3. Heat Rash
I couldn't keep him. That was the worst part. I'd known from the beginning that Link would be leaving once he'd saved the world, but now... now that I wanted to be with him forever... the thought was excruciatingly painful.
'You are a fool," I said to myself. 'An utter and complete fool. You had to do it, didn't you Sheik? You had to fall in love with the one man that you know for a fact won't be around forever. And, oh yeah! He thinks you're a guy! Sheik. You suck.
'He could get himself killed too!' I realized suddenly. 'He could be killed by one of those damn Temple-monsters, or Twinrova, or Ganon even! All those people are actively trying to kill him! Dammit, you're an idiot Sheik!'
But the worst part was, I was so horny I couldn't even think.
The Ocarina of Time was on the move. Again. Dammit.
I had to follow it, naturally, because it was my job to help Link. My self-appointed job yes, but one that I intended to fulfill anyway. After all, I had to help the man I loved. Dammit.
Link was in the Goron village, a place that I knew was mostly empty. The Gorons had been captured and taken to Death Mountain a few days ago. I'd gone up and checked it out at the time, but seeing that it wouldn't be hard to free them, I tipped off Darunia and left it to him.
Now Link was headed up there and I was heading to meet him. Quickly, I started thinking of a way to describe the Bolero of Fire. Rauru had once said that the Bolero of Fire was dedicated to passion. That was a bit too risque for me, so I thought I would tell him it was dedicated to power. Yeah, that would work.
Then, in the crater, sweating myself to death, I saw him. And I forgot everything.
I gulped hard, then jumped down.
"Holy crap Shiek!" Link exclaimed. "You scared me!"
I ignored his comment and said my speech. It was hard enough just seeing him, he was so gorgeous, I couldn't say anything that wasn't rehearsed. "It is something that grows over time, a true friendship. A feeling in the heart that becomes stronger over time. The passion of friendship will soon blossom into a righteous power and through it, you will know which way to go… This song is dedicated to the power of the heart, listen to the Bolero of Fire."
I played and he listened, then played along. Just like the other times the power of the music was between us, but this time I felt something else too. I could have killed myself for saying what I did about the power of the heart, but as we played together I could feel it. There was a connection between us, and I knew he had to feel it too.
Once we stopped playing he started towards me. I wanted to talk to him, to be near him, to tell him who I was and how much he meant to me, but it would ruin everything. So before he could even take two steps I called up a wall of fire and blocked his path.
"Hey!"
"Link…I'll see you again," I said, then vanished.
I started swearing again outside the crater. He'd tried to come toward me, and despite my startling him he'd seemed genuinely happy to see me. Why did it have to be this way? Why'd I have to decide cross-dressing would be the best way to hide from Ganon? And, most importantly, why had the gods decided to give me the love of my life, and the knowledge that he would soon be gone?!
I'm normally a fairly upbeat person, but all this was bringing my bubbly blonde self down. I needed to get my mind off of this. And, judging by the cold wind coming from Zora's Fountain, that would be the perfect place to start.