AN - I truly thought I was done with this story, but what do you know, I got inspired. I had always thought of little things here and there of hypothetical situations and what I would like to see with this couple in the future. I planned on leaving it hypothetical but... the story would not let me rest. Enjoy, and happy reading!

The sun had fallen below the horizon, leaving a stunning golden glow on the horizon. High in the heavens, the sky started to turn an inky cobalt, dotted with a few glittering stars that were brave enough to shine in the dying sunlight. A cool breeze wafted over the hill, making the grass flutter like waves in the ocean. The only witnesses to our embrace were the horses that grazed the wavering grass, not paying too much mind to the two humans who stood with their arms wrapped tightly around one another.

We had long since pulled away from our kiss to instead bask in one another with a quieter intimacy. His arms held me around my waist and my hands rested on the small of his back. I laid my cheek against his chest, listening to the sound of his heartbeat thudding softly beneath.

A question had formed in my mind in the midst of our kiss, which had cooled the fire enough to where I was too distracted to continue for much longer. We parted and settled into the embrace, but that one thought continued to nag at me and I could not let it rest. It stole away my joy and left me sullen and brooding. I wrestled with myself, wanting to ask and feeling afraid to voice this question.

Beren sensed that something was amiss but he allowed me my silence. It took longer than I wished for it to, and even when I did manage to find my voice, it came out as one word, left for much interpretation.

"Why?"

He hummed quietly, asking without words what I meant by my small inquiry. I could feel the rumbling in his chest and the sound of it made me weak at the knees. I nestled myself deeper into his arms, to which he gladly held me tighter in response. Though, my lips would not form the words for my heart feared the answer. Yet, I also knew that the unknown would haunt me forevermore if I did not at least try to seek the truth.

The golden rays of dying light were nearly swallowed by the ever darker sky by the time that I gathered another round of courage to voice my thoughts more eloquently.

"You were alive and well for three years… and in all that time, you never sought me. Why? Why did you let all this time pass and not let me know that you were here?"

This time, I felt his chest rise as he gathered in a deep breath of air, then felt it fall as he let it out in a great, sorrowful sigh. His hands slid up my back and he gently grasped me by the shoulders. He pulled me away from him, just enough to where he could look down at me. The gathering night cast a shadow over his face but I could still make out the heaviness that weighed down his features; the furrow in his brow and the soft frown dancing on his lips.

"I understand why this troubles you," he murmured in that deep voice I so loved to hear. "I suppose my reasons were, in the end, selfish and self-serving. I did not want to come to you empty handed. I wanted to try and give you a gift that would come close to being worthy, in paltry thanks for the gift that you gave me."

His hands held me a little tighter and he sighed once more. I saw his expression grow troubled and when he spoke again, I heard the timber of his voice shake.

"I wanted to be somebody, with an occupation and a talent and a reason for living. I wanted to be more than the entity within the suit of armor. I wanted to be everything that a man should be, with the exception of a name. That honor, I always wanted to give to you…"

My heart wrenched for him as he poured out his to me. He was a man who attempted to craft a life from scratch. Who could blame him for wanting to make something of himself after a lifetime of imprisonment? But it made me sad for him to believe that he needed to hide until he thought himself worthy.

My hands slid from his chest to tenderly grasp his face. The coarse hair of his beard scratched my palms and the tips of my fingers buried into the thick, dark hair at his temples.

"You were always worthy," my voice was a whisper on the evening wind that blew over the hill. "You did not need to prove anything to me. Your gift was incredible. Nobody has ever given so much thought into a gift for me. You took my childhood dream and turned it into a reality. But even before that, you were worthy in my eyes. You always were."

I saw his eyes close in relief and the tension in his stance eased. He leaned into my touch and his hands moved from my shoulders to the small of my back.

"Thank you, Zelda. It makes my heart glad to hear. But there is more to it."

With that, he opened his eyes and with the paltry light that was left, I could see him staring down at me. Was it just a trick of the twilight, or did I see something glimmering in those deep, dark irises?

"I suppose, the passing of time does not mean as much for me as it might for you. After years of being trapped, suspended in eternity, I do not realize that the grains of sand are slipping rapidly through the hourglass. The world around me is moving but I do not know how to move along with it. Even after being mortal for three years, I cannot seem to grasp concepts I have long forgotten. It is…"

Beren faltered for a breath of a second.

"Frightening—" he finished heavily. "It is frightening, striking out on my own with nobody controlling me. I have been controlled for endless years. Now, having complete freedom is overwhelming. It felt safe to be here, in the countryside, with these calm, gentle beasts," Beren gestured to the horses dotting the hillside.

"I could gather my wits at my own pace," he explained, his voice impassioned yet soft, yearning for me to understand. "I could learn to live again, without distractions or pressures and expectations. My failures could happen without embarrassment. Perhaps… I feared what it would mean to finally reveal myself to you. I feared this new phase of my life and often wondered if I would be ready for it when it arrived. And I feared… that I would never be good enough for you…"

Fear. When in the achingly short time that I had known him, had he ever expressed anything close to fear. This vulnerability he allowed me to witness seemed to be far more fragile than when he had told me the story of his past. It had been a nearly cold recounting of his misfortunes—this was fresh and new, alluding to insecurities that had not been there when we met each other last.

"Beren…" I said his name and watched how he closed his eyes as my voice reached him.

Those hands of his dared to wander back down to my waist. He leaned forward to close the gap between us and I wondered if those lips would find me again. I expected to feel that soft warmth on my skin but instead, he pressed his forehead to mine, eyes still closed and the sigh that left him was not so heavy. Instead, it carried hints of something that sounded rather satisfied.

"But now that I see you after dreaming of you for all this time, I see what a fool I had been to make us wait," I felt him mutter. The warmth of his breath reached my lips and I found it hard to concentrate on what he was saying as it stirred something heated within me.

And the way that he held me tightly made me suspect that he was feeling that same sort of heat.

"The hurt you speak with tells me that I have acted wrongly. Selfishly. Can you forgive me?" Beren whispered, his mouth a mere breath from mine.

"I understand your fears. I cannot imagine how it must be to have this second chance at life. I never thought of how it could be a struggle, or what obstacles you would face. Do you feel ready for it now?"

His eyes opened and I felt the depths of everything that he felt pour out of his gaze. His hands were holding me with a newfound fervor. I took in a quick, steadying breath and readied myself for what I hoped would come next.

"I am ready for this new life," his words rumbled deeply within his chest. "I am ready for a life with you, and all that may come."

With that, he moved to at last close the gap between us, which was no more than a breath of air. I closed my eyes and waited for his kiss to fall, but then I heard a voice wafting on the wind; a curious interruption that caused the both of us to pull away and search for the source of that voice.

A familiar voice, in fact, and one that called out my name with obvious concern.

"Zelda!"

"Oh! I forgot about Link! I must have made him terribly worried—" I gasped and all but jumped out of Beren's arms, ready to race towards the hill where that echoing call resounded. My eyes scanned the dark horizon, searching for that figure I knew all too well.

His touch lingered on my waist, not quite ready to let me go but holding me gently enough that I could free myself if I so wished.

"Link," he muttered slowly. "Do you mean… the Hero?"

The cry of my name was left unanswered as Beren's quiet question grabbed a hold of my attention. There was a certain sadness with which he spoke; a resignation of some sort that I could not quite understand. It gave me pause and I stayed in his gentle hold for a second longer.

"Yes. I do mean the Hero."

Link's worried shout echoed much closer than before. I felt anxious to go to him but more anxious to see what sort of pensive mood had taken hold of Beren.

"I had heard that you and him were close." His statement was not a question. The way he said it made me wonder if that had long sat in his mind, never uttered aloud until this moment, and always craving to be answered. And yet, fearing what that truth might be.

"We are." I confirmed. "He is one of my dearest friends."

Silence. His face was lost to the darkness of the evening. I could not read his expression any longer. And then he spoke again, in such a hush that I had to lean in to listen.

"He struck me down…"

He was not angry or accusing, but rather spoke with that same resignation as before; a heaviness of one who had long since accepted his fate, as dismal as it might be.

"I know…" I whispered just as quietly. "Please, do not hold that against me, that I am his friend…"

"Of course not," he assured me even as he still seemed so forlorn. "I do not hold his actions against him. Truly, I do not. It was his duty. I am glad he defeated me, for it led to my ultimate freedom and my former master's demise. The Hero is not my enemy. It is only natural that the two of you would bond…"

Then it dawned on me that he was not somber because I was friends with the man who had defeated him. That was not what bothered him at all; I realized that he was seeking assurance for something else entirely.

I stepped close to him, nearly as close as we had been before Link had come looking for me. I lay my hand on his cheek once more and I searched his face, wondering if he could see me at all in the darkness.

"But you were still worried about that closeness you heard of…"

"I did worry…" He admitted as his hand went to cover mine.

"Then let me assure you that you can put those worries at ease forever," I implored. "There has been nothing between Link and I except kinship. I consider him a brother. Nothing more."

"I believe you, Zelda…" There was a smile that I could hear in his reply. The gloom had lifted and the relief was palpable. I almost wanted to laugh with relief myself! I did not like to see him sad, especially after our miraculous reunion. I stood on my toes and quickly placed a kiss on his lips.

"How could you believe that I was romantically involved with the Hero when I kissed you in such a way?" I teased as I pulled away. The shared relief was making us far too giddy.

"Well, for all I knew, the sight of my utterly handsome face might have made you forget all about your other love," Beren laughed, throwing out a playful tease of his own.

"You stop that!" I chastised lovingly. But the sound of Link's calls were pulling me away. It was time to go let my friend know that all was well. I turned from Beren, nothing more than a giant, towering shadow in the night, and I made my way to where the sound of his voice was coming from.

"Link! I am over here."

I heard a strangled cry of relief and then the sound of feet running hastily over the grass. I spotted the bouncing light of a lantern coming up the hilltop.

My heart beat with each step that my friend made as he brought himself closer to me and my unusual companion. I let myself run ragged with thoughts of worry, wondering how on earth I could explain the giant at my side.

And would Link accept this man for who he used to be, when he learned of his identity? All kinds of worries and anxieties whirled around in my head as I watched that bobbing light come up the hill, closer and closer as each second passed. At last, that light cast a glow onto the familiar face of my friend.

A face that was wrought with worry and relief.

"Zelda—" He gasped when he saw me standing safe and sound. He ran towards me, having yet to notice that I was not alone. The light from his lantern was not strong enough to touch the shadows behind me where my companion stood.

"I'm so sorry, Link!" I apologized, holding out my hand to him which he did not hesitate to grasp in a strong grip.

"I was worried that something happened to you."

"All is well. I just got terribly distracted and lost track of time."

The light of the lantern cast a golden pool around our feet, illuminating the darkness behind me.

"When the sun went down and night fell, I had thought maybe you got lost or trouble found you." Then as the light reached the shadows at my back, he glanced over my shoulder and his blue eyes narrowed. His normally friendly countenance was instantly filled with suspicion. "I see that you aren't alone."

The air became thick with tension and I saw his fingers twitch, as if imagining reaching across his body to grasp the hilt of the sword at his side. I quickly moved forward to place a hand on his to keep at bay any ideas he had about drawing that sword.

"No, I am not alone. And please do not be suspicious of him. He—this man—is my friend. My twilight friend." At those last two words, his eyes went wide and that suspicion melted away to leave a stunned shock in its wake.

The Hero did not have to ask twice who I meant by twilight friend. He knew about my unlikely friendship with the servant of Ganondorf.

"How?" Link asked in a breathless whisper.

"He was restored." I said, as if that alone would perfectly explain the presence of the ghost of my past that had come back to life.

"How?" He insisted, amazed and confused all at once.

"By the Light Spirits." My paltry explanation could not be worse for my poor friend.

"Are you absolutely certain?"

"Link." I spoke his name firmly but gently. Once we were alone and did not have an audience, I would explain to him far better than what I was doing now. The time for that would come eventually.

The tone of my voice caught his attention. His stance relaxed and his blue eyes found me. They watched me, now calm and attentive, waiting for me to continue. I took a deep breath, feeling myself shake from nerves. I could not believe that this was happening. Two major parts of my life were coming together in a way that I had never even imagined.

"This is him. I know behind a shadow of a doubt that this is him. Wisdom is telling me to trust what he has told me. He was restored by the Light Spirits, and he is now a part of this world."

Link broke away from me to focus his gaze on the man standing behind me. Beren had taken a few steps closer to bring himself into the pool of light, making himself a part of that glowing circle.

"And he is a friend? Or foe?" Link question and I had the sense that this inquiry was not meant for me to answer. Beren shared that sense as well. He stepped forward once more to bring himself at my side. He towered over Link, a head taller than the Hero, and looked down at him with a solemn shadow in his dark eyes.

"A friend. A friend to the Princess. A friend to Hyrule. And a friend to the Hero, if he accepts my humble offer."

"We battled. I struck you down. And you want to be my friend?"

He was not accusing. He was not cross. Rather, I could hear the bewilderment with which he spoke; that one who was, for a moment, an enemy would consider being amiable with him.

"That monster you battled is not the same man that stands before you now. I do not hold any resentment towards you for defeating me in battle. It was for the best. I was honored to play a role in securing victory for the side of good. It was a sacrifice that I would make again. So please… believe me when I say, I am a friend."

We could all hear how earnestly he implored Link to believe him. I realized that he craved the approval of the Hero. I wondered if Link accepting him was yet another obstacle in his new life that he needed to face in order to truly live again.

"I believe you." Link said without even a shred of hesitation. Then, to my shock, a small suggestion of a smile turned up the corners of his lips. "I'm shocked that this is all happening but I believe you. If Zelda trusts you, then so do I."

It struck me, for the thousandth time, what a kind, gentle soul that the Hero was blessed with. He was a lion with the heart of a lamb. Most anyone would have remained distant and untrusting, but not Link. Not the Hero who held Courage within his very flesh.

"I will explain more when we return to the castle." I promised my friend. He deserved a much better exposition than the one I had given him in haste.

Link and Beren both glanced down at me, remembering that I was still with them. They each gave me a smile, one carrying a different meaning than the other. The tension had lifted considerably and each of us feeling a palpable relief. I soaked in this strange but wonderful moment; the two men in my life who meant the most to me smiling at me, standing by me. Once on opposing sides yet both wishing for the downfall of the same, evil figurehead and now united in a new direction.

Whatever course that fate had now set for us, I felt excited for what was to come. Excited and invincible. The hardest part had passed and everything else from here on out would be smooth sailing, as the saying went.

"Which we should probably do very soon, now that night is here." Link stated in response to my remark about heading back to the castle.

I wanted to protest. I had only just been reunited with my twilight friend, and now it seemed that we were to be separated once more. But of course, a few days apart would be nothing compared to three, long years. Even as I tried to remind myself of this, rationally, I felt small twinges of panic at the thought of leaving him again.

Beren could see my protest written all over my face. I could see in his own eyes that he was not pleased at the prospect of leaving me, but his hand went to my shoulder. His warmth seeped into my skin and I knew the gesture was meant to calm me.

"Princess…" his voice rasped. "The Hero is right. You must make your way safely back to your home. The night is dangerous and the way is long. It is best that you return home."

"Will you come with me?" I tried not to sound like a pleading little fool but I only ended up sounding like a pleading little fool.

"I cannot come tonight. But I will rejoin you as soon as possible," he murmured slowly. Warmly. In a low voice with such a tone that it made Link's ears turn red. He perked up, reading the meaning woven between the words and he decided that it was time to gracefully, or not so gracefully, excuse himself from the conversation.

"I'll go…" Link searched for the words. "I'll go tell the driver to get the carriage ready."

And with that, he handed the lantern to Beren and scurried off into the darkness. We watched him until the shadows swallowed him whole. I wasted no time in turning to Beren, my need to reunite with him becoming more urgent.

"You will come to me? Or shall I come to you?"

"To make it fair, I will come to you" he offered. "I must get a few affairs in order but I will come to you in a few days' time."

He held the lantern up between us. I watched as he studied my face with a soft sort of scrutiny.

"You are anxious," he deduced after a moment. It was not a question. His hand slid into my hair, fingers tangling into the blonde strands, and I leaned into his touch.

I closed my eyes and allowed myself to get lost in the warmth I could feel from his skin. I could not stop being amazed at being able to feel how alive he was now.

"I fear that this is a dream, and when I go home, I will wake up and you will be gone," I admitted with a whisper. "I want you to stay with me so that I will never wake from this dream and not be parted from you again."

I heard him sigh and his hand slid over my hair to grasp the back of my head.

"I assure you, Zelda, this is no dream. This is real. Hell itself could not keep you from me. I do not think hell will come again, but if it does, I will fight my way back to you one more time. Please… do not be anxious. We will be parted again for only a moment."

The light from the lantern shifted. I opened my eyes to see that he had brought himself closer. He leaned in and planted a kiss on my lips. One so soft and tender for a man so big and fearsome. My worries were soothed as his lips lingered on mine, until we parted ways, murmuring one last shared promise of seeing another again as soon as possible.

It was excruciating, having to pull ourselves from the hilltop and say our private goodnight—goodbye for the time being—and let the dim glow of the lantern guide our back to the carriage. He walked at my side to make sure that I safely returned.

There was one last lingering glance between us. The firelight danced over his features and I was struck by how wonderfully different it was to see his face in such a warm light; so unlike the hazy twilight glow which I had grown so accustomed to seeing him in.

His features softened and he smiled at me. My heart thudded and I returned the expression. Somehow, his smile, full of unspoken promise, set me at ease.

We would reunite soon. There was nothing to fear.

And with that, I opened the door and slipped into the carriage. Only to have a wide eyed, mouth agape, bewildered and shocked Hero of Light staring at me, a thousand questions ready to fall from his lips.

AN - thank you for reading! I hope that you enjoyed. I wanted to give some sort of solid explanation as to why there was literal years between events. I hope it made sense and it was interesting to discover that this character actually had some apprehension and anxiety about his second chance at life. Of course he is grateful for the second chance but it would be a little nerve-wracking, to start over from scratch. Anyways, I hope the next chapter will come out sooner rather than later! I am working on NANOWRIMO on the side and of course, the holidays are coming up and life always gets really insane at the end of the year. Look out for the next chapter soonish, and thank you for giving this rare, unusual pairing a chance!