Memories…
Legolas was sitting in his new home about 3 years after the Battle for Middle Earth, thinking back on his friend and king, Aragorn, son of Arathorn. Aragorn had been crowned king the day after that battle, in which many good men died, including the previous king of Rohan, Théoden.
'I never thought I'd die next to an elf' his dwarven friend, Gimli, had said at the beginning of the last battle.
'What about next to a friend?' Legolas had challenged him in a friendly manner.
'Aye. I can do that.' Gimli had replied with a smile.
Legolas thought back on that day with a smile. That had been the day that the two courageous and now very famous hobbits, Frodo and Sam, had destroyed the Ring of Power and all the Uruk-hai and all evil beings had been destroyed with it.
"Legolas, dear?" a female voice asked softly and Legolas looked up to see his wife, Seraphina's blonde-haired, fair-skinned form standing there, smiling at him, a small toddler in her arms. The toddler was a little boy, Legolas' son, Haldir.
"Yes Seraphina?" Legolas asked her softly, standing up and taking his son from her.
"Are you okay? You seemed a bit…quiet. It's not like you." She said softly and he sighed, smiling.
"I'm fine. I was just thinking." He replied, just as Haldir looked up at him, a small smile on his chubby face.
"What were you thinking about?" she asked him softly, smiling slyly.
"The Battle for Middle Earth. And Aragorn being crowned king." He replied softly.
"Does that include the deaths of many good men? And King Théoden?" she asked him, her face now serious.
"Yes. Too many good men died in that battle. I just hope Haldir doesn't have to see fighting like that." Legolas said, holding the little boy tight.
"So do I, but we can't help it. It's like that these days." Seraphina replied, hugging him.
"I know. But I'm going to try. We need to try and keep war and fighting away from our son." He said softly.
"I know that, but when we had a child, when we brought him into the world, we made the decision to take the risk of it happening." Seraphina whispered into his ear. Legolas sighed, tears entering his eyes as he thought of war coming to them while Haldir was still young. "Are you crying, Legolas?" Seraphina asked him softly.
"No." he said, but his voice was choked with tears.
"Yes you are. I can hear it in your voice. It's okay." She said, hugging him tighter.
"Alright, I am crying, but I can't help it; I don't want our son to be subjected to this kind of madness and war." Legolas replied softly, leaning his head on her shoulder, tears now rolling down his cheeks.
"I know. But it's alright. We can't help it if war comes to this country, but we should be able to try. We just need to trust our instincts." She said, but Legolas suddenly stood up straight, his head moving from left to right slowly.
"Stay here Seraphina. And keep Haldir safe. Something's approaching." He whispered, handing Haldir to his wife and walking towards the door, grabbing his bow and quiver of arrows as he went. Placing an arrow in the bow, he pointed it at the door, aiming. A sudden crash startled the family as the door rocked on its iron hinges. Haldir started crying with fear as Legolas turned around quickly.
"Seraphina! Get yourself and Haldir out of here!" he shouted, just as the door was smashed to the ground. He turned around to face his enemy, aiming his arrow at them and releasing it. The arrow whistled through the air and hit an attacker in the throat. The attacker gave a strangled yell and fell to the ground, dead. Cocking another arrow into the bow, he shot again, hitting a second attacker in the eye. But he didn't realise an arrow from the enemy was whistling towards him. It hit him in the stomach and he bent over, pulling it out and covering the wound. For a moment, he thought he would die here and never see his son or wife again, and the thought of them compelled him to continue fighting. But he was not as alone in the battle as he thought. Another five elfish men ran in, using swords to fend off the attackers. Among the elves was also a dwarf with red hair and beard and wielding a huge battle-axe. The dwarf, Legolas recognised as his old friend, Gimli.
"Out of my way!" Gimli roared, running forward and swinging his axe madly. Stopping in front of Legolas, Gimli bowed. "Hello again, Legolas." He said, grinning as he continued fighting the attacking rangers alongside the elf, who was starting to feel light-headed from the loss of blood from his wound. "Legolas!?" he asked loudly when Legolas collapsed, losing consciousness.
Legolas woke to find Seraphina sitting on the bed next to him, Haldir in her arms. Slowly sitting up, that was when he saw Gimli was standing next to the bed. Both his wife and friend looked concerned.
"Are you okay Legolas?" Seraphina asked him in elfish.
"Yes. The wound wasn't bad. The arrow didn't go deep." Legolas replied in elfish.
"Are you alright, lad?" Gimli asked him in his gruff voice.
"I'm fine. Thank you for helping me, Gimli. I probably wouldn't have survived if you and the elves hadn't come to my aid." Legolas said, smiling at his friend.
"I did my best to tend to your wounds, but they're still there." Seraphina said softly and Legolas looked down at his stomach, which was bandaged heavily.
"That's okay Seraphina. Thank you anyway." He replied as she handed Haldir to him.
"What's going on here, lad?" Gimli asked him, looking curiously at the little boy, then at Seraphina, then at Legolas.
"Isn't a man allowed to marry?" Legolas asked him humorously and Gimli laughed.
"Aye, lad. A man can marry." Gimli replied. "I just didn't think you had it in you to marry."
"Why would you think that, my friend?" Legolas laughed.
"You'd never fallen in love before, so I didn't think you'd fall in love now."
"The reason why I never fell in love before is because I spent too much time around men and fighting for peace to bother with it. Once Sauron was defeated, I had much more time to myself. I wasn't going so die alone." He said, then turning to his wife. "And so much for keeping war and fighting away from Haldir, eh Seraphina?" he said in elfish and she smiled.
"I told you. But thankfully he and I weren't hurt." She replied in elfish.
"That's good. I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if you had." He said in elfish, sighing.
"Well, if you'd died, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself either." She replied in English.
"I wouldn't have let myself die that easily. There were just too many of them and only one of me. And my previous quick reactions are now fading. I'm not as quick as I used to be." He said, smiling. "That would be why I got myself injured."
"Now that's not going to be much good service to the king." A male voice said as a human man with black hair and a crown walked into the room. Legolas recognised this man as his old friend and current king, Aragorn.
"Good to see you, Aragorn." Legolas said, bowing his head slightly at him.
"Legolas, old friend, you know there's no need to bow to me; you see me almost every day." Aragorn said, smiling at his friend.
"Old friends reunited once again." Gimli laughed, bowing his head at the king.
"Neither do you have to do that, Gimli." Aragorn laughed.
"How is Arwen?" Legolas asked him, referring to the queen, an elf, who was currently pregnant to Aragorn's child.
"She's fine at the moment. She reckons we're going to have a son, though I have no idea how she knows." Aragorn replied, looking puzzled.
"She had a vision. She approached Elrond about the vision and gave herself a mortal life, so I think she's lucky to be alive now." Seraphina replied.
"Once the ring and all the orcs were destroyed, her health returned to her, so that she was able to live, and that is why you're going to have a son." Legolas said, adjusting his son in his arms.
"Oh, I didn't realise you were a father, too Legolas." Aragorn said, smiling at him.
"I'm hoping you knew I was married, though?" Legolas asked him, laughing.
"That one was obvious, Legolas. I was at your wedding, remember?" the king replied, also laughing.
"Okay, Gimli was too, but he obviously forgot about the wedding. He'd completely forgotten that I'd even fallen in love." Legolas laughed in return.
"Well, I didn't mean to forget, I just had so much on my mind." Gimli said in his own defence.
"It's okay Gimli, I forgive you." Legolas said, still laughing.
"So Legolas, what's your son's name?" Aragorn asked him, no longer laughing.
"Haldir." Legolas replied and Aragorn looked confused.
"Wait a sec, but Haldir was the name of the head of the elfish army three years ago, and he died while we were protecting Helm's Deep." Aragorn said, sounding just as confused as he looked.
"Exactly. I named my son after him. Well, actually, Seraphina did that." Legolas replied.
"Why though? Was there a reason for it?" Gimli asked.
"Not really, other than the fact that he was her father. I was actually tempted to name him Elrond." Legolas said, smiling.
"Sorry about your father, Seraphina. I didn't realise he was your father, though I should've noticed a similarity between you." Aragorn said and Seraphina nodded at him.
"That's okay, your highness." Seraphina replied and Aragorn laughed.
"You can just call me Aragorn. You're married to one of my best friends, so I can understand if you call me by my name." Aragorn said softly to her in elfish. "So who attacked you Legolas? I thought all the orcs died when the ring was destroyed." He added, turning to Legolas.
"Rangers. They'd completely knocked the door right off its hinges. Then they attacked me, and wounded me. I just guess I was lucky that Gimli and five other elfish men ran in and helped me. I probably would've been dead, otherwise." Legolas replied and Aragorn laughed.
"Well, you're one incredibly lucky elf, then!" he laughed and Legolas laughed along with him. "Actually, I'm confused at why rangers would attack you. I mean, I was one previously, and I know they don't kill for the sake of it. They must have had a reason for doing it." Aragorn added, looking confused once again.
"Don't ask me, I'm just as confused as you are." Legolas replied, also looking confused.
"Oh well, let's not dwell on the past. So how have you been, Gimli?" Aragorn asked his dwarfish friend. "Have you found any love yet?"
"No. I've been a bit unlucky with dwarf women. They don't seem to like me much, even if I did help save their hides during the Battle for Middle Earth." Gimli replied, laughing. "But strangely I seem to have a bit more luck with human women." He added and everyone in the room looked at him incredulously.
"What!?" Aragorn asked him, looking confused.
"Human women seem to like me better than dwarf women." Gimli repeated, laughing.
"Why?" Legolas asked him slowly, dreading the answer.
"Probably because their skins were more in danger than the dwarf women, and they find me suddenly very attractive. Do you think it would be because I helped save their skins, Aragorn?" he said, turning to his royal friend.
"I have absolutely no idea. Don't ask me to fathom the way women think. They're like a completely separate creature." Aragorn said, shrugging. "Oh, sorry Seraphina." He added to Seraphina, grinning guiltily.
"That's okay Aragorn; just don't say that to Arwen. She won't like it so much. I found it funny, but she could be a different matter, because she is pregnant." Seraphina laughed in reply.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to. I do know what my wife is like." He reassured her and she laughed.
"Okay, but believe me, women when pregnant are much less patient than they are when they're not pregnant." She said and Legolas looked at her, then at Aragorn.
"She's right. And I caught her impatience first hand before Haldir was born." He laughed.
Legolas caught up with Gimli and Aragorn about a year later, all three men holding children.
"Wait a sec Gimli," Legolas said to his friend, looking confused. "Since when were you a father?"
"Since a week ago. I seemed to have gotten very lucky with one particular human woman." Gimli laughed and Legolas and Aragorn looked at each other, both with one raised eyebrow.
"Lovely Gimli…" Aragorn laughed, looking a little frightened about what his dwarfish friend could come up with.
"Actually, the baby does look like a cross between a human and a dwarf, and has Gimli's hair." Legolas said, looking closely at Gimli's baby.
"Is it a boy or a girl, Gimli?" Aragorn asked him.
"A girl." Gimli replied proudly, just as a human woman with long, wavy brown hair, pale skin and green eyes walked up to him, bending down so she was at his level.
"Gimli, it's time for her to go home." She said and Gimli looked confused.
"Okay, but why?" he asked her.
"It's time for her afternoon nap." She replied and he sighed, handing the baby girl to her mother. The human woman walked away with the baby in her arms and Gimli turned back to his friends.
"By the way Aragorn, was Arwen right about the baby's gender?" Legolas asked Aragorn.
"Yep. I still can't put my finger on how she knew, but she was right." Aragorn replied, looking confused again.
"Well, we can't help that, can we?" Legolas said, laughing.
"No, I guess you're right." Aragorn said.
"Oh yeah, by the way, speaking of children, Seraphina's pregnant again." Legolas said, remembering that fact.
"Wow, you lucky man…your wife pregnant for the second time in four years." Aragorn laughed.
"Congratulations Legolas, again." Gimli laughed, clapping his elfish friend on the back.
"Thanks guys, its just, when she first found out, she was pleased, but all the same looking as though she wasn't telling me something." Legolas admitted softly.
"What do you mean Legolas? You don't think she was committing adultery, do you?" Aragorn asked him, looking confused for the third time that day.
"I don't know, but I'd like to think that she's not. And I'm worried that if I talk to her about it, she could end up offended. She's my wife, I don't want to offend her, but I want to know what it is she's not telling me. What should I do guys?" he said softly and Aragorn and Gimli looked at each other, both faces showing bemusement.
"I think you should talk to her about it anyway, just in case it was adultery. Just tell her you don't mean to offend her, you just want to know. It's what I would do." Aragorn replied and Legolas sighed.
"Alright. Thanks guys. You've been a great help." He said, walking away, carrying Haldir with him.
Approaching Seraphina that day, he gave Haldir to her, asking her to sit down.
"What is it Legolas?" she asked him softly, hugging him, but he pulled away, regretting it immediately. He sighed, looking her in the eye.
"Seraphina, I don't want you to get offended, but I have a feeling there's something you're not telling me. I'd like to know what it is so if there is a problem, I can help you fix it." He said softly.
"Legolas, I don't know how you figured it out, but I may not live until this child's birth. Someone is trying to take my life." She said softly and Legolas looked shocked.
"Do you know who it is? Why didn't you tell me before?" he asked her, his mouth open with shock.
"I didn't tell you before, because I didn't want to make you worry about me. And no I don't know who it is, but they've already tried twice today to kill me, so I know they're after my life." She replied and he hugged her tightly, not wanting to let her go.
"There is no way I'm going to allow anyone to kill you. They'll end up dead if they try to kill you." He said to her, kissing the top of her head gently.
"You're a little late for that then." Came a voice and Legolas turned around suddenly, coming face to face with a human man who had a long dagger in his hand. Quickly cutting Legolas across the chest, he pushed the bleeding elf aside and attacked Seraphina, who had put Haldir behind her to protect the little boy. The human had used the dagger to stab Seraphina in the chest, before he slit her throat.
"NO!" Legolas shouted, running over, his two knives in his hand, and he started attacking the human. He slit the man's throat deeply, cutting through the carotid arteries on both sides of his neck, before stabbing the other knife into his heart and removing it. Blood was spewing from the cut to the human's throat as he keeled over backwards and crumpled to the ground in a heap. Legolas dropped his knives and lifted his wife's limp form into his arms, tears in his eyes as he tore some fabric from his shirt and wrapped it around her wound to her chest before he used another strip of fabric to gently but firmly place on her throat wound, which had thankfully missed the carotid arteries and trachea. She was bleeding but not too badly. Noticing the bleeding was slowing in her throat, he gently wrapped the fabric around her throat to allow the wound to heal. Checking on her stab wound, he saw that it was no longer bleeding, but the skin was still to heal. So he wrapped the fabric back around her chest, wrapping it once over her shoulder to hold it in place. He then gently picked her up, carrying her to their bed and laying her down on it.
"Daddy, is Mummy going to be alright?" came a small voice as Haldir walked slowly over, looking terrified. Legolas sighed and picked his son up, hugging him.
"Your mummy's going to be fine. She just needs rest so she can recover." He said softly and Haldir nodded, hugging his father in return.
Seraphina made a slow, but good recovery, and by the time two months had passed, she was on her feet again. Legolas and Haldir were hopeful she would recover, but weren't completely sure, but she recovered and had taken her bandages off within two months.
Seven months later, Seraphina had gone into labour and Legolas took her to their medical expert (at the time), who would deliver the baby.
Screams had filled the air for ten minutes, but after that, they stopped. Seraphina had finally given birth and the medical expert soon returned, handing the baby to her.
"Its a little girl." was all he said and Legolas sat on the bed next to his wife, who was cradling the tiny baby gently.
"What do you think we should call her, Seraphina?" Legolas asked his wife softly, looking lovingly at his daughter.
"How about we call her…um…Liesel?" Seraphina suggested, handing the baby to Legolas.
"Liesel is a nice name, Seraphina. It suits her." He replied, gently kissing his daughter's forehead, then his wife's.
The End…