There was a short intermission, and then the S.T.A.R. announcer was back on stage. "Judge Link has decided!" he said. "And now, the winners of the Hyrulian Beauty Pageant! First up is the swimsuit competition winner… Princess Zelda of Twilight Princess!"

The crowd groaned. "What a surprise!" a few people said sarcastically.

"And the talent show winner… Malon!"

The crowd cheered for the beautiful young singer. I could have won that, Saria thought, or at least got second place. She slightly regretted jumping onto the stage and being disqualified. Then she looked at Sheik and smiled. No, I don't regret it. It was worth standing up for a friend.

"And the winner of the evening dress contest… Princess Zelda of Twilight Princess!"

The crowd groaned again.

"Now… the moment you've all been waiting for… the overall winner of the Hyrulian Beauty Pageant is…"

A few people in the crowd sat there in suspense. "Who could it be?" a few wondered. Most of the crowd was falling asleep, though. It was obvious who the winner would be.

"Princess Zelda of Twilight Princess!"

A few in the crowd clapped. A few booed. "Judge Link is biased because he comes from the same game as Twilight Princess Zelda!" someone yelled. He was quickly removed from the building by Goron guards.

"That's it for the pageant, folks!" the announcer said. "Audience members may exit through the door behind them. If competitors would go through the door to the left, there is a banquet waiting for them. Thank you, and goodnight!"

Most people were ready to go home by now, so the crowd disappeared quickly. Saria and the other competitors went to the banquet room to the left, where several long tables were set up with all kinds of food from every Zelda world. There were fish, Lon-Lon milk, Chateau Romani, Ordon goat cheese, soup, Ordon pumpkins, Hyoi pears, and even all-purpose bait, although Saria wasn't sure who would eat the bait.

"Hey Saria!" Aryll called. "Come sit over here! I'm really proud of what you did for Sheik earlier."

"Thanks," Saria said. "I'll come sit down in a minute, but I have a few things to take care of first." She scanned all of the banquet tables with her eyes until she saw a red haired girl, surrounded by others who were congratulating her on her talent show win. A young woman with red hair sat near her. That looks just like her. Who could that be? Saria wondered.

She walked over to where Malon was. "I- I wanted to congratulate you. You did really well. You have a beautiful voice." Try not to let your jealousy show, she told herself. Just be happy for her.

"Thank you," Malon said. "That means a lot, coming from you. I was afraid you would be mad at me."

"No, I'm not mad." She laughed. "You can't help it your voice is so amazing."

"Thank you again. I really think we would have tied if you hadn't jumped up on the stage to defend your friend. That was really brave of you." She was quiet for a moment. "I've talked to Link, and…"

"Which one?"

"Ocarina of Time, both adult and child. We're all a little confused now that the time line's been split, and we're trying to get everything settled. You're a part of this too. I'd like you to meet my adult self."

The young woman with the red hair turned to Saria. "Nice to meet you, Saria," she said.

"Nice to meet you, too," Saria said. "This is really weird."

"You're telling me!" child Malon laughed.

"Why didn't I see you in the pageant?" Saria asked adult Malon.

"When a time line is split, only one version of a character must participate in the show," she answered. "But we still get to come to the banquet afterwards."

"Oh…" Is the other version of me here, too?

Just then, child Malon asked, "How would you like to meet your… self from the other time line?" She was about to say adult self when she stopped herself, remembering that Kokiri never grow up.

"I- I don't know." Is this a good idea? She thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Okay."

"I'll go find her." Child Malon went to another banquet table and returned a few seconds later, with a green-haired girl.

It was like looking into a mirror for Saria. This… this is me? She almost reached out to touch the girl who looked exactly like her, just to see if this was real. She stopped and pulled her hand back.

The green-haired girl laughed. "I'm you… in the future. And yes, I'm real."

I look exactly the same… but, of course I do. Kokiri don't grow up. "Didn't Link say I become a sage in the other time line?"

The other Saria nodded. "I am Sage Saria."

"Then… you don't end up with Link?"

The Sage shook her head. "No… I'm afraid not. But you can. You have your own timeline to live out." She smiled sadly at her past self.

Suddenly, Saria realized something. Child Link may be a child now, but eventually he'll grow up like adult Link and leave me all over again! "I- I've got to find someone," she said. "I'll see you later."

Saria left her future self and ran from Hyrule Castle. Outside, a group of guys were standing around and talking. There he is! I'm lucky he hasn't left yet. She ran over to child Link and pulled him away from the group, tears in her eyes.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Link asked, trying to pull away from her.

"We have to talk," Saria said. "You know that the time line got split, right?"

"Right."

"In one, you grow up and fall in love with Zelda or Malon or somebody, and I become a sage. In the other, you're a child and I'm still just an ordinary Kokiri. You know that, right?"

"Right…. So what's the point here?"

"You'll eventually grow up in our timeline, too. I want you to promise that you'll stay with me, no matter what, since we can't be together in the other timeline."

Link froze. Promising to be with a girl for the rest of your life is a big deal. Then, he remembered the other timeline, where he couldn't be with Saria. He looked at Saria and realized that he never wanted to be apart from her if he could help it. He hesitated, then said, "Okay." He hugged her. "I promise. I'll always come back to you. Even when I grow up, I won't leave you behind."

Relief flooded Saria's heart. "We'll make a strange couple when you're older," she laughed, her eyes brimming with tears of joy. But that doesn't matter, because we'll always be together!

Together, adult Link, adult Malon and adult Zelda came out of the castle. "Awww!" Zelda and Malon said, looking at Saria and child Link. Adult Link just smiled, then looked at Malon, and then Zelda. He didn't know who he would end up with. He didn't know who child Zelda and child Malon would end up with. But he knew his child self would be with Saria, forever.

The End.