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starlitwhispers · 2 months ago

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to another world, to another you limochi — 6000 words a/n: Happy early Birthday to my bff, my love, my heart!!!! i took some liberties here and there but i hope you enjoy this offshoot of your precious children i had sm fun writing them<3 @musubiki summary: The world is out of balance, something isn’t right. Mochi doesn’t know what it is, but she can feel it. She looks at Pom, who tilts her head, sensing her uncertainty. Something — something is missing… but what? ‘Him!’ A voice flashes in her mind, but she doesn’t know who ‘him’ is…

...

…

The bell rings. Her long, brown hair bounces as her body turns around from behind the counter. She smiles as she sees a regular patron come in, welcoming them. Somewhere, on one of the shelves of the lower counter, Pom lays curled into a ball. The day passes into obscurity. Stacking, sorting, a text from Coco here, a phone call from her mom there. She makes herself a nice warm drink, enjoys it in a free moment, and sees it is now 5 PM. Time to close up shop; her cardigan slips off her shoulder while she finagles into her bag searching for keys.

Right before she closes the door, she looks around the shop to make sure nothing is amiss. Something feels off. She can’t put a finger on it, so she shrugs her shoulders and lets the door close behind her. She’ll figure it out tomorrow. Her fingers turn with the key in the lock and she drops the carabiner clip back into her bag with a clink.

“Let’s head out Pom!” Mochi says to her familiar, happy and carefree. As she walks through the streets, the sun setting in the background paints the sky a blood orange. It’s a warm day in September, no sudden chills of autumn slipping by yet. When she walks through the front door of her home, her mother greets her from the kitchen.

“Oh, hi honey, how was your day?” Tiramisu asks, drying a casserole dish with a cloth.

“It was good! …I think,” Mochi responds, scratching the side of her neck and smiling sheepishly. Gently, she lets her bag slip off her shoulder and down her arm onto the couch.

Her mother blinks, raising an eyebrow in confusion. “You think? That reply doesn’t inspire confidence, you know.”

Suddenly, Mochi jerks upwards, her hands coming up and waving her mother off. “I really don’t mean to cause alarm or anything, I mean it. I just have been feeling strange today. Everything’s okay!”

And with that, Tiramisu strides across the living room to her daughter, her hand reaching out to grab her daughter’s chin, and giving her a bottom-up inspection. Mochi’s cheeks flare up in heat, embarrassed by her mother’s overprotectiveness.

“Hmmm,” Tiramisu muses. “You seem fine to me. Maybe you’re just tired, go upstairs and rest. I need you to deliver something tomorrow across town for me.”

“R-Really? Another delivery? Guess we’ve been doing pretty well lately, huh?” The brunette perks up, a little reassured her mother senses nothing off but also excited to make a delivery.

“Yes, well, the M34TH hasn’t really been turning their noses up in the area for a while, so it makes for pretty good foot traffic for magic users around here. But remember, if you ever see that white uniform, try to discreetly walk away — or if they come up to you, act like you know nothing because—”

“Yes, yes, I know mom,” Mochi cuts in, pulling her cardigan tighter around her body to hug herself. “You’ve drilled it in that they aren’t company to keep for… witches like us.”

“Right, good, I’m glad you remembered,” her mother nods, turning back to the kitchen.

Mochi has yet to meet anyone from the M34TH, so in her mind, everyone from the M34TH is bad. She’s caught glimpses of their officers in the distance whenever she’s on the outskirts of town, but really, she’s never come anywhere close to them. The idea of coming in contact with anyone from the regiment… It frightens her. As she slogs up the stairs and into her bedroom, her body drops onto her bed.

Pom has jumped up beside her, propped up and sitting. Her own mother says everything seems fine, but for some reason, she can’t shake the feeling. Again, just as she did at the bookstore, she looks about her bedroom. Everything is in its place, nothing out of turn. Something feels like it’s gone. Her phone buzzes. It’s Coco asking when they can hang out. An odd sensation sweeps over Mochi’s body, as she taps out of the conversation and sees her conversations with other contacts. ‘Mom,’ ‘Coco,’ ‘Oscar,’ and that is it… Of course, there were various numbers from old classmates and the like, but within her circle of immediate persons to talk to, that is it. She blinks, and then shoves her face in her pillow.

She lifts her face from the pillow, sighing. She knows she should trust her mom, but this is a feeling she knows she cannot deny. Even if it is just her who can sense it, so be it. This must be a mission only she as the cat witch can handle. The world is out of balance, something isn’t right. Mochi doesn’t know what it is, but she can feel it. She looks at Pom, who tilts her head, sensing her uncertainty. Something — something is missing… but what? ‘Him!’ A voice flashes in her mind, and her body jolts up at the strange voice calling out to her. Someone is missing? But she doesn’t know who ‘him’ is…

Her eyes glance over at her alarm clock, it’s 6:30. Dinner should be ready. Mochi slowly tumbles out of bed, a headache growing behind her eyes. The frustration is beginning to burn with every blink, maybe she really is just tired? No, that isn’t it. And she knows it.

The natural forces are affecting her; the essences and spirits are trying to let her know what is amiss. And her body is too immature to take it all in at once. She takes her seat at the table, her mother preparing dinner and setting it down. They spend the entirety of the meal talking about Tiramisu’s plans for both of them tomorrow; her mother will be headed to the inner capitol for a day or two due to restocking on certain ingredients, and Mochi will be traveling to the other side of town to make the delivery.

Mochi quietly eats her portion of dinner, not a lot as her appetite wanes in the anxiety and uncertainty, and excuses herself to an early retirement for the night. She takes a bath in silence, her face gently bobbing above the waterline as she watches the steam rise to the ceiling. She dries herself, blow-dries her hair, lotions her body, and slips a big t-shirt on. She curls up into a ball into bed, Pom following suit after she turns the light off.

“You know I can tell something weighs on your mind,” Pom says in the darkness, with Mochi’s back facing her.

“Mhmm.. mmm… mmhpphm…!” Mochi mumbles into her pillow, deliberately groaning to herself in self-pity.

“Hah?!” Pom yaps at her.

At that moment, Mochi springs up, turning to look down at her cat familiar. “I said, do you think it’s possible to forget something, and not be able to know what it is?!”

“Cannot say I do, is that not the whole point about forgetting? Being unable to recall it?”

The witch takes a breath, calming down. “Yeah, I would suppose you’re right. But I just can’t shake like I’m forgetting something really big, or like there’s something missing. Do you think I left something at the shop?”

“No, I saw you look around anyhow. If you are that worried, just do one of the reminder spells, we can grab the stuff you need tomorrow.”

Taking Pom’s suggestion to heart, Mochi relaxes. “Y-Yeah! You’re right, I don’t know why I’m getting so worked up! We’ll just get the ingredients tomorrow, and then I’ll have an answer for sure.”

Laying back down, she stares at the ceiling. Tomorrow will be better. They have a delivery, when she drops the delivery off, she can pick up the ingredients she needs since they’re common items anyway. She loosens up a little more, closing her eyes. She likes when she has deliveries on the other side of town, more walking; it means she’ll have to take the route on the outskirts of town to get there.

Tomorrow will be better.

And boy, is she wrong about that.

The next morning starts off nothing short of normal. Her mother has already up and left for the capitol, and Mochi eats breakfast with Pom. She grabs her bag off the couch where she put it yesterday, and retrieves the parcel Tiramisu prepared the night before for delivery. Slipping her shoes on, she’s ready to make her way through town to deliver this package. Pom follows at her heels as she locks the door behind her and begins making her way through the streets. It’s quite a long walk, approximately 1 hour to reach the destination, but she thinks she could use the exercise anyway. These are the moments she wishes her mother would allow her to use her broom, but it’s bright out.

About fifteen minutes into it, she arrives at the outskirts of town to reach the route which will take her straight there. And right before she reaches it, as she walks down a narrow path through some buildings, white fabric flashes into her eyesight. Exactly what her mother told her the evening before to be aware of. An officer from the M34TH. Immediately, her heart starts racing, as this tall individual has caught sight of her as well. She barely has time to react and think before her body moves on its own, she turns and starts running away with Pom ahead of her.

Tears well in the corners of her eyes as she runs away from him, she doesn’t dare turn back to look at him, but she can feel him on her heels. He’s close. Gasping for air, all she needs is to make it out of this narrow alleyway and she’ll be amongst other throngs of people. No way he can catch her then. Just feet before she hits a main road, she entertains the idea of turning her head back for a second.

And she regrets this.

Instantaneously, her eyes are met with green irises staring back into hers, she’s been overtaken already. He has grabbed her and gently forces her against the wall of the alley, it’s quiet as both of them pant. She finally takes a good look at the officer, his bright green eyes, as lush and colorful as the new spring leaves of a dogwood, piercing into her gaze, with short orange hair underneath his cap. Air catches in her throat, her mind doesn’t want to admit it, but her heart already has by the way it skips. He’s extremely handsome, a little too handsome to be on the wrong side.

His large hands hold onto both sides of her arms, almost squeezing her together as his tall body bends over her, looking down. He isn’t looking at her with hostility, in fact, something about his stare is dripping with affection just like the sweat on his temple. And as if the sudden sprints and attack on her heart from physical charms haven’t been enough, the words that come out of his mouth almost send her spiraling.

“Mochi, why would you run from me?” He breathes heavily, speaking all too familiarly with her.

Her pink eyes go wide, her eyebrows rising in surprise and alert. He knows her name? Just how much information does the M34TH have on her already? Instantly, she goes into panic mode, terrified of the man before, no matter how gorgeous he is. Now she really wishes she had her broom. She turns her head slightly to the side, to see Pom looking at her cautiously.

“Moch? Are you going to answer me?” The officer asks again, this time almost frantic undertones in his voice.

The cat witch thinks carefully for a moment, about whether or not to answer him. Right now, she’s looking at him as if he has three heads, and is curious if a tail is about to sprout from his rear end in a moment from the way he’s addressing her so intimately. Her lips press into a thin line and air exhales from her nose. In a swift motion, she shakes his grip off her and he fumbles a little back. Huh, she thinks, he’s not that strong after all.

Which is false. Truly, the officer hadn’t been holding her down against her will, or very tightly at all; it’s his last intention to harm her — unbeknownst to the witch, of course. He now stands a step or two from Mochi, his face contorted in frustration.

“Are you joking around with me right now? Come on Moch, it’s me, Lime,” he says, the curve of his mouth turning downward. Something about his sudden burst of despondency feels genuine and tugs at her heart.

“I-I don’t know anyone named Lime,” she finally answers him, turning her face towards the ground and stepping further away from him.

With her moving away from him, he steps towards her, a hand reaching for hers, which she reflexively pulls away. “Mochi, we grew up together, we went to school together, we’re best friends, we… love each other,” Lime pleads with her, his words spilling out of his mouth like he’s trying to conjure up his own spell.

“I’m sorry, I think you must have me mistaken for another Mochi,” the brunette asserts, her shoe dragging backwards, attempting to further the distance between them some more.

“There’s no way you forgot me,” he turns his head up, regaining confidence and talking himself through it. “Yeah, some weird thing happened again, I don’t know how but I just woke up on the outskirts of town, and now that I’ve finally found you, I’m sure you must’ve just messed around with some magic a little too much and you’ve forgotten me somehow.”

Forgot.

Hearing his voice say the word ‘forgot’ is like lightning striking. For a second, she looks at him, clear as day. Her? Forget this man? Strange, her eyes observe him from the foot to the top of his head, but nothing about his visage sparks a memory. Strange, she continues to think, as his voice, his presence, something about him feels like a memory. Like she really has known him her whole life, and she could be forgetting—

“Don’t let him trick you, cat witch,” Pom breaks into her thoughts, sensing her student letting her walls down around this officer. “He may be beguiling you with some M34TH gadget we cannot see!”

Immediately Mochi puts her guard back up, hesitantly furrowing her eyebrows back at him. Pom isn’t wrong, that could totally be the case; but something inside her just wants to believe him.

“Oh, for the love of—!” he groans to himself. “Pom, I know you don’t like me, but you know I would never hurt Mochi!”

Pom circles around him, her tail wiggling as she sizes him up and her snout crinkling at his scent. After a solid moment, she returns to Mochi’s feet, standing in between them. “I do not know any M34TH officers acquainted with my student, but you are quite a strange human… You smell different.”

“Different, Pom?” Mochi asks, crouching down to her. The black cat nods her head, and then scratches the back of her ear with her hind leg.

“Yes, almost like he is not from here.”

Lime sighs in exasperation, his shoulders weeping. “I grew up here, I know this place like the back of my hand, just like the way I know you, Mochi.”

For some reason, his assertion picks at her, and she finds herself frustrated, standing up to face him at eye level. “And just what does someone like you know about me? I would have never tangled myself up with the likes of the M34TH!”

“I know you struggled with school, you hated it because it was hard to balance with becoming a witch at sixteen, I know where you live because I lived across the street from you, I know you lost your powers at one point in high school due to your nasty aunt, I know you overthink things and worry too much, I know you’ll only drink coffee with a shit ton of sugar in it, just like I know a million other little things about you,” he says in one breath, panting and smirking like he’s just proved a point.

However, it has the opposite effect. Mochi begins recoiling, hugging herself and evidently creeped out by the amount of information this man has on her. But at the same time, he continues to speak about her and to her as if they really have known each other all this time… what if, just maybe…?

“Compose yourselves,” Pom speaks, raising a paw. “I wasn’t done talking. I did not mean you were not from this town, but rather, this world. It could be very likely you belong to another dimension, and some forces of magic have to do with it—”

“That’s not possible,” Lime cuts in. “I have incredibly high magic resistance, the highest in the regiment. You would need to be ridiculously powerful to have an effect on me.”

Pom then looks at Mochi, who turns her head down. “If what you say is true, then look no further. The witch right here is more than capable of sending you back to your original world. Although I find it hard to believe my student in another realm would befriend the likes of you.”

The cat witch stands there, looking at Pom, and then the officer. It truly sounds as if Pom also believes he isn’t from here, and the way he speaks really makes it sound as if they were friends. Another thought strikes her. Didn’t he previously say ‘love’? He and this other Mochi were lovers?! Heat rushes to her face, daring to entertain the idea. In her 21 years of life, she has never fallen in love with anyone. And this man, no less an officer from the M34TH, is apparently her beloved in another realm?

“Well, no use in trying to think about it more,” Pom continues talking. “Cat witch, take out your notebook and pen, we should write down the direct coordinates where he fell into the plane of existence. You — do you remember exactly where you awoke?”

Mochi allows a strap from her bag to fall off her shoulder, scrambling to grab her book and pen. She shuffles over to Lime, her hands moving all about to open the book to a blank page, where she suddenly grasps onto her pen a little too tight and presses the tip into the paper a little too deeply, breaking the pen and squirting ink.

All over Lime.

The tall officer in white abruptly jumps, looking down at himself in disarray. A brief “oh no,” releases from Mochi’s lips as she gawks at his mess of an outfit. Pom looks away and shakes her head at the scene. And that is how the odd trio ended up returning to Mochi’s home, to allow him to clean up himself. It’s fine, the witch thinks to herself as she places her bag back onto the couch, the delivery isn’t anticipated until later in the afternoon at the latest, and this gives her and Pom some time to write up a game plan.

A very, very strange quest has unfolded right before her, and she feels a responsibility to this ‘Lime’ knowing that another Mochi once dearly loved him. If it is true that another her loved him, she trusts herself… kind of. She tilts her head, her thoughts stopping her in her tracks. Such an odd conversation she continues to ponder, imagining another universe out there with another her. And somehow, she fell in love with an officer from the M34TH. As she works through this conceptual situation in her mind, she hands a towel to Lime, asking him to leave his top outside the door while he showers.

There’s a quick potion she has handy in a cabinet that will take the stains right out and fix his clothes right up. After she removes the stains, she notices it is noon and feels a grumble in her stomach. So she heads to the kitchen to whip up lunch. She silently goes into her zone as she chops an onion on the cutting board, not realizing that Lime has finished up and… exited the bathroom shirtless.

He stands there, his arm reaching for the top of the doorway, his temple touching the wood as he smirks in Mochi’s direction with beads of water trailing down his body. “Hmmm,” he hums, catching her attention.

When her pink eyes notice him, pecs and all, her face immediately blushes a crimson hue, having never eyed a man’s body so closely and intimately before. She does not say anything as he stalks towards her, his shirt dragging in one of his hands. Mochi turns back to the cutting board on the counter, reciting in her head ‘focus Mochi, focus,’ as she chops up the onion. This, she instantly regrets, as Lime comes up from behind her, placing a hand beside hers on the counter.

“Oooh, food — smells good like always,” he says gently to her, his breath hot in her ear. She carries on with the knife, trying with everything in her body to not cut herself in a fluster.

“I-If you don’t mind,” she finally retorts. “Could you please back away? I’m trying to prepare lunch.”

She hears a husky chuckle release from Lime’s mouth, where he responds instantly. “How about no? How about Mochi harassment hour!”

At which he grabs at the choker on her neck, that he knows is sensitive, and laughs wholeheartedly. However, this does not amuse Mochi, who instead feels somewhat violated by this stranger, but at the same time self-conscious regarding all the insinuations. So, she pushes him away in a huff.

“I don’t know anything called Mochi harassment hour! I’m not your Mochi, do you understand? So please just put a shirt on, and we can eat lunch and I can gather what I need to send you back!” She exclaims in one breath, her shoulders bobbing up and down in agitation.

In the next moment, she realizes what she has done. That isn’t like her at all. Her eyebrows immediately release in remorse, her opalescent eyes turning to the side. Quietly, she turns back around, returning to the task she has at hand. Lime, on the other hand, is equally frustrated and dejected. But, what he has to say surprises her.

“In the event you’re unable to send me back, I swear I’ll make you fall in love with me again, Moch,” he states, his voice low and serious.

A second passes, and she hears him silently slip out of the home and out the door. She assumes he’s going out for some air, he seems like the type to need that after a confrontation like that. After she hears the door close all the way, she drops the knife from her hand and covers her cheeks with her palms. What on earth was that? She thinks to herself, her face burning a bright red, her heart pounding at the proximity they shared. No man has ever touched her neck before, no man has ever been so close to her skin before…

Make her fall in love with him… again?! And he sounds so confident, it’s almost disgustingly… charming. He’s so charming, and something about his presence does something to her. She cannot explain it, but she is naturally drawn to him, wanting to stick around him. And she just met him this morning. Yet, everything inside her is betraying her heritage as a witch. She’s been stuck on this question: how on earth did other Mochi fall in love with an officer from the M34TH?

She clenches a fist in front of the stove, finally understanding how. Because it seems, even in other dimensions, they are inexplicably drawn to one another.

In all her life, no one has ever inspired such feelings in her. And all of a sudden, her self-proclaimed lover from another world has spun her out of her wits. She now also begins to doubt herself again, what if she isn’t able to send him back? What if she isn’t as strong as she and Pom think she is, and he really is too resistant to magic? What if, in the most ridiculous possible thought to entertain, she is okay with him being stuck here?

Minutes pass as she sets the table with dinnerware and Lime serendipitously returns into the home, sitting at the table as if he’s done it a million times before. They eat their meal in silence, until the very end, where Lime breaks the quietude by acting normal and teasing her, as if nothing happened 20 minutes ago. After lunch, Pom and Mochi re-set out for the delivery, their party of two now a party of an unexpected three.

They make their way through town without hazard, and as they trek closer and closer to their destination, Lime complains like a child dragging his feet.

“It’s not that big of a deal, I’m sure there’s some spell that will reverse everything and you’ll remember me again,” he says, waving an arm up in the air.

“That’s kind of hard to do, if you never existed in the first place,” Pom answers, to which Lime narrows his eyes indignantly.

“I’m sure if I were to remember you, I probably would have by now,” Mochi mumbles to herself, thinking a little deeper about the situation. Truly, could she have ever forgotten someone like him if they really had met in this world? She thinks not.

“Besides,” Mochi brightens up her voice, smiling at Lime. “The person we’re delivering to will be able to give us some good advice! They’re quite knowledgeable about the magic world.”

An eyebrow of Lime’s raises in curiosity as they walk deeper into the streets, coming to a part of town that is eerily familiar to him. Immediately, they overhear an older woman admonishing someone, a whizzing sound through the air as her long, oaken staff comes into view while she swings it.

“No, no, not like that you heathen!” The small, short, yet absurdly agile, old woman chastises her apprentice, who shrugs his shoulders with a care-free grin.

The young M34TH officer’s expression immediately perks up on sight of the apprentice, rushing over to him with a smile. This startles Mochi and Pom, who stand idly by to watch the moment unfold.

“Well what do you know, it’s Oscar!” Lime rushes over to him, ready to put an arm around him for a noogie. Just like earlier when he reached for Mochi’s hand, Oscar reflexively moves away, unsettled by a M34TH officer suddenly acting like he knows him. As Oscar moves away, his cape swishes to the side, revealing both of his arms. “Woah, you’ve still got both your arms, too!”

“What — What the heck Mochi, who the hell is this guy?” Oscar asks nonplussed, his hands grabbing onto their opposing arms and holding them against his body. As if reliving this morning, but replacing Mochi with Oscar, the brunette steps further away from Lime, eyeing him in suspicion.

“H-Hold up there, Oscar,” Mochi steps in, putting herself between them. “This is… Lime. Pom thinks he’s from another universe, one where he and I grew up together, and I guess, apparently you too by the way he’s talking to you.”

For a minute, Oscar looks Lime up and down and then brings his gaze back to Mochi, his head tilting to the side in disbelief. “Are you sure?” the brunette muses, his voice slightly lower in volume as he speaks to the cat witch.

“Oh, he’s certainly not your average, crusty, old officer! That’s guaranteed,” the elderly woman cuts in, waving her staff. “Quite a strange thing happened to you, huh?”

She stops herself in front of Lime, her circular glasses flashing as she looks up at him from the height of his knees. Her staff stands right next to her, its golden bauble dangling from the top which Lime can see his own reflection.

“You’re tellin’ me, lady,” Lime agrees with her, his expression blank and his lips pressed into a line.

“You can tell, too, Madam Springs?” Mochi asks her, a little relief resounding in her tone.

Madam Springs then turns to Mochi, looking up at her face in consternation. “You can sniff him out already? My, the power of the cat is utterly terrifying all right.”

“Oh no, Pom was the one who noticed it! I had no clue at all,” she renounces the woman’s statement, shaking her head.

“Ah, I see,” Madam Springs replies, growing quiet. “Well! Good luck with that.”

And she starts waddling away.

“W-Wait! Madam Springs, I was hoping to ask for your expertise on the matter!” Mochi moves to stand in front of her, her expressions pleading with the woman. “And besides, we have your order! Don’t you need this?”

With that, Mochi pulls a small parcel from her bag, handing it over to Madam Springs. The short lady glances at it, takes it from her hand, and then throws it over her shoulder in Oscar’s direction. Oscar, acting as if this is nothing new, immediately rushes forward to catch the package in time.

“Expertise? What would I know about some kid who jumped through dimensions or whatever?” Her oaken staff waves in the air again, trying to pass off the witch.

“I mean, you have lived a long time, there’s gotta be something you know,” Oscar slips in, shrugging his shoulders.

Her head instantaneously whips around, glaring at him. “Why you—!”

And while the old woman swings her stick with all her might in Oscar’s direction, with Mochi attempting to deescalate the situation, Lime stands off to the side, watching. As if he’s not even present, everyone argues about him, his circumstances, and all he can feel is… loneliness. It’s as if Mochi has disappeared all over again — although she’s right in front of him — and he can’t contribute anything to help.

His gloved hand grips at the fabric forming a fist, a squeak sounding from the material rubbing so hard. But it’s like a drop in the ocean, again, with no one to notice. Not even Mochi. He senses himself growing frustrated, because being helpless is the last thing he ever wants to feel. This world isn’t his? These people in front of him aren’t his? No one remembers or knows him? He never thought he would see the day when Lime Goldwood became… irrelevant and unknown. And that’s not to say with an arrogant air — it’s just that he’s always been… someone.

And now he is no one.

His green eyes flash over the cat witch again. What if he’s unable to go back? He would have to start all over again with Mochi. How could he make her love him again? Make her? No, he shakes his head in disgust of himself. Mochi isn’t someone to be won or made to do something. She comes to her own decisions, has her own preferences, is her own person — that’s the reason why he fell for her in the first place.

While he’s thinking to himself, the rest have calmed down and begun discussing the situation at hand. Madam Springs contemplates on the problem aloud, humming to herself intently.

“I’ll say you have your work cut out for you,” the woman says to Mochi. “He’s a tough one, a black canvas. You’ll be needing a lot of stamina to send him back.”

“But it is doable?” the witch asks.

“Well sure, but like I said, lots of stamina.”

Mochi looks at Lime, and then at Pom. But Pom stares back, her expression unnerving and straight. Mochi knows exactly what that means, and it means Pom’s leaving the decision up to her. She makes the choice about sending Lime back, and that’s if she can. He’s a black canvas, she’s never tried magic on someone like that before.

Her eyes return to Lime, who’s gazing back somberly. She doesn’t know why, but she senses a great deal of uncertainty in him; and she doesn’t blame him one bit. The idea has been hard for her to grasp — well, not so much really, since she is a witch — but more difficult to come to terms with this man being someone she loves in another timeline. If she herself had been thrown through a dimension, into a world just like the one she grew up in, only to find no one she cares for remembers her, much less the person she’s in love with, well…

Safe to say, she breaks her own heart thinking about it.

And she admires him for a long second, because he has the mind and strength to deal with it far more confidently than her. In the soft silence, with murmurs of passersbys and distant car noises, she nods at both Pom and Lime. It’s the right thing to send him back; it’s her duty as the cat witch to restore balance.

They say their farewells to Oscar and Madam Springs — who wish them good luck on their endeavors to send Lime back — and tread their way back to her home. As they walk back, Pom advises Mochi to rest for the night, so that tomorrow morning her strength will be optimal to cast the spell. Approaching the house, dusk has already begun to scatter across the sky in hues of lilacs and roses from the setting sun. It has been a long day, indeed.

Mochi’s heart feels worn out, as she watches Pom head inside. Lime lingers behind her, he’s been eerily quiet the entire route home, and she’s not too sure if it’s because he’s hungry or what. Perhaps she should start dinner soon—

“Moch,” he starts earnestly, breaking into her thoughts. “Will you be okay tomorrow? I don’t… I don’t want you to send me back, if you’re at risk for being hurt.”

His concern startles her, and then she eases into it quickly, as she done with all the feelings he’s flung at her today, as if they’ve been doing it for years. Of course he’s worried about the person he most fervently loves.

And that’s her.

But not her at the same time. She has to remind herself.

Gently, she shakes her head, her hair bouncing in the movement and a small smile of reassurance across her lips. “I wouldn’t have agreed if I couldn’t do it, besides you—” she stops herself for a moment, unsure if she should finish. She’s not trying to hurt feelings, whether or not they’re his or hers; at this point she doesn’t know whose she's hurting. “You don’t belong here, Lime. This isn’t the world you were born in, this isn’t your world.”

“Any world with you in it is my world,” he replies, steadfast and sincere.

She feels a hiccup in her heart, a flutter in her chest, an unspeakable response to the waxing poetic he spouts at her like it’s nothing. She’s left speechless as the sun finally rolls down, leaving them in the glimmer of the streetlamp overhead. A faint gust brushes by their ankles, her face beating red, his green eyes unwavering.

“No matter the time, dimension, world, or realm—”

He steps closer, the streetlight shining over his face. There’s something in the air, some kind of chill, making the hair on the back of her neck stand. And it’s like there’s a hand over her heart, gripping it intensely, deftly, as he confesses to her how much he loves her.

“I’ve always been yours, Moch.”

Goosebumps fleck across her body. Her heart beats rapidly and her cheeks burn. Summer’s supposed to end this month, the heat’s to blame. It’s confusing her, how it’s cold in the morning and hot in the afternoons. It’s not… him. It’s not. To do right by her role, to do right by her birth, she must send him back.

“I have to do it,” she breathes out, her eyes growing red.

His gaze softens on her, stepping closer and bending down. His fingers gingerly and tenderly tilt her chin up at him, and he does exactly what she has feared the most to experience.

They kiss.

It’s affectionate, delicate, and bittersweet. It's warm and impossible to take in. It's rough but kind. It's slow, but not slow enough. It’s everything she’s wished for and wanted, yet not at the same time. He slowly pulls away, giving her a loving and emotional smile.

“I know,” is all he says in a low cadence. He walks inside the home, leaving her at the front of the house. Night has fully fallen by now, and she is alone with the stars and space. He’s shaken her resolve, he’s shaken her whole world. Her eyes flicker up to the sky, asking the universe for an answer she knows she won’t receive.

Tonight is a full moon. The perfect night for a witch to rest.

Somehow, Mochi is able to lull herself to sleep that evening. Perhaps it is the heavy weight of responsibility on her shoulders, or the slim chance she messes up the spell; but she knows how paramount it is for her to receive her rest. It is a still night.

When dawn breaks, she awakes with a serious expression, looking out her window at the pale orange sky and seeing the sun in the horizon. It is time. She leaves her bed and readies herself for the day, meeting Pom and Lime at the bottom of the stairs. He’s quiet, Pom’s quiet. They head down to the basement to prepare for the spell. Since it’s a type of transportive spell, she needs to draw a circle with Lime standing in the middle. She uses her white chalk sparingly, the scratch noises screeching as she etches into the ground.

After writing the last sigil, she wipes her nose with the back of her hand and stands back to read her work. She has to make sure all the proper markings are there. Afterwards, she takes a deep breath. Mochi turns to Lime.

“It’s ready, can you stand in the middle?” she asks him, almost hesitantly.

He nods his head and struts over to the middle of the circle. She initiates muttering the incantations, and suddenly gales begin to rise and twist around them; the sigils on the ground start to glow and shine brighter as she continues speaking. Mochi can feel the magic begin to drain from her body — it’s not something so simple as time travel — time travel is against the witches’ laws. This spell is about sending someone to another dimension. Something almost unfathomable to Mochi. This is an entirely too powerful spell to cast.

But she has to. For both of their sakes.

Lime can see the distress surfacing in her face; his brows knit in worry and his lips are pressed into a line in heartache. He clenches his fist, he holds down his tongue until he can’t anymore.

“Mochi, please, remember, you don’t have to do this if it hurts you,” he entreats her, a pained smile across his mouth. He’s trying to reassure her, it simply doesn’t matter to him. They could be apart in universes, galaxies, dimensions — but he would always find her. Even if she didn’t remember him. And Mochi realizes this. And his words cut like a knife on her heart, because more than anything, she’s come to terms with their undeniable connection.

She almost takes everything back in that very instant; but in a swift second she knows. She knows it’s time. He’s not her Lime, and she’s not his Mochi. She smiles to herself with her eyelids welling up, the winds and forces sweeping up around her and Lime — almost becoming a violent tornado with the two of them at the center — his green iridescent eyes staring back into her fiery pink gaze. That’s a lie. No matter where, no matter when, just as he said last night, he’d always be hers and she would always be his.

For once, she’s jealous of herself.

“Goodbye, Lime.”

It all fades to black.

…

The bell rings. Her long, brown hair bounces as her body turns around from behind the counter. She smiles as she sees him standing in the doorframe, an all too commonplace smirk spread across his mouth.

“Come on, Moch,” he tilts his head with a husky plea. “It’s almost dinnertime and I’m starving.”

“All right, all right, let me grab my things,” she answers, quickly grabbing her bag and Pom following at her heels. As she heads to meet him at the door, she turns around, looking about the store. A moment passes, she breathes out.

“What’s up?” Lime asks, an eyebrow raising in curiosity.

She turns back to him, her cheeks tint rose-colored. “Nothing,” she starts, heading out the door and naturally taking the tall officer’s hand into hers. “There’s nothing wrong at all.”

Everything is just right, as it should be.

#musubiki #the cat witchs guild #limochi #tcwg #the misc adventures of mochi & lime #tmaomal #lime goldwood #mochi catbelle #honestly i had sm fun writing this it was a blast i love stephs children with all my heart <3 #i hope u enjoy them my beloved!!!!!!#happy birthday to uuuuuuu #you are a national treasure<3 #MY national treasure lmao #well OUR national treasure (mine and stellas >:))

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ulyssessklein · 6 years ago

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Jose’ Feliciano At the Top of His Game Talks About His Musical Journey

By: Rick Landers

Images: Courtesy of Susan Feliciano

Jose’ Feliciano – image courtesy S. Feliciano.

In the world of guitar there are a handful of legendary players with the skill, the talent, the discipline and the magic to move mountains in all styles of music. Jose’ Feliciano runs with that pack, and on any given day he just might be the leader. He can vamp Hendrix, lay down Atkins riffs, intrigue us with Segovia classical moves, play flamenco with a velvet crush, light our fires and adorn our Christmas spirits with seasonal hipness and universal love.

Feliciano is unbound when it comes to music. He explores and devises with his expansive musical curiosity and his inventiveness that shape shifts others songs into ones with his own melodic stamp.

Take his thoughtful release of The Doors mega-hit, “Light My Fire”, a track that that few would even attempt to match, let alone change its mood to something dreamlike and soulful. He stretches the vocals and reaches deep to draw out emotional riches, extracting a treasure trove of sound that makes the song his own. And, then a few years later, he released the the universally uplifting “Feliz Navidad”, a bouncy 1970 track that’s become the most played Christmas song in the world. And then there was the controversial day when he shook America a bit when he honored the country with his non-traditional, yet inspiring version of “The Star Spangled Banner” at the 1968 World Series.

Blind from birth, José Monserrate Feliciano García moved in his own world, discovering the intrinsic beauty of music at a young age. In 1962, he and his The Modern Sound Trio comprised of Bobby Grogen (drums), Bliss Rodriquez (pianist) and Jose’ (guitar) made it to television’s The Amateur Hour, and he would later find himself with some other gifted players to form a tight knit group with Ted Arnold (bass) and Paulinho Magalhaes (drums/percussion). The three musicians formed a brotherhood of sound, casting their sonic net around the songs of The Beatles, Gerry and The Pacemakers, The Mamas and Papas, as well as songs by Feliciano, and none far from a hint of flamenco.

At three Jose’ was thumping a cracker tin, then later would learn to play accordion. But, guitar would steal his heart away and the world would soon be grateful for this new bond. After a few years making records, such as his “Everybody Do The Click” RCA recording from 1965 and not making a big dent, his hard work and determination hit pay dirt when he released the single, “Light My Fire” that earned him a gold record and a couple of Grammy awards (Best New Artist of the Year and Best Pop Song of the Year). He would also tend to his Hispanic roots and would have two huge hit singles in Spanish, “Poquita Fe” and “Sin Fe” (“Little Faith” and “Without Faith”, respectively). More awards and international accolades followed, as he would receive scores of honors, including one it’s said he most covets, his 2004 Helen Keller Personal Achievement Award.

In the business for over half a century, Mr. Feliciano continues to churn out music for the world. Most recently, he’s released five (!) new albums that can be found HERE, along with a few song samples to whet our musical appetites. And you’ll want to see if he’s showing up near your town soon while he’s on tour HERE.

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Jose’ Feliciano – Image courtesy of S. Feliciano.

Rick Landers: A short while ago you went to the National Museum of American History and where you welcomed 20 new American citizens to our country, from I believe 17 countries. Now how do you prepare yourself for what must have been, I would assume an emotional experience? What did you want to convey?

Jose’ Feliciano: Well, I wanted them to know that being made citizens of this country was a great thing, that this is a great opportunity for them, that this was or is the freest nation in the world and that they had to learn to speak English, very important. If you’re gonna migrate to a country, learn the language and that was very important and, of course, a lot of them sort of spoke English.

But, I told them about me, that I was an immigrant, of course migration for me was a lot easier than for these people because Puerto Rico is part of the United States. So, when I migrated to America in 1950, then it was very important to me because where I came from I couldn’t get let’s say the education that I got coming to New York and living in New York.

Rick: Sure. You lived in The Bronx?

Jose’ Feliciano: I lived in The Bronx, but I lived more on 103rd Street on Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues. I lived on 103rd Street and I lived in a small apartment that my aunt donated to my parents and myself. We were five of us, my parents and three brothers.

Rick: Wow, I would think that would have been a fairly tough situation for your parents, to do the migration with five kids, but lucky that you had your aunt.

Jose’ Feliciano: Well, my aunt had already been in this country for a little while and she was a seamstress. That’s how she made her living. She was a seamstress and she also made clothes for men. She built a small empire!

Rick: Good for her, and good that she loved your family so much that she was willing to support you in your move.

Jose’ Feliciano: I will always be grateful that she did that.

Rick: Yeah, that’s sweet. I went through your autobiography and a lot of different things, and went through a lot of music, so this is gonna be a little spotty in places and there’s no way to get — your whole background unless there’s a book out.

Now, you really brought soul to The Doors’ “Light My Fire” and I swear whenever I sing it now it’s your version I sing. I bet it’s pretty much the same with most people who know both versions. Did you ever talk to The Doors about it and what did they think about it?

Jose’ Feliciano: Well, from what I hear because I’ve never talked to them in person, but I think they liked that I did it different, I wasn’t trying to be The Doors and I took it out of wherever it was and I played it the way I would perform it in coffee houses and around people. My producer, he liked the way I did it and suggested that I record it. Our single that I came out with from that album was “California Dreamin’”, “Light My Fire” was on the other side.

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Rick: Yeah, I remembered you doing “California Dreamin’”. Now working through anything like this interview, I begin with a structure then more often than not it tends to unravel into a conversation much like playing an improvisational tune and sometimes sometimes it’s better to find the structure again and go back to the questions, but then sometimes you go off on tangents and it takes on a kind of a new world of its own and most of the time I think it’s better and you get better moments, like in music. Do you find that to be the case or have you ever gotten lost in the moment when playing improvisationally and did you find you needed or wanted to steer back to the fret board for grounding or your modes or whatever?

Jose’ Feliciano: I was always a good improviser. I could always improvise my way out of anything, you know, when it came, it came.

Rick: I know you learned guitar when you were young, but I think you first started off on the accordion, right?

Jose’ Feliciano at age six – Image: courtesy of S. Feliciano.

Jose’ Feliciano: I played the accordion from the age of seven until I was 14. I got into the guitar when I was nine and goodbye accordion!

Rick: So, who were you listening to when you were nine years old?

Jose’ Feliciano: When I was nine years old I was listening to people like Chuck Berry or rock ‘n’ roll, because that’s what I was into and then I would listen to people like Barney Kessel and Elias Barreiro.

Rick: Yeah jazz, yeah.

Jose’ Feliciano: I was into jazz and Howard Roberts, great guitarist and Charlie Byrd of course, he was great.

Rick: Yeah, Wes Montgomery?

Jose’ Feliciano: Wes Montgomery, definitely. All those great guitar players, Johnny Smith, who was a great guitarist. So, I had a good education, a lot of my friends were black, so they were the ones that turned me on to jazz really and rock ‘n’ roll, because a lot of the rock ‘n’ roll groups were black.

Rick: Oh! Yeah. It was like Louis Jordan and Chuck Berry, Little Richard.

Jose’ Feliciano: Yeah, you’ve got it and then later I listened to Keith Richards as I got older, with the Rolling Stones, he did some very good things.

Rick: He’s mostly thought of as I think a guy who uses his chords, but he’s got some pretty good licks in there, as well.

Jose’ Feliciano: Well sure, I mean, the intro of the “Satisfaction”, for example, will always be something that people will know.

Rick: It’s real simple and he used that fuzz tone, so it was pretty cool. Tell us a little bit about your uncle who gave you your first guitar and what was he like and did he continue to inspire you?

Jose’ Feliciano: Well, this wasn’t my uncle. My uncle played a Puerto Rican instrument called the Cuatro which has ten strings. The guitar was given to me by a friend of my aunt. He saw my interest in music and he came by one night, I think it was during the day, he came by and he brought a guitar that he had gotten me. It was a ten dollar Stella and he got it from a Jewish pawnshop.

Rick: They tended to have really high strings.

Jose’ Feliciano: Well, yes. Mine was okay, but I knew I needed a better guitar later. Later I acquired a Harmony and that wasn’t bad actually, going to school and putzing around. That was a good guitar, the Harmony. And then after the Harmony I started making a little more money and I got myself a requinto which is for playing Spanish music and stuff like that, which was made by BM Ronda, he made great guitars!

Rick: There a few, was that in New York?

Jose’ Feliciano: That was in New York, all of that was in New York and then in 1967 I moved to California.

Jose’ in his teens – Image: courtesy of S. Feliciano.

Rick: When you were talking about New York, I had a guitar made by a guy named LoPrinzi, Augustino LoPrinzi. Have you ever heard of him?

Jose’ Feliciano: No, was it a classical guitar?

Rick: Mine was a dreadnaught, but he and his daughter, Donna, are making classical guitars now down at Florida. Apparently they’re expensive, but they’re brilliant guitars. When he was in New Jersey he was working out of a chicken coop and I think later a barber shop when he started, but I had one of his guitars. What are you playing now as far as in the studio? What do you noodle around with at home?

Jose’ Feliciano: I play a Laguna guitar and I also play a Candelas guitar, a guitar that I love the most, because Mr. Flores (Candelario Delgado-Flores: 1910-1983) made I think by far some of the best classical guitars out there.

Rick: And you just gave yours to the museum, right?

Jose’ Feliciano: I did. I gave them the guitar that I used to record “Light My Fire” and the guitar that I used to play “The Star Spangled Banner”.

Rick: Was it hard to give up?

Jose’ Feliciano: Yes.

Rick: I bet. When I talked to Steve Cropper a few weeks ago, I think he gave The Smithsonian one of his Telecaster’s that he used on “Green Onions” years ago, so it must have been tough.

Jose’ Feliciano: Steve Cropper is one of the great guitarists I did two albums with, no I did, let’s see, my first album with him was an album called the Memphis Menu, my second album with him was Compartments where I played with Leon Russell, Seals and Crofts, Loggins and Messina, I think that was it. Oh, and Leon Russell. Well, Leon just played piano. We had Leon and we had Bill Withers.

Rick: Wow, all those people are brilliant.Well, it’s interesting and I know that a lot of the stuff that you’ve done has been really under the radar and nobody’s really heard about it, like you playing on a John Lennon’s album. I think Steve Cropper played on it as well, right? On his Rock ‘n’ Roll album?

Jose’ Feliciano: Sure, so did Jessie Ed Davis, played guitar on it.

Rick: I think Leon Russell was on that too, wasn’t he?

Jose’ Feliciano: Well, he also might have been on it, yeah, but John Lennon was really drunk in the album.

Rick: Was he?

Jose’ Feliciano: Yeah.

Rick: That was his low period. I think he was probably not with Yoko at the time?

Jose’ Feliciano: Alright, I don’t think he was, I think he was with May Pang.

Rick: Yeah, and with Harry Nillson.

Jose’ Feliciano: Harry Nillson, wrong person to be with. Harry was a nice guy, I knew him and I never got to really hang out with him, but I liked him because he’s super talented and he wrote some damn good songs.

Rick: Yeah. Now you were also in a Joni Mitchell album, right, Court and Spark?

Jose’ Feliciano: I was. I played on “Free Man in Paris”.

Rick: Yeah, okay great song, I just listened to it and what I found interesting is that was an Asylum record she was on, but weren’t you with RCA?

Jose’ Feliciano: I was with RCA, but I thought I was going to do a lot more on the John Lennon album, but it turned out that I didn’t. I heard the music going next door and I said, “Let’s go over there for a moment.”, and there was Joni Mitchell open tuning in a hall, and so I was worked with Larry Carlton, whom I also like very much, so I got to be on that album.

Rick: Wow, so what studio was that?

Jose’ Feliciano: I think it was Studio B.

Rick: In L.A?

Jose’ Feliciano: In L.A.

Interviewer: Was it in an Asylum studio or…?

Jose’ Feliciano: No, it was RCA, I feel it was on a RCA, it was with Henry Lewy, was the producer.

Rick: Nobody’s ever heard of that.

Jose’ Feliciano: I played in all of that. I kind of feel like I was part of a certain group.

Rick: Well you were, especially with Steve Cropper, you know, the Stax guy.

Jose’ Feliciano: Yes. Well, you know Steve also at the time was in love with a lady by the name of Brooks Hunnicutt. She sang with Roy Orbison. She sang with a whole lot of people, very nice girl, very nice. I think she was in her forties, when she was hanging with Steve.

The masterful artist, Jose’ Feliciano – Image: courtesy of S. Feliciano.

Rick: You’re not known just for your music, but you’re also known for your quick wittedness and good humor. I hope that it has prevailed in tough times. How has it best served you?

Jose’ Feliciano: Well, all I can say is, I don’t know, it served me in the sense that my humor keeps me level. People don’t understand my humor, but it keeps me level. It really does.

Rick: Yeah, it keeps you centered?

Jose’ Feliciano: Yeah. It is like sometimes if I bump into someone, you know, and they say what’s the matter are you blind or something I’d say, yeah, what’s your excuse?

Rick: There you go, you’re being Jose’. Talking about centeredness and being grounded, there’s something that I read about and actually I watched the video and while you’re introducing your instrumental “Affirmation”, you mentioned a book The Autobiography of a Yogi. How did that or does that still inspire you?

Jose’ Feliciano: Definitely. I’ve always been very curious about the Hindu religion. I like some of the aspects of it. I like transcendental meditation, I enjoy that. I enjoy that you have to spend time with your mind and free it from other things, and that has always interested me.

Rick: Have you heard of a book called Optimal Flow?

Jose’ Feliciano: No, I haven’t.

Rick: Optimal Flow was written some time ago by a Czechoslovakian guy and it’s all about the beauty and how you come into a balance when you do something, like when you’re turning a wrench and you know you’re right at the right spot and it just feels right, and when you hit the right note, but it’s about the science that’s very Zen-like.

Jose’ Feliciano: Sounds good.

Rick: With respect to The Autobiography of a Yogi, I was reading that Steve Jobs of Apple read it every year to be inspired. Do you still recommend it to people?

Jose’ Feliciano: I do, I do. It’s like the Bible, in a sense. You know how the Bible, you can read it and read it and it never gets old?

Rick: Sure.

Jose Feliciano: You always find something inspirational and it’s the same with Autobiography of a Yogi. It always inspires me that there could be people on this earth like this man, I wish I could have met him. When I’m in California I go to the self-realization citizenship place that he built in California.

Rick: I’ll pick up that book about that Yogi, I’ve heard about it before and I’d seen the cover of it, But I never opened it up to read it, but I’ll do that now.

Jose’ Feliciano: Yep, you’ll enjoy it.

Jose’ Feliciano – Image courtesy of S. Feliciano.

Rick: Okay, thank you. You met Jimi Hendrix at one point at The Speak (Speakeasy Club, U.K.), what happened there?

Jose’ Feliciano: I met Jimi and he heard me play on my acoustic, because I didn’t play electric then, though I could and so I met him and he met me and he said he thought that I was really good on the guitar and that was it. I never thought anything of it. I liked Jimi when I met him, he was a big guy, he was a tough guy, but a nice guy. I wasn’t surprised by the success that he obtained, I mean all you had to do was listen to that guy play and listen to how he would invent his own electronic sound, such as his delay he did with two machines going at the same time, I think. He was an innovator.

Rick: Yeah, he was pretty fascinating, innovative, an inventive guitar player and I was talking to Dave Mason and I don’t know if you know that Dave Mason actually did the opening chords to “All Along the Watchtower”, the 12-string acoustic on that is Dave Mason.

Jose’ Feliciano: Oh! No, I didn’t.

Rick: Yeah, so it is like, oh really, yeah it’s pretty cool.

Jose’ Feliciano: And he played it in C-minor.

Rick: Well, you would know. Let’s get into something a little bit more serious. Puerto Rico has suffered some serious devastating consequences and a friend of mine goes down there probably every four or five months to help out a friend in the aftermath of the hurricane. Have you been able to reach out to those Americans who need our help down there or have you thought about that?

Jose’ Feliciano: Well, I did a concert in Puerto Rico in May of this year (2018).

Rick: Oh! Did you, okay.

Jose’ Feliciano: Yeah, and I tried to in my own way, help them out. How can I not, it’s my country, you know, how could I not help? I try and help it so, I hope this year will be more merciful to them.

Rick: Yeah, me too, and I hope we do more from the State-side as well, so I think we need to do more.

Jose’ Feliciano: You know that one thing people don’t know just like I’m under the radar with what I do sometimes?

Rick: Yes sir, what’s that?

Jose’ Feliciano: That’s when Puerto Rico needed help, Donald Trump gave 20 million dollars out of his own pocket, not, you know.

Rick: Really?

Jose’ Feliciano: Yep, and people are very quick to not speak well of Donald Trump. So, the good that he does gets hidden out there over the other things, but I think and I’m not ashamed to say this that Donald Trump has done good for the country. The economy is better, people are putting more money into their pockets, you know and that’s all I can say and I think people should give him a fair chance, wait until his term runs out and then on election time if you didn’t like what he did, complain then.

Rick: I had to laugh, I was watching a scene of Fargo where you’re performing and Steve Buscemi I think, his character is complimenting you and talking to this girl and then he blurts out really loud, asking for a drink and it was like, majestically, ironically crass, It always makes me laugh. So what did you think when you saw that scene? You’re playing and then he comes over with this, “Give me a drink!” [Laughs]

Jose’ Feliciano: Yeah, and he says,”Well you know you’re in good company when the artist is Jose’ Feliciano.” [Laughs]

Rick: Let’s talk a bit about patriotism. It can be an awe inspiring feeling, but it can also be very complex and when you played your what I felt was a soulful personal version of the “Star Spangled Banner” in ’68 in Detroit, were you prepared for the controversy it unleashed? And how did you kind of steal yourself to hold true to the song and to your own feelings and to your own patriotism?

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Jose’ Feliciano: Well, I wasn’t prepared for what happened because that wasn’t my intention. My intention was I was invited and I wanted to do something new with the anthem, because I too was kind of tired of people singing it and the anthem wasn’t even finished and people were already clapping. They wanted it to be over.

Rick: Yeah, true.

Jose’ Feliciano: And I didn’t. I wanted to give the anthem respect and after all this was my country and I was grateful for everything this country has done for me and I feel that today, I love America. There’s some mistakes that I don’t like about America, but it shows that we’re human, it’s not like a Russian scene taking the will out of people, and so when this happened you know, I was shocked that I made something like this happen. Veterans were throwing their shoes at the TV and that kind of thing and that shocked me!

Rick: Well crazy, yeah.

Jose’ Feliciano: Sure.

Rick: And once you did it, I thought it was great. I recall you also did a song, it was like (sings) “Listen to the falling rain, listen to it rain.”

Jose’ Feliciano: That one I wrote. I wrote that one in 1969.

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Rick: I was listening to another song of yours and it was about your pup named Trudy and it’s called “No Dogs Allowed”.

Jose’ Feliciano: Sure, yeah, that was back in the Sixties. When did I write that? I think I wrote it in 67’, but I recorded it in 69’ on my London Palladium album.

Rick: What happened there in the U.K.?

Jose’ and his beloved pup, Trudy – Image courtesy of Sl Feliciano

Jose’ Feliciano: Well, my dog was not allowed in the country, I had to quarantine her and she was alright, but I know she missed me. One good thing about it is that England, because of my song I feel changed the laws in England, so that blind people could travel with their dogs in and out of the country.

Rick: That’s terrific. It’s nice to have that impact on society.

Jose’ Feliciano: It may not have done it for me, but I was glad for other people.

Rick: Well you certainly surfaced the issue and wasn’t that like a number three hit in the Netherlands? So it was being heard and you were also on Pirate Radio, I think, right?

Jose’ Feliciano: I was, yes I was. Oh boy, I got on radio with Alan Black.

Rick: Was that BBC?

Jose’ Feliciano: No, no, it was Laissez Faire, it was Laissez Faire my wife says. I don’t remember, but I had fun because the kids, that was the way kids revelling people because they didn’t like the BBC, the BBC was so strict and so whatever, you know.

Rick: Yeah. So did they ban your song?

Jose’ Feliciano: No, I don’t think so.

Rick: I see your wife, Susan, is from the Detroit area.

Jose’ Feliciano: She’s a Michigander.

Rick: Yeah, me too. So how did you meet and were you immediately smitten by what I would call the Midwest charm of Michiganders?

Jose’ Feliciano: I was. When I met her in 1971 I found her quite attractive and we began talking and then from talking we saw that we liked each other and we’ve been living together since 1973, I would say. I married her in 1982.

Rick: So you had a long courtship. I had seven years, yours is like eleven, right?

Jose’ Feliciano: Yeah. Well, I had to make sure, you know?

Rick: Yeah, me too. You beat me on that one. Okay, but didn’t Ernie Harwell, didn’t he introduce you too?

Jose’ Feliciano: He did. Ernie Harwell was the culprit. I love Ernie Harwell. I would like to think that’s he’s in the broadcaster’s Hall of Fame because he was a voice of the Detroit Tigers. He really was.

Rick: Yeah, I think he actually is in that and I remember him saying, “That one’s long gone!”

Jose’ Feliciano: He was wonderful. He really was. I knew him well. And he’s always with me in spirit.

Rick: That’s good, that’s nice. So, when you write a song how often do you get it right the first time, like sort of out of the box or do you keep scratching at it, editing, playing, until you feel it’s fully baked.

Jose’ Feliciano: Well, in the old days, what I would do is I’d go into the studio and I recorded a track because that’s what would come to me first. The rhythm track and where it went. Once I did that then I’d add bass to it and percussion and see how it came out. If it came out good, then I’d work on the lyrics later.

Rick: When I write songs I sort of noodle around and then I just throw in garbage lyrics. So, I’m just trying to get some words in there and not necessarily the words that end up in the final song. Do you do that sometimes?

Jose’ Feliciano: No, I usually know where I want to go. Well in the old days, what I would do is I’d go into the studio and I recorded a track because that’s what would come to me first. The rhythm track and where it went. Once I did that then I’d add bass to it and percussion and see how it came out, if it came out good then I’d work on the lyrics later.

Rick: Okay, well it’s different. People do it different, they come at different angles and sometimes people use more than one angle coming in how they write songs. Have you ever written a song just on the spot, it just came to you and it was done?

Jose’ Feliciano’: Yes. For example, “Feliz Navidad” only took really 30 seconds of time.

Rick: Really?

Jose’ Feliciano: Yep.

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