It would be a while until the third and final part of the competition, so Saria decided to work up enough courage and see Link, her Link. The crowd had dispersed again, and Link was now sitting on a rock and talking to a couple of friends.

Saria blushed and forced herself to step forward. "H- hi…" she said shyly.

"Hey, Saria." He stood up and told his friends he'd see them later. When he stood, Saria gulped. He was so much taller than her now that he was an adult. She remembered when they were about the same height.

"I- I haven't spoken to you in a long time," she said. Talking to him used to be so easy, before he left the forest and grew up…

"Yeah, it's been a while," he agreed. Link seemed to feel a little awkward too, but a little cooler than Saria.

The two stood there, avoiding eye contact for what seemed to be a long time. Saria was just about to say goodbye and leave when she suddenly found herself flinging her arms around Link. "I miss you so much! Why did you have to leave and grow up and become a hero and fall in love with Zelda like every other stinking Link does?!"

Link was shocked at first, but then he hugged her back, leaning down to do so. "I didn't want to, believe me. I had to grow up and be the hero. Hyrule depended on me."

"So you just forgot about me?" Saria sobbed quietly.

"No," Link whispered. "Of course not. Never. You're forgetting there are two time lines."

Saria looked up at him and blinked away the tears that were forming in her eyes. "What?"

"Yeah, two time lines. In one, I grow up and become the hero, and you become a sage. In the other, I live out my childhood and stay with you."

"Why didn't anyone tell me about this?"

Link shrugged and laughed. "I thought you knew."

"So where's…"

"…the child me?" Link finished. He pointed over at another Link, much like himself, but younger, and much shorter. "It's really weird seeing myself as a child, you know?"

Saria smiled and hugged adult Link again, then ran over to see child Link. "Hey," she said.

"Hey, Saria! Great job with the talent division!"

"Thanks."

They began to talk and it was like they had never been apart.

"It's tiiiiime for the third and final part of the beauty pageant… the evening dress division!" The S.T.A.R. minigame announcer called from the stage. "For this division, we will be moving to Hyrule Castle! That is all! Thank you!"

The crowd began to leave the beach by walking, flying, riding various versions of Epona the horse, and numerous other means of transportation. As Hyrule Castle came into view, Saria gasped in awe. It was huge, and so beautiful. She had never seen a castle before. She didn't realize that only a few rooms had been finished and the rest was just an elaborately painted cardboard backdrop.

She and her friends entered the first of the finished rooms, following the S.T.A.R. announcer. There was a stage set up in this room, along with chairs for the audience and a throne for the judge, Twilight Princess Link. The announcer led them to a door on the right of the room. "In here is the changing room where you will find your dresses. Hurry, the contest is starting soon!"

The competitors quickly changed into their dresses and Saria stepped out proudly in her shimmering, silky, emerald-green dress. She was feeling more confident now than she had earlier. Sheik and her friends had cheered her up and encouraged her, the talent division had gone well, and she'd even worked up enough courage to talk to Link… both the adult version and the child version.

It didn't matter if she won or not. She wasn't expecting to and she didn't really care either way. It'd been a good day and totally worth it to find child Link again.

Saria could hear the announcer in the main room. "Ladies and gentlemen, Zoras and Gorons, please put your hands, fins, wings or whatever else you may have together for… the Evening Dress Division."

The cheers and clapping roared as Saria and the others left the dressing room in their dresses. One by one, they walked across the stage. Among the more interesting was Navi, who was basically a floating orb of blue light with wings and had decided not to wear a dress. There was also Mila, who had lost her fortune sometime during the events of 'Windwaker' and ended up wearing a burlap sack. Ashei's was made of what looked like yeti fur. The yeti couple, who was sitting in the audience, gasped and Mr. Yeti fainted.

After a few other competitors, it was the Zeldas' turn. There was one for each game, they each wore almost the same exact dress, and they took way too long to cross the stage because they enjoyed showing off. At first all the Links were excited, but after the first few it was rather boring. Judge Link went to sleep… until Twilight Princess Zelda was up, of course.

Saria marched across the stage with her friends and looked out into the audience, trying to find Link, the child Link that she knew. They smiled at each other, and she left the stage with the others.

"And that's it for the Evening Dress Division!" the star announcer called. As soon as he got the words out of his mouth, a skinny, bizarre-looking guy wearing shorts ran onto the stage and pulled a piece of paper out of his bag, handed it to the announcer, and left. The announcer read it and told the crowd, "I have just received information that a young lady from Ocarina of Time has not participated in the competition thus far. She will now participate in the evening dress contest!"

Saria could see that offstage a couple of guys were trying to get another Zelda to come onto the stage. The Zelda swiftly punched both and sent them flying. Saria was shocked. Zelda was usually the helpless princess in need of rescue. This one refused to come onstage until a Goron guard dragged her to the center of the stage. There she stood, looking embarrassed and afraid.

Then Saria realized who this Zelda was. It was Sheik! Suddenly she felt very angry about the whole competition. They forced her to participate even though she didn't want to! Saria gathered up her courage, as she had when she went to talk to Link. She marched onto the stage and stood beside Zelda, beside her friend Sheik, and held her hand.

"I am afraid you have just been disqualified," the announcer said to Saria. "Once you have left the stage, you may not return."

Saria knew that. She'd read the rules, and she didn't care. She wasn't going to let Sheik stand there and be embarrassed, all by herself. "I know," she said. She looked up at Sheik and smiled.

Sheik smiled back. "Thank you. You're a great friend."

"Okay," the announcer said. "Now we will have a short intermission, and when we come back… the results!!!!"

To be continued…