Chapter Two: Great Efforts to Forgive

That bastard…! Who does he think he is?!

Anger boiled into rage; it was so powerful that it formed a pit deep within the Hero's stomach. He would be imprisoned if helping was a crime, for sure! Ridiculous, ungrateful, conniving, inconsiderate, rude, immature, selfish-

Link threw out a sigh. He reached the bottom of the stairwell in one piece. Thank the Goddesses. Tatl expressed concern without yelling for the first time. She's watched a frustrated hero pace enough to nearly form a trench on the wooden floor.

"Link…"

"Not now, Tatl."

Sure, Link can give that little brat his space. In the meantime, there were more important matters at hand. Everyone had to be scattered throughout Termina. Who is to say the Four Giants reached Clock Town without damaging surrounding areas? He needed to check up on all provinces; maybe then he could drag Kafei by the ear to whomever gave birth to him.

Yeah, the thought tempted Link greatly. He glares up at the second floor to Stock Pot Inn. Seriously, manners can be learned by even a Goron infant.

"Are we planning to leave him here?" Tatl fluttered her wings to stay levitating by Link's shoulder.

"I could care less." He turns his head away from her.

"…That wasn't what you said minutes ago, Hero." She chimes, "You decided to save him, remember?"

Link huffs. Kafei did not move like he was gravely injured, but an instinct by his expressed behavior could indicate that perhaps stubbornness masked the truth. He looks to his partner beside him once more, hesitantly. Tatl was going to play as his voice of reasoning. Could this new day get any worse?

The fairy continues, "I think he needs a healing potion. There's a chance we can get one for free with no one running the shops right now."

Link did not budge.

"And given you don't have any money...its best we grab that. Immediately."

"Tch, I guess…"

The fairy disappears into his cap. Link scratched his chin and touched the sore spot on his cheek. Kafei hits real hard for how small he was. The Hero was a couple of centimeters taller than him. He's learned now to never lean over someone resting.

Whatever. He will get this task over with and never see Kafei again. Link walks through the lobby and leaves out its main door.

...

Kafei glanced out the window. He catches sight of Link exiting Stock Pot Inn. It relieved him that he was leaving, really. Of all places, those two from the forest had to bring him here. At least Clock Town was empty; the disfigured roads were caked with dust and brick sediment. Kafei was Hell's Survivor this beautiful morning. His grip tightened over blankets. He could not help but to think about the woman who owned this very building. Was she alive?

Anju...

His heart sunk; Kafei was pained by memories coming back to him. She was his lovely fiancée. Since they were both kids, they promised to exchange masks on the Night of the Carnival, a golden sun and a silver moon. Kafei could not tell Link or Tatl what has happened to him. They would not take him seriously if he stated he was an adult trapped in a prepubescent body. The imp had cursed him, and out of shame, he hid from his precious Anju out of fear she would leave him. She sent many letters promising to wait for Kafei in her bedroom... but he found on the evening of the third day that she was gone.

Anju had left him to die alone.

His hands trembled. Kafei felt instantly cold over her betrayal. How could she do this to him? He did everything he could to make that promise live. In this small body, he traveled through Ikana Canyon to find Sakon and his hideout. His Sun Mask was stolen by that thief. And to top it all, there's no telling where it has gone now. The very moon snatched it from his hands. What luck; Kafei lost it again after such great efforts to bring his Sun Mask home to her.

Hot tears well up in his eyes; he sniffles and shakes. Failure. If the imp had been freed from the "magic of the mask", then why on earth was his body still the same as it was so many years ago? None of this made sense!

Kafei's frustration met with a vase beside him. It flies off the nightstand and crashes onto the floor.

"DAMN IT ALL!" he screams. Kafei grasps his hair and curls into himself. That kid should have left him to die alone, too! What would he do in this world without his beloved fiancée? Being alive in these moments was pure torture. Kafei hated Link for the sacrifices he made, that child had so much to live for, still. The forest boy was naive to think Kafei needed to be saved.

I've...seen him before though, haven't I...?

Kafei fell out of his despair for one second. Link waited for him to wake up. His eyes trail back to the chair, turned opposite to his bed. Opened cans of food sat messily on a table across the room. ...How long was he unconscious? Kafei sits up next to look at the bandages on his arms. The whites of them were stained with spotting of red and black. For a child, this boy knew how to do wound dressings well. He curiously ran his fingertips over his forearms.

And that's when it hit him, pain.

"Ack-!" Kafei flinches. His body was extremely tender. He looks out the window once more. Walking out of here without Link was an opportunity, but he cannot move on his own for long, not in a state like this.

However, if he waits any longer, Anju or her family could find him here too. He would not know how to face what could have been his future wife and in-laws.

He frowned. Slowly Kafei reached to grasp the headboard of his bed. He was going to get out of here, even if whatever Gods and Goddesses out there destined for him that he can't.

...

Link struggles to shove a broken beam out of his way. It was not budging in the slightest. He steps back before examining the wreck that used to be the Trading Post.

"I didn't think it'd be this bad..." Tatl floats to the top of another empty shelf.

"See anything?" the Hero asks.

"No! Try checking the corner there."

Link kicks aside shattered glass. He works his way around the counter and crouches to investigate another one of the shop's walls. It was miracle Clock Town was still standing. There was no denying that the moon would have turned everything here into dust. A dented crate lays untouched. The Hero took the edge of his sword and levered it against a crevice. Without fail, the top pops off. Tatl quickly flies over to have a look at what was inside.

Her wings droop at the sight, "Magic potion..."

Link turns his face to hold back another sneeze, "Onto the next one."

"But that's the last of it, isn't it? What are we going to do?"

He looks around. That crate could not have been what remained here. Link shakes his head. The Hero remembers how similar the Trading Post shopkeeper looked to the Curiosity Shop's. He ran his hand over the back wall. Tatl, confused now, follows close behind.

"I'm thinking we can break this, see?" Link tapped lightly; the cracked spot on the wall sounded hollow. Tatl nervously backs away.

"You're risking this whole place coming down."

"You got any other ideas?"

She pauses. The fairy sighs, he was right. Whatever was stained red on the floor they hoped was a wasted healing potion instead of blood. They had to find something for the boy they saved. It would not be right to leave him in the state that he was in. She watched as Link gestured for her to move back further. Link grabbed a heavy sack of flour and hoisted it over his head. She turns to hear the wall crumble away.

"Link?! Link...!" Tatl calls out, coughing. Dust and flour fog the room like a heavy cloud. Link was already at the other side searching in the Curiosity Shop for healing potions, "You don't give me any time to worry, you know!? Tael will be upset for the stress you put me through-!"

The Hero held a bottle of red liquid to her face. She was left to stare at it stupidly. Tatl hated how smart Link can be at times. He acted like he knew everything.

"Ugh, then what are we waiting for?! We need to get back to...what was his name again?"

"Kafei." Link made sure there were no cracks in the bottle's glass before making his exit, "We'll give this to him and go our separate ways. Epona had to have fled back to Milk Road."

"You think your horse is still alive after all of that?"

"I know she is."

The early morning sun felt nice; dew lined what was left of the West Side's cobblestone streets. Tatl was swinging herself from side to side. Her little wings were the only thing making sound in the silence of their venture. If Link had an intact clock around him, he would know what time it was. Bringing surviving residents back into town will be a whole day's effort and more. He pats away the particles powdering his clothes and hair.

Destruction around them did not make for the best feeling of victory.

"What's wrong?" Tatl asks him. She noticed the Hero was getting lost in thought again. In these times, she knew Link's seriousness was not to be taken lightly.

"Did Kafei look sad to you?" he asks, quietly.

Tatl glances over. She recounts how Kafei had slapped Link, "I can guess he was. Everyone's lost something from Majora, right? He's probably grieving."

"I'm thinking... do we owe it to him on finding out what it is? I feel like I've seen him before..."

"Hm..."

The two think about their exchange. They cut through the North Side of Clock Town, avoiding mounds of granite formed from the tower's damage. Even if they both did not remember seeing Kafei, they both knew he was not supposed to be on the platform that night. Tatl was the first to respond, and carefully, "You've done enough already, Link. You always felt responsible to help other's through their pain. He will be fine. You wanted to return home, didn't you?"

Link looks up; her words took him aback. Returning to Hyrule would risk being trapped in the Lost Woods, after all, he would have no fairy to guide him. Link shakes his head. Thinking about Navi right now was going to crush him.

"I still have much to do here in Termina, Tatl."

"So you say, Hero..."

He nudges his partner away. They reach the Stock Pot Inn safely on the East Side. The fairy could not help but smile to herself. All is bittersweet. She knew someday Link would leave Termina. The question was, when?

They immediately dropped all thoughts on themselves, though. The Hero had opened the door to find no one in bed. Blankets were splayed on the floor and the window lay wide open.

"Oh, by the Giants, he's escaped!?" Tatl gasps, rushing to the opening, "Link, it's a two story drop!"

He cursed under his breath. Link sped out the very same way he came.

"Kafei!?" The Hero calls out, "Kafei?! Where are you!?" His boots met the bottom of the stairwell; all was eerie silence outside. Link did not see blood on the ground. He turns towards the East Side's exit. Could he have...?

"Link, I searched all the rooms, he's nowhere in the Inn!"

The Hero unsheathes his sword. There was a high possibility Kafei left Clock Town's walls.

...