DISCLAIMER: All of these characters are taken from Zelda: The Ocarina of Time and are used here without permission.
Gone
Before you came, the shadow warned me. It was not really him, I could tell, only his shadow. It lacked a spirit...a life. Yet it had its master's capacity for cruelty. That had not been lost is this shadow.
"Link is coming."
I was frozen, unable to move or speak or see, but I could hear and think. The words cut through me like a knife.
Oh Link! I've missed you so much these past seven years. But even though I long to see you again, my heart cried out at the thought of your coming to this horrible place. The forest is supposed to be a sanctuary of life, not the tomb of death that it has become. No, please Link, please leave! Go far, far away. Be safe, so that as I lie here encased in crystal, I can at least be comforted by the knowledge that you are safe.
But of course, you could not turn away from danger. You always were so brave, Link. You never were afraid of anything. You were always alone, but you were always a pillar of strength.
Oh, Link, can it be true? Can that grown-up man really be the same boy I played with? You must be a Hylian, Link, not a Kokiri like we all thought. You always were different, but this different...
When I saw you, I remembered all the times we spent together. How I wish that I could recapture those lost moments! How I've missed you these seven years! Oh Link, how I love you! I always will love you, dear Link, even though you will never know. I meant what I said, Link--we can never be together. Time has forbidden it. For you have grown these past seven years, whereas I have not.
Now that you have gone, leaving me to be the Sage of the Forest, now that you can no longer see or hear, I finally allow myself to cry. You have gone to rescue the other sages, but for now I am alone here. I sit down and allow the tears to come.
Oh Link! I miss you so much! And yet you will never understand how deeply I care for you. My heart aches for you. For you are gone...
Gone forever.
Gone
Before you came, the shadow warned me. It was not really him, I could tell, only his shadow. It lacked a spirit...a life. Yet it had its master's capacity for cruelty. That had not been lost is this shadow.
"Link is coming."
I was frozen, unable to move or speak or see, but I could hear and think. The words cut through me like a knife.
Oh Link! I've missed you so much these past seven years. But even though I long to see you again, my heart cried out at the thought of your coming to this horrible place. The forest is supposed to be a sanctuary of life, not the tomb of death that it has become. No, please Link, please leave! Go far, far away. Be safe, so that as I lie here encased in crystal, I can at least be comforted by the knowledge that you are safe.
But of course, you could not turn away from danger. You always were so brave, Link. You never were afraid of anything. You were always alone, but you were always a pillar of strength.
Oh, Link, can it be true? Can that grown-up man really be the same boy I played with? You must be a Hylian, Link, not a Kokiri like we all thought. You always were different, but this different...
When I saw you, I remembered all the times we spent together. How I wish that I could recapture those lost moments! How I've missed you these seven years! Oh Link, how I love you! I always will love you, dear Link, even though you will never know. I meant what I said, Link--we can never be together. Time has forbidden it. For you have grown these past seven years, whereas I have not.
Now that you have gone, leaving me to be the Sage of the Forest, now that you can no longer see or hear, I finally allow myself to cry. You have gone to rescue the other sages, but for now I am alone here. I sit down and allow the tears to come.
Oh Link! I miss you so much! And yet you will never understand how deeply I care for you. My heart aches for you. For you are gone...
Gone forever.