Much thanks to Blu for suggesting the idea of this chapter to me, and thanks to Hustino (and Blu again) for beta-ing it for me:D

Anju smiled slightly and nodded a goodbye and then turned to face the exit of the well. As she stepped into the light of the moon, she paused, looking up and blinking as if she were disoriented. After a moment of this, she shook her head and started towards the latter. As soon as her foot touched the first groove in the wall, there came an unnatural groaning from back in the well, causing Anju to stop. She squinted and peered back into the darkness, past Kafei, not even noting the rather bothered expression on his face. A moment later and shadowy hands reached out from the darkness, roughly grabbing Anju and throwing her back into the well.

She landed with a soft thud as her back hit the wall and she sank to the floor. The groaning subsided and the hands disappeared leaving a confused Anju staring at Kafei in shock. He turned to face her, cringing, before regaining his 'composure' and brought a more solemn look to his features. With a distressed sound and a frustrated growl, Anju stood up and tried to leave again, only to be stopped by Kafei's arm protruding in front of her.

"Anju...don't. You'll ending up hurting yourself..."

"Let me go!" She replied, despair in her voice, not wanting to admit what she knew to be true now.

"You can't-"

"You said I could!" She bit her lip and looked up at him with teary eyes, struggling to get past him still.

"I...was wrong." At this, Anju let out another frustrated sound, then pushed hard against his arm. This resulted in him pushing back...though a bit too much bringing Anju to stumble backwards into a wall. Teary eyed, she looked up at him with a quiet sob, and then turned to run into the shadowy depths of the well. He began to reach out after her, but then sighed and stopped, allowing his arm to fall back to his side. He turned his head slightly, looking up at the teasing moonlight with a disapproving sneer, and then slowly made his way back beneath the well again.

It was as if the past was repeating itself. Anju was running aimlessly about the well, hysterical, and with no clue of where she was or where to go. She was trying to find a way out. Any way out that would let her out...but it was the same as it had been back then. There was no other way out, no matter how much she wished there was. Even so, she refused to admit this, and kept pushing herself to run further and further, turning corner after corner, until finally she had to stop. By then she was crying, her lungs burning, her limbs tired and worn, too confused and rattled to have any idea where she was.

Wherever that may have been, she stayed there for what seemed like hours. Her sense of time had long since been absent. Regaining her composure proved to be harder than she would have liked, but even so, she managed to settle herself down after a while.

Looking up from her tear-stained hands, she absorbed her surroundings. She had seen this room before...briefly, however. It was a murky sort of room, more so than the rest of the well. Hanging moss covered the ceiling, and most of the floor was flooded with putrid smelling stagnant water, twisted and deformed hands reaching up from the muck in their forever preserved last attempt to grasp onto life. Blinking slowly, she wiped her eyes, and then noted the various redeads scattered about the room, staring lifelessly at her. She wasn't scared, though; she didn't have the energy to be frightened.

"He's not very good with things like this." She blinked as she heard the most human voice she had heard beneath the well since...Kafei. As she felt a hand on her shoulder, she looked over her shoulder to find a redead behind her, looking down at her. She jumped at first, her instincts telling her to run, but then noted something that changed her mind. It's wooden mask was broken near the chin; just like the one that had helped her a few weeks ago when she fell...and now, she understood him...it. Completely.

She was too busy thinking to give a response, so she just stared up at it blankly. The redead seemed to smile at this; well, whatever could have been considered a smile for it. It didn't have much of a mouth left; just most of it's teeth and a few strands of flesh that could have been lips at one time.

"Wh...what?" Anju finally managed to get out. The redead moved to sit next to her, being sure to leave a comfortable amount of space between them.

"Kafei. He...isn't around people that much." The following sound it made could have been taken as a laugh.

"Oh..."

"He really cares about you. Every other villager to come down here...well..." Her turned his head, resulting in a few snapping sounds, and then turned back to look at Anju, "...look at us."

Anju sniffed, wiping her eyes again. It had a point. So far, she wasn't a decaying zombie.

"I don't think he knew that the curse was going to claim you so fast. If he had, he would have let you go a long time ago."

"What's your name...?" Anju sniffed not really wanting to tread on the subject of Kafei at the moment."

"...Alan." He replied, folding his hands...or what was left of them.

"I'm An-"

"I know."

"He never shuts up about you." Another redead from nearby piped in, but silenced himself as Alan looked to him.

Anju blinked at this, and then turned to Alan.

"Is that true?"

"Yes. He's always talking about you. Always."

She wiped her eyes a final time, but remained silent.

"Please forgive him." Anju laughed slightly at this.

"Here I am, getting relationship advice from a dead person..."

"Well you don't look too alive yourself, Anju." Her face fell rather solemn at this, and she looked away. Alan sighed, "Sorry."

"There you are!" A familiar voice sounded in the room, and Anju of course knew who it was. She said nothing, nor did she turn around to face him.

"Please," Alan whispered, "You're stuck down here now, so you might as well." Anju looked to the redead and smiled slightly, nodding a thank you. As she felt two hands on her waist, she stood and turned to face Kafei, hands finding their way to his chest.

"I'm sorry..." He managed to choke out quietly as if it were a chore. Anju could tell that he meant it, though, and so she didn't push him for more. She nodded in response, and then rested her head on his shoulder.

"I love you." She blurted out. As soon as her mouth closed, her eyes widened and her breath stopped, and she remained perfectly still against him.

There was a very long silence that seemed to last an eternity before Kafei finally whispered,

"Thank you."