I know. I am late on this one, but I still finished on time technically...but I am still late to the party. I hope Her Highness will find it in herself to forgive MY carelessness :'(

In celebration of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess' 13th anniversary. I hope this story will come to you someday Princess Midna.

All hail the Twilight Princess! Long may she live. Long may she reign. O Twilight Princess.

"Hold on."

"I'm so mad."

"Chill out, Midna."

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CHILL OUT?! That could have been one hundred times worse than that!"

"This is exactly why I want you to calm down! You could have lost your entire arm in the process, even your life! We got lucky! So now sit still and let me finish what I started!"

This was not how things were supposed to go.

Link and Midna spent most of the day moving through Hyrule Field looking for the howl statues that Shad marked on Link's map. They needed to keep their momentum going after finding the second mirror shard in the Temple of Time, but just going where the third and last shard was located seemed like an insurmountable task. Still, they were making progress, always a new theory to explore. Completing the Ancient Sky Book for Shad looked like their best chance for now. So they set their minds on finding all the howl statues. The distance separating the different pieces meant it would be a very long and tiring task to do it all on foot, and they could not abuse Midna's teleport abilities either. Not only could it be dangerous for her if she used too much magic in so little time, but the different portals spread around Hyrule were not close enough to justify using teleportation. Riding Epona was the most reasonable choice.

They found most statues pretty easily and did not waste a second to go to the next one, as they planned their itinerary beforehand to make sure they could take the quickest route possible. The problem was that they started in the middle of the afternoon and in the current season, the sun did not stay up very long. Night was getting close and they still had two statues to find. Epona seemed pretty tired too. Realizing it was simply impossible to finish on time, they turned towards Ordon village. Going there was all part of the plan anyway. Renado had asked Link to give a letter to Mayor Bo next time he would visit his hometown, to keep the villagers informed of the current state and well being of their children. Link knew it. If he had nothing to say regarding the children in Kakariko, everyone back in Ordon will be on his back, crying, begging the Goddesses so they can protect the kids. It was both in their's and Link's interest to keep them informed. The fact that Bo and the shaman were good friends was a plus. Link simply had to play the postman's role, personally handing Renado's letter to the Mayor.

Their trip back to Ordon was going smoothly, despite Epona's slow rate. Night had already fallen and monsters started to show themselves even more. They had to hurry. Link thought it was going to be alright, when they fell right into an ambush as they were about to enter the forest. A vulgar trap set by a bunch of bokoblins, but with the lack of vision and awareness due to the fatigue, it turned to be an extremely dangerous situation. If it was not for their exceptional reaction time and adaptation, chances are that they might have been overwhelmed and killed. Picking themselves up quite quickly, they turned the situation back in their favor. Sadly, it did not go as well as they hoped.

Despite getting rid of their opposition, the duo let their guard down, thinking they had slain all the creatures. They did not know that one was still lurking in the dark of the night, ready to strike. With their backs turned, the last bokoblin alive rushed at Midna with a deafening scream, raising its spiked club. Link shouted to alert his friend, and Midna barely had time to avoid the deadly blow that the freak was about to deliver. Unfortunately, she was still hurt in the process. Though she did avoid most of the hit, the flat part of the club hit her wrist violently and she had a pretty bad cut on her right arm because of the spikes. After killing the enemy once and for all, Link dashed to pick Midna up, who was laying on the ground, doing her best to contain the pain, gritting her teeth to not yell.

After retrieving Epona who ran to safety when the monsters attacked, Link led his horse and Midna to a safer spot within the woods where he could attend to her wounds. Midna could barely feel her hand. Any pressure, even the slightest would make her screech. She was pissed, letting all her annoyance out on the only thing that was in front of her, the green dressed Hylian. His own outburst in response to her's was more than justified. How did she allow herself to yell in the face of the person who just saved her life and is now taking care of her? She was upset about herself, about letting her guard down, about screaming at Link. After a moment, she talked to him.

"Sorry. You didn't deserve that. If only I was a bit more careful..."

"Don't apologize.", Link cut her. Midna looked down, not wanting to make eye contact, ashamed of her reaction and the fact that she got injured in such a stupid way, at least that was what it felt like for her.

"I am just glad you are alive.", he whispered. She lifted her head, surprised by the gentleness of his words. His sudden mood shift was almost freezing.

Her arm was seriously bleeding and for Link, stoping the hemorrhage without applying too much pressure to prevent any extra pain was an impossible task. She eventually told him to not be gentle. If the wound was not treated properly, her whole arm could be infected. It was not without a few more screeches and tears from Midna, but Link eventually managed to stop the bleeding, clean the wound and bandage it. The little being, very thankful and touched by all the attention her companion gave her, apologized to him once again. Link's only response was to slowly take her in his arms and bring her closer, allowing her head to rest against his shoulder, careful to not harm her. Midna put her free arm behind his neck, returning the embrace.

They stayed like this for a minute, no words were exchanged. The only sounds to be heard were the nocturnal bugs and the long sighs the duo let out, allowing all the pressure and stress from the situation to go down. Rare were the times where they allowed themselves to do such a thing. They both knew on what kind of occasion the two of them would show so much affection and be so close to each other. They just escaped death, that was why. Once again, a single second could have changed everything. Link was right, they got very lucky. If one of them was to die, the other one would be completely lost.

They arrived safely in Ordon. Link made a quick detour to his house to drop most of his equipment and let Midna rest. Considering her current state, he thought it was better if they stayed for one or two days to recover. They needed to act quickly and find the last two statues, but if they had to engage yet another fight, Midna would not be able to assist him. The pain made it almost impossible for her to move quickly. Even when she tried to cast spells using her left hand, the overall movement caused ache which made her lose focus and eventually fail her spell. With that in mind, she agreed with Link and set her mind on making sure her recovery would go as fast as possible.

Link noticed that most of the villagers were still outside, enjoying themselves around a few drinks. They gave Link a warm welcome, surprised with his sudden arrival. Link greeted them all, then delivered Renado's letter to Bo, who proceeded to read it out loud to everyone else. Hearing the news about their children and how they were doing just fine in Kakariko reassured the villagers very much. They thanked Link for his visit and the delivery of this letter. He did not stay very long and moved back to his house. He was in urgent need of sleep too. The day had been tiring.

Back to his house, Link splashed his face with some water. A bit of freshness before bed never hurts, he thought. Climbing the ladder up to his bedroom, he found Midna, peacefully sleeping on the mattress. She was laying on her back, finding the most comfortable position to sleep without having her wound bothering her. Link was rather surprised that she fell asleep so quickly. Back in the forest, she clearly was in a lot of pain but on their way home, he did not hear her complain once about the pain. If she was able to sleep so well right now, it either meant that her wrist was fine, or that she was extremely tired. Perhaps was it both. Link hoped that at least the first assumption was correct. The deep cut in her arm will still prevent her from fighting, but at least it will heal over time. The situation would have been disastrous if some of her bones were broken. Fortunately, it did not seem to be the case. Link thanked the Goddesses for this.

Moving silently to not wake her up, Link grabbed a blanket and threw it over himself as he quietly laid down next to Midna. He readjusted the position of the sheet so it covered Midna too and kept her warm during the night. Link closed his eyes and allowed fatigue to take over, drowning him down into the deep realm of slumber.

The following day was pretty uneventful for them. They observed with relief that Midna's wound was slowly healing and that the pain in her wrist was gone. She was now able to move a bit more freely. While she stayed at his home to relax, Link spent most of his morning at the spirit's spring. He loved this place, his mind was always at ease when he came there. He randomly went to the village once or twice during the day, but something was odd. Every time someone saw him, all the villagers were on alert. He felt observed, spied on. They were trying to hide something from him and he had an idea on the matter. The fact that delicious scents came from multiple houses he went close to only reinforced his suspicions. He will find out later, he thought.

Link and Midna spent the rest of the day in the house, killing time with whatever occupation they found. The night was setting down rapidly on Ordon. Shortly after they ate dinner, Bo came in front of Link's house and called out for him, saying he wanted to show him something. Midna did not pay too much attention and decided to stay in while Link followed Bo to the village. He just had time to turn the corner and enter the village when everyone threw their hands up and sung.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINK!"

His smile was radiant. So they really planned something to celebrate his birthday during this entire day. His actual birthday happened to be last week, but since he was not around at the time, everyone decided to take a day off to cook a bunch of pastries and cakes so they could celebrate this occasion even if it was a bit late. Link was not the kind of person to celebrate the birthday in itself, but being around the people he loved always made it a very viable reason to participate and play the game. He did not mind that the date was past. It made him even more satisfied to see that they still thought about this and prepared something for it.

They shared a lot of food and drinks. Link's favorite dish though was Uli's apple pie. She made it exclusively for him as it was not very big. You could slice in four decent parts at best. Link ate half of it. It was a dessert he welcomed with a lot of pleasure. Everyone stayed up late, and some faces started to show some signs of exhaustion. They all began to rap things up, bringing the different plates back to their houses to clean them. Link insisted on keeping Uli's apple pie though. Half of it remained and he said he might eat it before going to bed. Uli did not mind at all and let him take it. It was supposed to be for him after all. Link had other plans though.

After wishing goodnight to everyone and thanking them once again, Link made his way back to his house. Climbing the ladder with one hand while being careful to not let the food slip sounded intimidating at first, but he succeded without troubles. He just had time to close his door that Midna already started talking, her head in her hands, elbows stuck on the wooden table.

"So there was a birthday party and you did not even invite me? That's pretty rude I have to say.", she said with half a smile.

"You are the one who wanted to stay there, so why are you blaming me? It's not like I could have gone back saying "Excuse me guys, I forgot something in my house, I'll be right back" and inform you.", Link threw at her in a pretty aggressive tone.

"Hey hey, Link it's fine I was just joking! Actually, I checked things out by myself when I heard all the shouts coming from the village. It wasn't hard to guess it was for you. I just came to check though, and once my suspicions were confirmed, I came back here. I'm quite surprised that you did not tell me that it was your birthday though."

"My real birthday was a week ago, and we had more important things to worry about. Plus, if you were here you might have seen how little importance I give to my birthday. It's more about spending a good time rather than celebrating the event that counts for me."

"Damn, you are in such a mood. I thought you were having a good time why do you sound so upset?", Midna asked, wearing a serious expression. Link sighed and apologized.

"I'm sorry. I guess I overreacted to your joke. Forgive me.", he said sadly. His expression made her feel bad. She almost started to regret starting this conversation in the first place.

"Forget about it Link, I'm sorry too. If I knew that what I just said would put you in such a state I would have just shut up. I'll think it better next time.", she replied. Link did not say anything, but appreciated her concern. Midna using the words "I am sorry" was quite an unusual phenomenon. He could only note how much she changed since the day they met, especially in her attitude towards him.

Removing his coat and dropping it on the couch, he then laid the plate with the apple pie on the table, right in front of the little Twili. The very nice looking dessert and the sweet smell emanating from it made her taste buds twitching.

"Aww, would you look at that. The hero brought some food just for his companion, how nice of you.", she said in a very teasing manner, not expecting what was about to come, as Link shot her a huge smile.

"Smart guess Midna. It is indeed for you.", he replied. Her eyes were now wide open after hearing his words. She did not expect her silly comment to be the truth. She was in awe and let a small laugh escape her.

"Listen Link, I huh...I appreciate the gesture but it's your birthday, not mine. You can keep it for you if you prefer."

"Well, I don't want to keep it for myself. I brought it for you, so you can have it.", he said fondly. Grabbing a chair from the opposite side of the room, he came to sit right next to Midna who was quite literally sitting on the table itself. She felted a bit embarrassed. This simple action from Link was very gentle, and she was not quite used to such things. Although, when she thought about it, he was probably the kindest person she ever met. She turned to look at him and asked:

"How old are you now?"

"I just turned 18. Which officially makes me an adult. Not like it really matters since I live in a village of farmers. It would be more important if I lived in Castle Town for example.", he replied.

"Yeah, I get what you mean.", said Midna in return. She did not touch the plate for a while, trying to come up with something that could at least motivate her to eat the pie. For now, she only felt like she was about to steal Link's birthday present.

"Unfortunately, I can't think of anything we can celebrate around this.", she said.

"When was your birthday?", Link asked in return.

"It was ten months ago. Needless to say that I was not necessarily inclined to share something like that with you, no matter how personal it can be."

"Haha, yes I can see why. We did not talk too much about ourselves back then. We barely trusted each other." They both laughed at this. After a moment, Midna continued.

"Let's just celebrate the fact that we are still alive, and that we are still fighting to save our worlds and the people we love.", she said.

"I can only agree with that Midna."

"But we have to celebrate together then.", Midna said. Link watched his friend with interest as she was trying to separate the remaining pie in two parts. It took her some effort, but she eventually managed to do it without using any magic, something she did quite often for things that did not need the exercise of her powers, such as lighting a fire or even slice ingredients. It was just easier that way, she used to say.

Even though he clearly stated that the pie was for her, Link still accepted the piece Midna was handing to him, seeing it more as a symbolic gesture rather than an invitation to eat. It was about sharing a moment together, and this simple thought just made him happy. Midna too was relatively pleased with the atmosphere she managed to set. They were both relaxed and content. As Midna took a small bite of the succulent dessert, Link started pondering about something.

"Midna?"

"Hum?"

"Maybe there is something to celebrate."

"What is it?"

His lips curled into a soft smile at this idea. He was not looking at anything in particular, his gaze was just lost on the wooden fabric of the table. He raised his head and looked straight into Midna's ruby eyes.

"It has been one full year since you and I met.", he said in a soft voice.

Midna was speechless. It did not hit her at the beginning. Has it been that long? Time flew very quickly if what Link just said was true, she thought. Despite how fond the moment seemed to be, she did not allow herself to just sit here and enjoy it. She flashed a huge grin and stared at Link, her eyes wide open, all proud of herself about the remark she was about to give.

"So with the way you say it, you are pretty much calling this day our anniversary right?", she teased, never taking her eyes off his face, looking at him with an adorable expression. Link was taken aback and started blushing.

"Huh...maybe, I guess? Wait, no! Not this...kind if anniversary Midna I..."

"You just said it was our anniversary alright, I get you, boy. I see where you are trying to go.", she kept joking, relentlessly forcing him to justify his words.

"No Midna I swear! I was only stating that the day we met happened to be exactly one year ago, that's all! I..." Midna was not able to contain her joy any longer and burst out of laughter. She almost choked on her food but seeing the Hylian stuttering so hard and trying to find a way to explain his word choice was too fun to her. Link stopped talking and joined her in the laughs when he finally realized she was only making fun of him.

They finished the remainings of their food in a very positive mood, reminding themselves of several funny moments they shared during this past year. They could only note how much their relationship had improved as time went on. One year ago, she was mercilessly kicking him in the ribs to urge him on while the only thing Link wanted was to rip her throat with his newly acquired fangs. But today, here they were laughing around and sharing a precious moment with some very tasty pie, like two good friends.

"Thank you again for this Link, it was delicious. And happy birthday.", said Midna.

"You are welcome. And thank you too.", he replied.

They both sat there, smiling at each other. Regrettably, they ran dry on ideas of things to talk about. Without anything to say or do, the silence was starting to feel a bit awkward. They were having a great time and definitely did not want it to end. They just had no idea how to extend it. So rather than finding something to talk about, Midna stopped thinking and allowed her emotions to take control.

She removed her fused shadow to let her hair breathe for a bit. It was mostly because she wanted Link to see her this way. Even if this was not her true form, she wanted to look as natural as possible. She then stood up and levitated off the table, moving to Link's side, positioning herself to match the height at which his face was. Link looked at her with puzzled eyes, trying to anticipate the imp's next move. Midna slowly raised her arm, and, delicately, cupped the hero's cheek.

It felt like Gerudo Desert all over again. Link would have been able to understand the situation eyes closed. He recognized the smoothness of her skin, and the warmth of her hand. But this time something was different. Her eyes. They were not the pleading eyes he saw back in the desert when she was begging for his assistance. This time he could see trust, happiness, and maybe something more. Something...deeper. He took it as an invitation to do the same. He elevated his hand and started to carefully rub the side of her face with the back of his fingers.

They did not want to talk. They did not need to talk. No words were required. They were both enjoying the delicacy and fondness of the instant, living it all with pure passion. Something was building withing Midna, something buried at the very bottom of her heart, and it was threatening to explode. She wanted to lean closer. But she also knew that this was something she had to keep locked inside her. A limit that should not be crossed, at least not for now.

Despite the mental barriers she imposed on herself, Link did not have the same mindset as Midna. He slowly closed the gap between their faces and moved his head to her side, kissing her cheek. Midna was stunned. Her heart was pounding. Never. Never had she expected him to do something so...bold, so relevant. But she did not care anymore. Delight flowed through her body. Losing herself in his eyes, she felt it, she knew this feeling, even though she never experienced it before.

Midna returned the favor, though hers was briefer, but Link still appreciated it all the same. Feeling the warmth of her lips on his skin made him shiver. Midna withdrew from him and smiled shyly. If she could not see her own blush, she felt it, her face was burning like hell. But so was their passion, and so were their hearts.

"Happy Anniversary Link."

"Happy Anniversary Midna."