The pain began the moment Link gave Ganon the final blow. It was the end of his destiny...Hyrule's sorrow...Zelda's worries...Navi's story. The second the sword cast down evil once more, Navi felt faint.

"Thank you, Link..." the princess began to say, her tone a mix of victory and defeat. "Thanks to you, Hyrule will be at peace, for a time..."

Navi began to slightly wriggle from the gradually spreading pain within her abdomen. It was like wildfire, trying to dominate every nerve within her body. She hoped Link couldn't notice.

"Home, where you are supposed to be...the way you are supposed to be."

The princess lifted the ocarina to her mouth hesitantly; she almost lowered it. But, she lightly shook her head and started to play the Song of Time. Link was starting to fade, Navi along with him. With a few more seconds, both were whisked away to seven years before, the exact moment when Link was about to pull the Master Sword.

Link looked up at the tiny blue fairy. His face suddenly fell. "Navi, what's wrong?"

Oh no. He knows what's happening to me! I can't let him watch me die! I can't! I can't!

Without a word, without a single thought, Navi took flight past Link's ear. She hastily flew out of the window, out of town, into the forest. Tears filled Navi's bloodshot eyes; the pain of death never hurt more, but what was worse was having to leave behind Link without saying farewell.

Navi stopped when she came to the place where the Great Deku Tree had died. It was now nothing more than an empty clearing with pale green grass, small rays of sunlight shining through the gigantic trees surrounding the area. The Great Deku Tree's lifeless trunk was no longer there, either.

Navi settled onto a small daisy positioned underneath the soft light. Her abdomen was on fire at this moment. Tears came flowing out of her dark blue eyes as Navi gasped desperately for air.

"Great Deku Tree…" Navi murmured her voice barely a faint whisper. "I did it. I fulfilled-or rather, Link did what he needed to do. Now, I guess I did what I needed to do, too. I just wish, I didn't need to die."

Navi paused. She began to ponder something as she remembered her discussion with the Great Deku Tree the day she was first summoned by him. That day eleven years ago…

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"Navi, I am glad thou hast come," stated the Great Deku Tree once he met the tiny fairy.

Navi was a small, light blue fairy with a flickering light at only five, which is about the age of a teenager for a fairy.

"Hello," mumbled Navi.

"The gods have a great destiny for thee, Navi the Fairy. One greater than thou wouldst probably think," the Great Deku Tree said. Navi crossed her arms at that statement.

"Tell me, Navi the Fairy," he questioned. "What kind of Fairy art thou?"

"Ummmmmm," pondered Navi while twisting an indigo lock of hair. "I do not know. I'm not like everybody else. I cannot heal at all. I'm an awful teacher, so I couldn't lead any Kokiri. The only thing I know is-"

"Thou knowest how to identify the many beasts of the fields."

Navi looked up at the tree, drawing herself up short. "How did y-you know?"

The Great Deku Tree warmly laughed. "I know all about thee, Navi. You were not born in Hyrule; thou were not made like the other fairies, equipped with healing powers or the great wisdom of a teacher. No, thou was given knowledge of the world and for a reason. Thy destiny is so great. And I am about to reveal thy destiny to thee, Navi the Fairy."

Navi ceased twirling her hair. A fairy with a great destiny? Yeah, maybe the queen.

"Navi the Fairy," the Great Deku Tree began. "You will the fairy for a young Hylian boy, who is to live amongst the Kokiri. He will meet you when he is a decade old. You and he will leave the forest, embarking on a quest that will stop a great evil man, who will end my life soon."

"You'll die?"

"Yes. Do not fear Navi, for when this boy's quest is done you shall meet me in the land beyond this world. For you, too, will die when his quest is complete."

Navi stopped fluttering her wings immediately as if she'd been instantly fossilized. She would die?

"B-But, why?"

"If thou does not die when he is finished…the world will cease to exist. You will understand later on, Navi."

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"Great Deku Tree! Why must I die?!" Navi cried out.

Suddenly, Navi could no longer see the trees and the grass of the forest. Had she gone blind or had she already died? She couldn't have died, though. For she was still breathing…Then, her sight returned, except this time, she was suspended in space. Before her was a large array of various planets.

"Navi the Fairy," the great bellowing voice of the Deku Tree explained. "If thou did not have to die, thou would not have left the Her of Time alone, breaking his heart at a friend's sudden leave. If his heart did not break, he wouldn't have left everything in Hyrule to search for you. On his search, he will find a place in turmoil. He must save this one place, for if he does not…"

In an instant, the first planet exploded, causing a chain reaction. Like a trail of falling dominos, each planet exploded, until there was nothing left but a sea of stars.

"Dost thou understand, Navi?"

Navi looked up at the sky, now back in the middle of the forest. The light surrounding her became gradually dimmer, but her smile couldn't have been brighter.

"Yes, Great Deku Tree, I understand now."

Navi closed her eyes as she felt the sun's warm rays one last time.

"Be good, Link."

FIN