Sunlight. Far too much of it.

A knocking sound, coming from somewhere nearby... "Your highness, you'll be late."

Late to what? She didn't care. Midna turned onto her stomach with a groan, covering her head with her fat, plush pillow and drowning out the world.

But that persistent knocking continued. Of course it did; nothing was kind enough to leave her alone in the morning and allow her to sleep. "Your highness!" The voice rang sharper that time, and Midna huffed in irritation, sitting up on her bed with hair a tangled mess on her head, looking more like fiery straw than anything else.

"What?" she snapped, groggy eyes half-lidded.

"You'll be late," the voice on the other side of the door repeated, and she finally recognized it as belonging to Salaas.

Late? "For what?"

"Your meeting with the prince, obviously..."

Her eyes shot open, and she scrambled out of bed, tossing the thick blankets aside with not a care for where they went or how messy they looked. "Oh, Din," she hissed to herself as she stumbled across the rug-covered floor of her room, groggy vision shrouding everything in a blurry veil.

Of course she had to forget. It was quite like her, she thought with a hiss of annoyance as she fumbled for the brush lying on her vanity and tore it through the rat's nest on her head.

"Are you coming?" Salaas asked from the other side of the door, followed by a sigh of impatience.

A meeting with the prince. Why her, why now? But she already knew the answers to those questions - how silly of her to even think them in the first place. Her, because she was the princess of the Twili, and this marriage was for the best of her people. Now, because the prince wanted to meet with her as often as possible. Of course he did, the scum...

Wait -

A memory flickered through her mind, of last night's dinner. Not so much dinner, but the events afterward, and at the thought of them her heart skipped a beat.

Prince Eldren had seen through her mask. He wanted her to take it off; to reveal who she truly was beneath all the lies, all the deception, all the pretending.

And she'd be glad to show him.

Midna smirked as she tied her hair into a high ponytail, and did nothing else with it. If he truly wanted to get to know her, and not the facade she'd been wearing ever since they had first met, then he'd have to get used to the fact that she didn't much care for her appearance. Not too much, anyway.

She still cared enough to take out the messy ponytail and brush it until it shone, then she tied it up again.

After donning a loose black dress adorned with orange embroidery that matched her hair, she cast a glance to the window - and realized that it was quite late into the morning. With a gasp of panic, she practically tore the door open and sprinted out of her room, dress flying around her ankles. "I'm late!" she panicked, nearly crashing into Salaas.

He barely managed to move out of the way, giving a grunt of annoyance. "That's what I've been trying to say for the past ten minutes, your highness." Then he fell into step beside her as she flung open the door that led into the halls of the castle, but she whirled to face him with eyes narrowed.

"I don't need you to accompany me."

"Yes, you do. You wandered off last time I wasn't there."

"Fine." Midna huffed, and ignored him, opting instead to continue her quick stride through the halls, bare feet quiet as a whisper against the carpet. It wasn't like she had time to argue with him, anyway.

Salaas followed close like a shadow, and the two of them navigated the twisting halls of the castle until they emerged into the inner ward. It took them a while, because curse the halls - they all looked the same - but eventually they made it. Although Midna was even more late than she already was, now.

She discovered Prince Eldren sitting on a marble bench, leaning forward with an elbow on his knee, chin propped up on his palm. An unmistakable look of boredom dulled his eyes - but the moment he took notice of the Twili princess, his eyes glowed bright golden again, and he stood to meet her. "Princess."

Midna smirked. "Prince." She shot a glare to Salaas - and he glared right back at her. But she glared fiercer, and finally he backed away, allowing her at least the smallest measure of privacy.

Confidence radiated off her very being with each step she took - confidence, because now she could be herself rather than someone else.

At least, she hoped. Perhaps the prince would despise her true self so deeply that he would have her thrown out of the kingdom.

Eldren extended a hand, quietly asking for hers, to kiss it - as was protocol. And Midna offered her hand to him - though instead of letting him kiss it, she simply shook his hand with a grin and then pulled it away again. He cocked a brow at her, but there was a smile of amusement on his lips.

"So, what are the plans for today?" Midna studied her nails as if disinterested. "Sit around on a bench and prattle on about useless things such as the weather and the color of the grass until we both die of boredom?"

"Nothing so dull," the prince responded with a smile. "Though, to be honest, I actually didn't have any plans. I wanted to ask you what you wanted to do."

"How flattering." Midna grinned at him. "Are you trying to worm your way into my heart?"

"Yes," he replied in a teasing tone, almost without hesitation.

And it was Midna's turn to cock a brow at him now. "Well, it isn't working, so you might as well stop wasting your efforts."

Eldren chuckled, presenting his palms to her in a gesture of peace. "I'm sorry, then. Please forgive me."

"I'll consider it."

A smile still lingered on his lips, even after a somewhat awkward silence passed between the two. "Actually, come to think of it, I do have something of a plan."

"I knew it. You liar," and Midna shook her head at him in mock disappointment.

"My apologies. At any rate, my sister returned very early this morning, and I really would love for the two of you to meet. If you wish."

Though Midna didn't want to, she had to admit to herself it was a good idea. How else would she acquaint herself with the royal family? So far she had only met the prince, not the princess or the king, and what better time to meet them than now?

So she gave him a smile, and a single nod. "Why not?"

"I'm glad to hear that." Eldren grinned.

"Will your father be there too? I haven't met him yet."

"Ah, he still isn't feeling well." Eldren heaved a deep sigh and lowered his gaze, impeccably-polished black boot absentmindedly scuffing at the grass, upheaving the little green blades. "We're actually getting a bit worried about him. Mother fell to this same illness quite a few years ago, and..." He trailed off, as if he didn't want to continue.

Midna's lips dropped, and she studied his face with concern. "I'm... sorry," she mumbled, unsure of what else to say. Admittedly, she was terrible at comforting people. Something a princess was supposed to be skilled in doing. What a wonderful princess she was...

"It's all right. Mother was always physically weak; she nearly died when she had both me and, later, my sister. Father is much stronger than her, and the physician thinks he'll be fine." Eldren looked up once more to meet her gaze and forced a tenuous smile. "So - my sister. I already asked her if she wanted to meet you, and she agreed. Er, have you eaten breakfast yet?"

This time Midna's smile was sheepish. "No... I woke up late and didn't have time to. I thought I'd already kept you waiting long enough..."

"It's no trouble," Eldren assured her. "Then, would you care to share breakfast with my sister and I?"

"Of course! You'll find I'm always open to eating food." Midna grinned at him, and Eldren gave a light chuckle, lacing his hands behind his back as he turned away from her.

"Follow me, then, if you will," he directed, and she obeyed.

As they entered the castle once more, Salaas fell into step beside the princess, shooting her a look of confusion, as if asking what they were doing and where they were going. Midna only grinned and ignored him.

Halls twisted, the next stretch hid around a corner, and soon Midna felt hopelessly lost. She was glad for Eldren, who seemed to know his way around - although how, she had no idea. How could anyone navigate such dull halls that all looked the same?

Then the prince stopped at the end of a hallway that looked no differed from the others, and knocked on the set of double-doors there.

"Who is it?" a voice called from inside, feminine, yet strong and a little deep, too.

"Me," Eldren called through the door in return, giving Midna an excited grin - and she could only hope this princess was actually worth her time, not a pompous fool. But if she was anything like Eldren - he seemed fine so far - then she might not be too bad.

"Come in." Somber - not unkind, but somber. A little too somber - and Midna found herself hoping once again that the Princess of Hyrule would not bore her.

Eldren twisted the knob, took a deep breath, and then pushed one of the doors open, beckoning the Twili princess inside. She thanked him for holding the door - she wasn't completely devoid of manners, after all - and stepped through.

She found herself standing in the sitting room of a very beautiful set of chambers; a door to the right hung open, revealing a bedroom far more lavish than Midna's. There were a few other doors scattered across the walls, but they were closed, so there was really no way to know what they held.

The sitting room itself boasted multiple low, rectangular tables set at intervals across the floor, each one neatly surrounded by tall, plush red chairs. Tapestries of all the colors of the rainbow adorned the walls; gauzy pink curtains swept across windows, casting rosy early-morning sunlight over the floor.

And in one of the chairs near a wall sat a woman, regal and tall, light blonde hair sweeping smooth and straight over her shoulders and down her back like strands of sunlight. Small pink lips curled into the faint semblance of a smile as eyes, gray-blue like a stormy sky, flicked to meet the gazes of her visitors.

"Ah." Dainty, gloved fingers were curled round a teacup, just as porcelain as her skin. She set it down on the low table before her and stood to meet her visitors. "Eldren," she acknowledged her brother, then turned her gaze to Midna's.

And the two princesses stared, just stared at each other for perhaps a long while, both of them studying the other. Slate eyes roared, thundered, surged like fierce clouds in a stormy sky, flashed bright as lightning - but silent. The princess of Hyrule said not a word, but her eyes told stories - stories of a solemn princess who cared deeply for her kingdom, for its people, and would do anything to protect them and their peace.

Midna knew, because her eyes were the same, and she, too, would do anything for her people - but her eyes cackled like fire, tongues of flame lashing out like whips.

And though the two of them said not a single word to each other, they spoke a silent conversation, and almost felt as if they had known each other a lifetime.

Prince Eldren's voice broke them from their strange, almost trace-like state - "Er, well... so..."

Both princesses turned to look at him, a question in their eyes. Eldren gave them both a sheepish smile, and motioned to the Twili princess with a hesitant hand. "Princess Midna... may I present to you my sister, Princess Zelda of Hyrule."

Midna once again met those intense, piercing eyes, and her lilac lips split into a grin. "Nice to meet you," she said, holding out a hand for the other woman to shake.

Zelda's golden brow raised, almost imperceptibly, and she stared at Midna's outstretched hand as if unsure what to do with it - it wasn't custom for two princesses to shake hands upon meeting each other, after all. Then she accepted with her own gloved hand and shook it, giving a tiny smile. "A pleasure to meet you, Princess Midna."

"Please, just Midna," she insisted, still grinning. "I'm a bit tired of all this stuffy formality... to say the least." As soon as the words left her lips, she inwardly cringed, unsure of why she had said anything so bold. She didn't even know this princess, who was she to say such ridiculous things immediately after meeting her?

But her eyes showed a trustworthy woman, someone Midna felt she could be comfortable around. She couldn't explain it, but she already liked the other princess.

"If you insist. But if so, then you must call me just Zelda."

"I'd be glad to." Midna smirked.

Eldren cleared his throat. "What about me? Do I get to call you Midna?"

"Sure, whatever." She waved a hand dismissively. "But only if I can call you Eldren."

He chuckled. "Of course. Why not?"

"Good!" Midna invited herself to sit on a chair across from the one Zelda had been sitting in only moments ago. She crossed her legs and slouched forward, utterly disregarding all the etiquette she had ever been taught. She'd never cared much for it, anyway. "So, with all the stupid formalities gone, why don't we just sit and have a nice chat? Get to know each other a bit."

Eldren and his sister shared a glance, and he seemed to give a tiny shrug before sitting in the chair next to the Twili woman. Zelda returned to her seat and lifted her teacup again, taking a tiny sip from it before speaking. "Would any of you care for some tea?"

"I'd love some," the prince replied, and Midna only shook her head, having never cared much for tea. Instead, she found herself hungrily eyeing the food laid out on the table - scrambled eggs, roasted pork, teacakes and still-steaming rolls. Without asking, she selected a clean plate off to the side and began piling it with food. Eldren did the same.

Zelda glanced toward the door, and Midna followed her gaze, only to see Salaas standing beside it, tall and silent, hands laced behind his back. She had completely forgotten about him - and was grateful for that fact. It was kind of him to stay silent and allow her to get to know the royal family without constantly hanging over her shoulder.

But she didn't miss the obvious look of distaste in his yellow eyes, clearly displeased with her brash behavior.

Whatever.

Midna flicked her gaze to the right, and saw a maid standing a few feet away from Salaas. The poor young woman kept casting nervous glances in the Twili man's direction, swallowing whenever their gazes would meet for a split second and his small pupils would bore into her soft brown eyes. Midna noticed when she inched away from him ever-so-slightly, and stared down at her feet, clearly too afraid to look at the strange man again.

"Would you fetch some tea?" Zelda kindly asked the maid, who heaved a sigh of relief, as if glad to have an excuse to escape the presence of Salaas.

"Yes, of course, your highness!" She smiled. "What kind?"

Zelda cast Eldren a glance, who turned to face the maid himself and told her, "Raspberry tea, if you please." The maid nodded, and didn't hesitate to leave, nearly throwing the door open on her way out. "Er, thank..." But she was already gone. "...you...?" With a furrowed brow, Eldren turned to the two princesses. "Why was she in such a hurry?"

Midna smirked. "Salaas is pretty terrifying. I don't blame the poor girl," she responded as she took a large bite of food.

She didn't look at him, but heard her bodyguard huff in the background.

Eldren chuckled, but Zelda didn't have much of a response at all, opting instead to take another sip of her tea. Looking between them now, Midna finally noticed just how different they looked - Eldren's eyes shone gold like the sun, his hair the same color, skin nearly as dark as cocoa. Zelda looked almost like a doll, she thought - a fierce doll, with lightning for eyes, but a doll nonetheless.

She was almost tempted to ask why, but even though she could be insolent at times, she wasn't quite that insolent.

"So, Zelda, if you don't mind my asking," Midna began, desperate to chase away the strong urge to ask if either one of them was adopted, "Eldren tells me you left to solve a bit of an issue in another village. What was that all about?"

Zelda sighed, a quiet, delicate sigh, and set down her teacup. Even with the clear absence of formality, she never once allowed her shoulders to droop or her back to slouch in the slightest. "Yes. There was a bit of a problem with the Gerudo, but it was solved in a relatively painless and swift manner."

"Gerudo?" Midna stuffed more food in her face.

"Do you not know of them?" Zelda asked.

"I only know a little," the Twili admitted, somewhat sheepishly. She had tried to research Hyrulians and their culture in an attempt to prepare herself for her marriage to Prince Eldren. She hadn't studied many other cultures. "They're a tribe of warrior women, aren't they?" She grinned, embarrassed. "That's all I know."

The other woman nodded. "The Gerudo people are a strange phenomenon. Their race is composed solely of women, and only one man is born every hundred years. The average lifespan for a Gerudo is two hundred years, so they can afford to wait for the man to be born. It happens like clockwork, they say - every century, on the same day, they hold a ritual where they pray to the Goddess of Sands that the next child they bear will be a boy. And their prayers are answered. Once a new son is born, he will become king of the Gerudo."

"Interesting." Midna absently nodded her head, mostly to herself, wondering how in the world she had missed so much information about such a strange race. Then again, when she had read the book Races of Hyrule, she had barely even skimmed the sections entitled Gorons, Zoras, and Gerudo, and had really only focused on the sections Hylians and humans.

"They once dwelled in a desert far away, a terrible, inhospitable place," Zelda continued. "They felt as if they were forced to steal from us Hyrulians due to the difficult conditions in which they lived. As such, they have always been known as ruthless thieves, and Hyrulians hated them. Only recently were they allowed to come live in Hyrule."

"Why's that?" Midna asked.

"My father allowed them to," was her vague response. She took another sip of tea before continuing. "Their culture has revolved around thieving for so long; it is difficult to destroy one of their basest instincts. In the village I visited, their plundering had grown so terrible that entire farmlands were destitute, their cattle killed for meat, crops and horses taken. I decided to deal with it myself."

"Why not send someone else to do it for you?" Midna leaned back in her seat, folding her arms across her chest in thought. Not that she wouldn't have done the same thing Zelda did; she hated letting other people solve her problems for her. But she couldn't help being curious.

The other princess smiled, just a little. "You spoke of 'stuffy formality' earlier, did you not?"

"I did." Midna cocked a brow, wondering where she was going with this.

Zelda calmly finished off her tea and set down her empty cup on the table, slightly leaning back in her sumptuous red chair, allowing the fluffy fabric to nearly envelop her. "I must admit, sometimes I feel this castle is full of those stuffy formalities, and it is nice to escape them sometimes."

Yes. Yes, Midna liked this princess. She grinned. "Makes sense to me."

It seemed as if Zelda wished to say something else - her lips parted, her eyes lowered in thought. But a knock at the door interrupted anything she had been about to say. "Who is it?" the Hylian princess called.

"Um, me, your highness, I've brought the raspberry tea."

"Come in, please."

The maid entered, cautiously and hesitantly, poking her head in the room but nothing else. Upon seeing Salaas, still standing in the same place, she swallowed heavily and scurried inside as quickly as possible. "Your tea," she hurried to say, plopping the teacup onto a small plate on the table with a ding of porcelain. Then she bowed, sloppily, and rushed back out without even bothering to ask if they needed anything else.

Midna rolled her eyes. "Curses, Salaas! I wanted to ask for a pastry of some sort, but you just had to scare her off..."

"That wasn't my intention, your highness," he responded, voice low and irritated.

"Whatever, just find somewhere more private to pull your scary faces, where people won't see you."

"My duty is to guard you."

"I'll be fine."

"With all due respect, highness -"

"Yeah, Salaas, I get it, you won't ever leave me alone. Just do whatever." She waved a dismissive hand at him, resisting the urge to curl her lip in annoyance. Really, he could be so unbearable sometimes. Turning away from him, she noticed Eldren taking a sip of his raspberry tea and giving a sigh of contentment. "Sorry about that," Midna murmured, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

Eldren was the first to speak. "It's fine." He gave her a smile, to which she responded by leaning to the side in her chair, resting an elbow on the armrest and her chin in her palm. She huffed quietly, in an attempt to release her irritation.

An awkward silence followed, in which nobody quite knew what to say. Zelda stared down at the table, hands laced gracefully in her lap. Eldren sipped constantly at his tea until it was finished, and Midna only shut her eyes, still resting her chin in her hand.

Then, finally, Zelda spoke. "I apologize that our father cannot be here to meet you."

"Eldren said he's sick." Midna straightened so that she wouldn't appear disrespectful, and gave the other woman an apologetic look. "Is he all right?" Not that she cared too much about a man she hadn't met, but she definitely had to feel sorry for the prince and the princess. And if the king died, tensions would rise, and that was certainly something Midna didn't want.

"He should be fine. He is a strong man, after all," Zelda responded with an almost imperceptible nod.

"Good." The Twili princess tried to smile at her.

"I apologize that I must cut this visit so short, but I feel I need to see my father. I do worry for him." Her pink lips twisted into the slightest frown, and she refused to meet anyone's gaze.

"Perfectly understandable," Midna reassured her.

"Perhaps we could meet again soon," Zelda suggested, standing from her chair. Eldren and Midna followed suit. "I quite enjoyed meeting you, Midna."

"Same here." The Twili woman grinned. "I'd love to visit you again sometime."

Zelda smiled kindly, and slightly bowed her head. Midna returned the gesture. "Then, I'll see you again."

"Yeah, see you." Both princesses - with Eldren and Salaas following behind - made their way to the door, and paused before it.

"Farewell."

Midna didn't say anything in response to Zelda, only waved her hand, and exited the room with the prince and her bodyguard in tow. Eldren caught up with her, a grimace on his lips, and spoke as they walked. "I'm sorry for... well, how abrupt she was. She's a bit stressed out."

"Abrupt? You want abrupt, look at me." Midna cocked a brow. "It's fine, Eldren, don't worry about it. Being concerned for a sick father is completely understandable."

He smiled at her, wan, but a smile nonetheless. "I already like this side of you much more than the silly facade you were putting on earlier."

She laughed. "Yeah, well, I didn't like it much either. It was stifling. I'm just glad you don't immediately hate me for... well, being me."

"Of course not." His smile brightened, just a little. "I look forward to getting to know you better, Midna."

"Stop attempting to flirt, you're pretty awful at it."

And to her surprise, he actually threw his head back and laughed - a genuine laugh. "You're terribly blunt, aren't you?"

"You just noticed?" She smirked.

"Actually, I -"

But the sound of heavy, frantic footsteps interrupted whatever he had been about to say. A short, thin man stumbled round the corner before them, panting heavily, hair a mess on his head, eyes filled with fear.

"Your highness!" the man somehow managed to say through his constant gasps for air, and he bowed low at the waist. "There's a -" But he paused when he saw Midna for the first time, tall Twili woman in all her intimidating glory, and pressed his lips together in distress. "...There's something you need to see right away."

Eldren furrowed his brow and exchanged a glance with Midna. "Er, my apologies, but this seems rather urgent."

"Don't worry about it." Midna sighed.

"I'll see you soon?"

She smiled, and waved a hand at him. "Yeah, I'll see you. Just get going already!"

He gave a single nod, and then hurried to follow the little man, who had already rushed off down the halls again.

For a moment, only silence hung in the air, and it threatened to stifle her. The Twili princess curled her lip in distaste, and wondered what in the world she could do to pass the time in this awful, dull castle.

But her thoughts were interrupted by the familiar, unpleasant voice of Salaas. "With all due respect, highness... You're being a bit too rude to the prince. You don't want to make him hate you, do you?"

She whirled to face him, only to see him wearing an infuriating expression - lips pressed together, both brows raised just a little, eyes narrowed in annoyance. And she narrowed her eyes right back at him. "He's the one that asked me to take off my mask and show him what I'm really like. And are you deaf? Didn't you hear him? He said he likes me better this way!"

"Is he lying, though?"

Midna blinked in surprise. "No, of course not." But she couldn't help feeling just a little uneasy at his words; perhaps he was right. Perhaps everything was a lie. But no, it couldn't be. She shook her head. "You're unbearable. Go find somewhere else to be a pain in the neck."

Salaas's glare burned, intense like the sun, but she met it with unflinching fire. "I'd love to, your highness," he spat, "but the king himself gave me this job, and I won't allow you to be hurt. And Goddesses know if you wander off on your own, that's exactly what'll happen! You'll probably somehow manage to amputate your own arm by mistake!"

Midna snarled, hands clenching into fists within the folds of her dress. "You'd love that, wouldn't you? But I won't give you that pleasure. No, I'll wander off my own, and I'll return perfectly fine! Just you wait!" And without another word, she spun on her heel, striding down the marble corridors of the castle with bare feet thumping angrily on the carpet.

"What -" And there might have been a note of regret in his voice. "Your highness, where are you going? Wait, I'm sorry!"

But she wouldn't listen. Heavy footsteps thudded behind her, chasing her. Her heart quickened; hammered against her ribcage. Gritting her teeth, Midna burst into a run, skidding around countless corners until she had no idea where she had come from or where she was going. But when she finally stopped a long time later, chest heaving with rapid breaths and mouth gaping, gasping for air, Salaas was nowhere in sight.

Unbearable, she thought with a quiet hiss to herself, and continued down the hall with head held high.

I'll do what I want without him, and I'll be happier for it. She nodded once, as if to punctuate her own thoughts. But what? What could she possibly do within these marble prison bars? Nothing. A sense of boredom and frustration swept over her, threatening to overwhelm her, but she pushed it away with a huff.

Then - then a fleeting image of horses flitted through her memory, of wind and of freedom and of laughter.

Midna grinned.

Link.

"And who in the name of the Sacred Realm are you?" Midna stared at the man before her with one brow cocked, arms folded loosely across her chest, leaning most her weight on her right leg. She had come to Link's stall, only to find a different person there, light brown hair falling shaggy round his face and to his shoulders.

The aforementioned man gave her a wide grin, the skin around his gray eyes crinkling at the action, and he waggled his dark brows at her. "I might ask the same thing of you, darlin'."

"Wh-what... Excuse me?" Was he attempting to flirt with her? Unheard of! She stared at him, eyes wide in shock. Not that she was unaccustomed to men flirting with her, but all of those men had been Twili. No Hylians. Hylians feared Twili; it was a fact of life. Shouldn't he be trembling in fear? Not flirting with her, of all things!

"You tell me your name, sweetheart, and I'll tell you mine."

"I'm not going to tell you my name if you keep calling me sweetheart, you brainless oaf," she responded without missing a beat.

The man chuckled. "Right, fine then. I'm Laik." He leaned forward across the stall's counter, that idiotic grin still plastered on his face. "And your name...?"

She was tempted to lie; to give him a fake name, something ridiculous. Like Bobina. She couldn't help smiling to herself at the thought, but for whatever stupid reason, the name came tumbling off her lips against her own will. "Midna."

"Thought so."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Link talked about you." Still smiling widely, he straightened himself. "I'm his brother."

Midna stared, silent, unsure of what to make of his words. Link had talked about her, for one thing - which was quite strange; they'd only met twice, it wasn't like she was worthy of talking about. And second, this pathetic fool was his brother? Now that he mentioned it, she could see vague similarities between them - the shape of his eyes, his narrow chin, the defined facial shape. Though his nose jutted out a little more than Link's, and his jaw seemed harsher, more prominent.

She cocked a brow. "What did he say about me?"

"That he'd never met a Twili before, and he'd never expected one to be so beautiful." Laik smirked, raising both brows at her. "I have to agree with him."

Beautiful. Midna tried not to flush, and felt pathetic for feeling so flattered over such a small thing. To disguise her embarrassment, she scoffed. "I never expected his brother to be such an idiot."

"You know, I can respect a woman with sass." He laughed. "How old are you, if you don't mind my asking?"

"I do mind, thank you very much," she snapped, narrowing her eyes at him.

Laik pretended to be offended, even though she could tell he was obviously amused by the situation. He gave a small shrug, eyes downcast, and heaved a deep sigh. "Well, all right, if you feel that way. I just wanted to let you know if you and Link were the same age or not."

"What? Why would I care about that?" Midna muttered, shifting her weight to her other foot.

"I just thought you and Link had something going, is all."

She rolled her eyes. "He's certainly more charming than you..."

"Ouch." Laik sighed again, and shook his head. "You're certainly a stubborn one. He was just curious to know, is all."

"Was he really? Or are you the curious one?"

"Maybe both." He grinned again, and Midna responded by curling her lip in annoyance. "You sure you don't want to tell me?"

"If it'll shut you up, I'm twenty. There, happy? Now can you please just sell me something and let me go?"

Laik tsked. "Twenty, huh? Too bad... Link's only eighteen." He waggled his brows again, and she resisted the excruciatingly strong urge to punch him. Hard. "But me, on the other hand, I'm the same age as you. You'd be better off with me. So, uh... you interested?"

Midna curled her hands into fists, and clutched at the fabric of her dress in a desperate attempt to stop herself from giving into that terrible urge. "I'd marry a slug before I even considered your offer."

"Playing hard-to-get, I see. That's all right. I'm patient." Laik smirked at her.

Sweet Farore above, how she so desperately wanted to wipe that smirk off his pathetic face.

Thankfully, before she made any rash decisions, Link himself emerged from the bustling crowd, and approached the stall. He stopped when he noticed Midna, and glanced between her and his brother with eyes slightly narrowed. "Laik... what are you doing?"

"Harassing me!"

"Serving a customer."

Midna and Laik spoke at exactly the same time, and she shot him a glare that he pretended not to notice.

Link rubbed his temples and heaved a sigh. "Laik. Nobody likes you to flirt with them, you're just a pain. Stop chasing away customers."

Midna folded her arms across her chest and shot the brown-haired man another glare, but couldn't manage to hide a small, smug smirk at Link's comment.

Laik stared at his brother with eyes wide in feigned shock. "What? But Link, I thought we were the best of friends! I didn't know you thought of me as... as nothing more than a pain!" He tsked and shook his head, looking away with a grimace on his face. "Now I know... and it hurts..."

Link's shoulders drooped, and he shut his eyes, rubbing his forehead. "Laik... Glorious Golden Goddesses, just... Just stay there. Watch the stall. And don't flirt with any more random women."

Immediately Laik was back to his ridiculous self, grinning widely at his brother. "I make no promises!"

"Let's just go," Link muttered to Midna, and turned away from the stall. He lifted a hand toward her, as if reaching to take her arm - but then decided against the action, and let it drop, limp, to his side once more.

Then the both of them were pushing through the crowd, before she even quite knew what was happening, people shoving past them without a word of apology. Of course Midna cursed at each and every one of them.

Eventually Link came to a stop in the same field they had met in just the other day, and turned to Midna with a deep sigh. "I'm sorry about him. He's... ridiculous." But a smile lingered at the corners of his lips, and she couldn't help returning the expression. "But, what brings you here?"

Her smile turned sheepish, and she reached up to toy mindlessly with her ponytail, and pretended to be adjusting it. "To be honest... I really enjoyed riding a horse. And, well, I wondered if we could... If you'd let me do it again?"

Link beamed, and she swore his cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink. He stared down at his boots in an obvious attempt to hide his blush, and his goofy grin. Nervously a hand reached up to fidget with his earring, much like she fidgeted with her hair - and she smirked, just a little, at the sight of it. "Sure. Snow's here again and she seemed to like you. I'm sure she'd be delighted to let you ride her again."

Midna grinned like an excited child as he led her around to the horses, both tethered to a fencepost as they had been just yesterday. Snow gave a quiet nicker of greeting upon seeing Midna, and Epona danced excitedly on her hooves, nuzzling her master as soon as he came within her reach. Link laughed, and petted her nose, then moved to untie both horses.

For a moment, the Twili and the Hylian's gazes met, and they exchanged excited grins. Then Link swung up into the saddle, and Midna followed suit.

They kicked their heels into their horses' sides, and then the wind danced, flew around her, lifted her hair and let it flutter behind her like a pennant, and tore a joyous laugh from her throat.

A/N: A quick note. This will either disappoint or thrill a lot of you (or you just won't care, haha). But I can guarantee you right now, there will be no love triangles in this story. If this news disappoints you, I'm sorry, but I dislike love triangles and refuse to write them.

Hope this chapter is better than the last two; I wasn't exhausted while writing it, and I tried to use better descriptions. Tell me what you think. And thanks again for reading, and for all your awesome reviews! You guys are just so kind. :D

And, I know I'm rambling, but I'm sorry the story is slow at the moment. I just kind of want to set the stage before anything crazy happens. I've been doing a lot of foreshadowing (I think), and I hope you guys enjoy what I have planned for the future of this story. I also plan to write from the POV of different characters too, I'm just sticking with Midna right now because... yeah, like I said, setting the stage. Sorry again, and sorry too for the ramble, just thought I'd let you guys know!