AN: Oh my heck. I did update this last week, just not on Saturday . . . Happy summer vacation everyone! :)


Chapter 37: Le Bleuh

The courtroom was full to the brim, but not of the officials Sheik was accustomed to. A representative from every kingdom in communication with Hyrule was there to discuss the Shadow Realm. Those that were aware of its existence had different names for it, and those that didn't know of it wanted to.

His mother had a look on her face that Sheik knew meant she was about ready to zap someone with Holy Light. "I promise you, Delegate," she was saying with the poise of a queen, "There IS no threat at current time. The Shadow Being Krad has been here already for fifteen years. If there WAS a threat from his people, we'd likely know about it by now."

"But those years were spent primarily in Ganondorf's dungeons. As despicable as the man is, he DOES know what he's doing!"

Mrs. Harkinian deadpanned immediately. "Yes. He knows so well what he was doing that he DIDN'T know Krad was a sentient being, proceeding to torture him, dissect him, AND—"

The delegate interrupted, unwilling to hear more. "We know, we know the particulars! . . . What I mean is, what are we doing to make sure he can't communicate with his people? That thing is dangerous!"

Princess Ruto stood. "I object! He is not a thing!" Her cheeks were blue with rage. "He is a man missing his heart! You cannot judge an entire race based on one individual who DOES NOT HAVE A HEART!" Her overweight father, who she was spokesperson for, nodded.

Mrs. Harkinian gestured at them. "As Princess Ruto states. Our mission ought to be to return Krad to his people rather than waste valuable resources here trying to solve a problem they may already have an answer to. We WANT him to communicate with them."

A large voice boomed. Darunia, newly voted leader of the gorons, spoke up. "What does Krad have to say about this?"

Mrs. Harkinian shook her head, sadly. "I'm afraid Krad has been incapacitated, due to his lack of sustenance."

The senator of Holodrum, the one who'd protested earlier, spoke up, "His sustenance of human hearts!"

A wave of agreement spread through the room.

"Delegates, PLEASE!" Mrs. Harkinian said, "You are finding fear and danger where there need be none." Before anyone could interrupt, she continued, "I am not saying we run into this ram-shamble stupidly like blind-sided goats, but I ALSO expect, as the great leaders of this world, that we CAN behave in a manner suitable to our position—NOT IN FEAR LIKE RAM-SHAMBLE BLIND-SIDED GOATS!"

The floor shut up. Sheik resisted a snort. His mother rarely resorted to playground insults, but when she did, it was a beauty to behold.

A voice like a bell rang through the room. A young lady stood. She looked like a living statue, with an emotionless, silver face, what appeared to be stationary eyes, and static hair shaped like a simple up-do. She wore dark clothes with blue cross-hatch patterns, as well as a floor-length cape. "If I may, Your Majesty?"

Mrs. Harkinian nodded. "Of course, Lady Fi."

In a voice of earnest concern, Fi continued, "What of the boy? The one whose body houses the Shadow Being's heart?"

Sheik could feel the sympathetic, mixed feelings spread throughout the room by Fi's notion. As for himself, he merely shook, staring at his hands, not sure what or how to feel. Shadow hadn't spoken to him in weeks, and perhaps if he felt more confident that Shadow shouldn't hate him he'd go pound on his door and not leave until Shadow opened up to him . . . but lately he'd been feeling so worthless. He could barely get out of bed anymore without prodding from his parents. Still, he listened intently, wanting to know how to protect Shadow if need be.

Queen Harkinian sighed, sadly. "I have put him on the list for a heart transplant. As soon as a heart is available that does not already have someone in greater need . . . he will be notified."

"Your Majesty," Fi continued, "I have calculated a 98% chance the Shadow Being cannot survive longer than a few months without feeding on a new human heart."

"Good riddance!" Shouted the Ocean's delegate.

Fi continued as though he hadn't spoken. "Also, due to his previous medical conditions and family genetic history, it is likely the boy whose houses the heart will have merely a 40% chance of surviving longer than three years after transplant surgery."

The Holodrum delegate was nodded his head hungrily, glad to have another reason to push his agenda. "That's a good point, thank you Fi!"

"You will address me as Lady Fi."

"But you're not even—fine, Lady Fi." He turned to everyone else. "My point is, this boy child is one of our own. Why should we sacrifice him for an outsider?"

Fi hovered a little higher, so she was taller than the Holodrum delegate. "There is a 12% chance based on behavioral observation that the beings of the Shadow Realm will take kindly to one of their own dying on Hylian soil."

The Holodrum delegate humphed.

"There is an 88% chance that they will respond selfishly as Mr. Holodrum has done, and refuse to help Shadow Dragmire since he would be an 'outsider' to them. We are in a quandry."

Sheik sniggered. Nobody but his mother had ever dared speak to the leader of Holodrum like that before.

"Our imperative, therefore," Fi continued, "should be Shadow Dragmire, to increase his chance of life. That way we do not rely on the Shadow Realm, in case they are hostile," she merely glanced at the senator of Holodrum, but her voice became slightly more twangy, "and we may remain ethical."

"Now SEE HERE!" The Holodrum delegate had gotten to his feet.

Fi was unfazed. "It is simply statistics, Mr. Holodrum."

"That's SENATOR Holodrum!"

"Your approach has led to more obliteration of species than any other approach known to historians. Lack of compassion does not live long and makes few allies."

"You're a brat!"

"Ad hominem."

Queen Harkinian leveled a gavel onto her pulpit. "Order!" She waited until the Senator of Holodrum sat down, beet red, and Fi had lowered herself back into her own seat. "How does the board feel about Lady Fi's suggestion?" There were several nods. "Good. Is there a motion to discuss ways to increase the life chances of Shadow Dragmire in order to lessen our reliance on an unknown race, and to hopefully safely return the Shadow Being's heart to him as quickly as possible?"

Darunia spoke first. "I so move!"

The Senator of Lorule spoke next, "I second that motion."

"Done. We reconvene in the morning. Bring your ideas and best minds, delegates."


Sheik was combing his hair in the mirror. He hadn't cut it in a while. It actually required brushing to keep in check. He didn't look bad this way, just . . . He turned from the mirror and picked up his phone.

It rang several times, and then disconnected. Shadow's voicemail was full. Sheik's spirits dropped. I didn't know the chances of Shadow surviving a heart transplant were so low. That's not fair. He began typing on his phone, erased it, typed again, rewrote it, kept typing . . .


Shadow's phone buzzed on the counter while he was talking to his dad, but Ganondorf didn't tell him, and Shadow didn't notice. He was at the Hyrule Maximum Security Penitentiary, and it was visiting hours. Him and Shadow could only talk through phones, a large, bullet-proof piece of glass between them. Ganondorf did little talking, and he kept his eyes on his son, who spoke nonstop about every little thing he could think of, and as fast as possible, as though they had little time left together.

Ganondorf held his anger in check. The last thing he wanted was to crush the phone in his hand and stop hearing Shadow.

Shadow spoke brightly enough, sitting back casually in his seat, staring off into space, one leg bouncing over the other. But Ganondorf knew better. Shadow had always been clingy and affectionate, and even now the fingernails of his free hand were scratching at the glass, desperate to touch him. Ganondorf couldn't fathom the idea of not getting to hug his son, possibly for the rest of his life. He had no idea how long he'd be stuck in here, with no rights to any sort of meeting with anyone outside of this confounded phone booth . . .

What a fool I am! To get caught like this . . . I swore I would always make sure Shadow had the best life could offer, and now I can give him nothing. NOTHING! I swear I WILL get out of here! He forced himself to stop angrily plotting and instead focus on Shadow. He needed to at least listen to the one person who still cared about him.

"—and Vio was like, ooooh, you've NEVER been in a relationship before, well me either, but we haven't kissed yet and then—"

"Wait, what?" Ganondorf couldn't help but interrupt.

Shadow cut himself off. "Vio. My boyfriend. We made it official last week."

Don't say anything. Don't say ANYTHING negative! "That's nice. So . . . you're gay?"

Looking blank at first, suddenly Shadow laughed. "I guess I am! Wow, that's so funny! Did you know Link is bi? I mean I've never really been into girls, ever, so I guess I really must just be gay! Or something!" He laughed again.

Who is this boy?! Is he a miscreant? Is he POOR? Is he a bad influence? Just what does he want? If I ever get outta here, I'll—! Ganondorf bit his tongue, totally beside himself that Shadow had gotten into his first relationship. I'm going to miss so much in here . . .

"I wish you could come home," Shadow was saying.

Ganondorf was pulled out of his thoughts. "You wish . . . thank you, Shadow. I wish that, too."

"Dad . . ." Shadow wasn't looking at him. He knew what was coming next. "Why did you do it?"

The lump in his throat kept him from speaking.

Shadow's face was haunted. "I know you experiment on animals, but this shadow thingy . . . person . . . he's not an animal, is he?"

"I didn't know he was a person, Shadow."

"But why? What were you trying to learn?"

How could he? How could he tell his son that in a few mere months he could be dead? That his heart might fail completely, especially now that Ganondorf could no longer do his research, and the creature that provided Shadow's life was no longer in his grasp?

On top of that, how could he tell Shadow that if it meant killing a living being to save his life, he would do it, without question? He felt no shame for what he'd done. Shadow's life depended on it, and beings from the Shadow Realm could not be considered equal to Hyruleans, anyway.

A loud buzzer announced the end of their visit.

"Aw, man!" Shadow's face betrayed the anxiety he felt. A guard came up to take the phone away. Shadow hugged it. "Can't we talk for one more minute? One more minute!"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Dragmire."

"Do as the guard says, Shadow," Ganondorf said gently.

Shadow frowned. "You'd think they'd let you talk for longer than twenty minutes!" He hung the phone up roughly and stood, seeming to suddenly want to leave right away.

A guard re-cuffed Ganondorf's hands and began leading him away when the hairs on the back of his neck prickled. He glanced behind and saw Shadow, who had come back, watching him go from behind the glass.

Ganondorf stood up tall and gave him a confident grin. The guard pulled on his arm, and he turned away from Shadow and walked forward, not letting the guard see the sorrow in his eyes.


Shadow stumbled out of the penitentiary in a daze, just like every week. The guards recognized him now, and they knew that at the end of every visit he would be too preoccupied in his mind to find the exit alone, so they always escorted him. The first couple of times they even drove him home or else he would sit on the steps in a confused state until nighttime. Today, though, he pulled out his phone to call Granny and tell her he was going to the movies.

He saw Sheik's text then.

Le Traitor: Shadow, I know you hate me and don't want to hear from me, and I don't blame you. I wouldn't want to hear from me, either, but you've gotta know by now you're sick, that your heart is dying! The council is talking about getting you a heart transplant, but there's not even a great chance of survival with that. I don't know what's going to happen, aren't you scared? I'm scared. I can't bear the thought of you dying on me when we're fighting like this. I don't care what I have to do or say, or if you just want to yell at me and say you hate me. I don't care. I just can't stand leaving things the way they are between us. Can I pleeeeeeaase come see you?

Shadow read the text and read it again, several times in fact, but it still didn't make any sense. Why did Sheik think he was going to die? And what on earth did the council have to do with any of it?

More importantly, why did Sheik think that he hated . . . him . . .

Shadow changed Sheik's name on his phone back to Sheik. He dialed.

Sheik picked up almost instantly. "Hello?!"

"Uh . . . hi."

He heard Sheik gasp and then sigh in relief. "I was afraid you wouldn't reply."

"Yeah, well . . . I don't hate you, Sheik."

"Really?" The relief in Sheik's voice carried confusion with it.

"I'm just . . . angry. And mad, and I've never felt . . . this bad. I kinda feel like . . . everything's crashing down on me. Have you ever felt like that before?"

Sheik chuckled humorlessly. "Have I ever! When can I come see you? Can I come see you? Can we do something now?"

"Yeah. Well, wait. I'm meeting Vio soon, but maybe . . . later?"

"You're meeting Vio? What's up? Are you two talking about your heart?"

"What? No. Dude, what are you even talking about?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like with the council, and the heart transplant, and now Vio . . ."

"You mean . . . you don't know."

"NO! I don't know, that's what I've been trying to tell you! To tell everybody!"

". . . But if you don't know, then why . . . wait, why are you spending time with Vio again?"

Okay, suddenly this became really weird. Shadow remembered how creeped out he was by Vio at first, when Sheik had first met him. How strange and weird and closed off and secretive Vio had seemed. He almost smirked in discomfort. "Uh . . . he's my boyfriend."

Something dropped on the other end. Sheik was making noises. It sounded like Sheik had dropped his phone and was trying to pick it up again several times before succeeding. "He's your BOYFRIEND?!"

"Well . . . yeah," Shadow finished lamely, not sure how else to explain what was going on.

"Shadow, you can't—! SHADOW! . . . WHAT?"

Someone collided with Shadow from behind, wrapping arms around his middle. "Hey, you."

Shadow smiled. "He's here now. Do you wanna talk to him?"

Vio glowered. "Who are you talking to?"

"Sheik."

The glower deepened behind the tinted sunglasses. "Oh."

Sheik's voice was screaming out of Shadow's phone so loudly Shadow had to hold it as far from his face as possible, grimacing. "HOW IN THE NAME OF NAYRU HAVE YOU NOT TOLD HIM YET YOU NUTCASE?! AND NOW YOU'RE DATING HIM? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

Vio reached up and pushed the hang up button.

Shadow looked offended. "Hey!"

Vio stepped out in front of Shadow. "I thought you weren't speaking to Sheik anymore."

"Well yeah, but he wanted to talk. Also he knows something I don't about all this and I wanna know what it is." Shadow made to step around Vio, but Vio stepped back in his way.

"You can't be friends with him."

Shadow was taken aback. "Why?"

"He'll lie to you. Betray you."

"Well maybe he's got a good reason. Maybe it was all a misunderstanding."

"No. It wasn't a misunderstanding. You CAN'T be friends with him!"

Shadow rounded on him. "I can be friends with whoever I want! Let's get that clear RIGHT now, Vio!"

"If you become friends with him you'll be kicking me in the face!"

Shadow cooled off slightly. "Why?"

Vio clenched his fists. "Because . . . he thinks I'm a freak!"

Shadow's eyebrows furrowed and he shook his head. "That can't be. You must be mistaken. I'm sure he doesn't think—"

"He does!"

Shadow growled. "Then do YOU want to tell me what he's talking about? Heart transplants, the council, that Shadow Being guy? How about the fact I'm gonna DIE soon?"

"Don't worry about it," Vio bit out.

That wasn't a denial! Shadow stepped up close to Vio. "What aren't you telling me?! Why are you lying to me?"

"I just don't want you to get hurt."

"You're sounding like my dad!" Shadow pushed himself away from Vio and started storming off in the opposite direction.

"FINE!" Vio screamed after him. "GO BE WITH THAT TRAITOR! BUT YOU'LL BE BACK! HE'LL SCREW YOU OVER AGAIN AND AGAIN, SHADOW! YOU WILL ALWAYS COME BACK TO ME!"

Vio's yells were making Shadow very unsettled, and the further away he got, the more he began to shake.

He felt awful. He'd never felt so sick to his stomach from a fight. As he got further and further away, he started feeling incredibly guilty, and began to slow down. His bit his lower lip and looked behind him. Vio was nowhere to be found. Probably stormed off just like Shadow had done. He pulled out his phone and hovered his thumb over Vio's speed dial number. He's just worried about me, I didn't have to go off on him like that. I don't really know what's going on. Maybe it really is better if I don't know, I mean, Vio's never lied to me before, and if Sheik really does think he's a freak, then maybe I shouldn't be so angry.

The thought of choosing between his best friend and his new boyfriend was sickening. He dialed.

A monotone, defeated voice answered. "What?"

"It's me, babe. I'm sorry."

"Oh." Vio sounded legitimately surprised. He must not have checked to see who was calling.

"I gotta hear what Sheik has to say, though, and I'm still mad at you for keeping secrets from me."

"Okay."

"So . . . I'll see you later?"

". . . Okay."

"Alright. Bye."

Vio took the phone from his ear and stared at it. All the negativity had flooded out of him. But now Shadow's going to know what I did, that I'm part of the reason his dad's in jail . . . what if he hates me like he hates Sheik? . . . What the hell did I even say to him? 'You'll always come back to me'? What does that even mean? I was so angry. It's like I was threatening him . . .

His anger had terrified him. He hadn't even recognized himself. He'd always thought that Shadow was the one person, the one living creature on this earth he could NEVER hurt, but what if he was wrong? What if everyone else was right? What if he was . . . a monster?


They stood outside the cafe Nabooru worked at.

"So."

"Yeah, do you . . ." Shadow held him arms out.

"OHMYGOSHYES!" Sheik practically flew into Shadow's arms, hugging him fiercely. "THIS HAS BEEN THE WORST TWO MONTHS OF MY LIFE!"

"I'm sorry." Shadow truly was sorry. Sheik looked like he'd been through some tough crap, and he'd always been there for Shadow. "I'm sorry I'm such a dunce. I mean of course you had to report my dad. He was experimenting on living, breathing beings . . ."

Sheik pulled out of the hug. "Okay. So how much DO you know?"

Shadow shrugged. "That's it."

Sheik looked a little pissed. "I can't believe he didn't tell you anything."

"Who, Vio?"

"Yeah!" Noticing the look of discomfort on Shadow's face, Sheik continued, "Nevermind that, let's go find a table and sit down." He took Shadow's wrist, somewhat tightly, almost painfully, and led him to the doors.

Shadow grinned.

When they sat down, Sheik told him everything. About how Krad had escaped when they snuck into Ganondorf's basement.

"Crap so it's MY fault!" Shadow interjected.

"No it isn't. Anyways . . ." Sheik told him how Krad had haunted him, forced him to do research, and even threatened to harm his mother and friends.

"Holy Din fire!" Shadow exclaimed, reaching forward to grab Sheik's hands. "Holy . . . I'm such an idiot. You went through all that and none of us even knew? Have you told Link?"

Sheik blushed. "I haven't told anybody, really . . . not even my mom."

Shadow shook his head. "What happened next?"

"Well, Vio started to help me. He didn't know about Krad at first. I think. I don't know how he found out, but anyway, he managed to capture Krad."

"What?"

"Dude, that guy's insane! He has this whole lab and everything, he made a container for Krad all on his own, and when we told the queen he even made a whole NEW one somewhere else for Krad to be picked up in so no one else would know about his lab." He caught himself. "I . . . I'm sorry. I know he's your boyfriend."

"He has a lab?!"

"Yeah. Underneath his house. Anyway, he captured Krad, but I didn't know about this for weeks. I thought Krad was just waiting until I wasn't looking to do something terrible." He shivered. "Then Midna calls me and apparently Vio had employed her help as well, because she knows about shadow magic . . . and SHE found out where he was from, and his name. She came to me because she knew I would be able to tell my mom, and we could take care of things . . . discreetly." Sheik lowered his face. "I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid . . . I was afraid you'd tell your dad. I was afraid he'd come after us."

Shadow let all this sink in. Sheik waited quietly. Their milkshakes came, and they ate them silently.

After they finished, Shadow finally said, "Okay . . . what does this have to do with my heart and me dying?"

Sheik started. "Oh! Right . . . so . . . the reason your dad captured him in the first place is because he wanted to use Krad's heart to . . . to repair yours, because of your birth defect."

"What?!" Shadow suddenly gagged. It took him a moment to recover. He didn't know it was a person, he didn't know! But still, doing that to an animal, even. It made him feel dirty. "That's awful."

"That's what he did," Sheik continued, looking away. "For fourteen years. He kept tearing parts of Krad's heart out so he could use its magic to fix yours, until Krad had no heart left."

"How is he still alive?"

"It's different for his people. Their hearts are their moral compasses. So without it, Krad is like a sociopath. He kills and doesn't care, and does what he wants and doesn't care who he hurts. All he wants, though, is his heart back. When he first appeared to me, he . . . he was going to kill you, Shadow. Right in front of my eyes! I convinced him to let me try to save both of you. That's why I started doing research for him, and then getting Vio to help me. And that's where we are now, but . . ."

"But what?"

"Your heart attack. Even though Ganondorf fixed your heart, it's still damaged. It's still dying. If Krad doesn't get his heart back, he'll die, and once he does, the part of his heart that keeps you alive will die as well, and . . . you'll die, too. That's why my mom is trying to get you a heart transplant, but . . ."

"There's not a big chance of me surviving or something?"

"Fi," Sheik said. "There's this girl named Fi, she knows EVERYTHING. And I mean EVERYTHING . . . and that's what she said. Your health conditions and the state of your body and everything make it so you might not survive, and if you do, only for a few years."

"Well . . . that sucks . . ." Shadow found it all a bit hard to take in. He studied his friend's face, and realized Sheik was still terrified that he was gonna die. "Hey."

Sheik looked at him.

"I'm not gonna die." Shadow smirked, feeling for a moment like his old self.

Sheik smiled slightly. "So . . . am I forgiven?"

"Of course you are! I mean it was never something you needed to be sorry about, anyways."

"But how are you doing?" Sheik could hear the pain in Shadow's voice.

"I'm . . . I don't know." Shadow's face blanked out and he glanced at Sheik. "I . . . really don't know. And now? . . . I really don't know."

Sheik let that sit in the air a few minutes, then said with a shy smile. "I'm glad we're friends again."

Shadow laughed and punched his arm. "We were never NOT friends! I just threw a tantrum. Blame it on my diet, I don't care."

Sheik chuckled as well. "We're gonna fix this, Shadow. We're gonna save you! Alright?"

"Right."

"And you're going to tell me when stuff gets bad, right?"

"Right. And you?"

"Yeah. So . . . you and Vio." Sheik grinned and raised an eyebrow. "How did THAT happen?"

Shadow groaned. "Oh right . . . speaking of . . ."

"Are things okay?"

"NO. He didn't tell me any of this! He said he wanted to protect me."

"Well," Sheik said uncertainly, "he means well, I guess? I mean that's kind of sweet. I guess."

"Yeah, yeah." Shadow suddenly smiled. "He is pretty sweet, though."

"I think you mean that in the skateboarder lingo sense."

"Yes, I do . . ."