This was never meant to be posted here. I wrote it just for my own personal enjoyment. Admittedly, that's the only reason anyone writes fanfiction to begin with, but this story I especially never thought I'd be putting up on this site. That said, you're going to find many things that you probably don't agree with.

First of all, although the original intention of this story was to write something in which Link and Vaati work together on an adventure, it eventually developed itself naturally into a LinkxVaati shounen-ai story. That was my motivation for putting it up—to make some kind of contribution to the sadly small number of stories about this (IMO) great pairing. There's not really too much of that stuff in this chapter—they're just getting to be friends—but trust me, it does pick up in later chapters. It's very light, though, I promise, and more of a "cute" kind of boy-love. I only rated the story T because it is two boys together, and this chapter has quite a bit of blood…

I'll say this up-front, so no one complains about it. Vaati is OOC. Very OOC. Link may be a bit too, though less so. I can make an excuse of this by reminding you that this is a story taking place after the manga version of The Minish Cap. Vaati is that pathetic little sobbing minish at the end. His real personality may actually be the complete opposite of the "mask" he put on. He even looks different in human form now, which I explain within the story. Eh, I'm just making excuses now… But if you're looking for a romantic slash fic, this ain't it. It's just cute. Maybe too cute.

And since this is based on the manga version of The Minish Cap, there are many "manga-izations". For instance, the Minish are only called the Picori, and the portals between minish and human worlds are called "entrances". If you've read the manga, you'll know what I'm talking about. If not, all you really need to know is that Vaati turned back into a minish at the end instead of dying, and was forgiven.

Much of Link's "speech" has been cut or radically altered. If you read the original version, its sappy sweet sappiness would make you throw up. Or roll your eyes. Or cry. Or all three at once.

Don't ask how the doctor has all the modern available technology. It might be a bit unrealistic, but that's just…the way it came out.

Part of this story—the part about Vaati's attacks—came from another fanfic I read somewhere. Not here. I don't remember the author's name… But it was unfinished, and I really like the idea, so I kind of stole it… Just letting you know, that idea isn't mine! (Slaps self for being a despicable thief)

Vaati, Link, Smith, and anyone else mentioned belong to Nintendo. I forgot the manga maker's name, but them too. The "attacks" don't belong to me either, but I forgot the author's name…it was someone at Deviantart, I think.

(-)

Chapter 1: The Weary Traveler

A streak of lightning flashed across the young boy's face as his clinking hammer drew sparks from the hot iron. Unbearable heat swam out from the furnace beneath him, but he was used to this prickly pain by now. He squinted with one blue eye at the sparking sword in front of him under the mess of golden hair flopping onto his forehead. Just a few more bangs into shape, and it would be complete.

Link smiled to himself. At last, he'd advanced far enough in his sword-making apprenticeship to try making a small sword of his own, and now his hard work was about to pay off! The natural flicker of yellow light and the echoing boom from outside made him feel a bit like a mad scientist. Link looked down at the incomplete sword and felt an odd sense of sorrow. He remembered so long ago when he'd watched his grandfather make the sword to give to the champion of the Picori Festival. He'd made the one this year as well, but it hadn't been the same.

That year, he'd gone on the greatest adventure of his life…and now it seemed like nothing. A part of him missed Ezlo, the old smart-alek, and the picori he'd met along the way. It saddened him that he was beginning to grow up. He'd been seeing less and less picori around lately.

KRAKKL! A fearsome thunderclap reminded Link of the present. He picked up his hammer again and turned his attention back down towards the sword. He had to finish it before the storm really picked up and his grandfather called him upstairs to bed. He just had to finish it today!

Though a part of him wondered why he had suddenly recalled all of that just then. The Picori…Ezlo…Vaati…gathering the elements…saving Princess Zelda from a future as a castle statue.

At last, with one last clank, it was finished! Link lifted the sword from the smooth surface of the anvil and admired it for a moment before slipping it into a marked slot for finished swords behind him. This was much inferior to the rest of Smith's swords, but maybe it would be used for practicing or in a play and Link felt proud all the same. Someday, he hoped to be just as good a sword-smith as his grandfather.

Something very unusual was in the air, and Link shivered just slightly as he gathered up the materials. Suddenly, as he was packing the tools away, he heard a light thump. Probably just the wind, he chalked it up to. The heavy winds could be fierce in the middle of a big thunderstorm like this.

"Link!" the desperate voice of his grandfather called from upstairs. "Please! Answer that door!"

Door? Someone was at the door?! Who was crazy enough to come visit them in this weather?! Link's innocent blue eyes popped wide open. No…please, no…not…Zelda?!

"I'm coming!" Link yelled, breaking into a panicked sprint for the door. The scraper that had been in his hands clanked and twirled to a stop on the wooden floor of the workshop. As he drew closer, the light knocking came again. "I'm coming!" Link called again. "Just hang on!" Smith was rushing down the steps behind him.

Link scrabbled for the handle and at last, flung the door open to greet their thunderstorm visitor. But the visitor wasn't, as Link had suspected, Princess Zelda, or as Smith had suspected, a homeless man looking for shelter. Link couldn't speak—he was in shock at the mere sight, and Smith hurried to his side in protective, fatherly instinct. How…? Why…? What…?

Before them stood, or rather slumped, a familiar teenage boy. He gripped tightly to the door-casing in order to support himself. His cheeks looked hollow and bony, his thin eyebrows buried in pain and effort. Parts of his sleeves and the bottom of his tunic were ripped. The tunic was a light indigo color. His puffy pants and sandals were red…perfectly matching his squinting eyes. He was stark pale—his skin entirely bleach white. And his long, frazzled lavender hair hung over his ears and covered the right side of his face.

Slowly, Link gathered up the courage to speak his name, as he stood heaving for breath in front of him. "V…Vaati?!"

Immediately, Smith jumped in front of his grandson, shielding him from the sorcerer's view. "I'm warning you, mister!" he shouted. "Stay away from this town! We don't need monsters like you crawling back to the surface!"

"Grandpa!" Link pleaded, poking out over his burly old arm. "It's okay! I don't think he's going to hurt us. Besides, he doesn't look well. Please, just let me talk to him."

Reluctantly, Smith lowered his arms and allowed his grandson to pass, but not before shooting Vaati a few resentful glares.

Vaati looked up into Link's face with shiny red eyes. Link opened his mouth to ask a question, but the slumped sorcerer recovered his breath just then. "…L-Link..." His voice was shaky and penetrated by gasps. "I…" And that was when his eyelids rolled shut, and his body crumpled to the floor with a sickening thunk.

"Vaati!" Link cried, jumping aside from the body. "Oh my Goddesses! Is he still alive?!"

Smith took one disgruntled look down at the body and nodded. "Yep. The thing's still breathing."

"So he passed out," Link deduced. He slowly knelt down next to the body and lifted his head a little. "He can use my bed for now," he offered. "I really don't mind the floor. Or I could even sleep on the chairs in the parlor."

Smith's frown deepened. "No, Link," he commanded. "I don't want you giving up your bed for this demon. I know it's in your nature, but…"

"What are we supposed to do?" Link argued. "Just leave him on the floor like this?! Kick him out into the rain where he'll die?! I know Vaati's done some terrible things to this country, but in the end, Zelda and I gave him forgiveness. I can't just watch him die now!"

Smith's bearded face went grave again. He sighed. "Okay, but I'll have to keep checking in to make sure nothing happens."

"Help…" Link pleaded as he propped Vaati's limp head and shoulders against his knees. "C'mon, grandpa, you grab his legs and we'll carry him up the stairs."

Grudgingly, Smith bent down on the body's other side and gripped the unconscious sorcerer by the ankles. With a unified push, the two of them lifted him and began to move towards the stairs to Link's room. He felt surprisingly light—either Link has gotten stronger, Vaati had gotten thinner, or most likely, a combination of both. Vaati certainly looked thinner, and Link certainly felt stronger.

"He looks pretty ill too," Link argued as he and his grandfather reached the end of the dining room with the body and began to climb the stairs. "He wouldn't be able to damage us if he tried."

Smith shook his head. "I don't know about sorcerers. Even if their bodies are weak, they can still wield a lot of strong magic force."

"Come to think of it," Link mused. They were almost there by now. "I wonder how come he's human again. The way it looked, he'd come here to tell me something. Gee, I hope nothing happened to the picori."

"What?" Smith raised a white, bushy eyebrow. "The picori?"

"Oh…yeah…I never told you about that." With one final lift, the grandfather-and-son duo lifted the body and gently placed it on Link's bed. "Vaati is a picori, you know."

Smith's gray eyes nearly popped out of his old head. "What?! This…this thing is…a picori?! How…how did it get here?"

Link shrugged. "Magic, I guess. Last time, he went through the gateway on the 100th anniversary."

Smith blinked again, staring at Vaati's body. "…To think a measly little picori would cause so much trouble…"

Link smiled. "Don't underestimate the picori." He picked up the bedcovers and carefully tucked them around Vaati's body. "I hope he wakes up soon," he mused, under his grandfather's disapproving eye. "He risked his life to come tell me whatever it was he had to tell me. Probably thinks I can't see the picori anymore."

And with those words, Link jinxed the situation. Vaati didn't wake up, not even the next morning, and into the afternoon. Link was already worried because he'd missed three meals while he was unconscious, and he didn't look like he could stand to miss any more.

"We need to get him to a doctor," Link gravely thought that afternoon. "Anyone staying unconscious this long is unhealthy. Maybe he's in a coma!"

However, later that evening, Smith came down to the workroom, where Link was finishing up yesterday's sword, to bring him good news. "That…that thing just woke up," he announced. "Devil-red eyes and all. Though he didn't seem capable of answering me."

Immediately, Link dropped the forging tools and clambered up the dining room staircase with Smith not too far behind. Sure enough, a pair of bright red eyes blazed out at him from among the whiteness of the covers and the skin (which matched perfectly).

Link smiled and knelt next to what used to be his bed. "Well, hello Vaati! You finally woke up!"

Vaati only blinked at him, probably wondering what happened and how he got here.

"It's Link," Link introduced himself. "Remember me? You're at my house. You showed up here the other night."

Vaati just blinked again, but this time his head came down a little as well, in a nod.

"Be careful, Link," Smith warned from the sidelines. "Don't do anything rash. You never know what that devil could be up to." He seemed to think every little gesture the sorcerer made could be a new curse.

"Grandpa, I already told you, he's not dangerous anymore," Link protested. "He's not going to hurt me, even if he can work magic in this state…"

"Have you completely forgotten what this…this demon did to our world?!" Smith was finally fed up and burst out in a fit of protest. "He nearly took over all of Hyrule! Link, he would've had us all killed! He temporarily killed the princess and the king as well. How can you just accept him into our house and treat him as if nothing has happened?!"

During the course of this outburst, Vaati had shrunk away from Link, burying his face against the pillow and tucking it under the covers as much as he could.

"Grandpa!" Link turned to snap at his surrogate father, a note of disappointment in his voice. "Look! You're upsetting him!"

"Do I look like I care?!" Smith retorted. "He's upset me—and you as well—far worse than that."

Link sighed and waved a hand away. "Grandpa, please just leave the room for now. Don't worry about me. I can defend myself, remember?"

Smith gave a disgruntled frown, but slowly began to descend the stairs at his grandson's wish. That boy was growing up too fast…

"…Vaati?" Link turned back towards the pasty sorcerer in his bed, once he was positive Smith was out of the room. "Vaati, I'm sorry. My grandfather's really a nice guy under normal circumstances. He's just very…set in his ways. He's been making swords here for forty years and…"

Link's voice faded away when he noticed the soft gasping noise coming from his bed. "A-Are you okay, Vaati?" Gently, Link reached out to pull the covers away from his face, and his concerned expression deepened.

Vaati cringed and closed his eyes, but he couldn't hide the wispy, transparent teardrops that streaked down his pallid cheeks.

"Oh…" Link slowly bent his fingers around his face to hold it gently and mop up some of the tears. "Don't cry. He'll get over it eventually. I know I certainly don't think that way."

Vaati opened watery red eyes to him again and slowly began to relax.

"So…" Link deliberately tried to move on from the subject as he pulled away. "How are you feeling? Better, I hope. You looked terrible when you arrived here."

Vaati still fixated an interested gaze on him, but didn't make a reply.

"Can you speak? You can just shake your head if you can't."

His head didn't move. So apparently, he could still speak. Why wouldn't he say something?

"What's wrong with you, anyway?" Link wondered aloud. "Did you get attacked or catch a disease or…"

Then, he noticed Vaati attempting to bury his head again and realized what he had just said. "No! No, that's not what I meant!" Link hurried to the young sorcerer's side to comfort him before his tears started again. "If you don't want to talk, that's fine. I just want to know what happened to you. You really don't look well, Vaati."

Vaati again didn't answer, but peeked out of the covers again with a hurt expression on his face.

"I'm sorry…you probably don't want to talk about it."

As usual, there was just silent staring in reply.

"Well…I ought to get back to work now," Link casually stated. "I've got to help finish an order." He got back to his feet and walked lightly to the door. Vaati's one visible red eye followed him every step of the way.

"Get some rest." Link turned around and gave him an encouraging smile. "And I'd love it if you'd start talking to me. I'm truly worried about you, you know." And with that, he stepped back down the stairs, leaving Vaati to ponder over the fact.

(-)

Later that night, Link came back to place a plateful of supper on the adjacent night stand for Vaati. However, when he came back a few hours later, the food hadn't been touched. Link frowned at the cold cucco meat and vegetables. "Vaati, you've got to eat. Otherwise, you'll never get stronger. You're too thin as it is; starve any more and you'll starve yourself to death!"

As usual, there was no reply. Vaati was facing away from him as well and didn't even turn around when he spoke.

Link sighed and picked up the plate to whisk it back downstairs. "Well, suit yourself for now, but I'm going to have to force you to eat something soon."

Silence again answered him.

Link had begun to make up responses in his head of what Vaati might have said at the moment, and the one he came up with now was, "Just leave me alone! I don't care if I starve to death!"

(-)

It certainly seemed that way. Over the course of the next day, Vaati remained defiantly silent, as much as Link came up to talk to him or tried to trick and frustrate him into saying "No!" He would just frown and shake his head if he felt that strongly about it. He watched him refuse all three meals, and to accommodate, he slept most of the day.

Smith, of course, was going nuts. "He's hiding something," he decided. "That's why he won't speak to you. He probably did something terrible and got into a battle. That's why he's so worn out."

"You can't just make assumptions like that, Grandpa," Link scolded him, but by now, even he was starting to get suspicious. If he hadn't done anything wrong, why wouldn't he speak to him? Why wouldn't he trust him? Did he think the food might be poisoned, and that's why he wouldn't eat? His silence disturbed him and might have created these false suppositions.

Sometimes, when Link knelt next to the bed, casually trying to make conversation, he would look straight into Vaati's face. He could see wheels and cogs turning and spinning behind those red eyes, but he had no way of knowing just what they were producing. In his own whirling mind, he imagined that Vaati was planning something. He was waiting…formulating some kind of plot. It both frightened and fascinated him.

That night as Vaati slept and Smith once again suggested tossing him out, Link peeked in and tried to figure out this mysterious underlying plan of his. But how could he? What could a scrawny, injured picori-human do in this state? Unfortunately, he was about to find out.

(-)

That morning started out very much like the previous one. While Smith hammered away downstairs, peaceful slants of light peeked through the left window, flooding the room with a hopeful glow. Link ascended the staircase to see the haunting, ghost-white, bony face of Vaati staring back at him from what used to be his bed. Now, he resented having given it up.

"Good morning, Vaati!" he tried to be cheerful and casual. He placed a tray on the adjacent table which contained sliced bread with a dish of butter to spread on it. "My grandpa just picked up a few fresh loaves of bread from the bakery, so we thought we'd share it with you…not that you'd eat it…" Link sighed. "The food's not poisoned, I swear. We're not looking to get rid of you." Actually, Grandpa had been talking about it just last night, Link admitted to himself. But he doesn't need to know that.

Vaati lifted his head and, to Link's amazement, pulled himself up into a sitting posture. Then he just stared, the cogs turning in his mind again.

"Well…I guess I'll be going. Got another order of swords to fill. See you later…" As Link turned away and began to head back to the doorway, a slow movement caught his eye. In his peripheral vision, he saw an amazing sight. Vaati was moving sideways…he was reaching out for the plate of bread. A smile broke out on Link's face and he whirled around to face him.

Immediately, Vaati withdrew his hand like a child caught reaching for the forbidden cookie jar.

"No, no, go ahead, help yourself!" Link cried in delight. "You never saw me!" And with that, he disappeared down the staircase again. Some people, he knew, didn't like to eat while other people were around, and maybe Vaati was one of them. A smile beamed on his face as he tossed his own bread crusts into the trash and stepped into the forge. Just maybe, if Vaati was willing to eat, he'd be willing to talk to him later! Things were certainly looking up.

(-)

The afternoon was cold and silent. Link took a deep breath and threw his body onto the nearest dining room chair. The cold was welcome to him, since he'd been toiling all day in the hot forge with his grandfather. Still, he wasn't strong enough to take on a full day of work. He wondered if he ever would be. Link leaned back in his wooden chair and listened to the soothing clanging noise of his grandfather at work. The first sword should be done soon… It was time for a bit of a break.

His eyes wandered towards the staircase in front of him. He should probably go check on Vaati. Maybe he'd actually talk to him now! However, just as Link rose from the chair, he noticed something odd about the image from the top of it. It looked unusual. Something large and red was blocking his full view of the bed. Link leaped forward with new alarmed energy. What was that? Did Vaati do something? Had something happened?

Link flew up the staircase. The closer and closer he got, the wider his blue eyes became. Finally, he reached the top of the stairs, and they were ready to pop out of his head.

Link's whole body froze in terror. He couldn't breathe. He had to do something! But what was he supposed to do?! This wasn't something that could be solved with courage and a sword. Finally, he found his breath again and used all of it that he could to scream down the stairs, over the metallic clang of the forge. "GRANDPA!!!"

(-)

The middle-aged man rolled his eyes and sighed. "I don't believe it. I just don't believe it. I get my own son thrown in jail by this guy, and then I'm called upon to save his sorry life. Kid, why'd you stab him if you didn't want him to die?!"

"I didn't stab him!" Link yelled, appalled at the doctor's behavior. "He stabbed himself! He tried to commit suicide!"

The doctor winked. "Sure he did. Don't worry about it, I won't tell a soul."

Link was about to protest again, but didn't think it was worth it. He sighed and lowered his head to look down at his visitor. In truth, it was lucky that the doctor lived nearby. Their time had been crucial.

Right now, Vaati was still unconscious, but breathing steadily. If it was possible, his face looked even paler, and a tube attached to his wrist pumped the life back into him. His blue robe was gone, replaced by a tight, stained bandage and stitches. Without a shirt, he looked even skinnier than before. Poor Vaati…he really was very sick.

The doctor tucked the covers back around him, seemingly unaffected by his unhealthy appearance. "He's lost a lot of blood, but he'll recover. It was hard to find his blood type too…rare one. Dang albinos, always having to be so different. You know, I once operated on a Goron and…"

The glares on Link and Smith's faces told him to move on.

"Er…well. He should get plenty of rest, which'll be no problem, but also make sure he stays covered. He'll die if he catches a cold in this state. And for the Goddesses sake, make sure he eats. I could examine his entire ribcage without an X-Ray machine."

Link nodded, though that last bit of advice would be hard to follow.

It turned out that Vaati hadn't been reaching for the bread—he'd been reaching for the bread knife sticking out of the butter. The next time Link saw it, it'd been sticking out of his chest. Thankfully, as the doctor had discovered, he'd missed punctuating any organs, but he'd still done himself a terrible amount of damage.

Why? Link still wondered. Why had he suddenly just decided to kill himself? Was this what he'd been planning all this time? His own death? Confusion wracked Link's brain. Why? He'd always thought Vaati, of all people, thought very highly of himself. Too highly, in fact. Why the suicide attempt? Somehow, he thought there was something he was forgetting.

The doctor was paid and left.

Smith heaved a big sigh. "I knew it. This thing would cause us nothing but trouble. He's been refusing our help, not letting us know anything, and now trying to kill himself."

"Maybe there's a reason!" Link protested. "People don't just decide to commit suicide for the heck of it. We've got to help him."

"Whatever you say," Smith decided with a shrug. "Just don't get too carried away with this, Link. I still say he's dangerous. He might be angry when he wakes up."

But looking down at the limp, sickly, pathetic body, Link wondered how anyone could say a thing like that.

(-)

For the next two days, Link kept a vigil at Vaati's bedside. He wanted to make sure he was there the moment he woke up so he wouldn't try to kill himself again. Smith delivered him his meals, and each time, tried to convince him to come down. No such luck. Link stayed right by Vaati's side, making sure he was covered, replacing his blood bag (the doctor had left a few for this purpose), and sometimes just staring or brushing his disarrayed lavender hair.

"Why do you always have to be so mysterious?" he asked the unconscious sorcerer one day. "Why can't you ever let anyone know what's on your mind until it's too late? I probably could have helped you…" He talked to him like this all the time. He was used to it, after all.

Again, he thought he was forgetting something. Something important he'd learned early on. He'd be kicking himself later for having forgotten it.

(-)

It was the third morning. Link stretched and rolled out of Smith's bed. The first thing he did was check on Vaati, who was still coldly unconscious. Of course. He hadn't seen any change in his condition at all. If anything, he might be getting worse, with all the meals he'd missed. If he couldn't get some food into him soon, he really would starve to death. Maybe that had been his other plan. His backup suicide plan, in case this didn't work. Link shivered at the thought of it. To think that all this time, he'd been carefully plotting out his own death…

After a few minutes, Smith came up with his breakfast and set it up on the corner table. It wasn't until after he had finished and was sitting on the stool next to his bed when it happened.

Vaati's body twitched and stirred a little. Link didn't think anything of it because he'd done this several times while still unconscious. The first time, he'd been tricked into thinking he was waking up, but not this time.

His white eyelids twitched…and slowly, gently lifted.

Link was in shock for a moment. He'd been planning what he should say to Vaati when he finally woke up, but the moment he did, his mind went completely blank. What do you say to someone who's just tried to kill himself? Link stared into those blood-red eyes and finally opened his mouth to begin. He was interrupted by a soft, unusual noise, like the faraway chirp of a new bird.

"L…Lih…Link?"

Link's eyes widened. His heart beat a little faster in wonderment and fear. "V-Vaati?!"

He'd…he'd just spoken. For the first time since he'd arrived here.

Gingerly, Vaati sat himself up in the bed, but had to lean back against the board because he was too weak to remain in that position. Link quickly propped the pillows up to support him. There was another cold silence as Vaati felt his bandages, winced when he pressed in on them, and studied the tube attached to his wrist.

Link again tried to find something to say, but his voice was failing him.

Finally, Vaati spoke, for sure this time. "You…you saved me," he stated, in his soft, whispery voice. "Why…? Why do you always save me?"

"I…I don't want you to die," Link gently tried to explain. "I don't want anyone to die."

"I should have died," Vaati continued. His weak voice was fading away again…shaking, trembling. "You should have killed me. That's how it's supposed to be. The hero kills the monster and frees the townspeople from oppression. He has to kill it, or else the townspeople will never be free. He doesn't like killing, but he has to do it…"

"It's not the same thing," Link protested. "You're not a monster."

Vaati's head tipped down, frazzled lavender strands falling into his face. "You…You didn't see that?!" His voice was a little louder this time and quavering even worse. "I…I could have killed you all. I could have destroyed the world. I'm a monster!"

Link moved forward, eager to help him, as Vaati's face fell into his hands. There was no sniffling or sobbing, but he could tell he was crying again. Vaati was always very quiet when he cried. Slowly, gently, Link moved forward and wrapped his arms around him. His body felt much smaller against him, even though they were about the same size.

"Shhh…" he whispered, comfortingly holding Vaati to his shoulder. "See? See, Vaati? You're not a monster. Monsters don't feel bad for what they've done. Monsters don't try to destroy themselves. Monsters don't cry. That wasn't you, and I could see it. That wasn't really you. This isn't really you either. Why are you a human again?"

Link was hoping to divert the conversation to a more casual one, but what he said only seemed to upset Vaati more. He pulled away from Link's embrace and gripped his bare, bony arms as he sobbed.

"I-I'm sorry…" his tiny voice choked on the tears. "Th-this was…all a mistake. Th-that was so…rude and…inconsiderate of me…just barging into your house and bleeding all over your nice, clean sheets…I've just ruined everything. Oh, what've I done now?!"

"Really, it's okay!" Link cried. "If you hadn't come here, you would've died out in the woods! I'm really glad you're here and that you're safe…"

Vaati couldn't reply. He just kept shaking his head and whispering, "I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…"

Link couldn't help but pull him into a hug again. He couldn't believe it…he would never have guessed. Vaati was still so wracked with guilt. He couldn't live with it anymore. Poor Vaati…he hated himself, wished he had died… He rocked him back and forth as his soft, quavering little voice continued to repeat, "I'm sorry…"

It was a long time before Vaati finally ran out of tears and Link released him from his protective arms. "There," Link said, smiling lightly. "Better now?"

Vaati sniffed a little and brushed one last tear from his eye.

"So…how did you get to be human again?" Link tried repeating. "When I first saw you, I figured you'd come here to tell me something important."

Vaati nodded. "It was. I did. Ezlo and I've been working on a way to open entrances to and from our world without it having to be the hundredth anniversary. I was testing it out. Guess it works okay, but it scratched me up a bit. I came here to see you. I wanted to make sure you knew that…that I am eternally sorry."

Without the shaking cover of tears, Link noticed that Vaati's voice sounded a bit different. It had an unusual, squeaky accent to it. It was kind of cute, actually. "Eternally sorry" had become "eet-in-illy solli." He was speaking Hylian fluently…but with a Picori accent. Come to think of it, besides being thinner and sicklier, he looked different too. Younger. More innocent. Maybe this was his "true" human form.

"Why?" Link insisted on knowing. "You already know I forgave you. Princess Zelda and I granted you forgiveness."

Vaati sighed and looked down, as if he might start crying again. "I know…but I keep seeing these things…Ezlo calls them 'attacks'. I see things like…like myself as a monster, hurting everybody, or you…yelling at me and trying to kill me. It's not your fault; I'm not saying anything like that, but…it just really scares me. Sometimes I almost have a heart attack or run out into some dangerous situation. I hate it. You might have forgiven me, but the rest of the world didn't. No one is able to look at me in public. I get hate mail delivered every day. Death threats too. I can't even answer the door anymore. Everyone is either terrified of me or wants to kill me. I just…my life just has no purpose now. I wanted to be a great sorcerer like Ezlo and do great things for all the world…but how can I do that when no one can ever trust me again? I'm just making life worse for them…having to live in fear of me. Ezlo is always having to save me, beat the angry mobs away, and help me recover after my attacks. I'm just a burden on him. I'm just a burden on you too, having to take me in, and me ruining your bed… Don't you see now why I should die?!"

Link reached forward to catch Vaati as he fell back into his arms again, flood of tears and anguish renewed. During this whole speech, he'd been getting more and more upset, until his heart couldn't take it anymore.

Then, as Link murmured comforting nonsense and rubbed his bony back, he remembered. He remembered his own grandfather's outburst at the thought of helping him, and Vaati's tearful reaction. He remembered the doctor's attitude towards him as well. In fact, if they hadn't been paying him to do it, he probably would have just let Vaati die. Thinking about their angry reactions and the poor picori boy sobbing in his arms almost made him want to cry too.

Gently, Link reached up to hold his head cupped in his hand and run fingers through the soft purple hair. "I can understand now… It's not fair, I know it. It'll be okay, Vaati. See, I don't hate you. I don't see you as a burden. And Ezlo loves you; he would just do anything for you. He wanted to take the blame upon himself. I know it's incredibly hard, and it seems like everything would be better if only you were dead, but that's a horrible thing to say. I know it's hurting you…but please, Vaati, you've got to keep living. Just think of Ezlo, and how upset he'd be if you died. He's like your father. Even I would be upset if you died, especially now, after I know how you feel. Eventually, things will quiet down. Things will get better; I just know it. Please…don't destroy yourself like this."

Link almost did start crying as he cradled the sobbing boy in his arms. Vaati kept so much pain locked up in his heart, and now it was all flooding out at once. Those people had done this to him. Those same people he had saved had injured this poor soul. As Link clutched him tightly in his embrace, he promised to never let anyone hurt him like this again.

Once again, it took a very long time for Vaati to calm down and pull away. "I'm sorry," he said again, apologizing for being such a pathetic crybaby.

"No," Link insisted. "I'm sorry. For all that you've been through. I had no idea…" A mutual silence passed between them for a moment.

Finally, Vaati just sank back into the bed again and Link scooted back over to his stool. "Oh…" he said, uttering a sad sigh. "…I'm exhausted."

Link smiled. "Crying can do that to you. But it's good to get it all out." He stood up to tuck the covers back around him and fix the pillows. "Rest. You need to get better. Can I count on you to sleep while I go down to tell my grandpa the good news?"

Vaati nodded and slowly, hesitantly offered him a quick little smile in return. "Don't worry. I think I'll be okay now."

Link couldn't help but beam back and give him another quick pat on the head. "I'm so happy! So then, I'll see you in a few more hours. Sweet dreams!"

And finally, Link left the room with a smile on his face and satisfyingly watched as Vaati closed his eyes again and shifted over onto his side. At last, things were starting to make sense, and the world was starting to get back to normal.

(-)

As expected, Smith wasn't as thrilled as Link about Vaati's re-awakening, and for a moment, Link was tempted to yell at him for those comments. But he was still too delighted at having a new friend to talk to.

Link visited Vaati frequently, and the two of them chatted like old buds. Link told Vaati about how he had entered the sword-fighting tournament last year. He hadn't won, or even come close, but he said it was still a fabulous time. "Maybe you can teach me how to improve my sword-fighting!" he excitedly suggested.

Vaati hung his head again. "I'm sorry. I really…don't know anything about sword-fighting. At all."

Link nodded. "No. I understand. Hey, maybe when you get better, I can teach you!"

Vaati was, at last, getting better. Link removed the last blood packet that night, and carefully extracted the tube from his arm. He delivered breakfast the next morning, and when he came back, was relieved and thrilled to find an empty plate and a full Vaati. Steadily, he was growing stronger and healthier, and the next day, he even tried getting out of bed and walking around. Link had to help support him after a little while, though.

On a whole, everything seemed to be getting better, and just when Link thought it would be safe to try brining him downstairs for a bit, it happened. He'd almost forgotten this little detail of his sorrowful speech…in fact, he had forgotten until he saw the condition in action. And it was quite a frightening experience.

One day, Link was just in another, normal conversation with Vaati. This time, they were discussing school. Link was on temporary "save-the-world" leave, and he'd been forced to go back and catch up last year, which hadn't been very fun at all. Vaati had only been to picori school for one year, and had such a terrible time that Ezlo immediately pulled him out of it and obtained permission to home-school him. Then, something very unusual happened.

Link looked up towards Vaati's face as he was telling him a story about the trouble he'd caused the teachers…and he was just staring at him. That stare frightened him. Vaati was looking in his direction, but he was looking straight through him…he didn't even blink. The rest of his body looked frozen in place as well. It was as if he'd entered some kind of trance…or turned himself to stone.

"…Vaati?" Link asked. "Uh, Vaati? Can you hear me?" He tried waving his hand in front of his face.

There was no response.

Link lapsed into a grave, concentrating frown. He was going to try grabbing his hand next, but wasn't sure if that was a good idea. Sometimes, if a person was in a trance, if you touched them, you could hurt them. Link just sat forward and returned to hopelessly calling his name. "Vaati! …Vaati?"

He had suddenly realized how little Vaati was breathing. A sick grayish color was creeping across his face, replacing the usual light purple reflection of his hair.

"Vaati?!" Link questioned again. "Vaati, breathe! You're going to pass out!" He wanted desperately to touch him now, hit his back, shake him by the shoulders, anything. Thankfully, he wouldn't have to worry much longer about his breathing, because just then, he started speaking.

"No…"

At first, Link thought that he had finally heard him and was refusing to breathe, which would've been ironic because he had to breathe to say that.

"No, I…I never meant that! I…I actually really admire you!"

Link looked confusedly into Vaati's blank face. It actually looked a little worried now, but he still couldn't see him. "Vaati!" Link called, louder this time. "Can you hear me?! I'm right here!"

Vaati did respond, but not in the correct terms. "B-but everything's fine now! Both of you are fine! I…I n-never meant to kill anybody!"

"Everything is fine!" Link called back. "You didn't kill anyone! You're here, safe in my house! I'm Link!"

And that's when Vaati's body fell forward and crashed to the floor.

"Oh my Goddesses!" Link cried, jumping off his stool and kneeling down to his level. "Are you okay?!" He figured that had to have broken him out of his trance. A fall like that could wake anyone up. But he was wrong.

With fast, panicked breathing, Vaati scrambled to his knees and pressed himself hard against the side of the bed. "I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he yelled, loud enough for Smith to hear down the stairs.

"Vaati! Vaati, it's okay!" Link yelled back. "You're okay! You're in Link's house, remember?! Link's house!"

"AAAAAAUGH!!!" Vaati let loose a piercing, bloodcurdling scream, turning his head away from Link and pinching his eyes closed. He pressed so hard against the bed it began to scrape the floor.

In a panic, Link lunged forward, seizing his bony shoulders and trying to pull him back up. "Vaati! Snap out of it! You're in Link's house—Link's house! You're okay; everything's okay! Look at me!"

He reached up to take Vaati's face in his hand, but as soon as he did, it snapped back around to face him. He blinked. His body gave a start, and a small cry escaped his lips, but slowly, he was beginning to calm down. His eyes had lost their cold, stony gaze and they busily scanned Link's face as they blinked. "L-Link?" his small voice finally asked. "Link…"

"Vaati!" Link exclaimed, breaking into a light smile of relief. He still held his shoulders tightly and stared into his face. "Are you okay?!"

Vaati blinked, and his face settled into a familiar depressed expression. "Link, I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…"

Link moved his hands down to tuck them over Vaati's back and pull him into another hug. He could feel the furious thumping of his heart against his bony ribs. If he hadn't stopped him then, he could've had a heart attack.

And there they were, hugging, with Vaati sobbing into the sleeve of Link's tunic, when Smith finally arrived on the scene. "Everything okay up here?!" he asked. "I heard screaming and yelling. You're okay, right, Link?"

Link nodded and lifted Vaati a little in his arms. "He had a bit of an accident, but everything's okay now. You can go back downstairs, grandpa."

After Smith had left, Vaati lifted his head and gently pulled away from Link. He sniffed and brushed his hair back to wipe his eyes. "I'm sorry," he said again. "That must have really scared you. I'm okay now, though."

Link stood up and helped Vaati to his feet. They both sat back down, Link on his stool, Vaati on the edge of the bed. "What was that?" Link obliviously asked. He was still holding on to Vaati's wrists, afraid that if he let go, the horrible scene would start all over again. "It was like you were in a trance. You couldn't even see or hear me!"

Vaati nodded and turned his head down in shame. "You're right. I couldn't. All I saw was…something bad. Something trying to hurt me. That's what happens every now and then. That was one of those 'attacks' that I told you about before. I never know when it's going to happen. Ezlo has found that he can still communicate with me when it's just starting, but he hadn't been able to stop it from happening. My sight is the first thing to go."

Link's face wrinkled in concern. "How long has this been going on?"

"Ever since you defeated me."

Link's eyes widened. "Oh my Goddesses! It's been a year since then! You've been having these attacks all year?! I'm surprised you haven't died of a heart attack!"

"Usually, if there's no one around to snap me out of it, like you just did, I faint. It's not a big deal, though. I usually wake up within the next hour. But I have had to go to the town hospital a lot…they're not too happy about it."

Link couldn't help but just stare at him in disbelief.

Abruptly, Vaati stood up, pushing Link's hands off his wrists. "It's okay; I'll be leaving tomorrow. I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused."

Link looked confusedly up at him. "Why are you leaving?"

Vaati frowned. "It'll be awkward being around me. Now that you've witnessed my attacks, you'll never be able to feel comfortable around me again. I don't want to stay if it's going to make you uncomfortable."

Link smiled a little and shook his head, sadly. "Oh Vaati, don't you get it yet? I want you here. I know you're not evil, and I know you're not insane. Besides, we're friends now, right? I want to protect you. These attacks are just another thing I can protect you from."

Vaati looked down at him as if he had no head…or had grown a second one. "But…but didn't that scare you?"

"Of course it scared me," Link explained. "But it only scared me because I was so worried about you. You could've had a heart attack if I hadn't been there to bring you out of it. You even told me yourself—you would've fainted! Now, I'm not going to let you out of my sight!"

"B-b-but…" Vaati argued. "You don't have to…"

"Of course I don't have to," Link reiterated. "I want to. Now, why don't you lie down? Take a rest. That must've taken a lot out of you."

Slowly, Vaati moved back towards the bed and sat back on the edge. "Yeah…I am kind of tired now…"

Link smiled warmly and moved forward to tuck the covers over him as he lied down. "There," he satisfactorily stated. "You're getting much better, Vaati. I'm proud of you. Maybe someday soon, you can even get rid of those attacks. But until then, I'll care for you and protect you. So, just relax and concentrate on getting better, okay?"

Vaati finally nodded against the pillow and closed his eyes. Link gave him a little pet on the head, then turned back around.

"Link…just one thing. Could you open that window for me?"

"Sure!" Link happily skipped back over to the window and slid it open. Wow, Vaati was getting assertive now, even asking for things he wanted! This was probably another sign of recovery.

"I like to feel the wind on my face," Vaati explained. "It helps me relax."

"Well, you should've told me that earlier!" Link exclaimed. "That could've helped us out just now!"

Vaati gave him a small smile back, and Link was filled with joy. His smiles were so rare, but so beautiful when they appeared. "Thank you," he softly said. "Thank you for everything."

"No problem!" Link eagerly replied. "And if you need anything else, please give me a call! I'll be right downstairs!" Link was all smiles when he descended the stairs afterwards. Soon, Vaati might be able to come downstairs, eat meals with them, and even go outside on the front lawn. And just about a week ago, he'd been starving and very nearly died. Vaati was, of course, still terribly thin and bit sickly, but he looked more like a human being now than a living skeleton.

In all, Link was feeling pretty good about the whole situation. So needless to say, he was not pleased to see at the bottom of the stairs, a very worried and annoyed Grandfather Smith.

(-)

"You just don't understand! You can't see past your own world where everything is cut-and-dry. Good or evil. Guilty or innocent. You can't see that Vaati just isn't the sort of person to harm anyone. Sure, he hurt people; he hurt a lot of people, but in the end it all turned out okay. He didn't kill anyone…"

"Yeah…but being turned to stone is almost as good as being killed."

"Yes, but the princess was brought back. And the king, and the minister, and everyone else in the castle too. He was sorry in the end. He didn't really want all of that to happen. He's still sorry now. He has nightmares about it happening again…"

"I don't care. He's a criminal. Public enemy number one. And he should be punished."

"He is being punished—by people like you, saying things like that! Almost everyone thinks the exact same way you do. He's had to endure all of these insults and degrading comments. No one in his own world can even look at him anymore. Don't you see?! That's why he tried to kill himself! He feels worthless and like a hindrance to everyone else in Hyrule. Vaati has feelings too, you know, and you're hurting them. You saw when you came up before. During our meetings, all he's been doing is crying and telling me that he's sorry. Please, grandpa…have a heart."

Poor Vaati had no idea why he'd been made to witness this argument. He stood awkwardly in the doorway to the dining room, trying not to look at either Link or Smith as they argued back and forth about him. Part of him just wanted to be punished and get it over with, but as Link had told him earlier, "he should be punished" meant "he should be dead" or at least "he should be in a prison instead of in this house." Vaati had offered to move out again several times, but Link wasn't having any of it.

"You're not going anywhere until you're all better," he'd firmly stated. "Until you can come down, eat at the table with us, and work in the forge. Until you can run circles and turn cartwheels in the bright outside sun."

Vaat had just laughed. "I can't turn a cartwheel, though. Even when I'm perfectly healthy."

Link had smiled back. "Well, you can try."

Slowly, as he listened to the tennis match of opinions on him, he began to slip away from his post holding up the door casing. Maybe now the second floor would collapse down on them.

Slowly, carefully, Vaati made his way to the opposite doorway—the one leading into the forge. Ironically, for someone arguing about how dangerous and untrustworthy he was, Smith didn't even notice. Vaati peered into the room. It was a bit warm inside, as if it were burning now, but not in current use. How neglectful of him. Vaati took one last glance over his shoulder at the progress of the argument before slipping inside. He should be safe. It wasn't going anywhere.

"You want the whole big long story? I'll give you the whole big long story. You see, Vaati is a picori boy apprenticed to Ezlo who was that living "new fashion" you commented on my having…"

"I don't give a flying rat's butt. The long and short of it is that he eventually gets big somehow, comes into our world, accidentally-on-purpose fills it with monsters again, turns the princess to stone, and then tries to take over Hyrule, if not the whole world, and turn it into a shadowy, floaty purple-land."

"You're still missing the point! Vaati was just feeling useless to begin with. He wanted to be strong and impressive. He wanted to make his master proud of him…he was following our own human examples. After he gained all that power, he couldn't control it, and he realized that this had never been what he'd really wanted. He was crying then, too… It took a while for me to get him to stop… All I want is for Vaati to be able to come down here to eat breakfast at the table. You don't have to like him; I'm not asking you to be friends…just to be tolerable…"

"Hey…" Smith suddenly cut his grandson off, looking past him. "Where is that slippery little shadow anyway?"

Link turned around to find the doorway behind him empty. "Vaati?!"

They both turned around and noticed the blue-and-purple figure crouched in front of the forge. Both of them immediately went ballistic.

"He's in my forge!" Smith hollered, breaking into an alarmed sprint. "You get away from there! He's going to make it blow up!"

"Vaati!" Link yelped, running after his grandfather. "Don't touch that! You're going to hurt yourself!"

But before any of them could do anything, Vaati simply stood up, closing the fire hatch firmly. The room fell silent, except for the distant fire roaring. "Trouble with the coal feeder," Vaati stated, looking at the floor. "I fixed it."

Another wave of awkward, tense silence passed through the long side room. Link opened his mouth to say something, but Smith beat him to it.

"You fixed it?" he repeated. "In what sense did you 'fix it'?"

Vaati stared intently into the floorboards, avoiding both their gazes.

"…Vaati?" Link finally asked, trying to overlap his grandfather's question. "Why did you…?"

"It…it was a favor…" the boy finally mumbled. He completely hid himself in the puffy, purple bang of his hair. "I…I wanted to show my gratitude. For letting me stay here."

And with that, he finally began to move. He turned and began to head for the entrance. Smith leaped out of the way, as if he was holding some kind of hot coal on a poker in front of him. Vaati just continued straight out, straight to the other doorway, and straight back up the stairs to his room. Another terrible, noisy silence roared back to Link and Smith's ears. They turned and looked at each other.

"I better go follow him," Link finally spoke up, moving an inch towards the threshold.

"He better not have sabotaged my forge," Smith grumbled, turning back towards the corner. "Link, you stay here, in case this blows up."

Link rolled his eyes, but came to his grandfather's side. "It's not going to blow up. If he said he fixed it, then…" He closed his mouth, because Smith didn't really need the words now.

He pressed a lever and moved the sword on top of the iron a bit. Then he waited a few minutes. Tried it again. Banged on the sword a little. Tried it again. His little grey eyes widened amidst the whiteness of his eyebrows and mustache. "Well whaddaya know…" he slowly began to whisper. "…He really did fix it…"

(-)

Then, the next day, Link once again grabbed Vaati by the wrist and led him down the stairs to the dining room. He had come prepared with a set of arguments designed to effectively convince his grandfather of Vaati's innocence, the repairing of the forge heading the list. But none of it was necessary.

When they arrived downstairs, Link was shocked—and overjoyed—to see three places set at the table, three plates of waffles and syrup, and three glasses of juice.

The old man entered from the adjacent room and smiled at their presence. "I was wondering when you would come down," he said. "I made these waffles specially for the occasion."

"Ah…" Link was incapable of speech. He finished descending the steps and stood in the warm, aromatic room, yet he didn't let go of Vaati's wrist, hiding the silent boy behind him. "Um…grandpa…?"

Smith smiled, mysteriously. "Take a seat, you two," he offered, plopping into his own chair. "Don't just stand there in the doorway all day gawking."

Slowly, Link and Vaati walked over to seats and sat in them. Link was just amazed that he'd said "you two". He's actually acknowledged Vaati, and not to make some awful comment about him. "G-Grandpa…" he tried to say again. "I…I'm so grateful… Wh-Why…?"

"Yesterday, I realized what a jerk I've been. It wasn't fair to you, Vaati…"

Vaati shrank into his seat when the old man's gaze turned to him.

"I wanted to thank you for repairing my forge."

"Oh, you don't have to," he timidly replied. "I was just doing you a return service."

"And return services are what you'll do. I got the perfect idea. You'll make up for your previous evil acts by helping me around the house. Compensation…forgiveness. You're a sorcerer and I'm a tired old homeowner. So I've got to help you keep your strength up. Eat your waffle, Vaati."

Vaati blinked, incredulously, but smiled. "Thank you, sir."

"But that's not fair," Link tried to argue. "You can't just force Vaati to work for you."

"Really, I don't mind!" Vaati burst out, interrupting him. "I want to help out! It's the least I can do for all the hospitality you've given me. Thank you, sir. You're very kind."

Smith shook his head. "No need to call me 'sir' like that. You can just call me Smith. Now eat up—you're awfully thin."

Vaati smiled back over at him, but his smile vanished when he looked back down at the plate.

Link gritted his teeth, reached over with his fork, and shoved a piece of Vaati's waffle into his mouth. He wouldn't believe that his grandfather could sink so low, and thankfully, he was right.

And so, for the rest of the morning, the three sat around munching on waffles and discussing what needed fixing.

The next day, Vaati fixed a small leak in the roof. Next, he stopped the bathroom tub from flooding, and finally, he switched the soil outside the house and made a lovely garden grow around it. Link was always at his side in case he grew too weak from too much magical energy drain, but Vaati seemed to hold up pretty well. He was looking healthier too, from all the good meals he'd been getting at the table.

Soon, he and Smith began to not mind each other's company, and even to get along pretty good. They discussed their proceedings over breakfast and dinner, and sometimes they'd even ask each other questions, casually.

But then, one day, it happened again. At the breakfast table, no less. And this time in front of Smith, who'd never asked what Vaati's "little accident" had been.

As normal, that morning, Link, Vaati, and Smith were eating syrup pancakes downstairs in the dining room. They were currently discussing Link's own schooling and his extra lessons. Today, he had to go back to his class, and he was extremely thankful that he could now leave Vaati with Smith without endangering Vaati's life.

"I heard Swiftblade has some brothers," Smith was saying as he ate. "Maybe we could get him enrolled there. The class here is currently full."

Link shook his head, sadly. "That would be a long way to travel. I think the next-closest dojo is somewhere in the forest, and it's not nearly as good as Swiftblade's!"

"Well," Smith argued, gesturing towards Vaati. "He's a sorcerer, right? Distance shouldn't matter; he can just poof himself."

"I don't think he can anymore," Link hypothesized. "That was just a hat power, like all his fighting skills. Can you teleport anymore, Vaati?"

There was no answer.

"…Vaati?"

Vaati was looking out the window. He's stopped eating in the middle of his waffle to follow something just outside with his eyes. Now, even Smith was looking at him.

"What's wrong?" Link asked.

"Whatcha see out there?" Smith questioned, taking another bite of waffle.

"Um…" Vaati looked like he wanted to say something more, but something was stopping him. He twitched with some internal reflex. "U-Uh…" His eyes never left the spot out the window.

"Vaati…" Link turned towards him and looked into his eyes. They didn't look frozen and blank like they had before…but something led him to believe he was definitely having another attack. "Vaati!" he yelled. "Can you hear me?!"

"Shhhh…"

Well…at least it was a response. His eyes didn't turn to look at him, though, which was what worried him. He needed some kind of physical response. Link tried turning and looking in Vaati's line of vision. There was nothing out there, except the morning sunshine and the flowers he'd planted just days ago. "Vaati?" Link asked, softening his voice. "Do you really see something, or is it an attack?"

Nothing this time. Vaati's eyes were moving from his spot. He was looking at the window now instead of through it, and his eyes continued to follow the something up towards the ceiling.

"What's wrong with him?" Smith asked, slightly alarmed. "Should I call the doctor again?"

"I think it's an attack," Link told him. "Vaati's having hallucinations that are scaring him, and he can't break away from them. There's really nothing there; he just thinks there is." Link began to reach forward, towards Vaati's side of the table. "I broke him out of it last time by touching him, so…" But Link never had the chance to touch him just then.

The pure terror on Vaati's face was apparent. Even his reflected bluish tint drained from him and be began to turn grey, like before. The fork dropped out of his hand, hitting the plate with a loud clang. "Aaaaaugh!" he shrieked, pulling away from the table violently and going into a hysterical fit. His hands flew up to his eyes first, hiding them and holding them pressed into his head.

"Vaati!" Link cried, jumping out of his chair in alarm. Smith followed, standing up much more calmly, but still worried. He backed off towards the wall, not understanding what was happening.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaugh!!!" Vaati screamed again, hands flying to his throat. He squeezed his fingers around it as if to strangle himself. He looked similarly in pain and scared out of his wits. And he wouldn't stop screaming after that.

"Aaah! Aaaaugh! Aaaaaaaugh! Aaaah!"

Link jumped forward, ready to pry his fingers off his neck. What if he really did strangle himself?

Vaati was crying too. Crying in mental/physical pain…no, agony. His hands loosened for a moment. They gently moved down to grip his upper arms. His whole body shuddered and shook as he took deep, gasping breaths.

Link took a step forward. That was it, he realized. It was finally coming to an end. Vaati was beginning to calm down now. "It's okay…" he began to say, moving closer. "You're okay now, Vaati…"

"AAAAAUGH!!!" he burst out again, louder and even more piercing than before. He fell to the ground on his knees, pressing his hands into the sides of his head, over his ears. His fingers wrapped around his head, and he pressed in so violently, it was as if he was trying to squash his head in…or keep it from exploding. He scratched desperately at his face and then down at his chest, trying to tear his heart out.

"Vaati!" Link screamed, falling to the floor beside him. "Vaati, Vaati, stop that! Please!" And with that, he grabbed his shoulders. He gripped them and squeezed them tight between his fingers.

The hands relaxed. Vaati's trembling hands slowly froze and then fell away from his chest. As his arms gently moved down, Link slid his hands down them and tightened reassuringly around his wrists. He stared intently into those wide, panicked eyes with a steady, solid gaze.

Vaati's one visible eye flickered across his face again, recognizing him, though his mouth was still partly open, as if he might scream again. Slowly, he closed it. His head turned down to get a good look at his hands. He flexed them a little, probably making sure they were real, then looked back up into Link's face. "Oh…" he finally began to say, voice wavering unsteadily. "It happened again, didn't it?"

All Link could do was pull him into a grateful hug. He just held his body tightly and tried to stop the trembling. "What was that?" he asked, after a moment. "I know it was an attack, but it seemed different from the other one."

Slowly, Smith was making his way towards them, and gently, he crouched next to them.

"I-It was," Vaati finally replied. "It was the second one. It's even worse than the one you saw before. I…I was re-experiencing the…the…the transformation."

Link gripped him tighter, reassuringly, since his shaking had been getting worse during that sentence. "You're okay now," he said, softly. "That's never going to happen again, and you know it. So don't worry about it."

"I…I can't…" Vaati shuddered again. I can't stop…seeing it. I'm a monster…I'm a monster…"

"Eventually it will go away," Link determinedly stated. "That's what I want to work with you on—getting rid of these attacks. I know you can do it; it's all just in your mind. And stop saying that you're a monster—you're not a monster. Please don't say that—it's awful. Shhhh…"

Vaati had been just about to start arguing the point with him, but he had quieted the protest. It was a few more minutes of silent hugging—the calm after the storm—before anyone moved again. Vaati slowly pulled away from Link's shoulder and sat with his head down for a minute, hair completely veiling his face.

Link was about to say something more, but instead, Smith took the initiative. He reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Hey…" His gruff voice was softened just a bit. "Are you okay, now?"

The boy shuddered a little at his touch, but turned back around with a smile on his face. "Yes. I'm going to be fine now. Thank you. I…I'm really, really sorry that had to happen. Really sorry… I can't control when that happens… I'm sorry I never warned you. I would imagine that really frightened and upset you."

Smith smiled. He held out a friendly hand and helped him back to his feet. "It's okay. I just worried if you were okay. I need to keep you healthy to continue to help out around here."

Vaati smiled back, as he and the others sat and settled back around the table. "It doesn't matter," he joked. "I would probably still do things for you, even if I was sick and about to collapse."

"Finish your breakfast," Smith implored, and everyone did just that.

Link savored the peace of the moment as he continued into his pancake, and thought this might be the beginning of a wonderful new family. Unfortunately, the peace wouldn't last for much longer.

(-)

It was two days after the "attack at the table" incident. Link and Vaati were coming down that morning for breakfast as normal, but stopped in their tracks when they reached the bottom of the staircase. Breakfast wasn't ready. Only Smith was at the table, examining a piece of paper that looked like a letter.

When he finally looked up, his face broke into a shocked realization. "Oh! Goodness, I apologize! I completely forgot to make breakfast this morning!"

"Relax," Vaati told him, as he and Link approached. "I'll make it."

Link stepped closer to his grandfather's side as Vaati closed his eyes and began to summon his magical powers. "What's that, grandpa?" He gestured to the piece of paper.

"This," Smith grimly announced. "Is a letter from the king. It was sent to you just this morning."

Link's blue eyes widened. "For me? From the king?"

In the background, Vaati was beginning to chant in a foreign language, probably Picori.

"What does it say?"

Smith sighed, deeply. "They're having trouble with the Holy Sword. Big trouble. You know, they used it to seal up that container of monsters again, right? Well, apparently, the seal wouldn't hold…"

"Hah!" Vaati exclaimed, and a bunch of warm, frosted pastries wrapped in bright, ridged paper popped into existence on the table. "Dang it!" he cried. "I wanted pancakes! Pancakes! Not cupcakes!"

"It's alright." Link took a bite out of a nearby chocolate one that had appeared on his plate. "I like cupcakes even better than pancakes."

"Not very healthy though," Smith criticized, glancing up.

"I'm sorry!" Vaati immediately burst out. "I'll go get rid of them right now!" He struggled to scoop all the cupcakes into his arms.

"Just leave them in the cupboard!" Smith called after him. "No need to waste all that fresh food."

As the sorcerer struggled out of sight, Link turned his attention back to the letter and began to read it for himself. His mouth dropped open in exasperation. "What?! But…but I just saw the sword in the box a few months ago! The new champion went up and touched it and everything! Nothing happened."

Smith shook his head, sadly. "The seal wouldn't last for the rest of the year. The sword catapulted straight out of it, and all the monsters flew back into the world."

Link squinted at the letter. "He says he's been having premonitions about a man in a long, black robe. I wonder if that has anything to do with it."

"But he's asking for your help with it, Link," Smith gravely told his grandson. "Personally, I don't think it's fair. Relying on you to save everyone from all the monsters all the time… And you just a child…"

"I don't mind!" Link valiantly cried, shoving the letter back onto the table, determinedly. "If there are monsters out there, threatening Hyrule again, I want to help eliminate them!"

"What about monsters?" Vaati entered back into the room from placing his conjured cupcakes carefully into the cupboard in the back of the long forge room. "Are you talking about me behind my back?"

"No, Vaati." Link didn't find his little joke funny. "And stop saying that—it's terrible."

"I was just joking." He sat, awkwardly, at the table next to him and noticed their grim expressions. "Um…so what's wrong?"

"The seal on the box using the new Holy Sword wouldn't hold," Smith began to explain. "And the monsters inside got out into the world again."

Vaati goggled at him. He blinked, and slowly, his eyebrows turned upwards. He opened his mouth to say something, but Link cut him off.

"No, it has nothing to do with you. Apparently, something in the sword's composition was incomplete and not as strong as the original sword." He frowned back down at the grave tidings in the letter in his hand. "I'm going to have to leave later tonight to go to the castle and figure out what the problem is." He smiled, slightly. "I guess the adventure's not over yet, huh?"

Vaati's eyes widened, across from him. Suddenly, he leaped out of his seat, no longer able to control his feelings. "U-Um, could I…? Would you let me come with you?!"

Link was completely shocked. This had been the last thing he'd been expecting. "Um…you want to go to the castle with me?"

"I want to help you," Vaati offered, clearly. "I want to go on the adventure with you." He stared into his eyes, determinedly but nervously. "I…I can help you. I'm not much of a fighter, but I do have magic! I've gotten a lot better since last year! I was just thinking that Ezlo might know something about why the sword's acting up, and I could ask him for you! If I helped you, I could help save the world! I could do a good thing and make up for my mistakes last year! I could earn everyone's trust and forgiveness back! …Or at least get them to not hate me as much…" A hush again fell over the room.

Link tilted his head slightly in consideration. "Well, you are still recovering from your brush with death… I don't really want to put you in harm's way… Plus, you keep having those attacks…"

Vaati's face fell a little bit, and he tucked his head down to examine the tablecloth. "Yeah…" he quietly admitted. "I guess I am a bit of extra baggage. I'd be a burden on you…"

"Why not?!"

Vaati's head snapped back up. "What?"

"Sure, I'd love to have you along." Link flashed a smile across to him. "Last time, I had Ezlo with me, remember? He used to constantly nag me and store soggy old sandwiches on my head. I'm sure I can deal with someone I have to constantly look out for and who occasionally goes into hallucination fits."

Vaati burst into the biggest, most delighted smile Link had seen from him so far. "Really?! Woooohoooo!!!" He couldn't stop himself from jumping up into the air, running to Link's side, and throwing his arms around him. "Thank you! This is going to be so great! I can't wait 'til we get out there! I haven't gotten to explore everywhere…oooh, I just can't wait!!!"

Link chuckled. He's never seen Vaati so excited about anything, even compared to when he'd stolen the Light Force last year. He was going to bounce off the walls and explode with happiness.

"Don't run off just yet," Smith spoke up, glancing back over at the overexcited sorcerer. "You promised to repaint my house, remember?"

Vaati immediately shoved Link away and turned to him with an enthusiastic salute. "Yes sir! I think I'll go start on it right now!" Before you could say "cupcakes", he was bolting for the door, throwing it open, and rolling up his sleeves.

"Hey!" Link called after him, holding out a desperate hand. "Vaati! Wait! You might not be strong enough after…" When there was no response, he grumbled and stomped out the door after him.

It was going to be an interesting quest, all right. An interesting quest indeed.