Disclaimer: I don’t own Zelda.

Story: This is the best RP I’ve ever been in. It was done with magicalfatman on deviantart, and I’ve kept it in RP format. The first paragraph is his post, then mine, then his, so on...

Him: Deku Tree, Link, Lenny

Me: Zelda, Saria, Ael

There was a young man who looked around the age of seventeen. He was one of the head knights for Zelda. He wasn't wearing his helmet like he was supposed to. He never really did. He had spiky blonde hair and deep blue eyes that were calmed yet harsh at the same time.

Though the sun was just beginning to rise over the distant Death Mountain, the princess was already up and about, wandering through the courtyard, examining the flowers absently.

Once he finally found the Princess Zelda, he went over to her and saluted. "Princess, There have been some dark clouds spotted over the Gerudo Desert. They don't seem to be natural."

Her eyes went wide. "When was this reported?" she asked.

"It wasn't too long ago. I'd say about twenty minutes. I got here as fast as I could." He said.

She sighed. "Where are they and where are they heading?"

"Like I said, they're lingering over the Gerudo Desert and they're headed over towards Kokiri Forest"

“Cam you get to the forest before them?”

"If I can get a horse, probably. If I go on foot, there's no way possible."

Nodding, she yelled through one of the open windows. "Guards, I need you to get him a horse, Now!"

The guards quickly brought him a horse and he jumped on, heading towards Kokiri Forest.

The princess stood there silently, hands clasped before her chest. "Hurry," she said to herself.

It didn't take very long for Lenny to get to the forest. When he got there, the children were panicking as the clouds were now hovering over the Lost Woods. "Hope I'm not too late..." He said and headed towards the Great Deku Tree.

As the horse and its rider passed by her, a Kokiri girl followed far behind, curiously.

When Lenny got there, Link was there too as Lenny had hoped. The Deku tree grinned eagerly. "Ah Lenny. Nice to see you again." Lenny raised an eyebrow. "Again?" "I'll explain later."

Ael sank back, listening in to the conversation.

Lenny looked at Link.

"Do you know what's up with those clouds."

Lenny shrugged.

"The deku tree says it's a Gerudo of some kind... but he's not sure if it's Ganon or not." Lenny sighed. "If it's Ganon..."

"Don't worry... I already got the Master Sword just in case."

The girl looked up at the sky, shrinking back further so she wouldn't be noticed.

"Ael," her fairy whispered into her ear. "Did you hear that?"

Lenny sighed and looked at the clouds. "Do you think we should go check it out?" Link nodded. "We might as well..."

Ael, who had never heard the stories about Link, scoffed as she heard this. Then her eyes grew wide as she realized she had blown her cover.

Lenny and Link heard the noise and turned around to see what it was. Lenny walked over and saw the girl. " A spy? No... she's Kokiri... just a curious bystander..."

She glared at him and then let out an exasperated 'Hmph' as she pushed a strand of white blonde hair from her face. "Where are you going?" she demanded, turning to look at Link. "What can you possibly hope to do about CLOUDS?"

Link looked and raised an eyebrow. "Uhm... Sorry..? I really have to make sure everything is alright." Lenny sighed. "Link... we need to go now."

Ael pouted, sticking her bottom lip out pleadingly. "Can I go?”

Link sighed and slowly nodded. "Fine..."

“Really? I can come?”

Lenny sighed and started to walk off. Link just sighed. "Yes, whatever! I really need to go! If you're gonna come then come!" He said, following Lenny.

Ignoring the hint of annoyance in his voice, she squealed and followed after them. Tiki, her fairy hovered around her shoulders frantically.

Lenny and Link made their way towards the clouds which were now hovering over the lost woods. Lenny breathed a heavy sigh. He hated going in there.

Ael, however, Loved going into the lost woods. She had often crept off in the middle of the night to train with a wooden sword, swinging it the way she had seen Link do when he didn't know she was watching. He didn't even know that she KNEW how to hold a sword.

The source of the dark clouds were around the center of the woods. Lenny looked at Link. "You know the woods better than I do. You lead the way." Link nodded and led them through the woods.

A familiar skull child appeared. "Link! What's happening here?"

Link shook his head. "I don't know. I'm trying to figure that out myself."

"Can I come along?" The skull child asked.

Lenny shook his head. "I'd rather you didn't. It could be too dangerous." Lenny looked at Link.

The skull child crossed his arms and disappeared. "But Ael gets to go..."

Ael stuck her tongue out.

"Ha-ha-h- Oh!" From the corner of her eye, she spotted a familiar object a few yards away. Blinking, she bounded past the skull kid and kicked the wooden practice sword beneath the nearest shrub with her foot. She quickly ran back to stand beside Link. "Let's go!" she whined, trying to get as far away from the sword as she could.

Lenny sighed, seeing the sword but he decided it was best not to bring anything up. This wasn't the time. Link led them to the dead center of the woods and there was a shadowy figure there. Lenny carefully put a hand on one of his swords just in case. "Who are you?"

Ael blinked, sinking behind Link, wishing she had brought her

own sword. Not that a block of wood was going to help them out much anyway. Then again, hopefully they wouldn't even NEED swords.

The figure grinned and took a step forward. It left patches of darkness in it's tracks. Lenny got a familiar vibe off of the person. He slowly stepped off of his horse and started to walk towards the cloaked figure with one of his swords in hand. The figure charged at Lenny and then disappeared before it got too close.

Ael squinted her eyes closed, shoulders shooting up, but managed to fight back a shriek. No, she wasn't afraid. One thing she had learned from watching Link was that you could never show fear in the face of the enemy. So, straightening, she looked around, a serious expression on her face.

Link jumped down from Epona and pulled out the Master Sword.

"Where'd he go?"

Lenny looked around without replying..

A shadow popped out of the ground and attacked Link but he blocked it, and then thrusted. The shadow stood on top of the blade. It knelt down and grinned at Link.

"Remember me? From the water temple..." Link growled and pulled the sword out from underneath him and slashed, but the shadow just disappeared.

Lenny looked at Link. "Who was that?"

Link growled a bit. "My shadow..."

Ael blinked. "Water temple?" she asked. "What's that all about?" But, hearing footsteps behind her, she realized she could say no more. She whirled around, her eyes growing wide as the shadow ran out her and she squinted her eyes closed again.

Link jumped over her doing a downward slash, hitting the shadow.

"Gah! Link... You..." The shadow slashed at Link but he blocked and attacked back. The shadow, being a nuisance dodged and disappeared reappearing behind Lenny, stabbing him in the back. Lenny growled and winced in pain. He flipped a sword around and thrusted it at the shadow but once again it disappeared. It reappeared and Link came from behind it stabbing it as well. It growled and started to fade away.

"I'll come back Link... besides... I've bought enough time to bring back that dirty Gerudo anyway." He grinned.

All hopes of being tough gone, Ael stood in the middle of the battlefield, shivering, unable to move or speak at all. Her eyes filled with tears as she realized how useless, how petty her attempts had been from the very beginning. 'What was I thinking' she asked herself.

'The clouds faded a little and Lenny passed out from loss of blood. Link picked him up and put him on his horse. He went over to Ael and knelt down in front of her and pat her on the shoulder. "It's ok Ael. Can you do me a favor, and go get Saria so she can heal Lenny for me? He's in really bad condition..."

Shoulders shaking, she fought back sobs, nodded, and ran off back towards the village. Along the way, she passed by the Skull Kid.

Link got on Epona and led Lenny's horse back to the Kokiri Forest. The Skull Kid looked at Link and then at Lenny. "Oh my... Link what happened?" Link looked at the skull kid and then down at the ground. "He got hurt really badly... and now he needs help."

Ael had run by the Skull Kid without a word, ignoring his protests and questions as the tears continued to stream down her face. "Saria!" she screamed, jumping down the ledge into the village. She twisted her ankle, but she didn't care. People stared, but she didn't care. She kept on running till she reached Saria's house and sank to the ground at the threshold. Shocked, Saria turned around to face her. "Ael, what's wrong?"

Ael sniffled. "It's Link, he needs help. That other guy is knocked out and they need you to... to heal him," she sobbed.

Link and Lenny appeared at the entrance. Lenny was placed on the bed, and Link went to tie up Epona. As Saria walked over to Lenny, Link kneeled down beside Ael. “Thanks for all your help,” he told her.

“What help?" she asked without looking at him. "I didn't even do anything. You only got here right after me, and I couldn't do anything back there but be scared." Saria began tending to Lenny.

“I know... but still. You were there, and you came to Saria when I told you too. It may not seem like it, but you did help me out." He said smiling at her. "It's ok to be scared too you know. When I first started out, I was just as scared as you were, but I kept practicing until I got brave enough."

“At least YOU could fight," she said, wondering if he had seen the sword.

"Here... let me give you something. It might be a little dangerous right now but I think you should have it." He said. He reached into his satchel and pulled out a small sword. "This is the Kokiri Sword. It was my first sword and I've always had it. You can have it." He said, smiling gently.

Her eyes went wide. "So that means... I won't have to use the wooden..." Before she could finish, she threw her arms around his neck and began to sob again.

He blinked a little and patted her back. "Ael, there's something bad going on, and Lenny and I have to try and figure out what's causing it. When I get back, I want you to show me how good you are with that sword, ok?"

She drew away and nodded, wiping away her tears. "You'll come soon though, right? You WILL come back?"

He nodded. "I promise, I'll come back." He said and stood up. "Practice everyday." He said and went over to Saria to see how Lenny was doing.

She smiled. "I will," she said to herself. "Thanks a lot, Link." And then, bidding them all goodnight, she took the sword and started towards her own house across the village. Saria was examining the wound on Lenny's back intently.

“Is he alright?" Link asked when he got over to her. Lenny was still unconcious and didn't show any signs of waking up anytime soon.

Without looking at him, Saria nodded. "I think so. Watch him for a second while I go get some herbs to help ease the pain. Be right back."

Link nodded and watched Lenny and sighed. "Why was my shadow back I wonder... and by 'dirty garuda' I wonder if he was talking about Ganon. Whatever it is, I don't like it." He said to himself.

Saria appeared a few minutes later with a bowl of herbs in her arms. She handed Link the bowl, pulling out a few leaves, which she rubbed over the wound gently. "Hand me the bag of powder in the bowl."

Link did as she told him to and gave her the powder.

"Ok," she said to herself, thankful that Lenny was unconscious. If he wasn't, the powder would have released an unbearable stinging, that probably would have kept him from keeping still. Like the time that she had had to pour the powder over a cut on Ael's arm, which had appeared mysteriously.

Lenny shifted a little bit but still stayed unconscious. Link watched curiously to see if he would wake up yet.

"I'm surprised he hasn't woken up yet," Saria said over her shoulder. "Even if he's unconscious, his body still knows whats going on. He'll probably wake up soon."

Lenny stirred just a little. Link shrugged. "Maybe. I've seen him take quite a bit of pain before though." Lenny moved around a little more, grunting quietly.

Saria looked at him this time, continuing to rub the powder into the wound even though she wasn't facing Lenny anymore. "How do you know him, again?"

“I helped him out a little bit after Ganon took over. He was inside of Death Mountain and made his way into the Dodongo caverns. There were some overgrown Dodongo's there and it turned out they were a little too much for him alone."

She smiled. "All those stories are really so awesome. Why don't you tell them to Ael sometimes? You know she adores you, right?"

Link looked at her and smiled a little. "Yeah I know. I'll tell her some stories whenever I have time. You know how busy I've been lately."

"Yeah," she said, and then clapped her hands together, knocking away the powder. "Well then, that's that."

"How long do you think it'll be before he wakes up?" He asked, not knowing much about this.

"Well, I'd give him the rest of the night," she said. "Come on. We should at least let him rest for a while."

He nodded. "Yeah..." He went over to Lenny's horse and tied it up so it wouldn't run off somewhere.

Saria stepped outside into the cool night air, a thoughtful expression upon her face.

Link followed her outside and looked up at the starry sky. He then looked at Saria and smiled a little. "It's peaceful tonight..."

She nodded. "Yeah." Her eyes scanned the village, coming to rest on Ael's tiny house at the corner of it. "I feel bad for her sometimes," she said suddenly, without looking up at him.

"Hm? Who?" He looked at her and then looked where she was looking. "Ael? Why is that?"

"Well, let's start it this way. Do you know why she looks up to you so much?"

He shook his head. "No..."

She glanced at him. "And you don't remember when she arrived here?"

He shook his head again and sighed. "No..."

“I don't remember it in much detail, myself. I can remember someone appearing holding a small girl, but that's about it. But as the days passed, I realized that Ael had been that girl." She paused. "I was always curious about her, because she always seemed so sad. So I finally went to see the Great Deku Tree one day to ask him about it. Know what he told me?"

Link was curious now. "No. What'd he say?" He asked.

"He said that she'd been found in the forest, completely abandoned and all on her own, nearly frozen to death. I asked if he had any idea where she came from, but all he knew was that she had a mother and an older brother. The mother had died, and so did her brother. But apparently, she was really close to him. We think that she wound up growing depressed, and then somehow ran away and ended up in the Woods. She loved her brother, Link. And she lost him. And for a long time after she got here, she was all alone. But then she found you, and she immediately felt attached to you. In a way, I guess you could say she adopted you. You're all she's got, Link."

Link looked down at the ground and sighed, closing his eyes. He was there for her whenever he could be, but now, he felt like it wasn't enough. "So... I'm like a brother to her." He said quietly. "When I come back, I'll take good care of her." He said as he looked at Saria.

She looked back at him and grinned. "But you already are."

Link nodded slowly. "Do you really think so? ... I feel like I could do a lot better in taking care of her." He said and looked up at the sky.

Saria shrugged. "There's always time and room for improvement. I heard what you said to her about the sword, and I guarantee you she'll be out there all the time now. I'm gonna have to struggle to stop her from starving herself," she teased.

He smiled a bit. "I know I don't have to ask, but take care of her while I'm gone. And make sure she doesn't starve herself and that she doesn't get hurt out there either. I could never forgive myself if that happened."

“I promise," Saria said, and then yawned. "Anyway, I'm tired. OH, wait, I forgot about Lenny." He was still asleep at her place.

Link sighed and followed her back to her place. "Should we just leave him here for tonight?" He asked curiously.

“Uh... yeah... I mean, I don't mind giving up my bed at all, but..." She laughed nervously.

"I can move him if you want me to." Link said. "Unless you had something else in mind." he said quietly.

Having an idea of what he meant by that, she looked away, blushing. "Well, I mean... He needs his rest."

"Well... I mean... you could..." He blushed a little. "Sleep over at my place...?" He said a little nervously. "If you want to...or I could move him."

She sighed. "Let's let him sleep," she said. "You better not snore," she added teasingly.

He smiled a little. "I don't snore." He said as he walked outside.

She followed after him.

He took her up to his house and sat down on the edge of his bed

She stood there awkwardly for a moment, looking around at the disorganized room. She smiled to herself. How many days had passed since they had met? How many things had he retrieved from his floor?

"Sorry about the mess... I didn't think I would have any guests over any time soon." He said, feeling a bit awkward.

"Don't worry about it," she said, and then sat down on the other side of the bed, staring down at her fiddling hands.

He fiddled with his hands as well. He didn't really know what to do or say, but the more they sat in silence, the more tired he felt.

Finally, she snapped. “Ok, I’m just gonna pretend that this isn’t awkward at all, because” she yawned. “I’m seriously about to pass out.”

He smiled a bit. "Ok then." He said with a grin. He lied down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling but quickly found himself falling asleep.

She, however, had a harder time falling asleep. Knowing that he would be leaving tomorrow... that she might not see him for months... All the while, she had been staring up at the ceiling as well, and she finally managed to bring herself to sneak a glance at him. “Goodnight,” she whispered softly.

The next morning, the sun woke Link up. He sat up in bed and looked at Saria and then down at the ground. He didn't want to leave, but he had to. Whether he liked it or not. But whatever he did, he promised he would come back, and he planned on keeping that promise. For Ael, and for Saria.

She had rolled over onto her side, so that when she opened her eyes, she found herself staring at them. She gasped, jumping up so fast she almost fell off of the bed.

He looked at Saria and smiled a bit. But only for a moment. "Good morning Saria." He said and stood up.

"Yeah... wow, good morning." She had almost completely forgotten about the previous night, but it all came back to her and she frowned.

He sighed and looked at the ground. "I'm going to go check on Lenny..." He said as he walked over towards the door.

She nodded and stood up, smoothing out the wrinkles on her shirt.

Lenny had woken up and he was standing outside of Saria's house. He looked at Link. "There you are." Link smiled a bit. "You seem better." Lenny nodded. "Yeah... thanks for helping me out." Link shook his head. "Saria was the one who healed your wound."

Saria lingered inside his house for a moment before walking out into the cool morning air and sliding down the ladder. Both Lenny and Link were standing in front of her house, talking.

Lenny looked at her as she started walking over and then at Link. "Her? Is she your girlfriend or something?"

Link blushed a little and crossed his arms. "I... uh..."

Sensing someone's eyes on her, she looked over at the two of them, tilting her head to one side curiously.

Lenny smiled and waved then he looked back at Link. "Well?" L

Link shrugged. "Why do you ask?"

Lenny shrugged. "Just curious." He said smiling.

“What are you two talking about?” Saria asked hesitantly. “Or do I even want to know?”

They both looked at her and said, "Nothing!" Link still had a small blush on his face.

She noticed, but pretended not to. "So, I suppose you're... leaving today?"

Link looked down and slowly nodded. Lenny just nodded. "Yeah..."

She looked to the ground, the grass swimming before her eyes. And then she turned to Link. “Are you gonna wake Ael?”

Link looked at Saria. He wasn't sure if he wanted to. "uh.. yeah. I probably should." He said and headed over to Ael's house.

But Ael had left her house hours ago. Her bed was made up, and she had left behind a thick atmosphere. She hated goodbyes.

Link sighed and looked around outside. The only place he could think of was the Lost Woods. He made his way up to the woods to go find her. Lenny watched him curiously and looked at Saria. "What's he doing?"

"Looking for Ael," she said, staring after Link. She smiled.

He went inside the Lost Woods and went the same direction as he did to get to the center of the Woods, but he stopped where they saw the Skull Kid.

Of course, she wouldn't be there. Knowing Ael, it wouldn't have been surprising if she had attempted to run away.

He sighed seeing that she wasn't there and left the Lost Woods. He went over to Lenny and Saria. "I can't find her anywhere..."

Saria sighed, frowning. "You should go. She'll turn up soon, I can tell. I'll tell her you said goodbye."

"Thank you, Saria." He said and looked down at the ground. Lenny went over to his horse and started to untie it.

She smiled sadly, and then, surprising even herself, she hugged him.

He was surprised at this and hugged her back, even sadder now that he had to leave. He let go of her and went over to Epona and took her towards the bridge leading out of the forest.

She decided to follow them to the bridge. Once there, she stopped. "Well, I guess... Be careful, ok. And come back soon." Out of the corner of her eye, she could see something moving on the ledge to the far left. She fought back a smile.

He slowly nodded. "I'll be careful, and I'll come back as soon as possible." He said. Lenny saw something out of the corner of his eye. "..."

'Look over there,' Saria stared at him, hoping her eyes were relaying the message.

Link looked over to see what she was talking about.

From her position on the edge of the ledge, Ael smiled softly.

Link smiled back softly, but sadly as well. He was glad he was able to see her again before he left. He turned around and followed Lenny out of the forest.

"Goodbye," she whispered, knowing the wind would carry her farewell to him. She sat there for a long time, and Saria stood on the bridge, as if they expected him to come back. But they both knew better.

End of Chapter.