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Blue wiped the sweat off his brow. He moved into position to clash blades with his opponent. He grit his teeth as he lurched forward into a thrust. That would catch his opponent off guard, he thought. His opponent stepped to the side as casually as if he were moving aside from somebody sauntering by. A gasp went up from the spectators at this new addition to the duel. They had never seen this fighter go up against Blue, and they were on the edge of their seats. Fortunately, Blue was quick to react and ducked as the other fighter swung his sword horizontally. Blue was quick to spring up and slash back. His opponent nonchalantly moved back, out of range. The demeanor of the other fighter angered Blue. How dare he act so chill when Blue was fighting tooth and nail to keep himself in one piece.
He lifted his sword and was forced on the defensive as his opponent attacked with vigor. He knew Blue was running out of stamina. Blue had to get back on the offense fast, or he was about to become toast. He lunged forward again, throwing the attacker off his balance. Blue watched him wobble before quickly and effortlessly righting his footing. His opponent had had a good education in swordplay.
Blue brought his sword down, thrusting his momentum into the slice. The sound of metal on metal rang out, drawing another gasp from the crowd. Blue knew this was his only chance to win the fight. He pulled back and moved to deal his opponent a fatal blow. Unfortunately, he was worn down from the battle and moved far too slowly. The other fighter stepped back and quickly slashed out at Blue’s abdomen while he was still in the motion of swinging his blade out.
His opponent’s sword grazed Blue’s unprotected side and cut through his tunic. Now he had done it. Blue let out a growl and threw his sword at his opponent in a fury. It turned over twice in the air before falling into the sand of the training ground in a soft plat. Blue was seething. His opponent had cut him, dodged his numerous attacks, and now he had the complete and utter audacity to laugh at him? Blue marched over to his cackling opponent, reared back his arm, and punched Vio straight in the face.
—--------------
“Well, it looks like there will be some pretty bad swelling, but nothing is broken.”
The nurse sighed as she handed Vio an ice pack. Fairies and potions were rarely used for injuries that weren’t life-threatening, so he would be stuck with careful icing, off and on, until it healed. Vio walked out of the infirmary with a huff. He tenderly put a hand up to his face and grimaced. Blue, leaning against the wall, stood straight as Vio walked out.
“How bad is it?” Blue asked gruffly.
“Fine.”
They walked side by side, Vio with a hand pressing the ice to his face and Blue clenching and unclenching his fists. He thought about apologizing but then decided better of it. An apology wouldn’t do anything to fix the fact that he’d lashed out and punched his brother in training. The training that the students had been watching was no less. Some teacher I am. Throwing hands with his brother because he lost a fight. How petty. Plus, if he was going to apologize, it was already too late. He should have done it right after, or on the way to the nurse, or even right when they had started walking. Whatever, it didn’t really matter anyway.
They bumped into Red as they turned the corner. He was conversing with Miss Fairy. They had just finished a meeting with several noblemen and embassies from surrounding countries. Red wasn’t really needed in those meetings, but he was good at keeping the peace, and Zelda liked to have one of the Links around.
The four of them rotated as Zelda’s personal guard during the day, and Blue was never fond of sitting in on her meetings. Of course, he wasn’t forced to, but her could never deny Zelda anything.
In fact, none of the Links were even forced or expected to stay at the castle after saving Hyrule from Shadow, Vaati, and Ganon alike; they were allowed to do whatever they wanted, really. Funnily enough, all of them had requested to stay in service to the crown. Most days, they did whatever odds and ends were needed around the palace, but Blue had secured a position training new recruits recently, although he wasn’t quite sure why. He had a sneaking suspicion that Green had pulled some strings (He was quite popular with the higher-ups), but he really didn’t know why. Clearly, he wasn’t fit to teach after his demonstration earlier.
He glanced over at Vio, who was still holding the ice ot his face and saying hello to Red. Blue forced himself to stiffle a sigh; seven years had passed. Seven years and yet it seemed like Blue hadn’t changed a bit. He was still some rash ten-year-old, hot-headed, too quick to get in fights, and usually the source of pre-split Link’s problems.
“Whoa, what happened to you?” Red asked once Blue and Vio were in speaking distance.
“Ran into something during training,” Vio said, removing the ice. His nose was super swollen and puffy.
Yeah, ran into my fist, Blue thought.
“Oh, were you helping Blue train the recruits?”
Vio nodded. “What are you up to?”
“Not much. The meeting just ended, and let me tell you, the emissary from Hytopia…” Red let out a tired sigh and ran a hand through his bangs. “She’s certainly a character, wouldn’t even wish her on Ganon myself.”
“Red! That’s not very nice!” Miss Fairy chided.
Zelda stepped out of the meeting room and smiled with joy as she registered that three-fourths of her favorite person were there.
“Hi, guys!”
“Hi, Zelda!” They all replied in unison.
Zelda was probably the person who had changed the most since they were kids. She’d grown tall, strong, and confident in her powers. It was almost a joke that she had personal guards at all. She was the real threat to any intruders. Zelda had grown so powerful and capable that she could light up the night sky as bright as noon, and she occasionally had an aura of golden glow surround her. On top of all that, she had become so pretty that she had more proposals coming in than she could reject.
She had a bounce to her step now that she had left the diplomatic meeting. She loved her job, loved serving Hyrule, but just like any job, it could be very demanding and draining.
“Do you guys wanna go get Green and ditch this place?” She asked mischievously.
“Heck yeah!” Red exclaimed.
“I don’t know if-” Blue started.
He was about to explain that Vio probably shouldn’t be running around, and that he, himself, most definitely had somewhere important to be, but Vio cut him off.
“Yeah, let’s go!”
Vio made eye contact with Blue as he stared aghast at Vio.
“Don’t you have a book or something you need to be reading?” Blue had meant it to come out softer than he had said it, but he meant it all the same. Vio had no business trying to run around after nearly getting his nose broken.
“What’d you do to your face?” Zelda asked while reaching her hand out. She placed her hand on Vio’s face, and it started to glow as she healed him. Blue stiffened as he watched Vio’s face morph back to normal. He heard Red repeat the same excuse about Vio running into something.
“I- I have to go. Have fun.” Blue marched off without letting anyone give comment. He had to get out of here. Out of the castle, out of town, just plain out. Once he turned the corner, he rushed down the halls in a sprint. He was out of the palace in a flash. He had to calm down and act naturally now that he was in the public eye. The last thing he needed was more attention.
By the time he got to their shared house, he was worn out, but in a good way. His aching limbs and tired bones made him feel more alive. It was almost sickening. Nevermind, it was sickening. Without stopping to take off his boots, he ran to the bathroom and threw up in the sink. He dry heaved a couple of times before hanging his head and sinking to the floor.
He wasn't sure how long he sat there before Green’s shadow darkened the doorway. “Blue?” Green dropped to his knees and felt for Blue’s pulse. “Blue, what happened?” Blue attempted to stand up.
“Nothing.” He growled. “I’m fine.” He pushed Green’s hand away and pulled himself up to the edge of the sink through brute force. Green knew he wasn’t going to get anything out of Blue, so he would have to wait until Red and Vio got home to receive any answers. Until then, he was going to help Blue get to his bed. Blue shook as he took Green’s offered arm.
It was hard for him to be so weak, but he knew Green would keep him safe at least. Green got Blue to their room and tucked him into his bed. It vaguely reminded him of their father tucking Link in at night. He missed him.
“Do you want me to stay?”
Blue shook his head.
“I’m just going to go to the living room then. Just yell if you need anything, okay?”
Blue nodded despite both of them knowing that he wouldn’t call, no matter what happened. Green left the bedroom door open as he walked out, and with that, Blue was left entirely to his bitter thoughts. He wondered what Zelda, Red, and Vio were doing, and why Green wasn’t with them. Blue watched the shadows on the room lengthen as he slipped in and out of consciousness.
He heard Green come in to check on him a few times. Each time Blue pretended to be asleep, something each of them could do quite well. Link used to stay up late reading often as a kid before he’d started training to be a knight. He fell off around that time, usually just going straight to sleep instead. Days had been long and nights short, at that time.
It wasn’t long before he heard his brothers come home and start a hushed conversation in the other room. He could make out who was talking and a few words that were being spoken, but most of it was just hushed whispers. He didn’t need the full context to know they were discussing him anyway.
He wondered vaguely if Vio was going to tell them that he’d punched him. Probably not. He didn’t understand why Vio had lied to the others about himself. Blue was disgusted with himself. It would be the first time that he had truly caused pain to one of his brothers. Left a real mark. If Zelda hadn’t healed Vio, he wasn’t even sure if Vio would be able to breathe properly through the swelling.
He listened as they moved down the creaky hallway to the bedroom and filtered through to their respective beds. He heard Red take off his belt and hang up his elemental rods above his bed. He listened as Green sorted through some mail that had been left on the desk the day before. He tuned his ears to listen as Vio grabbed a book from the shelf and left the room.
“Don’t stay up too late,” Green whispered as Vio grabbed a candle.
“I won’t,” Vio mumbled back.
Blue wasn’t sure how long it had been since the others had come home, or when he’d fallen into an unrestful slumber, but his eyes shot open. It was pitch black. He felt sick again from sitting up too fast. His heart was racing, and he felt like he’d just woken from a nightmare, but he couldn’t remember the contents, just a vague sense of fear.
None of the Links were immune to nightmares or even night terrors, but it had been a while since he’d felt this way. He placed a hand over his racing heart and took a deep breath. He let himself sit in bed for a few minutes until his heart rate dropped and he felt sure he wasn’t going to hurl.
He could still taste the bile in the back of his throat from when he’d thrown up earlier, and he had a massive pounding headache. He was covered in so much sweat that he felt like his clothes and blanket were soaked in a cold sticky sweat. He slowly positioned himself to walk to the door. He took a few more breaths and started hesitantly walking to the kitchen with his hand against the wall for support. He only stopped in places where he knew the floor didn’t creak.
It was going so well until he got to the living room, where Vio was sitting on the couch, reading by candlelight with a blanket over his shoulders. Just as Blue was debating turning around, Vio looked up. His expression told nothing.
“I thought Green told you not to stay up late,” Blue asked snarkily. “It’s not healthy to stay up like this.”
“Last I checked, Green isn’t the boss of me, and you're literally up to so you can’t talk.” Vio shot back while placing a bookmark in his current reading material. It was nice to fall back into their usual banter.
“It’s not the same thing, and you know it. I’m just up for water.”
“You don’t look like you need water anymore,” Vio said smugly as he motioned to Blue’s beragled sweat stained clothes.
“God forbid a man sweat- oh wait- you wouldn’t know anything about that, being such a little baby and all.” Blue started to laugh at his own joke before succumbing to a fit of coughing. Vio was up in an instant. He gave Blue a few pats on the back until the coughs subsided.
“Come on, let’s get you that glass of water.”
Vio led Blue to the sink and filled a glass of water. He handed it to Blue as a cool night breeze slipped through the kitchen window. “Can we go outside?” Blue asked after downing the glass in a single gulp.
“Uhh.. Sure?” Vio wasn’t sure why Blue was asking him. Blue never felt the need to ask anybody anything. Vio was starting to wonder if Blue was running a fever.
He opened the door to the front porch, and they both looked out at the stars. They could see the lights of Castletown in the distance. Vio sat down on the steps and motioned for Blue to sit as well.
“Why’d you want to come out here?”
“Why didn’t you tell them I hit you?”
They continued to sit in silence, neither one wanting to answer questions. They kept their gazes on the sky, both going out of their way to avoid eye contact with the other. Blue shivered. He was still wearing the clothes he’d been training in. Vio put his blanket around Blue’s shoulders as well as his own.
“Do you remember when dad used to take us stargazing as a kid?”
“Yeah, I do.”
The pair of Links sat on the wooden steps, huddled together under the blanket, soaking in the sweet sound and smell of the warm summer night until Vio caught Blue nodding off.
“Blue?” Vio poked him in the side. “You’re putting your sweaty head on me.”
Blue leaned forward and put his head in his hands. “Ughh, leave me alone.” He mumbled. “I feel disgusting.” He raked a hand through his hair and then stared at it with disgust on his face.
“Then take a bath.”
“Nah, it’ll wake Red and Green.”
“Ah, who cares about them.” Vio stood up, tugging Blue’s hand with him. “Look, sun’s coming up over the horizon, they’ll be up soon anyway.” Blue decided to allow Vio to drag him to the bathroom and fill the tub with water.
“Heh,” Blue laughed. “I just threw up in here not that long ago.”
“Yeah, I know, Green said he found you passed out on the floor.” A look of concern flashed over Vio’s face.
“He’s so dramatic.” Blue tried to shrug it off. “I was just resting.”
Vio shut off the water and looked at Blue. His expression was still unreadable. “Are you going to need me to wash your hair?” Vio didn’t mean it as an insult to Blue’s pride in any way, but he wasn’t sure how to ask without just straight up saying it.
“....Um…Yeah.” Blue sounded embarrassed.
“Ok… Do you need help getting in, or can I go grab your towels?”
“You can get them,” Blue murmured.
Vio left to get Blue’s towels out of the cabinet in the hall, and by the time he got back, Blue still wasn’t in the tub. He was staring down at the water with his hands at his sides.
“I lied.” His tone and face were laced with shame. “I- I can’t.”
Vio didn’t say anything. He just helped Blue get undressed and into the water. Blue let out a sigh as he sank into the tub. The warm waves felt wonderful, lapping against his cold, sweaty body. He dropped his head back and let his hair fan out around him, and his ears fill with water. Blue lifted his head and handed the soap to Vio.
Vio lathered the soap through Blue’s golden hair. It was a few shades lighter than the other Links, and he had to wonder if it was something he did intentionally or if it had been that way since his soul had nearly been consumed by a Big Poe. Blue didn’t really talk about what he thought of his separated part of the adventure. Red had been with him through a lot of it and had plenty of words to say about what he and Blue did.
Vio tipped Blue’s head back into the water and rinsed his hair out. When Blue opened his eyes, he caught Vio with a goofy expression on his face.
“What are you laughing at?!” He asked defensively.
“Oh, nothing.” Vio let out a giggle. “Just how you seem to be more of a baby than me now.” Vio couldn’t hold back his laughter, and he cackled while Blue glowered at him. Vio thought the whole thing was so funny that he had his hands on his knees and was wheezing for air. Blue knew this was a perfect moment of weakness from Vio, and he did not let it go to waste. Blue sent a tidal wave of bathwater at Vio, completely soaking his front half.
The water sloshed all over the bathroom floor and on Vio. He immediately sobered from his laughter. He was soaked. His hair sat flat, stuck to his forehead, and he was in complete jaw dropping bafflement.
“You look like a,” Blue weezed through his laughter while holding his stomach, “A- a wet cat!”
“Oh yeah?” Vio asked, raising an eyebrow. Blue was still mid laughter before he could fully understand the threat. Vio reached out and shoved Blue’s head under the water. Vio let him thrash for a moment before lifting his hand, as Blue sputtered up for air.
“Did you just try to drown me!?” Blue yelped, sloshing water everywhere.
“You literally sucker punched me yesterday!” Vio shot back with a laugh.
“Oh yeah?” Blue challenged.
“Yeah!”
“Yeah.” Blue dropped his smile. “I did.” They both paused for a second before Blue whispered. “I didn’t mean to, you know. It just, I don't even know. Something overtook me.” The bathroom, which just mere seconds before was filled with laughter, was filled with sorrow, regret, and grief. “And sure, yeah, I’ve slapped Red around a few times, but we were just kids, and it was never anything serious.” Blue looked up earnestly at Vio. “I could have seriously hurt you… I- I did. I mean,” Blue stuttered. “I wanted to. I wanted to hurt you.” He shook his head. “That is so messed up. I- I wanted to-”
”I wanted you to.”
“What!?” Blue whipped his head up to look Vio in the eyes.
A glimmer entered Vio’s eye, and he looked near manic. “I wanted to get hit. I wanted to feel your fist. Don’t take all the credit now. I was the one who goaded you to hit me.” Blue was slack-jawed. Vio just kept smiling. “I liked it, Blue.”
“What.. the….” Blue was near speechless.
“Look.” Vio took a deep breath. “I felt so behind. Green and Red have been doing so well helping Zelda run Hyrule, and you’ve been shaping up the best recruits we’ve had in ages in just a few mere weeks.” Vio sat down. He was soaking his pants through with bathwater that was pooling on the tile floor. “You’ve all been doing so well and I...” He shrugged. “I don’t know. I felt left behind. I’m the weakest Link. Always have been. Shadow knew to prey on me from the start. Out of everyone, he chose me. Not Red, not Green, not you. Me.” Vio started laughing mirthlessly. “And I couldn’t even finish that! Couldn’t even bring myself to break that stupid mirror!” Vio sighed and ran his hands through his hair and back down to his wet face. “I haven’t changed one bit.” Vio got really quiet and then whispered. “I just got more messed up. I wanted you to hit me, Blue. That is freaked. Yeah, I’m a freak.”
Blue was shocked. He’d rather get frozen in ice over and over again before trying to comfort his brother, from whatever was going on inside his head. Blue shook his head and sighed. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to help him; he just didn’t know how to.
“You’re so wrong I don’t even know where to start.” Vio looked up, startled. It wasn’t what he was expecting to hear after admitting the thoughts that had been plaguing him for months out loud. “If anything, you’re the best of us. You were literally beating me in the arena today; I shouldn’t be their teacher; you should. You have way more knowledge than Red and Green, and you should be sitting in on all of Zelda’s meetings.” Blue’s eyes shone with fervor. “I thought that we all already agreed that Shadow chose you because he knew he couldn’t beat you. He needed you on his side. He would have gotten nowhere without you. “And I know that you probably don’t believe a word I just said, but I mean it all.”
Blue dropped his hands. He hadn’t realized, but he’d been waving them around in an effort to make his point to his thick-skulled brother. Vio shook his head as if to try to convince himself that Blue was wrong. “No, but even if all of what you said is true, I still wanted you to punch me. I wanted to know that the old Blue was still in there. I just needed to give you a reason.”
“You could have just asked you know. You are very punchable.” Blue joked. “I don’t think a day has gone by that I haven’t thought about hitting your stupid face with your stupid smug smile.”
“What smile?” Vio asked innocently as his lips curled up to grin at him.
“That one! Ahh!!! You’re so stupid, stupid, stupid!!! Zelda needs to ban you!”
“Ahh, you know you love me,” Vio said smugly.
“Yeah,” Blue replied, sincerity laced through his casual remark. “Now, hand me my towel, I’m turning into a prune, and then I’m gonna look dumber than you.”