Its been a long time coming but here is the NEXT chapter of Death & Flowers. Im trying something new with posting the chapters on Tumblr as well as AO3 with a small descriptions so anyone new can check things out!
Let me know if you guys like that in the comments!
Death & Flowers
Chapter 10: More Secrets
Also available HERE on AO3! Haven't started? Check out the beginning HERE!
Below the cut for space!
September 13, 1969
It was a warm September night and the city of Angels was thriving. Traffic, still steadily flowing outside the building sitting on the corner of Sunset and Clark. Just behind the closed doors was the sound of rock music heard billowing out from inside. The room was dark, lit with only the help of stage lights and tall black candelabras that boasted triplet candles on their tops. The crowd, waiting anxiously as they were surrounded in a cascade of smoke that no one seemed to come from nowhere. The head of an ominous ram staring out of over the crowd as the last evening’s band prepared to play.
The patrons of the Whiskey a Go-Go were still cheering for the previous act as a man in skull paint walked out onto the stage. He looked magnificent in his clerical collar and fur-lined leather coat. The mysterious men behind him, shrouded in silver masks quickly began to play. The song was Kiss the Go-Goat and Papa Nihil, their suave leader, was the man. Belting out the lyrics as the crowd swooned with his dark charm.
Ghost was playing their first night at the venue. There were go-go dancers a plenty and a palpable energy among the crowd that was now bathed in red light. Nihil was ready to rock and roll, knowing just how to work the crowd. Oozing sexual charisma and mystery, everyone entranced by him as he moved and sang—exactly what the Ministry asked for.
Then there was her—breath held tight within her chest as she watched them from the balcony. Fingers tracing the rail as her lover performed for the masses. Spreading the word of the dark lord as he went. She was so excited for this first night. Wearing her favorite dress and her golden blonde hair pulled back behind a headband, and the dangling earrings that danced on her shoulders when she moved.
She looked like danger, and she was—only soft for him. Her eyes locked on Nihil with an intense hunger and lust. He was her lover, despite some of the Ministry's best efforts to keep them apart. She couldn't help but fall for him, just as his audience did. "A lamb led willingly to slaughter" they told her. She didn't care, she was in love.
She watched him work his magic. Hanging on every word, tightly gripped to the railing as he sang. Her heart pounding away in her chest as her hand traveled along her dress, the black sequin pattern feeling rough against her fingertips as she went. Her hand found its place to settle, resting gently atop her inconspicuous lower belly. She fanned out her fingers over it, as if she were protecting it from the outside world.
She'd only known for a short time but was already well into the first trimester of her pregnancy. Delighted in the small life growing inside her. Elizabeth, still ever so anxious to tell Nihil that he was to be a father—again. As Papa and head of the Ministry, he had been made to produce heirs before. Ones he had spent maybe all of 5 minutes with at a time throughout their lives.
He was never around for them. The still young, and hopeful, sister of sin convincing herself that it was because he needed to keep to his Papal duties. That things would be different when the child was theirs. She felt the warmth radiating from inside her, knowing that she already loved Nihil's baby more than anything and if the Ministry wouldn't let them be together, well then, they'd run away. Just the two of them and start over far from pious eyes.
Elizabeth came back to reality as another woman approached the rail. She didn’t give her much credence. As with most others, she was ambivalent unless it were someone needed to further her own aspiration. That was until the smell of smoke wafted over in her direction. Her rage, beginning to overwhelm her better judgment. Angry that her child was being subjected to this vile, disgusting habit—and she snapped.
While her exterior remained cool and collected, she very calmly took the cigarette from its perch between the woman’s two fingers. The poor woman, having only barely noticed before Elizabeth had pressed the hot embers into her face. Teeth clenched tight and fury burning inside the sister’s veins as the woman struggled against her. Pulling and tearing at the feathers of her sleeves.
She had managed to get a hit across Elizabeth’s bottom lip, only enraging her more as she fired back, lunging at her with full force. Her actions, causing them both to tumble on the floor. Elizabeth straightened herself up, finding that the woman had been knocked out cold. She was quick, shoving the evidence into a back storage closet before turning to watch her lover on the stage. Her demeanor, appearing as if nothing had happened. A way of carrying herself that would suit her well in her lifetime.
The song had come to its end, the sound beginning to die off, leaving nothing but a hum from the amplifiers as Elizabeth watched Nihil toss the mic stand to the side. Dropping to his knees as he reached out into the crowd and took hold of a woman, one he’d been eye fucking the whole song. He kissed her passionately as the set lights dimmed. Elizabeth was stunned—crushed. Her heart sank deep inside her chest, now just a battered piece of flesh that no longer wished to continue on.
Nihil had only caught a glimpse of her as she stormed off. Knowing that he had done more damage than he could undo, he chose to finish his set before attempting to follow her out. One of many idiotic mistakes he'd made in his life. Elizabeth wasted no time in heading back to the California Ministry. Tears flowing freely as they painted her face in ribbons of black. The mascara, spelling out the pain she felt inside.
There it was—they were right. She’d made a mistake thinking he could ever love her. She would never forgive herself and now there was a child. She walked inside, trying desperately to stifle her tears, quietly closing up the door behind her as she managed the noise of her heels on the title, but the sounds of her efforts alerted a shadowy figure that approached from the front office.
“Well seems I ventured downstairs at just the right time Eliza. What’s got you all worked up at this hour?” Mr. Saltarian huffed, trying his best to appear unbothered.
“Oh, shut up Abel.” she snapped at him, growling as if she were a wounded animal—cornered in her pain. Ready to lash out and anyone who dare approach her. The man softened, dropping his shoulders and his eyes now holding concern—this had been no regular fight.
“What happened? Tell me?” he asked her, wrapping his arm around her as she wept. She was shaking, and clearly more hurt than he’d ever seen her. Elizabeth was a dangerous woman, especially when wronged—he had a mind to remind her of the position of her transgressor when she spoke.
“You were right…he’s a fucking letch! I should have known. It's not like he didn’t have a reputation. Going through women like tissue, but—but I thought this was different.” she cried.
“I warned you…we all did. He's reckless Elizabeth, and I tried to keep you away from him. Don’t you know that you could do so much better. Don’t you realize how much I lov—”
“I'm pregnant.” she blurted out. A secret that ripped a hole wide into Saltarian’s heart. He wasted no time in pulling her close, Elizabeth crying against his chest as he took in a deep breath.
“Are you sure?” he asked her, fingers gliding over her hair as he held her close to him.
“Yes, It was confirmed. I’m already almost in my second trimester.” she explained. Saltarian pulled back in haste, rubbing his head in his hands and pacing.
“Sweet Lucifer Eliza—”
“I would have told him tonight, but he… he…well let's just say his reputation was well upheld. I should have never…”
“Are you keeping it?” he asked her point blank. No sugar-coating or gentle tone. Just the harsh matter of fact words spilling from his mouth. Saltarian, tasting the poison of them on his lips as they left him.
“It’s an heir to the Emeritus bloodline. What do you think the Ministry would do to me if I didn’t.” Elizabeth barked back. Angry for him even having asked. While she was right that the child had a rightful claim to the miter, she still wanted it regardless, but now she didn’t want anything to do with Nihil and having his child would make her bound to him for life.”
“We can make this go away Eliza. You’ve worked too hard for what you have here to throw it all away for some sorry excuse for a man whose only claim to power was because of blood and nothing else. Don’t do this to yourself…no one ever has to know—”
“I will know.” she said, her tone and the look in her eye explaining everything Saltarian needed to know. “I don’t want Nihil to have anything to do with him.”
“Then we must send you back to Italy. He won’t know if you are out of sight. You can have the child and be back to do your duties before you know it. Nihil none the wiser.”
“What will come of him? I can’t raise him. Not at the risk of being stuck with that pathetic asshole. Please, I must know what we can do. You can NEVER tell Nihil.” Elizabeth begged. The first time Saltarian had ever seen her look so desperate. He held her face in his hands, watching as the fear in her eyes grew.
Ollie had been quiet for days. A cold silence, filling the large Papal suite that her and her Cardinal now shared. She had seen the letter from the Keeper and Copia had confessed his sins. Her heart felt shattered for him having not only kept this from her, but from the realization that the nightmare of her circumstances was far from over.
She was trapped in their bed. Forbidden to leave lest she take the chance of her child paying the price. All the comforts the Ministry could offer, only serving to feel like a prison. Unable to move like a sitting duck, waiting for the Keeper or whomever was responsible for Terzo’s death to get her and her child. The pied piper, coming to collect his dues.
Copia had buried himself in his work. Choosing to give her space and not push her. He left early that morning, choosing not to wake Ollie. Though she wouldn’t acknowledge him even if he did.
She was hurt and he knew that it was his fault. What comfort could he possibly offer her now? Watching idly by and unable to provide the protection she so desperately needed. If he could only find out who was behind it all—he’d kill them himself.
He sat himself down at his desk, the chair letting out a creak as he got comfortable. Drinking from his cup of coffee, while attempting to finish up some work on the lyrics for the final song of the new album. He was proud of it, but he knew he had so much more to give. For now this will have to do, he thought knowing his heart ached too much to be giving it his all.
As the morning dragged on, he felt his head begin to droop—repeatedly waking himself from the pull of sleep. He surely wasn’t sleeping at night, worried that someone would come for Ollie and the baby in their slumber. The endless flow of caffeine, however, could no longer sustain him. Despite his efforts, he succumbed, dozing off at his desk. Awaking only to the familiar sound of a throat being cleared.
“Seems someone has been burning the midnight oil.” Sister Imperator commented. Copia, quickly straightening himself out and wiping the spittle from his lip.
“Sister! Oh, I am so sorry I—”
“It’s alright Cardinal at ease.” she smiled, placing her hand on his shoulder to encourage him back into his chair. Copia smiled back, nervous that her kind response was only a front, and that his infraction would be used against him at an undisclosed time.
“Again, your Eminence I must apologize.” Copia began, Sister quickly cutting him off once more with the wave of her hand. She always had a way about her that both frightened and intrigued him, but something about her today was different. She had never been quite so—informal before. Even as a child, she spoke to him as if he were another adult, choosing only very rare moments to show a slight tenderness towards him he could never quite place. She sat down in front of him, making herself comfortable in the chair and crossing one leg over the other as she could see his discomfort growing.
“How are you holding up Cardi? I mean with all this?” she asked him—from her lips a nickname he hadn’t heard in years. Copia tried to find his words. While the Sister was foreboding to be sure, he wished he had someone like her to confide in at a time like this. Someone who had real power within the Ministry, someone who might be able to help keep Ollie safe—but who could he trust?
“I’m doing my best. Just worried about…well you know.”
“Of course, a man should always have his family on his mind. That is after all the most important thing—family.”
“Si, I will be happy when things are…uh…over.” Copia replied, forcing a smile. Sister placed her hand over his, the Cardinal looking up at her in confusion.
“I want you to know, the Ministry and I are very proud of the work you have been doing on Prequelle. I truly believe that it will rival anything that has come before it.” she smiled, Copia’s face dropping down to his lap. “I expect no less from you, you know? After all, you will soon become Papa.”
“Papa!” Copia exclaimed, the word leaving him faster than he could think it through. He could feel the cold sweat collecting in the small of his back, his heart pounding, the nerves firing off inside him. It had been one thing when Saltarian had hinted but this was Sister and what she said was as good as gospel.
“Cardi…you deserve it. After everything I have seen so far…your album, the tour—I can’t see it not being a great success. Nihil of course would have to be on board, but I believe once he sees what you are capable of, then he won’t have any other choice.”
“Sister that is all well and good…but I am not his son. I am just a Cardinal in his clergy who happens to be able to sing. Had it not been for their death’s then I’d still be lucky to be Employee of the Month!”
“No, Copia you are far more than that. Trust me on this. Don’t rest your worry on the fetid rotting course of your predecessors. They are gone, now nothing's standing in your way.” Sister Imperator explained. Copia suddenly felt an unease falling over him. Swallowing back hard as pieces of a puzzle he had been slowly working out, were beginning to fall in place. Creating a picture of which he couldn’t quite make out, but the possibilities were nothing if not horrifying.
“Sister, what do you mean?” he asked her. His heart, continuing to pound as he waited for her answer. The glare he sent her, filled with curiosity and terror. His mismatched gaze, striking her with amusement as she began to speak.
This takes place in an alternate universe of post BOTW where Zelda, Link, Rhoam, and all the Champions died to fight the Calamity, but succeeded in sealing Calamity Ganon away.
Summary: After months of silent vigil over the Prince of Hyrule in a time of peace, Link discovers that he’s the only one who can see the ghost of the Princess Zelda who died 100 years ago to seal the Calamity and save the world from evil. Though she can’t speak, Link and Zelda grow closer, sharing their uniquely solitary lives together. But forever only exists for the dead, and life is too precious to waste.
Word Count: 6077
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Link followed behind the Prince of Hyrule, dutiful in his role as one of the Prince’s royal guards. It was one of the highest honors that a soldier in the Kingdom of Hyrule could ask for. Link had been singled out for his skills and requested personally for the Prince.
But Link was a man of action.
During his days back in the training camps, he saw bokoblin raids weekly. He fought moblins and hinoxes. He’d been the only one of the trainees to fight a lynel and win.
So guarding the Prince—as great an honor as it was—was an incredibly boring task.
Each day, Link dreaded the monotony of waking up only to stand outside the Prince’s door and eventually follow him to the dining hall, where the Prince would eat alone or with his parents.
There were no threats to the Prince. There was no need for so many guards. Bokoblins were kept at bay. The Yiga Clan had been eradicated with the destruction of Ganon 100 years prior by the Princess of Hyrule and her Appointed Knight—for whom Link was so named.
Yet here Link was: one of the most promising soldiers in Hyrule since his namesake wandered the world, and here he was watching the Prince of Hyrule eat breakfast.
“You’re relieved,” another royal guard said, tapping Link on his arm.
Link breathed a sigh of relief. After eight hours of doing nothing, his replacement couldn’t have been any more desired. And that guard looked just about as excited as Link felt with every new shift. It was dread on a whole other level.
Link knew what he needed to do.
He needed to kill some bokoblins to let off steam.
He headed for the back door, just outside the servants’ measly dining hall—a fraction of the size of the royal dining hall.
But as he passed one of the sitting areas that the king sometimes used, he saw a young blonde woman resting her head on the back of a chaise lounge chair, a long, ethereal white dress draped over the side. Link wasn’t sure if the near glow around her was a trick of the light, or his own mind. She was as gorgeous as he imagined the Goddesses themselves to be.
But still.
“Miss? You can’t be in here. Do you work here? You should know that by now if you do.”
He strode over to her. She didn’t seem to have heard him, and he had a horrible feeling settle into his stomach. What if she’d snuck into the castle and then died? What if he’d been admiring a corpse?
“Hey, you can’t be here,” he said again as he drew closer.
He thanked the Goddesses when her eyes flung open, though her reaction had him holding his breath again.
The girl let out a gasp, scampering away from Link as though he were Calamity Ganon of a time long since passed. She clutched at her chest and ducked behind the lounge chair before she took off around the corner.
Link cursed and followed her, catching a glimpse of her white dress just a second ahead of him.
But when he looked down the long hallway, she’d vanished without a trace.
There were no doors, no closets or stairs. There were no pillars, or anything for her to duck behind. He turned to the other side of the long hall. The nearest door was too far for her to have reached in time.
“What the…”
He turned back into the room. No, she’d definitely left. And she wasn’t in the halls.
Gods, he needed sleep. Or a social life. He was imagining beautiful women lying around Hyrule Castle. If that didn’t speak volumes about his mental state, he wasn’t sure what else did.
He didn’t hunt bokoblins that day. He went to sleep.
Exhaustion appeared to have been the culprit for his hallucination, for he didn’t see the woman again. Weeks went on in unyielding isolation. He went to his room, he slept, he woke up, he guarded the Prince, he ate on his break, he guarded the Prince, and he went to sleep. All the while, the Prince treated his guards like statues, never interacting with them. And when he did venture out of the castle, an entire revenue of troops all silently accompanied him to keep him safe and scare off any monsters before they could reach him.
Link’s days of monotony slowly went from boring, to tedious, to unbearable. He longed for his old life, one that was unrewarded by royalty. One that allowed him the freedom to interact with the world he existed in. One that allowed him and his fellow guards to converse without being silenced by a harsh look meant to remind him that he was to be a silent presence.
Link was given the patrol route one night, rather than door guard. It was a route all guards coveted. Free roaming the castle, entertaining themselves with ‘new’ views that didn’t include the stone wall that faced the Prince’s door.
He passed several rooms, taking his time to inspect every crevasse before moving on. It wasn’t an inspection borne of diligence or threat necessity, but a desire to linger anywhere but back there.
The castle this early in the morning, between the moon’s peak and the sun’s appearance, was deserted. The only companions Link had as he went into each room were the portraits of the royal families of old, each one watching him with their still eyes. Each one of them needing protection far more than the current Prince of Hyrule did.
Link made his way into the royal study. Every servant and guard was permitted to rent out one book from the massive library that was attached to the study, so Link had a mind to take one to entertain himself when no one was looking.
But he noticed a breeze that chilled him to the bone, one that rarely hit him so hard.
He crept around the large bookshelf and saw that the window was wide open, curtains flapping in the wind. His hand flew to his sword, his eyes darted around. He spun to see if there was anyone behind him, but the rest of the room was empty. And then he looked back at the window.
The blonde woman was there again, her hair and dress bouncing about in the breeze. She looked unaffected, leaning against the sill, looking out at the world with a wistful expression.
“You again?” Link balked, not removing his hand from the hilt of his sword. “You can’t be here, especially at night!”
She lazily turned her head to him, but when she saw that his eyes were on hers, she stood up and began to back away from the window.
“No! Not again! Don’t run! We need to have a talk about who you are, and how you’re getting in!”
The girl looked around, backing up into a corner as Link approached her.
Her lips moved, but Link couldn’t hear the words. “What? Speak up!”
He moved closer still, cornering her so she couldn’t run.
The girl breathed out and closed her eyes before fading into the wall.
Link stopped short.
Did she just…
The wall.
Link’s first reaction was to check the window. It was open. That part had been real, and he closed it immediately before turning his attention back to the wall. He felt around the bricks, specifically looking for one that was raised or felt out of place. One that would allowed the wall to turn. He must have missed it turning. The palace was full of hidden pathways. This must be one.
But none of the stones budged, and the wall never turned.
That cold breeze hit him again, and he turned to the window. But it was closed.
“Good Hylia,” he choked out, hand on his weapon again as he scanned the room. And saw something behind the bookcase.
He walked over, slowly, carefully.
She was there again, watching him, eyes wide with surprise as they met his.
“Listen,” he said, lifting his hand off his weapon and raising them both out so she could see he wasn’t going to hurt her. “I just need to know how you keep getting past the other guards. I’ll give you a whole tour of the castle if you just tell me that much. You don’t need to sneak around. I’ll even let you meet the royal family.”
The girl’s lips moved again, but he couldn’t hear her.
“Speak up,” he said, taking another step.
The girl grabbed her dress, hiking it up so she could run again.
“No, no, no! Wait! Gods, wait!”
She hesitated, crossing her arms protectively around herself. But this time, she waited, watching his every move with precise attention.
“How do you keep getting in?”
She didn’t respond, but looked at him with large round eyes, tears filling the brim.
“You’re not in trouble if you just tell me,” he said, watching one of the tears spill and run down her cheek.
Her lips moved again, and this time, he knew he wouldn’t be able to hear her. He watched her lips carefully. ‘I live here.’
And he thought he’d been the crazy one when he first saw her.
“You don’t live here. The royal family lives here.”
‘I am royal.’
Link nodded and cleared his throat. “Okay, ma’am. I have to ask you to leave. Come with me.”
She held out her hands to stop him. Then, she pointed to Link, motioning for him to follow her.
“No, lady, that’s not how this works,” he said, growing impatient. “It’s time for you to leave.”
He reached out to grab her arm.
And passed right through her.
“What the…?”
He did it again. And still, he passed through her.
He looked at her, utterly confused. “Are you Sheikah? Is this some kind of magic?”
She shook her head slowly, sadly. As though she wished that were the case. Then she motioned for him to follow her once again. And this time, Link found himself wordlessly on her heels as she expertly made her way through the winding maze of hallways that took living in them to perfect the path to each room.
She stopped short in one of the halls and waited for Link to catch up. But when he stood in front of her, she didn’t move.
“What?” he asked. “Why have we—”
His words trailed off as he looked at the portrait she stood in front of. One of the royal family who stood against the Calamity 100 years ago. King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule, who gave his life in the last stand defending Akkala Citadel. And his daughter: Princess Zelda Hyrule, who gave her life to seal away Calamity Ganon forever.
“Oh gods,” Link muttered as he stared at the Princess in the painting.
Identical to the girl before him.
“You look just like her.”
She made a disgruntled face at him before passing her hand through his arm again as a reminder.
He shivered and shook his head. “No. That’s not possible.”
This time, she gave him a patient smile and reached for his hand, letting his rest inside her incorporeal one.
“Oh gods. P-Princess Z-Zelda?”
With a small nod, she watched him process it.
He mostly stared at their hands, his inside of hers. That, to him, was far more convincing proof than the picture.
“Guard! What are you doing?”
Link’s head snapped up at the unfamiliar voice. A senior guard was walking towards him. Link couldn’t find his voice as he stared at Zelda, who just looked on at the exchange with interest, but not surprise.
The guard didn’t even look at her.
“I-I…” Link stared at Zelda before turning back to the guard. His hand was still inside hers, but the man didn’t seem to notice.
“We don’t pay you to admire the artwork her. And especially not to touch it. Put that hand down, and don’t even think about it.”
Link looked back and forth from Zelda to the guard.
“Soldier, you look like you’ve seen a ghost. Are you on patrol?”
Barely managing a nod, Link realized he wasn’t breathing. And the guard must have noticed too.
“You’re pale. You might be sick. Don’t need you spreading anything around the royal rooms. Go back to your quarters and I’ll have you replaced immediately. Go.”
Without another word, Link cast a glance at Zelda and headed down the hall. She followed beside him, an eyebrow raised in smug confidence.
“He couldn’t see you?” Link asked her when they were out of earshot.
She moved in front of him to stop him, and crossed her arms again. ‘Only you’ she mouthed.
“Are you sure?”
Zelda laughed, soundless. ‘Oh, I’m sure.’. Then she gestured with her hands. 1. 0. 0.
“One hundred?” he asked as they walked again. But he wasn’t heading to his room. Not when he shared it with four of the other guards. No, he was making his way to the gardens that were fairly unguarded during the night. They were only patrolled during the day, while the perimeter was guarded at night. He needed somewhere that they could talk without him worrying about being caught talking to himself.
But he stopped and sighed. “One hundred years? You’ve been here for that long?”
Zelda nodded.
Link had to run his hands through his hair. “You’ve been in this castle since the Calamity? And no one but me can see you? In that whole time? Why me? Why are you even still here? You’re dead! You sacrificed yourself to seal away Calamity Ganon, right?”
She smiled and opened her mouth to say something, but paused and added her hands to help along with several gestures. ‘The Goddesses never liked me.’
Despite himself, despite the craziness of it all, Link snorted. “Is that a joke?”
Shrugging, she let a wide smile spread on her face, and he could have sworn she was laughing, again, soundless as air on a still day.
“So, you did die back then, right?” Link asked, needing to clarify. Needing answers to the thousands of questions he had.
She nodded.
“Yet you’re here still. Why?”
She shrugged.
“This would be a more engaging conversation if I could hear you talk.”
She laughed.
Link rolled his eyes and continued towards the garden, ducking between the shrubbery and winding his way to the fountain in the center. He sat down, her beside him. “Have you been watching us all these years? ‘Us’ loosely meaning those who’ve lived here in the Castle.”
‘I have. You’ve seen me before, but I thought it was a mistake.’
“On the King’s chair?”
Zelda shook her head. ‘Before. You thought I was a servant and apologized for nearly crashing into me. You were in a hurry. And I thought you meant someone else.’
Link let out a breath and ran his hands through his hair again. “Goddess, I’m talking to a ghost about how many times I’ve seen her in the halls.”
‘At least you’re polite to ghosts.’
Link chuckled and closed his eyes, opening them to expect to see air. But Zelda’s face was above him. ‘I’m still here.’
And from then on, she was there.
They spoke in the garden all night that night, and she’d promised to return to him the next day, to prove that her appearance wasn’t some fever dream. And then she appeared again, seeking him out while he followed the Prince, walking beside her distant cousin as if Link were guarding her instead. She’d glance behind him and wink or smile, knowing exactly what it looked like.
And Link began to smile more.
Her antics amused him far more than he’d realized.
She had very little control over the physical world, but she seemed to be able to rest herself atop physical objects, like she had when she sat beside him on the fountain.
Zelda sat on the arm of the throne, mimicking the King during a long audience that Link had to stand through thanks to the Prince’s presence. She mimed his actions, dramatizing them while he spoke. She mimicked the sour expression of the Prince. She fought to break Link’s careful composure as he watched her instead of the mundane meeting.
She sat at the dinner table, feigning pain and rage when the Prince sat on her, passing straight through her. She popped her head through the table and pretended to be the cucco that the King cut into.
She followed beside Link, skipping her way down the halls with a renewed energy unlike she’d had in a hundred years.
Link enjoyed every second of her company. Though he mostly had to keep himself quiet while in the presence of others, she tagged along often, her company enough to take the edge off the solitary existence he’d been living.
That they’d both been living.
At night, they went out to the garden to speak freely. She’d even warned Link that one of his fellow roommates thought he was having a secret affair and had followed them one day. With Zelda’s warning, Link had stayed quiet, and after that, his fellow guards simply believed that Link enjoyed flowers and shrubbery and solitude. They stopped following him after several attempts that confirmed his lack of a (visible) lady friend.
And together, Link and Zelda laughed at their conclusions.
When Link was on duty, standing alone outside the Prince’s door, Zelda often kept him company. She explained that she’d usually spent most days and nights in the kitchens and servants quarters, where gossip passed more frequently.
Now that she stayed with Link to help him pass the time, she filled him in on that gossip.
He made attempts to learn people’s names so he could place their stories, and with Zelda’s help, he’d developed a special relationship with one of the cooks, who passed him extra leftover food from the exquisite tables he guarded each day. He made sure to check on her grandson, a new recruit in Hyrule Garrison, which occasionally landed him with a snuck cookie that Zelda would stare at longingly.
“I assume you don’t need to eat?” Link had asked one night in the garden. She shook her head. “Sleep?”
Zelda shrugged at that. ‘I can. I don’t need to. It helps pass the time.’
Link stopped just short of a blue nightshade bush, his eyes lingering on the flower bud. “Does it hurt?”
She let her fingers brush against the flowers, though nothing moved, and there was no indication she’d ever even been close to them. ‘What, when I fell from the Sacred Realm?’ Silently laughing at her own joke, she stopped when she realized that Link either missed her mouth move, or was too serious about his question to find her answer funny. And she assumed the latter.
‘For me, yes. Yes, dying hurt a great deal. But mind you, I sacrificed myself. I did not have a natural death. Perhaps that’s why I’m still here.’
Link nodded and sat down on one of the benches, Zelda moving to sit beside him, wishing she could rest her hand on his knee. She did it anyway, hoping that the thought would soothe him, if not the actual touch.
“So many people died in the Calamity. Are they all ghosts, too?”
‘I don’t know.’
“Link? Your Link, I mean.”
At that, Zelda smiled sadly, her fingers tightening together through his leg in a desperate desire to hold him. It was a desire she hadn’t felt in a long time. ‘You are my Link.’
Link bit his lip and fought back a grin. “That’s not what I meant.”
Moving her hand from Link’s leg to his chest, just over his heart, she nodded to him. ‘You have his spirit. You are him.’
“So, he’s not a ghost?”
‘No.’
He tried to place his hand over hers, forgetting for a moment just what she was. All he met with was the fabric of his own shirt. With a deep sigh, he closed his eyes, dark thoughts leaving him halfway torn between wishing he’d never met Zelda in this life, and wishing she’d never leave his side. He couldn’t tell which would hurt worse at this point.
~~
Half a year passed, and the Prince relocated his room to another wing of the palace. Each of the Prince’s guards were given quarters of their own, which allowed Link more time with Zelda.
It felt like he’d learned everything about her in these few months. He’d become adept at reading her lips, familiar with the way they moved more so than anyone else he knew. He couldn’t even discern what words his fellow guards whispered to him, but he could understand Zelda’s silent conversations. She’d told him stories of her past, her childhood, her prayers, the Calamity, her parents, her friends, her knight. Her death.
His stories, he felt, weren’t nearly as interesting as hers, but she asked them all the same, and listened just as intently. His training mirrored the Link’s that she knew, which surprised him, but not Zelda. His past was similar: his father, a knight; his destiny, predetermined.
For once, he had someone who saw him. Really saw him and accepted him. And for Zelda, it was much the same. He’d long since reconciled himself with her physical state. He’d mourned for her sake, and for his. The desire to hold her, to touch her, to kiss her even, it grew each day. And each day, he worked to push it down, reminding himself of what never could be outside of his many dreams of her. He wondered if she, as a ghost, had any actual affect on his dreams. But due to the nature of many of them, he was a bit too hesitant to ask.
One morning, he felt a chill far unlike he was used to in the spring air. He stirred and found Zelda sitting beside him, cross legged and waiting for him to awaken. She was never in his room in the mornings.
“Whoa! Zelda?”
She turned to him patiently. ‘You summoned me in the night.’
“I… I did? How?”
Rolling her eyes like the answer was the most obvious thing in the world, she made a face. ‘You called my name.’
Link couldn’t wipe the red from his face that day, or for several days after that. He even requested a day without her presence when he couldn’t shake her from his mind. But her return the next day had all the feelings rushing back to the surface.
‘Are you okay?’ she asked him when they were alone in the hallway outside the Prince’s room.
“I’m fine. Are you?”
‘I’m dead. Not naïve.’ She smirked, but it faded quickly, suddenly more serious as she thought about their whole situation. ‘I can leave you alone. Forever, if you need me to. I’ve been alone for 100 years, and I’ve grown to love your company, but I can go without. Link, I’m dead. Don’t ever forget what I cannot offer you.’
“Don’t. Don’t, Zelda.” He turned away so he couldn’t read her lips anymore, even if she was still speaking.
But she ducked in front of him, following his head wherever he turned until he sighed in resignation.
‘I’m going to go before it’s too late.’
“No. Please don’t.”
‘You know I have to.’
“You don’t.”
‘Link…’
“It’s already too late, Zelda. I’m… I’m falling in love with you, regardless. You leaving now does nothing.”
Zelda smiled, laced with sorrow and pain. ‘I’m so sorry I did this to you. I should have left. I lost you once already and the pain threatened to split me apart. Now, I’m feeling it again.’
“Zelda,” Link tried, instinctively reaching out to stop her before cursing to himself. “Give me one more day. One night to try to convince you to stay.”
‘You can try, Link. But it won’t work.’
So that day, Link trudged through his duties. Zelda followed beside him, giving him his day, though she made no attempt to see his smile. In fact, Link’s heart cracked when, for the first time in months, he could see tears in the corner of her eyes.
It was only when Link was allowed to take his leave for the night that he led Zelda into his room, as they often did. But he locked the door and leaned against it, his eyes desperate and longing.
“Please, don’t go.”
Zelda smiled a bit and crossed her arms. ‘All day, and that’s what you came up with?’
Link chuckled and pushed himself off the door to stand in front of her. “You don’t deserve to spend forever alone. And I’m here, spending my forever alone as well. Let’s spend it together.”
‘I love you, Link. But sometimes, love isn’t enough.’
“I’m not in love with your touch, Zelda. Not the sound of your voice. Nothing but you. I know I’ll never kiss you, or hold you, or gods, do all the things I wish I could do with you. I know all this, and I’m still in love with you. So please, don’t go because I can’t feel you or hear you. Only go if that’s what you have to do for you. Because you leaving isn’t for me.”
‘Sleep, Link. I can promise you that I’ll be here in the morning when you wake.’
“Would you sit?” he asked, gesturing to the bed. She did.
He pulled off his guard uniform and changed into comfortable clothes to sleep in. And when he looked over at her, her face was modestly turned away.
Link snorted. “Please, you’re going to tell me that after all these months, you never snuck into the bathhouse once while I wasn’t looking?”
He watched a laugh burst out of her and she turned with a guilty expression and a halfhearted shrug. But she waited for his attention to return to her so she could speak. ‘Don’t make me laugh.’
Lying down on the bed, he gestured for her to take the spot beside him. “I’ll always make you laugh, if you’ll let me.”
She joined him, her face just inches from his. She was so physically real in nearly every way. His hand longed to reach out and touch her face, though his brain knew it wasn’t worth the disappointment. But he did it anyway, letting his hand fall when it touched nothing but cold air.
‘I can’t.’
She rested her hand atop his, enough that they could pretend they were touching.
“How about just a few years, then? I can be without you for that long if I know we’ll be together again.”
‘Link…’
“Forever is a long time to spend alone. For both of us.”
‘I’ll sleep on it.’
Link dropped his arm down so Zelda could move closer. It did nothing by way of touch, but he could still feel her there with him. “You won’t, will you?”
‘Tomorrow is a new day. And it’s getting too dark for you to see my lips. So sleep tonight, Link.’
She was right, of course. He’d begun to struggle in the candlelight as his eyes grew wearier. But he was too afraid to shut them, for fear she’d disappear. He felt cold on his forehead, and then his scalp, like she was running a hand through his hair, letting him know that she hadn’t left.
And that was how he fell asleep.
When he woke up, it was to a sight he wished he’d seen every day.
Zelda was curled up beside him, mostly buried in the pillow, her hair wildly around her head. If she were anyone else, he’d have felt her up against his arm, and part of her face would have been against his shoulder. But her eyes opened, and she blinked several times before locking onto his nervous expression.
‘I’ll stay for now, and gradually leave. It’ll be easier on us both.’
“Okay. And I’ll work to change your mind that whole time.”
She smiled and conceded to that, knowing full well that her ability to keep her word hadn’t diminished in death. She could hold out longer than Link.
But their trance was broken by a loud knock on the door, and the rattling of the handle. “Link! The Prince is in danger! Move!”
Link turned to Zelda as he quickly pulled his boots on in one swift motion each. “You can’t be hurt by anything, right?”
She simply nodded and followed beside Link as he ran through the hall to the Prince’s chambers. His sword was out, but there was no one there.
Until suddenly, there was.
A strange looking man pulled up his hood and ran out, waving his hand behind him. A lynel appeared in the hallway, swinging a massive sword around wildly.
Link felt the blunt edge catch him, stealing his breath as he was sent flying backwards. The world went black for a moment, and he had to take a second to realize that Zelda was kneeling over him, panic on her face.
He sat up just in time to see the lynel charge again, but this time, he rolled out of the way, hastily finding his footing. The lynel reared back again, and Link was ready to move, but the beast slammed its massive sword down before tearing its arm sideways.
And Link screamed.
He’d been caught by the second swing and fell down to his knees, but not before jamming his sword into the lynel, causing it to shriek in mutual pain.
Zelda was above Link again, and he reached up to grab her arm, instead resting on himself. “Together soon, I guess?” he coughed out. It was a painfully deep wound, but not one that would kill him. It was the lynel who roared in pain, stomping its feet against the rug and ready to either trample him, or stab him that would bring his end.
Zelda shook her head frantically, tears dripping, disappearing before they could fall on him. He could see her mouth moving wildly, but he couldn’t make out more than ‘again.’
Together, they stared at the lynel as its four hooves began to move.
Closer and closer, Link could see its breath coming out of its nose from the cold Zelda brought with her.
Until suddenly, everything was warm.
Death hadn’t hurt nearly as much as Zelda described, he thought dumbly. His first thought as a ghost was…
He glanced at his wound, still throbbing with pain. He coughed. He felt the floor beneath him.
He wasn’t dead. The warmth wasn’t him.
Turning his head, he saw Zelda swathed in light, her hand raised to the sky as a bright beam emerged from her palm. Her hair whipped around wildly in the wind she caused, and the lynel roared one final time before disappearing into dust.
Zelda spun around to Link, her hands shaking as they hovered over him. “I couldn’t lose you again like that, Link!”
Link’s eyes widened. “Zelda?”
“That man, you’ll need to find out who that wizard is! Who has the power to summon a—”
“Zelda!” Link balked, grabbing her arms. And he could grab her arms.
They both stared in shock as the unfamiliar feeling of Link’s hands on her arms radiated throughout their bodies.
“I can feel you,” she breathed.
“I can hear you.”
“Why is that?”
Link chuckled and reached up to cup her face. “You have an accent?”
“A royal dialect, if you please,” she laughed, grabbing his hands and pressing them into her face.
He choked on the sound of her laugh, feeling he could drown in the noise he’d never heard.
“I feel strange,” Zelda admitted, her joy turning to cold fear. “Oh gods, Link! I’m dying.”
“What? You’re not alive.”
She shook her head, grabbing him tighter. “I didn’t save you the first time. In the Calamity. You died because of me. This time, I saved you. I can move on now.”
“’Move on?’ What? Zelda… what’s happening?”
“I can leave. I can be at peace.” She let out a nervous chuckle, but then she looked at Link, felt his hands on her. Everything she’d wished for. “Or I could stay. I think… I think I could keep this feeling. But I think… I think I’d be stuck here as I was.”
“How do you know this?”
“It’s a feeling. I just know. And I can hear the Goddesses calling me. I have to decide now.”
They looked at each other for a long moment, and both spoke at once.
“—I have to stay.”
“—You have to go.”
Zelda stared incredulously at Link. “Go?”
“You’ll be stuck here, like you were. This is your chance. You won’t get another.”
“Now we can have a life together, Link. It can be you and me. We can run away and live together in a small town, in a cottage or a cabin. We can have everything we wanted.”
“No. You’ll be stuck,” Link countered, though he wasted no opportunity to run his hands all along her skin, trying to commit everything to memory as fast as he could.
“Link!”
“You loved me enough to leave me when you thought it would ruin my life to be with you. And I love you enough to let you go when being with me will ruin your death. Take this.”
“I can be just as stubborn as you were, you know.”
Link chuckled and nodded, resting his forehead against hers. “Will we be able to find each other in the next life?”
“Theoretically, yes, but—”
“Then what’s a few more years? I can be without you for that long if I know we’ll be together again. You staying here for the rest of this life of mine means we’ll never have forever. If you go, we can find each other in every life.”
She bit her lip at his repeated words. “I’ll find you. No matter what, Link, I’ll find you again.”
“Me too, Zelda,” he promised, already feeling her touch fade to nothing again.
He hastily pressed a desperate kiss to her lips, one that she eagerly returned. Her hands threaded through his hair, raking her nails along his skull, feeling him shudder from her attentions. Likewise, he let his fingers alternate between a light brush over her skin, and frantic nonsense, running the same paths again and again. One hand was against her neck, though he didn’t feel the thrumming pulse he expected. The thought didn’t last as he traced her throat and ran his fingers over her ears just in time for him to stop feeling them.
She grabbed him tighter, but that too faded until they were left feeling nothing but air.
“Link! I lo—”
Link croaked out a pained sob as her voice disappeared, and the rest of her sentence was lost to silence. And despite knowing what it would have been, it stung far worse than he expected.
She no longer looked human before him. The light she’d emitted before was returning, and this time, it was engulfing her, fading out her edges, her fingers, her hands, her legs, her hair.
The last thing he saw was her mouth, tipping up into a final, peaceful smile.
Link sighed and shook his head, leaning back into the wall, waiting for help to come for him.
Finally, he saw a young blonde servant run into the hall, skidding beside him.
And his eyes widened at the familiar face; though not exact, he knew that face anywhere.
“Zelda?”
Her head shot up as her hands hovered over his wound. “I’m sorry, have we met? I don’t… I don’t recognize you, sir. Just stay calm though, you’re bleeding a fair bit.”
That voice.
Link gasped and grabbed her hands, needing to know if she was really there or a stress-induced imagining of her. But he could feel her, and he could feel her pulse in her wrist. “What are you doing here?”
She smiled. Goddess, it was that same smile. One that was meant to calm him, but did nothing of the sort in that moment. But her words… her words soothed him more than any medicine ever would:
“What do you mean what am I doing here? I found you.”
No more my place, I’ll come to yours Jyushimatsu x reader
Reaper!Jyushimatsu x Gender Neutral Reader
warnings: this has mentions of death/suicide themes, specifically the kind with pills
It’s pretty fluff tho Oh! and it’s sfw
Enjoy!
One of the side effects of these pills, you were told, was sleepiness. That by itself wasn’t strange. What was a strange side effect was him.
He was there, always in your dreams, with a smile. Always at the ready to greet you, always coming up with new ways to cheer you up. Though your dreams were at night, you always felt like you surrounded by soft sunshine at all times with him around.
His white dress suit always looked so clean despite all the running around the two of you did in your dreams. Rolling down hills, playing tag, and baseball of all things! Yet you laughed and laughed, you had not had this much fun and been so happy in a long long time.
The happy feelings dribbled into real life, you felt like yourself again, in a way. But only for a little while. You'd miss him and couldn't wait to see him that night, often rushing into bed as soon as you could. Already you were used to seeing him every night you stopped questioning why he was there in the first place.
He was getting harder and harder to see and hear as time went by. When you expressed your panic of the situation he merely laughed and told you it was the way of things. That you don't need him anymore.
But that wasn't true. You did need him. How could you go through life anymore without him to cheer you up?
So you took more, you slept longer. So you were with him longer.
A small frown shown on his face when you saw him the first time you took more. But he didn’t say anything. You vaguely wondered if he knew.
During the day, you often wondered what he was. A figment of your imagination? Possibly, but the dreams felt so real. He felt real. You had held someone's hand in a dream before but you could not feel it during the dream, let alone after you woke. Holding his hand, watching the sun rising in your dream, you'd wake up and still feel his warmth on your fingertips.
No, you knew he wasn't a dream.
You didn't care what or who he was. You loved him.
You shared soft kisses, always nothing more than a taste. Yet you had not voiced your feelings for him. He always interrupted you, a sad, longing look was in his eyes almost like it was too much to bear.
Yet he couldn’t stop from holding you close. Burying his nose in your hair, you both would let out a sigh, both wishing the dream would not end. Just as you felt the tugging of awakeness, you felt his hold tighten around you, he didn’t want to let you go, yet he always did in the end.
But now he was slipping away.
You were obsessed. Life outside your dreams, life without him became nothing. You started to give up on anything that wasn’t sleep.
More and more you took.
It was to be with him. Who cared of the consequences?
“Stop. Please [y/n]. Don’t...don’t do this to yourself.” Jyushimatsu had enough, a tear rolled down his cheek. He had yet to smile at you when the dream started. You were confused, do what to yourself? What was so wrong in wanting to be with him for as long as you could?
“But I lov…” He touched your chin with a sleeved hand, interrupting you yet again with a simple peck on your lips.
“This wasn’t supposed to be like this. I only wanted to cheer you up, make you smile. So I didn’t have to see you again for a long time. But you kept coming and I…” shutting his eyes his forehead met yours. He shuddered, his voice barely a whisper, yet so loud to your ears, “I should have stayed away but I...I feel so drawn to you.”
Though you weren't sure what was going on, you knew what he was saying and hope rose in your heart. He loved you as well? Oh, how you hoped. You felt like your heart was bursting so much that it felt so real.
But then you felt that it was.
Clenching your heart, you felt like something was closing. You weren’t in pain, no, it was quite the opposite. You felt at peace.
Glancing up at Jyushimatsu, you saw the panic in his eyes.
Something told you you might not wake up again.
“No...nono...no.no NO [y/n]!” Jyushimatsu rushed over to you in a second, he was afraid to touch you but he couldn’t help himself, he wanted to make sure you were alright. “You have to go back, now. Please, before it’s too late and you regret it.”
“Jyushimatsu, how could you say that? I couldn’t leave you, Jyushi. I could never regret being with you.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying.” He was angry. Angry at himself and angry at you for not understanding how serious this was. “Wake up! Live your life! I don’t want to see you again until you are old and grey!”
The angrier he got the more the dream setting shifted. The sunny sky turned dark. Green grass turned black and brittle. A flash of yellow lightning ripped through, startling you. Smoke engulfed Jyushimatsu as you heard him growl, “You don’t understand, so I will make you.”
Apprehensive at what was occuring, you took a step back. Your trust in him was still strong but your instincts screamed for you to run. Another flash of lightning and you almost gave into your instincts.
Jyushimatsu emerged from the black smoke, green glowing eyes burrowed into you, your soul felt heavy. His princely white suit was replaced with a black and dark yellow hooded garb that swirled as if made from the smoke itself. You no longer saw his smile for it was covered in a huge jaw of a skull that did not look human at all. A ghostly bone tool, the sight of it gave you eerie shudders, was in his sleeved hand to complete the ensemble.
If you had to describe in one word what it all made you think of, it would be “death.”
At the thought of death, your mind flashed with yet another symptom of those pills, “can lead to death.”
The realization dawned on you. Everything made sense.
You would have been lying if you didn’t admit you were scared.
Death was something that was far from your mind. You only wanted to be close to him, to love him. It honestly never occured to you what exactly the consequences were of that decision. You stood there shaking before him. He looked so different, was he still him?
Glowing green eyes narrowed when you didn’t run from him right away. You heart lept in fear.
But then you saw it.
A flash of fear in his eyes. Fear and longing. It was enough to wash yours away.
Your confidence back, you stood up straight. Determination steeled you. You didn’t flinch when you heard a deep growl behind his bone mask, nor when he slightly raised the bone tool in his hand, threatening to swing at you if you got too close.
“Back off, mortal.” You did however finch at that, but it didn’t stop your approach.
You were at his boots, neck craned up and exposed. Your heart vulnerable.
“Jyushimatsu…” he flinched at his own name being whispered. He silently begged for you to turn heel and run, he wanted what was best for you but he knew if you said his name once more like that, like every syllable couldn’t contain your desire for him, if you but touched him ever so slightly, it feel like a thousand fires sweetly torched his skin, set him ablaze, he’d break, unable, unwilling to let you go. “I know you wont hurt me. Please, I understand….I don’t really want to die.”
“Then go.” What power did you hold for you to be able make this sunshine man break to a point of having such a soul crushing sadness in his voice in such a moment?
“But…. despite that, I refuse to leave you. I want to be with you….” he held his breath, “I love you, Jyushimatsu.”
He crumpled to his knees. He groaned in agony. “[y/n], turn me away. Please, I beg you. Revoke me. Run.”
Small fingers pushed into his hood, running through his soft hair, unafraid and familiar. “Never.”
Quick strong arms shot up and pulled you into his lap, stealing the breath out of you. Before you could catch your breath he hungrily captured your mouth with his. Heatedly, he deepened the kiss after you let out a whimper. His sleeved hands gripping you, bruising your skin, trying to get you closer and closer. Your body flush against his, yet you weren’t close enough.
Finally pulling away you caught your breath, vaguely you wondered where the bone jaw mask had gone but soon your wonder disappeared when you felt his mouth on your neck, groaning out you name.
“I love you, I need you, please” he said inbetween licking kisses on your skin. You cooed at him, telling him you weren’t going anywhere. Kissing the top of his head, pushing his hood down. A particular scratch of his scalp caused him to thrust up into you. You weren’t sure if the groan was his or yours being mixed in long overdue kisses.
You were ready to tear at him to get rid of his clothes, get even closer, but he started to hold back again by slowing down. Hungry kisses turning lazy.
You whimpered and pouted. He chuckled, glowing eyes softer, the smile on his face returned but it held a mischievous to it now. “Don’t worry, I’m not done yet, [y/n].” He smirked slightly at your blush before nuzzling your cheek. “But not right now. It’s still too dangerous to have you here.” The slight thrust of his hips again sent home the promise of ‘later.’
Blushing, trying not to think of the feel of his strong arms were around you, you still felt like you could leave, a slightly knocking, beckoning to wake up was softly in the back of your heart, yet you were content, you decided to ignore the feeling. You made your decision.
You didn’t think anything of it when he stood up with you in his arms, but when the scene started to fade around the two of you, you called his name, bringing his green eye’s to your attention.
You started to panic when you saw your sleeping body on your bed at home. Your arms gripped tighter around his neck. Begging for him not to let go.
“Shhhh, shhh. I love you. I’m not letting you go,” he said. His smile returned, even brighter than before. “But I’m not having you die just to be with me.”
“How…” you started to ask.
He rubbed a sleeved hand on the back of his head sheepishly. “Haaaaaaa, gotta break a few rules, but I can exist in this world too.” He shrugged nonchalantly at your concern and kissed your temple, “You’re worth it.”
He started to place your dream body into your sleeping one before you stopped him. “Are...will you be right there? You won't…”
He kissed you softly, full of love. “I’ll be right here when you wake up, I promise.” You nodded.
You let yourself drift off together, you remember the sensation, the warmth, of Jyushimatsu’s body as everything faded to black.
You felt the telltale signs you were waking up from a long dream. You were in your own bed, a dove cooed just outside your window as soft rain tapped above. Slightly moving, you groaned, you felt awful. In a word, you felt heavy. Heart and mind felt solid and hazy. Stomach empty, your limbs were freezing.
Why were you so heavy? You barely could move!
Face scrunched in frustration of not being able to move completely just yet but also at the slight tickling of air you felt on your face. Opening your eyes slightly to find the source of the tickling air.
Jyushimatsu, wrapped around you, blankets mixed with black smoke cozily snuggled around the two off you.
His half lidded eyes and smile met your sleepy ones. Sleeve fingers caressed your cheek and a peck on the tip of your nose with a giggle. “Welcome to a new life my Sunflower. I hope it is a long one.”
“with you?” you crocked out, wincing a little at the sound.
It hadn't been serious, it never was with him. While Papa was suave and Ollie enjoyed their time together it wasn't meant to be. She knew it wasn't something meant to last…something permanent but—here she was. It was only one missed pill and life forever changed.
