The Last Alliance was over. Sauron defeated. Defeated, although Thranduil would not say vanquished, because he was wise enough now to know better than to hope for that. In a cruel turn of events, or maybe a few cruel turns of events, Thranduil was to lead the small remainder of his people back home to Greenwood. As king. His father was dead. He had heard news that his mother too was fading, succumbing to grief. Greenwood was much less than it was, due to the amount of darkness unleashed on the world by Sauron in this war.

"My lord?" Thranduil shook his head slightly and focused on the present, realizing an advisor had his head inside Thranduil's tent and had been trying to get his attention. He stood and straightened in attempt to look more impressive, kinglike. "Yes?"

"It is a little after noon, the horses are beginning to be prepared and the camps are being packed up, so we should be ready to head out at first light tomorrow."

"Thank you." Thranduil said almost shortly, turning away again. Returning home meant facing his parents' deaths and figuring out how to rebuild his broken kingdom, and he knew how hard that would be.

He decided to walk around some to clear his mind, but at first the sight before him made little improvement. Elves around him in the yellow dust of the lands here were packing up what meager supplies they still had, rough tents in need of repair were being taken down, and few looked better than miserable. The army was less than a third of what it had been; no one had escaped losing close friends and kin. Elves walked with grief in their steps, and nearby healers and assistants were tending the wounded, preparing for the journey. There, Thranduil saw a familiar elf.

"Elarinya?" Thranduil called, striding forward, his pulse quickening in excitement, an emotion he had not felt in so long.

She turned and her eyes brightened through her weary face. "Thranduil!" She smiled. "Er, I mean…My Lord." She bowed, but Thranduil waved off formalities.

"It is good to see you! I did not know you were here?" She looked different here than when they had met, older and more worn. Her long hair was tied back securely and her eyes were thin. There was now a somberness to them, but some of that old light in her still showed through, especially when she looked at him.

"I volunteered to come help in healing a few years ago, but I had not come this far south until the war was over."

Thranduil nodded, unable to tear his eyes away from her face, the face he had thought of from time to time during the quieter or darker moments of the past years of war.

"I am glad to see that you are all right, but I know you must wish much had turned out differently." She said, her eyes inquiring his.

"As do we all." Thranduil said, looking off in the distance before returning to her face. He smiled at her. "But it is good to see that some good things survived the war, and all can not be lost."
"I fully agree." She returned the smile, and then glanced back as an injured elf warrior went by, grunting in pain and with a poorly dressed wound.

"I should get back to work." She grimaced. "But I will see you around, yes?"

"I will make sure of it." Thranduil said. Now he bowed slightly to her, and she laughed a little, and he turned away and headed back to his tent.

After dinner was had and final discussions of traveling plans were through with, Thranduil craved getting out again, and walked to the edge of a nearby cliff in the setting sun. He sat against the rocks looking over the mountains toward home, and felt his emotions at the events of the war wash over him now that he was alone. Thranduil felt that he had aged much during the war since the Prince he had been before. He had been skilled with a sword and cared deeply for things that were important to him, but he had also been immature in many ways then. And he still was, how was he to be ready to rule a kingdom? Greenwood needed him. His people needed him, they needed a king to look to so they could begin rebuilding what was lost and learn to be merry again.

He just couldn't shake the fear that he was not what his people needed, that they needed Oropher, and he was not Oropher.

"I will NOT let my kingdom down." Thranduil said fiercely.

"No, you will not." A soft voice answered behind him.

Thranduil looked around in surprise at Elarinya.

"May I sit?" She asked, climbing up to stand beside him. He moved aside to give her room, and she sat next to him, facing out over the valleys below.

"You feel you are not good enough to be King." She started, and he nodded, not looking at her. "You are, though. You always have been. Your time now may have come too soon, but you have prepared to be King your whole life, and knowing what little I know of you, you will be a great King." She said solidly.

"How can you know, though?" He asked, trying not to be unkind, but he was upset, and he was being honest. "You hardly know me. Since we met you have been very important to me, but still, we hardly got a chance to get to know each other. And I can't…my people need and deserve someone to look up to, someone strong and capable of rebuilding now, and I am not that."

"You don't have to be." Elarinya said softly. "You are hope to our people, just by surviving this war. We lost many men, but all is not lost. We still have a king. A good king. We will all continue, and one day be merry again."

Her words started to make him feel a little better.

"I still can not do this." He said, trying to avoid his voice breaking. "I can't do it without my mother or father; I can not succeed alone." He stared into her eyes, struck even through his current thoughts at how beautiful they were. The color was an intense blue, common for Sindarin elves, but flecked with bright green and the effect her intense gaze had on him was almost taking his breath away.

"Then let me help you." Elarinya said warmly, gently reaching over and taking Thranduil's hand in hers. He looked at her with slight surprise, but then quickly turned his hand over and interlaced his fingers with hers. Thranduil smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Elarinya smiled in return and leaned against him, and together they sat in silence and watched the sun start to sink beneath the Mountains in the distance.