Ill Met at Midnight

Chapter Ten

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Link couldn't stop himself, and part of him probably wouldn't even let him try. To kiss Midna, like the woman she was, made his whole heart melt into her soul. Her lips were soft and surprisingly willing to kiss him back. It was a beautiful, suspended moment in time; but moments like these were only effects of a bad cause.

"Link?"

He looked at her as he pulled back and blushed. How could he let himself do that? How could he attack her and kiss her, and expect to see another day? How could he not tell her the truth about his feelings? How could he keep up this façade? "Um…"

She glanced away, her face flushing as well. Alien emotions passed across her face, and neither one of them knew what to so next. "I…"

"I'm sorry!" Link, unable to take the idea that he messed up, jumped out of the bathroom in what appeared to be a single bound, and ran away, leaving Midna cold and alone in the bath. She watched him go with a strange mixture of shock, anger, and sadness. Something inside her wasn't placed in its right place now, and it was all his fault. Loyal Link made a very wrong decision.

"Should he live to see another day?" Midna growled and pulled herself up, water running off of her like a torrential down pour had just hit her. She then began to strip herself of her water-logged clothing. There was a long silence, in which she was forced to consider what happened.

Midna, in all honestly, wasn't quite sure what she was mad at. It could have been the fact that he tackled her into a bath, ignored her warnings, or… was it possible that she was mad that he kissed her? Or was she excited? It was a strange turn of events that she wasn't expecting. Link was in love with Zelda. That fact had been so deeply carved into her mind that she never doubted its truth. But the kiss…?

Midna touched her lips and blushed, thinking about it. The kiss… She blushed even harder as the thought 'I wish he'd come back here and do it again' ran through her mind. She couldn't lie to herself; she wanted his touch again. She wanted him to kiss her like she was the only woman he could ever love; the only thing that ever mattered to him.

'What is he doing? He loves Zelda… I'm so sure of it!' Midna shook her wet hair and sighed. What was the point of all these circles she was running in? All she was proving was that she had the ability to run and not go anywhere.

"It's not important…" Midna walked back into the bedroom and began looking for something else to wear. She began to reason with herself, wishing she didn't have to. "I'm sure it was a mistake. An accident. It was just the moment."

- - -

"It was just the moment…" Link looked into the fountain and sighed, wondering if it was possible to die of drowning in four inches of water. "What did I do?" He held his head in his hands and felt like either crying or hitting something for being so stupid. He was selfish; for the first time in his whole life he did something for himself. Something he wanted to do. But this selfish act had the potential to ruin everything between Midna and him, and destroy the quest, not to mention Link's own credibility. "I can't believe I did that. I can't believe I was so stupid."

"Link?" A soft, familiar voice called his name, and he looked up into beautiful blue eyes.

He stood up abruptly and bowed to Princess Zelda. She smiled and curtsied, silently laughing at his civilities. After all they had been through together he still acted like a gentleman. She sat down on the lip of the fountain, motioning for her guard to return to the inn. He nodded and walked away, leaving the two friends alone. Link joined her on the lip of the fountain.

"This is a surprise to see you here so soon. I sent the message only yesterday, I wasn't expecting to see you so soon." She looked at his downtrodden face intently, knowing something had gone awry in his plans. She paused for a moment before interrogating him. "What's wrong?"

"We were already on the way to see you when we received your message… We came to Castle Town in hopes of contacting our friend Shad, and discuss something he might know about the Sages. Thank you for finding us room at the inn, that was very kind of you." He looked into the fountain, avoiding her gaze. He was deliberately ignoring her question, not wanting to open a can of worms. It was his own mistake and no one else's and he was the one who should deal with it. "How is Prince Ralis? I thought you weren't supposed to return until later this evening."

"That's not what I asked you and you know it." Zelda's tone was firm and she stared intently at him until he broke.

Link shook his head and sighed. He looked up at her, feeling weight press against his ribcage. He didn't want to bring the subject up; he wanted to forget it ever happened. "I don't want to talk about it." He turned his attention back to the fountain.

"Link the Recluse." Zelda snorted indignantly and shook her head. She always felt like she was running head-first into a brick wall when it came to Link's feelings. He was such a man sometimes. "Let's add one more title to your name, shall we?"

"Don't be snide." Link looked up and frowned.

"Then open up." She crossed her arms over her chest and glared. "What's the problem?"

Link blushed and looked away, his face turning bright red. He really wished he could strike the whole scene from his memory. It would make this situation a lot better for him. It would make everything a lot better for him. "I did something bad."

Zelda looked confused for a moment, and seemed to know that this "something bad" had to do with Midna. She was nervous as to what had happened; this could mess everything up for the two of them. "Like what?"

"…i..s..m..i..a"

"Don't mumble. I spend too much of my day dealing with mumblers. What did you do?" Zelda looked at him firmly, almost scolding him for skirting around the whole situation.

"I kissed Midna." Link blushed brightly at Zelda's shocked expression. "But it was an accident!" He began to tell the rest of the story hastily, lest she loose her trust in him. "I didn't mean to, it's just that we were fighting and suddenly it wasn't fighting any more and I… I screwed up… bad." His head returned to his hands and he sighed deeply. "I feel selfish."

"Wait… what?" Zelda had been more concerned with how to fix the problem, but the last comment jarred her from her thoughts. She looked up at him and stared, a little confused by what he meant. "Why do you feel selfish?"

Link blushed and looked away. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Link the Recluse."

He glared at her rude comment, then stood up and started to walk away. "Forget I said anything." He started off down a side street that led to Telma's. At least she didn't throw rude names at him. Zelda shook her head and chased after him, feeling frustrated that he was being childish. By the way he was acting though, she got the distinct impression that he was really torn-up about whatever had transpired between them. There must be a huge reason as to why he felt so selfish about kissing Midna, even if it was an accident.

"Link! I'm sorry…" She grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him to a stop. He looked at her from underneath a sullen brow. Zelda held back a sound of discontent, and proceeded forward. "I didn't mean to upset you, but this isn't going to get resolved if you don't talk to someone about it."

Link shook his head and sighed, the barrier between them dissipating. "I've tried, but everyone keeps telling me the same thing. I'm not sure if I'm missing the point or I just don't want to hear what they are saying." He looked away, feeling more frustrated with himself than he was with anyone else. He obviously wasn't getting the message that everyone had been telling him, and he wasn't sure why. Was he afraid of something? Of Midna? Of the unknown? Or was he just too selfless?

Zelda looked confused, and she stared up at him. "What do you mean? Who've you been taking to, and what about?"

"Telma. Mayor Bo… I just… I just want to know what this is all for; why I'm doing what I am. Do I want to help Midna? Do I want to keep her for myself?" Link buried his head in his hands, feeling like he wanted to disappear and run away.

"Link? Do you…?" It shocked her to know that he felt love already; without the quest that was supposed to bring the two of them together. Had he always loved her? Was it the will of the Goddesses, or was it just fate that brought his heart to hers?

He couldn't look at her. His shame swept over him like a gnawing disease and Link turned away. "I do."

"Link…"

"Don't say anything. I know what I have to do… I know I have to help Midna with this quest and bring her back to Twilight. I know I can never love her… I have to be the selfless hero I was chosen to be. I know." He fought back tears, the pain clawing at his heart as he said the words he hated to hear. He didn't want to give her up, ever. "I'm sorry I bothered you."

"Link… maybe you don't have to give her up…" Zelda looked away, wondering if she should tell him the truth, or if that would only agitate him more. She could tell he was moody, and she wasn't sure if telling him it was his "destiny" to love Midna would make him feel better. "Maybe this quest will bring you together."

He barked out a sour laugh. "I hardly think so. Midna's not the kind of woman who will stick around when she has what she wants. She'll go back to Twilight and I'll go back to Ordon and die of a broken heart. That's life."

"It isn't like you to brood like this, Link. How do you know?" Zelda was frightened for a moment. She was worried that Link might run away from the quest and jeopardize the chances for the two of them to fall in love. But the thing that scared her the most was the look of utter despair on his face. In all the time she knew Link, she never knew him to have felt despair.

"I know." He shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. "I've got to go… If you see Midna, tell her I'm at Telma's." With those few words and a polite bow, Link walked off, down the street to Telma's, leaving Zelda feeling frustrated and angry. He didn't have to act like that. Running away from his problems wasn't going to fix anything, just make it worse.

Zelda grumbled to herself, and then continued back toward the inn. To her surprise, Midna was sitting outside, arms crossed and looking like she had just gone diving with a Zora to the bottom of Lake Hylia. She looked up at the princess and growled. Zelda simply held up her hands and sighed.

"Don't tell me… I already know." She sat next to Midna, feeling some what frustrated that she was suddenly the designated mediator for this lovers tiff. That wasn't her job.

"Do you?" Midna uncrossed her arms and looked over at Zelda.

"I ran into Link in the town square. He said… that he…"

Midna blushed brightly and looked away. "He did."

"Oh?"

There was a long silence and neither one of them looked at each other. Finally Zelda said, "Link told me to tell you he was at Telma's." Pause. "Look, I don't want to get in the middle of whatever is going on between you two… I know that you have some issues to resolve, and don't tell me that you're not interested in Link. I'm sick of you denying your feelings. I'm sick of him being a blockhead too. So, go fix whatever needs fixing and come see me at sundown." She didn't mean to be so brash about the subject, but being everyone's personal helper was annoying. She had a kingdom to rebuild, she didn't have time to sit down and tell everyone why they were loved and by whom.

Midna's face was as red as the fires in the Goron mountain. "Princess!"

"I'm sorry, Midna… but I can't handle this silliness any longer. At least go get him to apologize." Zelda shook her head and walked away, leaving Midna confused, embarrassed, and angry. She growled one last time at Zelda and walked towards Telma's.

"Goddesses help those two…"

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AN: I apologize for this being so short, I wanted it to be longer but I wanted to get it our as soon as I could. So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and the next one will be longer I promise!