Summary: A kiss is just a kiss? Maybe not. There is more to Midna's gift than meets the eye.

"Daddy's home!" shouted Midon, who was first home from school. Mila was right behind him. They both rushed to hug him. He hugged them both and gave them each a kiss.

"I missed both of you so much!" said Link. "It's nice to be home." He had returned home earlier that day from his adventure in the Twilight Realm and Gerudo desert.

"Mommy said when we're older, you can tell us about your adventures," said Midon.

"Sure, when you're older, Midon," said Link. "I would like that."

"Feels good to be missed, doesn't it?" laughed Mipha.

"Yes, but I'd rather not have to be missed," said Link. "How about after homework and dinner we play in one of the pools for a bit?"

The pools under the throne room weren't huge, but there was enough room to have some water fun with small children. The area was generally pretty empty until the evening. So, after dinner, they headed to the pool area and jumped into the water. After splashing around and playing for a bit, Mila kept finding excuses to hang onto Link.

"Daddy, hold me," said Mila.

"Of course," said Link as Mila put her arms around his neck while they were both floating upright in the pool. Then Mila laid her head on his shoulder.

"I think Daddy's little princess missed him," Mipha laughed.

"Mommy said you went to a place with no water," said Mila. "It must be terrible."

"Yes, it's called a desert, and there is very little water, mostly sand," said Link. "It is hard to live there. It gets hot in the day and cold at night. And sometimes there are storms of blowing sand. But for races that don't need so much water, it has some beauty. The sky is almost always clear, and there are large palm trees and groups of plants in places. And they have fun by racing across the sand pulled by friendly animals called Sand Seals."

"Do you have friends there?" said Mila.

"There is only one person there that I know, and she is not exactly a friend," said Link. "She was more of a friend of Princess Zelda's mother. You met her on our trip to Hyrule Castle. She is Lady Urbosa."

"I remember now," said Mila. "I spoke Gerudo to her. She was nice."

"Okay," said Mipha to the children finally. "We need to get home and to bed."

The sun was setting when they got back to their room, and a change of lighting from the painting of the Twilight Palace that Princess Midna had given him caught Link's eye. He had hung the picture near the entrance. Instead of the palace, he saw a portrait of Midna. The image was there for a moment or two and then faded. Well, that was interesting. Twili technology carried over to their paintings too. It was no coincidence that this happened at twilight. He would have to show Mipha next time.

The next day there was a Council of Elders meeting, which King Dorephan was chairing. Both Mipha and Link attended.

"The first item on the agenda is a brief report from Link regarding his mission in the Gerudo Desert," said King Dorephan. "This topic has a bearing on the next item I would like to mention. By the way, Lady Urbosa sent a very gracious thank-you note to me expressing gratitude to the Zora community for the contributions our citizen Link made to the Gerudo Desert mission's success. I'll pass it around if anyone cares to read it."

Link proceeded to give an abbreviated version of the events that transpired. There were a few questions about the Twili at the end of his remarks, most of which he couldn't answer due to a lack of knowledge. When there were no more questions, King Dorephan continued.

"That brings us to the next topic," said King Dorephan. "At the urging of King Rhoam and over concern Dr. Purah had raised over the Yiga Clan possibly having more Timeshift Stones, the Gerudo launched an all-out attack on the Yiga Clan hideout while Link was returning here. The Gerudo retrieved one Timeshift Stone from the hideout and destroyed much of the Yiga Clan that were there. The Gerudo delivered the Stone to Dr. Purah for safekeeping. She indicated that to the best of her knowledge, all but one known Timeshift Stone is accounted for. The only unaccounted one was left in the Twilight Realm when Link returned, so poses no threat to Hyrule. That concludes this item unless there are any questions."

One council member wondered if there were other known Yiga Clan hideouts. It was suspected there might be but probably none as significant as their main one. Another council member was concerned about Yiga Clan spies visiting the Domain. Link volunteered that he thought the risk was low. They would stand out as not being Zoras, and he recommended leaving some Mighty Bananas anywhere there was any concern or suspicion. As ridiculous as it sounded, members of the Yiga Clan cannot resist them and would give themselves away.

The remainder of the meeting concerned updates on construction and maintenance around the Domain, the current population and its projection, quality of the water supply, and other such items. After the meeting, Mipha and Link walked back to their room. The rest of the day was uneventful until sunset approached. The children had just gone to bed, and Link was eager to show Mipha the Twili technology in the painting.

"Mipha, I have a surprise for you," said Link. "As the sun sets, the picture will change to a portrait of Princess Midna. Keep watching."

Link waited, and then he saw the picture change into a portrait of Midna.

"Isn't that amazing?" said Link.

"What are you talking about?" said Mipha. "The picture hasn't changed at all."

"What? You don't see Princess Midna when you look at the picture?" said Link.

"No," said Mipha. "And you do?"

"Yes," said Link. "But the image fades as soon as the sun finishes setting. In fact, it's already gone now. That's very odd that I can see it, and you can't."

"What does she look like?" asked Mipha.

"It's funny," said Link. "If I give her characteristics of light bluish-green skin, violet lips and flaming red hair and eyes, it makes her sound freakish. But when you see her, she is actually quite striking. Her eyes have a certain something to them that's hard to fathom. If I had to use one word to describe her, it would be bewitching."

"Well, this is all very odd," said Mipha. "Maybe it has something to do with you having visited the Twilight Realm? But it's scary that your mind could be so easily affected like that. Why don't you go over everything that happened in the Twilight Realm again?"

He thought back to his time in the Twilight Realm. Nothing much had happened on his first visit. He spent his time confined to a room awaiting Princess Midna's decision. And the second time he was there was to say goodbye. Midna and the other Link had been holding each other. Then Midna came over to him. She handed him the picture in the box, then kissed him on the forehead and said here was a little something to remember her by. He had assumed the picture of her Twilight Palace was the souvenir and the kiss just a gesture of gratitude and goodbye. But was the kiss she gave him also something to remember her by and somehow related to the picture? That was the only other thing he could recall. He re-told the story to Mipha.

"Wait, you two kissed? You left out that little detail the last time," said Mipha.

"We didn't kiss. She kissed me. On the forehead," said Link.

"Why didn't you mention it the first time you told the story?" said Mipha.

"I'm sorry, I honestly didn't think anything of it. I thought it was inconsequential, just Midna's way of being grateful and saying a friendly goodbye," said Link. "But now thinking back, it must have had some influence on my mind. The Twili are reputed to be very powerful with magic."

"Inconsequential? Why do you think I get so nervous about your adventures?" said Mipha. "Half the time, you give no thought to what might happen to you and just rush ahead. Did you ever think you might be trapped in the Twilight Realm? Or change there in some way? I wonder what other parts of your mind she influenced. Do you miss her? You said she was quite striking."

"No, of course, I don't miss her," said Link. "She wasn't interested in me; she only had feelings for the Link of her time."

"I didn't ask who she had feelings for," said Mipha. "I asked about you."

"You know I only have feelings for you, Mipha, and I don't miss anybody," said Link. "I'm sorry about this, and I don't like to cause you any worry. But this is not my fault. Let's just put the painting away or get rid of it."

"No, I like the picture," said Mipha. "I hope it will remind you of the danger you should consider when facing the unknown, especially now that you have a family. Just don't keep staring at it every sunset, and we'll be fine."