Just so Perfect chapter 6

A short time earlier…

Red didn't know what happened. He'd been bringing through ingredients from a cart at the back of the shop, carrying them through the back door to the storage area near the ovens. He had been stacking up a few small crates, the lovely smell of freshly baked chocolate cake in the air, when suddenly a gigantic fireball had appeared out of nowhere and engulfed everything around him, slamming him forward in the blast and narrowly missing crashing into the wall, instead falling behind several large bags of flour that momentarily protected him from the surging flames. He could hear the screams from the three ladies that worked for him coming from the front of the shop, and the shouts of customers and their running footsteps as they fled into the street.

Red coughed hard, the heat intense, everything around him swallowed in flames, and with so many things inflammable the thick smoke was rising fast. Pushing past the bags of flour he stumbled forward, trying to see the open back door he'd been walking in and out of. Somewhere in front of him he could make out the outline of the door, but the smoke was getting so thick so fast that his coughing overwhelmed him, and he collapsed to the stone floor, one hand clutched to his chest as he desperately tried to breath.

Someone… he coughed again, eyes watering in the smoke, …Blue…help!

As he tried to crawl through the smoke towards the door, flaming wooden beams from the ceiling suddenly collapsed around him, and Red curled in on himself on the floor, arms tightly around his head as the crashing flames wisped past his body, singeing his clothes, charred sparks flying in every direction.

His coughing continuous, he tried one last time to look forward, tried to move his oxygen deprived body to that enticing open door, but soon collapsed again. The last thing he saw before he fell unconscious was a hand, someone's hand coming through the open door where the black smoke billowed out, a hand that reached down towards an item on the floor.

It was Reds Fire Rod.

The hand picked it up and disappeared, the faint footsteps of its owner running away muffled by the sounds of the collapsing burning building around him.

Blue's stolen horse ran through the roads, darting round corners, heading towards that black cloud rising from the buildings, and the shouts and screams that were now being heard the closer he got. Blue was desperately trying not to think of the worst, desperately trying to think that Red would be fine, that someone would have got him out the building by now and he'd be unharmed.

But what if he wasn't? What if he was still in there?

What if Red was…

As the horse sped around one last corner into the road where Red's shop was, Blue's eyes searched frantically ahead of him. A large group of townsfolk surrounded the outside of the burning building, three lines of volunteers forming a homemade fire service by sending along buckets of water down the line from a nearby well to douse the flames. A large horsecart, full to the brim with water, was being used to douse the flames through a hose, the towns firemen doing the best they could with such a huge fire, and very glad of the volunteers help as the fire was spreading to the surrounding buildings. The people nearby were looking scared and shocked, little kids trying to jump up at the back of the crowd to see what was going on as people evacuated the buildings around the fire.

As if to warn the group, Blues horse neighed loudly, and the people looked behind them and parted with a surprised yell as the horse sped straight through them into the large clearing outside the shop where the firemen were.

Jumping off the horse before it had even stopped, Blue stumbled on the ground where he landed before running up to the wall of flames that was now the front of Red's shop, stopping abruptly and raising him arms in front of his face at the sudden soaring heat, the flames dangerously close to him as he tried desperately to find an opening.

"RED! RED!" he cried out frantically, his heart racing in a fear he'd never felt before. This fire was huge, if Red was still in there then…there was no way he'd still be…

"Blue?"

Snapping his head to his right at the sound of that familiar voice, Blue's heart practically stopped in relief at what he saw. Red was sitting on the curb to the street, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, staring in shock at seeing Blue standing there.

"Red?" Blue whispered to himself in disbelief, his own face a mixture of shock and utter relief.

There were a few ash smudges on Red's face, his clothing singed here and there, but otherwise looking like he was okay. After a moment of staring at him Blue found movement in his legs again, and he ran towards him, in one swift moment engulfing Red in his arms, almost making Red topple backwards where he was sitting at the force of his embrace.

"B-Blue!" Red stated in surprise as Blue clung to him like a life raft, his hands clutching at the blanket and Reds tunic like his very own life would stop if he let go. "Blue, w-what are doing here?"

Without replying Blue pulled back and cupped Red's cheeks in his hands, kissing him hard, again and again, kissing across his cheek before he pulled back again, looking him over frantically, tears and panic in his eyes.

"Are you okay Red are you hurt? Please tell me you're okay?"

Red opened his mouth to reply, but was once against engulfed in Blues arms, clinging to him so hard it almost hurt.

"Blue, you're shaking." Red said worryingly, before Blue pressed a kiss to Red's hair and whispered, his voice cracked in a broken sob;

"I thought I'd lost you."

The words had been whispered so quietly, so heartbreakingly, Blues shaking form still clinging to him, that Red couldn't help a small loving smile appear on his lips. He closed his eyes and raised his own arms around Blue, trying to calm the panic in him.

"I'm okay Blue." Red whispered gently, "A little singed here and there, but I'm not hurt. I'm okay."

Blue's grip around Red loosened a little in relief at those words, but he still held him close, not wanting to let him go just yet, "Thank the Goddesses." He whispered, squeezing him and threading his fingers through Red's hair, holding his head against his shoulder.

The adrenaline in Blue finally began to subside. Red was alright, he was here, he was safe. Blue kept repeating those words in his mind as he held him, and it was some minutes before he finally let him go, a sheepish smile to his face as Red smiled sweetly at him, and wiped the tears from Blues eyes.

"How did you get out of there? What happened?" Blue asked softly, in turn wiping an ash smudge off of Red's cheek, Red unable to keep the blush at bay even under these circumstances, at the memory of what Blue had been wiping off his cheek only last night.

"I don't know what happened, but someone did rescue me. I haven't got his name yet though." Red replied, smiling in gratitude as he looked to his left at a man Blue hadn't even noticed had been standing there.

But his eyes went wide when he saw who it was, "Tyron?"

Tyron had been standing there the entire time, watching from the moment Blue had arrived.

"Hey…Master Blue." Tyron greeted quietly, his own clothing a little singed in places.

Red smiled warmly, unable to pick up on the strange atmosphere between the two men, "You know each other? Tyron rescued me, I'd probably still be in there if it wasn't for him."

Blue continued to stare up at his ex-student, "Really?"

Tyron nodded, but looked very uncomfortable with the sudden attention, "Yeah. I was…just walking near the alleyway near the back of his shop when I heard the explosion. I ran down the alley and saw the cart and the back door open, so figured someone must have been going in and out of there. I saw Red inside, he was unconscious but, I don't think he had been for very long 'cause he started coughing up all the smoke in his lungs as soon as I got him outside." Tyron finished quietly, eyes darting away awkwardly from the continuous stare Blue was giving him throughout his explanation.

There was a small silence between them, before Blue said quietly,

"…thank you…Tyron."

Tyron threw a quick discomfited smile down at him, before his face returned to that same strange awkward expression, looking as though he wanted to be anywhere but right here. "Sure. Glad he's okay and everything." A pause, "Um…" he took a few steps back, "…look, I really need to be somewhere else right now, so I'm gonna go now, okay?"

As he turned to walk away, Blue called out after him.

"Hey wait! Did you see anything? How the fire started?"

Tyron paused before looking back at him, "No. I didn't see anything. Sorry."

With that he walked into the crowd and out of sight, but Blue continued to watch him go. There was something strange about the expression in Tyrons eyes, maybe it was just the guys own shock of battling a fire, but now wasn't the time to be concerned. Blue had more pressing matters right now, namely getting Red out of harms way away from his burning shop.

Green, Vio and Zelda had appeared not too long after, having heard what had happened from the frantic soldier who'd run all the way from the town to the castle to tell Blue what had happened. Green had arrived holding the reigns to the two horses pulling the royal carriage he was sitting on, Vio and Zelda stepping out once they'd spotted Blue holding Red on a bench in front of an arrangement of flowers in the middle of the square.

The smoke cloud in the sky was gradually disappearing, the fire finally getting under control. Red had had many people come up to him as he sat there with Blue, all smiles and shaking hands, so happy their little red hero was safe and sound.

"What happened Red?" Green asked, sitting next to him on the bench with Zelda next to him, Blue the other side with one arm around Red's shoulders to comfort him.

"I don't know." Red replied, eyes downcast at the thought of his shop burnt to the ground, the shop he'd been saving up for for so long before, "I was just saying to Blue I was unloading ingredients when suddenly everything was on fire. No one seems to know what happened, even Shadow didn't see anything." He said, as the shadow on the ground in front of them shook its head sadly. "But…" Red continued, "…someone stole my Fire Rod."

"What!" Green exclaimed, Vio crossing his arms where he stood looking down at them.

"It was the last thing I saw. My Fire Rod was on the floor by the back door, I don't know how it got there, it hangs up on the wall next to the ovens but…someone reached in and took it, and there was so much smoke I didn't see who it was." He said miserably.

"Well," Vio began, "I think it's a pretty good idea that the Fire Rod was responsible for the fire then, especially as it seemed to start so suddenly out of nowhere. But the question is who would have used it."

There were tears prickling at the corners of Reds eyes now, and he wiped at them with the sleeves of his tunic, "I worked so hard to open that shop," he sobbed, "and now it's all gone, and my Fire Rod. And…I-I was so scared…I thought I was going to die…"

"Red…" Blue whispered, his own heart constricting at Red's pain, sorrow in his eyes as he tucked Red's head onto his shoulder and held him tightly, the smaller form shaking against him.

"It seems the shocks finally caught up with him." Vio murmured sadly.

There was a small silent pause between them all as Red clung to Blue, tears falling down his cheeks, before Zelda leant past Green and placed one hand on Reds knee, "At least don't worry about your shop Red," she said kindly, "I'll pay for anything you need to get yourself back up and running again, I promise."

"N-no," Red sobbed quietly, turning away from Blue and wiping at his eyes again, looking at her with a frown, "I-I'd never ask you do that so-"

"Red," Green smiled at him affectionately, "This is Zelda, no one talks her out of anything once she's made a decision."

"That's right." Zelda nodded, also throwing Red a lovely smile, "So no arguing."

Red looked and felt so guilty, but eventually he lowered his head in defeat, a small shy smile on his lips as a thank you.

"That's better!" Green exclaimed happily, seeing that smile and using it as an opportunity to try and cheer Red up, "That's more like our Red, all smiles."

Red smiled a little harder and let out a small giggle in bashfulness at the remark, Blue in turn giving him a small affectionate bonk on the head, Red turning to him and smiling even wider, wrapping his arms around Blue and resting his head under his chin.

"Thanks guys." He said with a smile, his cheeks still wet from his tears that had now stopped.

Blue held him tightly and closed his eyes for a moment, the others watching them with small knowing smiles on their lips. Underneath all the anger and hot-headedness, Blue really was an affectionate guy, but an affection that was only reserved for one person.

With Red safely in his arms like this, Blue wanted the entire world around them to disappear, just for a moment, so there could just be him and Red and no worries or problems out there. He had to wonder though, if this was a deliberate fire, if someone had used Red's Fire Rod, then who on earth would have wanted to do that? Red was loved by everyone, it was impossible to hate the guy. Blue was the perfect example of that, the more he'd tried to hate him when they were younger, the more he'd fallen in love with him.

Blue looked up at his fellow heroes with a now serious expression to his face, "Seriously though, if this fire was started deliberately, who would want to be after Red?"

"You've got a point," Green said, "I can't imagine least of all of us that Red would have any enemies, I can't see how anyone would want to try and kill him."

"Vio?"

Zelda had been watching Vio curiously, whose frown on his face seemed to increase the more he stood there, the others looking up at him too now.

"Well, I personally doubt very much that anyone was actually out to hurt Red…as such." At the blank looks on everyone faces, Vio elaborated. "No offense Blue, but I'd find it more likely that someone was after you."

"Me?" Blue asked in surprise, "Vio, are you feeling alright? They didn't come after me."

"Yes but you work at the castle, surrounded by soldiers and guards as well as your own students being taught in how to fight enemies. As you've all said its very doubtful Red has enemies, it's far more likely that you do Blue. Again no offense." He added, and Blue threw him a quick glare, "Whoever this person is knows they can't get to you personally without exposing themselves to the entire of Hyrule Castle, and it must be someone who knows you, because they knew that the next most effective way to hurt you…" he paused, looking at Red still buried against Blues chest, "…is to hurt Red."

Everyone turned to look at Red, who slowly peered up at them all at his name and the worried pause that followed after it.

"Of course I could be wrong." Vio continued, "It could just be this person is a coward, and gets off on seeing emotional pain rather than physical, otherwise they would have probably tried to get into your house before this fire. They may want to see how you react Blue to seeing Red hurt…or worse."

"We're basically not going to know until we catch the guy." Green stated.

"But if no one saw anything…" Zelda trailed off.

"Yeah, we're kind of lost for any leads." Green replied, pausing again before speaking, trying to sound a little more cheerful again, "But, don't worry guys, I'll arrange a search with soldiers and get them asking questions."

"It's probably best to have extra guards at the drawbridge too," Vio suggested, "have everyone searched before they leave to see if they have a Fire Rod."

"I sent a message asking them to stop anyone looking suspicious before I left," Zelda said, "I'll ask them to start searching people too. Green? Will you take me to the bridge?"

"Of course."

Green stood up and ruffled Red's hair gently, "Don't worry, we'll get whoever did this."

"Wait."

Green and Zelda turned at Blues voice. Blue had been very quiet since asking his question, and had been thinking some more, "If…if Red really is the target here…just to get to me then…" he looked up at Zelda, eyes sombre and troubled, "Can Red stay in the castle tonight please?"

"What?" Red glanced up at him confused, and Blue turned his eyes to Red's.

"If someone really is after you, I don't want you in the house tonight. They might try something after all. Besides, I'm going to go and talk to every person in the entire town if I have to to find out who did this, and I don't want to leave you alone. So, please….it's safer in the castle, there's an empty bedroom next to yours isn't there Vio?" he said, looking up at him, Vio nodding in return. "That's alright isn't it Zelda?" he turned to the Princess, who also nodded;

"Of course it is Blue."

"But…" Red started, "You'll come into the room later right? To stay with me?"

"No." Blue said sternly, his eyes still looking sad, but with a serious hard expression on face, "We need to be separated tonight. I'll search all night if I have to, and you need to be safe. If I head to the castle instead of home and they see me, they'll know you're there and they won't be able to make their move and reveal themselves. At least if I'm in the house, they'll probably think we're both there and they won't know you're in the castle. You'll be safe."

"But Blue! I want to help let me search with you I-"

"No!" Red flinched at the harshness in Blues voice, but the hand on his cheek as Blue stroked one thumb across it told him it was done out of kindness, "Please Red, just…just stay in the castle…just be safe, okay?" Blue pleaded softly, "If anything happened to you because of me…I…"

The insistent look in Blues eyes made Red's heart soften, and he leant up and kissed him softly, fingers brushing against the hair line at the base of Blues neck, "Okay Blue. If it'll make you feel better, I'll stay in the castle."

Relief washed across Blues face and he smiled gently at him.

"Shadow and I will take shifts in guarding the bedroom door all night too." Vio offered, Reds shadow nodding enthusiastically.

Blue nodded his thanks to them, watching as Shadow slithered across the floor to become Vio's shadow.

With the plans sorted, Zelda and Green took off towards the drawbridge, Green shouting out orders to nearby soldiers to gather together as many willing soldiers as possible to question the townsfolk. Vio took Red's hand and started on their walk back to the castle, Red taking one last look at Blue over his shoulder, Blue smiling what he hoped was a warm smile to keep Red's spirits up.

As soon as they were out of sight though, Blues smile faded, replaced by a stern glare. Someone out there was going to pay for this.

As he turned to walk back towards the shop, he, nor any of the others, ever noticed Tyron, watching and listening from a nearby alleyway, before turning and disappearing into the shadows.

It was almost 2am when Blue finally got back to the house. It was all well and good saying he'd search all night, but he couldn't go around knocking on peoples houses at this late hour. He'd gone back to the smoky remains of Reds shop when it got late, the entire infrastructure exposed, not a single recognisable thing left. He tried to look for clues in the ash and charred wood remains, but he didn't really know what he was looking for. There was nothing in the alley out the back where Red had seen that hand steal his Fire Rod, even the cart had caught fire and was now just a pile of blackened wood and dust on the ground.

No one in town had seen anything; no one knew anything, though every single one of them had asked if Red was alright. Blue felt like he'd done more to assure the people of Reds safety than actually found anything useful to tell him who had used the Fire Rod on the shop. He checked in every now and then with the guards at the drawbridge, and every time they said they'd found nothing on anyone leaving the castle. He'd talked with the other soldiers doing the search on Greens orders too, but they were also coming up blank on any clues.

Exhausted, both physically and emotionally, Blue flopped down face first onto his bed in the dark after having a quick shower. He laid there, head to one side staring at Red's teddy bear that sat alone on the bedside draws where it now lived. Blue smiled to himself weakly. Red would probably miss that bear tonight.

Mustering his last bit of strength, he climbed under the duvet onto his side and his eyes fell instantly shut. Despite his racing mind with everything that had happened today, Blue was exhausted. He wanted to sleep, he needed to sleep but…

He opened his eyes, staring at the empty space in the bed in front of him.

It was funny, Blue realised, that this was the very first time since they'd got together that they hadn't slept in the same bed. Well, sleeping on the floor with Red on the sofa didn't count, because Red was at least right there, but this, this was….

Cold.

Blue wrapped the duvet tighter around himself, staring sadly into that empty space. He had no idea if he could even sleep without Red here, he hadn't slept by himself for so many years it felt disturbing not to have that body warmth from Red lying next to him, not to have that warm feeling of knowing Red was right there in the same room with him.

As he continued to stare at that empty space, Blue found himself becoming more and more depressed. Someone was out to kill him, or Red, or both, they didn't know! And there was nothing Blue could do right now, nothing but keep Red safe, but keeping Red safe meant keeping him away from him.

Blue moved one hand out from underneath the duvet to spread across the bed, mentally pretending that Red was there. The gloominess in his eyes was replaced by an irritated glare at what he was doing, sighing to himself at his actions, "This is ridiculous." He muttered, before reaching out behind him to the teddy bear and throwing it down into Reds space.

"There, make yourself useful and keep that side of the bed occupied." He grumbled at it, before snuggling back down into his pillow and shutting his eyes firmly.

Seconds past, minutes past, the quiet room not making a sound in the night air.

It wasn't long before Blue moved his hand out from the duvet again, took hold of one of the paws of Reds bear, and dragged it back to him under the duvet against his chest, wrapping his arm around it.

Meanwhile, Shadow was keeping guard outside Red's castle bedroom, standing there borrowing Vio's Four Sword, eyes sharp in the fire-torch lit hallway for any movement.

The bedroom itself was almost 3 times the size of Blue and Red's house, decorated with many paintings, large wardrobes and dressers, statues, tables and chairs, and a huge king-sized double bed, golden drapes falling around it from the four high posts. It was a room usually reserved for guests of the highest honour, and tonight it was Red's. Red, who lay in the middle of the far too giant bed, had wrapped himself around a huge pillow, holding it as if it were Blue, and staring out at one of the many decorated paintings that hung from the walls.

"Blue…" he whispered unhappily into the night air, hugging his pillow tighter.

He, like Blue, couldn't sleep in the cold he felt from sleeping alone.

To be continued…