Here it is; Link X Saria...

Note: If happy ending is what you want, you won't find it here. Just a warning. If you've read my Naruto stories (Like Taming Tayuya), this story will take a much more tragic turn than something like Taming Tayuya in which it is a pretty much overall... a happy story.

This is NOT a one-shot.

I am the Forest Sage.

Well… that much is obvious… but I also hold a secret.

Everyone perceives that sages are mysterious and silent. We speak in riddles and they always appear so flawless and pure. We appear mystical and supernatural and few have the chance to even see us. We are of a higher being and we watch over their places as they seek us in need of wisdom and guidance. We are praised, exalted, and even envied as an immortal being who never withers away.

But many miss the point entirely.

Sages have feelings and no matter how ghastly and shapeless our presence is to their lives, our emotions are very real.

We hurt.

We bleed.

We laugh.

We cry.

We rejoice.

We mourn.

We contemplate.

We love.

Although we cannot show it.

Believe it or not, it is true.

Whether many people know it or not, it is the inescapable, undeniable truth.

They envy us with our beauty, our wisdom, our immortality… but what they do not grasp are the things they envy.

Beauty is not too big of a factor, but the wisdom makes us too perfect in action. We do not even cry a word without careful consideration. That means no mistakes. No bad mistakes… No good mistakes… Not making the mistakes that we want to make… The force of wisdom is too powerful for us. It makes us mechanical and inhuman. But that's what makes us a higher being. Possession of this level of wisdom means sacrifice of all humanly desires. We cannot ever be greedy, we cannot afford to be lazy, we must not unleash our wrath in a way that would hurt even the tiniest form of life, we cannot show our envy towards humans - or hylians, rather, we cannot even enjoy our status, and most painful of all, we cannot express our love towards the things we love. Or in my case, the person I love.

No. We must be strict and wise. We must never let our guard down. We must always listen to what wisdom tells us to do. Eternally.

Yes. The immortality that most of them envy… with this wisdom… with this torment… we carry that for eternity.

Knowing this, would they ever be envious of us sages again?

Would they want to seek the wisdom that is built off of our bleeding hearts and trapped souls? Our invisible tears?

Can they trust us with the knowledge that we can feel?

The only things that are keeping me sane are the memories of the past. My childhood, my friends…

And the memories of him.

We laughed together.

We played together.

We cried together.

We were always together.

We were always… always together.

But destiny tore us apart.

So now here I am, deep in the dense forest of Kokiri, behind the walls of Forest Temple, counting my time until my never coming death, hoping that he'd appear at the door, shouting my name to play with him. Pulling at my wrist to hurry up. Shouting at me with his cheery and crisp voice to jump in the water and assuring me that it's not that cold.

But after the pleasant flashback comes that fateful day when a fairy finally found him. I was happy for him.

And I rooted for him when he left.

I was a little sad, yes.

But unlike me, he couldn't stay a kid forever.

He had to grow, I had to stay.

And I accepted that fact.

I was a child and I didn't think much of what it meant to grow. What it meant to mature. I wish I still had that state of mind.

Being a sage, I've aged without my body ever catching up to the level of maturity my thoughts and my actions have become. I've grown in all areas to face the never ending cycle of life that I would never become a part of. I was a child, only in appearance.

Proof? Why is that necessary? Isn't it enough that I now know what it means to suffer? What it means to sacrifice? What it means to long for something that I desire from the bottom of my heart? What I crave with my very soul?

I imagine him in my head everyday. I imagine him and long for him to shout my name to play with me, yes. But he did come back one day to the forest.

After seven long years, he came back. He was an adult then, but I recognized him right away. He was my friend. How could I not?

But my damned heart began to respond to his manhood. No… I said that wrong. The feeling had always been there. It was so subtle that I never even noticed. I knew I wanted more than what we had then too but I thought it was because he was different. I thought it was because he was my best friend I ever had. After long years of not seeing him once, it all rushed to me and that was when it was painfully clear that I've made a painful mistake that I could never make up for. That I could never fix.

Even today, I imagine him standing tall and refined, with his childish features firmed into the roughness of a man. I imagine him wielding his sword with fierce power and intense determination with his muscular arms moving vigorously. I imagine his adorable grin developed into an assuring grin that made me feel safe and secure. I imagine his golden locks whipping across his beautifully matured face with his glinting blue eyes looking at me longingly.

I wish I still didn't understand why I wanted to suddenly press my lips onto his in the middle of a splash-war. I wish I still did not understand why it felt so warm when he held my hand, why it left a burning sensation after he let goes. I wish I still was just an oblivious kid to all these things. I wish that I never even understood the thing called growing up.

Because I am the Forest Sage and he is the Hero o Time. Because I'll never see him again. Because he is alive and I only exist. Because one day, he will age and die while I remain forever young and forever be.

Because I love him so much that it hurts and he will never ever know of it.

"Whoa, whoa," I said as I hush Epona to a halt.

Epona gradually stops and stare into whatever interested her.

Here I am again… contemplating.

I'm looking at it.

The entrance to my home.

It's so tempting to just enter it.

But that was out of the question.

I didn't belong there.

And plus, what I was looking for - or rather, who I was looking for… wouldn't be there even if I went into the Kokiri Forest.

It's destiny that you and I were not meant to live in the same world.

Her words ring in my head.

At that time, I was too shocked to speak. I was too shocked to even move. I was so shocked that I didn't even notice the Forest Medallion. I wasn't paying attention to that - I was looking at her. Her familiar face… her strange eyes. They were no longer the eyes that I knew. They used to be so clear and joyful, but when I looked into them then, it felt as if a haze settled on her pupils and a mystical aura was gleaming in them. That was when I realized… she was immortal.

She always was. But now, more than ever, she was immortal.

"Hey Link, come on, you sleepy head! The sun's shining! That's telling you something, you know… you sleep too much."

"Link, the water's too cold… I'm not getting in."

"I'm gonna hurt you if you walk in here with those muddy boots… LINK! GET OVER HERE, I'M GOING TO HURT YOU!"

"We'll always be friends, right?"

Of course we will…

I sigh heavily.

Unwillingly, I give Epona a light kick that motioned her to start walking again.

My gaze refuse to tear away from the place where I long to be. I want to tell Epona to stop. I want to get off and run into my home and embrace the girl I miss deep into my chest.

But I know that I have to bury that thought.

And bury the memories I have.

Because unlike her, I don't have the eternity to embrace my past.

I am a mortal and I have to move on.

Time counts against me.

I'm different from her.

I always was.

Maybe she could find it in her heart to forgive me one day. She did have an eternity to think about it. Or if she didn't want to… that's okay.

Mortals were selfish.

Mortals didn't know any better.

I am a mortal.

Even though I didn't want to believe it, I am a mortal and she is not. She never ever was. It was my fault.

And even if I try to fix things… even if I release her now… it causes pain.

But I hope the eternity would make her forget.

Forget me.

Forget our friendship.

It's enough that I can remember it all, and I'll take it with me.

Wishing that I can so this, I pass my home where my heart lay again.

I turn my head again.

This isn't the first time that I've done this and it won't be the last.

I bury my memories everyday.

But somehow… no matter how many times I do… new ones pop up. No matter how many times I pledge to move on, my footsteps lead back here. To leave again. My heart feels dead.

And then again, my foolish heart hopes that I can be with her again someday.

It's a false hope that I can never seem to kill. But hope also means that a heart is not dead.

Somehow, I still think I can reach you.

But until then… my heart sleeps.

I wonder how long I can wait.

After all, my life is a short one.

And her's would be timeless.

There... I hope you liked it. This is not the most popular pairing but... oh well...