Characters do not belong to me...-sniffle- they are Nintendo's

Standing at the window sill, Link looked on as the rain continued to pour down on Kakariko village. The blonde hylian was in his white undershirt and tights as he turned away to look over his arsenal once more for what seemed like the hundredth time. He had made sure to restock all of his bombs and arrows, and check if any of his other equipment required honing. He had done all of this in the last hour, and although he was grateful to Anju of letting him stay in her spare room for the night, Link wanted nothing more than to move onto the next temple, and free it from whatever evil forces laid in wait for him. Sitting down on the bed, Link pulled off his floppy green hat and ruffled his hair up a bit. He blew out his only light source, a candle, before pulling back the covers and slipping underneath them. For a peculiar reason, the hero could not seem to drift off into sleep. Every time he would close his eyes, his body would tense and his consciousness would teeter on the brink of being awake and falling asleep. It was a habit that he had recently picked up as he spent more and more days out in Hyrule field, never wanting to be caught off guard and killed by an enemy.

"Come on, just close your eyes, let everything go blank..." he told himself, closing his blue eyes and waiting for the grips of sleep to fully pull him in.

'You think it's that easy...hero...'

Link was immediately sitting up right in the bed, his eyes scanning the dark room for any signs of an intruder. It took a while for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, but the hylian found nothing threatening in his room.

"Pull yourself together Link, you're just tired. That's all," he whispered, glad for once that Navi was at the moment, not with him. Link had no clue as to where the blue fairy had flown off to, she had been babbling on about Kakariko's well before she flew out of hearing distance. Link didn't mind her absence, but he did worry for his companion, she was very valuable in dire situations and without her his quest would only get harder than it already was. The boy flopped back down onto the bed, his arms behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. It didn't take Link to long for his thoughts to wander back to the events that had transpired earlier that day. Having come back from he water temple only to see Kakariko up in flames, and seeing a certain sheikiah being flailed around like a rag doll by an evil entity totally didn't contribute to the hero's involuntary reluctance to sleep. Maybe getting attacked by said entity might have done it, but Link found it very unlikely.

'For once you're right. It's not any of those things at all.'

For the second time that night Link was up and ready in a moment's notice, this time having gotten up and completely off the bed."Who's there!" he whispered a bit loudly, not wanting to disturb Anju or any of the other occupants in the house. When there was no immediate response the hero was put on edge even more.

Oh goddesses, I'm not crazy, am I? he thought, walking up the window sill to check if anyone or thing was lurking outside. Finding nothing but the rain smacking the already soaked to its fullest ground. Link pressed his forehead against the cool glass of the window, the adrenaline that had coursed through his body having made him feel suddenly hot.

'Tsk, tsk. Hero, I thought you were smarter than this. I thought we had something special...'

The voice now seemed to be mocking the blonde-haired hylian, not catching him off guard this time, more or so beginning to annoy him."Show yourself! Quite toying with me and come out!" Link almost yelled, quickly lowering his tone as he searched all over the room once again.

With all his moving about, Link didn't notice the door creep open, "Link, Link? Is everything alright?" a feminine voice called softly from the door, Anju having peeked in to see Link looking under the bed. When the boy popped back up, he was a bit embarrassed at having woken the women.

"Uh yeah, everything's okay. I just thought I dropped something down here is all," he assured, giving Anju a convincing grin.

Link was relieved when Anju turned to leave, hearing her say softly, "...Alright, have a good night."

As soon as Anju closed the door, the hylian was back up and about, red with embarrassment that he was fussing over a voice that probably didn't even exist."It's the lack of sleep, lack of sleep. Just go to bed already." Link scolded himself, moving to return to his now very messy bed.

'Really now, do you always need that little fairy pointing every little thing out for you! Sheesh, go look in the window. I'm through playing games...hero...' the voice sneered, the complete turnaround in tone surprising Link. Quietly, almost hesitantly, Link walked up to the window for the third time that night, and like the last two times nothing was different. The rain had seemed to have softened as the night dragged on, but the hylian was on high alert for anything.

'What, are you dense now? Look AT the widow, not through it.' the voice spoke once more, Link having gotten use to how unpredictable the voice decided to speak. The blonde looked at the window hard, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. He pressed his hand against the glass, the coldness sending a shiver up the hero's spine, not remembering the glass being that cold.

'I told you to look for me, not feel me up. Hehe, I didn't know you rolled like that hero...'

Link immediately retracted his hand, and it was at that moment, when his eyes caught sight of the window once more, did he finally see what had been beckoning him. The hylians eyes widened in shock and utter disbelief at the sight of glowing, red eyes boring back into his own.

"You! I-I defeated you back at the water temple!" Link stuttered, unable to tear his gaze away from the window. The hero's sudden shock earned a chuckle out of his reflection in the window, even as the hero stood completely still the reflection moved to cross his arms over his chest, smirking.

'That's right, you defeated me, but I was just having some fun. I should have taken my job a bit more...seriously.' came the reply, but Link had taken that time to quickly compose himself.

"Dark Link..." he growled, slowly backing up, hoping to reach the corner where he had rested the Master Sword. This didn't go unnoticed by the hero's shadow, his smirk turning into a frown.

'Now, if you're going to play rough, let's even the field shall we?' the shadow chuckled, crawling out of the window and standing in the room just as Link dashed for his sword. The hero didn't waste any time unsheathing his blade, hastily throwing the scabbard down and pointing the blade of evils bane at his dark counterpart.

"I'll kill you Dark." the blonde threatened, taking a step closer to the ruby-eyed man. Unarmed, Dark didn't show any signs of fear as the hero took another step closer with the blade, a blade that the shadow knew inflicted the worst type of pain on beings like himself. Link was surprised at the other's impassiveness, but he kept up his harsh, cold glare as he moved to be no more than a foot away from his shadow.

'Hm, it's funny,' the counterpart spoke, closing the distance, the Master Sword pointed directly at his chest, 'you called me Dark. You've always called me Dark Link,' he grinned, looking directly at Link, seeing the boys tough front slightly falter.

"I don't want to associate my name with yours. Either way it doesn't matter what I call you, anyone who associates themselves with Ganondorf shouldn't even have a name at all!" the blonde responded, the venom in his voice arising from just thinking about the man that had taken over Hyrule in his absence.

'Such passion hero, you'll surely save this land from that wretched man. But now, onto more important matters.' Dark responded, pushing against the flat of Link's blade with the palm of his hand, effectively holding it in place and not in the least exhibiting the pain that was shocking its way up his hand and arm. Link tried to push against the hand, but the more he tired, the harder it was to even move. 'Remember the time Mido pushed you into the mud, and in front of all the Kokiri ? Huh! Don't you remember how they all laughed at you?'

The hylian was surprised at how much his counterpart knew about him, he had only encountered the man once on his quest."That...that was just an accident. Mido didn't mean to do that!" Link retaliated, not wanting to give Dark the satisfaction of knowing him so personally.

'Oh hero, why cover up for a person that didn't even like you? He teased you, called you names...and you still think of all those things as just accidents!' Dark was seething with anger, his hold on the Master Sword tightening so that the edges of the blade were delving into his hand, his dark, almost black blood seeping onto the sacred blade. 'You thought you were weaker than him Link, you thought if you tried anything you wouldn't stand a chance. But after those seven years, as soon as you saw Mido again, your...darker thoughts..started to arise.'

Dark finally let go of Links blade and took a step back, his anger having slightly dissipated as his signature smirk made its way back onto his face, 'Maybe and arm? Or a leg? Maybe I should just cut off his head and be done with it. Wasn't that all going through your mind even as he helped you to the Sacred Grove? You wanted to get back at him so badly after all the trouble he caused you, but that's not something a hero is suppose to do, right?' he caught sight of his lighter half's face just as he finished, and Dark couldn't suppress a chuckle. 'What's with that face hero?'

Link was staring at his shadow with wide, shocked eyes at having heard everything, knowing that it was all true, "I would never! I-I-," and much the Dark's dismay, his lighter side was still going to deny having had any of those thoughts.

'Why do you lie, everyone has dark thoughts once in a whi-'

"Not me! I can't have these thoughts!" Link cut in, his sword quickly pointed back at Dark, "Everything I've done for Hyrule would have been in vain if I let my darkness consume me."

The hero's counterpart let out a heavy sigh, his red eyes locking with Link's blue ones,'I wonder sometimes how people perceive darkness...' he uttered, 'it's not as bad as you think hero.' The shadow snapped his fingers before backing up and disappearing into the window he had crawled from. Almost immediately Link began to notice the walls of the room disappearing, the floor taking on water up to his ankles as mist quickly moved in to cover the surface. In a matter of moments the spare room Anju had let Link occupy turned into the room where Link had fought Dark in the water temple, and the hero never wanted to relive the tough battle that had occurred there. The hylian gripped the Master Sword tightly, scanning his surroundings as he treaded around the room, then coming to the all too familiar tree at the center, not failing to notice that he was clad in his fighting attire, only missing his shield and items pouch.

"How did you managed to do this?" Link called out, his voice carrying a bit before all went silent once again. It stayed silent for what seemed like an eternity, until he heard the sloshing of water coming from behind. Link quickly swiveled around, just in time to block a blow from a dark blade.

'That Link, is a secret I shall carry to my grave.' Dark answered, grinning as he pushed his blade against the other's, the two now pitted in a battle of strength.

"Then you won't harbor that secret for much longer!" the blonde responded, with one strong shove sending his shadow off balance. With a quickness honed by battle, Link swiped his sword across his shadows chest and effectively managed to land the blow. The hylian swung his arm again to get another hit, but his blade met air and the only traces of Dark being wounded were the dark clouds of water left where he had been standing. Link scanned his area, knowing from their previous battle that Dark could pop up out of the water at any moment.

'Can you conquer yourself this time?' the shadow mocked, coming up closely behind his lighter side and holding his dark blade to the hero's throat. Link was quick to react as he sent his elbow crashing into his shadow ribs, pushing the arm that was holding the dark counterpart of the Master Sword out of the way as he slipped out of Dark's hold.

"Don't think I won't go down without a fight Dark." the hero growled, rushing towards the other man with his sword poised to strike. Link tried to slash at his shadow chest again, but was not surprised when the ruby-eyed male blocked and sent a slash of his own.

'I won't hold back anymore hero...' the shadow spoke, his slashes and hacks taking on more strength and force, the tables quickly turning on Link. Dark advanced on the hylian, each blocked hit sending Link back a step or two, until finally his back hit something solid. Knowing that there were no walls in the middle of the room, Link quickly assumed that he had hit the dead tree at its center. 'I thought you would put up more of a fight Link, and to think I called you hero.' Dark spoke, locking blades with the blonde once more, beginning to feel the man struggling under his dark blade. Beads of sweat were starting to form on Link's forehead as he continued to hold Dark off, knowing the consequences that would come if he were to falter.

I can't lose to him, I have to defeat Ganondorf. I have to save Zelda. I have to save Hyrule! the blonde thought, and with his newfound resolve and strength, he pushed back up against his shadow, the two evenly matched as one tried to take back the control.

"I won't lose to you!" Link roared, giving once finally shove that sent Dark stumbling backwards, the shadow's glowing red eyes somewhat wide with shock. The hylian quickly rushed towards Dark, narrowly missing a slash from his dark counterpart, although managing to get nicked on the cheek, not fazed by the pain or the blood trickling down his face. With a brutality that Link never once used on an enemy, he thrusted the Master sword deeply into the shadow's shoulder. The blonde didn't stop there, using his momentum to push Dark to the ground and managing to knock the other's blade from his hand. The hylian pinned him there as he pulled the blade from his counter parts shoulder, readying himself to deliver the final blow.

'Well done hero. Looks like you're going to defeat me after all,' Dark uttered, looking directly at Link with an unwavering stare. 'Seeing that you're going to kill me, let me at least have some final words." Link couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the man's request, but he didn't deny him.

"Speak."

Dark Link grinned, knowing that that Link was indeed brutal, but not cruel,' Link, you and I are two sided of the same coin. One cannot live without the other. Why do you think I didn't die the first time? I let you win, I gave up before you would have actually killed me. But I came back thinking you would not perceive me as evil, I am just a shadow after all.' Dark stared intently at Link, watching the blonde beginning to hesitate. With weakness in the hero's guard, Dark moved quickly, in a flash of movement pinning his lighter half down on the water-covered floor, the hylian clearly shocked.

'But this is what I should do, right? Kill you and doom Hyrule to and existence with Ganondorf as its ruler,' the shadow looked to the Master Sword tightly clenched in Links hand. With ease he pried it from him, and without hesitation he plunged the sacred blade into Link's abdomen. An agonizing, pain filled yell quickly met Dark Links ears as he continued to push downwards on the blade, until he finally hit the hard floor beneath the hero. Link attempted to pull out the blade, but it was no use. The hylian could feel himself losing blood, the clear water around him quickly turning a crimson red as the thoughts of his failure filled his head.

'This shall be our end,' Dark spoke, finally pulling out the sword and chucking it a good distance away. Link could barely managed to see Dark over the looming darkness in his vision, and the blonde didn't fail to notice that his shadow had a similar wound to his own.

"So you were right..." Link managed to utter, his body starting to feel cold and numb. To Link's astonishment Dark managed to put on a grin even as they were dying, the blonde feeling him shift as his eyes grew heavy. Leaning over the hero, Dark Link bore his red eyes into dying blue ones, not even showing signs of death from his fatal injuries.

'Link,' Dark whispered, the blonde barely managing to listen as his world grew darker and darker.

'Wake up.'

The blonde's eyes immediately snapped open as he bolted up right, sweating and breathing hard. Link looked around with wild eyes, the floor was no longer covered in water and mist, and the dead tree was no longer to be seen. He was in the room that Anju had lent him, his arsenal and clothes remained untouched along with the Master Sword, sheathed and resting against the wall where he had left it.

"It was all just a...dream." Link whispered softly to himself, letting out a breath he didn't notice he had been holding in. He peeled back the covers and swung his legs off the edge of the bed, relieved that he had fallen asleep. The blonde ran a hand down his face, wiping away some sweat, but suddenly feeling a stinging pain come from his cheek. He pulled his hand away only to see his palm coved darkly with blood, and Link's sapphire eyes immediately widened with horror.

"No..."

'Oh yes hero,' that all too familiar voice spoke, but Link didn't budge from his spot to even look for his darker counterpart. 'I couldn't let you get away from my illusion without a little, parting gift...' Dark chuckled.

"It can't be possible...You can't..." Link didn't want to believe what happened, he didn't want to believe that his shadow was still alive. The hylian tore his gaze away from his blood stained hand to look at the window, his eyes locking with glowing red ones even as the early morning sun peeked over the many roofs in Kakariko village.

Even as the light outside began to illuminate his reflection in the window, Link could still hear Dark speaking, his shadow's words sending shivers through him.

'I'll always be here hero, always watching...'

Alright! You've come to the end! R&R