Short-ish story dealing with what might have happened if Green had put the sword back. I normally write with the Four Swords assuming they didn't put back the blade, but I was inspired by a friend to write a sadder ending. Note, this will NOT be a happy ending. Very light shipping if you look at it as such.
It was a very quiet day in the Link household. An extremely difficult decision had been made earlier that week, and truth be told, it was not a unanimous decision.
Green was going to put the Four Sword back.
None of them knew what would happen, and the argument about the choice had been going on for at least the past week. Were they too different from their original selves to even return to one person? Would they simply morph back into one? Just like they had all split from Green when he had drawn the blade, would they merge? What would happen to their personalities? Their memories? Their souls? Would they be trapped within Green's mind, and be unable to do anything but watch as he lived the rest of his life? Would they simply... vanish?
"Green, you can't!" Red wailed, close to tears. "I don't want to die! We're so young!"
"It's not your choice to make, Green!" Blue snapped, hands clenched to angry fists. This was a new anger for him, though- anger mixed with fear. "No matter what happens when you put the blade back, you'll be fine!"
"What if you guys get trapped in my head or something? You think I'd be able to just be A-okay having three extra people inside my head?"
"You think we'd be okay being stuck like that, watching you live and unable to do a thing?! I'd rather die!"
Green sighed, letting his head thud down onto the wooden kitchen table. His heart was heavy, but his choice wouldn't be swayed. Their adventure was done- it had been for a long time. They had no reason to keep the Four Sword now. All the heroes that had come before him had set a clear example- they returned their swords to their resting places at the close of their adventure, even though the threat was gone. Someday another hero would need it.
The weight of the choice was not lost on him- worst case, he would have his personality split four ways forever. He might lost three parts of himself and never get them back. He might be overloaded with four memories of the same thing. He might, he might, he might, he might just lose his mind over this!
The single calm person in the household was Vio- he seemed to have accepted long ago that they would one day have to return the sword, and the outcome would be completely uncertain. He was sitting outside in the bright sunlight, his back towards the sun and his eyes shut. He looked peaceful, his palms flat on the ground beside him to connect him with his shadow. With a feeling of sadness, Green reflected that Vio probably did not fear death, if only for the reason that he'd had such a close brush with it when Shadow had passed away before them. He had practically died in Vio's arms. Much in the way he now had his hands connected to the patch of shade he cast, Green suspected that Vio had a connection with Shadow.
Perhaps Vio felt that he'd already experienced death once, and in the worst scenario- their demise- he would return to his friend. He envied the serenity that the other part of him had; would he gain that when he returned the sword? Would he regain Vio's logic, Blue's strength, and Red's heart? The uncertainty was killing him.
He stood up, slowly trekking up the stairs and stopping at the top. From the room Red and Blue shared, he could hear soft crying- neither Blue nor Red were ready to accept their fate yet. Red had been in almost constant tears, and in an unusual turn of events, Blue seemed to have endless patience this time to comfort him. Was it because he was afraid for the exact same reason?
Walking past the cracked-open door to their room, Green caught sight of the scene transpiring inside. Red and Blue were both sitting on Red's bed, Red crying profusely into Blue's shoulder and Blue with an arm around him in attempted comfort. Green couldn't stand to watch (and also figured he might get killed if Blue looked up and saw him staring) so he continued on, stopping just past the doorway to listen to what they were saying.
It took a few minutes for Red to calm down past heart-wrenching sobs, clutching Blue's tunic tightly. "B-Blue... I don't wanna put the sword back..." He whimpered, sniffling. "I don't know what's gonna happen to us- what if we die?!"
"Shh, shh..." It wasn't easy for Blue to comfort him, seeing as he shared the exact same fears, but he was doing the best he could. "None of us know what's gonna happen. We might not die.."
"But you're scared too- I know you're afraid of what's gonna happen, and you're never scared!" Red protested with a wail.
"... Yeah, I'm scared." Blue admitted after a moment, sighing. "I'm scared and I'm mad. This isn't a big choice for him- his life isn't on the line by this. He's not the one that has to worry about losing himself!" This outburst of frustration from Blue brought on a renewed bout of tears from Red, and the azure Link hastily dialed it back to not upset him. "Sorry.. I promised I wouldn't yell..."
"It's okay, I wanna yell too..." Red admitted in a small voice. Green heard shifting from within the room, assuming Blue adjusted his hold on Red so he could better cradle their sniffling counterpart. "... I keep having an awful thought."
"What is it? Wanna tell me?" It was an unsettling change to hear Blue's voice so soft and gentle- it was a sign of how bad things must have seemed to him, that he no longer cared about maintaining the 'tough guy' image.
"I kinda keep imagining that we... Well... What if we left?" Red blurted out. "All of us have to be there to put the sword back, what if you and I left? Just us, Blue! Vio would never agree to it, he's already given up, but what if?"
"I would go with you." Blue sighed deeply. "I don't wanna go through with this either... But you know we have to."
"Can't we pretend?" Red pleaded. "Can't we just... Imagine that we're not gonna do this? Just for a bit?"
"All right. What would you rather do? Where would you go?" The sound of blankets rustling- they must have laid back on the bed while they fantasized.
"I don't know- the world is so big."
"Would you stay in Hyrule?"
"I dunno- if it was safe to, I would." Red said slowly. "I love it here. But if I had to, I could leave- it would just have to be somewhere pretty."
"Pretty and warm- no ice." Blue insisted with a small chuckle. "I don't like ice."
"Okay, no ice or snow," Red agreed, giggling quietly. "Maybe somewhere like the forest or like Hyrule Field... Someplace nice. What job would you like to have?"
"I'd wanna be a knight, no question," Blue proclaimed, and Green didn't have to see him to know he was grinning. "Best knight of Hyrule- or wherever we go. Protecting royalty, saving the kingdom, all that stuff. You know, the usual hero business!"
Red giggled. "And I guess I'd just bake or something; maybe I could be a seamster, too..." He trailed off, sounding dreamy. "I'll leave the fighting up to you- I don't wanna do that forever!"
"And you wouldn't have to- I'd protect you from anything and everything!" Blue proclaimed grandly, and Green heard Red laugh; he assumed Blue had hugged him or something akin to that.
"Oh, my hero!" Red chuckled. "But, yeah- what do you think we'd do about.. families and stuff? Do you think you'd ever want to marry someone, if you had the chance?"
A short pause followed this. "Ah... I dunno. It'd have to be the right person," Blue eventually responded, thoughtful. "There's not many people I think I can stand for that long."
"I know I'd want to get married," Red admitted shyly. "I couldn't stand being alone for my whole life- I'd wanna grow old with somebody I really loved..." He trailed off, voice wavering. Of course he would never get the chance to grow old at all- not when they planned to return the blade tomorrow. Green slowly sank to the ground, heart heavy as he listened to the other two. He couldn't help but feel like this decision was wrong, even though he knew it was the right thing to do.
He tuned in again as he heard Blue speak softly. "When you put it like that, yeah- it doesn't sound fun being alone. I guess even I might settle down eventually."
"Whoever got you would be really lucky," Red sighed. "You're so brave, and strong, and fierce- but underneath it all, you're really just a big teddy bear!" A small bout of laughter from both of the Links within followed this, which led Green to believe that Red had hugged Blue tightly about the neck.
"Aw, cut it out! No m'not," Blue protested good-naturedly. "I have no idea who'd wanna spend the rest of their life dealing with my crap every day- out of the two of us here, there's no question that you'd be anyone's first choice to marry."
"Bluuuuuue, shush!" The tone of Red's voice suggested he was flustered by Blue's words, but it only prompted a laugh from the other Link.
"Nah- we both know it's true. You've got a big heart, which people love; a big smile-" There was laughter from Red here, and Green suspected Blue had teasingly poked him in the cheek, "- which is brighter than the sun itself; your face, which is redder than your name-"
"Bluuuuue!"
There was much snickering from the tough Link immediately following Red's flustered exclamation. "It's completely true, you know."
"My face is only bright red cuz of you, ya dummy!"
"Well, yeah, but everything else I said is true too- you want me to keep going on?"
"No, shush!" The next bout of snickering from Blue was slightly muffled- Red must have slapped his hand over Blue's mouth to quiet him. "You're being silly!"
"M'being truthful!" Blue protested again, still chuckling to himself. "Whoever ends up winning your heart is gonna be the luckiest person alive."
"Then aren't you a lucky guy?"
"Huh?"
Red giggled shyly. "You know you stole my heart ages ago." A slight pause where he seemed to be expecting Blue to say something, but the grouchy Link was dumbfounded. "I, ah.. Thought it was kinda obvious. I.. Uh..." He sounded rather nervous. "Well, since we have to put the sword back tomorrow, I just wanna get it off my chest. I-"
He was abruptly cut off for some reason, and for a few seconds there was silence from them both. The next he heard was Blue whispering quietly, "You don't have to say it, Red- I know. I feel the same too." Nothing was said for a long few moments after that, and Green was going to get up and leave. He froze though as Blue piped up again, "Hey, now- why're you crying?"
"C-cuz..." Red whimpered softly, sounding so pathetic that Green was starting to get a bit emotional himself. "There's so much left to do- there's s-so much I wanted to see before my time was up, I just... It's not fair! I want to live, Blue! We've done so much for Hyrule, for the princess, for the goddesses, why do we have to forfeit our lives after all that?! I-I want to keep living..." He trailed off, his words muddled with shuddering sobs. "I-I'm so scared, Blue..."
"Shh, Red..." Blue's voice was beginning to falter, too. "I'm scared too. We've just gotta.. just gotta face it, though."
"This isn't an enemy! It's not something we can fight, or defend against, or deal with!" Red protested, hiccups punctuating every few words. "It's gonna happen whether we want it to or not! We're gonna die!"
"We don't know that we're gonna die, we don't know what's gonna happen," Blue tried to pacify him, sounding worried. "It might not even merge us back into one- we might be too changed for that."
"He pulled the sword and he split, when he puts it back it's gonna reverse!" Red insisted, nearly wailing. "We didn't exist before he drew the sword, there's no way we're gonna after he returns it!" Blue, privately agreeing with him, had no comfort to offer, and soon Red's sobs were muffled (presumably in Blue's shoulder.) "I don't wanna die..." He repeated in a weak voice, unstable.
"No matter what happens, we're in it together," Blue stated quietly, and it shocked Green to his core to hear the telltale wavering of the voice that signaled Blue was on the verge of tears, too. "You, me, and Vio- we're in it till the end." It hurt Green to have Blue exclude him like that- he knew that, while the statement applied primarily to the moment, that was Blue's true feeling on the group dynamic. Blue had not felt as close to Green as to Vio (clearly not nearly as close as to Red, as Green had just witnessed.) He often made it known through their rivalry, and even though Green could understand where Blue was coming from in this situation, it still stung to hear him say it. He didn't want to hear any more- he stood up, turning his back to the others and heading to his room.
He sprawled out on top of his bed, hiding his face in his arms. If they thought for one minute that this had been an easy choice for him to make, they were wrong. Could I live with myself if this went south? What if we put the sword back and, somehow, they're still around? What if it does kill them? Would I be able to handle their deaths on my conscience? I'd be killing a part of myself. Is this worth the risk? So many questions were spinning through his head, he legitimately could not see straight for the headache that had built up.
"Goddesses above, please let this end okay..." He muttered a quiet prayer to the three, pressing his face into his pillow. "I don't.. I don't know what I'd do if they were killed because of a choice I made..." In a selfish way, he wished that the sword had somehow broken, or one of their blades had gone missing so there was no way to return them all. Or even if one of them had been killed during the adventu- no no don't even think that. It's too real, the concept of them dying, I can't let myself think about it that way! Green gave a frustrated groan, squeezing his eyes shut tightly.
What would he say, when the time came to do the deed? He had to say something, just in case this was really his last time seeing the others. No matter what he thought up, though, it would all sound hollow and worthless- at least to Blue, he figured. Red would be crying the whole time, undoubtedly, and he'd be surprised if he heard more than ten words from Vio. He was prepared for an earful from Blue. Perking up for a moment, he strained his ears as he heard voices- Vio had re-entered the house, and must have been talking with Red and Blue.
He couldn't hear all that was going on, but from the tones of voices, he inferred that Vio was calm, Red was mostly stable, and Blue was once again guarded. He let his face fall into the pillow again, knowing that Vio would be arriving in their shared room in minutes. It didn't take him long to appear- he entered the room, shutting the door behind himself and going to sit down on his bed near the other wall. "Hello, Green."
"Hey, Vi," Green mumbled, rolling onto his side to face the other Link. "How're they holding up?"
"Red is no doubt going to be sobbing most of the day tomorrow," Vio sighed, rubbing his forehead. "And Blue looked like a cornered bear."
"I wouldn't expect anything less," Green sighed. "Vio... Please give me an honest answer- am I right? Is it the right thing to put the sword back?"
Vio heaved a deep sigh, shutting his eyes. "We've been through this before, Green. You know where I stand on it."
"Please."
"I think it is the only answer, yes." Vio said slowly. "Am I necessarily happy about it? No."
"You're taking it better than the others are." Green pointed out.
"That's because I know worrying and fretting about it will not change the outcome," Vio frowned. "And if these are to be my final hours in this realm, I do not wish to spend them in sadness."
"I wish I could have your attitude about this, Vi."
"Well, perhaps after we merge together again, you will." Vio muttered wryly. This was met with silence from Green. "That was a joke, you realize."
"I got that."
"Things must truly be in dire straits if I am the sole person left with a sense of humor."
This brought a small chuckle from Green. "Man, you're not kidding." He sighed. "This... is a slightly off-topic thing to ask about, but... I heard Blue and Red talking earlier, and I kinda think I accidentally overheard something rather private."
"Then why would you tell me?"
"I wasn't gonna!" Green shook his head. "I was just wondering if you'd picked up on-"
"I have picked up on them, yes. It's been clear to me for a while now."
"... So I'm the last one to learn about this?"
"Yes."
"Damn." Green gave a little grin, turning his gaze to the ceiling. "Makes me feel even worse about putting the blade back, having to tear that away from them."
"It's not your fault they waited so long to 'fess up about it," Vio pointed out.
"But it is my fault I'll be replacing the sword."
"Yeah, well..." Vio folded his arms behind his head, lying back on his bed. "I suppose there's no use in speculating about what's gonna happen- it won't change the outcome."
"So you're not afraid that it may mean the end of you?"
"I would rather it mean the end of me than it meaning I become trapped within your mind." Vio corrected. "In this scenario, I do not fear death."
"Does that have anything to do with Shadow?" Green dared to ask. When he was met with silence, he glanced back over to discover Vio had wordlessly turned his back on him. "... Forget I brought it up."
"I think I am going to rest for a bit." Vio stated curtly. It was clear that the topic, even after time had passed, was still a sensitive one for him. "Goodnight, Green."
It was a long, uncomfortable night for Green, the only sounds being both his and Vio's breathing, and the soft sound of crying from the room next door.
The day of them putting back the sword will be the next bit I put up hehehe eue I don't have all of that done to my satisfaction yet, so it'll be another day or so in coming.
Uploading this bit now for my friend Emi's birthdaaaaaaaay C: I hope you've had a good day so far! (And sorry if this doesn't seem as directly shippy as I'd originally intended it to be, it'll get better hehehehe hope you enjoy reading about sad things happening eue)
But yeah! R&R if you'd like, and thanks for reading! C:
~Artimus-Maora