Whoa. It's been a while.

I have this bad habit of disappearing around the holidays. I'm really sorry, guys. A lot's been going on—my life's turning into this story, and if I would've know my parents were so uncooperative, I would've written Rusl as an accepting parent right from the start. I know that wouldn't change anything, but, yo, it'd make me feel a little better.

Anyway, if you go ahead and look up… go ahead, I'll give you a second… you'll see that I have, exactly, 109 reviews. So, gotta hug everyone and give a big internet cookie to RandomFan1234 who swept in and reviewed 14 times in a row. I could grow wings, so thank you to all of my reviewers and RandomFan1234 for closing the gap from 86 to 100 reviews! The little review section at the bottom is massive, so watch out…

Chapter 21

Smoke poured out of each window, and through each orifice found on the top floor. There were people of all types rushing through the front doors, coughing and screaming—artists, suits, musicians…

Dark and Sheik scanned the crowd for Link.

Through the blare of sirens and screaming of the crowd, the two screamed the blonde's name. Dark cupped his hands around his mouth, looking over the swarm, scanning for the tangle of sunshine hair he knew so well. Something like panic welled in his heart and his scanning became frantic. He grabbed Sheik's arm and the pale blonde looked back at him with a mirror expression.

In their stillness, the firefighters rushed past, setting up their equipment and preparing for a possible rescue. Sheik recognized the receptionist from the studio and called her name, fury building inside of him.

"TELMA!"

Her eyes widened but she rushed over to him, looking down at him and over at Dark.

"You're looking for them, aren't you?" She asked as quietly as the ruckus would allow. "I-I'm looking for them, too."

"You weren't with them?"

"As if," the woman's face turned into something angry, and Dark took on a look of confusion. "When I heard they were planning to kidnap that boy… I couldn't stay. But I couldn't turn them in, either… they… they didn't carry through, did they?"

"They did," Sheik answered solemnly, opening his mouth to continue…

Shouts brought the crowd to near silence and each person parted quickly for the gurneys that exited the building quickly, paramedics loading them quickly into ambulances. And in the same moment, they were herded away, pushed back by the line of authorities that swarmed the smoking building.

"Come on," Sheik said quickly, grabbing Dark's arm as the crowd began to move. "We're not learning anything from standing here."

"Where are we going to go?"
"The hospital," Sheik said curtly, leading Dark back through the mass towards the car. "You saw how many ambulances already left."

"You're right," Dark muttered. "He's probably already there. And if he's not, we'll probably meet him there."

"Yep." The blonde wrenched the driver side open and hopped in. Two sets of ruby eyes focused on the road ahead, watching the pavement speed behind them.

Dark couldn't remember anything from the time he exited the car to the time he arrived in the hall that held most of the victims of the fire. Some were more extreme than others, and each one griped loudly about the building that was a disaster waiting to happen.

Dark's footsteps echoed on the tile as he walked towards the room, catching sight of a vague figure that stood still at the end of the hall. Each step gave the figure greater detail to the tall man leaning in front of Dark's destination, and each step brought Rusl's stoic face closer to Dark's vision.

Dark considered turning around, but there was no doubt the man had already spotted him. If the torn black jeans and jacket didn't give him away, then the pale skin, dark hair, and ruby eyes did. Quickly, he ran a hand through his already tousled hair and took a few more steps forward until he was eye to eye with Rusl, the figure leaning against the hospital door, arms crossed. He nodded when Dark stopped in front of the door, the corners of his mouth pulling down and his eyes narrowing.

"Dark," The man said frostily, and Dark nodded back, biting his lip.

"Rusl," Dark responded, nodding. He, too, crossed his arms, wondering absently if this is how Sheik felt—trapped here, in the presence of authority.

But, then again, what authority did Rusl have?

The man held an arm out and gestured for Dark to follow, and soon the two were alone in and empty hall, with only abandoned equipment to keep them company. Rusl lifted his light blue eyes to Dark's piercingly red ones.

"I apologize, Dark," He said quietly, watching as Dark's wary eyes widened. "I will truthfully say to you that I overreacted, I reacted immaturely, and for that I am truly sorry." Dark stood silently, eyebrows slowly pulling together as he stared at the older man.

"I'd like you to know, Dark, that I did not mean anything I said to you, to Link, to Sheik. And I guess I could be mad at you, blame you for this, but I talked to Link… he defended you with everything he has, Dark. He trusts you…." The blonde man shook his head, sighing. "I hope his trust in you is not misguided. Don't hurt my son, Dark."

Dark scoffed, surprising himself. "Your apology is lost on me, Rusl." He kicked off of the wall, one he didn't know he'd been leaning on, and took a step towards Link's room. "I'm not the one you hurt. And," He kept his back turned towards Rusl, to hide the look of pure anger that crossed his face. "If you thought that I would ever hurt Link, it's your judgment that's misguided."

With that, Dark turned and wrenched the door to the room open, making sure to swing it closed behind him.

Inside, a pair of darker, softer blue eyes watched Dark patiently, and before Link could open his mouth, Dark was there, moving the small oxygen mask from Link's face. His lips were on Link's, moving softly, and Link kissed back quickly, much to Dark's relief.

Behind them, they could hear the door opening and closing, but Dark distracted Link, running his tongue across the blonde teen's teeth.

Quickly but gently, Dark laid his forehead over Link's, closing his eyes in Link's blue stare.

"Link, I'm sorr—" But Link cut him off quickly, his right hand reaching up to Dark's black hair, brushing it away from their faces.

"Dark, it's not your fault. It's my fault for—"

"Hell if it's not my fault!"

"Because you chose Ganondorf as your brother, right?" Link growled quietly, and Dark opened his eyes to stare down into Link's. His right arm, the one that held him over Link, began to shake, and he closed his eyes again when he saw Link's fierce expression. "Because you knew that would happen?"

"Because I knew that Ganondorf was dangerous—" Dark tried, but Link was speaking again, his quiet voice laced with underlying anger.

"And you told me that. And I didn't listen." Link grabbed the oxygen mask that was balanced on the side of his face and dropped it to the floor, hissing when the IV in his left arm stung. "I walked right into this one, Dark," Link mumbled, feeling Dark's tense body relax. "No one got hurt—"

"Where are they, then?" Dark suddenly asked, his ruby eyes opening to stare back down into Link's.

"I… I don't know where Zant and Ganondorf are," Link said quietly, and Dark flinched, "But I helped Ghirahim out…"

This time it was Link's turn to flinch. Dark chuckled quietly and sat back, giving Link room. A small smile pulled one side of his mouth. "Of course," Dark said, without any hint of bitterness. "I'd be more shocked to hear that you left him behind, if he needed help."

Link offered back a small smile and a chuckle echoed Dark's. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Slowly, Dark intertwined his hand in Link's.

The door behind them opened and closed once again, and now the two looked up to see Rusl sneaking his way into the room. Sheik was leaning against the wall beside the door, looking well established, and his red eyes glared at the older man as he closed the door quietly behind himself. Link tried to pull his hand away, quickly, but Dark had a death grip, though his face gave away nothing. Panicked, the blonde looked up at Dark, but the dark haired teen only smirked, stretching away to get a chair, not letting go of Link's hand.

Swallowing nervously, Link looked up nervously to Rusl, who only scoffed and looked away, but glanced back after a moment with a friendlier look on his young face.

Link's blue eyes shifted over to Sheik, who was only looking at Rusl with unveiled confusion on his expressive face.
"Uh, Rusl?" Sheik asked, and Rusl looked at him, not amused, while Dark seemed to be radiating triumph. "You're not… flipping out or anything?"

Rusl just sighed and leaned more comfortably against the door behind him. "I'm getting old—what am I doing, trying to tell young people how to live their lives?"

Sheik's face burst out into a grin and he jumped over to Rusl, giving the surprised man a hug. "I knew you'd come around, Rusl!" He patted Link's father on the back and turned around to face Link. "There we go! Now, all you have to do is tell me why the hell you acted like that, Rusl," Sheik's smile dropped off of his face, showing a serious face that had become all too familiar in the past few days. His hand remained on Rusl's back, but his pale arm was tense and his red eyes hardened. Link felt chills travel down his spine, having never seen this side of his friend. Dark was no longer grinning triumphantly.

"Sheik-"

"No, Link," Sheik spoke calmly, looking at Rusl's stoic face. "I want to know."

Rusl sighed and took a step away from Sheik, looking the short blonde in the eye. "Remember when I told you, Sheik, that I'd only hope to deal with these problems if I would've had a daughter?"

Link and Dark's faces both adopted a look of confusion when Sheik nodded calmly, still staring the blonde man down. "Yep."

"I was… I was afraid that Dark would hurt Link. I was afraid that Link would run into problems that I wouldn't be able to help him with, because he was in a relationship with another man, and not a woman. And, I guess a little bit of my prejudice came in there, too. You know how they'll be treated out there in the world—it's not accepted. I wanted to protect him from that."

"Some protection," Sheik muttered, and then shook his head, his blonde hair flopping over his eye. He held out his hand to Rusl and the man shook it, looking slightly confused. "I'm not quite ready to forgive you yet," his crimson gaze met Dark's for a moment, before shooting back to look into Rusl's cool blue eyes, "but I'll try to start."

On the other side of the room, Link muttered, "Finally," and pulled the IV out of his arm, causing everyone else in the room to stare at him in confusion and concern.

"What?" Link asked. "They said I could leave when the bag thing was drained—they said I was dehydrated or something." He flipped his feet over the edge and wobbled at the head rush, grateful for Dark's proximity when the said teen steadied him.

Rusl sighed and turned, leaving the room quickly but leaving the door cracked. They watched as he rounded the corner and disappeared, and Sheik looked up. "I know this is a different hospital and all, but we can't risk an angry doctor like that one back in Hyrule. Let's hurry up and get out of here."

Each time Link closed his eyes, he was back in that dark, hidden room, listening to deep, raspy voices float in the air around him. It was hard to ignore the fact that his throat still burned from the smoke that filled the air in the studio, and the drops the hospital supplied him with did little to ease the sting of his eyes. He realized quickly that he couldn't win in this situation—keep his eyes open and deal with the constant flow of tears running down his face, or close them only to stare right in to the face of the past.

And he did his best to hide it, but it was hard to ignore the fact that his knees and shoulders were bruised from the manhandling he'd received back in the studio. He found that he hadn't left his phone at home, and that it was most likely the only casualty in the fire, along with its other electronic friends.

The studio had burned down three hours ago. Three hours.

It felt like years.

Tomorrow he'd have to worry with the officers who would inevitably question him about the incident and the reporters who've had their nose in this since the start. He'd have to deal with the struggle of staying on track to graduating high school, and he'd have to talk to Rusl seriously and clear up everything that had to do with moving out and going to college, if he chose to.

Link ran a tan hand through his pale blonde hair, contemplating if he should take another shower. The smell of cigarette smoke still lingered in his nostrils, although Dark had reassured him that he smelled normal…

Rusl, Sheik, and Dark were downstairs, talking in normal voices, but he couldn't hear their words, only their tones. Every once in a while, Dark's voice would turn hostile, and it made Link wonder what the conversation was about… but Link had gone upstairs, clearly communicating that he wanted to get sleep. And his throat was so raw at this point in time… his input in the conversation would only cause problems for himself.

As Link wandered down the short hallway to the bathroom, Epona hopped up the stairs, greeting him with a small meow. He smiled at her and kneeled down, and she ran up to him, stopping short to sniff him.

And Dark told him he smelled fine.

As Epona rubbed up against his leg, he wiped his watery eyes on his sleeve, giving the cat one more pat on the head before moving to stand in front of the mirror.

His eyes wandered from his tousled blond hair to his dreary blue eyes. His nose was red with irritation and there was a small bruise visible when he reached up to pull his hoodie to the side. He could feel the chaffing of the material on his raw wrists, and his lungs ached whenever he breathed, the feeling traveling across his whole back. He braced both hands on either side of the sink, sighing. In this position, he didn't notice when someone entered the bathroom and wrapped two arms around his waist. Despite the height difference and the smell of Dark's shampoo, Link still jumped in surprise, tensing in the older boy's hold.

Dark moved to let go, but Link turned around and hugged him back, leaning his forehead against the taller teen's chest. Dark laughed quietly and leaned down, leaning his head against Link's mop of blonde hair.

"Dark," Link whispered. "When… when I told you I couldn't… couldn't be with you anymore…" Dark made a sound that acknowledged Link, but gave away none of his thoughts. "I… you know I didn't mean it, right?"

"Even if you meant it, do you think I'd just let you get away like that?" The taller teen's voice was quiet but intense, the words spoken in a half-hearted joking manner.

Link only responded with a whispered apology, but continued to hold on to Dark. The older teen stood, face still buried in Link's hair, and sighed. "Zelda and Midna are here—they want to see you."

"I just want to sleep," Link replied hoarsely. "They'll hold me up for hours…"

"Alright. I told them that you were sleeping already, so…"

Link hummed in appreciation, and Dark sighed. "Sheik's staying over, though, in the other room," Dark muttered quietly, and Link nodded, jostling Dark's head in the process.

The two stood in silence, listening to their guests rummage around downstairs.

"You know you don't have to go to the interview tomorrow, especially if you don't want to." Dark said quietly, and Link nodded, sighing.

"I'm going to go." Link's voice was raspy and quiet. "I need to know what happened to Ghirahim."

Dark's crimson eyes flared. "For his safety, let's all hope he's somewhere I can't reach him."

"And Zant and Ganondorf, for that matter," Link muttered. Dark's grip around him tightened and Link turned to press a kiss against Dark's lips. Pulling free, the blonde teen walked out of the bathroom and turned to face the bedroom.

"It's been a long day, Link," Dark said quietly. The blonde nodded, and pulled the door open, closing it quietly behind himself.

Leaning against the closed door, Link looked out of the window to the precious view that was Hylia Lake. "It really has."

Quietly, so that no one would hear, a girl snuck out of the fray and got into her car, leaning back against soft leather seats. She sighed, grinning to herself. Lolling her head to the side, she turned that grin to the other girl beside her. She licked her lips, eyes sparkling in the darkness.

"This'll be fun, considering that no one died." The girl said flippantly, kicking her feet up on the dash.

Behind her, another girl leaned up to look between the two. "He's fine? Thank goodness…"

"I don't know about that," The driver laughed a small, impish laugh. "You're too nice, Navi—he's probably going to wish he stayed in that fire."

The girl in the passenger seat re-crossed her feet, brushing a bit of blue hair that fell in her eyes. "I'm more concerned about Dark, but you already know that…"

"Ruto, no one cares about Dark," the green haired driver mumbled. "Why don't you worry about your new boyfriend."

"Saria! You want to get at Dark just as much as I do," Ruto grumbled back at the driver. "Let's go home—we'll get this settled tomorrow."

Saria nodded and started up the engine, reaching for the radio knob. Before she turned it on, she looked back to glare at her sister, her voice venomous. "And don't you dare say a word."

To my reviewers: I can't thank you enough, guys! You're really my inspiration. A quick shout-out to new reviewers: KoolKirk12, Lisa Freeman, RandomFan1234 and FVKilledme(guest). Also, I love having so many followers—it really makes my day to see one pop up! Thanks also to the people who've reviewed for my other stories as well!

Ern Estine 13624: Thanks for the review! Hopefully I'll be able to update on a more regular basis—I'm glad you enjoyed the story so far!

Imagine that: Phew, there was a bizarre jump from the review count from chapter 20 to 21! I was re-reading over your review, and it says "81 reviews thus far" and I had to do a double take… Anyways, thanks for the review and the support! And yep, I'm doin' fine, trucking along, looking forward to the end of this semester already…

KoolKirk12: Don't worry, it's the thought that counts!

FVKilledme: Okay, your review made me cry! Thanks so much—I am very glad that my story's become your favorite! It's an amazing feeling! And, yeah, I use those emotions and just pour them on. You are not a cheesy-suck up weasel! Thanks so much for the review—it really gave me the kick to start writing this chapter!

Lisa Freeman (Now Lisa Violet): Thank you so much for the reviews! I'm glad you support the pairing, and yep. There are the haters out there. They wanna hate, when they really should appreciate. And yep, I know personally that cats snore. Like grown people. It's endearing in an irritating way. Thanks once again for the reviews~! :D

EmDashEnDashHyphen! Happy belated birthday! Being 14 is great, isn't it? It's just that one age~ I'm glad you got to go out and do something fun!

ElectroNerd: Ah, long time no see, Electro! (Not really, but you know.) But, yesh, you are on the right path to seeing Dark's past relationships and stuff… *shh, don't tell anyone*. But, hey, the studio had to go. It was a building, and it was a source of bad connections and it was messing with the plot… it was a giant glass. On the side of the highway. That was flammable. :D

Squeeb100: Thanks for the review! I always love reading reviews from you! No, Link didn't leave Ghi… originally he did, but I was so upset about it, I went back and re-wrote that part, just to save the poor man. And yes, finals. We all understand. They're terrible. Between finals, volunteer work, music lessons, and the random relationships that've popped up in my life, I'm finally starting to understand why some people were scarred for life by high school. And, yep, I'm a metaphor crazy person, to the point of making completely unrealistic stuff happen. But not happen. Figuratively. Anyways, thanks for the review, and I hope you did well on those finals!

narusasulover12: Yep. Link is irresistible~ :D Don't worry, Dark's gonna have Link all to himself for now on~ Thanks for your kind words and support—it really means a lot to me!

Okay, now for the challenge. RANDOMFAN1234! I'm gonna try to hit the big points, here. This is going to be one jumbled mess of nonsense to anyone who hasn't read the reviews. Heck, it's a jumbled mess to me.

Okay, Hedero-flexible had me rolling on the ground dying. I've seriously never heard that before—that's amazing. And you have a nude picture of Dark. I'm wondering where you managed to obtain one of those… and yes, the dude from Hylia Lake was actually kind of insulting. He was most definitely not attractive. Ugh. Yes, Dark has indeed walked both sides of the street—that'll play a part later, most likely, and yeah, Sheik is so accepting it's scary. That kiss was ultra cliché, but I couldn't really do anything about it, once it was written… I didn't have the heart to get rid of it. Yep, Link is a little girly in chapter 12—oh well, I'll revise that later. Sorry 'bout that. Also, a little of my competitive side—so the Rusl conflict didn't cut it. How'd you like Ganon kidnapping Link?

Okay everyone, thank you so much for reading. I'll try to have the next update ASAP. I'm gonna go work on my FMA fic titled "White Silence" so look out for that (shameless advertizing) and I want to thank you all for the 100+ reviews!

Happy (ultra late) New Year!