Saying that Sheik had been a bumbling idiot around Link for the last three weeks was one hell of an understatement. Or, well, it seemed like he'd been making a fool of himself every time he opened his mouth around the other knight. Maybe he'd managed to project an air of competence despite all of the stupid emotions rattling around in his head. It was certainly difficult when he felt suspiciously like he was going to melt into a puddle of vaguely Sheik-colored goop over simple things like a little glancing touch from Link, as if the other knight was trying to say "I'm still here" without words.

For this reason, Sheik was very glad that Zelda had suggested that they take a little day trip out to do some surveying for monsters (apparently at the King's request, as communicated by a messenger) and then visit Sandin Park. Today just felt like one of those "lie on the grass, stare at the sky, and curse yourself for feeling like this" days. Which was exactly what Sheik was doing right now. Or, well, something like it. He'd naturally gravitated towards sitting against a tree on top of a small hill, and he was currently staring at Satori Mountain instead of the sky.

Zelda and Link were elsewhere in the area around the small park itself, as he'd asked to be left alone to just think for a little while at a time that wouldn't directly impact how well he functioned the next day. It had been just him and his thoughts for about thirty minutes now, and the sun was beginning to set, soft orange beginning to tinge the blue sky above. A beautiful sight, to be sure, but Sheik was a bit preoccupied. 

Damn, he was starting to regret asking for some time to think. 

On one hand, he didn't have to dance around the fact that yes, he was definitely in love with Link. On the other, even admitting it to himself scared him. He'd always coped with things that made him scared by running away or shoving them down, pretending like they weren't a big deal and pushing through it. But he couldn't do that this time. Being around Link every day made sure of that.

And, of course, that didn't even take into account the sparring matches. Sheik swore his self-control was thinning by the day, and he half wanted to just spit it out already just so he could be rid of most of the overwhelming nature of these thoughts.

Sheik groaned and covered his eyes with his hands. Why did all of this have to be so difficult? Was it not enough that he had, you know, the safety of Hyrule's future in his hands during the upcoming apocalypse? And after adding his aunt's expectations, it was a wonder he hadn't just buckled under the pressure already.

Realistically, he knew that he had it easy compared to Link or Zelda. They were the ones who actually had to fight and seal Calamity Ganon away. All he had to do was make sure they were alive to do it. So suck it up already, idiot. Quit being a drama queen.

"Sheik, are you moping?"

The abrupt question startled him out of his thoughts. He dropped his hands and looked around in confusion, spotting Zelda standing in front of him. Link, however, was nowhere in sight. Neither were the horses, actually. "Zelda, what-"

"I said, are you moping?"

"I am not!"

"It looks like you are."

"Well, whatever. I'm not."

"Uh huh. Sure." Sheik could clearly tell that she rolled her eyes as she spoke, even from where he was sitting. After a second or two, she started walking toward the tree and promptly sat down next to him. "I thought I'd come check on you. What's going on in that head of yours? Anything interesting outside of our dear Hero?"

Sheik choked on the breath he was taking and stared incredulously at her, pulling his mask down so he could breathe better. It was no big deal around her and only her, but he was being stubborn about it when it came to Link. He wasn't even really sure why. "I'm- you- what even makes you think that?" 

"You're not serious, right?" Zelda asked, staring back at him with an equally as incredulous expression. "A blind person could have noticed how much you stare at him with this look I've never seen on your face. You're literally not subtle. Well, at least, to me. I have no idea what Link thinks."

"Then you know that I'm in way over my head with this, and if my aunt finds out that I- uh." Sheik coughed to cover the sudden hesitation and waited a moment before trying again. "If she finds out that I care about him as much as I do, she'll have my head."

"I'm going to flay that woman alive at some point." Zelda muttered darkly. "It's not your fault you like men. And, I mean, Link is hot, so I don't blame you."

"Zelda, please."

"What? I'm just saying!" Zelda paused to take in the look he was giving her, then sighed. "Look, don't beat yourself up over it too much, okay? Chances are, you've been in love with him for at least a month or two now, but you just weren't properly aware of it. You're awfully good at denying yourself any good emotions because they feel like something you're about to get punished for. Now that you know, obviously it's going to be more difficult to focus on anything but him and your feelings. That doesn't mean you get to turn into a moping romance novel protagonist."

"I'm offended you would compare me to one of those idiots." Sheik grumbled, choosing to ignore her previous points entirely. Why shouldn't he curse himself for being, well, this? Impa was inevitably going to find out, and then he'd be done for.

"With how you're acting right now, I'd say it's accurate." Zelda remarked dryly.

"Thank you so much."

Zelda laughed and looked back down the hill. Her amusement quickly faded as she did so, but she didn't try to press the subject.

"Are you doing alright? You know, with everything?" Sheik asked quietly. They hadn't had a proper conversation like this in a little while, and he could tell that she had other reasons to look for him now besides bothering him about his feelings.

"Not well. It's getting worse. Last night, I... Well, I had a weird dream. You know how you told me about those prophetic dreams some Sheikah get?" Zelda tucked her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them.

"Yeah. Several of the past inheritors of the sealing power were reported to have them as well. Some people theorize that it's a part of Hylia's blessing." Sheik responded, scanning the skyline as he spoke like he could actually see the Goddess somewhere up there. "Do you think you had one?"

"I don't know. Like I said, it was weird. I was having a hard time getting to sleep, and not even the cool safflina helped after long enough. I don't usually dream, or if I do, I've told you what I see." Zelda paused to gather her thoughts, then continued. "I was in a black field. No signs of life except for a woman with golden light all around her. She looked directly at me, but it was like she could see through me. She started speaking, but I didn't hear anything. It seemed like she was trying to warn me of something, based on her expression and the sense of dread the dream left me with after I woke up. I don't know if it was actually a dream like that or if it was just a new variant of my usual nightmares. Honestly, I feel like I'm just making stuff up at this point."

Sheik stayed silent for a long moment. Based on Zelda's brief description of the woman, it sounded an awful lot like what Hylia was described as looking like. If it really was Hylia, then there was no doubt about the fact that it had been a prophetic dream. About what, he could only guess. The Calamity was the obvious one, but maybe it had been something about Zelda's powers separate from the oncoming disaster? Even so, he was hesitant to dismiss it as just a creation of Zelda's fatigued and anxious mind. Dreams held a lot of meaning, even the seemingly unimportant ones. If a Sheikah Seer was to have a dream like this, nobody would even think of dismissing it until it had been proven to be harmless.

"Did the woman seem familiar at all?" Sheik finally asked, deciding to just take his hypothesis and run with it.

"Yes and no. It's hard to describe. I've never seen her before, but she still felt familiar somehow. Standing next to her, I felt the same feeling that I do when you use magic. But it was also different from that, too. I'm not good enough with magic to describe it any further." Zelda responded, her voice getting so quiet he could barely hear the last part of her sentence.

"Your latent magic reacted to her. That happens when someone who possesses the gift of magic is next to a friend who also has magic. It reacts based on how skilled the other person is with magic, not you. So, I'm guessing that it was a powerful reaction as compared to a minimal to null reaction while you're next to me?" Sheik said, now in full detective mode. He may not be good at magic application, but magic theory had always been interesting to him.

Zelda nodded. "I think it felt different because it was a lot stronger. Usually I only pick up on the reaction when you actually do magic, but this was a constant presence while she tried to speak to me."

"I think Hylia was trying to give you a warning." 

"And I couldn't hear her." Zelda whispered bitterly. "If I would have unlocked my power by now, would I have heard it?"

"I can't say for certain. I'm not a Seer. The Goddesses do what they like, and I can't pretend to know what they're playing at. Maybe you wouldn't have been able to hear it either way." Sheik sighed and idly fiddled with the end of his scarf, mostly just running his finger over the embroidered Sheikah eye and the pattern of triangles at the end because it felt nice against his fingers.

"This can't be a good sign, given that my birthday is tomorrow."

"I agree. It's hard to say exactly what the warning was about, but..."

It's probably safe to assume that it was about the Calamity.

The words hung unspoken in the air between them, but some things were never meant to be said anyway. Maybe by leaving it as speculation, it wouldn't come to pass. A child's hope, yes, but one neither of them dared to ruin.

"Yeah. I know." Zelda stayed quiet for a moment before seemingly shaking off the negative thoughts and standing. She held out a hand to him, which he stared at blankly before she elaborated. "Come on. Let's go find your omoi, yes?"

Sheik was pretty sure that his face turned an impressive shade of red as he accepted her hand and pulled himself up. "You're the worst."

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to finally realize that you're in love with him. I have at least three months of teasing to catch up on." Zelda replied, barely managing to keep a straight face while she spoke.

"No way. You're joking, right?"

"Nope. By the way, how'd Link look in eyeliner?"

"Zelda!"

She dashed forward, her shoulders shaking with barely contained laughter. Sheik chased after her (after pausing to make sure his mask was in place, of course,) mostly to give his brain something to think about other than the memories of when he'd helped Link get into Gerudo Town. They raced down the hill, Sheik nearly twisting an ankle at one point despite his natural grace thanks to how steep it was at one point. It was a miracle Zelda avoided disaster, honestly.

As it turned out, she led him right to where Link was keeping a close eye on the horses as they grazed. He'd picked a spot right at the edge of a small forest, between two grassy boulders. He looked up as they approached, seeming a little concerned by their rapid pace. 

"Whoa. Everything alright?" Link asked, raising an eyebrow as he did so. 

"Yeah. Don't worry about it." Zelda winked at him and drifted over to Storm, who hadn't even looked up at the sudden commotion. 

"Right then. Sunset isn't too far away now. You mentioned that the view is very beautiful. Do you want to stick around. To see it?" Link asked, idly running a hand down the side of Epona's neck.

"Considering it is why I dragged you both out here, yes. We should get a move on if we want to catch the best part, I think." Zelda swung herself up into her saddle, looking out across the horizon before stopping as she looked at the metal horse statue. Or, well, the spot where it should be. It wasn't quite visible from here, thanks to the bend that the road took to avoid the hill.

"Sure thing." Link replied. He echoed Zelda's action and mounted Epona, leaving Sheik to follow suit on Nox.

Once they were all ready, Zelda nudged Storm into action, taking a pretty leisurely pace despite the time limit Zelda had just talked about. They rode in a comfortable silence for the most part, mostly just happy to be here and away from most of the stress of Hyrule Castle. Sheik was still fairly lost in thought, trying to distance himself from, well, basically anything to do with Link. He was pretty successful (not really, but telling little lies to himself made it easier to bear).

As they rode up the slight hill to get to the main overlook, where the statue was located, Link commented on how well-behaved Storm was now. Sheik didn't quite catch what he said- or what Zelda said in response- simply because he was just that distracted. It was an excellent reminder that he needed to be more alert, though. Wouldn't do to have him slacking off like this over a little bit of "boy trouble," as Zelda would probably call it. 

Then, of course, he got distracted by the setting sun glinting off of the statue ahead of them as they approached. Rumor had it that this park had been established in the honor of the bond that the chosen hero and his horse always shared, hence the statue. Oddly enough, if this was true, there was nothing to even suggest the hero's presence. Not a single crest of Farore or even a stylized Master Sword. It was a bit odd, and it all but disproved the rumor in Sheik's mind. He caught himself before he could go too far down this train of thought and refocused on his companions. Mentally, he resolved to not let himself get distracted like this again. It was simply too dangerous. The Yiga Clan could be lurking around any corner, and he had to be ready for that possibility.

Sure, maybe he was just choosing to focus too much on potential threats in order to avoid thinking about Link, but still.

Zelda stopped and dismounted in front of the statue, which sat in a small fountain that burbled gently. She tied her horse to one of the available poles, just in case, then headed over to the lookout spot. Link and Sheik followed suit, though Link made a point of staying farther back from the edge. Sheik stood with him, though he certainly could have stood closer.

The view from up here really was quite stunning, and the sunset made it even more breathtaking. Hyrule Castle was visible to Zelda's left, the spires seemingly piercing the orange and yellow sky. That wasn't where Zelda's focus was, though. Instead, she was looking at Mount Lanayru, which loomed over the Lanayru province far off in the distance.

"You probably already know this, but... Mount Lanayru takes its name from Nayru, the Goddess of Wisdom. Some say that it marks the exact spot she stepped foot on when she first came to Hyrule. Either way, it's undeniable that the mountain holds a lot of spiritual power. The Spring of Wisdom lies at its peak, though how the waters don't freeze up there, I have no idea." Zelda murmured, almost as if she was either in a trance or reciting things from memory. It felt more like the latter in this case. "Nayru decreed that no one under the age of seventeen may step foot on her mountain, because only the wise have a place there. I can't help but wonder if Nayru even met a child before she made that rule. Some kids are wiser than any given adult."

"Most of the kids like that were forced to grow up too soon." Sheik remarked. "I doubt Nayru sees that as true wisdom, even if it is technically within her domain."

"Fair enough." Zelda sighed and rested her hands against the metal railing. "In the end, I don't think that earlier access to the final spring would make a difference. I've been to both of the other springs countless times and neither one unlocked my powers. Wisdom will likely not be any different, despite the legends about the royal bloodline and the Triforce."

"It really won't be with that attitude." Link said, a light teasing tone in his voice to let her know that it was intended to be a joke. "My father always said that. Mindset is half the battle. If you go into something. Thinking you'll lose. Then you'll lose."

"There's always the chance that this one will change things." Sheik agreed, looking away from the mountain and at Zelda's back. Her hair blew softly to the left in the wind, and judging by the tension in her figure, she was gripping the railing pretty tightly.

"I would almost rather expect failure than get my hopes up and be disappointed." Zelda responded, a hint of bitterness entering her voice. She turned around to face them, exhaustion clear in the lines of her face. "I turn seventeen tomorrow. As ordered by my father, I will go and make my way up to the Spring of Wisdom, as I will finally have satisfied Nayru's condition. The matter of it being enough remains to be seen, however. Maybe I'll unlock my power. Maybe I won't. What truly matters is that I at least try. I can't stop until I have my powers and Hyrule is safe."

"I've got faith in you." Link said. "It's about time that. Hylia quit whatever game she's playing."

Sheik nodded his agreement, then jerked a thumb toward the castle. "Rhoam is an idiot. He might be the King of Hyrule, but he's still a huge idiot. Even if things don't work out at the Spring of Wisdom tomorrow, that doesn't mean you're a failure. Just because something is traditional doesn't mean it's right, or that it'll work for everybody."

"...I don't know what I'd do without the two of you." Zelda murmured, ducking her head out of embarrassment. "Thank you."

Link moved forward to where she was standing, pausing for a second to presumably say something to her, then pulled her into a hug. Sheik stayed back, awkwardness suddenly overtaking him. It felt an awful lot like he shouldn't be here, intruding on the moment between the two.

"You too, Sheik. It's okay." Zelda whispered, seemingly picking up on his uncertainty. Still, it didn't feel right. This was so out of his depth.

His feet moved without his permission, which was rather rude of them, but he couldn't really be too mad about it. Zelda needed this. And, honestly, he did too. It was still a bit awkward, but most of that vanished as soon as he was actually hugging both of them.

They stayed there for a little while, each of them taking comfort in the fact that the others were, in fact, here. That they weren't going to vanish as some part of an unnecessarily cruel dream. Finally, it was Zelda who stepped back and subtly wiped her eyes, a thin smile appearing on her face as she did so.

"I seriously can't thank you two enough." Zelda said, though her voice shook a little.

"You don't have to." Link responded simply. "You're my friend. King's decree aside, I want to keep you. Out of harm's way. As best I can. I might not be able to fight the. Demons in your head. But I can help you through it. Same goes for you, Sheik. Both of you are my closest friends."

It would be nice if we were something more.

Goddesses, he had fallen so hard for this boy. The pragmatic part of him knew that it would be better if he either tried to ignore it, or even actively tried to rid himself of these feelings. It wasn't even just about the uncertainty over whether Link would actually like him back- the matter of the Calamity and the looming disaster that it entailed was a pretty tempting reason to just pretend like he wasn't in love with him. It seemed unfair to tell him when any given day could be their last. Sure, that was just life in general, but still.

Later. Once they'd beaten Calamity Ganon and Hyrule was safe. Then- and only then- would he allow himself to think about the future. Whether that involved Link or not still remained to be seen, though Sheik certainly knew which one he wanted more.

"I second what Link said." Sheik stated, bringing himself out of the brief period of introspection he found himself descending into. "I won't stop being your friend over something out of your control. And, honestly, at this point I doubt you could get rid of me even if you tried."

Zelda laughed softly at the remark, though she still looked a bit like she was about to cry. She took a deep breath or two to steady herself, then playfully rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "Honestly, you two. It's not a competition."

"Who said it was?" Link asked.

"Is that a challenge?" Sheik asked at the exact same time. He turned to jokingly glare at Link, who stuck his tongue out at him. 

"No, it wasn't."

"Damn."

"How about this: let's see who can get back to their horse and be on their way back to the castle the fastest. Winner gets bragging rights." Zelda said, the familiar sparkle of mischief lighting her eyes as she spoke. Sure, it was a bit subdued because of what had just happened, but it was present all the same.

"You're on!" Sheik exclaimed. Link nodded his agreement, clearly getting ready to start running as soon as he got the go ahead.

The three of them shared a glance and then they were off. Zelda was at a clear disadvantage here because she just didn't run as much as Link or Sheik, and her horse was the farthest away from where she was standing. Link was probably the closest to his horse, but Sheik knew that he was a faster runner than him. Even so, this was going to be a tight race.

In the end, it was down to who was on their horse and racing toward the castle first. Link just barely managed to pull off the win, and as he twisted in his saddle to look back at Sheik and Zelda with the most smug smile Sheik had ever seen on his face, he suddenly realized just how much their friendship had shifted since they had met. 

Once upon a time, anger would have been the primary emotion he felt about the result. He would have hated Link more, dead set on clinging to the false idea of him that he had created. Now, though, he felt happier than he could remember being in a while. That had been a common theme of the last few months as the three of them grew closer as a whole, actually.

He was starting to think that maybe Impa was wrong about where a warrior's strength came from.