Watashiwatchi
Well-known member
The Size of True Love
“Mom! Dad! I’m home!” Watashiwatchi took the train from Tamagotchi Town back to his home in the forest.
“It’s good to have you back home, son.” His mother, Atashimamatchi greeted him. “Did you meet someone nice?”
“Well, yes mama.” Watashiwatchi blushed. “I met this girl, and it was love at first sight. She was so lovely!”
“That’s nice son, but do you know her name?” The voice that called out to him entered the kitchen. It was his father, Bokupapatchi.
“Yes. Her name is Nanosantchi.”
“Nanosantchi, huh? That does sound like an endearing name. So, where did you meet her?”
“In Tamagotchi Town dad. She likes to paint pictures.”
“Ah, so she’s an artist. I’d like to meet with her someday.”
“So, how tall is she, sweetheart?” His mother asked him.
“Well, I think she’s about this tall…” Watashiwatchi took his arm and placed it up to his upper lip.
“Isn’t that a bit small for you?”
“I know, but still I…”
“What is it son.”
“I-I’ve decided that I want to be with her!” His words surprised his parents.
“Are you sure Watashiwatchi?” his mother asked. “You have only just met her. Does she really mean that much to you?”
“Yes mama, she does. She’s smart, she’s beautiful, she’s kind, she’s…”
“We understand son.” His father spoke up. “So you believe she’s the Tamagotchi you’ve dreamed of.”
“In every sense of the word. That’s why I have to find a way to become smaller!” Bokupapatchi hesitated for a moment, but eventually accepted his son's resolve to be with this Nanosantchi. “…Perhaps there is a way.”
“Is there!?! Then please speak of it Dad!”
“Do you remember that day when you fell ill?”
“Well, only what you and mama said.”
"Then I would like to apologize."
"For what, Dad?"
“Well, what we didn’t tell you was that we had help, from an ancient relic.”
“An ancient relic?”
“Somewhere in the mountains, there is a giant relic within the range that can grant any one wish. However getting to it means you have to go through the mountain caves to get to it. I had done such just before you suffered an asthma attack. I had asked the statue if there was a way to save you.”
“What happened?”
“It spoke of someone within the forest at the time that had the means to treat you asthma problems. Unfortunately, it could not be cured.”
“I…see.”
“We managed to find him, thanks to the directions the statue gave me.”
“So that’s why I survived…” Watashiwatchi fell silent for a moment. Suddenly, the flames of his resolve flared up. This could be his chance, the chance to finally take hold of his deepest dreams, to finally be married to the love of his life, Nanosantchi! “…I’m going to look for the statue.”
“What? Out of the question!” His father interjected.
“My mind is made up! I don’t care how dangerous it is.”
“NO! I won’t allow it! I know that you love Nanosantchi, I know how you feel." Watashiwatchi fell silent, unable to disagree about that, because he knew that if his father hadn't experienced such feelings, he would not have been born. His father continued to speak to him."Do you even know what she wants?"
"I do dad. She wants to have a family." Bokupapatchi was silenced. 'So, he found a girl who shares his dream.' He thought to himself. He then said, "What do you plan on asking the statue, should you ever reach it?"
"I plan on asking it to shrink every fiber of my being down to her size."
"Why would you have to ask it to do that?"
"Because I can't mate with her at this size, nor can any normal male." Though he knew his son's wishes were noble, Bokupapatchi quietly shook his head, fearing that the price he might pay would be too great. "No, I refuse to have you put in such danger! We almost lost you once! We can’t bear the thought of losing you!” Even though Bokupapatchi sounded mad, it was clear that even a child could sense that he was genuinely scared for his son's life. “Think of Nanosantchi! Surely she would not want you to risk your life for her happiness!”
“But…!” He tried to protest.
“Go to your room, and think of it no more!” Watashiwatchi fell silent. “Yes, papa.” Without saying another word, he quietly headed upstairs. Atashimamatchi caught a glimpse of Watashiwatchi’s face as he went upstairs. It still had the look of resolution on it. It was apparent that he would not give up on his dream of claiming true love. “You know darling,” she said to Bokupapatchi, “He’s just like you when you were his age.”
“Yeah. I know that he’s obstinate like that. He won’t give up on it at all.”
“Well, what will you do?” Bokupapatchi took a moment of silence before letting out a sigh. “…I’ll make sure he’s fully prepared to go caving.”
“Are you really sure about this?”
“Yes I am.” Bokupapatchi looked a little sad. “I have to accept the fact that he’s growing up, that he’s not a little kid anymore.” Atashimamatchi smiled a little. “All right then, I’ll do my part and fix him a nice snack then.”
“Thank you.” Getting up from the seat he kissed his wife on the lips, and went to their bedroom to gather the gear for his son’s exploration.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~***~***~*~*~*~*
Watashiwatchi rose from his bed the very same night. ‘I have to see the statue…’ he thought to himself, ‘I don’t care how dangerous it is. I really, really want to make her dreams come true.’ Taking off his pajamas, he slips on his normal attire, and wraps his scarf around his shoulders. Quietly, he sneaks out of his room and heads downstairs. Moving about quietly, he finally reaches the front door. Before he could open it, the lights turn on.
“Where do you think you’re going?” A familiar voice called out to Watashiwatchi. He turns around to see his father standing beside the light fixture.
“…I’m going to the caves.” He said plainly. “I--”
“Without the neccessary equipment?” His father interrupted. “That’s not very smart of you.” He points to the backpack on the table. “It has everything you need to get through those caves. Flashlights, clothes, your mother’s cooking…”
“Papa…”
“I understand. You’re not a little kid anymore, but still, I want you to know this. You will always be our precious son.”
“Dad…”
“How getting some shut eye, eh? You’re going to need the strength to get through those caves.”
“Yes, dad.” With a smile on his face, Watashiwatchi quietly returned back to bed, Taking off his scarf and clothes and slipping on his pajamas.
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The next morning, Watashiwatchi wakes to the smell of pancakes. With haste, he puts on his clothes, leaving his scarf behind, and rushes downstairs to the kitchen. “Good Morning Watashiwatchi.” His mother said.
“Good Morning mom.”
“How are you feeling today?”
“I’m okay mom. Where’s dad?”
“He's taking his time getting up.” Not two seconds after she said that the bedroom door opens, Bokupapatchi steps out, looking like he’s seen better days. “Good Morning everyone.”
“Good Morning dad.”
"Good morning dear." Bokupapatchi takes his seat at the table just as Atashimamatchi served the pancakes. Not a word was spoken as everyone quietly consumed their breakfast for they knew that today was the day Watashiwatchi was going to explore the caves in search of the statue that his father had seen. Watashiwatchi quietly gets up from his chair, and picks up the backpack from near the front door. “Watashiwatchi,” his mother walked up to him, “Please be careful.”
“Yes mother.” She embraced her son with a hug.
“Watashiwatchi, you remember which way is north, right?”
“Yes dad.”
“I remember heading north constantly. That’s how I managed to reach the statue.”
“All right, I’ll remember that.” Parting from his mother, Watashiwatchi heads for the door leading outside. “Don’t worry,” he called out to them, “I’ll be back soon!” His parents watched as he headed for the north towards the cave. For some reason, a sense of dread began to flow into their hearts. "I get the feeling that I should have gone with him." Bokupapatchi murmured quietly.
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‘This is the place…’ Watashiwatchi thought to himself as he quietly entered. Before going in too deep, he digs into the backpack, and pulls out a hardhat equipped with a headlight, making sure to turn the lights up before putting it on his head. “Okay, time to find the statue.” Entering the cave, he comes across a fork. Taking the path going right, he carefully maneuvers through the rough terrain, making sure not to trip as well as keeping a mental note of the northern direction. Coming out of a small hallway, he comes across a large room. ‘Wow.’ He thought to himself, ‘I didn’t know caves could be this beautiful.’ Taking a moment to absorb the scenery, he presses forward until he comes across a fork. ‘Okay, I’ll be heading closer to the northern direction if I go left, so that’s where I’ll go.’ Taking the left route, he walks onward until he sees daylight. ‘Am I there already?’ He breaks into a run and into the opening. However…
“A dead end.” Looking around all he sees are more rocks and high mountains surrounding him. Looking up, he sees that he hasn’t been within the cave all that long, perhaps a half hour or so. “Well, I’d better head back.” Turning around, he goes back to the fork and instead, takes the other path. Unfortunately, it led to yet another dead end. ‘Okay, this is good to know…’ He thought to himself, ‘This way is a complete dead end. I’d best head back to the entrance and go the other way.’ Going the opposite direction of where he came from, he returns back to the entrance and goes the other way. ‘Okay, I have to be careful around here. The ground is starting to get muddy.’ Carefully treading through the soft, slippery ground, Watashiwatchi comes to another large room. This time, it is a large pool of water, with some stones to traverse over it. “Hmmm…” He said quietly to himself, “It doesn’t look like a good Idea to try and wade my way through. I don’t know how deep that pool is, so my best bet is to use those stones to cross. I think I can make it through without jumping.” Reaching as far as he could with his foot, Watashiwatchi carefully moved from one rock to another. At the second to last stone, he tosses the backpack to the other end. He crosses over to the last stone, but just as he begins to reach for the end, he slips and tumbles into the water! Quickly surfacing, the first thing he tried to do is get a hold of the edge. Pulling himself up from the deep pool, he kneels down to catch his breath. This was bad; the wet clothes on his fur made the mild temperatures feel even colder. He had to get a change of clothing on before he begins to develop hypothermia! Picking up the pack, he traverses the slippery terrain until he comes across yet another fork. Shivering slightly, he moves to take the left path, which leads to yet another fork! Looking around, he sees a patch of daylight to the right. Without hesitation, he immediately heads towards the patch of light. It turned out to be another dead end, but at least here, he can get out of his wet clothing, and put something dry on. Digging through the pack, he finds a dry set of clothes. He takes off his wet clothing and immediately puts on the dry clothes. ‘All right, that’s one issue down.’ Looking up, he sees the sun beginning its descent. Just how long was he spelunking for it to be the afternoon? ‘Okay, I think I’d better get some rest.’ He quietly settles down just as his stomach growls at him. Rummaging through the backpack, he finds the packed snacks made by his mother. After eating a fair portion of his favorite layered cake, he packs it back up and looks up to the sky to gather his bearings. ‘Okay, so if I go back the way I came, I should probably take the other route.’ After a bit of backtracking, Watashiwatchi returns back to the first fork he crossed. Taking the path to the right, he continues on until he sees another patch of light. With haste he makes his way through. Unlike the other openings, this one wasn’t a dead end. Instead there was a path straight through. Without stopping to catch his breath, Watashiwatchi continued on, but as he entered into the path, a strange feeling of dread washed over him. Taking a look at the walls, he saw that they could collapse at any time. ‘This is probably a mine shaft. Now I really have to be careful, lest I end up trapped, or crushed underneath a rock-fall.’ With even more caution than before, Watashiwatchi carefully ventured on the road for what felt like a long time. Eventually, he came upon a steep slope. Unfortunately, it was at this moment that the headlight’s battery died, leaving him in the dark. ‘Not now…’ The situation had started to turn grim. Without light, he was practically lost. Taking a moment, he rummages through the backpack blind and finds a single flashlight. He turns it on, and waves it towards the slope. Looking down, he sees that it’s a rather steep slope. Were he to fall at this height, he would be too badly injured to keep going. So with the greatest caution, he slowly made his way down the slope. Just as he gets halfway there, something gives from underneath his foot! Caught completely off-guard he slides down the slope, and crashes to the ground, right on his right shoulder, which was outstretched! Wincing in pain, he struggles to rise up, holding his sprained shoulder painfully. Seeing the flashlight on the ground, he lets go of his injured arm to pick it up. He tried turning it on, but it wasn’t functioning normally. ‘The fall must have damaged it.’ He thought. The biting pain surging from his right shoulder sent the message to him that he was hurt. Still he continued on, thinking of his parents, and of Nanosantchi. Eventually, he comes across another fork. ‘Not again…’ He had since lost his bearings within the shaft. All he could do was choose a path and hope that it would lead him to the statue. The flashlight in his hands eventually flickered out and stopped working! “No, not now…” staying in place he searches the backpack for another, only to find out that he doesn’t have any more sources of light! At this point, things have gone from bad to worse. ‘No, I can’t afford to panic now! If I do, I’ll never see my parents, or Nanosantchi again! I have to keep moving forward!’ Holding fast to his resolve, he takes the path to the right and moves ahead. Suddenly, he crashes into the wall! And then, a sound most dreadful reaches his ears. The sound of something about to collapse! Looking around, he spots yet another opening, which was lit by the moonlight. He rushes towards it with all the speed he could muster, leaving anything weighing him down behind, which was the backpack. With all of his strength, he jumps out and lands on a patch of grass. He looks behind just in time to see his only way back home, back to Nanosantchi collapse right in front of him! At this point, things were at their absolute worst! He was trapped, with no way out, no food and no light, save for the light of the moon. “Mom…dad…Nanosantchi…” Too tired to do anything else, he fell into a restless sleep, doing all he could to stay warm…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Atashimamatchi suddenly clasped her hands over her chest as she sat at the dinner table with Bokupapatchi. “What’s wrong?” He asked her.
“It’s Watashiwatchi. I’m afraid he might be hurt. I think something terrible has happened to him!”
“There’s no need to worry honey.” He said, “He’s a strong young man. I’m sure whatever trouble he faces, he’ll find a way out.”
“I do hope you’re right.” Bokupapatchi quietly began to worry as well. ‘I probably should’ve gone with him.’ He thought. ‘Stay strong son, for your love, and us too…’
Meanwhile, as Nanosantchi was drawing for a friend, she suddenly stopped, stood up, and went to window of her room. Looking out into the night sky, she wondered about Watashiwatchi, and whether or not he was doing all right. "Watashiwatchi," Nanosantchi said worriedly, "Please, stay safe."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The sun’s light woke Watashiwatchi from his ‘sleep’. Clutching his sprained arm painfully, he looked around the area. It looked exactly like those dead end areas, but something was different. Compared to the other dead ends, this, was an oasis. Green grass, a large lake at its center. There were even trees that had fruit as well, not to mention the space was much greater than the other dead ends. He walked up to the lake and saw some sort of pedestal. Then suddenly, something crosses his mind. “The way out!” He turns to see that it had been completely blocked up. So, he truly was trapped in here. He was ready to cry. He would never see them again. His mother, his father, his beloved Nanosantchi... “NO!!” He let out a shout. “There must be a way out! There just has to be!” All of a sudden a flash of green light came from seemingly nowhere. Watashiwatchi turned around towards the source of light. When the green light died down, Watashiwatchi came face to face with a giant round stone statue. In its center were a pair of glowing green eyes. It had a large beak and two stones beside the beak that looked like blush marks. SPEAK YOUR WISH, DACCHI. The statue spoke to him. ‘It…talks!?’ Watashiwatchi thought to himself. He took a step back, surprised by the talking relic. WHAT IS IT THAT YOUR HEART DESIRES, DACCHI? As much as he wanted to wish to escape, he had to stay true to what he originally came all this way for. “Well,” Watashiwatchi began, “I wish to become smaller. There is a girl that I love dearly, whom I wish to be with for the rest of my days. We share the same dream, but because of her size, it can’t be done. I wish to become smaller so I can help fulfill her, no, our dream.”
SO BE IT, BUT I MUST KNOW OF YOUR RESOLVE, DACCHI. ONCE YOUR SIZE DECREASES, YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO RETURN TO YOUR NORMAL SIZE, DACCHI.
"I have already accepted that! Even if she doesn't love me the way I love her, I won't regret it!"
WELL SAID, DACCHI! The statue let loose a vast green light, enveloping the area, as well as Watashiwatchi inside of it. He closed his eyes and looked away as the bright light consumed him. Just then, the voice calls out to him. IF HER HEART SPEAKS THE SAME LANGUAGE AS YOURS, THEN YOUR WISH SHALL BE FULFILLED, DACCHI. REMEMBER THIS; SHE MUST SHARE YOUR FEELINGS OF LOVE, DACCHI.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Slowly, Watashiwatchi opened his eyes. Before was the familiar look of the forest grounds. It would seem that the statue had transported him out of the area. What was even more unusual was that the pain from his right arm was gone! 'What sort of power does that statue have?' he thought to himself. He looked back at the cave. 'But I guess no one will ever know...' With a sigh of relief, he heads straight for his home.
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“Watashiwatchi!” Upon seeing her beloved son, Atashimamatchi ran straight towards him, and scooped him up in a big hug. “I’m so glad you’re all right!” She was crying out of happiness. Watashiwatchi simply hugged her back, fully taking in her embrace. “I’m glad to be back, mom.”
“Hey, son!” Bokupapatchi rushed up to them, just as Atashimamatchi releases him. “Thank heavens you’re doing okay.” He brushed his face off with his arms, wiping away the building tears.
“Of course dad. Thank you, both of you.”
“Of course son, you’re welcome.” Atashimamatchi wiped the tears off of her eyes
“So, how did it go?” Bokupapatchi asked.
“Well…” Watashiwatchi told them everything that had happened, from the spelunking, to injuring his arm, having his rout to home closed off to meeting the statue.
“I see, so the route to the statue has been blocked off.” Bokupapatchi said.
“I guess that means no one else will be able to make wishes on it anymore.” Watashiwatchi said quietly.
“Actually, I think it’s for the better.” Atashimamatchi spoke up. “Perhaps now the statue can finally rest in peace.”
“You’re right darling, I suppose it does make sense, now that I think about it.” Suddenly, Watashiwatchi lifts himself off the chair, and goes straight upstairs. “Son, are you all right?” Bokupapatchi asked, sounding a little worried.
“I’ll be all right dad,” Watashiwatchi said, sounding rather tired. “I just need to rest for the day, that’s all.”
“Okay then son, go on and get yourself some rest. You’ve earned it.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The very next morning, Watashiwatchi wakes up. After getting dressed without his scarf, he heads downstairs. Waiting in front of the front door were his parents. “All you need is on the table.” Bokupapatchi points to the small bag of Gotchi on the table. Watashiwatchi picks up the bag and pockets it. “Also, your mother and I want to give you something.” The two take off their rings and hand them to him.
“But mom, dad, these are your wedding rings.”
“We don’t need them to show how much we love each other. You’re all the proof we need.” Atashimamatchi said.
“Mama, papa…” Watashiwatchi rushed up to his parents and embraced them. “Thank you so much for your blessings!”
“Of course son.” Atashimamatchi looked directly into her son’s eyes. “Just remember, if she’s not the one for you, then I’m sure there will be other girls out there that are looking for a guy with your devotion.”
“Yes mama. I understand.” His parents stand aside, opening the front door. “Go for it son!” Bokupapatchi said, “Even if she’s not the one for you, don’t give up hope. You’ll find your true love someday!”
“We’ll be praying for your safety.” Atashimamatchi called.
“All right, thank you for everything!” He takes his leave, waving goodbye to his parents. His heart skipping a beat, he rushes to the train station. He barely catches the train on time to go to Tamagotchi Town. He quietly says to himself, “No matter what happens, we’re still friends, even if my heart breaks, I won’t regret what I’ve done to get this far.”
