Disclaimers: I do not own Tolkien, nor do I want to. I just wrote this for fun. I am sorry for any misspelled words and whatever horrible grammar I manage to come up with. Sorry.
Tears of Healing
A first meeting.
Eleanor Smith slowly opened her eyes before rising from her bed. Her foster parents had told her clean the house before she went to school, which forced her to wake before dawn. She sighed, wishing for once she could wake after the sun rather than before it.
"Ishquakwe I durugnul" she muttered thinking of her parents... Foster parent. Her foster parents were evil, no two ways about it. They made her scrub and clean until her delicate and graceful fingers were rubbed raw of their alabaster skin. But her fingernails, which were perfectly almond shaped, never broke no matter how hard she worked. All the same the hard work did not detract from her incredible beauty, it only added to her graceful and slender, but delicately muscled body.
She had skin the color of cream that had never been disgraced by the presence of acne. Her neck curved as gracefully as a swan. Her hair was as golden as the sun, and very long. It fell from her head in a beautiful cascade of sunlight. She had perfectly shaped pools of blue for eyes, framed by the longest and thickest pair of brown lashes ever. You could get lost in her eyes for eternity. Her lips rivaled the color of a red rose. They were nicely filled out and perfectly curved. She never plucked her eyebrows; she didn't need to for they naturally grew in graceful arches. She had a body that was reminiscent of Helen of Troy, the most beautiful women ever to grace this earth, until now. She was at the ripe, innocent, young age, of 16.
Several hours later, the sun had indeed risen above the horizon, her lazy foster father finally rolled out of bed. He hollered down the stairs; "This house better be clean or else..." he stalked down the stairs to begin a four hour sequence of yelling at her. " I want you to go to school and when you get back I want you to clean this house again, top to bottom."
Slowly she let a deep heart wrenching sigh and walked up to her room, as gracefully as a cat. She entered her room and sighed again. It was bare of any color, except the radiant light emitting from her very soul.
Her windowless "room" consisted of a bed, a table, one light, and her carefully hidden flashlight, that she used late into the night doing her homework that her foster parents would not permit her to do. In this way she kept her 4.0 GPA. The walls were painted a drab grey and were peeling at the corners. The bed covers were white and the wood of the table was grey with age, for it had not been treated. The flashlight was hidden under the loose floor board under her bed. Her closet consisted of two moth bitten outfits.
Despite the drab surroundings, whenever she graced her room with her presence, it took on a whole new elegance and beauty. The walls seemed to have a whole new color and shine.
She gathered up her second hand school books and proceeded to glide down four staircases. Opening the door she walked five miles to school.
That night she took out her flashlight and opened the secret catch that she made herself, and took out her necklace. She had, had this necklace for as long as she could remember.
Her necklace was a simple silver chain with a pearl inscribed with the words; "Aa' menle nauva calen ar' ta hwesta e' ale'quenle"
"I wish that I could be in middle earth." she thought. "Oh if only I could be there now, and meet all those wonderful characters. If only I could see it." she wished with all her heart and soul. Suddenly by impulse she slowly spoke, in a voice true and clear, the words on her necklace;
"Aa' menle nauva calen ar' ta hwesta e' ale'quenle"
She felt a soft breeze touching her smooth ivory cheek, and she felt a peace of mind and soul, that she had never felt before in all of her blessed 16 years. Over and over she said the words, as the wind increased in power. The wind blew her hair around her in a whirlwind of sunlight. The scent of roses intermingled with the wind as flower petals danced in the wind around her. She closed her eyes and let the wind lead her.
When she opened her eyes she saw, not her dingy bedroom, but a beautiful woodland glade complete with wild flowers and a dainty waterfall.
She went over the crystal clear pool and brushed the tips of her elegant fingers against the surface of the water. Slowly she bent down to drink from the pool when suddenly the peace of the glade was shattered by the sudden appearance of a dozen orcs or more bursting from the underbrush. Frozen in fear she watched as the leader made his way towards her sword drawn. She closed her eyes and waited for inevitable fall of the blade which would end her life just as it had reached its peak.
But the fatal stroke never fell. She opened her eyes in wonder at the miraculous saving of her life. Her eyes lit upon the back of a tall, handsome, blonde stranger fighting for her life. In a momentary lull of the battle he turned and gazed into her eyes with a look that said a thousand words. a cut to his shoulder made him turn around but it was a deep gash to the chest that broke him out of his trance.
After effectively dispatching of the rest of the orcs, he turned back towards her.
"My lord," she said for he was clearly of noble birth, "I would thank the man who saved my life."
"Not man but elf, as are you my lady."
Confused she turned to the pool which was still as crystal clear as before. She looked at her reflection and saw no difference.
"My lord, you must be mistaken. I am no elf."
His only response was to reach over her shoulder and gently pull back her hair revealing a daintily pointed ear. Surprised she stumbled back into the stranger's arms. He caught her with a small gasp of pain.
"My lord, you are hurt. Will you let me see to your wound?"
"No my lady, 'tis only a scratch."
But she was not fooled for she could see the pain in his eyes. She laid her hand upon his finely toned and muscled chest. He felt the burden of pain lift from his mind and body.
Eleanor bent down and tore a long strip off her dress. She bound his wound and felt a pink tinge coming to her cheeks.
"Thank you," he said, "May I be graced with the knowledge of your name?"
"If, I may know the name, of my savior, then I shall tell you my name. My name is Eleanor." she replied.
"Nay lady, your name in Common is Eleanor. Your elf name is Tári Helyanwë. A name fit for a queen." he said, "my name is Legolas Greenleaf son of King Thranduil of Mirkwood. You are gracing Mirkwood with your presence."
"Legolas, oh my god, I'm in Mirkwood with the most beautiful elf in the world... no Middle Earth." she thought. She noticed that his shirt was too ragged for wear, and that he was taking it off to clean his knives.
"My lady, will you accompany me back to my father's palace?" he asked.
"I would be pleased to see your father's palace. It would be a welcome change from my former life." she answered.
"Your former life you say... would you care to enlighten this insignificant prince" he asked her carefully.
"Well master elf, my former life was not a pleasant one." she said, "Why don't I tell you while we walk to your home."
"Agreed," he said.
"I was born on Midsummer's Eve. My parents died when I was born. I was sent to a foster home where my foster parents were lazy and greedy. They took me in so that they wouldn't have to pay for a housekeeper. They made me clean the house almost every day. While I was with them they had acquired a small fortune, from one of their mother's death. Last I saw of them they were planning on getting another foster child." she said as a reply to Legolas' inquiry.
"How did you get here my lady?"
"I am not sure myself a bout the events, but I will do my best to tell you of them. When I had finished cleaning I had gone to my room. I took out my necklace... My necklace where is it?" she reached for her neck but it wasn't there. "Oh please help me find it. We must go back. I've had since before I can remember. Oh please."
They made there way back to the glade. They searched almost all day. It was nearly dusk, when Legolas looked into the pool and saw a glint of silver. He reached in and pulled out her necklace. Frowning he reached into his pocket and pulled out a matching circlet. He put it back into his pocket, pondering the meaning of this encounter.
"Tári, I found your necklace." he told her.
"Oh thank goodness. I almost thought we had lost it forever. Will you put it around my neck?" she said and pulled her hair up so he could see her neck.
He reached around her neck and fastened the clasp, while breathing in the natural rosy scent of her hair. Slowly he stepped back, and gazed at her. Sweetly she blushed and looked away, glancing back up through her long lashes. They stood like this and spoke of her life for an hour and by the time they had come out of their trance it was nighttime.
"We must find somewhere to sleep. For this part of Mirkwood is not safe at nighttime." he said, blinking slowly and shaking his golden head slightly.
"I am no expert, so I will leave that to you." she said.
"The trees are the safest. Can you climb?"
"No, I have had no experience with climbing trees. But I am certain we will manage." she said.
"We have to make a platform since you must not be used to sleeping in branches. You must also not be completely in control of your powers so let us say that you will sleep nearest to the trunk." he said.
"As my lord, says," she whispered.
When Legolas had finished making the platform he helped her up.
"Tomorrow I will take you to my palace, and we will be able to train you in the arts of fighting." He whispered in her ear, "and we will have food and drink."
"Thank you Legolas, for everything that you have done for Me." she said.
"Your welcome, Tári." he whispered into her hair. He put his arm around her to stop her shivering, and held her close.
The next morning Legolas woke to find Tári by the pool, washing her face, and hands.
"You're up early." he commented as he climbed down the tree. She smiled timidly and replied,
"No, it is you who has slept in."
Laughing he washed his face and the gash upon his chest. They started back out into the woods.
"Run! I'll hold them off as long as I can." Legolas yelled to Tári. "Run!" "No I won't leave you here alone. Run with me. There are too many of them, you'll die before half of them are slain. Run!" Tári replied.
Together they ran away from the spiders in the moonlight. Up ahead they could see the palace, but it was still very far away. Looking behind them they could see the spiders catching up. Legolas managed to pick off the closest ones with his arrows but it wasn't enough.
When they reached the gates Legolas raised his hand and said the password. Slowly, too slowly, the gates of the great palace of Mirkwood opened.
"Who goes there?" yelled the guard, "Prince Legolas? Is that you? What's the matter?"
"Spiders" wheezed Legolas. He raised his hand and somehow managed to tell the door to close.
The guard called for help and the spiders were beaten back with the rain of arrows falling from eleven bows. The relentless elves didn't stop till every last spider had fallen to its death.
"Who's that with you you're Majesty?" questioned the guard.
"This is Tári Helyanwë from a land far away. She was beset by orcs in a peaceful glade. I saved her life and brought her here." Legolas replied.
"Your father, King Thranduil, will want to meet her. Will you be seeing him tonight or tomorrow morning?"
"Tomorrow morning, we have had a few trying days to recover from," and with that Legolas turned towards Tári. "Asfaldoondoiel will show you to your room." With that he walked away leaving Tári alone with Asfaldoondoiel, the tall guard. When she looked closer she noticed that Asfaldoondoiel was actually a girl.
"Follow me please." Asfaldoondoiel said. Tári followed her towards the palace. Asfaldoondoiel had long brown hair that was put in a no-nonsense braid. She was a head taller than Tári and was very well muscled, for a girl. Her eyes were a brilliant shade of green, and Tári felt an immediate liking towards this elf.
"Here is your room, if you need anything don't be afraid to ask," said Asfaldoondoiel. Her voice had a warm and musky quality to it.
"Thank you," replied Tári.