The life of a Fairy in the Kokiri Forest is expected to be a modest one. Charged by the Great Deku Tree with caring for the forest children, the Fairies dedicate their lives to helping keep peace in the Kokiri Forest. None of them could fathom a time when they would need to lead any of the children through a destiny filled with peril and history-defining consequences.
As the sun rises on a new day, this status quo is forever shattered by a call from a wise old father to an unsuspecting Fairy. Navi, a modest Fairy with a kind heart and a blue hue, is asked to summon a child to the Great Deku Tree. The boy without a fairy, he is called. Navi knows who that is, and with an unbridled eagerness to faithfully serve her mentor, she flutters with all of her might to the child’s home to introduce herself and collect him. She will not fail the Great Deku Tree. The intensity draped on his words and tone were enough to explain the importance of her task. Though, she is also confused. What the Great Deku Tree said did not make sense, but she has faith in him, and if he has faith in this boy, then that’s good enough for her.
The boy she finds fails to offer a good first impression, unfortunately. She flutters frantically around his head, trying to get his attention, but the boy’s slumber is hard to break. Now she begins to questions things, particularly how such a lazy boy could be so important. Navi breaks into the realm of irritation for a bit, but the child finally wakes up, Navi calms down and returns to her happy self, and the two finally meet. Navi and the boy, who says his name is Link, begin their partnership, with their first task together being to meet with The Great Deku Tree.
As anyone who has played Ocarina of Time can attest, Navi went on to be Link’s closest and most loyal friend during his entire adventure. Wherever they went, whoever they met, and whatever they faced, Navi was sure to offer Link help and advice. Granted, there are times when she seems to give excess advice, but if you examine her actions from her perspective, it makes sense. She was told to take care of Link, to do whatever she could for him. It was the last command from her beloved father. She would take it seriously.
With the humble hero’s journey now under way, Navi makes it her driven and determined goal to keep Link on the right path. She provides details about the enemies they face and how to combat them, she reminds Link of his tasks and what they are supposed to do next, and she helps Link find all manner of secrets, both trivial and crucial to their mission. Link has slowly become not only her best friend, but also a younger brother of sorts. She is going to do all she can to protect him, whether he likes it or not.
And he does like it, especially when a dramatic twist in their adventure takes them seven years into the future. Link’s eyes slowly open to a new reality. As he looks around himself, surveying the beautiful yet foreign interior of the Sacred Realm, Link realizes that he is now much older. He also takes in all of Rauru’s expositing about a world in peril. It is all so much. Link is completely out of his element, and he feels the weight of his mission on his shoulders growing heavier. It would be enough to crush anyone’s spirit — if they did not have a friend by their side to help them. Navi is that friend, and she has traveled through time as well, all to help her partner.
Across all areas of Hyrule, from the cursed confines of their former home, the molten inferno of the monster-ridden interior of Death Mountain, and even to the depths of the underworld, Navi flies by Link’s side. The demonic servants of Ganondorf and all of the obstacles they place Link’s way — the dungeons, the traps, and the obscured progression — are all exposed. She is Link’s eyes and ears.
The symbiosis between Link and Navi carries them far. Working together, their success earns them the right to make one final stand against Ganon within the ruins of the king of evil’s monument to his own greatness. Ganon had kept Navi at bay before when he fought Link as Ganondorf, but she refuses to let that happen again.
With her keen eyes on the prize, Link finds his openings on Ganon. The fight goes well, well enough for Link to recover his lost Master Sword, and with the aid of Princess Zelda and the other sages, Link is able to finally use the sacred blade to take the evil king down. As the dust settles, and Ganon fades into both memory and the infinite oblivion of his magical prison, Navi knows her calling has been fulfilled.
The day now saved, Link, who had been returned to his youth by Princess Zelda, returns the Master Sword to its slumber within the Temple of Time. He believes it is now time to finally begin his new peaceful life, with his best friend by his side. That is why he cannot initially process his emotions as he watches Navi float toward and then out of a window in the temple, leaving Link behind. She says nothing, and merely leaves as if called by something unseen.
Navi’s departure was a surprising and bitter ending to her role in Link’s life. They had been through so much together, yet she left him to face his entire future alone. Her actions were incomprehensible by Link, evident by his choice to search for her, which led to his dramatic journey through Termina. The life and motivations of Fairies are mysterious in the world of Zelda, but she would have not left without there being a good reason. Her mission was to help guide and protect Link, a goal she had accomplished, and the teachings and the friendship she had provided him with would not fade from his life after she left. They, and subsequently she, were now a part of Link forever, and Navi knew that.
