We stayed seated in the clearing. Even though we couldn't understand each other, the Kokiri were only too happy to bring us food and chatter at us. It was mostly vegetables that they brought—carrots, potatoes. Link was working his hypnotism on the animals without even knowing it. Squirrels crept up and nibbled at the bites of food he left. Birds nested on the tree branches closest to him. And even lurking in the woods that surrounded us were yellow-eyed creatures. "Wolves," I muttered, looking at Link.

He paused and looked back at me. "Ah, ye noticed 'em."

I shook my head. "We've always noticed. They follow you. You're a… wolfcharmer." I laughed to myself. Link smiled, embarrassed.

"Why do they do that?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I wish I knew." He stood up and crept to the edge of the woods. The wolves watched him approach. I stood up to get a better look. The biggest one, a massive, grey hound, lowered his tail at Link's approach, watching him suspiciously. Link crouched slowly. I was staring again, watching him move. He reached out his left hand, cautiously, holding the palm towards the wolf. It growled, but paced forward and licked his fingers. Link scratched its ears and patted its large body. He was talking quietly to it, but I couldn't hear. It was amazing to watch. So very much an animal, how could I, with my refined, noble life as a child, not resist someone so different? I snapped out of it when Link was coming back. My food was finished, and I thanked the Kokiri profusely, even if they couldn't understand. They smiled and nodded with me. The leader was gesturing at me, and I stood up with her. She pointed at a house trapped in one tree, and babbled incoherently. I just stared, terribly confused. She laughed in response and made a motion of laying her head on her hands and closing her eyes. Oh- sleeping. I laughed and nodded, showing her that I agreed and understood. She clapped her hands together and wrapped her arms around me in a hug.

Link had come back to us. He smiled at us, the wolf prowling next to our feet. It looked up at us, sniffing my fingers before growling softly and slinking back to Link. Link shot a glare down at him and growled back. He looked back up, focusing a quick gaze on me. His eyes were like lightning. I shivered and looked away. This was almost getting to be too much. Link crouched back down into the dirt, and I joined him. The wolf flopped down on its belly at Link's feet, panting and showing its teeth and tongue. Link scratched behind his ears again. "So, my lady, what should our next move be?" I stared at the ground, unable to speak. So Link spoke for me.

"We should stay the night here. It'll be relatively safe. But they'll be crawling this place, and I'm unsure of how safe it is here. Not to be offensive to these people, but… he'll be able to find us anywhere, if we stay somewhere too long."

I smiled. "You talk like you know him personally." Link stared at me hard for several minutes, until I lifted my head and met his wolf's gaze. "Don't we?"

I unconsciously grabbed my left hand. "Yes." Link leaned towards me. "You and I know that he will hunt us relentlessly, through any means he can find." I closed my eyes, and in flashes of light I could see him. I was paralyzed on a bed, trapped in my own mind, unable to escape. I was his puppet; attacking Link with a sword. I covered my face with my hands. "Hey, hey, don't do that." A warm, comforting hand was on my shoulder, squeezing. "He will hunt us," I whispered.

Link nodded. "Yes, he will. So what should we do, my lady."

I licked my lips. "We'll head to the ocean. I need to contact Ruto. I need to find out what has happened to this place and to my people. She would know." Link ran his fingers through his hair. "But is she trustworthy?"

I closed my eyes. "Of course she is. I know she is. Please, Link, you have to believe me." He rubbed his hands together, taking deep breaths and trying to stay calm. "I believe you, Zelda. I just don't want to risk losing you." Oh, here was a surprise. Link cleared his throat and flexed his fingers. "You're the queen. If you go, all is lost." My poor heart was rejected yet again. "I'm still business," I murmured softly to myself with a smirk.

Link looked at me quizzically. "The ocean," he asked again. I nodded. "I'm positive. Ruto can help us, and I hope that we can help her." Link looked up at the sky. I watched the wolf that lay near him. It looked back at me with its eyes that glowed like gold. I flexed my left hand before slowly reaching out. The wolf sniffed my fingers, then licked them slowly, watching me. I reached up slowly, stroking the wolf's ears. It watched me the whole time. They both did.

The beds we slept on were tiny. I had to curl up with my knees against my chest and my arms around them just to fit under the covers. But it wasn't like they knew we were coming. Link lay on his back, somehow tolerant of the fact that his feet dangled off the edge of the bed and his heels rested on the floor. The beds were barely a foot off the ground. I stretched my legs out a little. "Are you still awake?" Link looked over at me. "Yes."

"I didn't wake you, did I?"

"No."

"Good."

We laid like that in silence for several minutes. Even in the dark, I could see those deadly eyes focusing in on my form. "Why did you want me as your Regent Protector?" I rolled over onto my back, or at least as well as I could. I couldn't face him and talk about it at the same time. "I couldn't stand the men my father wanted me to choose. They were, well, I trusted them because my father trusted them. But they were old." I shifted, getting a cramp. It was either lay straight with my feet on the floor or lay on my side and face him. I settled for the cold floor. "I couldn't connect with them. I figured to myself that if I was going to have to court around with someone, I'd at least want it to be someone a… closer to my own age. If I could connect with them, it might make having to be with someone for so long easier."

"So I was business."

I turned and looked at him. "I remember saying that to you," he said softly. "It wasn't that long ago that I did."

"Is it still business?" I asked him. What was I saying? Was I trying to drive the barbs further? Link shifted. "I have a duty to the Goddesses." His tone was tight and low, not something I was familiar with from him. Business. I sighed and rolled over in bed, away from him, so that I could let my tears well up without him noticing. I was stupid, so stupid. We needed to stick together because it was our fate, our destiny. That was all. As long as I focused on this, it would be alright. And when all this was over, I could find someone to rule the kingdom with me. Someone that I could trust.

I would worry about that later.