Link stared into the flames, considering his plan for the morning.

He'd built a small fire to keep Sheik warm and covered him with a rough traveler's cloak. He hoped that would be enough for now.

"Link?" Navi hovered beside his face.

"Mm?" he glanced up at the glowing body, his vision spotty from the fire.

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking," he whispered, sighing, "he lost a lot of blood."

"Will he live?"

"Probably. If we can get him to Kakariko tomorrow, the witch should be able to help him."

Navi landed on Link's foot, "Shouldn't we track down Impa?"

"I thought she went to the Sacred Realm."

"Me too," Navi shrugged, the motion barely visible through her blue light, "but I remember two of the Gerudos talking about her. Like she was still here."

"Why would we track her down, anyway?"

"What are you, stupid?" Navi flitted up to his face, "Impa used to call herself the last Sheikah, right?"

"...right." Link leaned away from the fairy.

"So, he calls himself the last Sheikah," her tiny arm pointed at Sheik, "which means they're probably related!"

Link blinked at her, "You think he's..."

"I don't know," Navi snapped, "but they both do the mysterious thing."

"Navi," Link chuckled, "I think all Sheikah are like that."

The fire cracked loudly, causing Link's hand to twitch toward his sword. Navi flew over him, landing on his head.

"You're really nervous tonight," she noted.

"Very perceptive, Navi," Link yawned, fingering his earring, "we've really got a strong psychic connection going."

She punched the top of his head, "Hush up, you!"

A moaning sound from across the fire drew the attention of the Hero and his fairy. Sheik stirred, eyes opening slowly.

Link stood up and moved toward the Sheikah, crouching beside the injured man.

"You alright?" Link asked.

Sheik stared at him for a moment, disoriented. He moved as if to sit up, but Link laid a hand on his good shoulder.

"Stay down," he pushed the Sheikah softly back, "you're hurt pretty badly."

Sheik licked dry lips, turning his head away from the fire, "Then why ask... if I'm alright."

Link considered it, "Good question."

"I---" Sheik froze as he moved in a painful direction. His good hand found its way to his side, pushing back the cloak, "Din..."

Link waited patiently as Sheik regained the ability to speak.

"I suppose," Sheik finally gasped, "this makes us even."

"No," Link smiled, "You've saved my life twice today. I've returned the favor only once."

"And... a half," Sheik coughed.

Link smiled again. A gentle silence drew out as the fire crackled, sending sparks into the air. Sheik looked at it for a long moment.

"Thank you," he finally said.

Link glanced sideways at him, "You expected me to leave you for dead?"

"No..." Sheik said nothing more, pausing to brace himself against the pain.

"Sheik?"

He looked to Link, "...yes?"

"Who are you?"

For the first time in the history of their acquaintance, Sheik smiled, "In what sense?"

Link sat down in the dirt beside the Sheikah, "You said you were the last Sheikah. Are you... Impa's son?"

"She raised me," Sheik answered ambiguously, weak smile fading.

Link sighed lightly and moved on, "Why are you helping me?"

Sheik looked at him, a faint amusement in his eyes, "You tell me."

Unsure how to respond to this answer, Link looked away. He had a feeling he wouldn't be getting any useful information from the Sheikah.

"You said you knew where Zelda was," he said bluntly, "so where is she?"

"Hero," Sheik fought back a groan of pain, "ours... may not be the only ears present."

Link let out a frustrated noise, "Is she safe?"

"Yes," Sheik breathed.

"Thank you."

"... she is injured."

"What?"

Sheik met Link's furious stare, "The enemy has not found her... The archer had no knowledge of her identity."

"Will she... is she going to be alright?"

"I... I hope so," Sheik said heavily, voice deepening as his hand reached for his battered shoulder. He brushed his fingers over the wound and glanced at it, finding it wrapped in brown cloth.

"I ran out of bandages," Link said in explanation.

Sheik looked at him in clear thankfulness.

Link stood up, stretching his legs and staring out at the starry night sky.

"She speaks of you often," Sheik said unexpectedly.

"What?" Link's gaze snapped down to the Sheikah's face.

"The princess..." Sheik shifted himself gently, teeth gritted.

Link found himself on the ground beside the Sheikah again, "You spoke with her?"

"Yes."

"Does she..." Link took a breath, "Do you see her often?"

Sheik tilted his head back, "Yes."

"Can you give me anything more than one syllable?"

"Ha..." Sheik smiled again, "She misses you."

Link stared at the man, then looked down at his boots. She missed him. He looked back to Sheik, a new and alien thought rising in his mind.

"How do you know this?" he searched Sheik's face.

"She and I... have known each other for years."

Link's stomach tightened, "You have?"

Sheik glanced at Link, mismatched eyes showing confusion at Link's grave tone. His features shifted suddenly into recognition, then obvious amusement. To Link's chagrin, Sheik began laughing weakly.

"No..." Sheik managed, between laughs and winces, "you... ah... ha... not at all."

The expression spreading across Sheik's face caused Link to blush deeply.

"Oh," Link said gracefully, moving back a little.

Sheik laughed again, then stopped, body jerking to one side as he gasped in pain. Link moved toward him automatically.

"...alright," Sheik muttered unconvincingly, hand held loosely to his side. A circle of red had begun to spread through the bandages.

"Oh, goddesses," Link breathed.

Navi flew past his shoulder, blinding his left eye, "Is he alright?"

"Yes," Sheik said, as Link answered, "No, he's bleeding again."

Navi hovered over Sheik for a moment.

"You know," she said, "you look familiar."

"Do I..." Sheik mumbled.

"I'm Navi, by the way."

"Yes," Sheik placed his good hand against the ground, "I know."

Link watched the Sheikah, "I'm serious, are you alright?"

"Yes..." Sheik said, annoyance coloring his tone.

"Hey," Link half-smiled, "you'd better be alive when I wake up."

Sheik matched his dark smile and nodded.

Link stood and walked back over to his side of the now-dying fire, lying down in the dirt and resting his head against his shield.

"Alive?" Navi whispered, "He'd better still be here when we wake up."

Link closed his eyes, "Go to sleep Navi."

She said something else in protest but he ignored her. Zelda missed him. But she was hurt... he needed to get to her, to make sure she was alright.

And Navi was right. Sheik did look familiar. In fact, he wasn't entirely dissimilar from Zelda. But other than some kind of bizarre affair involving the royal family, Link couldn't think of a reason why.

The strange thoughts and his concern for the two mingled in his head as he fell asleep. He'd make sure to find out in the morning where Zelda was.

Sheik, of course, was not there when they woke up.

By early morning, Zelda had made her way back to the gates of Kakariko. She stumbled down a flight of stairs, still disguised. She was afraid of what would happen if she transformed into her own shape.

On the second flight of stairs, she almost fell, and had to lean against a wall to keep from tumbling down. She steeled herself and took a few more steps. Her side was burning, the gaping wound now bleeding through the bandages, and her shoulder was throbbing steadily. Her left arm was still unusable, bouncing gently against her hip.

She heard a shrieking gasp from far to her right and turned weakly. One of the village women was running toward the stairway.

"Sheik!" the woman stopped several yards away, "What happened?!"

The absurdity of the question almost caused Zelda to laugh.

"Get... Impa," she said instead.

The woman rushed off, skirts flying in the morning breeze. Zelda placed her hand against the wall for support and attempted another step. Her head was spinning. She saw her foot, shaking, almost miss the step.

"Time to sit down..." she breathed to herself, doing so stiffly. The hole in her side began to sting more ferociously as she leaned forward. She heard footsteps running toward her.

Suddenly, Impa was beside her, stringing a tan arm beneath Zelda's uninjured shoulder and lifting her up.

"Goddesses, child," Impa whispered, "what have you done?"

Zelda felt her mind losing its grasp on her thoughts, "Impa..."

"I've got you."

"Going to..."

But her vision clouded and darkened before she could finish the sentence. She felt Impa catch her, heard the Sheikah woman yelling to someone else for help... then she plunged into a senseless sleep.

Zelda awoke to the sense of sound only. She could hear faint voices, conversing in hushed tones. They solidified slowly... a man's voice... Impa's, and the witch's... the man began speaking again, and Zelda could almost make out the words.

Her ability to hear snapped suddenly into place, and Zelda was treated to some of the nastiest swearing she'd ever heard.

"Nayru's tits, Impa, yeh're saying there are fleece-sucking Gerudos wandering around up there?!"

"Yes," Impa's voice was terse, "trust me, they're the only ones who ever tip their arrows with magic."

"An arrow did that?!" the man sounded disgusted.

"Yes."

"Well, blast me sideways! I've never even heard of anything like that."

"Keep your voice down."

"What about the Hero?" the man continued in lower tones, "Was he up there?"

"Most likely," Impa whispered.

The man let out a low whistle, "Yeh think he got hurt, too?"

"I've heard he was in poor shape when he passed through town."

"He passed through here?!" the man's voice escalated.

"Hush! Yes, he did---"

"Raven's balls, woman!" he roared, "Why didn't yeh tell us?!"

"Because he wouldn't have stopped for healing and for the love of the goddesses, be quiet or leave the room!"

"He's awake," said the witch softly.

Zelda allowed her eyes to open, seeing Impa's concerned face slowly come into focus.

"Sheik?" asked the older woman instructively.

Zelda mumbled something that she hoped resembled the word, "Water."

The witch leaned over her with a small pitcher and poured a small amount of the liquid into Zelda's mouth. Zelda was only able to swallow half of it before she began coughing. The witch placed a firm hand to Zelda's throat and the coughing subsided.

"How yeh feelin?" the man leaned into view, and Zelda finally placed his voice. He was the shopkeeper of the bazaar. His rough face was concerned.

Zelda's good hand drifted towards her side, feeling new bandages on the wound.

"We stitched yeh up pretty solid," the shopkeeper added.

"Thank you," Zelda managed, her throat burning.

"Sheik, what of the Hero," Impa asked, "Is he safe?"

Zelda felt a strong rush of annoyance. Impa knew perfectly well that the Hero was fine, or the princess wouldn't have returned.

"Yes," she answered, wondering why she felt far less pain than she should have, "He and his fairy are fine. They'll be back this way."

She glanced at Impa meaningfully. The Sheikah woman barely nodded and turned to the assembled company.

"If you two would excuse us," she said softly, coloring her tone with false emotion. The witch shrugged and placed the pitcher of water on a chair, opening the door. The smells of the potion shop drifted in.

"I could wait by the outside door," the shopkeeper said into Impa's ear, "if yeh need me to."

"No, thank you. You've done enough. It would be best to return about your business before anyone suspects something's gone wrong."

He nodded and half-saluted, lumbering frame following the witch into the outer shop. The door closed softly and all other sound vanished.

Impa sat down in a chair beside the bed, "You could change back, now."

"I'm..." Zelda looked at her shoulder, wrapped in white linen, "I'm a little afraid to."

"I understand."

A pause.

"He saved my life, Impa."

"Unsurprising," Impa smiled softly, "he is the Hero of Time."

"No," Zelda waved her good hand weakly, "he shouldn't have had to... I allowed myself to be distracted."

Impa waited a beat, "By?"

Zelda turned her head to look at Impa. Her eyes gave her away and Impa nodded knowingly, looking to the floor for a moment.

"I did tell you," said the Sheikah, "not to allow your emotions---"

"To follow me onto the field of battle," Zelda finished, quietly, "I know... I..."

"However," Impa continued, "in my case, this advice is somewhat hypocritical."

"...what?"

Impa took a breath, grey eyes settling on the wall behind Zelda, "I once let a man live who I should have killed. I've lived to regret it."

A silence stretched, as Zelda noticed the sudden paleness of Impa's face. The princess asked no questions, deeming them unnecessary. She cleared her dry throat. Her body felt vaguely numb.

"What did they give me?" Zelda murmured to herself.

"A strong healing potion," Impa shifted on her seat, "You'll be well again in a few days."

"Oh, yes... about that."

Impa lifted her eyebrow.

"I may have told Link," Zelda swallowed a cough, "that I knew where the princess was."

"Not entirely a lie," Impa chuckled.

"But he'll come looking for me. As Sheik."

"Ah. Well, we'll hide you, of course. Pretend you never came through here."

Zelda smiled, "That's the worst boldfaced lie you could tell him.... Where else would I have gone?"

"Very true."

"You could tell him I died... that wouldn't be too far from the truth."

"Come now, you will be well soon."

"Er... I meant Zelda."

"You are Zelda."

"Tell him the princess is dead. I told him she was wounded. Everyone else in Hyrule suspects she's--- I'm dead, anyway."

Impa re-folded her hands in her lap, "That seems a great risk to take just to prolong a lie."

"Where is the risk?"

"The Hero loses hope. The people lose hope."

Zelda remained silent.

"Did you have another plan?" Impa persisted.

"No."

"Then I suggest you and I hide and allow our friends to uphold the illusion."

"The entire town..." Zelda was interrupted by the first pang of feeling in her arm.

"I will take care of this matter," Impa said firmly, "but for now, you rest."

"Impa..."

"Rest."

"Well, I don't usually say I told you so---"

"Navi, you always say I told you so. So shut up."

She flitted behind Link's head, blowing raspberries at him, "If you'd kept an eye on him, this wouldn't be a problem."

Link ignored her and followed the trail, flecked by Sheik's blood, down the mountain. He sheathed his sword and rubbed a sore arm. The midday sun was burning his face and causing him to sweat through his clothing.

"And you stink," Navi darted out of his reach, "you know that?"

"I'm aware, Navi."

"Watch out for the tektite."

Link whirled, "What tek---"

"That one!"

A red blur leapt at his face and he dodged away, pulling out his bow and grasping for an arrow. The large, spiderlike creature watched him for a moment. It leapt again, and he released the arrow into it's single red eye. The thing shriveled into a fiery pile of ash.

"Well..." Navi said, hovering over the spot.

"Haven't seen one of those in a long time."

"Don't the Gorons usually take care of these things?"

"Yeah..." Link glanced back down the trail. He had more pressing questions to address. Retrieving his arrow, he gestured to Navi to follow him.

"Come on," he turned briskly, "we're almost there."

He began walking again, noticing a bloody smear on the rock wall. Handprints.

"He must've been getting weak," Navi said unnecessarily.

"So he stopped in Kakariko."

"He has to have."

Link nodded and was silent, trudging down a steep dirt slope.

"So," Navi continued, "if he's in Kakariko, he'll be hiding."

"From Ganondorf or from us?" Link asked wryly.

"Both, I suppose."

Link breathed humorless laughter as he rounded a corner. Ahead, Kakariko Village was visible between the mountain's crags.

This time, he promised himself, he would not let the Sheikah rest until he'd revealed Zelda's location. Link had waited long enough.