"I've been waiting so long to see you. I'm so glad you're safe," she whispered, stroking his hair.

Link gave her the biggest smile I've seen him show since I met him, "I really missed you Saria! I'm glad I got to meet you again," his voice lowered, and he looked down, slowly standing, "I guess you can see I'm not actually a Kokiri.." he muttered.

Saria giggled, and pat his hand, "I've always known," Link gave her the most confused look in probably the history of confused looks, "Since the day you arrived to the forest as a baby. The Great Deku Tree informed me of your fate. But don't worry, we're the only ones in the forest who know," she assured him with a smile.

Link sighed in relief, "I'm so glad.. I thought you would think differently of me," he smiled again, a light pink tint caressed his cheeks.

I softly stepped away. I felt oddly uncomfortable around Saria, and I didn't want to disturb them either, but when I reached the door, she stopped me.

"Wait," she called, making me shiver slightly, "You're the one Sheik mentioned."

"You know Sheik? He mentioned Lota?" Link said, cocking his head slightly to the side.

"Yes, Lota!" She said, a small smile on her face.

"Why did he-" I began, but my voice crack as she ran up to me, tip-toed, and kissed my cheek.

"Be careful. Don't lose sight of yourself, and take care of Link," she whispered to me before stepping back, and placing a small, plain, green stone in my hand.

I was confused. That kiss..? What does she mean 'don't lose sight of yourself'? What is this stone for?

"Wait, wha-" she held a finger to her lips quietly, and motioned to Link with her eyes. I assumed she didn't want him to know what she had told me, so I stayed quiet.

"Well, Link," she said, turning to face him, "I'm afraid it's time for me to go. You've become quite strong.." she said, crestfallen.

Link stepped forward a bit, "No... Can't you stay?"

Saria shook her head, "I must protect this place as the Sage of Forest. But I will be watching over you on your journey," she gave him a sweet smile.

Link looked so sad, it made me really sad. The girl he was likely in love with couldn't be by his side. As if Link didn't have it hard enough already.

I clenched my fists in frustration.

"I understand," Link sighed, "I'm glad I got to see you, at the very least," he said, kneeling down and hugging her again.

She returned the hug, "I'm glad too."

"I lend my strength to the both of you."

A bright green light emitted from her, and covered the room. When the light was gone, so was Saria. Link slowly put his empty arms back at his sides, and stood.

I awkwardly rubbed my arm, "I'm sorry, Link.."

He shook his head, rubbing his eyes, "It's okay. I'm okay. I'm happy knowing she'll be watching over me," he beamed.

I sighed, and hugged him, "You're such an idiot," I muttered into his chest, as his arms wrapped tightly around me, and his head fell on my shoulder.

"So...what's your relation to Saria, anyhow?" I asked, looking down slightly.

We were exiting Kokiri Forest now. The monsters had disappeared, and the Kokiri children were out and about once more. They thanks Link, of course, and asked if he had seen Saria, but it didn't seem like any of them recognized Link. I found that pretty frustrating, but I guess they just assumed he was someone similar. To them, Link was a Kokiri. Probably a dead one too. I had heard it's forbidden for Kokiri to leave the forest because they could possibly die without the protection of the Great Deku Tree.

Anyway, our next destination was in Kakariko Village, where I began. Link said he found me in the graveyard..

I can't help but feel cold as he reminded me.

Link chuckled a bit, "It's strange, seeing as she's obviously much smaller than me, but Saria's plenty older than me as well. I always saw her as a mother figure. She took care of me, she was always there for me as a kid," he sighed, "I owe a lot to her," he smiled, turning his head in my direction, "Why do you ask?"

I smiled back, "Just curious is all! I'm very interested in all this, and you," though I felt I already had the answers.

His eyes grew slightly, and his cheeks grew rosy, "I could have sworn you said you knew all about me when we first met."

My head hurt, "Did I say that?" my memory was fuzzy, "I can't seem to remember that day much. My mind has been occupied by that dre-" I abruptly cut my sentence.

"'Dre-?'" Link repeated.

I shook my head, "Dre-...aded man we encountered a while ago," I filled in. I felt bad for lying to Link, but I supposed I could get away with it, since we didn't know much about each other anyhow. Probably best not to begin sharing. I didn't expect Link to keep me around long, I was after all, dead weight. My only problem was where I would go when that time came.

"A clever ruse by Ganondorf. He sent a phantom double to try and rid of us," Link hissed.

My head pain only increased, my temples throbbed.

"Nngh!" I groaned, stumbling sideways slightly, hitting Link, as I held my hands at my temples.

Link quickly held me by my shoulders, "What's wrong, did you get hurt?" he asked, without missing a beat.

I shook my head slightly, "My head...just hurts. I'll be fine after a little rest," I sighed, "Sorry to worry you.."

Link shook his head, his hand on my forehead, "You're burning up," he muttered.

I tried stepping away from him, but only stumbled, "I said I'll be fine," I groaned.

Link swiftly scooped me up, and continued walking toward Kakariko, "Be quiet. You're going to rest, got it?" he said sternly, catching me by surprise. It felt like a different Link. Not Like a 10-year-old boy in a man's body, but the rightful man in his own body.

I decided not to argue about it. I shouldn't burden him any more than I am now.

We had arrived at Kakariko. Link had brought me to the home he had left me at previously, but it seemed the lady of the house was out.

I felt his hand slip into my hair, and loosen the bun atop my head, allowing my hair to cascade around me.

"I figure you'll be more comfortable without it," he said, setting me down, gently, on the bed from before. He set the tie that held my hair, beside my head, and ran his fingers through a lower section of my hair.

"What are you doing?" I asked, a looking at him, then the hand that held strands of my hair between the fingers.

"Your hair is just really long.." he murmured, "and dark."

"Yeah, I guess it is," I chuckled, my laughter quickly turned to coughing.

Link stepped away, a disapproving look on his face, "Lota, I think it'd be best if you stay here tonight. I'm afraid of dragging you to Death Mountain with the condition you're in."

I sat up quickly, "No! I can help!" I had a small fit of coughing just then, which didn't help me at all.

Link shook his head and gently pushed me back down to the bed, "Please, stop exerting yourself. I know you can..you told me so, but I can handle this one myself, really."

I sighed, and nodded lightly, in defeat.

"Rest up, okay?" he said, giving me a thumbs up, "I'll be back in a few days," and with that, he turned, and left.

I hope he doesn't encounter too much trouble. Perhaps he'll be safer without me there. I'd probably lead him to a fiery lava death.

I can't stand the heat, anyhow.

My sudden fever was bringing me down, and I was asleep as soon as I hit a spot of comfort.

I felt light, weightless. Free. The moon appeared so much closer, and its light all the brighter.

I was floating.

What a wonderful feeling! So lucid..

My fever seemed to be gone as well, I felt invigorated.

I looked below me, at the sleeping village my waking self was sleeping in. How peaceful it looked under this bright moonlight. I floated down to the roof of the house I was staying in, and spun around, before finally sitting, a wide grin on my face. I couldn't help but feel so bubbly!

"I wonder where Link is.." I mumbled to myself. I wanted to show him I could fly..

Heck! This is a dream! He can fly too!

"Link! Link are you out here?" I shouted quietly, not wanting to disturb any sleeping villagers.

No answer.

I floated down to the door of the house, and stepped in. I didn't see the lady of the house in the main room, but her bedroom was filled with loud snores. I sighed, and shrugged, and walked towards the room the lady had been generous enough to leave for either Link or myself. I remember her mentioning a debt to Link from over ten years ago. Something about finding her lost dog. Which she isn't very keen on keeping on eye on, and still isn't.

I saw a lump underneath a blanket or too, and floated up a tad out of joy.

"Link!" I silently shouted once more, "Look! Wake up, look!" I shook the mass of blankets gently.

The lump rolled over in the bed, and faced me.

Pitch black hair, pale skin, and bright red eyes.

The face on the head looked exactly like Link's, but at the same time, quite the opposite.

"Who...are you?" I mumbled, confused.

He gave no answer, only stared at me with a blank expression. His eyes seemed much gentler than I would have thought.

"Are you hurt? Is that why you were sleeping?" no answer, "I'm sorry to have awakened you..I thought you were someone else. I-I'll just go.." I muttered awkwardly, and turned away.

An ice-cold hand grabbed onto my wrist, and whirled my attention to its owner.

"Your feet...aren't touching the ground," he said, in a voice somewhat like Link's, but slightly deeper. He was so quiet, he didn't need to whisper.

Oh crap.. I quickly touched my feet to the ground, "Y-yes they are! The darkness must be playing tricks on your eyes," I said with a confident smile. This was feeling less like a dream, I was afraid of this guy knowing for some reason.

"You're lying. I just saw it," He sat up. His bright red eyes shone in the moonlight coming through the window behind him.

"O-okay. Maybe I am.. But keep quiet about it, okay? It's a secret," I said, pulling my hand away, and putting a finger to my lips.

"What are you so worried about? This is only a dream."

I froze.

"W-what?"

He nodded, and swung his legs over the side of the bed. I notced now, that he was even dressed similar to Link, only, his tunic was black.

"This is just a dream," he repeated.

I scoffed, "I know that! How in the world do you?"

"You brought me here," he said, standing. He was at least a foot taller than me, maybe half a foot.

"I brought.. Who are you?" I asked again, stepping back slightly.

He smirked, his eyes narrowed devilishly, "You, can call me Shadow," he held up my hand, and kissed the back of it.

I woke up with a start, sitting up so quickly my head whirled.

What was that all about? My breath was rapid, but I wasn't sure why. That guy didn't really scare me, mostly confused me. If anything, I wanted to know more about him, and what he meant when he said I had brought him. Did that mean I would dream about him again?

I'm feeling all-for a romance with Dark Link. What do you guys think? This is sort of like an alternate of the original anyway, but I'll stick to whatever you guys would like. i can make it work either way. Anyway, that's all for this chapter, I hope you enjoyed. I'm having fun getting back into writing, and am hoping to keep steady updates coming, though they may not be -plenty- long.