|Chapter Four|

Sleep was full of the same nightmares he always had and when he woke in the morning, they wouldn't relinquish their grip on him. It took longer than it had ever taken to find his grip on reality once more; he curled up with his back against the wall, face in his knees, and arms secured around his legs like they were shackled that way. Voices howled in his ears and the scrape of iron swords was a physical sensation on his spine. Images of the war, monsters, and bodies flashed in his eyes like lightning. When Sheik entered the hut to find him nonresponsive and unmoving, it took him an hour to coax Link back into the living world. Sheik pulled him close and whispered words in another language. He couldn't understand them, but they soothed him in a way that only magic could.

When he found a sort of composure, Sheik pulled away and asked, "Does this happen often?"

Link nodded, feeling vaguely embarrassed but mostly exhausted. Sheik pulled him outside into the sunlight, away from the shadows of the hut. This time, the sheikah let him help with daily tasks. He set about sharpening their swords and arrow heads as Sheik went down to the creek to clean laundry and bloodied bandages. After a while, Link found he had nothing left to sharpen and nothing left to distract himself from both the lingering uneasiness of this morning's nightmares and yesterday's stress and confusion. Despite it all, however, he knew one thing for certain:

He wanted to be near Sheik.

Link followed the worn little path to the creek, avoiding a poisonous sand snake as he went; they stayed away from the camp, but during the day they came out to soak up the sun's warm. Sheik sat cross-legged on the small bank, tying the cloth to a stick and letting it sit in the water's flow. He still couldn't get over the sight of seeing Sheik doing something so mundane. All of this seemed so trivial compared to the divine tasks they had been handed before.

As he approached, Link could tell Sheik was lost in thought as he sat down next to him. Those red eyes sank into the moving water, weighed down by sadness and confusion. Like always, Link wished he could see into that mind.

Sheik suddenly seemed to notice Link's presence and shook his head slightly, glancing over at him. "Are you feeling better?"

Link hesitated, but nodded. He felt a little better since this morning, but all things considered, he still felt confused and frustrated. While he had come to somewhat of a half-conclusion last night, Sheik's unease after reading the Princess's letter only increased his stress. What had that letter contained that would make Sheik so bothered? He wanted to ask; in fact, his almost opened his mouth to speak, but his jaw locked tight and his teeth refused to pry apart.

"I miss hearing your voice," Sheik said quietly, looking back to the stick in the water. Link found himself hopelessly thrown off-guard. He…what? Link hadn't thought his voice was anything special, although the last time he had heard it was over seven years ago. He stared at the sheikah, trying to see into his mind and read his thoughts; none of this was helping his confused state-of-mind.

As the day passed, Sheik read from a worn book with a red cover and Link wandered the outskirts of the camp, avoiding scorpions and snakes as he went. The more he circled, the more he wondered what the hell he was doing out here anymore. Maybe he should ask Sheik if he wanted to come back with him to Hyrule. Maybe the seclusion of this little camp in this enormous desert was finally getting to him. Or maybe it was just the frustration with himself. He couldn't speak, so he couldn't tell Sheik all these things he was feeling. He didn't know if Sheik would understand or even care. He didn't know if Sheik really wanted him around or even – as impossible as it probably was – felt the same.

Link didn't want to say he loved Sheik; he had often heard the women in the castle talking about love-at-first-sight. They would see a knight come to the castle and they would fawn over him in the most lowly and pathetic ways Link had even had the horror of seeing. They acted like moths drawn to candlelight. That was Link's only real exposure to what love was. While he knew there had to be more to it than that…he didn't know what. He knew that he couldn't be without Sheik now that he knew the truth. Link felt like he had accepted that even before he knew the truth. Sheik had been what pulled him away from the castle and out into the wilderness again. But all these feelings…were they love?

When night fell, he was still wandering. He probably would've kept wandering if Sheik hadn't come to find him, looking a bit nervous. Sheik took his arm – his skin was so warm – tugging him back towards the camp, and said, "Come back to camp, please?"

Link, slightly startled, gave him a questioning look.

Suddenly, Sheik looked…was he flustered? "I don't want you wandering out here at night. It puts me on edge." He didn't look Link in the eyes as he pulled him back towards camp, letting go after a few moments. Link followed, trying to figure out why someone as solemn as Sheik would ever get flustered.

As soon as they got back, Link couldn't help but snatch up some paper and write, How does my wandering put you on edge?

Sheik seemed to get a little bit flustered once more as he said, "I worry about you."

The flutter in Link's chest made him want to squirm. He watched the sheikah break some sticks in half and toss them into the fire, pointedly not looking at Link. He grabbed the paper again and scribbled, I'm the Hero of Time. I think I can take care of myself.

When Sheik read it, Link could tell he smiled a bit. "I know, Hero," he said, using his old title from the days of the Imprisoning War.

It was soon time for sleep and when they entered the hut, Sheik didn't go to the cot. Instead, he sat down next to Link on the floor and said, "When's the last time you tried to speak?"

Parchment and charcoal were pushed into his hands and he wrote, I don't remember. Probably when I still lived in Kokiri.

"You never tried to speak to Zelda?"

Everytime I try, my jaw locks up and I can't even open my mouth.

Sheik went quiet, eyes studying him for a moment, then sliding away and staring off in space. Link just watched, studying for the millionth time, all the little things about the sheikah that he that he never got to observe the first time around, in that other timeline. Sheik sat half cross-legged with one leg bent up, his elbow resting on his knee, his fingers lost in his wild hair. He sat like a statue except for the fingers of his other hand which tapped against the floor.

He wrote again. Why do you ask?

Sheik glanced at the parchment when Link held it up and sighed. "I want you to speak again. I want to help you."

Link blinked at this. Help him? His stomach fluttered – which it did a lot of these days – and he couldn't help but write, Why?, pushing the charcoal harder into the parchment as if to stress the question.

Sheik's eyebrows furrowed disbelief as he read. "You honestly haven't realized it yet?"

Link shook his head, wondering what in the world he had missed. He had been literally staring at the sheikah for weeks now. What could he have possibly missed?

Sheik leaned back against the cot, letting his hand dangle in front of him, suspended by his knee. It was such an open and carefree stance, a vast contrast between now and the days of the war. "You're all I have Link. There's nothing else for me here in this world. Before you showed up, I had decided to venture into Hyrule and find you, blood oath or not. Zelda says that we remember because there is a connection between us and our other timeline. She can live with it because she found her place here. You can't live with it because you've lost your voice and you've allowed the memories to overtake you. You've let yourself become isolated."

Link let the words sink in. Even as he processed the words, You're all I have rang out through his head like church bells. He had isolated himself? He hadn't noticed. He was used to being alone in his own silent world. He didn't have words or people. All he had were nightmares and the feeling he was forgetting something so very important. Maybe…he had isolated himself. A question pulled at his mind, however. Why can't you live with it? he wrote.

Sheik paused, red eyes steaming into his like lava sinking into water. "Because I need you."

He didn't know what to say; he simply stared back into those fiery depths, wondering if he had lost his hearing as well. Did this mean Sheik…felt the same as he felt? Link didn't know what to write in return. Even if he could've spoken, he wouldn't have known what to say. Before he could reach for the parchment yet again, Sheik stood in one fluid and graceful movement. Without another word, he blew out the candle and went to bed, leaving Link to sit there, heart pounding, and endlessly confused.

Moonlight slithered through the cracks in the wood. It licked the wood grains like luminescent, silver paint. In the half-light he could see Sheik's silhouette, moving ever so slightly as he breathed. Link wanted nothing more than to get up and run his fingertips over his shoulder and down the curve of his back. He fought the urge valiantly and just watched the rise and fall slow down into sleep.

Sheik needed him; he had admitted it. Link still didn't know what to quite make of it all. He hated the fact that his muteness was somehow harming Sheik. That's the last thing in he wanted in the world. He didn't do well with considering himself to be somehow broken. He was the Hero of Time for goddess's sake! However, he had isolated himself. That he could agree with now. Maybe Sheik was to be the one that would heal him. Maybe they would be the ones to heal each other. Link shook his head slightly. Sheik shouldn't have to heal him. He shouldn't be broken in the first place.

Movement in front of him pulled him out of his thoughts. Sheik had rolled over and was staring at him with glowing, dark red eyes. Link stared back, wondering if he was somehow dreaming. The scene was so surreal-looking with the glowing eyes and moon-bleached background. "I can hear you thinking from over here. Steam will come out of your ears if you don't watch yourself," he said almost in a whisper, propping his head up on his hand.

Link shrugged. When one didn't speak, they were only left to thoughts.

Suddenly, Sheik slid out of bed again and onto the floor. He still looked slightly groggy and Link realized that hours must've passed in the time he watched Sheik sleep – it normally took him a while to get to sleep. "Can't sleep?" he asked quietly.

Link shook his head.

"Nightmares?"

He shrugged once more. In some ways, his nightmares were always haunting him. It wasn't something he wanted to admit to, especially to Sheik. Link averted his gaze from Sheik's glowing eyes, trying to focus on the grains in the wood floors. Sheik was making him jumpy with that slightly sleepy stare; he looked…vulnerable.

"Lay down, Link," he said softly.

He stared at the sheikah in surprise, but obeyed. The moment he let his head touch the floor, a bandaged hand hovered over his forehead and barely touched his skin. As if those fingers were pushing his eyes shut, darkness overtook him and the now-familiar pull of Sheik's magic flooded his skin. A strange, buzzy warmth spread first through his eyes, then into his mind. It snaked its way into his limbs, crawling down his torso, and curling into his stomach. His body was calm, something he hadn't felt in so long. His mind was placid. Why hadn't Sheik tried this sooner?

He felt Sheik's hand finally touch his forehead, almost caressing him. A hot spike went through his stomach at the sensation, very different from the warmth that had occupied it previously. Sleep was now the very last thing on his mind and Sheik was the very first. His eyes fluttered open and met the red gaze of the sheikah. Before he could think to stop himself, he reached up, brushing his hand past the other's covered cheek. Those red eyes seemed to glow brighter in the dim light of the room. His heart pounded as he realized what he had just done.

"Link…" Sheik said quietly.

Then, suddenly, Sheik rose and left the hut. Link blinked in surprise, the warmth of the sheikah's magic leaving him as though cold water had been doused on his head. Rejection flowed through him…but so did determination. Those eyes weren't of disgust; there had been something there he couldn't read. He hadn't come all this way for this. Sheik wouldn't have bothered to help him or said all of those meaningful things if he didn't actually care.

Because I need you.

Sheik needed him. He had admitted that hours ago. Link rolled to his feet, dizzy from the magic. After a minute to regain his footing, he made his way outside. The moon was nearly full, dousing the camp in shadowy light. It was just enough to make out shapes but no details. He could see Sheik standing near where the fire had been; it was just dull ambers now. Link took a breath, steadying himself as though he were about to face a monster. As he reached Sheik's side, he could see that lithe form…shaking?

Link touched his shoulder, wishing he could ask if everything was okay. Sheik looked at him, trapping him in that gaze again. It really wasn't fair, either. Impa was good at it too, so Link had to assume that it was a sheikah ability. He gave Sheik a questioning look, hoping to convey his meaning.

"I'm fine."

Link narrowed his eyes. Sheik opened his mouth to insist, but Link decided he didn't want to hear it. He had always been the type to charge in with reckless abandon, anyway. Wasn't Sheik perpetually getting onto him about that?

He leaned in, his other hand sliding past Sheik's cheek to push away the cowl, and brushed their lips together. It was soft enough like a question and firm enough like he already knew the answer. And luckily he had been right. It only took a moment, but Sheik reacted and pulled Link closer. Desperately closer. Just like when they had held each other the other night, emotions broke loose and they held on desperately as though all they had left in the world was each other.

When Sheik pulled away to breathe, Link suddenly couldn't. Those eyes found his and they read surprise, confused, but…happy. He found air again and nearly gasped from holding it for so long. Sheik's long arms were still wrapped around his waist and, if anything, held him tighter. As their eyes remained locked, Link couldn't even register that Sheik's cowl was now pulled away because of the weird sensation started sprinting through Link's mind. It was crushing and deafening. Before he knew it, he was starting to shake, gripping to Sheik even tighter. His eyes blurred and he felt weak.

He was frightened.

He hadn't felt anything intensely since…never. Maybe in the other timeline. But never in this one. It felt like his bones would rattle apart and he would be torn to pieces in the process. Link buried his face in Sheik's neck, holding on for dear life as wave after wave of now sharp and aching sensation passed through him. He could hear Sheik speaking, but it was unintelligible to him. Whatever was happening to him wasn't going to let go for Sheik.

A roaring entered his ears and the world was shaking under his feet. Light flashed against his eyelids. He felt himself be ripped away from the warmth of Sheik and into a void.


Somewhere, caught in the nether, he was ripped in two. Part of him stayed, part of him left. The part of him that stayed promised that he would never feel again:

The one thing I swore I'd never do.

The part of him that left promised that he would always feel, even when there was nothing left to feel:

The one thing I swore I'd never do.

Above all, he had promised to himself that he wouldn't let war change him. He would still keep himself. And then he was between times and between worlds, those words had been skewed by the chaos.

Why had he let that happen?

Why had he let it take his voice?

Now here he floated, back to the nether. Where was Sheik? Had he even been real? What if he had never found Sheik in the desert? What if he had actually died in the Imprisoning War? This place was both bright and dark, utterly indescribable; it could quite possibly be death.

But then there was something in front of him.

A thin boy dressed in green floated in front of him. He was much brighter than Link himself, almost glowing. This boy was identical to him. Suddenly, every cell in his body was pulling towards this bright Link with a sort of warm magnetism. He obeyed, too curious and weak to fight.

Their fingertips touched and-


Link sat bolt upright, a wild cry escaping his lips. The room was dim and warm. Light from the lanterns outside outlined the edges of furniture in his room. This wasn't Sheik's hut…but what about Ganondorf and the castle? Why did he feel like he had just defeated that monster again? His body ached and he could feel bandages on his body. Confusion made him dizzy and disoriented. He started to feel his way to the edge of the bed but a distinctive voice cut through him, stopping him in his tracks.

"Link! Don't you dare get out of that bed! You're nowhere near ready to be up and around!"

He whipped around – which hurt – and took in a sight he felt like he had just seen yesterday, but yet not for ages. Navi fluttered in front of him, looking stern with her arms crossed and sharp eyebrows arched. But Navi was supposed to be gone. When Zelda reset the timeline, Navi didn't come to him. Why was she here now? Regardless, he had missed her terribly. He held out his hand to her and she smiled, landing on his palm and hugging his thumb.

"You did it, Link. You saved Hyrule, the princess, everyone."

Oh. That's right. He had just saved Hyrule. Somehow, someway, he was back. Back to the old timeline. But.

Sheik.

Zelda wasn't Sheik. Zelda wasn't Sheik.

Zelda wasn't Sheik.

Before Navi could say anything else, he bolted out of bed. He almost crumpled to the floor, but panic kept the adrenaline pumping through his veins, keeping him off the ground. He shot out of the room, down the stairs, and out into what he now recognized as Kakariko village. He had been in the old Inn, in the center of the village. If Zelda was going to be anywhere near him right now, she would be at the pub. He had to get to her, find Sheik, do something.

He burst into the pub, making several people jump or cry in surprise. He scanned the faces, immediately noticing a group of people towards the back, all making worried sounds. Link moved forward, craning to get a look. The busty bartender and a dark-haired man were helping a young, blonde girl off the floor.

Zelda.

"Ya just passed out, ya did! Have ya been eatin' okay, your highness?" the bartender fussed, putting a hand to the princesses' forehead.

"I…I don't know…" Zelda murmured, squinting at the light in the pub. After a moment, her eyes seemed to find Link, as if she knew he would be there. They widened. "Link!"

She shook off the people around her and stumbled to him. "Link! What happened?"

He didn't know what to say. Link stared at her in shock. Things were starting to piece together now.

"How are we back here? This was hours before I reversed the timeline!" she cried, looking frightened.

Link suddenly had no patience for her fear. There was only one person he cared about right then. He reached out and dragged a nearby table to him, pulling the dagger out of his boot. WHERE IS SHEIK? he carved viciously into the wood.

Her eyes filled with tears as she read the ragged words. They streamed down her face as she looked back up at him. "Link…I'm so sorry I lied."

Rage filled him. He drove his dagger through the table, making a noise so loud she flinched.

"The desert!" she cried. "He's in the desert!"

He didn't give her a second glance. Link ran out of pub and into the night, heading for the stables. When he reached Epona, Navi was waiting, looking livid. She opened her mouth to say something, but Link cut her off, holding his hand out in a stay gesture. He gave her a pleading gaze. Please, Navi. I have to go, he thought desperately. A moment passed and the stubborn fairy seemed to get it. She sighed and crossed her arms. "I don't know what you're doing, but it must be important if you're giving me a look like that. Please don't get yourself killed. You have a country to help rebuild, Link."


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