Author's Note: This story takes place mid way through the game, so there may be spoilers. We are starting during the second time Link battles Ghirahim personally. I've seen some good feedback on the original version of this story, so I'm re-writing it to be better and make more sense.

There's also an original character who pops up. Her only known part in the story so far is in this chapter, and her only purpose is to create the change in the story so that it branches away from the original Skyward Sword Story.

With that out of the way, here's the story. I hope you enjoy.

The sounds of swords were one of the only sounds in the room where Link and Ghirahim fought. There would also be the gentle tap of Ghirahim's footsteps, and the frantic thudding of Link's as well. On occasion though, Link's voice would cut through the symphony of tapping, thudding and clanging of inanimate objects, crying out when he swung his sword hard, or got hit.

The battle seemed to last ages, and Link was getting tired. It seemed as though he demon lord would never tire, and looked as clean and strong as when they first met in the room. It was discouraging to Link.

After a while, Link's legs gave out from him moving around so much. He fell to the ground, and scrambled to move away from the slowly approaching demon, despite how sore his legs had become. They were even shaking from the exertion.

Seeing the Skyloftian on the ground made Ghirahim smile. "My, my, Sky child... You seem to be growing tired. Why don't you just give up already?" The demon lord asked, grinning as though victory was already his.

Link looked at him defiantly. This was awarded with a dagger getting thrown into his shoulder.

"Tsk, tsk. Have you ever been taught manners? No matter, I'll keep this simple." Ghirahim said. He leaned down, his blackened arms grabbing the boy's sword as it was pushed towards him and throwing it away. With the main threat away from him, he grabbed the boy's chin and forced Link to look at him. "Tell me where the second gate of time is."

It was a command, leaving no room for debate. However, it was a command Link was refusing to obey, glaring defiantly at the demon more. He remained silent as he rarely ever spoke, and had made it a point to never speak around this man. It wasn't worth it.

The demon's jaw clenched, and his hold on Link's jaw tightened. Link was almost afraid it would shatter the bone. "Why must you be difficult?" Ghirahim growled, before leaning even closer to whisper right into Link's ear. "I promise your death will be a lot less painful if you tell me now."

Link raised his hands to Ghirahim's chest and pushed with all his might. His only intention was to push the demon away from him, and didn't expect it to work well despite his efforts. The demon was usually as solid as stone. However, Ghirahim fell back, having been pushed off his balance from the rather weak force Link used, which was surprising.

Link looked the demon over, who was staring at something above Link's head with a shocked expression. It was then Link felt a pair of hands grab at his arms, and he instinctively struggled against it. This caused him to fall back to the ground, away from whoever was picking him up.

A woman was standing there, crossing her arms as she watched Link back away, slowed by the injury to his shoulder as he struggled to move. She then shook her head, looking next to Ghirahim instead.

Similarly to him, her outfit consisted of a white, skin tight suit, though hers showed more skin since it didn't cover her arms and legs, and had a single diamond cut out at her navel. She also a cape that looked just like his, but was solid red, and a matching skirt around her waist, partially covering the diamond cut out on her front. To finish the outfit, she had boots and gloves, each with a single, large diamond design on them.

She was very pale, but not as much so as Ghirahim was. Her eyes were scarlet, and her hair also nearly matched ghirahim's in shape, but was black with a red highlight on the tip of her bangs. She reminded Link heavily of Ghirahim.

Link was so caught up in staring at her that he almost didn't hear that Ghirahim spoke out.

"Who are you?"

Link looked back to Ghirahim, who was standing from the ground and dusting himself off, though he wasn't actually dirty, and glaring at the new woman.

The woman huffed. "As temperamental as ever, I see. I suppose it's natural you don't recognize me. I never was worth any attention of a demon lord, was I?" the woman asked, looking away pointedly. "And here I was getting my hopes up for finally meeting you." she said before shaking her head. "You've no idea how hard it is to track you down."

The demon lord's gaze darkened as she looked back. "Who. Are. You?" he asked, punctuating each word with venom dripping from his voice. It made Link shudder.

The woman shook her head. "My name is Varia. I was an outcast for the most part, though in your absence, someone had to take over. They even insisted I wore this… ridiculous cape. Thank goodness I dyed it all red." she said. As she spoke of the cape, she picked up one end of the fabric, looking at it as though judging it before dropping it with a shrug.

Ghirahim's eyes widened for a moment, as though he recognized something before several daggers flew towards Varia. She easily dodged it with a sidestep, watching as they were imbedded into the floor before disappearing in a small show of diamond shapes.

Ghirahim seemed quite angry at this point, his arms turning black again as he summoned his swords and raced towards her.

Varia, on the other hand, summoned a simple black trident with a red gem embedded where the three prongs came together, and easily parried off Ghirahim's attacks. When she tried a counter attack, however, Ghirhaim seemed equally as able to deflect her attacks. They appeared to be evenly matched.

"Oh, what a way to treat me after coming all this way, just to see you~" She teased as they fought, the sound of metal clashing every time they got close. "You've been obsessed. You even got your red string of fate all tangled up!" she called.

Link could see them exchanging blows and teleporting so fast, he almost couldn't follow. Each word she said seemed to make the Demon Lord even more angry, until she backed away and asked a peculiar question.

"Ghirahim, what will you accomplish, raising Demise to the world again?" she asked.

Ghirahim paused in his attacks as well, glaring at her before breaking into a fit of laughter. "Are you stupid?" he asked, his voice low, gravelly, and overall demonic.

When he got no response he huffed, lodging his swords in the ground so they stood upright and thrusts his arms out, as though gesturing to something very large. "When our king returns, the world can once again be shrouded in darkness, and demons can return to this realm at will! He will not only be king of our realm, but this one too! powerful enough to take the Goddess' place and create a dark world for us all! It would be fantastic, and I'll be right by his side! We'll be ruling the world together!" he called out, looking to the sky as though he were shouting at the goddess right now.

His attention then snapped to Varia again, a rather crazy looking grin on his features as he stared at her. "Can there be no better reality for this world?" he asked, his voice dropping to the low, gravelly tone of before.

Link recognized a feralness in the demon lord's demeanor that would often be seen when he let his temper get the best of him. The other demoness, though, seemed to be upset at his answer, and was sporting a rough pout at the demon lord.

Varia's face then twisted into a glare only a moment before she disappeared in a show of diamonds ranging from scarlet to black in color. She reappeared behind Ghirahim, a hand over the one eye that wasn't covered by his hair. "You are blinded Ghirahim. You can not see truth under corruption running through you." she stated.

The demon lord seemed frozen for a moment before swinging one of his black arms around, trying to hit the woman in the side with his elbow, but she had teleported away too quickly for him to hit her.

She was now standing across the room from him, where she was before. "Tell me." she called out, her voice ringing with an authoritative tone. "Why this is so important to you? You know Demise. You know what happened to him, perhaps better than all of us. Yet you are blinded by him." She said. "And you should know, by now, that he no longer holds anything dear. Demise is narcissistic, He only cares for himself."

Ghirahim snarled at her. "Master cares for me too!" he shouted. "I am the only one he wields! He took me in, he brought me to where I am!" There was a pause before he continued, even louder than before. "And you all turned your backs on him, you traitors!"

Varia's eyes widened before she glared back. "He grew corrupt! He will wield anyone who offered themselves if it would get him what he wants. Face it! You are just a tool to him. He uses you because you are strong and haven't broken, but when you do he will toss you aside and find someone else to take your place!" She shouted back. "Demise only does what is best for him and no one else! All you are to him is a means to an end. You will destroy yourself trying to please him when we both know he is beyond pleasing!"

Ghirahim flinched, as though he had been wounded. His arms lost their ebony color and his hands clenched at his side. "How would you know?" he asked softly, before shouting back at her. "How would you know what he's going to do!? You don't know what he's been through! What we've been through!"

Varia seemed to snap, her voice rising to near screaming levels. "No, I don't know! But what I do know is he had been corrupted, and is not the same king he once was! He grew greedy! You've seen more than the rest of us how he changed! He will not thank you if you free him - he will curse you for taking so long! He will not be happy it was YOU of all demons to free him - he will merely use you since you happen to be there when he's freed! And you know that if he loses a battle with you as his weapon, he will only blame YOU!" Her voice rose with each sentence until she was screaming loud enough to make her voice crack.

Link started to tremble at the power behind their voices. He was fairly sure they had forgotten he was there, and debated on what to do. He could attack Ghirahim while he was weak, and solve a lot of problems. He could run and heal up, or go to the next chamber, but then this mess was left here, and he had to admit he was worried about its outcome.

Oddly enough, he felt compelled to stay. Something in him felt that Ghirahim was getting hurt, and he could almost tell that Varia's sharp words were cutting away at Ghirahim little by little.

"Shut up! SHUT UP!" Ghirahim cried out, his hands covering his ears. He fell to the ground, on his knees, his eyes clenched closed and he hunched over as though trying to shrink away from the words.

Varia paused a moment to regain some of her composure and summoned two daggers. They were sleeker in model than Ghirahim's, and shot towards him quickly as she continued. "You have to face the facts." She said loudly, the blades hitting Ghirahim's hands and knocking them away from his head, cutting his flesh in the process. He clenched his hands to try and stop the bleeding, but this left him open for more verbal assaults.

"Demise changed." Varia continued. "And he's changing you. If he is released to rule the worlds again he will only destroy them!"

At this point Link had had enough, and looked around frantically. His sword was close, and he still had a dagger lodged in his shoulder, thankfully, it was his left shoulder, so he could still swing with his right side.

Link scrambled to get his sword, wincing at the sound of it scraping against the floor, but it didn't seem to matter much as Varia was still berating Ghirahim with her words.

"His thirst is unquenchable, and no matter what you do he will never be satisfied! Not with you, not with anyone! Not with the entire world in his hand! You know this is true and still, you-" Varia was cut off as one of Ghirahim's daggers hit her on her side, distracting her.

Link was running up to her, and swung his sword at her with all the strength he could muster, knocking her back. As she recoiled from the attack, Link jumped back, his sword pointed low and his left arm bleeding heavily from where the dagger was previously. He stood in front of Ghirahim, aiming his sword at Varia sloppily.

The woman looked to the boy with a scowl. "What are you doing, child?" she said, grabbing the dagger that had merely torn her cloak and cracking it with her bare hand, her gloves fading as her arms turned black, as Ghirahim's do. She dropped the shards of the dagger as she glared at the young hero.

Link took a deep breath. "Stop attacking him!" he cried out.

This left the room silent for a good moment, before the woman burst into laughter. "Why? What are you going to do if I don't?" she paused, looking him over. "Oh, this is the Goddess' hero, isn't it? Goodness, what a pleasure it is to meet you. Though tell me, why are you defending this demon?" she asked. "He's trying to do everything you are preventing, isn't he?"

Link clenched his jaw, his gaze held with the woman and refusing to look away. He mentally noted that Ghirahim was being too quiet, but refused to look away from the woman's sharp gaze. At his silence, Varia frowned, and sent a few daggers his way.

Link wanted to dodge, but knowing that Ghirahim was behind him, he instead raised his sword to deflect the incoming attacks. He was successful 3 out of 4, the final one lodging in his left arm, lower than the last impact. Still, Link held his ground.

The woman sighed, and her shoulders slumped. She put a hand to the bridge of her nose and spoke in an irritated voice. "You are aware you are protecting your enemy?"

Silence.

"Why?" she asked again.

Link looked down, his sword falling till the tip clanged against the floor. "He's... just like me." Link muttered. He was worried for a moment he had spoke too softly, and would need to repeat himself louder, but it seemed as though it didn't matter either way.

Varia shook her head. "I've wasted too much time." she said dismissively before looking to Link. "Hero." she called. "This is for you. Don't ask. I was just told to give it to you if we ever met." she said. She pulled something out from behind her back, under her cloak, and threw it out into the room as she disappeared in a flurry of red diamonds.

Link paused. There was a heart container on the ground. He looked to his sword, and let out a sigh. "Fi." he called.

The sword spirit appeared from the handle, and looked at Link expectantly. Link motioned to the heart container. "What can you tell me about this… is it real?" he asked.

Fi looked at it, hovering near for a moment before nodding. "The heart container is real, and shall replenish your health as all previously encountered ones will." she stated.

She paused, looking over Link's shoulder, but Link pulled her attention away quickly. "That will be all, Fi. Thank you." he said. The sword spirit nodded and silently returned to the sword, which soon after fell to the floor.

Link grabbed the heart container, pressing it to his chest. Red magic swirled out from it, healing all his wounds and helping him recover from all the fighting. Soon, all the red energy got absorbed into his body, and the gold that sealed it faded away.

Finally, he turned to Ghirahim, who was still on his knees, with his head hung low. This hair was a mess, and hid his face from view.

Link paused, and kneeled before Ghirahim with a worried expression. "...Ghirahim?" he asked gently.

The demon lord looked away, mumbling softly. Link had to lean in to hear him. "You saved me… I'm not worth saving… Why would you save me?" He continued to mumble such things and Link put a hand on his shoulder. The demon lord flinched.

"You… aren't bad, not really. You've been mean, and upset, but you aren't bad. You are… just like me." Link said, offering him a small smile.

When Ghirahim looked up, his face was streaked with his tears, purple eye makeup following the trails down his cheeks and nose. Link pulled out a piece of fabric from his tunic that was all but ripped off entirely and folded it before wiping the Demon lord's face with a tenderness the demon had not felt in centuries.

Ghirahim had to fight off more tears at the kind gesture, but it became impossible as Link wrapped him in a hug. The hug made him feel secure, and Ghirahim slowly wrapped his arms back around Link, his hands clenching weakly into Link's armor as he held the Skyloftian close, as though he were afraid to let go.

Ghirahim let his forehead rest on Link's shoulder, and did nothing but sit and cry for a good, long while. Ghirahim was sad, and angry, and scared. He was upset at himself, for needing his enemy to save him, for needing his enemy for comfort, for needing comfort in the first place. And he was scared of what Demise would do if he ever found out.

Link just hummed softly and rubbed the demon's back, soothing the demon until his sobs stopped. Eventually, Link pulled away to look at Ghirahim. His face was a mess again, but thankfully not as bad since most of the makeup was already gone.

Ghirahim's gaze was kept on the floor for a while, before he summoned the courage to speak. He internally cringed when his voice cracked. "How… what… do you mean… when you say… we are alike?" he asked softly, his voice hoarse from the shouting match he just had.

Link's gaze traveled to the ground as well, and he moved to a more comfortable sitting position on the ground. "I'm in the same situation. Sorta. I'm travelling to protect the goddess, a tool in the grand story to keep her safe…" he said "'Hero'" he scoffed, "Is hardly a title. Even if I complete my task, what will happen? Whatever happens, things can't go back to how they were. I won't be the same, and neither will anyone else."

Link paused to sigh. "The only reason I started this quest was because I was worried about my friend. Zelda was my best friend, one of very few I had back home. She was always there for me, and I want to be there for her, too… But then, all this happened. Even if I get her back, surely she's changed on her quest too. I'm scared to think of what happens next." he said.

Ghirahim gave him a look, moving to sit with his knees to his chest as he watched Link. "I.. Don't have any friends… anymore." he said. He looked about ready to cry again. "I don't want to admit it, since Mast- Demise was the closest thing to a friend I had. He has changed, but he's all I have." he said, looking away. "What else am I supposed to do? No one else will trust me anyway." he murmured.

Link looked at him. "You're not… You're not alone. You're like me." he said, offering a half smile. "We can be friends… if you want." he offered.

Ghirahim looked back at him. "You want to be friends with your enemy?" he asked, a strained note in his voice.

Link shook his head. "If you're my friend… You aren't my enemy. I… trust you… and… I don't expect you to trust me… but… I don't want to hurt you, not really." Link said.

Ghirahim frowned and looked away. "I don't know what it's like to be a friend or have any. Though… I suppose a simple truce would be alright?" he asked, glancing back at Link from the corner of his eye, the sad tone in his voice laced with a little bit of hope.

Link seemed to take a moment to think about it and nodded. "That will work." he said with a smile as he looked at Ghirahim.