Author's Note: This is the story If In Death We Truly Part that I have written previously. Thanks to the help of two friends, Nulius in Verba and the Hylian, I am in the process of completely revising this story. I have taken to the suggestions that both of these authors have submitted to me in reviews and have decided that it is by far time to put their suggestions into action! Please read and review this new version of the story. I promise that there is a plot change and it will clear up quite a few of the questions that the older version might have left unanswered.

I, as always, would love to hear what you have to say!


If In Death We Truly Part


Of Reflections and Forget-me-nots

It wasn't something that she could have planned on happening. In fact, it wasn't something that any of them had expected, not really. How were any of them to know that she would fall in love with an outsider?

She had never told him her true feelings; how he made her feel at ease in the middle of chaos, how his respect reflected on her character. He was the calm before the storm; it was her love for him that made Saria hope that he would remain in the forest. He had always been Saria's best friend.

She had known him for her entire life, for as much of it as she could remember. He held a place in her heart that no one could ever fill: her Link, her family. It was Link that knew of her secret hopes and dreams, those she was ashamed to admit to anyone but him, and it was only he who could understand her.

Saria had known just how different they were from the first day that she had met him. She was a real child of the forest, the first child to receive her fairy, and he was an outsider. She couldn't understand the hatred that the other forest children showed towards Link; he had grown up with them, as one of them. It was through a naive understanding that they had of one another that Link and Saria became such close friends.

Link, the outsider, and Saria, the gifted: what an odd pair they had made. Only the Great Deku Tree himself could have chosen a more perfect match to complete what fate had in store for Hyrule. It wouldn't be long before they would have their chance to prove just how well they would be able to work together.

A great evil fell over the land of Hyrule, just as the Great Deku Tree had foreseen, and Link was summoned to save Hyrule. Saria knew that Link didn't have any choice but to follow the orders that he was given. Fate could be cruel, she knew, but it also couldn't be reversed. It was his destiny to save Hyrule.

When he left the forest, he hadn't promised her that he would return, she hadn't asked him to. But she couldn't help but hold a prayer in her heart and a hope in the back of her mind that he would return for her someday; return victorious.

The day he left was quiet in the forest. It was as if all of the other children were afraid for Link, being sent into the unknown. Saria knew that this could be the last time she would ever see her dear Link again, Saria gave him her ocarina, her most prized possession.

'Please,' she begged him in her mind. 'Please, don't forget me.'

Link succeeded, just as Saria had hoped that he would. Hyrule was now a land free from all of the evil that had tormented it at Ganon's hands. And Link was at the head of it all; the land's greatest hero.

But Saria had been left to her own account at the Forest Temple; she had become its guardian shortly after Link had left the forest. The pain of living in her childhood home with all of the memories of the time that she had spent with Link was too painful. She had to leave, she would have suffocated in her own self-pity had she stayed in the forest with the other children.

Though the Temple was safe from harm, it remained Saria's home. It was where all of her hopes and dreams were bound. She had helped Link so much by becoming the Guardian of the Forest Temple, this place had brought her closer to him. This place had always meant so much to her; it had been all she ever hoped for, to be the Guardian, when she and Link had grown up together. And now, it was all that she had to remember him by.

So Saria remained there, remembering the days past. Trying to erase the pain that she felt when she recalled her childhood memories. So much time had passed, but surely the Great Hero of Time hadn't forgotten about the Forest Temple, and the young Guardian inside.

The Temple, which was once a beautiful place, secluded in the middle of the forest, with happy animals making their homes nearby and the presence of flowers, always blooming, was now falling into a state of disrepair. The normally well manicured flower beds were overrun with weeds and the vines that climbed the outer walls of the temple had all grown wild and become unmanageable. The peaceful streams that used to flow through the temple had grown old, the water becoming stale. The wildlife had all left, as well, leaving Saria completely alone.

The outer walls of the Temple, those walls that could be seen through the wild tangle of vines that had overrun them, were beginning to crack and crumble around the edges. The Forest Temple was too much for Saria to upkeep; she didn't have enough spirit left to fully pour herself into her work. The Temple was broken, just like Saria's heart; broken by neglect.

Day after day and night after night she waited for Link to return. Though she knew that he had never made a promise to her that he would, she couldn't help but dream that he would come, riding proud atop a fine horse to the Forest Temple and they would ride away together; ride off into the sunset in search of adventure. He would show her the world that he had risked so much to save.

But no matter how much she dreamed of his return, Saria knew that she was just a toy to him; a toy shoved into the shadows by a boy forced into manhood against his will.

She grew weary, waiting for him to return. Maybe it was loneliness that caused her to venture from the protection of her forest home in search of him. Or maybe she left the forest because she wanted some of the adventure that she and Link had once shared back again. For whatever reason, Saria entrusted the protection of the Forest Temple to her fairy and left in search of something that she wasn't sure she could find.

It was dark, the night she left. The moon hung high overhead but its light was obscured by the wispy clouds that hung not too far overhead. Everything was so mysterious; the strange new sights and sounds, the unfamiliar way her shadow fell to the ground at her feet, the slight fear she kept hidden in the back of her mind.

It would be a lie to say that she hadn't always wondered what existed outside of her forest. She found that she had always been rather fearful of what she would find if she ever chose to leave her home. But she knew that her heart would not be settled until she could find Link again. Not, at least, until she had tried.

What she found on the outside was nothing like she had imagined. The trees, though not nearly as many in number, were a far darker shade of green. The streams that ran across the countryside were cool and uninviting, nothing like the warm, clear streams in the forest.

She walked; quickly at first, seeking shelter in the first place she could find it. As her footsteps grew weary as night faded slowly into dawn, she focused her sights on the castle that she was just beginning to see in the distance. It would be the first place that she would look for him; the largest city in Hyrule.

Once Saria had reached the castle gate she was so worn and weary from the night's travel that all she could think of was sleep and shelter. But all of her fatigue left her as she stepped across the drawbridge and into the marketplace of Hyrule Castle Town.

There were stands, packed so closely together that she could barely navigate her way through the busy streets. Men and women bustled around quickly, buying and selling various items, some of which Saria had never seen before. There were baked goods and fruits that Saria could only imagine the taste of, fabrics and textiles that were so beautiful she could only dream of how she might look among these people, clad in their attire.

Her heartbeat quickened with excitement as she looked towards the center of the marketplace. Younger women were busily working at large tables full of dried flowers. They were weaving flowers into wreathes and garlands that were being hung, by young men, all over the central plaza. There was a feeling in the air that Saria couldn't describe yet couldn't ignore. It was excitement, it was anticipation, and it was celebration all at once.

Trying not to stare, Saria noticed several happy couples standing around a large table covered in flowers. One woman stood out more than the others, her long golden blonde hair fell past her slender waist and her fair skin had picked up a slightly rosy hue from being in the sunshine too long. She was beautiful but so were the two young men standing next to her.

The first, with his dark curly hair and tanned skin, was smiling down at the young woman. His eyes, as green as Saria's own, looked down at the beautiful young woman he was standing with. His eyes were cold and uninviting. Nothing, it seemed, came between them, save for the other man.

His hair was blonde and fell in layers around his face. His beautiful crystal blue eyes were hidden, slightly, by several strands of bangs that fell across his forehead. He was taller than the first, though they were both taller than the beautiful woman they were with.

She laughed, snapping Saria out of her momentary daze. It was a clean sound. High and ladylike; it sounded like birds singing for the first time every spring, just after the frost had melted away from the trees.

"But you simply must cut your hair for the wedding," she said, sounding exasperated. Her hand reached out to the blonde haired man and swept the bangs out of his face.

He didn't say anything or move as her fingers gently swept across her forehead. "As you wish, my lady," he whispered, bowing his head and taking her hand in his. He kissed it gently before continuing. "Anything for you."

The second man chuckled. "Such a gentleman you are," he exclaimed, patting the blonde man on the shoulder.

The lady with them laughed again, covering her mouth with her hand. "Such gentlemen you are, Venn, escorting me to the city in this manner," she cried.

The group of them began to walk away, continuing to talk and laugh as they went. They were slowly making their way through the crowd towards the castle that was just outside the city. Before they walked out of the central plaza, the blonde haired man turn around and looked back to where Saria was standing.

Saria's heart caught in her chest as a feeling of being watched passed over her. She realized, as though for the first time, just how out of place she looked here, among all of these people, these people who belonged to this city.

It wasn't just her childlike features that set her apart, for there were children running around everywhere. Her green tunic and leggings stood out enough, though it was her green hair and small stature that truly set her apart.

She hated all of the sympathetic gazes that she was receiving from the people around her; those not too busy to notice her, standing in the center of the plaza. Her eyes fell to her feet where she traced the patterns that the bricks made, how each one fit together so perfectly; every brick belonged just where it was, in its own special place.

"Saria," he whispered, unsure of himself. "Saria!"

She froze, realizing who this man was. Her heart began to race and her palms grew sweaty. Saria's eyes filled with a look of desperation and pain.

Link. This was him. This was who she had been looking for. But he was no longer the young boy that she remembered. He was so different, a grown man who's eyes spoke of so much experience for his few years. He suddenly looked so cold, so emotionless.

She was stunned. This wasn't the meeting she had been planning on, not at all. And she ran.

"Saria!" he called again. "Is it really you?" He left the two people beside him and ran after her. But she was too fast for him; her small body found its way through the seething mass of people more easily than did his own. She was lost in the crowd before Link could catch up to her.

He stopped chasing her once he reached the castle drawbridge. He stood there, looking out across Hyrule Field, and realized that he wouldn't be finding her today.

He was thinking about her again, something he'd sworn he wouldn't do since his adventure had ended. It had killed him the first time he'd left he

'I have yet to completely forget her,' he thought, defending himself. 'There was no one I thought of more when I was younger.'

But try as he might, Link knew that it was his fault that she had run away. It was his fault that she was so hurt inside. And his fault that she didn't know how much he hurt, too.

Slowly, he turned around to find the beautiful golden-haired young woman standing behind him. The young man with curly brown hair, who could usually be found by her side, was no where to be seen.

"She is the girl you speak of so often!" the woman interrupted. "Is she not?"