A/N: Two chapters in a day? Wow, Mudora! This is a very important chapter. So pay attention! Pay close attention! You are getting sleepy… very… Snore Uh… huh? Oh sorry, must have dozed off. Okay, you don't have to pay TOO close attention… Anyway, this chapter introduces some very important elements of the adulthood! Read on, faithful viewers! And don't forget to be reviewers!

A Hero's Path

Chapter 26: Memories are Forever

The door slammed tightly shut behind him. Navi hadn't had time to float through. It looked like he would face this one alone. It'll be a lot more peaceful, Link thought.

He looked around at his surroundings. The sun shone brightly down upon him and the rest of the courtyard. Looking up, he could see the walkway from which he had first viewed this courtyard. But the monsters were all gone. No Babas, no Scrubs.

He started to step forward, but found it to be a much shorter step than he expected. He looked own at himself. His white clothing was gone, and his green tunic covered a lot more of him than before. His boots were cuffed to fit his calves, and he wore no gauntlets. His hands were too small for them.

So this was it. This Door of Time took him backward through time, to his childhood. He reached for his Kokiri Sword, but found none. Instead, he found the Master Sword's sheath dragging the ground as it hung from the belt on his waist. None of this made much sense, but he decided he'd have to go with it. This was the goddesses' doing, certainly. He looked around a bit until he decided to check the empty well. Perhaps it would lead to what he was supposed to do. When he reached the rim of the well, he found it completely filled, almost flowing over with water.

He had traveled backward to the time when this well was filled. Perhaps that was some sort of clue. He kept looking around, trying to find something. He noticed high up on one wall a large crevice built into it. Vines hung down over it from a long period of disuse. Link grabbed a vine and tugged. It seemed quite firm. He gripped it and began to climb the wall very carefully.

When he got about halfway up, he looked down. This wall was a lot higher from up here than it was from down there, he decided. He heard a loud snap and felt himself descending quite rapidly. His vine had broken! He reached out quickly and grabbed hold of another vine and slammed his face right into the wall as the broken vine fell silently to the grassy floor.

He continued his climb until he reached the crevice. It was tall enough for a man to stand in, and wide enough for him to lie in as well, and there was a door in the back. Link opened the door and stepped in. It was quite dark inside. The hall he now stood in was carpeted, and felt quite plush under his booted feet. He hurried to the other side and opened the opposite door.

Through the door was a balcony overlooking a very similar courtyard. A girl about Link's age stood, staring out over the railing, down into the courtyard. She had short, green hair, and wore Kokirish clothing.

"Saria?" Link said. His voice was a lot higher in its tone than what he had recently become accustomed to. The girl turned, startled. As he saw her face, he was overwhelmed with the pleasure of the confirmation. He had found her. Now they could get this whole awakening thing over with that Sheik had talked about.

"Link? What are you doing here? I thought you were…"

"Saria, we have to get this over with! Ganondorf's here and he…"

"Ganondorf? Who's that? How did you get in here?"

Suddenly, Link realized that this wasn't the Saria he was looking for. This was Saria in this temple seven years ago.

"I… I'm sorry. Never mind," he said.

"You're acting very strange. How'd you get in here? Are you lost? This place can be confusing sometimes. When those big eyes close, sections of this place flip over. I can't get through here without the help of the spirits. But I know how to get everywhere now. I made a map, but I don't need it. You want it?"

Saria held out her hand. In it was a rolled up parchment. He reached out and grabbed hold of it. "Thanks," he said warmly. Saria was always a great friend. She would never forget him, or anything they did together.

"One of the spirits taught me a neat new song. Wanna hear it?" She held up her ocarina and played a happy, fast paced song. It sounded like a lot of fun. Link held up his ocarina.

"Where'd you get that ocarina? What happened to the one I gave you?" she asked, stopping the song.

"I…" Link started, but he choked on his words. "I…" he tried again, but the words wouldn't come. He couldn't bear to tell her what had happened. What was he to do? Emotions were raging in him, childish emotions that he couldn't control. Tears welled up in his eyes.

"Link, it's okay." She smiled, and hugged him, then kissed his cheek. "We're friends, remember? If something happened, I won't be upset!" She giggled.

He pulled away and smiled, wiping his face with his bare arm. "It broke. Someone stole it and it broke."

"It wasn't Mido was it?"

"No," Link said, shaking his head. "It was an evil man from the desert. But I'm gonna make him pay."

"You don't have to. See, you got a newer, bigger, prettier one now. And you don't need some silly trinket to remember me by. Memories are forever!" She smiled and giggled again.

"Yeah," he said softly. "Memories are forever. But I have to get that man for more than that. Listen, Saria, I'm gonna be gone a long time, and a lot of stuff is gonna happen. Just remember that I'm your friend, and I'm coming back. I won't let anything happen to you!" He put on his best deception of a smile.

"You don't have to tell me that, silly!" Saria said. "I already know!"

"You do?"

"Yeah. I told you I knew you would leave the forest. When you leave the forest, you usually don't come back so much. Plus, the Great Deku Tree told me you have a lot to do. Bad stuff always happens, and without the Great Deku Tree here, things will just get worse. But I'm not worried. Things will work out. They always do. Besides, you're gonna save Hyrule. The spirits told me!"

"Yeah…" Link said.

"So do you want to play that song?"

"Sure!" Link and Saria raised their ocarinas and began playing together, that sweet, cheery song.

As Link played, his lips started to tingle and the Ocarina glowed slightly. Clouds swept in over the courtyard, and the rolling of thunder could be heard not too far away.

They stopped playing and took shelter under the temple wall as heavy rain abruptly fell from the heavens. Still, Link's attention was drawn to the well in this courtyard. Even as the ground was quickly saturated, the well was rapidly emptying of water.

They hurried through the door to escape the rain. "That was strange," Saria said. "I've never seen weather change so suddenly! I think… I think it's your ocarina. One of the spirits told me about an ocarina that makes songs into magic spells. He said that one who owned the 'timeless sword' could use its magic to go back and forth through his own life. Weird, huh?"

"Yeah," Link said, though he knew that it was true. When he had first opened the Door of Time in the Temple of Time, time hadn't changed. Then he remembered the Door in Dampe's tomb. When he had played the song then, the tunnel seemed to grow larger around him. With the Master Sword, he could travel back and forth through time with the Song of Time. That is how he used the power of time to become a hero.

The rain quickly ceased to tap upon the sides of the temple, and they went back out the way Link had come to meet Saria. Saria showed him the strongest vine, the one she always used to climb up and down, and they climbed down. Then she noticed the well in this courtyard was empty as well.

"Wow!" she said. She climbed onto its rim and began to climb down a ladder built into the inside. Link started to do the same. When they reached the bottom, they found an expansive tunnel, leading back under the wall they climbed and walked through to the other courtyard.

"Race ya to the other side," Saria challenged.

"No way! You can't beat me!" Link puffed up his chest. Saria suddenly took off at a dash, and Link chased after. She reached the other side first and laughed at him.

Light trailed in from above and they realized they were under the other well. Another ladder was built into this one, and Saria led the way up.

"I've never been down here before!" she said, running around the courtyard she had been staring down at earlier. "I couldn't figure out how to get down here!"

They chased each other around for a few minutes. Link knew he had a mission to accomplish, but he couldn't stand to leave Saria's company, and he couldn't stand to leave his childhood behind again. Here, he had time to make more memories for the future. Finally, Saria stopped by a door under the balcony they had talked on.

"I wonder what's through here!" she said with an impish grin.

"You wanna find out?" Link challenged.

Saria didn't respond. She just widened her grin, threw the door open and ran through. Link chased after, but the door slammed shut in his face. He tried the knob, but it was locked. He shook it, and beat it, but nothing happened. Saria didn't come back. He pounded at the door, shouting and screaming and crying.

It wasn't fair. He was a kid again. He was with his best friend. He was free of the troubles of adulthood and his mission. Now that was gone, all stopped short by a door. Tears flowed freely down his face. He was forced to succumb to one of two options. Either stay and wait for Saria to return, trapped, but free of care, or go back through the Door of Time.

He wondered what Saria would say, but he didn't have to wonder long. He knew what she would say. She had already said it. "What kind of selfish notion is that? Didn't he tell you, the Great Deku Tree? Didn't he say you'd face difficult challenges, that you must stop this evil man from taking over the world? And you're just going to sit on your hands and watch Hyrule crumble! You shouldn't need my advice, Link. Heroes don't think about the danger, or the warm bed they've left behind. Heroes just do."

He straightened his belt and wiped his face again. Then he walked solemnly back toward the well. He would go back and finish this. He would find Saria. He would awaken her. He would kill the other two Poe Sisters. And he would kill Ganondorf. Most of all, he would remember this moment forever, because memories are forever.