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It was late morning in Hyrule. Link was getting his horse ready for the trip to the temple of time, where Zelda would spend the afternoon praying. Even though he often hated how boring these prayer missions were, he often enjoyed the ride there. He got to take in the view of Hyrule and enjoy the wonderful fall day they had.
However, when he finished getting everything packed up and ready to go, he realized Zelda still hadn’t come down from her room inside the castle yet. He wondered if she maybe got caught up talking with Purah or Impa but as more time passed, he was starting to worry.
Just as he was about to go seek her out, the King emerged from the doors and into the courtyard. Link immediately kneeled down upon seeing him and bowed his head along with everyone else in the area.
“At ease, knight,” The King said. Link relaxed and stood back up.
“My daughter has locked herself in her room and refuses to leave. I want you to go up there and see if you can get her to come out,” King Bosphoromus told him. He nodded and handed his horse off the the stablehand to look after before he made his way back into the castle.
It wasn’t unlike Zelda to lock herself in her room. She often did it when she wanted to be alone or was feeling especially defiant. However, some days it worried Link. Whenever she’d lock herself in there, wanting to be alone, she was unusually sad and depressed.
Link walked through the long halls and up a few floors until he reached Zelda’s bedroom. When he walked up to the door, he swore he could hear faint sobs coming from inside. He knocked on the door in a rhythmic pattern, one that she and he had come up with so that Zelda would know when it was him at the door.
“Go away, Link…” He heard her say. However, he followed the king’s orders and would likely not be going away anytime soon. Not to mention he was a bit worried by the sounds coming from inside her room. He started to wonder if this was one of her “I want to be alone and sad” episodes.
He knocked once again, not giving up and heard another sound of distress, this one sounded more annoyed than sad though.
“For Hylia’s sake-” Zelda swung open the door, “I said go away!”
When Zelda opened the door, Link took in her appearance. It was worrisome to say the least. She had tears running down her face, her eyes were puffy and her cheeks were red. He frowned with concern and removed his hands from his back so he could sign.
‘You okay?’ he signed.
Now Zelda felt a bit guilty. She had just yelled in her knight’s face when all he was doing was just checking up on her. He had no malicious intent. He was worried, and she was being difficult. She sighed and let him in, closing the door.
As he walked in, Link saw the normal gown she usually prayed with on her bed, untouched. He sat down at the foot of the bed and was prepared to listen to whatever she was to vent about this time. Often, Link would listen to her rant whenever she was upset about something. She even admitted that it was nice to vent to him.
However, when she looked over at him, she saw the gown on the bed and immediately was fueled with anger. She grabbed the gown and threw it across the room, letting out a muffled yell as she did so before crumpling to the floor.
‘Do you want to talk about it?’ Link asked with his hands. Zelda sighed and hugged her knees to her chest, trying to think of what to say.
They sat in silence for a bit while Zelda gathered up the courage to speak. Link didn’t mind the silence. He understood what it was like to not know what to say or how to say it. Even he messed up his signing sometimes.
“Do you… do you ever feel like you were born in the wrong body?” She asked quietly, looking up at him. He shook his hand back and forth, giving her the ‘not really’ answer. She sighed again.
“I… I don’t know what’s going on with me. Ever since I was born, I’ve had everything planned out for me. What I’d be addressed by, what clothes I'd wear, what my future was going to be like. I never had the chance to choose for myself.” She told him. It was the unfortunate reality of being born into royalty and the mortal descent of the Goddess Hylia.
‘What would you do if you could?’ He asked.
“If I could choose for myself, I’d get rid of all these stupid dresses and i’d cut my hair really short. I’d study ancient tech. And I wouldn’t be called a princess,” Zelda said. Link was a bit confused by that last one.
‘What do you mean?’
“I don’t want to be a princess, Link. I hate the responsibilities and the way I’m treated. But if I had to be royalty though…I’d rather be called prince,” She stated, “I know this is confusing, but I just don’t feel like a girl. I hate dresses and my stupid long hair. I want to be a boy. Like you,”
Link was a bit confused. He didn’t fully understand how that felt. But hearing this reminded him of something. When they were visiting Gerudo town (he had special permission to enter), he remembered seeing someone there that looked very much like a boy. He remembered it confusing him because he thought male Gerudo’s were very very rare and asked Urbosa about it. She had told him that that male Gerudo was actually born a girl. She then pointed to the scars around his chest and told him that he had undergone a surgery to remove them. He remembered how fascinated Zelda was about this and actually got a chance to talk to the male Gerudo about it.
‘Is it like that one male gerudo we saw a couple weeks ago?’ Link asked.
“Yeah, it’s just like that. Even though I was born a girl and have the parts, I feel more like a boy, or something in between. I don’t know what it is, but I just want to be seen and addressed as masculine,” Zelda told him. Her heart beat fast in her chest as she waited for a response. She was so worried that he would call her crazy or report her to her dad about this. But instead, Link smiled.
‘I think I understand,’ He signed.
“Really?”
He nodded. He knew that if he was born without his parts, he’d still consider himself a man. So it must be the same for Zelda.
She smiled, tears of joy suddenly forming before she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.
“Thank you, Link. I’ve been feeling so upset about this lately. Everything about me that looks feminine makes me feel so… ugh, I don’t know. Just bad, I guess. But knowing that you understand how I feel is just…amazing” She told him. That gave Link an idea.
‘How about we cut your hair?’ He suggested. Zelda immediately lit up.
“Yeah, let’s do it!” He said.
Link led him into the bathroom and told him to wait there a moment while he went to grab the hair cutting kit he had from his quarters. He exited the room, trying to be as quick as possible to avoid any guards. However, as he grabbed the kit from his room, he thought about what else Zelda had said. He remembered him saying how much he hated dresses. Knowing that dresses and gowns consisted of 90% of the prince’s wardrobe, he got an idea. He put down the kit and quickly rummaged through his closet. He pulled out a couple old long sleeve tunics and trousers and brought them with him into Zelda’s room. Sure, they’d probably be a bit big on him, but it would likely make him feel more comfortable than the dresses. He set the pieces of clothing down on his bed to surprise him when they got done with his hair.
When he entered the bathroom again, he almost recoiled immediately when he saw Zelda, shirt off, with bandages wrapped tightly around his chest, making it appear flat. He thought he was completely shirtless, and was afraid he was intruding.
“Sorry! I didn’t realize you’d be back so soon,” He apologized.
‘It’s fine,’ Link signed. Zelda quickly pulled on a nightgown that he had cut to make it more like a baggy shirt. Link got out the scissors and quickly combed through his hair before getting started. However before he started cutting, he remembered something else.
“I want to be addressed as something masculine,” He remembered him saying. So he put down the comb and scissors and picked up his hands.
‘Before we start, is there another name you want me to call you?’ he asked. Zelda smiled and nodded.
“Don’t laugh, but I was thinking of the name Sheik,” He said.
‘Like the Sheikah?’ Link asked. He knew the prince loved researching and studying tribes and clans and a bunch of cool history stuff.
“Mhm… I really like learning about them,” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. Link smiled, his face told him everything he needed to know.
‘That’s nice. Now, let’s cut this hair, Sheik,’