Written for an idea Stri had on TDG on the WCF.
Thanks to everybody on TDG!
So thousands of years after the War of the Ring, Legolas has a little elf baby girl. He tells her stories of his friendship with Gimli, and when she's old enough, she convinces Legolas to take her to Erebor to meet some dwarves. There she meets Gimli's great-something grandson, and they fall in love. A few years later, they have a baby boy who is half dwarf/elf and name him Gimli Gloin Greenleaf.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for the writing. The idea, setting, and characters are not mine.
The morning is young, and so are the memories.
The sun causes the morning dew to shine with a mesmerizing light, and that is when the beauty of Ithilien could be seen at its finest. The most prominent stream in the woods also seems to run swifter and clearer in the early day, glittering with sunlight. That is where Legolas finds his only child, Eirien, weaving small daisies together to form a crown of sorts. He smiles as he sits down beside her, careful not to disrupt her work. Her light blonde hair is caught in the sunlight, looking almost white.
"Hello there, Father!" she chirps, setting down her work for the moment to greet her father. "You won't tell Mother, will you? It's a surprise- Mithmoriel taught me how to make these."
"Of course not," he replies.
They sit there in silence, basking in the warmth of the morning, until Eirien finishes her flower crown. She gently sets it aside, but does not get up from where she is.
"Will you tell me a story?" she asks, eager to hear one of his fantastic tales. "A funny one, maybe."
"A funny one? I once had a very, very great friend. He was a dwarf..."
The two had stopped to rest for a while, about halfway into Fangorn Forest. They had traveled from Lorien and were going to go through the forest before heading to Helm's Deep when they made it out on the other side. It was roughly midday, and the sun was high in the sky, casting leaf shaped shadows on the floor of the Fangorn Forest. Legolas sat on the branches of a sturdy, old tree, and took a small bite of lembas bread. Gimli sat on the floor, by the tree's roots, and took a sip of water from his flask. The tree was rooted by the Entwash, and Gimli refilled his flask before getting up. Legolas noticed this and packed his items away before jumping down from the tree and landing on his feet lightly.
"Showoff," Gimli grumbled.
"Were you talking about yourself?" Legolas shot back in reply.
Gimli grunts by way of response and lumbers along the faint trail. Legolas takes that as a silent defeat and marks it down in his memory, before following him.
They end up meeting Quickbeam, after Gimli trips over his roots, banging his head onto the rowan tree in front, and passing out, leaving a very bemused Quickbeam and an exasperated Legolas.
It was light in the gray morning, and the sky was silver.
Mother had finally relented to Eirien's pleadings- of course, her father was extremely helpful, being the one to tell her of his old memories- and allowed her to traverse to the Glittering Caves. The journey was long, and daunting, but it did nothing to dampen her joy and excitement. She enjoyed traveling- especially with her father. At last, on the eve of her birthday, they were ready to leave- and she was bouncing with every positive emotion possible.
So they set off for Helm's Deep.
Elves always keep their promises.
That is how Legolas ends up, metaphorically dragged by Gimli, along to the 'wonder and beauty' that is the Glittering Caves. He has no love for rock and ore, hard and cold stone, but he makes an exception for his friend- just this once. He is rather surprised when Gimli's fantastic descriptions are true- even more so when he ends up liking said things for the first time in his life. It is colorful and warm- sparkling with gems, and the occasional torch, and the walls are lit up with every color imaginable. It quite reminds him of the forest in the morning light.
They end up exploring every inch of the caverns, and Gimli even manages to convince him to bring back a pale green jewel, round and smooth, from the expedition. He has no idea how Gimli managed to do it- personally, someone over twenty centuries old probably has cultivated a stubborn streak from all those years- but he ends up bringing it home with him. He fashions it into a brooch of sorts, and uses it on the occasional journey- and it is a very pretty reminder of how not all things are what they seem to be.
Of course, he mourns.
There is always so much more time to grieve in the life of an immortal, and he sighs wistfully when the candle has burned out and the wax is nothing but puddles. He comforts himself by telling tales of old memories to his daughter- and since Gimli has had children too, he pays them a visit every now and then. Generations come and go, but he does not forget.
He will not forget.
Eirien is awestruck by the myriad of colors that bounce off the walls of the Glittering Cave. So is her father, whose memory does not and will never be able to remember the glory that is the Caverns of Helm's Deep. It does not fail to take his breath away again. In the case of Eirien, no matter how wondrous the tales her father tells, it still does not do anything to fully illustrate the view of the cavern.
Legolas has already let the current Lord of the Glittering Caves know of their arrival, and Glorin welcomes them with open arms. He is the first son of Fimli, grandson of Bloin and great grandson of Gimli- they all know of their ancestor's elven friend. Eirien is introduced to Glorin's son, Thoir, and they get along famously. In a painful way, it reminds Legolas of Gimli's and his friendship- only that they had to go through more dangerous times, and he hopes that their friendship will still form without those experiences. Apparently, Thoir was dropped on his head as a baby as well- which explains the uncanny resemblance to his great grandfather.
They are constantly getting into all sorts of trouble, and he can only sigh and watch as they end up turning supper into a field of flying liquid and sustenance. Eirien manages to get him to stay there a bit longer, with the help of the puppy dog face he has absolutely no idea where she got it from. They make a dynamic duo, both with a penchant for fun and humor, and nothing is ever really boring when they are around. He constantly worries for them though, and almost has been sent into an aneurysm more than once.
One of the most notable times their antics have gotten them into trouble was when they got trapped in one of the tunnels during a cave-in- something about their 'mining' expedition gone wrong. He had spent nearly half a day looking for them, and was utterly furious with them. The good thing about being immortal is that you have plenty of time to practice your rage, and he thought up some pretty creative punishments. Thoir was not exempt from them.
Over time, he realizes his daughter does not want to leave.
He does not protest, but he watches.
He watches (along with her mother, who came along as well) as their relationship grows. It's wonderful and a little sad at the same time, because he knows what his only child will do if it comes down to deciding whether she surrenders to mortality. They watch as they fall in love. And each day, it becomes a little more painful. He remains for the birth of their first child- Gimli Gloin Greenleaf. He tries to make sure he doesn't get dropped on his head either, but he's not sure whether his efforts actually worked out.
He says his last farewells to his daughter, his son-in-law, and his grandson. He tries to memorize everything about his home- the forests of Mirkwood, the dappled stream of Ithilien, the jewels of the Glittering Caves.
He departs, holding the pale green jewel from the years long past, and does not look back.