The story follows the basics of the original OOT story at the beginning, but focuses on Sheik's thoughts and feelings towards Link. Written in Sheik's POV. Sheik is his own person and a man.

If you don't support the pairing, don't read. :)

Reviews are welcome :D

The Fire

I saw the flames dance in front of my eyes, red and blue, devouring everything that stood in their way. I smelled the wood that burned down to nothing but fine ashes. I heard the screams of the people who were caught in their houses and had to watch their existence fade away. I felt my mother tugging at my sleeve as I tried to pull her body out from underneath a wooden beam that pinned her to the ground. It was useless, my body was too small, too feeble.

"Go, Sheik, go."

I let go of her arm as the flames started to lick over her dress, frightened by her scream. And I did the only thing I could do; I ran for my life. My short legs carried me away from what once was my house, my home. I ran, stumbled and fell down as I tried to shun the clashing swords and the trampling hooves of the battle horses. I reached the safe hill and fell down with my face into the dirt. For a moment I simply kept lying on the ground and inhaled the scent of the moist earth, which my small hands held on to desperately. When I finally lifted my head to look at the horrifying scene a mere metres away from me, I could no longer hold back my tears. My body was shaking violently while the salty liquid ran down my cheeks and dripped from my chin onto the fresh grass. I knew I was not allowed to scream for it would draw attention to myself, so I put my fist into my mouth and bit down hard until blood trickled from my knuckles. The pain in my heart was as real as the pain in my hand. No. It was much worse. I almost did scream when I felt a touch on my shoulder but my outcry was muffled by a hand pressed firmly against my lips. I looked up in fear, knowing I was about to die but the fighter standing by my side was not my enemy. It was an auxiliary, a warrior from my tribe, my friend and my aunt. It was Impa, and she turned my face away from the battlefield and held me tightly. And my childish mind comprehended that we were alone now. We were the last survivors of the Sheikah.

I opened my eyes and blinked away the memory. No matter how many years went by, no matter how much I tried to erase the horrors of my past, I could not deny the stabbing pain in my heart. More than anything else, I wanted to forget but the fire had burned itself onto my memory like the flames that devoured every organism.

I hoped I had been wrong about the orange sky hovering over Kakariko as I set foot on the stairs that led to the village but soon the smell of burned wood reached my nose and the particles of ashes in the thin summer air made it harder to breathe. I ran up the stairs and into the village. The windmill was standing in flames and the people of the village gathered outside, trying to extinguish the fire with the water from the well. The boy inside me flinched at the sight and wanted to run but I did not let him come through. I was an adult now and this was not the past. It was the present, the here and now, the moment in time. I had fought monsters, creatures of flesh and blood but I was afraid of something as simple and basic as fire. I was afraid that my past was coming back to haunt me. My aunt Impa had once built this village and it had been a place of residence for my tribe long ago. And it was about to be destroyed by fire, to suffer the same fate as my home town.

No one except me noticed the evil stirring from the bottom of the well. I had to stop them. The more water they fetched from the well, the closer the evil came to break through the thick walls. I made my way through the panicking people and pushed them aside but they did not seem to hear my warnings. And while I was desperately trying to stop what had already begun, I saw someone running up to me. It was him. The boy whose destiny was chained to the happenings in Hyrule. The hero.

"Stay back, Link!" I ordered but my voice was drowned in the chaos of my surrounding. Before he could reach me, the top of the well split in half and an enormous force pushed itself through the remaining water, breaking away from the seal that had imprisoned it for many years. A piece of the wooden construction hit me hard and I was thrown against Link. We both landed on the ground and I gasped for air as my back hit a sharp rock and blocked my lungs for a moment. A few seconds too long to defend myself. Out of the corner of my eye I could only see how the hero lifted his sword to fight the enemy before I passed out.

Light And Shadow

"Are you ok?" His blue eyes looked at me worriedly when I opened my eyes again. I had passed out only for a few minutes but when I had regained conscience, rain was pouring down from the darkened sky and finally won the fight against the flames. Link's face was stern as he pulled back his arm that had supported my back when I sat up. "Don't worry about me," I mumbled and felt stupid as soon as the words left my tongue. "What on earth was that?" he asked and put back the sword into its sheath.

I moaned while removing the blood stained suit around my chest. The rock had detached a piece of my skin from my body and the wound was bleeding anew. I took off the top of my suit after reassuring myself that I was safe from anyone's gaze and let the heavy rain wash away the dirt and blood. My thoughts returned to the incident at the well. To Link. To his determined face when he made his way to the graveyard on the backside of the village. Neither had he hesitated a second to protect me, nor did he put his duty into question. He truly was selfless and put everyone else before him. I would have liked to think that it was me he wanted to protect but I knew this was only wishful thinking. I wasn't even sure whether he considered me as being a friend or merely his guide. He was everything I was not. He was a hero, I was a coward. He was the light, I was the shadow. He was the one everyone liked while I did my best to stay away from people. And even though it seemed like we were complete opposites, we had more in common than anyone would think.

I took a sip from the canteen I had brought along and gulped down the cold water. And while I was hiding in my secret refuge, I let my gaze wander to the sky and waited. Waited for him as I always did. As I always would.