After volunteering herself for the daunting task of leaving behind Castanet, the farmer's daughter was instructed to water the Goddess seedling for five days until it had matured enough to be able to withstand the conditions of its future homeland. Each day, the seedling grew ever so slightly, and the little girl grew increasingly anxious with anticipation. Then the last day came, and with the final sprinkling of water, the seedling sprouted into a healthy new form. The Harvest Goddess then transferred the seedling into potted soil, where it would be entrusted to the destined traveler until she can plant it in its new home. With this final day done and gone, it was finally time for the daughter's departure. It was a brand new day of final farewells, and also one of new beginnings…

Final Farewell: To The Other End of the Rainbow

"Honey, do you know what time it is?"

"Uhh… it's still morning, isn't it?"

"Yes, but I think- oh my goodness, it's almost noon!"

"WHAT? Are you serious?"

"Come on! We don't have a moment to lose!"

Back at Regulus Farm, the farmer and his wife regretted to learn that they were late stranglers for the farwell party. The married couple was forced into rushing getting their daily clothes on. Since time was of the essence, they opted for skipping breakfast. Instead, they immediately rushed outside to make a dash towards Goddess Spring, but not before the father snatched up a black pearl he had stashed away for the occasion.

Luckily, their fit bodies got them to their destination in due speed, as they had a full welcome party on standby, complete with their own children at the forefront.

Aside from Marich and Saria, Angie was standing right at Saria's side with her boyfriend, Matt. Behind them were good friends of Keith from since he arrived at Castanet. Interestingly enough, most of them were women.

"It's about time you got here." A haughty voice huffed.

From the sidelines stepped out a prudish young lady just abound Marich's age. She had long, fluffy, light blonde hair with a pink flower pin off to her left side, and narrow, icy blue eyes. She wore buttoned, white collar shirt with a red vest, matching knee-length skirt, and granny boots.

"I'm almost ashamed, Mr. Keith. You and your wife have practically established each other as the most punctual, responsible parents on the island, and yet on this day of your esteemed daughter's departure, you almost clocked in too late to send her off. A first offense this may be, it's almost deplorable that you chose this occasion, of all days, to make such a grievous slip-up." She reprimanded.

"Cousin Vivian, please! At least they made it on time! You don't have to be so hard on them!" Angie pleaded.

"Yeah! Besides, I wasn't making any plans on leaving them behind. They're my parents, you know?" Saria joined in.

"It doesn't change the fact that they failed my expectations today." Vivian huffed.

While the embarrassed married couple was forced to deal with their slip-up, their son stepped in calm down their sole critic.

"Vivian, it's alright. Nobody's perfect. Besides, they're parents. They raised me well. I don't think they'd be so irresponsible as to leave my little sister alone on such an important day," Marich gently told her.

The usually stiff young lady found herself turning pink while gritting her teeth in restraint.

"M-Marich. Honestly!" she cried.

"Please, Vivian?"

Though she was looking away, Vivain didn't even need to see her beau's face to know he had puppy dog eyes.

"Ugh, fine." She groaned, giving in to her boyfriend's gentle cajoling, "Just know that I really looked up to you as a model citizen, Mr. Keith. And I held you in the same regard, Ms. Phoebe. Just know that my father has standards for this place, and I intend to make sure they're upheld."

Unbeknownst to her, Vivian's parents were dealing with embarrassment of their own with their daughter's sudden outburst.

"Was I… really that stuffy?" Vice Mayor Gil Hamilton thought to himself.

"I am glad you held us in such high regard." Phoebe answered graciously.

"I promise we won't let you down again." Keith added.

"Good." Vivian said sharply, "You have a fine daughter in Saria, and she deserves every ounce of your respect. Especially for willing to accept such a grand undertaking. I'm sure you know how vital it is to have everyone near and dear here to send her off. I will not accept her having any regrets leaving here."

We do." Both parents replied simultaneously.

"Then please do your best in sending her off." She finished.

The aristocratic young lady tried her best to maintain a dignified presence as she stepped off to the side on her own, but then by some reluctant instinct, her hand grabbed out and joined with her boyfriend's, causing her to blush once more.

With Vivian's scolding finished, one of the older woman decided to step out.

"In any case, thank you for coming." The brunette woman in yellow dressed bowed.

"Renee," Keith smiled. "This is a pleasant surprise. I wasn't half-expecting to see you join us."

"Our son insisted," Renee explained, "Actually, it seems that our children were the first ones up here."

"It helps that our son grew up to be a gentleman." A patient man with white hair and squinty eyes noted.

"Wow, you too, Toby? Man, I just noticed mostly the ladies here. I was almost worried my guys wouldn't be here to do this, too." Keith sighed in relief.

"Actually, Luke said he'd make it, too. I don't know what's kept him from being here. And, unfortunately, Dr. Jin's busy with a patient for now." Toby explained.

"Well ain't that a shame. I don't get Luke's situation, the guy's usually more punctual than any of us combined. And sorry to hear about Dr. Jin, too." Keith lamented.

"!"

The entire crowd turned their heads as a rambunctious man with blue hair and a bandana came barging it. The strangler quickly fell to his knees to catch his friends.

"…Luke?" Keith uttered, as everyone else was left gaping in silence.

"There's… no way… I'd miss… seeing little Saria's… finest moment…" the carpenter huffed.

"Luke? What happened?" Phoebe asked in concern.

After Luke could finally catch his breath, he picked himself up, then proceeded to point towards the crowd with an erect stance.

" Look, guys. I'm glad you were all considerate to make it up here on your own, but there's now way I'm going to leave the farewell party this small a crowd! I had to run around the whole place just to convince everyone else to get their butts here!" he proclaimed.

"Erm… Thanks… Luke. I just hope all your efforts weren't in vain…" Keith said reluctantly.

"Are you kidding me? Check it out!"

Not too long after, the remaining residents of Castanet from Garmon Mines to Flute Fields emerged from the forest pathway all in a row.

"That's quite an impressive feat, Luke." A polite woman with long brunette hair praised.

Luke proudly ran a finger below his nose and stood in attention.

"It was nothing, Ms. Anissa." he replied.

In a matter of moments, the Goddess Spring was nearly flooded with the entire populace of Castanet. By some miracle, everyone had enough space to get a view of what was essentially center stage and the great rainbow bridge. Once everyone settled down, a plump man in a blue suit met with Saria to formally greet her.

"Little Saria!" he greeted, "I know we've met quite often in recent times, but it still astounds me how much you've grown! You've become quite the fabulous little lady!"

Saria replied with slight curtsey.

"Thank you, Mr. Mayor." She answered politely.

"Ah, no need for the formality, little miss! You can simply call me "Mayor", or "Hamilton". Whichever is more to your liking!" he insisted.

"Okay." Saria nodded.

"Now then, I believe you're already well aware of the importance of the task at hand, so I won't further stress it. Instead, I'd like to voice my gratitude in your willingness to accept such a responsibility. You're clearly growing up, Saria. I can tell you see this as your first step towards adulthood. Perhaps this will be tough for you, but I assure you that you have my full faith and support. I'm sure you'll have the rest of Castanet's, as well." He proclaimed, gesturing towards the surrounding crowd.

Saria nodded in acknowledgement.

"I'm grateful to hear this, Mayor."

"Perfect!" Mayor Hamilton replied as he clapped his hands together, "Now if we may see our little seed of hope for a moment?"

"Sure."

Saria nodded once more, then took out the pot containing the goddess seedling. Mayor Hamilton then cleared his throat and stepped forward to grace the seedling with his authoritve presence.

"Here is the seed that holds the hopes and dreams of a fellow land in certain peril as our very home was long ago." He declared, gesturing to the potted seed, "And here is a brave young explorer who will go forth and deliver their hope. To them, she may be their savior, but she will always be one of our own: a true heroine of Castanet!"

The Mayor's brief speech was followed with a round of applause by everyone around them. It seemed like an unorthodox reality that the younger daughter of the local farmer would go on to represent their people to the outside world on her own, yet they were all too overwhelmed by pride of one of their own to let it bother them. It did make some odd sense, however: her "heroic blood" ran in the family.

The roaring applause caused a bashful Saria to lower her head and flush with red cheeks. Despite this, she was truly appreciative to have this open support from her friends, family, and everyone else.

Once the cheering died down, Mayor Hamilton rose a hand once again to grab everyone's attention.

"Now with that all said and done, I'd like to offer our little heroine one final gift from all of us. Everyone please huddle together for a group photo!" he announced.

Much of the crowd shuffled about, trying to create a formation in front of the Goddess Tree. Though there was some discrepancies in deciding who would be where, it was apparent that Saria had to be at the front of the photo shoot. To her left stood her best friend, Angie, along with her boyfriend, Matt. To her right was her brother Marich and his girlfriend, Vivian. And right behind them was her happily married mother and father, Phoebe and Keith. As soon as everyone got into position, Mayor Hamilton readied the standing camera for a timed shot. Unfortunately, the poor Mayor had tripped on his way to making it back to position, and the resulting photo revealed him at his goofiest, though the rest of the crowd remained unfazed with their formal smiles. With the deed done, the jovial Mayor handed Saria the quickly developed photograph, which she accepted graciously. Afterwards, those standing by the great rainbow bridge had to step away to leave room for their young representative.

With the way clear, Saria stepped towards the bridge, with a shimmering ball of light following close behind. For inexplicable reasons, only Keith, Saria, and Matt noticed the bright light and kept their reactions to themselves. Before she went on her way, Angie decided to meet with Saria one last time.

"I know this will still be hard and me, and I'm sure I'll still miss you, but I'll try not to be upset with myself from here on out." Angie promised.

There were tears in her eyes once again, though this time they were joined with a sincere smile.

"Just please look after Matt and Brother for me. I swear I won't forget you; you've already done so much for me, it would be a waste to forsake all of that." Saria replied, "Besides, I'm sure I'll be able to come back when I've made enough progress. I'll have plenty of time to think about where I'll be wanting to live from here on out."

"Think about it carefully when that time comes. There's a chance you might meet someone special on the other side," Angie suggested.

"Don't worry, I will." Saria agreed.

The two shared one more hug in front of the magical rainbow bridge before the time they would be parted, eliciting tender feelings from the crowd.

Once Angie stepped aside, Saria's father stepped forward, with his wife not too far behind, and presented his last gift.

"My last great task required me to gather things both rare and common to complete, and there's a chance there may be more to yours than simply planting the seedling. So, in case it becomes a vital item, I want to offer you this." He explained.

Keith reached into his pocket and took out the black pearl, which he placed in his daughter's possession.

"A black pearl?" she uttered curiously.

"Yes. You don't find these often. In fact, I had to search the watery mine underneath Harmonica Town to get my hands on one. Hopefully, this will save you some time should you require one, but if not, just think of it as a personal keepsake." He finished.

This time, it was Saria's turn to well with tears as she smiled.

"Thank you, Papa. I'll try and make good use of it…" she said with heartfelt gratitude.

"Just be sure to keep it safe until that time comes. If it comes…" Keith advised her.

"I shall, Papa." Saria said with a nod.

And finally, her proud mother, Phoebe, took the forefront.

"Just remember that you have the strength of your family and every one of your friends along with you. In the end, you won't be alone." She told her precious daughter.

"I'll believe in everyone to help me through, then. Thank you, Mama. And I thank everyone, as well. I'll try my best to represent Castanet as well as I can." She vowed.

"That's a good girl…" she uttered gently.

With the last order of business done and gone, Saria headed towards the rainbow bridge. The path was clear to her, yet her destination was out of sight. Regardless, nothing stood in her way. She then took a deep breath, and with the faith of the harvest sprites firmly in her heart, she made her way up the rainbow bridge. The crowd below was in awe as Saria rose higher and higher, suspended by the thin strands of colored lights. Feeling she'd have a great view of everyone below, she turned around and took one last look at everyone. She waved at everyone with an earnest heart, and they all responded in kind. After that final gesture of goodwill, she turned herself around once more and faced forward with determined eyes, then continued down the rainbow pathway. She kept moving onward, right towards the rising sun, until she was finally out of sight.

Atop the Goddess Tree, a beautiful figure with light green hair and a flowing gown watched her charge from afar.

"Have faith, young Saria. A grand adventure awaits you…"

Epilogue

The trek across Rainbow Bridge had been much longer than Saria had anticipated. In fact, she still had a long way to go before she reached the other side. But her determined mindset kept her from resting for even a second until she reached the end.

The whole time, her mind was caught up on how she had to this on her own, and that no one would be joining her. Of course, it wasn't that she particularly enjoyed the idea of leaving everyone behind, but she valued their faith in her impendence.

And so her simple-minded focus remained, until she felt a gust of wind caress her.

"Hey!" a woman's voice cried.

The green-haired traveler turned to the side. What she witnessed was a spry woman with long, curly silver hair and harsh, impatient golden eyes, wearing haughty, gothic lolita-esque black clothing complete with a pointy hat. Somehow, she was following closely on a floating broom.

"Auntie… Vivi?" Saria cried in amazement.

"What? Hey, no way, little missy! You call me Witch Princess; or Auntie Witch! You haven't earned the privilege to call me by my real name yet!" she complained.

"Eh, Sorry Auntie Witch." Saria sighed.

"That's better!" The witch said with a nod.

"Oh, right! I didn't see you over with everyone else by the Goddess Tree!" Saria realized, "Did you want to tell me goodbye, too?"

The wily witch gave a royal pout that could even put Vivian to shame.

"What, are you kidding me? Of course not!" she cried out.

"Then why are you here?" Saria asked, giving her apparent auntie a funny look.

The haughty witch griped her broom tightly, then straightened up her back while facing forward with a very miffed expression on her face.

"Do you know just how long I've been cooped in Castanet? Sure, that swamp is home sweet home, but I've probably been stuck in the same neck of the wood for ages! Now this rainbow comes in to point me in the right direction for a new place to explore, and you honestly expect me to give it up? A mystical monarch like me deserves the chance to travel every one in awhile." She explained.

"Oh, I see." Saria simply stated.

"Besides, I didn't think I could stand the idea of being around the same place as the Harvest King now that he's up and about to act all high and mighty on that mountain. He'll probably use that prime location to spy on me whenever he feels like. Man, that overlord of nature gives me the creeps…" Vivi confessed.

"Alright. So that means you're going where I'm heading?" Saria casually asked.

The proud witch looked at the little girl directly in her eyes and pouted yet again.

"Well, yeah! Of course! I wouldn't have made the effort to fly all the way here just to get in a word I couldn't say otherwise. Heck, this Waffle Island place sounds real promising!" the witch exclaimed, "Hey! Do you think the island is made of real waffles?"

"I don't know. Is Castanet actually made of castanets?" Saria coolly asked.

The apparent nature of the question caused the witch to shoot her a dirty look.

"Touche…" Vivi grumbled.

Their unusual banter continued all the way throughout the trek across the rainbow bridge. Though Saria was stuck with most eccentric of traveling companions, she was glad to have a familiar face join her on her journey, after all.