AN: This is another thing I am currently working on right now. It's just a basic romance story that will switch between Kumatora's and Duster's perspectives. There will be some graphic stuff later on, but I hope this will be grand. Enjoy. Also, I don't own Mother 3
You've really grown up
I remember as a kid that my caretaker, Doria, would read to me bed time stories. Most of them involved princes or brave knights saving damsels, some who happened to be princesses, from tall towers or from the evil clutches of a dragon or a powerful wizard. Two things ticked me off about those stories, though. One, the endings were all the same. They would live 'happily ever after'. Nothing more. Nothing less. They never told of the future that was held for the two 'lovers', like they could've gotten married and had kids. And the second thing that REALLY got on my nerves? It was always the man saving the woman.
I one day brought this argument to Doria, and we basically had a debate that lasted for 10 minutes about roles of a male and female in stories, because frankly, I was sick of the man saving the woman. I argued that a girl could be strong enough to save herself from the evil wizard …
"… because I know I would!" I said to her.
"Kumatora, darling!" Doria piped, trying to calm me down by my shoulders, "It's not proper for a princess to do such … manly things …"
"But I have these powers!" I exclaimed, shaking my fists, "Why can't I use them? I'm strong, I'm brave, and I can fight --!"
"You are also a princess, sweetie." Doria interjected, "And the princesses in these books always waits for the man to rescue her. That way, they'll surely fall in love and –."
"But what if that man turns out to be a real jerk?" I asked.
This seemed to stop Doria in her tracks. "Well, I …" she coughed, "The books always described them and kind and hansom …"
"But that could only be a disguise!" I argued loudly, "That man could maybe act kind on the outside, but on the inside, he could treat the woman like crap and –!"
"Kumatora!!" Doria exclaimed, apparently upset at the single swear I said, "No need to use such words in this debate! Now say your sorry or else I'm cutting your play time with the mole crickets!"
I grumbled under my breath. Damn, she had me. "Sorry, Doria …"
"That's better … now …" Doria sat on the stool placed beside my bed, her elbows sinking into the soft cushions placed at my feet. "It's true that you should never judge a book by its cover, and it's also true that a man and woman are equally powerful."
"But -!"
Doria held her hand to my face, "Let me finish, Kumatora." She said, coughing, "You're free to choose to save yourself from an evil wizard's clutches. It's just, if you do, the man of your dreams won't have the chance to woo you and prove to you his worthiness."
"Yeah, but as I said …!"
Again, Dora held up her hand. "I'm not done yet!" She said, again coughing, "It's true that there's a chance that that man could end up being a complete jerk. But if that's so, why would he go out of his way to save a damsel in distress, eh?"
She had me caught there. I opened my mouth several times to speak, only close it again when I could not think of an eligible argument. Frustrated, I slammed myself into the cushy pillows of the bed, pulling the covers over my shoulders. Wow, I was angry. The kind of angry that made me just want to go to sleep and pretend this whole conversation never happened. I turned my head towards Doria, my face twisted in grumpiness, my frown deep. "When I grow up, I'm gonna write my own story!" I said, determined.
Doria merely smiled the kind of smile you would see on a mother after telling her you saw the tooth fairy. "I'm sure you will, dear."
"And in this story, the woman's gonna save the man!" I exclaimed, sitting up in my bed, "And the woman's gonna be very strong and brave like a man!"
"I'm sure she will dear." Doria said as she blew out my candle on my bedside table. "Just make sure the man and woman fall in love … Good night dear."
I still remember those words. Make the man and woman fall in love. Was that the only point of the stories she told me? To have them fall in love? Why can't there be a story where a man saves a woman, and that's it? They just say their thanks and goodbyes and leave? Why must a Man and woman fall in love?
I asked this question to Aeolia after I was relocated to the Osohe castle, and she just merely answered "It's part of life – you'll fall in love no matter what."
I just shrugged it off, not really knowing what the hell being in love really meant. I was still having a hard time adjusting to my new environment. I lived there for several years, growing up with the ghosts around me, learning some fighting techniques, going to Aeolia to ask her questions, the works. I've never made an attempt to make social contact with the outside world since Aeolia never pressured me to – she would rather have me wait until my prince came to rescue me from these enclosed halls of an ancient ruin.
Several years would run by before I would run into another human being – a MAN even. And at the worst of times too, when I got my foot stuck in a stupid-ass trap. It was a good thing old man Wes was there to save me, freeing me quicker than I could free myself. Old Man Wes and his son, Duster, joined me to defend the egg of light against the Army that had the nerve to invade my castle. I was so relieved to have company, even though I couldn't show it. And even though Duster wasn't the 'man in shining armor' Aeolia and the others hoped it would be, just having human contact was enough.
But then came that fight with the giant serpent that swam beneath the Castle sewers, the one the ghosts would tell me about before bed time. Seeing it for the firs time actually intimidated me, but Duster made sure he defended me with all his skill. Once we finally beat that snake, the Egg was securely back in our hands – only to have it snatched away again as the sewers opened up, washing Wes and I to a nearby shore while Duster was swept away to the sea – even today it's hard to pinpoint where the hell Duster landed after we were washed away.
After that, it became my life's work to search for the Egg of light. Wes told me of its importance, and since he was so old, I took it upon myself to search for it and that son of his while I was on my way – it was likely they were together anyway.
Two and a half years. I spent two and a half years searching for him. I asked everywhere I could, looking high and low for him. My searches ended up dragging my ass to this club called 'Titiboo' (Oh hell, the NAME made me quiver), and I found him. I found the man I was looking for. But when I came up front about him, the egg, everything, he only stared at me, blinking furiously. So frustrated I was with him that I ended up beating him to a pulp, which later got me thrown out of the club.
It was official that 'Kumatora' was on their permanent 'Ban' list, so I decided to approach this another way. I had disguised myself as a waitress named "Violet", getting on everyone's good side. Duster, or rather, "Lucky", still had no memory of our adventures, but once I mentioned the egg of light, something in his mind ticked. He told me how he had hidden the egg because he somehow knew it was important. That there was this impression made on him that he had to protect it.
Well, at least it was a start.
Lucas arrived, and soon I dropped my disguise and went back to being Kumatora. It felt good – I hated being in a skirt. We ventured forward in search forward to look for the egg. Long story short, we ended up getting the egg back, Duster regained his memory (Which made me happy for some odd reason) … and we had our asses hauled to the Thunder tower.
Ever since he regained his memory, I kept a close eye on him, making sure he wouldn't lose it again. Although I never figured out why. I … liked it that he remembered me, that he remembered our adventure together. Every time he would recall our little episode in the castle, it would make me smile.
There was something he said shortly after we were chased further into the Thunder tower that made me know he still remembered. It's something I'll never forget
He studied me, looking me over, and he smiled, saying "You've really grown up, Kumatora."
This startled me. I mean, consciously I knew I was growing up, but I guess I was waiting for some one else to notice it to make me actually care. I … I was growing up. I was growing into the woman the Magypsies hoped I'd become.
This realization died soon after (I mean, hey, we were on an adventure and all), but it soon came back shortly after Lucas pulled the final needle. It happened at least, two, maybe three days after. I had suddenly become depressed. Depressed that the world had changed. That the Magypsies were gone (Not exactly dead, but just gone). That things would be different from now on. I've never accustomed to change very well. Duster approached me one evening, after 2 nights of sitting alone, just thinking.
"Hey" He greeted, raising his hand towards me. I didn't even regard him, all I did was just sit there on the grassy hill, knees up to my chest, my arms wrapped around them.
"You look a bit down." Duster said, walking towards my side, "Mind if I take a seat?"
I did not answer, nor did I give him any signal to sit himself down. But he did anyway. I tried glaring at him, but I was just too damn depressed to even move my head. He gave a loud sigh, and he turned towards me, his frown carved into his face.
"Kumatora, what's wrong?"
"Everything's changed."
Duster blinked at me, "Is that all?" he asked, as if it were actually obvious.
"Duster, the Magypsies are gone, Lucas's brother is dead, the world got replaced, all these changes are … they're happening so quicky!!" I snapped, thrashing out at Duster, "I feel lost, I feel scared, and I feel miserable, Duster! I'm too afraid to think what the future will bring us!"
"Kumatora" Duster whispered, his mouth hanging agape.
"Duster, I'm scared. I know I've never said that before, but I'm scared. Scared of what will happen. What will happen to Lucas? To Flint? To this town? To You? To me?"
Duster smiled, putting a hand to my shoulder. "Kumatora. You've really grown up."
I blinked. "I'm sorry?"
"You're realizing your fears. You've never really been that open to me before. I'm saying you've really grown up in this adventure, just like Lucas."
"Hey!" I snapped, "I'm not a kid, okay?!"
"I know, I know, you're a woman. A fine-grown woman. But just because we're adults doesn't mean we can't keep growing. I think I've grown too."
I looked at him, and he looked at me. He was smiling, his eyes bright despite the evening darkness. He then got up, staring at the evening sky, his enormous hands creating large bulges in his pockets. "It's okay to be afraid of the future, Kumatora." He said, "But we've got to make sure we mold that future with our own hands to make sure it's a better one."
He looked back at me, his eyes still bright. "We need to take certain steps in creating that future. Right now, though, Lucas needs our help more than anyone. Y'know … with …"
"Yeah … I know …" I said, getting up, "Nippolyte and Bronson already told me they have the funeral set up to go whenever Flint gives the signal … Poor Lucas is so heart broken right now …"
"Yeah … let's do our best to make him feel better."
I nodded and gave the thief a hug. I could feel his body tensing as this was unexpected, but I didn't care. What I really care about was that he hugged me back, and I swear, I could feel that I was so close to tears. I managed the bite them back down my throat so they'll never show, and I smiled at him when we broke apart, nodding.
"Lets go back home." He said, nodding back at me.
I waved to him as his back was turned to me, but soon after, my hands lowered to my chest, my heart rate quickening. I felt something deep within myself, I just couldn't describe what it was …
Now that I look back, I think I have written that story I told Doria about. Where the woman saves the man. And that the woman was equally as, if not, stronger than the man. I ended up helping Duster regain his memory … with Lucas's help, of course. But in the end, Doria may have had her wish come true too. Where the man and woman fall in love. I … I ended up falling in love with Duster. I really did. I don't know why, but I did.
I really have grown up.
Wow, this was WAAAAAAAAY longer than I expected it to be. Ah well, Next will be duster's point of view.
