Blu: Ho-kay, good news and bad news.
Hustino: What's the good news?
Blu: Besides the fact that we finally updated? The good news is that the two of us are dating, silly.
Hustino: oh…score!
Blu: Knew you'd like that one, but aren't you going to ask what the bad news is?
Hustino: I think I'm liking the good news a bit too much to bother with that. But, just to humor you, what's the bad news?
Blu: That because of our tardy-ness, we've lost the…-counts the reviews- three readers we had.
Hustino: Oh, no! …Eh, the good news still makes it all better.
Blu: hehehe, yupp…but no kisses for you in front of the readers.
Hustino: Aww, come on. Most of the people here are corny romance readers and writers as it is! They'd enjoy some Hustino/Blu action!
Blu: …no.
Hustino: Can't win them all, I suppose…
.-.-.-.-.-.
Are you running child?
Search for Me
.-.-.-.-.-.
The grand, looming spectator that was the moon appeared to watch something near North Clocktown, ignoring the young, red-headed woman, who was awake far too late into the night, having been unable to sleep. Glad for the gaze of the hideous boulder looming in the sky to be off of her, she found some level of peace. Her nightmares--ones both while awake and asleep--began to gnaw at her, causing much anxiety and fear.
She had gotten some sleep, true, but it involved tossing and turning and now she was awake--a good three hours earlier than usual, but awake nonetheless. Groggy and disoriented, the innkeeper stepped down the stairs, making sure to avoid any squeaking boards to not awaken her mother or grandmother. Finding her way into the kitchen, she prepared herself some coffee, giving up on getting any more sleep and trying to distract herself from the pounding pain of a headache.
Pacing in the hallway outside of the kitchen--a feeble attempt to alleviate and distract her mind--she could not help but continue to think about the events over the past day. Who has told her the truth? Could the Mayor have just been kind to her so that she'd feel better? Was Cremia lying and in fact did whisk away her fiancé? Was the receptionist being cruel or was she telling the truth?
It made no sense for Kafei to have disappear as he had; none of the drinking buddies that had been with him that night knew where he went off to. Did he...actually leave her? Was this all because of her or something she had done? It was far too close to the Festival...their wedding for it all to be a coincidence.
Wasn't it?
Sighing, she set herself down into a chair right behind the desk in the waiting room. It was tidy, as usual, each and every little paper and pencil in its place. Even the cow candle, with its bobbling head, was absent of any dust and tucked neatly into a corner of the desk.
She stared into her cup, the brown liquid shimmering in the morning light. Kafei would never have left for anyone else, would he? They were in love. Despite everything else anyone would say to her, that one fact she held true and with that, she knew the truth. He had not left because of her.
She would have to wait for him.
But, in the meantime, what had happened to him? She hoped with everything she could muster that he was unharmed. If anything had happened to him...if she would, in fact, never see him again...she could not even bring herself to think of what she would do.
"Please," she said, sniffling, "Please be alright, Kafei."
Touching her temple with one hand, she felt another twinge of pain from the headache. Sighing, she laid her head down on the desk, hoping to earn at least an hours rest before her mother came down, demanding that the day's chores be done. Clenching her teeth, she couldn't help but feel as though a circus had trampled through her skull.
At that moment, she heard the sound of the front door being opened, but unconsciously ignored it, as she frantically--as frantic as a resting person could be, at any rate--grasped slumber, finally dozing off, until the sound of half a dozen voices tore her away, sending her upright in the chair. She watched as a pair of dancers, followed by a man with a strange pipe instrument marched in, with two men tossing balls to one another and laughing their brains out right behind. Bringing up the rear was their leader, the loudest of them all, shouting orders and insults.
After the group made their way upstairs and into their room, she was once again left alone in the silent room, with the morning sunlight. Gulping down the contents of her glass in one try, she laid her head back onto the desk, her eyes wide open, waiting for the day to begin so that it would end.
.-.-.-.-.-.
"Uh...miss?"
At being addressed, her eyes shot open, her body suddenly sitting rigid and straight in her chair. Oh dear, how long had she been asleep? She turned and looked at the clock hanging on the wall, her face taking on a look of horror on seeing the time.
Nearly two PM.
She let out a soft moan of disbelief, her hands coming up to cup her face. Her mother was going to kill her!
...Why hadn't her mother killed her yet?
"A-Are you alright, Miss Anju?"
The voice brought her back to reality, and, shaking her head in an attempt to clear it, turned her gaze from the wall to the person who addressed her on the other side of the reception desk. To her surprise it was ClockTown's lone mailman, a letter present in his right hand.
"O-oh, hello," she said unsteadily, bowing ever so slightly as she spoke. "How m-may I help you?"
"I have a letter for you," the postal worker replied, holding the one in his hand out to her. Gingerly, she took the note from him and flipped it over to find the front of it blank.
Her mind raced and heart beat loudly in her ears as she shakingly removed the letter from its envelope, wishing all the while it was from and at the same time not from who she thought it was. She willed her fingers to unfold the paper in her hands, but instead turned to the mailman again, addressing him in a hurried, "Who is it from?"
"The one who wrote the letter, I'd suppose," he replied hurried, a uncomfortable tone present in his voice and features.
"That's not what I meant," she half replied, half moaned. "Where did you get it from?"
"A mail box," he replied just as uneasy. This time her head fell back as the groan left her throat, hands falling over her heart as if to keep it in place.
"That's not what I meant!" She opened her mouth to ask the postman again, but on seeing his set face, decided against it and instead looked down into her hands at the letter that may or may not be from...
Her fingers still trembling, she unfolded the parchment and, her eyes wavering on the verge of tears, read the first line.
'My dear, sweet Anju,'
The tears on the verge of falling fell,
'I am safe.
'I apologize if I worried you in any way, Anju. I am unharmed and I am not being held hostage or anything of the like. I am away under my own choice and free will, but you must not tell anyone else. I wrote this letter for you and only you, so that you would know that I am safe.
'I know I am hurting you by doing this, but you must understand that I cannot see you right now. I cannot tell you why I am in hiding at the moment, and for that I apologize. It is for our own good, though, so trust me, please.
'While I am gone, do not take anyone's word for truth. The rumor mills have always done plenty of work when it came to me, and I am sure there are even more now with my sudden disappearance. Do not believe anything that I myself have not told you.
'I assure you that, if I could, I would be there with you right at this moment. Never before have I felt so detached or alone. I miss you. I love you.
'I will come back to you, even if I have to go through Hell. I promise.
'Love, Kafei.
'P.S. Please, do not mind the postman; I told him not to tell you anything, so do not become upset with him if you can help it.'
She spent a very long moment staring at the letter; not quite rereading it, but...just staring, thinking, doing her best to let it all sink in.
Kafei was safe.
The relief she felt at that fact, along with the fact that Kafei had not run away with anyone, was obscured by curiosity and dread. Why couldn't he have come to see her in person? What could possibly keep them apart, only days from their wedding? Would there even be a wedding?For now, though, she smiled and closed her eyes, pushing all the thoughts aside but one; Kafei was safe. Nothing else mattered at the moment.
"Th...thank you..."
The post man nodded, "You're very welcome, Miss Anju. I am just doing my job." With that, he turned to leave, returning to his rounds.
"Oh, Kafei..." she held the paper against her chest, her eyes still watering.
"Whoa boy, ain't this just awkward?" a female voice said.
Freezing, she suddenly realized that the mail man had not been the only visitor she had. Somehow, she must have overlooked whoever it was in the excitement. "Oh, I'm sorry! I-I didn't realize..." opening her eyes, she didn't see anyone at first, then looked downwards--there, a boy clad in green stared back at her, with large, blue eyes. She stared for a moment; something about those eyes felt out of place for such a young boy.
"Hi!" The boy waved politely.
Shaking her head to bring herself back to reality, she responded, "Oh, I'm sorry. Hello! Welcome to the Stockpot Inn!" Odd...she could have sworn that she heard a woman's voice. "May I help you?"
"Uh," the boy looked at her, thinking. At that moment, she realized the boy wore a sword and shield on his back--neither of which were simple children's toys. They were both quite obviously real weapons. A child his age? That's so unusual.
"Oh, snap out of it, dimwit! We want a room, that's why we came here, don't you remember?" the woman's voice--slightly more upset now than before--came back. Looking around, she could not see anyone there, other than the two of them. Looking back at the boy, she now saw a odd ball of light floating near his head, and with closer inspection, she made out a tiny body in the bright light, along with tiny, translucent wings.
"Oh! Right, right," the boy said, giving himself a light bop on the head for forgetting. "I'd like a room, please!" The child then forced what she could guess to be his impression of an innocent smile. This boy was ever so strange...
"Oh...do you have a reservation?" she asked, knowing they only had one vacancy because of the traveling troupe, and that room had already been claimed by someone who would be arriving that evening. For this boy's sake, she hoped it was him.
"Uh..." the boy looked over his shoulder at the floating glowing ball hovering in the air beside him. She could have sworn it made what sounded like a little annoyed groan before bobbing up and down, as if nodding. "Er, yes!" the boy replied finally. "Yes, I do."
"Oh good!" she let out a pleased sigh, a hand falling over her heart again. "Your name?"
"Link," the boy replied. Sure enough, his name was in the reservation list, assigned to the Dagger Room. She said as much as she handed the young child his key. The light ball gave a high pitched snort.
"That's a great name to give a room. I'll sure be sleeping soundly."
"Tatl," Link hissed, "be nice."
"I'm just saying."
"It's great to know that I have a place to stay while I'm here," the odd boy grinned at her. She smiled and nodded at Link, who continued, "Thank you, miss...uh..."
"Anju." she said.
"Thank you, Miss Anju!" Link continued to grin happily, as if she did him some great service. Really, if he had made a reservation, was there any worry? She was still genuinely happy to help, though.
"You're very welcome. You're well mannered for a boy your age. It's like you're seven years older than you appear!" She wasn't positive, but she thought Link's face flinched, as if she had said something wrong. What an odd boy...
The little ball of light bounced up and down in the air, as if acting aggravated. She heard the squeaky quiet voice again, also sounding aggravated. "Yeah, yeah, a room, that's wonderful. Let's go see the mayor already! We don't have time to be playing inside of a smelly little inn!"
Link reached out and shoved the little light under his hat, which caused the green cap to begin bouncing and the little voice shouting muffled, tiny curses. "Thank you again, Miss Anju. I need to go now, but I'll be sure to use the room when I need a rest." The little green-clad boy grinned, again, and walked out of the inn.
"What a very odd boy." She smiled again, "But he was sweet."
Soon after the boy left, the door opened and in walked a large, strange figure. She instantly recognized it as a Goron--a rare sight for her, even during the time of the festival. Not that few Gorons came to the Carnival of Time, but they never came to the inn and she rarely left it.
The Goron slowly trotted its way to the counter. After a moment, she caught herself staring, "O-oh! I'm s-sorry! My I help you?"
"Oh, yes...goro," the Goron shifted the weight of the pack on his back a bit, "I would like a room--goro."
"A...a room?" she looked at him, bewildered. Gorons rarely, if ever, came to the inn to spend the nights during the festival. Not to mention, she was sort of out of rooms. "I...I'm sorry," she tried smiling kindly at the huge figure, "But we're all out of rooms."
"Goro?" she received a confused look, "I have a reservation, goro."
"Res...reservation?" She looked down at her list of people that have already paid for rooms--which amounted to Gorman's troupe and Link. "...What is your name?"
"Link-goro."
She stared at him for a moment--a very long moment--and then told herself once again, as the traces of her headache returned, that she just wanted to go back to sleep.
.-.-.-.-.-.
"Miss Anju? Miss Anjuuuuuuuuu? Are you alive?"
She turned slightly in her sleep, vaguely feeling the prodding she was getting in the shoulder. She waved off what ever object was poking her absently and nestled further into her folded arms.
"See, she's just sleeping already. Now, put the deku stick away, Link!"
"Do you want to go back into my hat, because that's where you're about to go. Huh, is that what you want?"
"Goddess of Time, you're so immature."
She tried to ignore the voices that were blaring through her subconscious, but she just couldn't return to her dream. Poking her head out of her arms, she groggily opened an eye, trying to find the source for the two voices.
In front of her was the Link's little ball of light and beside that was...
Kafei!
She let out a shriek of surprise before toppling over to the ground.
"Miss Anju!"
"Look what you did, you idiot! You scared her to death!"
"I didn't mean to, I just.…"
Slowly, she regained her composure and pulled her self back up to the counter.
On the other side stood a very concerned green clad boy, his hand in the process of removing a mask from his face. She let out a disappointed and embarrassed sigh.
It had only been a Kafei mask.
"I'm so sorry, Miss Anju!" Link said hurriedly. "I didn't mean to startle you, I just—"
"W-Why do you have a Kafei mask?" she asked, interrupting the boy mid-sentence. "Are you l-looking for him, too? Are you the one that M-Mayor's wife hired to find him?"
The boy gave her a shrug. "I guess."
Her hand fell into her skirt pocket, fingering the letter she had gotten. If Link truly was the professional person finder Kafei's mother had hired to find her son, then she should tell him about the letter...but Kafei had said that the letter was for her eyes and her eyes only, and she didn't want to go against his wishes...but she wanted to find him so badly! She believed what he had said about being safe and unharmed, but she still worried. What would keep him from her? She had to know...but...but...
"I h-have some information f-for you then," she said finally, pulling out the letter, only to play with in her lap. "Please m-meet me in the kitchen tonight at eleven thirty."
Link smiled and nodded. "Gotcha, see you then."