Not So Obedient

A/N: Ahhh, sorry this took so long. The ending was ever so slightly different the first time I thought of it, but when I was writing something else (this) came out instead. Oh well. I worked it a little bit, and now it's more like what it was in my head.

And I now have a twitter! I'm putting a link to it in my profile, where I have all the updates and progress of working chapters posted up. I thought it might be a nice touch, since I have a habit of making my readers wait for the updates without word from me... T-T Sorry about that. Anyhow, last chapter for all of ya. Hope you've enjoyed the ride as much as I have.

Epilogue: Secret

She had kept to her oath from five days before. It took them three days and two nights to reach the desert and cross it to the tall-pillared structure: one day to reach the place they had been before Link's run-in with the ReDead.

Of course, they settled the score. Midna, having forsaken riding along in his shadow, simply content to watch him in action was rather enthusiastic to magically hold the creature down while Link hacked it to pieces; both freezing every once in a while when it let loose its piercing scream.

Still, though, they had gotten their revenge; or, that's what Midna thought of it. She would bet a million Rupees Link was thinking only of destroying the creature for the threat it posed to humanity and society in general as all heroes tend to do; though if she had been inclined to notice she might have seen the satisfied grin on his face as he wiped the sticky substance left over on the rough floor, sanding the blade to bring back its shine.

"It's taken care of now," He stated. It wasn't that he thought she didn't know, or was thinking the same thought; but that he was echoing the obvious to cover up the fact…That he had no idea where they were to head next. The Grounds weren't easy to navigate, and humble ranch boy though he was he still had some pride. He wasn't ready to admit it.

Midna gave him her wide, pointed grin, folding her arms behind her head as she hovered on eye level.

"It's taken care of now," She echoed, nodding her head. The great heavy crown that hid her hair tipped forward, and made the action seem clownish.

Link shared her grin, sliding the Master Sword into its sheath. He looked around the small, closed in chamber; trying to seem as though he was only mildly concerned about the maze they found themselves in.

"I wonder which door we should take out there."

Midna shrugged, scratching regally at an inch on her cheek. She hopped near to his feet, pooling into a murky spot in his shadow. Her voice echoed eerily from the dark, dimly lit floor.

"No idea. Why don't you try to think on your own for once?"

Link frowned a bit, some of his sense of camaraderie fading. He shrugged it off, though, and left the room, taking the closest door and pushing through it without looking inside first.

Midna rolled her eyes from his shadow, thinking his brush with death hadn't improved his ways in the slightest. She settled back, though, the rhythm of his footsteps lulling her back and forth with the movement.

"You never did tell me what you did," Link commented after what seemed like a long time; Midna blinked, pulling herself out of her fuzzy daze. She hadn't been asleep; being in a shadow didn't permit such mortal things. She supposed she had zoned out, and she shook herself mentally for doing so on the job. Link was probably snickering over it…

"You don't need to know," She said; and he smiled, perhaps imagining her floating there with her button nose stuck high in the air.

"Whatever. Need your help, Midna."

Midna, ready and willing to respond with one of her old, well-seasoned retorts, peered out of his shadow. They were in a chamber that struck her as faintly familiar; it took her a moment to realize that, though she had never been in this room, it was precisely identical to another they had previously visited.

"Egad, not another Poe…"

She popped out of his shadow while they were still near the door: safe, for the moment, from the Poe that was sure to lurk inside. She pulled out the crystal and with a few sickening jerks and sprays of black particles Link rested on all fours. Midna flopped onto his back, tugging lightly at his ears, as she was wont to do. The wolf glanced back, cocked his ear, and gave her a doggy-like but quizzical grin.

She could just imagine what he was thinking. 'Where'd you learn to say 'Egad'?'

She giggled a bit, her roguish sense of humor kicking in. She belted him a bit in the sides with her tiny feet, urging him on into the room to do battle with the creepy specter.

"It's a secret."

Link didn't need to know; would never know, if Midna had her way about it. No doubt the mutt would get mushy, and she didn't need a dog getting attached to her, being the future Queen and all. Besides, what would he think of her then? He would probably be confused; wouldn't understand why she had done it.

Deep in the back of her mind she could feel Zelda smile; hear the other princess echoing the words with a sardonic amusement. Midna could feel the waves radiating off the soul harbored inside of her, knew the not-so-subtle message they were trying to give her, and Midna couldn't help but respond. She was not jealous; perhaps a tad possessive, but Link was her wolf, dammit: her ranch boy, her Hero. She had found him first, and finder's keepers, loser's weepers, and Ilia fit that category nicely.

Zelda's smile grew just a bit, and Midna mentally growled back at her, though the Light-dweller's good mood was somewhat infectious. Midna found herself smiling and buried her face in Link's fur, ignoring his sudden yelp at the movement, even as he landed back on his feet after a go at the Poe.

'As I suspected. You're never going to tell him, are you?' Zelda's soft, whispery voice floated through Midna's head, sad and knowing. Midna didn't need to respond; she knew it wasn't a question, and she knew that Zelda would never tell, never betray Midna's feelings to Link. It was her secret.

No, she thought to herself, it's more than just my secret.'

Midna thought back, just as Zelda thought to her; perhaps thinking to make a witty joke for once, though Midna had already beaten her to the punch.

'It's our little secret.'