I don't own the Legend of Zelda

Shad's house was an average size but it seemed much smaller because it was filled with books. On every available surface Shad's research notes were spread open as well as various books. Finding anything among all this would be nearly impossible. This didn't deter Link though, who was determined to help his friend no matter what. He had never been in Shad's house before, he realised as they began their search. If he was truly honest with himself he felt a little excited to be in the scholar's home for the first time. It was a nice, if slightly cluttered, place.

"So...um I guess you ran out of shelves?" Link gestured to the piles of books on the floor and the full shelves against the wall, as they searched Shad's living room.

Shad pushed his glasses further up his nose. "Well...yes, I haven't gotten around to organising them better."

Link got down on his hands and knees to look under the sofa, but there was no sign of the watch. Nor was it to be found in (very small box room sized) study or the kitchen or bathroom (which, as Shad pointed out, was an unlikely place for it to be). After a couple of hours of looking they decided to take a break.
As Link sat down while Shad made tea he noticed that one of the open notebooks on the table weren't written in Shad's familiar scrawl. He picked it up for a closer look as Shad came into the room with two steaming mugs.

"That was one of my father's. " Shad explained as he struggled to find a place to put the cups, before settling for a stable looking pile of books on the table. On top of coasters of course, he didn't want to risk making anymore tea stains.

"Oh." Link didn't really know what to say, he wasn't very good at being tactful. "When did he die?" This seemed to be the wrong question to ask as Shad seemed upset and turned away from Link for a moment.

"A few years ago. When I was 15." He said quietly.

Link put the book down and rose from his seat to stand beside Shad. He gently laid a hand on Shad's shoulder. "Sorry I shouldn't have asked."

"It's alright, old boy."

They stood in awkward silence for a moment. Link didn't like the sad look in Shad's dark blue eyes, he missed their sparkle when Shad was talking about his beloved research. That gave Link an idea.

"Hey Shad, can you tell me about the sky beings again?" Shad had told Link about the many times, but he never got tired of talking about it and link was always more than happy to listen.

"Of course." Shad smiled. "I'm still so glad that you share my passion for the subject." There it was, the light that twinkled in Shad's eyes which Link loved so much (not that he'd ever tell anyone). Link watched as Shad became more excited as he spoke about his passion, paying more attention to the look on Shad's face than to what he was actually saying as they both sat down on his sofa. Shad was kinda cute when he got this excited (which was another thing which Link would never admit to anyone). Actually he should probably get around to telling Shad about Ooccoo, that would really excite him. Link smiled at the thought of Shad's joy of meeting the a real oocca.

"Link? Link!"

"Huh? Oh sorry." Link was abruptly pulled out of his thoughts. "I was just..er..thinking, about the sky beings."

Shad pushed his glasses further up his nose. "Well in that case I don't blame you."

"Maybe we should get back to looking for your watch though."

While Shad had another look in the living room, Link went out into the hallway and noticed a door that he hadn't been in yet. He pushed it open. Shad's bed was in one corner with an old looking bedside table next to it with an even older looking lamp. Link wondered for a moment if Shad would mind if he opened his wardrobe, just to take a quick look. He could after all pretend that he thought his pocket watch was in there. He reached his hand out towards the handle but then changed his mind and withdrew it quickly. Instead he turned to Shad's crowded bookshelf. There were many think, heavy looking books about many subjects, mostly history. Link smiled to himself as he thought about Shad browsing these books and settling down somewhere to read one, with that thoughtful look on his face. He had almost forgotten that he came into this room to search it and as he remembered this he stopped staring at the books and instead looked under Shad's bed. He couldn't see anything under there so he felt around with his hand. He felt something under the bed which he pulled out. At first Link thought it was just a regular book, until he opened the first page. It was a diary. Shad's diary. Link shut it quickly just before Shad came into the room.

"Any luck Li-" Shad stopped when he saw what Link was holding. He turned bright pink "My journal!...y..you didn't..."

"No! No, I didn't look at it, I promise." Link handed the diary to Shad, who looked at Link for a moment.

Shad took a moment to recompose himself. "Oh...I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."

Link dismissed his apology with a wave of his hand. "It's ok, it's my fault." He had never intended on reading it, but there was part of him that secretly wanted to and that made him feel a little guilty.

"I think it's best if we just forget about it then." Shad sighed, looking as downcast as he felt. "I fear there's also little chance of us finding my father's pocket watch here. We have been looking for quite a while."

"Maybe you dropped it somewhere else. And we can ask around, see if someone's picked it up. It's not lose forever, I promise." Link really intended on keeping that promise. He imagined Shad's delight when he presented him with his watch. He knew how important it was to him and he just wanted to make Shad happy. Even if it meant looking through the whole of castle town to find what was dear to him.