Chapter 37
Link and Navi traveled in silence until it became too dark to continue without getting lost. They found a soft hill to sleep on, where they would be able to see anyone or anything approaching from a fair distance away. There was a group of trees on the hill, and Link found it more comforting to sleep beneath them rather than out under the open sky. Navi picked a low wide branch as her perch.
Even though Link needed to sleep, he couldn't that night.
Too much had happened that day. Too many bad things.
Was it not the morning of that very day Navi had informed him that Ganondorf had cursed the Great Deku Tree?
Link noticed that Navi was also having trouble getting rest. She sat up on her branch, gazing at the black silhouette of the Great Deku Tree's forest that still dominated the dark blue horizon.
Something in the distance startled Navi. Link looked to see what it was. It startled him, too.
An enormous gleaming white face gradually rose above the fog. Its eyes were blue and sorrowful, and its mouth was in a pitiful frown.
"What is that?" Link whispered.
Navi had calmed down. "Relax, Link. I've heard about this. It's called the Moon. It won't hurt us."
Link stared at it uncomfortably. "Something like that... why haven't we seen it before?"
"The fog in the forest is too thick at night," the fairy answered, now thinking of home as though it were a thousand miles away.
Link shifted on the ground. He considered the massive face. "It looks like it feels sorry for us."
"Yes," Navi agreed. "It's been said that the Moon's expression changes in reaction to events that happen here on the surface... If I may say so, I'd like to believe its current expression is a direct response... to what happened to us today."
Link gazed about the unclouded night sky. "What are those little white lights?"
"Those are stars," Navi explained. "Gator said- ... Gator said they're orbs of fire placed in the sky by the Goddesses to help people find their way at night."
Link sat up. "Navi, I don't know how to handle this."
Navi propped herself on an elbow. "Which bit, specifically?"
Link lay back down. "...This feeling of missing others."
Navi smiled. "I didn't expect such a confession from you."
"Don't use that word," Link objected. "Not yet."
Recognizing the source of his sensitivity, Navi stated, "It wasn't your fault. You were doing the right thing, trying to figure out what the right course of action would have been. It was that sorcerer's fault for misusing the system and taking advantage of the Great Deku Tree's moment of uncertainty. That was his doing, not yours."
"Still," Link moaned. "I should have seen it coming! We knew the sorcerer was a keen listener! I should have known he wouldn't have actually left so easily! I should have waited, or kept it to myself, or-!"
Navi sighed. "One day... he'll receive due punishment... and everything will be set right."
Link thought to say something, but kept it to himself.
Navi detected a drifting melody in the wind.
"Listen! Do you hear that?"
Link turned his head towards the sound.
"It's coming from the forest," Link whispered. "It sounds like a lament."
Navi remarked, "The entire forest must be involved... This music is surely for the Great Deku Tree."
They listened quietly.
After a few hours, the elegy dwindled to silence.
Navi and Link remained awake.
Link fingered Saria's ocarina. He raised it to his lips and played an elegy of his own. Navi managed to hum a little, but not much more.
When Link put the instrument down, Navi assured Link in a quavering voice, "None of this was our fault, Link. We did the best we could."
"I suppose- No, I'm sure- No...," Link muttered. "You did well. But I- I wish- I wish I had done better."
Navi's flew down and sat next to the boy. "You know what to do with such wishes."
Link guessed, "Acknowledge that I can't change the past, and learn so I'll be able to do better in the future?"
Navi smiled. "You did know."
Link shifted uncomfortably. "It still hurts."
Navi glanced around as though looking for something. "... Do you remember what the Great Deku Tree said about pain?"
Link crossed his arms. "I remember."
Navi quoted, "Pain has a purpose. It tells us that something- ...that something- ...is missing- ...or wrong-"
She couldn't make herself quote any more.
Link grit his teeth and declared, "He didn't deserve that fate... We will defeat the ones who murdered him. We will kill that wizard and Ganondorf!"
Navi didn't respond. She was trying to hide the glistening tears that flowed in the darkness.
After another unspecified stretch of the night passed restlessly, Link sighed and picked up Saria's ocarina again.
Somehow, despite the turmoil and bitter thoughts he dwelt on, the song he played was cool and soothing as the pink dewy morning that was already on its way.
Navi fell asleep, exhausted. Soon after, Link followed suit.
THUS ENDS "THE KOKIRI'S EMERALD."