Old but New

Sheik slid down the wall, his legs finally giving way beneath him. His chest and midsection burnt; blood was dripping down from his mouth and a cut behind and above his left ear. His vision dimmed.

Damn that demon! If he hadn't freed it from that stupid well, it wouldn't be at large right now! Sheik cursed savagely as his muscles refused to move, Bongo's magic raking through his veins. It was almost a relief to feel the rain through his suit, despite it meaning that he was most likely going to be seriously ill later…

He forced his arm to lift and his fingers to turn a doorknob. He knew this place was called the Skultula house, but he didn't think too deeply on it or care. Get out of the rain. Heal his wounds. Get back to the Black King before he thinks his little Sheikah ran and betrayed him or died in failure…

He stumbled into the dust-filled shack, and before he blacked out from the pain and stench, he heard the spine-tingling scuttles of flesh eating spiders…

He woke up to a wet cloth stroking his brow, and for a fleeting, wonderful second he thought he was safe. He didn't need to worry about jealous Gerudos, or rampaging Lizalfos, putting living Skeletons in line, keeping the Re-deads alive, keeping his mind closed to the King, getting the words of the Princess to the Hero, slaying those who suspected or knew, keeping his magic from the King, trying to ignore the Gerudo's hot breath at the back of his neck…

Sheik shuddered and lurched forward, a restraining hand pressing hard against his chest.

By Din it stung.

"I'm sorry," a woman fretted, still holding him down with her hands, "But you really shouldn't move; I'm still not quite sure whether the fairies are finished with your ribs, and you seem really battered…"

Sheik blinked the haze from his eyes, and above him a worried young woman was regarding him with deep blue eyes, seemingly unafraid of his gaze, hair tumbling down in wavy tresses of honey and sunshine.

He was oddly reminded of the Princess and the Hero at the same time.

She lifted a hand from his chest and pressed the cloth again to his forehead, gingerly travelling across to the cut behind his ear. He flinched but said nothing.

"What," she said, playfully, "Not even a 'thank you'? A classic 'where am I?' would be nice."

Sheik scowled and tried to force himself up again. This time the girl didn't stop him, but her hands were ready to catch him if he fell, face creased in apparent worry. Once he was up he noticed that his cowl was still wrapped around his face.

"You left it," he commented lowly, touching the silk, "Why?"

She smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "I just guessed you had a reason to wear it. I don't need a Sheikah on my heels just 'cause I broke a sacred rule of face-covering now do I? Not that I mean any disrespect, I mean… yeah. No hard feelings."

She put the wet cloth into a bowl of water, which was fouled with more blood than Sheik expected it to be. After all, he wasn't hurt that badly… was he? But then he noticed the bandages on her forearm and realised the blood must be her's. He watched her wring the cloth and bring a bottle of potion near, dabbing the cloth into the concoction, making a corner a gentle red.

"May I?" she asked, indicating the cut behind his ear.

Having no choice he nodded, letting the potion singe his skin, forcefully healing his deep cut. She cautiously looked at him, and asked, "What's your name?"

"Sheik."

She smiled crookedly. "Because you're one of the Sheikah? Come on, at that rate I'd be called Hylie of the Hylians. Oh, yeah, speaking of which, I'm Lynda." She hesitated in shifting his fringe before pulling back. "I was hoping that maybe you could trust me."

Sheik hardened his stare, "You shouldn't go trusting anybody in these times."

She looked away, shifting uncomfortably. "But you tried to stop the Demon coming up from the Well. That's worth trusting in someone, don't you think?"

Sheik found himself perfectly calm on the outside, alarmed on the inside. It had been in the middle of the night when this happened! Why did this girl know? How? He'd been so sure nobody was watching while he'd uncast the bindings Impa had on Bongo, restraining the demon just when the Hero of Time had come…

Was it then? Did she wake up and see him with the hero? If that was the case…

Sheik watched her go and toss the bowl of water and blood into the rain, meeting the Potions' Hag on the way. He had to get rid of her. She may start talking to others about him helping the Hero of Time; he was dead when that kind of talk reached the King.

She came back to put everything away, looking irritated about something the Hag had said. He watched her carefully, trying to figure out whether she was really a threat, just how talkative she might be…

"Why do you help me?"

"Huh?" she asked, interrupted from her muttering, "Why I help you?" She paused, as if to think it over, or think up a good lie. She shrugged. "Meh, 'cause everybody needs help now, I guess. If nobody else is going to do it, I guess I might as well help myself with the helping. It's a shame I can't say the same for food though,"

Sheik glared at her laugh, wondering why and how a person could be so cheerful after such an attack on one's home. "I could be one of Ganondorf's men. I could be part of his inner circle, for all you know." Which, he was. "I could've been pretending to hold the demon, when I could've just as easily released it. Yet you help me. Why?"

"Geez, you sound just like the Potion Lady," she muttered, before wearing a knowing smile that made him wary, "Because, if you really were Ganondorf's lackey, you owe me. Ha. A man of Ganondorf owing a simple village girl like me; I'm so awesome."

She posed mock-dramatically, a hand placed on her chest in self-pride.

"You'll get yourself killed, at this rate." By the one she helped, no less.

She shrugged. "So what? We're always at risk now. We're never safe, even in the warmest room, or in your crush's arms." She blushed and looked away, as if unable to believe that she'd just said that, "We should live life the way we want, and I want to live my life saving random Sheikah who nearly get themselves eaten by Skultulas."

She grinned at his frown. "You shouldn't do that, you know. It ruins your looks, if you have any under that scarf." She stood and brushed her tunic off, a blue that matched her eyes, "I have to go; other random unconscious people to save. Oh… by the way, has anyone ever told you that you have wonderful eyes?"

He blinked, not knowing what to say, and she laughed.

Sheik woke from his memory dream, and wondered why his subconscious had brought it up. It wasn't one of his brighter moments, to say the least. Releasing a demon that his aunt had bound—onto her childhood memories, no less—lying to the Hero, plotting to kill the girl that had helped him, not to mention soon after that he'd been murdered by Ganondorf himself for having too much magical power at his disposal.

Wait, that girl…

"So I had met her before," he muttered as he rose from bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he searched blindly for a shirt. It was going to be a long day.

Lynda, if she had known what Sheik was thinking, couldn't agree more.

"Do I have to wear this?" she squeaked, as she held onto a bed-post for dear life, her midsection screaming at the discomfort.

The maid that was holding the ropes grunted. "Yes, my lady. Corsets are essential in retaining your grace. You are also a Princess! You must live up to your title!"

"I'll suffocate before I can 'live up' to the title, you know that?" she wheezed, as the final knot was tied with a horrible jerk,

"Nonsense," said the maid, wrinkled with age and round as a Goron, "All ladies your status and age wear corsets, and none of them have so far, as you call it, 'suffocated'. Now on with the dress!"

Lynda tried to breathe, failed, and so began to pant instead. "By the way… how did you know that I… well… I don't like being touched?"

One of the maids gave a giggle and said, "The soldier at your door gave us a tip, see?"

"Oh…" Ian? Lynda thought, But I didn't even tell him…

"Don't worry lass," said the maid that was ushering her to a seat in front of the vanity table, "Nothing to be ashamed of, like, I hate seein' spiders. They creep me to the bone, see?"

"Oh yeah, I had that once," Lynda thought of Gohma and its children and shivered. "But then I had to get over it because the forest was full of 'em. But some of the venom's good for healing, did you know that?"

"Ack! I'll never go near a red potion again!"

Lynda laughed, but stopped when she got a little woozy from lack of air.

Ian had been a soldier for a long time, so he, like other seniors, had developed a sort of soldier-sense. A kind of instinct that told him that something really, really bad was going to happen.

And it was ringing so much that he worried of his heart failing.

He watched Lynda carefully, relieved that she seemed perfectly comfortable in a saddle although she had complained about riding sideways. She did seem a bit uneasy about the crowd cheering her on, but that wasn't rather surprising. The cat-calling and the laughing and the shouting and the whistling and just the general pandemonium could make any shy girl like her nervous.

But it was such easy cover for an assassination or two…

Ian sharply looked around and was not pleasantly surprised to find the Sheikah in the shadows, trailing the horse Madame Impa was riding on by foot. That young fellow was a slippery thing, Ian just knew, and he was sure that the Sheikah would do something unpleasant.

Lynda was a good child, and the old man was determined to do his duty.

They reached the platform built for the occasion, and the royal family dismounted. The Queen was not present.

Sheik saw his chance and slipped into the crowd, as the King took his stand and began to address his citizens. He was a strongly built man, tall, lordly. He wore a beard and moustache the same hue as his daughters', although slowly bleaching due to his age. Impressive, but sometimes Sheik wondered whether he was healthy in the head. Honestly. His own dukes and lords not resigning from his court at the consideration of peace between them and the Sheikah? At the proposition of equality? Shocking.

He was raving on about the hard choice of giving Lynda over to the Gerudo, that he had been ready to sacrifice even his own flesh and blood for the peace of Hyrule, until his brave wife who sadly wasn't there, made the ultimate charge through a battle-field to save their beloved second daughter.

Sheik rolled his eyes as he scouted the crowd.

Lynda was presented, and she gave a curtsy. Not bad, Sheik mildly thought, before checking up on his informer. Mage Farthin looked pale, probably panicking internally about his ailing magic. No surprise there, since, all the crystals he had no idea he had made were being used all at the same time, draining him of his power. Sheik wondered mildly whether he would end up reverting to his life-force, which would definitely blow their cover… he'd worry about that later. The mage probably deserved it anyway, one way or another.

Zelda was up there with Lynda too, and together they (well, mostly Zelda) explained that the Sheikah weren't all that bad, that they had honour and goods that would make life easy and a knowledge of herbs that encompassed those of the Castle Medics…

Yeah, Sheik thought mildly, feed their greed and they'll change their minds for sure.

He was glad to see that their crystals seemed to be working. He recognised faces of his tribe on the roofs, only because he knew where to look and he knew that their eyes were stained brown. He tried looking for Dacha, but didn't find her. He couldn't help but grin. Smarmy kid, he bet she knew he was watching.

He scanned the faces of the crowd as he neared the platform, Looking at them. All Hylians had magic, even if it was just the tiniest drop. So he could clearly See the Sheikah as blank, magic-less dots in the mist of power, and was satisfied to see that they were all placed in the crowd evenly. Threads of colour flowed from their crystals to Mage Farthin, leaching him of energy to keep their eyes stained mud-like. He was happy to see that he was sweating.

He was in leaping distance. He blinked and everything returned to usual sight, and he deactivated the spell of his own crystal. His eyes turned red, and the people around him shuffled a pace away. He couldn't help but smirk.

Lynda stepped forward to speak of her experience with the Sheikah.

Then everything happened really quickly.

Sheik may have had Sight, but he didn't have Hearing like some Hylians did. Listening to the winds for the weather, or the Goddesses themselves, or getting prophetic dreams was not something Sheikah did by birthright. So he had improvised with a spell that would enhance his hearing when one of his magical wards were broken.

The Sheikah leapt onto the stage, hands a blur. Princess Lynda was bucking backwards away from him and down on her knees as arrows sprouted from his clutches.

There was a tantalising pause so short it was barely there, where people tried to process why a Sheikah would go on stage, and where the arrows had come from…

A stone had plunged into the pond of Hylians, and they began to run away in devastating ripples, screaming, pushing, trampling and destroying everything in their wake, waves and waves of them not noticing the struggles between the planted Sheikah and the assassins that had been beaten to the job. Sheik dived in and rode with the tide, Looking at the arrows he had caught, seeing the shooter's aura. He officially cast all his wards, fusing the assailant's aura into the spell. Pain stabbed at his joints for such a large release of magic but Sheik tried to ignore it and kept riding the tide, slipping into an alley to catch his breath.

He checked the dais and the soldiers had already moved around the royal family, Lynda protesting noticeably about the treatment. The men in metal began to follow the dispersing crowd, helping those who had secured men with weapons, not knowing they were Sheikah.

Sheik glanced upwards and his men on the roofs were flitting in and out of sight, running where he had guessed the arrow had come from. Not good enough. The security hadn't been good enough. He was going to murder whoever missed the assassin coming up.

He took three steps and his balance lurched.

Despite the nausea Sheik grinned, letting the pull guide him a few alleys down to the north. His ward had worked; the assassin would be there, trapped by his own aura. People would be there in seconds, but hopefully just Sheikah. The assassin would—theoretically—be caught, in turn be handed to the Royals by the Sheikah, and then they will have their rights, and he, Sheik, would have his freedom.

He scowled. He couldn't lift his hopes up. Not after twenty years of waiting.

He turned the corner and there the ward was, fully intact and prisoner stuck in the magic web. He must have been back-pedalling, making sure he wasn't followed, before being caught. Sheik thought this because he could see the assassin's terrified face, and his posture. He knew that was what this person would do. She was smart in that sense.

"Dacha."

"(Savir! Please, help me, I don't know what this is…)" She struggled frantically, but the magic around her only stiffened. Just like it had said in the book.

"(It's mine.)" He said hollowly, unable to believe what he was seeing, "(Dacha, what is this?)"

Sheik pulled out the arrows he had caught and she froze, paling, frightened out of her mind now. He shifted his Sight, so he could see whether the ghostly auras around the arrows matched his friend's. They did.

"(…Why, Dacha? You were her friend,)" His hands shook. So did his voice. He noticed her eyes pooling, but did not feel merciful.

"(I… It's, you could've, I mean, I…)" she quailed under his enraged glare, and began to blurt out, "(I just wanted you free…)"

"(And you thought this would do it?)" he demanded, making her flinch, "(You actually thought this would help!)"

"(She was using you! She was never going to free you, Savir, not with the way she was…)"

Sheik snorted scornfully, sneering at the excuses. "(Well, if that's the case, I believe you were shooting the wrong Princess. How is Lynda going to take my freedom away? Why don't you just admit that you just wanted her dead?)"

The tears flowed openly now, pleading, desperate, perhaps even repentant. Sheik doubted it. "(I just wanted-)"

"(Obviously you don't get it.)" Sheik spat angrily, black rage roiling his guts, "(I. don't. care. I don't care about this stupid rebellion, your stupid notions of justice, I don't even care if this whole plan doesn't work or not, just as long as I get out of the stupid castle. Get it? I am leaving, as soon as I get the chance.)"

He took a deep breath and hissed, "(And here I was, thinking you were worth inviting.)"

There were footsteps coming towards them. Heavy, fast, furious. From the shouts, they were Sheikah. Tears fell with more ferocity as Dacha thought of what the tribe would think of her, of their disappointment, their resentment…

Sheik sliced the air with his hand, and the ward dissipated, depositing Dacha to the ground. "(Get out of here, and make sure it's Ganesh that's reporting for at least two weeks.)"

She scrambled to her feet and ran, tears of shame and hurt flowing down her face.

Lynda wished that she didn't have to sit in Zelda's throne.

She squirmed a bit, glancing to the sides. Zelda was sitting on their mother's throne, as if she were already dead. The King didn't mind; he had actually ordered Zelda to sit there. The former Hero of Time found it unnerving.

She fiddled with the arrow that had been meant for her, wondering why somebody would want to murder her. An old servant of Ganondorf? Some freak that likes bloodshed? Or…

Lynda decided that she would find out. She refused to be chased around for no proper reason.

Then the doors to the throne-room banged open. From it soldiers in V-formation marched forward, a group of Sheikah clamped in like meat in a dog's jaw. They were dragging somebody. Sheik looked like they were leading the group.

Before she could stand and ask what had happened, Sheik knelt and cut her off. "Are you unhurt, Princess Lynda?"

The said Princess blinked. Since when did Sheik put a title and her name together? "Um… I'm fine, thanks."

He noticed the arrow he had missed. "I seemed to have failed you."

She shrugged. "Nah, this one wasn't even near hitting me. I just wanted to see if I could do that trick."

The King glowered at her and she decided to shut up. "Well," he growled, "Did my soldiers find this assassin?"

The one that seemed to be the captain made a sour face and flicked his gaze towards Sheik before muttering, "The Sheikah were there first, your Highness,"

"Oh?"

"One of our kind, no less," spat one of them, throwing the traitor down to the floor, "Take her; she is no use to us as a corpse."

The king cocked an eyebrow. "You killed the assassin?"

"Not us. Him." The man looked pointedly at Sheik.

"Was there need of that?" Lynda asked, worry in her tone.

Sheik only shrugged.

Lynda looked at the corpse, biting her lip. She didn't want to be the reason of someone else's murder. It wasn't right. She didn't ask to be a princess anyway. And she was sure that this person hadn't asked to die… hey… that hair… it looked a lot like…

No. No way.

"Who was this?" Zelda demanded, looking stern and cold, "Why would they want to attack my sister?"

"Some of us are worried." The leader of the Sheikah stated, "Some of us think that you want us for profit; as tools. Some of us worry that you will not give us the rights that you promise." He indicated the dead assassin. "This was one of them."

Zelda gave a thoughtful frown and nodded. She turned to her father and said, "They need reassurance."

The King's face reddened, but he did not make an objection. However he seemed to struggle with himself before saying, "Right… then… we shall see to that immediately. No daughter of mine will be threatened by some unnecessary feud while I live."

Zelda was pointedly looking at Sheik, who was smiling smugly. Lynda wondered why.

"Well, I'm glad that's officially over and done with," Sheik sighed, strolling down the corridor, "Now, all I have is a few more weeks and I'll be a free man."

"Huh?" Lynda asked, cocking her head to the side, "What do you mean?"

Sheik smirked without humour. "I'll just say that I'm not here of my own free will."

"Oh… okay," she flicked her gaze to him just for a second before muttering, "Well, once I'm Link again, how about we go adventuring together? You, me, Navi… and Dacha, if she'd like to come too."

She caught the sudden tenseness at his shoulders at the mentioning of her name. She suddenly felt sick and heavy and in no mood for jokes. "Where is she, Sheik. Is she okay?"

He seemed to struggle before sighing. He did not look at her when he said, "I was chasing the assassin with her. Dacha… she went barraging on and…"

She didn't like the implications. Not at all.

"But she was good! She was awesome with those blades she couldn't've…"

"She got caught in a trap. A rope around her throat. Quick and painless, at least."

Lynda stood there, dumbfounded, unable to believe her ears. "But… but I was going to ask her… I…"

"She knows. They all do. The dead are in the air, Princess. She'll know you'll miss her."

She sniffed and a tear rolled down her cheek. "S'not fair. I was gonna tell her so much stuff… you know, I still got those cakes we made on our last day."

"What cakes?"

Lynda managed a smile. "You don't wanna know."

Sheik gently patted her shoulder, in a way of condolence. She sniffed again before asking, "Will there be a funeral?"

"We don't have them."

"Isn't there anyway that I can say goodbye? Your style?"

"Say it as if she were standing in front of you. It doesn't have to be now; say it when you're ready. After all, the dead are in the air."

Lynda managed another crooked smile. "But I thought dead people went to heaven."

He snorted. "That tells me that Hylians are bonkers, all of them."

Lynda laughed, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. "Bye, Dash. It was fun knowing you, even for a short time."

She paused for a moment before opening her eyes and looking around. Clearly she had expected something to happen. Even a little gust of wind would've been nice…

Ah. There it was.

"So," Sheik said, "You decided whether you want to be a Princess or not yet?"

Lynda laughed half-heartedly. She'd been planning on asking Dacha for advice. "Yeah, right. I've still got another six weeks till my birthday."

Sheik stopped in his tracks, a little taken aback. "No you don't."

"No I don't what?"

"No, you don't have another six weeks. You're birthday's today. The celebrations will be starting tomorrow."

She froze, her face paling. "You're pulling my leg."

"I'm not."

"But… but you stayed in the forest four days, I was at the Sheikah camp for a week, then I've been here for only a couple of days, I should have another five, six weeks or so, I swear…"

"Oh Din," Sheik muttered, rubbing his temples, "I thought you knew."

"Knew what? Knew what, Sheik! You better tell me now, 'cause I'm not in the mood for twirly-whirly talk. Spit it out. Now."

He sighed and shook his head and shrugged before admitting, "I'm not quite sure what happened, but the thing is, the forest made time go slow, or something like that. I thought you did it to tick me off, or Saria because I upset her through you. Anyway, the four-day stay ended up becoming four weeks."

She grew paler. It looked like she was going to faint. "But… but that means… if today's really my birthday…"

Sheik looked out through the window, where the sun had completely submerged under the horizon, "Five, maybe six hours till midnight. You should check the clock."

Lynda paced around her room, wringing her hands like mad. She checked the clock again. Just under an hour before midnight. The end of her birthday. The deadline of her decision.

She gave a whimper that was close to a scream, before forcing herself to calm down. Men did not whimper, or scream, or panic. Okay, maybe panic, but definitely not the first two. Breathe, just think it through. Everything would be all…

Oh-dear-goddesses-only-under-an-hour-what-was-she-going-to-do-she-was-going-to-kill-Saria-for-quickening-time-she…

Must. Calm. Down.

Lynda took a deep breath that sounded a lot like a wheeze before consulting the List.

'Pros and cons of Men and Women' she'd written, in bold letters with arrows sticking in the 'o's, swords clashing on the ends of the bubble title, ropes dangling from the 's's and little stick men fighting moblins on the letters.

She wished she hadn't wasted time on it.

Under 'men', there was plenty of stuff. Pros, cons, the whole heap. Under the women, it was a total blank.

Lynda couldn't believe herself. A total, complete blank. After nearly two weeks of being a woman, that was all she had? Nothing? Surely she had something bad or good or in between to comment about? Something, anything, so she could sort things out!

But maybe… maybe it was a sign (not that she believed in 'signs'). Maybe there was nothing under the Women's list because she didn't need to know anything. Just be male. It would be so much easier. Go adventuring and do whatever you want and meet new people and go to different places and Navi could come with you and so could Sheik…

Yes, that would be much, much easier.

She looked at the vanity-table where her hat lay, and all her other stuff from her adventures. The masks, the hook-shot, her bow, slingshot, even the sword the Sheikah had given her as a gift… boy, it'd been real hard hiding those from Mistress Sarren.

Smiling fondly to her clothes, she began to slip off her accursed nightgown, grabbing her tunic and undershirt at the same time.

Ian had been into his shift three minutes when he got a nasty shock.

He'd looked away only for a second. Heck, even shorter than that. But when he turned around there he was, the boy with the scarf sitting on the floor leaning against the Princess's door as if he owned it.

"What… what are you doing here?" he sputtered, his heart racing like a like a frightened bird's. The Sheikah boy had that effect on people. Especially in the middle of the night.

"Waiting," he muttered, pointing at the door, "For the person inside to tell me who the heck they're going to be by the end of tonight."

Ian was going to tell him how ridiculous he sounded when there was a knock from the said door. "Ian? Um… is Sheik there too?"

"I'm here," he said, standing immediately. The door opened, and Lynda came through, wearing her tunic and leggings, the white undershirt, her bundle of things in a sack. Her hand held her hat, and Sheik found his heart sinking. "You're turning?"

She gulped, looking at him with confused, frightened eyes. "I'm still not sure. I mean, I-I was before but then I kept remembering the promise I made to you and the chief and Dacha and the maids that were nice to me and all the hard work Zelda put into the treaty and making friends with Ian and-"

"You're blabbing. And…" he made to touch her wet cheeks, but decided against it. "If you made a Marking of Faith, I can withdraw it. You've fulfilled your promise, as fully as you could've done. There's nothing wrong in leaving all of this behind."

"But it seems so unfair," she sobbed, "You worked so hard and then I throw it away…"

"I don't see what could be more unfair than being forced to remember everything you went through the last… twenty three years, if you want the technicalities."

She let out a watery chuckle. Ian Mayne looked thoroughly confused.

"You need a break," Sheik added honestly, "Now all it depends on is whether you think you'll get one being a Princess or a Hero."

She sniffed again as she mulled it over. She looked at what she was wearing, then at Sheik, and then at the hat that would change the rest of her life, if she'd let it.

Lynda held it to her chest, sniffing loudly. "I know more about being Link. I know what to do, how to act, and I miss Navi."

Bong…

"I'll have lots of freedom out there, and I'll be able to see new places."

Bong…

"I'll wear what I want, do what I want, and nobody would give a damn."

Bong…

"But…"

Bong…

"I don't know what it's like to be what I was born to be: a girl."

Bong…

"Sheik?"

"Hm?"

Bong…

"What would make a better difference to Hyrule? Me running around being a Hero,"

Bong…

"Or me being a Princess?"

He hesitated before saying, "Do what you want, Lynda. Not what you think you should do."

Bong…

"You'll be here for a while, won't you?" she persisted, and he nodded.

Bong…

"I guess,"

"Then you'll help me, right? Just like you promised?"

Bong…

He nodded again. "Of course."

Bong…

Lynda managed a smile. "Just don't call me 'Princess,' okay?"

Bong…

The final note of the clock gave way to silence with a finishing air, leaving Lynda drained and somehow lost and alone. She looked down on her hat before tentatively putting it on, and when she raised her hands they were just the same as before. Female.

Sheik suddenly pushed something into her hands, careful with his words. "The publicity hasn't blown over yet, I know, but I thought you might've wanted them."

"What…?" At first it looked like a just a bundle of stiff junk, but then she realised that they were her boots, only fixed. Horrendously done with thick cord, but sturdy, even a little decorative.

The scuffed soles had been polished as much as they could be, the knee high leather that had been chopped off was replaced by again, leather, but better quality. Not the best, but enough to be like her old ones but a little more supple, comfortable, as if she'd already worn it for a while. There were holes punched into the new leather, and thick cords criss-crossed the gap, making them lace-ups.

Tears began to leak from her eyes in uncontrollable torrents as she hugged her old and new boots, having survived through their tenth operation back to life.

Sheik patted her on the head.

"Thank you," they both said.

Hey guys! Look, I'm really really really sorry this update took so long, okay? I really really am. Thank you all for reading, so do me a favor and comment. If you want to yell at me for being so late, do so. Just please, please say soething to me...

Especially those who have me on alerts!