Zylpai Drabble Collection

Reincarnation

Lifetime to lifetime, he remembers ; she never does.

...

The first time they encounter each other, the new world's just begun. They're in a small Puritan village; she's set to marry an older gentleman for the good of the family within the next year. He's the son of the village butcher. It all started when a pig he was set to bring in escaped, and he went after it - he'd be in a world of trouble if it escaped into the woods.

It had run right past her as she made her way downtown, and instead of shrieking jumping the side, she'd dropped her basket, hiked up her skirt, and taken chase with him.

It had taken Bradley a moment to overcome his shock at seeing the fair maiden chase after the pig herself, but he nevertheless rejoined the chase seconds after. He'd appreciated the help at the least, and they'd laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation as they chased the pig through the town square and out towards the forest.

They'd eventually cornered it against the church wall. Bradley was wearing more pants than mud, and Veronique's skirt slightly torn, bonnet long ago trampled. Her bun was failing, as she had this red flush to her cheeks. She was still laughing hard, and he couldn't help but smile at the site of her.

They'd become close friends, and it'd only escalated from there. Soon kisses were stolen behind the butcher shop, and nights spent hidden together in the woods. Bradley had to stop himself from smiling when memories of their antics had returned during boring church seminars.

The date of her wedding loomed closer and closer on the horizon.

They couldn't help but fall more and more in love with each other.

Eventually Bradley proposed an ultimatum: escape the village and elope to the nearby Quaker one, or stay here and lose each other to duty. Nothing had tugged at Veronique's heartstrings more, but she couldn't abandon her family. He'd walked her home that night, and as he left her at the doorstep with a kiss goodbye, her mother caught them in the act.

The world had frozen in that moment. Their lives would be over; they'd be forced apart as soon as she told; he'd never see her again.

Instead, Veronique's mother handed them two suitcases, one for clothing and the other for food. A little money was handed over - what Veronique had been saving from various jobs throughout her lifetime. She told them to go and run together as far as they could. Her daughter's happiness mattered her to their prosperity. They'd get along fine anyways - the nest egg her mother had been saving from her father for years was much more than expected.

He'd asked why she'd helped them; she just gave a sad smile and mentioned she'd seen the two fall in love. It reminded her of herself, once upon a time.

They'd made their escape, and made it to a faraway Quaker village, happy to have a skilled butcher's son set up shop; and his lovely and entertaining wife who could hold the whole village's attention with her jokes and stories.

They had children, grown old together; and died peacefully. In future sessions, Brad would look back on that first life as one of their happiest.

...

The second life was a harsh shock to Sir Bradley of the Bastion household. He'd always had stirrings, peculiar dreams and memories of a time beforehand. A happy one, a life with a constant best friend by his side and more laughter than he knew what to do with. But one day, at some fancy-shmancy ball he'd been forced to attend as an eligible and upcoming bachelor, he made a second's worth of eye-contact with a woman in a baby-blue dress, hair piled high and face hidden behind a feathered fan.

It had taken just a second of eye contact.

Everything had come back to him at once. An entire lifetime flashed before his eyes within a second, and he remembered everything. Hidden kisses, a desperate but delightful flight from the life they knew. A woman that made it all possible.

Veronique.

It had taken him just a second to fall in love all over again.

It had to be her, it just had to be! Nobody else had those eyes - the deep brown ones, ones so comforting and homely he would happily drown in them -

He didn't remember moving through the crowd.

He didn't remember grabbing her wrist as she twisted through the dancers towards the sidelines.

It was her.

It was her.

He'd started crying.

Veronique had starred first in fear, but then confusion as the bachelor ruffian catching hold of her wrist had started to tear up. Why was he...? 

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This was actually one I was really excited to work on before my motivation took a dirt nap. Classic slightly angsty reincarnation au. Would any of y'all be interested in seeing this type of au with another ship? I have plans for a McHanzo fic coming up, so I'd be happy to do something similar.