Disclaimer:
I am most certainly not affiliated with Nintendo or any of the "Legend of Zelda" games including but not limited to "Ocarina of Time", which this story takes place in. I do not own any of the characters in this story other than any original characters which may appear. All parts of the story that align with the game perfectly are also not mine, they belong to Nintendo and I do not claim them to be of my creation. I make no money nor do I get any kind of monetary like gain from this story, merely the simple pleasure of writing and sharing it(for free).

Special Note:
Some liberties have been taken with the original storyline. In this story Sheik is his own person and not Zelda. I do realize that Sheik in game canon is actually Zelda and I have no problem with that canon. However, for this story Sheik is a man and his own person. It includes or will include sexual themes between two men, cross-dressing, death, violence, angst and possibly more. If either the themes of this story or the fact that Sheik is not Zelda and a man bothers you, don't read it. You've been warned and I really don't care if you get pissed off for reading something you don't like and were warned about in the first place.

A golden haired woman smiled tiredly down at two bundles of cloth and flesh in her arms, where two pairs of matching crimson eyes looked up at her curiously. "My beautiful children," she murmured, leaning down to place a kiss on each of the newborn babes heads.

A man approached the woman, wiping the light layer of sweat from her forehead gently before carefully prying the newborns from her arms, "Sleep now, Liana. I will care for the twins. It's been a long day, you need your rest, love." When the woman nodded in reply he smiled kissing her forehead she settled down to rest. He carried his children from the room, peering proudly at the them. Not yet a day old and already gazing curiously at the world with bright eyes.

The infant twins had dark skin and sandy blonde hair like their parents, traits of the Sheikah blood flowing through their veins. While one babes was a boy and the other a girl, they looked nearly identical. "I suppose that will change quickly as they grow,"the man thought. For now though, it was very hard to tell his little Sheik and Sheia apart.

The man walked outside of his home, carrying an infant in each arm. He smiled and cordially thanked those who congratulated him on the birth of his children. Impa was currently in the village and he could think of no one better than his leader to bless and mark his children. He made his way to Impa's home on the edge of the village and knocked. "Impa, my lady, Protector of the Royal Line. I've come to request you bless and place the mark upon my children."

The door opened and before the man stood the towering form of the silver haired Impa. He bowed deeply, holding Sheik and Sheia close to his chest. "Rise, Alavan, you may hurt your children otherwise," Impa said, a soft smile softening the hard features of her face.

"Thank you, Lady Impa." Alavan stood tall, offering his children out to the inspection of Impa.

She looked each of the newborns over carefully and nodded to Alavan. "They are beautiful children, strong. I would be honored to grant your request, Alavan." She smiled and moved from the door to clear the way, "Please enter."

Within hours his children were asleep after the rigors of the marking ceremony. The sacred tattoos were painful, but it was always done as early as possible. Alavan watched his children sleep peacefully, the pain of the tattoos placing long forgotten, bandages placed over their necks where their marks were emblazoned. Impa had been gracious in her treatment of the twins, speaking highly of them. She had even gone so far as to put their marks, the Sheikah Eye, in gold upon their necks. This made Alavan's pride in his children grow tenfold.

"Their futures must be bright for Lady Impa to treat them so well." He said quietly to himself as he left his children to their sleep, joining his wife Liana in bed. Alavan's dreams were sweet; his thoughts focused on the bright futures in store for his children. They would be something special when they grew up.

When the twins were first born, the old village of Kakariko had been home only to Sheikah. But, when Ganondorf's reign of terror began, Impa opened the village to those Hylians who had been made homeless and destitute. Other than Impa herself, the twins and their parents were the only Sheikah who had not left the village to give room to those Hylians who needed it. The Hylian villagers were very grateful, treating them all with high regard.

Laughter abounded from villagers as they merrily watched the twins, now fourteen, mock battling each other. Each day the villagers were entertained by their practice. In the land of Hyrule, where Ganondorf ruled with an iron fist, it was all too easy to lose hope. Watching the Sheikah twins in what was essentially playtime for them, brightened the spirits of those surrounded by an otherwise dreary world.

"I've got you now, Sheik!" Sheia said with a laugh, throwing a blunted dagger at her brother. Sheik sprung back, flipping quickly in an effort to avoid the projectile, groaning when it hit him in the thigh.

"Dammit, Sheia. I can never move quick enough to dodge that." Sheik shouted, only slightly miffed. Though the blunt dagger had not hurt him physically, it had hurt his pride a bit.

Liana and Alavan watched their children as they trained together, smiling softly. "To think," Alavan thought, "I thought they would look different from one another they grew older. But in their armor you can't tell them apart."a

The two siblings were indeed almost identical in their armor. It was only in their normal dress that you could tell them apart. They were the same height, roughly five foot ten, their lean bodies strong and well toned, muscled like acrobats from their sparring. While they were both rather masculine personality wise, their facial features were rounded along the cheeks with sharp angles at the jaw. In the end the twins were just very hard to differentiate, adorned as they were in their armor.

After an hour or so more of watching her children train Liana stood, "Come children. Lady Impa wishes to meet with you, remember? You don't wish to be late do you?"

"No, Mother!" The twins called out together, laughing gaily as they ran to their parents. Sheia punched her brother's arm playfully, causing him to pull her in and ruffle her hair as they ran.

Alavan laughed and stood to join his wife. "Come now, quit roughing each other up. You've been doing that for three hours now. It's time to meet Lady Impa. Let's go."

The twins bowed deeply before Impa, who sat across from them on a large floor pillow. They had long since changed from their armor and donned clean clothing. Impa gestured with her hand for them to take a seat and the two did so, sitting cross legged before her.

Impa waved her hand, a dark shadow like field surrounding the room, cutting off any ability to hear or divine what was happening within. "As you know children, I am the teacher and the protector of our young Princess Zelda. She has been hiding here, in our village, since Ganondorf's reign of tyranny began." Impa said watching as the the twins nodded in response.

Impa took a deep breath before continuing, "Before Ganondorf took hold in Hyrule a young Hylian boy, Link, pulled The Master Sword from it Pedestal of Time. This boy is Hyrule's only hope of defeating Ganondorf. He is The Hero of Time." She paused, letting her words sink in, and gave a faint smile.

"Now," She continued, "Link was but a child when he pulled the sword from the Pedestal, neither old nor strong enough to be the Hero we need. So he was put into sleep in the Sacred Realm and will wake when he is seventeen, when the two of you are twenty. The Princess has dreamt of this and of the two of you... and my own visions support her dreams. You will be very important to the fate of Hyrule."

Sheik and Sheia looked at Impa wide eyed, matching expressions of disbelief written on their faces.

Impa smiled before speaking firmly to the children, "Sheia, you will be the Hero's Guardian. You will protect him. Keep danger he cannot handle away from him. And you Sheik, you will be his Guide. Teaching him and pointing him in the right direction. From this day forward, the two of you shall be trained to carry these tasks out."

Sheik swallowed hard and nodded his head, bowing obediently. "I... err, yes Lady Impa, as you command." Following her brother's lead, Sheia too bowed obediently before Impa, "As you command, Lady Impa."

"Rise children. It is not only I who commands this, but the Princess. Though she is only eleven, she is wise and her dreams of the future hold truth."

"Yes, Lady Impa, as the Princess commands. I am her servant." Sheik and Sheia each replied.

"You may leave for today children. Think on this and rest. Tomorrow, your training will begin." Impa said gravely. With another nod and a bow, the twins stood and left.

"Come on, Sheik! We can do it together." Sheia said with a smile as the floated in the waters of Lake Hylia. After four years of training they were on their first real practical training mission. They were to test their endurance, diving deep into the waters of Lake Hylia to retrieve a simple stone. While the stone was of no importance, their ability to do it was.

Sheik nodded, "Alright, on the count of three."

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

The moment the word was spoken the twins dove into the water, swimming down with all their might. Sheik pointed to a glint a few on the lake bed, surrounded by plants and began to swim for it. Sheia followed suit, swimming faster and reaching it first. She grabbed at the large snakelike plants to keep her in place and grabbed Sheik's hand, pulling him down so he could grab the stone.

Sheik pulled his hand up and showed the stone, his lungs burning. Sheia nodded and let go of his arm and the two began to swim up, when Sheia flailed, grabbing at Sheik's leg. Sheik quickly turned back to see Sheia pointing to her arm and legs, tangled in the coils of the plant she had used to anchor herself.

Sheik's eyes went wide as he quickly swam back down to her, placing his mouth against hers, pushing some of his own air into her mouth before diving down to untangle her. He struggled through the pains in his chest, signifying his need to breathe, desperately clawing at the plant, cutting at it with his daggers.

His head began to grow light as he tried again and again to rip the plant from his sister's limbs, his dagger having little effect on the thick hide of the plant. He screamed into the water for Sheia, begging the Goddesses that he not fail her. All too quickly, his movements began to slow as a fog descended on his mind and everything slowly faded to black. He could swear he felt Sheia's hand on his shoulder comforting him as his uncooperative body began to float up. The last thing he could bring himself to do was to scream her name, the words ripping at his throat until the darkness overtook him.

Sheik's eyes flew open with a start and he jumped up. "SHEIA!" he tried to scream, but his ripped and raw throat betrayed him as his voice came out as a whisper. Groaning, he fell back into the bed, squeezing his eyes shut as he gripped his aching head. He heard voices, his father's voice… and Lady Impa's? He opened his eyes again, seeing his father and Impa standing over him, faces dull, listless.

"Where's Sheia? Where is she? Father, where is Sheia?" Sheik pleaded, trying desperately to scream for her, his voice unable to comply. There was an ache in his heart where his sister's presence should have been.

"Your sister... your sister..." Alavan started, squeezing his hands into tight fists before breaking down into tears.

Impa put a bracing hand upon Alavan's shoulder and looked down to Sheik. "Your sister... she is dead, Sheik. Sheia died." She said softly, shaking her head, "Never once did I see this in my visions."

"Sheia... she's... dead? No. She can't be dead. I… It's my fault! I couldn't get the damned plant off her. I couldn't free her! Oh, Din, it's my fault... I killed her. I killed Sh-Sheia." Sheik cried out, shaking his head furiously as he pulled at his hair in anguish and rage.

"No, Sheik. You did not kill Sheia. Her death is the fault of no one," Impa said forcefully, placing her hands on Sheik's shoulders firmly, "Do you understand me?"

Sheik nodded slowly, pulling in air between sobs, though in his heart he didn't believe her words.

Alavan sat down beside his son and wrapped his arms around him, pulling him tightly to himself, "Sheik... your mother. Somewhere deep inside, she knows what happened... but…" He tries to find the words but they do not come.

Impa once again spoke the words Alavan could not, "In your mother's hysteria, she told the village that it was you who died. She believes you to be your sister and has the villagers in mourning for your loss instead of hers. Only your father, the Princess, and I know the truth."

"We've... discussed this," She continued slowly, carefully, sighing softly, "It will be hard. I know it will be hard Sheik. But with your sister gone, you will have to take on the role of Guide and Guardian and anything we can do to throw people from your trail will be needed..."

"What to do you mean...?" Sheik asked, through heavy sobs.

"You will have to live as if..." Impa stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath, "As if you were your sister."

"What?" Sheik said, jumping from his father's arms to stand. He glared angrily at his father and at Impa even as he sobbed.

"I know it seems wrong," Alavan said quietly, "But it will help your mother and it will keep you safe when you help the Hero of Time. When you will be yourself with him, you will be your sister away from him. No one will be able to find who you." Alavan shook his head, biting back his own sobs, "It's to keep you safe, to keep your mother happy, and to help Hyrule."

"N-no... No! How… how could that possibly help anything?" Sheik screamed.

"I'm sorry Sheik. It's the best we can do. You and Sheia swore yourself into the service of your Princess and this is what she thinks is the best course of action."

Sheik bit his lip at those words, a sharp pang ripping through his chest as his sisters words ran through his mind: "If we are to be the servants of the Princess and Hyrule, Sheik. To be her soldiers to command... then let us serve her together."

"Okay... I'll do it for Mother and the Princess... but most of all, for Sheia. It is my duty as a man and a servant of Hyrule." Sheik said, tears falling from his eyes as he sat now in silence.

"I am so sorry, Sheik." Impa said softly, lowering her head.

Alavan held his arms tightly around his son, squeezing him. "Forgive us, Sheik. Forgive us."