Chapter one: The Arrival
As Legolas stood in his room at Mirkwood, he felt both excited and nervous. He was excited because of the fact that that his mom had told him early in the morning that she had a big surprise for him later in the evening for his fourteenth birthday. He was also very nervous though, because he had invited his friends Jessica, Nicole, Kili, and Fili to Mirkwood for his week-long party. He hadn't seen Jessica for several months, and still had a big crush on the human princess. He admired her skill in the bow and arrow, and loved the way her long blonde hair made her look like an elf. He was pacing nervously in front of his mirror and occasionally checking his hair and tunic. He had on a white, thin tunic, with his hair up in the usual archer's braids but with a slightly fancier design. All of a sudden, there was a knock on his bedroom door, and his father strode in with a bright smile.
"Legolas, your girlfriend is here." Legolas turned to his father with bright red cheeks. His dad was so far the only one who knew about his crush on the princess.
"Ada! She is not my girlfriend!" He tried to sound upset as he fought back a smile. King Thranduil laughed and placed a hand on his sons shoulder.
"I know son, I am just teasing you. It is just so fun to see your face!" Legolas couldn't help himself and let out a nervous giggle.
"Ok then. And my face is not that funny!" They left the room and made their way downstairs. When they arrived at the outdoor gates the four teen were on horse-back. Nicole and Jessica were on their own horses, with Kili behind Nicole and Fili behind Jessica. Legolas felt a strange feeling come up inside him and realized it was jealousy. He tried to tell himself that File and Jessica were just friends, but he couldn't push the feeling away. He just gave a nervous and slightly annoyed smile when they first rode in. As Jessica looked at him, she noticed the tight smile he had on his face. She smiled quickly, but looked away when she felt a blush creep onto her face.
"Are you ok?" Fili's voice startled her at first. Jessica tried to hide her blush, and was thankful that she was sitting in front to prevent him from seeing her face.
"I'm fine. Just tired is all." She watched him from the corner of her eye as he raised his eyebrows before nodding, still not quite sure.
"Ok," he said hesitantly. Because Nick could not attend the first few days of the celebration, he had asked Fili to keep careful watch over her. Jessica was fine with that because they had become very good friends at the archery and twin blade training camp that took place every summer. They dismounted and elvish servants took their horses to put them in the stables. Jessica and Nicole immediately hooked arms and started complaining.
"I am sooo sore!" Jessica whined. Nicole nodded in agreement.
"Me too! I'm going to be sore for days now!" they heard a snort of laughter come from behind them, and they turned to see Fili and Kili trying to hold in laughter.
"What?!" The two girls said in unison.
"You two are just almost inseparable, aren't you? You get pulled apart for a while, and then you go back together like magnets!" Kili then let out his laugh.
"Yes we are," Nicole said, followed by Jessica's, "And we are proud of it!" The girls nodded at the dwarf brothers with smiles. Jessica pulled on Nicole's arm and dragged her over to Legolas.
"Hi Legolas. So nice to see you again!" Jessica pulled away from Nicole long enough to give the prince a hug before again hooking arms with Nicole, proving the dwarf brother's point. Legolas nodded as his jealousy melted into nervousness again. He smiled and blushed slightly.
"Hey Jessica. Nice to see you again too! Would you like me to go head and show you to your rooms? The real celebration doesn't start till around 10:00 tonight. That would give you time to rest and wash up before then." The girls nodded and smiled brightly.
"Sure! Just let us grab our bags first!" they walked back to where the brothers were standing and slung matching leather bags over their free shoulders. Legolas led the four into the guest hall and pointed at two rooms.
"Girls on the right, boys on the left. You guys good with that?" the four nodded in approval and smiled at Legolas.
"Thanks Leggy!" Fili smirked. He knew it annoyed the elf prince, and relished in doing it.
"Ya, your sooo welcome." Jessica gasped in surprise at the way Legolas was talking to Fili. Usually he just ignored it, but today he didn't. It sounded to her as if… no it couldn't be. Was he… jealous?! Legolas glanced at Jessica, and immediately regretted talking that way to Fili. He was letting his emotions get the best of him, and that was highly unacceptable for an elf prince to do in public. He turned and started to walk away quickly.
"I will come get you all later." He called over his shoulder. Jessica started to go after him, but Nicole pulled her back.
"Leave him. He just can't control his emotions." Fili said with a sneer. 'Well neither can you.' Jessica thought to herself. He marched madly into his and Kili's room, followed by his brother. The door slammed shut, and Nicole turned to Jessica with wide eyes.
"Well that could have gone better!" Jessica nodded in agreement and with a confused look on her face, turned to her friend.
"Ya, I wonder what's wrong with Legolas. He seemed… jealous." Nicole nodded with a furrowed brow looking in the direction he stormed off and then shrugged.
"I'm to tired to do anything about it right now though." She walked into the room and sat down on the couch. Jessica hesitantly followed and quietly closed the door behind her.
"I wonder why he was jealous. Do you think he was jealous? He just seemed that way to me. What do you-"Nicole threw her hand in the air to stop her friend.
"Jessica! Stop it, your rambling again." Jessica gave her friend an apologetic look as she sat down next to Nicole.
"Sorry, I'm just worried is all. Elves aren't usually like that, especially Legolas. Nicole, do you- well, do think he might… actually like me too?" Nicole looked into her best friends hopeful and questioning eyes, ad thought about what she should say. There was a huge possibility that he did, considering the fact that he actually blushed every time he looked at her. But then there was Fili. Nicole and Kili were the only two who knew that the blonde dwarf had a big crush on Jessica. If Nicole were to tell Jessica that Legolas liked her, she would most likely say something to Fili about it, which would break his heart. She decided to go with the oblivious response.
"I don't know, maybe. I'm not sure, but I wouldn't talk about it. Cause what if he doesn't? You don't want to embarrass yourself in front of Fili and Kili." Jessica nodded in defeat. She knew it was most likely true, and that she was just too hopeful.
"What am I going to do about the dancing then? You have Kili, and Legolas probably has someone else. I will just have to ask Fili then." 'Oh no,' Nicole thought to herself. 'Fili might think that she likes him back. Well, let's just hope this goes well.' Nicole decided that she would just have to talk to Legolas herself to find out for her friend. In the meantime, she was going to try and get some shuteye. So, she positioned herself comfortably, and it didn't take long for her to go to sleep.