I told you guys I'd be back in May! I'm so glad to finally have the time to write again. I will warn you, this chapter has some yaoi but it's mostly fluff. But I suppose poor Link deserves it right? Glad to be back ladies and gents. Now please, read on and enjoy yourselves.

We Live

As told by Tzeros

Tzeros

I grew up as a nomad. My parents were outcasts both disowned by their parents for marrying the "wrong" race. My mother always told me to never let others decide who you love. I guess that's why I am the way I am. When it comes to my sex life, let's just say I'm experienced and leave it at that. I mean...I don't want to brag or anything.

My parents found friends in the Zora Tribe of a country that I can't even remember the name of now but I remember Fa'rah, my mother's midwife and my spiritual mother. She as the one that named me in this lifetime. It wasn't until I met Link that I remembered anything about Ganon, my father from a very different, very dark life.

I killed people. I watched them be tortured. I did nothing when my victims pleaded for their lives. I just...stared at them. Yet, in the pit of my stomach, there was a feeling of complete and utter disgust and regret. As odd as it sounds, I was proud of that feeling. I hadn't lost my humanity or my capacity for sympathy.

One particular moment I remember is when Ganon offered one of his female "toys" to me. He forced the poor girl into my room. She was broken, crying, and bruised. She begged me not to touch her when I approached her. She bargained and attempted to appeal to my better nature. She didn't have to worry. I took the blanket off my bed and wrapped it around her shoulders while I went off in search to find her better clothes and some food. It was a turning point for me. I decided then that I was tired of pain. Later, in my dreams, I kept seeing three blond haired children laughing and playing in a garden. That was the picture of happiness I had to hang onto. There was none of that in Ganon's world. And that seemed wrong to me.

The girl, who I came to know as Lys, became a friend. I developed a personality, a sense of humor but with it came crushing cynicism. I knew I just couldn't continue to let the world stay like it was. Lys told me about her father. She told me about the dress she once had. It was blue, her favorite. Her mother made it for her. He was an old doctor when they didn't have patients, they would sit outside usually by the Bombchu Game Gallery and watch the townspeople. "People watching" she called it. She told me her father and mother were still alive. So I decided to take her back to them. I helped her escape and I told Ganon, in my usual way, that she had killed herself which I regret to say, wasn't an uncommon fate among his slaves. I thought I had fooled him, but he knew and I was punished. Luckily, he didn't bother going after Lys but he never let me out of his sight after that. That's how I ended up in Zora's Domain, but by then, I refused to stand for any more of it.

By the time I left Gerudo Valley for Hyrule Castle, I'd been plagued with dreams and nightmares of that past. It was apparent on my face. I had gone a little pale, I lost my appetite. The sleep deprivation didn't help much either. I had to see Link. I had to talk with him.

I had to know everything.

Though Nabooru didn't remember anything about Ganondorf, she was understanding of my situation. She figured it had something to do with my past life. Technically, she was half right.

When we arrived in Hyrule Castle Town, there were so many rumors flying around we had to catch them with nets just so we could walk without being disturbed. I couldn't possibly list them all but many of them were about Link's surrogate brother Sheik who apparently had been in a relationship with another man in secret. Zelda claims that there wasn't a huge uproar about it. Oh, there was uproar, just very quiet uproar. This made me apprehensive and a little afraid. What would that mean for my relationship with Link. Could we even have one here? We'd be accepted in Gerudo Valley, but this place was his home...would he really want to leave?

I didn't forget these questions as I was escorted to my room. The King was going to great lengths to please us. I had to give it to him, he was doing quite well. It was very diplomatic of him, we did the same with our guests. It was a nice way to end the pointless race conflict of our grandparents. The king was lucky to have so many on his side, if he'd done this twenty years ago, he would have had a full scale uprising on his hands. We weren't introduced formally to the King just yet which was understandable considering the amount of formalities he and his family had to go through before that night. We were met with nobles and we dined with them before I dressed. They weren't as amicable as the King and his diplomats, but then again the Gerudo had a bad record with nobles and them...dying...no thanks to that flipping, rhyming...thing.

Dressing for the Ball, I found myself forgetting my nervousness. In fact, I was very excited get to see Link again. Out of consideration, however, I had to rethink how I wanted to greet him. If Sheik was garnering quite a bit of opposition, I didn't want to make it worse. According to Nabooru, people believed preferring to be with someone of the same sex was contagious. Quite ridiculous if you ask me.

Like Link, I'm not a fan of fancy clothing or titles, but Nabooru insisted that I be called "First Chair of the Temple Guard" and gave me new clothes to top it. Seeing as how she is the High Priestess of pretty much everything desert related, I couldn't, and still can't mind you, say no. The overall suit of clothes was astonishingly simple. It was the typical wine red of noble Gerudo vestments with a pair of black breeches. The long but thin coat I wore wasn't outside of my normal clothing preferences but I wore it anyway. After all that, I put my mother's necklace back on. I hardly ever took the thing off.

When the doors were opened before us, the crowd and music went silent. The Royal Ballroom was every bit as grand as you'd expect. The ball room was decorated with gold and red drapery in honor of the final union of Hyrule and the Gerudo. Yet, I paid no mind to it. Kol seemed very excited to meet the princess. He considered himself quite the Casanova while every girl he'd ever been with just considered him an idiot. A loveable idiot, but an idiot nonetheless. I didn't expect Zelda to fall for his clumsy ways at all.

I was lost in my excitement. I had to discipline myself to keep from grinning like an idiot at the thought of seeing Link again after a month. The urge was never so strong until now. I felt it. The yearning he must've felt all these years. Seven years. By The Lady, I could only stand it for a month. When the crowd parted we met the royal family who sat at the head of the room. My eyes went right past Zelda, the king, Sheik and Farik to land on an uncomfortable looking Link who face softened considerably upon seeing me. By the Goddess, he was lovely. With that golden hair pouring from his head and his green formal wear, I felt as if I would melt or break all sense of protocol and just run up to kiss him. I was amazed at the amount of self control I had. Link too considering the kind of couple we are now.

"...With our utmost respect and gratitude. In honor of this long overdue union, we invite everyone to celebrate." Our eye contact was suddenly interrupted by Zelda's voice. When had she stood up or started talking for the matter? There was light polite applause as expected of the rich masses. The music began with a typical stately waltz. Out of courtesy, The King took Nabooru's hand and asked for a dance to which she accepted. Those two would get along in spite of the nearly twenty year difference in age. What surprised me was the way Kol and Zelda stared at each other before they didn't even bother with pleasantries and bowing and started dancing. Link and I tried to be casual as we strode toward each other.

"Hello, Master Link."

"Sir Tzeros. It's good to see you again." My chest spilled over with a stunning amount of sappy, sugary emotion too embarrassing to say out loud to anyone but Link. We shared a smile and spared a look back at our friends. "They'll be okay without us." Link said quietly and he nodded his head over to the balcony. Grinning, I nodded in response. We ignored the sparse stares we received as we walked out as if we were two men who didn't feel like dancing and were more focused on seeing the sunset. Which was quite beautiful in it's own right but that wasn't what I had my attention on.

The balcony was large the double doors that opened to it, didn't fill the entire back wall. Between the door and the railing on both sides, there are blind spots with a good yard or two of wall. I pushed Link gently back onto the right portion of that blind spot and kissed him. Now it was his turn to be surprised but he wasn't for long. The surprise kiss is very popular in Hyrule it seems. It was the first real kiss we shared in seven years.

"I missed you." Was all I could say. I was answered by a sweet smile from Link. A silent "you too" from my man of few words. I went for a second not-so-surprising kiss. I can describe the way he tasted without sounding like a complete sap but...by the Goddess...I could only think of wanting to spend the rest of my life with that taste dancing around in my mouth. We were safe for a moment in that spot together with my forehead resting on his with my arms around his waist and his calloused hands on my face filled with so much peace, we were silent. We broke apart when we heard voices coming too close to the window. Our faces were a little flushed but we found ourselves chuckling at our own nervousness.

"Maybe we should g-go back." Link offered. "We can ta-alk later. People will start to ask questions." I agreed.

"Meet me in the atrium in two hours?" I asked. He smiled again.

"Of course."

Just as we walked back in, there was a loud and embarrassing crash. The first thing that crossed my mind was "International Incident". Really, it was really just an accident. Kol for all his charisma and intelligence, is a walking disaster. Lady of the Sand, Bless him but he is so damn clumsy. Clumsy enough to trip of a nearby dancer tumble into a maid who was nearly knocked over but instead ended up dropping the tray that she was carrying, and fall backwards to taking Zelda, who let out a rather high pitched yelp, with him. For a long dreadful second of steel-like silence, I feared the worst.

Kol started to laugh, quickly followed by a very amused Zelda.

Then Sheik laughed, then Link, then the King. When the king started laughing, everyone finally saw it was safe. He helped hapless Kol to his feet and dusted him off. Kol took a bow. That Charisma was kicking in finally.

"Thank you Ladies and gentleman, please feel free to commission me for any special occasion." He said. Sufficiently loosened up, the crowd began to applaud. So did I, in spite of myself. I should've noticed then that Zelda and Kol were made for each other. It took me a few more months to realize it. The music began again and they continued to dance. Link found himself dancing with Malon whose current boyfriend was looking on with a hint of jealousy. If only he knew. I ended up dancing with a female noble who was nice enough but eventually grew tired of me avoiding her advances and moved on to another more "available" man. My two hours were up and none too soon.

Link and I left within five minutes of each other understandably eager. After meeting in the atrium. Link led me to his room. I gave and appreciative whistle. The room was very large with two windows that had an incredible view of Hyrule Castle town and a little beyond. Without a word, he opened both of his windows and I could hear the music from the ball flowing in. I vaguely realized we were right above the ballroom.

"Ironic-c-cally, I spent a lot of t-time helping prepare for this ball." Link stated wryly. "I think I just wanted to be closer to you. I wish we c-c-could dance." I chuckled and held out a hand.

"Who said we can't? We have the music." Slowly, he took my hand and a pulled him gently towards me. We didn't even bother with the overly ceremonial waltz. According to Sheik, he would've killed my feet anyway. With my hand on his waist and his head on my shoulder, we just swayed back and forth. It was all we needed. At first, I felt guilty that Sheik was out there facing the wolves and we had gone out of our way to have enjoy ourselves in private. In hindsight, Link wouldn't have been ready for it. We wouldn't have been able to explain ourselves.

"I want to know." I said suddenly. Link looked up at me with an expression that I can only describe as mild surprise and trepidation. "I need to know everything, please."

"Are you..."

"I'm sure." I replied. Link let go of me and with a nod went over to one of the bookshelves in his room. With a decisive pull, he chose a simple leather bound journal. He'd written it all down. Everything I had told him in that former life. After all these years, he remembered every word. He placed the book in my hands. "This...has everything?" I asked shocked. He nodded.

"Verbatim."

I looked at the world with new understanding that day. I wondered if there were more alternate realities. Link confirmed that there were. He told me briefly about Termina. He mentioned time travel...but not much else. His body went slack and he hugged himself, shaking a little. I didn't press the subject. I wrapped my arm around him and continued to read. I nearly cried reading about my mother, there was still a little bit of the old me who wept for his doomed mother and I still mourned for my parents who I'd lost only two years before then. I came to the end of the journal entries and I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. I set the book down before I could finish. I couldn't really describe what I was feeling. I was on the verge of tears again. That was the most emotional I had been since my parents passed on. Link's warm hand touched mine and a found myself grabbing it tightly.

"Tzeros..."

"I'm sorry." It was all I could say for the moment. There was so much guilt, sorrow...more than I knew what to do with. My past life had barely reached resolution. If it hadn't been for Link...I would have died horribly. Either by punishment, or by my own hand and to ask him to kill me was...selfish. I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could, hang on to that little bit of light in my life. It was too much to ask. "I'm so sorry." Link's hands went to my face and he turned me to face him and he smiled.

"You're here now." He said. "That's w-what we can focus on." He looked down and went back to my hands. Suddenly, I knew what Kol was talking about. He may have been better but I could see traces of trauma all over him. It made me want to protect him, and make up for all those years of leaving him alone.

"It still hurts. Doesn't it?" I asked.

"Yes." Link said smiling sadly. "Maybe...one day I ca-an tell you. About the Shad-d-dow Temp-ple, Term-m-mina, the moon...everything." Link still has yet to say anything about the Shadow Temple and I don't expect him to. The only person who knows is Sheik and it's never mentioned. Ever. "But...I c-can't continue to think on things that have...already happened. Right now, we live." We live. Truer words had never been spoken. Link lived through hell, the end of the world, torture, and suicide. He came out on the other side to live on his own terms.

"We live." I repeated. "...Together?" A wide, broad smile parted Link's face. We kissed and pressed our foreheads together.

"Yes, together." He said. Suddenly, Link felt much lighter. His shoulders loosened. He always tells me that this was the day that he finally found what he'd been looking for. I couldn't resist going in for another kiss. He accepted me gladly and suddenly something happened to us, something went off in our brains and heat spread throughout our bodies. I wasn't a virgin when I met Link, I knew what this sensation was, but Link didn't quite know and I was willing to let him explore it as we ended up in a full-on open mouthed kiss. His hands still love my face. When we kiss, he always touches my face. For a moment, we were lost, breathless yet somehow in sync. Somehow his back ended up on the bed. Our sore lips parted and I leaned down to taste the rest of his skin. I kissed his neck and he let out the smallest of moans, a soft little mewl that grabbed me from pit of my stomach and increased my need almost ten-fold.

I don't know if it was my hands, my lips or what I said, but I felt Link freeze. I felt the fear go down his spine. It was like a spasm. I broke off, but he ended up pushing me anyway. For a moment, just a moment, he looked terrified and I could tell the person he saw or heard wasn't me. Almost instantly coming to his senses, he noticed he was out of breath and he placed a hand on his chest as if that would help him control it.

That's when I remembered Lys. She flinched at every touch and pushed away when someone got too close. Seeing the same look on Link's face was like someone slowly putting pins through my heart.

"I-I-I'm sorry." ...And one knife. After a long silence, I tried to determine whether or not Link wanted me to come near him or not.

"What was his name?" I asked, unable to keep the anger from surfacing. The image of me killing the rat bastard who violated him kept running through me head.

"Orlo." Link replied. His hands were shaking again so I took them in my own.

"Is he still alive?" Link shook his head silently. I sighed in relief. I wished I knew where "Orlo's" grave was so I could piss on it. Link scooted closer to me and laid his head on my now bear chest and I found my arms around him again. "Do you want me to leave?" I asked. Link didn't answer verbally, he just stubbornly wrapped his arms around my neck. Over the years, I've learned that this means, if you leave I will follow you and I will make you sorry you even left the room with weeks of sex deprivation. We laid in the bed together that night doing nothing, saying only a few words. This was how we spent our last night together in the Water Temple. This was as intimate as we needed to be. We talked occasionally, kissed a few times but mostly we just laid there next to other wrapped up together. Eventually, we fell asleep until Link's nightmare hit.

Zelda and Sheik will describe his screaming as "unbearable" and "terrible" but there really is no word for it exactly. You want to cry just hearing them. I'm not sure what's worse, the screaming...or the pleading. Even now, Link's dreams are rarely good but his nightmares are a rare kind of horrible. Depending on what triggered the dream, only Sheik can bring him out of it and if he's not there, the dream has to run it's course. Sometimes, they are simply random. This nightmare...it was the first time I'd seen anything like it, he was actually doing harm to himself, clawing his own skin as if there was something on his that just wouldn't get off.

I tried to wake him. I shook him and I only made it worse. He started clawing me. It was then Sheik and Zelda rushed in. Sheik all but pushed me out of the way and understandably so. I wasn't helping in any way. I have yet to understand his Shadow magic but with a few muttered words, Sheik can bring Link out of any nightmare. It has something to do with the Shadow Temple. I know it does but I never ask. Link's eyes flew open and at first he said nothing, his bleary state wouldn't allow him. He just stood and left for the water closet where he promptly began to vomit. Worried, Zelda followed him to help being him back down to reality. I didn't even have time to wince when Sheik turned on me standing to his feet.

"What did you do?" It wasn't a question so much an accusation. Judging by his deepening glare, he was slowly becoming aware of my partial nudity. He looked like he wanted to pull a knife on me. "Why are you in here?"

"Nothing we fell...asleep together." Halfway through that sentence, I realize how terrible that sounded. "This looks bad, doesn't it?"

"You are in no position to joke." He was seething. He was thinking of every conceivable thing that could happen between two men that would cause a shirt to come off. \None of them were good.

"I wasn't joking." I wasn't doing a very good job of defending myself either, I just realized what delicate situation I was in. "We were just catching up. That's all, I swear. We fell asleep." I said earnestly. He was still skeptical until Zelda came back in and spoke to me first.

"Are you Tzeros?" She asked. Sheik's eyes went wide and he gazed back at me. He didn't remember my name until now. I nodded.

"Link's asking for you." She said with a smile. I brushed past a nonplussed Sheik and strode into the water closet where Link was sitting on the floor leaning against the wall. He looked up and when he saw me walk in and he smiled. I joined him on the floor and silently wrapped an arm his shoulders and he leaned on me. I have to say, it's wonderful to be able to do that everyday now. Outside, I could hear Zelda and Sheik talking.

"What was he even doing in here?" Zelda asked.

"He and Link go way back. I'm sure they were just talking and lost track of time." Sheik replied. As much as we argue, Sheik and I will unconditionally stick up for each other and it wasn't until Link fell back asleep that Sheik saw fit to threaten me. It was the first of many.

"You'd better not be lying." He said coldly before shutting the door with a decisive slam.

The night, I decided I would be there for Link after every nightmare.

The next morning I offered to stay with Kol, who was now acting ambassador. Nabooru automatically accepted as if she had anticipated this all along. I hate it when she does that. We organized yearly visits every winter to Gerudo Valley so we would always have home to go back to. Kol and I are men of the desert after all, Hylian winters don't agree with us. I spent my nights with Link and Zelda slowly started to catch on what was happening. She wasn't happy at first, but she tried to understand. It was Kol who truly changed her mind. I think if it wasn't for him, she'd still close her eyes every time Link and I kiss. Link tried to explain it to her delicately.

"It's d-different with me." He said. "If Tzeros was female, I-I'd still feel the same way about him." Link told me he didn't really feel attracted to anyone else but me. I felt a little selfish but I was honored. His sexual preference was limited to the person he loved. I just happened to be lucky enough to be that person.

Two years passed in this way. Kol and I helped maintain the political relationship with the Gerudo Nation and Hyrule. Link and I spent nights together, but not exactly intimate even though we got dangerously close on many occasions.

Over those two years, Kol and Zelda developed a language of their own. They finished each other's sentences, formed and unwritten system of inside jokes and fell into fits of laughter over absolutely nothing. I don't think they were even aware they were falling for each other until they ended up accidentally kissing after drinking just a little too much wine.

Farik and Sheik were slowly accepted into the masses more and more couples like theirs and mine and Link's seemed to be showing their faces. The support for them overwhelmed the criticism and people like us were finally comfortable with being out in public. Still, Sheik and Farik will forever be the men who had the strength of spirit to expose their relationship for everyone to see. I will always admire them for that. I suppose that's why I got so angry when Rauru refused to marry them.

Kol and I had been toying with the idea of taking Sheik, Link and Zelda back with us to Gerudo Valley for the winter for vacation's sake. With Sheik's depression over being denied marriage, we finally made up our minds. After a brief agreement from Zelda and Sheik and finally from the King, we sat Farik and Sheik to dinner.

"Nabooru will marry you guys." I said killing the tactful plan that Kol had to break the news to them. "It's not a traditional Hylian wedding but it's something."

"Would she agree to it?" Farik asked incredulously.

"Nabooru once had a female mate. Of course she would." I insisted. It was the first time I saw both men smile since being denied. I swear Sheik nearly cried. "She's the High Priestess. Anything she says goes. With policies bring like they are, that would force Rauru to recognize your marriage as legally binding." We spent most of the night planning. One particular moment I remember from that night is Link laughing...out loud. I'd never heard him do that before and judging by the look on everyone's faces, he never had. That was a good night. It was almost dawn when we all headed to bed.

"Tzeros!" Sheik jogged a bit to catch up with me.

"Hm?" Instead of the usual backhanded compliment, my response was a hug. Something I always got from Link or Zelda but never from Sheik. We had been too vitriolic and we had too much fun arguing to be truly brotherly to each other.

"Thank you. So much." I gave him a little squeeze then he pulled back and punched me in the shoulder. "You tell anyone about this little moment and you're dead."

Amusingly enough, I don't think I ever have.

Well well, how'd you like it? Please don't hesitate to let me know in the form of a review. This timeskip of two years is going to lead to some not-so-linear storytelling so heads up.

Also: I am writing a new and much darker (you knew right?) story titled The Good Doctor. The Pilot/test chapter is out right now, so please read that and tell me what you think.

As always, I love you readers. You're the best and you give me motivation like you wouldn't believe.

-East.