"I didn't originally exist as a mortal, but - I figured out how to and then decided to abandon my immortal life. That required giving up everything I'd been so I could be reborn. A new person, but... The same motifs. A song played on a new instrument."

"But with the fate of the Second Born - or the lack thereof. A new chance to define myself."

Her voice is low but passionate. Serious.

(This... Isn't why she chose to become Beren, at least not directly. But it's true. It's everything she wants.)

(If she could break fate by embracing mortality, she would - but even in her zeroth life, before she was shuffled into the role of Melkor, when she was still mortal, she'd been chained more thoroughly than she is now.)

"...But you're- still you? Still the same person I decided to marry?"

"Yes. I swear. And I always will be."

"I just - have more context, now, for who I am."

Pensive hum.

"All right, then. As long as you remain my Mygwainor."

"My favorite self to be."

Hug.

Snuggle.

(She remembers this moment, in case she needs to branch from it. It's a very, very good moment.)

"Some of the knowledge might even be useful, hopefully, though I have only a mortal's magic right now."

"And... This is maybe kind of awkward, but - your Mygwainor is the person I've always wanted to be."

"I don't think it's awkward. I think it's very sweet of of you." She runs her hand through Beren's hair.

Kiss!

"We got glimpses of the future when we were singing the world into being, and - "

"I saw you, saw... What our relationship would be."

"We would've been just - ships passing in the night. I would've met you, and loved you, and never seen you again, and - "

"That wasn't the only thing that decided me, but. I couldn't stand the fate laid out for me."

"You made a good decision."

She laughs. "I do intend to thoroughly cheat to have everything I want, but - I'd rather be mortal and by your side than the opposite."

"You do deserve to get what you want. Even me."

Kiss!

"To be yours forever, then," she murmurs.

"I like that." Kiss.

Kiss!

"I should probably sleep before morning," she says, reluctantly. 

"I'll still be here then."

"Do you need me to sing you to sleep?"

"I'd love that."

She makes sure they're both in a comfortable position before starting.

Beren falls asleep cuddling Luthien.

Cute little probably-not-actually-girl.

This revelation was a little weird, but Beren still does seem to be Beren and she prefers this to getting stuck staring at each other in the forest for three hundred years.

Beren gets them moving again in the morning. She keeps teaching Luthien to read, and tells her a whole wealth of new stories supplemented by her new memories - her world had been fairly small as just Beren, even if larger than Luthien's. She shows no signs of having dramatically changed beyond that. 

The hike to Nargothrond, where Finrod rules, is fairly long. Beren's never met Finrod except in passing, and so asks Luthien some about him - though while Finrod had stayed in Menegroth for a time before Thingol learned of the Kinslayings, he hadn't usually been in Luthien's circles. (His sister Galadriel still lives in Menegroth, but rarely strays from Thingol's court, being something of an apprentice to Melian now.)

She shares what gossip she has.

Nargothrond was built much in the style of Menegroth, though with more attention to security. The river before it is wide and fast, and there's no bridge - Beren could get across it anyways, of course, but they want to be welcomed as guests. 

A few elven scouts fade out of the trees as Luthien and Beren approach, demanding to know their names and business. 

"Luthien of Doriath, and Beren daughter of Barahir, who wishes to see Finrod Felagund."

The scouts trade glances for a long moment. One seems to be focusing on something, then: "We welcome you to Nargothrond, then," he says. "Follow me." And he turns toward the river.