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A life with standards of normalcy like most people should not have to deal with this bullshit.
Zelda knew this had not been her first life, and it sure as hell would not be her last as far as she was aware. But, as a current local government board member, her immortality was not at the top of her list of annoyances. He was. And he would not stop glancing over at her during the council meeting.
Despite not knowing this man at all, she coincidentally knew this man’s soul better than anyone else on the planet, and she would continue to know him for as long as her soul graces this earth. Apparently, her soul would permanently grace the earth, and his soul would be right next to hers forever. A constant tap on her shoulder, a fly in her drink. And he smiled at her, almost knowing how mad she was behind her professional poker face. Despite looking different in every reincarnation, his face still annoyed her every time. That’s what she kept telling herself.
He knew she was boiling on the inside, her heart was basically searing on a pan. The metaphorical smoke poured onto the cluttered table as she addressed the recent issues with local transportation, and the words seemed to fall out of her mouth as her mind went elsewhere. The rest of the people in the room, they would never know the strange connection her and this stranger shared. Although never much of a stranger, almost always nameless. His just short shoulder length hair was pulled back to show a small green earring. He wore a sleek suit, unbuttoned with a tie that was a little too loose. He leaned against the doorframe of the meeting room like it was his bedroom, not a government facility. He knew it made her burn.
The council adjourned half an hour later, which she couldn't pay mind to because he had somehow found her again, after 20 years of wistfully hiding herself in her new life. This reality she had created for herself, suddenly shattered. Damn it it all to Twilight.
“When we hired a new security guard, I didn’t tell them to hire the most annoying recruit they could find.” She exited the meeting room, her heels clicked against the white marble, and the sound of dress shoes found themself closely behind her. She could feel him looking at the back of her head. She straightened her posture and walked faster.
“Sir I don’t know what you intend to do here but please know you will have no reason or intention of speaking to me after I step out of this building,” Zelda turned to face him. His chest lined up with her nose, and she looked up angrily at impossibly blue eyes. The only thing that stayed the same were the eyes she could swim in, the rest was just a feeling. A deep premonition of where she stood in relativity to him, so even if she didn’t recognize him, she always knew.
She realized she was still an uncomfortable distance from his chest, and he smelled of a place they knew, one that no longer existed in this realm. Her head swam in the images of Hyrule forest as she blushed, taking a small step back. He smirked, subtly, not as if he was intending to be rude, but an annoyance instead.
“What’s wrong, your highness?” He took a step forward.
Zelda took another step back. She tried to ignore the stares of curiosity she was getting from passing coworkers.
“Don’t call me that here, you know that I…” she stopped. She couldn’t even say it out loud without a deep pain in her chest. A yearning for a home that was no longer hers, too far removed from her current reality.
A deep breath. She pushed back whatever tears made their way to the surface and looked up from the floor. The look she received in return was not the same as it was seconds before. Because only he knew the pain she felt. Not one soul on this Earth could truly miss home the way she did.
Only him, and he knew that too.
Why us?
“Link. My name is Link now.” She looked him in the eyes, the first time in what could have been eras. For a while, she tried to pretend that their goddess-given connection never existed. It never worked.
Nodding, Zelda held out her hand. She couldn’t offer him anything more than her hand at that moment. From her curse until now, their essences had been tied to an unbreakable string. She had given him everything, every memory, every feeling, every beat of her heart and inclination of her soul. They shared everything, as if not having the choice not to. Somewhere, sometime, she would have to accept that they always found their way back to each other, whether she liked it or not. When he shook her hand, she felt something blossom in her chest, a feeling she only knew in Hyrule. Zelda only felt this aching with him, Link . The name struck a chord, and she wasn’t sure if it was good or bad.
“Zelda, as always,” she introduced herself, giving in to an impulse that would never go away. Her knight smiled at her, and the sun shone back on the kingdom locked away in her heart.
“Grateful to be back in your service, princess."