Before Zelda was born, when her mother was with child, a Sheikah seer predicted that the goddess would be reborn once more. That was how her mother knew her name would be Zelda.
She came into this world with barely a whimper. It was to the horror of her father and mother that something was not as they expected. The goddess born child was not as her predecessors had been, she was born different.
Despite this the king silenced those that knew the truth of her birth, he made sure that the whole of the kingdom knew his daughter was the Princess Zelda.
So she grew up in the palace, locked away, kept confined it gown and marble. Her nursemaid teaching her how to be a proper princess.
Then the nightmares began. That horrid man and his evil eyes. The light from the forest and the boy that came from it. She tried to tell her father, but he would hear none of it. To him there was no evil man with cruel intentions, just a hysterical princess grasping for attention.
The boy came and she asked him to do as she could not, to go forth and gather the stones, open the Door of Time. Protect the Sacred Realm.
She should have known better. As Impa steals away with her into the night, she tosses her ocarina back to the boy, pleading with him with her eyes to protect what she could no longer.
She should have stayed.
She knew the instant things went wrong. A glowing triangle of power appearing on her left hand and a wave of dark power crushing the land. It came with more nightmares of the horrific acts that would befall the people of Hyrule, but she saw that one day the Temple of Time would open and out from it would come a champion, a Hero of Legend that would vanquish the darkness and save the land.
In a desperate attempt to hide her Impa through away the late king's order for silence and gave her a new identity, Sheik. No longer could she wear gowns, no more would she be the princess. Not until Ganon was defeated.
So it was that She grew into He. It was liberating. Despite that horrors that came with Ganon's rule Sheik was free to be himself. He learned to fight, to ride. He learned he could be himself and he was ever indebted to his friend for giving him this.
For seven years he prepared. Seven years until the seal in the Temple of Time awoke and the boy that had gone in came out a man. He aided the hero, giving him songs to help him travel. Advice to be cautious. He wished he could do more.
Finally it would be over. The sages were in place, save one, the princess. Sheik knew this and hesitates. Becoming Zelda again meant losing so much, but much more would be lost if he didn't.
With a flash Sheik is gone, replaced by Zelda. Her clothes are tight and restricting, the skirt a hazard for the coming fight, but proper. Link, her hero, he seems the most shocked to see her.
They defeat Ganon.
She tells him she will send him back, to stop all of this, to allow him a childhood. One she was able to have herself due to his sacrifice. She can see he is saddened by this, but he accepts it.
"Before I am sent away. A request?"
Zelda nods, words stuck in her throat.
"Stop hiding. This isn't you. You are Sheik, not Zelda."
She chokes as tears well in her eyes. "How, how could you know?"
"I've known since I saw you. You weren't happy as Zelda, but you were as Sheik. If I am being given my reward for my part in this, you should be allowed yours."
A hand at her mouth, a nod. She struggles to steady her breathing for the tears of happy sorrow that clog her throat.
"I will miss you Link."
He smiles at her gently and she brings the ocarina to her lips. The song is played and she watches him vanish into the light.