Shadow woke in a panic. "NO! DAD!" He sat up, looked around, realizing he had been having a nightmare. And he was no less terrified. His first thought was to pick up his phone and call Vio. When the phone didn't dial, and he got a "this phone has been disconnected" signal, he stared at his phone in confusion. What is he thinking? Is he okay? Is he breaking up with me again?

And then it hit him.

Vio hadn't done anything.

Vio was dead.

He hadn't deleted Vio's contact info. He never would.

His heart ached, and he grabbed at the itching scar on his chest as the blood rushed to his face. I can't breathe. I can't—

A sob escaped.

And another.

Help me, help me—

He dialed again, someone else.

"Shadow?"

"Hi," Shadow managed to choke out. But that was all.

"Shadow? Are you still there?"

He couldn't get any more words out, no matter how he tried. He broke into sobs, then full on crying, the phone shaking in his terrified grip.

"Are you ok? Do I need to come? Shadow!"

He heard shuffling on the other end, and felt extremely guilty. You can't come here, it's across town, it's dark, it's not safe. Truthfully he just felt bad about making his friend do that for him.

"I'm coming, Shade, don't worry."

"I'm sorry," Shadow got out finally, still sobbing. "I just . . . I miss him so much. I miss him so much." He started crying again.

There was silence on the other end. Vaati must have stopped rushing out the door.

It was okay. Shadow didn't need, or even want words. He just didn't want to be alone. "I want to rip out my heart," he said, voice becoming a growl, "because I don't deserve it!"

Still there was silence.

"It doesn't matter what you think," Vaati's cool voice came over the receiver. "All that matters is what he thinks. He seemed to think you deserved him dying for. All you can do now is respect that."

Shadow's wretchedness left him suddenly, and he was left with sorrow only. "Y-you're right. Oh, God, you're right." He wiped his eyes. He could start to breathe again. "Thank you."

He could do that. He would live for Vio. He couldn't be sad like that. That wouldn't make Vio happy, would it?

But Vio wasn't here. What about my happiness? How am I supposed to live like this? Fuck, you're all I have to hang on to, Vio! His sobs turned to sniffles. "I guess that's why you're my best friend, right, Vaati?"

"I'll always be here for you Shadow."

Shadow managed a grateful chuckle. Then he sniffled again. "Have you left yet?"

"Oh! Uh, no. Sorry. I'm on my way—"

"No, no no!" Shadow gestured with a hand, even though they were talking over the phone. "I just wanted to say, you don't need to come. You shouldn't."

"It's no trouble."

"Isn't it? Didn't I wake you up? You must be tired."

Silence.

Suddenly remembering how awake Vaati had already sounded when he picked up the phone, Shadow wondered if he'd had slept at all, but he didn't get a moment to ask, because Vaati broke the silence first.

"I am pretty tired, and . . . I'd have to wake Kohga to drive me. He'd never forgive me."

He didn't sound very serious, or like they were real excuses. His voice was light. Shadow figured as his friend spoke that he must not have slept at all. Should I ask him about it? He seems to be avoiding the subject.

"But if you need anything," Vaati finished, "You'll call again, right? Anything at all."

"Sure thing, V."

A chuckle. "I'm glad you're bright enough to call me V again. Get some sleep, Shadow. Do you think you can?"

"Uh . . . Nah. I'm gonna play guitar for a while. I'll call if I need anything."

"Okay. Night?"

"Yeah, night."

He heard the familiar click as the call ended. He smiled at his phone briefly, then turned to his guitar before his dark thoughts returned. He paused as he remembered why he'd woken up in the first place. It hadn't been Vio at all. That nightmare . . . Watching his dad locked behind a jail cell. What if it was for life? What if he never got to hug him again? Leaving his guitar, he padded out of his room and across the house, down the hall to the left to the large door built, like the others in the house, for a larger than normal person. His father's snores carried through it. Not bothering to knock, he went in.

Shadow couldn't remember the last time he'd been in here. It seemed so long ago that he wanted to be around his father.

Now he couldn't imagine a world without him.

He shivered and ran from his thoughts by walking up to the bed. His father's large form was laid conspicuously on the special made titan sized four poster bed. He'd throws the blankets off in the night, and lay on his side in his grey tank top and plaid pajama bottoms. I don't care what you did, Shadow thought as he picked up the blankets from the ground. You're my dad. You're always there for me, even when I scream back at you. You never gave up on me. He managed, after a few tries, to throw the blanket successfully in a way that would cover his dad up again.

Ganondorf, normally so easily wakened, barely stirred, his face just becoming grumpier than normal for a moment. Shadow tucked the blanket under his chin, feeling guilty that his father must be so tired he wouldn't even wake up.

"I'm sorry," Shadow whispered as he walked around to the other side of the bed. I'm sorry if it's my fault, that you're so grumpy all the time. I'm sorry I'm not the best son. He would never dare say this to his dad's face. Ganondorf would cut him off and scream at him for daring to believe it at all. But it wouldn't change how Shadow felt.

It had to be someone's fault.

Why not his?

He climbed onto the bed and under the covers. I'm sorry, Dad. He turned his back to Ganondorf's and cuddled back into his. His dad's warmth spread through him like a heater, and the expansion of his back with every breath, indicating he was alive, and big, and powerful, was comforting. Shadow's anxiety from the nightmare started to go away, knowing his dad was near, but it brought up a new anxiety. He felt so safe here, so normal, like it was meant to be. It was lulling him to sleep, except for one small, detrimental worry.

What would happen to him if he could never feel this way again?

"Oh my GAAAAAAAAAAWD," Kohga yelled at lunch the next day.

Sheik glanced across the table at him, straw in his mouth as he sipped his chocolate milk.

Kohga had two fingers of each hand pressing on his temples. "Why does he make us sit here if he's just gonna float off with that mamby pamby?" His eyes gestured down the table, where Vaati and Shadow were chatting away after slowly disengaging from the group.

"Shadow's going through a hard time," Sheik said heavily. "Vaati knows that."

"I know," Kohga said with a laborious sigh. "But I see no reason to continue sitting with you." He got his legs from out of the bench and stood up.

Sheik followed him and caught him before he left the cafeteria. "Hey, what's your problem with me?!"

Kohga raised an already angled eyebrow. "Me? What's your problem? You're Sheikah. I'm Yiga. Why are you even trying?"

Sheik stood a little taller. "I'm a diplomat. I'm the Prince of Destiny, after all."

"Prince."

His tone made Sheik's cheeks burn, but he managed to squeak, "Yeah? You got a problem with that?!"

Kohga shook his head. "No. I've just never heard of a Prince of Destiny before." He leaned slightly over, looking down at Sheik's hand.

Sheik turned the outside of his palm toward Kohga so he could easily see the mark of the Triforce.

Kohga's eyebrows raised. "Well, well."

Is it happening? Sheik thought in anticipation. Are we connecting?

"Then we truly are enemies."

Sheik's jaw nearly hit the floor as Kohga left his shocked body and exited the cafeteria.

Eventually Sheik made it back to the table with his friends.

Link woke to somebody prodding his back with the sharp side of a pencil. He jerked up and looked back. "What?"

"You fell asleep again," said Shadow, still proffering the pencil.

Link's annoyance fell away and he turned back around in his desk. "Oh."

Luckily Mr. Gaepora didn't seem to notice or care.

Shadow leaned forward and whispered, "What's up, bro? Why are you so tired?"

"Nothing," Link muttered, drawing circles on his scratch paper in an attempt to stay awake. "Just workin' a lot."

Linebeck was keeping him working as much as was legally allowed, which Link was grateful for. He hadn't told Linebeck he was also working a second job as a paperboy. And he hadn't told the paper he worked for Linebeck.

What they don't know can't hurt me.

His grades, however, were beginning to slide, and he couldn't have that. Granny would see his report card, and she would know something was up. He thought of her at the grocery store, helping people half her age put bags into their cars, and—

Snap!

He looked down and saw he'd snapped his pencil lead. "Damn it . . ."

"Hey, hey!"

Link slowed, but didn't stop on his way to his bike.

"Where are you going?" Shadow asked as he caught up.

Link looked him up and down. He was still dressing in a suit every day, but at least his tie was loose.

"We're heading to the movies, don't you want to come?"

"No, I can't," Link said. "I have to study before work."

"You can study at Linebeck's!"

"No, I really have to study." They made it to his bike and he started unlocking it.

"Bro, come on, you need a break. You can't work so hard."

"I have to, Shadow!"

"Why?"

Link turned to him angrily, then thought better of yelling. He realized he was exhausted, and lashing out was just a product of that.

Shadow was just standing there, looking worried. It was always when he looked worried that Link caved in. He had this thing with his eyebrows. Ganondorf had said that Link looked like their father, Ravio, but that Shadow looked like their mother, Hilda. Link wondered if their mother had had the same worried look as Shadow. "You know Aryll's caretaker?"

"Romani? Yeah."

"Well in a few months, we won't be able to pay for her unless I work."

"What do you mean? How did you pay for it before?"

"I never told you . . ." There hadn't been a particular reason. It had never come up, especially with everything else that had been going on. "At the beginning of last year, we got an anonymous letter with a check for Aryll's care."

"Whoa! No way?"

"Yeah."

"Well maybe they'll send another check this year!"

"They can't."

"Why not?"

Link stared at the ground. "It was Ganondorf."

Shadow's normally animated face froze. "What?"

"I figured it out. Way back before we knew we were brothers, Ganondorf was taking care of Aryll, and we didn't even know it."

"But now Dad's in trouble. His assets have all been seized."

"And unless I work my fucking ass off, Aryll won't have a caretaker. She needs a caretaker, Shadow. She's actually speaking."

Shadow looked off thoughtfully. Link glanced back at their friends, Sheik, Groose, Midna, Vaati even. Most were standing around chatting, but Sheik was watching them curiously.

"I can do it."

Link looked back at Shadow.

"I can work, too," Shadow finished.

Link's eyebrows crossed downward. "Absolutely not!"

"Why? You do it!"

Link poked him in the chest. "You have to rest. You have to get better! And stay better!"

"Dude, it's been six months!" Shadow raised his arms. "I'm back to peak performance!"

Link's stomach dropped at the thought of his brother working as hard as he was. "No. You're not well enough, it's too much stress, you have too much going on—"

"Forget it!" Shadow yelled. For a second his nose scrunched in distaste, then his face cleared and he raised his palms and waved them placatingly. "Don't worry about it, okay? I'm not gonna wear myself out. Okay? I promise."

"Don't work," Link repeated, his voice shaking. The last thing he needed was another family member forced to work beyond what they were able to. He thought of Granny again with increasing guilt. If I were an adult, I wouldn't even have to go to school. I wish I could drop out, but Grandma would never let me.

"Don't worry, Link," Shadow said, taking his arm. "Don't worry about me. I won't do anything stupid. I promise."

Link felt he was starting to calm down. He'd gotten so wound up, suddenly. "Good. I have to go. I'll talk to you later." He got on his bike.

"Yeah . . . Okay . . ."

Guilt weighed Link down again as he pedaled off.

Talk to you later? When the fuck am I supposed to find the time to do that?!

"Did you find anything?"

Vaati looked up from the computer. "There's a restaurant job downtown. You'd make a good waiter. You'd get soooo many tips."

Shadow thought about it as he lay on his back, newpaper classifieds scattered around him helplessly. He was good at being social, people always said he had a magnetic personality, but waiting tables meant being on his feet a lot, and it was known for being a stressful, high intensity job. "Nah."

"I could always get you a job at the call center where I work. The boss really likes my work, she was asking me if I had any friends—"

"I can't do that, you know that."

"But it's sitting down."

"Yeah, but it's like mindless and stress city, you're always saying so. Link would never forgive me if I—" He cut himself off. He couldn't get the image of Link's worried face out of his mind. He'd seen it too often these days.

I can't make him worry any more.

Plus, there was convincing his dad to let him work. The trial was less than a month away, and Shadow chose not to think about if his dad wasn't around anymore to—

He sat up. "I have to do something small, something easy, simple. Something that won't make everybody worry about me and think I'm gonna fall over and die!" He placed a hand over his chest where his scar was. The doctors told him he needed to keep it out of the sun for at least a year in order for it to be as unnoticeable as possible, and more and more, he wanted it to be invisible. He wished everyone would forget about it.

But then everyone would forget about Vio, as well.

His hand crumpled the front of his shirt.

Vaati appeared in front of him. He placed a hand over Shadow's, gently easing it away from the fabric."I'll have to iron that, you know." His voice wasn't playful, it wasn't even scolding. It was soft, and gentle. He laced his fingers with Shadow's.

Shadow squeezed his hand, rubbing it with a thumb nervously. "What am I going to do, V?"

Link scribbled madly, trying to up his word count. He knew it would be faster to type, but he couldn't keep his focus together unless he wrote by hand. Something about the methodical swirl and jot of the pen kept his thoughts in order. He dared a glance at the clock. Almost 11pm.

He was vaguely aware of the front door opening and closing, and figured Granny was home from work. As her soft footsteps approached, he lied, "I have a test tomorrow, Grandma, I can't go to bed."

Something heavy clanked on his desk, jostling everything. He dropped his pen and looked up.

It wasn't Granny, but Shadow, standing there with his guitar case on his back. He'd slammed a jar on Link's desk. It was full of coins and bills. "Shadow? What?" He looked back and forth between Shadow and the jar of money. "What's this?"

"Tips," Shadow said simply.

Getting worked up again, Link pushed his chair back and stood angrily. "Shadow, you promised!"

Shadow held up his hands to stop Link from coming any closer. "Easy, bro! I was just performing, it's nothing stressful."

"But—"

"Look, this way you don't have to work so hard, and I can do something I love. I play music anyway. But now people can hear it."

Link's heart slowed down so fast it hurt, thudding against his ribcage. He stared at Shadow, trying to process what he'd said. "How much?"

Shadow shrugged his shoulders. "Fifty bucks or something. I didn't count exact."

Something was happening inside Link, but he didn't know what. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, or what it meant. His mouth was hanging open. He wasn't mad.

It was something else.

A flash of anger crossed Shadow's face, though. Only briefly, while he said, "She's my sister too, you know. You should have fucking told me."

Link cleared the space between them in a flash. He threw his arms around Shadow, and yet found himself collapsing, and Shadow had to hold him up. "I-I'm sorry," he said. He couldn't believe the relief coursing through him. He could barely speak. "I'm so used—you know—to—taking care of everybody else. I didn't—I'm sorry." What's wrong with me? Why can I barely stand?

Shadow held him up and held him at arm's length. "So you don't have to work so hard, okay? Keep your grades up and . . . Shit. This doesn't need to ruin your life."

Link was grinning. "We can do this." He started hopping from foot to foot. "We can do this!" He grabbed the jar and shook it. "Let's see how much exactly. Then we can calculate my earnings and yours together and see how much further we have to go."

"Hahahaha! Now you sound like Sheik."

As they sat on Shadow's old bed in Link's room and counted the money, Shadow smiled. He felt good, that he was able to do something for Link. For Aryll. Well, and for himself, too.

It felt good to be part of a team, part of a . . . family.