The Legend of Zelda: What Comes After - The Final Tale of The Hero of Time

Chapter III: The Hero's Return

I jumped off my horse to see Saria staring at me from a short distance. She had an almost sad look on her face. I returned the slight stare and gave her a sincere smile. Instantly, the biggest smile I had ever seen came across her face as she began to dash towards me. 

"I missed you so much!" Saria said as she ran up and hugged me, and not to mention, almost knocking me over.

"I missed you too." I said as I embraced her. 

As Saria held onto me, I quickly noticed that I was now inches taller than her again. It was clear to me that I was right, I had begun to grow up again. The thing that bothered me however, is that I was still unaware of how much time I had once again missed. 

"And Epona! How are you girl?" 

Saria reached behind me to pet Epona, and she neighed in excitement to see my old friend, which made me laugh a little bit. 

 Saria then turned to me with a concerned frown. 

"W-where is she?" She said as she looked up at me. I then realized why she stopped smiling. She noticed that Navi wasn't around me.

"I... I uh... didn't find her." I said reluctantly, as I sighed and looked down at my boots in sadness.

"I'm so sorry, Link." Saria said as she embraced me into another hug. "To this day it still confuses me to what happened."

"I was hoping maybe she would have been here when I got back." I replied.

"I was hoping she would turn up eventually, but as the days went by..." Saria stopped, clearly hurting at what she was saying. She said no more, but continued to hold onto me. 

Saria's hugs gave me the welcome-home feeling I had wanted ever since the day I left Termina. It felt good to be back, it really did, although I wished Navi here to accompany me. 

After a moment, she let go of me and noticed my Mirror Shield and Gilded Sword on my back.

"Woah!" She said, glancing at them both.

My smile came back to me. "Pretty cool, huh?" I said as I drew my Gilded Sword. Saria stared at it in awe, almost like she had never seen anything like it. After all, it was quite fancy.

"Can I hold it?" She said, still amazed at my newly crafted blade.

"Sure." I said, laughing a little bit, as I handed her my sword. She held it up in the hair and swung it a few times, which made me laugh again.

"Pretty cool!" She responded. "And what about the shield?"

I pulled the Mirror Shield off my back. "It's called the Mirror Shield. I found it in place called Ikana." I replied, showing off my shield in front of me. "It's kind of like the one I got in the Spirit Temple... all that time ago." 

Saria looked at me as if she could hear the sorrow in my voice. At first I could see her smile fade, but then she smiled again. "What about that big bag you have here?" Saria questioned as pointed to the bag of masks and other items on Epona's back. 

"Well, it's a long story... but, I'll tell you all about it!" 

"I'd love to hear, but let's go tell the others that you came back. They are going to be so excited to see you!" Saria said as she grabbed my hand and pulled me down to the entrance of the forest.

"Come on, Epona!" I shouted back to notion her to follow along. She neighed and followed Saria and I down to the hill.

"Everyone! Look who's back!" Saria yelled across the forest.