Darunia: Disclaimer! Selphie Louise does not own the Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. They are the property of Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo.

Tingle: The characters she does own are Selphie, Iggy, and Jiji. The characters of Kage, Yugi, Mable, and Raven belong to Kearra. The character Ravick is the property of Selphie's friend, Patrick.

Chapter 9

Their normal routine repeated itself for a couple of days. Much had been accomplished; most of the walls were even up. All that was left was the right side of the house and all the doors and windows. Then, one day, Jiji left in the morning for the forest to continue her work with Selphie while Iggy got right back to work on the house, waiting for Kage to join him.

Midmorning came, generally the latest that Kage ever showed up, and the former god had not appeared. This sucked especially since the day was much more bitter than those previous. Had Kage been around, they could have talked while they worked and Iggy would be more distracted from the cold.

"I almost wish I could be helping the girls with the pillows and stuff…" he muttered to himself, hammering a nail into the wall.

"I could use the extra help."

"Ack!" Iggy yelped at the sudden noise and cried out as he smashed his thumb, immediately sticking it in his mouth.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" He looked down to see Jiji below him, looking around. "Where's Kage?" she asked.

"Jiji?" Iggy responded. "Uh, he's not here, but I assumed he just slept in since he was out late last night getting that thing for Selphie in Kakariko." He climbed down to Jiji. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Well, Selphie's not at home for some reason," Jiji answered. "And neither is Kage. I have no idea where either of them are."

"That's weird," Iggy commented. "And sucky. I need help for a lot of this stuff." Jiji shrugged.

"So tell me what to do," she said.

"What?"

"Tell me what to do. I can help," Jiji said.

"Are-?" Iggy was about to say, but thought better of it. "Whatever," he sighed. "Come on up."

Hours later the sun began to disappear and Iggy and Jiji decided to call it a day. With Jiji's help, Iggy had managed to get all but one wall on the outer frame of the house done. "Heh heh, I think we may even have gotten more done today than me and Kage generally do," Iggy said as they ate their dinner.

Jiji laughed softly. "That was definitely less boring than sitting around and sewing cushions for a sofa," she said. "Did you know that on average it takes fourteen thousand eight hundred and sixty-four stitches to complete a foot and a half square pillow?"

Iggy gave a short guffaw. "No, but I'll go ahead and take your word for it," he said. He shivered slightly, looking out the nearby window. It was darker than usual. Clouds completely overcast the sky. "Good thing the roof's all done. I think we're going to get even more snow."

Jiji shook her head. "We should have done this before the cold weather started up," she said. "That way you guys wouldn't have to be out here every day freezing your asses off." Iggy laughed. "What?"

"Well put," he said.

"Straightforwardness," she said, sticking her tongue out. She shivered and pulled the tongue back in.

"May want to keep your tongue inside your mouth," Iggy teased. "As cold as it is it could either freeze that way or get bitten off by the teeth chattering."

Jiji nodded, draining her cup of tea. "Well," she said, setting the cup upon the mantelpiece. "I am hoping it will be warmer under the blankets, so, I am going to bed."

"Good idea," Iggy agreed. They quickly laid out their blankets, keeping them only as far away from the fire as safety required, took off their coats, and crawled beneath the quilts. "Goodnight, Jiji."

"Goodnight, Iggy."

It was maybe two hours later that the wind came whistling down the chimney and through the window, carrying snow on its breath. Jiji shivered violently, though it was not just from the cold. "No… don't wanna… back… I want… stay… with… Don't hurt… stay… away… Don't!" Jiji awoke with a start and shot up to a sitting position.

"What…?" she held her hand to her forehead and looked around. She saw snow swirling through the windows, threatening to extinguish their fire, and realized how cold it was. Immediately she hid under the covers again.

"Jiji…?" Jiji started slightly, turning her head toward Iggy's voice. She saw him stick his head out from under the covers.

"Iggy! Y-y-you're o-kay!" she said groggily through chattering teeth.

"Yah, but are you?" Iggy asked. "I could hear you talking in your sleep."

"I d-d-don't kn-know…" Jiji said. "I'm so t-t-t-tired, but it's to- t-t-t-too c-c-c-cold."

Iggy watched her for a moment before frowning. "Jiji, your lips are practically blue," he said.

"H-h-how did y-y-y-you m-anage to stay so warm?" Jiji asked.

"I kept my head under the covers too," Iggy answered. "You need to do the same thing."

Jiji shook her head. "I don't think it'll h-h-h-help," she said.

Iggy paused for a moment, thinking. "Bring your blankets over here," he said finally. Jiji looked at him quizzically. "Come on, you gotta get warm." Jiji nodded slowly and crawled closer to him, pulling her blankets with her. Iggy unfolded the blankets that were on top of him and motioned for Jiji to do the same as he pulled the ones she'd been laying on closer. He layered both their blankets on top of them and laid down again, Jiji copying the motion as they hid under the quilts together.

"This better?" Iggy asked.

Jiji nodded her head sleepily and breathed, "I think so… Thank you, Iggy…"

He nodded his head too. "Good. Now get some sleep." Mission accomplished; Jiji was already asleep. Iggy sighed and poked his head out of the blanket, glancing at the window where all the snow was coming in. 'The blankets will get soaked and/or iced up and we'll freeze if I don't do something about the stuff coming in that window…' He glanced at the blankets and came to a swift decision. They could do with one less blanket.

Iggy moved quickly, climbing out from the covers and taking the topmost quilt. Swiftly he took said blanket and moved to the window, hanging it over the open hole in the wall. Making sure it was secure, Iggy was satisfied that it would hold overnight at least. Now he returned to the bedding and crawled beneath again.

Jiji was lying on her back, head turned to the side, still shivering though not nearly as badly as before. Iggy lay down next to her on his stomach, using his arms as pillowing. He sighed, closing his eyes but having difficulty sleeping for some reason. He shook his head, trying to clear it of all thoughts so that he could sleep when he heard a sharp intake of breath from Jiji.

Iggy turned his head to look at her for a moment. Something was a bit off. She seemed a bit pained somehow. Iggy tried to shrug it off and returned to trying to sleep. "Iggy…" He turned his head again. "Iggy, d…" Jiji murmured incoherently.

"Huh?" he whispered, but she was still asleep. He rolled onto his side to face her.

"Iggy, they're… after us…" she murmured. "Don't… don't let them get us, Iggy… Don't let them… take me away…"

"Who? Don't let who take you away?" he asked.

"…The Garo… they still want us, Iggy…" she said.

"What?" Iggy wondered why she would be saying this.

"I can't fight…" she said. "I'm too cold… I don't feel well…" Iggy wondered if this was true and reached his hand to her forehead. Wow, it was burning up. He hoped she hadn't gotten sick from sleeping in the cold. Jiji's face was scrunched up and she gripped the sheets tightly. "Iggy, make it go away… it wants me… I don't feel good and the Garo wants to kill me…" Was this delirium, Iggy thought. Jiji rolled onto her side suddenly and moved closer to him.

Iggy glanced down at her cheeks, which were no longer pink from cold but from fever, and pulled a few strands of hair that were stuck to her face from the sweat. She inched even closer to him and rested her head against his chest, her hand to his arm. Hesitating slightly, Iggy put his arms around her, resting one hand to the back of her head and holding it against him. "I told you… you never needed my help… the Garo are already gone…" Iggy gave a soft smile, stroking the back of her head softly. "Take good care of me, Iggy…" His smile faded as he closed his eyes.

"I will, Jiji… I will…" He squeezed his eyes shut. 'Even if this is just a dream… even if it's not my dream, it's your dream… and it will all be gone in the morning…'