"Saria, wait! Where are you going?"

With bounds like a jaguar, Saria sped straight past Mido, leaving the boy in a confused huff. He attempted to race after her, but the girl's own briskness put several feet between them with each stride. Wiping away her own tears, she dashed across Hyrule plain, desperate to find Princess Zelda. It couldn't be true, could it? Without rest, Saria ran the miles between the forest and the wreckage of the castle town. She leapt across the broken drawbridge with a single stride, and bolted through the ruined town.

"No, no, it can't be true, it can't!"

She ran into what would be the courtyard of the castle and found Impa and the princess overlooking the ruins. Before Saria could get within ten feet of them, Impa drew her knife and pointed it toward the girl.

"Halt! Step no further!"

"Easy Impa, it is the Sage of the Forest. Come, child."

Clearly, the forest girl was a mess, her face red with tears, her clothes somewhat tattered from rolling down the mountain, and her arm appeared somewhat limp.

"Goodness child, what have you gotten yourself into?"

"Tell me... just tell me! Is Link okay? Tell me! I have to know!"

"Oh... you were his best friend weren't you?"

"None of that matters! Is he alive? Or is he-..."

As possibilities of the alternative came into the center of Saria's mind, her voice cracked. Despite the child's wild appearance, Zelda remained resolute and straight in face.

"The Hero of Time lives, Saria. But he no longer lives among us."

"Wh-... what do you mean?"

"Simply put, I sent him home."

"But... w-where is his home?"

"Seven years ago, child. I sent him back to live his life unhindered. We have no more need for a hero."

"Wait... what? How?"

"The ocarina of time can manipulate reality in strange ways. It can undo that which has come to pass, and save doomed kingdoms. I have sent him to a future without strife, for up until now, his life was not his own."

"That can't be true... you... you're lying!"

"But why would I lie, dear forest sage? I have no way to benefit from it."

"But... but... it can't be true!"

Frantically, Saria removed her ocarina from her pocket and played her song.

"Hello, Link?"

Silence.

"Link?"

No response.

"C'mon Link, I know you don't like talking, just give me something. You don't even have to say anything... just give me... give me a sign."

Dead silence.

"Let me hear your breath Link... please..."

No words from the other side.

"Please..."

Not one.

"Damn it Link! Speak! Give me something! Tell me it's not true!"

Saria fell to her knees and began to bawl.

"Link!"

"He is gone, Forest Sage. I assure you I miss him too."

"Saria?"

Though the voice was not Link's, it was a voice familiar to the girl. Mido slowly walked behind her, out of breath.

"Did you use... one of the words forbidden by the Great Deku Tree?"

In her mind, Saria did not mean to say such a word, but at that moment, she did not care at all. Zelda realized this was clearly a personal matter, and decided she should give the kids some space.

"I'll leave you two be."

"Mido, the Great Deku Tree is dead! He has been dead for seven years! You still preach his every word like they are absolute, yet here we are! He said if we left the forest, we would die, but that turned out to be quite the lie, didn't it? We aren't standing in the forest right now, are we?"

"Uh... no?"

"Of course we aren't! And while I was trapped for nearly seven years in that cursed temple, my guardian fairy, Mari, left me! Am I still a real Kokiri, Mido? Because Link sure wasn't when he didn't have a fairy!"

"But I-"

"No buts, Mido. Now everyone I care about has left me... and I'm alone... the Great Deku Tree... Mari... Link... I'm alone..."

"Do you not care about me? After I stood and guarded the way to your secret spot for seven years, without even knowing whether you were dead or alive, to come face to face to Link, the very boy I despised, do you not care about me? Saria, no one you care about may be left, but people who care about you still live, you're not alone. I swear, if it makes you feel better, I will sit by your side forever to remind you that people still care. You are not alone."

"I... Mido... I'm sorry..."

"No... I'm sorry. I know Link was your best friend, and I know I treated him like dirt for something as silly as a fairy..."

"Hey!"

Mido's own fairy, Tika, piped up.

"No offense, Tika. Anyway, I mistreated him, bullied him his entire life in the forest... but it wasn't just because he didn't have a fairy... it was because... well..."

"You were jealous... I know..."

"How did you-"

"Mido, everyone in the whole forest knows you have a crush on me. After a couple hundred years of living together, you didn't think it would become obvious?"

"Well, no."

"Heehee... Mido, you are many things, but subtle is not one of them. If anything, Link made it more obvious. He may be gone, but I'm glad I still have you as a friend."

"Heh, thanks. Everyone in the forest misses you, they think you're dead."

"Goodness, I haven't seen any of them for a while, have I?"

"Nope, nobody has been the same without you. We all miss you. I miss you."

"I've missed you too, Mido. Let's go say hi to everyone, let's head back to the forest."

"Oh, about that, they're not in the forest right now."

"Oh?"

"They're still hanging around at some place there was a party at. You should've seen it, it was crazy. The party's over now, but I think you would've enjoyed it."

"Just take me there, Mido. Take me there."

Many greetings and exchanges were made between Saria and the Kokiri, the know-it-all brothers were all three astounded at her appearance, Smirt the shopkeeper thought that she was a ghost, and Fado offered a heartfelt hug. Everyone was jubilant at the girl's return, everyone truly did miss her. They all gathered around Saria in the middle of LonLon Ranch to hear her tell her story.

"So, all this time, you were kidnapped by an evil wizard inside the scary looking temple in the lost woods?"

"Yes, and Link saved me! He was all grown up! I still miss him..."

"How did Link grow up? I thought the Kokiri weren't supposed to get older?"

"Well, truthfully, he never even was a Kokiri. Heh, Mido was right all this time."

Everyone expected a big 'I told you so!' from Mido, but no such thing left his mouth. Instead, he sat quietly in the corner listening, quite peculiar behavior for a boy who was desperate to be the center of attention. It wasn't until the entire group was glaring at him that Mido said anything.

"What? Do I got something on my face?"

"Didn't you hear what Saria said?"

The eldest of the know-it-all brothers spoke up to the self proclaimed leader of the Kokiri. He didn't seem to have much a care for what was going on.

"Yeah, Link wasn't a Kokiri this whole time. What about it?"

"Uh, never mind. Please continue, Saria."

"Anyway, when he saved me, I was awoken as a sage in the sacred realm."

"Ooh, a sage? That's kind of like a magician, right?"

"What's the sacred realm?"

"I'll answer everyone's questions when I'm done, heehee! After that, Link saved and awakened four other sages, there was also another guy who was there before I got there. Anyway, after that, we all used our magic to create a rainbow bridge up to Ganondorf's castle."

"You can do magic now?"

"Can you do a trick for us?"

"Yeah! Make something float in the air!"

"I'm afraid I can't do any tricks, my magical powers only seemed to work in the sacred realm."

"Aww..."

"After Link crossed the bridge, he had to break six magical seals to get into Ganondorf's keep. When he got in there, he climbed a very tall tower, filled with stalfos and other monsters!"

"Woah, how did he get past them?"

"With a sword in hand, of course! He bashed and dodged his way through the army, nothing could stand in his way! And then, when he reached the top of the tower, he saw Princess Zelda, she was trapped by Ganondorf!"

"Cool, a princess! This really is a proper story!"

"Link did battle with that evil tyrant, he shot balls of energy at him, those were sure to fell Link swiftly!"

"What did he do?"

"Did he die?"

"Fado! Why do you always gotta say that?"

"I'm just curious."

"No, he didn't die, instead, he rallied all his strength and smacked the energy back at that evil man with his sword! The blasts stunned Ganondorf, giving Link an opening. He drew his bow and shot an arrow of light straight into that man's black heart! He gave a few fatal stabs, and Ganondorf was dead! The seal on the princess was broken, and she floated gracefully to the ground."

"Yeah! Awesome story, Saria!"

"I'm not done yet! Because he killed the evil wizard, the whole castle started to crumble!"

"Woah! What did he do?"

"He did the only thing to do, run for his life! Link and Zelda ran down the toppling stairs-"

"Oh, what an interesting story little one!"

A tall woman exited the barn behind the children. She had luminous red-orange hair, and a voice as pretty as an angel.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Malon, I help run this ranch. Sounds like you've got quite a story! I assume you've met Link before?"

"Met him? He's my best friend! Or... was."

"Oh, so you're Saria?"

"Wait, how do you know my name?"

"Oh, Link used to talk about you all the time. I honestly didn't believe you had green hair, but wow! It's as pure as emerald!"

"Thanks... wait... Link talked to you?"

"Yes, he's not a very talkative fellow, but when he did talk, he always had something important to say."

Even to Saria, Link talked rarely, though he did still talk. But to hear the near mute man opened up to a complete stranger, that was truly astonishing.

"Wow... Link never really even speaks to the other Kokiri! He opened up to you? A complete stranger?"

"Well, we have known each other for quite some time now."

"Huh?"

"I met him about seven years ago, he was a quiet guy, but he was very gentle to the horses."

Saria did not know what a horse was, but she didn't care to ask at the moment. What she really cared about was that Link talked to this girl.

"And you've known him since then?"

"Well, he actually disappeared for a while after that, but less than a month ago, he came through here and saved the ranch! Now mister Ingo is very well behaved, and my dad has finally returned!"

"Wow, that sounds about like him, doing good everywhere he goes."

"Tell me about it, he'd always walk in here covered in slices and gashes, I'd always scold him, but patch him up anyway. I wonder when he'll come back."

She didn't know? Sorrow crept back into Saria's heart as she remembered what happened. It was only right that she tell her.

"Um, miss?"

"Malon. What is it?"

"I'm afraid I have some bad news. He's not coming back."

"Gaw, way to spoil the story, Saria!"

Saria awoke from her slumber, not in particularly fitful manner, but with a deep remorseful pain in her heart. She silently glanced around the stone room, and saw him laying on his stone bunk, snoring quietly. So Link was still fine, but she couldn't help but feel sad about the whole situation. What if Link didn't want to return to the alternate future with her? Then she would return alone, and be doomed to the disaster to come... alone. What if Link did come back, but he couldn't defeat Ganon? Then he would be dead, and his blood would be on her hands. What if he didn't want to stay? What if he wanted to go back to his life and leave her to live the rest of hers by herself, everyone else she knew was surely dead. What if... what if she stayed in this Hyrule, and they were just allowed to be friends? That would be perfect, for the first time, nothing would exist to keep them apart. Immediately, she regretted that thought, how could she be so selfish to want to doom Hyrule just so her and him could live out a few childhood memories? No, she must continue with her mission, regardless of the outcome.

Unable to satiate the unrest in her own heart, Saria climbed out of her bed and walked over to Link's. He looked so peaceful... snoozing off with so few cares. Mari sat by the edge of the bed, her faint glow the only light in the room. She appeared to be asleep too. As long as she felt how she did at the moment, Saria was going to get no rest. She felt as though she had to watch him, just to make sure he wouldn't disappear. She sat down on Link's stone bunk and did just that, she watched to make sure he wouldn't vanish on her. As the night crept by, Saria's eyes slowly grew weary, surely it wouldn't hurt to lay down... after at least three hours of attempting to stay awake, Saria's body gave in, and she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.