Hi everyone, I'm back!, I hope you guys will like this new story, it's a bit different from my previous one. If you liked Taking Chances then I'm sure you will like this too!
also thanks to BlueFrenchHorn97 for beta-reading this for me!
Chapter 1: Prologue
Five years ago...
"Come on, hurry!"
"Wait! Not so fast, I can't catch up."
"Link, hurry!"
"Zelda, wait." The little twelve year old boy slipped on the grass and landed hard on the ground. The little twelve year old girl giggled and ran over to the little boy and held out a hand.
"I think you might need a hand," she giggled. Link's now dirtied hand grabbed Zelda's clean hand and got up.
"Zel, I'm not so sure if this place is safe."
"It's fine! I want to show you something, come on!" Zelda let go and continued to run.
"Zelda!" Link shouted.
"Yes, Link?" Zelda turned around to face Link, her long blonde hair flying in the air caused by the wind of the trees.
"I'm scared... can we hold hands?" Link shyly admitted.
Zelda smiled and walked up to Link. Her warm hands went around Link's cold shaky hands.
"I've got a bad feeling about this Zel... maybe we should go back home"
"I think you're just thinking too much, don't worry. We've got each other right?" Link smiled and nodded. "Now let's go".
"Where are we going anyway?" Link asked.
"You'll see," Zelda replied.
Link looked around the environment. They were both surrounded by nothing but forest green trees. There was no pathway, nothing. If their parents had found out where they were right now, they would sure be worried sick. The forest was always a dangerous place for children to go to in Hyrule. Legend says that if you're lucky enough you might spot a fairy. But everyone knows that the forest is filled with Wolfos and skull kids.
"We're almost there," Zelda said quietly.
"Almost where?"
"We're here," Zelda announced.
Link turned around and stood in awe. The two children stood in the middle of a small grassy field made by trees which have formed a wide circle to let grass grow. A small waterfall was on the side and a few fallen logs were surrounding it.
"How did you find out about this place?" Link asked.
"I found this place when I went exploring, I come here often. I thought that I would share my special place with you, since you are my best friend after all."
They both sat down on one of the fallen logs. "This place is nice," Link said as he observed the small fishes in the pond.
"I'm so glad to have you as my best friend, Link," Zelda said as she squeezed Link's hand.
"Me too Zel." Link squeezed Zelda's hand back.
"Link?"
"Yeah, Zel?"
"I... I love you," Zelda blushed pink as she admitted shyly. Link's heart began to beat faster as he heard her say those three words. Link smiled at Zelda. Zelda got lost in Link's stunning blue eyes.
"I... love you too Zel," Link admitted.
Zelda felt like she was just hit by Cupid, she couldn't believe that Link had just returned her feelings.
"You... do you really mean that?"
"Yes, and I'll prove it. Come with me." Link took Zelda's hand and lead her to a nearby tree. Link found a sharp twig on the floor and began carving on the tree trunk.
"Link and Zelda forever," Zelda read out loud. Zelda leaped onto Link and hugged him tight. "I don't know what I'd do without you Link"
"I love you Zel," Zelda blushed red.
They huddled close together, just enjoying each other's presence. However, not all happy beginnings end happy too. The floor began to rumble, birds flew out of the trees, barking could be heard for afar. Trees swayed in different directions. Link and Zelda came out of their embrace and stood up with panicked faces.
"Link, what's going on?"
Link stood there frozen. "... Earthquake."
"What?"
"EARTHQUAKE! Let's get out of here, Zelda!"
Zelda and Link ran as fast as they could, one by one Link could see trees falling. The ground was shaking violently which caused Zelda to fall down from behind.
"ZELDA!" Link shouted and ran for her. Link tripped over a twig and got a rather large cut on his left arm; he resisted the pain and tried to get up.
"Link!" Zelda tried to stand up but before she could a large tree from behind came crashing down. Link ran as fast as he could but it was already too late. The large tree fell on top of the small girl's body. Zelda screamed in pain.
"LINK!" she continued to grunt then fell silent a few seconds later. The tree trunk covered from the bottom of her neck to her ankles. Link screamed in horror and quickly knelt down and immediately grabbed one of Zelda's now cold hands. The earthquake seemed to stop right after that.
"Zelda!" Link pleaded. "No, no, no!"
There was no answer.
"ZELDA!" Tears streamed down his face. His vision soon became blurry from all the tears. "Zelda, wake up!" Link put Zelda's hand against his cheek. "Please, you can't die! I can't live without you! I love you!" Link continued to sob.
There was still no answer.
" ZEELLLLDAAAA!"
Link's eyes were now all puffy; his mouth was too dry to speak. He ran home to report to his mother about what had just happened. The house didn't have much damage, Link noticed a few vases and furniture were scattered on the ground.
"LINK!" Link's mother ran to him and gave him a tight hug. "Oh Link! Thank goodness you're alive!" His mother looked into his sad blue eyes. Link started to cry again.
"I shouldn't be me the one who's alive."
"Honey, what do you mean?" Link's mother asked
"We need to go back into the woods! Zelda needs help, right now!" Link gripped his mother's hand and ran into the direction of the woods. They finally reached the location where Zelda had fallen. Link's mother ran as fast as she could, she didn't know what was going on but she knew that it was something serious just by looking at Link's expression.
Link lead his mother to where Zelda was. Link's mother finally saw the poor girl's figure trapped underneath a large fallen tree. She covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head in disbelief. Zelda's face was now pale; her hair covered most of it. Link's mother immediately pulled out her phone and began to dial the ambulance.
Twenty minutes later, the ambulance came rushing into the woods. They removed the tree and carried Zelda's small limp body into the truck.
"I... I'm so sorry Link," Link's mother gathered link into a warm embrace.
"She's alive. I have to believe that," Link muttered, tears pouring out of his eyes consistently
Link and his mother sat outside of the room Zelda was in. Link was resting on her lap as she ran her fingers through his dirty blonde hair. Impa, Zelda's aunt came into the room with her usual calm expression.
"How is Link feeling?" Impa asked.
"Worried about Zelda just like we all are," Link's mother replied.
Impa sighed. "I told her not to go into the woods too much."
"You seem so calm about this, Impa."
"I've seen worse, let's just hope that Zelda's alright. Do either of you want anything to drink or eat? We might be here for a couple of hours."
"Link, dear, do you want anything?" his mother asked. Link shook his head and turned away so that his face was hidden. "You haven't eaten anything all day"
"I'm not hungry"
"Then I'll just go and buy some coffee for the both of us." Impa smiled and left.
Soon A doctor opened the door with an expressionless face. "You are allowed to come in and see her. I'm very sorry." After those words Link immediately rose up and ran into the room.
"Link, not so fast!" link's mother shouted from behind. The room was big and empty, a single bed was in the centre of the room, and a trolley of tools was next to it. Link slowly walked up to the bed. A figure had a white sheet over it; Link closed his eyes and slowly pulled the white sheet away.
"Please don't let it be," he muttered. He opened his eyes and saw a completely pale face, her blonde hair was sprawled across the mattress, and her face looked lifeless and full of sadness. "No… NO!" Link shouted in disbelief. Link grabbed her hand; it was freezing cold that it sent chills down his back. Link began to sob violently. "Without you, who have I got now?" Link asked between sobs.
Link's mother came in and hugged the little boy. "I'm so sorry Link." Link's mother stared at the lifeless body; soon she began to cry as well. "Goddesses, please don't take another part of Link away. He's already lost his father," she whispered. Impa rushed into the room and arrived next to the two Hylians. She didn't say anything, she just stood there expressionless.
A few minutes passed and the same doctor came into the room. "I'm sorry but I'm afraid you have to leave now, the guardian of this child may stay"
"No!" Link shouted.
"Honey, we have to do what the doctor says, they have to do some important business," Link's mother said to link in a gentle tone.
"But I don't want to leave Zelda alone! I love her!"
"Oh Link… we all do," Link's mother caught him into a tight embrace. "Now let's go, Zelda will always be with you." Link broke away from the hug and ran towards Zelda's body but the doctor stopped him.
"Sorry little one but I'm afraid you cannot stay here any longer."
"But..." Link protested.
The doctor quickly noticed something. "Oh what's this?" The doctor examined the cut on Link's left arm. "You must get this treated immediately, please go to the room next door then you shall leave."
"Oh my! How could I have not noticed? Link let's go immediately!" Link's mother took a crying Link by the hand and went to the other room.
"Sorry about that, doctor. Link's only friend is Zelda," Impa said politely.
"Ah, poor kid" The doctor said looking at Zelda's body.
Later that evening...
Everyone in the town was resting in a deep sleep; however, two people couldn't stay awake. Link lay there in bed, quietly crying. Normally if Zelda was here she would be saying "Boys don't cry!" Link wiped his tears away and sat up. He lost her, only if he was fast enough and pushed Zelda out of the way then she wouldn't be where she was now. It was all his fault. While he was still in deep thought, the other person who was wide awake was outside in the cold night, the middle aged woman stood outside the town's hospital, chanting a spell. She spoke with an ancient tongue that no one else would understand. Soon she vanished and arrived at one very room where a certain blonde girl lay. The woman picked her cold body up and vanished. They arrived at the underground basement of her home. She gently placed the girl's body onto a bed. The room was filled with potions and books with spells in them. She woman held up a bottle with red liquid in it. She lifted up the girls head and poured the contents into her mouth. The woman put the bottle back onto the table and waited for it to take effect. A few moments later a pair of blue eyes opened. She looked around the room and sat up and looked towards the woman who was now smiling.
"... Impa?"
"Zelda, I see you're now awake."
"What happened?" Zelda rubbed her back, there was pain coming from there.
"What do you remember?" Impa asked.
"The earthquake... I was running and then I fell and that's all I remember."
"How should I say this? Zelda, you died because a tree fell on top of you."
"I died?!" Zelda looked at her body. "Am I a ghost now?"
"No silly, you're very much alive. I used heart potion to bring you back to life."
"Impa! You know those things are forbidden!"
"But I had no choice!" Impa looked at Zelda straight in the eye. "If I lost you then the population of the Sheikah would go down, there's only a few of us left and you know that."
"I know Impa but it's not right."
"And as a Sheikah I will do what I think is right for us."
"So we just continue living as if I never died?" Zelda asked.
"Of course not and you know well why. If people find out that you're alive, how are we supposed to explain how you came back to life? They will find out that we are Sheikahs in an instant! They will hunt us down and the whole Sheikah population will be wiped out! They think we don't exist anymore!"
"Yes Impa, I know... But I'm not going to be in hiding for the rest of my life am I?"
"No but I have a plan... you will grow up as a boy."
"A boy?!" Zelda said shocked.
"Yes, unfortunately I do not have a spell that will turn you into a boy but I do have a spell that will change your appearance, mainly your eyes. You will be known as my nephew and you will have to wait five years before show yourself in public to avoid anything suspicious. Do you understand?"
"Yes Impa, I understand… but five years? What am I going to do with those five years?"
"I know it's a bit early but I will start teaching you spells and you will learn how to act and behave like a boy."
"And all of this is going to happen just because some log fell on me," Zelda muttered.
"Don't be sad Zelda, think of this as a fresh new start."
"But I like the way my life is already. Where's Link? Does he think I'm dead?"
"Everyone thinks you are now, it can't be helped but you're going to have to live with that."
Zelda tried to hide her tears. "How did Link react when he found out I was dead?"
"He's not coping very well, don't worry. He will surely make new friends."
"But Link is my best friend! I need him and he needs me! I love him..."
"It can't be helped Zelda, I'm sorry but it's just the way things are going to be around here from now on."
Zelda soon began to cry, why was this all happening to her? She didn't want to say goodbye and she especially didn't want to leave Link. Impa hugged Zelda but that didn't make her feel any better.
"Impa... what's my name going to be?"
Impa thought for a while before she answered. "Sheik... your name will be Sheik"
