A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

A Pair of Time

Chapter 36- Minuet of Forest, Part 4

Forest Temple; Day

A game of who catches the magic attack ensues, as Link now pays more attention to his battle with the ghost, Phantom Ganon. Every time one of them reflects the attack back to the other person, that other person would do the same. In this one, however, Link accidentally sends the attack flying off to a wall. The next second, he sees Phantom Ganon swirls his staff, sending off brilliant sparks of many colors. Then, he flies at him, his staff pointed at Link the sharp end. Quickly, Link halts him with his sword, then pushes him back.

"You are weak!" Phantom Ganon taunts when he returns to a safe distance. "You are exhausted! Surrender, and I shall let death be your rest!"

"Don't listen to him, fairy boy!" Malon's supporting voice contradicts from behind the poles. "Don't give up!"

"C'mon, Link!" Navi yells out her support. "Just pay attention and stick to it!"

Link couldn't take it anymore. "Argh! Will everybody just shut up! It's bad enough for me right now, but all your yelling can't make me think! Mal, I appreciate your unwavering support, but I'M OKAY! Navi, I appreciate your help, too, but I GET THE PICTURE! Phantom Ganon, I know you're taunting me to make me give up, but ENOUGH'S ENOUGH!"

Everybody stops and blinks, very surprised by Link's outrage.

"Okay, then, fairy boy." Malon shrugs. "I'll try not to yell so much."

"Fine, suit yourself, Link." Navi sighs. "A fairy can really take oh so much."

"Crazy boy…" Phantom Ganon mutters. "Take this!"

Another battle to deflect the magic attack goes on. Link, still having one arm usable, again puts more attention to the bright energy coming at him. Sending the deadly light back and forth, he wonders if he's ever going to get the ghost. Finally, after enormous effort, Phantom Ganon begins to falter from fatigue. Link smacks his magic attack right back at him. The spirit is too late on the draw, and his spell catches him and pulls him to the ground. Link runs up, then slashes with all his might. Soon, the spirit couldn't take it anymore. He groans, and his body soon hovers into the air, motionless. Fire ignites on him, burning away his body by the second. The torching spirit slowly makes his way towards the middle, where a dark portal opens up on the very center of the platform.

"Hey, kid," Ganondorf's voice sudden fills the air, the source not of the room, "you did quite well… It looks like you may be gaining some slight skill…"

"Ganondorf!" Link shouts. "Show yourself!"

"Ha ha ha… Fool. Why reveal myself when you're not worth it?"

"He took out that ghost, jerk!" Malon answers back sharply. "He's strong enough to take you down!"

"Yes, he did defeat the dark spirit… But he has defeated only my phantom… When you fight the real me, it won't be so easy!"

Suddenly, the ghost begins to cry pain. He grips his head, moaning uncontrollably.

"ARGH!" he wails. "What… What the hell's going on!"

"What a worthless creation that ghost was!" Ganondorf's real voice booms. "I will banish it to the gap between dimensions!"

"No!" the phantom screams in protest. His body begins to break down into the portal below. "You can't do this to me!"

"You useless piece of magic! You do not deserve to be my phantom!"

"No! Please, forgive me! Spare me, great one!"

"The King of Evil does not show mercy! Begone!"

As he lets out cries, the phantom gets sucked into the portal. Soon, the whole body is gone with the portal, never to be seen again. The blue light of transportation appears, along with a Heart Container. Link, woefully tired and aching, lets his body tumble onto the floor.

"Fairy boy!" the poles withdraw themselves and let Malon through. "You okay?"

"Oh… never been better…" Link moans.

"You did it! C'mon, I'll get you out of here…"

With effort, Malon grabs their new Heart Container and drags Link towards the blue light. Soon, the feeling of the temple leaves them as they depart.

Chamber of the Sages

Encased in a clear diamond barrier, Malon and Link are led to the ancient world of the Sages. The barrier disappears, landing them on the carving of the Triforce underneath them. Facing the platform with the symbol of the Forest, they find it shine with the same blue light. A figure rises through, concealed by the brightness. But, they can see the shape and height of the person. And the height is rather short.

"Saria?" Link recognizes her form.

The light fades away, revealing the female Kokiri that Link mentioned.

"Thank you…" Saria begins her greeting with those words. "Because of you, I could awaken as a Sage… I am Saria. The Sage of the Forest Temple…"

"It… It is you… Saria… I…"

"I always believed that you would come. Because I know you…"

"Saria, I'm sorry!" Link bursts out all of a sudden. "These seven years, I left you… You still remember… and defended me… I… I left you for seven long years without telling you… I… I… I had to go to the Temple of Time and stop-"

"No…" she pauses him. "You don't have to explain it to me… Because it is destiny that you and I can't live in the same world."

"I… I… Saria… Sometimes, I wish it wouldn't be that way."

"Still… it's your destiny… and mine. Don't worry, Link… I'm okay with all of this… I accept my responsibility… and…" Saria urges a sad smile, "I… can stop pretending… that you're one of us… I can see who you are… and I accept it."

"… Thanks, Saria… That's what I wanted always… wanted to hear from you."

"I will stay here as the Forest Sage and help you… Now, please take this Medallion…"

Like Rauru before, Saria raises her arms to bring a medallion into existence. A green one with the symbol of the Forest appears over Link and Malon's heads…

The Forest Medallion…

The power of the Forest by Saria…

Soon, their visions white out as they leave the Sacred Realm.

"Saria will always be… your friend…"

Kokiri Forest

The deceased Great Deku Tree fills Link and Malon's eyes as they descend next to it. Compared to the tree, they look like small animals huddled against the roots.

The presence of the ash-colored tree presents a mournful air, but Malon and Link can sense that the forest is returning back to normal.

"Great Deku Tree…" Link gazes at the dead guardian. "It's… been a while."

"Too much… for you to see him again," Malon said.

"Well, I… I can live with it… I can go on, because that's what he said. One of the reasons why I go on is for him… He gave me a request… A last, dying request… and I shall fulfill it."

"Oh, Link…"

"I'm okay. It's just… I miss him."

"Me, too…" Navi joins in the scene. "He was such a great, wise spirit… It hurts me to see him like this now."

"Cheer up, guys!" Malon tries to spread her alternative mood. "Say, look over there! Is that a sapling?"

"A what?" Link perks up to the word.

"A sapling!"

"Here?" Navi couldn't believe it, either.

"Yeah, right here!"

Malon points over to a highly sunlit sprout just a few meters away from the dead giant. The sapling has two, rich green leaves, and is shining its vibrant color brightly.

"A… A sapling!" Link bends down to get a closer look.

"A new… Deku Tree has been born!" Navi exclaims.

"It almost looks like it's moving…" Link notices a slight shiver, "like it's very alive or- AAHH!"

Link jumps back as the sapling pulls itself from the fertile ground. The stem it showed earlier isn't a stem, but a branch of a larger sapling. The sapling itself is a giant, round wooden plant, with more branches and leaves, and a face on it just like its predecessor. Its height, however, is expected of a sapling from the Great Deku Tree; it's short down to Link's shoulders.

"Whoa!" Malon nearly gapes.

"Who… Who are you!" Navi questions.

"Hi there!" it greets. "I'm the Deku Tree sprout!"

"Sprout?" Link repeats. "So, you are the sapling to the Great Deku Tree?"

"Yep!" it smiles gleefully. "Because you, Malon, and Saria broke the curse on the Forest Temple, I can grow and flourish! Thanks a lot!"

"Uh… you welcome?" Malon returns.

"He he!"

"Well, good things do come out of bad things, I guess," Link said.

"Hey, have you seen your old friends, Link?"

"Yes, but-"

"None of them recognized you with your grown-up body, did they?"

"Yeah. I'm not really Kokiri, am I?"

"Yep! As you guessed it, you're a Hylian! Because of that, you were always bound to leave this forest."

A new question emerges immediately in Link's mind, one he has never wondered about before since he found out he's a Hylian. "Tell me, Deku Tree sprout, how did I… how did I come to be here?"

"Oh, I guess I have to tell you that, too," the sapling said, dropping the smile. "Me and the Great Deku Tree knew it would have to come to this day when one of us will have to tell you, Link. About you being a Hylian, and about your whereabouts."

"I… I have to know…" Link said. "I can't live on knowing I'm from somewhere else, and not knowing where that place is."

"Unfortunately… I do not know where you are born from, Link."

"You… You don't?"

"I'm sorry… I know how hard it is for you to never find that home you truly belong in… I've known that you long desire to find that place, ever since you realized you couldn't fit in with the Kokiris. You wanted to be with your own people… You are now, Link, as you discovered along your journey."

"Yes… I know…" Link then couldn't leave out this final question. "My… My… family… I… What happened… to them? Why… did I end up here so long ago?"

The sprout sighs. "Oh, where to begin…? Okay… I'll start off somewhere… Some time ago, before the King of Hyrule unified this country, there was a fierce war in our world."

"The… The Great War?" Malon asks.

"Yes… One day, to escape from the fires of the war, a Hylian mother and her baby boy entered this forbidden forest… The mother was gravely injured… Her only choice was to entrust the child to the Deku Tree, the guardian spirit of the forest… The Deku Tree could sense that this was one of the children of destiny, whose fate would affect the entire world, so he took him into the forest… After the mother passed away, the baby was raised as a Kokiri."

Gone. Link's mother… his only family member he now knows… was gone. That's why… he's here. "… M… M… Mother…" Link stutters. He has a tear coming down his left eye.

"Fairy boy…" Malon comes close and puts her arms around him. "I'm… I'm sorry."

"Yes, Link…" the sprout said. "Your mother gave her life to make sure you survive. She gave you her love… Her dying love."

"It's okay, fairy boy… I know how you feel… I lost my mother, too…"

"I'm… I'm… fine," Link lets go. "I mean… I really didn't know her. I was just a baby then." he turns to the sapling. "Deku Tree sprout… What about… the rest of my family…?"

"Sadly, this is as far as my knowledge goes," the sapling answers. "I'm sorry, Link."

"That's… That's okay… At least, I know… what I should know."

"Your day of destiny has come, Heroes of Time. You have learned your own destiny. You know what you must do."

"To save Hyrule," Malon finishes. "But, wait, I'm one of the heroes of destiny?"

"Oh, yes. Your life is but an important road of Fate… You are not simply a Hylian working her whole life in this world. You two were meant to save Hyrule by Fate… 'Tis was no coincidence that you met Link in the Market that day… Nor is it that you traveled along with him."

"I… I… I'm bound by Fate? I met Link… not because he wanted to ask me… but by Fate? And… I went along with him… because of Fate?" Malon feels Fate is picking on her for some reason.

"The Great Deku Tree didn't tell me this," Link said. "He didn't tell me that I was fated to meet the other child of destiny in Hyrule Castle Town."

"The Great Deku Tree only told you what was needed to continue your quest," the sapling explains. "Now, Link, Malon, break the curses on all of the Temples, and return peace to Hyrule!"

Malon and Link leave the sprout with farewells. They exit via the short tunnel.

"You okay, Link?"

"Yeah."

"I know this must be kinda hard on you. The… family thing and whereabouts and all."

"Yeah, you know. Just… deal with it."

"Hey!" Mido's voice hits the air.

They find him blocking the tunnel's entrance.

"You…" he points at Link. "What happened… to Saria?"

"Mido… Saria…" Link can't seem to find the right comforting words. "Saria won't be… coming back."

Mido gives a sorrowful sigh. "… Oh… I see… I knew it… She's not coming back… Saria won't ever come back…" he then shakes his head suddenly. "But… I… I… made a promise to Saria…"

"Promise?" Malon repeats.

"Yeah. If Link came back, I would be sure to tell him that Saria had been waiting for him…"

"Tell him… what?"

"Saria… She waited for him… because she… really… liked…"

Mido pauses, considering the last word for a moment.

"Hey, you two," he said. "If you see him somewhere, please let him know…"

"I…" Link knows the last word that has just been withdrawn. "I…"

"And also… I'm sorry for being mean to him," Mido said quickly. "Tell him that, too."

"I… I will." Link gives a small smile. Hearing Mido's apology somehow just made Link's day.