A/N: This chapter has a bit of feels, some guilt, and self-deprecation from both Ghirie and link. But it's also where the real fluffy part of this fic finally starts to take off, and it's the longest chapter so far. We all deserve it, after the ride that chapter 17 turned out to be.

Link didn't find Ghirahim when he finished speaking with Groose and arrived at the classroom. But the demon had definitely been there. The blackboard was almost completely covered in diamonds. And also the occasional word or phrase here and there, but mostly diamonds. A book lay open and face-down in a corner, pages slightly crumpled. But the most unnerving detail, the thing that made the hairs on LInk's neck stand on end, was the pair of scrunched wads of fabric lying abandoned almost in the middle of the floor, as if discarded in a hurry. Link would recognize that pristine white material anywhere.

With a feather-light stride, the hylian quickly made his way over to the twin wads and picked them up. He held the identical objects aloft, allowing them to unfurl before his widening eyes. Silky yet also stretchy fabric that shimmered slightly in the light, and several diamond-shaped holes. There was no mistaking it; these were Ghirahim's gloves.

Link dusts the gloves off on his pants, then begins to fold them neatly as his mind races. Ghirahim loves everything about his outfit. It's completely unlike him to just leave an article of clothing behind where anyone could snatch it, and on the floor no less. Suddenly, LInk's bad feeling had turned into a terrible feeling. Something is wrong.

The hero carefully stores the gloves in his pouch for safe keeping, before trying to decide what to do next. On further inspection, the classroom doesn't look nearly as destroyed as he thought it might when Fi first informed him of the spike of power she had detected. If she hadn't had told him about it, Link never would have guessed that any sort of magic took place here.

Just to have something to do as he thought, Link approached the blackboard and began scrubbing away at it with an eraser. Someone else stumbling upon the writing and freaking out because they thought it was some kind of evil spell was the last thing they needed at the moment.

Next, he decided to put the book back in its proper place. It was a history textbook, and it was open on a page with an illustration of some hylians locked in battle with… Demise.

But that didn't make sense. Ghirahim had been loyal to Demise, hadn't he? Why would seeing a picture of him evoke a reaction like that? Unless…

He'll think more on that later. Right now, he had a demon to find. And what better person to help locate him, than the one who had felt his power moments ago?

"Fi?" The small spirit flips out of the Master Sword like always, looking calm and collected as ever. "Do you know where Ghirahim went?" He asks her, trying to emulate her calmness, but likely failing miserably at it.

Fi doesn't respond for a few seconds, scanning the area. It's not a long time by any means, but it's more than enough for the hylian's mind to come up with several horrific scenarios that might have occurred in this room while he was none the wiser. "Master," At first, LInk feels a deep relief when his faithful companion finally speaks. But it is extremely short-lived. "Ghirahim not detected."

"W-What?" LInk's voice cracked horribly as fear spiked within his gut. Fi couldn't find Ghirahim, at all? What did that mean?

"There is a seventy-eight percent chance that Ghirahim is no longer on Skyloft," Fi says in reply to the hero's unspoken question.

Link doesn't think, he starts running. Until he realizes he's still holding the book. Blushing slightly, the boy returns to the room, shakily replaces the textbook to its proper shelf, then sprints away a second time.

This time, LInk doesn't stop, even when he exits the academy and passersby begin giving him concerned looks. These looks multiply tenfold when he flings himself off the island more enthusiastically than a child on a sugar high diving into a pool.

He's so enthusiastic, in fact, that he forgets to call his loftwing until after he's been falling for several seconds.

Link didn't know what to do. He'd been flying around for several minutes, eyes never leaving the ground, searching for a flash of white or red. But there was no sign of Ghirahim. Fi was still unable to dows for him, but she remained certain that the demon was on the Surface somewhere.

"It is possible that Ghirahim is using magic to hide his aura," Fi explained.

"Then how are we going to find him?" Link asked hopelessly, his voice almost swallowed up in the wind. He wasn't directing the question to anyone in particular, so it was quite a surprise to the Skyloftian when he received an answer, from a most unexpected source.

Link's loftwing let out a sudden call, making Link jump slightly. "Yeah, I know I've made you fly around for a while," the boy consoles, leaning forward to stroke the bird's crimson feathers. "But I'm really worried about Ghirahim because I don't know where he is." The fact that he never could have imagined himself saying that sentence mere days ago never even crossed his mind, so focused was he on this quest.

His loftwing let out a trill. Of agreement, but there was also something insistent about it. LInk's heart suddenly lightens. "Do you know where he went?"

He isn't sure how his bird would know, but at this point the hero is willing to try anything. So he sits back, and just allows his loftwing to carry him wherever it pleased.

Link was surprised, and also not surprised, when his bird carried him to, of all places, the Sealed Grounds. Or maybe he should call this place something else now, since the Imprisoned was no longer being trapped here. Whatever the case may be, his loftwing seemed certain that this is where the demon had gone, so the hero would search around it thoroughly.

Something did seem a little off about the place as the hero began wandering around. No, he wasn't talking about the Goddess Statue being here, although that was quite a big change that would take a little getting used to. It was more like there was a small detail LInk was missing, even though he was keeping his eyes peeled.

This is a puzzle, the Skyloftian realized. Just like the others on my journey. And he would have to solve it to find Ghirahim. He could do that, no problem.

Link leaned against a tree and started taking deep breaths. Now that he had the semblance of a plan, it was a lot easier for the hero to calm down and think. Absentmindedly, he stuck his hand down into his pouch and brushed his fingertips along the satiny fabric of Ghirahim's gloves. They really were nice, high-quality gloves. Where had the demon gotten them? Why did he leave them behind?

Link shook his head and removed his hand from his pouch. He had to focus, and stop getting distracted by every little—wait.

When the Skyloftian had shaken his head, his eyes had locked onto something he had always known was there, but had never paid full attention to until now. A ruined structure on the top of the No Longer Sealed Grounds (he'll think of a better name later), one of the few to survive the Imprison's destruction by falling island. Link would have explored it earlier, but he couldn't figure out how to enter it, and had set it aside for a later date. And it seems that now was said later date.

The stone square on the front of the building, which the hero had thought was simply for decoration, was actually a door or hatch of sorts, for it had been noticeably shifted slightly. Now, Link felt a little silly for not realizing. But that silliness was soon forgotten in favor of the familiar urge to explore a newly discovered area.

But something inside the hero told him it would not be a good idea to rush this particular adventure. He had the distinct sensation that a cautious, gentle hand would be needed in this case. So on light feet, LInk made his way over to the small building. When he had made it there, he slowly bent down and peeked through the cracked entrance. And was promptly met with one of the saddest things he had ever witnessed.

Inside, the building was small, dark, and still. Some cobwebs clung to the ceiling, and the floor was dusty. There were simple drawings etched on some of the walls; Link couldn't make out what most of them were, but there were definitely diamonds.

There was an unusually small, old, battered looking piano with a few books and papers piled haphazardly on top. Tucked underneath the instrument was a small wicker basket. What precisely was inside the basket was difficult to make out because of the lighting, but there were several scraps of fabric and a small box. A sewing kit, perhaps?

But the most devastating detail of all, the thing that made Link's heart sink into his boots, was what, or rather who, lie in the middle of the tiny room.

Ghirahim. His back turned to the hero, squished uncomfortably small to fit on top of what looked to be a rug of some sort. He wasn't moving. It didn't even look like he was breathing. Yet, something in LInk assured him that the demon was alive.

It was at that moment, with that heartbreaking image burned into his retinas even when he looked away, that Link's perception of Ghirahim as the evil, intimidating, power-hungry demon lord was completely shattered. No being who truly embodied the persona that Ghirahim wore would be caught dead in a place like this.

Link had never thought about Ghirahim's living situation before, but if he had, he would have pictured a huge, glamorous palace. But this couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, it was the opposite. Ghirahim just looked so small and vulnerable like this; it reminded Link of an abandoned remlit kitten hiding alone in a cardboard box.

A part of him wanted to deny it. That this wasn't where Ghirahim had lived; it was just a small, temporary base of operations the demon only used as a last resort. But despite the dirt and grime, the wall art and undeniably personal items made it clear that this place was lived in.

And I was so close to this place so many times, LInk realized. I never would have guessed, but now, it's so obvious. Where else would Ghirahim have stayed, but nearby his master?

Link let out a shaky sigh. He had been wrong about Ghirahim all this time, utterly wrong. And now, the hero was at a loss for what to do. Well, that wasn't entirely true, he knew he had to help the demon. But how to go about it?

Okay, one step at a time. The first order of business was to see if Ghirahim was okay, and to do that, he would have to wake him up. Because he was clearly sleeping or, worse, unconscious, he would never be that eerily still when he was awake. But he knew barging into his home would not be a wise idea. So instead, he decided for a softer approach.

Link softly knocked on the wall of the small building. Much to his relief, this yielded slight results. He could just hear some small shuffling and rustling sounds coming from inside, along with a small groan. But they soon quieted.

After a moment's pause, Link knocks a second time, slightly harder. "Ghirahim?"

"Sky Child," Ghirahim says, his voice is uncharacteristically soft and frail sounding. "How did you find me here? Why have you come?"

The questions, asked in that tone, fill the hero with confusion and heartache. Didn't the demon understand that Link was going to help him now?

"It doesn't matter," Ghirahim continues before the Skyloftian gets the chance to formulate a response. There's more rustling from inside the building, and Ghirahim's voice strains with the effort of moving. "You should go. Please, just leave me."

"Uh?" Link physically flinches at those words. He had never, in recent memory, experienced someone asking him not to help them before. What was worse, he could hear in Ghirahim's voice that the demon didn't actually want him to leave, that fact was painfully obvious. So, why was he saying this?

"B-but I brought you your gloves…" Link mentally kicks himself when that statement slips out.

"Oh?" But thankfully, Ghirahim doesn't seem upset by it. "That is… good. Thank you. I left them in the classroom, how silly of me… You may simply… toss them through the hatch, I will retrieve them later."

Okay, something was definitely not right. He may not know Ghirahim as well as he once thought, but he knows it's very much not like the demon to just accept an item of his being 'tossed' somewhere.

"What happened?" LInk's voice is barely above a whisper, but Ghirahim, with his sensitive hearing, catches it.

"W-What do you mean?" the demon's voice is high and a little wobbly, like a kid desperately trying to hide that they were the one who got into the cookie jar. But LInk knew in his gut that this was a much more serious situation than that.

"Why'd you leave?"

"I…"

"I couldn't find you, you just disappeared."

"I did, didn't I?" More rustling. Ghirahim's voice now sounds a bit clearer, he must be sitting close to the entrance. "It was unintentional. To be frank, I am still unsure as to how I got here. But, it appears I have found my home. So, you no longer have to worry about me. I will be … just fine…" He trails off. He is not going to be just fine. In fact, his tone is filled with nothing but solemn resignation, and it cuts the hero's soul to hear that emotion in the voice of one who was once so confident and sure.

Link spoke again a moment later. It was starting to become difficult, but he knew this was important. So, he'd have to push through. "I want to help you," he says, meaning it with every fiber of his being. "But I can't… if you don't tell me what's going on. Why you're hiding."

"I am not… alright, yes, I am hiding." Ghirahim's voice, despite the sadness in its depths, also had an undertone of sulky petulance. It would have amused LInk had the situation not been so dire. "And I'll have you know that I have a very good reason for doing so."

"What's the reason?"

Silence again, but this time it felt purposeful. The demon was thinking. "You know what? Fine." Some of his old venom had returned to his voice, but it didn't feel directed at the hylian. "I will allow you to see for yourself just why I am hiding in here. All you have to do is answer one, simple, question."

Link had a bad feeling about this. Not concerning his safety or anything of that nature, he was almost certain they were past that now. No, it was more a mounting dread of what he would be asked, and what he was about to see.

"What's your question?"

At that moment, Ghirahim's tone loses all of its bite. It is the most soft and vulnerable the hero has ever heard from just about anyone. Link can't see Ghirahim at the moment, but the hero gets a rather vivid mental image of the demon deflating in defeat, shoulders drooping, bangs hiding both his eyes. "A-Am I a demon?"

Link froze. Out of everything he was about to be asked, he never, in a million years, expected that.

Ghirahim continues. "Groose called me a demon this morning, did I ever mention that? At first, I thought it was simple name-calling but then… I was reading a book. And it fit, mostly. It is what makes the most sense. I just need one final confirmation."

Link's mind raced. He didn't know he was a demon. Well, of course he didn't. He had forgotten everything. But 'everything' including Ghirahim's very species had never crossed the Skyloftian's mind. And to find out through Groose and a textbook could not have been pleasant. Now, LInk felt even worse about leaving Ghirahim alone for so long.

"Yes," he said, refusing to keep this from him. "You are a demon."

There's a loud sigh, and then the hatch in the ruined building opens the rest of the way. Ghirahim's head emerges from it. His hair is a mess, and there is a heartbreaking look of hopelessness in his eyes. Link had never seen this expression from the demon before, not even after his master was killed in this very location.

"I thought so." And his tone is flat, empty. He begins crawling out of the small entrance. It looks to be quite the awkward and uncomfortable ordeal for the demon, especially when the bottom of the opening is shoved into his chest. But he doesn't so much as flinch or make a single sound of pain. "After all, what other explanation is there, for something… like this."

Ghirahim stands up straight, the hatch falling closed behind him. The movement lacks the usual grace or fluidity. It's jerky and robotic, as if Ghirahim were nothing but a puppet on strings. But that isn't the only worrying thing, far from it.

Link is immediately filled with alarm when he realizes what is happening to the demon. He looks to be partially transformed, like during their battle in the Fire Sanctuary. Except, a lot less cohesively. All of his fingers are coated in metal at various levels. There are patches of it running haphazardly up his arms. No darkness on his face this time, but his outfit is oddly lumpy in some places, and the hero just catches a glimpse of blackness through one of the diamond holes on his legs.

"Enjoying the show?" Ghirahim asks, his voice filled with pain and bitterness. Not seeming to care that the hero is watching, the demon buries his face in the collar of his cape, which is now hanging off his shoulders at a weird angle. He's also trembling slightly, similarly to the way he had the night before, when LInk sat with him through the storm.

"Y-you're transforming again…" LINk breathes, full of concern. The last time this had happened, Ghirahim had seemed eager for the change, bragging about how beautiful and exquisite his form was. But now, it seemed to be the last thing he wanted to do. And judging by how chaotic the mesh between his silver and black skin was in this go around, it was completely beyond his control, he wasn't choosing for it to happen.

Did he ever? LInk couldn't help but wonder. When he was talking about how amazing his dark form was… was it all a lie?

How much of the once confident, imposing demon lord had actually been fake? A facade, an act to hide his vulnerability? And how did the hero not realize how deeply the demon had been hurting not just when they first met, but when he had taken it upon himself to assist him?

Not that I did a good job of that, LInk thought self-deprecatingly. I take him to a place he's never been before, leave him alone with a stranger and don't bother checking on him for several hours, no wonder he wants me to leave.

But he couldn't let that mistake stop him from continuing to try and help the demon. A true hero never gives up, no matter how long it takes, or how tough it gets.

"Again," Ghirahim was saying, and LInk quickly brought his attention back to the demon. "You are aware of this, then. … Do you know how to stop it?"

Link is grateful that Ghirahim is still willing to come to him for assistance, and sounding so vulnerable with his voice muffled in his cape, no less. But that just makes it all the harder for the boy to bear when he has to shake his head. "I don't. B-But I'm sure we can figure it out. When did it start happening?"

Ghirahim peeks out of his cape, but quickly smooshes his face back in again. That… is really adorable, actually. And sad. It was also sad. How in goddess's name did I ever fight him?

"That's… fine. You don't have to tell me if it's personal. I'll still try to think of something… L-Last time this happened you were… well, y-you seemed to be quite upset. Maybe your transformation is connected to your emotions. Maybe if you can calm down, you'll go back to normal."

"Maybe," Ghirahim mutters, but he doesn't sound convinced.

"U-uh…" Link fidgets slightly, shifting from foot to foot anxiously.

Suddenly, Ghirahim lifts his head, and meets Link's gaze. There is an ent intense look in his large eyes. It's not threatening, in fact, the hylian finds it relieving that the other boy is now showing stronger emotions again.

"Why," he begins, "didn't you tell me about this, LInk? It would have been so much easier if I knew what was to come. You told me you would help me regain my memory, and yet you've barely given me any information to work with thus far. I've had to rediscover everything on my own."

Link can't help it, he hangs his head. "You're right," he mutters to his boots, barely above a whisper. "I-I'm sorry."

"Why?" Ghirahim asks again, and oh gods. He sounds so broken, so hurt. LInk can't have that, he just can't. Besides, if he wants Ghirahim to be honest about his personal feelings, he needs to be honest in turn.

Taking a deep breath, LInk steals himself and reveals a secret so close to his heart that he hadn't even let himself fully think it until this point. "I… was… scared."

It takes everything LInk has not to run away in shame after admitting that. The hero of courage, scared? What a joke. But, it was true, and he knew there was no sense in denying it.

"Scared," Ghirahim repeats, in a way that made it seem as if the demon had never even heard the word before. "Scared of what? O-Of… me?"

"No!" Link says, too quickly and forcefully. "No…" He repeats more softly and sincerely. "Not… exactly. I-I guess i just… I was worried that if I revealed things too fast, if I gave you too much information, then…" Oh Hylia, this was so hard to say, but it had to be done.

"Then… y-you would… things would go back to the way they were before. We would have to fight again o-or at the very least you'd leave a-and I didn't… didn't want that. I don't… I don't… ugh! I don't want to lose you, okay? That's it, there. I said it."

Ghirahim freezes, his eyes widening at the hero's awkward but sincere confession. "Truly?" His voice is hushed, awed. Disbelieving. "B-But why? After all, I'm… a demon."

It hurts LInk's heart to hear Ghirahim say that. He may be a demon, and he may not have always been a very nice demon. But Link was starting to think that maybe demons weren't the purely evil, malicious beings he'd always been taught they were. What with the whole Batreaux situation, and now Ghirahim… it was really starting to appear that everything hylians thought they knew about demons was wrong.

"I know," LInk allows. "But, you know what? I don't care."

It's still a little surprising to LInk that he can say these words so easily. It's not that he doesn't mean them, far from it. But he'd been taught all his life that demons were the bad buys, the enemy. And to be able to just shrug that conditioning off just like that? It shouldn't be that easy, should it?

A memory that felt decades away, but was actually only a few days prior, flashed before the hero's eyes. Meeting Ghirahim at Sky view Temple. Why had he drawn his sword? Ghirahim had been unarmed. At least, he had when he began talking to Link. At first, it seemed like the obvious thing to do; this was the one responsible for Zelda's kidnapping!

But then, why hadn't he taken out a weapon when Ghirahim mentioned the tornado, LInk's life or death having no consequence, or Zelda? Why, only after he had learned the boy was a demon, did he feel the need to strike him down? In hindsight, knowing what he did now, that the world wasn't so black and white… it painted a very unflattering picture of Link. An unheroic one. He… didn't like it.

"I-I don't care now," LInk modified. Knowing he was being more honest lifted the weight from the Skyloftian's shoulders, but only slightly. "Your species doesn't matter… to me. All that matters is who you are, you know?"

As LInk spoke, Ghirahim's face wore several expressions. First surprise, then hope, but then sadness again. "I'm not a good person, Sky child." He says, small humorless laughs intermingling his words. "I know that. I'm not stupid. I can tell by the way others treat me. Did you think I would fail to notice that no one wants me around? Zelda doesn't want me, Groose doesn't want me, Eagus won't want me when he learns what i… that I…"

If Link thought what he had witnessed was heartbreaking before, it all paled in comparison to what was happening now. Because Ghirahim, strong, powerful Ghirahim was about to cry. His voice wobbled dangerously, and his huge, mahogany eyes were welling up with tears. Tears which he tried to stop, but to no avail.

"I…" The demon sniffs, wrapping his arms around himself and almost doubling over with the weight of his emotions. He tries again. "I tasted your anxiety around me."

Link freezes. He felt exposed, stripped bare before his once enemy, now… something else. He thought he was hiding it, that no one knew. But Ghirahim had known, he'd always known. From the moment they'd met, the demon had always known his true feelings. At one point, this would've been horrifying to the hylian, but now? He didn't know how he felt about it. But that didn't matter right now; Ghirahim was the priority. He deserved LInk's undivided attention for his lament; it was the least the hero could do.

"I could taste your relief, when you were with those other boys. You… didn't…" The demon is unable to finish the sentence. He doesn't need to. Link understands his meaning loud and clear. And the only thing on his mind was to debunk it as soon as possible.

But Link's voice fails him, his words float away on the wind. He can't think of anything to say to fix this. So instead, he decides to rely on actions.

Link begins moving forward, his arms outstretched. An obvious move, telegraphed and predictable. And yet, Ghirahim makes no move to avoid the contact. In fact, he melts into it.

Ghirahim's skin feels quite strange at the moment. The metal is hard and almost uncomfortably hot, while the rest of his body is cool and glossy. But LInk doesn't let this cause him to falter. Ghirahim needs this, and maybe he does too.

Ghirahim barely hugs back at first. His arms slowly wrap around the Skyloftian, barely grazing his back. As if he fears one wrong move will cause LInk to shatter like glass. But as the hug continues, his grip becomes more firm and sure.

It's after a few silent minutes spent locked in the embrace when Ghirahim truly starts to cry. He buries his face into the hero's left shoulder as a harsh, ugly sob wracks his form. Link tightens his grip and holds him through it, and the demon's back arches hungrily into the touch.

Link lets out a shaky breath of his own, gently squishing his cheek into the collar of Ghirahim's cape as he continues to hug him through his tears. The red fabric is velvety and warm; he entirely understands why the demon loves it so much. He closes his eyes and just… stays. Stays there, with Ghirahim. Hugging him, as he is hugged in return. And it's nice. It feels right.

"I-I-I'm sorry…" The demon whimpers into LInk's shoulder. "I-I… I left and i hurt you, I hurt you more times than I remember—I'm sorry."

"Shhh…" Link starts rubbing up and down Ghirahim's back. The patches of metal his palm grazes over are shrinking. Only slightly, but they're definitely smaller than they used to be. This emotional release is undoubtedly doing the demon a world of good.

"I forgive you," LInk whispers, and he does. At this moment, it's not the kind, amnesiac demon that feels unreal and bizarre, it's how he was before. When he didn't know him, when they were enemies. That's because that wasn't the real Ghirahim, LInk understands that fully now. This Ghirahim, the one he now comforted in his arms, this was the real one. How he had become so twisted before, LInk still didn't know. But he would figure it out. They would figure it out together.

Because Link wanted to help Ghirahim. Not because it was the right thing to do, or because he was the hero. This was something that LInk wanted to do, because he cared. He cared about Ghirahim.

A/N: It's been over 20000 words and they finally hugged! Link confessed to his squish (though he doesn't have the vocab at least not now) and they hugged!

I consider this to be the end of the first story arc, that being Link and Ghirahim's friendship properly forming. Don't worry, we are far from done. There are several more arcs to go, and many more cuddles. Both of those things are a certainty, and it would positively fill my heart with rainbows if you stuck around to see them.