Vio woke up with a start. His heart pounded painfully in his chest and he was shaking. That dream again…

He had had it for weeks now, on and off – a reliving of Shadow's death. (If you would call it 'death'.) It was always vividly clear in the details, making it seem like it was actually happening in front of him instead of it being just a dream. Vio shuddered and wrapped his blanket around him tighter. He didn't want to relive that horrible day, yet it continued to happen to him. He'd tried everything to try and have a sleep without dreams, but even if it wasn't his nightmare it was some other dream about him.

Six weeks had passed since the defeat of Vaati and Ganon. The four of them had all come to a general conclusion that they wanted to remain as four separate beings, so they had not placed the sword back in the pedestal. If they were needed as four again they could just go and defeat whatever evil it was. Now they were all back in Castle Town, sharing a house not far from the castle so that they could be close to Zelda. Blue and Green had become permanent knights, while Vio and Red were just on call. Red did odd jobs around the castle, and Vio spent his time reading in the library or trying to catch up on sleep. He hadn't had a good night's sleep since that day.

He looked out the window of his room on the second floor to see that the sun hadn't even risen yet. Even so, he stood up, blanket still wrapped tightly around him, and quietly walked down the stairs and out onto the porch. The stars were shining brightly and brilliantly over Castle Town. Vio forced himself a small smile. He could enjoy the beauty of the stars, couldn't he? He sat down on the bench and just watched them for a while. I wonder what time it is. I might just stay up. That's how it had been for six weeks. He would wake up in the middle of the night and, unable to sleep again, stay awake until the next night. Even the others had noticed that it was starting to wear on him.

They were constantly encouraging him to sleep, but they didn't, couldn't, understand his insomnia. It wasn't that they weren't saddened by Shadow's death, or that they had never experienced nightmares. It was that they had never gotten to know Shadow like Vio had. He had tricked him to gain information, and had received much more than he had bargained for. He had even tried to kill Shadow by destroying the mirror, but, though Shadow was furious at the betrayal, his eyes had reflected a deep pain that Vio had not realized was there. Just thinking about it shook Vio to his core. He shook his head and stared at the ground. The lamp above him flickered as it burned, creating a shadow of himself below him. He flinched and covered his head with the blanket, bringing his knees to his chest. He buried his face in his knees and hugged them tightly. "Shadow…" he whimpered in the moonlight. His face grew hot with tears. Sobs shook his body, so he sat there crying until the sun had risen.

"What are you doing up so early?" asked Green with a yawn and a stretch as he stepped out onto the porch.

Vio looked at him. "I could ask you the same thing." He turned away again. "Couldn't sleep."

Green sat down next to him and pulled the blanket back over Vio's shoulders. "Maybe you should try a sleeping potion?"

"Blue made me try one a few weeks ago. Didn't work."

"Hypnosis?"

"Tried it last week."

"Getting hit on the head?"

Vio's eyes grew dark. "You even try and I will make sure you never have a good night's sleep, either."

Green's hands flew up defensively and he let out a nervous laugh. "Kidding!" Vio relaxed and Green dropped his hands again. "But you really should try and get some sleep. How long have you been up?"

Vio stood up and draped the blanket over him like a cloak. Green stood up too, a worried look crossing his face. "A while. It doesn't matter." He started walking back into the house they shared. "If it makes you happy I'll go try taking a nap."

If Green replied, Vio didn't hear it, as he entered the house and closed the door behind him right as he finished his sentence. The wooden house was quiet. Red and Blue seemed to still be asleep. Vio crept up the stairs as silently as he could, turning into his room once he reached the top of the stairs. He closed the door quietly behind him and locked it. He flopped down on the bed, his face buried in the pillow. The blanket was over him, but not keeping him warm, so he pulled it closer to him so that it covered his head. He rolled onto his side to face his desk. He sighed. Sleep was the last thing on his mind. The only thing on his mind was his nightmare – was Shadow. He let out a cry of frustration and turned to face the other wall. He's gone. He's not coming back. He can't come back. He shut his eyes as tightly as he could and covered his ears with his hands. He's gone! He can't come back! His eyes grew wet, and he opened them again to attempt to dry them. Instead of doing that, the salty tears escaped from his eyes and ran down his face onto the pillow. He blinked a few times and wiped the tears from his eyes.

Vio fell asleep after that. He did not once more dream of the day him and the other Links defeated Vaati and Ganon, but instead he dreamt of Shadow. No specific day or moment, just Shadow. His tears, his anger, his smile.

For once, it was not a nightmare that plagued his sleep. It was a nice, calming dream that soothed his heart.

He woke up a few hours later, feeling almost refreshed for the first time in months. It wasn't exactly a perfectly restful sleep, but it was better than what he had been getting lately. He was facing his wall, so he rolled over to look at the clock on his desk. It was almost eleven o'clock.

Vio sat up in his bed and yawned. He rubbed his eyes sleepily. He couldn't remember the last time he had slept in so late. It felt nice, but at the same time he had wasted half his day already. A breeze swept through the room and he shivered. He wrapped his blanket around him like he had the night before and stood up to close the window. He hadn't even realized that he had left it open. After he closed it, he felt his stomach rumble uncomfortably. Looks like I'm hungry. He unlocked his door and opened it to head downstairs and into the kitchen. Red and Blue's doors were open, so Vio assumed they were awake, and made no attempt to further quiet himself as he made his way into the kitchen.

He ate toast in silence, alone in the kitchen with the blanket still over his shoulders. He seemed to be the only one in the house. He didn't really mind – he liked the peace and quiet once in a while. Normally, with the four of them all there at once, it was the noisiest house on the street.

When he was finished eating, Vio went to the living room and pulled a book off the bookshelf. He didn't really care what book it was, but he felt like he really wanted to read. Upon inspecting the cover, he discovered that it was a book on force gems. He chuckled to himself, thinking of the sparring matches Green and Blue would have with each other to gain force gems.

Red came home a few hours later, singing a happy tune that Vio didn't recognize. He didn't seem to notice Vio at first, and skipped around the house into his room followed by the living room still singing the song. He stopped singing when he spotted Vio sitting on the chair reading the book on force gems. "Vio!" he exclaimed happily. "You're awake! When did you get up?"

"A few hours ago," he replied, closing the book. He had just finished it anyway. He stood up and returned it to its place on the wooden bookshelf in the corner of the room. "Did you need something in here?"

"Ah, no, they just let me off so I decided to come home!" Red hopped over to Vio's side. "Did you have a good sleep this time?" he asked with a smile.

He actually had to think about this one. "I guess. Not great but better than I have been having. It wasn't long though," he added as an afterthought. Red's usual smile dropped slightly, but he still looked pleased.

"At least you got some sleep, right?" Vio gave him a small smile. "There we go!" Red grinned. "Always look on the bright side!"

Vio's smile faded and he turned back to the bookshelf. There isn't a bright side to everything… Red blinked and then patted Vio lightly on the head.

"You'll see him again someday!"

Vio turned wide-eyed to face Red. His other part was smiling brightly, a knowing look in his eyes. "We're still here, so wouldn't he be, too? Don't give up, Vio!" Vio gave in and smiled again.

"Thanks, Red," he said. "I think I needed that."

"No problem! Oh!" Red exclaimed suddenly. "I needed to go to the market, do you want to come?"

Vio shrugged. "Sure." He had nothing better to do. He followed Red to the door, grabbing his hat on the way.

The market was busy for a weekday. Food stalls were especially crowded, with people stocking up for the winter season. Now that Vio thought about it, winter was just around the corner. Soon the red and yellow colours of fall would be replaced with the blanket of snow that was winter. He had always liked winter – it was a nice quiet season with plenty of time to read. And think. He shook his head. No, not today, he thought determinedly. He stopped thinking about winter and followed Red mindlessly, his thoughts solely focused on what they needed at the market.

They didn't finish their shopping until later in the day, when the sun was starting to set. The days were getting shorter and the nights longer. Soon the time that the sun shone would feel like next to nothing.

The two ran into Green and Blue in the street. They were headed home from the castle, finally done their day's work. Vio shoved his two bags into their hands. They gave him a confused and slightly shocked look.

"Uh, what's this for?" Green asked, clearly dumbfounded.

"To take home," Vio replied.

Blue gave him an annoyed look. "You don't say. Why are you giving it to us?" Vio turned and starting walking away. He raised his hand in a small wave.

"Because I'm going for a walk." He continued walking.

"But, Vi-" Blue started.

"No, wait!" Red cried, covering Blue's mouth with his hand. The latter turned red. "Just leave him, okay?" He turned to watch Vio sadly. "He needs to be alone for a bit."

Vio didn't hear that part of the conversation; he was too focused on the sound the dry leaves under him made as he stepped on them. Some crunched loudly, while some hardly made a sound. Those were the ones, he could tell, that were not yet completely dead, but had been too weak to remain on the branches of the trees. He looked up. The trees were all completely bare. We'll get snow any day now. The sky was clear, save for a few clouds far off in the distance. Perhaps those would become the snow that would soon cover Hyrule. The air was already crisp. He could see his breath with every exhale, and his lips felt icy cold.

He walked for what felt like only minutes, but the sun was far low in the sky by the time he finally stopped. He hadn't even been paying attention to where he was going, let alone how long his walk had become. For the first time since he had started his walk, Vio actually focused on where he was. He had to get home eventually, and being lost certainly wouldn't help.

He was shocked to discover where he was – the pedestal. Where it had all began. Had his body led him there on purpose? It definitely felt like it. He stared down at it. This sword that was once in it had started it all. It had split Link – Green – into 4, no, 5, separate beings in order to defeat Vaati and Ganon. Vio clenched his jaw as he looked at the sword. If it weren't for this, he wouldn't have had this insomnia. He wouldn't have had to trick Shadow, and live through the consequences. No! He held his head and crouched down in front of the pedestal, eyes shut as tightly as he could. It was to save Zelda – to save Hyrule! It had to be done! He felt his eyes grow wet again. There was no escaping it! Everything happened for a reason! But it felt to Vio that that reason was to make him suffer. He was always thinking of it. If he wasn't thinking about what he was doing, or what he was reading, or what he was saying, he was thinking about that adventure, that day, that moment. Everything led back to that moment. That damned moment. Vio opened his eyes, letting his tears stream down his face. That's when he saw it.

It was small, almost unnoticeable. But the way the sun was hitting it made it shine just as brightly. Vio spotted it out of the corner of his eye, and had to stare at it for a few seconds to fully register what it was. Without thinking, he jumped up and ran to it. It was laying a few feet away from the pedestal. When he reached it, he slowly picked it up to look at it carefully. The edges had once been sharp, as if it had been broken forcibly, but they appeared to have dulled since then. Vio couldn't tell if someone had dulled them or if nature had done it, but they had definitely been dulled.

It was a shard of mirror. Not the Dark Mirror or anything, but just a small piece of a regular mirror. Vio's eyes widened. The tears ran faster down his face and landed on the bottom of the mirror. He whipped around, looking frantically for any other shards of the mirror. Around the pedestal? No. Where he had walked to get there? No. Nowhere that Vio looked could he find another shard of this random mirror. Odd, he thought, continuing to look for another piece of mirror. If there was one piece, you'd think there would be more, even if- He stopped his own thought process. The edges were dull, so the shard had either been dulled by some outside force or been sitting near the pedestal for a very long time. But neither he nor the others had ever seen any mirror (or shards for that matter) around the area, and they visited it frequently.

Vio looked down at the mirror again to inspect it more closely. It was just a normal mirror. No matter what angle he looked at it from, no matter how much light he reflected off it, no matter how he thought about it, it was always just a normal mirror. Something you could buy for 5 rupees at the market.

He thought about tossing it away, but opted not to. It could belong to someone, and, if it did, he wanted to be able to return it to them. If someone had found his hat he would want to get it back from them, after all.

As he let out a long breath to relax himself, Vio watched it crystallize and float upward. He liked watching his breath in cold weather – it soothed him. But it also made him realize how cold it was outside. He hadn't been wearing a jacket or anything all day, and as the night began the temperature was dropping. He hugged himself and shivered. I should go back. He started walking.

"Who said you had to go back now?"

He froze.

"You could stay here a while."

He blinked.

The tears that had stopped earlier came back for a third time that day. Vio didn't have to turn around to know the owner of the voice he was hearing. It was soft but icy, as if it were a snake personified. But it was also warm, like the sound of a friend talking to another. He wrapped his hand around the mirror shard tightly, and covered his mouth with the other to avoid making any noise.

"Turn around."

He didn't want to, in case it were a lie. In case someone were just tricking him for some cruel joke. He wanted to just listen to the voice, so that in his mind nothing was spoiled. But just thinking back to his deception, Vio knew that everything was already spoiled.

He turned around.

Shadow.

"S-Shadow… Y-You're-" Shadow put a finger to the lips of purple version of himself.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm back. No big deal." He gave Vio a light-hearted smile.

Vio's tears came faster and he pulled away from Shadow. "I… I'm sorry!"

Shadow seemed taken aback. He took a wary step towards Vio again, tilting his head. His red eyes reflected a worried confusion. Vio shook his head and looked down, his blond hair falling into his face.

"I betrayed you, and I shouldn't have. Out of all the things I've done wrong in my life, it's the thing I regret the most. I never thought you would trust me that much, to be so devastated by my actions."

Shadow just stared at him. After a moment he straightened his black tunic and hat. He took a full step towards Vio and patted him on the head. "We all make mistakes, Vio," he said as a response.

Vio could only cry harder. His entire body shook as he sobbed, apologizing to Shadow over and over again. His face was soaked from his crying. Shadow hesitated from doing anything, unsure of the right course of action to take. He wasn't great with this stuff. In the end, he took one more step towards Vio and pulled him into a tight embrace, cradling Vio's head in his shoulder. Vio quieted for a moment. The hug was surprisingly warm. "I-If you're going to cry, at least don't do it alone," Shadow suggested with a pink tinge in his cheeks. Vio took a moment to process the words, then grabbed Shadow's tunic tightly as he cried. The purple-haired one did nothing but hold him, but it seemed to help.

It took a few minutes for Vio to compose himself again. When he finally pulled away from Shadow's embrace, he turned away, the tips of his pointed ears turning red. Shadow chuckled to himself at the sight of Vio's embarrassment. The latter wiped the remaining tears from his eyes and looked at Shadow directly. "I'm glad you're here," he admitted, "but I can't figure out how."

Shadow pointed to Vio's hand. "The mirror." Vio opened his hand to take a better look at the shard. It didn't look special in any way. He looked at Shadow expectantly. "The sun's setting, right?" Vio nodded. "I used my powers to transport the mirror a little earlier, then used the power of darkness to bring myself here through it." Vio returned his attention to the mirror again. Well, it was certainly possible.

Suddenly, Shadow was close to Vio's face, inspecting his blue eyes seriously. Vio took an instinctive step back, but Shadow grabbed his chin to keep him still. Vio's face quickly became flushed. "W-What is it?" he asked shakily. Shadow frowned.

"Why do you look so tired?"

Vio opened his mouth to reply, but he found himself unable to. How could he respond to that? He could tell Shadow the truth, sure, but at the same time he didn't feel like he could. His heart pounded painfully in his chest. "I-I just haven't been able to sleep lately!" he exclaimed. Shadow's eyes narrowed. "Really! I'm fine!" Shadow clearly didn't believe him. He continued to stare at the boy in purple expectantly, looking for a better answer. Vio turned his head, unwilling to look his shadow in the eye. "I-I… I've just had some nightmares," he mumbled quietly. Shadow let go of Vio's chin and the blond stumbled back in surprise.

"Liar."

Vio just looked at Shadow. But he had told the truth.

"That's not it, is it?" Vio looked away, not willing to answer the question. Shadow touched Vio's chin again. "What were your nightmares about?" he asked in a more worried tone. Vio clenched his jaw and shut his eyes. That was the last thing he would answer. Shadow let him go once more and gave him a sad look. Vio immediately felt the need to apologize, but at the same time it felt too late. "Would it be too much to ask to help you with those?" he asked next to Vio's ear.

He hadn't even noticed Shadow come close to him. He jumped as the warm breath from his words reached his ear, becoming flustered. He tried to stammer out a sentence, but he was unable to and covered his mouth in frustration. Shadow gave him a sly grin. Vio looked away, still covering his mouth. Shadow's smile faded. "No?" he clarified, leaning in to Vio's face. The blond's eyes widened and his face became a bright shade of vermillion. Shadow looked right into Vio's blue eyes. They were still lightly laced with tears from before. Shadow used one hand to wipe them away. Vio flinched, but didn't move away. He pulled his hands away from his mouth.

"I-I missed you. I'm sorry for what I did to you."

Now it was Shadow's turn to blush. He never thought he would hear those words from anyone, let alone Vio. "I-I… I missed you, too…" he stammered, unsure if this was the correct response or not.

Vio took the chance to return Shadow's earlier hug. The purple-haired boy took a step back, startled, but didn't resist. After a moment of having Vio's armed wrapped tightly around him, he returned the gesture. He closed his hands on the hero's tunic and dug his head into his shoulder. It was warm, despite the chill in the air. He could feel Vio's breath go down his neck, and a chill went down his spine from the change in temperature. He hugged Vio tighter.

The purple-clad hero rested his head on Shadow's shoulder. How long had he wanted this? It felt like forever; he couldn't remember a time he hadn't. He tilted his head so his mouth was next to Shadow's ear.

"I love you."

Shadow's heart quickened and he let out a shaky breath. He turned his head towards Vio's slightly. "I…" He swallowed. "I love you, too." His eyes widened with realization at what he had just said. His face flushed completely, his ears turning a bright red colour. Vio smiled under the red flush that was his face.

They pulled apart for a moment, both very, very red and smiling. Then, thinking more with his heart than his head, Shadow took a step forward and kissed Vio.

He was not expecting their lips to meet. At least, he wasn't at first. When they did, the kiss was warm and exhilarating. They pulled apart after a moment, but Shadow wasted no time in going for another. He grabbed Vio's waist in his right hand and his head in his left. He pulled their faces together and pressed his lips against Vio's. They locked together tightly in a warm and somewhat damp kiss. Vio's hand reached back to his waist, and he interlocked his fingers with Shadow's. His other hand reached up and grabbed Shadow's shoulder tightly, refusing to let go. I'm not losing you again.

When they finally pulled apart, they rested their foreheads against each other's. They just stood there, breathing a little heavier than before and both of them smiling. Neither one wanted to be the first to move. Neither one wanted the moment to end.

"Vio~!"

And, just like that, the moment was shattered. Vio lept away from Shadow at the sound of Green's voice, his face still an embarrassing shade of red. Shadow just gave a sly chuckle. After a few seconds, Green erupted from the trees, looking around. He spotted Vio and smiled. "Vio!" he exclaimed happily. "I was looking for you!"

Vio returned a small smile. "I'm fine. Just needed a walk." He stepped aside to reveal Shadow, cheeky grin and all, to Green. "Look who I found." The green hero gaped.

"Hey, Green! Long time no see!"

"Sh-Shadow? What are you doing here?!"

"Oh, just popped in for a visit~! Thought I'd stay a while, too!"

Green seemed completely taken aback at Shadow's sudden appearance and request. He blinked. "O-Okay…" What did I just agree to?

"Shall we go home then, Green?" Vio asked, his face appearing calm while he spoke in his usual tone. Green gave a confused nod and started leading his two other selves away from the pedestal. Vio walked behind him, with Shadow bringing up the rear of the trio. He kept up his cheeky grin the entire walk back, clearly pleased with himself. Green couldn't figure out what he was so happy about (besides being back with them, maybe?) but he figured it would be better not to ask, so he didn't.

When they got back to the house, they opened the door, Green calling in, "We're home!" He froze as he entered the main hallway, Vio and Shadow both bumping into him.

"The hell?" Shadow snarled, annoyed.

Vio looked in front of Green. Oh.

On the floor in front of them were Red and Blue. Blue was lying on his back on the ground, obviously having fallen over. Red was over top of him, also having stumbled. However, when Green had walked in, they had been staring at each other with deep eyes and blushing. Upon the other three entering, they focused their attention on them and, after a moment's pause, both jumped up, completely flushed. Shadow let out a quiet chuckle.

"H-Hey Green, Vio…" Blue said, not looking either of them in the eye. "Shadow," he added as an afterthought and a nod to him. He paused and turned to look at Shadow with wide eyes.

"Shadow!?" Red cried, looking happy. "You're here!" He hugged the purple-haired warrior. "We've missed you!"

Shadow blinked at him, looking slightly annoyed to have Red clinging to him. "Hey Red," he muttered. "Yeah, I came back. I figured you guys would miss me too much to be able to go on much longer without me."

All eyes turned to Vio. The tips of his ears turned red, but he pretended not to notice. "Shadow," he warned, "don't tease them like that." Shadow just waved him off.

"I-I'd offer you a room, Shadow," Green said, trying to break from the conversation, "but we only have four. Are you ok with the couch? Or borrowing one of our beds?"

Shadow put his arm around Vio, who blushed. "Neither! I'll just bunk with Vio here!"

There was a stunned silence. Eventually Green just said, "O-O-Okay…" quietly. Vio's face was now the colour of Red's hat, and he couldn't even object as Shadow dragged him up the wooden stairs as per Green's direction via finger-pointing.

Once they reached the room, Shadow tossed Vio onto the bed and closed and locked the door behind him. Vio's heart quickened. "W-What-" He was interrupted by Shadow's warm lips meeting his. Shadow pushed him onto his back, removing Vio's purple hat. "S-Shadow?" The dark Link stood up from the bed and placed the white blanket over Vio before sitting on the edge of his bed.

"You're going to sleep," he announced, looking at Vio with serious eyes.

Vio let out a soft chuckle. "You did all that just to get me to sleep?"

Shadow turned away, his cheeks turning pink. "I-I had to get you here somehow. You look really tired."

"I'm fine, rea-"

"Liar!"

Shadow whipped around and kissed Vio again. He kept his face not even an inch from Vio's. "You're not okay and I don't want you telling me otherwise! You need sleep, Vio!" Vio couldn't bring himself to say anything. "Just sleep, for me."

He waited a moment for Shadow to calm down again before he wrapped his arms around the dark-haired boy's neck. "Then go to sleep with me," he ordered. Shadow opened his mouth as if to say something, but he remained silent. He flopped down on his side next to Vio, kicking his boots off. Vio did the same. Shadow crawled under the blanket with his other half and lay facing him.

"I'm not falling asleep until you do," he said stubbornly. Vio gave him a smile and closed his eyes.

A little while later, Shadow noticed Vio twisting around a bit in his sleep. His face had a pained expression that made Shadow's heart break in two. He couldn't figure out what to do. He was normally the cause of nightmares, not the solution for them. But Vio was starting to thrash around, and he was occasionally whimpering. He had to do something. He decided to listen. Maybe Vio talked in his sleep. He heard nothing, but Vio's hands reached out and grabbed Shadow's shirt tightly as he whimpered again. Shadow thought back to earlier that day and immediately came up with a solution. He wrapped his arms around Vio, bringing his head to the shadow's chest. "You're okay," Shadow whispered into his ear. "I'm here, with you, and we're okay." He kissed the top of Vio's head. "And I love you." The purple hero calmed down in his sleep. Shadow, as he also fell asleep, only barely, enough to think it was a dream, managed to hear, "I love you, too."

Vio's usual nightmares returned. Though Shadow was there, and they were together, his fading from the world of light had not left his dreams. He whimpered in his sleep, kicking a bit. In his dreams he reached forward and clenched Shadow's tunic desperately.

He felt arms wrap around him. He opened his eyes slowly in the waking world, surprised to see himself wrapped in Shadow's arms and holding on to his shirt. He felt breath on his ear as Shadow whispered, "You're okay. I'm here, with you, and we're okay." Vio felt Shadow's warm lips gently meet the top of his head. "And I love you."

Vio smiled and curled up tighter next to Shadow. He whispered very quietly, "I love you, too."

That night, he had a restful sleep. That night, his dreams were filled of his happy memories of Shadow, and the happy memories only.