Tik knew she had done a good thing, helping Link and Saria come together. She knew, just looking at them, lost in each other's eyes, that they would be different than other Kokiri coupes. But despite the gladness she Tik felt for her friends, she couldn't help but be a little sad. She envied them. Link and Saria fit so well together, and Tik wanted to be able to experience that sort of happiness that comes from being with someone that understands her and likes her for her qualities as well as her faults.

Tik left with a sigh. The others should be by any minute, Tik though. I'll go find Tak and let her know how things turned out.

Link and Saria found themselves up a tree, next to the entrance to the Sacred Forest Meadow. They had been walking, and Link, never afraid to do something childishly fun, had seen a perfect tree to go up into and wait for everyone else. They sat next to each other on a smooth, sturdy branch, high up enough to see fairly far in either direction.

Link was mesmerized. He'd known Saria as long as he could remember, but it was like he was seeing her for the first time. The way her hair had little highlights when the sun hit it just right, and how her eyes seemed to light up when she was happy. He was so entranced that he didn't notice his balance was off.

"Woah!" Link cried, falling backwards.

Saria watched in shock as Link's face disappeared from view. She looked down, expecting to see him falling through the air. One can only imagine the relief she felt, when she saw Link was still on the branch, just upside down, hanging by his legs. "Good Goron, Link! Are you okay?"

Link hung there, for a moment, not quite sure where he was. Last he could remember, he was looking into Saria's gorgeous, blue eyes. "Um, no, I mean, yes, I'm okay. Can you see up, er, down my tunic?"

Saria laughed, glad Link was alright. "Why, did you forget to wear underwear today?"

"No, it's just one of those things. Oh, wait, I'm wearing pants too. Never mind, doesn't matter."

Saria looked up, putting her hand to her nose to and rolling her eyes mirthfully. "That's alright, I'm not looking, either way. Will you be back up here anytime soon?"

Link shifted around and attempted to lift himself back up, failing. "Er, uh, no, it seems I'm having a hard time with all this gear on my back. Maybe you should come down here."

Saria closed her eyes, still looking up. "Alright. See you in a minute." She leaned back and fell, feeling the rush of free fall before abruptly stopping and wobbling back and forth a bit.

"Ah, much better." Link smiled at Saria. "I like being able to look at your face properly when we talk."

"Upside down is hardly proper, Link." Saria frowned in mock scorn.

Link shrugged. "Okay, well if you'd rather I be speaking to your bum."

"No, I'm good like this, for now. You on the other hand; you're a bit red. And that vein in your forehead is looking angry."

"Yeah, blood going to the head and all."

"Maybe you should drop your stuff."

"Working on it. Seems I've put a ridiculous knot in the tie here."

"Lemme help. I've seen this knot before." She said, reaching out for the rope Link was failing to untie.

"Yeah?" Link held the rope for his pack in place, while Saria fiddled with the knot.

"Uh huh." She said, looking intently at the knot. "A few years back when you tied my boots up for me."

"Oh yeah, when both your thumbs were broken?" Link watched as Saria's slender fingers deftly unlaced the rope. He could hardly notice that her thumbs had once been broken.

"Yeah. I still say I got off easier than the Deku Baba that broke my thumbs. Lighting it on fire, after everything else, may have been going over the line."

"Mm, sorry. It was a crime of passion. Anyways, uh, back to the knot. Both of your thumbs were broken, and you somehow managed to get your boots off? Why didn't you just ask me to help?"

"It was late at night, and I knew I wasn't going to be sleeping for a while. I had some time to kill, and I was really really bored."

"Hm, I guess after spending that much time with the knot, you'd recognize it anywhere."

Saria undid the last of the knot and held the rope. "Got it! Bombs away?"

Link nodded. "Bombs away." They both let go of the rope and the bag dropped, landing on the ground with a resounding thud.

"Geeze, Link, pack enough?"

"Two swords, the Kokiri Shield, slingshot, ocarina various other things, snacks, deku seeds, uh, clothes. I never pack light."

"Not everything has to be an adventure."

"Yeah, but youuuuu were the one that told me I should get the Kokiri Sword in the first place."

"Point. Alright, I'm starting to get dizzy from being upside down."

"Yeah, let's get back up." With a little effort, the two righted themselves on the branch.

"Try not to fall over again." Saria said, sticking her tongue out at Link.

"You say that like it was my fault. I can't be blamed for falling over while I was so distracted. If you weren't so beautiful, I would have been paying more attention to whether I was right side up or not."

Saria's cheek's turned a lovely shade of crimson at Link's remark. "We should, um, probably get down sometime soon. I think I can see the other's coming. We don't want them to be waiting for us to show up and lead them through the maze." She said, attempting to redirect the conversation.

Link cocked his head to the side, a smile playing at his lips. "You're not so good at this taking compliments thing, are you?"

Saria shifted a little. "I'm new to it, but I think I'm handling them rather well."

"I do too. You just need a little practice is all."

Saria bit her lip and smiled, raising her eyebrows up and making that face that boys find unbearably pretty.

Link wanted more than anything to kiss Saria now, but something was nagging at the back of his mind. He had something he needed to tell her.

Saria noticed the look of concern on Link's face. "Is something on your mind, Link?"

"Oh, I just... With all that's been going on, I forgot about something I need to let you know."

"What is it?"

"When I sent Farin to tell Zelda and Malon that I couldn't meet them outside the forest, I kind of invited them to come to the Forest Temple."

"Oh.."

"Honestly, when I invited them, it was because I sorta liked them. But then I realized how much you mean to me. You're my best friend, and it just feels right to be with you. You're more important to me than anyone else."

Saria took a moment to think. She would be mad with Link for inviting those other girls, but Link was already with her, so they didn't really pose a threat right? "What do you want to do about them now?"

"Well, I don't want to just send them back. It would be rude, and they really are nice girls. I think you would all get along. You could all talk about the stupid things I do. I'm sure there'd be plenty to talk about, hehe. OH! This is great. Since the boys outnumber the girls, this would even things up."

"It would be something for the boys to see some girls from outside the forest. Maybe Zelda and Malon can teach those boys some manners."

"Yeah, we all have a lot to learn, don't we?"

Saria raised a questioning eyebrow at Link. "Even you?"

Link chuckled. "Yeah, even me. Uh, for example": earlier, when you kissed me, I'm pretty sure I didn't do a very good job of reciprocating the gesture."

"Nice vocab there, professor."

"Thanks. Just making up for my lack of good kissage with big words."

"Mm, I was mostly going for the shock factor with that kiss. How'd I do?"

"Good. I mean, I guess that's what a kiss is supposed to feel like."

"You didn't... you mean, you haven't?"

"No. You gave me my first kiss. It was definitely memorable."

"Yeah? I didn't really know what I was doing. I just, you know, lips and lips... going together. But you liked it?"

"Welllll, I don't have anything to compare it to, but yeah, I liked it, alot."

"We're going to have to fix that."

"Huh?"

"I was just thinking, in order to fully appreciate said earlier kiss, we're going to have to give it something to be compared to."