This took me FOREVER to type. Took me all day. o.O; I guess I wasn't concentrating enough... (Gorillaz videos were getting in my way and I read up some more stuff about them on Wiki. xD)

So, yeah... Uhmm... enjoy. :3


Awake

"Colin! Ilia! You here?" I reached the spring and I noticed the three of them – the other being Epona – standing in the shallow waters.

"Link, you're up!" Colin beamed. Ilia didn't say anything but she did wave. I ran into the water to see them closer.

"Link, you're talking." Ilia smiled.

"Yeah, I kind of passed the quiet stage..." I rubbed the back of my neck. She nodded and then I said, "Sorry if I scared you a couple of weeks ago, when we were alone here..."

"I'm fine now," she murmured, turning back to Epona. "You were pushing her very hard last night." She stroked Epona's side softly.

"I didn't mean it. My friend was hurt."

"And your new friend is more important than your old horse?" she asked a matter-of-factly.

"I – well – no. But – he was hurt!" I fought back weakly. I knew I wasn't going to win this war. Colin looked at me uneasily, thinking the same thing.

"Link, you need to take care of Epona better. She has feelings too. You can't push her so hard!"

"Sorry?"

Colin laughed at the quiet in my voice. Damn. How was it funny? She was a scary person!

"I know you like your friend but Epona is more important than him. You've known her way longer than you've known him!"

"I know, but –"

"No buts. No more arguing." She turned back to Epona, stroking her once more.

"Sorry Ilia. Sorry Epona," I whispered. "I'm going to go check on Dark now."

"Can I come along Link?" Colin asked.

"Sure."

I heard Ilia 'humph' and I turned to leave, Colin tagging along quietly.

"Is Dark important to you Link?" Colin asked.

"Very... He's grown too close to me."

"What would happen if he never woke up? What would you do?"

"I don't really know. Most likely stay here and do nothing."

"'Nothing'?"

"Yeah. He makes my life too exciting. If he was gone, it would be so boring."

"But you liked your life before..."

"I can't turn back, Colin. Even if I wanted to, I can't."

"What did you do on your adventure, Link? Was it fun?"

My goodness, did kids have short attention spans! It was cute!

"It was fun and I went to many different places."

"Really? Who did you meet? Where did you go?"

"Well, I met these rock-eating creatures called Gorons. They're mean at first and then they're friendly after a while."

"Oh, I remember them! Those big rock men that were in Kakariko Village when we were with Renado!"

"Yes, them. And I also met these fish people called Zoras. They were really neat."

"Oh, like Ralis. That's cool. Anymore people or things?"

I laughed at his 'things' remark. "I met some snow yetis too. They were really nice too."

"That's amazing!"

"And I met the princess of Hyrule."

"The princess? Is she pretty? What does she look like?"

"She's really beautiful, and she's strong too."

"Do you love her?"

"N-no! I'm her friend! Only her friend!" My face flushed a dark red.

"Yeah, right!" Colin smirked.

"No, seriously! I don't love her!"

"Okay, if you say so!"

"Colin, Colin, Colin..." I smacked my forehead, smiling stupidly.

"So, if you don't like her, does Dark?"

"I'm not too sure. You could ask him." I laughed lightly.

"Let's go to the house right now and ask him!"

Colin grabbed my hand and we ran to his house.

0o0o0o0o0

"Is Dark up yet?" I asked loudly, barging into the house with Colin.

"That was fast!" Uli laughed.

"Is he though?"

"He's been stirring," Rusl explained.

I ran over to the bed and sat beside Dark.

"Dark... are you up?" I shook his arm softly. No reply. I sighed, turning to the three of them.

Uli gave me a sympathetic look and Rusl said, "He'll wake up soon, Link. Come and have lunch."

I couldn't eat. I wouldn't. Not without Dark. They began eating – Rusl and his family – but I couldn't.

I turned around, looking at Dark's limp body. I sighed. No movement from my lover.

"You need to wake up soon or I'm going to –"

"Link..."

Was – was that Dark? I looked at him and he murmured my name again.

I jumped up from the table, scaring my family. I ran over to the bedside, grabbing his hand.

"Dark? Can you hear me?"

"Link?" I turned around, looking at a confused Rusl. "Come and eat."

"He just... called me!" I exclaimed.

"No, he didn't." Rusl gave me another bizarre look and said, "Come back over here."

"I'm positive I heard it!" I said hoarsely, looking back down at Dark. He was limp again. "He was – he said – I heard –"

"You heard wrong. Now come back over here."

I reluctantly left Dark's side and collapsed back into my chair.

Was I going crazy? I swear I had just heard Dark but everyone denied it, so I must have been hearing things. But I saw his lips move!

"Link, eat," Rusl said. "You look hungry."

"You sound like the guards at Hyrule Castle. Always telling me I look like this or I look like that..." I crossed my arms, continuing, "And I'm not even hungry."

"You're lying."

"Am not," I growled, "I just want –"

"– Dark to be up?" Rusl finished angrily, slamming his fork and knife onto the table. "Is that all you care about? Is that all life is about? Dark this, Dark that? Why don't you just eat your goddamned food and forget about your stupid friend for five minutes!"

I opened my mouth and then closed it. I wasn't even going to bother fighting back. I was in no mood. I picked up my fork and knife, going at my food.

0o0o0o0o0

"Link, are you okay?" Colin asked worriedly, following me out of the house.

"Yeah..." I said quietly, not looking back at him.

"I've never seen my dad like that before!"

I stopped abruptly and he walked into my back. I turned around, kneeling in front of him and I grabbed his shoulders.

"I have many times."

He looked at me in confusion.

"Don't be like me when you're older. I know you've said you've wanted to, but I don't want you to. Stay close with your father and mother or they'll begin to not trust you. And don't be stupid like me. Don't leave this place – ever – unless your dad asked you to deliver something. When you're out in the world, you discover new things and it changes your life forever. Like Dark, he changed my life forever, in a good way though. But since I'm friends with him, bad things have happened to me and they hurt me dearly. The bad things happening to me is the reason why your dad has been getting so upset with me. And he's been blaming those things on Dark. Your dad doesn't trust him. I've tried telling your father that I'm fine when I'm alone when I'm with Dark, but he doesn't believe me. So, remember this: stay close with your parents until they're gone. They'll always trust you if you're nearby."

He looked at me hard, taking in everything I had just said. He then said, "That's the most I've ever heard you say!"

I glared at him and sighed. "Do you understand what I have spoken though?"

He nodded, looking at me with a serious face.

"Promise me you won't leave Ordona for a long time?"

"I promise you," he said seriously. I smiled. I really did hope he caught all of that though. "Is your life all about Dark like dad said?" Colin asked.

"Most of it."

"So do you need to be with Dark all the time?"

"Actually, yes. Without him, I find everything so boring. He's changed the way I look at most things."

"He must be a very fun person!"

"Yeah..." I murmured, thinking back to the time we first had sex. I blushed and shook my head, clearing my mind. "So, what do you want to do?"

"Talk about Dark," Colin said, sitting on the ground.

"What?" I cocked an eyebrow, looking down at him.

"I want to learn more about him! Before I meet him, I mean!"

I smiled down at him and sat down beside the young boy. "What do you want to know about him?"

"How old is he?"

"Same age as me."

"Where did he come from?"

"This is a little bit hard to explain. This bad man created him to kill me. But, instead of killing me, we became friends."

"That's neat! So that bad man made him to hurt you and be bad but he was good anyway!"

"Yes."

"What does he like doing?"

"He likes to talk. And fish."

"Those are boring!"

I laughed, rolling my eyes. "Well, the only exciting thing he likes to do is –" is make love to me! I couldn't say that out loud! Not to a kid! And to a kid that didn't know I was gay! "– is to be with me." Eh, that made sense, right?

"Being with you is fun though! No wonder why he likes that!"

I laughed. "He likes helping people too. But he does get angry fairly easily if someone questions what he thinks is right."

"So what do you guys do together all the time?"

Kiss? Hug? "We fish and talk?"

He laughed loud. "Those are boring, remember? What about the exciting things?"

"We fight together. Like against bad things."

"You win every time, right?"

"Yes, but one of us can get hurt sometimes."

"That's not good."

"We take care of our cuts though before they get worse."

"That's good!"

"And we go to different places every day too."

"Where?"

"To deserts and lakes and more. They are really excited places."

"How do you get to those places in one day?" Colin asked.

"Dark has these powers that allow us jump to different places. He warps us."

"Does it hurt?"

"No! I can ask him if you can try it with him."

"Cool!" He pumped his small fist into the air.

Why are little boys – no, kids in general – so cute? Was I like that at one time? I didn't even remember being so happy or excited. Maybe when I first got Epona, but not many other times. Even though I didn't – and still don't – remember my parents, I was and still am sad that they had died. I was sad that I didn't get to grow up with them. I was sad that I never got to actually talk to the people that bore me as their child. It was upsetting.

And that was why I never talked for the first seventeen years of my life. Well, it was one reason. I missed my parents. With their deaths, my voice left along with them, and with Dark, it was mysteriously back.

I think my parents would have been so proud of me. No, I bet you they are proud of me. And they wouldn't even care that Dark and I were together. They would just be happy to see that their boy found his true love. That's how I imagine them; happy with me. Not upset. I see them feeling so proud of me. Just happy. The four of us. Mom, dad, Dark and I – smiling. Together. Happy. Alive.

"Hey Link, what's wrong?"

"Huh? What?" I looked at him curiously. I felt one lone tear fall off of my nose. "Oh, I just have something in my eye." I rubbed at it viciously and beamed at him.

"Suuuuure!" Colin rolled his eyes, smiling.

"It's nothing, really!"

"Let's go check on Dark again, okay, Link?"

"Sure," I smiled, getting up and pulling Colin along with me.

0o0o0o0o0

"Kid's going to wake up soon," Rusl mumbled to us as we walked into the house. He slipped his shoes on and left, closing the door behind him.

"Where's Rusl going?" I asked Uli.

She looked up from her newborn baby and said, "Out for a bit. He said he'd be back soon."

"How do you guys know if Dark's going to wake up soon?" I asked.

"We heard him call your name this time."

"'This time'? I'm pretty sure he called it twice before," I thought sarcastically.

"He's been calling your name several times actually."

I nodded, walking over to the bedside, sitting down beside Dark's still body. Colin stayed at the end of the bed, watching Dark carefully.

"Dark?" I called softly, holding his hand tightly.

"Link..." he murmured between his dry looking lips.

"Can you hear me Dark?"

No reply.

I caressed his cheek lightly and I saw one corner of his lips pull up into a small smirk.

"Link..." he mumbled, furrowing his eyebrows together. I held both sides of his face. He smiled.

His eyes opened slowly and only half way. His eyes were so dull; they weren't glowing anymore. He reached up, rubbing one of my arms.

"Hey, love..." he said really quietly.

"Hey, Dark. You asked?" I asked softly.

"I feel like... shi–"

"There are kids here."

He chuckled weakly, closing his eyes tightly. "...Sorry."

"It's fine, you didn't know."

He licked his lips, puckering them up at me. "...Hmm?"

"No. We have watchers."

I looked over at Colin and he looked at me, face full of confusion.

"So... where are we?" he asked quietly.

"Ordona."

"Ah, so you did... decide to bring me here..." he smiled softly. "Thank you."

"No problem," I smiled back.

He closed his eyes and sneezed. He cringed, and then grabbed his head quickly. "Ah! It still hurts... as I thought it would..." He bit his bottom lip, not opening his eyes.

"Sorry."

"Link told me he didn't mean it." Colin rushed up to the other side of Dark. Dark slowly looked up at Colin and smiled slightly.

"I've been waiting to meet you... Your Link's little brother, right?" Dark asked softly.

"'Link's little brother'? Since when –?"

"Sorta!" Colin laughed.

"...I'm Dark." He held out his hand and Colin shook it, carefully watching Dark. "I don't bite! Well, not in this... condition."

I flinched at Dark's last sentence and he chuckled lightly, his eyes flickering up at me.

"Too bad I couldn't meet you in better condition, Colin," Dark smirked.

"That's okay. At least I get to finally meet you," Colin replied.

Dark looked at me and I said, "Yes, I told him many things about you."

"...What did you learn about me, little buddy?"

"You like talking!"

"Oh...?" Dark cocked an eyebrow at me and I chuckled lightly.

"And you can warp! And you guys fight bad guys together."

Dark laughed, and then he grabbed his head. "Yes, I can warp and we do fight together. Anything... else?"

I could tell he wasn't doing too well. He just laughed– and it hurt him. He still needed to rest more.

"You like fishing, but that's boring!"

Dark laughed, still holding his head painfully. "It is a little boring..."

"Are you comfy?" Colin asked Dark.

He chuckled again, but it looked so rough on him. "Yes, I am."

"It's my bed. You can still use it though."

"Thank you."

"You need to rest, Dark," I murmured.

"I've been resting... too long, love."

"Dark, please. You need to rest some more, then you can get up..."

He was in no mood to argue with me, I could tell. He smiled, rolling on his side. He closed his eyes and he grabbed my arm, lightly tugging on me. "Lay with... me, love."

"I'm not tired," I argued. Colin laughed loudly.

"Just lay with me. Can't leave your friend... while he's in pain."

"I'll just go hang out with the others, Link. See you later," Colin whispered.

He ran out of the door. Uli looked at the door in confusion and then looked back down at her baby.

"I like talking...?" Dark laughed, looking up at my tiredly.

"Well, I could have said you liked making out with me," I laughed back.

Dark's eyes widened and he pointed at Uli on the couch.

I snickered, sitting down on the edge of the bed beside him. "She's knows about us, Dark." I laid down beside him, wrapping my arms around him.

"Oh...? Well, then – I love you."

I chuckled, kissing him lightly on the lips. "It's felt like ages since I've heard you say that."

He snickered, cringing again.

"Rest now. You need to sleep off the pain."

"Mmm..." he murmured, moving closer towards my body. "Love you..."

I kissed his cool forehead. "Love you too..."


WELP! At least it's not a cliffhanger this time! Or would you consider it one? Nah. No way. It's not one. xD

Gorillaz still rule once again. Search 'em up on Youtube, Veoh, Metacafe, Google - what ever movie-watching-site you kids use nowadays. xD