enjoy!


Darkness disappeared from Link's vision like a quickly retracted curtain and was replaced with a foggy picture of the inside of his house. Immediately, the sound of quick, sharp, tapping invaded his hearing and he looked up to see rain crashing onto his window.

While the sight may have disappointed most Hylians, it brought a smile to Link's face. Kakariko Village was commonly blessed with the sun's heat, and while he loved honouring his father with training, it filled him with joy to be given the rare chance of drawing, honouring his mother.

Grabbing his pencils, paper, and the board he rests it on he put on his green rain cloak and headed out cheerfully into the pouring rain. He walked passed all the houses, offering a "Good morning" to every villager he came across until he arrived at the hill, which he hiked up, excited to sit down and begin drawing. Finally getting cover from the rain under the tree's branches he lifted his cloaks hood off his head when he suddenly froze.

Sitting on the grass, with their back against the tree he found a strange, yet beautiful woman dressed in a dark blue vest and tights, wearing grey, tied back hair, and red facial decoration around her face. Link was surprised to discover such a unique woman seated under this tree where he always drew alone. He wasn't the only surprised one. Impa was caught off guard to meet a young lad here, under this tree especially since the sky was pouring down rain. She wondered why this youthful lad would come to this hill isolated from the rest of the village, which actually was the reason she decided to come and sit here, to get some space and be alone. Even though they were both surprised to see one another, they politely offered the other a smile in greeting as Link sat down against the tree, leaving a suitable distance between him and the new arrival, and began his drawing.

Link's eyes split their time between looking to the land of Hyrule Field and looking to his paper as he drew the field. As his concentration went from field to paper, field to paper, for a moment it went to the woman sitting across from him, and he witnessed the sad face she wore as she looked out to the landscape. He could see in her eyes the sadness travelled deep. For a moment he felt intrigue in what she was feeling, but soon he realized that it wasn't his business, and he wasn't going to attempt to make it his. So, he focussed his attention back on his drawing and continued to create his grey image of the landscape.

Sitting there in silence the two would take glances at each other. They both knew their own special reasons for sitting under this tree, away from the village, they wondered what could be the other's?

During those quick glances Link began to recognize the strange woman as a Sheikah, a race of warriors also known as the Shadow Folk. He has heard stories of them from both his father and Rusl, stories of how they have protected the royal family, led armies into battle, and even how some helped the legendary hero of old defeat the ancient evil king. He wondered, if she really was a Sheikah, why was she here? He knew Kakariko Village once belonged to the Sheikah, but they haven't lived here for decades. He found himself imagining the adventures she may have gone on, what her story was, what could have brought her here. Soon he realized that him conjuring up his idea of this stranger's life was a little weird, so he returned his focus to his drawing.

Impa's eyes occasionally travelled from the lad to the landscape, from the landscape to the lad. She was confused why the boy was sitting here in the rain drawing. Then her eyes caught sight of his drawing, and she quickly found herself admiring his pencil image of Hyrule Field.

"He has skill." She admired mentally.

The Sheikah woman looked away from the lad's drawing, deciding to cease invading the lad's privacy with her curious eyes. She looked back to the landscape then closed her eyes, listening to violent, yet calming sound of the falling rain, until she drifted off into a slumber.

Impa found herself back in Zelda's sleeping quarters. It was night, the fall moon casting its silver light into the neatly tided bedroom. Everything seemed normal, almost peaceful, when a sudden, familiar, yell grabbed Impa's attention. Her faced looked to the balcony to see Zelda falling backwards off it and out of sight. Instantly Impa began to run after her yelling. "Zelda!" She tried to run as fast as she could, but no matter how much she tried to run, how much she commanded her legs to move quicker she only managed to sprint in slow motion.

Eventually she reached the balcony and when she looked over she saw Zelda still falling. Her young face covered in fear and dread as she realized her inevitable fate. The sight felt like a dagger twisting in Impa's chest as she screamed. "No!" But her grace kept falling until she crashed onto the hard stone ground.

The grey-haired woman awoke startled, her eyed wide, her breathing deep and panicked, but seeing her surroundings: the tall tree, the crashing rain, the view of Hyrule Field. She was in Kakariko Village and what she just experienced was a nightmare. She released a sigh as she calmed herself.

Impa looked to her right to discover herself now alone with the boy gone. She realised darkness now reigned over Kakariko, it had turned to night. She was surprised she slept for so long but guessed the night sky was why the boy left.

As she got up and put on her cloak she felt disappointment plague her, as she wished she could have seen the lad's completed drawing of the landscape. After all it appeared to be forming into a beautiful piece of art. She decided not to think about it as she made her way back to her house.

Link is at his home alone, sitting on his bed adding some finishing touches to his drawing of Hyrule Field. Once done he admired his latest art work. He moved over to a chest hiding in the corner of his one room home and placed his drawing in the wooden box to join hundreds of his previous drawings he's created over the years.

Closing the chest his mind went to the woman who sat under the tree. He remembered her hair the colour of rain clouds, her tattoos red as blood, along with her crimson eyes, her feminine yet muscular body proof of her toughness as a Sheikah warrior, but what he remembered most prominently about the strange woman was her face. The frown she wore, her forlorn eyes, the sadness her face emanated was evidence of the trouble she has been through, trouble her role as a Sheikah probably caused her. He then began to wonder what she would look like bearing a smile.

Two days have passed since Link's encounter with the female stranger. He hasn't seen her since then, but the past couple days have been blessed with the sun's heat, so he has been too busy with training to see her, and today was much like those days gone by.

He was up in the forest away from Kakariko Village practicing his strikes with a wooden sword on a dummy. He delivered a fury of swings on the dummy, each one hitting their mark, if on a living opponent these strikes would cause damage ranging from severe to fatal. Landing a final critical strike across the dummy's head he broke it, and sent the dummy flying, landing several feet away.

Link relaxed his arms, catching his breath from that burst of action, then a familiar voice grabbed his attention. "I'm gonna run out of dummies if this keeps up." Link turned to Rusl moving towards him and he apologizes, "Sorry about that."

"Don't worry yourself I'm only joking." Rusl assured, looking to the dummy he continued, "With the skill you've been boasting lately I see you becoming a knight as great as your father."

Link smiles at the complement and utters. "I hope so."

Before they can continue their training session weightless, wet, pats hit their heads and before either of them realizes it, it's raining. With rain now falling upon them that meant only one thing to Link who looked to Rusl waiting for his go ahead.

Link's teacher smirked as he said, "Get going. I've got to build a new dummy anyway."

With a grin Link thanked Rusl and wasted no time in grabbing his art equipment and making his way to the tree. On his journey he wondered if that lady would be there again, and will she be wearing the same sorrowful face.

Impa is seated under the tree, listening to the calming rain falling around her, and breathing in its fresh damp air. She felt relaxed as she enjoyed the view. This spot has really grown on her since she first sat down under this tree, the isolation and peace it offered her was exactly what she desired. The only other person she had ever encountered up here was that boy a couple days ago. She began to wonder why he hadn't been up here since then, and if he will join her here today.

As the Sheikah woman sat there enjoying the peaceful atmosphere the sound of footsteps approaching her caught her attention, and she already had an idea of who it could be. Looking up she saw her theory proved correct, for standing beside the tree taking off his green cloak was the same lad. Like before they both offered each other a smile for greeting, and as Link sat down and readied his paper and pencil Impa questioned why she suddenly felt pleased.

Link sat there his mind going through various ideas on what he should create with his pencil. As he thought up ideas only to reject them over, and over again he looked to the older woman. She looked out to Hyrule Field still holding her saddened expression, and Link again pondered on how she would look smiling. She was already presented as a beautiful woman, but how much that beauty would be amplified if she simply smiled. He found himself desiring to see her smile and then he realized what he could draw. Instantly he began forming lines of various angles and lengths on his paper, staining it with grey from his pencil as he drew the woman's face with a smile.

Impa looked to the lad who suddenly appeared a lot more invested and active toward his paper. She guessed he decided on what to draw. She tried not to let her eyes linger on the boy and what he was doing, but she wondered why he kept glancing at her as he drew more and more.

He then moved into a different sitting position. Impa guessed it was so he could get more comfortable, but it meant she could no longer see what he was drawing, and for a reason she could not fathom it annoyed her.

The minutes passed by and turned into hours which were filled by the sound of rain plummeting onto the tree's branches and leaves above them, and onto the grass around them as Link continued to draw his portrait of the female stranger, and Impa explored her different thoughts. She wondered how long she will be sitting here, under this tree. So far it has been a few days consisting of her coming here to sit and think, but those days will eventually become weeks, which over time will become months, and how long will they extend? Years? These types of thoughts made her want to race back to Hyrule Castle, sit by Zelda's side, make sure she's ok, and just wait for her to wake. That was why she came here though, so she could just recover. She needed to think of other things. Like what is this lad drawing? He dedicates so much time to his art out here in this poor weather, why? Maybe he likes the pouring rain like herself, with its rhythmic, relaxing, yet insane patting and the fresh air it brings. Perhaps he finds it a comfortable companion while he draws, like how she enjoys the rain's company as she thinks. She still wonders why she is so curious to what the boy is creating with his small pencil, but she was appreciative of this curiosity as it did provide a nice distraction from everything.

Finally, as the day came to a close, as did the rain, with the sky's clouds clearing to reveal the pink shade the setting sun cast along the sky. Link decides it is time to make his way back home. He packs his things and leaves the tree, while Impa remained sitting, looking out to Hyrule Field waiting for darkness to hide the view from her.

As Link headed home he looked at his newest drawing, his portrait of the frowning female stranger, except in this she holds a smile. He thought this would have satisfied him, but he still felt the desire to see her actual smile if anything his drawing made him want to see the real thing more. He knew his portrayal of her smile will never live up to hers. As he stared at the drawing he realized something.

"This is actually kinda creepy." He thought as he digested the fact he just drew a portrait of someone without their knowledge. Immediately he scrunched up the paper and flung it to the ground. "I can't keep that." He thought as he continued his way home.

...

Night had fallen upon the land of Hyrule blanketing Kakariko Village in its darkness. Impa was making her way down the hill. On her way down, she stepped on something that emitted a crunch sound, and felt thicker than the endless grass covering this village's floor. She picks up the item and discovers it to be a crumpled-up piece of paper.

"Could this belong to the boy?" She thought, as she made the connection between the paper being on the same hill where the lad drew. "Could this be what he was drawing earlier?" She wondered, and she realized this was her chance to see what he created, but she argued with herself that she shouldn't do so without his permission, yet the temptation to reveal the mystery made her its puppet as before she knew it the scrunched-up paper was unravelled, and the mysterious drawing that intrigued her was now on display for her eyes to see. Those same eyes widened in shock as Impa discovered the drawing to be of no other than herself.

The Sheikah stood there unmoving for a moment. The surprise and shock from the revelation froze her in place. She continued staring at the drawing believing the darkness was playing with her vision and waited for the portrait to transform into what it really was, but her face remained on the paper. She was confused and bewildered, then began to grow annoyed by the realization this whole time they sat peacefully under that tree today he was secretly drawing her. Then as she gazed upon the drawing, her aggravation growing with every passing second, she noticed he drew her with a smile. Impa knew that she wasn't smiling when he did this, and she it found nice to think he wanted to draw her smiling. She didn't know how nice she looked with a smile before seeing this. Now instead of feeling annoyed and aggravated, she felt a smile creep along her lips as the idea he wanted to see her with a smile touched her, and she realized she doesn't remember the last time she genuinely smiled like this.

She folded the paper up and fitted it into her pocket deciding to keep it. She headed back to her house with her smile still lingering on her lips.


Author's Note: You know originally this was gonna happen within two chapters. The first ending after Impa and Link's first meeting and the second beginning with Link's training session, but I thought that would be too long for you guys to wait until you actually see them interact with each other so I decided to just combine the two chapters(that is another reason this took a little longer to get out)and I feel I made the right choice. The next chapter these two will be actually talking to each other. I hope the next chapter won't take as long to get out.

Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed! And please review criticism is welcome!