Disclaimer: Legend of Zelda and its characters belongs to Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo, and NOT GrimGrave. GrimGrave does not make money for writing fiction.

Sheikah Fascination

Long ago, there was a land known for its prosperity. The land – Hyrule – was blessed with rich, clean water, vast green forests, and tall mountains. It was a peaceful land, where people lived in harmony and it's been that way for as long as human memory can remember.

The rich greenery of the trees has now since past, with the auburn colours of autumn taking over as the season begins.

Hyrule Castle Town was once again crowded with people – locals, travelling merchants, and visitors – and everything went on as usual. Bards were singing old Hylian songs, Gorons offering fireworks and bombs, as well as uncommon gems and rubies to those who could afford it and even a few Zoras had appeared to sell fine, rare fish at the market.

A seemingly typical day was it not for one young man trying to squeeze through gatherings in a hurry. He was slender, with flaxen hair and clear azure eyes, clad in ordinary civilian's clothes consisting of a white sleeve-less shirt, beige shorts, and sandals.

´I'm late I'm late I'm late I'm late-!´

He hastily made his way through the crowd until he reached his destination at the north-western part of the town: a large grey building with a big wooden sign hanging over the door - the sword-school.

He hurried over to the entrance, knowing full well that he'd get the scolding of a lifetime for his tardiness. As soon as he stepped through the front doors the young man came to an immediate halt, azure orbs meeting sharp crimson ones that glowered at him.

"You're late," said the person: a tall, slender woman with slightly tanned skin and cobalt lips, with a facial tattoo depicting an eye with a single tear, all in red, with a white tear tattooed under her left eye. Her hair was golden-blonde, short and neat save for the one braided lock on the right side that reached down her face and down past her chest. She wore a coal-black divided hakama and a partially unbuttoned sleeveless white shirt, revealing bandages that served to bind her chest. A wooden sword was sheathed at her hip.

The teacher of the Sword-School of Hyrule, Impa of the Sheikah: a beautiful woman in her own right, even if she lacked some feminine characteristics when it came to her demeanour and appearance – she was a lot more boyish in those regards.

But in the Hylian's eyes, she was nothing less of a beauty. Despite being a tad bit intimidating, she was exotic and her presence alone always had the Hylian's heart skip a beat. Many a nights had she occupied his thoughts.

That didn't mean he wasn't paying attention though. The young man swallowed a lump in his throat. "M-miss Impa…"

"Did you oversleep again?" the woman asked, her tone stern and sharp enough to cause the young man to cringe. "This is the fourth time this week, Link! And don't even get me started on last week!"

The young man – Link – sighed. His teacher was firm but fair, but like all things in life she had a limit. Guess who just pushed her over said limit?

"Miss Impa, I didn't mean to-"

"I'm fully aware that you're not doing it deliberatively," the Sheikah interrupted. "But it doesn't matter. As long as it keeps happening, it's you who lose in the end. I've got people who'd be eager to take your place." She sighed, her expression softening. "You're a good student, Link, but here we pride ourselves on punctuality."

Link smiled back at her. Of course he was a good student; he poured his heart into his training each and every time. If only he had the same self-discipline when it came to getting up in the mornings…

"Yes, Miss Impa."

The Sheikah nodded at him and for a moment, Link was certain she…smiled? It was a rare thing to see her like that. "You do realize that you have to stay back after today's sessions, right? That's your punishment for being tardy." Before Link could reply the Sheikah pointed with her thumb over her shoulder. "Now, hurry up and get changed. Your sparring partner is Ashei, and she's been waiting a while."

Link nodded and hurried to the changing room. Despite the scolding he received, part of him enjoyed the attention nonetheless – for it was all he could ever wish to get; attention.

His feelings would be buried in his heart. And that was fine.

"Had trouble getting up again?" Ashei asked in her usual monotony voice. A fellow pupil, though older, Ashei sported pitch-black hair that was tied into two pigtails and her body was similar to Link: slender and strong. "You're going to be kicked out if you don't take this seriously, yeah."

The young Hylian grunted as he parried his classmate's strikes: horizontal strike, vertical strike, horizontal strike, and pause. Repeat.

"I do take it seriously, Ashei." Horizontal. Vertical. Horizontal. Pause. "I might be late, but I still show up every day!"

"You're missing out at least an hour or two of the morning practice," came the dry reply. "The Teach is very upset with you when she notices you've not arrived. Head!" With the wooden sword over her head, Ashei swiftly swung downwards, a loud ´thunk´ resonating as Link parried the blow.

He gritted his teeth. "I'm not a morning person, but I still try to not be late! It's easier said than done!" He shoved her sword away, forcing her to stumble backwards as he prepared for a horizontal swing. "Breastplate!"

"Wrist!"

´What-´

Before Link knew it, Ashei's wooden sword hit his wrists (thankfully covered by his attire) with enough force to knock the sword from his grip. As it clattered on the floor, the older pupil had already taken advantage of the opening and held her sword over her shoulder. "Head!"

Though he wore a helmet, the sheer pressure of her strike had Link fall onto his rear, groaning in pain.

"Are you alright?" the raven-haired girl asked. "Perhaps I went too far, yeah." She offered him a hand. "Does your head hurt?"

He accepted the help and got back up. "A bit," Link replied, having taken off his helmet to rub his noggin. It throbbed achingly but it wasn't too bad. "You certainly go all out, don't you?"

"I take swordsmanship very seriously – as should you." Brown eyes met azure with a stony gaze. "The Teach has kept her eyes on you throughout our sparring, you know."

"What?" Link turned to where Ashei pointed and sure enough, leaning up against the wall on the other side of the dojo was Impa, arms firmly crossed over her chest as she observed him. As soon as their eyes met though, she looked away, watching the other students' performances and… was that a frown she sported? The other students did great, so why did she look aggravated? Surely she wasn't still upset about him being late, was she? Regardless of the reason, Impa appeared to be in a foul mood.

Link shrugged it off for now and put his helmet back on. But throughout his sparring session the Hylian couldn't shake off the feeling that he was again being watched…

The evening sun was reaching for the horizon, basking the land in a serene twilight. Most shops had closed for the day and people went home, with few still mingling about in the town square. Most students had gone home as well, except for, of course, Link.

"Listen to what Teach says, yeah? This is your own fault after all," Ashei said as she put on her boots. She stared back at Link with a poker-face, as usual. "Maybe you should try going to sleep earlier, yeah?"

The flaxen-haired Hylian nodded and scratched his neck. "It's easier said than done, but I'll try."

"It's for your sake, you know." She swung the bag containing her equipment over her shoulder. "I see you tomorrow then, yeah?"

"Yeah. See you tomorrow," he replied, watching his friend exiting the building. As she did, he sighed, knowing full well what he would have to do for the next hour or two: cleaning, sorting, and preparing for the next day.

Fun.

He returned to the dojo where Impa had already begun sorting out and picking away tools and other materials they had used for the day and the flaxen-haired young man felt compelled to simply watch her, smiling.

She was quick and efficient, and most of all dedicated to her work, something else that Link liked about her: she was a serious person who never did anything half-done or went back on her words, but she was kind at heart.

Red orbs finally met azure ones and Impa offered a small smile, causing his heart to skip yet another beat. "For a second I thought you had sneaked off."

Link chuckled. "I wouldn't dream of it. What do you need me to do, Miss Impa?"

"You can start by putting away the training equipment so we can clean the dojo thoroughly," she replied. "You'll be staying here for a while, keep that in mind."

Link knew that, despite this was his punishment, he was a little happy to spend some more time with the Sheikah woman.

And from the looks of it, so was she.

After nearly two hours of cleaning, dusting, sorting and preparing the dojo for tomorrow, the two were finally finished. Sweat beaded from their foreheads and Link's limbs ached vaguely as he sat on the tatami mat of the dojo floor, his back to the wall.

A smooth, chilly surface suddenly pressed against his cheek and the flaxen-haired youth jolted with a startled yelp, only to see his teacher, a glass in her hand. "Here, drink this. I take it that you're thirsty."

Link's expression brightened. "Ah, thank you!" he replied, accepting the glass and taking a swig of the cold contents.

"You deserved it," the teacher replied, leaning up against the wall with crossed arms. "This may be a punishment, but you looked parched and almost out of breath." She paused for a moment, stroking her chin thoughtfully. "Speaking of which, that's probably why you lost."

Blink. "W-what?"

Impa scowled. "You lost to Ashei at every session today, now that I think about. See, that's what happens when you slack off; you need to be here every day, Link, and that includes the morning practices! You need to stay alert."

The young blonde opened his mouth to reply, to argue against her, but remained silent. She was right. She always was.

"I'm sorry," Link said; he didn't know where the urge to apologize came from, but he felt compelled to nonetheless. "Guess you must be disappointed with me, huh?"

The tan woman kneeled down, meeting his eyes. Her hand rested on his shoulder, gently squeezing. "I am," she said flatly. "But I won't give up on you. I know you can work hard when motivated, and you have a knack for catching up with the others – I just need you to meet me halfway, okay?"

Link's heart skipped a beat again as Impa smiled at him for the third time that day. It hadn't occurred to the Hylian until this moment just how close they were and – was it his imagination or were those ruby orbs straying from his eyes down to his… lips?

The Sheikah suddenly got back up on her feet. "Looks like we have some time to spare, how about I give you a few pointers? Get up."

Doing what he was told, Link stood up and Impa immediately stood behind him. She was so close, he could practically feel her body-heat as she first grabbed his hips, then his thighs, and finally his arms.

"You have strength," she said, her breath caressing the blonde's gradually reddening shell. "But you need to work on your stance, or else you won't be able to move properly. That's why Ashei kept winning; she was both physically and mentally prepared to move from point A to point B at will."

Link's heart was beating quicker, his chest ablaze with his emotions for the woman behind him. "O-okay…"

"So you need to stand like this," Impa said, guiding her pupil's left leg forward. "In order to quickly dash forward… And holding your sword like this will allow you to swiftly strike your opponent or parry their attack…"

"Miss Impa," Link began. "These… These are the standard practices we had in the beginning... Not pointers."

The blonde woman didn't move behind him. She was motionless and her hands were frozen in place on his arms. Only her shallow breathing was barely heard.

"Miss Impa?"

No reply. Instead, slender arms snaked around his midriff-

Impa's body pressed against Link's back, startling the lad as she embraced him. "Miss I-Impa?!"

-and pulled him close, the tan woman resting her chin on top of her flaxen-haired pupil's head. "Forgive me, Link. I haven't been honest with you, not completely."

The lad swallowed hard. His heart raced – and the beating against his back told Impa's heart was too.

"What do you mean, Miss-"

"Just call me Impa, lad," she replied. "What I'm about to tell you, I'm saying as a woman." She took a deep breath, then exhaled, and repeated this process for a few more moments. "I… I wanted to spend time with you. Alone, that is." Link's let out a breathless gasp. "I wouldn't keep a student here for the whole day as punishment, you know."

Was she – No. No, this had to be jape or a dream, right? This was too good to be true – things like this didn't happen, they just did not! "I-Impa…"

The woman chuckled. "Heh, listen to me, acting like some love-sick schoolgirl… But truth to be told, I have taken a rather… strong liking to you, Link, and I've kept it a secret to everybody… Until now. You know, Ashei likes you, you know?"

Azure orbs widened at that.

"I suppose I was… jealous. How unlike me…"

If Link's heart didn't jump out of his chest from that, he didn't know what would. "I… You know, I've felt the same way… But I thought-"

He was instantly spun around by the tan woman, azure meeting ruby as their face were close – then closer – and a smile curved those cobalt lips –

"Don't talk, lad."

– the same lips that Link's own, silencing whatever he would've said at that moment.

"Late again, yeah?" Ashei said, arms crossed as she caught sight of her flaxen-haired friend hurrying over. "Teach is going to be crossed with you again."

"I overslept…" Link replied, catching his breath. "But at least she didn't see me-"

The unmistaken sound of someone clearing her throat caused the Hylian to freeze on the spot, the small grin on his raven-haired friend's face the only indication of what would come next. "Oh, I caught you in the act alright, lad." She patted him on the shoulder, her eyes locking with his. "Looks like someone will have to stay after classes again."

Link – and Impa – had to stifle the smile that threatened to break their masks. This was only the pinnacle of what would be a young, blooming relationship, the duo were certain that it would turn out well.

As long as their feelings remained true, the Hylian and the Sheikah would have a bright future, together.

Fin.