"This is it...' Link said. "Finally, after all those battles, I'm finally coming back home."
He shook his head. "Well, it has been a much longer time fore Saria and the others... but the main point is that we're back, right?"
"Yeah," Ukyo sighed. "But... seeing the woods in such a state pains me... I mean, you have been living in the forest for a much longer time as me. But still, it's my home."
"I'm just worried if those monsters have done anything to them... I mean, what's the whole point behind all of this? Whatever does Ganondorf want here? He has never been interested in us forest folk."
"Ask him when you meet him," Ukyo grumbled. "I just wanna make sure that the others are fine."
"Hey, I don't want to interrupt," Tatl suddenly interjected. "But aren't you worried about the other Kokiri's reaction when they find out that you have... well, grown up?"
"Tatl, I think we have much bigger problems now to discuss than mysterious, spontaneous puberty, okay?" Ukyo replied.
"Ukyo!" Link suddenly shouted. "Do you remember these tree carvings?"
"Of course!" Ukyo smiled. "I could never forget how Mido made them... just to annoy us."
They all looked at the carved heart, with the two words 'Link' and 'Ukyo' within.
"I still have to kick his butt for this..." Ukyo grumbled.
"But that's not what I meant," Link said excitedly. "It means we're almost there. Come, we just have to go past through these bushes and..."
Navi, Tatl and Ukyo followed their friend as he hurried through the thicket.
Link was that happy to be home at last, that he did not consider any possible danger that might be waiting for them.
"Guys!" he shouted. "Saria! We're back! We're..."
He stopped right in his tracks when he stepped into the clearing where the village was located... and witnessed the bunch of red-leaved, Mad Dekus that was rampaging through the village.
And the Giant Deku Babas that were growing in front of the houses...
And the Skulltulas that were hanging from the trees...
And the Octoroks that were infesting the village pond...
"What...?" he muttered in disbelief as his gaze darted from one monster to another. "What happened here? How did all these... Where are our friends?"
"I don't know, sugar..." Ukyo grumbled and pulled out her battle spatula. "But I'm gonna find out. In the meantime, I won't let those bastards run around freely in our home. You with me?"
His fearful confusion turned into grim determination, as the hero of Time drew his blade and took his shield from his back. "Time for a little extermination..." he growled.
"Go get 'em!" Tatl cheered.
Navi, who had grabbed a pair of dandelions, was doing a small dance in mid-air. "Link, Link, he's our man! He beats up monsters like no one can!"
And they beat up a few monsters.
And everyone was rejoicing...
Well, everyone except the monsters.
----
Later, Link was wiping some Deku Baba sap from his blade. He looked around the village and sighed. "Man, what a mess..."
"Hey, nothing a bit weeding couldn't solve, right?" Ukyo smirked.
"Yeah, you two sure showed them," Tatl smirked. "They will think twice before coming back..."
"Um... I don't think they can come back," Navi pointed out.
"Well, whatever..." Tatl grumbled. She didn't like it when the blue fairy started to act like a know-it-all...
"Um, excuse me?" a voice behind them suddenly spoke up.
Link turned around... and saw no one.
"Um... I'm down here, sir!"
Link looked down... and gasped when he recognized Fado, the blonde Kokiri girl living next to Saria.
'I can't believe it...' he thought. 'She seems so small now...'
Fado bowed shyly in front of the two heroic strangers. "Thank you so much for saving our village from the monsters. We don't know what we would have done if you hadn't shown up."
"Um, you're welcome..." Link said and exchanged a confused glance with Ukyo.
Ukyo shrugged and whispered to the fairies: "Hey, how come she doesn't recognize us? Our clothes aren't that different from back when we left."
"Well, I can't blame her," Navi whispered back. "According to what the Great Deku tree taught us, no Kokiri will ever grow up... so she probably won't recognize you two, because you certainly don't look like you did seven years ago... while she and all the other Kokiri do."
"How would you know that the other Kokiri are all still like that?" Tatl asked. "If Link grew up after leaving the forest, maybe some of them did the same..."
Navi shrugged. "Well, take a look around..."
Tatl did. And saw all the Kokiri hesitantly coming out of their houses.
"What happened?"
"Are the monsters all dead?"
"Those two brave Hylians saved us all!"
"Hooray!"
"Wow, they sure are big..."
"I thought they could never enter the forest..."
"Hey, Miss! Your weapon looks just like the one a friend of mine was always using before she left the forest..."
"I don't believe it..." Ukyo muttered as she and Link were surrounded by their childhood friends, all of them much smaller as them. "No one recognizes us?"
"You have to accept our hospitality," Fado exclaimed. "Would you like some Kokiri stew?"
"Actually, we don't have much time..." Ukyo started.
That's when their tummies started rumbling. "Yes, we'll have some," Link replied with an embarrassed grin.
Later, they were all sitting in the house of the Know-it-all-Brothers, the biggest house in the village.
Navi looked down at the bowl she and Tatl were sharing. "Um, this isn't called Kokiri Stew because it's made of... well, you know..."
"Of course not!" One of the female Kokiri twins giggled. "It's called that because we Kokiri made it. It's ingredients are Deku Nuts, maple sirup, blackberries..."
"Oh. So it's just a vegetarian dish, right?" Navi asked with relief.
"...bee larvae and caterpillars..."
"UGH!" Navi gagged. "Too much information..."
While eating her stew, Ukyo looked around the hut. All of her old friends from the village were present, either cramped into the hut or looking in through the door and the windows. But she was missing a few faces...
But she couldn't ask them directly about their whereabouts.
"Say... who's your leader, by the way?" she asked Fado.
"Oh... you know, that's a good question. Um, for most of our lives, you could say it was the Deku Tree... But he died, unfortunately. That was about seven years ago..."
"Yeah," one of the Know-it-all-Brothers nodded. "We can remember it so clearly because that was the day when two of our friends left the forest..."
"You know, you two sorta look like them," the younger twin giggled. "Well, if you were Kokiris, that is."
"I suppose you could say that Mido is our leader," another Kokiri shrugged. "At least that's what he always calls himself."
"Oh, and where is this Mido?" Ukyo asked, trying not to make it sound as if she would already know him.
"Well, I saw him and Saria fleeing the village when the Mad Dekus attacked," Fado spoke up. "They were entering the Lost Woods... and strangely enough, their fairies weren't with them."
"When was that?" Link shouted in agitation.
"I think it was a few hours ago," Fado said.
Link stood up. "Ukyo, c'mon, we have to go now!"
"Wait up, Link! Just let me finish my... um... uh-oh!"
Every single Kokiri was staring at the two tall teenagers with disbelief.
"You two... are Link and Ukyo?" Fado muttered.
Ukyo winced. "Um, yes."
Fado giggled. "WOW! I can't believe it! What a coincidence! You know, our two friends that left the forest have the same names as you."
Link, Ukyo and their fairies sweatdropped. They STILL didn't suspect anything?
Ukyo shook her head. "W-well, I think we should go now."
"Aw, you're leaving already?" the twins asked in unison.
"Well, we have to make sure that your friends Mido and Saria aren't in trouble, right?" Link said. "There are more dangerous monsters in the Lost Woods, so someone has to protect them."
"Ah, you're right!"
"Good luck then!"
"Go go Hylian Rangers!"
The other Kokiri gave Fado weird looks.
"Hylian Rangers?"
Fado shrugged. "Well, what else should we call them?"
----
Later, all of the remaining Kokiris were showing their two heroes the entrance to the Lost Woods.
Of course they already knew the entrance, but they didn't want to show their old friends that they did.
"You have to make sure not to get lost," the oldest of the Know-it-all-Brothers said. "Go right, left, right again, left again, then go straight ahead and after a while, left again. Then you'll reach the Sacred Meadow, Saria's favorite place. I'm pretty sure they are hiding there."
"Thank you!" Link said. "Um, are you going to be alright by yourselves?"
"Ah, don't worry about us!" Fado grinned. "When the monsters return, we just hide in our huts again. We're pretty good at that."
"Good to hear that," Ukyo chuckled. "So, wish us luck, then!"
"Good luck!" Fado said. "And oh, before you, go can you answer me one question?"
"Sure, go ahead!"
The blonde Kokiri looked kinda uncomfortable and tried not to stare at the two gleaming balls of light that were hovering near her savior's shoulders.
"Um... how did you get two fairy companions? I always thought only Kokiri could have one."
Navi and Tatl gulped. Now what were they supposed to tell them?
"Um..." Link scratched his head. "They... are import fairies! Exchange students from abroad... You know, in their home country, even Hylians can have a fairy companion."
Ukyo facefaulted. They would never believe that story...
"Ah, I see!"
"Now that's an interesting story!"
"Think I could go there some time?"
The Okonomiyaki chef turned heroine fell over. Yes, they would...
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(Posted Fri, 13 Apr 2007 13:23)
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