Saria's Wish

By Dannondorf

"Blah" is talking. 'Blah' is thinking. The symbol 1111111111111111 means a transition in the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Zelda. This story is strictly for entertainment purposes and not for profit.

Author's Notes: I posted two chapters at once this time, so if you haven't read chapter ten yet, you should go back and do so before you ruin the ending. ;)

At last, the conclusion arrives. After all that waiting, we're finally going to see some actual romance. I just hope I don't screw it up.

Summary: Link/Saria. Link is pushing himself too hard, but he won't tell anyone why. The sages are concerned…enough to make a reluctant Saria spy on his thoughts and find out. Will she ever get him to open up about the horrors of his past? And just what is he training for, anyway?

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Chapter 11: "Resolution"

Link woke up, and in his exhausted state he vaguely registered that he was in a bed on the top floor of Malon's house. Knowing he was too weak to rise, he contented himself to lying still and collecting his thoughts. Zelda and Navi were dead. Link sighed with regret. He should have been able to prevent this. But he would save such thoughts for a time when he could actually move. He felt like he might fall apart if anyone tried to lift him.

Abruptly the sound of footsteps reached his ears, and he realized that someone was walking up the stairs to his room. A form emerged from the hole in the floor. When he saw red hair, he knew who it was. "Hey, Malon," he called softly. His throat was raw, so his voice was a little raspy.

She turned her head toward him in surprise, not expecting him to be awake, but the shock quickly changed into a warm greeting. "Hello, Fairy Boy," she said as her body rose above the floor. "Did you just wake up?"

"Yes. How long was I out?"

"Six hours." She continued to smile at him, and Link detected a hint of laughter in her eyes.

"What is it?"

"Oh, nothing," she said with an air of amusement. "But…doesn't this remind you of something?"

He frowned in contemplation. If she was talking about being injured to the point where he couldn't move, then yes, he had experienced it before. But what was so funny about that?

"I nursed you back to health in that same bed after you got your butt kicked at the Water Temple." She gave a small chuckle.

He smiled widely. "You remember now?"

"Everyone does. I don't understand why we all suddenly started remembering at the same time or how we forgot in the first place, but everyone knows about those seven years when Ganondorf ruled."

Link felt less awkward around Malon than he had in a long time. Finally, things were going back to normal between them.

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Two days passed. Link recovered little by little, but still lacked the strength to leave his bed. Malon and Dampe visited often to clean his wounds, give him food, and just keep him company, but Saria mysteriously did not show up. Without her, Link felt a gaping hole inside him. He asked the others where she was and if he could see her. They repeatedly assured him that she was busy and would see him as soon as she could, but never gave specific details. At length he figured out that they were keeping something from him. Either she didn't want to see him at all, or something terrible had happened to her. He wished he could get up and force some answers from his friends. He was worried about her.

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Malon was furious. She was tired of having to lie for her new friend. "Saria, you have to see him!"

Saria sat in the middle of Lon Lon Ranch, hugging her knees to her chest as she rocked back and forth with her back facing the person addressing her. She was curled up in a ball, trying to make herself as small as possible, as small as she used to be. "No, I won't!"

"Why not? Just because you're a little bigger now?"

"A little? I grew two feet!"

"That shouldn't keep you from seeing your best friend!"

"I—I can't. I won't! I'm not myself right now."

"Well at least let me tell him why you won't talk to him. This isn't fair for Link. He's been asking to see you for the past two days. I'm running out of excuses, and he knows I'm keeping something from him. He thinks you're avoiding him because you hate him."

"You know I don't hate him, but…I can't face him like this."

"Why not? Why not go to his room right now and tell him you don't hate him?"

"I'm just scared, okay? I don't know why, but I'm scared. I don't even know what I think about this, so who knows what he'll think? I'm not an adult, Malon…so why do I look like one? I feel so strange! Does Link hate me now after I sent him away from the forest? Is that why he wished this curse on me with the Triforce?"

"Saria, he doesn't even know about your change."

"And how would you know that?" She snapped.

"I know because I asked him what he wished for. He didn't wish for you to grow up."

Saria stopped rocking and turned her head to face Malon. "He didn't?"

"No. But you must have. He told me that his wish was for you to have your greatest desire fulfilled."

"That's ridiculous! Why would I want this?!" She shouted. "I—I can't even recognize myself anymore! My friends won't want to be around me anymore!"

"You know Link won't be like that. You're his best friend."

Oddly, Saria's mad yelling was silenced by this comment, though she kept crying. "Yes he will," she whimpered. "I told him to go away and never come back. I made him cry, Malon! You should have seen his face…it was like I had just killed all the joy inside him. Friends don't hurt each other like that."

The redhead didn't know how to respond, so the two stood in silence as the horses raced around the fenced-in area, completely and blissfully unaware of the forest child's plight. Malon hated silence. She contemplated singing to break it, as she so often did, but knowing it wouldn't help any, she stayed quiet. Her tolerance for awkward pauses was quite limited, though, and after a minute she tried her hand at another conversation. "Saria?" No answer. Malon searched for a combination of words that would both express her views on the situation and get the newly-adult Kokiri to say something. "You're only hurting him more by doing this." Silence still. "If your greatest desire isn't to grow up, what is it?" After another long silence, Malon lost her patience. She was about to walk away and let the green-haired girl be, when Saria spoke up.

"My greatest desire is to be able to leave the forest so I can be with Link, wherever he goes." Suddenly, everything made sense to the Kokiri; her eyes widened at her own discovery. "In order for that to happen, I had to grow up; I had to become something other than a Kokiri. Malon, I…I'm a Hylian now!" An overwhelming happiness took over her. In spite of her distaste for her new body, her greatest wish had been granted. She had always missed Link so much when he was away, but now she could see her best friend whenever she wanted!

As the words "best friend" ran through her head, though, her depression returned with a vengeance. "I got my wish, but what if that doesn't matter? What if Link refuses to let me be around him now?"

"You're being silly. He wouldn't have been asking to see you if that were the case."

She had a good point, but Saria still wasn't completely convinced. That is, until she realized something. 'Link gave up his wish for me. Does he even know how sweet that is? Oh, Link…you always make me feel so…special.' A warm feeling bubbled up inside of her, one she had felt often while thinking about him but couldn't identify. It was something akin to happiness. She had the strangest impression that while she had had it for a long time as a child, she was only now feeling its full scope because of her adult body and mind. She felt a burning desire to be with him always…starting now. 'We may not be on the best of terms at the moment, but he can't hate me. If he did, why would he have used up his wish on me? I'm going to thank him and let him know how much he means to me.' She wiped her tears off and flashed Malon a grateful smile. "You're right. I'll go see him now."

She rushed past the relieved ranch girl to the house. She was so focused on getting there that she almost ran into the door without opening it. But once inside the house, her momentum unexpectedly vanished. Despite her conviction that he didn't hate her, she was still feeling nervous and timid, so slowly, quietly, she tiptoed up the stairs.

On the second floor, Link was bored. He had no one to talk to, he wasn't tired enough to go to sleep, and he was too weak to seek company on his own. His situation was getting on his nerves. 'I wish Saria was here. Why is she avoiding me? Why won't the others tell me? I hope she's all right.' He stared up at the ceiling for a few more seconds. 'Well, I'll never find out by staying here.' For the first time in two days, he felt like he might be ready to leave his bed. It was a struggle, but with a series of grunts he got to his feet. Granted, he was still very weak, but at least he was up.

He prepared to take the first step, but all thoughts of walking left when his eye caught a flash of green. His heart caught in his throat. Green hair rose slowly from the stairwell, followed by the body of a young woman tiptoeing up to his room. Mouth agape, he stared unbelievingly. 'Is that—? No, it couldn't be…'

Saria, now fully in the room, stopped moving when she noticed him gawking at her. She became very shy and self-conscious of her new body under his incredulous gaze and looked down at the floor.

There was a moment when neither said anything, she being too nervous and Link trying to make sense of what was going on. "Saria?! Is that you?!" She nodded meekly, still not making a sound or looking at him. "But…but…how?"

Saria summoned enough courage to look up at him and gauge his reaction to her appearance. There was neither cheer nor grief apparent on his face, only shock. That was good…at least he wasn't disgusted, as she had somewhat feared he would be. She approached him slowly. "You used your wish on me. You wished for my greatest desire to be granted, and my greatest desire was to be able to leave the forest so I could be with you." They were close enough now that they could reach out and touch each other. Saria wrapped her arms around him, reaching his full height for the first time in nine years, and snuggled as close to him as she could. "I'm sorry, Link. I'm sorry I yelled at you to leave. I didn't mean it. I was afraid that you might never come back to the forest because of it and that I might never see you again. I couldn't handle the thought. I hope you still want me to be your friend, because I can't stand the idea of being without you."

"Of course I still want to be your friend," he said sadly. "I could never hate you. I thought you were the one who hated me." He wrapped his arms around her as well, and they held each other for a few minutes. Not talking, just basking in each other's company. At length Link smiled and whispered in her ear, making her shiver. "I can't believe it, but you're even more beautiful now than you were as a Kokiri."

She blushed slightly. She had been so busy complaining about her new size that she hadn't noticed how she looked. It was good to know that at least someone liked the change. 'I could get used to him calling me beautiful. Maybe this new body won't be so bad.'

"And you know," he said, "one good thing did come out of all the terrible things that have happened this week: it will be a lot easier for me to hug you from now on."

Saria's heart melted. She couldn't stand it any longer. In a moment of clarity, she finally figured out what the strange emotion she felt around Link was. In a quick move that caught him completely off guard, she kissed him.

Link couldn't believe what was happening. Saria hardly believed it herself, but they both enjoyed it nonetheless. Closing their eyes, they let their lips linger on each other's a few seconds longer than was necessary. Then slowly, hesitantly, they pulled away. "I love you," she said.

He was stunned, but one look into her blue eyes proved to him that she meant it with all her heart. Every thought going through his brain was a jumbled mess of joyful shouts, and as his eyes softened and his smile grew, he felt a stray tear falling from his eye; love and happiness were literally leaking out of him. He had thought this would never be possible, but suddenly it was, and the sheer magnitude of his feelings for her and hers for him was overwhelming. More tears spilled from his eyes, and seeing him cry for her caused Saria to cry as well, though their smiles never faltered. "I love you too. I've loved you for so long, but the fact that you were a child always kept me from telling you; I didn't want to corrupt your innocence, and since you were a child I couldn't imagine you having any romantic feelings, let alone about me."

"I've loved you for a long time too, but it's only now with my adult mind that I've realized it. I've always thought you were special. I've always felt like I needed to be around you. It used to puzzle me why I thought of you differently than I thought of anyone else, but now I know. You've made me so happy, Link." She gently pushed him back onto his bed. (Not a difficult task, seeing as how he was barely able to stand) "And now, I'm going to cover you in kisses…"

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The next day, Link was healthy enough to move about. He and Saria left the ranch together to go to the funeral that was being held for Princess Zelda. Most of Hyrule's population was in attendance, though not everyone could fit into Kakariko's graveyard. The funeral lasted most of the day, and at the end she was buried near the royal tomb, next to her ancestors. Hours later after everyone had left, Link remained in the cemetery. He had made peace with Zelda, but he still had one more friend to pay respects to.

Dampe helped him make a tombstone for Navi. Link had it engraved, "Navi the fairy, an endless source of wisdom and friendship for the Hero of Time. Killed by Ganondorf Dragmire, King of Evil."

Dampe began writing about Link's adventures. He insisted that it was absolutely necessary that the story of the Hero of Time be recorded and placed into the history archives for future generations. He asked that Link come to his house one day and recall every detail he could relating to his exploits as the Hero of Time, including his quest in Termina. Link promised he would do so, but explained that first he and Saria were going on a trip around Hyrule, since it was still new to her. In the meantime, the old mage questioned others (the sages most importantly, but also anyone who happened to recall details from the alternate future) on their accounts of Ganondorf's reign and the events leading up to it. He compiled all of his notes into a very thick and detailed book called The Legend of Zelda. It ended with the following passage:

"So ends the story of the Hero of Time. However, though Zelda was killed and Ganon slain, they cannot truly die; in a way, Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf are immortal, for some time after the Hero of Time dies and the Triforce he guards is scattered, the three of them will be reborn and fight for the Triforce once more. Such has been prophesized by the goddesses themselves. And with their reincarnation begins the new Hero's saga, the next part of this Legend. May the future be as blessed as the present.

---Dampe"

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The End

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Dannondorf: After I posted chapter nine, I received an email from an irate reader who saw fit to flame me for my decision to write a Saria/Link romance. He (well, I assume it's a he) called me a disgusting pervert and a pedophile and told me that I sucked. Now normally I ignore it when people harass me over the internet, but this is a special case: the guy didn't just insult me. Oh no. That alone wasn't enough to satisfy him. He explicitly stated that all supporters of greenshipping, (yeah, I made that term up, so sue me :p) whether authors or readers, were terrible people. Well, I just want to make one thing very clear to those who brand others as pedophiles for having an interest in these types of fics:

The Saria/Link pairing is NOT founded on physical attraction.

I'm not saying that the characters can't be attracted to each other, but no author that I'm aware of has put these two characters together simply because they thought a little adult-child loving would be hot. The logic behind the pairing is simple: Link has known Saria all his life, and the two are best friends. (Well, some would argue this point, I guess, but at the very least, they're close friends.) However, time and circumstance have made it all but impossible for them to pursue a romantic relationship with each other. THIS is what Saria/Link fics are about: finding a way to be with each other even when destiny itself seems to have forbidden it. There is great potential for drama and angst in this idea, and I believe it's nothing short of ignorant to not recognize this.

I know I'm generalizing. I'm sure there are plenty of Saria/Link fans who will disagree with me when it comes to the focus of these stories. I merely wanted to put my thoughts out there.

This goes for all other pairings as well. Don't flame someone just because he or she embraces an idea that you don't.

Phew…sorry for that rant. Now it's time to celebrate. Woo-hoo! I actually finished this story! Awesome! Take THAT, to-do list! Saria's Wish is the result of over two years of work, believe it or not. So now that you know how much time I spent on it, don't you think it's fair that you spend just a few minutes writing a review? Please? I really want to know what you thought of it. Did you enjoy the ride as much as I did? Or was it so bad that it forever ruined fanfiction for you? Please tell me. I realize it's far from perfect, but it's still the best novel-length thing I've ever written. (I wrote another Zelda story of similar length a long time ago, but it was so bad I'm embarrassed to even talk about it.) I'd like to hear everyone's opinions. Did I succeed in making the best Saria/Link story ever, like I set out to do? Did I even come close? Don't be afraid to crush my ego if you have to.

Thanks again to all the people who bothered reading this! I hope I've kept you all entertained. And thanks especially to my beta-reader, OyOfMidworld, and to all the people who reviewed: your comments pushed me to do the very best I could do, and this story would have been much worse without your support.

I'm going to rest my creative muscles for a while and come back a better writer than ever. You'll see! Dannondorf out.