Chap 18: Remembrance of a Lost Loved One

(A/N) Hello everyone! Wow, one after another. I think this is the most I've ever written at any given point. Remind me to kick myself when I stop writing again; this feels great! This chapter is all about Link and Saria's relationship, as you can probably guess from the title.

Italics means thoughts, someone is speaking sharply, or someone has spoken Hylian. It can also mean a flashback. Bold means an author's note or some sort of text, which I will seldom use. Underlined text implies importance. I am unlikely to remember that. Have fun!

Oh, and I don't own any piece of The Legend of Zelda. I own, literally, more air than Zelda.

Link walked through the woods in the back of the kingdom, where it was almost impossible to get to. The green of the leaves and grass, the brown of the tree bark, the scent of nature, it all reminded him of Saria. No matter what Link did, it was impossible for him to gather his thoughts or focus them on anything but Saria.

"Link! Chase me, Link!" Saria shouted from her perch twenty feet away.

"No! You chase me!" Link shouted back.

"Let's chase each other! You chase me first, and then I'll chase you!"

Keep in mind: they were both about 10 years old, for the first time.

Saria always was one for good ideas, Link thought.

"Okay, you have a two second head start. Ready, go!" And the first chase was on. Link was hot on Saria's trail when she said "SWITCH!" Then Saria was just behind Link when he said "SWITCH!"

Eventually, Saria tackled Link to the ground. They wrestled about for a moment before coming to a unified stop, Link under Saria, Saria bent over Link. Pure instinct took over and Saria leaned further, connecting the two by their lips. It had been both Link's and Saria's first kiss, but it felt like they had been kissing each other for years. After two seconds and much shock from both parties, Saria pulled away from Link.

"Saria…?"

"Yes, Link?"

"What just happened?"

"I've no idea, Link. None at all."

"Saria?"

"Yes?"

"Would you like to come over to my house later?

"I would love nothing more, Link."

"Saria?"

"YES, LINK?"

"Can we do that some more later?"

"YES, LINK."

"Hey, Saria? Where do we keep our Gerudo Peppers?" Link asked.

"Above the semi-functional 'sink'" she replied.

"Thank you!" Link shouted. They had, by now, been living together for roughly a year. Link built them a house (with some help, of course) and furnished it with furniture he made himself (with some more help, of course). He was making them both something spicy as a symbolization of his view of Saria. One thing that helped him come to the conclusion that Saria was rather hot was that he was 13, and had just begun thinking thoughts like those.

…

A few hours later, Link set down something he called "Kokiri Spaghetti with Gerudo Pepper". He made enough for the two of them and put it on their biggest plate, which made the meal like quite underwhelming. However, what it lacked in size, it made up for in taste (and heat). "Ooh, Link, could you get me some Lon Lon Milk?"

"Yeah-," COUGH, "I could use some myself."

Link fetched two bottles of milk and drained half of his in one gulp. Saria was merely sipping it, trying to not waste it so she could eat more spaghetti. Link continued chowing down on his spaghetti while Saria ate it one noodle at a time, as if she was afraid to damage her delicate taste buds.

"Try eating some more at a time," Link advised Saria.

"It's too spicy, Link. I can't eat too much of it because it burns my tongue, see?" Saria stuck her tongue out and showed Link that it was bright red.

"Holy shit… maybe you should stop eating it, then."

"Yeah, maybe that's a good idea."

"SARIA!" Link screamed when Saria fell off of his tree house ladder (age 11). Saria lay on the ground, unconscious from her minor head-hitting-into-the-ground. Link picked her up off the ground and brought her up his ladder, entering his house and laying her on his bed. "Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay…" Link kept repeating to no-one in particular, seeing as how Saria was out cold.

"Link! What did you do?!" Mido screamed at Link.

"I didn't do anything! She slipped and fell!"

"Bullshit!" Mido screamed before charging at Link. Link braced himself and Mido ran right into him, almost pushing him onto Saria. He started trying to punch Link, but Link was too fast, blocking every single strike. Link threw one of his own and made Mido's pointy nose crooked. Mido held his nose and kicked out, meeting Link's boy-spot (if you catch my drift). Link fell to his knees and Mido rushed to Saria, trying to think up an alibi for his broken nose.

Perfect, he thought just as Saria came to. "Saria! You're okay!"

"Yeah… where am I?"

"Link's house. I saw him carrying you up here, so I followed, then I saw him try to take advantage of you and I had to stop him."

Link was too busy holding his crotch to protest.

"Link!" Saria shouted, "How could you?! After I became your best friend? You sick pervert!"

"S-S-Saria…" Link started, only to be cut off by Saria herself. Mido was internally beaming, shocked at how well everything was working out.

"I never want to see you again!" she shouted. Mido gaped at Saria, shocked at her words. Link started bawling, no longer even able to feel his physical pain. He was far too focused on his emotional pain to feel that.

"Saria, don't you think-,"

"Sh-shut up Mido! You've done enough!" Link exclaimed in a remarkably high-pitched voice. Link struggled to his feet and wobbled over to his bed, past Saria. He laid down and cried into his pillow. By the time he was finished, his eyes were vermillion and his voice hoarse.

"Knock-knock…" Saria's words cut through the air. Link jumped out of his skin when he heard Saris speak.

"Saria! You're here! But… why?"

"Mido told me everything. About how he lied to me about you. I'm sorry, Link; I never should've said that. Nobody should ever say that. It's wrong to ever wish to never see someone again."

"I don't blame you. You thought I tried to rape you. If I were you, I probably would've kicked my butt."

"You know what I like about you, Link? What I've always liked about you? You curse less than Mido, and that shows maturity. Link… I don't know if this is the right way to put things, or even if this is right, but I love you." Link was visibly shocked by Saria's words. Love was a foreign concept to him, mainly because he had never heard that word said. "Like" had been tossed around a few times, and they definitely had a lot of liking between them, but love? That was like a hurricane to Link's drizzle. Except Link wasn't drizzle. Link was a hurricane too.

"I love you too, Saria."

Link reached out toward Saria's hand…

…and caught himself grabbing at nothing in the real world, where Saria was gone forever.

So, while I was writing this, I wrote Lonk. Maybe you read that wrong. LONK. Mother of fuck, that's funny. This chapter was supposed to hit you right in the feels. This is possibly the saddest thing I've ever actually written. Anyway, please review, it lets me know whether or not I suck. It also lets me know if I rule, which I'd love to hear about. Until then, if there are no questions, I'm out. Peace.