Note: This is the third time I have posted this story, so I actually wrote it several months prior to whenever FF.net says I posted it. . . I forget what it says, and I'm too lazy to check. I have also changed the title since this version of it was posted, and it had two other titles before that. Believe me, the other titles sucked. I apologize to all who reviewed the other two postings of this fic. I have kept the original author's notes, but added this one (obviously).

Although this isn't my first serious fic, it's the first one I've posted because the rest suck.

This fic takes place during OoT, and starts when Saria goes off to the Lost Woods to try to stop the evil and doesn't come back, and right before Adult Link goes to the Forest Temple. Mido's flashback is right after the Deku Tree died.

Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda. Also, this was inspired by The Return, so you might see many similarities. I don't take any credit for The Return, either.

~

"I have to go," said Saria stubbornly. "The monsters are coming from the Lost Woods, I know it. I've gotta do something!"

"Saria, don't!" I pleaded. "You can't go. . ."

"Why shouldn't I?" Saria challenged. I sighed. Ever since the Great Deku Tree's death, Deku Sprouts and Deku Babas had flooded the Kokiri Forest, forcing the Kokiri to stay indoors around the clock. Saria claimed that the monsters hailed from the Lost Woods, and wanted to nip the trouble at the bud by going there herself to stop it. My attempts of talking her out of it were all in vain, and we both knew it. Once Saria sets her mind to something, it's going to take more than my desperate words and actions.

"Saria," I began, "you don't need to do this. It's not your fault that the Deku Tree died—"

Something in Saria snapped, and she cut me off. "Don't give me that crap about how the Deku Tree's death is Link's fault!" she snarled. "It wasn't him! He'd never do anything like that!" Her unexpected reaction made me get defensive.

"All the evidence points to him!" I yelled back. "He was the last one to see the Deku Tree! He wasn't one of us, Saria. No Kokiri would kill the Deku Tree!"

"You're only blaming it on him because you don't think that there's anyone else in Hyrule who's capable of murder!" said Saria angrily. "You haven't been outside the forest. How do you know that it wasn't an Outsider?"

"You haven't been outside the forest, either!" I pointed out. "How do you know what Outsiders are like?"

Saria lowered her voice at my comment, but the venom in it remained. "I won't deny you," she said.

"However, I happened to know Link well— much better than yourself. You are accusing him on bottomless claims. You have no proof. Just because Link was the last one to see the Deku Tree doesn't mean that he killed him."

I mouthed wordlessly at her as she stormed out of the house. Suddenly, I realized where she has just gone, and rushed to the doorway.

"Saria!" I yelled, in a last-ditch attempt to make her stay. "You can't go out there! There's monsters out there!" Saria ignored me and kept walking in the direction of the Lost Woods. "You're going to get yourself killed!"

Finally, my calls seemed to work on Saria, and she headed on back. When she reached the doorway, however, instead on going all the way inside, she grabbed my arm and started dragging me towards the Lost Woods with her!

"Ack! Let me go!" I whined, struggling against her grasp, but her grip was of iron, and I could only be dragged along with her. We went through most of the Lost Woods, and only when we were about two-thirds away from the Sacred Forest Meadow did she let go. I started to make a run for it, but she grabbed a handful of my tunic and pulled me back.

"Mido," she said, "I have a job for you. . ."

~

One week later, I found myself sitting in front of one of the many large, hollow logs of the Lost Woods that serve as entrances and exits. Saria had ordered me to stay there and make sure that no one passed by while she sorted things out further in. I hadn't seen her since.

Well, only my faith towards Saria made me keep on sitting in front of that log. Want to know why? Because it was very, very, very boring. I was sitting there, wondering what my other friends were doing, when I heard footsteps— loud ones, too. I quickly got to my feet and balled my fists. And guess who I saw?

It was an Outsider! The funny thing about him, though, was that he was wearing Kokiri-ish garments. He had the trademark green tunic, brown boots, and green hood. What was more, he had a fairy with him! A FAIRY!? Was this a joke!?

It was clear that the man wanted to go through the path Saria told me to guard, and so I blocked him. Even though he had a sword and shield and was about two heads taller than me, I wanted to remain faithful to Saria by acting tougher than I was. I'd had plenty of practise, anyway— I always acted that way.

"Who are you?" I said as menacingly as I could. "Though you wear Kokiri-ish clothing, you can't fool me!"

Although the man's mouth did not so much as twitch, his eyes did all of the talking. I could tell that he was quite amused. I continued, notheless. "I promised Saria that I would never let anybody through here." I said. The man's amusement finally passed to the rest of his face, and he grinned. I was wondering what was so funny, while trying to keep a scowl on my face at the same time, when he pulled out a small, sky-blue ocarina. He put the ocarina to his lips and began to play a song. . . a very familiar song. . .

Saria's Song!

"That melody?!" I exclaimed. "Saria plays that song all the time!" The man stopped playing at my first shout and put his ocarina away, smiling once more in a I-know-something-you-don't-know-and-I'm-debateing-how-much-I'm-going-to-tell-you sort of way. I didn't like it. "You. . . do you know Saria?" I asked awkwardly, and the man spoke for the first time.

"Yes. How else would I know that song?" he said. I shifted from one foot to the other, debating what to do.

"Okay. . . I trust you." I said reluctantly, at last. "Saria only teaches that song to her friends. You can pass." As I let the man through, it suddenly struck me how much he reminded me of Link. . .

"Hey, Mr. No Fairy! What took you so long? You've been with the Deku Tree for days!" I say, as Link passes me by. He looks quite somber for some reason. "What happened?" He mumbles something inaudible. "What did you say? I didn't quite catch that."

"The Deku Tree died," he says, louder this time.

"WHAT?!?! YOU'RE JOKING!" I exclaim. I grab him by the arm and drag him with me to the Deku Tree's spot. To my horror, he's right. The Deku Tree is a dull grey, and his leaves are dried and shriveled. I turn to Link. "Link! How could you?!" I say in anger. He looks shocked.

"I didn't kill him!" he exclaims indignantly.

"Yeah, then who did?" I challenge. He answers without hesitation.

"Ganondorf did. He put a curse on the Deku Tree when—"

"Yeah, and my left foot is a Deku Scrub!" I snort. "You were the last person to see him! Don't make up stuff about this guy named 'Ganonfork'!"

"Ganondorf," he corrects me.

"Whatever," I say. Suddenly, I feel hatred towards Link spread through me. He had killed the Deku Tree! Our guardian spirit! The thing that had made us all! How could a Kokiri destroy his creator? Unless. . . he wasn't a Kokiri. . . Suddenly, it all made sense. Why Link hadn't gotten a fairy until a few a days ago. . . why he always seemed somehow different from the rest of us Kokiri. . . he was an imposter!

I turn to face Link, and I think he sees the hatred burning in my eyes, for his blue eyes become filled with fear. I pounce on him suddenly, and we both go tumbling. I end up on top of him, and my fists punch every inch of him they can find. The wimp doesn't even try to fight back— he just shields his face with his arms and takes it. I wonder why. If he could kill the Deku Tree, why doesn't he fight back? I suddenly feel the hands of other Kokiri, breaking us apart. . .

A few days after I had relived the flashback, as I sat by my post by the log, I wondered why that man had summoned up that particular memory. As I sat there, Saria's words circled in my head: I won't deny you. However, I happened to know Link well— much better than yourself. You are accusing him on bottomless claims. You have no proof. Just because Link was the last one to see the Deku Tree doesn't mean that he killed him.

It occurred to me that I had never even considered before that Saria might be right. I tried to imagine what it might have been like for Link if what he and Saria had said was true.

Well, he said that that Ganon-something man killed the Deku Tree with a curse. . . so that would mean that Link saw the Deku Tree right before the curse finished him off. I tried to recall why Link had been summoned in the first place, then realized that I had never been told. So, if Link's alibi was true, he was most likely summoned because. . . the Deku Tree was about to die from the curse and wanted to tell him something. Yeah, that would be it. And maybe that would be why he never fought back when I attacked him. . . because he hadn't killed the Deku Tree after all, and didn't like fighting. . . but wait— then why did he have a sword and shield? Oh yeah— I made him get them before I let him pass.

I suddenly recalled the truthfulness that had been in Link's voice when he denied killing the Deku Tree. Surely he wasn't that good of an actor. And then, just as suddenly, I realized that the light hypothesis that I had just been considering was more convincing than what I had been telling myself and others for years.

That meant. . . that meant that what Link had been saying was true. . . then he had been a true Kokiri all along. . . and I had bullied him for years, all for nothing. . . just because he had received his fairy later than the rest of us. I felt a wave of guilt at how I had treated him for all of these years. . . and now he was gone. I couldn't even apologise.

And if he really was a Kokiri, and he had attempted to leave the forest. . .

I struggled to force the thought that Link might have died that day seven years ago out of my head.

Suddenly I heard footsteps coming from behind me, and guess who I saw coming? It was the man who had inspired this entire train of thought. Suddenly I got an idea. The man was an Outsider. . . and Link had left the forest. . . so maybe the man had met him. With nothing to lose, I decided to ask.

I blocked his path again, and shot him the question.

"Hey, mister," I said, "d'you travel around much?"

He was obviously a man of few words, because all he said was, "Yes."

"Have you. . . have you ever met a boy named Link?" I asked awkwardly.

"We've. . . met," said the man. I could once again see the I-know-something-you-don't-know-and-I'm-debateing-how-much-I'm-going-to-tell-you look in his eyes, only this time much stronger. Meanwhile, my own stomach lurched. He had seen Link!

"Well. . . could you tell him that. . . I'm sorry?" I mumbled. The man knelt so that his eyes and mine were on the same level.

"What do you want to apologize for?" he asked.

"Well. . . I did some mean things to him years ago. . ." I said, ". . .and said some mean things. . . and I want him to know that. . . I didn't really mean it."

"What is your name?"

"Mido."

"He's mentioned you," said the man. "Didn't seem too fond of you." I winced inwardly, but was careful not to let it show.

"Well, will you apologize to him? For me?" I asked.

"I won't need to," said the man.

"Why not?" I asked, confused.

"Because I am he."

"LINK?!" I exclaimed.

"That's my name. Don't wear it out." he said, sitting all the way down. This was impossible! He couldn't be Link!

"But. . . you're all big! Link was a Kokiri! Kokiri don't grow up!" I said. "Link was a Kokiri just like me!" For a fleeting instant, I thought I saw a look of inner pain in the man's eyes, but I passed it off as a figment of my imagination, for a second later he smiled with that already all-too-familiar look.

"Then how did he leave the forest?" he pointed out.

"I. . . he. . . er. . ." I said awkwardly. He had just shot down my new beliefs, and now I wasn't sure what to think. He laughed.

"I am not a Kokiri, and never was one," said the man. "That is why I could leave the forest. My mother brought me here when I was little so there would be a safe place for me to grow up."

"But— but— you can't be. . ." I stammered.

"Why not?" the man challenged, and laughed again. Suddenly, I realized something. He laughed just like Link did. I took a closer look at him. He had the same facial features, and— most of all— he had the same deep blue eyes. I wondered why I hadn't seen the connection before.

"I believe you." I said softly. Link asked no more questions. The expression on my face said it all, I guess.

This was so impossible. . .yet so real. . . there he was, Link, an adult, sitting in front of me. . .

I decided to ask him a question that was now nagging me. "Did you kill the Deku Tree?"

"No." Link said with the same honesty that he had used seven years ago. "Ganondorf put a curse on him, because the Deku Tree had. . . had something that he wanted, and wouldn't give it to him."

Suddenly it clicked. I had been half-right for years— Link wasn't a Kokiri. Yet, he hadn't killed the Deku Tree. The gaps left in both of my previous theories were filled.

"Listen," I said, mustering my courage as well as I could on the spur of the moment, "I'm sorry about the stuff I did to you years ago. And. . . about. . . about accusing you of killing the Deku Tree. I'm sorry. I really am."

There was an awkward pause. Then,

"Will you forgive me?" I mumbled.

"Yes." Link replied at last.

It felt as though a burden that I had been bearing for a long time was suddenly lifted. But I still wasn't satisfied.

"Will you. . . will you be my friend?" I stammered, avoiding his gaze.

There was another pause, broken once again by Link.

"All right," he said, "you're on."

We shook hands on it.