Just want to take a moment to thank you guys again for the awesome reviews :) I've never had so many reviews so fast, and every time I get one it makes my heart soar :D This story offically has more reviews than TFG! Yeahhhh (Regular Show Style)! Not that I'm not proud of my other story... Just think it needs some work ;)

So, I always kinda wondered why Link didn't go into a mad rage when he returned to the forest to find it overrun with monsters... So, here it is :)

For just a moment, I wondered if this was a good idea. I knew what the forest looked like now. I had tried to visit a few years back, and even then it hadn't been good. What would Link say? How would he react?

Before I could really think it through, however, he pulled me into the boundaries using the hand that was now tight around mine. I could see the confusion in his eyes, the determination. I could also feel a small amount of anger radiating from him, building, waiting on the surface for something to set it off.

It took us awhile to reach the depths of the forest that we were seeking, and to me it seemed an eternity, mainly because I could feel so many emotions rolling off of them like he was screaming them at me.

We crossed the bridge, and once we entered the section of the forest where the children dwelled, it was like a switch was flipped from inside of him. At first, he froze, watching the monsters that now paced and weaved between the different tree houses like they owned the place, a look of confusion and shock on his face.

Then there was an explosion inside of him.

He screamed, pulling out his blade and charging the nearest monster, felling it in only one blow. He charged the next one, blood flying everywhere when his blade cut it down.

I watched, frozen. I wasn't even able to twirl my hands, instead holding them lamely at my sides. I watched until I could no longer see him, and then I listened as his cries of anger grew farther and farther...

Even after it grew quiet, I just stood there, waiting. He didn't appear for a long time, and I had a feeling that he was just standing where ever he was, looking down at the slain monsters with a strange sense of grief. When he finally appeared, his dark frame barely visible through the trees, I moved, my hands springing together to twirl.

He stopped when he was in front of me, looking down at his feet, his sword hanging loosely from one hand and his shield from the other. I just stared at the top of his head, waiting...

I jumped when his shield and sword fell to the ground, clanging loudly. He then fell to his knees, never once looking up at me. I knelt down in front of him, feeling the grief and guilt that he was suffering from.

"Link..." I whispered. He finally looked up, and I was surprised to see that his face was blank.

"It's my fault..."

"What is?"

"This... Everything. If I hadn't opened that door, Ganondorf would have never gotten the Triforce..."

His eyes started to shine, and I reached over and placed a hand on his cheek.

"It's Ganondorf's fault, not yours."

"But, if I hadn't - "

I placed both my hands on his face, forcing him to keep his head up since I had seen him about to retreat again. "You didn't do anything. Princess Zelda and I were as much apart of this as you. If you blame yourself, then you're blaming her and me. Do you blame us?"

Navi appeared at that moment, hovering over us. "Yeah, Link. It's not your fault..."

He looked at me for a long moment, and then his brows knit together. "I don't blame you," he said gently.

I smiled. "Okay. So let's find somewhere to rest for the night, and we'll go to the temple in the morning, okay?"

He sighed. "Okay."

As we stood up, some of the forest children had ventured out of their houses, clearly having heard Link's slaughter.

"Who're you, mister, mistress?" One of the young boys asked.

Before we could answer, another boy pointed at Link. "Hey! You wear Kokiri clothes and have a fairy! Why does an adult have a fairy? You're not one of us!"

Link was stunned. "But, it's me - "

I squeezed his hand and gave him a look that said be quiet. When he did, I knelt down to the young boy.

"The fairy is with us to help us get through the woods to help someone. Did anyone go deep into the woods and not come back?" I asked.

The boy thought for a moment, looking at me as if he wasn't quite sure he could trust me. He then nodded. "Yep. Saria and Mido both left awhile ago, and haven't come back. You're here to help them?"

"Yes, we are."

The boy then pointed to a cliff that I could barely make out in the distance. "The entrance to the Lost Woods are over there. That's where they went."

"Thanks." I patted the boys cheek and then stood up. The Kokiri then backed away until they were only dark shapes, watching us. I made Link sit still until they disappeared completely, going back to their houses to hide.

"They...haven't changed."

I turned to Link, seeing his face full of confusion. "What?"

"The Kokiri...haven't changed. They didn't grow up..."

"The Kokiri don't...grow up. They stay children forever."

"Then...why did I...?" He looked down at me, his eyes wide.

I squeezed his hand. "Let's find somewhere to rest, okay?"

He nodded and led me deeper into the forest, toward where the Great Deku Tree's body still lay. But, before we got there, Link suddenly drug me to the right. I looked up to see that we were walking toward a large tree house, which I recognized as the house Link had pointed out as his own when we were children.

"You can go first," he said, when we stopped in front of the ladder that led up.

I pointed to my dress. "Um...you can go first..."

It took him a moment, but then he nodded and started to climb.

Before I followed, however, I looked down, realizing that someone had doodled on one of the protruding roots of his house. It was a young boy, holding a shield and sword, defending himself from a beast that looked a lot like the Dodongo Link had defeated seven years before...

"I drew that," Link said, suddenly at my side again, "a few days before Navi came to me."

"If it was before Navi came, why is there a fairy in the picture?"

He shrugged. "It was a dream I had had, and in it I had a fairy. I liked the image so much that I drew it down here."

I stared down at the drawing and wondered: did Link have prophetic dreams, much like Princess Zelda? Had he seen himself fighting monsters with a fairy at his side? Hylians were known for their prophetic tendencies, so was he one of them? But, if it were true, had he dreamed about me?

"Did you ever have dreams, about me?"

I turned to him to see that his face was red. He stared at me for a long moment. "Once, two days before we met."

"What did you see?"

"It's...hard to explain..."

"Try?"

He thought for a moment. "You were...older...well, as old as you are now...and you were...shining, from within, so bright that I couldn't quite see your face..."

"Anything else?"

The red in his cheeks darkened, but he shook his head. "No. Now, let's go up."

I followed him up the ladder, where the curtain covering the door were pulled back so we could see inside. As we walked inside, I saw that the small room looked like it hadn't been touched since Link had left seven years ago. The sheets on the bed were still ruffled and bunched at the bottom, as if he had just woken up. Homemade, wooden toys were strewn across the floor. The sink still had water in it, but it was murky from sitting there for so long. Link instantly went to the sink and pulled the basin free, dumping it out through the window above the bed.

"Sorry it's a mess," he said as he walked around the room, picking up the toys and putting them in a small box in the corner of the room. "I hadn't exactly expected that I wouldn't be coming back for awhile..."

"It's okay. It's cute." I noticed that the last few things he picked up from the floor were a toy sword and shield. "Hey, let me see those!" He gave me a confused look, but he did and then knelt down beside the small wooden stump in the middle of the floor, which still had plates on it as if he had just gotten done cleaning his plates for the next meal.

I held the shield on my arm and swung around the sword. "How do I look?" I asked.

He smiled at me. "Cute."

I smiled and then put the toys in the box where he had put the others. I then joined him on the floor and handed him some bread and water from my pouch. We ate in silence, and after we were done Link told me to take the bed. I knew he was just being polite, but I also noticed that he was now too tall for the bed, and I was small enough that the bed was comfortable if I curled my legs up slightly. Link set out an extra set of blankets on the floor, next to the bed.

I dropped my hand over the edge after he settled, and as if he had just been laying there watching, he reached up and took it.

I fell asleep with his hand warm around mine.

The next morning, it took me a few minutes to wake him. Navi had to eventually come out of his hat and float over his face so her light shone brightly across it. His eyes finally fluttered open and he yawned.

"Finally," I muttered.

He smiled. "Sorry. I guess the sounds of the forest put me in a deep sleep."

"Either way we should head out."

"Okay."

Link led me to the cliff that the children had pointed to earlier, his hand guiding me up the steep slope. The trees thinned slightly, and then suddenly I couldn't see through them. His hand tightened around mine as we crossed into the forest.

It happened like before, Link seeming to know the way, Navi floating above our heads to light our path. We weaved through the trees, Link sometimes suddenly stopping and turning around, or taking a corner. Not once did we come upon any enemies: either Link's slaughter had been extremely thorough, or even they avoided this part of the wood.

Link suddenly stopped, and up ahead I saw a young boy with bright red hair standing in the way. I recognized him as the boy who had blamed Link for the death of the Great Deku Tree.

"What are you?" He asked, holding out a hand when we tried to pass him. "Though you wear Kokirish clothing, you can't fool me!"

"Let us through," I asked, kindly, but with a hit of authority behind it. He just glared at me.

"I promised Saria I would never let anybody go through here, so go away!"

Link pulled me away from him.

"What do we do?" I asked.

"I don't know. Mido's always been really stubborn... I don't know how to convince him that we need to get pass..."

"Can we go around?"

"No, he's blocking the only way through..."

I sighed. "Well, maybe you need to show him that you're friends with Saria or something?"

"Maybe... But, how?"

"What about that song she taught you?"

His eyes widened. "Yes, that might work."

Link walked closer to him, but without being too obvious. He then sat down, pulling me down with him.

"Hold my arm," he said as he reached into his pouch. I nodded and did as he asked.

He played the Ocarina beautifully, the tune floating around us. He also was great at just making it seem like we were sitting down to take a brief break. But, almost the exact moment that Link started playing, Mido looked over at us with a curious look on his face.

"That melody?" He exclaimed, when the song was over. "Saria plays that song all the time! You... Do you know Saria?"

"Yes, we know her," Link said, standing up.

"That song... Saria taught that song only to her friends..." Mido sighed. "Okay... I trust you. When I see you... I don't know why, but I remember...him..." Mido then motioned for us to pass.

"I...am him," I heard Link mutter when Mido was long behind us.

The trees suddenly thinned and then we were in the Sacred Forest Meadow. As we walked in, Navi flew in front of us.

"From here on, we'll be going through some narrow passages! If you take it slow, maybe you can sneak up on some enemies."

"Do you sense enemies ahead?" Link asked.

"I do..."

"Alright, then let's go slow..."

Link gently pulled me forward, toward the strange maze-like walls. He then stopped and peaked around the corner.

"There's one, now," he said, pulling me away from the corridor ahead. We then backed up and waited until the creature passed by the small alcove, and I couldn't help but look back, wondering what the creature was.

It was like a giant bulldog, wearing armor, walking on two legs, and carrying a large spear. That is about the only thing I could compare it to.

When the Moblin disappeared around another corner, Link pulled out his Hookshot and jumped in the path of it. Its back was obviously to him, for it didn't cry out when Link appeared. I then heard Link's Hookshot shoot outward, hitting the creature in the back. I heard it scream, and I couldn't help but imagine what that hook did to the creature's flesh...

Link came back and grabbed my hand, and we slowly snuck around the corner.

My heart pounded against my chest, because of the thought that there were creatures patrolling this part of the wood, and at any moment any one of them could sneak up behind us and run us through with a giant spear...

Link always was the first to check around the corner, and a few times, when his head disappeared around the corner, the creature on the other side would scream and run at us. Each time, Link would pull me into a small alcove that ended in a dead end, and he would wait for the creature to follow us around the corner before taking it down with either his sword or Hookshot.

When we finally reached the section of the wood where Saria once sat and played her Ocarina, a giant Moblin blocked our path. This one was holding a giant club instead of a spear. It also wasn't charging at us like the others had: it was standing guard, between us and the stairs. Link carefully pulled out his sword and shield, and he and the monster just stared each other down. The monster had its club in the air, ready to swing...

Link charged, screaming. The creature was fast, however, and swung his club down to the ground with such force that a wave of energy collided with Link, throwing him backwards. I reacted instinctively, reaching my hand out and using my powers to slow his fall. I then turned and nocked an arrow, quick and clean, and shot the creature in the neck. It screamed, dropping his club and reaching up to its wound with its hands. I let fly another arrow and the creature went down.

I instantly ran over to Link, kneeling down beside him. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine... Thanks," he said as he stood up. "Your powers are stronger, huh? I've never seen you do that before..."

"Yep, they are. I can do a lot more, now."

"Really? Like what?"

I paused, and suddenly realized that I could sense someone, up ahead. "I'll have to show you later. Right now we need to head up. Someone is waiting for us."

"Wh - What do you mean?" He asked.

"I can sense them. Let's go."

Link and I walked up the stairs, and when we reached the top, no one was waiting for us. Link walked up to the stump that Saria had been playing the Ocarina on seven years ago. I watched him stare at the stump, and I wondered why I had thought someone was there... Clearly Link had thought it would be Saria.

"She's not here," he whispered.

As I walked up to him, I heard someone jump into the clearing. I turned, seeing that a man with blonde hair and red eyes was standing there. This was the person I had sensed earlier, and his presence was oddly familiar...

He started walking toward us, and as he did, he said, "The flow of time is always cruel... Its speed seems different for each person, but no one can change it... A thing that doesn't change with time is a memory of younger days... In order to come back here again, play the Minuet of Forest." He then pulled out a small harp, and started playing a melody.

I watched as they played together, and the tune carried throughout the forest.

When they were done, the man put away his harp and then glanced at me. "I see you've found her: the goddess."

I started. "W - what? ... You must be mistaken. I'm no goddess."

His lifting cheeks told me that he was smiling. He then turned back to Link. "Link... I'll see you again..." He then backed away from us, throwing something on the ground that blinded us, and was gone, leaving Link and I to just stare at each other, the same question rolling through our heads:

Was I really a goddess?