Glimmering Greens

.

. I don't own Legend of Zelda Nintendo does.

The forest was quiet, calm; most of its residents had gone to sleep for the night. A lone wolfos was searching for its mate; a Deku scrub was arranging its leaves for rest. No one noticed as a small boy appeared in the soft green grass. His thin blanket was barely enough to keep him warm in the chill air, but he slept on far too used to the cold to notice.

…

"Who is he?" "Where is he from?"

"How did he get here?" "What are these?"

Chattering voices woke the little boy up the following morning. He blinked, everything was blurry and green. 'Why is everything so green?' he wondered.

"Hey back off and give him some space," a soft female voice reached the boy's ears. A shape moved past the others and up closer to him while snatching something from one of the others. It kneeled down in front of him. "These are yours are they not?" she asked and handed him his glasses.

Small nimble fingers reached up and placed the black rimmed glasses over brilliant green eyes. He looked around once more. The blurry green haze had turned into trees and bushes and a whole group of children all clad in green. They were staring at him. He bit his lip; he really didn't like people staring at him.

"O.K. come on leave us alone you're making him uncomfortable," the girl closest to him told the others. They grumbled but did as they were told. As the other children left, the girl turned back around and said "Hi, I'm Saria, who are you?"

The boy looked up at the girl, Saria. She had green hair. He blinked. 'Aunt Petunia definitely would not like her, not with that hair colour,' he thought. Then he said, "My name is Harry," cautiously.

"Harry," Saria smiled at him, "it's nice to meet you," she said and held out a hand to help him off the ground.

Once standing, the small boy looked around again. 'Where am I? How did I get here? Who are these children and "Is that a fairy?" he exclaimed before he could stop himself.

'Don't ask questions' Uncle Vernon's voice rang through his head. It had been the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys. Harry twirled his fingers into his overly large sweater.

Saria, however, smiled at him and said, "Yes, he is a fairy; he is my guardian fairy in fact," she held out her hand and the orange creature landed in her palm. "All Kokiri have a guardian fairy," she stated. "They protect and guide us."

"Kokiri?" Harry asked confused. 'What on earth is a Kokiri?'

"Yes, that is what we're called. This forest is Kokiri Forest, and it's guarded by the Great Deku Tree," Saria explained.

They had been walking as they spoke and now they were standing in front of what looked to be a giant stump.

Saria moved up to the stump and said, "This is my home please come in and we'll get something to eat. You must be hungry." As she finished Harry's stomach rumbled causing him to blush.

"See I was right you are hungry," Saria said and smiled at him. She placed several kinds of, what Harry had to assume was, fruit on the table but none of it looked like what he was used to. No apples or bananas or oranges.

The regular colours were there, though. Green, yellow, red, purple and… blue?

'They taste nice,' Harry thought as he started eating. He bit in to a yellow fruit which it turned out tasted a lot like strawberries actually.

"Hey Saria you got some to spare?"

Harry turned. A boy was standing in the doorway, his floppy green hat hanging from his belt and his blond hair was at least as unruly as Harry's own raven mop.

Saria laughed and answered, "Yes Link I have some to spare but you better replace what you eat."

Link smiled, sat down, and started eating as well.

The atmosphere around the table was peaceful as they ate.

Harry's head was swimming with questions.

And, Link was wondering just who the new kid was. The new boy had black hair almost like the feathers of a guay, and big green eyes which were partly covered by some sort of weird glass.

After a while Harry gathered his courage and asked, "What is the Great Deku Tree?"

"Well the Great Deku Tree is a who not a what to begin with, and he is, as I told you earlier, the guardian of this forest," Saria said. "He is also the one that grants each Kokiri their guardian fairy," she continued.

"Yeah," Link piped in, "I'm currently the only one living here who doesn't have a fairy," he said and rolled his eyes.

Saria smiled at Link before she said, "You really shouldn't listen to Mido you know. He doesn't know everything and the others don't really care whether you have a fairy or not." She turned back to Harry. "I'm more interested in where you are from though. Your clothes are strange not to mention those glass things," Saria said.

"Oh," Harry said. "I'm from Surrey in England."

"England, where is that?" Saria asked.

"In Great Britain which is a part of Europe," Harry answered. He had done quite well in geography after all. Even though, he couldn't hand in most of the work he'd done because of the Dursleys.

"Hmm," Saria looked thoughtful, "I don't think I have ever heard about a place called Great Britain or Europe before," she said and stood up. "I should probably go and speak to the Great Deku Tree. Maybe he knows where that is." She walked over to the door turning at threshold. "Link," she said, "will you show Harry around please, and gather some more fruit." She gave a pointed look at the amount of peals and cores lying on the table in front of him.

"Oh, eh, O.K," Link said looking a bit sheepish. As Saria left, the blond turned to Harry and motioned for him to get up so they could leave as well. "So, that house is mine," Link said and pointed to his right after they had left Saria's house.

Harry turned around. Link's house had a balcony and the entrance seemed to be up there rather than at ground level like with Saria's house.

"And if you continue down that path you get to the Great Mido's house," Link rolled his eyes and pointed, "on the right and the Know-it-All Brothers' house up the hill to the left. If you continue straight you get to the village exit. They say that a Kokiri will die if he or she leaves the forest. Though, I don't know how true that is, and it isn't like anyone is going to try either."

Harry nodded, storing the information away for later use, and then his brows furrowed. "Why are they called the Know-it-All Brothers," he asked.

"Well it's because they know everything about mostly anything," Link answered and ran his hand through his un-kept locks. "And they will pretty much talk to anyone who's patient enough to listen," he continued.

Harry looked around. He thought it was sort of cool to live in stump houses. There didn't seem to be any grown-ups around either which was a bonus in his opinion. He noticed that most of the children, or Kokiri as they apparently called themselves, were looking at him and Link. Saria's words earlier seemed to be keeping them at a distance still, though, which was perfectly fine with him. He followed Link walking slowly and trying to see as much as possible. Then he noticed a sort of bridge going over their heads.

"You want to go up there?" Link asked. He had tried to steal a glance at the raven and noticed that the boy's attention seemed to be focused on the bridge above them. "We would be able to see better from up there you know."

"Yeah, I guess that would be nice," Harry answered.

Link nodded and led the two of them up a ramp that was built around the back of Saria's house.

When they reached the top, Link ran out on the bridge only to turn around as he reached the first pillar the bridge was anchored to. There was a second one that was positioned to the left of the first. A blond girl was standing on top of it.

Harry on the other hand was a tad bit cautious at going out on the wooden bridge mostly because it lacked any kind of railing. He bit his lower lip, 'It's going to hurt an awful lot if I fall down from here,' he thought a bit scared.

"It's O.K. come on out here," Link called and motioned for Harry to start walking.

Harry twirled his fingers into his too big sweater and took a tentative step forward. He wasn't too fond of heights especially not after Aunt Marge's favourite bulldog Ripper had chased him up a tree, just a few weeks ago, and forced him to stay there until well past midnight.

"It's fine I won't let you fall," Link said startling the smaller boy. The blond was suddenly standing right next to Harry.

The raven looked up at the blue-eyed boy his green orbs wide.

Link held out a hand for Harry to take. "I'll help you across O.K." he said with a comforting smile.

Harry reached out warily and grabbed Link's hand. "O.K." he said nervously.

Link took a firm hold of the much smaller hand before guiding the raven slowly as they made their way over to the first pillar.

'Link was right,' Harry thought as he looked around, 'the view is quite good from up here.'

There was a small waterfall which filled a pond with clear blue water and small patches of what looked to be cloverleaves with yellow flowers spread around the village. Harry blinked. There were small balls of yellowish light with tails moving about the two of them. "What are those?" he asked and pointed at the little orbs.

"Hmm," Link turned his head to look at what had caught the smaller boy's attention. "Oh, those. They are forest wisps. They're completely harmless," he answered. He pulled at the raven's hand and pointed. "So, that," he said, "is the store. Not that they really sell anything you'd normally need but it could be good to know anyway. And through the opening to the right of the store is the entrance to the Great Deku Tree's meadow and then there's the Twins' house. That is pretty much it really," Link finished.

For a moment they just stood there.

Looking around

Thinking

Letting the soft breeze ruffle their hair

'This place is nothing like back at Privet Drive,' Harry thought. 'It's so calm, and it smells different too. I guess they don't have any cars around here.' He held out his hand and one of the forest wisps landed in his palm. It was warm and the soft glow was comforting.

"Well isn't that cute," the female Kokiri Harry had seen earlier said as she walked up to them. She had broken the calm atmosphere around the boys. "Won't you introduce us Link?!" she asked.

Harry quickly pulled his hand out of Link's warm one. He regretted losing the comfort the blond provided but the girl in front of him made him really uncomfortable, and he knew from his Uncle Vernon that boys were not supposed to hold hands.

Link gave the girl a mock glare as the raven moved back. He sighed and said, "Harry this is Fado. Fado this is Harry," he motioned between them.

"It's nice to meet you Harry," Fado said.

The raven shifted nervously. This girl was too forward for his taste. Luckily for him he didn't need to answer because another voice broke through the somewhat awkward silence.

"So rumour was right another No-Fairy has appeared," an orange-haired boy said, "think you can just show up and expect to be accepted, huh."

"That's Mido," Link whispered to Harry who was looking at the new boy cautiously. "Don't listen to him. He's just trying to rile you up. He acts like the leader of this place but if the Great Deku Tree says you can stay he can't do anything about it," he said trying to reassure the raven. Green eyes looked up at him widely. "Saria is speaking to the Great Deku Tree. She 'll convince him." Seeing that he wasn't making much progress he looked down at Mido and said, "Leave him alone Mido. He's got enough problems without you trying to bully him as well."

Mido huffed. "We don't need another strange No-Fairy here," he said.

Link just shook his head in annoyance and said, "Come on Harry let's go gather some fruit." He took the raven's hand once more and helped him back over the bridge leaving the other children behind.

They got back to the ground. Link tightened his grip on Harry's hand. He led the raven down the path which he'd said would lead them out of the forest. As they passed Mido's house, however, the blond led them off the path to the right and up a ledge which stretched out behind the stump house. He let go of Harry and climbed up before reaching back down. "Here I'll help you up," he said grabbing on to the smaller boy's hand once more and pulling him up beside him.

They were facing a wall full of vines.

Harry turned to look at Link questioningly.

"These are easy to climb," the blond told him, "you just have to make certain that you get a good hold that's all."

'Yeah right,' Harry thought doubtfully but he followed the blonde's lead anyway.

Once they, after a bit of trial and error, had reached the top Link said, "We will be entering the Lost Woods so stay close to me it's kind of hard to find your way in there when you've never been there before."

They entered the woods and soon after turned left. Link began pointing out which fruits were edible and which fruits to avoid – either because they were dangerous or because they simply tasted really bad – as they went.

The blue ones were funny. When you tried to pick one they would all disappear into a cocoon of sorts and you had to tickle the cocoon to get the fruit back out.

Red were sour.

Green were sweet unless they looked like pears because then they were spicy. Almost like chilli.

Yellow were Harry's favourite they were sweet but had an acid touch to them which was nice.

…

Once the boys decided that they'd gathered enough fruit, they started making their way back to Saria's house.

As Link and Harry walked up the path to the stump, Harry decided to ask a question that had been bothering him for a while, "Why is the forest called the Lost Woods?"

Link blinked. "Oh, that's because it's very easy to get lost in there of course," he said as they entered the stump. "Some even say that people who lose themselves in the woods turn into Stalfos."

"Stalfos?" Harry's voice was questioning.

"Mmhm, big mean skeleton warriors. Though, they say kids turn into Skull kids not Stalfos," Link said.

"Are you trying to scare the poor boy Link? That's not very nice of you," Saria said as she entered the house.

Link looked at her startled before he turned to Harry. His eyes widened, 'she is right he looks kind of scared,' he thought. "Oh," he said "I didn't mean to . . . It's not like we would ever let you get lost in there Harry," he walked over to the smaller boy and gave him a reassuring hug.

Harry, who was unused to any kind of positive contact, tensed as the blond pulled him closer. It took several minutes for him to relax into the warm embrace. 'This is nice' he thought breathing in the calming scent of dew on morning leaves that seemed to radiate from the blond.

"Hey, have you never gotten a hug before Harry?" Link asked jokingly as the small raven gave a pleased sigh.

Harry tore away from the blond almost immediately, blushing and looking extremely uncomfortable. He started twirling his fingers into the baggy shirt as he bit his lower lip nervously. He wondered miserably if they would throw him out now. He was a freak and he knew it. A part of him had just hoped that maybe… maybe things would be different here. Link and Saria they had been so nice to him.

Link watched the raven-haired boy withdraw. The boy's fingers were making intricate knots in his shirt. Then he could see how green eyes glazed with tears but no fell. "You really haven't had a proper hug before," Link said now sounding concerned more than anything else. He reached out and grabbed a hold of the boy, who looked an awful lot like a scared hare. Pulling him into a tight embrace once more, he said, "Here I'll give you another one."

Harry allowed the bigger boy to envelope him again with only a minor flinch this time. He was still biting his lip. He breathed in through his nose slowly. He had no idea what to do. He never got hugs. He didn't know how to respond. Eventually he did relax once more thinking, 'Hugs are nice.' He rubbed his face against Link's tunic, '. . . Link's warm.' He sighed. He liked this. It felt safe.

Link looked down at the boy in his arms. He could see the raven calming, eyelids falling shut. 'I'll get him used to hugs,' he thought. 'I wonder what kind of people he lived with for him to flinch like that when I hug him,' he pondered.

Across the room Saria, whose thoughts were going in a very similar direction, met the blonde's eyes. An unspoken message passed between them before Link lowered his gaze. "Link," she said, "can Harry stay with you tonight?"

Link looked back up at her. "Yeah sure he can." He looked down at the boy in his arms. "Do you want to stay with me Harry?" he asked.

Harry looked up, green eyes met blue, "Yeah, I'd like that," he said. A small flutter spread through his stomach. Link wanted him to stay with him. No one had ever wanted him around before.

A small smile spread over his face as they sat down to eat.

Days passed in the Kokiri Forest. Days filled with fruit gathering, laugher, skinny-dipping, hide-n-seek – together with many other games that the Kokiri liked to play – and adventures which Link and Harry often claimed to have disappeared on.

It didn't actually take all that long for Harry to relax around the children. One of the reasons was most likely because there were no adults around. Children were easier to trust because the only reason that they had avoided him in England was Dudley. Now that no Dudley existed the kids had nothing against playing with him.

It turned out that the Great Deku Tree didn't know where England or Great Britain or even Europe was so Harry stayed with the Kokiri in their forest.

Days became weeks and weeks became months. Nothing really changed until one day when Harry left Link's house early. – He had never left the blonde's house. He had stayed there together with the bigger boy. It had created a very strong bond between them. – That day Link was summoned by the Great Deku Tree.

…

Harry was walking down the path leading to Link's house. His brows furrowed as he saw Saria standing by the ladder leading up to the balcony of the house. "Hi Saria, what are you doing here?" Harry asked the green-haired girl.

"Hi Harry," she said as she turned towards him. "Haven't you heard? Link finally got himself a fairy, and the Great Deku Tree wanted to talk to him for some reason."

"Oh O.K.," Harry said. He didn't quite know what to think. Was he happy for Link or 'yeah I'm glad he got himself a fairy but what about me? I know that I'm not going to get one. I'm human not a forest child,' he thought.

It had been one of those things that had brought him and Link closer together during the time he had been there. Harry was scared of losing that. He made his way up the ladder. "I'm so stupid. It isn't like Link is suddenly going to change just because he has a fairy," he told himself as he placed some newly gathered fruit in the bowl on the table.

This wasn't the first time he had needed to fight his own insecurities. They sort of came and went but recently it was nowhere near as common. Link had been really understanding, though. Especially after, he had shared his past with the blond. Link had been seriously pissed off then. Before that the bigger boy had just gotten confused whenever he would close off. After he would get a hug and Link wouldn't leave him alone.

…

By midday Harry was starting to get a little worried. 'Where is he?' he wondered. 'Talking to the Great Deku Tree shouldn't take this long, right?'

"HARRY, HARRY," it was Saria calling.

Harry walked out on the balcony. "Yes Saria what is it?" he asked.

"It's the Great Deku Tree my fairy says that he has died, and Link he . . ."

"What about Link. Is he O.K. he has to be," Harry's heart was racing. Link couldn't be hurt he just couldn't.

"Yes Link is fine it's just that he is bound to leave the forest," Saria hurried to tell the distraught raven.

'Link leave, oh no, not without me he won't,' Harry thought but he had to focus on Saria right now since she was speaking once more.

"I'm going to go wait for him by the exit. Will you come with me Harry?" the green haired girl asked.

"Yes I'll come with you," Harry said and climbed down the ladder from the balcony, jumping the last few steps. He walked up to Saria and she took his hand.

Together they walked up to the main path of Kokiri Forest. Saria let out a long sigh as they walked. Normally Harry would ask what was wrong, but he was wound so tightly he didn't think he could manage right now.

They walked over to the bridge which lay just before the forest exit. Saria stopped by the railing looking back the way they'd come while Harry sat down next to her. He closed his eyes and listened. They didn't have to wait long. The sound of footsteps reached their ears soon after shortly followed by Link running past them.

"Oh, you're leaving…" Saria said stopping the blond in his tracks. He turned around to face her, eyes wide. "I knew that you would leave the forest someday, Link…" she continued. "Because you are different from the rest of us."

"Saria I . . ." Link started saying…

But he was interrupted by Saria saying, "But that's O.K., because we'll be friends forever…won't we?"

"Yes of course we will," Link reassured her.

Harry sat there watching the other two interact with a small smile on his face. They were so silly sometimes.

"I want you to have this ocarina Link. Please take good care of it." Saria said as she pulled out a beautiful wooden ocarina from a pouch.

"Thank you Saria," Link said as she handed him the instrument.

"When you play my ocarina, I hope you will think of me and come back to the forest to visit," she told him.

"I will, I promise," he said before he turned around and tried to dash out of the forest. He didn't manage.

Harry had moved so that he was standing behind his blond friend as Link finished speaking to Saria. "You really think that I will allow you to leave here without me, huh," he said.

Link looked shocked for a moment before he took on a very serious expression. "It will be dangerous Harry," he said.

Harry snorted before replying, "All the more reason not to let you go alone Link."

"I won't be able to convince you to stay will I?" Link asked his smaller friend.

"Nope," the raven responded and grabbed the blonde's hand, "I will be coming with you whether you like it or not," he said leaving absolutely no room for argument as he started walking towards the forest exit. "Bye Saria, I'll make certain that we come back here to visit sometime O.K." he called over his shoulder with a wave of his unoccupied hand.

The two boys could hear the soft laughter of their green haired friend as they made their way out of the forest.

…

"Link, where are we going?" Harry asked his friend as he jumped over a fallen tree branch.

"Oh, we are going to see the Princess of Destiny in Hyrule Castle," Link said. He pulled something out of his tunic. "We need to show her this," he said and held up a green stone with a gold swirl like the end of a leaf holding the stone.

"It's pretty," Harry said as he reached out to touch it.

"Yeah, it is . . . kind of like your eyes," Link responded. His eyes widened as he realised what he had just said.

Harry was blushing. "I'm not pretty," he said with a huff.