With the sun shining in through the window, Navi blinked her eyes open. As she sat up arching her back, she deployed her wings and flew over to wake the children.
But when she saw their sleeping faces, she couldn't bring herself to disturb them. They were, after all, so adorable together.

Link's mouth was hanging open as his right arm and leg hung partially off the bed. The only thing keeping him from falling was Maron's arm holding him close as her face snuggled into his head with most of her side of the bed taking up by her flowing red hair.

Then suddenly from outside the window, a loud bang of a hammer hitting a nail outside rang out.

"Ahhh!" Navi screamed at the sound.
"AHH!" Maron cried at Navi's scream.
"Ahow!" Link yelled when he banged his head on the floor.

Chapter 14
What Comes Next?

After a breakfast of hot porridge and fruit with the Koopa family, Maron saddled up one of her horses and with the assistance of her uncle was lifted onto the horse's back.
"Sure you don't want me to come with, it could be dangerous out there."

"Link will protect me," Maron said with a grin. "As soon as he gets on the saddle!"

"I'd rather walk…" He moaned, keeping a distance from the large animal. "Or, the wagon."

"The wagon can't go off-road and even if it did, you'd be better off walking." Ingo grabbed Link by his waist and hoisted him up behind Maron. "Try to get back before your father wakes up."

"Will do, hold on Link!" With a squeeze of her heels, Maron shot out of the ranch and across Hyrule field.
At the speed they were going at, the farmgirl was practically standing on her stirrups as the horse sprinted across the grass.

"Having fun, Link?" Navi called as she flew alongside.

"No!" Link kept his arms wrapped tight around Maron as he bounced around on the saddle behind her.
It felt like he was being thrown about by the animal. The fun and excitement was completely lost on him.

Navi flew ahead, leading the way to the forest.
She could sense her sister's aura through all the trees, plotting a straight line there would be easy to navigate.

Jumping over downed trees and rising up and down hills, Maron was having the best time of her life. Link was terrified at each new sensation his body was forced to experience. After all, this was quite literally the fasted the young boy had moved.

As Maron approached the outside of the forest, she could feel her horse desperately trying to turn around and head back.
"Come on, boy…" She encouraged, petting his neck.
No matter how hard she tried, the horse would not enter the woods.
"I think he's scared," Looking into the dark woods ahead, even Maron could feel her nerves getting on edge. "You live here?"

"Yeah." Link slipped off the side of the horse, almost losing his balance on the landing as he backed away. "I have an idea, why don't you tell your horse to go home and I can show you where I live!"

"eh…" Maron pulled on the reins trying to keep her mount from fleeing. "horses don't work that way…" Maron was curious though. She'd love to see his friends and meet all the fairies.
"I could tie him to a tree for a little while… how far away is your home?"

"It'll take about a day for us to walk there," Navi answered.

Maron gulped. There's no way in the world her father would allow her to be gone a whole day.
"I can't…" she sighed sadly. But then looked at her friends with a smirk. All-day yesterday she had fun with them, but this moment was always coming. "I've got to head back and help with the ranch."

"okay then…" Link was about to suggest she come and stayed forever. Maybe she'd get her own fairy someday. And if not, he didn't mind sharing Navi. The two did seem to get on okay, after all.
But he kept that idea to himself. After all, he'd decline the suggestion to stay with her on the ranch.
Home is home, so it wouldn't be fair to ask.

Maron finally managed to get the horse to calm during the goodbyes, so she felt safe enough to dismount for just a minute.
"can I…" Maron's face was turning bright red. She looked over her shoulder expecting someone to be watching them. But this was literally the most secluded of places she'd ever been.
Swallowing her fear, Maron rushed up and threw her arms around his neck.
"I had fun meeting you both."

Link, at a total loss of words, could only look up to his fairy for help. But all Navi was capable of was trying to keep her face together and do her best not to smile.
Far be it for her to interrupt such a tender moment.

"m, Maron, I have t-to go…" Link stuttered. "Won't your papa be getting up soon?"

Realising that he was right, Maron released her grip on the boy.
Feeling the heat on her face, she rubbed her cheekbones trying to make herself look normal before going home.

"I just realised, if I tell Zelda I met you, she'll know I told you how to get in to see her."

"So what will you tell her?"

"I guess… you'll just have to be my secret~" The girl grinned at him as she returned to her horse. As she struggled to climb back onto her saddle, she was starting to feel quite embarrassed.
Normally it's not so difficult, so why now when Link was watching?
'Why is the world so unfair?' She thought.
Then from nowhere, she was suddenly pushed up onto her saddle.
"th-Thanks, Link," Maron quickly grabbed the reins, looking down at her friends. "I hope I get to see you again."

"Yeah, me too." Navi agreed.

It was with some sadness that Link waved as Maron rode off across the grass.
The sounds of hoofs on dirt faded, but he watched her go until she disappeared over the hill.

The fresh clean air of the field was replaced with a thick earthy scent. It was almost rugged coming back into the forest after just a day of being outside.
Link walked the woods in quiet thought for a short spell, as although he was sad to see Maron go, he didn't know what to say at the time. After all, what could he have said?

"Hey, Navi…"

"yes~?" Navi gave a gleeful side-eye as she leaned close to his cheek.

"I, I think Maron likes me…"

"Eh? You…?" Navi nearly dropped from the air because her wings were struggling to work under the weight of Link's words. "you, you might be right about that…" She sighed, brushing it off as just another one of Link's oblivious brain farts. "if you thought that, you could have said something, you know? It was pretty cold for you to just say nothing like that."

"The task is over. Starting tomorrow I'll be a true Kokiri, and my job will be to gather food again." He said the words with pride, but inside he was conflicted. He really did enjoy his brief time outside the forest, but all he ever wanted was to be normal, to be one of the group, to be friends with everyone in the forest, and share in everyone's fun.
Navi was step one of obtaining that goal, satisfying the Deku Tree's was the second.
"so I won't be able to see Maron anymore. I don't want to say I'll see her again if it'll just make me a… liar…" He sighed as the green and brown roof started to drown out the sun completely.

Navi kept eye-level as she flew at his pace. Understanding why he did what he did, she felt she must try to cheer him up a little. At least get the conversation moving to something more positive.
"My favourite part was trying those cakes. What about you?"

"Playing with you and Maron in her room." Link gave a small smile. "No, jumping into the straw!"

"That did look fun~" Navi stopped her wings and tumbled through the air before taking flight once more. "Oh, weren't we going to cut up more strawtraps- eh- Mosstraps, I mean?"

Link came to a halt right there in the woods. He'd forgotten that idea.
Drawing his sword, Link turned to his fairy and they both fanned out to look for discoloured moss.

"Just watch your step, Link!" Navi teased as she flew around a narrow tree. "ouch!" Something grabbed her hand and sprung her back.
Struggling on instinct to get away, Navi found herself stuck to a long strand of silky thread joint between two trees.
To try and move was like having individual hairs pulled from all skin attached to the thread.
As she hung there, stranded off the ground with her wings, arms and legs useless, Navi felt tears swell in her eyes as she watched Link move on by his own as his search continued for moss.

"…l – L-Link!" She screamed once the initial shock had passed. "Link! Come here! Please come back! LINK!" She screamed and bawled until her face turned a shade of purple.
The thread bounced as she struggled more and more, and then the part she dreaded most happened.
The web started leaning to one side as if something had started to climb along it.

"LINK!" Navi screamed in terror, her face wet with tears as one of the most deadly predators known to fairies scaled towards her. "Link, HELP, Pleeease!" Struggling and pulling more and more, she looked desperately between the empty woods ahead of her and the approaching Skulltula.

It was now so close that Navi could hear the glass-like body move as its eight legs pulled it closer, the web bobbed and bounced her more.
To try to escape the web on her own was as painful on her delicate skin as it was futile. She was caught pray. Helpless and alone.

Knowing her calls for help would not be heard, Navi could only shut her eyes and weep as death approached.
Aside from the ripples in the web and the sense of doom, she could only feel tears rolling down her cheeks like beads and fall to the grass below.
The paralysing fear hurt to bear. The sickness of knowing this was the end felt as though her insides were being crushed and torn open before the razor-sharp pincers had even reached her.

"hello little one~" Whispered a cheerful voice.

Navi opened her eyes, looking in the direction of the voice. She saw nothing, just a tree covered in layers of dead ivy, with two peering eyes looking from between the leaves.

In one quick motion, the ivy grew arms. A hand grabbed the Skulltula as a second hand thrusted a small dagger through its belly, causing it to fall to the bushes below with a loud, rustling thud.

"Naaavi…!" Called Link's distant voice, but his fairy was too afraid to answer.

As Link emerged into the clearing, his eyes fell on the dead spider. Coming closer to investigate, he could finally hear Navi's cries as soon as she found her voice to ask for help. "Navi! W-what's going on?"

The fairy looked around for the Strawkid who saved her. But it was nowhere to be seen. The tree it first appeared from didn't even have any ivy growing on it, dead or otherwise.

"what happened to you?" Link tried to scoop Navi from the web, but she yelped in pain as he tried to remove her. "s-sorry!" He pulled his hands back, but he too was caught in the web. The strands were thicker than the mane of a horse, and to pull his hand free hurt quite a lot.

Once again, Navi was sprung back and forth on the elasticated strands, each bounce hurting her from whiplash and the tightening grip it had on her skin.
She started taking sharp breaths as she relived the moment once more in her head.
"I tried to call for you, but you didn't come back…" Navi cried, still getting over the fact she was seconds away from being eaten alive by the evil creature.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you…" Link drew his sword and tried to cut some of the webs, but they had no friction. They moved too easily with the blade. "darn it…" Link dropped his sword and grabbed the web with both hands.
The web was strong, yes. But knew he must be stronger than a single strand of it.

"Be careful, Link." Navi wept as she watched him tug and pull. The white thread did everything it could to match his movements without snapping.

"I'll get you out, Navi." Link promised as he painfully pulled his hands free and threw off his bag off.
The web is strong, but it can't be resistant to fire.

"L, Link…?" Navi couldn't take her eyes from the small flame he sparked up. "You're not going to put that anywhere near Me are you?"

"Just a little," Link answered as he got a small twig not much thicker than the web itself and carefully lit the end on fire like a candle wick.

"oh, yeah!" Navi was beyond relieved that he was going to be far more surgical about it than just pushing a burning branch into the web.

Taking the candle flame to every strand caught onto Navi, Link watched with satisfaction as the threads sizzled up and snapped away.
Once down to the last strand, Navi swung down. The feeling was terrible, it hurt so much to be pulled like that. And the threat of falling made her want to take flight again but of course, that would come at the risk of getting her wings stuck together.

"Last one," Link held under her as he burned away the last strand of web. It burned as easily as the others. "are you okay?"

"I think so… but," Navi raised her arm. The silk threads were still clinging to her and the ends had already managed to stick to her thigh and hip.
Trying to pull the threads from herself tugged the stuck skin like scabs, causing her to yelp in pain. But the worst was to come. Even if she managed to free her skin, she had no idea how to save her wings.

"We've only been here ten minutes, how did this happen?" Link sighed as he stared down at the dead Skulltula. "how did… Did you kill it?"

"No, a Strawkid showed up out of nowhere and stabbed it. He disappeared before you showed up."

Pulling his fairy close, Link studied the surrounding area.
"Just point the way, I'll take you home and we'll get that web off you."

"What about the mosstraps?"

"If I see one, I'll kill it. But you matter to me more."

Navi looked up at him with a smile. To go from being deathly frightened to being protected, almost to the point of being outright coddled, it was nice to be so genuinely cared about.

"Do you think water would wash off your webs?" Link suddenly suggested as he stomped out the small fire he made.

"I don't know. But I don't like water anyway. Remember, I can't fly with wet wings."

"You can't fly right now."

He had a point. But Navi was still put off by the sight of him reaching into his bag.

"N- no. You need that in case you, Link! No, Don't You Dare!-" She covered her face just before her whole body was dosed with water. "Ahhh!" Her skin was soaked, her hair was soaked, her whole body felt icky and the web didn't seem to care in the slightest. "You little Fu…" She bit her lip, fuming from what he did to her. "Fartner!"
Those feelings she had about being coddled and cared about. Those feelings were gone now.

"Relax, you'll get dry soon." Link kept the water bottle on hand in case she needs another dousing. "How do fairies usually escape webs?"

"We Don't, usually,"

"What, you just stay stuck forever?" Link asked in a coy voice.

"No..." Navi grumbled as she tried to rub away the web. At least it wasn't sticking to her hand when she touched it.

Link's smile faded as he realised what she meant.
Picturing her trapped as a spider descends on her helpless body, it was sickening for him to even imagine.

Link continued to carry her through the woods, keeping a careful eye out for not only the mosstraps under his feet but the spiderwebs that could be around any turn.

Over the fields and meadows, across the drawbridge and through the streets, up the many steps leading to Hyrule castle, and inside the prison, Impa stood tall, looking into the empty cell.

"One, more, time." She demanded.

"We came to give the prisoners the morning meal, and we found the keys lying on the floor."

Impa took a moment to process the information given to her.
"Prisoners and keys…" She hissed looking at the guards that were meant to be, well, on guard. "These words imply more than one. I only remember escorting One trespasser to these cells. Someone explain."

"We caught a boy sneaking in. Well, actually he was trying to sneak out."
"We searched him, he didn't seem to have taken anything. But he put up quite the fight when we tried to put him in the cell. He kept saying we killed his friend, but we didn't find anyone else."

Impa wondered if the boy was actually with Nabooru. But a Gerudo working with a boy made no sense.
"What did the boy look like?"

"Short, a little strong for his age. Dark yellow hair, pale skin-"

"Definitely not then." The short-lived idea Impa had was perhaps he was a miraculous second son of the Gerudo tribe, but not with those features he isn't. "killed his friend…" she muttered out loud, wondering who that could be.
"Were there any arrests in town?"

"No more than usual, all non-violent."

"I see," Impa started walking back towards the guards. They all stepped aside for her. "Pull patrols six and seven from the town. I want a constant line of sight surrounding all sides of the castle along with walkabouts."

"Understood, Lady Impa."

Returning to her usual post inside the castle, Impa couldn't stop wondering what the boy could have meant by killing his friend.
But that thought was pushed to one side. After all, her real duty is to the princess.

"Lady Impa." Greeted the two guards waiting outside the hall to Zelda's personal space.

Impa observed the empty and well-made bed the moment she stepped in. The second thing she noticed was the sharp swishing sound of a sword in motion.
Walking around to the off room, Impa smiled to watch her young charge diligently practice her swordsmanship.
The weapon the princess wielded was wooden but handled with the same care and attention as if it were able to take a life.

Despite her late start, having been receiving one-on-one training with a master of the Sheikah arts for so long, Zelda was well on her way to catching up with those who started younger back at Impa's hometown.
Zelda had always wanted to visit Kakariko for herself and Impa always promised to take her someday.
But with everything going on, she believed it would be bad timing to up and leave without due cause. But perhaps time away from the castle would be good. After all, the ceremony Zelda must attend isn't for a while yet.

"Zelda. I think you're ready to be appraised by My master."

The young princess froze in place with only her braided hair swishing back into place.
"You mean it?" Her smile was positively glowing with excitement. In just a short second, she went back from a keen warrior to a little girl.

"Remain dignified," Impa demanded, giving her a light whack on the arm with a cane.
Zelda stood tall, face blank of emotion and eyes focused on Impa.
"I will take you to Kakariko in a few days. But there is no guarantee you will meet my master. He examines a lot of students and only a few catch his eye. You must show your promise and your sense of honour and duty."

Zelda nodded. She did well to keep her face free of emotion, but inside she was skipping among butterflies.
However, before going to Kakariko, she'd need to be on her best behaviour and actually spend more time representing the kingdom she intends to rule by talking with the castle's guests.

Elsewhere in Hyrule, Nabooru was still travelling by foot. It would be many miles before arriving at the border canyon where the two countries meet.
It had been a long walk since she and Link escape jail yesterday afternoon, and she'd been up all night just trying to make distance before considering a place to rest.
With the midday sun hanging overhead, Nabooru decided to stop off at an inn at the crossroads of a small farming village.

Paying for a room for only a few hours so she could sleep, Nabooru bought herself a drink to go with it.
Sitting herself down at an empty booth, she rested her head in her hands and shut her eyes for just a spell.

"Don't get many Gerudo out his far, Miss."
Seeing a beauty like her walk into his local tavern, the eager 'stud' wasn't going to let the opportunity walk by without trying to introduce himself.
"What brings you out this way?" He asked, knowing the only reason a Gerudo would ever come out of the desert is to share a bed with someone. A no strings attached night that benefits everyone would be worth the price of whatever drink she wants.

Nabooru stared at him with half-shut eyes.
"I just to drink this and, to bed." She muttered. Her very words were incoherent from exhaustion, not helped by the fact that Hylian is, after all, a second language to her.

"I gotcha." He said with a wink. "Barkeep, another one for the lady."

Nabooru shook her head to herself. At this rate, she won't make it to bed before she falls asleep at the table.

"do you see that?"
"what is that thing?"
"is it someone on a horse…?"

Nabooru ignored the chatter from people she didn't know. But this time, her eyes were dragged to stare out of the window and across the field.
Standing on the apex of the hill, stood a lone figure. Arms like boulders, legs of a stallion, eyes of a hawk, with the mane and jaws of a lion.

What she saw seemed to make time itself stop.
Sounds of wildlife, idle chatter, even the dogs barking fell on deaf ears as Nabooru got up and backed away from the window.

She took a deep breath, finding her voice only to scream one word to everyone nearby.

"RUN!"

Eyes turned to her. While some found her fear to be contagious, others expressed doubt.
That was until a four-foot-long flaming javelin crashed through the wall panels, igniting the stronger alcohols behind the bar.
At that moment, sound returned in an explosion of screams and terror as everyone rushed for the door.

Nabooru was caught in the chaotic rush to escape, by the time she'd made it outside, the Lynel was in a full sprint towards the town, using all four horse legs and his muscular lion-like arms to pull his huge body forward.

The small village had enjoyed several weeks of peace since the guards kept the few Bokoblin attacks at bay, but even the established knights were unable to hold off the crazed rampage of a berserking Lynel.

The man running ahead of Nabooru was rushed by the monster's claws. Being picked up and slammed onto the ground was only the start before the claws became fists and crushed into his already broken body.
Nabooru fled the other way, hearing horses screaming as whole wagons were flipped and smashed, sending shards of wood to soar over houses. Many fleeing townsfolk even got knocked down and crushed under the debris.

The people's screams were nonstop. A blood-curdling roar was followed up by the crushing noise of the monster smashing through a house bursting out through the back, causing the structure to collapse in on itself.

The Lynel looked around at the scattering Hylians, Nabooru was just one of many it could choose to kill next.

"Loose!"

Another roar deafened all ears, this time it was not a cry of battle, but one of pain.
A twelve-foot arrow was sent straight through the Lynel's arm, fired by the massive wagon mounted crossbow.

"Reloading!" Called the engineer while the driver rode the wagon around to the back of the Lynel.

Just as Nabooru became just a little hopeful they'd succeed, the monster charged forward and smashed the wagon under just one crushing arm.
The terrorised horse attempted to escape with half the wagon still tied to him, while the crew were crushed under the Lynel's hoofs.

"Everybody move!" Called a lone warrior, who charged forward at the beast.

The Lynel turned just as the warrior drew his sword and thrusted it deep into its heart, ending it in one killing blow.

As life left the dark creature's eyes, a cloud of thick smoke rose from its body before it puffed into not but ash on the ground.

With wide eyes, Nabooru managed to tear her gaze from the dead beast and look to the welcoming hand of a single knight who arrived with reinforcements. "Are you okay, miss?" He asked urgently, knowing many others would need his help after her.

"T-th, thank you…" She gasped, letting him help her up.

The hero who saved everyone from the Lynel was receiving a round of applause from townsfolk and the other knights.

"Sarqso, my friends, Sarqso!" He called, smiling to everyone as he put his sword away. "These vile creatures think they can scare us forever. But I promise you, things will change for the better before you know it."

Hearing the hero's voice, Nabooru turned to watch him remove his hooded mask.
She gasped in fright, falling to her knees in a bow just as their eyes met.

"Ah, to see one of my own." He said, walking over to meet Nabooru. "An unexpected pleasure."

Feeling the hand of her chief on her head, it was with fear burning her eyes and the taste of hate in her mouth that Nabooru silently cursed the man's name, for she knew he would have been the one to order the Lynel to attack.

The sun was starting to set on the forest. Link had been jogging along at quite the pace and Navi, who had removed most of the web from her person was becoming more adamant that they were near home.

"Good, because I'm starving." Link pushed on, eyes squinting to focus on where to land his next step on the uneven ground.

Navi's eyes had already become useless to her, but she could feel her sister's presents, she was so close.

"What's it like to feel your sister?"

Navi's eyes snapped open.
"Phrase it like that again and I…" Her go-to threats would never hurt someone of his size, so she dropped it. "It's like everyone you're friends with keeping one finger on your shoulders at all times. You can sort of learn whose finger belongs to who, and from that, you can judge where they're standing behind you." Closing her eyes once more, Navi could feel her friends in the distant trees, but with Rose it's different. "My sister feels more like a hand on my shoulder. I'm closest with her so, I feel her more."

"What about the Deku tree?"

"Oh, he feels more like a… hmm…" Entities that radiate great magical aura feel more like they cover her whole body, not so much touch one specific spot. Knowing their direction is like knowing which way is up. "It's hard to describe. I've lived with the Deku tree my whole life. I just know the feeling of meeting new fairies and what that's like."

"Does the feeling go away?"

"It can…" Navi curled up in his hand. "if a fairy dies, we stop feeling their presents. It's sudden. The shock can even wake us up. Then it's a frantic rush to figure out whose smile you're never gonna see again."
The worst part is, while you're mentally going through your list of closest friends, you know someone else will find one missing, so it's almost seen as disrespectful to be glad that your friends are okay.
Navi could imagine the heartache, of losing someone, only for everyone else to look relieved, happy even.
So in a cluster, fairies would keep their feelings to themselves and then offer sympathies and support to those who have lost someone.

"That must," Link swallowed as he closed his eyes. "that's awful…"

"That part is. But even still," Navi looked into the darkness. "although I can't see anything, I never feel alone because I can always feel those closest to me."

As a feeling of content came back to the boy wandering in the dark, he looked to his blind fairy once more and smiled.
At that moment, she was closest to him. And even though the woods weren't as dark to him as they were to her, they were frightening.
But just knowing she was with him made it a little more bearable.

"Hey, Link?"

"Hmm?"

"You should start looking out for home, we're real close now."

Soon, Link would see lights ahead. Small cinders burning away while the Kokiri enjoyed the remains of their supper.
There was quite the stir as Link stepped out of the trees, making eye contact with everyone who noticed him.
His name was spoken a few times as he searched for Saria.
Pirata, the boy Link saved from drowning was sheepishly hiding behind some of the older kids, still under the impression that Link caused him harm.

"I thought you were gone." Someone asked.

"I was sent on a task. And now I'm back." Link said with a proud grin as he sat on a log near the fire. An act that would have been impossible for him a few days ago. Normally, he'd have to make his own fire.
But now, he felt brazen enough to grab himself a skewer and began roasting some mushrooms from a basket.

The quiet crackling of the flames and the whispering of the Kokiri and their fairies were soon drowned by the sound of steps running towards them.

"Link!" With her fairy clinging to her hair, Saria ran up and hugged the boy tightly. "Tell me everything!"

While the boys and girls of the woods reluctantly gathered around, Link began his tale with his first night with Navi.

"You saw another Strawkid?" Questioned one of the kids that didn't believe the first time this supposedly happened to Link.

"I did. He scared off this red monster called a Bokoblin, but when he ran, he dropped this!" Reaching behind his head, Link brandished his sword in front of everyone. "the next day, I saw another Bokoblin. He tried to kill me and Navi,"

"He wanted to eat us!" Navi confirmed.

"How did you get away?" Asked one of the girls.

"I kicked him in the nuts!"
All the boys squirmed, the girls all giggled with their faces half-hidden behind their hands.

"We met this girl. Her name was Maron. Link fancies her~"

"Navi!" Link scorned, his face turning red as teasing grins from everyone made him more embarrassed.

Mido sat there, watching with annoyance as Link got so much attention. He wanted to call him out on the story, but in truth, he wanted to hear the rest too.

While Link talked about the time he spent with Maron in Hyrule Market, Navi took the small piece of cooked mushroom she was handed and rubbed it up and down her arm. Turns out the warmth was handy to soften and remove any remaining webbing from her skin.

Everyone was tantalised by Link and Navi's description of the fruity cakes they ate and were a little jealous of all the fun he had out with the dangerous parts.

"Sounds like you had a great time." Saria cheered, giving her friend a warm hug as a welcome home. "But I'm so happy to see you again."

Mido crossed his arms.
"Real Kokiri die if we leave the woods. I wonder how you made it so far." He muttered looking up at the sky. "Maybe you're not a real Kokiri after all,"

"Mido!" Saria demanded he be quiet.

"Or maybe he's just making it up?"
There was some ruckus over that accusation. Some took Mido's side, others were not too sure.

"If he made it up, where did the sword come from?"
"If there really were monsters out there, you really think Link could fight them?"
"Maybe not, but the sword had to come from somewhere."

"I Did fight a monster, and I did leave the forest!" Link could feel himself getting angry. He had not expected such denial to face him upon returning home.
Saria and Rose were the only ones acting as he hoped. The rest were being the same as always, or sceptical of his claims at best.
With only one real difference.

"Everything Link said is true." Navi pulled the final web from her body and flew up at his head. "I escorted him from the woods, together we met the princess of Hyrule and our new friend Maron brought us back. We did fight Bokoblins, I almost died at least three times,"

"you What?" Rose demanded, leaping at Navi and pulling at her ears. "you idiot! How is it you always seem to get in trouble!"

"Aah! Link, help!" Navi cried, pinching Rose's nose and trying to push her back.

"eh… how?" Link and Saria had no idea how to stop the pair from fighting.

But it didn't take long for other Kokiri, under the instruction of their respective fairies, to deliver their little helpers to the two combatants.

"ahow!" "Let go!" "No you!" "Both of you let go!" It took a one fairy each and one in the middle to separate the sisters.
The fight was fairly uncoordinated. Even at their size, fighting on the uneven rounded surface of the log could easily throw them off balance if they're not careful.

Link took a moment to observe the others. They were all more enthralled in watching Navi and Rose flailing their tiny arms at each other than his story.
Understandable, but the fight can't continue.

"I've got my water bottle, stop fighting or I'll soak you!"

The three mediators backed away from the sisters and into the protective hands of their children as Link threateningly held the bottle over the two.

"Do it and you're grounded!" Rose barked, staring up at where she assumed his face is while also trying to avoid being grappled.

"You're not my not-fairy anymore!" Link reminded her.

"I'll ground you myself!" Navi retorted, trying desperately to escape her sister's grip.

"You're not my mother, fartner. Three…"

"Don't you dare!"

"Two!"

"Link!" Both sisters yelled, dread creeping into their voices.

"One….!"

There was a moment of pause as Link prepared to pour the sealed bottle. He fully expected the sisters to split before this point.

"Okay! Okay!" Rose let Navi go and stumbled back into Saria's hands, while Navi almost fell off the edge.

Link caught the pouting blue fairy, having a small chuckle to himself along with Saria and the other children.

It was not until one of the younger kids yawned herself to the point of almost falling off her log that the children and fairies realised how late it was.

"Bedtime." One of the more senior fairies announced.

Saria felt a small but substantial weight of a two-year-old boy drifting off against her arm.
Giggling to herself, she placed Rose up on her head before lifting the boy up and on her back like a backpack.

Link offered to do the same as her for someone else, but the boy recoiled away from him, still in the belief that Link bullies little kids.
He stood there as everyone walked by, feeling once again like nothing had changed.
He was among the others, but he wasn't one of them. Not even a fairy could change that.

"Link, are you coming?" Saria asked, looking back from the mouth of the Deku Tree.

Giving a silent nod, Link lifted Navi to his shoulder before fallowing his friend to the nursery.

While most Kokiri have individual rooms carved out in the higher levels, the dependant aged children share a room under the watchful eye of those tasked with caring for the young.
Like the rest of the tree's tunnels, the nursery chamber was lit by glowing fungi grafted to the higher parts of the walls so no one tried to eat them.
Sheets of dry moss folded over on themselves acted as soft bedding for the few babies while toddlers and little kids cuddled together on the floor.

As a stream of little ones wandered in, Saria found a spot for the boy on her back before placing him down for the night.
It felt so long ago that she stayed in the nursery. She was filled with a joyful feeling of content while the little ones crawled in together as she made her way out.

"Time for your bed, Saria," Rose told her with a pat on the head.

Feeling the need for rest catching up with them, Saria and Link walked back up to their bedrooms.

"G'night Link, Navi." Saria yawned with a wave.

"G'night Saria, you too Rose." Link replied before wandering further up the spiral to his room.
When he arrived, he set down his bag and fell into bed, momentarily forgetting the drowsy fairy on his head.

"ouch! Watch it, Link!"

"Oh, Sorry Navi…" Link lay up on his elbows, trying to check if she was okay. But all he saw of her was her rubbing her arm while growling under her breath.

"fartner…" She mumbled to him.

Exchanging a small smile to each other, Link lifted Navi up onto the table by his bedside while he lay his head down for the night.

After saying their goodnights' to each other, the pair fell asleep.