Author's note: I managed to stuff another chapter! Internet still has worm... (Why do people send out those things anyway?!?) Well, this chapter is a little brighter, so it'll cheer you up from the last chapter. Enjoy! But I do have to warn you... there are more depressing chapters coming up...

The Hero that Holds my Hope: The Kokiri Party

Link rode onto the field trying to forget about Zelda, however, she couldn't leave his mind. The thought of her smile made him suffer; knowing that he would never see her ever again. He could only hear the flowing river, the wind, and the pounding of Epona's hooves against the cool grass. He traveled far at a trot, without slowing down and he burst into a forest. It was then when he actually went to a near halt.

All Link could hear now was the tweets of the birds and the fell winds that scraped the tops of the trees. He heard the thumping of Epona's steps on the moist ground. As Link rode, he had his head down while sadness leaked from his eyes. For some reason, everything reminded him of Zelda at that moment. The bird tweets reminded him of her voice, the leaves blowing was like her flowing hair, and the wind's voice was like her gentle whisper and breathing. How frustrating it was to him, she couldn't leave his mind and he did not want to feel any more pain.

However, his mind did switch to other thoughts when he set gaze upon his old little home place in Kokiri Forest. He smiled softly and descended down to the place. When the Kokiri saw him, they shouted for joy and rushed all around him. They each had little bright smiles on their faces, and eyes of greeting. Warmth flowed through Link's body and he was at last brought to joy.

"Link! Long time no see!" Cried the twins.

"We missed you so-o-o-o-o much!"

Link smiled at each of them, "Well, I've only come to visit for a little while."

"Sleep over! Sleep over!" Some of them called.

The other Kokiri began to cheer, anything that was fun, virtuous, lovely, or of good report they would always be happy to have these things. Saria came through the crowds and reached Link and hugged him to greet him.

"Oh, please would you spend the night here with us?"

Link paused, then sighed. He looked at the Kokiri's faces again and saw that they had begging in their eyes, each of them with their hands together. Link could hardly resist those innocent little faces. He had to agree with them.

"Oh, all right..."

Once he said that, everyone jumped for joy, and began to throw grass into the air as if it were confetti. Saria left for Link to go to his house and went to Mido to tell him the news. Mido was on his bed, both arms behind his head and gazing up at the ceiling.

"Mido!"

Once Mido heard Saria's voice, he perked up with excitement. Did she come over to his house to play chase, or perhaps another game? Either way, he was deathly excited. He jumped to his feet and smiled.

"What is it, Saria?"

"Link has come to visit!"

Mido fell over. How disappointing, he should have thought of one thing before he brought his spirits up. Whenever Saria talked to him, it was about Link and how great he was, or telling him to stop being so mischievous and beating up the other Kokiri when they offended him. He sighed and put on a pretend smile.

"Really?"

Saria nodded, still excited from Link's coming, "Come on! Let's go see him!" She said signaling Mido to follow her.

Mido did so and when they reached Link's house, he had already been up there. Saria called to him,

"O-o-o-o-o-oi! Link!"

Link peeked from the entrance and went down to them. He looked down at Mido and smiled to greet him. Mido grunted in exchange. Saria elbowed him for a more proper greeting, so Mido smiled as well and greeted him.

"Hello, Link!"

Saria perked up when an idea shot through her head. She clasped her hands together and gave out a big grin.

"I have an idea! We can celebrate Link's visit, by holding a big party that everyone can attend!" Saria said over emphasizing the "everyone".

Link smiled again, it seemed he was back in his childhood, despite the fact that he was an adult, not an amateur. He nodded, "Sure." He said quietly.

Zelda was leaking back into his mind. So he lowered his head in sadness, to his surprise, Mido hit him in the side and started yelling at him.

"Oh, what is the matter with you! Will you cheer up?!?"

Both Saria and Link looked at Mido strangely. Never has he done such a thing like that, and it was even more ironic that he had told Link to "cheer up." Mido blushed bright red, regretting that he might have revealed more than he had bargained for, which Link was not only his rival, but one of his best friends. Saria laughed.

"Oh, Mido, you clown!" She said, "everyone knows Link-kun is your best friend, so stop hiding that fact."

Mido's face turned from a bright red of embarrassment, to a bright red of anger, "How would you know that? Everyone knows my relationship with Link isn't too friendly..."

Link found this funny and began to laugh. In fact he started to laugh so hard, he had to sit on the ground to prevent himself from having a big fall. He wiped his finger under his eye to stop the tears of laughing from running down his cheek. He then sniffled.

"What's so funny?" Mido demanded.

"Oh..." Link sniffled again and chuckled a little more, "I just find it very funny when you lie like that!"

"Lie?" Mido said.

Saria fell on the ground laughing as well.

"You seem as if you're a stubborn mule in denial!"

That comment made Link laugh again and he fell completely over on the ground like Saria had did. It was kind of funny, Mido always reminded Link of a stubborn mule, maybe a pig here and there, but mostly a mule. That night the Kokiri had a party unlike any other they had had. There were little round lanterns about in the air, hung on strings, which were attached to the houses. They brought out their little flags of fish, and other animals. They had even gathered some of the especially talented Kokiri to play their musical instruments for some merry music. Each of them danced around wildly with their little children dances they had made up. Link still remembered some of these dances and played along.

While they were dancing about, the know-it-all brothers, who were especially good cooks, surprisingly, and were preparing a large dinner. After a while, the dinner was made and it was placed on a long table, which was a log cut in the middle. Link was quite surprised, for children such as the Kokiri to prepare a meal fit for a king. He was suddenly reminded of Zelda again however, he put on his smiling face to hide his sorrow.

"Okay, everyone! Time to feast!"

All of the Kokiri clapped their hands together, "Okay!" everyone else said at the same time.

Though this was a meal fit for fine dining, the Kokiri did not think as such, they treated it as if it were an everyday meal, excluding manners, chewing with mouths open... it is but the manners of a child... Link ate the same way, except of a lesser extent, due to his adult maturity.

After everyone was finished eating, everyone gathered around a fire and told stories to each other. Once again, a childish manner of stories, but Link didn't mind and he was for once in a place he could call home. They were in the middle of a story Link was telling. It was an adventurous story fit for the heartless minds of children, Link had hoped to share it with his children when he had some.

"What happened next?" One of the Kokiri said so anxiously.

"Well, the brave little boy drew his sword to the evil bandit, and cut off his foot and threw it to the fell beast in the air... The dragon seemed to like it very much and ate the rest of the bandit and the boy was victorious, and he saved his dear sister from captivity, and they returned home to their parents. Thus concludes my story."

The Kokiri clapped their hands in applause. It was Saria's turn, she told a very good story in fact, for a little child. It told of a young boy who also had a sister, and were orphaned, they fled to the king's castle and there, the sister was captured by evil ones, leaving the boy in a great depression. He grew up managing to survive, but was living in great pain. He then discovered his destiny to travel far and wide to destroy the evil that threatened the world. After reuniting with his sister, he sealed the evil one away... However, he came back and they set out again, and the young man had his companions traveling along with him. After fighting in many great battles, the man liberated the world from the evil man's clutches, and in the end, he eventually found his happiness and ended up happily married.

Saria was greatly praised for such a story, it moved the Kokiri's hearts so much when they heard it, and to even affect Link, who possessed a full-grown heart, her story must have been well prepared, despite the fact that it was very long... After a few more stories, they said goodnight to each other and went to bed in their own homes and ended the party.

Author's note: How was that? By the way, the story Link was telling, if you've not noticed, was inspired by the Peter Pan book. (What? I couldn't think of anything else!) Well, hope you enjoyed it... so... REVIEW! TEE HEE... By the way... I have a new LOZ fan fiction out you readers can read in addition to this, it's called, "Legend of Zelda: Age of Darkness."

Special thanks:

BluSakura: I NEVER get tired of reviews! Even if they're from the same people, I still enjoy reading them, so you can just keep sending away! You're right about the word, "update"... it does have a nice ring to it... maybe I should use it in my speech more frequently... Thanks for reviewing!

Brownblade: I know that feeling, reading a story that's really good and being glued to the pages. (My eyes get dry under my reading glasses whenever I get that involved in reading...) Thanks for reviewing!