Forest Guardian
1 –
Tauriel hasn't been to Mirkwood in decades. She wasn't even in a forest. Despite being named the daughter of the forest. Despite forests being the place she felt most at home at. Despite not knowing where to go, staying wasn't an option.
Firstly she has been banished and secondly she didn't want to. Meeting Kili, talking about the differences and the apparent apathy between two different races without a good reason, realizing how much time she already had lived and how fast time could be wasted, realizing how small and smallminded the little kingdom in the woods really was. She couldn't ignore that anymore.
Even before any of that happened Tauriel hat wanted to explore the world. She wanted to know what the world had to offer. Initially she didn't exactly plan to get banished. Or befriend a dwarf. Or losing a friend shortly after making him. Not quite knowing if you lost a love.
It hurt. It hurt like hell. She was grieving the endless possibilities of what could have been if only for a little more time. Time was valuable. Something you can forget if you have and an eternity. She would have wanted to get to know him, to spend more than mere hours with him. She would have wanted to become his friend, his best friend or maybe something else… She would have wanted to grief him for what he has been… and not what he could have been.
"If this is love I do not want it"
What is love? What is romantic? What defines a romance?
Tauriel did not know. She knew the love of a friend. She never knew the love of a family. She never knew the love of romance.
And now she didn't even know where her best friend was… What a great friend she was! She not only lost her want to be love, but also her friend. She was alone.
Perhaps it is for the better. Who knew what the future might bring? Tauriel definitely didn't want to know.
2-
"You should return home"
Surprised Tauriel looked up. The locals in the village normally didn't talk to her like that. She was still an elf, even if she has lived with them for quite some time. It took them a lot of courage to approach her. But the person who just spoke to her wasn't an Edan.
The Sparkgirl. At least that's what the locals called her. She was a mystery. A legend. Randomly appeared around mysterious fires. Some said she's the one who light them while others said she's the one to extinguish them. Nobody quite knew if she was an evil spirit or a guardian angel.
And right now she stood before Tauriel telling her to return home. Tauriel didn't know what to say. So she voiced the only thought she had at the moment. "Why?"
The legend shrugged. "I am no seer. I can't tell you anything for certain. I just have strong premonitions. That's why I normally don't show myself to the villagers. I just have a feeling that the forest needs you now" The Sparkgirl now looked directly a Tauriel. "What I know for a fact is that you love the forest who protected you for most of your life. Names are not always given in vain, you know?"
How did this girl know her name? Tauriel gave her a confused look but the legend just continued.
"I have a feeling you will regret it when you don't stand next to your beloved trees when darkness approaches. They were your guardian and now may be your turn to protect them."
Tauriel looked astonished at the girl. She seemed so sure. She seemed wise. She seemed to know the answers. She didn't know why she trusted this stranger. She just had a feeling she will regret it if she didn't ask her this question right now. The question she had tried to figure out an answer for the last half century. And she couldn't put her finger to why she thought this strange girl could provide her with an answer.
"What is love?"
Surprisingly the girl answered immediately. "Love is. There are incredibly many different kinds of love and it might not always be beneficial to define which kind of love it may be at the end of the day." The Sparkgirl looked at her again and offered her a strange necklace. "At least I learned that definitions can restrict love" Then she turned around and left the necklace on the ground.
Leaving a confused but kind of reassured Elf behind. She loves Legolas, in a way. She was growing to love Kili, in a way. And she loves the forest, in all ways.
Which way it was or is, is not the question that should be asked.
She picks up the necklace and looks at it. It looked like burning fire.
3-
Her forest was burning. Evil has infested and destroyed her guardian, her fosterling, her home. Giant Spiders were roaming the woodland and a giant army had invaded it. The trees were in grave danger as well as the ones living under their protection.
So Tauriel was going to fight. She would fight and heal as long as her heart was beating and there was air in her lungs. She fought desperately beneath the trees of her home. Like a shadow appearing and vanishing in the darkness fighting for the light.
She hasn't gone back to the palace she ran away from so many years ago. No. She lived in the treetops and was guarded by the forest the same way she guarded it. Living of the land, saving everyone she could. And maybe she sometimes even turned the scales in battle.
She was exhausted. She was desperate. She was crying. She wasn't giving up because there was still fire burning inside of her. It didn't matter if there was still hope. She wouldn't give up her homeland willingly.
The army of the Eldar didn't take notice of her, having hardly enough time to take notice of their countless enemies. But she took notice of them. She took notice of every Elf that fell next to her as she let her daggers dance trying to safe another life.
So she fought. Weeping over every hurt tree and dying kinsman next to her. She didn't want to fight. She just wanted to protect while evading arrows and blades, swinging her own daggers and crying.
She didn't actually plan on surviving but she also didn't really have time to think about the future. And as the war was meeting its end, she was standing at the battlefield, bleeding and hardly conscious she didn't know that life would go on.
That's why she was utterly surprised when she woke up in the house of healing in the King's palace. Tauriel couldn't even remember losing her consciousness but the healer told her it was a miracle she fought that long with her injuries. She was covered in cuts and arrow holes. "It's a miracle none of these are anywhere near fatal", the healer continued.
Not a miracle, she thought. Just a guardian who is guarded.
"I see you have returned", a voice interrupted her thoughts. The Elven King. She hadn't even noticed that he entered the room. Not sure what to say or how to react she just nodded. At the end she was still banished and could count herself lucky that they didn't leave her lying in the battlefield.
The King looked her directly in the eyes. "Why?"
Why? The same question she had asked the one who sent her home. A question she couldn't really answer. She didn't know the answer. Tauriel just believed in the premonition of a strange girl. "I don't know. Someone told me I should protect the forest that has always been my guardian"
Thranduil nodded and turned his back on her. He was fumbling with something but Tauriel couldn't tell what it was. She didn't know what to do. She was banished by the Elven King but in this very moment she was in the house of healing in the Elven Kings presence. It was really quite confusing.
"This stranger… you were talking about… did he give you that necklace?" Thranduil was looking at the ground frowning.
"She", Tauriel corrected him immediately. "It was a girl" The Elven King looked up giving her an unbelieving gaze. "Really?", he asked. "And did she give you this necklace?"
Tauriel nodded again. "I … I believe. She left it on the ground"
Thranduil eyed the necklace suspiously and murmerd something like dragon fire. Then he turned to her, giving her the necklace.
"I heard the last decades were good to you. Some battle might have turned out differently if you didn't take that girls advice" He was walking towards the door. Just before opening it he turned around. "So if you would like to stay this time, I would be lucky to have my captain back."
4 –
There was a whispering everywhere in the palace. They were talking freely about the end of the war, the success of the fellowship and the wedding of Arwen Undomiel. But no one dared to utter more than a whisper about the imminent return of the prince.
Legolas was coming back. He survived, thank the valar! And he was returning to the Woodland Realm. The Elven King was ecstatic about this good news while Tauriel was nervous.
He was coming back.
He has once been her best friend and now she didn't even knew he volunteered for such a dangerous journey. Was he out of his mind? She wanted to yell at him for being so reckless but deep down she know she didn't have the right to anymore. So she just thanked Eru that he was still alive and waited anxiously.
He was alive… and returning.
To be completely honest the prospect of seeing him again made her incredibly nervous. What would he say? Would he even talk to her? Would he tell her to leave? That she hasn't earned her place again? Would he forgive her?
So she covered herself in work, there was no lack of work for a newly appointed Captain of the Guard. Especially after the war and with the Lothlorien Elves moving to their new home. She left her new quarters early when the sun rose and only got home many hours after it had already set. Hoping everyday he wouldn't come searching for her. Hoping she could successfully evade him. Hoping it would somehow safe her from seeing him again.
When the Elven King told her during one of her reports that Legolas now finally arrived in the Woodland Realm, she just nodded and left. She hid the whole night in the forest, afraid he would find her. She was afraid of meeting him again. The next day she tried even harder to avoid any potential princes.
This did not go unnoticed by her colleagues. They eyed her strangely and occasionally asked what was wrong, but no one said a word about Legolas and she was grateful for it. She just hoped no one would say a word to Legolas as well.
It didn't work. Of course it didn't work in the end. Either her fellow guardsman or the King himself, someone had told Legolas that she was back … and where to find her. One day when she came back from a scouting he was just standing there in the middle of her new old office, staring at her strangely. He didn't say a word and neither did she. She didn't even move.
After what felt like an eternity she decided to make the first move. Anything was better than this uncomfortable silence. A formal greeting was courteous at least.
"Mae govannen, Ernil-nin" She even did a small curtsy. It was feeling weird that she didn't feel comfortable talking this formal to him decades ago. And now… it seemed like the only choice she had left.
Legolas didn't answer right away. He just looked at her strangely. Almost… maybe a little hurt. Tauriel didn't quite know if he was staring at her or at the shelves behind her. He almost seemed like a ghost.
"Tauriel", he finally addressed her. "You are alive"
Where there tears in his eyes? He thought she had been dead? How much had she actually hurt him? She felt guilty. She had been not just a bad friend. She had been a horrible friend. Someone not worth the title friend. Now there were tears forming in her eyes as well.
"I am sorry" She let her head hand. "I offer you my dearest apologies of how I treated you in the past. You had been my best friend and I was not very good at showing this" Her gaze met the ground again.
Legolas moved a little. At least that's what she could hear. "I forgave you, I know", he said after what felt like eternities. He took a step towards her but she didn't even dare to look up. "I forgave you a long time ago", Legolas continued taking another step. Standing before her, still. Not quite sure what to say next.
"If you would like as well, I would like to be your friend again"
That was when all the tears were finally breaking the barrier, streaming across her face in rivers. And they didn't stop until the blond wrapped his arms around her and held her.