Power Problems

It was evening.

Link and Grimmjow had, despite Midna's complaints, not travelled towards Faron Woods. Instead they had gone south from Castle Town and were now settled in the amphitheatre overlooking Lake Hylia. The blond had filled the bluenet in on what had been going on.

"… So the Triforce is a power the three goddesses left behind… You have one and that woman has one," Grimmjow said. "Then who has the last one?"

"Ganondorf … or at least he had it the last time around," Link said. He lifted a bottle to his mouth and drank.

Grimmjow raised an eyebrow. "Last time around?" he asked.

Link nodded. "Oui… you see the last time Hyrule was in danger like this my Grandfathers were the ones who dealt with it. Link, the Hero of Time, and the carrier of the Triforce of Courage which is the Triforce piece I carry defeated and killed Ganondorf…" he said.

"But if he was…" Grimmjow didn't get further.

"You're interrupting me," Link said with a small smirk. "You see the current Princess Zelda sent my Grandfathers back in time after they had beaten the crap out off Ganondorf so it actually never happened. I don't know what happened to Ganondorf after that. My Grandfathers didn't stick around to find out. They left for Earth or rather Link left for Earth because that was where Grandpa, Harry, was from and Zelda had somehow managed to send him back there."

"So, you're telling me that what's going on now might be happening only because one of the woman's ancestors fiddled with things better left alone?" Grimmjow looked pained. It was so stupid.

"Yeah, definitely and they don't remember that my Grandpa didn't just help the Hero of Time but he was also a dark wizard. Light balances darkness and my Grandfathers are the perfect example of that. Zelda and others I've met keep saying how Xanto is dark and the lord of shadows but without shadows and darkness they wouldn't have made it against Ganondorf the first time around. It is a bit frightening you know…. because Zelda is supposed to carry the Triforce of Wisdom," Link said. He leaned back and closed his eyes, breathing softly.

Grimmjow shook his head. These humans or Hyruleans or whatever were seemingly incapable of handling their own problems. They were weak and while not stupid per se they weren't either brave or had a survival instinct. Hell he would have fought on principle against what was going on. Of course as it was, he wanted to beat the crap out of Stinky because of the things attitude.

"Now Zelda wants me to go retrieve the Epée de Légende… but I don't know. The Sword is supposed to be wielded by a light warrior like my Granddad Link not by someone like me who's more dark than anything else. I take after Grandpa more than Granddad. Though I'm an Elemental Master or I will be at least. My elemental magic is a lot stronger than Grandpa's ever was… at least that's what he told me. It doesn't feel right to go after the sword and I don't actually need it for anything anyway," Link said. He opened his eyes and looked out over Lake Hylia.

Midna had disappeared down into his shadow earlier when it had become apparent that they would not be travelling anymore that day. She had been muttering and waving about angrily as she disappeared.

Grimmjow shrugged. "If I didn't want Stinky dead I wouldn't even bother with this nonsense. What's the point of saving people when all they are gonna do is demand more afterwards?" he said. He rubbed his hand over his face. In a way things had been so much simpler when Aizen was still controlling him. Or back before he'd met the man. There were so many feelings and … stuff soaring around his head now. He had questions he wanted answered, but he was probably the only one with the answers he needed and he couldn't remember.

"You know what Grimmjow…" Link said. "You're right… but if Ganondorf really is behind this mess." He sat up slowly. "Then I want to beat the crap out off him." He smirked at the bluenet as green eyes met blue.

"That is more like it," Grimmjow said with a smirk. "Fight for you not for anyone else."

"Fight for the sake of the fight and win because no one else deserves too win," Link said. "Come on I'm not sleeping on hard stone tonight." He stood up and walked up the steps that led back up on Hyrule Field. He could feel the air move as Grimmjow passed him. He laughed softly as the bluenet turned around to smirk superiorly at him.

Grimmjow crossed his arms over his chest in annoyance. He blinked in surprise as the blonde's warm hand travelled over his arm in a gentle cares. He turned to look at the teen. The smaller man was smirking mischievously as he settled down beneath a tree. The bluenet narrowed his eyes at the blond. The boy was playing with fire. 'You're playing a dangerous game, bitch,' he told the wolf as he settled down next to him in his panther form. It would be way more comfortable sleeping as animals out there.

'Oh, really,' Link said. 'I thought I was flirting but if you've got a different opinion that's O.K. I guess.' He was grinning a wolf grin.

The panther hissed at him. 'Sleep bitch I don't have the patience to deal with you tonight,' he said.

Link rolled his eyes. Grimmjow was so stingy sometimes.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Link roared. He looked up at Grimmjow. "You shut up or I'll shut you up," he hissed. Nothing was working. NOTHING. He had tried every exercise his Grandpa had taught him and his magic just wouldn't bloody well cooperate with him.

"NO! Link, watch out!" Midna called.

The blond opened his eyes but it was already too late. He could feel the blade passing through his stomach. He breathed in shakily and looked up at Grimmjow. "Pour quoi?" he whispered.

The bluenet sneered at him. "You're just as pathetic as the rest of the creatures around here," he said. He pulled his sword out of the blonde's body and turned around. "You're not even worth killing," he spat.

"How dare you!" Midna roared.

"Urusai!" Grimmjow told her in Japanese. Why he'd switched language he didn't know, but it turned out to be a good move when the imp looked at him startled.

Midna moved back. "Nanda, you speak Twi but…" she said.

"I said shut up, imp," Grimmjow said. He was actually hoping that the human would get up and retaliate. He didn't quite know why he cared, but he wanted the teen to regain control. He wanted…

A surge of power almost knocked him off his feet. He turned around and watched as the boy's Reiryoku tore up a whirlwind around his body. He grinned. 'Now we're talking,' he thought as he could feel the Reiatsu. He breathed in. "You can do better than that, bitch!" he called out.

The Reiatsu disappeared completely. The Reiryoku vanished, and Link was hanging there in mid air, his eyes closed. His hair had broken out of its ribbon and was floating serenely around his head. The flame pattern under his left eye had turned white. It was the same with the lines on his arms and hands.

Green eyes opened. A hand was raised and the stone beneath Grimmjow's feet shattered. "You wanted to fight me… Grimmjow," his voice drifted eerily through the air. "Then fight me." He moved forward and slashed with his still outstretched arm.

A bolt of lighting crashed down where the bluenet had stood just moments earlier. He grinned maniacally. "You're on," he said confidently. He Sonído-ed to right behind the blond and slashed with his sword.

It stopped. A wall of pealing rock blocked its path.

Then the rock started glowing. It broke to pieces and charged right at him. He moved out of their path.

Slash

The blade was stopped once more.

The counterattack barely missed him. He could smell burnt hair. His grin widened.

The blond moved forward again. He spun out of view.

"Got ya'," Grimmjow said as he grabbed the teen's arm. He angled his sword and cut.

Link grabbed the hand that was holding him and pulled himself up and out of the sword's way. He gathered fire in his hands. The flames burned hotter and hotter.

"Fuck!" Grimmjow pulled away. He looked down at the angry red mark on his arm before turning back to the human. "I'll get you for that," he hissed.

Link smirked and dodged the bluenet's next strike. His eyes glided over Lake Hylia as he spun around. 'To close,' he thought as Grimmjow's blade grazed his shoulder. He jumped out of the feline's way, landed on a piece of the amphitheatre that had come loose at some point and launched himself out over the lake. He knew that Grimmjow would follow him. He wasn't running away after all. He twisted his body into a spin and reached out with his magic. Clear cool water met him and twisted around his body. He landed unscratched on the water surface. Water rose up around him and launched out as soon as the bluenet appeared.

Grimmjow staggered back. 'He went for more ammunition, the little bastard,' he thought. 'Let's see just how fast he is, hmm.' He didn't even bother with landing on the water.

.

Blood was dripping down into the clear water colouring it red for a little while before it became so diluted it could no longer be seen.

Two figures were standing on the water surface both wearing crazed grins and intense eyes. They were breathing heavily. Long gashes ran down their exposed skin.

Green-eyes met blue.

Link let out a freeing laugh. He closed his hands and let the water around him carry his body forward. He gathered some of the water around him and a blade was formed in his hand. The water froze and he dodged Grimmjow's swing before dealing out his own.

A shaky hand reached up and grabbed the blade running straight through his shoulder. Link looked up at Grimmjow. "Let's stop now before someone really gets hurt, yeah?" he said, his breathing laboured and tired. "You held back and I still can't control how my magic actually works. We both know who would have won if it was a real fight." He let go of the bluenet's sword, his own blade turning back to the water it had come from.

Grimmjow still wore that insane grin. He moved back half a step and looked down at his battered body. "Ya' know what you're right maybe I should just kill you and be done with it," he said sarcastically.

Link rolled his eyes. "Admit it! You like me that's why you didn't just kill me," he said before taking off towards the nearest piece of land.

"Yeah, right," Grimmjow muttered. He cracked his neck and sighed. It had been a good fight. Yeah, the blond wasn't as good as him, but he could definitely hold his own. He looked over at the teen. He smirked as the green tunic the blond wore was pulled off and thrown on the ground. He started walking towards the piece of land the boy was sitting on when a black and orange blur appeared before him.

"How dare you do that to Rinku? He saved your life you miserable…" Midna fell silent when the bluenet Sonído-ed away.

Grimmjow landed next to Link. "Your girlfriend is starting to seriously piss me off," he said as he sat down next to the blond.

"Grimmjow, I'm gay what on Earth would I need a girlfriend for. They don't have the right plumbing," Link said as his hands started glowing and the last of his wounds closed up. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. "Hnnn, that's better…" he looked up at the bluenet, "did you have to stab me earlier?" he asked.

Grimmjow scoffed. "You were pissing me off with all that whining. I figured that you needed to release some tension and that the way you used to work your …magic… or what ever you call it didn't work anymore. So, I made you use it instinctively instead by stabbing you," he said. He ran a hand through his sweaty hair.

Link moved up to him. "You really are a person of action aren't you," he said. "No excessive talking. You prefer to just get right to the root of the problem, huh?" He placed a hand on the bluenet's shoulder. "Lay back so I can heal you," he said demandingly.

Grimmjow snorted. "And there is a problem with that. It worked, didn't it?" he said. He could feel his jacket sliding off his shoulders. The hand on his shoulder pushed him back until he was lying on the soft grass beneath them.

"Just let him bleed to death," Midna sneered in Hylian at the bluenet as she landed in the grass next to Link.

Link raised an eyebrow at her. "There, there Midna calm down…"

"Calm down, calm down, this disgusting creep tried to kill you Link. How can you be so calm?" Midna said. Her eyes were wide and disbelieving.

"He helped me…"

"Helped you, helped you…"

"Shut up imp or I swear I will shut you up!" Grimmjow growled.

"Don't you dare get involved in this…"

"Midona just calm down will you. There is no need to yell at Gurimujō. Yes, he was being a bit brutal earlier, but that is just the way he is and I'm fine with that. He didn't really mean to hurt me. If that had been what he was after I'd be dead now," Link said joining the conversation.

Midna looked at him. "Urrgh, whatever, don't come crying to me when he does kill you," she said and disappeared down into the blonde's shadow. She didn't even comment on the fact that Link spoke Japanese as well – though where she was from it wasn't called Japanese of course.

"Enfin," Grimmjow muttered. Blue eyes closed slowly.

Link reached out and pressed the palms of his hands against the bluenet's chest. "She's just worried about me…" he said. "I guess that's why you called her ma copine, huh?" He was smiling softly as his magic worked on Grimmjow's wounds.

"Tsk, yeah, course it was," Grimmjow said. His conscious started drifting as soft warm hands travelled over his abdomen and up his chest.

The feeling travelled with him into his subconscious. He could feel gentle hands wrapping bandages around his chest. He was pushed back into a bed.

He drifted.

Loud noises reached his ears. People were screaming. 'Why are they screaming?' Grimmjow wondered.

Blue eyes opened and looked around. He was lying in a tent. On either side of him there were injured men lying in makeshift beds. Bandages were wrapped around heads and arms and legs. Some poor sod had lost a leg another was slowly bleeding out in his bed.

The sound of bullets cut through the air.

Grimmjow stood up on shaky legs. He had to do something. He couldn't just lay there. He grabbed a rifle and staggered out off the tent.

Blood and death. People screaming and gunfire.

He made it over to a trench and fell down on his knees. His body protested as he lifted his rifle up. He aimed and fired.

One

Two

Three

They weren't stopping.

Grimmjow lifted his rifle again. He pressed the trigger and then his body was thrown back.

The bluenet sat up suddenly. He was breathing raggedly.

Warm hands pressed against his chest. "Shhh, Grimmjow its O.K. I've got you... shhhshh…" a soft voice said. It kept talking to him in that soothing tone.

It took the bluenet a while to realise that the one who was speaking was male, and it took him even longer to realise that he was sitting next to a lake with no sign of the dirt filled trench anywhere. He took a calming breath, blinked and looked towards the person sitting next to him. In the back of his head he could feel a need… a need to protect someone. Like he'd been fighting to keep someone safe… but he had no idea who. Blond hair and green eyes met him.

Link smiled softly at the bluenet. "It is O.K. Grimmjow, you're awake now," he'd been scared when the man had started twitching in his sleep. He'd done his best to make certain that the man hadn't hurt him or himself. He moved closer to the bluenet and wrapped his arms around him.

Grimmjow shifted as the blond came closer. He felt warmth envelope him as the teen hugged him. A part of his mind told him he shouldn't allow that, but he still wasn't with it enough to listen to that. He let his forehead fall to the blonde's shoulder. It was his past it had to be. He'd been in a war and… he'd gotten killed in that war.

The bluenet lay back slowly with Link still hugging his body. He wrapped an arm around the blond but didn't say anything. 'What the hell …' he sighed. He'd rather not talk about this emotional shit anyway. His eyes closed again slowly. He wouldn't be dreaming this time though.