-------------POV ------------

--------------Written By: Reality Obscured------------

Link's POV

Nobody else came to see me off. Why you, Sheik? Why in all of Hyrule would you be the one? All the Sages are together now. They'll see to each other's own safety. You and I are the only two left out. With no-one left to protect, our jobs are finished. I wish I had an idea of what would become of us now. Perhaps this is the reason that I have to return the Master Sword and regain the seven years I've lost. It's not really lost, though. You lived it. Hyrule lived it. The only one who is ignorant of it is me!
I'm glad you're here, though, Sheik. I've actually coem to like how you make me feel when you stare at me. Every time you're around, you're always looking in my direction. At first, it made me feel paranoid, yet something else was there. It still confuses me, but I don't care anymore.
I'd like to hear you play your harp one last time before I have to stick this sword back into its rock. It's a bit odd, I know, so I won't ask. I don't know how you'd react. It just felt so perfect. You on your harp and I on my ocarina...

"Thanks." I say outloud, something I meant to say in my head. I rub the back of my neck nervously, a habit I picked up as a child. "For seeing me off, that is."

"You've done so much for Hyrule, Link." Sheik says as I start to walk up to the pedestal. The cold stone is offset by his presence. This is the closest he's ever allowed me to get to him. I wonder how long it'll last? "When you replace the sword, we'll likely not remember any of this." I suspected as much. I smiled. "That's good. There are some things the people of Hyrule really don't need to remember"

Hyrule Castle complete destroyed... Countless lives lost... The Zora people frozen in their own domain... Then there were the fires which Bongo Bongo had spread. I know Sheik was able to put out those fires, and I was able to end Bongo Bongo's existence. That still didn't set things right. It only cured them for a time. Everyone was better off forgetting it all. But.
He said 'we'. Did he want to remember? I can only imagine the things he has been through! As far back as I can recall, not once as a child could I remember seeing him anywhere. Wherever he came from, he had lived through some of Hyrule's darkest years. I couldn't understand why he would want to remember any of them!

"I don't know how the future will turn out this time, but it's guaranteed to be better." I held up the Master Sword horizontally in front of me. The blade shimmered my reflection back for me to see. "I just hope this sword sleeps for a long time." The longer it sleeps, the less likely it will be that I'll see Sheik of the Sheikah again... I mentally sigh, letting my arm rest back down again at my side. I would fight a thousand battles if I could see him again in my own time. "Sheik? I will see you again, right?"

Even though I was looking at the floor, it was easy for me to tell he was mulling the answer over in his head. "Maybe"

I looked up, meeting his gaze with mine. "If you want to say no then just say it."

Odd. Now he was really thinking about it. I could see it in his eyes. He was looking for a positive answer in all of this. "While you are a child? No. After you are grown? It is possible our destinities will intersect again"

That long, huh? It was getting more and more painful the longer I waited! The hilt of the Master Sword firmly in my right hand, I stabbed it hard back into the Pedestal of Time, removing Sheik's face wrapping just before I pull us together. I didn't lose a moment to hesitation, and when my lips met his I felt like I was soaring! He didn't kiss me back. That didn't matter. He wasn't fighting me, either. I pulled away, standing next to the sword once again. I could see his face clearly for the first time. His features were smooth, his skin lightly tanned, just kissed by the sun... The warmth of the blue light, the one that would take me back to where I belonged, bathed me in its glow. The world grew dark around me. It felt like my mind was slipping, like water through parted hands...

The light faded around me, and I let go of the sword and leapt down from the pedestal. My body had returned to normal. Navi floated about my head, acting confused and lost. Before I could say anything, she flew up toward the top of the chamber ceiling, disappearing out one of the highest windows. I was here again. To stay. The sword looked dull in its stand. It looked like it hadn't been used in ages. I could remember some of what happened, but whenever I tried to remember specific events I couldn't. People in particular. Inside, I felt like there was someone I wanted to remember, but couldn't.
Turning around, I strode out of the chamber, leaving the Master Sword behind me. The door closed just as I had found it technically just a few days before. One person I could remember was the princess. Princess Zelda.

-------------FIN--------------