A/N: Edited at 17.8.2103. Fixed minor misspellings and such.

Christmas is coming and I'm trying my best to update this on daily basis. THIS IS NOT LINK x DARK LINK!

Aslo, I know that Dark Link and Shadow Link are two different things but if you think about it... How does Dark Link appear into the Water Temple's room if not by being a shadow at somewhere?

Have fun!

Oh, and I own nothing else except the story and idea! Everything else, the characters and places, goes to Nintendo and who ever invented the amazing Legend of Zelda series!

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CHRISTMAS AT HYRULE

CHAPTER 10

Link woke up in middle of the night screaming. He shot up in the bed while panting in shock and fear. The Hero could feel pain in his chest and he brought his hand over his heart while gasping for air.

Link stared straight at his bed in the darkness while staying in on all four. Suddenly the pain got worse and he gasped in bewilderment. The Hero of Time fell to his side on the bed while gasping for air. His eyes were wide with shock. "What the heck's going on?" He thought in fear.

Third wave of pain came and Link shut his eyes while trying to will the pain to go away. Shaking badly, he stood up and started to change clothes. He couldn't stay in his room but he wasn't sure of where he should be going to.

Link staggered out of his room and towards the stables. He was truly happy that his room was farthest in the castle. He had asked for privacy and chosen his own room. Zelda hadn't been too happy about it but Link hadn't let her win that fight. And now he was glad that no-one was anywhere near to hear or see his pain.

When Link arrived to the stables, he noticed straight off that Epona wasn't well either. The mare was pacing in her small stable and her eyes were wide with fear. It took a while from her to recognize Link but even then she didn't fully calm down.

"I know, Epona, I know." Link whispered while hiding his face into her mane. Epona was still shaking in fear and not able to stay put. Link tried his best to calm her down but he himself was far from calm.

Link breathed in Epona's scent and tried to calm down. He didn't remember straight off a time he would've felt like this before but suddenly something did come into his mind. "Dark!" Link thought in pure shock and pulled off of Epona. He stared right forward without seeing the mare while the memories flashed through his mind.

Link recalled one time he had felt the same pain and that was when he had first fought with his darker counterpart. And even more so when he killed him. Killing his own darkness had felt like killing half of himself.

Link had felt that there was a part of him missing ever since that day until he met with his darker self again. It had been only couple of months since the death of Ganondorf and Ganon. He had been going through the Temples to make sure everything was fine.

The Hero also recalled that after the first month of saving Hyrule, he had felt like small part of him had been recovered. During the time the feeling started to grow and when he finally entered the Water Temple, he knew to be close.

The first feeling that Link had when he saw Dark was shock. He had been ready to fight again but his dark counterpart hadn't moved nor taken his sword out. They had just stared at each other and Link had felt bit awkward about the situation. Then the darker Hylian had sighed and shook his head before saying: "If you really want to kill me, then do it but I won't fight back."

Link had been thoroughly surprised and just stared at him for a long while. "Why would I kill someone who isn't a threat to me?" He replied while sheathing his sword. He stayed suspicious about the whole thing but he wanted to see what his enemy had in his mind.

The darker Hylian laughed. "Why did you come back here?" He questioned while crossing his arms over his chest.

Link grinned and shrugged. "Just checking that all's fine around here." He replied before frowning. "And why are you back?" Link asked. Yet, he actually wanted to continue his words by another sentence: "I thought I killed you!"

The Hero's darkness laughed and shrugged too. "I don't know. But, I'm here now anyways." He replied grinning. Link's frown deepened but he stayed silent. "Listen, I'm not going to attack or do anything. Just come and go as you please." The darker Hylian stated and walked to the tree in middle of the room. He leaned against it and sat down.

Link just watched and stood there for a long while. Eventually he took once a deep breath and followed his darker self to the tree. He sat down feeling quite well his darkness' eyes on him. "So, did you come back just today or have you been here longer?" Link questioned while leaning against the tree right next to his darker self.

The darker Hylian just stared at him for a long while in silence. Link had closed his eyes and when the silence continued he opened one eye and looked at the darker Hylian. "Well, you going to answer or not?" Link continued.

The darkness of the Hero sighed, shook his head and chuckled a little. "You don't seem to be worried that I'd kill you right here and now." He said with a grin. Link was startled but he didn't move away from his place. "Tempting the fate, I see." The darker Hylian continued, closed his eyes and brought his hands behind his head.

"You still haven't answered to my question, you know." Link stated while trying his best to stay calm. There was no answer so he decided to go to the next question. "Okay, since you're not eager to answer to that question, then how about the next one..." Link said mainly to himself before continuing: "Why aren't you willing to attack me?"

Now was the darker Hylian's time to be startled. He opened his eyes and looked at the Hero next to him. "Well... I just don't feel like doing that." He replied bit uncertain. "I don't want to die. That one time had been hard enough..." He thought and wondered a bit why he didn't say it out loud too.

Link looked bit suspicious about the answer but nodded slowly. "Right..." He replied while thinking for the next question.

The two Hylians kept on talking but the Hero didn't get much of answers. Link left the room bit uncertain about the whole situation. He checked the place and returned back to the castle but had felt that something was off. He couldn't sleep well and at next day he returned to the Water Temple.

The yesterday hadn't been dream since his darker self was still there. They talked again and this time the atmosphere was bit easier. Link returned back to the Temple day after day again just to talk with his darker counterpart and eventually the darkness got a name. It hadn't been meant to happen but it just slipped from Link when he next time greeted him.

"Hey, Dark! Seems like you're still stuck in one and same room." Link called after a month of daily visits at the Water Temple. The darker Hylian had been startled and just stared at his visitor. Link looked bit confused. "Did I say something wrong?" He asked carefully.

It took a long while from the darker Hylian to get his voice to work. "You called me Dark." He replied more confused than angry. This time it took a while from Link before he realized what his darker self had said.

The second the words hit, Link chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head. "I... Don't know where that came from..." He replied slightly chuckling.

The darker Hylian frowned bit angrily. "I think you know exactly where it came from." He stated while crossing his arms over his chest. Link became even more nervous about the situation. He was just going to apologize and come up with good enough explanation, when his darker self surprised him. "Actually... I like that name." The darker Hylian said with a wide grin. Link sighed in relief and nodded happily.

Link returned from his memories back to Epona's stable when another wave of pain hit into his chest. He nearly fell into his knees by the strength of the feeling. Epona neighed desperately and shook her head several times. She would've loved to get to her hind legs but feared to hurt Link. The Hero clutched at the mare's mane to keep himself upright.

Epona laid down very carefully so she wouldn't hurt the Hero. Link came down with her and he raised his gaze up from the mane. He looked out of the window high at the stables and saw dark clouds coming. The pain had gotten easier to bare and Link rose to his legs while shaking nearly violently. Epona neighed worriedly and the Hero patted her on the head before going to climb up to the window.

The sky was getting lighter but the dark clouds were bringing a snowstorm. He already saw the snowflakes flying down from the sky. It was still easy and quite fluffy looking but it would be a real storm by the dawn.

Link came back down just in time before the next pain struck at him. He gasped and fell to his knees. Epona neighed in panic and shook her head in hopes of getting rid of the pain. Link shut his eyes and concentrated in breathing. The feeling was harder than any of the wounds and broken bones he had ever gotten during his work of saving Hyrule. This was even worse than what he felt when he killed his darker counterpart at the Water Temple.

"I can't let it beat me. I can take this!" Link thought and opened his eyes. He rose back to his feet with the help of the ladders and tried to breath calmly. He turned his eyes to Epona and walked to her. That short walk was taking lot of energy from him, but Link didn't care. He didn't want anyone to see that something was thoroughly wrong with him.

"Epona." Link called with shaking voice. He took few deep breaths to try and get his voice stronger. The mare rose to her feet while neighing sadly and desperately. "I know how you feel, Epona, but we need to be stronger than the given pain." The Hero whispered while trying to calm his beloved horse. Epona just nodded. "Stay strong. I'll come back soon but I need to check the castle and few other places. There's a storm coming and it would be good if everything's ready for it." Link explained carefully.

Link fought hard when the next wave of pain came. He needed to stay up and get things done. "Stay strong, Epona." He called to the mare before leaving the stables. Walking was hard and he just barely stayed up on his feet but he just grit his teeth and kept going.

The castle was huge but it also gave Link a chance to stay out of sight for long enough. He checked the windows and doors on his way to make sure they were shut tightly. The Hero left few notes here and there to tell off that he had checked the area and that there was a snowstorm coming.

It was still several hours before the dawn when Link managed to get the whole castle checked. He didn't go inside the rooms where someone actually lived but he checked the unused places. After the castle was secured, Link gave a fast visit to Epona before leaving to the market. He left a small note about the upcoming storm to the places where he knew that people were living at.

Link returned back to the stables after securing the market. He contemplated about leaving to inform other places like Kakariko Village and Kokiri Forest about the storm but decided against it. He was sure that the Gorons would inform the people of the Kakariko Village and that the Great Deku Tree would look after the Kokiris. Not to mention that the Gerudos were probably going to be left without even slightest notion about the storm. And there was also the fact of them living at houses that were done into a mountain.

The storm hit hard to Hyrule. It would've freaked anyone out if Link hadn't taken the precautions for it. Zelda was actually the first to come and thank him. She also was eager to know how he had noticed about it and been actually awake early enough to get everything ready.

Link didn't fully face Zelda because he knew that she would notice that something was wrong. "I just couldn't sleep and came down here to check up on Epona. She was really worried so I stayed here for a while. I just happened to look out of the window and noticed the storm clouds." Link explained with a shrug. "And I would like to stay here for Epona's comfort." He continued while grooming Epona's mane. Link had noticed a long time ago that it actually helped the mare to calm down a bit.

Zelda nodded and left. She needed to make sure that the food preparations were going to be done none the less. And she needed to look after everyone else who was either looking for shelter from the storm or just scared to death about it. The princess had noticed that Link wasn't in his best condition but she hadn't said a word about it.

The storm raged through the day and continued long into the night. Link didn't return into his room and instead he just stayed with Epona through the whole day and night. He chose to go check the places once the storm would be over and the day would have risen.

The firs spell that hit the dark Hylian got him to fly backwards straight into a wall. Dark cried out in pain and crashed to the floor. He was gasping for air and leaning against the wall behind him when he opened his eyes. The second spell was already coming straight at him and he didn't have time to avoid or block it.

Dark screamed in agony and crashed to the ground. He tried to get up once most of the pain had stopped. He only managed to push himself bit off of the floor when the third strike came.

The dark Hylian was withering at the floor and gasping for air. The pain lasted longer than before and he just barely heard the sorcerer come closer. "I'll let you gather your strength for a while." He said, pulled a chair and sat down. Dark flinched a bit at the screeching noise of the chair.

"Is... Is this... the... only way?" Dark asked between gasps of air. He opened his red eyes that were filled with pain.

"I'm afraid it is." The sorcerer replied after a while of thinking. Dark just sighed and nodded. It took a long while before he managed to push himself up from the floor. The dark Hylian stayed a while on all four before sitting upright. "Are you ready?" The sorcerer questioned but didn't give Dark time to reply. The strike came out of blue and Dark fell screaming backwards into the floor.

"If this is all you can take, then you will never match the Hero, shadow." The sorcerer said disappointed. Dark growled and forced himself up. He stared quite angrily at the man. The sorcerer grinned and nodded. "That's the spirit." He stated and without a warning he send the next spell at the dark Hylian.

Dark brought his hands in front of his face for protection but it had no effect. The spell hit on full force none the less. Dark screamed while flying backwards and crashed against a chair. "Weak." The sorcerer said while shaking his head.

Dark groaned and grit his teeth while getting up from the floor. He just barely managed to get ready for the next strike. This time he slid backwards but didn't fly or fall. The pain was equally unbearable as the first strike had been but Dark fought against it. He still nearly screamed in agony.

They kept on going. Dark fell time to time but he forced himself back up. The pain was nearly constant and once in a while the dark Hylian wished he could've just stayed on the floor. The spells varied in size but each harbored the same amount of pain within them. The longer it went the better Dark managed to take the pain.

The sorcerer grinned evilly and sent his biggest spell so far. Dark, having gotten used to the size differences, thought to be ready for it but that was far from the case. The spell hit even harder than the first had been. The dark Hylian nearly stopped breathing when it struck. The strength of the spell got him to fly through the air and hit back first into a wall.

Dark fell to the ground with a pained groan without being able catch himself. On the second he hit the floor, he was unconscious. The sorcerer walked to him and slightly kicked the limb body. "This will be lot of fun..." He whispered before turning around and going back into the darkness.

Even the stallion had fallen unconscious. The pain wasn't as harsh as it was with Dark but Storm felt it too. The horse had been neighing nearly constantly but the pain had held him in one place and he had stared in fear how his master took a strike after a strike of the spell.

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A/N: If you read this far, please leave a comment! Even anonymous reviews are accepted!

Also, flames are accepted but those shall be for Axel's entertainment or for Demyx's practice! =P