"Farewell Link."

A/N: One shot. My first Zelda fanfic so please be kind. =)

There was complete darkness. Nothing could be seen or heard except the unbreaking silence. It seemed that way forever, as if time didn't exist or had suddenly stopped. It was a place suffocating with hopelessness and dread.

Suddenly, a yellow beam broke through the weaves of blackness and illuminated a tall figure.

A young handsome man with golden hair and piercing blue eyes was shrouded in the light. Heroism and courage shone through this being, even brighter than the light surrounding him.

His muscular form clutched the hilt of a mighty sword, and a shield os matching strength bearing the mark of Hyrule rested in his other hand. Strangely enough, he wore kokiri clothing but could not possibly be one of them.

"Saria..." someone whispered above the spectacular scene. However, Saria did not desire to leave.

"Saria!" a voice said much louder. The image of the handsome man began to drift away.

"SARIA!"

Saria jolted awake and shot open her weary eyes, only to discover her fairy was the one who was attempting to wake her up. She was flying about, tints of turquiose leaving trails behind her form, as she continued to yell at Saria.

"Wake up! Wake up! Time for you to get up lazy girl!"

Saria protested with a groan and pulled her bed covers over her head to try to block out the annoying sounds of Faya shouting.

Faya would not give up that easily.

She hastily threw the sheets of the kokiri and said angrily, "Yesterday, you told me to wake you up early so you could visit that boy without a fairy...Link!"

At the sound of that name, Saria sprung out of bed and bolted out the oaken door. Faya hurriedly followed close behind, mumbling under her breath about how the forest folk were ungrateful things with tree trunks for brains.

Saria made her way down the dirt path quickly, only to discover Link was already standing on the balcony of his tree house, watching her curiously.

"Yahoo! Hi Link!" She exclaimed and waved her arm in a friendly gesture.

The good looking boy replied with a wide grin that touched the deepest dwellings of Saria's soul. She quickly disregarded this feeling, and took notice of something near Link that looked very much like...

"Wow! A fairy! Finally, a fairy has come to you, Link!" Saria ended with a giggle and Link made his way down the ladder of sturdy tree branches.

"Yea I know! Her name's Navi and the great deku tree sent her over to me this morning," he said as Navi flew over to where Faya was and began conversing.

"That's great news. I'm so happy for you! Now you are a true kokiri." She beamed a warm smile at her dearest friend. Maybe now the other kokiri would truly accept him.

"Thanks. Well, Navi told me that the Great Deku Tree desires to see me," he added in a somewhat nervous tone.

"Is that right? The Great Deku Tree summoned you? It's quite an honor! I'll wait for you here, get going!" She finished by crossing her arms over her chest and giving him a look that clearly stated her should go right away.

Link nodded in response and took off running towards the direction of where the guardian of the kokiri resided.

Saria stared after him until he was out of view, then plopped herseld down on a soft spot on the ground.

Saria then began to wonder why the Great Deku Tree wanted to see Link. Was it for the fairy? Did he get himself into trouble? Or was it for a more important reason? She couldn't deny it- there was something different about Link that set him apart from the rest of the kokiri. It wasn't something entirely visible; there was a certain aura that made him so special. Maybe that's why she likes him...

She shook her head, trying to vanish the reoccuring thoughts. Link is her best friend and nothing more. She rattled her head again.

No. Her heart told her differently. This boy made her feel like no way she's ever felt before. It could only be described as a mixture of feeling content and melancholy. Happiness, because he is her greatest friend. Depression, because that's all he'll ever be to her.

Saria released an audible sigh and glanced at the other entrance that led to the Kingdom of Hyrule.

"Hyrule," she said aloud. The word seemed to have a certain meaning; as if it held a great important yet to come.

"Link," she whispered. The dream she had this morning played through her mind. The sign on the shield...Link is going to...

"Hyrule." She didn't understand how she knew; it couldn't be explained. Destiny would take Link to a land unknown to Saria and he would be out of her grasp.

Her eyes locked on the entrance again.

She began making her way towards the bridge, where she would say a reluctant good-bye.

Sarua was waiting anxiously for the arrival of Link as she clutched the ropes of the wooden bridge. She hopelessly wondered if she would ever see him again after this meeting.

The pitter patter of sprinting footsteps filled her keen ears and she spun around just in time to see Link zoom past. Did he truly forget about her?

"Oh," she said sadly,"You're leaving..."

Link suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned to meet Saria's deep blue orbs with his sky blue ones.

She continued to gaze at him and waited patiently for some sort of response.

"I have to leave the forest and journey to the castle and see the Princess. It was the wish of the Great Deku Tree," he said softly and slowly stepped towards her.

She cast her gaze to the ground. She couldn't bear to look him in the eye.

"I knew...I knew you would leave the forest someday Link...because you are different from me and my friends."

She let a silent moment pass then continued, "But that's okay, because we'll be friends forever won't we?"

"Always."

Saria looked up and nodded in agreement, and then fumbled with something inside her pocket. Cautiously, she pulled it out and handed it to Link. It looked like some sort of small instrument with several holes and a pecular mouthpiece.

"I want you to have the Ocarina. Please take good care of it." Link reached over and took it from her grasp.

He gave her a small smile and said, "Thanks."

"When you play my Ocarina, I hope you will think of me and come back to the forest to visit." She felt her eyes getting wet and brought up her hand to rub them.

"I will...I will..." and with that, he turned and sped off into the unknown and perilious land of Hyrule.

Saria continued to watch him with a feeling of sadness overwhelming her.

A single tear streamed down her cheek and rolled off her chin as she whispered, "Farewell Link...I love you."

And she would be the only one who ever heard those words.