Kismet—Prologue

by taitofan

Rated PG-13 for eventual yaoi and some language

Disclaimer: I don't own Majora's Mask, Minish Cap, or anything else Legend of Zelda related. Trust me; I'm sure that many people are happy about that.

Author's notes: Honestly? I have no idea why I'm doing this. I guess it's because my OTP has no love, and my insane desire to see it has made me write it myself. This will be chaptered, and this is more or less the prologue. Expect future chapters to be longer, if only by a bit. Now… Please note that this is based mostly on the manga versions of the games. Why? Cause I'm not that good at MM and thus didn't get very far (I've seen all of Kafei's scenes however), and though I won MC, I like Vaati's fate in the manga more than in the game. Thus, in this fic, the Four Swords games never happen and all cries of, "Vaati is too OOC!" will be ignored. Help with Kafei, however, will be considered. You can contact me if you'd like to read the manga. Other than that… Most questions will be answered in future chapters, but if you're horribly curious about anything, feel free to ask!

Flames do nothing but make me laugh, although I'll listen to any CC you have. Please read, review, and enjoy! Finished 12-29-06

"…and remember that you must concentrate! You cannot let your mind wander or it shall not work!"

He wanted to scream, to cry, something to get it across that he knew. He knew better than anyone that it was his lack of dedication that had caused him to fail for the past year. It was hard to think that he'd really been working on this for so long, but it was true nonetheless. And this time he was determined to succeed. He would do it today; he had too.

"Yes Master. I understand." He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and began to clear his mind of everything but his goal. Nothing else mattered now, not even all of the hard work he'd shown. All that was important right now was focusing on his goal. If he didn't do that… No! He'd do it, he would!

There were a few minutes of silence—even the usual outside noises seemed to have stilled. Then, suddenly, there was a bright flash of white light that filled up the entire room. The energy hummed in his ears, but still he concentrated on what he wanted—no, what he needed. He needed this if he was to keep what sanity he hadn't lost yet.

'I need another chance. I need to make up for what I've done. Please, let me have just one more chance…'

And as suddenly as the light had manifested, it was gone. He didn't dare to open his eyes though. What if it didn't work? Surely, it must have! He'd worked so hard, harder than he ever had! He—

"Vaati, you've done it! Open your eyes and look!" The young Picori apprentice's eyes flew open, and sure enough, there it was. A wish granting hat, just as his master had made a year ago. But this time, Vaati had made it, courtesy of his very own sweat and tears. He rushed forward and grabbed it, as if he needed to verify that he wasn't dreaming. But no, it was real. He'd finally done it.

"Master… Thank you for teaching me all of these years. I never could have gotten this far without your teachings…" Ezlo smiled and laid his hands on his pupil's shoulders, the pride fully apparent in his eyes.

"You are welcome. However, in the end it was you who made this possible. You finally understand that you cannot take shortcuts to achieve true strength. Your dedication paved the way to your success. I only regret now that I'm losing my greatest student."

"Master…" The sage shook his head, not allowing him to continue.

"Vaati, this is your victory, and you have no time for indecision. You have chosen your future and now is the time to achieve it. We shall meet again, I'm sure of it." He stepped back and offered the young Picori his warmest smile. "Go on; see where your wish shall take you."

Vaati looked at the hat in his hands and then at his smiling teacher. No, his smiling ex-teacher. It saddened him to know that he was leaving after having just learned his most important lesson, but… Ezlo was right. He had to go…

"Thank you Master; I will. Goodbye for now." And with that, he put on the hat and closed his eyes…

"Goodbye Vaati." …And then he was gone.

Five months. He'd been married for five months. Five months since that mysterious boy Link had saved all of Termina, and at the same time helped him retrieve his marriage mask. Without Link's help, he may never have gotten married at all…

Kafei didn't know whether to thank the kid or curse him.

It wasn't as if he hated being married to Anju. He just… didn't know if it was what he really wanted. He'd made the promise to marry her when they were just children, long before he knew what love was. He knew that Anju had fallen in love with him, but in all honesty, he still wasn't sure what love really was. The way he felt for Anju was the way he felt for Cremia, and he knew he wasn't attracted to her. There was a mental connection between him and Anju, he wouldn't deny that, but there was no physical attraction. He had no desire for romance. For the past five months, their relationship had remained completely platonic…

But now Anju was talking about having children. Suddenly, he was being forced to face things that he'd never wanted to face. He realized that it was crazy to have thought that Anju would accept their chaste relationship forever, but that didn't make things any easier. Somehow, he had a feeling that returning to the Inn and being forced to explain why he'd run out in the first place would only be the beginning of his troubles.

'Honestly,' he thought as he walked aimlessly through Termina Field, 'how could things get any worse today?'

No sooner had he'd said that, when fate decided to answer his question. A bright light suddenly lit up the sky and blinded Kafei, who cursed for jinxing himself. What was happening now? His answer came a short time later when the light faded away just as abruptly as it had come, and there was a body laying less than three feet away from where he stood. Needless to say, the body had not been there a minute ago.

"Hello?" Kafei questioned as he cautiously approached the figure. "Are you all right…?" Upon closer inspection, he could see that the person was a male of about his own age, with pale skin, light purple hair, and a strange mark under his eye. His rich garments—made up of purples, reds, and gold—suggested that of a magician of some sort. Whoever he was, he obviously wasn't from around here. But after Link had suddenly come upon their land, he wasn't entirely surprised.

'I wonder… What color are his eyes…?' As soon as it was thought, Kafei blinked and scowled. 'Why the hell do I care? I don't have time for this… I need to figure out what to do about Anju!'

He turned on his heel, ready to head back to Clock Town, when a pained groan reached his ears. Whipping around, he saw that the man was shaking. He rushed back to his side, kneeling down and placing a hand on his forehead. Sure enough, his skin was hot to the touch. He was obviously in no condition to be left alone in the middle of nowhere… Kafei's conscious overrode his previous annoyance, and he picked up the unconscious man, noting how light he was.

'When was the last time he ate? I'll have to feed him when he wakes up… Then he can tell me what the hell is going on.'

No matter what came of this, Kafei was at least pleased that he'd found a suitable distraction.