In another lifetime, he has been thrown into a mature body, then back into a child's. Now he finds himself in a foreign—alien country, where has been changed, torn into a whole different species.
They are four in his head to this day, but their presences are all that he has got; the only constant that he can grasp. He remembers the words Princess Zelda gave him as if they were still echoing again his eardrum; they were the only clue he had ever had of her remembrance of their previous lives and relationship.
"You remind me of someone I met a very long time ago, you know..."
The princess didn't remember. Instead, he found the sing-song words of a little girl which cut, corroded his heart like poison, denying the only bond he had to relate with what they had long ago been and done.
Even if they became closer again along the years, if he told her, if she believed it all, what they would have would never be the relationship he have had in that other life. Yet, the woman who had been a comrade in arms, his Sheikah friend and lover the and so much more was not dead; she never existed.
...And he was himself in the body of a Hylian child again.
Most of the time.
"You have no idea what it's like, to be stuck like this," Kafei said as he ran and hid from the woman he loved.
Familiar huh?
Most of the time, the Fierce One's comment were ghostly echoes in the back of his mind. (The Deity's interventions were rare, cynical, but always warm and caring. Very familiar.)
Still, it hurt to meet Kafei younger eyes. Because, the color aside, Link could swear that these eyes were growing exactly like his. And this built a treacherous illusion, making him want to speak of a tale of seven years, as if he could afford it; as if confiding to an estranged friend could be simple, without catastrophic consequences.
Link didn't even know if the Mayor's son was going to survive this time anyway. But the irony of it all curved into a hollow smile on his face.
Who was he anyway? He was not even sure he was completely Hylian anymore. Or mortal, the Deity whispered; but Link quickly dismissed his input. (He liked to think that he could keep some measure of his self, and his thoughts solely as his own despite of his predicament.)
And still, beyond, the spoiled child, presumptuous and scornful, there was faith and courage in the adult rendition of Kafei's eyes. They had adventured together and trusted each other even if it was for a short while on a sunny day when time worked for their doom.
He had been the best company Link had had at that point.
ஐ
Kafei crossed his arms on his chest.
Of course he was much too curious not to investigate why a small blond boy moved himself around /this/ purposefully.
Well.
Normally, he would have felt a little repelled by that boy because his demeanor reminded him of his own spell when he looked into a mirror...
But the boy had managed to earn the guards' trust, carried a sword almost as heavy as him, and sometimes appeared in the body of one of his four masks. Really.
But the kid's had got a kind of stubborn benevolence in his bones. An almost aggressive generosity, too. As if he couldn't accept to let someone hate him.
Kafei became less pressed to resist with time. There were not many in the town with whom he could have an interesting discussion. Suspicion squelched, he found himself regarding the guy as a friend.
When he thought he wasn't seen, Link still gave him remorseful glances at times. The kind of looks that you would give to an old acquaintance lost in time.