Disclaimer: The Legend of Zeda, its characters and locations are all property of Nintendo. Any and all OCs and original locations belong to me unless specifically stated to belong to someone else.

Moments - VI

Link didn't really understand where he was when he first opened his eyes. Waking up to the canvas roof of a tent above him was certainly not a usual occurrence, as he usually slept beneath the stars. Nor was the sensation of being sandwiched between two soft, breathing, and above all, warm bodies. Another thing that confused him, apart from where his two sleeping companions had come from, was how intertwined the three of them were. An arm was slung across his chest, another across his stomach. His left companion was resting their head on his shoulder, snoring softly, while his legs were tangled with those belonging to the sleeping form on his right, who was also breathing softly on his neck...which wasn't entirely unpleasant.

The memories struck him like a sledgehammer, and his mind was flooded with images of the events that took place the night before, and he became aware of blood collecting in two very different places on his body. His cheeks erupted in a fiery blush that surely would have woken Princess Zelda (the fucking princess!) and Sheik with the sheer heat radiating from them alone. He was happy that none of their errant limbs were on his...other temporary blood bank.

Luckily, neither of them woke from his sudden change in temperature (when did the tent get so hot?). Zelda even continued snoring, her golden hair more or less spread all over her pillow (that being Link's shoulder), practically drowning him in soft, but very intrusive, tresses. Sheik didn't seem to stir either, but his nose buried itself in Link's neck, as if it belonged there.

Goddesses...the things those two had done to him last night... He was sore and aching all over, but at the same time he had never felt more relaxed or rested. It was as if several years' worth of stress had been taken out of him and replaced with...nothing, really. Apart from a rather different perspective on the princess of Hyrule and her loyal bodyguard, that is.

How long had they done...this, with each other? And how long had they wanted Link to be part of it? According to Link's count, he'd been in Zelda's presence four times (not counting when they met as children), and in Sheik's five times... Only twice before had the three of them all been together at the same time, usually when Link accompanied Sheik to report on his progress with the temples and awakening the Sages. Had they wanted it from the very beginning? Or had it developed only recently?

He'd never imagined being part of something like this. Really, the thought of more than two people being together had never even occurred to him...but then, how much of a chance had he had to learn? He knew the...mechanics, as it were, for two participants, but three... Well, his two friends (could they even be called that now? Or were they now lovers?) had certainly been keen to educate him...and done so successfully, he might add.

His southern blood bank gave a painful throb, and he tried to will it down. Thank the Goddesses they'd had the sense to get dressed, otherwise just about anyone could have walked in on them, which would not have been pleasant for anyone involved. The scandal would have shattered what little morale remained in the Royal Army. And if Impa found out...sweet Farore, what would Impa do?!

His eyes searched the tent, wondering if Navi had witnessed any of it. He found her tell-tale glow within his cap over by the rest of his equipment. She had not been there when they'd gone to sleep—hopefully, she had seen nothing. He shifted, trying to alleviate some of the soreness in his thighs. He couldn't imagine how sore Sheik would be, after what he...they...had done.

They'd been very gentle with him, easing him into things and never taking things beyond what he was comfortable with. He'd found himself oddly comfortable with most of said things, however, which confused him. If he didn't know any better, he had almost felt like a piece of a puzzle, neatly slotting into an empty spot between the princess and the Sheikah.

He'd found he enjoyed kissing the most. The other things were undoubtedly very pleasant, but there was just something about the act of pressing his lips against another's that had set his heart thundering, and his head exploding with fireworks. Kissing the both of them was...indescribable. Just plain...amazing. Sheik could probably compose a beautiful poem about it, but all Link could do was attempt to compare it every other moment in his life—and none of them compared to kissing Zelda, and kissing Sheik...and watching the two of them kiss.

Was it childish? He didn't care. And hopefully neither would they. That is, if they ever wanted to do it again. He'd been awkward and fumbling, needing to be talked through most of the...events, but neither Sheik nor Zelda had expressed any annoyance at his ignorance in the carnal ways. He hoped they'd want to do it again. He certainly hoped he wasn't some sort of experiment.

His rambling thoughts came to an end when he tried to shift his arm, which had fallen asleep under Zelda's head, which also broke the princess' spell. Her snores, barely audible to Link, who was inches away, ended on a low note, and her eyes began fluttering open. She, too, appeared confused at first, but when she turned her head and saw that she was using the Hero of Time as a pillow, a brilliant smile came to her lips. Without as much as a hello, she leaned forward and kissed him gently.

"Good morning, Link," she whispered.

"G-Good morning, Zelda," he whispered back.

He felt Sheik awaken at the sound of voices, quiet as they were, his Sheikah instincts probably kicking in. The body beside Link's stiffened momentarily before he seemed to remember where he was and what had happened, at which point he relaxed, his lips touching Link's neck in an affectionate morning greeting.

"Morning," Sheik murmured, voice heavy with sleep. Link had assumed Sheik was a morning person, but he clearly wasn't from the way he seemed to curl into Link's side. "Can we go back to sleep?" he asked, sounding grumpy.

"Afraid not," Zelda chuckled, kissing Link once more. "How are you feeling, Link?"

"Sore," the Hero admitted, attempting to fight down the lower reservoir with the sheer force of will. "But...relaxed."

She giggled. "That is good to hear..."

"Indeed," Sheik added. "And add me to the list of sore individuals."

"I'm sorry," Link said, turning his head to look at Sheik, whose eyes were closed. Link wanted to see those beautiful crimson orbs again—especially if they were dark with sleep. "I didn't mean to make you feel—"

"None of that, Hero," Sheik said, grinning but still refusing to open his eyes. "'Tis impossible to do what we did without one feeling decidedly more sore than the other. I will have you know that I regret nothing...and would certainly not mind repeating it."

Link froze, and, upon noticing it, so did his companions.

"You...want to repeat it?" Link asked carefully, trying not to get his hopes up. Sheik was still half-asleep, he might not be aware of what he was saying.

Sheik grunted. "Is that so wrong? I certainly enjoyed it. If it wasn't to your liking—"

"No, it was, it was," the Hero hastily assured him. "I just...wasn't sure if you...both of you...still wanted..."

"Of course we do," Zelda said, wrapping her arm around Link's shoulder and drawing him into a light hug. "We would never invite someone into our...liaison if we did not want them for the long haul. You're the first Sheik and I have ever...felt the same for as we feel for each other."

"You...you do?"

"Mhm," Sheik muttered, his eyes finally opening to look up at Link with a wry smile on his face, his eyes such a beautiful shade of red. "When we first met after you woke up...I knew I wanted you. I felt guilty, for the princess and I are...we feel...we were already involved."

"Sheik confessed to me the same night," Zelda continued. "He was quite nervous and flustered. I assured him that I would not mind it if he...desired you, as long as you felt the same. But then he took you to meet me after you freed the Forest Sage and...well, I immediately understood what he felt." She nuzzled his cheek with her own. "We discussed it...and we knew right away that no other option was available to us: all or nothing."

"But we did not want to drag you into anything you were not prepared for or willing to," Sheik said, sitting up only so far that he could rest his head on Link's chest, still staring up at the both of them, grinning. "We agreed we would talk to you about it...but when you mentioned being sore yesterday...my resolve broke, as did Her Majesty's."

Zelda sniffed. "I regret nothing," she said. "And I hope you don't either, Link. If we ever made you feel uncomfortable..."

"You didn't," Link told her, daring to plant a kiss at the corner of her mouth, which made her giggle and blush. "I'm just...I was worried this was a one-time...happening."

"It could be, if that is what you want," Sheik said, his eyes boring into Link's. "Or not."

"You mean...?"

"Do you want to be with us, Link?" Zelda asked. "The both of us?"

The answer practically leapt out of his throat, his heart giving a flutter. "Yes!"

Sheik chuckled, lifting himself up to peck them both on the lips. "We are very glad to hear that, Link," he practically purred.

"And," Zelda said, "so is Link, judging from the tent down there."

Whatever retort Link was going to utter (which had to do with taking responsibility for uncomfortable situations like that) was cut off when, simultaneously, Navi's light grew brighter as she too awoke, and a shadow appeared outside the tent cloth, their shadow revealing their identity immediately.

"It is an hour past dawn, Your Grace," Impa's voice said, calm and collected as always, spoke. "Breakfast is almost ready."

She did not enter the tent, and her shadow disappeared soon after.

"My aunt does not know," Sheik murmured as the three of them finally rose from their haphazardly strewn bedrolls and mounds of blankets, his voice masked by Navi's surprisingly loud yawns. A quiet waker she was not. "Do not speak of this outside our circle."

"It is our secret," Zelda added.

Link nodded, anticipating this. Of course the princess couldn't be involved with her bodyguard and the Hero of Time. It was not as big a scandal if the Hero of Time and the princess' Sheikah bodyguard were involved with each other, or indeed the Hero of Time and the princess...but there was no point in stirring up unnecessary trouble. Not while there was a war on, at least. And besides, Link saw no reason to inform every man and woman from Lake Hylia to Castle Town of this... No, this was theirs, and theirs alone.

Dressing himself in his tunic and chainmail (Zelda had insisted he wear it after Sheik's recounting of his battle with Ganondorf's Phantom in the Forest Temple), he greeted Navi, who had begun circling lazily around his head in an attempt to wake up.

"Morning, Link," she replied. "Princess Zelda, Master Sheik," she added, bobbing in a facsimile of a curtsy to the other two.

"Zelda will be fine, Navi," Zelda said with a smile.

"As will Sheik," Sheik added.

"Okay!"

"When did you get in last night?" Link asked as Navi perched herself on his shoulder.

"Late," Navi confessed, dimming a little, as if embarrassed. "Mistress Impa showed me the whole camp, and answered all my questions! When I got back, you were all asleep, so I tried not to wake you."

"Thank you, Navi. I hope you had fun."

"I sure did!"

Link chuckled, quickly joined by Sheik and Zelda.

The rest of that morning was spent eating breakfast, discussing the army's plans on advancing further north now that they'd established a foothold by the edge of the Lost Woods, and Link's next step on his quest. There were more temples to conquer, but also other mysteries that needed to be solved. For instance, the mystery of the standing stones at Lake Hylia, which would grant the one who solved it an invaluable tool in the fight against evil. While Link dealt with this, Sheik and Impa would continue to look for the Sage of the Shadow Temple, the location of which was currently surrounded by Ganondorf's forces. Zelda would remain with the army and continue the fight from there, fighting Ganondorf on the fields of Hyrule.

Link was preparing Epona for a hard ride back to Lake Hylia when Impa suddenly reappeared beside him, helping him with the last strap of the saddle.

"Thank you, mistress," Link said, using the title he'd heard everyone else use to address Sheik's intimidating aunt.

"Just Impa, please, Hero," Impa said, her face impassive.

"Only if you call me Link and not Hero," he countered.

"As you wish."

"Good morning, Impa!" Navi greeted the Sheikah, flitting around her head excitedly. "Thank you so much for the tour last night!"

"It was my pleasure, Navi," Impa replied, a small smile coming to her lips, though it disappeared immediately when her eyes landed back on Link. What had he done to earn her ire, he wondered. "May I have a moment alone with Link?"

"Uh...sure," Navi said uncertainly, hovering a bit before finding something of interest in the camp to look at (soldiers cleaning their armour).

"Is there something wrong?" Link asked, suddenly worried. Surely he hadn't done anything to piss her off? Or had he? He couldn't remember. He gulped as Impa stepped close enough to whisper.

"Whatever you do with my nephew and the princess is your own business," she said, "as long as it does not result in something that could cause a scandal. I trust Sheik not to be stupid enough to do so, and I've made certain Zelda understands what is acceptable and what isn't. You, however, I do not know well enough. Do you truly understand the seriousness of what you have gotten yourself into?"

Link met her gaze, but could not hold it. It wasn't anger that had him flinch, however—it was the worry and love he could see in the Sheikah's eyes.

"Sheik is my blood," Impa continued. "Zelda is as good as. I raised those two as my own, and I will not allow anything to put either of them at risk. Discretion is paramount, as is caution, in all your...affairs. Keep this in mind, and everything will be fine. Do not, however, and I will take action—prophecy or not, chosen by the Goddesses be damned."

It was a warning, certainly, but her voice was perfectly calm. Her eyes held a hint of warning now, but Link could easily see it was all borne from concern. Concern for those she considered family.

"I won't let anything put them at risk either," Link said solemnly. "I swear."

"Then we will not have any problems, Link," Impa said, stepping back, which finally allowed Link to release the tension that had built up from the moment she'd shown up. "I wish you the best of luck on your journey to Lake Hylia, and I pray we will meet again when you return."

"How long have you known?" Link wanted to kick himself for asking, Sheik's confident reveal of his aunt's ignorance of their...arrangement had clearly been faulty...and he was curious. "About...you know..."

"From the very beginning," Impa said, rolling her eyes. "Clever they might be, but I've known them both since they were but babes. They cannot hide anything from me." She paused. "I suppose that includes you too, now. Remember that, Link. For everyone's sake."

"Why haven't you stopped it, if it's so dangerous?"

"It is a long story," Impa said. "Short version is, I have no idea how this war will end. There is a prophecy, but I know not if it will come true. There are only two outcomes—either we win, or we lose. And if it is the latter, I'd rather they find some semblance of comfort and happiness in each other before the end. They deserve as much. You deserve as much. That is all I will say on the matter. Happy trails, Hero."

As Link rode off, he wondered if that was as close to a blessing he'd ever get from Impa. It probably was. She was not happy about the situation, clearly, but understood what it meant to her charges and would let them continue as long as no...problems arose. It made Link nervous, thinking about what Impa would do if, indeed, such a problem came into being. Something very unpleasant, no doubt.

But the thought of Sheik and Zelda, arms open and inviting him into the warmth, soon took over...and the Hero of Time found himself urging Epona to gallop faster.

The sooner he solved the mystery, the sooner he could be back.

Threesome pairing again! As if Zelda and Sheik could hide something so significant from Impa!

Like the story? Please leave a review!