I went into my house and sat on the edge of the bed. The foreboding of Evil curling about in the Forest weighed heavily on my heart. The lethargic sensation began to set in again. I laid down on the bed, afraid of going to sleep and somehow afraid of staying awake.
The pressure of the Evilness grew in small amounts at first, and then began growing in larger and larger increments. I felt as though the Evil Presence was actually pressing me down into the mattress, constricting my ribcage and forcing my eyes closed. Outside, normally the sound of birds and sweet music would fill my ears. There was none of that now.
I continued to lay down; what else could I do? The pressure had grown to the point that my head ached horribly. Now there was another new sensation. That of physical pain. Even in my beleaguered state I wondered at the pain.
All of the sudden, the darkness lifted, and this time it was truly gone. I had a sudden sense that I needed to get to the bridge that linked the Kokiri Forest and the outside as soon as possible. Strange…I wasn't aware there was even a bridge there.
I obeyed my senses. I got up and ran for the door, and then I had an afterthought that I might like to bring along my little ocarina in case I had to chase away boredom in waiting for someone. I had another sense that this someone was Link. Right again.
I slipped past the Kokiri male child that was on duty to guard the entrance to the outside and waited there between the ropes of that rickety bridge.
I waited for some time. But instead of bringing out my ocarina, I just listened to a lone owl talk to whatever it was he was talking to. Hoo, hoo, hoot…It sounded like he was lonely to me. A few crows were joining in on his chorus. I looked at my surroundings to see fireflies floating gently about, a dead tree in the middle of a clearing, and a thick forest surrounding the bridge that I couldn't see through if I tried.
Why was that tree dead? The trees in the Kokiri Forest never die.
I didn't finish my train of thought, because Link burst out of the Kokiri Forest and plowed his way across the bridge.
"You're leaving?" I asked with a sob in my throat.
"I have to." He softly answered.
"The Great Deku Tree is dead."
I wept as my heart bled. Link was leaving and the Great Deku Tree was dead.
"Whatever I happened?" I cried.
"There was a…parasite…that ate Him from the inside. I saved him, but He didn't live long after that. He gave me this jewel though." Link held a beautiful Emerald beryl for me to see. I stroked it with my fingertips, stunned at it's beauty and the fact that it virtually symbolized the death of the Guardian of the Forest. A Emerald paid for in blood.
"Where will you go from here?" I had to know.
"Before the Great Deku Tree died, he said I had to visit the Princess of Destiny in the Hyrule Castle to see what needs to be done to rid our Forest of evil."
"Saria, I was made to leave the Forest to save Hyrule! The Great Deku Tree said that I was very courageous and that I should never fear, because my battles will never be fought in vain!" Link reached to his back and took out a sword from a sheath. "He let me find this, and he had me carve this shield from his own bark. The Great Deku Tree said that it would protect me from many things that I would encounter in battle." Link put his new gear away and waited for my reaction.
I came close and took his hands into mine. "I know you were always destined to leave the Forest. But will you promise to come back to seem me?"
"Of course I will."
"Keep this then, until we live in the same Forest once again." I pulled out my precious ocarina and placed it in his trembling hands.
"Saria…your ocarina…"
"It's a memento." I answered, feeling new tears prickle the corners of my eyes.
"Thank you, Saria."
"We'll always be friends forever, won't we Link?" I met his eyes.
He didn't answer, but stepped carefully towards me. Before I could register what was happening, he had taken my face into his hands and pressed his lips into mine. I stiffened at first, and then relaxed as the loved and wanted feelings washed through my rubbery legs. It was a simple kiss, but the meaning behind it made me want so much more. I returned the kiss wholeheartedly.
He broke our embrace suddenly and we stared at each other from an arm's length. There were no words to say. Link turned and ran to the outside without looking back once.
I watched after him for hours after he had gone. There was a hole in my heart that I knew would never be filled again. But it would be alright, because that piece of my heart was being carried in the ocarina, and whenever Link played any kind of music on it, my heart would rejoice. His mouth would also touch the place where my mouth had. So, in essence, we would kiss every time he played the instrument. Intimacies unknown were opened to us. More than we had ever had while we lived in the same Forest.
Good-bye Link. I'll miss you. I'll watch for your return. Pay attention to Navi when she says to come back to me…