AN: I bet you're all surprised to see an update so soon. Have to be honest, I'm surprised, too! I had already made all my little corrections to the story, but then I get an idea, or someone gives me an idea, and I have to re-write a few chapters AGAIN! Not that this is a bad thing, it just means that even when I think I'm done, I find more to do. Anyway, I hope you guys like the changes I've been making and I hope to hear from you in the review box *hint hint*! Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: Nothing has changed since the first chapter.


Kagome felt as though she had just shut her eyes when a light began to shine through her eyelids, becoming brighter by the second. She also felt her body begin to change. Her eyes snapped open as the realization dawned on her that whatever spell had placed her in this form, was wearing off. The brightness of the light forced her to shut her eyes until it dimmed to a comfortable level. The next time she opened her eyes, she saw the light of day. Looking in the direction of the spring, she saw the light spirit. The spirit was in the form of a long tailed monkey, and he held his ball of light as a cat would hold onto a ball of yarn. She noticed him speaking softly and turned her attention to the middle of the spring, where his voice was directed.

She saw a young man, about her own age, listening to the spirits words. The first thing she noticed was the clothing he wore. Over his form was a dark green tunic that slightly molded over the muscles of his chest, with a white, high collard, shirt to protect it from the cold metal of the chain mail which rested between. Pair of light brown pants, almost beige, were formed loosely over his legs. Thick leather boots adorned his feet and came to rest just below his knees. She took notice of the gauntlets and weapons he wore on his person.

'So he's a warrior,' she thought. 'He definitely has the build for it.'

She then saw a cap, the same color as the tunic, which rested upon a head full of hair the color of golden wheat, with the forelocks in front of his long pointed ears, coming to rest on his shoulders. She wondered why the piercings looked familiar. His skin, from what she could see of it, seemed to be kissed by the sun in a golden color.

As the spirit faded from view, Kagome moved to get up by placing her hands upon the ground.

'Wait,' she thought. 'Hands?' Pushing herself up onto her feet, she looked down at herself, holding her hands so her palms faced her. She wasn't a wolf any longer, but a young woman. Hearing the sound of a blade being removed from its sheath, she looked up with alarm, her eyes resting on the boy still in the spring, who had started to draw his blade. With his head slightly turned in her direction, he seemed to be glaring at her, as if trying to judge if she was friend or foe, with eyes as bright as the sky. Eyes the same color as the wolf she now traveled with. The same eyes as…

"Link?"

Upon hearing the soft, gentle, voice Link began lowering his sword back into its scabbard and turned slowly, studying the young woman before him. Her skin looked soft and had a healthy glow, only a few shades lighter than his own.

'She was Hylian,' he concluded this from the sight of her long ears, which each held a feminine silver loop. On her body she wore a tunic length green kimono, the same color as his tunic, that only had one sleeve. The trim and obi were brown, the colors greatly complimenting her lightly sun-kissed skin. The hem ended about mid-thigh, but there were slits on both sides which stopped at the edge of the obi she wore. Her legs were encased in a pair of lightly colored pants tucked into a pair of low heeled brown boots that came up to just under her knees, the handle of a knife sticking out of her right boot. Her forearms were protected by brown leather bracers. Her hair, black as the midnight sky, was held in a loose braid which rested over her shoulder tied with a ribbon the same color green as her clothing, the tip stopping near her waist. Her bangs fell gracefully over her honeyed, almond shaped, eyes, but not so much as to obstruct her ability to see. Her lips were a soft pink, which rested just below a dainty nose. All in all, she was probably the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, and that included Princess Zelda. Still, something seemed familiar about the girl. It was then he remembered. The voice she spoke with was the same he had heard since waking up in the dungeons of Hyrule Castle, but it was the eyes that would truly tell him.

Kagome watched as he looked her over, trying to figure out who she was, when he began to walk towards her, eyes narrowed in suspicion. Unsure of what he was going to do, she took one step back for every step he took forward. After just a few steps, she found herself trapped, her back pressed against the wall, as Link continued towards her. Soon he was right in front of her. Gently cupping her chin, he tilted her head up so he could see into her slightly fearful eyes, to see if she was who he thought she was. After a few moments of searching, he gave her a gentle smile before wrapping his arms around her waist and brining her body close to his. Not understanding what was going on, Kagome placed her hands on his shoulders, intending to push away until his voice spoke softly in her ear.

"I'm back in one piece."

As water began to lightly pool into her eyes, she fisted her hands and wrapped her arms around his neck while burying her face into the juncture of his neck and shoulder. They stood there a while, just holding onto one another. All too soon, Link began to gently pull away. He gave a light chuckle when he saw her face. With the pad of his thumb, he lightly rubbed away the small trail that began to make its way down one of her cheeks.

"Looks like you are."

He didn't say anything, just gave her a gentle smile before pulling her close again. Kagome simply rested her head on his chest, content with just listening to his heartbeat. When a stray strand of hair, began tickling her nose, she tucked it back behind her long ear.

Her eyes opened in confusion, as she brought her hand back up to her ear. Feeling that something was not right, she decided to go down to the spring to take a look at herself. She just had to get Link to let her go first. Which turns out, wasn't hard at all. She just backed away from him, ignoring his confused look, and walked to the edge of the spring. Seeing the look on her face, he silently followed. He stopped just behind her as she knelt at the spring and looked at her reflection.

So she wasn't imagining it, her ears had changed. In the reflection of the water, she saw Link come beside her and squat down and place his hand on her back worriedly.

"What are you looking at?"

"I was looking at my ears."

This caused Link to raise an eyebrow at her.

"What wrong with them?"

She was still was still running her fingers over her ears as she answered him.

"They're different that the ones I had before."

"They weren't pointed?"

She straightened her back and turned her head to look up at his face.

"No," she said distractedly.

"Well," Link began. "There are technically two types of people in Hyrule. The ones with the round ears are normal humans while the ones with pointed ears are a type of human called Hylian."

"What is the difference?"

"In its most basic form, Hylians are descended from the Goddess Hylia," he explained. "Our ears are pointed so we can hear the gods should they call out to us and most of us can use magic. Most Hylians are part of the nobility and live in Castletown."

"But you have pointed ears and are from Ordon."

"Rusl found me in the woods when I was a baby," he shrugged. "I don't know how I ended up in the forest."

"I'm sorry."

"No reason for you to be."

"…So basically, having pointed ears means your special?"

"If that's the way you want to look at it, then yes."

Kagome started to pat Link's head in a patronizing manner.

"Don't worry," she said with a sweet smile. "Even if you didn't have the ears, I would still think you're special!"

"…You just made fun of me, didn't you," Link asked dryly.

Kagome just smiled up innocently at him.

"Well, well," until she popped back up, that is. Both Link and Kagome turned their attention to her.

"You're the chosen heroes and all that, huh? So THAT'S why you turned into beasts! What a shame…I mean, maybe you'd rather wander as a spirit like the rest of them, totally unaware of what was happening for all eternity…right? Eee hee hee! So…What do you want to do? Do you want to head to that temple?"

Kagome turned a questioning gaze at Link, seeing him nod at Midna.

"Well, isn't that convenient! I was about to head there myself. Hey, look…You want to help you friends, right? The way I see it, maybe they're in the temple, waiting for you to rescue them… Well, good luck, all important heroes! See you later!" And with a laugh, she was gone.

With a sigh, Link stood up. He held out his hand to help Kagome up. Together, they walked out of the spring, and through the tunnel, with Link keeping a firm hold on her hand the whole way. He made sure not to let her see him as he smiled every time she squeaked as a rat or bat came across their path. Kagome was happy to see the light of day peeking through the end of the tunnel. She picked up her pace and tried to drag Link so he would move faster, but that didn't work as well as she had hoped. Instead, they walked out of the cave at his pace, which seemed to have slowed a bit after Kagome tried to get him to hurry up. After getting out of that dark tunnel, Kagome was ready for some conversation.

"Link?" He glanced at her to show that he was listening. "Are we heading to the forest temple you mentioned earlier?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because the spirit told me that a dark power rests in that temple, and we will need it to defeat the one who is trying to take over our world."

Kagome thought for a moment. "I'm willing to bet this power is what Midna is looking for."

"You're probably right, but we still need to get it."

Their conversation ended as they came to another tunnel, this time it had a locked gate in front of it.

Kagome turned to look at Link. "How are we going to get in?"

Without answering, he turned and followed another trail. This one led into a clearing. As Kagome looked around, she saw a house and a funny looking guy with an orange afro sitting in front of an unlit fire pit beneath a cooking pot.

The pair walked up toward the man, and Link cleared his throat to get his attention.

"Hunh? So…It's the Ordonian! You seemed familiar, but then your clothes did seem kinda different, and you didn't have this pretty girl with you, so I got thrown off for a second!"

Link didn't like the way Coron looked at Kagome as he called her a 'pretty girl', and if the way she moved closer to him was any indication, neither did she.

Coron didn't seem to notice, so he just continued on.

"Listen…Things have been a little rough around here lately, so you should watch your step, OK. Guy? There are so many monsters now…I got kinda scared and closed off the path to the temple. But…you, guy…you wanna go back there, huh? You sure do look geared up for it…So here is the key. Oh yeah…the woods on the other side of the cave are covered in a really thick fog, so make sure your lantern is full!"

"Thank you for the key," said Link. "How much to fill a jar with oil?"

"20 rupees."

Link paid him as Kagome looked on. After the bottle was filled, it was returned to Link.

"Thank you again, we'll just be on our way."

Coron got bug eyed. "You…You're taking her in there?"

They both gave him confused looks.

"Why shouldn't I go with him," Kagome demanded.

"Because those woods are no place for a lady," he stated before turning to Link with his arms crossed. "I feel that you should leave her out here with me, where she will be safe."

Link was about retort, but Kagome beat him to it.

"Who are you to demand anything? Do you have a sword?"

"Well, no, but…"

"Do you have ANY weapons?"

"Well, I have my oil…"

"Do you even know how to fight?"

"…No?"

Kagome just glared while Link looked on is shock.

"So explain to me how I would be safer here with you should a monster attack and you can't even throw a punch!"

All Coron could do was stare at her in shock.

Believing she scared the oil seller enough, Link put his hand behind her back and directed her towards the gate. After unlocking the gate, the duo made their way into the cave.

Looking at her from the corner of his eye, Link would have to take a guess that she was still upset about the encounter earlier. Kagome raised an eyebrow at Link as she head him start to chuckle.

"And what is so funny?"

"Nothing, just thinking about how I never wish to get you mad."

She snorted. "That was me annoyed at the way he was looking at me. You would know if I was mad, trust me."

Link stopped dead in his tracks, just staring at her wide eyed as she moved past him. Noticing that he had stopped when the light began to dim, she turned to see what the matter was. She burst out laughing at the slightly scared look on his face. She walked back towards him and grabbed his hand, pulling him along. As they continued walking, Kagome glanced up at his face and frowned. She moved in front of him and stopped, making him stop as well. Taking his face in her hands, she brought his face closer, as if inspecting it. Needless to say, he was confused.

"What are you doing?"

She ignored him. "When was the last time you slept?"

He was silent as he thought about it.

"Besides that nap we took in Ordon Spring, I would have to say in the cell, why?"

"Because, before we go into that temple, you need to get some rest."

"I'll be fine, I can keep going."

"Please Link," she begged. "If you go into a battle unrested, you become sloppy and it makes it easier for the enemy to kill you. We don't know what is waiting for us in that temple and I refuse to let you fight when you're not in good health."

Not wanting to admit it, he was tired, but he couldn't stop, he had to save the children. But she did have a point, how can he save them if he's dead. With a sigh he relented.

"Alright, I'll get some sleep."

Kagome smiled at him.

"Since you know the area better than I do, is there a spot where we can stay for a bit?"

He thought about it for a while.

"Just before the entrance to the Forest Temple, there are several small clearings. At least one should be safe enough for us to rest in." Kagome nodded in agreement.

They soon made it out of the cave, only to find the land before them covered in a poisonous looking fog. They cautiously walked along the edge, trying to find a way through. Out of nowhere, a brown blur ran across Link, taking his lantern. The culprit turned out to be the monkey he had saved twice now. She was waving it around on a stick and beckoning them to follow her. Midna appeared before them in her ghostly form.

"Hey, what's this monkey's problem?" She turned to Link. "You idiot! While you were staring off into dreamland, your lantern got stolen!" She disappeared as quickly as came.

While Link was trying to think of a way to get the lantern back, Kagome noticed something about the monkey. Grabbing Links arm, she pointed at the monkey.

"Look at the fog around the monkey, when she swings the lantern, it disperses. She's trying to help us get through!"

Link looked, and sure enough, the monkey was clearing them a path. Grabbing Kagome by the hand, they ran to catch up with the monkey.

They made their way to the middle of area without incident, but that soon changed. Two bulblins came out of the fog and attacked. With such a little area to fight in, and having to worry about not hitting the two with him Link was unsure of how he was going to fight. He was forced to defend as one of the bulblins came at him. Not seeing where the other on went, he took a quick glance around from behind the safety of his shield. What he saw made him freeze in fear. The other one was going straight for the monkey and Kagome! Drawing his sword, he quickly made work of his opponent. He turned to help them, but paused as he saw Kagome fighting the bulblin bare handed, and was winning. He watched as she punched once with each fist, then spinning on one leg, she used the heel of her foot to know it down, stunned. Wasting no time, Link ran up and ran his blade through the creature, ending its life.

Seeing that the danger had passed, the little monkey led them safely to the other side of the clearing. Having helped them, she dropped the lantern on the ground before scurrying off. When Link went to pick it up, he noticed it was empty, and the sun was setting. Shrugging, he simply refilled the lantern with the oil he had bought. As soon as it was lit, he took Kagome's hand, leading her through the darkness of the cave before them. Eventually they made it through, and Link, after getting rid of the two monsters in their way, led Kagome to safe clearing so they could rest before entering the temple.

As soon as Kagome saw the clearing, her face broke out into a large smile. The ground was covered in soft looking grass to sit on and sticks littered the area so a fire could be built. But what really put the smile on her face, where the two water sources in the clearing. The steam coming from the pool of water was enough to tell her that a hot spring lay before her. The other was a stream of cool water and fish. Still smiling, she turned towards Link.

"This place is perfect! We just need to get a fire started and catch some fish for dinner." With that said, she went around collecting some rocks. Link was watching her as he got out the fishing pole Colin had made him.

"What are you going to do with those rocks?"

She looked up at him. "I'm going to use the flat jagged one to clear an area of grass and dig a small hole to light the fire in, and the other rocks are going to go around the outside of the hole to help keep the fire contained."

He seemed impressed with her answer and went to start fishing for dinner. After about ten minutes he heard her get up and move around. Turning to look at her, he saw her picking up sticks for the fire, while holding two off to the side. After placing some of the sticks in the little hole, she made a sort of triangle with the rest. After she finished, she turn towards him.

"Can you come light the fire please?"

Setting his fishing pole down he went over to her and used his lantern to start the fire. With a smile, he got back up and went back to his fishing pole while Kagome kept watch over the fire. After a good twenty minutes, Link walked back over with two fish. Kagome took them from him. As she turned around to begin cooking them, she stopped to turn back and eye Link.

"Why don't you go soak in the hot spring, it will be a while before the fish are ready to eat."

Link looked confused. "Why do I need to soak in the spring?"

"Because you have been moving almost nonstop since yesterday, your muscles are going to be real sore after you've rested. Soaking in the hot spring will help with the soreness."

With that, she turned on her heel to begin cooking dinner. She eventually heard the water splash, indicating that he had gotten in. They were silent for a few minutes before Link spoke.

"Kagome?"

"Yes?"

"What was that you did to that bulblin earlier?"

"What you saw me do was called martial arts. By learning different techniques and ways of moving my body, I turned myself into a weapon."

The fish were done a short time later, and soon after dinner they prepared themselves for sleep. Since it was a warm night, Kagome doused the fire after Link turned on his lantern. Settling down for bed, Link chose to lean against a tree. With one eye opened, he watched Kagome walk around making sure everything was done before they went to sleep. As she walked in front of Link, he reached out and pulled her to sit between his legs. He held her so that her back was against his chest. He was met with little resistance, and wondered why when he heard her yawn. He reached for his lantern and blew it out, leaving only the moon and stars over head to provide them with light as they succumbed to the world of dreams.