Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda, its characters and locations are all property of Nintendo, I'm merely borrowing them.

Warning: This story contains yaoi, shounen-ai, slash, whatever you call two guys falling in love.


Soul Mates

Chapter 21


The moment Sheik woke up, he would have given anything to go back to Speil's realm, despite the presence of said shadow. The pain was almost unbearable. His chest was on fire, every breath was agony. His ankle felt like a mangled mess. Everything was hazy, and he was dizzy. But worst of all: Link wasn't there.

Had he been in a better condition, Sheik would have leapt to his feet, his gaze flying all over the place in search of the Hero of Time, but all he could manage now was slowly shifting his head in either direction while uttering a feeble "Link?"

Where was he? And also, where was Sheik? The last thing he remembered from when he was awake was sand approaching at an alarming speed. And then there was darkness, a cracking sound and agonising pain, as well as a warm and shaking embrace. There had been tears as well. But now Sheik was lying inside a building, there was no mistaking it. Stone floor, stone walls, stone ceiling…definitely man-made.

He tried to sit up, but had to yield to the protests from his ribs. Not that he would have accomplished much with it, considering the destroyed ankle, but just lying about didn't feel right. He was supposed to look after the Hero, not the other way around. Said Hero was, of course, missing at the moment, which is where everything fell apart as far as Sheik was concerned. He felt panic rear its ugly head and his eyes darted more desperately around the room. Some kind of fabric was blocking a doorway of sorts, and a small fire had been started close, built with planks.

Then he caught a glimpse of something in the corner of his eye. He turned to his left and saw the instrument. The Ocarina of Time glinted in the firelight, almost blinding Sheik when his gaze faced it at a certain angle. He slowly, tiredly reached out for it. His fingers closed around it, and he brought it closer.

He wouldn't leave this behind… he thought. Of course, he never expected Link to voluntarily leave Sheik behind, considering all they had been through (also, the Hero would be absolutely lost without the Sheikah's guiding hand), but it was still a comfort, and Sheik felt touched that Link had thought of it.

But, enough was enough, and Sheik sat up. He groaned as the ribs played the symphony of pain, but held fast, and soon found himself sitting up against the wall. The Hero had covered him with a blanket, but Sheik still shivered. The fire helped little with warming up the room. Another thing that bothered him about the place was the complete absence of any other sound than the ones from the fire and himself. There had been a sandstorm during the fight with the Wyrm, and it had shown no sign of dissipating any time soon. Sheik had been injured and knocked out, yes, but not for long judging by the lack of recovery. He glanced at the fabric covering the doorway again.

Surely that puny thing is not keeping out the storm? He decided not to investigate when his ankle gave an angry throb in warning.

He sighed. He felt…safe, oddly enough, but there were only so many things Sheik could think about before becoming bored. He'd rather not think about what he had talked about with Speil, since the content of that particular conversation had disturbed him to the very core of his being.

Link isn't at full strength? But he has defeated the guardians of two temples! he thought. Morpha was not a strong monster, his other side reminded him. And Bongo-Bongo really did not fight back at full strength because of his death wish. You know it, but you won't admit it. Without you, the Hero would have died in the Shadow Temple…of course the Hero isn't at full strength.

Sheik shook his head, earning him another lashing from his clouded mind. Speil…a nemesis, a monster and a mystery all in one being. And apparently, a vital target if the quest is to be a success.

But why did he tell me all that? Surely he expects me to tell Link about him, about why he still exists?

No, he knows you won't, because you have yet to reveal that he survived the last battle with the Hero in the Water Temple. He knows you won't because you're afraid the Hero will reject you when you tell him you have been lying to him all along.

"Shut up!" growled Sheik and punched the floor, ignoring the blossoming pain from his knuckles. It was so frustrating! He again became aware of the ocarina resting in the palm of his other hand. He remembered the feeling he'd gotten when playing it back at Lake Hylia. It was…scary, yet relieving at the same time. The whole world listened, but not with critical ears.

The silence was pressing in around him. A draft, even colder than the air inside the room, suddenly drifted over him. His teeth chattered, and Sheik looked around for the source. It hadn't come from the doorway, the cloth hadn't moved. It was then that he noticed something in front of him, directly underneath the patch of wood in the ceiling. A hole. A rectangular hole, with what looked like ancient banisters on either side.

He went down there, didn't he? he thought, wondering why in Hyrule he had added a rhetorical question at the end of his own thought. Must be more injured than I thought.

But how long had he been down there for? What if he had encountered some kind of creature down there that did not take well to trespassers? Or worse yet, another Wyrm?

"Link?!" he shouted, wincing at how much his voice was amplified by the room. No answer came. "Link!" he tried again. No answer yet. He punched the floor again. For all he knew, the Hero of Time could be lying down there, dying or dead, while he lay up here, lazing about. "Link, answer me!"

He was bleeding from his knuckles. He wiped away the blood with a bandage from his wrist.

Serves me right for loosing my cool, he thought. If Impa had been here, she'd be ashamed at the irrational way he was acting. Panicked, afraid, frustrated, all emotions that the Sheikah were taught to ignore at all times.

He was uncertain, in retrospect, whether he remembered about the ocarina on his own, or if something else was prodding his mind, like the instrument itself. In either case, he wasted no time in putting the mouthpiece to his lips. The world was listening again, and Sheik couldn't remember any songs. The Hero always made it seem so easy. There was a reason for why Sheik kept to stringed instruments.

In the end, a series of notes popped up in his mind, and he wasted no time in playing them. It was an eerie tune, reminding him of the Song of Storms that Link sometimes played when he was in a bad mood. He had yet to figure that the weather actually changed when he played it, and his mood had always worsened when it started to rain. The many times Sheik had wanted to walk up and punch the boy in the head for his slowness…

But no, this was a vastly different song. It sounded like something that should be played at the Temple of Time, yet, at the same time, shouldn't be. Sheik felt dizzy and decided that lying down again would probably be a good idea, especially if his concussion theory was of any value. He kept the ocarina grasped tightly in his hand, though, not daring to let it go. It was his only link to…Link. He giggled. And then he stopped himself, surprised at the sound he had just made.

I must be ill…I'm giggling, for goddesses' sake…

At some point, he must have fallen asleep, for the fire was growing weaker by the minute as he watched it. The wood was nearly all gone, and the flame was starting to flicker out. And with that, his only light source would be gone. But it wasn't the flickering fire that had awoken him, he knew. There had been a noise. A clicking sound, coming from the hole. Had it been the rhythmic, tip-tap-sound that Link made when he was running across stone, Sheik would have been relieved. But this was one was irregular, like something had far too many legs to know what to do with.

With great effort, he was able to sit up again, drawing out a dagger with limbs that felt like lead. And then waited. The first thing that even dared to peek its head over the edge (that wasn't Hylian, at least) would get a knife in the eye. His breath was quickening along with his pulse. He was running several imaginary scenarios through his head, all ending with something dead falling back down the hole. He was expecting pretty much anything at this point.

What he didn't expect, however, was a hook on a chain suddenly exploding from the hall and digging itself deep into the wooden patch above it. Delirious, Sheik prepared to throw a dagger at the chain's weak link close to the hook, intending to sever it. He caught himself just in time, however, and quickly stuffed the dagger away. He may have been injured, but he'd be damned if Link was going to find his partner shaking like a leaf.

Something was coming up the chain, its receptors clicking as the links were fed into the maw of the Longshot. By the time Link was dangling well above the hole, Sheik had managed to cross his arms and set his face in a grim expression. Link noticed that the Sheikah was up, and smiled, wrenching loose the hook, dropping to his feet just shy of the edge of the hole.

"Where were you?" asked Sheik tersely.

The Hero of Time scratched the back of his neck embarrassedly. "Uh, I got a bit…impatient and went off to explore."

"Do you have any idea of how dangerous that could've been, Hero?" asked Sheik, glaring. "What if you had been ambushed and killed by some horrible creature because I was not there to watch your back. Navi is not with you anymore, Hero, and you have made it quite clear that you are absolutely helpless without someone to look out for you."

Why did I say that? Sheik wondered when he saw the brief look of pain flashing across Link's features. Why am I even angry? He's more than capable of taking care of himself, despite not…being himself completely…

"I'm sorry, Sheik."

Any other tirade that was waiting to be unleashed froze completely when Sheik heard the barely choked back sob that Link had made. He gasped when the Hero looked up and revealed that he was starting to cry.

I just had to mention the fairy, didn't I? For pity's sake, Sheik, what the hell is wrong with you?

Indeed, why was he so angry? It was obviously safe enough upstairs, and while Link sometimes didn't think quite through what he did, he would never risk his life for something as silly as exploring.

"No, no, don't be," muttered Sheik. A headache was coming on, and he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm the one who should be…I'm not feeling all too well."

The Sheikah had never seen anyone change moods so quickly. Within seconds of admitting not feeling alright, the Hero had wiped away the salty liquid and run over to him, checking for any more injuries.

"What's wrong? Is it the ribs? Oh, fiddlesticks, I did the ribs wrong, didn't I? Saria assured me it was okay, but I just knew it wasn't? How's the ankle? Worse, or better? Saria said that it was perfect, but I—"

"Hero, Hero!" yelled Sheik, trying to calm the panicking Link. "It's alright…you did good with the bones. It's my head, I'm dizzy and it hurts."

Link sighed and sat beside him. "Not much to do about that but pump you full of potion, Saria said," he said. And that was, apparently, it. No mention of the harsh words Sheik had pumped him full of when he came up, no mention of Navi, no nothing. And Sheik felt anger flare up again, but tried to subdue it.

Why doesn't he stand up for himself? I yelled at him without reason…

"Link…I'm sorry for what I said…"

"Don't be," said Link, mirroring Sheik's words. "I understand. I should've known better than to run off on my own while you were injured. And yes, you're right, without someone to watch my back; I probably would have died if I ran into an enemy."

"Hm," said Sheik, unable to come up with anything decent to say. His head was throbbing, and he was so tired…

"By the way," said Link suddenly. "I heard you play the ocarina." He pointed at the instrument Sheik was holding tightly. "I've never heard that song before."

"You…heard me?" asked Sheik.

"Yeah!" said Link. "That's why I came back. I know you wouldn't do it unless it was important or really, really needed me." He put an arm around Sheik's shoulders. "And here I am."

The silence was immediately surrounding them again. The fire was on its last reserves, and soon it would be dark. Sheik leant against Link's side, feeling strangely content, yet incredibly guilty for his outburst.

It's the concussion…it's the concussion, he repeated to himself.

"I love you."

To be continued…


Who the hell said that?

Bah, I suddenly found myself with more time on my hands than I expected, so here's another chappy for ya!

Please leave a review if you like the story!

PS: The chapter title was on purpose!