A/N: What am I doing? c:

An'ways, I dunno about you, but Shadow/Zelda was always the most obvious pairing in the Four Swords manga to me. :/

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't Zelda. Mm-hm.

oOo

Then the Darkness

Pieces.

The mirror is in pieces now, and it is all for her, her, her.

He hates her more than anything.

She'd changed his entire perception of the world. Like always, her words had stung, but at the same time felt so good, like alcohol on a nasty cut. He had been in the midst of mulling over the idea that maybe she wasn't as bad as he made her out to be when the dark cloud had come, suddenly, wrapping its tendrils around his princess.

She is his, of course, he reflects, fighting the darkness that attempts to wrap itself around him.

She lost consciousness after that, and whispered something; he barely caught it, and when he did, he went nearly blind with fury, and deflated ego, and hurt.

He wanted it to be his name, and as the dark cloud disappeared with the princess, he forced himself to his feet. If she wouldn't speak his name, he thought, then the only logical course of action would be to become the name she did speak.

The Links are coming; he can hear their footsteps, feel the vibrations in the ground, and with a great deal of effort, he rolls over, forces himself to look up into their faces. "Is…is Vaati gone?"

"Yes." Vio nods, smiling. "He's gone, thanks to you."

So, in the end, he'd managed to save her, save Zelda.

"You…you're thanking me?" He's finding it harder and harder to fight the darkness; with each passing moment it grows deeper, deeper, and threatens to suck him in.

"Yeah! You saved the day, Shadow!" Red's voice chimes.

"Oh…you're welcome." He sighs, finally giving into this thing, this veil that wants him gone.

From there on, the world is a vague, fuzzy, photo. He manages to give some sort of half-answer to Vio's pleas for him to stay, but his mind, or what's left of it, is on other things.

Zelda was right. He'd just proved so, by becoming the hero spoken of in legends, turning the tables, by becoming a Link.

She was right, and he loves her for it.

oOo

A/N: I try to write a fluffy Shadow/Zelda and this is what I get. Self, you fail again. -_-

Argh, what is this? Seriously…what the hey's happened to my writing? Review and tell me. *Hint*