Legends of the Hero of Time

by Ryan-Sinclair

The Hero of Time, Link, is blessed by the Golden Goddesses with a normal existence, free for himself to rule over. He must learn the true meaning of life as he attempts to join Hylian society. Along the way, he finds a family to call his own. Protecting and loving them, as a new threat emerges, he grows to understand how he must still endure the challenges of fate.

14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

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[Time: 7:05 P.M. (Evening)]

[Date- Month 4 'Late-spring', Day 12, 8th Era]

[Location- Hyrule, Forbidden Forest - Lost Woods]

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From the outside looking in, it was incredibly strange for Link to be apologizing to the same dark entity which he had just battled so ferociously. If anything, what occurred should have only fueled his hatred toward it, not turned that hatred into pity. On the other hand, what he said actually stemmed from his sorrow. The boy felt bad that he was unable to learn more from his doppelganger. Despite knowing it was going to end like this, part of him had hoped he could somehow convince the shadow duplicate to fight for a better cause than whatever twisted nonsense was held within its unnatural mind. Had he gained his own counterpart as an ally, he would've had a teammate that might have potentially made them an unstoppable pair.

In a timeline where the majority of the sages hadn't yet awoken to their destiny, two Links with different, yet similar attack patterns and defense tactics could have been the key to destroying Ganondorf once and for all. The hylian hero wouldn't need the help of others to defeat his arch-nemesis, not if he could literally complete the mission with himself.

Nonetheless, aforementioned, how the scenario actually turned out was no surprise. As a truly evil entity, Dark Link possessed no ability to comprehend the concept of good; based upon that, it made sense that it was impossible to present logic to that which had always been illogical to begin with. Beholding the lack of that alternative, Link did learn how important it was to have those friends he thought he wouldn't need had he been successful in turning the demon copy. Again, he merely wished it could have been different.

"I'm sorry you couldn't see the light." Link gave a final farewell, fully expecting the delivered deathblow to be the end of the evil entity. Because of those initial expectations, he withdrew his sword from its chest, watching as dark red blood seeped from around the wound.

Dark Link continued to stare at the hero without moving a muscle. It was as if the being was literally frozen. Unfortunately, it finally moved as its lips curled into a wicked demoralizing smile prior to it saying "Y-You poor thing… You actually think this is over. Nghh." Grunting, its body twitched. "Well you're wrong, 'Light' Link… Hehehe…... It isn't going to be that e-easy-…... I will always exist as long as you do. So, you j-just keep working diligently and I'll do the same…" Following a cough of blood, it bid a farewell of its own. "Until next time." That horrid smile wretched itself further into a smirk, one that made it clear the shadow demon truly anticipated a return, regardless of whether or not it was going to do so. For the next ten seconds it remained stiff, red eyes piercing Link's gaze. It wasn't until its eyes closed that the doppelganger suddenly exploded into a thick dark cloud.

A thought crossed the boy's mind to throw a slice at the evil haze, on the other hand, by the time he actually prepared to perform the action, it had vanished into thin air, completely disappearing. Instead, he laid upon the ground for the next twenty seconds in a total daze; unsure of what happened and unsure of what to do. As he was still on his knees, he saw the darkness surrounding him gradually disperse. Suddenly he could see his friends now and it made him ever so happy to know that they were okay. Even though the group was unconscious still, they were alive. With every rise of his kokiri family's chest, his confidence rose too. He had done it. He defeated Dark Link. Along with his success, the fog encroaching the Lost Woods gradually lifted as well, hopefully following behind the malice that created it. The way everything lit up with colour and vibrant life, trees swaying in the breeze as leaves slowly fell to the woodland floor, insects buzzing in the distance, orange sunlight spilling forth from the treetop canopy above; it all signaled a change, a return to how it was before, how it was supposed to be. The evil was gone.

Kokiri Forest was safe once more and that didn't happen alone. No. The hero knew it didn't happen alone by any means. Not only had Timi helped to save Link's life, the hylian champion was also helped by those who had come before him, those ancestral spirits which dwelled in this realm long in advance of his time had also come to the rescue by lending their valuable assistance. Had it not been for the help of others, Link never would have been able to do what he had done. Friendship and doing what's right was the real key to being unstoppable. He knew that now.

For another few moments he continued to lay there, sore and tired, barely able to move other than to blink or breathe. Only when Timi, the Skull Kid, approached did Link attempt to get up. Trying to stand, everything hurt him. He was so exhausted and so weak that he could hardly stand. The hero's knees buckled, yet he managed to fully gather his composure. Although Timi tried to help, Link let the imp know he was fine by holding his palm up flat to tell him to 'stop' and 'let me do this'. The boy had been through many battles in his life, some worse than this; nonetheless, this skirmish was so intense that it took all of what he had and more to make it out alive. Having prevailed, he began to realize how he had to deal with what was left behind by the mess made by evil.

His lips remained sealed as he limped over toward Saria and the others. Staggering, by the time he made it, the boy fell back to his knees on the side of the green haired kokiri who had raised him all his life. Staring at her unconscious body, he crawled closer to slip his hand beneath her head, lifting it to his chest. Saria's eyes quivered as her breathing persisted. There wasn't much he could do for her at the moment other than to wait until she awakened. In the meantime, he waited, with Timi standing behind him oddly tilting his head side-to-side as if he were confused or even perhaps unsure of what to do, same as Link.

"S-Saria… Wake up." He spoke softly, in pain and yet continuing to tough it out in order to see his loved ones come to. "I'm here and I'll never let anything happen to you, the Kokiri, nor the rest of the entire woods." Link's lip quivered and a single tear flowed as he spoke. He fully meant what he had said. The tear wasn't from being sad, it was from being so overwhelmed. All of the emotions held within him were a traumatic wreck, which wasn't a surprise considering all he'd gone through, including what occurred recently.

Very slowly, almost on cue with the hero's falling tear, Saria's eyes opened. She took a few seconds to adjust, awakening from the effect of that which had previously rendered her unconscious. Widening from the dim droopiness she previously displayed, her gaze rapidly enlarged with awareness, pupils immediately heading straight for her beloved hylian boy. Although her eyes focused on Link, once more, she needed a moment of time to comprehend what was going on. Blinking, she opened her mouth, closed it, then spoke. "L… Link? W-What? What's going on?" She asked, still unsure since she had blacked out, thus had no way of knowing what happened. Shifting position in the boy's arms, she stretched. Around her, the others, Mido, Fado, Epona, Breena, Laila, they all aroused from their forced slumber. "Why are we-...? H-How did you-...?" Questions poured forth from the kokiri girl. But, her only real concern was Link. "Why are you so beat up? W… What happened?" Looking around at the surroundings, her eyes met with Timi's for a mere second before she looked away, coming back to meet with Link's. After scoping the situation, with feeble assistance from the hero, she returned to her feet, only to hastefully aid him when his knees buckled. "Link? Link!? Are you okay!?"

Link nodded to her question, leaning on her for support with the tables having turned. "I'm fine… Nghh… Just-… Ugnn…... Just weak from all the fighting."

With that, Saria wrapped her arms around him, keeping him on his feet as the others began to get up too, checking on themselves as well as each other. In the end, they all crowded around Link, keenly awaiting a response from him. "What fighting?!" Saria continued to ask, never having witnessed the intense battle. "Who did you fight!? What happened!? WHY WERE WE UNCONSCIOUS!?" The motherly green-haired kokiri demanded answers. The others wanted their questions solved as well, yet were not pounding the hero with inquiries like a hammer. "HOW COULD WE JUST LEAVE YOU LIKE THAT!?"

"Enough…" Link said rather calmly, having a headache and not wanting Saria's voice cutting into the pain like a knife. "It wasn't your fault. You had no choice in the matter, do you understand me? There was a curse, not to mention an evil entity that caused it; it made the entire Kokiri Forest sick with twisted pollution. Nothing you could have done would have saved you from the spell he used to render you all unconscious. He wanted to fight me, only me. You all would have either been a distraction or leverage for it to use against me." In that moment, the hero suddenly fell back to his knees, merely worn out and needing to sit in spite of not actually wanting to do so. All of the group gathered around the hylian again, getting closer in proximity. Even Mido showed great concern for not only the situation, but Link as well. Either way, none of them had a clue of what the boy was talking about. "I… I'm sorry…. Let me explain."

"Yeah, please do… Who is he or this 'it' that you keep talking about?" Mido asked.

Receiving a canteen of water that Fado had graciously fetched from off of Epona's saddle sack, Link rapidly quenched his thirst in advance of resuming his explanation of what happened, letting excess water drip from his chin as he did. "IT's name is Dark Link. It calls itself that, and yes IT is an IT, no matter if I accidentally call it a he on the occasion." Taking another sip to top off the hydration, the hero kept elaborating. "Dark Link is basically exactly as the name implies, a dark shadowy mirror replicant of me that's completely opposite in nature; evil. I had encountered the monster once prior when I was in the future. I saw it in the Water Temple, a place I needed to be to save Hyrule. However, whenever I saw it there, it resembled an older me… You know, since I'm Hylian? So… This was the first time I saw it look as young as I am now." He shook his head as he contemplated the entire state of affairs. Confusing as it was, he still knew he would be fine. What bothered him, circling in his mind, was how he would likely see the entity again. "It's pure evil. It might look like me, but it's nothing like me… I tried my best to convince it to see the good in the world… I guess you can't put the dark in the light though. Hehehe…" He tried to laugh, but wound up coughing instead. "Oh, geez."

Mido raised an eyebrow in confusion, not following behind the quickly spoken story very far. "Wait…... I-… I don't understand… So, this thing was in a temple far away from here? Now it's here in the Lost Woods? Well, how did it get here?"

Link shrugged, unable to give a definitive answer. "I don't know, I really don't. I blew into the ocarina and a blackness showed up like some sort of ever expanding cloud. All I know is that the spell or effects it used to render you unconscious was likely so it could fight me alone… None of you are to blame for me being on my own, understand?"

They all shook their heads, even the fairies. Saria, on the other hand, obviously had trouble forgiving herself. It wasn't a surprise either since the motherly kokiri took care of him pretty much all of his life, she always considered herself to be his mother and like a mother, she worried for his safety; notably whenever she felt as though there was a chance she could have done things differently.

"Saria? Do you understand?" Link tried to get through to the girl.

"Yes.." Nodding in confirmation, she understood that he was correct, thus easing up on feeling guilty. Nonetheless, the regret lingered, simply to a degree in which it was manageable. "I understand… I just-… Seeing you so hurt-" She cut herself off with tears and a wavering voice.

A tear rolled down from her eye, telling Link all that he needed to know in order to assess Saria's state of mind. While it was true that he was injured, he wasn't close to fatal; not in his opinion and he felt he should be the one to know considering how much pain or suffering he'd gone through. It kept him calm knowing that he wasn't going to die. None of his wounds would be fatal; suffice that is to say that proper action toward treatment is done immediately since he's currently in progress of losing a decent amount of blood, enough to be feeling woozy.

Watching the hero's eyes blink slowly, Saria cried dramatically, almost letting her emotions get the best of her. "Oh, Link! We've g-got to get you back to the village! I'm not going to be about to lose you for a second time!"

All around Link, from that moment forth, Mido and Fado began tending to his wounds while the fairies instructed them. As anticipated, they paid the most attention to what looked the worst, which was the large slice on his chest that extended shoulder to shoulder as well as the blood seeping from his eyebrow. For the time being, there wasn't all that much they could do out there in the middle of the Lost Woods. Fado applied pressure to the wound above his eyebrow. That stopped the blood, however, without any bandages there was no way of making that permanent, not in absence of her hand staying. There was no way he'd be able to get all the way back to the Kokiri Village with somebody holding onto his eyebrow either.

Despite the help, Link still wasn't sure he needed it. He didn't think the wounds needed tending to right at that very moment. As he'd previously considered, he didn't think he had any critical injuries. While he knew that he'd bleed out eventually, the young hero figured he should be able to hold out until he reached safety. "Saria!..." He stopped to cough, causing pain in his abdomen. "I'm fine! I'm not dying! I just need to get back to the village or else I'm going to die from blood loss, there's a difference!" Link tried his best to reassure her as well as the others, even going so far as to attempt to fully get back onto his feet. Gradually, with the help of Mido and Fado making sure he wouldn't fall down, he stood up with his back straight, trying with all of his might to look as confident as he felt.

"Link, you nincompoop!" Saria argued with him during the time she raced over toward Epona, grabbing a small burlap bag that was attached to the saddle. "The two things you just said are the exact same!" Nodding her head in affirmation, she continued "You might not have, but I prepared for this! I wasn't about to let a repeat happen!" From beginning to end, she truly wasn't going to let her emotions get the best of her. Reaching into the burlap bag she had retrieved, she pulled from within a single roll of bandage. "You might just run into the middle of a cursed forest with nothing to help heal you, but I know better than that, so I got this from the store!"

Unrolling the bandage, it almost touched the ground about three feet down. The other two were relieved beyond all means to see her pull through with such readiness and instantly got to work on wrapping a portion of the bandage around the hero's head at an angle that he'd still be able to see with.

Although the hero was pleased to get the help he needed at the moment, it was a tad embarrassing to think that Saria always prepared so thoroughly for him, as if he were still a little kid. "Okay, okay…" He responded, trying to get her to calm down, especially now that he was being treated. "Just relax and quit hollering."

As Link let the other two kokiri dress his wounds, Saria crossed her arms with an upset scowl plastered upon her face. "What?" He soon asked, wondering why she looked so bitter. "Look, I won, okay? I prevailed. I fought off Dark Link and destroyed the source of the foul curse polluting the Lost Woods as well as the Kokiri Forest; what more do you want?" Sighing from the stress of having nearly lost his life and then topping it with his strange acting kokiri mother/best friend being angry at him for no real reason, he mentally as well as physically felt like he could sleep for a week. 'I swear… I feel like there's no appreciation at all sometimes.' He thought to himself as he shook his head. 'No matter what I do, there will always be a person who doesn't like either me or what I did.'

Ceasing the grimace, the green-haired kokiri approached to lay her hand upon the boy's shoulder. "Link… I'm not angry at you, not for saving yourself, us and the entire Forbidden Forest. I'm angry because I could have lost you." Staring at him, it was obvious by the look in her eyes that she was being extraordinarily maternal, just like her usual worry wort self. It pained her to know that he had no choice other than to put himself in danger when the task was to save the world. The Great Deku Tree made it clear to her that he was a hero from the very beginning. Nonetheless, he was her beloved hero and she didn't want to lose him. "I don't know what I'd do if something bad happened to you."

"I'm fine, really… I promise." Link said. "These bandages will hold up until we make it back to the village, then we'll tend to the wounds with a bit more finesse."

With that, the hero started thinking of where all his belongings were. He had to get out of there with his sword, shield and far more importantly, the Ocarina of Time. With the ocarina in his possession, all was right in the world. His main objective in coming out there had been fulfilled. For the first time in a while, Link felt a burden lift from his shoulders. The Ocarina of Time was no longer lost in the middle of the Lost Woods, like twisted irony for being the reason the place was named as such. Plus, with the bandage, there wasn't a need to race back as if his life depended on it. All they had to do now was gather their composure, then leave for the long path back toward the Kokiri Village. So long as the ride went smoothly, it could be estimated that they'd have a chance of getting back to safety in advance of utter nightfall; that was if they hustled now, beating feet as fast as they possibly could.

"Uhh…" Fado suddenly piped up. "We've got a problem." Immediately, Link looked at the assertive kokiri, then toward what she was looking at, which happened to be his body. Nobody enjoyed hearing such a phrase, so he knew it wasn't good news. The blonde-haired kokiri pointed toward the bandage as well as an uncovered portion of the deep slice on Link's forearm. "There's not enough bandage. We've got the wound on his head and the wound on his chest covered, but this nasty gash on his forearm looks terrible. I'm certainly not a doctor, but I'm still sure he's gonna bleed a lot if we don't get it wrapped up."

Mido shook his head to agree. Saria, while in shock, rubbed her face in frustration at herself as well as the world. Link knew exactly how she felt. Each time the hero was feeling as though things were going to get better, it felt as if fate would cruelly dump another series of challenges on him. This was certainly going to make matters worse. On the other hand, they knew they'd come up with some form of solution and sure enough, that solution came to them without anybody asking aloud.

"You guys need more bandages?" Timi asked with a playful chuckle. "I've got plenty of them, why didn't you just ask? Follow me!"

The diminutive imp ran off, thereafter heading straight for the tree in which he'd apparently made his dwelling. While the fairies bickered back and forth with one another as to whether or not they should trust him, such a concern was out of the question for Link considering all that the lonely cursed kokiri had done for him. Taking the initiative since the fairies wouldn't, he took the lead by walking toward the massive tree on his own accord, dripping a trail of blood drops behind him as he went. Once they saw him accepting the assistance, the others followed suit, likely coming to the resolution of sticking with the hero and getting out of the open. Outside of their personal concerns, by now it was evident to them that Link truly didn't have much of an option other than to take the generous help provided by what may as well be a trustworthy friend that had saved his life not once, rather, twice.

Entering the tree right behind Timi, everything on the inside was in total darkness. Link couldn't see his hand in front of his face if he tried, which was a good reason to stop walking. Waiting for a few seconds, as the others showed up, a scraping sound was heard followed by a single candle upon the wall being lit about fifteen feet away from them. Timi, now able to be seen due to the small flame, raced from the candle to just outside of view, into the darkness. After another small scraping sound ensued, another candle was lit. This process circled around the group five times until it began swirling above their heads, causing around twenty candles to be lit. With such a grand lighting scheme, it brought the inside of the tree to life, revealing to them the cabin-like interior that had been carved into the trunk. Although it consisted of a single room, Timi had created for himself several wooden chairs, a wooden table and even wooden shelves. The fire pit in the middle was well put together; from the pots, pans, and other iron kitchenware scattered around, the imp had definitely cooked plenty of meals there.

Seeing such awe-inspiring furnishings out there in the middle of nowhere made Link curious as to how long it had taken Timi to do all of it. The imp had made the dwelling his, then upgraded to lavishness by using his own skill. For decor, all around them and carved into the bark, there were images of prevalent memories from all throughout the Skull Kid's lifetime, many telling a story on what he'd done with his exiled existence. A set of spiral homemade wooden stairs wound upward twenty feet to a balcony made from a humongous chunk of a giant timber leftover from the tree's insides. Atop the platform was a circular wooden bed stuffed with what looked like soft material alongside a nightstand made from the same thing everything else was.

Woven baskets, burlap sacks and even a few crates from Hyrule Market as well as Lon Lon Ranch stood on one side of the balcony, opposite of the intricate stairs. The contents inside the storage vessels had to be what Timi was looking for as the imp hovered by them, stopping only to say "Make yourselves at home! Teehee! It's not much, but after all that you guys and gals went through, my place is your place! Rest! Relax! Both! I don't care! Hahaha!" Spinning in return to the direction of a basket, he opened the lid with more chuckling.

None of the group fully entered, no matter what Timi said to them. The kokiri stayed put, being too skeptical of him, the fairies stayed with the kokiri and Epona wasn't overly interested in going inside a big tree. Link, however, simply didn't want to move lest he were to get more blood on the Skull Kid's stuff. A chair off to the side was more than enough to satisfy the hero as he plopped down, expecting relief only to find the sores, bruises and cuts made it excruciating to have his back and butt pressed against anything.

"Just a sec!" Timi continued to say while rustling inside of the basket. "I know I have a supply around here somewhere, I just know I do!"

"I'm just ready to go to sleep…" Link uttered under his breath.

What the boy said gained the attention of Saria, who had to chime in with her motherly ways. "N-No, don't go to sleep! With that big knot you have on your head, I don't think that's the best idea." The kokiri girl nibbled on her lower lip in a way that always meant she was thinking quickly. "Ughh… I know there's something bad about it. One time when you were younger and you hit your head on a branch, the Know-It-All Brothers told me that your brain might have shaken itself too hard! Besides, the knot on your head back then was puny compared to what you have now!"

"What? Saria… That's ridiculous. There's no way I shook my brain too much." Link's lips automatically spoke as he closed his eyes. "Besides, I'm only going to rest my eyes."

Saria gave him a nudge until he opened his eyes to see the maternal kokiri standing in front of him. "No way, Link." She insisted. "I know you get grumpy when you're tired, but this is important to your health. They called it a concussion or something and said it could be detrimental if you fall asleep. Now, you better wake up or I'll dump the canteen on your head!" The look on her face made Link roll his eyes. Yet, he knew she wasn't playing around. Saria would do anything to keep him safe. "As soon as you get back to the village, you can get plenty of rest."

"I told you I was merely resting my eyes, I wasn't about to go to sleep…" Link argued. "Besides, I was planning on napping when I got back to the village anyway."

Getting the stink eye from Saria for being argumentative, Link gave up on the conversation and turned toward Timi, who was now throwing personal items out of the baskets in search of the bandages he claimed to have. The hero really was relying on the Skull Kid at this point and would be relatively disappointed if he failed to come through. At this point, Link realized how wrong he was to think he'd be okay. As his condition worsened without the adrenaline flowing from fighting, the blood coming from his wounds was sure to cause him to lose consciousness before he made it back, especially seeing how dizzy he already was. Hanging his head down, the boy tried to wait it out to the best of his ability. Rushing wouldn't do good anyhow if the imp wasn't sure where he'd placed the bandages. Link's teeth clenched shut as he contemplated how to get back without any in case worst came to worst. The incessant thought drove him crazy with worry.

"Found it!" Timi exclaimed, making Link jump slightly in surprise. "I knew I had some bandages! Here you go!"

The roll of bandage the imp found was instantly tossed through the air to anyone who would catch it, which turned out to be Mido. The kokiri boy let no time go to waste as he unrolled the bandage prior to wrapping it around Link's forearm, tying it as tight as he could at the end in order to create a makeshift tourniquet to stop the blood from flowing.

Having his injuries treated there, with the rest of his cuts sealed, Link felt relieved to know he wouldn't bleed out. One more time, the Skull Kid had potentially saved his life. Never before had the hero been more grateful toward a person, much less a mischievous being. Their relationship was truly one of a kind and he couldn't ask for any better. "Thank you, Timi." Link expressed his gratitude. "You're a real lifesaver and I owe you."

Mido and Fado went over Link one more time, checking for spots where they might need to wrap more bandage around him.

"Aww, shucks! It was nothing, Link! I'll do anything for my best friend, teehee!" Timi said as he spun over to the firepit, revealing a set of flint he used to swiftly light the tender beneath the logs. "Stay a while! I'll make tea and you can nurse those wicked wounds… Oh, we can share stories too! I know just the one I'll tell you first, I think you'll love it! I've been working on it ever since you first came into the Lost Woods and gave me that mask" The Skull Kid was hyper and talked fast as he kept conversing. "Oh! Look, I even still have the mask! It's around here somewhere…" For a moment, Link's heart nearly stopped as he thought Timi was mentioning the only mask that ever mattered in that aspect; Majora's Mask. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. "Hmm, where did I put it? Don't tell me I lost it, I paid good rupees for that Skull Mask." The imp stopped caring about the fire he'd just lit and moved on to looking for his mask. As for Link, it was both a letdown as well as a huge relief to know Timi was talking about a different mask.

On Link's behalf, it felt strange to consider the outcast a friend. From the encounter he had with its alternate version in his dream/hallucination or whatever Mr. Happy called it, the hylian had a preset disposition of not being fond of Timi. Although, at that point he didn't even know his name. Timi was known simply as the mischievous imp who stole Majora's Mask from the Happy Mask Salesman so he could wreak havoc on the entire land of Termina. However, since they were in a completely different realm now, Link rather enjoyed Timi as the lad was amusing in an annoying sort of way. "If I recall…" Link interacted, making Timi look at him. "You actually underpaid me back then, Mr. Wiseguy. That Skull Mask was worth twenty rupees, not ten and you knew it." Link chuckled as he rubbed his shoulder. "You're lucky I paid the rest or you'd have a creepy mask salesman stalking you. So… You're welcome."

Although Link's humor was dry, Timi chuckled. From there, the hero was intending to tell the imp to forget about searching for the mask as it wasn't important and their time there wouldn't extend beyond the next fifteen minutes at the very maximum. Before he could do so, to his surprise, the Skull Kid found it, pulling it from beneath one of the wooden tables he'd created. "Yep… That's it alright." Link acknowledged. Seeing the same strange Skull Mask brought back memories from his grandiose adventure days. Although, he still had no clue what animal or person left behind such a skull; there were horns made of bone on each side, part of the reason why it was exotic and worth twenty rupees in the first place. "Nostalgia is a hell of a thing…" He uttered. "It can make you forget your body was just shredded."

Thinking about it, Link decided to take a chance on asking the only other person he was aware of who might have been in Termina with him. Though he now believed what the Happy Mask Salesman had said about Termina being an alternate world that lived in a realm alongside their own, he still found himself interested in learning how it tied in with everything, with fate and reality. He couldn't resist asking to see if Timi had any recollection or if the mischievous being was even aware of it like the hero was. "You know, there's another mask that I'd like to ask you about…" Timi turned to Link, staring inquisitively as the boy continued "Do you remember one that was dark blue with red, shaped like a heart with piercing red eyes and had four spikes on each side of it as well as a spike on top of both sides?"

Timi cocked his head like he did whenever he was thinking. "Hey-… Wait a moment. Yeah. Yeah! I know what you're talking about!" For a brief second, Link let his hopes skyrocket that he would soon have visual evidence of Majora's Mask. However, as it turned out, Timi explained things differently than anticipated. "That's the mask I drew on the wall for my story! I wore it and it gave me great power, so much that I could do anything! To be honest, it's kinda inspired from the Skull Mask you gave me." He waved around the mask before putting it on for a minute. "I'm surprised you remember! You were half-dead when I was telling you about it! Heehee!" He stopped for a moment in advance of rushing toward a part of the wall that had some engravings carved into the bark. Pointing to a part of the carvings that consisted of a tiny figure, it was clearly a depiction of him dancing. Next to that, as Timi moved over, he showed the Mask of Majora etched into the tree trunk. "Here! Look here! This is what I imagined it looked like! I carved it back when you were sick and I was watching over you. It's too bad that I couldn't really have a mask that looked like that though, because it's so awesome that anyone would notice me!" He shrugged before saying "Oh well, my Skull Mask is still beastly!"

There were other pictures on the wall, including that of what looked like Tatl and Tael, the Four Giants, Clock Town, The Moon as well as another mask that looked like Fierce Deity. Link wanted to ask Timi about all he'd carved, and yet, he knew he didn't have the time for that.

Putting the Skull Mask back on his face, Timi then danced around like a loon. It was disappointing that he was clearly unaware of how true the adventures he created actually were for Link, not to mention how the imp didn't actually have Majora's Mask. It wasn't the same and yet, Link continued to want to know more about how Timi interpreted the rest of the story in comparison to how he recalled it happening. Although the Skull Kid obviously wanted them to stay, the grim reminder of pain eventually made the hero feel like passing out. "Ugnn… Timi-… I'm sorry, I know you want to have fun…. Nghh… But, I'm in a lot of pain right now and I just want to lie down in bed."

For just a moment, Timi froze. Link thought perhaps the imp was about to get furious at him for requesting a chance to leave; Skull Kid's weren't exactly known for being understanding in any way, shape or form. When he finally did turn around, the lad stared at Link prior to letting his gaze drift off toward his own homemade bed up on the platform. "Ooo! How about you stay the night?! I'll freshen up my bed and you can rest there for a while. I'm going to make supper, so I could wake you up whenever it's ready! What do you think about cornbread and stew?! Mmmm, you hylians like stew too, right!? Come on, stay!"

It wasn't as if Link wouldn't have considered it were it not for the fact that he was so critically injured. Sure, he had bandages, but he knew he'd need more than that. Seeing as they were the closest located people with medical knowledge, the hero needed proper treatment from the Know-It-All Brothers. "Timi, I'm sorry… I'm a lot more hurt than I initially thought. I-… I was just in shock. I know I need rest now." Grimacing from the injuries, he buried his hand in his hair. "I assure you though, that stew would have been delicious." Link praised as best as he could so Timi wouldn't feel the sting of being let down. He certainly wasn't trying to offend him, especially after all the Skull Kid had done. All he wanted was to feel better. He hoped Timi would understand that since he saved him from death. Then again, judging by the look on the imp's face, he still felt dejected, it was fairly obvious by that plus his crestfallen demeanor. "I'm sorry." Link tried to apologize again. "I promise you, the next time we see one another-..."

"Malon said that last time!" Timi suddenly interrupted, stomping his foot in frustration. "She said that you and her would come back soon! It took you this long to come back and now you're already leaving!? That-… That-… That's s-so unfair!" Pouting, he turned his back to them and then crossed his arms.

"Timi, please…" Saria tried to help. "You must understand how badly Link is injured. Think about it. If you did what he had done, would you be able to have fun or would you want to recuperate first?" Following a minute of considering that, Timi uncrossed his arms prior to turning back to face the group. Slowly, it seemed as though he was beginning to understand. He knew Link was hurt, he just wanted him to stay so that they could have fun. Saria was well aware of that too, which is why she said "If he doesn't make it from being too ill, you'll never get to play with him again, right?" That there was what hit the nail on the head.

Timi came to the realization that Saria was correct and decided to start helping Link get back to the Kokiri Village. "Okay… Fine. You're right." Giving up, he sulked. Since he wasn't acting dangerous, Link proceeded to limp toward the door in preparation of leaving. He stopped only when the Skull Kid spoke more. "I know you all have to return home at some point… It's just-…... It's so boring out here. I get lonely without there being anybody to talk to. It's not like I can leave the forest either with the stupid curse the Great Deku Tree put on me for being so mischievous." He hung his head with a long exasperated sigh escaping his beak-like lips. It was true too. Being a Skull Kid was due to the fact that they were exiled from the kokiri community for being bad. The curse put upon them ensured their kind could no longer survive inside the Kokiri Village, which is why most chose to live out their days in the Lost Woods.

Understanding how it felt to be lonely, Link sympathized with Timi. The imp wasn't anything like the other Skull Kids he had encountered; not to mention, completely different from how his Terminian counterpart acted. Only because of those differences did the hero decide to make an attempt on helping the poor rejected soul out. "Listen… Timi, why don't you leave these woods for good? Go on the adventure of a lifetime. If you've made it out here, then you can make it in the outside world." Hearing what Link had to say brought the Skull Kid's attention to a peak. Nonetheless, the boy could see Timi's lips already trying to move. Link knew what Timi wanted to say about the only way out of the Lost Woods being through the Kokiri Village, so the hero kept talking with a new solution. "There's another way out of the Lost Woods that most people don't know about. Actually… There's two shortcuts; one of which leads toward Death Mountain, home of the Gorons. The second shortcut leads into the Zora River, which will eventually take you to the Zora Domain if you ride the water long enough."

Timi stared at Link with a blank face. He was stunned and didn't know what to say or think.

"It isn't something you have to do." Link reiterated as he held his injured side, applying a bit more pressure to it to reduce the pain. "It's merely a suggestion I want you to be aware of; a sort of thanks for doing all you've done. Plus, if you follow me, I'll even personally show you which way to take. It's not all that far…" He stopped to cough and winced as his side quivered in agony. "It mostly depends on where you want to come out as well as how you want to exit the woods. Taking the Zora River will require you to get wet seeing how you'll need to get in it and float downstream. The trail to Death Mountain is also open since I got rid of the giant boulder with a bomb flower, on the other hand, the terrain there is treacherous and tough to climb through." Walking out of Timi's giant house built into the meadow's tree, Link felt the cooler forest air. Although the sun was beginning to go down, it was high enough in the sky to give light throughout the treetop foliage. Turning back toward Timi, the imp stared back at Link. "Either way… You'll come out in the rest of the world, no longer trapped here in these cursed woods. All of the adventures you ever wanted, those battles you fantasized witnessing, grand locations bigger than any tree or hut you've ever seen in your entire life; it's all out there waiting to be explored."

Timi's eyes sparkled with joy, even making a tear escape his hollow eyes and run down his wooden cheek. "I-… I'd love that." He said with a wavering voice. "It's all I've e-ever wanted. What about you? Will I ever see y-you again?" Wiping the tears away, he smiled, eagerly awaiting an answer.

"Timi, I have a feeling that when we next see one another, we'll have more time to spend and more stories to tell." Link responded to him as cheerful as he could, even cracking a small smile. Inspiration was the best he could offer in hope of convincing the strange lad. If the Skull Kid went to the outside world, he'd be in a utterly different environment from there in the Lost Woods. He wouldn't be bored for a single second. 'So long as it makes him happy and lets us leave, I'm all for it as well.' The hero thought to himself. 'Whether I truly see him in the outside world is a matter for another time. This moment is all that counts and this moment is saying I need to hurry up and get to Kokiri Village so the Know-It-All Brothers can heal me of my dire wounds.'

Timi jumped for joy, unaware of Link's cavalier thoughts. "Yipee! Let's go, go, go, go! I can't wait to get out of here and ride horses like you! YEE-HAW!" Floating around in the air using his magic, the Skull Kid hovered there while imagining himself riding an invisible pony. It looked amusing.

Then again, Link was too hurt to be amused. Instead the others assisted him in getting up on Epona, who could easily tell her owner didn't feel normal.

As for the Skull Kid, he kept at the rambling, going on and on with how happy he was or how he couldn't wait to be free of the woods. "I can't thank you enough, Link!" He said the hero's name like he idolized him. "I'll never ever forget that you did this for me. Don't worry about the others either. I won't tell any other Skull kids about this. It'll be our little secret… How's that sound? Huh? Huh? Huh!? Oh, I can't wait!"

Link's head began to gradually hurt from either Timi babbling or the loss of blood. He had to hold up his hand to make the imp calm down. "Timi… Please settle down… It's not you. It's that I've got a headache from being so wounded. I promise you though, just exactly like I said; the next time we see one another, things will be much different."

Timi calmed down with that, which was good since Link's head was starting to pound. "Oh… Hehe… Okay! Let's go!" The Skull Kid exclaimed regardless of the headache. Thankfully, he started floating off in the direction the group had come from

The others prepared for the journey back while there was still daylight. Mido was already grumbling about needing to get back quickly before the nocturnal animals came out. Link shared his concern as well. The last thing he wanted was to run into that pack of Wolfos again. Without the hero being in shape to fight, such a large force of enemies would certainly overwhelm them faster than they could make it back to the village. Keeping the urgency of potential danger in the very front of his mind, he was ready to get going right that second.

Saria piped up before Link whipped the reins for Epona to go. "Wait… Link. Let me ride with you." On her own, not giving the boy the opportunity to object, the kokiri girl climbed up behind him onto Epona's saddle. "I just don't want you to fall off or go to sleep." Her arms gently wrapped around his waist. She made sure not to squeeze hard since it was clear he was hurting. By that point, Link didn't care anymore. All he wanted was to be back in the village. Nonetheless, he saw that the others shared concern for him as well, which was comforting.

"Yeah, and I'll navigate." Breena, Mido's fairy said. "In the meantime, try not to bleed much more than that."

Fado and Laila joined the lead while Mido trailed directly behind as he still grumbled. The Skull Kid hovered in front of them as Link made Epona get going. Their small convoy progressed through the woods.

Before they got much further, as he thought about it, the hero grabbed his bag to frantically search it for the Ocarina of Time. When his fingers fell upon it, he breathed a sigh of great relief. Even though he was sure he had put it in there, due to the fact that it was lost for so long, he felt paranoid in regards to its safety. Removing it from the depths of the bag, Link's eyes focused on the giant crack in it from where it broke at some unknown point. Based on speculation, he assumed it got damaged from when he dropped it. Still, getting it was no simple task as they had to fight their way there. Crack or no crack, Link was definitely pleased the Ocarina of Time was back in the hands of its rightful owner. He felt it was all worth it. Nobody was killed and he got what he set out to find.

"I'm pretty sure we can fix that for you…" Saria said softly into his ear, referring to the Ocarina of Time. "All I need is some clay to fill in the crack and it'll be good as new."

Not saying a word, Link put the Ocarina of Time back in the bag. All of them continued further into the forest, leaving the meadow in place of thicker flora. Up close, Epona's hooves were louder than Fado or Mido's footsteps. Yet, the only sound in the distance was their echo. For the time being, that meant they were safe. A pack of Wolfos would shake the ground like they did before, not to mention how loud they would be trampling atop all the leaves on the ground. So long as they stayed quiet enough to hear any possible threats, they could make it through the rest of the trip free of danger.

"Are you okay?" Saria asked quietly.

"Yeah…" Link was forced to respond. "I'm just ready to get this all over with. Whenever we get back to the village, I'll head over to the Know-It-All Brother's house. Afterward, I'm thinking of staying the night in my old place. My body isn't going to make it back to Lon Lon Ranch tonight." It was true too. No matter if the hero made it back to the Kokiri Village and got his wounds bound with fresh bandage, he'd also need to be stabilized for several hours in order to recuperate the needed energy for any possible future traveling.

Saria nodded immediately in confirmation, fully understanding. "Of course, Link. You need to stay behind for rest anyway. I'll get your bed ready whenever we get back and if you want me to, I can make some of that Kokiri Kurry you used to like."

Link's stomach rumbled in that moment, making it obvious that he was hungry. The boy was pretty sure Saria knew. As for her attitude, he noticed it was back to being motherly, like she normally was. Just as quickly as the odd flirty behaviour she showed earlier had arisen, it was now gone just as fast. Deep down, Link found himself still curious what that change in mood was all about. Nevertheless, he was simply happy she had returned to a normal state of mind. So long as everybody made it back to the village unharmed, everything would have still been worth it.

For the time being, they continued along in silence. The others stayed quiet to listen, but Link was merely too tired to carry on a conversation. Timi was the only one who would talk; most of the time bringing up ridiculous topics to pass the time. Often, he'd speak for several minutes prior to stopping. He didn't even appear to care whether or not anybody was truly paying a lick of attention to him. This annoyed Mido the most, who would plainly glare at the Skull Kid over and over until the imp would shut up for about thirty seconds. However, before long, the light became the real issue as each passing moment it seemed to diminish further toward nighttime. From the angle they were, the sun barely breached the treetops. Their shadow's hardly projected themselves onto the ground. If anything, it was best if they parted ways with Timi in advance of nightfall, for he not only presented a risk since he couldn't stop himself from talking, but leaving him behind would also mark the halfway point on getting back to the village.

Sooner than expected, looking around, Link began to notice how he was in the general location of the midmark. Timi must have known as well, for the imp said "We're close to the creek that leads into the river downstream. It's getting dark too…" Link pulled back on the reins to get Epona to come to a slow stop. Mido and Fado slowed to a halt to see what was up before Timi finished what he was saying "I should probably start to head back to my place."

"Yeah… You should." Link responded to him with a slightly weak voice. "Here's actually a decent place for us to part ways." Pointing his finger in the general direction of the river, he continued "But, listen. If you go that way, you'll find the pond connected to a creek by an underwater stone passage. You just have to swim under that passage and then you can float downstream. That creek comes to the river; what you have to do is follow the river just a little further before you actually come out near Hyrule Field." Thinking about the other way, Link's head turned in the opposite direction. "If you decide to go through the trail to Death Mountain, be careful. It's named Death Mountain for a reason. You'll find the hole I blew in the side of the cliff ridge about a thousand feet west from the small pond."

Stopping to breathe, Link didn't realize how out of breath he got until he actually was. Although he took a moment to gasp lightly, Timi swiftly swooped down to embrace him. The imp's body was oddly stiff and awkward to hug. Not stopping though, the Skull Kid squeezed the hero tight for about fifteen seconds prior to letting go. "Oh, Thank you, Link. I sure hope we see one another again. Tomorrow, I'll come back here and check out the locations you mentioned. With any luck, I'll figure it out and be free of this accursed place once and for all."

"Thank you, Timi." Saria showed appreciation for all he'd done.

Following a few moments of hand waving as well as watching Timi disappear off in the direction of his home, Link lightly whipped the reins to get Epona moving again. The whole convoy of six trampled through leaves, hearing them crunch beneath their feet as they carried onward. Soon enough, the track of time was lost. Each step was so insignificant in relation to the size of the trees or the expanse they covered, it seemed as though it was taking forever to progress through the woods. More than anything, Link wanted to speed up, to whip the reins so Epona would rush. Unfortunately, he knew this would happen whenever he first agreed to let three people come with him; two were going to have to walk. Regardless, his eyes grew heavier and heavier the more time that went by.

Saria must have noticed his exhaustion, for she gently pulled him back against her and then said "Please don't go to sleep yet. I know you're tired, but you need to stay awake a while longer until we can get you back to the Know-It-All Brothers." To pass the time, she chose to discuss recent events that transpired. "It's quiet now. The woods seem almost peaceful. I can see how you'd want to fall asleep." Stopping for a moment, she exhaled prior to pursing her lips. "I was thinking though… It wasn't nearly as tranquil as this before today. In fact, ever since you left to live with Malon, things were getting progressively worse." She let go of Link and her eyes narrowed as if she were pondering. "Thinking about it again, although I didn't fully realize it at the time, it's like all of what's been plaguing the village started the night you left…... The night-… The night I noticed that black goop missing from the rag I wiped your mouth with."

Hearing that made Link wonder about the connection too. 'Black goo which dripped from my mouth while I was unconscious? Saria said the Know-It-All Brothers told her it was 'my death'. But, she also said they told her it was poison from the curse of the Lost Woods. I don't see how those could make the Dark Link I fought.' His jaw shifted side-to-side in his mouth, causing his teeth to grind as he continued pondering. 'It's hard for me to grasp the idea that the curse of the Lost Woods was expelled from my mouth in the form of black goo, then that black goo went on to become sapient as well as powerful enough to combat me to exhaustion, even nearly kill me.' Shaking his head in confusion, another sigh escaped from between his lips. His head hurt too much to think deeper on the matter. It was a definite possibility, yet at the moment, he couldn't figure out how.

Saria, on the other hand, seemed to have found a better connection than the hero, for she continued connecting the dots aloud. "Hey… Didn't you say that you fought a shadowy replica of yourself and it's been showing up in mirrors when you look at yourself? What if that shadowy replica WAS the black goo? It kinda makes sense if it came from you."

"I don't know…" Link responded, trying to not sound like he was annoyed over the matter. "I guess anything's possible. All I know for sure is that, if it is connected, everything should go back to normal now since I won." Mentally, he hoped that was true as Dark Link was by far the greatest challenger he'd faced off against in quite a while. He'd truly hate to deal with the entity again.

Saria didn't give up contemplating so easily though. Keeping it on her mind, she stated "It had to come from you, where else would it have come from? Plus, think about it… I mean, you said it was shaped exactly like you. Maybe it replicated you because it came from you." Her stubbornness in thinking about the matter was well placed. After all, the Lost Woods was part of her home, the backyard of the Kokiri Village. Although it was often considered off limits to the average person, what happened there often spread into the village itself.

As for Link, the boy was simply tired and hurt. He didn't want to think about it anymore. The entire ordeal was confusing and none of it made much sense. Dark Link being there made no sense at all and the explanation it gave was too vague to be of benefit. What the hero did manage to understand was more or less only what the shadowy doppelganger wanted him to know. Then again, there were certain sentences Link remembered standing out from amongst the rest that might have significance; with the required guess work being the only downfall in that potential realization.

"Tell me what you think, Link." Saria questioned him, wanting to expose his thoughts.

"It's-…... Like I said, it's possible." Exhaling, Link's head pounded worse. He tried not to focus on it. Yet, he couldn't take his mind off of the things Dark Link spoke of. "It told me that it was made of the same cause as me." In his head, Link could almost hear the entity's wretched voice yelling at him. The way it called him a failure in a twisted tone of his own was chilling. Besides that, it made him angry too. He felt he had already suffered enough from saving the world, only to have it all be forgotten and time reversed; his ego couldn't handle hearing himself calling him a failure. For the longest time, he was the only person who believed in himself. Link was always the only one who fully believed what had happened had actually happened because he lived through it. So, to now have his own voice proclaiming how he'd failed at what he was born to do, it almost brought forth new feelings of doubt. "It told me that I had failed at being a hero and that it was going to replace me… It wanted to finish up loose ends, kill me and then become me."

Everyone in the group stared at Link after what he said. The look on their faces was mixed with either concern or confusion. Saria, however, had more questions. "What do you mean? Why would it want to replace you whenever you're done with your quest? What loose ends does it want to finish?"

"I don't know…" Link sighed more, trying to push the thoughts out of his head as best as he could. In reality, he did know, he just didn't want to discuss it. The entire event was ridiculous. "Look. Let's just stay quiet until we get back, okay?" As soon as he said what he did, he knew he shouldn't have. From then, the boy had doomed himself to more talking as Saria wouldn't leave it at that; she never did.

Sure enough, the kokiri girl called out his name. "Link… Come on, talk to me. You clearly know something you're not telling anybody when you react like that. Remember, we're your family who you can tell anything to."

For a few seconds, Link closed his eyes tight; teeth still clenched in frustration. Being upset wasn't from Saria. In fact, she was the only thing that made him calm down. It wouldn't do him any good to get mad at the girl who raised him and had always cared about him enough to concern herself in his troubles.

Once his muscles relaxed and he was able to hold back from getting mad, the hero decided to explain in slightly greater detail. Seeing how Saria was actually a sage, not to mention how the others wouldn't fully believe the fine facts, he chose to create another rather brief summary of how his quest went. "It's a long story that I've only explained bits and pieces to you so far. After I went on my seven year journey into time, I killed the person I was tasked by the Great Deku Tree to defeat; Ganondorf, the Demon King of the Gerudo. Princess Zelda, the person I was also tasked into rescuing the kingdom by, chose to send me back into time, to reverse everything back to before Ganondorf ever gained power in the first place." Stopping to breathe, all the memories of that day came flooding back into his mind like a waterfall of remembrance. Saria rubbed his shoulders gently to calm him down as he continued. "When Ganondorf returned to see The King of Hyrule, Princess Zelda and I ambushed him in the throne room. We told The King all that had happened, each thing Ganondorf plotted to do and succeeded in doing in the future. Needless to say, we must have been convincing to both of them. The King ordered the Royal Guard to take Ganondorf into custody, which was all it took to send him fleeing the kingdom. Ever since then, the jerk's been hiding out in Gerudo Valley."

"So… You won?" Saria asked, unsure of the answer. "Then what does the shadow version of you want?"

Link just shook his head, only knowing what he'd figured out. Same as before, the boy could hear the evil entity's voice in his head as he recalled it telling him that it wanted to 'end this cycle of torment'. Although he didn't exactly know what that meant, he knew for certain it wasn't good. "He wants to kill me, then kill Ganondorf."

"But, why does it want to kill you? Why doesn't it just go and kill Ganondorf?" Saria questioned.

"I don't know, Saria…" Link barely caught his tongue, holding back from sounding mean. "Please… Let's just take a break from all the questions. I'm so tired and my head is killing me."

From that moment onward, Saria held back further curiosities to be generous in favor of Link's headache. Despite being unable to hold back from random thoughts here or there, the boy managed to ride the rest of the way in peace while also staying awake. It was more challenging than he anticipated, but he did it. For the most part, any time he found himself dozing, the pain from his wounds would keep him from relaxing sufficiently. To pay attention to anything other than the discomfort, he chose to zone in on how little daylight there was left. The sky had turned from a blue hue to an orange hue, indicating that dusk was shortly upon them. What little light that actually shone into the canopy lit only the tops of the tallest trees. The group had enough sunlight to see around them, but not for long.

Picking up the pace a tad, Link's hands whipped the reins, making Epona speed up to a solid trot. Mido and Fado took notice instantly and began jogging at a decent pace to stay together. The estimation on distance was about a thousand feet remaining. The fairies knew the exact stretch of land they had left to cover. Even so, based upon levels of light left, they would need to be, at the very least, near the exit to the Lost Woods in approximately ten minutes. Flashes of light around them came from Sunset Fireflies, their first sign of life as well as another symbol of the coming night. Bugs and critters of nocturnal origin were beginning to wake up from their daytime sleep. Chirping of Restless Crickets and the croaks of Tireless frogs filled the air. The temperature dropped more too. These were all reasons why Link chose to hurry.

"Not much further!" Breena shouted with her tiny fairy voice. "I'd say about six minutes at this pace!"

Link's shoulders eased up and he leaned back more against Saria to rest his muscles. It seemed as though everything was going to work out nicely. For his own peace of mind, one last time, he checked his bag to make sure he had the Ocarina of Time. As soon as his hand grasped the legendary instrument, he was able to fully convince himself that he didn't have anything else to worry about. He'd made it without dying, all of them had made it through the Lost Woods without dying. Although he'd like to go above that and say without a scratch, that possibility was far from close. What he did feel accomplished about was in destroying Dark Link, who looked to be the culprit on what was plaguing the woods. That exploit took all the hero had in him to stay alive. In fact, in the end, it was friendship as well as the goddesses that kept him from being murdered. Looking at it from outside the metaphorical box, it was righteousness that saved his life too. Justice, honour and virtue triumphed over selfishness, blind determination and hate. Link's entire morals as well as keeping true to his destiny kept him alive.

No matter all that happened, if everything was back to normal, the hero would be more than relieved. It was all he wanted; to be normal. His lips wanted to literally smile at the thought. Being a hero was fine to him though, so long as he could still live a life of normalcy like he used to. Deep down, he knew it would take many years for him to acclimate back to life as a ten year old. It was tough being seventeen for a year, then returning as a kid, only to then spend several more months in another realm entirely. Regardless, he had to do it. There wasn't another choice other than death. Thankfully, in the long run, he knew that his adjustment back to being a child would be worth it.

At that moment, he saw the forest treeline ahead. Just having visual sight for the end of the Lost Woods made him so glad. He also noticed what appeared to be three kokiri standing by the entrance to the village. "We're almost there! We made it!" Link happily responded. The others felt the same way as they started running from that distance onward. "Look! There's somebody by the exit of the woods!" Swiftly getting closer due to the speed they were traveling at, it became clear who the three kokiri were; the identical hairstyle between the three giving away their identities. "I think it's the Know-It-All Brothers!" Luck must have remained on the hero's side, for the very people he needed were already waiting for him.

Quicker than they imagined, the group was at the treeline, the exit to the village. Link grabbed and pulled back on the reins, slowing Epona to a halt alongside the rest of them. Fado was the first to speak following a literal big jump from the Lost Woods into the Kokiri Village. "Finally! Oh my! I can't believe I'd be this ecstatic to be back here!" Mido shared Fado's feelings, for he sighed and leaned against a nearby tree with a look of sheer exhaustion.

Saria, however, hopped down from Epona, nearly tripping in the process. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she ran to the Know-It-All Brothers. "Guys, Link needs help! He needs potions and herbs!"

The brothers took one look at Link in advance of Higu, the youngest brother, laughing. "Don't tell me he's unconscious again. If we have to cure him from the Curse of the Lost Woods one more time, we might as well market it and rake in some rupees." The brother's shared in laughter.

Saria didn't find it funny and neither did Link, who rolled his eyes as he dismounted the saddle with his bag in hand. Since the brother's humor was misplaced at the moment, the hero corrected it. "No, I just dealt with a pack of wolfos and then managed to find the root cause of the corruption that's been infecting the woods." Now being closer than he previously was, the brothers were able to quite clearly see to what extent Link's wounds were. The blood soaked bandages made their smiles vanish as they became more serious to his sustained injuries. "It took me a long time and I have a hell of a story for you all…" The hero continued "For now, if I don't lay in a bed soon, I think I might collapse here on the spot and sleep under the moonlight."

The brother's took his words sincerely since two of them grabbed him underneath his arm as if to try and assist him in walking. "No, no… I got it. I can walk on my own." Link uttered while stiffly limping away toward his treehouse. "What I need is to have my bandages changed, water to drink, something to eat and plenty of rest."

Without allowing him to travel much further, the Know-It-All Brothers stopped the hylian by gently grabbing his wrist. "You can't go back to your place yet…" Higu, the youngest brother said before reiterating what he meant. "Well, it's not so much that you can't go back to your place, as it's that you're needed elsewhere."

Saria's eyes widened. "WHAT!? Are you kidding me?! He's in no shape to go anywhere! What do you even need him for!?" Pushing the brothers aside, the kokiri girl refused to allow them to take Link anywhere. At that point, he was very close to literally lying down on the spot for well deserved rest. The boy couldn't handle dealing with anything else for the time being.

Whether Link wanted to hear it or not, the Know-It-All Brothers clarified themselves, clearing the air as to what they were talking about. "Wait! Wait, wait, wait! Listen to us. First thing's first, we will change Link's bandages and give him some healing tonic. But, we said what we did because we know you four fixed the corruption that's been plaguing these woods. About forty minutes ago, out of the blue, things suddenly changed. The atmosphere thinned from that thick humidity that was present earlier, the creek returned to crystal clear water before our very eyes, we even heard birds chirping again as the sun started to set."

'I was right…' Link thought in his head, confirming what he had previously assumed. 'Dark Link, the Black Goo that Saria mentioned, that entity was the cause of the pollution that had engulfed the Forbidden Forest.' Piecing things together in his head, he figured that it proved the connection between events. Seeing life restored on the way through the Lost Woods made him speculate, yet hearing the news from the brothers, he now accepted it as fact. 'I've solved the mystery. I saved my home as well as my entire family. No matter what we went through, it turned out to be worth it in the end.' Smiling wide, he felt accomplished. 'Now, I can rest.'

Looking around at the Know-It-All Brothers, the hero noticed their faces were grim, like there was something else they had to tell him. Sure enough, Higu, the youngest brother, resumed telling the rest of what he had to say. "Afterward, the fairies told us we had to gather in the Great Deku Tree's meadow… Since it's safe now, we listened. Us brothers got there first and were surprised to see-…" All of a sudden, the kokiri boy trailed off mumbling incoherently.

Migu, the middle brother, had to pick up where his younger brother left off. "Link…" He too stopped briefly to gather his words. "I don't really know how to tell you this after all you've done. You've been where we've never been and done things we'll never do, all for the greater good like the Great Deku Tree wanted you to do…... But-… Well-..." Same as his brother, Migu trailed off without finishing his sentence.

This left the oldest brother, Tigu, to wrap things up by being straight to the point. "Link… The Great Deku Tree-…... He's alive."

In that instance, it took Link a solid ten seconds for what Tigu said to soak into his brain. As hurt as he was, time slowed down, making it seem as if only that moment had any relevance. Physically, his body paused so his brain could think of what it meant to him, how he should process the news. Before long, the hylian's body coursed with manic adrenaline from hearing the unbelievable. "W-What?" His lips trembled on their own despite him trying to hold himself together. Truly, he had trouble comprehending his feelings on the matter more than the actual announcement itself.

Years of heroic adventures had all started because of the fact that Link lost the Great Deku Tree. For ten summers and ten winters, he had considered the forest guardian his father figure. The tree mentored Link, taught him life lessons that made him learn how to properly mature into a fine young man. The tree made the boy feel loved when nobody other than Saria would or could. Due to that, from the very day he lost the demi-god, he set out on his quest to seek vengeance on Ganondorf for taking from him, from all the kokiri, the kindest, caring, most loving dad that could be. All the hero had endured was because of that. What he had done was often in its name. For almost a year he'd gone on with the tree only in his heart. Knowing the deity was watching over him from the heavens, he carried on with his destiny, the very destiny appointed to him by the forest guardian.

Following the hero's awakening seven years into the future, the only thing that had changed was the brief visit he had with the Deku Sprout; the Great Deku Tree's reincarnation. That moment kept alive the hope he had for seeing the old tree-god one day again. Being forced back into the past, or his natural present, he thought it would be a long time before he made it to that day. He figured for sure that it would take another seven years to see or hear from the sprout again. It was a shock to know that it took less than a year.

"This… This changes everything!" Link stuttered in exclamation. Although he was unsure of what caused the sprout to surface as early as it had, it didn't matter. The emotions washing over him came from deep within, from the very core of his heart. He knew having the Great Deku Tree acting as guardian of the forest would give a sense of normality. Things could finally get back to normal.

Others, like Mido, Fado and Saria were equally flabbergasted. Mido trembled with a mixed look of shock as well as happiness, Saria's lip quivered as tears of joy streamed from her eyes, while Fado's jaw was figuratively dropped to the ground. "How?" The blond-haired kokiri girl asked in astoundment. "How could he be back already?! I thought it took at least a couple years for the Great Deku Tree to resprout?! Did he just rejuvenate his old form?! Tell me!"

A lot of pressure was suddenly dumped upon the brothers as they had three confused and at the same time elated kokiri, plus one hylian who shared their emotions to the fullest extent. All of them stared down the brothers until they began to sweat. Migu, the middle brother, nudged his siblings, particularly Tigu for the way he worded things. Clearing his throat, he tried his best to explain things correctly this time. "We're sorry for saying it the way we did. You'll have to forgive us, we're pretty excited and it's getting in the way of our judgment." Getting a soft smile from Link, Migu continued "No, the Great Deku Tree didn't rejuvenate or 'regenerate', as the correct term would be. What we meant to say was that his heir, the Deku Tree Sprout has surfaced and the proper flow of magic within the Forbidden Forest has been restored. Don't get us wrong, even though it's considered the Great Deku Tree's heir, the Deku Tree Sprout has all the memories his predecessor does, so in essence, they are one and the same." They chuckled amongst each other before finishing with "I guess we weren't technically wrong then. Hee-hee."

They shared in another short fit of laughter prior to looking serious again, as if they realized how they needed to hurry up. "Oh! Why are we sitting around talking about this?" Taking Link by the arm again, this time he allowed them to whisk him off toward their home. "Let's get you washed up, your bandages changed and some fresh clothes."

On cue, as soon as Migu stopped speaking, Higu picked up where the sentence was left off. "We should probably make you that healing tonic as well. Then, as soon as you're all prepped, we'll take you straight to the Deku Tree Sprout."

Tugging Link up the plateau to their house, he found himself getting jerked into their home. It had been a while since the hero was last inside there. The previous time was when Malon and Saria had him here and he was utterly unconscious so that didn't count. In the center of the room was the Know-It-All Brothers circular fire pit. To the left there was a rug, followed by a table with metal trays, mortar and pestles, glass bottles, glass tubes filled with unknown liquids as well as a laboratory set. Behind the firepit sat another table, this one used for eating as three stools made of tree stumps circled it. As an added plus, a window gave a nice kitchen view. To the right, a ladder led up toward a loft that was out of sight, followed by a big wooden shelf carved directly into the side of the tree-home itself.

Higu took the bag from Link's hand, prompting the hero to yell. "Whoa! Be very careful with that, please! It has my ocarina in it-… I don't want it to get damaged."

Heeding the warning, Higu put the bag down off to the side. Tigu got to work removing Link's clothes down to his underpants, after which Migu looked over his body and even unraveled bloody bandages to see the full extent of the wounds. First thing Migu and Tigu did while inspecting his body was check his head for bruises. Link knew there were marks on his head since he felt the pain of getting them. Sure enough, they went straight for his forehead, not to mention them finding the incredibly painful knot on the back of his head. "Don't worry…" He said to ease their concern. "I'm not seeing double and I'm not bleeding from the ears, so I should be fine."

Moving on from there, the brothers assessed the bruises on Link's throat, the shoulder to shoulder horizontal cut and the black and blue marks all over his chest. Coming to the boy's stomach is where they grew more worried as he had sustained a decent puncture wound that went in about a quarter of an inch. "Oh yeah. We need to get this sewn up right now and stop the bleeding." The two brothers snapped their fingers to get their youngest sibling to pay attention. "Higu, hurry up and make a healing tonic and see if we have any healing salve left. Once we get that applied, find us a needle and some thread so we can stitch his wound closed."

"What?" Link's eyebrows furrowed in minor surprise. "Come on… You want to sew me up like a puppet? No way! I've been stabbed enough today! How about we just use something hot to seal it up-... You know; what's that word? Cauterize?"

Migu shook his head, then walked over to the side of the room to grab a wooden bucket. Setting it down, the water and a sponge floating in it sloshed back and forth inside. Tigu took the sponge in advance of dabbing at the blood dripping from the gash on Link's abdomen from where Dark Link made a decent stab. Washing the wound, the two kokiri prepared it as their brother Higu remained hard at work over by the table to the right; crushing herbs in the mortar and pestle to make a tonic or potion. Although it was simply water the two brother's used on the hero, it stung him to have the cut touched in any way, shape or form. This, needless to say, presented a big problem whenever Migu prodded to ensure there weren't any foreign objects stuck inside. Had Link not known it were for his benefit, he would have knocked the kokiri's head off his shoulders. Thankfully, upon hearing his grunts of agony, they eased up.

"No, I don't think so." Migu responded to what Link asked about cauterization. "Stitching would be better. You're lucky it didn't go any deeper than it did or it could have pierced organs."

Tigu added his opinion to Migu's while suddenly pulling up on the skin to Link's forehead, exposing the spot where the hero had been stabbed above his right eyebrow. "Looks like you got lucky here too, extra lucky if I say."

All of the wounds were going to take a long time to heal. But, the biggest upset was how it was going to be painful to sew up any deep injuries. Never before had Link enjoyed being stitched. It hurt, almost worse than receiving the damage itself. Disregarding the pain though, he still knew it was for the best. Thankfully, the Know-It-All Brothers had put sutures in prior and he was fully aware how quick and clean they performed. In terms of being gentle, he trusted Higu, Migu and Tigu far more than any hylian doctor at Castle Town.

As soon as the washing of blood from his wounds was as complete as the brothers could get at the moment, Higu finished crushing up herbs. Letting the ingredients soak in their own concentrated juices, the kokiri boy then grabbed a canister from the shelf above him. The canister turned out to be Healing Ointment, which Link was more than happy to see. Immediately after walking over to his sibling, Tigu took the canister and opened it. With his index finger, the eldest brother scooped out some of the white salve, collecting a glob of it. Once he had a decent amount, he then took the ointment and spread it all around the cut on Link's abdomen, being careful to not get any of the cream on the actual inside of the injury.

The initial cooling sensation didn't last that long until it turned into a searing burn. That merely meant that it was working though. Besides, the worst was yet to come. With the wound washed and covered in Healing Ointment, the next objective was what the hylian really wasn't looking forward to. Migu assisted in gathering the sutures, then grabbed a needle. Link's skin was already crawling with the heebie jeebies before anything even happened; the anticipation being more than enough to put his nerves on end.

"Okay, we're going to stitch up these stab wounds first; the one on your abdomen as well as the one on your eyebrow." Migu elaborated. "Fortunately, you shouldn't need anything for these wolfos scratches other than bandaging and ointment… Still… I know how you are with taking sutures."

Gulping, Link sighed. "Just get it over with. I'm ready to go see the Deku Tree Sprout." He watched as Migu threaded the needle and Tigu applied one last layer of Healing Ointment. "Yeah, make sure to put plenty of that on there…" The hero said, referring to the ointment. "At least it numbs it a little." The kokiri brothers rolled their eyes with a chuckle as the middle brother began sewing the wound on Link's abdomen. The first pierce of the cold metal needle into the side of his open injury was the worst. Link's teeth grit and his eyes closed tight. But, with curled toes and balled fists, he toughed it out.

"Come on, Link…" Tigu responded to the boy's groaning. "The Great Deku Tree said you're supposed to be a hero."

He didn't know what they were talking about. Stitching the laceration, he continued to grumble in pain. Right now, he wasn't in combat so his adrenaline wasn't flowing to provide him with relief from physical suffering. "Unggh... Hey, guys… Just because I'm hero doesn't mean I like being stabbed and threaded like Saria knitting."

"What did you say about my knitting?" Saria's voice suddenly said from behind the group.

Jerking his head up, Link would have spun around. Unfortunately, he couldn't move seeing how he was being worked on by Migu. What he did manage to do was stutter. "W-Wha-… How long have you been-… Nghh… standing there?"

Saria giggled softly while staring at his naked torso. Although she wasn't ogling him, it was still slightly embarrassing to him for her to be in there while he was shirtless and only wearing his undergarments. "I've been standing here the entire time. Relax, it's not like I haven't seen you without your clothes on before. I used to help you take your baths, remember?"

Blushing, Link pouted with puffed cheeks in advance of looking away. This only aroused further laughter from the group of kokiri brothers. Nonetheless, Saria stayed behind, watching as the hero had his cuts sewn together. The way she was acting now, things were most certainly different than from earlier, when the boy had first arrived. It was clear that she had returned to her motherly personality. When she acted weird and flirty, it made Link confused or even upset; now, with things back to normal, he felt as though, once again, she was not only his mother, but also his best friend.

"Saria! Are you trying to embarrass me?" He responded to her teasing.

Walking around in front of him so that he wouldn't have to crane his neck, Saria stood there staring into his eyes for a while until finally breaking her gaze. "Once this is all over-…" Stopping in mid-sentence, she looked him in the eyes one more time.

Link could tell she had a busy mind. She was holding back from telling him something, she'd been holding back from telling him for a while. Granted, now that she was attempting to tell him, she was interrupted, losing the chance to speak up as Mido and Fado audibly entered the room. What the girl was thinking about telling him would have to wait until they were gone as they immediately commented on his physical state.

"Holy crap…" Mido's jaw was left agape. "You seriously took a hell of a beating."

Fado blinked with eyes wide, hardly able to believe all the wolfos scratches on him. "Oh wow…" Her cheeks flushed slightly as she averted her gaze from the rest of his body, even going as far as to put her hand up to the side of her face as she looked away, courteously blocking her vision to give him privacy. "I didn't realize you had your tunic off. Sorry." Turning all the way around, the blonde-haired kokiri girl walked away, stepping outside of the Know-It-All Brother's house. "I-… I'll just wait out here, okay? Let me know when you're done… I just want to thank you for letting me go with you out into the Lost Woods. I also have another thing I wanted to talk to you about, but that can wait until you're rested-… and… well… have your clothes on."

Grunting, now Link was not only in pain from being sewn, he was also flustered from the socially awkward situation. "Okay, anybody else that's nearby needs to listen… I'm in my undergarments here!" The boy hollered. "Please, don't come in unless you want to see my hylian booty!"

Trying to joke it away, he got everyone to laugh other than Mido, who just rolled his eyes with crossed arms. "Oh please… Nobody wants to see your pale ass, Link." He resumed what he was saying after yawning. "Unlike Fado, I can't say that I want to thank you for letting me come along on a journey that I did most of the work on anyway! So… since I did everything, I deserve a nap and I'm going to go take one. See yah!" With that, he waved almost sarcastically in advance of leaving.

"Did all the work!?" Saria retorted as Mido was in progress of walking out. Once he was gone, she yelled back at him while leaning in the direction of the doorway. "You didn't do anything other than gripe the whole time, Mido!" Waving it off afterward, she sighed and just let it go, knowing that fighting with him was a true lost cause. The red-headed kokiri boy was far too stubborn to listen or believe anyone other than himself. Even still, behind all of his indignity or poke-poke personality, he did have a soft heart deep within. They knew that because it's the reason why he came on the journey into the Lost Woods in the first place, because he couldn't bear to see members of his family heading inside of a place that's so dangerous; which also happened to be the same reason why he went into the Great Deku Tree not once but twice. His cockiness merely aggravated Saria relentlessly. "He's never going to accept that his ego is bigger than the Kokiri Forest. Ughh!"

Link's attention to the procedure being performed on him was quickly brought back into light as Migu began pulling on the end of the stitching, tightening it so the wound would seal shut. Although a knot was put into the end of each suture that poked through, the last one hurt worse than the majority of them did. "Nggh… J-Jeez, take it easy. All that tugging isn't tender at all." Finishing up with the gash on the hero's abdomen, Migu added a final knot to tie the split flesh together, closing it from exposure to the elements as well as keeping his blood inside, where it belonged. After snipping the excess suture sticking out past the knot, Link was able to let out a sigh of relief on being done. Looking down at it, he also saw where the stitches were embedded in his skin. Instinctively, he wanted to touch it, but knew it would be better as well as less painful if he didn't.

"Let's not forget about your eyebrow." Tigu made sure to not let the young hylian get away without another round of stitching.

"Oh, come on… Seriously, isn't it fine? It's not even still bleeding." Link pleaded with them.

Shaking his head in response to the question, Tigu resumed watching over Migu, who gently pulled the boy's head back, exposing the laceration above his eye. Taking another scoop of Healing Ointment, Tigu put a glob of it around the slice from Dark Link's sword. Same as last time, the salve was applied only on the outside in order to clean or stop infection. Following a brief moment of the needle being rethreaded, the hero bore witness to it coming toward his eye. Even though it wasn't really, it still made him extremely nervous. His eyelid automatically shut in anticipation just prior to feeling the steel piece of metal pierce into his flesh. It felt worse than the stitching in the abdomen, stinging as the needle as well as thread slid into the puncture that was made by the needle-tip. "Oww! Sheesh! Hurry up... "

"Hold still, Link. Quit complaining. We're not having fun doing this, you know?" Higu spoke up from off to the side as he completed the mixing of the homemade kokiri Red Potion. The smell of Cantatis Mushrooms plus Juniper Berries filled the small wooden hut, an almost sweet and savoury scent going up everyone's nose. Being so pungent, it was obviously done. "Give yourself a moment to relax. I know it's hard to do when you're being poked, but try your best. Once it's done, this Red Potion should assist in significantly dulling the pain." Taking the mortar full of crushed herbs and berries, Higu brought it over toward the firepit, setting it down atop a metal grate that stood above the flames. This brought it to a soft boil around the time his brother Migu tied the final knot in the sutures placed above Link's eyebrow.

"There, see? That wasn't so bad." Tigu stated.

Snipping the end of stitches, Link was done with the whole experience before he could even get a sip of Red Potion. Although he certainly wasn't complaining, he felt it would have been nice to have something that could numb his agony better than just Healing Salve. Nonetheless, he let the extra step proceed. With stitching out of the way, he wasn't worried about experiencing any other misfortune.

As for the tonic, now that it came to a gentle boil, Higu removed the mortar from the grate above the fire pit, holding it with scraps of cloth he had lying about to avoid burning his fingers. Pouring the mortar full of crushed and partly boiled herbs into another bowl, he repeated that step multiple times, pouring it back and forth from the bowl to the mortar. After doing that ten times, he then added a thin strip of cloth by stretching it across the bowl which now held the tonic. Slowly tipping the bowl to the side, as the liquid dripped through the strip of fabric, it filtered itself, preventing any of the actual herbs from falling back into the mortar. Now, while the concoction was still hot, he opened a jar that was on his shelf, removing Red Chu Jelly that had likely been stored for precisely what they were using it for. Dropping a big glob of it into the mortar, he used the pestle to mash the jelly into the brewing mixture until it dissolved into the whole tonic. With the last ingredient added and every step of the process done, it was ready for Link to drink.

"Sorry for it not being ready before you got your stitches. Anyway, the Red Potion is done." Higu said as he brought the hot mortar over to the hero, still holding onto it with cloth since it was too warm to hold without. "Don't drink it all right away, the bottom still needs to cool. Give it a few gulps while we deal with these wolfos scratches all over you."

Having the stone mortar of steaming tonic down set down in his hands, Link immediately felt the warmth seep through the cloth. Giving it a quick taste, his lips and nose pulled back, wrinkling in disgust from the extraordinarily bitter taste. Nearly gagging, he held his breath, tilted his head back and chugged down around half of the Red Potion mixture until it became too hot to drink anymore. Holding the mortar out to the side for a moment, he could feel the concoction of juices slide down his throat in each gulp. Kicking in within fifteen seconds, he found himself able to identify the tingling sensation he always quite enjoyed. The hero's muscles and his bones felt better already, at ease from the medicinal compound soaking into his bloodstream.

"How's it taste?" Tigu asked, hoping his younger brother did a good job like he'd taught him.

"Like I feel." Link responded with a gravelly voice prior to clearing his throat with a cough.

"Just give it some time." Higu said as he took the swollen sponge from the bucket of water, giving it a squeeze atop the wolfos scratches to rinse them, cleaning any debris out as well.

Migu and Tigu both worked together with Higu in spreading Healing Ointment all over Link's torso, smearing it into the more superficial wounds, while only placing a layer around the outside of the deeper more serious injuries. The process took only a few minutes. The worst part about the wolfos scratches was the burn from the Healing Ointment. "We're just about done. Your stab wounds have been stitched and the wolfos scratches have Healing Ointment on them. Let's get you all wrapped in fresh bandages, then you'll be on your way to see the Gr-... I mean, the Deku Tree Sprout."

Link's anticipation of meeting the Deku Tree Sprout for what's technically the first time, grew tenfold. "Hurry up then! I'm so excited…" His voice temporarily wavered, bringing his desperation into the light. "I've been waiting for this moment for a long time… longer than you all realize. The Great Deku Tree is who made me into the man I am today. While it might sound selfish, I want him to know of my deeds, I want him to know how hard I worked to achieve a free world where love, not hate, can thrive." The hylian boy's mind drifted away from reality and toward the past. Nostalgia brought forth feelings of melancholy. Thinking of the days when he was young, he recalled the cozy spring or autumn nights where he and Saria spent their resting hours with the Great Deku Tree, often even lying against the Demi-God's bark as they slept. When they awoke, the trio would spend the entire day talking about every topic under the sun. "I miss him… I miss him so much."

"It's natural…" Higu said before Migu picked up where he left off. "He raised us kokiri, including you. All of us are his children. Sons and daughters always want to impress their parental figure, they always want to show the person they love that they're amazing...…" Taking over for his brothers, Tigu stated the obvious. "You, Link… You were always his favourite. He loved you very much and knew you were amazing long prior to you ever becoming aware of it yourself. The fact that you want to impress him is only because what he thinks of you holds value to your opinion; that value stems from the compassion you both held for one another. Besides, you're definitely amazing. You saved the Great Deku Tree's life. Even if he had to go through this rebirth process, everything he wanted you to do, you've done."

Wrapping Link's torso in bandages, the Know-It-All Brothers made sure to cover every wolfos scratch. By the time they ceased using gauze, starting from the abdomen the boy looked like he was beginning to turn into a Gibdo Mummy. Nonetheless, as soon as they completed dressing his body with fresh bandages, he knew that they were finally done. There wasn't anything else they needed to do. Considering that, he took the mortar with the homemade Red Potion and drank what remained of it now that it had cooled down enough to consume. Setting the mortar down on the stone which surrounded the fire pit, his next objective was to put some clothing on.

For some reason, the hero was about to obliviously grab his shredded and bloodied shirt before Saria stopped him by grabbing it, taking it away from him. When he looked back at her, she handed over another one of his Kokiri Tunics, one that he was pretty sure he had taken out and laid upon the table in his tree-home. He quickly wasted no time in pulling it over his head and poking his arms out. However, part of him wondered how she had one of his tunics.

"Don't worry…" Saria said in a soft voice, staring at Link with a smile. "I had a feeling you'd forget to get fresh clothing or try to put on this ratty thing, so I had Fado go over to your place and get that tunic out for you." She stuck her thumb out to point behind herself, motioning toward the exit of the hut. "By the way, she should still be outside. If I remember correctly, she wanted to talk to you too."

Thanking her for the clothes, Link nodded. "How about you? Don't you have something you wanted to talk to me about before Mido interrupted us?" Walking over to the side of the room, he picked up the bag that held the Ocarina of Time within, making absolutely sure he didn't forget it since he went to hell and back just to retrieve it.

Saria shook her head with a meek response, almost seeming as if she were suddenly reluctant to talk. "E-Eh… It's-... Well… It's-…... We can wait until later. It's nothing that big. Let's just talk to Fado and then go see the Deku Tree Sprout." After that, she turned about-face, walking out the doorway to leave Link behind with the Know-It-All Brothers.

Turning to face the Know-It-All Brothers, who were currently cleaning up, he decided to give the three his appreciation for stitching him up. Going around the room, he shook all of their hands. "Thank you guys for stitching me up."

They all shook his hand with a smile in advance of responding with gratitude; the eldest, Tigu, spoke for them as one. "You're welcome, Link. You've done us all a great service and we couldn't be more proud to call you a member of our kokiri family. Now, get going. The Deku Tree Sprout is waiting on you and we know for sure that you've been waiting for him."

With all he needed in his hands, Link left the Know-It-All Brothers' home, walking outside onto the small wooden front porch. Saria stood off to the side talking to her fairy. Immediately next to the hero on the right was Fado. The blonde-haired kokiri looked at him, initiating their conversation from there. "Hey, Link…" Her smile made him feel comfortable approaching. The two got along fine, yet didn't really hang out all that often. Nonetheless, she was part of his 'Kokiri Family' too. "I see you put clothes on… Hee-hee…" She giggled at the incident earlier. On the other hand, Link didn't find it overly amusing seeing how he'd been in a similar situation with Malon. Either way, he found himself softly chuckling alongside her until she continued talking. "Sorry about walking in on you. Now that you're all bandaged up, I was wondering if you could spare a few minutes to talk to me. It won't take long. I'm just as ready to go see the Deku Tree Sprout as you are."

"Y-Yeah, sure…" Link stuttered with a small blush upon his cheeks as he nervously scratched the back of his head from the awkwardness. "What did you want to talk about? What's on your mind?"

Leaning against the Know-It-All Brother's hut with her boot propped up on the bark of the outside, she exhaled, seemingly having a bit of trouble properly saying what was on her mind. "First of all-… Well… Like I said, I wanted to thank you for letting me come along with you." Her eyes drifted in that moment, heading for the heavens. Staring up at the stars, she gave off the impression that she was very relaxed, yet also pensive to the point of being near gloomy. "I know it sounds silly for me to give thanks for going along on something like that. But, we've known each other for a long time and helping each other is what friends do. I'll always help you… What I'm really thanking you is for-…." She stopped there, cutting herself off mid-sentence. It took a good minute for her to pick up again. "It's difficult to explain. When we were out there fighting for our lives, I… I felt this feeling inside of me, like I could see things in a new light, like I woke up from whatever dream-like state I'd been in."

"Fado, what you felt was probably nothing other than adrenaline." Alongside a soft chuckle, Link tried to ease any concern she had.

She smiled. On the other hand, the hero could tell that she wasn't satisfied with what he said. "No, there's more to it than that-..." Stopping again, this time she glanced over at Saria, almost as if to check if she was listening in on them. Turning her attention back to Link, she caught him off guard with a question he didn't expect her to ask. "How do you know if you're a hero?" She noticed his head shake in confusion, then instantly rephrased her question. "I mean, can you feel any difference if you have more purpose to your life than normal, than what you knew to be normal?" For a moment she looked at her hands before back at Link again. "I'm asking you because you're the only hero I know."

Link was not only honored everyone considered him to be such a mighty hero, he was shocked as well. "Wow…" He replied in amazement before trying to comprehend the inquiry. "Umm… I definitely didn't expect you to ask me this." It took him a bit to gather his thoughts. Although he knew what she was asking him, he wasn't sure why she was. He found himself wondering what made her think of such a subject to begin with. "What do you mean by all this? Do you think you're a hero or heroine?"

Fado sighed, let her arms drop to her side, then stared Link straight in the eyes. "Not really. I don't think I'm a hero, not anything like you. What I meant was, special-… Like… I feel as if there's a new meaning to my life that's yet to happen, a purpose that's been locked away until now. Do you know what I'm talking about?"

Gazing at her intently, Link still found himself confused why she was asking. Yet, deep down, he not only understood what she was trying to convey, he also related. Back before he found out about his destiny of being the Hero of Time, he had an inkling that gradually built itself into a belief that he was fated for greater things, a belief that there was more to his life that he knew. He often ignored that feeling as the others, such as the Great Deku Tree or Saria, would tell him that everyone was special. However, those sensations turned out to be more than special in their own way. The hero knew that he was meant for greatness as soon as he was told he had to rescue the entire kingdom. Although he didn't believe it from the start, he came around when he was able to see first hand with his own eyes how much of a change he could make in the world. Only whenever he saw the impact he made in the lives of others did he fully comprehend just how much different he was from the rest of the population. He now knew that being a hero wasn't something a person was born with, being a hero wasn't something that ran through bloodlines either. What really made a hero was the ability to stand up to evil and do what's right.

For the time being, he decided to give Fado his opinion on what she asked, knowing it couldn't hurt. "The only thing I can think of to say is-… You'll know you're special, that you're a hero or unique when you use your life to make it better for others." He clasped his hands behind his back as he explained. "Besides, it takes more to become a hero than merely knowing you have a greater purpose. You can't simply walk away with that knowledge and do nothing. You have to take action." All of what he said was coming from personal experience. His own judgment came into play as he recalled all that he learned from his years of adventuring. The boy wasn't sure she'd like what he had to say, but he didn't know how else to broach the topic.

To Link's relief, Fado appeared to accept his words to heart, nodding her head in agreement. "I suppose that makes sense." Staring at him for a moment, she then proceeded to smile. "Thank you, Link..."

Stepping away from the side of the Know-It-All Brother's hut, the kokiri girl walked toward the hero with a spring in her step and a sway in her hips. While Link's instinct was to back away, he wasn't quick enough and she leaned in with puckered lips to give his cheek a gentle kiss. The bangs of her hair tickled his face while she smooched his cheek. As awkward as it was, he couldn't help but notice how soft her lips were, like a feather, but perfect. Being as close as he was, for a brief moment, Link could even smell the sweet scent of fresh berries. The entire event caused a cherry red blush to creep upon his face.

Winking at him, Fado pulled away with a giggle before teasing "I knew I could count on a big strong man like yourself to help me out. I'll have to reward you sometime..." Going further, she continued making romantic advances, knowing full well how embarrassed the hylian boy was. "Maybe we could share a kiss on the lips?"

"Fado!" Saria jumped in, saving the day as well as Link's mentality. "Would you quit teasing him and let's get going!? The Deku Tree Sprout is waiting!"

The blonde-haired kokiri girl was a flirt. She spun around and stuck her tongue out at Saria in advance of turning back. One last time, she cupped her petite hand underneath the hero's chin, lifting it so his eyes would meet hers. The very second their blue retinas met, she giggled again. "See you later, Linky." Letting go, she walked away, strutting off with an obvious exaggeration, trying to look sexy.

Link's heartbeat slowed every step away from him Fado went. He had to shake his head to regather his thoughts as he'd been truly taken aback by the way the girl had acted. Regardless, he was simply glad it was over with now.

"What the heck is up with her?" Saria asked herself, talking aloud. "I know you're turning into a super-handsome young man, but she doesn't have to come onto you right in front of me… Sheesh. She knows you're into Malon."

Instantly, Link found himself exhaling from a mixture of shock and disbelief. "Okay…" He finally broke the silence as he grew fed up with all the teasing and talk of love. "I'm not into Mal-..." Stopping briefly, he reworded what he was about to say. "I mean, why is everybody getting so concerned with who I like and who I don't like? It's starting to get on my nerves a little bit." Getting it out in the open, he wanted Saria to know how he felt. Ever since he got there and she started coming onto him too, he'd been uncomfortable. Bashful would have been the correct word and yet he couldn't bring himself to admit he was shy that the girls he'd known all his life were suddenly showing an attraction toward him. "Can you all just back up a bit and give me some space without trying to kiss me?"

Saria stared at Link for longer than he anticipated she would and the boy began to think he was perhaps coming off as being too rude. Eventually, however, she cracked a smile. Giggling in a sense similar to how Fado did, she then said "I'll tell everyone to back off, Link… But, just so you know, it's true that you're turning into a handsome young man. You're going to find other girls staring at you from time to time, even if they're kokiri girls. You can't blame them for imaging you with your arm wrapped around them. It's natural for young girls and boys to think about spending time together in a romantic way." She approached him and laid her right hand upon his left shoulder. "Don't be so tense about it. You should feel happy and proud that your looks and actions make girls weak in the knees."

Thinking about it more, Link realized that Saria was in fact correct. He was definitely a boy and had the same urges other boys had, so to know that girls liked him and thought he was attractive, it made him feel good about himself in an egotistical kind of way. While he'd never done anything romantic with a girl before, which made it interesting that he was suave with them without even trying, he did feel a tinge of pride stir within. Being blessed with such an ability before going through pubescence was a feat that many men strove to achieve. Since he never found himself concerned with self-esteem issues, he never really inquired whether or not he had good looks. However, thinking of it made his mind drift into pondering another topic altogether.

As of yet, he couldn't figure out why Saria fell under the category of flirty kokiri. Fado was one thing, Saria was a completely different matter. On the inside, it made Link incredibly confused. The boy could feel himself sweat and his pulse increasing as he deliberated his feelings for the green-haired kokiri girl. Those mixed up feelings stemmed from his relationship with her. All his life, he'd considered Saria his best-friend and even to an extent his mother. Only for a fleeting period of time had he ever even considered being romantic and that took place when he was much younger. To have those sensations rearing up out of the blue was hard to handle. Even if Saria couldn't see how stressed the hero was, he could feel it, the anxiety from all that's happening circulating inside his head. At ten years old, pre-pubescence as he was, it perplexed him on how to deal with those emotions. Love wasn't his strong suit. If love was fighting, he'd be an ace at it. But it's not. Since love was nothing like a hardy battle, he wasn't able to understand it properly.

"What about you, Saria?" The boy replied automatically, not even meaning to say so. Now that he said it though, he chose to continue. "Why do you keep acting so strange around me? All day today you've been acting like Fado was right now. You've groped me, stared at me and blushed repeatedly each time I happen to glance in your direction."

"Hauu-..." Saria gasped in complete surprise. Her lips pursed as her eyes fell to the ground. Letting go of the hylian's shoulder, her hand rose to cover the bottom half of her face. Overall, it was clear she was temporarily overwhelmed with the question including the fact that he had asked it without further provocation. "W-Well…" She tried to talk, only to stutter with a quivering voice. "L-Link… I…" Stopping once more, she saw Link cock his head as he stared at her in confusion. Saria then looked away, averting her eyes from his gaze. Slowly, a blush swept across her cheeks and the tips of her ears visibly reddened. From there, anybody in the realm could see that she was flustered beyond belief. After another minute, she eventually picked up on where she had left off, this time with a bit more confidence in her voice. "T-This is what I w-wanted to talk to you about. I was going to tell you earlier, but I just wanted us to t-talk in private; of course, that's when Mido interrupted us. I wanted to explain to you w-what happened and why I acted the way I did."

"Go ahead…" Link replied. "We're alone now. It's just you and I."

The kokiri turned away from the hero. When she decided to speak, she finally revealed some answers. "Okay, fine… Just know that it's not going to be that good of an explanation. I'm pretty good at understanding things, but this is myself I'm talking about." Turning back to him, she tried and yet was unable to look him directly in the eyes for more than a couple of seconds. "Link… You are-… You are like a son to me. I love you like a hylian woman would her own son because I raised you since you were a little baby. The problem is that I'm not a hylian woman; I'm not even a hylian girl. I'm a Kokiri. You know the differences in us by now, right? Hylians age gradually over the course of time before they die, Kokiri are born into existence looking as we do now and one day, when it's our turn, we return to the Great Deku Tree for our death. Us kokiri are ageless. Although that difference never made me change my opinion of you because I loved you from the start, it impacted my feelings when you started growing into the young man you are now." Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she then nervously chewed on her lip. "I mean, look around you. Mido, the Know-It-All Brothers, the other boy villagers, they all look like they're your age-… or, the other way around. You look like one of us. You look like a handsome kokiri boy."

Even though he tried his best to understand, Link mostly stood there in confusion as well as shock. He could figure out what she was saying, but he found it all to be relatively irrational. "So… You're saying that you found me handsome because I look like a kokiri? That's-… What? I mean-… That's just weird."

Sighing, Saria became more flustered in trying to explain. "This is why I never wanted to tell you about these feelings." Clearing her throat, she said "Yes, that's essentially what I'm attempting to say. You were so handsome that even I found you attractive. For me, these emotions were all brand new. You've only been like this for the past year, six months even. Like I said, you only just recently turned into a real man. Seeing you like that stirred something from within me. Mixing those awkward feelings with that of motherly adoration made it all the more difficult. I've taken care of you for a decade, I taught you how to walk, how to speak, how to eat; you were my precious baby boy with adorable cheeks and I still fondly remember pinching them until they turned rosy. To go from such compassion to an almost lustful daze had me so torn up inside that it was hard to think." Pausing, she sniffled, beginning to shed a few tears in the process. "I knew you were special, so I never acted on any of my impulses. To be honest, I wasn't even fully aware of those impulses until about a month ago. It wasn't until then that I fully came to know my natural physical desire to have a life mate was trying to include you…... in other words… I was falling in love with you."

"Why?" Link simply inquired. "Why did you start to feel this way?"

"Because of the curse…" Saria finally admitted. "Wherever that evil monster Dark Link came from, it was the cause of all this." The look in her eyes was that of the truth. She believed what she was saying and at that point, it was enough for the hero. Her determination in explaining everything was convincing. "Us Kokiri need the magic that's infused into these woods to survive. The Great Deku Tree is what produced that energy and without him, it diminishes significantly. We're lucky that we were able to go on without him. If it wasn't for the fairies being able to store what little magic remained, we would've been long gone." Pressing her finger to her lips, she kept disclosing what she knew. "Up until this month, everything continued to be fine until that darkness showed up inside the Lost Woods, the darkness that was Dark Link. That evil corrupted the woods, tarnishing it so our combined magic wasn't nearly enough to ward off the effects…" Stopping for a second, she nudged Link. "Pay attention, this is where it all comes together… The impacts of the magical unbalance is what made everything happen. Our judgment, our emotions, our physical skills, everything about us as kokiri was affected by the curse… Everything that made up our core being was warped."

Soaking it all in, Link was now able to understand the predicament better than previously. Being affected by a curse as well as the level of magic in the woods being off balance; none of that even crossed his mind. Beforehand, the boy had merely assumed it was simply Saria's fault or that the kokiri were being distant because of the condition of their village and not having the Great Deku Tree; part of him even contemplated that without their fairies, they acted strange. Not once did he think the darkness, Dark Link, was causing such far reaching problems, even going as far as to devastate the mentality of a kokiri girl whom he'd always cared for and respected.

"Saria…" Link approached to console her. "I'm sorry that I never realized it until now…"

"Don't be…" She reciprocated the consolation with a hug in advance of pulling back. "I've spent the last few weeks thinking of it whenever my head was clear enough for me to rationalize a normal thought. Now that the curse has been lifted and the energy is returning from not only ourselves, the Deku Sprout too, I've been able to contemplate it further until I was able to finally reach a conclusion."

She took her left hand and cupped it onto his right cheek, smiling at him with a tear in her shimmering blue eyes. Right then, leaning forward, she kissed his left cheek, her silk soft lips grazing the very corner of the hylian's lips. "I love you, Link. I'll always love you-…... as your mother and your friend. We can't be together any other way and I knew that the whole time. You're a hylian and I'm a kokiri, we're destined for different words. Even so, know you'll always have me, no matter what happens in that crazy outside world. Don't ever forget that." Putting her forehead to his, their noses bumped. Both pairs of blue eyes locked together as they conveyed all the emotions they needed to share.

She giggled meekly. "Besides, no matter how old you get, no matter how handsome, I'll always see you as that baby boy who clung to me like a bee to a flower."

Feeling as though a massive boulder had been lifted from his shoulders, Link almost collapsed against Saria, finally able to relax as he felt a sense of normality return. The same Saria whom he'd loved for years was back. The sensation was overwhelming. All he could do was hug her. "Oh Saria. I love you so much. I'm so glad to hear you say all of this…" Inside, his heart was beating in delight. Having his kokiri mother back was so comforting that he wanted to nestle his head in her lap and take a nap. Nobody made him feel as safe as she did. "Let's just put all this behind us and go on being best friends. Does that sound like a deal?"

"Deal…" Saria said happily. After another few moments of hugging each other, she withdrew, holding Link at arms length to stare into his eyes. "For now, let's go see what the Great Dek-... What the Deku Tree Sprout has to say to you. The Know-It-All Brothers said he requested you personally and we've put him off for about forty-five minutes; it's time we get going now."

Agreeing with her, Link let go yet kept his smile. Inside, he felt content with how the entire conversation turned out. He truly loved Saria and though he was confused for a while, he now knew for sure that he didn't have any romantic emotions for the green-haired girl. In his heart and soul, he knew it to be certain that having her as his maternal guardian as well as his best friend was the special kind of relationship he both wanted as well as needed. As for what she said, she was correct, they needed to attend to more pressing issues than their own emotions. The hero had been waiting a long time to see the Great Deku Tree. While it wasn't exactly the same in terms of appearance, the Deku Tree Sprout sufficed in being who he was looking forward to talking to. It was time to quit stalling. He wasn't dead nor dying and on a plus side, he fixed an important part of his family's dynamic. With things all prepared, Link was too for what he was about to do. "Right, let's go."

Walking down the path, it wasn't long until the two ran into Fifi and her fairy. Link heard that the kokiri twin took care of Epona the last time he was there, whenever he was comatose. She even had the equine currently by her side as they spoke. Honestly, the boy was surprised to see the filly acting so calm next to someone who wasn't either her master or Malon.

Fifi called out as soon as she spotted him. "Hey, Link! Are you headed to see the Deku Tree Sprout? I was waiting on you with Epona. Come on, we'll go together."

Now reunited with the faithful horse companion, the three of them walked as the fairies flew along the path leading to The Deku Tree Sprout's Meadow. They passed Link's house, Saria's House, a few other villager houses and then the Twin's House. Coming to the bridge that spanned across the Kokiri Village brook, the hero noticed for the first time since he had come back that the water was clear, no longer diluted and polluted like it had looked prior to him going into the Lost Woods and defeating Dark Link. It was hard to completely see it in the night, yet, the torches helped them see enough.

The Water flowed soothingly as the sound of it rushing across the creek bed filled the surrounding area. Epona's hooves clomped for the period of time it took to cross the thin wooden bridge. Once they were on the other side, Saria and Fifi took the lead, leaving Epona and Link to follow them to the final path that led to the Deku Tree Sprout's Meadow. They could hear all the insects buzzing, the leaves rustling, childish kokiri voices off in the distance and fairy wings flapping. The entire forest felt as though it was more alive than ever, even if it was sundown.

Before long, the closer they grew to the Deku Tree Meadow, Link's mind quickly shifted from thinking of his surroundings to someone he missed dearly ever since the forest guardian had left the world. Briefly, he contemplated on how, had the Great Deku Tree lived, the hero would explain to him all the accomplishments he'd succeeded in during his grand adventuring. Link had not only restored the Kokiri Woods several times, saved the kokiri's lives and even the fairies lives, he had also gone outside his comfort zone and became the hero he was destined to be. He traveled the kingdom, he rescued civilizations, rescued the princess, defeated an evil king; he even traveled time repeatedly, lived in a teenage body with an adolescent mind and then survived a curse while having a prophetic epiphany. From who he was, the little boy he had been, Link had come a long way in maturing into who he was now. He knew the Great Deku Tree would have been incredibly proud.

Coming to the end of the narrowing path, they slowed down when they saw a few of the other kokiri standing in wait, all staring straight at Link. Saria approached them to ask "Is he-…. ready?" Her hesitation stemmed from being unsure how to ask about the demi-god being alive after not having him around for over half a year.

A kokiri boy from within the group responded happily, almost ecstatic as he proclaimed "Yes! Joyous times have returned! Everyone's been getting a turn to talk to him one on one! You better hurry though, I hear he's been waiting on you and Link! Fado should be done by now, so head on inside the meadow and see what he has to say!"

Following that, Fifi stayed behind with the group as Epona, Saria, and Link carried on passed everyone, gradually turning the corner into what used to be the Great Deku Tree's Meadow.