Okay, people are really starting to piss me off with the flames. It says right in the summary VAATIXLINK. That means it'scnot a MarySue! I had to get people out of the way for them to collide! And it's gonna happen again before they can, okay? I'm sick of explaining this when it says in the summary! K bai.

It feels like only minutes when I wake, but the sky above me is dark; it's night. I groan and prop myself up on my elbows. Looking around, I notice a fire going not far from me and a blonde haired boy sitting at it.

I open my mouth to say something, and just then the boy looks over at me. "Oh good, you're awake. I was beginning to get worried." The boy smiles at me. "I'm Link."

I nod shortly. "Vaati." The boy, Link, looks ironically enough like a spitting image of Shadow. "You look just like–"

"Dark Link, I know." Link scrunches his nose delicately. "He's practically my brother."

"You don't like him either?" I ask, sitting up more. Link shakes his head and pulls a skewer off the fire. He holds it out to me and I take it hesitantly; he wouldn't poison someone he didn't know, would he?

"It's not poisoned, I'll have you know." There's my answer. I take a bite out of the charred meat as Link says, "What are you doing out here, passed out no less?"

I shrug and swallow, feeling a bit more refreshed as the hot meat goes down my throat. "Running away."

Link's eyes widen a fraction. "From what?" he asks softly.

I shrug again, not willing to pour my heart out to the blonde stranger, and finish the skewer. Link passes me another, but I decline; the boy looks like he needs it more than I. I can't really eat much after what happened anyway.

"Why are you in an abandoned forest, Link?" It's the first time I've said his name, and I can see the boy's ears perk a little when I do.

"Oh just...looking." comes his vague reply.

"For?" I prompt. I know it's rude of me to pry; hell, I didn't tell him what I was doing. But I'm curious.

"A certain girl. She seems to disappear a lot." Link shrugs offhandedly, as though it doesn't matter.

I cross my legs and lean against a tree, watching Link poke at the fire. "I see," is all I say.

"Well, you had better get some sleep, Vaati. You were mumbling earlier, so I doubt you got any sort of rest." Link says, still poking at the fire.

I blush faintly and look away, embarrassed. "What was I saying?"

I can hear the rustling of Link's clothing as he shrugs. "I...couldn't understand much..." He sounds as embarrassed as I feel; I know I was mumbling about Shakra, and I know Link heard it all.

I nod and lean my head against the trunk of the tree behind me, eyes closed. But now I can't sleep; I keep replaying what happened between Shakra and I.

Just as soon as I decide to force myself to sleep, I hear soft snores. Opening one eye, I groan; it's Link.

*Goddesses above.* I think. *The boy snores.* Knowing I'm destined to not get any sleep, I settle down to watch him. Somehow though, as similar as he is to Shadow, he doesn't resemble him at all. I'm not sure if it's just that Shadow slept with Shakra, or because the teenager sleeping soundly across from me is his own person. As I said to him, Link looks pretty much exactly like a light version of Shadow. Only… not vindictive and hateful. His eyes are a cerulean blue, much unlike Shadow's blood red. Light blonde hair frames a thinner face than Shadow; he also looks less built than his darker sibling.

There also aren't any lines on Link's face when he sleeps like there are on Shadow; looks more at peace. Slightly feminine, actually. Maybe he's gay. I chuckle some as I think this. Leave it up to Link to be gay. That would make sense, though, if he's the opposite of Shadow, and Shadow's definitely not gay. Maybe then, I shouldn't be around him; I mean, I look feminine myself with my long lavender hair. Shaking my head and smiling wryly to myself, I again settle against the tree to sleep. Somehow Link's soft snores don't bother me as much anymore and I drift into an uneasy sleep.