Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews and favorites! It's really a rewarding feeling every time I get an email notification that someone favorited, alerted, or reviewed this story!

And it's almost done…every time I finish a story, it's bittersweet. I'm happy to finish but also sad until I find a new project to work on. ^.^

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

XXX

Anju was so weak I had to carry her bridal style to the Mayor's Residence so the doctor could check her out. She ended up having so many wounds she needed to stay overnight. She felt unsafe sleeping alone so I stayed with her. I fell asleep slumped forward in the chair with my head on the bed while clutching her hand.

Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep at all. I woke up at 7:30.

I didn't take my eyes off Anju. She looked so battered and broken.

I wanted to murder Sakon. I wanted to torture him and make him suffer for what he did to Anju – and Scarlett.

Anju woke up approximately fifteen minutes after I did.

Eleanor entered a split second later. She started crying when she saw Anju and cried even more when Anju told her about Scarlett.

I felt myself getting angrier with Sakon by the second. So I left the room discretely to cool off so as not to upset Anju even more than she already was.

Just then Mother darted over to me.

…Well, so much for cooling off.

"Kafei, I am so sorry! I heard about what happened, and I can't help thinking that it's my fault! I–" I put my hand up to stop her.

"Mother, please just leave me be right now. My temper's flaring, and I need to cool off." I warned her, feeling my face growing red hot.

"Well here." She said, pulling out a piece of parchment.

"What is that?" I inquired.

"I need you to sign this. It's your ticket to running for mayor."

That's it.

My camel's back is broken…I felt it snap.

I snatched the parchment and ripped it clean down the middle.

Mother looked appalled.

"Kafei!"

I threw the now-ripped parchment down.

"What's wrong with you?" Mother shouts.

"You arrogant, pampered bitch! Don't you care about anything but yourself?" I screamed, causing her to put her hand over her mouth. "The prisoners have escaped, they terrorized and killed Tom's brother, they kidnapped my child, and their leader brutally beat and raped my wife and left her for dead! And you still concern yourself with such petty matters?" I got dangerously close to her, causing her to take a step back. "I am done with you, Mother. You may no longer call me your son. You're a selfish, vain, sickening woman and I am done with you."

Before leaving, I took note of Eleanor standing in the doorway, looking at me approvingly.

I made my way to the Laundry Pool.

Once there, I sat in the bench and put my head in my hands. And I sobbed…for the first time ever.

I actually sobbed.

"Hey." I heard a voice.

I didn't have to look to know it was Tom, but out of respect I looked anyway to acknowledge him. His eyes showed pain, just as I'm sure mine did.

I gestured for him to sit beside me.

"I heard." He said, taking a seat.

We sat in silence for a while.

"It's all my fault." I mumbled.

"What is?" he inquired.

"EVERYTHING!" I shouted, standing up and driving my fist into the stone wall. "Argh!" I shouted in pain, shaking my bloodied hand. "If I had never chased Sakon down like that…all of this could have been avoided." My voice cracked on 'avoided' and I found myself sobbing once again. "I'm a failure, Tom! I failed to run for mayor, I failed as a husband, and I failed as a father, just as I always knew I would." I say in between sobs.

"Kafei…" Tom tried.

"I wasn't able to protect the two most important women in my life…I'm just a big failure. Anju was right. I should never have let my ego get the better of me and chase after Sakon like that. Now he's getting revenge by targeting my family."

There was a long, awkward silence. I just stood there letting tears fall freely down my face.

Finally Tom spoke.

"Kafei…" he whispered. "You're angry at Sakon and the prisoners for messing with your family."

"Clearly." I mumbled.

"Well, they messed with my family too – my brother. They killed my brother. I want vengeance, and you need to get your daughter back."

I looked up at him in surprise.

"Tom? What are you implying?" I asked curiously. Tom finally turned his thoughtful gaze toward me, his blue eyes burning with a mix of anger and determination.

"You and I are goin' to Ikana."

I shook my head no.

"Tom! Sakon's not that stupid. I'm sure he's moved his hideout by now."

Now Tom shook his head.

"Kafei, remember the Iron Knuckle suit in my shop that you used as a peephole when your wedding mask was stolen?" I nodded.

"Of course. How could I forget?"

"Well, Sakon brought that thing in years ago. I normally would have sold it, but thought it'd be nice décor, so I kept it and turned it into the peephole."

"I don't understand why you're telling me all of this." I said. Tom stood up.

"Damn, Kafei! All those years of education they put you through back when you were livin' in the Mayor's Residence and you don't remember your Terminian history?"

I stared at him blankly.

"What the hell are you saying?" I asked.

"Kafei, Iron Knuckles only exist in the deserts of Hyrule and in Ikana. Sakon's hideout is in Ikana. Sakon used to live there. He told me he's been livin' there. He told me his folks died and was on his own at age thirteen. So he's been there a good two decades or so."

"And?" I asked, growing agitated with this seemingly pointless bit of information.

"When you followed him to his hideout, didn't you get an eerie feeling?"

"Very eerie." I admitted.

"And I'm sure you are familiar with the history of the war between the Garo warriors and the Ikana soldiers, right?"

"Yes." I responded.

"The eerie feeling you felt was from the fallen warriors. Their spirits loom all around Ikana with a thirst for blood. They attack anyone who isn't descended from them if they stay there too long. So why do you think Sakon was never attacked after two decades of living there?"

I felt a slight shiver go down my spine as I came to my realization.

"Sakon is a descendant of the Garo." I said in amazement. Tom nodded.

"Right. He told me once back when he used to be a regular."

"So why should we travel to Ikana?" I asked.

"Well for one, even if his hideout is abandoned, we might find clues around there as to where his new hideout is. Secondly, a man and his young daughter live there studying the land. I figure they might be descendants as well; otherwise they would have been targeted too. So maybe they will have a clue as to where Sakon could be. But I have a good feeling he's still hiding out there, maybe not in the same place…because what better a place to have a hideout than a haunted canyon that no one wants to travel to?"

"Sakon has neighbors in a haunted, desolate region." I noted. "Odd."

"Kafei, when we find them, I'll help take on the band of prisoners. I'll do everything I can to help you get Scarlett. But Sakon is all yours. But there's still one question…"

"What?" I asked.

"When do you want to leave?" I bit my lip in thought.

"Don't open shop tonight." I told him finally. "I'm comin' at 12:30 tonight. Be ready to go."

XXX

"Can we rest now?" I heard Tom ask, who was trudging along behind me slowly.

"No. Keep going." I replied, shielding my eyes from the bright sunrise. It was already dawn and we weren't even past the large fences yet. In fact, that's where we were struggling.

"Kafei…" Tom moaned in an almost whiny voice.

"Don't be a wuss." I replied, although I inwardly noted I was getting pretty tired myself.

Eventually we reached the top of the wall where we both collapsed, panting to catch our breath.

"We can't rest until we get to Ikana." I told Tom. "There's these boulder things over here that blow up on you, so mind your step." I'd learned the hard way from previous experience.

"Let's go." Tom gasped. We both darted ahead.

XXX

Anju's POV

I sighed contently as Mother and I stepped into the inn. It felt good to be out of that hospital.

"I think I'm going to go upstairs and rest, Mother." I said. Mom nodded.

"Yes, dear." She said, kissing the top of my head.

I made my way upstairs, eager to rest.

I couldn't help but wonder, however, where in the world Kafei disappeared to.

He must have fallen asleep at the Laundry Pool again, I thought to myself.

I finally made it to the bedroom and opened the door.

I gasped at what I saw.

There was Sakon.

Then I saw none other than Scarlett. She was fast asleep in her crib.

"Scarlett!" I shout, running over to the crib.

"Shh, she's asleep. You wouldn't want to wake her, would you?" Sakon asked in a sinister tone, his trademark creepy grin forming on his face.

I went to grab her, but he snatched her away from me.

"Please give her back to me!" I begged, tears springing into my eyes.

"Shh." Sakon repeated. "Let her sleep. You don't want her to suffer her death too much, do you?" he asked, pulling out a knife. I grabbed onto his arm.

"Please don't!" I begged. "Please!"

"Anju!" I heard a voice.

Next thing I knew, Kafei burst through the door. His eyes burned with a fiery anger when he saw Sakon.

He charged at him with full speed. Sakon grinned and held his knife out, awaiting the collision.

I squeezed my eyes shut and turned away.

The next thing I heard was Kafei's mournful cry.

"NO!" I sobbed. I looked up and saw Sakon clutching the bloody knife, his face twisted into that same sick, twisted grin.

He grabbed me roughly by the hair and hauled me to my feet, resting the blade against my throat.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked. "We'll give you whatever ransom you demand. Why can't you just give us Scarlett back and let us be?" at this point, tears were streaming from both eyes.

Sakon laughed.

"You thought you'd all just pay me off? Thanks to your idiotic husband, I can no longer come to Clock Town and make money off my stolen goods. Well I definitely made sure he paid for that mistake, didn't I?"

"You've already killed my husband. Do whatever you want to me, but just please don't harm my daughter." I begged. Sakon laughed.

"Why will you care what happens to her when you're dead?" he held the knife up threateningly. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the impact.

"Anju! Anju dear, wake up!"

"AHHH!"

XXX

I screamed, shooting up and breathing heavily.

I was back in the hospital room. It was early morning, and Mother was staring at me concernedly.

"Where's Kafei?" I shouted.

"No one's seen him since yesterday afternoon."

"NO!" I screamed, leaping out of the bed. The vivid dream was still in my head.

I groaned in pain, almost immediately falling backwards into bed from my still-sore wounds.

"Calm down, dear. He's probably either at Tom's or at the laundry pool."

"Mother!" I shouted, remembering my dream. "What if Sakon asked for a ransom for Scarlett?" I asked.

"Well, I doubt he would do that, dear. Then he'd be walking right into a trap by revealing his whereabouts. By then, Aroma and Mayor Dotour would have informed the authorities of his location."

"Oh…right." I sighed.

"I just wish that husband of yours would realize he can't just run from every single problem that he's faced with. First the curse, now this. He always disappears when something happens. He needs to quit running away from life."

"I have an odd feeling he didn't exactly run away, Mother." I admitted, feeling uneasy.

"Oh? Then what do you think happened to him?" she asked.

"I know him well. I know how he thinks and how he reacts to things. Mother, he didn't run away. He left to track Sakon down and get Scarlett back."

XXX

Kafei's POV

It took awhile, but we were finally able to track down Sakon's lair.

"Be very careful. Keep your eyes peeled for any signs of danger or ambush." I whispered to Tom. Tom nodded and we began to observe the room.

In the corner of the room there was a blue floor switch. I gulped inwardly, remembering what happened the last time I stepped on a switch and what that mistake nearly cost me.

I approached the switch cautiously, and then stepped on it. It opened a hidden door.

I darted over to the door, which immediately slammed shut in my face. I turned.

"Tom!" I shouted.

"Way ahead of ya!" he said, standing in the switch for me.

"Thanks." I said, darting forward into the next room.

There was Scarlett, sleeping soundly in a little makeshift crib.

"This is too easy…" I observed, being very cautious.

Sure enough, my only escape was cut off as metal bars slammed down over the door.

I heard a sinister laugh, and there was Sakon.

"You piece of shit!" I spat, my emotions flaring because of what he'd done to my precious Anju and the fact that even after all that, here he was dangling my child's life in front of me.

"Watch it, Dotour." He replied with a twisted grin. "You wouldn't want anything to happen to your pretty little daughter, now would you?" he asked, stroking her hair.

This highly infuriated me.

"How dare you lay your filthy hands on her?" I shouted.

I darted forward, drawing my fist back in preparation.

But suddenly I was grabbed roughly from behind.

"So this is the mayor's son, eh?" I turned and was faced with a burly man…one of the escaped prisoners, I presume.

The man chuckled.

"He doesn't seem like such a threat to me."

This angered me.

"Let go of me!" I shouted, attempting to squirm out of the man's vice-like grip…but to no avail.

Sakon laughed.

"He's quite pathetic. Where was he when we kidnapped his daughter? Where was he when I tortured his wife, hmm?" he was provoking me intentionally, I realized.

He then pranced up to me and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Here is a token of my appreciation for banning me from Clock Town, thereby making it impossible for me to sell my stolen goods."

Next thing I knew, I felt something violently tearing through the flesh in my abdomen.

I threw my head back and cried out in pain, my face contorting into a pained grimace. The sharp object was then violently ripped out, and the burly man let go and I crumpled to the floor.

The pain was so intense I couldn't hold back my agony-filled scream.

I pressed my hand against the wound and felt a warm liquid dripping out of t.

At that point I realized just how deep the wound was.

I looked up to find that my vision was blurring.

"Kafei!" I heard Tom shout.

This alarmed me.

He was still in the entrance room.

I meant to shout at him to run away, but then I remembered Scarlett.

"Scarlett…" I whispered, coughing up blood.

I began to crawl towards the makeshift crib, still clutching my wound.

What a pathetic sight I must have been.

"Kafei!" I heard Tom repeat.

"Tom, leave!" I shouted as loud as I could. However, the contraction of the punctured muscles I'd used to shout made me bleed even more, thus putting me in even more pain.

My vision became even more blurred.

Finally I reached the crib.

"Scarlett…" I whispered.

"You're too late." I heard Sakon whisper in my ear.

Just as I attempted to pull myself up to my feet, I felt another stab in my mid back. I gasped in pain.

The last thing I saw was Scarlett.

She was wide-awake at this point. She began to cry when she saw the state I was in.

"Kafei!" Tom's voice was the last thing I heard before everything went black.

XXX

"Kafei! Wake up, man!"

"Tom! Run!" I shouted, snapping up.

I was breathing heavily.

Slowly, images of Sakon's lair and Scarlett came flooding back to me.

My hands instinctively flew to my abdomen, but there was no blood…no wound.

I twisted my arm into an awkward position to feel my back.

There was no wound there either.

So it was…

"…A nightmare." I whispered, falling down into my sleeping position onto my back.

"Kafei, are you okay? You started twisting around violently and screaming." Tom told me.

My heart was beating rapidly, and I was completely drenched in sweat.

"I'm fine." I managed to gasp.

That dream had seemed…so real.

"Are you alright?"

"…Yeah." I responded, still a bit shaken up.

In the dream, when I'd been stabbed, I could feel the pain. Tom's shouting must have been Tom in real life shouting at me when he noticed me tossing and turning, but all the emotions I felt…how angry Sakon had made me by taunting me, the terrified expression on Scarlett's angelic face when she saw me, me looking at her through my blurred vision, knowing I was going to die and not being able to protect her from Sakon…it was so realistic. So…intense.

"Kafei?" Tom asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Are you ready to get a move on?"

At this I stood up, staring at the ground with my fists clenched.

"We won't get anywhere by just rushing into this. We both rushed in angrily because of what happened to our families. The only thing that rushing in blindly will accomplish is getting us killed. We need some sort of strategy. These men are going to be dangerous. They snuck out of a heavily guarded prison. Today, we need to get as much information of Sakon's current whereabouts as possible. Once we find the new hideout, we need to scope out the area and spy on the prisoners to see what exactly we can expect. Then we'll also need some better weapons." I said, showing him the dull steak knife I had brought. He nodded. "I want to rush in and shred them to pieces just as much as you do, Tom, believe me. But we need to remember that they are dangerous and don't forget that they have Scarlett in their possession…and her life is much too precious for us to rush in and make even the smallest mistake…" Tom nodded. "So let's go talk to this scientist guy and see if he knows anything about Sakon or the prisoners."

"Okay." Tom agreed.

XXX

Anju's POV

I felt relieved to be back at the inn and out of the hospital ward, but that alone still did not ease my tension about Kafei running off after Sakon…Tom too, I assumed must have tagged along. Cremia had come to check up on me and see how I was doing. She told me that the prisoners raided the ranch and Tom's brother from the Trading Post had tried to help her, but they had killed him. So once it got around town that Tom was missing as well, I knew that the two must have run off together.

Madame Aroma came to the inn. For once, she and Mother were not bickering because they were both worried about Kafei and Scarlett.

"What do you think of these, Dearie?" Madame asked me, holding out a big stack of posters. They had a picture of Scarlett, and it said "10,000 rupee reward…no questions asked" and to contact Madame Aroma Dotour with any information.

I sighed.

"Yes, they are fine." I commented, handing them back to her.

"I figure that the only reason they're doing this is to get back at Kafei for what he did to that lowly thief Sakon, but they are all interested in money…especially Sakon." She said.

"Yes, but if Sakon does in fact somehow get word of the reward, he will send one of his lackeys to come collect it. He's not stupid enough to come himself." Mother responded.

"While you do bring up a good point, Eleanor, I am inclined to believe that Sakon will show up himself – maybe with some bodyguards of some kind – to collect the reward. If he were to send one of his lackeys to collect it, there is always the possibility that the man he sends could run off with the reward money for himself…and from what I heard, the one thing Sakon cares about IS money."

"I see your point, Aroma. But what will you do if they do come to collect the reward? Then what? We get Scarlett back, but then these men have just avoided punishment for escaping prison and kidnapping because of the 'no questions asked' policy? So now we have a bunch of dangerous escapees on the loose, free to come attack our family in the middle of the night? These men need to be captured as soon as they're discovered, Aroma. They've already attacked Anju. Now the Curiosity Shop owner and Kafei have run off after them. So who's not to say they return with Scarlett, collect their reward money, then return one night to murder our families? They took down a gate guard. They're highly dangerous. You can't just have them return Scarlett and them send them on their way."

"On the contrary, my main priority right now is my precious granddaughter. Once we have her in our possession, Kafei and Tom will return, then we can decide from there what to do next."

"Kafei won't leave it at that." I interrupted, causing both women to stare at me. I blinked back a tear. "I know him. It's not enough for the prisoners to just hand back Scarlett. He's angry for what Sakon did to me and for kidnapping his baby. He'll want vengeance, and he won't stop until he gets just that. And I'm willing to bet Tom feels the same way about his brother. Now excuse me. I would like to attempt to get some rest." With that, I left both women in an awkward silence as I headed up the stairs.

When I arrived at the bedroom, I snapped.

I immediately thought of Scarlett and then of Kafei and Tom. Then I couldn't get my nightmare out of my head.

"DAMN IT!" I shouted, throwing anything I could get my hands on. Glasses shattered, clothes and random objects lay scattered about…

…Without looking, I grabbed another object to throw and barely managed to stop myself in time.

My dad's old pendant…the Pendant of Memories.

I collapsed against the wall, still clutching the pendant. I began to sob.

I was upset about the fact that I was stuck here in my bedroom throwing things and crying while my husband and his childhood friend were out risking their lives to save Scarlett.

I was tired of being helpless.

There had to be something I could do besides sit here and cry.

Burning with newfound determination, I stood up, slung the pendant around my neck, grabbed a cloak and a dagger (which we keep in a convenient place in case of a break-in), some bottled fairies (just incase), and I headed out the second floor door.