The children of the forest had come to call him the Kokiri man, or just "The Man". "Him" being the young man who would often come to their hidden forest. "Him" being the one who had saved them in their darkest time. They started calling "him" the Kokiri Man because of the wear and the Fairy who used to follow him around. Just as they did he wore the green tunic, along with a matching cap that would flow behind you in the wind.
Often he would come through, a visit one might say, sometimes one of the children would spot him come into town and stare a long while at Link's old home. Link… The Boy Without A Fairy. The children had no idea what happened to him. Seven years ago he left the forest, Saria would keep saying he'd come back. But he never did. It also appeared that after Link left, the fairy forest had become a dangerous place. So dangerous that they wouldn't want to leave their little tree homes.
However, seven years had passed and the Kokiri man came around. Things seemed to get better, most would agree that this Kokiri man reminded them of Link. Though, they came to a conclusion that that would be next to impossible. Link probably wasn't coming back, or he could have died during The Dark King's rule.
They ended up being wrong, of course. The Kokiri Man ended up being Link the whole time. Though they didn't learn this until exactly eight years and one day since he had left. One of the know-it-all brothers had seen The Man trot into their town on a horse, they haven't seen him since the year before. "Kokiri Man is here!" The boy called out as he jumped from his perch. "Kokiri Man is here!" Another called out. The Man's horse, or they had come to know her name as Epona, came to a halt. As the children came out of their forest homes, they were smiling, it had been a long time since they had last seen him. The Man got off of Epona, then looked down at the children.
"Kokiri Man!" They said in excitement. The Man smiled in response.
"Mister," Mido says, wanting to talk to the Kokiri man himself. "I have a question."
He looks to Mido and raises a brow.
"In your travels, have you ever come across a boy named Link? He's been gone 7 years and I… We miss him."
The Kokiri Man looks up with a look in his eyes, meaning one thing, he must have seen Link. There was a war going on in his mind though, should he tell them? Or should he just leave it a mystery. They won't ever know what happened to him and that kills him.
"Well?"
He snapped out of his trance, then smiles. "Yes."
The kids smile, Link is alive! That is good news!
A flurry of "is he okay"'s and "where is he?"'s flooded him. The man simply sits, and waits for them to calm down, "he is in fact fine. Though his location is closer than you think."
Mido acts like he doesn't care, when really he does deeply care for the missing Kokiri.
However everyone becomes silent when they notice that the Man had started crying, "are you okay?" One of the twins asked.
"I'm fine… I just… I missed you guys so much!" The Kokiri man sobs.
They looked at each other in confusion. He had barely interacted with them when he came here the first time. How is this so?
"I think it's time I tell you my name… I'm Link. I should have told you sooner, but I was very busy."
They looked at Link in shock, some backing away even. "You're not Link! Link's Kokirian! He doesn't age!" Mido yelled at Link.
"I am… I do age, because you were right all those years ago, Mido. I don't belong here. I'm a Hylian. I age, and I grow, I disappeared seven years ago because the call was too strong. I had to do something about the growing darkness."
"You're lying! Prove it to us, prove you are Link."
He sat and thought for a while, recalling his life in the Kokiri forest. "When I got called by the Great Deku Tree, you told me that it was about time, and that I had to grab a shield and sword before I go speak to him. Though you wouldn't admit it, you cared if I got hurt."
"Link… It… really is you." Mido began to tear up, but quickly rubbing it away trying to keep his tough guy facade up.
"I'm so sorry, you guys must have been worried sick."
They agree that they will forgive him, now that everything is okay. And thus this chapter of a story has come to an end, often Link would visit his old friends, but it just wasn't the same.
Later they found it odd that he didn't have Navi with him, and one day he came back with some neat masks, telling of a story in another time, another dimension where he was turned into a Deku Scrub. One of where he had to stop the apocalypse in just three days.