The Both Of Us | Zelink X The Last Of Us

Chapter Thirty-Three

Link's pov

"When's your birthday?"

"March third."

"What's your favorite animal?"

"Wolves." I turn around slightly to look at her. "Is this speed dating or something?" She's been asking questions nonstop and it's starting to annoy me.

"Is that why your tattoo is a wolf?" she asks, completely ignoring my other question.

"Sure." I face forward again, hoping to end the conversation about my tattoo. It's not what she thinks it is.

"It's covering a scar isn't it? How did you get it–"

"It was a burn," I cut her off. "No more questions about it."

"Sorry."

We ride in silence and I notice some deer off in the forest. They don't run probably because they don't see people often. I wish I didn't have to see people often. I wish I didn't have to see a lot of things.

Zelda squeezes my sides through my coat. At first I think it was an accident until she does it again.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to see if you're ticklish." She squeezes me again with her gloved hands, accomplishing nothing.

"I'm not but I bet you are."

"No..."

"You're an awful liar." Several years of surviving will turn you into a good one. I wouldn't be alive right now if I didn't know how to be a snake.

"I wasn't lying," she giggles. I reach behind me and she flinches away from my hand.

"You were saying?" She can't lie to me. She can try but it won't work.

My mind wanders after she falls back into silence. For once, it's not plagued by bloody memories.

What if I told you I loved you back?

For years I've been avoiding stupidity and now I let myself fall into it completely. I'm addicted to her like she's my drug, pulling me out of my misery, making me high on her love, the love I thought I'd never feel again. She makes me weak and crazy at the same time.

I don't want it to end.

"Can I ask you something?" Oh God. Here we go.

"I guess."

"How did my father hire you?" I frown even though she can't see me.

"He tracked us down. You know that."

"No, that's not what I mean. What did he offer you to come get me? It had to be something of value to make you want to escort me across the country." Ah. That.

"He offered us anything we wanted including some cushy position commanding his soldiers. He said we could sit back and watch the world burn for all he cared as long as we got you there in one piece."

She sits for a moment, thinking. "But you said before that no one could give you what you wanted." I was wrong about that. She gave me something I wanted, something to put a few pieces back together. It's not everything though. No one can bring Aryll back. No one can reverse my failures.

No one can make me forget.

"I didn't want to take the job," I admit. "Impa did. She said watching the world burn sounded fun and she imagined us drinking ourselves drunk everyday."

"That's not very positive."

"Well sweetheart, when you've been the one setting it on fire, watching the world burn to the ground can't be worse." I'd rather keep pouring fuel on the flames. Spilling blood is what I'm good at and it's the only constant. You can lose the people you're attached to but you can always kill the person in front of you before they do it first.