AN: When Zelda does something, she's not physically doing it, she's just thinking about it, and Sheik gets the gist of what she's doing. And when he puts up the mental barrier from Zelda's OOC dirty joke, it's basically like he puts duct-tape over her mouth or something. Mental duct-tape. :D

Am I getting better with chapter length?

Chapter 7 - A New Home

Sheik looked mildly confused, then he realized that his face was exposed. He put down his tea and hurriedly placed his hands over the right side of his face, trying his best to cover the dark scar that began on his jaw and lower cheek.

"I'm sorry, I forgot, I'm just so used to being by myself when I'm at home…" he explained. He used one hand to hastily pull the mask back over his face. "I try to keep it covered as much as I can, because it tends to freak people out, but…"

Sheik looked at the surface of his tea, a little too embarrassed to say anything else.

"…it doesn't bother me, Sheik." He looked up as Lynna lightly touched the back of his hand. "And it's not my business how you got it. I'm sorry."

He smiled without realizing it. "Don't be sorry, it's fine," he replied softly.

Zelda mimed reading something. .:It says here in the script that this is the part where you jump over the table to make out with her. Whenever you're ready. No pressure, Sheik…:.

He sighed heavily as he delicately moved his hand out from under hers. I really hate you sometimes, Princess…

"Your tea is getting cold. You should finish it soon. Unless it's supposed to get cold? I don't know…" Sheik's fingertips hovered hesitantly at the edge of his mask. "Oh, come on, now. It doesn't bother me at all! In fact, I will go so far as to say I like your scar! It adds character." Without further ado, she reached over the table and pulled down his mask. He shuddered slightly as her cool fingers grazed his scar. She settled back into her seat and stared determinedly at him. He had no choice but to down the tea under her scrutiny.

"You said before that you have a brother, right?" Sheik asked, after gulping down the last mouthful. Lynna nodded. "We should probably let him know that you're safe, and we can see if you might be able to stay with him."

"I have no idea where he is. He said he would write, but I haven't heard from him for probably four years now. I think he might be…" her voice trailed off and she avoided his gaze for a moment before continuing, "And anyway, I don't think his house could fit so much as two children living in it, let alone two teenagers."

"Oh…" Sheik paused for a moment, then blurted out, "You can stay here with me, then."

The Princess' guffawing was the only sound in the brief silence that followed.

"…really? But you've already helped me so much…" Lynna sounded hopeful, almost like she had been waiting for him to ask.

He fidgeted with his empty tea cup, furious with himself for offering without thinking. It was too late to back down now. "Well…yeah. If you have nowhere else to go, and if you trust me enough to live with me…"

"Sheik, I've already trusted you with my life. What more would I have to lose?" she replied with a smile.

Zelda laughed mischievously, .:Oh, I can think of something she could 'lose'…:.

I would never…!

.:Re-lax, loverboy…it was just a joke. And besides, I never said it was you that would--:.

I THINK YOU'VE SAID QUITE ENOUGH FOR ONE DAY, PRINCESS. And with that, Sheik hastily put a mental barrier between his mind and Zelda's. He could still hear her speaking to him, but her voice was severely muffled to the point where he couldn't understand her.

"You look upset. Did I say something wrong?" Lynna asked.

"What?…oh, no, not at all. I was just thinking about something." He collected their cups and put them in the sink to fill the awkward silence. "Well, if you're going to be living here, I might as well give you a little tour of the place…"

Sheik offered her his hand. She placed her hand in his and let him pull her up out of the chair. He couldn't deny that he felt a slight reluctance in allowing her hand to slip out of his.

"You've already seen the spare bedroom, which I guess is your room now…we're in the kitchen now," He gestured towards a large, thick-walled cabinet in the corner. "That's the pantry. You can help yourself to anything in it. Dishes, glasses, and pots are up here--" he pointed to the same row of shelves that he got the tea cups from, "--if you want to cook anything."

He walked out of the kitchen and opened the door to the room next to Lynna's. It was the same as the other room, except it looked more lived-in and it had a few shelves with instruments on them. "This is my room, nothing too exciting…if you know how to play anything, you are more than welcome to use the instruments as long as you're careful with them. And if I'm in here and you need to talk to me, just knock first if the door is closed."

Next, Sheik led her to the door at the end of the hallway. He opened it, and there was another door directly in front and a set of stairs to the left. "This is the bathroom, should you have to, well, you know…" He nodded his head towards the door in front of him, then climbed the steps, leading Lynna up to the second floor.

"…and this is my favorite room in the house."

The second floor was one big, open room. There was one large window that was the entire height and almost the entire width of the wall, which currently offered a breathtaking view of the setting sun. Two of the walls had bookshelves piled high with books, figurines, and scraps of paper. The wall opposite the window had what seemed to be sketches and music scores pinned all over its surface. The only other furniture in the room was a couch facing the window, and a desk against the paper-covered wall.

"Feel free to read anything on the shelves, just don't look at anything in the desk drawers." Sheik put his hands on his hips and stared out the window. His gaze shifted to Lynna as she moved closer to the window.

"This is such a beautiful view," she breathed.

"Yeah, it is," he agreed.

He didn't realize that he was still looking at her.

Sheik closed the door behind him as he walked into his room. He pulled a small, black book out from under his mattress and opened it to a clean page before scrawling a few sentences under the date. Then, after replacing the book under the mattress, he lazily tugged his cloths off and slipped into a loose tunic and an old pair of pants, similar to what he had given Lynna to wear. He let out a yawn as he crawled under the covers on his bed and snuggled up to his pillow. He wearily removed the mental quarantine that he had placed on Zelda earlier.

She was surprisingly quiet.

You can talk now, Princess.

.:Why, thank you, your majesty…:.

Oh, come on, don't be like that…

.:I will be however I like, Mr. I-swear-I-don't-like-her-even-though-I-invited-her-to-live-with-me!:. Zelda retorted with a huff.

He sighed. I'm sorry for blocking you off like that. Ok, Princess?

.:I forgive you, Sheik…and besides, I think it's just so adorable that you get all defensive about her like that! I pity any man who tries to get too close to her tomorrow when you go to Kakariko…:. she replied with a grin.

He groaned in annoyance and buried his face in his pillow. Goodnight, Princess.

There was something unusual in the air. Sheik tried to pinpoint exactly what it was as his eyes fluttered open.

"…why do I smell fish??" he grumbled as he sat up. He stood up and stretched briefly before heading to the kitchen. The smell grew more intense with every step. He stopped when he reached the doorway to the kitchen.

Lynna was at the sink, apparently just finishing with cleaning some pans. She still wore the clothes that Sheik had given her the night before. She had put two plates and forks at the table, each with a whole, still-steaming fish and what appeared to be steamed roots.

.:Well, that explains the fish smell…:. Zelda remarked.

"What's all of this, now?" Sheik asked with raised eyebrows.

Lynna gave a start, dropping the pan she was cleaning. She turned to him, and her face seemed to have a slight pinkish hue to it. He assumed it was from the heat of cooking. "Oh! You startled me!" She smiled shyly before answering his question, "Um…I made us some breakfast. Is that ok?"

.:Aw, I think she likes you, Sheik…you know that they say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach…:. the Princess smirked.

He chose not to respond to her comment. "Of course it's ok…how did you make this? I didn't think I had any fish lying around in here…"

"I got them from the stream. And I found the roots a little bit upstream, by a nice little spring."

He now noticed that the bottoms of her pants had been rolled up to halfway up her calf, and that for about an inch above that, the pants were wet. He walked to the table and sat down. "This must've taken a while…how long have you been awake?"

Lynna looked pensive for a moment as she sat down across from him, then she replied, "I don't know…a few hours, maybe?"

"Really? But the sun is only coming up just now,"

She shrugged. "I guess I'm just an early riser." She picked up her fork, pulled a forkful of meat off of her fish, and took a bite. "Ah, perfect…" she sighed with a smile.

Sheik pulled some meat off of his fish. "You know, I've never had fish for breakfast before. I guess it's a Zora thing?" he said.

"I suppose so…what do Hylians usually have for breakfast, if not fish?"

"Well," he mumbled through a mouthful of fish, "Usually something like eggs, pancakes, sausage, or cereal…things like that." He swallowed. "This is exceptionally tasty, by the way. How did you learn to cook? I thought Zoras only ate raw food."

"I had to teach myself. You see, I got really sick once when I was little from the raw fish, so I had to learn how to cook so that I wouldn't get sick again." She shuddered slightly at the memory of the horrible case of food poisoning that she'd had. "I'm glad you like it, anyway…the Zoras always thought that cooking made the fish taste horrible."

"That's their loss, then," he said as he took another mouthful of fish. For the next few minutes, there was silence as they each ate.

"…I have to re-learn everything, don't I?"

Sheik looked up from his now-empty plate. Lynna had a curiously sad expression on her face. She continued, "I mean, just about everything I've known up until now is just…gone. The Zoras…The Domain…" Her breathing quickened slightly. "And Hylians are so different from them, from me…what if I don't fit in? What if everyone rejects me? What if--"

"Oh, stop it! Just because the Zoras didn't treat you well doesn't mean that the rest of the world won't! And I'll teach you anything you want to know about Hylian society, so don't worry about it, ok?"

"But…"

"Not another word! I mean it!" She shrank back at his retort. He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and said softly, "I'll watch over you. I promise."

He felt a slight flutter in his stomach as she lightly placed her hand over his and gave it a little squeeze. "Thank you, Sheik."

.:I guess Sheikah fall just as hard and fast as Hylians, hm?:. Zelda's voice didn't have the usual teasing tone to it.

He didn't respond immediately.

…I guess we do, Princess.