V.E.: I got to be honest, I did not plan on doing a Part Two for this oneshot. Then one of the reviewers got the idea for the Hero's Shade to make an appearance and that got something rolling. This probably won't be as good as the last, but I like the idea of Link getting advice from his predecessor.

Next oneshot will be One Piece.

So some more reviews would be nice!

…..yes, I am that pathetic. And I need break before tackling the next chapter of Paradox because goodness knows how rabid the Star Wars fans are. I am kind of glad I don't write for Harry Potter.

Quote: "That is your legacy on this Earth when you leave this Earth: how many hearts you touched."- Patti Davis

Link had been used to strange dreams.

Even years before his journey, his dreams had always been a little bit weird. He supposes he could chalk that up to him being the chosen hero that had been reincarnated through numerous lifetimes recalling his previous experiences; a calm and obviously (though somewhat lifeless) feminine voice calling him to wake up, monsters of dark and possibly demonic origin chasing him with their weapons.

But the ones that occurred the most were about Zelda.

That is, not the Zelda he knew. He had dreams about Zeldas that may have shared similarities to the Zelda he knew, but they were very different women. Whether it be physical differences, vocal differences, different interests; he knew each Zelda was a unique existence even if they seemed to have the same soul.

He had once mentioned the multiple Zeldas to Queen Zelda. She was rather surprised, but not too much. She told him that she had also had dreams since they had met, though nowhere near as varied in what he had been dreaming about. She then showed Link to library, spending hours poring over the records of all the heroes that had come before him.

Reading about his past lives, getting away from the stifling court, allowed the two to relax their guards. Despite serving under her Majesty and working with her quite frequently, rarely did they get much of a chance to just talk to each other. Time seemed irrelevant as the two got to talking about their childhoods; they both seemed to have a sense of loneliness form a young age despite being surrounded by a bunch of people (though for vastly different reasons), both had a deep love for music, both were natural with horses form the beginning.

From there, Zelda had the maids send up dinner with drinks and the conversation went on as they discussed the legends, music, archery. Under different circumstances, people might have considered what was going on something of a first date.

And, if he had to be completely honest, it did kind of feel that way. But it was also kind of different; more like two people who were catching up after not seeing each other for many years.

It was in this mood that the two had inched closer and closer to each other until they almost kissed each other accidentally for being too close.

It didn't happen and both were rather quick to put some distant between them after that….but….

Now Link was left now with a passionate desire to actually Zelda.

And it was in that state of mind Link left Zelda and went to bed, quickly slipping off to dream land. Which brings us to the current situation at present.

He wasn't back at Ordon (which he had dreamed off quite a few times), in the Twilight Realm (which he had also dreamed of, mostly brought on by his wondering about Midna), but he was in the strange dream like place where he trained with the Hero's Shade with the mist surrounding him and the visual of Hyrule Castle in the background.

And there in the center of it all was a familiar golden wolf with red eyes.

Link only blinked and standing before him was the strange armored Skelton known as the Hero's Shade who was the one to break the silence. "So we meet again. I suppose I shouldn't be that surprised."

That caught Link's attention as he spoke to the past hero. "What do you mean by that? Why are you here? I thought I learned all the techniques."

The remnant of the old hero's soul nodded at that. "You did and you mastered them brilliantly. But there is one more lesson for me to teach you."

That perked his curiosity. "What kind of lesson?"

"On love."

For a moment, the world seemed to freeze around them before he felt his face redden at the thought.

However, this tension was broken as the Skelton seemed to chuckle at Link. "Don't be so morose boy, this was bound to happen. Happened to me, happened to all the other Links before us."

He had to blink before he asked for clarification, a little bit irritated. "Wait, you mean to say I was going to fall in love with Zelda sooner or later? That I had no choice about it?"

The Hero's Shade replied, warmth coloring his voice in the latter half of what he was saying. "Whoever said choice and love have anything to do with each other? No one chooses to fall in love, love just happens. Besides, it's not like you fell in love with the most repugnant and irredeemable person in the world. Your Zelda is lovely as her grandmother, inside and out."

That caught Link's attention as he spoke up. "Zelda told you left her because you didn't want her to choose."

The spirit nodded. "Yes, because choosing would have destroyed her. She may have been my Princess of Destiny, but she was also the Princess and future Queen. She loved her people and her country. No matter what she would have chosen, it would have been too painful."

"Or perhaps you were afraid of the answer she would have chosen."

That brought a chuckle of the shade before the tone turned serious. "There's some truth in that. Listen Link, in every lifetime, we love Zelda. There may be others that are dear to us, we may move on and settle down with someone else, but we never forget Zelda. It doesn't matter how much time we spend with her and only a few times have both the hero and the princess ended up together."

Link felt his head turn down as eyes clouded with doubt. "Are you saying not to get my hopes up and just give up?"

"Of course not!"

That snapped his attention up to the ghost as his predecessor went on. "Link, I am a literal spirit of REGRET. I am not going to lead you down the same path. I just want you to know that choosing to be with her will be difficult…..but that doesn't mean it can't be worth it. With the way things are, you're probably going to have to make the first move."

"What if she doesn't want me?"

"Considering how close the two of you were to each other earlier, I highly doubt that. The Princesses are a little bit different in that it is passed on through bloodlines so there can be more than one at a time, but I'm pretty sure they never forget their heroes. Now, I think you've gotten what I came here to say."

That brought something of a smile to Link's face. "Yeah. Is this the last time we'll ever see each other?"

"In this lifetime, at least. It's time I moved on. Besides, you're not the only one who has got a beautiful woman waiting for you to get your act together. I doubt she is going to be that happy to see after keeping her waiting. AGAIN."

That almost caused Link to laugh. "Well…. tell her I said hi and that Zelda is doing okay."

If Link did not know better, he would swear that the living Skelton smiled at him. "Was planning on doing so anyway. Take care, my successor. Don't let this chance slip you by."

"I promise."

With that, the surrounding dream faded away and Link went to black. He wasn't entirely sure of what he was going to do when he woke up with Zelda, but he knew he was going to have to do something.

He really didn't want to have those regrets. And something told him that this would be one of the few times that the princess and the hero ended up together.

"You're late."

"I know."

"You deserved that punch to the face."

"I know."

….

…

"I missed you, you idiot."

"I love you too."

"After all this time?"

"Always."

V.E.: Yeah, not as long as the last chapter, but it was nice to do something a bit short.

Please review!