-Chapter 3-

Silence hovered in the air, like a large dark cloak waiting to come down and suffocate Ashei.

"Shad...could you repeat that?" The aforementioned took a deep, slow breath before repeat those two awful words. "What is it?" she asked, anxiously. "I'm not positive on that, but the Castle Town doctor called it consumption..." "And you believe that old phony?" she inquired, gripping his vest. "Not really, which is why I went to see a Terminian doctor...she said the same thing."Looking crestfallen, Ashei said, "Is there anything I can do for you Shad?"

Her grip on his vest relaxed ever so slightly. "Well, they told me that the desert air would do wonders for my lungs." "Then why aren't you up there you bloody idiot?" Ashei exclaimed, shaking him slightly. He gently pushed her away from him, giving her a long look. His miserable expression wrenched at her.

"Don't tell me..." she said softly. Her unvocalized inquiry received conformation when he diverted his gaze to the wall behind her. "Goddesses damn her..." she muttered, clenching his vest again.

She looked up at him with an expression full of determination. "Well, you're going to be alright. We'll look around and find a cure. You'll be okay."

As she gave him a wide, reassuring smile that did not quite meet her eyes, he pulled her into a hug, deciding that he would not nurture that seed of doubt in her, no matter how accurate it actually was. He would try not to let her know just how bad it was.

Let her be happy, he thought, at least for this little while. Please don't let her be around when my chapter in her life comes to an end.

"Alright then" Ashei said, pulling away from him. "We'll go back to sleep, and in the morning we'll go and find your cure."

Shad smiled at her in reply before saying, "There are several bedrooms upstairs…one of them might have a bed that's already assembled."

After a brief search, they did come upon an assembled bed. To the joy of Ashei, the coverings were black, while the room held a generally gothic taste in terms of furnishings and color scheme. As Shad was about to leave the room, Ashei grabbed his arm.

"You thought that you were going back downstairs to your armchair, yeah?" Before he could confirm this, Ashei added, "Well, there's no way that I'm going to take the only bed in the house and leave you down there and uncomfortable."

As Ashei pulled back the covers, Shad removed his vest to reveal his white dress shirt – it was hot in there. He opened one of the windows a little and joined Ashei on the bed.

Shad was in the castle gardens with Princess Zelda, which was where they usually were when they spent time together. Zelda would go out and look at the flowers, while Shad would bring a book and read to her. Today Shad had brought a European tragedy, where the hero was kept from his princess for so long that when he returned, she no longer recognized him – and she had married another. Strangely, it was on of the Princess's favorites.

Shad hated it – but, he wanted her to be happy. As they came to the return of the hero, Shad stopped, placing the book beside him on the marble bench. Zelda looked up at him from her place in the grass, a gladiolas in her hand.

"Why did you stop?"Mustering up what courage he could, Shad took her hand.

"Zelda, there's something I need to tell you." Exhibiting a confused expression, Zelda asked, "What is it?" just as Link came into the courtyard. Shad let go of her hand as she automatically got up to go over to him, giving him a large hug before kissing him.

Shad awoke with a jolt, burying his face in his hands and trying to make himself as small as possible. Beside him, Ashei turned over. "What's wrong?" When he answered with merely a shake of his head, she sat up and curled her arms around him. Somewhere in the mansion, she heard a clock chime four o'clock in the morning. Ashei had always thought him slightly attractive – or so she told herself – if a bit naive. But that didn't bother her, if anything it made him more endearing. Shad sighed. Like him, there was someone who loved but had the object of their affection direct their advances towards another. Shad laced his fingers between those of her left hand, and she gave her head a place to rest on his shoulder. After a few moments, Shad allowed himself to slide down into a more comfortable position on the bed, with Ashei following his lead. Both slipped into the awaiting hold of slumber, where no apparition of the troubling past could extend its strangling grip, with unspoken words passing between man and woman, happily accepted.

It was now late afternoon, and Ashei stretched as she greeted this new moment she and Shad would be able to share. Smiling happily at the thought, in a way which extended throughout her entire being, she turned to Shad, who was still asleep. Moving to lie on her side, she pressed her finger against his nose. He had forgotten to remove his circular glasses before going to bed, and his large bow tie had come undone during his sleepy movements in the night. Sliding the digit down his face, she used his chin as a springboard for it. When he did not respond, her playful expression changed to one of worry. After a light push on his chest produced no response, she pushed him harshly.

After a moment, he turned towards her with a groan. A look of expression graced her features before he let out an indignant "Oh, you asshole!" as she smacked his left bicep. "What?" he asked sleepily, "What did I do?" Giving him a hard look for a moment, she took in his expression. Softening, she whispered, "You wouldn't wake up." "Oh" he muttered in realization. Pushing himself up with a groan that became a slight cough, he extended his arms to her. She quickly took the invitation and held him tightly, her face buried in his chest. "It's alright. Now, let's go eat something, and then we'll go out and look, hmm?"

As she nodded in assent to the plan, he frowned with the burden of unrevealed knowledge. After a few bites of an elderly buck Ashei had taken down – stringy, initiating an odd flick-fight – they made their way to the desert, to converse with Auru.

True, Shad and Ashei had planned to go and see Auru. But first, they needed the proper supplies. It simply would no do for them to go to the desert with what they had worn on the frigid peaks of Hyrule – and there had been no need for Shad to pack light clothing on his trip to Snowpeak. It wasn't like he planned to go to Terminia beach afterward. Thus, the couple decided to return to their respective traditional homes, but together. Ashei did not trust Shad to return once he left her line of vision, which was well enough, seeing as that was exactly what he had planned to do.

First, they would go to Ashei's home. Ashei lived on the southern side of Castle Town, not to far from the market. She said that for some reason she felt uncomfortable without the sounds of other people nearby. First, she told Shad that she wished to take him to see an old friend on the way. So, as Shad wished that he could melt into the babbling of the Hyrule Market crowds, he allowed Ashei to lead him to the residence of her friend. After a while – the market was quite large, and Ashei told him that her friend had decided to live in a place set away from the noise of the crowds – Ashei grabbed his sleeve tightly. As he was about to inquire as to why she had done it, Shad took at look at his surroundings and saw that this was a familiar path.

"Ashei, don't!" "Now Shad, you haven't seen Telma or the rest of the Resistance in ages, and I'm sure that she's missed you just as much as I did. You know she thinks of you and me as her adopted children, even though she isn't that old. And hey, Rusl might even be there!"

They began going down the railed stairway to the Bar as Shad countered, "No, he must be in Ordon with his family! Surely he is spending time with the new baby?"

"He, unlike you Shad, takes the time to visit us, even though you had a good excuse" Ashei replied, tweaking his nose. "And by the way, since you don't know, Amy is a year old now…Amy is what they named her."

"My goodness…has it really been that long?"

Ashei stopped, looking at him for a moment as they both stood before the entrance to the Bar. "Yes Shad, it has… We've all been really worried about you, ya know? You have no idea how excited we got when we found out that your father had a mansion on Snowpeak, and that you might be there. We all love and care about you..Some of us more than others" she added softly. As Ashei opened the door and entered; Shad gave a melancholic frown before following her lead.

"Oh my…is that you honey?" Shad unconsciously braced himself as Telma came around the bar to give him a large hug. "Ashei, good job on finding him. Now Shad, come on over here and tell Rusl and me what you've been doing!"

So, Ashei had been right after all. Rusl was here. In the corner of the room near the wines, Shad could hear the postman muttering something about his order. Things didn't seem to have changed that much in the past year. As Telma dragged him further into the bar, Shad could see that Rusl was conversing quietly with his wife and son, while jostling his daughter on his knee, much to her delight. Shad knew Amy thanks to Ashei, and his wife's name was…Uli, he had met her when the members of Ordon had come for the children at Kakariko…but he couldn't really – Colin. The boy's name was Colin, and he wanted to be exactly like Link. The poor boy. He was knocked back into reality as he saw Colin's mouth move.

"Mr. Shad? Hello?" He managed a warm-yet-false smile as he replied, "Hello Colin, hove have things been with you? Taking care of the family I see, with that sword." Colin's hand unconsciously went for the practice sword attached to a sheath of sorts on his back. "Yup! Now I can do a really big spin attack without getting dizzy, and Dad thinks I'm ready to spar now!" Shad couldn't help but reflect the grin of Rusl at the boy's enthusiasm. Hopefully, the boy would never have the chance to use a real sword.

Shad noticed that the family was dressed quite finely for a mere visit to the bar. He took his usual seat at the table. "Rusl? Why is everyone so dressed up?" he asked, with what he hoped was a playful grin. Ashei quickly looked towards Rusl from her conversation with Uli and Telma to give him a warning look. Rusl looked quite uncomfortable for a moment.

"Well, Shad, er…" he tried to begin. "We're going to Link and Zelda's wedding Shad!

Colin broke in "Are you and Ashei going too?" Rusl didn't fail to catch Ashei's brief hopeless look as he turned quickly towards his son, and then back towards Shad, waiting for the reaction of the aforementioned.