Tomorrow came. Sheik watched Link walk back into the wet darkness worry coiling away in the pit of his stomach. He was tired. He hadn't slept, though not for lack of trying, but every time he closed his eyes he imaged himself having to walk back into the temple, looking for Link. He had waited outside the last time, at first peacefully enjoying some time to relax. Next came the boredom, it was taking Link longer than usual. It was a little over a day since he had first gone in. Still, there was no need to worry yet, was there? As time dragged on, the waiting made eons out of minutes.

The anxiety began slowly, tendrils rising up and twisting around his stomach. He held them at bay, reassuring himself that Link knew what he was doing, that Link was competent; he had the Master sword after all. But fear crawled up and around his wards of logic and positive thoughts, slithered through cracks and undermined foundations. It started small, perhaps Link was having trouble with a puzzle, maybe he was lost, or had to take some time to let a minor injury heal. All reasonable concerns but nothing world shattering, nothing that Link could not handle, but anxiety is like a fire. It took shreds of Sheik's nightmares twisted them with his imagination and fed itself on the result.

It burnt him up, tore him to pieces and drowned him all at once. In his mind he watched Link die again and again and again. He desperately told himself that it wasn't real and that Link would walk out any second, but seconds marched past bringing no Hero with them. And with every one the things in his head became more and more real. He screamed at himself to get up, to move, to do something. But the weight of an invisible ocean held him down. He did not eat and he did not sleep. When the second day of waiting edged into the third he broke and worry gave way to anger. Anger he wanted to turn against himself for doing nothing while Link could be dying. Link could already be dead because of his inaction. Because he was pathetic and useless and small. However, instead of letting the tidal wave of fury turn into self-inflicted pain, he rode it, used it to propel himself to his feet and into the temple. Because he had promised them, Impa and Zelda, promised them that he wouldn't let himself do that anymore. There would be no more scars added to those that raked up his arms.

The place was a maze and severely tested Sheik's ability to hold his breath but eventually he found Link. Found him face down on top of a red stain. Sheik's stomach lurched and he made a noise like a dying animal. He scrambled over to Link, tripping over his own feet and smashing his knees into the stone floor. He fumbled for a pulse, trying to remove Link's gauntlets before giving up and pressing his fingers to Link's neck. Sheik held his breath. His chest started to burn, his lungs desperate for air, and tears began to puddle in the corners of his eyes. Then he felt it, faint and struggling but definitely a pulse. He took a huge, shuddering breath and gently rolled Link over. He had to bury his head in his hands when he saw the mess Link had been turned into.

After a few more breaths Sheik set aside his feelings, slipping into the well-worn Sheikah cold calmness that served him so well. He removed the bandages from his wrists and used them to dress the worst looking wounds. When those were used up he took off his cowl and shredded it, binding up the remaining cuts. That done his mind turned to how to get them both out of that awful place and somewhere safe. He couldn't take Link out the way he had come, that would likely end up with both of them drowning, but there was no was no was Sheik could see to get out without having to swim. Except there was, and Sheik was being an idiot. He sat down and awkwardly pulled Link into his lap before reaching to the lyre strapped to his back. It was difficult, playing around another body but he managed it, plucking out the Serenade of Water. He wrapped his arms tightly around Link as he felt the magic take hold and return them to the temple entrance. It was from there that Sheik carried Link to the safety of the caves.

Now, here he was again, waiting. He was worried, he couldn't deny it, he didn't think he could bare going back into that place. He could only imagine how it must be for Link. The things that had been said in the cave bothered Sheik. He was scared that Link might have begun walking down a path that led to darker places. Sheik knew that road. All his life he had carried with him two things. The sorrows of his race, of a people he never even knew, slaughtered in a war that wasn't theirs and a deep aching emptiness. He had always felt he was one piece of a whole, but that he had lost all the other parts long before he was born.

He trained hard with Impa, who always said she was his aunt but Sheik was never sure if that was true, and became accomplished in the ways of his tribe. No matter how hard he tried though, he never filled that emptiness. Carrying it around with him meant that one day he looked at himself and found he deep in the darkest place he'd even been. A place where things whispered using his voice, telling him to let go, to give up and to leave behind a world that had only ever hurt him. He'd dragged himself out of that darkness, every inch a battle, and he had the scars to prove it. Getting the crystals was one of the first things he did after he'd found the light places again, a promise to himself that he would never get lost in the dark again.

He still carried the emptiness around with him, like a weight settled on his shoulders, except now he refused to let it bring him to his knees. It got harder though, as the state Hyrule was in deteriorated the weights on Sheik's shoulders began mounting up. He felt like Atlas holding up the sky, the whole firmament resting on him alone, and should he drop it, the world would shatter. Then, the Hero woke up. Sheik remembered seeing him for the first time; he made the world seem brighter just for being in it. Everyone who saw Link felt it, they just knew without any doubt that he would save them. He made everyone feel at peace, and lifted the worry and fear from them. As soon as tired red eyes met clear, bright blue ones Sheik felt the burden lessen, not gone, but shared, so he was no longer alone in holding up the sky.

It took him a while to realise that Link made him feel less empty, and the longer they spent together the more the ache faded. Sheik was aware of what the Hero meant to him, of what Link meant to him, but he kept his feelings inside. Not because they scared him or because Link might not return them but, because with all the things that were going on, there didn't seem to be the time to express them. While they were spending their days staring down death it felt wrong to want someone. As much as it hurt, Sheik knew there was no time for his feelings to be acted upon. So instead he carried out his duty, he guided and waited and prayed he would never have to bring Link back from the edge of life ever again.

The sun was heading towards setting when Link came out of the temple, Sheik walked over to meet him.

`Alright?'

`Yeah,' Link nodded, 'just, kind of tired.'

Sheik shook his head, smiling, tried was an understatement Link looked asleep on his feet.

`Come on; let's get you somewhere you can sleep.'

Sheik stepped forward and slid his shoulder under Link's arm. He felt strange, kind of inebriated, drunk on relief that Link had walked out of the temple a little scraped up and clearly exhausted, but alive.

`Wha-'

`Shhhh,' Sheik cut Link off, grinning at him `just shut up, and let me take you somewhere safe.'

Link Looked at Sheik, uncomprehending, too tried to know what was going on. Sheik was more or less holding him up, it felt kind of nice, and it seemed that he was a lot stronger than his slight frame would suggest. On the way back to the caves Link fell asleep standing up, forcing Sheik to carry him the rest of the way.