Hey, sorry It's late and a little vague, I've had a lot on my mind. xox enjoy.

I don't really have to wait very long for Link. I dressed as quickly as I could, eaten up with curiosity. Almost as soon as I arrive in the courtyard, I see the familiar green-clad hero coming down the stone steps. He smiles at me, but the tension is still there, like he doesn't want to tell me but sees no further options. I simply smile back and greet him.

"Good morning." I say, referring to barging in this morning and disturbing him with no official morning greeting. A smirk tugs at the corners of his mouth. "Morning. I had such a lovely wake-up this morning." Link walks past me and tousles my hair.

I watch as he climbs on Epona's back, then looks at me expectantly. "Would you rather ride your steed?" I shook my head. I was so unaware of the situation that I didn't even realize we were leaving. He offered his hand and I took it, then climbed on behind him. I fought down the slight blush and he looked back at me, smiling.

"Where are we going?" I asked, curious as to why we couldn't talk here. Link just shrugged. "You'll see."

It took a while, about four hours at least, with no time for talking. He was all about efficiency when it came to traveling, or at least when traveling far away. I'd seen this trip take two days at the most. When we finally made it to… wherever he was going, the sun had already lowered a little, to where it was resting just above the horizon. We stopped on the outskirts of Faron Woods. Link leapt from his horse and held out his hand to me. I took it and leapt to the ground. He slung a bad over his shoulder and motioned for me to follow him into the woods.

It gave me an uneasy feeling.

I chided myself for having second thoughts about being alone with him, but doubts clouded my mind.

No, I snapped. I know him. But did I? The Link I knew wouldn't anger the gods, especially intentionally.

I froze. I knew this place. "Link?" I called. He stopped and turned around as I continued. "Why are we here?" Link shrugged me off again and continued walking. His indifference was irking me. I knew that I certainly didn't want to return to the place that he almost died at, and certainly not now that the goddesses referred to him as 'unstable'.

We arrived at a small clearing barely two yards from where I crouched a few weeks ago, over his dying body. I began to open my mouth but decided to observe. There was a large perfect circle of dead grass, with gold branded symbols standing out against the black. In the center of the strange circle, a chalice lay on its side. The material was notably strange. Off to the side there was a dead bonfire and some sort of cooked animal corps, along with some fruits, a bedroll, a chair, and a small table with books all over it.

"Link," I breathed. "What is this?" He shrugs. "I brought you here to tell you, didn't I?" I nodded slowly. He casts a glance to the horizon. "Damn. We missed it." He mutters. "Missed what?" Link still doesn't reply. Or at least not for a while. He sighs. "The twilight hour. We can catch the dawn though." I couldn't take this anymore. I stalked up to Link and turned his shoulders to face me. "What? Link, answer me. Why don't you just tell me why the goddesses are so angry with you?" He must have seen the pleading in my eyes. He looks deeply into my eyes. I suddenly felt uncomfortably aware of my hands still lingering on his arms. I blush and drop them, looking to the ground. Link takes a step forward, so close that if I craned my neck and shifted my head up a little, our lips would touch. He sighs and tilts my chin up to look at him. "Zel, I'm sorry, it's just… easier to show you, then explain." I nodded gravely.

"If that's better, then ok." He stepped back and returned his hand to his side, then takes off his pack and rummages through the content. He pulled out a large towel-cloth and folded it in his arms. He nodded his head in a small bow. "There's a stream over there. I'm going to go wash up, so if you need anything just yell."

"Okay." I said, forcing down the red in my cheeks. On to more pressing matters: What is he hiding? Why do we have to wait for him to tell me? Will the goddesses contact me again tonight? These thoughts swirled in my mind until Link returned, his hair wet and his clothes looking fresher. He flashed me a smile. I smiled back pleasantly, and a thought hit me. Were we going to stay here tonight? What would Ealing and any others say? It makes me self conscious about being alone with Link, especially overnight.

Link gives me a lopsided look and sits beside me. "What's wrong?" He says, concern touching his eyes. "Nothing. I just- nothing." I reply. Link studies my face for a moment, then speaks again. "Okay. If you, uh, want to go home I can take you, I just figured since it was so late-"

"It's ok, Link. I have you to protect me." I say lightly, cutting off his unsure sentence. He smiles and we both stand up to go in the direction of the other, nearly colliding. He sidesteps me and apologizes. "Sorry," He mutters under his breath.

We're close again. I must have a pretty ridiculous look on my face, because he gives me a strange look. "Zelda?"

"It's ok." I say hurriedly. Link looks deep into my eyes again, and he leans his head in a way that makes me think he's going to kiss me. I feel his hot breath against my face, the electrifyingly small space between us. He leans in more, his warmth and embrace tempting me. He stops, the strange look in his eye gone, like he's back to reality. He looks like he's angry for a moment, and furrows his brow. Link leans back to his regular standing position and clears his throat. "Uh, sorry." I don't know whether he's apologizing about almost kissing me, or recapping bumping into me.

I feel a strange sense of alarm.

Alarm that I felt disappointed when he stopped.

Link

Wow. I can't believe I almost kissed her. It was stupid, and even for me it happened unexpectedly. Maybe she didn't notice? No, of course she noticed. Zelda must take me for a fool. I can't kiss her. I could, but I'd probably be murdered. Besides, I have more important things to worry about. I walk over to the bedroll and take out my pack again.

Oh no. No no no. First that, now this?! Zelda's going to think I'm doing it on purpose! I forgot another bedroll. I sigh and turn to look for her. "Zelda, there's only one bedroll, so I'll sleep on the ground." Her cyan eyes look back at me, like she's breaking out of a daze. "Oh. Um ok."

I want to tell her now, to tell her everything and get it over with. But I can't.

I lay down a few feet away from Zelda, facing the woods so that nothing could attack. My tunic hangs limp on me without the straps. I close my eyes and will myself to go to sleep. After a few hours of sleep, I wake up suddenly to the cold tearing away at me. I turn over and look at Zelda, who is, surprisingly enough, looking at me. She watches me silently for a moment, then shifts over to the edge of the bedroll, making room for me. I open my mouth to object, but she just waves me over.

I climb into the covers with her, and immediately warmth consumes me. The awkward situation from earlier melts away. Zelda wraps her arms around my abdomen and leans against the side of my chest. I put my arm around her, fitting her snugly into me. I guess it's become normal for us, to fall asleep like this. It wasn't like anything happened, just that we both have sleeping problems. Suddenly I recall some things Zelda said when I was wounded, how she needed me here, and told me not to let go, then… she kissed me? I wasn't sure of anything due to blood loss, and maybe it was all just a symptom of delirium. I opened my eyes and looked down at her. "Did you mean what you said?" I ask quietly, and she shifts and looks up to me with a curious look in her eye. "When you said those things and acted that way, when I was injured. Did you mean it?" She was silent for a moment, and I think she'll say no, that it was just a stupid thing she did to keep me awake. "Yes," she breathed. "I meant it." I smile a little and pull her closer into me. I want to say more, or do something, but my mind stops me. Before long, she's sleeping soundly, her chest rising and falling with steady breaths.

I don't know what to do anymore, I don't know what to feel.

Memories invade my sleep again. The cold is unbearable, the ice cuts at my skin and I tuck my knees in even closer to my chest. The rock and dug-out snow trench doesn't really do much good, but it's better than being completely exposed. My shadow moves.

"L-Link, It's even colder in there." Midna said, referring to my shadow I'm guessing. I open my eyes and look at her, shivering in the cold and nearly dark blue colored. I take out my sword and numbly cut an incision in the lower part of the torso of my tunic. Midna's eyes widen. "Are you crazy?" I dont even reply, just cut deeper into the fabric and pull away the metal, creating a horizontal cut in my clothes. I open the top flap enough for her to get through so she could be warm against my body heat. She gives me a wierd look at first, but crawls in and lays against my chest, still shivering cold. I curl in to my side and tuck my arms in, keeping her adjacent to me so she doesn't fall sideways. Eventually we both fall asleep.

In the morning, she calls me an idiot. "A sweet idiot," she added.

I wake up, still with Zelda in my arms. I slip my arms back to my sides and listen quietly for the thing that had woken me. I hear a rustle in a nearby bush. It's probably a predator or assassin, or at least I need to think that to assume the worst. I think about how far I should jump to make it over Zelda, and figure about where my sword is when I jump.

3

2

1

I leap over Zelda, grab my sword hilt and roll in one smooth motion, ready to face whatever came out of the woods. "Who's there?" I demand at the darkness.

Nothing happens for a while, but then a grey wolf emerges from the bracken. It has markings on its face like I do, but completely different markings altogether. It stares at me, sniffs the air, then leaves. I turn to go back and sit down, the substitute sword still weighing unevenly in my palm. Im grateful for it though, and the blacksmith even offered to paint the hilt purple.

Zelda is awake now, staring at me with her lovely cyan eyes. Dawn is about to break, and I offer my hand to help her up. She takes it, and I walk over to the books strewn on the table, pick up the small black one, and take it to the center of the dark circle. Zelda just watches from her chair. I utter a few words as light touches the horizon, and the symbols start to glow.

Zelda

At first, nothing happens. The glowing symbols look hauntingly familiar, and I realize they are Twili markings. I feel my pulse quicken.

The marks glow and swirl, making the world around us hazy and gray. He lowers the book and falls to the ground, letting out a wail of pain and clutching his head. I get up and start to go to him, but he stops me with a sweep of the arm. Troubled, I obey.

After a few minutes he approaches me again, a strange and vacant look on his face. I honestly saw nothing useful come out of that, whatever it was, but he seemed to think it was important. He speaks in a desperate tone.

"Zelda. I need two things, and if you help me obtain these two things, I'll be forever indebted."

I just nod. Link holds up two fingers and pulls back the first.

"My sword," He says, and I cast a glance over to the table in confusion. "No. Not that one. My sword. The Master Sword."

"Okay, I'll help you find it." I say in a light tone. Link smiles faintly and then takes a deep breath. "And I need," He pulls back the second finger. His face is vacant again, but clearly struggling with getting it out. The words that come out of his mouth are the last I would ever expect.

"The Triforce of Power."

My mind screams.