A/n: Thank you all for reviewing, I'm so happy I got so much support, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Yay! You are back Hyperfoxchild, and thank you Fanfic-Lover for reviewing every chapter (I about had a heart attack when I saw I had thirteen more reviews). I'm glad it's finally making sense Lutheon, I was worried that (in this chapter) I either hadn't been very clear or maybe that I threw out too much info at one time (I have a tendency to do that).

Its good to hear you like the story AnimeStars, and don't worry about not being able to review every chapter, sure it's nice, but I understand that sometimes, it just can't be done. I hope you aren't getting too tired of the twists, because there are going to be a few more before this story is over. Well, here's one chapter more, I hope it is good.

Chapter 14: Almost About Anju

An evening mist fell upon Clocktown, making it seem as night. The people hurried to the dry buildings, away from the wet rain. The Clock Tower was empty of its crowd. Skull kid and his master stood before the great doors that were built below the base of the tower. A great wheel turned behind them as they fungal infested water ran under it. The tall man breathed heavily.

"He should be coming soon, I can feel it." He said. The doors began to creek; the rust fell in light flakes as the metal of the great doors slowly gave way to a mysterious force.

"I knew it, he's almost here." The man gasped with anticipation. Skull kid shuddered as he felt the coming storm.

The dark passageway was revealed as the metal subsided. Three figures stood on the other side; one dark and mysterious, one still stood in the darkness, and one was pale as a ghost. The figure that was still hidden in the dark stepped forward first. Light fell upon him, the man gasped with surprise.

"You… you look like." He began, but the dark image held up his gloved hand.

"The one… yes."

"Link…" The skull kid added. Devoren cocked his head to the side.

"You know him?" He asked the little scarecrow of a kid. He shook his head.

"Yes, we had him with us." The man explained. "But the guardian came and freed him from us." Devoren rubbed his temples.

"So he has found the one with the sword?"

"Yes, my liege." The man got down on one knee, placing a hand to his heart. "But do not fret, my army can take them back. I have gathered them in various places all over Termina." Devoren was surprised, for the first time he had come alive.

"What is your name?" He asked the man.

"Gaft…"

"Well, Captain Gaft." Devoren said. Gaft became giddy at the thought of being called 'captain'. "Be prepared to come with me to Hyrule. But first, I have some business to take care of." He turned to Jabono. "Come, your daughter must be somewhere close." Jabono smiled in relief. "I'm sure they have taken refuge in an inn somewhere."

"The only inn of this town is Stock Pot Inn. I can take you there immediately." Gaft said. He turned to lead them up the stairs, and into West Clock Town.

A light shone from the window in the kitchen of the inn. The storm clouds created the illusion of night. Jabono stared inside, he gasped.

"It's her. My daughter! My dear daughter." He exclaimed when he saw her having dinner with the four other characters. Devoren grabbed his shoulder.

"You cannot speak with her yet, she has been brainwashed by the enemy." He ordered. Nit flew out of his hat and circled his head.

"Hey! Another fairy!… and another you…" She looked from Devoren to the man sitting at the table with Jabono's daughter.

"Yes, he is the one…"

A loud cracking explosion surprised them all. The ones at the table ran into another room. Steam poured out of one of the near windows.

"Come." Devoren told the three; Gaft, Jabono, and Vereor. "We must wait for the opportune moment." They disappeared into the mist of the evening.

Link and the four had been eating dinner as they discussed the old man's message. Naomi had just been discussing what he could mean by 'sects' when their conversation was broken by the explosion in the other room.

They had all rushed into the room of Anju's mother, smoke was pouring out. Kafei's voice was the first to be heard.

"Am I an adult again?"

The smoke cleared, and the young Kafei stood in a strange contraption with his eyes closed.

"What are you doing?" Naomi asked, horrified. Anju coughed.

"Well… I know Link had promised to help, but I was just hoping that this would work, since the curse was set by a Majora's mask, I wondered if our wedding masks could reverse the effects, and then you wouldn't have to find the giants."

"How on Termina did you make that connection?" Tatl deadpanned. The grandmother was also coughing in her wheelchair. She then began talking in her raspy voice.

"Anju's about as good a chemist as she is a cook… and that's not saying much." Anju glared at her mother as Link sighed.

"Well, don't try anything else. I will figure this out for you tomorrow." Link ended and stepped back out to finish his meal. Arian followed behind him.

"Don't worry Anju, he'll be a man again soon enough." Naomi comforted as the girls turned to leave. Anju smiled.

Having sat back down to finish their dinner, Amy began a conversation.

"I think we should help you. That way we can get it done faster, so I can focus on finding my stone." Amy said. Although she didn't mean to bring up her stone, she was simply reasoning to herself aloud. Link put down his fork.

"I think it's best if I do this myself…" Amy glared at him, he looked back down to his plate. "What is this stone of yours anyway? Do we know where it is?"

"Sakon had it." She replied in a sassy manner. Link laughed.

"I can go by there after visiting the giant at Stone Tower. Sakon usually enters his lair in the evening." Link said casually.

"Hold on, evening?" Amy snapped.

"Yes…"

"What do you expect us to do all day while you're, doing whatever?"

"I don't know, entertain yourself."

Arian and Aura looked expectantly at Naomi. She shrugged; she couldn't think of anything to interrupt the fight with. Naomi bit her lip as she watched the fight go on.

"What if we don't want to entertain ourselves?"

It suddenly came to her. Naomi pulled out her little staff.

"Hey guys!" She interrupted. Arian and Aura sighed with relief. "Did I tell you what the old man told me?" Link and Amy quickly turned their heads to Naomi, their faces still fraught with anger.

"No." Arian answered Naomi lightly. The little pirate girl looked from Link to Amy. Naomi smiled nervously as she pulled out the mini-staff.

"See this…" She held it up. "This is the staff the old man gave me." The look of anger dropped from the face of Link, but Amy was still glaring subconsciously, making Naomi nervous. "If I push this sapphire here…" She fidgeted with it, touching the stone. Nothing happened; she began to panic. "I just push it… hit it…" She began beating it against the table. "Extend, dang it!"

The wooden pole extended immediately, shooting out to full length in the blink of an eye. Everyone heard a 'whomp' and mumbled cursing. Naomi's eyes widened.

"I am so sorry Link!" She exclaimed as she pressed the sapphire again to make it shrink. "I still don't know how to work it." Naomi and Arian pulled Link into his chair as Aura and Amy laughed; well… Aura made an effort to contain her amusement.

Link held his hand to his head. Naomi fretted and Arian sat rigidly back into his chair.

"Here, let me see." Naomi pulled Link's hand away. Under his gauntlet, on his forehead, there was a large welt in the shape of the staff's end. "Oh…" Naomi whimpered. Link glared at her, irritated by the whole ordeal. His angry glare then returned to Amy; who was laughing so much that she had begun to snort.

"I can make an anti-inflammatory and pain killer." Naomi said as she began looking around the kitchen. "I'll put it in this bottle." She pulled up an empty wine bottle. "Then you can come down and drink it, and all the swelling and pain will be gone by morning." Link sighed and slowly got out of his chair. "Arian, will you help him to your room?" Naomi asked. The two boys left, and Amy finished laughing. It made for a nice beginning to the night.

Arian locked the door, just as the sun went down.

"Here it goes." He said. In an instant he underwent the transformation. Link put a pillow to his head.

"You know, in all my years of fighting, I've never been hit on the head like that…" He said from under the pillow as Arian the wolf sat on the other bed. "It doesn't hurt, so much as it makes me really dizzy."

"Don't worry, Naomi's stuff should make you feel better."

"Do I have to take it?" He grunted as a little child would.

"If you don't make one more appearance, then the girls will come snooping around here. Just go and tell them that I've already fallen asleep, and drink that stuff. You know how persistent Naomi is."

"Now is that any way to talk about the one?" Link teased. Arian rolled his eyes.

"Come on now… she doesn't even like me that much. We had a moment, and then she got to know me."

"Well, not the real you. Just the overly paranoid and mysteriously disappearing you." Arian sighed heavily.

"Right…"

Naomi was currently stirring a boiling pot full of herbs and a few other remedies that she seemed to be putting in at random. The aroma was surprisingly pleasant, a rare thing to happen in the kitchen of Stock Pot Inn. Aura watched Naomi curiously.

"How do you know this will heal Link? It looks like you're just guessing the ingredients and throwing them in." She scratched her head.

"Oh, well it's just something we Pirates come by naturally." Naomi said without thinking. She quickly realized her mistake and went stiff. Aura raised an eyebrow curiously, and Amy, who was also in the room, looked up from picking at her nails idly.

"A pirate? But I thought you lived here in clock town." Amy said, her brow creasing in confusion. Naomi stuttered.

"I-… I um…" She trailed off; she wasn't a very good liar… and that was an understatement. "Well.. I could… happen… to.. have been… yeah." Aura coughed uncomfortably.

"Naomi, just tell us the truth. You can trust…me…" she looked at Amy awkwardly. Amy turned to Aura, surprised.

"Of course you can trust me too!" She flushed. Aura nodded, her eyes apologetic. Naomi spoke timidly.

"But.. you promise not to tell Link… right?" She looked at them pleadingly. "I know if he found out, he would have trouble trusting me… And we have enough trust issues as it is!" She looked at Amy pointedly. Amy nodded with a genuine smile, something she hadn't done for a while.

"Of course we won't tell!" Aura replied enthusiastically. Naomi sighed in relief.

"I am a pirate, and I was born one… to my knowledge. But I don't really look like them… or act or talk like them for that matter." Naomi's eyes gazed back at her pot. "But…" She sighed. "Do you understand why I don't want Link to know?" The pot began to simmer.

"Woah," Amy interrupted the conversation. "Don't dip your hair in it too!" Naomi looked at Amy confusedly and then at the pot.

"Oh!" She pulled her hair back, to keep it from dipping into the pot. "Thank you."

"Here, just tie it back with my ribbon." Amy let her own hair down, the brown waves framed her face. She handed the red ribbon to Naomi.

"Thank you." Naomi laughed. "Your hair looks nice down." Amy grunted, being unused to compliments. The pirate girl wrinkled her nose in another laugh as she turned back to her pot, tying her hair with the ribbon.

Her dress ruffled in the back with the movement of the arms. A small blue portion of the top, however, did not move at all. Aura squinted, it seemed to be a part of her skin.

"Is that a pirate tattoo?" She asked naively. Naomi stopped stirring the pot to glance confusedly at Aura.

"What?" Amy was also confused by the question.

"That blue thing on your back?" Aura pointed. "What is it?"

"Oh that…" Naomi said in a regretful tone. "It's not a tattoo… it's a birthmark." She began trying to move her ponytail so it would cover the marking. "It's just another thing that separates me from the pirates." There was a short, awkward silence as Aura lost her attention span. The word pirate rang in her head.

"But don't worry." She regained a train of thought after Amy coughed. "I know what you mean about the… trust issues..." Aura replied, staring accusingly at Amy. A moment of silence passed as Amy slowly caught on to the hints.

"What? Why do you guys keep looking at me?" Amy asked defensively. Naomi couldn't help but grin slightly.

"Well, as long as we're being honest… You and Link sure haven't hit it off." Amy rolled her eyes.

"That's obvious! I can't stand the guy! He.. just brings out the worst in me. I swear, I don't usually act this way, I just.. I despise him." She scowled, thinking of him. Aura was a bit curious.

"Well why? He seems nice to me… well.. most of the time…" Amy groaned.

"Well, when I first met him, he had the nerve to call me a thief! And he is so arrogant! He thinks that just because he's a hero, he can just step all over normal people like me!" Aura coughed, badly concealing her laughter.

"Normal? You're pretty far from normal. And you call him a thief all the time!" Naomi said candidly and poured the completed mixture into the empty wine bottle. Anju walked into the kitchen, smiling at the sight of the girls.

"Oh, so you're finished eating?" The three girls nodded. "Alright, well I would appreciate some kitchen space, because I need to cook some dinner for my mother… she still won't eat!" Naomi thought for a moment.

"Do what I do, pour wine on it while it's cooking. It usually adds a lot of flavor." Anju nodded distractedly, while she turned on the stove. Naomi continued,

"Well, if Link happens to come by, will you tell him to drink from this bottle?" Anju made a sound of affirmation as she gathered ingredients.

Aura, Naomi, and Amy all walked upstairs, passing by Link. Naomi stopped him abruptly.

"Link, I finished the remedy for your head. It's in the kitchen, ask Anju for it."

"Alright, I sure hope this stuff works." He replied somewhat tiredly. As Link turned the corner, he heard her call out 'drink all of it!'. Link waved his hand.

He waltzed in on Anju monotonously stirring a foul smelling soup. Link cringed as he gagged silently.

"Uh… Anju?" He called, wondering if he should disturb her. She made a faint noise. "Did Naomi give you my remedy?" He saw her nod and point to a counter with a two wine bottles on it. "Wow, she made a lot." He said aloud as he walked over and picked up the first bottle. Link took a sip gingerly.

"This tastes pretty good." He commented, but Anju wasn't listening. Link went to the lobby to finish his remedy.

"Wine… I should add the wine now…" Anju muttered to herself as she reached over to grab the other bottle.

A/n: I wonder if you guys can guess what's going to happen next? Well, I'll try to get the next chapter up a little sooner than this one, sorry for the delay. Please R&R!