okay so what am i even doing.
i i...these two were a crack pairing at first but i mean now i actually honest to god ship them and oh theres so much wrong with me. but here, some ghiralink fluff. i think it would be adorable if ghirahim was sweet, so...OOC is expected maybe? and also, i have some interesting thoughts about ghira himself, like he doesn't want to have to be such a dick to link but has to because suddenly, destiny. and he follows link around after their fights just because. and link wouls have dreams because think about it, he kills so much and itd be really bloody if it were real life. also, this is sorta inspired by the song Sleep by Poets of the Fall
but yeah nintendo owns these guys. i am not nintendo.
R&R so i can improve?

A soft whimper permeated the still air, shattering the peaceful silence that had settled over the forest clearing. It startled me out of my reverie, I glanced around. Certainly that hadn't come from some sort of animal? It had sounded much too frightened, much too human. Taking a quick inventory of the surroundings, I found nothing out of the ordinary and opted for passing it off as the wind. It was rather aggravated tonight, blowing short, quick gusts across the trees before retreating back into a soft breeze. It could have easily been the wind.

Resuming my pace, I once again allowed my mind to wander. It was a simple task, especially on quiet nights like these. The crisp air could clear one's head in a heartbeat. Really, the only downfall of it is the inability to then control where the thoughts stray to. Because sometimes, they find their selves to less than pleasing topics, namely recent failures against a particular- oh.

There it was again, that little whimper. I couldn't blame it on the wind this time; it had been still in the night air. My breath left in a huff past my lips without my consent, but I stepped off into a small barrier of trees all the same, towards wherever the source of the noise was. It took me a few moments, during which another small cry had sounded, before I was in another clearing, much smaller than the previous one. There was a very faint fire burning near the edge, a darkened figure lying beyond it. My eyes adjusted against the light and I realized; the very subject of my tormented thoughts was right in front of me. And after that, I realized; he was the one making those noises.

Why the sky child had taken to sleeping out on the ground was beyond me. I knew he was out in the forest, why else would I be here myself? Someone had to keep tabs on the 'hero'. I just hadn't known he would be so close. Or sleeping.

Exhibiting such foolish carelessness, letting his guard down in the middle of the wilderness where monsters of all kinds could attack without him having a clue. Where I could attack him, end him, and he would be none the wiser.

I summoned my dark rapier, taking a step towards his motionless form.

"You are a fool, boy," I hissed as I advanced, skirting the glowing embers of his fire. He shifted, have I woken him?, before falling still again. I crouched next to his head, studying him, frowning.

In the dim light, his skin was illuminated eerily. Shadows from the dying flames danced across him, catching on small muscles. What wasn't covered by clothes, as far as I could see, was littered with cuts and scars and bruises, courtesy of the Temple of Time inhabitants. I vaguely recognized some of the scars as ones I had left, during our first meeting. My hand had reached out at some point and was hovering over his cheek, almost but not quite fingering a long cut found resting there. I stared at the hand for a moment in surprise before jerking it back, eyebrows furrowing.

He shifted again as I pulled back, his face contorting and another sound spilling from his lips. Why did he keep doing that? Sitting back on my heels, perhaps his wounds were causing him pain, even in the subconscious world?

It was only after a strand of his hair brushed against my boot that I realized what I was doing. My hand tightened around my sword, the hilt in my grip oddly reassuring to me. It didn't keep my thoughts from wandering yet again, though, and they bunched around all of the failures caused by this boy. This boy. Such a young kid standing as such an obstacle in my way and suddenly I found my blade stabbing down an inch away from his head, burrowing the tip into the ground.

It would be so easy to keep him from ruining my future plans if I just took care of him now. Ran my sword through his body, slit his throat, stabbed his heart, anything. Let his blood stain the ground, weep his life into the dirt…But I wouldn't, couldn't.

Because this child intrigued me.

He writhed on the ground under me, a pathetic keen drawing forth from his throat. Why?

I ran through my head all the reasons he could be suffering in such a normally tranquil state of mind. Physical pain was one, perhaps the bitter temperature could be another, there was a possibility of sickness, or maybe he- My mind paused as the light reflected against something on his cheek. Shiny and wet against his pale complexion. My bare hand reached out again – where did my glove go? – and touched a finger to his skin. It was damp and warm but the boy himself was cold. Those were tears then.

Again, I felt an overwhelming surge of anger at him, how dare he think he had the right to be so open, so without a care about who could see him? How could he think he could be so weak?

The wrath was gone in a moment and I pressed my palm to his face as he trembled, crying out.

Perhaps the reason for his agony…was a bad memory?

A bad dream, a nightmare. It would make sense, considering he's gone through everything, seen everything, all that a normal person would never have to endure. Could never even suffer through without losing their sanity.

A new thought crossed my mind, one that was unwelcome.

I couldn't kill him because he looked so small, so broken, curled up on the cold forest floor. He had been through unforgiving trials and was made to kill; all for a destiny he had no choice in taking. It was his duty to get in my way, to try and stop me at all costs, all because some Goddess had chosen him to.

I couldn't kill him because I felt so unbelievably sorry for the boy, barely out of his childhood and not at all ready for any of this.

Lord Ghirahim, feeling sorry for some little kid. I would have laughed at the very thought at any other time. Instead, I let out an airy breath, unamused and border lining a sigh.

I dropped to my knees, my dark sword dissipating in a flurry of red diamonds. The sky child – Link – whimpered again, his whole body going rigid. My mouth twitched as I smoothed my thumb over his cheek, minding the cut located there. It didn't help his state; if anything, it made him worse.

He shied from the touch, tilting his head away and breathing harder.

Sighing, I moved my hand to his shoulder, reaching across him to get a better hold. I dragged him slowly up, propping his upper body against my lap. He began fidgeting; squirming and letting out more frightened noises.

I tossed my hair to the side to get it out of my face, ignoring that it fell stubbornly right back into place. "Wake up," I murmured, trying to still his trembling by holding him in place. "Sky child, get up." I dug my fingers into his shoulders, letting my nails pinch against his skin. "Wake up, you foolish boy," Tightening my grip with one hand, I used the other to reach down and take one of his.

He jolted with a start, gasping in a jagged breath that ended up sounding painful and almost useless. Tossing his head from side to side, he tried to both rip his hand away and free his shoulders at the same time. His shivering impeded his movement, and I held onto his shoulders to further prevent him from moving. At his insistence, I wrapped one arm around his sternum, holding him back against my chest. He let out a cry of fear, increasing his struggling.

"Hold still, child." To my relief, he stilled immediately, his whole body going tense and stone-still. I didn't have to see him to know his blue eyes were raw with fear and confusion. I sighed against his temple, golden hair tickling my face. "I am not going to hurt you."

He was still for another moment, the only sound being the soft crackle of embers in his fire. Sucking in another shaky breath, he arched his spine away from me, trying to work his chest out of my grasp. I rolled my eyes and pulled him back against me. "Relax," I ordered, using my free hand to come up and wipe at his face. He flinched at the contact, and for whatever reason, I frowned and felt something in my stomach clench. His shuddering resumed.

"W-wh-"

I rested my chin on top of his head, tilting it down to bury my nose and mouth into his hair. "What do you dream about?" I interrupted whatever he was about to ask. He went dead silent and I thought he wasn't going to answer.

I blinked, about to say something else, when he sniffed and muttered, "Everything." His voice was barely audible; hoarse and sounding so broken. The arm I had wrapped around his shoulders tightened for a fraction of a second. A tremor ripped through him, hands clenching against the dirt at his sides. He swallowed. "All of the death…so much-" His voice cracked and he had to swallow again before continuing, shakily, "So much blood. The screaming never stops."

Closing my eyes, I burrowed myself deeper into his hair, turning my face so my cheek lay on top of his head. "Do you have them a lot?"

A long, slow inhale of breath, silence, and then he released it. I heard him take a few more breaths, his mouth open, but he closed it and opted for giving a small tip of his head.

Some part of me, small and for the most part insufficient, was angry. Livid. Not at the child –not at Link- , but at fate. For assigning him such a critical role in the world that not even the strongest man could accomplish. For making him do all these cruel things, and then making him suffer even after they were over. For plaguing his entire being, even his subconscious mind, with the images that he had choice but to do.

I heaved a long sigh, however silent. Now that his face had been dried of tears and cleaned of old blood, my hand had absentmindedly slid down, past his lips, his jawline, his neck. It idled near his collar, tracing incomprehensible patterns against the skin around the base of his neck. Almost instinctively, my nails scrape against him, digging into the delicate surface. When tiny drops of blood beaded against my fingers, I jerked my hand away, apologizing by smoothing my thumb over the little punctures. He didn't say anything, just sat still and quiet, seemingly numb. I sighed again.

"You don't speak much, do you." It came out as an observation, and the silence I got was expected. I let it be. Taking my hand away from his neck, I used it to brush his bangs away from his forehead. He flinched away; it bothered me, but again, it wasn't unexpected. I had threatened to kill him, torture him numerous times before, and here he was, lying painfully open and vulnerable in my grasp. "I told you I wasn't going to hurt you, fool." I scowled, I couldn't seem to make my words hold the contempt I wanted. He seemed to notice this too, hearing the half buried gentleness they held and relaxing slightly, letting his back unstiffen.

I used this to my advantage, pulling him further against me so it could be more comfortable. He had tilted his head to glance at me during this, watching me with those wide blue eyes, curious. He flushed and looked away when I met his gaze. Trying to make light of the moment, I snickered, no real malice behind it.

"Well, well. It seems that even the great hero has at least enough decency to be flustered by my presence." He didn't respond, but as he turned his head away from me again, I saw a small smile tugging at his lips.

Eventually, I suppose his neck grew sore, because he loosened up and laid his head back against my chest. A quick glance down told me his eyes were closed, and he suddenly looked much younger. It was astonishing how many years the stress and pain had put on him. Saddening, almost.

Without actively realizing it, my hand had ceased stroking back his hair and traveled back down to his face. Fingers rubbed at his temples, smoothed over his forehead, brushing his cheek and otherwise lingering there, idly stroking. I watched it in wonder, mind barely registering it as my own.

One of his eyes cracked open again, peering questioningly up at me. When I noticed the look, a sudden silence took over the air. It took a minute to figure out why, before there had been a strange humming noise, acting as a comfortable white noise. It resumed again after a moment, once Link had closed his eye. Where was that coming from? I tilted my head, narrowing my eyes. Was that…was that sound coming from…me? Keeping my arm around his chest, I brought my hand up and touched my fingers to my own chest, surprised at the slight vibrations it gave off. Blinking slowly, I put off investigating it until later. It hadn't hurt me yet, whatever it was, so I assumed it couldn't be threatening. And it did seem to calm the boy; his breathing had slowed and deepened.

I touched a fingertip to the area above his eye. "Are you going to sleep again?" The words slipped out past the continuous rumbling sound- almost purring?

He tilted his head a fraction off my chest before replacing it, his reply barely a whisper. "Would you mind?" His concern for others, even me, never ceased to amaze me. No, I didn't mind, and some part of me did just the opposite of mind. Perhaps if he could sleep like this, even for just a little while, with another person around to comfort him and just be there with him, knowing he was safe, he'd be able to get some actual rest. Painless, without dark memories plaguing his subconscious mind. Goddesses knew he needed some.

I lowered my face into his hair, content. He smelled nice and his body was warm against mine, so contrasting to my usual chilly temperature. "Sleep," I murmured against him, closing my own eyes. Perhaps I needed the same.