Disclaimer: I, the author, do not owe Legend of Zelda®: Ocarina of Time™ or any of the game characters used in this story. Original characters are owned by the author of this story. All Rights are Reserved.
- Seventeen Years Later -
During the summer time, the weather was pleasantly warm in Kokiri Forest, and only at the peak of the sun was it hot enough to make one slightly perspire. A young girl much larger than any of the Kokiri folk was spending the early afternoon swimming in the pool from the waterfall by the shop. She was able to touch the bottom of it by age eleven, yet she preferred to float along the surface more than anything. Long strands of brown hair intertwined with gold strands of the sun danced around her fair face, moving on its own as if alive. She wore a rather large green tunic that was loose on her, her boots and belt sitting on the bank. Saria came walking up and sat down beside the girl's belongings, playing a cheerful tune that had seemed familiar to the girl since the first time she heard it.
Hearing the luscious melody, the girl sat up, sitting on her bottom in the pool and smiled at her caretaker, mentor, and friend.
"Back from the Sacred Meadow?" she asked, wringing out her hair with long slender fingers.
Saria did not stop playing, only opening her eyes to gaze at the girl, than slowly closed them again.
Her smile widening, the girl stood up than, water falling from her tunic to the pool. She gathered her things and walked over to Saria's house to change, even though she had moved into the tree house next door long ago. She had found it an odd request when Saria asked her to move there, not she did not disobey or even hesitate to do so.
Coming back out, she had on a fresh tunic that was slightly smaller than what she had been swimming in, the cloth hugging at her curves and emphasizing her womanly features. With a belt that was more like a sash with just a buckle, she tied it around her waist and slipped on her ankle-high boots. She joined Saria again by the pool and listened to the rest of the song until it was finished.
"Swim long?" Saria asked.
"From the sun's highest peak in the sky, I did," came the reply.
"Did you finish your lessons with the Deku Tree?"
A yawn was the new answer. "Yes."
Saria knew such a gesture was disrespectful but could not help to laugh. "And you're training?"
The girl cast Saria a long side-glance before shaking her head. "Not much I can do to train with. The Kokiri Sword is just a dagger to me."
The green-haired Kokiran thought about this for a moment, nodding to herself from time to time.
"Saria? What are you thinking of?"
"I am thinking…that this is the right time."
"For what?"
There was a long moment of silence before Saria replied, "to start some new training for you."
"Really?" the girl asked, clearly ecstatic. "You mean it? Honest?"
"Of course. Why would I lie?"
Laughing at Saria's serious question, the girl picked her up and hugged her tightly, dancing in circles.
"Oh! I'm getting dizzy."
She was placed back down a moment later, the ground still seeming to move underneath her feet. "We'll start right away," she said. "Come with me."
Puzzled, the girl simply followed Saria to the back of the leader's house, only to stop when Saria began climbing upward to a new level of the forest.
"But…this is the way to the Lost Woods. You've never let me go there before."
"Only because I was afraid you would get lost. I am here to show you the way."
Nodding, the girl followed her mentor through the first entrance, only to see three more paths that could be taken ahead. Saria seemed to know where she was going, following her right, than left, straight, straight again, and than a left. The whole time the girl had noticed soft music was being played throughout the forest, echoing through the woods. Whenever they came near to an entrance, the music would get slightly louder until they passed through. Finally, the last turn to the right, and the girl was taken into a green field that opened up with high walls. She suddenly had the impression it was a maze, just from gazing at it. The area was closed off with tall treetops, and the sound of water could be heard in the distance.
"This is the Sacred Meadow," Saria said.
"This?" the girl asked. Her voice gave the impression she had been expecting more.
"A meadow is a meadow, nothing more. It is called sacred because of what lies beyond it."
"I see…"
Saria shook her head and smiled. "Clearly you do not. Do not give false impressions, and of course do not lie. Either ask or find out for yourself before you give off a true statement."
Slightly confused, the girl only looked down at Saria.
"Good. Being puzzled, you did not agree or disagree with me, but you still did not ask."
"What was I to ask?"
Saria turned and walked to the entrance of the maze, only glancing over her shoulder a brief moment before disappearing behind a corner. She walked a ways before she spoke again, yet her voice sounded like she was everywhere at once.
"You were to ask the meaning of it. You are to seek the depth of the statement, so you could better understand it. If you ask and you are not given the answer you seek, than you explore it on your own. Once this is gained, more options will be open to you. This is what people do through life, people who believe they can create their own fate."
"I can only ask now," the girl cried out, as she began running after her mentor, "why are you telling me all this? Is this part of my training?"
Only silence gave out an unhearing answer.
"Saria?"
The tiniest murmur of footsteps could be heard.
"Saria!"
Soon she began to run around corners so quickly, she would smash into the opposing wall on the other side, yet fear of losing her way kept the pain unnoticeable. The path actually seemed pretty linear; only once or twice did she run into a dead end, and also seemed to be short as she found herself looking up a set of stairs.
Breathing heavily, she walked up the stairs, her leather boots giving a slight creak on each polished step. Than there was a long natural corridor until it opened up again to a rather large area. There sat Saria on a tree trunk, sitting cordially as she waited for the girl to approach.
"Saria…"
"So you found what you were looking for? You went exploring and found it, yes?"
"Exploring would be taking the time to search things out. I was running like mad to catch up with you."
A giggle was echoed through the air, a childish giggle that was pure and sweet. "Good."
"What is?"
"You saw there were two options. One, you could have calmly taken your time to find me, or two; you could hurry through it, as you did. Now here did you accomplish in finding me, yet you could have succeeded in so much more."
"How? I was looking for nothing more."
Saria's smile slightly softened, pointing to the ground next to her. "Sit. There is something to be decided."
The notion sounded like a good idea, the girl's heart still racing. It was not so much of how fast she had ran; she was use to it, but how much fear she had felt.
"What is to be decided?" she asked.
"A name. We must come up with a name for you."
"For me?" the girl cried out. "I've never had a name before."
"Which is why you should have one now."
"But everyone knows me. Why should I have a name?"
"A name is very important to have. Names have meanings, and can tell a person who does not know you something about you. When you hear my name, Saria, what comes to your mind?"
"Saria…" the girl pondered for a moment. "Sweet. Song-like. Green."
"Green?" Saria asked, laughing. "Why green?"
"Even if I did not know you, if I were to hear that name for the first time, I would think it would be something that belonged in the forest, or here, in the meadow. It almost sounds like a flower."
A soft tint of red covered the Kokirian's cheeks, and the girl did not know why.
"Why, thank you. So do you see? Names can tell us a little something about that person before we even meet them. Names are also necessary sometimes."
"Necessary? What for?"
"If you were in a crowd of people, and you meant to call out to a specific person, they would not know you meant to get their attention unless their name was called out to them."
"But whenever people want my attention, they just come up to me and start talking."
Saria laughed again and shook her head. "What if that person walked up to you and asked you what your name was?"
This was thought over for a moment before the obvious reply was said. "I would ask why they wanted to know."
"All right. Given that situation, I come up asking for your name. You ask me why I want to know and I say because I want to be your friend."
"Saria, you are my friend. So are all the others and I had no name to tell them."
"Oh, this is a lot more difficult than I thought it would be," Saria replied, her smile vanishing slowly.
"Why is it difficult?"
The question ignored, Saria knelt down in front of the girl and took her large hands into her small lap. "Do you not want to have a name? A name of your own? To give yourself an identity that is different from everyone else?"
Sad blue eyes met wise green ones. The girl sighed heavily, her hands almost lifeless in Saria's. "Am I not already different enough?"
"Different can be good," Saria said, her fingers stroking over the girl's. "If you are different from everyone else, everyone will know who you are."
"Than why do I need a name?"
"That's to know who you are before they know who you really are."
A look of confusion crossed over the girl's face, as was expected, yet what was not was the look of sudden certainty and a sense of understanding. Saria felt her own feeling of hope returning.
"I see."
"Do you?"
"Yes."
Saria's smile returned with a beam of pride and relief. "Good. Shall we decide a name for you?"
"Yes. I want yours."
"Mine? What for? For the past several years you've complained about how you wanted to see what was beyond this 'boring' forest. You'd rather train with a sword rather than sit still and sing and…"
"I'm not one to be called sweet," the girl cut in, smiling. "I suppose your right."
She sat for a moment thinking to herself what to be called, when an idea came to mind. Grabbing a twig lying by the stump, she began writing into the dirt. Saria looked on and saw her name had been spelt out.
Below it the girl than began to write the name backwards.
"Airas?" Saria asked, looking up.
"Yes. I want my name to be Airas," her pupil replied. "Because I am opposite of everything you are, and yet want your name, so why not just write it the opposite way?"
There was a wetness that appeared in Saria's eyes, and Airas knew it to be tears, yet saw no reason for them.
"Why are you sad?" Airas asked.
"I am not sad. Only happy. Because you finally have a name of your own. And from here on, there is only so much more for Airas to learn and become."