This is a sequel to the last chapter...and it's a Dark x Link storyline, so if you don't like the pairing, this probably isn't the chapter for you. Also, this is a birthday present for Akudemyfan... so happy belated birthday... sorry it came late and hope you enjoy!

The Question

Link was fuming over Dark's prank for days. He could barely even comprehend why anyone would want to pull such a heartless trick, let alone the one person he loved and trusted above all others, and whom he thought felt the same way about him. He kept replaying their conversation over and over in his mind.

"What do you mean there's no fourth note? It doesn't make any sense with just these three words!"
Link stared helplessly at the three small pieces of paper in his hands that seemed to mock him;
Will, You and Me...
Dark, on the other hand, was smirking, the sheer amusement apparent on his face.
"What makes you think there was a fourth note, hmm? Was there a particular message you wanted to make out?"
Link had growled and screwed the papers into a ball before throwing them at Dark's head right before storming off. Yet the balled up papers failed to wipe the grin off Dark's face.

Link stayed away from Dark the rest of the day, and even for a few days afterward he gave his boyfriend the cold shoulder. But after that his heart began to soften. Even after a trick like that Link couldn't stay mad at Dark forever. It just wasn't in his nature, and, as the days turned into weeks, Link forgot about the whole thing.

One morning, a few weeks later Link awoke to find that Dark had already left their house, leaving only a small note;

Hey Angel,

I left for a walk…..wanna see if you can catch me?

Love, Dark

Link frowned at the short note as he swung his legs out of bed and went to get dressed. Why would Dark want Link to go after him? The memories of the prank Dark had pulled a few weeks previously came flooding back and he sighed.

'This again' he thought bitterly.

Link ran both his hands through his golden hair and grabbed a clean tunic, feeling less than eager of being led on a wild goose chase again. After getting dressed and eating some breakfast he set out on a walk, yet not to find Dark….. Just to enjoy the warm summer morning and take in some of the sights and sounds of nature.

It wasn't long before Link arrived at the edge of the forest and glanced around. He knew that going into the forest meant he'd be gone for a considerable amount of time. It wasn't that he got lost, more that he just lost track of time. He was so allured by the sights and sounds of the woods, the breeze whispering between the leaves making the branches creak softly, and the animals scratching around yet remaining almost unseen to the untrained eye. Link could quite easily lose himself for hours in the peaceful sanctuary of the trees.

He began to walk further into the forest but as he did something caught his eye.

Tracks…

Tracks belonging to a deer to be exact. Link had never seen a deer in this particular forest before; which meant that a new family group of the creatures had recently roamed there. Link could barely contain his excitement, and without even giving it another thought, he began carefully following the trail of hoof prints. He stayed on high alert lest he stumble across or frighten the animals, and he moved as silently as possible, frequently checking he was staying downwind of the direction the tracks were heading, and double checking he was going the right way by noticing the other tell tale signs that deer were in the area. He noted the scratched bark of trees made by antlers as well as the odd broken branches and trampled ferns nearby. He felt certain that the animals couldn't be too far away.

As Link reached a small clearing, he noticed something odd; something that confused him slightly. There was an entirely separate set of tracks. They appeared to belong to a family of rabbits. Judging from the patterns in the soft earth in the clearing, it looked as though some small rabbits had been playing with the deer. The footprints circled and intertwined as though the animals had been playing some kind of game.

Link stroked his chin and rested one hand on his hip, yet shrugged and continued to follow the footprints as they led out of the clearing. He noted a few half dug holes here and there along the way and even a few partly nibbled leaves.

When he reached another clearing, things took an even more unexpected turn. A third set of tracks appeared. These resembled those belonging to a fox. The very odd thing was, as the deer and rabbit tracks made their way into the clearing they separated out slightly before meeting in the middle with the fox's ones. It was as though the three animals had met in the middle, as if they were just having a conversation like people!

Link almost smacked himself. The whole concept was utterly ridiculous. The three animals were all naturally shy and most likely to avoid each other, and he knew that a rabbit would certainly try to avoid a fox. The three tracks must have all been made at different times and the appearance of them in this position must be just a coincidence. Yet, there was something else. As Link knelt down to examine the footprints further, he noticed that they all seemed to be around the same age. They all looked like very fresh tracks, less than an hour old, with no real difference in decay between them.

Link rose to his feet again and noticed also that the tracks led off down another pathway, all three of them together. It was becoming less and less his general love of the forest and more his sheer curiosity as to what was going on that drove him forward. First a rabbit and deer playing together, now a rabbit, a deer and a fox meeting for a chat? Yet the mysterious footprints held even more tricks in store for the golden haired hero.

As the tracks went deeper and deeper into the forest, the stranger and stranger they became.

The tracks of the rabbit would separate to go round a tree, with one foot going left and the other going right!

The tracks of the fox would occasionally traipse mud up a tree before re-joining the others.

The deer tracks took paths that a deer could not possibly get through, such as fallen logs, or between very narrow gaps.

The whole thing was getting bizarre. At one point Link stopped to pinch himself to make sure this wasn't some crazy dream. He continued to follow the tracks as he realised that no, he wasn't dreaming. Then he saw the weirdest thing of all.

Link reached a river, and found a rudimentary raft bouncing gently against the rocks on the shore nearby. The raft was made of branches that had been tied with vines that had the appearance of being chewed off rather than cut, and the raft itself had the muddy animal prints all over it. It certainly looked as though the animals had actually built the small vessel.

"Oh come on! This is just insane!" Link cried aloud to no one in particular. He glared at the raft in utter disbelief for several minutes before his curiosity got the better of him and he climbed aboard the raft.

'For being animal-made, it isn't half bad' he thought to himself right before rolling his eyes. He couldn't believe he was accepting of the fact of the raft being made by the creatures of the forest. Using a branch as an oar Link soon paddled the raft to the other side of the river and resumed following the tracks. He walked with his jaw set and his gaze fixed in determination. He was resolute on finding out how these tracks had come to be….. There had to be an explanation! There just had to!

He was so fixated on finding out the truth that the waterfall he arrived at came as a complete surprise! Link blinked at the scene before him and stood in awe at the beauty of the secluded spot. The noonday sunlight shone through the opening in the canopy of the forest and glittered off the crystal water, catching the spray from the plunge pool and casting colourful rainbows amongst the wet rocks. Where the waters calmed after tumbling over the falls there were several pretty pink water lilies, with turquoise and azure dragonflies flitting over the water. Link stood with his jaw slightly agape for several seconds before slowly walking forwards, resting his hands on his hips and taking in the beauty spot, having nearly forgotten about the animal tracks that lead him here. Without even really thinking too much about it, he sidled over to a rock near the water's edge and leant up against it, angling one foot against the rock and folding his arms loosely across his front.

"Beautiful" he sighed aloud in admiration.

"I knew you'd like it" came the all too familiar reply.

In the weeks following his April Fool's Day prank, Dark had meticulously been working away at a very special set of carvings. He was determined to make up for the cruel trick he had played on the love of his life, and even more, he wanted to go through with a particular promise he'd made to himself. Those three words scribbled on scraps of paper were more than just a way to keep Dark amused for a few hours; they were also a way for him to test the water….. To see how Link would respond if Dark were to ask a very important question.

And so, Dark had spent hour s and hours making a perfect set of animal stamps with which to make paw prints. He made sets for a deer, a rabbit and a fox, left and right, front and back feet. He looked in books for pictures and studied real footprints he found in the forest. He knew they had to be PERFECT! His love would be able to tell the difference if he made even a slight mistake. He planned out the route he would take and even took a brush he made out of bundled up twigs and leaves to make sure to cover his own tracks. He knew Link wouldn't be able to resist a bit of tracking if he found some interesting prints. He added antler marks using his knife on the trees, dug small rabbit-like holes in the soft earth and even chewed at a few leaves with his own teeth to resemble the nibbling of rabbits. He had thought he might be pushing his luck with the raft yet Link had followed his plans perfectly. And now he had him right where he wanted him….. The most beautiful spot in the forest. It was now or never…

"Dark!" Link nearly jumped in surprise and straightened himself up off the rock he'd propped himself against, only to have Dark hold up his hands to show surrender. His face was etched with a slight frown of concern as it dawned on him that his plan might just upset Link all over again.

"J-just…. Just let me explain….. It wasn't meant to be a trick, more of a treasure hunt. I know you love searching for animals, so I…."

"W-wait!" Link interrupted, "that was you who made the prints?" Link wasn't sure if he should be feeling angry or flattered. He'd obviously gone to a lot of trouble, and the look on his face right now; it was just so…. so earnest! "Why'd you do it?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"To make up for that prank I pulled. I wanted to get you here, but I also wanted it to be on your terms, not because I'd dragged you here. I found this spot ages ago and I wanted to save it for a special occasion, so I came up with the idea of you following a set of animal prints"

"But you said this was a treasure hunt….. If that's the case then where's the treasure?"

Dark took a deep breath in and took hold of Link's left hand in his, before slowly getting down on one knee and bringing a small box out of his pocket with his other hand as he turned his ruby gaze into Link.

Link's eyes widened when he realised what Dark was doing and let out a small gasp. 'Oh goddesses'

"Dark….?" Link began, but his words trailed off. He felt flustered and excited all at once. Part of him wanted to make Dark stop just so he could collect his thoughts and calm down yet another part, a much stronger part of him wanted him to continue.

Dark bit his lip. He had literally never felt this afraid in his life. His heart pounded hard against the walls of his chest and his mouth went dry, and yet, yet he knew he wanted this more than anything else in the world.

"This is kinda it… I'm no good with this romantic stuff, you know that. But you gotta know how much you mean to me. You're everything to me, Link….. My whole world. I'm utterly lost without you. You've stuck by my side through thick and thin, you rescued me when Princess Zelda tried to have me executed and you've given up everything just to be with me and make me happy… so I was….um….. I was wondering ….. i-if you would d-do me the honour…"

Dark dropped his gaze to the ground for a moment, letting his silver hair fall over his eyes as his courage began to fail him.

'It's one question, just one question, damnit! Just spit it out already!' Dark cursed himself inwardly for his cowardice. He huffed and opened up the small box, revealing the gold ring inside that he had bought months ago and looked up at Link, who was gently squeezing his hand as if trying to encourage him.

"Link…..? I'm sorry I'm such a coward. I'm so sorry I was too much of a coward and an idiot for not asking this sooner. I'm sorry for all the times I've teased you, for all my tricks, all the times I made you angry with me, and for not being the person you truly deserve. But I'm gonna put everything on the line here. I love you so much, Angel….. More than you can ever possibly understand. Ever since we've been together my world felt whole, and nothing else has mattered so long as you're by my side. You make want to be a better man, Link; you make me feel stronger, and I can't imagine anyone else I'd ever want to spend my life with…. Link …..will you marry me?

There followed a pause of about three seconds that became the longest three seconds of Dark's life. He kept his agonised gaze on Link's face as he waited for the answer as the sweat trickled down his forehead. Link meanwhile, had brought his right hand to rest over his chest, as if simply placing it there might calm down the heavy thumping coming from within.

"Yes….!" Link grinned as he dropped his hand away and pulled Dark swiftly to his feet. "Goddesses, yes…. yes…. of course the answer's yes!"

Dark gasped as he was yanked off the ground and back to his feet and felt so gratefully glad of Link's arms around his waist keeping his jelly legs from giving way underneath him.

"Shit….. You had me scared for a second there" he chuckled in pure relief and happiness and tried to discreetly wipe away the tear that escaped his eyes.

"Something in your eyes, tough guy?" Link teased him before releasing his left hand from Dark's waist and holding his fingers in front of his new fiancé expectantly. "….and I do believe that's mine" he added with a slight glance to the ring still in Dark's hand.

"Huh…? Oh …. Yes of course" Dark fumbled getting the ring out of the box and clumsily slipped it onto Link's finger before taking hold of his hand and kissing it gently before pressing his lips up against Link's and fluttering his eyes shut. "I love you, Angel" he murmured.

Link smiled into the kiss and moved both his hands to rest on Dark's chest, now that he seemed steadier on his feet. "I love you too, Kitty. I gotta admit you had me completely fooled today. I could hardly say no to you after you were willing to go through so much trouble for me. I assume all the antler marks and the nibbled leaves were also you?"

Dark chuckled and nodded as he snaked his arms around Link's waist and pulled him close so their noses were just touching.

"I'm honestly surprised you didn't figure it out with the raft" he chuckled, but Link simply shrugged. "You didn't notice, huh?" Dark continued.

"Notice what?"

"That the raft was on the wrong side of the stream"