A/N: Hey, everyone! Here's an update.

I was getting quite good at pretending to be casual with my questions. I figured that, in the end, knowing everything about Link would prove helpful—and not just towards my end of the blackmail. So, as we sat by the campfire that we had set up on Rendado's rooftop and Dark had gone to train his magic in the field, I asked Link a simple question. His history.

Not just his history, though. The realm's fairytales. I wanted to hear his history. It was like reading a sequel to a wonderfully written novel—interesting. A hook.

"They're not very exciting. They all have happy endings and all have the same basic idea….but if you want to hear them, I'll tell." He paused as I readjusted myself, sitting up against the crumbling half-wall. "I'll tell you one. It's about time travel."

"Long ago, the children of a province of forest and forest alone—children who lived in trees and never aged—depended on fairies to guide them through their lives in the forest. But one boy, a mute, never got one. He had strange dreams of danger, and one day, the great Deku Tree sent a fairy to him. He was chosen to save the world from danger."

"Now, this boy did not understand many things about the world other than his forest home, but he fought and made his way to the Castle Town. There a princess from his dreams asked for his help. After many battles, he made his way to the Master Sword—as you know, the blade of evil's bane—but could not wield it. He was not of the proper bloodline—he was not Hylian. He was…oh, I wish I could remember the pesky forest tribe name!—a forest dweller. An evil demon-man appeared and a sage sealed the young hero's soul to save his life."

Link paused and I, intrigued, motioned from him to continue. "Seven years past and the hero awoke as an adult Hylian. His name…was Link."

"You are a legend, aren't you, dog boy?" I whispered, shocked and proud. I curved my small hand to fit his cheek. He grinned. "Well, go on!"

"And, so, he went on, and after many hardships, he saved the Princess and her land, and using a special instrument he acquired on his journey, he travelled back in time so that the hardships didn't affect anything—so Hyrule would be safe. Because, in the seven years he slept, a veil of destruction swept the land."

I grinned. "Your stories have happier endings. Sugar-coaters."

"Well, let's hear one of your fairytales, Miss Midna." He returned my grin, waiting.

"There was a woman by the name of Tidja Hirono. She was a powerful sorceress of Storm. But she was tainted. The Stones of Fate proclaimed that 'she who rules the storm shall rule the world', yet she did not rule. She, at first, had a good heart and truly wanted to help. But as time passed and rulership did not fall into her hands, she made a storm. A bolt of lightning struck the city that was the Twilight Realm's, at the time, only capital."

"We had three rulers. They were very greedy and always wanted more money, more love…more power…more bloodshed. They craved it. So when a bolt struck the palace, they began the Bolt Trials. Many, many women and men were tortured and beheaded for information of Tidja's whereabouts. They were innocents. Some had known Tidja. Some hadn't. It was meaningless bloodshed. If you were in the town, you could hear the screams…the heart stopping wails, the tortured screeches, and the merciless laughs. It was supposed justice."

"But Tidja watched as her friends were slaughtered, as the innocents died off…she felt sorrow and anguish for what she had done—she had meant to cause a scare, not a mass murder. She was plotting revenge, but soon it was too late for her to wait. Her younger sister, Alia, was taken captive and the torture process began."

"Tidja walked into the town, knowing that they'd quickly let Alia go—throw her out as if she was worthless—once the guards saw her. But she didn't mean to fight anymore. She knew it was too late to be the queen she had wanted to be. She knew that her soul was damned. So it was a suicide mission and a test…or a project. To test the rulers' creditability. So she slaughtered the palace guards, bathing herself in their blood, letting that hatred and anguish further taint her blood. Before the rulers came outside, she grabbed one of the dead guard's daggers and killed herself."

"The rulers were eager. They thought that the magic in her was powerful. But they argued over who would be the one to drink her so called magical blood. In the night, they cut the body into three parts, blood included. Each took to a part of the realm—which is why there are three "countries", not including the Plains—before drinking their share of the blood. Some people followed them. They were the first to die when the rulers' drank Tidja's tainted blood…the rulers went on a rampage. A violent rush, I guess. And then the blood poisoned them. They died. They say that that was the event that made our people peaceful. No more fights, after that—an occasional brawl over land, but no lives were lost."

Link sat with a knowing, brave expression. And that was the second I knew that I truly loved him. He wanted peace. He didn't want death. He truly cared.