Prompt #19: Memories

"Can you tell us the story of how you two fell in love?"

The question surprised Vio as much as it had surprised Shadow. The five heroes had been sent on another quest, due to rumors about something dark brewing in the southern sections of Hyrule. The village they were looking for was a great distance away, so the four stopped in the woods to rest for the night. Red and Green where in charge of the meals, Vio had been reading while Blue and Shadow were bored. That was when Red sprung that question.

"Y'all already know the tale, Red" Shadow answered.

Red shook his head, "We haven't heard it from your perspectives though! I think it would be cool to hear you both talk about it. You know, from how you guys managed to fall in love after being enemies."

Shadow sent Vio a quick look – it was clear he wasn't against the idea of a recount of their development from enemies to romantic partners. But it was also clear he didn't want to proceed if Vio wished to keep anything private. The purple-clad hero smiled at that, nodded a confirmation to Shadow.

"I don't think we'll be going into too much detail, but I'm not against it to pass the time" Vio stated.

Red gave a tiny, excited squeal of glee. Green just smiled at the two storytellers, prepared to completely take over the core of cooking in case Red got too wrapped up in Vio and Shadow's tale. Blue seemed to be hiding his interest behind a mask of indifference – recently, he noticed that the more he objected to Shadow and Vio's affectionate displays, the sappier Shadow would start making them (a couple of weeks ago, he had politelyasked them to stop snuggling and Shadow responded by getting down on his knees in front of Vio, saying the most ridiculously gushy things Blue had ever heard in his life). Now, Blue didn't allow himself to show anything more than apathy to them… if he could help it.

"Well, you all know my first thoughts on Shadow – they were Link's first thoughts, after all" Vio sighed, "Honestly, I didn't really think too much about you in those days. I thought you were merely some phantom designed to do evil. As cruel as that sounds."

Shadow placed his hand over Vio's and entwined their fingers, "I don't mind. I like that you're someone difficult to get close to – makes it more satisfying that I'm the one you allow to be closest to you."

"It still annoys his leader though" Green remarked, earning some laughter.

"Anyway, when I first saw Link – it was a storm of emotions. Curiosity, anticipation, anger, fear, jealously, excitement. Ganon pulled me from the Dark Realm and shaped me the way I was just to destroy you. Of course, I had to see if he had been right about all Hylians being racist monsters who cared about no one other than themselves…" Shadow trailed off at the end.

Blue huffed, "Yeah, yeah – I shouldn't have called you names. You weren't exactly in the right either."

Shadow poked out his tongue, "After that encounter, I watched y'all from the Dark Mirror. There wasn't much going on there, but that was where I was… intrigued. I saw the fights between the four of you, and I saw how Vio secluded himself and I thought that maybe he was different. So, I split the four of you up and tried to recruit Vio to the dark side."

"I thought you were smarter than I gave you credit for at that moment. An excellent manipulator – most people project their desires onto those they try to manipulate. Turns out that was exactly what you were doing" Vio shook his head, "Turns out you had been right about us being similar at that point."

"I know. Anyway, at first, I tried to play it smart and keep a bit of distance – just in case. But Vio was way too kind to me and that quickly crumbled my defenses."

Vio frowned at that, "I treated you with basic human decency – I couldn't be less respectful without insults or backhanded compliments."

"Well, basic human decency was enough to convince me that you wouldn't stab me in the back. And the fact that you actually acknowledged that I had thoughts and stuff. I… Hylia Almighty, I was quickly enthralled by you Vio" Shadow turned with a light blush spreading across his face, "I went from thinking you were useful to looking at you like a force of nature. Deceptively calm and collect. But powerful, intelligent, fierce and untamed within. You had power over me, and I was certain that you knew it. But you never abused it. And that, well…"

Vio gave Shadow's hand a squeeze, "I was surprised by you as well. You're intelligent and cunning. I enjoyed your sense of humor. And your desire to be close to someone… it became quite clear that you weren't the 'made of evil' monster I had thought you were to begin with."

"Yeah, I noticed something changed. I thought you couldn't get nicer at that point. And then I rested my hand you the first time – I remember everything that happened in that moment. I recoiled do fast, and you just… you looked over your shoulder with mild confusion. I'm pretty sure I was pale at that moment. But then you just gave a small smile and told me it was fine. 'I'm not particularly affectionate, but I'm alright with physical contact' – I had no idea how to respond to those words" Shadow closed his eyes with a smile at the memory.

"Anyway, that had been the first time I had actually touched someone in a way that wasn't meant to harm. And just hearing you encourage it made everything different. I was hesitant to touch you again, so you just bumped my shoulder with yours. So, I placed hand between your shoulder blades and we continued our conversation while walking."

"That's so sweet!" Red leaned forward and rested his head in his hands.

Blue snickered, "It clearly started a habit. I swear, if you two glued yourselves together, no one would notice the difference."

Vio rolled his eyes, "I suppose it would appear that way to the one who becomes flustered at any intimacy shown towards or around them. I didn't understand why you seemed wary of personal space at that moment. But I do believe that was when we had started to become close. And that was when I started become concerned. I was worried that I may have taken the charade too far. That I had crossed a line I shouldn't have."

"Well, after that came the duel between you two" Shadow nodded at Green, "If I needed any more convincing that Vio had joined me, that was it. I was ecstatic. Probably more than I should have been."

"Definitely more than you should have been" Blue stated, "Want to tell us what you found do funny?"

Shadow started to blush (and his flustered state only increased as he spoke), "It wasn't humor. Vio was fighting for me. I had given him power over me – he could have demanded so much from me, could have asked me for anything. And yet he fought for me. For once in my life, someone thought I was more than a tool to be used. Someone thought I was worth pain and bloodshed."

"That led to the celebrations at the Fire Temple, where you decided to give away a lot of information" Vio's face had fallen – everyone knew where this was going.

"Green was 'dead', we had Red's Four Sword and you were on our side. It seemed like we had nothing to worry about. You know I flirted with you, right? Honestly, tried to drop as many hints as I could. You didn't seem to realize. At all" Shadow sighed, "And then there was the horrible awakening I received."

Vio seemed guilty, "I hadn't been able to sleep – there was something sick crawling around under my skin. It only intensified when I realized that your feelings had moved one from friendly to romantic. I had to destroy that mirror before I lost my resolve. I couldn't risk the lives of everyone in Hyrule."

"Anyway, you all know this part – betrayal, pain, blah blah blah" Shadow continued with just a reassuring squeeze, "Princess Zelda and I talked, I became good only to end up smashing the mirror."

That had been putting it lightly. Shadow had been crushed by Vio's betrayal – and though he understood it, it left marks. And the pain… Shadow was certain that his emotions themselves would have torn him apart, slowly. The physical pain came later, when Ganon had discovered his actions. Shadow couldn't even lose his form and melt into the shadows to escape it then. But he wasn't interested in letting the others know about that, so he'd keep quiet about it. Those memories would remain his own.

"The Dark Realm had gone to shit after you destroyed Ganon, so I wasn't really myself for a while. So, I guess that's Vio's part of this story."

Vio nodded, "I had to get you back. So, I threw myself into researching everything I could – I even asked around the Sheikah and Gerudo tribes for help. Impa actually liked me, so a couple of people from her clan actually searched around. Very few Gerudo were willing to do more than answer a couple of questions. I rarely slept during that time. But when I did – I saved you. Every time I closed my eyes, I saved you from having to sacrifice yourself."

"We actually had to force him to get some sleep" Green interrupted, "He would've gone without if we hadn't."

"You drugged my tea at one point" Vio muttered.

"You really did need sleep, Vio. You looked horrible" Red added.

Vio sighed, "Continuing with the story – it was a couple months before we finally brought Shadow back. A friend of ours in the Sheikah tribe had managed to get their hands on a spell. When we gathered all the ingredients, we casted it. And you came back."

"And I was pissed at you all. I remember that – I missed you, and was still madly in love with you – but the whole betrayal thing had only happened a couple of days ago for me and I hadn't had time to come down" Shadow stated.

"But I was determined to earn that trust back. We spent some time talking and sparring. You had kept your distance for bit. It was a little over a month before you decided to corner me one day. 'You had hurt me a lot. And trust isn't something that's easy to regain. But I really want to kiss you, and I'm not a patient person - so can we just skip all of this?'. I think I nearly tripped when I ran to you. After that, we stayed up almost the whole night We talked for a bit… but then we just enjoyed each other's company" Vio smiled fondly at the memory.

Shadow grinned, "And that was when we decided to start tormenting Blue with our relationship."

"I do not have a problem with your relationship! I support it" Blue growled, "It's your unnecessary public displays of affection that I have a problem with. You can do that stuff in private."

"You don't want to see what we do in private. Sometimes, when I'm feeling bold, I lay on top of Vio and snuggle. Maybe even give him a kiss or two."

"Why do I put up with you?"