A/N: I'm back with a new chapter! Finally, after a long year, I've finished the revisions! It's good to be writing new material again.

Also, I've made a bit of a breakthrough in the last few months; Twilight Princess is very long. Seeing as I've got planned sequels that would be loads shorter than the Twilight Princess arc, I've come to a compromise with myself; The Twilight Princess Arc is going to be broken up into three stories, three parts; Fused Shadows, Mirror Shards, Defeating Zant/Hyrule Castle/Ganondorf/ending. Then there will be the sequels. And so, this is the last chapter of Legend of Zelda: Fourth Bearer of the Triforce. Part 2 will be coming shortly, be patient with me!

PS. Review Replies will be at the end of the chapter, as there's quite a few of them.

Chapter 35: Peace

Link was kissing me. I had to let that sink in.

I was frozen for a few seconds, or minutes, before sensation caught up with me. It was... soft. In the Zora temple, I'd been doing CPR and hadn't exactly been paying attention to his lips, I'd been breathing for him. When I kissed him to shut him up, that was to shut him up and I'd been running on adrenaline. This... this was the opposite of that.

It was chaste, sweet, and slow; like we had all the time in the world. Midna was giggling, I heard it vaguely, but it was in the back of my mind.

My hands, initially hanging uselessly at my sides, had traveled to Link's shoulders without my permission, his were positioned at my hips. We didn't move, it was just... a kiss. The slightest pressure of his lips on mine. I ached to deepen it, but held still.

After an infinitely short and long moment, Link pulled away. His ears and face were slowly flushing red, and he looked... nervous.

"Sorry, but you needed to stop talking."

I took a moment to think about why those words were familiar. When I realized it, I huffed; that little sneak was using my own words against me. Words were still failing me at this point, so I just raised my eyebrows at him. He chuckled, and I gave my own weak laugh.

"That was..." Ah! There was my voice. But now it was more words. What word was I supposed to use? It was more than good - the nerve endings in my lips felt... tingly - but what word could I use? "..Wow." That...that would work. I'd never had a proper first kiss before, it was new, and really nice.

"...We-We should probably... go. The folks in Castle Town -and Kakariko- have been patiently waiting for us, and I've got a friend to track down." At Link's curious look, I added, "Eldin told me the last of the travelers from Earth was in Castle Town, which matches up with my brother mentioning a friend of mine who went missing last year, Scott."

Link nodded, before looking down at his shadow. Midna came up moments later, turning us into wolves once again and warping us away.

We went to Castle Town first, I wanted to find Scott and bring him to Kakariko with us. It would take us a little longer to travel, but seeing Carmen and Bethany's faces would be totally worth it. My lack of sleep ever since the ten-hour rest after Link drowned was also going to be worth it, I tried to convince myself of that.

Upon entering the town, I asked whoever I came across for help, leading Link behind me as I tried to find where my friend lived. I got directions from one of the soldiers by Telma's, finding a house close to my mother's. This was the place, it fit the guard's description.

"This is the place." I told Link, hesitating a moment before knocking on the door. There was a moment of quiet, the sound of footsteps inside, a yelp of surprise and a 'Thud', followed by an incoherent grumble, before the door opened.

Scott -or, Aldy, I remembered his nickname was- had hardly changed. His hair was a little longer, his face a little tanned, he looked to have grown, but it was still Scott. One of my only guy friends, who'd been my friend since we were in elementary school.

"Don't you know how late it-" Scott's complaint cut off with a whoosh of air. I was hugging him, tighter than I'd ever remembered hugging anybody. Making up for the time in which I'd mourned his death. My tight-knit group was generally affectionate, so this would be considered normal, like the time Carmen hugged me for ten minutes straight after I came back from a month-long trip to Toronto. Only this time instead of coming back from another province, Scott was back from the dead.

"Don't you dare complain about how late it is, I'll throw my shoes at you." I threatened, no heat behind the words. "I reserve the right to hug the hell out of you after having to attend your funeral."

"...Rose?" It seemed my friend recognized me. Wait... he recognized me. Recognized Rose.

"Oh, good, you already remember. That makes things easier."

"Well yeah, why wouldn't I?" he sounded confused.

"Bethany's having trouble remembering. I'm not sure yet about Carmen." I responded. While she was remembering, which I'd figured out last time we talked about Hael, she didn't seem to realize yet that they weren't just dreams.

"They're both here?"

I nodded my head. He invited the two of us in properly after that.

Scott and I caught up for a good few minutes, Link occasionally joining in the conversation, but seeming content to be on the sidelines. Scott recounted how he'd appeared in Hyrule the year previous, made friends with Roran and gotten himself settled, shortly thereafter beginning to regain his memories. He looked relieved when he heard that Ari and Carma -Bethany and Carmen, I supplied for Link- were safe in Kakariko. I told him what my brother had mentioned last time we spoke, Scott thought it was hilarious.

"So, we just finished up in the Lakebed Temple," I started a few minutes later. "And we were just about to head to Kakariko. Care to join us? I know for one that Carmen and Bethany would love to see you." I offered. He pondered it for a few seconds, before nodding.

"Yeah, it'll be good to see them again. Do they..." he let the sentence hang, and I shook my head.

"Not yet, as far as I know. Bethany has been having dreams about her dad, and gained his unique... ability, from what she told me last we spoke. I don't know about Carmen." I reiterated. He raised a questioning eyebrow, but said nothing.

"That'll be slightly harder, but I can work with it. When do we go?"

I wasn't expecting him to agree quite so quickly, I was at a loss for words for a few moments.

"...Now?" I tried, looking to Link, who just shrugged as if to say, 'Your call.'

"Okay, we'll go now."

"Right, you wait outside until I come get you, okay? I want to surprise them." I whispered. We were standing outside the inn; it was early in the morning, so I assumed that they would be eating breakfast right about now. It didn't pass me by that the number of Gorons had increased since we left, I hoped that meant they got my warning in time, that this was just a safety measure and no one had been hurt.

Cracking open the door, I saw I was right in my assumption. The villagers were eating. The two I was looking for weren't there, my worry increased tenfold and fear began gnawing at my insides.

Link and I entered quietly, but our entrance was not lost on the kids. The Ordonian kids quickly got up from the table to greet their big-brother-figure, though I was the second one they turned to. Talo was talking a mile-a-minute about something Bethany had done while we were away.

"...still sleeping, I think Carmen's up there with her." the boy finally finished. Fear's evil little claws pulled back, and my worry abated. I poorly concealed a sigh of relief. They were here, they were safe.

"Thanks for telling me that, Talo." I said gratefully. "And actually, I've got a little surprise for both of them." I added, a little louder for Scott to hear. My dark-haired friend hesitantly entered, and I wasted no time leading him upstairs. I stopped him again just before we reached the room I saw my friends in. Carmen was asleep beside Bethany on the bed, and Bethany... looked much worse for wear. She was covered in bruises and scratches from what I could see, a particularly nasty scratch on her arm and a blue-black bruise peeking up from the top of her shirt. Both appeared to be sleeping peacefully, though. I beckoned Scott forward again.

It didn't take much to wake Carmen, a light shake of the shoulder and a whisper of her name and her eyes were slowly opening.

"Hey, I've got someone I want you to see." I whispered when her eyes focused on me. Stepping back I allowed her cousin to come into view. Her sleepy eyes suddenly blew very wide, her jaw dropping. Her hands came up to cover her mouth, and she stared at Scott for a long few moments. It came as a surprise when Carmen, soft-spoken and quiet, nearly vaulted off the bed towards Scott. He was laughing softly, hugging the younger girl to him tightly.

"Missed you too, squirt." he whispered. Our younger friend's shoulders were shaking, and her voice with them when she spoke.

"Y-you were dead... there was a funeral and everything..." she whimpered. Scott hugged her tighter.

"I know, it's okay. I'm here, I'm alive, everything's okay." he comforted.

"...Scott?" a quiet voice cut in, and the three of us turned to see Bethany, barely awake and looking very confused. "You're... are we dead too?"

Scott released Carmen, sitting down at the foot of Bethany's bed. He had a little crooked smile on his face, shaking his head.

"Alive and well, Bethany. All of us." Taking a moment to look Bethany over, he quickly amended, "Though, I'm not sure you're exactly 'well'. What happened to you?" he asked the question I'd been meaning to. Bethany frowned.

"Those giant wolf things tried to attack the village. Thanks for the warning, by the way," that sentence was directed to me. "I... might have drove them off... and fought some of them."

I sighed. That wasn't what I'd hoped would happen when Oocoo passed on my warning. But then, it was Bethany. Reckless thrill-seeker, prankster, brave idiot at times, practically my sister. But then, after twenty-four years of it, we couldn't really have it any other way.

"I'll leave the three of you to get reaquainted. I don't doubt that Renado is going to want to check mine and Link's injuries-"

Before my sentence was finished, I heard the younger Beth screaming outside. Seconds later, the door downstairs opened and Colin was yelling for Renado.

"Link passed out!"

Against my violition, my eyes rolled up towards the ceiling. Of course Link passed out! It had slipped my mind during our travels that Link hadn't gotten any sleep recently, on top of the fact that he'd freaking drowned in the water temple, been electrocuted, and thrown into a bloody stone pillar by the morpheel. Gods, our lives sucked right now. I could hardly wait for this to all be over, and we were barely a third of the way through it.

The situation at hand returning to the forefront of my mind, I rushed down the stairs and out the door. Beth, Talo and Colin were standing around him worriedly, Renado quickly approaching. We both reached him at the same time, and I knelt down beside him.

"What happened?" I asked, looking up to the kids.

"We were playing with Link, and he just... passed out." With an exasperated sigh, I looked back down to Link.

"Of course you'd play with the kids instead of resting..." I muttered under my breath, before reaching out and tapping him on the cheek. "C'mon, wake up..." Link's eyes fluttered a few times before they could stay open. I gave a humorless laugh. "Come on sleepyhead, think you can make it to your bed?" I asked, helping him sit up. He managed a little nod, still having trouble keeping his eyes open. Looking apologetically to Renado, I silently asked for help. The Shaman came through, helping Link to stand and lifting one arm over his shoulders.

We managed to get him upstairs at least before he fell asleep again, and from there to his room. I sighed heavily. A glance at Renado showed he wanted to ask, so I beat him to the punch.

"He drowned. We got electrocuted. He also got thrown into a big stone pillar. By a giant eel." I answered the unspoken question of what happened to us, but my voice sounded dead. I was nearly passing out on my feet, but I had previous experiences with allnighters. Not nearly as bad, but it was past experience nonetheless.

"Drowned?" The shaman repeated incredulously. I nodded, pulling my Zora helmet -which had been miraculously replaced in my bag when we were turned into humans again- from my bag.

"This thing helps us breathe underwater. Magically, I'm assuming. A Bari snagged his while he was unconscious from the electric shock, and it took awhile to get out of the water. I brought him back up and resuscitated him."

Renado said nothing for a long while, probably shocked at how casually I said that Link had drowned and I'd brought him back.

"...You kept a clear head, rather than succumb to panic. That is commendable."

I shook my head. "I really didn't. I couldn't focus, I just... knew I had to save Link, and my body was acting on its own." I dissuaded him.

"Perhaps, though acting to save Link's life while under the stress you were is still something to be proud of, but this is a discussion for another time. You need rest, just as much as he does."

Well, I wasn't about to pass that up. With a little nod, I stood up. I stumbled for a moment, but stayed upright long enough to get to my bed. Someone was helping me with my blanket, and removing my sword and shield from my back.

"Wait... check Link.." I suddenly remembered, as I was being laid down. "Make sure he didn't get stung..." I wasn't sure they'd even heard me. I hoped they did. I just wanted to make sure.

"Milady, I apologize for-"

"Save the pleasantries, Twill. Speak."

"The hunters failed, Lady Ardea. Carma and Arynn are still in the village. But... there's something else.."

"What?"

"Rosalie, milady, she's returned to Kakariko. The Goddesses' Hero is with her."

"... Excellent. You've done well."

My dreams were little more than a blur of sounds and colours. I couldn't make sense of any of it. I woke a few times, but I barely remembered.

When I woke for good, it was almost morning again. I felt more rested than I had in awhile. Link was awake too, but he still looked pretty tired. Drowning could do that to a person. When we got a moment to ourselves, Link asked when I wanted to head out.

"I don't know. Why don't we rest up for a few days? Hang out with the kids, just... relax, while we've got a moments' peace? I know, we can't wait too long, but... just a few days." I persuaded. I felt like we deserved that, at least, after the last three days.

Link considered it for a moment, before nodding.

"Alright, we'll rest."

A/N: And so concludes the first installment of LoZ: FBOTT. Part 2 will be on the way shortly, this'll have to tide you over 'til then. I'm sorry if this seems a little filler-y, but I just couldn't stop typing! I was so excited to finally be finished the revisions. Leave a review? (Also, looks like there's a spy in the villagers' midst!)

PS. I know some of you reviewed the Author's Note I left. For guest reviewers, this won't be a problem, but for those who left signed in reviews, you won't be able to leave another unless you sign out and leave an anonymous one :/

PPS. I have a tumblr info blog especially for this fanfiction! FollowFbottFanfic . tumblr . com just without the spaces.

PPPS. The first chapter of LoZ: FBOTT - Part 2 will be posted on April 26th, the anniversary of the day I first posted this fanfiction

Now for the review replies!

randomfanfictioner01: two words - thank you. :D

MasterShortPantsx3: yeah, I'm not too fond of those either, so I tried to stray as far from that as possible.

angelggirl13: Yaayy~ Yeah, I like that she can go wolf now too. Heehee.

Shadow Katakura: Go Link! And yes, he's seventeen. Yeah, about dang time!... And two years isn't that big of an age gap, so I'm all cool with it. (random comment that has nothing to do with the review. XP)

sslamajama97: I think they'll rest up a bit before going to Gerudo Desert. And when they find the Golden Wolf, she's not actually going to get either. In chapter 6 or 7 she demonstrates to the shade that she already knows those hidden skills, and another extra power would just be overkill. So she's just sort of coming along for the ride. Maybe I'll put in another history lesson for her, or more training with her powers. I dunno. I liked the way it played out last time. And I actually did the thing about the sword bit on purpose. Hehe.

Saiyan Epicness: Yeah, I just sort of went on a whim writing out that last paragraph or so, and it was at 10:00 last night, so I was a bit emotionally detached from the whole scene. But meh is meh, I'll probably go back and fix it up later. No comments on the new clothes?

TheTwilitDragon: Yes, it's about time! Thank you~

TwilightPrincess3: Very clever of you, dear :D. And I'd love to be Rose too. Did you know originally I had made FBOTT a self-insert? That's right, Celia was originally based off myself and my personality, but I changed it a lot before I published it. Ohh, you're at snowpeak now! I'm gonna have fun writing that. More dramatics of course, but even then that's two temples away, plus all the extra stuff I'm putting into it. I love the fact that you're still here, and you're still liking the story :) *huggles*

godofmadness43: No offense taken, friend. I felt the same way. It really did take them long enough to do the thing.

KingDove (guest): Well you don't have to worry, dear. You didn't insult me or make me angry, I promise. As always, thanks for reviewing.

lozfan69 [1]: Aw, now I feel all warm and fuzzy knowing that you like my story that much. I'm sorry, I don't really know many other stories similar to mine. If I knew, I would tell you. But, if you're looking for a good Twilight Princess story, I'd highly recommend What Makes a Hero, by Selphie Kinneas 175. You may have seen my advertisements for her story before, but this is now a personal suggestion. Her story is beyond perfect.

lozfan69 [2]: Well go ahead and do it, silly! OOT was pretty fun, though this one is still my personal favourite. And I don't plan on stopping writing anytime soon. I've got too much in my head to do that. (Seriously, I've got five sequels planned for this, a prequel, and countless AU (alternate universe) fics and crossovers. There's no way I'm giving up on this. I PROMISE you that.

Epicness (guest): I can't wait either, so I put this one up :) Thank you for reviewing.

katieOoT: And here is more of the story for you to read, dear! And you are my 300th reviewer! You have no idea how happy this whole thing makes me. I didn't expect so many people to like my story, let alone get as many reviews as I have, so thank you very much!

GameHero: Huh. I hadn't thought of that. Thanks for suggesting it, and I'll definitely consider it. (That's *me* talk for YES OMG THAT'S PERFECT)

Chaosspirit (guest): I'm glad you like it, i'll take your suggestion into consideration (otherwise meaning it's definitely happening VERY soon), Rose's abilities are Farore's Wind, and Nayru's Love. Din's Fire will come early-on in part 2 of the Twilight Princess arc. Thank you for your reviews!

GracieGiraffe0417: that's what I thought too, thanks

Ghirahim7: *hugs the heck out of you* Thank you~ And don't worry, I'm not done yet :)

zelgrl113 (Guest): The best? Really? Wow, thanks so much! I don't think it's the best out there, but everyone has their opinions.

ILostMyPassword/Heart of Stones (guest): I'm glad you think so, because I think it's much better than it was before.

Bluetips (guest): Thank you, dear, and I don't think you'll have to worry about me stopping any time soon.

Keep Calm and Be Ninja: I know, I was excited too. I originally wasn't gonna have anything happen until after the Arbiters Grounds, but this still worked out nicely.

Guest: I'm glad you like it. Stick around, there's gonna be sequels.

Meatbun Attack: I couldn't wait either. Had I gone with my plan you'd have waited a lot longer :P. And, yes. They're all connected. I hadn't planned for it, honestly, but it works.

sc2retgirl: Of course I'll continue! Revisions won't get rid of me that easy!

Skychild101 [1]: I actually kind of removed my twitter, but I've got a tumblr page with info on my characters (you can even ask them questions if you want!) the url is followfbottfanfic . tumblr . com without the spaces.

Skychild101 [2]: I suppose an octopus or a shark would have been harder to defeat. That, and it's a zelda game, it's like some unspoken rule that the bosses and minibosses have to be weird. Thanks for sharing your story, that sounds quite fun.

Skychild101 [3]: I don't believe they'll be returning to Earth, no. Not until much later, at least. It takes a lot of energy and magic to open a portal between worlds, and she's barely even dipped into her magical potential yet. Perhaps later.

Skychild 101 [4]: Yes, it was quite fun to write them finally kissing, though I wouldn't get too attached to the idea. As far as my plans go, it won't happen too much (unfortunate, really).

Guest: Haha, thank you. I'll be sure to keep Evanescence in the rewrite somewhere. Just... not in part 1.

Keep Calm and Be Ninja: That's good to know, hon. Don't worry, I didn't change too much.

chaos spirit: Don't you worry, dear, I've been working constantly - as much as I'm able, at least - to get these revisions done as soon as I can. I've got a few more chapters left, and then we can continue forward. :)

SaiyanEpicness: Hey! Good to hear from you! And I'm sure there's people rooting for me out there somewhere~ And it's certainly helping. I've been struck with an uncanny inspiration the last few days. It's really quite fun. I hope you liked this chapter :3