Sheik stood on the edge of the island at the center of Lake Hylia, marveling as the lake filled once more. "As the water rises, the evil is vanishing from the lake... Link, you did it!" He heard the familiar hum of the Sacred Realm returning Link to Hyrule behind him, and whipped around to welcome her home. But as Link stepped off the warping stone and raised her arms to greet him, Sheik froze in his tracks.

"Sheik! Oh Goddesses, am I ever glad to see you..." Link ran straight toward him, throwing her arms around his neck. "You were right, that demon was awful. It was a copy of me! I had so much trouble beating it, then on top of that, there was this evil eel thing that caught Ruto! It grabbed me and squeezed me so tightly... The whole temple even took me longer than the Fire Temple to finish!"

Sheik grabbed Link's shoulders and shoved her at arms length, staring in horror at her body. She wasn't maimed, but rather, her belly was swollen. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Tell you what?" Link batted her eyes, stunned by the sudden seriousness in Sheik's tone.

Sheik's eyes widened as he realized the gravity of the situation, and he quickly swept the area for eavesdroppers. "I have to get you out of here," he mumbled, pulling Link close and withdrawing his lyre. Link was thoroughly confused, but held close to Sheik as he played the Minuet of Forest and warped them to the Sacred Forest Meadow.

Once they arrived in the Lost Woods, Sheik hurried them through to the Kokiri Forest and barricaded them inside Link's house. Link was understandably bewildered. "Sheik, what's wrong? What was I supposed to tell you?"

"Oh, Link... This is my fault, all my fault." Easing Link down on her bed, Sheik knelt down and held her cheek, all the while stealing glances toward her distended abdomen. "I should have known you wouldn't realize it. Link... you're pregnant!"

Navi flew up in a panic and then fainted, Sheik just barely catching her before she crashed into the table. Link tilted her head in confusion at the action; there were a lot of things Navi freaked out over, but she never fainted before.

"Uh, Sheik, what's a pregnant? Is it bad?"

"Oh no, no..." Sheik reached out and drew Link into a hug, gently rubbing her back. "It's not bad... at least not usually."

"Then why is it your fault? What did you do wrong?"

"It's not like that," Sheik admitted, pulling back to look Link in the eyes. He couldn't help smiling at how innocent she looked, and now how much she glowed. "The two of us, we've made a life together. That's what pregnant means. You're growing our child in your belly."

Link gasped, and stared down at her stomach. "So THAT'S why I was getting fat! But, but... We made a baby? How did we make a baby?"

Sheik laughed. If only he could afford to be so innocent like her. "It's rather simple, really. You remember when we made love in the Temple of Time?"

Blushing, Link nodded. She'd never forget those nights as long as she lived.

"That's how you make a baby."

Link's cute little pink tinge became an all out red flush. "You, you didn't tell me that!"

"I'm sorry, my common sense was elsewhere at the time," he confessed.

"Yeah, I definitely didn't get this way from eating all those table scraps..."

"I know, we're in a fine mess of trouble," he admitted, sighing and running his hands through his hair. "You're far enough along to see the baby from the outside, so that's maybe four months. A pregnancy lasts ten months total, so you have six months left plus however long after to heal. Both you and the child are vulnerable as the pregnancy goes on, and there is no way you can traverse the nightmare of the Shadow Temple in such a state."

"So I'll just take a break," Link suggested. "What's the harm in that?"

Sheik stopped his nervous drumming. "What's the harm? Ganondorf will start to wonder why the hero has suddenly disappeared after flying through three temples. He may start searching for you, and if he finds you, and finds out you have a child, that could be disastrous. He'll use her to get to you and wear you down."

"Well then, her father will have to protect her," Link snapped back, wrapping her arms around her belly. "Or if it's a boy, he'll need his father to look after him just the same!"

"Don't worry, Papa won't be going anywhere," Sheik assured her, smiling at how Link instantly fell into Mommy Mode despite not knowing the first thing about motherhood. "What I am concerned about though is how we're going to take you out of the picture for the time being." Sheik looked to Link, and spied the fresh scar on her forearm. "Hm, maybe I'll spread a rumor that you were injured in the fight with Morpha."

"Huh?"

"Yes... You were hurt so badly by the combined fights with your shadow and the demon of the Water Temple, that you'll be out of commission for at least six months." Sheik grinned. "That ought to get Ganondorf off the scent, and it will leave you enough time to have the baby and recover!"

Link smiled at Sheik's sudden confidence, but then a thought occurred to her. "Um, Sheik... Where are we going to hide? I'm not a Kokiri anymore, we can't stay here."

Sheik stopped in his tracks. "What? Oh yes you can stay here. In fact, you're not leaving this little village until you give birth to that baby."

"But-"

"No buts." Sheik then scooped Link up into his arms, and headed out into the village clearing. "We're going to see the Deku Tree Sprout."

"What?!" Link immediately started squirming, trying to get away. "No, he can't see me like this! And you're an outsider, you can't be here! Navi...! NAVI!"

"She's still unconscious, she won't be able to help you."

"Noooo!"

The Kokiri came out of hiding and gathered around to watch the bizarre spectacle of the girl that saved their forest being carted off against her will by a stranger in funny clothes. Mido and Fado were standing near the shop, and gasped in tandem as they heard Sheik try to calm down the hysterical Link. That couldn't be the no-fairy they knew, could it?

Sheik continued into the Great Deku Tree's hollow, eventually giving up on shushing Link. Instead, he walked right up to the Deku Tree Sprout and plopped her down on the ground.

"My my! Such excitement in the Kokiri Forest today," the Deku Tree Sprout chuckled, taking in the frumpled state of the girl in front of him and the even rarer visitor standing behind her. "Is something the matter, Link? You don't have Navi with you, and instead you've brought your Sheikah guide. Or rather, your guide has brought you..."

"Great Deku Tree, I am Sheik of the Sheikah," he began, offering a deep bow. "I beg your pardon for intruding into your sacred Kokiri Forest, but I'm afraid we've had a rather serious situation arise."

"Your fault," Link mumbled, drawing her knees against her chest and turning away.

Sheik smiled at the outburst. "I'm afraid I have to humbly ask for asylum within the Kokiri Forest for at least the next six months, if not for the both of us then at least for Link."

"What has happened?" the Deku Tree Sprout asked.

"...Are you going to show him?"

"No."

"Please?"

"NO."

Sheik nodded in defeat, and pressed a kiss to the top of Link's head. "Great Deku Tree, I'm afraid Link is pregnant."

The Deku Tree Sprout squeaked in surprise. "Goodness me! But you've both barely begun the journey of adulthood! Link, you are practically still a child!"

"...Well at least Sheik and my baby are going to be a real family," Link muttered, narrowing her eyes. She hadn't forgotten what happened the last time she spoke with the spirit.

The Deku Tree Sprout realized how hurt Link had been by the revelations, and wanted to make up for it. "You're welcome to stay as long as you need, both of you. We'll do our best to see that no unwelcome creatures enter the forest. You and the baby will be safe here."

Link looked up from her pouting and cracked a smile, as Sheik bowed to the Deku Tree Sprout in thanks. The two of them returned to her treehouse in time to find Navi stirring, and so they sat down to share with her the plan for the coming months.

"Uhn... What a headache..."

"Oh Navi, you're okay!" Link scooped the little fairy up and hugged her to her cheek. "Why did you go crazy like that?"

"I don't know very much about Hylians, but I do know what the word 'pregnant' means," she grumbled, rubbing her sore temples. "And YOU. ARE. IN. DEEP. TROUBLE!" Navi flew up like she was going to bounce off of Link's head, but at the last second zipped around and threw a bowl at Sheik instead.

Sheik let the bowl hit him, since he knew there wouldn't be any other way to calm the fairy down but to let her burn off her anger. "We've already spoken with the Deku Tree Sprout, Miss Navi. He's agreed to let us stay here in Kokiri Forest while Link is growing the child."

"Well of course he did, what choice did he have?" Navi stuck her tongue out at the Sheikah, then flew over and sat on Link's knee. "Tell that boy he has to go find you some food. You'll need some new clothes, too, since you had to go and get all fat."

Link pouted, and rubbed her tummy. "I'm not fat, Navi, I have a baby inside me. There's a difference. And my clothes still fit..."

"She's right, though," Sheik interrupted, draping a blanket over Link's shoulders. "Your green tunic certainly won't fit you now, and that blue one is looking very tight. That baby is going to start growing rapidly, and you'll soon end up with a tummy as round as a Goron."

"What?!"

"I'm not kidding. You're going to be as round as the little Deku Sprout before baby makes her debut." Sheik wrapped his arms around Link, and rubbed their noses together to cheer her up. "You get some rest. I'm going to head out to Kakariko for some supplies, and to get those rumors started. I want the two of you to start taking it easy from now on, okay?"

Link smiled, and tucked herself into bed as Sheik departed.

A/N: I never posted this because I thought the tree part was sappy (no pun intended) but I do like some of what I've written after this so I figured I'd quit holding it hostage.