I'm on Christmas break and have nothing to do, so you might start seeing numerous chapters start to pop up for the next three weeks.

Hope you enjoy!

It was dusk by the time we reached the wall of Twilight. We both stopped and looked up in awe. I admired the strange symbols that decorated the surface of it, as did Link. They were familiar to me, yet I was too tired to interpret them at the moment. I then looked over at Link when I heard the familiar 'whoosh' of Midna appearing. I sighed when I saw the large bags under his eyes that must have appeared within the last hour or so without me noticing.

"Are you ready to go?" Midna asked, breaking my thoughts. I saw Link nod.

"No," I said before Midna could disappear on us. They both gave me confused looks in response. I sighed. "We need to rest. I'm tired, and the bags under Link's eyes aren't getting any smaller."

Midna's eyes opened wide as she looked at Link as though she was getting a good look for the first time.

"But we shouldn't waste any time!" She said as she looked back at me.

I shook my head. "He looks terrible." I was beginning to think that we had been in that temple a lot longer than we had thought. Twenty-four hours, give or take a few.

"Do I really look that bad?" He asked as he took off his green hat and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Yes." I reached into my pouch and pulled out a tiny mirror.

We had to back up a few feet to get enough light so he could see his reflection. I saw his eyes go wide, and then he lowered the mirror and he sighed heavily as if he had just realized how tired he was.

"I think we were in that temple longer than what we thought," He said as he handed the mirror back.

"I was just thinking the same."

"Well, if you stop, then you'd better rest up now, 'cause we leave as soon as dawn comes," Midna said with a slight sneer.

I ignored her as I started unpacking my things from my tiny pouch. Link stared at me in awe as I pulled out a small pillow and a couple of blankets.

"How do you fit all of that in...that? That thing is no bigger than a wallet!"

"Magic, remember?" He just nodded. "Now, do you have any blankets?" He shook his head. I sighed as I reached into my pouch, said a quick conjuring spell, and pulled out two other blankets and pillow. "Use my extra set. I'll cast a spell over your bag so it can fit numerous things like mine, alright?"

"Okay."

"I'll set up camp if you go collect firewood. It'll be cold soon, and I don't feel like freezing."

Link nodded, unsheathed his sword, and ran back the way we had just came, leaving me alone with our belongings.

I set out the blankets before I realized that I had set them side-by-side. The last time I had to set up a camp for me and one other person had been over one-hundred years ago, when he had still been alive. I had just set it up like I had last time.

I reluctantly spread them apart as Link rounded the canyon with an armful of wood.

"There's more, I just couldn't bring it all at once," He said as he laid the wood down between the makeshift beds.

I quickly grabbed his hand before he took off, and almost jumped at the energy that flowed between us. I shook it off quickly, however. "Let me see your bags really fast."

He handed them over without question. I said a quick expanding spell and handed the bags back.

"They look no different, but they will hold an infamous amount of things. Stuff all of the wood in it and bring it back all at once."

He smiled, nodded, and ran off again.

I dug a quick hole and set up the wood inside of it to prevent the wind from blowing it out. I then finished setting up the blankets.

I waited five more minutes before Link came back and pulled out a large amount of wood from his pouch.

"That's the coolest things I've ever seen," He said as he placed the wood in an extra pile. "I honestly didn't think that the spell would work, but it did." He smiled at me. "You are awesome."

I felt myself blush but ignored it. "Thanks. I'll light the wood really fast, alright? Then I'll pull out some food from my pouch and we'll cook, eat, and sleep."

"How about I'll light it while you get the food," He said as he pulled the matches I had produced from my bag out of my hand. He then quickly struck a match and lit some dry brush under the wood pile in the hole.

I started pulling out the various food items and cooking utensils as I started talking. "We'll need to take shifts."

He just looked at me.

"Well, there are a lot of creatures out here in the field that would love to take advantage of a couple of sleeping travelers, so we'll have to take shifts watching for anything dangerous."

He nodded. "Alright. I'll take the first."

"No, I will. You need the sleep more than I do."

"Really, I don't mind."

"How about I watch? I don't need sleep. Eee hee!"

I jumped at the sound of Midna's voice. I hadn't seen Link move at all, which told me that he was getting used to her presence. The thought almost made me growl.

"Why would I trust you watching over my life?" I asked, my voice dripping with an emotion as close to 'hate' as it could get.

"Well, I don't really care about your life, but I need this kid's life so he can help me get the rest of the Fused Shadows. I wouldn't let anything happen to him." She smiled. "Besides, while he's in the Light Realm, I can't journey back to Twilight unless he's within a certain distance to it. You set up too far away. If he dies out here, I'm suck and will die."

She had a really good point, even though I didn't want to admit it. No matter what the occasion, I just didn't trust her protecting my life.

"I don't think so. I don't trust you."

"Well, I do."

I looked up at Link and had to stop myself from slapping him. What was he thinking? She was a Twili! And their princess at that! She honestly didn't need him to survive out here.

"She helped me escape from the Twilight, even though she basically forced me into alliance with her. But, nevertheless, she still did."

I sighed in defeat. If he was that confident in her friendship, then I guess I could at least trust her during watch duty.

"Alright. But under one condition." Midna looked at me and smiled. I was careful to look her straight in the eye as I spoke, making sure to put more meaning behind the words that were about to come out of my mouth. "You need to protect me as well."

Midna's smile faltered, telling me that she understood that I wasn't just talking about a simple night-watch. I was talking about my identity and her keeping it a secret from Link. Her frown also told me that she understood that, if she refused, Link would begin questioning her and she would most likely have to reveal her identity as well, which was something she didn't want.

Her hesitation was barely noticed by Link. "Fine." She turned to Link. "I'll shake you awake if I sense anything coming that poses a danger. While you eat, I'm going to rest, so try not to talk too loud, alright?"

She didn't wait for us to answer, and instead slithered down into Link's disappearing shadow.

We didn't say much as we ate. We just chewed, looked at each other, looked away quickly, and shallowed. That's how it was for every bite. We started laughing about halfway through our meals, once we realized that the other was doing the same thing. But we still said nothing.

When Link was done, he stood up and pulled out his lantern, his jar full of lantern oil, and filled the lantern until its light burned strong.

"I'll be right back," He said as he held up the light. "Wait here, okay?"

I nodded. As if I had anywhere else to go... As if I wanted to leave him.

He ran off, taking the light with him.

I added some more wood to our fire and shifted what wood was burning as I waited. When five minutes had passed, I sighed as I crawled under my blanket and shivered. I hadn't been wrong in saying that it would get cold. It was freezing. I would have to tell Midna to wake us if the fire dwindled too much.

I pulled the blanket tight around me as I shivered again. I really wished at that moment that I could control the weather, to make it warmer.

I also wished that he would get back...

Link came back to their camp to find Maple asleep in her bed. The fire wasn't very strong, and he could tell that she had messed with it sometime after he left. He quickly added some more dry brush to get a stronger blaze, and shifted the wood with a long stick he had picked up on the way back. He then set down the glass bottle that had once held his oil, full with clean, clear water.

That was why he had left: to get some water. He remembered seeing a pond not far from the canyon they had camped out in, and had went there to get something for them to drink. It had taken longer than he thought, since the oil left over in the bottle hadn't wanted to wash out very easily.

Link looked over when Maple shifted, and almost gasped. She was shivering, heavily. He was surprised that he hadn't noticed before.

He shifted the wood again, hoping that the heat would reach her easier. She didn't stop shivering, however.

"Midna," He called quietly into the night. He felt her appear.

"Yes? Eee hee hee! Girl troubles?"

"How do I...warm her..." He asked. He actually felt really stupid asking that question. He was eighteen for goddess sake! He should know more about girls than he did!

He now had an official reason to blame work for ruining his love life.

"What do you think? My advice, move your bed over to her's and keep her warm."

"Won't that make her mad?"

She smiled and crossed her arms. "I'm a girl myself, you know. If anything, she will be grateful for your consideration. Eee hee hee! As long as you don't try anything while she sleeps!" She then disappeared.

Link sighed as he did as she had advised. He moved his blanket next to her's, along with his pillow. He noticed that she had put one blanket under herself on one on top. He did the same as he set up the bed. He covered her a little more with his blanket as he laid down. He really didn't need it as much as she did. Her outfit wasn't exactly weather-proof, as his seemed to be. He gathered it around her feet and her body, making sure that there were no holes to let in cold air. He was also careful to concentrate on the task of keeping her warm instead of the fact that he was touching her entire backside.

When Link laid down, Maple instantly shifted so that she was very close to him, wrapping one arm around him and pulling him even closer. She was shivering heavily as she buried her face under his arm to keep it warm.

He almost said something to see if she was awake, but decided it was better to not. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him so that she could warm up.

Link counted the seconds in his head. It was after two minutes and forty-two seconds that her grip started to relax and her shivering slowed.

He found himself stroking her long hair, which was splayed out all around her. She must have taken it out of the band to keep herself warm sometime after he had left to get water.

"See? Not that hard! Eee hee hee!" Midna said to him in his mind, so that Maple wouldn't wake. "Now sleep, mister 'hero' and I'll keep watch." He then lifted his head as he felt her slide out from his shadow without making a sound.

He was asleep before his head even hit the pillow.

More coming soon!