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As Midna vaguely observed Link spend time with the kids from his village, she thought: He belongs here.
This was not the first time her mind had gone in this direction (and she had a feeling that it wouldn't be the last). But sometimes, when it was just the two of them, he'd do something endearing stupid like try to get her to dance with him in the rain or convince her to ride with him over the rapids in that flimsy canoe. And she'd think, unbidden: Maybe he can come with me.
Of course, then the rain would stop, or the canoe would arrive at Lake Hylia, and Link would end up talking to the postman or the Zora assistant girl in that overly-exuberant tone of his, big grin on his face. Or they'd pay a visit to Kakariko Village like they were doing now. And she'd be reminded that Link was a light dweller who belonged with other light dwellers and he wasn't hers to keep. That Zant was right she'd never be more than a shadow in his world, and his light shined far to brightly for hers.
Midna was abruptly pulled out of her musings by obnoxious, childish laughter. She looked up and over from her vantage point in Link's shadow to see the little brunette girl and the older dark haired brother were snickering, the blond boy was shaking with quiet laughter, and the creepy little baby with empty eyes was standing off to the side staring. (She thought there might have been the barest hint of a smile on his blank face, but she honestly wasn't sure if he was capable of that kind of emotional expression.)
Link had apparently either done or said something funny. Midna hadn't been paying attention. It wasn't any of her business - she didn't know these people and she never would. They already couldn't handle Link's wolf form. What would they think when the disgusting little hairy creature that was herself showed up out of nowhere? They'd run screaming from that, too.
Link said something else to the kids and they dispersed, waving back at him and calling farewells as they made their way towards different areas of Kakariko. He then headed off himself, towards that cave that he'd cleared up with bombs that opened up into the back of Eldin Spring.
"So," he said once they were away from prying eyes. "What do you think we should do next?" His feral blue eyes were directed to the ground at his shadow - at her.
He continued when she didn't say anything immediately. "I was thinking that we could head to the woods again. Telma sent a letter saying Rusl was investigating there for some reason or another. And her leads have been good so far, sooo..." A small grin appeared on his face, and he tapped his chin a little, as if he was considering something. "Or we could go fishing?"
Midna rolled her eyes and rose up from the cave floor. "Nope," she said, wagging her finger at his face. "The last time I let you go to that fishing hole, you hung out there for five days. Five. Days. We still have half a mirror to find, you lazy dog. We don't have that kind of time!"
His grin widened.
"What?" she snapped.
"There's my girl," he said. "Knew that'd get you to come out."
She lightly smacked his arm, right above his elbow. He cried out in mock pain.
"What was that for? What'd I do?'
She narrowed her eyes at him (not that he could see one of them), and crossed her arms. "You know what." She snapped her fingers, summoning the shadow crystal. "Now then," she said. "Let's get going, you moron."
And as she warped them away to Faron Woods, she resolved - not for the first time - to treasure the time that she had left with him. How ever long it ended up being for.
She could claim to be "just a shadow" as much as she wanted, but Midna was one of the brightest people he'd ever met.
From the very first time he'd met her even. She'd had a teasing glow about her, and she'd stood out against the drab, gloomy backdrop of the prison cell he'd woken up in.
Then, whenever Midna had gone on ahead to scout out ledges and point out secure footing, she'd waved her giant pinkish hair-hand around, like a glowing flag to show him the way.
And whenever they would have to figure out what to do or where to go next, she'd always be the one coming up with a plan, or picking a route, or guiding him forward.
Sometimes he felt like her shadow. following her as she lead the way to their next destination.
And even though her demands and her bossiness annoyed him at first, nowadays he kind of enjoyed it. He'd follow her anywhere, a dog at her heels, watching her direct their path and light the way forward.
"Hey! Move it!"
He whipped his head around, meeting the gaze of an irritated little imp.
"Yeah?"
She swept one of her arms in the general direction of the Forest Temple, where piece of the Fused Shadow had once been sealed away. "Get your head out of the clouds and get going! Ugh. Why'd you have to stop when we're almost there?" She pressed a hand to her face and shook her head. "Why did I have to get saddled with such a space-case of a hero?"
"Hey!" he protested. "I'm not a space-case!"
The shadowy imp raised her only visible brow. "The monkey and the lantern?"
"Fine. I am a space-case," he conceded. "But what makes you think we're almost there?"
Midna pointed somewhere off into the distance, off to the left. "There's a guy over there."
He turned his head in the direction she was indicating. Sure enough, there was a figure standing atop an old tree stump, who appeared to be staring out into the large gorge near the temple.
"Okay, that's probably who we're looking for," he said.
His little imp companion rolled her eyes. "Yeah, like there's someone else roaming around this place. What with the deadly beasts and formerly cursed temple and all that."
"Well, you never know. It's kind of hard to tell from here - it might not be Rusl."
She shook her head. "Come on wolfie." Midna sank into his shadow. "Go on over there and talk to the guy."
"Sure," he replied, and started walking towards. "What would I do without you?"
His shadow snorted. "Nothing. You'd probably still be rotting away in a dungeon."
"Yeah," he laughed. "I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here."
She was his precious companion best friend guiding light after all. He wished she could at by her side forever.