"So you're leaving then." The voice startled Link and he almost jumped out of his skin. He was on the last bridge out of Kokiri Forest. He thought he'd been alone. He'd been mistaken.

Saria materialized out of thin air and literally appeared where she hadn't been before. "I knew this day would come." She was looking sad, looking down at something Link could not quite make out.

"I have to," Link said, astonished at his own reply. This is not how he thought this parting would go. He figured he would just stare silently at his lifelong friend as she wrestled with her complicated emotions and struggled to say farewell. He would just keep staring at her. She would tell him how much she wished she could come with him, how much she would miss him, and how difficult this was. Link would just keep staring at her and slowly back away. He would say nothing. He would suddenly just turn around and run away. He would not look back. He would leave Saria alone in the forest. He would forget about her and go onto bigger and better adventures. He would learn that he wasn't even a Kokiri and he didn't belong in the forest anyway. He would just completely abandon his childhood and everyone who had made his life meaningful.

Instead, he had said something.

"I know," Saria replied. Her eyes welled up and she could not say any more. Her childhood friend was leaving the forest. Kokiri could not leave the forest. If Link was truly leaving, it must mean he had learned of his past. Had learned that he was not really a Kokiri, and was always destined to leave.

Link stood at the end of the bridge. A few more steps and he would cross the protective boundary that shielded Kokiri Forest from the corrupting spells of the outside world. He looked Saria in the eyes. He left.