The Both Of Us | Zelink X The Last Of Us

Chapter Forty-One

Link's pov

Zelda says nothing as I lead us in the dark to find shelter. She only shakes against me, whimpering occasionally. Whatever innocence she had left is gone now. It was stolen from her like it was for the rest of us. I hate myself for not being there to do that for her. I should've been there.

I kick the door in on a house, ignoring the pain in my side . I clear it quickly, leaving Zelda standing in the living room. She's looking out the windows when I come back, using the walls to hide behind.

"What if they follow us here?" she says, panicked. "What if they get us again?"

I shake my head. "There's no one left to come after us."

"You-you killed all of them?" I nod. I killed them all and I enjoyed doing it.

I take her bloody face in my hands and inspect her for wounds. "How badly did they hurt you?" She shakes her head, tears welling up in her eyes. "Did they rape you?"

"N-no. He wanted to keep me as some sort of pet." David. He deserved worse. "I didn't know what to do."

"You did what you had to do."

I make her sit down and I do my best to clean her face. She cries, choking on her tears when she tries to stay silent. She'll go numb to it eventually, burying it where even she can't find it. It'll come back to haunt her when she sleeps and she'll think of everything she could've done differently. Unless maybe I can help right now.

"Look at me." I tilt her chin up when she doesn't. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"I killed them," she whispers, her voice thick with tears.

"No you saved yourself. They were going to kill you. Protecting yourself doesn't make you a monster." She's not like me. She doesn't want to kill.

She shakes her head, her face crumpling and turning red as her tears take over. "I liked it."

"I'm sorry." I pull her close, letting her cry into me as she grabs my clothes. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to do it for you."

He's lucky I wasn't there. She was merciful. He would've been begging for a bullet before I killed him. I'll just have to get my revenge when I join him in hell.

I hold her face in my hands and study her. I almost lost her just like she almost lost me. Hell she almost shot me. I admire the determination but damn.

"You can't tell anyone," I whisper. "About my immunity. I only told you so you wouldn't shoot me."

"I won't–"

"Promise me you won't. Someone will either turn me into a lab rat or shoot me." I'd rather the latter if it came to it.

A slight smile lifts the corners of her mouth and her tears slow. "Everyone wants to shoot you anyway." What a little shit. She's not wrong and danger isn't something I'm afraid of. It's my other drug and the only thing keeping me from it is her.

"Promise me anyway."

She gently tugs down the collar of my coat and looks at the bite. "I promise." I take her hands away from it. "You really have no idea how you're immune?"

"No. I thought I was dead when I was bit the first time." She takes my arm next and inspects it, running her fingers along my scar. She's the only one who knows. "I waited it out and nothing happened." I never stopped being a coward.

"Nothing happened," she repeats while turning my arm in her hands as if she's going to find something different. "Did Impa know?"

"No one knows except for you." That's one more person that I'd like.

"When did you get bit?"

"It was after I deserted the army and before I met Impa. I was traveling alone through a tunnel and a stalker dove out. It bit me while I was fighting it off. The damn thing latched on like a rabid dog."

She pulls my sleeve down and her hands linger. "It's terrifying how easy it is to lose."

"It's scarier to lose someone you love." I lean closer and tuck her hair behind her ear. "I thought I was going to lose you."

"But you didn't."

"Because you saved yourself."

"Link–"

"And you'll do it again as many times as you have to, do you understand?" She nods. "Promise me."

"I promise," she whispers. That's all I needed to hear.

I close the little bit of distance that was between us and kiss her slow. She has to understand that killing is necessary. I won't lose her, to death or to her mind. I'll be the monster for her but sometimes she's the one who'll have to light the match. I tried to avoid it. Now all I can do is keep her from finding comfort in the flames and blood. She doesn't need to end up like me. No one would stand a chance if she turned her fear into anger like I did.

She gently tugs at my hair, taking me over with her lips and fingers again. No one can get past my solid walls like she can and she makes them fall like they're nothing. No one else sees the desperate soul underneath it all.

I take a deep breath, getting ready to drown myself in her and pull her into my lap by her hips, forgetting about my stab wound. I groan without breaking our kiss. I'd rather be in pain than not have her right now.

"Link–"

"No." My hand travels up her back, resting between her shoulder blades and I hold her to me. Enough of this and I won't even feel it anymore.

She finally escapes my lips. "I should really check it again." She pries my hands off of her and climbs out of my lap.

"You're such a little shit."

"Shut up and sit still." She lifts my shirt and inspects my wound before grabbing my flask and a cloth. I suck in a sharp breath when she begins to clean it. "Sorry."

"It's fine," I say through grit teeth. I know I did not just get cockblocked by the hole in my stomach. I went on a rampage, killing everyone who caught my gaze in that resort and now I can't have her. That's fucking stupid.

"It doesn't look infected anymore so that's good. You pulled a stitch though and you're bleeding a little."

"It'll heal. I've been stabbed before, remember?"

"I bet it wasn't as bad as this." Little shit. "You're not allowed to try to die on me again." I can't guarantee that. If it comes down to it, I'll die if it means she'll live. It's not what I want. I wish I could promise my life for her. Not with this trip. Unless...

"What if we go back?"

She pulls my ripped and bloody shirt back down, looking at me with a frown. "Go back?"

"To Jackson. Urbosa said we could stay there." I could live my life out with her. I could stop killing and heal. I could love her without being terrified of losing her.

She shakes her head slightly, averting her gaze. "We've come so far already and my father...I miss him. And everything we've done...It can't all be for nothing.

"Forget I said anything," I mutter. I don't blame her for wanting to see her dad. I'd want to go to mine if he was still alive. "I'm just not sure what's going to happen to us in Seattle."

She takes my hands in hers and I stare at them as she laces our fingers together. "You said my father was going to give you anything you wanted. You wouldn't have to go anywhere or kill anymore. You could stay with me." That must be what heaven is but all I know is hell.

"They always say that until they need a favor." I look back at her. "He's going to go back on it once he gets you."

She shakes her head, determined. "No he won't. He'll listen to me. You'll stay there with me, watching the world burn like you wanted."

"I hope you're right." I don't want to be a soldier in his empire. I just want the princess.

I lean in, kissing her again. She makes me feel more human, helping me find bits of myself I thought were gone. It hurts like hell but it feels so good at the same time.