Princess Zelda looked down at the strong, calloused hand that held the Ocarina of Time so delicately, like a precious gift from the gods. She bit her lower lip, reaching out to take the family heirloom that was passed down generation to generation, and would be for much longer still, keeping her expression blank and simply thoughtful.
"Thank you, Link... The Hero of Time... For all that you have done. Now that Hyrule is in peace, we can return to the lives we should have been living. As a Sage, I can still send you back to the time you belong in... I'll... I'll never forget you, Link."
Zelda held the Ocarina to her lips and blew into it, playing the song that would once more send Link back into the past, but this time, it would be further back than even she would like to admit. Back to the beginning, when Link was waiting for a Fairy to find him and become his partner. She looked up at the tall male with his golden blonde hair, his rippling muscles, the chain mail he wore under his green tunic, and stared into the eyes of a hero, worn from battle, weary, and slowly growing more innocent as memory upon memory faded, fizzling from his mind as if it had never happened.
But she would know... A foolish action by her started all of this, and a foolish action was the last thing she did before she swore to herself she'd mind her place. She left the memory of their first meeting in Link's mind as he was swept back into the river of time, reaching out as if to grab him back while he left her one more time.
She collapsed after he had left, weeping and cradling the Ocarina. She could feel a shift in time, a rift that had to be fixed, closed, or another problem strikingly similar to this one would occur. She channeled her power as a Sage through her playing, sealing the Door of Time and the Sages powers in with Ganondorf. He would surely find a way out, it was destiny that he would, but for now she could go back to her own time with Impa and keep the peace. It was, after all, her duty as a Princess and a Sage, even if she did seal her powers away so that any of her weakness as a mortal could not be taken advantage of...
Link awoke, yawning and stretching, looking around in anticipation briefly. He had hoped that today would be the day he would get a fairy; he knew it had to be today, it felt like something powerful was telling him "Things will change today!". It was almost screaming at him to get going and meet his destiny head on. The fairy-less Kokiri took a step out of his sleeping area and grabbed his soft leather boots, pulling them on and making sure his tunic wasn't wrinkled too badly. He left through the open door that had a simple curtain covering it and squinted at the beauty of Kokiri forest; the little bugs that tried to imitate fairies, floating around and leaving a trail of soft glowing light behind them, the ivy that grew and provided the only sure way into the forest, the houses and buildings made out of ancient trees from ages so long ago no one would be able to even think how they got there... Link sighed and looked down at the path that lead to his house. His eyebrows rose as he stared, tilting his head. His best friend Saria was standing down below, smiling up at him.
"Good morning Link!"
"Hey Saria... What're you doing here so early?"
"The Great Deku Tree wants to see you."
Link felt his heart leap. The Great Deku Tree? He had spent a long time around the tree, but once he became of proper Kokiri age to live alone, he took a house like everyone else and would not see the forest's leader, protector, and guardian unless called upon by it. He didn't realize it, but he was grinning from one long pointed ear to the other. Today must be the day a fairy will join him! Instead of descending the ladder from his house like a normal Kokiri, the excited boy jumped and rolled before he hit the soft ground, waving to his best friend over his shoulder.
"Wish me luck!"
"Good luck, Link..." Saria smiled, but Link had turned away to see where he was going before he could notice that her smile was forced, and there was sorrow in her eyes. She knew why the Great Deku Tree wanted him, and it was not to give him a fairy, even though that was all he wanted. Sometimes she saw things in her dreams, or when she played her ocarina in the forest. She saw Link often lately, but he was never in the forest with her and Mido. He was out under a great blue sky, running through a wide open field, or splashing in crystal clear water. Sometimes he was surrounded by grey stone or red rock, but the forest was never around him.
Saria had never told Link about these dreams, worried he'd tell her she was imagining things, or taking her dreams too seriously. She sighed and looked up at her fairy, her partner, and the little creature spun around her head to try and cheer her bonded Kokiri up. By this afternoon, the forest would be short one person, and Saria would play a sad song for some time.
Link ran past one of his fellow outcasts moving rocks because Mido told him too, and a small scowl passed over his face. Mido, always bullying the weak, thinking he was some sort of leader... Link couldn't stand the show off and he knew the jerk was only doing it to impress Saria because he was descended from the Kokiri that protected the Great Deku Tree in his time of need, hundreds of years ago... Link rolled his eyes, how many times had he heard that story from the egotistical guy. Of course, Link only heard it over and over because no one knew about Link's lineage. He thought back and tried to remember, but the Great Deku Tree had never said what sort of ancestry Link had in the Kokiri. Was he related to one of the Kokiri that were simply forgotten, not remarkable...? What did that say about Link's future? Is that why a fairy did not go to him? He slowed his excited pace as he thought, jumping from one little plateau to the next to cross the slowly moving water that all Kokiri played in when they felt such an urge. He had passed the shop, waving at the girl that was always sitting on the overhang, and chatted with her briefly about sales and such. He had started to dread seeing the forest's leader, but his thoughts were cut short when Mido shouted at him.
"Link, get moving, the Great Deku Tree has been waiting long enough for you to wake up! How dare you keep him waiting while you flirt with girls!"
Link hated Mido in that instant. He wanted to pick up a rock and throw it at the other boy. Who did he think he was, prancing about the entrance to the Great Deku Tree like he was guarding something? All the Kokiri were welcome to visit their guardian whenever they wished to, Mido was just throwing what little weight he thought he had around. He waved at the girl he had been talking to and returned to walking towards the path of the forest leader. Mido stopped him, of course.
"I can't believe the Great Deku Tree would want to see the likes of you; you don't even have a fairy!"
"Maybe he knows you've got too big of a head for your small body and is going to ask me to deflate it," Link replied, shoving past Mido and sullenly taking the long, winding path to a tree so large it could hold enough homes to make a city. It wasn't that he hated Mido, no Kokiri truly hated any other one, he suspected, but he just couldn't stand the cocky attitude his fellow forest child had.
Link admired the winding path to the forest leader, seeing bugs, vibrantly colored plants, and the odd menacing creature dart overhead on one of the cliffs. For the most part, aggressive animals kept out of the forest, but every now and then a plant that had a mind to eat the peaceful ever-children and someone had to stop them. Lately, it had been Mido...
Mido was on Link's mind when he finally stepped into a wide clearing, larger than any that could possibly be imagined by one of his kind. Taking up most of the room was a tree, so large and old that he thought all of life and history had been through and been seen by the sentient plant.
"Link... I've been waiting for you, my child."
"Hello Great Deku Tree."
"Come, take a seat... I have a story to tell you, little one."
Link sat cross legged near the Great Deku Tree's roots, looking up with almost fearful anticipation. Would he be getting a fairy, or would he learn bad news due to Mido's influence that he didn't believe in, but his brain screamed at him was entirely possible?
"Link, as you know, Hylians sometimes come into this forest. It is not common, and for the most part our kind are left alone. Years ago, a young woman with a baby sought refuge here at my roots. Under my watch she passed away, having been hunted by some evil that threatened her. I raised that baby as a Kokiri, taught it the way of our kind, and waited for a day when I would have to tell it about its history. ...But something has changed. The evil that took that woman's life never fully surfaced. It was in the world one day, and gone the next. I waited as long as I thought necessary to make sure, but no signs or symptoms of what might've happened arose. And so... It is with a heavy heart, Link, that it is time for us to say good-bye. You... are not a Kokiri. You are a Hylian. Your mother left you here with us, but you do not belong here. I protected you for as long as I could, but you are already growing and showing signs that you are different. Not having a fairy aside, you are taller and developing into an adult. No, you wouldn't see it yet, but I can... I can see the great man you will become, or would have, if things had gone a different way. The others will start to notice it soon. And... you have emotions and feelings that are different than those of the forest. You hate, truly hate, and although you do not understand it, one day you will."
It seemed to Link that the Great Deku Tree was sighing, his leaves and branches dipping down as if slumping. "I am very fond of you, Link, but you cannot remember the time you had here. We protected you when you needed it, for we thought we would need you one day, however that day has not come, nor do I believe it will. I hope you can understand, you will have to leave and make your way in Hyrule. But you'll be fine... You always are."
The Great Deku Tree said no more, and Link sat there for what felt like eons. Finally he stood, thanked the tree, and ever so slowly picked his way back to the forest, full of children that would never grow up, with fairies that bonded to them in such a way that he would never understand now. He came upon Mido, who was now facing him, and the arrogant Kokiri stared at Link for a long while.
"...What's up?"
"Oh, nothing Mido. I have to go... do something."
Link grasped Mido's shoulder briefly, saw the confusion and then worry in the other's face, and began to wander in the direction of the opening of trees that stood as an entrance to the forest. One of the child-sized inhabitants was sitting down, staring up at the sky and sighing. Link almost stopped, but he knew that if he did, he might turn around, deny everything, and hide in his home forever, slowly growing up, changing compared to everyone else. Instead he walked slowly forward, over the bridge that had probably once brought him into this place, and would now take him away from it all the same. He was almost across the bridge when he heard a voice.
"So, you really are leaving..."
Link turned and saw Saria leaning against the rope that held the bridge up. She was holding her ocarina close to her heart and it seemed like she had been weeping. Immediately the Hylian felt guilty and reached out to touch her cheek, but the girl turned her head away.
"I knew this day was coming, that you would leave us, Link... But I did not think it would be for a reason such as this. I knew that you were different... You never stopped growing, unlike us..."
Link looked down at Saria. Down? He had never looked down at her before, his best friend had always been taller than he was. But he noticed it now, the slight difference in their height, the tilt of her head when she looked up at him, and a pang of sorrow zinged right through his heart. He was different, he kept growing while she stayed the same.
"Saria..."
The green haired girl shook her head and held up the lovingly carved ocarina. "Please, don't be sad. You were never meant to stay with us. Take this, and always remember; we're best friends, Link, no matter what happens."
When Link took the ocarina and dropped his gaze, he heard a very quiet sound and bit his lower lip, scrunching his face up and turning around, fleeing before Saria could see the tears leak from his eyes. He didn't want to leave the forest, it was so nice and peaceful, his friends were there... The only thing he could have ever asked for was a fairy, and now who knew what was going to happen in his future? He wasn't even sure what a Hylian was, or what sort of jobs they did. At least in the forest he could've been a guard, like Mido and the entrance guardian, or a shop keeper... There were lots of jobs in the forest, everyone worked together... but now Link, who had no job and no purpose there, was about to enter a world where he had no idea how the sun rose or set, let alone how he would survive in it.
A/N: Ocarina of Time was my favorite Zelda game growing up, and still is today. I have beaten it so many times, but at the end I was always a little sad for Link, who lived through a journey no child should have to go through, only to have any proof of it erased from the world, save for Zelda's memory. I was interested in doing a story about his life if the threat had never happened, if the Sages had their powers locked away with Ganondorf, and what Link might do instead. Hope you like it!
