Author's Note: This is a planned chapter in my other story Impa's Son, but I thought it would work as a oneshot too since Sheik-Ruto stuff isn't all that common... I hope you like.

The Frozen Princess

Sheik played the notes of Zelda's lullaby on his lyre and waited impatiently for the waterfall to split and grant him entrance. Several minutes passed, and the waterfall continued to flow just as heavily and fast as it always did. Impa had warned him that this might happen. If she was right, it meant that Ganondorf had already touched this place with his dark power.

Unable to wait any longer, Sheik gathered his wits and took a running jump at the center of the waterfall. He just barely made it through and smacked down hard on the ground at the other side. He was completely winded, but he jumped up, panting, and kept running. He had to be sure that the Zoras were safe.

As soon as he entered the domain, he knew Ganondorf had been there. Two Zora guards lay dead on the ground, spears still in their cold grips. Sheik looked up at the rest of Zora's Domain.

He was too late. The place had been completely frozen over.

He felt his heart pounding. Every one of them, almost an entire race...dead?

He climbed down the ladder to the main water source. There he saw hundreds of Zoras under the ice, frozen perfectly in poses of panic. Being careful not to slip, he crossed the lake, searching for that face he had seen at the marketplace years ago.

He found her on the side opposite to the entrance. There, in the shallow ice, surrounded by frozen fish and lily pads, lay Princess Ruto. Her hands were at her sides, and she looked like she was sleeping.

Sheik yelled in anguish and slammed his fist down at the ice above her. A few tiny cracks appeared. He tried hitting the ice a few more times, but all he achieved was a bruised hand. Determined, he ran up the dirt path and took a spear from one of the guards' bodies at the entrance. He hurried back and began chipping at the ice around Ruto's body.

It took nearly an hour, but he finally had her entire body out of the shallow ice and onto the dry ground. He continued to chip away at the ice stuck to her body as quickly as he dared, being careful not to damage her delicate fins. After another half hour of work, the ice was all broken off of her. She lay there, cold and still.

Sheik pulled his shirt and headgear off and held her against his chest, hoping and praying that being frozen for several hours was something a Zora could survive.

"Please don't be dead," he found himself begging her. His teeth chattered and he trembled as he held her frozen body against his bare skin.

Just as the sun was going down, Sheik suddenly felt Ruto's chest move, expanding with air. He looked at her face. Her mouth was opening and shutting, but there was no sound at first. Then, a tiny, squeaking noise. Her eyes were wide open, and it took a moment for Sheik to understand that she was trying to scream.

"It's all right, Princess Ruto, I'm going to help you," Sheik tried to assure her.

Ruto's expression did not change. The squeaking sound gradually crescendoed into a full shriek, and she started moving her head from side to side, obviously unable to move any other part of her body yet.

"Please, Princess! You've been frozen in ice. I'm trying to help you!" Sheik said again. He wondered if she could even hear him at all.

Ruto stopped screaming and started breathing very fast and heavily. After a few minutes, she began to calm down.

"That's better. Just keep breathing," Sheik said. Ruto shut her eyes tight and looked away from him. He realized she must have panicked to find herself waking in the arms of a half-naked stranger.

"You're frozen," he tried to explain to her. "I'm just trying to warm you up."

Ruto remained quiet for the next several minutes, breathing deeply and steadily. When she finally spoke, it was with great effort.

"W-who are y-you?" she whispered.

"My name is Sheik. I am a friend," he said.

"I cannot m-move…" There was confusion and pain in her voice.

"You were trapped under ice by Ganondorf, but I cut you free. You won't be able to move for a little while," Sheik explained.

"L-let g-go of me."

"I'm trying to make you warm, Princess. This is the best I can do."

"Let g-go…Y-you're hurting me!" She was trying to yell, but her voice too weak.

Surprised, Sheik released his hold of the Zora and backed away slightly.

Ruto began to sob. Tears streamed down her face, and she couldn't lift her hands to wipe them.

"It h-hurts…" she said again.

"Princess," Sheik said, being as gentle as he could, "You're in pain because the feeling is returning to your body. It will go away when you're warm. Please, let me help you."

Ruto made eye contact with the Sheikah for the first time, still sobbing in pain. Her father had always said she would need to let go of her stubbornness someday. Perhaps that day had come.

"Sheik…" she said between gasps. "H-help me…"

Sheik gathered her in his arms and held her against his chest again.

"You'll be all right," he assured her.

"Thank you…" she whispered back.

Ruto's tears gradually stopped and she rested in Sheik's embrace until morning.

Thanks for reading!