Reunion

Lunnaei stared at the boy in front of her. Red hair? Turned up nose? Freckles? It all added up to one thing. Mido. But that was impossible she told herself, since the Kokiri did not really exist, right? Grandpa never lies. Her Grandmother's words floated up in her memory and her eyes got wider. She blinked when a fist sized ball of light shot from behind her and hovered over the boy. He laughed at her shocked expression, turned and ran laughing into the forest. Lunnaei felt a moment of panic and though she'd no idea where the boy was going, it was better than being alone and bolted into the woods after him.

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The Potter sensed the shift in the magic as the road before him adjusted itself to accommodate only one traveler. He walked a few paces further, stopped, but knew that Lunnaei was no longer next to him. He stared at the now narrowed path, and thought, they almost made their way through. He mentally berated himself for bringing her here at all. The chances of him losing his way here were small, but he should have known his granddaughter would set off every magic trap this forest had to offer. He sighed and turned away from the path. He scanned the dense woods behind him but knew there would be nothing to see. He closed his eyes and listened to the sounds of the forest around him. As he turned in a slow circle, he caught the sounds of childish laughter in the distance. With eyes still closed followed it.

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No matter how fast Lunnaei ran, the boy was always just ahead of her and gaining ground. She came to a halt in a small clearing, breathing hard, she sat heavily on the ground. "Gods I am such a dolt!" She kicked the small stump in front of her. "Grandpa!" she called into the air, "Grandpa! Where are you?" It's no use she thought. If that boy really was the Mido from Grandpa's stories, then she was in serious trouble. She was lost in the Lost Woods.

She racked her brain to remember the details of the story that her Grandpa told her. "Think Lunnaei, you can do this," she said aloud. "What did the Hero do to find his way through?" She paused and looked around. She was surround on four sides by what looked like tunnels carved out of fallen trees. Each was pitch dark so she could not see what lay on the other side. She would have to pick one and probably soon. She’d no wish to stay the night where she was as all the stories said very bad things happened in these woods after sundown. "Okay," she said as she tried to muster her courage, "You want to live to be fourteen? Yes you do," she answered herself, "Good. Then like Dad always says, when in doubt, go right." So she did.

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The sounds of laughter the Potter followed, stopped, and so did he. He opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. He traveled this part of the world on more than a few occasions many years ago, but was unsure of which direction to take next. Three sides held the hollowed out trunks of some very large trees, the last a hedge. Each tunnel led somewhere different and if he chose poorly, he knew his chances of finding his granddaughter were that much less. Time was not something any Hylian could afford to waste in these woods. He sat on a stump in the middle of the crossroad and thought about the problem. Maybe he could bring Lunnaei to him. He pulled out his ocarina, a two-toned affair of brown and green it was much smaller than the ones he made. However, this one was special. Given as a gift, he always had it with him. He put it to his lips and played a simple tune that was comprised of only twelve notes. It was the melody attached to the lullaby. He just hoped she would remember it well enough to realize it was him.


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Lunnaei stepped out of the tunnel and looked around. There was a target hung from a dead tree in front of her and she absently tugged at her braid and said, "I'm forgetting something I know it." She looked to her right and thought 'Well, never take the same way twice or you'll end up going in circles.' Since her only other option was to go left, she did. Again, she found herself in a clearing. It was exactly like the first, with the exception of a large rock near the uppermost tunnel. She stared at the rock. If Grandpa's stories were true then that led to Death Mountain. "Nope, I definitely don't want to go that way." She glanced at the left tunnel and sticking with her original plan, this time went right. She exited the tunnel and saw in front of her a stone basin, as well as two new tunnels to the right and left. She glanced at the new tunnel to the right. No that just didn't seem right? After one look back at the basin and she headed for the left tunnel. She stopped as she came out of the trunk. It was exactly like the last two four tunnel crossroads but this time minus the rock or the bushes.

Following her decided pattern she went right, halfway through she heard a 'whump', and thought, 'That can't be good.' Stepping into the clearing, she soon figured out why. She was right back where she started. "Why do I get the feeling it's going to be a long day?" Weary she retraced her path back to the clearing after the fountain. So it was either left or straight. She chose left, heard the 'whump',and stepped back into the first clearing. "Gah!!" she shouted as she stomped on the stump, "Why do the Goddesses hate me!!!" She sighed and muttered, "Stupid damn lost woods."

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The Potter paused in his playing, when he thought he'd heard his granddaughter's voice. He smiled, and shifted his song a little. He increased the tempo and added an additional six notes. If she’s close enough for him to hear her, she should hear the ocarina. He looked up at the sky. The sun was getting lower and soon it would be too dark for her to see. The Potter closed his eyes and focused all his energies into playing the song and within it, a prayer to the Three that she find her way to him safely.


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Again, Lunnaei retraced her path back to the clearing. The only way left was straight ahead. She approached the opening slowly and stuck her head inside. Nothing. She took a few tentative steps forward and heard music. It was an ocarina, she was sure of that. But who'd be playing an... "Grandpa!" excited she stepped through the tunnel without incident.

When she found yet another clearing with another set of tunnels, she almost began to cry. She could not hear the music anymore and her earlier confidence was starting to wane. She went first to the right and stepped inside, but heard no music, just the echo of her own footsteps. She moved on to the uppermost tunnel and she listened there as well, still nothing. In the last, she heard the music as it echoed off the walls of the trunk. She closed her eyes and stepped through. No ominous 'whump' sounded so she looked around. Another four way.

This was really starting to make her angry. However, if she did something stupid now, she would never make it through all the turns before the sun set. She was relieved when she stepped into the first trunk on the right. She knew the song it went to the lullaby, but why was Grandpa playing it so quickly? She poked her head out of the trunk and saw her Grandpa, eyes closed, sitting on a stump playing his ocarina. She almost fell over when she saw the small ball of light, similar to the one the boy had with him. It hovered over him and bounced about in the air as it kept time with his playing. She took a step further out mesmerized by the song as well as the fairy. Two steps further and the fairy abruptly headed for the hedge and disappeared but that did not matter as she ran now half afraid she was seeing an illusion.

Her approach was still noisy enough to get his attention and he dropped the instrument and stood. Lunnaei all but tackled him when she reached him. He caught himself and steadied her. She only spoke after he wrapped his arms around her. It was only then she was sure she was safe and he would not fade away leaving once again alone. "I'm so sorry Grandpa, I don't remember stopping, but I must have. And then the road was gone and you were gone and then there was this boy and I ran after him..."

"No, no," her Grandpa said gently, "I should never have brought you to this place." He stroked her hair said, "I am thankful the Goddesses forgave my folly and brought my little Luna back to me."

'Little Luna.' Lunnaei smiled and hugged him a little tighter. He'd not used that pet name since she was seven years old and she informed him that it was a stupid name and she never wanted to hear it again. She realized now, that she missed that. "Grandpa?"

"Yes Lunnaei?"

"You can call me Luna again, if you want to, just not in front of the other kids," she amended.

She felt him chuckle as he said, "Alright but we still need to get to a safer place before the sun sets"

Lunnaei untangled herself and took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm ready. Which way?" she asked as she grabbed hold of his hand. There was no way she was letting go until they were out of these woods.

"Not far." He picked up his instrument and led her through the hedge. It led into a maze of hedges and after a number of turns she was completely lost again. All she saw around her in the waning light were more hedges. When they reached the base of a set of stairs her Grandpa stopped for a moment and examined them and when he started up them and she followed along. "Be careful," he said when she slipped a little, "these steps have a lot of moss on them."

Lunnaei nodded and noticed a number of broken and rusted weapons littering the way. When they reached the top of the stairs she looked all around but it was almost full dark now and she could not make out any of the details of the large building in front of them.

"Wow. What is this place?"

"This is the Forest Temple."

Lunnaei waited for more, but he said nothing else. She looked over at her Grandpa, he was looking at the Temple with a small smile, and she wondered what he was remembering. She was sure now the stories he told meant something more. She already wrote out the story about the hero's mother in her journal, not because she believed him but because she thought it to be a wonderful fable. After today though, Lunnaei decided she would have to get him to finish the fairy story tonight.

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