With much grunting and hemming and hawing, Fata finished his letter fifteen minutes later.
“Read it, Koza,” he demanded, holding the letter out.
“Why would you want me to read that?” Koza asked incredulously.
“I need an adult opinion!”
He’s a demanding kid, Koza grumbled to himself, and took the sheet of papyrus from the boy. The letters were rounded and lopsided on the rough surface.
To my beautiful blue rose… The first line sent Koza into a coughing fit.
“What’s this ‘blue rose’ business?” he asked.
“It’s Princess Vivi. I’ve only seen roses in books, but they’re really beautiful, right?”
Koza had never seen a rose in person, either. Delicate flowers didn’t grow in Alabasta’s harsh climate. He didn’t think that sounded like Vivi. If anything, she was more like a cactus flower, blooming proud and strong with minimal sustenance.
“Hey, what do you think? Does it truly express my feelings?” the boy asked hopefully. His gaze was piercing. Koza mumbled and glanced down at the rest of the letter.
Princess Vivi, when I think of you, my heart won’t stop pounding. You are my oasis. It seems I have fallen in love with you… And so on and so forth.
“Yeah, it seems fine,” Koza muttered, and held the letter out for the boy to take, just as a gust of wind blew up. It ripped the papyrus right out of his outstretched hand.
“Ah!” Koza grunted. He lunged for it, but it was already too late. The letter zigzagged in the wind and then started to flutter slowly down toward the plaza.
“My letter!” screamed Fata, reaching over the railing. Koza grabbed him by the back of his collar before he could fall, then tucked him under his arm and rushed for the ground level as quickly as he could.
I can’t let anyone else pick up that letter, he thought with a sudden urgency. Gotta get there first!
He bounded down the shaded spiral steps, skipping three at a time, and launched down the last eight all at once. The momentum of his heavy landing carried him through the double wooden doors and out into the plaza. Unfortunately, he was too late.
A crowd had gathered in the plaza, and they were passing around Fata’s love letter as though it were a breaking news report.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Mmmm!” Vivi stretched and closed the half-read book in her hands. The clock told her she’d been studying for several hours now. It was a good time to take a break and open up the windows for some fresh air. But when she did so, the breeze was so lovely that it sapped any inclination she had to get back to work.
She’d been inside so much lately. It would be nice to get outside and see the people of Alabasta again. Maybe I should go for a walk in the city, she thought.
✦ ✦ ✦
Koza stared at the crowd in the plaza with shock.
“Who could have written such a letter? It looks like a child’s handwriting,” someone wondered.
“Well, I can’t blame them for falling in love with Princess Vivi. She’s a lovely woman in every way,” said another.
“‘When I think of you, my heart won’t stop pounding.’ How romantic!”
“We need to give this back to the person who wrote it. I’m sure they’re looking for it now.”
The people looking for the letter writer had good intentions, but for Fata, this was a living hell. The secret love he’d been nurturing in his heart was now on embarrassing display for all to read.
“What are you gonna do, Koza?” Fata whispered, grabbing at Koza with tears in his eyes. “You have to fix this! It’s your fault!”
“My fault?!”
“You let my letter fly away!”
He was right; Koza couldn’t argue with that. Just as Fata said, he’d let it slip from his fingers. So, how to fix it? He slowed his breath and folded his arms to think. Fortunately, the boy hadn’t signed his name on the letter. If he could just retrieve it without any fuss, he could preserve Fata’s honor.
“Koza! Come quick, there’s something going on!” exclaimed a well-built woman who had noticed him standing there. It was Mari the carpet seller, who loved to chat. Fata quickly hid behind Koza’s legs.
Mari continued, “A love letter just fell into the plaza! Can you believe it? And it’s addressed to Princess Vivi!”
Her eyes were sparkling with delight. “You know Her Highness, don’t you, Koza? Who do you think wrote this?”
“I-I don’t know, but whoever it was, they probably did it as a joke—”
“Not at all! There’s real passion in these words!” Mari said, with an overabundance of confidence. Behind her, the letter was being passed from hand to hand. Members of the crowd were examining the handwriting and the grammar in an attempt to identify the writer.
“It could be someone who works at the palace,” one of them speculated. “Pell and Chaka are both bachelors. You can’t rule them out!”
“Don’t be silly,” someone responded. “No adult writes like this. It’s obviously a child.”
“Probably one who lives around here,” the speculation continued. “What if it’s Fata?”
The mention of his name caused Fata to jump in alarm. He pulled his hands into the ends of his sleeves to hide the ink stains on his fingers.
Koza grimaced and scanned the gathering crowd. How could he get that letter back?
“I know! Let’s post the letter up on display and ask anyone who comes by to see if they recognize the writing!” proposed Mari, much to Koza’s indignation.
“No, that’s really not neces—” he started.
“I think it’s a great idea. Everyone will be able to see it here!” someone exclaimed, drowning out Koza’s attempt to dissuade Mari.
It was too late. Another bystander chimed in, “So it’s a plan. Let’s post it publicly. I’m sure whoever lost it really wants it back.”
“We’ll make signs so that it’s highly visible,” another voiced piped up. “They’ll say, ‘Over here to see a love letter to Princess Vivi that someone lost!’”
“Kozaaaa,” Fata whined, gripping Koza’s calves with hands like pincers. “I’m so embarrassed, I’ll have to move away. Do something!”
What can I do? Koza thought frantically. How can I fix this? He looked around the plaza desperately. If he didn’t stop them somehow, these well-meaning townspeople were going to carry out their ill-considered plan. The letter would be displayed in the most public place in Alubarna, and it would only be a matter of time until someone realized that Fata was the one who wrote it.
“I wonder who could have done it,” a bystander puzzled. “Who would write this letter?”
“I-it…it was me!” Koza shouted in desperation.
The plaza became deathly silent. Curious gazes from the crowd were all focused on him. Koza swallowed hard. He slowly made his way to the center of the plaza. Fata was clinging to his pants, so the boy came along too, as an appendage.
Mari acted as the representative of the crowd, inquiring, “Koza, you’re the one who wrote that letter?”
It wasn’t me, he wanted to say, but the words stuck in his throat. Instead, he glanced down and saw Fata’s teary, pleading eyes.
Koza bit his lip. Don’t look at me like that! he thought silently. I’ll handle this.
“That’s right,” he said out loud. “I wrote it.”
Mari gasped. The crowd went still again. As the message slowly sank in, people started to understand the implications and broke out in shrieks and shouts.
“Koza?!” they called out.
“You wrote a love letter?!” they screamed.
“To Princess Vivi?!” they persisted.
As the onetime leader of the Rebel Army, Koza was a celebrity in Alabasta. He had conveyed this celebrity into a position of responsibility, leading the process of rebuilding the city after the war. In recognition of his contributions and talent, the king had designated him minister of the environment. For such a person to be writing love letters to the beautiful and beloved princess of the realm would be a matter of great interest to all Alabastans.
Within moments, he was trapped in a storm of rapid-fire questions.
“Ahhh, yes, you practically grew up with her, didn’t you? Did you always love her? Or did your friendship more recently grow into romance?”
“Do Farafra and your old Sand-Sand Band comrades know?”
“When will you give her this letter? Can you do it on your own? Shall I go with you?”
“Er…no thank you,” he said, rolling his eyes and awkwardly avoiding their gazes. Mari clapped a hand on his shoulder and beamed at him.
“I’m amazed,” she crowed. “To think that you, of all people, are in love with the princess.”
“It’s not what you think!” he shouted reactively. She blanched.
“What?” she said curiously. “You’re not?”
“I-I mean… I’m not not…”
He didn’t even know what he was saying anymore. He wanted to simply turn away from all this and flee. Exhausted, Koza turned to the man holding the letter.
“At any rate, you heard what I said,” Koza reminded him, “so I’ll take that back. It’s very important to me.”
“Oh… Er, right,” the man said. “Sorry about the fuss…”
“It’s fine. It’s my fault for losing my grip on it,” he said lifelessly, and snatched the letter back.
Ugh. It felt like he had just made things worse. But at least he’d gotten Fata’s letter back. Case closed. Time to move on from this and forget it ever happened.
Recovering his poise, Koza turned to address the crowd of curious onlookers.
“I want you all to forget you ever saw this letter. Don’t tell anyone else about it. Most importantly, do not tell Princess Vivi.”
“What’s that about Vivi?” said the king.