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Most days Link could be optimistic and almost his old self.
He could still love soccer, he could still enjoy playing FIFA, he could still be excited for school and all that the world had to offer but…
Some days, Link couldn’t be that kid.
Because he wasn’t that kid anymore.
He’d been forced to grow up.
Some days, he was slipping. Slipping into the cold abyss of bitterness and resentment—for his dad, who lied to him his whole life, for his stolen youth, for the blood staining his hands. Link had almost veered into someone he didn’t know prior to the battle with Willy, someone who had gone from caring about so much—to nothing in the blink of an eye. Everything he’d ever held dear, his dads, soccer, his spouses—none of it mattered.
Thank goodness he’d managed to snap out of it.
At least… for the most part anyways.
Mostly, he could be this strange, new hybrid version of himself: a little older, a little more grown up, but still happy and excited for the days ahead.
And some days, Link couldn’t.
Thursday was just one of those days where Link woke up with that inexplicable black cloud hanging over his head. He was too quiet at breakfast, which put his dads on that worried edge and just made Link feel even heavier.
He forgot about a test and was sure he failed.
By lunch his appetite was completely gone, and he was only slipping further into that overwhelming feeling of nothing matters that Link couldn’t shake it.
He could feel his friend’s worried gazes on him and like his dads, it only made him feel worse that he was worrying them.
Somehow, he got through the school day and made it home, trying desperately to shake off the heaviness and failing miserably.
Usually Link would shoot some goals in the back yard to blow off some steam, but today even soccer couldn’t help him.
And if soccer couldn’t help him, well, he must be really fucked.
Link leaned against the oak tree in the back yard, soccer ball some ways away, long forgotten. He was glad his dads were running errands after work today. He didn’t have to try to put on his “everything is okay I promise” face until later.
He barely heard the sliding door to the kitchen open and close before Scary was standing in front of him on the lawn.
“Hey.” She greeted, looking over his sorry state with worried eyes.
Somehow when Scary looked at him like that, Link felt like he didn’t have to put the mask on.
“’What are you doing here, Scary?” He asked miserably.
“It’s Thursday.” Scary said simply, settling down beside Link on the grass against the tree, her shoulder brushing his.
Shit. Thursdays he and Scary usually stayed after school to practice soccer together in the empty field before grabbing Sonics together. He’d completely forgotten.
Link groaned. “Sorry Scary, I—I totally forgot. I’m not feeling well today. Probably a cold or something.”
Scary was quiet for a moment, before quietly offering, “you can tell me what’s up, if you want. I’m here for you.”
Embarrassment and then a hint a resentment flared under Link’s skin. Was he not allowed to have a bad day for once?
He opened his mouth to say something that probably wasn’t kind, but when he turned to face Scary and saw only concerned sincerity reflected at him, he closed his mouth and just swallowed instead.
Somehow, it made him want to cry. That was apparently all it took because next thing he knew it was like the plug had been pulled and it all came tumbling out.
“Sometimes, I wish I could just go back to being that dumb kid who just… didn’t know anything, you know?”
Scary remained quiet, knowing that Link wasn’t really looking for an answer right now.
“Sometimes I think about everything that happened and I just think, wow, that’s so fucked up. I wish I could have just kept being who I was before. I wish I didn’t see my dad differently now. I wish… I just, it’s stupid, I know. But one day we were kids and the next we just weren’t. We were some thirty-year-old woman’s boss and suddenly the whole fate of our world was on our shoulders. Isn’t that messed up?”
Link swallowed, trying to keep his voice steady as he continued. “Sometimes I hate that we have blood on our hands. And… sometimes I really hate that we got dragged into this mess in the first place. I know it’s stupid but… sometimes I wish I had just stayed that ignorant, homeschooled kid who trusted his dads with all his heart and didn’t have a body count. But I’ll never be that dumb kid again, and I hate that.”
“It’s not stupid, Link.” Scary said gently but resolutely, leaning against Link’s shoulder. He melted against her immediately, leaning his head on top of hers.
Scary was warm and smelled black coffee and he just… he just really needed a hug right now but didn’t quite know how to voice it.
Luckily, he didn’t have to.
Tentatively, Scary shifted her arms around Link and pulled him close against her side.
His body relaxed slumped against her, but Scary took his weight easily and just squeezed him closer.
For someone who claimed to hate hugs, Scary sure did give great ones.
“I feel the same way sometimes.” Scary admitted, her voice slightly muffled into his shoulder.
“You do?”
He could feel Scary nod against him.
“Sometimes I wish we didn’t know anything about Dood, or Code Purple, or anything.” Scary glanced down at her hands in a way that Link knew she’d done countless times before—because he often did the same thing. “I wish I didn’t talk you guys into opening that door. I wish we didn’t all have blood on our hands, some of us more than others.”
She clenched her fists, but then took a deep breath and the tension seemed to drain from her again.
“But… we made it. We couldn’t fix everything, but we made sure it will never happen again. That’s gotta count for something, right?”
Link chuckled wetly, “yeah, I guess you’re right.”
Hearing that Scary felt the same way didn’t totally lift the heaviness on his shoulders, but she always made his day better.
“We did fight god and win.” Scary reminded him.
“By the skin of our teeth. And he was a dick.” Link said bitterly.
Scary nodded, her lips twitching before she turned serious again.
“Sometimes I think about what would have happened if we did stay ignorant.”
Link swallowed. He thought about that a lot too.
“Our dads would be dead.” He whispered.
“I’d probably be some super homicidal maniac too deep on the sauce to come back.” Scary added just as quietly.
“This earth would be doomed too.” At Link’s words, the two teens fell into a heavy silence.
As much as Link liked to daydream about staying that ignorant, happy go lucky home-schooled kid with two loving dads who he trusted one hundred percent—who was to say how long that would last anyways?
If they hadn’t stepped up, there would probably be no earth left at all. There may have not even been any other world left by the time the Doodler was through.
As it was, they’d saved this earth (apart from some craziness seeping through), they’d saved Dood, they made sure Willy would never be able to hurt anyone ever again.
Link would much rather have his dad alive and have a strange relationship that they were still trying to heal than not have his dad at all.
He knew he couldn’t dwell on the “what-ifs” forever. It wasn’t healthy. It wouldn’t help anything, and it didn’t change anything. The heaviness on his shoulders may never completely disappear, but maybe over time it would lighten.
Especially with the help of his friends.
They’d survived another realm together. They’d survived numerous obstacles, near death experiences and literal heaven and hell together.
If they had each other, they could probably do anything.
“I wouldn’t have my three hardworking husbands.” Scary finally broke the silence, smiling shyly at Link.
Link laughed, wiping at his eyes, feeling better than he had all day. Scary always had that effect on him.
“I wouldn’t have my hardworking wife.” He reached down and squeezed Scary’s free hand, the one that wasn’t wrapped around his shoulders.
Scary squeezed his hand back.
They fell silent again, but it was a good silence.
Link wasn’t sure how long they sat there, but Scary was in no rush to move from his side, steadfast and unwavering, her warmth seeping into him.
Eventually, Link could hear the familiar sounds of his dads’ van opening and closing in the driveway and he sighed.
“Thanks, Scary.” Link mumbled against the top of her head.
“I’m here for you.” Scary said seriously, looking him straight in the eye before giving him one last squeeze.
Link stood before reaching down to help haul Scary to her feet beside him.
“Want to stay for dinner?”
“As long as Marco is cooking.”
The two teens headed towards the sliding door of the Li-Wilson household, hands entwined together.