Royal Screw-Up
"Link! We did it! We have all the medallions of the Sages."
"Yeah Navi, we totally did. Go us." Link never knew it the little fairy recognized the sarcasm in his voice.
"Hey, Listen! With the Spirit Temple done, don't you think we should head over to Hyrule Castle and finish this whole thing?"
"Definitely. We're probably not remotely tired even after having to run and dodge fire and ice for the last two hours."
Link retrieved the Ocarina of Time and played the sacred notes, taught to him by Sheik, that would carry him to the Temple of Time.
Moments later, he arrived. Despite Navi's eagerness to press on, he dropped his gear, leaned against a wall, and fell asleep. The last few days in the spirit Temple had been restless, and not because he was worried about whatever may be the final boss of that temple, but because of what he had to do after. Because of who he had to fight.
The only thing left for him to do was to fight Ganondorf.
He had recently been losing both sleep and appetite over this one thought, and his attitude was becoming increasingly bitter. Maybe that's why Navi puts up with my scornful response to her cheeriness, he though. She realizes it's just a reflection of how anxious I'm becoming.
The sun rose the next morning. Through the roof of the oppressive clouds that constantly loomed over Castle Town, the change in light was hardly noticeable. It was just enough to awaken Link.
Link opened one eye wearily, but what he say made him immediately spring to his feet on reflex. Leaning against the wall on the other side of the temple was Sheik.
"You're awake," he said casually. "I've been waiting. Everything finished in the desert?"
"Yeah," Link said. There was something about Sheik's voice that always seemed off to Link. The voice was too soft. It didn't carry a gruffness to match the way-worn, ragged appearance of the sheikah. It lacked the intimidation that the scars on his hands and face inspired.
"The witches are dead, and I have the spirit medallion," said Link, less than enthusiastically.
Sheik breathed a sigh of relief, and let his leaning posture relax into a slouch. "So what now?"
"Only one thing left that I can think of," said Link, who then jabbed his thumb in the general direction of Hyrule Castle.
"Ganondorf," Sheik replied softly, and to himself.
"Yup," Link replied. He found his spot against the wall again and resumed laying down on it. "Not yet though. Just want to collect myself before venturing into... that."
Sheik nodded.
Link closed his eyes for a bit, till he thought he heard Sheik say something. "Hmm?" Link asked, lifting his head and opening his eyes again.
"When?" Sheik repeated.
"Oh. Tomorrow perhaps. Should go to Kakariko to stock up on provisions while I know I have the chance. Stay at the inn there tonight. Tomorrow... I'll go to the Castle." Link thought about what he might need to buy or find, putting together a list, trying find the motivation to finish his quest.
"Link," Sheik said after a moment of silence. "Would you say we're friends?"
The question startled Link, especially to hear it come from someone as stoic and as inexpressive as Sheik. "I guess. I mean, you always seem to be there to give me the little bit of encouragement I need to get me to enter a new dungeon. Why?"
"No reason," Sheik said, still in the same flat tone he always talked in.
"There's always a reason."
"I've just been thinking how it got this far," Sheik said. "The two of us, cooped up in this dark temple, closer to what we've been fighting for, but with by far the greatest task still before us."
"I know what you mean," said Link. "I more and more often find myself wondering what would have happened if I had just ignored Navi, and slept-in one morning eight years ago. The Deku Tree would have died without my intervention, I would have never left the forest, never collected all the Spiritual Stones, never followed the supposed wisdom of a child princess, never opened the Door of Time for Ganondorf..."
"Link don't blame yourself," Sheik said. "Trust me, I've been down that road. It doesn't do any good."
"What do you have to blame yourself for?" asked Link.
"Plenty."
"Hm," said Link, knowing better than to try and press the sheikah for more information. "Honestly, I blame the princess more than I blame myself."
"Yeah, I can only imagine," Sheik said. "I'm sure wherever she is, she's probably pretty remorseful for what's happened."
"But what really gets me," Link sat up, "is that the entire time I've been risking my life, I haven't heard a thing about her."
"To be fair," Sheik said, "She's probably hiding. I think Ganondorf would be looking for her high and low. It would be foolish to risk exposing herself to anyone."
"But even to me? Here I am, about to walk into almost certain death tomorrow, but have I heard so much as a peep from the one person responsible for all of this?" Link was clearly somewhat pissed about the ordeal. "No."
"Link, I... I don't know what to say," replied Sheik. Had the Temple been brighter or they not been on opposite sides of the temple, Link might have seen Sheiks face flushed slightly red with shame.
"No need to sound apologetic, Sheik," Link said. "You've been the most helpful person I've met." Link stood up, walked across the temple, sat next to Sheik, and said, "I couldn't have done any of this without you. Yes, I consider you my friend."
Things would have been fine if Link just stopped talking then.
But he went on, after a few moments of silence. "She was ten! What was she hoping to accomplish?"
Sheik very much hoped he'd drop the subject, and didn't respond.
"I mean, what was she thinking? That she'd read a few legends and suddenly feel like an expert in protecting the Triforce?"
Sheik had to interject. "If she did nothing, don't you think that Ganondorf could have obtained all three Spiritual Stones anyway? He was already starving the Gorons to death. The Zora Princess was missing."
"She had been swallowed by her deity, not kidnapped by Ganondorf. And the more I think about it, the more I suspect that she was swallowed intentionally. She had the Spiritual Stone of Water, and by swallowing her, Jabu Jabu might have in fact been hiding her to protect her."
"I don't mean to defend the Princess or anything," said Sheik quickly, "but maybe she believed that Ganondorf would have been able to obtain the stones anyway."
"Even if that was the case, she could have hidden the Ocarina, or broken it." Link stood back up to pace, he was that engaged in his rant at this point. "Or, even if Ganondorf did get it, and all three stones, and learned the secret song of the Royal Family, and got into the Sacred Realm... the Triforce would have still split-up, I would have gotten the Courage fragment, and the Wisdom fragment would still be Goddesses-know-where."
Sheik muttered softly to himself, secretly wanting to just hide and be left alone. "You've made your point. You detest the Princess."
Link failed to notice the sulk in his voice, nevertheless its meaning, and continued, "It's not so much that I hate her... I just think she's a Royal fuck-up."
Sheik stood up, without Link noticing. Nor did he notice what Sheik did. He continued, "I mean, she sure did a bang-up job protecting the-"
Link had turned around and stopped dead in his tracks. Where Sheik was sitting a moment ago, Princess Zelda now stood.
"-Tri...force... Oh."
A/N
Eh. This popped into my head, so I wrote it. It started with the intention of being humorous, but then I thought it would be better as something sort of serious... In the end, I don't think it turned out as much of either. I wish I could write chapters for Fused Kingdoms as quickly and as easily as I wrote this.