Author's Note and summary (PLEASE READ. STORY WILL MAKE MORE SENSE): Okay, so awhile back, one of my readers requested that I write a story about Kafei and Anju. I finally found the time to do it. Their love, to me, is so beautiful even though it's just in a video game, and I hope I do it justice.
So about the actual story…I intended on making it three one-shots wrapped in one, if that makes sense. The first chapter/one-shot is in Kafei's POV. It starts from when he and Anju first met and up until it ties in with the events of Majora's Mask. The second is in Anju's POV. Some of the scenes are the same except with her personal thoughts and not Kafei's, but there's a lot of new scenes that Kafei's POV may not have mentioned or elaborated on much …so be sure to read both!
The first two, anyway, are meant to be tragic. Kafei's POV is exploring what might have happened if Link had helped up until the point that he did give Anju the Pendant of Memories, meaning she'd wait for Kafei, but Link never came to help Kafei retrieve the Sun's Mask from Sakon's Clutches.
In Anju's POV, Link helps deliver the letter and meet Kafei. He helps Kafei on the quest to retrieve the Sun's Mask but forgets to give Anju the pendant, meaning Kafei returns to the inn only to find that Anju didn't wait for him (you can look up the scene on YouTube or even play it in MM. Do the whole quest through normally but don't give Anju the pendant…it's very sad. Kafei arrives at the inn and if you talk to him, he comments on how lovely Anju's bridal gown is and how he wasn't able to keep his promise to her). Needless to say, in both tragedies, the moon does indeed crash.
But don't worry if tragedy isn't your cup of tea…I know when I read a tragedy I feel almost vaguely depressed the rest of the day! So for the third chapter, I made it a switch-off between Kafei and Anju's POV's and it ends happily. All goes well, the moon doesn't crash, and they are married. I was going to stop the story at the wedding, but I fell in love with writing about these characters so much that I continued writing about their marriage and stuff.
The story shouldn't turn out to be too long, but before I get reviewers complaining that I killed off Kafei and Anju, the third chapter is the happy one! I would recommend reading the first two however because it makes more sense once you read the third because of certain references to things that happened in the previous chapters. The reason I came up with the idea for this is because Kafei and Anju was the hardest and most time-consuming side-quest in the whole game…and I'm sure in real life Link would have failed to help them the first few times but kept playing the Song of Time to go back and try to help them again and again until he finally got it right.
So sorry for the long A/N. Without further adieu, I present to you the first chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda or any of its characters, but I'm pretty sure none of the writers on FF. net do…
Kafei's POV
I think I must have been about nine years old when I first met Anju. It had been raining, and she'd been at the laundry pool crying.
I'd seen her before. Her family had moved to Termina a few months before. They had come all the way from Hyrule in search of work and had opened up a cafeteria. It soon became an inn for travelers, which was always quite popular around the Carnival of Time, which attracts tourists from all around the world to Clock Town each year.
I remember the first time I saw Anju. She had been outside the cafeteria, holding her grandmother's hand and eyeing the town with curiosity as her mother and father unloaded their belongings from a carriage into the cafeteria. I'll admit…I've always had a thing for redheads (which is probably part of the reason why rumors began to spread about me and Cremia, but that's an entirely different story). I didn't make an effort to talk to her at that time because I had been hanging out in the little gang called the Bombers that I used to be the leader of (we were a secret organization that helped townspeople in need then wrote it in our notebooks...however, some of the older townsfolk saw us as a nuisance and seemed to think that we were troublemakers instead of "Leaders of Justice" as we liked to call it).
I remember later that day going home and hearing Mother gossiping about the newcomers. Now, everyone who knows Madame Aroma knows she likes two things: getting drunk off Romani Milk and gossiping. And when she gets drunk, there is no quieting that gossip-loving mouth of hers for hours. This flaw had earned her a bad reputation around town, being the mayor's wife and all. My father, Mayor Dotour, had no backbone and used to let her walk all over him constantly. And if someone ever tried to tell him about it, he'd quickly change the subject.
Anyway, Mother had just gotten back from the bar that night and she was gossiping to one of her lady friends about how much she hated Anju's mother Eleanor because apparently when they were teenagers, Mother remembered Eleanor coming down to Clock Town one year for the Carnival of Time. They became friends, and Mother introduced Eleanor to her friends and her best friend's teenage-love, Tortus. Then the night of the Carnival of Time, Mother caught Eleanor kissing Tortus behind their backs or something like that…I didn't pay much attention to the details. Just that Mother despised Eleanor and her family, and her current husband, which had been her friend's boyfriend at the time. Her friend had been depressed over it for a long time, especially since Eleanor took Tortus back with her to Hyrule and they eventually got married. Mother said that her friend never recovered, and that's why she never married. Secretly, I loved Eleanor for taking Tortus from Mother's friend, because then my sweet angel Anju wouldn't have been created.
Anju was really shy. She'd walk around town doing errands for her family and she wouldn't speak to hardly anyone and if someone spoke to her, she'd blush and answer with a quick nod or shake of the head.
Months passed by. Living under the roof of the mayor who also happens to have an alcoholic-gossip loving wife was never easy (which was probably the reason why I soon began sneaking into the Stock Pot Inn at night, but we'll get to that later). So of course I had to have a place to get away from it all: the Laundry Pool. Most everyone knows about the Laundry Pool. Wives go there to wash their family's laundry. But hardly anyone loiters there any longer than need be. That was the perfect getaway for me, and whenever I was stressed, hanging around the Laundry Pool always seemed to calm me. Plus, my friend's father owned a place called the Curiosity Shop (which he soon passed down to his son), and not many people knew this, but the Laundry Pool had a secret door leading to the storage room of the shop. I happened to have a spare key.
I remember I was annoyed with the combined stress of my father's mayor duties plus my mother's never-ending gossiping, so I had just stormed out to take a walk to the Laundry Pool (I gave up on announcing where I was going years before because my mother would send people to spy on me). Much to my surprise, someone was already there. It was Anju, and she was crying with her face in her hands. She didn't notice me standing there. I considered running away to give her some privacy, but I was too involved at that point, and something made me want to go comfort her.
I was nervous to talk to her, but I figured that chances were that she'd want someone to talk to, and she'd be grateful if I offered her a shoulder to cry on.
I took a seat next to her on the little bench she was on, and gently tapped her shoulder. She jumped in surprise and turned to look at me. The instant I looked into those beautiful blue eyes I knew that I wanted to be with her. I was only nine at the time, so I won't go as far to say that I was in love when I couldn't even practically spell love at the time, but I still knew at that point that I had it bad for her.
"Why are you crying, Miss?" I asked, trying to be polite. She sniffled and looked down at the floor.
"My mom just told me that my Daddy is really sick, and the town doctor said that there's nothing he can do for him, and he might die soon." The girl burst into tears again. I didn't know what to tell her. I didn't know how she felt. I'd never had anyone close to me die, and I wouldn't know what it felt like until ten years later. I settled for rubbing her back with a comforting hand.
"I'm sorry." was the best I could manage. Apparently that was enough, because she threw her arms around me and began crying into my shoulder. I was probably bright red, but my main concern after that was trying to make her feel better. After a couple of minutes she calmed down quite a bit.
"I'm Anju." She sniffled.
"Kafei." I said, holding out my hand to her. She accepted it and shook it.
"Thank you Kafei, for making me feel a little bit better." She gave a small smile, and I remember thinking how pretty she looked when she smiled, even if it was a small one. My mission from then on was to make her smile even bigger and make her laugh all the time.
"Do you come here often?" she asked me.
"Yes. It's my place to escape from home." At this, she looked at me weird. I explained the situation with my family. Suddenly she looked shocked.
"Oh, I'm sorry." She said quickly. I soon found out that one of her traits was that she was always quick to apologize. "I didn't realize you were the mayor's son. How silly of me. Back in Hyrule we had to bow to the leaders of a country…how do we show respect to political leaders here?" I shook my head quickly
"That's for royalty. We're not royalty, and we're not the leaders of a country, just this town. And don't worry about me being Dotour's son. I'm a kid just like you, and we should be friends." Anju's face lit up at this.
"Really? You want to be friends with me?" I nodded. She threw her arms around me again, making me blush again, or at least I think I did. "Oh thank you! I've never had a guy friend before!" she said. I smiled at her.
"Well now you do! Plus I'll introduce you to the guys some time! They'll like you!" I told her, but then I remembered Tom (my friend whose dad owned the Curiosity Shop, and who was also my "second-in-command" of the Bombers at the time). He happened to be more of a "ladies' man" at the time than me. He simply knew how to talk to a girl to make her fall for him, and I didn't because I was too shy. I silently wondered if there was a way to get around introducing Anju to him before he took her from me.
"You're the sweetest boy I know, Kafei!" she told me, which I'm sure made me blush again. As soon as I got home, I wrote about her in my Bomber's Notebook.
Tortus passed away less than two weeks later. The family had a private funeral for him. I waited for Anju at the Stock Pot Cafeteria (which became the Stock Pot Inn about a month later). When her family returned, I gave her the bouquet of flowers I'd picked for her (most of them were roses. My hands were all cut up but I didn't care at the time) and offered my condolences. Her mother apparently didn't know who I was at the time, but when I introduced myself as the mayor and Aroma's son, I saw a scowl briefly cross her features (she probably remembered her history with Aroma), but she quickly softened her gaze when she realized I'd come without my parent's knowledge simply to be respectful. I guess Eleanor had to appreciate that gesture whether she liked my family or not. She thanked me and I left the family alone to grieve. I remember Mother inquiring about my hands, but thankfully my father unknowingly came to the rescue by telling her I'm a boy and was probably just messing around roughhousing with the other boys. I'm glad Father said that because I couldn't come up with anything to say at the time.
Anju didn't come out of the inn to play for weeks. I wanted to go to the inn and cheer her up, but I also wanted to give her some time alone with her family to grieve. Finally one day as I was going on one of my usual walks to the Laundry Pool, I saw a redhead walking out of the inn.
"Anju!" I shouted, but paused when the girl turned around. It wasn't Anju. But Anju was the only redheaded girl in the town besides her mother, and there was no way that petite build could possibly be Eleanor. The girl smiled.
"Anju! Your boyfriend's here!" she said, giggling. "You must be Kafei! I'm Cremia!" she said, grabbing my hand and shaking it. Finally I saw Anju exit the inn, her lovely features covered by a deep red blush.
"He's not my boyfriend. He's just a friend." I barely heard Anju whisper to Cremia. Anju's blush quickly faded away and she ran up to me to give me a hug. "Kafei, I haven't seen you in weeks. I thought you had forgotten about me." I hugged her back.
"I could never forget about you, Anju. I was simply giving you and your family some space." I informed her.
Cremia had definitely had a crush on me. Her dad had been in town delivering milk from Romani Ranch, and she'd met Anju and they'd been playing. Apparently Anju had also described me to Cremia, and that's how she had known who I was.
Cremia asked me to take her on a tour around town. I agreed to be nice. I remember looking at Anju's expression. There was a pang of jealousy. So I invited Anju to come along too, which immediately lit up her expression. Cremia kept trying to hold my hand the whole time. I eventually just crossed my arms so she couldn't. Then in the middle of the "Grand Tour", she got bored and starting talking about how her mom was pregnant and she hoped it was a girl. Then she joked that the baby would be my future brother or sister in-law. I remember this made Anju look really upset. I then wondered if I should introduce Cremia to Tom and see if she'd fall for him like every other girl seemed to so she'd quit crushing on me.
Throughout the years, Anju and I became inseparable. Eventually Mother found out (I'm sure she sent one of her guards to follow and spy on me), and told me she didn't approve of me hanging out with Anju, but I obviously ignored her. Anju was also close with Cremia. Her mother had died giving birth to her little sister, who was named Romani after the ranch. Anju had comforted Cremia, telling her that she could relate to losing a parent.
We were all sixteen when Cremia's dad died delivering milk to Clock Town. He had tried to fight off some bandits trying to steal his milk but they had shot him to death with arrows. Little Romani had only been six. Cremia had brought her to Clock Town and as Anju comforted Cremia, I tried to comfort little Romani. Eleanor had let them stay at the inn for a few days just until they got back on their feet.
A few days later, Tom came up with the bright idea that we should all go to the bar and get drunk (apparently he thought it would help Cremia drink her troubles away). At first, Cremia was reluctant to go to the very bar her father had recently been killed trying to deliver to, but she eventually agreed. So Anju, Tom, Cremia, and I all went to the bar. Anju and I only drank a few to stay sober but Cremia and Tom became –in lack of a better word– wasted. I remember noting how beautiful Anju looked that night. She was wearing a simple baby blue dress and it really brought out her eyes. I figured that since I'd been crushing on her for seven years that would be a good night to make my move. I just had to wait for the right moment.
However, Cremia could always be counted upon.
We had to help Tom stumble back to the Curiosity Shop and listen to his father lecture him for what seemed like hours. Once that was over with, I walked the two girls back to the inn. Cremia's speech was slurred and she was stumbling all over the place.
"Cremia, I told you you'd had enough after your third glass, but you didn't listen to me." Anju told her. Cremia laughed loudly.
"Oh Anju, you're hardly any fun. You should just relax and let yourself go." She said in a slurred voice. Cremia then looked at me, and ran her fingers through my hair, then stumbled forward, almost falling face-first on the cobblestone. "Kafei, you're so…handsome. With your lovely violet locks and red, piercing eyes…and you're such a gentleman." She then looked at Anju. "I think I'm in love with him." She said.
"Cremia, you're wasted. Let's get you to bed." I told her. She then looked back at me.
"Oh, Kafei…you're always looking out for us girls. You're such a sweetheart…" without any warning, she grabbed my head, pulled it towards hers, and thrust her tongue in my mouth. I remember that she tasted like alcohol, and the kiss did absolutely nothing for me. After my state of shock, I gently pulled her away and looked at her like she was crazy. I suddenly remembered that Anju was standing there. Her eyes filled with tears.
"Cremia…how could you?" she shouted, darting away sobbing. I stared at Anju in shock. Was it possible that she had the same feelings I had for her?
"What's her problem?" Cremia said in her slurred voice again. She then turned to me and attempted to kiss me again, but I gently held her back.
"Cremia, you're drunk. You don't mean this." I said calmly. She shook her head quickly.
"No Kafei, I've always wanted you. From the first moment I saw you…"
"Cremia," I cut her off. "I'm in love with Anju. I'm sorry, but I simply cannot return your feelings…if those are your true feelings and not the alcohol speaking." I told her.
"But Anju just waited so long to make her move, I…"
"Her move?" I interrupted. "Wait a minute, Anju has the same feelings for me that I do for her?"
"Of course she does, you idiot! What are you, slow?" she asked, stumbling forward. Although that had been an insult, my mood immediately lightened up at this. Anju had feelings for me! I'd expected it for a while, but it was different to actually hear it from Cremia!
I decided I was going to make my move as soon as we got the drunken Cremia settled.
Once we got to the inn, I led Cremia upstairs to the bedroom she and her sister were staying at. Romani was fast asleep in one of the two beds. I told Cremia goodnight then went to look for Anju. I figured she might be in her grandmother's room trying to coax her to eat (apparently the poor woman went a little crazy after Tortus died. She called every boy she saw and sometimes Anju "Tortus" and she would always refuse to eat…however, I think she might have refused to eat simply because although Anju had many talents, cooking certainly wasn't one of them).
I went downstairs and knocked on her grandmother's door.
"I'm sorry, Tortus. It's simply too late to read you a story. We'll have to wait until morning!" I heard the old woman shout.
"This is Kafei. Would you happen to know where Anju is?" I shouted. Suddenly Eleanor appeared in the hallway. Naturally, she was scowling at me.
"What do you need, Kafei?" she said rather harshly.
"Did Anju go to bed? I can't seem to find her." I responded. At this, Eleanor's eyebrows elevated.
"I haven't seen her since this afternoon. I thought she'd return with Cremia." Her eyes suddenly narrowed. "If I find out you let my daughter get as drunk as you let Cremia get, I swear I'll –"
"No threat's necessary, ma'am." I cut her off quickly. "Anju didn't get drunk." I also wanted to add that I didn't "let" Cremia get drunk…it was her decision. But I decided it would be best not to anger the woman further. My main concern at that moment was Anju. Where could she be?
"Where is my daughter, then? Why didn't you stay with her?" Eleanor asked.
"She ran off. Cremia upset her. I thought she'd ran back to the inn." I told Eleanor. I decided not to get into too much detail about it. "I'll go find her and bring her straight home." I said, quickly running off before the woman could make good on any threats she had planned for me.
Naturally the first place I checked was the Laundry Pool. Sure enough, Anju was there on the bench with her face in her hands, sobbing. She reminded me of the first time we met seven years before.
"Anju," I whispered, walking over to her.
"Leave me alone, Kafei." She said without even looking up.
"No, Anju. I need to speak with you." I said, taking a seat next to her on the bench. I paused, not knowing where to begin or what to say. Also like seven years before. "Anju, what Cremia did was really insensitive. But she's just drunk. I'm sure she'll forget about it by morning."
"No Kafei, she won't." Anju murmured. "She's wanted you ever since I introduced you two. I guess tonight she finally decided to make her move."
"Okay, but like I said, she's just drunk. Besides, it wouldn't make a difference whether she was drunk or sober. I'm not interested in her. I'm in love with somebody else." I said, hinting at what I was getting at. Anju didn't seem to get the hint.
"Congratulations, Kafei. I'm glad you found somebody." She said, still refusing to look at me. "You deserve the best." Did she not realize that it was her I was in love with?
"She is the best." I told her. "She's the perfect girl for me."
"I'm happy for you, Kafei. Really I am. Do I know her?" she asked, looking almost defeated.
"You could say that." I told her. "She's smart, sweet, beautiful…everything I could ever hope for."
"She sounds perfect." Anju whispered.
"To me, she is. But no, she also has three flaws. For example, she's quick to apologize. Also, she can be very timid at times to the point that it's almost awkward. Not only that, but she isn't a very good cook, either." I said with a slight smile on my face. At this Anju finally looked up at me, finally starting to realize what I was getting at. "But you know what? I don't pay attention to those minor details. I look at her as a whole, and when I do, I see the girl…no, the woman that I wouldn't mind spending the rest of my life with." Tears immediately sprung back into her blue eyes, but this time they seemed to be happy tears. I caught one with my thumb as I stroked her cheek. "I love you, Anju. And no one else." At this, her whole face lit up.
"Oh, Kafei…" she whispered, leaning closer to me. I decided to close the distance between us with a kiss. It was a sweet, simple kiss…nothing like the aggressive, drunken kiss I had received from Cremia earlier that night. After a few seconds, I pulled away and looked deep into her eyes.
"You looked beautiful tonight, by the way." I told her. She smiled at this.
"I'm glad you noticed." She said, seeming happy. I then remembered Eleanor and the promise I'd made to her to bring Anju straight home.
"I would love to stay here with you the whole night, but I promised your mother I'd bring you straight home once I found you, and I don't want to further anger someone who already wants to rip me limb from limb and eat me for dinner." Anju burst out laughing at this.
"Okay, let's go back then. The next time I see you I want to see you with all your limbs attached, alive and well…not in a strange concoction my mother cooks up for us." She said, causing us both to laugh.
"I'm going to walk you home, and then I'll see you tomorrow." I told her, kissing her forehead.
XXX
The next day, Cremia and Romani went back home to the ranch. Cremia had decided they'd been away from home long enough. Naturally, Cremia had a hangover, so I decided to go see if Tom did, too. Of course he did, and as punishment, his father wouldn't allow him to enjoy the festivities of the eve of the Carnival of Time. My father had to help with the town's preparations and stuff, and my mother of course intended on going to the milk bar later on, so I excused myself from my house and spent the day with Anju. It was our first day spent together as an official couple. We didn't do anything out of the ordinary except an occasional kiss here and there. Anju had a yellow dress on that came to her knees and she had her hair pinned back in a tight bun. I commented on how lovely she looked, and thoroughly enjoyed the deep blush I got out of her. I immediately thought back on my mission I had when I was a Bomber to make her laugh and smile constantly. As soon as I got home that night, I intended on finding my old Bomber's Notebook and writing next to her name and picture that I'd completed that mission.
By time midnight rolled around, we watched the Clock Tower open and the fireworks burst. It was a very romantic way to spend our "first date".
"Anju," I said after the fireworks ceremony was over. Anju and I were sitting on the edge of the stairs leading to the Laundry Pool, and her head rested on my shoulder.
"Hmm?" she whispered.
"Did you ever hear about people who exchange Masks of the Sun and Moon and get married on the Carnival of Time?" Anju looked up at this.
"Yes. It's supposed to symbolize true love and ensure a long, lasting marriage." She said.
"Would you ever do that with me, then?" I asked almost awkwardly. It was basically an early marriage proposal. Anju's eyes lit up at this.
"Are you asking me to marry you?"
"No rush. We can wait a year or two to see if we make a compatible couple, but yes. I'd love to marry you and exchange masks and vows on the Carnival of Time. How about you?"
"Oh, Kafei! How romantic, I'd love to!" she practically shouted, hugging my arm.
"Let's make a promise, then. One day we will get married on the Carnival of Time, and we shall exchange masks. I will make the Sun Mask and you will make the Moon Mask."
"I promise." She said, smiling. I returned the smile and kissed her. "That reminds me," she said, reaching into her bag. "This was my father's." She opened her hand to reveal an intricate pendant painted blue, silver and gold. The pendant was attached to a string. "I want you to have it." I shook my head at this.
"No, Anju. I couldn't…"
"Please, Kafei. He'd want you to have it. You're my angel. It's like you were sent to me to make me happy after he passed away. It's yours." Her words touched me so much that it took everything in me not to tear up. Hesitantly, I accepted the pendant and put it around my neck.
"I love it. Thank you." I said as I examined the pendant. Anju smiled and kissed my cheek.
"I love you." She whispered.
XXX
The next three years went by rather fast. I proposed to Anju about a month and a half before the Carnival of Time, on her nineteenth birthday. That gave us plenty of time to work on our masks.
As I was putting the finishing touches on my Sun Mask a month prior to the wedding, I wondered how Anju's Moon Mask was coming along. Knowing her, it probably wasn't even near completion yet. She always tended to do things at the last minute. Once it was finished, I figured it deserved to be showed off to the guys and Tom at the milk bar later that night.
Yawning and stretching, I walked over to my little work desk in the corner of my room and opened my diary. In it I wrote:
The wedding ceremony is soon. It might be early, but I finished my wedding mask. I wonder if Anju has made hers? She tends to do things at the last minute, so probably not. There is a gathering of the fellows at the Milk Bar tonight. I plan to show off my wedding mask and talk about my sweetheart as best I can.
Once that was done, I grabbed my coat and mask and exited the house.
Once I made it to the Milk Bar, Tom and the guys were already there.
"Hey, Kafei!" shouted a drunken Tom. I smiled and shook my head at him. I guess he never learns.
"Hey guys." I said, taking a seat next to Tom. "I'll have the Chateau Romani." I told the bartender, handing him my rupees.
"Coming right up!" he said cheerfully.
"Is that your wedding mask?" one of the guys (Timothy) asked. I smiled proudly.
"Yep." I responded.
"Can we see it?" Victor asked from behind Timothy. Everyone appeared to be wasted.
"Sure," I said, holding it up so they could see it but not letting any of them touch it in fear of them dropping it or something.
"It's nice. How long did it take you to make, Kafei?" Tom asked.
"Eh, not long." I responded, letting myself brag a bit.
"Has Anju finished hers?" Victor asked.
"Probably not. She likes to do things at the last minute. But I bet she'll look gorgeous at the wedding ceremony." I told them, taking a swig of milk.
"Yeah, well, if it doesn't work out between you two, I certainly wouldn't mind scooping her up." Said Tom. This caused me to laugh. Tom was a flirt, but since Anju was officially mine, I knew he knew that she was completely off-limits to him, no matter what happened between us.
"You won't have to worry about that, Tom. Anju and I will last forever." I responded, chugging my second jar of milk. Normally I never drank that much, but I figured I'd have fun just for that night and let myself get drunk.
That was a mistake that I soon paid for.
There was a bald, grinning man at the Milk Bar that night. None of the guys seemed to know him personally, so I didn't pay much attention to him. He sat on the opposite end of the bar and just sat there slowly drinking his milk and eyeing my mask with interest. I didn't really seem to notice it much at that point, though.
After six glasses, I figured I'd had enough. I told the guys goodnight and left with my mask in hand. Thankfully I lived close to the Milk Bar; otherwise I would have had trouble stumbling around in my drunken state.
I whistled a tune merrily as I walked back to my house, happy that I'd be married to the love of my life in a mere month's time. Then out of the corner of my eye, something caught my interest. A lone little imp-like kid with a strange mask was sitting against the wall with his arms crossed, and he was staring at the floor dejectedly. Two fairies, one yellow and one purple, fluttered around his head.
"Hey kid, are you lost?" I asked.
"Will you play with me?" the kid asked, looking up at me. Then his eyes caught notice of my Sun Mask. "Hey Mister, that's a nice mask! Can I see it?" the kid got up suddenly and darted towards me. I clutched the mask protectively against my chest.
"Hey, easy! I worked hard on this mask!" I shouted, holding it just above his reach. The kid jumped and jumped but couldn't reach it no matter how hard he tried.
"How dare you pick on me? I just wanted to see it!" the kid shouted, leaping even higher.
"Quit trying to grab it!" I shouted. Keeping the mask high above my head, I began to walk back to my house.
"How dare he!" I heard him tell the fairies. "Just because he's taller than me he was able to keep me from seeing the mask!" I heard him mumble something to the fairies.
"Don't do it, Skull Kid!" one of the fairies shouted.
"Yeah, Skull Kid! Just let him go!" another one said.
Before I even realized what was happening, I involuntarily froze in my tracks. My clothes suddenly became a few sizes too large, and the ground was slowly coming closer and closer.
"What the hell?" I shouted. I stared at my hands, but they weren't mine! They were that of a child's! My clothes were saggy on me, my pants were now mysteriously shorts, and my shoes were much too big for my feet. "I'm never drinking this much again." I murmured, thinking the beverages I consumed were making me hallucinate. I then heard a sinister laugh. I turned around. The little imp was standing there laughing at me.
"You fool. You're not imagining things. I put a curse on you. Because you picked on me and used your height to your advantage, I made you small. You're now my size! Now you can see what it feels like to let bigger people pick on you!" the kid laughed and skipped away. "You know, I don't much like the people in this town. I think I'll curse the town to be destroyed!" the kid told the fairies. Then they disappeared.
"What the hell? Am I just drunk? I'd better go see Anju." I decided. I was going to climb up to the second-story balcony and go in through the secret door there that not too many people knew about.
On days when my mother would argue with my father, I used to sneak through that door and into Anju's room, and I used to spend the night just cuddling with her (no sexual contact whatsoever, much to Tom's disbelief. I would never pressure Anju into anything she wasn't ready to do). But when we were seventeen, her mother caught me, chased me out (I practically flew off the balcony to get away from that crazed woman), and she'd moved her bed in that room and slept in there with Anju for about a year to make sure it didn't happen again. I was pretty sure she'd finally moved back to the grandmother's room once Anju turned eighteen since Anju and I were adults by law from that point on, but I never risked going back again to find out (honestly, I think I'd sprouted my first gray hair that night. That was the most horrific experience I've ever been through).
I decided to try and see Anju, anyway. If Eleanor caught me, she'd see the predicament I was in and try to help…either that, or she'd use my new look as a good reason to tell Anju to postpone the wedding. I'd been friends with Anju for ten years, and her boyfriend for three. I'd tried to prove my faithfulness to Eleanor all those years and she still didn't like or trust me. I suppose it had to do with her and my mother's past. My mother had also tried to talk me out of marrying Anju, but after a few mean words were exchanged between us, she never spoke of it again.
As I was climbing up to the second balcony, I accidentally dropped my mask.
"NO!" I shouted, reaching out for it. Thankfully, it landed in a soft pile of dirt below. "Phew." I breathed. I began to climb down to get it. But suddenly the bald grinning man from earlier pranced out of the bar. The fallen mask caught his interest and he began to dart towards it. I dropped down and let the man pick it up. "Thank you." I told him, holding my hand out. I guess I had expected him to give it to me. I had thought he'd seen me drop it and wanted to help out. But I was completely wrong.
He apparently didn't seem to recognize me as the man at the bar from earlier, and he pushed me roughly. "Move, Kid!" he shouted. In my nineteen year-old state, I would have been able to maintain my balance and chase him down and get my mask back. But my scrawny ten year-old body couldn't handle the force of the push, so I fell on my back. As soon as I got back up, the man was prancing towards the East Gate.
"No!" I shouted, darting after him. But the guard at the gate stopped me. "What the hell?" I demanded.
"I can't allow a child like you to exit the town alone, especially at night! Go home, Kid! Where are your parents?" the guard demanded. I was about to retort, but then I remembered that if you looked any younger than fourteen, you weren't allowed to exit town by yourself without a parent or guardian.
"That prancing idiot stole my mask!" I shouted.
"I apologize, there's nothing I can do to help. I'm just a gate guard. You can bring it to the attention of the mayor tomorrow morning. The mayor's office opens at 10 am. They can sketch up a wanted poster if you'd like." I suddenly remembered that all stolen things usually tend to end up at the Curiosity Shop, now owned by none other than Tom! Maybe he could help me!
I darted towards the Laundry Pool and waited. Soon enough, my drunken, nineteen year-old friend showed up. He was smiling at nothing in particular as if he was daydreaming. He then took notice of my ten year-old body. His smile faded and he rubbed his eyes and blinked at me in confusion.
"Kafei?" he asked.
"Tom," I started to say. Tom blinked and shook his head.
"There's no way…who the hell are you, little kid, and why do you look like Kafei?" he asked.
"Tom, it's me! Kafei!" I protested. I quickly remembered the Keaton Mask he gave to me long ago that I happened to have with me (very convenient, I know…), so I pulled it out of my pouch and showed it to him to prove who I was. "Remember this?" Tom's mouth fell open in shock.
"The Keaton Mask!" he shouted. Then realization struck him. "What the hell happened to you, man? You look like a little kid!"
"That's because I am one, you moron." I said half-jokingly, but I was in no mood to smile or indicate that I was joking. "Some stupid little imp cursed me. And as I was on my way to sneak into Anju's room, I–"
"Ooh, you were sneaking into Anju's room? Damn, even in your kid form, you're still a little stud!" at this I glared daggers at him.
"This ISN'T a joking matter, you drunk imbecile!" I shouted. Tom's drunken smile faded slightly.
"Okay, man. Chill. What were you saying?" I took a deep breath and started again.
"I dropped my wedding mask, and some bald prancing man with a grinning face stole it and ran off with it." Tom's eyes widened at this.
"Are you talking about Sakon? That guy that was at the bar earlier?" he asked.
"Yeah, do you know him?"
"Yeah, he comes to the shop all the time to buy and sell stolen goods. I bet he's going to try and sell your mask to me."
"Yeah, and I can't be seen around town like this until that happens, especially by Anju. Will you let me stay in the back room of the shop until that Sakon guy comes by?" I asked him.
"You mean you want to hide?" I nodded. "Well you can't keep yourself cooped up in there for the Guardians know how long! You're going to have to come out at some point! People will eventually see you like this. It's inevitable." I bit my lip in thought.
"Well when I do go out, I'll just have to go out with this." I said, holding up the Keaton Mask.
"Oh, I see. You're going to wear the mask so people don't recognize you."
"Right. And I'm going to track that prancing man down and get my Sun Mask back in time for the wedding ceremony."
"That's nice and all, but what do you suppose Anju will say when she sees you like this?" Tom asked. I frowned at this.
"Well, we'll just have to worry about that when it happens, won't we?" I asked, wondering what she really would say.
XXX
"KAFEI! KAFEI!" I groaned as light flooded into the little room I was staying in.
"Damn it, Tom! Don't you have a hangover, too?" I shouted as I covered my face with the pillow. My head hurt from my first real hangover plus the stress of what had happened the night before. "And quit saying my name so loudly! Not only does it feel like a hammer on my brains, but someone will hear you!"
"It's three o'clock pm. My hangover passed hours ago thanks to a potion. Drink this and look. You haven't even been gone a day and your mother already had your face printed on each front page of every newspaper in town." He said, throwing the newspaper down on my bed and handing me a Red Potion. I groaned, sat up, and chugged the potion. I handed the empty bottle to him and began to read the newspaper. It said I'd been missing almost a day, and to contact Madame Aroma with any information and she'd give a good reward, no questions asked.
"Damn," I said, feeling a pang of guilt. My mother and I may not have always gotten along, but still, she was my mom, and I still loved her.
"You know, if the reward is big, I might turn you in myself." Said Tom with a chuckle. I just settled for giving him an odd look then shaking my head. I knew he was just joking.
"Don't breathe a word, Tom. I swear, if you even so much as hint that you know my whereabouts…"
"Don't worry, man. I've got your back." He reassured me. "But perhaps you should go see the Great Fairy in North Clock Town. She might be able to help you."
"Okay, but I'll only go at night when not too many people are on the streets. Someone's sure bound to notice my unique hair color." Tom nodded.
"Maybe we should shave it off for reassurance." He said, grabbing a purple lock. I quickly grabbed the strand and pulled all my hair to one side.
"Do not touch my hair, Tom." I said sternly yet with a slight grin.
"What? You don't think I could make it look good? I can make it look like mine, see?" I laughed at this.
"No thanks. I like my hair just the way it is." I said, smiling.
Later that night, I put on the Keaton Mask and made my way to the Great Fairy Fountain. When I arrived, a shock awaited me. There was no Great Fairy but a bunch of little pink fairies fluttering around in the middle of the fountain.
"Where is the Great Fairy?" I asked.
The fairies briefly explained to me that the same little imp that placed the curse on me placed a curse on the Great Fairy and broke her into many individual fairies and another fairy similar to the little ones was somewhere out in Clock Town. I wanted to go look for it but I kept myself scarce so I just headed back to Tom's.
XXX
About almost a month passed by and still no sign of Sakon or my precious mask (or the little fairy, for that matter). I decided to get a little fresh air so I put on my Keaton Mask and headed out.
As I was walking, I couldn't help but eavesdrop on some middle-aged women.
"Did you see that hideous thing? Apparently some people want to evacuate town because they're convinced it's going to crash down and destroy everything!" one woman said.
"Nonsense! Do you believe such a thing, Deirdre?" said another. I looked up into the sky to see what they were talking about. Right above town was a horrendous, moon-like object with a scowling face. I suddenly remembered what that little imp said about cursing the town.
"No…" I whispered, not willing to believe my gut feeling. The women continued to gossip, but mainly about pointless things. I tuned them out and just continued to stare up at the ugly moon. Could that odd little kid have really created something that sinister?
"Did you hear, Elsie? Madame Aroma just hired a professional investigator to find her missing son." Said the woman named Deirdre. This grabbed my attention. Was Mother really that desperate to find me?
"I spoke to Eleanor a few days ago. She's convinced that Kafei's run off to avoid getting married." I glared at this. Would Eleanor stop at nothing to sabotage mine and Anju's relationship? But then again, I had to admit, it didn't look good on my part disappearing a month before our wedding. How much time did we have left now? Three days?
"Beatrice, did you hear the rumors that he might have run off with that redheaded girl from the ranch?" this really made me angry. How dare people thought I'd leave Anju for Cremia of all people! Hell, I wouldn't leave her for anyone or anything for that matter! I began to wonder if Eleanor was behind all of the rumors.
"That poor daughter of Eleanor's…she's just so depressed. She thinks that Kafei's gotten cold feet about the wedding." Said Beatrice. I thought back on my notebook entry from ten years ago. So much for my mission.
But maybe there was something I could do.
I immediately darted back to the Curiosity Shop.
XXX
I sat back down on my bed, grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill, and I began to write Anju a letter.
Dearest Anju,
It's me, Kafei. I'm sorry for putting you through all of this, but simply try to understand. I can't see you right now. Something happened to me, but don't worry. I'm perfectly fine. Don't believe all the rumors going around town. I didn't run off with Cremia and I am not getting cold feet about the wedding. I actually want to marry you more than ever. I might not be able to see you for the next three days…something came up, I'm terribly sorry. But if all else fails, I swear to the four Guardians that I will be there on the Carnival of Time to exchange my mask and vows with you. Don't let your mother get to you and talk you out of anything. I swear I wouldn't miss our special day for the world.
Love always,
Kafei
I prayed she would believe me. She honestly deserved so much better than me, even I could admit that much.
Just as I sealed the envelope, Tom came in and threw a newspaper at me.
"Check this out, Kafei! Did you see that hideous moon-like thing?"
"Yes I did." I said, reading the newspaper. The front page talked about the moon, and my picture was on the second page. It still said contact Madame Aroma and it talked briefly about the investigator she hired. It also showed a picture of the mask she had personally made to look like me for the investigator to wear. Tom chuckled at this. "That thing looks nothing like me at all."
"It kinda does!" he said, bursting out laughing. I rolled my eyes, put the Keaton Mask on, and picked up my letter. "Who you mailing to?"
"Anju." I responded.
"Wait a second, I thought you were trying to hide from her."
"I am, but people –namely Eleanor– are spreading rumors about me and Anju's depressed thinking that I'm getting cold feet about our wedding. I may be an ass for hiding from her for this long, but I'm not going to be cruel enough to leave her hanging. I need to at least let her know that I'm not giving up on our relationship." With that, I exited the small room and went to go mail the letter.
XXX
The next day, I had been sleeping soundly when someone rang the bell in the Laundry Pool. Wondering who it could be, I quickly hopped out of bed, put my Keaton Mask on, and darted out the door. It was Victor, and he was wearing his postman uniform.
"Kafei, I have a letter for you." He whispered after looking around to make sure no one was within hearing distance.
"Victor? How did you–?"
"Tom told me you mailed a letter to Anju and he told me where you were staying at after I swore not to breathe a word. He said it'd mean a lot to you if Anju wrote you back and I mailed it to you. When Anju asked where I got the letter from you, I told her it was a secret, so don't worry. She has no clue where you're staying."
"Wow, thanks." I said, taking the letter and darting back into the room, forgetting to lock the door behind me.
I was both excited and nervous to read what Anju wrote back. She'd either say she hated my guts and never wanted to speak to me again or she would say she loved me and she'd wait for me. I hoped for the latter and I ripped open the envelope and began to read the letter as I ascended the staircase.
Dearest Kafei,
I have no idea where you are or what in Termina is going on with you, but I was so relieved to hear from you. I'm glad you're safe and that none of the rumors are true. There is a boy that helped me mail this letter to you. He is a young blond boy with blue eyes, a green hat, green clothes, and a fairy. If you see him, please trust him. If I get some sort of response from you through him, I shall wait for you in my room at the inn on the eve of the carnival. If not, then my mother is dragging Granny and me to take refuge at Cremia's ranch tomorrow night.
I hope to get a response.
Yours Truly,
Anju
I breathed a sigh of relief that Anju didn't hate me.
I jumped when I heard the door open. I turned around and expected it to be Tom, but it was a child dressed similarly to what Anju described in her letter.
"Green hat…Green clothes…" I observed. "Anju wrote about you in her letter. It seems you are looking for Kafei." I paused, briefly wondering whether or not I should trust him. "Can you keep a secret?" the boy nodded his head. I paused again. "Anju trusted you. I shall also trust you." I decided. Hesitantly, I removed my Keaton Mask. "I am Kafei." Suddenly the kid's fairy chimed in.
"The Kafei we're looking for is an adult. When I look at you, I just see a child." She said.
"I was turned into this by a strange imp wearing a mask." I explained to them. "But I'm not hiding because I look this way." I almost told them about me climbing up onto Anju's balcony in my drunken state, but I decided against it. So I changed it around a bit. "When I was turned into this, I went to see the Great Fairy in the shrine by the North Gate. But on the way, my precious mask – a wedding ceremony mask – was stolen from me by some prancing man with a grinning face!" I tried not to swear or insult the man and possibly change the child's perception of me because the fairy already seemed to not like me.
"Well…you're just careless. You're like my partner." The fairy responded. I bit back a retort. Although I didn't quite like the fairy, she was right. I had been very careless that night. I brought my precious mask with me to a bar where I intended to get drunk with my buddies, and then began prancing around town drunkenly with the mask. Careless? Yes.
"Before my wedding ceremony I was quite happy. I had been targeted because of what I had been turned into."
"Oh my. I pity you." The fairy said sarcastically. I almost felt like swatting the little thing out of the air, but I quickly pushed that thought out of my head. I didn't want the kid to not like me for harming his fairy partner. He seemed to be the only connection between Anju and me now. But that little thing was certainly getting on my nerves.
"I know Anju is worried…but I can't go out yet. I made a promise to her that I would bring the wedding mask and greet her." I put my Keaton Mask back on and pulled off the pendant that Anju had given me three years ago and handed it to the kid. "This pendant…give it to Anju." The kid nodded and accepted the pendant carefully. "Keep what we just talked about a secret from everyone." The kid nodded and dashed off.
I just prayed the kid was reliable.
XXX
That night, I decided to write a letter to my mother. Apparently the moon was going to fall the following day. I wasn't sure if the rumor was true or not, but just in case, I thought it'd be best to tell Mother I was safe. Maybe it'd encourage her to take refuge. I addressed it to "Mama" (like I used to call her when I was a little boy) and used first-class priority mail to write the letter. In it I explained I was safe and sound and that I loved and missed her and I appreciated all the hard work she was doing to search for me. I left the letter on my bed, prepared to mail it the following morning.
As a usual routine, that night I spied through the secret peephole (that on the outside was meant to look like the armor of an Iron Knuckle) into the Curiosity Shop to wait for Sakon. Just when I gave up all hope of finding my precious mask, the grinning idiot appeared! Tom slyly looked over at the hidden window and talked to Sakon like a regular customer. He spoke to him loudly, probably to make sure I heard. He even got in a loud argument with Sakon to make extra sure I was aware of Sakon's presence! Tom eventually agreed to buy the stolen bombs Sakon stole. Unfortunately, no sign of my mask. But I was going to follow that prancing creep to wherever he was staying at.
I quickly took my mask off and laid it on my bed and left Tom a quick note saying to give the blond boy my Keaton Mask and to have him deliver the letter to Mama. Just as I was exiting the Laundry Pool, I ran into Tom himself.
"Kafei, he's headed towards Ikana! Hurry!" Tom shouted.
"Thanks, man!" I told him, patting his back and taking off towards the East Gate as fast as my ten year-old legs could carry me.
The guard at the gate almost stopped me, but straightened up immediately when he saw my face. "Kafei?" he half-shouted, half-inquired. "Is that you?" he probably had been on the lookout from all the newspapers and missing person posters and stuff.
"No time!" I shouted, pushing past him before he could stop me.
XXX
I followed Sakon all the way to a cliff on Ikana. I discovered that he had a big hideout full of stolen goods there, and there was a big boulder-like door that only Sakon could open. So I hid behind a rock and waited for Sakon to return. While I waited, I stared up at that hideous moon. It was going to crash for sure. It had gotten noticeably closer and not to mention large earthquakes shook the ground every ten minutes or so.
"I'll wait…I've made a promise to Anju. He will show up." I said to myself. I waited and sure enough, Sakon pranced up and opened the door.
Inside was the Sun's Mask, sitting on a conveyor belt.
"It's the Sun's Mask!" I shouted excitedly. I ran up to it to grab it. Apparently I stepped on a switch I hadn't noticed before and it caused an alarm to go off and the conveyor belt to start moving. "Now I've done it!" I shouted. I went to go to the open door, but it abruptly stopped. I bit my lip. It was some sort of set-up to where the door only stayed open if someone was standing on the switch. I suddenly wished that the Green Hat Boy could be here to help me. "Ooh! The mask!" I shouted as I watched it fall into a hole at the end of the conveyor belt.
"Yes! My security system is impenetrable!" I heard Sakon shout.
"I'm locked in." I noticed. "Well, at least Anju's safe at Cremia's ranch." I whispered. Or so I thought.
The moon did indeed crash and it destroyed everything. It even destroyed the safe room I was locked in, which left me a way to escape. As soon as everything seemed clear, I stepped outside.
I hurried as fast as I could to Clock Town, or what was left of it.
Everything had been destroyed. All the houses, the shops, the mayor's office, the bar, the inn…the inn!
I darted to the rubble from the inn to see if there was anything left of it. Then something caught my eye. It was blue, silver, and gold, and it was shiny. It was the pendant. My heart skipped a beat when I saw a bloodied hand clutching it.
I quickly pushed all of the rubble out of the way, the boards and nails and glass tearing at my flesh as I did. Finally I managed to clear all of it. What I saw nearly made me die of a heart attack. It was Anju's barely recognizable body, still clutching the pendant.
She had been waiting for me to return like I promised her in that letter.
That damned letter.
It was my fault. Because of me, she'd died. If I hadn't sent that Green Hat Boy to give her the pendant and have her wait for me, she would have fled to the ranch with the rest of her family and she would have been safe and alive. It was all my fault.
Tears poured down my face as I stared down at her lifeless body.
"NOOOOOOOOO!" I screamed, letting tears fall freely. By now, everybody who had taken refuge had all returned to see the damage and the people they had lost.
"ANJU!" I heard a voice shout. It was Eleanor. She got down next to me and we cried together. Shortly after, Cremia followed and she looked at me in my child form confusedly, and then hugged me close to her and we both cried.
The whole town had a big memorial for the people they had lost – Anju, my parents, and Tom being the ones I knew. Eleanor didn't pay much attention to me, but she surprised me by nodding in my direction to acknowledge my presence at the memorial.
I figured she probably hated me for being the one who practically killed her daughter.
I hoped she knew I hated myself as well.
After the next few days, everyone had been laid to rest. I went to Anju's grave and said a little prayer. I then laid the pendant by her headstone and silently apologized for not being her angel enough to protect her from her tragic death. I then went to my parents' and Tom's graves and said prayers for them as well.
I never moved on. I left Clock Town even though it was being rebuilt. It held too many memories for me and I couldn't stand it.
I eventually grew out of my child form and aged normally, I was just nine years behind my real age.
I practically became a nomad, travelling to random places. I couldn't stay in one place too long for the fear of settling down with a wife. I felt like I would be betraying Anju. Anju…my sweet, beautiful angel that was taken from me so abruptly…the hardest part was knowing that it was my own fault, and I had to live with that on my shoulders for the rest of my life.