She was always in the shadows, ever present though not always seen. Sheik had taken to her Sheikah training rather well and could easily hide in plain sight. It took Link a while to figure out she wasn't just appearing and disappearing out of nowhere. There was a steady system to her sudden appearances, like the phases of the moon. Whenever he knew he needed help but refused to ask for it, whenever he finished a dungeon and didn't know what to do next, whenever he needed someone to talk to besides Navi, she was there.
Link, on the other hand, was like the sun. He was so bright, so full of energy, and Sheik was ever fearful of getting too close. The longer he took on his quest to awaken the sages, the more time Sheik ended up spending time with him. And each time, she felt more and more like her old self, the young Princess who had dreams and schemes of saving her country. But the sun leaves burns, and Sheik was always thinking of the time she would have to reveal herself as a liar to Link.
"Just shut up and let me heal your burns," Sheik dragged Link back toward Kakariko Village. He insisted he was fine, but Sheik could see Navi's worried bobbing and the empty potion bottles.
"You don't need to take care of me," Link whined, sounding far too much like the eleven-year-old he sort of still was on the inside.
"Apparently I do," she sighed as she hauled Link up to Impa's house. "I thought we discussed this after the Forest Temple, Link. Just because you are physically older does not mean you are invincible."
"I know," he sounded considerably more out of breath than before, so Sheik quickly pushed him onto the bed and forced him to drink a red potion.
"It was Volvagia," Navi piped up. "It was the same dragon Link freed from mean traders back when he was a child."
"What?" Sheik had not heard this story. "Is that true, Link?"
He looked away, unable to meet her eye, and nodded.
Sheik cursed inwardly as she turned to get an extra salve and bandages for his burns. Link didn't need this weakness. It had taken years for Impa to train it out of Sheik, and even now she wouldn't say it was completely gone. But she couldn't reprimand him harshly, like Impa would to her. For the first time in a long time, her thoughts turned to Zelda. What would she say?
"Compassion and love is a wonderful thing, Link," she said softly as she slowly peeled of his tunic and undershirt so she could reach his burns. "But you cannot let it blind you in times of need." She sighed and quietly apologized as Link winced at the feeling of the salve being applied to his burns. "And with everything I know about Ganondorf, Volvagia was not truly the same dragon you rescued as a child. He would have been warped by dark magic. In truth, you did the dragon a service freeing him from Ganondorf's control."
"I know," Link said, shoulders slumped as Sheik began wrapping bandages across his torso. "But I wanted to save him. Dragons are such rare creatures, and he deserved to live."
"The hardest lesson we will ever have to learn, though we will never stop trying to unlearn it," Sheik smiled sadly. "You cannot save everyone."
"Well I will never stop trying to unlearn it," Link smiled.
He was asleep before too long, and Sheik had to reevaluate her self-instated rule to not get too involved with Link and his quest.
There were many stories and myths surrounding the origins of the sun and the moon in Hyrulean mythology. The Gorons believed the sun to be the great forge of the gods where legendary weapons were made, and the moon was the purest gemstone ever found on the earth, given as an offering to the gods. The Zora believe the moon is giant pearl given to the sky by the last great sea clam, and the sun is a giant ball of fire wrestled away from evaporating the Zoran waters by the first legendary warrior, Sidon.
But the Hylian myth was by far Princess Zelda's favorite.
The story goes that the Goddess Hylia fell in love with a mortal swordsman whose skill and courage was unmatched by all other mortals. Hylia appointed him her champion and gifted him the Master Sword, all the while loving him from afar. When the hero finally fell in battle, Hylia sent his spirit to bolster the sun, strengthening it and making Hyrule more habitable as a result. But the Goddess mourned his death for many years and retreated from mortal society. Eventually her grief became so great that she chose to join her love in the sky rather than remain on the earth. Her spirit fled to the moon, where she could watch over the hero always. However, her power was weak, and could only sustain the moon for short periods of time. When the moon went dark, the stars shown where Hylia had cried while she could not see her love.
Sheik didn't realize she was in love until she was climbing the lone tree on the island in the middle of Lake Hylia just so she can escape from Link. She had just taught him the Serenade of Water and had planned a completely different disappearance. But then he had looked at her with those eyes. She fumbled her Deku seed and only had time to hide behind the tree. Then she had the brilliant idea to climb the tree, and she realized only one thing could mess with her mind this much. Love. It clouded her judgment like nothing else, and she hated it because she just gave Link a huge lecture on not letting love blind you to the proper actions. Sheik had no other choice. Once she reached the top of the tree, she dove into the lake praying to the goddesses that she remembered to pack her silver scale
Link returned to Kakariko Village after he completed the Water Temple. He was starting to make it a habit, and as he walked into the village, he realized it was because he wanted to see Sheik. She was mysterious and ethereal, and he loved spending time with her, even if he was either learning a new warp song or injured during most of that time. He was surprised to see Sheik actually walking out and about in the town. He really thought he was going to have to hunt her down if he wanted to talk to her.
"Sheik," he smiled and jogged to catch up to her.
"Completed the Water Temple I see," she eyed the string he kept all the sage's medallions on. "I should have known you would come back here first."
"I thought you might worry about nonexistent injuries if you didn't see me all in one piece yourself," he smirked.
She rolled her eyes, but Link definitely saw her give him a good scan for injuries.
"It's a good thing you're here though," she turned away and continued her trek to the graveyard. "The Shadow Temple is located here, but there is a strong seal on it to contain a dark beast."
"That doesn't sound pleasant," Link frowned.
"Impa and I are trying to find a way to clear the temple for you," Sheik explained. "Back when Bongo Bongo first broke free, Impa was the only one who could seal it away in the Shadow Temple. We fear only her power can purge it from the Temple. Only then can Impa be awakened as the Sage of Shadow."
Link took in all this information, though it didn't make much sense to him, "But I have the Master Sword. Why do you need to clear the Temple without me? Isn't this supposed to be my job?"
"But if we can do it, why shouldn't we?" she countered. "Wouldn't you want less to do in your quest?"
"This is my job, though," he protested. "I'm supposed to awaken the sages by clearing the evil from the temples."
"You don't have to do everything alone, Link," Sheik sighed as they passed under the archway that marked the entrance to the graveyard. "Just let me help."
Link paused, but before he could respond, another voice called out.
"Is that you, Sheik?"
"Yes, Impa," she called back. She started jogging to the back of the graveyard with Link on her heels. "Link is here as well."
"Good," Impa's voice came from a balcony above them. "The temple is infested with more dark creatures that I thought. We will need his strength. Go find the Lens of Truth and return back here."
Sheik nodded and led Link back into Kakariko Village.
"Why do we need the Lens of Truth?" Link asked.
"You need it," she corrected him. "It will help you see hidden paths and invisible objects in the Shadow Temple."
"Why do I specifically need it?"
"Because you are not a Sheikah," she smirked.
They reentered Kakariko Village, and Sheik pointed to the old Well of Three Features.
"If stories are to be believed, the Lens of Truth will lie at the bottom of the well."
"Then let's go get it," Link grinned.
They climbed down the railing on the side of the well only to find a pile of rocks blocking the path forward. Link pulled a bomb out of his pack, and Sheik nodded for him to use it. They hunkered down behind Link's shield, but the explosion did not move the rocks.
"Well this is a problem," Sheik stepped forward to examine the rocks.
"I could try going back to the past and getting it then," Link suggested.
"That may be our only option," she sighed. "These rocks have some sort of seal on them. It reminds me of the Shadow Temple but," she trailed off. "Go retrieve the Lens of Truth in the past. I will inform Impa of what has occurred and wait for you in the village."
Sheik was a night owl. She loved to stay up late and walk alone in the dark and gaze at the stars. But she loved to gaze at the moon the most. As a hobby she kept a journal that followed its changes in phase. She would crawl on to Impa's roof and sketch the waning or waxing moon and map the different constellations. Most of Hyrule's knowledge on alchemy and astrology was lost when Castletown was burned and the castle overtaken by Ganondorf, but Sheik was still able to find and journal all the local stories on constellations she could eek out of anyone who would talk to her.
Sheik personally liked the alchemical theory that the moon got its light from the sun. To her, it was almost as if Hylia's first chosen hero was giving her spirit power to sustain herself, almost like a gift of love.
It was never told in the stories if the mortal hero loved Hylia back. When she was younger, Sheik thought he must have. How could you not love a beautiful Goddess? But as she got older, Sheik wondered. Hylia always loved her champion from afar, the stories said. Did she never tell him how she felt? Was she too scared?
Now Sheik understood what the Goddess must have felt. She could confess her feelings, but what good would it do? Link was on a quest. Ganondorf had to be defeated. Hyrule had to be restored. There was no time for frilly love affairs. And if things went the way she planned, they would be separated at the end anyway. There was no point in starting something that would only end in heartbreak.
They were halfway through the Shadow Temple. Impa had disappeared into its depths when Bongo Bongo escaped its seal, and Sheik insisted on accompanying Link into the temple to find her. She was glad she did; twice already she had saved him from falling into some abyss or another. Honestly, if she hadn't been there, Link would probably have to walk around with the Lens of Truth taped to his eye.
"These ReDeads are pissing me off," Sheik grunted as she played out the Sun's Song on her harp for the fifth time. The enemies froze, and Link made quick work of them. Once they did, a chest appeared. Sheik opened it to find a compass.
"Perfect," Sheik checked the map they had found not too long after entering the temple. "There's a small key in the room across the hall. That should be able to get us in the locked room near the entrance."
"I didn't think the mini-boss would be this early in the temple," Link mused as he gazed at the map over her shoulder.
"I'm sorry, what?" Sheik laughed.
Link huffed, "It's a more powerful than normal enemy that guards some treasure I can't get further in the temple without."
"Then we'll go there after we get that key," Sheik stalked toward the next room.
The Dead Hand wasn't the worst enemy either of them had faced, but it was no picnic to fight. Once the monster was put down, a chest appeared just as Link predicted.
"Hover boots," Sheik commented as Link held up the treasure. "Those should make getting around here easier."
"But, there's only one pair," Link frowned and checked the chest again.
"Of course there's only one pair," she rolled her eyes. "You were meant to enter this temple alone. I will accompany you as far as I can, but when some gap comes that we cannot cross without the use of those boots, you will go on without me."
"But I don't want to," Link pouted and walked toward the exit. "You want to find Impa safely just as much as I do. We should clear this temple together."
"What happened to 'this is my job'?" Sheik asked as she followed him. "You wanted to do this alone not too long ago."
"That's before I-" Link paused as Sheik redirected him away from a false door. "Before I realized how much easier this was with someone to watch my back. Working with you is so easy; I don't know what I'd do without you."
Sheik froze for a second. She never knew he felt such a way.
"I'm glad you trust me so much," she said softly as pain ripped through her heart. Goddesses above, how much was she going to hurt him when she finally revealed her true identity? She never should have gotten this involved, but here in the Shadow Temple, there was nowhere left to but forward.
"I more than trust you, Sheik," Link turned to look at her. He opened his mouth to say more but a gut-wretching shriek filled the air.
"Bongo Bongo," Sheik whipped around to try and spy the beast. "Link, run."
They tore through the temple, blindly taking paths and barely catching a false wall that led down to the basement. They kept running as the shrieking seemed to follow them until they reach a seemingly bottomless chasm.
"No," Link yelled as Sheik thrust the Hover Boots at him. "I'm not leaving you behind. We have to both get across somehow."
"There's no time, Link," she said as the deep boom of drums joined the shrieking. "Get across and continue clearing the temple. I'll hold Bongo Bongo off as long as I can."
"No, I can't leave you," Link threw the boots to the ground.
"You have to, Link. There's no time," she pulled him close so she could give him a good and proper stare with her red eyes. "Go and don't you dare get hurt."
Link's face hardened, and before Sheik could do anything to stop him, he reached up, pulled her cowl down, and kissed her hard on the lips.
"And don't you dare die," he said.
Sheik didn't know why, but she gave him a quick peck before saying, "Get those boots on."
Link smiled, and as soon as he bent to put the Hover Boots on, Sheik disappeared back up the hallway they came from to confront Bongo Bongo.
The moon watches the sun from afar. Even when the moon cannot be seen, she watches over her companion, for the sun is bright, quick to burn, and swift to move through the sky. But many do not know that the sun also watches over the moon. Though he cannot always see, he always knows, and he will protect the moon with all the fierceness his flames can muster.
When Link saw Sheik struggling against Bongo Bongo when he finally reached the huge chamber the monster was hiding in, he could not hold back. He fought with a fury he didn't know he was capable of. The battle passed in a blur, and before he knew it, Bongo Bongo was disappearing in multiple puffs of smoke and Sheik was forcing a bottle of red potion into his hand.
"I told you not to get hurt," her voice sounded so distant to him.
"You should see the other guy," Link smirked.
Sheik could only roll her eyes, "Impa is waiting for you in the Sacred Realm. I'll be at her house when you get back."
"Wait," he tried to hold on to her, but she slipped from his still unsteady grip and disappeared before he could turn to look for her.
In Impa's house, Sheik almost bolted three times. It was fraying her nerves to wait for him, but she promised she would be there. Plus, they had a lot to talk about. Sheik could still feel the ghost of Link's lips on hers. Her brain told her to cut whatever this was off at the bud, but her traitorous heart wanted more.
When Link finally arrived, he immediately cast aside his weapons and gear and wrapped his arms around Sheik.
"I thought you died," he confessed in a hushed voice. "And then you were there in its hands." He buried his face in her cowl.
Sheik held on to him until he pulled away to look in her eyes.
"I've thought long and hard about this," he said seriously. "And I don't care about whatever rules you might have about this or about us," he gestured between them. "But I want to be with you. Sheik, I love you."
Sheik opened her mouth but realized she was crying and had to swallow before trying again.
"I love you, too, Link, but-"
"No, buts," he put a finger to her lips. "No we can't's, none of that. You want to be together, don't you?"
"Yes," she sighed, "But-"
"Then let's be together," he cut her off again. "We deserve to be happy now, not just when all this is over."
And Sheik remembered the panic at potentially losing Link and getting captured by Bongo Bongo that she had shoved deep down. She could understand Link's sudden desire to be close; she felt it, too. But her mind still fought against the idea, reminding her of all the reasons she had decided to not get involved with Link too much. But she did far more than meet him at temple entrances and teach him warp songs. Hell, she had gone into the Shadow Temple with him. Could she really say she wasn't involved anymore?
She fell into him, kissing and touching until there was nothing left between them, not even her cowl. She gave into the desire to be close, and when they were finally together on the bed, she could do nothing but breathe his name.
"Love is a weakness," she whispered, head on his chest.
"Love is also a strength," he answered, kissing the top of her head.
Sheik gazed up at the half moon that shown out the window. She had dared to reach close for the sun, and Goddesses only knew how long it would be before she got burned.
"I'm going to leave for the Spirit Temple by the end of the week," he murmured into her shoulder.
They had been staying in Kakariko Village, taking extra time to properly heal their wounds from their fights with Bongo Bongo. Sheik had never stayed with Link for such a long period of time, and she simultaneously loved and hated it.
"I'll meet you there to teach you the next warping song," she rolled over to gaze at him with one red eye.
"You don't want to just travel with me?" Link sat up, resting his weight on one arm.
"You don't need me to travel with you," she smirked up at him. It had taken her a whole week to finally work up the nerve to discard her cowl and let Link see her whole face all the time.
"But I want you to travel with me," he smiled and leaned down to kiss her.
Sheik lost herself in the kiss. It was too nice a moment to break with another 'no.'
"I already know what you're going to say," Link sighed when they finally broke apart. "It is my duty as the chosen hero, and I must find my way on my own, and blah, blah, blah."
Sheik laughed, "Since you've already figured it out, I won't have to repeat it."
"At least I'm almost done with this quest," Link rolled out of the bed and started putting his clothes on. "Then all that's left is to defeat Ganondorf and move on with my life."
Sheik froze. She hated when Link tried to talk about the future.
"The future is not going to go the way you think, Link," she said quietly, sitting up and pulling her blanket covered knees to her chest. "There are forces at work, things you cannot possible account for."
"But I don't care," he said, turning around to face her. "I just want to be with you when this is all over."
Sheik felt tears in the corners of her eyes, and she turned away so Link wouldn't see.
"I would like that, too," she confessed. "But we can't always have what we want."
Link sighed but didn't argue his point further. "I'm going to get dinner," he huffed before leaving the house.
Eclipses always fascinated Sheik. Astrologist have always marveled at their consistent inconsistencies. There were always seven each year, but it could not be easily predicted which would be solar and which would be lunar, or even when in the year they would occur.
As she stood before the Temple of Time, Sheik could not help but feel as if an eclipse was coming. She felt on the precipice of a climactic moment as she waited for Link to appear.
Sure enough the eerie, disembodied sound of an ocarina playing the Prelude of Light filled the air, and Link appeared before her in a flash of light.
"Sheik," he smiled and began walking toward her. But her demeanor made him pause before he got too close. "Is everything alright?"
"You have awakened six of the seven sages," she began her speech. "And all that is left is to reveal their leader." Sheik held up her right hand and felt the Triforce of Wisdom glow until its light completely enveloped her.
She reemerged as Princess Zelda, but on the inside, she still felt like Sheik.
"Holy Farore," Link cursed. Sheik, no Zelda, braced herself for yelling, lecturing, hurtful words, but none of that passed Link's lips. Instead he rushed forward to wrap his arms around her.
"I'm glad you're safe," he whispered in her ear.
And for once, the moon embraced the sun with no fear.