This chapter is super short. Forgive me, but that's just the way I split it up. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciated it! If you have any suggestions on what I should write for this ship next, PM me!

The desert had a certain sting to it that no other place could possibly hope to possess. It was funny, really. He stormed through there twice now, this time with nothing but pants, boots, and a lot of bloody bandages. The sun and moon chased each other around the sky as he slaved his way across the desert, running low on rations that the Gerudo's had been kind enough to provide for him. When he wasn't worried he would die before he saw Sheik's face again, he wondered if Sheik would realize what had happened, if he would survive the disorienting confusion and wait for Link to come for him. Would he think everything had been a dream? Would he even remember like Link and Zelda seemed to? Would he even want to see Link?

As the craggily mountains finally cut the horizon, his exhaustion seeped deeper into his bones. His destination would be his current location very soon. It was just like the last time he had done this…whenever the hell that was. He didn't know anymore. All he knew was the sun was perched on the mountains and the tree and the hut were so close. His vision blurred, dehydration finally slowing him down. The jog turned to a walk and the walk to a stumble.

What if Sheik wasn't even here? What if Sheik wasn't even real? What if, what if, what if-

He saw a lithe form exit the hut. His heart rate picked up and he tried to move faster. Sheik caught sight of him and froze. Link probably looked like a wild animal by this point. Maybe Sheik would feel endangered and kill him. That would be a horrible ending. And as if on cue, his legs gave out. He could make out Sheik's eyes, he was so close. Yet far enough away that he still might not recognize Link.

But he did.

"Link!"

Sheik was moving unnaturally fast, as he always did, but there was something different about the way his covered that distance in an almost desperate way. It answered a couple questions.

"You bloody idiot!" Sheik swore, crouching down in front of him. "Link, you are endlessly and hopelessly stupid! What is wrong with you?" Link really couldn't help but grin as Sheik glared at him, moving bandages and checking his heart rate. "You just finished destroying Ganondorf and you charge across this goddess forsaken desert? Why?"

Link really couldn't help it at this point. Here was Sheik, the only person he loved – yes, loved – in this world, here, and yelling at him for being reckless. Nothing had changed, really. He felt whole now, something he hadn't felt since...goddess knows. The timeline was a disaster-zone at this point. He reached out and yanked the sheikah towards him, wrenching the cowl out of his way. He sealed their lips and held on for dear life.

Sheik made a frustrated, but defeated sound against his lips. Warm arms circled around him, dragged him closer, and held him tight. Complete. Everything was complete. How had he ever been okay without Sheik? How had he ever done anything without this person in his life?

When they broke apart, Link opened his mouth and said, "Why would you think I wouldn't cross a desert for you twice?"

Sheik's eyes went wide. Wider than Link had ever seen, actually. But why?

"Your voice…"

Oh. That's why.

"Your voice is back," the sheikah said, his own voice catching.

Link lay on the bed in Sheik's hut, dozing in and out of consciousness. A magic-induced numbness flowed through his body, keeping the pain of his injuries at bay. Curled around him was a thin, strong body, holding him close and still. Even though Sheik was still mad at him, he was happy. Blissfully happy. The hole in his chest, the ache in his heart, and the haunting images and nightmares in his head were gone.

"You know, I've felt like this for a long time," Sheik sighed, breaking the hours-long silence. His breath ghosted on Link's neck.

"What do you mean?" Link asked, the vibration past his vocal chords the second-best feeling he had experienced in days.

"This," he stressed, kissing Link's neck from his jaw, down to his collarbone.

"Oh."

Link smiled sleepily. It might have been minutes or seconds later – he wasn't sure – but he remembered they were speaking. "Why didn't you tell me? Or do something?"

"Because," Sheik replied, "it's the one thing I swore I'd never do."

"That's a silly thing to swear. I've always loved you." He chuckled, finding it funny and somehow cruel that they had always felt the same for each other, but resolutely did nothing about it. "After all we've been through…how could I not?"

Sheik sighed, hot breath warming Link's neck. "During the war…well, now…I'm your guide and nothing more. The blood oath was very specific about that. I couldn't let myself love you. In the other timeline…I was just too confused. I knew the timeline was unstable. I knew Zelda had done something wrong. I didn't want to make any decisions until I knew what was happening."

Link closed his eyes, turned his head and pressed his nose to Sheik's wild hair. "Why do you think Zelda made another timeline instead of taking us back in time?"

"I don't think Zelda was ever supposed to reset everything. The war was already so chaotic with all of the time travel…I think the Triforce's only way to reset everything was to make a new reality. But I think even that was stretching the power of the goddesses. Everything collapsed."

"Everything collapsed when we came together. What does that mean?"

"No, Link." Sheik ran his fingers over Link's chest, drawing patterns into his skin. "Everything collapsed when you found your other half. Part of you stayed in the original time and the other part went to the new one. You were the only thing holding the alternate reality together. Because you're the Hero of Time. You're the pillar."

"My other half…" Link whispered, remembering the weird, fragmented memory of his seconds, hours, years, centuries in the nether, staring at a brighter version of himself. "I saw it. When the timeline collapsed. The me that stayed in the other timeline felt everything and the me that lived in the other time…was just broken. I wanted to feel…and I could. But I was never whole."

"I think you left your soul in this timeline. That was why you couldn't speak or find happiness."

Link shivered at the thought, the movement making a slice in his side sting. Sheik laid a hand on his chest to still him, making a disapproving sound. He wanted to laugh at how Sheik was still forever protective, but sleep was tugging on him now.

"So why were you just as miserable as me when we were in the other timeline?" he asked groggily, reaching around to run his fingers through messy blonde hair.

"Go to sleep, Hero," Sheik whispered.

"Hey," he whined half-heartedly. "Don't dodge. I'm asking a question. With my voice. I have a voice now. So answer my question."

Sheik made an exasperated sound, shaking his head.

"I was miserable because I didn't have you."

End

As always, it took me a freakishly long amount of time to finish this. In fact, I started it January 2012. Anyway, eternal thanks to Toby for supporting me and reminding me that writing fanfiction is the ultimate therapy.

Any typos or mistakes you see, please tell me about them; I'm my own beta. Any inconsistencies you find are because the Zelda universe is the most inconsistent one I've ever known. Reviews are appreciated. If not, thanks for reading.