DISCLAIMER: I do not, under any circumstances own the rights to LoZ:OOT. But I own the game… Both of them. .

~Chapter Two~

Catharsis

"Link… my dear Link, I want you to meet a friend of mine… well actually, you already know him."

Sheik, Sheik, Sheik. I couldn't believe it – Sheik, my friend, my companion was here. Right in front of me. After months of feeling as if I had lost someone dear to me - He's finally here by my side again. Like he used to be…

I always felt so alone on my journey despite Navi being there, she was dear to me, but it wasn't the same as actually having someone there. I would dream of returning home to the Kokiri children and Saria and have everyone tell me that I did a good job, that they were proud of me, that they loved me.

But that didn't happen… it never will for that matter.

Kokori children do not age, and so when I passed through the Temple of Time to find myself physically older, I hadn't known what to think.

That's when I met Sheik. I remember being scared of the masked man at first – cautious of who he was to me – an enemy or maybe…

Maybe a bastard who didn't even have time to say hello properly and just introduced himself and proceed to tell me what to do!

It's funny really, to think I had not liked Sheik at all when I first met him.

But when I went to Lon Lon Ranch, only to find Malon and Talon gone, and Ingo owning the ranch, I was furious… and lonely. I had thought that just maybe – despite the ten years that had gone by, they would remember me. But they weren't there.

I had been overjoyed to learn that Epona remembered me – after all, if she could – then surely everyone else would remember me too.

It had been childish of me to think that the Kokoris would remember me. After all, they don't age and they don't leave the lost woods. Two things I myself had done.

Sheik was waiting for me at the Forest Temple – I had been disappointed, because I had hoped to find Saria there.

He seemed to know what I was thinking however, telling me that "the flow of time is cruel" and "a thing that does not change with time is a memory of younger days". I did not know him, and yet he understood me so well.

In some ways, it had been refreshing to play the Minuet of Forest with him – it reminded me of better days, and I felt warm wrapped in the embrace of a distant memory. And then he was gone.

The next time I saw Sheik, had been when I returned to the Temple of Time, disheartened that I had finally met Saria once more and then lost her. It was here that he taught me the Prelude of Light, and more importantly – how to go back in time.

I now could return to when I was ten years old whenever I felt like it, whenever I felt that I could not endure the weight of being the Hero of Time any longer. I could see my Kokori friends and everyone else I had met on my journey and feel like I was important, if only for a little while.

And that, to me had been the most important gifts of all.

Time after time again, Sheik would be there to offer me words of wisdom and to teach me a song and something about myself and about him.

When Tragedy struck in Kakariko village, there was no special lesson. Only a crushed Sheik, hurt by the fact that Impa was in danger and that she too was a sage and like me would lose a friend dear to him. I could tell that he wished there was more that he could do other than teach me the Nocturne of Shadow – could tell that he wished he could fight alongside me to save Impa and the village and I wished he could have too. It was there, that I fell in love with Sheik.

The next and last time I saw Sheik – the real Sheik, had been outside the Spirit Temple. He had called me a child, but I hadn't been offended. And then he taught me the Requiem of Spirit. No other words were said, but he stayed there – staring at me. As if he had something to say. And yet… he seemed sad. Why? I wondered. I stepped forward, intent on reaching out to him, but he stumbled back… and left.

And now, he is here in front of me once more and I want to hug him, to tell him I missed him. To tell him I was glad that he is here in front of me once more… He had always been here, watching me. I know that now… I also know how unfair that is!

Why is it that I had to go three months thinking he was gone, thinking he was nothing but a dream, a unrealistic hope – while he got to see me any time he wanted?

"She-sheik you bastard! Why didn't… why didn't you tell me the truth sooner?"