The Festival of Love

    Cheeko stirred as the sound of ringing bells and a man's oddly childlike laughter passed by below him.

    His first thought was to ignore it, but he knew better than to dismiss that noise out of hand. Where Jingle went, something usually followed. Not that the guy meant anyone any harm, but still... his antics usually meant someone was going to have some sort of trouble to deal with.

    Sluggishly, he leaned over out of the opening in the side of the tree he had been napping in, allowing gravity to do most of the work for him as he dropped toward the ground. His tail wrapped around the base of the branch below (or maybe now it was "above") him and he hung upside-down, only half of his little body poking out through the thick tree leaves of the lush Woodfall trees as he surveyed his surroundings.

    His guess had been right on the Rupees; a short, round-bellied man in a full-body green outfit was cheerily skipping down the path through the trees, the bells at his waist and neck ringing out with every subtle movement he made. He carried with him a multitude of balloons and banners, which he seemed to be tossing up into the branches and onto the stones around him, ornately decorating them without so much as a pause in his step.

    Jingle.

    Cheeko rolled his eyes and shook his head. Whatever it was he was doing, he was doing it with as much gusto as usual. Though what exactly it was was anyone's guess. Using his lower pair of hands, Cheeko rotated himself to see more of the decorations Jingle had put up. Not much of it seemed to be in writing, and a lot of it was in red and pink hues.

    A small flag brushed against his face as he turned, making him wince and slap the thing away. He did get a good look at it, though - the flag read _{GIVE THE MONKEY A KISS!} in fancy, swirly letters with an arrow pointing to the top of the tree he had been napping in.

    "Oh hey, I forgot about that!"

    The fluttering of fairy wings made him turn his head in that direction to find Nayl hovering next to him and looking at the flag with sincere interest. "Oh, today's the Festival of Love! I forgot all about that!"

    "Kikiiiiiii!! No kissing, no festivals! Not here!"

    Cheeko immediately pulled the flag free from its post and scrambled to get himself upright again, frantically surveying the decorations on the path below.

    "Whoah! Calm down, Cheeko!" Nayl followed along as Cheeko darted below the treetops again and hurriedly swung to and fro, grabbing Jingle's banners and yanking them loose from their places without breaking stride. "Cheeko!" Nayl continued to plead with him to calm down. "Seriously, what's going on? I've never seen you this uptight!"

    "Gotta find a spot to dump all this junk, kikiki...!" Cheeko chattered to himself, his arms full with ribbons and his tail held aloft by a bunch of balloons, barely held together by his Deku spear.

    The earth fairy finally managed to get him to pause for a moment by flying right up to his face, close enough that Cheeko could actually make out his tiny body inside the distinct glowing ball of light that identified most fairies. "Stop! What's the big deal? It's just a nice holiday!"

    "It's a holiday about love!" Cheeko emphasized while pushing. "And love means presents, kikiki, and presents mean spending hard-earned Rupees..."

    Nayl groaned and slapped an open palm to his forehead. "You're getting yourself all worked up because you're afraid of possibly getting into a relationship and having to buy things? What are the odds of that happening?"

    The monkey paused only to glare back at him. "Ook. I just blew 5,000 Rupees on you so you could get your class and learn how to do that revive spell thing all you fairies were supposed to know about from day one."

    "It... What I learned is a lot more complicated, I told you that, but... fair enough."

    Cheeko was barely paying any attention to him now, instead turning his head in each direction, searching for some spot to dump his unwanted treasures.

    "What's that about?"

    Cheeko shrieked, immediately dropping everything near the base of a tree and yanking a few palm fronds together to cover them up, then whirling around toward the noise.

    A little redheaded girl with a pair of white-lighted fairies floating just above her head was watching Cheeko with an air of mild interest.

    "Nothing!" Cheeko announced in a loud voice. "It's nothing! Ukiki! Just... looking for something!"

    "You're a wonderful liar," Nayl muttered sarcastically into his ear, only to be swatted away absently.

    "Uh-huhhhhh..." said the girl. She smirked, pointing up at the balloons still grasped tightly in his tail. "And, how 'bout those...?"

    "What, what is it?" one of her fairies piped up.

    "Balloons, looks like. Big red and pink ones. Couple of them look like hearts, too. Haha, one of them even looks like Jingle!"

    Nayl wasn't sure what to think. Normally, he would have tried to politely introduce himself, but between Cheeko's antics and those of this Kokiri girl and her fairies, he wasn't sure when would be the polite time for him to interject!

    "They're just a delivery, kiki!" Cheeko announced quickly. "I'm taking them to Clock Town for the festival!"

    "Oh right, the festival." The girl shrugged. "Well, have a good time with that, and sorry to interrupt your whole delivery thing." She grinned impishly, until her attention was drawn away by the second of her fairies, who gently tugged at her hair and pointed toward town.

    "Yeah I know Dentro, it's too crowded over there right now, isn't it? ...Yup. At least things are nicer out here."

    Dentro looked incredibly annoyed, but said nothing. Nayl wondered if he might have noticed the guy in the fairy community before...? It was possible; that place was so busy and full of life.

    "Way too busy, I bet, kiki!" Cheeko shook his head. "Big parties like that just aren't my style. I'll be happy to get rid of these decorations and get back in the trees!"

    "You like it out here too, huh?" the girl grinned wider. "Guess I shouldn't be all that surprised; you are a monkey after all."

    "One of the few who's out here most, kiki!" Cheeko smiled back, holding out his hand. "Hey, sorry to run off so quick, kiki, but like you said it's better to get these to town and get out before things get too crowded. Was nice to meet you though!"

    "Yeah, nice to meet you too!" said the girl. "Maybe we can catch up sometime." Her eyes turned to Nayl for a moment. "I'd sure like to hear about how you got your fairy, at least. Never heard of a monkey getting one before."

    "Wait a minute! Nobody told me another fairy was around here! Ugh, come on Dasos, at least lemme know that much, huh?"

    Cheeko laughed, addressing Dasos. "Well you better get used to it, kiki! Sounds like the Great Fairies are handing 'em out like crazy for all their 'Chosen Hero' stuff."

    He brushed aside the palm leaves and grabbed up the remainder of Jingle's decorations. "But yeah, kiki, if you ever need me just ask around for Cheeko! Someone'll know where I am, not doubt about it!"

    "Sure. Bye, then!"

    The two parted ways while Dasos' more verbal fairy partner was still ranting about not knowing Nayl was there. Admittedly, for a moment, Nayl paused, wondering if he was expected to stick around a while longer and talk to her. But both Dasos and Cheeko went their separate ways without further discussion, and it was his job to stay with Cheeko, so...

    He flew in close to the monkey, who appeared to be traveling down the path to Clock Town by sheer force of memory, the pile in his arms stacked high enough that he couldn't see in front of him. Boy, Jingle sure decorated things in abundance!

    "So. Moving these decorations to the town, huh?" he prompted the ape.

    "Aw, be quiet, kiki. They're just gonna make a mess over in the path, and I don't want junk in my favorite napping spot. Besides, these probably look better over there too, ukiki."

    "You're actually gonna go and put them up?" Nayl was honestly impressed; Cheeko rarely put in effort to decorate, and certainly not without the promise of being paid for it.

    "Give me some credit, Nayl!" Cheeko giggled. "I may not like Jingle's nonsense, kikiki, but I'm not going to just leave a mess in town because I don't want it in my area."

    The banter between them continued until they had reached the town - in fact it continued beyond that point, if Nayl had to be totally honest. Even as Cheeko set down the mass of papers and ribbons they were just starting a debate about the nuances of fairy magic - healing and reviving those in need and how it affected the fairy themselves.

    They only stopped talking when a young girl poked her head around the corner of a the first brick building near the town entrance and called out to them.

    "Hello? You need any help over there?"

    Cheeko pressed his hands against his back and stretched a bit. "Ukiki. Depends on what you mean!" he called back with a grin. "Today's special for a lot of folks, but y'know, kiki, love isn't my style."

    "Ugh! Not a chance," the girl announced with a scowl, drawing near enough for her to be clearly visible as she put one hand on her hip and pointed a finger at the pile Cheeko had brought with him. "I mean those decorations. Looked like a lot for you to be carrying all by yourself."

    In spite of her somewhat short stature, the girl was still practically twice Cheeko's height, and she certainly was dressed like someone who knew the value of hard work. What confused Nayl was that she carried around a stick with her, one that looked exactly like Cheeko's...

    "Well, I manage." Cheeko grinned up at her. "Us 'Chosen Heroes' have to be able to do something around here, after all, kiki!"

    Nayl sighed. "You could at least treat the title with a little respect," he told his partner, adding, "Sorry ma'am, we should introduce ourselves. I'm Nayl, earth fairy from the eastern branch of the Spring." Having already treated Dasos with less-than-proper greetings, he wasn't about to slip up twice.

    "You're a polite one," the girl commented, looking at him almost skeptically.

    Cheeko, it seemed, wasn't paying the two of them much mind at all anymore. "My name's Cheeko, kiki," he said at the same time that he lifted up a string of flags and glanced back and forth between it and the rooftop of the building their visitor had appeared from behind. "To be honest miss, a little help would be nice. We're trying to get this done as soon as possible."

    "Sounds good to me." She set her Deku spear against the town's stony wall, clapped her hands and rubbed them together. "Call me Kana if you need anything, Cheeko."

    "You got it, kiki." Cheeko moved toward a storm drain and prepared to climb. "I'll be a minute up on the walls, so I can help put up anything that needs to be higher off the ground. Ook, forgot these." He held out his tail, still grasping the Deku spear lined with balloons, to Kana. "You mind if I give you these, kiki?"

    "Nope, give 'em here." Kana accepted the stick without a second thought, and immediately set to work tying the balloons down on stalls and boards around the front gate while Cheeko hung flags and banners from above. If Nayl hadn't seen their whole meeting with his own eyes, he would have thought they had done work like this enough times before to be on the same wavelength!

    They were halfway through the pile of Jingle's decorations before Cheeko piped up, "So you're a chosen girl too, huh?"

    Nayl turned his attention to the golden-haired girl below. Was she? She didn't really carry herself like a hero... then again, it wasn't like there seemed to be much of a standard, given who his own partner was. He had just kind of assumed that all of the chosen ones would be more stoic... or was it just that Kana didn't have a fairy with her?

    "Yeah, that's right," Kana called back. "That blue fairy with the long hair who talks quiet, she said I was chosen to join the wisdom faction about a month back."

    "No kidding, kiki!" Cheeko chuckled as he draped a "_{JINGLE LOVES YOU} banner over a flagpole. "I saw a green fairy who looked like a little girl! She told me I was picked for my courage."

    "You ever think they should've picked someone different?" Kana asked.

    "Of course!" Cheeko laughed, a shrieking monkey's noise. "At least if they were being serious, which I doubt, ukikiki! I can tell what's going on. Whatever it is that's hitting Termina now, even the Legendary Hero can't stop it without some cover. So, we're the distraction."

    Kana paused. "That's a pretty dark way of thinking about it."

    Nayl frowned; even without having already heard this spiel before, he didn't like to let Cheeko go and sour other Heroes' ideas of the great duty the Great Fairies had given them. "Cheeko-" he began.

    "Only if you think of it like that, kiki!" Cheeko's temper didn't change, if anything he was smiling even more. "I mean, the guards at the main entrances might not be able to keep every monster from getting into Clock Town, ook, but if they weren't there a whole lot more would definitely be getting in! Same for us. If we aren't the real Chosen Heroes, it doesn't mean what we're doing doesn't help. I'll just do what works for me. Help out when I can, y'know?"

    "Huh. I guess you have a point."

    Nayl could have sworn that something was in the air today. That was twice now that Cheeko had surprised him, especially for all the times he insisted on giving Nayl a hard time! Was the Festival of Love getting to him?

    Cheeko lapped his knees. "Looks like that's it up here, kiki! You need any help down there?"

    "Hah!" Kana shook her head without even looking up at him. "You kidding? I've handled ranch work ten times tougher than this. I can handle what's left on my own."

    "Don't have to tell me twice!" Cheeko swung down from the rooftops and hurried toward the main gate, snatching up his Deku stick from where Kana had left it when she finished with the balloons. "Ook! I'm outta here before this crazy festival starts up. You have a good one!" he added, waving back to her.

    "Uh-huh. You too!" Kana waved back idly.

    Nayl hurried after Cheeko, only just rounding the bend as the monkey cried out - "Oof!"

    "Oh goodness, I'm sorry Mr. Monkey!" a spirited voice cried out. "I didn't mean to run into you like that! I'm just soooooo excited on this merry day! Jingle jingle Kooloo-LimPAH!!"

    With that cry a burst of confetti appeared, as if out of nowhere, around the body of a green-jumpsuited little man with a faint hint of a mustache standing right in front of Cheeko.

    "Jingle..." Cheeko murmured. "Ook. Nice to see you."

    "And you as well, Mr. Monkey!" Jingle cried. "Today is such a wonderful day! The most perfect day to sweep my lovely queen off her feet and be happily married now and forevermore!"

    "Right..." Cheeko shook his head. "Well, have fun with that, Jingle, kiki! I was just stopping by for another delivery. You know how it is!"

    "Oh of course of course, I won't stop you! But there is something I really must give you, Mr. Monkey!"

    Cheeko's shift in demeanor was plain to see - the little ape stiffened, and Nayl could see patches of fur sticking out straight. The monkey held up his hands and waved them, trying in vain to dismiss Jingle's unseen gift. "Whoahhhhh ho ho, no thanks Jingle, kiki! It's really all right!"

    "For you!" Jingle announced as he twirled in place, flourishing a bright red heart-shaped box. "A gift for someone who was so kind as to help me decorate the town as lovely as can be!"

    Cheeko remained silent. "Oh... that...?" he mumbled. He didn't even accept the gift until Jingle deftly slipped it between his fingers. "Yeah... okay. Thanks."

    "Ah, and let it not be said that I don't know you too well, Mr. Monkey!" Jingle reached into a pouch at his belt and produced a gigantic green jewel of a Rupee. "A special gift just for you to show my appreciation!"

    "Ook!" Cheeko dropped the box in his hands instantly and grabbed the shining Rupee with just as much light in his own eyes as was coming off of the gemstone. It was lucky he was as small as he was, or else that box might have popped open when it hit the ground!

    Nayl still had no idea what was going on. But it was the Festival of Love, so Jingle deserved to be shown appreciation of his own!

    "Ah... thank you, Jingle!" he piped up. "And I hope the day is as wonderful as you dreamed!"

    "Oh, without a doubt it will be, Mr. Fairy!" Jingle twirled in place again, though this time he did not stop. "For now I must go, but I wish you the happiest on this lovely day as well! Goodbye!"

    The odd little man spun around faster and faster until at last, with a final cry of "Jingle jingle Kooloo-LimPAH!!" he leaped forward, shooting off into town with a speed that Nayl hadn't even seen back in the woods!

    Cheeko happily stored away his precious Rupee and made off toward the entrance...

    "What..." Nayl stammered. "Hey, Cheeko! Wait! What about this box?"

    "Ukiki?" Cheeko paused and turned back. "Oh... yeah. Well, guess it won't hurt to see what's in it." He paced back and lifted the box, then raised the lid up. Inside, Nayl saw an assortment of brown chocolates, some left bare, and others decorated with fine drizzles of white and red. They looked delicious!

    "Chocolates." Cheeko sniffed. "Not too surprising, kiki. I guess I'll just give 'em to someone else... if I can find someone who won't get the wrong idea, anyway."

    "Spoilsport!" Nayl smacked the tip of the monkey's ear. "Come on, today's about making others happy, isn't it?"

    "Sure it is!" Cheeko smiled. "I helped decorate the town for Jingle, and he gave me a big, shiny Rupee, kiki! Sounds like I did my dues for today!"

    With that, he turned back on his heel and headed out of town, leaving Nayl, still exasperated with the hero he had been chosen to join, to follow along or be off on his own for the holiday.