Chapter 5:

The Gerudo Valley

When I walked into the blistering sun outside, I was stricken by how little time had passed since I had met with him inside the volcano, still clutching tightly to my secret. I knew he had gone back. A strange feeling inside me told me of his absolute absence in this time-frame. The world around seemed completely cold and uninviting without the hope of running into him. Even in my seven year wait, there was still a knowledge that he was right behind that door, waiting to burst from the Realm. I looked around me for something, anything to inspire a distraction. I did not want to go back to the Temple of Time. I knew that the reality of his absence would be exaggerated there, but I needed further instruction. Now that we had lifted the shadows from the Forest, the Mountains, and the Lake, we were at a fork in the road to determine where Ganon's evil shadow would retreat into. It was a tie between the House of Shadows, or the Temple of Spirit. Personally, I would rather suffer heat exhaustion and dry skin rather than moist darkness and… re-deads. I shivered at the thought. I waited as long as I could reason, and sorrowfully warped to the abandoned catacombs they called the Temple of Time.

I stood on the stone emblem, the empty silence bounced from the walls and my ears buzzed with the heaviness of it. Then, a familiar flirting giggle echoed into the room from the Doors. Ruto must have made herself right at home. Shaking my head, I peeked through the doors. Rauru's head had turned a scarlet shade while Ruto glazed her fingers over the smoothness of his barren scalp. He blubbered and stumbled over words while she giggled incessantly at him. I faked a sneeze, catching their attention. Rauru looked embarrassed but Ruto simply looked put out.

"Sh-Sheik." He bumbled.

"Hey." I said curtly. "I see you've met Ruto." She waved enthusiastically at me and came to embrace me. Rauru seemed a bit peeved that I had stolen her attention.

"Ah dear Sheik." She began. "It's been a while… where have you been? You were expected hours ago!" She inhaled in her creepy fish way, and my face reddened. I knew she already knew. Even I knew that I reeked of it. Rauru approached us in confusion.

"You're right, what have you been up to?" He asked, realizing for the first time that I really had been a while. It seemed Ruto had done quite well to distract him since her arrival.

"Oh," Ruto said in delight. "Our lovely Sheikah friend has succeeded in seducing the most eligible bachelor in Hyrule." I looked at my shoes in admitted guilt. She squealed as she had properly guessed, and Rauru turned a furious shade of purple.

"Seducing… Link? Zelda! How could you?!" He bellowed. I shrugged, not knowing how to explain. Ruto gasped.

"Wait, what?" She intruded. "You're Zelda?"

"Well of course I am… you're the one that told Link… in the temple?... You smelled me… and you knew?" She looked at me, her big fish eyes wide with surprise. I suddenly felt a fool.

"Nooooo. No." She said. "I told him that you were spying on us from the corner of the room." My jaw dropped.

"So, you didn't tell him?"

"No!" She said definitively. "I would never hang you out to dry like that, even if I knew!" She drew in a huge breath. "Oh my god! When I asked him who he was in love with-" I plugged my ears as I had suddenly become embarrassed. How could this woman speak of such things so plainly? It was a super power, I was sure of it. I knew what was coming, and it was strange and unusual to hear such a declaration coming second hand from another person.

"He said it was you!" She shook me with excitement, screaming into my blocked ears. I closed my eyes in shame.

"I know, I know!" I moaned. Well, of course I didn't. He had never told me so. But sometimes you can just tell, right? Nevertheless, the confirmation made me tingle to my core. He loved me. Oh, I could hardly keep myself from smiling. Rauru shook his head in fury, and pushed Ruto aside to face me. My smile vanished instantly.

"This isn't a game, Zelda!" He huffed. "How could you? You revealed yourself to him?" I shrugged, because in all honesty I hadn't revealed anything. But I felt guilty anyways, because it was foolish to have listened to those little voices which drew me to him, and in such terrible times, too! Rauru's face neared mine in serious scrutiny.

"Did anyone see? Were you alone?" He asked gravely.

"Yes we were alone…" I assured him. He heaved a sigh of relief. "Well…" I reassessed, "The Great Fairy…" He stared me down and contemplated my words.

"The Great Fairy saw you…" He was suddenly silent with thought. I could see the waves of realization and shock pass his features, then calmness. I shuffled uncomfortably, he must have guessed where Link and I… well… Oh how embarrassing.

"I don't think the Great Fairy would willingly sell you out. But you have to be careful. There is always manipulation." He warned, graciously avoiding the subject of my 'affairs' altogether. I was thankful to him for that.

"I-I think she gave us a gift of protection?" I offered, taking a stab at the mystery.

"She gave you a gift?" He asked. I shrugged, and he shook his head at me.

"Foolish girl." He muttered. Ruto raised her eyebrow at me in question, but I had no answer to offer her. "If the Great Fairy has given you two a gift, you better pray it was her silence." Rauru groaned. He stared at the floor, lost in his thoughts for a while before he shook his head, and shrugged deflatingly.

"Nothing we can do about it, now. Zelda, we will just have to be wary, and do not stray too long from safety. In fact… I suggest you lie low for a while. Carve a path for link to gain entrance into the Temples, and then lie low, Link will take care of the rest, you hear me? Stay safe." He said seriously. I nodded, accepting the finality of my scolding. "And stay away from Link! He needs no further distractions! I caught the boy chasing chickens the other day, of all things …" Rauru mumbled. I shook my head yes, but my heart screamed 'No!'. I muffled its persistent scream. It was about time I had learned to not be so driven by my own desire.

"I will go… lie low." I said, turning to leave. Rauru harrumphed approvingly, crossing his arms in that strange fashion he always did.

I had no idea what 'lying low' entailed, but I reasoned I should try my best, for Rauru's sake. He was bound to lose the little hair he still had over this.

In the next couple weeks, I did nothing but distant myself from Hyrule Castle in the isolation of the desert. I had always liked the Gerudo, but was barred entry from their valley disguised as a man. It made my investigation of the Spirit Temple extremely cumbersome. How easy it would have been to pull down my pants in front of a Gerudo guard and wiggle my lady parts before them to gain access? That was a sure-fire way of being exposed (pun intended). Instead, I waited for sunset, when the shadows were large and at their fullest, to creep into their holding and rummage for clues, any clue that could help Link. The Gerudo absolutely fascinated me. I watched the way they fought, the way they trained… my mission was soon side-tracked by my determination to master the double scimitar. Safe to say I nearly cut off my own nose several times. Sword-fighting, I found, was not my strong suit. I settled to try to master just one scimitar. I could not help but think of Link almost every second of the day. It seemed to be my greatest befalling. I thought of how he held the master sword in his hand, and it seemed an extension of him. He seemed so keenly aware of its weight and length that he used it as if it were another limb. I, on the other hand, felt like I was swinging a dead fish around. I longed to see him again.

It was uncomfortable living in the shadows. I was not naturally a Sheikah, and this type of magic was strange to me. Impa had done her best to force me into the art of shadow stalking, but it was not in my nature, I was keen to the magic of light. But for the sake of my disguise, I had succumbed the best that I could to this particularly dark art and I was proud to say that I could almost pass off as a half decent Sheikah (although there were really none left to do a comparison, so all my little party tricks fascinated people enough to not question it).

It had been weeks since I had seen any sign of Link and as much as I felt connected to him, it was to my chagrin that I could not necessarily tell if he was back in this time-frame. My mind and heart grew hazy in confusion everyday he was away. Maybe our bond was not so strong after all, and I had simply wished we were connected. But then I remembered teaching him the Song of Time seven years ago, and how I spoke to him so clearly from afar as if I were merely talking to myself. It had come so naturally. At times I would wallow in my doubts, dragging the hours of the day into treacherous sessions of self-pity, other times I would fantasize that he had returned, and that he was just out of eye sight, our paths so soon to cross. I slept in the desert by the Spirit Temple. Most days, I climbed the great architectural structure and simply burned the hours away in my mind. Other days, I frustratingly tried to go deep into the temple, only become lost or trapped.

I did, however, catch wind of a particular object hidden by the Gerudo. I decided to stalk out the hideout for more answers. There seemed to be so many treasures hidden in the thieves' hideout, that I could not make out which would be practical, and which were novelties. The treasure I was after were the Ice Arrows. I knew Link had excellent marksmanship and he would make good use of them. Secretly, I also wanted to offer them to him as a gift. It was nearly impossible, as the hideout was so tightly guarded and I could not suffer an altercation with those awful scimitars. Each door was paroled night and day with a skilled swordsman… er… woman. I made my way through their structure, which was practically a maze, by the way, who designed this nonsense? When a small but deep voice reached out to me.

"Hey, you there!" It said. I turned to see a jail cell with a stocky man hiding behind the bars. "H-how did you get past all the guards?!" He asked. I stared at him in shock. He was caged like an animal. What were they keeping him for? I wondered. The terrified look on his face told me it could not be anything good.

"There are three more of us!" He said in a rushed whisper. I neared the cell and drew out a lockpick.

"I will try to break you out." I said. Now, I do admit my lockpicking skills are sub-par, and to try to pick a lock fashioned by thieves was a challenge all in itself. I realized I was faced with a mechanism far beyond my expertise. The lockpick broke and I sighed. "I'm sorry-" I began.

"Watch out!" He screamed in horror. I turned around swiftly, but not swiftly enough. A Gerudo was waiting for me, and she slashed at my side. I collapsed with a stinging slice that soon became warm and dark against my outfit.

"Stupid man…" She hissed. "Trying to save your friends? You will pay for your trespass!" It was then that I felt hands pull me up. Two more guards had appeared as if from air to take me away. I know I should have been angry, or upset, but I wasn't. Instead I was fascinated further by the skill of the Gerudo. How had these skilled and clever women been tricked into making Ganondorf their leader? The answer was clear. They sought power. Don't we all?

As they hauled me away to a small room with high walls, I fantasized about joining them. I became crestfallen at the thought of displaying my proficiency with those dreaded scimitars. I pulled off Sheikah better anyways. I watched the moon from a tiny window high up in the cell. It glazed over the sky and then disappeared behind the wall. It was then that I felt it, PANG. I felt it. I knew it. The reconnection was made again. He was here, in this time-frame. It felt as if I had forgotten what summer air felt like, and it was suddenly thrust onto me. My hand reached for my harp, I yearned to see him and I knew he must be at the Temple of Time. I plucked a couple of strings and then stopped. I had to stop this foolish pursuit of him! I needed to stick to the task at hand. The Ice Arrows… I tried and tried to focus but I was so giddy with joy that I could think of nothing else. I was completely and absolutely useless. I lost myself in my own fantasies of him and fell asleep in my little cell, not even caring that the wound at my side began to swell and fester.

I was caught in the shadows. I could not escape. The darkness I had clung to for protection all of these years had begun to consume me, and I found I could no longer leave them. Slowly, they became me. I became Sheik. I looked at my hands and found they were not my own. I had become Sheikah, I had become shadow. But then a light came forth from the distance and it cast my shadows at length, forcing them from the core of who I was; A princess, a creature of light. The light grew softer, and more delicate. A figure stepped forth from them, and I could see Link coming towards me. I shielded my eyes from the brightness of him. His footsteps echoing in the emptiness all around. Desperately, I retreated to the last bits of darkness cast from his light. I heard his voice speak to me and I could not make out the words. His voice was soft and delicate like the light he emitted. I looked towards him but could not make him out clearly in the brightness. His hands dug into the puddle of darkness to which I had retreated and I felt him try to lift me from it.

"I'm too heavy, let me go!" I made to tell him. But he persisted, and he pried me from my prison. My whole weight was lifted from the darkness and he carried me away. The dream was sweet until I saw him walk further and further away with me… at least I thought it was me. I watched him disappear back into the light as I stared longingly from the puddle of shadow.

Footsteps above shook me from my sleep. The Gerudo had caught another victim, and they shoved him unceremoniously through the hole in the ceiling to land with a loud thump on the floor. I sank into the shadows to assess my cell-mate, but nearly burst with happy surprise to find that it was Link. He groaned as he sat up and looked up to analyze his situation. He froze, as if listening for something, and then turned to look directly to me.

"Sheik." He whispered. His face split into a smile, and I crawled over to him to hold him. He embraced me happily as he sighed in what I assumed was relief.

"I'm so happy to see you." I whispered back. His hand traced my back lazily and he buried his face into the crook of my neck.

"I'm happy to see you too." He answered. I released him, suddenly wary of being seen, and he looked about also. "I think we are alright for now." He whispered. He made to kiss me and I pulled away, seeing Rauru's face in my memory.

"We can't just go around like that, it's dangerous." I warned him, even though I was reluctant to heed my own advice.

"It will all be over soon." He soothed, holding me to him again. "We are almost there, and when it is over, we will be free to do whatever we like."

"And what is that?" I asked in curiosity. He was silent while he contemplated.

"I was thinking…" He said in a strangely unsure way. "That when this is over… we may want to see where… this… goes." I pulled away to look at him. A part of me could not believe he was suggesting what I thought; what I hoped he was suggesting.

"This… as in us?" The use of 'us' as a united term thrilled me in a shameful way. I had dreamt of it before but it was safe to say my dreams had proven to be unreliable in the past.

"I missed you when I went back." He admitted. "It didn't feel like 'my time', my home, without you there." I knew wholly and completely what he meant.

"I feel the same, I-."

"I've been thinking." He said cutting me off. "Sorry…" He said realizing his rudeness. "I just need to say this. I've been thinking about what you said, about wanting more. When this is over, I want to be with you." My heart dropped at my feet. He was so sweet, so genuine.

"You want to m-m-marry?" I asked, the word sticking to my lips in strangeness. He flushed suddenly at the intimacy of the word.

"Well, we don't have to. We can just… be together. Spend time together. I want to share… to live life with you." His eyes searched mine for an answer. Did he really think I would have any chance to tell him no? He must know how I feel, shouldn't he? I had done such a poor job of hiding my feeling for him.

"I would like nothing more." I replied. He did not jump for joy or spin me around happily at my admittance, but leaned forward to kiss me sweetly on the forehead. I closed my eyes and lavished in the small but intimate gesture. I suddenly thought of what Ruto had told me. How Link had admitted confidently and without fear that he loved me. It suddenly seemed unfair to not return the gesture.

"In the water temple you told Ruto who you loved." I said plainly. He chuckled at this.

"Did she tell you that I said it was you?" He said cockily. I laughed.

"Yes, she did. I wanted you to know that I do too." He could not keep from smiling, and he looked about the cell. He found the darkest corner to sit in and pulled me towards it where he could kiss me without a chance of being seen. I was happy to take the risk, and relished in it. He made to hold me about the waist and I flinched, forgetting my injury. His hands came back to him reddened. The wound inflicted to me had reopened. He seemed shocked at first, but was familiar enough with injury that he did not shy away from it. He leaned down to inspect it and shook his head disapprovingly.

"Here." He said rummaging through his supplies. He pulled out a small vial with one fairy trapped inside. He released it and the fairy gave me its strength, healing my wound. "How did that happen?" He asked in observing the disappearing gash. I shrugged.

"Those damn scimitars." I admitted. He scoffed.

"Those Gerudo aren't that tough! You let them take a hit on you?" He teased. I shrank in shame.

"I'm a garbage swordsman…" I admitted. He burst out laughing, and I chuckled weakly with my damaged pride.

"I'll protect you, little Sheikah." He said pulling me into him. It felt comfortable in the shelter of the corner in his arms. The night was fully dark, now. The moon having past its highest peak in the sky. It would soon give way to sunrise and I felt Link's hold on me slacken. He had given way to sleep, and I looked up at him in greed to see his sleeping face. He was absolutely breathtaking. I thought of our confessions, of how we had agreed (in a way) to share our lives together after this was over… I suddenly kicked myself. How stupid could I have been? I had to tell him someday that he would be sent to his original time. But once again, I was so caught up in fantasy that I neglected to correct him. It wasn't that big of a deal, I told myself. He probably wouldn't even mind reliving those years. Maybe not, but I was still keeping something from him and it wasn't fair. I would have to tell him. Soon.

"Pst…" I heard a whisper. I looked up in surprise to see none other than… Impa! She had been hiding expertly for years, it was the first time I had seen my life long friend and protector.

"I-Impa!" I whispered back in excitement. "What are you doing here?" She assessed my situation and gave me that awful look she always gave when I had my hand in the cookie jar. Her accusing gaze bore into me.

"No, Sheik. The question would be what are you doing?" I pulled away from Link, and thankfully he did not wake. I opened my mouth to explain, but Impa was wise and kind, and put a hand up to dismiss my excuses.

"I understand." She said plainly. "But I need you." I furrowed my brow in worry. There was little that Impa could not handle herself.

"Meet me in Kakariko Village." She said swiftly before disappearing. My heart beat fast as I knew how much Impa cared for the village, and what great structure lied beneath it. This must have to do something with the Shadow Temple. I hated that place, but it couldn't be helped.

It was stupidly easy to climb out of the cell window. Without looking back I made my escape. I could not bear to say goodbye to him. The weight of the words we had spoken last night hung on me like an albatross. So sweet was the dream of running off with him after this… job… that I had ignored to tell him the whole truth of it once again. The next time we meet, I told myself. I will tell him everything.

...

Hey, thanks for reading! I am on a mission to complete this story that I started writing in 2003. Safe to say I am long over-due.

Please let me know what you think, REVIEW. I am very open to revise and edit. I'm not afraid to rewrite entire bits of it. I got one request to turn it M, and I did, but if it does not suit you I have also written a T version with the same plot outcome.

In fact, if you haven't noticed, I have already rewritten part of this chapter since publishing! Sorry for the confusion.

I love to hear from you! I am running out of steam as the oppression of my 9-5 job looms over New Year's day. Your comments keep me going. Thank you!

-C