If Midna had hoped that she would be able to avoid having to continue the conversation about her reasons for the mission, she would have been disappointed. For although she was able to change the topic of conversation each time Link, Ilia, Uli, and Rusl tried to bring it up again over the following days, by the time she stood in front of the helm again, taking in the wonderful sense of freedom that came with knowing that in just a few minutes, she would be back among the clouds, she knew that she would not be able to convince Link to stop worrying about her as he walked over to stand next to her.

That did not keep him from trying to at least pretend that his reason for having decided to stand there with her as the rest of the crew finished the last preparation before they would be able to leave the base was anything other than him trying to make one last attempt at convincing her not to go though. With how he waved at Ilia who had finally left Epona for a moment to say goodbye, the two of them yelling at her that they would be back soon with the words being drowned out by the fact that everyone around them were saying the same thing to their loved ones, it was almost enough to, for a moment, allow her to believe that he would not inevitably turn towards her and try to make her see reason. But of course, the second where he did exactly that came sooner than she had expected.

"You shouldn't have promised Colin that we would get salt and honey," he said, and Midna had to admit that he at least made sure to keep his voice down, ensuring that the rest of the crew would not be able to overhear their conversation, "it is not worth the risk, and you know that it is bigger than it usually is, you saw how Jaggle struggled with those lines. We should have waited until everyone was ready and well-rested again."

Tightening her grip around the rudder and seeing how her knuckles turned white, Midna tried her best to calm herself, to remind herself that this was Link, her first and oldest friend, who was trying to tell her that he worried about whether or not they were leading the rest of the crew to their deaths. Still, it was not quite enough to make her able to keep a sharp edge out of her tone of voice as she looked back over at him. "I am only doing what I need to do, Link. I know that you might think that this is about me trying to prove something, but we do need the salt to make it through the winter. Besides, I am not forcing anyone to follow me; everyone except for you agreed that we should plan a new mission during the meeting, and everyone who is here has chosen that for themselves."

Link just sent her a humourless smile. "But you know that they would agree with everything you say. No matter the danger, almost everyone here would be willing to risk their life if they thought that it was what you wanted."

Midna could tell that he had meant it as some kind of argument that would finally render her unable to find anything to act as a counterargument, but she simply shrugged in response to it. "That is something they chose to do. I did not tell them that they had to do everything I would ever ask them to do before we helped them get away from the ruins and flames, so if they are here because they feel like they have to, then that is something they have chosen to do. I refuse to take the responsibility for that."

"You and I both know that while we did not tell them to do everything we said, we might as well have done so with how the people on this ship would gladly give their lives for you just to feel like they had repaid that debt."

"Then let them. If that is what they choose to do with their lives, I don't see what the problem is." Link's disappointed glare felt like it was burning right through her skin, and in that moment, Midna could feel how it all became too much for her. Twirling around to face him, she let her voice drop to a whisper, making sure that her tone of voice did not leave any doubts about what she would think of any argument he might present. "And I hate to say that I feel like I have to remind you of this, but you also chose to be here. The only thing I said at the meeting was that I had planned another mission to ensure we had enough food and fuel. I did not force anyone to come with me, so if you don't want to be here, this is your opportunity to leave."

Part of her wanted to feel bad for what she was saying, how she knew full well that Link would never turn around now and let them risk their lives while he stayed and pretended to know what Ilia was talking about as she gestured towards Epona, but for the most part, the guilt was drowned out by the need to know that she would not have to listen to another person whispering about whether or not she was all right, and so, Midna forced herself to be cold as Link struggled for a moment to hide the hurt that made its way into the lines of his face.

"I am not going to leave, not when my friends are here, risking their lives. I just…" Link sighed and motioned towards her, the frustration evident in the gesture, "Midna, you have to realise that while I know you didn't order anyone to come with you, no one here would have been able to defend the choice not to come."

"Well, in that case, it is beginning to sound like you are saying that I am doing what is right." when Link did still not look convinced, Midna sighed and nodded towards the spot on the ground where Uli was standing with Colin. "Link, we have to do this. If we don't, think about what Colin will feel like once he realises that we are always just a moment away from not having enough food for the winter. He deserves to have at least another year of thinking that everything here is fine, doesn't he?"

That finally earned her a tiny smile, and as the warmth from the steam engine began to fight off the icy winds that rushed past them, into the hangar, Link finally gave in. "I suppose you might be right. Just… I don't want you to do anything rash."

"No of course you don't want that, that is your job after all," Midna said with a laugh, before the task of having to manoeuvre the ship out of the hangar brought an end to the discussion.

However, even as she tried her best to pretend that she did not repeat Link's words to herself, Midna could still feel his gaze on her, and as they sailed upwards, moving through the clouds, she knew that the moment they had landed again, she would have to figure out what to do. But for now, she allowed herself to focus on nothing but the mission that awaited them, steering the ship away from the base as quickly as she could to try to prevent anyone from being able to guess its location.

Once they were finally up in the sky, it was almost amazing how easy it was to let her mind wander until her only thoughts were about the ship, shouting instructions at the crew to make herself be heard above the sound of the wind that tried its best to change their course, and, little by little, Midna felt how she slipped out of the role she had come to inhabit while at the base to instead work with the ship, ignoring every problems that did not directly threaten to interfere with the mission, letting the doubts about whether or not Link had been right when he had said that the only reason she wasn't up here alone was that the rest of the residents at the base felt like they owed her something move towards the back of her mind until she was able to shut them out completely.

Above her, the sun moved across the sky, but although the elements fought around them, the icy winds hitting the sails and the sun warming the ground below, as she stood there, with the pipes leading the warm water around the ship, heating up the rooms, Midna barely noticed any of it as she instead tried her best to combat the threat the wind posed whenever it would hit the sides of the ship.

It wasn't until the sun had almost reached the horizon that Link spoke up again. Reaching out to place a hand on the rudder, he nodded towards the cabin below them. "Perhaps you should try to get some sleep. I don't think we are going to find a ship just yet, and as much as I know you don't like to hear this, you need to be fully rested to be able to fight."

Midna cast a long glance at him, but his face remained blank, and for once, she could not tell if it was because he truly had let go of their discussion, or if he just tried his best to hide his feelings from her.

Instantly, she could feel something heavy settle in her stomach, something that felt a bit too much like admitting that there had perhaps been a tiny bit of truth to his claims about how the crew viewed her as some kind of leader if she focused on it for too long, so Midna simply nodded, forcing herself to ignore it. "Very well then. Remember to send someone to tell me if we find a target."

"I will."

Making her way down to her cabin, Midna tried her best not to think about whether or not Rusl was only there, waving at her as he inspected the harnesses, because he felt obligated to do so. After all, even if it was the case, it would not have been her fault. She had not told anyone to be there; she had merely suggested that they should plan another mission the last time they had held a meeting, that was all. If anyone thought that she would have forced them to come along against their will, she could hardly be blamed for that, could she?

Midna preferred to think that it wasn't the case, but even then, as she pulled off her boots and lay down on top of the soft quilt that covered the bed, the way Link had not been able to look directly at her when she had offered that he could stay behind kept moving to the front of her mind. Although she might not have ordered him to come with them, she had reminded him of how he would leave everyone else to fend for themselves if he stayed at the base. As such, had she not at least partly been trying to make him go, using the knowledge she had about him and the rest of the base the exact same way the princess she had met in the ship had tried to wield her position as a weapon against her?

Even as she tried her best to clear her mind, to not think of anything and especially not the princess, Midna could feel how her thoughts continued to circle back to it. There was simply something about it that did not feel right, something about the fact that they had been able to attack a ship that had housed the princess and escape unharmed. Despite what Midna had read about herself the few times she had dared to make her way into a town after she and Link had first realised that they did not have to hide in the shadows every day, she was not blind to the fact that their strongest weapon was the element of surprise, the ability to strike quickly and be gone before their target got the chance to try to organise a defence. But with the target being a ship filled with soldiers given the task of protecting the princess, for them to not have been prepared for the risk of something happening was almost miraculous enough for Midna to begin to consider whispering a quick thankyou to the goddesses the way Ilia and Link seemed to do from time to time. But only almost. Even if their survival really was the result of the goddesses interfering with reality, tipping the scales to let them be in their favour, it was still not enough to make up for all the times where they had been silent, simply watching without providing help.

Really, with how Midna struggled to make sense of it all, it should perhaps have felt like she lay there for long, but as she noticed the sound of footsteps around her, Rusl's voice rising above the general noise of the crew readying themselves for an attack, it barely felt like she had got the chance to do more than to close her eyes for a second.

As she sat up, forcing herself to let go of the fatigue to instead focus on the task at hand and put on her boots, Midna heard how the entire ship squeaked a little as whoever was standing at the helm altered the course to starboard, and the next second, the door was thrown open to reveal Link standing there, a gun already resting at his hips as he looked at her.

"Oh, you are already awake," he observed, sounding breathless, "good. Rusl just spotted a ship—we are preparing to attack right now. Come on, we have to go!"

Even though Midna could see how he tried his best to hide it, it was evident from how his left hand shook slightly, Link trying to hide it by gripping the gun, and the slightly panicked look in his eyes, that there was something about the approaching fight he wasn't telling her.

Standing up straight, Midna made sure to sound as calm as possible as she fixed him with a sharp glare. "What kind of ship is it? Is it a merchant's?"

Link hesitated, and it was in that short second where he let out a little sound not unlike a sigh that Midna could find her answer, with Link dragging the tip of his boot over the deck as he answered. "No, it is a ship from the royal fleet." he must have known that she was only half a second away from asking him how they had managed to spot two royal ships in such a short amount of time, for he barely paused to breathe before adding. "That is why everyone is… well, I would want to say that they are only a little nervous, but that would have been a lie. We are hardly prepared to take on another ship full of Hyrulean soldiers, not when everyone are still tired, but we did not spot it until it was too late. Now, we will not be able to leave without it involving a huge risk of them seeing us, and if that is the case, I would prefer for us to at least have the element of surprise on our side."

Shaking her head, Midna did not even try to mask the way the corners of her mouth curled up into a satisfied smile. "No, this is perfect. The royal ships mean a guarantee of getting every luxury we came to find. As for the soldiers, you and I both saw how laughably incompetent they were the last time we attacked one of their ships."

With her head held high, Midna made her way out of the cabin, walking across the deck to catch the harness Rusl threw over to her while mentally going over the plan one last time. Link followed along, and although she tried her best to let everyone around her know that this was almost exactly what she had planned for, it did not seem to have the intended effect on Link as he continued to argue with her.

"I know," he said as he went to stand next to her, "and I have been thinking about it. What if it is a trap?" her raised eyebrow must have been enough for him to know that she did not follow as he cleared his throat and explained. "The only reason I can come up with that would explain what appears to be a great deal of luck from our side is that they knew that we would return again if we thought we would be able to stand a chance in a fight against the guards. So what if they made sure we would be able to escape, so that the next time we saw them, we would attack again, only for us to be surrounded by the best soldiers in the kingdom?"

It was not an inconceivable idea, Midna had to admit that. Allowing the newer soldiers to enter a situation where they would fear for their lives, all to ensure that he would be able to capture them was exactly the kind of plan Midna could picture Ganondorf thinking of, and she would have lied if she claimed that she would be able to say something that could prove that there would not be even the tiniest bit of danger associated with attacking the ship below them. But even then, as she glanced to her left and saw how the rest of the crew had climbed up to stand on the handrail, all of them waiting for her to tell them to begin the attack, Midna knew that while she was not a leader the same way the same way the princess was, now was not the moment for her to falter and doubt herself.

At least Link had made sure to keep his voice down, refraining from speaking loudly enough for anyone to hear, and as Midna looked over at him, she could not have been more grateful for the fact that their conversation would remain between them. Now, instead of having to try to calm the entirety of the crew, she only had to find a reason to make Link forget his doubts about the plan for enough time to allow them to attack as a single group.

The answer came to her in an instant, Midna leaning closer to him to make sure that Rusl would not be able to hear it from his spot next to her. "If that was the case, why would he have allowed the princess to be present on the ship? Don't you think that it would be strange for someone like Ganondorf to allow his daughter to be aboard a ship he had planned to let us attack?"

She saw how Link considered her argument, silently repeating it before making a noncommittal sound. "I don't know. He has destroyed Hyrulean villages for years now to be able to blame us. As long as he knows that he will still have Zant as the heir to the throne, I would not put it past him to be willing to risk his daughter's life to capture you."

Before Midna got a chance to respond, the sound of Rusl coughing forced her to return to the present. Looking over at him, she saw how the entire crew were all looking towards her.

"Midna, are we ready to attack?" Rusl asked.

Taking a deep breath and forcing herself to focus on nothing other than the weight of the gun in her belt, the mission in front of her, and how she could see the deck of the ship below her even with the clouds around them impairing her vision, Midna nodded. "Yes."

They jumped, and before Midna had truly realised what was happening, her body had already slipped back into the familiar rhythm of ducking under a sword as the cold blade missed her by mere centimetres, jumping over a soldier who had fallen over when Link had sneaked up behind him to hit him with a spear he must have grabbed from someone, before finally sprinting towards the storeroom.

As soon as she was inside and the sounds of the battle grew muffled, Midna could feel how the effects of the adrenaline lessened a little, allowing her to move through the room, feeling how the dust in the air tickled against her skin, without risking alerting the soldiers above her to the fact that she had managed to move past them by letting out a yell as she almost tripped over a crate. Narrowly avoiding falling to the floor, Midna twirled around to take a look at the contents of it, only for the sight of the sacks full of salt to earn a tiny smile. She had found it.

With the sack hanging from her belt now having become a bit heavier, Midna continued to walk along the rows of crates and cases, searching for the beauty that was a crate that would be full of jars of honey while letting mushrooms, wheat, and pieces of meat fall into the sack as well, keeping the salt company.

It was the sound of wood breaking, sunlight streaming into the room, and someone yelling as they fell directly into a crate full of wine that forced her to at once be acutely aware of how the battle above her was more than just something they had to worry about for a moment before reaching the storeroom.

Jumping back, with her heartbeat forming an uneven rhythm, already raising her gun, Midna did not look away from the guard in front of her for even a moment, waiting for him to move, to act, to give her any indication of just what she should do next.

As he sat there, stuck in the crate and with the red fabric of his uniform stained purple by the wine, he might not have looked like a threat, but Midna could easily imagine how someone before her might have made the mistake of assuming that the Hyrulean soldiers would not easily be able to fool their target into lowering their guard, only for them to strike once they were vulnerable. After all, although she barely had any memories from that time, she still sometimes dreamt about one of the servants telling her that she would come back to her in just a moment, that once they had succeeded in freeing the Twilight Realm, there would not be any need for them to hide anymore. But for now, it seemed that she had been fortunate enough for the soldier to have hit his head upon impact, for he only let out a little sigh before going limp.

Backing away from the crate, Midna gave herself a second to cast one last glance at the room around her before deciding that she would have to return without the jar of honey. She had already ensured that they would have enough salt, that would have to be enough, or at least that was what she tried to tell herself to justify the fact that she did not stop once as she sprinted out of the storeroom, almost falling over the stairs as she made her way back up onto the deck.

Before she even got the chance to try to take in what was happening, someone had grabbed her arm, and the only reason she did not hit Link as he dragged her with him was the fact that he did not waste any time, immediately yelling to make himself heard above the chaos of the fight. "Where have you been? We have to leave immediately!"

Dancing to the side to get out of reach of a heavy-looking sword, Midna looked over at him. "What has happened?"

"Look up!"

That was exactly what Midna did.

Above them, the Shadow still rocked from side to side in the wind, but as she watched, Midna saw how an arrow cut through the air, digging into the fabric of the balloon. It was a ridiculous thought, but in that moment, Midna could almost hear the sound of the fabric straining under the attack, struggling to remain intact. In those tense seconds, it was easy to understand why Link had dragged her towards the side of the deck where she could see the harnesses being lowered down even though the plan did not say for that to happen for another couple of minutes. The balloon would not be able to last forever, especially not with how Midna could see the arrows shining in the light from the sun, the slightly blue hue to them letting her know how they were not as small as regular arrows.

Keeping her head down, she did not say another word, instead focusing on nothing other than sprinting towards the harnesses along with the rest of the crew, thankful for how Fado had noticed the danger in time to allow them to escape.

She reached the handrail, grabbing the harness closest to her, pulling it around her with almost desperate movements, barely pausing to secure the straps before she heard someone let out a panicked yell to her left. A single glance revealed how Jaggle, having been among the last of them to cross the deck, was left with nothing more than air in front of him. His harness was gone.

"Help me!" Jaggle yelled, but at Midna looked at how the soldiers were advancing, a tall man with what almost looked like metal wrapped around his hand sprinting towards them, she wasn't able to make a sound, only hoping that Fado would be able to save them in time.

But it appeared that not everyone around her were as unable to tear their gaze away from the threat as she was in that moment, for Rusl ran forwards to grab Jaggle, and moments later, the rope above her pulled her over the edge of the ship, out of reach of the swords and spears.

As she was pulled back up onto the Shadow, the fact that they had all escaped was almost too much for Midna to fully take in, so the moment she had finally pulled off the harness, she dropped to the deck, sitting there for a moment, simply feeling how the ship cut through the air, bringing them away from the royal ship and the risk of the ship itself suffering even more under the attacks they had aimed at it, before she was able to stand up again.

Turning towards Link, Midna shook her head. "What happened up there? I thought we were doing great when I went into the storeroom; what made it all change like that?"

"I don't know. I truly don't know." Link let out a sigh. "When you left, everything was fine, Rusl and I were about to follow after you, but then—and I don't know what happened—it seemed that the soldiers suddenly began to fight back, only this time, they seemed to know what they were doing. Just a little minute after you had left, we had to signal for Fado to send down the harnesses, but we were surrounded before we got the chance to make our way over to them. Goddesses, Midna, I was so sure that we were going to die as I stood there with a gun I couldn't use without risking hitting anyone I knew, and for a moment, it really did look like we really were going to lose, but then… they almost seemed to give up, making it so that we could fight our way past them." the chuckle that escaped him seemed anything but happy as he pulled her into a tight embrace. "I am sorry about everything I said before this mission, I know that now. If anything had happened without me getting the chance to tell you that, I don't know—"

"But you did," Midna interrupted him, "you are telling me right now." blinking away the tears, she forced herself to push the memories away as she stood up, pulling Link up along with her. "We both survived, everyone did, although I cannot imagine what would have happened if Rusl hadn't been so quick to grab Jaggle." she could see how it still was not quite enough for Link, but in that moment, Midna knew that now wasn't the time for her to cry and let her mind invent scenarios where they had lost. They had won, they had all survived, and she had been able to grab the salt, so for now, they had to focus on that rather than anything else.

Turning around to look at Rusl, Midna gestured towards the sack in her hand. "Rusl, will you make sure Link is all right while I go to the storeroom with this?" she did not wait for his response, already knowing how Rusl would hurry over to try to talk with him, instead running over the deck to make her way into the storeroom.

Down there where the solid wooden planks of the deck shielded her from the sun, it was dark and slightly cold, the chill growing in intensity as she moved closer towards the centre of the ship. Still, in that moment, the chance to get a handful of seconds to herself to try to collect her thoughts was worth how Midna shivered as she made her way over towards the bow of the ship to place the sack and all of its contents inside the chest. She would sort it later, once they were safe back inside the base. Right now, the most important thing was to ensure that the food would not become too warm during the voyage home.

The handle had once been shiny and polished but as Midna held onto it now, the rust stained her fingers, and she was fairly certain that had it not been for how her hands were already blistered after having pulled at the lines around the ship for years, it would have hurt, cutting into the skin. But as it was, she simply grabbed the handle and lifted the lid with a quick pull.

The sight that met her was almost enough to make her drop it again.

Inside the chest, lying in a heap of blue silk and embroidered fabric, was the princess of Hyrule.