(Hi everyone. I just want to say that I would like you to forget the name 'Central District'. I'm going to replace it with Magnolia Town. Don't you think it sounds better?)
Chapter Three
Link stared out his window in his room at the Sun & Moon Inn at the view of the usually inactive, but alive Death Mountain volcano that lay far up north of Kakariko. It always had a ring of smoke circling the peak. It was dusk so the fading dark, orange red light the setting sun was emitting on the world made the view Link was looking at a lovely sight. He had checked into the inn earlier and left Epona at the stable available. He expected that it might have had no vacancy left as Talon had told him but it there was still a lot of it available so Link guessed that it was only the luxurious and expensive hotels that was starting to get filled up with reservations. After Anju had suddenly crashed in slumber, Link for some reason decided to wait to tell her his answer until he saw her again. But tell her what? That he would not just accept someone he hardly knew to live with him or that he would? He had a feeling that he knew what he was going to do, but… was he just in denial of that?
"Hoot! Hoot! Good evening there, Link!" said a voice. Link saw Kaepora Gaebora fly from the air to a nearby tree branch next to his window. Kaepora was a big and rather plump owl with very long, elegant eyebrows with piercing eyes and along with his straight posture gave him a noble, dignified appearance. His look on his face was often one that was stern, but at the same time, he was always kind, light-hearted, and eager to offer anyone he met who was in need of advice or counsel.
How convenient.
"Oh, Kaepora. Hi there. So what brings you here?"
The owl chuckled. "Link, don't you know by now? I'm here to help you. Serve as a guide."
"Oh…well then, about what?"
"Link, it makes me proud to see you all grown up, making hard decisions, and constantly tackling all those obstacles in your life…and just because you love doing it" Kaepora explained.
"Uh…just what do you mean?" Link asked.
"Link, what I'm trying to say is this: listen to your heart. You'll know what to do if you just listen. And listen well. If you do just that, you'll see in the end that you won't regret it"
"Uhm…gee, thanks Kaepora…" he said, not quite sure what to say what the owl was even getting at.
"Oh, by the way, I have this message right here" he also said and Link finally saw that there was a letter rolled up with a ribbon placed around it being held in Kaepora's feet. He handed it over to him.
"Well my boy, I must be going off now. You be good, you hear? Farewell Link." And Kaepora flew off and away.
Link saw that the ribbon had the royal seal of four triangles arranged together to form an even bigger, single one with each of the exterior triangles colored in gold. This symbol was the mystical Triforce that represented Hyrule and the royal family. He unwrapped the ribbon and read the letter.
Dear Link,
I would really appreciate it if you could pay me a visit, so I asked Kaepora when I saw him to give you this letter. You may or may not have heard, but we are currently planning for the Great World Festival to be held here at Castle City and I must say, almost everything looks in order and both my father and I are looking forward to it. However, there is just one slight problem. I would like to discuss it with you. I am very busy at the moment, but in a few days I will be free to meet you. Please do come to Hyrule Castle when you are as well. I promise that this is nothing very serious.
Sincerely,
Zelda,
Her Royal Highness the Princess of Hyrule
So, the princess wanted to see him? Fine then, he thought. He would come to the castle when he'll be free in a few days. In fact, he'll come in two days when-
When Anju would be mostly recovered from her injuries.
That thought had come back to his mind. What would he do? He just remembered Kaepora saying that he should listen to his heart. Throughout his travels and journeys, Link had met and got to know people ranging from warmly friendly to hostile and mean. It was one of the two greatest joys of traveling, the other seeing all those wonderful and memorable sights. The people he had met were often in need of his help and he had often aided them and in return, he would receive gifts such as money or various miscellaneous items and most of all, that proud, elated, and sublime feeling. The kind that made him feel good about himself and that he was glad that he could help. Now he knew what it was he wanted to do and couldn't doubt it.
Link now anxiously awaited the moment when he would give his answer to Anju when he would see her again. After all, she only wanted to stay with him temporarily, right? His home in Magnolia Town was a little small, but it was comfortable and two inhabitants would be suitable. The town was also a peaceful, yet vibrant little place where there were all kinds of fun things to do like fishing, hiking, or even going on picnics at the park to name a few. It would be nice to have a companion for a little change.
He smiled to himself. Boy, this was going to be one simple, easy, yet still self-enriching side quest, even if he would not get anything material in return.
About two hours later...
As the sun descended and as the moon rose, Anju layed there in bed looking out the window from which gentle, soft winds came in. The night wasn't so cold, she thought. Right now, Anju was feeling embarrassed. Because she was careless, she fell down a flight of stairs, but even before that, proved herself to be almost completely incapable of looking after a (rather large) hotel despite working at an inn for much of her career. She almost wanted to cry again, but this time was able to resist. She then thought of how her mother was telling her that she was being so foolish, so stubborn to just venture out on her own all alone and that in the end, she would only be hurt. So far so bad, it was beginning to seem like it. As Anju stared out at the window from her bed, a sudden flicker of a sparkling projection appeared in the sky and then fade. And then another appeared. And another. And another.
They were shooting meteors! A whole shower of them was quickly passing by like waves of arrows being shot.
Getting up slowly from her bed because her body still ached, Anju went over to the window to get a better look at the little wonder before her up in the skies.
She then remembered one special evening when she was a young girl lying down on the fields with her father observing the sky up above. It was both one of the few and best of the memories she had of him. It was a cloudy night and not one little star or any trace of the moon could be seen shining.
"Papa? Why are we looking at the sky?" the young Anju asked thinking it was boring and a waste of time.
"Well sweetheart, the stars are really beautiful, don't you think?" was her reply.
"But I can't see any" she complained.
"But don't worry, you will. Just be patient."
The moments went by and the sky only seemed to continue to stay the same.
"How much longer?" Anju complained. Her father only chuckled.
"One day you will Anju. And on one special night, you will see shooting meteors and they'll come down just for you to see them. And when they do, I want you to make a wish. They say if you do, it'll come true" her father tried to explain.
"What kind of wish?" she asked.
"Oh, any kind you want. It's up to you dear."
"So what are shooting-"
But before she could finish asking the question, Anju's mother called out to the both of them from the tent. She had her hands over her hips.
"That's enough you two! It's way passed Anju's bedtime and you know it. Get over here this instant! I knew that camping out in the middle of the fields was a bad idea from the start and you dragged Anju and I along with it! I knew that you'd get too carried away with doing all these silly..."Anju's mother scolded as the both of them walked back to the tent with Anju sitting comfortably on her father's shoulders.
"Should we wish for Mama to like outdoors better?" her father suggested looking at Anju with a twinkle in his eyes.
Closing her eyes and folding her hands together, Anju thought deeply trying not to waste any of the precious, limted seconds and moments she had until the shower stopped. But it came in time. "I wish for a happy life in a happy place with a special someone to share it with!" she said. Anju knew it sounded childish, or silly, but it felt good to feel like little girl again since that memory of her father came up. To be honest, she wasn't expecting anything really. When she opened her eyes, she saw that just a few moments after she uttered those words, the shower ended with a big meteor coming by and explode like a firework.
After that, glittering dust fell.
Two days later…
That morning when the sun had started to rise, Anju was finally able to move with greatly decreased pain. She didn't need to stay in bed any longer and the nurse had told her to just for a few days more to be careful and not move around so much to leave her body at ease. She also told her that the bill had been paid already by that young man who had dropped her off and come to see her, which provided some relief. But where was he? The nurse didn't anything else about him, she said. Did he leave her? Forsake her? Well of course, Link had no responsibility at all to look after her and she had no right to want or request any more of him, nevermind asking if she could stay at his home, so it wasn't at all his fault and after doing more than he already should have done, it was time that Link just simply left her here and then now-
The door to the room opened and to Anju's surprise, there Link was, smiling.
"Hi Anju" he greeted.
"Oh, Mister Link. Good morning, I thought you already left…" Anju said. And then went straight to saying "Listen, I'm sorry to have asked you to let myself live with you…I really shouldn't have… I was just feeling a little upset and I didn't know what else to do."
"Please, don't apologize. I'd be happy to take you in temporarily. One of the great joys of traveling is meeting and getting to know new people, so this is nice for both of us" he explained. "Would you really want to come with me?"
Anju thought for a moment. What had been her 'home' in Kakariko City was simply a room at the hotel that was given to her by Rauru and now that he fired and evicted her, she no longer had a place to live. And there was something… something Anju trusted and sensed in Link's glowing sapphire eyes and his kind, friendly personality. She decided to go along with her feeling.
"Yes, of course… I don't have any other place to go to right now" Anju said almost just staring at Link unable to believe that she was this lucky.
"Alright then. Let's get ready. But before we go to my home in Magnolia Town, we have to make a stop first" Link began. "You and I will be visiting Hyrule Castle. Today."
To be continued…
(Please everyone! Send a review or comment and thanks for reading!)
