The prince of Mirkwood finds himself falling for a tree spirit.
:: Legolas/OFC ::
(I do not own Lord of the Rings)
Legolas was excited to bathe in the pool that he found a few hours earlier. It had been days since he had a bath, months since he had a proper one. In his haste to make it to the pool before his companions came looking for him, he began tearing off his clothes and throwing them on the grassy floor of the forest.
Before he entered the clearing, he noticed a woman walking out of the pool. Legolas quickly ducked behind a tree, lest he be noticed and accused of spying. He looked around him to where he had thrown his clothes. Some items were too far away and if he were to attempt to get them, he would draw attention to himself. It was a good thing he still wore his pants.
After a moment, he peeked out from behind the tree. The woman was wet and completely naked. Her hair hung low on her back before she took it in her hands and wrung it out. As she stretched out her body and reached her hands high up to the heavens, a few wandering rays of sunlight found their way through the trees and onto her flesh.
The girl then found her dress and slipped it over her head. The droplets of water that still clung to her body made the fabric stick to her skin. The elf felt his own body stirring and let out a ragged breath. He hid back behind the tree and leaned the back of his head against it. When he opened his eyes, the woman was standing in front of him.
"You were watching me," she said, more of a statement than a question. Her voice was warm and thick, and she looked slightly surprised when she heard the sound.
"Yes... I was," he replied, ashamed, but quickly recovered. Was this the being that he felt spying on him and his companions all morning? "And you've been watching us."
"Yes... I was." She responded as if she was just repeating his words, not answering him. "The wizard and the men and the dwarf and the hobbits... And you." She stared at the elf, seemingly content in the silence. He stepped towards her, and she did the same towards him, so they ended up closer than he intended. If he wanted to, he could have reached out and touched her as she stood still as a statue. Instead, he studied the curious girl. Her forest green eyes never left his and he had to glance down to avoid the intensity of her stare.
"Who are you?" he inquired, finally looking back up at the girl.
"I am a tree - or the spirit of a tree, at least." The air around them was quiet for a moment.
"How is that so?"
She looked confused, brows furrowed in thought. "I am not sure." She shook her head, as if trying to will some memory to reveal itself from the recesses of her mind. "I used to be a tree and now... now I am this." She gestured to her body as if Legolas had not noticed the soft curves and glowing skin that so obviously belonged to a woman.
He observed her distress and stepped closer to her while speaking softly. "What are you called?" he asked the tree spirit.
"I only belong to this wood. I have no name."
"You belong to the wood?"
"Yes. I am bound by it," she answered him. "I can not pass the boundaries of the forest."
She sighed and looked around her, scanning the trees. As if she forgot about her elven companion, she walked away and headed towards what had to be the oldest tree in the forest - tall and knotted, it seemed to go on infinitely into the canopy. She placed her hand on the trunk and caressed the bark, whispering words to it that Legolas could neither hear nor understand if he did. She sighed in defeat then carefully dropped to the ground, sitting with her back against the aged tree. All the while, Legolas watched her with an intense interest. In all his years on Earth, he had never met a tree spirit before. He longed to ask her more questions, but her interaction with the elder seemed too intimate that he dared not interrupt.
"These trees have gone so deep inside themselves that you would think there was never anything there at all," she told him. "And why has this not happened to myself? Why was I given a human body instead of being allowed to retreat into my old one like my kin?"
He let her to contemplate her questions while he quietly walked over to where she sat. He placed his hands on the tree just as she did. He hoped to miraculously come up with some answers for her - this girl who seemed more apart of the forest than even the grass that grew around her, but so lost in the world at the same time.
Finding no answers, he sat down next to the spirit. She watched as the wind caught his hair, blowing the light tresses back behind him. At the same time, he caught her scent - tree bark and cocoa, and something else not so heavy. Something fresh and new that he could not quite place. She stared at him thoughtfully.
"I never knew how alone I was until you came into this wood. Many people have passed through, but I have never spoken to anyone before."
The elf prince did not know whether to feel upset or pleased, but he did give her a small smile which she promptly returned.
"Come with us," he suddenly requested of the girl, surprising even himself. "Come with me and my companions. Then you will not be alone."
Her smile faltered and she looked down at her hands in her lap. "I can not. I am bound by the forest until I am released," she told him once again.
Legolas felt an overwhelming feeling of disappointment swell his heart. Why did he feel such a connection to this girl - this tree spirit?
"How could one free you?" His voice was a whisper and his soft breath brushed against her cheek.
"This I do not know. I fear I will be confined to this place forever."
He looked at the girl, her head still bent so she could watch her fingers fidget with one another. He placed his hand under her chin and gently lifted her head up so that he could look into her green eyes. She regarded the hand, astonished, and grabbed his wrist. After a moment she began slowly caressing his bare forearm down to his elbow and then back up to his shoulder.
"I have never felt another's flesh before," she told him, entranced with the smooth skin of his arm. He let her pet his throat and then his face, tracing his jawline and cheekbones. She stroked his hair and buried her fingertips in the pin straight tresses, massaging his scalp. His breath began to labor.
"You have paid no mind to your own?" he manged to ask her.
She shook her head no. The girl allowed her hands to wander down to his naked chest and stomach. The elf's sharp intake of breath startled her and she jumped to her feet.
"I should go! Please forgive me ..."
But before the girl could scamper off, Legolas swiftly got to his feet and stopped her. He clasped her shoulders in his hands and held her still. "It's ok. It's ok. Don't go."
He pulled her close and hugged her body to his. Tentatively, she wrapped her arms around his waist and, once comforted, buried her face into his chest. He stroked her still damp hair. "It's ok," he repeated. She tilted her head up to look at Legolas.
"You remind me of a breeze I was once in love with, long ago. Are you him? Did you return to me in the body of an elven prince?"
Their lips almost touched as she whispered to him. To the girl's delight, he held her face in his hands and smiled down at her.
"If it was me that you were in love with, I would have never left."
Slowly, he brought his lips down to touch hers. He kissed her lightly, unsure of what she would do. Her lips were clumsy at first, but then she started to kiss back with fervor. Her hands were no longer on his waist, but around his neck. She moaned into his mouth. Never had she felt anything as soft as his lips. Never had her body burned like it did at that moment...