Asura: This is just a short drabble in which Sheik confesses everything about his time with Link, after the game has ended and the Sheikah has disappeared. Again, as I have said in my other fics, I realize that Sheik and Zelda are the same person. However, in MY story, they are separate entities, in which Sheik is male.
Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda, except as in having bought the games.
Warning: Sheik is a boy in this. Hints at Link x Sheik
~Confession~
By: Asura Mori
Hero of Time – no, Link. I once asked you, a long time ago, why it was that you fought. You told me that it was to protect your homeland – both Hyrule AND the Kokiri Forest that you held so dear. I couldn't help but be amused.
You, a child, already knew what was important to you. And I, a shadow, a warrior of darkness, was still searching for the answer. I thought that maybe, just maybe, I would learn the answer by following you, by learning from you, and over time, I did learn the answer to my question...
Just not in the form I thought it would present itself.
Did you know, I wonder? I don't think so. As a Sheikah, and as myself, I was too closed off from you. I never let myself show weakness in front of you... except once. Before, when the shadow from the well knocked you back, I showed weakness. I screamed when I thought you'd been killed... but you were unconscious at the time, so I doubt you heard me...
But I did scream... and for a second, I'm sure I cried... Who knows now, when it matters not? You awoke, unharmed for the most part except for a few minor scrapes and bruises. In fact, you seemed more concerned for my own safety than yours. Again, I found you amusing, though you probably didn't know that either.
I was happy, though. You may have not known how much I truly cared for you, but your concern for me was gratifying. It was the first time someone from outside of my clan and the Royal Family had shown such sympathy... and it made me love you all the more.
Love... It's such a strange word to say, concerning my relationship with you. Can I even call it love, knowing that you probably did not feel the same towards me? Yes, I did love you... More than you will ever know. But I also knew where my duty lay. I could not afford to let you know my feelings, could not afford for you to abandon the road set before you by the sages and the Princess...
Hyrule could not afford for you to learn the truth about me... And what would it have mattered, in the end? I was to disappear, a shadow meant to serve only its master. We could not have been together, despite my fantasies or your wishes... It had already been predetermined by the goddesses. You were to save Hyrule. I was to be your guide. That was all.
And yet, you acted like you could not understand this. When it was Zelda who appeared before you in the Temple of Time, instead of me, you seemed... heartbroken. While it was true that I did not "exist," you had come to depend on me in those dark times. And for that, I'm sorry. I never wanted to hurt you, Link... You, of all people. And yet, I did in the end, inadverdently...
Link. If I thought, for one moment, that I could have stayed there and been a part of your life... I probably would have. But, in the end, I was killed before you ever knew the truth. Zelda took on my form at the end, after Ganondorf had learned of my betrayal. She knew that she had to do something. And the thought of you learning of my death, knowing the effect it would have had on you... I couldn't bear to think of it.
With my dying breath, I transmitted my thoughts to Zelda and she understood. Even though it was dangerous, even though it ultimately ended up with her being captured, she still came to you in my form and revealed the "truth" about "Sheik."
So, even though you felt like you had lost a companion, little did you know the truth. You would never know that you had indeed lost me to the icy hand of death. No, you would only think that I had never existed in the first place, that I was just a part played by Zelda as she hid from Ganondorf.
I did exist, Hero, but it was better for you to think that I had hadn't. How would you have responded, I wonder, if you had known the truth? That I had died at the hands of Ganondorf? Again, sometimes I wonder, if you did know the truth. Your anger during that final battle... was it just because of what he'd done to Hyrule?
I think I flatter myself too much. How could you have known? Zelda would not have told you, in fear of you breaking down right then and there. And I doubt the Sages would tell you, or even the goddesses themselves. They needed a Hero that was whole, not one that was fragmented by sadness and doubt.
And so, I will disappear into the history books, unknown, save to a few who knew me. And you, Link, will never know...
How much I truly loved you.
I came too close, in the Ice Cavern, to admitting the truth. I can still feel your hand on my wrist, begging me to stay, but with that mystical melody still hanging in the air around us, I could not. I feared what might happen, what truths would be revealed.
And so I ran. Ran from you, from myself, from my duty... I ran as far as I could and didn't look back, until I couldn't run anymore. And then I pulled myself together again. I never lapsed after that again... Except for that one time, but I've already mentioned that.
If you knew the truth about me, would you be sad? Opportunities missed, a friendship failed... All because of our fates and duty. I wish, Link, we could have had a chance, but it was not meant to be.
This is my final confession to you, dear Link, though you will never hear it from me. I wish you the best in the new future you've created... and hope that you will never forget the time we spent together...
~Fin~
