Obligatory disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda.
"Pillow Fights and Lullabies"
50 sentences, 50 moments in Link and Midna's relationship, with everything from fishing to sewing to pillow fights and lullabies.
1. Illness
Jealousy is for weaklings, so Midna tells herself that the burning feeling she gets while watching Link gently brush Epona is nothing more than an unfortunate case of stomach cramps.
2. Alive
Every time he smiles at her, she suddenly forgets that he's only a tool, a means to an end.
3. Loyalty
He's probably supposed to be outraged at the way she used him, but right now he's preoccupied with the overwhelming urge to gather her up in his arms and reassure her that he's not going anywhere.
4. Fault
She knows he has every right to turn his back on her, and she thinks he's a dolt for following her like a love-struck puppy, but she's thankful for his idiocy.
5. Patience
It's absolutely ridiculous to spend two straight days fishing, but she thinks about his special way of cooking fresh fish and makes herself sit still for an hour more.
6. Bully
He can't help but think that she has no right to pull his ears when he's the one doing all the walking, running, and death-defying leaping.
7. Compensation
She's the princess, he's the hero who serves the princess, but alright, if no one's looking, then the princess will scratch him behind the ears, since she spends the rest of the time pulling at them.
8. Unmovable
"Link, you stubborn fool, just leave the damn bug and save Zelda because goddesses if you haven't caught the infernal thing after seven hours you're obviously never going to catch it!"
9. Fortress
Link is naïve enough to think that she doesn't notice how he subtly curls around her when the wind's sharp or the rain's stinging to shield her as she sleeps.
10. Superiority
Midna will never admit it, but one look at his pleading blue eyes and childish grin and Link has her completely wrapped around his little finger.
11. Perseverance
Link only rolls his eyes at Midna's impatient huffs, knowing full well that she wanted to beat the STAR game every bit as much as he did.
12. Mockery
Midna had come up with the brilliant idea of gathering the enemy's arrows to fill his empty quiver, but as he runs around trying to put out yet another fire from his boots, he can't help but think it all a scheme to make him look extremely foolish.
13. Oil
"So you're telling me," Midna drawled incredulously to a very sheepish Link, "that you can't navigate through your own basement without the lantern you only acquired a month ago?"
14. Experience
When he was seven, Link had painfully learned from Ilia to never ask about a girl's hair, so he tactfully avoids commenting on Midna's.
15. Forced
Triforce of Courage or not, Midna thought as she patted Link's arm comfortingly, it's not like I can blame him for not wanting to become a human cannon ball…again.
16. Mesmerizing
"You were looking about six inches south of her face, you leech," Midna hissed furiously to a very embarrassed Link as they made their way to the next level in the Cave of Ordeals.
17. Paranoia
Link accidentally hit a sore spot when he asked how in the world she could be afraid of rats but not seven-foot bugs, and paid for it later with a bruised back and very sore ears.
18. Lullaby
The night she heard him sing, softly, tenderly, under the far-off stars and wistful moon, was the night she fell in love.
19. Heritage
"Your parents must have dropped you on your head as a child," she muttered while he bandaged up yet another stupidity-induced wound, and it takes her a few minutes to realize why he suddenly stiffened and went still.
20. Son
She's uncharacteristically awkward and shy as she tells him "they would've been proud of you," and he hears the sincerity in her voice and quietly says thank you.
21. Shopping
She's forever saying "that one looks sweeter," while he's stuck wondering why that even matters if the apple he was holding was perfectly fine to begin with.
22. Subzero
Having grown up in Hyrule's southernmost province, it's no surprise that he hates the cold and ice and snow, and she can't help but wince in sympathy as he's struck frozen by enemies once more.
23. Strength
He has to bite his lip to keep from crying out as his numb, frostbitten fingers slowly thaw out by the fire, sending knifes of pain up his arm, but she takes his hand in hers and makes it bearable.
24. Arctic
Even the fire isn't enough to keep him warm, and she can only watch as he shivers and trembles uncontrollably in his sleep, wishing with all her heart that she could offer him the relative warmth of the shadows.
25. Kindle
Understandably, she's not exactly fond of the sun, but he looks so content there, sprawled upon the lush warm grass like a big cat, that she decides to let him enjoy his well-earned rest a little while more.
26. Gamble
"I think," he says carefully, "that if I jump out and put the boots on in mid air, the giant magnet will catch me –" and she interrupts him with, "don't tell me you think, it's not as if you get a second chance if you're wrong, you reckless fool!"
27. Childish
She asks why he likes cats so much, and he begins with, "Well, I had a kitten named Kitty…" at which point she started laughing uncontrollably, ignoring his indignant protest of, "I was five!"
28. Self
As they sit side-by-side in a snug little cave, watching the rain cascade down in sheets from the grey-swirled heavens, she finds herself wishing that they could be friends before comrades, on vacation rather than on a mission, that she could stay here forever.
29. Casualty
She curses him for his stubbornness, his recklessness, his irritating loyalty to heroic duty, but, as she presses tiny hands against the violently bloody wound on his chest, she curses herself above all for not stopping him, not getting him out of there until it was all but too late.
30. Ailment
She coaxes the weak, feverish boy to swallow the last of the red potion, and nearly cries in helplessness upon realizing that it wasn't nearly enough to get him through the worst.
31. Guardian
She sits by his head and strokes his sweat-darkened hair, listening to his delirious mumblings and cries, trembling in worry and disbelief when she hears her own name tumbling from his lips.
32. Dream
She's startled from her uneasy slumber by his hoarse, rusty voice mumbling her name, and when she asks him what was wrong he answers with a sleepy "I love you," and she tells her quickening heartbeat that it was only the fever talking.
33. Recovery
She hovers anxiously as he pulls himself slowly and painfully up to a sitting position against the cave wall, and when he's settled she sighs in relief and makes him promise to never be so stupid ever again.
34. Gratitude
He's strong enough to transform again, and before she warps them to Kakariko to restock on red potion he pulls her into a hug and tells her thank you, and she smacks him lightly for being sentimental while trying to hide the blush on her cheeks.
35. Patchwork
Seeing how tattered his clothing is after the last fight, she hesitantly offers to help him sew it up, only to find out she has no talent whatsoever with a needle, and he saves her by saying I can do it and taking the tunic back with a smile tugging at his lips.
36. Possession
Link can't ever forgive Zant for hurting Midna, hurting his Twilight Princess.
37. Possessive
Midna has developed a deep grudge against anything that dared to harm Link, dared to harm her blue-eyed beast.
38. Bound
Neither realized when they started referring to each other as mine.
39. Honor
She tells him secret stories from the days long past, when she was a happy child with a happy home within a happy realm, and they're stories that only he will ever be privileged enough to hear.
40. Friendship
They had their first pointless fight ('I was the one who figured out that ice-block puzzle!') and it was proof that they were more than just partners thrust together by fate.
41. Priority
There are two entire realms riding on their shoulders, but she watches him collapse into an exhausted slumber muttering tiredly that he'll only need an hour's rest (an obvious lie) and she tells the world that it can wait.
42. Horizon
The more time they spend together, the less she wants to think about the future.
43. Finale
It had never occurred to him that the end of the quest would also mean the end of their friendship, that after it was all over he would never see her again, that their relationship could be considered nothing more than something dependent on his title as a hero.
44. Foreknowledge
She smiles shakily when he tells her of the places they would go once this was over, the things he wanted them to do together, and his excitement breaks her heart.
45. Captured
Zelda watched shock and grief and rage burn in his eyes as Ganondorf held up Midna's broken headpiece, watched disbelief and ecstasy dance in those same eyes as Midna climbed to her feet in her true form, watched as his trembling steps broke into a wild run, and knew that the Hero had chosen his Princess.
46. Nostalgia
It's more than her beauty that's tied his tongue, it's the relief, the triumph, the giddiness, and the unexpected nudge of regret that the imp whose form he's come to know so well will now only ever exist in his memory.
47. Lingering
Before they send Midna back home, Zelda insists on treating Link's wounds, and Midna doesn't complain, knowing what the other two do not, that these moments will be the last she spends with the man she loves, that they'll never again be as close as they are in this moment.
48. Happiness
Amazed by the softness of the pillows in Hyrule Castle's infirmary, Link, in a moment of impulsive immaturity, sends one flying towards Midna, and it descends into a pillow fight amidst peals of laughter and some exasperated nurses.
49. Departure
Maybe he should've guessed it – he knew her best, after all – and maybe he'd known, but refused to accept it, even as the tiny cracks snaked across the mirror's surface.
50. Promise
He holds on to the memories, to the images of painted skies and sculpted mountains, of the swirling beauty of twilight and the cool shade under a blazing sun, to the pieces of herself she'd left in his soul, and whispers "I'll hold you to that" in response to her last words.
-Fin-
(...or maybe 'to be continued.' I don't feel like this piece did full justice to Link and Midna...there's just so many aspects left to be explored!)
50 sentences fics are fun! (Otherwise I wouldn't've written two...) Original idea inspired by FletcherFox's fic 'Painted Skies and Trampolines', written for the X-men movie fandom.
Thanks for reading! Comments and constructive criticism always welcome!