Chapter Text
~Ten Years Later~
Zelda walked down the long hallway with a stack of file folders tucked under her arm. She was in the teal scrubs that Mipha’s Grace Hospital required of her as she sorted through the patient files that she cradled like a child. These were the most important files she’d ever held. It had her nerves spiking for the first time since she’d taken the Advanced Nursing Practices Exam and graduated with her Master’s.
This was far, far more important than that.
But she shuffled them around in her arms, arriving at the room she was meant to go into first. Standing in the hallway outside of the closed door, she read over the patient’s chart one more time before she stepped inside.
“Teba!” she said, tossing her paperwork and folders onto the tabletop off to the side before offering her friend a hug. “It’s good to see you! How are you?”
“Excited,” he admitted. “It’s been a long time coming.”
Zelda grinned and grabbed her tablet before poking a few things into it. “Glad you decided to take my advice.”
He snorted and shrugged. “A friend from college tells me she can get me into a clinical trial years after we’ve last spoken? You can tell why I was skeptical.”
“No, I definitely get it. But today’s finally the day. I’m sorry I wasn’t available for your preliminary visits. I had personal things happening. The doctor and prosthetist will be in shortly. Well, he’s replacing the one you didn’t like. So I’m going to take your vitals, and then get everything going, okay? How’s that sound?”
Teba gave a thumb’s up and kicked his leg out, like a bored child. Only one leg. For now.
Zelda smirked as she read the chart, but he called her out on it.
“What’s so good in there?”
She turned back to him. “I’m just happy for you.”
“Are you this happy for all your patients?”
She wriggled her eyebrows before looking back at his chart. “You’re just special, Teba.”
“I don’t believe that for a second,” he scoffed, grinning at her. “You’re such a softie. I’ll bet you’ve already saved half our class by now.”
“No. Only 1/3 of them.”
Teba laughed and leaned forward, intrigued by the machines Zelda was preparing and the notes she kept typing into the tablet as she did. “Glad to see you haven’t changed much. Still wandering around with a stack of books in your arms, too? Or only files now?”
Zelda scoffed. “I always read better when it’s printed out. I won’t apologize. Or maybe I just need glasses. Who knows? Not like I keep up with eye exams or anything.”
Snorting, Teba’s eyes followed her the whole time she moved around the room. “You’re an inspiring healthcare provider, Zelda. Plus, I think you still owe me an ink cartridge from junior year. That was an expensive printer.”
“Yeah, I think I might,” she laughed. “Okay, enough joking around; I need your vitals. You know the drill.”
He held out his arm and she grabbed the blood-pressure cuff. “So, you still with that loser you used to always bring around?” He glanced at the digital reading. “Not too high today!”
“You’re fighting fit, Teba. Good. And no, I’m not still with that loser.”
“Oh, hey, you ever end up with that other guy? The… um… I don’t remember his name.”
“I know who you mean. And no, I didn’t. He was a phase.” She scooted behind him. “Deep breath.”
The conversation dropped for a while, and when she went back to her tablet, she finally looked back up. “How about you? Did you stay with Saki?”
“Married her and had a kid.”
Zelda beamed. “Oh wow! Congratulations! How old?”
“He’s two. Couldn’t ask for a better family.”
“That’s great. I’m happy for you!”
“How about you? Any kids?”
“Gods, no. Too busy for that right now.”
“I don’t see a ring on your finger.”
Zelda grinned at him. “No, nosy, you wouldn’t.”
There was a rap on the door and a pause before it cracked open. “Hi,” a blond mop of hair peaked in. His blue eyes settled on Zelda. “Mind if I get things set up?”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
He nodded and stretched out his hand to Teba. “Link Hunter. I’ll be replacing Bozai Ford. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“You too, Doctor.”
“Just Link. So it looks like Bozai did your fittings, and I’m just here to make sure everything works smoothly. So, I’m going to set up over there.” Link gestured to a desk with a computer on it before his eyes were back on Zelda.
No matter how long it had been, no matter what they were to each other, Zelda still found herself blushing and staring whenever she bumped into Link at work. It wasn’t often that their jobs overlapped. He was rarely in the hospital with patients, his time spent mostly at the office in the lab a few streets over surrounded by gadgets and computers. And gods, when he came to the hospital on days like today, he was dressed for work; his dress shirt, tie, and rolled sleeves made her want to die a little in the best possible way.
But dying would be unprofessional, and they were nothing if not professionals here.
With some difficulty, she turned her attention back to Teba. “Okay… let’s go over your medications.”
“I have a list,” he said, handing over a piece of paper.
“Perfect. Thank you.”
Teba fidgeted uncomfortably in the silence. He turned to Link. “You’re good, right? You know what you’re doing? I mean… you’re not new new, right?”
Link chuckled. “Yeah, I do know what I’m doing. Don’t worry.”
“You’re in good hands, Teba,” Zelda said, not looking up at him from the list. “Link is one of the best. I requested him for you, actually.”
“Did you?” Teba turned back to Link. “I went to school with her, so I trust her judgement.”
“I went to school with her too. A long time ago.”
“I don’t remember you,” Teba said, glancing at Zelda as she typed.
She bit her lip and finally glanced up. “You might, actually. Do you remember the ex-boyfriend I was really angry with when we met?”
“Oh yeah. That’s literally how we met.”
Zelda pointed to Link coyly. “Him.”
“Oh, awkward. But I mean, for you to recommend your ex, he must be good, right?”
Zelda toyed with her necklace and smirked to herself. “Yeah, he’s definitely good.”
Link snorted as he got up from his seat and knelt next to a large container, fiddling with something inside.
Teba lowered his voice so only Zelda could hear. “He didn’t hurt you or anything, right? Because I’ll knock him out if you want.”
Laughing, Zelda shook her head. “No. We had a… massive breakdown in communication. It was before I transferred schools. Which, admittedly, I didn’t tell him I was doing. And he was studying all the time. We just rarely spoke at that point. So no, please don’t beat him up.” She handed his medicine list back and stood up. “You’re feeling better, right? Overall?”
“Yeah, thanks to you.”
“Not thanks to me, but I’m glad you’re doing okay. You had me worried.”
“No, I’m good. Thank you. I wouldn’t be here without you, Zelda.” He held his hand up to stop her before he could protest. “Are you staying for this?”
“I don’t even normally come in for this kind of appointment. I don’t really do this kind of work. It’s just because you’re a friend.”
“Can you stay anyway?”
Fiddling with her necklace again, Zelda shrugged. “I-uh… I don’t really know. I’ll ask Dr. Jerrin though, okay?”
Zelda gathered her things off the table, only to leave and return moments later with the doctor.
“Here to stay,” she whispered as she passed Teba.
Zelda sat beside Link, out of the way of the doctor. She was treated more like a visitor than anything else, especially since she wasn’t really needed in here for this. But the appointment had been scheduled in, and Zelda had no other patients she needed to get to for another hour. She’d begged to have the sparsest schedule possible that day, for other reasons.
Her eyes instinctually darted to her stack of files before she tore them away to focus on anything else.
So, sitting beside Link, she watched as he pulled up several diagrams. The screen had equations on it, lines running from an anatomic representation of a body, and several blank spaces. She couldn’t make heads or tails of all the numbers. But Link was typing in formulas faster than Zelda’s brain could even process.
Link froze when he felt her knee against his, and his eyes slid to her with a questioning look on his face before his lip tipped up and he nudged her knee right back.
Zelda was leaning forward, her chin resting in her hand. “I like watching you do math.”
“I know you do,” he whispered, returning to the screen.
“Thanks for doing this.”
He shrugged, finished an equation, and sat back. “It’s a change of pace. Those never hurt anyone.”
“Teba was a good friend.”
“Who doesn’t even know about me.”
“He’s also a patient. I’m not really interested in sharing too much while he’s my patient.”
“I know.” Link glanced up at the doctor and then checked the screen before he turned to Zelda and felt red heat creep into his cheeks. “I like watching you work.”
“I know you do.”
He shook his head and snorted softly before returning to the screen. “It all looks perfect. He might not have liked Bozai, but he did a good job. The leg is perfect. See?” He pointed to the screen where a camera with live video of Teba’s leg had constantly changing equations and lines all over the place, lines that matched the diagram.
Link let out a sigh before he began clicking around the screen, typing as he went, changing the measurement of something. “Nearly perfect.”
“Zelda, would you come here and help me?”
She stood and left Link with a lingering glance. He watched her cross the room, his eyes drinking in everything she did, every move she made, every time she grabbed the right equipment. He was beyond proud of seeing her here. There was a time she’d given everything up for the best education, even him.
He’d been the first to let work and school interrupt their lives. He was used to prioritizing work over everything else, and two years after high school, they’d both cracked under the pressure of it all.
Wrenching himself from his memories, he realized that Teba was staring at him, and Link fought back a grimace over being caught before returning to watch the screen while Zelda and Dr. Jerrin worked.
He did like being in the hospital, especially on days he got to see Zelda. This wasn’t what he normally worked on, though, and that really was a nice way to spice up his day. One thing he missed most about working at Gabe’s was that he constantly had something to physically work with. It was tactile and that was something Link preferred in his work.
Now, there were full days when Link was just at the computer plugging formulas in or researching while jotting notes down. But they weren’t all that way, or he’d have quit within his first year. There were days he worked with special screws that could safely be inside a body, experimenting with devices he’d helped create, working with scale models. Days that he could see their work involve a living, breathing patient were some of the more fulfilling, though he usually only came in to supervise or double check the equipment or make repairs.
Through undergrad, he didn’t realize just how influential Zelda had been on him. He’d wanted to do something or to save someone just to counteract the loss of Mikau. At first, he thought about working in manufacturing, but the more he helped Zelda memorize anatomy, the more interested in it he became. Once they’d broken up, he’d continued on with it and spent junior year taking science electives.
He’d really, really debated getting a Ph.D, but figuring that he could always go back later if he wanted, he settled on a Master’s, same as Zelda had done, though she obviously had her degree in nursing. So, a double bachelor’s degree in electrical and mechanical engineering, like he’d always wanted, and then he’d surprised himself by loving the thought of working with prosthetics that could change lives of the living just as much as it could save the lives of someone dying, he ended up with a Master of Science degree in biomedical engineering with a specialty in biomechanics.
He’d sent that one to his father with a spiteful letter and no return address so he wouldn’t need to hear anything back. He felt better after that one.
He felt a little less good when he’d sent a normal, non-bragging letter to his mother at the same time, one that he left his address on, just to say that he didn’t want anything to do with her, but if her daughter ever wanted to know about her half-siblings, his number was available. He’d heard nothing back, as he’d expected, but that one stung a little harder.
Still, he’d gotten them both out of his system.
Zelda, on the other hand, was one thing he’d never gotten out of his system.
It wasn’t until Teba’s appointment ended— firm with the new prosthetic, all checks done, all follow up appointments discussed, all medications prescribed—that Link cracked a little. Eyes softened from their earlier focus, he watched Zelda grab her things to stack into a pile. She was in her scrubs with her hair tied back in a messy bun, but gods, she was beautiful. There were dark circles under her eyes from not sleeping enough, but they lit up when they caught his watching her.
“Are we still on for lunch?” he asked, whispered enough that he hoped Teba was too distracted to hear.
“Yeah. Grab us a table?”
Nodding, Link said goodbye to Teba and left the room with Dr. Jerrin.
“Need help with anything?” Zelda asked, turning back to Teba. “I’ll walk you to the front desk to check out.”
“As your friend, I feel obligated to report that your ex was making eyes at you that whole appointment. And did I hear you’re going to lunch with him? Zelda, are you dating your ex?”
Helping Teba off the table, she hovered beside him as he readjusted to the new leg, just in case he stumbled or fell.
“Yeah, something like that.”
Narrowing his eyes at her, he planted his foot. “We used to have a full disclosure policy. I got you dates, and you got them for me. What’s going on with him?”
Zelda looked at him, measured for a decent time, before she couldn’t help herself. She tugged her necklace out from the neck of her scrubs and flashed a diamond ring in his direction. “I never wear it on my finger at work.”
Teba’s mouth opened, and he examined the stone. “Pretty. Just like how pretty sneaky you are, dodging me like that. I thought you were acting weird. How long?”
Zelda scoffed. “We’re professional at work. Not sneaky. Um, the year you graduated we got back together, so that’s, what… seven years ago?”
“You’re really something. No wonder you turned everyone I set you up with down. You still had your big eyes set on the pretty boy.”
“Yeah, well, we actually were mad at each other when you and I hung out, and I did date to try to get over him. But we had dinner one night and smoothed things over. Been together since.”
“Seven straight years… nine total? Why no wedding?”
Stopping at the front desk, Zelda clutched her files to her chest. “We wanted to wait until we were done with school. Then it was supposed to be this year, but something personal happened so we postponed.”
“I hope it goes smoothly, whatever it was.”
Zelda nodded and bit her lip. “Me too. But hey, I have to go. Text me if you want to meet up! Maybe meet for lunch sometime and I can see Saki again?”
“You always liked her better than me!” he laughed.
“Well… she was my roommate. I think I’m entitled to a slight bias.”
He nodded, leaning on the counter. “You are. I’ll definitely text you. And I’ll let Saki know she’s still first in your heart.”
“Good. It was really great to see you again, Teba. I hope you start feeling much better with this. And don’t slack on the PT this time. I know you.”
“Go doctor someone else,” he laughed, pulling her into a hug. “Thank you again, for everything. I really wouldn’t be here without you. Have a good one, Zelda.”
“You too.”
Zelda ran down to the cafeteria, feeling her stomach rumble with the annoyance it felt after she’d skipped breakfast to rush to the hospital. She’d been so eager to get here, and she clutched the files tighter against her as she headed straight for the table Link had already grabbed. There was a tray filled with food already in the center, a drink and utensils all lined out and ready for them. She knew he’d skipped breakfast too.
“Hey,” he said, standing up to give her a quick kiss from across the table. “That was a nice thing you did for him. Especially today. I know you want to get out.”
“You too,” she said, grabbing one of the two salads off the tray, setting the files off to the side of the table so they wouldn’t get dirty. Both she and Link stared at them anxiously.
Link grabbed at his phone and leaned against the table, his salad already forgotten. “Pip wants an update.”
“Tell him we’re going after this.”
“I am.”
Setting her fork down, Zelda sighed. “Today is just too much.”
“Want to skip the reunion?”
Her eyes fluttered shut and she shook her head. “No. I want to see Makeela and Ilia.”
Nodding, Link toyed with the lettuce, flipping it aimlessly around with his fork. “Can I see those files, or no?”
“Yeah. They’re all just my notes for now. Nothing confidential.”
He slid the folder over as his eyes skimmed pages of research on pacemakers.
“You approve of everything they’re using, right?” Zelda asked, her eyes glued to the different pictures.
“Yeah, I do. You looked at the procedure, right?”
“I did. It’s simple. Dr. Rob is the best. I trust him.”
She leaned across the table and grasped Link’s hand, stopping him from flipping more food around. He dropped his fork and threaded his fingers through hers, taking comfort from her strong grip. They stayed like that for a long moment before both let out a long breath.
Zelda cleared her throat nervously. “This probably isn’t the best time to tell you this, but I’m going to be in the ER for the next few nights.”
Link let go of her hand and groaned. “Zelda…”
“We’re short staffed still and they need people to help. I can’t say no, not while so many people keep coming in and overwhelming everyone.”
“I know,” Link mumbled. “You’re just never home at night. Your patients see you more than I do.”
Zelda took a bite so she could have a second to herself before she needed to answer. “Do you want to revisit the conversation of me working with Impa? At a doctor’s office, I’ll have easier hours for the most part.”
“No. No, I know you love it here. I just mean I miss you, that’s all.”
“Oh yeah?” she said, lowering her voice so only he could hear. “How much?”
He chuckled, his eyes narrowing with a mischievous glint. “I’ll show you later, if you want.”
Zelda bit her lip and grinned. “I need a nap when we get home, but I’m not saying no to later tonight. Especially when you wear that.”
He adjusted his tie and wriggled his eyebrows at her, making her laugh. And as soon as she did, he couldn’t help but join in.
They changed the conversation to something lighter while they ate before dumping the remains from their trays into the garbage bin. Link split a long piece of gum with Zelda, and in the elevator, she leaned into him, his arms tight around her while they watched the floors tick off until they were on the fourth floor.
It took them both a minute to get themselves off the elevator, but Zelda took Link’s hand and pulled him to room 421 before peeking her head inside.
“Hey, you up for company?”
A wide smile spread over Gabe’s face as he sat forward in the bed, though he frantically pulled at the back of his gown when he realized he was tugging at it, exposing some of his skin. “You two didn’t need to come in today.”
“Um, yes we did,” Zelda said, plopping herself on the end of the bed. She set the files down in front of her. “We’ve been looking at everything, and it all looks good, so you don’t have to be nervous. Link says the pacemaker they’re going to use is really good, and Dr. Rob is seriously the best. So, I was doing a little more research just to make sure that—”
“Zelda,” Gabe said, waving his hand to cut her off. His eyes darted to where Link lingered in the doorway. “Link. I’m going to be fine. I’m not nervous. I’ve already met Dr. Rob. I trust them. And I trust you two to have my back. But I don’t want either of you here today. I know you’re both a mess.”
“We’re okay,” Zelda said quickly, gesturing to Link. “We’re both fine. Really! But I just thought you should know that you can’t drive for the next few weeks, and then you’re going to have to limit any strenuous activity, and then you’re going to have to come in for a few follow up appointments, but if something ever doesn’t feel right, both Link and I know a lot about it already, so we can tell you if something is abnormal, but always be safe and check it out anyway because you know we don’t have scans or anything at home.”
“Zelda. Stop reading those files. Go to your class reunion. Come visit tomorrow when it’s all over. And breathe. Link, get over here.”
Tentatively, he stepped inside and stood beside the bed.
Gabe leveled his gaze at him. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m fine. This is just a setback. And if you two idiots push your wedding back one more time because of me, I’ll throttle you both. Did your statistics tell you just how many people have pacemakers? You, of all people, Zelda, I thought would understand not wanting a big deal to be made out of a medical condition. So, when I tell you both that I am not nervous, I swear, I’m not lying.”
“Is Pipit coming tonight or tomorrow?” Link asked in a whisper.
“He and Karane are coming up tomorrow morning.”
“Okay. I took the day off, so I’ll be here then, too. And Zelda is working at night, so we’ll all be here. Want me to call your brother?”
“After. Don’t need to add another worried family member to the mix. What’s the maximum visitor capacity in these rooms anyway?”
“I have clout,” Zelda laughed, patting Gabe’s arm. “I can get us all in to bother you. Keep that heart going.”
He shook his head and chuckled. “Okay. You’ve given me my warnings, and my pep talk. I’m feeling good.” Glancing at the clock on his wall, he lightly pushed Zelda off the bed. “Go get ready for your reunion, and tomorrow, you can both tell me all about it. Stop putting your lives on hold for me. It’ll give me a stroke on top of everything else.”
“Not funny,” Zelda chastised, though she stood up to cling to Link’s arm. He was too stiff, too paralyzed with his nerves and fear. She tried to rub her hand on his back, but he never relaxed. She could feel all the tension in his taut muscles, and it didn’t seem close to disappearing.
But she just nodded at Gabe. “Okay. If you want us to go, then we’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I do. Go have fun and don’t think about me.”
Zelda let go of Link so she could squeeze Gabe’s hand. “We love you.”
“I know, kid. But you don’t need to think like that. I’ll see you tomorrow when it’s all done with.”
“Okay. Bye, Gabe.”
Link swallowed hard and nodded, finally looking at Gabe again. “See you.”
“You will.”
Zelda had to lead Link away, pulling him behind a nurses’ station and into a storage room just for privacy. He slid down the wall and ran his hands through his hair.
“I haven’t wanted a cigarette this bad in seven years.”
She knelt in front of him, still trying to comfort him as best she could with her touch while she ran her hand along his outstretched leg. “It’s going to be fine.”
“What will we do if he doesn’t make it? I know where he keeps his will and everything, but that’s not what I mean.”
“I know. Don’t think that way, okay?” She threaded her fingers through his hair and finally saw his shoulders relax a little, so she did it again.
“I love you,” he whispered, leaning into her touch.
“I love you, too. We’ll get through this together, okay? You’re not alone; you have me.”
She could feel him nodding until his hands finally snaked around her waist, pulling her closer and burying his face into her neck, breathing in everything that made her her until he could calm himself enough to gather his thoughts.
“You have a patient, right?”
She glanced at her watch and nodded, so he let her go. She knelt forward and kissed his forehead, letting her hand run through his hair once again before pulling away.
It wasn’t until they’d returned home after work that either of them had the chance to speak to each other again.
Zelda had already torn off her work clothes and was in the middle of changing into some sweatpants and a baggy shirt to relax in for a while before they’d have to get ready all over for their high school reunion. She took her necklace off and slipped her ring onto her finger, admiring the stone for a moment before dropping the chain onto her end table. Then, she set to work untangling the knot that had taken over her hair.
The telltale sound of the jiggling door had Zelda’s ears perking, always a little more alert until Link announced himself. Her apartment had been broken into once while she was in grad school, and never again did she forget to double lock the door.
“Hey,” Link said, dropping his keys onto their dining table before heading into their bedroom to give Zelda a quick kiss before flopping onto the bed.
“Hey yourself.”
Link and Zelda had become masters of living apart. In undergrad, they’d been on the same dorm floor before Zelda transferred. Then, once they’d gotten back together after their breakup, they’d gone from living a three second walk from each other, to an hour’s drive away without traffic. Video chats, weekends, and vacations had become their best friends from then on. Their Master’s degrees only moved them a further drive apart, but as soon as both of them graduated, they’d looked for apartments together in Castle Town.
But those were impractically expensive for two young people just starting out in the world. Instead, they settled for a nice city halfway between their hometown and the big city, and they’d both found employment fairly quickly thanks to some fellowships and interning they’d done in school.
And for the first time in Link’s life, he wasn’t worrying about money.
As an engineer, he was making more than he’d ever thought possible for himself, so he began paying Gabe his loan back.
And Zelda had been working in a doctor’s office as an RN whils she got her Master’s to become an NP.
Their apartment was small, though they were very comfortable. They could have afforded something better, but Zelda had grown used to smaller spaces, and Link was still used to living with a fragile budget. He constantly worried that their money would dry up.
But after three years of living there, they’d made it feel like home.
Zelda demanded they decorate it with photos the way Link and Aryll’s house had been set up. Neither had said no when her parents gave them some of the furniture they both had in storage that they hadn’t used when they’d separated. Her father kept her bed in his storage unit until she was ready for her own place. She and Link weren’t complaining; it hadn’t lost its softness over the years.
So, Zelda plopped herself onto it beside Link before deciding that wasn’t enough, and she rolled onto him.
“Oof,” he grunted before pulling her tight against him. “You said ‘nap’ earlier, right?”
She pulled him by the tie until he met her lips again, slower and more calculated than the brief ones they’d passed between each other all day.
Pulling away, she chuckled when Link’s chased her before groaning when she kept out of reach.
She patted his chest while rolling the tie in her other hand. “You can’t sleep in this if you’re going to wear it tonight. It’ll get wrinkled.”
“Help me take it off then?”
Zelda narrowed her eyes at him. “I thought I penciled you in for tonight; not now.”
He scoffed and sat up. “I’m simply inquiring about whether you’d like to help me remove articles of clothing so I can take a nap without wrinkling things. What are you implying?”
Rolling her eyes, Zelda pulled Link’s tie off and playfully shoved him. “You’re the worst.”
Shrugging, Link shed off his layers until he was sure nothing would be wrinkled, and then slid under the blanket, letting out a relaxed sigh the second his head hit the pillow. “This is going to be a terrible idea. I can already tell.”
Zelda grabbed her phone and set an alarm for 40 minutes. “We get up when this goes off, okay? No snooze button.”
“Snooze button. Got it.”
“No!” she laughed, ducking into the bed beside him, already understanding his regrets as she felt the need for sleep hit her hard.
Link pulled her closer to him, his arm tucking her against him. She admired the sleeve of tattoos he’d accumulated on his arm over the years, and she found herself tracing the lines of a telescope, one she knew that Link and Aryll had gotten together just before her own wedding to Colin. They’d both added a seagull to theirs when Aryll adopted her son a few years into her social work career.
“Zel…” Link muttered as her hand trailed higher, just teasing his skin.
“Fine,” she whispered, settling against him and closing her eyes. She could feel Link tracing a pattern into her back, but she knew Link well enough to know that this wasn’t to tease her. It was to calm himself. So she said nothing and closed her eyes.
It felt like no time had passed when she heard her phone start to play some relaxing music she’d set as her alarm after overusing an Indigo Go’s song. Link grumbled into her, but she pressed her head harder into him, trying to ignore it.
She felt Link’s foot nudge her again and again until she made a disgusted noise and rolled over to tap her screen to silence the annoying sound. It ended abruptly, leaving them both in a deafening silence that begged them to wake up.
“We don’t want to be late,” she whispered, though her body betrayed her and simply moved back toward Link.
“Mmmm,” he hummed, making no motion to wake up.
Zelda was facing him, and she smirked at the lines that were on his forehead, possibly disgruntled from knowing he inevitably had to wake up soon.
Again, she was betrayed by her body that was meant to be putting on that dress she’d draped over the chair. Instead, she traced Link’s furrowed brows until he relaxed them and tilted into her. She hummed out a laugh and pressed her lips to his.
He responded groggily and instinctually rather than with any real intent. But whether he knew it or not, his hand was on her waist, under the hem of her shirt.
She grinned and pressed a lazy trail of kisses around his cheek, along his jaw, down his neck. She could feel the vibration of him making a noise through the kiss she placed on his throat, but she couldn’t make out if he was attempting to say something, or simply enjoying her attention.
Finally, he turned away to stop her before pulling her up onto his chest so he could turn his now-alert eyes on her. “If you keep doing that, I don’t think either of us are going to want to go to the reunion.”
“I changed my mind. I want to pencil you in now.”
“Why does that sound like an innuendo?”
“It probably is. I don’t really care.”
She went for him again, but he dodged her, chuckling. “I’m so going to regret saying this, but no. We’re getting up. I want to see Ilia, and I know you’ve been dying to see Makeela.”
Zelda slammed her head into his chest. “You pulled out the heavy hitters. Fine. Let’s go. And you are going to regret this.”
Sitting up, she smirked and pulled off her shirt, using it to hit him as she stood up.
“Really?” Link laughed, watching her make her way around the room to get her dress. “Actually, you’re right. We can stay here.”
“Nope,” she said, sliding the dress over her head, leaving her sweatpants on to revel in their comfort until they were about to step out the door. “Now you have to live with your decision. Come on; zip me up and let’s get this over with.”
Link ran a hand along his face before he helped Zelda with her zipper. “Maybe it won’t be as boring as we think.”
“Think anyone is still together?” she asked, fixing her hair in the mirror while Link got dressed.
“Probably not. If anyone, maybe Ruto and Ravio? But I don’t think so.”
“Yeah, I agree. I wish we could have dragged Pipit though.”
“He’s running the shop. Besides, he’d want to bring Karane, and it would be boring for her, and then we’d all feel bad for dragging them in the first place.”
“Okay, okay,” Zelda muttered. But she glanced at the clock as she fixed her makeup from work. “How late are we going to be?”
Link tugged on a nice jacket and leaned beside her. “I’d say five minutes.”
“Who’s driving?”
“I’ll drive. I need something to focus on other than you.” He kissed her cheek and left the room. “Did you feed Bubbles?”
“No!” she called back, biting her lip as she realized she’d forgotten to feed their hamster when she’d gotten home.
A few minutes later, Link leaned into the doorway, a nervous look on his face. “What if that had been our child that we forgot to feed?”
“Well, we don’t have a child, first off. Second, I think kids are a little harder to forget about. Plus, they’ll probably cry to remind us. Bubbles doesn’t cry. He just squeaks that wheel.”
“That’s his way of crying.”
“We’re still new hamster parents. We won’t forget once we remember that he’s part of our family.”
“We killed that hermit crab. What did we name it? Gloria?”
“Yeah,” she laughed. “Gods, we should get a plant and see if we don’t kill that too.”
“Everyone always said I was a murderer,” Link scoffed. “Now I’m going to be a plant killer, too.”
Zelda shook her head and finally pulled her sweatpants off just before sliding into her heels and leading Link to the door. “Come on, crab-killer. Let’s see how long we can stay out of trouble tonight.”
Despite ten years, very little about Daphnes Rhoam Hyrule High had actually changed. They’d expanded their parking lot, which Zelda appreciated because over the years, her need to arrive early to everything had slowly diminished, and many of the better spaces—including her old one—had already been taken.
Link turned the car off and leaned back against the seat, taking in the same-colored building that he’d once had very conflicting feelings over. For the first few years, it had been a place he’d hated. His last year, he’d loved every second of it, both the good and the bad—in hindsight anyway.
“I feel like I should be in uniform,” Zelda muttered as she slid out of the passenger seat and subconsciously tugged at the hem of her dress. Link didn’t say anything, but he pulled her hand away from her fidgeting as they walked inside.
Zelda thought she’d hate it, that she’d hate being here again, but she smiled immediately while glancing around the foyer. She could see the place just beside the trophy cabinet where she used to sit on the floor to study her lines, and the place where she, Ruto, Revali, Darunia, and Sidon would laugh and rehearse. In her mind, she could almost imagine Link sweeping the floors, telling her she was in his way while he tried to clean.
With Link beside her, she went around the corner to peek into Mr. Ezlo’s classroom, but she was disappointed to see that there was no keyboard or any type of instrument in sight. With a pout, she determined that the rooms had moved around, or that Mr. Ezlo no longer worked there. It hadn’t occurred to her that she’d feel any sort of disappointment at the school making changes, but there it was.
Link chuckled to himself, remembering how he’d made her a delinquent almost immediately, breaking into the classroom with her just to fix a keyboard to impress her so she could keep having her rehearsals. The thought of not seeing her there on the nights he was cleaning up had once had his chest aching in an unfamiliar way, and he hadn’t known it at the time, but breaking in was one of the best decisions he’d ever made.
They knew they needed to head into the gym, but the rebellious spirit of their youth took over, and without saying a word to each other, they hurried past the cafeteria to their old lockers, glancing around before trying to remember their old combinations.
Link had his open immediately, and his hand darted out to catch a textbook before it could fall, chuckling nervously as he slid it back inside and slammed the locker shut. Zelda’s locker, however, was jammed.
“Can you see?” Link asked, pulling his phone out to give her some light in the darkened hall that they weren’t supposed to be in.
She tried again, muttering the code out loud. “That’s it, right? I’m not crazy?”
“Hang on, I remember a trick,” he said, handing her the phone while he twisted the combination in again and pulled up hard on the handle twice, jabbing his knee and shoulder into it to push it out of the lock as he pulled up the third time. The locker swung open, empty, no doubt because of students’ difficulty opening it. She wondered how long ago it had broken, but it certainly hadn’t been because of her bag getting jammed inside.
“Still a show off for me,” she laughed, closing the locker and leaning against it. Link snaked his arm around her and nodded, leaning in to brush his lips against hers as he’d done several mornings before the hall had gotten crowded by students.
“Hey! You’re not supposed to be out here!” the vaguely familiar voice of Mr. Wright, the janitor, boomed. He sounded older, but it was definitely him. Link had heard that annoying grating far too many times to be wrong.
Zelda grabbed Link’s hand and started jogging back to the entrance. “Sorry!” she called. “Just looking at our old lockers!”
“Stay in the gym!” Mr. Wright called back.
Giggling, Zelda waved her hand vaguely to acknowledge that she’d heard him, but she and Link ran back like they were still teenagers, caught where they shouldn’t be by an adult.
They were halfway through the cafeteria when Zelda put a hand on Link’s chest to stop him so she could look at a poster on the wall. It was calling for dress code reform.
Zelda scoffed. “I did try. Is it bad that I’m getting mad at Revali and Mrs. Joy after all this time for stopping me?”
“Well, we saw those pictures online the other day. The shirts are much more relaxed than when we were here.”
“You know, Ruto used to always roll her skirt too, but I was the one who got in trouble because I’m taller than her.”
“You know, Mrs. Joy kind of hated you and that’s why you got in trouble and not Ruto?”
Zelda sneered at the memory. “Yeah. Speaking of getting in trouble, want to sneak into the auditorium with me?”
“What happened to the class vice-president I used to date? She’d be too nervous to sneak around.”
Zelda grinned and hooked her finger around Link’s tie, lightly pulling him with her. “She got engaged to a former juvenile delinquent. Come on.”
Needing a second to compose himself, and wanting nothing more than to just call it a night and rush home with Zelda in tow, he followed slowly behind her, his hands on her hips to steady himself. “Fucking hell, Zelda.”
She grinned and let him go, her impatience seeping through into her eyes as she tried to walk faster. “Come on!”
“Okay, okay,” he muttered, jogging up beside her until they went through the unlocked doors that led backstage, rather than the locked auditorium doors.
Zelda pulled out her phone for light and looked at the set. There were a lot of trees, even a tower. A fake cow. Spinning around, she reveled in the memories she had from the wings: the fun times she’d had with Darunia and Sidon. The times she and Ruto had competed for roles with a ferocity that she’d never known could exist between friends. Then she stepped onto the stage and her feet slowed down until she stopped in the center.
She remembered the audience, the applause, the laughs, the silence. Turning, she could still see Revali as her scene partner and the familiar comfort that he used to bring to her every time they were on stage. Her eyes darted to the wings, and she remembered how nervous she felt when she’d caught Link watching her while he’d painted the set, still only in the beginnings of her crush on him.
“I should have done theater in college,” she whispered to herself, spreading her arms out to just feel the stage again. “I miss it.”
She turned to Link. He was watching her with an affectionate look on his face. “You can always do community theater.”
“Not with my hours, I can’t. I’ll just tuck that away as one of the things I regret not doing.”
Link sighed and shook his head. “You don’t have a long list though, right?”
Shrugging, Zelda walked around, looking to see what else was new. New curtains, finally, but for the most part, it was still the same. “Not many, no. I regret that, I regret a few things I’ve said and done to people. I especially regret going to my mom’s wedding. Most of all, I regret not telling you I was changing schools, because it led us into so many fights.”
He watched her wander around. “I don’t regret that. I wish it hadn’t happened, but I don’t regret it. We wouldn’t have fixed the things we didn’t know needed repairing. Maybe we wouldn’t be here right now if it hadn’t happened that way.” He shuffled his feet, looking awkwardly at the floor. “You know what I do regret?”
Zelda went over to him, curious. “What?”
“Getting that hermit crab.”
She snorted and pushed him back into the wings, laughing. “Me too.”
They went back into the foyer, careful not to get caught by anyone passing in or out of the gym doors. They were definitely late now.
They stepped into the gym, and Zelda shuddered. “Wow. Okay, they got air conditioning in here now.”
“They couldn’t have done that when we were here?” Link moaned. But he followed Zelda to a table that was set up with ‘Hello, My Name Is’ stickers for them to put on. “Should I write Revali’s name?”
“Don’t you dare,” Zelda whispered, hitting him with her elbow as she stuck her sticker onto her dress. She watched him carefully, making sure that he wrote his own name before patting it onto the front of his pocket.
But then, Zelda stopped short and let out an excited breath before sprinting forward. “Makeela!”
Makeela turned around from her conversation and her eyes lit up. Opening her arms, she caught Zelda. “Oh gods, I missed you, Zelda!”
“Texting and video calls are not enough!”
Zelda couldn’t let go of Makeela, though she did loosen her grip. Makeela’s arms were probably insured for thousands of rupees at this point.
Makeela had gone to college on her scholarship for sports, but quickly spent most of her focus on volleyball. There was a reason she’d always been so good, and she started travelling with a semi-pro team to compete all around the world. Zelda had watched her games on television, but she’d gone absolutely crazy when Makeela had texted her to announce she’d qualified for the world championships. Though she hadn’t won, it was still the highlight of her life, and Zelda had recorded it with pride.
“Who are you here with?” Zelda asked, looking around.
Makeela gestured off to the side, and Zelda saw Link and Ilia squeezing each other. “We met up yesterday to get lunch and figured we’d just come to this together. I’m only home for a visit, so I don’t have anyone else with me.”
“I’m shocked you even had the time for this!”
“Barely. But I’m shocked you had time too. Last I heard you were pulling all-nighters in the hospital?”
“Yeah, but sleep is for wimps. I don’t need it.”
“Ha! I do!” Makeela said, finally letting Zelda go so she could pull Link off Ilia. “Hey! Where’s my hug?”
“Makeela,” he cooed before flicking her ponytail and then grabbing her while Zelda went for Ilia. “You need to come by for dinner next time you’re in town. Zel would die.”
“I know. I was supposed to come over before your wedding, but that’s been postponed. Are you still doing the Lake Hylia venue I always imagined?”
“Not postponed indefinitely or anything,” he said quickly. “Just until Gabe is better. And yes, we’re keeping everything the same except the date. But you don’t need an event to stop by.”
“I promise I will the next time I come around the area. I’d have come visited yesterday, but I figured you’d be with Gabe.”
“We were, yeah.”
“How’s Pipit? Were he and Karane there, too?”
Link smiled as Zelda and Ilia joined them again. “Yeah, he’s good. He and Karane are good. They stopped by, but Pipit’s running the shops while Gabe’s out, so he’s busy.”
Makeela shrugged, nodding. “I talked to him… oh, maybe last year? He said he’d gotten a business degree to someday run things, or something like that.”
“Yeah, something like that.”
Link grabbed Ilia again and wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on her shoulder the way he always used to. She leaned into him and ruffled his hair, laughing.
“I’ve missed us,” Zelda said, looking between them.
“But not me?”
Zelda spun at the old, familiar voice and her eyes widened. Revali stood before her, looking incredibly put together. A cocky smile was on his face as he looked at all of them. “Makeela. Good to see you, too. I saw your championship match. I didn’t know you made it that far. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re all looking rather fine,” he said, his eyes sweeping over Zelda first, then Makeela, and then Link. He’d never spoken to Ilia, so all he gave her was a polite nod before turning to Link. “If I hadn’t seen you in high school, I’d think you were some handsome banker Zelda married.”
“T-thank you?” Link said, unsure if that was a jab or a compliment. “Not married yet though.”
Revali’s brows shot up. “Oh, you two are still together?”
Zelda nodded and grabbed Link’s hand, flashing her engagement ring as she did. “We are.”
“Hrm,” he said, looking between them. “No one has been good enough for me yet, except for myself. So, I am living a very comfortable single life. Not that you asked.”
Zelda snorted, but it wasn’t hostile. “I wasn’t going to pry into anyone’s personal lives.”
“That’s what this whole event is for,” Revali laughed. “Besides, most things are easily found on social media anyway.”
“You don’t have any, do you?”
“Some.”
Zelda made a surprised noise, because he wasn’t her friend anywhere online.
“I don’t see Sidon,” Revali added, looking around carefully.
Zelda smiled. “No, he and Bazz just adopted that baby. She’s so cute. I think they named her Mipha, like the hospital. But he’s probably exhausted. I don’t blame him for not coming.”
“He has a daughter?”
“You should get on the Sheikah Tablet. We’re all friends on there. He posts pictures.”
“Oh, no thank you. I don’t really want to see pictures of him.”
Zelda made a face and glanced at Link, who was biting back an awkward, dopey smile. She narrowed her eyes in his direction, and he laughed.
Revali huffed and shook out his arms before pointing to the snack table. “I’ll be around. Goodbye Zelda, Link, Makeela…” he squinted at Ilia’s name tag, “and Ilia.”
Rolling her eyes, Ilia returned to a conversation she’d been having with Makeela, while Link moved closer to Zelda.
“Did he get nice, or did he get better at pretending?”
Zelda shrugged. “Will we ever really know?”
Suddenly, something was draped over her shoulders, and she glanced to see Link’s suit jacket. She tucked her arms in and pulled it close.
“You were shivering.”
“It’s cold with that air,” Zelda said, defending herself. But she let herself be enamored by its warmth, like a comforting embrace. She could remember the day Link had lent her his jacket, and she’d gone through school all day pretending—as Link had said—that she’d bought it at some thrift store. Now, she wore it without any shame.
“Hey,” Makeela said, interrupting her thoughts. “We’ll be right back, okay?”
“Sure,” Zelda smiled, leaning against Link.
They watched the room fill with people they did and didn’t recognize, either from the years changing their features, or guests who accompanied with their former classmates.
Thankfully, she didn’t see Ravio. As much as she wanted to brag that she was still with Link, she had absolutely no desire to see him again. But she did see Ruto.
Ruto, she knew from the Sheikah Slate, had gotten married to Ravio right after high school, had a daughter, and then gotten divorced. She then went on to have twin boys with her current boyfriend. So when Zelda saw her flirting with Darunia, Zelda couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
“Drama,” she muttered.
Link followed her gaze. “Oh boy. High school crushes coming back to haunt everyone. Except me. I’m not haunted by you.”
“Yeah. Thanks, Link.”
Speaking of crushes, Zelda leaned further into Link when she spotted Groose’s wide, adoring eyes locked on her, though he made no move to say anything or even to acknowledge her. As long as all he did was stare, Zelda could pretend he wasn’t around.
Link crossed his arms and looked around. “You know, I only ever hung out with Ilia, you, and Makeela while I was here. I don’t really want to go talk to anyone else, so I’ll just drink punch and you can go be a butterfly.”
“Let’s go get some air first, and then maybe we can come back in, convince Ilia and Makeela to bail, and go grab some real food while we catch up.”
“Worth a shot,” Link chuckled, letting Zelda drag him through the locker room and out the back door to their spot on the side of the school.
Zelda opened the door and heard a soft yelp.
Ilia and Makeela were pressed against the side of the building, quickly putting distance between themselves.
Makeela let out a relieved sigh. “Oh gods, it’s just you.”
Zelda’s eyes lit up, a wide smile on her face. “Are you two together? When did this happen? Oh gods, no, sorry, never mind. Tell us later! We didn’t mean to interrupt! You two… keep going!”
“Zelda, you—”
But Zelda had already closed the door and was pushing Link back inside.
“They kept that from us!” she said, only mildly offended that neither told them anything. Of course, it wasn’t like any of them kept in touch on a daily basis, but still!
“Maybe it happened yesterday when they went for lunch?”
“You know, I was shocked they didn’t get together in high school, to be completely honest.”
Link chuckled and followed Zelda back into the gym, where a slow song from their school years was playing. “Oh, good. Something we don’t need to talk to anyone to do.”
He quickly pulled her into his arms, and they swayed gracelessly to the music. Zelda laughed as Link kept his movements wide and awkward, forcing Zelda to try to keep up with him. But soon, their laughter died out and Zelda was resting her head against Link’s shoulder.
“It’s been ten years. Crazy.”
“It’s been good.”
“Yeah,” Zelda said, lifting her head and kissing Link on the cheek. “It has.”
But Link let one of his hands come up to caress the side of Zelda’s face before pressing his lips to hers.
It was the soft warmth of comfort, the feeling of being home.
It was the fluttering sensation of a teenage crush, and the promise of adult partnership.
Link pulled away to breathe, and Zelda took the space as an opportunity to wrap her arms around his neck, unaware that the song in the back had long since changed to an upbeat melody.
“We’ll get through tomorrow,” she said quietly.
“I know we will.”
She slid her hands so she could play with his hair. “And then we can have everyone we care about at the wedding.”
“We could just elope and then have a fake ceremony later. We can tell them or not. It really would only need to be us. I don’t mind being alone with you.”
“You’re so bad,” Zelda laughed. “That’s just begging to bring down the wrath of Aryll and my dad for not being able to be there.”
“We can take them.”
Between her giggles, she kissed Link again before settling her lips by his ear. “You know what?”
“What?”
“I really can’t wait to share the rest of my life with you.”